Chapter 43: Domain Mysteries

Chapter 43: Domain Mysteries

Jiang Zhe stirred awake, the lingering numbness from his poisoning and the soul-deep agony still faintly echoing in his body. He sat up slowly, his gaze sweeping the room like a tiger surveying its domain. His eyes, wide and fierce, brimmed with untamed savagery. The dream’s aftermath felt unnervingly real—so much so that he struggled to distinguish whether he’d merely dreamed of living fifty years as a tiger or truly relived them.

“Master, your aura is unstable!” Orianna’s voice cut through the haze, her mental link jolting him like a thunderclap back to himself.

Jiang Zhe closed his eyes, recalling the sutras he’d studied over sixteen lifetimes. He chanted silently, grounding his fragmented consciousness. Though he’d lived over forty years across two lives, the Tiger Monarch’s vast, tumultuous experiences dwarfed his own. Merging those identities was a perilous blur, proof of the Dormant Dragon Technique’s terrifying power to reshape mind and spirit.

Two days passed in meditation before he finally emerged, his gaze now calm as still water, aged like vintage wine.

“Ancient Zhuangzi dreamed of being a butterfly; today, I dreamed of being a tiger. Marvelous, simply marvelous!” he mused, a faint smile playing on his lips. Yet shadows flickered across his face—a fleeting echo of the Tiger Monarch’s ferocity, as if the beast had briefly reawakened within him.

As the vision faded, Jiang Zhe murmured, “Heaven and Earth are born with me; all things unite as one…” A revelation dawned: To transcend, I must dissolve the self, harmonize with the cosmos, and become one with all existence.

He sensed the Universe’s primal pulse—a sensation he’d first glimpsed as an apprentice, then a veiled shadow. Now, his breakthrough to Stellar-Level and the Tiger Monarch’s memories had torn away layers of obscurity, letting faint light seep through. Like a desert traveler finding an oasis, he drank deeply, his Crimson Banner Mark, Thunder Prison Realm sigil, and Primordial Core pulsing in cosmic rhythm.

Violet Secret Patterns erupted from his chest, spreading across his body like living runes. By channeling innate patterns, he’d fused mind, primordial force, will, and flesh into a seamless harmony. The resulting dark purple energy now bent space itself.

A surge of lightning erupted around him, enveloping the courtyard in a hundred-meter radius. This is Domain!

From the Jiang Clan’s martial arts hall, Master Jiang—a sentinel for two months—saw the flash. Elder Jiang felt the energy shift and stepped outside, his hands trembling despite the warm brazier he held. Two streaks of light—a golden and blue—raced toward the courtyard, followed by three War God Ranks bounding like grasshoppers.

The brass automaton at the courtyard door bowed, opened the gate, and retreated. A silent invitation.

Inside, Jiang Zhe awaited them, Orianna serving tea. The guests froze, stunned. His presence felt paradoxically there and not there, his gaze a celestial weight that pinned them. Two Legislator-ranked elders glimpsed a spectral tiger lurking behind him, its eyes gleaming with malice. The War Gods and Jiang Sisi felt a mountainous pressure, the air thickening until Orianna elbowed Jiang Zhe, diffusing the tension.

“Apologies,” Jiang Zhe said, sipping tea. “How long was I secluded?”

Elder Jiang chuckled. “January 16th, 81 days and counting. Nearly three months!”

“Too long,” Jiang Zhe sighed.

“Worth every second!” Elder Jiang retorted. “Your Xingyi Tiger Form has transcended. You’ve forged your own path.”

Jiang Zhe grinned. “Maybe the tiger dream helped?”

“Childish,” Elder Jiang scoffed, though his smile betrayed affection. His tone turned serious. “That Domain… is it Hong’s secret art?”

Jiang Zhe nodded. “His was a Light Domain; mine, Lightning. Our affinity for cosmic energy shapes them. You, Grandfather, might wield an ice-sealing Domain—water’s branch. My father, earth.”

Master Jiang leaned forward, eyes blazing. “Can you teach us?”

“Two paths,” Jiang Zhe explained. “First, ascend naturally to Cosmic Level. The metamorphosis grants a chance to awaken Domain. Second… like Hong. Master the Heavenly Dragon Lance to its theoretical limit, but only after attaining the mindset of ancient Hanxia sages—like Hong or Lei Shen.”

Elder Jiang frowned. “Lei Shen’s not ready.”

“He’s close,” Jiang Zhe insisted. “A life-or-death trial could push him.”

“The Heavenly Dragon Lance?” Master Jiang interjected. “Our family’s art and Hong’s World Annihilation share a root—both descend from the ancient ‘Six Harmonies Spear.’”

“Six Harmonies!” Elder Jiang’s eyes gleamed. “The Inner Three Harmonies—essence, energy, spirit! Hong achieved the trinity of his being!”

“Precisely,” Jiang Zhe affirmed. “Mind, primordial force, will, and body fused into a singular energy.”

He’d suspected this since studying the Heavenly Dragon Lance in August. The Outer Three Harmonies—hand, eye, waist—mastered technique. The Inner Three demanded transcendence.

Though he doubted his family could grasp Domain at Stellar-Level, he’d given them a goal. Better safe than sorry, he thought. The clan couldn’t rely on him alone.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end