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“I heard that you are causing trouble again,” Yingxing chuckled as he placed a bottle of freshly steamed Puffergoat milk in front of him. Jing Yuan could only smile warmly as he took the remark with pride. His plan was always unconventional and, more often than not, controversial.
“I’m just trying to get my job done,” Jing Yuan said before sipping the warm milk, the steamy foam clinging to his upper lip. Other members of the High Cloud Quintet could only look at their young Lion with a deep sigh.
“At this rate, General Teng Xiao will remove your name from his choice of successor,” Jingliu chided him as she took a sip of her cool wine. She was the person who always wanted him to be the next General. Some even believed that was why she took him in as the apprentice.
“Oh, I hope that he will! I would rather stay with you all after seeing how much paperwork General Teng Xiao has,” Jing Yuan grabbed another piece of Songlotus cake as he spoke. While many people craved for a high position in their military career, Jing Yuan didn’t care much about his power or position. He came here to escape his family's expectations for a mundane life. Being a general would most likely get him back to a desk job he despised.
“You’ll make a great general, though. I’m sure the Abundance and the Ten Lord Commission will equally hate you,” Dan Feng’s comment made Baiheng and Yingxing laugh so loud that Jing Yuan swore everyone in the Aurum Alley turned their heads to look at their table.
“As if I’ll ever leave you all to be your commander! You hurt me, gege!” He made the infamous ‘wet kitten’ face that made Dan Feng roll his eyes. It may have worked in the past, but all of them were immune to it by now.
“It’s true! As long as you all are here, I’m not going to be a General. I wouldn’t trade being a Lieutenant of the High Cloud Quintet for anything else.”
To become an Arbiter-General, one must first go through the trials dictated by the Reignbow Arbiter themselves. The trials were said to be more arduous and formidable than anything a mortal can imagine. After going through his first “Reignbow Ordainment” himself, Jing Yuan tried to imagine how much worse it could get. He hoped that his imagination didn’t fail him, for he could not falter here.
The second trial, the Reignbow's Gaze, took place in the realm of pure consciousness, far away from any other planets or stars. It was a small mercy from the Reignbow Arbiter, Jing Yuan would like to think. They wouldn’t want to needlessly risk other beings when their goal was to test their own followers. Yet, he knew that he could die all the same in this realm.
The test sounded simple. He just needed to survive nine Lux Arrows raining down from the heavens. Yet each arrow has the power to destroy a planet and cleanse the world of both good and evil alike. Not many people have ever seen the Lux Arrow themselves, but even fewer have faced them and lived to tell the tale. Those few are the Arbiter-Generals. To wield the power of the hunt, one must be hunted first.
Jing Yuan clenched the Guandao in his hand tightly before deciding to put it away. He would need mobility, and carrying this would only weigh him down. Throughout history, there have been more soldiers killed in the field than rising to the position. Though he knew that Jingliu and Teng Xiao had prepared him well for this moment, he wouldn’t dare think that he was confident enough to pass Lan’s test without struggling. No, he didn’t know for sure if he could make it out alive from this trial. Yet he must…he will have to or else everything would be for nothing.
“Radiant heaven, morph into arrows. Celestial thunder, cleanse the flesh and bone.”
The voice encircled across the realm. He could feel his very bones in his body vibrating at the timbre. He could feel his hair standing up as the still air electrified with power beyond his understanding. The ground shook, and clouds started to form above his head. Jing Yuan almost fell to his knees just from feeling the presence of an Aeon alone. Mortals were just mere ants compared to them. How was he hoping to win against the absolute power that could easily destroy a star?
Jing Yuan darted his eyes around to see where the Aeon was, though he could see nothing. If he couldn’t see where the Aeon was, how could he see where the attack came from? He tried to focus and feel where the earlier surge of energy came from to make sense of the direction. He could faintly feel the celestial power from above him, and that mass of energy just started to grow bigger and bigger. It was time for him to move.
“First Arrow, Purge Calamities!”
Jing Yuan took off right before the voice finished speaking. The sky above him glowed like thunder in the dark night. The first Lux Arrow rained down like a meteor shooting down from the sky. His legs carried him away just in time before the arrow blasted the ground he previously stood upon. The blast caused him to stumble a moment before he quickly regained his balance and continued to run as he felt another mass of energy gathering above his head right after the impact.
“Second Arrow: Fell the Unbridled!”
He took a sharp turn the moment he could see the trajectory of the second arrow. In his head, he calculated which direction he could run to get away from the area of blast with the least energy spent. As the arrow hit the ground a little closer than the first one, he could feel his ears ringing. The tinnitus threw his focus off for a few seconds, but it was a few seconds he couldn’t afford.
“Third Arrow, Cleanse evil!”
