Battle Through the Heavens - 4
- Location
- Brazil
"So, how are you feeling?" I asked the downed Zhu Kun as he returned to the waking world.
"Like the last ten thousand years were for nothing… It's painful, but I am glad it is finally over. That I could rage and fight as I pleased toward the end." The dragon emperor admitted without shame as he slowly rose into a crouched position to access this new scar running from shoulder to abdomen. If he were to look at his back with a mirror, he would see it run all the way through. "I am alive after all. For a moment I could swear… but no. I feel different." He asked me with an inquiring look.
Normally I wouldn't accept questions from what should amount to a subjugated slave, even my modern sensitivities don't change the reality between subjugated and subjugated, but Zhu Kun and I had built a rapport with one another. He might be imperiously asking… but he is still asking instead of demanding. To a creature that effortlessly demands deference from all magical beasts this simply is his version of submission, even if he is intelligent his view still deviates from the human perception of taming.
Honestly, I rather like it. Yanka was right, people lining up for the privilege of kissing your ass was rather odious. The higher my standing the rarer people like Zhu Kun become. No reason not to cherish what I get.
"The sword has a rather nasty curse, the poison of mortality that imposes the fear of death and the agony of life to that which should be above such concerns. While your draconic constitution places you distant from death the fact you pursued the means to ascend means you are still mortal in the end. This allowed me to heal you, all medicines are poisons after all. But it still required some "transformation" as a toll for your brief brush with death. After all, Death is something mortals fear and detest however they linger past it. What transient creatures truly fear is an ending, they fear change."
It was a rather complex topic Zhu Kun could only grasp because he had experienced it for himself. Death was like a mirror. One cannot die without surrendering oneself and without death one cannot be transformed. Those who stubbornly cling to their old selves are condemned to a liminal existence, remaining as shades, mere shadows of what they used to be.
Zhu Kun fought with tenacity and faced the reality of his defeat with dignity. A dragon sitting atop the treasure he coveted the most yet could never enjoy.
"Where is this place?" The dragon emperor asked as he examined the opulent castle that seemed to stretch endlessly.
"We are inside the Tou She Ancient God Mansion. I used a treasure of mine to force my way through, after all I am the rightful successor of all Origin Ki of this world. I have no obligation to acquiesce to the demands of petty tyrants."
"Just like that, you forced your way through… it is my complete defeat." Zhu Kun stands up, an indecipherable countenance takes hold of him. It is never easy to let go of a dream.
"Come on, let's forge ahead. You look like the kind that thinks with your feet, stretching your legs after so long can only make you good." I say as I throw a bottle of nectar at his head. I wanted to see for myself if the void dragon's famous nose for treasure lives up to its reputation.
"T-that is!" He says in wonderment and incredulity.
"The next best thing. It is never enough, not really. But it allows you to keep going. I can't say I understand you lone cultivators single minded obsession with the ladder but failure always hurts. It's better to just let it go, there is nobody here but you and me. I promise I am not going to laugh or think less of you, neither will I ever mention it." I say while giving my back to Zhu Kun, a concession to his privacy. I knew after all what it was like to be imprisoned in a black box without even suicide as a escape.
"…"
No matter how many times one hears it, the sound of a grown man brawling his eyes out is always of an ugliness that rent the soul.
A hallmark of Battle Saint realm is the ability to manipulate the energy of heaven and earth to create demiplanes, at the highest levels they can even manipulate all the battle energy of these planes, becoming akin to its gods. In the Dou Ki Continent, there are records of countless such planes left behind by Battle Saints holding all kinds of treasures and legacies which open from time to time.
This place stands out though. It is surprising… solid. Stable. No castle could hope to stand my might but I could actually fight inside the Tou She Ancient God Mansion without fear of the place crumbling around my ear. You know, like it just happened when in my fight with the dragon emperor.
The place was enormous, a mansion filled with treasures accrued through an insanely long lifespan of high-level battle energy cultivators. It could take months for me to fine-comb through this place on my own, that is why Zhu Kun is taking point. The instincts of magical beasts often take preference over their logic so it isn't that surprising the strongest lifeform of the continent can perform such feats. His nose is better than any compass, my Penglai identification spell pointed out all kinds of precious artifacts Zhu Kun regard so much as trash unworthy of consideration or the effort of slowing down to pick it up.
We crossed the place at a sedated normal pace for no other reason than there was no need to rush, plus we could use the time to get to know each other a little better. Zhu Kun spent the last thousands of years trapped in the hole I had found him in. He was more than happy to have a conversation with something other than his own thoughts. A lot has happened since he walked the Dou Ki Continent, but the topic soon wore out by the end of the first day so we moved to more personal topics.
It seems he has a daughter who he got separated from when he got trapped where I found him. He is certain she is alive though and now hopes to see her once again. Really, talk about hitting the nail in the head. He really is a straightforward fellow; these kinds of people are always hard to deal with. Without even realizing, or maybe guided by intuition and instinct, he forced me to tip my hand. Dealing with topics I often go out of my way to banish from the forefront of my mind.
Most guests worth hearing about don't simply knock at one's door. The heroic realm is the period in the life of a Greek cultivator where he is most active, always traveling and wandering in search of adventure. Tyrants on the other hand are ubiquitous sedentary, the Conqueror being the most glaring exception.
