Mana 5 Chapter 21 (Patreon)

Ming searched my eyes for something. “You used three bloodlines, even two together. I thought the Yutu brat was exaggerating.”

I winced at having my secret exposed. “Surprise?”

“Surprise indeed.” She seemed unsure of whether I was a boon or a threat. In reality, I was probably a bit of both, depending on how her agenda aligned to mine.

She seemed to put off making any rash judgements, continuing to support my body as she said, “Come on, you look like shit.” Ming lifted me and hoisted me between Rachel and her.

The two women bore much of my weight.

Taking stock of my body, it felt like it was soybeans that had been crushed into paste. The weight off my legs was a relief.

I cycled my life mana, trying to restore myself. “No one else chose this passage?” I asked.

“It got a little chaotic there for a moment.” Rachel looked away, embarrassed. “But I’m glad one of us could be here in the path you chose.”

“One of us?” Ming asked with a frown.

“His women.” Rachel clarified quickly.

I glanced over my shoulder at the chamber. “Do you know which way my wives went? Maybe we could slip past it.”

Ming scoffed. “Not in your state; it would be risking death.”

Part of me wanted to argue that with her, but my body was telling me she was right. Bearing two bloodlines at the same time and working to evade the beast had wiped everything out of me.

“I think that was designed to force us down these paths.” I said, as I realized the truth.

Ming nodded. “I agree, but now this tomb has become a winding maze full of too many passages. I’d hoped it would be more direct.”

“Sorry.” I apologized for the world. “I know how important this tomb is to you and your family.”

Her expression became a mix of solemn determination and desperation. “We’ll push forward as soon as you are better. This tunnel seems safe, and the room ahead is likely not. And I could use some time to heal as well.”

Rachel took that as her cue. “I’ll keep watch. Of the three of us, I’m in the best state.”

“Thank you.” I said, taking her up on the option and settling down on the ground to focus on my cultivation. I dove into the shared soul space, hoping to connect with my wives.

Fading into my soul palace, I stood from my throne and walked out of the palace. As I stepped out, I felt a pulse of mana from Michelle.

She quickly spotted me and ran to me, wrapping me in a hug. “You need to stop scaring me.”

“This tomb is dangerous. How is everyone else?” I asked.

“Split into two groups.” She looked over her shoulder as Nikki appeared from her soul palace. “Everyone okay?”

“We’re fine. Wanted to check on both of you. Did Isaac go with your group?” Nikki asked, running her fingers through her pink hair.

I shook my head. “It was a narrow escape. I chose one at random and ended up with Rachel and Ming.”

Both Michelle and Nikki looked at each other and cursed. But as they rattled off their group, we were able to confirm that all my wives were accounted for between our three groups.

“We were split by the beast, but we managed to mostly stay together. I’m glad you are with Rachel. We wouldn’t have known where she was otherwise. But I wish you had more of us with you.” Michelle stated.

I could see the wheels in her head churning as she tried to figure out the best strategy.

“We are resting up, but then we’ll continue. Our goal now is to just collect as much as we can. I think the Biji Family doesn’t have a bad approach. It makes sense to take the lower risk items. There’s plenty of reward, and it keeps you from fewer enemies or even allies who will take you down for the top prize.”

Michelle smirked, eying me skeptically. “Of course, you’ll have no interest in the grand prize. It’s not like you’re competitive.” Nikki started cracking up next to her.

I grabbed Michelle, roughly pulling her into a hug. “Oh? If I enjoyed being in charge, why would I have let myself end up with so many stubborn women?”

She laughed and nuzzled into me as I started tickling her into submission. “Fine! You’ve made your point!” She tried to wiggle out of my arms.

I tickled her a moment longer before I let her go. She was still laughing as she said, “We’ll go with you as far as we safely can. Don’t count us out yet, though.”

I smiled and nodded. “Fine. I’ll see you all at the end.” I smacked her ass as I walked past her to Nikki, who I pulled into a fierce hug before returning to my body and focusing on healing myself while I could.

***

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but when I cracked my eyes open, I found Ming leaning against the wall and Rachel meditating.

“Good.” Ming noticed me as soon as I was back. “You recover quickly.”

“One of my bloodlines.” I answered.

She raised an eyebrow. “And how many bloodlines do you have?”

Her curiosity was understandable, but I wasn’t about to reveal my cards. For all I knew, the next challenge could be a death match between the three of us. There was no chance I was going to put myself at risk by giving up secrets.

“Sorry. I’d like to keep a few cards hidden for now.”

