117. Rain 1
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On that incredibly elegant and ornate balcony, the morning air was slowly filled with the cries of mystical jade birds as Bailong turned to face his friend seriously.
"Don't ever manipulate fate without Tianlong's permission!"
Fei Yun scoffed. "Tch! I know! Did you forget I am a-, ehehe, I 'was' a Fate Disciple?"
But Bailong remained serious. "As Lord Medicine, I often do good deeds without permission, right?"
Fei Yun shook his head. "Heh! Am I not the one constantly begging Tianlong to spare you?"
Bailong grinned. "Just wait! From now on you'll understand his perspective and start scolding me as well! After all, 'the Fate Immortal must never take laws in his own hands'."
There was a curious expression on Fei Yun's face as he said, "All this, I already know... We're required to swallow endless books and scrolls on the matter before we even become internal disciples."
But he wasn't surprised when Bailong sighed, nor when he said, "Permit me to add a bit to what you already know..."
This was normal. Bailong had an uncanny way of knowing more than he should about certain matters, especially when they concerned his friends!
Once, he had even defeated Tianlong in reciting the 'Sky Throne Rules', by the end of which he had simply said, "I read them through a few times to ensure there was none which would bring you great discomfort as Emperor!"
At the moment, Fei Yun could only grin and shake his head. "You would never put me in this seat without finding out the many ways in which it might be harmful to me... So tell me what it is you have discovered."
"The books and scrolls of Fate Hall state the repercussions of manipulating fate without the Sky Emperor's knowledge..."
Bailong began, going further to recite: "'A gradual loss in one's vitality. This loss is more severe depending on the scale of manipulation. A gradual loss in health. A slow reduction in one's cultivation'. It goes on and on...
"But none of these can prepare you for the temptations... The temptation to punish evildoers before their time, or the temptation to help those in need, or to save lives meant to be lost." Bailong turned to him, more serious than Fei Yun had ever seen him.
"You must never do any of that!" He warned. "I fall for these temptations, because I can afford to. It's different for you, and it isn't just about losing your vitality.
"Because of the hard nature of their original exterior, Crystal birds are unnaturally bound to their primordial forms, right?"
As an Emerald Owl, Fei Yun could only nod in confirmation, and Bailong sighed.
"Be careful. Whatever happens to you, will affect the inner owl twice as much. If you lose vitality in this form, it's twice as much for your primordial form! Tiny moves to manipulate the fates are fine from time to time...
One could even say these little moves are essential for the rare benevolence of Fate. However," He placed a hand on Fei Yun's shoulder yet again.
"If you act without permission too many times, you might shatter your essence, making it impossible for you to ever reincarnate..."
...
..
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(Back to the present)
Two friends stood staring at each other, much like they had done all those years ago, the elegant balcony, replaced by the desolation and destruction around them.
Mere seconds had passed with the memory, but the echoes of time still hung around, and Fei Yun staggered back a bit, a spray of blood bursting from his lips.
"So I've been burning my essence..." He mused, recalling his friend's words.
As Bailong had predicted, Fei Yun had been diligent with Fate Hall's rules, and through the endless years, he had never once manipulated fate without seeking Tianlong's permission.
After Zhurong Fen's death, he had become colder, his thoughts solely on her memories, so he had easily dismissed any temptations to manipulate fate, and he spent his days doing the bare minimum as fate Immortal.
All this made it too easy to dismiss Bailong's past warning and eventually forget them...
But even now after he recalled that warning, his eyes gleamed at Luoyin (Bailong).
"Hao! An existence without A-Fen is worse than death anyway! Perhaps this is Fate's truest form! I get to die while avenging her!"
A sad look crossed Luoyin's face as he observed his friend's sorry state.
"I was foolish." Luoyin shook his head. "I was more concerned about you being too kind to ignore mortal suffering. I was worried you might manipulate fate to save lives, burning your own essence away..." A single tear ran down his cheek.
"But what was it all for? I used my own hands to place you in that seat, thinking you will guide mortals with a kind heart." He let out a sad sigh.
"Yet you've become flippant with the lives of innocents- the very lives you have a duty to guide. And you're shattering your essence for selfish reasons!"
With a wide criss-crossed swing, he shot two deadly arcs of energy at Fei Yun.
But it was a little too easy for Fei Yun to shatter them. "You think something so flimsy can even jitter my feathers? Who do you think you are?!" Fei Yun held a hand up in a seal, his sleeve whipping in the wind.
"And whose fault is it that I ended up this way?!" A pair of crystal green wings burst forth behind him, each feather gleaming like the jewels they were, their sharp edges reflecting the dark skies and brilliant auras.
