Fates Parallel Chapter 410 - Respect (Patreon)

Opening the way for them had allowed Do Hye and Master Ienaga Yumi to enter Yoshika’s soul realm, but in exchange Sovereign Shen Yu had wormed his way in along with them. By itself, not the worst trade—Shen Yu’s avatar was hastily constructed, and not as powerful as it had been when she saw him last—but the lapse had allowed Yan De and the others to draw more of their power into her realm.

Against one of them, in the seat of her power and with the Sovereign’s Tear at her disposal, it would have been a difficult fight. Four was beyond impossible, even with help.

There was one advantage, however. Now that she didn’t have to focus as much on keeping her enemies at bay, she could control more of her essence, and within the soul realm, it was all her essence. Her foes couldn’t draw on it without exposing themselves to internal techniques, while her allies could use it freely—even more easily than normal.

It also finally freed Yoshika to start manifesting avatars—something she’d need to start doing quickly, as the more powerful of her enemies were already starting to take advantage of the opening to smash through Ja Yun’s outermost defenses.

There was just one thing she needed to take care of, first.

Yue and the others had already noticed the change in the air and were urging Dae to hurry.

“Magus Hyeong, we’re swiftly running out of time. Just how much more detailed do you need to make this spell?”

“Miss Yan, you need to understand that we are attempting something that has never been done before. I suspect that it’s theoretically possible, but there is no room for error, and I don’t have time to study. I’m making a lot of this up as I go, and that takes time.”

“We don’t have time, Hyeong. We’re all going to die if you can’t finish this formation!”

Jia formed an illusory body and shook her head disapprovingly.

“Don’t pressure him, Yue, that’s only going to make things worse.”

Yue let out a sigh of relief.

“Jia! What’s going on, is everything alright?”

“I don’t have much time to talk. Longyan is already making a push for the shield. Dae, thank you so much for doing this. I knew I’d be asking a lot, but this was the only thing I could think of.”

Dae didn’t look up from his work, but she could hear the smile in his voice.

“It’s nothing, Miss Lee. Just the latest in a long chain of impossible requests that began when you asked for my assistance in your duel with Yan Zhihao. What else are friends for?”

She grinned.

“You’ve always been there for me. I owe you the world and then some—which is why I’m really sorry, but I’ve brought help.”

“Why would you be sorry about...”

Dae trailed off as Do Hye appeared next to her.

“Oho! This is good work! Well done, my boy!”

“Ah... Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I doubt I’d have turned his aid down in your position.”

Oddly, Dae wasn’t surprised. If anything, he seemed almost relieved. Jia didn’t have time to question it, though—every second counted.

“Zheng Long, I can take over providing power to the formation now, do you think you can fight?”

He grimaced.

“I can’t say my heart is in it, but I’ll try. Dare I ask who?”

Jia bit her lip. Longyan was the greatest threat, and the one she needed to focus her attention on. Ienaga could handle Shen Yu, and the Dragon Lord was too much of a mystery. That only left one real option.

“I only need you to slow him down. Just stall him a little while I handle the others. If it’s you, it might give him pause.”

Zheng Long winced.

“Oh, you’re joking.”

“I’m sorry. You don’t have to—you don’t owe me anything. I’ll think of something else, so—”

“I’ll do it.”

He glanced at Yue, then shook his head and chuckled mirthlessly.

“I have some questions that need answering anyway. It’s not often one gets the Ancestral Grandmaster’s full and undivided attention. This is a rare opportunity.”

—-

Ienaga Yumi parried a flying sword with her own blade, then promptly twisted out of the way of a second. Shen Yu’s attacks were relentless, his flying swords assaulting her from all angles without so much as a moment of reprieve.

She hated the way he fought. The man himself simply stood in one place, crossing his arms and scowling at her while she fended off his attacks. He would move to avoid her if she went on the offensive, but otherwise focused on his swords.

Yumi found a small opening and surged through, feinting an upward slash only to whirl her blade around and change the angle at the last second.

