Savage Divinity - Chapter 825

As the scene unfolds to reveal the life and times of the Eternal Emperor, I make the conscious decision to neither struggle against nor surrender against this illusion.

Not as easy as it sounds, as I find myself facing a deluge of boredom and apathy which stems not from my foe, but from within, because this epic saga of the Eternal Emperor’s life can only be best described as some shit-tier television. The visuals? Stunningly vivid in ways I can barely describe, so real I feel as if I was there to see it happen, because in a way, I am. What I see is the world as Ying Zheng perceives it, which means everything I see is as he remembers it, in crystalline clarity and coloured by his emotions. The same can be said for all the other physical senses, with smells, sounds, and all other sensations accounted for all along the way. In the opening scene, the cool, damp grass sticks to my feet and the dirt burrows between my toes as I make my way up a hill to take in the fresh air and scenic sights. A pristine river runs through a gently sloping valley as the red-orange glow of the rising sun casts it all aglow, and little Ying Zhen is awestruck as he plops himself down on the ground and loses himself in the moment with his emotions laid bare for me to share. There’s a beauty to this which I will remember for the rest of my days, a sense of wonder and oneness which I have never felt before and fear I might never find again, an awareness of how vast and complex the world truly is yet also simple and straightforward at the same time. This is a union of man and nature that is intimate and ineffable, the start of little Ying Zheng’s journey in search of the Dao, but even as I struggle to comprehend the profundity hidden within this moment, I wholeheartedly wish my lacklustre storyteller would just get on with it.

Pretty visuals does not a good story make, and I find it difficult to become invested in the story with a protagonist I just know I’m going to hate, especially when the story telling is so janky and jarring.

Unfortunately for my high standards and short attention span, I cannot afford to pass this chance up, which is why I’m willing to risk my life to see these illusions through to the end, when I would otherwise mash the ESC button to skip the cutscene. Unlike the macabre scenes of death and suffering Zhen Shi crafted in an effort to drive me to the depths of despair, Ying Zheng is showing me all this in an effort to enlighten and advise me against my chosen course of action. These Manifested memories are here to show me the indisputable truth as seen from his eyes, a glimpse into the Dao from the perspective of a man who has pursued it for millennia untold. I would be stupid to believe everything he shows me, but I would also be a fool to pass up the chance to see the Dao from the perspective of a man who’s seen it all. Is it dangerous? Of course it is, especially considering how a mere moment of distraction on my part might well be all Ying Zheng needs to seize my Natal Throne and enslave me, but I deem it a risk well worth taking. Mostly because I left Buddy seated on my chair and my PC turned off, so I’m confident I have time enough for a quick jaunt down memory lane to see what makes Ying Zheng tick.

Should’ve probably put a password on my PC too, but who has the patience to type in a password these days?

Of course, my confidence also stems from the fact that I’ve put some thought into my current dilemma. From the moment Ying Zheng stepped foot into my Natal Palace, I’ve been planning for the very worst, but the way I see it, I’ve got nothing to be afraid of. My Natal Palace is no longer a permanent fixture within the landscape of my soul, but even if it was, we’re not technically in my soul. We’re in the Emperor’s soul, Liang Wu Di’s sorry sap of a brother kneeling by the jade throne with the chain around his neck. As such, my Natal Palace exists here only because I have Willed it into existence, Manifested all around me to give me a fighting chance. Theoretically, this should mean that the moment I sense danger, I can just un-Will it out of existence and retract everything back into my soul, leaving Ying Zheng no way to directly access to my Natal Throne without delving into my soul for real. Which I assume was his plan seeing how he drew me into the Emperor’s Natal Palace in the first place, which leads me to believe he has his methods to access my soul and Natal Throne even if I don’t materialize it, but I also have three Natal Souls hidden away in the Call Centre of the Void waiting to jump in, so it’s not like I’ve left myself completely helpless.

It’ll be fine. I got this.,

Probably.

Maybe?

