POV: The Celestial Empress

I was not a particularly religious woman. There were those amongst the cultivator ranks who were, of course, choosing to follow the teachings of one church or another to attain enlightenment. There were a number of priests in my council, for their powers of foresight were second to none and they did have influence, the three most powerful being the churches of Father Luotian, Mother Statera, and the group who worshiped the Life-Giving Tree. Generally speaking they were a good bunch - like any organization, they had their issues - but I personally never bothered with religion. Nor was I particularly spiritual, like some of those old hermits or hidden temples that cultivated in peace and secrecy.

I knew there was a higher power, that knowledge came with the process of becoming more powerful. That wasn't what I was saying. What I was saying was that, at this particular moment, not being religious or spiritual was doing nothing to stop me from praying. We would need all the help we could get for this upcoming battle.

"Please...lend me strength," I asked, pressing my hands together and bowing my head, kneeling on the floor of my tent while dressed in full battle-armor. This would be a deciding battle against the Elementals. They were not a powerful group of people, they did not have the outstanding battle tactics that my strategists did nor many powerful cultivators in their ranks...what they did have was fanatacism.

Their people, even the non-combatants, were pure fanatics to the Elemental cause. They would self-destruct if their defeat was inevitable. It didn't matter if our medical corps were treating them, if it was against our soldiers, or just because they felt like they could do some damage, they would detonate their cores and massacre as many people as they could.

It was a disturbing tactic that cost countless lives, and even now is something we cannot counter. In the beginning, it caused massive casualties. Especially against our healers and doctors, many of whom were naturally kind-hearted and were only trying to help. We had lost so many good people...

"Please, lend me the wisdom I need," I continued. None of my people wanted war anymore.

They were tired, and felt we were now wasting lives, throwing them at the Elementals needlessly. I can't say that I blame them. But, there are those of us who rule realize the truth of the matter - that if we do not end this threat, if we do not deal a decisive blow right now, then it will come back to haunt us later in the worst possible way. A second war would lead to the entirety of the Mortal Realm getting involved, and the devestation would be horrifying.

I cannot even imagine what the damage a war encompassing the entire Mortal Realm would be like.

"Mother, are you ready?" A voice called from the entryway to my tent. I sighed and stood up, dusting off my battle dress and looking at the tent ceiling.

The deities and angels hadn't abandoned us, I knew that much. But their decision to stay out of this war was...vexing to say the least. I understood the reasoning, because as a leader I had to make the same decision many times in the lives of the true mortals - those who weren't cultivators - but that didn't make it any better when it happened to me. It only served as a reminder that we were all but children. Children who have to learn not to play with fire using the oldest trick in the book - letting them touch the flames.

Apparently we weren't as wise as we once thought.

"Yes, I am," I responded, turning and walking out of the tent. Before me stood my two children and Bob, the master illusionist. Primula and Yamua were dressed in night-and-day differences, with my daughter wearing full plate-armor, a heavy mace hanging at her side, while Yamua was clad in light leathers, weilding a bow with a quiver full of arrows strapped to his back. Neither of them took to the battlefield much, Yamua specializing in scouting and having excellent reconnaisance skills, ranking in the top ten even amongst all those in my command, while Primula proved unparralleled in defensive strategy.

Today, all bets were off though. It was likely even I, who did not have a combatative Dao, would be forced to take the stage against these Elementals.

"Let us begin, then," Bob said solemly, turning to face where this final battle would take place. For it truly was one of the final decisive battles - we had pushed the Elementals armies all the way back to their first Region. Originally they had four entire regions, four Life-Giving Trees, under their control. Now it was down to one, nay, half of one. The line was drawn, and if we could take this planet, then the war would be over. The Elementals would havetheir supply routes cut off, and lose one of the planets that produced the most of their war-machines and formations.

