Moss had begun growing quickly in place of the ruined city. It was quite the sight to see as nature had invaded and overgrown the town.
Streets were cracked with roots and buildings held in tact by them, albeit hardly as the fires had only finally gone out a short few days ago.
Ruinous storms had not spared the coastside either, destroying the once treasured port from which countless hopefuls stopped on their way to the Cloud Spire.
A light ocean breeze pulled through the town the same as it would have on an average day, the place no longer carried the beauty of humanity, but rather the wild grandity of nature making one feel strange.
The sea birds which preyed upon those land dwelling rats scampering about the displaced sands and ruined town suddenly began calling out and flying off at once.
"...It's kind of strange." Voices neared slowly alongside the light footsteps, a little life brought back to the ruined city square.
"What is?" Another voice, a masculine one, but well spoken like a scholars soft tone.
"Walking around. When was the last time we… walked? Like on actual ground?" That feminine voices owner came just over the bend of the hole in the earth of the city square.
Her aura like a violet haze intoxicating those who saw it, and her body veiled in it's glory, one could hardly see through it without some margin of strength, however her single hand appeared for a moment, silky and smooth.
"Hm. Maybe, two? Three weeks?" The masculine voices owner appeared as well.
His face was set with the roguish charm of a wild boy turned scholar, yet, he was also veiled in a faint sense of danger as though a painter's brush before the canvas, ready to do it's duty at any moment.
"We should walk the rest of the way, for the hell of it, you know?"
"Well, we already went back on bringing everyone else and escaped. What's a little walking?"
"Right? They must be fumming right now though."
"They'll get over it."
—
Meanwhile, in Baylen's Rest.
With the influx of countless refugee's from the Exiled Realm, the two had come to a realization. There was now way they could take the whole clan and leave the city to its own as it was, or else it would collapse to thievery, debauchery and crime.
So, naturally, they dumped it all on the two Hallmasters who were currently running around everywhere to quell the uproar in the city about the sudden influx.
It was naturally so, after all, while they all shared a similar story, that did not mean they shared a similar mindset, the ones who were here for longer being wary of those new here and vice-versa.
Such was the nature of humans, especially such traumatised humans as these which were now in the Demon Realm, saved by inhabitants of it, which they were told were absolute monsters!
It was impossible to not be uneasy.
Not to mention the fleet of ships in the sky above the city periodically firing at the Undying Soldiers which would appear from the earth beneath their very feet!
Nowhere felt safe for these refugees which caused fear, and fear caused desperation, and with everything that had been happening and changing so quickly they struggled to adapt, which caused aggression.
Aggression meant chaos.
And the two Hallmasters would not allow chaos.
—
Quietly hidden away within the hive like caves as though cut into the cliffside, darkness filled everything until one reached a small crack, passing through which a great pool of pitch black substances mixed.
On the ceiling of the cave, an old dried up corpse of something akin to a hydra was stabbed through by countless spikes.
The corpse no longer bled, but the spikes which had been infused with it's blood for untold time had turned into a precious treasure.
Hydra Fang Stones.
At least, that was the name that the one sitting cross-legged, submerged in the pool of poison had chosen to call it.
A light mist rolled off his body, it's color poisonous and raw as though seeking something to fuel it's movements, yet it was also restrained.
The walls of the cave were dripping with what one could call sweat as though the poison was so efficacious that it could melt stone.
Within his Inner Sea, a massive cauldron floated atop a sea of the mist which rolled around him. His foundation is a simple statue of a spear wielding youth quite similar to himself, the resonance between his soul and his foundation fantastic.
A second character was close to forming on the cauldron's shell, the opportunity to receive a second law was nearing.
Once I breakthrough…
His eyes fluttered open, poison dripping from his brow.
"...I will end it."
—
"We're here!" An excited shout cracked around the land, "What do you think they'll have? Heavenly treasures? Divine artifacts? Hidden masters? Or maybe a secret realm!"
"...I hate it here."
She smiled at this sighing.
"Aw, don't be so cold. Have some fun! We aren't getting any younger, you know?"
"We also aren't getting much older. Is this why you asked to walk? Because you wanted to ransake this place?"
"Well, if we flew then we would have gone right past! Besides, don't you want revenge for the one who almost killed your dearest, most beloved?"
He rolled his eyes at her jests.
It had been close to a month of leisurely walking in which time, he had learned of a new side of his lover, and that was that while she could be terribly serious and calculating, she was also very greedy and very vindictive like a cat or a dragon.
Though, she was also very talkative and funny too, it was just they never had a low energy moment to really… act normally.
"Cheeky."
"You love me."
He shook his head as he sighed once more.
Indeed, he did want revenge but this just felt like a casual highway robbery.
