PtM 18 - Chapter 35: The West Sea Sect’s Inheritance

2/3 this week. Posting another chapter just after this one.

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A wave of teleportation energy swept past Cha Ming and friends as they passed through the entrance to the Gallery. Elder Yang had warned them this would happen, so they did nothing to resist this force. Moments later, Cha Ming found himself in a strange new world.

Everywhere he looked was lush greenery and plentiful fruits and flowers. It was a deceptively peaceful scene, and quite lethal to those lacking high attainments in the runic arts. What’s more, this world was a painted one, much like the four demiplanes inside the Clear Sky World. Everything here was made of ink.

“The first test of the West Sea Guardian’s Inheritance: gathering the runic sea,” said a soft and distinctly feminine voice. “Only those who condense a 3,000-rune runic sea may advance.”

Cha Ming wasn’t sure what these runes were, but he had a guess. He walked up a gray rock not far away and stomped on it. The rock shattered, revealing a single rune that shot away from Cha Ming in an attempt to escape.

“Stay!” Cha Ming commanded. His Dao projection stretched out pulled the rune back toward Cha Ming.

What a curious rune, he thought, inspecting the item. It was crystalline and filled with a huge amount of saint-level law energy. Can it be used for something? Yet before he could perform any experiments, the rune shot into his inner universe and settled atop his Dao energy pool, after which it refused to respond to any of Cha Ming’s poking or prodding.

Cha Ming needed many more runes before reaching the trial’s target of three thousand. He sped through the forest, finding runes in all sorts of unusual locations. Some were hidden in plants, others hidden in animals or on tree bark. He even found a suspicious cloud floating overhead filled with no less than eight unique runes.

It wasn’t long before the number of runes in his possession reached 100. The runes in his inner universe began to resonate when the 100th rune was added, and the chaotic runes rearranged themselves to form a two-dimensional formation that spread out across his Dao energy pool.

“Amazing,” Cha Ming said. He channeled a portion of Dao energy through the runic diagram and poured it into his fist before punching the earth beneath him. A ripple ran through the landscape as the runes amplified his attack.

Runes gathered in this place weren’t just useful, they can also be used in battle. Those who weren’t quick enough in gathering them would fall behind and become prey to those who possessed more runes.

Time was of the essence, so Cha Ming increased the place. With ninety-seven opponents and only two friends in this place, he couldn’t afford to fall behind.

***

Three days later, Cha Ming was walking through a fertile forest. Birds chirped and small demonic squirrels chattered and fought amongst each other. It was a peaceful depiction of forest life, absent the ferocity these animals surely encountered in a natural setting.

“What a cleverly hidden trap,” Cha Ming muttered. He took a step forward and intentionally triggered the formation. Azure flames rose up from the earth, instantly turning the moss and grass beneath his feet to ash and the surrounding trees to charcoal.

He counted the runes in the formation and was surprised to discover that there were a total of five hundred. This was a fortunate development, in Cha Ming’s opinion. His eyes lit up as he began deducing the formation’s inner workings.

Cha Ming summoned a small sea of red runes as he worked. They were a reflection of the runic sea in his inner world, which now numbered three hundred in total. The runic sea allowed him to resist the formation without activating Triune Soul Burn.

Cha Ming had once cultivated Law-Breaking Eyes and All-Creation Eyes and had even combined them into All-Heaven’s Eyes before fusing them into his regalia. It was therefore a simple matter for him to discover flaws in the formation.

He used his Crumbling Canvas Domain to wear away at these flaws. The weaknesses in the formation multiplied, and before long, pieces began to break off from it.

The runes struggled against Cha Ming’s Crumbling Canvas, but it was like they’d met their natural nemesis. Cha Ming directly converted them and added them to his own runic sea, thereby enhancing his own protective formation.

This continued for several minutes, until finally, the formation reached a breaking point. The formation was a single step away from destabilizing. He was about to give it one final blow when he felt a fluctuation in the formation. Golden flames appeared around him, and they were several times stronger than the original azure flames. It was impossible for Cha Ming to resist them using his own power.

