He watched as it was about to reach him, but didn't react.
"...Are you insane?" Maqi stopped her strike just a milimeter off from his throat.
"You saved my life, therefore I can give you any favor that equals my own life. But the fate of my clansmen is not for me to decide. If you wish to extract my life for this, then, go ahead." He raised his head, exposing his soft throat.
Her pupils shrank as she frowned, revolted.
"Daughter, I warned you. Those Shou bastards don't give up on a damned thing." Lady Mu seemed to have remembered something from a long time ago, and looked bitter, "You could be owed a stone, and they would not budge for anything over a rock."
"Stingy, greedy and free, my ancestors seem to have been quite the characters." He said calmly, "It is a shame."
Shaking his head slightly, he cupped his fists.
"If that is all you have come for, then I will take my leave."
"Stop!" Maqi grit her teeth, her eyes burning.
Lady Mu looked interested.
"Yes, Benefactor?" He said with a slight head tilt and a smile.
"Dragon's Row Capital, The Maw, there is a great contest of strength in a month. Any race may attend. Join the contest and defeat the lesser races. Then, this debt will be absolved," Seeing his thoughtful expression she continued, "You may use an alias."
"Deal." The instant reply caused a vein to pop on her arm.
However, she did not kill him.
She had been given this task, to shake the surface empires so they have no choice but to open communications, it didn't matter how it was done. It being her first task assigned directly by the Dragon Queen, she wished to do well.
Swallowing her pride, she pressed on.
The moment he agreed, she jumped, wings appearing from her back.
"In a month's time, I will come and find you. If you are not here, I don't know what I'll do."
"A clan of Battle Cultivators." Lady Mu said as she took off.
Battle Cultivators. Those who study the three main strengths, Mind, Spirit and Body, keeping all three in check to keep the harmony, a hardly easy balance to hold onto. Because of this harmony however, they are incredibly powerful dominating against those in their same small realm and even sometimes fighting above it.
"Safe travels, Lady Mu."
Now that they had left, Feng Wuqing took her hand off Xiao Wun's mouth.
"Senior Brother! Why did we not accept? If we can get the support of the Exiled Court, then we can bring the Yan to justice!"
"The Exiled Court supports the Yan."
"Ah?" His eyes went wide with shock, "That-, that can't possibly be true! The Exiled Court fights against the invasions through the gates, and keeps everyone safe!!"
"No." He stepped off the canyon leaving a faint few words, "No they don't."
"Senior Sister?" Looking at Feng Wuqing he sought answers to his dismal reaction when the Exiled Court was brought up.
"They are neither wholly righteous nor evil. They are power hungry and will use gentle or ruthless measures to attain that power." She slowly walked to the canyon's edge looking over the buildings below, "A long time ago, before the Exiled Court fully gained control, there was a bloodbath throughout the heavens of this world of ours, seeking to control everything, the Exiled Court accompanied by their backers slaughtered innocent and guilty alike for the sake of their power."
Xiao Wun's eyes widened.
"His family is one of the clans who shed blood against them, and lost." She slowly began to make her way down the canyon wall, walking down it's side.
He had not told her this, however, by listening to the little bits of conversation he occasionally had with others, and the cursed bloodline, she could infer the truth of the matter though she didn't know everything, nor understand.
Her eyebrows furrowed.
Why would they fight so hard? Why do so if they knew it would curse their descendants? Why?
"Crafty, greedy and free…" She mulled over his words a thought appearing in her mind as a possible answer.
"...For freedom?" But, she found it ridiculous, what kind of sense of freedom would cause an entire clan which was clearly extremely powerful to go down the path of destruction willingly?
What kind of freedom was worth sacrificing their younger generation?
Her pupils shrank.
The only freedom worth their children, are their children's freedoms!
They fought for their children.
Which means that the Exiled Court sought to enslave everyone?
