Cognosticon
patreon
Chapters 494-497
🕑 Added 2025-05-02 17:00:03 +0000 UTC(Cognosticon here. This is the final weekly batch, but frankly I'm in rough shape; this arc is done, but the next is very WIP. More information next week as I take stock.)
Chapter 494: True Monstrous Presence
That comfortable meal around the campfire was their last relaxed moment. As Omilaena preserved and stored the remaining meat, the warm atmosphere seemed to be packed away as well, as they all faced a battle that was likely inevitable. Kai had already told his wives, but now informed the others about how Xir Xan Khan knew he was alive and it was only a matter of time before they needed to fight.
Everyone set about their own training, moving in different directions. Kai trusted them to handle themselves and went with Zae Zin Nim when she said she wanted to train under one of the waterfalls, and Omilaena trailed along with them.
As far as he could tell, the water was relatively normal, it just slammed down from the cliff above with crushing pressure. A cultivator would sit on a rock underneath it and endure the water flooding over them, which would both train the body and enhance focus. He'd tried himself and it seemed interesting, but not his top priority. When Zae Zin Nim sat under the waterfall, her body was entirely lost in the froth.
Instead he sat nearby and focused on his new essences. He'd trained most up to a reasonable level and now he worked on the qilin essence, trying to refine it into exactly what he needed. They were all clearly effective abilities, and they would merge into one another easily, he just wanted them all to be ready.
<
Banchlain's Aura - XIII (nu)
Redtree Betrayers - VI (zeta)
Qilin's Presence - V (epsilon)
Starvation Wraith - IV (delta)
>
An almost physical wall of fear from Banchlain's Aura... rage and revenge from Redtree Betrayers... awe and majesty from Qilin's Presence... and the terrifying supernatural existence of the Starvation Wraith. He could easily merge them into a normal aura, but he thought he could do a step better than that. All of that power could be manifested in his body, making him a physical embodiment of that spiritual might without losing any of the effect.
Before he could get the balance exactly right, Zae Zin Nim emerged from the waterfall. The water had plastered her robes to her body, but Kai was concerned about the scowl on her face. Clearly things hadn't gone as well as she'd liked.
"I don't think I can make any major breakthroughs here," she said. "There are better waterfalls further west, larger or sacred, and I think I would require one of the most prestigious to advance."
"Do you want to go to one?" Kai asked.
"No, I think that would be too much of a risk. The Heavenly Waterfall sect controls the best waterfalls, and they may have ties to the Coiling Island sect." Zae Zin Nim's scowl softened as she looked at them. "Both of you have helped me achieve great breakthroughs... I can support you now. I want to help."
Omilaena had already looked up from her work and now smirked. "You're helping me with that look. When those robes get wet, they really don't hide anything, do they?"
For the first time Zae Zin Nim realized that her dark robes clung to her body like a second skin, revealing almost everything. She squirmed, but she didn't try to hide herself. "None of the others are here," she said quietly, "so it's okay."
Even when they made love, it carried an intensity and urgency that it hadn't before. For all Zae Zin Nim's excuses about dual cultivation and Omilaena's innuendos, the physical intimacy really did continue to strengthen them, so it helped prepare for the battle. Physique would be one of their greatest advantages when they went up against the patriarchs.
But they couldn't rely on Physique alone, so when they returned to the main camp, Kai also returned to getting his presence technique right. It took a little more training, a little more meditation... eventually he could visualize all four essences as statues within him and everything felt right.
When he first fed Banchlain's Aura to the Starvation Wraith, it immediately began consuming it, more voracious than any monstrous power he'd ever felt. Before the Banchlain could be burned away as power, Kai desperately threw in Redtree Betrayers and Qilin's Presence as well. The combined meal of monstrous, bestial, and human power managed to blunt the hunger temporarily, and the fundamental essence began to transform into something new.
Kai opened his eyes and felt the world ripple around him.
<
Famished World - I (alpha)
>
The new technique was called Famished World and it seemed to seize control of the space around him. It was another essence that had been reborn at the alpha stage, suggesting it had great potential for growth in the future. Kai was so pleased with himself that he didn't hear the shouts and screams at first.
"What the fuck is that?" Cragrila was staring at him from a distance, crystals lighting up defensively all over her body.
On the other side of the camp, Inafay stared in shock and Ivonailin had instinctively put himself in front of her.
Nirka had fallen down and was scrabbling backward, eyes wide with terror.
Grandpa Wan Fei coughed up a mouthful of blood and retreated out of his range.
Before Kai could draw the ability back, Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena moved closer to him. The pressure in the air kept them back, but they didn't seem affected by the waves of fear that flooded from him. In fact, Omilaena just looked excited and Zae Zin Nim seemed proud of him.
