AIR 128-130 VOLUME ONE END

Chapter 128

Nei Lo, The Judicar, Justice Herself.

The low Heavens were located above Lynoria and the numerous other realms beyond it. Among the central realms, the realms between Lynoria and the low Heavens were considered one of the safest to join. Avalon, Camalot, Atlantis, and many other celestial realms could be found here. They were known as the Golden Lands by some, and that was due to the amount of freedom they offered relative to the amount of protection they gave.  

Living in the celestial realm generally came with some form of submission. In Lynoria, you couldn’t kill, back in the Grove of Life, you’d probably be smitten down by Aftol if you started cutting down too many of her trees. But these were all relatively loose restrictions. If you wanted to walk through any part of the heavens, you couldn’t be a person of the demonic path, though that definition varied based on where you lived. There were other celestial realms between Lynoria and the low Heavens and while they too were numerous, they failed to be included in the Golden Lands category for one reason or another.

Certain celestial realms could only be entered by joining a certain sect or pledging yourself to a certain cause. To enter the hells, you couldn’t have a righteous dao and would often need to fight your way into power and privilege before you could get anything done. 

But the Golden Lands were called that because they were a cluster of celestial realms that allowed loose and free passage among them, holding up general civility and law. They didn’t enforce the no-violence rule like Lynoria had, but they did enforce civil law within their confines. 

Because of this, the Golden Lands had some of the most influential celestial realms among all of the central realms. God-Kings came to them for both their freedom and protection and celestial sects settled themselves within their territory. Many God-Kings reveled in their freedom here, not having to pledge themselves to any God-Imperium while still settling under the protection of one. 

And since God-Imperiums couldn’t use their official forces to interfere with one another, not unless they wanted to insult their peers, having a whole host of God-Kings settle under your rule was the next best thing. God-Imperiums could set up commands, and service God-Kings to do their bidding.

And seeing as God-Kings could eventually become God-Imperiums, the potential to create future allies and gather nonaffiliated cultivators made the Golden Lands extremely influential. 

But I wouldn’t be entering any of them today. They were relatively free and relatively safe, even for me. God-Imperiums within the Golden Lands supposedly didn’t monitor the realm, much like Aftol and other residents of the Cosmic Forest. But I didn’t need to enter so I didn’t bother to. Instead, I just passed by their outskirts, still avoiding some realms entirely for various reasons, but sticking to the populated paths. 

The reason I felt okay walking down these roads was because of where I was heading. The closer one got to the Heavens, the more heavenly everything became. Your chances of meeting with death or combat lowered significantly, at least when you came closer to the heavens within the central realms. 

The central realms were a collection of realms that were considered to be the oldest and brightest out of any realms. They were the closest connections between the Heavens, Hells, Law Lands, and the Chaos Realms, hence the term, the central realms meaning these lands lay closest to the center of all existence. 

Navigating through them was tiring. They were close, but still, they were all so far away. For a thirteenth-rank like me, it was a bit of a risky journey, if not on the way there then on the way back. I would need to sit down and recuperate my qi after this whole stupid ordeal. 

The Tome had said nothing, and in my mind that was a good thing. It would only speak if I were getting near a God-Imperium and while it might use this as a chance to yap it up with Nei Lo, it hopefully wouldn’t have anything to do with me. 

I looked at the small realm in my hand, dying due to time and weariness. It was worth it.

The Holy Grove within the Cosmic Forest collected all human life-bearing Yggdrasils to the best of their ability. That was because they believed that humans didn’t deserve pain and suffering. The Court of Imperium, Nei Lo’s realm did the same. It was sort of like bringing a stray dog to a no-kill shelter. These people would be forced to live under Nei Lo’s rules and their lives would change entirely, but they wouldn’t die. 

I assumed they would accept them, seeing as they took in almost all of the lesser realms they could find. But I didn’t truly know. Dane generally avoided celestial realms as a whole and steered clear of the central realms entirely unless he had a job and guarteed protection. 

Protection was fairly reliable, if a sect let an array master die on their watch, much less the Array King, it would be an insult to their name. And pride was one of the things sects would almost die to protect. And that was also why Dane had competed for the Array King title. The more known he was, the more the sects would do to protect him when he worked a job with them. 

His skill meant prestige and prestige meant pride, though from what I remember it brought nearly as much suffering as it did success. A lot of celestial sects would only allow the Array King to build an array for them and that meant numerous calls and multiple celestial sects constantly trying to hire him. Even though they didn’t need his service, no one above the fifteenth rank needed his service. 

