I stared at the Kirin standing in front of me, confused.
“Do you not sense the sprout within your soul? The deep pool of essence that fills your soul? The thing tying you two cores together, preventing a horrifying death at any given moment?” the Kirin asked, glancing towards me.
“I… do?” I replied, before pushing my senses inwards. The familiar little sprout at the core of my dantian reached out to me, in my senses.
“Indeed. The fragile little sprout born between your soul. Born from the partial union of Order and Chaos.”
“Partial?” I asked the Kirin.
The majestic creature glanced towards Gu Jie. Its mane flowed as it jumped up into the sky, landing at the boy.
“You would understand. What is lacking,” the Kirin said, leaning in close to Gu Jie’s face. Gu Jie turned his eyes away, not meeting them with mine.
“Hold on, I’m getting incredibly confused. Can you please explain why or how Twilight got here? Let’s start from there,” I said, patting Twilight sitting on my head.
The kirin glanced back towards me. “Twilight. Mu. The meeting point of day and night. An apt name,” the Kiring said.
My eyes widened in surprise when I realized the Kirin wasn’t saying a broken form of Twilight, but instead a translation of the word instead.
“You understand english?” I asked, baffled. Even the heavens hadn’t caught on to english.
“We are not hindered by any language child. But we are aware of some that you lost souls bring to our realm. The old cycle was responsible for handling birth and rebirth. To take the souls from those buried in the earth, up towards the heavens, and then back into the mortal coil,” the Kirin said, a green glow lighting up its antlers.
“We did not find your spirit. She found us on her own. All we did was guide her to the path that would bring her here. She is one of the few creatures which still presides in an older order. Capable of touching both death and life. Now death remains devoid of life, and life has little comfort in death.”
The world rippled around me, as I saw a massive tree rising into the sky. Glowing a bright light, I saw Gu spreading around the roots of the tree, being pulled in by plants. In there, death would change, form life, and then be released upwards, into the skies.
“If the tree is gone, how is rebirth handled now? You called me a lost soul. Is the tree breaking why I’m here? Because it messed up with the rebirth cycle or whatever?”
“The cycle is broken. And so the dead stir, rising from their graves if left unattended. A ritual must be performed, to send the spirit towards the heavens. The journey is perilous, preyed upon by the shows of the void that lurk. Death runs rampant, Gu spreading unchecked through the earth, leading to abominable creatures. You call these demons. Creatures submerged in Gu, formed from feasting upon the dead.”
The image of the wraiths filling the void that struck came out to me. The twisted malformed creatures screaming in eternal agony and pain. Were those… people? People who had lost their way?
“You would know, wouldn’t you?” the Kirin asked, but not to me. I saw the creature standing in front of Gu Jie.
“The darkness had lurked within your spirit. Corrupted. Yet your soul was tied to your other half, which yet remained pure. So you remain struck, half wraith, half human. Unable to find release.”
I saw Gu Jie’s fists clenching, as he averted his eyes.
“The first step is acceptance, child. Accept the death that fills your spirit, make it a part of yourself,” the Kirin breathed, moving closer.
“You saw the creatures that killed your parents. You saw the twisted nature of our world. The cycle remains broken. The children live in eternal dispute. You can mend that. You merely need to accept who you are.”
“I… do not want to be this way,” Gu Jie said, looking up. “I do not wish to be lost. I’m mired in death, and suffering. Just a touch of Gu breaks down my body. I cannot exist within myself for even a moment. I am anathema to life. How could I ever? I don’t wish to be a demon,” Gu Jie said, clenching his teeth as water pooled in his eyes.
“You are not a demon,” the Kirin said, as it lowered its head and brushed it against Gu Jie’s cheeks.
“Demons are not death. They are a defiance of the cycle. To become a demon, a product of the wraiths that plague death. The very same exists in life. The whispers of those who passed, they form the heavens. They speak of secrets in mortal ears. They fear the wraiths lurking in death, and they despise the Gu they inhabit. And so they lash back against the cycle.”
I looked at the kirin, my eyes wide.
“The cycle of Gu and Qi. It is not merely one of Life and Death, but one of Order and Chaos. To cultivate both Heaven and Earth, one must step beyond the restrictions of the twelve steps.”
