Hmmph... this junior is a good seed [Cultivation Management Quest]

Gaius Antonius Omake # 28: Starry Nights, Smoky Days, Part 2

This would be a long and difficult undertaking, but I knew that once I had that treasure back in my hands, any amount of effort would have been worth it. So I searched for leads, and boy did I search. I looked into everyone who would have been on guard duty that day and tracked them down to question them, I followed the woman's scent to every place where it was the thickest, talked to everyone around there, and finally, after all that work, I got something concrete..

I found myself speaking to an old man named Orestis. He did seem to know about this lady, but kept trying to lead me on so that I'd do things for him. He'd go on for a few minutes, then start talking about how thirsty he was, that sort of thing. I had some drinks with the guy and eventually just paid off his entire tab to get the scam over with - I'd spend every point I had to get that treasure back if I had to. Eventually, I managed to squeeze out something I could use: The lady - Stellina - was a frequent patron at his brother's jewelry shop, and according to said brother, she frequently did array work on the Epitiritis Tower. I had my next stop

So away I went once again, to talk to some more people, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn't just send me to a third location. All in all I was feeling pretty good; no dead ends, no liars, this was a fruitful day. Still, I couldn't slow down, so I got ready to look between every damn brick in that tower if I had to.

So I got to the tower, barged in and managed to talk my way into Commander Mikellis' office. He was a man of unassuming size, but the mass of burn scars covering half his face told you exactly how dangerous this guy was. "Alright Junior, care to tell me why you're snooping around so much?" He lazily drawled, seemingly bored with the conversation before it even began.

"Sorry to bother you, Sir, but I'm trying to figure out where I can find a woman named Stellina." I replied, trying to play it cool, like I wasn't desperate to track her down as soon as possible.

"She was reassigned, she doesn't man this tower anymore." The officer replied matter-of-factly. "But why are you trying to track her down like this? I don't take kindly to stalking, and neither does she." He continued, giving me a suspicious glare.

Fuck, she wasn't even here anymore? The more time I spent running around, the less chance I would have to take back that dirt. A bead of sweat ran down my neck as I considered my response. "I wouldn't say it's stalking, Sir. I need to speak to her on some important matters. Er, private ones." I replied after a moment, settling on something safe.

For his part, the Centurion did not look impressed with me. "Really. Well, that's none of my business. She joined the watch in Emporikipolis."

Emporikipolis? No, no, that couldn't be right, not with what the old man had said. "Are you sure, Sir? I was under the impression that-"

"I don't care, Junior." Mikellis barked irritably. "I don't have the file on me, but word from above said she was reassigned there. Dismissed." he concluded with a scowl. I wouldn't be getting much more out of this guy, that much was clear.

----

It wasn't long before I found my way back to Orestis' usual stomping grounds, and I wasn't happy. The old man tried to feed me some nonsense, but it turns out that when you're 6'6", it's really easy to grill somebody; just loom over them and look like you know what you're doing.

"Your story was bullshit, Orestis. Where did she really go?" I demanded.

"I told you, man, she works at the tower!" The old man protested, sweating and shaking under the weight of my qi.

"Evidently not anymore. The officer in the tower told me she was stationed back here, but you and I both know that's not true." I pressed the man relentlessly, jamming my finger into his chest. "I know that she comes here to buy stuff, where does she go when she leaves?"

"If it's not that fucking tower then I don't know! If you wanna stalk that lady so bad, why not just wait for her?" He tried, desperation leaking into his quivering voice.

"There's no time to wait, I need to find her as soon as possible! No more games, you're gonna tell me everything you know."

I managed to jog that guy's memory pretty well, and got a few more pieces of useful information. First, she'd been seen talking with David Aurelius, a well-known craftsman who routinely sold exquisite high-quality charms to Centurions. Second, she'd been going all over the place bartering Half Moon Stillness Pills for raw magical materials. This didn't tell me exactly where to find her, but it suggested a place: the Pill-Forging Forest. If she was making pills, then she would need to go there.

----

The forest in question was fairly distinctive. The degree of biodiversity was unnatural at a single glance, with the climate seeming to change between steps. No doubt some kind of agricultural arrays of a scope I couldn't even begin to grasp. It was only here that a Jade-Leaf Ivy farm with its mineral-rich soil and high humidity could be placed right next to a Flameheart Pomegranate farm, with its pure topsoil and dry heat. It was like some great hand picked up chunks of different parts of the world and smashed them together.

Still, I wasn't here to do some sightseeing; I was here to get back something that belonged to me. I can't tell you how much land I must have covered, but I jogged back and forth between all of the farms for at least two days straight, stopping only briefly to sleep. Even more precious cultivation time, lost.

Finally, I stumbled upon it. Near the dead-center of the forest was the only farm which supplied both Stardust Lillies and Seven-Leaf Clover, the two main ingredients of Half Moon Stillness Pills. If Stellina really was making Those things en masse, then she had to be buying the main ingredients in the same place; she'd waste too much time any other way. I sat down a hundred feet away and waited for another two days, diligent as a well-trained hound, and sure enough, there she was.

Quiet as quiet gets, I crept up on that bitch. I let her go about her business, and then second she left the farm I was on her. I knocked aside her hastily-raised palm, sending a blast of sub-zero air sailing over my shoulder, and throttled her neck with all the strength I could muster. It wasn't just mindless strangling; this Eagle Talon Agony Grip lanced three meridians in the neck at once, shutting down most techniques before they could be used.

"You've been leading me on for quite a long time, miss." I said. You could say that I purred, but it's in the way that a tiger purrs.

"D-don't do anything hasty! Let's talk about this!" She choked out.

"I'm not the one who did something hasty! I don't like being stolen from, I don't like it when secrets are kept from me, and I especially don't like it when somebody keeps it a secret where they put the thing they stole!" I ranted, overcome with frustration. I don't consider myself prone to anger, but after all of these twists and turns I was nearing my wits' end.

I must have squeezed too hard, because Stellina wasn't getting many words out at all anymore. "If... you hurt me... it'll all be over for you. A lot of... Seniors will..."

I let go and grabbed the front of her dress, giving her a moment to catch her breath. "What are you talking about Seniors for? You're the one who'll be facing them if I don't get my treasure back."

"I'm not the one running the operation, I'm just a small part of it." She panted and coughed. "You want your shit back? I can't give it to you, but maybe they can. But don't blame me for whatever happens."

She didn't say a word after that, leading me out of the forest, back to Emporikipolis and into the Tin Quarter. For those who don't know, the Tin Quarter is pretty much all mortals and their business; nothing relevant to the cutivation world goes on there. For her to lead me there of all places, I was getting real curious.

Down a side-street, into a back alley, through a dilapidated house and into a basement, she led me farther and farther from the light. Tracing an Array in the air, Stellina activated some kind of mechanism, making the floor open up into a set of hidden stairs which led into an underground tunnel.

"You want your treasure back so much? Follow me this way." She said ominously, leading me beneath the earth. Once we were both underground, she opened those painted lips and started speaking to me again. "I just want you to know, I didn't steal from you, the shadow-stepper did; I'm just one of the gateways."

I raised an eyebrow, keeping an otherwise deadpan expression. "Shadow-stepper?"

She sighed quietly, with the expression of someone who wished they could say more. "Don't even ask; I don't know who or what they are, and neither does anyone else I know. All I know is I'm one of their gateways."

"Riiight. So, you let something called a shadow-stepper latch onto you to steal people's treasures. Then I'm guessing you give them to someone, and the pills are part of it? And you're trading them for raw materials..." I scratched my head, trying to reign in my anger enough to have a fruitful conversation. "The only thing I can conclude is you're making something with stolen treasures."

"Close, you're very close. I am absolutely shocked you put so much together in a few days. The boss will definitely want to meet you." She said, eerily unbothered.

----

The lady continued to guide me through the underground passageway until it opened up into a wide-open chamber. A vaunted ceiling above caused sound to echo nicely, producing an accoustiv quality that allowed anyone's words to be heard. Standing around were a group of about a dozen or so Clansmen, all wearing simple, expressionless gray masks and garbed in the standard lamellar of a Legionairre at war. In other words, none of them could be told apart, which seemed to be the point.

Everyone present turned to look at the two of us, and a few politely cheered and clapped - none of them seemed particularly surprized. What's more, I could feel their cultivation base quite clearly: each and every one of them was in Foundation Establishment. All of these anonymous conspiritors were Centurions? "There are this many Seniors involved? What is all this? I don't understand..."

"They're here for the auction, Junior. We all are." a voice called out to me. I turned to see a huge paper screen, lit from behind by candles. Behind it stood a man, visible only as a silhouette. His voice was strange and distorted, and even his qi felt wrong, slippery and fleeting.

"So you're the boss?" I asked, with as much politeness as I could manage, which was very little.

"That's not a question you're qualified to have answers for."

Fuck this. Fuck this guy, fuck this stupid room. My blood rushed harder and faster, making the veins in my neck and hands begin to stand out. "Alright, then can you... tell me anything?" I managed to sueeze out. I had to stay calm. In a room full of Foundation experts, I would be killed in seconds if they decided to get violent.

"It's what it looks like; an auction house. Old treasures, taken from the hands of the unworthy and reshaped into new forms by craftsmen and sold to those who really deserve them." He explained, with all the confidence of a man with a firm devotion to his Dao.

"Well, that's rather frank of you to explain; but I'm assuming you won't tell me who this shadow-stepper is?" I asked, more as a formality than anything else.

The sillhouette gave me a big fat shrug. "Even if I wanted to I couldn't, I'm not their handler. I don't know anything about them either."

"You asshole. How is your stupid operation so widespread? I don't get how something like this could even happen."

"People want to live." He said, with the bluntness and simplicity of a warhammer. When the going gets tough and they'll be risking their lives, they do whatever they can to get their hands on just a little bit more power, so that they can win, and survive."

"It's because of the cannibal war, then?"

The other man shook his head and sighed. "You don't get it; that's the latest boom, but there's always one around the corner. The devil bee war, and the earlier cannibal wars, and of course the Centennial Trials. We, as a people, lead a way of life immersed in hardship and violence. The Centurions who risk their lives in every conflict would rather have the power to succeed than let it languish in the hands of Juniors who aren't on the front lines as often."

"Seniors are supposed to guide their Juniors upward to reach their potential; that's what a Sect is!" I shouted. I couldn't help it anymore, I was burning up something fierce, and now everything this guy said pissed me off more. A pair of masked Clansmen approached me, but the anonymous man waved them away, unfazed.

"I've heard about your exploits lately, you know." The man behind the screen said. "One of that crop of Super Juniors, the heralds of a new era, some say. When it comes to sneaking, I don't think anyone in Qi Condensation could match you, even if you searched the whole Sea."

"And what's that got to do with any of this?" I shot back, my well of patience completely tapped out. "I'm exhausted with all of you, I just want the damn dirt back."

The mystery man laughed. "You're very focused as well; very driven. Those are good qualities. Our group is always looking for guys like you. Kiss the ring; you'll get your treasure back, and a lot more besides. You'll be bringing in more income than ever before. And when you become a Centurion, you'll gain access to the auctions."

It finally began to sink in just how serious this shit was. Some corruption here and there amongst Legionairres? Frowned upon, driven deep underground, but impossible to truly stamp out. We Golden Devils simply resolved to reduce such things to an acceptable level. Everyone cut corners, skimmed war spoils off the top, failed to report small wild Spirit Herb groves to their superiors; that's just how you play the game. That included yours truly.

The point is, there were lines you didn't cross. Centurions, the optimatoi, involved in stealing precious treasures from their juniors, the kinds of discoveries that changed people's careers? That was something else entirely. I couldn't help but feel a surge of patriotic anger rise up in my belly at the thought.

Still, the fact that this was so serious meant I had to choose my every move carefully. Conspiracies of this scale tend to swallow men whole and make them vanish, after all.

"I'll have to think about that, but I'd rather just take home what's mine and forget this all happened." I said after a few moments of contemplation.

And that was that. They shoved a nice fat spirit stone into my hands along with that familiar glass vial and told me to keep my mouth shut, then sent me back home with nothing else to show for it. I was pissed, but more than that I was smart. There had to be at least one Elder allowing this to happen in exchange for a cut of the profits, which meant if I went to tattle, I would no doubt end up taking to that Elder in particular. This was out of my league. So I went home - anticlimactic, right? I had to have myself a nice long think about what to do here.

----

I paced back and forth, wearing through the floor in every room of my apartment as I wracked my brain for answers. I'd have to think more carefully on this. An organized group like that would collectively wield enough power to ruin my life, through sheer collusion if nothing else. And it wasn't like I personally had the power to take them on. Theoretically I could try and get the Elders involved, go through more roundabout channels to endure I talked to someone who wasn't in the know, but someone below Foundation Establishment had no chance of getting an appointment in any useful timeframe. I just couldn't resolve any of this at the moment; I'd be carted off to Xin Kingdom any day now.

But what about after I got back? How could I beat these guys? A dozen and one plans began to swirl around in my head. I could infiltrate their ranks in disguise and find out where they stored treasures that were waiting for remodeling. I could recruit a few of them to my side with promises to split the profits after we bring the group down. I could cause some kind of emergency to divert their attention and search through their files. Or maybe I could...

Ah, screw it. Planning that far ahead was nothing but childish fantasy. I couldn't expect to take on the whole world so early in my career.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out that precious little glass vial, cool and smooth to the touch. I just stared at it for a few minutes, allowing myself the simple, quiet luxury of relief. My treasure was here, it was safe, and I would take better care of it from now on.

Stuffing the little treasure away into my strongbox, I prepared to finlly catch up on all the cultivation I had missed. I would need to go up to 18 hours a day for the next week; a real death march, but I could at least manage it for that long.

Those gangster scumbags wanted me, ME, to stop Seeking? That wasn't gonna happen. I was not giving up, I was putting that particular quest on hold for a decade or two. I'd sort out that whole mess when I was ready to, and I'd do it my own way!

