Chương 74: Chapter 22

A sea above the sky. That was the closest Xing Xing could come to describe the layer of dark immensity that loomed over the Plateau. As for its quality, well, he knew his limits.

"A hint of honeysuckle," he said, eyes closed and a smile playing over his lips.

"The impression of extinguished candles. Black soil. Distant water." Yuefang took careful notes of his impressions, her brush dancing over the rice paper. Xing Xing could feel her quiet excitement, and approved. To be able to see the Founder in her full might was an unparalleled honor. The chance to bask in the fathomless depth of her Night, to receive inspiration from parsing through its layered details… it was beyond words. Xing had been stuck in the Third Link for almost a century now.

Not without progress: the Siege had given him a deep insight into the nature of the beast and the rending of flesh. But the missed chance of witnessing the Ancestor's glory because of that wretched Treasure had stung. He was overjoyed that fate blessed him with a second chance.

"Father." Xing cracked one eye open. Sitting in her own cultivation array, her daughter was a blurry figure swathed in Night Qi.

"Yes, daughter?" He purred, already knowing what she was going to say. A slight smile played on Xing Yue's peaceful expression.

"I beg you to remember that this chance was bought by existential danger to the Domain." Xing let out a small, rumbling laugh.

"Preposterous. To even think the Ancestor would lose to these barbarians." Even so, how could he do anything but focus on that glorious Night? Only peering into it was enough to fill him with inspiration and insight for his own. The cultivation array all but creaked with the strain as he pulled Qi with the ferocious will that led him through a millennium of efforts. Yuefang's eyes twinkled with mischief as she reached to stroke the back of his hand. Xing grinned.

She snatched her fingers, holding them tight, and was rewarded with a small, excited breath and a flush. He held them for a moment before letting them go with a chuckle.

"Treasure this moment, my daughter," he said.

"Witnessing this purity is a chance cultivators would kill for." Yue, dutiful as always, nodded. She wasn't calm, though: her shoulders were tense.

"You'd think that Qi this dense would grow more tempestuous," she said, a slight paleness on her cheeks.

"Not more… serene."

"Mh, just a shape out of many, I surmise. Ah, I'd love to see it grow into a storm." Xing Xing relished the image for a moment, then his eyes flicked toward his adored daughter.

"Relax your stance." She didn't need to be told twice, but the tension didn't abandon her entirely. Xing Xing decided not to blame her: above the black sea, there was a strain that could have shattered the plateau into a thousand pieces. Even he felt it, a sky of strings as thin and sharp as razors.

"Do not look above, daughter. Focus all your attention only on the Night. That foulness doesn't deserve a moment's attention." Even as he said it, he wrapped his Night around both his wife and daughter, shielding them. Yuefang, dutiful as only a first wife could be, went above and beyond, shielding her eyes with her sleeve, even as she resumed writing. Yue nodded, both her composure and poise perfect. Yet, her voice had a shake to it when she spoke.

"Father?"

"Yes?"

"Forgive my insolence. Just… the Founder… she'll protect us, won't she?" Insolence indeed. Insolence and faithlessness. Their lesser could give in to both and to fear. As the aristocrats, they were to hold themselves to a higher standard, to be pillars of poise and stability amid the storm. How else could they justify being her favorites otherwise? Still, a daughter was a daughter, and a father was a father. When he spoke, Xing's voice was soft.

"Of course she will. On our part, we have only to stand ready to do our duty. Soon, all this nonsense will be over." Yue relaxed a fraction, and her smile was grateful. For a moment. Then, as was proper, she realized the fall in manners and corrected herself. Xing closed his eyes, smiling. That was why she was his favorite.

"Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Faint smoke. And then… darkness. And then, nothing at all. Obviously. I cannot hope to grasp its full essence yet."

"Obviously." I heard that. Even the scary dark aristocracy had feelings and insecurities. Think of that. And they entrusted themselves to her, alongside the wall of desperate hope, prayers, faith and terror thrumming in her ears. Her city. Her rising, barely thriving city. It begged her to save her, its people begged her, a swarm of chicks peeping in her ear. Civilians and soldiers, males and females, adults and children, all looking up, looking for Night to protect them.

She'd have loved to say it was inspiring, even overwhelming in its weight. From how high she was, it was cute, her little litter whimpering for mother's milk. And infinitely precious no matter what. So, no pressure. The sun of fire and faces loomed over the city, so large that one couldn't see its lower lip. A massive plate of Night barred its path, spiritual matter crystallized into solid refusal. It countered the noise with silence, its unrestraint with calm, its violence with resistance. But it wasn't easy.

DIEDIEDIEDIEDIE. Chi You's voice shook the sky. It spread and echoed, as though one million maddened souls were screaming at once, and it drove into her head like a stiletto made out of ice, even as the sun gnawed through her Night. Zetian rarely agreed with perspectives held by her previous self about people. Chi You's Qi lapped at her sanity like fire over drywall. It made her agree wholeheartedly for once.

