Fatherly Asura

Thousand Returnings Corpse], [Tribulation] of [Spirit], theft of Four Tiger Pill Society [Dao Treasure], cursed.

Her [Intent’s] range tripled once concluded.

[Thousand Returnings Corpse], [Tribulation] of Death, detonated three hundred and ninety seven thousand [Array] formations upon the [Paifang] to [Vermillion Overlands]. Her [Resilience] increased marginally upon return.

[Thousand Returnings Corpse], [Tribulation] of [Constitution]. Upon observation, she was found within a blackened crater after witnesses reported an intensity of lightning. The skin upon her arms had half-transmuted into a semblance of the immortal-grade [Hidden From Samsara] physique, seeming incomplete.

[Thousand Returnings Corpse], [Tribulation] of Death. No development occurred, it is offered that she held no purpose but whimsy on this instance.

“Record of [Tribulations] of Note,” - Archives of the Clouded Courts

A gale screeched about the Jade Songbird Province, and only one from all corners.

How strange it was.

One gale borne of some thousand, thousand ribbons, drawn across the Wisteria Peaks and through the great boughs of the Golden Bodhi Sanctuary to rush at speed towards an inconsequential grove of fallen bamboo.

Here its screech was a roar, lost beneath rain’s violent downpour.

Then, lost twice, for the bloodshed drowned out all.

Thunder cracked above as it did below.

The Fatherly [Asura] knew all this, and no more.

Impressions surfaced as his mantra continued, but these were but small vestiges of a greater whole. Half-formed characters upon a page and songs gone unwritten. Beginning notes, his Feng might say, like the droplets that would in time become a sea.

Shuidi’s talent went further than his own. “The ninth [Meridian],” she would say, or, “[False Imitation] is reached,” or “The makings of insight come.”

Ten fold.

A hundredfold.

And these words she impressed as a maelstrom of change tore about them were for one soul and the next, for the benefits of a [Tribulation] were both myriad and vast.

For whom she described, be it Chan Gui or perhaps the Baotai twins, Rumiya, or a Xiong Di, or a Jin Mori, or a [Ninety Ninth] Madhusudhana, Tej, or a Pang De Tong, or indeed, the [Spirit Shark] that tore free that latter disciple’s arm, the shoal of [Spirit Eel] with a disciple’s entrails between their thrashing jaws, the-

Those that gained benefit from [Tribulations] were as nature intended, and thus the [Primordial Lord of Tribulations] was impartial.

Any that moved within this clearing were granted opportunity.

If only they strove for it.

In one [Spirit] he felt the barest bones of martial talent. A [Prowess], lacking, and instinct, bare and infantile. To this soul the [Beast Tide] flocked as though directed by need, ravening for the purest Qi contained within its [Meridians] - that which was bolstered by the [Shrine of Final Skies].

Another was young upon the path of [Dao], so to them flocked beasts both resilient and prepared, insightful and ready to combat its [Principles] should it not improve with haste.

An uncountable span of hours passed upon this blade’s edge, upon this act of perilous balance.

Vital spirit could not be instilled swiftly.

Yet neither could Cloud Dragon Hall crumble as he stood idle.

“Fu,” shook a hand upon his shoulder.

As one, the three ghosts settled their [Primordial Law]. “Jae,” he said, drawing deep from his pipe. “Gratitude.”

Some fresh dawn now faded into midday and he now knew that this induced [Tribulation] had lasted for the better part of a full day.

Adequate. [Three Wisps From Breath].

A great front of mists rushed to the outer perimeter of his disciples, containing such force that the rampage of these violent [Spirit Beasts] was severed behind a curtain of manifesting blades. Streams of black and crimson spiked through the mists as he solidified the [Mist Qi] within, holding the advance at bay as his disciples gathered breath.

Ailing forms lay in rings about him. Bloodied cultivators and partners alike.

Not all drew breath.

While the thrash and impact of the myriad beasts beyond grew louder, he stooped low. Fu withdrew his douli and placed a hand on the shoulder of each fallen disciple in turn. “Gratitude, disciple. May we meet again, in this life or the next.”

The living held ragged breath and quivering arms, though it was not his to judge if such weakness was from effort or growing terror.

He willed it to be the former.

Heartbeats passed as he descended towards the curtain of mist. A calm gait held as his disciples parted about him.

Expectant.

The [Primordial Law of Tribulations] unveiled a tapestry of [Ink] for all that he passed, they had only to reach equilibrium to consolidate these gains.

Shuidi was first to speak, addressing a tattered disciple of stocky frame, mossy braids and [Spirit Otter] partnership. “What do you now know of clouds, disciples?”

A stammer caught short the words in his throat. “Of… cloud… clouds? We… we…”

“What do you now know of clouds, disciples?” repeated Shuidi, now shifting as the disciple hung his head in shame. “It need not be poetry.”

