Yuming’s head was on fire.

  It wasn’t physical pain, but the feeling of an information overload. More precisely, it was an emotional overload.

  Chenming, stretched thin by the pulling of both Yuming and the Zhan karma, had begun to dissolve. His Self was less tangible, his body slowly unraveled and drifted away.

  And then Chenming collided with Yuming.

  Yuming was still solid, surviving with small cracks. Chenming, however, was like a liquid that seeped through those cracks, filling Yuming with feelings that he’d forgotten.

  There was guilt and warmth. There was a constant longing—and nagging ache of missing something he’d chosen to leave behind.

  Along with the emotions came karma.

  As Chenming started to unravel, some of the mortal threads tethered to him drifted away. But a few still remained.

  The remaining mortal threads carried Xu Branch karma, the weight that the Zhan Branch wanted to abandon.

  So when Chenming seeped through Yuming’s cracks, those Xu Branch karmic threads followed.

  It wasn’t nearly as much as the Zhan Branch had hoped for; most of the karma either never made its way through the Tree network, was rerouted to Yujin, or returned to the Zhan Branch following Chenming’s dissolution.

  But there was still some, tangled with the mortal karma that was now settling within Yuming.

  But Yuming wasn’t concerned about that.

  He looked down below him, to the thread that connected him to Yujin—the thread that he had just flooded with Xu Branch karma.

  He instinctively reached down towards the thread, trying to take back the Xu Karma and find another solution.

  Yujin—the weight of this karma might crush Yujin.

  Yuming had an Earth-grade spirit root, which gave him more weight in the Sea innately. Additionally, the Zhan Branch had spent years shaping him to carry this burden.

  Even then, Yuming knew that accepting too much of the heavy Xu karma could be disastrous.

  So what about Yujin?

  Yujin who had earnestly tried to save him, Yujin who constantly worked to improve himself.

  And now this was how he was rewarded.

  Yuming’s hands trembled as he pulled them up from the thread after realizing there was nothing more he could do.

  But the attack still hadn’t ended.

  Above, heavy Xu karma still floated around, looking for something to latch on to.

  Yuming didn’t know exactly what was wrong with the karma, but he understood two things.

  For one, the Zhan Branch had sped up their timeline, and the method of karmic transfer was clumsy. Through his Ren and Du Meridians he could feel that he would collapse under too much karmic weight.

  Secondly, he knew that this was karma that the Zhan Branch wanted to ditch. He didn’t know exactly why it was problematic—only assuming it had to do with Liu Chengxu—but he knew he would be worse off for carrying it.

  So he calmed himself, looking to find a way to avoid taking on more Xu karma.

  He looked upward, toward the funnel that still dripped with dark weight. He looked downward, toward the Yujin-thread already burdened with what he'd pushed onto him.

  Then he looked inward.

  The chasm—the fault line that had split his two Selves—was gone. Where two Selves had once grinded against each other there was now only one space, cluttered and unfamiliar.

  And there, tangled with Chenming’s myriad emotions, was something Yuming recognized.

  The Tree fragment.

  It was originally wedged between Yuming and Chenming. When the chasm collapsed the Tree fragment merged with him as well.

  It was part of him now.

  He reached for it, and the fragment responded. A burst of pale light came from within him.

  It felt infinitely closer to him than it had before.

  He wrapped his will around it and pushed outward.

  The pale light spread through him, then past him. It formed something like a barrier, or a mold. Except it didn’t face upward towards Zhan, it faced sideways.

  The Zhan Branch had created a vertical channel, and directed the Xu karma downwards. The karma didn’t recognize this different direction.

  He felt like his Self was stretching, organizing itself in a direction that the Xu karma couldn’t grasp onto. The fragment pointed towards a Tree that had witnessed him for months, a Tree that he now carried a part of.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  The pressure eased. The remaining Xu karma drifted, trying to find something to hold, before recognizing the funnel that had directed it here, and returning to it.

  The funnel above him began to close.

  Yuming knelt in the stillness afterward, breathing hard, feeling the fragment pulse gently within him.

  It’s part of me now.

  And then he had another realization.

  They witnessed this.

  Through the threads they used to attack him, the attention of the Zhan Branch was locked onto him. This strange place he was in—this illusion of an empty plane with an open sky—was certainly something closer to realness than the normal world. Witnessing him here was powerful.

  They saw the tree-axis become part of me.

  Witnessing created weight. That was the law of the Sea of Suffering—Xuehan had explained this to him.

  And Zhan had just watched a direction they didn't control anchor itself permanently inside him.

  The fragment isn’t connected to me anymore—it’s within my Self.

  Even without the Tree, I can condense around my Self.

  Because Zhan made things permanent by watching.

  The vast sky above him began to condense and darken, the emptiness around him began to blur into a courtyard and an Ancestral Hall.

  He found himself kneeling over and panting desperately, located a few feet back from the Ancestral Hall’s entrance.

  The full moon lit up the night, and the courtyard was silent—save for a few koi fish splashing in the pond.

  He circulated qi through his meridians. The weight of the Zhan Branch was still there.

  There was another weight too. Something darker. It wasn’t as heavy as the Zhan Branch was, nor was it as well fixed—it was attached rather clumsily.

  The Xu Branch.

  Not good, but not as bad as things could have been.

  But this situation is bad—Zhan surely won’t let things stand as is.

  His mind raced, trying to find a solution that helped himself and hurt no innocents.

  But his eyes kept flickering towards the Wen Ancestral Tree.

  It was pulsing as always, but the light was weaker. The Tree had always been tired, but never had Yuming felt it so weak.