"Aren't you energetic?" She murmured. Seed of Rot or not, she had surmised this was supposed to be a skirmish at best, a touch-up over her new strength. But Chi You was pushing it. Nothing could be foreseen with her, it seemed. Sleeves fluttering, Zetian summoned Night Razor. The Sun-Eating Serpent emerged from the sword in a shimmer of black fragments. It looked up, then turned to her, its calm, cool presence asking a question.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Smiling fondly, Wu Zetian extended a hand. The Sun-Eating Serpent wrapped itself around it, making shimmering ribbons out of itself before diving back into the sword. It flew around it, losing shape as it did, sinking into it until the weapon seemed carved of ink freshly mixed. Wu Zetian pointed her palm forward. The sword spun slowly in front of it, leaving trails of droplets that turned from black to red and back.

"Back in the day," she commented lightly.

"I've always had trouble dealing with you. Your chaotic Qi does well in disrupting mine. Its noise. Its howling. They throw the serenity of my Night into disarray. It's what they call a bad matchup." She folded her fingers into a complicated structure. The sword snapped into position, gleaming with a ghostly glow.

"Remember?" YESYESYESYES. WHATYOUGOINGTODO, ZETIAN? The question came with renewed pressure. The mad sun dug into the plate like a starving dog. Serene Night burned before madness and destruction unchained; it turned into chaotic Qi that was then absorbed. Floating among clouds of Qi, Wu Zetian assumed a lotus position. Black ran across her skin in geometric patterns. Almost gently, it peeled itself away, connecting her gleaming skin to the sword in interlocking ribbons of flowing ink.

A soundless gong echoed, and a pulse of Night Qi spread from Night Razor to sweep the sky. Instantly, the shield recompacted itself, pushing the sun back. Blinding light filled the point of contact, a sound like a mountain tearing itself to pieces where Night and Madness collided. AHAHAHAHAHAH. PLAYPLAYPLAYPLAY. With a roar, tendrils erupted from the sun's flanks, stabbing into the plate. Cracks appeared over the shield, red, violent light attempting to slip through like sand through broken glass. Wu Zetian pushed.

Rivers of Qi erupted from her, roaring upward. They hit the cracks, sealing them in rapid succession. MOREMOREMOREMOREMORE!!! Zetian felt it arrive a moment before it slammed against the Night surrounding the Domain. The blast of chaotic energy crashed against the shield she had raised in a hurry, rocking her. Another followed, and another; they filled her perceptions with the sounds of damned howls and burned meat. The tips of her fingers started to smoke. With an umph, her output increased again.

The Night Qi compacted. Dripping tendrils shot out of the flow, connecting them until she was at the center of a shining spiderweb. Dark light emitted from her body, turning her into a point of impossible darkness beneath the great shield. The projectiles kept impacting her Night's outer layers, digging into it like acid rain. She's attacking me directly… from how distant? All the way in the Beast Lands? No, that was too far, even for an Immortal. She had to be closer. Had to be… found you.

Chi You, massive, tall, horrible, stood at the edge of Qinghai. The monster drove her hoofs into the earth, scarring it with unearthly fire, and unloaded another barrage of Madness Qi. Zetian threw her hand sideways, raising a series of shields to block them. The projectiles slammed into it, gnawing furiously before being extinguished. The first phalanx of her middle finger blackened, only to turn pale again when she forced her manifested body to heal. With a swipe, she unleashed a rain of focused blasts.

They cleaved through Li of distance, but Chi You was already moving. FUN! She howled, moving with a speed that shouldn't have belonged to something her size. ISNTFUN? THATSWHYIFIGHT! ISNTFUNZETIAN? She sidestepped, flickering between the rain of bolts, all but blinking from place to place. She swung, and the sun screamed against her barrier. Wu Zetian set her jaw, sending more streams of Qi pouring out. This beast had prepared as well, it seemed. The spear of Chaos pierced her Night like steel through flesh.

Wu Zetian acknowledged the hit with something approaching marvel. She watched, almost fascinated, the black mark on her shoulder. It disappeared, engulfed by her Qi, but the fascination remained, alongside something else. A tickling sensation. IT'S FUN, ISN'T IT? Chi You's voice was almost teasing. TO LET GO! TO UNLEASH YOUR POWER AND RISK IT ALL! IT'S FUN! IT'S FUN! Fun? Wu Zetian tasted the word. Yes, it was fun. Excitement curdled in her belly like an eager snake. And that made her realize one thing.

Most of the Immortals were battle-maniacs. They had to be, to endure the endless struggle that was the Great Path and reach its lofty heights without giving up. Her previous self was no different: she had delighted in unleashing her power, in bathing in the purest Night. And her? She was the same. She knew that, even as a grin swelled over her face, black ink licking her teeth. As Night swelled around her, as the pressure threatened to crush her from above and pierce her from the side.

