PtM 18 - Chapter 36: Mount Dao Seeker

3/3 this week.

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The painted world contained landscapes that mirrored both the transcendent and immortal dimensions. There were deserts, forests, jungles, and even entire seas. And right next to them existed giant flowers a hundred miles across, inverted mountains, and golden cloudscapes.

Cha Ming was currently ducking in and out of said golden cloudscape, chasing a rune beast fish that contained an especially rare rune. Said fish was difficult to catch, but in the face of multiple divine abilities, it didn’t stand a chance.

Sixteen Cha Mings appeared around the rainbow-colored fish. But to Cha Ming’s surprise, the fish saw through his Glass Flame Imitations and fled. It evaded several carefully planted Claw Rune Prisons and ducked through holes in Cha Ming’s golden runic sea.

What a troublesome opponent, thought Cha Ming. Formations are completely ineffective against this rune beast.

The fish also proved impervious to his Dao projection, so Cha Ming could only rely on his physical abilities. He took Clear Rune Step after Clear Rune Step, completely fusing with the painted golden clouds to appear before the fish and strike again.

“Got you!” Cha Ming said as he smashed out with the Sky-Propping Pillar. Yet to his surprise, the fish didn’t dodge, it chose to ram it! It proved so dense and so powerful that it knocked the Sky-Propping Pillar right out of Cha Ming’s hands before diving into the plentiful golden clouds.

Cha Ming didn’t hesitate to follow the fish. He dodged sheets of golden lightning with the assistance of his runic sea and merged with the cloudscape to get a new lock on the fish. Then, using his greatly enhanced Clear Rune Step, he appeared before the fish once more.

“You’re not getting away this time,” said Cha Ming. This time, he struck out with a thinner, swifter version of the Sky-Propping Pillar. A golden sea of clear runes manifested around the staff, magnifying its power several times compared to their last exchange.

The fish tried to dodge, but it encountered a runic restriction built into Cha Ming’s Clear Rune Strike. It locked down the fish and forced it to fight him head on.

Sorry about this, Cha Ming thought as he hit the fish straight in the forehead. A crack finally appeared on the rune beast, exposing a hint of its runic structure and exposing it to Cha Ming’s secondary attack, Gold Song Corruption.

A stream of rust-colored energy shot into the fish and began converting it from the inside out. Flaws appeared in its runic structure, which opened it to a direct attack from Cha Ming’s Dao projection.

Minutes later, a small rune shot into Cha Ming’s runic sea. It trembled as the 2,999th rune assumed its position and brought it to the edge of completion. Only a single conspicuous rune was missing at the center of the runic sea.

“What a powerful runic sea,” Cha Ming murmured. “I feel like I could copy everything I just experienced and saw in this painted world.”

Ninesky flew out and inspected the golden runic sea. “It’s not bad,” she said, kicking a rune out of position. “I can see why the lowly mortals from the transcendent dimension would heap praises upon it.”

“‘Not bad’?” said Cha Ming. “With this, I’ll be able to fight second-level saints.”

“Maybe in this place you could,” said Ninesky. “But in the outside world? Not so much.”

Cha Ming knew this was the case, but he also knew that the golden runic sea would provide him endless benefits in the outside world. This was especially the case for his runic and talisman arts, which had now reached a frightening level. When used in conjunction with the Second Truth of Mists: Self-Wrought Creation, he was now capable of crafting saint-level talismans. The only downside to doing so was that they would require disproportionate amounts of time and energy.

My paintings are several times stronger than they were before, Cha Ming thought. Fuxi’s Puzzle Box isn’t completely solved, but it won’t be long now.

“Come on,” Cha Ming said to Ninesky. “We don’t have a lot of time left. Let’s head toward the center and contest the last few rune beasts.”

“You’d better hurry, because there are only three left,” said Ninesky.

“Better three than nine,” said Cha Ming. At least this way, he wouldn’t have as much competition.

***

At the center of the painted world lay nine platforms that floated around a mysterious peak called Mount Dao Seeker. The platforms lay two-thirds up the mountain peak, and the only way to access them was to defy the mountain’s suppression and fly onto them.

Flight was a simple thing for saint-level cultivators, but here in the painted world, not so much. Mount Dao Seeker enforced a natural gravitational field in the region. Without a golden runic sea containing 2,999 runes, one would be completely incapable of taking off from the ground.

Cha Ming only found a handful of cultivators near Mount Dao Seeker. “Looks like we made it just in time,” he said to Ninesky. “Let’s go.”