As Kai embraced them both, the aura withdrew into his body. It was so powerful that it wanted to explode outward, but in theory he thought he could restrain it to himself and keep the spiritual benefits to his body, though that would require more training. For now, he was too satisfied to test any further and didn't want to terrify his allies.
"How are they immune?" Inafay asked, edging closer. "That felt... that was bad, Kai. Worse than the Starvation Wraith. I know you, hell I fought you to satisfy myself that you weren't a monster, and I still couldn't see you as human for a bit there."
"Clearly it's immunity via fucking," Omilaena answered, reaching down to grab his ass.
"I don't think so." Zae Zin Nim frowned like she disapproved, but didn't pull away. "While it's possible that it relates to exposure to this sort of power, it may also have to do with Kai. A true presence technique can target enemies and not allies, and Kai would instinctively avoid targeting us."
Cragrila grimaced. "Then I hope you're not trying to tell me something." She stalked away, throwing herself into her own training furiously.
The others recovered in time and Kai avoided using it on them, since it seemed to have been traumatic for some. He saw Grandpa Wan Fei looking at him in a new way and he wondered if this had made a difference: the patriarch had seen something that he believed could stand against the Masterful Crown's greatest presence techniques. Regardless of whether he had changed, he was still a cultivator, and cultivators respected power first and foremost.
And now Kai had power. Not just Physique, but the transcendent presence that cultivators craved.
Over the next days he trained at a distance and focused on control. Such an overwhelming technique was useless if it created liabilities, and more precision was always good. Yet no matter how much he trained, even when he made real progress, he couldn't manage to bring Famished World up past beta rank.
To increase it further, he'd need to test it against a real opponent... and that time was likely coming soon.
.
..
.
After she left the others in bed, Omilaena returned to her work room and stalked around it fruitlessly. For all that she was truly happy for her partners, she couldn't be satisfied with this. It wasn't even that she feared they would abandon her, just an enduring competitive spirit that hated falling behind.
With this advancement, Kai had brought his monstrous soul to its peak, which made him an equal to the greatest patriarchs on the continent. As Zae Zin Nim's Blackblood Physique continued to grow, she was entering the same range, and at its full potential she would surpass them. Omilaena would put herself up against most Sky Souls, but she was still far below the peak.
And what infuriated her was that she didn't see any way forward. Though she'd pretended to have tons of time and helped the others, in her spare moments she tried everything and it just wasn't enough. Every part of her soul worked together smoothly, just as she'd intended, but the result was only incremental progress, as always.
For a time she'd focused fully on cultivation, but she eventually abandoned that path: her tattoo was currently at the equivalent of the Body Refinement stage and the gap to Nascent Foundation was huge, not something that she could cross in the time remaining to them. The Path of Venomsteel had grown effectively up to Step 10 and then stalled. She thought she was missing something... the Path made it easier to poison needles, and strengthened her Lethal Artisan constructions, but she wasn't really employing its full potential, just using it as an enhancement.
What that would mean, however, escaped her.
She wasn't willing to harm her long term development with a premature Physique advancement, which didn't leave much left. Her Azure Core strengthened her spiritually, and it had been useful against all these presence techniques, but could she actually bring it up a significant amount?
That was a likely possibility she wished that she had thought of earlier. If she had been pushing her Azure Core from the beginning she wouldn't have needed to use injections against all the presence-using cultivators. Stupid, stupid. Even though she could keep all the details in her head at once, she clearly wasn't capable of truly reflecting on all of them.
If none of those could work in the remaining time, what did that leave? Omilaena slumped down against the stone slab and dropped her head into her hands, as motionless as the corpse.
Chapter 495: Deeper into the Heart of Poison
After his breakthrough with Famished World, Kai felt like he was mostly ready for the battle. He continued training his Physique, just to get his body and mind into peak condition, but spent more time scouting and checking on the others. There hadn't been any retaliation or signs of searching yet, and in fact there were still cultivators hunting the dead qilin, but it was only a matter of time.
While he had been focused on the presence techniques of their strongest opponents, Omilaena had been thinking about something that had evaded him: wind techniques. Zae Clen Ban's defensive sphere of wind was a problem at any level, and apparently the Brightwind sect had even more wind techniques that could prove troublesome.
Now, however, Kai sat and watched as Omilaena triumphantly presented a potion she'd refined from Juray's. They started with having Cragrila drink it, just as a neutral test subject... and as soon as she did, a sphere of wind burst around her. Zae Zin Nim tried to use conventional Brightwind techniques and they slid off the side, like it was a mana shield.
