So he paid a lot of power to have no competition which could challenge his power.
Broken Adventure
- Thread starter theaceoffire
- Start date
- Crossover
- Status
- Location
- Germany
More like "the position of 'Main Character' is still open". Apply by existing.
Barbaric Bob
The Barbaric One
- Location
- Soon to be plundering a village near you
Keep bickens cuddle sized!
Their eggs will then be chicken sized
Can you see it? Smol little bickletts being even more adorable!?!?
They would be the perfect pet, any household would want at least a dozen
Their eggs will then be chicken sized
Can you see it? Smol little bickletts being even more adorable!?!?
They would be the perfect pet, any household would want at least a dozen
I have dejavu but not know what for a while now i know it because adam create cuv chat group
- Location
- Saipan
Considering his goal in coming to this world is to further enhance his System back in the Worm-verse, I'd say he's on the right track with the Master Pocket Tattoos.
- Location
- Earth, Sol System, Virgo Supercluster, Earth-1218
I JUST did a post that got upgraded to Informational that "Space is BIG" and people still don't seem to get just how massively BIG space is...
ONE Lightyear is 5 trillion miles*, that's not even the radius of the solar system, I don't think that even covers the whole Oort Cloud.
Not to mention that it breaks when going to another realm, which is a BIG thing, that means that they lose all their stuff if they advance to a new cultivation realm, or potentially it stops working in Extra Cool Places like the Yin cave that the ladies in his party were enjoying. (Or Rockette, if she weren't the super special piece of soul rock that she is)
*To be fair, if it was "Trillions OF trillions of miles" that would be trillions of light years, so yea, that's in the Supercluster range and up there in "If you're going that far you've broken physics already" range.
-Festival is attacked and he saves a princess
-Festival is NOT age appropriate for Tianshi (or is 80% NSFW)
-Adam looks JUST like the guy who the festival is being held for
-Adam accidentally breaks something important to the festival, quickly 'fixes' it and ends up upgrading it 100x over
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More like he paid a lot of power to have no competition which was destined to challenge him, defeat him and loot everything he has.
On the other hand he also lost out on the opportunity to be the master roshi of the MC. That guy who's an unreachable level and tutors the MC who ends up defeating him to show how far MC has come and then keeps going back for advice and useful gadgets.
Adam, turn Tianshi into the MC and become her master Roshi. She already has the low start who got recognized as the diamond in rough by a venerable master and is even getting a head start in her world journey.
- Location
- Australia
Bickens, because red bull gives them wings.
-
Also, the festival is in memory of a historical cultivator Adam is a dead ringer for, misunderstandings and hilarity ensue.
Or if we're going for feels it could be a "your mother was secretly a(n) 'X'" plot, those are always fun, especially when it turns out they've not so much died as shuffled off the mortal coil to resume their divinity in a higher realm, or were secretly a phoenix and rekindled elsewhere, etc.
Better yet, it could just be one of those weird coincidences and leave everyone further convinced that Adam is secretly a phoenix, etc, rather than a sage, which would be kinda hilarious when he turns to his travelling companions to refute it for him only for them to accidentally roll over on him due to how poorly they deny it.
"You're saying sage Adam ISN'T a secretly a phoenix?" the elder asked sceptically.
"Look," Sister Quan began tiredly, "Just because he's usually on fire, has an obsession with shiny things, and regenerates by bursting into flame-"
On noticing the quirked eyebrow the elder is giving her she trails off.... "Shut up"
-
Also, the festival is in memory of a historical cultivator Adam is a dead ringer for, misunderstandings and hilarity ensue.
Or if we're going for feels it could be a "your mother was secretly a(n) 'X'" plot, those are always fun, especially when it turns out they've not so much died as shuffled off the mortal coil to resume their divinity in a higher realm, or were secretly a phoenix and rekindled elsewhere, etc.
Better yet, it could just be one of those weird coincidences and leave everyone further convinced that Adam is secretly a phoenix, etc, rather than a sage, which would be kinda hilarious when he turns to his travelling companions to refute it for him only for them to accidentally roll over on him due to how poorly they deny it.
"You're saying sage Adam ISN'T a secretly a phoenix?" the elder asked sceptically.
"Look," Sister Quan began tiredly, "Just because he's usually on fire, has an obsession with shiny things, and regenerates by bursting into flame-"
On noticing the quirked eyebrow the elder is giving her she trails off.... "Shut up"
- Location
- In the Depths, Lurking...
I felt legitimately bad for Adam during his presentation and am glad Sister Quan went to talk to him. I get that what he did is game changing (again) but showing a little enthusiasm or appreciation to the man that just reinvented the concept of a storage for you people would be nice. I know shock and awe is a thing, but they had to see how their silence was affecting him. I'm starting to care a lot less for the unnamed "children" here.
- Location
- Sector ZZ9 plural Z Alpha
Re-reading through the Remenant arc and this line made me laugh, especially considering Adams current circumstances
Fragnostic
Cheshire
- Location
- Neko City
Hindsight is 2020 and I want to go back to 2019.
- Location
- Here
Yeesh, we are getting close to some time skips ladies and gentlemen!
I guess it makes sense. If I fully write out the whole thousand thousands of years thing, this website's going to be closed before I can get halfway through.
Most of the delay this week is due to me trying to make this not seem odd as we transition... I guess I should also warn everyone that the next update is going to be a bit horrifying... Because when cultivators go bad, they go real bad.
I guess it makes sense. If I fully write out the whole thousand thousands of years thing, this website's going to be closed before I can get halfway through.
Most of the delay this week is due to me trying to make this not seem odd as we transition... I guess I should also warn everyone that the next update is going to be a bit horrifying... Because when cultivators go bad, they go real bad.
