Chrysanthos Krimta - Inspecting a warehouse
Paperwork was the bane of Chrysanthos existence. It was also the foundation of civilization, but at this moment it was very much a thorn in his side. Several batches of valuable pills and soups have been contaminated with increasing frequencies, leading to sick cultivators popping out through the new territories taken from the Blood Cannibals. That alone was not unusual, as the rush and sudden colonization of the previously desolated lands did lead to sudden lack of respect for regulations and usage of substandard alchemical ingredients and alchemists. It usually was an issue which got itself fixed through time, as the perpetrators grew more sophisticated and centralized which let to formation of organization which would either separate or take over such irregular activities. Which promptly got them integrated into the local politics or had Golden Core cultivators send after them. Some days he couldn't really tell which fate was worse.
What made this current situation so annoying, and prevented him from letting nature take its course is that some young master had decided that the Havens favor him, and bought a lot of pills from less reputable sources, doing a carefully calculated cultivation regiment tailor made to skyrocket his foundation to Peak of Qi Condensation in a matter of a decade. It would have actually worked, if he had bought the pills from trusted and verified productions instead of rather new and local hands. Which of course meant that he had suffered from several types of Qi deviation at the same time, and was heavily injured. It would be quite an expense for him family to cure him, and by all odds he was probably near the end of his self-imposed closed cultivation. Cultivation which was not rendered worthless and was actually more of a bane then a boon. With all the fuss the young masters family has risen up, the local magistrate has decided it was time to send some Foundation Building Experts at the chase. Even though a regular team of Qi condensation would be faster than him at covering the existing paperwork, and snuffing out whoever is responsible for the substandard products.
So after days of excruciating paperwork and necessary forms, he had come to a conclusion that the whatever faction had sold those pills had not actually bothered to submit all the local tribute pays and paperwork, and was mostly just a front in a warehouse at the eastern part of town. Said warehouse did seem to be very much in use, as it was referenced as a delivery and drop off point for several other businesses. So to find the source of such pills, he would need to actually go there, and go through their documentation. Which is very much annoying, as it would take too much time from his other work and cultivation.
Taking a time to sight deeply, Chrysanthos took a breath, changed to his nice official robes with long sleeves and walked out with his cane. With the warehouse being on other side of town, it would take only a few minutes to reach it at his top speed, but he needed to maintain calmness and sophistication in front of the citizens and his juniors. And he couldn't even bring a Qi Condensation squad with himself because it would harm his family name.
He really wished he was still a Qi condensation cultivator still. At least he could slack off then.
Half a hour later...
The Longevity Cup Treasure House of Storage was one of several houses belonging to the local Heavenly Glorious Bank of Cobalt, which itself was just one of branches of the Heavenly Golden House. It served as a delivery point and storage for local workshops, so that they may efficiently be distributed further down the market. Faking his cultivation as the Ninth Stage of Qi Condensation, he entered the main building and started asking some questions. The faction the specific young master had bought the pills from had apparently bought out a whole northern building according to the index, which the receptionist had supplied him with, along with several information which had indeed confirmed that this was the place to be. Which he did lack at the magister office. Something was rather fishy about that particular fact, but since he was here, there he might as well solve it. If he was lucky, it may actually devolve into a fight, netting him a combat pay. Not to mention the minor increase in reputation he would get. Got knows he would need it in his current straits.
