Chapter 253: Stepping Stones (Patreon)

~~~

Qing Guo lays flat on his back for several minutes.

He knows he should get back up. It does not matter if this labyrinthine realm makes it nearly impossible for the Fleshcrafter to find him. It happened once. It can happen again. Qing Guo should be trying to escape this place as fast as possible. That is what his mind is begging him to do.

His body cannot move.

It is not as if anything is impeding his movement. The snake construct holding him hostage vanished a few seconds after he crossed the gate. Likewise, the effects of whatever vile technique the usurper used to paralyze his limbs seem to have faded. He is also not too tired or wounded to move. While he lost against the usurper, he did not suffer any injuries. It would only be a slight exaggeration to say his body and Qi are both in perfect condition.

What holds him back is nothing more than simple terror.

Qing Guo can no longer sense the Fleshcrafter’s terrible presence, but that matters little. The memory of that man’s aura lingers within his consciousness, a brand burned into his brain. Qing Guo has never been in a field of corpses, but he understands what that feels like now. The deathly silence. The pungent scent of the dead. Even now, he can feel it in the back of his throat.

How can a person’s aura feel like that? How can someone like that possibly be their ally? No, that’s no ally at all. The man said it himself. He’s after their bloodline. Those with power are always envied, and the Fleschrafter is simply another vulture waiting to feast on them, albeit one bigger and stronger than Qing Guo is used to. His father needs to be warned. General He Bin…

General He Bin…

How could someone like General He Bin not know already? The man is the epitome of competence. There is no way a person like the Fleshcrafter could have hidden his intentions from him.

That would mean that…

No.

Qing Guo shakes his head. He cannot start suspecting the man who has kept some semblance of order in their empire for over a decade. The usurper and his insidious words are getting to him. That is all. It’s best not to think of that person at all.

Even if he saved his life when he didn’t have to…

Even if he’s probably already dead because of it.

“Aaahh!”

A rough, wet tongue licks his cheek. Qing Guo lets out a high-pitched scream and jumps to his feet.

“You vile…creature… thing!” Qing Guo desperately wipes his cheek clean while yelling at the bizarre creature that dares to call itself a dog. “Don’t you know you shouldn’t interrupt this prince when he’s in deep thought?!”

The dog does not reply. It’s a dog. They are not known for their conversational skills. The animal just stares at him with its tongue hanging out, a dopey smile on its face.

How ignorant.

How enviable.

“Damnation! There is no time for this foolishness!” Qing Guo hisses under his breath. “I’m in danger! Father is in danger!”

The words give him pause. A cold feeling washes over his body.

“Father is in danger,” he repeats slowly and with growing realization. Somehow, saying the words makes them more urgent, more real, than when they were mere thoughts in his mind.

“Father is in danger, and I’m just….”

Wasting time? Cowering in fear? After being saved by someone who should be his enemy? Is that what the prince of the Storm Dragon Empire is worth?

“No! This is all wrong,” Qing Guo says, raising his voice to give himself courage. “The prince of the Storm Dragon Empire is worth much more than this! I must find my father and warn him!”

The dog barks. The simple creature has no understanding of words, but Qing Guo chooses to take the bark as encouragement.

“However, before doing that…” Qing Guo swallows nervously. “There is one person we must absolutely see.”

The memory of a beating room flashes across his eyes.

“We must find my venerable Ancestor!”

If there are any answers to be found, they are sure to be there.

~~~

Huang Shing stands up on trembling legs. The odd purple light has left him groggy in a way he cannot quite explain. His body is fine. His Qi is fine. He’s just slightly... out of balance. It takes him a few seconds to get used to the sensation, but it does not go away.

“What is this place?!”

Qing Jin’s servant, Lei Kong, looks like he’s only a few seconds away from leaving them all behind to search for Brother Jin. It’s almost offensive, really. If he trusted Brother Jin, he’d trust him to be well.

“We seem to be in a different spatial realm,” Fan Bingbing says as she looks up. It is only when she does that Huang Shing notices that the ceiling is not a ceiling at all. It is just more corridors. Dozens of them. All twisting around each other, spiraling into infinity.

Huang Shing quickly averts his gaze, instinct warning him that people are not meant to stare at some things.

Besides, it was making him dizzy.

“I see. So this is why Qing Jin’s Qi was immobile when sensed from outside the palace,” Lu Mei says.

Huang Shing blinks.

“Huh?”

“Brother Qing Jin was most likely already within this spatial realm,” Fan Bingbing says, looking directly into his eyes so there is no mistaking who the explanation is for. “His Qi felt static because his movement was only happening within the confines of this spatial realm. Now that we are inside the realm, it seems we can no longer sense him or anyone else.”

“That purple light must have been the spatial realm expanding. However, why did that take so long to happen?” Lu Mei says, her face pensive. “If our entire army had been swallowed up from the moment we broke through the Grand Storm, the enemy would have gained a huge advantage.”

