62 – Excuse Me
Thunder cracked across the sky above Tianjian Sect. A lone, fat figure stood in the air, casually drilling his nose as he watched the solitary peak with open disdain. The deputy sect leader of Tianjian Sect rose to greet their uninvited guest.
“Greetings, Elder,” she bowed courteously. “For what purpose do we earn this grace?”
Tianjiao pulled a goober from his nose and flicked it toward the lone peak with his pinky finger. The projectile struck the sect’s defensive array like tribulation lightning. Cracks spiderwebbed across the shield. A single goober had nearly shattered a sect’s protective formation.
“Why don’t we let the old people do the talking for this one?” Tianjiao shooed the deputy sect leader away with a wave of his hand.
A cold, razor-sharp presence immediately emerged, pressing down like a blade against the throat. Another figure rose into the sky. A shriveled, disheveled old man with no arms or legs, his sword still in its scabbard, floating beside him. With a single glance, he flung his daughter aside, muttering “useless” under his breath.
“Wasn’t exactly a good way to treat a family member,” Tianjiao commented dryly.
“Save it!” The sect leader of Tianjian Sect roared. His Qi surged, forming temporary limbs to replace those he had lost. One Qi-formed hand gripped the sword and scabbard. The entire world seemed to shudder as he drew the blade horizontally. The moment the sword fully left its sheath, every mountain peak higher than the height at which he had drawn it was cleanly severed.
The Heavenly Dao churned overhead. A vortex of golden lightning formed, each bolt flashing with enough power to annihilate a peak Golden Core cultivator with a mere graze. It was a clear warning of annihilation against any Nascent Soul cultivator who dared fully display their strength in this Mortal Realm.
“I, Tiānjiàn Xīnghuī (天劍星輝|Bright Star of the Heavenly Sword) will proclaim my Dao!” the Tianjian Sect Leader announced to the world.
“Haha!” Tianjiao laughed heartily. “Good! Good!”
Then another set of storms rumbled across the heavens. Tianjiao’s pot belly flattened. His previously slovenly clothes tightened, revealing the powerful musculature hidden beneath the fat. Gleaming armor materialized across his body. New hair sprouted from his once-balding head, growing until it was as long as he was tall, billowing in the wind and crackling with living thunder. In moments, the lazy elder was gone. In his place stood a figure resembling a heavenly general descended from the skies.
“Don’t die too soon, old man,” Tianjiao taunted. “I’ll be disappointed if my new hair doesn’t last at least a decade after we fight.”
Far above, the Heavenly Dao continued to gather tribulation clouds. Vast as an empire, high as the heavens themselves. Spiritual beasts and cultivators fled in terror, praying for survival. Mortals dropped to their knees and begged the heavens for mercy. Calamity always followed when Nascent Soul cultivators clashed.
—
Meanwhile, back within the Southern Mountain Range, the slaughter came to a halt. Not because we were stopped, but because there were no more targets left. A total of thirty nine cultivators have been killed. Huiran’s calculations stopped as well as it seemed the one leading the formation had stopped sending more parties as expected, or the various groups had simply stopped listening to commands.
“How easy is it to reattach limbs?” I asked.
“If reattached immediately and with a good healer or the right pills, it should be relatively simple.” Huiran noted.
We had been tailing the nine cultivators from the Jiushuang Sect. Ningguang observed that there were only four Foundation Establishment cultivators and five Qi Refining disciples, based on their robes that marked inner and outer sect status. Currently, we are making preparations to capture them rather than kill them.
I adjusted my railguns, turning the rails horizontal and switching the ammunition to extremely thin metal plates. The idea was to sever their legs for easier capture. Of course, this decision immediately drew the ire of both Wanxia and Wendao.
“We can still sort this out.” Wanxia insisted once more.“It’s clear the formation’s coordination is in shambles. We can still try to convince them.”
“If even one of them escapes, they can alert the others,” Wendao countered. “We still have no solid information on how many enemies remain.” Though he was more annoyed by our decision not to kill the Jiushuang disciples. He argued we had already crossed the line of giving mercy and that we could not afford to move while simultaneously policing nine captives.
“I would suggest getting ready.” I said, then inhaled deeply. I closed all my eyes and covered them with my hands once more, trying to focus as I projected nine railguns. Wendao, Wanxia, and Ningguang moved into position.
On each railgun was a set of scopes. At the top sat a long scope capable of one hundred times magnification. Attached to the left was a shorter scope providing a wide depth of field, useful for tracking targets that could quickly leave the long scope’s view. At the back of each scope were projected eyeballs. Made using the same principles as my clones, but only the eyes. This was the best solution I could come up with to follow Wendao’s advice, aim manually without using my Divine Sense.