"This is incredible..." Cragrila stared down at her hands. "Such a powerful shield, and I'm stronger as well..."
"Bah, this is just the prototype," Omilaena told her. "Now that I have the theory down, I can make better versions from our windy boy and girl over there."
"We're happy to help," Inafay said. "But will those work on us? I can't imagine you can... put our power back into ourselves..."
"Actually, you can! Like concentrating your power from a period of rest and tapping it during battle. Give me a few hours and I can create potions for you two, no trouble."
"What are the limits?" Zae Zin Nim asked. "This is useful, yes, especially against formations of Earth Souls, but against more powerful Brightwind cultivators..."
"Oh, I can do even better than that for you." Omilaena patted her on the cheek. "Your body can take a lot more, so I can go to extreme lengths. I'm going to refine this into an injection and you should get a shield that could even stand up to your father's wind."
Cragrila was still staring, now at her. "I knew you were dangerous back in Krysal, but I never imagined you could be so formidable..."
"Bah, you shouldn't expect anything less from a genius." Omilaena preened exaggeratedly, then waved them off. "Alright, I need to work. You train with this and I'll get upgrades later."
As she left, sauntering unnecessarily, Kai realized that something was wrong. Omilaena had an ego, yes, and she liked attention, but she was leaning into it in an unnatural way. It wasn't something he had realized at first, even after being married, and even now he wasn't quite sure... he rose and followed her into the cave.
"What?" she asked. "Do you need something too? I think your defenses are already strong enough, big guy."
"Is everything alright?" Kai stepped up behind her, not touching her yet. Omilaena blew out a puff of air to make her locks of hair fly.
"Bah, I'm fine. Just overworked."
He reached out and grasped her hips, pulling her back against him, but this was actually a diversion. Omilaena was perfectly comfortable with sexuality and relaxed against him, not suspecting his true motives.
"Are you feeling insecure about your progress?" Kai asked.
Omilaena flinched and pulled away from him, but couldn't escape his grip. Then she hesitated and slumped back against his chest. "Alright, fine. I can help everyone else advance, but fuck me if I can figure it out for myself. I'm stalled and it's obvious to everyone."
"Do you have to figure it out yourself? We may not be 'geniuses' like you called yourself, but you can't solve everything on your own."
For a time he thought that she might reject him, or play it off as a joke, or just lean into the sexuality instead of engaging. But after a long pause, Omilaena nodded slowly. "You may be right. I don't think there will be any easy answers, but we can try some new things. Will you eat a corpse for me?"
Kai watched her suspiciously, but she wasn't deflecting. "How will that help?"
"Come this way and I'll show you." Omilaena gestured for him to follow and took them to her secret work room. "The Poison Prince has venom in his veins, so I've been able to extract that and grow a little. But the strongest poisons are some sort of family secret, probably something built into his body. I was thinking that you could extract the essence and convert it into a form I can use."
He wasn't looking forward to eating the preserved corpse, but... "I will commit cannibalism because I love you."
Omilaena grinned - briefly, but this time the expression was real.
.
..
.
Zae Zin Nim had noticed that her wife wasn't entirely happy, of course, but she hadn't been sure what could be done about it until her husband spoke to her. Once he explained Omilaena's thoughts, all of it made sense and she was surprised she hadn't realized earlier. She was bad at such emotional issues and glad Kai could help sort through them.
Cultivation issues, however... that was her domain.
"Is the Heart of Poison advancing toward a limit?" she asked. They were seated on their bed, though not for intimate reasons. Zae Zin Nim waited on one side, examining her wife, while Omilaena meditated on her own chakra.
"You mean like Goralian Classes?" Omilaena shook her head without opening her eyes. "No, my Heart of Poison had always advanced steadily so long as I have access to new poisons. I wonder if that means there's a limit, if I absorb every poison in the world."
"Perhaps, but I was more concerned about whether it is approaching a phase transition. From what you said, it does not seem likely that you will reach 99 and then break through into new power."
"No, I don't have any power that follows that pattern... well, I suppose I have the cultivation tattoo now, but we talked about that."
"Steady growth is good, but what we need now is a leap forward, a fundamental change."
"Obvious," Omilaena snapped. "That's what I've been bashing my head against."
Her wife was being vicious and acerbic, but that was normal for when she was frustrated. Zae Zin Nim wasn't annoyed, and in fact in a strange way she liked it. What she wanted more than anything was to help her find a way through, but as Omilaena had correctly noted, that was easier said than done.
"What about Lethal Artisan?" Zae Zin Nim asked. "When does it increase from Spinel rank to... Topaz?"