After I close my Epic I hope to reconnect with my own friends and family. It was selfish but I could not balance between those two responsibilities. I embarked on this venture to reform the Tyrant Realm because I couldn't bear to let such a sword eternally hang over Megumi, Tsumiki, or any other of my children's heads. Those two had already become adults during the time I hadn't been looking, I am more than happy to surrender the spotlight for them. To be honest I don't even know what will happen after I return to Prehevil. That is why I want to enjoy the time we will have together. I didn't even tell them they have a younger sibling… and speaking of siblings, I have an estranged prodigal son to reconnect with.
I still remember when Yuki brought a scuffed and bruised elementary student to my door. Megumi and Tsumiki thought she had kidnapped the boy. To tell the truth, so did I. Ever since youth Todo was… a character. It was clear he was picking strange habits from Yuki when he asked me what kind of woman I was into, which forced me to step in before he grew into a total weirdo. When Yuki and I parted ways, he took it the hardest.
While part of me wondered how Kenjaku could ever pull a wool over Todo's eyes, the answer was rather obvious in hindsight. He never once met her despite ample opportunity, considering he also avoided saying a single word to me when we met it was clear he took his oath to heart. A prodigy who reached the sophic realm in two years, he could clear as day that his two parental figures were being cowards. Our traumas and hang ups were what led to our relationship to fall apart, the ideological divergence was just a convenient excuse. I could have gone broke and risked it all in a gamble that would either get us back together or break things for good. But I didn't. Because I believed we had all the time in the world.
Todo was so disgusted by our cowardice that he swore to never speak to either of us again. I knew a challenge when I heard one. Zhu Kun showed himself to be a good listener and wished me best of luck while also mentioning my owe gave him strength to face the incoming earful his daughter was reserving for him.
It's been a long time since I had this sort of conversation with anyone. Really, the dragon emperor turned out to be a great friend. Who would have guessed?
A few more days trekking through the attic of the Dou Ancestor and we finally were getting somewhere. A trophy room to be precise. Its content? Essence Flames. In this world there exists flames given birth by natural forces that bear unique and exotic properties. Not only do they outperform most flames created through Battle Techniques but they also find to be of great use for apothecaries since they can help to increase the effect of the pills they create. It is said that when a Heavenly Flame is present, all other flames fear and follow it because they are the kings of flames and all other flames naturally serve it.
Heavenly Flames are formed through the slow accumulation in auspicious locations well suited for each flame. The fire snake elemental responsible for the fast cultivation of the Sky Tower that I had to sneak past to get here was identified by the Penglai Style as [Fallen Heart Flame], ranked 14º among essence flames.
Said that, it is possible for such special flames to be "duplicated". The proof is right in front of me. Standing in a place of prominence, the Dou Ancestor that created this mansion set twenty-three altars to display his collection of Essence Flames. The Penglai showed itself to be as useful as ever naming each flame and its rank: Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame (4th), Life Spirit Flame (5th), Eight Wasteland Destruction Flame (6th), Nine Serene Golden Ancestor Flame (7th), Red Lotus Ye Flame (8th), Three Thousand Burning Flame (9th), Nine Serene Wind Flame (10th), Chilling Bone Flame (11th), Nine Dragon Lightning Flame (12th), Turtle Spirit Earthly Flame (13th), Fallen Heart Flame (14th), Sea Heart Flame (15th), Flaming Cloud Water Flame (16th), Fire Mountain Rock Flame (17th), Wind and Thunder Fury Flame (18th), Blue Lotus Geocentric Flame (19th), Ghostly Poison Flame (20th), Yin-Yang Twin Flame (21st), Ten Thousand Beast Flame (22nd), Mysterious Yellow Flame (23rd).
The only ones missing from his collection were the top three Heavenly Flames: Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame (3rd), Nihility Devouring Flame (2nd) which I now possessed and the mysterious first rank Heavenly Flame nobody knows anything about safe in the fact it exists. Yet I could feel how this place evoked a hatred, resentment, and fear from the Nihility Devouring Flame that surpassed any ill feeling it had toward me, his new master. And indeed, there are three empty pedestals deprived of any trophy. Tou She Ancient God had once upon a time collected all essence flames, including the top three.
Every hero is a new bearer and successor of the Champion's Olympic Flame, it should be obvious in hindsight. Essence flames can be duplicated. Even the top three are no exception, the Nihility Devouring Flame literally usurped the Soul Clan by giving their members buds of its Essence Flame. It is as my old mentor, master Jeong Jeong, said – if the element of Air supports life then Fire is life itself. It breathes and it hungers, always dancing and changing.
"So, for how long do you intend on scouring away in the shadows? Reveal yourself!" I say toward the first living being we met inside this place. The dragon emperor at my side redirected his attention from the grand display toward the figure revealing itself. In the end these Essence Flames were all embers deprived of any vitality, it would take thousands of years cultivating in auspicious places for any of them to be of any use. This was just a show of force from the Dou Ancestor. This place is as good as any for a fight.
The occluded figure was that of a solidly built man in his 50s, with an unassuming face he was wearing a deep colored robe and bearing a placid expression deprived of grandeur or uniqueness. If one was to ignore his multi-colored bright hair, he would appear little different from those ordinary elders.
"T-that is impossible!" the proud Zhu Kun recoiled at the stranger. "Tou She Ancient God! You are the Tou She Ancient God! What are you doing here?"
"Funny, isn't this precisely the place where I am most likely to be? The real question is who are you people invading my domain! The Mansion has never been opened, the eight pieces of my Tou She Ancient God's Jade hadn't been reunited yet! If such a thing had happened and the Mansion had been opened, I would have been aware of it, you thieves and tomb raiders! You lot are courting death! Don't think for a moment that I will let you walk away without telling me how you breached my home!"
