Defying the heavens has its price…
Kenji is a Sundered Soul; a splintered portion of a legendary mystic warrior reborn anew...and his former self wants his body back.
Fresh on the heels of his victory over the Bloody Duke, Kenji must now travel to the smithing city of Kurogane for a chance to remove the seal around his doma. With the seal slowly killing him, only by breaking it will he have a chance to survive and grow strong enough to protect the ones he loves.
With a new master to guide him, he has a good chance, but his use of the forbidden Han Arts has preceded him and the repercussions are already coming to bear. Kenji will have to battle giant spirits beasts, demons and even warring mystic sects for a chance to set things right. And that’s before dealing with the Bloody Duke himself.
But as time runs out, more is at stake than he even realizes. Kenji will need to unlock his potential and advance not just for himself, but for the fate of the entire divine realm…
Sundered Soul: Consequence is book two in the new Wuxia/Xianxia series by bestselling LitRPG author Rick Scott. If you’re a fan of Asian cultivation stories like the Cradle Series, martial arts fantasy and Japanese style Xianxia such as Princess Mononoke, Samurai Shodown and Sekiro, then this is the book for you!
Read Sundered Soul today!
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#Prologue
The nine primal worlds flashed into existence before Alu Hu’Zim. From his throne within the First Celestial Heaven’s Holy Sanctuary, he stared down upon the nine discs hovering before him, each one a window into one of the nine primordial realms far below.
His slate-gray eyes, hidden under thick white brows, were immediately drawn to the 2nd realm of Dao Ziam, his ancestral home. Through the portal he could spy any vantage he desired. The rolling plains of Tu’for, the deep green seas of the Vinnile coast and even the wondrous sky city of Kri’re. It had been well over ten thousand generations since he’s set foot on the firmament of his birth world. But he could never do so again.
Not at the level of ascension he had now reached.
As a Dao Ziam native, Alu Hu’Zim was naturally tall and broad chested, with a head of straight white hair which matched his long flowing beard. His skin was the deep chestnut hue that his people were known for and despite his ability to alter his appearance as desired, he chose to remain true to his heritage. The same went for his traditional dress; his long silver robes trimmed with the ancient, flowing script of the Ziam language, red characters against white. Upon his head he bore the ornate golden headdress of the High Celestial Seer, an artifact so powerful that if placed upon a mundane world, it would cause the fabric of existence itself to fracture in two.
Such was the same reason he himself could never visit his home world again.
Power came at a price.
As he sat upon his gilded throne, he passively cultivated the surrounding essence, absorbing the energies of the heavens themselves, refining the celestial Qi before added it to the ever growing well of his doma. With a thought he could summon the arcane runes that could measure the strength of his Doma, right down to the nearest Dan. But after an eternity of lifetimes spent cultivating, ironically, such measurements meant very little to him now.
Golden tapestries, heralding his many conquests and victories over the millennia, draped the sizeable council room about him. Most were of battles fought across the nine planes of celestial ascendance, defending the prized cultivation worlds against the ever threatening powers of the dark realms. But there were depictions of battles across the countless mundane worlds he had defended as well. For more than a thousand years he had traversed the stars, defending world after world as he grew in power. But the most prized tapestries within the sanctuary were not of his victories but instead of battles not yet fought—scenes he had but glimpsed from within his third eye of various futures unknown. As he gazed upon them, they shifted and changed, the variables of the universe still fluid within his divine sight.
The interior of the council room shone with the light of golden Qi stones, rich with the energies of a thousand suns. They formed the construct of the walls, forged by sacred smiths to create ornate pillars and archways they were adorned with celestial serpents made of ivory and jade. To look upon it was more than mere beauty. Such things held the true power of the heavens themselves. The walls of the sanctuary extended into the open air above, where the purple hued sky of the First Celestial Heaven gave way slightly to the pinprick bodies of stars far beyond.
On the floor below him, and surrounding the nine shimmering portals, were a corresponding number of crystal platforms, set about in a perfect circle about the discs—the gathering place of the Holy Council of Divine Seers. He could recall with vivid clarity every meeting held within these scared walls, some stretching for years of debate, but today’s meeting would be brief.
Or so he had foreseen.
