PtM 18 - Chapter 40: Competing Authorities

So I've decided to release Book 18 around a week from now. I'm going to set up the preorder right away - but only after I speed post the last chapters.

Expect an ePub and mobi file in the next day or so. I like to sit on them for a bit in case I find any mistakes. ^^

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One moment, Cha Ming was outside the planar core, and the next, he was inside it. Except his body was still in the outside world—the “him” here was a will projection.

He was distinctly aware of everything his body was seeing and feeling in the outside world and could feel the aftershocks of Elder Ling’s battle with Melody. At the same time, his will projection felt even realer. According to the Clockwork Ancestor, this was a side effect of his proximity to the plane’s Dao origins.

Cha Ming looked around the inky world and saw that it was inhabited by strange life-forms. They were ink-based and malevolent, like nightmares given form. He immediately identified these creatures as embodiments of remnant will, unowned by anyone but aggressive to all. A handful of Heartforge Spirit Flames was all it took to destroy five large fish, which burned up until only a single runic fragment remained from each corpse.

“So these aren’t just will fragments, but Dao origin fragments as well,” said Cha Ming. “By collecting them, I’ll be able to gain increasing amounts of control over the planar core.” He focused on the handful of Heartforge Spirit Flames and tried to make it grow larger. “Without sufficient control or authority, it’s impossible to bring out my full abilities.”

Another wave of creatures headed his way. There were hundreds this time, not just five, so Cha Ming was forced to dodge as he destroyed one after another, collecting their precious Dao origin fragments. Another wave came, just as the last of them perished. It was the beginning of an endless tide that wouldn’t abate until he was dead.

There was a silver lining to this rough beginning—Cha Ming’s handful of Heartforge Spirit Flames grew with each Dao origin fragment he collected, and soon, he was able to create a mass of it as large as his body, thereby increasing the speed at which he killed the inky nightmares.

On and on this went, until finally, he obtained a critical mass of Dao origin fragments and incorporated them into his fledgling water-based demiplane. His connection to the Inkwell Plane deepened, and a familiar stretch of ocean appeared in his mind’s eye. It was none other than the portion of the Central Inkwell Sea adjacent to Mendin where he’d begun his journey to find Silver Fish and Elder Ling.

***

Whip-like strands of ink slapped against a hastily assembled barrier, breaking it in less than three seconds. They shot toward Elder Ling, who’d just finished painting a few poetic verses. They absorbed the ink to form a defensive shield.

The shield exploded almost immediately, but Mr. Mao Mao was ready. He blocked the blow meant for Elder Ling while the latter painted them an escape route, which they passed through just in time to avoid a deadly wave of ink crashing down on their previous location.

Space folded and collapsed. Local laws were rewritten in quick succession. Battles between saints were like this—fast-paced and complex. They simplified the usage of laws and broadened their applications, such that virtually anything that could be thought of could be used in battle.

“How long do you think you’ll last like this, old fool?” asked Melody. “You’re on your last legs. Give up, and I might show some mercy to your precious Inky Sea Sect.”

“I’ll stop when I can no longer stand, old witch,” said Elder Ling. His breathing was ragged, and his body wounded.

“Have it your way.” Melody used her brush of bone and stone to paint an army of nightmares into existence. Each one had a different face that reflected Elder Ling’s many enemies and regrets.

“Useless party tricks,” said Elder Ling. He flicked his own black-and-white brush to paint an army of small black kittens. Kittens and nightmares collided, and in the end, there was no clear winner.

“Your combat style vexes me greatly,” said Melody. “But let’s see how long you can keep it up.”

Not long, I’m afraid, thought Elder Ling. He had hours at best with this rate of expenditure, and Mr. Mao Mao wasn’t doing too good either.

The battle continued in this way for close to an hour before Elder Ling slipped up. A row of inky-black characters crashed into his chest, tearing open old wounds long forgotten.

“Everyone has a story,” said Melody. “A past that comes back to bite them. Do you regret it, Butcher? Do you regret, Scoundrel? No need to answer. My paintings wouldn’t hurt you so much if you didn’t.”

