Chapter 19 – Forever Feared Fel

  Diyuan was back on the ground floor. He had finished off his healing, jumped off the ledge, and teleported shortly before he hit the ground to remove the falling momentum. Floating by his side was his newly acquired puppet, the bone serpent—which had a white ghostly glow to its bones.

  The problem with the puppet was that it couldn’t talk. He had sent it out on a scouting mission and it had just returned. Now how was he supposed to collect the information it scouted?

  [I’ll break another spirit artifact if you speak to me,] Diyuan said. He had kept most of the useful spirit artifacts from the bone nest, even if they would break after a single use. A just-in-case measure.

  It floated next to him without even bothering to look at him when he spoke. Quite rude.

  [I’ll pet you once if you spin.]

  It spun, then resumed following him.

  Diyuan sighed as he scratched and petted the head of the ghostly bone serpent. There was something else he had learned when dealing with this puppet. It was in regards to how Diyuan communicated with it.

  “Reverse spin for me,” Diyuan commanded.

  It kept following as if Diyuan said nothing.

  [Reverse spin for me,] he repeated.

  It spun in the opposite direction. Turned out it would only obey his commands if it was done through sound transmission. Maybe that was because it was a bone creature and didn’t have any physical ears.

  As he kept walking, he recalled how the Stormfur Demon Monkeys had their settlement in a nearby area. He didn’t want to get ambushed by them in case they thought he was a tasty cultivator now that there weren’t higher leveled ones to compare to. He thought about setting up some form of communication system with his puppet. Otherwise, he saw no real reason to keep it around.

  He decided to use his information gathering on the puppet, in the same way he would use it to listen in on other people’s sound transmission. When he did so, something merged into his mind.

  Memories.

  Diyuan stopped walking. It was an odd feeling, gaining memories as if he remembered something he should have known all along. But the memories he gained wasn’t his own. It was the mission results from the ghost bone serpent’s scouting endeavor.

  Diyuan called them memories because that’s what they truly were: memories. It wasn’t as if he gained new knowledge right there on the spot. The memories were lodged into his mind as if it was he himself that had gone out and scouted. When the ghostly serpent saw a hill half an hour ago, the memory in Diyuan’s mind was half an hour old. But it also wasn’t the entire scouting mission that he “remembered;” only key snippets that were deemed somewhat noteworthy. It made the same decision he would have made if he had been there in person.

  Diyuan realized something momentous. The puppet wasn’t simply an external tool. It was an extension of himself.

  Out of curiosity, Diyuan took out one of the earth stalagmite talismans and held it up.

  [Take this and activate it over that hill, where I cannot see it.]

  The ghostly serpent opened its mouth and took the paper then flew away from him. Diyuan trotted over and saw his puppet come back to him. When he crossed the top of the hill, he saw a single earth spike, where the paper talisman had been activated. Diyuan absorbed the memory of the ghostly serpent and saw how it simply transmitted his desire to activate the talisman, which seemed to work for the paper’s purposes.

  Diyuan couldn’t believe it. This was significant. This opened such a high level of strategic options that wouldn’t have been possible before. Not to mention, who would assume a demonic beast-like creature to obey the commands of a cultivator?

  [You,] Diyuan turned to his puppet. [I like you.]

  The puppet looked at him but did nothing else.

  [If I praise you, act like you appreciate it.]

  The ghostly serpent nodded.

  [I want to give you a proper name. You are me, but separate. I am Yuhan Diyuan. You are a ghostly bone serpent who can apparently add to your features as you absorb more spirit artifact energy.] Diyuan looked at the creature, who was expectant. [From now on, you will be Di Guilin. Guilin meaning Ghost Scale. You don’t have scales yet, but you’ll live up to your name, I think.]

  In appreciation, the puppet floated up to Diyuan and rubbed at his cheek.

  [I don’t know if I like physical affection; I had so much of it at home. We’ll work on that later. For now, Di Guilin, I want you to scout out my path back to where I lost my Wind’s Edge. I want a clear route and not worry about dangers. I don’t think I need to say it, but don’t let yourself be in any danger.]

  Di Guilin left him and scouted ahead. It was already night in the Carcass Grotto, but that wasn’t a problem for both Diyuan and Di Guilin.

