Fatherly Asura

“I had not predicted it would come so swiftly,” shared Yifei. “But neither in all of your mystery do I believe you the final hand. To whom will the order fall? Not you, stranger.”

What moments their swiftness stole had become minutes, and the sights about them elongated this further.

Gao Fu and Yifei dropped all pretence of face, surging then as one to dispatch the Gu Apostles with no concern for shared glory. A brief and precise stream of blows felled all that remained, and it was all they might do for moments to watch as these [Demonic] scourges toppled through the tournament’s open air.

The Beggar and Phoenix Disciple appeared aside them.

“Venerable Shuang,” was said of his wisping [Spirit Stoats], carried upon an icy breeze. “The rivers and lakes are less for this.”

Fu bore a troubled look, though it was Shuidi that spoke. “Dark things. The moon-facing come to do what righteous Shuang did not speak of. It begins.”

As implaccable as metal, Yifei affixed a distant look. “To what end? Or to whose?”

Calamitous noise wracked the upper regions of this bout.

Madness.

To have a conversation as the very sky fell, as [Demons] were crushed by the stupendous barrier Mingqin had erected, to see their fading forms still claim thousands of righteous cultivators about them…

“No order has come,” said Fu. “None that I have heard. Noble Beggar, the [Filth Strewn Empress] has not called to you, nor you, noble Phoenix, I hear no final trumpet or wingbeat to motion we must act against one another. We all know the greatness of this day, but that does not mean we must adhere to it.”

Yifie inhaled through her nose. “For our history’s sake, I will choose not to act on these words. You sow dissent, Gao Fu.”

“When all about us are possessed of such violence, it is not betrayal. No. I ask only that until the cry comes, you remain righteous. The Jianghu’s citizens have not yet escaped this trouble.”

The Beggar laughed, and each rat within her folds chittered in chorus. “And what of Shuang’s death? Don’t glaze over this fact with poetic words. Some foul thing stole his life, as you claim, and yet it was a foul thing that I am not aware of. Who saw his death but you two?”

“Surely you do not accuse the Cloudy Serpent Sect of misdeeds?” asked the Phoenix disciple, stroking his magnificent whisker. “This backwater Patriarch, yes, but the serpents are beyond such things.”

“Noble Shuang fell to [Demonic Arts]. The [Cherry River Sword’s] disciple was reaped of his [Constellation Seeds].”

When one spoke openly of Heavens’ mysteries it often had the same effect.

These cultivators forgot the madness about them, if briefly, and darted eyes about the thousands upon thousands of potential listeners. More so, Fu mused, in search of the one that might steal their own treasures.

“[Demonic Arts]. The domain of Beggars is it not?” spat the Phoenix disciple.

Humor fled from the myriad chittering rats.

“Cease this,” cut Yifei. “I, Zheng Yifei, Inner Disciple of the Cloudy Serpent Sect, stand with Gao Fu until the moment comes. Let our arguments not waste any further life.”

[Clouded Sovereign’s Departure].

A tenth section of barrier fell as Fu reached another onslaught of [Demons]. These beasts showed to be in no hurry, advancing across rubble-strewn ground or pouncing between the floating stands that were not included in Mingqin’s failing barrier.

They were purposeful, expanding their Gu like a cancerous wave to consume and destroy each iota of the Qi ahead.

The Warriors Association cultivators fell as if suffocated. Two cultivators stood out among them, resplendent in golden armor and shining blades.

Some hundred [Demons] were slain as Fu breezed before them. “Ninth Golden Reserve, Cloud Dragon Hall extends its gratitude,” he said.

“Who?” shook the first, channeling [Life Qi] into gruesome wound on his [Spirit Lion’s] paw. “It matters not. You are trespassing on the venerable [Ninth Under Heaven’s] domain. His protections do not extend to you.”

Hushi shook.

“His property? These lands below to [Righteous Melodies Phoenix], the City Lord.”

The second danced back, severing a [Pischacha’s] right arm as Fu absently sent his chain out to split the foe in twain.

“That child? She ought to read her clauses better,” she laughed. “Lord [Ninth Under Heaven] purchased these stands for auction, and until the tournament’s conclusion we shall protect his interests. Now, trespass no longer.”

Sanctuaries stood in a thousand different corners. Great defensive [Arrays] waning against the oppressive Gu, barriers of [Dao], treasure or the simplicity of warring bodies in formation. The tournament had indeed been the equal of many cities, and the chaos here was no indication of how widespread it had reached beyond.

Jade Songbird City remained within Bingbai’s [Array].

