The Laws of Cultivation: Qi = MC^2
Chapter [B3] 41 — The Shie Clan

I stood in front of the Lord, watching him look at the invitation with a frown on his face. Apparently getting an invitation from a Divinity directly was an even bigger deal than I’d anticipated, despite being told as much by Zhi Zhu.

“We knew the day would come soon with how you have been progressing, but it is still hard to believe it when seeing it in front of our eyes,” the Lord said, looking up at me. “Just to explain, we ourselves have never been invited by any of the Divinities, and getting an invitation like that would be a great honor even for us,” the Lord said.

I bowed my head. “I understand my lord. And I’ll appreciate all the help I can get regarding etiquette. I’m afraid I do not know the customs of the court.”

“I doubt any of that matters, especially with the Shie. Divinities are not the Jade court. Customs… such things depend on who you are meeting entirely, and the Shie have never been known for being too worried about such things, or the customs of the jade court and capital,” the Lord replied to me, pushing the invitation back towards me. I picked up the scroll, putting it away carefully, before stepping back once more.

“So… what should I be doing?” I asked.

“Be respectful, do not give any offense, or else no one will be able to help you, but… we’re afraid we can’t help much beyond that. The divinities, including the emperor himself, are rather reclusive. We have heard stories of them vanishing for decades on end with no trace. Even now, the Huo Patriarch has been missing for decades. And the Yue patriarch said he would go fishing seventeen years ago and hasn’t yet returned. But even among these, the Shie Matriarch… is the most reclusive of all. She hasn’t appeared in public for over a century until very recently when she broke out of her secluded meditation,” the Lord replied.

“Is... is that normal?” I asked, surprised that any of these clans could run with their heads missing for decades on end.

“There is no normal when it comes to Divinities. But I suppose going missing for years on end is a trend to an extent. It depends on the divinity in question. The Tu Patriarch is the oldest alive man beside the emperor at… what is it now. Four hundred and seventy six? The man achieved immortality at the end of his life, and is a monk who prefers to not appear often. But he does not leave, and is the foundation of his clan, guiding his descendants,” the Lord replied.

I listened to his words in fascination. There wasn’t a lot known about the Divinities, even in the upper echelons of the sect library and confiscated materials.

“What about the Shie matriarch? How is she?” I asked, curious.

“Well, we do not know too much besides what our father told us of her, which was told to him by his father,” the Lord said, leaning back in his chair. “She is the youngest Divinity in the empire, having reached transcendence in her fifties. Unsatisfied with just that, she had spent a long time studying under her grandmother before the old Patriarch fell ill. To prepare to inherit the position and achieve Divinity she went into secluded cultivation and has only now reappeared,” the Lord said, before his face darkened. “Well, she used to be the youngest. Before a talent not seen in the empire in centuries appeared amongst us.”

I looked at the man’s dark and almost lamentful expression. “Was it… Shen Yuan?” I asked.

The Lord looked at me, and then gave me a nod.

“I know that he is the Old Man’s grandson, and that the Old Man himself was quite important back in the day… but I don’t know much more. Just that he turned into a demon somehow, becoming Yang Shen and is now the greatest threat the empire faces. But I haven’t managed to learn anything else no matter where I looked,” I replied.

“He is… a taboo subject. We thought him dead, and the five families worked hard to make people forget about his existence and their shame. But despite their efforts, the name of Yang Shen persisted, whispered from all corners of the empire as a name of fear. Though… we’d thought he’d been reduced to nothing more than a myth. Clearly we’d been naive.”

“How did that happen? Everything I have heard about him tells me that he was extremely talented, well loved and hard working. Then… why?” I asked.

“We are not the one you should be asking this. It is not our story to tell,” the Lord said, looking at me.

I stayed silent at that. I’d left a lot of things unsaid with the Old Man. And… I knew why. It was because, in many ways, I had been hiding my own past from him. It somehow felt like our relationship was established on a lie, and if we broke that lie, the relationship would end up collapsing.

“You seem conflicted, Lu Jie,” The Lord said, looking at me.

“Well… there are things I need to talk to the Old Man about. Both our pasts… are complicated, and now they’re colliding with recent events and I am not sure how to do that.”

The lord nodded to me at my words. “We understand your hesitation Lu Jie. But he is your master, is he not? We have not seen him treat anyone like another grandson besides you, he is clearly attached as well. If you ask him honestly, and speak to him honestly, he will talk. Our advice? Take him with you to the Shie. He will know what to do, and how to guide you.”

I bowed my head to the Lord. “Thank you, my Lord.”

