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Chapter Text

They are particularly active today.

The three of them fight amongst themselves for a place on his face. Normally he would suppress them with a touch of his power, but right now he is alone and from time to time, he lets them out. He is still disgusted by them and detests them with all his might, but there is still some sentiment for them. A pity, perhaps.

They speak sometimes.

Say things that are hateful, that are condemning him for everything he’s done.

(Didn’t he try? Didn’t he try to save them? Didn’t he offer them peace? He had to do it, he had to, he had to-!)

(Useless. Useful.)

Jun Wu stands in his armory. The shelves and walls are filled with swords, spears, bows and weapons from all around the world. They shake when they feel him coming – they feel the power he exudes and they want him to use them. He bested all their previous masters and many turn to him – out of fear? Out of loyalty?

The golden pieces of the weapons glint in the orange lighted cast by the fires that burn bright along the walls. They glint lovingly. They glint ominously.

You monster! You thief! Traitor! Demon!

Liar! Liar, liar, liar!

Jun Wu sighs.

They crossed the line and disappear with a wave of his hand. Not out of his flesh, not out of his soul. But he is given his face back for now.

Still, he stands in the armory. Closes his eyes and breathes in the air. It smells of magic, of power, of blood, of ancient history.

It has been almost 1200 years since it happened. And now, amongst the peace he created, he is bored.

He now stands in the palace he built, on the land he carefully put together, amongst other little gods whom he allowed to ascend. They are necessary for this whole façade to work. They keep up the illusion that he created for humans and ghosts.

As the Lord of the Heavenly Capital, he is responsible for them. And sure, they are sometimes amusing. They – the little gods who think that just because they lounge in the Upper Court, that they conquered the world and are above humans – are chosen based on their usefulness to him. If he wanted to, he could be the sole God for humans to worship. He was even at one point in history. At that one point, where no other god was alive, other than he himself. But that got boring and tiresome quickly.

So he invited the very best of those little ants who plague the Mortal Realm. Gave them a chance, gave them a tiny sliver of his strength and gave them titles. The generals, the princes, the kings who wielded a weapon in battle and didn’t shy away from danger, they were given the title of the Martial Gods. The scholars, the librarians, the astronomers were given the title of Civil Gods.

Each of them have temples, each of them have worshipers that give them the merits and the power of their worship and belief. Their trust.

(He was once like them – naïve, hopeful, believed in the goodness of the world and his own might)

(Oh how he hates that)

(How shameful)

And now, the Heavenly Court is at peace. It works like a well-oiled machine and yes, there is some bickering from the little gods, some drama that amuses the lots of them, but it works. When Jun Wu gives an order, they follow it like law. For them it is after all law. For he is the Lord.

Still, the Lord of the Heavens is bored.

Lately, he has taken to observing humans. Their affairs are much more interesting to him than the ones of the little gods.

His believers are rising every day, giving him his much-needed power and might, giving him their offerings and he from time to time heeds their prayers and answers them.

Right now, there is a place in the Mortal Realm that keeps much of Jun Wu’s attention, when he isn’t spending his time with his collection of the weapons. The country that keeps rising and rising, just as his did, so long ago. It prospers and its subjects are living the life of luxury. Just as his did, so, so long ago.

The kingdom of Xianle.

Right now, tensions are rising, for the royal family is expecting a child to be born. The queen just passed her ninth month and she’s taken to simply laying in her bed, waiting for the moment where the young child would come out.

There is something that is troubling the astronomers, the scholars and the teachers of the palace – the timing of the birth of the child.

For the time of the Ominous Star is upon them.

The past few weeks, Jun Wu has received many prayers regarding the birth of the royal child. The scholars, the astronomers, even the queen and king themselves all pray for the date of birth to fall before or after the event.

If Jun Wu were a better man, a better god, he would answer. But boredom can only keep a person hostage for so long, and so, the God doesn’t lift a finger to alter the date. For if the Universe wanted the child to be born under the same star as he was, then it would be. And if the curse really came true, just as it did for him, then he would be cured of the boredom that is eating his heart and mind.

In the middle of the night, where the moon took over the sun and bathes the land of the living in its pale glow and the stars shine and the star glows almost as much as the moon, a piercing cry disrupts the guards and apothecaries outside the queen’s chambers.

All at once, the people rush in and when they see that the moment they’ve been waiting for happened, they rush for the king, they rush for the palace’s best doctors and wait.

Jun Wu’s meditation is interrupted by another set of prayers, this time so intense it disrupts him and wakes him.

“Oh, my Lord, this one prays that His Lordship will aid this one’s wife and helps her.”

“May my Lord grant me strength.”

“May the prince be strong and healthy.”

And just like that, the Lord of the Heavens understands. Xianle will soon have a new child and this one will be of the royals. A quick look outside his chambers confirms that the prayers of the people for the birth to take a place at a different day and hour were in vain, for the child is born under his star. Around the same time, he too was once welcomed into the world.