Cha Ming had no choice but to retreat. He quickly pulled back his crimson runic sea and formed a shield with it. Thirty runes shattered, reducing his total count down to 290, lower than when he’d originally started.

Fortunately, this counterattack aggravated the flaws in the formation. Cha Ming took advantage of this and broke off fifty runic fragments to his own runic sea, a net positive. Yet his expression turned grave as the formation lit up once again and continued its barrage.

It knows I’m about to break it, so it’s trying to diminish my returns!

The way in which it did so was aggressive instead of passive. It was like something was controlling it. This formation isn’t an automatic formation! he realized. There’s something in there… a strand of will!

Yet another attack cost Cha Ming precious runes. While it was a pity that the formation could counterattack, it was still worthwhile to trade blows, so he continued to fight. At the same time, he observed the formation and performed some calculations.

Its aggressive nature is not the only thing that’s unusual, thought Cha Ming. An all-out attack like this should have already exhausted the formation’s energy. Somehow, the formation was gaining energy from the outside. Was it another competitor? He immediately dismissed that thought.

Cha Ming followed the energy currents in the formation and traced the source to its boundary. Energy was pouring in from the borders—and not just from a single point, but every single rune on the periphery! He concluded that the formation wasn’t an independent entity—it was linked to the many “wild” runes in the surrounding landscape.

If things continued in this way, Cha Ming would only fall into further disadvantage. He issued a command and scattered the runic sea defending his body. As expected, the formation reacted to this change almost instantly. It ignored Cha Ming’s runic sea and attacked his body directly.

Cha Ming activated Triune Soul Burn and used Bloodstorm Invocation to dodge a pillar of golden flames. A second pillar shot up, then a third. Cha Ming continued to dodge, sometimes losing an arm, and other times a leg.

He activated two divine abilities simultaneously: Glass Flame Imitation and Claw Rune Imprisonment. Three dozen replicas of himself appeared inside the runic circle, temporarily confusing the strand of will controlling the formation. Crystal-gold sand appeared at several key points in the formation and trapped their runic characters, preventing the formation from completing its activation.

Unfortunately, Claw Rune Imprisonment was weak compared to the formation and shattered three seconds later. The newly freed formation changed its strategy. Golden flames filled the entire circle and directly broke Cha Ming’s Glass Flame Imitations. Dozens of wisps of golden flames joined together to form chains that immobilized his true body.

A mighty attack roared to life beneath him, giving Cha Ming no choice but to activate Inkwell War Plate. A shell of inky-black energy appeared around him, increasing his defenses to the point that even a second-level saint would be unable to penetrate it for the next four seconds.

If things continued as they were, there was no way Cha Ming would outlast the formation. Decoding the laws and karma of this world was key.

Three grueling seconds passed. Cha Ming was only a single second away from an agonizing and painful death. Fortunately, his gamble paid off; the runic sea he’d scattered earlier suddenly established dozens of connections to the outside world, greatly increasing its power and reducing the trap formation’s power in the process.

A crimson shield appeared around Cha Ming just as the Inkwell War Plate’s protection expired. A gush of golden flames poured over him, but only a small portion of these flames even reached him; the rest were scattered across the landscape, and the forest burned from the sudden release of energy.

Attacking so aggressively weakened the formation and introduced several flaws. Now that he was almost immune to its fire, Cha Ming summoned the Sky-Propping Pillar and shattered the formation’s core, breaking off hundreds of runes and collecting them with his Crumbling Canvas Domain.

The sudden loss of so many runes led to an uncontrolled unraveling of the formation. The will fragment at the center of the formation flew out, and Cha Ming, not wanting to be caught in the blast, retrieved his runic sea and did the same.

An explosion rocked the painted world as the contracted power of the remaining runes was released. Over fifty square kilometers of painted forests were annihilated, leaving a gigantic crater almost a kilometer deep.