The kirin glanced towards the both of us, before a ripple went through the space around me.
“Let us show you.”
The world changed, as I saw the world from the skies. Vast sprawling lands, and soaring skies. Time passed by in a blur as I watched seasons pass beneath me.
People tilled farms, they moved with purpose, together as one. They reared animals, they fought spirits. It was fascinating, and slowly but surely, I began to notice something. These people… they never cultivated. Yet they were strong.
I watched a man lift a boulder, and throw it over trees. I watched another man, practicing the swings of his sword. Until one swing lashed out with intent and power, parting the earth in front of him.
“The Path is devoid of the concept of cultivation. There is no need to sit down and focus solely on gathering the energies of the world within oneself, when one is focused upon their Path. The Order of the Five circles was all that existed. Of the five stages of the Path towards the pinnacle of existence. It was only later, when the twelve realms would be separated, upon the breaking of the cycle.”
The kirin said, as I watched the people move about in fascination.
“In the old era, everyone would walk a Path. There were no such things as an innate ability to cultivate. The lives of mortals all when honed would form a path that would bend the energies of the world to their whim. It is the cultivation of the heavens, which discards and picks people suited towards its path. By creation, the cultivation of the empire is meant to pick only those that fit into its mold, leaving all the rest behind as mortals.”
“But the demons, they have no such qualms. The demons do not cultivate through realms, but live instead in awakenings. Five awakenings, of the five circles constituting one’s soul. They progress by walking their Path of chaos.”
“And today, we need you to awaken. To form the first circle of Gu missing in your soul, and become equals.”
I glanced over toward Gu Jie, as he stood frozen, staring at the Kirin.
“I know,” Gu Jie replied, glancing over at me. “I’ve known this for a long time.”
I stared back, unsure of what to say. Here was my other half, the one to have lived in this world without any of my memories. He was arrogant, like any typical cultivator, and he’d made many mistakes that these people had. It made little sense normally for me to wish to merge back with a part of me that was this way.
“I don’t think… we should run away from ourselves,” I replied, looking up at Gu Jie. “We will never be completely separate. We are already inherently tied. I sense your thoughts, your emotions. So often, the difference between the two us blurs. But if we remain like this, then our Path will be incomplete, unable to progress any further. We will never be able to discover the other Laws of cultivation. I have so many ambitions, and there are so many things to see,” I said, meeting Gu Jie’s eyes.
“I want to grow. I want to see everything this world of magic has to offer, and find the secrets behind them,” I extended my hand forward.
“I will ask you what I have asked every other friend I wish to bring along this path. I want to bring change in this world, spark revolution, spread knowledge, and generate a new way to think. A new way to understand. And since we’re popping pills like maniacs anyway, we may as well form a Drug Empire. So… Would you like to help me with that?” I asked, extending my hands towards Gu Jie.
He looked down at my hand, before slowly extending his own. “We will never be the same again after this,” he whispered. “I won’t be me. You won’t be you. There will only be one.”
“I know,” I whispered back.
Dark wisps rose from Gu Jie’s body, swirling in a torrent of death around him. The energies of death flowed freely through his spirit changing him. His hair turned pitch black, eyes dark as an abyss, with a glowing white pupil in the middle.
Within our soul, I felt something forming.
A second black circle, behind my dantian. Linked to the first one formed by Qi. A circle of Gu.
“Now death lags behind no more. They exist in harmony. Order and Chaos, together in Unity.”
I watched Gu Jie, feeling the Gu flowing through him. There was a strength in there that I hadn’t felt before.
“Two souls, divided, yet joint. Two halves, representing Order and Chaos. In this cycle, the tree of unity. It awaits your union, child. It is time to be whole.”
I looked towards Gu Jie, walking closer. My heart was thundering as he stepped closer towards me, and I felt my Qi flaring outwards to match his Gu.
“I guess… this is it then,” Gu Jie spoke, looking up at me.
“Yeah. Even if… we won’t be able to talk like this. You’ll be there. A part of me. Just like how I’ll be a part of you,” I replied, feeling my voice starting to choke.