Thinking over the task, I took my leave from the lord’s chamber.

I had mixed feelings, and I decided to think over those at a later point. For now, I needed to focus on my meeting with the Shie Matriarch.

***

The preparations were rather simple. I sat in the Lord’s official carriage which he had very kindly lent to me for my visit. The old man sat with me, as I brought him along for the visit at the Lord’s suggestion and then without too much fanfare, we were off.

I sat next to the old man, feeling a little awkward given the conversation I had just had with the Lord. I contemplated if now was the time to ask some questions that had been on my mind for a long time now, but every time I thought of asking, something held me back.

“What’s the matter, Lu Jie?” The old man asked, taking note of my expression. “If you’re nervous then you need not be. It is not often one meets a Divinity, but they, too, are people. You have nothing to be worried about,” the old man said.

I think only the old man could’ve said something like the Divinity were also people and had me not snort at his words. I gave him a nod, not correcting his assumption. It was best to keep this talk for later.

“Not to mention…” the old man continued, looking outside the carriage window as we passed by the castle to the western side of Azure city. “There are certain things you can only understand and learn from a Divinity. So this will be a good opportunity for you as well.”

I raised my eyebrow at his words. “How exactly?”

“It is hard to explain when you haven’t met one, but you will see when we arrive,” the old man replied, acting mysterious about the topic.

I looked at him, humming to myself as if I wasn’t all that interested, but damn it, now I was curious. I’d definitely been wondering why the rank of “Divinity” was so special and separate from the ranks of cultivation directly. Not everyone at transcendence was a Divinity after all, only a select few, and yet, it was not their cultivation that progressed, but something else entirely.

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Perhaps it was a title like Sage, and you had to do something specific to become one. It still felt weird to me how I’d cheated my way up to that.

It didn’t take very long before we were inside the estate of the Shie. The grounds spread wide and were like their own separate world inside, with guards wearing uniforms bearing the symbol of the Shie.

This place seemed to dwarf our sect in size, I could probably spend a few hours just walking around.

As the carriage rolled to the front manor within the estate, halting to a stop, we stepped out of the carriage, and I saw Xi Shie standing nearby, ready to greet us.

“It is good to see you. Grandmother awaits inside,” the boy said, bowing his head.

I nodded, and Xi Shie looked at the old man, giving him a light bow as well, before he guided us inside. There weren’t many servants inside from what I saw, and the architecture of the place was interesting, with a lot more stone and metals used in creation than I was used to seeing around here.

Walking through the halls, we moved further and further in before Xi Shie stopped. “I will not be accompanying you any further. Grandmother is in the chamber further ahead.”

I nodded, noticing how he referred to her as grandmother. Wouldn’t that make him a direct heir? Or was that just what she was called?

With those thoughts I walked inside, into a gate sealed with exceedingly powerful wards. But I could tell that it wasn’t locked. Ever since writing those books my senses had sharpened themselves and I had a much easier time reading formations and wards now, even though I couldn’t make them myself.

Putting my hand on the gate, I let my Chi flow out as the gate flew open. Inside, I saw a woman seated on a chair that looked oddly like a throne made of petrified wood.

For a second I was confused at what I was seeing. Liuxiang stood nearby, and given her look and position, she… should be the matriarch. And yet, that was difficult to believe.

She was young. Way too young. She looked to be in her early thirties at best.

I walked inside, not breaking my stride or letting the confusion show as I bowed my head as the woman’s attention shifted to me, and I felt her senses go over me once.

And yet, it wasn’t me she addressed.

“Shen… Ming?” The divinity spoke, in a surprised voice.

I kept my bowed head, watching the old man look at the divinity. “It is indeed me, Zhuihu. I’m glad to see you are doing well.”

My eyes widened in surprise as the old man referred to the woman with her name… and I looked at Liuxiang who similarly looked to be shocked.

Just what was going on?

The Shie matriarch stood up, walking closer and I could feel her immense aura even while she kept it mostly under control and away from me. Her eyes were stuck on the old man.

“You’ve returned?” She asked, glancing sideways at me. “So he’s your doing then?”

Just the brief glance the woman gave me felt like someone had thrown a boulder on my back. “You can raise your head,” she added, and I finally stood straight, hiding a sigh of relief.

“No, we’re not. Merely here to finish what we couldn’t last time,” old man replied, before glancing at me. “And this boy has done everything himself. We merely gave him some guidance onto a new Path.”

