Godking Searing heart stood on his platform with a calm expression, but he could feel his lips drying at record speed. Among the alliance forces present, he was the strongest and thus their leader, yet even he felt his lips turning dry so he didn’t want to think about how things were for the forces currently within their fortress. Yes, he had been too distracted by the fact that Yao Jun had killed several Godkings on his own, his grand-daughter being among them. That un-befitting strength that had drawn their attention, he had forgotten that it was just the tip of the iceberg. When they settled on his titles, why had they gone with King of Demonic Deities and Nine Heaven’s Demon God? It was because of this, this little fact that had slipped his mind. Wherever Yao Jun went, his horde followed with him.

"So these are your Demonic Deities… Yes, they certainly give off that air. But this isn’t all, is it?"

Searing Heart licked his lips as he spoke, wiping away the dryness as he pushed anything but cold focus to the bottom of his stomach. There should be something more, something worse than this. He’d fought two Godkings and ruined an entire planet without giving the two Godkings a chance to flee, one of them even specialized in space. If he wanted to achieve something like that then he needed something greater than what he was showing right now, and that unknown factor gave Searing Heart an even greater sense of anxiety right now.

Yao Jun stood on his earthen platform, surrounded by the myriad of elements that his companions had conjured forth. His gaze slid away from Searing Heart and landed on the metal cube that glowed with an eerie light, just waiting for a chance to unleash the gathered energy. More than a planet’s worth of people were hiding within that cube, three of them being Godkings, all of them waiting for him to show an opening. After all, in their eyes they were the heroes, and he, he was just the demon standing in their way. But oh well, it was true that he was pretty much a demon, he certainly had the cold-blooded selfishness needed for that role as he raised his finger and pointed at Searing Heart.

"Tie him down, stall him, kill him, do whatever you see fit. Just buy me a bit of time."

Simple orders, or perhaps requests since they were coming from him, were enough. Those he brought with him wouldn’t need more, he had to be confident in that belief if he wanted to move forward. He also had to be confident in the belief that they could handle the strongest Godking present, as well as whatever the fortress would be throwing at them. Faith, they had faith in him so he needed to have faith in them, and thus faith would be the reward of the faithful.

The order was given, and as tended to be with directives given by god, they were immediately acted upon. A bit of the water Dong Bo had created parted as a bullet shot out, Zhuan Yi streaking through the air like a white blur. The blur exploded and expanded, turning into a white net when it was right in front of Searing Heart. His hand rose a bit before Zhuan Yi even shot out of the water, fire already roaring towards the net that she had become. But when god gave an order, it was rarely ever directed at just a single person.

The fire that covered the sky roared violently and then poured down, individual strings of fire twining around each other until they became a great pillar that descended upon Searing Heart. The wind that lingered all around them mixed into the fire to push it to greater heights. But just as Searing Heart raised a curtain of earth above him as defence, the ocean beneath them rose up.

The water struck the fire and the two reacted violently, erupting into a thick cloud of steam that swallowed both Searing Heart and Zhuan Yi. This would normally not be enough to obscure their senses, but the steam was a mixture of Zhuyin’s fire and Dong Bo’s water, it contained both of their energies so those inside felt as if they were surrounded by the both of them. And naturally, the steam was more than just scalding, every little bit of it acted like fire as it tried to ravage the area, yet it clung to you like water stuck to your wet clothes. And all the while, the wind ensured that the steam stayed in place, forming a perfectly sealed-off area.

But perhaps as was to be expected of a Godking, Searing Heart was not one to get caught so easily. A murky brown pillar that resembled tossing waves tore into the sky from within the steam, Searing Heart’s hand grasping the pillar as if it was solid earth. All the steam that got close to the pillar simply vanished, probably evaporated due to its intense heat.

The shadow that Searing Heart cast on the pillar flickered for a second, but it was surrounded by a sudden outcropping of the pillar before it could do anything. Energy had started gathering in Searing Heart’s free hand from the moment he shot up from the steam, but Yao Jun’s companions weren’t idle either. Well, except for Yama, he was waiting for his moment.

The steam that remained below started to crackle and arc, bolts of lightning dancing between the water particles that filled it. Xuhuan Huo rarely used it, but since she held the Element God’s Gate she could use all the worldly elements, even lightning. And right now, Dong Bo’s water and Zhuyin’s fire became the best possible conductors for her powers.

The steam sank into the ever-increasing arcs that danced within it, the arcs twining around each other much like the fire had previously done, a single brilliant streak of golden light shooting into the sky. Searing Heart had no choice but to direct the energy he had gathered downwards, an obvious frown on his face.

