The Laws of Cultivation: Qi = MC^2

I looked around myself in astonishment. I stood in a dark world, without a sky or even a ground, but a forest somehow surrounded me on all sides, with fog blurring my sight and not allowing me to see anything.

The sounds of rustling leaves as something moved around me were the only thing I heard around myself besides the sound of my own breath and the beating of my heart.

Was this the matriarch’s spirit? No- no this place was real. My thoughts and mind had little sway or influence in this place. It was a part of the world, overlapping on the actual world around me. Somehow, I can tell this. The real physical and tangible nature of this place and the stability it had only served to unnerve me even further.

Shadows moved around me, and I turned, memories of the assassin returning. But… this was different. And in many ways, worse. I could sense the poison lurking in the air, the leaves with hidden thorns ready to prick you and the little creatures waiting patiently for their chance to strike.

“This is my domain, boy,” the matriarch’s voice came from all around me, as the air itself vibrated.

“Here, without a domain of your own to fight back, you are at my mercy,” she said, as the world around me began to shift. I could sense something waiting in ambush, still and silent, ready to strike.

“This is how a master fights. This is how Divinities fight. The difference that separates us from the rest.” The matriarch said.

I knew about domains. Of course I did. They were what you obtained to enter the fourth circle, a manifestation of your spirit, and your path. A domain was in many ways a world you imposed upon reality, forcing it to bend to your will by bullying it into submission with power.

It also explained how the empire kept a grasp on its power. Those with a domain held absolute authority over those without, there was little to be done about it unless one could counteract with their own.

I jumped, using Stepping instantly to move aside as a giant pure white serpent leapt out— leapt was not quite right. It moved like a mountain being chucked at me, tearing down trees and carving a giant trail in the ethereal black ground.

The creature continued past me, moving across the forest as it raised its head high into the skies, and if there was a sun the place I stood in would’ve been under the serpent’s shadow. I stepped back as the serpent leaned its head closer to the ground and the matriarch patted its head, before stepping down. Her aura was intense, but it wasn’t enough to overwhelm me as I currently was anymore.

I took some amount of pride in that.

“Domains are achieved at the tenth realm. It’s why no matter how powerful you are, if you lack a domain you’ll always be weaker than a master,” the matriarch said, looking at me. A moment later, she frowned. “Of course, with your Path it’s hard to tell even just that.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of that, so I simply looked at her. The serpent continued to keep its head down, fog dancing around the destroyed chunk of forest as the Shie matriarch looked at me expectantly.

“So, what do you plan to do?”

I looked back at her, not sure how to reply. “Ask nicely?”

The woman looked at me in surprise.

“That was a joke,” I added, as her gaze made me want to shrink and run away.

“Perhaps you do not understand the situation, if you can make such jokes,” the Matriarch said as the giant snake hissed next to her. “We did say we would not kill you, so you best try to stay alive.”

I didn’t like where this was going, as the Matriarch stepped back, climbing onto the snake as it raised its head and the swirling mists began to move around me. I didn’t wait for the giant thing to attack as I ran into the remaining bits of the forest. Using Stepping, I moved as fast as I possibly could, while the giant serpent gave chase like a bulldozer, knocking down trees like bowling pins. Someone needed to tell the lady that deforestation was a bad thing.

“A fivefold sage, a boy walking upon a brand new path, one carrying the divine tree in his soul. You have many achievements to your name, but are you truly all they say?” The matriarch’s voice echoed once more through the fog. “Show your mettle. Prove to us that you are everything they say you are, boy. That you are worthy of the Path you walk.”

The serpent hissed as I dodged another strike that took down trees, while the giant creature swung around to take another strike. It felt like I was playing on the palm of her hand. There was no way to hide, she would know every inch of his place and no matter where I would go, she would find me.

Thankfully, I wasn’t planning on hiding, I just needed some time to think. Unfortunately the Shie matriarch didn’t seem very inclined to give me that. Her aura descended upon me from all directions, the pressure on my spirit increasing. I stumbled, falling through thorny and almost certainly poisonous bushes, before slowly picking myself up.

