Kindling, page 36
part #6 of Painting the Mists Series
“I’d hardly call this doing your best,” Hushao said. “You’ve given up a substantial amount of your power instead of boosting it. It’s a foolish decision, one that will hurt your odds of success.”
As he spoke, Huxian passed the sixty-sixth circle. He grinned at Hushao, who shrugged. Excited, he edged his way toward a black-and-white ethereal boundary that was very different from the previous sixty-six circles. He cautiously walked through it, and to his surprise, the projection above turned to a familiar scene. It was from an hour ago, when Gua had received a vicious wound. Puzzled, he took another step. This time, the projection changed to a scene of Silverwing falling from the skies. Gua was dying, and Xiao Bai was combusting her life essence in a futile attempt to save him.
“You’d better hurry up. You only have an incense time remaining,” Hushao said.
Frightened, Huxian took another step. The projection blurred, and he’d returned to the original scene where he’d just given back energy. His energy didn’t change, but their situations had improved substantially.
“It’s a time maze,” Huxian whispered.
“A space-time maze, to be exact,” Hushao said. “At any moment, you could lose time, and the trial will end. Conversely, you could gain time. It’s all up to how skillfully you navigate these space and time laws. Should you err too far, your friends will die. Am I not merciful for telling you this in advance?”
Merciful, my tails, Huxian thought bitterly. He’s forcing me to walk on a razor’s edge. He stopped moving and began pondering the mysteries of the space-time maze. Or rather, he began to feel them. Demons were not very gifted at understanding natural mysteries, but they possessed a sixth sense toward them. Inspiration came easy, but deduction came with great difficulty. Fortunately, inspiration was currently what he needed the most.
Time trickled by as he felt the ripples and pathways pervading the nearby space. If I want to preserve time, I need to find the smallest ripples, Huxian thought.
His body and soul scoured his surroundings until finally, he detected a relatively calm area in the otherwise turbulent sea of light and darkness. He projected a clone in this direction and merged back with it. Then he looked up at the projection and saw that the effect on the outer world was rather miniscule. He’d also passed the sixty-seventh circle.
A good start, he thought as he continued the process. This time, the space-time turbulence was much greater. It took him longer to find a relatively calm area. By the time he’d spent an incense time discovering the solution, hours had passed in the outside world.
“So I’ve been fiddling around with that formation of yours,” Hushao suddenly said.
Huxian looked up in surprise to his ancestor, who summoned a bunch of gray lines in the air. To his surprise, it was made of the various runic fragments they’d seen on the Bridge of Stars. They merged together and formed an outline around nine points, which suddenly glowed with black and white light. The yin and yang and the eight trigrams of the bagua appeared within the intricate framework.
“Is that my Friendship Circle?” Huxian said.
“No, it is definitely not your so-called Friendship Circle,” Bagua Hushao said. “This is the new and improved Round Table Formation,” he said proudly. “It’s an upgraded version of your Friendship Circle, whose terribly wimpy name made me want to commit suicide out of shame. Therefore, I’ve renamed it the Round Table Formation. The name comes from a king who drew a mystical sword and had a bunch of knights fighting alongside him. Plus, in the story, there was the greatest wizard of all times, Mer—”
“I think I’ll call it the Greater Friendship Circle,” Huxian said, taking command of the new formation. He ate the central node, which rapidly superimposed with his old one.
“You didn’t let me finish my story,” Hushao started.
“No need, I’m sure that wizard was great,” Huxian said.
“But I haven’t told you why,” Hushao started again. “The whole story revolved around him. He basically saved all of existence from the evil goddess. He aged backward in time, for heaven’s sake!”
“As I said, I’m sure he was great,” Huxian said, using his claw to tear a hole in the formation. He rushed forward to the next space-time circle and used his powers of light and shadow to block out his ancestor’s annoying voice.
