Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 44 - part B

She rarely slept, and Chao knew she wasn’t sleeping now, but he was just as gentle as if she had been as he lifted her off his chest and laid her down on the matting they’d placed on the ground.

“Where are you going?” She whispered without opening her eyes.

“For a walk. I’ll stay on this floor. I just have some thinking to do.”

“Okay.”

He did as he said. The sixth floor was open from end to end with murals on most of the walls. There were only gaps to give some separation from one piece to another. They had sat up their array formations in one of these gaps.

He scanned the murals as he walked, but his mind was too preoccupied to notice much of what he saw. There was some great orator standing over a sea of people. He wore a majestic cloak that would be out of place in any of the regions Chao had visited.

There were two cultivators facing off high in the air over a valley. Their techniques were immense and only spared the world’s surface because they so desired.

A beautiful fairy floated above a mob of men reaching up with gifts in their hands.

But it was a common battle scene that caught his attention. Everything was framed to pull his eyes to the rest upon the determined look of one man among many who seemed to be on the losing side. Chao knew this wasn’t the case. Why was he so certain?

As common as this man might look, he hid tremendous power. But even if he acted and the battle was won, was it worth the cost?

Chao knew the answer. That depended on the circumstances. Had the price Chao paid for what he did early that day been worth it? He wasn’t sure he yet knew what the cost was. He hadn’t been prepared for what he faced. He was caught off guard. How many situations were there waiting for him that might do the same? He couldn’t be prepared for everything. There were times he’d be left with no choice but to act. Perhaps there wasn’t a right answer.

With power came obligation. To wield the swords of mercy and justice was something not just anyone could do.

He walked away from the mural. Glancing back toward where he knew his wife lay hidden behind the formation arrays, he sighed. He’d continue what she started and tried to take his mind off the day’s events. So he did what came easy to him and returned to his tinkering.

As he walked, he thought of where he’d left off with his space laws. This sixth floor’s high pressure and qi density was just another puzzle he was looking to solve. Coming to a stop, he tore a round patch of space the size of his palm and considered what he’d already learned.

The higher air pressure made any displacement of air more costly. So creating and borrowing space took more qi, but so did reverse creating it. His canvas of torn space gave him new options. There were still limits he was trying to solve.

When he expanded a tunnel, it took qi to draw it back. Perhaps cavern was a better term since there was no second entrance. Maybe a space pocket was even better. He could make it almost any shape that he wished. Either way, expanding his canvas of torn space also displaced air.

Air’s natural tendency was to fill every container connected to it. As soon as his space pocket opened up, air was sucked in. Although, it might have been more accurate to say air pushed its way into the empty space.

Why did his canvas have to expand at all? His goal was to create a large pocket of nothing on his canvas—on nothing’s surface. He shouldn’t have to displace the air at all. If he could just create the open space, then air would naturally fill it and it would cost him far less.

He tried again. His torn space canvas was ready. He tried to open up the space behind it. To tear space in a non-existent plane. He could envision it, but that just meant it was imaginary at best.

He walked further into the open space of the room and thought of the mural of the soldier in the losing battle. It reminded him of his own enemies. First there were those that had threatened his wife. Prince Jin, Great Elder Jilpa, Emperor Sun, Prince Rong, the Fire Phoenix overlords… Those that had attacked him personally. Dvora, Elder Kang—

He faltered. Elder Kang, who was now a sage, was one of his dearest friends despite what he’d done to him in the mine. He’d grown enough to know the difference between a master’s discipline and true animosity, but the lessons he’d learned in those early months in the sect were ones he’d never forget. It had seemed that someone had wanted to take everything from him, and he’d fought back even when he knew he was destined to lose. But he hadn’t lost.

His dantian spun frantically. Qi gathered at his call.

He saw their faces. Wancheng Jolon and his wife Nang appeared amongst the ranks of his enemies. The bloodthirsty man’s smirk mocked him. Syaoran, Senior Billi’s old master that Father Zan had defeated, had worn something similar when leering at his wife. And how could he forget the twisted, justified look of Emperor Sun who had come for revenge and was more than willing to ravage his Huifen?

Just as the solider in the mural who hid his true strength, Chao faced what seemed an inevitable defeat.

The answer came. It was simple really. He couldn’t create nothing on what wasn’t there. Creating a canvas to work with wasn’t necessary if he created the space pocket all at once. If his canvas wasn’t satisfactory, then he’d recreate the canvas itself.

