Minervina Chapter 31: The turning over of a hand
Never before had Sun Mei been glad to be a mortal.
Most days it seemed that the entirety of her short life she had been consumed with envy for the many powerful Cultivators that passed through their city. It seemed only natural, how else should the plain daughter of a seamstress and a day labourer feel when confronted with such wealth, grace and beauty?
She was certain that each of these distant lords and ladies must live carefree lives, full of abundance and leisure. She had longed to join their number. To transcend the painful realities of mortal flesh, to laugh in the face of age and disease and say goodbye to the hunger pangs that tormented them when times were hard.
Then, what her grandfather called 'The Time of Trials' began.
Sun Mei resolved that she would never dream of Cultivation again as she stepped through the market square, clutching her groceries to her chest. She flinched and looked away from the dozen groaning victims staked to the same poles they normally used to hold festival banners. Their beautiful bronze skin was marred now, by blood, tears and the lashing of the whip.
It turns out crucifixion kills Immortals just like it does regular men, it just takes longer.
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It had all been going so well.
Minervina allowed herself a wry chuckle as she recalled how this, her second Great Trial, had begun. As an Expert at the peak of her realm, she had been given command of a small squadron of fellow Centurions. Equipped with some of the best of the new Scorpion mounts, they were to dash into the desert and attempt the most dangerous of tasks. They would hunt the Hunters.
The heavenly power that brought the Hunters to this Sea always scattered them in the process. Alone, they would be far more vulnerable and the incredible speed of Lady Destasia's latest projects gave them a chance to take advantage of that narrow window of opportunity.
Of course, this was where the infuriating rules of this murderous farce came into play. Qi Condensation against Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment against Foundation Establishment. A thin veneer of gentlemanly conduct from the Heavens, or more likely a way of ensuring its favoured disciples shared the wealth from their hunts more efficiently. Either way, they had to overlook the vast majority of potential targets as a quick spiritual probe revealed them to be too weak for them to attack.
It was a very different experience from her earlier battles at distant Pleuron, when they had fought with ferocious desperation against all comers. That had been a glorious day when somehow Qi Condensation strove against Core Formation and arose victorious.
This work was necessary, worthy even, but not glorious. Of the two dozen Foundation Expert Hunters they tracked down, all but three snapped their blasted tokens and escaped back to the homeland when they realised how badly outnumbered they were. Of the remaining three, she had personally taken the lives of two of them. She had taken some satisfaction from the confused expression on their faces. Clearly even in their distant land, delivering contact poisons instantly across hundreds of metres via an ancient space warping device was an unusual method of attack.
Back in the present Minervina felt her off-hand trace the outline of the delicate enchanted hand jewelry that decorated her right one. Her time in Quigai, for all its strife and bloodshed, had been worthwhile. She had emerged from the Secret Realm stronger in mind and body, the exotic talisman was just one small part of that.
Perhaps the early work going so well had been her downfall? After triumphing again and again over the Hunters, had she let herself become arrogant? She had set aside her fear of death a long time ago, even before she planted a Pillar of its Dao in her soul, but she didn't think she had lost her good sense.
Yet how else was she to explain it? When word of a powerful Foundation Stage Hunter terrorising her peers reached her, she didn't do the sensible thing. She didn't stir her group in the other direction looking for easier prey. She didn't even send off to the Dawn Fortress to ask the Elders for permission to engage or more information on the foe. She had simply ordered the march, confident in her ability to match anyone in the same Realm.
Aasmi, The Heavenly Star. Had she even been truly human?
A slip of a girl with power almost beyond comprehension for her Realm. When she first revealed herself Minervina's first thought had naturally been of Rina Callista. Was this another of the near mythical Kings of the 13th Heavenstage?
She didn't think so. Her power had lacked that hungry edge that seemed to be the trademark of the SIngle Pillar Cultivator. That was a Path that directly opposed the will of Heaven, that shoved both hands under the skin of the world and wrestled out meaty chunks of power and shoved them in the practitioner's mouth still raw and bleeding, desperate to consume it all before the blind and merciless eye of Heaven could exact its vengeance.
This girl? She turned over her hand and Heaven meekly moved to please her.
In half a heartbeat she had been surrounded by two dozen venoms and toxic dweomers, Minervina's countless hours of patient labour at the cauldron and drilling with her new weapon showing their worth. However before that heartbeat had even ended, the Hunter was surrounded by an aurora of burning, wrathful light, and the toxins were burnt away.