Remembering they're ways of mining the Sword Stones and how quickly they cut off connections for it, turning coat almost instantly, she was certain!
They fought to the last drop of blood for this freedom!
Realizing these things, she saw Shou Xin glance at her as he entered the Great Hall.
Meanwhile, Xiao Wun who was above and didn't hear anything much, climbed down carefully.
—
Scrolls.
Sitting within the Great Hall, he looked through the ring and found that in truth it was not multiple scrolls, but one scroll spread among several.
He read it carefully, as they tended to burst into flames.
Guide to Basic Cultivation.
The Mortal Chain. Law Reinforcement. Unchained.
The Mortal Physique. Law Physique. Unbroken.
Sword Aura. Sword Intent. Sword Heart.
Breaking past the Mortal Realm, one transforms their Inner Sea, into an Inner Furnace.
The sea is broken down and fills the cauldron, one's foundation acting as the lid and their soul as the fire to light it, allowing the Qi to purify.
Once completely purified, the opportunity to gain a new law, or reinforce the current one, will arise. It is recommended to get a law which supports the main one such as a wind controlling law pairing well with a fire law.
With the Nine Revolutions of the Law Reinforcement done, one may attempt to break through to Unchained by shattering the Cauldron, causing the energies within to surge out, breaking past ones limits.
Similarly, those in Law Physique will gain an opportunity after breaking out from Mortal to attain a new law, however, it is not recommended to grab one without integrating the previous one into the physique first, or else it may cause the body to go berserk.
Once the Nine Refinements of Law Physique are complete, one will similarly have to shatter their cauldron; however, the cauldron of a Physique Cultivator is nothing less than their own body, making the process far more dangerous than with Qi Cultivators.
In the low chance that one is dual cultivating and arrived at this point, why?
Go seek assistance from Patriarch Zidao.
Unchained is simply the process of gathering huge amounts of Qi to challenge the wall into the Dao. Each person will be different as each person's law is different.
Once the process is complete, the wall broken, your main law will go and contact the Great Dao of which it is born, such as a Sword Law contacting the Sword Dao to evolve itself from a Law into a Dao of its own.
For example, Heavenly Blade Law will become Heavenly Blade Dao. It's strength increases by leaps and bounds whilst those other laws inside one's body will be assimilated, the resulting strength different based on what one chose and their comprehension of the chosen laws.
That is the end of the Guide to Beginner Cultivation.
The other two scrolls had titles of, Guide to Intermediate Cultivation and Guide to Master Cultivation.
However, he could not even peek within those, not with his current strength.
Knowing what laid ahead, he felt slightly more confident but did not allow it to carter off into arrogance, yet, he knew it well.
As it stood, his greatest weakness was… his soul.
That thing called talent was far too small, even with the constant refinements making it denser and by extension, stronger, it was still a small faucet.
He'd been making up for it by coming up with fatal techniques, however, he felt it the most a month ago whilst fighting the Seventh Stage Undying Soldiers and Eighth Stager, it simply took too long to draw out his Qi!
He had one ability which was essentially forced to stay strictly in his Inner Sea lest it drain him completely outside!
If not for his physique, he would have been dead long ago.
But that then begged the question, how does one increase their talent, grow the soul?
The answer to that was, you can't.
Perhaps in some far future one could, but to his knowledge, one cannot increase their souls size, and the downsides of this would only show further and further as he continued to grow.
It would be similar to a World Tree trying to grow on a living room sized island. There is simply not enough space to fully spread its roots and show it's prowess.
Now that he was an Eight Stage Battle Cultivator, it was clearer still that he could no longer control his full Inner Sea, not even if he shattered his soul could he rouse it all at the same time.
All he could do now, was to make his Soul as dense as possible, so that it might never shatter.
"...Xin!"
Hm?
He looked out from his stupor, calmly casting his gaze upon the room.
At his side, a kingdom toppling beauty stood yelling his name until he reacted.