"Topaz is right. That will happen around 350 Power, but it won't be that sort of massive change."
"What is the difference, then?"
That question actually made Omilaena pause for a moment, considering. "The difference between chakra ranks isn't huge, like with cultivation stages, but it's qualitative. When it happened in the past, I gained the ability to absorb and create more types of metal, and stronger ones."
"I see." Zae Zin Nim considered it for a moment, then rose and walked around the bed to stand behind her wife. "Is the Heart of Poison truly concentrated in your body? It is not a literal heart, I take it."
"It's chakra, so it's a concentration of fundamental poison. You already know the ways that I use it."
"I think that you should focus it all." Zae Zin Nim reached to touch her chest just over her heart. "Do not simply absorb more poison, gather it all and force it into a more intense form. This is an essential part of cultivation, and as you said, it should be possible to cultivate chakra as well as qi. I think it will work."
"You sure this isn't just an excuse to grope me?"
"Unlike you, I do not need excuses for such things."
Omilaena rolled her eyes at her... but she considered it. Nothing happened at first, but then Zae Zin Nim felt her wife's chakra begin to coalesce. Just how it could manifest in poison on her nails, or a cloud from her lips, it instead focused inside her body. The power flowed inward, trembling as it strained against itself, and soon it dispersed again.
But, just for a moment, Zae Zin Nim felt the mass of poison throb with new power.
.
..
.
This actually might work. Omilaena had been incredulous at first, but this wasn't coming out of nowhere: Kai had very concentrated poison to give her, Zae Zin Nim was an expert in her own way, and Omilaena had been trying to concentrate and merge her own abilities for years.
Just not like this.
She sat down in the cave, focusing entirely on her body, letting the poison chakra flow through her as strongly as possible. What she needed to do now was not just strengthen the poison available to her, but transform it. Concentrating power to such levels went against her instincts and seemed impossible... though the more she tried, the more it reminded her of the phase training she had undergone on Deadwaste. Without all that experience, it might have been impossible.
Now, however, she thought she had a chance. She didn't know exactly what would happen or if it would benefit her, all she knew was that it felt right. Concentrating power like this was in accord with all her theories, so at worst it wouldn't hurt.
After considering different possibilities, they had agreed that her Heart of Poison ability was the one to focus on after all.
<
Heart of Poison: Level 90 (360)
>
She had increased it to Level 90, providing an even 360 Power. All of that had been gradual progress, without the jumps that characterized almost all other abilities. In theory...
No reason to delay. Omilaena drank the vial of concentrated poison from Kai and tried to compress all of it within her. Like congealing poison in her heart, breathing poison into her own lungs, feeling her entire body throb with the deadly venom.
There was less of a struggle than she expected, no emergency or wild deviation from normal paths. Another woman might have risked being poisoned, but she had been filling her body and soul with poison for years and was unharmed by however much washed through her. All that mattered was that blue core, forcing it down, making it more and more potent...
Suddenly she broke through. All the pressure was gone, her poison felt concentrated, and it was done. Omilaena looked at her soul to see what had happened.
At first she saw that Heart of Poison was still at Level 90 and was dismayed. Had all her progress really come to nothing? Or had she fundamentally misunderstood the deeper rules of power? Dozens of self-accusations swarmed in her mind before she managed to focus and realized the truth of her soul.
<
Name: Omilaena
Total Power: 1730
Heart of Poison: Level 90 (630)
*Prana Jewels: Level +6 (42)
Lethal Artisan: Spinel Rank (310)
Ice Refinement (114)
Path of Venomsteel: Step 10 (150)
Physique: D-9 (245)
Soul Level: 8 (64)
Azure Core (+175)
>
The level of Heart of Poison hadn't changed, but where each level had previously been worth 4 Power, now each was worth 7. It wasn't some new source of power, just a strengthening of everything that she had already earned. Suddenly the years and years of absorbing new poisons, which had seemed to fall further behind more dramatic sources of strength, felt very worth it.
She leapt to her feet, eager to use her new abilities. If she concentrated poison on her nails or needles, it would definitely be more potent, resistant to the raw power abilities others used to resist or purge them. And her clouds of poison... there should be no comparison.
Before she could try anything, Kai embraced her from behind. Omilaena tried to slip his grasp at first - they usually hugged Kai, and Zin Nim always needed affirmation, but she didn't require that sort of thing.
Then Zin Nim hugged her from the front and she was trapped. Omilaena gave in and relaxed in between the only two people in the world who wouldn't be harmed by the new poison emanating from her body and soul.
