"In the old era, everyone would walk a Path. There were no such things as an innate ability to cultivate. The lives of mortals all when honed would form a path that would bend the energies of the world to their whim. It is the cultivation of the heavens, which discards and picks people suited towards its path. By creation, the cultivation of the empire is meant to pick only those that fit into its mold, leaving all the rest behind as mortals.”“But the demons, they have no such qualms. The demons do not cultivate through realms, but live instead in awakenings. Five awakenings, of the five circles constituting one’s soul. They progress by walking their Path of chaos.”“And today, we need you to awaken. To form the first circle of Gu missing in your soul, and become equals.”I glanced over toward Zhao Haisheng, as he stood frozen, staring at the Kirin.“I know,” Zhao Haisheng replied, glancing over at me. “I’ve known this for a long time.”I stared back, unsure of what to say. Here was

Flee tried to move and tumbled face first onto the ground with a faceplant. Her hands were tied behind her back with something, and even if she tried to use her lightning, the restraints were Qi infused and not budging.“Ouch,” Flee said out loud, and paused. She’d just spoken. Not from her Qi, or with any bond. She had spoken through her mouth.Emotions began to well up in her chest, but she forced her attention back. How had she come here? She had been in the court of the moon before.Her eyes glanced around, and she noticed the large gate, shut close tightly. It was the door she’d entered, which had taken her to the dragon. She was back at the entrance. But then who had tied her up?“She is awake, brother,” a voice sounded from nearby.Flee looked ahead, and saw two children walk towards her. She recognised them as Yan Yun’s cousins, the ones her Master had been trying to defeat.The boys walked closer, and Flee inched a bit further away, glaring at them. How had they trapped her?

A dissonance had plagued me throughout my life. There had been something missing in my interactions and memories. A strange wrongness that had permeated me through every waking moment. My path had been incomplete, fractured.Memories flashed through my mind, a joint fractured mess being stitched together. Anger, frustration, fear, hate, love, passion. I watched my life flash in front of my eyes, memories being tied together into a singular whole.They were broken. Two sights, two eyes. Two people. Split between two minds that existed in one body. But not anymore. Now I was complete in a way that I failed to describe. I had been suffocating my entire life, crushed under the tangle of my own soul. And finally, I was allowed to breathe for the first time in decades.Chi flowed from the world around me. It flowed into the little tree within my dantian, sucked into a blinding tree, as little leaves sprouted. They lit up with a green shimmer, energy distilled to its purest form. Two rings o

Li coughed blood, feeling the strange lightning coursing through his limbs. He licked his lips, wiping the blood coating them. A throb of pain went through his chest, and he tore his burnt clothes. A black burnt patch let out smoke, blood, skin and flesh melting into a smoldering patch.Channeling his Qi, Li stumbled ahead. Towards where his brother stood over the girl’s unconscious form.“Brother, stay back. You’re injured,” Lei said, lightning crackling between his fists as he watched the girl squirming in pain on the ground. Lei gathered golden bolts within his fists, raising them high above.“No. Let me,” Li barked, limping closer.Blood dripped down his chest, coating his chest. A pang of pain spread through his chest upon each step. Some of his ribs had broken from the strike, and he felt out of breath.“It’s… refreshing,” Li panted, walking to the girl’s body. As she remained clutching her gut. Tears flowing freely from her eyes. “I haven’t felt this much pain since grandfather

A resounding crack echoed through the cavern. The ground cracked underneath, a blinding ray of light flashing through the darkness.Li stumbled from the impact, his body frozen stiff as he heard the crack. Felt the outpour of Qi from his brother’s dantian as it shattered into pieces.A single strike.All it had taken was a single strike, to destroy years of training, and cultivation. To shatter everything they had been working towards. His eyes remained pinned upon his brother’s form, as the boy slid down the cracked walls, and slumped down to the floor.Li turned slowly to face the boy. Watched the flames swirling in a dancing inferno of death.Two golden rings swirled inside the boy’s pitch black eyes, the fury inside scraping raw terror from Li’s soul.“Demon,” Li hissed, unable to hold himself back. There was no Gu that he could sense, yet the sheer terror inflicting upon him the boy’s gaze had no other description that he could give.The boy stepped forward, wisps of white and gol