The last place I expected to find myself after I died was a pavilion in the middle of an endless expanse of water. The water was calm and still, like the surface of a mirror. Despite this, it didn’t reflect anything. Instead, it was dark and unfathomable. The water went on forever, stretching as far as the eye could see, until it met the horizon.
The sky above wasn’t the sky of Lumina. Instead, it was the boundless and infinite cosmos. Countless celestial bodies were scattered about, shining against the cold and dark void between worlds. Comets streaked against a backdrop of colorful nebulae.
The pavilion itself was an exquisite work of art, built from materials that couldn’t be found in the mortal realm. It looked like something a god would create. Six pillars held up the roof, each of them carved with images of dragons, phoenixes, and other majestic creatures.
I sat at a jade table, one engraved with lotuses, occupying one of two chairs. The other chair was empty. A pot of tea and two tea cups sat on the table, accompanied by a plate of snacks.
Where the hell was I? I knew I was dead because I was no longer in pain, but this didn’t seem like any kind of afterlife that I was familiar with.
I wasn’t still on Lumina, that much was clear. I didn’t see the sun, the moon, or any of the other nearby celestial bodies. Was this one of the heavens? It seemed like it. This place was filled with immortal energy, the heavenly equivalent of mana. Immortal mana?
But if it was one of the heavens, what was I doing here?
Since my family worshiped Tempest, who was a servant of Sol, I should have ended up in the afterlife from the Church of the Sun’s theology.
According to the Church of the Sun, the souls of the deceased ended up in the Sunless Land. It was a purgatory for those who were members of the Church of the Sun. In the Sunless Land, they would be judged by the Judges of the Dead for their actions during their lives.
Depending on how one lived, one would either be sent to Sol’s embrace in the heavens above, or one would be sent to the Underworld, a realm filled with suffering and demons. This wouldn’t be forever. It was akin to a prison sentence. After suffering in the Underworld for a certain amount of time, one would be allowed to enter the cycle of reincarnation to try again.
There was a third option. One could enter the cycle of reincarnation directly, without facing the Judges of the Dead. This allowed someone to avoid the Underworld. However, doing this also meant giving up the chance to enter the heavens above.
While I wasn’t sure how accurate all of this was, I figured at least some of it was true. If nothing else, I thought I would get the chance to enter the cycle of reincarnation. Instead, I ended up here, wherever here was.
Was this the Sunless Land? It didn’t have a sun, so there was that. Yet, the abundance of immortal energy (mana?) suggested otherwise. Back on Spirit Earth, the afterlife was filled with death mana. If the afterlife for Lumina was similar, then that should have been the case here.
A groan pulled me back to the present. I looked down to find Aurora wrapped around my torso. Oh thank the ancestors. I was afraid that we would get separated when I died. It looked like that wasn’t the case. Her eyes were closed, as if she had been unconscious, but they fluttered open as she stirred.
“Mmmm,” Aurora groaned, before she lifted her head and looked up at me. “Gabe?”
“Yes, it’s me,” I said.
When I spoke, I realized that my voice sounded different from before, though I still recognized it. It was Immortal Celestial Thunder’s voice.
“You look different,” Aurora said. “You look like the man that appeared in the clearing when we forged the familiar contract.”
“This is my true form,” I said. “Rather, it is the form I had when I was Immortal Celestial Thunder.”
She blinked at me.
“Does that mean you’re a divine being again?”
I shook my head.
“No,” I said. “Without a body, I’m a disembodied soul. An Immortal disembodied soul, but still just a disembodied soul.”
That said, I should still be able to use my divine energy without issue. Since I didn’t have to worry about my body, I could use it more freely.
At least, that was the theory.
When I actually gave it a try, I found that I couldn’t use my divine energy at all. It was there, but something about this place suppressed my ability to use it. I narrowed my eyes.
I tested out my divine sense, and found that it was also sealed. I could feel the abundant immortal mana in this place, but that was it. I had to perceive everything else through my mundane senses. Well, as mundane as the senses of an Immortal’s soul could be.
“Where are we?” Aurora asked, looking around.
“I was hoping you could tell me,” I said. “As a former divine being that is native to Lumina, I had hoped that you knew about this place. It doesn’t look like the Sunless Land. It feels like one of the heavens, yet it doesn’t look like any heaven I’ve read or heard about.”