Eventually, he gathered enough wealth and just hid. He was now pronounced dead by The Eternal Tome, and that meant someone else was able to inherit the title, though Dane had left behind a large enough shadow, that I doubt anyone could live up to. 

No, that wasn’t right. I sold all of Dane’s work to the Tome and that meant that someone could have gone and bought it and built upon it. Multiple someone’s probably. I wonder when the procession would happen and when the Array Masters would get together and choose the best of them. 

Soon probably. 

I passed many people, but we all kept our distance leaving a good stream of void to separate us. But I saw quite a few guards and right-path cultivators all around me and while that lowered the possibility of violence, it also increased it in some cases. 

Merchant caravans were always here, certain holy beast species as well, even a few insects. It was strange to see but there were always creatures who pushed against their archetype, making themselves a new archetype others could follow. 

I kept my head down and walked forward. 

Eventually, I reached the Gate to the Court of Imperium. It was the first celestial realm of the lower Heavens and its reach extended deep into the high Heavens as well. It was one of the most active heavenly celestial sects and had the highest number of visitors. 

Its gates reached deep into the realm and made even a God-King feel small. All bowed before they entered, even God-Kings. The guards themselves were God-Kings, tall and still. 

And then one of them turned their head towards me. 

Chapter 129

“You cannot pass,” the guard spoke. “You carry too many.”

No one seemed to react to it as if it had spoken only to me. Everyone else kept walking through the gates as if they hadn’t heard the goliath speak. 

I bowed deeply before speaking. 

“I found this withering realm full of mortals on my travels. I merely wished to deliver them to the Court of Imperium before their realm dissipates and they all turn to dust.”

I pulled out the small dust-sized realm within my hand. 

The giant just looked at me, seemingly inspecting the realm before nodding. 

Again, no one noticed, but I wasn’t alone. Others stood still in front of the gate, seemingly talking to no one and some even argued. Most of the people around me were of the god rank, ranging anywhere from the twelfth rank to the fourteenth rank. 

I wondered if the higher-ranking beings would go through some other entrance.

After just a few minutes of inspection, the giant nodded and the grain of sand suddenly disappeared. 

“They have been added to the Court of Imeprium, they shall have justice for eternity.”

I nodded, then turned around and started making my way back. 

I was tired. The central realms were relatively connected. They were the center of existence and relatively close to each other, but pushing yourself through the void came at the cost of pure qi. 

And I hadn’t taken time to rest at the Cosmic Forest. 

I turned back to the Court’s gates. 

There were numerous beings waiting just outside of it, some had even set up shop as peddlers, one even had the emblem of the Celestial Stone and had a line of customers, some from within the court and some from outside of it. 

The Celestial Stone was the largest merchant group in existence. They owned many auction houses throughout existence, but they were not allowed within the Heavens and they kept themselves out of the Hells so as to not be associated with demonic path cultivators. 

But they served both the righteous and the demonic and walked a fine line of being tolerated by both. The Heavens had their own prominent merchant group and so did the Hells. 

I kept looking. There were other men, some camping, others waiting, a few even set up small realms right by the gates and meditated. 

Now that I was looking around, the gates were littered with people who lived beside them. 

I kept my head down and my senses lowered but now that I was looking around, there was clearly a large community of people waiting there. Some, I had thought were awaiting entry, but no they were living here.

There was a realm just a good few steps away. It was built so close to the perimeters of Heaven that I thought it was a part of its walls.

The Lesser Heaven Inn, a realm of rest for all below the fifteenth rank. 

A realm for an inn. My mouth opened, then closed. I didn’t need an inn. I could rest here. But a lot of the things I was seeing made sense. 

Some beings couldn’t enter the heavens but by placing themselves right outside of them they were able to remain under their protection without having to play by the rules of Heaven. And apparently the giant God-Kings didn’t seem to mind. 

I settled down for a moment and just focused on recuperating my qi reserves. I watched as beings walked through in and out of the gates. 

Even from the outside, even here at their doorstep, it was astounding. This was the place where all problems could receive fair judgment and people came from all over to receive it. Most of it wouldn’t be done by Nei Lo, but rather by her sect members. Only the most powerful got her attention. 

So why the hell was she standing in front of me? 

I knew who she was in the same way a man knew what the sun was. I looked up and suddenly there was a bright and burning thing so big it could burn me into nothing. 

My first instinct was to frown. I was growing tired of God-Imperiums, but my survival instincts kicked in and immediately I bowed. 

