The rift in reality widened like an eye opening, and through it, a voice resonated that made the entire Ministry building tremble:
"GENERAL BAI. EXPLAIN."
Bai dropped to one knee, his Nascent Soul cultivation suddenly seeming insignificant. "Your Majesty, I was eliminating the War God as ordered—"
"ORDERED? I COMMANDED SURVEILLANCE. OBSERVATION. NOT DIRECT ENGAGEMENT."
The attention shifted, and Kai felt the full weight of the Jade Emperor's spiritual sense pressing down on him. It was like being examined by a mountain, by the sky itself.
In his prime, Kai had stood before the Jade Emperor as an equal. Now, with only two fragments recovered, he could barely withstand the scrutiny.
But he didn't kneel.
"KAI ZHENWU. THE TRAITOROUS WAR GOD. YOU WERE TO REMAIN DORMANT."
"You tried to kill me," Kai said, his voice steady despite the pressure. "Did you expect me to stay dead as a favor?"
"WE EXPECTED YOU TO ACCEPT YOUR FATE. THE HEAVENLY DAO DECREED YOUR POWER WAS TOO GREAT. YOUR EXISTENCE THREATENED THE BALANCE."
"The balance," Kai repeated flatly. "Or your comfort? I never sought the throne, Jade Emperor. I only defended the realms."
"AND IN DOING SO, YOU GREW STRONGER THAN THE GODS YOU SERVED. THAT IS THE THREAT."
Around them, the Ministry building continued to shake. Alarms blared. Cultivators were evacuating, sensing the cosmic-level energies at play.
Director Lin had recovered from Bai's paralysis and was backing toward the door, her face pale. "What... what are you?"
Kai didn't look at her. "Someone who was betrayed by those he trusted."
"BETRAYAL? WE OFFERED YOU ASCENSION. A PLACE AMONG THE SUPREME DEITIES. YOU REFUSED."
"Because the price was surrendering my will. Becoming a puppet like—" Kai gestured to Bai, "—like him."
Bai flinched.
"GENERAL BAI SERVES THE HEAVENS WILLINGLY."
"Bai serves because he has no choice. None of the Twelve do. You bound their souls to the Heavenly Throne. They're slaves pretending to be gods."
The rift pulsed with anger.
"YOU DARE—"
"I dare because I'm already dead!" Kai's voice rose, spiritual energy flaring around him. "You killed me, scattered my soul, cast me into the mortal realm. What more can you do? Kill me again? I'll just return, stronger and angrier."
Silence from the rift.
Then, unexpectedly: "YOU'VE RECOVERED TWO FRAGMENTS."
"Yes."
"THERE ARE TEN MORE."
"I'll find them."
"AND WHEN YOU DO? WHEN YOUR FULL CULTIVATION RETURNS, WILL YOU SEEK REVENGE? WILL YOU CHALLENGE THE HEAVENLY THRONE ITSELF?"
Kai paused. In truth, he hadn't thought that far ahead. His focus had been survival, then recovery, then dealing with immediate threats.
But now, standing before the Jade Emperor's consciousness, he realized revenge was exactly what he wanted.
"Yes," Kai said simply. "I will."
The rift shuddered. For a moment, Kai thought the Jade Emperor would strike him down through sheer will.
Instead: "INTERESTING. YOU ADMIT IT WITHOUT HESITATION. NO LIES. NO POLITICAL MANEUVERING. THIS IS WHY WE FEARED YOU, WAR GOD. YOUR HONESTY IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN ANOTHER'S DECEPTION."
"Then kill me now and be done with it."
"NO."
Kai blinked. "What?"
"WE WILL NOT KILL YOU. NOR WILL WE HINDER YOUR FRAGMENT COLLECTION."
Bai's head snapped up. "Your Majesty, you can't be serious! He's a threat to the entire—"
"SILENCE, GENERAL."** Bai's voice cut off mid-sentence, his throat constricted by invisible force. **"THE WAR GOD PRESENTS AN OPPORTUNITY. A TEST."
Kai's eyes narrowed. "What kind of test?"
"THE MORTAL REALM FACES A THREAT. ONE WE CANNOT DIRECTLY INTERVENE AGAINST DUE TO ANCIENT TREATIES. BUT YOU, KAI ZHENWU, ARE NO LONGER BOUND BY HEAVENLY LAW. YOU ARE MORTAL NOW."
"The disappearances," Kai said, understanding dawning. "Heaven's Eye Sect. They're not just kidnapping cultivation families, they're looking for something specific."
"THE CELESTIAL VAULT. YOU WERE CORRECTED IN YOUR DEDUCTION."** The Jade Emperor's voice carried a weight of concern that surprised Kai. "FIVE THOUSAND YEARS AGO, HEAVEN'S EYE NEARLY SUCCEEDED IN OPENING IT. THE SECT WAS DESTROYED, BUT THEIR LEADER—THE TRUE PROPHET—ESCAPED. WE THOUGHT HIM DEAD. WE WERE WRONG."
"What's in the Vault?"
"WEAPONS. FORBIDDEN TECHNIQUES. ARTIFACTS FROM BEFORE THE CURRENT HEAVENLY ORDER. ITEMS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO THREATEN GODS." A pause. "INCLUDING THE CHAIN OF BINDING—THE VERY ARTIFACT USED TO ENSLAVE THE TWELVE SUPREME DEITIES TO THE THRONE."
