Kindling, page 41
part #6 of Painting the Mists Series
Thousands of cultivators quickly flew back to the central shrine. Cha Ming and his angelic companions summoned their weapons as the wood elemental summoned terrain obstacles to choke off the flow of devils and funnel them toward the many defensive groups.
“Will you come up and die, or do I need to come and get you?” Curse Sovereign said to Yu Wen, who trembled before flying up. Cha Ming reached out and grabbed her wrist.
“You might as well come down and get her,” Cha Ming said, looking at the devil sovereign coldly. He summoned his Clear Sky Brush and painted elaborate runic fragments in a formation around him. They then rearranged themselves and contracted into a suit of armor.
Nearby, Huxian and his friends did the same. Their black-and-white battle armors resonated with Huxian’s Greater Friendship Circle as they augmented their abilities through it. Meanwhile, Xiao Bai bared her fangs and prepared to launch herself into the thick crowd of charging devils.
“Foolish mortal,” the devil sovereign said. “Do you think you think a lowly ant like you stands a chance against someone like me? My true body could extinguish your mortal plane with a flick of its finger.”
“But this isn’t my mortal plane,” Cha Ming said, brandishing the Clear Sky Pillar. “And this isn’t your true body. Who will win and who will lose is uncertain.”
As he spoke, tens of thousands of runic lines shot out from the central altar. A small formation surfaced around the few thousand cultivators who had chosen to resist. Their cultivation bases increased substantially as the Jade Moon Blessing intensified. It retracted from the rest of the planet and focused on those few people who were risking their lives.
Myriad jade runes shot into each of the cultivators and imprinted themselves on the jade envelopes surrounding their cores. A hint of transcendent might appeared within their bodies as their cultivation bases were forcibly promoted to half-step rune carving. Encouraged, the group of cultivators let out a yell of defiance as they charged toward the flood of fiendish demons. Huxian, his friends, Xiao Bai, and the angelic cultivators joined them.
“Do you really think you can resist against a sovereign of the seven hells?” the devil sovereign said, floating down to Cha Ming and Yu Wen. He slashed down with a massive double-bladed scythe, and as he did, the world seemed to collapse around it.
In response, Cha Ming swung his Clear Sky Pillar horizontally. A white-and-brown line formed a rocky bridge in the air that met the scythe head on. Black and white canceled and vanished in a puff of gray.
“We won’t know unless we try,” Cha Ming said. His Dao sigils floated out and formed a Myriad Truths Diagram. Yu Wen’s gray strings joined him in attacking the bewildered devil sovereign.
“A soul-bound treasure?” the devil exclaimed as the Clear Sky Pillar crushed through his black scythe and shattered his bones.
“Not just one,” Yu Wen said. She drew a golden sword and swung it down on the devil sovereign’s neck. A golden light propagated throughout its body, lacerating it until it looked like nothing more than a shredded piece of meat. The mangled body crushed down onto the earth, and the two followed after it.
“It can’t be this easy,” Cha Ming said doubtfully as they approached the body. As he spoke, strands of black energy rushed in from thousands of fiendish demons that had just been slain. The corpse stirred as the strands merged with it, healing it in the process.
“Of course it’s not,” the corpse said, grinning as the flesh on its face regenerated. “I’m undying, and this wretched world’s suppression can’t change that. Nor can Empress Han’s sword, for that matter.”
Now that the cloak was torn to shreds, Cha Ming could see the skeletal figure beneath it. Its pale, gaunt face and thin body seemed fragile and sickly. Its white hair seemed devoid of vitality. But anyone who fought with him could easily see that it was a facade; his wiry limbs and scrawny torso were a mass of concentrated energy, a body built for destruction and nothing more. All this power came from a single place—his black eyes, tainted with sin.
Not waiting to see the devil sovereign make a full recovery, Cha Ming slammed down the Clear Sky Staff with Crushing Chaos. The power of half-step transcendence poured into this strike through both his body and qi. It collided with the recovering figure, who flew back twenty feet before crashing down onto the ground again.