He decides to see the birth himself and in turn grant his followers’ wish. In no time he finds himself in the queen’s chamber, invisible, watching as the doctors rush in and prepare the queen for the painful experience which will bring forth the healthy child.

The king rushes in soon after Jun Wu appears and hold his wife’s hand during her labor and eventually during the birth itself.

A few hours of yelling, the queen straining and pushing out the child later, a newborn’s cries fill the room. The doctors wipe off the blood, perform a necessary check and prepare to hand the baby – the son – to his parents.

But before the queen and king take him, the child opens his eyes. He doesn’t look around the room, he doesn’t look at his sweaty and strained mother, he doesn’t look at his worried sick father. He doesn’t look at the doctors.

Instead, he looks at Jun Wu.

The child’s eyes lock with Jun Wu’s and suddenly the Lord understands. It comes very suddenly and all of a sudden, the ghosts of his used-to-be friends and teachers quiet. In his twisted and sick mind, they all come together to an understanding.

Ah.

This child will be his.

Born under the same unfortunate star, at the same time.

The prince of the kingdom of Xianle will be his own. His own to raise, his own to cherish, his own to teach.

And just like that, the queen takes the boy into her arms and the newborn looks at his parents, his cries quieting slighty. The queen looks at him with so much love, presses a kiss to his temple and rocks him. On her side, the king looks at his new family member with so much joy and love and tenderness it makes one’s heart ache. He smiles both at his wife and at his son and kisses them both on their heads.

And the sudden joy Jun Wu feels sours.

What do you mean the child isn’t paying him attention? He was the first one the child saw, the first! It doesn’t matter who birthed him, who supplied the womb and the sperm, he was the child’s father!

The rage he feels is oh so sudden, but oh so familiar.

He hasn’t felt it in so, so many years, decades, centuries even. In other circumstances, he would say that this change is welcome to the otherwise never-ending boredom.

In these circumstances? Not so much.

“My King, what should your Prince’s name be?” asks one of the attending doctors.

The king and queen look at each other, “my love, you name him. This is my thanks to you, for giving me such a gift,” says the king.

The queen’s eyes widen. “As my Lord wishes.” She says after a minute of silence.

As a matter of fact, the whole room is silent. The doctors, the servants permitted to be here my the royals are silent. The king is silent, looking at his wife with a small smile on his face. The universe is silent. Jun Wu is silent.

“Xie Lian.”

Xie Lian, Xie Lian, Xie Lian.

Beautiful. How very beautiful.

The humans smile, not knowing that they gave a name to the future son of the Lord of Heavens. The one who will one day stand by Jun Wu’s side throughout everything, the one who will bear the fruits of his long, long work and who will be not only Xianle’s prince, but much more importantly, he will be the Prince of the Heavens and obeyed by every single little god residing in them right now.

“Xie Lian. Truly a fitting name for the heir of Xianle. My Queen, well done, this King accepts the name.” There, the king addresses the guards, who are watching in awe. “Give word, that we have welcomed a prince. Do not mention the name and make sure people will come to greet him when we schedule a welcoming ceremony for him.”

The guards leave at the king’s command, taking the servants with them. The only people remaining in the room are the doctors, who after making sure once more, that the child is healthy and in good condition, leave too.

The last ones still standing there are the astronomers.

“My King, this one would like to propose something.”

One of them steps forward. The king nods that he is listening, holding his wife and newborn son.

“This humble servant would like to request his Highness to pray to the Heavens. For the prince and for his future. This servant would like to join in this prayer, should my King make one.” The astronomer bows.

The king looks at him and Jun Wu watches as the queen squeezes his hand. She nods at him, still smiling at him. In her other arm rests the Prince in question. He appears to be tired, and Jun Wu feels himself smile at the precious bundle.

Truly, he is the Heaven’s Delight, the Prince Who Pleases the Gods.

Or rather, one God. The most important one.

The king agrees and lets himself be led away by the astronomers to the temple of the palace – Jun Wu’s own temple. The god in question would normally follow, or depart to listen to them, however he is too busy watching his Prince. The newborn child fusses in his mother’s hold as she sighs and lets her eyes close. With a signal, the women in charge of serving the queen directly take the child and put him into a luxurious crib. Ornaments, gold pieces and jewels reflect the fire illuminating the room onto Xie Lian’s face and eyes, casting a golden glow in them.

Seeing the child be taken care of, the queen succumbs to the call of sleep, seeing as she was very exhausted by the birth and the fact that it was early in the morning. The maids keep watch over the baby, but sleep claims them regardless. Be it the natural way of things or Jun Wu’s own power one will never know.