I had not felt anything so far. But now that I stood here, I could feel my nerves rising. My palms were sweaty, my throat clammy and my chest was tight as I struggled to keep my calm.
“I’m scared too,” I told Gu Jie, looking up at him. “But… I really think that this is the best way forward.”
The boy looked back at me, and silently returned a nod.
I extended my hand forward, as white circle formed beneath my feet.
“Life steps ahead.”
Gu Jie extended his hand. A dark circle formed beneath him, merging with mine.
“And Death follows right after.”
I pressed my palm against his, as Qi began to rage against Gu. A dark circle formed beneath my feet, in the area of light. And a similar circle formed beneath Gu Jie, but white instead.
“Yin and Yang. Order and Chaos. And now they unite. To be whole again.”
The Yin and Yang beneath our feet began to revolve, mingling together like my Qi and Gu. Something began to flow out from me, as I held Gu Jie’s hand tight. Our souls began to revolve around, like two stars orbiting each other.
“From Gu and Qi, a new form is born. One of unity. One of Peace.”
The world vibrated around us, shuddering. It sang, a harmonious tune born of the collision of two opposing forces.
I felt our souls collide, as our two cores merged back into one.
“And so, Chi was formed.”
Blinding light consumed me, as Gu and Qi combined. My senses were lost, as our souls merged into a singular.
The knot within our soul unraveled itself, the equilibrium of our two cores broken.
Two circles, of Qi and Gu, collided, forming something different. Something new.
I sensed the First Law change. The foundation of my soul, the first step of my cultivation. It shifted, to represent the duality more accurately.
I had been wrong before. We had been wrong before. The Law was born of incomplete understanding. It was imperfect.
But no more. Now we understood. As one whole, we opened our eyes, and uttered the words imprinted on our very being.
“The First Law of Cultivation: Duality of Chi”
The two circles in my souls fused into one. Of Gu and Qi combined, not in destruction but in harmony. The energy of both heaven and earth, and the very world itself. A circle of Chi.
A plant bloomed within my soul.
There were no tribulations from heaven this time, no breakthroughs. I merely stood upon the line between the realms and took a step across.
And so I was more.
I stared at the Kirin standing in front of me, confused.
“Do you not sense the sprout within your soul? The deep pool of essence that fills your soul? The thing tying you two cores together, preventing a horrifying death at any given moment?” the Kirin asked, glancing towards me.
“I… do?” I replied, before pushing my senses inwards. The familiar little sprout at the core of my dantian reached out to me, in my senses.
“Indeed. The fragile little sprout born between your soul. Born from the partial union of Order and Chaos.”
“Partial?” I asked the Kirin.
The majestic creature glanced towards Gu Jie. Its mane flowed as it jumped up into the sky, landing at the boy.
“You would understand. What is lacking,” the Kirin said, leaning in close to Gu Jie’s face. Gu Jie turned his eyes away, not meeting them with mine.
“Hold on, I’m getting incredibly confused. Can you please explain why or how Twilight got here? Let’s start from there,” I said, patting Twilight sitting on my head.
The kirin glanced back towards me. “Twilight. Mu. The meeting point of day and night. An apt name,” the Kiring said.
My eyes widened in surprise when I realized the Kirin wasn’t saying a broken form of Twilight, but instead a translation of the word instead.
“You understand english?” I asked, baffled. Even the heavens hadn’t caught on to english.
“We are not hindered by any language child. But we are aware of some that you lost souls bring to our realm. The old cycle was responsible for handling birth and rebirth. To take the souls from those buried in the earth, up towards the heavens, and then back into the mortal coil,” the Kirin said, a green glow lighting up its antlers.
“We did not find your spirit. She found us on her own. All we did was guide her to the path that would bring her here. She is one of the few creatures which still presides in an older order. Capable of touching both death and life. Now death remains devoid of life, and life has little comfort in death.”
The world rippled around me, as I saw a massive tree rising into the sky. Glowing a bright light, I saw Gu spreading around the roots of the tree, being pulled in by plants. In there, death would change, form life, and then be released upwards, into the skies.
“If the tree is gone, how is rebirth handled now? You called me a lost soul. Is the tree breaking why I’m here? Because it messed up with the rebirth cycle or whatever?”
