Book 2: Chapter 46: Deception Abound |
Zhong Da walked into a massive pavilion that vibrated with more Qi than his personal cultivation room back in the Silver Mountain Gang. It flowed through him unbidden and without an ounce of the expected dangers that came with overburdening his meridians. Considering he had just gone through a grand metamorphosis and transformation, purified of all filth and corruption, then finally upgraded his Spiritual Roots to that of the greatest geniuses to walk this planet, he didn’t doubt that this was now the new norm.
Wu Xui entered right after him, her own reaction quite similar.
They were very much alike.
From the way they spoke, to the timing of their thoughts, and even how they looked started to resemble one another more. The perfect couple.
Said perfect couple took a seat by each other on the soft cushions that eased them into a state of near meditation.
Again, another miraculous item they had been gifted by the Hu Ancestor after being forcefully drafted into the Hu Clan…
Our Hu Clan now…
Neither one of them were able to speak as they sat in the giant pavilion they had been provided with. Enjoying the silence after endless days of hectic scramble to find safety and escape the fate of being destroyed. Just the past week alone had been more harrowing than the majority of their lives so far. How many things had they seen, monsters that eyed them with clear burning hunger to feast upon them?
All of which dared not cross into the domain of their Patriarch, Yin Hu.
But it made sense, in a life preservation type of way.
The sheer power to have even a Dragon hide from his mere presence. One as strong as they had seen tearing the forest canopy and vanishing a thousand miles into the air within a second. That type of power should have been filled with endless arrogance and pride. By all rights, it should have challenged Yin Hu just for such an affront to its power and honor.
It was a creature that should have at least made Yin Hu hesitate even slightly, right?
He looked back toward Wu Xui, they thought the same thing at the same time.
What if he isn’t an Ancestor…
“Dong Dong,” Wu Xui said as she leaned into him. “What’s the difference between a Calamity and an Ancestor?”
Zhong Da shrugged his shoulders. “I have no clue, Xu Xu, but, we owe whatever it is a blood debt.”
“One greater than anything we could hope to pay–”
“–It even made us its outer court members, fully establishing its clan with so many members now.”
Wu Xui nodded, a thoughtful expression passed her face.
“What is it?” Zhong Da asked.
“It can’t be a Calamity, I think…”
Zhong Da looked into her eyes, seeing traces of confidence there. “What do you mean?”
“Calamities don’t look to create clans and sects. They don't care for anything in his world right? They want to annihilate us like the First Calamity in the stories, right?”
He nodded.
“Yet, he hasn’t once done that. If anything he has been building an army. Rong, the Blade Storm? The Hu Clan re-establishment? The old ghosts sparring simulator that could hold over a thousand disciples and train them in unison. Us in the outer court. He’s no Calamity. He is a True Heavenly Demon. Not the fake title Zi Zhen carries. No. He is here to turn this world into his own base of power. To wage war against whatever immortal world he has his sights on. A conquering army.”
Zhong Da’s eyes widened and jaw slackened as his mind was cleared by the revelation Wu Xui had given him. Everything began to click into place.
From the moment he had entered the Silver Mountain Gang, to the suspicious disappearance of the Black Widows, the ink fog that covered the forest around his old base, Cai Xuefang running, and Zi Zhen’s subsequent reaction to force them into his service. Everything lined up too perfectly. Building blocks as he tested and checked the mettle of everything and everyone he noticed as worthy. How many more people?
Has Yin Hu already gone through that process with both Hu Rong and Da Ruis without either ever knowing? Blind just as he had been?
Are there more?
Were the dragon hatchlings that so happened to appear in perfect timing also part of the grand plan?
Then the final piece hit him like a boulder. “He’s been guiding us to him the entire time… He chose us and plotted for everything to happen the way it did.”
Wu Xui nodded. “And we thought we controlled our own fate. We were nothing more than puppets being stringed along by a master puppeteer.”
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The world shifted around Jun as the She-Devil ordered her to repeat the same Qi sequence, physical movement, and mental work she had been drilling ever since the Heart Demon incident. She had something to prove. A chip on her shoulder to make sure she never lagged behind Shui or anyone else that joined their clan. Be it the suspiciously familiar Zhong Da and his unnecessarily well-endowed wife or even the kindly Hu Rong.
She would be a pillar, a guardian unlike any before or after her. The name Hu Jun would echo in the annals of history as one of the greatest warriors, progeny of the Ancient Predecessor of the Hu Clan; Yin Hu the Patriarch.
None would dare question her lineage, because he had changed it already with the strange mutations he claimed.
The purity of her Spiritual Roots were undeniable. Qi rushed in floods to her command.
Jun felt the world shift around her, the final puzzle piece she had been missing clicked into place. The Qi within her core reacted in waves, her Liquid Core Realm showed its heft and power in comparison to any who dared claim the same title.
She roared and swung her blade.
The energies she called upon hastened to follow her command for the very first time. Leaping to do her bidding and cutting the patch of trees she had targeted.
Jun watched as they teetered for a second, before they slid at an angle and crashed into the forest away from her.
She fell to her knees, shaking at what she saw. A laugh escaped her as the She-Devil appeared before her with a wide smile.
“Congratulations, Lady Jun,” the She-Devil said as she waved her arm toward the cut trees. “You’ve finally broken past the barrier and taken the first steps into conquering my greatest power. Welcome to my Sword Path. A derivative of the legend we witnessed upon the floating island when our Master showed us what true swordsmanship looked like.”
Hu Jun blinked. She hadn’t known that. It made her wonder…
“Curious, I see,” she smiled at Jun.
“I am. Master has shown nothing but excellence in everything he has ever done.”
“Excellence is what we witnessed. Maybe more. The dragons individually are each one of the strongest amongst us, they are only capable of jagged tears in the fabric of space due to a lack in controllable power. I doubt they could do the same maneuver twice over. But our master…” the She-Devil stepped away, clearly reminiscing. “We witnessed it part with every blade in cuts so fine only through greater perception than mind did we figure it out later on. He has the power to casually move between realms without any blowback. Just the thought should have been impossible.”
Jun didn’t really understand what that meant or what it scaled up to. Was that something all elite monsters were capable of? Or was it unique to their Ancient Predecessor?
She had no way to tell.