There are People beyond People, and Heavens beyond the Heavens.

The first time he heard the idiom, the speaker had been a rival gang leader named Silent Pei, a man who slew five experienced assassins before the task fell to Goujian. Technically, it was an open bounty offered in drunk desperation rather than a personally assigned job, but he needed the protection his gang leader, Iron Ding, provided from the many enemies he’d made in his short time on the streets. Had Iron Ding died, Goujian would have followed soon after, so there was nothing to lose in trying.

Thus, armed only with a severed head, taken from a thug unfortunate enough to pass for Iron Ding once bloodied and disfigured, Goujian met with Silent Pei under the guise of defecting to his side. Infamous for his debauched ways, the gang leader was the last person a child of eleven should have gone to for protection, but the arrogant pederast had an exaggerated opinion of his charm and allure. With barely a glance at the severed head, he offered Goujian protection with one caveat, a condition he was not only expecting, but also counting on. Minutes later, Silent Pei lay dying in his bedroom, his torso punctured twenty-three times by Goujian's scavenged shank, crafted from a chopstick he picked up during the short jaunt from the gang’s hideout to Silent Pei’s private quarters.

And to think, Goujian had been ready to suffer for days, if not weeks before finding an opportunity to kill his target...

Spoken with the gang leader’s last breath, the idiom had been meant as a warning of Goujian’s eventual comeuppance when he inevitably reached beyond his station, but his reaction had been one of scorn and derision. These were the words of the downtrodden and defeated, used by those too incapable and incompetent to rise above their peers, so he never took them to heart. If someone stood above him, then he would only need to surpass them along with anyone else who barred his path, and if he failed, then that would only mean he himself lacked the drive and perseverance to continue. To say there were People beyond People, and Heavens beyond the Heavens was to adopt a defeatist attitude, because even back then, in his darkest of times, Goujian still had faith in the Mother Above and believed she always left a path to salvation, meaning that no matter the trial or tribulation before him, there was a way to overcome it.

Well now, Goujian believed no more, not only because his faith in the Mother Above had waned, but because no matter how he approached the problem, he saw no path to salvation around the obstacle before him.

Lungs burning, limbs heavy, and with broken bones a plenty, he wanted nothing more than to fall back and escape from this vicious pummelling, but the young Emperor had yet to spring his trap so Goujian could do naught but grit his teeth and bear it. Resisting the urge to Scry on Falling Rain due to the young Emperor’s warning, he peered down and studied his foe instead. A formidable warrior worthy of his reputation, the Living Legend Nian Zu was a warrior without peer, but one burdened by the foolish notions of honour and morality. Without these constraints weighing him down, he could have defeated Goujian a thousand times over after their first exchange, but instead, he kept to the rules of their little duel and fought from the ground while Goujian stood on the battlements above. Three-and-a-half-metres didn’t seem like much of a height advantage, but having to jump in order to reach his opponent severely limited Nian Zu’s offensive options.

A good thing too, because if they’d fought two hours earlier before Goujian’s transformation, he would have died in the first exchange, his skull shattered and chest caved in by the aged warrior’s heavy attacks. Even with his reinforced skin, muscles, and bones, he couldn’t afford to take Nian Zu’s aerial attacks head on, and he shuddered to think how powerful this Colonel General might be with both feet planted on firm ground and a vast reserve of Chi to draw from instead of the scraps left to him after utilizing his famed Shooting Star multiple times.

Facing off against his foe, Goujian felt a hint of pride and a tinge of regret, for he saw in Nian Zu a kindred spirit and possible friend if they’d met in different times under different circumstances. This was a true Hero of the people, one fighting not for personal power and political interests, but to defend the weak against those who would seek to harm them. He fought for the people first, and country second, which meant history would prove he stood on the wrong side in this conflict between Chosen and Imperial, but there would be no convincing him of the Truth. After a lifetime of instruction and indoctrination, Nian Zu’s mind was closed to the Heavens and unable to accept their guidance, which meant he would continue with his misguided actions and fight against the Chosen until his dying breath.

