21 World Of Laws

Author Note: please correct any grammar mistakes if you see them. Athanasios, you know what to do XD

*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.*

Qing Fang eased his low stance slightly as he gazed at the insignia on the woman's robes.

It went without saying that he was extremely surprised. Instantly recognising it as the Qing Clan's insignia, thoughts raged within Qing Fang's head as he stood with a pondering expression.

'There is no possible way that the insignia is a coincidence, right?' What Qing Fang was wondering was whether a faction within the city somehow replicated the exact insignia of the Qing Clan and used it as theirs. Although such a circumstance was truly too minuscule in chance, Qing Fang wasn't as brazen to simply dismiss it.

Having already sealed the unbearable rage toward the Universe that he had felt earlier, Qing Fang's sociopathic nature had returned. And with it, the instinct of never missing any chances that might be beneficial or harmful to himself.

His thoughts swirling like a hurricane, Qing Fang thought it necessary to determine this fact before he continued with anything. He was taking no chances. He had already encountered too much unwanted turbulence since he had decided on entering the city. Firstly was Meng Chuan and his foolish sister along with that Xuan Han. This time, a distraught girl was seeking the sacred garden.

While Qing Fang could easily kill her and be done, the fact that she belonged to the Qing Clan made her status extraordinary in his eyes. She was something he needed to find, something that would make his life much easier when trying to exist within the city.

A pawn.

...

Qing Chu Hua saw the martial artist guard before her suddenly stand up from his low stance. Previously, his weight was all placed on his right foot which was behind him while his left foot was outstretched toward herself. Although it is easy for someone to ignore this stance, Qing Chu Hua found it very hard to stage an attack.

Following this thought process, she realised that this mortal guard was an absolute master in fighting arts. Previously she was wondering why a mortal would take the role of a guard, but now, she didn't dare to question it.

Back within the city, her father had tried to encourage her to learn how to fight and had even commissioned a martial artist grandmaster. At the time, she was extremely unwilling but succumbed to her father's pleading and agreed to a single session. At that time, she had Stage 1 cultivation and was under the impression that martial artists could never bridge the gap of cultivation.

However, when she met with the grandmaster and briefly studied fighting, she was taken aback. The sheer depth of the art of fighting was unimaginable. Secret arts trained by indigenous peoples on a weak planet, the perfected stance of a certain sect, the punching technique of a famous cultivator; it went on for ages.

No matter where humans exist, there will be strife. And within strife, comes fighting, war and death. But nobody wanted to die, they wanted to put up a fight and protect themselves. Thus, fighting arts existed in every region in every country on every planet within all three realms. It could be said that fighting was the most beautiful, ancient and holy art to ever be created. It was a crystallisation of human sin and was perpetually intertwined with fate.

After all, fate cushions the strong and pitied the weak.

To fight is to take, to kill and to pillage. While some may claim to fight for justice and peace, they achieved it by creating strife. Fighting and killing was the answer to everything.

While the 'righteous' outright reject this, the 'evil' embrace it and mould it into their cores. This was why they madly prioritised individual strength. While the 'righteous' had a herd mentality, the 'evil' knew that one's own strength was a basic requirement to survive. After all, deep down, everyone only cares about themselves and their own interests. If one was too weak to take what they want-what they need, the pinnacle is out of their reach.

Following this, when Qing Chu Hua saw this martial artist's stance, she was a bit frightened. He had already easily dodged her attempt to impale him with energy to spare. At that moment, his movements were sublime and graceful, giving off a feeling of beauty. However, it was contrasted by the solemn face of a man, with thick skin tempered by the winds of experience.

She was no expert in fighting. In fact, she hated it. She had only learnt the basics under the constant pestering of her father. After all, she had never thought she would have to fight. Obviously, such a way of thinking was acceptable given her previous circumstances, but now? It would lead to her death.

Instinctively knowing that she would only die here due to her own incompetence, the rage she had for everything around her was suddenly directed at herself. Her thoughts taking a route of self-deprecation, she began to think she would never be able to take what she wanted. That she would be forever a little girl who only relied on others.

While it may seem inconsequential, this sort of depressing thinking had already cemented her death in her mind. She knew she would die if she ventured back into the city and she knew she would die trying to get past this guard. Such unfair circumstances made her give up.

However, seeing the martial artist suddenly raise himself from his low and unpredictable stance, confusion and hope appeared in her beautiful eyes that refracted the sunlight and sparkled.

Brushing away her long and luscious hair that had covered her face by putting it behind her ear, she studied the guard in front of her with all seriousness.

He looked to be about thirty but could be younger or older for all she knew. However, the stubble on his cheeks, chin and neck made him look older. Standing above average in height at 6'0", he was quite an intimidating figure for a small girl such as Qing Chu Hua.

She, herself, was only nineteen and stood 5'6". Along with her slim build and her dainty personality, she found almost any man intimidating. This one, in particular, was a whole 6 inches taller than her, turning her meek.

