Chapter 112: Chapter 112

The Rival didn’t want to return to the Celestial Palace, which was required by law by the Celestial Empress upon ascending to immortality. Naturally, they couldn’t force him. He was just too powerful to be forced like that. Especially the way he was feeling after the bridge and meeting Reika – sweet kid. Made a lot of puns, which she had to inherit from Statera Luotian herself. Not really what he was used to from one of the most powerful beings in existence, but that seemed to be the running theme here in the Four Realms, and it wasn’t like it was a bad thing.

Unfortunately, the Mad Scientist seemed to anticipate this, because they came to find him.

He glared at the two avian women before him, two of the most influential cultivators this realm had ever seen – save for the heroes who fought and died in the Sun War and the mythical Xing Wu. Alanna, the Celestial Empress, had her arms crossed as she stared at the Rival, expression completely unreadable even to him as she assessed his immortal aura. The Mad Scientist, on the other hand, was circling him like she was eying a specimen to dissect.

“What?” He finally asked, back up against a tree – metaphorically speaking – as it was. The issue was that this wasn’t a problem he was willing to solve in his usual style; with extreme amounts of violence, or relentless flirting that led to him either being let go, or said extreme amounts of violence. Which left him at a bit of a loss.

An annoying feeling, especially considering the massive amounts of soul searching he had just done. He was still feeling a bit raw about that, emotionally speaking. Everything hurt to think about, even happiness; leaving only that churning undercurrent of determination that drove him across the multiverse. Silence that thought. He hissed at himself, shoulders drooping as the weight of his existence draped itself across his shoulders. He was tired, but…his duty was not yet done, either.

“You are perhaps the most powerful immediately-ascended immortal I have ever seen, save for Xing Wu himself.” Alanna said with a sharp nod of her head. The Rival scoffed. He was many things, but he most certainly was not behind some young upstart’s cultivation. He had crafted it practically perfectly; not even Statera could do better, he bet. “Your Dao is weaker.” And that stung. The Rival stiffened, narrowing his eyes at the Empress. She watched him with a clarity of sight that he was starting to become accustomed to in this universe; and he let out a long, hissing breath between his teeth to bleed out some of the indignation. His Dao was weaker? How dare she. His posture relaxed. His hands found his pockets. Solana chirped on his head, puffing up with pride at the perceived praise directed at her perceived student.

“That’s because it’s not aimed at you.” He said softly, breaking eye contact.

“Perhaps.” The Empress allowed graciously, dipping her head. The dismissive way she said it, though, had him taking another deep, steadying breath. None of them knew, and that was ok. He didn’t follow his path for fame, or recognition. If he did…if he did…he didn’t know.

“Did you see it, then?” The Mad Scientist spoke up for the first time since arriving in a flash of light. The Rival met her eyes as she circled back around, standing close to the Empress, her wings fluttering and eyes gleaming with scientific curiosity behind those thick glasses of hers. He ran his tongue over his teeth as he thought, trying to parse out what the cryptic woman could possibly mean.

“Yes. I know why you chose to stay. Devious trick, that bridge,” The Rival said. His soul stung at some of the memories, his emotions churning, and he forced it all down with malicious force. Now was not the time to feel emotions. The Mad Scientist’s eyes narrowed, her expression hardening slightly.

“The bridge was excellently built, yes. But that is not what truly made me stay. You met Lady Reika, yes?” she questioned, pressing further.

“What did you think of her?” she asked.

“Good kid. I can see the resemblance to Statera. Interesting domain; I think it was change? Pretty powerful stuff.” He said with a little shrug. “Why? Was I supposed to see something?”

“So you missed it, then.” She said slowly, considering, adjusting her glasses. The Rival frowned while the Celestial Empress shot her a questioning look, her wings pulled tightly against her back.

“I tend to miss a lot of things, in case that wasn’t obvious.” The Rival drawled. He did walk by temples to Statera at least a dozen times, after all. The obvious liked to smack him in the face sometimes. “Can I go now, or is this conversation going to continue ad infinitum? I’m really not in the mood to be playing nice-nice.”

“I forget you haven’t met as many of the gods here…nor did you attend the meeting between origins. I suggest you try and meet the other three of the Big Four. Xing Wu, too, though he may be more difficult to get ahold of. I’d like to see if you can confirm my theory.” The Mad Scientist drawled, rising into the air, clearly taking the not-so-subtle hints the Rival had been directly her way.