What he needed to face this enemy had to reach a size to match it. He had agonized for weeks over the parameters necessary to create a suction force powerful enough to combat Divine Realm cultivators. It was something he couldn’t know with certainty without many trials and testing. Testing that was impossible until now.

He reached out with a great portion of his qi to fill the open air.

It was his habit to tear space from top to bottom, but for this to work he had to create everything at once. It shouldn’t be possible. A surface the size of his palm, or even a person was one thing, but what he envisioned was many times larger.

It took so little for him to slip back into that day’s sweet fury. He envisioned his enemies and so they were there. There was something familiar with it. A desperation that had been birthed long ago. His first time feeling it was the day he left the mine. Everything faded away except for his singular purpose.

There was no push or command for his canvas to expand. And this was no door or window that opened all at once.

It was the great mouth of a Divine Beast. The internally expanse of his belly peered back at him. It was larger than the room he was currently in. As wide and equally as tall as the joint sect arena with his onlooking stands. He shouldn’t have any grasp of its size, for its borders were torn space and without light But he had created it, so he knew it, and for far too little qi.

The air started to push at his back, ripping him from his delusions as well as the ground. There were no faces, and no army. Only a colossal monster of his own making readying to swallow him whole.

He’d always been careful in his tinker. So why had he failed now? It had just come to him. He found inspiration in his madness and unequivocal need.

Huifen was behind him near the wall of the room. With air pressure equal to the Divine Realm, this pocket, this vortex, would only find strength.

He tried to fly in the opposite direction, failing. There was no escape.

He’d found a way to create something so dangerous without having to displace the air. It should’ve cost him the qi of ten overlord. That was a miracle unto itself. Even if it was far less than normal, it was still no small price.

He abandoned trying to escape entirely, throwing out his hands and pushing qi through every forward-facing meridian of his body. He created a space barrier as fast as he could.

The suction force didn’t let up. His speed only increased.

When it cut off, it happened all at once. His momentum was too much. He threw his knees up and slammed into his own barrier. His arms and legs helped brace against the impact, parting only after they’d reached the end of their strength. He smacked into the immoveable surface with the side of his face and chest.

He didn’t dare to let go of the qi he supplied to his barrier even if he’d already cut it from his giant space pocket.

He’d already fallen back to the floor when Huifen arrived at his side. He forced himself to his feet and placed himself in front of her. He knew what was coming.

The increased air pressure bolstered what contained it. Only when his creation ran out of energy to sustain itself did it collapse all at once.

The vortex had only existed ten seconds, but everything it swallowed returned all at once.

He pulled Huifen to himself and lunged at his still active space barrier. As he did, he used what little qi he had left and wrapped them inside it. He held it for a few long moments until he was sure the turbulent waves of air had settled down enough that they could manage against them.

It was like he’d finally let out his breath as he was smacked in the face with a strong gust. It was many minutes before the air in the room settled.

They found the flags of their array scattered, but thankfully undamaged. Only after they’d gathered them did she then ask. “Are you injured?”

He shook his head. “Are you?”

“No. What happened, Chao?”

He found a place to sit on the floor. Realizing what he had done, the implications started to crash down on him.

He explained what had happened.

“You know this can’t happen again, right?” She said, standing over him. “These types of mistakes can’t happen.”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then that’s the end of it.”

“No. There’s—"

“It’s not like we would’ve died. It was just a large empty space. After the air filled in, we could’ve just flown out right? Or would’ve been pushed out.”

“Not necessarily. You could probably survive for quite some time without enough air. I could for a while. But what if it would’ve thrown you against the boarder of torn space? Or if you collided with the rim of the entrance?”

“Chao, that goes without saying. You’re underestimating your wife. Have I not been watching and seen your every breakthrough? I can’t sense a space tear with the precision that you can, but I know if its there. And I’m powerful enough to traverse some wind.”

He couldn’t help but to concede her points, but that didn’t calm his spirit. He hadn’t had the chance to consider every implication when it happened, but his mind was now sifting through the most severe ones.

If she was saying anything, he had missed it, for every concession he could think of was met with an inevitable counter. It wasn’t just the accidental technique he’d just pulled off, but what he might do if he faced another Jolon or Nang that horrified him.