“You have more than three for sure; Jade Yutu said you revealed four.” She clicked her tongue. “Monster.”

I smiled, taking it as a compliment. “You didn’t do half bad yourself. That attack on the ash beast was powerful.”

“Not powerful enough.” Ming sighed and glanced at her spatial ring. “I don’t have enough mana in here to ascend to the sixth rank yet. Hopefully, there’s something soon because the challenges seem to be mounting.”

“We’ll make it through.” I put a reassuring hand on her arm.

Ming smiled before she caught herself and looked away. “You shouldn’t be so familiar with me. I’m engaged.”

I didn’t apologize. “Comforting you when you need it isn’t reserved for lovers.”

She turned back with a face full of hope and worry. “There is too much riding on my shoulders for this tomb.”

“I know. This presents the opportunity to restore your family’s bloodline. I will do everything I can to help you succeed.” I spoke with such honesty that it moved Ming.

“Good, I’m not sure how many people in here I can really trust. But I believe I can trust you.” She said.

Like that, the two of us sat in silence, with my arm resting on her, before Rachel stirred and Ming quickly disengaged.

I shook my head. The woman was confused.

“Let’s get going then, you two.” Ming stood up and prepared to march down the passage. Neither of us hesitated, jumping to our feet, ready to continue.

Ahead, the passage opened into a room bathed in red light. As soon as I stepped into it, I could feel a rush of agitated mana as the sand crunched beneath my feet.

Learning, I bent down and checked the ground, confirming that it was sand and not ash. But flecked in with the sand were little shards of mana crystals. Even a few thumb side crystals poked up through the sand. The air here at the edge of the desert felt heavy with how much mana was in it.

Standing back up, I scanned around. Far into the distance, there was a large obelisk with a red sun hanging behind it. I could faintly see the glowing numbers on its peak change to twenty-three.

I took a breath, noting that the air was extremely dry. It was like we’d stepped into an entirely different environment.

“This tomb is truly strange. First a barren land, then a jungle, and now we were smack in the middle of this red desert.” I said.

“It might even get stranger. Look closer.” She pointed out at the obelisk. “Those numbers on it changed when we stepped onto the sand.”

She was right. When we first stepped into the place, the number had been twenty, and now it is twenty-three.

“You think that accounts for the three of us stepping onto the sand?”

“I’d bet it does.” Ming scowled. “The question is why do we need to know the number of people in this desert.”

My mind jumped to the obvious answer. “Only a certain number can leave?”

“My guess as well. It is time for the tomb to start thinning our ranks rather than just test us.”

Her comment on testing us made my brain start to swirl. If I thought of each of our encounters as a test, the tomb made more sense. We were tested on general strength by the ash beasts, and group coordination, or maybe even leadership, by the ants. The large ash beast tested us on knowing when to retreat. I tried to figure out what this test would be.

“I’ll need to stop us here. It is time for me to break into the 6th rank if we are to proceed.” Ming stopped by our door and sat down.

Rachel looked out over the desert. “I understand we finally have an environment for it, but isn’t this dangerous?”

“Yes.” I agreed, but then I paused. “Though, after that, what purpose do Rachel and I provide?” I asked sharply. The last thing I wanted was to become dead weight once she ascended to the sixth rank. Or worse, she might just go off on her own.

“This place has twenty-three cultivators, and I suspect it isn’t just our group. There will be fights after this as we encounter other groups. Your help will be invaluable, and we might be able to find the resources for you to break into the sixth rank as well.”

I let my eyes scan her face as she spoke, taking in all the minor details.

Satisfied, I nodded. “We’ll cover you while you cultivate. But know that this is my test of your word. Do not make me regret this.” I took Ming at her word. She’d protected Hendrick after his near betrayal; it was easy to see just how firm she was on loyalty.

Ming snorted. “As if I’d do anything like that to you. You’re well protected.”

I paused. “What was that?”

“I haven’t known her that long, but I am fairly certain your red-headed wife would hunt me and mine for the rest of my existence if I betrayed you. I doubt the woman would even eat or sleep until she’d dismembered me slowly.” She paused, seeming to wait for us to deny it.

But Rachel just cringed a bit and nodded. “Yeah, she probably would. Or replace all your servants with mind fucked people who’d try to kill you in your sleep.”

I looked at Rachel. That… sounded exactly what Kat would do. Ming looked a bit more unsteady at that idea.

"Sit down and get started. The sooner we start, the better." I commented, scanning the horizon for threats. Maybe if she broke through quickly, there would be enough mana in the surroundings for me to break through as well.