I smirked. What a load of shit; I was using a whole lot of pretty words to say 'I didn't actually lose'. That smirk was quickly defeated by gravity, transforming into a scowl. Those guys... while they might be screwing their Clansmen over, they were stimulating the economy, and those treasures were staying in the Clan either way. Hurting fellow Clansmen without hurting the Clan... skirting the line like that was probably how they'd avoided getting busted up so far. They weren't traitors, they were just fucking assholes.

I lit a cigarette, sighing and sinking into my chair. "Never a dull week, is there?"

Finally got this one to a point where I wasn't embarassed to post it. I've had it mostly done for a month, but kept going back and rewriting large parts of it because I just couldn't get it into a presentable state. I've decided that this is probably as good as it's gonna get.

I wanted to explore the idea of organized crime among the Golden Devils. My take on it was that, in theory, you can't really get rid of the skullduggery that cultivation involves. In a sect that maximizes order, diligence and so on like the Golden Devils do, you'd naturally end up driving a lot of it underground. And so I had the idea of a group of Seniors who steal treasures from lucky Juniors and reforge their shape to auction off to more "deserving" cultivators.

This is obviously not the last we'll see of this gang, considering Gaius at the time this omake is set is far too weak to do anything about them.

"Cutting it a little close, don't you think?" Xu Zhen observed as the Devil Alliance forces began their rout, the ordinary cultivators of the Righteous defenders pursuing in the usual post-battle slaughter that tended to follow. "I'm not complaining--life's definitely a step up from dead, but..."

"I came as soon as Millet came in with the news" Rina explained, her second blade vanishing into her Spatial Ring. "Prediction, that is, we didn't get the official news until we were at the border--then we had to step it up." She crossed her arms at that, glancing down. "Just about an hour ago, she started screaming about calamity being imminent--I suppose we just found out why."

"The whole fight here was a set-up." Xu Zhen explained, shifting his posture and wincing as his tender insides protested at the stretch. "Got word of a large raider's column slipping past the siege lines and we sallied out to intercept it. They had a group of peak experts buried inside though from the Devil Alliance forces--I thought something was up when there were no signs of the Time Shatter Sect initially, but had my hands full with Tai Chen--wasn't expecting him to be that good though."

He paused then, and did a double-take. "Wait, you..."

Rina looked up and spun around to face him, smiling. "Yep! Your master's little present helped put things over the top. You are currently gazing upon the first Single-Pillar Foundation Establishment expert the Golden Devil Clan has produced since ancient times." She did a little twirl. "Ta-dah!"

"Was that why he couldn't freeze you in place?" Xu Zhen asked. "I could keep up more-or-less, and now that I know to expect it I can think of a way or two to counter it--but that first shot..." He shook his head. "I'm just glad he focused on the Array and not me, I wouldn't have gotten out with just some shallow injuries if he did. Was that pendulum some kind of heavenly treasure?"

Rina's smile faded at that. "No... That was all him I'm afraid." She looked back in the direction the Devil Alliance forces fled to. "The pendulum was just a toy he had--his real power is something else entirely." She huffed quietly at that. "Really. How rude of him not to stick around--but I think he sensed I was a stage above him. I think he only broke through relatively recently--for all I talked down on him, it'd be hard to predict which of us would win if it really came down to a fight to the death."

Xu Zhen paled slightly at that. "Are you saying..."

Rina sighed. "Yeah, he's Single-Pillar too--if I were to guess? They hid his breakthrough while the Righteous Nascent Souls were immobilized and the Devil Alliance ones were on the attack. Probably was going to take advantage of this opportunity to get his name out." She scoffed at the thought. "Little shit got greedy, but he's not stupid--nobody who goes this far survives by being stupid. He'll come back when he's stabilized his Pillar--and then it'll be a real fight."

"Shit." Xu Zhen brought his hand to his forehead. "And I suppose you're only here because Millet cracked the whip, huh?"

Rina didn't immediately answer that, but got a mysterious expression on her face. "Yeah, about that... I'll need to have a chat with your commanding officer, but..." She wiggles her hand. "This isn't exactly the best place to be discussing this kind of thing, is it?"

"Leafsplitter and Bright Iron need to get looked at by the healers anyway." Xu Zhen agreed, withdrawing a device from his own Spatial Ring and aiming it into the sky, yanking back on a string attached as great firework launched out, bursting into white sparks.

"Right, now that everyone knows that we've gotten the danger under control..." He says, tossing the launcher to the side. "Let me escort you back to the Azurebolt Pavillion."

Rina's lips pursed together--as though she had swallowed a lemon. "You know, I have to ask..."

"The names?" Xu Zhen chuckled. "Kind of a tradition, when we reach Core Formation, we generally take up a Daoist Name to face the world with. Some of them can be a little..." He wiggles his hand side to side. "That."

"Ohhh?" Rina's smile took on an impish term. "Far along as you are, you're getting around there yourself--what kind of terrible name will you use to instill fear into the hearts of the evil?"

"Lay off it! I keep thinking about it and everything sounds either too goofy or too low-key!" Xu Zhen blustered. "Whatever! Let's set this aside and get back, I'm sure you've got important business and I need to get my own injuries looked at!" Not waiting for an answer, he gestured with the hand bearing his spatial ring and materialized an oversized scroll, which he hopped on as it sailed off into the distance.

"Heh" Rina grinned, then looked over her shoulder. "Millet!" She shouted. "You coming too?"

"BETTER NOT!" Millet yelled back, cupping her hands around her mouth for emphasis. "I've got to make sure these goons don't deteriorate, and that means waiting! I'll leave it to you guys!"

"Okay!" Rina waved, then materialized Muqin Guo from her Ring--the cauldron snapping to a comfortable size in a speed she had never been able to muster in Qi Condensation, hopping inside and sailing off in Xu Zhen's wake.

She was curious as to what it would be like here--this was her first time in the Great Battlefield afterall!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was...

"Surprisingly posh?" Rina observed. "Pleasant? Almost decadent?"

The Azurebolt Pavilion was--to put it lightly, a small castle--beautifully crafted with all manner of spirit wood, exotic silks, and decorated with blocks of purified spirit stone--formations etched within to ensure the entire structure was a sanctuary for recuperation and cultivation--even this close to the front lines of the battlefield.

That it was also the size of a small town was saying something.

"Gosh, we're poor" Rina shook her head, getting a reassuring pat on the shoulder from Xu Zhen. "I mean it's one thing to know that but then I see this nonsense."

"The War Pavilions have always been a reserve of the Strength Purity Sect" Xu Zhen explained. "When the Demon Annihilating Wars occur, we establish these as our forward headquarters--as pretty as they look, it'd take a Nascent Soul some time to hammer through their defenses--and while friendlies are inside, they heal quickly--cultivate quickly, and most importantly--don't get upset because they're being called away from their halls and palaces to fight a grim war against a demonic tide." He rolls his eyes. "Because clearly, fighting evil for its own sake is just a bridge too far, isn't it?"

"They'd probably ask you 'What is Evil' if they were halfway smart about the response." Rina chimed in. "Or they'd get offended if they're not. Honestly, the real problem is that getting in honest to goodness fights where you might die from no fault of your own is just spooky, it takes a lot of work to make people willing to put their lives on the line like that!"

"Like your own Golden Devil Clan no doubt?" Xu Zhen raises an eyebrow, but Rina shrugs the inquiry off. "Kind of--we've got the shared Blood and the understanding that for us at least--there is no 'Defecting' to someone else. So in light of that, every fight is a fight to the death for us--we can't really afford to lose so we all try to do our part not to, you know?"

"Shame it just takes being besieged on all sides and regularly invaded by aliens to get to that point, huh?" Xu Zhen sighs. "Well, I suppose it can't be said that virtues can't spring out from calamity."

The sentinels advanced forward with their challenge as the two talked--waved off as Xu Zhen waved his token. "Oi! We need to chat with Azurebolt! Is he in place?"

"HAH!"

The sky shook, and an explosion of dirt and stone erupted from the area between the sentinels and the arriving Cultivators--Rina's shield came up and Xu Zhen facepalmed.

"HAHA! Xu Zhen! My boy!" A bombastic male voice boomed, and the smoke blasted clear--a hulking figure standing in a three point stance. "Elder Azurebolt has never left! He is precisely where he has ever been since the War hit its stalemate!" His voice boomed with self-depreciating laughter. "So there is no need to go seeking him out, for he is here! Before you! Right now!"

The wind picked up, whistling--a small leaf blown within it.

"Yeah, he's Gloriousstrike's disciple" Xu Zhen stage-whispered to Rina. "Good guy, as long as you're used to someone popping in from out of nowhere in a clap of thunder."

"Ah! And this is the Princess that Lady Scarletglyph has been speaking of!" He zipped in uncomfortably close--Rina's power focusing at her shield. "No need for that! I am not here to fight! Hohoho!" He pats her thunderously on the head--leaving her sprawling in a small crater of her own making. "I'm here to acknowledge your achievement! One to challenge the Heavens and live to tell the tale? I'm certainly happy that you're willing to cooperate with the Righteous Path in these dark days!" He stroked his scraggly beard with one hand as Rina pulled herself back up to her feet. "It would be a shame to have to suppress such a promising talent!"

"That's... All okay..." Rina mumbled, pinching her nose to suppress the blood that was trying to well up in there. "So, you're in charge here?"

"Indeed!" He bellowed. "I serve as Lady Gloriousstrike's hand in these matters! Though I cannot currently engage the so called Noble Devil Alliance in triumphant fisticuffs in the current scenario, I am indeed the one to be spoken with on matters of battle!" He let that statement hang for a moment, but then leaned over--his voice finally settling down. "Please tell me you're staying around and aren't just here to visit your husband-to-be" Rina's cheeks pinked at that. "Because I really could use every expert I can right now, and I'm not especially picky where they come from."

"Umm..." Rina is off-put by the sudden change in pace, but swallows her discomfort down. "We had something of an unfair advantage--an auxiliary attached to my Legion divined great danger to our interests here--and we were already at the border when the word came down of your request for support." She cleared her throat.

"Now, Officially?" She continued. "The Golden Devils have no great investment in the campaign here, but we are interested in ensuring the trade routes remain open. To that end, the newly refounded Legio CCCII is being mobilized to conduct peacekeeping operations along the Colossus Footsteps Pass and its immediate environs, and will see to it that damage to regional infrastructure remains within reparable boundaries, they'll be arriving in force within the month."

"Mmm, I understand" Azurebolt nodded, gesturing that Rina continue--at the same moment--a subtle hum fills the area around the trio--muffling all noises and observation that might be aimed that way.

"Unofficially" Rina adds in. "Grand Elder Konstantinos appreciates the mediation of the Strength Purity Sect in the Partitioning of the Desert, and would prefer to see this side of the border remain in the hands of your Sect. While deploying an active Legion with a Core Formation level Legate would be too great a provocation to the Noble Devil Alliance when things are in flux like this--our remit for attaching auxiliary units has been expanded beyond customary levels for the duration of this deployment, and invitations have been made to certain advanced talents within the ranks of our greater Clan to join in. At the very least, I can bring five thousand Qi Condensation Legionnaires, sixty Foundation Establishment experts, and myself to the table. All seasoned in battle, some of which can punch well above their on paper class."

"Hmm, not a full mobilization--but more than I feared." Azurebolt nodded. "We'll certainly make use of it--you would be their commander?" Rina nods. "Hmm, good--how do you stack up against Core Formation?"

"Killing an Early Core expert isn't very likely--but if it's just buying time, I can do that." Rina explained--getting a startled look from Xu Zhen. Azurebolt grinned. "Oh, I can use that, we'll have to talk shop when things settle down. I'll see to it that you gain a writ of safe passage and authorization passed around for your forces." He turned and gave a thumbs up to Xu Zhen. "Great work! If your battle went as well as I think it did, we may finally begin making some headway in this war!"

Xu Zhen frowned. "Yeah... About that..." He sighed with exhaustion. "Things... Might have gotten a little bit complicated here..."

Paulus 7: Match Cut

Kalliope wished she had kept her mouth shut.

The warning she had given about the possible attack on the Golden Eye Array was nothing the higher-ups hadn't expected themselves and even as she spoke to the Legate reports had come in of continued skirmishes with the Dervishes following their attack on the Array Nodes. An attack that had occured while she was fretting over the maps.

Giving warning too late was embarrassing enough but the Strategos had complimented her insight and offered her a post in their command. Guilt had weighed down her stomach until she confessed that the insight had not come from her but some random drunk Legionnaire. This led to a series of questions that culminated in her scouring the city for the man and eventually leading the Strategos to where he now sat at the other end of a Ludus board.

The game, while not played by every Legionnaire, had a solid enough following in the Legion that one could find a few permanent boards wherever the Golden Devils put down roots. Kalliope herself played a bit but the board where she had found the Legionnaire waiting for an opponent had far too many lines for her liking and was large enough for each player to control a hundred pieces each.

The Strategos sat down without a word and grasped a waiting bowl full of white pieces and began setting up the board and the Legionnaire did the same with the black pieces without even looking up at his opponent. After half a minute of preparation they launched into the game, the Strategos making the first move with a bold central advance. The Legionnaire replied with a probe on the east and the game began in earnest. Both players shifted their pieces rapidly one after the other, each barely waiting for the opponent's piece to touch the board before taking their own turn. It was not a timed game, Ludus rarely was outside of competitions, and yet neither seemed willing to slow and think.

Kalliope quickly found herself losing track of their intentions and found herself reduced to simply observing the board. The Strategos advanced her foundation and qi pieces in lockstep, using one of the greater pieces to support a handful of the lesser and using each grouping to support the others. One of her Core pieces was planted audaciously in the center of the board, threatening a quarter of the map with its sheer presence. White pieces advanced in a line slowly and steadily like a Century of Legionnaires, daring the opponent to test their might and fall upon their spears.

