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TIAN STOOD BEFORE THE HEAVENS.

All Seven of them stared back at her with their iridescent light. They hung from the jade-green dome overhead, filling the skies with their illustrious presence, each arched gateway leading out of the Middle Realm to ascension.

Such a glorious sight— that was not why Tian was here. She had visited the Heavens before, survived their harsh nature, and overcame it all to become a Florescence. That was not her path. Not anymore.

Only one future lay before Tian, and it was the golden nimbus cloud hovering above the Heavens themselves. It seemed so far; even from the peak of Vedas Mountain, it was nothing more than a speck in the sky. It was like a star, dangling from the tip of the world. An unsurmountable, unreachable destination that exhausted one just from looking at it.

Steeling herself, Tian tightened the sash around her enchanted satin wraps and placed her lead foot forward. Her braided emerald hair began to rise as she dug her feet into the ground, cycling her Qi with a deep breath.

Pressure gathered within her core like it was a hot spring, steam bubbling to the top before bursting up in a column of boiling water. The earth shot out, propelling her past the Seven Heavens in a single motion. A jet of flames took over, roaring beneath Tian’s feet as she soared past the white clouds, heading straight for the Forsaken Palace.

That had been the easy part. What came next was where others fell.

Lightning thundered down from the Forsaken Palace. Yellow cracks of pure, concentrated Qi, the likes of which Tian had never seen before, came crashing down at her. The flash reflected in her violet eyes, fear flared up in her heart, and she was obliterated in an instant.

Then the air flickered; a fissure seemed to form where she once had been. What appeared to be shards of glass collapsed like a curtain being dropped. And the illusion ended.

A wide grin spread through Tian’s lips as she opened her arms, welcoming the challenge before her. She flew higher and higher, zipping through the sky at an intense speed. Once or twice, the bolts of celestial lightning seemed to hit her. Again, they would strike a mirrored reflection, shattering the false image to smithereens, revealing their true target far to the side.

That was the School of Phantasm. Essence drawn from the Seventh Heaven— Qi molded in that world of nightmarish illusions into something more. She filtered the Red Essence through her core into Qi, its power wisping from her skin like a luminescent smoke.

Trailing through the ether like a reverse comet, Tian danced her way past the tempest and soon arrived at the base of the expansive, golden cloud. She set foot on a large courtyard, its tiled floor glistening at the edges, as if leaking light.

The edifice before her was the Forsaken Palace, her destination. It was an entire complex of dark green buildings with straight inclined roofs. Two towers rose up on the corners of the structure, and multiple layers of those shingled, slate-gray surfaces were interspersed all the way up. The main palatial structure was set between these towers, the sweeping curvature of its roof peaking at the corners.

Tian cast her gaze through the empty court. A tingling sensation ran through her spine— the experienced Cultivator sensed something was amiss. Before the ground even shook, she had already lithely landed on the tiled rooftops. She watched as Spirits seeped through the cracks between the bricks like mud being squeezed out of the ground, before exploding up into a swarm of translucent locusts.

The sable blanket threatened to cover her from all sides and suffocate her. But Tian raised a hand as her mouth moved.

“Flee.”

A cone of Yellow Essence burst out of her open palm. The wrath of the Spirits was replaced with fear; their anger had been dispelled with a single word. It was a technique from the School of Invocation— one Tian had mastered in the Second Heaven.

The Spirits parted before her, like a river receding during a drought. Stalking her way through the imperial halls, she continued unimpeded by the natural protections of the Forsaken Palace. She passed under coruscating chandeliers of azure light, brilliant enchanted sapphires held in their web of arms.

A blood-red carpet led her to a throne room. Except, no throne stood at the very top of the emerald steps leading up. Instead, a dodecahedron larger than Tian herself floated under a rainbow of light. It shimmered an ethereal green, its many surfaces exuding all of the Essences from the Heavens.

