~~~
The corpse has four legs, and every ti one hits the ground, the earth rumbles. It moves without hurry, yet the creatures size is such that even those slow, lumbering steps manage to cover great distances. The closer it gets, the easier it becos to appreciate how massive the creature is.
Long, yellow-ish horns grow from its head, and two long tusks co from its mouth. Half of its hide is rotting, and the other is covered in a thick, green-ish hide. It looks like so dead animal youd find lying on a swamp, not that Feng Zhi knows of any swamp deep enough for this creature.
Neither its appearance nor the horde of dead creatures following it is what troubles Feng Zhi.
Preserving and animating a corpse is not beyond a cultivator with the right skill set. Feng Zhi has seen such things before. When he was much younger, he and Feng Zhou stopped a cultivator who had been terrorizing a small city by making them believe the vengeful ghost of a famous outlaw had co back to take vengeance on them. Feng Zhi has also encountered several disciples of the Infinite Mountain Sect that could create huge creatures of rock and iron to fight for them. He has even fought against the mysterious puppetry of the Wildwood Theater Troupe.
This is not that.
The Qi he feels from this beast and from all the many creatures marching alongside it lacks any shred of vitality to it. He wants to say it is Yin-aligned but hesitates to do so because that would be an insult to every Yin-user he has ever t.
This thing is foul and wrong anddead.
This Qi is dead. The description cos to him naturally, yet his brain struggles to comprehend it, struggles to reconcile what is before him with everything he knows about Qi.
What even is that? Xi Mou asks, bringing a hand to his mouth as though he were about to throw up. Feng Zhi is not faring much better. In the face of this new threat, their enmity has been left forgotten. Though they had been re seconds away from fighting, they now stand side by side.
What point is there in asking? You just said you were my superior in cultivation, Feng Zhi reminds him. If so, you should be able to feel it.
I know its a corpse! I know its dead! Xi Mou snaps at him. Thats not the issue!
Feng Zhi does not reply. He understands exactly what Xi Mou is getting at. It is not just the inherent wrongness of this thing that is the problem.
He cannot tell how strong this army of dead creatures is.
Feng Zhi knows there are multiple creatures before him. Size alone indicates that the largest corpse must have been in the True Realm before it died. However, no matter how hard he tries, Feng Zhi cannot discern their cultivation realm. He cannot even sense the dead creatures as individuals. It is all one singular, dead Qi that blankets the area and crawls over his skin like a thousand ants. The closer the horde gets, the worse the feeling becos.
As Feng Zhi stares down the approaching army, an old mory cos to the forefront of his mind.
~~~
Everything you can see, all the way to the furthest reaches of the horizon, belongs to the Eternal Fla Clan, his father tells him while hoisting him over his shoulders. However, there are lands even beyond that.
My instructors told about this! Father is talking about the other mbers of the Four Great Sects, right?
To Feng Zhis surprise, his father shakes his head no.
Further still, son. It is true that even outside the Crimson Cloud Empire, few rival the might of the Four Great Sects. However, that is only true for this side of the Dead Plains. On the other side, it is a different story. The Four Great Sects have no authority there. Instead, those lands are ruled by three great powers. It pains to say this, but each one of them is stronger than even our Eternal Fla Clan.
They are even stronger than you, father?!
Even stronger than I, son. Listen well and never forget their nas. The Peerless Heavenly Sword Peak, The Temple of the Thousand Shadows, and...
Father? What is the last one called?
Death Fashioning Scripture.
~~~
People often say his father is an emotional man, but that mory marks one of the few tis Feng Zhi has seen his father truly bothered about sothing. Usually, his father is completely in control of himself. He is as lustful as he wants to be, as angry as he wants to be, and as joyful as he wants to be. All his excesses are deliberate indulgences. That is what makes dealing with him so infuriating.
However, at that ti, hed been bothered even though he didnt want to be.
