| Xia Liling (C) — Lieutenant (unassigned)
Xia Liling wore an elegant purple robe and looked twenty years old. She was a demi-human, half-feline. She had no tails or pointy nails, but the white of her eyes was green like a cat's, and her black pupils could contract. Her long, dark blond hair, almost orange, was voluminous and full without being too wild. She smiled slightly, revealing two very slightly elongated canines.
Also telling of her ancestry was that when she took a few steps before getting into the air, Shen was mesmerized by her gait. It was a mix of premeditated litheness and predatorial confidence that Shen classified as "sexy Liya." Her elongated eyes, more akin to a feline than a modern Asian, drew an even more attractive figure. Her lips were an intense yet delicate red-pink.
Shen had never felt so attracted by anyone at first sight.
It wasn't just her appearance. Sure, something about her blue cat eyes felt mysterious and made him want to stare deeper. Xia Liling's curves were also the perfect Eternal Empire human beauty standard, on the brink of being big while maintaining delicacy. Still, she was as physically perfect as Rayna or as symmetrically beautiful as Liya.
No, it was her Path that sang the truest to him; they were perfectly compatible.
Xia Liling's Path had six Laws split among four Axioms: three Laws of the Spear at the core, supported by Water, Wind, and Lightning. When the compatibility was added to her beauty and similar age, Shen's hormones became agitated, trying to break free from his tight control on every part of himself.
It was even worse for him because of her emotions—the genuine ones, not what she displayed. She moved like a predator, sure of herself, and she knew her practiced body movements would attract many prospective partners. But she only did that out of extensive training and, almost certainly, clan fielty. Her heartbeat, soul, and Path spoke of being uncomfortable and forcing herself to move ahead. Although her three Laws of the Spear were about precision, Water, Wind, and Lightning were soft, gentle aspects of her Axioms. In fact, she had the same Law of the Gentle Breeze as he had. Xia Liling had all the traces of a sexy yet shy person.
The same instincts that had once wanted to conquer Liya told him Xia Liling should be his. Or rather, it went beyond. After he established his martial dominance, he wanted her by his side as an equal.
Xia Liling was fitting of him.
Shen froze momentarily, then allowed his feelings to arise—but not his desire. Instead, he didn't hide his fury as he released his aura and looked irate at Sun Weisheng.
Xia Liling was too perfect for him. Although her actual personality, beyond some shyness, remained to be seen, everything he could see was just right. It was almost like she had been designed for him, and the Eternal Empire had a name for that: targeted grooming.
Targeted grooming meant growing someone to fit the specific tastes of an influential cultivator you wanted to appease. Molding anyone's Path was repulsive and illegal, yet every decade or so, there was a scandal where it was revealed to have happened. Never in a significant clan, not after the Immortal Emperor killed every high-level member of the former Fifth Seat so long ago for it, but often close enough to the top.
Sun Weisheng's following words made things even worse.
"The High Senatorial Clans worry about you being away from Imperia for too long, Commander. We hope you accept Xia Liling as a cultural advisor."
They wanted to control Shen through a prospective partner.
Shen had to assert enormous control over himself to speak through gritted teeth, "What is the meaning of her Path, Captain?"
Xia Liling became uncomfortable when she felt Shen's aura, and her soul flinched at his words. It caused Shen to want to protect her. That was perfectly natural and instinctive.
It only made him even more upset at the attempted manipulation.
The man smiled pleasedly and replied without shame, "I believe this would be called providence, Commander. This is not, however, what you're thinking." His smile disappeared, and his face became full of derision. "For starters, you haven't been relevant long enough for anyone to prepare you a partner, even if anyone cared that much about appeasing a mere Field Commander, who'll cease being relevant once the War Mobilization ends. She has been a C-rank for longer than you. She's a prodigy, Commander—which leads me to the most important matter: you're not worthy of her. You, clanless exile, stand before the Xia Princess, Xia Liling, daughter of High Commander Xia Ya, the Xia Clan Matriarch. You sully her, her family, and her clan with your vile insinuation."
Her being at C-rank for longer than Shen proved there was no targeted grooming and should appease Shen, but even disregarding that, the scheme was too blatant, cunning, and disgusting.
The man had admitted to "providence" at Xia Liling being such an excellent match to Shen. So, Shen was supposed to feel attracted to her. The Eternal Empire's culture would also make it better for him to follow through with their ploy, especially after he "sullied" their reputation with his insinuation. It would be a way of apologizing and had undoubtedly been premeditated. After he accepted her, their union would be forbidden, so not making a move on her would display his willpower as time passed, garnering him respect. If she ever made a move on him, and he didn't succumb, he would be able to point fingers at the Xia Clan for the manipulation and use it as a stepping stone to rise a little in the social ladder. Shen should see it as an opportunity.
