Heavenly Wheel Ascension

Zhi Xuan felt a tightening in his chest. The Divine Wheel within his body spun wildly without command, and his sapphire eyes began to glow with a painful blue light. He stepped closer, each inch of distance he closed feeling like climbing thousands of steps toward an invisible mountain peak.

"Is this what calls to me?" Zhi Xuan whispered, his voice swallowed by the silence of the void.

Suddenly, a pulse of energy erupted from within the Emperor’s Monument. The wave swept over Zhi Xuan’s form, forcing him to witness fragmented shadows of the past. He saw a great war where the sky burned and the land split asunder; he saw titan-like figures grasping stars as weapons.

Then, he saw a figure in an empress’s robe that stirred the very soul. Flowers bloomed in abundance around her, as if each blossom were a world and everything within it. She was like warmth and love coming from the west, calming and profoundly majestic.

The figure stood amidst the destruction, using no attacks to retaliate or destroy; instead, she embraced everything in her hold, and the war simply vanished. All creatures prostrated, the entire universe wept; this was the manifestation of the Compassionate One of the West.

The sight was so grand that no eye could ever forget it. Yet, even that majestic figure appeared so lonely and melancholic behind all her grandeur. She looked up, gazing at the sky as if searching for something, or someone she could never reach.

The figure suddenly dissolved, and the scene shifted to a woman living in a mortal village, casting aside all her majesty as if this were her only silent rebellion. Rebelling because there was no purpose for her grandeur, she chose to descend into mortality.

In time, the woman suddenly conceived two sons. The villagers regarded it as a heavenly blessing, believing she was favored by the heavens because she was often seen in silence, praying at an altar she built herself. Beneath the starry sky, the woman gave birth to her two sons.

It was said that when those two children were born, the heavens decreed they would one day shake the firmament. However, the woman made a heavy choice, leaving her children behind after they grew into adulthood. The children could only watch their mother depart, unable to stop her because they knew the sorrow she carried.

The woman reached a cliff, her knees sinking into the dirt. She looked up at the sky with a mixture of eternal sadness, unbridled desire, a coldness that swallowed everything, and an unrequited love. Clear tears fell upon the parched earth beneath her knees, and instantly, where the tears landed, a single white lotus grew, emitting a heartbreaking scent of peace.

"Supreme One. The Beginning and the Endless. Heaven thought it gave me a blessing, but it only gave me chains of this loneliness. Casting aside all majesty, trying to forget completely, I am no longer the Empress of the West, I am but a mortal woman now!"

"Yet Heaven plays games, so cruel and heartless. This feeling, this sorrow, this silence is only to beg for one single look at the form of the Supreme One. To erase the obsession in my heart, to erase this unfulfilled love!"

The woman roared, her voice shattering into thousands of vibrations that cracked the dimensions surrounding the cliff. The majesty she had tried to forcibly bury within her mortal frame now exploded outward like a collapsing dam. A pure and cold golden light soared high, piercing the layers of clouds, making the Nine Heavens tremble violently beneath an authority that had long been absent.

The vision within the monument surged again. The woman raised her hand toward the sky, which had begun to turn red, as if she intended to tear the veil of destiny that imprisoned her.

"If I am not permitted to see Your face, then let my love become a curse upon my own blood!" she cried with a voice that was no longer human, but an echo of eternity. "My children... they will carry half of my sorrow, and half of the majesty that You never returned!"

Suddenly, a giant face appeared from the heavens. Its eyes were as large as mountains, radiating a pressure that forced the woman to collapse. The giant face showed no emotion, filled with an absolute coldness that could not be pierced by mortal weakness.

From those eyes, a bolt of Heavenly Calamity struck the woman. It gave her no chance to move or save herself. The earth split, the sky shattered into pieces until the world seemed to experience a kalpa of destruction. Yet from that chaos, four colors shot out, indestructible.

The giant face seemed to ripple, something that should never happen to an existence for whom even the Heavens were a manifestation. The four colors—blazing red, emerald green, sky blue, and a cold dark purple—shot toward the four corners of the realms, like four seeds of destiny recently released from the womb of destruction.

