Yin Yee studied the Xiangqi tiles hovering above the scattered stars of the Mortal Realm, the chess game growing ever closer to a standstill. From his vantage in the Celestial Realm, the cosmos of the physical world was laid out like a tapestry-—dark and dotted with pinpoints of life and diffuse Qi—as far flung and insignificant as it was now miniscule within his celestial sight. But even one such as he was beholden to the primordial energies generated there.

  All around him, the brilliance of the celestial heavens resonated like a thousand suns in comparison. High above, the boughs of the great Spirit Tree nourished the millions of manifested worlds strewn across the nine planes of Heaven. Each hung like an orb from the celestial branches, a portal to the personal domains of the Immortal Sovereign and greater Ranked Deities who inhabited the Holy City.

  One such Deity now floated in lotus position across from him, studying the Xiangqi tiles with the utmost scrutiny—the great General Tau Nu. Tau Nu’s Deity Form was befitting of one with a warrior’s soul, a great, blue-haired Ox with the body of a man clad in thick armor. Upon his mighty pauldrons perched the retainer spirits of his weapons, two blue-skinned sprites who embodied the twin hammers at his waist. They studied the Xiangqi board with him, whispering at times into his constantly flicking ears as he gave thought to his next move.

  “You need not be so careful, general,” Yin Yee said. “It is but a friendly match, after all.”

  He let out a laugh to accompany his words, tossing his long golden hair from his shoulders. Unlike many of his subjects, Yin Yee preferred to embody his human form. With such perfection, there was no need to take on any other. Here one wore their strength upon their sleeves, the power of their immortal souls on constant display, but as the Celestial Emperor of the Jade Throne of Heaven, there was no need to compete.

  All bowed to him.

  Or would soon learn to, if they did not.

  Tau Nu himself was such a one, a distant eon ago.

  “A sullied warrior never takes a battle lightly, my lord,” Tau Nu said. “Even if it be just a game.”

  Yin Yee laughed again. “I suppose that is why I trust you to command my armies.”

  Tau Nu didn’t laugh with him, his eyes remaining focused on the board. Behind him, the nine ringed Halo denoting his standing as an Asura Ranked Deity, rotated slowly like a map of the celestial heavens themselves. His power was but a half step below his own, but Yin Yee trusted this man not for his might, but his obedience.

  A sullied was still a sullied no matter what power he held.

  Tau Nu finally advanced one of the tiles. A predictable move and one Yin Yee had seen ten exchanges ago. He wasted no time in making the next move himself, placing Tau Nu back into a state of contemplation.

  “Tell me, general, what news of new ascensions from the Mortal Realm?”

  Yin Yee finally cut to the core purpose of their meeting. It had been ten years since he had received updates from the lower heavens and while he enjoyed their Xiangqi matches, Tau Nu was clearly no master of the game. The Great Ox General welcomed the distraction from it, falling upon the familiarity of his duty instead.

  “Sixteen within the last decade,” he reported. “All currently progressing through the trial of astral ascension.”

  “Any demon tainted?”

  “One, your imminence, but the Observers stand ready to banish them to the Astral Realm should they fail to be purified.”

  Yin Yee grimaced. “Perhaps one lost already. So many seeking shortcuts to ascension these days. And how fare our forces in the Eternal Struggle?”

  Tau Nu stiffened at attention, producing a scroll to give his formal report. “The war of the 1st Heavens grows dire. Strong forces push us back to nearly the gates of the second. Crowned Demon Lords and Double crowned Archdemons now join the ranks of the Abyssal Spawn routinely.”

  Yin Yee nodded. “Quite strong, as you say. Are your forces sufficiently able to repel them?”

  “Yes, although barely,” Tau Nu said. “We have a host of less than ten thousand in total within our ranks now.”

  “And their make up?”

  “Most are single haloed. A score of Double Haloed Sages that serve as commanders and a handful of Immortal Sovereigns to lead the battalions. That is all.”

  “No Monarchs?”