Fragnostic
Cheshire
- Location
- Neko City
That is to be expected, as regular xianxia stories have hundreds of thousands of pages and that's in Chinese, which is somewhat condensed.
It's why translations take so long to finish an entire story. You literally quintuple the character/symbol count.
It's why translations take so long to finish an entire story. You literally quintuple the character/symbol count.
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Not gonna lie, as much as I've been enjoying this new world, and Adam's usual antics(purposeful and accidental), I CAN'T WAIT to see the bullshit he pulls at higher realms. I honestly expect him to completely rework and qualitatively improve the realm he started in after visiting higher ones, and 'fixing' all the little errors he finds. Plus, what happens when you recombine a Millenia Old Conceptual Being with its original soul in a world of schizo-tech science?
And with what theaceoffire said about cultivators going bad, Adam will probably mess up A LOT of stupid-evil groups, which will get him worshipped by trillions as a beacon of good and a conceptual pillar of Decency, even amongst the mortals.
And with what theaceoffire said about cultivators going bad, Adam will probably mess up A LOT of stupid-evil groups, which will get him worshipped by trillions as a beacon of good and a conceptual pillar of Decency, even amongst the mortals.
so I keep seeing the bickens?? As chocobos.
Arc 2: Mountain Patterns, Grave concerns.
- Location
- Here
The festival was apparently an annual thing.
On the top of Mount Kirin, at the center of the local city (Named 'Kirin City', what imagination!) was the graveyard. Originally, the local culture of civilians believed that burying the dead so close to the sky would help them ascend to the afterlife and join their ancestors... but at the tip of the mountain was a small weed.
Unnoticed for years, the weed began to adapt to the Death energies that naturally gathered at the peak graveyard... and eventually mutated into a pretty impressive tree that was shaped like a weeping willow.
The locals called it the 'Sympathy Willow', and as it converted necrotic energies into sustenance it did indeed produce powerful 'tears', liquid full of healthy and powerful spiritual energies... basically waste products from consuming the remnant powers of the deceased.
The festival was both a farewell for those who died in the last year, and a celebration that their families and loved ones were blessed by the Sympathy Willow after their passing... As if the ones leaving onwards were giving a final gift.
Considering the conceptual nature of this land, it may even be true.
The streets were filled with both stalls selling trinkets and festival food... and small shrines, both praising various deities and memorializing those who passed on, loved ones buried on that mountain for the willow to weep over.
Honestly, little Tianshi was just a bit too young to catch the bigger ideas beyond 'Big lights and fires, fun music, new snacks and food' and 'kids to play with!'
Which was fine.
Adam on the other hand was keeping his eyes open. All three of them, even if only cultivators could see the Asura Eye examining the world from his forehead. She was staying in his Poison Cavern for now, projecting a version of herself onto Adam's body through Yang poison... and she was watching carefully.
Tianshi pulled Sister Quan by the hand. "They have some kind of honey candy over there!"... and Adam followed idly behind.
Hmm... that stuff existed back on Earth Bet too. 'Dragon`s Beard' candy was easy enough to make when you had access to maltose syrup and sugar... Make a hardish puck of super sugar saturated syrup, pierce a hole through it, coat the thing with corn starch... Then get to work.
Stretch it into a loop, twist it so that one large ring became a figure eight, hold both loops into a NEW, single loop... and repeat. More corn starch so the thing won't stick to itself, and eventually the loops become thin strands, thousands of them! A sweet snack similar to cotton candy.
Of course, HERE who knew what the ingredients were. Clearly the white powder wasn't corn starch, and seemed to be ground up from some sort of bark by an assistant.
Tasted good though.
The shrines were less morbid than Adam expected too. Most had something like tributes to momentous achievements of their past, moments of glory for those no longer able to continue. Some were stories of riches, others massive loss that they failed to avenge, even a couple that were actually funny or just odd.
Still... the care shown here was honest. As brave, bold, evil, good, or just incompetent as these people may have been... they were loved and they would be missed.
As the group moved on to view one of the nearby shrines, Adam felt Rockette guide his Asura Eye's focus away... and then her poison clone on Adam vanished, the pair off on some sort of adventure.
Good, they deserved to have fun too!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Deep under the mountain, in a cave slightly too short for his height, the black robed man was frowning. "What holdup?"
The formation master sweated. "The energy barrier is fine! No really, totally fine... I just want to review the sacrificial formation a little longer. Make sure nothing is damaged, the Beast Cores are aligned correctly, the spirit stones unmodified..."
A claw like hand tapped with annoyance. "I believe... that you did that two days ago. And found no issues."
Shit. "But with a project of this importance, should something go wrong..."
It was all lies of course. He was just horrified to find out a few details at the last moment.
Working with the Dark Night Sect to undermine the Weeping Forest Sect? Fine.
Getting free resources, rare goods, and being able to sap a bit from the top for his own gain? Great!
Spending almost two decades designing the formation? Part of the job, really. The fact that the Dark Night Sect did all the dangerous work, dug these underground tunnels, killed witnesses... well, it all made his end even easier!
It wasn't like morality was an issue. As long as he had wealth and power, a few hundred thousand sacrifices were fine. Most were just human wastes anyway, unable to cultivate at all.
However... a small comment, one he wasn't supposed to hear, suddenly made him realize a bit of an issue.
The 'ignition' sacrifice, the one that caused this massive underground formation to begin consumption? The key position, that required a human full of regret, skinned, defleshed, and with their Soul bound to their defiled bones and tormented?
Yeah, it was almost REQUIRED that HE be the sacrifice. "I'll just need a few hours, three at most, and we will be ready to..."
The monstrous claw that ripped into his torso made it difficult to talk. Didn't hurt as much as he had expected, but that was what the future torture was for...
