Kindling, page 13
part #6 of Painting the Mists Series
One of the puppets predicted his movements and struck out with its own runic fragment technique. Cha Ming used Splitting Heaven and Earth to parry the blow and continue his footsteps. He painted a beautiful runic pattern as he danced with his ten opponents. When they came too close, he used Crushing Chaos to repel them or Origin Strike to interrupt their techniques midway.
My staff strikes are runes, and so are my movement techniques, Cha Ming thought as he fought in their midst. My body is a rune, my mind is a rune.
The floor lit up bit by bit. Sometimes he left runic fragments, and at other times he left line fragments. Some were straight while others were curved. Some were deep and others shallow. Bit by bit, he formed the outline of a complete formation that only lacked ten pieces.
“It’s time to end this,” Cha Ming said as he summoned the Clear Sky Brush. He kicked off one of the guardian puppets and used the momentum to paint a hook. After that, he painted six consecutive brushstrokes that formed fetters and momentarily bound the puppets. Then he swiftly painted out five runic fragments—three were numbers, one represented a woman and another a child. The meanings of these runic fragments were ambiguous and multipurpose.
Seemingly enraged by his actions, the puppets doubled up their efforts. Cha Ming threw out a Flow Talisman and used their difference in speed to paint the last four fragments. The components shot out toward four locations on the runic circle that immediately glowed with a gray light. The ten puppets shattered and reassembled into ten moon stones and runic fragments that added to Cha Ming’s already impressive aura.
After collecting these pieces, Cha Ming sat in the middle of the formation and meditated on the ten new fragments that appeared. Some seemed to combine previous radicals while others were entirely new. His experiences aided him greatly, allowing him to reach a bottleneck in each of them after only two weeks’ time.
How long will it take to catch up? Cha Ming thought as he walked through the light-blue corridor. Its bare blue walls soothed his mind and nourished his soul during the calming journey.
A full day passed before he reached the next chamber. Like before, it only contained ten puppet guards, but these were much stronger than the ones in the previous room. However, the podiums contained twice as many moon stones. Blood and ashes littered the floor, which had not yet healed over, remnants of the intense battle prior to his arrival. Regardless of the outcome, the cultivators who’d attempted had either died, moved on, or left the Bridge of Stars of their own accord.
His gaze lingered on each puppet and the runic patterns on the floor as he formulated a plan to solve its puzzle. After a half hour, his train of thought was rudely derailed by a piercing shriek.
Twenty figures suddenly rushed into the chamber, chasing a woman wearing a green cloak. “Give back what you’ve stolen, you thief!” the lead cultivator shouted. They unloaded a salvo of strikes at the petite figure.
Only half of these cultivators are strengthened with moon stones, Cha Ming thought. Judging by the strength of their auras, most of those who do only have one, while three of them have ten moon stones each.
“You’re all just bullies,” the green-cloaked woman said as she used silver strings to deflect the various techniques and weapon strikes. They twirled around her opponents, who carefully avoided them as they closed in on her.
She must have about thirty moon stones, Cha Ming thought. And her pursuers aren’t good at all. Three of the twenty are devilish cultivators.
He hesitated, however, as his prior experience with meritous cultivators had dampened his expectations. As though reading his mind, the woman sent him a mental message.
If you help me fight them off, I’ll give you ten moon stones!
Cha Ming sighed. While he couldn’t easily be bought over, his instincts told him that the twenty cultivators were in the wrong. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see through this woman with his Eyes of Pure Jade. Her face, her merit, and her sin were all completely hidden from him.
Fine, he sent back. But I’ll only protect you and force them to leave to the next chamber. What you do after that is up to you.
Good enough, the woman said.
Cha Ming hefted his staff and quickly summoned 1,080 Dao sigils. Instead of morphing into his usual combat formations, they hovered around him in the shape of fifty-three different runic fragments. They rapidly reorganized into an incomplete gray formation whose style closely resembled the formations in the room.
“You should just move on to the next room and save us both a great deal of trouble,” Cha Ming said to the cultivators as they approached. The woman landed beside him, just outside the range of the mysterious gray formation circle.