Finally alone with his Prince, Jun Wu manifests completely, finally visible to all, were they awake. The slight swish of the magic wakens the child and he starts fussing about in his bed. Jun Wu comes closer, picking his Prince and remembering the lessons he once attended in his youth, he starts rocking back and forth with the tiny being in his arms.

This action would calm any other regular child and put them back into the land of dreams, however this one only opens his eyes and stares into the Emperor’s face. Seeing as he finally has Xie Lian’s attention back to himself, Jun Wu smiles at the child and watches as the baby mirrors it back at him. Or tries to, seeing as newborns aren’t capable of smiling or mimicking.

“Oh my sweet Prince,” murmurs the Lord to the bundle in his arms. “I give you my word, the world will know your name, will know of you and be in awe of you. I give you my word, you will one day be by my side and together we will rule the Heavens and any piece of land you will wish for. I will never leave your side, never forget you, never abandon you. I grant you luck, I grant you strength, I grant you power, I grant you beauty” he kisses the top of his head, blessing him.

A golden halo envelops the child, the blessings of the Lord of Heavens seeping into his skin, forever intertwining themselves with the soul of the newborn Prince, of the newborn Heir of the Heavens never to be removed by anyone or anything.

Jun Wu strokes his head, smiling lovingly and indulgingly at him. “Oh, my sweet Xie- Xianle. This one loves you dearly already.”

The figure stays like this until the Prince falls asleep, until the first rays of sunshine through the window, until the king and his attendants come back from his temple, finished with prayers and offerings to him. The Lord doesn’t pay them or their offerings any mind, knowing that he has already blessed this child.

Before they can enter the queen’s chambers, Jun Wu reluctantly returns his Heir back to his ornate crib, soothing Xianle as he tries to reach for him.

Good, he thinks, he already knows who the most important one in his life is.

The spells are released and the Lord returns to his abode in the Heavens in a much better mood than in centuries.

If the other gods notice anything different with their Lord, they don’t mention it. On the other hand, he seems to be more lenient, more generous with his praises which suits them just fine. As it is with anything new and exciting in the Heavenly Realm, rumors are immediately born and the Heavenly officials wonder why their Lord is in such good mood.

Some say that he found a new weapon, which is quickly dismissed, seeing as the Lord hasn’t stopped collecting weapons in the many centuries and none of them were able to gauge such a reaction out of him. Others say that it is because he received many new offerings and followers, which is also quickly dismissed.

When these speculations lead nowhere, they turn their attention to the Mortal Realm, but the only slightly exciting thing happening is the birth of a new royal in Xianle and surely, that cannot be the thing that would make their Lord so happy?!

As it is with anything new and exciting in the Heavenly Realm, rumors are born and quickly forgotten and the little gods move onto the next exciting thing.

Watching Xianle grow up is a pleasure. Jun Wu takes an interest in his life and when he’s not off doing his duties as the Emperor of the Heavens, disposing of unwanted beings and creating more demons in the kiln, he goes down to the Mortal Realm to observe the prince. Most of the time there, he borrows a body of someone who is close to Xianle – his nannies, his teachers, his guards. For Xianle, he doesn’t mind existing as someone unimportant for a few hours.

Xianle grows up loved. So, so loved. The people around him light up whenever he enters a room, his boyish laughter filling it shortly after. The parents, they dote on him. Call him his darling, praise his kindness and skill in anything he desires to do.

After all, Xianle has his luck and skill from the Emperor.

The nannies tell him stories about gods. They tell him about Jun Wu, about the elemental masters, about the civil gods. In hushed and awed voices tell him about their deeds, about their prowess, about their heroics. Whenever the nannies speak about these things, the Prince’s eyes light up, showing how amazed he is. His favorite stories are of course about Jun Wu. He is after all, somewhat of a father figure to the child, even if the Prince doesn’t know it yet.

Whenever Xie Lian requests stories about the Emperor, Jun Wu enters the body of the specific nanny who is telling him the stories and supplies his own version of the events. Jun Wu has a great memory, so whenever the Prince has any questions, the Lord can answer truthfully. This activity is enjoyed by both parties, since Jun Wu hasn’t had the chance to tell his stories directly to someone so young and precious.

This is also where Jun Wu meets Mei Nianqing. Or rather, is re-introduced to him.

The traitor poses as Xie Lian’s Guoshi and the Head Priest of the whole of Xianle. Of course, when Jun Wu encounters him, he is momentarily blinded by waves of emotions. Rage, longing, sadness, betrayal, grief. The three he houses in his soul and on his face rush forward to greet their lost friend, which Jun Wu suppresses immediately. Normally it would take a small wave and a spell would be placed upon his whole visage, but this time the ghosts aren’t so easily stopped and they manage to slip out. Thankfully at the moment Jun Wu is invisible to all and silenced as well, otherwise he would alert not only his darling Xianle, but the bastard Guoshi as well.