  A bold idea crossed his mind.

  But then he thought of Wen Changyi, the little boy who thought he was a hero. Would Changyi still think that if he acted on this idea?

  But he couldn’t think of another answer.

  I’m sorry Changyi, but I’m out of options. Someday I hope you’ll understand.

  He took a deep breath and walked into the Ancestral Hall, finally taking a seat directly next to the Tree.

  He reached out his hand and touched a root. It was the first time he had felt the Tree directly. The bark was rough and warm.

  He closed his eyes and let the fragment inside of him reach towards the source.

  ….

  A few minutes prior.

  Mount Zhenyuan.

  In a chamber that few knew existed, four cultivators sat arranged in a formation circle.

  Yan Hongjun, who was visiting from the Chudeng Sect, sat at the center, his yellow robes depicting intertwining lions and dogs. His eyes were tightly shut, his hands forming seals that shifted with each breath. Lines of pale light pulsed out from him, connecting to a massive root that descended through the chamber—the Liu Ancestral Tree’s anchor point.

  Liu Xueyin sat to his east, her qi cycling steadily into the formation. Her face was calm.

  To the north was Liu Zhenyao, the father of Liu Tianjue. His face showed concentration. He had argued against rushing the process, but had been overruled.

  Using the tree network is reckless—especially without Wanxiu’s help.

  Liu Jinghan was at the western node, his hands trembling.

  Yan Hongjun’s flat voice broke the silence. “Channel open, the current is flowing.”

  The formation lit up. The cultivators felt a vast weight moving from themselves towards a single point.

  Jinghan looked at Yan Hongjun and couldn’t help but marvel. What a wondrous immortal foundation.

  The cultivators worked in silence for a few minutes, their expressions calm.

  Liu Xueyin calculated with her fingers and felt something. “He’s at the Tree.”

  Yan Hongjun nodded, made a few more hand seals, and began taking deeper breaths. The lights around the formation began to flicker intensely.

  For a moment, nothing seemed wrong.

  But soon, Yan Hongjun’s face twisted.

  He’s resisting. Zhenyao didn’t tell me about this—I should have charged them more.

  His focus deepened.

  The other three felt something a moment later—a strange deflection in the current, as if the karma had hit something and slid sideways.

  Zhenyao's eyes narrowed. What is that?

  The formation pulsed unevenly. Hongjun's breathing grew ragged, his seals shifting faster.

  Then came another deflection, stronger this time.

  Xueyin's eyes narrowed. Through the formation, she could feel it: something lateral and outside of their architecture.

  Plugged into the tree network, they all recognized it. The Wen Ancestral Tree.

  Hongjun's hands began to shake.

  The formation cracked, and the karma snapped back.

  It slammed into them. Jinghan doubled over, blood spraying from his lips. Xueyin slammed against the wall, clutching her chest. Zhenyao staggered, his face draining of color.

  At the center, Yan Hongjun collapsed. Blood poured from his nose and ears. It took him a moment to regain consciousness.

  He finally stood up, his elegant robes stained with blood, and looked at the three disheveled Liu cultivators in front of him. His expression was no longer indifferent.

  He was quite angry.

  Jinghan, seeing his clenched fists, spoke up quickly. “Fellow Daoist—”

  “Don’t ‘Fellow Daoist’ me. What was that? You—”

  He coughed out another mouthful of blood.

  “You told me he was unprotected and clueless. How do you explain this?”

  Liu Xueyin stepped in. “Senior, the Xu Branch must have made a move. We must hold them accountable!”

  Yan Hongjun held up his hand, causing Xueyin to fall silent.

  “Stop making excuses.”

  He sighed.

  “If you want my help again, we’re not doing this through the tree network. Drag the boy here. Is that really so hard?”

  He turned to depart, leaving the three with a few parting words: “And if we do this again, you’re paying much more.”

  Yan Hongjun vanished, leaving the three feeling helpless and angry.

  “I told you! I told you two not to rush things. You’ve grown too weak holed up in Zhenyuan, scheming against children,” Liu Zhenyao accused.

  Xueyin’s expression turned ugly. “You stay in the Sect year-round and don’t see the situation clearly. The Xu Branch is obstructing us! What is Zhenyi doing?”

  "Zhenyi is doing what Zhenyi always does," Jinghan said bitterly. "Nothing. He's a compromise, not a leader. The Xu Branch barely listens to him—especially Zhenwei."

  “Enough.” Zhenyao declared. “Where do we go from here? Use the backups?”

  Xueyin shook her head. “The sum of them can’t compare to Liu Yuming. We have to try again.”

  Jinghan added, “I could go in person, just grab him before he realizes what happened.”

  “No.” Zhenyao said. “Xuehan already told the Jingquan people that Foundation Establishment forces wouldn’t involve themselves with the Wen Family matter, with a Yan Family member overseeing.”

  He lowered his voice.

  “The Yan situation is too urgent, with the Tribunal Luminary able to strike soon. We need to stay in their good graces, and today hasn’t helped.”

  Xueyin responded. “Are you comfortable sending Tianjue?”

  Zhenyao nodded. “Let Jue’er handle this. Mingchen and the Wen Family can help. If we act quickly, it's all of them against one Qin Yueshan.”

  “It risks offending Jingquan. But it’s too important to ignore, especially since he’s been compromised. Xu could keep him from us forever.”

  The three cleaned themselves off and prepared to leave.

  Xueyin looked solemn and turned to Jinghan. “It’s better to prepare for the worse. Tell Tianjue to ‘save’ Liu Zhong if he can.”