Back in the heaven realm, Tetra was imprisoned in an empty void of darkness, floating with nothing but her own awareness for company.

The moment her abilities were stripped from her she lost all sense of how long she had been there. She would stay until the Great Strife ended, and be retried after.

Then a spark of light appeared from nowhere, spreading to every corner and flooding the space. Tetra touched down on solid ground and for the first time in a long while she could see her own body.

An angel in majestic clothing materialized out of thin air. Golden hair, lush and full, nothing like Tetra's snow-white. She descended slowly on six wings, each one grand in size.

(I thought no one could reach this place.)

Tetra said, without much surprise in her face.

(I am crowned heir of Xenovia. Who could possibly forbid me from seeing my little sister.)

The angel said with a warm smile.

(I spoke with the Grand Chancellor. She said she would nullify the imprisonment order if you retrieve your divinity from the mortal.)

(I can't, Eloa. It is the only source of power I have left to monitor him.)

Eloa's expression shifted, the same way Obsidia's had when she first heard.

(The mortal?!)

She said sharply.

(Don't be ridiculous. When they told me the story I thought it was made up. Tetra, angels and humans do not belong together.)

Eloa stepped closer with her wings spread wide, a clear display of how strongly she felt about it. Tetra did not react.

(We will find a way, I have made up my mind.)

Tetra answered simply.

(Don't you care about everything you put in to get where you are? All those people who placed their trust in you? You are throwing it all away for a mortal?!)

Eloa pushed harder, trying to get something out of her.

(You're different from before. The ambitious sister I used to know seems to have gone somewhere.)

She let it sit there as a final attempt, then turned to leave.

(The Grand Chancellor was right. You need time to sort your thoughts. Call for me when you are ready.)

The light vanished. The ground disappeared beneath her feet and Tetra began to float again.

But in her mind she was not disappointed. She was not feeling sorry for herself either.

('You are different,' she said. Of course I am. The man I loved had killed for me. A lot of things became inconsequential after a sacrifice like that.)

...

"Mr. Yi, this will be your accommodation. Everything you requested has been prepared. If you have any complaints we can make arrangements."

Miss Xue said as she led Hou Yi into the apartment.

Hou Yi looked the room over. Not too big. A bedroom with a bathroom attached, a treadmill and a few weights in the corner, a table, a bed, and a change of clothes folded on top of it.

"Thank you. It looks good."

Hou Yi said. Miss Xue bowed and left.

He had already eaten so he went straight to the weights, running through everything he knew well. Sit-ups, pull-ups, running. Moving was awkward on the treadmill but he dropped the speed and did it anyway.

By the time his muscles gave out he was soaked through. He jumped in the shower, changed into the fresh set of clothes, and picked up the device the facility had left for him since he had walked out of his house without his phone.

He checked the news.

As expected, he was trending. The entire first page was him.

[A never before seen talent, the first Rank 4, Lee Hou Yi.]

[China to be the first country to possess a Rank 4.]

[The First Rank 4, Lee Hou Yi appeared out of the Pillar of Glory.]

[Lee Hou Yi, the first ever performative Chi user.]

Every headline was about him, and every article was running the same photo, Hou Yi standing in front of the black monolith, cane in hand, several guns aimed at him. The picture alone was pulling in traffic. Some people were already calling the whole thing staged.

Hou Yi did not care what anyone was saying. He scrolled past the headlines and went into the forums.

Not even a full day and there were already threads on everything.

Once someone stabilizes the Chi inside them, the mist stops leaking. That explains why Yu Ming had no steam coming off him even though he was clearly using it.

He clicked on a thread titled: I was in the same group as Darren Rafner, the first ranker in the U.S., and he told me how he advanced so quickly.

Hmmm.

Apparently Darren would break away from the crowd every time he attempted to sense Chi, moving far out so the concentration would be thicker with fewer people drawing on it. So all I need is a low-population area.

The problem is that it still does not help me. Lunox said Chi would release at a lower density after humans returned to earth. It does not matter if I am a hundred miles from the nearest city, the air still will not carry enough for me to use that approach.

