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Chapter 60 – Wu Ying

The energies that compressed and passed Wu Ying through the void of the world was strange, his body stretching and elongating as he tore through unimaginable distances. His senses were wide open as always, as he took in what was happening not only to his own body but the surrounding space.

Once more, he found the process near impossible to understand. He could mimic portions of the spatial dao, the journey through the void and the greater movement speed utilizing his own understanding of the heavens, the winds and his own dao; but it was a pale imitation of what the portal conjured. Like a child’s drawing compared to a true painter.

When he emerged, he stepped forward and then went down onto one knee as his senses caught up with the surroundings. He had landed on a hexagonal platform, stone carved with runic notations on them that stabilized the connection between realms. The room itself was large, over thirty paces across and fifty paces forward, with stone encasing the surroundings and only a single double door leading out.

His spiritual aura, that outer boundary of his soul and the estate of his own understanding was under assault. Wu Ying hardened the barrier almost immediately, stopping the constant cultivation that happened whilst using his Never Empty Wine Pot method as he tried to understand what was happening.

Not far away, he felt the presence of his companion appear, as she too emerged. She let out a cry of surprise and pain, and that spurred him on to focus on the energies wrapping themselves around him. His aura hardened, he surged to his feet, mind grasping for understanding even as a portion of his soul hummed.

“Easy there, Ascendant. It’s just the realm, rejecting you. You need to take a moment, to understand what is happening and to adjust yourself. Keeping the barrier up is good, but don’t attack anyone.” The voice that came was calm, though a little guarded and just off to the side.

When Wu Ying turned to regard the speaker, he found a short Immortal clad in magistrate robes, hands clasped before him, seemingly completely at ease from first sight. However, upon further inspection, it was clear he stood behind a series of enchanted chi-shields that would protect him if Wu Ying acted.

“You are… Administrator Eun.” Recollection of the name offered to him came fast, as he adjusted to the pain. It was, after all, an old friend. Stepping closer to Yang Mu, he placed a hand on her shoulder and overlapped his own aura with hers, protecting her and relieving her of the burden. The increased volume of his aura tripled the pain though and caused him to lose the rest of his sentence.

“That’s not advisable. She must learn how to handle the surroundings herself,” Administrator Eun said.

“I…”

“Ying. Let me do this. Trust me,” Yang Mu’s voice was firm and a little annoyed.

Grimacing, he did as she asked, hearing the indrawn breath as she was once again assaulted. In the meantime, he had been working over why the energies that assaulted him, the sense of this place and the twisted environment had seemed so familiar.

“You’ve had some experience with the demonic, it seems.” The voice was dry, lower pitched and strangely accented to Wu Ying’s ears. “That should help, a little. Do not think of the demonic as anti-ethical to your existence, but a different type of energy, a different shade of color in the palette of the Dao.”

“Not my experience.” The Cai king, slamming into him, wielding his demonic energies. Trying to consume him, the energies themselves doing battle against the ones he had owned. That fight had been one of the deadliest in his existence.

“Oh, there are some realms that we Immortals have no place within. Like fish, traversing the air, or birds, in the water. This is not one of those realms. Like the hells mortals travel through after their eath, this demonic realm is but a small step aside from the heavens and the Middle Kingdom.”

That was it. The clue that explained this sense of familiarity. He reached outwards, called for his friends. They were stifled in this room, large as it might be, but they heard him nonetheless. A gale rose up around the building, blowing open the doors moments later and causing much consternation amongst scholars and administrators with their hats and scrolls.

Yet the wind, his friend, had heard him. The wind of hell rushed around Wu Ying’s body, ran right through his aura and wrapped him in its familiar embrace causing his robes to flutter and outline his body. At the same time, it brought new smells, a new language with short, stilted, incomprehensible words mixed within.

“This is where you’re from…” Wu Ying laughed, throwing his head back. Listening to the winds, letting it pierce his aura, feeling his body relaxing. His cultivation churned, chi that had felt so unusual at first becoming more familiar. Like staring at a painting and only now, realizing that there was a horse in it, rather than a carp.

“Told you.” Self-satisfied, the administrator let out a hum. “Your companion is struggling more, though. We shall have to wait till she is settled before we can move ahead.”

“And if she is unable to handle the change?” Wu Ying asked, noting how Yang Mu had sat down, her legs crossed beneath her. He noticed the way she trembled, as one particular gust of wind or surge of environmental chi struck her aura.

“She can. All of us can. The concern is more that if she cannot acclimatize within the next few hours, that her presence with you will jeopardize your mission. Going to the other demonic realms will put you in ever greater variance from the realms and the chi that you are used to. You will not have time to take long periods to adjust.” As he saw Wu Ying stiffen, the administrator continued. “My orders are to ensure that you have the highest chance to succeed, and if that means having you – or your companion – be turned away, that is what I will do.”

Wu Ying stirred, his pain increasing his own irritation. He shrugged his shoulders and then relaxed them, forcing his breathing to deepen. Anger flared and then flattened, as he forced himself to calm. To trust in his companion.

He watched her breathing, the way she shuddered and turned back to his own cultivation, to the way the demonic chi impacted him. Though he was managing better, the administrator was not wrong. The next realm and the one after that would be as challenging, if not more.

Better for him to tease out as much of the demonic chi as he could have.