“Something happened over here! Let’s go investigate.”

He heard no less than a dozen voices and felt several saints making their way over. There were a lot of runic characters floating above the destroyed piece of forest, but obtaining them was too risky. So Cha Ming contented himself with the 500 runic characters still in his possession and this new method of utilizing them and dove deeper into the painted trial realm.

***

A large, mountainous fist bore down on Cha Ming with the force of a second-level saint. Such an attack was enough to annihilate him several times over, but he faced it without fear. The fist smashed down, and the mountain elemental creased its rocky brows in confusion as it struck empty air.

The mountain elemental was confused, looking around for a full minute before walking back to its original position. It was just about to assume a resting position when Cha Ming flew out from a fold in space and attacked it with a brush crackling with bloodstorm energy.

Cha Ming’s attack left only a faint mark on its rocky skin. It wasn’t just made of rock, it contained several layers of overlapping runes that acted like high-grade saint armor.

So this is the might of 2,000 runes, thought Cha Ming as he whipped the creature once more with the Clear Sky Brush and painted a pattern of bloodstorm energy laced with his newest divine ability, Gold Song Corruption.

The attack was the equivalent of a mosquito bite to such a huge creature, but Cha Ming was patient. He’d faced all sorts of runic creatures, which was why, after a week inside this painted world, he now had 1,800 runes in his runic sea. When mobilized for attack and defense, their power was only slightly lacking compared to the deadly fist attacks executed by the runic monster.

Whoosh!

Cha Ming’s body collapsed and re-formed a short distance away, barely avoiding a direct hit from the creature’s second fist. It’s much faster than I expected, and it’s getting quicker, thought Cha Ming. He realized too late that he wasn’t the only one with tricks up his sleeve—the rune beast had actually chosen the center of a large formation trap as its resting place. The subtle formation had activated without Cha Ming’s knowledge and was enhancing his opponent’s speed.

A gust of wind blew Cha Ming back into the creature’s enormous knee. Cha Ming could only collapse into bloodstorm energy once again, taking a significant amount of damage in the process.

Retreat! He tried to rush out of the formation but discovered a powerful wind barrier that prevented him from escaping. Teleportation was also out of the question. Only by solving the formation and defeating the rune beast would he be able to escape.

Cha Ming gritted his teeth and summoned his 1,800-rune sea. It had changed colors several times over the past week and currently glowed with an indigo hue.

The mountain elemental, sensing a competing rune structure, directly attacked Cha Ming’s runic sea. In response, Cha Ming scattered it. Five separate formations, one for each of the five elements, appeared around the creature, and from each one emerged a likeness of a Five-Point Monarch.

Boom!

The Inkwell Ancestor had the strongest defense among the five and directly absorbed the attack. A few insignificant runic fragments peeled away, only to instantly reattach themselves thanks to Cha Ming’s Crumbling Canvas Domain.

Weaknesses began to appear in the rune beast’s internal structure. It struggled to gain energy from its surroundings thanks to Cha Ming’s interference, and rapidly fell into a completely passive situation.

The trap formation was conspicuously silent. Cha Ming left his painted minions to fight the rune beast while he got to the bottom of it.

There’s power gathering beneath the formation, thought Cha Ming. It looks like it’s accumulating to unleash a single attack.

Attacking the formation directly would only lead to a loss in runes, so Cha Ming focused on locating an external runic connection before severing them and adding them to his own network.

Every rune he added deepened his comprehension of the runic arts, to the point that if he tried solving Fuxi’s Puzzle Box with his current knowledge, he would be able to reach his past record in only a few breaths’ time.

Drawing energy from my surroundings and runic paintings can’t be the limit, though, Cha Ming thought. There must be at least one more method of application I haven’t thought of. He decided to take a risk and bait out this extra method, even if it cost him a few unique runes.

