RE: Deity - The Breath of Creation

"She didn't do anything too bad, did she Inesa?" I asked, hovering over the goddess of light while Sehuyun sulked off to the side. Yueya giggled at me as I fretted, the Dragon grumbling as I circled Inesa, inspecting her aura. "Quiet, you. I said not to antagonize anyone too much." Xing Wu was none the worse for wear, and in fact I daresay he benefited from the encounter, but that was beside the point. She should know better than to mess with another dragon's treasure.

My treasure, in this case, just happened to be my children, which just so happened to hit my parental instincts as well. Of course I was going to get upset.

"Oh hush, she's fine. Worrywort." Sehuyun groused, sulking in the corner of my palace. I narrowed my eyes at her, fully prepared to launch into another lecture but biting my tongue nonetheless. Fu Hao had already flown off to Xing Wu to explain the situation better and ensure he knew Inesa was, in fact, alright and had not, in fact, been kidnapped by an evil dragon. I had personally seen to it, and though he had calmed down once Fu Hao arrived he was still very upset. I couldn't really blame him. His senses weren't powerful enough to see through Sehuyun's Shadow, so all he'd seen was Inesa willingly leave with what appeared to be another kind of Morgan.

Which brought us to here. To the instant after I had chewed Sehuyun out and called all the rest of the Origin Deities back to my palace.

"I do worry more than is healthy, you are correct, but this is not your demesne. This is not a domain in which you can do as you please – nor can I." I chided, shaking my head and setting a hand on Inesa's shoulder. The young goddess patted my hand comfortingly. "That is the point. Next time, please refrain from causing such a scene. Look at Shin and Reilly; they were doing much the same, but keeping things calm and civil and not making any true waves. Xing Wu is going to be a bear to deal with, with all the questions he is sure to ask." Not that I was going to answer them, he wasn't ready for such things, but I didn't want to be asked them in the first place.

"You cannot do whatever you wish in your own world? Ridiculous." Sehuyun scoffed, and I scowled at her, though my next words were cut off by the arrival of the other origin deities. The Emperor strode in front, golden skin gleaming as he spoke with Elvira about potential trade deals and other such things. MR-10 spoke in low tones with Gilles, the god of shadows, the machine god trading various veiled hints of information with my child. Nyxteria spoke with Argent, the god of metal, about crystals and other such things, while each of the others had discovered their own god to have a conversation with. Only Yueya's main body had remained with me as we discussed various topics and artworks within my palace.

She was most interested in my philosophy towards my own people's growth…which made sense, considering the problem her One World had. That, and talking with her was relaxing.

"Welcome back," I greeted instead of snapping at Sehuyun again. "I trust you all had a decent time here?"

"Indeed, I, did," the Progenitor said, the ball of light that was his body pulsing. "Your Four Realms are not unlike my Garden, in that you cultivate your people, to a desired outcome."

"Just without the whole destruction process. You are far more focused on eternity. Even if it was accidental, leaning into it was the wisest option." Rising Wind, Crashing Waves agreed, the great stag nodding his head. "And I hope you appreciate our efforts to aide you."

"Indeed I do." I nodded, glancing at my workshop. My gaze passed through the walls of my palace to observe a few of my incarnations hard at work there, setting up a few last minute, minor blueprints and changes before everyone left. There had been plenty of good ideas for how to get the Realms to grow faster, including adding "fertilizer" to the mix for the growing Trees and Mountains. Fertilizer that was, in this case, assigning Immortals, gods, or Dao Progenitors as the sub-guardians of each individual Realm.

Not unlike the Emperor's domain, which had barons and dukes managing territories, this would have people and gods managing entire Trees, or Mountains, with myself and my children overseeing major events. That had easily been the most interesting point of discussion.

"It is about time for us to all return, however." Shin noted, the skeletal god stepping forward with a slight bow. "As I am sure you are as well, we are anxious to get back to our realms and begin our own changes."

"Of course." I agreed, stepping forward and into the crowd, leading the way through them to the front doors. "Unless there is anything else you require of me, I will lead you to the portal."

"I just have one question." MR-10 intoned. I paused my walk to turn to the inverted pyramid, clasping my hands before me. "You acted as if Morgan was some great revelation for the rest of us, yet we have not seen the spider-wolf nor have you truly made a big deal of it. Why the cryptic responses?" I considered the question for a moment, mulling over what and how to describe this.

"You should all be able to see the aftermath of Morgan's actions, still. Morgan was no mere rebel, or casual influence. I will not explain what they are to me, as that is personal; but, through the hints I have given you, you should be able to look within and see for yourselves what the answer is. That is all I can say on the matter; personal discovery is important on this one." I advised, casting my senses outward. Morgan was still there, hiding in its Hidden Realm. In fact, I could even feel the wolf peering through the veil to listen to our conversation, though none of the others seemed to notice.

