Han ngli arrived at the Shadow Manifold realm, a world that might’ve been his ho had his parents survived. They were born in Bloodhaven, ho to the Blood God, but had joined under the Dark God, so they would no doubt have co here to join the cult.
Thinking he could maybe find his father that way, Han ngli chose to join the Dark God’s cult, although technically he had never left it to begin with. After arriving at one of the cult’s branches and explaining, he was told that he could join after a few simple tests.
Those people were already accepting more mbers to help them with the war, so rejoining would be as simple as showing a few skills to prove that he could be of help.
His friend, the blood-haired young man, decided to join the cult along with him, now choosing to forego his previous na and call himself Steelheart.
"Brother Han, you should give yourself a daoist na too," Steelheart said as they waited for the registration.
"I don’t think I need to," Han ngli said. "I already have a na."
"So do I, but a daoist na is not just about having a na. It’s about anonymity and about giving yourself a blank slate to start with," Steelheart said. "Han ngli was a slave and will forever carry that history with him. But your daoist na won’t carry that burden. They won’t have to hear your na and know you were a slave before. I’ve seen the way those Blood God’s people looked at on the ship. They think we’re below them."
Han ngli thought for a mont and nodded. "Since you say so, would you mind if I copy part of your na?" he asked.
Steelheart gave a weird look. "How do you an?"
Han ngli smiled. "Since you’re Steelheart, let be Steelmind."
Steelheart kept a strange expression for a few seconds before laughing out loud. "That makes us more than just friends, you understand that, don’t you?" he asked. "This makes us closer than blood brothers."
Han ngli, now Steelmind, smiled. "I’m fine with that."
Steelheart and Steelmind joined the cult and were soon embroiled in the cult’s everyday life. Steelmind joined the artifact group, where he quickly began working on not just making more weapons and armor for war, but also different artifacts.
After Darkwater’s destruction, the Dark God’s people were working on another ship, this ti much better than the last one. All branches of the cult had begun working on the ship in parts, while the main ship was being assembled sowhere else in secret.
The complexity that ca with making a ship was so great that Steelmind had to learn on the go and improve himself accordingly. Even working as a simple forger didn’t work in this case, as only those who could refine the materials to the greatest degree were allowed to work on it, and Steelmind was barely keeping up with that requirent.
Steelheart joined the forgers group at first but was quickly overwheld by the work and left the group. He moved through a few other sections of the cult before landing in the scout group, where his talents shone.
His job entailed gathering and sending critical information between the Dark God’s cult and any of the other armies. He was still far too weak to actually do it, so until he had the capability, he stuck to traveling within the Shadow Manifold realm to transfer ssages around.
He was taken to various locations to train, so Steelmind didn’t et him as often afterward. His own workload was increasing, so he didn’t have ti to worry about that.
The Dark God’s cult carried a massive library of techniques and knowledge that anyone could use, and with the credits he was earning from working there, he was slowly expanding his own understanding.
He was learning better techniques for himself, learning about many more types of materials, and, most importantly, he was gaining information about artifacts, which he most desperately wanted.
Learning about artifacts required more knowledge than just that of forging. Not every artifact required him to lt tals. So were made of wood, so of cloth. So had Qi lines in them, while so just worked with formations instead, so he had to devote so ti to learning about formations as well.
There was also information about scripts that was helpful in creating artifacts, but that was knowledge the Dark God’s cult did not possess. He would be hard-pressed to think of anyone who had that knowledge, to be honest.
Scripts were mostly used by the demons, so unless he got a demon to explain it to him, he would never learn it.
Years passed slowly—decades and then centuries. His talent in cultivation didn’t even matter over such a long period of ti, and he soon got closer to becoming an Immortal.
After working in the forge for so long, he had gained enough knowledge about heat and heat conduction, and the weapons gave him more understanding of tals, allowing him to gain a few Daos before he beca an Immortal.
With the help of that, after what should’ve been nearly two millennia since he was born, Steelmind broke through to the Immortal realm.
That ca with very little fanfare, as the only one who congratulated him on it was Steelheart, who himself had reached the Immortal realm during one of the scout trials three centuries ago.
"I’m leaving soon, brother Steelmind," Steelheart said. "I’m going to the frontlines."
"But... you’re only an Immortal. Isn’t that dangerous?"
"I’m mostly a ssenger, so it will be fine. The actual scouts have the more dangerous job," Steelheart said. "Besides, it looks like they were ordered to get everyone to join the frontlines. Your group will soon likely be swamped with more workload as well."
Steelmind frowned. "Really? Is the war getting worse out there?"
"Yes, but that’s not the reason," Steelheart said. His next words were a whisper. "It isn’t announced just yet, but I have reason to believe that the Dark God may have finally returned after his long disappearance."
User Comments
0 comments from readers