"Those 2 little girls are sacrificing a lot for a guest elder." A broad woman with a warhammer and pristine white battle dress sat with Tyr in the latter's courtyard. A massive set of rooms centered around a training area was full of the highest quality Qi that could be collected with formations.
"Vice-sect Mistress Cora, you forget what it is like to be young!" Tyr had to quickly duck a swing of the hammer as her reptilian smile spread wide on her pale blue face. Cora was dark skinned like coffee from the Stardust Emporium trade route, but her eyes were a vibrant gold. Her hair was cut short, but was a deep brown.
"Are you insinuating I am in some way old?! Come here brat!" Tyr was only a couple of centuries old, very young by Sky Realm standards, but Cora's age was unknown save she was older than Tyr by at least a century.
Despite the words said, neither were using their full Sky Realm cultivation foundation. If one was to watch from afar, it would almost seem like they were playfully moving through the motions. Almost.
The warhammer began to glow with light and Tyr finally stopped to bow to Cora in apology. If she pushed the Vice-sect Mistress much farther, they really would have a battle. While the Sarth Headquarters had impressive defenses, ultimately a Sky Realm of tier 1 could demolish it if they fought another.
"The better question, insolent brat, is why those old witches up above us all allowed it for a 6 elemental." Cora could understand their members trying their hardest to help someone in need. The sect, itself, encouraged such behavior so long as it was well thought out and not simply an emotional reaction.
Tyr stood up and dusted off her robes before swiftly pulling a jade slip out and covertly pushing it into Cora's hands. The odd action made the golden eyes glint with frustration as she sunk her senses into its contents. The fact Tyr hid the transfer spoke volumes for the secrecy of the material inside. Cora's eyes widened greatly after seeing the information.
Her warhammer fell but Tyr caught it. At least, she tried to. Tyr was a healer by trade of both body and soul, but her combat strength to another Sky Realm was negligible when it came to physical skill. Tyr nearly felt her arms be yanked out of their sockets as she barely stopped the massive hammer from hitting the ground.
"Argh, gorilla!" The fact Cora did not try to retrieve her hammer nor hit Tyr with her fists spoke volumes for her state of mind. Cora slowly sat down on the luxurious couch nearby and found her hands to be shaking.
"How is that possible?" The simple question dispelled any sarcasm Tyr would normally say while trying to massage her sore hands from holding the spirits cursed warhammer. She took the simple chair while infusing her Qi into the formation plates near her feet.
The isolation wards went up that were of the same realm as themselves. Cora did not even blink about the resources being burned every moment such powerful wards were put up.
"I had my contacts research into any precedent and there were 2 such cultivators found before by us. The only other thing they had in common was the fact the Mirror of Will was issued both times but the reasons were sealed. There was one other thing attached to those records." Here, Tyr looked more serious than anyone who knew her would ever believe. "An Edict of Heaven to immediately find a reason to have such a cultivator under our power face the trial of the mirror."
Cora felt her centuries at that moment. An Edict of Heaven was exactly what it sounded like. Sects that had power up through the higher realms could have the corresponding level issue standing orders to the lower realms. It meant a Heaven Realm Elder or Sect Master ordered this.
"Spirits save us, what could compel them to do that?" Neither of them could answer that question and could only wait to see the results of Lind Frey's trial.
****
"Um, this is it?" Lind had been building up to the moment of facing the Mirror of Will. He had expected something like Tyr's flying artifact, or maybe something like he had seen in the Ruins. He was even possibly ready to feel immensely profound Qi flowing from an ancient relic, but instead he was handed a small mirror held in a rusted metal frame.
It would not have looked out of place at a garage sale held by a terminally stuck college student trying to raise just a bit more beer money with whatever he could find stashed in an attic. Lind tried hard to take it seriously, but when Qing handed him the mirror, it was just a simple mirror.
It had come in a very fancy case that was more like he was expecting. Once glance with his Eyes had been all he felt safe doing as it had been as bright as the sun. The sharp pain in his skull told him the case was legit, but the object inside seemed like it had been found at the side of a road after the rain exposed it.
He kept trying to wrap his head around how pathetic it looked but all the Maidens were looking at it reverently. Was he missing something?
"Lind, this is the Mirror of Will. It is a very precious artifact. This room was specially chosen for you to face the trial." He believed the last part at least. Most of the sect was open courtyards or training areas mixed in with a feeling of family. They had a massive mission and treasure halls but they were multi-floor rather than a building for each level of disciple.
He liked how they did things here, but the place he currently stood was deep in the heart of the core area. It was where the Elders and Sect Mistress lived. The profound level and quantity of Qi was very pleasant to be around.
The normally open room, however, was replaced by a closed room with an open skylight only. There were also complex formations inscribed up the wall as far as he could see. Lind did not even try to look at them as from his lessons he could extrapolate it was far above World Realm.