Chapter 35: Fighting Poison with Poison
A fishy substance oozed out from Cha Ming’s pores as he knelt on the ground, panting. “Another failure,” he whispered. Numbness spread throughout his body more rapidly than before, threatening to throw him into a coma if he didn’t act quickly. “But I completed ten tests before needing to intervene,” he said before throwing up several lesser herbs and a few mid-grade herbs. His energy stores replenished slowly until finally, he could stand again.
“Let’s try solution 1,057 next,” he said. A few dozen herbs swirled around him. Their various juices combined and separated. Several powders were formed, some of which were left that way and others which mingled together with liquid as a paste. His body was soon covered in various herbal concoctions.
A few minutes passed as they worked their magic and enfeebled the poison. Then he took out another batch of herbs and carried on a different experiment. This time, he strengthened his body’s vital functions to fight off the remnants of the poison.
Another failure, he thought, looking at the suppressed but rapidly growing substance. The grade of this solution was around top-grade. Does that mean that only a perfect solution will cure this poison? Is that the only way to completely purge it from my body? He thought back to the way the poison manifested itself. After every cure, it drew on the five-element energy in his body to grow in potency.
But a perfect solution is risky, Cha Ming thought. A perfect solution requires cyclical elimination. But given the nature of this poison, every destruction cycle could almost kill me. If I didn’t have the Seventy-Two Earthly Transformations Technique’s regenerative abilities, I would have died a thousand times over by now.
He took another moment to analyze the data he’d collected before shaking his head. There’s no other way. I need to find a perfect solution, but I’ll only get to try a few times. I only have a hundred or so mid-grade herbs remaining.
His soul returned to Shennong’s Simulacrum. Using the Clear Sky World’s abilities, he performed hundreds of experiments over a few hours. By that time, he’d used a full third of his remaining mid-grade herbs to stave off the growing paralysis.
I don’t have time to perform any more simulations, he thought. I have three solutions, and whether I pass or fail depends on them.
“Good, I gained time on this one,” Huxian said as he stepped through the eighty-fifth circle. Only half of his original strength remained after he redirected another portion to Silverwing, Lei Jiang, and Gua. While they still bore many wounds from their vicious battle, they were surviving. In Huxian’s current state, that was enough.
He took a step forward. This time, Lei Jiang was about to be devoured by a fiendish lion. He shrieked as he was crushed by the lion’s maw.
“Lei Jiang!” Silverwing yelled before diving in. He was intercepted by a murder of crows that pecked deep gouges in his wings and caused him to plummet to the mountain. The lion, seeing that a second prey had arrived, went in for the kill. Silverwing shrieked and decapitated it with a blade of wind. Unfortunately, ten more lions took its place and jumped on the poor bird. He didn’t survive.
Huxian howled mournfully and stepped forward. This time, Lei Jiang and Silverwing were fine. Thank goodness, he thought, letting out a sigh of relief. Wait a minute, I’ve seen many different futures with them dying, but they’re still here with me. What does that mean?
“There are many different branches in space-time, many different possibilities,” Hushao said lazily, as though reading his mind. “One of these will come to pass, while the others won’t. This has to do with free will. But forget about that for now. It’s beyond you.”
Huxian pondered the implications for a moment before grinning. “Great, so that means that those other futures don’t exist,” he said joyfully. He stepped forward and was greeted by another scene. In this one, Gua was about to be devoured by a fiendish badger while Silverwing was bravely defending against a swarm of fiendish bees. Huxian wasted no time in reversing the energy flow. His vitality soared to its maximum, but in the meantime, Silverwing, Gua, and Lei Jiang were drained to the brink of death.
“Why?” they called out simultaneously.
Huxian was overwhelmed by their grief, but he pushed this out of his mind and stepped forward. Time turned back, and though his friends were holding on, it was barely sufficient. He channeled ten percent of his energy, leaving him only with ninety percent. Their situation eased substantially. Then he used his newfound strength to forcefully resist the space-time turbulence and step forward with barely any change in time for the outside world. His energy greatly diminished as a result, but he didn’t care. He stepped forward once more and arrived at another unfavorable time branch. He sapped these friends dry before returning and repeating the process. Soon, he’d crossed ninety rings, and he and his friends were better than ever.