Whatever. Either way, I’ve already tested it out and I can break out of this illusion with little more than an effort of Will, and in fact have to work to remain engaged lest I accidentally break free. Probably due to the complete and utter lack of immersion, since Zhen Shi and Ying Zheng are both terrible directors, able to showcase the most vivid scenes imaginable yet lacking a basic understanding of how to keep your audience engaged. The only reason I’m still watching is because I threw everything and the kitchen sink at Ying Zheng after he willingly stepped foot into my Natal Palace and couldn’t even leave a scratch. Since there’s nothing I can do to stop him, I’m hoping these memories lead me to the silver bullet I need to put an end to his reign, or maybe even give me an inkling on what to do next in terms of the Dao. If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll even get some answers to the questions that have been eating away at me inside, like how an Empire that has been around for thousands of years could fail to develop indoor plumbing.

What? Pooping outside sucks. Pooping in a chamber pot is almost worse, because now you have a pot full of your shit that’s just gonna stew all night until someone empties it. That means carrying a pot of shit to the pile of shit where everyone dumps their second-hand shit, or living with the knowledge that someone else now knows what your most recent shit smelled like. This is a crime against humanity I tell you, an injustice I will not let stand, and the Eternal Emperor shall pay for this atrocious lack of progress.

All that being said, I found it an acceptable risk to delve into the Eternal Emperor’s memories while leaving him to his own devices inside my Natal Palace, but the cinematography really leaves much to be desired. I get it, this is Ying Zheng’s real life, so I shouldn’t expect a theatrical masterpiece on par with Lord of the Rings or gripping storytelling like found in season one of Game of Thrones, but this shit makes season eight of Game of Thrones look coherent and well thought out. Seriously, would it kill him to put in a proper transition every now and then? Maybe set the scene with a bit of narrated exposition? Then again, I don’t really want to hear him say ‘This Sovereign’ a bajillion times, so I suppose this is the lesser of two evils, but as we flit from one scene to the next with little context or explanation, I find myself quickly losing interest even as I force myself to commit everything to memory and analyze it for any and all useful information.

Seriously, the dude is called the Eternal Emperor, so I was expecting a super awesome origin story, though now that I think about it, it’s a name he made up himself and no one else has ever used. I mean, I guess Zhen Shi used it, but they’re the same person, so that hardly counts, and while Liang Wu Di caught onto Ying Zheng’s schemes and shared the news with the powers that be, I doubt any of them are calling him the Eternal Emperor now that they’ve dethroned him.

As fascinating as the prospect of seeing how he conquered the Azure Empire might sound, it’s much less interesting in practice. There’s little to no context provided as he takes me through a dizzying array of battles with people and soldiers of countless factions and fashions, so I have no real reason to care about anything I see. Following a brief time spent as a bounty hunter, a couple years spent as a soldier, and a grisly scene of slaughter in which he murders his father and half-siblings, Ying Zheng becomes an outlaw, then a mercenary, then a general, then a king who conquers all who stand before him. From start to finish, few of his foes are able to trade blows against him, for the Martial Dao has yet to become widespread and it appears that not even the Forms are in use. As such, most of his opponents are common, everyday mortals wielding poorly crafted weapons of iron and bronze, making for a rather boring series of fights in which he repeated kills his foes in a single hit. That being said, while proponents of the Dao are few and far between, those who do stand out are far more powerful than even the greatest Peak Experts of this current generation, utilizing Chi almost as freely as a Divinity utilizing Heavenly Energy without the massive drawback of accidentally nuking everyone and everything around them. An interesting tidbit which I file away for later as I watch Ying Zheng dominate almost every enemy he meets save for a select few.