A presence filled the air and Alu Hu’Zim glanced to his side just as a woman in brilliant crystal armor took form next to him, appearing from the aether. Her height—twice that of his own—was rivaled only by her beauty, a minor goddess in her own right. Lyndria’s elegant features—unchanged over a thousand years—still held allure as he regarded her, but her crimson tinted eyes held the spirit of a warrior. His divine retainer and personal guard bowed deeply in greeting.
“Exalted one,” Lyndria spoke with a reverent tone, her words strong and powerful. Her blue hued hair hung in a single braided lock, stretching to her mid-back, hanging between the folds of lightly scaled white wings. Her divine blood pulsed with power, her half-dragon heritage present in both her aura and the twin horns that protruded from the side of her head just above her ears.
“The summons have now arrived,” she said.
As Alu Hu’Zim nodded to her, two figures shimmered into existence upon the crystal pillars, astral projections of their true forms. As powerful as they were, even they could not set foot within the Sanctuary of the First Celestial Heaven as their true selves. Only beings of great power, such as he and Lyndria, could truly call the Sanctuary their home. But even great power could be undone by a weakness from within. And such was the reason for his summoning the two figures before him today.
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The first was a man who wore divine robes of jade and gold, his completely shaven head shining with an aura of celestial presence; a divine monk of the highest order. The nine dots marking his position as the Holy Seer of the 9th realm stood out prominently upon his forehead. He fell to his knees and bowed deeply, touching the dots to the crystal floor.
“Exalted Grand Seer,” he said. “I, Talu Remi, Holy Seer of the 9th Realm, live to serve thee.”
The woman, in contrast, merely bowed to a measured depth upon one knee, the bare minimum required of her station versus his own. “Exalted Grand Seer, I Sah Rah, Holy Seer of the 8th Realm, live to serve thee.”
She wore a plain dark robe, concealing all but her face and head. Her skin was offensively wrinkled, her hair white with age; although her slender features did hint at beauty in her youth. Her ears were slightly pointed, like the Alue people of the 5th realm, but he knew she hailed from much further afar. Not a true cultivator, her years were extended by mundane means, and they had clearly taken their toll. How one such as she had attained a rank of Holy Seer was an anomaly in itself, but her lineage was not his reason for summoning her.
At least not this day.
“Your champion has caused us grave concern from the start, Eighth Seer and now it seems he has further threatened the nine heavens.” Alu Hu’Zim focused on the portal to the 8th Realm and enlarged it for them all to see. Within it came a view of both the realm itself and the divine plane floating above it. Extending his power, Alu Hu’Zim enhanced the image and expanded the flat portal into a sphere.
High in the 8th Heaven, three massive forms swam lazily through the air, great primordial beings from the depths of the dark realms. They circled about the temporal rifts now scarring the surface of the material plane, the fractures appearing like swaths of glowing red clouds. “His breaches have now caused the barriers to weaken and allowed the presence of three Bakunawa to affect the primordial plane. What do you have to say in explanation of this?”
Sah Rah smiled. “I would first like to know, Grand Seer, why the honorable, Talu Remi is here.”
Alu Hu’zim grimaced at her forwardness, but such was always her way. “He is here as a warning,” he said plainly. “You have had two centuries to replace the Holy Templar of your domain, and thus far, you have done more to weaken its defenses against the dark realms than strengthen it.”
“A warning in what way, Grand Seer?”
“Talu Remi has indicated a willingness to be reborn upon your world to replace your fallen candidate.”
Her eyes widened as she looked to the bald-headed monk. “You would shed your celestial status to be reborn a mortal upon my world?”
“In order the ensure the security of the celestial heavens…” the monk replied to her, but instead looked directly at Alu Hu’Zim. “…I would.”
Alu Hu’Zim smiled at the monk’s subtle pledge of service to him.
Sah Rah however scoffed. “And I suppose your sacrifice has nothing to do with atoning for your own failures?”
The woman’s words came bitter and sharp but the monk remained quiet.
She continued, “Might I remind you, honorable Talu Remi that the reason we even need to replace our Holy Templar is because our champion aided in the defense of your realm against the forces of the Ozoku and the Yon’kai. Had your Templar been better prepared, we would have not lost the war…and both of them in the process.”
Talu Remi grew silent, his jaw flexing with a grimace. Still hovering above the floor of the sanctuary, the portal to the 9th Realm remained dark, even Alu Hu’Zim’s great vision unable to penetrate it. It was sealed off by the dark powers which now controlled it, corrupted beyond access.
