Shifting Tides: Book 7 of Painting the Mists

large mortal plane. The small blue-and-white orb was a useless decoration in the black emptiness of space.
He wasn’t sure why he was here in the first place. It was only a dream, after all. But he knew firsthand how real dreams could be. Ignoring his visions would be both foolish and risky. Therefore, he took his time looking over the planet and its crude, rudimentary technology. It had no conception of spirit, natural energy, and runes. Surrounding it were several planets that orbited around a single sun in the surprisingly large solar system. But despite its impressive size, it was still a drop in the black void surrounding it.
Four groups of stars were particularly noticeable. One represented the Sage, and the vision it had given him previously was one of preemptive action. His time in the Song Kingdom and his rebirth during this period were related to the wise constellation. He’d thought that by striking the Song Kingdom at its weakest point and at many different crucial junctures, they could win over the plane without much effort and bloodshed. He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Zhou Li sighed as he recalled the consequences. A karmic anomaly had appeared, completely derailing his carefully laid-out plans. Now war was a necessity. The Merchant was watching, as was the General. The plans he’d drawn up based on their advice were already in motion, and in a decade at most, the South would come bearing down on the North with both coin and sword.
And then there was the void. This fourth constellation was a path he hadn’t given much thought. It was a road filled with death and destruction, and even his seer’s eyes couldn’t fathom where it led. It was a path of desperation, a path he would avoid unless given no alternative.
As he looked into the brooding darkness, Zhou Li caught a glimmer out of the corner of his eye. It was a small light that moved slowly across the starry backdrop, almost unnoticeable to the untrained eye. But his eyes were trained, and they narrowed upon discovering that all around the light, the stars in the sky were shifting and realigning. That small light was causing a chain reaction, and as it moved, the Merchant shifted. A bad sign.
Don’t look. Don’t you dare look, Zhou Li thought. If only words and thoughts could change the stars. The Merchant slowly turned its attention toward the light, which was actually a small star. The Merchant’s grace was now focused away from the South, where he’d carefully guided it. Damn it. How could this happen? He needed to do something about it.
Gritting his teeth, Zhou Li traveled through space, completely disregarding temporal laws in the process. This was his world, his own domain. He appeared beside the star in an instant, and what he saw made his blood boil.
The star’s soft yellow light was surrounded by trinkets, each one more interesting than the last. Foxes of light and darkness danced around it, and so did some familiar-looking coins, as fuzzy and obscure as they were; they were only visible due to their proximity to a strange flame that both chilled his mind and seared his soul.
Zhou Li looked around and sighed in relief when he didn’t see a spear or a rosary. Those two were tricky, but fortunately, they were busy with something else. The coins and the flames were somewhat distant as well. Only the black and white foxes were close enough to influence it. That, and those four insignificant stars. But were they growing?
Wait a moment, Zhou Li thought. His eyes narrowed as he realized the star looked familiar. He focused his seer’s eyes on its blinding light and saw a clear brush surrounded by clouds of gray mist. No wonder. The star represented the karmic anomaly, Du Cha Ming. And now, he was alone and unprotected.
According to his sight, the young man from the Song Kingdom was headed toward the ocean. He was on a collision course with one of Zhou Li’s most promising plans and would likely derail everything if left unchecked. He thanked his lucky stars he’d noticed. He still had time, if he acted quickly.
Zhou Li woke, his grogginess and blurred vision disappearing in less than a second. He washed his face and fixed his robes, then walked through the blacksteel door of his personal chambers, passing his deathsworn guards on the way out. These slaves, bound by devilish contracts, followed him and ensured no one approached him unbidden.
Several turns and a long staircase later, Zhou Li entered a room. Twelve men sat there discussing plans, while others stood off to the side. He nodded slightly to the man he’d needed to call “master” a few years back, and the man returned a deep bow. Fate was funny that way. He, a mere mortal cultivator, now enjoyed a higher ranking than a transcendent. But when you played a game as long as theirs, cultivation realms hardly mattered. Only a few individuals in the room had the standing to discuss matters with him, and even then, barely so. When he spoke, others listened. For he had the sight, the plan, and the vision.
“There’s been a change of plans,” Zhou Li said. “We need to accelerate phase sixteen or forever lose the opportunity.”
The men at the table frowned. They exchanged confused glances, and their looks toward the maps on the table were very telling. Some were nautical maps, while others were trade contracts and promises.
“Would you care to elaborate?” a man finally said. He was a transcendent, and his position in their hierarchy made his standing only slightly inferior to Zhou Li’s.
“The complexity of the situation makes it difficult to explain everything,” Zhou Li said in an annoyed tone. “But long story short, the karmic anomaly known as Du Cha Ming is moving again. He’s returned from Jade Moon Planet stronger than ever.”
“How certain are you that he’ll derail our plans?” the man asked.
“Sixty percent,” Zhou Li said. “And that’s if