  As time passed, Di Guilin would return back and report the path to travel. The information it retained were things that Diyuan would have watched out for if he was there in person. He realized that when he gave commands to Di Guilin, a lot of the unsaid aspects were always interpreted correctly, like the puppet was able to peer into his own mind and understood his intent.

  He still had nearly a full day left until his regained his limitless Bonegrit Dreadflesh back. But since two days had passed, one spent to heal and the other spent to practice the pure thread process, Diyuan knew the other cultivators would have had their cultivation levels dropped. All Dharma cultivators should have dropped to level 5 Spiritweave after the first day, regardless if they were level 1 Dharma or level 4 Dharma. It would then drop to level 4 Spiritweave after the second day.

  Right now, the highest-level cultivator should be level 4 Spiritweave assuming they did nothing but stand around, but even they should drop to level 3 Spiritweave soon. Diyuan could deal with that, but only if he had a spirit artifact to be able to punch up. Without the artifact, and without his limitless Bonegrit Dreadflesh to give that extra boost of power, the best he could reliably fight against would be a level 2 Spiritweave cultivator.

  That assumed conventional combat, of course. Talismans could be activated both by him and by Di Guilin. Diyuan could fight them and distract them while the ghostly serpent planted talismans. The armor breaker lightning talisman, which he hadn’t used once yet, and the armor piercer earth spike both would work well against level 3 Spiritweave cultivators. It was meant to do battle against demonic beasts, but Diyuan imagined it could easily injure or kill an unsuspecting Spiritweave cultivator. Until he got his Wind’s Edge back, those would be his weapons.

  He did wish the ghostly bone serpent didn’t have glowing white bones. Much like how Diyuan’s eyes glowed white when he teleported or prepared to teleport, Di Guilin’s glow would draw attention to itself. It wasn’t too bad, but it would be painfully obvious at night. It was like true stealth was never an option for him.

  Time would pass and Diyuan eventually reached the original battlefield between Xie Yanshuang and the Netherwind Crane. He made sure to do a good bit of detour away from the Skeletal Cloud Bone Cliffs lest he drew unwanted attention. He investigated the aftermath while Di Guilin went out to search for any spirit artifacts that could be about.

  The ground was uneven, shattered in multiple places. The crater that had broken his body was there, though less defined now as the ground had evidence of other combat happening. The tower that once stood no longer existed. Stones cluttered about and the ground was jagged in areas, where one would have to watch their step to prevent stumbling. There was some blood here and there, but no bodies.

  Di Guilin returned with a crimson jewel pendant in its mouth. The spirit artifact of Duan Chenshi. Diyuan collected the memories from Di Guilin and saw evidence that someone had dug up the ground in several locations, like they were searching for something. In any case, it seemed like Diyuan may need to consider his Wind’s Edge permanently lost.

  Since there was nothing left for him to do here, he needed to decide his next course of action. He considered going to the spot where the miasma’s source was coming from, thinking there may be an opportunity there. While he thought on it, Di Guilin dropped the pendant in its mouth and began to pound on it with its head. Diyuan let it continue, as the anti-poison spirit artifact didn’t really have a use for him.

  It eventually cracked, letting out the puff of spirit energy into the air. The puppet made the energy swirl and then tried to absorb some, but Diyuan noticed just how little pure threads it pulled out. He helped it by collecting more, though this time the amount of strings he brought out was vastly more than the previous amounts that had come from the half-broken artifacts.

  The pure thread strings wrapped around Di Guilin, cocooning it for a moment. It absorbed it quickly enough, and a brief and silent flash appeared. When it was done, Di Guilin had a small change in its appearance: there was now a small bump on top of its skull.

  [Is that supposed to be future horns?] Diyuan asked as he went to pet it.

  When he touched his puppet, he realized the bones felt slightly different. He sensed into it and recognized the difference.

  The newly birthed puppet had previously been at the same level of power of a level 1 Foundation cultivator. Now, after absorbing a spirit artifact that wasn’t half-broken, it strengthened to match a level 2 Foundation cultivator. His mind went to the skeletal eagle that had pierced his leg so easily. That was likely a higher level Spiritweave bone construct. And the Netherwind Crane? Could Di Guilin reach that level?

