The Laws of Cultivation: Qi = MC^2

Elder Yan sat on the peak of the Cradle of Dragons, lightning coursing all around him. Qi swirled in torrents around him, lightning roaring and raging as the very heavens thundered and crackled with power, testing him.

It had been months, months since he’d arrived here… after that humiliation, after he’d had everything taken from him. He’d lost his dignity, lost his sect, lost his cultivation, lost his granddaughter. His journey to the capital had been treacherous… and he’d quickly found out that even the sect had been won over by the demon boy. His last hope had been taken from him, just like that, as he’d simply been betrayed by his own sect and left to the side, all for an upstart boy of no name.

At that moment… Elder Yan had truly lost it all. But he had not gotten where he had by giving up, and he’d picked himself and arrived at this place, meditating, cultivating at this peak and regaining his power.

Anger swirled in Elder Yang. Anger and hatred. But with time, it had become tempered.

Lightning flashed around the peak, crackling around Elder Yan and striking down onto him. He remained unphased, simply absorbing it within him, and adding it to his cultivation. Building it back, layer by layer, and now… he’d reached heights even greater than before.

He sat there, feeling the lightning course through him. He had nothing now, truly nothing, and it had been a powerful reminder for him. It had reminded him of where he’d once began from. His clothes were tattered with dirt covering them, his hair grayed and his beard matted. No one would ever think of him as an elder of a sect if they saw him. He looked like a mad man.

And what fault would there be? What sect did he own now? What power did he command?

He had nothing, nothing left in him, and when he’d had nothing left in him, it had reminded him of what he truly owned, of what was truly his own, of what he truly commanded.

Himself. Nothing else. He only had himself, his own body, his own strength, spirit, will and conviction. The things he had been born with, the thing he could truly call his, those were the only ones, and so, he had begun cultivating them anew.

Another bolt of lightning struck Elder Yan, flashing across the peak, the blast sending a shockwave across the valley.

Elder Yan took in a deep breath, and absorbed the energy swirling in his core, pulling it within himself. He used it to forge himself anew, both in body and spirit.

He’d had some time to think. A few months spent by himself, in silence, just thinking. He’d felt a lot of things, reflected on many of them, gone over through the events that had happened.

There was anger, so much anger he had felt like he could tear through mountains from it. But beyond the anger… he felt betrayed. His own granddaughter. The Yu’an he’d raised… even though she had left him at the end. He’d blamed her, hated her. She was an ungrateful child who could not see the ways of the world. Even your own children, you could not trust them, could not rely on them to follow your will.

But that had been the anger yet again, and it had not lasted. As time had passed… he’d begun to question himself. Had he truly been right? What if… his judgment had been wrong?

The thought shook him, had shaken him and left everything starting to crumble one after another. And if he had been wrong about that… what else had he been wrong about?

The thought had begun a collapse. The collapse of a man known as Elder Yan, until only Yan Xian had remained. All the things he’d built himself upon, his identity, his pride, all of it, it had begun to crumble. Even the very core of his cultivation, he’d felt it shaking, felt it crumbling out here. It was a death, a death of who he was and he’d wished it had killed him.

But it had not, despite how much it had hurt, it had not killed him, and so, at the valley of grief and despair, he’d picked himself up. He had made mistakes, he’d done things wrong… he’d lost people he loved, people he cared for. Somewhere on his path to become Lord… somewhere in his ambition to rise to the top, he’d forgotten what he’d been doing it all for.

He could not change that. He could not go back and alter his life, or the path he had taken… but he could move ahead. He may never get the chance to fix his mistakes, he had no doubt Yan Yun would never wish to see him again if she could, but perhaps, at the very least here, he could move forward, to walk upon a renewed path, and be reborn.

And so he’d spent his time cultivating. And he’d cultivated, and cultivated, and cultivated. With time, his emotions had faded, his anger had faded, his hatred had faded, and even his grief and despair had faded.

So at last, at the very end of it all, he’d finally found something he had not felt in decades.

Peace.

And perhaps it was the irony of the world, or the play of the Heavens, but in that moment, in that moment where Yan Xian had sat there and felt at peace, he’d finally broken through to the 10th realm. The realm he’d aimed for, for the majority of his life. The reason he found himself feeling inferior to Lord Zhou and so desperately coveted his place and power no matter what, he had it now, he was in the same realm, he’d achieved it at last.