As he was dragged by the Dark Night Brother further down the caves, somehow it was so much worse knowing EXACTLY what was about to happen to him... and that he had added in several UNNEEDED torments because his twisted personality found it humorous.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Rockette and the Asura Eye watched the ongoing torture of the tainted man, the preparation of the massive formation... and continued to drain the spiritual energy from the concealing formation above the tunnel system. It wouldn't collapse yet, but free power was free power.
Unknown to the mutated Sect members, busy slicing skin and removing muscle, several... minor changes were being applied to the formation outside their view. The Asura Eye's Yin and Yang poisons shifted some lines, drained a few Beast Cores, stole or moved certain spirit stones...
And tiny black specks, nearly unnoticeably small rock eyes, were left in the tunnels to watch the results... And prepare to step in if the changes didn't work.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam, little Tianshi, and Sister Quan had meandered away from the rest of the caravan people and Sister Dian's group. They were now in a thick crowd, watching a MASSIVE formation being set up for the major festivities.
It was for the highlight of the year, when cultivators from the local Weeping Forest Sect would activate this 'Cleansing' formation. From Adam's discerning eye, the massive pattern acted sort of like squeezing a sponge, forcing all energies in the local graveyard into the tree at the summit... the awesome light show and noises would just be a happy byproduct.
He DID however notice some strange structures that were tapping into this formation though, from deep underground. After a quick check... Rockette told him it was under control, so whatever. From what he could feel, if things went wrong it would be easy enough to rip the power out of the formation before it could get going anyway.
The strange ritual looked ready to begin, as Adam helped lift Tianshi to see better on his shoulders. The whole thing had multiple stages and even intermissions... it was almost like outdoor theater really.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Rockette hummed as she, again, just in case mind you, applied the 'Formation Adaptation' technique on the underground glowing pattern.
Turns out, compared to converting Adam's customized Formation Scripting Language to something that works locally? Well, converting this local mess into his lingo was WAY easier.
Cost almost nothing in energy for this one step to basically decode anyone else's fancy artwork.
After that? She just passed the raw pattern and the translation over to 'Research', and the whole thing was easily understood... and then even more easy to modify.
From what she could tell, the ORIGINAL plan here was to take advantage of this festival up on the mountain to harvest... all kinds of things.
Because 'upstairs', like every year, the Weeping Forest Sect was using their strongest cultivators to power an ANCIENT formation pattern, one designed to feed that odd tree with all the 'negative' energies within the mountain, 'cleansing' it.
But now, CONNECTED to that formation... was this complicated mess. It was designed to redirect all that energy into this odd offshoot over there, to then pass down into the mountain to these tunnels...
And to filter through that guy.
His bones were black from fire, all flesh gone, every organ removed... Soul tied to the concepts of corruption, pain, vengeance, rage, and more. The magically aware skeleton was still twitching as it was being stabbed on a pike, installed deep in this formation.
That power from upstairs would originally be pulled here, tainted by his existence, shoved into this massive array further down... and used to fuel the largest sacrificial formation Rockette had ever seen. Larger than any she had even heard of, even in legend or warnings from Adam's readings!
Everyone would die. All the people on the mountain, everyone within several dozen miles, even everyone down here in the tunnels... though it was clear that the cultivators down here didn't know that last nugget.
It would strip power, Qi, spiritual energy, concepts... it would convert skin, flesh, organs, and bones... treasures would be damaged or destroyed, cultivation resources would be consumed...
And all of it would be used as fuel for THAT guy, way over there. The ONLY guy standing in a smaller formation circle, where all that power was shaped to be passed into.
...Shame Rockette had so much time to alter things.
Just a poor, sad situation.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Gristle held back a cackle as he watched the edge of the massive formation begin to glow black.
Even with that annoying screaming from the damned formation master, that cursed skeleton's whining couldn't prevent the joy filling his crooked heart.
This was it.
A lifetime of effort... well, considering the number of sacrifices over the years, MANY lifetimes of effort, all coming to a point tonight.
His stitched face twisted into a grin as the screams suddenly increased, his fellow Sect 'Brothers' now realizing that they were more 'ingredients' than 'participants'.
This method was found in his youth, an inheritance formerly lost in a valley twisted with darkness and filled with damned Souls. Souls that were initially sacrificed to provide him enough power to become a Houtian Warrior to begin with, despite his lack of skill, natural talent, and aptitude.
His progress up to and through the Xiantian Realm was rapid and simple! Just capture other cultivators, consume them, and use his gathered momentum to both harvest their energies and overwhelm their Souls. Eventually he established his 'Dark Night Sect', hundreds of years ago, for one single reason. THIS one reason.
Because there had been an issue. A pebble in his path to glory.
Power? He had harvested oceans of it. Enough to even break through to the fabled Saint Realm, one step away from the God Realms. His name made powerful foes tremble.
Knowledge? He had refined his inherited techniques to extreme levels, and trained his ability to torture and dissect his feed to perfection! Their twisted bodies and broken Souls gave up their deepest secrets with tears and regrets. The hidden was exposed to his desires.
Insight? He had gathered a massive data mountain of memories, many cultivators perspectives and special encounters open for his purview. The revelations of brilliant innovators danced at his touch!
But still.
He couldn't break through to the Saint Realm.
So... So close.
Unacceptable.
Starting his own Sect had been his solution. It provided a herd to butcher, lifespans to steal, resources for his own use... it gave him time to fix his deepest flaw.
For he had a terrible foundation.
Gristle's decades of effort had been focused on stealing the abilities of others... not refining it into his own, personal base of power. It created a wall, even if ever so thin, that he could not yet break through.
A barrier to the Realm of Saints... and eventually God Realm itself.
But not after tonight!