Such a shame. The Chosen of Heaven could use a man of Nian Zu’s calibre, a shining beacon of Martial Skill and personal integrity which few could match, though Goujian would be lying if he claimed he didn’t want to rip the man’s vile, contemptible tongue out of his head. It’d been many decades since anyone dared called Goujian a ‘Mad Dog’ to his face, and he yearned to make an example of Nian Zu so none would ever dare do so again.

“Nine moves have passed,” Goujian said, his calm facade masking his desperate relief. “One more and our agreement ends. Guard your head well, Nian Zu, for this Confessor means to take it, and unlike you, I accomplish what I set out to achieve.”

Erupting in hearty, forced laughter, Nian Zu retorted with yet another low-brow insult. “I’ve seen dogs eat shit before, but this is the first time I’ve heard one spew shit.” Tapping his bared neck with the blade of his hand, he taunted, “Come down and fight, Mad Dog, if you dare. Nian Zu’s neck is washed and ready, if your blade can reach it, but know this: better men and beasts than you have tried, and they are now ashes scattered to the wind.”

Steam visibly rising from his robes, Goujian boiled with fury while Imperial soldiers cheered for their vulgar hero. The young Emperor had instructed him to offer this duel, for the immobile nature of their exchange made up for the many flaws of Goujian’s new body. His poor ability to regulate heat stood chief amongst his current concerns, but True Balance lay tantalizingly out of reach even in these dire circumstances, and thus there was no easy solution. Short of another near death experience, he wasn’t certain how to find True Balance again, but now was not the time to try new things and explore his options. “You’ll not escape the shame of failure so easily,” Goujian declared, wondering when the young Emperor’s plan would come into effect, a plan which was never shared in its entirety. “Make your final move and let the world see you for what you are, an aged senior whose glory days are long behind him.”

Nian Zu responded with a round of genuine laughter but no further explanation, most likely because he believed his enemies had fallen for his ruse. The Colonel General was all too happy to waste time with this duel while his reinforcements moved into place, and in truth, time worked against the Chosen of Heaven here in Sinuji. At full strength, they could have overrun the walls with ease and razed the fort within the span of an hour, but even though almost half their forces had survived the man-made inferno, only a precious handful like Goujian and the young Emperor had emerged unscathed. The Chosen of Heaven had suffered relatively few fatalities thanks to the efforts of the young Emperor’s Transcendents and his Ancestral Beast allies, their massive and durable Domains warding off the worst of the fiery trap, but the majority were still in no condition to fight. Ruptured eardrums from the thunderous explosion, scalded lungs from super-heated air, fractured bones from overturned earth, it would be days, if not weeks before the Chosen of Heaven recovered to full strength.

As for the Defiled auxiliaries? There was nary an uninjured savage to be found, with many sporting grievous injuries which would have left a Martial Warrior crippled or unconscious. Their fortitude was not due to Defiled endurance, but rather a testament to their foolish Path, weak mortals who surrendered too much and lost much of their rational minds to the torrent of Heavenly Energy and barely even noticed their pain anymore. Animalistic power and endurance to go along with their intellect, these inhuman savages were a disgrace to humanity and of no use except to be thrown away. What did it matter if they lost all eight-hundred and fifty thousand savages they’d brought to Sinuji? There were still more to call upon from the Western Province, and so long as the Chosen of Heaven and the young Emperor survived, then the war for humanity’s future would continue until victory was theirs.

A victory more easily obtained if Living Legend Nian Zu and Undying Savage Falling Rain were deprived of their titles and their lives here tonight.

The tenth and final exchange began the same as the nine previous ones, with Nian Zu striding slowly towards the inner wall while Goujian stood on the battlements above. Just one of the Living Legend’s many moves to draw this duel out, though an argument could be made to call this tactical prudence. Once Nian Zu’s feet left the ground, his course of attack was all but locked in place, with little to no room for correction or adjustment, while Goujian had ample time to react accordingly. Fast though the Colonel General might be, he could not move faster than thought, and so long as Goujian was ready and waiting, it would be nigh impossible to break through his many layers of defences in a head-on clash.

