Chapter 836

Chapter 836

The resounding silence echoes endlessly throughout the Void in response to my non-verbal call to arms, proving once and for all that thoughts and prayers are well worth their weight in gold.

No, thats the old me, the empty me, the faithless me, the me who was too afraid to want things because the inevitable disappointment was becoming too difficult to bear. This is a new me, with a new body and new outlook on life, a brighter, more courageous me who understands myself better than ever before. I wouldnt be the first person to find religion on the battlefield, but this isnt a desperate appeal to powers unbeknownst to me hoping theyll miraculously save me from all that ails me. My prayers are not directed to a deity on high in hopes of Divine Intervention, nor is it a plea for deliverance or absolution. Instead, I am praying to the Energy of the Heavens themselves, and not because I am depending on them to fix everything. I am praying because as silly and ridiculous as it might sound, prayer is the best option moving forward that doesnt involve complete surrender.

How do I know this? Im not entirely sure, but I am certain I am on the right track. I know this in my heart of hearts, because my gut, my instincts, my intuition, experience and Insight, all this and more is telling me to believe in myself and my fellow people, and my faith will be rewarded. Its not the limited omniscience of the Heavens guiding me anymore, but a more subtle and personal directive. Before, all I had to do was wonder and the answer would be provided, not so much in words, but in actions, yet I always knew those answers were not truly mine. Now, however, its almost as if a part of me knows this is the right way to go except I cant find the words to express it. Knowing without knowing, but with more intimate undertones, as if Ive known all of this all along and done it a thousand times before. They say you never forget how to ride a bike, and thats what it feels like now, as if Im picking up a bike and getting ready for my first ride in a long, long time. Its familiar and foreign at the same time, so natural and instinctive that theres no way it can be wrong.

It's the same sensation as your first natural kiss, when you look into the eyes of someone you love and are just naturally drawn towards them. Or the feeling of walking down a path youve gone down a thousand times before, but not for many years since. I imagine this is the same feeling Roc has when he swoops in to perch on my shoulder, knowing exactly how fast to fly and how hard to brake to come to a perfect, near weightless landing, or when Jimjam finds the optimal path up a towering tree trunk. Knowing without knowing, except now, this knowing extends beyond the physical realm and into the metaphysical.

It takes everything I have to quiet the skeptic in me, that stubborn, comic book nerd who only understands what Ive learned in my past life and refuses to accept any new lessons from this one. Putting aside the debatable value of thoughts and prayers in my last world, there is an undeniable weight to them in this one, because faith has a power all of its own due to how the Energy of the Heavens works. Gerel and I have always butted heads about my lack of faith, but Ive repeatedly missed the point he was trying to make, or ignored it because I didnt want to accept it. When he says I lack faith, he isnt talking about my love/hate relationship with religion, but rather faith in the Energy of the Heavens themselves.

Again, not in the sense that the Energy of the Heavens is some anthropomorphic being looking out for my best interests, but rather in letting it do what it does best. Its no different from my faith in science. I dont exactly understand everything there is to know about gravity, but even though I cant rattle off a proof that will set aside all doubts, I have faith in the fact that whatever goes up, must come down. Except thats not entirely true, because there is an argument to be made that if you go up long enough, you never have to come back down once you break through the atmosphere and free yourself from the pull of this planets total mass. Again, Im taking this on faith, because I sure as shit have never been to space, nor have I really taken the time to go through the proofs of the math behind those facts because, in all honestly, thats boring. So the long and short of it is that I believe in gravity without wholly understanding it, but I dont need to understand it in order to use it. Push rock off cliff, rock fall and squish people below. Simple. Easy. Effective. This is the mindset I should be using when approaching the Energy of the Heavens, focused on how to use it rather than figuring out how it works, and only then will I possess the qualifications to delve deeper into the details. The bigger issue is that the Energy of the Heavens is far more complicated than gravity in that it is a force affected by the way I perceive it. Thus, in my desire to affix rules and formulas to the Dao, I demonstrate a lack of faith in its ability to heed my Will and do whatever is needed to fulfill it without any further guidance from myself, guidance I am then unable to provide to obtain the outcome I desire. This in turn negatively affected its ability to act without said guidance, and thereby creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure.