Then again, all I knew about the heavens of Lumina were based on mortal records. While those records could catch glimpses of the truth, most of the time the heavens and other higher realms were a mystery. After all, the higher realms were beyond mortal ken. It was like being a frog in a well, looking at the sky through a narrow hole.
Aurora shook her head.
“Most of my memories are sealed,” she said. “Even if I knew about this place, I wouldn’t remember it.”
Damn. I thought that might be the case, but a man could hope.
I looked around. Other than the pavilion, the cosmos above, and the endless expanse of water, there wasn’t much else in this place. I stood up and walked to the edge of the pavilion.
I could see nothing beneath the surface of the water. There was just darkness. It looked deep and mysterious. If I were an Immortal, I would have dived into the water to see what I could find. As a disembodied soul, I dared not try. At least not yet.
However, if nothing changed, I might have to take that risk.
“Don’t worry,” a male voice said. “I won’t have you swim in the water just yet.”
I turned around to find a man sitting in the previously unoccupied chair. He held one of the tea cups in his hands. Fragrant tea filled the cup. He took a sip, before looking at me.
The man looked a bit shorter than me. He had a slim build, and long black hair tied up in a simple knot. A featureless white mask hid his upper face, leaving his mouth and jaw uncovered. The mask had little slits for eyes.
From what I could see, his skin looked like white jade, smooth and flawless. It had a faint luminescence to it, as if light flowed through his veins instead of blood.
I looked at his bare hands. Despite his slim build, they looked strong and used to hard labor.
The man wore black and silver robes in the style of Spirit Earth, though there were touches of Luminan fashion here and here.
I didn’t even need my divine sense to know that this man was a divine being. He practically radiated immortal mana. If he wanted to, he could kill me with ease. Assuming he wanted to be merciful about it.
If he didn’t, then there were all kinds of things he could do with me. An Immortal’s soul was a rare thing indeed, one that could be used in all sorts of crafting and alchemical recipes.
I had my guard up, even though there wouldn’t be much I could do to resist him if he became hostile.
Yet, I didn’t think he would. Similar to the time when Terra spoke through Lorelei, there was something familiar about this man. I knew him, yet I couldn’t remember how. Maybe if I saw the rest of his face without the mask, then I would know.
Still, I remained vigilant. I knew a lot of people back on Spirit Earth, many of them were enemies.
“Don’t worry,” the man said, speaking in the language of Spirit Earth. “I won’t hurt you.” He gestured towards the seat opposite his. “Please, sit down, Celestial Thunder. Share a cup of tea with me. Or would you prefer it if I called you Gabriel?”
Aurora hissed at him.
“Who are you?” she asked. “What is this place? What do you want?”
The man ignored her and continued to look at me. After a moment’s thought, I sat across from him.
“Gabe, what are you doing?” Aurora asked. “We don’t know this man. He could be an enemy.”
“If he is an enemy,” I said in Common Tongue. “Then there isn’t much we can do about that. Since that’s the case, then we might as well be polite. That way, if he’s not an enemy, we won’t accidentally offend him.”
The man gave me a mysterious smile.
“Fine,” Aurora said. “But if he does end up being an enemy, I reserve the right to say ‘I told you so.’”
I snorted at that and smiled.
“Note,” I said to her, before facing the man once more.
“You must have a lot of questions,” he said, still speaking in the language of Spirit Earth.
“I do,” I said, speaking the same language. “However, let’s see what I can figure out on my own first. And I would prefer it if you called me Gabriel.”
Since I was already dead, I felt no sense of urgency. There wasn’t a need to rush things.
The man nodded and gestured for me to go ahead. As I sat there thinking, he poured me a cup of tea. The tea’s scent teased my nose. Jasmine green tea, one of my favorites. I took a sip, and let out a moan of pleasure as the tea washed over my tongue.
“I apologize for the unseemly display,” I said, a little embarrassed. “But I haven’t had a good cup of tea since my first death. Everything since then has tasted like mud water in comparison.”
The man let out an amused chuckle.
“I understand,” he said. “When my wife and I first arrived on Lumina, it was the same for us.”
Wife? Hmm, interesting.
“So,” I said. “You are from Spirit Earth. That, or you learned Spirit Tongue from someone who was. Regardless, you aren’t native to Lumina.”
While I couldn’t see his eyes, the man’s features shifted as he raised an eyebrow at me.
“Spirit Earth?” he asked. “Spirit Tongue?”
Oh, right. Just because I called my original home world Spirit Earth, doesn’t mean that everything else would.
