Chương 151: Starhaven Realm?

From another world? I couldn't help smiling at that, "and what makes you think that?"

"If it was the strange techniques," Han Renyi started slowly, "or even your lack of knowledge about certain parts of our world, I might have assumed you were some ancient rouqin trying to come back to life somehow, but the energies you use..." he paused and I could feel him gathering his thoughts, "they're not just different from rouqi, they're completely different to everything I've ever learned about how cultivation works."

I stayed quiet and let him keep going because I was curious how someone from this world was interpreting everything they had witnessed.

"First there's that blue energy," he continued, "the one that healed my wounds back in the alley, it felt pure, like what the old texts describe when they talk about the Celestial Sovereign's healing touch. And then there's the red energy and the way it interacts with those patterns you draw, those runes. It's like nothing I've ever read about, and I've studied everything I could find on the abilities of past Rouqin including the demonic ones." I felt his consciousness hesitate before he got to the last part.

If a mental voice could take a deep breath, I'm sure he would have done that.

"But it's the third type that gave it away," he said quietly, "the one you used against Zhang Ruiyang at the end, it was like rouqi but more, more..." he struggled to find the right words for it, "more complete somehow, more real." I leaned back against the wall and thought about how I wanted to respond to this because through our shared senses, I could feel his anticipation building and underneath it, a hope that he was trying not to show too obviously.

"I won't lie to you or try to deny it," I said, "but I am curious about something, were you aware that other worlds existed before all of this? Because there were so many other conclusions you could have reached and you went to this one." His response surprised me, "yes, in the past some of our highest tier Rouqin were selected by the Celestial Sovereign for journeys beyond our realm, some of them would come back stronger and changed by whatever they had experienced out there, but most of them..."

"Never came back," I finished.

"But now with the Celestial Sovereign gone..." Han Renyi's voice went quiet for a short while but then it brightened, "but if you were able to enter our world, then you must know a way to leave it!" I held back a sigh because how do you explain to someone living in a dying world that yes, leaving was possible, but that taking them with you wasn't. That their reality was a construct within a construct and that leaving would mean something different from what they were imagining now.

The silence between us stretched out and I felt him beginning to understand what it meant.

"It's not that simple is it," he said quietly.

"Traveling between worlds isn't as straightforward as I would like it to be," I admitted, trying to be honest without making it worse than it needed to be. He absorbed that for a moment and then let out a deep mental sigh, "then there is no hope for the Starhaven Realm..." I perked up at that because unlike the cultivation world, this world had a name and that was significant, naming inner worlds was a common practice and it was one more piece of evidence supporting the theory I had been building.

"Speaking of hope," I said, "let me ask you something, have you ever heard of an entity that serves as some kind of guide or caretaker for this realm?"

"You mean like Astralis? The Immortal Boy?" Now that was interesting, "tell me more about this Astralis."

"He was the Celestial Sovereign's divine messenger," Han Renyi said, "but he was more than a messenger, he was the Sovereign's most trusted advisor and right hand. The stories say he appeared as a young boy with stars in his hair and golden eyes, that he could appear anywhere in our world, and that he knew everything that happened within it."

I couldn't help the way my eyes widened at that description because it fit the way I would have expected an inner world spirit to present itself to the inhabitants of the realm it served.

"Is Astralis still around?" I asked. Han Renyi's response had a bitterness underneath the laugh, "nobody has seen him since the Celestial Sovereign disappeared, like everything else of value, he abandoned our world to whatever fate was waiting for it."

"Master," Azure's voice came into my mind, "for a world as developed as this one, it is rare for the inner world spirit to die, it is more likely that he is still present somewhere but focused on maintaining whatever is left of the world's fundamental structures." If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Thanks Azure," I thought back, "at least that's something." Though finding a missing inner world spirit inside a realm this size was going to be challenging, and it wasn't something I needed to figure out at this moment.

"So?" Han Renyi's voice was buzzing with curiosity now, "what's your world like, how many types of energy do you have, what about—""Hold on," I interrupted, "before we get into any of that, I need to know more about this world if we're going to have a chance of surviving what's coming next." That sobered him up fast.

"The Three-Leaf Clover Sect's retaliation," he said quietly, "what do you need to know?"

"Everything," I said, "but let's start with the basics, tell me about the cultivation tiers you use here."

"There are nine tiers in total," he began, "Tier 1 is where the path starts and where most cultivators spend their lives these days, Tier 9 is the theoretical peak, though nobody has reached that level since the Celestial Sovereign vanished. He was beyond even Tier 9, which made him the only one ever to achieve that."

"I've got a feel for Tiers 1 and 2 from everything we've been through recently," I said, "what about 3 and 4?"