"Congratulations, Omi." Zin Nim said softly. "Do you... want to do something special tonight to celebrate? I know you always want-"
Omilaena put a finger over her lips, her fingernail glistening bright blue. "As delicious as it is to hear you say that, no. Thanks to this, all three of us are on the level of one of the top patriarchs. What I want is to kick your father's ass."
Chapter 496: The Estate of the Masterful Crown Clan
As much as Hul Ping wanted his vengeance, he was starting to believe that it might never happen. Yes, he had reached Floodisle City and was even inside the Masterful Crown clan's complex, which he thought would be impossible. But there was no sign of Yul Wei Ren anywhere, still off on some unknown continent, and no one else was remotely within his reach.
He trudged around the side of the cultivation courtyard. In theory he was supposed to be training, but he didn't have the heart for it. What was the point, when young masters could gain hundreds of Power just by drinking immortality elixirs? The advancements he had received from Kai and his wives had been a great fortune, but were far greater than anything he could achieve on his own.
Hearing the young nobles gossip, it seemed to be a widespread belief that family standing and good fortune were the only ways to advance in the world. Hul Ping had received his good fortune and doubted he would find any more. He considered chasing after the qilin, like many others tried, but knew it would be futile.
And potentially dangerous. In recent times there had been reports of groups of cultivators disappearing in the forests and not returning. He noticed that only groups tightly allied with the Masterful Crown clan had disappeared, and almost hoped...
Midway through his trudging route, Hul Ping bumped into a large servant. Once he would have insulted or slapped the man, but now what was the point? Compared to the patriarchs and their heirs, the two of them were basically the same. Hul Ping just scowled and moved around the servant.
Only for an enormous hand to close around his arm.
Hul Ping tried to jerk away and to his shock the man didn't even budge. He looked up... and suddenly realized that this could be no servant. The man looked like a normal outer sect member, just a bit tall and pudgy, but bumping into him had felt like solid muscle.
"Kai?" Hul Ping breathed out the name, not quite believing, and the illusioned man nodded.
"I'm back." The voice was much too deep for the chubby servant, and seemed to have a new dangerous undertone to it. "Is it safe to talk here?"
"Let's step into the supply courtyard." Hul Ping pretended to be reprimanding the servant until they stepped into a poorly kept little enclosure beside the proper cultivator's spaces. He wanted to see Kai for real and settled for hissing his enthusiasm in questions. "What happened? I helped your wives and then I didn't hear from them and..."
"That'd be a long story," Kai told him. "But thank you for helping them."
"Of course. I'll do anything to get back at-"
"About that: I have to tell you that Yul Wei Ren is dead. Sorry it couldn't be by your hand, but he got what was coming to him."
Like that, his vengeance was gone. Hul Ping had known it was likely and still felt like the breath had been knocked from his lungs. He hesitated, realizing even through the illusion that the larger man was watching him, waiting for something.
"Thank you," Hul Ping said with a bow. "I assume you want to finish things? Take down the Masterful Crown clan?"
"Exactly. We need information about exactly which patriarchs are still here and where they're presently deployed."
"I have that, no problem. The clan is putting up a strong front, trying to say that their new relationships with sects from the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes or the Eastern Plains make up for the sects they lost, but most know better. There's been all kinds of unrest in the city. It's true that they're making deals with the other sects, but their cultivators aren't usually here."
"And the patriarch?"
"At the very highest level of Floodisle City, like always. Holding court in the grand balcony." Hul Ping swallowed. "You're... really going to attack, aren't you?"
"Yes. You should make excuses and get out." Kai started to move away, then turned back. "You've embedded yourself here, and you aren't so weak anymore. I assume that some cultivators follow you?"
"I'm no one important, but yes, a few."
"With the largest clan in all the Southern Rivers gone, the aftermath will be chaos. Get allies, gather family, do what you can to bring order afterwards."
Then he turned and was gone. Hul Ping stared after him, wondering if that would be the last time he ever saw the heroic barbarian... until he realized that he would no doubt see him over the skies of Floodisle City when the battle began.
.
..
.
Kai stood on the deck of the Clanless - not for the last time, but the last time in the near future. They'd gathered together everyone: not only the close allies they'd trained, but the Krysali and dryads who wanted to return home. Now that he had finally information from Hul Ping, confirmed by Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena's sources, they were ready to move.
There was no need for him to say anything, thankfully. Still, he lingered, feeling somewhat responsible for all those who were on Cloudspire with him. Eventually Inafay came up to stand beside him.
"I know why you'll say no," she said, "but are you sure we can't stay and help?"
"The risk is too high," he told her. "You'd be fine at first, but we can't predict what form the counterattack will take. Here, there's too much chance you could die a pointless death. On Deadwaste, your power could make you a hero who throws back the incursion."