Knowing all this and more, Nian Zu still slowly advanced across the courtyard, step by careful step. Almost all of Sinuji watched this clash with bated breath, because even though the outcome could not change fate, neither side wanted to see the other succeed. Even the feral, savage Defiled were affected by morale, fighting all the fiercer when their Champions emerged victorious and prone to scurry away like rats when discouraged or disheartened. Though they might not know of Nian Zu’s name or reputation, they had to acknowledge his strength after his earth-shaking attempt to assassinate Zhu Chanzui. While it ended in failure, few Martial Warriors were powerful enough to injure an Ancestral Beast, and fewer still could do so and emerge unscathed, but the Colonel General had done both and still had the strength to fight against Goujian, a Peak Expert in his own right who possessed a body reforged by the Heavens themselves.

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There were People beyond People, but how many could there be beyond Living Legend Nian Zu?

Dreading this last and final exchange, he watched his foe with the utmost concentration for fear of overlooking a vital clue or falling for some nefarious feint. If the Living Legend’s mace were a hand-span longer than Goujian’s hooked-sword instead of the other way around, then his life would have already been forfeit even with his many advantages, so he could not afford to relax just yet. Nian Zu’s every step was measured and deliberate, his posture impeccable and stance guarded, ready to advance or retreat at the first sign of treachery or weakness.

Then, his presence melted away from Goujian’s perception, and it took no small effort just to keep track of his opponent. This was a feat he’d never encountered, for it was not Concealment drawing his eye away from Nian Zu, but his very existence blending into the world around him until it felt utterly natural for him to be there. Like an accomplished butcher carving effortlessly through meat or a master tailor making his needle and thread dance to his whims, Nian Zu’s movements ascended beyond the means of ordinary mortals, mundane effort taken to such extremes that it almost appeared supernatural in practice. Though merely walking into battle, he did so by taking One with the World to a higher level, not only authorized by the Heavens, but approved by them as well, marking Nian Zu as a Martial Warrior unlike any Goujian had ever met before.

One, who until this very moment, had been holding back.

The attack arrived before Goujian’s eyes and the mace darkened the world in sight. Helpless to react, he could do naught but watch death approach. It wasn’t that he didn’t try to defend himself or reacted too late, but rather the Colonel General was moving far too quickly to defend against, his body crossing several meters before Goujian’s arms could move mere centimetres to intercept. Only now did he suspect that Zhu Chanzui had been boasting when he claimed Nian Zu’s attack was not worth dodging, because if the man himself could move this quickly, then how many times faster was his famed Shooting Star?

Then the world shifted around him and Goujian found himself standing on the fields of Sinuji surrounded by untold numbers of Defiled, almost a hundred meters away from the inner wall with a single Transcendent guard at his side. Half dragged and half carried away by his armoured Transcendent escort, Goujian felt chills for the first time since the inferno as he stared in shock at the fort walls, for even though there was a veritable horde of Defiled savages between him and his foe, he knew it would prove little obstacle to the Shooting Star.

Nian Zu had spoken true. If he wanted Goujian’s head, he could easily take it himself. All nine previous exchanges had been little more than pomp and pageantry to buy time, a realization which thoroughly unnerved Goujian.

Though the young Emperor cautioned him against Scrying on Falling Rain, nothing had been said about Scrying in general, so Goujian swallowed the lump in his throat and turned his attention to the battle at hand. There Nian Zu stood at the forefront of the battle while arrows and bolts flew overhead, swatting aside Defiled Champions like flies as they converged upon him, each one seeking the thrill of a challenge only to find they’d reached far, far above their station. Most didn’t even make it past Nian Zu’s elite guards fighting at his side, famed Peak Experts one and all who were loyal to the Hero of the Wall and him alone. Even the common Imperial soldiers were a force to be reckoned with, because with their spirits burning and morale high, they fought with such zeal and ferocity one might mistake them for the feral savages even with the tribal Defiled arranged against them.

Though still vastly outnumbered and lacking the advantage of walls to stand upon, with a paragon like Nian Zu to lead them, the Imperial forces would emerge victorious here today if they could hold until reinforcements arrived. This, more than anything made Goujian anxious for their cause, because while the young Emperor feared to let Falling Rain grow, Nian Zu was a more tangible and credible threat. Even with all their advantages, the Chosen of Heaven were still unable to break through the first line of Imperial defences, defences the Living Legend had no small part in creating. How would they fare against the second line, and the third? Suppose the Chosen of Heaven pushed past all three lines and brought the fight to the East, how would they fight while surrounded by enemies on all sides?