He wore the trademark guard robes of the Temple. They tightly fitted around his muscular frame. It was almost as if the robes were made for someone much slimmer than himself.

Although it looked quite comedic, Qing Chu Hua found it anything but. She could see the tightly packed muscles rippling in a strange pattern from the abdomen outward. It looked sickening and gross seeing the skin ripple in coordination like this. Accurately identifying this phenomenon as the muscle strengthening methods of martial artists, fear surfaced in Qing Chu Hua.

Refusing to let her daughter be unknowledgeable about matters regarding martial artists and how dangerous they were, Qing Chu Hua's father had imparted information regarding them. This information mostly surrounded how to accurately identify one and their strength.

As for why martial artists were regarded as dangerous by a Stage 4 cultivator? This was because of the stereotype surrounding them. As they were mortals who still madly pursued strength even after discovering they had no talent for cultivation, they were usually 'evil' and violent people. Most mortals just resigned themselves to fate after discovering they had zero aptitudes. To still yearn strength so avariciously, a certain type of will was required.

This sort of will was exactly what was dangerous about martial artists. Everyone had heard about the folktale regarding the supreme grandmaster suffering in Violence Hell. There was a moral to this story: martial artists were extremely violent people.

Seeing the rhythmically pulsating muscles, Qing Chu Hua's mind darted toward this information as she acutely sensed the laws surrounding the guard before her.

Suddenly sensing a world of colour, Qing Chu Hua struggled to focus on the guard. The strands of green coming from nature just above her on the plateau, the strands of brown coming from the rock beneath her feet, the strands of yellow blowing with the wind and the strands of gold within the light in the sky. An unimaginable amount of Law fragments were presented to her senses.

However, within the world of colour was a bright silver light.

Dwarfing the light of the surrounding Laws, the silver light was in the form of a humanoid and pulsed rhythmically from its abdomen. Overall, it was extremely beautiful seeing the light dim and brighten in relation to those surrounding it. The silver figure looked beautiful as it stood amongst all the other Laws.

However, a bleak contrast to the beautiful appearance, the silver light emanated an aura of pure strength. The strength within the light was so domineering, so grand, so magnificent; that Qing Chu Hua nearly collapsed.

'The Law of Strength.'

What Qing Chu Hua was currently gazing upon was the fragments of the Law of Strength within Qing Fang's body. As Qing Fang had greatly strengthened his muscles with the perfect control over his body that his unlocked soul granted him, the Law of Strength was extremely prevalent within his being.

All other Law fragments that comprised his being: the Law of Blood, the Law of Life, the Law of Wisdom, The Law of Energy and so on; were dwarfed by the brightly shining Law of Strength.

Since mortal martial artists did not absorb Cultivation Laws into their bodies, their strength couldn't be accurately gauged by cultivators at a glance. Instead, they must peer into the world of Subsidiary Laws to judge their strength based on the Law of Strength they emanated.

Cultivation Laws and Subsidiary Laws were all Laws but were different in that that they could either be cultivated or they could not. For example, the Law of Water could be cultivated and thus, was a Cultivation Law. In contrast, the Law of Strength could not be cultivated and thus, was a Subsidiary Law.

The Law of Water and the Law of Strength were both equal in that they governed the Universe. The labels of 'subsidiary' and 'cultivation' were only placed upon them by cultivators to differentiate which Laws could be absorbed into the bodies and which could not.

Almost every Law which was elemental could be absorbed, however, those that weren't such as the Law of Strength, the Law of Matter, the Law of Entropy; could not be used in cultivation.

The reason for this was unknown, however, some cultivators think that a celestial being decides on which Laws are able to be cultivated. Others think that which Laws can be cultivated is decided by a Law of Existence, which is above a Law of the Universe.

Overall, there was zero difference between Subsidiary Laws and Cultivation Laws other than whether they could be absorbed and used for cultivation.

In truth, a Law of Existence did indeed dictate which Laws could be cultivated. Cultivators gained power and authority over a Law that they cultivated. Qing Fang could manipulate and form fragment Laws of the Law of Water when he was Stage 3.

If someone theoretically cultivated the Law of Death, which is not possible, they would be able to control death itself. The same goes for Life, Matter, Entropy and Creation. Such things were dictated by a certain Law of Existence to be uncontrollable. The cornerstones of existence itself are not to be tampered with.

If, by chance, a being had enough authority to forcefully ignore the Law of Existence and control these Laws, they would be a being above Deities and Creation Deities. They would be the kings of gods of gods; Unrestrained by any and all.

The term "peer into the world of Subsidiary Laws" was used as cultivators can sense Cultivation Laws much more easily than the former. To observe Subsidiary Laws is to gaze at the governance of the Universe itself. While cultivators would be able to sense Cultivation Laws passively, they would need to enter a semi-meditative state to sense Subsidiary Laws as well as Cultivation Laws.