Is this what we have instilled? Or does fear of these actions prevent them from speech? To allow the death of their fellows is callous and villainous in their eyes.

Motes of this were hidden behind prostrate forms.

In bearing.

It is said that one can lead an oxen to water, but cannot make them drink. Of all methods, this is the Wayward Wind’s kindest.

Jihu Wanjie prowled through the crowd, bowing deeply as she reached the shoulder-mounted Shuidi. “One cannot know the clouds above, for they are duplicitous. A wisp of white and wisp of grey hold equal salvation and doom. As Cloud Dragon Hall holds righteous kindness, so too does it hold abundant lethality.”

The [Spirit Crab] brightened, if inwardly. “Here stands one that Gao Shuidi does not despise, brothers. A wise head upon her shoulders to glean now what took us [Seasons] to arrive at. Her progress interests me.”

Hushi warmed in agreement.

Outwardly, Shuidi merely bobbed. “And of their rain and thunder?”

Jeimei Baotai parted one step from her brother, retying her dark-iron hair. “That which is loosed is not borne of idle winds and-”

“-the rains we must deliver must first be churned in waves of strife. Thunder cannot come from a gentle breeze,” finished Xiongdi.

[Profundity] laced the air as these words were delivered.

Fu struck a hand through its midst, pushing aside a breeze of golden specks. “This is the mantra of Cloud Dragon Hall. The essence of clouds. Transformation. But I urge none here to fall to its message yet. Only once you tread further can you know its truth,” he said, and moved to the curtain of tumultuous mist.

“Sect leader,” called but one among his number. “I, Manfu Suzhong, would dare to accompany you further.”

“Sect leader,” rang another, repeating the same. “I, Bharat-”

“I, [One Hundred and First] Nilamber-”

“Saitong.”

A [Spirit Panther] growled.

“Pin.”

“Mad Hound,” announced a tribal-seeming disciple.

“Atulya.”

Chan Gui’s twinned pirhanas snapped eagerly.

One hundred names sound, and perhaps, near one hundred more. These disciples that held a spark of his teachings.

The [Primordial Lord] warmed, splitting three great channels into his mist. His own was largest and welcomed an immediate onslaught of chittering [Spirit Mantis] and [Spirit Sharks] - breeds of two realms that now converged to continue their feast.

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[Tempestual Phantom Tribulations, First Form].

A chain flew forth, thunderous on impact.

As would the next.

🀩

To slay the [Beast Tide] himself would offer little trial to his disciples, yet the pace of this fray was near stagnant in Fu’s eyes. It brooked some hundred complaints from Shuidi, who suggested a single blow might silence the diminished [Beast Lord] a many li distant.

An injured thing.

Some few hours had passed as the battle continued, and the three ghosts found themselves at a strange juncture.

Their chain severed dozens of massed [Spirit Sharks] with each blurring swing. An abundance of [Death Qi] permeated their flesh- no, comprised it - and their [Resilience] far differed from when had faced them within a realm of their own [Affinity].

“To end these beasts brings a stain upon the land. Their [Constitutions], it tarnishes the ambient Qi with death. This Gao Shuidi feels this is the only challenge here,” she shared.

Fu and Hushi agreed.

Such was their juncture.

A fool blinds themselves to foes. Underestimates their quarry. I do not believe this is how we feel. We are caught between strange realms of power.

Peak [Core Formation] beasts ought to offer more challenge, and they merely hoped they had not reached them yet.

Had they no appearance to keep up, [Wind Phantom’s Breath] would have stripped the flesh from their bodies already. As it stood, they could only act with propriety.

Not the underhanded tactics associated with moon-facing cowards.

Another thousand of the frenzy were cut short before he put his attention to the channels of mist far to his rear. His [Senses] were ever upon them, if lightly, and he felt no discernible change where his diligent disciples clashed.

The [Tribulation] we have engineered has delivered its fruits. To postpone any longer would be an act of greed. Do we agree?

Shuidi was first to grant assent, doing so within a heartbeat. Hushi’s was slower, for he held a desire for their juniors to soar higher.

One fight of many, brother. Cloud Dragon Hall will soon be upon the lips of all within this Province, and we shall have the disciples to enforce this newfound worth.

His thoughts went to the fledgling ghosts within his stable.

Enough time was given, any longer and they prove they are unfit to name themselves serpents.

The [Beast Tide] was aptly named.

A liquid thing.

Each extension of his chain, each slice; throw; stab; rotation; and more, these welcomed an immediate wave of flesh to fill the removed tide. An arc would cut formidable swathes of these surging [Spirit Sharks] only for a half-hearbeat to pass, and the cleared space to populate.

This slaughter was mindless, offering no improvement. The [Tempestual Phantom Tribulations] required more than empty swings and he would not overtax his [Spirit] after the recent growth of his [Intent].

