51 The Low; Logean Wuji's Mercy

After dispatching a clone of Jormy-Worm to guide Gouki, Logean Wuji had been observing him ever since they left the ancient village.

Making Gouki both Dharma Protector and Chieftain, Logean Wuji was aiming to produce the ultimate warrior. That warrior, Gouki, would be able to protect the Logean Mountain Region once his students left the Qin Realm in one hundred years time.

Now that Logean Wuji had taken matters into his own hands, the Qin Realm had become detached from its portion of dimensional reality, the Thirtheenth Void. There were many such 'Voids,' which were the terms used to refer to the branches of existence in the multiverse they were in. This particular multiverse was given the name, 'Mythos Mysterium,' by its previous ruler, the Final Moon Father.

Along with his daughter, Xuyue Zailiang, the Final Moon Father extended his reach to all Voids in the multiverse in order to introduce diversity to the Mythical Realm. Thanks to him, the overall strength of the multiverse grew exponentially and the United Sect was born.

Logean Wuji's actions took the Qin Realm, which was nothing but an insignificant world within the Thirteenth Void, and caused it to become its very own existence. Not only that, but he had allowed it to produce its very own unique principles and realities, meaning that the laws and concepts would be entirely different when compared to the laws and concepts anywhere else in any multiverse. As for the extent of his new creation, it was impossible to know.

It could be as large as a universe or, perhaps, it had become its very own multiverse. The only sure thing was that he had created a new branch of existence- essentially, a Fourteenth Void.

Logean Wuji had left the Cloud Dragon's Firmament once his students teleported away, and was sitting atop the mountain where he had conducted class earlier. With eyes closed, he took slow breaths and processed the torrential amounts of information pouring into his mind.

"Now, a new reality is formed. Akna-Logea, my eternal home, born of the Qin Realm wherein I, too, was born. It is the end of a cycle, a karmic tie cut free. Very soon, nothing will tie me to any multiverse within the Infinite Expanses."

"Very soon, my work will be finished..."

Sighing, Logean Wuji caused the endless clouds to split and allow him to see the United Realm's sun. He stared at it for quite some time before Jormy-Worm materialized and said, "Young Master, Gouki will fail. He cannot manage the impetuous elves."

"All the elves need is a proper reminder. For now, I will watch as Gouki tries to deal with them."

"As you wish, Young Master."

In the Qin Realm...

Gouki had been instructed to go to another of the odd emblems that was somewhere behind Mount Logean. Jormy-Worm produced the 'seal' of Logean Wuji to the emblem, which allowed Gouki to pass through unhindered.

Sealed far beneath the mountain was a place called 'The Low.' Despite the location, it was no different than any place above ground. There was a sun in the sky during the day, a moon and stars at night, strong, cool winds and shady trees. There was a massive sea, mountains and rivers, forests and jungles- the works.

As of right now, Gouki was standing near a run down monastery, small and overgrown. He was surrounded on all fronts, except the rear where the monastery was, by hundreds of elves. Some of them were pale, others were dark, a few were somewhere between. Only one of them, a robed male elf, had skin that seemed to shine with the light of the sun, only not as intense.

They had been alerted of his arrival by two watchmen, charged with sounding the alarm the moment someone arrived in The Low. Despite knowing that he was sent by Logean Wuji, the elves remained hostile and kept him there until the others arrived.

"Enough of your drivel! I am the Master of the Fist; come and let us converse with fists then!"

"Shut up, human-thing! We tire of this playpen!"

"Return us to our home! Return us to Ghaba!"

"Where is your master, the Logean? Let him come! Let him come and take us home!"

The elves were clearly dissatisfied, to say the least, with having to stay here. It had been far too long since they were put there, and they tired of waiting.

Finally, the glowing elf raised his hand and put an end to their commotion. He walked forward until he was just before Gouki, then stopped. "We were told that, upon the elimination of the foreign entities in our Ghaba, we would be given our continent back. I have lost count of how many years have passed until then."

The other elves nodded fiercely, derision and contempt in their expressions. They had nothing against Gouki personally, but as the envoy of Logean Wuji, they had to take a stand against him.

"The Logean has failed to keep his promise. He returns to the realm and sends an errand boy, instead of coming here himself to apologize."

"Tch!" Gouki's fists clenched, but Jormy-Worm sent him a spirit transmission, "Do nothing, say nothing."

Jormy-Worm kept himself hidden, so as to keep all their attention on Gouki. This was part of Logean Wuji's plan to introduce Gouki to a scenario that could not be solved with violent action. Logean Wuji knew that Gouki could be diplomatic, as he had seen after his fight with Yue Nu.

"As the leader of our tribe, it pains me to see my people yearn for the return to their homeland. We spend decade after decade here, never advancing in age. It is this stagnation that rots us on the inside."

"Aye!"

"No more!"

The leader raised his hand again to silence them.

"Tell the Logean that he must come here and speak to us face to face, apologize and then give ear to our demands. We are grateful to him, but he cannot keep us here any longer."