“He’s getting stronger,” Cha Ming said, noting that its bones didn’t break this time around. He rushed up to him once more, but this time, he lifted his hands. A black double scythe materialized and blocked the Clear Sky Staff. “Yu Wen, help me!” he shouted.
She appeared behind the devil sovereign just in time to stab him in the back. When she did, he twisted his scrawny neck around and stared her in the eyes.
“How long do you both think you can keep this up?” the devil sovereign said. A few more black threads jumped into him before he grasped her sword and inched it out from his body.
Yu Wen retrieved it quickly before regrouping with Cha Ming. “I don’t think attacking is going to work anymore,” Yu Wen said.
“Then we can only stall for time,” Cha Ming replied, deflecting an incoming black blade. It left a small cut on his cheek, which burned with an unreasonable amount of pain. Black lines poured out from the small incision and onto his skin. They stuck together in odd shapes, forming something Cha Ming was all too familiar with—curse runes.
The burnt corpse of a fiendish wolf fell to the ground before Han Jiling. Its putrid flesh reeked of evil as black filaments left it and jumped into a fresh body nearby, reinforcing the devilish might within it.
Are we even causing any damage to him? he thought as he summoned a bolt of diving lightning and burnt another dozen fiends to a crisp.
Bravery took many forms. In Han Jiling’s mind, standing up against more powerful enemies, no matter the consequences, was the ultimate expression of this virtue.
Do what is right, no matter what happens, he repeated to himself over and over. A larger fiendish wolf commander attacked him; he met it head on without hesitation. Beside him, a companion joined in to fight it off together. The man had a pair of freshly sprouted jade wings that had appeared only a few minutes ago. Danger might bring out the worst in men, but it also brought out the best.
Just what is that boy doing? Han Jiling thought as he saw Cha Ming and Yu Wen fighting out of the corner of his eyes. Through his Eyes of Pure Jade, courtesy of Cha Ming, he could see a thick green aura around the boy. It wanted nothing more than to burst out from its confinement, and all it needed was a final push.
You don’t have much time left, he thought as he turned to fight off another wave of fiends. This time, it was a wave of fierce porcupines wearing rows of sharp metal spikes. It’s sink or swim, and you need to find something to hold on to before the current sweeps you down.
As he fought, lightning struck once more. It crashed down on the horde of porcupines. Despite this, they would soon overwhelm him.
Huxian and his three friends jumped into an army of fiendish bulls. As they did, the four friends simultaneously extended their domains, crushing thousands of fiends into mincemeat. Tiny drops of black blood shot out from these creatures and headed toward the center, where Cha Ming and Yu Wen were busy fighting the devil sovereign.
“You think I’ll let you do as you please?” Huxian barked.
Time stood still for a moment, freezing the black drops before they had a chance to regroup. He swiftly sent out thousands of clones to devour the drops before they could flee. Time resumed soon after. Having witnessed the dreadful slaughter, the fiendish demons scattered to join the other attacking groups. The moment they saw Huxian approaching, they self-detonated to preserve their precious devil seeds.
Xiao Bai, they’re catching on, Huxian sent.
Just do what you can, Xiao Bai sent back. I felt them weakening a moment ago. Someone must be interfering with the devil sovereign’s main body. If we hold out for a little longer, we’ll make it.
Copy that, Huxian said, rushing over to the next group of fiends. He happened to be an expert in buying time. Or eating it. Or whatever was needed to make sure time stayed on their side and not on someone else’s.
Cha Ming resisted a blow from the devil sovereign with Crushing Chaos. It caused him to fly back tens of feet while simultaneously shattering the bones in his arms. As they regrew, he wondered whether his opponent was growing stronger or the curse seals were making him weaker. As he did, seeds of doubt rose in his mind.
Can I resist the next strike? he thought. Am I skilled enough? Is it even worth trying? He rapidly shut away these thoughts, only to see a massive black blade heading straight toward his head.
“Snap out of it, dummy!” Yu Wen shouted as she struck out against the scythe with her golden sword and a gray mist. She panted as devil avatar flew back. “I can only do that a few more times,” she said. “The rest is up to you.”
