Lisa Feltham, Shining Star of Lasvania, had spent a lot of time thinking recently. The issue with her parents, if she could even call them that, had forced her to reconsider her priorities. One of the conclusions she made was re-evaluating the importance of the people she considered friends. Though it might have been annoying at first, she had come to appreciate Lee and Bornie’s decision to help her. This was especially true for Lee, who she knew still struggled with being too wary of people more powerful than he was.

It was easy for her to admit the truth now, and she had genuinely just started enjoying their travels. Even though she acted otherwise, Lee’s enthusiasm to see the Nine-tailed Matriarch was contagious, and she found herself looking forward to the meeting. All in all, life had been looking good recently for her. Something she owed mostly to Xiao Lee.

For these reasons, when an alien High Cultivator intruded on a meeting she was looking forward to and kidnapped one of the few people she considered friends, Lisa was understandably pissed.

Pissed enough to take decisions one might consider rash.

Like unleashing enough power to turn her meridians into char.

She stretched her senses outwards as far as she could, only to find herself stopped by a barrier that surrounded the entire mountain. All her attempts to go beyond it were futile. More worrying than her inability to sense anything beyond the barrier was the fact that it confirmed her hypothesis.

That she and Lee were considered assets by the Lasvanian government was something she was perfectly aware of. Though the limitations of that irked her, there were enough benefits that it was hard for her to truly complain. One of those benefits was the state ensured their protection. Any attempts at kidnapping either of them was bound to be futile.

The fact that Lee had been taken through a portal successfully was truly worrying. Combined with the appearance of an unknown cultivator that was nearly on the level of a Lone Power and there should have been someone ready to face them a few seconds ago.

Though she had no idea how, she suspected the barrier truly cut them off from the world outside. Whatever method they use would not last, of course, but by the time they broke through, tracking Lee would be next to impossible.

Depending on external help to get to them fast enough was not ideal, so she took matters into her own hands.

“I invoke The Protection.”

She stared at the shining form of their captor, wandering how he would react. One of the clauses in the galactic treaty was a form of immunity granted to the young talents of the great powers. No one wanted to have a future Lone Power become collateral damage in a conflict between High Cultivators, so more powerful cultivators generally left weaker cultivators alone to avoid violating The Protection.

There were, of course, ways to prove that a particular youngster did not qualify as a talent. Though it had been done before, it was usually not worth the effort because of how vague the rules around what defined a ‘talent’ were. And that was before the law was changed to just include all youngsters, an addition Lasvania had fought for. Not that she had any reason to be worried though. It was practically impossible to deny the fact that she was a talent, after all.

The strange High Cultivator, seemingly of a race that not even her extensive knowledge could identify, tilted their head in her direction. She sensed a certain curiosity in their gaze, like they were examining a new, fascinating specimen.

“The Protection?” the stranger asked, and though she could not understand what language they spoke, reality conveyed its meaning, nonetheless. Their tone was inquisitive, and Lisa suspected the entity truly had no idea what The Protection was.

“By galactic law, I am protected from the wrath of High Cultivators as a youth.”

“I sense no protection around you.”

Lisa scoffed internally at those words. He had no idea.

“Do you know of The Galactic Code?”

“I know of no such thing.”

Well, that perhaps explained some things. Though it raised even more questions. Still, though she was curious, her priority was figuring out whether she was in danger.

“It is a set of laws that binds all the powers in the galaxy. May I ask what you wish to do with me?”

“Your galactic law sounds interesting, and you are a fascinating creature, but I intend to kill everything under this barrier without exception. None can know about my purpose.”

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The answer was both one she expected and yet hoped would not be. The stranger’s attempts at secrecy were futile, of course. Though his barrier held for a surprising amount of time, he would not be able to leave the planet before the Lone Powers caught him. Not to mention Grandmother would be very cross at the intrusion.

Yet none of that would stop her from being killed before that happened. She could wait for the Arch Druid to resurrect her but considering the power she felt from the being before her, there was a possibility of true death. That was not a risk she was willing to take.

And at the end of the day, Lisa Feltham was a proud woman. But she was a proud woman who loved her life.

Which was why, for the first time in her life, she chose to use the protection her mother gave her, regardless of how much she hated it.

The world around her changed as the power of the Lone Walker rushed into her meridians. Her senses expanded, covering spectrums she didn’t know existed and the laws of the world were both visible and malleable. She instinctively knew she would only have a few seconds with the power before she fried herself, so she acted quickly.

