“A scribe?” sneered this scion. “There is no history but that which we write ourselves.”
The Heaven-Pillaging Bandit’s attempt at words had him bleed further, for his tongue was already severed.
“Half a [Season] you have tainted this realm with your presence. What right do you believe you have, filth? It is Heaven’s will that we inherit such a trove.”
I recall whimpering as my brother’s head fell, no longer able to pillage what he sought.
And rolled.
And was swept aside by the swift opening of a door, mulched against a far flung wall as the scion’s junior rushed forth.
“What?” he sneered at this fresh ssenger.
“Young Master, the [Paifang] flares. Another force has arrived.”
He sighed. “Have these fools not learned? Already have we cleansed the entrance of that Crouching Fist Sect and sent Moongleam Pavillion to the great cycle. Must I dirty my blade again?”
“It is the Lesser Southern Sea Sect.”
Then the Young Master paled. “Those vicious brutes?” he said, stepping over the crimson ss of my brother. “Do they know no sha?”
“Fundants of Authority,” conversations of the Heaven-Pillaging Bandit
Bile and [Impurities], but not borne of cleansed [ridians] or any pursuit of power. No, this turgid mix was akin to bloody paint, whorled and oily.
Splatter painted Fu’s sleeve as he expanded his [Senses] through the youth.
If the Heavens were kind, the many hands that pinned her down would not be there. These children, whose hands provided the relevant strength to hold down her convulsions.
“To the shore, boy,” he commanded. “Three leaves from a [Spirit Iris].”
“Spirit Iris?” the largest youth stamred.
“Our own has leaves the colour of ice. Go, swiftly,” Fu said, cutting an incision in the girl’s wrist.
His [Poison Qi] entered her blood. A sedative of minor strength, distilled from the myriad slumbering draughts in his repertoire.
The fragility of youth and mortality required peerless [Control] as he orchestrated his [Poison Qi] to range about her bloodstream, expelling the pollutants. Dangerous, for his talent was not in [Poison Qi Manipulation], but in [Pull], and as such his hands blurred - wrenched and tugging in myriad directions over precise motion.
Blood spurted from the young girl’s mouth, but the sedative was taking hold. When the [Spirit Iris]-carrying youth returned her body was restful, more a-twitch than the forr ss of writhing limbs.
“You have done well,” said Fu, crushing the first leaf. With dashes of water from a nearby bowl it beca paste, sared across her lips. “The [Life Qi] will encourage her recuperation, but please, she will need ti to rest.”
Aunty Quan ground her teeth, wearing thunder. “Children, outside.”
The youths parted.
“Berries. A curse on the Heavens. Berries, master Fu,” she fud. “By the ancestors, the Jade Songbird Province turns to lunacy. We’ve no… What’s to be done?”
Quarried slabs spread from the orphanage’s rear entrance, and Fu led Aunty Quan to where the shore lapped against them.
She shivered, though the rage at her impotence maintained much heat.
“Many [Seasons] prior I would nurse my mortal aches with [Spirit Seaweed]. When my children fell ill, a balm of mundane [Spirit Grass] and the waters of our nearby lakes. Honey and citrus, otherwise, but only because it was abundant.”
“Mortal, you?”
Fu smiled. “None begin life as a cultivator. But I say this, young lady, as my ho was not rich in Qi and treasure. A place with tenfold the number and land of Jade Songbird City. The Qi there was no poison when taken in small doses. As the moon settled this morning, these lands passed a threshold. This Province has grown greater than my old ho.”
“Greater than your ho?” she grunted, glancing at her distant wards.
“It will grow greater yet.”
“Then again, what’s to be done?”
“Two choices stand before you. Leave the Jade Songbird Province, or Bond with a [Spirit Beast]. The orphanage is in its infancy, and I have no qualms on educating your wanting youths on this Path, but know that the danger will only grow,” explained Fu. “Berries are a nuisance compared to the true threats that will surely arrive.”