And it no longer mattered.

He laughed, laughed to the skies and the heavens as they roiled in their tribulation, sending lightning strikes his way, he welcomed them, welcomed all of it into himself, and he’d held onto that island of peace in the sea of loss he’d been lost in all this time.

For a brief moment he’d considered returning, to beat up the upstart boy, to show the power he’d gained at last, to show the task he’d been aiming for his entire life had finally been accomplished, and to regain his pride, his honor, his sect.

And he could have. He might even have gained the position of lord if things went right.

But would he be able to regain his granddaughter? Would she forgive him?

No… no he could not. There was no good way he could think of to regain what he’d truly lost… the thing he’d never realized he should’ve protected above all else. And now, all he could was wallow in that regret.

And so he’d remained… he remained in this place, and the tribulation never ended, the heavens swirling around him, as he refused to ascend, and refused to stop, and so they continued to simply rage against him, striking with lightning.

In a way, he found that to be his penance. Let the lightning forge him until nothing remained.

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And so weeks had passed, and the storms continued to rage, and Yan Xian sat there, simply taking them all in, slowly bolstering himself but never truly progressing. But despite his thoughts… he could not help but wish for a chance at forgiveness. To be able to see his granddaughter again, even if from afar.

A pulse of Qi passed by him, and Yan Xian’s eyes snapped open. The world stilled around him, the heavens themselves turning silent, his cultivation of months broke all within a single span as the torrential Qi all froze. He stared in shock, unsure if this was a trick of the heavens or if he’d finally lost his sanity and was seeing things… but he could not help himself at what he saw.

He stared ahead, looking at a group of children. There was that upstart demon boy, and his companions… but his eyes did not remain there, They did not remain on any of them. All they sought was a single person amidst them.

“Yu…’an?”

***

I stared in shock at Elder Yan sitting on the peak. Or at least, I thought the man was Elder Yan, especially with what he’d called Yan Yun, but the man was barely recognizable now. He looked worn down, broken, his clothes were torn in places and filthy and his hair and beard had grown out and were unkempt. I would struggle to recognize him as the same powerful and arrogant Elder I had once known.

The man stood up and I felt the tribulation dispelling above us, the Qi starting to calm down around us at last.

“Is... is it truly you, Yu’an?” He asked, heading towards Yan Yun and I found myself instinctively walking in front of her to protect her. It seems I was not the only one as Zhang and Liuxiang both also stepped forward, their guards raised.

The man clearly froze at that, and I noticed that it was only now that he finally registered our presence. A flash of something passes in his eyes and for a moment, a deep seated sorrow seems to overwhelm him, but it passes soon and then I see a more familiar emotion on his face. Anger.

“Why have you come here?” Elder Yan asked, glaring at me. “You took my sect, my honor, even my cultivation. Was that not enough? What do you wish to take from me now?”

I frowned. “I did no such thing. You brought that upon yourself.”

The man continued to glare at me, and I found my guard raising. I could sense his strength now and to my surprise, he was more powerful than before. Somehow the man had not only recovered his cultivation but also managed to achieve a breakthrough to the 10th realm. And if that tribulation had been his, and he’d been out here for all this time… I raised my guard, wary. I was not afraid I’d lose, but I may have to rely on Xuanwu’s strength and let him take over, which may make the Azure Dragon make an escape.

I stared at the man, the tension in the air rising between us and for a moment it felt like it’d come to a fight, but to my surprise, Elder Yan turned away.

“Leave. I do not wish to see you again. Just leave me alone,” he said, turning around.

I paused, surprised at that. I did consider it. We would not get the help he’d been hoping for from the stranger at the peak… but there was a chance we’d still be able to find the Azure Dragon on our own.

But… something felt different about him and I could not help replying. “We can’t… we’re looking for the Azure Dragon.”

Elder Yan turned to look at me as if I was mad. “Why would the Azure Dragon be here, have you gone insane?”

I paused, wondering if he was trying to mislead me but after a look I realized he truly didn’t know. And so I recounted the events that had happened. The attack, the death of the emperor, and the army.

“That… is this true?” He asked no one in particular.

