Ah... freedom.
For the first time in several centuries, I had slipped past the watchful gaze of my wife. A delicate operation requiring cunning, perfect timing, and a decoy forged from star dust and old marital regret. Truly, one of my finer works.
I drifted through the lesser skies of the mortal realm, humming to myself and stretching my limbs. It was refreshing to breathe the thin, unrefined qi of these lands. Like cheap wine unpleasant, but nostalgic.
Then the world rippled.
A soft tear opened in the fabric of space, like someone carelessly tugging at the sleeve of the heavens. I paused mid-air.
"Well now. What have we here?"
Two mortals fell straight out of the void.
Not drifted. Not teleported.
Fell.
As if the universe had tossed them out like unwanted laundry.
They hit the purple grass with a satisfying thud. I floated closer, curiosity already gnawing at me. A tall woman lay sprawled in the grass, pale skinned, short haired, and wrapped in clothing so bizarre I could hardly classify it. Her companion beside her was stranger still. A man with smooth dark skin, hair in quaint woven ropes, and absolutely no cultivation. None. Not even a speck. A newborn beastling had more spiritual presence.
Impossible.
Delightfully impossible.
I hovered above them, chin in hand, eager to see how they behaved.
The woman Li Fong, I would later learn jolted upright with a gasp sharp enough to cut the wind. Her eyes darted across my purple grassland, the twin moons, the shimmering air.
Then she saw him.
Her entire being changed.
She dropped to the man's side as though gravity pulled her harder there than anywhere else. She cupped his face quite tenderly, which I found terribly adorable and inspected him with the precision of a general checking for weaknesses in her armor.
The man blinked open warm brown eyes and whispered, "I kinda woke up when you started playing with my lips."
A bold line. Especially considering his lack of spiritual strength.
Her cheeks colored. Precious.
I could already tell this woman was sharp as a blade and cold as nightwater to everyone but him.
I drifted upward and settled myself in an invisible seat of qi, ready to observe. They stood, surveyed their new surroundings, spoke in strange phrases about "anime" and "isekai" foreign words even in the heavens and then the argument began.
Oh. A lovers' spat.
Excellent entertainment.
The man hummed to himself, murmuring, "I wonder if the shop is okay."
The woman snapped at him. He wilted. She guilted. He retreated with wounded dignity. They danced in circles of emotion neither understood how to express properly in crisis.
I pressed a hand to my chest.
"So fragile." I whispered, enchanted. "So dramatic. Mortals are truly the sweetest disasters."
When they reached the glowing lavender stream, I leaned forward, eager. Li Fong, ever the calculating one, tested the water like a commander testing poison. A'shae, ever the curious one, dipped his fingers in as though touching magic was his favorite hobby.
Their argument cooled into something deeper aching hearts, unspoken fears, apologies tangled in pride. Truly delicious mortal tension.
I almost forgot the beast.
Almost.
A low call rumbled across the land, the kind that made birds flee and lesser cultivators soil themselves. I recognized it instantly.
The Kraelscar Devourer.
A creature feared across five continents, though in truth it was only moderately threatening. A messy combination of hawk, tiger, serpent, and ostrich whoever designed it had clearly been tipsy.
Still, to mortals?
Ah. Instant tragedy.
They ran.
He led. She stumbled. He supported. She protested. He lied comfortingly. She limped and leaned into him. It would've been romantic if doom weren't galloping behind them.
I floated lazily several strides above, enjoying the unfolding disaster like a play.
The Kraelscar prowled behind them, its mismatched limbs moving in an almost playful rhythm. It liked to toy with prey. Good sport. I approved.
Then the man noticed the truth.
They could not escape.
A burrow appeared ahead, narrow as a needle. He shoved her into it. She resisted. He used that firm, serious voice hidden beneath all his timidity.
Ah. So the timid one had steel beneath it. Lovely.
He pushed her into safety and ran toward certain death.
I applauded.
"Bravo. A mortal with spine. How refreshing."
Li Fong burst free just in time to witness his capture. Oh, the devastation on her face. It cracked even my old heart, dusty though it was. Then came the scream.
The heavens split.
Stars quivered.
Constellations hid behind clouds.
Her grief ignited the heavens themselves.
"Well," I whispered, delighted. "There she is."
Energy poured into her, the kind reserved for the chosen of prophecy raw, untamed, divine. She fought the Kraelscar like a newborn dragon learning to breathe fire, bright and clumsy and devastating.
Her command "Die you monster" was magnificent. It rippled beyond the world, brushing even the upper heavens.
I decided she had entertained me enough.
With a flick of my finger, I reduced the Kraelscar Devourer to cosmic dust. Clean, simple, elegant unlike the creature.