“With just you?” a skinny man in a black robe said. “This viper killed four of our companions and stole our moon stones. I suggest you don’t meddle in our affairs.” Despite his strong words, the man didn’t intrude on his formation.
“That’s not true!” the woman said. “I snuck behind the guardian puppets and took the last batch of moon stones from under their noses. The puppets ended up killing them. It’s not my fault their skills were lacking.”
“I’ve already given my word,” Cha Ming said cheerfully to the skinny man. “Once I’ve promised something, I don’t go back on it easily.”
“Boss, let’s just fight them,” a diminutive man said. “How strong could a single man possibly be? Looking at the chamber, he’s just the leftovers from a group of cultivators who failed to take any moon stones.”
Their leader looked Cha Ming up and down. Then he lifted his sword and pointed toward Cha Ming. “Kill!” he yelled.
The cultivators rapidly surrounded him and unleashed a salvo of techniques. Golden phoenixes danced and lightning clouds raged. Several of the cultivators who focused on hand-to-hand combat rushed toward him with heavy weapons.
“Noisy,” Cha Ming said as he stepped forward. His runic circle instantly doubled in size and encompassed half the cultivators and suppressed them. Then Cha Ming rushed toward a cultivator surrounded by an ochre glow.
“Crushing Chaos,” he said, cleaving downward with his staff and leaving behind a trail of gray light. The devilish cultivator tried to evade but couldn’t even take a step back. His body crumbled into a pile of ash.
To everyone’s surprise, instead of evading the attacks, Cha Ming rapidly recalled the runic array he’d deployed. Ice, fire, wind, and lightning exploded around him, filling the room with smoke.
“It’s too bad you found such an unreliable helper,” the leader said to the green-cloaked lady. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t you give me all your moon stones and all your treasures, and we’ll let you stay behind after we plunder this stage?”
“Did I really choose badly?” the woman said playfully. “I happen to think that I’m a very good judge of character,” she said.
Suddenly, dozens gray strings burst out from beneath her cloak and entangled the leader and his strongest helpers. Cha Ming burst out from the cloud, expanding his array to encompass all of them. The runic fragments suppressed their power and entangled them further.
Meanwhile, Cha Ming used his Clear Sky Brush to paint large characters in midair. He painted one runic fragment after another, which soon formed a complete rune that rushed out to a devilish cultivator, who collapsed into a puddle of water. He then continued sending out runes, and with each rune, one of the opposing cultivators fell.
“Rush to the next level!” their leader suddenly said. Seeing their intent to retreat, Cha Ming halted his assault. The green threads binding the cultivators broke, and the eight remaining individuals rushed through the barrier to the next level.
“It’s very silly to let them go,” the woman said, approaching him. “They might find more allies in the future and fight against us.”
Cha Ming shrugged. “Our aims are different. Besides, how do I know you’re not just manipulating me to fight? For all I know, you’re the one at fault in this whole mess.”
“You haven’t changed a bit,” the woman said, chuckling. “Still too nice for your own good. But I like that.”
Ten jade stones floated out toward Cha Ming, who caught them and immediately integrated them into his aura.
“Have we met before?” Cha Ming asked as he looked her up and down.
“Naturally.” The woman giggled. “But I’m hurt. It seems you’ve forgotten me so quickly.” She pulled back the cowl of her cloak and revealed a familiar head of curly black hair.
He remembered those curls—they were the same as the first time he’d seen them inside Fuxi’s Library, and they belonged to the same mysterious person he’d met there, Yu Wen.
Chapter 12: Company
Ten puppets crumbled under the pressure of the completed formation, transforming into twenty moon stones that rushed to Cha Ming. Combined with the twenty stones the puppets had been guarding previously, there were a total of forty. He passed twenty to Yu Wen without hesitating,
“I didn’t do anything,” Yu Wen protested. “I don’t deserve these.”
Cha Ming shrugged. “If this trend continues, your strength won’t improve while mine will grow. What if I’m entangled and can’t protect you? What if others attack us with overwhelming numbers?” He shook his head. “Keeping all these moon stones for myself isn’t only selfish, it’s stupid.”
