Recollection; Wuji

"From the Empress?"

Hadur turned to see the shadow of melancholy cast on Logean Wuji's face, and so he took a big gulp and steeled himself.

"I will do anything for the Empress, and also for you. You know this."

"I do," Logean Wuji nodded, then put a hand into his robes. When he withdrew it, a miniature longsword and splendidly decorated copper scabbard appeared. It was only as long as a child's forearm, yet it bore a majesty that trumped any other full-sized longsword easily.

Not only that, but the air of divinity around it was slowly becoming a physical presence, a characteristic of divine weapons above the Third Grade.

"His Majesty's seal..." Hadur was taken aback once he saw the little sword, and he almost started to tremble under the weight of the rising emotions.

"Yes, it is my grandfather's seal- the Mythical Seal. Given to my mother when he passed, and given to me when she ...died."

Hadur took a knee once more, head lowered.

"In the presence of the Mythical Seal, I can only bow and accept whatever fate awaits me."

Logean Wuji, up in the air, descended with the Mythical Seal in hand.

"I am giving it to you, along with my mother's dying wish."

Hadur's eyes widened, and his head bowed even lower. In his heart, he could get a sense of where things were about to go.

"Take it."

Logean Wuji handed the seal to him, and Hadur took it with grace. It was a tiny thing to him, yet Hadur received it with both hands and held it with the utmost care.

"She would have wanted you to keep it for me, until I was ready to take my place. I am not yet ready, so you must hold onto it."

Hadur, still bowed, said, "As I live and breathe, I am the Empress' humble servant for ever."

Logean Wuji and Hadur then continued on their way. Hadur led him away from the forge and toward a stone structure without walls or a roof. It was essentially the inside of a house, only without the house.

"Forgive the appearance of the place; I have always lived simply."

Logean Wuji did not mind. Instead, he caused himself to grow to a size similar to that of Hadur, then they both sat at a table.

"Would you like some tea, Young Master?"

"I would."

"Then let me-"

"No need."

Two steaming cups of tea took form on the table, one of which Logean Wuji immediately grabbed and sipped from.

'Incredible. The young master no longer needs to will it, his words cause the laws to act on his behalf. He asks for tea; tea appears on the table.'

Logean Wuji smiled and waved his hand, alerting Hadur to the fact that he was privy even to his thoughts.

"Unfortunately, I lost the ability to prevent myself from hearing the thoughts of others. Reading minds posed some difficulty before my ascension, but now it is so easy that I cannot even find a way to stop it from happening."

Hadur smiled bitterly, "So it's become natural. Amazing."

Logean Wuji and Hadur both sipped their tea in silence for a while, then Hadur spoke up.

"About the Empress... You mentioned her dying wish?"

Sighing, Logean Wuji nodded and put his cup down. It was evident that speaking of it was not at all easy for him to do.

"She asked me to let you hold onto the seal, as you were her most trusted aide and my grandfather's closest friend."

Hadur tried his best not to show it, but his heart swelled when he heard that. He ended up being forced to suck in mouthfuls of hot tea, using the burn to ground himself.

"Knowing that I would come see you someday, she asked me to relay a message to you."

Hadur stiffened and his grip on the cup suddenly became intense.

"The time for weeping has long past, and the days of mourning have long been over. Tell him what he needs to know and be done with it."

Hearing those words, Hadur no longer heard Logean Wuji's voice. He could hear the Empress, Xuyue Zailiang herself, speaking the words to him.

He was straightaway taken aback, finding himself reliving memories he had long forgotten...

"Hadur, don't hold him like that!"

"Ah- like this?"

"No, no, support his head. His head!"

"Right! Is that right, Empress?"

Sitting in bed with numerous pillows stacked behind to keep her up straight, Xuyue Zailiang worriedly looked over at a younger, slightly less hairy Hadur.

Her hair and clothes were in a mess, and she seemed to have recently been wiped with a wet towel. Not only that, but her skin was a bit paler than usual, and the light in her eyes was a bit dim.

Hadur was seated on a chair next to the bed, holding a neatly wrapped newborn in his arms. With every move he made, Xuyue Zailian would reach forward involuntarily, subconsciously worried that Hadur would drop the child or injure him somehow.

"It's fine, Empress. He's not going anywhere. He's strapped into this 'harness' so tight he can barely move, hahaha!"

Xuyue Zailiang paled even more than she already was, which made her look like a living corpse.

"Really!? Is it too tight? Quick, Hadur, do something!"

Hadur blinked and looked down at the newborn. For a second there, he felt like even the child was thinking, 'She can't be serious.'

To please her mind, Hadur undid the wrap just a bit and made sure she could see it being done. Then, he held the child to his chest and looked down at him.

"Have you and the Clan Leader decided on a name for the young master?"

Xuyue Zailiang nodded, looking to the sleeping child and giving him a warm smile.

"His name is Wuji..."

Hadur froze, and he looked to Xuyue Zailiang in disbelief.

"It is true then..."

She nodded slowly, and the atmosphere suddenly seemed a bit colder. Her warm smile, directed at her son, became even warmer than before. Hadur's expression was grave, and he looked closely at the child's face.

