Thunder crackles, lighting up the darkness imposed upon the world by the night. Winds howl, the very earth churns out in discomfort as if sensing the unholy power that is surging within the air.

*Clack* *Clack* *Clack* *Clack*

Steady steps could be heard resounding through the mountain. The sound of wood tapping against stone.

“Hihihihihi”

A man’s giggling dissolves into the surroundings - a giggle filled with something uncanny. There seems to be exhilaration in the voice, a mad happiness as if the person behind it had just gotten away with murder scot free.

The man looks to the skies. He sees the dark clouds beginning to take on a red tint, as if they are being steadily infused with blood.

“Aaaah” The man sighs with satisfaction, absorbing the surrounding atmosphere before taking in a deep, long breath. “It’s beginning,” He says. “Truly, a blood moon is one of the most beautiful things mere ants like us can experience. Such a shame that tonight you hide yourself like so my dear friend!” His eyes twist to a spot in the sky where one of the twelve moons lays, its crimson light is barely breaking in through the clouds obscuring it.

All of a sudden…

Cracks form in the air, as if the very fabric of reality is breaking apart like glass. Had this been seen by a mortal man they’d have thought that the world is coming to an end. The cracks steadily grow and expand to the point where they are no longer just mere cracks. Some of them are torn open, flakes of the world falling off as a result.

And through them comes a swarm.

Wraith-like creatures enter into the mountain, their numbers in the hundreds –if not thousands. Were a high ranking member of the Twilight Blossom or Verdant Sword sect here their blood would have drained from their faces.

It was a Heavenly Outbreak! A limb from the very Heavens themselves manifesting here and now.

The wraiths being their enforcers, they are a power capable of altering the very truth of the world. No matter how powerful, no matter how intelligent, no matter what tactics are applied - there is only one outcome should one run into a Heavenly Outbreak.

Death.

If one decides to fight instead of flee, they would find their power ripped from their very hands. It does not matter if one can cleave mountains with just a flick of their fingers, it does not matter if they can evaporate oceans with their life force, or cool down volcanoes with a simple exhale of breath.

The rule maker can just render their power void.

“Hoh?” The man raises an eyebrow as one of the wraiths breaks off from the horde and approaches him. Odd creatures they are, all seemingly sharing one mind –the man has seen many times how they flawlessly coordinate with one another. The tattered ink-black cloth covering them is also an odd feature, one present in all of Heaven’s wraiths.

Increasingly powerful screeching reaches his ears. At first it is only a dull hum, but the intensity only grows stronger as the wraith approaches. The sounds are most unpleasant, damaging even –carrying with them some sort of twisted meanings and laws. There is no doubt that any mortal being that hears these sound waves would drop dead where they stand from the pressure they exert on the mind alone.

The wraith stops some distance away from the man.

A wide, creepy smile spreads on his face. He can see several bloodshot eyeballs peering at him through the cloth.

“I have some resources to turn over.” He relays with a bow, his voice is calm and collected.

…

As for the wraith… It just floats there, unmoving. The eyes are still peering, the cloth still waves in the wind. But there seems to be no reaction to his words

Only when the silence begins to grow awkward does it finally decide to move. It returns to the horde, its work done.

A bright flash –one brighter than the noon sun– spreads, its cause is a purplish-red streak of lightning. It only takes a couple seconds for the resulting shockwave to reach the cultivator.

*Boom!*

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And what a shockwave it is! The very core of the mountain cracks up under its strength, reducing the surface layer of rock into fine dust. It is so powerful in fact that the man must employ a technique in order to protect himself.

Crimson red runes float out of his palms, they absorb the brunt of the devastating attack before fading into nothingness.

“whAt, hAvE??” “Not smeLL mUch.” “nO poWeR tO stAY LoNg!” “foOD?” “QuiCk! ShoW” “GiVe hiM a dRoP!” ……“whAt is it??” “diSpLaY! “He brings gifts!” “Warp tHe miNd!” ….“HAh Hah haH!” “leT’s eAT hIM?” “TaKE his SoUL!” “he deLiVerSs…” “maKe hiM a sLAaVe!” “Yes.” “hUnGRy!!!” “KilL aDMiniStraTOR!” “HuRRy!”........ “HaRd to ThiNK” “nO!” “hE sMelL gooD!” “GiVe hiM a dRoP!”........

“...”

The man’s smile seems to fade for the first time since entering the mountains. His eyes close as he is hit with what is for all intents and purposes a sea of maddening utterings, screeches and disjointed words –the meanings flood through the cracks in space like tidal waves. It takes him quite the stretch of time to organize and decipher what is actually being relayed to him.

No matter what personal thoughts he has –they remain perfectly hidden. The smile returns shortly after he sifts through the chaotic intent of the Heavens.

Though, it is noted how some of the wraiths in the swarm fold unto themselves, compressing and changing color before rapidly expanding into a bulbous mass. They gain a more recognizable shape soon enough.

image [https://i.ibb.co/NLf3WLt/Heaven.jpg]

Eyeballs…

All of which focus on him at once.