But, perhaps this was another flash of greed. To catch two fish in one net.

[Wind Phantom’s Breath].

Mists of a simple nature erupted from his lungs, expanding to erect a great sea across the battlefield. The gnashing of tremendous teeth was these [Spirit Sharks] only method of protest, rising dramatically in response as he compressed his [External Art] further.

With the swiftness the [Tempestual Phantom Tribulations] lent to his chain, Fu exerted a major force of will to have the mists give chase.

First among his efforts was lacking for one of his stage, cladding but a few paces either side of the blurring implement in solidified [Water] and [Air Qi]. As breaths passed, this only grew. The crude beginnings of this soon became a cyclone.

A tempest.

The thousands felled in heartbeats become more as his chain was chased by an enormous serpent of mist, expanding its reach tenfold.

[Death Qi’s] influence grew as their carcasses burst vile, black ichor upon Mingqin’s once pristine realm. A fetid quagmire of surely [Demonic] ilk for the Heavens could not endorse so foul a landscape.

It had the [Heavenly Spectre’s Shroud] strain.

Swifter and swifter his chain flew, stirring the [Death Qi] with each innumerable foe slain until at last he felt the presence of greater beasts.

Of true challenge.

Yet, his only thought-

“This Gao Shuidi would question the sun-facing’s sanity. It is a labor in banality to trudge such a path towards one’s goal.”

There were those among the [Beast Tide] now that stoked their heart. Half-step [Beast Lords]. Sharks of such scale that pushed their deftness, technique, [Prowess] and ability to a greater degree of use.

For the first time in many hours Fu’s instincts were injected with lightning.

Reason.

Action beyond reaction.

Such was the thrill that the remaining hours passed even swifter, leaving him to stand tall and ichor-blemished in a butchery of unimaginable scale as distant roars played across the corpses. It was from one such corpse that he withdrew his chain’s ivory head, and cleansed all the foulness that spurted from this reduced [Beast Lord’s] gills.

“[Dao]-cursed,” its voice had snarled. “We submitted for such a fate?”

Distance from his disciples was no assurance, thus the secondary mists spilled forth, [Dao]-shrouded to erase all doubt. Shuidi’s [Black Orchestrations Array] consumed the scene within, removing all that [Senses] might perceive as the [String-Eating Soulfoam] devoured all [Karmic Ties] they had held with this beast.

Still, to the three, it seemed meager.

“The first opportunity,” offered Hushi, intent on their far-flung disciples. “Not last.”

🀩

A [Winter’s] sun framed the lone cultivator as he wiped clean his jian, four [Spirit Carp] in lazy orbit about him.

From the mountain’s base, Fu saw the depths of his cast shadow, and thought it of a scale to consume all it stood upon.

It was less than a triviality to scale the height.

“Fu,” met Long, attention on his blade. “You’ve come for congratulations, I take it?”

The Fatherly [Asura] flicked a finger towards the jian, having mists purify the stains of some thousand, thousand [Spirit Insects] from its edge. “For a trouble conquered? It is not in my nature to gloat.”

Long gestured airily, then snorted. “Yes, you’re prone to taking much of the fun from these things. For what it’s worth, Gao Fu, I’m intrigued to know how you did it. This [Beast Tide]. A [Constellation Seed] to control [Paifang] is not within your possession.”

It was then he looked up, and Fu’s [Senses] swiftly searched for any minor [Array] or sign of eavesdropping. Though his silencing mists rose regardless.

“What would you know of my [Constellation Seeds]?”

“Two are beyond your realm, I’m aware of this much. Immortal-grade treasures. The [Thousand Immunities Fruit] was my first gift to you, and one [Hollow Ivory Splinter] knows another. At a guess, I’d say your wizened catfish is the last. None control [Paifang], and I’m in doubt as to the Plum tribesman’s talents. He has a talent for concealment.”

Fu smiled. “That he does.”

“Another of your ghosts, then. Most likely a [Shaving of the First Gate], reaped from that fool Cheng Rao, though others exist. [World Tree’s Sap], [Feather of Transmigration] and so on. Rare, ancient things, but no impossibility," said Long, stowing his jian.

Light met the sunset as Fu opened his [Shrine of Final Skies]. A bottle and two saucers entered his hands.

“My, how cordial,” laughed Long.

“We have seen little of each other since… the day overcame you.”

Long’s wine dribbled the moment it reached his lips, unable to be held in a widening smile. “The day overcame me? When I lost myself to rage, I’d say. This politeness is for no one, Fu, and there is never a need to dull your words for me. Ha, you’ve surely learnt this by now. The Cloudy Serpent Sect is my enemy, not you.”

A declaration. Is this his first?

Pride did not compel Shuidi, Hushi nor Fu to liberate Long’s head from its shoulders. These words did not inspire hatred.

How queer that was.