I signed in exasperation, not the best course of action when a Half Battle God is threatening you but my mission just got a whole more complicated. Plus, this cheeky embryo God Pill was trying to pull a fast one on me of all people. It's as they say in my homeland, the land of trickery: every day a new sucker leaves the nest. Yet this wet behind the ears welp who lived home his entire existence was trying to pull a fast one on me!
Be it by coincidence or fate the Alchemy system and grading of the Dou Qi Continent align perfectly with that from Golarion. Pills and elixirs are graded from 1 to 6th grades in order of power and usefulness but things get dicey to formulas above that. In Golarion everything above 6th grade is labeled as "Great Discoveries" and regarded as the trademark of said alchemist which roughly equate to 7th and 8th grade pills. Incidentally, my first Great Discovery would be the first the secret of avoiding death by transferring my soul to a homunculus clone, a principle perfected after defeating Deskari to become an Unkindness-that-walks. Having developed means to avoid death next I focused on how to rectify it, my second Great Discovery is my [Elixir of Life] that I later perfected in the pursuit of synthesis of the Philosopher Stone – my Magnum Opus, a Grand Discovery equal to the infamous [Sun Orchid Elixir] which can restore the drinker to the prime of their youth (to a hero, it restores up to five hundred years' worth of heart blood), the rough equivalent of a 9th grade pill.
The embryo God Pill in front of me is a 10th rank pill, the same as my nectar which is purest liquid refinement itself. The Penglai identification summarizes it clearly, the person in front of me is a sentient medical pill like any other that cultivators consume to improve. Made from remnants of Origin Qi, it can be completed into a true God Pill capable of allowing a cultivator to reach the Battle God realm. That was the true purpose of the array the Soul Clan had set on the Central Plains.
Tiers 8 pills and above can be imbued or naturally develop a spirit. Along with this, the stronger the spirit, the higher the intelligence of the pill will be. The higher the level of the Tier (low level Tier 8, single colored Pill Lightning, versus High level Tier 8, 9 colored pill lightning, for example) the stronger the soul in the pill. Indeed, top grades (called 7 colored Pill Lightning pills for the rainbow lightning that manifest when it is completed) can even become pill beasts. A medicinal pill of tier 6 does indeed possess some intelligence. A tier 7 medicinal pill does indeed have greater intelligence. Some of the medicinal pills might even automatically fly away after coming out of the cauldron if one is not careful, causing an alchemist exhausted from refining it to be stunned. A tier 8 medicinal pill can even fight with a human. It is rumored that there are some tier nine medicinal pills that can even take a human form.
Like the bozo trying to swindle me right now.
Honestly, it is an amazing achievement. The creation of life. Then again to even the greatest receptarier my own alchemy would look just as miraculous. Even the best receptariers can't create a god-tier pill from trash material while turning lead into gold. Making wonders out of worthless materials is the whole point of alchemy. The ingredient list from high tier pills take centuries to millennia to grow in the most inhospitable of regions. The Life Spirit Flame is 5th ranked Heavenly Flame for possessing power of life instead of power of destruction: the steam produced by this flame helps to accelerate the growth of magical herbs, and it is said that if one tosses some seeds into this flame, those seeds would quickly germinate and grow. In other words, with this flame, one would no longer need to search for any herbs, and would be able to get boundless amounts of ingredients with just seeds. Its current master, Sheng Nong, is counted among the top 3 alchemists of the Dou Qi Continent.
Unfortunately for me this is an unmitigated roadblock to my mission. The embryo God Pill held inside of himself the Origin Qi that I sought. Wu Fou would never tear an innocent child apart, especially in self-benefit. As his successor I can't dishonor him or betray the trust he invested in me. But I can't simply let him go either, an existence such as him would be pursued by all cultivators of the world and beyond. A true conundrum… Well, that is why the Greeks believed in xenia in the first place. I can excuse his deceit in pursuit of freedom this once since he for all he knows we came here to devour him but my patience only goes so far.
"Enough of this sham, Embryo God Pill! I am Zagreus and I am sure you have heard my declaration already, even the walls of this dimension aren't thick enough to ward off my declaration." My words had the intended effect of breaking his composure but if anything he is broadcasting even more hostility than before. "Don't be in haste. I hold no ill will toward you, as a fellow spirit of this world I can't kill you in self-benefit without betraying my virtuous heart. But said that, I can't simply let you leave on your own either. So I offer you this deal, keeping in mind this is the only chance you will ever get and it is one more than what you deserve. You come together with us and I will offer you both freedom and protection." I say as sincerely as possible, carefully measuring every word out of my mouth as if Father in Raging Heaven himself was listening as witness.
The God Pill listened in, pondered his oddity, and then answered. "Very well, I accept your proposition and umbrage under your protection." He lied.
As a vessel of Origin Qi it is not an understatement to say that this sapient pill is the strongest entity of the Dou Qi Continent. The Embryo God Pill could have fought both Hun Tiandi and the Nihility Devouring Flame at the same time with good odds of victory, a fact it is well aware of. Plus, it has room to grow, becoming a complete God Pill would give it the power of a Battle God. All it would cost were the countless lives it would have to trample in order to reach the apex. This was a test of its character and the sentient pill was thoroughly failing it.
Time to draw a line of no return. The fundamental law of offer and demand and the implicit reciprocity therein. In the forum, where food and drink were plentiful and no one truly wanted for anything, a loaf of bread and a jug of good wine cost just one brass coin—a single sestertius. But that same loaf of bread, and that same jug of good wine, when presented to a starving man on the furthest western waste of the uncivilized frontier? That bread and wine was priceless. The exact amount was immaterial in the end, because that starving man would pay any price to have his hunger fed.