For a matronly woman of middling years, Aunty Quan moved swiftly. An accusatory finger, levelled beneath Fu’s chin. “Cultivation. It’s no solution. Three of the… Spring youths- they stand vacant as their Spirit Spiders lead them about. The poor things are blank, empty shells, and you’d create more? Such an answer is either foolish or demonic!”
An admirable fire, so much so that she forgets herself. If only all possessed such spirit.
“[Spirituality] is the key. The foul Imperial that enforced those Bonds held no interest in their wellbeing. I have already asked comrades of mine for help in that regard, and the situation can be resolved. Peace, mistress Quan. I do not lead you astray,” he said, cross-eyed at the wagging finger. “The local [Spirit Beasts] have not yet seized upon this change. Juvenile partners that have scarcely ventured beyond the [Foundation Realm] will grow alongside these youths, not suppress them with established emotions and wants.”
Aunty Quan darkened further. “And then what? Thrust a qiang in their hands? Tell them to overturn Heaven and Earth? The boys are good, the girls are proper, I’ve seen to that! But you show the youth that doesn’t want to beco so Sect hero.”
Despite it all, Fu laughed.
Were Hushi and Shuidi not conducting… righteous acts through the twin [Paifang], their laughter would have matched.
“I recall the notion I once held of cultivators. If it did not forsake propriety, I would show you the scars inflicted by my local Sect,” he smiled, tapping his ribs, shoulder and inner thigh.
A small blush t her cheek. “You ntioned children. Peerless talents no doubt,” she muttered, strangely coy. “Are they cultivators? Jian-swinging masters?”
Fu shook. “My eldest is enamoured by such a life. The others, I forbade. An [Array Master] and an [Alchemist]. Learned trades. Prideful as I am, my hope is that Yuqi extends her hand into dicine. A doctor of the Gao clan has a pleasant sound, no?”
“But you allowed them to follow the Path, or however you cultivators say it?”
“In my ho it was said that the wise follow their own path, and the ignorant follow the crowd. Cultivation will not grant your wards wisdom, mistress Quan, but it will give them the tools to survive long enough to search for it.”
🀧
Skylines were ever an important observation for the growing assassin. A ponderance that delved sowhat into Fu’s collective notes, for once a certain realm of cultivation was reached, they lost much importance.
A [Foundation Realm] relied on crowds, egresses, schedule, weather, the fallacy of locks, and myriad other mortal concerns.
[Core Formation] less.
The skyline of Jade Songbird City lay in flux, and he weighed its importance across many steps.
“More factions have arrived. That disaster has yet to strike speaks much of this [Dour Faced Strategist]. This Gao Shuidi would et her, and ascertain worth.”
Manipulation on a grand scale was not among the Fatherly [Asura’s] core talents.
To see the sky plagued by warships, levitating pagodas and a sea of tapestries only reaffird this. It placed scrutiny not on Bingbai, but on the array of dangling jian he saw in these myriad invaders.
At the Clear Sky’s peak, it was expected that his Cloudy Serpent Sect would predict, know, or have engineered these manifesting [Paifang].
But who else?
Were these responsive asures fuelled by greed? rely an opportunity seized?
The [Cherry River Sage] ought to have known, but her power was spent.
The [Plum Axe]?
Of the immortals he had crossed and the unending depths of those he had yet to, how many held these factions as puppets?
Yongwu Long’s involvent was suspect.
Or fateful.
How might we match so grand an orchestration? The seeds we have planted are in a shallow field. To think in centuries, not [Seasons] we should strive for greater engagent with these powers, and greater involvent with those we manage to reach.
Such thoughts occupied him on the approach to the City Lord’s abode.
A gri of several hundred cultivators were clustered at the estate’s mouth, gathered there for a purpose made clear by repeated cries. So declaration given volu by sparse seniors that ringed the crowd.
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These souls held as much uniformity as a child’s drawings.
[Dao of Conquest’s Exhalation].
“Any of talent and [Formation Realm] standing,” preached one.
“Reached below the age of sixteen moons,” chased a second.
“The Ponderous Oriole Sect.”
“Heavenly Dragon Escort Company.”
“Southern Sea rchant Hall.”
So on went the sa offer. Puddles conforming to shape the sa shallow river.