The Cloud Faring Sect did have some fame and esteem, but it was not strong. If not for the fact that it was a last ditch secret move, it would not have done what it did.
This place was also not quite powerful, though it was large having nearly ten thousand disciples, the number of Law Expert's could be counted on ones hand.
The Heavenly Arrow, Sect Leader Ji.
The Bow's Master, Elder Yi.
Cloud Son, Su Jie.
Su Jie being the son of Sect Leader Ji, though he had not been seen in quite a while.
"Say, let's not kill anyone." Suddenly, she spoke and her words shocked him.
"Why?" He was opposed to killing innocents, but to him, that man who almost took her life had to be laid to rest for his sin.
"Because, it was a fair match. We are enemies. I'm here now just to prove my own… skill." Her words brushed him.
He knew what she wanted.
She wanted to set his worries to rest and prove that she was capable, however, he sighed once more. He wanted so badly to kill him for his crime, but he also wanted to respect her choice.
His hatred flared like the devil on his shoulder, and his love the angel on the otherside.
One whispered, wait until she is done with them, then in the night sneak away and let this world burn in her image.
One whispered, what good will come of angering her, of second guessing her choice, spare this world for her sake.
Between the two, he felt conflicted.
"Don't worry. You aren't alone in your anger." She said squeezing his hand.
He was reminded of how she raged when he took the arrow meant to steal her life, not almost take his.
"I also have a grudge to fulfill."
—
"I can't believe the gate is closed and I still have to go out and do this."
Yi Zi grumbled as he dragged himself out of bed.
Ever since his sect had closed its doors and ordered everyone into closed door cultivation, he felt more than ever the difference between outer disciples and quite literally everyone else.
With ten thousand disciples, only a small one thousand were of the outer sect with the rest being chain experts who didn't do any of the menial labour.
Naturally, he was not one of them.
It was especially terrible because of the recent raids against the sect which were luckily staved off with the help of the young master Spear Dragon coming in at the perfect time to fight off the Spirit Beasts.
He shuddered as he remembered the sight of the mountain burning.
Tssss.
Sucking in a cold breath he shook his head and began his patrol.
The mountain was shaved almost completely bald with only a few spots of tree's, the rest was used to house the ten thousand disciples with the Inner disciples situated at the back mountain and the core disciples at the peak alongside the Elder Residence, Treasure Hall and Technique Pavilion.
Beautifully carved tiles which were hardly fixed by the time the mountain was locked down lined the roads.
Sensing the morning qi, he felt a little better about being made to wake up so early.
"Little Yi!"
Instantly, a bad taste appeared in his mouth and his face darkened.
"Tubby Tao."
"Che! It's not tubby, I am strong!" He flexed his meatloaf arms with a stupid grin, "Ready for the day?"
Tubby Tao had arrived not long ago, his time in the sect only a few months at most, Yi Zi had the great pleasure of being his senior brother and teaching him things which caused him to be attached to Yi Zi.
"Ready as a rabbit."
With that, the two passed by the buildings where those inner disciples lived, and began their patrol around the mountains base.
Yet, in the midst of their patrol, Li Yi stopped in his tracks, Tubby Tao bumping into him at the rudeness.
Yet, Yi didn't curse at him, which caused Tubby Tao to feel something was seriously off, his eyes widening.
"...Where are the birds?"
"Or the wind."
Li Yi frowned. He knew of this occurrence though it was only once before that it happened.
The restraining of nature, or better said, a master cultivator was nearby.
Reaching out gently with his Qi, Li Yi felt two immense presences appear in his mind as though two suns!
"Great Seniors! We are the outer disciples tasked with patrolling the mountain. We hope to show our hospitality, and humbly invite you to enter the sect and meet our leader!" Li Yi shouted as he bowed with cupped fists.
He was terrified.
Tubby Tao saw his shaking arms and quietly sensed around as well with his weak almost newborn strength.
His face paled, and he lost strength in his legs.
Those suns appeared in his vision, but they were evil. Cursed. Damned.
Those suns were not red by the nature of fire… but blood.
"Tubby!" Li Yi saw his fellow falling and rushed to catch him yet he never hit the ground, a tendril of energy from the suns caught him and properly let him lay to rest.
"It's dangerous reaching out like that." Turning his head, Li Yi dared not look up at the master who had appeared before him.
All he could smell was a light scent of summer lavender, his mind becoming intoxicated by it, yet even with that intoxication as courage, he couldn't look up.
"Could you take us up to your sect leader? We have business with him." That honey covered voice reached his ears again.
He seemed to bask in her voice.
"Hey."
"Ahhh!" He screeched like a little girl as that scholarly sharp tone reached his other ear like his fathers own tone from his young days.
"What's going on?!" Shouts from other Outer Disciples were raised and in moments, an alarm arose all around the Cloud Faring Mountain.
