Blue energy poured out of Ming and surrounded them both. It crackled like lightning but felt like a cool mist.

Without warning, Ming rocketed upward. They crashed through the roof of the warehouse, tearing through the metal like tissue paper, and soared high into the sky.

Ming flew faster than before, and the world shrank beneath them. Buildings quickly faded from view, replaced by blue oceans and the continents beneath them, lit by the sparkling lights of millions of homes.

It looked beautiful, and Jie suddenly felt homesick. She turned her gaze away. She had to be strong.

Ming had already made good on his side of the bargain. Now it was her turn.

They journeyed beyond the atmosphere, whipped past satellites, and continued into the darkness of space. They picked up speed as they went until Earth itself shrank to a pale blue dot far in the distance...

Jie could breathe just fine and didn't feel any different at all. Crackling energy surrounded her like a cocoon, and she safely soared through the vacuum of space in the dragon's clutches.

"Let's hope this works. The pain will be unimaginable. But, no matter what, you must hang on to life. Do you understand? If you don't... your soul will drift into the afterlife. The only way to keep it from doing so is to cling to life through it all regardless of how much it hurts. Of how much you yearn for relief. Don't even think of giving up," Ming said.

"Whatever it takes, Ming. You said I'd have to walk through fire and death. This will be the least of what awaits us, right?" Jie said.

Ming smiled. "I was right to choose you, kiddo," he said.

When they'd traveled so far into space that Jie saw only the twinkle of countless stars around them, Ming stopped and weaved his hands in a complex series of motions.

The mist held her while more of the mysterious energy poured from Ming's body. An azure sphere formed around them, covered with magical-looking circles and strange symbols.

She wanted to ask what he was doing, but his teeth were gnashed into a silent snarl and his brow furrowed.

Whatever he was doing, it was more difficult than any miracle he'd shown her so far.

The bubble around them glowed brighter and brighter.

"I had to get us a bit away from your world before I activated this. It wouldn't have been quite as bad as remaking your body, but it would've decimated a few of your countries at least.

"This will connect to the inscriptions the elders prepared for my journey to my home world and carry us back. While it brings us to my home, I will remake your body. Heavens be kind to us..."

He finished with a flourish, and the orb glowed brighter and brighter until it exploded into sparks like stars that shot across the universe.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, she and Ming were yanked forward at mind-bending speed.

The planets and stars around her stretched and warped, her stomach lurched, and Jie clamped her hand over her mouth. Dizziness washed over her, so fierce she couldn't tell up from down.

It was like when her parents took her to the park, and she spent far too long on the merry-go-round. Only about a million times worse.

Still, it wasn't quite as excruciating as she'd expected.

Then she felt it.

Pain. Pain like she'd never thought possible. A thousand times more painful than when those men broke her bones and shattered her spine. It felt like a thousand suns burned away every molecule of her body.

Jie screamed.

"Hold on, child! Whatever you do, no matter how painful it becomes you must cling to life!" Ming yelled.

The pain soon became so intense that Jie couldn't even scream. She wanted to, but no sound came from her lips. No air passed from her lungs.

Her entire body locked up, frozen in agony, while they soared through space and Ming tore apart the very fabric of her being.

Jie's blood boiled inside her veins, her heart squeezed like Ming was crushing it with a clawed fist, and her eyes felt like they would explode at any moment. All she knew was agony. From her teeth to her toes. Even her hair hurt. She wouldn't have thought that was possible.

She wanted it to end... she wanted the pain to stop.

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she lacked the ability to so much as blink. Please let this end! She cried.

With that thought, she felt the pain start to diminish... it felt so good. She felt weightless and free... every second the pain grew less... oh, she wanted this... no more pain, or suffering... just a peaceful--

"No!" Ming roared, "You must fight!"

Jie snapped out of it and latched onto life again. Agony washed over her like a tidal wave once more. It was unbearable. It was torture. But, she would endure!

She'd made a deal. She couldn't go anywhere. He'd promised her everything she could ever dream of. He'd already healed her spine and got justice for her parents.

She could not fail him!

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Jie's heart yearned for release, but that was not an unfamiliar sensation. So what if it was infinitely worse now? So what if every second felt like an eternity of torment? So what if every cell of her body begged for the pain to stop?

Pain just meant she wasn't dead yet. That it wasn't over.

She had a reason to hope now where before there'd been none. No matter how terrible the pain got, she would not submit. She focused on each second, determined to make it through to the next. When a second became too much to endure, she focused on the idea of fractions of a second. A moment so small that by the time she'd thought of enduring it, she already had and the next moment had arrived.

And with each passing moment, each torturous fraction of a second, she grew just that little bit closer to being remade.

The pain was beyond anything she could've imagined, but she thought of Ming. Of the power she'd seen the dragon wield. Of his promises that she would become a goddess. To walk upon clouds and split mountains with her fists.

He'd slaughtered the men that haunted her nightmares like they were nothing. Bullets had bounced off him with less effect than spitballs.

Jie wanted that power.

There is no force in this universe that will pry my life from my hands, she thought darkly even as liquid fire bubbled inside her skull.

In the years of being trapped in a hospital bed, a prisoner in her own body, she had vowed that she would go through anything to walk again... to be free.

She was so close to achieving that now. To achieving the impossible. No amount of pain would ever be enough to stop her.

***

Ming panted heavily as he pushed himself to his limits and beyond remaking Jie's body, but it still wasn't enough.

Damn it! This hadn't been the plan! He was supposed to go to a world filled with powerful warriors and find one to bring back with him... he wasn't supposed to remake a body!