As she abandoned her corporeal form and swelled more and more, exhilaration burned through her, the liberating feeling of having shed clothes too tight for her frame. LET'S HAVE FUN! Laughed Chi You. LET IT ALL OUT! AREN'T WE IMMORTALS? AND ISN'T THE WORLD OUR PLAYGROUND? LET IT OUT ALL AND LET'S DANCE, DANCE, DANCE! Wu Zetian stilled. Temptation. She recognized it. And yet… If you feel bad, do speak to me about it, alright, Grandma? I beg your forgiveness, but it's my intention to leave for Danghan.

I shall endeavor not to bring shame to the name of Wu and to be worthy of return. A soldier, powerless and useless, stepping over a child, determined to die. Wu Zetian scoffed.

"How boring." Genuine surprise flashed in Chi You's eyes. BORING?

"Boring." Wu Zetian tilted her head, hair sliding down her shoulder. She smiled with contempt.

"Tens of millennia. All the power in the world, and all you can manage is to care for your own freedom. How droll." There was something delightful in stunning a mad Immortal into silence. For a moment. Chi You was already about to resume her barking. But she stopped. Wu Zetian had raised a finger.

"No need for more shouting, my friend," she murmured, her smile going cold.

"You've been doing that enough for today. I speak now." More Qi wafted from her, dark smoke emerging from polished skin. She started growing.

"I know your type. Trying to talk to you is as pointless as trying to talk sense into a wall. So I won't try. Because I know what makes you tick, and if I can't dissuade you from your recklessness, I can still educate you. That… I don't mind. I don't mind at all." Qi kept swelling around her, so thick and vast that it could engulf a Spirit Vein. It grew beneath the city-sized plate, spreading into a cloud formation, until it was as if a storm loomed over the plateau. Wu Zetian grew with it.

She had been holding back until now. No more. Allowing her mortal form to dissipate, she let her true form out. Her skin turned pale as ivory, gleaming as mother-of-pearl, smooth and blemishless as the untouched face of the moon. Mazes of geometrical lines, each a channel of power, engraved themselves over it. Her robes expanded, floating around her as though about to swathe the plateau. Her hair grew longer, thicker, silver letters engraved over locks the color of the deepest night. She had grown gigantic.

Cloth trails the size of city streets caressed the city's towers without stirring a speck of dust. Strands of hair wide enough to crush a man floated over the sky, brushing the towers with affectionate touches. The shadow of Wu Zetian, white and black, gleaming as bone and dark as ebony, engulfed half of the city, the people crying out and falling to their knees. When she opened her eyes, twin channels of Night Qi led into it, they held True Night, and the stars revolved inside of them.

"I've known you," she said, her voice echoing without lips being moved.

"Now allow me to let you know about my type." A colossal amount of Qi condensed behind her, forming into a great circle, the emblem of the Immortals. Waves of Night radiated from her, bathing the Land, turning it dark and gleaming where they touched. Far away, at the edge of Qinghai, Chi You drew back. HOLD ON. THAT… THAT IS TOO MUCH! Wu Zetian ignored her. Her expression was serenity and kindness itself.

With the sound of an iceberg moving, she raised a hand before her face, pointer finger up, middle finger crooked. Shen Qi, enough to crush a civilization, cycled obediently through Meridians wide enough for a man to swim into.

"I am greedy. I am avaricious. I am seeking, and I don't have any wish for a cat to wander into my land." Her expression twisted with rage. With a sound of crackling stones, her eyelids slid open, revealing unearthly fires of fury. The clouds around her picked speed. They twisted and spun, faster and faster, until there was a hurricane around her, shaking the sky with its fury.

"HOW DARE YOU INVADE MY DOMAIN," she bellowed, black lightning licking her teeth.

"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN MY PEOPLE FOR YOUR OWN SELFISH DESIRE. HOW DARE YOU GET IN MY WAY, YOU FOUL BEAST AND YOUR FOUL FRIEND." With a crushing roar, the shield above her doubled and tripled in size. A forest of tendrils erupted from it, twisting around the mad sun. They sank into it, a colossal hand made of one thousand fingers. The sun lashed out, pulsing and twisting, but couldn't escape. HOLD ON! HOLD ON! CHEATING! CHEATING!

"BEGONE!" Wu Zetian lowered her hand. With a sound of ten thousand waterfalls, the shield snapped shut over the sun. It stood above the city for a moment, a mountainous mass of solidified blackness, before shooting forward and over the plateau. It smashed into the countryside with a thump and a tremor that shook the whole region. A shockwave swept the city, flattening the plateau's top, shaking the Moonlit Ring and filling the air with shattered obsidian. Riding on it, a distant scream of pain.

Wu Zetian waited, letting the shards burn themselves away against her aura. Then, as she felt Chi You's furious presence disappear in the distance, she huffed, satisfied, wiping the air clean. Beneath, the city bloomed with joy and relief. Yellow-Brow and Chi You would return, her increased power notwithstanding. They were too stubborn and fixated not to. Still, victory belonged to the Night on this day. They could cheer, she would allow it. Looming over the city as a godly idol, Wu Zetian smiled.

Above, the Night settled over the Domain, serene once more.