Or he'd kill the merchant and feast over his corpse.
I pulled out the Skeleton Key made of ivory lie from my shadow. "This is the artifact that I used to-
That was as far as I went before being assaulted by a sweet scent of medical herbs, a common ability of pill spirits elevated to its zenith. It ignited pneuma and battle energy through contact, effortlessly bypassing all forms of defense, even my kósmos. The Embryo God Pill assaulted me and my new friend with all the ferocity of a starving beast, enough spiritual pressure to collapse space itself. I made a show of struggling defending myself while he seized the prize and ran away at top speed.
"How vexing, he is running away." Zhu Kun commented at my side as we watched the spirit pill make a break for it.
"We finally reached the treasure room. It would be a problem if it caused a ruckus here. He will eventually come back just as fast when he realizes he was duped with a fake. Let's look around while we wait."
"Very cunning, I knew there was something off with the key the moment I didn't covet it despite how obviously valuable it was." The Dragon Emperor commented in passing; what frighteningly sharp instincts.
Sure enough, we hit the jackpot. It seems the Tou She Ancient God was a fellow alchemist, and that is why his records of his cook book are a treasure in itself. The reason for making a medicinal formula scroll required at least a tier four alchemist's strength. Some of the things that related to the flame temperature, the richness that the ingredients must be refined to, the response from the mixing of different ingredients etc were extremely complicated like chemistry formula. Simply too many details and idiosyncrasy to be of much use, that is why medicinal formulas for medicinal pills were not simply randomly recorded by just holding a paper and pen as one would imagine. Medicinal formulas all used Spiritual Strength to be composed and are to be recorded on the very soul of the reader, like a philosopher scroll imprinting the voice of his soul through rhetoric.
This courtesy was also stented to his Battle Qi technique scrolls, every single one in the Heaven rank. To give some perspective, an Earth Level Dou Technique could be said to be priced beyond the market as it was once heard that in the imperial capital of Jia Ma Empire, the price of a Earth Level Dou Technique had rocketed to a sky-high price which was equivalent to an entire year of taxes from the entire Jia Ma Empire.
Besides this there was a stock of preserved seed of mystic herbs from the entire Dou Qi continent, something half expected from the owner of the Life Spirit Flame but welcome nonetheless as it spares me a lot of legwork. What surprised me was the lack of artifacts though, or bathrooms in this place, for the matter. Cultivation of battle energy doesn't exempt one from bodily needs… I wonder.
Zhu Kun though, kept on gravitating back toward a stone tablet and the giant statue of the Tou She Ancient God. He was like a hound pursuing something and while Penglai style wasn't picking on anything prior trial and error showed me it wasn't flawless either – while it would detect any poison if two ordinary substances were harmless on their own but dangerous together, they could dribble its detection.
It might be one of those exceptional circumstances.
"What do you think?" I ask him.
"No doubt about it, the embryo God Pill is the consolation prize. The true legacy of this mansion guard is inside this statue." Zhu Kun affirmed and to make a point he attacked it with power capable of shattering mountains just to be violently knocked back like an insolent child by a seemingly ordinary statue bearing the same face as the spirit pill.
Clearly there was some trick to it, some hurdle one has to pass through in order to prove himself qualified. This place was built with care, while some treasures are infamous as deathtraps meant to torment raiders to amuse the undead spirits of deceased cultivators this place was clearly built as a legacy to prove one's existence. Its creator wanted to share his life achievement with someone worthy. The caprice of an antisocial fella.
Of course, even if I don't exactly know the trick behind it, I know someone who knows something. Or rather, something.
Opening my palm, I manifest the Nihility Devouring Flame, "time to earn you keep, bitch." I say pitilessly, the 2nd rank Heavenly Flame was now utterly my slave from the inside and out; even if it doesn't have a material body to vessel my starlight marrow the light of my Star Rage is more than enough for me to touch its soul directly. Despite its best effort the Nihility Devouring Flame couldn't hide any of its thoughts and feelings from me, it suspected a way of opening the secret fault and so I would make use of it.
Wordlessly the black flame imp jumped into the statue itself, causing it to shake and crack. Soon after the power of a Battle God emanated like flames from its eyes as it expelled the Nihility Devouring Flame from its body while cracking a porthole big enough for a single person. I could feel the influence of a Battle God trying to seize us all in hand but the flames of my defiant spirit rose in challenge, breaking its grip off with a contemptuous sneer. Just like that, the final trial was completed.
"I guess this is where I bow out. Even if I wanted to, it is clear that you are the only one compatible with the Legacy of the Ancestor." Zhu Kun said with as much dignity as he could. It was a familiar frustration by now, to stare at a treasure he could never seize.
"Even so you didn't travel this far for this long to not even have a worthwhile story to share afterward. I wouldn't have found this without you. Plus, it is only fair for me to show off my cool side as your new boss. Come on, let's see the legacy of the Dou Ancestor." I ordered with one hand over his shoulder as we marched toward the entrance.
I must admit I was curious after all.
[AUTHOR ROOM]
It has been a while but I got sick in a really tumultuous time so my updating speed kind of suffered. We now get a good look at the kind of weirdness this has to offer. Both in terms of Essence Flames and pills. I originally intended to have Zagreus battle the Embryonary God Pill in this chapter but there was enough content about the setting that I felt breaking it off in two chapters would just make it more confusing.