Elder Ling wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. “I regret nothing, witch. Pain is something that can’t be avoided when you live a life like mine. We make difficult choices, knowing that we’ll doom a thousand to save a hundred times more.”

“Continue lying to yourself if you wish,” said Melody. “This is the end for you. Any last words, old fool?”

“A few,” said Elder Ling. “But it’s too bad you won’t be hearing them.”

Melody frowned as twelve elderly men suddenly appeared beside Elder Ling. Two of them were third-level saints like him, while the rest were second-level saints.

“Finally. Reinforcements,” said Elder Ling. He pulled out a bottle of pills and downed the entire thing. “Did you bring it? And where are the other saints?”

“We’d never come without it,” said Elder Wei. “And the saints are all manning it. Is that your Dao companion? What’s she doing here?”

“Long story short, Mr. Mao Mao was right, and she was evil all along,” said Elder Ling. “I heard you had a run-in with a few friends of mine.”

“Don’t take it personally,” said Elder Wei. “We were just doing what’s best for the sect.”

“You just sit back and recuperate,” said Elder Yang. “We’ll buy you all the time you need.”

He threw out what appeared to be a miniature building. This was none other than the Gallery, which expanded until it towered over Mr. Mao Mao.

“Everyone, get into the Gallery!” commanded Elder Yang. “You too, West Sea. And Mr. Mao Mao, of course.”

“You think I’ll let you?” said Melody. The projection of a massive turtle appeared behind her and struck out with its flipper. Space collapsed in a straight line and blew past their defenses. It was heading straight for Elder Ling.

Is it finally over? thought Elder Ling. Can I rest now?

Fortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. A golden barrier appeared before him, and a precious painting depicting the Runebound Ancestor took the fatal blow in his stead. Then the Gallery, the repository of the Inkwell Ancestor’s great wealth, released treasure after treasure, all under the command of hundreds of saints that had accompanied the elders from the Inky Sea Sect.

***

A spear of inky spiritual energy shot toward Cha Ming from a group of nightmarish warriors. He dodged it but was unable to do the same for a dozen others, giving him no choice but to take on the blow directly.

His staff broke, and so did his armor. His bones broke, and so did his flesh. And finally, the Glass Flame Imitation shattered, revealing a man and a brush in the middle of their ranks. Cha Ming painted a storm of blood that slew six warriors, including their leader, a warrior built around a superior Dao origin fragment.

Cha Ming absorbed their fragments and grew stronger. The price he paid was not a small one; he took four spears to the chest that greatly depleted his personal will stores. The remaining warriors closed in on him to finish the job but were demolished the moment they crossed a line of blood he’d painted around his location.

Cha Ming leaped forward and painted a tide of bloodstorm energy that swept across the battlefield like a plague. These warriors had saint-level strength and were therefore able to pierce him a few more times before he dispatched them.

Another army arrived and charged toward the wounded Cha Ming. He painted a single stroke that split the sky, freezing one side and burning the other. The inky nightmares attempted to flee, but claw-rune spikes shot out from the inky ground and immobilized them.

A hundred more runic fragments rushed into his body, unlocking another portion of Cha Ming’s power.

“That should be enough…” said Cha Ming. “Come out, Carnage.”

Bloodstorm energy poured out of the Clear Sky Brush as he swept it over the battlefield. It drank in the inky spiritual blood, along with the purest quintessence energy of the Inkwell Plane.

“It’s about time you summoned us, Master,” said Luther as his head emerged from a swirling pool of bloodstorm energy.

“Miao!”

“Hiss!”

Two more heads emerged, one for Coral and one for Disaster. Their combined body had three heads and nine tails, and three-colored fur crackling with violent energy.

Two more armies of inky nightmares had arrived, but they didn’t stand a chance against Carnage. He whipped them with nine tails, splattering them into a bloody mist, which it pulled into itself before sending the Dao origin fragments to Cha Ming.

The fragments rushed into his water-based demiplane, strengthening it and his control over the Law of Combinate Splitting. Unfortunately, his planar core seemed to reach some kind of limit, and a few fragments were not absorbed. They floated there in his inner world like workers awaiting instructions.