The black pieces on the other hand ate up the board in a mad dash, disdaining formations and safety alike in exchange for speed. It was a much faster advance than the white pieces could manage but it left them hopelessly vulnerable in transit, she thought. The Strategos seemed to agree and already the black pieces were falling like flies as squadrons of white qi condensation pieces led by a foundation piece fell upon their scattered war parties with barely any losses. Skirmish after skirmish happened with the white pieces coming ahead in every one and soon the black pieces were forced to fall back as disciplined rows of white surged across the board and crushed them under heel.

A cry went up as a core formation expert of the finest polished black stone flew across the board full of panicking black raiders and forced the Legions to pause their advance. He crashed boldly into a formation led by an accomplished foundation piece and destroyed them utterly in two moves, buying time for the raiders to regroup. Who could have expected a core piece to engage this early in the conflict, and only to strike out at pieces two whole realms its lesser. It was brazen, it was audacious! It was unwise.

A core piece in resplendent white surged over the field of broken stone to meet its counterpart and quickly engaged it in battle while the stoic Legions rushed to support it. The black core piece skillfully avoided a full engagement and flew backwards only to be met by the second white core piece rushing over from the center of the board. The black piece turned away from the advance but it was too late. In a handful of moves he was trapped between the two powerhouses. With its last move it plucked two of the white qi condensation disciples from the board and shattered them before dying itself. In the end the White Legions were up one core piece to the Black Raiders.

The battle continued with the Raiders falling back from the advance of the Legions, the small groups of Raiders scattering like chaff before the steady formations. The Legions chased them down methodically, forcing the Raiders into disadvantageous positions where they could be picked off with minimal losses. Another Core piece of polished onyx flew forward to scatter a formation but only managed to take out half the units in the squadron before being subdued by White Core reinforcements. With the Core advantage firmly in their favor the Legions set about claiming the remainder of the board.

The Legions marched out without needing further encouragement, led by their Core Formation Elders and forcing the remaining Raider Elders to rush to meet them in battle two versus four. The six Core Formation Elders met in the center of the field, sizing each other up for the final engagement. The Raiders moved first, the remaining two elders moving as one and diving into the deep embrace of the opposing Elder's prepared formation...and continued, ignoring them utterly as they crashed into the formations of Foundation and Qi condensation disciples waiting in the distance. The Legion Elders responded immediately with ugly faces and instantly slew the two dishonourable Raiders, but the damage was done. Another crop of good men was lost to their underhanded methods.

Still, now the Raiders were left with no Core formation of their own and would quickly perish under the combined might of the Legion's own Core Elders. Their armies were scattered around the field, not even maintaining formation in their haste to escape. An elder with a body of carved alabaster stepped forward, hand raised to utilize his great might, and stopped. A rope lashed around his hand leading back to a terrified qi condensation Raider. With a flick of his hand the Raider perished and he stepped forward...and paused as another rope landed around his waist.

More and more ropes flew out from the surrounding qi condensation Raiders to land on the Legion's Elders. A cultivator of their strength would hardly be phased by anything a qi condensation could manage in their wildest dreams and yet the Core pieces struck them down one by one. It was ridiculous, It was madness. Ah.

Kalliope blinked and saw the board again, the image of a bloody battlefield fading by the second. There were no Raiders, no Legions. Just pieces. The Strategos looked on with pursed lips at the remaining black qi condensation pieces. What had just a few moves ago like a haphazard scattering was now arranged just so that the white core pieces could only take them one at a time. Meanwhile the black foundation pieces skirted the edges of the battle and made quick work of the leaderless white qi condensation pieces. It would be just enough of a chore to get the Core pieces out of the encirclement that they would have essentially no support once they did. The battle was far from over, four Core pieces could still take on an army of lesser pieces without being taken themselves, but it would be much harder to arrange.

"You know this would never work in a real combat situation." The Strategos mused, steadily working her powerful pieces through the wave of trash.

The Legionnaire shrugged, shifting a foundation piece to take another pair of qi condensation pieces too close together. "It's Ludus."

The Strategos hummed in agreement and nodded. "I've seen enough. I had to be sure that your previous prediction was not the fluke of a mind expanded by drink. We need more like you in the command tent, you are to report to Regional Headquarters by the end of the day."

The Legionnaire glanced up in confusion, looking over his opponent for the first time. His gaze lingered on the symbols of her office and he visibly swallowed a much ruder objection before speaking. "I am...under orders to the contrary, Ma'am."

"By whom?" the Strategos asked.

"Nabu."

The Strategos waved a hand dismissively and rose from the unfinished game. "A well known name, and one that belongs to my technical equal, however in this situation I outrank him. The local region is being overrun by a named group of cannibals, The Growling Dervishes. Every Legionnaire in this province not on a mission of secret class or higher is being pulled into active duty. You would have received the call in a few hours anyway, I will simply not see bright minds wasted in the lines when we need all we can get in the Tent."

"And you decided I matched because I beat you in Ludus?" The Legionnaire brazenly questioned the Strategos.

"Of course not." she replied, smiling tightly,"I picked you because you didn't lose. Ah, stalemate." The Strategos moved her Core pieces closer together with one hand, placing them flush against one another so they couldn't be overwhelmed by the lesser pieces at all. The overwhelmingly powerful Core pieces wouldn't be able to attack at all with this formation, but without Core pieces of his own the Legionnaire had no ability to break it either.

He seemed to pick this up in a few seconds of looking at the board, his face growing uglier by the second. He looked up at the retreating back of the Strategos and frowned.

"What the f-"
------------------------
-------------------------

Paulus 7 hits. This was originally going to be much, much longer but I saw an opportunity I want to jump on that will sadly be eating most of my wordcount for this turn.
Perhaps one day I'll get to return to 'learning tactics with Strategos Merida'.

This is my first Omake for Turn 9 and it deals with the events at the end of Turn 8 that lead to Paulus getting stabbed by a Foundation Establishment Cannibal. More to follow about the events of Turn 9.

Word Count: 1663 words
Requested Omake Reward: Tribulation Treasure
Turn 9 Mission: Parakoimomenos's Merchants
Other Notes: Heading to Qigai Secret Realm, Cultivation Aim change from default to 10th Heavenstage.

Pinging for spreadsheet help as required. @Alectai

One does not simply ride into Jingshen territory, doubly so, if you are of the Golden Devil Clan. It´s no understatement to say the Golden Devils and the Jingshen don´t get along. Since our clan came into the desert our two clans came into competition. Most of that competition revolves around the trade of the scorpion road. Whichever power controls the scorpion road, controls the massive wealth buried in the ground.



The scorpion road is also the reason we currently travel along its course as merchants, since merchants are welcome anywhere. The Jingshen are, as a merchant clan, no exception. The travel as a lone merchant was easier than I expected. Sometimes I joined caravans with my various wares, some roads I traveled on my lonesome. All the while I gathered information and made a mess of things when possible. It´s hilarious what a changed guard patrol sheet can do to a town's morale. Sadly, at some point I have to actually talk to people, but that´s difficult. Golden Devils are distinctive and any vassal of Jingshen could spot us many li against the glare of heavens tribulation lightning.



Thankfully I was aware of that issue before I set out on my journey and put out an open request for suggestions of possible disguises in enemy territory. What stuck out to me weren´t the various suggestions of special artifacts or just plain headwear, no it was the obvious. We are all cultivators and it will take many months before I arrive in Jingshen territory, since I need to arrive at a trader speed with cargo already in my wagon, ready to sell. Aretaphila rightfully pointed out that´s more than enough time to train, or cultivate my own Illusion technique for such a long-term mission. Normally the clans' archives wouldn´t know of such specific techniques, since the clan rarely develops infiltration specialists and the few that did more than likely couldn´t pass them on due to loss to the heavens curse and other conflicts in the past.



This isn´t the past, we live in the present and it has the new technique palace. It´s the solution to my problem! A clerk working there, harried by requests of many comrades every weekday, quickly gave me a working technique and the required Illusion 101 manuals he insisted everyone needed to learn or suffer the haunt of nightmare spirits for the offense given. Ominous warning, but nothing new for my life as a cultivator. My existence always offends something (Heaven) or someone (Turtle-blooded sect members), which makes nightmare spirits just another enemy to conquer. Though, that cycle of everyone offends everyone else through striving for excellence is really annoying and it´s even rewarded by the heavens with these trials, ugh. If there´s one thing I wish I could change it would be that. If only living a good live were rewarded just as well, but that´s a dream a future me can fulfill. The manual though, I memorized, because knowing my luck I will have to fight an army of these spirits in the liminal at some point. I wouldn´t put it past Mount Tai to send me challenges every now and then so it can make sure I am on the correct path.



The new technique is called "Unparalleled hidden moon lake view". What a pretentious name! It has nothing to do with water or the moon for that matter. At least my phantasmal sight actually concerns itself with the subject of the technique name! All this puddle technique supposedly does is make you not stand out like a still puddle in a crowd, which means no connection to the name at all. Anyways, it´s supposed to fool anyone in my or under my realm, but people in the foundation realm will no doubt pay more attention to the edges fraying due to my lacking qi control in comparison to them. Since my techniques just barely working won´t be enough for such a critical mission, Aretaphila has volunteered to figure out something better. I could not even begin to suspect where her knowledge of demonic tunes could help with body illusions, but we figured it out.

________
A few months ago, in the blooming crater of the Angelus manor



"So, that´s the technique in principle." The shimmer of qi, disguising me, vanishing on motes of qi.

Did I spot a look of horror on her face before she schooled her features? Was it really that bad?



"Er… Senior, was my control really worthy of such an expression?"



"No, No. It´s just. That technique is supposed to make you seem unassuming, pleasant and normal to be around, right?" Now she is even tapping her right foot, while thinking.



"Well, yes." What is her angle here and why does she look so happy?



"To be blunt, you just did the opposite and I love it!" What?



"Then why the look of horror?"



"Because you showed me something I fear and despise and no you may not know!" Fair enough. Moving on then.


"Then did I get scammed?" This is frustrating, If I can´t use this technique I would have to rely on mere clothing, which will make information gathering difficult and trading in their bigger cities almost impossible.



"No, I don´t think so. The technique is from the technique palace and was stored in the karmic portion, right?



"I-I think so? Oh, you mean the clans karma is affecting my illusion technique, since Heaven doesn´t want to help me?



"Yes, oh I can see the potential for discordant music weaved into it already! This was worth the time traveled already. My enemies will slaughter themselves at seeing their fear realized next to them, he he."



"Uh, Senior. Are you with me?" That seems to have brought her out of her daydream.



"Oh, uh yes. I am here. If you could ignore that, please. I´ll show you how to our harmonize our bloodlines Karma to heavens dark self, the Heavens shadow!" accentuating her statement of action with a raised finger.



"Uh, harmonize with what?" It seems familiar, yet not.



"The Heavens shadow, is opposite of the light and yet part of the heavens."



"I didn´t know that."



Aretaphila takes a moment to take a deep breath and shortly thereafter shadow qi coalesces above her hands. The shadows somehow putting the still unrepaired courtyard walls into the deep contrast in spite of the middays sun shining upon us from overhead.



"Then why can I, who is not darkness aligned like Archegetes Old Gold, still find so much more shadow qi than usual in this unusually verdant manor of your family? Your walls are even overgrown with vines full of that qi. They look millennia old and we both know none of our families had the time to cultivate and transport them over the retreat!"



"Well, uh, about that. I know it sounds ridiculous, but It´s connected to the reason it looks so devastated. The recently attacking Cannibals were barely repulsed and we banished them to the shadow of Mount Tais dream."



"You saw Mount Tai!?" Since she doesn´t seem to want to let me out of her grasp anytime soon; I shadowport myself to her shadow and continue my explanation, now in a lotus position on the ground.



"Yes, as domineering as goddess Bixia, though I am not quite sure on their relationship. Her kiss on my lips was strange, because lord Tai mantled my body for his triumphant return to his return. It was not quite the kiss of a lover, more of a mother to all I think." This statement makes her return her pint-sized front, back around to face me, red-faced.



"H-Hold up! Your family fought Cannibals in this village, generally made a mess of things and Mount Tai rewarded you with a surplus of shadow qi in the form of vines growing out of the ground?"



"No, my father bargained his chance at glory with our ancestors in the afterlife for my release from Mount Tais service as his servant on the Mountain."



"Well, shit. He´s as good as dead then." Her shock quickly morphs visibly into worry. I suspected our small family couldn´t excuse his absence for long.



"Your mother, is she, uhm?" her apologetic tone apparent in her voice in demeanor.



"We are still grieving, but at least the joyous birth of my adorable brother allows her to focus herself on someone else. He´ll grow up alright, just without me in the picture. There are few enough Qi condensation experts with a focus on more subtle arts, fewer still who can mirror a cultivator averages speed like I do." A nod is all I receive and want. Condolences won´t bring father back, but my actions will!



"Don´t worry I already have a plan to get him back to the world of the living!"



"Really?"



"Jup, Mount Tai promised it would release my father and his platoon once I reach the 8th​ pillar of Foundation Establishment and I have all the motivation I need!"



"That sounds great! You are directly challenging a dreaming servant of heaven! Oh, how exciting!"



"To quite obviously bridge to your earlier suggestion, Aretaphila. You suggested I should harmonize my qi with the shadow of Heaven instead of heaven itself, right?" that sudden shift in topics makes her hands clasped around mine wander quickly back to her, ready to lecture me.



"No, no!"



"The shadow of heaven is a part of heaven and not something different. Get it right, μᾰθητής!"



"Ok, ok, but how does that work with demonic tunes!"



"Why the very basics, of course! Qi cycling.



My confusion must be easy to read, judging by her frustrated expression.



"But I won´t just be able to start dancing whenever I want."



"Of course not, which is why demonic tunists use the meridian in your throat and create an inner cycle. I know that the clans' techniques prefer qi projection, but the inner cycle isn´t really that dangerous normally."



"Do I want to know the exceptions?"



"No, because your focus now lies on moving without motion, so stop diverting the topic μᾰθητής!"



"Yes, δῐδᾰ́σκᾰλος!"