He retreats from Xianle’s room and returns to Heaven to contemplate his next course of action. Jun Wu would bet almost anything on the fact that Mei Nianqing still has his ability to predict the future and the fates of all people.

This memory brings back despair. It plunges Jun Wu back to the time he was still a Prince to Wu Yong and as his own Guoshi, he predicted Jun Wu’s fate and how he would bring destruction upon his beloved kingdom. How he tried to stop it all, help his people, his friends, his family, only to be spat in the face by the other gods and watched as the bridge fell and brought only death and suffering.

As he thinks about the previous gods, he cannot help himself and grinds his heel into the floor of the palace, hoping that his bitterness and anger reach their dead buried bodies.

For the remains of the day, he spends it in Heaven, answering to all the little gods’ wishes and queries. He answers the prayers of his worshipers and eventually stalks off to Mount Tong’lu to rid himself of his pent-up anger. The kiln welcomes the dark energy and stores it, waiting for some foolish ghosts that would be willing to go through it. None will ever succeed.

He returns the next day to Xianle, just in time to witness Mei Nianqing present his little Prince with a gift. The old man smiles at his charge kindly, pats his head and ushers him to his books. Xianle pouts but eventually gets back to studying.

Lately, Xie Lian has taken an interest in cultivating. Any material presented to him is devoured within seconds and any teachings of things mortal and crucial to leading a kingdom seem to just pass him by. The young boy would much rather meditate under his Guoshi’s watchful eye and train with dull sticks, counting as weapons.

As much as Xianle is kind and sweet, he’s still a child, who is spoiled rotten by his parents and all his wants and desires are granted immediately. Does the Crown Prince Xie Lian want a book? He shall get a book. Does he want a new fake sword? He gets a new fake sword. Does he want a friend? He shall have a friend.

The introduction of Feng Xin is bittersweet for Jun Wu. His little Prince is excited by the new friend who is his age and is able to play with him any game the Heir desires. The boy himself serves as well, a servant and will grow up to be a bodyguard of the Prince. This is taken lightly even amongst the mortals, as the Prince displays his love for swords and martial arts very openly. If he grows up following his desires as they are now it is more than likely that should they – Xie Lian and Feng Xin – run into any danger, the Prince would protect his friend and servant.

When Mei Nianqing teaches Xie Lian about the many cultivation methods, he sends the child a dream, where he mentions his own method he used to reach Heaven – tranquility, peace, chastity and patience. Although he himself can admit rather amusedly, he has strayed from this particular path. Nevertheless, the Emperor of the Heavens used to once be a boy like little Xie Lian and that path worked the best was this one. And Jun Wu needs the boy to be in Heaven with him. He needs it like humans need air to breathe. And quite frankly, even if the boy wouldn’t pass a Heavenly Tribulation – which Jun Wu doesn’t believe for a second – he would simply make the boy a God, one worthy of staying by his side as his trusted son and right hand.

Xianle responds exactly as Jun Wu predicted he would. As soon as he wakes up, his dream still fresh in his memories, he rushes to find his Guoshi, his parents and his friend to inform them of his chosen path of life. He finds Mei Nianqing has broken into a sweat at the news, surely reminded of the times when Jun Wu himself made the decision to walk this path. His mother is happy for him, as she is with almost anything her son does and/or says. His father supports his ambitions, but isn’t all too pleased by the fact that his son is set on being a God and not a King for his kingdom. He tries, in vain, to persuade Xie Lian to at least, change the chastity rule, so the kingdom would have a ruler. At that, the boy pouts and tells his father to make more heirs with a pout which prompts the queen to burst out laughing and the king to bristle at his child’s attitude. Feng Xin is awed and supports His Highness and all his decisions. And to make sure the Prince isn’t alone on his path, he swears to join the Prince in his way of life.

From this point forward, the Prince dutifully studies, trains, spends time with his favorite people and prays.

He does pray to other (inferior) gods like the elemental masters and some civil gods, but the one God he gives most of his attention is Jun Wu. As the Emperor and the most skilled Martial God, he is revered by the Prince, which is shown by his offerings (fruits, flowers, golden trinkets that catch the boy’s eyes – always hand picked by Xie Lian in belief that it would please his God. They always do manage to please him since Xianle picked the things with him in mind) and his prayers.

They range from things like:

‘My Lord, please help me pick up fighting with a sword!’

‘My Lord, please help me with understanding the poems about you!’

‘My Lord, may you have a blessed day today!’

Where similar prayers would be mostly discarded by the Emperor, he only finds amusement in these sweet little wishes of his small child. At his request, he does indeed bless him with the knowledge of how to better his stance and manage to knock the stick out of Feng Xian’s hand in training, he helps him with his studies, sending him dreams of simple explanations on whichever topic he desires and his most favorite wish to grant – having a great day. These “blessed days”, as Xianle calls them are spent away from his court in Heaven and instead in the presence of a small child playing God.