So taking his cane, he walked to the northern warehouse and with a bit of application of Qi banged on the door. No need to use the side entrance or even the bell. He still needed to make a decent presentation of his office, or at least make an attempt at making it. And no matter how kind the receptionist was, Chrysanthos held no doubt that she secretly notified them of his coming. She may be only Qi Condensation, and early stage at that, but detecting all conceivable forms of secret communication was far out of his reach. Possibly not even Core Formation could do that. As the main gates slowly opened, he was not greeted by a kindly old man or a woman waiting him and welcoming him as is expected. Instead he was faced with two Ninth Stage Qi Condensation charging at him. Which was rude and unexpected to say the least. Blocking a single Spear with his cane, and brandishing the Fools Sceptre from his sleeves and deflecting the other one, Chrysanthos quickly shattered his Magistrate token, notifying the Magistrate he was in dire straits. He really was not, but a person would only gain the combat pay if said person could prove they were in a fight, and 2 Ninth Stage Qi Condensation classified as a fight, no matter how easy it was. He permitted a small smile to appear on his face as they backed off. At least it seems his combat pay was taken care of, and there would not even be people whispering behind his back about needlessly bullying juniors. Probably. They had after all, attacked him.
With a Scepter in his left hand and minor burst of Qi, Chrysanthos struck the ground, raising a small wave of sand which impacted both cultivators, doing no damage and only obscuring their senses for a bit. Taking a moment, a sword was launched from his belt towards the farther Qi Condensation Cultivator, which said cultivator promptly evaded. As the dust settled both cultivators stared at him, one with fierce concentration, and the other one with amusement, as he had no issue dodging his half assed attack.
"Is that all?" he stated, and Chrysanthos can hear the mocking in his voice. With a sudden but irresistible urge Chrysanthos answer leaves his lips.
"Not even close."
With but a moment thought, the Thoughtsword spears the cultivator from behind, dragging him closer towards Chrysanthos. The other cultivator noticed his compatriots' situation and charges on Chrysanthos planning to force him on a defensive, which could theoretically save his compatriots life. Theoretically. If the other side was truly a Qi Condensation Cultivator.
Unleashing his Foundation Establishment Cultivation his cane turns into a spear, and with the help of a sceptre, his superior speed and strength, the Qi Condensation junior is disabled in a single breath. The other one barely kept alive by a sword which stabbed through him.
All in all, an easy battle. Now it was his job to secure the warehouse and get to the bottom of this. It would take for a while for the reinforcements called to come, and then he would need to go through the entire complex to find the source of the pills. There may still be some minor cultivators, but he took care of the big fish here and now. As the spear slowly turns back into the cane, he slowly prepares to enter deeper into the compound.
His thoughts proven utterly wrong as a Foundation Establishment presence makes itself known from inside the warehouse. A moment later, he could see a formation forming around the warehouse, cutting off his escape. A rather shoddy one, a small part of his brain noted, as he could break it under a minute, a minute he did not have, but such standards where unbecoming. The incoming team would probably need even less, since trapping formation where notoriously weak from the outside. A blue robbed man walks outside of the building, a dashing young look, his voice full of amusement.
"It seems my faithful employees will be missing their employ of the year award. Such a shame. With the state you put them in it will take them at least several months to recover." A smile touches his lips "So fellow Daoist, I would like to study such method, would you oblige?"
His tone at the near end taking a rather hostile tone from an amused one. That is not what worries Chrysanthos. Because he know that voice. Fifteen years ago, he had heard that voice mocking him as he fought for his life. This is the voice of the Eyeless Bone Sucker Bandit, a Foundation Establishment Bandit which nearly ended Chrysanthos life. Him and his brother nearly slayed him, and only using his Flying Pig Treasure did he manage to escape in the end. With grievous wounds at that. A token which his departed mother left him. Both a momento and a priceless treasure.
For the team to arrive and break the trapping formation, it should take well over half a stick of incense. It was realistically, not enough time. The Eyeless Bone Sucker was rather famous for his Blood mist and dangerous to boot. He even had a Fourth Pillar Foundation Establishment kill to his name. As such Chrysanthos would need time. Time which he very much didn't have.
The Krimta family always stuck by its contracts, and not all contracts were made on paper. Some were made on the battlefield and written by blood, with main currency being the reputation of the Krimta family.
A half a stick of incense to kill a famous Foundation Establishment Cultivator sounded as something which would put a limit to both his cultivation and treasures. A very unprofitable venture indeed.