“There are limits to what you’re doing, you know,” Hushao said from the side. “I mean, congratulations on discovering this great trick, but it can only help you so much.”
“What do you mean?” Huxian said, using the same process to cross yet another space-time circle.
“I mean you should slow down and consider what’s happening,” his ancestor said.
“Can’t stop, eating,” Huxian said. He rushed through several more circles before finally stopping at the ninety-seventh. This time, he frowned. “Why is this one so similar to the one before?”
“If you would have stopped when I told you, you would know the answer,” Hushao said coldly. “What you’ve done is what my master calls space-time reduction.”
“Which is…?” Huxian said.
“You’ve forcefully plundered energy from several futures and delivered them into the present time,” Hushao explained. “As a result, those futures have become unstable and collapsed. You are now left with fewer and fewer options.”
“Use standard demon-speak please,” Huxian said, confused.
Hushao smacked his forehead with his large paw. “You ate too many futures, so they’re gone. Let’s say you had thirty futures. Well, you ate twenty-seven of them, leaving you with only three. You weren’t careful with how you picked—you just chose what looked nice, but now you’re left with only three futures with very few differences.”
“You mean…” Huxian said, paling.
“What, did you think you had unlimited futures to drain?” Hushao scoffed. “Wouldn’t that make us the most powerful beings in existence?”
Huxian’s head hurt as he processed the implications. He stepped forward and saw a vision of Lei Jiang being devoured by an eagle. Silverwing divebombed the opponent in grief, and Gua tried to save him but died while trying. Finally, Xiao Bai left the mountain in tears. The mountain elemental then collapsed under the pressure.
“Quick, go back before you run out of time!” his ancestor shouted.
Huxian stepped forward and jolted back. The projection played in reverse until it arrived at a precursor—a wave of demons far stronger than they expected.
“These are the consequences of your actions,” Hushao said. “You’re very gifted, I’ll give you that. If you give them up, you’ll undoubtedly pass my test. That would truly be the best choice for my lineage. But if you want to keep them, you need to give up on this test. There are only two choices before you, two forks in the road.”
Huxian clenched his jaw and dropped his head dejectedly. “All right, I give up on the inheritance trial,” he said without any hesitation. “Send me back.”
“What?” Hushao barked. “And give up the opportunity of a lifetime? It won’t come back you know.”
“Who needs an inheritance?” Huxian said, looking up at his ancestor defiantly. “This isn’t my fault. It’s your fault. For setting such a ridiculously difficult test. In fact, I think you did it on purpose. You’re a cruel-hearted fox who’s trying to get me to choose between my friends and my lineage.”
His ancestor said nothing to refute him.
Infuriated, Huxian continued his tirade. “If that’s the case, I don’t need you. I don’t need this family, this power, or your stupid inheritance. My brother and I will make our own path, one that doesn’t require us to make such heartless choices.
“You treat your generals like garbage. To you, they were nothing more than capable assistants who could be disposed of at any moment. They’re your glorified cannon fodder that you could snack on at any given moment.” His eyes turned red. “But to me, they’re precious friends. I wouldn’t give them up for all the power and tasty treats in the world. You might think it’s a pity that I’m turning this all down, but I don’t think so. Your system is terrible, and you can shove it where the light doesn’t shine for all I care.”
“As you wish,” Bagua Hushao said.
A darkness suddenly surged out of the large fox’s phantom and encompassed the ninety-nine circles. They slowly but surely disappeared, starting with the outer circles. Huxian panicked as he saw them disappear one after another, leaving behind only himself and the ancestral altar.
Seeing this, he sighed and charged out toward the fissure in the mountain where his friends were waiting.