Yang Kai, Liang Bo, Xing Wushen, and Tian Yi. There are other Martial Warriors who offer a challenge, ones who are much stronger than even the greatest Peak Experts of this current generation, but these four are the only ones worth noting. For two reasons really, first because the rest die at Ying Zheng’s hands while these four pledge allegiance and become his most trusted brothers and Great Generals, and secondly because I recognize these four faces as younger versions of the four formidable souls currently trapped beneath the waves of my Natal Seas. Four of five Supreme Family Ancestors, brothers and comrades who have been with Ying Zheng since time immemorial, yet despite appearing in so many scenes depicting a shared bond stronger than steel, I sense no emotions whatsoever from the Eternal Emperor, the man this young Ying Zheng would eventually become, as he depicts the origins of these oldest of friendships. In fact, I sense and see nothing of their exploits or friendship and might well have never noticed them if I didn’t just have a life and death battle against them, which leads me to suspect my foe is doing his best to avoid thinking about them and sharing how he feels about them.

I can see why. I’d feel guilty too if I imprisoned the souls of my closest friends for countless millennia, which just goes to show that the Eternal Emperor is still human yet.

This realization leads me to another discovery, the complete and utter lack of insight into young Ying Zheng’s personal life. The Eternal Emperor is more than happy to share his battlefield conquests, but never once do I see him make friends, meet lovers, raise children, or do anything other than fight. Not because he only knows how to fight, but because he’s willfully omitted these details of his life, his memories all fixated on conquest and bloodshed rather than reminiscing about the good times and the bad. There’s more to this as well, but now is not the time to delve into it as I watch the young Ying Zheng transform into a salt-and-peppered veteran over the course of a hundred battles, then a snowy-haired elder without ever stepping away from his conquest.

And after a lifetime spent on the battlefield, he finally conquers his last foe in the twilight of his life and crowns himself Emperor of the Azure Sea.

Another scene which is shockingly lacking in emotion and significance, which throws me for a complete loop. This should have been the highlight of his life, the literal crowning achievement which he devoted most of his mortal life to accomplish, yet the Eternal Emperor of today holds almost no fondness or reverence for this moment. He cares not for the culmination of his mortal efforts save for the value inherent to the title and throne themselves. As far as I can tell, even though he was proud and contented in the moment, the Eternal Emperor of today only sees it as claiming his birthright, no different from how someone else would see turning eighteen as a passage into adulthood. Though he accomplished what others could only ever dream of, he sees his success as an outcome which was all but guaranteed since that first memory he shared with me, of a young boy uncovering the grand existence of the Dao.

Upon taking the throne however, the Ying Zheng in these memories does little to nothing at all, an Emperor in name who appoints others to rule in his place. There are no grand balls or wasteful banquets, no plans for opulent palaces or grand luxuries fit for an Emperor, for the man on the throne cares not for the glory of the title or the wealth and riches that come with it, nor does he show any interest in guiding humanity or ensuring prosperity for all. He takes no joy in being Emperor, or if he does, he’s neglected to show it, and as the seasons change and the years go by within the blink of an eye, the old man on the throne remains firmly fixed in place, doing nothing of particular importance. Despite his lack of action however, the world still revolves around him, only he cares not to interfere, which leads me to wonder why he wanted to be Emperor in the first place.

Or why he held onto it for as long as he has without ever doing anything useful with the power in his grasp. Though I don’t understand why, being Emperor was his life’s goal, one he accomplished with apparent ease and hasn’t given up ever since, so while it appears as if he gave up on the throne to Liang Wu Di without a fight, as far as I can tell, Ying Zheng wholeheartedly believes the Five Supreme Families will screw things up and eventually come crawling back to him for his help. While he is no longer Emperor in title, he sees himself as Emperor still, albeit one without a throne, and I sense within him a burning desire to reclaim what is his, the same driving motivation which compelled him to unite the provinces in the first place. Again, I ask why? What drives him so? What is it that makes him yearn to be Emperor if not for the wealth, riches, power, or prestige? The answer escapes me, and from what I’ve seen, I’m not sure the Eternal Emperor himself really knows why, or if he does, he isn’t sharing. Going back through Ying Zheng’s memories, I find no defining moment in which he decides to become Emperor, for after the death of his mother, he threw himself into conflict after conflict without ever stopping to consider why. There were always enemies to fight, and he won battle after battle, war after war, until finally, there was no one left to fight. That’s his story, but one that has yet to end as he sits upon his relatively plain wooden throne as the years pass by and leave him untouched.