Sadly, I didn’t have enough time. The snake jumped at me and I turned as its massive mouth and hands were about to pierce my body. I grabbed the giant serpent’s mouth, holding it open as the snake raised its body up in the air, trying its best to swallow me.

My hands clutched its scales, fingers digging in as Chi channeled to all my limbs for every ounce of strength. I could feel my bones creaking under the pressure. Letting fires rise at my hands, I began to burn the snake’s body as it thrashed around, eventually flinging me off. I flew across the domain, crashing into branches before falling down. I got up swiftly, dodging the angered snake’s strike, before turning back around.

Calling upon the first law, I let Chi split into Qi and Gu in two balls of energy that formed around my two fists. Bringing them together, I let the energies collide with one another.

“First Law: Duality” I echoed with all the power of my spirit, as the two halves met and destruction manifested into the world.

The beam of energy flew across the space, piercing the serpent and injuring it as the giant snake shrieked. Its scales sizzled and charred, a chunk of its body burned. The space around my fists cracked for a moment, light peeking through, but before I could see what was beyond, the cracks mended themselves.

The snake got up, my attack merely a bruise, and only serving to annoy it even further. I heard the matriarch’s voice.

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“We’re surprised. Perhaps we’ve underestimated you a little.”

Unfortunately I had no time to rejoice over her compliment as I resumed running for my life once more. But now I had a clue. I tried once more, calling upon the first law as I let the destructive energy collide, but this time it was focused not on the serpent, but on the very space in front of me and the domain I was trapped in.

Space cracked once more, like peering through as I tried to put my hand through to try and peel it apart yet the world patched itself around me, nearly cutting off my fingers had I not pulled it back.

Damn it, so I can’t just blast my way out of here. I continued to run through the forest, dodging the giant serpent, and I felt the pressure on my shoulder increasing one more time.

I considered using the second law, but genesis would not do much here. I couldn’t affect the matriarch’s cultivation, it would simply overpower me, and the domain was just another extension of that, so it would behave similarly.

That only really left one option with me, and I didn’t like the option very much.

I moved through the foggy forest, dodging a strike from the snake before I found a cliff side. Jumping down the edge and landing on a protruding rock, I leapt inside a cavern section where I knew the snake wouldn’t be able to enter very easily.

The giant serpent rushed in, smashing itself against the cave’s entrance, loud rumbling hisses shaking the ground around me as I watched it in horror. My heart was racing, as I panted for breath, standing back up. It would break the walls, or the matriarch would, so I didn’t have a lot of time.

Closing my eyes, I began to focus. I’d only done this one time before, and it had been on the verge of death after I’d absorbed my own body into myself. I still didn’t know what the effect of that had been, but I knew how it had felt.

I reached into my spirit, finding the source of power waiting inside, with all the grace that a giant turtle would have. I let that power flow into me, as both resonance and dissonance manifested in my spirit, the waves traveling through my Chi as Harmony was created.

Chi moved without restriction, like I stood in my own spirit with free control on the very world as my eyes lit up with the sheer overflow of Chi moving through my body.

I felt the energy coursing through me, and I knew I couldn’t hold it longer. The cave entrance collapsed as the serpent broke the wall holding it back, trying to rush in.

I didn’t let it. Moving ahead with rapid speed and power I struck with my fist, slamming the serpent backwards as it tumbled across to the other side of the valley. I flew through the air, moving out as the giant snake shook its head.

Gu and Qi swirled around my hands, as I let them collide shooting a beam much stronger and powerful than before. Space shook and shivered around me as the serpent dodged the attack before rushing back at me.

The aura of a divinity was on my shoulders but I was fast now, in this state, nothing could hold me back.

And so I moved, and with the power of a mountain behind my strike, I struck at the snake, hitting it hard enough to lift its body off the ground. The strike created a sonic boom, the air exploding around as rocks and boulders feel free from the impact of the shockwave.

The strength had been enough to tear a chunk out of the matriarch’s domain. But it was shrinking and would be gone in the blink of an eye. I grabbed the edges of space itself, Chi coursing through my hands as I tore the gap, cracking them wider till I could fit through, and then I stumbled out.

