Chapter 97: Breakthrough

Chapter 97: Breakthrough

I stared at the Kirin standing in front of me, confused.

“Do you not sense the sprout within your soul? The deep pool of essence that fills your soul? The thing tying you two cores together, preventing a horrifying death at any given moment?” the Kirin asked, glancing towards me.

“I... do?” I replied, before pushing my senses inwards. The familiar little sprout at the core of my dantian reached out to me, in my senses.

“Indeed. The fragile little sprout born between your soul. Born from the partial union of Order and Chaos.”

“Partial?” I asked the Kirin.

The majestic creature glanced towards Gu Jie. Its mane flowed as it jumped up into the sky, landing at the boy.

“You would understand. What is lacking,” the Kirin said, leaning in close to Gu Jie’s face. Gu Jie turned his eyes away, not meeting them with mine.

“Hold on, I’m getting incredibly confused. Can you please explain why or how Twilight got here? Let’s start from there,” I said, patting Twilight sitting on my head.

The kirin glanced back towards me. “Twilight. Mu. The meeting point of day and night. An apt name,” the Kiring said.

My eyes widened in surprise when I realized the Kirin wasn’t saying a broken form of Twilight, but instead a translation of the word instead.

“You understand english?” I asked, baffled. Even the heavens hadn’t caught on to english.

“We are not hindered by any language child. But we are aware of some that you lost souls bring to our realm. The old cycle was responsible for handling birth and rebirth. To take the souls from those buried in the earth, up towards the heavens, and then back into the mortal coil,” the Kirin said, a green glow lighting up its antlers.

“We did not find your spirit. She found us on her own. All we did was guide her to the path that would bring her here. She is one of the few creatures which still presides in an older order. Capable of touching both death and life. Now death remains devoid of life, and life has little comfort in death.”

The world rippled around me, as I saw a massive tree rising into the sky. Glowing a bright light, I saw Gu spreading around the roots of the tree, being pulled in by plants. In there, death would change, form life, and then be released upwards, into the skies.

“If the tree is gone, how is rebirth handled now? You called me a lost soul. Is the tree breaking why I’m here? Because it messed up with the rebirth cycle or whatever?”

“The cycle is broken. And so the dead stir, rising from their graves if left unattended. A ritual must be performed, to send the spirit towards the heavens. The journey is perilous, preyed upon by the shows of the void that lurk. Death runs rampant, Gu spreading unchecked through the earth, leading to abominable creatures. You call these demons. Creatures submerged in Gu, formed from feasting upon the dead.”

The image of the wraiths filling the void that struck came out to me. The twisted malformed creatures screaming in eternal agony and pain. Were those... people? People who had lost their way?

“You would know, wouldn’t you?” the Kirin asked, but not to me. I saw the creature standing in front of Gu Jie.

“The darkness had lurked within your spirit. Corrupted. Yet your soul was tied to your other half, which yet remained pure. So you remain struck, half wraith, half human. Unable to find release.”

I saw Gu Jie’s fists clenching, as he averted his eyes.

“The first step is acceptance, child. Accept the death that fills your spirit, make it a part of yourself,” the Kirin breathed, moving closer.

“You saw the creatures that killed your parents. You saw the twisted nature of our world. The cycle remains broken. The children live in eternal dispute. You can mend that. You merely need to accept who you are.”

“I... do not want to be this way,” Gu Jie said, looking up. “I do not wish to be lost. I’m mired in death, and suffering. Just a touch of Gu breaks down my body. I cannot exist within myself for even a moment. I am anathema to life. How could I ever? I don’t wish to be a demon,” Gu Jie said, clenching his teeth as water pooled in his eyes.

“You are not a demon,” the Kirin said, as it lowered its head and brushed it against Gu Jie’s cheeks.

“Demons are not death. They are a defiance of the cycle. To become a demon, a product of the wraiths that plague death. The very same exists in life. The whispers of those who passed, they form the heavens. They speak of secrets in mortal ears. They fear the wraiths lurking in death, and they despise the Gu they inhabit. And so they lash back against the cycle.”

I looked at the kirin, my eyes wide.

“Yeah. Even if... we won’t be able to talk like this. You’ll be there. A part of me. Just like how I’ll be a part of you,” I replied, feeling my voice starting to choke.

I had not felt anything so far. But now that I stood here, I could feel my nerves rising. My palms were sweaty, my throat clammy and my chest was tight as I struggled to keep my calm.

“I’m scared too,” I told Gu Jie, looking up at him. “But... I really think that this is the best way forward.”

The boy looked back at me, and silently returned a nod.

I extended my hand forward, as white circle formed beneath my feet.

“Life steps ahead.”

Gu Jie extended his hand. A dark circle formed beneath him, merging with mine.

“And Death follows right after.”

I pressed my palm against his, as Qi began to rage against Gu. A dark circle formed beneath my feet, in the area of light. And a similar circle formed beneath Gu Jie, but white instead.

“Yin and Yang. Order and Chaos. And now they unite. To be whole again.”

The Yin and Yang beneath our feet began to revolve, mingling together like my Qi and Gu. Something began to flow out from me, as I held Gu Jie’s hand tight. Our souls began to revolve around, like two stars orbiting each other.

“From Gu and Qi, a new form is born. One of unity. One of Peace.”

The world vibrated around us, shuddering. It sang, a harmonious tune born of the collision of two opposing forces.

I felt our souls collide, as our two cores merged back into one.

“And so, Chi was formed.”

Blinding light consumed me, as Gu and Qi combined. My senses were lost, as our souls merged into a singular.

The knot within our soul unraveled itself, the equilibrium of our two cores broken.

Two circles, of Qi and Gu, collided, forming something different. Something new.

I sensed the First Law change. The foundation of my soul, the first step of my cultivation. It shifted, to represent the duality more accurately.

I had been wrong before. We had been wrong before. The Law was born of incomplete understanding. It was imperfect.

But no more. Now we understood. As one whole, we opened our eyes, and uttered the words imprinted on our very being.

“The First Law of Cultivation: Duality of Chi”

The two circles in my souls fused into one. Of Gu and Qi combined, not in destruction but in harmony. The energy of both heaven and earth, and the very world itself. A circle of Chi.

A plant bloomed within my soul.

There were no tribulations from heaven this time, no breakthroughs. I merely stood upon the line between the realms and took a step across.

And so I was more.