Don't be fooled into thinking this was some mere chemical reaction. The Poison Witch had tangled many times with Cultivators of Flame, Heat or Light. Her finest toxins operated on many levels beyond such petty physical interactions, and she had not dared to restrain herself. Mental toxins that exist only in the perceptions of the victim, conceptual venoms that attack the soul directly, subtle vapours that warp space and flesh alike. Digging deep into her reserves she included the tiniest dose of a poison that could wound the Dao of Causality itself, rendered from the blood of dead Time Shatter Disciples. The world dimmed as it materialised an inch from the girl's forehead, a crackling mass of spiteful annihilation.
A flash of heat and light, and it was gone, a fortune of time, money and labour evaporated. Aasmi hadn't even used a technique or spell, it seemed possible she was not even consciously aware of what she was doing, instead relying on some automatic function of that Heaven Sent artefact she drew on.
The next instant, she had fallen. A single casual step had brought the monstrous cultivator within arms reach. A smile on her lips and a taunt in her eyes, the Hunter had grabbed her by the throat and tossed her aside. That simple gesture had carried the power of a collapsing castle wall and had thrown her clear across the field, into the face of a nearby cliff and several paces into the hard stone of its foundations. She would have no doubt died right there and then if not for the twin blessings of her Bronze blood and Poison body. As it was, she was left broken and gasping, bones bursting out from the skin of her torso and arms. She could hear her subordinates cry out in surprise and fear, but realistically, she could no more for them. They had all gone into this mission knowing the odds were against them ever coming back. With a tear that had nothing to do with physical pain, she activated the escape talisman she had crafted specifically for the Trials.
Her pain faded away along with her physical form. She was no longer Minervina Barda, Optimatoi and Poison Mistress. Instead she was the flock, a rush of countless eyes and wings that wasted no time reaching for freedom.
To an outside observer it would look like the centurion hit the cliff side and burst into countless tiny shadows. Each shadow took the form of a dove as they took to the skies in all directions. Just a single one would need to reach safety to reform the whole and save her life.
Aasmi didn't even move to acknowledge the enchantment. Surely she could have struck down each of these shadows with but a fragment of her Light, but her eyes were elsewhere, the poison mistress far beneath her notice as her next opponent arrived. Another of the Optimatoi had arrived on the scene.
Her consciousness shattered between a thousand spiritual constructs, Minervina still found the presence of mind to wish Centurion Ceres luck. He would definitely need it.
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She came back to herself days and hundreds of miles later, a quivering wretch as shadows congealed in the abandoned husk of a peasants house in the depths of one of the countless cities that lined the Scorpion Road. The flock-mind had proven incredibly difficult to control and she was unpracticed at dealing with the consequences of this kind of personal transformation The shifting first to shadow and then back to flesh had at least put her bones back in their rightful place, but the blood in her vomit indicated that the internal injuries were far from entirely healed.
She managed to choke down a healing pill and take a meditative pose. She had a lot to think about.
After short jagged breaths turned to longer restful ones, she turned over the day's events in her mind over and over again, inspecting her Cultivation base all the while.
Her pride had taken quite a beating. In the century since Pleuron she had worked hard to develop a certain reputation for ruthless competence both on the field and off it. In the Blood Cannibal war she had stepped out of the shadows and led men in battle, scoring victories and saving lives time and time again. Her alchemical works had won accolades aplenty and her position in her Legion had soared so high it threatened that of her own Legate. When it came to trickery and espionage, her mission report on the infiltration and destruction of the Great Jingshen Mining Drill had become required reading for the latest batches of Lady Xie's spies.
A foundation built entirely on such triumphs could be revealed to be nothing more than a loose pile of sand when put under the pressure of such a defeat. For many a prodigy, this could have been a death blow. To be cast aside like a whimpering child and forced to abandon ones juniors? It was a profound humiliation. The image of Hui Lui flashed through her mind, he must be laughing at her all the way from the underworld right now. Exactly such a blow had shattered his Dao, severed his path forward, and that of many other fine men and women like him.
As for her Dao Heart, her will to power, the internal drive to grind ever onwards in the face of Heaven's spite? It was unharmed. The more she inspected her memories the more certain she was of that.
The triumphs might well be the bricks and stone of her foundation, but her struggles had given her plenty of mortar to hold it together. How could one petty tyrant, no matter how powerful, take those away from her?
Yes, she had left her men to die. Centuries ago she had watched powerless as her father died a cruel and pointless death. That had spurred her on, not slowed her down.
Yes, to lose was humiliating, but she was no stranger to losing face. She was the Devil who had masqueraded as a mortal chef for a full half-year, serving drunks and blood path fiends for a mere chance at a treasure.
Yes, her body was wracked with pain, the Hunters raw strength and blinding Light still hurting her even now, but pain and Minervina were old friends. She had for almost twenty years been condemned to the life of a crippled, poisoned old woman who polluted anything and everything she touched. Compared to that, this was nothing more than a scratch.