"It will be over soon," Yamua promised, and I nodded in agreement, steeling myself. Hundreds of millions of soldiers lay spread out before me, cultivators of all ranks spread out in the skies above the planet of Regis and facing the enemy army. They were few in number, and yet somewhere in that mass stood Terra and Pyre, the would-be tyrants. If all went well, they would not be wanna-be emperors by the end of this battle.

In lieu of answering I raised on hand into the air, and the entire battlefield fell silent. For a brief second, everything was silent. Then I dropped my hand, and the horns of war began to blow. It had begun. At long last, the end of the war was in sight.

POV CHANGE: Sequoia Pama

"It's ok," I whispered, placing my hand over the injured cultivator's eyes and closing my own. The look in his eyes was clear - he was scared, he was hurting, and he still had a little bit of fight left in him. It was the only thing keeping him alive, and even that was dwindling. His breathing picked up, and I whispered to him, "let me help you."

After a few laborious seconds he stopped struggling, and I removed my hand, my eyes meeting his. They were begging for something, some comfort in his final moments, that all was not in vain. My core pulsed slightly, power radiating from my palm as my hand gripped his, and his eyes glazed over as he let out a soft sound.

"Oh," he breathed, a smile creeping its way onto his face. "Thank you," he whispered, and his body crumbled into naught but dust.

Tears threatened to spill from my eyes as I stood, looking around the devestated surroundings. An entire mountain range had been annihilated by the cultivators who fought a bloody battle here - nay, an entire planet. The entire planet, once a thriving, green world, was now reduced to a wasteland, the natives either dying or living in holes. I was doing what I could, taking those few survivors and putting them into an estate-treasure, a treasure that essentially holds its own world, until I could find a new home for them.

And this was one of the smaller battles. I was told that one of the bigger battles devestated an entire solar system.

"What do I do?" I whispered, to no one in particular.

"What did you show him?" My newest friend, a grumpy old silver dragon named Argenti, asked from behind me. I turned to look at him, his majestic silver scales seeming dull and muted in the ash-covered skies as he sat, coiled up. I hadn't noticed before, but the feathery tip of his tail hung over my head, blocking the drifting ash from falling on me. I scrubbed my eyes and shook my head.

"A better time," I whispered. "Golden fields of grass, a green meadow, white sands, a dense forest...it's different for everyone." I said slowly.

"Mmm," he hummed, stretching his wings slightly. "A moment of peace before a new beginning...that is all anyone could ask for in their final moments."

I sniffled and felt my throat clench up, tears threatening to spill once again. Argenti rumbled gently, one of the feathers on his tail gently brushing away a tear on my cheek.

"Hush now, child. This is no place for you. Let us return," he said softly, but I shook my head. He was right - I dispised this. War was horrifying, and people were dying left and right and hatred was spreading like a disease. People prayed to Dad for help in war, but this was not Dad. He represented conflict, true, but this was a conflict of hatred and fear. Dad was conflict to rise above that. That was the Old Man - the Tian - I knew.

And this war needed to end.

I clenched my fists, set my jaw and squared my shoulders, looking up at Argenti with a determined expression. "No," I declared. "No, there will be no more of this. I will not let it continue. I will end this today." I told him, and in that moment, the world shifted. Argenti blinked in surprise, then turned his head skywards and rumbled in even greater surprise.

"The heavens bear witness to your determination," he said disbelievingly, looking back down at me as the light of the sun broke through the clouds overhead. The spirits of this planet, angry and spiteful that their world had been destroyed, all turned their attention towards me as power began to surge forth from the depths of my heart. The venegeful spirits of those killed all paused in their hauntings, the darkness now finding its way onto this rock pausing as I connected myself to something far greater than I.

Grass sprouted around my feet, my tree emerging from the depths of my soul, where I now stored it, and sinking its roots into the soil. Light pulsed once, twice, thrice, and a cool ray of blue light penetrated the clouds above, joining the rays of the golden sun to illuminate the barren plain.

