Skyfire Avenue

“It feels pretty good. Universal protogenia used to be an ever-present ache. Luckily I have my daughter with me.” Her eyes opened and a sense of calm hung over her. Everything seemed normal, and Lan Jue could feel no surges of power or protogenic fluctuations wafting from her. His mother appeared no different than she had a moment ago.

To Lan Jue, Luo Xianni’s breakthrough was nothing spectacular. However he had been in the arena the whole time and was unaware of what had happened outside. His only metric was his perception, and there were no flashy displays of power or waves of energy he could feel. The most marked difference was physical, as his mother seemed in prime health. She seemed less inhibited.

Qianlin’s Domain had masterfully concealed Luo Xianni’s powers. It had allowed her to stretch, fully expressing her protogenia without fear of universal retribution. So long as Qianlin was near, Luo Xianni could use her full might in a conflict. It went without saying that this was good news, much better than the struggle Jue Di had faced during his breakthrough.

Luo Xianni lifted her arms and let it fall carelessly around Qianlin’s neck. “What a wonderful daughter-in-law. This feels wonderful. When the two of you marry I’ll hang around with the two of you, what do you think?”

Qianlin bashfully dropped her head. Lan Jue chortled. “That would be wonderful. Us and dad all together. But we still have a lot to do. Mother, Qianlin’s Domain is able to heal the aliens’ victims, so we’re going to go handle that problem. There are still the other planets we need to retake from the progenitors. Our mission is far from over.”

Mika had sent them correspondence saying Zeus-1 was on its way back to Angel. The planet was vast and there were many victims to heal before she returned. Lan Qing had already passed down the order for the ground team to try and gather the mutant humans as best as possible.

“This is not difficult,” Luo Xianni assured. “I’ll help you – twice the result with half the effort. Come.” As she spoke she waved her hand, and a pink light arose in the air before them. To Lan Jue and Qianlin it was like reality sped around them. Suddenly they were in a different place.

Luo Xianni continued to flit her hands back and forth, tracing lines of pink with each motion. Where they appeared the air rippled, but they didn’t move. However, below them vast numbers of infected humans vanished without foundation. They blinked back into existence crowded together in a mass of frozen monstrosities.

There were no limits to the influence of the Infinite. Clearly Luo Xianni’s breakthrough had catapulted her already incredible abilities to new heights. The entire planet seemed firmly under her control.

Lan Jue could faintly discern images in her mother’s eyes. They were scenes of other places around Angel, where Luo Xianni was picking up the infected and depositing them here. From their lofty vantage they could see the crowd below growing ever larger.

“Release your Domain!” The Photographer commanded.

Qianlin obeyed, and quickly the white light of her Domain spread out across the sky. The light of Guanyin settled upon the ten square kilometers of mutated victims below. It was the farthest she could extend her newfound abilities.

Lan Jue floated behind her, then wrapped his arms around her slender waist. Immediately upon contact Qianlin could feel her capabilities improve. The breadth of her Domain swelled to several times its former size.

This was the difference between Reflection of Heaven and Earth and Nirvana.

Qianlin’s dharmic image reemerged from nothing, and with Lan Jue’s help it was clearer than ever. Even people in space could see the rapidly thousand-meter tall manifestation of Qianlin’s power.

Its lily-white robes fluttered as white light poured out in all directions. To the allied forces it was like watching a true angel descend from heaven, spreading its holy light over the blighted landscape.

The victims below had begun to react. Tendrils of poisoned mist were expelled from the millions of infected bodies. It created a haze of toxic fumes, but the light of Guanyin quickly burned it all away. Within the span of a few seconds nothing remained of the progenitor’s corrupting influence.

Lan Jue’s perception was razor sharp, he could feel how draining Qianlin’s Domain was on her. However, that lasted only for a moment, for after the full extent of her abilities were released her strength rapidly recovered. She recouped more than she spent.

As their powers mingled Lan Jue could distinctly feel her protogenia flowing through him. It nourished him, feeding his cultivation. Just expressing her Domain could improve one’s cultivation – incredible!