A scene meant to denote how long he continued to study the Dao, and an accomplishment he takes pride in, but all I can see is the loneliness of his existence.

This is a man who devoted his entire life waging war, and after conquering the Empire, he finally found peace, yet the Eternal Emperor glosses over the bounty to be had in these times. Once again, I see no wives standing by his side, no children seated upon his lap, no pets to cuddle and not even a comrade to drink with, only officials to pester him with the minutia of governance. This is who he is, the Eternal Emperor, a role he plays the same way I sometimes become the Warrior, except for Ying Zheng, there is no delineation between the two as they are one and the same. That’s why he hasn’t bothered to show me any slice of life content, because aside from his mother, he no longer places any value on the people he loved or those who loved him. All he cares to show is himself as the Emperor, yet even then, I see him doing little to nothing at all, or at least nothing worthy of note, and history would support these claims. This is a man who has been Emperor since time immemorial, the Sovereign of all humankind, the hand upon the tiller of humanity’s progress since uniting them all under one banner. When I hear the title, ‘Eternal Emperor’, I envision an incredible leader with power and charisma aplenty, a cunning and Machiavellian politician who sees things in terms of centuries and millennia rather than years and decades as he steers us through the currents of time in unending advancement.

Instead, Ying Zheng spends all this time pretty much twiddling his thumbs, and I am wholly unimpressed.

No, worse than just twiddling his thumbs, he’s made a conscious effort to unite the Eastern Province against the outer provinces in order to maintain the status quo. Rather than move us forward, he’s kept humanity locked in place, a stagnant civilization that is only slightly different from what I saw in his memories, with the same styles of clothes, architecture, cultures, and more. How… uninspired, I would say, but his memories show that this is by design, for after Ascending to Divinity in a deliberately obscured fashion so as not to give any answers away, the Ying Zheng of old meets his fifth brother, Di Zi, who I recognize as the portly soul in colourful robes still standing outside my Natal Palace. Then disaster strikes as Ying Zheng’s ungrateful heirs lead a rebellion against their ancestor, who until now has been ruling as himself for over a hundred years.

And as I watch the Martial Warrior outlanders run rampant throughout the provinces and share in his outrage, I finally realize Ying Zheng’s motivation for securing the throne.

It all makes sense when you look at things from his perspective. This is a man who lost his mother because he’d been conscripted into the army and was off fighting a war instead of keeping her safe and sound, so everything he’s done since then has been because of her death. He killed his father, then conquered his home state, then took over as king and conquered his neighbours too, because they started a war which he intended to end. Step by methodical step, he led his soldiers and brothers to unite the provinces, not because he yearned for power or glory, but because it was the only way he knew how to make amends with his mother. That’s it, isn’t it? In his eyes, the Emperor’s foremost duty is not to govern, but to protect. Might makes right, and as the strongest individual under Heaven, he sees his role as the guardian of all humankind, the iron fist which maintains peace throughout all the lands. This is no different from how Bai Qi became the Lord of Martial Peace, and I can’t exactly argue against the logic. As far as I can tell, the lands were embroiled in bitter conflict before Ying Zheng conquered them all, as often times he would ride into battle against armies already fighting against one another and slaughter them all. What’s more, the Eternal Emperor spent all that time showing his younger self just sitting on the throne to prove that his ascension to the throne was followed by peace in his time, until his own descendants went and fucked it all up.

That’s why he refuses to pass the mantle of Emperor onto another. Not because he desires peace, but rather to maintain control and stability above all else. This is his view of Balance, one in which progress is merely an agent for chaos and imbalance, so he strives to maintain the status quo. This is his take on the Dao, one which has bled over into his style of governance and compelled him to hold the throne for as long as he has, because in his mind, giving up the throne is akin to throwing the scales of Balance into whack.