"Ugh, this sucks." Inafay scuffed her foot on the deck and looked away.
"None of it is fair, but all we can do is make the best of it. Survive and you'll be blowing past cultivators within a few years, I'm sure. Make sure to get the Clanless back home... it won't help much here, but it could be valuable there. Get everyone else back if... things go wrong."
"Come on, don't say that." Inafay abruptly hugged him, then pulled away. "We'll get everyone to safety, then we'll be waiting for you."
Kai nodded at her, smiling more wistfully than he expected. She pulled back and looped her arm around Ivonailin, who held her close and gave him a nod. That was all they needed to say. As Kai stepped away from them, he took one more look at their souls.
<
Name: Inafay Corinin
Total Power: 468
Windcutter Class: 98 (108)
Windborn: Twiceswept (115)
Qi Condensation 42% (13)
Physique Level: E-9 (107)
Soul Level: 7 (49)
Highwinds Essence (+75)
>
<
Name: Ivonailin of Mistral
Total Power: 503
Windborn: Thriceswept (291)
Physique Level: E-9 (107)
Qi Condensation 97% (19)
Soul Level: 6 (36)
Highwinds Essence (+50)
>
They'd definitely grown stronger - Ivonailin at 500 Power and Inafay not far behind - but his logic still held. Better to keep them safe while Kai struck with an elite team that could shake even Sky Souls. He looked at Cragrila too, standing alone at the back of the deck - she was stronger thanks to all Omilaena's experiments, but still at too much risk in a fight like this.
<
Name: Cragrila
Total Power: 576
Crystal Cultivation: 9999 (125)
Crystal Dantian (+50)
Acid Cultivation: 1000 (50)
Physique Level: D-1 (205)
Crystalline Blood (+60)
Soul Level: 6 (36)
Jadewood Spear (+50)
>
Kai was glad to have had them with him for so much time, and proud that he was sending back so many forces to fight the incursion. Of course, if all went well, the real difference would be himself. Kai took a deep breath and looked at his soul one more time.
<
Name: Kai Clanless
Total Power: 901
Monstrous Hunger - XV (omicron)
Cultivation: Nascent Foundation 23% (257)
Savage Heart: 21 (218)
Physique Level: C-7 (335)
Beggar King's Robes: +2 (10)
Soul Level: 9 (81)
Behemoth's Heart - X (kappa)
Thunderbird's Wings - IX (iota)
Baleful Breath - VII (eta)
Manticore's Spine - III (gamma)
Void Gaze - VIII (theta)
Famished World - II (beta)
-
Tyrant's Claw - XII (kappa)
Isulfr's Bite - VIII (theta)
Direboar's Strength - XIV (xi)
Mutefang's Stealth - XV (omicron)
Sahagin's Soul - XII (mu)
Lizarkyl's Tail - VI (zeta)
Wallcrawler's Feet - III (gamma)
Abominalgum - I (alpha)
Rose Piranha - III (gamma)
Cloud Piranha - III (gamma)
Bloodtrap - III (gamma)
Slime's Immortality - I (alpha)
Silver Demon - I (alpha)
Voidmaw's Bite - I (alpha)
Great Cetae - II (beta)
>
He felt lean and stripped down, his monstrous essence refined and his human strength in balance. Even though he wasn't sure what they would face, he thought it would be enough. And after that, he would return to the incursion with power that no one had predicted.
His own strength... and the two women who came to stand at his sides. He imagined that it must still look disgusting to cultivators: a Nascent Foundation man with barely 900 Power, accompanied by women with over 1700. In a way, that discrepancy was what had started all this.
But it was time to finish all this: not with any young masters, but the patriarch of the Masterful Crown clan.
Chapter 497: The Highest Hall in Floodisle City
As she hurtled toward the balcony at the top of Floodisle City, Zae Zin Nim reflected that she had spent very little time imagining how it might feel to attack her father.
Oh, she had certainly imagined a confrontation. But all too often, it had been fearing herself being dragged back into the Brightwind hall, or her father showing up with his full power... just iterations of him punishing her like she was a child again. Now she wasn't charging the Brightwind sect itself, but she was putting herself on a path to an inevitable confrontation.
Zae Zin Nim shattered through the outer screens around the balcony, felt the wood splinter harmlessly off her skin, and realized she was fine with it.
She and Omilaena had been riding their fastest flying sword up to that point and let it fly off from under their feet, thundering across the hall. It was stopped by multiple guards, of course, and never had a chance of reaching the patriarch on his throne. All they had needed was for it to take them into the grand hall faster than the defenders could follow them, and now she and Omilaena were standing on one side looking to the front.
