Fatherly Asura Interlude Eight

The na was of no import and the at within, less than dust.

So thousand, thousand legs swept from the farthest range to consu all. [Spirit], flesh and [Profundity], swallowed by unceasing hunger.

[Once Beggared Ghost] stalked amidst their tide.

Swathes of at - cultivators - broke from their nightti slumber, blurring from doorfras and rooftops with feeble tallic implents to combat the rising force.

Their eyes paled.

Their [Senses], wasted.

[Once Beggared Ghost’s] swarm could not be gleaned by immortal ans, let alone these lesser als so fresh upon the path.

These serpents and their city.

Nourishnt flooded forth.

It could not fill the void in their longing.

All that could - Heaven’s true prize - after millenia, was finally within their grasp.

Awareness flickered in three thousand sets of compound eyes, warning of an imdiate threat to the south. Not one among this lesser hive… this city, as the at called it, but one of familiar feel.

Cold.

Great and sudden gaps winked from [Once Beggared Ghost’s] awareness as ice overca his parts.

The at often evoked words and sentints to achieve their [Arts] and techniques. It was foreign yet, to behave in this way.

Thus no words vanished [Once Beggared Ghost] from their bindings of cloth, but an instinct that replaced this form with but one speck within their all-consuming swarm.

One of There.

A depth of ice beyond [Winter] stretched before them at this arrival.

Malice-churned cold in no greater form than an encapsulating white, brought without wave, spear, cloud nor snow as the at so fruitlessly thought mattered.

Irregular.

[Dances Upon An Ivory Sea] did not act as they knew her.

Corruption infested her [Core]. Weakness. The foulness of a [Constellation Seed] lingered on her flesh. Her [Boundless Yin] was shallow, like the depth of a wayward insect’s hive. Was she of their brood, [Once Beggared Ghost] would have cleansed this malady from the whole.

“Insect,” spat [Dances Upon An Ivory Sea].

The ghost inclined their head. “Yes,” they confird, curious as to why this might fly from her lips as an insult.

Her [Spirit Dugong] encircled this speech, nacing the air with cold.

“You’re a vexation as ever,” she returned, failing to cover a breadth of injuries as she stood. “I bring news.”

“News,” they said, a buzz their tamber.

“Betrayal,” she said.

“Betrayal,” they repeated.

Ivory Sea’s pupils darted angrily to the horizon, freezing another swathe of his moving swarm within the city’s limits. “Patience I am short on, insect. This matters concerns all. [Venerable Reed Sage] and [Ninth Under Heaven], those bastards have obscured the truth.”

The ghost was lidless, but knew at to blink when confronted with the irrelevant. “What truth?”

“This coalition of ours, nad by that miserly fool [Venerable Reed Sage] as New Heavens- how laughable! Their audacity! [Looming Amaranth Tyrant] revealed much to , and agents of the Ninth confird it when their hidden jian failed to break . Pah. They have lied about the Hollow Throne’s opening.”

Irregular.

[Once Beggared Ghost] did not know [Venerable Reed Sage] to lie. “Thirty one [Seasons] remain.”

A striation of blinding lights burst above, birthing icy shards and aurora before a mortal breath might be drawn. Myriad qiang descended about the conversing pair, obliterating the very ground for many li on end.

Ceaselessly.

The ghost lost much of his swarm as each impact spread a wellspring of clawing ice.

Ivory Sea’s maw fud in icy mist. “You were among the knowing. [Venerable Reed Sage] did not exclude you.”

Danger.

Her [Primordial Law] was a threat no swarm could counter, not even if their own was brought to bear.

In this, Ivory Sea was beyond them.

The Heavens themselves turned ivory and in quintessence, beca an ivory sheen.

Ten thousand hearts within the ghost’s bindings ceased in motion, overco with a frost that grew to claim more in turn.

[Spirit] froze.

Qi froze.

[Dao] froze.

The very concept of motion, of instigation, action, continuation and progress, froze.

[Once Beggared Ghost] felt the [Primordial Law of Monts] relieve about the portion of his gestalt that allowed speech and thought, but no more. Her will held him, and all things beneath these Heavens, captive.

All as Ivory Sea paced, holding no quiet deanour.

This much was regular.