But the lightning and the fire never got to make contact, the brilliant streak of light vanished into a seemingly bottomless darkness that stretched out from the brown pillar like mist. The mist stretched out and grew until it covered the entire pillar, seemingly trying to become one with the endless darkness of space that stretched out behind Yao Jun. There was a small area around Searing Heart that the mist couldn’t reach, but in the end there wasn’t really a need for the mist to reach him.

The golden streak flickered in and out of existence within the dark mist, constantly changing position as it blinked around Searing Heart. The Godking’s pupils were constantly shifting about to keep an eye on the lightning, his energy occasionally pouring out to block the other approaching attacks. He probably knew it just as well as anyone else, that devastating light would only need a fraction of a second to reach him when it truly launched, he had to be more than just prepared.

But just as a small spark appeared at his side and extinguished some water that had quietly formed there, the pillar he was grasping changed. The part he was holding on to separated, the mud-like waves splitting into the roaring flames and solid earth that formed it. The fire fluttered away thanks to a timely breeze, Searing Heart losing his grasp for a split second since he hadn’t expected someone to be able to undo his fused elements. But that split second where his attention unintentionally shifted to his grasp, that was what the lightning had been waiting for.

Yao Jun saw the light suddenly streak forward, but he didn’t get to see it strike Searing Heart. The water and earth beneath him rose up while the fire above him descended, forming a shield that blocked the three rays of energy that the fortress had launched at him while he was looking away. They had apparently chosen him as the most vital target, preferring to take him down rather than helping Searing Heart. But what a shame it was that Yao Jun’s companions would not allow that.

"Please don’t worry, My Lord. Just focus on your own task and leave the rest to us."

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Xuhuan’s voice snuck into his ears as the elements surrounded him in a protective shell. His sight was obscured by the flowing elements so he found himself in a pitch black space, his companions had completely sealed him away from the outside world so that he could focus entirely on himself. He couldn’t see anything, but there was an occasional tremble that broke through the protective shell so the fortress was probably still launching attacks.

Yao Jun shook his head and forced himself to ignore whatever might be happening outside the bubble. He promised to trust them so he had to follow through on it. He sucked in a deep breath, the scents lingering on the elements that formed the defensive shell tickling his nose. Each one was familiar, each one belonged to his friends.

A small light appeared in the darkness that surrounded him, a tiny little flame flickering in front of him. The shadows danced across his face thanks to the fluttering crimson-orange fire, its light and form reflected in his black eyes. Compared to the sea of fire that covered the sky or the blazing pillars that had appeared today it really was incomparably small.

"I don’t understand fire…"

He muttered words that only he could hear, his hands rising to cradle the tiny flame he’d created. He fully agreed with what Searing Heart said earlier, that’s why he repeated it for himself now that he was alone. He didn’t understand fire. The laws he had, the things he had acquired over the years, he didn’t really understand any of them, not if you looked at it from a proper standpoint. He had plenty of laws, but as a result he had a middling comprehension of all of them, jack of all trades but master of none.

The fire flickering in his grasp sputtered and blinked for a second before extinguishing, only a bit of smoke rising in the darkness. But when the smoke reached its apex, just before dissipating, it turned into rain that fell back down onto Yao Jun’s hands, a few errant arcs of lightning dancing between the drops.

Fire could create a pyrocumulus and birth rain, and if it was bad enough then it could also create a pyrocumulonimbus and rain down dry lighting. And thus, fire would birth something new even as it died. But was that all? The rain that fell down pushed aside the air and created wind, the lightning that danced ignited anything it touched. And if the water fell fast enough then it could act like an arrow or a blade, piercing or cutting through whatever it touched. And the lightning moved fast enough to create sonic booms, unleashing a devastating crushing force upon anything that got too close.

"They bloom alone, but they never end alone…"

That was the realisation Yao Jun had come to as he studied the universes he had become. No matter what element it was, no matter what physical phenomena, they never ended alone. They’d always split up and become more, become something new. And so, all things were connected somewhere along the line, and so all things could become everything else. And thus, Samsara was formed.

The small drops of water landed on Yao Jun’s palms and then froze, the small murky particles that filled the ice casting shadows thanks to the bright lightning. The darkness danced in tune with the lightning, swallowing any light that tried to touch it. When it flickered across the ice it felt like it was trying to eat even that, the simple phenomenon mimicking the law of devouring. And in that mimicry, it became it, even if it was for just a second. And thus, darkness became devouring, and thus devouring birthed darkness.

"I don’t understand darkness."

He muttered the words again, more strongly this time, more certainly. Yes, he really didn’t understand any of his elements, any of his friends elements. But so what? His friends understood them, his companions made up for his shortcomings so he only had to focus on what he knew, what he understood.

