- Pronouns
- TheSilverStar
Actually, when in the timeline is this taking place in BTTH?
DODGE THE WHEEL
- Thread starter BrunofanofK
- Start date
- Crossover
- Location
- Brazil
A little before the start of canon.
- Location
- Ukraine
It's little out of blue, but my curiosity tortures me. What happened with Riko Amanai? Where is she now?
Did she became a member of Raging Heaven cult? Did Satoru and Geto talk to her? How she feel about all this new era? And last, how Tengen ascension influence her? She after all, Star Plasma Vessel?
- Location
- Brazil
She dipped out of the country with the help of Yuki. You know, like Maki should have done instead of stucking around in a vain attempt of validation. Seriously, Toji could make a living as a professional athleta but instead decided to live as a bum. I understand both of them have mental scars from abuse but Zagreus is of the opinion the best revenge is living well.
Battle Through the Heavens - 7
- Location
- Brazil
"Sixteenth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Flaming Cloud Water Flame, in position!" Zagreus shouted with a voice capable of shaking heaven and earth. Even if his body was clearly struggling and overexerting, nothing of it showed on his firm voice and the flame in possession of Huo Yao from the Fire clan fled his body as another fire streak cut through the sky to seat in the Heavenly Flame Square. Another tongue of fire cut the heaven and another band of light added to the cremation burial array that intended to bury this age of struggle.
The casual feat of stealing a heavenly flame was a blow below the belt for the venerable alliance. As the most powerful clans they monopolize together over ten of the ranked abnormal flames. It not only represented a significant loss of battle power but also crippled some of their most powerful combatants. The violent loss of a heavenly flame comes from the effective loss of more than half of the owner's original strength.
"Fifteenth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Sea Heart Flame, in position!"
"This is a critical moment for our clan's survival! Activate the Heavenly Transformation Yao Formation!" Screamed the patriarch of the Medicine clan as his battle aura soared and his clan tattoos activated in his forehead with coruscant light. The medicine clan resorted to their trump card in a moment of despair, dozens of pillars of light containing hundreds of thousands of medicine pills shot up into the air. "In the name of the pills! Founding Ancestor Return!"
At this declaration their communal effort condensed into an eidolon of a venerable cultivator made of pure golden light. As he manifested, the Yao clan showered him with greetings and prayers. The specter of the Medicine God graced the Dou Qi continent for the first time in epochs. Using a soul fragment left of him by his descendants to manifest a memory of intention. A fitting trump card for a venerable clan, remnants of ancient races that relied on the power of blood they so desperately cling to.
Alas, Battle God or not, it was just a shadow of what once was. A Puppet without memory or soul. Zagreus snorted in derision at the trump card of the Medicine clan as if saying he was unimpressed, then at his snap fingers the biggest mountain of sacred Penglai split open to reveal a pillar of light dragging something up to the dragon emperor.
"Fourteenth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Fallen Heart Flame, in position!" Zagreus proclaimed to invoke a colorless flame snake from the magma bed that once had been the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower used by Jia Nan Academy as a Training Cheat Machine for millennia. If the Fallen Heart Flame' and another flame that was ranked between five and ten were placed in front of any cultivator for him to choose, it was likely that most of them would choose the former. For no other reason other than its ability to repeatedly provide Dou Qi to their bodies with a refining effect throughout the day and night was too attractive an offer. Yet the sight of such a treasure barely elicited any attention compared to what lay in front of the dragon emperor.
The block of green to yellow jade mountain side opens to reveal a sword unlike any other, made from and embody the sacred island itself. Its emerald mountain as the core and handle, the azure sea as its body, and it's golden clouds and crowing rainbow as its edge. This was the [Blade of the Clouds Sea], an artifact that embody millions of years of cultivation. Even the dragon emperor visibly struggled brandishing such weapon eve as he marveled at it.
"Such a beautifully strong blade," Zhu Kun parroted in wonderment as he pointed it against the Medicine God's ghost. "It is my honor and privilege to kill a god with such a treasure." With a purposeful swing of the blade the dragon emperor created a trail of mountains and sea wherever the [Blade of the Clouds Sea]. Using his swordsmanship Zhu Kun perfectly in his long lifetime the dragon emperor performed a masterful display. "Grand as the ocean and sky, always changing and never ending! If I keep going… I can create millions of blades – Blades of the Cloudy Sea!"
"Thirteenth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Turtle Spirit Earthly Flame, in position!"
As another Heavenly Flame abandoned a member of the Medicine clan, the Medicine God manifested a luxurious Medicinal Caldron of intention to pit against the slit storm of blades that converged and synergized with each other. Immovable object was pitted against unstoppable force as their clash grounded mountains into sand. It was a clash of myth, not seen since ancient times. Yet only one was true while the other was a spurious mimicry. The battle aura eidolon of the Medicine God was overwhelmed, then overpowered, and finally destroyed in a grand display that scarred the continent with a new valley of lush and vibrant colors due to the sacred qi of Penglai.
The look of the Medicine clansmen said it all, it was as if they had already lost. They felt down to their souls that their ancestor soul fragment had been annihilated, something precious and irreplaceable in their bloodline disappeared completely never to return.
"Twelfth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Nine Dragon Thunder Astral Flame, in position!" Zagreus proclaimed as a gentle silver flame containing the aura of nine dragons capable of suppressing spiritual power flighted toward its place in the Heavenly Flame Square and expected to battle as if endowed with intelligence.
"Zagreus! My Ancient clan isn't like any other clan you can slaughter at your leisure! Don't think you will walk out of here alive!" Gu Yuan shouted in defiance to keep his subordinates' crumbling morale from collapsing.
"ANCIENT CLAN SEALING CLAW FORMATION!"
Shouted the strongest battle energy cultivator of the continent… more like the strongest available really. Said that his display of courage was enough to spur the other venerable clans as well.
"NINE DRAGON SKY LIGHTNING FORMATION!"
"FIRE CLAN GREAT BURNING SKY!"