He didn’t have time to look at where the arrow came from, not when he had already wasted some time trying to regain composure from the last arrow. He only needed not to be in the same place. The high-pitched sound from compressed air became the siren warning him of the incoming destruction. He thought he made it to what he thought was a relatively safe area when the impact knocked him off his feet and made him tumble to the ground.
Jing Yuan got up to his knees to look at the pit caused by the arrow beside him. This third one was a little bigger than the first two arrows. If this kept up, he wouldn’t be able to outrun all of them.
“Fourth Arrow-”
He didn’t have time to listen to what the Aeon said as he darted from his feet, hoping to at least make it out from the epicentre of the aim. At least, he wouldn’t die and have limbs to continue what he could next.
The impact of the fourth arrow sent his body flying forward, though luckily, he could break the fall with a quick roll. His back was numb from the blast, and his legs started to feel the strain from all the running. He clutched his side, which he had landed on, hoping nothing was broken yet. Unless he has the power of divination, he would not be able to outrun the ever-growing arrow. This was as far as the conventional fleeing strategy would go.
Jing Yuan summoned his Guandao back to his side. The heavy spear anchored him to the ground, making running away no longer an option for him. Jing Yuan looked towards the firmament above, hoping he was looking directly at the Reignbow’s gaze in defiance. He wondered if there had been any other General who had tried this…but then again, not everyone has friends who can craft extraordinary things like Yingxing.
“If you manage to even break this one, you’re going to learn how to fight with bare hands, brat.”
He still remembered how the Guandao felt when he first held it in his hands, a precious gift made by someone he cherished. Yingxing may no longer be the same person that he knew, but Jing Yuan would always remember him as he once was.
“Once again, I put my life in your hands, gege.”
Jing Yuan gripped the Starfall Reverie tightly in his hand and changed his stance to defensive. He was no match for an Aeon, no mortal could ever hope of challenging an Aeon directly. Though he would show the Reignbow his mortal will and the faith.
“Fifth Arrow, Justice Deliver!”
The sky brightened with a flash of lightning as the fifth arrow made its descent, passing the clouds. Jing Yuan raised the Guandao up, aiming at the tip of the arrow.
“Never lose grip of your weapon, Jing Yuan.” A cold and stern voice reminded him that he was trained for this.
“Yes, Master,” Jing Yuan breathed and pulled back his weapon. Just as the arrow almost reached him, he swung the Guandao with his full force. His teeth rattled as his body tried to take on the force of the Lux Arrow. With a bold roar, he deflected the arrow and changed its trajectory to his side. Though the explosion could be felt, knocking him to his knees yet again, Jing Yuan was still alive and holding Guandao in his shaking hand.
Four more, he just needed to hold on four more times.
“Sixth Arrow, Honour Upheld!”
Jing Yuan rose to his feet and returned to his defensive stance once more. The sky lit up as the arrow returned, accompanied by thunder. The arrow was bigger than the last one and travelled much faster. Jing Yuan breathed out and readied his Guandao, even if his shoulders ached from his first attempt.
“Keep going, Jing Yuan! Beat their ass!” In the corner of his eyes, he could almost see the soft lilac colour of Baiheng’s hair. He remembered how she was the loudest amongst the crowd at the Wardance Festival. She would definitely cheer him from heaven too. It would be a crime to disappoint her.
The Guandao met the arrow once again, and he could feel the sharp sting from the force in his palm. A jolt of electricity went through his body as he took on some force from the arrow before he successfully deflected another arrow. His Guandao was still in good shape, as expected from Yingxing’s craft. But the same can’t be said of his body.
The arrow went somewhere, though Jing Yuan wasn’t sure in which direction. He didn’t hear the sound of the explosion. No, he couldn’t hear anything other than a high-pitched ringing sound in his ears. The strain of deflecting two Lux Arrows began to show, and several parts of his body ached to a painful degree. Perhaps didn’t notice it with the first arrow he deflected, but he was aware now that he had internal damage. Blood dripped from his nose, and he could taste the spread of copper in his mouth. The Xianzhou Native’s body may be more sturdy than most mortal races, but it was still no match for the power of an Aeon.
“Seventh Arrow, Unyielding Will”
Jing Yuan returned to his stance and looked up. His arm was wrecked with tremor as he willed himself to raise his weapon and get ready for the impact. He slowed his breath and took one huge gulp as the light flashed before his eyes. The seventh arrow met with his Guandao, causing his feet to skid backwards with its force. One knee hit the ground, but the other kept its body upright. He grunted in pain as the same electrifying force raced through his body in an attempt to make him let go of his weapon.
“A Cloud Knight must never let slip their weapon!” he yelled as he used his entire strength to divert the arrow’s path, though it didn’t go as far as he hoped. The explosion caused his body to tumble and crash into a boulder, breaking his already bruised ribs. He coughed out a splatter of blood as he got up. His vision was red as he could also feel more blood dripping from his crown. Jing Yuan looked at his hand, which was mangled from the crash earlier. Two fingers were missing their nails, and their ligaments were torn, too. Though surprisingly, it was still holding the Guandao.