_____



That was an interesting discussion and it worked better than we hoped. Having such a highly qualified senior helping me reverse engineer that technique made the physical learning part trivial, since she practically knew every theoretical possibility and accounted for them. The comprehension of the 12th​ heavenstage is frightening to behold and I am happy to be her ally!



In the little free time I have, I wonder who would win in a no holds barred fight. Would Lady Callista outlast her enemy or would Aretaphila's tunes of terror destroy lady Callista's mind defenses first? What happens once they have realm parity? An interesting thought-exercise for another time.



Just to be safe on the clothing department I asked some legionnaires with free time to spare on acceptable clothes I could wear and thankfully most of the options presented to me involved actual clothing that covers the body and not just transparent silk I hear some sects in the plains prefer. That makes the clothing disguise choice easier, but not that easy. A false-positive in one of the arrays of cities I will travel to could detect me, so I commissioned a full face-mask for the rare time it´s necessary. It sunk my family's income by half, but the logistics division made it remarkably well. It feels like a second skin after a few minutes of wearing it. Well, I have everything prepared, time to fool around with the enemy's trade!



Most of the time travel is boring, since all you do is wander along the various roads from town to town and the Jingshen, merchants at heart as they are, even make deals with the common bandits to their benefit. All of it not traceable to their greater clan of course and any faction dumb enough to be caught gets shafted rather quickly in their treacherous politics. Them knowing that I am a reliable, no nonsense trader that just wants to sell good merchandise reliably makes ingratiating myself with the most outsider friendly faction easy. A beer with the fellow trader giving me tips for a place to sell my wares for the day here and in turn some news of wares the mortal kingdom merchant houses would want, all fronts of our Parakoimomenos Xie Xinya, of course.



The help of her fronts in the lands of our vassal clans were the least of her help in my endeavors. She even shared some information about the trade lanes the clan has with the Jingshen. She even made time talking with me about various points of failures I could have. Afterwards we drank to the better side of potential futures over a nice round of tea about killing our clans' enemies with grace. Predictably, with such potent preparations in the whirlwind months before the start of my travels, the actual subtle disruption of trade was an easy affair.



I quickly arrived at the destination for my chosen wares, wooden ballistae's from the Magic Oak Sect. Easier to build and less potent, but far cheaper for the poor Jingshen vassals to buy and everyone wants to buy, they just don´t know it yet. The thing is, the border states between Jingshen and us were in a stalemate for centuries now. Sure, Jingshen and us Golden Devils share more border on paper than at any other time before, but for the common man, nothing has changed, because trade has been fleeing smoothly. No trade treaties the common cultivator could point to were violated and critical infrastructure supply the Jingshen have built up themselves over the centuries or bought from elsewhere, preferably the Magical Oak sect. They are more reliable to buy from, if only, because we aren´t in the way. And that is the point where Pupillus and I will come in with our separate efforts. We both seek to disrupt trade the Jingshen enjoy with various border states and make it more confusing for their various factions.



My caravan for one, buys Magical Oaks´ oak with metal bearing as string for ballistae's and deliver it straight to the dissatisfied vassals in the Heavenly Bandit Kingdom. Everyone is aware of their grumbling about being left alone to fend against the Cannibal Hordes not even a century prior and they just got new enemy vassal clans to border. That looks like a new market opportunity to me and also to my new friends in the Jingshen foreign Market faction. No one can grumble when the Jingshens´ Vassals are suitably prepared for conflicts after all, not even the Jingshens´ xenophobic dunists, worshipping some diamond scorpion deity called mountain stinging diamond maw.



The cult originated from the subjugated Grand Scorpion Sect, gained a following in the Heavenly Bandit Kingdom in the aftermath of the last Cannibal war and it supposedly lays claim to all the desert with the Jingshen as their newly favored champion by mandate of the heavenly diamond scorpion. Mandate of the diamond scorpion, yeah right and we devils should of course just vanish beneath the Jingshens` divine right.



It´s good then that I won´t invest my enormous profit margin of spirit stones back into my family's cultivation like the Jingshens foreign trade faction expects me to. It`ll go right back into the heavenly bandits, not that they´ll know, of course. The stupid puddle technique, Aretaphila helped me reverse engineer, is perfect for imitating the dune deity they so fear. An appearance before a young devotee declaring the Jingshen disfavored, here in the western Grand Scorpion territory, as the sand deity. In the next town over, I am attending the banquet of the local bandit king, who visits this place as part of a tour of his realm, as the merchant Wang Ren. There I claim the Jingshen sought to let their loyal vassals wallow in weakness by not only tariffing the ballistae's we need to destroy the heretical storks invading our rightful desert for their gain, they also sought to destroy important war materials to inflate the prices, uncaring for the damage wrought upon the holy weapons of war.



The first claim raised a fuss and some murmuring started in the wide halls full of tapestry depicting achievements of war. After the second claim various parties demanded proof, which was easy to give. Before long, my caravan was brought into the huge hall, which had just crossed the border from Jingshen to the Heavenly Bandit Kingdom after all.



They discovered my whole wagon load of Oak planks had an infestation of thousand-months-devouring-termites in them. It takes one whole year to cross Jingshen lands to the Heavenly Bandit Kingdoms, since there is no Scorpion road to travel there and the planks of oaks, once to be thought of as materials of war gear, were in a pitiful state for all to see. The King of these bandits declared that this was a holy matter and asked that the attending honorable Elder of the Grand Scorpion Sect, Wu Jiang, to divine the state of these holy gears of war. The Grand Scorpion sect's representative, grumpy as he was, even personally performed a divining ritual on the spot.



It took an entire week of communing and pleading on his side, but at the end we all knew of the final devastating result. The holy gears of war were desecrated by wretched termites, a vassal race of their deities arch-enemy, the Devil bees. I don´t know how much of that was true, but I can tell you the tempers ran high that night. That night, when the unforgivable slight of the wretched Jingshen was discovered, alliances were made over cups of stilled scorpion poison. In months thereafter Wang Ren vanished in the sands, leaving his newly made fortune behind as a parting gift for the Bandit King to find, who promptly helped his new powerbase among the dunists to new heights. With them at his back and the Grand Scorpion Sect at their side, the disparate factions started contesting the control of various industries held by unsuspecting Jingshen factions through fanatical proxies. That´s the last I heard before I crossed the border into the Shen Kingdom. Let´s see how the pragmatic Jingshen handle the religious unrest of the religion they pay lip service to, while their vassals gain new confidence with the small hoard Wang Ren accumulated over the decades.
_____________

words: 3155

I noticed that, apart from Informationals, the Heavenly Bandit Kingdom and the Grand Scorpion Sect were untouched in terms of Omakes, so I painted a rough scorpion worshipping brush over them and let the resentment from the cannibal wars fester. Then I added in two sleights by the Jingshen who wanted to implicate an uppity merchant travelling between towns of the Jingshen clan and skipped the JIngshen, because of course my customers in the vassal kingdoms are more important. The reputation bomb intendet for Zenos alter ego Wang Ren failed and now their vassals actively conspire against them.

Tl;dr Jingshen have to bother with inter faction conflicts and their vassals hatred after the cannibal wars. The Golden Devil clan doesn´t have to bother with faction wars, has vassals that like them and is therefore superior to the Jingshen

@TehChron , @TheCount , @Alectai

Xiuying Ten Jiang 18 - For the Love of Noodles

"Here we are, lady Xiuying! As your guide, I hereby welcome you to Fire Duck Town!"

"Wow! It's very colourful!" Xiuying said as she took in the colours, barely paying attention to her guide.

Fire Duck Town was much bigger than Xiuying had been expecting. Though nowhere near the size of Emporikipolis, the centre of clan trade in the Golden Devil Clan, it was still big enough to make Xiuying's home village look like a tiny garden in the corner of a vast estate. The streets were full of people, many of them with the look of tourists and vacationers. The architecture was rather modern and very colourful like she said but, rather than the appearance of the city, it was the aromas filling the air that caught Xiuying's attention.

"As you can see, Fire Duck Town is famous not just for its many doctors and skilled healers but for its reputation as one of the region's most well-known gourmet destinations. We have cooks and chefs from all corners of the Virtuous Flipper Region that have made their home in Fire Duck Town. Exotic cuisine, rare delicacies, fine dining and more can be found here."

Indeed, everywhere that Xiuying looked, she could see signs of a rich food culture that made up much of Fire Duck Town. Restaurants filled to the brim with diners with even more lining up outside waiting for a table to open up, food stalls selling all kinds of local and exotic specialties to every one that passed by their humble stall, men and women running to and from one place to another in a rush to delivery freshly cooked food to a waiting customer on time - food was clearly an important part of Fire Duck Town and such a sight made Xiuying feel less anxious about coming to this town for her recuperation.

The injuries plaguing her body no longer prevented her from daily life though highly strenuous actions such as combat and intense training were still out of the question for Xiuying. The foreign qi in her body was slowly being expelled from her body but it would still take much time and effort to rid herself of the foreign energy within her. For the foreseeable future, Xiuying would simply concentrate on recovery and on her noodles. Getting beaten up by the Anti-Noodle Brigade did nothing to dissuade her from cooking and selling noodles. She simply loved noodles too much to be deterred by the actions of such things. And Fire Duck Town was just the place for her to practice and experiment with her noodle recipes while she recovered. The fact that there was ready access to doctors and plenty of medical supplies and ingredients was also a big plus.

"Mister Wang, can you please take me to Town Hall?"

"Eh? But I have yet to show you some of the best inns and restaurants our fine town has to offer!"

"I will definitely like to see these places but I must first get my food vendor permit as well as my residential visa."

"Oh, so you'll be selling your noodles then, Lady Xiuying? How wonderful! I'm sure your noodle soup will be a great hit in Fire Duck Town! Very well, let us go to Town Hall! Then I shall show you the finest Fire Duck Town has to offer!"

Setting up shop in Fire Duck Town was a simple matter thanks to Huoying going ahead and doing most of the paperwork on her behalf. All she needed to do was show the letter to the administrator in the town hall, confirm her identity, and receive her license and lease contract for the spot she would be using for the next decade or so. With her food wagon, she didn't need to pay for accommodations nor did she need to pay for food or ingredients. Of course, it didn't hurt to procure local ingredients to make regional-style noodle dishes as well. The food wagon in many ways could be considered Xiuying's most precious treasure, if only for how convenient it made life for her.

The spot that Huoying had gotten for her looked like a good location. Plenty of space to set up the outdoor dining area of her food wagon, a nice view of the town, and, most importantly, lots of potential customers travelling to and from work. Whether a food cart thrived often depended on where it was located. Though having great food is a must-have, if no one knew about the food, they wouldn't come to try it. A place where lots of people passed by was good since even just a few curious diners could easily spread the word about delicious food with hardly any need to advertise.

There were several other food carts nearby but all of them were mainly serving up street food and drinks - stuff that was easy to eat while on the go - hardly anything really filling.

Perfect. With her noodles and outdoor dining area, Xiuying was sure to be a hit amongst the hungry masses. Before she could actually start selling though, she needed to first figure out an appropriate menu and price for her food. Though very delicious, the Thousand-Year Heavenly Noodles had the same effects as a combat enhancement pill which were quite expensive whereas the noodles' ingredients were practically free. There wasn't any fighting to be had in Fire Duck Town - apparently, they solved all their differences here in cooking duels, which was weird but interesting - so the Thousand-Year Heavenly Noodles were off the menu during her time here.

As Xiuying began working on what to serve for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, several people elsewhere were making their reports to their superiors. By the time Xiuying was done with her menu, a number of people that Xiuying had never met or even heard of were making their moves behind the scene.

= = = = = == = = = = = =

The next morning, Xiuying got up early and, after applying her medicine to her injuries and freshening up, got to work on prepping for the breakfast rush. The morning menu consisted of several different noodle dishes that were made specifically for a breakfast meal - buckwheat noodles in a light soy-based soup and plenty of vegetables, shirataki noodles mixed with microgreens and topped with a fried egg, spicy fermented cabbage, and some weird creamy green-yellow fruit thing, noodle pancakes made with plenty of bacon, and the special rich breakfast ramen made with a vegetarian broth mixed with soy milk and miso while using a tasty soybean cake meat substitute. A number of different beverages ranging from green tea to freshly squeezed fruit juice were also made available for the morning menu.

It was tough work preparing all the ingredients, especially considering her current condition, but she prevailed with much fuss. The dining area outside was quickly outfitted with comfortable seating and tables in a simple yet elegant style. The handwritten menu was placed on the side of the food wagon and everything was ready for business.

Before long, workers, labourers, merchants, and travellers were soon filling up the street, going about their morning business. Filled with anticipation, Xiuying waited for her first customer to come up and order.

Much to a great disappointment and confusion, no one paid any mind to her food wagon for most of the morning. Despite the smells coming from her kitchen that made heads turn, those who she thought would come and eat instead kept walking or went over to a different food stall for their breakfast. A few times Xuiying thought that someone was coming over before stopping and changing direction. It was weird. It was like people were actively avoiding her food wagon for some reason.

Maybe it was because she was new in town that people were hesitant about trying out her food. Yeah! That has got to be it! Everyone already had their usual places to eat so her food wagon was currently a complete unknown to them. Xiuying was gonna have to figure out a way to tempt customers to come and eat her noodles or else it was gonna be like this the whole time.

Having given up on the morning rush, Xiuying was about to pack things up when an old man came up to her food wagon.

"Good morning young lady! Never seen you around here before, missy." Greeted the old man cheerfully. The elder was dressed in simple but clean clothing and Xiuying could not detect a hint of cultivation coming from the man. A mortal then.

"Hello Sir! I only arrived here yesterday." Xiuying said, returning the greeting with a respectful bow. The man reminded Xiuying of her late grandfather who she remembered fondly.

"Ah, that would explain it. Then this humble Langwen welcomes you to Fire Duck Town then. May I have your name?" The old man said before sniffing the air.