It didn’t matter, more blades emerged from Shen Yu’s body to block her strike, leaving him open to jump back and create more distance between them once more.

He clicked his tongue in irritation.

“Tsk. This is a disgrace. To be pushed back by a mere body cultivator. If that charlatan hadn’t dispelled my original avatar I would crush such an amateur swordsman.”

Yumi didn’t want to hear it from a man who used his blades like mere tools. He controlled them with grace, but she felt no soul in the movements. It was as though he’d distilled the essence of his swordsmanship down to nothing more than pure technique.

He was also drawing her into his pace. The conservative way he was fighting had caused her to fall back on old habits, but like most chatty opponents, he’d given away more than he thought.

Shen Yu was weakened. His new avatar had been made in haste, and didn’t have the strength to simply overwhelm her. Ienaga had been waiting for him to lose patience—to overcommit or slip up as her powerful enemies so often did. But she was beginning to realize that she’d had it backwards.

For once, Ienaga Yumi wasn’t fighting a more powerful foe. She was the one with overwhelming strength, and it was Shen Yu who had to conserve his strength until the right moment.

She could tell it was a reversal for both of them. Shen Yu was a cautious man, and even if he had been the one with the upper hand, he may still have fought the same way, but Ienaga was in uncharted territory.

Yumi had to shake off her fears and take full advantage of the blessing Yoshika had given her.

“Sovereign Shen Yu, I apologize for dishonoring you with such simple techniques. I will give this fight the gravity it deserves.”

Sacred Art: Transcendent Physique

The unspoken words echoed their meaning onto the world around her as Ienaga’s body was suffused with divine essence. She often taught her students that the body was a vessel for ki. It was a metaphor that helped them picture the way their body absorbed the essence around them, but in her case it was much more literal.

Her crafted body could host any element, or even many at once, but there was a limit to how much she could use and no matter how she cultivated, that limit had never changed.

It was her greatest blessing, and her curse. Her uncle’s finest work and his greatest regret. She had never allowed it to hold her back.

Yumi moved faster than her own mind could keep up with, trusting the instincts that she’d forged over a century of battle to guide her through. She lunged forward through the storm of blades, knocking aside each one that threatened her as she closed in on her target.

Shen Yu was already moving to counter her, his own sacred art reverberating through the world.

Divine Art: One Hundred and Eight Heavenly Dancing Swords.

Like her, he had been holding back. Waiting for the right moment to commit to a decisive blow. It was the same strategy she’d used to slay more powerful opponents time and again.

Each of his nine flying swords split in three, then each of those into four. A hundred and eight all together, just as the technique implied. Each blade moved with the same strength and grace as if Sovereign Shen were wielding them individually.

They formed an impassable wall of death between her and her foe, the swirling blades closing in to trap her from all directions.

Yumi’s Transcendent Physique was more than just a physical empowerment. It allowed her to change her body in any number of ways—the culmination of hundreds of schools each trying to perfectly embody their own elements. Yumi embodied them all.

But likewise, Shen Yu’s swords could cut deeper than flesh. It wouldn’t matter if she turned herself into Mist or Lightning, or even something as ephemeral and untouchable as Sky—Shen Yu could cut her all the same.

No, their clash went deeper still. A battle of the soul—her will against his. Though they had held back until this final moment, Yumi felt a strange sort of kinship with Shen Yu as a fellow follower of the blade. His way was very different to hers, but both of them sought mastery of the same thing. The art of cutting, of killing. Taking a life in a simple, clean, and efficient manner.

Sovereign Shen Yu and Master Ienaga Yumi were not defensive fighters. One way or another, their clash would come down to destructive force.

Yumi took a rare stance. One she had never used against an opponent before. It was a technique she’d always considered too dangerous for real practice. A warning against the dangers of dedicating oneself to the forces of raw destruction.

But her student had mastered it, and what sort of teacher would she be if she couldn’t learn from her students in turn?

The essence within Yumi responded eagerly. As the swords closed in around her, Yumi recalled a memory that wasn’t hers. For a brief moment, she and her students were one, and as they had drawn inspiration from her, so too did she draw on the lessons they shared.