If Ming was going to step into the sixth rank, Rachel and I would need to play protectors. This was not a safe place for her to cultivate in peace. Others were sure to have figured out the count and what needed to be done, and interrupting cultivation could be highly dangerous.

Ming sat down and closed eyes, falling into meditation without another word.

“What do we do now?” Rachel asked.

“We wait and pray that no one ambushes us. And if they do, our goal isn’t to kill anyone. It is to protect Ming.”

“Understood,” Rachel said.

I stood against the wall of the red sand chamber. Now that I had a moment to think about it, I took the time to go back in my memories and try to figure out where I could place Breeze’s sword technique.

There was something about it that bothered me, some sort of familiarity.

Soon, I realized it reminded me of the sword style my father had taught me. It had only been a single stroke, but the form and the flow felt like my childhood training.

I shook my head, wondering if I was just missing my father. Could I really tell us sword style by a single stroke?

I’d have to pay more attention when I fought alongside Breeze again. Because if he was using my father’s sword art, there was a chance he might know something about where my father was.

Rachel looked at me strangely. “What has gotten into you?”

I realized my face had turned pensive. “I think I recognized someone's sword art. It looked like my father’s.”

Rachel's eyes went wide at the mention of my father. Having been around my family, she knew that I was searching for him. “Do you really think so?”

“That’s what’s got me in a mood. I feel like it’s my father’s sword art based on a single stroke.” I was tempted just to fight Breeze myself, so I could see all I needed to quickly. But so far he’d been an ally, and I didn’t want to throw him off.

I glanced at Ming to see if our conversation was interrupting her, but she seemed more than capable of holding herself in a cultivation meditation.

If she cultivated like I did, she likely didn’t even register our voices as she focused on her own cultivation. By the way mana was swirling into her and the mana crystals in the sand were evaporating. She was well on her way.

The sixth rank was a potent threshold. In the fifth rank, we grew a section of reality within our soul palace. In the sixth rank, we had to convert that segment of reality to something we could exercise in the real world. It was the fabled domain.

In the mortal world, I’d seen imitations of the domain as people mastered their element to a superb extent. But this was a true domain; within their sphere, a cultivator could realize anything in the world and control everything.

While not entirely omnipotent, within a domain, a cultivator had control of the space it encompassed. It could be overcome by another domain, or sheer strength, but for a fifth rank to over power it was rare.

Ming was trying to realize that domain in the world for the first time. The amount of mana that required was tremendous.

Without having attempted it, I wasn’t entirely sure what it would feel like. But I had no doubt it was extraordinarily difficult.

Rachel and I continued to watch over Ming, even as her body began to quake and shake from the pressure that was building up inside of her.

As she cultivated, the surrounding sand began to vibrate with the effort of her trying to exude her domain.

It continued on and off for several hours, as she continued to sweat profusely and her hair and clothes rippled with unseen wind.

I was growing worried when another group approached.

Squinting at the approaching group, I recognized Hendrick and Quixi and two others from the original Blueheavens group. We were about to see if Ming’s loyalty was well-placed.

“Hey there. Fancy seeing you here.” I said with as much congeniality as I could muster.

Hendrick squinted at me before his eyes dipped to Ming standing behind me. “There she is; I was worried we wouldn’t reconnect with her.”

“That Ash Beast was something else.” I wondered how far away they’d been when they’d entered. It made sense for entrances and exits to be closer together, but I suspected the tomb would not be that easy on our group.

Quixi did her best to put on a disarming smile? “Is Ming hurt? She doesn’t look hurt.”

I decided it was best not to tell them she was attempting to break through to the six rank. “She said she needed to cultivate, cleanse her system after fighting the ash beast. I think that the powerful techniques she performed might have unsteadied her cultivation.” I did my best to lead their thinking onto another path.

“Ah.” Hendrick seemed to buy it. “Good. We will need her strength here shortly if we have any hope of succeeding. We’ve already been in this desert for half a day, and it feels like we made no progress.” He looked up and over at the monolith standing far into the distance.

I blinked in confusion. “Half a day?”

Quixi turned to me with a frown. “Yes, is there a problem?”

“We’ve only been here for 2 to 3 hours at most. It certainly hasn’t been half a day since we fought the beast.”

We all looked at each other, trying to piece together the difference. The only logical answer I could come up with was that the tomb messed with space and time. And I wasn’t sure I liked the concept of it messing with time.

“That is extraordinarily strange.” Hendrick and Quixi exchanged looks that were a silent conversation before they both nodded in unison. “Have you fought anyone since you entered?”