“It’s the name I gave our original world,” I said. “Unless I am indeed mistaken and you learned Spirit Tongue from someone else.”
Since the most commonly spoken language on Lumina was called Common Tongue, I thought I’d follow that convention and call my native language Spirit Tongue.
“No, you are correct,” the man said. “My wife and I are from Spirit Earth, as you call it. However, we call it the Land of the Golden Dragon.”
Ah, another important clue. He must have arrived on Lumina before I rebelled against the heavens.
“You might want to change that then,” I said, taking another sip of tea. “The Golden Dragon is dead.”
The man stilled.
“You know this for a fact?” he asked after a moment.
“Yes.” I looked at the mask’s slits. “I killed him myself.”
The man took a minute before responding.
“I see,” he said. “I assume it was for a good reason.”
The Golden Dragon, also called the Heavenly Emperor, was the supreme deity of Spirit Earth, similar to how Sol was the supreme deity of Lumina. One of the Golden Dragon’s daughters pursued my best friend at the time, Celestial Hound. When he spurned her, the spiteful harpy accused him of raping her.
Angered, the Golden Dragon ordered Celestial Hound’s execution. I pleaded with him to show mercy, and argued that Celestial Hound was innocent. He refused to listen. In the end, I raised my blade in rebellion to rescue my best friend, and the two of us waged war against the Golden Dragon and his forces. At first it was just the two of us, but we gathered allies as others joined our cause. Even so, the war lasted for millennia.
And right after I killed the Golden Dragon and burned his palace to the ground, Celestial Hound stabbed me in the back. He betrayed me just as we achieved victory; victory in a war I started to save his life.
The memory of that moment left a bitter taste in my mouth.
The tea cup in my hand shattered as I clenched my fist. Thankfully, I had already finished off the tea, so none of it spilled anywhere. The shattered teacup dissolved into immortal mana, which sublimated into the environment.
“Sorry about your tea cup,” I said. “I just remembered a bad memory and couldn’t help myself.”
Aurora must have felt my emotions, because she lifted her head and nuzzled against my cheek.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Think nothing of it,” the man said.
He waved his hand and a new tea cup appeared. With a flourish, he poured me some more tea.
“Thank you,” I said, before asking something that had been on my mind for a while. “Are there a lot of us here on Lumina? Beings from Spirit Earth that is.”
The man thought about it for a moment before replying.
“More than you would think,” he said. “Though beings like us are pretty rare. I would say one every few centuries or so. Most come here physically, though a few were reincarnated here like you.”
“Huh,” I said. “If that’s the case, why isn’t cultivation more well known here on Lumina?” Then the answer hit me. “Because the cultivators that do arrive here keep their presence a secret, and use their knowledge to quietly build up their power base.”
Just like what I was doing.
The man nodded.
“While most end up dying for one reason or another, a few managed to do well for themselves here on Lumina. Keep in mind that there are quite a few families here on Lumina that secretly practice cultivation.”
When he said this, the man wore a small smile on his face, as if he was privy to an amusing secret. I ignored his smile and focused on his words.
He said families, not just Houses. That meant that there might be cultivators out there who were pretending to be regular mortals.
“Thank you for sharing this with me, Lord Tempest.”
The man I called Lord Tempest tilted his head to the side.
“How did you figure it out?” he asked.
“You confirmed that you’re from Spirit Earth and you mentioned that you have a wife,” I said. “The only other divine being who I know is from Spirit Earth is Lady Terra. According to the legends, Lord Tempest is Lady Terra’s husband.”
Which always confused me. Tempest was a servant of Sol, and thus part of the Church of the Sun’s pantheon. Terra, however, was not. I didn’t know how that worked out. Separation of home life and work life?
Tempest pouted.
“Well, that’s disappointing,” he said. “You ruined the surprise. I had a big dramatic reveal prepared. I even went through the effort to make sure nothing in this realm would reveal my identity.”
Most people would be awed when they came face to face with the god their family worshiped. As a former divine being, he was just a person to me. A powerful person who could obliterate me with a thought, or refine my soul into a pill, but still just a person. It was a matter of perspective.
“You can still go through with the reveal if you want,” I said.
He waved off my words.
“There’s no point now,” Tempest said. “You already figured it out.” He leaned an elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand. “What else have you figured out? I’m curious to see how much of it is correct or not.”
I sipped more of my tea.