"Like the last ten thousand years were for nothing… It's painful, but I am glad it is finally over. That I could rage and fight as I pleased toward the end." The dragon emperor admitted without shame as he slowly rose into a crouched position to access this new scar running from shoulder to abdomen. If he were to look at his back with a mirror, he would see it run all the way through. "I am alive after all. For a moment I could swear… but no. I feel different." He asked me with an inquiring look.
Normally I wouldn't accept questions from what should amount to a subjugated slave, even my modern sensitivities don't change the reality between subjugated and subjugated, but Zhu Kun and I had built a rapport with one another. He might be imperiously asking… but he is still asking instead of demanding. To a creature that effortlessly demands deference from all magical beasts this simply is his version of submission, even if he is intelligent his view still deviates from the human perception of taming.
Honestly, I rather like it. Yanka was right, people lining up for the privilege of kissing your ass was rather odious. The higher my standing the rarer people like Zhu Kun become. No reason not to cherish what I get.
"The sword has a rather nasty curse, the poison of mortality that imposes the fear of death and the agony of life to that which should be above such concerns. While your draconic constitution places you distant from death the fact you pursued the means to ascend means you are still mortal in the end. This allowed me to heal you, all medicines are poisons after all. But it still required some "transformation" as a toll for your brief brush with death. After all, Death is something mortals fear and detest however they linger past it. What transient creatures truly fear is an ending, they fear change."
It was a rather complex topic Zhu Kun could only grasp because he had experienced it for himself. Death was like a mirror. One cannot die without surrendering oneself and without death one cannot be transformed. Those who stubbornly cling to their old selves are condemned to a liminal existence, remaining as shades, mere shadows of what they used to be.
Zhu Kun fought with tenacity and faced the reality of his defeat with dignity. A dragon sitting atop the treasure he coveted the most yet could never enjoy.
"Where is this place?" The dragon emperor asked as he examined the opulent castle that seemed to stretch endlessly.
"We are inside the Tou She Ancient God Mansion. I used a treasure of mine to force my way through, after all I am the rightful successor of all Origin Ki of this world. I have no obligation to acquiesce to the demands of petty tyrants."
"Just like that, you forced your way through… it is my complete defeat." Zhu Kun stands up, an indecipherable countenance takes hold of him. It is never easy to let go of a dream.
"Come on, let's forge ahead. You look like the kind that thinks with your feet, stretching your legs after so long can only make you good." I say as I throw a bottle of nectar at his head. I wanted to see for myself if the void dragon's famous nose for treasure lives up to its reputation.
"T-that is!" He says in wonderment and incredulity.
"The next best thing. It is never enough, not really. But it allows you to keep going. I can't say I understand you lone cultivators single minded obsession with the ladder but failure always hurts. It's better to just let it go, there is nobody here but you and me. I promise I am not going to laugh or think less of you, neither will I ever mention it." I say while giving my back to Zhu Kun, a concession to his privacy. I knew after all what it was like to be imprisoned in a black box without even suicide as a escape.
"…"
No matter how many times one hears it, the sound of a grown man brawling his eyes out is always of an ugliness that rent the soul.
-//-
A hallmark of Battle Saint realm is the ability to manipulate the energy of heaven and earth to create demiplanes, at the highest levels they can even manipulate all the battle energy of these planes, becoming akin to its gods. In the Dou Ki Continent, there are records of countless such planes left behind by Battle Saints holding all kinds of treasures and legacies which open from time to time.
This place stands out though. It is surprising… solid. Stable. No castle could hope to stand my might but I could actually fight inside the Tou She Ancient God Mansion without fear of the place crumbling around my ear. You know, like it just happened when in my fight with the dragon emperor.
The place was enormous, a mansion filled with treasures accrued through an insanely long lifespan of high-level battle energy cultivators. It could take months for me to fine-comb through this place on my own, that is why Zhu Kun is taking point. The instincts of magical beasts often take preference over their logic so it isn't that surprising the strongest lifeform of the continent can perform such feats. His nose is better than any compass, my Penglai identification spell pointed out all kinds of precious artifacts Zhu Kun regard so much as trash unworthy of consideration or the effort of slowing down to pick it up.
We crossed the place at a sedated normal pace for no other reason than there was no need to rush, plus we could use the time to get to know each other a little better. Zhu Kun spent the last thousands of years trapped in the hole I had found him in. He was more than happy to have a conversation with something other than his own thoughts. A lot has happened since he walked the Dou Ki Continent, but the topic soon wore out by the end of the first day so we moved to more personal topics.
It seems he has a daughter who he got separated from when he got trapped where I found him. He is certain she is alive though and now hopes to see her once again. Really, talk about hitting the nail in the head. He really is a straightforward fellow; these kinds of people are always hard to deal with. Without even realizing, or maybe guided by intuition and instinct, he forced me to tip my hand. Dealing with topics I often go out of my way to banish from the forefront of my mind.
Most guests worth hearing about don't simply knock at one's door. The heroic realm is the period in the life of a Greek cultivator where he is most active, always traveling and wandering in search of adventure. Tyrants on the other hand are ubiquitous sedentary, the Conqueror being the most glaring exception.
After I close my Epic I hope to reconnect with my own friends and family. It was selfish but I could not balance between those two responsibilities. I embarked on this venture to reform the Tyrant Realm because I couldn't bear to let such a sword eternally hang over Megumi, Tsumiki, or any other of my children's heads. Those two had already become adults during the time I hadn't been looking, I am more than happy to surrender the spotlight for them. To be honest I don't even know what will happen after I return to Prehevil. That is why I want to enjoy the time we will have together. I didn't even tell them they have a younger sibling… and speaking of siblings, I have an estranged prodigal son to reconnect with.