"Tier 3 is where true elemental mastery begins," he explained, "while Tier 2 cultivators can manipulate their chosen element to a degree, Tier 3 means control over it, Tier 4 expands that to multiple elements and Tier 5..." he laughed saying it, "at Tier 5, you're no longer bound by mortal limitations at all, you can fly up to the heavens."

"The tiers also affect lifespan," Han Renyi continued, "Tier 1 cultivators can live to around 300 years if they maintain themselves well, though they deteriorate after that, Tier 2 extends it to 500 years, Tier 3 to 700, Tier 4 to a full millennium, and Tier 5 is said to live even longer than that even though I don't know the numbers."

"Azure," I thought, "any theories about that?"

"It relates to the fundamental nature of this realm's inhabitants," he replied, "since they were created by a high-level cultivator, their basic physiology was probably modified for a longer lifespan from the beginning, though that will come with its own downsides." Good point.

"What about the higher tiers?"

"That's where things get strange," he admitted, "all I know is that Tier 7 is where everything changes, the Celestial Sovereign would personally take an interest in anyone who reached that level. Some say it's because Tier 7 cultivators gain abilities that even he found noteworthy."

"Tell me everything you know about the Three-Leaf Clover Sect," I said, steering the conversation back toward what mattered right now, "their history, their structure, their techniques, even the rumors that nobody can confirm." What followed was a detailed breakdown of one of the region's most powerful cultivation sects and Han Renyi's merchant background proved useful here because he had clearly paid attention to the political and economic aspects just as much as the martial ones.

"What about their cultivation methods?" I asked when he wound down.

"Most of the sect elders use variations of wood element methods," he said, "it's been their tradition since the founding, but the real power, the true legacy of the sect, lies in the Three-Leaf Clover method itself and every sect master in their history has cultivated this method and nothing else."

"That gives us an advantage," I thought, mostly to myself. As a wood element cultivator, I was familiar with both its strengths and its weaknesses. My qi was different from their rouqi in ways that mattered, purer, more concentrated, and more valuable to anything that had been surviving on rouqi alone for a long time. It was possible we might see another situation like the one with Zhou Shentong's plants, but I needed to clarify something first.

"What tier is the sect master?"

"Last anyone knew, he was half a step into Tier 3," Han Renyi replied, "but that was a century ago."

"Are you certain they don't have any full Tier 3 cultivators?" He frowned mentally, "not certain no, nobody has successfully broken through to Tier 3 in the past century, but some of the older generation might still be alive, they would be in seclusion trying to hold onto whatever power they have left as the world's energy keeps declining."

That tracked with everything we had seen so far, because in a world of declining energy the higher tier cultivators would be hit the hardest, needing more resources just to maintain their current level, let alone think about advancing any further.

"So, there's a possibility we might have to deal with Tier 3 cultivators," I said, "probably weakened from years of energy scarcity but still dangerous."

"Surely they wouldn't come out just because we killed Zhou Shentong?" Han Renyi asked. I had to laugh at that, "you think a sect elder being killed by a Tier 1 cultivator won't be enough to bring them out? Their reputation is at stake now. If they don't respond, every other sect in the region is going to see it as weakness and start drawing their own conclusions about what that means."

"Oh," he said quietly, "I hadn't thought of that." There was silence for a few moments, then he gathered his courage to ask a question that he had probably been thinking about for a while.

"Ling Zhuo," his voice was careful now, "those techniques you use, the ones powered by the other energies, could I learn them?" I smiled at that; it was something I had expected.

"We can get to that later," I said standing up from my meditation position, "right now it's time to go pay the Three-Leaf Clover Sect a visit."

"What? Right now? But we…"

"Killed their elder and destroyed his entire compound?" I finished, "exactly. They'll be expecting us to lay low and wait for them to make the first move. The last thing they'll be expecting is for us to show up at their front door."

"That's because it's insane!" but I could feel his curiosity already starting to fight with his fear about it, "isn't it?"

"The best defense is a good offense," I said, "especially when your enemies believe they have the advantage of time and numbers on their side."

"But..." he paused, "shouldn't we at least wait until morning?"

"No, what better time for a visit than when everyone is in the middle of reacting to news?" I asked, checking that the runes were charged and that my qi had recovered to where I needed it to be.

"You're serious?"

"Of course I am," I said and moved toward the window.

"Why are we going through the window? The entrance is right there." I stopped with my hand on the frame, "tell me something, would your father be fine with his son heading out in the middle of the night only a few hours after a life-or-death battle with a sect elder?"

"Well no, but…"

"Even if he allowed it, he would worry about it all night. After everything that happened today, I think he deserves a peaceful night of sleep, don't you?" I felt Han Renyi think about that for a moment, "yes you're right, but a servant comes to call me for breakfast in the morning..."

"We'll be back long before then," I said and opened the window to step out into the rain-soaked night. We had a sect to visit, questions to ask, and resources to secure. It was going to be a busy night.