Paulus 9 - Heaven's Riches (part 1)
The Golden Devil Lands were some of the worst in the entire Virtuous Flipper Region. In fact other than the lands to the south-east occupied by hordes of bloodthirsty cannibals, we occupied the worst there was to be found. The Clan paid a lot of money and attention to maintaining carefully calibrated environmental adjustment arrays around the cities in their core lands, but their vassals basically had to handle their own affairs. Most of said vassals could barely support a fraction of the numbers that the Clan at large could and in the Xin Kingdom the vast majority of that number congregated towards one region.
That made it very, very easy to figure out where Jingshen agents could be hiding.
I entered The Laughing Carp while the sun was still high in the sky and driving people to whatever shade they could get. My eye catching
Optomatoi armour and weapons had years ago been doffed in exchange for a slightly tattered set of high-collar silver-grey robes with a black trim that marked me as a Metal Sorcerer of the lowest level and they rustled in the powerful desert wind as I moved. The cool of the building was a welcome reprieve and I slipped over to my customary seat at the bar with a sigh of relief.
A mug of steaming brown liquid was placed before me before I could speak, and I nodded in thanks before taking a sip of the foul concoction like it was the purest oasis water after weeks of doing without.
"Ah, my thanks. There's nothing like Kopi Luwak to start the day!" I lied with a smack of my lips.
The bartender scoffed and merely added the cost to my tab, no doubt already waiting for me to finish my drink so he could overcharge me for the next one. Over the last three years I had ordered exactly two every day, after all.
"Is my uhh- my
associate around? Is Chang Chang here?" I asked warily.
The bartender pointed with his chin to one of the darker corners of the establishment where Chang Chang could always be found and rolled his eyes at me as he continued cleaning a glass.
I bowed nervously at the man and took a moment to gather my courage before making my way across the crowded bar with my drink nursed in hand, taking the opportunity to bounce into or stumble over every person, chair, table, or imagined obstacle in my way, muttering apologies all the while. By the time I slumped into the seat across the table from Chang Chang the man was visibly furious at the commotion and attention.
"You dolt! Did they kick you out of the tower because of your two left feet?" the brutish man whisper-yelled at me.
"I- uh- I'm sorry Chang Chang. I only woke up a few minutes ago and - ah - the Kopi luwak takes a few minutes to kick in."
"It's already afternoon!" he hissed and his gaze turned to disgust as he looked from me to the cup I was nursing. "I don't even know why you bother drinking that filth. Do you know how it's made?"
"Of course I do!" I answered, injecting the slightest bit of spine into my retort, "The methods make it more valuable and...well expensive. About that uhh, Chang Chang, you know times have been tight recently and I was wondering - well if you could find it in your heart to -"
Chang Chang cut me off with a wave of his hand, wincing as the 'rich fragrance' from my cup reached his nostrils. "Ugh. Stop talking and drink that thing already. I don't want my table smelling like dung." He sighed explosively and gagged as he only drew in more of the scent afterwards. He looked at me with reddened eyes and I could visibly see him weighing up the trouble I brought him vs the strength even a terrible sorcerer could bring to bear and my competitive (see: dirt cheap) asking price before he gave in.
"I have one thing you can do. One month retainer for half a gourd of Seventh Grade
Vitae per day, and a full gourd of Sixth Grade
Vitae if you do one more week."
"A long term thing?" I questioned hesitantly. Inside I was rejoicing, Chang Chang had never asked me for a long term retainer before. Always a day or two at most, and Sixth Grade Vitae would be a blessing to any other low level Sorcerer, and worth many cups of Kopi Luwak to this one.
"Did you think you could scrape around on one-day missions forever Lee?" he wheedled, "If you want to keep taking our money you'll have to start doing more than roughing up some debtors."
Some real hesitance joined my fake one. If this guy started asking me to do some real evil stuff then I would just lance him and call it mission failed. I tolerated this gang because they didn't seem to be guilty of more than smuggling cultivation materials that rightfully belonged to the Devils but if they were doing worse I wouldn't hesitate to come back in my full regalia and stomp their faces in.