He couldn’t have been clearer about his desires if he held a neon sign that said LEAVE ME ALONE above his head.

Solana was the only exception to that. She was just a little birb, after all.

“Are we done? I have questions.” The Celestial Empress asked, watching the Mad Scientist float skyward. She stopped mid-motion, glaring down at the Rival, gaze flicking to the Empress.

“I don’t trust him around you alone, and he tends to be infuriating when he doesn’t want to answer things. Look, he’s got that look in his eyes.” The Mad Scientist protested, descending to grab the Empress by the arm and drag her skyward. She let herself be pulled away, very clearly amused, and very clearly still wanting to question the Rival. He waved goodbye, hand flopping about lazily.

“We will speak again.” The Empress promised as they floated away. The Rival didn’t bother watching them leave, already turning on his heel to stomp off toward where he hoped the flying ship he’d borrowed had landed. Just because he was immortal now and could fly around, didn’t mean he wanted to. It was far more fun to laze about on the ship while it flew, and he needed to get his head back in order.

“What do you want to do, Solana?” he asked the bird atop his head, though he was already wondering how he would go about meeting the other gods. Climbing down to the Karmic Realm, and up to the Heaven Realm seemed like it would be a start, but what about the dragon? What about Xing Wu? He had no idea how to contact them.

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This world was a break for him, and he’d be damned if he didn’t make the most of it, newly restored confidence – or dedication, more accurately – to his path be damned.

“The outer regions.” Solana said with such decisiveness that it gave the Rival pause, the little bird puffing up her feathers and ruffling her wings. “I still need to hunt down the ones who killed the old man. They’re still out there, I know it.” The Rival coughed into his fist.

Right. The two fiends who had caught the interest of the Shadow. That seemed like a brilliant goddamn idea.

…he was going to follow her there, wasn’t he? That sounded like just the thing to do to meet more gods, and he was feeling inordinately ornery. His jaw clenched as he agreed with her plan, already calculating a dozen other things. Techniques he could now use, talismans they would need, various other upgrades he could give himself. There was nothing that would stop a fully enraged Shadow, but, at the same time, Statera had told him she would hold Morgan back from interfering with him.

Which made this a perfect opportunity to meet the other gods and crack some skulls that desperately needed cracking.

The Mad Scientist was in a bit of a pickle. She had revealed more about herself now, and hadn’t even meant to. Especially not in front of the Celestial Empress – she was just so easy to be around, sometimes she forgot to watch her tongue. It happened more often than she liked to admit, especially when she got caught up in experiments and stuff.

“You have met the true gods.” The Celestial Empress deadpanned as they flew, hurtling through space faster than any of her ships, away from the little planet the Rival had ascended on. “You. And I have yet to personally meet any of them.” The Mad Scientist cleared her throat awkwardly, wings flapping as they wove through an asteroid belt.

“The Heavenly Dao is already in you.” She said lamely. The Celestial Empress scoffed, slapping away a meteorite that threatened to strike her face.

“Don’t spit sophistry at me.”

The Mad Scientist winced a little, sensing her frustration. The Empress hadn’t advanced her cultivation in centuries; a result of Statera Luotian’s suppression of the Physical Realm, and the frustration at the lack of progress was starting to show. She frowned. Maybe diverting the Original Sin like she had, had backfired a little. She was certain that, originally, the two rebels who had popped up, trying to tear apart the Empire, would have offered a sufficient distraction if she hadn’t played them like a flute.

Their rebellion had been snuffed out like a candle in the wind. The gods hadn’t even had to get involved, thanks to her predictions; and the Original Sin hadn’t even fully manifested. Maybe I should have let them build up their forces a bit more, before showing the necessary weakness. She’d been waiting for a sect of Devil Cultivators to pop up for a long time now. There was a suspicious lack of them, as if they were hiding somewhere.

At least the new regions were providing a proper distraction for the other Dao Progenitors. It was only the Celestial Empress who was struggling, saddled with reparations for the terrorist strikes as she was. No matter the universe, politics sucked.

