Chapter 8- Pointing A Sword At Heaven

Tian watched the fire, bewildered. He had no idea what things he could do. Mostly he knew about the junkyard and all the problems with his body. And the forest and the river. That was about it.

“I don’t know. Enough to eat. A dry place to sleep where animals can’t bite me. Maybe better clothes and something to cook with? I don’t think I can cook much on a leaf or on a stick. I’d want to do whatever got me that.”

Would you like to meet people? Live in a nice house like them?

“No. They are scary and throw rocks. I don’t think I really want to be a human. Or around humans, anyway.”

Good survival instinct for now, but… going to have to work on that one. I guess we could start with “Man is a thing to be overcome” and work from there. How about something a little more primal- safety. How would you like to be so strong, nobody could hurt you?

Tian nodded. “Of course that’s good.”

At a high level of cultivation, people don’t need to eat any more. They just do it for fun. Want that?

“Not being hungry is good.”

Immortality?

“I don’t know what that is.”

Living forever, or so long as to make it seem like you do.

“No, that’s a terrible idea. Hurting forever sounds bad.”

You would be healthy. No pain when you pee, no sudden shooting pain in your guts or running down the marrows of your bones.

Tian just shook his head. He couldn’t imagine it.

I’d ask about wealth, but you don’t have that concept yet. Ditto lust, and man am I glad malnutrition is helping me out there. Never thought I would say that, but here we are.

“Grandpa, I don’t understand any of that.”

You will. But for now, it’s fine if you don’t.

Tian thought he felt a sigh.

You are really survival oriented. Which is good, but also limiting. You need more context, more experience. More contact with other humans. Even if you don’t like them.

Tian watched the fire burn. Brown sticks turned black, then glowing red, then ashy white and stopped burning, but could still be very hot. It still scared him, but it was also beautiful. The transformation of light and shape. The crackling, rushing noise. Scary, but comforting. And you could cook food with it. He didn’t ever want to lose that.

“What do you think I should do, Grandpa? Other than saving the world.”

It’s going to sound weird coming from an old monster like me, but I want you to find something you love, and for you to do it wholeheartedly. Even when it is boring, or frustrating, or feels like you aren’t making progress. I want it to be something you can take satisfaction in. You know how everything rots in the junkyard. In the end, everything, even the pottery and metal, break down.

“Mmm hmm.”

The whole world is like that. Doesn’t matter if you are the Grand Immortal Whozit Reverend Master of Ten Billion Blades or whatever, in the end, even immortals die. In the end, their creations turn to dust and are forgotten. It might take longer for some than others, but in the end, everything rots.

“Okay?”

So this is it. This is what there is. How you choose to spend this life should be on what brings you joy, and hopefully, what brings joy to the people around you. Nothing will make the world a better place forever, but since right now is all there is, isn’t it good enough to make it better for now?

“You think I should just do whatever makes me happy?”

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More than happy- you should do what gives you satisfaction. What you find meaning in. Then you will need to figure out what you have to do to support that. Raising a family might require you to study farming, or the way of money. Defending your family might require mastering the sword or spear. Healing them might require mastering medicinal arts, or creating formations, or even forging powerful artifacts.

In every case, given the sheer unreasonableness of the world, given the absolutely unjustified and unfair things that are going to happen to you, it will require strength. Above all else, you will have to be strong. And it will mean you wind up saving the world, because the spiteful heavens will give you no peace until you do.

Tian laughed. “Grandpa, I didn’t understand any of that.”

You understood. And you will spend the rest of your life learning how right I was.

Tian rose with the sun, hearing the racket the birds were making to herald its light. “Grandpa, where do we head now? Are we still going to the mountains?”

Yes, the river didn’t take us too far off course. Let’s pick a few things to eat along the way, and get going.

He was a bit fortunate- there were no random tiger attacks, bird attacks, or similar common forest mishaps. There was a wasp’s nest the size of a full grown man, but he walked a very long way around that.