Her struggles had always benefited her more than her triumphs, and Minervina cut away any regrets or indecision with a scalpel's precision, promptly deciding that running into the 5th Sea princess would just be one more stepping stone on her own path to power.
In a way, the existence of such terrible threats justified her latest steps on her Path. Her decision to forgo Tribulation and attempt the 8th Pillar had drawn many Golden Core it could foster. After Quigai, she had become a little worried they were right, the sheer quantity of power needed to reach the unorthodox realm was daunting. Now she was certain again that she had made the right decision. Could any of the Elders have actually stood up to Aasmi blow for blow? She imagined even the Grand Elder could not casually have quashed that divine instrument of hers. In an age such as this one, mere orthodox methods would never truly be enough.
She was broken from her musing by the opening of the door. A mortal girl walked in, holding a bag of groceries to her chest like they were made of solid gold. She seemed distracted and full of thoughts, so it was no surprise she didn't notice the intruder until she was well into the room and had shut the door behind her.
When she did spot her, Minervina had gotten to her feet and put a hand around her mouth before she could scream. Looking over the dark house again, she realised the pain of her wounds had addled her more than she thought, the house was run down and ill kept, not abandoned.
"I mean you no harm little one. Why don't I make us some tea and have a little chat."
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Sun Mei had daydreamed about taking tea with a Cultivator many times.
Of course, in those daydreams, she had power herself, or at the very least wealth. She would be wearing a fine silk gown and laugh merrily with the beautiful ladies and flirt with dangerously handsome swordsmen in an ornate flower garden or impossibly grand hall.
She did not foresee herself fluttering around the squalid shitpile of a one-room house she shared with her grandfather, trying to simultaneously store the groceries, surreptitiously square away the worst of the mess, and hopelessly attempt to find a teacup worthy of her unexpected guest.
Fortunately, the Cultivator seemed not to notice her struggles in the least. She ignored her obvious poverty, and instead pulled out a set of worn but fine quality tea-things from an impossibly small pouch by her waist. A simple tap on the lid of the kettle set it to boiling.
"Sit child, your fussing is giving me a headache"
Mei sat down before she was even consciously aware of her legs moving. Beyond the obvious things like her bronze skin and metallic hair, something about the woman's presence seemed deeper and more significant than the town cultivators she was used to seeing.
What followed was a polite, but thorough interrogation on the state of the town and its new occupiers. After that Mei was surprised to find herself being asked about her own circumstances, her parents passing, her life with her grandfather and their struggles to find stable work. As they lapsed back into silence, she eventually dared a question of her own.
"The Devils in the square. Are you here to save them? They're in the most terrible pain?"
The answer she got was foreshadowed with a sad smile. "Do you know the best way to catch a Tiger Scorpion when it's threatening a town?"
"Erm, no?"
"You peg a goat to a convenient spot in an open field. Cut its side so its cries and blood fill the air. Then all you have to do is sit back and wait."
She pours herself more tea. Mei notes the other woman palm some kind of shimmering silver pebble in her hand that she takes alongside it. Was that a Cultivation Pill? The type she had heard about in stories?
"I can sense at least one Core Formation hunter in town who is letting his presence leak out from behind his veils. It's a trick of course. It means there are at least two more lying in wait that I can't sense. Your entire town has become a trap for a Legate. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the poor sods down there in the market is a favourite descendent, lover or personal disciple of such an august personage. The goat and the scorpion."
She pulls herself to her feet, gesturing that Mei should clean away and pack away the utensils as she gathers herself. "I can't save them. The Cores can't kill me, not if they don't want to face consequences, but they can pin me down and block me just fine while their juniors finish the job."
She puts the kettle and cups back into that wondrous pouch before pulling something out of it. A tiny sliver of green stone. She stares at it for a long moment before passing it over. "You have been helpful. Once the Trials end, take this to any Devil you can find, they will see you are well rewarded for your efforts."
Sun Mei took the jade slip reluctantly, and the question burst from her lips despite her best attempts not to ask it. "If you can't save them, what are you going to do?"
The woman turned and looked back at her, her eyes harder than bronze and colder than the moon. She clenched her right fist, the elaborate arrangement of interwoven metal bangles that covered it clattering a little as she did so. "The most, and the least that I can. I'm going to end their pain."
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I am still not happy with the other part of the Quigai arc, but I wouldn't have been happy if the turn ended without my response to Mins defeat by Aasmi being written up and included, so apologies for the chapters not being put up in chronological order.
I will be asking our wise and beloved Thread Markers to jiggle things around so they read right when I finally finish Conspiracy in Quigai Part 2.
Another 3100 words, so I at least keep my 3 Omake a turn commitment!
@ReaderOfFate @Humbaba Threadmark if you would be so kind.
