“Anyhoo, we're hiding down here until Hui Ming is healed. Then we'll head back up. "

"Alright."

"Yes, master."

When I said we’d hide, that only meant we wouldn’t make our presence known to the upper world. Jing was allowed to wander the upper world as long as she wasn’t discovered, so Jing left in a hurry right after I was done talking.

I worried about the “prophecy”, but I couldn’t do anything about it. The only way for me to truly stop her would be to kill her, and there was no chance of that happening. I didn’t believe Jing could be a bad person. I let my speculations run wild, trying to see how Jing could bring a calamity. I couldn’t come up with anything I could prevent.

So I could only sigh and go back to making more bandages for Hui Ming.

She protested, saying a master shouldn’t be putting bandages on the servant. I lifted a bandage, saw how badly she would be bleeding without them, and said, “Um, no. Stop complaining.”

I took the chance to tell her about the two worlds. I told her about where Mark and I had come from and my ability. She replied with some cheesy lines about me being the chosen one and following me to ends of earth. I tried my best not to roll my eyes.

I went to the surface after I changed her bandages. I went outside to see the aftermath of the events in the night. I wrapped myself in vines and emerged in somebody’s backyard.

The presence of the Will Of The World had thrown the entire city into chaos. People were still out wondering what had happened.

I heard the sound of buildings falling and thunderous cracks of cultivators fighting. I ran in the direction of the fight, keeping my speed down as to not attract attention. As I got closer to the source of the fighting, it became obvious it was not a fight but a war.

Thousands of cultivators dressed in red fought against other cultivators dressed in a variety of different colors.

I ended up in the middle of what once the Crimson Fire Sect. Almost every building had been destroyed. The only ones left standing were in the ones in their ancestral ground and a few defensive towers. Many towers had not been taken down and were still firing beams from power rods and glowing ovals.

The glowing ovals maintained five searing lasers at once, each pointing in a different direction. They burnt tiny concentrated lines into the ground. Their rays followed people from other sects, slaughtering them in droves.

Only a fifth of the people from the other sects were fighting with Crimson. The rest were looting the fallen buildings. These cultivators risked their lives to get rich quick. Many stumbled on treasure troves of weapons and jewelry. All the wealth of a once-unbeatable sect would soon be looted. Without their Elders and Ancestors, the Crimson Fire Sect was a sitting duck.

Dragons, unicorns, and phoenixes danced around the battlefield. Some were tamed, some were trying to flee, and the powerful ones were basking in the destruction.

I looked to the sky and saw dozens of mythical creatures circling around an angel. Eight magnificent rainbow wings sprouted from her back, moving up and down in elegant strokes. She put her arms out. Tree branches sprouted out of her arms and all types of luscious fruit dangled down.

Dragons, phoenixes, manticores, and many other creatures watched the fruit like they were an emperor’s personal team of dancers. Their eyes followed their every move, entranced by their presence.

The angel said something. They were too far up for me to hear her words, even with my eerie ears. Whatever she said made the creatures dive into the battle, pushing back the invading looters.

The angel saw me and flew to me. She landed on the piece of rubble I was standing on. I stroked her wings and Identified them. A smaller version of the wing appeared in my palm.

You’ve copied a special type of plant called Wing Attachment Nine! Would you like to add it to your current list of special plants?

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Experience required for next level has not been reached! Wing Attachment Nine stays at level one!

Jing swallowed. She put her head down, trying to make herself look smaller.

“I’m not mad,” I said, and she loosened up a bit, “but why are you helping the Crimson Fire Sect?”

“Sorry!” she sniveled, “I should’ve asked you first. I just left and I’ve already messed up!”

The combination of elegant angel and snively Jing was so cute it hurt. “So… why are you helping them?”

“Well, their sect is already destroyed. So I thought I’d take their land. We can take their land and wealth at the same time if I pretend to help them for now,” she peeked up at me, “do I have permission?”

“Sure, go ahead.” Hui Ming had friends here too.

“Do whatever you want, those were the rules from before,” I said.

“Thanks pops! I won’t destroy the world!” she said.

I rolled my eyes, “So reassuring.” She lifted her wings and flew off. Her wings glowed in the morning sun, refracting light like blankets of diamonds.

“She could make a religion out of that,” I whispered to myself. Then, after some thought, I moaned, “oh no… she better not.”