She split her attention into different parts, one section of her mind focusing on finding a way through the barrier. She was not surprised when she met serious resistance, even with her power. It would not have been standing if it could be so easily broken into.

Another part of her attention was focused on defending herself from the alien High Cultivator. Most of the battle was conceptual, both sides attempting to manipulate the surrounding laws to trap the other. Any attempts to use qi or actual techniques at that level would cause a level of destruction that neither could afford. Her opponent was powerful and skilled, no doubt, but the qi flowing through her veins belonged to a Lone Power. Though the alien held on, they were steadily losing ground.

The last and most important task she focused on searching for Xiao Lee. She had no idea where he could have gone but was determined to at least find it. To that end, she focused on the concepts and laws around her, searching for a possible path to reopen the portal her friend had gone through. It was difficult, as the barrier seemed to block her from opening any paths in space. Worry seized her as she continued trying to access the spatial tear with no success.

For one second that seemed to stretch to eternity, Lisa was at a stalemate. The barrier held, managing to stay firm even against her attempts. Though she was making some progress against the invader, they were skilled enough to hold their ground. At this rate, she would burn her meridians before defeating them. The path to Xiao Lee likewise remained inaccessible.

She needed to change something, or she would not be able to succeed before time ran out. A thought came to her, and she tried to push it down. It came yet again, taking root and refusing to leave until it sat at the forefront of her mind.

Currently, she wielded the strength of a Joha Feltham, a Lone Power with few equals. She could only wield it for a very limited time, however, and her opponent was powerful enough to hold their own by taking advantage of her relative inexperience. Likewise, the barrier was powerful enough to resist even a serious attempt at destruction from a Lone Power, which meant it was likely created by one. To prevail and break the stalemate, she would need overwhelming power. Something she had access to.

When Lisa reached the limits of the Adept realm and took a half step into becoming a Master, she had received a gift. One that was easily the most valuable thing she’d ever gotten. Her grandmother, for reasons unknown to her, had decided to give her emergency access to a part of her power. Not dissimilar to what the Joha had given her years before. There was just a small difference, of course.

Her grandmother was her grandmother.

She knew without a doubt that just tapping into that power for even less than a second would be enough to fry her meridians and leave her unable to use techniques or even cycle qi till someone powerful enough healed her.

She was also completely sure that it would be enough to finish everything.

In the distance, she noticed that her opponent was also capable of multitasking. Entire city blocks were disintegrated in an instant, taking tens of thousands of people with them. The power of the Lone Walker flowing through her was enough to confirm that there would be no return. She could already see what would happen.

In two seconds, her borrowed power would run out, leaving the alien to completely destroy entire city, her included. The Lone Powers would prevent them from escaping successfully, but the deed would have been done. There would be no resurrection for her or anyone else in the city. She would like to imagine Xiao Lee would be found, but there was no doubt that whatever faction this invader represented was a great power on their own. Rescuing Lee from wherever he currently was would not be guaranteed.

That was not an outcome Lisa could accept.

So, she triggered her grandmother’s gift, willing to sacrifice her meridians to save her life.

There were few people in the galaxy that anyone could say were more powerful than Joha Feltham. Of those people, the first was undoubtedly Love, The Great Mother. The woman whose qi now flowed through her meridians.

If the power of the Lone Walker made the laws of the world malleable to her, then her grandmother’s made them mere extensions of her will. In just under a millisecond, she froze the alien, bending space around them in a trap they had no chance of escaping.

In the next few millisecond, she brought back the destroyed property and resurrected the Nine-tailed matriarch. The disintegrated people in were unfortunately, beyond even her grasp.

Finally, she reached out to the remnants of the portal that took Xiao Lee out of the world. A mere flex of her will was enough to recreate it. She stretched her senses through it, covering a truly vast distance, yet he eluded her. After a worrying amount of time spent fruitlessly searching, she finally noticed his qi signature, and a sigh of relief left her.

Yet just as she was about to bring him back, the power flowing within her ran out abruptly. Not before, however, an alien will latched onto her senses and pulled. That brief moment when she lost control of the power, in the impossible attosecond before her senses left the other side of the portal, she found herself transferred against her will.

With charred meridians and a deep exhaustion brought on by using powers far above what any Adept should be exposed to, Lisa Feltham collapsed, rendered unconscious in a world that was not her own.