“There is no time for discussion,” Lei Kong says before anyone can theorize further. The air around him is charged with static. “My lord is here somewhere! We must search for him at once!”

“What an utterly stupid thing to say.”

One of the many doors in the corridor bursts open and out walks a woman Huang Shing immediately recognizes, Shi Qinxia, one of the disciples who went to the Crimson Cloud Tournament.

She also tried to kidnap Young Master Feng Hao in the Dead Plains.

“You find yourself in an unknown place, and your first thought is to rush in recklessly?” Shi Qingxia asks, not caring one bit about the four auras that suddenly flare up in front of her. “Should I laugh or cry? How has someone so stupid managed to survive this long?”

“You are outnumbered,” Fan Bingbing says, her instrument already in her hands. Likewise, the other three are also ready to engage the Core Disciple. “I would not be in a hurry to insult anyone.”

Shi Qingxia snorts and flares up her Qi. In the blink of an eye, the aura of a cultivator in the Fifth Level of the Earth Realm fills the corridor. It is a stark reminder that the person in front of them was judged to be among the strongest of her generation.

Despite that, Huang Shing does not feel outmatched.

“Do you mean to frighten us with that display?” Lu Mei asks, her voice dripping with casual arrogance. Huang Shing has always admired her ability to do that. When people try to be arrogant, they often end up sounding whiny or stupid. However, Sister Lu always manages to project a casual, almost elegant arrogance.

It must be a Feng trait.

“How sad it must be for you,” Lu Mei continues, the air around her growing warmer. “We do not frighten easily.”

“No, I suppose you don’t,” Shi Qingxia replies. “You are, after all, prodigies.”

There is confidence in her that Huang Shing doesn’t like and doesn’t understand. Being in the Earth Realm might make Shi Qingxia individually stronger than them, but they are all people who are stronger than their level of cultivation would suggest. Lei Kong is even on the Earth, just a few levels below Shi Qingxia.

There is no reason why she should look so confident.

“First Level of the Earth Realm, Eighth Level of the True Realm, Fourth Level of the True Realm, Second Level of the True Realm,” Shi Qinxia lists as her gaze sweeps over them. “You have all been busy, haven’t you? Especially you two.”

She points at Lu Mei and Huang Shing.

“How strong were you when you entered the Eternal Flame Clan? Early Spirit Realm? Late Nascent Realm? Regardless, you must have noticed how abnormal your growth has been,” Shi Qingxia says.

“We’re strong. That’s all there is to it,” Huang Shing says. To his surprise, Shi Qinxia nods.

“Exactly, you’re strong. Do you think all the others who entered the Eternal Flame Clan with you have grown at nearly the same rate? Or at all?” She scoffs. “Of course not. Most are probably still Outer Disciples. Some have probably asked to be transferred to lesser branches, and others might have quit altogether. That is the fate of those who are not talented.”

Lu Mei frowns. “What’s your point?”

“I suppose it’s not like me to ramble like this,” Shi Qinxia admits, clicking her tongue. “That’s for people like Brother Yong.”

Her Qi expands.

It’s still just in the Fifth Level of the Earth Realm. That does not change in the slightest. The difference in cultivation between them remains the same.

At the same time, Shi Qingxia’s is also somehow… more…

“My point, you little brats, is that I’m also a prodigy!” Shi Qingxia shouts, light raging around her. “Do you have any idea how many people who were hailed as prodigies in their own cities completely gave up after realizing they’d never match people like me? You bare your fangs at me as though I was just another stepping stone in your path! Understand this right now! I. Am. More!”

Fan Bingbing stumbles due to Shi Qingxia’s sudden intensity. The rest are similarly out of balance. It is the perfect opening. Huang Shing can almost feel Shi Qingxia’s fangs approaching his throat.

They never come.

“Of course, I’m not really here to fight a bunch of brats,” Shi Qingxia says, her menacing presence vanishing like the morning dew.

The sudden change is so off-putting that Huang Shing almost loses his balance. He is left gaping as Shi Qingxia casually walks to one of the doors instead of attacking them.

“You’re just walking away?” Huang Shing shouts. He immediately regrets it when Shi Qinxia stops and looks back at them.

“I am not someone to be treated as a stepping stone in your path, and you don’t even qualify as stepping stones in mine,” Shi Qinxia says. “Right now, my goal is elsewhere.”

“Why the theatrics then?” Lu Mei asks, her face far more composed than Huang Shing’s yet just as irritated. “Why waste time with us?”

Shi Qinxia thinks for a second before answering.