"I've not asked you why you can match me in strength and speed, though you're still mortal! But I don't care! Tonight, I'll rid the three realms of the anomaly that you are!"
With a single beat of his wings, the winds howled and the ground rumbled as he shot into the skies, directing a steady rain of green lightning down on Luoyin.
But Luoyin was too fast, completely evading them. "You must have forgotten why your new friends went as far as sending Xu Weiyan to stab me with the Zhan Yin dagger!" He pressed two fingers together, swiftly tracing a sea-blue seal in the air.
"Without the dagger to weaken me, or someone dear to protect, lightning is child's play!" The seal pulsed, glowing bright, and then the skies darkened suddenly, sending a rain of blue lighting, so fast and precise that they struck each green lightning stem before they could travel far.
"Oh?" Fei Yun raised his hand, performing a few hand seals. "Then why don't I give you people to protect?!" The range of the green lightning suddenly widened and were shooting towards the dazed citizens...
But as one headed straight for a passing woman, the green lightning suddenly ricocheted off an invisible barrier, and the rest did the same.
"Hmph." Luoyin waved a hand and a massive crystal barrier was revealed. "I could sense your cruel intent, so I've been slowly raising the formation all along."
Fei Yun's eyes narrowed. "Still using your wretched seals and formations... You haven't changed!"
"I wish I could say the same about you." Luoyin's voice was low and steady as his hand moved again, summoning a circle of white formation flags, which he directed with two fingers, planting them into the ground.
There was a sudden beam of light, and sea water rose from within the formation, shooting right into the skies. A second later, the skies rumbled, and rain began to fall.
It had all happened too quickly for Fei Yun to react, but he simply raised an eyebrow. "What do you hope to do? Drown me?"
"No. But isn't a mentally unbalanced Fate Immortal too dangerous around innocent people?"
"You-!"
"Oh?" Luoyin pointed towards the citizens. "Didn't you want me to protect them?"
Fei Yun turned to see the dazed citizens were freezing in place one by one, but unlike the beasts who lost their minds after Luoyin's blue rain, this rain of sea water made the citizens awaken after a few seconds.
"W- what is going on...? One woman asked, falling to her knees in the rain.
Another, "Where is this place?"
Yet Another, "How did I get here?!"
"What am I wearing?!"
"What is happening?!!"
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At the edges of the city, the cloaked woman raised her head in mild confusion as the unexpected rain poured down, dousing her and the demons.
But then the beautiful fields around them vanished, revealing blackened soil and dead trees.
'Not good!' She realized, shielding herself. 'How Clever!'
"Everyone!" She addressed the hordes of demons. "The Citizens are beginning to recover their minds! Prevent them from leaving the city at all costs!"
"Understood, High Demon Mistress!" The demons chorused and vanished.
She swept a hand, drying her cloak, and the hood fell back to reveal a small face of immense beauty, and long flowing light hair.
'Yin Xiaolong...' She seethed with a pretty scowl, raising her hood back in place. 'I must destroy you!'
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Meanwhile, the demons had reappeared within the city and were giving chase to the fleeing citizens.
"Hahaha! Let's see how you run!" A badger headed demon cruelly laughed, locking a few within a demon array.
"Heh! Mistress never said we couldn't kill and eat one or two!" Another hammer-headed demon sneered, raising a pulsing black sword against a running child...
But then the child suddenly vanished.
"For thousands of years, you couldn't even tread these grounds..." A calm voice began, so soft that it was barely heard, but felt loud and clear.
A subtle flurry of immaculate white robes, and a gentle pair of white sandaled feet landed atop a nearby roof.
"Isn't something like this too bold of you?"
The demons stopped in their tracks and turned to find a figure on the roof, his robes and hair untouched by the rain, and the child safely in his arms.
It was Immortal Kai Zhen.
"Who is that fellow?!"
"Who cares?! He's alone!"
"Let's kill him!"
Kai Zhen simply raised two fingers, and a wave of brilliant gold aura shot out in every direction, disrupting the ground, and all the demons within his circle suddenly disintegrated into gold dust.
"Aiya, there's really no point exchanging words with low-level demons..." He disappeared and reappeared on the floor, gently setting down the little girl, who stared at him in awe.
"Shining uncle, are you a fairy?!"
He grinned and patted her head. "I can't remember when last I was called a 'fairy'! Come now, run off and find your parents!"
He straightened. "This 'Shining uncle' must eliminate the other wicked monsters!"
And he moved swiftly in a trail of gold light...
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