“No, we entered and saw the count. Then we focused on recovering. As you can see, Ming still needs more time.” I observed them. Something felt off; my gut told me they were acting strangely. They had offered little information on their time yet in the desert.

I trusted my instincts, but fighting at that moment wasn’t an option. My best move was to be cautious and try to put off any direct conflict. We had to protect Ming.

“You two were hurt as well?” Quixi asked, stepping closer. “Let me see if I can tend to your wounds.”

“Thanks, but no need. They were minor. We’ve already healed up.” I waved her off, but she still pressed forward. After a few steps, her movements became sharper.

A knife dropped out of her sleeve as she darted up at my throat.

But I wasn’t stupid. I’d been ready for her attack. Batting her wrist aside, I plucked the knife out of her hand. “Did you really think that would work?”

Hendrick took my moment of distraction to draw a sword and try to run Ming through.

Rachel was there first, tackling Hendrick before rolling off him and standing. Rachel positioned herself in front of Ming, her chakrams at the ready. “What the fuck are you two doing?” Rachel eyed the other two in their party, but they hung back.

Quixi had jumped back with Hendrick, her sword drawn and ready to fight.

“Get up here and fight.” Hendrick growled at the two lingering behind.

“You said you would take care of him.” They pointed at me with fear in their eyes.

I smiled wickedly. While I enjoyed keeping my secrets, it was nice to be appreciated.

“We are four against two, and they have to protect Ming while she breaks through.” Hendrick spat. I wasn’t surprised he’d seen through my lies.

When the other two still paused, Hendrick grumbled harder. “Fine. Then go after Ming, you useless twats.”

“Why would they be scared?” I mocked the group, trying to stall for time.

“What kind of freak are you?” Hendrick glared at me. “I felt those bloodlines. To have so many is impossible.”

I shrugged, pulling out my bonesword and swinging it casually. The mana crystals in it caught the light, and I saw it draw Hendrick’s eyes.

His group might think they had us outnumbered, but I was packing four extra. This would very quickly become five on four, at least for the moment.

I assumed that Hendrick still had his mana beast rings.

“Why are you doing this, Hendrick? What do you have to gain? Ming brought you here. If something happens to her, do you even think you’ll be accepted back into Blueheavens?”

“Who said anything about returning to Blueheavens? I possess the same bloodline as the Long family; they have made their own offers.”

Quixi looked surprised, and I latched onto that.

“Ah, so you’re going to leave Quixi. Of course. After all, she doesn’t add any value if you don’t need to join the Su family. I bet the Long family already has a lovely bride picked out for you. But Quixi, what are you going to do? You’ll never be able to return to the Su family either, or your family name would be tarnished.” I enjoyed the flicker of hesitation that spread on Quixi’s face.

“Shut up.” Hendrick lashed out at me, but I parried and narrowly missed his chin as he jumped back. “Quixi, don’t listen to him.”

“Look how angry he is. It’s almost like he’s scared you’ll turn on him now that he’s exposed.” Rachel egged Quixi on.

It seemed our needling had some effect, as Quixi dropped her fighting stance. “Hendrick, has the Long family offered you a wife?” Quixi asked him point blank.

“Of course. But that doesn’t mean I’ll abandon you. You’ll come with me and join the Long family.”

She chewed on her lip for a moment before nodding. “Agreed. I’ll miss my family, but I’m sure through the Long family I can do some good for them.”

I clenched my jaw. I’d hoped Quixi was a bit more faithful, and a bit less stupid. However, it had seemed she’d thrown her lot in fully with Hendrick.

And it hadn’t escaped me that while we were talking, the other two cultivators had stepped to the side, continuing to flank us around Ming.

Darting forward, I slashed at Hendrick, opening Ming up on purpose.

The cultivator on my side took the bait, jumping to get Ming.

At that moment, Aurora darted out of her ring, surprising the cultivator and grabbing his head between her two hands before she slammed her head into his.

He went down in a heap, while Aurora stomped on his throat. She rubbed her forehead as she looked around.

“You really do have a thick skull, Aurora.” I commented, surprised at how swiftly her surprise attack had worked.

“Master, should I kill him?”

Hendrick interrupted. “You cultivate rings. You’re from my world.” There was a flicker of understanding from my opponent before he looked at me again. This time, there was a greater recognition in his eyes. “Wait, I know where I’ve seen you before.”

“Finally putting it together. I knew it would come to you eventually.” I decided it was time to enrage Hendrick and knock him off his game, so I smirked at him. “Becoming curious about what happened after you left?”