  This realization made his decision for him. He was going to go to the central castle.

  That was where the Void Grass would be, along with a great many other plants and ingredients that alchemists strived for. From what Diyuan had been told, it was customary to go there on the third day since the Lianhua clan would finish unlocking all doors. With many cultivators gathering in one spot, so too were their personal spirit artifacts.

  His puppet being equal to a level 2 Foundation cultivator made it very fragile. He thought to test to see if the puppet could enter his storage ring—it could. He couldn’t help but smile.

  The miasma’s source would have to wait. Diyuan needed to settle with the Gu and the other Honglie cultivators anyway, so this worked out for the best. It was Diyuan’s opportunity to claim the lives of those who sought to claim the Nether Mark.

  And perhaps he would see a de-leveled Xie Yanshuang as well for a proper fight.

  ***

  Su Shuyi of the Lianhua clan hovered above the ground as she had for the past two days. She didn’t know what was happening inside the Carcass Grotto and nothing interesting was happening outside the portal rift. She spent most of her time watching the gambit board between the Patriarch of the Celing clan and the Grand Elder of the Zhengyi clan. It took a day to resolve a round, and each time Patriarch Dali had defeated Xunran.

  A miniature version of the Spine Blue Lightning was on the table with the gambit board. A reminder of the weeklong gambit between the two cultivators.

  In terms of numbers, the Zhengyi alone totaled slightly more than the Gu clan and the Honglie clan’s guards. The fact that all three of the Three Pillars were also here made Su Shuyi nervous. She had just the perfect arte to prevent an all-out war from breaking out and hoped it didn’t need to be used.

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  The portal rift swirled, indicating activity. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to see who would step out.

  A woman with an eyepatch came out first. Xie Yanshuang. She was followed by another member of her party. Su Shuyi expected others to come out, since Xie Yanshuang had a total of 7 cultivators in her group. It had been reduced to 2?

  Xie Yanshuang lifted a dagger into the air while smirking at the Zhengyi clan. She was specifically looking at the Hall Master, Yuhan Junhao, and his daughter, Yuhan Ranxi.

  “In my hand is a spirit artifact named Wind’s Edge,” Xie Yanshuang called out. “Those that do not know—this is the spirit artifact that had once belonged to a Foundation boy named Yuhan Diyuan. You may recall him as the arrogant child who used a high-grade talisman and insulted the world. He is dead.”

  Su Shuyi watched their reactions, preparing to take action herself if this somehow would cause a major conflict between the clans. Whatever happened to Fel Yuhan Diyuan wasn’t her concern, but it wouldn’t be in the best interest of the Lianhua clan for things to go south here.

  Xunran’s jaw stiffened as he turned in his chair to look at the weapon in Xie Yanshuang’s hand. His expression remained blank, but based on his body language, Su Shuya could tell that the dagger in question was indeed an artifact they recognized.

  The other two of the Three Pillars, Yifan and Huizhong, made no comment. Huizhong was a bit more expressive; anger appeared on his face, the lines of age twitching.

  The other guards, the Xuanying Watchers and the Yuhan Elite, were far less experienced in hiding their emotion. Murmurs broke out among them, forgetting to keep their words to sound transmission. The Hall Master Yuhan Junhao hid his shaking fist behind his back.

  The only oddity was Yuhan Ranxi. She was unbothered. She hovered forward, looking down from her flying position at the lowered level Xie Yanshuang. There was no fear or concern in her eyes. It wasn’t an act; she genuinely didn’t seem troubled by the news at all.

  The power gap of a level 1 Dharma cultivator and a level 3 Spiritweave cultivator—which was the current level of Xie Yanshuang—was great. The Honglie clan guards shifted forward, ready to retaliate against anything that Yuhan Ranxi might do.

  Xie Yanshuang was pleased by the situation. She spun the dagger in her hand as she looked up at Yuhan Ranxi. “You should have heard him. He cried out for his mother, begging her to help him. He wanted to drink more of her milk, but instead he became a feast for the bone demonic beasts. I doubt he tasted good, seeing as how they came after us when they were done. I can’t help but wonder why the Zhengyi clan put on such a show for such a ridiculous Foundation cultivator. Was it because he won in a gambit against Gu Guoxiong? It seems there’s no sane person in your clan. What an embarrassment.”