The formation glowed with strange purples and greens as more and more of his most powerful, most mentally damaged Sect members died. Raised by his hand to also harvest THEIR brothers and sisters, raised to accept all the flaws and disadvantages that Gristle sought to avoid. Lode stones to attract curses and absorb flaws, while storing power for this moment!
Now, these fat lambs would be ready for his feast.
These dying fools were unaware that he had already sacrificed the rest of his Sect while they were stationed here, under the mountain. That these black crystals he added to the formation were filled with damned Souls, with years of effort, with raw power.
The draining of the ritual above, the tainting of the energy, the consumption of his centuries of effort... It would barely be enough to start this formation below. It would recoil on the world, devour any life on the mountain above and miles around...
And become his fuel to ascension!
His body may be partially formed from the corpses of millions, his soul stitched from fragments, his energy a stolen mess of energies... But with this raw power he would FORCE himself to become a Saint.
The ability to fly, a body of steel, immune to poisons, unaging...
And he would finally gain his future Saint realm space, a second life, an area of dominion that could only be formed once...
His stolen teeth were sharp with grins as he focused.
With this much power, he could FORCE his body to reform as perfect, as designed to better steal even more from others in the future. After all, only the destruction of the Soul could actually kill a Saint, and though mutated his Soul was powerful.
Becoming a Saint was a fantasy to most, but was merely a stepping stone to Gristle, the Damned Devourer!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam was glaring at the floor.
Yeah, something was going on down there. Rockette was being all vague too, and that wasn't making him feel reassured. He may have to take some steps.
He blinked as Tianshi passed him a robe. "Here Da, you gotta wear it with the black side showing!"
Ah, these. He wore the oversized cheap clothing, white on inside, black without.
It was a major part of this ritual. All the festival goers would wear these 'funeral robes' in respect to the dead and passed relatives as the final ceremony began. Once it reached the peak, everyone would then reverse the outfit to show the purification was successful, and to wish well those who left the world behind.
This thing was very oversized of course, the makers didn't know who would end up with these outfits, but it was the thought that mattered.
Another pop from below, more black twisted souls screaming and being unmade... Rockette?
"Ding."
...Fine. "When will we know to swap colors?"
Sister Quan hummed. "The tree itself will light up, it is supposed to be quite the spectacle!"
Something sick and sweet swirled underground.
Yeah, 'I got this' or not? Adam wasn't going to sit around and do nothing.
Some careful Domain applications had small swirls of spirit energy surrounding the nearby children, elderly, and those who felt vulnerable to sudden energy shifts.
...Considering Adam could alter his domain to cover the entire mountain range if he was accurate while bending it over the surface, 'nearby' was a bit relative.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Gristle held back a shudder as the final stage approached.
This... this is why he killed everyone else. All his Sect, his workers, his loyal followers, his minions.
This formation didn't need THAT many sacrifices, although that bothered him not.
No, it was because of THIS stage of the ritual. The most unstable, the most dangerous, the most fragile.
All the other power sources were already drained, the formation master's soul was corrupted and shattered as his cursed skeleton acted like the ultimate energy filter, removing all ownership, negative emotions, curses, revenge techniques, and more from the grid... His still screaming skeleton dripped black sludges of impurities as the cleansed power was sent through the entire pattern cycle again for even more refining.
But this last stage he couldn't find a way to avoid... Over the last few decades, he had certainly looked!
Now, he needed his flesh itself to become processed. To scrape his own power from his soul, his corpse fragments from his stolen bones, his energies from their corrupted circuits. To ensure his future might wouldn't lose his current power base.
He had the power of the Weeping Willow ritual, used to consume the energy from the crystalized souls and fragments he brought here tonight, to power the deadly formation that would become pure, unowned, raw power with only a single purpose... Only one goal...
But for him to have a perfect foundation, for his stitched together, mangled soul to be contained?
He needed to sacrifice his current mortal form.
The last step before forcing reality to make him a full Saint.
The next step to godhood.
As his body dissolved, flesh dripping and bones crumbling, the formation held his mutated and stitched Soul within the grids, stable without a corpse shell. The massive remains of his many victims would join the cleansing cycle while keeping his spiritual self chained to this plane...
Then his new body would be crafted!
Raw power would ensure his body would be unmutated, able to withstand his gruesome presence, meridians strong enough to endure his terrifying and enhanced liquid Qi, Soul forced to bond tightly to a new home!
His vision dimmed as he cackled with glee, feeling the grip of master formation patterns hold him away from the... the...
...In the end, he never saw or noticed the modified formation as it continued to refine away his flesh, his bones, his Qi... and then his Soul.
Honestly, the end of his journey for power was likely too peaceful for one like him.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam blinked. Huh.
There was now a strange cycle of energy forming down there, a cleansed soul soaked in unimaginable levels of evil and corruption bound to a heavily cursed skeleton that continuously wiped away energy signatures. In fact, some of the resulting purified power he saw was now beginning to seep into the mountain itself.
...Oh crap, the ceremony up here on the surface might be self perpetuating now. Shit. Rockette?
"...Ding."
Double shit. Right, what would be the effects?
Any energies related to death, corruption, poison... all would be drawn to this graveyard on mount Kirin. And sucked into this never ending ritual far below. Then used to reinforce the power flowing over this mountain.
That power was still being focused toward that 'Weeping Willow', so uh... the 'glowing' effect was not going to stop once it got started.
Also, overflow.
There was ALREADY too much power being cleaned downstairs right now, excess was leaking into the mountain and city as runoff already.
This whole area would likely become a holy region in the next decade or so, especially if the local Sect doesn't lock down this location to outsiders... Any outside Cultivators would theoretically be a great source of corruption for these formations to harvest and recycle.
...Could he duplicate this without the apparent torture and mutilated body aspects? This thing would be pretty useful against anyone trying to use the darker abilities in the world. Undead techniques would just unravel, curses collapse, possessions fall apart.
