Devouring The Heavens

Xuanyuan felt like the air was ripped from his lungs when he saw the woman. He asked slowly, “Who are you?”

“Who am I?” She looked at Xuanyuan with her eyes of emptiness and smiled, “I don’t know who I am. I was not expecting visitors after so many years. It seems the Water of Heaven has found its home.”

“Is she the owner of the Water of Heaven?” Xuanyuan thought.

“I was chased after by assassins. To escape from them, I dove into the sea and passed through the Disposition of Nine Deaths thanks to the light which came from here. How did you get here, miss? That’s blood, you must be hurt. We should tend to your wounds first.” Xuanyuan said. He was upset to see such a beautiful woman was wounded.

“Thank you, young master.” She smiled miserably, “It seemed we are of the same fate. I too was chased by assassins and came here.”

“But we’re still different. I was chased by my enemies. You were chased by someone close to you, correct?” Xuanyuan said when he thought about the sad expression in her eyes.

“You are observant, young master. You came to take the Water of Heaven, right? Please be patient and listen to my story. If you still want the water, I won’t stop you.” She looked at him, filled with sadness.

Xuanyuan’s heart pounded. Who was this woman? But since she asked, it wouldn’t hurt to listen. “Please enlighten me, miss.”

She began slowly. Her voice full of regret, sorrow and hatred.

“He was my only disciple. A talented boy who was very smart. I adored him. He grew into a very strong man. One day, he said to me that he wanted to be with me forever, and asked if I would marry him, I said yes. It was a happy time. The happiest time of my life.”

“I knew he longed for the Water of Heaven that was inside me, but I thought, he would never hurt me. I raised him, I taught him everything he knew. I loved him more than my own life. However, he couldn’t resist the temptation, and tried to take away the water. All these wounds were from him.

“The man who was supposed to love and protect me, was the one who attacked me. The man who truly loved me, died trying to protect me. The man I loved wanted me dead and I lost the man who truly cared for me. I’d never imagined, all those years of happiness were worth nothing to him when he was overcome by greed. Do you still want it? Aren’t you afraid that the people who are closest to you, would try to kill you for this treasure?”

Xuanyuan’s heart was burning with anger, who could call themselves a man after betraying the trust and love of his master, and his wife.

“Of course I want it. I’m not as lucky as you. While you had people who loved you, I’m all alone in this world, I have no one. It’s fate that brought me here to the Water of Heaven. I don’t want to give up on it. Miss, I’ll bring you outside and heal you. Miss, can I have the Water of Heaven?”

“Lucky. Yes, I was truly lucky. This palace was created by the man who loved and protected me. I have lived here for all these years. I am content. Well, you’re the only person who has ever made it this far. It must be destiny, but whether you can tame the Water of Heaven depends on your own ability.” She smiled and stepped back, opening the door to the hall.

There was a jade stand in the middle of the hall. The stand was surrounded by a stunning blue light. Xuanyuan realized that this was the Water of Heaven, but he instead turned to the woman, “Miss, we should tend to your wounds first. It doesn’t look good, we shouldn’t delay treatment.”

“You can’t save me. Go and see if you can tame the Water. If you succeed, I’ll finally be able to rest. It has followed me for too long, it must be lonely. It deserves to see the world again.” She said.

Xuanyuan still wanted to say something, but Greed stopped him, “Go get the water. Her body has already perished. What you see is only her projection. The Water of Heaven sustained a part of her soul. I understand her feelings. You should allow her soul to rest in peace.”

Xuanyuan stepped into the hall. A strong wave of water rushed towards him, trying to block his entry into the hall. The Water of Heaven was rejecting him, but he refused to slow down. He was determined.

“Water of Heaven! Your master had promised you to me. Do you think you can stop me?” The light on the stand started to shake, it was provoked. All treasures had a form of sentience, it was only unable to speak. The water clearly understood Xuanyuan and its master’s will, but it was still resisting Xuanyuan.

“Don’t be so stubborn, Heaven. You want to protect me, I understand. But please, I don’t want to be like this anymore. Go with him instead of staying here forever. You’ll be lonely otherwise.” The woman said softly. Her voice was soothing and seemed to calm the Water of Heaven immediately. Xuanyuan felt the resistance against him had been lowered.

Xuanyuan moved to the stand and took out his dagger. On the blade of the dagger, there were black markings which started to move. The markings expanded and surrounded the blue light on the jade stand.

The Water of Heaven exploded with power causing the black markings to crack under the pressure. Greed screamed, “That woman can only help us so much. We can only depend on ourselves if we want to tame it. Only strength can be used to tame the treasure!”

Inside Xuanyuan’s ring, two hundred thousand jin of crystals started to burn and merged with the black light of the dagger.

“Seal of Devouring!” The crystals were burning and enhancing the power of Greed’s seal. The struggle between the blue and black light was growing more intense.

“Heaven, I know you care for your master, but she’s suffering from endless pain. She wants to be relieved of her suffering. She wants to rest. You need to let her rest. You are only trapping her inside her painful memories of betrayal. Is that what you want?” Xuanyuan shouted sternly. His statement caused the Water of Heaven to falter.

“Quick, use the Book of Black Water and start to refine your kidneys!” Greed ordered. It caught the moment the water faltered and sealed the Water of Heaven into Xuanyuan’s kidneys.

Suddenly, a terrifying force attempted to rip itself from inside Xuanyuan kidneys. His kidneys exploded with blue light. The blue light was rampaging inside his body, crushing his bones and tearing his flesh.

“Boy, use the devouring technique. The devouring power can heal your wounds. If you’re tough enough, you can devour the Water of Heaven. If you are weaker, then you’ll be devoured by it. Your body will be taken over and your soul erased. If it rejects your body, you’ll be completely destroyed.” Greed screamed.

With the help of the devouring technique, every part of his body was activated. His pearl was at full power and was absorbing everything it could into Xuanyuan’s body. Many black threads emerged from his body and formed strong roots which planted themselves into the ground of the palace, using the palace’s Qi to help tame the Water of Heaven.

The woman’s empty eyes regained a bit of life at last, “This boy has the Body of All Creations and is using the devouring technique. He must be the heir of the Devouring Emperor. It’s fate. The Emperor saved me, allowing me to live on and obtain the Water of Heaven. It’s karma that Heaven should belong to him. I hope he can make it through and become the master of Heaven…”