One day however, there is a much different prayer from his favorite child.

That particular day, Xie Lian was having a small bout of misfortune. His house of golden cards he spent much of his days building in his spare time collapsed, leaving the boy slighty distraught. Seeing this, the queen brough the prince out to the streets of the capital city, hoping to cheer him up. There, he wanted to obtain a new trinket that caught his eye – a golden small orb that glistened beautifully in the sun – and begged his mother to buy it for him, however the queen didn’t relent and only reminded him of his cultivation – to rid oneself of the earthly desires. Xie Lian was still only a boy and giving up on things he wanted was still difficult for him. Especially growing up as spoiled as he did. Next, the king once again tried to change his mind about his chosen path, which did nothing more other than frustrate the young heir, making him even more upset. And to finish it all off, Feng Xin couldn’t play with him today, since he had to do his homework.

At the end of the day, the boy dashed away from dinner and ran to Jun Wu’s temple, which the royal family built close so that Xie Lian could visit as much as he liked to. He ran past some servants, the Prince’s upset expression shocking them.

When he got to the temple, he got on his knees and the tears of frustration finally escaped his clenched eyes.

‘My Lord,’ he began praying, his voice catching Jun Wu’s attention immediately.

‘This isn’t fair!’ Xianle continues his prayers, making the Emperor’s corners of the mouth rise. What a silly child.

‘I wanted to build my palace! No fair that the wind knocked it over! I wanted to get that small ball, but mother wouldn’t change her mind, and- and I know it’s part of the cultivation path, but it’s just not fair! Am I not the Prince?!’

Ah? Well this is a prayer he hasn’t yet heard from his little one. What a peculiar side of his Prince. Jun Wu cannot say he doesn’t like it – Xianle was selfless for far too long and seeing him finally be a child and acting this way brings a full on smile on the Emperor’s face.

‘Why can’t I have both my cultivation and my golden ball?! This isn’t fair!’

‘I want to have EVERYTHING!!’

Jun Wu’s heart stops in glee.

Ah.

Finally, something he can work with.

Chapter Text

As the Prince of the Xianle kingdom grows, so does the adoration of the people and everyone who knows him. His cultivation is steady and relatively without any problems. By his side, his two dearest friends stand – Mu Qing and Feng Xin. When learning, Xie Lian has his dear Guoshi and other preceptors to teach him the ways of the world. When spending time in the palace, he has his dearest mother and father to cherish and spoil him.

And most importantly, he has the protection and love from the Heavenly Emperor himself.

The Prince usually spends his time cultivating, but from time to time, he attends to his royal duties down in the capital city. Those duties, even though done perfectly, do not interest the young Prince as much as his chosen path does. His father – the Xianle king – still would much prefer if his son would set his sights on the throne, rather than the Heavens. However as much as the monarch would love this, even he admits that Xie Lian was born for greatness. The kind of greatness that stretches beyond human understanding and reaches far, far above the clouds.

Ever since Xianle was a child, Jun Wu watched over him. Some may argue that it was a bit too thorough, but if one were to make that argument, the Heavenly Emperor would simply dismiss their concerns, reasoning that he simply wanted to make sure the Prince’s progress wasn’t ruined by anything and anyone.

Balancing both watching over his child’s every move and being the Heavenly Emperor was a challenge even for Jun Wu. The little gods up in the skies always had some problems, some drama, some complaint about each other and were never able to come to a truce without his help. How any of these people ascended was beyond Jun Wu. Thankfully, his own servants in his palace were more than capable of handling most of those pathetic squabbles themselves. When they weren’t, he was forced to go back and sort things out.

Added to this problem was the fact that in order to keep his image, Jun Wu had to also listen to his believers and their prayers. This wasn’t that tedious, seeing as more often than not, he would be able to hear his Prince’s voice amongst them, praying for luck, help regarding his fighting techniques and forms and other things. When his Prince prayed, Jun Wu always made sure to answer and either nudge his child in the right direction, or send him a dream about a particular dilemma the youth found himself in.

When other believers, who weren’t Xianle, prayed, he would listen in most cases and when he wasn’t able to spare time, he would send out his minions to take care of the problem.

And in the worst cases, when he actually had to step in and take care of a problem personally, it was a sight to see. Whatever ghost dared to take his precious time with his Prince, the creature wouldn’t survive to see the next day.

With all this in mind, Jun Wu began to wonder.

How should he proceed regarding these things? He was swarmed by all sides and barely had any time for himself, barely had any time to go visit his mountain and rid himself of the hate that was slowly but surely building itself in his body. The resentful energy was making itself known and by experience, it would be a disaster were Jun Wu to just let it grow.

But what to do, what to do.

It’s not like he could be at more places at the same t-

Wait.

He could.