Luo Xianni’s words echoed in his mind. Qianlin’s Salvation protogenia was not difficult to understand, saving others and delivering them from pain was what her powers excelled at. In performing this service her cultivation increased and her protogenia was perfected. Saving these pour souls from the hell of infection was precisely what she was meant to do. Though the changes to her protogenia were subtle and her improvement slight, her expression was perfectly stable.

The light of Qianlin’s Domain continued to grow. Flecks of gold had begun to mingle with it, interspersed through the calming light and although the gold wasn’t very obvious it lent a mystical air to the image.

ζ

“That’s...” Tang Mi sat in the cockpit of her mecha. She stared wide eyes and open mouthed at the familiar face suspended in the sky.

That woman, a thousand meters tall and resplendent as an angel... that was her.

Zhou Qianlin? When did she get so big?

“Damn! That’s Qianlin?” Tang Xiao’s voice crackled through her comms system.

The surprise was clear in Tang Mi’s voice as well. “It’s her, no question. By how is she so huge? What’s going on?”

They both knew Qianlin was with Lan Jue, but they had not seen her for a long, long time. They were also completely unaware of the trials she’d suffered, and to suddenly have her appear like this was shocking beyond words.

Tang Xiao’s voice adopted a strange tone. “Reflection of Heaven and Earth – that’s her dharmic image. That’s the only thing it could be. Man! Qianlin’s actually broken through to Paragon, incredible. If I was a woman it’d be so much better, I could marry the professor and he’d make me a Paragon!”

“You pudgy idiot, keep talking like that if you want the Professor to kick the crap out of you. Married my ass.” Jin Tao interjected.

Tang Xiao had no time to trade barbs with him. His eyes were trained on Qianlin’s image in the sky.

They didn’t just know Qianlin. They went to school together, joined Star Division together! Only, the Qianlin they saw now was completely different than the one they’d known. Just her image made them want to bow in worship.

Such pure beauty, replete with a benevolence that was hard to describe. The light of her presence felt cleansing, as though her gaze washed away negative emotion.

All of the soldiers stopped dead in their tracks with their faces turned toward the sky. Those who were closer could see the infected victims returning to normal. They watched as their swollen bodies shrunk to normal proportions, their demonic appearance melting away, until at last they were as human as the rest of them.

Once the first batch was completely cured they vanished in a flash of pink light. Then, another group appeared to take their place. The white light washed away their illness, too, drawing out the toxins and dissolving it away.

Lan Jue, Qianlin, and Luo Xianni worked in tandem to heal the afflicted. Qianlin slowly closed her eyes and immersed herself in the changes her protogenia experienced. The smile on her face was all the more genial. Feeling these poor people healing under her cleansing light was wonderful.

Qianlin was happiest when she was helping people, staying true to her benevolent nature. She had been this way ever since she was small. But her kindness did not mean she was weak – she was strong of character, a soul of steel in a gentle shell. It was her compassion that allowed her to employ the Queen of Heaven Discipline.

When she grew older and the Clairvoyant told her to get close to Lan Jue, her mood began to change. They experienced so much, and ultimately Lan Jue came to accept her. Yet all the while Qianlin knew it was based on a lie. She had concealed the most important parts of her from him. It had not pained her, for she had learned to separate herself from the reality of it. But she had always been reluctant.

When she had suffered the Astral Phantom’s poison, caught in the dream she could not stir from, she felt the tender care Lan Jue had given her. His meticulous and tender care made her hell-bent on waking up, but she could not. All the while she could feel the immortal qi conveyed to her through Lan Jue’s thunder essence. She sensed how it altered her Queen of Heaven Discipline and empowered her abilities.

Then, she broke through and awoke at last. By then everything was different. After being asleep for so long it all suddenly seemed unreal.

All of that brought her to this moment, where she could feel the people below healing from her efforts. Now her heart was still, everything felt true and right. It was beautiful. Yes, salvation. That was her protogenia.