Her body erupted in dark energy, flowing through the air at sharp unnatural angles as the essence of Destruction rejected the reality it was imposed upon.

As Ienaga Yumi lunged forward, she spoke her student’s words.

Divine Art: Sixth Arm of Asura—Star Sundering Slash

Shen Yu’s blades shattered on the aura of Destruction around her. Her strike carved through reality and split the air before her, passing through the wall of blades as though they were nothing.

As the sovereign’s avatar fell, he didn’t cry out or curse. He simply stared Yumi down with an appraising look before closing his eyes as the last traces of his avatar dissolved into essence.

She sheathed her sword and bowed. Though their paths were at odds, his commitment to swordsmanship was still worthy of respect.

Yumi didn’t dally long. The fight was won, but that battle was far from over.

—-

Zheng Long questioned the life of decisions that had led him to this moment. He knew that fate was real—that his life had been preordained. Yet he still couldn’t help but wonder how it had taken such a strange turn.

He crested the grassy hill before him to find his Grandmaster waiting patiently. The man who had ruled over his entire life from afar, the leader of his sect, a figure who had been second only to the God-Emperor himself for as long as Zheng Long could remember. He simply regarded Zheng Long as he approached, his face and aura both betraying no emotion.

Even after ascending to the ranks of xiantian cultivators, Yan De’s casual attention was stifling.

Zheng Long grasped his fist in front of his chest and bowed deeply.

“This unworthy junior greets you, esteemed Ancestral Grandmaster.”

Yan De didn’t respond right away, leaving Zheng Long to remain bowed for a moment before finally gesturing for him to rise.

“Zheng Long. I take it that despite your ascension, you are not the master of this place?”

“No, esteemed Ancestral Grandmaster, I have failed you.”

“I don’t recall giving you the option of failure, Zheng Long. If you still draw breath, then your mission has not yet concluded.”

Zheng Long hesitated, swallowing nervously as he gathered his courage.

“With respect, Ancestral Grandmaster, I do not believe that the task is within my limits.”

Yan De frowned.

“Hm. I can respect a fair evaluation, and you were right to come to me rather than go down fighting. Come—you can add your power to mine. Our rivals ignore us for now, but once we reach the core the fighting will be fierce.”

“I’m sorry, Grandmaster, but I don’t think I can do that either.”

The patriarch’s eyes narrowed dangerously, his tone cold as ice.

“Explain.”

“My ascension was...harrowing. Even before my soul was torn apart by a demon and hastily put back together again. I had to examine who I was, and who I was trying to be, and I found the conclusions disturbing.”

“Not unusual. A few decades of meditation and you’ll overcome those heart demons in time.”

Zheng Long bowed.

“I appreciate the encouragement, Master, but as I am I will be of no use to you. Miss Yoshika asked me to delay you, but that’s not really why I’m here.”

Yan De raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Daring of you to admit to such a betrayal to my face. If you are not going to fight by my side, and you’re not here on her behalf, then what drives you, Zheng Long?”

“A question, Elder. Something I still don’t understand. Once I realized I was trying to model myself after you, there was one great contradiction that I couldn’t resolve no matter how I tried.”

“Ask, then. I’ll decide what to do with you later.”

Zheng Long took a steadying breath, knowing his next words might be his last.

“Yan De, did you ever intend for either of your children to inherit the sect?”

“No.”

Yan De’s answer was so swift and decisive that it left Zheng Long stunned.

“I...wasn’t expecting an answer.”

“I didn’t really give one. After all, the real question is why, isn’t it? Spend some time meditating on it, and perhaps one day you’ll understand.”

“You—you’re not going to kill me?”

The grandmaster scoffed.

“Would I have let you waste so much of my time if I were? Walk your path, Zheng Long. It’s a rare one, and I’d rather not see it squandered.”

With that, Yan De turned and left, and Zheng Long found himself burdened with more questions than he’d started with.