“Lei Jiang, block the fiendish lions,” Silverwing directed from above. As he did so, he sent out gusts of wind to disperse their formation and blow a quarter of them off the mountain. The elementals threw rocks at the falling creatures, completely decimating them as they struggled to slow their descent.
“I’m on it,” Lei Jiang yelled. Dark clouds congregated above them, culminating in a fierce burst of lightning. It didn’t strike the lions, but rather, Lei Jiang. The small mouse burst into thousands of smaller lightning-wreathed mice that wandered erratically throughout the crowd of frightened felines. Every time they contacted the fierce creatures, they burst apart. Their energy returned to Lei Jiang’s main clone, who then reformed into his original body.
“You think you can escape me with these petty tricks?” a voice said. A black fiendish lion much stronger than the ones he’d just defeated appeared behind him. Its teeth bit down on the small mouse, who caught the fangs in midair. He used his whole strength to fight against the lion’s maw as it threatened to clamp down on him.
“Silverwing, help!” Lei Jiang yelled.
“Coming!” Silverwing said. He dove down toward the mouse, but in the process, he spotted a crowd of ominous crows heading his way. The murder didn’t express the usual caution against him. Instead, they let off surefire signs of self-detonation. The giant falcon increased his speed, using a convenient burst of energy from Huxian and bypassing the divebombing murder. He then generated extra wind currents that forced them to detonate without making contact.
“I can’t hold out much longer,” Gua said suddenly. An eagle had landed beside his hiding place and started pecking at the swamp-colored shield around him. “I can’t die now,” he said, moaning. “I haven’t yet sired enough children. What will the world do if I die without passing on this beautiful face?”
The eagle, disgusted by his sudden outburst, sent yet another drilling peck toward him. His shield shattered, and the beak continued toward his heart.
Suddenly the void around Gua distorted as a black-and-white phantom appeared before him. It gobbled down the eagle and replenished Gua’s energy. Then it sprung over to Lei Jiang, who was about to be eaten by the lion. The small rodent’s arms trembled before finally giving out. Blood splashed as the lion’s mouth closed down on him.
“Lei Jiang!” Silverwing yelled, letting out a furious shriek.
At this moment, however, something strange happened. As the black-and-white phantom rushed toward the lion, the lion’s mouth opened. Yet instead of seeing Lei Jiang’s mangled corpse, the blood flowed backward and into the small mouse’s body. His fur stitched back together as the lion’s teeth left him, and he returned to his initial struggling figure. The phantom transformed into a massive black-and-white fox that grasped the fiendish lion’s head with two claws. Their sharp points lodged themselves into the lion’s jaw joints, ensuring that it could never bite anything ever again.
Relieved, Lei Jiang jumped out. Huxian then crushed the hated lion’s head, splashing blood all over the mountain. After letting this lion kill Lei Jiang so many times, it’s about time I get revenge, Huxian thought.
“Silverwing, Lei Jiang, Gua, retreat up the mountain and converge on me!” Huxian yelled. “Xiao Bai, keep doing what you’re doing!”
“Like I need you to tell me,” Xiao Bai said, devouring a nearby crowd of fiendish demons. Her power was overwhelming, and whenever they managed to muster their forces to counter her, she used her extreme speed to escape and assault another disorganized group.
As they ran up the mountain, Silverwing and Gua shrank and joined Lei Jiang beside Huxian. Three trigrams superimposed on them as an intricate gray formation overlapped with them.
“Greater Friendship Circle, integrate!” Huxian yelled.
Silverwing groaned. “Can’t we think of a better name? How about we just call it the Silver Demon Battle Formation?”
“Ooo, how about the Thunder Judgment Circle?” Lei Jiang chimed in.
“Why don’t we call it the Circle of Love?” Gua said.
Everyone glared at him.
“Because any circle with me is romantic by nature?” Gua suggested. Three claw marks appeared on his face as the formation locked on to each of them.
