The Laws of Cultivation: Qi = MC^2

Yan Yun felt terror wash over her, as the skies turned dark. Shadowy figures moved around in droves, the terrible aura of death now spreading through the castle. Just how? How could demons be in the capital, in the emperor’s castle of all places? Just the Qi in the air alone would be damaging to them, burning away their bodies and weakening them.

And yet they were here, and Yan Yun felt like she was living through a nightmare. Panic spread among the people, further increased when barriers rose on both the inner sections and the jade court hall with the emperor, cutting them out from the rest of the castle.

Some cultivators rose in outrage, but most ran in panic, falling to demons as they gave chase them like a predator hunting prey. The people here had never seen a demon, never even encountered demonic beasts. To them, this was a thing of a world somewhere far away, and nothing they would ever have to worry about. A part of her looked down on them, but she knew that even those people did not deserve the fate of dying to demons.

A few rose against the rising waves of creatures, fighting back and helping to try and break the barriers. Most were regional lords, officials and their children who had remained outside the innermost banquet meant for the higher ranked people. That was part of the problem, everyone with the ability to fight back was currently inside the barrier, within which they could neither hear nor see anything.

Yan Yun’s own Chi swirled around her as she fought against the demons. Her Chi was like poison to the creatures, and they really didn’t like being hit by it. She didn’t truly understand why but she made sure to make use of her abilities.

Lei was with her, his lightning crackling and swirling, as he fought the demons she missed. His cultivation may not be as strong anymore, but he could still help support her, and he had the necessary skills in combat. Most of all, unlike the other noble children, he hadn’t run away screaming.

Walking closer to the inner entrance, Yan Yun put her hand on the barrier.

“Lei, can you try to hold off the demons while I look at this barrier?” Yan Yun asked, glancing at the boy.

He looked back at her hesitantly, before giving her a nod.

Closing her eyes, Yan Yun began to inspect the barrier, trying to find any weaknesses. She wasn’t a formation master by any means but she had been taught the basics and could at least learn of some weaknesses to exploit.

Sounds of battle crackled in the background, lightning crackling as Lei fought off the demons. She knew she didn’t have much time. She needed to be quick.

Her senses expanded, reaching into the ward, into the depths as more began to be revealed to her. Layers opened up, as she went deeper, trying to find its core. It needed to have one, all wards needed a core and if she could find this one’s, she would know how to break it.

As she plunged her senses as far as she could, Yan Yun felt something shift. A lump of energy was gathered together in a clot, swirling with Gu and miasma as it coalesced together. She reached closer, feeling out the core. This was it. Yan Yun probed the core with her senses.

At her inspection, the core stirred. Darkness flowed out from within, the barrier shaking as a dark visage turned towards her and opened its single giant eye.

Yan Yun felt her soul seize. Five dark swirling spirit rings imposed untold authority onto her, crushing her spirit. She felt like she was drowning at the bottom of the sea, darkness slowly seeping into her as the miasma swirled all around. Even her heart remained still, no longer beating under the pressure of the aura reaching back towards her. The eye regarded her for a long moment and Yan Yun saw her death in its gaze.

She clutched her throat, her body burning as the miasma began to sink in. She felt it reach inside her, into her core, she watched, helpless to do anything.

As the miasma sank into her soul, it met something. Something she had obtained, a root, a tie binding her to something larger. Bright light burst into existence, flashing outwards. She felt her soul, connected to Lu Jie- no, something deeper inside of him, the Divine Tree. It burned with fury as the miasma from the eye was forced out. Yan Yun shrieked, finally free of the thing’s influence as she stumbled back. She coughed, feeling her chest aching as her heart began to beat once more, breath rushing back into her body. But she didn’t have the time to rest.

“What did you do?!” Lei shouted, lightning crackling as multiple demons began to rush towards him. “What happened?” he asked in between breaths, struggling to hold back the rushing tides.

Yan Yun looked at Lei, failing to find words. Her body shivered against her control as that thing’s eye looked at her even now.

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“It’s… a demon,” she said, pausing for a second as the realization fully sank into her heart before she finally spoke the next words. “A demon Divinity.”