At the end of a long golden rug, the patriarch of the Masterful Crown clan sat on a throne that arced over his head like a second crown. Patriarch Yul had not even flinched at the sword's entrance, confident in either his guards or his own abilities. All of the cultivators around him, however, burst forward with shouts and anger.
Most of them were irrelevant, just bodies in her way. Zae Zin Nim cataloged the number of Earth Souls present to support him, with special attention to two: there was a middle-aged man wearing the robes of the Coiling Island sect, and an older woman wearing Brightwind robes. She actually recognized the old woman as one of those who ran her father's harem and Zae Zin Nim had to press her lips together to restrain herself from saying anything.
"After so long searching for you, you deliver yourselves to me?" Patriarch Yul rose to his feet, sending his robes cascading from his seated position to pool around him. "I certainly hope you don't intend to ask for mercy."
"No," Zae Zin Nim said clearly to the entire court. "We are here to kill you."
"That's nearly as foolish!" Patriarch Yul swished his sleeve dismissively and his guards immediately began to light up with crowns over their heads as they projected their presence techniques.
At least a dozen techniques struck Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena, the air itself constricting them. Zae Zin Nim frowned for a moment, then took a step forward as the techniques slid off her new skin. Omilaena struggled more, but she began to glow with her Azure Core and she had the spiritual strength to walk beside her even without injecting herself.
"You are courting death!" one of the cultivators shouted. He waved his hands, forming a great crowned dragon of golden light.
Omilaena was much faster. Her hands flickered and an array of needles flashed out, silent and deadly. Before they could strike, Patriarch Yul summoned one of his immense golden barriers across the center of the hall, blocking all techniques from both sides.
When the wall faded, Zae Zin Nim realized that she had been mistaken: she thought the barrier had stopped all of Omilaena's needles, but judging from the cultivators coughing blood or falling over, at least four had been faster than the barrier. It was easy to forget how fast Omilaena was now, with the great boost to her Power.
"Enough of this!" Patriarch Yul flicked his sleeve again and unleashed a wall of gold that rushed toward them, as if to sweep them off the balcony.
Zae Zin Nim met it with a Coldfire Palm, only about the size of her body. That was enough to shatter the golden wall, and though the flames of her palm dispersed as well, she only slid back a step. The patriarch of the greatest clan in the Southern Rivers actually stumbled back, needing to catch himself on his throne, and all his courtiers stared in shock.
Meanwhile, Zae Zin Nim and her wife took another step forward.
"Zin Nim, there's no need for this." It was the old woman, stepping away from the others and extending her arms to either side. "Your father is wroth, yes, but you are still his most beloved daughter. Come back with me and all can be forgiven. If you don't like the marriage that has been arranged, we can find another-"
"None of you ever listen." Zae Zin Nim stomped her foot, and though she hadn't used a technique, the strength from her Pure Yin Shroud made her foot shatter the marble tile. "I will never go back, and I am already married."
"You may have made some youthful mistakes, and lost your yin gift, but there are yet-"
"Wait." Patriarch Yul cut off the old woman and all the court's murmuring with a wave of his hand. "What is that?"
He was the first to notice: off the side of the balcony, there was a storm cloud visible in the distance. The sky was otherwise perfectly clear, so the cloud was unusual in and of itself, but as the cultivators in the great balcony hall turned to look, many of them shuddered. Somehow the storms were growing far faster than should have been possible, forming a line toward them, and an unearthly growl rumbled across the earth.
"That is my husband," Zae Zin Nim said. "He isn't happy either."
When Kai had suggested taking time to gather speed, she had accepted the plan even though she was uncertain about it. Now, as she saw the full potential of Thunderbird's Wings, she understood. He was a burning light at the front of a storm that followed him, like a great arrow piercing the sky in their direction. Great wings stretched from his back, emitting smoke that made it seem like the clouds themselves were his wings.
There was a brief chance to see him from a distance, then he had built up so much speed that he crossed the city in an instant, shattering through every barrier in the way. The storm came with him, thundering through the great hall and knocking many cultivators off their feet.
Kai himself landed in the center, just ahead of Zae Zin Nim, his claw-like feet smashing craters into the marble. He had partially transformed into his monstrous state, but more than that, he carried within him the terrible "Famished World" aura he had developed. Even before it was unleashed, his presence brought an instant chill to the room.
All of the cultivators with presence techniques instinctively turned on him, trying to immobilize the new threat for their patriarch to strike down. Exactly as she had predicted. They were used to flattening enemies with their presence techniques, or at most having to fight on even terms against a resisting opponent.
