Azure Profound Continent

  Leo logged into the Azure Profound Continent and immediately noticed the absence of pain.

  In the game world his body was undamaged. Blissfully unaware of the consequences of invading Nascent Soul domains.

  He took a deep breath just to prove to himself that breathing didn't have to hurt.

  "There he is!"

  Arthur emerged from behind a nearby rock formation, his weathered face split into a grin that promised trouble. Mike followed close behind, wearing an expression Leo had learned to dread.

  "The hero of the Boston Catacombs!" Arthur clapped Leo on the shoulder. "My old war friends have been talking about nothing else. Two Mountain Domain Lords at Qi Refining. That's something, kid."

  "The whole Eastern Seaboard Theater is buzzing," Mike added. "You're famous."

  Leo felt a spike of concern. "Famous how?"

  "News travels fast when you kill Nascent Souls." Arthur's grin widened. "Someone's been spreading stories. 'Young hero saves thirty-two thousand lives.' 'The Young Flyer of Boston.'"

  Leo's concern deepened into dread. "Are there pictures?"

  Arthur and Mike exchanged looks.

  "Pictures of what?" Arthur asked innocently.

  "Nothing. Never mind."

  "Pictures of who, Leo?" Mike's voice had taken on a knowing tone.

  "I said never mind."

  "Would these pictures perhaps involve..." Arthur stroked his chin thoughtfully. "A certain Korean military attaché?"

  Leo's face went hot. "Nothing happened."

  "Nothing happened?" Mike's eyebrows shot up. "After you two made the front page of the New York Post? She was all over you in front of everyone!"

  "That was her idea!"

  Mike and Arthur pounced like wolves smelling prey.

  "Her idea?" Mike leaned in. "So you're saying she pursued you?"

  "That's not what I..."

  "Kevin's been asking about you two," Mike added casually. "Wanted to know if you'd made any progress on the cultivation partner front."

  "We're just friends... I mean acquaintances!"

  "Has there been any development since the championship?" Arthur pressed. "Any private conversations? Secret meetings? Romantic liaisons?"

  "She was at the battle as a military attaché," Leo said through gritted teeth. "That's it. That's all."

  "Did she help put your armor on before you flew out to die heroically?" Mike's voice was dreamy. "Did she whisper words of encouragement? Did she..."

  "She helped Dr. Reyes with the seals," Leo interrupted. "Because we were in a hurry. Because people were dying."

  Arthur and Mike exchanged another look.

  "I think I'm right," Arthur observed.

  "Classic deflection," Mike agreed.

  "I hate both of you."

  "That's what guilty people say."

  Leo decided to change the subject by force. "Have there been any updates here? Anything actually important?"

  Mike mercifully took the redirect, though his smirk suggested they would return to it later.

  "The Iron Rhinoceros Sect is attracting attention. Their profundity is making a lot of noise or something."

  "That could be trouble." Leo frowned.

  "It would be worse, except..." Mike paused, clearly trying not to laugh. "Lord Ironhorn has been telling stories about you."

  "Stories?"

  "He's using you as a boogeyman." Mike's composure cracked. "He's been telling everyone you owe him a great favor, and he plans to call it in by having you haunt anyone who dares investigate the Iron Rhinoceros Sect while their profundity goes through a critical period in its cycle."

  Leo stared at him.

  "He's telling people," Mike continued, "that you're an undying demon who can pierce any domain. And that he will set you on them to steal away their Dao partners."

  Leo thought about Lord Ironhorn. About the month of daily deaths in the Mountain Domain.

  "I should probably go thank him."

  Mike held up a hand. "Lord Ironhorn has made it very clear that he does not want to see you ever again."

  "What? Why? I thought we had a good relationship."

  "Maybe you pushed him a little too far the second time you landed the green hat." Mike shrugged. "He said the best way to thank him is to stay far away."

  "Anyway," Leo said, pulling up his interface. "I have a secret technique I need to cultivate."