“I’ve reached a bottleneck,” said Cha Ming. “But I’ve also regained a great deal of my strength. We should converge with the Five-Point Monarchs and determine how to proceed from there.” Tangled strings appeared in his field of vision as he deduced their location using the fragments he’d discovered thus far. “There,” he said, pointing. “You fight, and I’ll keep trying to incorporate the fragments we find.”

He hopped on Carnage’s back and diverted most of his energy into the Clear Sky World, where he drew upon the Ninesky Seals and used them to suppress the core of his water-based demiplane. The Dao origin fragments stabilized, enabling him to slowly work in a few more. But it was only a temporary measure. He would need to find a solution to this problem, and quickly.

***

Outside the planar core, a golden building stood guard. A group of old men and women were meditating inside said building and directing its various treasures to fight against Melody and her painted nightmares. Her energy was infinite, because she and the plane were connected, and the Gallery’s energy was also infinite for much the same reason.

Unfortunately, there was a key difference between their two sides: the Gallery’s treasures were impressive but limited. Moreover, the elders controlling it had a limited stockpile of will, and the past few hours of fighting had completely exhausted them.

“It won’t be long now,” said Elder Yang, the current leader of the elders council. “We’ll have to trouble you to go out and fight against West Sea. I hope you and Mr. Mao Mao were able to recover.”

“We’re back to fifty percent, thank you very much,” said Elder Ling. “But you should know that Melody hasn’t weakened in the slightest. On the contrary, she’s gotten stronger.”

“How is that even possible?” asked Elder Wei. “Her cultivation is already at the limits of what a third-level saint should be capable of.”

“Why ask what you already know?” asked Elder Ling. “She’s clearly begun asserting her influence on the planar core, despite our best efforts to impede her. But we should have predicted this; her knowledge of the planar core exceeds that of any other individual. It stands to reason that she would have a back door through which to access it.”

“Is there any way to stop her?” asked Elder Wei.

“I’m afraid there isn’t,” said Elder Ling. “Damn her, what is she doing now?”

Elder Ling and Mr. Mao Mao emerged from the Gallery. The man and his cat were not in great shape but could still put up a fight. Their hearts clenched, however, when they saw what was gripped in Melody’s hand.

“The Immortal Keystone,” Elder Ling said. “First, you broke your precious treasure, the Bridge of Immortal Ascension, and now you’re going to use its core against us?”

“I have no need of it, just as I have no need for the residents of this world once everything is over and done with,” said Melody. “Now watch as I destroy your precious Scriptorium.”

A glowing blue rock covered in tens of thousands of immortal runes floated up into the sky. Its strength was such that Elder Ling felt completely powerless against it. Yet she did not use it against him, as that would be a terrible waste.

“Destroy!” she commanded. The stone trembled as its immortal runes lit up, then shot toward the Gallery, its treasures now greatly depleted.

The stone tore through its golden barrier and shattered its walls. It broke its foundation and reduced it to rubble. Eight elders flew out of the building’s wreckage along with a few dozen first-level saints. The others, including Elder Yang, were nowhere to be found.

“Elder Yang, he…” Elder Wei started.

“You don’t have to explain anything,” said Elder Ling. “He lived the life he wished to and died the way he wished to. A man can’t ask for anything more.” He glared at Melody. “Are you satisfied with this result? You couldn’t stand the sight of your old artifact, the Bridge of Immortal Ascension, so you destroyed it, and now you’ve used its wreckage to destroy your precious Gallery and your precious paintings. How dare you call yourself the Inkwell Ancestor. You’re nothing but a vengeful shadow, an impure remnant of her thoughts. To save yourself, you’re willing to destroy your descendants and cut away all attachments to your past self.”

“They are tools, nothing more,” said Melody. “They mattered to the person I once was, not to who I am now.”

“Just do it,” said Elder Ling. “There’s no need to taunt us.” He pointed his brush at her, and Mr. Mao Mao bared his fangs.

“Unfortunately, I was a step too late,” said Melody. “It seems that you get to live a little longer.”