On the steps of the City Lord’s abode no less. Is there truly no hope among them? What might they seek to gain by inviting her ruin, or that of those seeking to foster a relationship by using them as examples?
For days on end the ceaseless proclamations of erging factions had sullied Jade Songbird City’s peace, and it had painted a growing disinterest on the many mortal citizens.
Shuidi sighed as they stole by a procession at the City Lord’s gates.
“In ti, as we have said,” shortly answered her guard, bearing the tamber of one that repeated such words a thousandfold.
Mingqin cared much for her subjects, and their collective sentints were an adequate bar on which to pry leverage.
A step blurred Fu into the gardens.
[Sumr] was no [Season] for growth, yet the density of Qi here had showered these plants with unruly, abundant growth. Fern and branch stooped under the weight of their boughs, and he heard many mutterings by those waiting to entreat her.
Another line of disparate clothed cultivators.
Fu erged close to her table, inviting the alarm of all but three that stood aside her. A petty council of true nace, for those he had skipped by would not be so careless with words could they sense the near-immortals present.
More so had they possessed an equal to Fu’s [Divine Sense], for here shone a wealthto be redeed.
“Niece, do you know this cultivator?” asked one that might only be the [Dour Faced Strategist].
Said for the butchery of skin upon her exposed collar, wrists, and back, ruby-tinted from the reckless role she possessed. Interwoven in her solitary topknot he counted as many talismans, ranging from the profoundly inscribed, a-hum with Qi, and the myriad evil-warding trinkets one might find upon any fishwife.
This bearing was the thirdleast enigmatic among Mingqin’s peers.
The City Lord broke from her table-lain diagrams at once, urgent. “Cutivator, Aunt?” she turned. “Gao Fu. This is most improper.”
A low bow was offered. “Apologies, City Lord. This humble wanderer cos for a matter of the Province. My haste thought it best to forsake propriety on this occasion.”
Those awaiting an audience stood twenty strides distant, each cheek possessing a sheen not unlike a [Spirit Baboon’s] skin.
“City Lord!” interrupted one.
Mingqin passed a familial look to her aunt. Understanding shared at a glance.
[Dour Faced Strategist] lifted a palm as she whispered. “Be silent, stooge. Mingqin’er believes this man holds worth.”
Fu clasped at his gratitude. “The venerables gathered here will already know of the shift this realm has undergone. [Mortal Grade] lands, no longer,” he appraised, finding slight nods of affirmation. “From my small domain to the boundary of growing wisteria, the severity of this outpaces my swiftness.”
Second of these peers slouched a youth well-obscured by scholarly hat and tall collar, forrly asleep by all observations. Four [Affinity]-clad [Spirit Stoat] poked from the folds over these oversized fabrics.
[Earth Qi], [Fire Qi], [Water Qi], and [Air Qi] respectively.
His voice did not mock. “And this duty is your own?”
Mingqin silenced him gently. “We are aware, Gao Fu. asures against this are already in effect. By the grace of the Four Tiger Pill Society we have employed myriad Qi transference [Arrays] to better distribute the density.”
“You say much that needn’t be said, Mingqin’er,” warned her aunt.
Four Tiger Pill Society. A troubleso na. How ill an on that the peak of Alchemical factions arrived beneath our notice. The four-elents cultivator is surely of their belonging.
Much could be ruminated on.
“Truly? With their magnanimity the realm will surely prosper. If I might be bolder, however, the issue of Qi sickness still troubles . A young ward under my care is currently recovering from Qi sickness after ingesting a small clutch of berries. The imbued properties surpass that tolerable by mortal constitutions. If an alternative to my thods exists, this humble wanderer would be grateful to learn them.”
Three of the [Spirit Stoats’] muzzles twitched.
“Stranger, what are these thods? The thod of public works is to be delivered like a falling thunderbolt. Clarity and decisiveness are key. I might have thought our thod the most natural conclusion?”
A core of scarce [Spirituality] entered Fu’s palm. “The charges in my care have been elevated, as has their matron.”
