A few hours later Yu Chen felt a terrifying energy fly across the horizon, just beyond his line of sight. His heart pounded as he waited, thinking they’d been found, but the spirit veil did its job. Whoever it was hadn’t sensed them, and he felt the aura disappear somewhere off in the distance.
Beyond that, the rest of the trip to the coast was uneventful, but Yu Chen still spent it in nervous anticipation. He remained restless, expecting a Golden Core cultivator to appear at any moment.
His fears never came to pass.
Night fell before they left the deeper waters, and the shore appeared, illuminated by the moon that hung high in the sky, orbited by its two satellites.
Yan Ziqi turned the vessel, hugging the coastline as they traveled downriver, choosing to remain cloaked on the journey back to the city. It was an expensive maneuver. The number of spirit stones remaining in the hold shrank dramatically, but it was a small price to pay to return intact with their lives and the vessel.
Once he was sure there was no imminent threat, Yu Chen retreated to one of the bedrooms below deck. The long day had left him exhausted, and so he laid down in bed, preparing to sleep for the night. The gentle rocking of the ship should have lulled him to sleep, but it refused to come. His mind was whirling, filled with thoughts of the battle he’d seen earlier that day.
The three cultivators fighting in the air hadn’t possessed the same aura of power that he’d sensed from Elder Gu and Elder Jiang, but even so, seeing Golden Core cultivators cross blows was a terrifying sight.
And an impressive one.
The way they’d fought was nothing like the martial arts he’d so painstakingly drilled into his body. It was beyond even the Foundation Establishment experts he’d seen fight.
They’d fought with something more than physical force and sheer qi, fighting with attacks imbued with Concepts themselves.
The idea of imbuing your attacks with Concepts wasn’t completely novel to Yu Chen. The Flowing Eternity Sect seemed to fight in that manner, after all the golem he’d fought had utilized them in some strange manner. Indeed, even the Martial Forms he’d received from the sect had required him to utilize them if he wished to draw out their true power.
What Yu Chen had done was nothing in comparison. He’d only ever used his small understanding of a concept to help him learn a technique.
The Golden Core cultivators however, had truly manifested their Concepts. Pirate Zhu’s attacks were no longer a simple thing of pure qi, but a living force of decay that caused the things it touched to rot and warp at a fundamental level, if it didn’t destroy them outright.
Tidebreaker Mei had been even more impressive. Her Concept of water had allowed her to pull on the river itself, utilizing its power to fuel her blows, and the way she’d simply nullified the attack coming towards her…
The technique had been beyond impressive, and something within Yu Chen demanded answers, yearning to know more.
He was filled with too many questions, and they were causing his path forward to begin to cloud once more. The many twists of fate he’d experienced in his recent past had changed him, causing his worldview to expand over and over again.
Thankfully he knew someone who could answer them.
He hadn’t visited the little fellow in a while, and it was time to see how he was doing.
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Yu Chen awoke with a gasp, finding himself in the midst of a waving sea of waist high grasses blown about by an unseen wind. His skin was warmed beneath the simulated sun that hung in the blue sky high above.
He stood up, making his way towards the sound of rushing water he heard in the distance. It was peaceful here, a place of perfect serenity where not even the trilling sound of bird song or the buzzing of small insects broke the stillness of the air.
Of course the sound of water was omnipresent.
He stepped through the grasses onto the banks of the yellow river that carved through his Inner Realm, and for the first time the significance of such a thing struck him. He’d been out upon the yellow river himself now, traveling across its boundless waters, but since the day he’d first cultivated, a small part of the river had been running inside of him as well.
No, before even that, he thought, as his eyes rose up to meet Xiao Huang’s.
The small dragon appeared unusually solemn as their eyes met, observing him in turn as he gently floated above the river in the distance.
It had appeared whenever this little fellow had first taken root in his soul, long before he’d begun cultivating. By now the yellow river was as much a part of him as the shape of his body or the fruits of his mind, more so even than his own name.
Yu Chen tore his eyes away from Xiao Huang, looking at the running waters that cut a path through the grasses that waved across his Inner Realm.