Fu saw no golden throne nor palace as he expected. “[Ninth Under Heaven]. I would know where he is.”

Such a suggestion seemed akin to burning these disciples’ families alive, for they rounded, heedless of the [Demons], meteor-hammer and dual-jian a-whirl.

“You dare? Nameless cultivator. To demand a thing, or to presume-”

[Wind Phantom’s Breath: Vacant Mind Tincture].

Truth-instilling [Poison Qi] fumed from Fu’s pipe, and entered these cultivators’ widening mouths with such speed they coughed a fit. “Where is [Ninth Under Heaven]?”

“Our Lord? Our Lord was winded,” came the golden woman’s drunken stupor.

“Our Lord cannot be winded,” slurred the other, blinking rapidly. “Our Lord is merely- he merely, decided to gasp sharply and retreat.”

“Retreat?”

The [Spirit Lion] mewed. “Removed himself from lesser things.”

“Just so,” answered its partner. “Just so. He- [Ninth Under Heaven], removed himself as if struck- no, not struck-”

A swift distillation of [Sap of Blissful Dreams] put these cultivators to rest.

“[Ninth Under Heaven], struck? The machinations of the immortals begin. It was no open blow, for these golden fools would have said so.”

Long had once cautioned Fu on matters of involvement. Unless one is the [Cherry River Sage], they cannot know all moving parts.

“A blow has been dealt. Rejoice. Continue,” cautioned the Old One.

As you say, old master. Our priority now lies in-

Plum light spilled between the fractures of Mingqin’s great barrier, spelling the end of the just City Lord’s efforts. What came forth were one hundred and eight prodigious, spectral roots, bursting through the barrier as if no more than windstrewn topsoil.

One Hundred and Eight? This number cannot be of coincidence.

Hushi tapped his skull. “Nor is it of immediate importance.”

The thrill of novel challenges was overcoming Fu’s heart, and indeed both of his partners. Such was the depth of their [Primordial] station now.

Amidst this there came a meteoric descent of metal against the plum, vast- yet against these roots even titans would appear small. An amalgam of myriad weapons encasing [Dour Faced Strategist] and partner, the solemn [Spirit Porcupine], presenting most aptly- as a piyingxi’s villainess.

She was aflow with great arms of bound spirit-weapons and with these bian, qiang, and flat-edged jian, Lianse scooped her niece’s failing form from the skies.

Across the distance, their eyes met. Then, Fu’s own traced lower.

To lips that could only have mouthed, ‘it begins’.

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🀧

The moment of turning would reduce all that had come before to a mere greeting.

Hua had warned of this.

Warned the [Primordial Lord of Tribulations] against his own Path.

Death could be overcome, and they had done so. Sects could be overcome. The [Fifth Pool] principles of [Dao] - highest among all they had faced - could be overcome. The machinations of lesser factions, indeed, these could be broken like [Autumnal] grass.

Fu, Hushi and Shuidi peeled themselves from the ground as the [Plum Axe’s] roots made to settle, finding that they could scarcely identify what energy caused their ephemeral bones to groan and buckle as they did now.

From myriad li below, through the still-suspended remnants of stand and platform, their broken gaze bore witness to a Pillar’s might.

In all his cruel beauty, [Plum Axe Zhu] emerged at a sizable gnarl in the trunk above. To compare against the Golden Bodhi of Fen’s partnership, the tree was anemic and thin, and if not a portent of certain peril would only be marvelled at for its height and depths of root- not the grandness of its boughs.

[Primordial Qi] cycled for a third time around their [Core], and Shuidi worked swiftly to mend the ratio of their [Heavenly Spectre’s Shroud].

In five breaths, they could stand. In five more they… “Brother,” Fu said, mid-way to Lianse and Mingqin.

“His passion works against him,” said Gao Zhu, blurring across the air in tandem. “Impatient fool.”

Their [Might] delivered them outside Lianse’s metallic puppet, the mu’ou as his mind had decided, faster than breath. Both former ghosts stalled beneath its featureless mask, facing the core in which both cultivators resided.

The intersecting blades peeled back to reveal only Lianse’s scowl. An ominous tell for one that showed absolute neutrality outside her superstitions. “If Jinghui Hua has forewarned you of events, speak now!”

“She has not,” returned Shuidi, swiftly, and delivered sharply- “Why?”

“The [Demonic] Emperors were too few. Against the Clear Sky’s Pillars they are naught, and now, less. Jinghui Hua promised an equal force. That one Catastrophe would fall. They have not,” she said. “Events occur out of sequence.”

To omit the most certain of futures, Hushi mused now that this was a wise choice.