Snarling at his own cowardice, Goujian tore his arm away from the Transcendent and strode back towards the battlefield, intent on razing Sinuji to the ground here and now if only to erase his deep-rooted shame. He only made it a few steps before the Transcendent reappeared before him, its featureless face so composed and neutral it almost seemed to mock him. Pushing it aside, he continued forward until the young Emperor Sent, “Retreat and return to this Sovereign’s side, Confessor. The opportunity is lost, the Devourer beyond our reach, for the Predator awakens, and it hungers.”

Courage drained from his veins at the young Emperor’s tone, one laced with undisguised dread and terror. The Predator, yet another piece on the board Goujian was previously unaware of, but he felt it best not to ask. Against his better judgment, he turned back to Scry upon Falling Rain and see exactly what had unnerved the young Emperor so, and what he saw confounded him to no end. There, at the back of the courtyard, laid Falling Rain’s camp, in complete and utter disarray following a combined Wraith and Transcendent attack. Contrary to expectations, the majority of corpses were not Imperial or Bekhai, but Defiled and Transcendent instead. As he suspected, there were still more Concealed Experts hidden about the runt, and these ones were even more formidable than the others, four veiled, leather-clad warriors who moved with supernatural speed and inhuman grace while fending off multiple Transcendents each. There was also a portly member of the Brotherhood, a valiant, ferocious warrior with a face twisted in rage as he slaughtered Demon and Wraith alike, an untouchable storm of fury crashing through a sea of chaos. Goujian’s traitor Aspirants were there too, MuYang, Gunan, Jadhar, and Kanri to name a few, but there were still more he recognized, once-loyal allies whom he had believed dead and buried by the Imperial Clan’s efforts to snuff out Goujian’s organization.

Then there were the eight Peak Experts from Nian Zu’s honour guards, and a smattering of mundane soldiers who were surprisingly adept at picking out Wraiths, but none of this was the reason why the young Emperor’s ambush had ultimately failed. In all the chaos and confusion, Goujian missed seeing him right away, but there Falling Rain was, hale and healthy as could be, chasing after a lizard-like Transcendent with a feral grin stretched across his face. Were it a creature capable of emotion, Goujian would have said the bestial Transcendent was panicked and flustered, scrambling to get away from the gaunt, unarmed, runt instead of killing him outright, but surely that could not be the case. After long seconds of frenzied flight, the Transcendent finally lashed out with its bladed tail and Goujian lips stretched in a smile –

Which died on his lips as Falling Rain stopped the Transcendent’s attacks with naught but his bare hands.

Stopped.

Not blocked. Not parried. Not Deflected, but stopped, the powerful tail sinking into an invisible barrier which absorbed the force of its attack.

Gripping the bladed-tail with a single hand, Falling Rain’s body flailed about while the lizard-like Transcendent lashed its tail to and fro in a desperate effort to free itself, but to no avail. As if stuck fast with unyielding glue, Falling Rain’s palm remained attached to the tail while the rest of his body simply surrendered to the flow, like a flowing ribbon trailing behind a kite instead of a human made of flesh and bone. Any attempt to smash him into the ground or against an obstacle ended the same way, his floating body bouncing on and skidding over dirt, Wraith, Transcendent, and object alike like an acrobat tumbling across stage or an apple floating in a river.

Then Falling Rain landed on his feet and seemingly... reversed the flow of momentum, somehow turning the Transcendent’s strength against it to effortlessly lift it high into the air and smash it down into the dirt, where it most definitely did not bounce or skid.

