~~~
Meng Yue eagerly waits atop the Storm Dragon Palace.
The entire thing is flying through the air. Once the Emperor’s advisors realized that the giant shadow has little to no interest in civilian settlements, they suggested it would be best to intercept it in a desolate area. It is a good plan, but since they need to wait for the shadow to get into position, the palace is not moving nearly fast enough for Meng Yue’s tastes.
A part of her wants nothing more than to fly towards the shadow and dive right into it, but Meng Yue knows that’d be a little too reckless, even for her. It is best if the fight takes place as close to the influence of the palace as possible. The power of the Storm Dragon might be needed to counter whatever trump card the Temple of the Thousand Shadows has. However, knowing that does not make the wait any easier. Already, Meng Yue’s Qi has significantly cooled the temperature of her surroundings.
Curiously, she is not the one who is most impatient.
General Nie Dan of the Storm Dragon Empire has his gaze fixed on the horizon. He has not stopped glaring at it, as though he could command it through the weight of his stare.
Bai also does that, usually before she does something interesting.
“I feel I should remind you that you are not in fighting condition,” Meng Yue says, moving to float beside Nie Dan.
The man responds by allowing his Qi to flare up. The corona of energy engulfs the whole palace for an instant. Meng Yue would feel bad for the servants if they hadn’t already been evacuated, though it is a pity about the nobles holed up in the castle. The might of an Emperor has an easy time striking fear into the hearts of others. Of course, that’s not a concern for her. She’s an Emperor far mightier than Nie Dan.
She’s far mightier than most people, really.
“You have been around those weaker than you for too long,” she chides him. “You forget I can fully sense the state of your soul.”
Nie Dan’s frown grows deeper. Meng Yue recognizes it as the frown people make when they do not want to admit the other side has a point, but they also can’t find a way to deny it.
Battles between high-level cultivators go beyond the physical. Their very souls clash against each other, wielding the enormity of their Dao against very fragile vessels. Nie Dan’s body might be fully recovered, but his soul is a different story. To defeat someone on a higher level, he needed to go past every limit. His soul provided the fuel needed, but the damage still lingers. He cannot wield his Dao with the same strength just yet.
“In your condition, you will just get in my way. I’d rather not deal with that,” Meng Yue says.
Nie Dan breathes deeply. Not angry, just exasperated.
“Saying things like that is not wise. If there were anyone else around, you might have caused an incident.”
Meng Yue rolls her eyes.
“I am aware,” she says.
General Nie Dan might be the strongest fighter of the Storm Dragon Empire, but each of the Four Great Sects possesses multiple people stronger than him. The Storm Dragon Empire is weak. She knows it, Emperor Qing Jin knows it, and General Nie Dan knows it.
But for some reason, people would get angry if she said it openly. They would take it as an insult, which would complicate diplomatic relations. Their wounded pride might even demand that General Nie Dan be the first one to engage the enemy. That is the sort of thing people are forced to do to protect their face.
Meng Yue knows all that, so she didn’t say it during the meeting.
“It was not my intention to insinuate something unkind,” Nie Dan says, sensing her mood. “However, I do not like being reminded of my inadequacies. Protecting the empire is my duty. It should be me fighting.”
“Then you should have trained more,” Meng Yue replies.
The tactless reply leaves Nie Dan flatfooted. He looks at her, stunned for a second, before throwing his head back and laughing.
“I see your reputation is well-earned,” he says.
“If that is meant to be an insult, I will get angry,” she warns him.
“It is praise,” General Nie Dan replies. “You cut to the heart of the matter in a way none have. Once, I rushed forward at full speed because I was following someone. When he disappeared, so did my motivation. It was the same for the others. I have acted as though my time had stopped for far too long.”
Meng Yue actually takes a moment to think before saying anything. Such a frank admission of vulnerability deserves no less.
“Great Mother always tells us that you cannot allow admiration to hold you back,” she says. “I believe she means that she wants us to surpass her. If we ever held her in such high esteem that the idea of ever reaching her became unthinkable…I believe she would be sad.”
General Nie Dan does not say anything.
However…for the first time ever, he wonders if perhaps they made that man feel lonely.