That sight, too grand and terrifying for mortal logic to comprehend, was instantly etched into Zhi Xuan’s soul. The Emperor’s Monument pulsed harder, emitting a wave of silver light that swept Zhi Xuan away. He was thrown back several paces, yet his eyes remained fixed on the cracks within the monument.

"What... was that?" Zhi Xuan murmured, his breath ragged. "That face, I could not see it clearly. But those four colors, it feels as if I have met them before."

Zhi Xuan clutched his chest, his heart beating fast in rhythm with the pulsing monument before him. Cold sweat poured from his temples. In his mind, the fragments of the vision still danced like ghosts demanding recognition.

"Who... were those two sons?" Zhi Xuan hissed. "But that is not what is important. What is the meaning of the four colors that appeared after the destruction of that woman? Why... why do I feel so familiar with those four colors?"

Zhi Xuan tried to stand tall, but suddenly a bright light enveloped him, pulling him out of the Emperor’s Monument’s domain. Zhi Xuan appeared in a hall; he collapsed and knelt on one knee, gasping for air. In front of him, Shen Jiuxiao released his fingers from a seal formation, and Shen Ruolan immediately rushed toward Zhi Xuan.

Shen Ruolan knelt beside him. She felt Zhi Xuan’s body temperature cooling like eternal ice, yet beneath his skin, there was a turbulent flow of energy, as if an ancient dragon were trying to tear a way out of his veins.

"Senior! What happened in there?" Shen Ruolan whispered, her voice trembling. She waved her hand and brought out a spiritual pill. "Recover yourself first, Senior."

Zhi Xuan took the pill instantly, swallowed it, and sat cross-legged. Spiritual light enveloped him, his eyes closing as he regulated his breath. The silence within the Ancestral Hall felt heavy now, as if time itself had frozen under the gaze of the ancestors watching from behind the stone statues.

In his mind, he still saw the lineage of destruction: the woman who challenged the sky, the emotionless giant face, and the four lights that split the dimensions. The essence of the spiritual pill Shen Ruolan provided began to spread, warming his meridians that had briefly frozen from contact with the ancient vision.

"Those two sons..." Zhi Xuan whispered, his voice hoarse as he opened his eyes. He looked up, staring at Shen Jiuxiao. "Holy Son Shen, is the Great Emperor of the Ancient Shen Clan... a son of the Empress of the West from the ancient era?"

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Shen Jiuxiao, who had been standing straight as a heavenly pillar, suddenly froze. His sharp silver eyes widened, radiating a shock he could not hide behind his mask of calm.

"Empress of the West?" Shen Jiuxiao’s voice sounded like the scraping of a suppressed sword. "Why do you ask about such a thing? That is not something that should be known by anyone outside the Ancient Clans."

He made a hand gesture to Shen Ruolan. She nodded and immediately took Zhi Xuan away at high speed. The three figures reappeared and landed on the marble floor of a pavilion on the ninth peak. A strong wind buffeted their robes, yet the chill carried by the wind was nothing compared to the tension creeping between them.

Shen Jiuxiao flicked the sleeve of his silver robe, activating a space-locking seal so that not even an insect or a stray current of air from outside could penetrate this conversation. He turned to face Zhi Xuan.

"The Empress of the West," Shen Jiuxiao began. "That is a taboo title, one that has never been uttered even in the guidance of the Ancestral Hall."

Shen Jiuxiao took a deep breath, as if the air he inhaled carried the weight of thousands of years of forbidden history. He walked to the edge of the pavilion, looking out over the expanse of Shen Sky City, which now looked small from the height of the ninth peak.

"In the Great Emperor’s Scripture that was once opened, it is said that the Empress of the West was an Immortal," Shen Jiuxiao continued. "She was born alongside Heaven and Earth, becoming the mother of all beings from the west. Empress Xi Wangmu, known as the Empress of the Heart-Burial Flower."