Then again, everything Rockette was submitting right now was making his blood crawl. It was gross, it was creepy, it was malicious... and in the end, Adam felt he could make something better anyway, something actually designed from the ground up rather than this hodgepodge that Rockette and the Asura Eye had scraped together.
On one hand? He hadn't needed to do anything himself! It was a bit refreshing really.
On the OTHER hand, there was no one left for Adam to have a 'talk' to, or to experiment on.
Which was... frustrating.
His attention was pulled as Tianshi tugged his robe. "Da, swap it! You gotta flip your cloak! The tree's glowing!"
Chuckling, he did as instructed and watched with a careful eye as the cleansed energies impacted his defensive barriers around the young and vulnerable.
Even if this wave of energy was beneficial, it could still kill people unprepared through shock... It should be fine to slowly weaken the protection over the night, so that they could get used to this pulsing spiritual energy being released.
Considering that this was going to be the new 'normal', it was probably best to let them adapt.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Elder Cho frowned. "Call them back."
She glanced at the innocent looking ring that Adam's guard had the boy create.
With THIS level of creation, this type of advancement? Being away from the Sect wouldn't be enough to protect anything.
Might as well have him nearby, where they could try to support him as he destroys culture and traditions by accident.
With a mental sigh, she began, AGAIN, the massive and complicated process to meet with the Burning Sword Sect's Patriarch . AGAIN. In less than a week, no less.
But... glancing at the ring, such an innocent item that would allow their Sect to not be robbed, their people to become more powerful, their resources to be easier to trade an safer to bestow...
Well, it was worth it.
Her eye twitched at the massive mound of documentation to be filled out.
AGAIN.
...Still worth it.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
It was... MUCH later.
Frankly, Adam was a bit miffed that the lead guard just ASSUMED that HE was involved in all this mess!
It was technically just his Martial Spirit. Mostly.
But yeah, the tree glowed. A lot.
There was now a small STREAM of 'tears', the tree itself was growing at a slow but visible rate, little motes of light kept floating up from the ground... and it was NOT. HIS. FAULT.
...That being said, showing the lead guard the screaming black skeleton didn't really make her feel any confidence with his denials. Because she said that was something she could see Adam doing, especially if that person was targeting Tianshi or Sister Quan.
Which he was.
And uh. Arguing that point was not really believable. Even HE knew that attacking his friends was a bit of a trigger issue.
So they were heading back to the Sect.
Rockette was able to connect to Sister Dian and her tattoo network, the kids would still be able to get their needed spiritual energy through tattoo trades and energy allocations (At least until they returned to their OWN Sect), and if anything came up Sister Dian could send Rockette a message, no problem!
True, Adam hadn't made it even a full year before various issues forced him to come back... which was a bit embarrassing, honestly.
But on the other hand, reality seemed to be... pushing him.
Best get out of the world for a while, spend some time cultivating, and put out missions for other Sect members to get him the fun stuff he desired... hopefully without plots, monsters, or rare events.
Adam blinked.
Huh. Looks like Elder Cho just gave the Marked Tattoo (Ring Version!) he made to the Patriarch of the Burning Sword Sect.
Wonder what he thinks about it?
After all, it had a long way to go. Right now? It could only trade units of energy, items, information, and communication. Plus a few gimmicks, like portable workshops and that attempt at time accelerated cheese maturation spacial pockets.
Bet he will be impressed when Adam gets that 'Fast Travel' system to stop exploding!
On the top of Mount Kirin, at the center of the local city (Named 'Kirin City', what imagination!) was the graveyard. Originally, the local culture of civilians believed that burying the dead so close to the sky would help them ascend to the afterlife and join their ancestors... but at the tip of the mountain was a small weed.
Unnoticed for years, the weed began to adapt to the Death energies that naturally gathered at the peak graveyard... and eventually mutated into a pretty impressive tree that was shaped like a weeping willow.
The locals called it the 'Sympathy Willow', and as it converted necrotic energies into sustenance it did indeed produce powerful 'tears', liquid full of healthy and powerful spiritual energies... basically waste products from consuming the remnant powers of the deceased.
The festival was both a farewell for those who died in the last year, and a celebration that their families and loved ones were blessed by the Sympathy Willow after their passing... As if the ones leaving onwards were giving a final gift.
Considering the conceptual nature of this land, it may even be true.
The streets were filled with both stalls selling trinkets and festival food... and small shrines, both praising various deities and memorializing those who passed on, loved ones buried on that mountain for the willow to weep over.
Honestly, little Tianshi was just a bit too young to catch the bigger ideas beyond 'Big lights and fires, fun music, new snacks and food' and 'kids to play with!'
Which was fine.
Adam on the other hand was keeping his eyes open. All three of them, even if only cultivators could see the Asura Eye examining the world from his forehead. She was staying in his Poison Cavern for now, projecting a version of herself onto Adam's body through Yang poison... and she was watching carefully.
Tianshi pulled Sister Quan by the hand. "They have some kind of honey candy over there!"... and Adam followed idly behind.
Hmm... that stuff existed back on Earth Bet too. 'Dragon`s Beard' candy was easy enough to make when you had access to maltose syrup and sugar... Make a hardish puck of super sugar saturated syrup, pierce a hole through it, coat the thing with corn starch... Then get to work.
Stretch it into a loop, twist it so that one large ring became a figure eight, hold both loops into a NEW, single loop... and repeat. More corn starch so the thing won't stick to itself, and eventually the loops become thin strands, thousands of them! A sweet snack similar to cotton candy.
Of course, HERE who knew what the ingredients were. Clearly the white powder wasn't corn starch, and seemed to be ground up from some sort of bark by an assistant.