“Spite,” she answers, walking through the door and closing it.

~~~

Feng Zhi immediately decides he does not like this spatial realm. He also deduces he’s unlikely to like anything that is in any way related to the royal family of the Storm Dragon Empire. Some would call him biased, but Feng Zhi would argue he has achieved a state of objective dislike.

“The Heavens are kind to me.”

Feng Zhi’s scowl deepens. His obvious annoyance is far exceeded by the jubilation in Yuan Tao’s cat-like face.

Of all the people he could have run into!

Yuan Tao had been forced on them by Elder Fa, head of the Division of External Relations, and quickly proved himself a traitor. They had captured and imprisoned him. Unfortunately, Yuan Tao escaped due to his ability to call upon the Eternal Flame, making him a bastard of the Feng Clan. One who has been hiding under their noses for decades and whose ability to manipulate the Eternal Flame likely outstrips his own.

He is also a cultivator in the Heaven Realm.

“Shall I grant you a few moments to make peace with yourself?” Yuan Tao asks, his grin growing. “I must confess I was planning on confronting that monster Mud before you, but this works much better.”

Feng Zhi hears the overconfidence in his voice and decides he can use it.

It is just as well because there is nothing else he can do.

“You? Fight Senior Brother Mud?” Feng Zhi scoffs. “If you truly meant to do that, you would not be so relieved about encountering me. Take pride. Some consider knowing their own limitations a virtue. I wouldn’t know what that feels like, of course.”

Yuan Tao stops smiling, and Feng Zhi fears he might have pushed him too far.

“Ah, there’s the famed arrogance of the Feng Clan,” Yuan Tao says. “Does it feel good, cousin? To be proud of yourself for reasons completely unrelated to your merits? I wouldn’t know what that feels like, of course.”

“So it’s true, then? We’re related?” Feng Zhi asks. Yuan Tao snorts.

“Did you really doubt it?” Yuan Tao asks him. “Is your pride so large that the idea of missing someone of Feng blood so close to you is too much to bear? Well, it is true. While you, your brother, and your cousin lived in luxury, I had to hide my heritage. Someone with my talent and blood could have easily been deemed a threat.”

Considering his uncle tried to kill his half-brother, Feng Zhi cannot disagree with that. He cannot even imagine what Lady Ling or Lady Feng would have done to an unaffiliated bastard as powerful as Yuan Tao.

“Elder Fa helped hide you. He trained you in the Eternal Flame,” Feng Zhi deduces. “Is that why you support him?”

“Partially,” admits Yuan Tao. “I will not deny I am greatly indebted to him. However, do you really need to ask for my reasons? Or are you vainly hoping someone will come help you if you make enough time?”

Feng Zhi flinches.

“That’s not like you, cousin,” Yuan Tao says, golden eyes glowing. “If you’re a Feng, you should know better than anyone. The fire within us will never settle for mediocrity. I must rise further beyond. You and your family are inevitable kindling.”

Yuan Tao lifts his hand. Brilliant flames fill the corridor, engulfing Feng Zhi in the blink of an eye. For several seconds, there is nothing but blinding light.

However, when Yuan Tao’s attack ends, and the smoke clears, Feng Zhi is still standing. Golden flames cover his body like armor.

“Naive!” Feng Zhi shouts, his Qi rising. “Did you really expect an attack like that to work? Even if you’re in the Heaven Realm, I’m still of the Feng Clan! Fire will not kill me!”

The Eternal Flame is the strongest of all flames. It does not matter that Yuan Tao is in the Heaven Realm. The relationship of superiority between the Eternal Flame and other types of flame remains unchanged.

Of course, Yuan Tao already knew that.

“If I wanted to kill you, I’d have ripped your head from your shoulders and rendered your soul to ashes,” Yuan Tao says. “I merely wanted to give you the opportunity to cloak yourself in Eternal Flame, cousin. This way, there will be no doubt as to who is truly better fit to wield the Eternal Flame.”

The gold in Yuan Tao’s eyes overflows.

“Let’s do things properly this time, shall we?”

~~~

Liu Jin’s body lies exactly where the Fleshcrafter left it.

His heart does not beat. His lungs do not work. His blood has been left free to flow out of his body. The rest of his vital organs have all been damaged in one way or another. Even his brain has not been spared.

No one stumbles upon the corpse. Various battles erupt across the spatial realm, but this one corridor remains empty.

…

…

…

Liu Jin stirs.

~~~

Mini-Character List

Liu Jin: …

Qing Guo: Prince of the Storm Dragon Empire. Scared.

Dog: A modified creature of the Death Fashioning Scripture. Not scared.

Huang Shing: Liu Jin’s friend. A disciple of the Eternal Flame Clan. Annoyed.

Lei Kong: Liu Jin’s former servant. Current head of the Lei Clan. Worried.

Fan Bingbing: Liu Jin’s friend. Disciple of the Eternal Flame Clan. Member of the Exploration Division. Frustrated.

Lu Mei: Liu Jin’s girlfriend. Bastard of the Feng Clan. Angry.

Shi Qingxia: Former Disciple of the Eternal Flame Clan. Spiteful.

Feng Zhi: Young Master of the Eternal Flame Clan. Not amused.

Yuan Tao: Also a bastard of the Feng Clan. Follower of Elder Fa. Smug.