White Lotus Pill
"Jiawei, no!" Zhen screamed, blood sputtering from her lips.
Had it not been for the tails of the fox binding her, she would have leapt back into the thick of the fight, into the Monkey King's murderous arrogance.
"Unhand me, Daji! I cannot let Jiawei make this sacrifice. I...I swore to her!"
"I refuse." The Fox's rejection, swift. "Look at yourself, your qi is exhausted, your ribs shattered. I care about you as much as do for Jiawei! I shall lay down my life for you but I refuse to let you go headfirst into the afterlife."
The words of Daji stung Zhen's already aching heart, she understood Daji, she truly did, but...
"You can't expect me to just stand here and watch as Jiawei sacrifices herself! Let me go, Daji!"
The Fox in her battered condition still had enough strength left to wrap Zhen around her tails. Zhen trashed at her soft but sturdy bindings, all so she could foolishly take Jiawei away from this cruel fate.
"I said no!" By her shout, Daji's tail binds tightened. Almost suffocating Zhen, harming her in order to keep her safe. "You're the first one to make me feel like this, I cannot lose you, immortality will bore me without you."
Back at the garden's centre, Wukong awaited Jiawei's sacrifice. Now at the cusp of Godhood, all he needed was the Qilin to elevate him into an existence unrivaled under the heavens and earth.
"You are final piece needed for all Bestial kind to achieve supremacy. Do not waver now." Wukong urged.
"I am well aware, your majesty. I just..." Thought how nice would have been to take Zhen on her offer. To train vigorously during the day and spend the nights in each other's embrace. Thoughts that Jiawe dared not spoke out loud. "...just couldn't contain my excitement at finally being able to herald the age of beasts. I, Jiawei, pledge my soul so that the Monkey King can seize the Throne of Vairocana."
The willing Jiawei cast off her flesh, accepting Wukonh's invitation into his universe. Now in her spectral form, the Qilin had this ephemeral majesty that surrounded her. Jiawei galloped towards Wukong, her entire being absorbed by the Bestial Overlord.
A torrent of grief erupted from Zhen's heart, her hand reaching out of for the Qilin that she will never again hold.
"JIAAAAWEEEEI!"
The outpour of Zhen's sadness was matched by the Monkey King's elation. At the completion of his 100 stars, the very heavens trembled at the arrival of a new Celestial Overlord. Shaking ALL of Wodan, a shockwave had been released, smashing into Zhen and Daji both. A show of power where the two cultivators were unable to defend. Zhen and Daji had been blasted away, flying and soon crashing into rubble.
Wukong's fist closed tight, he unleashed a howl of ecstasy that celebrated newly attained Godhood.
Wings of phoenix fire emerged from his back. Faster than a person could blink, Wukong's flaming wings graced the skies.
Her glory as the Heaven's strongest stripped, the majestic Ice Empress now wounded. Drained of her qi, Zhen's body ached all while laying helplessly on top of the rubble. Her hand reached to blazing bastard that took her beloved Qilin, on his way to rob Zhen of even more.
"Jiawei..." Zhen muttered in quiet surrender.
The pitiful state of Zhen was reminder that in the brutal world of Cultivation, as long as you are not on top, those that do will trample you, turn you into a stepping stone as they reach new heights. For someone who had been at the peak for as long as she could remember, Zhen had forgotten, nay - dismissed the notion that another could ever come close to her strength.
The battle had also taken its toll on Daji, reverting to her human form Daji crawled to embrace the grief stricken Zhen.
"I am sorry, my love. It is over, we lost." Daji whispered. "Perhaps in the next cycle, you will be reborn as Spirit Beast. If so, then I will promise to scour every land until we reunite."
The Heavenly Court had been the only reminder of the first cultivator's existence, relegating him a myth for some. Wukong's power was something Daji experienced in the flesh, feared. A power endless that none could match. The Fox was sure that even if the great Buddha appeared, their clash would shatter the very fabric of reality, the world would need to be remade regardless.
Zhen caressed Daji's hand that embraced her.
"You think it is over, my dear?" Zhen's lips bent into a smile. Pained all over, Zhen was able to extract a pill from her storage ring. "This is when the true battle begins."
Even Daji sensed the incredible power hidden behind the pill, pale as the smoothest spider silk.
"What is that pill?" Daji asked.
"A gift from Guanyin. A priceless treasure concocted by the very first cultivator. Over the ages, it accumulates qi unto itself. And since this was made at the dawn of cultivation, one could only guess the amount of qi this pill has."
"Are you crazy!? Your meridians will explode the moment you ingest that pill!"
Was it the desperation that made Zhen consider such insanity? Daji surmised so.
"No, this pill was tailofed for Guanyin. She is his sentry, his physical connection to the mortal plane. He will never intend to harm Guanyin."
From the palm of her hand, the pill levitated by its own. Its recipe, privy only to Buddha himself. No alchemist in the modern age can hope to recreate this marvel.
The pill's strange shape began to bloom, taking on the appearance of the current Vairocana Throne, a lotus flower.
The moment the white lotus pill unveiled itself, a sliver of its stored qi escaped in the form of another shockwave. Unlike the chaos that was unleashed before, this one was benevolent in nature. It had the gentleness of the qi upon the tranquil forest, the flowing river, the clear sky. All that was serene in the world.
Zhen stood, the path to victory illuminated by the glowing lotus pill in her hand. A cultivator might be trampled upon but one must not lay in the dirt to wallow in self-pity, you rise and show to them what you are made of.
The Ice Empress swallowed the pill, she still had a monkey to put in his place, and more importantly, a qilin whose core needed saving. Jiawei's final resting place should never be inside that despicable ape.