He must have seen that he was losing me because he held up a hand for patience. "Relax. It's just a bit of guard work. You won't even have to fight. If anyone tries something you can just throw around some of your Sorcery to scare them off, and you won't even be alone if you do the last week."
I hemmed and hawed and we negotiated a bit more but it was already a done deal for me. Just what could they need a sorcerer to guard, much less multiple? I had a sneaking suspicion that I had finally caught my fish. We shook on it and I smiled.
---------------------------------
Surprisingly Chang Chang had been telling the truth, I didn't have to fight at all during the month of guard work. All he had me do was stand around warehouses in my robes and look sternly at anyone that came close, and there weren't that many in the first place. I got the feeling Chang Chang was more worried about his own smugglers filching the goods than any outside agents.
At the end of the month Chang Chang showed up at the warehouse with three other lowest grade Sorcerers, two Water Sorcerers and one Wood Sorcerer and coached the four of us on what he wanted for the last week. He paced in front of us as he spoke, pausing his stride every so often to look around but keeping his words flowing quickly and quietly.
"My senior will be showing up today to retrieve the goods. Don't speak to him. Don't look at him. Don't even breathe too strongly while he is here, do you understand? I've hired you all to impress him, not get on his bad side. After that you do whatever he says for the next week and If you do well there will be a bonus in this for all of us."
"Um...Chang Chang I have a question.."
The gangster whirled on me with bloodshot eyes and looked me up and down as if he just remembered exactly who he was dealing with. He pressed a finger to the bridge of his nose and nodded, gesturing with a free hand for me to speak even as he turned his gaze back to the door.
"Yes, go ahead Lee. Get all of it out before he gets here. I swear if you weren't so cheap.."
"If this senior of yours is so important, why didn't we just bring the goods to him straight away?"
My question seemed to snap something in the man's mind and he turned to eye me like I was something on the bottom of his shoe.
"Are you crazy, huh? Do you think we can just traipse around the city with stolen goods and just deliver them? These are stolen goods. S T O L E N G O O D S. Did your rotten brain make them kick you out of the Tower huh?"
"What is this?"
Chang Chang immediately stopped talking and fell prostrate, somehow managing to turn to face the new voice in one smooth motion as he did.
"Senior! Welcome to my humble place." Chang Chang exclaimed, immediately the picture of deference. He glared at the rest of us from underneath his arm and flicked his eyes repeatedly until we bowed at the waist. I made sure to take a good look first.
The new arrival was a man of average height with waist length black hair drawn back in a ponytail. He wore a multi-layered blue and white Hanfu with the symbol of the Jingshen boldly emblazoned across the breast and carried a scroll case in his hands. He regarded the proceedings with open distaste and I barely managed to flick my eyes towards the ground before he looked at me.
"Do not make me repeat myself, boy. Why do you have Sorcerers from the Elemental Towers here? And low level ones at that. Do you think this is enough to betray me?" the man asked with an unimpressed voice.
Chang Chang pressed his head lower to the ground, almost certainly eating dirt as he quickly replied. "Great Senior! These are guards I hired for your goods. They would never dream of raising a hand against you."
"And you believe they won't open their worthless mouths the moment they are out of sight? Then you are more foolish than I was led to believe by my Lord Brother."
Chang Chang hesitated for a few seconds before briefly raising his head only to slam it back into the ground with an audible impact. "Senior, I acknowledge my mistake. I will make sure these four don't talk. I won't order any more Sorcerer guards in the future."
The Jingshen agent scoffed and I felt his cultivation billow out across the small warehouse. The three lowest level sorcerers fell to their knees immediately and I belatedly mimicked them as I tried to sort out what I was feeling. This was my first time feeling the cultivation of someone that wasn't a Devil or a Cannibal, I realized, and it felt different in a way that I couldn't put my finger on.
Is this Heaven's support?
His level itself felt close to my own, maybe even a little bit higher. It boggled my mind to think they'd send someone at the 9th level to do a job like this but since I was also here I suppose it isn't so farfetched. I heard the sound of the scroll case popping open and the man began to speak again.
"No, you won't. Two people can keep a secret only if one of them is dead, understand?"
I risked a glance at Chang Chang from the corner of my eye and saw a pale figure doing his best not to fall unconscious, much less answer the Jingshen agent.