I still remember when Yuki brought a scuffed and bruised elementary student to my door. Megumi and Tsumiki thought she had kidnapped the boy. To tell the truth, so did I. Ever since youth Todo was… a character. It was clear he was picking strange habits from Yuki when he asked me what kind of woman I was into, which forced me to step in before he grew into a total weirdo. When Yuki and I parted ways, he took it the hardest.
While part of me wondered how Kenjaku could ever pull a wool over Todo's eyes, the answer was rather obvious in hindsight. He never once met her despite ample opportunity, considering he also avoided saying a single word to me when we met it was clear he took his oath to heart. A prodigy who reached the sophic realm in two years, he could clear as day that his two parental figures were being cowards. Our traumas and hang ups were what led to our relationship to fall apart, the ideological divergence was just a convenient excuse. I could have gone broke and risked it all in a gamble that would either get us back together or break things for good. But I didn't. Because I believed we had all the time in the world.
Todo was so disgusted by our cowardice that he swore to never speak to either of us again. I knew a challenge when I heard one. Zhu Kun showed himself to be a good listener and wished me best of luck while also mentioning my owe gave him strength to face the incoming earful his daughter was reserving for him.
It's been a long time since I had this sort of conversation with anyone. Really, the dragon emperor turned out to be a great friend. Who would have guessed?
-//-
A few more days trekking through the attic of the Dou Ancestor and we finally were getting somewhere. A trophy room to be precise. Its content? Essence Flames. In this world there exists flames given birth by natural forces that bear unique and exotic properties. Not only do they outperform most flames created through Battle Techniques but they also find to be of great use for apothecaries since they can help to increase the effect of the pills they create. It is said that when a Heavenly Flame is present, all other flames fear and follow it because they are the kings of flames and all other flames naturally serve it.
Heavenly Flames are formed through the slow accumulation in auspicious locations well suited for each flame. The fire snake elemental responsible for the fast cultivation of the Sky Tower that I had to sneak past to get here was identified by the Penglai Style as [Fallen Heart Flame], ranked 14º among essence flames.
Said that, it is possible for such special flames to be "duplicated". The proof is right in front of me. Standing in a place of prominence, the Dou Ancestor that created this mansion set twenty-three altars to display his collection of Essence Flames. The Penglai showed itself to be as useful as ever naming each flame and its rank: Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame (4th), Life Spirit Flame (5th), Eight Wasteland Destruction Flame (6th), Nine Serene Golden Ancestor Flame (7th), Red Lotus Ye Flame (8th), Three Thousand Burning Flame (9th), Nine Serene Wind Flame (10th), Chilling Bone Flame (11th), Nine Dragon Lightning Flame (12th), Turtle Spirit Earthly Flame (13th), Fallen Heart Flame (14th), Sea Heart Flame (15th), Flaming Cloud Water Flame (16th), Fire Mountain Rock Flame (17th), Wind and Thunder Fury Flame (18th), Blue Lotus Geocentric Flame (19th), Ghostly Poison Flame (20th), Yin-Yang Twin Flame (21st), Ten Thousand Beast Flame (22nd), Mysterious Yellow Flame (23rd).
The only ones missing from his collection were the top three Heavenly Flames: Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame (3rd), Nihility Devouring Flame (2nd) which I now possessed and the mysterious first rank Heavenly Flame nobody knows anything about safe in the fact it exists. Yet I could feel how this place evoked a hatred, resentment, and fear from the Nihility Devouring Flame that surpassed any ill feeling it had toward me, his new master. And indeed, there are three empty pedestals deprived of any trophy. Tou She Ancient God had once upon a time collected all essence flames, including the top three.
Every hero is a new bearer and successor of the Champion's Olympic Flame, it should be obvious in hindsight. Essence flames can be duplicated. Even the top three are no exception, the Nihility Devouring Flame literally usurped the Soul Clan by giving their members buds of its Essence Flame. It is as my old mentor, master Jeong Jeong, said – if the element of Air supports life then Fire is life itself. It breathes and it hungers, always dancing and changing.
"So, for how long do you intend on scouring away in the shadows? Reveal yourself!" I say toward the first living being we met inside this place. The dragon emperor at my side redirected his attention from the grand display toward the figure revealing itself. In the end these Essence Flames were all embers deprived of any vitality, it would take thousands of years cultivating in auspicious places for any of them to be of any use. This was just a show of force from the Dou Ancestor. This place is as good as any for a fight.
The occluded figure was that of a solidly built man in his 50s, with an unassuming face he was wearing a deep colored robe and bearing a placid expression deprived of grandeur or uniqueness. If one was to ignore his multi-colored bright hair, he would appear little different from those ordinary elders.
"T-that is impossible!" the proud Zhu Kun recoiled at the stranger. "Tou She Ancient God! You are the Tou She Ancient God! What are you doing here?"
"Funny, isn't this precisely the place where I am most likely to be? The real question is who are you people invading my domain! The Mansion has never been opened, the eight pieces of my Tou She Ancient God's Jade hadn't been reunited yet! If such a thing had happened and the Mansion had been opened, I would have been aware of it, you thieves and tomb raiders! You lot are courting death! Don't think for a moment that I will let you walk away without telling me how you breached my home!"