Noticing she'd gotten his attention, she smiled and the words that rolled off her tongue were like the devil's temptation.
"Come with me?" Her bright smile was like tenacious weeds flowering, beautiful but dangerous petals.
He understood what she wanted.
Law Reinforcement. Law Physique.
She was worried about him, and wanted to have him break through. He could feel her concern hidden behind those foggy eyes which had always seen so much further than his own.
Xiao Wun, who was at the side, wanted to say something but restrained himself.
"..." His eyes were still like an ancient, untouched lake.
"We will need to go very deep." Standing on his feet he stepped off the throne and began flying on his sword, Fukkatsu, who cried out in joy, seeking battle, "We might die."
"We are always on the verge of death," She was unperturbed, "What's new? Ah, we should bring some blankets!"
"...Then, what about some food? I've noticed a nice place in the city which had learned how to handle miasmic flesh the best. We can get the ingredients from there and build our own when we want?"
"Drinks as well then, I've been eyeing a certain place concocting alcohol, but because of the miasma it's too strong for regular people, though it should be fine for us, and strong enough to actually do something, too!"
Feng Wuqing walked through the air beside Shou Xin, who flew on Fukkatsu with his hands behind his back and a serene smile on his face.
Xiao Wun watched his Senior Brother and Senior Sister talking about their journey out to cultivate as if it was a picnic, and felt a chill run up his spine.
Catching the look Feng Wuqing shot him, he understood.
If he played around while they were gone, he would be punished.
Senior Brother might not hit him, but Senior Sister would beat him raw if he caused more trouble.
"Ah," Shou Xin paused for a moment, "Have a weekly battle tournament set up. It is easier to increase one's comprehension of the arts when in competition with another, not just against useless monsters."
Xiao Wun cupped his fists and bowed, the excitement hardly hidden.
"Yes, Senior Brother!"
It did not take long for Feng Wuqing and Shou Xin to gather those few things they were after, the currency of the clan and the city around it being quite simple.
Favors.
No metal coin, nor anything much else had worth since raids were daily and repelled daily, it was a simple task to get food, just wait around and it would literally deliver itself, besides that and the farms, it was not difficult.
Because of this, and because of those two being the greatest experts in the entire clan, they had a lot of people owe them favors, especially those refugee's who despite the terrible environment still felt extremely indebted.
Though they may not be completely free here, forced to live within the Great Sanguine Sword Formation, they understood why. And they were grateful.
Therefore, the two got their supplies for free and were gone within mere moments.
—
"You villains will pay for this!" Crying out beneath the massive shadow covering the sky, Sect Leader Ju-In held his blooded stump of an arm, "The righteous sects will not allow this injustice!"
The Frog Sect, famous for its shape shifting techniques.
It's concealed mountain abode had been shattered, a long sword stroke carved into the mountain side, revealing a treasure trove within filled with talismans, cultivation techniques and artifacts.
In the sky, nine sword cultivators stood, watching over the earth.
"Oho? The Righteous Sects… are nothing." Terrifying sword auras rose and combined, forming a horrifying array that struck at the mountain, splitting it once again!
Sect Leader Ju-In let out a ferocious battle cry, striking out!
Crack!
But it shattered, alongside his body.
The disciples left on the mountain cowered as those sword cultivators eyes shone with greed, they took wealth, any disciples they desired were also taken, the mountain razed and those whom they fancied left on spikes.
Returning to the massive warship in the sky, those swordsmen landed on the deck, their elated expressions turning deathly serious.
"We have completed your task, Master!" The head of the group of nine sword cultivators stepped forward, his fists cupped as those behind him kneeled.
Riches were displayed from his storage ring, revealing the wealth of not just the Frog Sect, but the Mount Su-An Sect, Guruo Sect and other righteous sects!
A heavy hand fell, injuring them all badly!
