NOVEL NEXT Bk 5 Ch 21: Judgment
The Divine Emperor of the Middle Kingdom stared down at the cultivator who had so blatantly and obviously attracted his attention.
Thousands of his subjects were watching or kneeling in terrified obeisance. He retracted his will just a little to allow the mortals to begin breathing once again, and surrounded himself and the upstart cultivator with a twist of his will.
The man met his eyes. The Emperor stared down at him. "Repeat what you said."
"My apologies," the cultivator who called himself Noren said pleasantly. "I assumed you had heard. Yes, my disciple has accidentally soul-bonded a Lens and taken it with him to a Primal Tower. At this point, he should have allied himself with either Prism Eri or the General of the West, as he's desperately in need of aid, and they'll recognize what he has."
"And where did he get a Lens?"
"From the Vault of Morning Mist. I know you have lived a very long life and have destroyed many sects. It's possible you have forgotten the details of mine," the man said. "By the way, though I am currently employing the name of Noren, I was born as Kang. Kang Dai Rel."
Those names did bring back memories for the Emperor, of a foul betrayal and defiance. The First Prism War, when those he had chosen to elevate to positions of honor had turned on him, even knowing what he could do. The charter sects had thought their positions protected them, and he had to make an example of several of them.
"A Lens? They swore on their souls they had no such thing," he growled, looking down at Kang.
"Yes, well, my father always was a good liar," Kang said pleasantly. "You tried to get into the Vault, I know. Apparently, our ancestors had passed down some snippet of knowledge that allowed my father to secure the Vault against you. He did not reveal it to me. By then we had argued. I had wanted to actually make use of the Lens and said it was no good us dying to protect something we weren't going to use. My father refused to attempt to seize the power for himself."
The Emperor scowled down. "Get on with it."
"I must admit," Kang said as he studied the Emperor with an expression that was entirely too disrespectful for his liking. "I do see his point, now that I have things to protect. No matter. It's hundreds of years in the past, and I think we should discuss what matters now."
"Which is?" the Emperor growled. He squeezed his will just a bit and was pleased to see Kang flinch. Sweat was beading on the man's forehead. He might be acting insouciant, but he knew he was no match for the Emperor.
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"Well, as you can imagine, the Empire being rather an unhealthy place for me, I have spent the last several hundred years outside of it learning cultivation, including some secrets that you would rather have been forgotten. So, I come to you now to make an offer. Eri wishes to take the bounty of a tower herself. I suspect while you would be happy for her to ascend, that's not her intent. Not when she'd been raiding sect vaults for treasures that aren't any use in the heavens. No. She has other plans."
The Emperor kept his face expressionless. How much did Kang truly know, and how much was he guessing?
"Therefore, I propose we cut a deal," Kang said. "I will join my student and help him in dealing with this inconvenient Lens in his soul. We will oppose Eri's attempts to take the Tower's bounty for herself, and work with you to flush her out of hiding so you can deal with her once and for all.
"In exchange, you will swear, binding yourself with your own will and Intent, to permit the sect of Morning Mist to continue, to take no vengeance on any member of the sect for my insolence, and to allow me to continue to educate my disciple. Oh," he added, as if as an afterthought, "And I suppose I should vow not to take the primal tower myself, either. Not at this time, anyway."
"I do not make deals with insects," the Emperor snarled.
"In this case, I think you will. Why else have you ensured that none of your devoted followers can listen in on our conversation? If you were merely going to destroy me, you would have attempted to do so already. And you would have found that I've taken measures to prevent that," Kang smiled cheerfully, "such as a very large charge of shaped Lumos bound up inside my soulspace to be discharged at the moment of my death. You might survive it, but most of the people here would not, and it would leave a rather nasty crater in the middle of your city. You've already suffered enough loss of face with Prism Eri, and I doubt you want your people asking why it is you can't actually protect them.
"Now," he said cheerfully, "I am willing to swear to other stipulations if you like."
The Emperor considered.
It was unfortunate that this was happening just now. Eri and her allies were pressing him hard. True, he and Nai Lin had achieved a small victory, and Prism Prelap would be licking his wounds for some time, but Nai Lin had put a high price on her help. She had realized a few too many of his secrets.
He must have been getting careless for so many to have leaked out. He would have to deal with that once this crisis was passed.
If Eri were able to seize the bounty of the Primal Tower, that could well upset the balance. He might even — and he shuddered at the thought — be forced to ascend.
The lesser of two evils did seem to be making a deal with this insect and his sect.
"Very well," he said, and he unfurled his will and intent. "I swear upon myself and bind myself to agree to the terms we have set out. I do, however, require an independent adjudicator who will report back to me. And if I find you and your disciples have at any time taken up actions to directly seek to harm me, then this agreement is for naught."
"Agreed," Kang said cheerfully. "And may I please suggest just such an independent adjudicator?"
He grinned madly. "She is going to hate this. And she has no one but herself to blame."