  “No, my Lord. There are perhaps two Sovereigns who draw near, but I measure their ascension to be a decade away at least.”

  “I see,” Yin Yee said. “And losses?”

  “Steady…” he said with a pause. “Three or so each year. And the reinforcements are meager as you know.” Tau Nu then looked up from the board at him. “Perhaps My Lord may give consideration to suspending the trials? I could surely use those Sixteen fresh souls on the battlefield.”

  Yin Yee balked at him. “And risk corruption from the inside? The forces of Hell already have footing within both the Astral and Mortal Realms. Should just one penetrate our numbers the result would be catastrophic. Besides, it is far better to have Saint Ranked Deity’s join the fray rather than newly ascended mortals, don’t you agree?”

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  The trial had more purpose than to just weed out the unworthy.

  They would strengthen those who would finally succeed.

  Granting them a Halo, the first Ranking of celestial ascension. From there they could aspire to ascend further, from Saints to Sages, then Three-Haloed Immortal Sovereigns, Heavenly Monarchs, Empyreans, Primordial, Ancestral, and Supreme Deities, before finally reaching the Asura Ranking like Tau Nu.

  But few, less than one in 100,000 ever reached the ranking of Empyrean, much less the further ranks. Those were reserved for ancient cultivators who now presided over the laws of heaven themselves, ruling in the Celestial Court. Such were no longer warriors. Far different than Tau Nu.

  “True…” Tau Nu conceded. “But the Unranked are useful in traversing to the Astral Realm. The Toll of Transcendence is far less for them than for Saint or Sage Ranked Deities.”

  “Yes, I know well the cost of Transcendence, general,” Yin Yee said with a scoff.

  “Forgive me,” Tau Nu said, bowing in apology. “Of course you do.”

  But the point was not lost on him.

  As one ascended in Celestial power, so too with it, came a price.

  The primal essence of Souls was what replaced Qi in the Celestial Realm. Whether gained passively through the aspirations of a mortal’s devotion, or taken forcefully through sacrifice or combat, the Mortal Soul was the currency of both one’s progression and limitation as a Deity.

  Should it take a thousand Souls to ascend, so too it took the same amount to transcend to a lesser realm, the cost multiplied by distance if crossing multiple barriers. The planes of existence were like a ring of concentric circles within Yin Yee’s mind, with the core of the Soul-generating, Mortal Realm at the center and the Astral or Spiritual Realm hovering just above it—the place where Spirits, Demons and Lesser Deities roamed freely. Then on either side, stood the opposing planes of both Heaven and Hell, constantly locked in the eternal battle between Yin and Yang.

  It had been millennia since they were strong enough to push through the demon-choked construct of the Astral Realm to challenge the Gates of Hell. But now the opposite was true.

  Heaven was now perpetually besieged.

  “The demonic hordes grow strong from their direct consumption of souls upon the Mortal Realm,” Tau Nu said. “They are able to Transend two or three planes to our one, sending Demonic Sovereigns and even Abyssal Monarchs straight from the 3rd and 4th planes of Hells to manifest directly within the Astral Realm or even to the Gates of the 1st Heaven itself.”

  Yin Yee shrugged. “So long as you are able to kill them. That’s all that matters.”

  Tau Nu frowned, looking unhappy with his answer. “The meager souls we claw back by slaying their hordes barely maintain the balance, my Lord. Each Saint and Sage Ranked Deity we send to the Astral Realm, costs us everything we earn, leaving little left to ascend to strengthen our numbers.”

  “I will see to affording an allotment from the Holy Treasury then,” Yin Yee said. “Enough to transcend an Empyrean Ranked Deity from the 5th Heaven to assist for the next assault. Would that do?”

  Tau Nu bowed his head deeply. “A most welcome gesture, my Lord. We are grateful.”

  Such was an expensive notion, but a necessary one at times, to maintain the balance.

  But the Toll of Transcendence had its limits.