Then I descended.
She ignored me entirely and rushed to her dying man.
Rude. Charming. Consistent.
I offered her the sensible option abandon the mortal. She threatened death a thousand times over. Very poetic. Very bothersome.
I healed him with a priceless pill, grumbling all the while. She attempted to lift him. Failed miserably. I sighed dramatically and lifted both with my power.
"Mortals," I complained to the wind. "Forever inconvenient."
They floated upward toward my territory in the starry sky, Li Fong trembling with emotion, clinging to the unconscious man. The stars welcomed us, swirling open into a celestial gate.
And I, Bai Lianxing, slipped my hands behind my head and drifted upward with them, thoroughly entertained.
"Ah," I mused to myself, "my wife is absolutely going to murder me."
But it was worth it.
(Whimsical. Easily Amused. Occasionally Horrified.)
Li Fong hovered over the unconscious man as we drifted upward through the starlit currents of my domain. Her hands moved with the sharp precision of a master physician even though she clearly had no such training. She checked A'shae's breathing, brushed blood from his lips, inspected bruises with trembling fingertips, and only when she decided that he would live did her shoulders finally sag with relief.
Then she turned to me.
"Thank you," she said, bowing her head. "Truly. I will not forget this."
Gratitude. Directed at me.
Incredible. Mortals recently rescued from death usually cried, fainted, or accused me of being a demon. I preened a little, very discreetly, and decided not to tell her that I had been watching her and her strange fiancé since the very moment they arrived. No reason to ruin this rare pleasant moment.
Instead, I asked the question that had been clawing at my curiosity since they fell out of the void.
"Where." I asked, tilting my head, "did the two of you come from?"
Li Fong opened her mouth to answer.
Then she finally realized she was flying.
Not carried by wings.
Not supported by a treasure.
Certainly not resting on anything visible.
Simply floating through the heavens, thousands of feet above the shimmering landscape of my upper territory. Below us stretched a cloud sea glowing with celestial jellyfish. Ribbons of wind curled around us like lazy serpents, humming in ancient tones. The sky shimmered with soft gold light, and far above, the silhouettes of sky beasts drifted past. Winged serpents, luminous cranes, and an enormous star whale the size of a mountain swam through the air like it was water.
Her eyes widened.
She did not scream.
She did not faint.
She stared with a mixture of awe, disbelief, and furious calculation.
How refreshing.
I floated lazily beside her with my hands folded behind my head. "Ah, you noticed."
She reached out and brushed her fingers against the shimmering air beneath her feet. The air rippled like water.
Then, to my utter horror, her own energy stirred.
Warm. Golden. Curious.
It flicked outward like a hand testing new fabric.
And then she poked me.
Not physically. Energetically.
Her raw, newly awakened power prodded at the swirling current of qi around me, tugging and tasting as though she intended to unravel it by touch alone.
I nearly dropped her.
"Stop that," I said, scandalized. "Unless you want a very smooth and uninterrupted fall into the Cloud Abyss."
She froze.
Her energy recoiled instantly. Much too instantly. As if she had perfect control instead of the clumsy unpredictability fresh initiates usually displayed.
I coughed to hide how shaken I was.
Internally, I was screaming.
Impossible.
No awakened cultivator, not even a divine prodigy, learned to touch energy with intent the moment it stirred in their veins. The force behind her simple prod, if I had been a normal cultivator, would have shattered my concentration and sent all of us plummeting. It was not malicious. It was simply raw, untamed, and vast.
The heavens had sent me a headache disguised as a mortal woman.
She cleared her throat, her face slightly pink. "Apologies. It was instinct."
"Your instincts," I muttered, "should be illegal."
Below us my territory unfurled, a floating archipelago of jade islands wrapped in luminous fog. Rivers of liquid starlight flowed between them and fed the Radiant Lotus Lakes. My sky palace, carved from drifting meteorstone, towered above all of it. Its spires caught the twin suns' light and bent it into shimmering halos. Sky beasts curled around the pillars as though guarding the place out of boredom instead of duty.
Li Fong stared.
A'shae, unconscious, snored softly.
How peaceful.
"Now then." I said, regaining my composure, "as I was asking. Where did you two come from?"
This time Li Fong did not answer immediately. She swallowed, looked at A'shae, looked at the impossible world around her, and then back at me.
Finally she exhaled.
"We are not from here."
I arched a brow. "Not from this region?"
"No." Her voice was steady and fierce. "Not from this world."
Ah.
Ahh.
A slow grin stretched across my face. Delight curled through me like smoke.
"Oh," I said softly, "this is going to be fun."
(Whimsical. Proud of himself. Occasionally distracted by shiny things.)
