Chapter 376
Ghosts of the Mine (XVII)
Who were they?
I haven't a clue. Still, seeing how they completely ignored the kids and and seed to focus entirely on the old woman and her side, I wasn't ant to know.
There were fourteen in total--if so weren't hiding beyond my ans to discern them--and they didn't bother putting on masks or with any theatrics. Besides, I really don't think they were so kind of mountain bandits, what with their fancy, silver robes and fresh appearances as though they'd walked out of a freakin' painting and those polished weapons hanging loosely either from their waists or backs.
The youngest looked to be in his teens, and the oldest looked to be in his forties, and none showed an ounce of fear--well, they showed little beyond looks of abject derision, truth be told. Kind of reminded of the way Lao Shun looked at the first ti we t.
Ah.
How the tis have changed.
I glanced over at Shuren and saw her actually frown, prompting to frown, too. As soon as one of the fourteen broke off as the leader--the man who looked to be in his thirties, sporting short, brown hair and a jawline that could cut mountains--I used my Creator's Eyes on him.
[--Host is too weak to view the target]
[Spend 150 CP to partially view target's status?]
... I an, yeah, sure. At this point, it'd be weirder if I could see anyone's status. To be honest, I've felt for a while that the pace of the world is outmatching mine; I have a feeling I should still be holed up sowhere on a mountain, taking in so young crapshoots as Disciples, nestled in so low-end corner of the world. And yet, here I am, wrestling with gods and demigods and who knows what the heck else.
[150CP consud]
[...]
[Creator's Eyes used]
[Target: Qian Chun]
[Age: 983]
[Talent: ???]
[Cultivation Realm: Peak Immortal Foundations Realm]
[Cultivation thod: ???]
[Cultivation Arts: All-Seeing Fire Sutra (???), Enshrined Fire Blade Art (peak-Jade)...]
[...]
[Traits]
[Demonic (???) -- practitioner of Demonic Qi in its primal form; made a contract with Demon '???', granting him the ability to conceal the demonic nature of his Qi]
[Arrogant (Divine) -- he views the entire humanity as beneath him and considers himself a few steps above the rest]
[Bloodthirsty (Legendary) -- due to the improper cultivation of Demonic Qi, his mind has slowly been eroded, leaving him in want of blood periodically. Will go on a berserk rampage if not fulfilled. Extrely likely that his mind will beco wholly eroded in due ti]
[Empress-Born (???) -- born as a direct descendant of '???' Empress. Due to inadequate talents and circumstances, he was banished and disowned, never learning his true lineage]
[Host cannot view the remaining Traits]
[...]
[Assessing suitability...]
[Several anomalies discovered...]
[Host may see two]
[...]
[Demonic Devournt -- in the process of being completely eroded by Demonic Qi. Due to the nature of human bodies, they have no natural resistance to improper cultivation with Demonic Qi, unlike Demon Constitutions. While proper cultivation leads to impressive results, it has to remain perfect, as even a minor mistake can lead to slow erosion of conscience. It is estimated that the entity known as 'Qian Chun' will cease to exist within the next 50 years, with only a mad, demonic husk left behind to rampage until it is either put down, or runs out of Demonic Qi]
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[Elental Heart Physique (Incomplete) (???) -- a special physique that can only be passed down from the maternal side of the lineage, it grants absolute control over elental Qi found in nature, as well as absolute affinity with Elental Spirits. Those with the physique can never be hard by elents and will instead find them to be a luxurious elixir. They may embody any one of the elents and will imdiately reach '??? mastery of all arts and thods centralized around one or multiple elents. However, their bodies will forever remain 'Mortal'. Even upon reaching the Imperial Realm, they will not undergo the transformation toward the Immortal Constitution. While their lifespans are generally retained through breakthroughs, they are susceptible to even the most minor poisons and may die if left untreated]
[A grave anomaly was discovered in the target's Physique -- due to complications at birth, one of the central vessels connected to the heart and one responsible for maintaining elental equilibrium enlarged, leading to asymtric distribution of elents. While the target retained a good number of positives from the physique, they were all severely restricted and 'mortalized', as Imperials dubbed it]
[...]
[Recomndation: should host wish to take the target in as a Disciple, the first recomndation is to fix the Demonic Devournt; as it has progressed greatly and corruption had already seeped into the brain, there are only two avenues: the first is to consu '???' Elixir, and the second is to forcibly extract ALL Demonic Qi from the target and put them into stasis for centuries as their body naturally recovers. The target's cultivation will be wholly reset, and it may damage their natural talents]
[Final assessnt: a sowhat unfortunate talent that could have flourished decently. However, due to nurous factors--including the personal disposition--the target is forever ant to remain a fleck within the history books and will always be known rely as an 'Imperial Sha', rather than a person unto themselves]
Huh.
I wonder just how many tis I've exclaid 'Huh' after reading through sobody's status window. Even when I think I've gotten used to seeing big shots, bam, a new big shot with sothing uniquely 'big' about them blindsides .
Oddly, the thing that stands out the most, to , is that his 'Arrogant' trait is 'Divine' level. Long Tao's is 'rely' at 'Legendary'. Just how self-absorbed do you have to be to be more arrogant than an actual forr Emperor? Plenty, I imagine.
"You followed even here?" Qian Shuren broke the silence. Right, his surna is also 'Qian'. Is he her brother or sothing?
"I ca here before you, Sister," he said, his voice... strange. I can't quite put my finger to it, but it reminded of when my voice started cracking back in high school, and I tried real hard to keep it as deep as possible. I just know that's not his actual voice. "So, wouldn't it be that you followed here?"
"Hah. Does Master know?"
"Master knows everything."
"I spared you the last ti, but it looks like lessons with you never stick."
"Heh. Indeed; I've always appreciated that you were such a sentintal fool, Sister. Par for the course for the human animal that you are," hoh. Look at him. "Alas, it must be my lucky day. I happened to learn that those exercising the Pilgrimage have to seal their cultivation realms, and breaking the rule ans corrupting your soul for all eternity."
"... even with that, you had to bring these things with you?"
"Father insisted, I'm afraid, to make sure you truly died this ti," he said.
"Hah. Father. When did I ever hear a child hold such loathing and resentnt toward their Father besides you?"
"He's a tool," the man said with a grin. "Just like the rest of you. Tools ant to assist in my reaching of the Imperial Realm. If only you had acknowledged that earlier, you would have had a peaceful death. Alas." Wow. I really, really want to punch him in the face.
"Hey," oh no. Long Tao, what the hell are you doing? "Rotten soul wearing pathetic human carcass," Hm? Okay, that's not just playful ribbing--Long Tao is genuinely pissed off for so reason. His voice drew attention to our little side that had been ignored all this while. "Why does the blood of that worthless, beguiling, pathetic whore cruise through your forsaken veins?"
... ah. No rest for the wicked, I suppose. Ever.
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