The array of four Deathly Silent Gates called Deathly Realm Formation was being overwhelmed by their combined attack. Maybe if Zagreus had not revealed this trump card of the Soul clan it could have played a more decisive effect in the battle but forewarned is forearmed and the clans set up counters for this fearsome array. The backlash to the dragon tooth generals was overwhelming, their bodies were broken into pieces that scattered throughout the battlefield. Any normal puppet would be considered lost forever… Yet Zagreus was both unbothered, and worse unharmed. That fearsome combined attack capable of overpowering the legendary formation from ancient times didn't even ruffle his tunics! The dragon emperor by his side as a diligent bodyguard was also unbothered.
"Eleventh on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Bone Chilling Flame, in position!" Zagreus says almost as mockery, practically saying that the venerable alliance achievement means nothing.
"We managed to destroy his array, now is the time to strike!" Gu Yuan ordered for the sake of his subordinates. The dragon emperor might be formidable but so was his own, who rivaled his. Even if that sword turns things in the dragon emperor's favor the Medicine clan managed to heal the God Pill to the point it can turn things in their favor. "Attack! ANCIENT GOD MIRROR!"
"Tenth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Nine Serene Wind Flame, in position!"
Zhu Kun performed another Blades of the Cloudy Seas against the incoming attackers. The calamitous power of three half battle gods was such that the magma sea bed was split apart. Battle Venerates were dropping like flies from stray shots. The Fire clan, realizing their own Heavenly Flames were about to be stolen, used their secret techniques to make up for the difference as did the elder Yao Wanhuo, holder of the 10th ranked flame.
In the end their combined might prove to rival that of the dragon emperor despite the vital pneuma of sacred Penglai boosting him to new apex of power and the ancient artifact in his hand. The two sides found themselves locked in a fierce tug of war as they struggled for dominance. This lapse in commitment was the golden opportunity that Gu Yuan so desperately tried to create as he emerged from the battle aura storm by sidestepping the whole thing. Gambling it all into a decisive strike. "GOD SEALING THOUSAND PALMS!"
The patriarch of the Ancient Clan gambled his own life into a decisive strike. His sharp senses and experience allowed him to finally reach Zagreus but it would be for naught if he did not manage to put his enemy out of commission. Even among venerable clans the Ancient clan set itself apart due, this is in part due to their proficiency with seals. Every member has to pass a adulthood ritual performed using an imperial brush left behind by its ancestor capable of quantifying the power of the Battle God bloodline in strokes going from one to ten; this is how the Ancient clan managed to preserve their bloodline through careful management of its young blood through dozens of thousands of years.
As the patriarch of the clan his blood is of the highest purity, making his tattoo rainbow gold rank. This tattoo also allows the recipient to overclock their blood in moments of necessity and danger, granting a temporary boost in power. Gu Yuan went further than that though. He set his clan tattoo to literally burn through his bloodline power for ever further power. This is the gambit of his lifetime. A conflagration of power that eclipsed even the combined power of the combined alliance pitted against the dragon emperor.
"Ninth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Three Thousand Star Fire Flame, in position!" Said Zagreus, unfazed by the hands of violent intention that slowed down to a crawl at centimeters from his face. "You are wise to distrust the embryonic God Pill but your inability to truly work together in earnest is your downfall. Had the two of you attacked me at once the outcome would have been different." He boasted behind his kósmos barrier.
"Your time just ran out, the unseen cost of tunnel vision." Zagreus gloated at a joke only he could understand with an aristocratic look of derision reserved to the rabble. The dragon princess fulfilled her task perfectly without the venerable alliance being none the wiser and now they could fight unrestrained. "Behold, RAGING HEAVEN!"
At his world the world was consumed by a flash of light and next they knew the clear skies had been covered by a curtain of storm clouds as far as the eyes could see. The effect was instantaneous, the heavens was the domain of gods and beasts, not men. All wings were clipped, the flight ability cultivators take for granted was stripped from them and Tribulation Lightning fell from the storm crown like a million of arrows. The storm cared not for their standings or pedigree, it only cared to tear them apart. Divine Punishment manifested for a cultivator's foundational conceit, it blocked all mundane and mystical senses with deafening thunder and heavy curtain of water to the point none could see a palm in front of their faces. Suddenly their coalition was made mote, all cultivators have to face Raging Heaven on their lonesome.
"Eighth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Red Lotus Karma Flame, in position!" Yet that roaring voice still penetrated the storm and out blared the thunder. The countdown to their deaths.
Alas, when every man is left to fend for himself, alone and afraid while subjected to the rashness of nature, his brother starts to look like a handhold needing to pull himself from the precipice. The hunger for standing was a natural element of every human soul, and the temptation to abuse that standing was ever with us. Not always for its own sake, perhaps, but all too often opportunities presented themselves just out of reach, and all too often there were other people, subordinates or friends or even family, positioned just right to act as stepping stones so you could close that distance.
For the Embryonic God Pill it wasn't even a question at all.
"Seventh on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Nine Serene Golden Ancestor Flame, in position!"
The pulverized body of the dragon tooth generals now bloomed into an ivory garden of death. The land locked cultivators found themselves surrounded by an emerging army of dragon tooth warriors and were being viciously attacked under the coverage of heavy rain that dazzled their senses, making it impossible to differentiate between friend and foe. A perfect killing box, the alliance had been effectively scattered. Now it was every man for himself and who could successfully standalone against that?
"Sixth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Eight Desolations Annihilation Flame, in position!"
These Battle Venerates and Saints had once upon a time stood at the top of the world, and together they were an army capable of slaughtering all the empires and institutions of the Dou Qi continent. Yet their power availed them nothing, they had become cattle waiting for the slaughter. Is it any surprise then when someone else decides to make use of them? The Embryonic God Pill was created from some remnant of Origin Qi, while not enough to allow one break through yet if it feeds on enough battle aura it is possible for it to become a true God Pill.