"It's Xiuying Ten Jiang. It means Xiuying, student of Jiang. Thank you for welcoming me to Fire Duck Town, Mister Langwen"

"Ahaha, no need to be so formal, miss Xiuying. Please just call me Uncle Langen" Langwen said, amused by Xiuying's straightforward but respectful manners, only to raise an eyebrow and take a deep sniff. "Oh my, I smell something delicious. Are you still serving customers?"

"O-Of course, respected - I mean, Uncle Langwen! Please feel free to order any item on the menu!"

"Hahaha! My, aren't you eager. Let's see now...Interesting. Noodles for breakfast, eh? Very interesting. I shall have the special rich breakfast ramen then."

"Okay! One special rich breakfast ramen coming right up!" Immediately, Xiuying whirled into action, her disappointment over the lack of customers blown away with just a single order from an old man. Even if it was just one customer, Xiuying would always put her all into making the best noodles for them. As Xiuying cooked, the old man watched her precise and expert movements with an approving air.

"Not bad, not bad at all."

"Hmm? Did you say something, sir?"

"Oh, don't mind me. Just looking forward to what you've got to offer."

"Right!"

Noodles were pulled, the broth was made, vegetables and toppings were prepared and cooked. It didn't take long for Xiuying to put everything together into a bowl and present it to the waiting customer.

"Here you go, Uncle Langwen! One special rich breakfast ramen! Please enjoy!"

"Hmm, there are some places in the world where ramen is eaten in the morning. However, this looks quite a thick and syrupy seafood soup - not something you'd eat in the morning." The old man said, scrutinising the ramen with an air of an expert. Langwen gave the dish a sniff and his eyes widened in surprise. "Oh? Even though the soup looks quite dense, it somehow has this light mellow smell to it...Let's give it a try then, shall we?"

Picking up their chopsticks, the old man grabbed a mouthful of noodles and loudly slurped it up. The moment those noodles entered his mouth, Langwen's eyes snapped open in surprise. Swallowing the noodles, Langwen stared at the bowl of noodle soup in disbelief before taking another bite, this time more slowly, savouring it and tasting it.

"Oooh, these noodles were kneaded with yuzu juice. Even though they're quite thick, I can eat them quite easily...rather..." Licking their lips, Langwen threw themselves into eating the breakfast ramen with gusto. "I can't stop eating!"

"Nice nice! This soup was mixed with soy milk and miso and yet it has so much body...Oh! I see you've added grated shrimp taro."

"Oh? You know your stuff, Uncle Langwen! Shrimp taro has this rich flavour and fine viscosity so adding it into the broth, the soup's body becomes creamy!"

"Very nice! Aah, I can also feel my body becoming warmer. How comforting. This would be the effect of the grated ginger and garlic. With the soy milk's mellowness softening the stimulation, this soup gently and slowly warms up the body. Marvellous. You've clearly put a lot of thought into this dish, miss Xiuying."

"Thank you Uncle Langwen! I always put my all when it comes to noodles!"

"I can tell. The toppings are also a display of the tenderness you've put into this dish. The lotus root slices and the burdock have been fried to a perfect crispness and colour. The carrots and turnips were grilled on a charcoal fire until slightly burnt and seasoned with rock salt to bring out the ingredient's natural sweetness! Every ingredient has been prepared just the right way to add depth to the flavour! And the centrepiece of this dish is definitely this...soybean cake thing!"

"It's called tempeh. It's a fermented food native to a faraway place made from soybeans. The soybeans are put inside the leaves of a certain plant and left to ferment a little. It's a traditional delicacy that has been made for centuries, or so I've been told." Xiuying left out how she only learnt about tempeh when her master had suddenly had a craving for the stuff and went about making it, teaching the method to her as well."

"Mmm, I've learnt something new today. And it really gives this meal more volume despite how light it is on the stomach!"

"Well, since its texture is similar to meat, vegetarians and people on a ying-yang diet like it. I added soy sauce and rice wine to make an aromatic teriyaki out of it."

"Oh? Then this is...a vegetarian stock?"

"Uh-huh. It's a stock made from "kombu" and "shiitake" mushrooms, a so-called vegetarian stock!"

"Kombu?"

"It's a type of edible kelp. It's really good for making broth and soups."

"I see! By putting together the flavour components of this Kombu thing and shiitake mushrooms, their deliciousness is multiplied! Impressive! You've managed to give this noodle soup a strong flavour."

"Hehe, you know, deliciousness and body are easily obtained using ingredients that come from animals. However, I want to see if I could make a rich flavourful ramen with no meat or fish. So...does it suit your tastes, Uncle Langwen?"

"Interesting...Very interesting!"

Langwen couldn't stop eating the ramen, even with its spicy kick. The superb spiciness was pleasing to Langwen's tongue and it seemed to make his body fill up with energy. The pleasant warmth in his body made it feel like every cell of his existence was being rejuvenated.

Draining the last of the soup by slurping it directly from the bowl, Langwen slammed the bowl down with a very satisfied expression on their face.

"Magnificent! I give this dish five stars!" Langwen exclaimed happily. The old man's praise caught the eye of several people who were walking by. For a moment they seemed to want to come over to see what was up before shaking their heads and continuing on their way.

"Five stars?" While Xiuying was happy to see a satisfied diner, she was confused by Uncle Langwen's outburst. "Is that something good?"

"Ah, don't mind it. It's just me saying that your food is of the highest quality. Truly, it was exquisite. Thank you Xiuying Ten Jiang for cooking this Langwen such a wonderful breakfast."

"It was my pleasure, Uncle Langwen!" The sudden formality caught Xiuying off-guard a little but she didn't let it get to her. She was really just happy that she had made one person happy with her cooking this morning.

"Say, will you be opening for lunch as well?"

"Why yes. Xiuying's Noodle Wagon will be open for lunch as well."

"Excellent! I'll see you then," Langwen promised with a grin.

"Ah! Yes! I'll see you then as well!"

"Heh, good girl." With that, Langwen left the area to wherever he was headed before Xiuying's noodles caught his eyes.

With her spirits restored, Xiuying saw off Langwen before returning back to her work. Though it was a bit disappointing that she only had one customer for breakfast, it was still much better than none and she wasn't one to sweat the details. Storing away the breakfast ingredients for her own experiments, Xiuying began prepping for the lunch menu. Even if it was only Uncle Langwen that came, it was still worth it to see them eat her food happily. After all, she was cooking mainly as a side-hobby alongside her true passion.

On the roof of a nearby building, an old man stood, perfectly balanced at the edge, watching as a young lady chopped and prepared her ingredients for her meals.

"My, what an honest girl she is. And so hardworking as well. If she can continue to cook well, I think I'll give her a hand." The old man mused to themselves. Their eyes then turned to a group of men, just outside the area where Xiuying was residing, giving out special coupons and thinly-veiled threats to deter potential diners from eating as Xiuying's food wagon. "Dear me, resorting to such underhanded tactics, and to a newcomer no less. No doubt thinking there's no point in wasting time with an outsider. Hmm, it would be good for my old acquaintance to remember what truly matters in Fire Duck Town."

A storm was brewing in Fire Duck Town and Xiuying was soon going to be at the centre of it, one way or another.

Gaius Antonius Omake #29: Gestation

The flapping wings of a white dove stirred the wind into a hurricane, white feathers molting off and flying all around Gaius, blotting out the sun and moon and painting the world in a blinding white color. After some amount of time, the blizzard of feathers turned into white lotus petals, then slowly blew away, the whiteness fading away to reveal a scene of carnage.

High above, miles above where The Seeker stood, millions of flying swords hung suspended in the air, their points facing downward. Blood, thick and dark and hot and fresh, dripped from each blade, one drop at a time, coalescing into a rain which flooded the ground and soaked everything.

The overpowering stickiness and warmth, the cloying stench, the roaring sound of the pounding droplets, the vivid red staining eveything in sight, the taste of iron on his lips and tongue, the thick sensation of death and resentment. All six of Gaius' senses were invaded and overpowered by a universe of ichor, drowning him in a sea fit to submerge the world.

After some time, the blood ceased flowing. Gaius stood atop the sea of blood, alone. Everything but the tallest mountains had been drowned, sunk below the aftermath of infinite violence. The swords hung above him, now dry, numberless beyond counting. The blades outnumbered the stars; no, they were the stars. Scorpio was made of jians. Leo was constructed of sabers. Each glinting light of Aries was a gladius. Every sword ever forged, in this world or any other, stood at attention.

A ceremony - yes, this was a ceremony, the blades stood ready, awaiting the birth of a new comrade. They shook, the vibrations of their blades producing an overpowering din which shook not only the blood-sea but the planet beneath it.

Gaius' mother and father were in attendance - no, they were the guests of honor. Both smiled, joyful to be chosen, elated to bring forth a thing of beauty. With a placid and benevolent expression, Liu Fei raised one hand. Slowly, he clenched the first and second knuckles of each finger, beginning with the pinky.

Revelation, fear, panic. These emotions and more struck The Seeker, who ran atop the ichorous ocean to stop what was coming. As hard as he tried, his legs would not listen, barely moving at the pace of a jog no matter how muuch effort he put in or qi he summoned forth. Approaching his parents, Gaius raised his hand, reaching for his mother. He cried out, but his voice was swallowed by a sudden wind, which whipped up the ocean into a crimson foam, spraying droplets every which way.

With a sickening squelch, Liu Fei's fist impaled Galatea's abdomen. The woman doubled over, vomiting a mouthfull of blood and clutching her fiance's robes. His face as kind and beautiful as ever, Gaius' father pulled his hand out, ripping out not entrails, but a sword caked in gore.

It was beautiful; maybe the most beautiful thing The Seeker had ever laid eyes on. The handle was a foot long, fit for either one hand or both, wrapped in some kind of glossy blue leather cord. Carved into the pommel were the heads of a phoenix, a tortoise, a tiger and a dragon, facing outward, guarding a gorgeous and priceless diamond set into the center. The guard was broad and sturdy, with the character '尋' on one side and '找' on the other and a cat's-eye gem cet into the center on either side. The blade, needless to say, was magnificent. About four feet of some inconcievable, miraculous metal glimmered in the moonlight more than was natural.

So great was the beauty of this sword that Gaius' parents became a fleeting memory, vanishing. The miraculous weapon fell, sinking below the surface and into the depths of the blood sea. Gaius dove down without a second thought, swimming downward through the thick and viscous liquid after the sword. Inch by inch he approached the object of his desires as the light from amove grew dimmer and dimmer. His hand stretched out, the feeling of his fingers brushing against the pommel filling his burning limbs with renewed vigour.

With one final push, The Seeker grasped the hilt of this nameless blade, and cleaved away the blood around him in a single strike. He struck again, and another hundred miles of crimson was shorn away. He spun and slashed a third time, slicing so deeply into a continent's worth of blood that it ceased to be. With one final swing of his arms, Gaius sliced the world in two. Both halves of reality slid apart and fell away, revealing a new scene.

----

Nine sal trees sat in a row atop a grassy hill. Before the watchful gaze of the trees was a lake. Unlike the sea before, this lake was cool, clear and placid, not a wave or ripple in sight. Atop the lake, many lotus flowers drifted, coated in morning dew.

Gaius sat beneath the shad of the sal trees, the impossible softness of the grass beneath offering comfort and succor to his tired, aching legs. He watched the slow, ponderous drifting of the lotus flowers, and the glimmering of the dew, within which he pondered the world.

No, this was not pondering - within each dewdrop dwelled an entire world, with seas, continents and foolish humans. When a droplet fell from a petal and into the lake, trillions of them were snuffed out, their consciousness subsumed into the infinite breadth of eternity. Terrible. Horrible. Peaceful.

Was there any difference, Gaius thought, between the world within a dewdrop and the world outside it? Both, after all, are held within the mind, are smaller than the true consciousness. No, more than that, there was no 'world'; all was continuous, like drops of water in that lake.

That which lay within the mind and that which lay without were one and the same, Gaius thought. The true nature of power lay in the ability to make this so, to bring forth that which was in the mind into the world, and remove that which lay outside, making it exist only in the mind.

But if that was the nature of power, of cultivation, then there could be no meaning. If the mind was endless, and the mind was the world, then all was impermanent and nothing could hold value. There had to be something more, something beyond. Something so beyond that 'beyond' could not describe it.

If the mind was the world, then the truth lay not only beyond the world, but beyond the mind. Beyond perception. That must be the realm where true sages dwell, thought Gaius, watching as two flowers collided and rebounded off each other, sending one fragile petal falling onto the surface of the lake. Beyond all boundaries, what could exist? What lay there, and what value could it possibly hold to a mere human? Did it need value, to be worth finding, or was that the creation of his own impurity, attempting to drag down the transcendent, to taint it with limitation?

Time passed. Gaius had no way of knowing how much, and no desire to know either, so beautiful and perfect was the inner peace of this place. Nonetheless, he knew that time had passed, because clouds were gathering, preparing to rain. Just as the sal trees sheltered The Seeker from the sun, so too would they protect him from the rain, and so he waited.

The water struck the lake, making it overflow and tossing the lotus flowers about. It rained for some amount of time, again an amount which Gaius had no desire to measure. Nonetheless, time was passing, which made him think.

Time passed in the Turtle World, in theory, but did that hold any meaning? One million years was sufficient to swallow up even the greatest of achievements, leaving no evidence or legacy. Civilizations rose and fell. The digestive process of the turtle children created new spirit stones, which rose toward the surface until the humans dug them up. Generations lived and died, the cultivators among them sticking around longer than their cohort until one by one they fell too. Their bodies returned to the soil, giving rise to plants and microorganisms.

A man is not a person, he is no more real than each drop of water in this lake. Humans live and die as a great mass, a tide which ebbs and flows through eternity.

The rain stopped. From the rain was born new dew, replacing the old dew which had dried up. Upon the lotus flowers flourished new worlds, countless in number and each containing further countless humans.

But compared to a world, how vast, how unknowable was the lake, which greedily drank the rain and left only little drops of dew upon the lotus flowers? Endless multitudes; not of worlds, but of that which births worlds, of that which briths minds. Creation: endless, boundless, beyond words. Enough to drown the mind, to drown infinite minds in its scope. Before such vastness, what is the purpose of world-mind? Was it a mistake?