Tasted good though.
The shrines were less morbid than Adam expected too. Most had something like tributes to momentous achievements of their past, moments of glory for those no longer able to continue. Some were stories of riches, others massive loss that they failed to avenge, even a couple that were actually funny or just odd.
Still... the care shown here was honest. As brave, bold, evil, good, or just incompetent as these people may have been... they were loved and they would be missed.
As the group moved on to view one of the nearby shrines, Adam felt Rockette guide his Asura Eye's focus away... and then her poison clone on Adam vanished, the pair off on some sort of adventure.
Good, they deserved to have fun too!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Deep under the mountain, in a cave slightly too short for his height, the black robed man was frowning. "What holdup?"
The formation master sweated. "The energy barrier is fine! No really, totally fine... I just want to review the sacrificial formation a little longer. Make sure nothing is damaged, the Beast Cores are aligned correctly, the spirit stones unmodified..."
A claw like hand tapped with annoyance. "I believe... that you did that two days ago. And found no issues."
Shit. "But with a project of this importance, should something go wrong..."
It was all lies of course. He was just horrified to find out a few details at the last moment.
Working with the Dark Night Sect to undermine the Weeping Forest Sect? Fine.
Getting free resources, rare goods, and being able to sap a bit from the top for his own gain? Great!
Spending almost two decades designing the formation? Part of the job, really. The fact that the Dark Night Sect did all the dangerous work, dug these underground tunnels, killed witnesses... well, it all made his end even easier!
It wasn't like morality was an issue. As long as he had wealth and power, a few hundred thousand sacrifices were fine. Most were just human wastes anyway, unable to cultivate at all.
However... a small comment, one he wasn't supposed to hear, suddenly made him realize a bit of an issue.
The 'ignition' sacrifice, the one that caused this massive underground formation to begin consumption? The key position, that required a human full of regret, skinned, defleshed, and with their Soul bound to their defiled bones and tormented?
Yeah, it was almost REQUIRED that HE be the sacrifice. "I'll just need a few hours, three at most, and we will be ready to..."
The monstrous claw that ripped into his torso made it difficult to talk. Didn't hurt as much as he had expected, but that was what the future torture was for...
As he was dragged by the Dark Night Brother further down the caves, somehow it was so much worse knowing EXACTLY what was about to happen to him... and that he had added in several UNNEEDED torments because his twisted personality found it humorous.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Rockette and the Asura Eye watched the ongoing torture of the tainted man, the preparation of the massive formation... and continued to drain the spiritual energy from the concealing formation above the tunnel system. It wouldn't collapse yet, but free power was free power.
Unknown to the mutated Sect members, busy slicing skin and removing muscle, several... minor changes were being applied to the formation outside their view. The Asura Eye's Yin and Yang poisons shifted some lines, drained a few Beast Cores, stole or moved certain spirit stones...
And tiny black specks, nearly unnoticeably small rock eyes, were left in the tunnels to watch the results... And prepare to step in if the changes didn't work.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam, little Tianshi, and Sister Quan had meandered away from the rest of the caravan people and Sister Dian's group. They were now in a thick crowd, watching a MASSIVE formation being set up for the major festivities.
It was for the highlight of the year, when cultivators from the local Weeping Forest Sect would activate this 'Cleansing' formation. From Adam's discerning eye, the massive pattern acted sort of like squeezing a sponge, forcing all energies in the local graveyard into the tree at the summit... the awesome light show and noises would just be a happy byproduct.
He DID however notice some strange structures that were tapping into this formation though, from deep underground. After a quick check... Rockette told him it was under control, so whatever. From what he could feel, if things went wrong it would be easy enough to rip the power out of the formation before it could get going anyway.
The strange ritual looked ready to begin, as Adam helped lift Tianshi to see better on his shoulders. The whole thing had multiple stages and even intermissions... it was almost like outdoor theater really.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Rockette hummed as she, again, just in case mind you, applied the 'Formation Adaptation' technique on the underground glowing pattern.
Turns out, compared to converting Adam's customized Formation Scripting Language to something that works locally? Well, converting this local mess into his lingo was WAY easier.
Cost almost nothing in energy for this one step to basically decode anyone else's fancy artwork.
After that? She just passed the raw pattern and the translation over to 'Research', and the whole thing was easily understood... and then even more easy to modify.
From what she could tell, the ORIGINAL plan here was to take advantage of this festival up on the mountain to harvest... all kinds of things.
Because 'upstairs', like every year, the Weeping Forest Sect was using their strongest cultivators to power an ANCIENT formation pattern, one designed to feed that odd tree with all the 'negative' energies within the mountain, 'cleansing' it.
But now, CONNECTED to that formation... was this complicated mess. It was designed to redirect all that energy into this odd offshoot over there, to then pass down into the mountain to these tunnels...
And to filter through that guy.
His bones were black from fire, all flesh gone, every organ removed... Soul tied to the concepts of corruption, pain, vengeance, rage, and more. The magically aware skeleton was still twitching as it was being stabbed on a pike, installed deep in this formation.
That power from upstairs would originally be pulled here, tainted by his existence, shoved into this massive array further down... and used to fuel the largest sacrificial formation Rockette had ever seen. Larger than any she had even heard of, even in legend or warnings from Adam's readings!
Everyone would die. All the people on the mountain, everyone within several dozen miles, even everyone down here in the tunnels... though it was clear that the cultivators down here didn't know that last nugget.
It would strip power, Qi, spiritual energy, concepts... it would convert skin, flesh, organs, and bones... treasures would be damaged or destroyed, cultivation resources would be consumed...
And all of it would be used as fuel for THAT guy, way over there. The ONLY guy standing in a smaller formation circle, where all that power was shaped to be passed into.