The Bloody Array from the Soul clan intended to do so by sacrificing millions… but a lack of quantity can always be made up for with cheer quality. The Pill Spirit slaughtered everything in its wake in order to complete itself. Even the sweet smell of burning medicine herbs was washed by the rain, allowing it to kill with impunity and feast on venerable clan cultivators as it pleased.
"Fifth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Life Spirit Flame, in position!"
Yet the veritable sword of Damocles hanging over its head took away any pleasure its freedom might have elated. It desperately thought itself justified in its reasoning, there was no way for it to trust Zagreus' proposition at face value. Right? He was not at fault here, surely. Surely. So it burned and it devoured everything in its path, making use of the might it had been born with. Even then it wasn't enough, battle Venerates were like drops in the bucket, barely worth the effort. He needed more, and quickly. But it was like searching for a needle in a ray pile. Or so the pill spirit though, until it happened.
"Fourth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame, in position!"
The Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame has been in the possession of the Ancient clan for so long it became synonymous to it. A power fit for the strongest venerable clan, the 4th ranked was unmistakable, infamous for being powerful enough to burn even the demiplanes created by Battle Saints. Indeed, its light could pierce even the penumbra of raging heaven. The embryonic God Pill bolted; its destination finally clear.
"Third on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, in position!"
The embryonic God Pill felt for the first time the terror and exhilaration of balancing in the knife's edge. In a sense it was glad, that was what freedom was all about. As the main architect for the prison break of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame and Nihility Devouring Flame it knew well that the power of these two abnormal flames could not be measured by the mettle of cultivators. Said that the pill spirit held little hope that they could resist Zagreus' command. No, the best the pill spirit could hope for was that their struggle buys it some time before the Tyrant Star seize them in hand. If neither being sealed is a demiplane nor having an owner prevent them from being summoned then their fate was sealed. Everything the pill spirit could count on was its final gambit.
Heaven smiles down at the Embryonic God Pill. He found Gu Yuan, the once proud patriarch of the Ancient clan, helplessly struggling on his hands and knees in the mud. The shock of having his heavenly flame stolen was too much in his already debilitated state, he was as helpless as he ever was in his life. As soon as their gazes crossed Gu Yuan seemed to understand the God Pills intention, after all it was what he himself had done when he almost captured the pill spirit and their positions were inverted. He wasted his final breath bargaining for his life and pleading that fell in deaf ears. The embryonic God Pill set his hunger on Gu Yuan in order to become complete!
"Second on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Nihility Devouring Flame, in position!" With Zagreus' final declaration the dou qi continent was once more witness of the combined power of all heavenly flames that had once set half of the continent on fire ten thousand years ago. Twenty-two tongues of fire that bridged heaven to earth and the colossal band of light holding their combined power.
However even the light of these heavenly flames got outshined by the pillar of fire smoking of medicine herbs that parted the storm blanked of raging heaven. "Behold! I am the Pill God! Zagreus, don't think you have already won!" Declared the first Battle God to walk the Dou Qi continent in ten thousand years.
Well, that was a thing that happened, I guess. From a certain point of view this is excellent news, positive proof that Origin Qi can be bided to multiply. It would suck to create a new realm just to soft-lock it due to the extinction of Origin Qi.
But I digress, Battle God, was it? It was evident why it would be so overwhelming for lower level cultivators. Battle Saints set themselves apart from lover level cultivators for their ability to freely manipulate the energy of heaven and earth for offense and defense. The reason an elite Dou Sheng was so powerful was not because of the great strength of their Dou Qi. Instead, it was because they could maneuver the natural energy without restraint to attack and defend. You know, like any fresh behind the ears garden cultivator who just created his inner garden can do… anyway.
A Battle God though can strip a Battle Saint from this advantage with an even superior control that for onlookers appears to be akin to a god-like authority. Alas, just because it appears to be so doesn't necessarily make it true. Especially when your adversary has reached grandmaster level, refining the vital pneuma inside their garden into saint qi through countless cycles. I watched as the now complete God Pill absorbed my storm to manifest its [Dou Di Body], the signature trump card of the Battle God realm. By absorbing the energy of the heavens and earth into his bodies he transforms into a colossal form that can span hundreds of thousands of kilometers. In this state, the cultivator becomes akin to a god, capable of shattering the heavens and earth with a simple gesture.
A skyscraper built in a foundation of quicksand, I had thought this before but it merits repeating, the pill spirit is simply too green and inexperienced to get by on its own in the Dou Qi continent. It was a stroke of luck that Gu Yuan wasn't the one to become a Battle God; instead, he would never have tempted the fates this way. Not after I had already played that card once. He was more dangerous than Hun Tiandi, Gu Yuan not only managed to find the Tou She Mansion in a mere week but he also had the devil's own luck to force me to fight in this precarious condition. If events had played out a little differently…
Regardless, the only thing I could do was deal with the hand that I have got. Now that the God Pill has been completed by such despicable means I can't afford to show it any mercy. This battle is still far from over.
"It is a rather concerning amount of power there. Are you sure you don't want to retreat for now?" Zhu Kun advised he had a point too. I was in no shape to fight and he was exhausted after invoking the full might of the sword of cloudy sea twice.
"Nah, we can take him. More specifically, you." I say while manifesting a scroll from one of the pagodas of Penglai. Even that humble papyrus was endowed with profound mystery as a piece of the sacred land. "GOD PILL," I proclaimed with a shout that quaked the heavenly flame. "For the crime of walking down evil and jeopardizing all life, polluting this world and taking the life of countless spirits you shall be executed in offering to the ancestors! In order to make all mystics cower!" At my declaration the papyri became charged with electricity as it contained a storm.
"ZHU KUN!"
"YES!"