"But it only took one hundred million years for him to be born. Some Sovereign Gods wait for much longer than that before giving birth. Such a person can be born in that short time?"

"I do not know the specifics," Xuyue Zailiang shook her head and adjusted her sitting position.

"All I know is what you all have seen. Something from beyond the final Primal Chaos Wall- from the Omniverse- reached out to him on the day of his birth. Something immeasurably powerful, and even more frightening."

Her eyes never left her child as she spoke, and Hadur's eyes never left her.

"Such a power resides in him. In his soul. It cannot be a coincidence."

Hadur gasped as the child in his arms stirred, and he quickly gave him back to his mother, terrified of him now.

"Horrible. How horrible. I am truly sorry, Empress. This burden has now befallen your bloodline... Truly horrible."

"Do you underestimate my son, Hadur?"

When Hadur had been speaking, he closed his eyes for a moment. His heart was grieved to hear the news, and so he felt that he could no longer look the Empress in the eye.

When he opened his eyes, he felt Xuyue Zailiang's ice cold stare and he panicked. He dropped to the floor and hastily apologized.

"Forgive me, Empress, but this is no simple matter. These are matters of the Grand Dao, something no one can interfere with."

Xuyue Zailiang's coldness subsided, but Hadur did not rise to take a seat again.

"It is true that it is something we cannot begin to understand. However, my son will bear that weight one day. I only fear that I will not live to see that day..."

"What are you saying, Empress?" Hadur looked up, and saw tears flowing from Xuyue Zailiang's eyes. She held the child to her bosom and wept, unable to speak another word for some time.

"As his parents, Logean Zi and I will surely become victims of his karma. I doubt we will live to see the day he is able to shoulder that burden."

Hadur had no words to say to that. It was true. Karmic ties formed with one's parents were among the strongest that could be formed. If they were to be in Logean Wuji's life, they would have to face the things meant only for him. Eventually, it would become too much.

"Therefore ...you must be the one to tell him in that case. Perhaps my worry is unfounded, and perhaps I may be able to tell him myself, but if I am unable to ...you must tell him the truth."

Hadur was moved to tears. Without saying it, the Empress had informed him of his place in her heart. To her, he was someone that could be trusted to carry out such a task.

Xuyue Zailiang saw his sorrowful expression and smiled. It was a smile that seemed to slow time to a crawl, before halting it altogether. Hadur's tears stopped falling, and he looked to the Empress with unwillingness.

"The time for weeping has long past, and the days of mourning have long been over. Promise me that you will do this for me, Hadur. Swear upon all you hold dear."

Hadur's face contorted a number of times. It was a great and bitter internal struggle that prevented him from immediately saying the words, but he was eventually able to eke them out.

"I swear, Empress. When the time comes, if you have passed, then I shall be the one to tell him."

The image of mother and child together was striking, but Hadur wished he could make it go away. This picture- this memory- was too much for him. He did not want this fate.

...

Logean Wuji sat straight and tall, listening to Hadur's words with full and undivided attention.

"The day your mother and father were married, they were visited by a stranger of immense and unparalleled power. He entered the Mythical Realm and, with a wave of his hand, immobilized every soul in it. We were made to watch, unable to speak."

"Your mother and father were left unaffected and, as he approached, he spoke to them of many things I was not destined to hear; the words could not be comprehended by my mind."

"Eventually, he told them that their child would take his place, and would be responsible for keeping the Impending Doom at bay. He also mentioned his name, Wuji."

Logean Wuji's eyes widened for a moment, and he put down his cup of tea, not wanting to destroy it.

He clasped hands and fell into deep thought, dwelling on the words, 'Impending Doom' and the fact that he was named after that man.

"Your Father sought knowledge above all else, and he came to learn of The Principles, while also tethering himself to one of them."

"Father did? Are you sure?"

Hadur nodded, "Yes. More so, he was the one who understood The Principles the most, especially 'Silence.' No one else had come closer to any one of the The Principles than him."

Logean Wuji sat back, processing all of the information while exploring his own web of thoughts.

"He was the one who believed that the man who had approached them ...and you..."

"Are actually beyond The Principles, The Grand Dao and the Omniverse."

There was nothing more to be said. Hadur sipped his tea soundlessly, and Logean Wuji placed a hand over his mouth.

"I have tried to look into the past, before my birth. I grew sorrowful. I missed them too much, and so I tried to see every moment of theirs that I could. Their wedding day was the only one I could not see."

"That man ...whoever he was... was at a level that I am yet to reach. I had my suspicions, but now I see that I was way off."

"The Dao-Devourer that Xuan Wu fought was not sealed by the Grand Dao. The Grand Dao and The Principles merely ensured that the seal was not broken by outside forces. Something else was responsible for placing that seal on it."

"It seems that the Impending Doom and the Dao-Devourer are one and the same. It also seems that the Grand Dao and The Principles were put in the Omniverse to guard the seal."

"Father was right. There is something beyond the Omniverse, and ...Wuji might have been it. Likewise, the Dao-Devourer must be from the beyond as well."

"So why did Wuji choose me? What exactly exists beyond the Omniverse? And where is he now?"