...Shame Rockette had so much time to alter things.
Just a poor, sad situation.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Gristle held back a cackle as he watched the edge of the massive formation begin to glow black.
Even with that annoying screaming from the damned formation master, that cursed skeleton's whining couldn't prevent the joy filling his crooked heart.
This was it.
A lifetime of effort... well, considering the number of sacrifices over the years, MANY lifetimes of effort, all coming to a point tonight.
His stitched face twisted into a grin as the screams suddenly increased, his fellow Sect 'Brothers' now realizing that they were more 'ingredients' than 'participants'.
This method was found in his youth, an inheritance formerly lost in a valley twisted with darkness and filled with damned Souls. Souls that were initially sacrificed to provide him enough power to become a Houtian Warrior to begin with, despite his lack of skill, natural talent, and aptitude.
His progress up to and through the Xiantian Realm was rapid and simple! Just capture other cultivators, consume them, and use his gathered momentum to both harvest their energies and overwhelm their Souls. Eventually he established his 'Dark Night Sect', hundreds of years ago, for one single reason. THIS one reason.
Because there had been an issue. A pebble in his path to glory.
Power? He had harvested oceans of it. Enough to even break through to the fabled Saint Realm, one step away from the God Realms. His name made powerful foes tremble.
Knowledge? He had refined his inherited techniques to extreme levels, and trained his ability to torture and dissect his feed to perfection! Their twisted bodies and broken Souls gave up their deepest secrets with tears and regrets. The hidden was exposed to his desires.
Insight? He had gathered a massive data mountain of memories, many cultivators perspectives and special encounters open for his purview. The revelations of brilliant innovators danced at his touch!
But still.
He couldn't break through to the Saint Realm.
So... So close.
Unacceptable.
Starting his own Sect had been his solution. It provided a herd to butcher, lifespans to steal, resources for his own use... it gave him time to fix his deepest flaw.
For he had a terrible foundation.
Gristle's decades of effort had been focused on stealing the abilities of others... not refining it into his own, personal base of power. It created a wall, even if ever so thin, that he could not yet break through.
A barrier to the Realm of Saints... and eventually God Realm itself.
But not after tonight!
The formation glowed with strange purples and greens as more and more of his most powerful, most mentally damaged Sect members died. Raised by his hand to also harvest THEIR brothers and sisters, raised to accept all the flaws and disadvantages that Gristle sought to avoid. Lode stones to attract curses and absorb flaws, while storing power for this moment!
Now, these fat lambs would be ready for his feast.
These dying fools were unaware that he had already sacrificed the rest of his Sect while they were stationed here, under the mountain. That these black crystals he added to the formation were filled with damned Souls, with years of effort, with raw power.
The draining of the ritual above, the tainting of the energy, the consumption of his centuries of effort... It would barely be enough to start this formation below. It would recoil on the world, devour any life on the mountain above and miles around...
And become his fuel to ascension!
His body may be partially formed from the corpses of millions, his soul stitched from fragments, his energy a stolen mess of energies... But with this raw power he would FORCE himself to become a Saint.
The ability to fly, a body of steel, immune to poisons, unaging...
And he would finally gain his future Saint realm space, a second life, an area of dominion that could only be formed once...
His stolen teeth were sharp with grins as he focused.
With this much power, he could FORCE his body to reform as perfect, as designed to better steal even more from others in the future. After all, only the destruction of the Soul could actually kill a Saint, and though mutated his Soul was powerful.
Becoming a Saint was a fantasy to most, but was merely a stepping stone to Gristle, the Damned Devourer!
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam was glaring at the floor.
Yeah, something was going on down there. Rockette was being all vague too, and that wasn't making him feel reassured. He may have to take some steps.
He blinked as Tianshi passed him a robe. "Here Da, you gotta wear it with the black side showing!"
Ah, these. He wore the oversized cheap clothing, white on inside, black without.
It was a major part of this ritual. All the festival goers would wear these 'funeral robes' in respect to the dead and passed relatives as the final ceremony began. Once it reached the peak, everyone would then reverse the outfit to show the purification was successful, and to wish well those who left the world behind.
This thing was very oversized of course, the makers didn't know who would end up with these outfits, but it was the thought that mattered.
Another pop from below, more black twisted souls screaming and being unmade... Rockette?
"Ding."
...Fine. "When will we know to swap colors?"
Sister Quan hummed. "The tree itself will light up, it is supposed to be quite the spectacle!"
Something sick and sweet swirled underground.
Yeah, 'I got this' or not? Adam wasn't going to sit around and do nothing.
Some careful Domain applications had small swirls of spirit energy surrounding the nearby children, elderly, and those who felt vulnerable to sudden energy shifts.
...Considering Adam could alter his domain to cover the entire mountain range if he was accurate while bending it over the surface, 'nearby' was a bit relative.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Gristle held back a shudder as the final stage approached.
This... this is why he killed everyone else. All his Sect, his workers, his loyal followers, his minions.
This formation didn't need THAT many sacrifices, although that bothered him not.
No, it was because of THIS stage of the ritual. The most unstable, the most dangerous, the most fragile.
All the other power sources were already drained, the formation master's soul was corrupted and shattered as his cursed skeleton acted like the ultimate energy filter, removing all ownership, negative emotions, curses, revenge techniques, and more from the grid... His still screaming skeleton dripped black sludges of impurities as the cleansed power was sent through the entire pattern cycle again for even more refining.
But this last stage he couldn't find a way to avoid... Over the last few decades, he had certainly looked!
Now, he needed his flesh itself to become processed. To scrape his own power from his soul, his corpse fragments from his stolen bones, his energies from their corrupted circuits. To ensure his future might wouldn't lose his current power base.