"You will be temporarily promoted to [Spirit Calamity General]. Use the Spirit Calamity of all lives, eliminate the God Pill spirit, and correct the virtuous heart of Penglai!" At my proclamation the energy of the band of light that I had gathered rushed toward the dragon emperor, infusing him with the power gathered from twenty-two heavenly flames. Zhu Kun's frame enlarged perilously and his human form took on an animalistic appearance, a hybrid form between his human and dragon shape. Purple and bolden scales covered him like articulated plates held so much power that the gap between scales shinned like stars, his mouth full of teeth behind long dragon whispers of a beard and a wild mane of black to coruscant purple adorned him in a ridge that went down his back up to the tip of his long tail.
A dragon colossus that could stare at eye level with a Battle God Body. The manifestation of karmic retribution to those who transgressed against all spirits of the world.
Battle was joined as means of wordless greetings. Two fists colliding with such power that all spirits of the continent were able to feel it in a way or another. Their calamitous first exchange opened abyssal shams that redirected the magma bed created when the Tou She Mansion emerged.
The God Pill looked downright apoplectic that the dragon emperor could be his match despite his ascension into a Battle God. "How dare a mere Battle Saint stand up to me? You two keep getting in my way no matter how many times things turn in my favor. You courted death for the last time!" He screamed while resuming his vicious attacks.
Yet the dragon emperor meets him blow for blow. No. He was indubitably faster, despite the clear difference in battle aura between the two the cosmic aura exuding the grandeur of the universe incinerated the air as Zhu Kun's colossal boy moved impossibly fast. Each bow was a self-contained nuke capable of incinerating the world if ever let loose. It was the breath of the stars themselves bringing light to an empty and dark infinity, it was the dragon emperor's Star Rage!
"Enough of you! Thousands of years in a dark hole, and for what? You!? To blindly walk this accursed road paved with the broken bodies of those you bested for the privilege of climbing a further peak! That is the final destiny of all battle cultivators! Haven't you been wondering where the true Flame God scurried to? Blindly devoting their lives to the ladder with unquestionably devotion, all Battle Gods, capable of living forever, abandoned everything in the blind pursuit for higher peaks!" Zhu Kun shouted as the two combatants pummeled each other.
"Because that is the way toward heaven! That is the way of heaven! There is no such a thing as your own way! The answer of cultivation is self-evident. To rob! To Kill! Only the survivors deserve enlightenment and get to advance! There is no virtue without backing it! That is the Rule Heaven set for every life! Even I who lived my entire life in seclusion knew it in my heart. A man without force is without the essential dignity of humanity. Human nature is so constituted that it cannot honor a helpless man. He is only deserving of pity! And even this won't last if the signs of power do not arise." The God Pill countered.
It was the foundational paradox that underpinned cultivation of virtue. Even after victory is won it could be argued that it was triumph and not righteousness that define value. That is why virtue is performative excellence, because it must be displayed outward. Alas, I was more than a mere philosopher. Champions of humanity seldomly gain anything by exchanging discourse with monsters.
I used the time Zhu Kun brought me well. The vital sea of every single Heavenly Flames has been spent to the point of exhaustion, the ideal scenario for anyone pursuing to absorb an abnormal flame. The Heavenly Flame Square has already been transformed into an artifact by me, with my previous binding vow I can easily add them to the package. Swallowing the Heavenly Flame Square and abnormal flames it contained was a straightforward affair. While it certainly did not help alleviate my heartburn any, I had reached the point where adding their individual power to my Olympic Heart Flame helped more than it hindered.
This was only the prelude though. This is the final battle for the fate of the Dou Qi continent, I finally have a good enough excuse to reach in my bag of tricks, it would be a shame to not show off.
[AUTHOR'S ROOM]
A rare chance for Zagreus to flex his support abilities. Next chapter we will have the final battle.
The casual feat of stealing a heavenly flame was a blow below the belt for the venerable alliance. As the most powerful clans they monopolize together over ten of the ranked abnormal flames. It not only represented a significant loss of battle power but also crippled some of their most powerful combatants. The violent loss of a heavenly flame comes from the effective loss of more than half of the owner's original strength.
"Fifteenth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Sea Heart Flame, in position!"
"This is a critical moment for our clan's survival! Activate the Heavenly Transformation Yao Formation!" Screamed the patriarch of the Medicine clan as his battle aura soared and his clan tattoos activated in his forehead with coruscant light. The medicine clan resorted to their trump card in a moment of despair, dozens of pillars of light containing hundreds of thousands of medicine pills shot up into the air. "In the name of the pills! Founding Ancestor Return!"
At this declaration their communal effort condensed into an eidolon of a venerable cultivator made of pure golden light. As he manifested, the Yao clan showered him with greetings and prayers. The specter of the Medicine God graced the Dou Qi continent for the first time in epochs. Using a soul fragment left of him by his descendants to manifest a memory of intention. A fitting trump card for a venerable clan, remnants of ancient races that relied on the power of blood they so desperately cling to.
Alas, Battle God or not, it was just a shadow of what once was. A Puppet without memory or soul. Zagreus snorted in derision at the trump card of the Medicine clan as if saying he was unimpressed, then at his snap fingers the biggest mountain of sacred Penglai split open to reveal a pillar of light dragging something up to the dragon emperor.
"Fourteenth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Fallen Heart Flame, in position!" Zagreus proclaimed to invoke a colorless flame snake from the magma bed that once had been the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower used by Jia Nan Academy as a Training Cheat Machine for millennia. If the Fallen Heart Flame' and another flame that was ranked between five and ten were placed in front of any cultivator for him to choose, it was likely that most of them would choose the former. For no other reason other than its ability to repeatedly provide Dou Qi to their bodies with a refining effect throughout the day and night was too attractive an offer. Yet the sight of such a treasure barely elicited any attention compared to what lay in front of the dragon emperor.
The block of green to yellow jade mountain side opens to reveal a sword unlike any other, made from and embody the sacred island itself. Its emerald mountain as the core and handle, the azure sea as its body, and it's golden clouds and crowing rainbow as its edge. This was the [Blade of the Clouds Sea], an artifact that embody millions of years of cultivation. Even the dragon emperor visibly struggled brandishing such weapon eve as he marveled at it.