Cha Ming looked around at the nearby battlefield. The cultivators were quickly being overwhelmed, but as they fell, the rest were invigorated. Angelic endowments caused majestic phenomena to appear all around them.
Many of those cultivators used to be selfish, he thought. But as we and the others fought, their guilt got the better of them. They joined us despite knowing it was a suicide mission. As he thought this, a new wave of doubt came his way. Can I be strong like them? Can I control my trembling body well enough to fight again? Will I be quick enough?
He shook his head, trying to clear it. It was the curse seals again, working their magic on him. Doubt poured into him through every rune, one for every cut. His body was covered in hundreds of them.
As Cha Ming focused, he began noticing some similarities between these doubts and the ones in Crystals Falls. He thought of his weakened state and the return of his strength.
I am strong enough, he decided. I’m hard enough to take whatever tries to break me. Whatever cracks they make, I can mend them over. I’m not a piece of porcelain. I’m strong, unbreakable. As he thought this, the effect of the curse seals on his mind lessened. At the same time, the devil sovereign began picking himself up.
He’s stronger but not more skilled, Cha Ming decided. This is an avatar, not his main body. Whatever he tries, he can’t pay full attention. But I’m different—this is my main body. I can focus one hundred percent without getting distracted.
The curse seals eased once more as the devil sovereign grasped his scythe.
No matter what happens, it’s all worth it, Cha Ming thought. Yu Wen once told me that doubt is the source of all sin. But in my opinion, the worst sin is apathy. The worst sin is not trying your best because you think you can’t make a difference. It’s refusing to fight against a current because you think it can’t be changed.
This thought caused the last of the curse seals to weaken. Something clicked in Cha Ming’s mind, and at that moment, three runes appeared on his back. The bountiful amount of merit he’d accumulated rushed out from them and formed a transparent set of magnificent wings. He knew they were incomplete, as a large amount of merit had yet to rush into them, but despite this, he felt his body strengthen. His affinity with the elements deepened, and earth, water, and metal seemed far less distant than before. Creation and destruction also became much easier to control. It was like the world around him was aiding him in understanding these elements.
The moment his phantom wings opened, he spotted the devil sovereign slashing down. Cha Ming speedily deflected the scythe using Splitting the Heavens. A white line appeared in the scythe’s path and entangled it. Cha Ming rushed forward with Origin Strike. A gray point appeared on the devil sovereign’s chest and began draining energy away from him. The Clear Sky Staff let out a cry of excitement as it feasted on his vital energy.
A panicked look appeared on the devil’s face. “How is this possible?” he said, grasping the Clear Sky Staff with both hands.
Not wanting to be outdone, Cha Ming tightened his grip and summoned an Earthen Suppression Formation. A large transparent mountain appeared above them and crushed down on the devil sovereign, making it difficult for him to muster his energy.
Then, seeing that resisting was futile, the sovereign cackled madly. “This is the first time that I, the Curse Sovereign, has ever suffered such a loss. It’s a pity you’ll have to die so soon.”
“What do you mean?” Cha Ming said.
The Curse Sovereign didn’t answer. Instead, his face broke into a wide grin, and from his mouth spewed countless writhing black runes.
“Sir Wood Elemental, how many have you got?” Huxian said.
“Perhaps a hundred thousand, give or take?” the wood elemental replied. “How about you?”
“Eighty thousand here,” Huxian said. He and his companions ducked and weaved as they used their five auras to reap fiendish demons like gods of death. Every step they took felled dozens more, and every bite they took gathered hundreds.
“Sixty thousand here,” Xiao Bai said. “But something feels strange. We need to hurry.”
“Let’s give it one last push,” the wood elemental said. “Once he realizes his first plan won’t work, he’ll do something desperate. We need to take out as many seeds as possible before then.”
At that moment, a powerful fluctuation erupted around them. Massive explosions appeared and forced the elemental and the four beasts down to the ground.
“It’s too late,” Xiao Bai moaned despondently. “He’s already beginning.”