It was much smaller than the river outside. The one in the real world seemed endless, stretching further than the eyes could see. It’d taken him days of travel to reach the small pirate town, and even then they’d never ventured into the truly deep waters that lay at the center of the river.
This one in his spirit wasn’t wide at all, the varied grasses waving on the other side clearly visible. Although it did appear slightly bigger than before, Yu Chen thought with a frown.
He glanced from the river to Xiao Huang, looking him up and down. Was it just his imagination, or did the tiny dragon appear to be a bit larger as well?
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Xiao Huang slowly grew as he approached, cutting a curving path across the river towards Yu Chen.
“Hatchling.” Xiao Huang said, as he spun a lazy circle around Yu Chen’s head.
“Shizu.” Yu Chen said with a bow, as he gathered his thoughts. “I seek your guidance.”
It’d been some time since he’d truly spoken with the dragon. He’d experienced much, and fought many powerful cultivators while gathering and witnessing extraordinary techniques.
Xiao Huang purred at Yu Chen’s words, positively preening at the idea that his assistance was required.
“Go on.” The dragon rumbled, coming to a pause in the air before Yu Chen.
Without further preamble Yu Chen began speaking, filling the little dragon in on the events that had occurred since they last spoke. He proved to be an apt listener, hissing in rage as Yu Chen spoke about the demonic cultivators, and nodding in approval when Yu Chen outlined the trials he’d passed through.
“I’m aware.” The rumbling answer came when Yu Chen mentioned he’d made it to the yellow river, but that was the extent of his knowledge - He found news of the pirates surprising, and let out a long laugh when he heard they’d stolen a ship right from under their eyes.
Once he finished bringing the little dragon up to speed, he began explaining what he’d really come for, asking about the golem he’d fought in the sect, and the abilities the pirates had displayed in their fearsome battle over the sea.
“I suppose you’ve formed some idea of what cultivation is by now, yes?” The dragon said, and Yu Chen found himself transfixed by the alien intelligence lurking within those vertical pupils. “Let me tell you how I see it.”
The river itself stilled as the dragon spoke, and the sound of rushing water disappeared as it went silent. Even the surrounding grasses bent, turning towards the dragon as he opened his jaws to speak.
“The first step in cultivation is to harmonize with the heavens.” Xiao Huang began, his deep voice resonating in the air around them. “This attunement reveals the pervasive energies of heaven and earth that swirl through the world all around you, allowing you to seize and control it.”
He twisted higher into the sky, his form reflecting off of the still river below as he stared down at Yu Chen.
“You humans love to name things.” Xiao Huang said, sounding amused. “You call this step Qi Gathering, and consider it to be the first stage of cultivation.”
“The second step is to solidify this energy within you, so that you may grow as a cultivator. It is this unification of one's bodily and spiritual energies into a unified whole that is called forming a Foundation. To complete this step one must harmonize with the world around them, spreading their awareness and their qi, beyond their physical form.”
The dragon’s gaze locked onto Yu Chen, and he felt his breath catch. Xiao Huang’s next words boomed, reverberating throughout the space around them.
“In this stage that you call Foundation Establishment, one’s body becomes the world, and the world becomes one's body!”
Xiao Huang twisted around Yu Chen, who craned his head around to watch his sinuous form move through dizzying changes.
“Many, both up and down the river, consider the next stage to be powerful, and consider those who reach it to be people of some import.”
The dragon snorted, shooting wisps of smoke out of his nostrils and causing his long white whiskers to flutter in the wind.
“To me, it is only a step towards what comes next.”
“What you call the Golden Core is nothing more than the manifestation of the preliminary stages, the perfection of one’s foundation. To reach this level everything must be in perfect balance, for the heavens themselves will test whether or not you are worthy to form a core - a physical embodiment of what you are.”
Yu Chen bowed his head, thinking the words over. These were the three realms he was familiar with, but in Xiao Huang’s mouth they found an expressiveness he’d never quite grasped. The little dragon was like a sieve, taking in mud and shaking away the dross, leaving behind only the purest of water for one to drink.