"Such a beautifully strong blade," Zhu Kun parroted in wonderment as he pointed it against the Medicine God's ghost. "It is my honor and privilege to kill a god with such a treasure." With a purposeful swing of the blade the dragon emperor created a trail of mountains and sea wherever the [Blade of the Clouds Sea]. Using his swordsmanship Zhu Kun perfectly in his long lifetime the dragon emperor performed a masterful display. "Grand as the ocean and sky, always changing and never ending! If I keep going… I can create millions of blades – Blades of the Cloudy Sea!"
"Thirteenth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Turtle Spirit Earthly Flame, in position!"
As another Heavenly Flame abandoned a member of the Medicine clan, the Medicine God manifested a luxurious Medicinal Caldron of intention to pit against the slit storm of blades that converged and synergized with each other. Immovable object was pitted against unstoppable force as their clash grounded mountains into sand. It was a clash of myth, not seen since ancient times. Yet only one was true while the other was a spurious mimicry. The battle aura eidolon of the Medicine God was overwhelmed, then overpowered, and finally destroyed in a grand display that scarred the continent with a new valley of lush and vibrant colors due to the sacred qi of Penglai.
The look of the Medicine clansmen said it all, it was as if they had already lost. They felt down to their souls that their ancestor soul fragment had been annihilated, something precious and irreplaceable in their bloodline disappeared completely never to return.
"Twelfth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Nine Dragon Thunder Astral Flame, in position!" Zagreus proclaimed as a gentle silver flame containing the aura of nine dragons capable of suppressing spiritual power flighted toward its place in the Heavenly Flame Square and expected to battle as if endowed with intelligence.
"Zagreus! My Ancient clan isn't like any other clan you can slaughter at your leisure! Don't think you will walk out of here alive!" Gu Yuan shouted in defiance to keep his subordinates' crumbling morale from collapsing.
"ANCIENT CLAN SEALING CLAW FORMATION!"
Shouted the strongest battle energy cultivator of the continent… more like the strongest available really. Said that his display of courage was enough to spur the other venerable clans as well.
"NINE DRAGON SKY LIGHTNING FORMATION!"
"FIRE CLAN GREAT BURNING SKY!"
The array of four Deathly Silent Gates called Deathly Realm Formation was being overwhelmed by their combined attack. Maybe if Zagreus had not revealed this trump card of the Soul clan it could have played a more decisive effect in the battle but forewarned is forearmed and the clans set up counters for this fearsome array. The backlash to the dragon tooth generals was overwhelming, their bodies were broken into pieces that scattered throughout the battlefield. Any normal puppet would be considered lost forever… Yet Zagreus was both unbothered, and worse unharmed. That fearsome combined attack capable of overpowering the legendary formation from ancient times didn't even ruffle his tunics! The dragon emperor by his side as a diligent bodyguard was also unbothered.
"Eleventh on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Bone Chilling Flame, in position!" Zagreus says almost as mockery, practically saying that the venerable alliance achievement means nothing.
"We managed to destroy his array, now is the time to strike!" Gu Yuan ordered for the sake of his subordinates. The dragon emperor might be formidable but so was his own, who rivaled his. Even if that sword turns things in the dragon emperor's favor the Medicine clan managed to heal the God Pill to the point it can turn things in their favor. "Attack! ANCIENT GOD MIRROR!"
"Tenth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Nine Serene Wind Flame, in position!"
Zhu Kun performed another Blades of the Cloudy Seas against the incoming attackers. The calamitous power of three half battle gods was such that the magma sea bed was split apart. Battle Venerates were dropping like flies from stray shots. The Fire clan, realizing their own Heavenly Flames were about to be stolen, used their secret techniques to make up for the difference as did the elder Yao Wanhuo, holder of the 10th ranked flame.
In the end their combined might prove to rival that of the dragon emperor despite the vital pneuma of sacred Penglai boosting him to new apex of power and the ancient artifact in his hand. The two sides found themselves locked in a fierce tug of war as they struggled for dominance. This lapse in commitment was the golden opportunity that Gu Yuan so desperately tried to create as he emerged from the battle aura storm by sidestepping the whole thing. Gambling it all into a decisive strike. "GOD SEALING THOUSAND PALMS!"
The patriarch of the Ancient Clan gambled his own life into a decisive strike. His sharp senses and experience allowed him to finally reach Zagreus but it would be for naught if he did not manage to put his enemy out of commission. Even among venerable clans the Ancient clan set itself apart due, this is in part due to their proficiency with seals. Every member has to pass a adulthood ritual performed using an imperial brush left behind by its ancestor capable of quantifying the power of the Battle God bloodline in strokes going from one to ten; this is how the Ancient clan managed to preserve their bloodline through careful management of its young blood through dozens of thousands of years.
As the patriarch of the clan his blood is of the highest purity, making his tattoo rainbow gold rank. This tattoo also allows the recipient to overclock their blood in moments of necessity and danger, granting a temporary boost in power. Gu Yuan went further than that though. He set his clan tattoo to literally burn through his bloodline power for ever further power. This is the gambit of his lifetime. A conflagration of power that eclipsed even the combined power of the combined alliance pitted against the dragon emperor.
"Ninth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Three Thousand Star Fire Flame, in position!" Said Zagreus, unfazed by the hands of violent intention that slowed down to a crawl at centimeters from his face. "You are wise to distrust the embryonic God Pill but your inability to truly work together in earnest is your downfall. Had the two of you attacked me at once the outcome would have been different." He boasted behind his kósmos barrier.
"Your time just ran out, the unseen cost of tunnel vision." Zagreus gloated at a joke only he could understand with an aristocratic look of derision reserved to the rabble. The dragon princess fulfilled her task perfectly without the venerable alliance being none the wiser and now they could fight unrestrained. "Behold, RAGING HEAVEN!"