“An enemy? I have not seen you move against it outside of [Green Blight Valley]. When last we spoke it seemed all beneath the Heavens were your enemies,” said Fu.

“All that do not share Yongwu Long’s vital spirit,” sniped Shuidi. “But this venerable mistress would know if any others share his strange insight into [Beast Tides] and [Paifang].”

Laughter came as regularly as breath when Long spoke. “Hmm? Pick one subject, Gao Shuidi, or perhaps- yes, I’ll make it easy for you. [Beast Tides] and City Lords are not of my concern. Is this much not plain? I’ve no care for these little machinations as in the end, they matter less than dust.”

Few were the expressions of fish, and even a former fisherman would find challenge in gleaning their mood, yet something agitated the four [Spirit Carp] whorling above.

The patterns of their scales glinted bright in the day’s failing light.

What end?

Hushi lifted the douli’s brim, readying.

“The Clouded Courts no doubt await my interference. I’ll tell you now that it’s not what you expect,” Long said, spreading his arms as if to support the horizon. “While you prepare for this vast, province-wide [Array] to descend, all others rage towards the true ending. Your Elder, Master, or otherwise styled senior will not have shared this.”

Fu stroked his whisker. “If this is no lie, I would hear more.”

“A prize to overturn Heaven. Think, Fu, for your [Karma] will have entwined your Path with its own. The source of many miseries.”

A pause came, if only to have the next words align. There was little doubt as to what Long spoke of.

“The [Hollow Throne].”

“Oh?” chuckled Long. “You do know of it?”

Both saucers were refilled.

“Not in any grand way.”

“Lies. As I’ve said, they’re needless. The [Hollow Throne] was her final decree. An embodiment of her truth. Whomsoever claims it will stand at the pinnacle of the long-fallen Jianghu, they will be closest to the Heavens, without equal,” he continued, ignoring the percussive urging of his [Spirit Carp]. Long stalled them with a hand. “A fable. To sit upon her throne grants ultimate authority over this realm. From it, one could boil the seas with a turn of the hand. They might reverse the [Tyranny of Seasons]. Deny the bond between man and [Spirit Beast]. Remove the [Boundless Dao] from all but those with green hair and three fingers. They might do all of this, or none.”

A fable indeed, and this tale is too tall to believe. Such a secret cannot be so freely given.

“This Gao Shuidi would know why Long reveals this now, and at all. It is for Matriarchs and immortal monsters to speak of, for these are all that are worthy of it. Those of [Gleeful Viper’s] kin, or those among the [Cherry River Inheritors].”

“For many reasons, Gao Shuidi. Most interesting among them is that it will open some many moons before your childish [Array] is sprung. Another tale that you’ve no doubt been kept from. Yes, in ten [Season’s] time all your struggle will be for naught,” he said.

The sunset witnessed no laughter now.

“Must I endure this?” asked Fu. “We are strange fellows, Long, entangled threads of [Karma]. That does not promise trust-”

“Let us call it a wish, fellow. And I’d have you hear mine. The grand law I’d impose upon this lacking world.”

Fu dashed the wine from his saucer. “I do not see the point of indulging in fantasy.”

“Indulge me,” growled Long. “Imagine a world where those that reach immortality are forced to ascend. Where a bar is imposed. A cascade of falling sand that trickles away once the first [Meridian] is [Cleansed]. One thousand moons. No more. The span of one at peak [Core Formation]. Would this not be the river that cleanses our dam? This vital surge to wipe free the moss-coated immortals that entomb our lands?”

What last embers of daylight remained then passed behind the distant peaks, and all grew vastly dim.

The [Spirit Carp] no longer shone.

“Madness,” said Fu.

“Ascend,” came Shuidi and Hushi’s twinned mental impression. “Yongwu Long is not known to lie. What meaning does this word hold?”

With mortal evocation, Long drew in breath. One stretched and calming. “Madness indeed. But no more than those that choose this oppressed realm,” he bitterly smiled. “I’d pondered on this for many hundred moons, Gao Fu. My ideal. My truth of change. She- Ha. Her ideal proved better. The Hollow Misery. If you might have heard our arguments… it’s of no matter. In the end, it fell to the same greed she sought to erase.”

“Further riddles.”

“Well, it’s the nature of fools to misunderstand. My, yes, I’ve become prone to rambling. A facet of old age, no? My sentimentality matches the grey in your moustache. Gao Shuidi, I told you I had many reasons for sharing this - I’m surprised you do not remember the most crucial.”

Fu shook his head. “Our duty remains. We will not join this false madness, Long.”

[Winter’s] light was ever fleeting, and had they not the sight of cultivator, the expression before them might well have been consumed in black.

“Then I’d demand but one thing, and in one [Season’s] time. Before [Summer] comes to pass, listen for my [Dao Name] when I attain immortality. That will mark all as truth,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.