The very moment I did, all my strength faded, Harmony disrupting itself as I collapsed onto the ground. I coughed, trying to gather myself when the matriarch moved in close instantly, grabbing my robes as she pulled me up and looked me in the eye.

“How do you have a Divine Beast.”

I had never seen a goddess, much less an enraged one, but now I knew what something like that might look like.

The matriarch’s eyes glowed with the power of a Divinity, and I could feel myself crumbling away under her strength.

“Grandmother—”

“SPEAK!”

The command was absolute, and yet, I knew I could resist it. I had no reason to, and it would’ve helped me to speak, but I did not like being grabbed by the collar. I gathered all the will I could, and when that was not enough, I asked for help. Xuanwu’s aura mixed with mine, breaking the order as the matriarch stumbled back in shock.

The Old man stepped in front of me. “Calm yourself, Zhuihu.”

“You… are you trying to destroy this empire?” The matriarch asked, looking at the old man with an expression of grief, as if she’d just been betrayed by a close friend.

“No, but you have lost yourself in your anger,” the old man said, harshly this time.

“Grandmother, you need to stop,” Liuxiang said, her voice a lot closer than I’d anticipated.

I finally raised my head to see Liuxiang standing against her grandmother alongside the old man, her hair pins out and ready to fight the woman.

“You… you would betray us too?” The woman asked, as if her heart was breaking.

“No one is betraying you. But you need to give the boy a chance to explain himself,” the old man said, fire dancing at the edge of his fingers. This was the first time I’d felt the old man’s aura with this intensity, as it matched the Matriarch, keeping me safe.

I raised myself, looking up at the woman. I still felt incredibly weak, and more than a little annoyed, but I knew that I needed to explain quickly before the woman decided I was not worth keeping around.

“I was chosen as a vessel by the spirit you sensed,” I replied, looking at the woman. “The last time he came around, I lost all sense and control. It was your granddaughter who brought me back,” I said, looking at Liuxiang who still looked nervous at her grandmother’s sudden reaction.

“Do you… do you know what it means to carry a Divine Beast?” The woman asked me, her eyes still glowing with power, and I could see the old man straining now.

“I do. But I have no intention to surrender to it. We are… allies, working towards a shared goal,” I said.

“What do you intend to do with it?” The matriarch asked.

“I plan to stop the demons. To stop Yang Shen and to reunite Heaven and Earth,” I said.

The world shook around me for a moment, but the matriarch did not seem to care. She continued to look at me, as if trying to peer into my very soul, and I kept my expression straight.

A moment later, the glow from her eyes faded, as she clutched her head. “We will not apologize for our behavior,” the woman said, looking at the old man. “We would say we are happy to see you, and we are, but you bring far too many bad omens with you, Shen Ming.”

The old man looked sad at her words, but did not deny it.

“Your control needs work, boy, if you truly are to be a vessel. You’re barely able to hold the divine beast’s power and that too, not for long. If your path and ambitions are as grand as you proclaim, then you will need to master this ability,” the matriarch said, glancing sideways. “But as you are now, you will be able to break through any domain.”

The old man nodded, bowing his head lightly. “This old man appreciates your help, Zhuihu.”

“Right. We’re done for now, leave us alone for some time,” the matriarch said, dismissing us.

I bowed my head as well, looking towards the old man, before we left the chamber. As I did, I let out a giant sigh of relief.

Guess that went about as well as it could’ve gone.

***

Zhuihu sat on her throne, feeling unsettled by what she had seen. A vessel to a divine beast after all this time, and this alongside the return of Yang Shen and the disappearance of demons. It gave her a bad feeling.

But while one part of her thought of that, another was making different calculations. The boy had certainly measured up to his name, and a vessel was the equivalent to the emperor himself, if cultivated properly. Most of all, the girl had raised a weapon against her. She had only mentioned him as a friend, but Zhuihu knew how these things went with children.

It would certainly not be the worst option, though she herself would not care to become an Empress, she wouldn’t mind having a son-in-law as one.

The matriarch smiled, taking a sip from her cup as she sat on her chair. Perhaps she could nudge things along a little sometime.

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