With his plan and mind made up, the Emperor prepared himself to endure much more of the hate that filled his being. For what he was about to do would require much energy and as they say, the more the merrier.

When the three traitors in his soul learned of his plan, they struggled against the tight hold he had over them. They fought and pushed themselves to actually voice out loud their hateful and ignorant protests. No matter to the Heavenly Emperor, who simply pushed down their struggles and increased his glamour to hide the bulging of his face.

What pathetic creatures, to even think they had any right to say anything. They didn’t understand anything back then, they wouldn't understand it now. They wouldn’t understand how he was doing this for Xie Lian’s sake, since no one would ever understand him the same way Jun Wu would. That no one would ever love him the same way Jun Wu would. That no one would ever give him all the things Jun Wu would and could give.

His plan came to fruition one day in the night.

Months of planning, of storing all the rage and hate in himself led to this singular moment. The Emperor made sure no one would bother him today and parted ways with both the Heaven and sadly, with his dear child. He entered the Kiln and immediately was surrounded by all the energy stored there. When it felt an intruder it rushed in to decimate him, but when it felt that he was its former wielder and creator, it calmed down and brushed against Jun Wu’s fractured soul.

When the Emperor would come here, his purpose was solely to rid himself of the hate that filled him, however this time it was very, very different.

The God stretched out his arms, letting the energy in the Kiln gather at his mere fingertips. What he was doing demanded absolute focus and left zero room for mistakes, so he put everything he had into this task. Meaning that his glamor faded and the faces of his former teachers and friends made themselves a home on his face. They screeched and screeched, trying to break his iron will and determination, but Jun Wu wouldn’t let them.

He wouldn’t let anyone shake him.

For this wasn’t for him. What he was doing was for Xianle only. The perfect child, born exactly as he were and would be made into perfection. This would only help him reach their goal.

With these things in mind, Jun Wu gathered everything he had and remembering his old ways, started chanting and drawing a summoning array on the ground.

It was so, so complex that anyone besides the Emperor would get shredded to bits, just attempting to conjure the circle. Long lost and forgotten symbols were drawn, signs were made and finally, a sacrifice.

A drop of blood.

The wind which was coursing through the Kiln quieted down, making the sounds of shaking stones and the slow hissing of lava the only thing that made sound. And eventually, even that stopped.

Silence enveloped the God and the concentrated energy was suddenly smashed to the ground, licking at the symbols and signs, coating them in its hateful power. Slowly, the symbols started to shine in the Kiln’s darkness, illuminating the walls, the stones and the Emperor’s twisted face.

Were anyone else in the cave with the man, they would see a monster. His face was casted in shadow, the additional mouths and eyes opened in a silent scream and his real eyes aglow. His mouth was set in a smile, that promised pain, promised love, promised destiny.

Boom.

And just like that, the quiet was broken by a sound that was borderline indescribable. It was akin to a deer calling out for help as it was devoured by wolves, it was the thousand screams of dying people, it was the sound of a parent shushing their upset child, it was the growl of evil.

Before Jun Wu’s wild eyes, a figure was taking shape.

The hateful energy collected in the array started climbing from the bottom to the top. First legs, then a torso, arms and finally a head. Unlike other clones who would simply take the appearance of the creator, this one was blank. The body of the figure was coated in darkness, the occasional whisp manifesting and then silently setting back into its shape. The only bright thing were the eyes. They were two pools of whiteness, a stark difference between the rest of its body.

Jun Wu regarded his creation, proud of himself. With a push of his mind, he willed the creature to move his hand and listening to its Master, it did.

Good, the Emperor thought. This will be enough.

With another push of his power, the figure started taking a much more humanoid shape. From the center of its torso, the blackness receded, giving way to a human paleness. It took on the body of a lithe man, not too muscular, but just enough to give anyone the idea of the muscles hiding underneath the robe. Its face, previously not showing anything, now took on the face of Jun Wu. It started back at him blankly, waiting for another set of commands.

Seeing the naked state of the figure, the Lord willed for a robe to manifest. It took this order just as obediently as it did any other and clothed itself with a fluttering white funeral garb. Last thing was his face. When it would be just the two of them, the manifestation would be either barefaced, or it would wear a mask.

The mask was a thing of beauty in Jun Wu’s eyes.

The material was firm, but not too firm, heavy, but not too heavy. In the place where the eyes would be were twin slits – one curved upwards, one downwards. The mouth was done in similar fashion, one side showcasing a smile, the other a frown. Together they formed a half-crying and half-smiling mask, which sat on the doppelgänger’s face beautifully.

The purpose of this puppet was simple.

If he had to be away from his darling Prince, he would send in this clone. He gave it many abilities and one of them was the ability to take any appearance it needed to achieve the orders of its master. This way, he would be able to keep an eye out for his child even from Heaven.

The creature was born to this world with only one firm command in mind.