“The Spirit Jade,” Tian breathed. A small smile spread across her lips as she finally caught sight of her goal. “The final step to Spring. To immortality.”

She started forward, hands already digging into the novacloth pouch tied onto her sash. Producing three ginsoul pills from the small bag, she swallowed them and prepared for the fight to come.

Three jade constructs made to resemble a man, a woman, and a child approached her from between the tall pillars supporting the high ceiling. They bore no weapons, only bringing their crystalline fists to face her. Good, Tian thought and adopted a fighting stance. Let’s see what they’re made of.

They surrounded her flanks before lashing out with a kick, an open palm, and a feigned strike. Tian ducked under the kick and redirected the open palm to the child construct. There was a loud crack from the two jade constructs hitting each other, but otherwise no damage was visible on the bright green surface.

Tian narrowed her eyes and drew back. She inhaled deeply as the Qi inside her raced through her meridian before concentrating on her fingertips. “School of Enchantment.” The man construct charged her— and she jabbed out with all five of her fingers. It was smashed apart, like a vase knocked off a pedestal.

Before Tian could gloat in her victory however, the child construct swept her off her feet and slammed its shin against her stomach. She felt her breath leaving her lungs in a sighing wheeze. Two fists clasped together hammered onto her back and sent her flying through the room’s pillars and into the side wall.

She picked herself up, coughing up dust as debris rained around her. Wiping the blood from her lips with her sleeve, Tian shook her head and let out a sigh. “I was hoping to take you three out with my skills alone— but it seems I’ve overestimated myself.”

The two remaining constructs ignored the pointless words and rushed her— their footfalls rapidly approaching. Tian straightened and drew her Qi out of her body. A fiery phoenix wreathed itself over her shoulder, causing the constructs to pause and stare at the form of a legendary Sacred Beast.

But it was no Sacred Beast that attacked them. It was a mastery over the fire element that created this. The flames wrapped around the child construct and incinerated it, leaving only the woman construct to fight Tian.

It resumed its senseless charge against the intruder, but was cut short by the sprouting of a new pillar in the room. One to replace the previously destroyed pillars. Except this one was made entirely out of metal.

The metal column crushed the woman construct against the ceiling of the Forsaken Palace, chips of its jade-like material clattering down around Tian. The Cultivator trudged up the steps to the Spirit Jade, a soft whisper escaping her lips. “That… wasn’t too hard.” She only had to use three out of the seven Essences; it was not what she expected at all.

Sure, the techniques she used were all ones she learned as a Florescence. They certainly were above the capabilities of any Blossom, let alone a Bloom or a Bud. However, with how few Cultivators ascended to immortality— to become a Spring— she assumed the test for the Spirit Jade would have been deadlier.

To think I spent all those decades cultivating, tempering my spirit, inuring myself through the Heavens, only to face such a simple task. Tian almost laughed. It was like a cruel joke— one she was used to being the victim of before she left her sect. It doesn’t matter, I’ve finally done it.

Tian reached out for the Spirit Jade, resting her hand gently on one of its twelve faces. “Show me,” she said and began cycling in the Qi from it, “show me how to become immortal!”

“The test is complete,” a voice boomed through the room, sending a tremor that nearly knocked Tian off her feet.

She stumbled forward and caught herself against the Spirit Jade. Her core was still cycling its Qi, yet no change had made itself apparent to her. What’s going on?

Confusion settled into her thoughts as the Forsaken Palace itself seemed to crumble under the weight of the mighty voice, even the Spirit Jade sank through the golden cloud and disappeared into nothing. Tian floundered on the ground for it, grasping at the snow-soft surface of the nimbus that once held a beautiful castle. But it was no more. And in its place, five figures showed themselves to her, coming to existence with a flash of dazzling light.

The scene slowly began to make sense to Tian; her mind cleared up as she understood the situation. Recognition flickered in her eyes as she studied each of the five figures. Each distinct and unique that she knew their names in an instant.