Death Fashioning Scripture
The spectacle before Feng Zhi certainly feels like death. Still, it is too soon to make any assumptions. This could just as easily be so rare, natural anomaly of the Dead Plains.
But... if this phenonon is linked to one of the powers from beyond the Dead Plains, is it wise to oppose them?
It doesnt matter, Feng Zhi says at last.
Young Master?
It doesnt what this is or how it ca to be, Feng Zhi says as he begins marching towards the horde. Sparks flicker in his hands.
What we must do doesnt change!
[Joyous Blazing Surge]
Blue flas erupt from Feng Zhis hands and engulf the land like a raging river. The grass turns to ashes instantly, and the earth lts under his power. Everything within hundreds of yards in front of Feng Zhi is alight with blazing blue fire.
The dead horde does not even scream.
They keep marching on even as their bodies burn and turn to ashes. Pain is the domain of the living. These things, whatever they are, probably dont even realize they are being hurt.
By the ti Feng Zhi stops his technique, the smaller critters have nearly all been reduced to ashes. The larger ones still march on. The giant monster which makes the earth rumble is not even singed. Feng Zhi imdiately reevaluates his opinion of how strong the beast was when alive.
Xi Mou attacks next.
The Core Disciple leaps forward and brings down his hand in a slashing motion. Unlike Feng Zhis attack, which covered a vast area, the fire that erges from the tip of Xi Mous fingers is thin like the edge of a knife. It pierces through the earth in the blink of an eye and reaches the giant corpse. The blazing fla instantly makes its skin blister.
However, that is all it does.
It cannot pierce its skin. It cannot stop its advance. The giant keeps moving forward through the fire.
Xi Mou clicks his tongue and stops his technique. Its in the Earth Realm then. Annoying.
Its at least in the Earth Realm, Feng Zhi corrects him. Ill take the left side.
Not waiting for Xi Mous reply, Feng Zhi blurs towards the giant creature. As he does, the remaining beasts around the monster attack him. They are ugly and misshapen things with bones and muscle tissue exposed. So are still on fire. The sll of rot and burning flesh reaches Feng Zhis nose as they try to swarm him.
He blazes through them in an instant.
His Qi manifests itself as an aura of flas that burns anything that gets within five feet of him. His path leaves a trail of ashes, burned corpses, and molten rock. In the ti it takes for a hummingbird to flap its wings, Feng Zhi has already reached the giant. He leaps into the air until he is in front of its face and unleashes furious flas from his fist.
[Joyous Fla]
The giant beast strikes back.
It doesnt move to tackle the airborne Feng Zhi with its many horns and tusks. At least, not in the way Feng Zhi expected it to do so.
It grows another head.
Its flesh twists and turns as horns pierce through its own skin. Flesh morphs and quivers, opening into a mouth full of sharp teeth and hollowing out into empty eye sockets to stare at Feng Zhi with. The Young Master of the Eternal Fla Clan finds himself montarily stunned by the grotesqueness of it all.
The horns smash against his body, and Feng Zhi only barely manages to focus his Qi towards protecting himself. The impact tosses him back several yards. Feng Zhi grits his teeth and releases a burst of fla to counter his montum. He can feel the bruises forming on his arms, just as he can feel his regeneration taking care of them near-instantly.
On the other side of the beast, Xi Mou is having the sa problem. Another head has grown for a total of three. The three mouths snap at the air with great ferocity, as if they couldnt decide which of the two to go after. The issue, however, does not last long. The giant beast rips itself apart before their eyes, each head growing its own body.
The creatures crawling below them twist themselves and grow misshapen wings that, sohow, allow them to take to the skies. Feng Zhi is suddenly surrounded by ugly winged creatures while one of the three giant beasts charges at him. The other one goes rampaging towards Xi Mou.
The third one starts moving towards the cave Feng Hao is in.
I have hadENOUGH!
