Chapter 16.2 – The Golden Threads

Sherenna's Soul transformed, unfurling. 'How dare you?!'

A celestial being composed of uncountable golden threads, stretched from the infinity beyond the Dream, tangled into an impossible tapestry, superimposed over the world. Before her, all creation, heaven and earth, mountains and seas, lakes and rivers, the divine and the mundane, cultivators and mythical beasts, the rock, spread out in threads linking the events of their existence, their lives, their struggles and accomplishments, all clear in the causal roots and corollary outcomes.

The rock drew near to her mortal shell, her will reached snipping its threads, trimming and depriving its triggers and catalysts, unmaking the nexus propelling its actions.

The slightest caress of an unspoken whisper brushed the red-tinted stone, its form crumbling, leaving a gem-like shard inert and tethered to her vessel.

‘One last thing, before I face the Dreamer’s ire.’ Sherenna sought the most recent thread towards the boundaries of the Dream. She stroked the golden string and a vibration reverberated along its length. A gift in turn.

Sher veiled her Soul, hiding the threads, folding, obscuring, and shrouding. Some were disguised, some were concealed, and others were compressed. Finally, she snipped the last thread, a causal link to the mayhem that had no doubt already erupted. She didn’t fool herself that it would give Dreamer the slightest pause, but at least the mortal cultivators shouldn’t bother her physical form.

She moved quickly, deep into the forested peak, putting distance between herself and the scene. Like a speck on a canvas of the Dream, she knew she was noticed and ready to be wiped away. It was a futile wish to go unchallenged, she understood it well. Ready to unleash her self once more, unwilling to end a speck, she would tear the canvas apart when the time came.

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She could imagine Their awareness gathering from across the world, focusing on this single point, herself, comprehending, and devising a plan. Weaving a spell of immense proportions.

Ready, but not prepared, she sat under a tree up the mountainside.

Briefly, she noted that the experience refined part of her Qi. An island of spatial-attribute spiritual energy emerged in her Sea of Qi, signifying her as a Foundation Refinement cultivator. Not that it was of any use in her current predicament.

Time dragged on mercilessly. Every passing minute indicated that much more deliberate and insidious onslaught.

Her nerves frayed and her patience thinned. ‘Is Dreamer trying to lull my vigilance? Shall I pretend to be distracted?’

She sent her Divine Sense into the carnelian shard adjacent to her forehead. Half curious what taunts Lars’ master threw at her when striking, fully ready to face the anticipated attack.

A gruff voice sounded in her mind, like grinding rocks: "Hello there, Sherenna! I am the Immortal Rocks, remember me? Saw you already incarnated in there, when I came with my disciple. Figured, with how fate works, you two would meet, so I sent you this message. Glad he found you. Or you him. Or his body. Or just the stone someone took from his body. Maybe he is alive and tortured nearby? Please go help him? Anyway! Not sure what your goal is, but my disciple won't interfere. He is reliable, if stupid, so you can use him if you want. I won't mind. Anyway! When you are done and you leave, care to take him back with you? Would appreciate! The method I prepared is wonky at best, so... you know. Keep the rock, it is awesome, treat it as a bribe, will you? Aaand done. She should help you now, Lars, if you meet her in there. She can be quite a bitch if you piss her off, but if you suck up to her you should be good."

Sher fumed, absolutely furious. “What the actual fuck? What is this nonsense?”

Her focus wavered for just a moment, and with a roar, she was struck.