“It was all an illusion.” The words left her lips even through her unmoving mouth. Her jaw was hanging out, her eyes snapping from one person to the next. “Long, Sun, Nalum, Iluh, and Qinshi. The only five Cultivators in history known to have ascended to Spring. The only five known immortals in the world.”

A Dragon, a man with a monkey’s tail, a woman wielding a sword, a Sacred Beast that took the form of a fox, and the only man known to have united all the sects under his rule. They stood before Tian, eyes fixed on her, judging her.

The first to speak was Qinshi. The piece of cloud carrying him lowered as he clapped his hands together. “We have tested your might, and you have proven yourself indomitable.”

Tian blinked, caught off guard by the sudden movement. She was not prepared for the next one to continue. “We have tested your skills,” Nalum announced, sheathing her sword as she flitted down. “And you have proven yourself masterful.”

“We have tested your guiles.” Tian’s eyes darted over to Iluh. The fox Sacred Beast walked towards her, as if she were making her way down steep, invisible steps. “And you have proven yourself cunning.”

“We have tested your desire, and you have proven yourself determined.” Sun sat on a fan that slowly descended, his tail tightly wrapped around its head.

Tian felt her heart jump, anticipation growing within her. This is it, she thought, her disappointment from finding out the Spirit Jade was a fake gone and replaced with excitement. Everything I’ve been waiting for. Can I… can I become one of them?

“We have tested your soul,” Long said, the mighty Dragon coiling himself up in the air like a serpent. He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his white beard. His scales gleamed with a multitude of colors, as if the Heavens themselves were reflected on him. Then he cracked an eye open and spoke slowly. “And you have proven yourself… lacking.”

There was a moment’s pause. A moment where the world around Tian spun. Her? Lacking? That made no sense. She had done everything right. She had trained so hard— been through so much hardship— just to be here. To become… immortal.

And she failed? That’s not right. That can’t be— Then Tian’s gaze grew alert. She noticed the five immortals continue their descent, encroaching on her. The test… was too easy. Why have so many Cultivators failed when it had been so simple? The answer made itself clear now.

Tian took a deep breath and swallowed a handful of ginsoul pills. She was going to need them. She was going to need everything she had ever learned or earned right this instant. If she wanted to live.

All seven Essences flared inside of Tian. The lone Florescence met with the five Springs, And a battle of the Heavens commenced.

The sky shook and thunder boomed above the golden cloud. Illusion, fire, Spirits, wood, and water mixed together into a storm of concentrated Qi that made the Seven Heavens pale in comparison. Tian thought she was putting up a good fight against the Springs, but it was five against one.

Blood splattered from the woman and stained her bright clothes a dark red. The blood dripped out and formed into glinting metal needles that shot out and rained down on Long. It bounced off his scales, and the Dragon breathed a holy fire that consumed her wooden barrier in an instant.

Techniques, the Schools of the Essences, and the elements would not save her here. The world itself tore at the fighting. Roots of rebirth were consumed greedily by Tian, closing up the wounds inflicted on her as she struggled to survive. Then she saw the hole in space.

The void of nothingness seemed so inviting compared to the celestial pressure she faced. So, without thought, she took her only escape.

Tian fled from Jhisie, not realizing where it would take her. Not understanding that it would take her to nowhere at all.

Her body floated freely through the void, the feeling of endless pain and suffering; joy and ecstasy; and nothing at all filled her senses entirely. Her being was pulled and tugged; torn and ripped; and fixed and repaired all at once.

An infinite amount of time passed. As did no time at all. Until finally, something saved her.

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For surviving the void, you have been rewarded with the Lost Soul Class!
- One who has strayed from their path, wandering the world, not knowing where they are, or where they are going.

Tian
Race: Ren
Class: Lost Soul Level 1
Feats:
- Void Walk

With those words suddenly filling my head, I wake up.