Facing the enormous dark orb of energy, Hui put his palms gently on its surface. He injected his qi carefully into the surface of the energy. Inspecting it, he focused on the way the qi flowed, the shape of the orb, the type of energy. No matter what, I don’t want to interrupt Zhubi’s transformation. Zhubi needs to complete this on his own. All I can do is offer a gentle nudge in the right direction.

Though… interestingly, it’s a different type of qi than I’ve encountered before. Or rather, energy. Experimentally, he sent a bit of qi into the center of the orb. The qi instantly bounced back, flying out at him at hundreds of time the force it entered the orb. Hui dodged. The qi cut past the side of his head, severing a few stray strands.

Hui touched his hair, feeling the cut hairs. It’s a dark, dense, defensive energy. Reflective? Either way, it refuses anything that enters it. I can’t simply send life qi into the orb. It won’t reach Zhubi. The orb will send it flying back out at me before it can.

It’s too bad that the orb only reflects qi. If it enhanced that qi before it ejected it, I’d be able to instantly level up by throwing all my qi into the orb and catching it on the way out!

Hui shook his head at himself. Focus, Hui. First off, that’s Zhubi! I can’t use Zhubi to level up. Second off, that kind of foolish, protagonist-like thought doesn’t suit me at all. Rather than levelling up, I’m more likely to accidentally end myself like the side character I am! I’m not even sure I can safely return to the Underworld right now. I can’t afford to actually die.

That’s a good point, actually. Can I return to the Underworld? Rather than when I was in the mortal world, and it was one realm away, it’s now two realms away. I’d either have to pass through the mortal world—which would reject me, as an Immortal—or through the void, where the gold hand immortal is waiting.

Hui pressed his lips together. Not great options.

But also not what I’m doing right now. Focus! Zhubi. I need to help Zhubi through this process!

Under his palms, the qi continued to destabilize. Hui drew a breath, then opened his meridians, calling the qi into himself. If I can’t send qi into the ball, then I’ll pull the ball into me! If I can take the destabilized energy away, the ball will stabilize, and then I can stabilize the energy and send it back into Zhubi.

The energy raged through his body, wildly ricocheting through his qi passages. Hui let it go wild, simply watching for a moment. It’s like a top with multiple pieces spinning inside of it, but not centered, like a gyroscope. Spinning, but off-balance. Because of that, it’s tearing itself apart.

He caught the energy and sent his qi flowing with it. As it spun, he spun his qi, leading it along. The energy began to stabilize, following the flow of his qi.

There we go! Excellent. Now we just—

The energy suddenly jerked off-balance. It wobbled away from Hui’s qi and roared off on its own again, bouncing around inside Hui’s qi passages once more.

Hui frowned. It destabilized itself? Is this energy inherently unstable? How am I supposed to stabilize it, then?

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Or is it meant to be unstable? It is a transformative energy…

But there’s a difference between transforming and unstable. Zhubi might be changing, but his energy shouldn’t be unstable. Unstable energy is always a bad sign!

He put a hand on his chin and stepped back, watching the energy whirl within him. Tilting his head, he paused, doing nothing but observe for a moment. A moment later, his eyes lit up. Ah! I see, I see. It isn’t simply spinning. There’s a spin within a spin! Like a gyroscope. If I don’t stabilize every layer of the spin, I’m merely correcting it for a moment. If I want to correct it forever, I need to stabilize every layer at once!

Phew. The Immortal Realm doesn’t hold back!

Hui held his hands out, letting the energy pour through them. I can’t start with the outer layer. I need to start from the inner. Pierce through the spinning, to the heart of the motion!

And the only way to do that… is to follow the flow!

Immersing himself in the spinning, Hui let himself swirl with the energy, leaving his body behind. Left, then right, up, then down, round and round until he lost track of up and down, right and wrong.

I was wrong. It’s not a gyroscope. It’s a wave, tumbling me through the washing machine. A tsunami!

The energy tore at him, dissolving his very being. Hui diminished, condensing his soul and qi to survive. Even then, it still lashed at his body, but in his condensed form, the wounds were only superficial. He dove deeper and deeper, fighting the spin to swim down into the depths.

Abruptly, the water vanished. Hui fell into the eye of the storm with a quiet thump, his feet impacting solid ground. He frowned, looking down. Not ground. Wood? A faint light suddenly filled the air, and he looked around.

Black energy whirled in a wild storm around him. Black energy formed the ground underfoot. In the center of the space, a wavering gray flame shook, neither the storm nor the earth.

Hui approached it quietly, afraid of disturbing it. Despite his caution, the flame showed no awareness of his presence. It wavered to itself, shaking in place. One moment, it darted toward the storm; the next, it dropped toward the wood floor.

Pausing, Hui took in the scene again. The wall of storm. The earth. Dragons represent wood, and the Black Tortoise represents water. Then this flame… “Zhubi?”

The flame jolted. It darted toward Hui, then froze, shivering in place instead.

Hui sat down, coming no closer. I understand now. “You’ve been given a choice, haven’t you?”

The flame shivered harder.

“You can choose the floor, and live on as a dragon. Or choose the storm, and become a Dragon-Turtle.”

It shook so hard Hui almost feared it would shake itself out.

He’s afraid. He doesn’t know which one to choose.

Who would? If I were in this situation… ugh! What if I picked one, only for the other to turn out to be immensely more powerful? The other, only to find out the first had a lifespan truly beyond time itself? How could I choose? I’d be paralyzed!

And Zhubi… Of course, he’s terrified.

But I can’t let him know I’m as afraid as him. I need to be the brave one.

I need to be the adult.

Hui laughed aloud. “Zhubi, what are you hesitating for? No matter what you choose, it’s a fantastic choice. Become a true dragon, and flutter through the skies, fearless of any worms who crawl across the ground. Become a Dragon-Turtle, and never fear damage again. Become the only one of your kind, commanding the earth itself, a fearsome foe no one dares to provoke.”

The flame trembled again. It jerked toward the wave, then toward the floor. Pausing, it turned, and Hui felt its gaze on him.

He smiled. “No matter which you choose, I’ll be right here. No matter what.”

The flame dipped, as if nodding. It paused one more moment, then flew forth, making its decision. Hui held his breath. As a snake who jumped through the Dragon Gate, he can’t be considered as rejecting himself to become a dragon. And if Tian Chen and I guessed right about his lineage and the meaning of Black Dragon being his mother, choosing the other can’t be incorrect either. As long as he makes a choice, I’m sure it’ll work out.

And if it doesn’t, I won’t let him fail. Even if I have to defy these failing Heavens, I won’t let them take Zhubi!