“Those dishonest bastards! They dare! I am the talent of all ages, by what stroke of boldness do they dare use as a tool?” she raged. “Pah. All they do is make matters clear. To dispose of them once my needs were t was inevitable, this only accelerates it!”

Her shouting stalled, turning attention to the ghost.

“Reveal the extent of their treachery, insect. Be thankful that my generosity extends this far. PLease and I’ll leave half your cultivation intact.”

It was here [Once Beggared Ghost] heard their partner’s voice.

Minute, and in internal whisper.

Have take this burden, heart of hearts, I can sustain it.

[Spirit] shifted, as though their mind sunk ever lower into softened moss. Ivory Sea did not notice.

“[Dances Upon an Ivory Sea],” buzzed a decidedly more feminine voice. “Curb this rage. If [Venerable Reed Sage] excludes you from the Hollow Throne, that matter is not for we alone to speak of.”

Her eyes narrowed with nacing alacrity. “A fresh voice. You’re this insect’s partner. Yes, yes, I sense you trapped within. Hah! How pitiful an existence. My demands must be t, fool, reveal to the Sage’s plan.”

The [Primordial Law] rushed to claim this presence with little difficulty.

Danger.

A wild chittering rose from the now-frozen city, and a talentless rumble of so million chitinous legs.

Ice dampened the edges of [Once Beggared Ghost’s] vision, encroaching till naught but an imnsity of pain remained in their [Senses].

A crawling.

A biting.

A gnawing.

Without lips [Once Beggared Ghost] rely buzzed her scoff, drawing an impression concern from their partner’s dormant [Spirit]. They had long failed at deciphering the subtleties of expression, for millenia were spent honing other talents.

“Fools leap first, young mistress,” buzzed the ghost.

The gnawing continued, claiming bites of flesh, insect and [Spirit] as this ice encroached.

But to eat- by the Heavens, did this child not know their domain?

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Ivory Sea fud. “Speak.”

Putrid green light sparked within the ghost’s central [Core]. A tethered thing, married to such a tide that their true numbers could consu the very Heavens.

[Primordial Law of Gluttony].

The encroaching ice stalled, stuttered, and swiftly receded in a rapid wave of this light. Ivory Sea’s energy was bitten, swallowed and digested in the span of a mortal’s heartbeat, allowing the binding-wrapped figure to stand free.

“Return when you have weathered several hundred more moons, youth. This ga is for adults,” quietly declared [Once Beggared Ghost]. “Allow us to humble you.”

Those illuminated bindings upon their chest burst open as a conduit to darker places, and from this yawning expanse dominated an infinite swarm. The noise was excruciating, a din that promised the consumption of things.

Beneath such a tide, Ivory Sea vanished.

Her tide returned.

Their swarm consud it.

Landscapes of flowing ice and chitin tore all beneath the Heavens asunder, for in place of water ca glacial mountains to be swiftly buried beneath gnawing teeth, frozen and shattered just as swift.

The clouds fell, encased in Ivory Sea’s wrath, spears descending in each fleck of hail.

Insects with such numbers to blot out the sky swallowed them whole.

Ice.

Jaw.

Glacier.

Maw.

For many hundred li the powers raged, devastating the land as only immortals might.

But fresh pain and nausea panged through the ghost, as their gestalt was in no place to wield such power.

Not any longer.

The [Primordial Law of Gluttony] flickered.

It was here the swarm turned crystalline white. The myriad legs, mandibles and carapaces beca a stolen mont - a stalled flow and network - wherein the space betwixt was a river frozen to ti, stalled mid-rush.

“Humble ?” snapped Ivory Sea’s erging voice. “Pah, the talentless have no place here. Perhaps once you were fierce, insect, but now you’re a crippled fool. A moth without wings. Several hundred moons? Pah. This show is telling, for you’ve squandered the ti you so foolishly pride yourself on.”

[Once Beggared Ghost] fell, though their body was suspended. A weariness of [Spirit] had them sag within their bindings, and fresh pain stole forth.

What admirable cruelty, to elongate this failure.

“I’d thought more of the twice-spurned spectre,” laughed Ivory Sea, a-flow in icy winds. “It would be a benefit to the Jianghu were I to cleanse your [Primordial Law] of such talentless filth.”