“Both you and your wife have some kind of interest in me,” I said. “I’m hoping it’s friendly interest, though I won’t make assumptions about that just yet. Otherwise, why would I be here? Why else would Lady Terra have me take her Chosen as my disciple?” I scratched Aurora’s chin with my finger. She purred and leaned into it. “And why else would she send one of her World Serpents to be my familiar?”
Tempest nodded.
“Again, you’re correct. My wife and I have had our eye on you ever since your soul arrived from the Otherworld. We went through a lot of effort to hide your presence from the most of the other divine beings here on Lumina. Otherwise they would have all interfered with your life long before now.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Why?” I asked. “What do you want with me? And don’t try to be all cryptic and mysterious about it. Tell it to me straight.”
Tempest shook his head.
“I can’t,” he said.
My eyes narrowed further. Aurora raised her head and glared at him.
“Can’t?” I asked. “Or won’t?”
Tempest took a moment to think about it.
“Both,” he said, before giving me a gentle smile. “We are forbidden from interfering with you too much, which includes revealing our identities to you. Why else do you think I’m wearing this mask, as well as a veiling spell preventing you from recognizing me? As you might have guessed, my wife and I knew you back on Spirit Earth. Without both the mask and the veiling spell, you would have already figured out who I was.”
Forbidden? By whom? Well, the answer to that was obvious. There was only one being that I could think of who both Tempest and Terra would listen to. Sol. That meant that the supreme deity of Lumina knew about me. That was an unpleasant revelation.
Well, that made sense. I doubted that my soul would have been allowed on this world without Sol’s permission.
“I hope we had a friendly relationship,” I said. “Otherwise this conversation is about to get real awkward real fast.”
“You could say that, yes,” Tempest said with a nod. “There is a reason why my wife and I went through so much effort on your behalf.”
“A reason which you won’t reveal.”
His smile widened.
“Well, yes,” Tempest said. “Given what you are, it’s difficult to play mysterious and all-knowing with you. That’s half the fun of interacting with mortals. I’ll take what I can get.”
Cheeky bastard.
“If it helps,” Tempest continued. “You can think of it as sowing good will and strengthening our karmic ties. Unless your soul is destroyed, there is a good chance that you’ll achieve immortality again. When that happens, I want you to remember who was good to you when you were weak and mortal.” He paused. “I believe the Otherworlders have a saying for this. ‘Getting in on the ground floor?’ I believe that’s how it goes. It wasn’t a coincidence that you were born into that particular family.”
“Is that why you and Mother hid Gabe’s presence from everyone else?” Aurora asked, speaking Spirit Tongue. “So that no one else can take advantage of him?”
“Mother?” I paused. “Wait a minute, Aurora. You can speak Spirit Tongue? Since when?”
Aurora rolled her eyes at me.
“I’ve always been able to,” she said. “There just wasn’t a reason for me to do so until now.”
I gave her a mystified look. You know what, never mind. I had other things to worry about.
“What do you mean ‘Mother?’” I asked.
“All the World Serpents are my wife’s children,” Tempest explained. “She made them from her essence.”
Oh. Wait, that meant Terra didn’t just give me one of her servants as a familiar. She gave me one of her children. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
“Does that make you Aurora’s father?” I asked.
Tempest shook his head.
“No,” he said. “My wife created the World Serpents without any involvement from me. At best, I’m a stepfather to them.”
Well, all right then. I learned something new today.
“To answer your question, little dragon,” Tempest said. “You could see it as us hiding Gabriel to take advantage of him for our own benefit. You could also see it as us protecting him from the other divine beings here on Lumina.”
Tempest gave me a serious look.
“My wife and I are well-disposed towards you. The same could not be said of the others. Some of them could, and would, see you as a threat to their interests; a threat that they would seek to eliminate. Hiding your presence from them was the best way we could think of to keep you safe. They can’t find a threat that they don’t know exists.”
“Which ones?” I asked.
Tempest shook his head.
“That’s a conversation for later,” he said. “You and I don’t have much time left. This will be the last time for a while that the two of us can speak openly like this. After you leave this little hidden realm of mine, it will be much more difficult, regardless of your choice.”
Okay, that answered one of my many questions. Hidden realms were worlds, created or naturally occurring, that existed alongside the main world. Some people also called them pocket dimensions, though I never liked that term. Some hidden realms were as large, if not larger, than the main world. There was nothing pocket-sized about them.
Back on Spirit Earth, they were pretty common. Here on Lumina, they were much rarer.
So, I was right. A god literally crafted this pavilion.
“What do you mean we don’t have much time?” I asked with a frown.