His gleaming scales rippled with tension, and his breaths came out in wheezing gasps as he tore apart her cells and reformed them, reinforced with his power.

He sculpted her dantian and her meridians. He'd made them as wide and strong as he could, and now he was paying the price.

He wanted her to have the most incredible body possible so she could ascend into the ranks of the gods with the most outstanding cultivation base the universe had ever seen. But, he'd been too greedy.

He had reached too far, and now he wouldn't be able to finish the job.

The girl would die, and so would he.

Still, he was stubborn and ferocious, and he pushed forward even in the face of certain defeat.

The girl was hanging on to life despite having her body remade while she was still in it! How could he let some mortal, human girl with not even the barest shred of cultivation best him in a show of willpower?

No! He was a descendant of the mighty lightning dragon, and if this was to be his end then he would die while giving his all!

He roared his defiance to the universe and forced his energies to pour through his meridians. Vessels burst inside him, and blood dripped from his mouth, but he pushed onward.

Laughter echoed around him. Even inside his own mind, but he couldn't sense anyone nearby.

"What's this I see? A dragon making a body for a mortal girl? And a weakling dragon at that," said an alien voice.

What now? What new danger must he face? He couldn't battle in this state, but maybe he could bluff his way out of it. What was it? Bandits? How could anyone see him when they traveled at such a speed thanks to the elders' formation?

"Who's there?" Ming growled through clenched teeth, "Reveal yourself!"

The voice laughed even harder. "Hmm... I see why you chose her. Her mind is sharp like the swords of old, her heart is full of will, and even her soul is impossibly strong. Yes... you've chosen wisely, young dragon," said the voice.

Still, Ming sensed nobody around them. No aura, or even the faintest trace of power.

Ice cold fear ran down his spine like a waterfall.

Who or what was this? To read Jie so easily, and yet remain utterly hidden from him... the owner of this voice was likely many times more powerful than he himself.

If it wanted a fight, they would die like ants under the glare of a magnifying glass.

"Does she know of the sacrifices you're making, dragon?" asked the voice.

More blood dribbled down Ming's chin, but he forced himself to press on. If whoever this was wanted them dead, there was nothing he could do. Not that it mattered. He'd been overzealous when making her body, and they would die soon anyway.

"I sacrifice nothing that cannot be earned back with time," Ming said as respectfully as he could though blood clogged his throat and he spluttered as he spoke.

The voice laughed again. "Perhaps you're right, dragon," it said, "but you will both die unless you stop and give up on the girl."

Who was this already? Ming's pride rankled at being talked to like this, and he needed to focus on making a body for the girl! As if it wasn't difficult enough without some mystical voice bothering him!

"She has the harder task and has not given up yet," Ming growled, "what dragon would ever give in where a little girl would not?"

There was a sound like rolling thunder, only a hundred times louder. Ming's scales vibrated from the sheer force of the stranger's laughter.

"What dragon indeed!" the voice roared, "You've amused me, dragon. And the girl is a curious one... I want to see what happens with her. I shall give her and you a gift. Use it wisely."

The girl's body blazed with power and light. A thousand times the energy Ming could produce.

It shaped her body and reformed it. It saturated every cell with the Essence of the Heavens and the Earth. It fortified her with qi, surrounded that fortification with spiritual energy, and then finally purified it all with astral energy.

It sculpted her dantian to be even larger and more impressive than Ming's overzealous attempt had been and made even more changes within her body. Most of which Ming couldn't even begin to follow or understand.

Ming's eyes were wide, and his jaw hung open. What power! A trickle of his blood poured from his open mouth and onto the girl's forehead.

"Hmm? Oh... yes. I think that could be very interesting..." the voice said.

The blood flowed into Jie's eyes and mouth and vanished without a trace.

Her whole body blazed with radiant energy, and her already pale skin turned as white as freshly fallen snow. Her lips darkened until they were as red as blood.

Her hair grew and flowed down to her hips and transformed from dark black to various shades of blue. The tips were a blue so light as to be almost white and the roots were as dark as the ocean when lit only by gentle moonlight.

Even her nails changed, darkening until they were as black as a starless night.

Energy slammed into Ming then, gushing into his body and stopping up his wounds. Not healing them, but he wasn't dying. That was more than he could've hoped for.

"Take care of her, dragon," said the voice, "I'll be following your adventures. I'm curious to see what you two do... and especially what becomes of the girl."

Ming snapped his jaw shut. His heart thundered in his chest. The body she possessed now was... phenomenal. Whoever or whatever the voice belonged to was clearly of a power greater than any cultivator he'd ever known.

Ming bowed his head to the vast emptiness of space. "Thank you for your generous gift. I shall remember your kindness until the end of my days," he said.

There was no response.

Ming sighed. His internal injuries were staunched, but he was still terribly wounded, and even his cultivation base was severely damaged.

But, he was alive, and so was the girl. They'd been unbelievably fortunate to receive such a blessing from this being. Or so he hoped.

One could never be sure.

Their speed through the universe slowed, and the familiar sight of his world appeared before them.

Jie was still asleep, and he shook her gently.

The poor thing had fallen unconscious once her soul was bonded to her new body, but she'd held on to life through it all. He'd known many mighty cultivators that couldn't have done what she had.

That strange being was right. He'd made an excellent choice with the girl, but now she should wake up... she should see the world he needed her help to save.

He gazed at the splendor of Xiannu, and his heart swelled. Finally, he was home.