Popping the Meridian Rejuvenation Pill to temporarily mend his wounded leg, he used a spell to quickly change his voice. It would be foolish to repeat his enemies mistake and make himself recognizable. And his answer was short.
"Fellow Daoist, please advise."
As his words finished, the Thoughtsword finished overcharging, his cane turned back into a spear as Qi flooded the scepter in his other hand, rendering all his opponents predictions and evaluations of his capabilities unreadable. He could feel the Hundred Tailed Monkey Net vibrating in his pocket and the golem slowly making itself way towards a point between them.
The bandit wordlessly launched his eyes, forming gigantic blood soaked eyeballs as they flew towards him. Such a move got him his name, but it was well Established to render him blind to anything without Qi and blood. Such fatal flaw was usually covered by his partner, which luckily seemed to not be present here. The Eyeless Bone Sucker Bandit and his partner where not one known for subtelty or ambushes.
Still, not to be outmatched Krimta launched the Thoughtsword from the nearly dead Qi Condensation Cultivator, who was barely hanging on his life due to the wound and the Qi drained from him. In a moment's notice, the Thoughtsword evaded both the orbs which tried to intercept him stabbing towards the bandit. Quickly though, a blood mist appeared over the cultivator. While not stopping the sword as it stabbed him, flinging him back, it did render the wounds inflicted meaningless. During Chrysanthos last battle with the bandits, no matter how many wounds he inflicted on the bandits, they would carry on fighting.
With the eyes launched getting close to him, Chrysanthos drops one of his few remaining smoke bombs, rendering the area around him unusable to both Qi senses and the naked eye. And his scepter obscured the more esoteric means of predicting his movements. Though said smoke inconvenienced him, it also inconvenienced the blood eyeballs far more and through the usage of his golem vision, he managed to predict and evade the incoming eyeballs through the created smoke.
During that time, the bandit had been pinned by the Thoughtsword as it's Qi absorption, poison and movements where fighting against the blood mist surrounding the bandit. While losing handily, they at the moment had him immobilized.
As Chrysanthos exited the mist he had thrown his spear and the net from his pocket rushed towards, and in a more moments thought had arrived next to the Thoughtsword trapping the bandit. But as he existed he was hit by a net very familiar to him, a net which brother was currently rushing towards the bandit. A net which he had lost in his last encounted with the bandit, when he rendered it useless with his blood mist after a mere moment. If it was anybody else, they would be in dire strate at least, but Chrysanthos had forged those nets after decades of research. For all intents and purposes he was their owner. And while he couldn't turn it against the bandit, due to it being filled with Eyeless Bone Sucker Bandits Qi, rendering it inert with a minor spell was a simplicity in itself.
"Do you not learn..." he hears the agitation in the bandits voice. It seems that he has recognized Chrysanthos, due to the identical moves he had applied during their last battle.
Which to be fair, seems true from his perspective. This fight is more or less the same as the last one. Only then, Chrysanthos Thoughtsword had less Qi in itself, his net was intercepted by his blood mist at full strength and the spear he impaled him with only made him laugh. All the while Chrysanthos had to dodge attacks from his companion as he played around with the golem at full strength, making Chrysanthos spent valuable time and Qi, while losing all the initiative. But the while the moves stayed the same, the results had changed greatly.
Instead of a single spear which has left his arm, suddenly 9 spears appeared, which hit the bandit head on, with the Thoughtsword falling down helplessly next to the bandit, drained of both Qi and momentum.With the blood mist still active, it will keep him alive unless Chrysanthos deals a fatal strike, something which is impossible with his lacking cultivation compared to the bandit.
Still, the function of spears was not only splitting them. Utilizing the formation token in his chest pocket Chrysanthos feels his Qi drain into it at rapid pace, reducing his reserves greatly. As Chrysanthos rapidly loses his Qi, the spears start emitting a aura of their own, rendering the blood mist less dense. Much less spoken of the poision with which the spears where imbued.