“Then I’ll be impolite,” Yu Wen said. “What next?”
“Now I study,” Cha Ming said, looking at ten runic fragments that appeared above the platform. He summoned the Clear Sky Brush and began painting them piece by piece.
Seeing his focused expression, Yu Wen sat in meditation and waited.
A week and a half passed before Cha Ming finally stopped. Despite his promoted cultivation, he was tired and mentally exhausted. He looked to Yu Wen as he sat down to recover. Her beautiful curly black hair hadn’t changed a bit. She sat in silence, peering intently at a large jade tablet that floated at eye level. Only after some time did her eyes flicker toward him, causing him to look away hurriedly.
“Are you hungry?” Yu Wen said. “Why don’t you have a moon cake? Don’t worry—it’s made of vegetables.”
A small yellow pastry imprinted with the character for longevity appeared in her hands. Curious, Cha Ming waved it over and took a bite. A strange, horrible taste filled his mouth, and while he didn’t want to swallow it, he forced himself to do it all the same.
A surge of energy instantly filled him, revitalizing his qi, body, and soul. To his surprise, his soul grew a little clearer, and his soul’s vestment became a shade more resplendent.
“What a powerful pastry,” he said, nodding appreciatively. Not wanting to appear rude, he hesitated before eating the remainder of the cake. Unfortunately, much of the energy was wasted in the process.
“Is it delicious?” she asked, looking at him curiously.
Did she make it herself? Cha Ming thought hurriedly. Should I tell her the truth? No, only a fool would tell a woman her baking is terrible.
“Very,” Cha Ming said with a smile.
“That’s good. My friend will be relieved that someone likes her baking,” she said. “I personally can’t stand it, but you looked exhausted enough to eat anything.”
Cha Ming nearly puked blood at the revelation. Unfortunately, he was committed to the lie. “Different people have different tastes,” he said. “If I had one every day, I’d eat one every day.”
She can’t have more than a few such precious things, he thought. Even a grandmaster alchemist would struggle to make such a powerful pill.
“That’s great!” Yu Wen said. She quickly tossed a bag to Cha Ming, who peered inside. He paled when he saw the large spatial treasure that contained over ten thousand cubic feet of space. It was filled to the brim with what seemed like a million moon cakes. “Eat as many as you like,” she said sweetly.
“I’ll have to limit myself to one a day,” Cha Ming said. “After all, a cultivator’s life is extremely long, and the effects of a single cake are so potent.”
“It’s too bad I don’t have more with me,” Yu Wen said. “Otherwise, I’d give you more. Truth be told, I only took them to avoid hurting my friend’s feelings. But one cake a day sounds just right. She says that even gods and immortals only need a single moon cake a day as nourishment. They’ll also maintain a slim, healthy figure.”
Cha Ming let out a sigh of relief as he dusted himself off. “We should head over to the next runic circle,” he said, looking at the corridor where the cultivators had escaped to.
“Give me a few moments,” Yu Wen said, nodding. Her eyes returned to the jade tablet, where they reflected flickering lights.
Is she studying a technique or scripture? Cha Ming wondered. He pondered peeking behind her before pushing this thought out of his mind. Everyone has their secrets. There’s no sense in prying into hers.
A half hour later, they headed down the silent, empty corridor. Normally, such a silence would be suffocating. This time, however, it was a warm and comfortable interlude that passed by all too quickly.
“I’m so bored,” Xiao Bai said for the twentieth time that day.
Huxian yawned as he lounged. “It could be worse,” he said as he chowed down on a small moon cake. “We could have nothing to eat.”
“You’re eating too many!” Xiao Bai said. “I gave you a hundred-thousand-year supply, but at this rate, it won’t even last ten thousand!”
“Can’t you just make more?” Huxian said as he ate yet another one.
Xiao Bai glowered at him. “You’re wasting my work.”
“I’m appreciating your good work,” Huxian said in a wounded tone. “It’d be different if I was faking it, but I just can’t stop myself from eating them.” On impulse, he ate yet another one.