I fought down the rising nausea as I aimed all nine railguns. In my vision, it looked like nine different sets of screens, each displaying both a wide view and the magnified long-scope image. I prepared Mountain Piercing Shot for the four Foundation Establishment cultivators.
“Ready.” The three voiced.
All nine railguns fired at the same time. Completely silent within the Divine Fog, the extremely thin metal plates streaked horizontally through the legs of the nine female disciples. Each one was cleanly severed at the thigh or shin.
The other three immediately moved in to knock the rest unconscious. Wendao used the flat of his sword while Wanxia and Ningguang simply struck them with their fists. The battle ended just as quickly as the previous ones. I almost felt bad for our enemies, and a little proud of my guns. While we were technically only five people, with my railguns and projections it felt more like four Foundation Establishment cultivators supported by an entire squad of railgun gunners. We were projecting power far beyond our actual numbers.
I popped another Qi Recovery pill. It tasted surprisingly good. This one could restore half of my Qi within a few minutes. A clear improvement over snorting refined spirit stone dust, since there was no sudden high or euphoria that might cloud my judgment.
Huiran flew over to the unconscious disciples. Wanxia and Ningguang were already working to reattach the legs. Wanxia held the severed limbs in place while Ningguang froze the two parts in place. Wendao tossed a communication jade toward Huiran. Also confiscating their storage rings.
“Different than before, we might hear something useful this time.” Huiran noted. Apparently the leaders of this formation had created life talismans for the participating cultivators. If someone died, the life jade is destroyed and the information on their communication jade could be isolated and blocked.
Huiran began calculating again, his fingers and phalanges moving in complex patterns. “We should be safe for a while.”
“I’m amazed you can determine that with just counting.” I said honestly, though a little suspiciously. It looked damn near like divination.
“It’s not just counting, brother,” Huiran replied. “With Calculation Arts and enough comprehension, one can determine cause and effect.”
“Like divination?” I asked.
“No, no. They might look similar, but they’re different in practice. Calculation Arts uses present information to determine cause and effect. Divination often tries to determine an effect without knowing the cause, or even without using current information.”
I squinted at Huiran’s explanation, hoping it wouldn’t fly completely over my head. “So… logic, versus whatever the hell divination is.”
“Correct. And like you, I don’t know what the hell divination really is either. It tries to calculate using made-up information, which leads to a made-up effect that might or might not be true,” Huiran explained more eloquently than I ever could.
I nodded along. Yes. This was exactly why I hated divination.
“AAAH!” Then came a sharp scream that was immediately stopped.
One of the Jiushuang sect’s disciples had already woken up. Wendao’s sword was immediately at her neck.
“Sister Qiānxuě (千雪|Thousand Snows), please calm down.” Ningguang quickly moved to her side. “It’s alright, you are safe.”
“As long as she doesn’t try anything.” Wendao added. Wanxia immediately elbowed him.
Qianxue looked around frantically, first checking that her fellow disciples were still alive before remembering that her legs had been severed only moments ago. At least she seemed dependable in a crisis, which was something of a plus.
“Sister Ningguang,” Qianxue tried to sit up. “You were with the Xuan?”
“Yes, he is supposed to escort me to your sect.” Ningguang explained warmly.
“We were not told about this! If we had known…”
“You wouldn’t have also hunted a group of Tianhe disciples who are supposed to be allied with your sect? How kind of you.” Wendao said coldly. I agreed with him. After all, Qianxue had just lied about not knowing she was traveling with me, or at least she hadn’t informed the others in her own group. Her lie tasted bitter in my mouth.
“This Qianxue admits her wrongs and beg for your forgiveness.” She bowed and apologized. Another bitter lie. Alright, this Qianxue and all other Jiushuang disciples are not to be trusted.
“Wendao, Qianxue have apologized.” Ningguang said, pulling healing pills from her storage ring.
“No.” I said simply. All eyes turned to me.
“No one will give her any pills.” I declared with a finality. “My promise was that I would try not to kill them. Nothing more.”
“But we can’t…
“They are your responsibility now.” I interrupted, looking at Wanxia. Then I turned to Ningguang. “You should look for better friends.”
Then the communication jade in Huiran’s hand began to glow. Another, more intricate communication jade flew out from one of the confiscated storage rings on its own.
“The commissioner for the mission to kill Xuan Danxing has died. This mission is canceled.” Both jades relayed the same information.
“All sect disciples are to return to the sect.”
“All participating cultivators are to regroup.” The sect jade and the other communication jade then relayed different follow-up orders.
“Well, this is convenient.” I admitted the coincidence. Did my father kill someone again? Oh well.