  He opened the scanned Heart of Flesh Technique as a game window and grabbed some paper they had lying around in the cave.

  Arthur and Mike gathered around as Leo began copying down the text. It didn't take long. The entire technique fit on a single sheet.

  "That's it?" Arthur squinted at the paper. "That's the whole thing?"

  Leo read aloud the key points.

  "Stage One: The Diagnosis. All mortals build a Heart of Stone for survival. But stone is dead, and the Heavenly Dao is living. By walling off pain, you wall off the Heavenly Dao."

  "Okay," Arthur said slowly. "So far this sounds like my ex-wife's therapist. You know, the one she brought me to for 'couples counseling' that turned out to be a two on one ambush."

  Leo continued. "Stage Two: Ignition. To turn stone to flesh, you must ignite the burning Desire for Life found in every being. Look at the stranger and feel their hunger to exist as if it were your own."

  "Feel other people's feelings," Arthur summarized. "Groundbreaking."

  "Stage Three: The Renewal. Once the stone dissolves, you possess a Heart of Flesh, and begin the journey of tuning your pulse to the Great Will. When Divine Pressure descends, you won't feel fear, but pity. You'll see the Gods for what they are: powerful, isolated corpses severed from the living Dao."

  Leo set down the paper.

  "That's everything. No spells. No formations. No chants."

  Arthur made a dismissive sound. "This is a glorified self-help book. 'Feel the desire for life.' 'Look at strangers and feel their hunger to exist.' This sounds like something Mother Teresa would write."

  "Mother Teresa was a saint," Mike pointed out.

  "Mother Teresa died of old age as a Qi Refiner." Arthur crossed his arms. "If this technique was so powerful, she would have led us all into the Void Refining. Instead she spent her whole life caring for others. Even I outlived her."

  "I think it's genuine," Mike said quietly.

  Arthur turned to him. "You can't be serious."

  "Lord Newmont gave this to Leo personally. A Nascent Soul Lord." Mike's voice was thoughtful. "There is no way a Nascent Soul would joke around with anything involving tribulation. That's what all of them are concerned with. Just like how Gold Cores are concerned about choosing their future domains."

  He pointed at the paper. "Look at the details in Stage Two. It says if you remain rigid, the tribulation will shatter you instead of refining you. This technique is about surviving tribulation."

  Arthur grunted, unconvinced.

  "It's just as mysterious as Shen Tianyi's lectures," Leo admitted.

  They stared at the paper in silence.

  "I doubt you can cultivate it," Arthur said finally.

  Leo looked up. "What?"

  "Kid, I've never met anyone who has died more than you." Arthur gestured vaguely at Leo. "You've died to Lord Ironhorn every day for a month. And by now you're practically numb to the divine spirit press."

  He tapped the paper. "This technique requires you to ignite the 'Desire for Life.' I'm not sure you have one."

  Leo opened his mouth to argue, then closed it.

  "I think I have an idea," Leo said slowly. "About who has what kind of heart."

  He looked at Arthur. "You definitely have a Heart of Stone."

  Arthur grinned proudly. "Damn right I do. You don't survive years as a small business owner with a soft heart. Stone cold, kid. Stone cold."

  Leo turned to Mike. "But you... I think you might have a Heart of Flesh."

  Mike blinked. "What makes you say that?"

  "I mean comparatively." Leo gestured at Arthur. "I think we all can feel that."

  Mike's face went through several expressions.

  "I, uh..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe have kids?"

  Arthur snorted. "I guess that's one way to ignite some life."

  "It's not like that!" Mike's face reddened. "It's... when you have children, you start feeling things differently. Their pain becomes your pain. Their joy becomes your joy. You can't wall yourself off anymore because they need you to be open."

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Leo looked at Mike.

  "I'm sixteen."

  "Fair point." Mike sighed. "I'll ask Kevin to ask Shen Tianyi about it. Maybe he knows something."