Yet, that was a part of the Eternal Empire's politics he would not accept.
"Wrong, Captain," Shen replied coldly, placing his hands behind his back. "This is not the Republic of Imperia. You're in Samir, and this is Multiverse Alliance's military. You and Lieutenant Xia Liling stand before Brigade Commander Shen, not the other way around. I won't abide for any of your pathetic ploys. You have one last chance to explain yourself before I order an investigation to be conducted upon you and the Xia Clan for scheming to manipulate someone not from your chain of command."
Frankly, it would've been better for Shen to wait for the girl's first attempt to manipulate him before accusing them of anything. That would be indisputable evidence. Yet, a Void Tide was coming. For the greater good, he would give these people the benefit of the doubt—for now.
Sun Weisheng's following words threw all of Shen's goodwill through the window, "Why, Commander, that's exactly what we intended, though manipulation is too strong a word for a little advising. You're our Field Commander. We can offer help under the Alliance's military internal culture rules." That kept him safe from any investigation. He continued, "And you can reject it. Which would allow us to fight you for the Field Commander position."
He spoke pleasantly, but his eyes didn't hide how upset he was at Shen not following the script—or the pain they promised if he kept pushing.
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Shen almost couldn't believe what he heard. "That's it? All this just to take the Field Commander position from me? It's yours, Captain Sun Weisheng. Do with it as you will."
In most other situations, Shen would've fought to keep the position. Not because he cared about it but because it was his, and he wasn't in the habit of being strong-armed out of anything that belonged to him. But fighting for it had another meaning: struggling to remain part of the Republic of Imperia. The position and their similar culture were the only things linking him to those people.
Yet, he decided he had no desire to be any part of that.
Shen's earlier sense of belonging disappeared right then. If the Republic's High Senatorial Clans were this scheming and, honestly, pathetic, Shen wanted nothing to do with them.
The moment he said the words and decided that in his heart, he felt a ripple go through everyone from Imperia, including himself. His domain had allowed him to feel the boundary between the third and fourth spatial dimensions, and though his senses didn't maintain the same precision without his domain, he could still more or less feel hints of that space at the edge of his awareness. That's where the ripple happened.
Shen didn't know what that was, but something linked him to those people and reacted to his words. He felt tempted to activate his domain and study it with his True Realm but refrained from it. He couldn't use his domain as a clutch whenever he found himself lacking, or he would grow dependent on it. Even an instant was enough for it to improve him, and he would lose opportunities to grow. He had to leave it for life-and-death situations.
He felt no different from before, so it shouldn't be such a critical matter. Yet, he wouldn't let his ignorance jeopardize his safety.
He used his hands behind his back to say, "I want to send a report to the Acting General. A metaphysical power I'm unaware of has touched me and everyone from Imperia. I'm unsure if this also falls under the internal culture exceptions in the rules. Please advise."
| Report sent
| Samir's Commander (A): Don't worry about that.
The quick response calmed Shen. It showed the dragon was aware of things. Even if the General might be lying, if an A-rank wanted that ripple to happen, Shen had no choice but to accept it. He would remain cautious but not worry too much about it until something pointed at it being worse than he currently believed it to be.
Instead, he was more worried about the nigh overwhelming sense of loss he felt. Suddenly, he had no place to call home anymore. Not Earth, not Tar'Shalon, nor the military.
There was an entire multiverse out there, yet he belonged nowhere.
Meanwhile, no C-rank cultivator from Imperia and lower seemed to notice the ripple, but the B-ranks did. They didn't look surprised, though some revealed fear, and the ones belonging to the High Senatorial Clans, a hint of... It wasn't quite fear. Anxiety, perhaps.
Sun Weisheng had the strongest reaction. It was as if Shen had physically slapped him. Shen doubted these people hadn't considered the possibility of Shen giving up on his Field Commander position, but he guessed the ripple had been unexpected. The High Senatorial Clans quickly sent Sun Weisheng many messages, as his eyes moved quickly, reading notification after notification.
Shen wouldn't give them time to adapt their plans. "Our talk is over," he declared. "Return to your position and await orders."
He had given Imperia the benefit of the doubt, but now he had to consider they might be a danger he had to be prepared to fight against. He couldn't get distracted.
Xia Liling looked at Shen with pleading eyes. She wanted to speak with him before being dismissed. He wanted to listen to her—at the very least, he was curious about her voice—but wouldn't give her the chance. Not now. She could send him a message through her Brigade Commander after everyone was properly accommodated in Samir or directly in her free time.