Three pairs of wings appeared on his back as he activated Triune Soul Burn. Bloodstorm Invocation further enhanced his strength, and with the addition of the golden runic sea, he barely made it into Mount Dao Seeker’s airspace.

Mount Dao Seeker was 3,000 kilometers tall, but Cha Ming was able to scale two-thirds of that distance with a single flap of his wings. But as he flew higher, the gravitational counterforce increased, cutting the distance he could fly by four-fifths every time.

Sounds of battle greeted Cha Ming when he reached the platforms. A pillar of light came out from six of them, indicating that its core rune had been claimed. As for the remaining three, members of the Inky Sea Sect were currently engaged in a fierce competition over them. Their opponents were none other than Silver Fish and Serrendil, and neither of them was in good shape.

Cha Ming took a Clear Rune Step and appeared behind Serrendil to whack away a serpent demon that was about to bite a hole through her armor. “I hope I’m not too late,” said Cha Ming.

“Clear Sky!” said Serrendil. “You got here just in time. Help me and Silver Fish finish off these bullies.”

Cha Ming sized up the competition. One of them was a descendant of Elder Bai and was relatively unwounded. “Have you no shame, grouping up against Elder Ling’s chosen when you could have left for the next phase ages ago?”

The man shot Cha Ming a mysterious smile. “Bai Jizao informed me that you would be coming, so I decided to wait here to make sure that nothing untoward happened to the inheritance of my Inky Sea Sect. You may call me Bai Yixiao.”

“You’re Inky Sea Sect?” Silver Fish said. “Last I checked, Master is still alive and well. I wonder what he and Mr. Mao Mao will do with power-hungry traitors like you, who’d rather fight over small benefits than keep the Inkwell Clan in check.”

Bai Yixiao smiled. “There’s no need to overreact. The Inkwell Clan is a problem, but many contingencies prevent them from accomplishing their goals.”

“You mean like Dao Lord Blackwater? Daoists North Sea and East Sea?” asked Silver Fish. “Oh, wait, they’re dead, and their inheritance has been discontinued. We have three first-level saints left in the Inky Sea Sect, and one of them is in self-isolation. And now you want to strip one of his inheritance? Have you all gone insane?”

“This matter isn’t for you to decide on, as your journey ends here,” said Bai Yixiao. “Fellow Daoists, our final target has arrived. It’s time to pull out all the stops.” He raised his hand and placed it on his demon companion. “Five Sword Crane: Merge!” A pair of white wings appeared on his back and five golden swords began to orbit around his body.

“Gold-Furred Kui Ox: Merge!” said Tu Ping.

“Seven-Colored Sea Viper: Merge!” said She Yao.

“Shimmershade Butterfly: Merge!” said Rong Xiao.

Only one man did not merge with his demon companion. He was extremely low-key compared to the others but gave Cha Ming an unfathomable feeling. “How interesting—your elders denounced my friend Silver Fish for his bloodline inheritance, but you four are all directly colluding with the enemy.”

“Don’t speak irresponsible words, Clear Sky,” said Bai Yixiao. “We’ve already made allowances by letting Silver Fish inside the trial.”

“I can take two of them,” said Silver Fish.

“Leave the other two to me,” said Serrendil. “We’ll need to rely on you to tie the last one down, Cha Ming. His bloodline completely restrains ours.”

“Don’t worry,” said Cha Ming. “He won’t interfere in your battles.”

The low-key cultivator, seeing that the jig was up, gave up on hiding his aura. An inky-black runic sea oozed out from his body and merged with the local runes in the Gallery.

The remaining four members of the Inky Sea Sect each had unique runic seas. Bai Yixiao’s was inky white, and Tu Ping’s was earth colored and solid. She Yao’s was seven colored, and Rong Xiao’s was ephemeral and dreamy.

Each of the remaining competitors had what normal human cultivators did not—an artificial Demon Dao Domain, centered around a 2,999-rune sea.

The four artificial Demon Dao Domains and the single Inkwell Clan Demon Dao Domain imposed their authority over the three remaining platforms. Cha Ming, Silver Fish, and Serrendil imposed their own domains, but it was immediately clear that they were at a disadvantage.

“Your Demon Dao Domains are far from all-powerful in this place,” said Bai Yixiao.

“Fortunately, us demons have a little more than that to rely on,” said Serrendil. “Fusion… transformation!”

She instantly grew several hundred times in size to become a serpentine dragon made of golden gears and other clockwork mechanisms. Every movement of her massive body let out a rumbling song that could break apart all runes and all defenses.

