Immortal Connections - Chapter 39 preview

Chapter 39 - Wu Ying

Reappearing in a new heavenly realm multiple dimensions and li from his origin starting point was disorientating to the extreme for Wu Ying. If not for his friendship and alliance with the wind who bore him upright as he staggered, he might have collapsed and fallen immediately. An unfortunate start to his time in the first heavenly realm, even if there were none that he expected to note his entrance.

It was a good thing, in this case, that Wu Ying was not a betting man.

Stabilizing himself in the new realm, his head still spinning as he felt the very essence of his form being robbed by the heavenly realm itself, he found himself clamping down on his aura by reflex. He tightened the inner border of it, even as the outer border of his aura and spiritual sense flowed outward, encompassing the surroundings.

Not a moment too soon, as he noted the fast moving approach of a trio of figures, another half-dozen hanging back from his location. They held no weapons in their hands, but the speed and angle of their approach the body language he sensed in that brief slice of time was sufficient warning to him.

Wu Ying called upon the winds to thrust him backwards, a gale catching him and tossing him higher into the sky and away from the still open gate. At the same time, he conjured a block of wind, lacing it with his dao and chi to block their approach as he fought to orient himself.

All around him, wide open skies and fluffy clouds. The clouds themselves were misty borders that grew thicker at times. A short distance away to his right, dark rolling and foreboding rain clouds, flickers of lightning and the crash of thunder. He sensed a group of dragons dancing within, small – only a quarter li or so in length – and mischievous, their chi mixing with the rolling clouds to intensify and contain the rain.

Nearby, in the clouds, the nine immortals that were the greeting party. Three of them, coming to a stop as they slammed into his barrier, looks on surprise on all their faces. The lead immortal stood there, a large and calloused hand pressed against the wind wall, testing its structure as he pumped ashen chi into it, glowering at the ease the wind chi barrier spun his attempts away into the distance.

Behind him, the diminutive archer strung her bow with swift movements, extracting three arrows in a single motion and placing the first arrow on the bow. She forewent drawing at the moment, though cold and judgmental dark eyes stared at Wu Ying as she drifted to the side, enchantments on her magical boots holding her aloft.

The final member of the trio stood there with his hand on his dao, watching the leader’s back. Long, unkempt and straggly goatee hung down from a pitted face, a single scar bisecting a milky white eye. His appearance startled Wu Ying the most, to see one who looked so… mortal, amongst the group.

“Who are you and what do you want?” Wu Ying asked, letting his hand fall to Ren. He shifted his body so that he oriented upon them, floating at an angle such that a sword draw might strike them all. Another flex of his will caused a second barrier to appear, blocking the archer even as the nine behind began to close.

“We’re the greeting party.” A wide grin on the ash-aspected brawler’s face, his muscles bulging as he braced against a platform of immortal chi beneath his feet. He pushed, attempting to force the wind barrier to break and Wu Ying allowed it to flex, though only enough to disperse the man’s attempts.

“The unfriendly kind, it seems.” Wu Ying considered running, though a part of him rejected that thought. Among other things, this was a good opportunity to learn about the relative strengths of those who lived in this realm. Thus far, he was less than impressed.

“Come now, little brother. No need for such unkind words. My brethren might have been a little hasty, but it was all because we were worried you might collapse.” The speaker was the obvious leader among the group, if for no other reason than the gems that he wore around his neck and fingers and the more intense aura that he exhibited. An aura that he had unrolled and upon impacting Wu Ying’s air walls, had caused them to tremble.

“If we are brothers, then we are the forgetful kind, for I know not your name or allegiance.” Wu Ying pulsed his own aura, reinforcing the walls and ensuring they no longer would break. He noted the brawler relaxing, falling back into line next to the gem-encrusted leader, though farther away from the center. More importantly, he also noted how the density of immortal chi within his body kept draining away, even as he focused his aura on containing it.

