The Laws of Cultivation: Qi = MC^2

Spring and Winter collided in my soul, the two seasons rejoining, their powers feeding into one another. There was Divinity here. True Divinity. In the eternal seasons representing the turning of the world and time itself, carrying life and death alongside them through this voyage into eternity.

And now, I was there, the meeting point of these two, and I found myself standing before something larger than anything I had seen before. Larger than even the divine beasts. It was Heaven and Earth themselves. In the truest sense.

The broken pieces, the fractured cycle, now they began to join and something in my soul began to heal. My vessel, a shell that now contained the two forces, instead of bursting with the two colliding powers, began to resonate, and heal, the strains on my pathways began to mend themselves.

The cycle of the world began to heal in front of my very eyes.

Power surged, harmony resonating. It was endless, seamless, from one into another. I felt Xuanwu and Qinglong, at the edge of my awareness, but they too were just parts of the greater wholes they represented, and I watched from their immortal eyes as seasons passed.

Winter faded from the world around me and spring arose, now the two in harmony, joined and working in tandem. The glow of the world began to turn again as I felt a heavy thud in my chest, as the three spirit rings of my soul began to resonate.

Chi, tenuous and unformed till now, hinged solely on the Divine tree, on the union that I had carried, now found purchase into the world itself, and became manifest. The change was immediate, and instantaneous, and all around me, I felt its rippling effects. But the cycle froze in its paths, and so did I, reminded that it was not done.

Now that I had one half, I could feel the remaining half as well. Summer, the rising peaks and the warmth that fed life, which would give way to gentler autumn, as the colder whispers of winter returned, and then, life would sleep once more, awaiting a new beginning.

That was the cycle of life. A cycle where life fed into death, and death into life. The turning of seasons was an eternal thing, but the world, though healed now, was still fractured without them. They were integral, and they were captured, imprisoned, and until they would be freed, the path I walked upon would not become complete.

It was as if I had become one with the very world itself.

The Gu and the Qi in my soul balanced each other out, as for the first time ever, I found myself in a true state of Harmony.

I changed as well. How could I not? In this moment, I was not just me, but the conjoining of two Divine Beasts. Power flowed through me, shining from within me as the flow of Qi and Gu settled into one.

When I opened my eyes, it was with the vision of two divine beasts. In this moment, I was not myself, but simply an Avatar for the will of the divine beasts. It was like watching things from somewhere far off, in a place somewhere within my soul, I could see it all, watch it.

I had been here before, when Xuanwu had tried to take control, and further when I let him take control. It was a strange place to exist in, I had achieved this before, but never to this extent, never with the weight and power of two divine beasts on my back. My form changed and I found myself at a state of calm, like I was in the eye of a storm, looking down upon the world underneath me.

But it was different now. I was still me. I had simply… become one with the divine beasts.

There were no boundaries between us.

I was winter, and I was spring. The Gu of Xuanwu, and the Qi of Qinglong.

When I saw the world, I saw centuries unfold and the flow of the currents of life and death itself. No single human could be that, and so I was not. In this moment, my mortality was shed, my humanity was shed, and all that remained was the union of the Divinity I heralded.

If Yang Shen took control of the divine beasts to feed on their power then I was the opposite, a vessel for the things held by the divine beasts themselves, shedding my sense of self to become that was greater than any singular person.

As I opened my eyes, a ripple of Chi pulsed as the world changed forever around me.

I glanced down at my hands. I could see the Chi glowing around me in an aura of power, unable to be held back by my vessel, now carrying the weight of two divine beasts.

I looked up to the skies above, to the heavens, changing visibly from my presence, and the union of two divine beasts.

I reached out to them, to the world around me, and found it bending to my will.

I took to the skies, stepping into air as I reached for the heavens, and looked down upon the world from the skies above. Destruction and ruin faced me, many creatures had died, crushed, buried, and trampled by the fight of two titans. The valley itself was fractured, dragons fleeing their home. The cradle, though not gone, was heavily damaged.

This was our responsibility. And so we would fix it.

I reached out, newfound authority of the Divine now in my words, and I gave a single command.

“Heal.”

And the world obeyed.

Water flowed out from the earth, rivers correcting themselves. Broken trees mended their trunks, new leaves and life sprouting from within. The creatures who had died found their bodies mending, life returned to their bodies. The shattered mountains rose to the skies, returning to their form as they had been before. Clouds swirled in the skies at my command, rain pouring down at the world around me, and soon, the Cradle was healed, as if the battle had never taken place.

I remained in the skies, watching over the world, a veritable god in this moment looking down upon the world, and from there, I saw the dragons.

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They looked out from where they hid, watching me. Soon, they rose from the peaks, from around the valley, young and old, and of all colors. They saw me, and saw what I represented.

And they bowed their heads in respect.

I nodded, the last of my strength fading, and soon the Divinity faded from my soul as Harmony ended, and I descended down onto the earth, mortal once more.

I stumbled, not used to the sensation of… not being myself, and finding my body still battered and weak from everything I’d put it through. After I’d caught myself, I looked up and saw my friends staring at me with shock and surprise … as if unsure of who or what I was.

There was reverence and there was fear.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, playing ignorant intentionally. I knew well enough how I had appeared in that moment… in truth, it was an uncomfortable feeling to be so distant to my sense of self, and to wield such immense and unending power. It was divine in the true sense of the word and a part of me craved that sensation. To be bound within it. If that was immortality then all of my soul craved it, to be free of all the constraints of life and mortality, you could not convey that to someone who had not experienced it.