At his world the world was consumed by a flash of light and next they knew the clear skies had been covered by a curtain of storm clouds as far as the eyes could see. The effect was instantaneous, the heavens was the domain of gods and beasts, not men. All wings were clipped, the flight ability cultivators take for granted was stripped from them and Tribulation Lightning fell from the storm crown like a million of arrows. The storm cared not for their standings or pedigree, it only cared to tear them apart. Divine Punishment manifested for a cultivator's foundational conceit, it blocked all mundane and mystical senses with deafening thunder and heavy curtain of water to the point none could see a palm in front of their faces. Suddenly their coalition was made mote, all cultivators have to face Raging Heaven on their lonesome.
"Eighth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Red Lotus Karma Flame, in position!" Yet that roaring voice still penetrated the storm and out blared the thunder. The countdown to their deaths.
Alas, when every man is left to fend for himself, alone and afraid while subjected to the rashness of nature, his brother starts to look like a handhold needing to pull himself from the precipice. The hunger for standing was a natural element of every human soul, and the temptation to abuse that standing was ever with us. Not always for its own sake, perhaps, but all too often opportunities presented themselves just out of reach, and all too often there were other people, subordinates or friends or even family, positioned just right to act as stepping stones so you could close that distance.
For the Embryonic God Pill it wasn't even a question at all.
"Seventh on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Nine Serene Golden Ancestor Flame, in position!"
The pulverized body of the dragon tooth generals now bloomed into an ivory garden of death. The land locked cultivators found themselves surrounded by an emerging army of dragon tooth warriors and were being viciously attacked under the coverage of heavy rain that dazzled their senses, making it impossible to differentiate between friend and foe. A perfect killing box, the alliance had been effectively scattered. Now it was every man for himself and who could successfully standalone against that?
"Sixth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Eight Desolations Annihilation Flame, in position!"
These Battle Venerates and Saints had once upon a time stood at the top of the world, and together they were an army capable of slaughtering all the empires and institutions of the Dou Qi continent. Yet their power availed them nothing, they had become cattle waiting for the slaughter. Is it any surprise then when someone else decides to make use of them? The Embryonic God Pill was created from some remnant of Origin Qi, while not enough to allow one break through yet if it feeds on enough battle aura it is possible for it to become a true God Pill.
The Bloody Array from the Soul clan intended to do so by sacrificing millions… but a lack of quantity can always be made up for with cheer quality. The Pill Spirit slaughtered everything in its wake in order to complete itself. Even the sweet smell of burning medicine herbs was washed by the rain, allowing it to kill with impunity and feast on venerable clan cultivators as it pleased.
"Fifth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Life Spirit Flame, in position!"
Yet the veritable sword of Damocles hanging over its head took away any pleasure its freedom might have elated. It desperately thought itself justified in its reasoning, there was no way for it to trust Zagreus' proposition at face value. Right? He was not at fault here, surely. Surely. So it burned and it devoured everything in its path, making use of the might it had been born with. Even then it wasn't enough, battle Venerates were like drops in the bucket, barely worth the effort. He needed more, and quickly. But it was like searching for a needle in a ray pile. Or so the pill spirit though, until it happened.
"Fourth on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame, in position!"
The Gold Emperor Incinerating Heavenly Flame has been in the possession of the Ancient clan for so long it became synonymous to it. A power fit for the strongest venerable clan, the 4th ranked was unmistakable, infamous for being powerful enough to burn even the demiplanes created by Battle Saints. Indeed, its light could pierce even the penumbra of raging heaven. The embryonic God Pill bolted; its destination finally clear.
"Third on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, in position!"
The embryonic God Pill felt for the first time the terror and exhilaration of balancing in the knife's edge. In a sense it was glad, that was what freedom was all about. As the main architect for the prison break of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame and Nihility Devouring Flame it knew well that the power of these two abnormal flames could not be measured by the mettle of cultivators. Said that the pill spirit held little hope that they could resist Zagreus' command. No, the best the pill spirit could hope for was that their struggle buys it some time before the Tyrant Star seize them in hand. If neither being sealed is a demiplane nor having an owner prevent them from being summoned then their fate was sealed. Everything the pill spirit could count on was its final gambit.
Heaven smiles down at the Embryonic God Pill. He found Gu Yuan, the once proud patriarch of the Ancient clan, helplessly struggling on his hands and knees in the mud. The shock of having his heavenly flame stolen was too much in his already debilitated state, he was as helpless as he ever was in his life. As soon as their gazes crossed Gu Yuan seemed to understand the God Pills intention, after all it was what he himself had done when he almost captured the pill spirit and their positions were inverted. He wasted his final breath bargaining for his life and pleading that fell in deaf ears. The embryonic God Pill set his hunger on Gu Yuan in order to become complete!
"Second on the Heavenly Flame ranking, Nihility Devouring Flame, in position!" With Zagreus' final declaration the dou qi continent was once more witness of the combined power of all heavenly flames that had once set half of the continent on fire ten thousand years ago. Twenty-two tongues of fire that bridged heaven to earth and the colossal band of light holding their combined power.
However even the light of these heavenly flames got outshined by the pillar of fire smoking of medicine herbs that parted the storm blanked of raging heaven. "Behold! I am the Pill God! Zagreus, don't think you have already won!" Declared the first Battle God to walk the Dou Qi continent in ten thousand years.
-//-
Well, that was a thing that happened, I guess. From a certain point of view this is excellent news, positive proof that Origin Qi can be bided to multiply. It would suck to create a new realm just to soft-lock it due to the extinction of Origin Qi.
But I digress, Battle God, was it? It was evident why it would be so overwhelming for lower level cultivators. Battle Saints set themselves apart from lover level cultivators for their ability to freely manipulate the energy of heaven and earth for offense and defense. The reason an elite Dou Sheng was so powerful was not because of the great strength of their Dou Qi. Instead, it was because they could maneuver the natural energy without restraint to attack and defend. You know, like any fresh behind the ears garden cultivator who just created his inner garden can do… anyway.