Gold Fla, Eternal Fla, erupts around Feng Zhi. The winged creatures around him burn to ashes. The golden flas wrap around Feng Zhi like a cloak and propel him towards the giant beast like a shooting star.
He flies right through it.
The monster does not have the chance to utter any sort of dying roar. Feng Zhi enters through its mouth, burns through its throat, and exits through whatever it has that passes for lungs. No matter how tough, the abomination's body cannot hope to withstand the Eternal Fla.
As soon as Feng Zhi has torn his way through the first beast, he slams right into the one heading towards the cave and unleashes an explosion that rocks the earth for miles.
As the blast fades away, Feng Zhi is left flying in the sky, propelled by his own flas. Sweat shines on his forehead, and his breath cos out in heavy pants. Still, he looks far better than the burned corpse below him. Feng Zhi hadnt been able to hold the Eternal Fla long enough towards the end, but he had done what he needed to.
As soon as he thinks that, grotesque sounds emanate from the fallen corpses.
Not possible.
That is not possible.
The abomination he just flew through is getting up. Not only that, but it is healing itself as well. The first was expected. The second one should not be possible. The Eternal Fla is not the sort of thing one can heal from. If it was sothing so mundane, it wouldnt be so hard to use!
And yet, right before his eyes, the abomination gets up. The sa thing is happening with the other one. Flesh and bones twist into ugly strands before his eyes that head towards the first beast, rging with it and healing it
No.
Not healing, Feng Zhi realizes as the two giant beasts fuse into an ugly two-headed creature. This isnt healing at all.
It is remodeling.
He does not have ti to ponder the ramifications. A furious Qi flashes behind him. It is a power he has no trouble recognizing.
Eternal Fla.
Feng Hao.
Feng Zhi turns around and rushes towards the cave, propelled by his own flas. In that crucial mont, he lets his guard down and is punished for it. The two-headed beast slams into him. Giant horns knock all the air out his lungs and make him cough blood. Though sharp, they are so big it is like being hit with a gigantic bone cub.
The tusks co next. The two large heads swing towards Feng Zhi to strike him with those devastating weapons.
Feng Zhi stops them.
All the montum behind the two attacks is stopped by Feng Zhis bare hands. The flas around his body are weak, and hes bleeding from his forehead, yet the grip he has on the beasts tusks is unshakable.
This thing thinks it can stop him from protecting his brother?
YOU ARE COURTING DEATH!
Feng Zhi roars, and golden flas surge around him once more. Feng Zhi summons all the power his body can bear and then so. His body screams as a massive corona of golden fire completely envelopes the two-headed beasts body. It shines like a second sun that can be seen for miles.
When it fades, Feng Zhi falls to the ground, tired and hurt from the strain.
However, of the two-headed beast, there is no more.
Soone laughs.
It is not a loud laugh, yet it fills the emptiness of the plains. Feng Zhi instinctively wants to shudder, but he refuses to show weakness. He wills his body to stand up and demands his regeneration to speed up.
That is the idea.
The voice cos from inside the remaining beast. It is not nacing, yet it fills Feng Zhi with dread.
The controller, Feng Zhi states while trying and failing to find Feng Haos Qi. How could his brother have hidden his Qi so well when it was blazing bright re monts ago. Dozens of scenarios flash through his mind, so too horrible to contemplate.
Well t, visitors from the other side. A brilliant display.
We have no quarrel with you, so why are you attacking us? Xi Mou asks as he appears at Feng Zhis side, his fight with the remaining creature temporarily put on hold.
Ah, but we do have a quarrel. This eting is no accident, visitors from the other side
Is that so?
Fenz Zhi and Xi Mou freeze.
That voice just now wasnt either of them. It also wasnt Feng Hao. Slowly, they turn around towards the person who sohow got so close without them noticing.
No, it wasnt that he had sneaked up on them.
He was just so fast they hadnt realized he was close until he was right beside them.
Id love to hear more.
Xun Huwen has arrived.
~~~
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