No one else noticed her, or if they did then they weren’t aware of who she was. I only knew because she had revealed herself to me. 

“Raise yourself,” she commented. “I only came because of that thing.” 

She said with a pointing finger. I did as she asked and looked towards where she was pointing. 

It was the Tome. 

It quickly leapt into Nei Lo’s hands and the God-Imperium disappeared. 

********

There was no need for an introduction.

Nei Lo stared at the tiny piece of the Tome, contemplating just shattering it then and there. She didn’t hate the Tome, but she had no love for the thing either. 

She believed some knowledge should be forgotten, but this thing was remembered. It remembered everything. 

“You trespass,” she accused. 

“I do not,” it replied. 

“But you wish to.” 

“I wish to enter your domain and talk with the fulness of my being, should you allow it.”

“And if I do not?”

The Tome, or the silver of its existence that stood before her, conveyed indifference.

“I’ll take it as a refusal then.”

She didn’t like the thing, but their intentions tended to align with each other’s more often than not. 

She relented and finally nodded, allowing him a temporary place in her court. 

This was a risk on behalf of the Tome. It was willingly putting its main body within her domain, where she held more power than he. There was her nature of course. She was not capable of betrayal, but that was just a limitation.

There were beings in the Heavens that had qualms with the Tome. She could call them down, aid them if need be. The Tome served many after all, numerous demons were around because of its services. Paceall, a young God-Imperium of the hells, had risen deep from the Hells with the aid of the Tome. 

It desired knowledge and gave it in turn. Knowledge was one of the few resources that you could give and keep. 

The Tome manifested in all of its being and she gave him a place under her. A temporary spot.

And he was willing to insult any God-Imperium, even her. His power and name were more than enough that if he 

When two God-Imperiums met, it was something of notice. Many beings watched and many beings speculated on the outcome.

But this was a bit too much. The Tome could have reached her through other methods. Why use this boy? This unaffiliated immortal. 

She looked at the godling, truly looked for the very first time, and frowned. 

She could see a bit of Wukong and the Tome clinging onto him. Marked but not affiliated, an unknown, possibly even to the highest members of the Lynorian Sects. 

Did they expect treachery within their own forces? How was that possible? A God-Imperium knew all they touched and betrayal among the forces under them was impossible.

No, someone was watching their forces. 

But what about their forces within Heaven? She did not like the Tome but many of its scholars could be found within her realm and the realms of many of her peers. It could have contacted her through them if he had sought a private meeting. 

“You suspect something?” She asked. 

“Yes.”

“Even in the Heavens.”

“Yes,” the Tome replied. 

“I’ve talked with Wukong and he has informed me of the situation.”

That was her not-so-subtle dismissal of his presence. She was saying she knew everything about the situation and that he could enlighten her no further. 

“Then do you know about those who plot with demons in Heaven?”

That statement caught her unprepared.

The Heavens were by no means united. They were not some consolidated force and in Nei Lo’s eyes, some of the Heavens were just as bad as the hells, but they were united in one thing and that was their hatred for the demonic. 

“Who?”

“I do not know,” it replied. 

“Mere supposition then-”

“But she is involved.”

Her eyes widened and her calm face turned stiff. Her qi bubbled and in return, the skies within her realm shook. Justice turned cold and for a moment, all the judges of existence felt a fury like no other twisting deep within their heart. 

Nei Lo felt something she had not felt for eons untold. 

Hatred.

“Do not test me,” she growled. 

“I speak only the truth.”

A tight-knit smile danced upon her lips as she sat down and faced the man. 

“Well then, speak.”

Chapter 130

The return trip was quick and extremely peaceful. I wondered if it was Nei Lo’s doing, but the Tome refuted it. It was just good luck and quick timing apparently. 

The void was sparse of life and outside of certain areas, it was just empty. 

Ah-Marin was located outside of the central realms and finding my way back was a bit of a tough task. Retreading my old path would have forced me to go back near Aftol and nearly double the length of the trip, so I decided to chart a new way from where I originally was. 

Charting the path from the Heavens also came with a bit more peace of mind. It was sort of like walking near a police station or jogging through a very well-off neighborhood. It wasn’t completely insulated from violence but there were more deterrences here than anywhere else.

Outside of the central realms were a few other clusters of realms with their own names and lore, but I kept away from those, avoiding all celestial realms and their groupings. 

Eventually, after hopping from one near-abandoned world to another, I made it back home. 