***

Lei cursed his luck, as he struck back another strike from a demon, feeling the miasma filled slashes burn his skin and sink into his body like poison. He wouldn’t last if this continued. The only reason he hadn’t already died was the tremendous amount of Qi all around him in the air, he had been drawing as much as he could and more had kept flowing in, allowing him to stay afloat. But even with this much Qi in the air, these creatures were capable of matching him somehow.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Yan Yun was now telling him that the core of the barrier was a demon Divinity. He hadn’t even known demons could achieve divinity in the first place! As Lei moved through the stances, one of the lurking demons lunged from behind. He cursed, turning to block the strike but he was too slow, the hit was going to claw his eyes out- A burst of energy flowed into Lei from somewhere and without thinking for even a single moment he let it out as a powerful strike of lightning, piercing the demon’s heart as the creature died. More energy continued to flow into him, and Lei almost felt like he had regained the spark he’d lost. Lightning bent to his command, the power flowing seamlessly. He let the thunder phoenix art manifest. Rapid bursts of lightning covered his body as he rushed out, rapidly delivering precise killing blows to the demons. Moving with haste and fury, he forgot for a moment the months he’d spent rebuilding his cultivation and lost power, it was here now, it was back in all its glory.

One after another, the demons fell. Not a single one hesitated despite the death sentence Lei continued to deliver, and soon, he stood panting over the corpse of over a dozen demons. Only now having even a moment to think, he looked back towards Yan Yun, before giving her a light nod. “Thank you.”

To his surprise, Yan Yun did not withdraw her Chi. It was a strange thing. The moment her Chi entered Lei’s soul, it mingled seamlessly into his own Qi, bolstering his power. After that, there seemed to be no difference between his own Qi and hers, the two acting together and completely under his control.

“It’s alright, but we need to get out of here. Something has noticed our presence, and more demons will likely be heading here soon,” Yan Yun said. Lei gave her a nod, he agreed with the judgment. If there truly was a demon divinity guiding the demons, then they needed to get out of here and quick.

The two began to walk away from the area, moving rapidly to escape as they rushed through the attacking crowds of demons. Yan Yun and Lei worked together, and Lei felt surprised to see Yan Yun move almost as if she could read his mind. Even he could understand her intentions without a word being shared like the two had been training together for years. It reminded him of Li and a pang of pain beat in his heart but he put that out of his mind.

As the two of them moved, the smaller demons began to thin out of the area. Corpses lined the garden grounds, but right as they arrived at the edge of the entrance, a dark shadow jumped down from atop the stone gateway, kicking up a cloud of dust. Yan Yun and Lei stopped in their tracks, watching as the dust settled and revealed a human. Someone that couldn’t have been much older than either of them.

But before Lei could ask what he was doing, his eyes widened in shock as the figure walked closer.

“Li…?” Yan Yun spoke before him, watching the boy walking closer.

Lei stared in disbelief. “Brother? How…? You had… you had vanished. I thought you…”

Li stood there, watching the two of them in silence, as a storm of emotions rumbled in his chest. He walked closer.

His brother… he was alive. He was… here.

All thoughts vanished from Lei’s mind as he walked towards Li, feeling his chest turn heavy with a fury of emotions.

“Lei, something is wrong,” Yan Yun said, he almost wanted to snap at her. What could be wrong? His brother was here now. She had never cared for him, what would she know?

And yet… he felt her emotions now, through the Chi she shared with him. He felt her concern, and… her fear.

Lei stopped, his mind snapping out of its daze as he looked at his brother standing there. He wore different clothings, but… why was he so silent? And why… Why did he look like that at him?

“Brother, you say,” Li spoke, looking at him. Lei noticed the boy’s eyes were a much darker color now. “Right. Brother. That’s right. That’s what we were.”

“What… are you saying? We’re still brothers,” Lei spoke.

“Are we? Are we truly? Because if we are brothers… why are you with her,” Li said, looking at Yan Yun as dark wisps swirled around him.

“Because… because I realized that we were wrong. We were wrong and arrogant. And Yan Yun has helped me, helped… find myself. Especially after I lost you,” Lei spoke.

“No. No, those are lies. The truth is that you betrayed me. Betrayed me and threw me aside when you thought I wouldn’t win any longer. We’re not brothers,” Li said, and the words plunged into Lei’s heart.

“Lei, get back, I have a bad feeling,” Yan Yun said.

Lei looked at his brother, feeling a foreboding sensation, he took a step back, trying to decide what to do, when Li vanished.

“Lei!” Yan Yun shouted, and Lei felt energy flood him, but his mind failed to react in time. Even as lightning swirled around his body and the thunder phoenix arts moved like muscle memory, flowing without any hindrances, he could not comprehend the event happening.

Li’s hand plunged into Lei’s chest, miasma swirling around the body as his eyes turned dark, taking on a demonic appearance.

“Still so weak. Despicable,” Li spat, pulling his hand out, as Lei stumbled back, looking down at the hole in his chest.

Shock and horror filled his mind, all thoughts lost as he stumbled back. “Brother…” he gasped, as the world began to darken in his vision.