"Uugggggggh." Lineir groaned upon waking. His mind was groggy after being unexpectedly caught in the collapsing array.

"Where am I?" He wondered. Mei answered him,

"Kiddo, it looks like you got lucky after the space transfer array shut down and you were transported to a random location. I believe this is the Realm of the Gods based on the increased resistance. As for which particular domain you ended up I have no idea, the higher realms are endlessly vast and there's no telling where the array may have sent you." Lineir looked around and Mizuchi simply sniffed,

"I'm surprised you survived. You're one lucky kid."

He was on a beach. Pristine waves of clear warm water watered the beautiful white shoreline with their frothy waves. He saw strange fishes swimming in the clear warm water, and behind him was a dense tropical jungle. In the background was a huge volcano which belched green smoke into the otherwise clean sky. As his head cleared Lineir immediately checked his spacial ring and saw the orb filled with mortals! He quickly attempted to bind it but found that he was unable to!

"Mei! I can't bind the orb, how can I free my sister?" He said in a panic. Mei scrutinized the orb and said with some apprehension.

"I can think of only two reasons why you wouldn't be able to bind the orb. One, the original owner is much more powerful than you and thus you cannot break his control. Two, this orb requires specialized knowledge and techniques to control. This could be a problem kiddo." Lineir despaired at her words. He asked Mizuchi if she might be able to undo the seal.

"Hah, one of the elders of the Netherworld Refinement Sect owns this orb. Additionally, I'm not allowed to help with something like that even if I wanted to. Nor could I, while I know some minor techniques I am a sword spirit, I have few non-combat related techniques and nothing so complicated as breaking the connection between an elder and this orb! You're lucky as it is that I bother soul searching all this scum for you!" She replied.

"I can tell you one good thing though. After all that spacial turbulence the connection to the Netherworld Refinement Sect implanted in this orb is probably broken. The elder who owns this probably can't use it to find you at the very least. But as for you trying to open it? In your dreams! At some point you'll have to go and soul search the elder for the secret techniques to open the orb. Or convince him to open it for you but as if he'd help someone like you. Remember he considers you a degenerate and a thief!" Lineir was stunned at this logic. HE was the thief? They were trying to refine the soul of his sister! And he was the thief??

"What the hell is this madness. Again and again I'm reminded that only strength matters in this world. Whatever, at least my sister will be safe in the orb. I'll have to grow strong as quickly as possible and rise to the point where I can force the bastard to open it for me!" Lineir felt a heavy pressure and responsibility weigh upon him! No longer was he simply carrying the weight of his own life upon himself, but he had to think about the life of his sister too!

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A strange existence was watching the dark robed youth wander the length of the foreign beach. This figure murmured,

"To enter that place. The only thing they will know is not good fortune but death. Endless death for all involved. It will be a bloody affair if they dare. But nothing to do with me..."

The figure went back inside his cave. He spooled out a little line of fishing wire made from the guts of a rabbit. He sat down on a round stone and stared deep into the cave pool. Then he waited for a tug.

"Ahh...it's been so long. I wonder when I will be able to return against those villainous Heavens."

***********

Lineir was wandering the shoreline. The rolling waves were soothing to his heart which had been filled with such anger and turmoil of late. He also had his sister back. Even if she was sealed inside the orb it was a relief to know that she was at the very least, still alive. It had been so long since he had left Brackenrock City that even though he was a cultivator now he could only feel mournful. So much lost time. Even though he had experienced more in the time since he had left than he had during his entire life as a mortal he still felt a pang of loss that his sister had not been there to share it with him.

"Yiu...don't worry. You will absolutely return to the world. And when you do you will be treated as a queen. No, an empress! My goals before were so small. To think I once wished to simply never have to go hungry. Now I do not even need to eat most times. If my goals do not grow with me then I am truly a failure not just as a cultivator, but as a man." Lineir mused to himself and Mei sighed.

"Kiddo...your Third Heart is growing stronger with your convictions." She had seen it before. Both in her own cultivation and that of countless others. As people grew stronger their ambitions changed. They began to shoulder responsibilities far greater than they had once thought possible. Some rejected this change. That was one path. Some accepted it, that was another path. And others changed their path and found new novel ways to see and explore the world. The world was a strange place with many eccentrics and strange people over the countless eons. Still, even Mei felt a little mournful. She had lost the little boy which once called her a treasure sword and threatened to sell her. Now...someone who had a great destiny carried her forward. She never would have imagined that the mortal boy who did not even have rice to eat could so soon have discovered a path to recovering her physical form. And had even received legacies greater than the ones she had once discovered in foreign lands and ruins. She realized that she had witnessed the birth of a grand talent. Someone who if left alone to grow unchecked would shock the Heavens and Hells and pave a new path for the ages.

Lineir pulled out a gourd of wine which he had looted from the Netherworld Refinement Sect's disciple. It was sealed with various incantations in an unearthly and unknown vine container. One could sense a palpable sense of evil spirits and resentment which filled the gourd. He unstoppered it and a whoosh of screaming wind came out as a surprisingly clear liquid was revealed. Lineir tilted the gourd to his mouth and took a long swig. The liquid's burn felt nice to someone who did not often drink. But on this beach, in some foreign land, for a moment Lineir wished to enjoy himself. Of course, he was vigilant and Mei was always keeping an eye out with her divine sense. Should anything approach from the dark jungle he would be ready.

After some time where Lineir reminisced and cleared the doubts in his hearts, as well as celebrated his victories he purged the alcohol from his system with a burst of Qi. Then he glanced into the dark jungle ahead as the sun had long since set. He left the safety of the beach behind and prepared to enter the unknown once more.