He had the power of the Weeping Willow ritual, used to consume the energy from the crystalized souls and fragments he brought here tonight, to power the deadly formation that would become pure, unowned, raw power with only a single purpose... Only one goal...
But for him to have a perfect foundation, for his stitched together, mangled soul to be contained?
He needed to sacrifice his current mortal form.
The last step before forcing reality to make him a full Saint.
The next step to godhood.
As his body dissolved, flesh dripping and bones crumbling, the formation held his mutated and stitched Soul within the grids, stable without a corpse shell. The massive remains of his many victims would join the cleansing cycle while keeping his spiritual self chained to this plane...
Then his new body would be crafted!
Raw power would ensure his body would be unmutated, able to withstand his gruesome presence, meridians strong enough to endure his terrifying and enhanced liquid Qi, Soul forced to bond tightly to a new home!
His vision dimmed as he cackled with glee, feeling the grip of master formation patterns hold him away from the... the...
...In the end, he never saw or noticed the modified formation as it continued to refine away his flesh, his bones, his Qi... and then his Soul.
Honestly, the end of his journey for power was likely too peaceful for one like him.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam blinked. Huh.
There was now a strange cycle of energy forming down there, a cleansed soul soaked in unimaginable levels of evil and corruption bound to a heavily cursed skeleton that continuously wiped away energy signatures. In fact, some of the resulting purified power he saw was now beginning to seep into the mountain itself.
...Oh crap, the ceremony up here on the surface might be self perpetuating now. Shit. Rockette?
"...Ding."
Double shit. Right, what would be the effects?
Any energies related to death, corruption, poison... all would be drawn to this graveyard on mount Kirin. And sucked into this never ending ritual far below. Then used to reinforce the power flowing over this mountain.
That power was still being focused toward that 'Weeping Willow', so uh... the 'glowing' effect was not going to stop once it got started.
Also, overflow.
There was ALREADY too much power being cleaned downstairs right now, excess was leaking into the mountain and city as runoff already.
This whole area would likely become a holy region in the next decade or so, especially if the local Sect doesn't lock down this location to outsiders... Any outside Cultivators would theoretically be a great source of corruption for these formations to harvest and recycle.
...Could he duplicate this without the apparent torture and mutilated body aspects? This thing would be pretty useful against anyone trying to use the darker abilities in the world. Undead techniques would just unravel, curses collapse, possessions fall apart.
Then again, everything Rockette was submitting right now was making his blood crawl. It was gross, it was creepy, it was malicious... and in the end, Adam felt he could make something better anyway, something actually designed from the ground up rather than this hodgepodge that Rockette and the Asura Eye had scraped together.
On one hand? He hadn't needed to do anything himself! It was a bit refreshing really.
On the OTHER hand, there was no one left for Adam to have a 'talk' to, or to experiment on.
Which was... frustrating.
His attention was pulled as Tianshi tugged his robe. "Da, swap it! You gotta flip your cloak! The tree's glowing!"
Chuckling, he did as instructed and watched with a careful eye as the cleansed energies impacted his defensive barriers around the young and vulnerable.
Even if this wave of energy was beneficial, it could still kill people unprepared through shock... It should be fine to slowly weaken the protection over the night, so that they could get used to this pulsing spiritual energy being released.
Considering that this was going to be the new 'normal', it was probably best to let them adapt.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Elder Cho frowned. "Call them back."
She glanced at the innocent looking ring that Adam's guard had the boy create.
With THIS level of creation, this type of advancement? Being away from the Sect wouldn't be enough to protect anything.
Might as well have him nearby, where they could try to support him as he destroys culture and traditions by accident.
With a mental sigh, she began, AGAIN, the massive and complicated process to meet with the Burning Sword Sect's Patriarch . AGAIN. In less than a week, no less.
But... glancing at the ring, such an innocent item that would allow their Sect to not be robbed, their people to become more powerful, their resources to be easier to trade an safer to bestow...
Well, it was worth it.
Her eye twitched at the massive mound of documentation to be filled out.
AGAIN.
...Still worth it.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
It was... MUCH later.
Frankly, Adam was a bit miffed that the lead guard just ASSUMED that HE was involved in all this mess!
It was technically just his Martial Spirit. Mostly.
But yeah, the tree glowed. A lot.
There was now a small STREAM of 'tears', the tree itself was growing at a slow but visible rate, little motes of light kept floating up from the ground... and it was NOT. HIS. FAULT.
...That being said, showing the lead guard the screaming black skeleton didn't really make her feel any confidence with his denials. Because she said that was something she could see Adam doing, especially if that person was targeting Tianshi or Sister Quan.
Which he was.
And uh. Arguing that point was not really believable. Even HE knew that attacking his friends was a bit of a trigger issue.
So they were heading back to the Sect.
Rockette was able to connect to Sister Dian and her tattoo network, the kids would still be able to get their needed spiritual energy through tattoo trades and energy allocations (At least until they returned to their OWN Sect), and if anything came up Sister Dian could send Rockette a message, no problem!
True, Adam hadn't made it even a full year before various issues forced him to come back... which was a bit embarrassing, honestly.
But on the other hand, reality seemed to be... pushing him.
Best get out of the world for a while, spend some time cultivating, and put out missions for other Sect members to get him the fun stuff he desired... hopefully without plots, monsters, or rare events.
Adam blinked.
Huh. Looks like Elder Cho just gave the Marked Tattoo (Ring Version!) he made to the Patriarch of the Burning Sword Sect.
Wonder what he thinks about it?
After all, it had a long way to go. Right now? It could only trade units of energy, items, information, and communication. Plus a few gimmicks, like portable workshops and that attempt at time accelerated cheese maturation spacial pockets.
Bet he will be impressed when Adam gets that 'Fast Travel' system to stop exploding!
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I wouldn't believe Adam either.
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