Amidst such cold, fire burned. One that not even insects dared to shy away from.

Gluttony flared, devouring enough that words could be exchanged.

“The Jianghu. You know as much of this as [Venerable Reed Sage’s] plans. Youth betrays you,” whispered [Once Beggared Ghost].

But its ntion lit a spark of mory.

A tide’s impression returned, fondly.

Ten thousand icicles rose at Ivory Sea’s behest, looming in threat of delivery. “You are almost worthy of these insults,” she said. “But that’s not why I grace you with my presence. Speak, insect, that I might stand near your disgrace no longer.”

“The Pillars. They are [Venerable Reed Sage’s] grand undertaking.”

Ivory Sea narrowed her eyes. “We foreswore interference on the Cloudy Serpent Sect. The [Cherry River Sage] holds too much sway. I was there as she warned us, insect, do not subvert my will.”

Sothing akin to a cicada’s song ca as laughter.

“He foreswore it once your face was known, blind youth. By the [Dao], the ti of serpents is soon to end. The ti of Pillars and Clear Skies. Tipped by an icy hand.”

Vulnerability flashed beneath the woman’s rage. “The senile fools wouldn’t dare!”

Her [Primordial Law] slackened.

“Most have eyes but fail to see. Is it not interesting that you’ve found yourself counted among them?”

“You-”

There.

[Once Beggared Ghost] reford so hundred li distant, pensive on the falling snow. “The youth of this generation.. Rowdy. Is that not what he would say?” she nigh spat, ceding control to her partner once more.

The swarm tasted the surrounding air, incensed by a growing vengeance.

By a flicker of tainted mory.

Bingbai.

Their hunger raged.

🀧

What need had she of them?

Four million in orbit and they were unflinching. The Clear Sky’s pinnacle, and yet so flavourless.

A step took her from the peak of Divine Clouded Mountain so she might better glean her desires.

This disciple was of chiselled jade, so flawless did his skin appear. The four [Spirit Serpents] were of admirable stock. Greatest among those the greenhouses beneath Heaven might impart.

Nu Wa crossed another canton.

This disciple was of chiselled jade, so flawless did his skin appear. The four [Spirit Serpents] were of admirable stock.

A third step.

This one was of chiselled jade, so flawless did his skin appear. The four [Spirit Serpents] were of admirable stock.

A fourth.

A two hundredth.

This one was of chiselled jade, so flawless did his skin appear. The four [Spirit Serpents] were of admirable… pain.

To overco the distance in their respective realms of cultivation was the difference between Heaven and Earth, tenfold. Long passed were the [Seasons] where a re [True Lord Realm] might glimpse her.

[Might] was of no consequence when the Heavens bent to one’s will.

But this indulgence…

[Gleeful Viper] held gratitude for the flawed.

Those whose inner desires broke through techniques of [Mind] and [Spirit], openly parading for those that might listen.

Yes, Nu Wa tilted this disciple’s head. Statuesque, pupils ahead, unwitting and unknowing of this boon she offered.

The grace of her presence.

Her hands road the disciple’s jawline, tilting it as though one might check mortal fruit for signs of mould.

Oblivious to this - his joy was not impeded.

Nu Wa whisked the thoughts into her palm, seeing there a mory flicker in crimson fla. That of an embrace between two figures, of familial resemblance, clapped shoulders, exchanges of pride at departure.

Comprehension of her [Dao] rose by one grain.

[Blood Qi] dissolved the disciple as [Gleeful Viper] stepped away.

Such disciples were an affront to the Cloudy Serpent Sect.

The undisciplined.

A small ritual, this, or an indulgence, yet she knew that all boulders cracked when enough rain fell.

The disciples were less than this. Pale against Gon Ma’s excellence.

So thousand specks trickled upon her [Dao] before her chambers beckoned. So saying, Nu Wa arrived. Her coming steps were in line with the world, and ti’s flow returned to see her myriad clouds roll across the city.

Four serpents entered, interring themselves within the folds of her daxuishuan. While unable to be wearied, the passing [Seasons] had proved a task of strange resonances, and her partners were less vibrant for it.

Nu Wa’s [Spirit] expanded over the [Three Eyed Spying Array].