It's Guiding all over again. I can do it, as long as I dont think too hard about it, because thinking about it means I need to provide all variables, but Im unable to do so which makes it no longer work. The same thing with teeth. Humans arent supposed to naturally regrow their adult teeth, except in this world they do, because faith and Heavenly Energy.

It aint exactly all logical, but it makes sense. There are limits to what the Energy of the Heavens can do of course, namely that it must adhere to the rules of the world. Teeth are easy, because the framework is already there, so the Energy of the Heavens is really only stimulating an entirely natural process. The same could be said regarding the Refinement and Cleansing of my body, mind, and soul, because when I surrendered complete control of the process and trusted the Energy of the Heavens, it was more than capable of handling all the details from start to finish and improving me in every way possible. That is my Path now, the way forward from here, a compromise between my need to understand things and my supernatural ability to willfully ignore the facts whenever it suits me, which even as I say sounds far too complicated to actually explain. The amount of shit I still dont entirely understand about how I Refined my body, mind, and soul could fill the oceans and then some, but I had faith in the process. By acknowledging several truths about myself and affirming my Dao, I was able to hold true to my sense of self and in doing so, become One with the Heavens and One with the World. This in turn enabled me to retain my unique individuality so that the Energy of the Heavens could rebuild me from the ground up without destroying the core essence of who I am.

Because to pursue the truth without the truth of self is to pursue a lie, and one cannot lie to oneself or the Heavens above. Maybe thats why Ancestral Beasts and Human Divinities remain false Divinities, unable to take that final step because they instinctively know that they would lose themselves in the process, the same way I knew any attempt to Ascend wouldve ended in failure before todays events.

Luckily I have plenty of experience finding myself from all my bouts of crazy, which enabled me to surrender without losing control, which brings me to my current prayer. A last resort which should be working, except it isnt. Theres no answer to my prayer just yet, but that doesnt mean there wont be one, only that I am doing something wrong because I feel like I shouldve gotten an answer already. So why am I being stonewalled? Because my prayer is too vague, too uncertain, too broad and all-encompassing. I made a call for help asking humanity to stand up against a shared foe, but I didnt include any incentive to answer. Humans are typically pretty decent, but only a rare few are willing to stand up and do the right thing for no reward whatsoever. There isnt much I can offer however, except to share why I believe we must all unite together and overthrow the Eternal Emperor, and when all is said and done, I hope this will be enough.

In other words, I need to focus my Will, clarify my Intent, and only then will the Heavens move to assist me. Perspective matters, but Intent is more important, one I have failed to clarify beyond a basic, Gib halp, plz.

So why do I need help? Besides the fact that Im in over my head and about to die, because again, most people wouldnt really care all that much. Well, some might, but how many would be willing to risk their own lives to help a stranger survive? That being said, even though Im out here fighting for my damn life, thats not the only reason Im here. I dont mean here in Shi Bei specifically, but here in general, as the person I am today. Like I said before, I couldve walked away from all this at any point in time, stayed home in the mountains or sat safe in the Citadel and no one wouldve thought twice about it. But I didnt. I chose to embrace my title as the Undying Savage, chose to fight for the honour of being the Number One Talent, chose to share my ideas with the world and use my limited power and influence as Minister of Finance and Legate of the Outer Provinces, decisions which have ultimately brought me here, standing in the Natal Palace of a puppet to face off against a body-snatching immortal spirit who hearkens back to the dawn of the Empire.

Not solely because I wanted to be the hero, or even because I needed to be a hero. No, the truth is, I do what I do because at the end of the day, I want to make the world a better place. Its that simple. Although the various trials and tribulations Ive faced have brought me to many a dark place, and I complain about this shitty world more than most could stand to hear, the truth is, I love this world and the life Ive made here, with all my friends, family, and floofs. Its not perfect, but nothing ever is, so I have made it my mission to make this world the best it can be, with human rights, civil liberties, indoor plumbing, and all that other great stuff that I would rather not do without. Sure, I am often spurred on by the suffering I see, and Ive turned a blind eye to plenty of suffering that I know I cannot fix, but I still do what I can when I can, and I hope that will never change.