When Kai unleashed Famished World, his presence swept over the room, rendering all the gold furnishings into ominous black and white. The effect far exceeded expectations: most of the presence techniques were crushed outright, and crowns over the heads of cultivators either cracked or guttered out. Many of them were already collapsing, bleeding from every orifice, and the others desperately struggled to join in a formation that could resist.
Which was when the slaughter began. Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena had been holding back for this moment and now targeted all of the supporting cultivators, killing them with palm strikes or needles. Earth Souls didn't fare much better than weaker cultivators, and only the sheer numbers in the hall prevented them all from being annihilated at once.
Only Patriarch Yul had managed to endure the onslaught, forming a hexagonal prism around himself. Yet it could only barely resist the Famished World, and the patriarch stared in horror as he realized that Kai wasn't similarly bound. He ignored the patriarch, locked down in his defenses, and instead joined them in wiping out the court.
One of the stronger Earth Souls abandoned his own patriarch and dissolved into golden light. Zae Zin Nim saw it was too late to kill him and accepted it, since they knew their attack would soon become public knowledge anyway. Let him to escape and inform others, because it wouldn't change the final outcome. So she watched the streak of light pass...
Kai reached out and grabbed the cultivator around the ankle.
The man's body had transformed into light in a profound higher flight technique, so he should have been untouchable by any ordinary force. But Kai's body burned with the unnatural aura, rendering him more than merely flesh, and his claw tugged a body out of the stream of light.
Once that body was physical again, it was immediately slammed into the marble, and that was the end of that cultivator.
Some of the others began screaming and panicking, trying to run by any means necessary. Most of them were immediately cut down by Omilaena when they left their formations, and some couldn't even survive long enough to escape the radius of Famished World. Only Patriarch Yul understood the severity as he drew a jade slip from within his robes and prepared to teleport.
After losing her husband for so long to such a thing, Zae Zin Nim was not about to let it happen again. She had been waiting for that moment and thrust out a palm. Not in her new techniques, but the piercing strike of the Brightwind sect. It punched through his golden shell and shattered the jade slip, leaving him holding nothing but pieces.
To his credit, Patriarch Yul drew himself up and prepared to battle to the death. Three great crowns lit up over his head, bright enough even to push back the darkness of Kai's aura. But he was facing three opponents with power similar to his, and Famished World so utterly countered his presence techniques, he was left without any of his trump cards.
Kai knocked him from his position first, a spine the size of someone's arm breaking through the throne. The patriarch stumbled to the side and couldn't dodge Zae Zin Nim as she slipped around his dying barriers and struck him in the chest with her palm.
Even though her strike was true, Patriarch Yul summoned his strength and managed to survive. He wasn't so lucky with the syringe piercing his neck from behind. Omilaena stepped back and let the body fall to the ruined marble floor.
And like that, it was done. The Masterful Crown clan, which had once dominated the entire Southern Rivers region, had lost its patriarch. Given all the deaths of its major sect leaders, it would never recover from this.
"Did you want the body?" Zae Zin Nim asked.
"Nah, can't derive much from these presence techniques," Omilaena said. "I guess we could loot everyone, though."
"Wait." Kai's voice was a growl, even lower than usual. "Wasn't there a Coiling Island representative?"
Zae Zin Nim looked through the bodies and realized that none of them were wearing the black and white robes of that sect. The man must have left early, or used a far more profound technique than the others. It didn't change their strategy, because they had still eliminated their first major opponent, but it meant that it was only a matter of time.
Thunder rumbled again and Zae Zin Nim realized there was no time at all.
A great ship of green jade emerged over the city of Floodisle City, shading entire districts of it. There were Brightwind cultivators waiting in ranks, but three stood in front of the army:
Xir Xan Khan, her old fiance.
Jackal Thirteen, the mercenary.
And her father.
Comments
Surrealialis
This was so badass! Well done
AnythingAtAll
I don't think it was a poison phase. Cultivators have very good offense, but tend to have shit defense, which makes poison a very good counter. Even when Omi was at 1300 Power, she still killed the Grand Crown patriarch who had 1600 Power with two hits.
locky
does this mean Omilaena has achived a full poison phase cuase it sure seems like based on the description and how it droped the patriarch. Also Kai just straight up grabbing the guy using the flight technique was awesome.
General
Thanks for the chapter, love Famished world and the satisfying reveal after so much build up
AnythingAtAll
They said the thing! "You are courting death" in a court of death. Poetry.
AnythingAtAll
What a week of chapters to end the weekly batches on. These have been some of the most satisfying payoffs in the entire series. Famished World is nuts.
Mathieu Kocher
Time to settle matters ! Love the tension build up, let's see it burst !