Narcissistic much? This is extreme Main Character Syndrome, where he sees everyone else in the world as supporting actors in the feature production that is his life.

The following scenes only go on to prove my suspicions. Ying Zheng helps his brothers grow stronger and leads them to war against the outlanders, a war which sees the outlands destroyed and the Five Supreme Ancestors killed, but he saves their souls and gives four of them brand new bodies. As for the last, Di Zi possesses too much of a conscience to steal a body away from an unborn child. I like him, but there’s not much more to be seen of the portly outlander as the years pass some more and Ying Zheng continues to rule the Empire from the shadows, having wholly embraced the body-hopping monster that he has become. In his desire to maintain control, he pits the five Supreme Families against the outer provinces and introduces the flawed understanding of the Dao we still use today. Di Zi is not pleased by this blasphemy against the Dao and leads the other Supreme Ancestors in rebellion against Ying Zheng, but again, the Eternal Emperor emerges victorious and enslaves his brothers before continuing along his Path. Technological progress introduces more instability, as seen by Grand Marshal Sima Yi who designs a ballista which pins the Eternal Emperor to his wooden throne, but even though the rebel burns the palace down around him, Ying Zheng cannot be stopped. He kills the rebel leaders and decides that technological advancements are no longer needed, so after seizing the body of the new Emperor, he embarks on yet another killing spree of scholars and historians while burning their books to do away with centuries of collective progress, including everything his Fifth Brother Di Zi only recently introduced, like concrete and a system of meritorious advancement.

And though his people suffer for it, Ying Zheng cares not for their adversity, because he wholeheartedly believes that these trials and tribulations will make them strong, and that mankind would be lost without his strength to keep us all in line.

All this and more is revealed to me as he shares what comes next, and while it all sounds marvellous in theory, there’s little left to be gleaned from his memories. The earlier scenes were rife with emotion and sensation, but these later ones have almost been completely scrubbed clean of sentiment. Much as I would love to go over every scene in painstaking detail, the Eternal Emperor is not foolish enough to leave in any information which I might use against him. I can tell he’s hiding most if not all of the truth, only glossing over these momentous events to give me a glimpse of what he has experienced while skipping over so much of what he’s done over the years, things I suspect he played a part in but have yet to see any proof. All in all, after seeing him claim the throne, the rest of his memories are his hard sell on why I should join him, his attempt to lure me over to his side, telling me he can guide my Dao the same way he guided his brothers at which point we could be comrades and peers, but unfortunately for the both of us, peace was never an option.

Armed with the knowledge of my foe and myself, I pray that the idiom holds true and hope for victory in a hundred battles, though I would happily settle for winning just two, this battle against Ying Zheng and the ongoing conflict in Shi Bei. Oh, and whatever other battles still to come after as I extract myself, my loved ones, and maybe even the entire Northern Province from the coming conflict between the Five Supreme Families. I’d take Central and the South with me as well, but I’m not ready for a direct clash against the Imperial Clan and their chosen puppet Shuai Jiao, while the Southern Marshal seems competent enough to take care of his province without my help. Either way, there’s still a lot of fighting left to go, but I can only take things one step at a time.

Storing away the Eternal Emperor’s memories for later perusal, I open my eyes to find myself standing outside my Natal Palace while my foe violates the sanctity of my office chair with his foul presence. Okay, fine, given how neat and tidy his robes appear to be, how seldom I clean said chair, and how often my doggo sits on it with me, chances are it’s the other way around, but still. You don’t touch a man’s PC, look in his bookmarks, or sit in his chair, rules which every man should know and adhere to. Buddy is about as useful as ever, shivering up a storm as he stretches out across my bed in a downward dog pose, more ready to run than ready to pounce. Poor little guy is so scared, but barking didn’t work and he doesn’t know what else to do. Then again, considering how powerful Ying Zheng has shown himself to be, even here in the heart of my Natal Palace, I can’t really fault Buddy for lying low.

