Chapter 96: The Founding of the Heavenly Prefecture

Suddenly two vortices, one black and one white, dropped at once into the battlefield circle.
The black whirlwind fiercely swept up Aru, who had only just awakened, along with Gu Xiaopan and Bai Ling’er, driving them deeper into the Endless Forest. At once, a white vortex suddenly took shape in midair.

With emerald braids in a high, thick knot, a jade belt beneath a gauzy robe, skin like polished ivory, and a face as bright as the moon, she was a beauty born to rule. With one careless flick of her hand, Amei, who had been crying in frantic tears, was instantly freed.

“Clan Lord.”
“Snow Auntie, Aru?”
“Rest assured. Aru is fine—he has even been forced into a formal breakthrough to the third realm.”
“Put Elder Lie in the Soul-Prison Cavern. By my command, anyone who dares release him without my order will be punished as an equal accomplice. His duties are to be taken over temporarily by Elder Han.”
“Yes.”
“Amei, come with me.”

…

Startled into a cold sweat by the sudden turn of events, Gu Xiaopan, in the hour of danger, trembled like an ant striking a tree.
He rolled his body over at once, placing Aru and Bai Ling’er behind him. His treasured rhinoceros-horn weapon was instantly reinforced by inner force; several swift wind-spirits of the Five Elements wrapped themselves around the Five-Element Spirit Dragon, which had been tossed about by the whirlwind. They formed five elemental rings spinning in a fury, and with every ounce of strength he hurled himself toward the faint blur at the center of the storm.

“Rrroar… father.”

His movements were done in a single breath. By the time the weakened Aru roared out in protest, it was too late.
One ring after another of the five circles violently burst outside the ghostly image. The outer shell of the once-black whirlwind went wild with chaotic energy, and its power became even more violent.

“Aru, did you say he is your father?”
“Rr... father.”
“Darn, you should’ve told me sooner.”
“Rrroar.”

Just as Gu Xiaopan finally relaxed, a laugh and a taunt echoed from the core.

“Wretched boy, if you dare to throw out reckless moves again, I’ll drop you from up here and kill you on the ground myself.”
“Uh, respected elder, you’re joking—I’m not one to dare such nonsense.”

…

After a few tea-time moments, the whirlwind struck the ground and vanished into nothing.

“Aru, greet these two friends properly.”
After shoving an unknown pill into Aru’s mouth, the fading image flickered once more and disappeared.

The great tear in Aru’s back, which could only slowly have healed by ordinary means, now looked nearly repaired.

“Rrroar, big brother, rrr.”
“Good. Sister Ling’er, Aru said he’d take us to walk through their territory.”
“Gladly. I have come to the Endless Forest several times, yet this is my first time this deep.”

…

At the heart of the Fox Clan.

“Amei, what do you think of those two human friends of Aru’s?”
“Snow Auntie, I feel those two humans are not like the ones I met before.”
“Back then my form was bound and I couldn’t move, but when Aru was wounded that elemental boy’s eyes instantly turned red with fury and he erupted. He must have used some secret technique...”
“Daughter, I think it is good that Aru has such human companions. It puts me at ease.”
“True. Amei, you’re mostly right, but you are still missing one point.”
“What is it?”
“That boy is only in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, yet the depth of his true power is no less than that of an average mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.”
“And, in truth, even Elder Lie, that fool though he is fourth-rank, has not yet been able to force out his true potential.”
“If Aru truly died here, I believe that boy would slaughter my entire Fox Clan, me included.”
“What? That can’t be, Snow Auntie.”
“If I weren’t certain, sister, how dare I speak of him so?”

“The Demon Bear King was here as well. Though he is a fifth-rank force, he said even his instinct told him that if he fought the boy to the death, his chance of surviving would be less than one in ten.”
“As for that girl, she seems to have some Tianji relic shielding her. If my feeling is right, she should be the direct disciple of the Great Diviner of the Tianji Pavilion.”
“Then it is not hard to guess this boy is one of the Heavenly Fated ones of the Thousand-Year Turmoil.”
“More and more I feel he is not merely one of them; he may well be the final victor.”

“So, Amei, do as with Aru. Go to these two and befriend them. Do not force it. Be sincere.”

“Yes, Amei understands.”
“Go to Aru now. If this goes as expected, those two humans won’t stay long.”

…

At this moment, in the center of the Demon Bear King’s territory, just beside Aru’s private hut, stood a large prison ring.
Inside were no fewer than eighty human cultivators. Some sat slumped, some leaned against the barriers, others crouched with their heads in their hands. All stared with empty eyes, as if they could no longer see hope, waiting for the moment of their own death.

In former days, all were promising young men and women. In their families or sects, they may not have been the very best, but they surely stood among the finest of their age, each carrying an aura that turned heads wherever they went—proud, arrogant, and unbending.