“You met Xing Wu. Even he, ascended as he is, hasn’t met Statera Luotian. You’ve also met his wife, Inesa, goddess of light.” The Mad Scientist pointed out, recalling that Xing Wu had told her about that little issue last time they met, oh, far too long ago. She was also pretty certain that the Empress had met Thyia and other elemental gods, and just hadn’t noticed their divine nature.

“They don’t count. They’re too normal.” She complained, turning her head away. The Mad Scientist let it drop, flying in silence as they shot back toward Pangaea and the center of the Physical Realm. “You hinted at something back there. What was it?” At this, the Mad Scientist slowed to a stop, giving the Celestial Empress a long look as she stopped beside her. She couldn’t reveal everything; shouldn’t reveal everything. But this was also something the Empress couldn’t do much about, and likely wouldn’t even get. It was too far above her head, the perspective too wide.

“There’s a lot going on in the universe right now. The expansion of the Physical Realm is just one part of it, but…you know what Reika’s domain is, right? Change?” she asked.

“Yes. And Elvira’s is Divinity, Keilan’s is Connections, and so on. What of it?” she asked. The Mad Scientist chewed her lip, the theory she’d been formulating swirling in the back of her mind. No, not formulating; all it was waiting on was confirmation from someone else. She recalled the meeting between origin deities, and all their domains.

“And Statera Luotian’s, the one who created the entire universe, is Balance. After they evolved, the domains of His children are not…lesser, now, when compared to His own, even if their power and understanding lag behind.” She said. Predictably, the Empress did not so much as flinch at the revelation, crossing her arms.

“So? Mother Statera and Father Luotian are all about progression. Of course they want their children to reach their level of power.” She said. The Mad Scientist nodded, allowing that. But that was the exact reason why she needed confirmation from someone outside of the Four Realms. Because those inside were biased; this was all they knew.

“Just keep in mind that you said that.” She said cryptically, clapping the Empress on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s head home.”

I played with the snake of destruction, dodging blasts of fire, snagging them out of the air, and flinging them back at the snake while Reika watched from the sidelines. The fire serpent was growing increasingly agitated that it couldn’t do anything to me, spitting flames and hissing menacingly. Reika, on the other hand, found the entire situation entirely amusing, and was giggling to herself while she ate a bowl of ice cream I had made for her.

We were currently in one of the rooms of my palace, a little study with bookshelves lining the walls, thick velvet carpeting, a crackling fireplace, and a few little armchairs scattered about. This was my private study; very few people could actually find it, let alone enter it.

“This reminds me of the old days,” she admitted as I sidestepped a lunge from the snake, fangs bared and destructive poison at the ready. I waggled a finger at it as it curled up around the base of a chair, hissing and flicking a tongue out at me.

“How so?” I asked, catching the snake as it lunged again. This time it spat a bit of fire in my face, which I blocked with my other hand. Expression stern, I glared at the little thing, not too harshly, but enough to cow it. “That was rude. No spitting. I don’t care how frustrated you’re getting.” I chided. The snake, surprisingly, only flicked its tongue at me and relaxed a bit in my grip, appearing properly chastised. I scratched the underside of its chin, earning myself a little hiss of pleasure.

“You’re dealing with children again. We were never really children, but it was always fun to watch you interact with some of the younger gods who did.” Reika said. I laughed a little as I let the snake wrap itself around my arm, over my robes, like some kind of weird tattoo. It flicked its tongue out at Reika. “What do you think Sehuyun’s purpose is, sending the little one to us?” For more chapters visıt novel[f]ire.net

“I am certain we will find out when Alexander gets back.” I admitted, stretching and feeling my back pop in multiple places. The movements of the Rival caught my eye, even far away as I was, and I turned my gaze to him. Solana’s growth was accelerating drastically, thanks to proximity to the Rival. Yet another thing to be thankful for, in the Monkey Wrenches’ presence. “I doubt it will be anything too serious. Sehuyun doesn’t do ‘games.’”

Reika hummed as my gaze drifted a bit further. Solana…she was going to confront the two who had killed the old man that protected her. They were still alive, she was correct; Morgan had planted them somewhere, given them power, and was currently trying to get them to take over one of the new regions before any of the other Dao Progenitors got there.

I shook my head a little.

This was not my issue, truthfully. I would still watch it, of course, but, as always, things had to develop without my direct intervention. So I turned back to Reika and the little snake, content to take this moment to breathe and relax.