  Yuhan Ranxi looked down at the two of them. “There were seven of you. Where are the other five?”

  Xie Yanshuang shrugged. “Picking flowers.”

  She smiled. “Let me tell you what really happened. Yuhan Diyuan isn’t dead. But the five Dharma cultivators of yours are dead and I imagine that his spirit artifact you stole caught the attention of several demonic beasts, and now you simply hope he’ll die and the blood binding on the artifact will eventually disappear. How close am I?”

  “What an imagination you have,” Xie Yanshuang said. “Just accept the shame. Your brother is an embarrassment. If I remember correctly, didn’t you already have a dead brother? This is heavens’ justice for shrinking the Tribulation Shroud.” She spun the dagger around some more, content with their reaction. She looked over to the Gu clan. “Elder Gu Guan, I’d like to offer this spirit artifact to you. In due time, the blood binding will disappear. This should satisfy you.”

  The spirit artifact floated towards him. Gu Guan accepted the dagger. The Nether Mark would be complete with that as evidence.

  “Ahem.” Patriarch Dali tapped the gambit board before him, getting Xunran’s attention. “That is two that came out of the pocket world. I do hope you remember our gambit for my wings.”

  “Only time will tell what will really happen,” Xunran said, his face straight.

  Patriarch Dali looked towards the Zhengyi clan. “Yuhan Ranxi, I hear you recently reached the Dharma realm. I congratulate you.” He saluted her as he sat. He waited for her acknowledgment before he continued. “It is my understanding that yours is the Path of the Fleeting Bloom. For you, it means you have trust for your companions to pull through on their own?”

  Su Shuyi watched the new conversation, curious to see what direction it would take.

  “Correct, Patriarch Dali,” Yuhan Ranxi said.

  “Interesting.” Patriarch Dali moved a piece on the board. “Your heart is protected from doubts that may rise due to rumors. That is natural since your Path is what it is. But what do you think will happen when reality comes? Should you learn that your brother did indeed die inside the pocket world—during the first expedition since the Zhengyi ban was lifted, too, mind you—then what might you think will happen to your heart?” He looked above the monocle on his eye. “Your heart will shatter and your Path will end. You will fail to continue cultivating. Perhaps your parents will outlive all of their children.”

  Xunran slammed a fist on the board, knocked the pieces off the table. A cackle of energy started to appear around him. Patriarch Dali paid him no mind.

  Yuhan Ranxi simply saluted again, her heart steady. “I thank you for the advice, Patriarch Dali. But I would like to offer a counter: when reality demands his death, he will crawl out all the same. We did not bring so many Zhengyi clan members because we feared for Diyuan’s life. We brought them because we wished to prevent what you all would do when you learned the truth.”

  “And what truth is that, young Yuhan Ranxi?” Patriarch Dali said calmly, fixing the gambit board and placing the pieces back to their original place with a flick of his finger.

  Yuhan Ranxi looked to Gu Guan and the other clans. “The truth is that my brother’s potential will forever be feared among you all. He will be the Fel all future Fels will be compared to.”

  Xie Yanshuang scoffed, reminding the people around her that they had seen the boy’s death. Su Shuyi had a difficult time believing Yuhan Ranxi’s words. The Yuhan family was known for their own personal healing capabilities in the event of a near death experience, but that could hardly tip the scales to such a degree. Only time would confirm if the conviction spoken was biased. And they wouldn’t need to wait long to see the outcome.

  ***

  Wu Meilan crouched down at the side of the castle’s openair courtyard. Sablethorn was a black shrub that oozed tar-like sap. At the center of it was a single full leaf. That was the last ingredient she needed before she could refine the pill to breakthrough to the Dharma realm. She had failed to collect some a hundred years ago, but spent the last century practicing how to pluck the full leaf.