Silver Fish similarly executed a fusion transformation. He became a huge silver koi with red-and-black tinged scales, products of his mutated bloodline that contained both the blood of the Inkwell Clan and the blood of the Kraken Clan.

“Aren’t you going to transform?” Cha Ming asked the hidden Inkwell clansman.

“I, Lord Dreadful Night, have no need to transform,” said the Inkwell clansman. He made seals that caused his ink-colored runic sea to churn. A multitude of paintings that ranged from shipwrecks to sea creatures appeared and shot toward Cha Ming.

“Is that so?” asked Cha Ming. His own golden runic sea spread out and fused with his surroundings. Thousands of runes merged with his staff as he attacked the paintings and tore them apart. “Silver Fish, you’re weakest with Dreadful Night. You should collect a core rune while we tie them up.”

“Like we’d let you,” said Bai Yixiao. Five golden swords flew toward Silver Fish, but a shield of clear runes intercepted them.

“Stay safe,” said Silver Fish as he dove toward a rune beast in the shape of a three-headed wolf. Inky waves smashed down on the wounded creature and broke it apart. A rune inscribed with the character “west” shot out of its body and tried to flee, but Silver Fish caught it and stuck it inside his own runic sea.

A golden light shot up from the platform as Silver Fish vanished from the painted realm.

“So you let him go ahead,” said Bai Yixiao. “But can you even follow with just the two of you?”

Things aren’t looking too good, Serrendil said to Cha Ming. Why don’t I clear the path for you to claim one of the rune beasts?

I have a few cards I’ve yet to play, Cha Ming replied. It’s your turn next.

But you’re wounded, Serrendil countered.

It doesn’t matter, Cha Ming said. You saw what I’m capable of when we tangled with the Inkwell Clan’s army.

That’s suicidal, Serrendil said. You’ll kill yourself if you try that again!

Just do what I say, Cha Ming said. Or do you want to fight all five of these people on your own?

It was impossible for Serrendil, and she knew it, so she shot toward the most distant platform. Bai Yixiao made a lighthearted attempt to stop her but gave up when Cha Ming summoned a wall of claw runes to intercept them.

“I’m not sure if you’re being brave or stupid,” said Dreadful Night. “You should know by now that we came for you, not them.”

“Which is why I knew that you’d let them escape,” said Cha Ming.

“As you wish,” said Dreadful Night. “He’s all alone now. Kill him!”

She Yao disappeared from his position and reappeared behind Cha Ming, who blocked his snakelike attack with the Clear Sky Brush before retreating. Five golden swords blocked Cha Ming’s retreat and trapped him in place—just long enough for She Yao to punch him with a rainbow-colored spiked gauntlet.

“Using poison against me?” Cha Ming said. The rainbow-colored vein pattern that appeared from the puncture wound She Yao inflicted faded as quickly as it appeared. Conversely, rust-colored veins appeared on She Yao’s fist, and they showed no signs of abating.

Cha Ming closed in to land a finishing blow but was swept back by wave after wave of inky energy. Glass Flame Imitation decoys sprang up and collapsed almost as soon as they appeared.

Meanwhile, the other four charged up for a combined attack. Cha Ming executed his most powerful defensive painting, Descent of the Five Sovereigns, and took the attack head on.

“It can’t be!” said Dreadful Night. “No, wait, it’s only a partial painting. It’s not the complete five-point defense—we can still fight this!”

“Fighting them is one thing,” said Cha Ming. “But I wonder if you can manage that in this painted world.” A five-colored halo appeared around Cha Ming and instantly revoked Tu Ping’s and Rong Xiao’s authority over local laws. Bai Yixiao and She Yao weren’t completely locked out, but their Demon Dao Domains were effectively crippled.

“Shattered Yin, Broken Yang!” Cha Ming shouted. He painted a dividing line with his finger and split the battlefield in two, creating a clear path to the last rune beast.

“You forced me!” shouted Dreadful Night. A frightening pulse of energy rippled across the painted realm as he activated his fusion transformation. A massive turtle with an inky-black shell appeared above the platform and broke apart Cha Ming’s painting.

Clouds appeared overhead. Tribulation lightning began pouring down onto Dreadful Night. The Gallery, Cha Ming realized, wasn’t just a pocket realm, but a complete world of its own.

No wonder he didn’t use his fusion transformation earlier, thought Cha Ming. It’s not that he didn’t want to, but that he couldn’t. The Inkwell Clan is outlawed in this place!

Tribulation lightning was a frightening thing, but the Inkwell Clan’s defenses were first class amongst demons. It ignored the lightning and swept its flipper at the last remaining rune beast, destroying its body.

