The last few weeks had been exceptionally good! Rina would even dare call them some of the best of her life! Barring a few exceptions at any rate from here mostly involving some thugs who thought two Qi Condensation adventurers were easy prey--since despite her best efforts, Rina still came off to be as threatening as a particularly fierce kitten to one who hadn't seen her in action.
Apparently adventuring in places rich with beasts and the occasional valuable spirit herb draws in just as many people to kill and take other's stuff as it does people willing to benefit from the resource in the first place!
"It's really all a terrible mess I think." Rina ranted one evening, while dinner was in the middle of being cooked. "It's like... It's like you get a bunch of people who are a little bit stronger, and they just suddenly go terribly mad with power! Like all of their humanity in the past can get thrown out in favor of taking the path of least resistance!"
"It's the way the world is" Xu Zhen shrugged, poking the fire with his cane and stirring the coals up. "Men die for wealth as Birds die for food."
"Yes, that's the way it is
now" Rina would retort then, crossing her arms and leaning back against a tree. "But the
scale of it is madness! It's..." She extends her arms and clenches her hands into fists. "It's like.. It's like there's a certain insanity that fills the hearts of the people, if not kept under strict control. The
possibility of great power exists, somewhere in the world. It's available for the tiniest fraction of a fraction of people who have the right mindset and the right foundation to advance through the ranks. But it's like the
existence of that possibilities drives everyone
else to murderous rages!"
"Can you blame them?" Xu Zhen shrugged. "The lure of immortal life is intoxicating--even if few have truly touched on its boundaries, the act of Cultivation can bring people
closer to a long life. There are not enough resources for everyone to begin with--so is it that strange that when someone feels that they have a shot at increasing their chances a bit, they'll result in murder? It's just how the world is."
"See, that?" Rina points. "That's what I don't like--'That's just how the world is'--it's a cop-out! An excuse! It doesn't require a great deal of effort in the grand scheme of things to reduce suffering--the cost of a single Core Formation Cultivator is enough to ensure billions of mortals can live a long and fruitful life!"
"And that one Core Formation you lack is one less great front that can be protected" Xu Zhen retorts. "It is a grand and noble ideal to hold--I certainly wouldn't dismiss someone for taking such a route! But you must realize that all it takes is one Demonic Sect tapping into the Blood Path and striking, and these grand and noble ideals become little more than food to nourish a great evil. It is
precisely this that led to the ascension of the Demonic Altar Sect! When the Seventh Prince of the Great Wei Dynasty stumbled upon the Demonic Altar, and formed a contract with it at the cost of his lineage and much of his great population!"
"That, that right there." Rina gestures. "
That's the problem with the world. A realm that's the stronghold of the Righteous, with few peers and equals--and it
just so happens to have a relic capable of bringing a single mortal to Spirit Severing in one jump lying around? Based on a price nobody else agreed to? In a place that a
mere mortal has access to?"
Xu Zhen shakes his head, smilingly weakly. "It
is rather ridiculous when you put it that way, isn't it?"
"It's worse than ridiculous, it's actively malicious." Rina huffs and leans back again. "The sheer
size of the world from the perspective of anything short of Nascent Soul is mind boggling--and yet how many people keep stumbling across these legacies that let them achieve near omnipotence in a single bound? Even back home, we keep seeing this cycle starting up--and it's only though our diligence that few of these ever rise to the point of being a danger."
"I would have thought the Golden Devils would consider this an asset?" Xu Zhen turns his attention back to the cooking. Rina sighs though. "We
do archive most of these findings, but most of them are sealed by the Elder Council, they often require blood sacrifice on a grand scale, and often work
even better when used against the unwilling."
"Squeamish?" He chimes in, and Rina frowns. "No, we have
standards, they call us a Demonic Clan for the methods we are willing to employ to protect our lands. Be it poisons, curses--and yes, occasionally making an example of the greatest criminals through techniques that border the Blood Path. But these methods are intended to supplement discipline, strength, and effective tactics. To play along with the Righteous Path's rules and restrictions when we are not
protected by them would be simply asking to die. And so we don't."