“May I?” continued the heavy-clothed alchemist, receiving the core. “A charitable thod, with asured ramifications. The children, I presu, will not ascend quickly with beasts of this grade. Indeed this thod may stunt their growth.”
“Death may stunt it swifter, no?” asked Fu.
“As you say,” he nodded. “A costly endeavour, if more so in ti. What considerations have you had on the impressions of animalistic nature? One of two moons old cannot suppress their bowels let alone tendencies granted by a shared, bestial mind.”
A further eleven [Spirit Cores] appeared for inspection.
His hat shifted at the quirk of a brow. “And the matron?”
Fu nodded.
Mingqin looked curious. “Master Bojin?”
“Wanderer Gao has chosen beasts of kinship. A litter of [Spirit Hares], from which the matron was granted their mother. Herbivorous beasts will cause few unwanted expressions… simply put, City Lord, Gao Fu has bonded one family with another. The practice is not uncommon in formidable clans, as you well know.”
The third peer made herself known with an indignant hum.
Thick was the [Mantra of Heavenly Plums] upon her, for the deposits this [Bloodline] enforced around the Vajra woman’s eye and socket extended deep, staining her cheeks, neck and lips with a cascade of lesser petals.
A beauty, as all Zhu’s kin were, she possessed the ice of one that knew it.
“Amituofo. For whom is this benefit granted? Such righteousness is expected of the City Lord, but the lands beneath the Heavens are not known to be kind.”
Words delivered like a sunlit blade. The blood of our brother is fierce indeed.
Fu repressed a grin, for such verbal brutality was warming. “You would do less for the future generations?”
The plum beauty’s lips curled. “That is not amusing. This long-seeking plum asks the unspoken question - why do this?”
A significant breath ebbed at the garden’s entrance, and Fu found he knew it well.
One deservedly confident.
Untroubled.
“Because Gao Fu isn’t to be questioned when it cos to children. My how he prattles at their ntion,” reverberated Long’s distant chuckle. “Not in a deviant sense, yet, with the sa fervor as an aphrodisiac-dosed eunuch.”
Mingqin’s party shifted in a manner only assassins and warriors might note.
A twitch of fingertips as though a jian might serve them well. A keenness of watch, now grandly focused. The use of lungs long since rendered pointless, subtly inflating each chest.
Our bane has the immortals react in such a fashion. Just what manner of cultivator is he? Uncovering his history has proven labourso for the Clouded Courts, that much alone speaks volus.
Long subdued the ire-fuelled supplicants without action and all discontent fled as his four [Spirit Carp] shed their golden glow, bathing his approach in resplendent light. Importance bathed him heavily. Sothing regal and older than his apparent years.
His voice belied this.
“City Lord. Bojin. Plum-bird,” he greeted, if in smile alone. “You’ve t my great rival beneath the Heavens? No doubt he’s enamoured you with the clarity of his wisdom. A plum falls, but not in one’s mouth or perhaps his mantra of crisis is rely opportunity, riding a dangerous wind?”
“Yongwu Long.”
“Gao Fu.”
“Dispense with this circus. Mingqin’er welcos an audience so [Seasons] long and this back and forth accomplishes nothing,” stated [Dour Faced Strategist]. “Gao Fu, your business is concluded. The vagrant should not be privy to matters of state.”
Fu clasped. “Forgiveness, venerable immortal. This wanderer has overstayed his welco. Such words would indeed be putting pearls before swine. If City Lord Mingqin has no objections to this course, I will continue the sa efforts in the area around my holdings.”
[Divine Sense] sparked as Long deposited three [Constellation Seeds] upon the City Lord’s table.
Here? The fool lights a fire in his own house.
It was not Fu’s mist that suddenly blared about the party, but that of Bojin’s making. [Smoke Qi], borne of two Bonds, severed all sensation from the lesser crowds beyond. “Unwise, Yongwu Long.”
Known only by, and surely misnad, the Plum-bird edged closer. “Another might admire your boldness. Amituofo. This long-seeking plum is not among them. The company of [Dour Faced Strategist]... it is clear [Demonic Urges] have clouded her mind.”