The room was used for several options, but right now, it was for his trial. Lind glanced at the unassuming mirror and just could not accept this was such a powerful artifact. It mystified him how anyone could see it that way, but he trusted Qing and Shoti.
Both of them were here but they were not part of the larger group of Maidens present. They were here to help him, but the others were here to supply the formations from what he understood. This was not something simple and it could have ramifications to the rest of the sect if left unchecked.
He remembered how destroyed his rooms looked afterwards and that was classified as a 'mild' possession. This time, he was facing 2 heart demons. It helped that as soon as he entered this room, his right cheek had stopped throbbing. It was part of the room's purpose but it could not be maintained indefinitely.
"Lind, remember, we are here with you. You are not alone!" Shoti pulled him into a hug. He felt her stiffen as she felt how skinny he had become. She had not pulled him close completely lately as she tried to get him to laugh. It had only been a month but he was basically skin and bone now.
Lind felt wetness hit his face before Shoti stepped back and looked harshly at him. If Qing was a gentle touch, Shoti was very much knocking a door in and making a scene type of person. Cyntilla struck him as the steady warrior. She would fight for all she was worth, even in a hopeless situation because she would never admit defeat. Strange, why had he put all 3 of them in comparison just then?
Lind was shaken from his reverie by the ornate gold door opening and letting Tyr in. They were finally ready to begin. Tyr, in typical fashion, gave him a thumbs up. He did not know where she learned that particular hand sign from, but she seemed to enjoy giving it out with great enthusiasm.
"Lind, you must inject your Qi into the mirror. Once you do, it will begin. Good luck!" Qing squeezed him tight and stepped back. Lind looked at her, their newly deepend bond felt wonderful to him. He took a breath and then channeled all of his Qi into the Mirror of Will.
Lind only had an instant of a stunningly powerful aura wash over him before the world went black.
****
Shoti and Qing had to turn away as the Mirror of Will grew to the full height of Lind and now looked like it was the object of a deity. The rusted frame was shed and a pure golden light encircled the liquid mirror inside. It was said that only truth could be found, but not the truth one wanted. If the will was weak, the cultivator would die, if they were strong, they could live.
It was the same for heart demons. Lind had endured so much and was still a sweet man. He leant out his power, whatever he had, and did not run from the hard truths. He did not deny he had problems but he did not stubbornly try to face them alone. Many failed to grasp that cultivation was not a journey of solitude, but of discovery. A broad horizon will carry someone farther than blind devotion.
Lind had those qualities and one more thing. He had an unbending will to cultivate against the odds. He was a 6 elemental. A being that was damned as far as the world was concerned, but he did not stop moving forward.
Both women reached out and held their hands in front of him. He had changed them in small and large ways without any effort at all. They believed in him because where they had been stuck for almost 12 years, he had somehow got them to move forward once again.
"Come back to us." They spoke in unison as they sent up a prayer to the spirits of Heaven and Earth.
****
Lind was falling. He had been falling for a long time. He thought it was just an illusion but the familiar feeling of darkness swallowing him was all around now. He was inside his soul, inside his heart demons!
"At last."
"You are here."
Two very familiar voices spoke to him as he continued to fall but it finally slowed down as he came to a hard surface. He expected to impact into it, but instead he was gently lowered to the ground.
The darkness lifted and LInd was left stunned. He was not in the world he left behind, but in the one he could never return to! It was Earth! He was on the very street corner where he ran from to save the woman in the middle of the road!
Lind looked around but there was no one else there. The towering skyscrapers, cars stopped mid drive or parked, and even street lights frozen mid flip between colors were all he saw.
"This was the end and the beginning. It is fitting to meet here." Lind whirled around but froze in shock. There were 3 figures before him. Two of them were quite solid, but the last was barely there. The look on its faces was frozen and even seemed relieved to be almost gone.
"You nearly wiped that one out, but we remain." The other 2, stepped forward but Lind could barely register it. The problem was who was in front of him. One seemed to be a sneering version of himself as he was now. Crimson robes, dark green eyes and dirty blonde hair but filled out in muscle compared to his current emaciated state.
The other was far more shocking. Dark brown hair, pale skin that had not seen enough sun, and pale blue eyes looked at him while wearing a full suite and tie. He thought he might have worn that to a few weddings, but was his body from Earth!
"Do we always look that dumb now? I think we got a downgrade." His Earth self derided him but the cultivator version was not much happier.
"Shut up, you just don't appreciate our aesthetics." Lind felt revulsion in his soul to listen to them. The tone was nothing like he was, but he could tell just looking at them, they were him. They were both him!
"Enough. The trial has begun. Lind Frey, you must confront these 2 and shatter the chains or die." A voice spoke from the sky. Lind felt it nearly deafened him but he was stunned to see the 2 heart demons cower from it. They were afraid?! What was that voice?
Lind swallowed his questions as he prepared for battle but laughter greeted his efforts.
'"It won't be that easy, fool." Both spoke in unison and the images of the world fell away once again.