"Hmm." Xu Zhen nods. "I do understand what you're getting at, and I suppose I don't have room to talk much on the matter--the Strength Purity Sect has always been strong enough that the rules tend to be followed in spirit--if not necessarily by the letter."
"Hence why you're stuck here with a 'Demon' instead of at home throwing down with the Blood Path, huh?" Rina grinned--Xu Zhen waved it off. "Guilty as charged, it's work that needs to be done--yes--but it's just not my..." He shrugs. "It's not my thing? I'm not one of those thugs who constantly picks fights everywhere he goes because he needs constant validation. I'm
happy with the path I want to go on--it's just not the Path that we
need, you know?"
"I don't see why what you want and what you need should come into conflict though?" Rina supplied. "I mean, yeah--sure--I like reading, I like studying, but I
also like being this tough. Do you know how fun it is to be able to pick up a large boulder and use it as a kickball?" Xu Zhen stopped and
stared at her--she blushed. "Well, it's
fun! And the work really does need doing. If the Heavens are going to keep dropping monsters down on us to discourage us from doing right by our people, then it's our job to keep stomping on those monsters until the Heavens stop doing that."
"Awfully bold, to talk about making the Heavens do anything or not, are you?" Xu Zhen teased. Rina puffed herself up and put her hands on her waist. "Hey, don't you guys keep talking about how 'Cultivation is Defying the Heavens?' Same difference! If the Heavens are going to decree a world that's constantly full of monsters to encourage good people to be monstrous in turn. Then the solution is to get strong enough to tell the Heavens no, and to
build a world that people can be happy living in."
"Going to have a rough time with that" Xu Zhen points out. "Plenty of people are perfectly happy with how things are right now, and most people who try to Defy the Heavens end up a pile of ash in a wasteland somewhere."
"Hmph!" Rina sticks her nose up. "I just need to work that much harder and become that much stronger then. I'll make a happier world whether the Heavens want me to or not! That's
my Dao!"
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Dinner was delicious--apparently skill in fire arts and long nights in the archives makes for a brilliant chef! Of course, even Rina knew how to roast an average beast well enough to be palatable--but that was no reason not to take advantage of having a friend for the day!
The next day dawned bright and early, and the questing began anew. Angry demonic beasts charging in with murder in mind! Great and towering edifices to climb up and around! At least one example of needing to push a big chunk of rock down so it would create a convienent ramp up to a relatively pristine ridge! (That even had a few nice herbs to split up! Very nice!)
It was around mid-day when things got
spicy again.
"You hear that?" Xu Zhen muttered, bringing his cane up and cupping his ear.
"... I
feel that" Rina replied, frowning, and picking up the pace. A sound of rumbling, tumbling, shockwaves through the very earth. It was what was colloquially known as a
bad sign
This alone would more than cause for concern in and of itself. The shrill
scream that came with it was of... Moderately more concern.
"Right, we're doing this?" Xu Zhen steadied himself.
"Of course we're doing this" Rina grinned, flicking her wrists and letting her weapons return to full size. "I'll take point!"
She floods her system with
Qi, the energies of creation--and channels it deeply into her legs.
It is a common misconception, to say that those who bear the Blood of Bronze are slow. This is...
Technically accurate, though somewhat misleading.
They do indeed find themselves having a hard time against a peer who specializes in close combat, who use slippery and mysterious techniques to bypass one's guard and strike at the most vulnerable spots. They lack a certain
flexibility in other words.
Closing distance though? That was less a matter of
speed and more a matter of
power
And
Power was something the Blood of Bronze provided in abundance.
A sonic boom burst outward, and a stream of copper and trailing white-gold arced from the woodlands of the foothills. Below was a great disturbance, a great worm of the depths bursting free from its feasting on the veins of earth, lashing out at a convoy. It was being bombarded by streams of black fire, hissing and dripping acid at the black-clad Cultivators who stood against it. Some had already died, devoured by the fell monster's maw or reduced to sludge by acidic drool.