And yet, to do that would mean to abandon my life, and to abandon my friends and all that made me who I was.

Perhaps it was the weakness within me, and why I was unable to fully embrace the Divinity as my own, but I would rather be imperfect and flawed and mortal, if it meant being here with all of them.

And so I feigned ignorance, and smiled at my friends as they smiled back at me. I felt the two divine beasts swirling within my chest, and knew what was to come next, but in this moment, I only had one wish.

“Let’s go back,” I said, as we prepared to head home.

***

Yang Shen inclined his head towards the skies. Another one. That was the fifth Deathless to have died so far. But this time… there was more. He could feel it, the Azure Dragon’s presence, now unified with something else.

“He succeeded, huh?” The demon remarked, as a smile came upon his face. It was inconvenient, and things would be far more difficult now, but a part of him had been hoping he would succeed.

Our meeting is going to be a lot more exciting now.

But Yang Shen did not have time to ponder over such things. In truth, he had considered going after the Azure Dragon himself. He likely would have obtained the divine beast had he done so, but there was a different task taking up his time instead. Yang Shen moved through the shadows, miasma cloaking his presence. To the eyes of any other, he was a simple cultivator, but still, he would have to be careful. That old geezer’s eyes were sharp, sharper than even the emperor, and if there was anybody who could catch him it would be—

“Demon. You dare tread on these sacred lands?” An enraged voice echoed through the monastery, as the monks around him all became altered at once. Yang Shen sighed and then shook his head.

There went his plan to not cause too much chaos. He smiled, taking off the conical straw hat hiding his face as it burst into black flames, and smiled.

This suited him just fine. A little blood bath every so often was good for the soul, after all.

***

Red covered the stone grounds of the Tu clan. As one of the most peaceful clans of monks, the Tu were not known to ever harm or attack any other. Now, blood soaked their grounds and bodies littered the path as Yang Shen walked up to the central hall, his human form lost entirely as the demon no longer hid behind his mask.

With a palm placed upon the gates, he pulsed miasma, breaking the powerful seal placed on it instantly as the gates swung open. Barriers rose around, and Shang Yuan simply smiled, his wounds already healing as he stepped through.

Giant chunks of earth rose from the ground, rushing to strike him, he moved swiftly shattering the first but more slammed around him. Boulders trying to crush him while the ground beneath him began to turn into a swamp, ready to pull him in.

He leapt into the air, flames bursting around his body, black and ominous with the miasma they flickered with as he crushed through the formation of rocks heading his way.

Jumping from rock to rock, he kicked and slammed, moving through the area, his eyes scanning the inner palace to find the formation’s center.

The old divinity was powerful, perhaps the most powerful of them all, but right now nearly all his strength was focused on keeping the ward across the entire empire steady. A task that was difficult even for a Divinity.

Yang Shen was going to take advantage of that.

He dodged another strike of rocks, sharp spikes rising through them as they tried to impale him, and many times would cut through his body but he’d only laugh, his injuries healed within moments.

“What do you seek here, demon? You will not find this place to budge so easily. The other Divinities are on their way here already, and once they arrive, your life will be forfeit once and for all at last”

“You talk so much for an old man,” Shang Yuan said, crushing another massive boulder heading towards him as the building around them slowly began to come apart. As the formation continued to encircle, his eyes finally spotted the place that should be the anchor.

Yang Shen shot forward, dodging any strikes in his path as he rushed towards the anchor, power gathered at his fists as he struck when a shell of earth manifested around the place, a powerful shield flickering as the Tu Divinity appeared seated inside, floating off of the ground with a powerful aura commanding obedience and reverence.

“This place is the hearth of the protector. Vile creatures such as you cannot break its constraints.” The Divinity said, as boulders slammed from both sides in Yang Shen, encasing him in a coffin of earth. Fire burst through, bright and intense enough to melt rocks as Yang Shen tore his way out, standing in front of the Tu Divinity.

“Is that so?”He asked, and then smiled. “I’m sure your precious divine beasts can though.”

The world shivered as the Tu patriarch’s eyes shot open in shock, and Yang Shen unfurled the two divine beasts bound in his chains.

“Immortal Domain: Ear—”

Before the divinity could use his domain to fight back, the divine beasts surged, breaking the protection ward around him as Yang Shen’s hand pierced the Divinity’s chest, crushing his heart in his fists.

The Divinity stared, blood pouring from his mouth as miasma seeped into his body, while Yang Shen simply smiled.

“Curse you, demon… May your wretched soul feel the wrath of Heaven itself,” the man gasped, with the last of his power, he let his strength explode outwards.

Power surged into Yang Shen as his arm turned to stone, spreading outwards and upwards. Panic surged, briefly, before he swiftly cut off his arm as the stony appendage fell to the ground, alongside the corpse of the Divinity, shattering into pieces.

Yang Shen waited for his arm to heal, but nothing happened, blood continuing to pour from the wound. He looked at the corpse of the withered old man and clicked his tongue. “Stubborn old bastard,” he cursed, black flames rising from his hands as he set the corpse aflame and turned around.

Fire rose from his lost arm, burning his flesh to stop the bleeding. He’d need to find a replacement for that arm. What an annoyance.

But still, his mood could not be ruined as he stepped out into the bloodied sect of the Tu clan, and looked upon the skies, watching the barrier preventing his army from invading the empire fall into pieces.

A smile rose to Yang Shen’s face at the sight.

Now. It was time for the real war to begin.

In a bust of dark flames, the demon vanished, leaving the corpses of an entire clan behind him.

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