“Did you linger, perhaps, between the borders of the Lesser Harmonies Palace and the gate? You surely feel what is happening now. You Ascendants always think you’re so strong, then you find yourself no better than the lowest of us when you are cast down here,” the leader said. A small gesture of his hands, and the group split apart. “So, are you a failure or a new investigator?” Before Wu Ying could even answer, he continued. “No, no way you’re a new investigator. Not dressed like that. Not looking that foolish. So you must be one of the failures.” He scoffed. “You must have survived the tribulations by luck and tools alone, to be cast down here, no? Well, you don’t have a clan or sect to back you up, not anymore.”

“You talk a lot.” Not that it was without purpose. All his men had spread out, knowing the skies well enough that they took to moving not just sideways but above and below Wu Ying’s point, almost encircling him. His own hasty wall had been a simple, straightforward thing to begin, but as they spread out, he stretched it too.

“Well, some of us rejoice in the play of words.”

“And some of us would like to know your intentions. Or else, they might believe them to be of the sinister variety.”

“Funny that you should say that.” A small gesture and suddenly all the attackers took action, attacking his air wall. The variety of attacks was quite surprising, many utilizing their bare fist with conjured elemental attacks while others drew and struck with a variety of weapons. Perhaps most surprising was the youngest member of the crew who wielded what could only be described as a club, swinging the immortal-chi enhanced piece fo wood at his defense.

It shattered, of course, but Wu Ying knew that would happen. Nor had he intended for it to do more than obstruct the group. Instead, noting that the matter had proceeded to this extent, he dashed at his target, the only ranged attacker in the group. 

Even as she nocked and drew the second arrow to her cheek, tracking his movement, Wu Ying was at her side. A single swing of his sword was sufficient to split the bow, snapping the ends of it back into her face. Not that the bow ends were her only concern, as his blade continued its swing to cut deep into an arm. A follow up kick sent her spinning away, bleeding from her arm and face where the edges of her bow had struck her face.

Wu Ying was not done yet though, flashing across the space and crossing the gap between himself and his next target. A knife wielder who had a series of such weapons secreted across his body was his next target, a series of quick strikes and a wrench as he levered the man’s shoulder left his opponent with a dislocated shoulder and the sheaths of his weapons dropping through the sky.

He caught the falling knives with a flicker of power, sending the entire brace at another attacker, one he had no intention of nearing. By reflex, they had drawn forth a jar, casting the contents forwards only for the wind to catch the poisoned dust and sending it swirling back. Not that it mattered for the poison user, though the addition of the knives to his body soon after left them unable to control their own flight. Another surge of energy and whispered command sent pin cushioned poison user and his swirling poisonous cloud int his neighbors, entangling and poisoning the pair.

In the meantime, Wu Ying had clashed with a fast moving immortal who had managed to reach him before he head towards his next target. Falling backwards through the sky, allowing himself to be pushed away from the encirclement, he blocked and parried the paired hatchets that the man wielded, his eyes flicking across the surroundings to take in the last pair closing in with their spear and staff.

More than anything, the new Ascendant was realizing something rather profound about his attackers. A twisting disengage with one hand had him disarming his opponent before he thrust, slipping his sword through the newly created gap to pin his opponent’s arm.

A catch of the second hatchet at the arm, a shift of positions had him gripping and then breaking the elbow before he was forced to push himself upwards. If nothing else, these newcomers understood the geography of air battles than his own opponents in the Middle Kingdom, instinctively understanding that the battle was three dimensional rather than just lateral.

In this sense, as he headed up, the spear wielder was coming from below, chasing him with the tip of his sword. Only a last minute shift of his feet allowed Wu Ying to kick the top of the spear away from him, using the momentary firmness to boost his acceleration.

He grunted, taking the blow from the staff on his shoulder, felt it crack against the minor protective weaves around his shoulders before he was on his final opponent. Out of caution, he spun the blade to lie against his arm before he struck his opponent in the stomach with the pommel of his blade. 

Pushing his opponent, choking and coughing from the strike away, he spun around to scan the surroundings, only to see the leader and his right hand man recalling the others to him. Even the most injured were being lifted by a pulse of power, blood and phlegm mixing on startled faces.

As he had thought…

These immortals were weak.