Li Fong settled into a strange, pensive silence as we drifted across the celestial winds. Her gaze moved between A'shae's unconscious form, the glittering skies, and the floating jade islands below. I waited patiently, humming to myself and shaping the wind into lazy spirals to pass the time.
Finally, she spoke.
"Where are we?"
Ah. The question every newcomer to the heavens asked. Usually accompanied by screaming. Or crying. Or begging. She simply sounded curious.
I approved.
"You." I announced grandly. "are within my territory, which stretches across eight hundred sky leagues and includes one hundred twelve floating islands, seven spirit lakes, and one mildly temperamental pocket dimension that I advise you not to enter without supervision."
She blinked. "And where is this territory located?"
"The Seventh Heaven."
There it was. That flicker in her eyes. The widening of her awareness. Her mind soaked in information the way spiritual sea creatures bathe in heavenly tears. She was absorbing every detail.
So I continued.
"The heavens are divided into fifteen layers. Vast realms stacked upon each other like a celestial tower. Each heaven holds different laws, different beast populations, different clans, and different levels of spiritual density."
I raised a hand, shaping a map of shimmering white light in the air.
"The First through Third Heavens are mortal-adjacent. Weak beasts, early cultivators, and the kind of people who think shouting loudly counts as a battle technique."
The map shifted upward.
"The Fourth through Seventh Heavens contain the middle realms. Spirit beasts, established sects, complex clans, and the occasional ancient creature pretending to be asleep so it does not have to do paperwork."
Li Fong's brow twitched. She was not sure if I was joking. That delighted me greatly.
"The Eighth through Tenth Heavens," I continued, "are the domains of the high clans and the old powers. Land there is alive. Rivers remember your footsteps. Monsters negotiate better than merchants."
"And the Eleventh through Fifteenth?"
Her voice was steady. Hungry with understanding.
I smiled. "Those are the divine heavens. Home to beings who could unmake worlds by sighing too hard. The Fifteenth sits beyond time and space, inhabited only by the Heavenly Ancients and certain inconvenient bureaucrats."
I watched her take it all in with frightening ease. Her eyes sharpened. Her mind raced. She was mapping the entire structure of creation as if it were a puzzle she intended to solve before breakfast.
An unusual silence fell over me.
A rare moment of seriousness.
If I was not overestimating her, this woman resembled the prophecy far too closely. The prophecy that spoke of a ruler who would command the heavens the moment her power awakened. The prophecy that claimed the strongest clans would kneel before her without a fight.
It was absurd.
And yet...
Her energy earlier. The way it scraped against reality itself. That was no ordinary awakening.
I glanced at A'shae.
The prophecy did speak of her partner. A man whose punch could shatter the fabric of reality.
A single punch.
Earth rattling. Heaven trembling. Laws screaming.
This mortal, however...
A'shae had no essence. No trace of qi. No spiritual imprint. No celestial signature. No dimensional echo.
Nothing.
He was like a hole in the world. A space the universe refused to acknowledge.
I rubbed my temples and sighed. "Troublesome."
Li Fong drew my focus again.
"What is this strange feeling inside me?" she asked softly. "This power."
Her expression was curious. Hesitant. A hint of awe in her voice.
Ah. My favorite subject.
I perked up instantly.
"Energy." I said with pride, "is the greatest joy the heavens have ever given me aside from my overly enthusiastic wife. Allow me to explain."
I pointed at the glowing sky around us.
"There are many types of energies. Entire systems layered upon systems."
Li Fong leaned forward slightly. A perfect student.
I began.
"One. Essence. The foundation of all living things. It fills the body, strengthens the flesh, and fuels basic cultivation."
"Two. Spiritual Qi. Drawn from the environment. This is what most mortals use to cultivate. Pure, adaptable, and annoyingly common."
"Three. Celestial Qi. My personal favorite. Found only in the higher heavens. It shapes the world around it and bends reality with a snap of the fingers."
I snapped my fingers. A small island below us flipped upside down. Several cloud cranes squawked in protest. I pretended not to hear them.
Li Fong stared.
I continued proudly.
"Four. Divine Essence. Used by gods and ancient beings. Dangerous. Any mortal who tries to absorb it explodes. Sometimes twice."
She blinked. "Twice?"
"Do not ask. It is messy."
I moved on.
"Five. Void Force. A forbidden energy. Found beyond existence. The power that tears the world open. The prophecy speaks of one who commands it."
Her breath hitched.
Interesting.
"And lastly." I said softly, "the rarest energy of all. The one you touched earlier."
Her eyes locked on mine.
"What is it?"
"Heavenly Authority."
The wind stilled.
"It is not learned." I told her. "It is not cultivated. It is not something you earn by training or enlightenment. Only those chosen by fate can wield it."