A fissure opened up in the sky, and a pitch-black stone pierced through the opening and stabilized the fissure to allow countless demonic creatures and thousands of ships to pour through.

Nine massive creatures stood at their lead. Each of them wore a fragment of black stone, which they used to force open the spatial fissure. The original protruding black stone pushed its way through, revealing a statue, then roof tiles, and finally, the corner of an entire building.

The building was no smaller than the Gallery, and it interposed itself between the elders of the West Branch and Melody. “South Sea! Is that you?”

“Who else could it be but me?” called out a cultivator from the roof of the building.

“You even brought the Scriptorium with you!” said Elder Ling. “And you didn’t even wait until I was dead to do it. It looks like you do have a conscience.” He swept up the remaining elders, including the unwounded ones, and flew up to the Scriptorium.

Unfortunately, a black barrier appeared before the Scriptorium and prevented them from entering. “Really? You’re playing this game with me right now of all times?”

“Say please,” said Daoist South Sea.

“Bite me,” said Elder Ling. “You wouldn’t dare keep us out now that you’ve arrived.”

The South Sea Guardian sighed. “Fine. But I’ll take a nice thank-you if we somehow survive this mess.”

Elder Ling and the remaining elders of his branch landed on the rooftop. The South Sea Branch was arranged similarly to their own sect. It had a guardian, an absent witch, thirteen elders, and hundreds of carefully trained saints. “What took you so long?”

“I wasted time looking for my candidate but found a cripple instead,” said Daoist South Sea. “It appears that Daoist Clear Sky was quite ruthless this time around.”

Elder Ling’s expression fell. “You’re not planning on getting even with him, are you?” Daoist South Sea was famously vindictive.

“Heavens, no,” said South Sea. “Ruthless is good. It’s nice to see that he found a backbone in the Heartforge Realm.” His eyes narrowed when he finally took stock of their opponent. “Oh my. She didn’t.”

“She did,” said Elder Ling.

“And you’re not bothered by it? Not even a little bit?” asked South Sea.

“I never really liked her,” said Elder Ling. “It was an arranged Dao companionship. What about you? Isn’t she your half sister or something?”

“Unlike your West Sea Branch, our South Sea Branch doesn’t attach much importance to emotions and the like,” said South Sea.

“Are you all done catching up?” asked Melody. For some reason, she hadn’t attacked them this whole time.

Elder Ling found this incredibly confusing, but he soon discovered the reason. “You sneaky witch. You’ve been infiltrating the core while the shields were down!”

“How perceptive of you,” Melody said dryly. “Why else would I bother using up such a precious treasure when I clearly knew the Scriptorium was on its way?”

“But it means you’re worried,” said Daoist South Sea. “You’re not completely confident. Otherwise, you wouldn’t waste such a treasure.”

Melody shrugged. “It’s not really a waste if it forced you to use the fragments of the Ink World Sanctuary. In fact, it seems to me like I traded off half a priceless artifact for a full immortal artifact and the fragments of another.” She held out her hand and summoned her talisman brush once again. It was noticeably different from before—complex black runic patterns filled with immortal energy now covered their surface.

“Now that I’ve established a bit of authority, it won’t take nearly as much time to take down this antique,” said Melody.

“The Scriptorium is much more powerful than the Gallery,” said Daoist South Sea. “It has an intact artifact spirit and contains the accumulated destiny of five thousand generations.”

“Let’s see exactly how strong this force of destiny really is,” said Melody. She swept her brush across the sky, summoning forth wave upon wave of inky energy. Hundreds of thousands of demonic sea dwellers appeared and charged toward the planar core.

“Activate the Deep Script Formation,” commanded South Sea.

“Acknowledged,” said the voice of the Scriptorium.

Millions of ink sprites poured out from the ancient building and assembled in the shape of a sphere. Each ink sprite was a rune, and by joining the formation, they were staking their lives on its stability.

“We’re here to buy time for the Five-Point Monarchs to take control of the Inkwell Plane,” said Daoist South Sea. “You will put your lives on the line to accomplish this mission. Please rest assured that your respective sect branches are completely safe in the sect’s realm treasure.”