I suppose that answers the question about whether Chang Chang is a mortal or not. He just made my job a lot harder.
The agent's aura only intensified as a tightly wrapped green scroll flew out of the case, radiating the distinctive feel of a treasure at the peak of qi condensation. "I always intended to start anew here, but I didn't expect you fools to give me such a good excuse to bring back. I won't even have to lie about it." He gestured and the scroll leapt at Chang Chang's head like a bullet before slamming into a thick sheet of bronze.
The agent's gaze followed the shadowy arm of the
Hoplite back to my position and he frowned.
"You aren't a Sorcerer."
"No."
I thrust out with the spear as I answer, but I already know it's a lost cause. The scroll spins backwards through the air and gently brushes the spear aside with far more force than something that size should be able to generate. The agent leaps backwards, folding his hands in front of him as he falls in a peculiar combat stance. It looks for all the world like he's just standing there casually, but I don't buy it.
"A Devil. You revealed yourself for this filth? I would expect you folk to wish to be rid of their kind as much as I do." The scroll floats back to him and orbits his form as he speaks, humming softly to its own internal music. I walk forward and close the distance with as much casual ease as I can manage. Walking isn't exactly difficult, but maybe I can piss him off enough that he focuses his efforts on me instead of these scrubs.
"No love lost between me and ol' Chang Chang over here, but seeing as he's a mortal...well I can't rightly stand by and let you kill a mortal on Devil lands. My Legate would skin me alive."
For a moment my opponent looks actually confused. "Really? The Devils are such bleeding hearts that they would give up an infiltration for a few lives? I will have to travel with a pair to butcher next time. It will make things so much easier."
I answer with a thrust of the spear. The scroll flips into the way again and bats the weapon aside despite my best efforts at holding it firm. I continue thrusting, first using the Legion Spear Forms and then mixing it up however I can but every time I get close the scroll brushes the
Hoplite's spear aside as if it was made of straw.
"Hmph, ridiculous. You Devils only rely on t-" He's finally forced to move as I throw the shield like a discus. He leaps into the air, barely avoiding the spinning disk of thick bronze as he ascends. The scroll floats under his feet and turns his sudden leap into a graceful glide to the rafters.
My own leap is not quite so graceful.
I fall into a crouch and let the
Hoplite fall away as my body briefly turns to bronze. Qi circulates in the method of the Reflected Purities Technique and suddenly a body that would have broken from what I demanded is capable of so much more. The warehouse floor craters as I take to the sky and I call on the
Hoplite once more as I approach the agent.
The spear thrust is brushed aside by the scroll but the follow up kick comes too quickly for it to catch. The agent folds his hands together and stops me dead with a grunt of exertion and fires a kick of his own at me. The shield slips through the
Hoplite's shadowy body to block it and I slam the mass of spiritual bronze through the flimsy wooden rafters with the last of my momentum. Wood splinters and shatters and the agent curses audibly as we begin falling.
One and a half seconds till we hit the ground. Plenty of time.
The
Hoplite dissipates as I pull on the Reflected Purities Technique again and my body goes from flesh to bronze in the blink of an eye.
I start with a right straight. He catches it on his forearm and winces before chopping at my throat to force me away. I let it hit me and fire back with a left hook simultaneously.
I'm bronze, you're not, get bent.
He realizes his mistake as the chop lands on my neck and hurts him more than it does me, but now it's too late. The hook lands on his collarbone and I take a handful of his robes in a firm grip as I pull us closer together, the cultivator cloth working against him as it refuses to tear. Back in the 1st heavenstage I could manage around ten blows a second in ideal conditions. This is not an ideal case and I only have one hand to punch with but at the 9th I am much, much faster.
I rain blows on him with my right again and again, faster and faster until the Bronze that makes up my body begins to glow cherry red at the shoulder. He blocks, parries, but mostly endures as he learns the error of letting a Devil close in melee. I'm up to fifteen blows when the scroll slips between us and shears off the front of his robes, freeing him from my grip. Bright light explodes from the scroll that pushes us away from each other before I can grab another handful.
Then we hit the ground.