  After spending maybe half an hour, she finally managed to squeeze her hand out without any oozy tar landing on her. She sighed in relief. This single leaf could sell for several hundred thousand spirit stones. It should be more, but most alchemists weren’t able to make use of it. Unlike other pills, the Dharma breakthrough pill actually required a Supreme Perfect refinement. But instead of it producing multiple pills at once—which had no real difference to a regular perfect pill—the alchemist would need to use a trick and forcefully combine the duplicate pills, giving it a greater boost than normally possible. That was one way to make a guaranteed Dharma breakthrough pill. The method to do this was also one of the several alchemy secrets of the Lianhua clan.

  Some turmoil was heard from her team inside the castle. She stood and looked up at the sky. The castle had activated a protection that would reduce the amount of miasma allowed inside. It was part of the puzzle that the castle gave to cultivators each time the Carcass Grotto opened. Since they had cleared the second door, the miasma’s drain would be slowed by a good bit inside the castle’s area. She left the courtyard and entered the hallway within. She knew most of the interior routes, but this castle was the size of a small town. Maybe it could be considered a fortress instead.

  [Elder Meilan,] one of the brutes said, turning her way. He was talking to their scout who returned back and reported on the situation outside the castle. [Small commotion. Every other clan will be joining us at the central castle now.]

  [Odd, I thought they would focus on the bounty rather than the items inside the castle,] Meilan said.

  [Bounty’s dead,] he grunted. [Xie Yanshuang’s group got him. Everyone will be here for when we open the third door.]

  The news made her feel numb. She wasn’t shocked or anything. That was just the life of a cultivator. They would sometimes die at moments when they wouldn’t expect it. Though, with Yuhan Diyuan, it wasn’t exactly an unexpected thing. She had hoped he would pull through somehow, but at the end of the day, he was still just a Foundation cultivator. Life would move on.

  Some time would pass and the other groups gathered. The Honglie clan and the Gu clan were conversing casually and had a laugh here and there. Some of the Lianhua joined them, telling them where they were at with the puzzle situation. It was a peaceful moment, the rare times when clans stopped trying to kill each other. She had hoped that maybe the Lianhua clan could be a uniter of the people, but their combat abilities were the weakest out of everyone. Their strongest fighter, Su Shuyi, was an exception, not the rule.

  Meilan came up to her alchemist partner, who was now level 1 Spiritweave. He was sitting cross legged in front of the last locked door. He breathed out and looked up at her.

  “Fifteen more minutes and I’ll be reduced to level 5 Foundation,” he said, speaking out loud to stretch his voice muscles.

  Meilan nodded. “I’ll tell the groups to be on guard. We don’t know what will come out once the puzzle is cleared this go round.”

  While the Carcass Grotto had different lands and different dangers, the central castle had the same puzzle each instance the pocket world opened. There were three doors that could only be opened by an alchemist. The first door had to be opened by an alchemist at the Dharma realm, so they needed to reach the castle on the first day before the miasma drained them to the Spiritweave realm. They would also need guards, to prevent accidental de-leveling.

  The second door could only be opened on the second day, by a Spiritweave alchemist. The third door could only be opened on the third day, by a Foundation alchemist. Meilan’s partner was purposefully draining his cultivation using the miasma in preparation to open that last door.

  Inside were lots of things that could be considered a spirit stone mine. Alchemists could get their spiritual ingredients, and there were some demonic beasts that always seemed to wait inside, waiting to kill unsuspecting cultivators. Their body parts could be harvested for alchemy or paper talisman crafting, so the other clans worked together with the Lianhua clan to clear out the zone.

  In the distance, a sound of lightning thundered. That got some of the people talking, so Meilan went to check on the situation.

  [It’s the armor breaking talisman,] her brute told her. [Lightning that weakens defense. Can cut through a demonic beast if it hits right; or a cultivator’s body. Someone is using it just outside the walls.]

  Likely to kill a demonic beast, then, Meilan figured. But talismans were expensive for their one-time use. Usually not worth the investment.

  She returned to her partner, who was now at level 5 Foundation and focusing on opening the final door. The walls had vines in them and that was what alchemists communicated with for the puzzle’s resolution.