"Did you really need to do that?" The woman pinched the bridge of her nose.
"It was pretty funny." He replied with a small smile.
His emotions appearing more as his blood was now cooled, he regained some bad old habits. Like getting enjoyment out of scaring the soul out of people.
She just shook her head, "Now it's going to look like we attacked them."
"Well. We are here to do just that, aren't we?" He shook his head, his smile fading away as he wrapped an arm around her waist, his white gaze turning to the sky.
"We're here to spar." She was remice to have to repeat it again, wondering if he was paying attention in the first place.
"Sparing in the world of cultivation is just a fancy way of picking a fight." He replied evenly with a shrug, "The only difference is that in a spar your not supposed to kill, though they still do."
"Sparing is something done between fellow disciples to further one another, or between experts to seek out who is stronger. It is not merely violence!" She countered with an eye roll.
"It's a fancy fight."
"It's a trial by combat."
"I will never spar with you." He suddenly said seriously, trying to be romantic.
"We should spar right now." She replied coldly, her knuckles turning white.
To understand what just happened, one would need to understand the fundamental misunderstanding.
To her, sparing is to improve one another and seek strength through a combat trial.
To him, it's just another way of picking a fight with someone while hiding behind tradition.
All of this passed through his mind in a snap, and just as he was about to correct the misunderstanding, she snapped at him.
Fists fly like falling stars, Shattering Divide.
Blades edges, blades dance, Sword Steps.
Two ethereal beings blurred from their spots, an explosion suddenly wracking the area!
"Wait, love, wait, wait!" The man shouted as he dodged a fist that would put a hole through a city wall.
"Apologise." Her eyes burned with possessive greed, to think that he would try and leave me like this!
Indeed.
To not help her improve, to create distance between them, she had read it plenty of times, at first it's a small distance they make, and then more and more until your so far apart, you can't connect again!
"Taotie bloodline is such a pretty thing." The narrator who watched from a ship faraway, smiled comfortably as he watched his disciple getting attacked.
"Master, should we step in? Those Cloud Faring bastards are beginning to move." Ichi said lightly from the side, his eyes dead set on a single point at the top of Cloud Faring Mountain.
"No. Let's watch this little drama play out."
—
Feng Wuqing felt like a fool.
She knew that wasn't what he meant, but at the same time, her blood had begun boiling at a moments notice, even the inkling of that he was leaving incensed her to no end despite her mind knowing better.
It was right after she threw the first punch that she regained herself, but, it was then anger at having been dodged so she struck again and he dodged again.
At this point, it was no longer a matter of right or wrong, she wanted to land a hit on him, no matter what.
"Wait, love, wait, wait!" Even hearing his desperate call to assure her it was all a misunderstanding, she didn't stop.
"Apologise." Instead, she rolled with the likely misunderstanding he was having as to why she was attacking him.
She pouted internally at her own actions angered beyond measure.
I know why things related to him touch me so deeply, but why is my blood boiling like this? My bloodline? My soul?
Her eyes widened.
…wait, my bloodline?
World Devouring.
Taotie.
Greed. Possessiveness. Hunger.
Am I seeing him as… an object?
She grimaced.
—
He prepared for the next wave of attacks, his body entering a state of constant flux as he dodged from one side to the next, up and down in all eight directions, his face turning to a grimace he felt like she was taking it a bit too far!
"Love, I swear by all that is holy and hellish, I didn't mean it!" He called out with increasing desperation, yet, it was then in a flash when her fists faltered that he caught sight of her actual form.
Her blood was boiling.
He saw her eyes and knew she was fighting something within, he knew it because he had been through it.
His movements suddenly changed on a dimes edge, and he slipped past the fist strikes, though struck many times in the process, his clothing armor barely holding fast against the increasingly terrifying attacks.
His hands reached her shoulders, he drew her in.
"Feng Wuqing!"
—
Her fists continued as evil thoughts appeared, if I cannot have him no one can!
He is mine. All mine, nothing but mine!
He can't leave!
He is…
"Feng Wuqing!" His voice thundered for miles in every direction, lips brushed lips.
Her face flushed.
He-, he is…
"...Shou Xin!"
Her raging bloodline slipped back into slumber, not defeated but suppressed, the new knowledge of it's immense power to influence her, now deeply imprinted in her soul.
"Haha… your damned strong, you know?"
Pf-, Pfft!
Blood drizzled from his lips, she looked down, to find her fingers had pierced his flesh like bullet holes in his side, her qi had rampaged whilst she was almost slipping into a berserk state and attacked him.
Immediately, she retracted it, and he was able to begin healing.
"Hubby. I think… I think I understand a little now." She leaned her head forward, touching his forehead to hers.
He smiled sadly with gentle eyes, "I wish you'd never understand."