I signed in exasperation, not the best course of action when a Half Battle God is threatening you but my mission just got a whole more complicated. Plus, this cheeky embryo God Pill was trying to pull a fast one on me of all people. It's as they say in my homeland, the land of trickery: every day a new sucker leaves the nest. Yet this wet behind the ears welp who lived home his entire existence was trying to pull a fast one on me!
Be it by coincidence or fate the Alchemy system and grading of the Dou Qi Continent align perfectly with that from Golarion. Pills and elixirs are graded from 1 to 6th grades in order of power and usefulness but things get dicey to formulas above that. In Golarion everything above 6th grade is labeled as "Great Discoveries" and regarded as the trademark of said alchemist which roughly equate to 7th and 8th grade pills. Incidentally, my first Great Discovery would be the first the secret of avoiding death by transferring my soul to a homunculus clone, a principle perfected after defeating Deskari to become an Unkindness-that-walks. Having developed means to avoid death next I focused on how to rectify it, my second Great Discovery is my [Elixir of Life] that I later perfected in the pursuit of synthesis of the Philosopher Stone – my Magnum Opus, a Grand Discovery equal to the infamous [Sun Orchid Elixir] which can restore the drinker to the prime of their youth (to a hero, it restores up to five hundred years' worth of heart blood), the rough equivalent of a 9th grade pill.
The embryo God Pill in front of me is a 10th rank pill, the same as my nectar which is purest liquid refinement itself. The Penglai identification summarizes it clearly, the person in front of me is a sentient medical pill like any other that cultivators consume to improve. Made from remnants of Origin Qi, it can be completed into a true God Pill capable of allowing a cultivator to reach the Battle God realm. That was the true purpose of the array the Soul Clan had set on the Central Plains.
Tiers 8 pills and above can be imbued or naturally develop a spirit. Along with this, the stronger the spirit, the higher the intelligence of the pill will be. The higher the level of the Tier (low level Tier 8, single colored Pill Lightning, versus High level Tier 8, 9 colored pill lightning, for example) the stronger the soul in the pill. Indeed, top grades (called 7 colored Pill Lightning pills for the rainbow lightning that manifest when it is completed) can even become pill beasts. A medicinal pill of tier 6 does indeed possess some intelligence. A tier 7 medicinal pill does indeed have greater intelligence. Some of the medicinal pills might even automatically fly away after coming out of the cauldron if one is not careful, causing an alchemist exhausted from refining it to be stunned. A tier 8 medicinal pill can even fight with a human. It is rumored that there are some tier nine medicinal pills that can even take a human form.
Like the bozo trying to swindle me right now.
Honestly, it is an amazing achievement. The creation of life. Then again to even the greatest receptarier my own alchemy would look just as miraculous. Even the best receptariers can't create a god-tier pill from trash material while turning lead into gold. Making wonders out of worthless materials is the whole point of alchemy. The ingredient list from high tier pills take centuries to millennia to grow in the most inhospitable of regions. The Life Spirit Flame is 5th ranked Heavenly Flame for possessing power of life instead of power of destruction: the steam produced by this flame helps to accelerate the growth of magical herbs, and it is said that if one tosses some seeds into this flame, those seeds would quickly germinate and grow. In other words, with this flame, one would no longer need to search for any herbs, and would be able to get boundless amounts of ingredients with just seeds. Its current master, Sheng Nong, is counted among the top 3 alchemists of the Dou Qi Continent.
Unfortunately for me this is an unmitigated roadblock to my mission. The embryo God Pill held inside of himself the Origin Qi that I sought. Wu Fou would never tear an innocent child apart, especially in self-benefit. As his successor I can't dishonor him or betray the trust he invested in me. But I can't simply let him go either, an existence such as him would be pursued by all cultivators of the world and beyond. A true conundrum… Well, that is why the Greeks believed in xenia in the first place. I can excuse his deceit in pursuit of freedom this once since he for all he knows we came here to devour him but my patience only goes so far.
"Enough of this sham, Embryo God Pill! I am Zagreus and I am sure you have heard my declaration already, even the walls of this dimension aren't thick enough to ward off my declaration." My words had the intended effect of breaking his composure but if anything he is broadcasting even more hostility than before. "Don't be in haste. I hold no ill will toward you, as a fellow spirit of this world I can't kill you in self-benefit without betraying my virtuous heart. But said that, I can't simply let you leave on your own either. So I offer you this deal, keeping in mind this is the only chance you will ever get and it is one more than what you deserve. You come together with us and I will offer you both freedom and protection." I say as sincerely as possible, carefully measuring every word out of my mouth as if Father in Raging Heaven himself was listening as witness.
The God Pill listened in, pondered his oddity, and then answered. "Very well, I accept your proposition and umbrage under your protection." He lied.
As a vessel of Origin Qi it is not an understatement to say that this sapient pill is the strongest entity of the Dou Qi Continent. The Embryo God Pill could have fought both Hun Tiandi and the Nihility Devouring Flame at the same time with good odds of victory, a fact it is well aware of. Plus, it has room to grow, becoming a complete God Pill would give it the power of a Battle God. All it would cost were the countless lives it would have to trample in order to reach the apex. This was a test of its character and the sentient pill was thoroughly failing it.
Time to draw a line of no return. The fundamental law of offer and demand and the implicit reciprocity therein. In the forum, where food and drink were plentiful and no one truly wanted for anything, a loaf of bread and a jug of good wine cost just one brass coin—a single sestertius. But that same loaf of bread, and that same jug of good wine, when presented to a starving man on the furthest western waste of the uncivilized frontier? That bread and wine was priceless. The exact amount was immaterial in the end, because that starving man would pay any price to have his hunger fed.