  It was peaceful. Her team was out doing whatever else they wanted. She went to go collect them, to bring them together in preparation for any traps that might activate when the door opened. Small conversations were overheard. Some people were asking where their own members were at, mentioning how they had gone missing. It was more likely they were grabbing whatever rock shined their fancy. The castle was big enough so missing people weren’t a real concern.

  She passed by two Gu clan members, who saluted her. She saluted back and kept moving. Nothing was amiss here. Though they were having their own conversation about how one of their scouts hadn’t reported back in yet. She kept walking forward.

  Then, a sharp reverberating sound echoed behind her.

  The lingering hum was covered by the sudden inhale and gasp from the two she just passed. Meilan pivoted to see what was going on.

  Yuhan Diyuan stood between the two. He had a black sword out, which was currently inside the heart of one of the cultivators. He slowly drew his blade out, red blood pouring free. That Gu member didn’t fall despite obviously being dead now. The second Gu clan didn’t move either, like he was frozen in place. Yuhan Diyuan casually inserted his sword into the second man, ending his life unceremoniously.

  When the stun arte ended, both fell to the ground with a thud, unmoving.

  Yuhan Diyuan turned to her. She froze. Not from an arte of his, but out of simple fear. His eyes glowed white, making him look like an immortal in a way that wasn’t possible for anyone else. He took a step towards her but she couldn’t do anything—not move, not breathe, not even take out a weapon.

  But Yuhan Diyuan simply saluted her with his sword pointing down. “Elder Meilan, was it? I greet you. If you’ll excuse me, I have to find the other Gu and Honglie clan members. I’m on charity work at the moment, helping them find their lost friends.”

  Her senses returned to her as she watched him bend down to take the storage rings off his dead victims. [Wait! If they find you, they’ll kill you! Everyone already thinks you’re dead, so if you leave the pocket world, everything will be okay.]

  He smiled, the same kind of smile where a student in her class was up to some mischief. “You’re kind, Elder Meilan. But they came here with the sole intent of killing me. If I don’t resolve the problem now, it’ll persist and maybe even evolve to annoy other people in my clan. But you don’t need to worry about me. Mostly all of them are all level 1 Spiritweave or level 2 Spiritweave. And I have toys that can help me with the level 3 Spiritweave cultivators.”

  Yuhan Diyuan took two steps before he stopped and turned to her again. “Do you want ten thousand spirit stones? I’ll pay you if you shout that I’m here.”

  Meilan was baffled. “Absolutely not! You want me to participate in the hunt for you?” She nearly shouted it, but then continued in sound transmission. [Look, I can walk around with you and protect you. I can say that the treaty would be broken if they try to kill you, regardless of what you agreed on outside.]

  But Yuhan Diyuan saluted her. “I thank you again for your kindness, but it isn’t necessary. There are no more Dharma cultivators, and you’re the only level 4 Spiritweave in the area from what I saw. In a battle of martial arts, even if they are in the Spiritweave realm, no one is better than me. If you’ll excuse me, I need to slaughter about the dozen or so of who are left.”

  She blinked as she watched him walk away full of confidence. She was reminded at that moment that she was, indeed, level 4 Spiritweave right now. It confused her as to why she had been so frightened of him just a moment earlier. He couldn’t kill her even if he had a spirit artifact. But it was the way he had so casually killed the other two Gu members that made her feel like she was a rabbit and he a hunter.

  Even if he said he didn’t need help, she was going to go find her team and—

  The third and final door creaked in the distance. The puzzle was solved and the new traps would activate. She needed to find her team before they went and got themselves killed over something dumb.

  Meilan went to the courtyard and froze as she saw the scene unfolding.

  Yuhan Diyuan, with his black sword resting on his shoulder, stood before a group of over a dozen cultivators. The Gu and Honglie both. They had frozen in their tracks too, surprised by who they were seeing.

  “Not even twenty people,” Yuhan Diyuan said casually. “I might be blamed for bullying.”

  From what Meilan could tell, Yuhan Diyuan had no intention of fleeing. He had no intention of secretly assassinating people from the dark. No, he was going to fight all of them at once. A Foundation cultivator had no business fighting so many older and stronger cultivators.

  But then again, there was one thing he was that they weren’t.

  This was going to be the first time Meilan watched someone with the title of Fel fighting against impossible odds.