After this calamity, their better companions had been bought back at great cost by their own families or sects, while those left behind knew their elders, parents, and teachers had abandoned them—some with deliberation, some after cold calculation, some without so much as a thought. They were left to make do on their own, to survive or perish.

Only now did they truly understand that even a person once so excellent could, in this world, be valued like common folk: useful only while decorating the edge of others’ glory. If they disappeared, it would hardly wound anyone.

The cruel underside of the cultivation world carved itself deep into their hearts.

…

“Aru, why are these people here?”
“Rrroar.”
“Your toys?”
“Rrroar.”

Aru casually grabbed a young human from the crowd, wrenching his arm and twisting his neck as if he were nothing but a rubber toy.
The man in his grasp stared on with hollow, lifeless eyes, numbed into complete indifference to Aru’s treatment.

Gu Xiaopan, who now knew the full story, felt pity for them. It had been his last theft that doubled the ransom and robbed them of any chance to be bought back.
By right and reason he did not think he owed them; yet as a fellow human being he simply felt sorrow for those cast off by family, clan, or sect.

Every person in the ring had at least turned toward the arrival of Gu Xiaopan and Bai Ling’er. They seemed to share an easy rapport with the little demon bear, and suddenly a thread of hope appeared in their eyes.
All eighty or more looked toward Gu and Bai beside the demon cub and, though their eyes were bloodshot with tears, they remained silent. Not one dared to beg. It was as if they feared even to speak might break the last flicker of hope.

…

“Aru, am I your elder brother?”
“Rrroar, elder brother...”
“Then this elder brother has a request. Can you grant it?”
“Elder brother, rroar...”
“Can you spare these people?”
“Rrroar.”

“Truly?! Good, Aru. The two of us are not mistaken after all.”

As Gu’s words and the demon’s clumsy human speech mixed with his roars, every face in the enclosure brightened and dozens began to weep openly.

“I am Gu Changqing of the Ethereal Sect, and this is my sister Bai Ling’er. Friends, you have suffered so much.”
“Brother Gu… I owe you my life.”
“Brother Changqing… thank you!”

Even if they had once been proud, elegant, and haughty, these survivors, now alive after disaster, from the bottom of their hearts dropped all pride and bowed deeply in gratitude to Gu and Bai.

“Everyone, this is all just fate. How could I claim credit?”
“Now that you are all free, go home, go back to your sects. I may need to stay here a bit longer.”
“Thank you, Brother Gu…”

“Go home?! Return to the sect?! Ha!”
“Some earlier laugh. We were already abandoned without mercy. Why return to that place, to that family, that sect?”
“Right now, with parents there, with kin there… how could we stand before them?”

“I have decided. I’ll treat this as though I died in the Endless Forest and will never return.”
“My little sister says the same.”

“…
“Brother Gu, from now on I will hide my name and mask my face. Will you take me under your shelter, that I may follow you in service?”
“This…”
“And my little sister too. If Brother Gu does not reject me, my life is yours from this day.”
“Brother Changqing, as for me, I am yours as well.”
“And me too.”

“Then perhaps we should form an organization. If we stay united, we can better serve Brother Gu, and it benefits us too.”
“Excellent idea. Brothers and sisters here, we may not each be the very best, but we are all among the top.”
“If we…”
“I agree.”
“My sister will certainly join.”

“Brother Gu, what do you think?”
“Well, this… this… if you all hold this lowly brother in such regard, then let it be.”
“Yet let me say this first: in the future, everyone is a brother or sister. There is no hierarchy above and below.”
“Besides, later I may often need to go my own way alone.”
“Leave that all to us, Brother Gu.”
“By the way, what should this new brotherhood be called?”

“How about the Independent Cohort?”
“Not bad. How about the Wanshan Gang?”
“That smells too much like bandit talk.”
“Then what should we call it?”
“Th-this…”
“What about Heavenly Domain?”
“Heavenly Domain?”
“‘When the earth-stone appears, ruin of a thousand years approaches; Heaven’s Domain rises, choosing its lord and opening a new age…’ Heavenly Domain… the name is good.”
“Is it too grand?”
“What’s there to fear? We are people who have already died once—why fear the name Heavenly Domain?”
“Right, why fear it?”
“Good, then we shall be Heavenly Domain. And Gu, you are the Domain Lord.”
“Among us, Sun Tian has the highest cultivation. Let’s make Sun Tian the Deputy Lord, shall we?”
“And make Sister Zhuge Yun and Senior Dan Heng the Hall Masters.”

“Good.”
“I agree, I agree…”

All the while Aru, Gu Xiaopan, and Bai Ling’er stood to one side with wide eyes and open mouths, unable to interject. In that moment, Heavenly Domain was founded, and its rough structure was set in place.

All of them seemed to have returned from the grave of abandonment—revived from the shadow cast by families, elders, and mentors who had cast them away with cold hearts, their spirits now blazing with life.