“bEtTer bE gOod!” “mUch CoSt tO brEAk iN” “whAt wAITing fOR?” “aDminIStrAToR HerE soON… WisH tO dIE bY TheIR HAnD?” “mAkInG fUN oF uS!?” “mAKinG fUn oF mE???”

Another bout of intent surges forwards, this one much weaker and easier to decipher than the last. What is being asked of him is clear. Nevertheless the man remains silent, his posture straight and his arms crossed.

There is an order to things, rules that must be obeyed.

“Testing luck?”

The Heavens speak in a single almost crystal clear burst of intent before a tentacle fires out through one of the spatial cracks. It is ethereal in nature, its thickness somewhere around that of an adult’s pinkie finger. It flies in a straight arc through the air before striking directly at the man and piercing him.

If one were to be a little more precise –it pierces his stomach. Right where the dantian lies, the core of a cultivator’s powers.

An infusion of power takes place. It is swift, lasting for barely a second. And in that second the man can feel his core churn. Exhilaration fills him as the unbreachable ceiling that he’d been trying to chip away at and destroy for centuries finally cracks. Unfortunately for him the flow of power stops at the first signs of breakthrough even if the tentacle remains connected.

The man begins to move the moment the process is over, no word is spoken by either party, the following is just standard procedure. A dark void manifests in front of him, a void which he reaches a hand into.

Out of it he pulls out an assortment of different items. Treasures, ores, weapons, herbs. Many possess a great value, high ranking cultivators would reduce whole regions to ash just to have one of them. Others are just mundane, so much so that mortals would have been capable of coming into possession of them without much issue.

Why do the Heavens require such things? The man is unaware. He’d been tasked with obtaining them and so he has.

There are also some things that could hardly be considered treasures or items owing to their status as living beings…

It just so happens that living beings with anomalous physiques are what the Heavens appreciate most.

For example –The Dragon Vein Burrower. A worm type spiritual beast that had gained the ability to tap into the underground routes of the continental dragon veins and feed off them. Its subjugation had been most troublesome for the man considering that it had grown to the titanic size of three kilometers by the time he’d gotten to it.

He had managed to capture it only after a great deal of effort and sacrifice. Its current form is just a sealed wooden box which can be easily carried within the palm of his hand.

Another less troublesome example would be Bohn Hao the mortal. His physique is one that allows him to repel Qi, an ability he’d been unaware of until his eventual capture. His fate is the same as the worm’s –sealed inside a nondescript wooden box, still alive but in a state of dreamless sleep.

Eleven such boxes are retrieved from the void before it closes with a wave from the man’s hand

“I present these treasures to the Heavens.” He says with a bow. A couple of the wraiths had approached him while he’d been busy with laying out his offer. As they turn to depart, sinewy tentacles extend from their ragged forms, grabbing the resources. They enter the cracks in the world, the last the man sees of them and the hard earned fruits of his labor.

“Acceptable.”

Another burst of intent floods in from the clouds, notifying the man of Heaven's judgment.

*Crack*

Power floods into the dantian once more, the tentacle being infused with energy once more.

“Is this ReaLLy NeEdEdED!?” “OUtLiveD hIS usE.” “Just eat hiM alrEAdy!” “TiRiNg” “LoSE cAttLE” “STill useFUL.” “AdmINiStratoR CloSE!”

The dominant ego dissolves into many minor ones. They immediately begin to screech out their desires without a care in the world. Though at this point the man is no longer listening, neither to Heaven’s egos nor to anything happening in his surroundings. He is fully focused on what is unfolding deep inside his core.

A poorly contained giggle escapes his lips.

*Crack* *Crack* *Crack*

Slowly but surely the barrier keeping him from the higher realm loses its integrity.

His Qi channels swell, resembling dark veins protruding across the surface of his otherwise perfectly fair skin.

“Heh… Hah Hah Hah!” His giggling transforms into outright laughter, the voice echoing through the entirety of the broken mountain. “Yes, this is it!” He exclaims, the rush of power energizing him “I have been waiting so long for this exact moment. More! Give me more! Make it so that no other being on these continents can stand up against me!”

In the wake of his proclamation the very essence of the world seems to tremble in acknowledgement and fear of his newfound power. With each passing second his aura seems to grow stronger and stronger, suffusing the air with an oppressive energy not too dissimilar to the one that the Heavens project.

Then, all of a sudden, it happens…

…

=====================================

Half an hour later

“Hmm…”

A being shows up to the shattered mountains where the ‘trade’ had taken place. At a cursory glance it is obvious that it is neither human nor lyraxi. It is something else –a member of an entirely different species. A bipedal one with glowing, translucent skin and wide insect-like wings and limbs. It is unknown if these characteristics are a result of its cultivation or due the inherent nature of its species.

However there is one thing that is unmistakable about this being, it bears the symbol of the ‘Empire’. The very same Empire that has established dominance over vast swaths of the world, spanning countless civilizations and cultures. The very same Empire that controls trillions upon trillions of different continents and landmasses much like the one they're standing on now. The symbol of the Empire adorned upon the creature’s back represents power, authority and control on an unimaginable scale.

Something is marked down in the book held by one of its eight appendages. The expression on its chitinous face is a heavy one.

Its wings flap once… and it vanishes. As if it had never been there in the first place.