"Empress of the Heart-Burial Flower..." Zhi Xuan murmured, his voice nearly lost in the roar of the wind held back by the space seal. "I saw her. I saw her cast away her divinity, become mortal, and give birth to two lives regarded as blessings by Heaven. Yet, she saw them as chains given by Heaven to erase her obsession."

Zhi Xuan fell silent for a moment, his gaze drifting through the mist surrounding the mountaintop. The image of the woman kneeling on the parched earth was still so vivid, as if the scent of the white lotus growing from her tears still lingered in his senses.

"She lamented," Zhi Xuan continued in a low, trembling voice. "She threw away eternity just to search for a single form she called the Supreme One. Yet Heaven gave her an answer of absolute coldness. And those two sons... if Great Emperor Shen was one of them, then who was the other?"

"That would be Great Emperor Wang," Shen Jiuxiao replied. "Therefore, the Ancient Shen and Wang Clans have a somewhat close relationship. Just like Great Emperor Zhu and Hua, whose lineage descended to the Ancient Zhu and Hua Clans."

Zhi Xuan was stunned, a silent boom echoing within his sea of consciousness. If Great Emperor Shen and Great Emperor Wang were two brothers born from the womb of the Empress of the West who had cast aside her divinity, then the lineage of these Ancient Clans was far deeper and more tragic than a mere struggle for the throne of the Nine Plains.

"Two brothers..." Zhi Xuan murmured, his fingers clenching beneath his sleeves. "Great Emperor Shen and Great Emperor Wang. The Great Emperors of the Ancient Clans intersect with one another."

Zhi Xuan did not speak further; he suddenly felt no desire to tell them about the four colors he had seen, letting that remain his own secret.

"However, I do not understand why the Emperor’s Monument showed me that," Zhi Xuan continued. "I expected to see my own origins... but instead, the Monument showed me things I do not comprehend."

"The Emperor’s Monument never makes a mistake, Zhi Xuan," Shen Jiuxiao replied, his voice heavy and raspy. "Finding yourself able to receive a vision of the Empress of the West, mother of Great Emperor Shen, is also a sign that your karma likely intersects with the Ancient Shen Clan."

Zhi Xuan exhaled slowly, eventually standing up and standing tall. "I know nothing at all about the Great Emperors, nor do I feel I have an emperor for an ancestor. However, visions like that are indeed quite difficult to understand."

"Besides, I am not fixated on that vision alone," Zhi Xuan continued. "The Emperor’s Monument, often regarded as the key to the Ancient Clans' ascension to the Upper Realm. Seeing it today, it is indeed grand and peerless. Like a golden key for a door that is always open."

"Golden key or not, the Emperor’s Monument is both a prison of destiny and a royal carriage," Shen Jiuxiao replied. "The Upper Realm is indeed vast, infinite. Therefore, every generation will come, and every Ancient Clan will always stand."

Shen Jiuxiao turned away. "This conversation and its results end here. No word will leave the gates of the Ancient Shen Clan regarding Zhi Xuan receiving guidance from the Emperor’s Monument. I shall go to discuss this with the Grand Elders."

Zhi Xuan nodded briefly, his eyes watching Shen Jiuxiao’s back as he slowly moved away until the Crown’s figure vanished behind the shimmering curtain of the pavilion’s seal. Silence once again enveloped the ninth peak, leaving only the rustle of wind that now felt warmer yet carried a burden.

Shen Ruolan still stood beside him, her amethyst eyes watching Zhi Xuan with an unreadable expression. There was great curiosity, but also a deep respect for the man before her.

"Senior," Ruolan called softly, her supple fingers touching the edge of the marble railing. "Many people wish to enter the Ancestral Hall to seek power or peerless Dao laws. But you... you came out having received a vision of that."

Zhi Xuan shook his head, looking toward the expanse of clouds. "The Ancient Clan Ancestral Hall may hold many peerless and grand legacies, but I am not of the Ancient Clans, nor am I someone who came to an Ancient Clan to obtain a legacy."