Unfortunately, Cha Ming spent minutes evaluating the formation and discovered nothing. Spending too much time in one location wasn’t a good idea, so he directed the Five-Point Monarchs to attack the five weak points he’d discovered in the wind formation.

The energy in the formation suddenly ground to a halt. Cracks appeared in the trap’s structure, which Cha Ming attacked mercilessly. A constant stream of energy flowed out of the formation, preventing it from accumulating enough to launch its planned attack.

It was at this time that the rune beast decided to go on a rampage. Powerful rune beasts were able to combust the runes in its possession to greatly amplify their power.

Unfortunately for the rune beast, Cha Ming had already seen this coming and had planted a contingency. Rust-colored veins appeared on its body as the hidden energy of Gold Song Corruption activated. A third of the runes in its body were forcefully seized, and its gigantic body began to fall apart. Cha Ming’s count of unique runes immediately soared to 1,900 runes.

The rune beast was powerful, but the wind formation was much more extensive than Cha Ming had imagined. Even damaged, he had to spend several minutes decoding the formation before being able to break it and salvage an extra 200 unique runes, bringing his total up to 2,100.

Every 300 runes was a threshold for a runic sea. Cha Ming’s indigo sea rearranged itself with the introduction of the 2100th rune and adopted a bright purple hue. He spent another minute familiarizing himself with his new powers before looking toward a distant hill.

“If you’re going to act, the best time is now,” Cha Ming said as he retrieved the Five-Point Monarch paintings. “I’ve exhausted quite a bit of energy fighting these two things. You won’t find a better time.”

His surroundings rippled as ten powerful individuals emerged from behind the hill. “How did you sense us?” one of them asked. “The Universal Concealment Talisman we utilized should have hidden us even from second-level saints.”

“I couldn’t pierce your concealment,” Cha Ming answered. “It’s only thanks to my intuition that I was able to spot you. Now what have we here? A group of ten cultivators, each with their own demon companion. Each of you has a blue runic sea or worse. Since you’ve taken the time to ambush me, I can only deduce that you are lackeys to one of the seven personal disciples.”

“That’s right!” one of them said. “We’re followers of—”

The leader of their party cut him off and greeted Cha Ming with a smile. “Greetings, Daoist Clear Sky,” the main said. “My name is Bai Jizao, and I’ve come to make you an offer. Turn back now and abandon your pursuit of the center, and we’ll forget we ever saw you.”

Cha Ming eyed their group warily. There were a total of ten saint-level cultivators, half of whom had demon companions who had also achieved the saint rank. On the one hand, their proposition made him suspicious—why would they give him time to recover instead of taking advantage of his situation? On the other hand, such a proposal would make sense, assuming that the personal disciples of the Inky Sea Sect were close to finishing their runic seas.

“And if I don’t agree?” Cha Ming asked Bai Jizao.

“Then we’ll have no choice but to be impolite,” said Bai Jizao. “Never let it be said that we never offered you a way out.”

Their exchange made it clear to Cha Ming that this was a very unfair trial. The seven personal disciples would be able to gather runes much quicker with so much help. This was not a loss to them, however, as the trial itself was a wonderful opportunity. Even a blue runic sea might enable any one of them to reach the second level of sainthood and become an elder of the Inky Sea Sect.

“I have no interest in competing for the position of guardian,” Cha Ming said to them. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll do as you say. Since you were polite to me, I’ll be polite to you. Get lost, or you’ll lose everything you stood to gain by coming here.”

Bai Jizao’s expression turned cold. “Is that your final answer?”

“It is,” said Cha Ming.

“As you wish,” said Bai Jizao. A blue runic sea spread out from his body and assembled into a water-based formation. His demon companion, a white mouse with sharp gold-and-silver fangs, hopped into the formation and assumed command. The other nine cultivators and their respective demon companions did the same. The result was a linked formation of ten runic seas.

“The inheritance of the Inky Sea Sect is quite frightening,” Cha Ming said to Bai Jizao.