Doesn’t matter if he didn’t contribute. Buddy is a good dog no matter what.

Then again, now that I think about it, the fact that my pupper is occupying the bed might possibly be partially responsible for thwarting Ying Zheng’s efforts to dethrone me, because I’m pretty sure my bed and the PC are both part and parcel of my throne. Or at least, I used to envision my throne as the bed, before I added the PC and everything that came with it, so there are still times when the bed serves the same purpose. I dunno. It’s all a matter of Intent, though even that much isn’t enough to overcome the Eternal Emperor’s big boomer energy as he tries to puzzle out how to turn on the PC. Cupping the mouse with his ginormous right hand, he moves it about the mousepad in a slow, meandering fashion while tapping on the spacebar of my keyboard with his left hand. He’s essentially copying all the same movements I made while using the PC, but the slow and methodical manner in which he does it is both sad and hilarious at the same time. That being said, I suspect he would learn quickly enough if properly taught, and I’m not entirely sure if he actually needs to use the PC to supersede my authority here in my Natal Palace, so it’s probably not the best idea to leave him to his own devices.

Which honestly is a real shame. I was thinking I could just leave him to fiddle with the PC while I slip out and decapitate his host body, but considering how quickly time moves in reality compared to here in the Void, I could very well end up a puppet the moment I step away, assuming I can even break out of the current host Emperor’s Domain.

Rather than immediately confront the Eternal Emperor however, I take a moment to go over my options and consider what to do next. When he first stepped foot into my Natal Palace, I put all my effort into killing him and couldn’t leave a scratch. Then I tried to eject him from my Natal Palace, which had absolutely no effect. It’s not that his Authority supersedes mine here in my Domain, but rather his defenses are so formidable that I lack the strength to break through them. The Domain around him is too solid to scratch, too dense to pierce, too ponderous an existence for my feeble efforts to move, so much so that he doesn’t even need to lift a finger to fight me, as there’s nothing I can do to hurt him. Even if I throw everything I have at him again, he can ignore it all to sit there finagling with my PC all day until he figures out how to turn it on.

So instead of wasting my effort to move him away from my PC, I Will my Natal Palace to shift instead.

The world goes dark for the blink of an eye as the Void careens around me, and what little remains of my stamina and vitality drain away in an instant. My stomach roils as everything heaves at once, with my soul and the Eternal Emperor’s soul remaining fixed in place as my Natal Palace slides exactly 11.32 metres away from where I stand. No longer is my enemy seated within my Natal Throne, nor is he even in my room anymore, but rather floating in the air just outside my bedroom window, and I struggle to stand upright while cursing myself for leaping before I look. Moving my Manifested Natal Palace took a lot out of me, whether it be Chi or Life Force or whatever, but it was the only move I could come up with that might have some effect. There is no change in the Eternal Emperor’s bored, neutral expression, no minor snarl or pursed lips, no twitch of the eye or flare of the nostrils, but his underlying fury is there all the same, palpable to behold as he remains seated upon empty air with arms extended to hold a mouse and press a spacebar which are no longer there. Slowly coming to his feet, he smooths out his left sleeve, then the right with deliberate care and lack of haste, actions made of habit meant to quell his pique as he studies me from across the way. This is an unexpected turn of events, one he was not prepared for, and his eyes ever so slightly narrowed as his focus returns to his present surroundings and away from his calculations of how to take over my Natal Throne. Clearly, he thought he’d have more time to puzzle out the inner workings of my Natal Palace before I broke free of the illusion, and it stings his pride to have been proven wrong yet again.