“The cycle is broken. And so the dead stir, rising from their graves if left unattended. A ritual must be performed, to send the spirit towards the heavens. The journey is perilous, preyed upon by the shows of the void that lurk. Death runs rampant, Gu spreading unchecked through the earth, leading to abominable creatures. You call these demons. Creatures submerged in Gu, formed from feasting upon the dead.”
The image of the wraiths filling the void that struck came out to me. The twisted malformed creatures screaming in eternal agony and pain. Were those… people? People who had lost their way?
“You would know, wouldn’t you?” the Kirin asked, but not to me. I saw the creature standing in front of Gu Jie.
“The darkness had lurked within your spirit. Corrupted. Yet your soul was tied to your other half, which yet remained pure. So you remain struck, half wraith, half human. Unable to find release.”
I saw Gu Jie’s fists clenching, as he averted his eyes.
“The first step is acceptance, child. Accept the death that fills your spirit, make it a part of yourself,” the Kirin breathed, moving closer.
“You saw the creatures that killed your parents. You saw the twisted nature of our world. The cycle remains broken. The children live in eternal dispute. You can mend that. You merely need to accept who you are.”
“I… do not want to be this way,” Gu Jie said, looking up. “I do not wish to be lost. I’m mired in death, and suffering. Just a touch of Gu breaks down my body. I cannot exist within myself for even a moment. I am anathema to life. How could I ever? I don’t wish to be a demon,” Gu Jie said, clenching his teeth as water pooled in his eyes.
“You are not a demon,” the Kirin said, as it lowered its head and brushed it against Gu Jie’s cheeks.
“Demons are not death. They are a defiance of the cycle. To become a demon, a product of the wraiths that plague death. The very same exists in life. The whispers of those who passed, they form the heavens. They speak of secrets in mortal ears. They fear the wraiths lurking in death, and they despise the Gu they inhabit. And so they lash back against the cycle.”
I looked at the kirin, my eyes wide.
“The cycle of Gu and Qi. It is not merely one of Life and Death, but one of Order and Chaos. To cultivate both Heaven and Earth, one must step beyond the restrictions of the twelve steps.”
The kirin glanced towards the both of us, before a ripple went through the space around me.
“Let us show you.”
The world changed, as I saw the world from the skies. Vast sprawling lands, and soaring skies. Time passed by in a blur as I watched seasons pass beneath me.
People tilled farms, they moved with purpose, together as one. They reared animals, they fought spirits. It was fascinating, and slowly but surely, I began to notice something. These people… they never cultivated. Yet they were strong.
I watched a man lift a boulder, and throw it over trees. I watched another man, practicing the swings of his sword. Until one swing lashed out with intent and power, parting the earth in front of him.
“The Path is devoid of the concept of cultivation. There is no need to sit down and focus solely on gathering the energies of the world within oneself, when one is focused upon their Path. The Order of the Five circles was all that existed. Of the five stages of the Path towards the pinnacle of existence. It was only later, when the twelve realms would be separated, upon the breaking of the cycle.”
The kirin said, as I watched the people move about in fascination.
“In the old era, everyone would walk a Path. There were no such things as an innate ability to cultivate. The lives of mortals all when honed would form a path that would bend the energies of the world to their whim. It is the cultivation of the heavens, which discards and picks people suited towards its path. By creation, the cultivation of the empire is meant to pick only those that fit into its mold, leaving all the rest behind as mortals.”
“But the demons, they have no such qualms. The demons do not cultivate through realms, but live instead in awakenings. Five awakenings, of the five circles constituting one’s soul. They progress by walking their Path of chaos.”
“And today, we need you to awaken. To form the first circle of Gu missing in your soul, and become equals.”
I glanced over toward Gu Jie, as he stood frozen, staring at the Kirin.
“I know,” Gu Jie replied, glancing over at me. “I’ve known this for a long time.”
I stared back, unsure of what to say. Here was my other half, the one to have lived in this world without any of my memories. He was arrogant, like any typical cultivator, and he’d made many mistakes that these people had. It made little sense normally for me to wish to merge back with a part of me that was this way.