Kai's breath caught. If the True Prophet obtained the Chain of Binding, he could control the Supreme Deities. Control them, and through them, potentially control the Heavenly Realm itself.
"Why not send an army? Surely the Heavens can spare—"
"THE TREATY OF SEPARATION FORBIDS DIRECT HEAVENLY INTERVENTION IN MORTAL AFFAIRS UNLESS INVITED BY MORTAL AUTHORITY. THE CULTIVATION AFFAIRS MINISTRY HAS NOT EXTENDED THAT INVITATION. THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW THE TRUE SCOPE OF THE THREAT."
"So you want me to stop Heaven's Eye."
"WE WANT YOU TO HAVE A CHOICE. STOP THEM, AND WE WILL GRANT YOU FULL AMNESTY. YOUR FRAGMENTS WILL BE REVEALED TO YOU. YOUR DIVINE SPARK WILL BE RESTORED. YOU MAY EVEN RECLAIM YOUR POSITION AS WAR GOD—FREELY, WITHOUT BINDING."
It was tempting. Everything Kai had lost, offered back to him.
But there was always a catch.
"And if I refuse?"
"THEN THE TRUE PROPHET OPENS THE VAULT. REALITY ITSELF MAY FRACTURE. MILLIONS DIE. THE HEAVENLY REALM FALLS. AND YOU—MORTAL, POWERLESS, FRAGMENTED—DIE WITH EVERYONE ELSE."
"That's not a choice. That's blackmail."
"THAT IS REALITY." The Jade Emperor's voice softened slightly. "WE WRONGED YOU, KAI ZHENWU. THE TWELVE DEITIES ACTED ON OUR ORDERS, BUT THE DECISION WAS OURS. WE OFFER THIS NOT AS COMPENSATION—NOTHING COMPENSATES FOR WHAT WAS DONE—BUT AS ACKNOWLEDGMENT. YOU WERE THE GREATEST WARRIOR THE HEAVENS EVER PRODUCED. WE NEED YOU AGAIN."
Kai stood in the ruined conference room, the rift pulsing before him, a god, his former employer, his betrayer asking for help.
He thought of Wei'er, hiding somewhere in this building. Of the cultivation families being kidnapped. Of the mortal realm he'd been forced into, that had become his home over these three years.
"I have conditions," Kai said.
"NAME THEM."
"First: General Bai returns to the Heavenly Realm immediately. No more Deities sent to 'observe' me. I work alone."
Bai looked like he wanted to protest, but the Jade Emperor's response was immediate: "AGREED."
"Second: Wei'er Chen Wei'er is under my protection. Any harm that comes to her, from mortal or divine source, and I stop hunting Heaven's Eye and start hunting you."
"...AGREED."
"Third: When this is over, I want answers. The truth about why you really decided I was too dangerous. I don't believe it was just about power balance."
Silence from the rift.
Then: "THERE ARE TRUTHS EVEN GODS FEAR TO SPEAK. BUT YES. WHEN THE TRUE PROPHET IS DEFEATED, YOU WILL HAVE YOUR ANSWERS."
Kai nodded. "Then I accept. I'll stop Heaven's Eye."
"GENERAL BAI WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH WHAT INTELLIGENCE WE'VE GATHERED. AFTER THAT, HE RETURNS HOME." The rift began to close. "ONE FINAL WARNING, WAR GOD: THE TRUE PROPHET IS NOT AS YOU REMEMBER. FIVE THOUSAND YEARS IN HIDING HAS CHANGED HIM. TWISTED HIM. HE IS NO LONGER ENTIRELY MORTAL."
"What does that mean?"
But the rift sealed before the Jade Emperor could answer.
The conference room fell silent except for the distant sounds of alarms and evacuation orders.
Bai stood slowly, his expression unreadable. He pulled a jade slip from his robes and tossed it to Kai. "Everything we know. Locations, techniques, suspected converts. It's not much."
"Why did you really come here tonight?" Kai asked. "You could have waited. Observed longer. But you attacked immediately when you saw me."
Bai's jaw tightened. "Because I'm tired of being a slave. I thought if I killed you quickly, proved my value, the Jade Emperor might—" He cut himself off. "It doesn't matter. I failed."
"The Chain of Binding," Kai said. "Is it really in the Vault?"
"Yes. Along with eleven other artifacts of similar power. If the True Prophet gets them..." Bai shook his head. "Even the Heavenly Realm would fall."
"Then why not just destroy the Vault?"
"We can't. The Vault exists outside normal space. It's anchored to the mortal realm through bloodline markers descendants of the original Vault keepers. Heaven's Eye is kidnapping those descendants, using their blood to locate and open the entrance."
Kai absorbed this. "How many bloodline markers exist?"
"Seven were needed to seal the Vault. Six have been found. One remains."
"And Heaven's Eye is hunting it."
"Actively." Bai moved toward the door, then paused. "For what it's worth, War God, I didn't agree with what was done to you. But I had no choice."
"You always have a choice."
"Not when your soul is bound to a throne." Bai's form began to shimmer, golden light surrounding him. "Good luck. You'll need it."
He vanished, returning to the Heavenly Realm.
Kai stood alone in the destroyed conference room, holding the jade slip.
Director Lin appeared in the doorway, flanked by a dozen armed cultivators. Her expression was a mix of fear, anger, and confusion.
"What," she said carefully, "the hell just happened?"