Qing Chu Hua had no qualms about entering this state when in the face of an enemy as her naïve nature let her believe that no one would be as dishonourable as to attack her when she was in a state of powerlessness. She knew that cultivators placed a big emphasis on honour and traditionalism. Thus, the idea of her enemy attacking her as she was inspecting their strength was absurd to her.

Naturally, this sort of thinking was extremely flawed. However, Qing Chu Hua was but a sheltered girl. What could she know?

At this point in her life, she massively underestimated the power experience had. Her father, who had lived for hundreds of years respectively, was but an annoying man to her. She was in her rebellious stage.

In this Universe or the Mortal Realm, beings could live for tens of thousands of years. The amount of experience and enlightenment gained over this period of time was unimaginable. However, it always came down to two ideologies: 'righteous' and 'evil'.

The everlasting 'righteous' has taken in everything about the world and had realised everything, even the smallest blade of grass on an inconspicuous planet, is not without its own profundity and fate within the all-encompassing Universe. To them, everything is with meaning and thus, worth protecting.

The everlasting 'evil' take to the idea that nothing has any meaning and all will return to darkness eventually. Nothing is eternal and nihility is prevalent. Within existence, only they have the meaning as they are subjective to their own reality. Strength and power are all that matters. To them, everything is meaningless and will eventually die.

While neither is wrong or right, everything eventually comes down to whether anything matters at all. If not, 'evil' shall prevail. If so, 'righteousness' will.

Very few beings had truly perfected their mindset into either one of these. Most beings, even God Kings, lean toward one side at most. Even Qing Fang had not embarked upon the true path of evil, he had only stepped into the waters. After all, he had only been alive for a meagre twenty-four years. How could he possibly know all that there is?

To truly know all is to be more than a God, more than a Deity, more than whatever lies above even that. To know all is to know all of 'evil' and all of 'righteousness'. No person can achieve that without doubt or conceit. If one believes he is on the path to omniscience, he is the epitome of ignorance.

Continuing from this, the fact that Qing Chu Hua is so naïve to the world and ignorant to the vicissitudes of experience makes her a person worthy of disdain.

Qing Chu Hua stared dazedly at the Law of Strength emanating from Qing Fang's rippling muscles. She even felt despair. The reason for this was that within the muscles of a supposed mortal was the strength of a Stage 4 cultivator.

The difference between Stage 4 and Stage 2 was a huge chasm that nearly no one can surpass. Due to this, the vastly inexperienced and weak Qing Chu Hua shivered as she felt the pure oppression from the Law of Strength.

The silver light seemed to turn from an impartial governor of existence into a malicious demon that wanted to slaughter Qing Chu Hua. Of course, this was a hallucination on her part. Laws were servants to no one, even beings that lived above them. After all, to control a Law and to a enslave a Law were vastly different.

If the governance of existence itself was subservient to another, doesn't that make them the God of Existence?

Regarding topics like this, even beings like the Creation Deity had next to no knowledge. It was an unchartered realm of cultivation that was more dangerous and mysterious than any other. At that point, the danger of taking a single step forward was huge.

Dealing with Laws of Nature and Laws of the Universe was still manageable to most beings within known existence. However, the Laws of Existence are a dangerous thing. Any being that dared get too close would be subject to a vicious beating from existence itself.

Many Creation Deities, who were supposed to be unkillable by any means, had suddenly vanished after daring to tamper with existence.

After all, any 'immortal' being within existence relied on existence itself for that immortality, right? If they wanted to confront the Laws of Existence, are they still immortal? Are they still Gods?

From this, it is obvious that any being who could theoretically control the Laws of Existence could strip Gods of their Godhood. But in return, they could reward mortals with it.

Trying to describe such an existence's authority is simply not possible.

...

After easing his stance, Qing Fang saw the girl suddenly enter a meditative state to evaluate his strength.

'Hmph, what a naïve girl. She dares to turn her back on an enemy in battle? If she is to become my pawn, a little...reformation will be needed.' With immeasurable disdain evident in his eyes, Qing Fang stood and did nothing as he waited for Qing Chu Hua to emerge from her state so he could converse with her.

He had decided that he would take in this girl as his pawn. He had almost zero knowledge of the city's affairs and having a knowing servant would make things a lot easier. It would also help him stay incognito as he embarked upon his Blood path cultivation. If there was maybe some strange customs within the city that he was not versed with, he would stand out would he not?

Seeing the small girl before him start shivering, Qing Fang smirked.

'It seems she finally discovered my strength.'

While Qing Fang could not actively use the strength of a Stage 4 cultivator without repercussions in normal cases, he could still channel it through his body. This gave the impression that Qing Fang was a martial artist that was equivalent to Stage 4.

Such a thing was even superior to the supreme grandmaster in folklore.

As the girl was still shivering, Qing Fang was growing impatient. He thought that she would emerge from the world of Laws after inspecting his strength. Why had she not done so yet?

Tired of waiting for the fear-stricken Qing Chu Hua, Qing Fang walked over with heavy steps.

*3,128/3,000 words*