  Leo put away the pages, frustrated. The answer was in there somewhere.

  "How close are they to the Central Continent?" he asked.

  "Getting closer," Mike said. "Last I heard, they were making good progress. Kevin's been getting bored, though."

  "Bored?"

  "He's been trying to find something on Earth to impress Tianyi," Mike shook his head. "Something that will get Tianyi to stop calling him an idiot."

  "Maybe the Heart of Flesh Technique will give him something to annoy Tianyi with."

  "Maybe."

  Leo paused, a thought occurring to him.

  "Mike. Something's been bothering me."

  "What?"

  "The military knows we have a cheat. They have to know." Leo frowned. "But they're not pressuring me about it. Not trying to study it or replicate it. They're just... letting me do my thing."

  Mike exchanged a look with Arthur.

  "About that," Arthur said.

  Leo's frown deepened. "What?"

  "Some spooks talked to me. A few days after we first entered the Azure Profound Continent. They know about all four of us."

  "And they're not doing anything about it?"

  "They said..." Arthur paused, choosing his words carefully. "They said there's some kind of destiny tied to these opportunities. That you don't hijack other people's opportunities. People have tried and it clearly didn't end well."

  Leo felt a chill run down his spine. He suddenly thought about the Catacomb's invasion of earth. Leo wondered if that's what 'clearly didn't end well' meant.

  "Did we hijack Wei Tuo's opportunity?" Leo suddenly became concerned. Wei Tuo was the cultivator that initially stumbled upon the Otherworldly Demon Summoning Formation and brought the four Americans to the Azure Profound Continent.

  Arthur shrugged. "I asked them, but they said it should be fine. Haven't heard from them since."

  Arthur continued, "I figure the government's happy with how I've been leading the group. We've been good stewards, helping people with their problems, earning merits."

  Leo and Mike exchanged a look. 'Leading' was a generous interpretation of what Arthur had been doing.

  "Speaking of earning merits," Arthur said, his grin returning. "Maybe we should go rob the Western Spines."

  "What?"

  "Think about it. We steal enough of their resources, and maybe the Western Spines can't fund their invasion anymore. It would be a great merit." Arthur's eyes gleamed. "I know a lot about merit, after all."

  Leo noticed Arthur's hand drift toward his robes. Leo sighed; they had all seen Arthur do this far too many times.

  Arthur pulled out an empty jade merit stamp and with a flourish stamped it on his forehead. He then raised it up triumphantly, proof of his great merit.

  Leo suspected Arthur had once again derailed the conversation just to show off.

  "Even the Heavenly Dao agrees with my great leadership!" Arthur declared.

  Leo turned and walked away.

  "Where are you going?" Arthur called after him.

  "To find Luo Mingxia's heart."

  Leo found the heart in the back corner of their hideout cave, half-buried under a pile of miscellaneous loot.

  Blue crystal. The color of deep water. Still pulsing.

  "Sorry about this," he muttered, brushing off dust. "None of us like to organize."

  The heart didn't respond. It just kept beating.

  Leo sat cross-legged and pulled out the copied pages.

  The Heart of Stone is cold, formed by the selfish need to survive alone. In this sealed darkness, Heart Demons fester.

  He remembered the first time he had touched this heart, after they killed Luo Mingxia. The overwhelming hunger that had seized him. The desperate need to consume it.

  Now he felt nothing.

  He picked up the heart and turned it over in his hands. The warmth was still there. The pulse. The crystalline beauty. But the compulsion to eat it was gone.

  You will see them for what they are: powerful, isolated corpses who have severed themselves from the living Dao.

  He couldn't see it as a corpse. The thing had killed him, after all. Its divine sense had crushed his own and tried to seize control of his body.

  Hard to think of something as dead when it had murdered you.

  But one thing was true.

  He wasn't afraid of it anymore. Wasn't drawn to it. Wasn't influenced by it at all.

  The heart sat in his palm, no different from any other piece of junk they had dumped in this corner.