~~~
Liu Jin sits on his throne.
Xiao Nan and the Duke have emerged victorious. A medical unit has already been dispatched to Cloudburst City. The rest of the army is either on the border or converging towards Grand Storm City. All that is left for Liu Jin is to wait until they make contact with the shadow. Already, he can feel it on the edge of his awareness.
That is not the only thing Liu Jin can sense.
The Storm Dragon still slumbers as per Liu Jin’s orders. However, the shadow of a Divinity sees more of the world while sleeping than most people do while wide awake. The old dragon’s consciousness brushes against Liu Jin’s. It has been doing that for the past few days. One question becomes more insistent each time.
When will you call on my power?
The answer Liu Jin gives is the same as always. Not yet. The Storm Dragon is his strongest card, but the moment he uses it proactively, this becomes a matter involving Divinities. He needs to wait until the Temple of the Thousand Shadows is forced into conflict against the Death Fashioning Scripture. It’s only a matter of time.
“The others were right. You do have a talent for isolating yourself during the critical moments.”
Liu Jin smiles.
“Is it so bad to procure some time for myself?”
“Usually, no,” Xiao Shuang replies. Her soft steps echo in the throne room. “However, it has been proven that your thoughts have an uncomfortable tendency to lean towards fatalism. It’s worrying."
“That…might be true,” Liu Jin admits. He notices the slight tension on her lips. There is a barely perceptible tremor in her Qi, an odd vibration she is trying hard to disguise. “That’s not the only thing that’s worrying you. Lady Meng Yue?”
She nods.
“It shouldn’t be,” Xiao Shuang says. “My master is unreasonably strong. There is not a single foe who can match her. You have no idea how much that annoyed me during my training, husband. No one could stop her, so she always did whatever she wanted. Even when Lady Bai objected, she’d just go behind her back and drag me to some dangerous place. The only person she listened to was Great Mother, but I think Great Mother liked to let my master do whatever she wanted. Everything always went her way.”
She smiles sadly.
“I’m desperately trying to take comfort in that right now. Is that wrong of me?”
“No,” Liu Jin says, shaking his head. “Fear and worry make fools of us all, but we cannot allow them to. You are trying to believe in your master, and I have never known that to be wrong.”
Liu Jin does not say that, in this case, Xiao Shuang’s fear and worry are more than warranted.
~~~
Finally!
Meng Yue smiles as the shadow appears on the horizon. Without so much as a word of goodbye to Nie Dan, she rushes to meet it. Multiple miles go by in an instant. Her Qi rises and spreads cold across the land. While Emperor Qing Jin has done his best to ensure the battle takes place as far away from civilians as possible, Meng Yue has taken some additional precautions.
[Rising of the Ice Barrier]
Walls of ice rise several miles away, forming a perimeter around the area in which the battle is going to take place. Their height is around half a mile, and their thickness varies from three hundred to four hundred yards. Meng Yue could have made them bigger and even formed a dome above their heads, but there is little point in wasting her energy like that. From the moment the walls go up, the barrier forms around the space.
She can finally go all out.
[Eternal Coffin of the Eighth Frozen Hell]
Meng Yue unleashes the Divine Frozen Palace’s strongest sealing technique without hesitation. The gigantic shadow, which stretches beyond the horizon, is frozen in an instant, trapped in a coffin of ice from which there can be no escape. Those watching from inside the palace look in awe at the frozen landscape. As the silence stretches, a few nobles even dare to cheer.
Meng Yue knows better. As the white vapors created by the glacial cold drift in the wind, a single figure is revealed standing on top of the ice. He is an old man, short and dressed in blue and gold robes. His head is mostly devoid of hair, save for a few small patches of grey.
He is not shivering.
“Well struck,” he says. His voice is quiet, but his Qi carries it over to her without issue.
Emperor Realm, Level Nine.
“I take it you are in charge of this attack?” Meng Yue asks, already knowing the answer. Her lips twitch as she tries her hardest not to smile.
“This old man’s name is Quiet Shadow,” the old man says, smiling as he gives her a little nod. “I must say, you truly live up to your reputation as one of the Five Fairies of the Divine Frozen Palace, Lady Meng Yue. That is rare.”