Or if they did, they were very good at hiding it. Morgan had to hide from my eyes since the dawn of creation, so it wouldn't surprise me if they truly had not noticed.

"So be it." Rising Wind said with a nod. "Lead the way, then."

Chatter filled the air as I waved my hand, opening the roof of my palace to reveal the portal back to the meeting room. It was mostly small comments, discussions about what they were going to change and small things about what they discovered in my Realm – usual stuff. It wasn't until we reached the portal, however, that we all paused.

"I suppose this will be farewell, then?" Yueya asked softly, her plus one, Astraea, standing close beside.

"For now," I said, gesturing toward the portal. "This is only the first meeting – I am certain we will all meet again soon." Everyone moved forward as one, myself not intending to enter, when said portal snapped shut with barely a sound. I stared at the spot it had been, mouth agape.

Ding!

{[Meeting Concluded!]

[With the first meeting between origin deities nearing its end, I will soon teleport you all back to your collective Realms to continue your goals. [Stage 3] will begin shortly after. First, however, there is a final test for the Origin Deities, and the Origin Deities alone. Your respective plus-ones will be returned to their home universes post-haste, before you are transported to the testing grounds.]

[Teleporting in three seconds.]}

"Uh," was the only sound I managed to get out as, one-by-one, the plus ones were whisked away back to their home universes. The other origins and I exchanged confused looks.

"Nyxteria is confused," Nyxteria started – and then, suddenly, we were standing in the middle of the Void. A shiver ran down my spine at the abruptness of it all; the Overgod consistently surprised me with how absurdly powerful they were. There had been no indication of the coming teleport, and for me and my eyes to not notice anything, nor to even feel the teleport itself, spoke volumes. "…Nyxteria is even more confused now." The bird complained.

"Patience. I am sure, the Great One, will explain it all soon." The Progenitor said.

I spread my arms a little, shuddering at the tenseness I felt. The Void felt…disturbed, here. It was not quiet and silent like I was used to. It almost felt like the nothing was becoming something…oh shit.

Ding!

Why can't I sense the coming announcements right now? Is Mr. Boxes doing this on purpose?

{[The testing will now begin. You have exactly thirty minutes to prepare yourselves before I summon the test. Together, you all must defeat or repel a Void Beast. Its power will be enough to equal all eleven of you.]}

Silence reigned, and I heaved a sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. Thirty minutes to figure out a battle plan. Great.

It would have been nice to know this was coming beforehand, but that may be the point. We will, eventually, need to learn to react to Void-related threats on our own, without any prior warning. I still feel like I spoke for everyone though, when I said;

"You have got to be kidding me."

***

Xing Wu felt Statera Luotian leave. Not many beings could, only the angels and gods of the Four Realms, but he was starting to become attuned enough to things that he could feel it. To him, it felt like the entire world exuded the nervous energy of a child, anxious that their parent has left them alone, yet ready to explore things on their own. Where or why the creator god was leaving the universe again he wasn't sure, but what he'd been able to glean since Inesa's faux kidnapping said that He was exploring the vastness beyond reality….whatever that meant. He gripped his spear and shook his head, standing from where he'd been crouched, preparing himself for his own coming journey.

He hadn't been planning on the creator god leaving the universe once again, but the timing was impeccable. This wouldn't be a secret, but, well. He preferred to act on his own, and didn't want to answer a million questions.

"Are you ready?" Stilicho, one of Statera Luotian's two angels, asked. The silver-skinned being was waiting patiently for him, standing beside a tree with arms crossed, and he shook his head.

"One moment. I have one last thing to try," and he closed his eyes, focusing his energies and qi. He knew these techniques were possible, all the gods used them, but he had yet to hear of a cultivator that had completed a cloning technique. His qi surged beneath his skin, the shape of his soul as clear as day. All he had to do was separate a piece of himself…

A sliver of his soul separated from his main body, followed by a mass of elemental qi. It was a delicate process, sweat beading Xing Wu's brow as he willed the energies to congeal, to form a body and dantian, his soul giving it a perfect frame to form around.

After what seemed like far too long Xing Wu opened his eyes, breathing heavily and meeting his own eyes. A perfect copy of himself stood opposite, watching blank-faced as Xing Wu regained control of his faculties. Their connection was odd. Like he was looking at himself from both sets of eyes – his pale complexion, messy black hair, sharp eyes, the raggedy furs that were his constant clothing identical on both – yet neither at the same time. Two sets of thoughts echoed in his mind, each their own and connected, but neither in control over the other's.

He was him, and him was he. It was nothing short of disorienting. Inesa could made a dozen copies of herself, how did she deal with it?