  Leo shrugged and tossed it back onto the pile.

  He had a divine sense press to get back to.

  ---

  Connecticut, Leo's Mom Perspective

  The house was quiet. Too quiet.

  Leo's mom found her husband in the living room, sitting on the couch with a stupid grin on his face. He was turning something over in his hands, watching it catch the afternoon light through the windows.

  A watch. An expensive looking watch.

  "What is that."

  Mrs. Chen's voice came out flat. Dangerous. Twenty-three years of marriage had taught her husband to recognize that tone.

  He looked up, still smiling. "Isn't it beautiful?"

  "What. Is. That."

  "It's a watch."

  "I can see it's a watch." She set down her purse. The Coach bag she'd bought on sale at Walmart three years ago. Sixty percent off. A steal. "Why do you have an expensive watch."

  "It's a Bombardier Flyer Chronograph. Limited edition. You see how the dial has this..."

  "Why do you have an expensive watch!"

  Her husband's smile faltered. "I was just..."

  "Just because we're spending less money on spiritual tea doesn't mean we can stop saving!" She threw her hands up. "Do you know how much Foundation Establishment body refining elixirs cost? Do you have any idea?"

  "Dear..."

  "I was talking to the other mothers at book club. Dr. Huang's son is going to undergo Foundation Establishment next year. She told me they're saving everything for the best elixirs. The BEST ones."

  She jabbed her finger at him. "Can you imagine if our Leo had to settle for second best? Second best body refining elixirs?"

  Her husband opened his mouth.

  "How would I have face to see my friends? How would you have face to see your son?" She was pacing now.

  "All those years of saving. All those years of drinking tap water instead of buying bottled. All those years of me packing lunch instead of eating at the hospital cafeteria. And you buy a fancy watch!"

  "Leo gave it to me."

  She stopped pacing.

  "What?"

  "Leo gave it to me." Her husband held up the watch. "Our son. He sent it. For me."

  She stared at the watch. Then at her husband. Then at the watch again.

  "Leo gave you that watch."

  "Yes."

  "Our Leo."

  "Yes. He sent you something too." Her husband pointed toward the kitchen table. "It's in the box."

  She turned. There was indeed a box on the kitchen table. Orange. Larger than a shoebox.

  She hadn't noticed it when she came in. Too busy noticing her husband admiring expensive timepieces.

  "I don't know anything about a box."

  "Well, it's there. He sent a note. Said the school gave him some reward money for good grades, so he bought us gifts."

  She looked at the box. Orange cardboard. Brown ribbon.

  "I don't need a new bag," she said. "I have a perfectly good bag. Coach. Sixty percent off at Walmart."

  "Just open it."

  "I've been saving money for Leo. Every penny. That's why I use a sale bag."

  "Open the box."

  She pulled the ribbon. Lifted the lid. Tissue paper rustled as she pushed it aside.

  Orange leather. Brass hardware. A distinctive logo that she recognized from magazines in waiting rooms. It was an Hermès Birkin. It must have cost as much as their family flying Prius.

  "That's..."

  "Yes."

  "That's a..."

  "Yes."

  She picked it up. The leather was special. Her Coach bag was leather too, technically, but this was different. This felt like touching something divine.

  "Leo bought me a Birkin."

  "That's what the note said."

  An alarm sounded, it was her phone. Reminding her of her appointment.

  "I have to go," she said.

  "Go where?"

  "The lawyer. The malpractice thing. The insurance company sent someone."

  "Are you going to wear it?"

  She looked at the bag. Then at her old Coach bag on the counter.

  "Obviously I'm going to wear it."

  ---

  The law office was downtown. Glass and steel. The kind of building that announced serious business happened inside.

  She walked through the front doors with the Birkin on her arm.

  The receptionist looked up and did a double take.

  "Good afternoon! How can I help you?" The helpful receptionist smiled a little too widely.

  "I'm here about the Chen case. Medical malpractice review."