A Battle God though can strip a Battle Saint from this advantage with an even superior control that for onlookers appears to be akin to a god-like authority. Alas, just because it appears to be so doesn't necessarily make it true. Especially when your adversary has reached grandmaster level, refining the vital pneuma inside their garden into saint qi through countless cycles. I watched as the now complete God Pill absorbed my storm to manifest its [Dou Di Body], the signature trump card of the Battle God realm. By absorbing the energy of the heavens and earth into his bodies he transforms into a colossal form that can span hundreds of thousands of kilometers. In this state, the cultivator becomes akin to a god, capable of shattering the heavens and earth with a simple gesture.
A skyscraper built in a foundation of quicksand, I had thought this before but it merits repeating, the pill spirit is simply too green and inexperienced to get by on its own in the Dou Qi continent. It was a stroke of luck that Gu Yuan wasn't the one to become a Battle God; instead, he would never have tempted the fates this way. Not after I had already played that card once. He was more dangerous than Hun Tiandi, Gu Yuan not only managed to find the Tou She Mansion in a mere week but he also had the devil's own luck to force me to fight in this precarious condition. If events had played out a little differently…
Regardless, the only thing I could do was deal with the hand that I have got. Now that the God Pill has been completed by such despicable means I can't afford to show it any mercy. This battle is still far from over.
"It is a rather concerning amount of power there. Are you sure you don't want to retreat for now?" Zhu Kun advised he had a point too. I was in no shape to fight and he was exhausted after invoking the full might of the sword of cloudy sea twice.
"Nah, we can take him. More specifically, you." I say while manifesting a scroll from one of the pagodas of Penglai. Even that humble papyrus was endowed with profound mystery as a piece of the sacred land. "GOD PILL," I proclaimed with a shout that quaked the heavenly flame. "For the crime of walking down evil and jeopardizing all life, polluting this world and taking the life of countless spirits you shall be executed in offering to the ancestors! In order to make all mystics cower!" At my declaration the papyri became charged with electricity as it contained a storm.
"ZHU KUN!"
"YES!"
"You will be temporarily promoted to [Spirit Calamity General]. Use the Spirit Calamity of all lives, eliminate the God Pill spirit, and correct the virtuous heart of Penglai!" At my proclamation the energy of the band of light that I had gathered rushed toward the dragon emperor, infusing him with the power gathered from twenty-two heavenly flames. Zhu Kun's frame enlarged perilously and his human form took on an animalistic appearance, a hybrid form between his human and dragon shape. Purple and bolden scales covered him like articulated plates held so much power that the gap between scales shinned like stars, his mouth full of teeth behind long dragon whispers of a beard and a wild mane of black to coruscant purple adorned him in a ridge that went down his back up to the tip of his long tail.
A dragon colossus that could stare at eye level with a Battle God Body. The manifestation of karmic retribution to those who transgressed against all spirits of the world.
Battle was joined as means of wordless greetings. Two fists colliding with such power that all spirits of the continent were able to feel it in a way or another. Their calamitous first exchange opened abyssal shams that redirected the magma bed created when the Tou She Mansion emerged.
The God Pill looked downright apoplectic that the dragon emperor could be his match despite his ascension into a Battle God. "How dare a mere Battle Saint stand up to me? You two keep getting in my way no matter how many times things turn in my favor. You courted death for the last time!" He screamed while resuming his vicious attacks.
Yet the dragon emperor meets him blow for blow. No. He was indubitably faster, despite the clear difference in battle aura between the two the cosmic aura exuding the grandeur of the universe incinerated the air as Zhu Kun's colossal boy moved impossibly fast. Each bow was a self-contained nuke capable of incinerating the world if ever let loose. It was the breath of the stars themselves bringing light to an empty and dark infinity, it was the dragon emperor's Star Rage!
"Enough of you! Thousands of years in a dark hole, and for what? You!? To blindly walk this accursed road paved with the broken bodies of those you bested for the privilege of climbing a further peak! That is the final destiny of all battle cultivators! Haven't you been wondering where the true Flame God scurried to? Blindly devoting their lives to the ladder with unquestionably devotion, all Battle Gods, capable of living forever, abandoned everything in the blind pursuit for higher peaks!" Zhu Kun shouted as the two combatants pummeled each other.
"Because that is the way toward heaven! That is the way of heaven! There is no such a thing as your own way! The answer of cultivation is self-evident. To rob! To Kill! Only the survivors deserve enlightenment and get to advance! There is no virtue without backing it! That is the Rule Heaven set for every life! Even I who lived my entire life in seclusion knew it in my heart. A man without force is without the essential dignity of humanity. Human nature is so constituted that it cannot honor a helpless man. He is only deserving of pity! And even this won't last if the signs of power do not arise." The God Pill countered.
It was the foundational paradox that underpinned cultivation of virtue. Even after victory is won it could be argued that it was triumph and not righteousness that define value. That is why virtue is performative excellence, because it must be displayed outward. Alas, I was more than a mere philosopher. Champions of humanity seldomly gain anything by exchanging discourse with monsters.
I used the time Zhu Kun brought me well. The vital sea of every single Heavenly Flames has been spent to the point of exhaustion, the ideal scenario for anyone pursuing to absorb an abnormal flame. The Heavenly Flame Square has already been transformed into an artifact by me, with my previous binding vow I can easily add them to the package. Swallowing the Heavenly Flame Square and abnormal flames it contained was a straightforward affair. While it certainly did not help alleviate my heartburn any, I had reached the point where adding their individual power to my Olympic Heart Flame helped more than it hindered.
This was only the prelude though. This is the final battle for the fate of the Dou Qi continent, I finally have a good enough excuse to reach in my bag of tricks, it would be a shame to not show off.
-//-
[AUTHOR'S ROOM]
A rare chance for Zagreus to flex his support abilities. Next chapter we will have the final battle.
- Location
- Brazil
Time to use all of the profit margins from the
- Location
- Brazil
You are underestimating how dificult of a task it is to complete the embryonic God Pill. Zagreus basically using the Flame God inheritance to endow Prometheus divine spark and the Champion's heroic heart flame with traces of Origin Qi so that by the time a cultivator become a captain of the heroic realm he might be ready to ascend to the new Tyranical Realm. It is the dedicated work of a lifetime.