Pride is an emotion, and I’ve wounded his, but while the Eternal Emperor’s temper is nowhere near as volatile as Zhen Shi’s, I know that deep down, Ying Zheng has the same capacity for heated rage and callous violence as the man who kept a detailed log of his torture victims. Two parts of a whole, that’s how he described their relationship, a clue I only just picked up on and one I would’ve overlooked had I not just been given a glimpse of the man who would one day rise up to become the Eternal Emperor. Another interesting detail to note is that the man I saw in those memories was a heated and impassioned man, one who gave in to his anger without a thought but could also be generous and magnanimous to a fault. Somewhere along the way, he turned into the Eternal Emperor before me, but I noticed earlier that not only is he more emotive than he appears, he oftentimes struggles to keep his emotions in check. As he looms over me from afar, he falls completely still, neither blinking nor breathing as he slowly quenches his rage and indulges his curiosity. To be fair, he exists as a soul which doesn’t really need to blink or breathe, but you could say the same about me and I still pant, heave, and sweat nonetheless because it feels normal to do so, and I imagine it’s the same for him. Thus, to see him fall so still is eerie to the extreme, an inhuman display of control and restraint which I would never even try to emulate, and I cannot help but give voice to my doubts, and the meme just speaks for itself.

“You mad bro?”

My question shatters the Eternal Emperor’s stillness as he takes a long, deep breath, and the air thrums with impending violence as he fights to keep his temper in check. I bet it’s been a long time since he’s been disrespected like this, but as much as I would like to take credit for my rage-inducing ways, I’m only kicking him while he’s down. He only just reabsorbed Zhen Shi who was much more in tune with his emotions, relying on the Razor’s Edge of indulging all Emotions while adhering to cold logic, which is vastly different from the Eternal Emperor’s Dao which appears to be no emotion or logic, and only Balance.

Which oddly enough, is something I can sort of relate to, as it is a less extreme version of my misguided desire for nihility and oblivion.

That being said, this is my time to shine, because emotions are the Eternal Emperor’s weakness, and if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s pissing people off. “I can see why you would be. It’s been a rough day, hasn’t it? I mean, after Heavens knows how many years, your descendants have finally given your old ass the boot. That’s gotta sting. How’d that happen by the way? You slip up and call yourself by the wrong name or something? An understandable mistake given how you’re getting up there in age, and seeing how much trouble you were having with my Natal Thone just now, it wouldn’t’ surprise me to learn you’ve gone senile – ”

“Silence, worm.”

“Oh hai Zhen Shi!” Waving at the Eternal Emperor with a shit eating grin, I catch a glimpse of confusion flash across his face and add, “I figured he was still around. Guess he’s not entirely onboard with your ‘two parts of a whole’ bit. Can’t really blame him, because even though I only just learned about your existence today, I am just thoroughly disappointed by what I’ve seen. Like seriously, you’ve been Emperor for ages, and as far as I can tell, you’ve pretty much done shit all. Your failure to ascend is one thing, but like, why don’t you build some roads or something? Get shot by a ballista one time and all of a sudden technology is the enemy. Scared much? Congratulations on your mastery of small peen energy, your fuzzy truck nuts are in the mail.”

“And who,” the Eternal Emperor retorts, cutting me off just as it’s getting good, “Are you, to dare criticize this Sovereign? You are but a child who knows not the heights of Heaven as you trample upon all our efforts, accomplishments revealed to you through this Sovereign’s eyes, yet still you are too blind to see.”

“Psh.” Not my most eloquent rejoinder, but I work with what I’ve got. “I saw you doing a whole lot of nothing while you sat on the throne, which explains why Zhen Shi kept calling you the dog Emperor and why you needed a jade throne, since your stanky swamp ass would’ve probably rotted the wooden one clean through.”

The ghost of a smile flits across his lips, one I sense more than see but is there all the same. “You think this Sovereign so easily rattled by mere words? Sharp though your tongue may be, your intelligence is sorely lacking, for you have entered into a battle of wits unarmed and still believe victory is within reach.”

…I think he just called me stupid, but I’m not entirely sure.