"My initial intent was to find my origins," Zhi Xuan continued. "Yet destiny did not show them, instead adding more unanswered questions. Why, and for what purpose did the Emperor’s Monument show the majestic Empress of the West to me?"

Zhi Xuan did not mention that he felt a sense of familiarity, a familiarity as if he had once seen that face and as if he were the one standing in judgment. Especially when seeing the four pieces that broke away from the Empress of the West. He turned toward Shen Ruolan, his gaze difficult to decipher but incredibly deep.

Zhi Xuan’s deep gaze seemed to pierce layer after layer of the veil of secrets surrounding Shen Ruolan’s soul. In his eyes, the Holy Maiden briefly appeared like a flower petal falling from a heavenly garden, beautiful.

"Senior... why do you look at me like that?" Shen Ruolan whispered. For the first time, she felt her charm was useless.

Zhi Xuan withdrew his gaze, turning his face back toward the sea of clouds. "It is nothing. Perhaps my mind is just a bit chaotic from the heavy pressure of the Emperor’s Monument. After all, the legacy of a Great Emperor can certainly crush a person's soul."

"Senior, you look as though you are carrying the weight of the entire firmament on your shoulders," Shen Ruolan’s voice broke the silence. "The Grand Elders might intercept you and force you to speak if you leave now. Ruolan has a quiet Pavilion on the sixth peak; Senior can rest there."

Zhi Xuan was silent for a moment, letting the offer hang in the mountain wind. His Dao Heart, usually cold as ice, was in turmoil; the thought of those four colors troubled his mind, preventing him from thinking clearly.

"An offer difficult to refuse, Holy Fairy," Zhi Xuan finally answered, his voice sounding like the scraping of snow falling on stone. "However, tranquility is a luxury I can rarely enjoy without a price to be paid. Tell me, what does the sixth peak want from a wanderer like me?"

Shen Ruolan chuckled, her laugh this time losing a layer of falsity and sounding more sincere, though still adorned with the provocative tone that was her trademark. She stepped closer, her fragrant scent resembling the smell of lotuses in the rainy season beginning to penetrate Zhi Xuan’s sensory defenses.

"Senior is too prejudiced," Ruolan said while playing with the end of her purple shawl. "Consider this a form of protection for myself. If you leave now and those Grand Elders tear your soul apart to find the secrets of the Emperor’s Monument, wouldn't I be the one at a loss for losing the most interesting conversation partner in the Nine Plains?"

Zhi Xuan did not respond. He let his gaze fall on Ruolan’s graceful hand. There, the eternal Black Bamboo tassel he had given her was still tied, emitting a mysterious purple glow that seemed to be resonating with the energy on this ninth peak.

"Come," Ruolan invited as she turned. "This cloud path will lead you directly there without having to cross paths with the spies of other factions. The sixth peak is my private domain, where even Elder Shen Tu must knock on the door if he wish to enter."

Zhi Xuan followed Shen Ruolan’s graceful steps, crossing a cloud bridge that wound like a silver dragon between the mountain peaks. His mind was still fixed on that terrifying yet beautiful vision.

The sixth peak welcomed them with an atmosphere far different from the stiff grandeur of the Ancestral Hall. Here, heavenly trees grew lushly, shedding pink petals that filled the jade pond below.

"Sit, Senior. This is Ruolan’s private place," Shen Ruolan said as she invited Zhi Xuan into the pavilion.

Zhi Xuan stepped into the white pavilion. He sat upon a silk cushion, resting his hands on his knees. Though his body was in a peaceful place, his sea of consciousness was still in a great upheaval.

"Senior, you look as if you have just swallowed a bitter pill that refuses to dissolve in your throat," Shen Ruolan said as she poured tea. The clear green liquid flowed with a soothing gurgling sound. "Does that vision weigh so heavily on you?"

Zhi Xuan accepted the jade cup, but he did not drink it immediately. He stared at his own reflection on the surface of the calm tea. "It is no great matter; I am just still too shocked. An Emperor’s Monument is not easily faced by those who are not of the Ancient Clans."