Or he'd kill the merchant and feast over his corpse.
I pulled out the Skeleton Key made of ivory lie from my shadow. "This is the artifact that I used to-
That was as far as I went before being assaulted by a sweet scent of medical herbs, a common ability of pill spirits elevated to its zenith. It ignited pneuma and battle energy through contact, effortlessly bypassing all forms of defense, even my kósmos. The Embryo God Pill assaulted me and my new friend with all the ferocity of a starving beast, enough spiritual pressure to collapse space itself. I made a show of struggling defending myself while he seized the prize and ran away at top speed.
"How vexing, he is running away." Zhu Kun commented at my side as we watched the spirit pill make a break for it.
"We finally reached the treasure room. It would be a problem if it caused a ruckus here. He will eventually come back just as fast when he realizes he was duped with a fake. Let's look around while we wait."
"Very cunning, I knew there was something off with the key the moment I didn't covet it despite how obviously valuable it was." The Dragon Emperor commented in passing; what frighteningly sharp instincts.
-//-
Sure enough, we hit the jackpot. It seems the Tou She Ancient God was a fellow alchemist, and that is why his records of his cook book are a treasure in itself. The reason for making a medicinal formula scroll required at least a tier four alchemist's strength. Some of the things that related to the flame temperature, the richness that the ingredients must be refined to, the response from the mixing of different ingredients etc were extremely complicated like chemistry formula. Simply too many details and idiosyncrasy to be of much use, that is why medicinal formulas for medicinal pills were not simply randomly recorded by just holding a paper and pen as one would imagine. Medicinal formulas all used Spiritual Strength to be composed and are to be recorded on the very soul of the reader, like a philosopher scroll imprinting the voice of his soul through rhetoric.
This courtesy was also stented to his Battle Qi technique scrolls, every single one in the Heaven rank. To give some perspective, an Earth Level Dou Technique could be said to be priced beyond the market as it was once heard that in the imperial capital of Jia Ma Empire, the price of a Earth Level Dou Technique had rocketed to a sky-high price which was equivalent to an entire year of taxes from the entire Jia Ma Empire.
Besides this there was a stock of preserved seed of mystic herbs from the entire Dou Qi continent, something half expected from the owner of the Life Spirit Flame but welcome nonetheless as it spares me a lot of legwork. What surprised me was the lack of artifacts though, or bathrooms in this place, for the matter. Cultivation of battle energy doesn't exempt one from bodily needs… I wonder.
Zhu Kun though, kept on gravitating back toward a stone tablet and the giant statue of the Tou She Ancient God. He was like a hound pursuing something and while Penglai style wasn't picking on anything prior trial and error showed me it wasn't flawless either – while it would detect any poison if two ordinary substances were harmless on their own but dangerous together, they could dribble its detection.
It might be one of those exceptional circumstances.
"What do you think?" I ask him.
"No doubt about it, the embryo God Pill is the consolation prize. The true legacy of this mansion guard is inside this statue." Zhu Kun affirmed and to make a point he attacked it with power capable of shattering mountains just to be violently knocked back like an insolent child by a seemingly ordinary statue bearing the same face as the spirit pill.
Clearly there was some trick to it, some hurdle one has to pass through in order to prove himself qualified. This place was built with care, while some treasures are infamous as deathtraps meant to torment raiders to amuse the undead spirits of deceased cultivators this place was clearly built as a legacy to prove one's existence. Its creator wanted to share his life achievement with someone worthy. The caprice of an antisocial fella.
Of course, even if I don't exactly know the trick behind it, I know someone who knows something. Or rather, something.
Opening my palm, I manifest the Nihility Devouring Flame, "time to earn you keep, bitch." I say pitilessly, the 2nd rank Heavenly Flame was now utterly my slave from the inside and out; even if it doesn't have a material body to vessel my starlight marrow the light of my Star Rage is more than enough for me to touch its soul directly. Despite its best effort the Nihility Devouring Flame couldn't hide any of its thoughts and feelings from me, it suspected a way of opening the secret fault and so I would make use of it.
Wordlessly the black flame imp jumped into the statue itself, causing it to shake and crack. Soon after the power of a Battle God emanated like flames from its eyes as it expelled the Nihility Devouring Flame from its body while cracking a porthole big enough for a single person. I could feel the influence of a Battle God trying to seize us all in hand but the flames of my defiant spirit rose in challenge, breaking its grip off with a contemptuous sneer. Just like that, the final trial was completed.
"I guess this is where I bow out. Even if I wanted to, it is clear that you are the only one compatible with the Legacy of the Ancestor." Zhu Kun said with as much dignity as he could. It was a familiar frustration by now, to stare at a treasure he could never seize.
"Even so you didn't travel this far for this long to not even have a worthwhile story to share afterward. I wouldn't have found this without you. Plus, it is only fair for me to show off my cool side as your new boss. Come on, let's see the legacy of the Dou Ancestor." I ordered with one hand over his shoulder as we marched toward the entrance.
I must admit I was curious after all.
-//-
[AUTHOR ROOM]
It has been a while but I got sick in a really tumultuous time so my updating speed kind of suffered. We now get a good look at the kind of weirdness this has to offer. Both in terms of Essence Flames and pills. I originally intended to have Zagreus battle the Embryonary God Pill in this chapter but there was enough content about the setting that I felt breaking it off in two chapters would just make it more confusing.