“It has been nearly three centuries since that day,” Alu Hu’Zim reminded the both of them. “The Ozoku now bleed into the heavens of the 8th realm, consuming newly fallen souls. They make way for the Yon’kai who hunger for the divine essence of a second plane of celestial ascendance to consume. Even now they gorge and grow strong upon the Qi of the 9th Realm. Time is running out. In your unguarded state, Eighth Seer, should a Dark Lord reemerge, your realm would be defenseless and fall prey as well.”
“My champion is still undergoing ascension,” Sah Rah said. “But he will be ready soon.”
“Undergoing?” Talu Remi said. “He was defeated.”
“Not defeated,” she countered. “Refined. And he will reach 1st Sen far quicker than you ever could, with or without your divine foreknowledge.”
“Your tactics are most unorthodox, Eighth Seer,” Alu Hu’Zim said. “And while they have had success in the past, now is not the time for experiments. You have wasted nearly two centuries already on Li Wan Fu and have naught to show for it but further threats to the borders of your realm. Even now the Bakunawa wreak havoc upon the firmament, corrupting it with Dark Qi. Meanwhile your champion lies nowhere—split between a first Dan weakling, a degenerate and a power hungry fiend. Are we to risk the balance of the divine heavens on such a gamble?”
“It is refinement, as I said,” she insisted. “We all know why Li Wan Fu was chosen. And now his strength has been refined a hundred fold. He will reach his station. And with his strength he will not only defend the 8th Realm, but reclaim the 9th and the lost mundane worlds beyond. This…is what I have foreseen.”
She smirked at Talu Remi and the monk scoffed in return.
Alu Hu’Zim pondered the thought as he stared into the completely dark portal of the 9th Realm. For a seer of his celestial power to see only the unknown was a rarity indeed. Frightening almost. Like being mortal once again.
Who knew when those corrupt forces would become strong enough to challenge them again? But challenge them they would. An attack upon the 8th Realm was inevitable. And he needed a powerful defender on its front. For a scant moment he wished he himself could defend it. But the same laws that prevented him from returning to his homeworld also prevented him from stepping foot upon the 8th Realm. Or any that were too far removed in power. Only by raising a champion of their own, could one of equal power be permitted to enter the 8th Realm; the same way Li Wan Fu’s predecessor had aided in defending the 9th.
But now both realms could be lost.
The 8th Realm would remain defenseless until Li Wan Fu ascended, and then became strong enough to allow for Templars of the 7th Realm to assist. But at this rate, such could be over a millennia away.
More than enough time for the Yon’kai to cultivate a new Dark Lord…and strike.
Alu Hu’Zim grimaced.
To lose another realm of celestial ascendance to the darkness would unbalance the heavens beyond repair. They would then be too weak to defend against the armies breeding in that darkness.
But what Sah Rah said was also true. Li Wan Fu was selected for a reason.
He had seen it as well.
Her champion indeed had potential not encountered for countless generations. But like her, he was a gamble of risk and liability. For as many positive outcomes as he had foreseen, Alu Hu’Zim saw the same number of catastrophes, caused by Li Wan Fu’s own hand—the Bakunawa now affecting the heavens of the 8th Realm no exception.
“I will give you twenty years to make progress,” he said. “Should your champion not reach the 10th trial by that time, I will honor Talu Remi’s request to be reborn a mortal upon your world and assume the role as Holy Templar.”
Sah Rah looked up at him shocked. “Only twenty years?”
“Your time is already well spent, Eighth Seer. If you cannot achieve this then I will seek your replacement as well.”
It was the woman’s turn to grimace now.
Alu Hu’Zim smiled inwardly. He could sense the fear within her. Fear that if used correctly, would fuel a fire of determination—the same that would be required to forge her champion into not just a cultivator, but a defender of the divine realms. “And if for reason of fate, he should fall victim to his own consequence, then the result shall take effect immediately.”
“I understand,” she said bowing to him. “Fear not, Grand Seer. Twenty years is more than enough time for my champion to succeed.”
Alu Hu’Zim huffed at her bravado and presumptuousness.
There was no determination there yet, still only fear.
“For the sake of the nine heavens…and your own exalted station…” He stared down at her. “I pray, Eighth Seer, that you are right.”