He started to rock back and forth. A hot flash left him pulling at his collar. He became balmy.

“Chao,” Huifen shouted. She was standing in front of him, leaning down with her nose right in his face.

Her eyes. They were beautiful. He shook his head. He didn’t want to tell her, but he couldn’t keep it from her. Stilling his uneasy movements, he held her gaze.

“Calm down, now,” she said lightly. “This isn’t like you. I’m okay. We both are.”

“Huifen. I don’t think that lower realm cultivators are supposed to be able to unlock the space laws. I’m not sure anyone is without centuries if not thousands of years of experience.”

She cupped his cheek and pressed her forehead against his. “My husband is incredible.”

He grabbed her hand. He was going to push it away, but he kissed it instead.

Sitting down right in front of him with their legs were touching, she tried to comfort him.

He wanted to forget everything, but that was impossible, so he just said it out loud. “What if I could kill everyone?”

She replied to him calmly. “It’s a power technique, but there are many out there.” She thought a moment than answered. “I can think of many limitations. It wouldn’t kill every cultivator it pulled in, and the suction force is limited in range and strength. For it to be big enough to do catastrophic damage, you would need much more qi, and don’t forget that outside of Lifestone’s atmosphere there’ no air in space. It would have no effect if created there.”

“You’re right about all those things.” It was true. “You’re just missing possibility. What if I wanted to kill people? Today I gave myself over to do things I never thought I’d do. Say you were captured, or worse, killed. What might I do then?”

He threw out his hand and created a miniature version of his vortex. It only took him one try. The opening was just the size of his fist. The pocket wasn’t very deep. He retrieved a coin from his spatial ring of lesser value and tossed it.

As it flew toward the vortex, it started to fall downward as if it were about to prove her point. He then created a wisp of wind that caught it up and took it right for the pocket of space. Before it entered, he created of web of space tears. The coin shot through it and disappeared. He stopped supplying his technique with qi. A few seconds later the coin shot out of the collapsing space to scatter across the floor in pieces.

“Making it more deadly is the easiest problem to solve. I can also manipulate its size, which will change its reach and suction force. If that’s not enough, I’m sure I could use the wind laws, if not change the density of the air directly, and to empower it further. You’re right about the limitation of qi. However, to kill everything on the planet, I wouldn’t need to draw them into my vortex. Creating a pocket large enough so that when it was full, the air would thin to the point of killing every creature that requires it to breathe.

“It’s not just that it’s possible, Huifen. It’s only a matter of time. I don’t know if it will be possibly in the Overlord Realm, the Tribulation, or higher, but I was able to create a space pocket larger than this room in Divine Realm level air density. What about in lower realm space?”

She tried to hided her response behind a mask of concern for him, but she was still just an ice fairy who had stopped using Heart of Ice two years before.

“You’re right,” he went on. “This can’t happen again. Not just the practicing of space laws while I’m in an indignant state, but what I did to Jolon. It’s not because hurting him was wrong, though that’s likely true, but because I let myself do things I’d never normally would.”

“Then don’t,” she said as if the answer was obvious.

“How can you not be frightened?”

“I am a little. But this is also a good thing. You’ve become more formidable, which means we both have. That’s not a problem. You’ve found yourself lacking in an area of disciple you thought he had under control. The solution is simple. You work on it just like your laws. Maybe spend more time with Heart of Ice. Perhaps you could figure out a version that works similar for you as it does for ice fairies.”

“Maybe.” That was possible. What Brother Baros had explained to him wouldn’t help. The water cultivator’s technique diluted things like poisons in the body, making them easier to handle.

A great deal of water splashed down on his head, soaking his head, face, and upper robes. He found his wife looking at her with a finger in the air. She wiggled it and smiled.

“Enough getting lost in your own head. You’ve had enough of that for one night. For now, I’ll distracted you. You can gather qi in the morning and mediate after. No more law tinkering or martial techniques until the battle is won in here.” She tapped him on the head.

Another orb of water appeared above her finger.

He blinked a few times before nodding his assent. “Your ice laws may have surpassed mine, but do you really think your water laws have as well?”

“Splash me if you can. If not… I hope you can swim.”

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There will probably be some updates to the last couple chapters. I want to make sure his space law progression is also clear. He'll be contemplating it in a few chapters when trying to figure out exactly what it is.

Cheers!