79. Ascendant Realm

Loshi sat in his palace. In his true palace, not the facade that he’d constructed for the mortals who could not comprehend the nexus of worlds where his true body resided. He had company, the first visitor for millennia, but the young Ascendant deserved to at least say goodbye to his past.

Di Phon had proven himself capable in so many ways, and Loshi had plans for this one. While the loss of Atla had decreased Loshi’s power by perhaps two percent, he was still confident in his power, and a few hours of cultivation every decade or two inside the nexus would elevate Di Phon into the platinum realm in no time.

But it would take time for the gaping wound in the man’s heart to heal.

“If there were witnesses, they might think that your final speech was an insult to me,” Loshi commented. “And then there is the fact that I know it was a criticism. But it was a fair one. I respect it. I admire that you were brave enough to criticize me to my face.”

Di Phon did not speak.

“The magic is gone. You can speak now. Come, let us discuss your future.”

Di Phon did not speak, staring at the magical representation of Atla. Loshi waited patiently for the man to recover from whatever emotions were roiling through him at the moment. It was a shame that he’d been forced to sacrifice this world, but--

Loshi blinked as he saw it. He waved his hands, calling the representation of the world of Atla over before him.

While it still showed all of the signs of corruption that he’d seen before, he saw now something else. Something that hadn’t been there when he’d inspected the world the first time. He’d know, he’d been very, very thorough in making his decision to cut Atla off from the collective. It gave him no pleasure, and he--

He frowned. “Something is happening. Something I didn’t expect,” He admitted.

He glanced at Di Phon. “This is where you say ‘what is that, my lord?’” Loshi said.

Di Phon’s silent condemnation continued. Loshi sighed.

“Someone is attempting to cultivate the world’s core,” he explained. “It’s a foolish task. It takes thousands of souls working together to a common purpose. I don’t know who has the secret of this technique on such a backwater planet like this, and I respect their courage, but it’s ultimately doomed to fail.”

Di Phon continued to stare silently off in the distance. Loshi sighed.

“I will be naming you a royal advisor in the near future,” Loshi informed him. “Even in your silence you give me a perspective which my court has been lacking. I forget what it is to be criticized. Do you not fear that I will take issue?”

The silence continued.

~~~~~~

Hien Ro gasped as his soul was pulled from his body. He stood, naked, in a sea of souls. He saw a child born, age into adulthood, wither into old age, and die in a blink of an eye. He saw an alien creature meditating patiently upon the gates of a divine temple. He saw a fish swimming in the depths so dark that no light from the surface reached it, its eyes blind and its skin white.

He reached out to a young man who looked familiar, and --

The barrier broke.

His name wasn’t Hien Ro. It was Lucas. He worked in an office. He had a wife, two cars, three kids, and a dog. He wasn’t happy. He was in debt and struggling to get by. His wife made more than he did, and he was fairly certain that she was cheating on him. But he didn’t dare confront her, because he knew that she’d win the kids in court and--

The barrier was back. He blinked in surprise. Lucas. Yeah, his name had been Lucas once. But it was Hien Ro now. He was brother to Little Bug, and disciple to Little Bug. Second Disciple to Little Bug, because although he had been following Little bug for the longest, Xol had earned that title with his sacrifice.

“Why are you showing me this?” Hien Ro asked.

“What happened to Lucas?” a voice asked.

“He died. He was hit by a truck,” Hien Ro answered. “Then I was … I don’t know. I don’t know what happened next.”

“Yes you do, you’re just afraid to look,” Little Bug’s voice called. “But that’s okay. You’re not ready to know. Maybe in your next life, you’ll be ready, but for now, seeing the sea of memories is enough. Nothing is forgotten. Not truly.”

“Why does this matter?”

“Because, Hien Ro,” Little Bug said. “It is time for you to step onto the golden Path. Tell me. What is the purpose of your life?”

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Hien Ro paused. “I don’t know.”

“That’s okay. You have eternity to figure it out. I’ll wait until you do.”

The voice retreated.

Leaving Hien Ro alone with the memories of his past lives.

~~~~~~

It pained me, but I was once more ruthless with my disciples, forcing them into the sea of memories not for the profound secrets they would find there, but simply to give them enough time to reflect on their current lives. I waited with them, in that space where time does not exist and eternity passes within a heartbeat, as each of them reevaluated their lives.

They each explored some of the memories of their past lives, but seldom more than one or two. That wisdom, however, gave each of them the perspective that they needed to see the larger picture of their current lives.

One by one, they ignited, glowing golden as they surfaced from the sea of their souls a changed person, this personal baptism igniting the strength which had always been there.

“To make my parent’s sacrifice worth it!” Yara shouted as she ignited.

“To leave a great story which will be told when I am gone!” Lukal Lukal exclaimed.

“For love and companionship!” the dao companions shouted, their conclusions reached at the exact same moment.

“To show everyone that nobody is worthless!” Taimei whispered, but the light of her soul shone brighter than the others so far.

“To become extraordinary!” Polkluk shouted

“To teach the world what strength is,” Thaseus declared.

“To walk with you until the end,” said Hien Ro calmly.

I guided them through their ascent to the Golden Path, showing them how to cycle their Qi and calm it, claim this new power for their own.

Even as I taught them how to channel it into the North Star Guiding formation.

Into me.

Closing my eyes, I used my companion’s power to reach new heights as well.

~~~~~

“No no no no no!” the Necromancer shouted as the unbound soul ascended to the diamond realm. “I can’t let this happen.”

Reaching through the connection he had created to the corpse of Ko Ren, he began weaving together a technique. He was a realm above the unbound soul still, but he no longer had any confident in bearing it to Nadia.

Better to kill it and start over from scratch, he thought, putting the final weaves together on the world ending technique.

~~~~~~

I watched, calmly, as Ko Ren’s corpse was torn apart by the energies released from six dimensions away. The weaves of power on the scale of which only one being had ever wielded on a planet like Atla, and that being Loshi, the one who had bound it into servitude, were unleashed.

I could not stop it. I had reached the diamond path, but this technique was beyond my power, even with the North Star Guiding Formation empowering me.

But I had foreseen something like this, and I had prepared.

I reached out with my own power and formed a technique. Not to stop the attack, I couldn’t do that. To empower the one being which could.

Taking every ounce of Qi I possessed, including every drop my disciples could pump into me, I empowered the core of Atla itself.

The world awoke, startled, an infant who had just quickened.

The painful pinprick of the Necromancer’s attack caused it to jerk reflexively, sending a wave of energy to wash it away with purifying light.

The mutated and defaced corpses of the battlefield puffed into dust as the corrupted energies within were purified.

Everywhere throughout the world where the undead ghouls still walked, they too burst into light and turned to ash.

And the energy did not stop there.

It overwhelmed Ant’s attack on me and pushed through the gates he had created, into his own realm. I do not know what happened there, but I cannot imagine that he was very happy about it.

But as for me and mine …

We were born of Atla.

The energy of the core posed no threat to us.

It washed over and through us, cleansing impurities and making the broken whole.

Atla Ascended.

And I felt the moment that it felt me.

“Father?” Atla asked me.

I smiled. “Hello child.”

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