Hou Yi kept scrolling. No reports yet of any sites with unusually high Chi concentrations.

He dropped back onto the bed, then immediately sat back up.

"Right. The stored skill."

He got up and grabbed his cane. The reason he had bothered testing the cane on Shin Tao, when he could have finished things without it, was to get a look at what the absorbed skill actually did.

He stood in the center of the room and held the cane upright in front of him by the handle, then thought about releasing whatever was stored inside.

His body began to turn translucent, blending into the room behind him.

He went invisible for a second, then reappeared. But when he came back four other figures came with him, standing side by side, each one looking and dressed exactly like him. Unlike Shin Tao's mirage these ones had something behind their eyes. More presence, more vitality. None of them were holding a cane though. All four were empty-handed.

Hou Yi's Rank 4 had pushed the absorbed skill up with him, even though it had started as a Rank 1 initial stage.

He reached out and tried to touch one. His hand passed straight through.

Still intangible.

He sent a command in his head and all four moved in sync without hesitation.

So this is what Shin Tao's skill would have looked like if he had actually made it to Rank 4. Partial invisibility plus multiple mirages that respond to commands.

Hou Yi sat watching them, waiting to see how long they would hold. He fell asleep within a few minutes and the mirages went with him.

...

He woke up at four in the morning. The sun was not out yet but the routine he had kept for twenty-five years had not gone anywhere.

He tried to sit up and his whole body immediately reminded him of last night. Sore everywhere.

He lay back down, and then smiled.

Finally.

Muscle soreness meant his body was breaking down and rebuilding the way it was supposed to. The time-freeze drawback, where sleep would revert his cells instead of letting them recover and grow, had finally cleared. He could actually train now and have something to show for it.

He got up grunting, gritting his teeth, still smiling through it. His core was hit the worst, screaming at him with every small movement.

He did his full session anyway. Sit-ups, pull-ups, crunches, same number of sets as before, just with longer rests in between.

After that he washed up, and almost immediately heard a knock at the door.

Miss Xue was standing outside with a folded suit in hand.

"Mr. Yi, General Zhou has asked me to bring you to the meeting."

She said, passing it over.

Hou Yi had put in a request to have a suit tailored the day before. He nodded and closed the door to change.

A cane sits on the border between fashion and mobility. To carry it the right way, the cane alone is not enough.

The suit fit perfectly. White dress shirt, tinted black coat, slim-cut trousers, smart shoes.

The kind of look where anyone who noticed the cane would not think ‘disability’. They would think it belonged there.

"Lead the way."

He said, opening the door.

Miss Xue paused for just a second. She was the one who had brought the clothes but she had not expected the change to be that striking.

The coat covered the awkward way he carried himself when walking, which had always been the first thing people noticed. Before, it had been the cane that stood out because everything around it was a hoodie and slippers. Now the whole picture worked together. It was not just the cane standing out anymore. It was Hou Yi.

She led him to the centre of the base.

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING.

A large sign greeted them before they even stepped inside. They took the elevator up and walked into a wide executive office, round table in the middle, walls made entirely of glass, noticeably bigger and better furnished than anything else in the building.

Ten people were already seated. One chair was empty.

Every head turned toward Hou Yi as he walked in. The suit caught them off guard too.

He scanned the faces but recognized only one.

"Hou Yi. Glad you made it."

Zhou Zhixia said, gesturing toward the open seat at the far end of the table.

Hou Yi sat down and rested his cane beside him.

"These are the top ten rankers from the Pillar of Glory. We can handle introductions later."

"The accords are bringing Chi users in as we speak. Once they have settled we can begin recruitment."

Zhou Zhixia explained the structure. Ten task forces, each led by one of the top ten rankers. With Hou Yi added to the picture that became eleven. Civilian Chi users and any military Chi user outside the top ten would have the chance to join one of the groups. Anyone not selected would still be drafted, just not at the same standing as those chosen by the top ten and Hou Yi.

"And why exactly do we have to share the same rank as someone whose name is not even on the Pillar."

One of the men spoke up from across the table.