Guide Xie Lian on his destined path by any means necessary.

And it would, in fact do that. By any means necessary.

 Soon after its creation, Jun Wu had the opportunity to send out his puppet for the first time. He was needed in Heavens, since the Upper Court welcomed a new God and it was a tradition to introduce the new divinity to the Lord of the Heavens.

With that thought in mind, he called for the creature, which he started privately calling Bai Wuxiang. The name came to be when Jun Wu realized he couldn’t bear to see his own face scarred by the traitors and instead forced the creature to wear the mask on his face. Seeing as the creature wore white and hid its face, the name of Bai Wuxiang made the most sense.

As soon as he wished for it to appear, it did. It didn’t bow and instead stood by his side, its hidden face angled to watch Jun Wu’s.

“I have a task for you.” Jun Wu beckoned the creature to follow him. It didn’t make any sound, but the shuffling of his robe gave it away and Jun Wu knew that he was being followed by it.

When they reached Jun Wu’s personal armory, the God finally turned around to face it properly.

“In the Mortal Realm, there is a Prince. He goes by the name of Xie Lian, but to us, he is known as Xianle.” Bai Wuxiang stood still, showing that it was listening.

“He might have been born to humans, but that child is mine, no, ours. He will ascend, become a God and will stand by our side.” Jun Wu continued in an even tone, his face showing no emotion, exactly as Bai Wuxiang’s own face hidden by the mask.

“You will go down there. Mask yourself, take an appearance of anyone you need, I don’t particularly care. What I care about however is Xianle.”

While it was unnecessary to say these things out loud, it felt rather cathartic to finally voice his feelings to someone else besides the beasts on his face, who never reacted the way he wanted them to.

Since Bai Wuxiang was a part of Jun Wu, he felt exactly the same things the Emperor himself was feeling and continued to take in all the unnecessary facts.

“Go down and take care of him. Become someone he trusts, become one of his confidants, servants, maids. Become one of his ghosts. Guide him along the path he is destined for. Protect him from any possible harm he could face and report to me anything and everything he does.”

With his next words, Jun Wu turned to the clone and leaned in, “But trust me, should you fail to do so, your failure will be the very last thing you will ever do.”

The masked man tilted its head and eventually returned to its original posture.

“It will be done.” Answered a voice belonging to a young man.

“Go.”

And so, it went.

Descending to the kingdom of Xianle was as easy as breathing. Not that the calamity needed to breathe, but regardless.

Spotting the Prince was even easier than that.

The boy was surrounded by two boys his age, a few teachers, where Bai Wuxiang spotted the wretched traitor, his mother and father smiling at him from afar.

The precious child was training his fighting skills, balancing on a thin log, seemingly to test his balance. He was doing very well, just as Bai Wuxiang knew he would.

Suddenly he tilted to one side a bit too much and just before he could lose his footing, the calamity made itself invisible and gave him just the slightest push so he wouldn’t fall.

For Xie Lian it seemed like a wind flew by and he laughed, making the other children openly stare in awe as the Prince seemingly floated back on. The maids, guards and teacher were whispering to each other about how luck really seemed to favor their Prince, how he really was the Dearest of the Heavens, if he wasn’t even allowed to fall. The queen only shared a knowing look with the king of the nation and the monarch only sighed but smiled at his wife.

The only one who wasn’t experiencing any positive emotion was Mei Nianqing.

For the energy which he could sense flew by was absolutely filthy. It was akin to the feeling he got from his former ward, the Crown Prince of Wuyong. Only it was twisted on itself, laughing in his face and caressing his new ward, the Crown Prince of Xianle. It seemed to melt into the skin of the youngster who was back again on his feet and confidently waved his sword with precise moves.

Horror dawned upon Mei Nianqing and he was suddenly cast into a vision. It was exactly the same thing he witnessed many, many years ago when his friends were alive and happy in their service to the Wuyong’s Prince.

Hate and death plagued the streets of Xianle and black skies loomed above it all. The people were screaming, tortured and mad with pain, grief and hopelessness. The lavish homes of the Xianle nobility were being burned and smoke was rising to the dark skies. Within his vision, he tried searching for his ward and dear student, but he couldn’t find him. When trying to look into the faces of the other people on the streets, he couldn’t make out anything, other than the sound of their pained screams.

It was exactly like 1200 years ago and panic filled the man. He reached for a tiny blade he kept in his inner robe and pricked his arm, tethering himself to reality and leaving his bloody and deadly vision behind.

As he came back to his own body, he couldn’t help but notice that the energy surrounding Xie Lian was exactly the same that was woven into every atom of his vision. When the energy noticed him paying attention, it seemed to laugh at him and gave him a wave of his hand, the other clutching the Prince.

“So sad, so sad. Your Highness, look at yourself, look what they’ve done to you.”

