Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 65 b

Note: I ended up cutting this chapter up more than I originally intended. There's a quite a bit that's about to happen. We are going to be at a resort for a week this coming Monday, but I should be able to post the rest of the the chapters for this book while we're vacationing. I will work during this time, and it's usually very productive. Besides editing, I'll also be re-listening to Underworld while I'm gone and hope to start the next book in the series. Chapters are coming soon.

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Dvora’s cultivation allowed her to hide her presence, but it didn’t make her invisible. She was leaning against the wall just next to the exit. Even there she was probably too close. She’d seen Sage Pangfua and Core Disciple Shoi-ming standing just outside the spire surrounded by one hundred sky realm cultivators. They weren’t there to greet them but were facing off against them in military formation.

What should she do? Her sisters didn’t seem to have joined with the Morning Midst Village in the assault. If she exited and darted by, would they let her go? It was possible things had already gone too far. Her appearance could set off a series of attacks by someone that had reached the edge of their control.

She’d heard what Pangfua had said—that Sage Chao and Huifen were just finishing what Harnish had started. She’d felt the disturbance in the qi, and that explosion had left the spire quaking. It hadn’t lasted for long. The Morning Midst Village elders had yet to respond. She didn’t want to poke her head around the corner again just to have it blasted off. Could it have possibly spooked them?

By all that was right, they should’ve laid down their weapons at Sage Pangfua’s feet. The fairy had just saved her life by blocking the assault of a divine realm defensive formation. That should be impossible. Yet, despite such a feat, the disrespect they were showing her now that she was in a weakened state… Dvora knew as well as anyone how unfair life really was but yearned for something better. The worse part was that everyone desired such fairness for themselves and yet didn’t even try to make it a reality.

In her indecisiveness, she didn’t move. Time felt like it had been stretched. Each second was drawn out as if taunting her to move. An irrational fear gathered her into its arms. It whispered mock warnings. Why aren’t you moving? If you stay here, you’re going to die. All she had to do was move back from the exit.

She heard no response from the Morning Midst Village. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? Why didn’t she move back? She didn’t want to miss her chance. Baros was out there waiting for her. She had picked sides, but so had he. They weren’t just secretly engaged. They were allies.

When she dared to look around the corner, she saw the same thing she’d seen after Pangfua and Shoi-ming’s announcement that their hidden sages were coming. Then she spotted a group of sky realm elders from the Morning Midst Village huddled in the air. They were having a hushed conversation.

She realized then that there was an opportunity. The join sect was an upright one, but that didn’t mean they were against deception during battle. Whether they should believe what they’d just heard was probably at the heart of their hesitation. That could only mean…

Dvora stepped out from where she was hidden and through the exit before it had fully registered what she was doing. She hated the deceptive ways of her sect. They were exhausting. This was the opposite of that. All that she had to do was tell the truth. It was just as frightening as deceiving a cultivator far stronger than her. There was one blessed difference. She was convinced it was right.

“Sage Pangfua is telling the truth,” she called. Her volume wasn’t sufficient, so she lifted her voice and said it again.

She kept walking forward. As soon as she started speaking, she didn’t stop. “My Night Pearl Sect has known they had hidden sages here for a few weeks. We didn’t know their identities then. We only believed they were here to hunt down the murderers. And they found them. I saw it with my own eyes. Sage Chao had the man pinned against the wall as he questioned him.”

The group of Night Pearl Sect elders was watching her. Not one said a word. She knew the next detail would be undeniable.

“His spear and sword were driven into the divine stone of the spire. He was going by Tong Tao, and his wife was Tong Fen’er.”

As the last word slipped from her lips, Dvora found herself standing in front of Sage Pangfua. When had she—?

The sage stepped forward to stand at her side. “What the Little Sister from the Night Pearl Sect says is true. Sages Long Chao and Long Huifen were disguising themselves, but not because they were looking for the killers—though they were the ones to bring them to justice. They were hoping to train here in peace, for a time, without having to face assassins from the Northern Continent.

“They plan on attending the Divine Flying Tiger Clan’s Trials.”

Several of the Morning Midst Village elders all looked to one man hovering there in their midst. It seemed he was their main spokesman. His mouth dangled half open.

Their chance to humble themselves was too fleeting. Before they could act, the perceptions of an overlord poured out of the Divine Spire. The pressure came so fast that it didn’t even have time to build.

In the next instant, Dvora looked up. A fairy in a gown of ice floated next to a man in green martial robes. Except for the transcendent opulence of the icy gown, even the woman’s jade jewelry looked flawed with mundane beauty.

At the sages’ arrival, the Morning Midst Village elders, all one hundred of them, fell from the sky in a desperate attempt to take a knee. Many of them took it further and were kowtowing.

The two sages floated down to join Panfua and Core Disciple Shoi-ming.

“I take it our identities have been revealed?” Sage Chao asked.

“Yes,” Pangfua replied. “There was no way around it.”

“Finally,” He sighed, turning to his wife. “I’m still going to call you Fen’er.”

When she gave him a weak grin, Dvora saw his expression change.

“My Huifen?”

“I’m fine, Chao. I’m just trying not to move too much to aggravate my injuries.”

Dvora watched them ask each other about their wellbeing in turn. It was such an ordinary conversation that it seemed surreal coming from them. They even seemed sincere.

“Sister Dvora,” someone called her name. She then realized she was still standing amongst them.

“Yes, Sage Long Huifen,” she replied, bowing at the waist.

“There’s no need for that. Thank you for your help.”

She bowed even deeper, but a gust of qi propped her up. She found Sage Chao chuckling at her under his breath.

“Brother Baros?” he asked.

“He returned to his sect to try and convince them to not participate in the fight.”

“Very good.” Sage Chao began to scan their surroundings. “We’ll find him.”

“Are you ready?” Pangfua said, accepting nods from her party. “Then let’s get this over with.”

This time, Dvora made sure to stay at their backs as the three sages and Core Disciple Shoi-ming approached the group of kneeling elders. There was no discussion.

Sage Pangfua addressed them. “I have invited your Sect Master here to join us. You can explain to him exactly what you’ve been up to.”

The group kneeling was the same that had been discussing what to do before Sage Chao and Sage Huifen’s presence was revealed. They crumbled like a mob of common criminals at their feet. Kowtowing and begging followed.