  To send one as strong as Tau Nu, for example, who could push back the entire Hell-ridden army singlehandedly would cost nearly a trillion Souls. Such was neither prudent nor efficient. Especially when there was a far greater need for one mightier than even he to Transcend. And from the very throne of the 9th Heaven to the seat of the Mortal Realm itself.

  Yin Yee gauged the sea of Souls he had passively cultivated within his Dantian over the last century.

  Nearly 500 billion strong.

  It would take double that to spend the five or so brief years for his routine transcendence to the Mortal Realm. But such was the delicate price of power. And after nearly two centuries it was high time he found a new mortal to wed.

  “Keep up the battle,” Yin Yee said. “I will go to inspire new mortals to ascend soon enough.”

  The faintest hint of a frown touched Tau Nu’s lips.

  Disapproval?

  “You wish to say something, Tau Nu?” Yin Yee said.

  “No, nothing, my Lord.” Tau Nu quickly bowed his head. “I pray that you inspire many to follow your path.”

  Yin Yee chortled. “Indeed, I shall.”

  Just the thought of returning to the wonderous muck and splendor that was the Mortal Realm sent a river of excitement rushing through his soul. To receive the passive gift of Souls through cultivating devotion was one thing, but to bask in the presence of mortals was another.

  He yearned for the revelry of taking on mortal flesh once again.

  The slight imperfections that gave everything character.

  Color.

  Desire…

  He peered into the darkened tapestry of the Mortal Realm, using the portal he had forged from the heart of a Cursed Star to sharpen his vision. The Core Worlds he had left behind to rule the entirety of the Mortal Realm in his stead lay open to him like a living portrait. He could see it all. The droning politics of the High Council. The bickering and feuding between his many wives and daughters. Of that, he could admittedly get caught up in the drama for decades at a time.

  But time was of no consequence to him.

  Not here.

  Through his authority he could scroll through time itself within the Mortal Realm, viewing events from either a millennia ago or a millennia hence. Although the details changed, the cosmic balance remained. His jaunts to the Mortal Realm might look fleeting and wasteful to the ignorant like Tau Nu, but all was for the good of the cosmic balance.

  Yin Yee rotated time through his mind’s eye to assure himself of it—to see the struggle of Heaven and Hell remain balanced upon a knife’s edge as he fostered new control of his Mortal Empire by spawning new heirs to ensure his dominance. And with his dominance over the Mortal Realm came his dominance over the Heavens. None here could cultivate Souls such as he. Even one as strong as Tau Nu was but a fable in the Mortal Realm, but Yin Yee remained the Great Soul Emperor, destined to return to continue his dynasty forever.

  And then it happened.

  He saw it all fall.

  A rapid descent into a cataclysmic destruction of all existence.

  It was enough to make his soul jump.

  He’d seen it before. The outcome should he ever lose the balance.

  But never had it come so violently as now.

  What had changed?

  Yin Yee scrolled backwards through time, seeking the point of imbalance.

  And then he saw it.

  The carefully constructed mechanism he had crafted all those millennia ago. The one thing that kept the balance between the advancement of the Cursed Stars upon the Mortal Realm while they fought the battle in Heaven.

  It was usurped.

  Bypassed.

  Now the influence of those baleful Outer gods would spread unchecked and destroy their existence in less than a century.

  Both Heaven and Hell.

  “What is it, My Lord?” Tau Nu said. “You look troubled.”

  Indeed he was, the revelation too great to hide upon his face.

  “I may have need to Transcend to the Mortal Realm far sooner than expected,” he said.

  Tau Nu flicked his ears, looking concerned. “Now would be a precarious time to do so, my Lord. The Souls we have amassed are few. To lose so many may leave even the gates themselves defenseless.”

  What he said was true, but what lay ahead was a risk far greater than Tau Nu could perceive.

  “It won’t matter… not if we lose the Mortal Realm before the Heavens.”

  That shocked him, causing Tau Nu’s eyes to grow wide.

  But Yin Yee could barely care for his reaction.

  Instead, a deeper and more pressing concern plagued his mind.

  What ignorant fool had loosed that foul creature from its cage?