Thats why I stand against the Eternal Emperor. Truth be told, I dont hate him, or at least I didnt before he started taking on Zhen Shis mannerisms and threatening all my loved ones. I may have erred in kicking off the clone wars like I did, because as far as I can tell, Ying Zheng without Zhen Shi wasnt that much of a monster. I mean, yea, he pretty much engineered the eternal war between the Imperials and Defiled, while treating the lives of his subjects like chaff, but all things considered, hes far from the worst option available. After a few minutes with me though, now hes talking about sacrificing whole armies in the name of progress and torturing everyone I hold dear, and I cant help but feel like this is partially my fault. Then again, even if he wasnt in the process of devolving into a deranged murder-hobo, I would still stand against him, because he is dead set on hindering humanitys progress and the sole reason why I still shit in a pot. That alone should be enough to consign him to the darkest pits of hell, but there are other reasons to fight him too. The Eternal Emperor represents the immutable status quo, a bleak and unchanging future in which trials and tribulations continue without end, but more importantly, without progress. In contrast, I hold high hopes for the future, of this world and humanity both, hopes I dare dream of because I have seen further than my peers.

This is the Path Ive chosen, one I convey as best I can through prayer and emotion by sharing all the reasons I need help, why I desire strength. To survive, but more than that, to ensure the survival of those I love and care for, and to flourish in time. That is why I pursue strength, but also because in a world which believes might makes right, the only way to have a voice at the table is to carry a big stick. I yearn for the day when that is no longer true, the same way I yearn for a day when there are no more slaves suffering under the whips of their oppressors, no more people going to bed hungry after a long days work, no more despots picking on the weak and growing fat off their labours, and no more educated nobles exploiting the masses for mere entertainment. I dream of a day when I can be free from these conflicts to do as I please, but until such a time when all the above is true, that freedom will be denied me as I willingly fight for the freedoms of others. That is why I fight here today, because the Eternal Emperor stands before me as the Enemy of all mankind, a tyrant oppressor who would see us bound in the chains of suffering all for the sake of his misguided Balance. He is a manipulative despot who has played both sides to engineer so much death and suffering in the name of his own selfish progress, and it is long past time his reign comes to an end.

In short, today, I fight for freedom, freedom for the entire human race, for we have suffered the Eternal Emperors boot for far too long, and I invite the heroes of all humanity to fight alongside me.

The call goes out again through the Energy of the Heavens, and the first to answer is a familiar face which appears at my side, one I saw only moments ago. Even though I was expecting something like this when I hatched my harebrained scheme, it still pains me to see my suspicions confirmed, almost as much as it warms my heart to know that Yazhu can be depended on in life as well as in death. Born a lowly cobblers son, he was the first to come to my aid in JiangHu, and he is the first to come to my aid here today, clad in his Stormguard armour while waving a spectral copy of the bowtie-bunny banner he left behind alongside his cold, dead body on the ramparts of Shi Bei. Death hasnt stopped his soul from answering my call however, but what pains me most is that I can tell that hes not here because he believes in my cause. No, hes here simply because I called, and hes here to support me to the bitter end, for better or for worse, because thats all the reason he needs. He saw what I stood for long before JiangHu and decided I was a man worth fighting for, worth dying for, so even though hes fought and died for me once already, he figured once wasnt enough to repay the debt of gratitude he holds for me.

Except Yazhu owes me nothing, not in my books. I helped open a door, but he found the courage to walk through it and forged his Path all on his own, but now his loyalty has cost him his life, and might well cost him his soul as well.

Many other fallen Stormguards gather around my banner, but most of those who appear are wholly unfamiliar to me. Rather than armour and weapons, many of them wear simple clothes and carry a vast array of common implements, everything from shepherd crooks and pitchforks to fishing nets and threshing flails, though a good number of them carry the repeating crossbows they carried in life. These individuals were Irregulars no doubt, common men and women lacking the gifts of Heaven yet blessed with courage and determination unmatched. They saw the war efforts firsthand and knew the dangers they faced, yet they steeled their nerves and joined up to run towards the problem, rather than away, because thats what heroes do.