Growing in size before me, Ying Zheng uses a move out of Zhen Shi’s playbook as he looms over me in threat, the weight of his mere presence making it difficult for me to breathe. “This Sovereign has born witness to the sunrise and sunset nigh on a million times and more, so it will take more than mere jibes to shake his resolve.” The pressure ramps up and forces me down, but the Eternal Emperor offers no quarter as he descends alongside me, a slow and controlled fall from which I cannot escape. “You were fortunate enough to defeat this Sovereign’s Nascent Soul, but all the fortune of Heaven cannot lead you to victory here, a truth you should have long since realized before this Sovereign’s patience came to an end. A shame, for you showed promise aplenty, but even the most promising sapling will require years to grow into a towering tree, so perhaps this Sovereign’s efforts would be better spent elsewhere.”

As soon as my feet touch the ground, the pressure overwhelms me and drives my body flat against the cement while Ying Zheng materializes a sword in hand. As far as weapons go, it’s fairly generic, only to morph into a crude scalpel instead, one he holds in a manner I would attribute more to Zhen Shi than the Eternal Emperor, which tells me my plan is working. Granted, I’m trapped on my back with nowhere to run and no ability to fight back, but the plan is a work in progress so some bumps can only be expected. The air solidifies around me as my foe raises me off the ground, but try as I might, I cannot break free as he ignores my weapons hammering away at his flesh. Nor can I exert my Will to call upon the Energy of the Heavens, and I realize it’s because his Materialized Domain has me wrapped up tight, cutting me off from my Domain and the Heavens both in a manner that reminds me of Concealment, except instead of a blending, it is more of a sealing. Not so tight that I cannot struggle, but I suspect this is by design as my frantic efforts bring a smile to the Eternal Emperor’s face, a genuine toothy snarl so full of cruel delight. “Your resistance will only delay the inevitable, but time is what this Sovereign lacks the least.” As he places his free hand upon my chest, my golden armour is ground away before even coming into contact with his skin as the weight of his unrestrained presence overwhelms my defenses. That’s the secret to his strength, I realize this now, the sheer volume and density of soul packed within him, a ten-thousand-kilometre-tall soul packed into a human-sized package with little to no effort at all.

That’s why he sometimes takes a moment to respond, because of the vast disconnect between his mind and soul, a mind he’s borrowed no less. I suffered from something similar in the aftermath of JiangHu, but this is on a whole other level. He’s so solid and compact, my attacks are crumbling apart before they ever reach him, like meteors burning up on entry into the atmosphere before landing on the earth below. How am I supposed to win against an opponent this strong?

Dunno… but I can’t give up just yet.

With my armour out of the way, the Eternal Emperor uses his free hand to measure where he would like to cut, no doubt making calculations regarding matters I have yet to even encounter much less would comprehend, a slow and methodical process which only serves to draw this out even more. Much as I would like to crack wise about not swinging his way, he’s sealed off my mouth and voice leaving me no way to speak. Here in the heart my Domain, I am bound, gagged, and helpless, subject to the mercy of a monster who might well have never understood the concept to begin with, and try as I might, I see no hope in sight.

The scalpel descends and stops just as it touches my skin, and the pain sends a wave of agony surging through every fibre of my being, but I will not allow him to break me. Seeing the defiance in my eyes even as I am wracked with pain, the Eternal Emperor’s twisted grin grows even wider. Again, I see this as an absolute win, because it means Zhen Shi is closer to the surface than Ying Zheng cares to admit, but I can’t make use of this if I cannot speak. Thankfully, his pride and hubris get the better of him as he loosens the bindings on my voice and says, “Before we rend open your soul to reveal your secrets hidden underneath, have you any last words to share?”

I only have one shot, one opportunity to seize victory in hand, one moment to capture it or let it slip. My palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, but here and now, Insight, Inspiration, or plain old intuition finally strikes as I know exactly what I need to say.

“Why do you seek strength?”

Chapter Meme 1

Chapter Meme 2

Chapter Meme 3