“Mingqin’er, speak, and I will sever this plum-wretch’s tongue,” glared the strategist. “These upstarts nad as Nine Phoenixes and Seven Dragons are too young to know sense. An elder’s hand is needed to right their failures.”
Impressions from Shuidi rose with violent interest. The na- the prestige of such a na was a direct challenge to her pride.
That of the Jianghu’s most peerless geniuses.
Long revelled in the chaos, depositing two more into Bojin’s waiting hand. “Uncertain tis call for swift hands. Mingqin, allow your stewards to promote your will. Greater hardships will co if my thods are not followed.”
“Aunt. These are the forewarned spoils that would endanger my realm?”
“City Lord,” bowed Bojin. “The Four Tiger Pill Society is more selective in such secrets than present company might allow.”
Again Long chuckled. “Oh? I’d expected more from a supposed unrivalled house. Play weak that the arrogant might stay so. Gao Fu foils you with mortal wisdom. More stars have littered his palm than line a [Winter] night.”
We warned Bingbai of such a situation, yet a good fisherman counts his fish upon the shore. Let us see this through before reckless actions.
Unfelt [Profundity] massed at Hushi’s command, for acting otherwise was a fool’s errand. He held the [Dao of Coming Tribulations] at bay, readied.
These peerless talents thrust attention on Fu.
“Long’s earlier mockery is not without rit,” he said, lacing power through his words. “rely, incomplete. [Crisis is but opportunity, riding a dangerous wind]. And the Heavens have seen fit to blow many in my Path.”
The plum-phoenix’s pupils flashed as [Divine Sense] swept upon him. Those under the sun’s glare held no need for the subtlety of ghosts.
“Amituofo. A falsehood,” she said, ill-humoured.
What narrative does he seek to drive?
“Believe what you will, bird. He has more worth than the stagnant chicken you so pridefully remain as,” sighed Long, pulling a juvenile face. “City Lord. [Dour Faced Strategist]. With Gao Fu, my thods will bear swift fruit. That’s why I demand he hold a seat in this fool’s alliance.”
[Dour Faced Strategist] absently pressed three prayer beads to her lips. “[Demons] take you, Long. These are allies.”
“Hmm, truly? Then the Four Tiger Pill Society doesn’t seek to exploit this province for resources? The [Plum Phoenix] doesn’t stake herself to flesh out that abysmal [Primordial Constellation Gate]? I applaud their selfishness, for these are the Jianghu’s roots, and yet only a fool sees clouds and thinks refreshnt.”
An almighty slap sent Long’s face sidelong.
Mingqin nodded at the [Plum Phoenix’s] addition. “My kin’s trust is my trust. Coarse as Yongwu Long is, my aunt does not place her faith in liars. If it is wished, then I offer this to you, Gao Fu. Another qiang for my province is no thing to deny.”
“This is not the reason for my visit,” said Fu. “But I seek to place roots. City Lord, if I might know more of these thods my choice could be clearer.”
Long unearthed another [Constellation Seed], discarding it like a rotten peach. “Jade Songbird City cannot outpace the [Paifang], and thus we will curb the tide. Simplicity, no? I’ve travelled the breadth of four locales, road in fact. By mountain, river and cloud, spying all I might. What other duties you might hold are at the City Lord’s discretion, no? But our duty is to close enough [Paifang] that the Province’s developnt cannot be outstripped.”
“This Gao Shuidi has grown to dislike Yongwu Long,” ca a ntal impression. “A severed head would solve much.”
Fu stroked his whisker. “The Four Tiger Pill Society informs this, surely? Matters of Qi density, growth and propagation are surely among the domain of the learned. I would need guidance.”
Sowhat quietly, Bojin coughed. “Master Long holds knowledge that reduces our greatest scholars to children. If one seeks guidance, it must be through him.”
“How many [Paifang] must we close?” asked Fu.
Laughter filled the smoky confines.
“My, how many?” he dramatically pondered. “It will vary over the coming [Seasons]. Although, I’d say to ensure prosperity, these four locales cannot rise above five hundred [Paifang]. Not until the ti is right, no, Gao Fu?”
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