Birds nesting within the sal trees began to descend and peck at Gaius' flesh, but this did not bother him. This vessel was a transient guest, not an individual. Let the creatures of the earth feast upon this indistinguishable part of the tapestry. Small forest animals began to gnaw at his legs, chewing off his toes. An eagle swooped down and took his eye. A wolf came and removed his arm. Still he sat and pondered.

World-Mind created Mind. Mind expanded forever until it bursts, dissolving into enlightenment or death. Mind was endlessly whipped up, like sea-foam, over and over. Why? Was this an act of creation, to contain itself, to become defined? Did creation experiment, did it Seek? Did it Seek to birth a World-Mind, which would itself birth a Mind which could grow to encompass creation?

What, then would that World-Mind become? What would it see, having encompassed the limits of creation? What that what lay beyond the beyond, in the dwelling-place of the true sages? Gaius could not help but ask again: what was the value of escaping beyond the limits of perception?

So lost in thought was he, that he failed to notice when a lion came and tore away his leg, or when worms burrowed into his belly and ate his guts. His remains rotted away and became host to countless teeming masses of living things as the earth itself reclaimed him, and still he pondered.

What would happen to a mind which surpasses creation? Could that even be called a mind at all? Where was Gaius' path taking him? If he kept going to the outer reaches of cultivation, what would he become?

The sudden flash of sapient, individual thought dispelled the scene. The sal trees, the hill, the animals and even the like dissolved into mist and blew away with the wind, leaving Gaius alone in the desert, hungry and thirsty.

----

The wind blew around the sand, which scoured Gaius in body and mind. Why did he keep his promise? It was a promise made before he began to cultivate, didn't make it to anyone in particular. A particularly strong gust blew him off his feet. The sand continued to heap up on his back, pooling around his limbs and slowly burying him.

He didn't make it to a person, but what did that matter? He made it to the world, and that's the most important kind of promise a person can make. Gaius stood up, sand falling from his body, only for him to be harried once more by the wind.

Was Gaius truly following his own promise anymore, or was his own Dao exerting influence over his mind? Had he become a different person at some point, and if so, when? He was blown over, tumbling end over end, the sand scratching and scarring the skin of his back.

A Dao is born from will, and The Dao of The Seeker was the same. The human will has power over reality - no, the boundary between will and mind and world does not exist. Cultivation merely allows humans to percieve this truth with the entirety of their being, and thus exert their will directly without the intermediary of flesh. Gaius stood up once more, spitting errant grains of sand out of his mouth and pressing on against the driving winds.

In that sense, if all minds are one with the world through the Dao, does will not birth itself? Perhaps Mind's desire to exist created the circumstances through which it could come into being. In that case, there may be no experiment at all. But then, if nothing is waiting outside of Creation-Perception, and it is not intended to be Sought, then how could it be understood?

Not as a space, a zone, an outside, but as Nothing itself; a Null or Nil. In that sense, a Mind which approaches Null is a Nil-Mind. But what does it mean for a mind to be Nil?

Without even realizing it, Gaius had walked so far through the desert that he found the edge of the world and walked off. He tread upon the void itself now, the stars seeming to glitter with an even greater dazzling luminosity, with no atmosphere to distort them.

The Nil-Mind must be peaceful, Gaius thought. It must be like the void but moreso, a peace deeper and more profound than non-existence. A sort of super-sleep.

To sleep is restorative; it returns a human to the proper shape. Then what is super-sleep? It must be more-than-restorative, endlessly building upon itself. It must be to restore to something greater than oneself. The stars began to drift ever closer together, pulled in by some unseen gravity. They crashed together, producing dazzling coronae in their death throes as the cosmos spiraled inward toward a single point.

Infinite power? More than infinite? Infinite Self? Gaius remembered something then: division by zero. Division by zero is a blank space in mathematical theory, an impossible reaction. All other equations produce some sort of result, and even imaginary numbers can be formulated. But division by zero exists outside the boundaries of the human mind. It is not infinity, but something else which human logic cannot fathom, or even approach. Was division by zero the mathematical representation of the Nil-Mind, the super-sleep which human perception could not reckon?

As the universe collapsed and Gaius too was pulled into that infinitely dense point of unfathomable darkness, he knew that his time in this place was at an end.

----

Gaius' eyes cracked open. Decades ago, he might have awoken more violently, perhaps shivering and rolling out of bed. Nowadays, he was used to such dreams, and they just left him feeling tired.

He got out of bed, some of his joints making faint popping sounds as he began to work the stiffness out of his body. He did not tumble out of bed(though it was a close call), something which he took a bit too much pride in.

Those dreams weren't really frightening to him anymore. Or perhaps they were, but in the same way a really long book can be frightening - the sheer deluge of information, of revelation, could be intimidating, but The Seeker had long since learned to make use of such visions.

Stumbling into a his washroom, Gaius considered drawing himself a bath, but figured he would need another one soon anyways, so he might as well wait and save the water. He splashed his face to wake himself up a bit more, then went on his way. After downing a random assortment of meats, nuts and cheeses too disorganized to be called a meal from his pantry, The Seeker walked back to his desk and slid into place with practiced ease.

Cracking open the latest of hundreds of scrolls, Gaius began to write, flinging his raw thoughts onto the page with little regard for any real coherency. The charcoal flew across the page with speed a mortal's eyes would barely be able to follow, yet the script itself was precise and easily legible. Whereas in the past Gaius needed to transcribe his dreams immediately lest he lose then, he had since trained himself to hold onto his short-term memory for up to an hour before it began to encode into long-term. This allowed him to prevent the retained information from his visions from immediately fading.

----

Within each dewdrop lies the world. The rain floods the plains, runs down into the valleys, carves out rivers and pools into a lake. A flower petal lands in the middle of the lake, sending out ripples. The boundary between one world and another does not exist. All possible worlds are already here, before us, encompassed by the mind.

We are transient guests. If consciousness is a dream, what does it mean to wake up? What does it take to wake up? Is true wakefullness the same as super-sleep? Does human experience exist in a state between perfect and imperfect nothingness? Then, what does it mean to live?

Could it not be said that the sea is more profound than the land? The dwellers of he sea travel fully in three dimensions. Perhaps that which lies beyond mind is not like the outside, but like diving. That which is outside mind should not have an end. What does is mean to dive deeper? For what purpose should one dive deeper?

Diving deeper, further into the darkness, the pressure, is this not mastery? Is it not like cultivation? If this place is a sea, then is it not the job of a cultivator to dive deeper? Perhaps to Seek is another form of cultivation, or perhaps it is merely a correlation.

N I L - M I N D

零自我

沒思想

----

The charcoal dropped from Gaius' sweaty, shaking fingers as he observed the results of his vision. He got the feeling he had lost a lot of it, but even this much was a fantastic reproduction. The Seeker smiled and brushed the hair out of his eyes, filled with gratitude.

For most Cultivators, sleep was a necesity in the earlier Great Realms, lost time in which nothing was accomplished and the brain needed to be restored. But Gaius' dreams brought him inspiration and revelation, ever driving him and his arts forward. It could be said that even in his dreams, he continued to hone himself.

----

Sweat dripped down Gaius' face and body from the intense exertion, as he trained his Aegis yet again. Jumping into such strenuous training right after waking up was a little bit dangerous, but he needed to make use of the previous night's revelations into his Dao before they began to fade.

While changing the shape of the shield remained difficult, he could at least warp it a lot more more before losing control. Furthermore, he had managed to move and shape it faster by exerting telekinetic force upon the air around the shield. A mere Qi Condensation's telekinesis lacked the strength to affect such a large area with more than a few pounds of force, but when it was used in conjunction with manipulation of the shield itself, it produced effective results.

Gaius made the shield take on several shapes, one at a time: first a sphere, then a cube, then a pyramid. Finally, he made it take on a large humanoid shape, then wrap around his body. This was part of the secret behind his Earth-Gliding Technique, but he knew he could do far more with this configuration in the future. He then returned the Aegis to its original disk shape and had it float in the air in front of him.

Of course, the hardest part was also the most crucial: not just warping the Aegis but draining out any elements from it, drawing out everything besides the truest essence of repulsion. The red glow of his disk faded away bit by bit; 100% fire-aspected, 90%, 80%. The light began to flicker and fade, before Gaius, with a redoubled effort, brought it back to full strength. 70%, 65%. This was as far as he had ever gotten.

64%. Little bruises began to dot his skin, starting at his outstretched hand and moving down his arm. 63%. Blood dripped from one nostril, and his eyes grew bloodshot. A few drops of the vital fluid even began to seep through the pores of his hand. 62%, and he hit his hard limit.

Gaius' Aegis burst into motes of light, and he fell to his knees, exhausted. He grinned - 62%, that was amazing progress. "So many revelations lately. Are you trying to prepare me for something?" Gaius asked to no one in particular.

Gaius never received information that turned out to be particularly relevant to his immediate future; it was far too abstract to be interpreted as prophecy. Still, it remained impossible to tell how much of the information was temporal in nature. Visits to the physician showed no abnormalities in his physical brain while he slept, so it was out of the hands of science.

Gaius got up and prepared to go about the rest of his day. He wasn't some idle philosopher who could ponder a thought all day, as much as such a life sounded lovely. He was a very busy man, so even the most earth-shattering of revelations was just one stop in his routine.

Whew! There's another old draft from the backlog that I finally finished up and posted. I had a lot of fun writing philosophical musings on the nature of this verse's reality from the perspective of someone living in it. It was also really engaging to write tons of scary, bizarre nightmare imagery. If you're going to ask me exactly what it all means, I can't tell you. It can mean several things, not all of which Gaius himself is aware of. What I can assure you is that none of it means nothing.

Jin Muyi: ____________________The Stranger In Town_____________________

Lin Zhong couldn't help but give a loud yawn as he wiped away at a drinking glass in his empty tavern. He was one of the lucky few who not only lived through the blood cannibal era but had prospered when the new one came. One of the earliest seeker-of-fortune had found a rich vein of Spirit Stone just within the outskirts of town and the news had brought wagon loads of adventurers to attempt the same. Some found similar veins while others failed striking naught but dirt, it didn't matter to Lin Zhong who as the sole proprietor of the town's only tavern made money weather the prospectors drowned their sorrows or celebrated their fortune.

Sure there were some problems with fights and deaths when things got to heated, but it wasn't something Lin Zhong needed to worry about. On his part, just offering a round on the house was enough to get most cultivators to leave him along or assist him with throwing the troublemaker that attempted to make a fuss. Yes, Life was good for Lin Zhong.

*CREAK* The sound of his squeaky door opening broke Lin Zhong from his musing, looking up from his wiping he found himself confronted by a tall Stranger in a travel-stained cape, the dust from the road completely hiding it's original color and turning it a murky brown. Moving towards the nearest seat, the Stranger sat down with a loud thud and leaned his Ji along the table well within arm's reach while croaking out in a raspy tone

"Barkeep, bring me a drink."

The presence of a paying customer bought a smile to Lin Zhong's face, leaping quickly into action he moved towards the table and wiped it with quick flourishes while introducing the Stranger to his wares.

"Welcome! Welcome! I have baijiu, Wine imported from Golden Devil lands and our local specialty, Te Gui La a brew made from herbs and plants found in the region. What would you like?"

"Serve me a glass of the local specialty and give one to yourself as well, i have some questions and it's only polite to buy you a drink for them." With a careless throw the Stranger tossed out shards of a Spirit Stone, more then enough to buy ten glasses of wine. A fortune that would take Lin Zhong at least a month to earn.

A brisk motion was all it took to made the shards disappear as Lin Zong sat with the Stranger, more then willing to answer such a rich and generous customer.

"I am at your service! What would you like to know?"

"I came from the Plains to seek my fortune in this new lands, and rumors about the wealth of this town brought me here. Yet, the town looks empty and not at all in keeping with the tales that bought me here. "

"AH! That's because the gentleman has came while most of the miners are away prospecting! Most of the original members of the town have long sold their land to the prospectors and left for better horizons. The town's population now consists of cultivators like good sir who came to seek their fortune. If Sir is willing to wait till night, the Town will be full of life! Will the Sir be joining the prospectors in seeking his fortune from the land?"

"HAH! No no, that's not for me. I came here bearing arrays that could assist with locating and mining for sale. Why should i slave away digging for scraps when i could earn it not unlike a certain tavern owner?"

Chuckling at the Stranger's witty remark, Lin Zhong found himself feeling touched at finding a kindred spirit. He soon found himself agreeing to rent the Stranger a table to sell his goods for a Spirit Stone a day, a decision that soon lead to him cursing himself in good humor as he watched the Stranger made sale after sale to the prospectors once night fell.

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Things soon fell into a routine, by day both Lin Zhong and the Stranger found themselves sharing drinks and trading stories about their lives while by night both parties made a roaring trade in Alcohol and Arrays.

It took about a week before trouble came along in the shape of Ah Zang and his lackeys. Ah Zang had always been one of the few that caused Lin Zhong trouble with his tendency to just throw things on his tab as well as the havoc he wreck while drunk. He was someone that Lin Zhong would have long threw out of his tavern if it wasn't for the rumors about his connections to the Bone Buzzard Gang, a rumor that would have explained why he was able to throw Spirit Stones around without having once striking a vein.

In fact, some rumors that were mentioned whenever Ah Zang was out of earshot claimed that he was acting as a scout for the gang, directing them towards the rich prospectors who made a fortune and left. The reason why not a single one of them came back despite the many promises each made to do so. All of this lead to him being a man most would not want to offend, a man who was now drunkenly confronting the Stranger about providing him with faulty arrays in an attempt to cheat him.

"YA TRYING TO CHEAT ME! GOT THIS HERE ARRAY AND IT FOUND NO STONES. AH I WANT MAH MONEY BACK"

"I'm afraid i'm unable to do that. As i mentioned before, the arrays help in finding Spirit Stones. They do not magically make Spirit Stones turn up where there are none. Perhaps you can consider trying a different location instead?"