“Fine,” Xiao Bai said. “I just wish we had dramas to watch or something while we wait for the next batch of cultivators.”
“What are dramas?” Huxian asked.
“They’re moving pictures,” Xiao Bai said. “You watch all the interesting moments in a person’s life and pay attention when they get angry, feel sad, or something bad happens to them. It’s therapeutic. It makes you feel much better about your own life.”
“Huh,” Huxian said, eating another moon cake. “Sounds boring.”
“You’re boring. Your whole family is boring!” Xiao Bai said aggressively.
Huxian lowered his ears in submission. Hours passed, until suddenly his ears shot up. “They’re here!” he said, slinking into the shadows.
A few dozen cultivators advanced from one of the two hallways. Half of them looked like vicious killers while the other half looked like decent human beings.
“What a cute little rabbit,” a young lady said, skipping out up front. “Can I play with her?”
“Must you?” an older gentleman said. “Haven’t you had enough fun?”
“No, I haven’t, you old geezer,” the lady said. “Come here and play with Mommy!” She looked at Xiao Bai with charming eyes. If Xiao Bai and Huxian were newborns, they’d definitely have been fooled by her act. Fortunately, they were demons and could sense the thick killing intent hidden behind her facade. That, and they could see the giant saber hidden behind her back.
Why do we get all the lunatics? Huxian said as his shadow snuck up behind them and devoured the back-most cultivators. They disappeared without making a sound.
It’s either the lunatics or the Goody Two-shoes, Xiao Bai sent back. Take your pick.
A half hour later, they finished splitting the spoils and went along their merry way.
Maybe lunatics are best, Huxian thought as he counted his share of the loot.
“Why are these connecting hallways so long?” Yu Wen said as they walked.
“To be fair, we’re literally walking to the moon,” Cha Ming said. “I’m amazed it’s not taking much longer than this.”
Yu Wen shook her head. “With the Jade Emperor’s might, it would have taken a snap of his fingers to shorten the distance. Yet he chose to make the rules rigid. Even a powerful being from the heavenly courts would have his cultivation suppressed to the peak of core formation if he wandered in.”
“Then I have no idea,” Cha Ming said helplessly. “You clearly know more about this place than I do. The sect you come from must be very powerful.”
“Sect?” Yu Wen said, shaking her head. “I simply stole an entrance token and snuck onto the Bridge of Stars.”
Cha Ming’s curiosity was piqued. “I take it you had a good reason for stealing it?”
“How did you know I wanted to tell you a story?” Yu Wen said. “It’s like you can read minds.” She ignored Cha Ming’s eyeroll and began her story. “Although I don’t belong to a big sect, I have a special and coveted skill.”
Her figure blurred before she appeared several hundred feet away. She returned before he could even blink. “I have a fierce movement technique. So fierce, in fact, that I can easily hop between worlds. I’ve been to more mortal planes and transcendent planes than you can imagine.”
“What for?” Cha Ming asked.
“Sightseeing, mostly,” Yu Wen said. “Doesn’t everyone with enough money want to travel and broaden their horizons? Aren’t the best things in life seeing new things and eating good food? I happened to be traveling in a mortal realm when the Bridge of Stars was drawing near.
“There, ten cultivators were waiting for the bridge to descend. I originally wanted to walk past them, but I heard a scream. To my horror, one of the cultivators happened to be ‘hungry’ and fetched a snack before stepping onto the bridge. The ‘snack’ was a sixteen-year-old girl.”
Yu Wen’s gaze hardened. “This type of devilish cultivator was very common in this world, and even good-aligned cultivators had developed a tolerance for such acts. However, I couldn’t stay back and do nothing. I rushed up and snatched the girl and conveniently killed the cultivator.”
“You managed to do that in the presence of nine other cultivators?” Cha Ming said.
“They were just a bunch of brutes with no skill,” Yu Wen replied. “Unfortunately, such brutes do have some strength. They trapped me with their boorish techniques, but before they could do anything to me, we were swept onto the Bridge of Stars, where I made my escape.”