“The Great Devourer.” Cha Ming threw out a third painting. It resonated with his runic sea and filled the entire platform with devouring energy. The rune was immediately swept up by the devouring field, and if things continued in this way, Cha Ming would complete his runic sea and advance to the next trial.

Unfortunately, Dreadful Night was more powerful than Cha Ming in his transformed state.

“You’re deluded if you think you can obtain this core rune,” said the demon. “Come hither!” The turtle breathed in, causing everything around him to collapse into ink and runes and shoot into his mouth. This included The Great Devourer’s ink and the final core rune.

“Another Time, Another Place,” said Cha Ming. A fourth painting emerged from the Clear Sky World. It was a simple painting that depicted a man and an eight-tailed fox. Destiny had pulled them apart, but they knew that this was only a temporary parting.

Deadly spatial fissures filled the platform and cut off Dreadful Night’s advance. Cha Ming used Bloodstorm Rush to zip across the battlefield, evading spatial rifts as they came into being, and drew increasingly close to his final goal, the core rune.

“You think I’m afraid of a bit of spatial energy?” said Dreadful Night. The turtle ignored the deadly spatial storms and plunged straight toward the final core fragment, taking hit after hit in exchange for a few precious seconds. With the amount of damage he was taking, it was probable that the demon’s cultivation would regress.

The demon’s willingness to risk everything allowed it to catch the rune before Cha Ming and integrate it into his runic sea. “I win,” said the bloodied turtle.

A ninth golden beam of light shot into the sky, and the demon vanished as he was teleported to the second trial.

“All nine core runes have been claimed, and the realm will now collapse,” said a familiar feminine voice. “Those who wish to retreat, simply speak your will, and you will immediately be teleported from the realm.”

“Retreat!” Bai Yixiao shouted.

“Retreat!” said the other three in quick succession. The other Inky Sea Sect disciples loitering in the suppression field similarly retreated, leaving only Cha Ming in the vicinity of Mount Dao Seeker.

I wonder how long it will take for this place to collapse? thought Cha Ming. In the distance, he could see an edge forming in the empty void. The painted world was decomposing, and it was happening from the outside in.

At this rate, it would take several minutes for the decomposition to reach the platform. Cha Ming was determined to find a way into the next trial in this timespan.

If the platforms don’t hold the answer, Mount Dao Seeker must! thought Cha Ming. He ran toward the edge of the platform and leapt, summoning wings of bloodstorm energy to propel himself half the remaining distance to the peak.

He landed atop uneven rocks that were slicker than glass. There was no trail to speak of on this mountain. A force field pressed down on him, leaving him no choice but to climb on jagged rocks. They pierced through his regalia and his Divine Shell, leaving a river of Clearmist blood in his wake.

There are no rune beasts on Mount Dao Seeker, Cha Ming thought as he walked. There are no formations either. Every rock on this mountain is a treasure, but they only have a single function—to stop me and anyone else from climbing it!

He traveled for several minute before realizing that it was impossible for him to reach the peak. There was no path for him to take, and the foot of the mountain was already vanishing.

So he stopped climbing and sat down to think. Why was Mount Dao Seeker here? Why were there nine platforms, and why were they subordinate to this lone mountain?

It didn’t make sense that these nine platforms were the core of the realm. Only Mount Dao Seeker was worthy of this honor. Yet the pressure here was enormous; even unlimited amounts of time would be insufficient to make it to the peak.

I have two choices, thought Cha Ming. I can accept my fate and resign, or I can try the impossible. A determined look appeared in his eyes as he summoned his 2,999-rune sea and sent it up the mountain ahead of him.

Cha Ming poured the remainder of his Clearmist into the runic sea, including most of what was left in his body. But to his surprise, the pressure did not crush his body. Instead, it lightened.

So he rose and began to climb again. His weakened body felt light as a feather in this place. Whereas before, gravity would push him down onto the spiked mountain, he could now walk across the surface without taking so much as a single scratch.

A single rune was missing from Cha Ming’s runic sea, so he deduced possible configurations for the rune as he walked. The final character represents “west,” thought Cha Ming. But this can mean many things. It could be a spatial rune or a temporal rune. It could be a rune representing a specific location or even a bloodline rune.

Since that was the case, he gave up on this approach. The lower and middle thirds of the mountain had already disappeared, and he did not have much time remaining. He decided that since he could not produce a rune representing “west,” he would produce a different rune with a high compatibility with the current runic field. With luck, the rune would take, and he would complete an alternate version of the 3,000-rune sea.