Elder Ling frowned when he heard his contemporary utter such blatant threats but swallowed any words he had for the man. Mercy was a luxury they could no longer afford.

***

Thanks to the might of Carnage and the relative weakness of the Inkwell nightmares, Cha Ming was able to collect tens of thousands of Dao origin fragments in a very short amount of time. His planar core grew increasingly unstable as a result, but he was able to further restrain it using the wills and laws in his other four demiplanes.

“How much farther, Master?” said Carnage. “These enemies are boring.”

“Not much longer,” said Cha Ming. “There’s a battle over there. Let’s go help.”

The three-headed and nine-tailed cat executed Bloodstorm Rush and appeared at the center of an enemy formation. “What the…” Carnage exclaimed. “Inkwell clansmen?”

Somehow, other living creatures had arrived in this realm as well.

“Good timing!” said a familiar voice. Dancing blades cut through the assembled demons, then flew into the hands of Serrendil—currently possessed by the Clockwork Ancestor—who then hopped onto Carnage’s back. “We meet again, Clear Sky.”

“Please don’t use such a familiar tone with me,” Cha Ming said to the Clockwork Ancestor. “I liked your other will strand, but you can be considered a separate person.”

“This…” the Clockwork Ancestor scratched her hair. “Ah, I see. You’re concerned about your friends. Worry not. We’re just borrowing their bodies briefly. Their cultivations are too low to interfere in such a battle, so we had no choice but to resort to such means.”

Cha Ming grunted. “What’s going on with these Inkwell clansmen?”

“It appears that Melody managed to get through our defenses in the outside world,” the Clockwork Ancestor explained. “She then used whatever authority she got her claws on to send in her clansmen from the outside world.”

“What can I do to help?” asked Cha Ming. “I’ve been collecting Dao origin fragments but have reached my limit.”

“That’s not surprising,” said the Clockwork Ancestor. “The vessel you’re containing them with is barely adequate. More importantly, it has no will with which to control them.”

She flashed off Carnage’s back and swept through an advancing armada of twenty ships. Thousands of dancing blades cut through their hulls and decapitated their crew members, forcing the few who survived to retreat.

“You’re letting them go?” asked Cha Ming.

“They’re trying to lure us into a trap,” explained the Clockwork Ancestor, “so it’s better that we regroup and come up with an alternate plan.” She placed her hand on Carnage’s back, and the air warped around them. They appeared in a miniature city that was filled to the brim with demons.

“Looks like Melody wasn’t the only one to bring in her clan,” said Cha Ming.

Members of the Clockwork Clan, the Runebound Clan, the Star-Eye Clan, and the Iridescent Clan were present. Many of them had familiar faces, and judging by the way they dressed and behaved, it was clear that they’d been gathered from all across the Inkwell Plane.

“You look surprised, Clear Sky,” said Clever Dusk as they neared.

No, thought Cha Ming. That’s not Clever Dusk, it’s the Star-Eye Ancestor. “Greetings, Star-Eye Ancestor,” Cha Ming said in a neutral tone. “I am indeed quite surprised. I understand how the Inkwell Ancestor could gather her clansmen, as they were mostly situated inside the Central Inkwell Sea, but what about the four of you?”

“We used the Starry Roads, silly mortal,” said the Iridescent Ancestor.

Once again, a tinge of frustration hit Cha Ming, as she was using Graceful Twilight’s body. “No need to get snippy. We get it. It’s not nice seeing someone else impersonating our friends.”

“As Clockwork already explained, this is temporary,” said the Runebound Ancestor, currently possessing Drezil. “Trust me, I loathe this male body and want nothing more than to be rid of it.”

“You’re practically a monk,” said the Iridescent Ancestor, laughing. “Why would male or female make any difference?”

“Why don’t you try possessing a body with different bits?” snapped the Runebound Ancestor.

“We’re here to discuss a strategy,” the Star-Eye Ancestor cut in. “The enemy has begun to contest the planar core and has a home-field advantage. Fortunately, Clear Sky is here. Perhaps we’ll be able to mount a counteroffensive.”

“I’m not sure I’ll be of much help,” Cha Ming said. “You have your clansmen here and are obviously more knowledgeable than I am.”