How maddening it would be when the absolute changed.

[Plum Zhu’s] roots wound further down, shattering the outer limits of the tournament grounds and beyond.

Burrowing at a definite, glacial pace.

It was then his voice resounded, reverberating with [Profundity] and the influence of [Primordial Law]. No thunder as with [Tribulation], no heart-seizing cold as with [Terror]. This… the [Plum Axe’s] voice was a thing that warbled the unseen tethers between all things, and tugged.

“Hye-hye-hye! Inspiration boils my very blood! Alas, I am overcome, impassioned! To see the myriad souls of the Jianghu so emboldened by desire, how could I do any less?” he declared, reaching all ears. “[The blind think it an ocean, to see ripples, to know only their isolation. One stone, flung, grants [Karma] only to those that are touched. Yet what of the plum, I say? Fed by roots below, warded by boughs above, and untouched, drops to begin the cycle anew.]”

His words came as violent poetry and proclamation both.

Lianse cowled Mingqin’s ears as golden blood trickled from each, staining her hands.

Zhu and Tanshuai considered the speech, unhindered. “The great fool, is this his insight after millenia? As deep as a chasm, yet so narrow. This is not all that [Karma] might be.”

“[Seeds carried. Pollen gifted. Saplings sprouted. Neighbours grow on the same peak as they do upon the farthest shore, offspring, progeny, and all that have feasted, rested, chopped upon this trunk are blessed by its unasking magnanimity. Heedless. Careless.],” he finished, wiping a great streak of tears from his regality of plum-hued [Ink]. “Your father asks for gratitude, children.”

Only once did the trunk radiate its glow.

A gentle thing that had all roots warm.

One slight wisp rose in the immediate grounds far below, siphoned from the crown of a cultivator and [Spirit Barracuda]. Bright, plum energy no bigger than an infant’s palm that morphed into the form of a Heavenly Plum.

The pair below collapsed.

Fu needed little [Senses] to know they would not rise again.

Yet this was the first.

In a span of moments there seemed to shine a sea of plum fireflies, born of the [Plum Axe’s] millenia of decadence. Each child of his - cautioned in common knowledge to be in the millions - ended, gifting their Heavenly Plum in turn.

All that could be seen beyond the [Immortal Judgement Sunshine Array] was an incineration of plum, shown as though the mere thousands of wisps within were a passing cloud. Outside… outside was a descent more numerous than each star in the night sky.

Villainy. No. He is a monstrosity beyond the foulest of [Demons].

Unbridled rage had [Tribulatory Lightning] loose about the Fatherly [Asura’s] form.

A blurring hand struck Fu’s face, returning reason. A second palmed his chain, which had somehow been drawn and levelled against the distant [Plum Axe]. “None more than I wish it,” he strained, hollow-eyed. “Many were as strangers- my brothers and sisters. I’d, no, I- Our own brotherhood does not erase the ties I’ve held. Fu, I’m pained by this.”

Hushi squeezed Zhu firm, enveloping his shoulder.

“Brother, I am sorry. For all that comfort that grants, I am truly sorry. We will end his villainy, mark my words.”

“No,” shook Zhu, lifting an onyx-hued axe of ridiculous scale from his storage. “Put in your eyes. The [Plum Axe] cannot be struck. Not even the Heavens may touch him now.”

Those endless plums recalled from the Jianghu’s farthest shores had massed now, drowning the [Immortal Judgement Sunshine Array] in this eponymous light.

[Karma’s] own tide.

And in simplicity, they passed through, nourishing the great trunk.

Tears flowed from the [Plum Axe]. “Such is a father’s burden, to cherish all parts of their children,” he said, catching one stray wisp between his fingers. “Even the insignificant."

[Dour Faced Strategist] flicked her gaze from Mingqin to the [Plum Axe], and suddenly grunted in pain.

Both brothers whirled to see a bloody groove on her immortal, nigh-impervious flesh, having Lianse’s arm hang limp. “Remove all notions of vengeance,” she warned, eyeing the mu’ou’s inner blades upon which her blood stained. “This occurred at a mere thought. Heavens only know what might occur if one should take a single step against him.”

🀧

A true ghost went untouched by [Karma].

Its omens and its benefits.

The Thirteen Calamities.

Shuidi was ecstatic to see, as [Plum Axe Zhu] had unveiled, the culmination of a [True King Realm’s] Path. This was only dulled by Gao Zhu’s loss.

“Unhand me, Gao Fu,” ached Mingqin, [Righteous Melodies Phoenix] from within his gentle carry.