The Shie matriarch looked at me, with far more curiosity than before. “Interesting. We’d already heard some things from Liuxiang, but we do not like relying on other people’s words for such things,” the woman said, walking towards me, as her aura began to spread out. Qi, potent and powerful, rushed out of her, as I saw five glowing rings reflected in her eyes, shining with the power of a divinity’s soul.

It was looking directly into the sun, and I felt like my soul would burn away, but… instead of being pushed away, the light drew me in, the woman’s eyes were like a reflection of myself, and I found myself staring into them in a daze, as my own spirit rings began to glow in my soul, the Chi in my dantian swirling, glowing in my own eyes.

I stood, looking a Divinity in the eye and I couldn’t help but think just how similar she felt to myself. And the thought unsettled me.

“Grandmother! We told you not to…” Liuxiang protested, looking at me in worry, and the woman clicked her tongue, pulling away.

The enrapturing moment lost itself, as I pulled myself out of my daze and noticed that I had somehow achieved harmony in this moment. The spirit rings in my souls had been humming as if I’d been channeling an immense amount of Chi outwards to match the woman’s spirit.

“What… what did you do?” I asked, looking at the matriarch, before internally slapping myself for speaking so casually.

“Oh- you’re still conscious?” The woman said, shocked as she turned back to me. “And standing on both feet as well,” she said, looking down at my feet. I noticed that my body was shivering a little bit before I’d even realized it.

The woman’s expression darkened.

“Are you trying to repeat history, Sheng Ming?” The Matriarch asked, turning towards the old man.

Old Man’s expression turned sour as he looked at me. “Like we said, we are not doing anything. The boy’s achievements and Path are his own.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve gone blind with age, you can still see what he has,” the woman said.

“We trust him,” the old man said.

“Just like you trusted your grandson,” the matriarch replied.

Silence reigned between the two for a long moment, the tension in the air palpable. The matriarch walked back to her seat, sitting down once more.

“Forget it. We’re in a good mood, and we don’t want to fight over the past. Our intention had been to test the boy, but if he can bear our presence and still be standing… then there is little more to be checked,” the matriarch said, crossing her legs. “Tell us about that feisty woman— Lang Xiaorong. How’s she doing?”

“Good. Though we parted our ways eventually on our Paths,” the old man replied.

I paused for a moment. Lang Xiaorong? Granny Lang? Was that her first name…? Little rose?

I looked at Liuxiang, noticing a similar realization on her face. She did a much better job of hiding it. I almost burst out in laughter and it was only the very keen awareness of a Divinity sitting next to me that held me back.

“We always knew she would. She was too feisty, and you’d started to lose your heat. To think how age has changed the Flame dragon,” the matriarch said, almost with a look of pity.

“We like to think it has provided us with wisdom. Time is not the only thing that teaches, there is a certain kind of wisdom that comes in one’s later years of life,” the old man replied, smiling at the woman.

The matriarch laughed. “The old you would’ve never even dreamed of saying those words. You really have changed, haven’t you?”

The old man put his hands together. “Merely grown wiser.”

“As you say. But given that you are back here… well, we did hear of his arrival. And some part of us had always suspected he’d survived. Mother had always regretted not spotting things before they were too late,” the matriarch said.

“I’m afraid it does. And the reason this old man has arrived here is related to that,” the old man said, before glancing towards me. “I would like you to train this boy.”

The matriarch raised an eyebrow. “Do you mean…?”

“No, we intend to handle everything ourselves. But we would like the boy to be ready, and… we would rather he learn from a divinity. Some things cannot be told,” the old man said.

I began to feel a little nervous at the topic of their conversation. What kind of training?

The matriarch cupped her chin, thinking, before looking at me. “Normally, we would not even consider something like this. But… the boy has always grasped an entirely different truth on his own. This might be interesting to see,” the matriarch said getting up. “Don’t blame us if he dies.”

“Please try not to,” the old man said, bowing.

Wait what?!

“Hold on, do I not get a say in this?” I said, panicked as the matriarch walked closer to me.

“You’ll be fine Lu Jie. Trust yourself, and don’t lose focus,” the old man said, smiling at me, and I gulped.

“This is a display, boy. The display of what separates Masters from the rest. We will go easy on you and not put the burden of Transcendence on your soul. Try not to lose yourself,” the matriarch said, walking closer.

The entire world seemed to ground to a halt, as the woman’s eyes lit up once more, and yet, this time there was nothing bearable about the aura as it pierced my body.

“Endless Domain: Serpent’s Grove.”

The words were an order upon my soul.

I felt my Chi boiling in fury, and a moment later, her aura rushed out sweeping over me as a new world enveloped me all around.

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