“Oh?” Meng Yue tilts her head. “I was not aware that the affairs of this side of the Dead Plains mattered enough for you to know our names.”
“Most do not,” Quiet Shadow admits. His hands are folded behind his back as he walks up to her in the air. “However, you are an exception. Even among us, someone like you is quite rare.”
“That’s disappointing,” Meng Yue says. Her aura rises slightly. “I notice you did not bother to attach any titles to your name. Why?”
“I have none to give,” Quiet Shadow replies.
Meng Yue immediately narrows her eyes. The cold increases to such a degree that even those in the palace begin shivering.
“You say people such as me are rare, and you have made no effort to hide your power. Do you really expect me to believe you are nothing special, old man?”
“Ah, my mistake,” the old man smiles apologetically. He is already within a hundred yards of Meng Yue. “I misspoke. I should have said that I no longer have any titles to boast of. I gave them all up, you see. I am afraid there was no other way to leave that room. However, I was Quiet Shadow of the Council of the Hundred just two days ago. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
Meng Yue’s eyebrows rise. It is not often that she is surprised. However, she knows what the Council of the Hundred is. Thus, she understands how significant it is that this old man gave up his position. Most likely, the Temple of the Thousand Shadows could not agree on a course of action, so Quiet Shadow gave up all his privileges to act independently.
“Impressive,” she says. “Maybe not as impressive as the last old man I met, but still impressive.”
The old man chuckles good-naturedly.
“I must be going against steep competition.”
She smiles as she remembers that night in Eastern Port City.
“You have no idea.”
And attacks.
[Ice Jade Rain]
Ice pellets fall from the sky, each one beautiful like a jewel and shining like dawn. When one touches the ground, it pierces the earth for multiple miles. The hundreds of thousands that hit the ice coffin make such a deafening noise that the nobles in the Storm Dragon Palace are desperately trying to cover their ears. Liu Jin immediately increases the barrier's power.
Quiet Shadow floats untouched by it all. The deadly hail simply slows down before touching him and disappears. Meng Yue expected that much. A sword of ice has already appeared in her hand.
Time stops.
Not in the truest sense of the world. Time can never truly be stopped. Instead, Meng Yue creates an alternate space where time moves at a different rate and overlaps it with the natural world. The effect created is functionally indistinguishable from stopped time, a frozen world in which only Meng Yue can move. Each individual hail is frozen in the air from her perspective. A single step takes her in front of Quiet Shadow. The edge of her blade gleams like a diamond.
A hand stops her.
The change that comes across the old man is instantaneous. No longer is he old and frail. He is a blue ogre, clad in golden armor decorated with turquoise. He has a golden beard that covers the lower half of his face, and two large tusks grow from his lower jaw, almost reaching his forehead where a third eye opens. A golden helm covers his head, and he holds a golden club in his right hand. The weapon is thin except for the top part of it, which balloons into a sphere of gold decorated with jewels.
The weapon is moving very quickly towards her head.
The shockwave created by the attack slams into the ice barrier and makes the earth tremble. However, it does not hit Meng Yue. She ducks under the club, her body temperature dropping and forcing the ogre to let go of her. Her ice sword rises to meet the golden weapon, unleashing another shockwave.
“Most impressive, young lady,” Quiet Shadow says as both fighters step back from each other. “However, this old man will not be taken down so easily.”
Meng Yue is smiling as widely as she ever has.
She is not worried that Quiet Shadow could stop her attack. If anything, she’d be disappointed if he couldn’t do something so simple. To fight her, that much is the minimal requirement.
“Very good, elder,” she says, her Qi rising. “Please, continue to live up to my expectations!!”
~~~
Mini-Character List
Liu Jin: Our Protagonist. Contemplating geo-politics. “Or, and hear me out, you could be a dragon.”
Meng Yue: One of the Five Fairies of the Divine Frozen Palace. A woman enjoying the present.
Nie Dan: Heavenly General of the Storm Dragon Empire. A man with regrets about his past.
Xiao Shuang: Meng Yue’s disciple. A girl worried about the future.
Quiet Shadow: Former member of the Council of the Hundred. Retired without pension.