His head started to spin from both the blood loss and the injury, or perhaps it was the concussion. As he tried to step away from the boulder, he could feel his body swaying like a broken branch in the storm. Everything was evidently clear…he wouldn’t survive the next arrow.
“Jing Yuan,” his breath hitched when he heard the voice of the High Elder in his head. Perhaps the concussion had made him hallucinate; maybe it was his mind trying to soothe his pain as he waited for the impending doom.
“I will teach you one last technique, but promise me you will not use it unless you are out of options. You are my most stubborn patient, but I’ll have you coming back to me as a patient and not a corpse. So listen well...”
Jing Yuan smiled as Dan Feng’s stern words replayed in his head. He wished to see everyone again one last time. He pulled out his hair ribbon and tied his maimed hand to the guangao tightly with it. He can still move, which means the only thing that hinders his body right now is his pain. He slowed down his breathing again and tried to remember what Dan Feng had taught him, how to use the flow of Qi to temporarily numb his body for the last stance. He could slowly feel his body’s tremor growing silent, even if he knew the damage was there. At least with this, he could probably hold on till the end.
"Eighth Arrow: Quell the Defiant!"
He could feel the gust of air around him, and the roar of celestial thunder made the ground tremble. Jing Yuan raised the Starfall Reverie with his bloodied hands towards the sky. Though heavily injured, his hands and arms would remain steady as long as he kept his qi flow in check. He may die today, but he would die making them all proud of how far he had come.
“Either I die by your hands, or I become your vanguard, Reignbow Arbiter,” Jing Yuan glared at the Lux Arrow piercing through the clouds, rushing towards him mercilessly. He stood firm in his defensive stance, arms pulled back and readied for his swing.
The arrow and the guandao clashed against each other. Jing Yuan bent his body forward, using every ounce of his strength he had left to change its trajectory. His battle cry matched with the crackling sound of the mystic arrow as the Aeon’s power and a mortal's will contended with each other for dominance. At the last moment, he deflected the arrow forward as he could hear his right arm’s bone shattering.
“Ah, looks like the ninth arrow is really impossible for me,” he thought as he finally collapsed to the ground. His vision blurred as the pain came back to assault his body. The thought that he had failed darkened his mind, to realise even after all he’d been through, it wasn’t enough for him to win this trial. Jing Yuan turned his head to look at the horizon one more time, only to see complete darkness. There were no more arrows, only an imposing voice as he started to lose his consciousness.
“You have passed the test, my child.”
Jing Yuan opened his eyes again to the soft sound of a wind chime and the smell of medicinal incense. Turning his head to the side, he saw how his right arm had cast around it, a reminder that whatever happened in the realm of pure consciousness still affected his reality. He was in the Alchemy Commission’s infirmary, a familiar room that he had grown accustomed to ever since he joined the Cloud Knights. Only this time, there was no angry stare from both his master and Dan Feng as he woke up.
He grunted in pain, despite the medication, as he tried to sit up in his bed. The last thing he remembered was Lan’s voice that said he had passed the trial, yet how it ended still bothered him.
“I haven’t seen anyone trying to deflect the arrows in many centuries. That was brave of you.” The person who came to visit him was none other than the Marshal herself. Her bright ruby eyes burned like the Lux Arrow as she made her way across the room and sat next to his bed. He tried to bow and greet her properly, but she motioned for him to be at ease. Despite her stern demeanour, she didn’t give in to the apathy many long-lived people were subjected to.
“You did well. Take your time to rest and recover. We still have one more trial to go through,” the Marshal reminded him as Jing Yuan nodded in understanding. Marshal Hua noticed that Jing Yuan was still silent. She was used to him being vocal whenever they talked in the war room.
“Something else is on your mind?”
“There were only eight arrows in my trial, but you mentioned nine arrows. Did our Aeon just go easy on me, Marshal Hua?” He didn't want the Reignbow Arbiter thinking that he was weaker than other generals, especially when people already thought that he lacked in martial prowess. It would be unfair for other Generals if he only passed because of Aeon's pity. Marshal Hua smiled before shaking her head.
“There are nine arrows. The ninth will descend when you succumb to Mara. Don’t doubt yourself, Jing Yuan, our Aeon chose you.”
Marshal Hua didn’t stay long and left for him to recover. Jing Yuan sank back to his pillow as he watched the glow of their artificial sun outside. One more trial…and he shall ascend as the Arbiter-General. He wondered how the Lightning Lord would test him.
“I wish General Teng Xiao could just give me a hint,” he sighed as he drifted to sleep. For now, Jing Yuan rested easy knowing his Aeon had seen and knew of his existence.