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"Now I'm ready. You have enough power to get to where you need to, right?" Xing Wu asked.

"Assuming no one bars my path, yes," his copy replied, clenching his hand experimentally. Xing Wu nodded as he turned to Stilicho, the angel watching with furrowed brows as he walked forward, his incarnation simply watching.

"Impressive. What is he going to do?" Stilicho asked.

"Hopefully not get himself killed." Xing Wu grumbled, giving only a half-truth as he rolled his shoulders in preparation for the journey. "Thanks for doing this. Wasn't sure how to get past the barrier without causing a fuss."

"Think nothing of it. I must confess to my own curiosity as to how your meeting with her will go. She is an intelligent one, but I do not know what to make of her." Stilicho replied, rising into the air. Xing Wu followed, his cultivation fueling his flight as he followed behind the angel, the lands of Pangaea blurring past as they shot through the air. Xing Wu smiled to himself as he observed the landscape below blurring by, mountains and deserts transforming to tundras and plains then back again. The Life-Giving Tree slowly shrank behind them as they left it behind, heading to the very edge of the universe.

He remembered a time when Pangaea felt small, right after his ascension to an Immortal. Now, it had grown so much it was hardly recognizable.

"We don't get to talk much, do we?" Xing Wu asked after a few more minutes of silence. "Usually it's Fu Hao who's dealing with me."

"My sister is the more aggressive of the two of us. Her temperament is preferred for handling one such as yourself. Currently, however, she is helping train some of the Heavenly Host." Stilicho replied succinctly. "Do not misunderstand, I have the extent of your measure, and would not do this if I did not think highly of you. Recognizing when one has reached the end of their rope is an important quality; I am glad you overcame your initial burst of defiance. Too much rejection of the Heavenly Dao can be just as harmful as over reliance; it is a guide, nothing more."

Xing Wu laughed, flushing a little. That was fair enough – he had been a little aggressive about his so-called rejection of the heavenly dao. But he'd calmed down quite a bit since then. It'd been, what, nearly a hundred thousand years or something? Time like that changed a man.

"It's not like I accept it either, though," he argued back. Stilicho hummed and fell silent once again. Far more taciturn than Fu Hao. He noted, but nonetheless did not break the silence.

Their journey was a long one. It took only a few days to reach the edge of Pangaea, which was fast for Xing Wu but relatively slow for Stilicho he was sure, and he couldn't help the smile the came over his face as he watched the land give way to space.

Pangaea fell away as the duo hurtled into the dark vastness of space, toward the miniature suns around which small planets circled. Xing Wu had explored out here a little before, of course, and he still found the formations fascinating. Nebulas and asteroids, comets with tails of ice that occasionally held curious cultivation materials, planets made entirely of gas, and planets that held life. Though at his stage of cultivation he had no need to eat or sleep, Xing Wu still made a point to drag Stilicho down to one or two of these small planets to eat the local delicacies.

Enjoying the mortal world was something Inesa had instilled into him, and it had its merits.

One month into the journey, his incarnation met up with Inesa again. She assured him everything was alright, but that she had to be away for a while to perform some of her duties as the goddess of light. This, Xing Wu was ok with. Getting apparently kidnapped by a literal fucking shadow dragon? Not so much. But in truth he was just glad to hear that she was ok from her own mouth, and let it slide.

And as soon as she left, his incarnation moved to chase after his own, semi-secret goal. There was only so much he could really hide from the gods and spirits.

Xing Wu's main body, and this journey, while important, was but a distraction, to help draw most of the attention.

It took another three months to reach the edge of the Physical Realm, and the make-shift barrier the gods had created. Light combined with shadow and lightning to form a curtain that blocked any further passage for anyone below Xing Wu's level of strength. Which was every single mortal and immortal still in the physical realm. Even he would struggle to pass through it, and forcing his way through would likely cause more problems that it was worth.

Stilicho pressed his hand upon the barrier, and it split for him like a curtain, revealing the great beyond. Power was thin out here, the energy discordant and weak. Yet there was a hint of it growing stronger and, more importantly, Xing Wu laid his eyes upon the true purpose of this journey. A baby Life-Giving Tree grew in the middle of the nothingness, smaller even than the one from when he was a boy as Dei.

A part of him was certain that there was a Heaven above the tree, and a Valley below, but all he could see for now was the Tree, and a little stream of spirits circling it. Gasses circled the tree, swirling and slowly trying to condense into one of the miniature suns that circled the original Tree. Would this be the center of an entirely new area?

"So it is true. You're expanding the Realms." He mused, stepping through the barrier.

"Might you have an interest in taking command over one of them?" Stilicho asked, letting the curtain fall shut behind them. Xing Wu's steps faltered as he glanced over his shoulder at the angel, who waited patiently for an answer.

