Thunder crackled outside, rattling the windowpanes of Xi Mai's modest home. The storm had descended without warning, drenching the ancient city in sheets of rain. Xi Mai, her raven-black hair pinned loosely atop her head, turned a page of her worn book when the sound came--a heavy thud against her door, followed by another.
She tensed, her fingers stilling on the paper. Who would be out in this weather? The candle flame flickered, casting shadows across her serene face--a face that had softened with maturity yet retained the delicate beauty of her youth.
Grasping the door handle, she pulled it open to find a young man sprawled across her threshold, unconscious. Water plastered his dark hair to his forehead, and rain trickled from the corner of his mouth. Despite the scrapes and bruises marking his skin, Xi Mai noted his handsome features--strong jawline, high cheekbones--and the lean, muscular frame of someone who trained regularly. He couldn't have been more than nineteen.
Her phone showed no signal. The storm had cut her off from help. After a moment's hesitation that felt like an eternity, she wrapped her arms around the young stranger's waist and dragged him inside, her strength surprising even herself.
Once inside, she laid him on her spare bed in the guest room. His clothes were soaked through, clinging to his athletic form. A flush colored his cheeks--fever, she realized. The wet clothes had to go, or he'd grow sicker.
Finding nothing that would fit his tall frame, she retrieved her largest bathrobe. Her fingers trembled slightly as she began unbuttoning his soaked shirt. When she reached his lower garments, she froze. Through the damp fabric, she could see he was hard--fully erect and thick, the kind of girth that made her breath catch. Xi Mai hadn't seen a man like this in five years, not since her husband's death. A warmth spread through her that had nothing to do with fever, and she felt a blush creeping up her neck.
With a mental shake, she pushed away the distracting thoughts. This was about saving a life, not... anything else. Quickly, she finished undressing him, averting her eyes from his obvious arousal, and slipped the soft bathrobe around his shoulders, tying it securely at his waist.
----
"To surpass the heavens, you must sever all mortal bonds. Begin by sacrificing what you love most. You must eliminate seven sins to step beyond the Supreme Realm. Then all celestial laws shall bow to you. You shall forge new laws and birth new worlds. Will you take this step?" The portal voice thundered across the cosmos as countless people watched.
Chen Taixuan's father, the Brahma Emperor, showed no hesitation. His face remained impassive, illuminating features carved from stone. Without a flicker of emotion, his hand plunged forward, piercing through his wife's chest. Blood blossomed across her silk robes as his fingers closed around her still-beating heart. With a swift, brutal motion, he ripped it from her body, holding the dripping organ aloft.
"I offer my greatest treasure," his father declared, his voice carrying across the void without tremor or regret.
"Mother..." Taixuan's cry tore through the heavens as he lunged forward, but immortal chains wrapped around him. The Four Supreme Generals-- his father's most trusted-- materialized around him.
"Do not move, Young Lord," said the first general. "The Emperor is doing this for the greater cause. When he ascends, Brahma realm shall rule all realms. The path demands sacrifice."
"Aargh!" A beast's roar escaped Taixuan's lips. "I will end you all. I will shatter this realm. Everyone will pay."
"Mother..."
"Are you all right?" The voice pulled him from the darkness. Taixuan's eyes, vacant moments before, now focused on the woman before him. His mind was a fog of confusion. Weakness flooded his limbs, and the surroundings felt foreign beyond recognition. Strange objects glittered in the dim light--metal boxes with glowing faces, thin glass panels hanging on walls. He had never encountered such things in any of the realms he knew.
"Where is this place?" he asked, his voice raspy.
"Canghai City," Xi Mai replied softly. "How are you feeling? Where do you live?"
Taixuan stared blankly. He tried to summon his spiritual essence within, but found nothing. His meridians were gone--completely inaccessible. He examined Xi Mai more closely--no fluctuation of spiritual energy emanated from her either. "What realm is this? Some phantom dimension?" He attempted to rise, but his legs buckled beneath him like reeds in a flood. As he fell, his hands landed on Xi Mai's shoulders for support, his fingers brushing against the soft skin of her neck. The contact sent an unexpected jolt through his weakened body--a strange warmth that spread through his chest. It had been centuries since he'd felt such a simple, human touch without the weight of celestial power behind it. Xi Mai's sharp intake of air told him she was surprised by his sudden movement. He had never felt so vulnerable, not even on the brink of death during the Celestial Wars.
"Easy there, young man," Xi Mai steadied him. "You need rest. Once the storm clears, I'll call for a doctor."
Taixuan pulled away abruptly, the sudden severing of contact leaving a phantom warmth on his skin where her neck had been. He gritted his teeth, forcing his trembling limbs into motion as he stumbled toward the door. Before Xi Mai could protest, he had pushed himself outside, the night air hitting him like a physical blow.
The sight that met his eyes stole what little breath remained in his lungs. Iron carriages--automobiles, his mind supplied the term from memories of a thousand past visits to mortal realms--moved with silent, beastless precision down paved rivers of light. Towers of glass and steel pierced the sky like the peaks of celestial mountains, their heights dwarfing anything he'd seen in the lowest planes. Strange lights in impossible colors--neon signs and holographic displays--painted the darkness in hues that defied natural law.
This was no ordinary mortal realm. It was far more advanced than the primitive villages and medieval cities he'd encountered in his millennia of existence. Yet despite its technological marvels, this world was devoid of spiritual energy, one of the most barren planes he had ever encountered. The very air felt dead to his senses, like inhaling vacuum.
Wait--the World Will! His mind, clouded by fever and weakness, finally grasped at the one power that should function even in the most desolate realms. Why hadn't he thought of it earlier? He would summon the World Will of this realm and demand answers about his whereabouts.
His gaze pierced the heavens as if they were beneath him. "World Will of this insignificant realm! I, Chen Taixuan, Supreme of the Brahma Universe, demand your immediate audience."