“Gabriel, you aren’t dead,” Tempest said. “I plucked your soul from your body just before you died and pulled it here, where time moves faster than in the main world. However, there are limits; I can only bend the rules so far. I did all this to give us this opportunity to talk, and offer you a choice.”
My eyes widened as I listened to Tempest’s words. I was still alive. That meant that there was a chance that I could be saved. While mortal methods of healing wouldn’t work, Tempest was a divine being. He could perform literal miracles.
Something told me that Tempest could, and would, save my life. However, this would come at a price. The question was, what was the price? And would I be willing to pay it?
I thought of my family and friends; I thought of Annabelle.
Yes. Yes, I would.
“What choice?” I asked.
“I can save your life, Gabriel,” Tempest said. “Not only that, but I can restore your body and heal all of the injuries you sustained during the battle with the Black Wolf Gang. However, in order for me to do that, you need to become my Chosen. Otherwise, my ability to help you is far more limited.”
Okay, maybe this choice wouldn’t be as easy as I assumed.
I loathed the idea of becoming Tempest’s Chosen. The Chosen, as much as the mortals respected and revered them, were just servants in the end. The last person I swore to serve was the Golden Dragon, and he ended up trying to kill my best friend. After that, I promised myself that I would never again swear fealty to another.
There were exceptions to this, of course. My family, for one. The Sun Emperor was another. In the latter case, that was because I was a citizen of the Solarian Empire. However, I would never agree to become his personal servant.
I also didn’t trust Tempest. He and his wife had manipulated my life and my circumstances for as long as I have been on Lumina; maybe even longer. I didn’t know how involved they were, but at the very least, they placed me in House Sturm and had me take on Lorelei as my disciple.
Okay, I wasn’t angry about either of those. I loved my family, and I didn’t regret taking on Lorelei as my disciple. Hell, I even got Aurora out of it.
Still, I was hesitant to accept Tempest’s offer. While put on a friendly face, that didn’t mean he was my friend. Just because I knew him from my past life as Immortal Celestial Thunder didn’t mean he or his wife were my allies. I had plenty of enemies as well. The two of them wanted something from me. Hell, he all but admitted it.
“And if I say no?” I asked.
Tempest shrugged.
“Then you die,” he said. “Simple as that. In that case, the best I can do for you is ensure that you’re reborn into a good family. Whether or not you retain your memories would be up to you and fate.”
I didn’t like either choice. On the one hand, I would have to become Tempest’s servant; his pawn in the mortal realm. On the other hand, I would leave my family and friends behind. There also wasn’t a guarantee that I would retain the memories of my past lives. Even if I did, it would be years before I would be in a position to find my loved ones again.
I would also have to leave behind Annabelle. My heart clenched at the thought.
“What do you think, Aurora?” I asked.
She tightened her grip on me.
“As long as we’re together,” she said. “I don’t care which you pick. I’m with you all the way. You are me, and I am you.”
“If it helps,” Tempest said after taking a sip of his tea. “Healing you wouldn’t count as your blessing. It would be my way of celebrating the fact that you decided to become my Chosen. This is the only time I would be able to do this, however. The next time you die, should something like that occur, you’ll die for real.”
I raised an eyebrow at him.
“More bending of the rules, I assume?” I asked.
“Of course.” He leaned forward. “Not only that, but you would be different from the other Chosen.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“How so?”
“Most Chosen are the champions and servants of their patron god. I’m guessing this is why you’re so hesitant to accept my offer.”
When I didn’t respond, he grinned.
“To prevent everyone from being too liberal with their blessings and disrupting the mortal world too much, Lord Sol decreed that each god could only have one Chosen. Not only that, but the Chosen must be dedicated and loyal to their patron. Servitude is one way to interpret this ruling. However, since you’re from Spirit Earth, you know of another kind of relationship that fits.”
It took me a second to understand what he was getting at. Since I refused to become his servant or vassal, that left few other options.
“You want me to become your disciple,” I guessed. “You would become my Master; in the sense that you would be my teacher, not my overlord.”
Tempest’s grin widened.
“Correct,” he said.
I snorted.
“And you’re fine with being my Master in name only?” I asked. “Given the level of power and knowledge that I reached before I died, I doubt there is anything you could teach me that I don’t already know.”
Tempest laughed at this.
“That was always one of your biggest flaws, Gabriel,” he said. “You never knew as much as you thought you did, and you always overestimated your abilities. How many times has that caused you grief here on Lumina, let alone Spirit Earth?”