Her fingers trembled slightly, although her expression did not break.
"You mean I..."
"Yes," I said cheerfully. "You were born for trouble."
I stretched lazily in the air as we drifted closer to my sky palace.
"And lucky for you, I adore trouble."
The celestial winds thinned as we approached my palace complex, its white stone archways rising from spiraling clouds like islands carved from moonlight. The journey had nearly reached its end, and Li Fong had fallen quiet again, absorbing every detail she could see, hear, or feel. Her mind never stopped turning. Not even for a breath.
Troublesome. Fascinating. Terrifying.
I admired her already.
Then, just as I expected the silence to settle for good, she spoke.
"Then... how strong are you?"
My fingers twitched.
Ah.
Ah.
So that was the question she had been holding onto like a blade behind her back.
A mortal who had only awakened moments ago, whose power surged out of her without technique or control, was already gauging her surroundings, assessing potential allies or threats, measuring the path ahead.
Already preparing her baseline.
A monster.
A delightful monster.
A small, involuntary shiver ran across my spine, a sensation halfway between awe and a healthy respect for someone who might one day tear open the sky for fun.
"Curious, are you." I said lightly. "Already comparing yourself to the experts."
Her gaze remained steady. Sharp. Hungry.
I was not one to ignore an invitation to brag.
But I was also not one to simply reveal everything. I had a reputation to maintain and a wife who would lecture me for hours if I admitted how many of my early years were spent sleeping under bridges and running from beasts twice my size.
Still... since she asked, I supposed she deserved an answer.
"Well." I began, letting my voice float lazily through the air, "as far as strength goes, I am something of an... anomaly."
She tilted her head slightly.
I continued.
"I was born a First Heaven mortal. The weakest kind. The sort of person who struggles to open jars."
"And yet." I said proudly, "I clawed my way up."
Literally clawed. Through mud. Through mountains. Through one unfortunate incident involving a boar king and a misunderstanding about a peach.
I cleared my throat.
"With grit, talent, perseverance, and a series of lucky encounters, I ascended one realm at a time. The Second Heaven. The Third. The Fourth."
The skies around us darkened slightly, responding to the memories.
"In the Fifth Heaven, I gained my first divine technique."
In truth, it was stolen. Entirely by accident. I still felt bad for the old oracle. She cried when she realized it was gone.
"In the Sixth Heaven, I claimed my first floating island."
By winning a duel. A duel I did not realize was a duel until the opponent was already unconscious.
"In the Seventh." I gestured below us, "I built my palace."
"And from there, I continued upward. Eighth. Ninth. Tenth."
Li Fong's eyes widened slightly. Only slightly. Impressive.
"By the Eleventh Heaven." I said, letting a soft smile curl at my mouth, "I met my wife."
That alone made every years long wound, sleepless night, and near death experience worthwhile.
"In the Twelfth Heaven." I went on, "I gained recognition as a heavenly force."
"And in the Thirteenth, a clan tried to adopt me against my will."
I grimaced. Too many hugs. Too many elders. They braided my hair.
Suppressing the memory, I lifted my chin proudly.
"And in the Fourteenth Heaven... no one was my match."
The air hummed around us, vibrating faintly under the weight of the truth.
Li Fong took a slow breath. "And the Fifteenth?"
Ah.
That wound still itched when touched.
I gazed upward, toward the faint shimmer where the highest realm rested beyond mortal sight.
"The Fifteenth Heaven was within my reach," I admitted quietly. "I touched a fragment of its power once. A wisp of what lies beyond all creation."
A shiver ran through the air itself, the way reality quivers when old memories stir.
"But I was betrayed."
Images flickered through my mind. A figure standing behind me. A blade made of condensed divinity. The sky ripping open. My own essence spilling into the void.
I shook the memories away.
Had I not fallen from grace, I would have ascended. But then...
"I would not have met my wife." I said, softer. "A far more precious outcome."
Li Fong studied me silently.
I cleared my throat, returning to my theatrics.
"So. To answer your question truthfully. I am strong enough that the first through fourteenth heavens regard me with a certain... nervous fondness."
A lie. They regarded me with irritation and awe.
"Strong enough." I finished, "that only the Ancients and certain 15th Heaven entities surpass me."
Li Fong nodded once.
Accepting my answer.
But behind her eyes, I saw it.
She was not comparing me to her enemies.
She was comparing me to her future self.
A chill skittered down my arms.
This woman... the prophecy might not have exaggerated at all.
And that realization sent a thrill of excitement through my ancient bones.
Trouble was coming.
Beautiful, glorious trouble.
And I suddenly found myself desperately hoping to witness every moment of it.