“Unfortunately, it’s too late to take back certain words once spoken,” said Bai Jizao. A wave of profound runic energy crashed toward Cha Ming, who summoned his own violet runic sea to form a defensive sphere of the five elements.

Bai Jizao’s water-based formation attacked Cha Ming in tandem with the other nine formations. They swept the defensive sphere up into the air, opening it up to a joint attack from their five demon companions.

“Demons are the last thing I fear,” said Cha Ming. Nine seals appeared in the air with the violet Demon-Subduing Seal taking command. “Kneel!” he shouted, and the five saint demons began to tremble in fear.

This wasn’t enough to completely chase them off, but Cha Ming used the split second where they lost their composure to activate Claw Rune Prison. The combination of claw runes and demon-subduing energy completely removed them from combat.

“So what if he’s strong against demons?” Bai Jizao said. “Attack him with everything you have, including the talismans you’ve been given by your faction leaders!”

The ten cultivators each threw out a single talisman toward Cha Ming, seemingly without concern for the demon companions. Cha Ming cursed their decisiveness and flashed away from his location using Bloodstorm Rush.

The talismans followed him, but they couldn’t match his speed. Cha Ming appeared beside one of the weaker disciples and struck down with the Sky-Propping Pillar using Bloodstorm Crush.

Spatial cracks appeared in the air as he struck down on the frightened cultivator with three superimposed attacks and shattered his runic sea. He then used his Crumbling Canvas Domain to retrieve these runes and incorporated non-duplicates into his runic sea. As for the rest, he sent them out toward the talismans.

“Detonate!” he commanded, and the runes exploded, tearing apart a third of their precious treasured talismans.

“He can absorb runic fragments at will!” the Inky Sea Sect disciple explained as the Sky-Propping Pillar smashed into his body. A ripple of spatial energy whisked him away and sent him out of the painted world empty-handed.

The remaining nine cultivators stared at Cha Ming coldly.

“It seems we underestimated you,” said Bai Jizao.

“You all just don’t know how to use your spiritual seas,” said Cha Ming. He hopped down onto the ground and took seven consecutive steps. Each step deepened his bond with the surrounding landscape and connected him with local runes, until he reached the limit of his violet runic sea, 700 kilometers.

“So what if you can harmonize with your surroundings?” said Bai Jizao. “He’s still only one cultivator, and he hasn’t even reached the saint realm!”

The six cultivators that still had saint talismans coughed a mouthful of blood essence on them and sent them flying toward Cha Ming.

The power of the six talismans nourished with blood essence was frightening. Worse, their power was very compatible and merged into an even greater attack. Ripples of spatial energy locked down space and movement. The only way to fight this combined attack was head on.

Common sense dictated that Cha Ming adopt an all-out defense, but he did not do so. Even if he survived their combined attack, he would be greatly weakened and would lose a lot of runes in the process.

“Scatter,” Cha Ming commanded. His violet runic sea spread out and deepened his connection to the land. “Inkwell War Plate. Star-Jade Entanglement.” Countless connections appeared in his eyes as the six talismans unleashed their power. There has to be a weakness... There!

The six talismans were all connected at single point in space. Had there been nine talismans, this point would be completely protected, but with only six, the talisman formation had a critical weakness.

Unfortunately, Cha Ming did not have the strength to achieve this. The power required to break through this flaw and disperse the talismans was enormous.

Cha Ming doubled down on his dispersion strategy and used the pressure of six joint talismans to further deepen his bond to the land. He didn’t just want energy from these runes—he wanted a connection like the formations and the rune beasts had with it.

He had discovered two ways to use his runic sea. The first was connecting with his environment. The second was manipulating the runes and using them to paint and execute techniques. In his eyes, there was a third level that could be achieved—fusion!

“Talisman of Golden Oblivion: Activate!” A sharp golden light pierced into Cha Ming’s Inkwell War Plate. “Talisman of Untold Darkness! Talisman of Soul-Sealing Ocean!” Soon, light and darkness and four of the five elements converged on Cha Ming.