“I don’t think… we should run away from ourselves,” I replied, looking up at Gu Jie. “We will never be completely separate. We are already inherently tied. I sense your thoughts, your emotions. So often, the difference between the two us blurs. But if we remain like this, then our Path will be incomplete, unable to progress any further. We will never be able to discover the other Laws of cultivation. I have so many ambitions, and there are so many things to see,” I said, meeting Gu Jie’s eyes.
“I want to grow. I want to see everything this world of magic has to offer, and find the secrets behind them,” I extended my hand forward.
“I will ask you what I have asked every other friend I wish to bring along this path. I want to bring change in this world, spark revolution, spread knowledge, and generate a new way to think. A new way to understand. And since we’re popping pills like maniacs anyway, we may as well form a Drug Empire. So… Would you like to help me with that?” I asked, extending my hands towards Gu Jie.
He looked down at my hand, before slowly extending his own. “We will never be the same again after this,” he whispered. “I won’t be me. You won’t be you. There will only be one.”
“I know,” I whispered back.
Dark wisps rose from Gu Jie’s body, swirling in a torrent of death around him. The energies of death flowed freely through his spirit changing him. His hair turned pitch black, eyes dark as an abyss, with a glowing white pupil in the middle.
Within our soul, I felt something forming.
A second black circle, behind my dantian. Linked to the first one formed by Qi. A circle of Gu.
“Now death lags behind no more. They exist in harmony. Order and Chaos, together in Unity.”
I watched Gu Jie, feeling the Gu flowing through him. There was a strength in there that I hadn’t felt before.
“Two souls, divided, yet joint. Two halves, representing Order and Chaos. In this cycle, the tree of unity. It awaits your union, child. It is time to be whole.”
I looked towards Gu Jie, walking closer. My heart was thundering as he stepped closer towards me, and I felt my Qi flaring outwards to match his Gu.
“I guess… this is it then,” Gu Jie spoke, looking up at me.
“Yeah. Even if… we won’t be able to talk like this. You’ll be there. A part of me. Just like how I’ll be a part of you,” I replied, feeling my voice starting to choke.
I had not felt anything so far. But now that I stood here, I could feel my nerves rising. My palms were sweaty, my throat clammy and my chest was tight as I struggled to keep my calm.
“I’m scared too,” I told Gu Jie, looking up at him. “But… I really think that this is the best way forward.”
The boy looked back at me, and silently returned a nod.
I extended my hand forward, as white circle formed beneath my feet.
“Life steps ahead.”
Gu Jie extended his hand. A dark circle formed beneath him, merging with mine.
“And Death follows right after.”
I pressed my palm against his, as Qi began to rage against Gu. A dark circle formed beneath my feet, in the area of light. And a similar circle formed beneath Gu Jie, but white instead.
“Yin and Yang. Order and Chaos. And now they unite. To be whole again.”
The Yin and Yang beneath our feet began to revolve, mingling together like my Qi and Gu. Something began to flow out from me, as I held Gu Jie’s hand tight. Our souls began to revolve around, like two stars orbiting each other.
“From Gu and Qi, a new form is born. One of unity. One of Peace.”
The world vibrated around us, shuddering. It sang, a harmonious tune born of the collision of two opposing forces.
I felt our souls collide, as our two cores merged back into one.
“And so, Chi was formed.”
Blinding light consumed me, as Gu and Qi combined. My senses were lost, as our souls merged into a singular.
The knot within our soul unraveled itself, the equilibrium of our two cores broken.
Two circles, of Qi and Gu, collided, forming something different. Something new.
I sensed the First Law change. The foundation of my soul, the first step of my cultivation. It shifted, to represent the duality more accurately.
I had been wrong before. We had been wrong before. The Law was born of incomplete understanding. It was imperfect.
But no more. Now we understood. As one whole, we opened our eyes, and uttered the words imprinted on our very being.
“The First Law of Cultivation: Duality of Chi”
The two circles in my souls fused into one. Of Gu and Qi combined, not in destruction but in harmony. The energy of both heaven and earth, and the very world itself. A circle of Chi.
A plant bloomed within my soul.
There were no tribulations from heaven this time, no breakthroughs. I merely stood upon the line between the realms and took a step across.
And so I was more.