"Maybe someday. As I am now, though, I am lacking to lead an entirely new Tree." He said, shaking his head. Maybe Alanna, his successor for the Celestial Palace, would be willing. But not him. Not now. Xing Wu turned his gaze forward, to the base of the baby Tree where a little Pangaea was forming. "Where is she?"

"There, at the base. Guiding spirits in making a formation to aid in growth." Stilicho pointed. Xing Wu nodded and shot forward, crossing the remaining distance as swiftly as possible. His passing did not so much as disturb the various gasses of creation, gaze locking onto the young avian girl that tended to the base the moment she came into view.

She was…frumpy looking, in his opinion. Not outrageously beautiful like most cultivators tended to be, especially ones on the cusp of immortality like her, and certainly not tidy. Her hair was pulled back into a hasty bun, dirt and various elemental essences staining her face and clothes. The feathers of her wings were matted and covered in twigs and leaves, twitching occasionally as she muttered to herself. Xing Wu came to a hover above her, hesitating for just a moment as she continued to work. Then, without a word, he descended to her side.

"Do you need help?" He asked. The woman identified as the Mad Scientist lifted her head to look at him, eyes dull and lifeless behind her thick, round glasses.

"Another one, come to check up on me? This time an immortal. Fine. Do your thing, then begone." She muttered, turning back to her work. Xing Wu frowned. He'd come here to seek some answers from someone all the spirits and powerful beings had been in a tizzy over. He didn't expect to find someone so…defeated looking.

His Dao throbbed, the Dao Star that hung in the sky above shining down upon him for a brief moment to allow him to see. And see he did. Her soul shone with fear and desperation, hands gripping strands of energy that no mere mortal should be able to grasp, tying them together with a surprising deftness. But, most importantly, he saw her rejection. Of all that is, of all that was, almost as if she existed separate from the Heavenly Dao itself. It was different than him, who denied the Heavenly Dao not out of fear, but out of desire to walk his own path.

She was just disconnected. Disjointed. Separate, despite the power gently trying to wrap itself around her. Not even he felt this...off.

The moment passed, and Xing Wu let out a breath, kneeling beside the woman and grasping one of the strands of energy she was struggling with.

"Allow me. Just tell me what to do, I am uncertain." He said softly. She glanced at him, eyebrows furrowed, and he smiled a little. He didn't have the words to describe to her what he felt just a moment ago. He wasn't a god, who could find such a lecture and make it compelling. He was just a simple man. "My name is Xing Wu. I came here seeking to pick your brain a little, but I think some gardening would do me good. Forgive me, though, for I am but a simple warrior and do not understand the intricacies at work here. It might be high time I learned."

The woman was quiet for a moment longer. "I am called the Mad Scientist. I have another name, but it is forgotten. And I suppose I could use another pair of hands. Tie that here, and we'll move on to the next spot." Xing Wu did as he was told, following along the simple instructions. And a warrior learned to garden.

***

Xing Wu's incarnation hauled itself hand-over-hand through the narrow stone passageway, being extra careful not to use too much power so as not to draw unwanted attention. With all eyes on his main body and the meeting with the so-called Mad Scientist, and after getting Inesa's blessing for this matter, it should be a simple task to reach his goal.

It wasn't imperative that he keep this meeting secret, but it was preferred. She still had a stigma on her name, even if Statera Luotian had set her free. Even amongst the gods. Just please keep your mouth shut, Aeriel. He prayed, certain the wind goddess of secrets already knew.

With a grunt Xing Wu hauled himself through the last little opening, tumbling forward into a little field of flowers hidden in a deep cave. The roots of the Life-Giving Tree stretched through the place, great golden chains, once used to bind her, now hanging uselessly midair. Yet despite that, She still sat in her same spot, reading a little book laid out on her lap.

"You are not welcome here," Thyia, the once-goddess of suicide, said stiffly as he pushed himself to his feet, dusting off his furs. "Especially not an incarnation. Disrespectful."

"Sorry, it's the only way I could do this without an escort."

"You did it before, as a mere soul." Thyia accused.

"Was I really alone then?" he countered, and at this the dark haired goddess paused, looking up at him with furious, dark eyes. The book in her lap snapped shut and she stood, a chaotic, dangerous aura flaring out from her.

"What do you want." She snapped, and he smiled to himself. What he wanted was the same thing he had been searching for the past two times he'd visited the goddess, though he hadn't been aware of what he'd been looking for those times. Even if the second had only been because she guided him to her. He walked a path no one else did – seeking divinity as a mortal. The other gods had practically cultivated their godhood, like Fang Xu and Celene now did. They were unlike him.

Even Thyia was unlike him, but from what he understood, she was the closest to his current situation.

He bowed.

"Thyia, I come seeking guidance. I hope you can help me on my path to divinity."