"OH! A WISEGUY YEAH? WELL I TELL YOU WHAT MR WISEGUY. I THINK MY BUDDIES AND I ARE GONNA SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TRY TO CHEAT US. ALL OF YOUR ARRAYS AND SPIRIT STONES SEEMS TO BE THE RIGHT PRICE FOR YOUR FACE TO REMAIN INTACT."

"You don't want to do this. I'm warning you, if you attempt such an action you will not be leaving this tavern alive."

The cold and quiet way the Stranger made his threat sent shivers up Lin Zhong's spine. Without realizing, he found himself along with the rest of the tavern looking at the confrontation between the two groups.

Perhaps Ah Zang was drunk and didn't hear the threat or perhaps he taught the Stranger was bluffing. None would ever know, for just as he shouted "GET HI-" there was brief flash as a streak of green leapt from the Stranger's hand and into Ah Zang's head piercing it through before withdrawing back the way it came. Before any of Ah Zang's lackeys could stand, Ah Zang dropped dead to the floor with a hole the size of a fist through his head.

Ignoring the shouts of horror and shock from those watching, the Stranger picked up his glass and took a skip before commenting out loud

"I warned him what would happen. Take his body and go, don't disturb me from my drinking and my business."

Under the eyes of all present, Ah Zang's lackey's picked up his corpse and fled but not before threatening the Stranger with the retaliation that would be coming once the Bone Buzzard Gang learned that Ah Zang was dead.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took only two days before the retaliation came. Two days that proved without a doubt that all the rumors about Ah Zang and his connection to the Bone Buzzard Gang were true. All attempts to leave or enter the Town were destroyed by the Bone Buzzard Gang, wealth and life robbed with just a single phrase left at each incident

<MY BROTHER DESIRES COMPANY ON HIS TRIP>

With no one able to leave or enter, an atmosphere of fear filled the town. All the attempts to ask for aid had failed and there were none within who could stand up against the Bone Buzzard, a cultivator at the Great Circle Realm, a Sword Cultivator who's sword was said to be so fast that none knew they were dead till they heard the caw of the Buzzards as they pick away at their bones..

Attempts to capture the Stranger and turn him over for mercy failed for none within the town were a match for him as well. He evaded all attempts to bind or kill him with a polite phrase and a brief flurry that left his assailants confused and stunned in a array that prevented them from moving. The events left Lin Zhong bouncing between fear and joy, the inability of the town to do anything against the Stranger and the Bone Buzzard brought him joy with the number of people seeking to drown their sorrows and his ability to do anything against the Bone Buzzard brought him fear at not being able to enjoy all of this wealth he was making.

It was among this fluctuating state of his that The Bone Buzzard came to Town. The cawing of his buzzards and the rumbling of horses heralded his presence as he rode into Town with his gang.

"Where is the coward that killed my brother? I heard he cut my brother down without giving him the chance to defend himself. Come! Let him try me! He has up to the count of 3 to show up before we slaughter this miserable shithole of a town as a offering to my brother."

"ONE

TW-"

"I'm here. I've been waiting here in the street since you and your posse rode in. If you weren't playing to the crowd you would have spotted me. You can come and try me. I'm not one of the soft merchants you and your ilk cut down."

The sense of tension was almost palpable, and Lin Zhong once again found himself along with the rest of the town peeking out of their windows as they watched the showdown between the two.

As they watched, both parties got into their stances. Bone Buzzard with his hands gripping the sheath and hilt of his sword ready to unleash it the moment the duel began and the Stranger with his Ji held loosely in his right hand, it's head pointing towards the ground.

The tension seemed to heightened and a sense of stillness filled the town with no one daring to move but the wind as it blew and sent wisps of dry grass tumbling between the two.

A Heartbeat. Then Two. the caw of one of the Buzzards as it pounced on unwary prey.

A flash and a blur of motion as they both struck. The pressure of their Qi telling just how strong their blows were. A body dropping to the ground with a thud.

Even now looking back, Lin Zhong could only recall a streak of green launching from the Stranger as he struck, and it was only after discussion with the rest of the town before a rough idea of what took place could be constructed.

The moment the caw sounded Bone Buzzard hands moved with blurring speed to unleash his sword and send a wave of Sword Qi at the Stranger. Yet, before his sword could even clear more then half of it's scabbard, the Stranger had somehow turned the shaft of his Ji into a whip and with a flick of his wrist sent the bladed head whipping forward in a arc that cleanly beheaded Bone Buzzard. Credit however had to be given to Bone Buzzard, for even in his dying throes his body had continued moving from sheer muscle memory to deliver his slash. Alas that the lack of a head had affected his aim for it sent the sword Qi slashing past the Stranger with inches to spare.

"Anyone else?"

The Stranger's cool tone seemed to be the last straw. Without a backwards glance at the corpse of their leader, the gang fled the Town to raucous cheers as the Town celebrated the lifting of their Death Sentence. Lin Zhong was no exception, and in his joy said words that he deeply regretted the next day when sense returned to him

" FREE BEER FOR EVERYONE! TODAY, NO ONE PAYS!"

As renewed cheers filled the air, this time of his generosity, Lin Zhong found to his surprise that instead of heading to the tavern to enjoy his offer, the Hero Of The Hour appeared to be saddling his Qilin mount. Before he could call out to the Stranger, Lin Zhong found the Stranger staring at him and putting his finger on his laps. Giving a nod of acknowledgement at the Stranger's request, Lin Zhong watched as he finished saddling up his mount and rode out of town with naught but a backwards wave.


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(2440 words)

I got no idea why, but somehow between yesterday and today, the idea of the ex-cannibal lands sparking a gold rush of it's own and the mission to take down bandits collided in my head to become a Xianxia Western. Which is actually really weird because it's not like i'm a big fan of Westerns.... I mean the only Western thing i could come up with is basically a Tavern Shootout and a Duel in the street.

Still it was pretty interesting to think of ways to phrase it in a as Westernish way as possible, hope i did the genre justice. @Humbaba Threadmark please!

Grand Elder, I appreciate your patience in our latest centennial report.

I apologise, for many of the things we had hoped have not come to pass. Our Sorrowful Blacksmith Sect possesses this territory at our far extremity, and we rarely intervene with the trade there. After all, Strength Purity and Bronze Devil have historically agreed on little, but attempting to choke the flow of trade might see us lose this valuable pass. Rather, in return for the absolute territorial guarantee of the Strength Purity Sect we continue to maintain the infrastucture and guard (what little needs guarding) along the ancient Scorpion Road. It is not overly costly, after all. Despite the northern side of the pass being infested with beasts from Turtlebone Mountain, the pass remains ever-clear.

In any case, the result of our investigations. I shall go west to east, passing from the lands of the Strength Purity Sect to the Devils.

Here is my map, though it is not strictly to scale.

We begin at the Old Bronzegate. This was termed the 'Gate of the Blood' in former Bronze Devil accounts, and the bells there would clang when a sufficiently noble-blooded Devil passed through. Given they have not chimed since we have seized these lands, I doubt they ever will again. We are unable to rework the arrays to yield results for other blood, though with sufficient Spirit Stones it is believed we could ensure the lesser bells clattered when a Devil passed through. This would grant us some intelligence on their movements, but the cost would be astounding. I cannot imagine the sheer cost in Qi it takes to run these bells. I have discovered notes that indicate the bellfounder who made them also forged the Great Mountain Bell of the selfsame sect, though I am not certain.

The Obsidian Tower is still the same. Towering absurdly high into the sky, yet completely invisible from more than fifty or so li away. We have managed to figure out the function of one of the runic arrays. Unfortunately, we cannot unlock it, and the Golden Devils seem not to have ascended it since the rise of Demonic Soup Chef. But the functionality the Devils used to use to open a pathway to the peak of Turtlebone Mountain for the Nascent Divinity Contest is almost within our grasp. I can confidently say we should unlock the basic usage of this array within the next six or seven hundred years. I believe we have isolated the beast-repelling functions necessary to do this - they are currently turned on the Colossus Footsteps Pass itself, and appear to only repel beasts of Nascent or lesser strength. In theory the tower should be capable of repelling beasts at the peak of Spirit Severing, or perhaps more, though that is only conjecture.

Doorway City remains the only truly habitable place in the pass. Twenty or so million live there, a substantial population and a great number of our mortals. Many of our new Sect brothers and sisters stem from there, and it is a great tradepost. With the verdant lands around it and the complete lack of beasts, it is truly a holy land for mortals.

The Doors Between were forged two hundred or so thousand years ago. Previously, it was impossible to cross the mountains if you did not cross through the Doors Between. An old Devil script I have translated claims that they ruled the entire Third Sea, and these doors were the only way to cross the mountains at all. As it stands, if one does not cross through the doors - which somehow violate the laws of space - one cannot continue through the pass, or for around one thousand li on the southern side (and presumably the north, though there is no way to test that). All merchants register here, which makes accounting for them easy.

The Manzikert Fountain-Array is all that remains of Castra Manzikert. Rejuvenating and powerful, it fills the body with Qi and the mind with solitude. Currently we use it as a major source of income, and also cordon a third of it off to help enlighten our disciples.

Spiritfall Stairs. Old Grand Elder Komnenos, the last Spirit Severing Elder of the Devils - and the region. When he fell, the Devils still held, laid low by his foolish decision to remain in this Sea and help his Clan, trying to serve as a reserve power for centuries. The battle he was slain in did not lead the conquest of the mountains, but the Pass fell and was not retaken for a century, the Devils laid up in their mountain holds. We know the remainder of the history, of course. The stairs were carved in the blink of an eye, Komnenos creating them to allow his own people a retreat from a losing battle.

Reverse Flow Falls. A great frustration for us, as Reverse Flow Falls are waterfalls that fall towards you, whichever direction you happen to be. Only a navigator with Golden Devil blood can cause them to flow the other way, allowing one to be thrown away by the waterfall, it bringing you to a gentle stop just before land. While few Devils betray their Clan, working for huge sums of Spirit Stones for relatively little labor is considered a worthwhile task. They do seem to die every hundred years, but there are always more. There has been no luck in altering the flow of water ourselves.

The Ruins of Casta Komnenos were the last stronghold of the Golden Devils, the Devil-Punishing Coalition pushing them out of there entirely. When the walls fell, they fell, and even today those ruins are haunted by vengeful spirits. Many Sect cultivators guard the footsteps of merchants there, and it is the only truly dangerous region that must be passed through to trade. Recent innovations have allowed us to spend two-thirds as many cultivators repelling ghosts, a true masterwork by Junior Brother Han Lu.

Dying Curse Peak was the dying curse of Old Elder Komnenos, a man who specialized in curses. When the Golden Devils were driven out of the region centuries after his death, his longstanding curse activated, and formed Dying Curse Peak. Initially it killed everyone in the pass and the region to the south, butchering twenty or so million innocent non-Devil mortals, eight Nascent Souls, almost a thousand Core Formation elders, around a hundred and fifty thousand Foundation experts, and twelve million Qi Condensation disciples. The Devil-Punishing Coalition was the largest army raised by the Righteous Path in history since the death of the Turtle Child, and it disappeared in an instant. Had it not been for this curse, the Golden Devil Clan would've ended that day - they could not have had the strength to seize lands in the desert with the entirety of the Coalition chasing after them.

In modern times, it merely kills anyone who steps off the well-protected path. Curse-weakening talismans and Qi-repelling arrays make the road traversable, although the lands around it are not. It can no longer kill Nascent Souls, and a Core Formation elder who stepped foot there would only die after a few days prolonged exposure. We have maintained these arrangements, and the Curse continues to slowly weaken.

Lastly is the Grand Mountainwall.

This is a great wall, inscribed all-over with various arrays. It is not a defensive wall, but rather detects those both coming and going, marking their Qi signature. In this way the Golden Devils can tell who has paid the toll, and who has not. Many more arrays sit there, mostly for identification and targeting, as well as defense. The wall is not to be defended, strictly speaking, and one can simply walk through the many entrances at the base. We are not permitted to study it under our treaty with the Golden Devil Clan, unfortunately.

Good Seed Submission.
Name: Helel ben Shahar
Age: 20 (1st Heavenstage)
Background: Born with his bloodline weak and with a crippling mutation greatly delaying how much Qi could be absorbed, it was expected that with this Helel would find cultivation much harder then normal and thus was fated to not climb to the upper levels of the Heavenstage never mind formation building. Helel however would reject this fate the Heavens set out for him and though determination forged himself into a heaven defying genius in the skill of arrays. His masterpiece would be an array that he would insert into himself which would absorb Qi directly into the profound veins of his Meridians allowing him to cultivate as if he were not crippled.

His goal is if he can not have a bloodline of bronze to forge a new bloodline. His plan to do this is to reforge his body in image of his Dao granting himself a bloodline of night/darkness based on his Dao. His Dao is that of the Sitra Ahra, a truth that comes not from the Heavens or the world but from himself. In order to purify his Dao such that it can be made into a bloodline the 13th Heavenstage is required.

Overall concept: Ambitious youngster, great determination, focused on arrays, terrible fate with his bloodline results in him not having the usual bloodline benefits

Cultivation Aims: 13th Heavenstage then Emperor's Pillar (9th Pillar)

Good Seed Bonus: Heaven defying genius skill with arrays

^occipitallobe

@Alectai and @TehChron

Helel Ben Shar 1- The Cabbage Merchant 370 words, Turn 10- One LST (used)
Helel Ben Shar 2 – The Qliphoth forms the base of the Sitra Ahra 479 words, Turn 11- One LST (used)
Helel Ben Shar 3 – The Hidden Mirage Array 306 words, Turn 12 - One Tribulation Boost
Helel Ben Sahar 4 – Purifying Light 250 words, Turn 13 - Healing Treasure (used)
Turn 14 - nothing

Current Status: Lightly Wounded

Age: 120
Additional Impact: 3
-Fire Monkey Blade +3 Impact
Cultivation: 11th Heavenstage
Cultivation Year-Equivalent: 191
Health: Healthy
Life-Saving Treasures: 0
Lifespan Enhancement: 0
Tribulation Boost: 1
- Greater understanding of the Dao Sitra Ahra
Starting Perk: Heaven defying genius skill with arrays

Cultivation Aims: 13th Heavenstage then Emperor's Pillar (9th Pillar)

Turn Notes: Turn 12- Going to Qiguai and crafting his Hidden Mirage Arrays for the Underworld Spirit Palace mission.