Also, Zagreus still lack the final ingredient - the trigger. Humans are creatures that understand the world through narratives. Zagreus has to create a "story worth hearing" to fit the tyrant realm.
Plus he still needs to finish up the Heroic realm as well as likely prepare a few others things to help when it's time after all he's got a lot riding on his ascension to the Tyrant realm and not just for himself either so he'll very much want to stack the deck in his favor as much as he can.
So the various clan heads pulled out their secret clan bullshit but because they weren't smart enough to jump Zagerus in unison they lost.
The God Pill is really hyped to be in this fight right now, like having the time of it's life.
Zagreus kinda mocking the cultivation system of these people and bragging about garden cultivation is funny. It's also really cool to see him do support stuff because that's rare.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Zagreus pulls off with feeding all those Flames into his Olympic Heart Flame and what tricks he has and will use.
The God Pill is really hyped to be in this fight right now, like having the time of it's life.
Zagreus kinda mocking the cultivation system of these people and bragging about garden cultivation is funny. It's also really cool to see him do support stuff because that's rare.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Zagreus pulls off with feeding all those Flames into his Olympic Heart Flame and what tricks he has and will use.
Honestly I'm really curious how they're doing.
Ah that's some real bullshit but it's fitting that he needs to do something like that to reach the tyrant realm.
He's been doing really well as a Hero and it feels like he's close to wrapping it up.
- Location
- Brazil
I already stated before that Zagreus and Reila have a duality of twin gods. While she is a center of civilization (consensus) he lives at the edges, being a god of frontiers, exploration, and travel as his ability to tame the labyrinth display. It is as Tsumiki said in the last sidestory, alternative earths are a far more tempting frontier that is "just by the corner" than some distant planet.
Absalom Station exists as a crown jew of a galaxy he literally owns. As a closed system it is perfect. Compare it to the mess that is 40k and any sane person would do their upmost to isolate it. A island in the sun, so to speak. After the Reaper War the species of the galaxy reached the comparable technological power to the Foreruners of Halo, galaxy extinction weapons included. This is no coincidence, the soldiers that lived through that never ending trauma eventually ruled the galaxy and the overwhelming majority of inteligent species had once upon a time went extinct. The Halo is cultivator Javik version of "throw it out the airlocker".
That is why JJK will be far more invested in dimensional exploration.
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- washington
huh neat. Long term is zagreus gonna be building up those things on cultivator world and the citizens going sideways in the great thousand worlds taking over world after world with their much better tech and communal cultivation methods? Before eventually taking the upper plane?
Honestly whether it's exploring space or different dimensions both have their appeal and can be fun to explore. That said for the next while exploring dimensions will be more worthwhile for the JJK verse still later I imagine they'll do more with space once they've explored and gotten experience with dimensions.
Uhh I hate to bring it up since it's only been a week or so but waiting to see the end of the fight is driving me nuts so @BrunofanofK how's the next chapter coming?
Finished my reread of this whole story with seeing all the comments made by everyone, it really fleshed things out more.
- Location
- washington
I noticed lol dude you liked basically every comment I made.
- Pronouns
- ImBuda
I thought you were replaced by a bot with all the likes you gave us
It was quite the shock to check in one day and have over 70 alerts.
There is not a single post in this thread that hasn't gotten a like, insightful, heart of laughing emoji from me.
- Location
- Brazil
Sorry for the delays, I am taking care of some personal and family issues which includong going pro and opening a patreon to justify the amount of time I invest writting every day. Considering that after two years I have consistently posted and don't seem like I will stop any time soon I decided that it was time for me to take things more seriosuly. Also, my motivation to keep as a layers in brazil has been plumetting due to our supreme court rooting the whole thing from the inside out. To really advance in it you have to join a law firm with inside connections, things were changing with Sergio Moro anticorruption moviment but... well, you saw what happened with Brazillian Miko, If I wanted to profit from crime I would be a criminal lawer!
So yeah, besides writting I will look for some gigs as a copywritter to perfect my english. It is a big step but considering brazilian econom is going belly up being paid in dollars might really help me in the future.
I will update again by next week but updates will slow down until finish setting things up.
Thanks for all you support, without it I wouldn't have the condifence to actually pursuy this as a carrier option.
By the way, I will start by correcting the early chapters from other works since my english back then wasn't that good.
So yeah, besides writting I will look for some gigs as a copywritter to perfect my english. It is a big step but considering brazilian econom is going belly up being paid in dollars might really help me in the future.
I will update again by next week but updates will slow down until finish setting things up.
Thanks for all you support, without it I wouldn't have the condifence to actually pursuy this as a carrier option.
By the way, I will start by correcting the early chapters from other works since my english back then wasn't that good.
- Location
- Brazil
I really like the profession and when you get to help people the way I did it really motivates you... but witnessing the reality of bad people prospering and the dirtness of all the palm greasing needed to prosper take away all your motivation.
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- washington
Man fuck that's rough man I don't have any disposable income but I hope things get better for you. Just finished college and am living off government money for now. Don't have much for expectations though man politics suck.
On another topic in the exalted cross fic would people even think Zagreus is anathema? Isn't it more likely they'd think he's a god of some kind?
Wonder what he'd learn from observing gods such as Luna or any moon gods or looking at ghosts. Or how the natives would feel about resurrection as that's one of the few rules that can't be broken in exalted. The other being time travel. But he could mass teach that shit.
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I'm really hyped for when Zagreus's son is going to end up in Virtuous Sons that's going to be so chaotic. Also makes me curious how people in that world would react to Zagreus.
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- washington
Currently hes now around the league of characters like socrates with some cool tricks or heracles when they were alive. But by the time he gets there he'll probably be able to jump up to the level of gods temporarily if we're being honest or just straight up be a god.