“It is true. And we’ve come here to seek the Azure Dragon in hopes of matching Yang Shen and having some way to fight back against him. I know we have a lot of history between us and things have not really turned out amicably but this is for all of the empire. So if you know anything, please let us know,” I said.

“You intend to match Yang Shen? That beast? It took multiple divinities the last time he attacked to stop him… and one of them died doing it. That had been the last Shie matriarch. He is an unstoppable force… and if he’s truly succeeded in what you say… then this war has already been lost,” Elder Yan said, turning to face me. “And you intend to match him? You must be out of your mind, or the strength you have gained by whatever means have made you lose sight of reality.”

I frowned. “I cannot give up. Not knowing that there’s still things I can do. I will do what I must and if you’re not going to help us then we’re going to do it ourselves,” I said, turning, ready to leave. This trek had been a waste.

As I’m about to leave, I glance towards Yan Yun who’d been standing in silence all this time. She stood there, fists clenched and with a conflicted gaze looking ahead.

“What… are you doing here? What have you been doing all this time? After everything? Did the thought of returning ever come to your mind?” Yan Yun asked.

“I… I could not return. Not after what had happened. And what face would I have? To be the laughing stock of the sect that was taken from me? To grovel at this boy’s feet for mercy after all he’d done? No… no, I could not. This was the only place I had left. The only place I could come to, after even my own sect had abandoned me and left me to rot,” Elder Yan said, looking down.

“I didn’t,” Yan Yun said, looking up at her grandfather. “Even after you discarded me, set me aside, hurt my friends. I never left you. But you never even came to ask, did you? You never even tried to apologize.”

“I…” Elder Yan trailed off, unable to say anything.

“Li and Lei are dead,” she said in a quiet voice. “Did you know that? Li died in my arms… he died at his brother's hands. His brother, who after being pushed over and over by you got taken by Yang Shen and turned into a demon. But you didn’t know that, did you?” Yan Yun’s voice was quivering now. “You’ve caused so much pain, so much suffering. Not just Li and Lei… mother and father left me because of you as well. Because you pushed me to be your heir, to be raised by you because you thought I had talent. Mother broke under you, and after she chose to marry an outsider on her own wishes… you cast her aside much like you cast me aside. She did not have my talent, after all, so she was worthless to you. What use is a daughter if she is not talented or can’t be married off for your gain, right?” Yan Yun said, tears now reflecting in her eyes.

“They left me… they left me because you took me in. But even then I loved you. I followed your commands, learned all you taught me. I did not have any friends my age. I did not get to mingle with commoners because you told me it was beneath me. I was taught to socialize all the time and when children my age played together, I would spend that time learning different arts, history, or cultivating. And I did all that, and I still loved you, because you were my grandfather, my only grandfather who had raised me. Do you know how hurt I was when you cast me aside? Do you know how broken I felt? My entire path.. my entire reason for existence had been you,” Yan Yun said, looking forward towards Elder Yan.

“I cultivate to make my grandfather proud,” she whispered those words, crackles of lightning reflecting around her for a moment. “I realized those words in that moment and it broke me, shattered me to the point that I lost my entire path. And yet… and yet, I still could not help but love you. Even in sadness, even with hatred and anger, even with all that pain, I spent weeks and months grieving a loss you never even realized you’d caused. Because in that moment… I understood that even though I loved you… you did not love me.”

Elder Yan stared, tears flowing down the man’s face.

“Yu’an, I—”

The world shook with a thundering roar. I stumbled, struggling to hold my feet, as we all turned and looked. In the distance, beyond the cliffside, a giant azure colored dragon rose to the sky. The heavens themselves thundered in shock, the world shivering and twisting at the power at display.

And then, we saw another figure. A dark figure flew across the back, as black chains swirled around the Azure Dragon. Powerful Miasma swirled all around the Azure Dragon, twisting the world around it as some kind of art formation spread out. Massive chains of black darkness spread out, reaching around the Azure Dragon with a powerful force as the Azure Dragon roared, before being pulled inside some kind of box in the demon’s hands.

I stared, heart thundering as the world snapped back into place around me.

“We need to stop that demon, quick!” I shouted, moving before I’d even realized it as I shot forward, leaping into action.

We could not let the demons have the Azure Dragon. Not on my life.

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