  "Of course! Please, have a seat. Can I get you anything? Water? Tea? Coffee?"

  "Water is fine."

  "Sparkling or still?"

  "Tap is fine."

  The receptionist's smile somehow got even wider. "I love your bag."

  "Oh." She looked down at it. "Thank you."

  "Is that the Divine Beast edition? The leather looks incredible."

  "I think so. My son got it for me."

  The receptionist's eyes went very round. "Your son?"

  "Yes. As a gift."

  "Wow." The receptionist leaned forward. "You must be so young! Your son got you that bag, and you look amazing."

  She wasn't sure how the bag was related to her age, but she accepted the compliment. "Thank you."

  "What's your skincare routine? You have to tell me your secret."

  "I just wash my face with water. And sunscreen."

  "Just water?"

  "And sunscreen. Skin Aqua. The Japanese one."

  The receptionist grabbed a sticky note and wrote this down like it was sacred knowledge. "Your skin is incredible. Natural beauty."

  Two paralegals walked by. Both of them stopped. Both of them complimented the bag. Both of them asked about her son. Both of them asked about her skincare.

  She told them about the water. And the Skin Aqua. They wrote it down too.

  Bragging about yourself was strange. Uncomfortable. But bragging about you son? About how he had done so well in school that he could afford to buy his mother a Birkin?

  That was different.

  That was wonderful.

  ---

  The lawyer's office was on the third floor. Clean desk, leather chairs, a Harvard Law diploma that she noticed the moment she walked in.

  He stood when she entered. Shook her hand. Gestured to the chair across from his desk.

  Then he stopped.

  He was staring at her arm.

  "Mrs. Chen."

  "Yes?"

  "Why didn't you tell me you had a rated family member?"

  She blinked. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

  "The bag." He pointed. "Do you know what that bag is?"

  "Of course I know what it is. I'm not a bumpkin." She set it on her lap. "It's a Birkin. I'm a surgeon and I make good money. I know what a Birkin is."

  "Who gave it to you?"

  She frowned. "How did you know I didn't buy it with my own money? I make very good money. I'm a surgeon. I could afford a Birkin if I wanted one."

  The lawyer just looked at her. He tapped his foot against the carpet. Waiting.

  "My son," she finally said. "My son got it for me. His school gave him some reward money for good grades. So he bought me a gift."

  "Your son bought it for you."

  "Yes."

  "Your son earned the purchase qualification and bought you that bag."

  "That's what I said. Good grades."

  The lawyer pulled out his cPhone. He held it up and snapped a picture of her sitting in the chair with the Birkin on her lap.

  "Mrs. Chen, the lawsuit will be dropped. You can go home."

  "What?"

  "The plaintiff's counsel has been notified. The case is being dismissed. You don't need to worry about it anymore."

  "But the deposition..."

  "Unnecessary."

  "The medical records review..."

  "Handled."

  "The man is suing me for impotence!" She threw her hands up. "I removed his appendix! What does an appendix have to do with erectile dysfunction?"

  "Nothing. Which is why the case is being dismissed." The lawyer stood. Extended his hand again. "You must be a wonderful parent, Mrs. Chen. To raise such a good son."

  She shook his hand. She was still confused. But the compliment landed exactly where compliments about her son always landed.

  Right in the center of her heart.

  "Thank you," she said. "He is a good son."

  "I suggest you visit the Hermès store before you go home. They can explain more about the bag. How to take care of it. What it represents." The lawyer smiled. "It's your son's gift. You should understand what it means. You should cherish it."

  "I always cherish my son's gifts."

  "I'm sure you do. The store on Greenwich Avenue is excellent. They'll take good care of you."

  She left the office with her Birkin on her arm. The receptionist waved goodbye. The paralegals waved goodbye. Everyone smiled at her like she was someone important.

  She pulled out her phone and looked up the nearest Hermès store.

  Greenwich Avenue. Fifteen minutes away.

  She had time before dinner.