"You trash are hardly worthwhile, and yet boast of a mere completed task." That black-haired youth looked at them severely, "How are my nine swords so damned pitiful? You are hardly worthy at all, if not for that boy, would I need to cultivate such garbage..!"
"We are at fault master, please punish us." Crawling onto their knees, the group touched their foreheads to the deck, but he did not reply.
Because of this, they did not dare to raise their heads, staying like that for days.
Word of the destruction of the Frog Sect, alongside the others would soon shake the entire Righteous Alliance!
Names were soon given out, and portraits.
Vienna the Chaotic Sword Deity.
The Nine Chaotic Swords of the Vienna Cult.
The Vienna Cult, filled with only the most atrocious villains taking everything and committing countless tragedies for the sake of it!
Immediately, they became enemy number one within the Righteous Alliance of the Wild States!
Having killed the Law Refinement Stage Sect Leader of the Frog Sect, they were then among those few high level villains within the Wild States!
Their names resonated, and in some places, whispers of a strange association began.
An association to another villain.
He who slaughters mortals.
He who kills cultivators.
He whose eyes are filled with stars, yet devoid of light.
The villain who is searched for the greatest within the Wild States, the Sword Devil Shou Xin.
Charged with crimes against mortals, conspiring with demons, slaughter of innocents, absorbing souls and feasting on human flesh, using the dead as puppets and wantonly throwing around the authority of the Exiled Court as well as undermining the authority of the Dao.
He had not been seen for several months, since the complete flattening of the Baikan by the Head Elder of the Yan Clan.
Many in the world wondered where he could be, if only to take his head for their sects sign post.
—
"Heeee?" A beauty in a red dress, a young man in a white outfit, "So you really did that?"
"It's a bit embarrassing," Leaning back into the beauty the young man smiled, "I was still young."
Putting some strength in her arms she pushed him forward after the blade passed just overhead.
"But it isn't that bad," She leaned slightly to the side, an arrow crossing just past her ear, "I once brought home a big sea slug, corroded the entire street! They were angry to no end."
As she was reminded of it, she frowned bitterly, "I didn't get any food that day."
"The bastards." He chuckled as he soared through the air, sword strokes flying in all directions.
Rolling her eyes, countless fist marks shattered the air around her, creating fast moving explosions everywhere.
He landed above on a small ledge on the canyon wall, his pupils shrinking, "This…"
"What is it?" Cleaning her fists with Qi, she looked up seriously.
"...it's the perfect place for a picnic."
"You're terrible."
"I know."
Kicking off the ground, she flew up onto the ledge and looked around, it was just large enough to have a comfortable space for a picnic, and it was high enough the Undying Soldiers below would not notice them.
"So, a massive sea slug, huh." He glanced at her headlong, "Why?"
"It was cute," Setting up the sheet for the picnic while he took out the food she shrugged, "Have you never seen one?"
"I've seen dead ones."
"Your like an old man talking so morbidly all the time."
"Habit."
"Uh-huh. Well, they're very beautiful! They're shells shine like starlight and their eyes are huge on those sticks of flesh holding them up! They're also very friendly. Ah, hey!"
Grabbing his arm as he was about to thief a snack, she glared at him coldly, "That's mine."
"...Of course." Handing it over to her easily, he took out the last of the supplies.
They didn't need to eat, but, it was a pleasure that didn't need to be disregarded.
GuoooO!!!!
"Would you like a steak as well?" Glancing over the ledge he spoke mildly.
"Eh. I didn't say this before but, they only serve to make good wine, not good food at all. The meat breaks to easily and is soggy."
"I like it."
"Well, your you."
"Truly?"
"Of course."
Smiling, they continued their meal until it had been wholly finished.
The shaking at the bottom of the ledge which was over a hundred meters up grew in intensity as times passed.
"How close are you?" Cleaning the cloth she asked casually.
"Today, around." He picked up the plates, setting them away after washing them with Qi.
"What a coincidence, I am as well."