"Hold!" Cried the leader, an expert of the Ninth Heavenstage of Qi Condensation. "Hold damn you! The Master requires his sacrifices! The beast is strong, but not almighty! Strike it low before we are noticed!" The Worm screeched its challenge again, and flinched back as dark lightning lashed out, a technique generated by the shadowy commander.
A streak of light from the horizon, careening towards the great Worm. It had no time to react, little time to move, as an arc of shining blue filled the air, sword-light extended from a glowing heavy sword. It is caught, three-quarters of the way across its body, and the beast is bisected by the blow.
A beat, and a ray of putrescent blood gushed from the worm's body. It writhed and fell to the ground, as its killer settles down before it. A simple dress over a light breastplate, armored boots, and bearing a heavy sword of shining blue glass and a spirit-steel shield. Her copper skin and white-gold hair settled, untouched by the violence that had just unfolded. She opened one bespectacled eye, and tilted her head at the sight ahead of her.
Indeed, the beast was slain, but the ones being attacked were no saints either. Figures clad in black, flinching back as the threat is extinguished. Nothing
crazy in itself...
What was more concerning were the cages and carts--a veritable convoy. A brief glance over them saw the flickering vestiges of concealment spells, disrupted by a beast disturbed by the great mass treading on its territory. A sniff of the air, and a scent of power--many of these prisoners were Cultivators in their own right, their
Qi sealed by some mechanism.
"Well, well, well." Rina mused, straightening up. "Talk of sacrifices,
and a bunch of prisoners?" Her power swelled, the cultivation base of a Tenth Heavenstage expert pressing on the thugs. "I think... We need to have a little discussion."
The leader flinched back. "Golden Devil Clan..." He spat. "We've no quarrel with you and yours, and this is not your territory either! Your assistance is welcome, but we will not tolerate further interference!"
Rina smiled, and stepped forward. "Oh, but I
want to interfere. Slave trafficking is
very much one of the evils we seek to remove from this world."
"They're Blood Path!" A girlish voice screamed--an androgynous looking figure buried in black robes in one of the cages screamed. "It's a big ritual they're casting here! You have to save us!"
"Bah! No choice then! Men! To me!" The leader bellowed--apparently more willing to throw down with a single human than a great spirit beast. "We'll capture this one to make up our losses!"
"You didn't think I came here alone though, did you?" Rina's smile took on a predatory cast--and the forming attackers hesitated.
That hesitation was fatal.
Her swelling power served to muffle most other
Qi Emanations in the field--a smothering mass that blinded the senses and focused the attention on herself. And not, say--the fellow of the Eighth Heavenstage creeping up the back, and muttering a spell formulation that encompassed the enemy formation.
"Three Hells Immolation!" Xu Zhen intoned, a boundary line flashing into view around the formed up experts--and filling that area with fires drawn from the depths of the earth. He grimaced as his
Qi sagged from the grand art, and fell to a knee--but the spell was complete, the work done.
And the enemies reduced to ash in the wind.
"Good job!" Rina raised a thumbs up to Xu Zhen--who stabilized himself, rising to his feet. "Nice and clean like all fights should be!"
There's a sound of cheering from the cages. "We're saved! We're saved!" The girl who gave warning in the first place cried out. "We've got to get out of here though! This place is going to be really dangerous soon!"
"Dangerous like how?" Xu Zhen asked, turning over to her.
"I'll tell you once you've gotten me out of here!" She shakes the bars of the cage. "But it's really bad! We're all in terrible danger!"
It seemed that the adventure was about to take a turn for the dramatic after all!
Rina wondered just where this was all going though--Blood Path normally favors mortals, right?
She had a bad feeling about this...
The Shounen feel is strong with this one! I gotta say, i really like how her mindset is so different from the standard. The deconstruction of the Xianxia/Wuxia genre through her eyes was amazing.