Turn Notes: Turn 13- Taking The Secrets of the Underworld mission, healing himself and working on an array project.

Turn Notes: Turn 14 - No mission,

Death is a strange thing, Antonius thought as the Snail-back Caravan steadily made its way to it's destination. He had been affected by the shadow of death for a long time. He was what, fifteen when he heard he'd die in a few years because of a simple complication in his bloodline?

His parents had been devastated of course. He wondered if his mother blamed herself. She knew how adaptable the Blood of Bronze was. She had studied the clan's bodies for decades. It was entirely possible that his twisted bloodline was a natural mutation but it was entirely possible that it was introduced from her own side as Yixuan Shan had eventually confirmed.

Then there was his father. His grandfather's art prized the cultivation of their bloodline and considered it the pillar of the clan. He was certain his grandfather's Dao should he have reached Core would have been bronze in some form. His father held great pride in his inheritance and to even suspect that his art may have somehow caused the mutation must have been devastating to him.

And then they found out that cultivation was the only solution. They'd never directly talked about it, but he knew that they never really wanted him to be a cultivator. The reason was simple - the Trials were just around the corner. To face that would be difficult - had been difficult really. And a cultivator's life wasn't something that was easy in general. How could they have known he would have a taste for it?

He couldn't really blame them. Not after experiencing what it felt like to nearly lose them. He saw exactly where they came from, even if he felt like he didn't necessarily agree with their choice. How could he when it was his own choice to walk into the 43rd Legion in order to sign up to the legion? He chose to cultivate, come what may.

And then death found a new hold on him. Cultivation improved his chances of survival and even improved his rate of cultivation but if he couldn't cultivate fast enough, he would petrify and if he did manage to cultivate fast enough then he would face the normal issues of a cultivator - tribulation.

When Yixuan Shan brought him to the heights of the tenth heavenstage, he learnt that he would need at least eighty years of preparation to face it. That was practically all of the life he had left. Difficult, but theoretically possible if things worked out for him. Then of course, things had to happen to destroy his hopes.

Antonius had heard of a phrase that was popular in the clan and he was finally learning the bitter truth behind it. When heaven gives with one hand, it takes with another. He was the living embodiment of that quote. He was blessed with incredible cultivation talent and was checked with a greatly reduced lifespan. He gained incredible luck in the Yuan Secret Realm, and then he lost his parents - his pillars of support - by someone after the very things I earned.

He could understand some of the clans men's bitterness towards the heavens. The curses that he had learnt of - the trials, the tribulations, the ill luck and the poverty - all were akin to his own situation. Even as things were seemingly improving for them with the powerful new generation that he was seemingly a part of, the heavens struck down the old guard who sheltered them - leaving them all with uncertain futures. What use was talent if they were all cut down?

Death had affected them all.

It was natural.

It was inevitable.

But it was also cruel.

So many things were lost. Things unique. Things precious. People like his parents - brave, amazing people.

This concept resonated with him so strongly.

He wanted to live. He wanted his parents back. He wanted the whole world to know his name. But here he was, his potential choked because a Blood Cannibal spy snuck into their confidence and then tried to strike them down because he thought he could take what was theirs.

The clan's problems. His own problems. They were all connected.

If only he could see how.

Did he want to defy death? Defy the heavens? Defy everything that tried to crush him and those he cared for? A part of him was drawn to that path - the same part of him that walked into the legion for recruitment and then punched a Legate out of sheer spite.

But that wasn't a path he could see himself being happy in.

Did he want to escape? Go somewhere with his family, far enough away that even heaven could not reach him. Was that even possible? Did he want to try? That concept also appealed to a part of him. It was the fear that drove him to the legion in the first place, the part of him that wanted to live.

Spite was a nice motivator. It made his actions seem impressive rather than motivated by fear and frustration. Yes, spite was a motivator but there were circumstances that lead to it and he punched the man because he knew he could take it and because having a problem he could hit felt so very good. He couldn't hit this problem away. Strength wouldn't bring his parents back, but perhaps it could help him get something that could.

Strength. Antonius turned that thought over in his head. Power. Ultimately, cultivation was about power. How would a Dao of Power work? It seemed like a blunt hammer but the world was filled with a lot of nails to hammer into shape. It had a certain appeal to it. The appeal of truth. What else was important in the world other than power when individuals were divided so clearly in strength?

Saving his parents was important but he felt like the moment something really clicked - that would be important too. As the snail-back caravan made its way to Mogui City, Antonius turned his thoughts over to various thoughts of his Dao.

Leo visibly mulled the words over, while twirling a jade slip between his fingers.

To his spiritual senses, his old-time compatriot and faithful companion felt solid in a way he didn't.

The tall – much taller than he – centurio, resplendent in lamellar and galea had forged his third pillar mere months ago. A distinctive metallic sheen was now visible on his noble features, and his hair looked like gold in truth from the right angle. He spoke haltingly, like a ponderous mountain.

"It is an attractive proposition. It has been a while since we fought together. But I have fought the Blood Cannibals on almost every deployment since my first. My nascent Dao also allows me to smell them out more easily. Really Aris, I should be hunting the last of the leeches to flush them out of their stinking holes, not fight thousands of li from home."

Aris opened his mouth to object, but was interrupted by Leo's rumbling bass.

"Yes, I know we would be fighting against Blood Demons too."

He continued, this time somewhat apologetically.

"Aris, these new lands of ours present a great opportunity. I intend to start a family and contribute to the Clan by being one of its cornerstones. These new Apoikía in the south are ideal. They will be leased to the legions and I could stand at the head of one. Forge a dynasty there, lay the seeds for the future of the Children of Gold. In time lead one of the legions protecting the south. My friend – I do not covet glory, I desire only to contribute however best I can."

Tsk. He had joked a while back that Leo's Dao was starting to look like a Dao of the Tool. He had been more accurate than he liked.

And what a bloody great tool he was, Leo was the soldier-exemplar, ambitious but not overly so. Proud and enthusiastic to do his duty. Inventive and resourceful, but without the arrogance to make his ideas reality, demand they be made reality. Such an utterly perfect legionnaire, flawlessly cast from the mold.

But for all his protest, Aris required him by his side. Practically, Aris was early Foundation Establishment signing on a mission that would put him side-to-side with other experts much more advanced in cultivation than he. Leadership depended most of all on having a first follower. Tactically, he needed someone who knew how his Death-Horn worked, how to best make use of the cascading advantage it brought to any battlefield. But also – Leo understood him, for all the differences between them. Leo believed in his vision, would die for it. His road to Victory looked less tenuous when he could count on Leo.

He had a few arrows in his quiver to convince him yet.

"The Callista girl is going, Leo. In fact, she already made her way there – it seems she stole a march on us."

That caught his attention. Aris raised his voice.

"You want to rise to prominence within the Legion? Carry the banner of the Ninty-First? Well, fight alongside the Hope of Gold. What she touches turns to gold – and radiates onto everyone involved. Who will remember you stamping out bandit chaff in forty years? Four hundred? Do you think they will speak of how, after long and arduous looking, the Legions stomped out the few sad remains of the Cannibals hiding in the deepest holes? Or will they speak of how for the first time in millennia a force of Devils marched across the mountains to aid the faltering Strength Purity Sect? Think on your history lessons, how often has a righteous power openly called on a demonic one to fight alongside them?"

Aris let the questions hang in the air between them.

"You claim to want to be a cornerstone of the Clan? Acquire the prestige to head one of the Apoikía? The chance of a generation is here."

Leo fixed him with an inscrutable look.

"She's not the only one going, Aris."

Aris' brow raised a hair.

"I picked up that an old friend of ours signed up today. You might remember Diokles?"

The tiny, mouse-eyed legionnaire with the timid demeanor and long yanmaodao that was in their cohort during basic training flashed before his eyes. In their final trial of basic training, the tiny man's mask had slipped off ever so briefly, and revealed the eyes of a hardened killer.

"He's been off the grid for a while now, making little progress of note. Yet it seems he entered into the Qiguai's Secret Realm twenty years ago. Apparently he hit a trove of immense luck inside and managed to somehow avoid having to pay the customary toll to the Qiguai Clan afterwards."

Leo continued in a calm, but slightly conspirational tone.

"I don't know who cleared him going, he's not backed by any major family and he's of common stock – barely a drop of bronze in him. But now he's above me in cultivation and Legate of an auxillary legion."

Aris nodded slowly, and replied in an even tone.

"I had heard that he was rising quickly. People are praising the common-born, shy peasant for achieving such heights. Apparently, he's a character in some play or another. The mortals find his diminutive stature and timid behavior amusing in a Legate. That he is also headed across the mountains is news to me, though."

Leo looked at him, idly adjusting his bracer, his attempt at side-tracking the conversation foiled. It was good information though, but ultimately unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

His friend sighed deeply. Aris smiled internally.

"I will order my centuria to prepare to march."

Leo made a show of sounding resigned, but Aris picked out the note of eagerness in his voice without issue. His friend was never obtuse, he just needed help seeing the right argument at times. Aris spoke vigorously.

"Excellent. The poor replacement for the Bloodhound that serves as our current Legate will not object overly much, our commitments in the south are secure, and our standing orders boil down to 'make yourself useful where you can'. With luck, we will be over the mountains three weeks from now, together with the rest of the CCCII Legio and attached auxiliaries. I'll see you ready and packed on the morrow."

Aris turned to leave, but Leo grasped him by his arm.

"Aris. We might not be successful there. Or at least not as resplendent in our victory as you expect. Rina Callista is many things, but she is not the Imperator incarnate. Do not hinge your life and Path upon our success. You have a duty to your Clan, even if it is inglorious."

Aris heard the faraway sound of a faint crack. He clenched his fist hard enough to dent the bronze of his palm with his fingernails. Duty. That word again.

He turned around to Leo and fixed him with emerald eyes, tinged with holy fire and zeal.

"Our victory shall be radiant, Leo. Even if I have to use my body as tinder to make it so. That. Is my duty."

Leo watched his longtime friend storm off, briefly twitching his head as if trying to listen to a faraway sound, then rounding the corner and disappearing.

__

@Alectai @TehChron

To become a Cultivator of worth, you need three things. You need the Talent to surpass any obstacle. You need the Will to never stop moving, no matter how torturous the task, and you need the Wealth to fund your extremely costly lifestyle. If you visit a city and the hidden merchants don't contact you. That means you reek of poorness. Any Cultivator worth a damn knows the importance of wealth.

This is why I, Demetrius Ceres, the unsung hero of the hundred-year trial (self-proclaimed). The Killer of Cannibals (self-proclaimed). The slayer of Demonic Beasts. He who chops Wood. The Harbinger of Disaster. The Chef from Hell had headed back home.

It was to take stock of all my valuables.

I was not pleased with what I found. My treasury. The hidden location where I had put all my valuables before heading south. The death trap I had designed to stop thieves from stealing my shinies. Someone had broken into it. Even my signpost looked battered.
it read:


The text was clear. Don't enter my treasure chamber. What pompous fool would disregard that and enter anyway. Couldn't the buffoons see the danger? Did they think this was a suggestion? They dared?

I had to investigate the damages and find the culprits, and then I had to find a new place to store my souvenirs treasures from the Xin Kingdom. An ancient cookbook titled "The Tiny Legionnaires guide to the kitchen" that I had found in a library. The fragment of an Ancient cauldron that had helped me reach the 12th stage.

The memories of how I had obtained it replayed themselves in my mind. Using the cookbook, I had prepared a chicken soup so fresh that it had fled from my cauldron. It had taken me weeks of following the trails of its victims. The memory of seeing the soup beating up of a group of cannibals did make me smile. One thing leads to another, and I ended up finding an altar, a choir of cannibals, a hundred mortals, and the Xin kings great-grandniece.

The most vulgar thing in that room was easily the princess.

The fight had gone as expected.
I asked them to die.
They refused to die.
I used a heavy object to beat them to death.
They refused to die.
I discarded the princess and picked up my ax.
They complied and died.

Multiple bodyparts had hit the altar during the fight and somehow cracked it open. In its heart, I found the fragment. I had felt an affinity with it. It had given me something, and I reached the 12th stage in a single moment.

That something had also given me eyeballs so black they could absorb the light around them.


Either way, since I had been robbed, I would have to delay my tribulation. I fed the arrays some of the spare bodyparts I had intended to sell to the devils, and I started investigating the treasury.


Some people might say that a part of the blame for this robbery falls on me. That is incorrect. Sure, I could have paid the clan to keep it safe, but everyone knows that that is a fool's game. A common joke among us Auxallires is about the Golden Devils' moniker. Are the Golden Devils called Golden Devils because of their skin? Or because of how much they gorge you for using their services? The answer is Yes.

___

I knew who the culprits were. "Righteous cultivators." Someone who had left the spirit-healing-Oasis and had headed back to the planes. They had walked into this area and found my treasury. They had probably called this robbery an adventure. They were young, and they were strong. Only two had died here. I would say they were the same age as that good seed I had met in the Xin Kingdom.

What was his name again? The brown-haired one? Pondus? Pinups? Parasonix? He had a spear, and he had a body to hold that spear. Well, his looks weren't of importance.

What was important was that there were younglings in the planes that were in desperate need of getting trashed.

Those poor fools. They had the strange idea that I should play by their rules. It was them who should play with mine.

The great battlefield. Hah. It would be the great graveyard when I was done with it.



The memory of the altar reappeared in my mind again.

Who did it belong to?

The Cannibals had refused to say.




___

Would you look at that. I managed to write something this turn that I felt could be shown to other people.