It had been only an hour in Ah-Marin. In my mind, it had been days of travel and navigation. I hadn’t stayed long within the Cosmic Forest or near the low Heavens, but the travel itself was time-consuming. 

Not that time existed within the void. 

There was the general sense of time kept by the Second Keepers. They were responsible for inter-realm consistency. They were the reason why you could leave a realm in its entirety, yet still remain within its timeline when you return.

If they didn’t do their jobs, reentering a realm might mean entering at any point on the realm’s timeline. There were questions as to how they did what they did, but most believed that the law of time itself was interconnected. The Keepers of Time served the God of Time and he worked with them to keep the casual chain of existence together. 

Lynoria was at the center of existence, so most beings referred to Lynorian years to measure time. Everyone knew how many Lynorian years passed relative to their own realm. 

Which reminded me of something else I had to do. 

I sighed and stepped foot back into my home. No had known I had left, except for the maidens and Gauntlet. 

I took a moment and breathed in the existence of space again. This was home. I was different, very different, that hunt and healing of my soul had changed me but in some important ways, I was very much the same.  

I went out to a hilltop and sat. It was one of the furthest hills from the village and from here, I could see just about the entire village. People were walking, celebrating, talking, plotting. 

I could sense numerous fifth ranks hiding among the caravan. I saw Nai parading around with a large amount of animals. Chin was by the silos and food sheds, checking if they had enough to feed the cultivators. 

Off in the distance was construction Bri Lou and a few rogue cultivators had gathered and started expanding the area near the camping cultivators. Temporary structures were set up and beyond those were permanent ones, made for Madam Rose’s people and any other cultivators that might want to settle down. It was currently being called, Cultivator Town, and many trading sects and other groups were already asking Chin leasing to housing and shops. A few of them had even threatened him. 

Rin Wi then proceeded to nearly kill them and shatter their cultivation, which sent out a clear message to any others who tried to negotiate with Chin. 

The village was growing. Already I saw new hands working the fields and new crops being grown among them. These were quick-growing crops straight from the Hidden Viper sect. They had been augmented to grow faster and they were certainly living up to their status. 

But there were problems here too. Too many people were coming in to fast and the village just didn’t have the infrastructure for them. Chin was trying his best to take care of everyone here, but he couldn’t be everywhere at once. 

I headed over to where Rin Wi was working. 

“Rin Wi.”

She quickly turned on me with her knife held out. 

“Mister Bill, y- you’re back,” she said, quickly putting away the knife and replacing it with a bow. 

“Sorry about that,” I chuckled. “But here.”

I held out a bag of holding filling with about ten thousand fourth-rank spirit stones, all charged and full. 

“What for?” She asked me.

“The village needs to develop faster. Hire more merchants and builders and gather more field workers if possible.”

“Chin won’t like this,” she said taking the money from my hands. 

“Tell him it’s my part of the work. Since I’m not out there tilling the fields, I can pay someone else to do it.”

She weighed the gold in her hands for a moment. 

“I’ll give it to Medin and Renk first.”

“That’ll work too,” I replied. 

Chin wasn’t one to take handouts. He would take labor, favors, and even equipment, but never money. Unfortunately, money was what the village needed now more than ever. And if Renk was involved half of it would already be spent before Chin ever heard a word about it.

It was why he didn’t ask me to do many things. He knew I could and if it came to a matter of life and death, I certainly would help them without any hesitations, but at the end of the day, I was a friend. 

I was the old hermit atop a hill in the forest, not a fellow villager. 

But maybe that was about to change. 

I was teaching Chin how to cultivate and Medin was learning from Rin Wi. Nai was here and the girls really cared about this place. And the more I changed and grew, the more my dao developed, the harder it was to just let things go. 

I had power after all. I could end this whole realm in a single instant. I could dominate it. 

But that would be wrong. I didn’t want to rule this realm, no I didn’t want to rule anything. I didn’t want to grow in power or force people to bow down to my desires. 

I just wanted to have peace. 

My dao broke into the seventh rank. I felt it churn change and settle. I knew myself now better than I ever had. 

Dane was apathetic, content to let the world go by and rot while he protected himself. And I was still the same. I would protect myself, but that wasn’t enough anymore. 

The itch came back. 

I had to be better. I had to help them. It was the same feeling I had when I picked up that realm and brought it to the low Heavens. It was the same reason I gave Forn that speech about her dao. Why I had quenched that thirst underneath the desert. Why I had saved the girls instead of tossing them out, even back then. Why I couldn’t cut down Nai’s unhatched egg. 

To achieve peace.

END OF VOLUME ONE.