"Rise. From one to three and from three to ten, bloom and rise."

Fire became water and lightning, water became piercing, slicing, ice, and wind while lightning became fire, crushing, and darkness. One became many and the many became one as they merged back together. That small flickering fire quickly grew, leaving Yao Jun’s palms as it illuminated the dark bubble. It bloomed and fell, scattered into countless elements that then gathered back together, growing ceaselessly.

Yao Jun didn’t truly understand a single one of the elements, but he understood their connections, their relationship as they loved and hated each other. And he understood how to bring them together, he’d always been good at merging his various laws together to produce wondrous effects, perhaps that was what he gained by trading away proper understanding of the individual laws.

They bloomed and fell, scattered and merged, birthed and were birthed, lived and died. He’d seen it plenty of times inside his universes, the enchanting sight of everything going from one to everything and then back to one. That was the Samsara he had seen, the Samsara he had claimed for himself.

Yao Jun’s consciousness sank into his own depths and touched upon the golden strings within him, each a line of faith that was oh-so dear to him. It was by using this faith that he had erased the last traces of Little Thunder’s soul, but if he wanted to fuel the Samsara in front of him then he would need more power so he had no choice but to rely on this.

One particular thread of faith trembled violently as he touched upon it, it should be the thread connected to the extremely distant Little Gray. It felt as if something would happen if he tried to fill the thread with energy, especially the Samsara energy he was brewing in front of him. But right now he didn’t have the time to do that so he had no choice but to ignore it temporarily.

He drew upon the power of faith and poured it onto the Samsara growing in front of him, the scattering and merging process speeding up drastically as the mess of elements and laws grew to cover the entire inside of the bubble. But it wasn’t enough, it wanted to grow larger, it wanted to become perfect. But it hesitated, it came from Yao Jun so it probably sensed the connection he had with the beings that created the bubble.

"It’s fine, there’s plenty out there. So just grow. Bloom."

The merged creation responded to Yao Jun’s orders with what could only be described as glee, encroaching on the defensive bubble around him and eating its way through every layer. Each layer was added to it and became part of the Samsara process, birth and death continuing unabated until every inch of the bubble was devoured.

Yao Jun finally saw the darkness of space again, as well as the gargantuan fortress that used to be a planet. The various elements conjured by his companions were still around, a sky covered in fire and an ocean blemishing the untainted darkness of space. But their One was here, their end and their beginning. So the earth, the sky, the ocean, the wind, the darkness, all of it was called back to the One, back to Samsara.

Before long, all the elements that once stained the darkness had vanished, returning to Yao Jun’s side. The mess of elements and laws had also settled down, becoming a several metres large oval resting at Yao Jun’s side. The oval, or perhaps egg was a more apt term, moved slightly, almost eagerly, only settling down when Yao Jun’s palm landed on it.

The world was silent as he touched the egg, or at least that’s what it felt like to him. He couldn’t tell if the fortress was launching attacks or if Searing Heart was still battling his companions. He had blocked out everything and put his trust in his companions while he focused on his own task. And this egg, this creation of Samsara, the avatar of his Samsara, was his task right now.

"It’s fine. You can come out. You can live and you can die, it’s all just one step that leads into the next. So come on and walk, I chose a perfect form for you."

Was it really a living being within the egg? Quite frankly, Yao Jun had no idea. He had simply gone along with the Samsara that formed his universes and merged his laws together, the one became many and then one again. The thing in the egg was that One, a beautiful fusion of laws that was hard-pressed to be just called a fusion, the laws were originally just one anyway. But if he had to choose then he would try to treat it like a living being, even if it was just for his own peace of mind.

The egg cracked as Yao Jun spoke to it, gently urged it on to move forward. The elements poured out of the cracks, tongues of fire becoming ice and earth which then became lightning and poison. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the changes, but Yao Jun could see them all, what they were and what they would become. This was his Samsara, his birth and death. Finally, the entire egg fell apart as the elements forced their way out, and his Samsara saw the light of day.

Four paws that ended in sharp claws, a lightly swaying tail, fangs as large as swords. A coat of fur that constantly changed colour and texture, going from earth to fire and from fire to translucent yet sharp, stripes that changed in tune with the rest of the fur, becoming the opposite of whatever the fur was at the moment. A pair of black eyes saw the world for the first time, Yao Jun’s finger directing them towards the distant fortress.

"Come, let’s go tear it apart for Yama."

Yao Jun’s Samsara saw the light of day for the first time, got a form for the first time. And the form he had chosen was his One, the start of his everything, a majestic tiger.