“It’s not over till it’s over,” Huxian said defiantly.
Time froze once more, and he didn’t evade fiendish attacks like he usually did. His size expanded twentyfold as he reached 333 feet in length. Thousands of explosions peppered his body as he did, causing him severe injuries.
“You think you can escape from me?” he yelled. A massive suction surrounded him as his three friends fed him energy. A hundred thousand black specks of blood were sucked into the swirling vortex and converted into energy. Xiao Bai attacked one last time, felling a few hundred more.
Meanwhile, the wood elemental struck out with a massive vine that captured another fifty thousand. The ones they missed rushed toward the center and accumulated into a massive black orb. Huxian’s eyes narrowed when he saw this.
He moaned. “Are we seriously fighting against the Curse Sovereign?”
Before he had a chance bring up relevant ancestral memories, a thick gray mist spilled out around them. He saw space distort and time begin to slow, and soon, he saw nothing but gray.
Cha Ming’s heroic figure stood frozen in time. As did Xiao Bai’s, Huxian’s, and the angelic cultivators who were trying to resist this final destructive attack. Only the devil sovereign maintained some semblance of consciousness. The orb above them was expanding slowly but surely, threatening to destroy every living and unliving thing in the nearest hundred miles.
“I know you can escape,” the Curse Sovereign said. “But will you? Will you really let the man you love, his friends, and these other humans die to escape me for a few more millennia?”
Dozens of images appeared above him as he spoke. Yu Wen recognized them—they were pictures of the many times he’d discovered her traces, and the many near misses she’d never known about. Then she saw pictures of Jade Moon Planet and the many precious moments she’d had with Cha Ming.
Yu Wen laughed self-deprecatingly. “Now I know why my father told me there were no good men in this world,” she said. “It wasn’t that they didn’t exist, but that I wouldn’t live long enough to enjoy their company. He just wanted to protect me.”
“You’re right,” the Curse Sovereign said. “It’s been this way since the Painter created the world, and it will continue to be this way until I break this world and remake it. But in the meantime, I’m afraid you need to die.”
Yu Wen looked toward Cha Ming and toward the others. She looked around at the remnants of Jade Moon Garden, the refuge her father had gifted her. The gray mist shuddered as it began to weaken. “Alas, it looks like we’re out of time,” she said.
“Choose quickly,” the devil said, grinning.
Chapter 40: Parting
A flash of gray appeared before Cha Ming’s eyes then immediately disappeared. When it did, all he could see was a black ball filled with malevolent energy. The devil sovereign had given up on trying to extract the Clear Sky Staff from his chest. He held it with one hand while madly diverting all available energy to the growing orb. Hundreds of thousands of black strings rushed toward the globe that devoured them, converting them to pure curse energy. As soon as he laid eyes on the destructive sphere, Cha Ming knew that there was nothing he could do to stop it.
I tried my best, he thought, closing his eyes and accepting his fate.
Then the black sphere exploded. He waited for the inevitable impact to destroy him. One breath, two breaths. After three breaths, he opened his eyes to the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.
Before him stood an angel with nine pairs of fluttering gray wings. Each wing was three times the length of any others he’d seen before, and they floated around her like a protective shield. He’d seen her before, on the window in the secret room, where the elemental had given him the Wood Source Marrow and the Wood Essence Core. He knew her personally as Yu Wen, and that very same woman, the woman he’d grown to love during his time on Jade Moon Planet, was currently holding the black orb of curse energy in her bare hands.
Strands of evil curse runes flooded into her body from the sphere as the devil cackled madly. His body was nothing more than an empty shell. Half of it had crumbled to dust, while the other half would follow in a few breath’s time. Cha Ming tried to force his way toward Yu Wen but was repelled by her. Frustrated, he grasped the Curse Sovereign’s corpse.
“Why?” Cha Ming demanded, pulling it closer while simultaneously clenching its fragile neck. “Why have you chased her for so long and never let her rest?” His eyes were bloodshot and furious, but as much as he wished to, there was nothing he could do to this vanishing clone.