No small number of soldiers and Warriors form ranks alongside me, but many whove come to my aid make no effort to gather around my banner, and instead find their own place in the Void. Most are Warriors and look the part, so full of vim and vigour with their noble demeanours, an individualistic minded bunch who resent the Eternal Emperors oppression every bit as much as I do. Their desire for freedom is not lacking in comparison to mine, though their freedom is defined by their Dao, whereas I am the other way around. At the end of the day however, it matters not why they chosen to come and fight at my side, only that they have, and for this, I am grateful. Though few in number compared to the soldiers, Stormguard, and Irregulars, I recognize most, if not all of them as famed Warriors one and all.

In truth, this was a first for this Sovereign as well, for never before had he met a foe in possession of an army of vengeful souls, the remnant shards of itinerant Will left behind by the recently dead. Falling Rains army was comprised of Spectres by another name, only ones more complete, for time had yet to wear away at their Wills and consign them over to an Imbalanced existence. As if this were not enough, Falling Rains summoned souls possessed all the Prana they had left in life, the ineffable power of Life and Death that even Fifth Brother had been unable to quantify save to acknowledge its existence. While a living creature could not survive without Prana, this was merely a measure of their natural lifespan, meaning that those who died of unnatural causes like a spear to throat would likely to have plenty of Prana remaining.

And in contrast? The vast majority of this Sovereigns court of souls had long since expended the lions share of their Prana, for though he had claimed their lives well in advance of their natural end, resisting his efforts to control them expended their Prana at a rapid rate. As such, even though this Sovereigns court held the numerical advantage, they were largely a spent force, save for those collected in recent centuries who were as rare as qilin horns and phoenix feathers. Aside from the Solitary Sword Zhang Jun Bao, whose soul had been claimed little more than a week prior and was still struggling against this Sovereigns Will, the most recent soul to enter into this Sovereigns collection was the hosts soul, Liang Wu Sheng. The others had been in his possession for at least a century, for this Sovereign had grown highly particular regarding which souls were worthy of entering his collection. At the beginning, he took in every soul that caught his interest, but as time passed, he discovered that a flawed perspective could do more harm than good, so why partake of spoiled wine when one could study it with the other senses instead?

Oh how it pained him to see his collection destroyed out of hand, the souls of Emperors past consigned to oblivion by sword and spear. Useless though they might be, each and every one of those souls were a marker of his legacy, a step along his Path which brought him to where he stood now. Try as he might to engage his hateful opponent to stop him from destroying this Sovereigns legacy, it was all he could do to stand firm against the torrent of vengeful souls assaulting him from all sides. It wasnt their weapons which wounded him so, but rather the powerful Intents behind them, and not Weapon Intents either. There was power in Death, this much was known, and even more so in violence and hatred, so in spurring this army of itinerant souls to action against this Sovereign, Falling Rain had inadvertently harvested the fruits of what Death had bestowed upon his allies. All the hatred and animosity those vengeful souls possessed in life was now directed towards this Sovereign, all their enmity, grievances, ill-will, and resentment turned into weapons most potent, Manifesting as Intents which imbued their attacks with all manner of unresolved emotions and unfulfilled regrets which rent this Sovereigns Will apart time and time again.

The rage of a father of whod buried three sons.

The hatred of a woman whod lost her innocence to Defiled.

The passionate fury of a noble unresigned to death.

The all-encompassing contempt of a Warrior willing to die for a cause.

This was but a minor fraction of the emotional assault hammering through this Sovereigns very existence, threatening to Unbalance him and topple him from his Path, if not destroy his foundation all-together. The itinerant souls channeled their emotions in reckless ignorance of what it would do to their eternal existence, unaware of the price they paid to launch this ultimately suicidal assault, but this Sovereign suspected that even if they knew, these vengeful souls had lost any and all ability to hold themselves back after Falling Rain spurred them on to action.