"I'll be damned," Argenti whispered, his tail retreating so the light of the Sun and Moon could reach me. Power welled up from within my soul, and my tree began to grow. Slowly at first, but swiftly gaining speed, bringing life with it to every inch of ground beneath its leafy foliage. And then, moreso.

Trees began to sprout, the drifting ash began to clear, and the bodies on the battlefield began to sink into the ground, the areas where they returned to the soil sprouting flowers and grasses and, ocassionally, trees as well. Power continued to flow through my body, my tree's leaves turning a pure golden color and radiating a pure, life-giving light as it slowly stopped growing. It now reached hundreds of feet into the air, appearing as tall and majestic as any mountain.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," Argenti said solemly, watching as, one by one, the hundreds of thousands of leaves now hanging from the branches of my tree began to separate, floating in the wind and being carried to every corner of the planet. And, one by one, the spirits of this planet began to cry out in joy and wonder, jovially dashing about, aiding my magic by giving the growing plants flowers and nourishing the ever-present Spirit Realm. "Everything returns to the dirt and given time, life shall blossom again,"

Together we stayed like this, watching as life slowly began to bloom on the planet once again with the leaves of my tree. This is what cultivation magic is supposed to do. Heal. Not wreak havoc, not cause distruction, but to make you, and the universe as a whole, a better place.

Once the last leaf fell from my tree, it was over. It uprooted itself, slowly returning to the depths of my soul once more, and I let out a small breath.

"Now let's go to end this war," I said still feeling as vigorous as ever. Energy poured into and from every cell in my body, any and all impurities flowing away in the breeze as I sucked in pure, raw energy. I blinked slowly, new information filtering into my eyes as I looked around at the grounds. I could see...this planet would have looked like it did now - lush, green, and beautiful - given time. But now...now I had sped up that process. The world is as it would be in a hundred thousand years.

Argenti grunted in agreement, allowing me to clamber onto his back before he took off into the sky, leaving behind a healed world and a collection of natives, who I released from the estate-world prior to taking off.

Later, this planet would become an Eden for cultivators. A place of utter peace, a sacred place which no mortal being had the right to desecrate lest incurring the wrath of the entire Realm. But that, was a story for another time.

POV CHANGE: The First (Male; Ichiro)

"I've about had it with these punks," I grumbled, glaring down at the Elementals and their armies as they charged forwards in a cascade of bloodlust and dark energies.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

They were truly pissing me off. All my attempts at negotation, all my subtle manipulations of the courts, and they continued to fight back and reject all attempts at peace or negotiation. Or rather, my female body did all that. So it was technically still me, but also not. Regardless, they were pissing me off because they were truly evil - brainwashing their citizens to be absolute, suicidal fanatics in the worst way possible only being one of their crimes. The fact that they introduced a Devil Dao, as they were typically called in other, older universes, into this one was another reason to despise them.

I mean, come on. Generally from what I saw, things were going rather well in this universe. The deities or divinities or gods or whatever they're called here are a little hands-off, but still manage to get things done. There were some management issues up top, but nothing irreversible. It's nothing like a few other universes I'd seen, where it truly was...vile. Just vile. But based on my understanding they also had corrupted gods in control of the universe, so that was part of the problem.

Back on topic though - the battle.

On the other side of the field stood the golden legions of the Celestial Palace, advancing at a steady march in a spherical formation through the void of space. Immortal energy radiated off of them in waves, twisting local space-time so no one could teleport. Formation circles popped up around the advancing sphere, protecting the group from the long-range cultivation magic cast by the elementals and their armies, simultaneously reflecting the attacks.

It was a devestating formation, costly to set up and simpler than a few other formations out there but highly effective. It had netted the Celestial Palace innumerable victories over the past few years.

But this time it wouldn't be enough, as the elementals themselves, Terra and Pyre, would be participating in the fighting. Against two Devil Dao Progenitors the formation would eventually crumble. Which is where I would come in. My male body was more than sufficient to beat the stuffing out of those two, something I desperately wanted to do.

Please don't interfere.