(Although I didn’t want to,) I could already imagine Jing sitting atop a throne of flowers surrounded by a cult of environmentalists.

-

I gave the battlefield one last look. I shivered as a wave of sadness washed over me. This sect had stood for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. In one night, a trespasser from another world would erase the sect, plunging the stability of their land into chaos. It's not as if it was my fault, they were the ones that attacked me. Still… I shook my head for everybody that had to pay for their ancestors’ mistakes.

I jumped away from the battlefield and headed towards my garden, where I fought last night.

I arrived thirty minutes later. My old garden was now just a tower of plants lying sideways. Even on its side, it was more than five stories tall. Torn and burnt bits of vegetation hung off the side.

A crowd was gathered at the edge of my property, not daring to take a step onto my land. I Identified my garden. Eleven people, all above the third stage of Dao Formation, were exploring the inside of the plant monolith. They were the only ones brave enough to go in.

A sign saying "Jin's Alchemy House" lie on the ground. I poked it with my feet, but decided to leave it alone. I was only here for my alchemy grandmaster certificate and Blue Fire Sect guest tablet. I felt them through my plants and I had them bring it to me.

Hidden by the crowd, nobody noticed me walking out with the iron certificate sheet. I left everything else where it was before.

I left the crowd around my old garden and lept onto a roof. I had one last stop to make.

Five minutes later, I stopped in front of a small castle. This was the residence of Fu Xue, an eighth stage cultivator and professor in the Endless Flames School.

Jing told me Mark had fought them with the power of a ninth stage cultivator. It seemed it was easier for people from my class to gain the powers of this world. What better place to learn them than the best cultivation school in the city?

Besides, the school was filled with talent from the younger generation - people I could raise to be the heroes of the future.

I walked to the guards at the front gate. I waved, “Can I come in?”

The two guards looked at me warily. They probed me by sending powerful but neutral auras at me. Their auras said they were both third stage cultivators.

How did this work again? I remembered how my aura had changed yesterday night and tried to do it again.

I wasn’t angry, so my aura came out without any bloodlust. I decided to keep it at the sixth stage so I wouldn’t scare the guards too much.

“May I?” I asked again.

They lowered their heads. “Please wait a moment, sir.”

I nodded and one of them left. He came back and said, “Please follow me,” before walking into the castle grounds.

I followed as asked. The castle was surrounded by walls and a gate, which I had just passed. Between the wall and castle was a well-kept garden. We walked on a stone path until we arrived to the gate to the castle. A red door twice as tall I was wide open. The guard stepped in and I followed.

He led me through a labyrinth of stairs and hallways. We reached a small terrace at the top of the castle. At the edge of the terrace was a table with a couple seats. One of the seats was occupied by the man I assumed was Fu Xue. He saw me and his eyes widened.

My hand shot up to my mouth, motioning for him to not say anything. He dismissed the guard, “Grandmaster Jin, what happened?”

Xue was one of my old customers. He had bought a package of medicine from me for breaking into the ninth stage of Dao Formation. He hadn’t used them yet. Like many other cultivators, he was waiting for the waiting for the right time to attempt the breakthrough.

I walked to the table and touched the top of one of the seats. “May I sit?,” I asked.

“Of course,” I heard him take a breath. I looked back him, the shock had faded from his face. He regained the composure appropriate for a teacher of his age.

I poured myself some tea. “A lot happened last night. I only know about some of it. If it’s the Will Of The World you’re asking about, I don’t know why it appeared.”

“How about the Crimson Fire Sect?,” he asked. “I hear they attacked your shop.”

“They did.”

“And now they’re dead.”

“They’re dead.”

“You killed them?”

“I killed them,” I nodded.

“Are you really an alchemist?”

“It’s a hobby, but I also cultivate. Do you have any other questions?”

“No, thanks for answering my questions. If you’d like to stay here because your house has been destroyed, this castle has many extra rooms.”

“I was actually going to talk about something else. I hear the registration period for the Endless Flames School is almost over. It’s impossible to get nobodies into the school even if I registered early. It’ll be even more impossible if I tried to register now. I was wondering if you could help me get somebody into the school. I’ll compensate you if you can do it.”

He shook his head. “I can’t ask for compensation for such a small matter. Who do you want me to put in?”

“My servant, Li Hui Ming, please.”