Yu Chen looked up to see, Xiao Huang silently observing him.
“Go on.” Yu Chen said, and there was a hint of challenge in his voice.
Xiao Huang purred once again at the words, circling around the boy before speaking.
“Good, very good! One of my blood must at least be like this! I told you before that your ability to conceptualize will limit your path forward, and this is the truth of what I meant.”
The dragon moved behind him, disappearing from sight, and a hot breath tickled his neck as a rumbling voice whispered in his ear.
“Stepping into the fourth realm is marked by the formation of a Conceptual Seed.” Xiao Huang said.
“If the Golden Core is a manifestation of what a cultivator is, then the seed is the manifestation of what a cultivator knows and believes.”
“This belief matters, for the truly powerful know that every fight is not a simple brawl, but a battle to determine the truth of what is.” Xiao Huang said, his deep voice reverberating throughout Yu Chen’s inner realm.
“This has always been the case, even among mortals. There are battles in the physical realm occurring all around you, but they are only manifestations of a deeper fight; one that takes place in a world of ideas.”
“People fight and die in a war between knowledge and ignorance. The poor seek to overturn the rich, the strong to oppress the weak. These are the fights that determine the very nature of reality.”
“After all, what is reality?” Xiao Huang asked, fixing Yu Chen in his draconic gaze.
The boy didn’t know how to answer. Truly it was something he’d never considered before, too deep a question for him to grasp.
“What if I told you that for the powerful, reality is what you make it?”
Yu Chen bowed his head, his hands clutching his robes in a white knuckled grip as he stood at the edge of the river.
Reality was what he made it? Was that what everyone was doing the whole time? He felt like a frog in a well, the world opening up as he grasped the truth behind the events he’d witnessed.
Everyone was fighting for the truth of their reality - Was that how the golem had fought?
Pirate Zhu’s reality was one where his powers ate away at the world, slowly destroying it, while Pirate Mei…
Within Pirate Mei’s reality the attacks of others were simply nothing, she lived in a world where they didn’t exist.
Yu Chen couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if she encountered someone more powerful than her. Perhaps she’d be like those ancient philosophers from the books he read, the ones who’d once believed it was the sun that revolved round the earth.
The day had come when their world had been upended, and they realized they’d been living a lie.
Yu Chen squared his shoulders, looking up and meeting Xiao Huang squarely in the eyes. “And then?”
Xiao Huang hummed, the air around him rumbling.
“Then comes the realm of Dominion, hatchling, when one’s seed becomes so complete that it forms a Concept all its own.”
Yu Chen’s blood raced at the words, his mind turning as his vision expanded. The significance of the path before him became apparent the more Xiao Huang spoke. First to perfect one’s form - and then to perfect one's ideals, forming a concept powerful enough to change reality itself.
He raised a hand, realizing it was slightly trembling. Excitement. He dropped it back to his side, clenching it into a hard fist before speaking.
“What comes-” Yu Chen began,
“Enough.” Xiao Huang rumbled out, cutting him off.
“Focus on the path before you. You already possess the experience and I’ve clarified your vision, but your foundation must be sturdy! You still haven’t finished tempering your body!” The dragon admonished.
“Yes Shizu.” Yu Chen said, bowing his head.
“Good. Now show me these new techniques.”
Yu Chen closed his eyes, concentrating as he summoned a copy of the new forms he’d received. By the time he’d opened his eyes Xiao Huang was already looking them over, pouring over the movements within.
“Decent.” He commented, one claw scratching his scaly snout. “The Concepts expressed within are truly powerful. If you wish to master these techniques you’ll have to form an understanding regarding both space and time.”
Yu Chen sighed, perplexed by how he’d manage to accomplish such a task, but he froze as Xiao Huang turned, fixing Yu Chen with his implacable gaze.
“It will not be easy, hatchling, but there will come a way.”
“As long as you continue to move forward, that is.” The small dragon added. “You must leave the past behind and continue up the river, experiencing all that you can. Perhaps visit this new sect, I’m sure they possess the means for you to grasp these concepts within.”