Cha Ming spread out his runic sea once again and encompassed what remained of the realm. He reached out to the starry sky and the void and merged with them, then used that connection to insert a trickle of primal chaos energy into his body.

When I am strong, I cannot advance, thought Cha Ming. When I am weak, the Dao opens up before me. So when I am focused, I am lost. So I won’t be focused, but boundless.

Since he could not find the best character, he would make one that was compatible with everything in existence. He would make it with the most compatible material he knew of: Clearmist.

“Ninesky,” said Cha Ming.

“Yes?” asked Ninesky.

“I’m going to try for a miracle,” said Cha Ming. “Think you can help me out?”

“Sorry,” said Ninesky. “That’s not the way it works. This is your miracle. Try not to screw it up.”

Cha Ming poured what remained of his energy into a single blob of Clearmist. His body became infinitely light, to the point that he could fly straight to the peak of Mount Dao Seeker.

It was a beautiful place. He would have liked to come here before the painted world vanished. Unfortunately, only the very tip of the mountain remained. Even the stars in the sky were vanishing.

Cha Ming summoned forth his 2,999-rune sea and used Star-Jade Entanglement to forge karmic links between these characters and the blob of Clearmist. “Clear Runes are adaptable,” said Cha Ming. “They represent freedom. They can create. They can destroy. They can save a soul or damn it. They can do anything I want, regardless of the rules of the world we live in.”

The sky crackled as lightning peeked through the membrane in the void. This was tribulation lightning, and the source was none other than the laws of the transcendent dimension. The heavens were angry. They didn’t like what he was doing. They ordered Cha Ming to stop, or else!

“You’re angry because you’re scared,” said Cha Ming. “Your future is no longer certain, and you’re operating without a set course. Let it go. Trust that you have a future. Otherwise, you’ll only bring ruin upon yourself.”

Unfortunately, his words did not have the desired effect. The tribulation doubled in strength before sending down a storm. And weakened as he was, there was no way he could resist this lightning.

Looks like I failed, thought Cha Ming. He could feel he was on the cusp of something huge. Yet life was important. Where there was life, there was hope…

“Oh, buzz off!” Ninesky suddenly said. She flew up to the lightning bolt and punched it.

The heavens screamed in confusion before building up another load of lightning, only to shrink back when they realized what their opponent was.

“Yeah, it’s me. Get lost. We’re doing something funhere. I didn’t go through countless resets to have some stupid tribulation wipe him out.”

The lightning crackled softly in response.

“Yeah,” said Ninesky. “Yeah, I get it that you want him dead. That’s fair. He upset you. I’m not stopping you because of that, though. I’m stopping you because he’s about to do something new.”

The lightning crackled once more, as if to say that it didn’t care, it wanted him dead anyway. But it was hesitant, and Cha Ming took advantage of this hesitation. “Quick, before it changes its mind!” said Ninesky.

Cha Ming poured everything he had into the blob of Clearmist. It already had his body’s energy, so he poured the law energy in his runic sea into it. It dimmed, rune by rune, until the entire golden sea was dark and powerless and incapable of staving off the sweeping destruction that was now only a few kilometers away from the peak.

Cha Ming pressed the energy until it reached a critical point. Energy, he realized, couldn’t compress beyond a certain point, and going any further would penetrate the dimensional boundary. So he gave it another push and felt something click as he poked through that thin boundary and reached the other side.

Boundless primal chaos energy poured into the Clearmist blob, filling it with power. Lines grew out of it in a seemingly random fashion. He had no idea where this energy was coming from, and to his surprise, the universe was cheering for him. A portion of his karmic debt to the universe even vanished in a puff of smoke.

There wasn’t much time left, but thanks to the powerful stream of energy, and a small boost from the universe as well, the rune took shape. It was a new rune with its own laws. Its likeness had never been seen in any of the three dimensions.

“What does it mean?” asked Ninesky.

“It means many things,” answered Cha Ming. “The simplest translation of this rune is ‘boundless.’ It means all things that are and all things that will be.”

Everyone else had worked toward a simple but ambitious goal: establishing a 3,000-rune sea using the “west” character as its base. Cha Ming had failed in doing this, but he had gained something greater: a boundless runic sea that wasn’t restrained by any inheritance.

Only a few seconds remained before the wave of destruction reached him, yet he still felt no teleportation energy.

“Well?” he said to the empty void above Mount Dao Seeker. “I have a three-thousand-rune sea. It should be a pass, right?”

“Pass,” said a reluctant voice. “By the skin of your teeth.”

A wave of gray light enveloped Cha Ming just before the wave of destructive energy could hit him.