Insight flooded forth.

It bit like the sting of ten thousand qiang.

Her [Dao] trilled to receive this joy.

Pure mortal joy. The joy of the flawed. A joy of the simplicity one as peerless as [True Clouded Matriarch’s] second daughter could not have witnessed.

Sadness ca for those that wanted.

Misery ca for those that lost.

Thrill ca for those that might be challenged.

Joy ca for those that knew all three.

[Gleeful Viper] was a stranger to these circumstances, for what might she want for? What could she lose? Who beneath the Heavens might grant her challenge?

A palatial canton flew so thousand li distant to her own. The [Divine Clouded Serpent’s] first fang, in opposition to her own.

No higher.

No grander.

A mirror.

Indeed her sister might grant such challenge.

The fool.

Nu Wa placed her back to the city. “Ma,” ca her order, command and call.

Thus Gon Ma was there, fond and submissive. “Young mistress. I might orate it, if you could bear to listen to my voice.”

“As ever, diligent Ma, this proud serpent did not ask.”

“As ever, young mistress, you shall never need to,” bowed Gon Ma, proffering a chit. “The chosen Hopeful survive.”

Above all, Nu Wa cherished the nas upon this chit. “Is the Jianghu so ill-tempered to have their numbers this reduced? A Vajra, Adhrit. He was among the first collected. Cut short by a Sect of children. Chieftain Mo from the lands of the Divine Tortoise. She held promise. I recall the taste of her familial devotion. Gon Ma - my [Worldly Dao] advanced by leaps and bounds before her life was extinguished.”

Minister of the Orthodox [Everlasting Scales Upon Canvas], Gon Ma, could only sort a wayward silver hair from his brow as he bead. “This humble servant could not speak on it, but is gladdened by the young mistress’s insights.”

His joy no longer sated her understanding.

So trite.

So… covetous of her it was, that her faithful second’s emotion held no depth.

Nu Wa reached the chit’s end, and blinked. “Gon Ma. Explain this.”

“Death and [Tribulation] cleansed both their [Arrays], young mistress. This humble servant is lacking, for his talents have yet to conquer the changes that occur when transcending death. Ten thousand apologies.”

“The Heavenly Roaming Prefecture,” she intoned. “Was your hand in this? No [Karma] is so dense as this.”

Gon Ma swept low, and myriad parchnts rose behind him.

A tapestry to illustrate all.

“The ink speaks only of serendipity. Yongwu Long and Gao Fu had but one eting before this. A theft of [Constellation Seeds] and no more. However, this humble servant believes that the young mistress’s passing influence is enough to overturn the Heavens. All things are possible in her presence.”

“For both to transcend death and cleanse my [Three Eyed Spying Array] is an affront to the Cloudy Serpent Sect, Gon Ma. Why leave this unresolved? You know well what is to occur within that Prefecture. Both must be within my sphere.”

Her minister hesitated.

“[Everlasting Scales Upon Canvas],” she intoned, and at this utterance of his [Dao Na] the caton’s entirety quaked. “Why do their [Arrays] yet elude ?”

“The matter of Yongwu Long shall be dealt with swiftly,” said Gon Ma.

“And the fisherman?”

“Disciple Gao Fu’s [Array] cannot be resolved until his [Dao Oath] solidifies. An irregularity has been reported that even the [Sage of Constellations] yet strives to overco.”

Nu Wa took a step, and spiderweb fissures tore forth from her sole. “The Clouded Court’s oath is peerless. My mother herself constructed it. Do you an to insult her, Gon Ma? Our Matriarch?”

The Minister thrust into a kowtow. “This humble servant fears what little gains the young mistress would receive should Gao Fu beco aware of her pursuit. To ascend the [Dao of Joy], such a [Worldly Dao] must not be fed with false insights. Presently his will circumvents the oath. In ti, it shall not.”

“His will- his joy, junior. That is worth more than ten thousand Hopefuls. The Heavenly Roaming Prefecture is the culmination of a millenia’s orchestration. When our fangs erge, he must possess an [Array]. On this I will not be denied. The misery these rivers and lakes are soon to know is no thing he can escape, do you understand?”

Gon Ma continued his kowtows. “As you will, young mistress.”