“A thousand apologies, City Lord. My promise to Lianse cannot be broken. Jade Songbird City has need of its Seat.”

The young woman slung herself higher, both phoenixes in distant-tow. “Aunt Lianse would not entrust another with my safety, nor do I require it.”

Zhu scoffed. “Peace, Mingqin. She would if the cultivator carrying you was swifter.” He vanished no later than the last letter, and myriad blows reverberated from where [Demons] dared try their hand against the comparatively slow phoenixes.

“A bold claim, Gao Fu.”

He shrugged, and his hundred-li step ended at the mouth of her palace. The concealing mists about him dispelled once Mingqin had stepped down, ever to show propriety.

“I share not your feverish pursuit for betterment. My citizens are my Path, and I am assured most have entered the outer-limits,” she shared, long-lingering on the shattered sections of her once-great city. “Long and [Cherry River Sage] have their machinations. Here on, I will leave them to it.”

Plum roots had spared no district from their wrath, and the damage grew an order of magnitude greater the closer one looked towards the tournament grounds. What little remained there was [Demonic] in nature now.

Her resolve is without equal. Such a soul is truly rare, and must be protected.

“City Lord, please,” he offered, extending a palm sideward.

[Righteous Melodies Phoenix] was joined by a settling storm as her partners descended, their vast, tranquil wings coming to shield about the area where he had gestured.

A wide grin emerged from nothing, and Udvah gave a bow. “Amituofo. This lowly-seeker is humbled by your presence, City Lord. Time is no friend today, thus, if it is not too bold?” he said, offering his hand.

“Despite mysteries I will not chase, there is righteousness in you. Gao Fu. Darkberry Zhu,” she said, inspecting Udvah’s hand. “As City Lord- no. As one that wishes to be just, I ask you do not disappoint these innocents.”

Fu’s douli dipped as both phoenixes and their righteous partner vanished.

These former ghosts allowed themselves a single breath.

“This young mistress would wait no longer. The time is now. What lesser trials these factions have in store will come only when all Calamities are exhausted. Yet they are negligible fools. A decisive blow must be struck against these serpents.”

Zhu squashed a berry between his teeth, then smirked juicily at Tanshuai. “Our sister has not discovered the truth yet. The reason we’re instructed to do as we must.”

“Oh?” laughed Udvah. “Amituofo. To place a wager would be sinful indeed, yet steamed buns taste all the better from a benefactor’s hand.”

“Is this the time?” asked Fu, jovial despite himself. Jovial, perhaps, for Zhu’s sake more than this. “Udvah, Mangalam, I would offer sesame pork if only you might share.”

The Vajra and his [Spirit Toad] shook.

“Then we act. Brother Udvah, if you might?”

With little pageantry, the wizened monk withdrew a bell from within his flowing robes. His [Intent] gave form to myriad characters, and he inlaid these upon its surface.

It sounded once, sharply, although the call was for those within. “Amituofo. It has been heard by all.”

All but he and Mangalam took several strides back as he struck the bell once more. Distortions blinked about him, showing uncountable stars, dust-strewn voids and colours beyond imagination.

As did Udvah grow.

“[Eight stars glow against defilement’s approach, forgetting then the three. Anatta. Under such Heavens, none are to blame. Amituofo. Before the Noble Eightfold Path, look first within, for all hold equal keys to paradise and torment],” he proclaimed, striking thrice his bell. “[Primordial Law of Paradise: Mantra of the Enlightened].”

Gentle laughter drenched Mingqin’s palace approach as Udvah and Mangalam flew into the air, enshrouded by a violet wrap of fabrics, expanding and whorling until the titanic pair filled the northern skies.

With one shimmering palm atop his chest high [Spirit Toad] and a second clutching what strayed the line between bell and pagoda, Udvah laughed once more.

And waited.

Dangerous intent could be felt massing against him, though the hatred of some thousand, thousand unknown cultivators was trivial against the impenetrable attention of Thirteen Calamities.

A [Primordial Lord] has announced himself, such a reaction is natural. Whether or not it is beneficial…

[Fourth Under Heaven] was then upon him, thunderously, exchanging fleet words of [Profundity] so deep that neither Fu nor Zhu could parse them. Perhaps, Hushi mused, the meaning was not intended for them.

Ten breaths passed. Twenty. When thirty came, it did so to the shock of all.

The unfathomable occurred as [Fourth Under Heaven] ceased his unhearable words and gave the slightest tilt of acknowledgement.

Udvah chuckled, tilting lower, and as his bell chimed for a seventh time, - the [Immortal Judgement Sunshine Array], flickered behind.

Many things occurred at once.