“As for how to deal with the rest of the cultivators, I have a plan.”
—
Zhaoge crushed the strategist’s fan in his hand. His eyes were bloodshot, and thick veins crawled across his face in pure rage. Out of eighty cultivators, thirty-nine had already died. Without so much as a single piece of useful information relayed back to him. Entire groups seemed to vanish in one clean sweep. First three, then five, then six, and so on. There was no way a group of only five cultivators could consistently do that over and over again.
He had deliberately spaced out the orders, giving time between each group he sent to intercept the Xuan. The plan was for one group to exhaust the Xuan and the Tianhe disciples first. This would lead to higher casualties at first, but it was the most efficient and survivable strategy overall.
Could the Xuan really be as monstrous as the stories claimed? Impossible! The Xuans in the old records were Nascent Soul experts! This adopted son was only at Foundation Establishment! But… if those stories were true, that single Xuan possessed the strength of a hundred cultivators of the same stage. Then… then this outcome was only natural. Yes. This was not a failure of his strategy. The enemy was simply too strong!
天降甘霖落萬方，(Tiān jiàng gān lín luò wàn fāng)
平分草木與荷章。(Píng fēn cǎo mù yǔ hé zhāng)
各隨本性吸其液，(Gè suí běn xìng xī qí yè,
能力不同自成章。(Néng lì bù tóng zì chéng zhāng.)
“Heaven bestows sweet rain upon all lands,
It falls the same on grass and towering stands.
Yet each absorbs according to its own nature,
And grows only as far as its capacity can.”
A fresh wave of anger and humiliation struck Zhaoge. The poem was clearly a mockery. Of his ambition that exceeded his capacity. A fool who dared reach for the heavens.
Then the cultivators who had participated in the hunt began returning one by one. Zhaoge had already forced his expression back into calm composure as he assessed the survivors.
“Report.” He ordered coldly.
“There were clear signs of battle.” One Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator answered. “The ground was torn apart, residual Qi was still present… but the enemy vanished almost immediately after each engagement. We couldn’t even lock onto their position.”
“They are too well-coordinated,” another added. “By the time we arrived, all that remained were broken grounds and empty air.”
The atmosphere quickly soured.
“You led almost half of us to our deaths!” A cultivator from the Gongsun clan shouted, pointing at Zhaoge. “What kind of strategy is this?! You kept sending us wave after wave without any proper support!”
Zhaoge’s eyes narrowed. “If any of you had even a fraction of real competence, there would have been no problem. I gave you the perfect formation and clear orders. The fact that entire groups were wiped out so easily only proves how worthless most of you are.”
“You dare call us worthless when you sat safely in the rear the entire time?!” someone else snapped.
The argument rapidly escalated into a heated blaming match between the survivors and Zhaoge, voices rising as accusations flew back and forth.
Finally, a scarred rogue cultivator stepped forward and raised his voice above the rest. “Enough! Should we just leave this cursed mountain and cut our losses… or do we all gather together and attack the Xuan as one?”
All of them looked around at each other. It was clear that any ground for cooperation had completely broken down. There was no trust left, and more importantly, there was no longer any reward.
“If you have a death wish, then go ahead. Take a large risk for no gain,” another rogue cultivator mocked.
“But we will be taken as a laughingstock for this!” a hotheaded cultivator shouted.
“I think it is best to cut our losses and leave.” Jianxing offered calmly.
“I would prefer that as well.” A few cultivators nodded along before realizing who had just spoken.
“Xuan Danxing!” the cultivator standing beside the towering figure shouted in panic and attacked. The rest immediately followed. A fist of condensed Qi, a spear thrust, a killing arrow from a mighty bow, and various spells all passed straight through the towering, veiled cultivator.
“Hah! Never expected you to be a coward!” a body tempering cultivator mocked. “Guess that’s how you killed those weak…”
His words cut off as a massive hand grabbed his head. The size of the hand completely engulfed his skull. He tried to grab the arm in panic, only for his hands to phase uselessly through it. Then his breath hitched in pure fear as he felt a very real, crushing grip on his head. Xuan Danxing lifted him by the skull and casually set him aside like a child.
“Excuse me,” Xuan Danxing said calmly.
This single act terrified every remaining cultivator present. It was one thing for an illusion to appear. It was another for someone to selectively choose which parts of their body remained tangible. For Tiezhi and Gu Linghua, this was the first time they had seen the figure that was never supposed to exist. For the former, it was the one who had already killed him half a dozen times. For the latter, it was a very cool character she had never encountered before.
“It would definitely make my day,” Xuan Danxing continued, his voice still calm, “and absolutely be the best decision you take in your life…
…that all of us leave here alive.”