Unintended Cultivator

Sen could see the indecision on the man’s face. There was the desperation to save his cultivation on the one side, but that prospect meant fighting a battle that would almost certainly end in destruction. On the other side was the guarantee of life, a potent spur for anyone, but it was the kind of life that no cultivator wanted. To give up their hard-won power, the prestige of being a cultivator and of being in a sect, all to live as farmers or merchants? To surrender control in a world they knew all too well was hostile? That was barely a life, but it was still life, however uncertain. In their situation, Sen thought he would fight. Of course, he also had a lot of enemies. If ever lost his cultivation, he doubted he’d survive a month. It’d be nothing for even a qi-condensing cultivator to kill him. Since he had so many people depending on him at the moment, he’d basically have no choice but to fight. If these cultivators hadn’t made a hobby of infuriating powerful people, though, mortal life would be navigable if not especially pleasant.

He'd almost expected the ones who had been hiding to run away. It seemed that they were waiting for the one who’d been bargaining to make a decision. Maybe he was someone important in the sect, thought Sen. If that was the case, it made sense that they would wait for him to choose before committing one way or the other. They might also just be waiting to do the whole group attack, he mused. Sen wouldn’t mind that, at all. He wanted them to decide to fight. He was still angry about what had happened to Falling Leaf. Plus, if they fought it…well, it wouldn’t exactly free him from guilt, but it would make killing them easier on his conscience. He was happy to let a bad decision on their part serve two goals for him.

When the man in front of him started to cycle qi, it was all the answer Sen needed. He sent lightning into the shadows where the other sect cultivators were hiding. He didn’t really expect them to hit. He hadn’t been aiming them all that carefully. He just wanted them distracted enough not to be launching techniques immediately, and lightning was always distracting. Sen had a theory that most cultivators were irrationally afraid of lightning on some level. Given that it was the way that the heavens tested and sometimes killed cultivators, it was an understandable fear. That and getting hit by any lightning was incredibly painful even if it didn’t manage to kill you.

Once he’d sent his distractions at the lackeys, he focused on the one in front of him. Sen had been certain that he was going to be the most problematic of the three. It seemed that withstanding his killing intent was proving more of a challenge than Sen had credited. The other cultivator tried and failed to form a technique. Sen sent a wind blade at him to keep him occupied, activated his qinggong technique, and shot toward one of the hiding cultivators. That one at least had the wherewithal to have a weapon in hand. There was a swift exchange of blades before he cut her down. He moved back onto the path long enough to send another wind blade at the cultivator who had mostly managed to block the first one before he went after the second hiding cultivator.

Rather, he went after the second hiding cultivator who had decided to take their chances by running away with a qinggong technique that Sen didn’t recognize. It wasn’t as good as his, but it wasn’t bad. They felt him coming and managed to put together one of those twisted blade techniques to fling at Sen. He twisted out of the way and brought his jian down on the technique. It held for a fraction of a second before it cracked. He heard the fleeing cultivator cry out in pain from the backlash. He watched as they lost control of their movement technique and stumbled. Seeming to realize that escape wasn’t an option, they summoned a spear. It was a fine thing. Sen made a mental note to grab it when they were done with this duel. The other cultivator gave him a baleful look.

“Judgment’s Gale. The hero. You’re no hero,” sneered the man.

Sen nodded in agreement.

“Hero? There are no cultivator heroes,” said Sen before he paused for a moment. “Except for Righteous Wu Gang. He’s actually a hero.”

The other cultivator stared at Sen like he’d lost his mind.