I had no answer for that, because he was right. Damn it!
Who was this guy? Who was he really? He called himself Tempest here on Lumina, but what was his name back on Spirit Earth? From the way he talked, it was clear that he knew me well.
“Besides,” Tempest said. “Even if we disregard cultivation, I certainly know more about wizardry than you do. I’ve been here longer, after all.”
Tempest two, Gabriel zero.
“Does that mean you found a way to meld wizardry and cultivation?” I asked, dying to know the answer.
Tempest just gave me a mysterious smile and didn’t answer.
Damn it. He knew just how to tempt me. I knew he was manipulating me, but that didn’t help much. Having him as my teacher was much more preferable than having him as my overlord. I almost wanted to tell him no, just to spite him, but that would be petty.
Still, becoming Tempest’s disciple, while better than becoming his servant, was far from ideal. As with my own disciples, I would be giving him the same authority over me that my parents had. Was that something I wanted to do?
A part of me pointed out that there were people out there who would literally kill for the chance to become Tempest’s personal servant, let alone his disciple. Meanwhile, he was handing it to me on a silver platter, and yet I still hesitated.
“Make your decision soon,” Tempest said. “We only have a few minutes left before I have to put you back where I found you. After that, I can either heal you as my Chosen, or let you die. I would prefer the former.”
“If healing me won’t count as your blessing for me,” I said. “What kind of blessing will you give me?”
Since he planned on using me, I might as well get something out of it.
Tempest shrugged.
“I’ll leave that up to you,” he said. “As long as you choose something reasonable, and it is within my power to give, then you can have it.”
“Define ‘reasonable.’”
Tempest had no problem giving me a flat look, despite the mask.
“Nothing that would disrupt the mortal world too much,” he said. “So no, I can’t make you a Demigod, if that’s what you were thinking. You’ll have to reach that stage all on your own.”
Okay, good to know. I mean, I wouldn’t have asked for that even if it was an option. The journey was just as important as the destination. Trying to skip ahead like this would just lead to a weaker cultivation base and an unstable foundation.
Power given was power that could be easily taken away.
That said, I knew what I wanted. At first I was going to ask him to restore my Second Circle, but I could do that on my own. I just needed three or so months. Instead, I would ask for something that I could only get through him.
“Storm dragon blood,” I said. “Enough for me and my family to strengthen the storm dragon blood already running through our veins.”
This way, I would increase my own power and help out my family at the same time. Maybe, just maybe, this would be enough to keep my family from killing me. Once I woke up, they were going to be furious.
Plus, it would help speed up my divine body cultivation.
Tempest studied me for several long seconds.
“You don’t think small, do you?” he asked.
“Is this too big of a blessing?” I asked.
“Technically, no,” Tempest said. “It is bending the rules almost to the breaking point. Almost, but not quite. While the blessing is supposed to benefit you, there is no rule that says it only has to benefit you. Not yet at least. After today, I have a feeling that will change.”
“Will you get in trouble?”
While I didn’t completely trust Tempest, that didn’t mean I wanted anything bad to happen to him. He was helping me out, after all.
Tempest waved off my concern.
“Leave that up to me, Gabriel,” he said. “You just worry about yourself once you get back.” He looked me up and down. “Does this mean you accept my offer? Will you become my Chosen?”
“Yes,” I said with a sigh. “I will accept you as my Master.”
“In that case, you know what to do.”
I stood up from the chair, before kowtowing to Tempest three times.
“This disciple greets you, Master Tempest.”
“Good,” Master Tempest said as I stood up again. “Your cultivation name will remain the same, Celestial Thunder.” He looked out towards the horizon. “Just in time too. This is where we say goodbye.” He gave me a sad smile. “We won’t be able to talk like this again for a while, but I’ll communicate to you through your dreams.”
I snorted.
“No need to remind me. I know how this works. I’ve done it before, on both sides.”
Master Tempest’s smile turned indulgent, and just a bit patronizing.
“Of course,” he said. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get that storm dragon blood.” He stood up. “Careful now. This is going to hurt.”
Before I could respond, he shoved me into the water, moving so fast that I couldn’t react. His blow didn’t hurt, but I could do nothing to resist him. Aurora let out a surprised shout.
I hit the water with a splash and started sinking. Just before the water enveloped me, I saw Tempest take off his mask. However, before I saw his face, the water obscured my vision and I saw only darkness.