Book 10: Chapter 12: Because I Could
Sen stood in the wreckage of what had been pristine forest for a long time before he walked back to where he’d unleashed that odd variant of Heavens’ Rebuke. He just stared at the massive crater. It had been unbelievable when seen from the air, but the scale of the destruction was simply staggering when viewed from the ground. It made Sen wonder, not for the first time, just what it would look like if Master Feng ever truly unleashed the totality of his strength. If I can do this, thought Sen, could the world survive what he might do? He shook off that thought. The world was truly vast. It could likely endure even what Master Feng could do, but seeing this barren hole in the earth also showed him that the world was fragile. Every time Sen’s strength grew, every time he did something like this, he better understood just why it was that cultivators who reached a certain threshold had to ascend.
He was still staring at that expense of lifeless ground when he felt a group of cultivators approaching. He looked up when Sua Xing Xing and a party of familiar faces from the sect arrived at his side. The expression of shock on the woman’s face would have been funny if not for the cause. She was staring at the crater the same way he had been. Unlike him, who had sort of lost momentum after achieving his goal, she still had a purpose. She gave him an uncertain look.
“Patriarch?” she asked.
“There are beast cores to collect. Over there,” he said with a gesture.
Sua Xing Xing issued orders to the cultivators who had come with her. They all hurried away to collect the cores. The cores hadn’t really been on his mind, but it gave them all something to do other than stare at him. After a moment, Sua Xing Xing stepped up next to him at the edge of the crater. She stared down into it like she might find the answer to one of life’s mysteries in it. Sen hoped she’d share if she did discover one. When the silence finally seemed to become too much for her, she asked a question.
“What did this?”
Sen let out a little noise that couldn’t have meant anything and said, “I did.”
Sua Xing Xing looked from him to the crater and back again.
“Why?” she asked.