“That’s not true at all,” said the Clockwork Ancestor. “Your abilities are unique, which is why we asked you to come to this realm in the first place.”

“Allow me to explain,” said the Star-Eye Ancestor. “The laws in this place are all connected, as is the authority it conveys. This authority is aligned with ink and demonic energy and water. We are only somewhat able to take control of them using the quintessence of the realm bound in the body and blood of these four friends.

“Unfortunately, elemental imbalance is as huge issue, and it’s been forcing us to suppress the incompatible fifth element using a large portion of our strength. Otherwise, the balance between our authorities would be broken, and we would be forced out of this realm.”

“So you’re not asking me to fight, but to stay here and keep the balance,” said Cha Ming.

“The Dao origin fragments we have collected, and their corresponding authorities, are located at the center of our camp,” explained the Star-Eye Ancestor. “By staying here and mediating their energies, you would enable us to take the fight directly to Melody.”

“While you’re at it, you can patrol the area and defend the camp from enemy incursions,” said the Clockwork Ancestor. “That way we won’t have to hold back a third of our troops.”

Cha Ming was skeptical about his ability to balance these forces, but he could only accept. “I’ll be relying on your guidance. But just so you know, my entire inner world is on the verge of exploding.”

“Hm…” the Star-Eye Ancestor said. “That is indeed a problem.”

“Isn’t it an easy fix?” said a hoarse voice. Silver Fish appeared in the camp just then. And unlike the others, he did not have an entourage of demonic clansmen. Moreover, it wasn’t Harmony who was speaking—it was Silver Fish.

“An easy fix?” said the Iridescent Ancestor. “Harmony might have given you the dominant role, but don’t talk down on us like that. It was bad enough when she did it.”

“Calm yourself, Iridescent,” said the Clockwork Ancestor. “What did you have in mind, little friend?”

“Like I said, it’s easy enough to solve this problem,” said Silver Fish. “Each of us needs to sever a piece of our authority and will and have it assist Clear Sky.”

“How could that possibly be efficient?” snapped the Iridescent Ancestor. “Oh. Wait.”

“Harmony is scolding you, by the way, and saying you should practice thinking outside the box,” said Silver Fish. “That’s right. As you’ve probably deduced, the only way to simply solve this problem is a Five-Point Soul-Lock Formation.”

“This…” said the Star-Eye Ancestor. “I question the wisdom of using our strength for such a purpose.”

Silver Fish rolled his eyes. “It’s not like you were all planning on surviving this battle. Your main souls are alive, after all. And if Harmony doesn’t mind, neither should you.”

The Star-Eye Ancestor nodded slowly. “What you say makes sense. We were hoping to preserve Harmony a little while longer, but… so be it. Iridescent? Clockwork? Runebound?”

“If it must be done, it must be done,” said the Iridescent Ancestor. She held out her hand and summoned a ball of spiritual energy. Her aura visibly weakened as this happened. The other three each summoned their own ball of spiritual energy, and finally, Silver Fish added a much smaller ball to the mix.

Five clouds of energy rushed out from the center of the camp and joined with these balls of spiritual energy. Each ball compressed itself until it was once more the size of a fist, then began to transform into a mysterious immortal rune that could not be read by mortal eyes.

“Lock!” said the Star-Eye Ancestor.

“Lock!” repeated the other four.

The five runes shot into Cha Ming’s inner world and sought out his water-based demiplane. They ignored the other demiplanes and headed straight into the framework of a planar core, reinforcing it. Five runic seals appeared, along with an immortal framework that was many orders of magnitude stronger than what was there previously.

Thanks to the new structure, Cha Ming was able to withdraw the Ninesky Seals and reallocate his will energy. “Thank you for your assistance,” he said. “You can rest easy while I harmonize your authorities and defend the camp.”

“Do not be gentle, and do not give in,” said the Star-Eye Ancestor. “Inkwell’s waters aren’t gentle; they’re harsh and insidious.” He raised a hand, and a tangle of threads shot out to each of their troops and converged to form a Starry Road. “Clansmen, assemble!”