Chrysanthos Qi senses feel something shatter, as spears start flying away from the bandit, the mist intensifying, becoming more and more visible to the naked eye, and it's presence known. He couldn't even feel the nets presence, his Qi by all odds wiped out from the artifact. It slowly rises, until Chrysanthos feels a Peak Formation Establishment Presence, maybe even more. And as the wounded bandit slowly moves towards him, his wounds slowly healing. It seems that poision is slowly being overcome. And the nice and orderly Foundation Establishment presence has twisted, taking a far more bloody and massacring note. He can hear his voice full of pure rage.
"You dare to bring me to this state. I have spent a century building this Bloodstone, and I'll make you pay for it".
With those words he sees the mist expanding and dozens of spheres forming around him. In the same time, the trapping formation shudders. It seems that the reinforcements he called had come in early. Utilizing the last smoke bombs Chrysanthos lay a covering screen for him to hide, as the bandit unleashes blood eye after blood eye to attack him. Chrysanthos was under the impression he had to regrow them through a lengthy time period, but it seems that with enough of a Qi it is possible to render it instant, or he had faked limitations of the move a secret to surprise his enemies.
Still, with the golem having a vision on the Eyeless Bone Sucker Bandit attacks, and his vision still being limited by the smoke which was rapidly vanishing, Chrysanthos managed to evade most of the incoming attacks. Those few that hit, managed to rapidly drain his Qi, even as he blocked the with the sceptre, forcing him to shatter half of his inner teeth, which activated the hidden formations and spirit stones in them, rapidly restoring his Qi.
As the smoke settled Chrysanthos found himself standing in a desolated area, as the attacks had stopped, and the Eyeless Bone Sucker Bandit had heavy wounds, from the spears, even as blood mist seemed to have managed to overpower the poison remained from his spear.
Still, his Qi reserves should be close to none, as his heavy breathing and the lack of previous presence indicated.
Not giving the enemy chance to recover, Chrysanthos send a massive Qi pulse towards the golem, his Qi reserves still regenerating from his shattered teeth. In a moment his golem moved, growing to to fifteen meters, as formations on him started to operate, giving it a fire aura, as it launched attack after a attack at the Foundation Establishment cultivator. He was out of offensive weapons, but with the golem fighting and winning against the bandit, he in theory didn't need to do anything except supply Qi to the golem. In practice, the trapping formation was crumbling, and if he wanted to have sole rights to killing of the bandit he needed to act now. With a swoosh of his robes, Chrysanthos moved, picking up spear which was discarded by the now dead Ninth Stage Qi Cultivator and launched farther away by the blood eyeballs, Chrysanthos materialized a shield in his other arm and charged towards the bandit, as the unfamiliar spear utilized every single move he could remember from his Legion days. And in mere moments, both due to the golem onslaught, the bandits already grievous wounds and Chrysanthos spear attacks the bandit finally died.
As he finally dropped to the ground, the trapping formation shattered, as Foundation Establishment cultivator, followed by rows of Qi condensation cultivators entered the scene. It seems reinforcements he called what seemed ages ago had finally arrived.
He was not sure how a simple inspection and search for contaminated pills and soups has led to a fight which resulted in half a warehouse destroyed, but he was at this point too tired to care. The creeping realization of what happened was slowly coming towards him. He had underestimated his enemy greatly. If not for the Eyeless Bone Sucker Bandit desperation move being truly desperate, he would have by all odds been dead. If the bandit stayed calm, he could have overwhelmed his defenses with the Qi as the smoke scattered, overwhelming him with pure power.
Looking upon the body and the remains of the blood mist, Chrysanthos at least had an excuse for all the blood on him. And with a little luck, they wouldn't notice that a good part of it was his. Even with his Qi protecting him, the Eyeless Bone Sucker Bandit attacks have taken their toll. It payed off to dress well at least.
Now all he needed to find the All-seeing Blood Breaking bandit, and his unspoken contract would be finished. And he had a feeling that the bandit would come to him with time.