Gouki frowned. With wrathful eyes, he scoured the landscape and committed each face to memory. Every elf, in that moment, felt something tug softly at their souls for just an instant. It was startling, but had no lasting effect.

Then, something even worse gripped them. A fear so deep and instinctive, it was as if the elves were coming face to face with their creator. The world around them in The Low started to collapse, falling apart into nothing but raw primal chaos.

"What is this!?"

"Leader, what is happening!?"

As more and more of the world fell apart, it became apparent that the space around Gouki and the monastery was not being affected. "To the monastery," the leader shouted. Quickly, the crowd of elves started to make their way toward it. That was when he spoke.

He spoke, and all movement stopped.

"Apologize?"

The elves looked around in every direction, unable to pinpoint where that voice was coming from. The leader was instantly on guard, as he was the one with the sharpest sense of them all. He could feel the oppressive aura building in the environment.

"Your demands? You would make demands of me, Logean Wuji?"

The elves froze, no longer caring about the fact that, a few feet behind them, a storm of primal chaos was brewing and destroying The Low. The leader's eyes and head darted all over, but he could see no one anywhere. "Show yourself, Logean! Cease your hiding!"

In response to that, a soft chuckle filled the world.

"You spent half a million years cultivating in the world I built for you, hiding from those that sought to kill you. I promised you that, upon my return to the Qin Realm, I would aid you in getting your revenge. Now, you have become a Greater Immortal that stands within the gap, half a step into the True God level. Your ego is inflated; you think yourself powerful."

The Leader frowned. He stopped looking for Logean Wuji and closed his eyes, calming himself. "Why do you hide then? Come and see how powerful I think I am."

"When the ant climbs to the top of the anthill to raise its fist in challenge, the gods do not hear, the devils do not care; not even the mortals stop to give it a second thought. Do you get me, ant?"

Logean Wuji's incarnation assumed a physical form. By now, the world was reduced to a quarter mile space. The elves were huddled together, watching as more and more of the world became a spatial tempest. "Leader!"

The leader turned to his people, seeing that they did not dare to move. He looked to Logean Wuji, seeing that he looked no older than he did the day they first met. Hesitating, he was about to tell the elves to move toward the monastery but Logean Wuji cut him off.

"If any of you steps onto the grass around my monastery, you will share in the fate of your leader."

With those words, they did not dare to move an inch. They did not care if they fell into the spatial tempest and got ripped to pieces. They did not care if their remains were to be scattered into primal chaos for all of time. All they cared about was not offending Logean Wuji.

If only their leader shared that notion.

"Logean! You presume to command my people? Who do you think you ar-"

"Enough. Come, kneel."

By Law, the leader could do nothing but walk over to Logean Wuji and kneel. His people shrieked at the image, but offered no words.

No longer in control of his limbs, the leader could only resort to a battle of words. "Logean, answer me this. Why have you taken us from our home and kept us here for so long? What have you done to our home after all this time? What has become of Emperor Proud Heaven?"

Logean Wuji sighed, and that exhaled breath entered the elf leader's body and shattered his Greater Immortal cultivation. It did not matter that he was a half-step True God, he was in the presence of Logean Wuji.

"How is this possible? Not even a Sovereign God could..." The leader searched his mind for a logical explanation, but he could find none. From what he knew, Logean Wuji should not be much stronger than himself. Yet, he felt entirely powerless in this situation.

"Information is truly precious. So much so, that the difference between victory and defeat can sometimes be whether or not the information received is false or not."

With wide eyes, the elf leader realized where he had gone wrong. His folly was that he underestimated Logean Wuji, but even worse than that was the fact that, from the beginning, he had never known the truth about Logean Wuji's cultivation.

"That day we met, I had long left the Sovereign God level behind. You were not around to hear the stories, so it is understandable."

The elf leader was speechless. It was not that he didn't believe it, but that simply believing it was not enough. How would you react if you were told that your younger relative was actually the God that created the universe?

This was pretty much the same situation. When the elf leader met Logean Wuji at first, he was a youngster. He claimed to be a newbie at cultivation that showed exceptional promise, but had, in fact, lied. There was nothing he could say.

"I will no longer speak of my intentions, since I no longer intend to act on them. My plans for you are now void, and your fate will now be changed by my decree. Destiny bends to me, allowing me to rewrite the dao-lines of your life: Patu-Oak Jing, leader of the Qin Realm's elves, appointed by Patu-Wind Han, the Elf King now deceased. You have annoyed me, and will now be punished for it."

The elf leader was then deconstructed, flesh, muscle, bone, organ and soul. Nothing was left of him after a short while but a wisp of life essence, which was the very source of his being.

"Your source will be given to Emperor Proud Heaven, your most hated enemy. He will consume it and acquire your cultivation, and you will remain conscious to observe as I then hand him your elf brethren to do as he pleases."

Hearing this, terror gripped the elves and they rushed to speak.

"My God, please have mercy!"

"Did you not say that we would not share in his fate? Please!"

Logean Wuji glared at them, almost killing them before he suppressed his divine will. "You will not share in his fate; you are a part of his punishment, but you will not be punished the same."

"This is already a merciful end to your race of fools."