Through the eyes of Bai Wuxiang, Jun Wu was watching the prince on the ground. He was tripped by the other children that were running around him at all times, Mu Qing and Feng Xin, if his memory served him well. (It did. When it came to Xianle, his memory was never wrong. Never, never, never, never about his child.) As a part of their training, they had to work in various pairs against one of them – this time it was the two of them against Xie Lian. Normally this wouldn’t pose a threat to His Highness, however as a disadvantage in order to make the spar a bit more fair to the two of the kids, Xie Lian was blindfolded.

One thing led to another, and by the end of the practice fight, the young Master was laying on his side, his ankle looking a bit swollen and red.

Bai Wuxiang manifested out of thin air, his malicious presence making itself known to all others in the room. He, of course, took on a different face – a plain one, that wouldn’t stand out in a crowd – and acting as one of the eunuchs in the palace went and checked on the Prince.

It was exhilarating, being able to hold out his arm and finally touch Xianle in front of the small crowd. Of course, Jun Wu already touched his child before – patted his head, rocked him when he was a small babe, stroked his back – but this? Being able to hold out his hand, feel the Prince reach out with his own arm on his own accord and pulling him upwards? This was something new and something infinitely precious.

“Who are you?” questioned Xianle, looking at the man suspiciously. Jun Wu couldn’t really fault him, for Bai Wuxiang was created by the malicious energy found in the Kiln and his aura of wrongness couldn’t disappear, even when taking on a new skin.

“This one is no one important, Your Highness. A mere servant, here to help you along your way.” Replied the man with a hollow smile on his face. It didn’t reach his eyes, which were cold and lifeless.

“…”

Xie Lian didn’t say anything, simply squinted his eyes at the figure and let himself be pulled up to his feet. When he put his weight on his injured ankle, he hissed, which prompted not only Jun Wu, but also the small party around him – the teacher, the two other children and the maid standing in the corner of the hall.

“Your Highness are you alright?” asked one of the youngsters, already running towards the Prince. The young man also gave Bai Wuxiang a vary side-eye and helped the Prince lean on him to guide him to a stool, where he would rest.

As soon as the Prince sat down, everyone started fretting about him, calling for a doctor and an apothecary to look at his swollen foot.

The requested servants soon rushed in and started examining the ankle. Xie Lian was slightly red in the face and Jun Wu suspected it wasn’t from the training. It was truly adorable, seeing his little child being embarrassed about being looked after. However both Jun Wu and Xie Lian knew that it was simply something a Prince must endure and that his health would always take the first place. Knowing his darling child so well, the Emperor knew that this was a deeply uncomfortable situation for him. Others taking care of him showed his human side a bit too much and made him seem weak. Showed that his mortal flesh wasn’t impenetrable and still suspectable to injuries. Truly, Jun Wu couldn’t wait until he would welcome Xianle to his ranks in the Heavens-

“Ah, this is truly nothing, you don’t have to fret so much, it was just a misstep, nothing serious…” complained the young Prince to all of them, looking at nobody in particular.

“Your Highness shouldn’t ignore this, it might cause more problems if not treated properly,” advised the doctor when he was done putting his foot in a silky bandage.

“It truly is nothing though! After all, this Body is in abyss, heart in paradise.”

…

…

…

What?

What did the child say?

“Body in abyss, heart in paradise?” Does he really think that this simple injury was something that could be categorized as all the pain Jun Wu went through? That this little thing was something worth calling the abyss? Jun Wu’s state of mind wasn’t usually the best and he himself would admit that he was unstable from time to time, but this little sentence enraged him to his core.

If the Prince wanted his body to be in abyss, why shouldn’t Jun Wu show him what it really truly means to be in abyss? After all, he doesn’t want his dear Heir to be a liar, or someone who talks about things he doesn’t know about.

Fury gripped the Emperor’s heart and in real time in the Heavenly Capital in the Palace of Divine Might, where a meeting amongst the Martial gods was taking place, his face suddenly turned ice cold and enraged. The poor little god who was speaking turned white in face at the sight of his Lord and his anger. He stammered out the end of his report and went silent, not daring to make any sound. Not that the other gods very any different.

Body in abyss, heart in paradise, Body in abyss, heart in paradise, Body in abyss, heart in paradise, Body in abyss, heart in paradise, Body in abyss, heart in paradise, Body in abyss, heart in paradise, Body in abyss, heart in paradise, Body in abyss, heart in paradise, Body in abyss, heart in paradise, Body in abyss, heart in paradiseBody in abyss, heart in paradiseBody in abyss, heart in paradiseBody in abyss, heart in paradiseBody in abyss, heart in paradiseBody in abyss, heart in paradiseBody in abyss, heart in paradiseBody in abyss, heart in paradiseBody in abyss, heart in paradiseBody in abyss, heart in paradise

He will show his Xianle what his abyss was made of.