Sun Weisheng opened and closed his mouth a few times. Shen could almost see the gears in his mind working quickly to find a solution. The seconds ticked, and when it was nearly long enough for him to be considered having disregarded the command to return to his position, he found nothing he could use. Instead, he decided to pay the price for disobeying the order to cease discussing non-critical matters.
"Commander, I'll accept my punishment and ask your personal forgiveness, but I must say this: Imperia officially offers Xia Liling as a replacement for the C-rank your Brigade is missing."
Shen sighed. His anger at these ploys was already being replaced with tiredness. This was so... stupid. Why didn't they focus on what mattered?
Alas, the man had lucked out. Despite not realizing it, he could say those words without getting punished. As these people were technically under him and deployed, they could offer one of them for promotion under "general acclamation," as Shen lacked critical personnel, considering he had so few C-ranks under him. That was regarded as critical communication. Shen wasn't obligated to accept the one they suggested, but he had to listen to it.
As much as Shen wanted to just reject it and tell the man to leave again, the proper thing to do was to be forthcoming about some rules so the other party could make an informed decision—and he was part of an Exemplary Brigade.
He said, "Lieutenant Xia Liling is not officially part of my Exemplary Brigade, and I can't assign anyone to it. You must talk to Acting General Long Hei, not me."
The ripple happened again. This time, as Shen had a prior experience feeling it, he understood it should be a domain or Realization blanketing everyone. They were linked and reacted to whatever he did—and possibly what they did.
If any domain affected him without his permission, it would be an attack and thus treason. So, it had to be a Realization.
Shen still knew little about Realizations but understood that some aspects of some forms of Realization affected everyone who got close to its source. The older and more powerful the Realization, the more likely it was to happen. Long distance was a factor that decreased the Realization's influence, but the number of people affected by it close to each other strengthened it locally.
It wasn't hard to guess the Immortal Emperor had a Realization that affected his entire people. That reminded Shen of his father's words when the Immortal Emperor had been scrutinizing the Feng Clan: "The Immortal Emperor is Karma, incarnated and potentialized for good. He pays back grievances tenfold and repays all debts he owes a hundredfold. We did nothing wrong, and after he concludes so, we shall be repaid for every secret of ours he exposed."
That, in turn, explained why Shen had never heard of anyone using any Laws of Karma. He had thought it was real. He had been taught so and even repeated it to everyone in the Pioneer Tutorial. Now, the truth slapped him in the face: the Immortal Emperor had always been a B-rank with a Realization or, most likely, an A-rank. He hadn't ranked up recently, as the news stated. He had always had the Realization of Karma or something similar.
Karma linked everyone from the Eternal Empire together—and now the Republic of Imperia. There was an ethereal relation between people based on giving and taking, good and evil deeds, action and reaction.
From Sun Weisheng's reaction and insistence, the Emperor had some sort of karmic debt to Shen. If Shen had to guess, it should be related to the poisoned gift the antidron had been and the Feng Clan's demise.
When the High Senatorial Clans tried to blackmail Shen into accepting her or losing his Field Commander position, he gave it up. It was no different from it being strong-armed from him. It accrued even greater debt. The fact that it made him resent Imperia as a whole and want to distance himself from the Immortal Emperor likely also added to it.
Shen suspected something more was going on. If they could take the position from him, why scheme? Maybe the Immortal Emperor had ordered them not to just take it. So, when they technically extorted it from him, they also screwed up the orders they received from the origin of Karma itself.
That explained why Sun Weisheng was close to desperate for Shen to accept the girl. Part of the High Senatorial Clans' ploy to control Shen included legitimately providing help in the form of Xia Liling's assistance. It also explained her pleading eyes. She hadn't felt the ripples but had been told at least part of what was happening and how important it was. The Grand Senator didn't want to feel indebted to Shen and had asked his people to help him repay it. Instead, they had made things worse.
That explained so much about the Eternal Empire's culture! About their honor and how it never fell into full political depravation like the Alliance did! When anyone messed up too badly, Karma pulled them back on track. To a point. Somehow. Evidently, no mind control was involved, as they could make mistakes. But it should be important enough if the High Senatorial Clans cared about it.
So, it should be affecting Shen. Yet, he felt nothing in his True Self. In other words, he had been poisoned by an alien Realization he couldn't locate.
This was a life-and-death matter in his book.
Shen activated his Domain of Infinite Improvement—
An invisible hand grasped his True Self and stopped him.
"It's past time we discuss some matters, First Lieutenant Shen," thunder itself seemed to say from all directions, and then Shen was teleported away by a Realization.