We both go tumbling in opposite directions and I'm forced to physically dig my fingers into the earth to arrest my momentum before I get flung out into the street. The agent tumbles completely out of control until the scroll swoops around behind him and raises him up on a bed of green light before gently setting him back down on his feet. A hand reaches up to confirm his new broken nose and he fixes me with a glare of hatred as I hop up to my feet.
"Slacking on your physical cultivation, eh?"
"Ridiculous. This is not how cultivators fight, like some...common brutes!"
Now it's my turn to look at him in confusion. "Wait, you guys don't train physically? I guess I can just close in and beat you up every time. This will make things so much easier."
He answers by reaching out and unfurling the scroll with a snarl. The treasure aura intensifies and he reaches into his sleeves and pulls out...spirit stones?
"
The Great Sage Jangshu was once asked, what is power?" The scroll pulses and the green light begins to shift towards jade. Yea I'm not waiting around for that. Stone and dust fountain up behind me as I push forward with bronze limbs, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. My fist crashes into the hovering scroll with a window shattering boom...and it doesn't even react. Crap.
"
Is it to be swift as the waters of the river Yangzu, or to strike with the ferocity of a mighty sandstorm?" He continues chanting as I try and dodge around the floating scroll. It's too wide when unfurled, I can't slip past it. The impact of my punches stirs the dust in the air around us, but the agent stands calmly behind the scroll's protective circle as he chants. If I only had my actual gear instead of this damn costume.
"
Is it to be as prevalent as the blazing sun that reaches all corners of the seas?" I slide backwards and let the Reflected Purities fall away and call on the
Hoplite with the same breath. My Qi roils with all the quick switching going on, but it's not enough for permanent damage. I can heal up later.
"
No, The Sage answered. It is money!" The spirit stones in his hands flicker and collapse into dust as their energy is violently drained and sucked into the scroll. Jade light twists and thickens and in an instant a massive hand made entirely of treasure qi forms from the back of the scroll. It reaches out to me, growing as it does until it reaches twice my size.
I stab and the spear skitters off it with a wash of gold and jade sparks. Crap.
It slams into the shield and almost dissipates it in one go. A wave of jade qi flashes through the
Hoplite and in an instant the entire thing is wavering.
"
What is lacking may be purchased!" He's not done yet?!
The jade hand grips the shield before I can pull away and I hear a sound like a torrent of falling coins before the construct twists and the shield is ripped away. The bronze of the shield fades away and becomes a whitegreen jade as the arm pulls it back and holds it aloft. Well that was pointless.
I dismiss the
Hoplite and take a brief moment to calm my disturbed qi before calling on the shadows once again and projecting a new
Hoplite around me shield and all.
"
What has been bought can be sold!" The massive hand squeezes and the pilfered shield cracks and crumples before dissipating into qi - MY qi - that flows into the jade green hand, ballooning its size further. Oh this is going to suck.
"
Even the heavens have a price!" The hand ripples and makes a grasping motion at the air and suddenly I'm sliding towards it. I slam the shield into the ground but the force is too much, it just drags me inexorably across the earth. I push the shield into the jade hand and dismiss the rest of the
Hoplite as the jingle of coins fills my ears and the shield begins changing colour. A few quick steps along the back of the changing shield raise me up over the hand and I'm free from the pull.
What the hell is this?
I force Reflected Purities into place and step unto the arm. Immediately I can feel the technique being drained away, the slightest contact turning bronze back to flesh, but it doesn't spread. The technique still holds. I can still move. So I do.
Minimize contact. A single step is all it takes to close the distance. The scroll reacts but sluggishly, bloated and otherwise occupied as it is. It shudders and falls back and inch. Only a single inch, but that's better than before.
This is going to take longer than I bargained for.
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Wordcount: 3609
Originally this was going to be one piece but continued difficulties meant I decided to cut it here in the end. I hope you enjoy this introduction to a Jingshen fighting method I imagined. Using Wealth to seize what belongs to others, thus increasing their wealth. The Dao of Money is deep.
This started life as a collab with
@BadAtScreenNames but took a rather drastic turn afterwards to the point where not even I expected where it ended up. Hopefully my boy survives and we can do something in the future.
Look out for the second half probably sometime next week.