With a visible cackle of delight, the runt’s amber eyes lit up in cold delight as he pounced upon his fallen foe and punched clean through its torso. This was the work of Domain, it had to be, yet even Nian Zu’s skills seemed inferior and lacking when compared to Falling Rain’s effortless grace. A combination of Deflection, Reverberation, and Lightening to create the barrier against impact was an impressive display of skill and control, but even more impressive was the raw power required to injure a Transcendent bare handed. Frail as the runt’s body was, the amount of Chi which had gone into Reinforcement and Amplification must have been staggering to the extreme, not to mention the significant expenditure required to break through the Transcendent’s Domain and protect himself from Ichor.

Try as he might, Goujian couldn’t imagine a scenario in which he could replicate Falling Rain’s feat without expending more than half his reserves, a half which should dwarf the amount of Chi Falling Rain’s Core would hold for decades to come, even if it hadn’t been shattered and broken so many months ago.

Then Goujian had no more time for imagination as he tried to figure out why Falling Rain would plunge his free hand into the Transcendent’s torso as well. Rather than scream in pain or frown with effort, the runt closed his eyes in bliss as the yellow-green Ichor travelled up his arms to the elbow before sloughing off into the grass as a greyish, watery sludge, his skin untouched and unharmed by the caustic fluid. The pieces fell into place and Goujian physically recoiled in surprise, for he finally understood why the Uniter had titled Falling Rain the ‘Devourer’. “How is this possible? He’s absorbing the Heavenly Energy contained within the Transcendent for his own use!”

“A dreadful force of nature, the Predator,” the young Emperor said from atop his mount, and only then did Goujian realize he’d returned to his liege’s side and had voiced the question out loud. “But one easily ignored before it found agency with the Devourer’s assistance.”

“They are not one and the same?”

“No, still separate,” the young Emperor replied, gesturing for Goujian to mount up as he guided his gajashia west to retreat. “Though for how long, this Sovereign will be hard pressed to even guess.”

Trembling from head to toe as he fell in line, Goujian reminded himself that Falling Rain was still mortal, and thus could still be killed, so all was not lost yet. “So what now?” he asked, wholly expecting to be ignored, but to his surprise, he received an immediate reply.

“We bide our time and grow our strength,” the young Emperor said, heavily stressing the adjectives, “Until such a time when this Sovereign has an answer to Predator and Devourer alike, as well as whatever else might be hiding within the Azure Sea Empire. You, Martial Brother, and other Chosen like you might well be the answer this Sovereign seeks, but not as you are now.” Tone lightening in almost giddy relief, the young Emperor added, “With luck, the Predator might even escape the Devourer’s control and leave the Imperial Clan no choice but to deal with this prickly problem for us.”

Yes... yes, whatever this Predator was, it was far more powerful than a mere Bekhai runt, so it would be best if they didn’t have to deal with it. Following the young Emperor away, Goujian listened with half a mind to him rambling on about a new comrade, but his attention was focused on Falling Rain. Through Scrying, Goujian watched as Wraiths died and Transcendents fled, with countless of the former and two of the latter falling to the Bekhai runt before the disastrous assassination attempt came to an end. The battle between Defiled and Imperial continued a stone's throw away, but between their defensible positions and Bekhai archers, it was clear the Imperials would have little difficulty holding until their allies arrived to save them.

Thus, for the second time since the war began, Goujian and the young Emperor would leave Sinuji in defeat. Such was life, trials and tribulations, but this war had yet to end.

Before breaking off his Scrying, Goujian took one last look at his foe and almost fell flat on his face when he found the blood-soaked Predator staring back. There was no bliss anymore, no anger or indignation, no emotion of any kind behind the runt’s oddly coloured eyes. Goujian saw only one thing in those amber orbs, and it chilled him to the bone. Hunger, unending hunger directed towards him from almost a kilometre away, the Predator somehow sensing Goujian from beyond his Scrying, much like the Bekhai brat had done back at the Northern Wall. It was only then that he realized his new physique might hold the same allure as a Transcendent’s Ichor, for it too had been crafted from the raw Energy of the Heavens, and he shuddered to think what would happen to his eternal soul if the Devourer should ever consume him.

Though having recently divested himself of his foolish belief in religious concepts, Goujian gazed upon the Predator and saw not Falling Rain, but rather the Father’s Maw in human form, here in this world to Devour all in existence.

A thought to inspire immeasurable despair and absolute terror.

Chapter Meme