A cruel act, to fool these souls so, wholly out of character for someone as nave and compassionate as Falling Rain, which meant the boy had done so in ignorance. Fool! This Sovereign howled, his very existence imbued with agony and suffering both as he struggled to hold firm to his Dao. Do you know what youve done? What price your comrades will pay?

Pray tell.

So wry and smug, Falling Rains tone almost sent this Sovereign over the tipping point but he held firm to his conviction and screamed, So brave in your ignorance, so cruel in your disregard, to treat your allies so. In victory or defeat, these souls will be naught but empty shells, spent vessels incapable of entering the cycle of reincarnation once more. In summoning them here to fight, you have stolen their chance to be reborn anew, consigned them to an eternity of oblivion, nihility and nonexistence.

There was nothing left to say, and a good thing too, because this Sovereign could no longer find it in him to speak as the chaos came to an abrupt standstill. Bent double under the weight of emotion, he shouldered the dying regrets of thousands heaped upon him in less time than it took to blink an eye and was found wanting. Straining to retain sanity under this deluge of sentiment, he fixed his gaze upon Falling Rain whod ceased his assault and recalled his army to his side with a concerned frown, for the idealistic little worm could not bear to sacrifice a few thousand dead souls for ultimate victory.

Life Force? The boy arrived at this answer almost immediately, before shaking his head in rejection, for he knew enough to know there was more to Prana than just life. Not Death force either, nor is it Immortal Energy. Mortal Energy? Whatever, the name, it exists, and they dont have much. Casting his gaze across his army of souls, he studied the unchecked emotions etched across their faces for long moments in silence. Slowly but surely, his features stiffened as fell into a focused trance, no doubt having gleaned something from his thoughts in a moment of Insight or intuition. Raising his shield overhead, he held it not like an armament to attack or defend, but rather more like a symbol or emblem, the same way an Official would hold their Seal of Office up for all to see whilst delivering an order to the masses. I will bear the cost of your efforts, the boy declared, and a ripple emanated outwards from all sides, one which washed over his army with startling effect. One moment, those souls were full of hatred, rage, and grievance, and the next, their expressions all softened into ones of peaceful tranquility, a riotous mob calmed in an instant as they partook of Falling Rains Prana. You have done more than enough, Falling Rain continued, bowing his head in thanks as his army turned to regard him with reverence and respect unmatched. I, Falling Rain, thank you for your assistance, and bid you all go in peace. May your next lives be better than this one.

To think, this Sovereign had been brought so low by someone of such lacking determination, but he would be victorious at the end.

The army of souls offered the boy their respects before fading into the Void to be reincarnated anew, and soon enough, Falling Rain stood alone against this Sovereign and his court of souls. A much-reduced court, as more than half of those near empty husks been expended in the brief but intense battle and had faded into nothingness. No matter, for so long as Liang Wu Shengs soul remained untouched and this Sovereigns sworn brothers intact, then all else could be sacrificed here today. Such was the price this Sovereign was willing to pay to see Falling Rain captured and tormented for millennia to come, to the point where he even intended to expend the Prana of his current and future hosts more liberally so that the worm could spend more time immersed and aware of his suffering.

Mastering his Will with sheer discipline and determination alone, this Sovereign drew himself up to full height to face his hateful foe, making no attempt to hide his contempt and derision. There was no regret on Falling Rains expression, but no caution either as he stood a man alone before this Sovereigns army as if he held the upper hand. His shoulders relaxed and lips quirked in a knowing half-smile, he flourished his blade about in reflex, the very picture of casual contempt. Dont start gloating just yet, the boy began, forestalling this Sovereigns attempt to do just that, an alarmingly predictable habit hed fallen into thanks to his Natal Souls undue influence. They mightve moved on, but the damage theyve done is significant. A fact this Sovereign could not deny, and one which almost sent him spiralling into a rage, only for the flames of anger to be doused in cold fear by Falling Rains following declaration, delivered in his customary egotistical fashion.

Besides, that was only the first wave, and the real stars of the show will arrive soon enough.

Chapter Meme 1

Chapter Meme 2

Chapter Meme 3