I walked through the village of Taizhou, which was now a lot emptier. Not every villager had moved to the city; some still remained, looking after their homes and working. But most of those who remained were people who were under my sect, or had work related to it and could get the necessary security all the way out here. Almost everyone else had moved to the city, in fear of the demonic beasts, leaving the village silent and still.It had snowed last night, covering the village in a sheen of white. I could sense the life throughout this place, trying to preserve whatever warmth it could, snuggled underneath the embrace of the earth.Spirit animals roamed around, some noticing my presence and walking closer. Many had gone into hibernation, knowing the threat the demonic beasts that winter represented.There was a strange kind of beauty in this landscape, even within harsh winters. I was more aware now than ever before of how life persevered, how it maintained, and how it kept going, n

I walked towards Ash, petting the giant wolf on his head. I could feel the Gu pulsing inside of him. It was shallower now, his ties to the earth and the energy of death weakening as he spent more and more time above the surface. There was no danger of Ash losing his abilities, but I could tell that his spirit was growing weaker, albeit very slowly.I didn’t need to speak; I simply sent my words to the wolf’s mind, my intent conveying itself to him.Ash looked up at me, dark eyes showing trust. I had seen the same look before, from Zhang, Flee, and others who I cared so much for. It filled my heart every time and made my back heavy from the burden of it.“Change is natural. With you, we change as well,” Ash spoke, his words resonating through my mind. It was hard to describe what the bond between a spirit and a human felt like. But if I had to put it into words, it was akin to a thread made out of love and empathy that both sides extended forward and bound together to create a single r

I sat in front of the old man feeling a little strange. It had been some time since I had taken a lesson like this from him. Certainly not after the reunification of the two halves of my spirit. The mixture of those memories almost made it feel like this was a third entirely new and separate me that sat here once again.Unaware of my thoughts, the old man continued, his long sleeves trailing behind him as they often did, while he flipped through a myriad of books that sat in his chamber until he found the one that he wanted to show me."Look, Yuan, do you see this pill?" He asked me, showing me the recipe of a pill that I wasn't terribly familiar with, but I knew enough."I do," I said to the old man. "It is a spirit-mending pill meant for stabilizing the spirit of a cultivator after it has suffered from backlash from a technique gone wrong or from an outside attack," I replied smoothly, feeling just a little proud of myself for remembering that detail which I had studied months ago.

Endless dark surrounded me, infinite and unending. A familiar sight. I opened my eyes, feeling an innate connection to where I was standing. My spirit, and my dantian. Space seemed to lose concept in this place, directions seemingly meaningless. Yet despite that, I could tell where to turn and look to find the anchor of my spirit.A giant golden spirit ring circled in the dark abyss of my spirit, flashing golden light into its surroundings. Around the gold, was a silver ring, humming with a quiet thrum. The Two Laws. The Two Truths anchored into my very soul.I looked back down, at the darkness again. It had once been a home for me, a terrible and cold one, yet home nonetheless. Faint memories swirled in my mind. Just how long had I spent in here? The entire period of time felt like a distant dream lost to the waking world, only there in quiet whispers that echoed at the back of my mind, and yet I found my heart ache as I stood here, watching the ruins of what had once been my entire

I walked around the library, picking book after book before starting to look through each one. There didn’t seem to be any logical sequence in which the books themselves were arranged, with all sorts of different books distributed around at random.The funniest part? Everytime I picked up the book and looked at the memory within, it would shift and alter ever so slightly, adjusting and shifting. Nothing important, or nothing that would impact the events within the memory. But if someone wore green clothings, it would change to blue.Strangeness of this place aside, I continued to walk around, guided by my gut feelings. Although this place had no order, it was still my own spirit and will. As long as I moved with a purpose in mind, I didn’t really need to know where I was going, and I’d arrive at the place I needed to be.This time I was searching for memories of my time in school. The studies that I did, and the courses I read. A part of me wanted this place to just give me perfect re