The combined might of these talismans exceeded the limits of his Inkwell War Plate. The defensive barrier shattered, exposing Cha Ming, who’d long since activated Triune Soul Burn, to the most powerful attack he’d encountered since his battle with the supreme queen.

A faint gray light enveloped Cha Ming and suggested he teleport. Time froze for an instant as he was given the choice to leave this place and avoid certain death or face the consequences with his life on the line.

He hesitated for a moment before staking everything on one final gambit. The gray light of teleportation faded as he embraced the line between life and death.

His regalia began to crack. His Divine Shell began to break apart. Clearmist energy evaporated from his Dao energy pool at record speed.

It was in this tense situation that something awoke inside Cha Ming. Something primal. Something that had always been there and had been buried under the influence of civilization. That something was what separated people from demons.

Cha Ming’s connection to the land suddenly progressed one step further, breaking through that paper-thin boundary separating them as two entities.

An explosion filled the nearest fifty kilometers, completely obliterating the landscape and leaving behind a giant crater.

“Did we get him?” one of them asked.

“Must be,” said another. “I felt my talisman tearing him apart.”

“Wait… is that… land?”

Bai Jizao’s expression grew solemn. “It appears we underestimated our target, and our attack pushed him past the threshold only personal disciples are able to attain.”

“You mean…”

“Yes,” said Bai Jizao. “Daoist Clear Sky has established an artificial Demon Dao Domain.”

Cha Ming flew up from the small patch of undamaged land at the center. His body was covered in cracks but was still quite functional. His wounds were recovering at a visible pace, as was the crater beneath him.

“How did you do it?” Bai Jizao asked Cha Ming. “You shouldn’t be able to achieve such a realm without using a demon companion as a medium.”

Cha Ming shrugged. “Why don’t we trade information? Tell me why you’re obstructing me, and I’ll tell you how I achieved this realm.”

Bai Jizao thought for a moment before nodding. “Fine. In my estimation, you can’t recover in time to pose a threat to the personal disciples. If I’m not mistaken, you suffered grievous injuries that will take you a while to recover.”

“That is indeed the case,” said Cha Ming.

“Then let’s do it your way,” said Bai Jizao. “In the deepest parts of this painted realm, there exist nine formidable rune beasts. They are unimaginably powerful and are almost impossible to defeat. The only way to even enter the place where they reside is to gather 2,999 runes.”

Cha Ming’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying these beasts are the last missing rune?”

“That is correct,” said Bai Jizao. “There are the nine core runes, and without gaining a core rune, it’s virtually impossible to complete a set of 3,000 and pass this trial.”

“I see,” Cha Ming muttered. “That’s indeed quite troublesome. But it confirms my suspicions, so I’ll honor my end of our bargain. The reason I was able to condense an artificial Demon Dao Domain is because I am a Dao God that controls a domain-type law with a very high affinity for my surroundings. Moreover, my energy has fused to an extremely high level.”

“I see…” said Bai Jizao. “Using one’s own body as a medium, as opposed to a demon companion. That makes sense.” He clasped his hands and bowed. “You have contributed greatly to the Inky Sea Sect, and I will inform the elders of this matter.”

“No offense, but I think they’re more concerned about power games than improving themselves at this point,” Cha Ming said.

“Perhaps that is the case,” said Bai Jizao. “But I’m convinced some will listen. Now… it’s about time you see us off, isn’t it?”

Cha Ming sighed. “There’s no need to lose everything, is there? Give me your runic seas, and I’ll take what I need.”

“If that’s how you want to do it, we promise not to interfere with your progress further,” said Bai Jizao.

“But the elders instructed that—”

“Shut up!” Bai Jizao snapped. “You think you can compete with someone who’s achieved an artificial Demon Dao Domain? You should be thankful he’s showing any mercy at all!” Bai Jizao directly tossed his blue runic sea to Cha Ming, and the others, seeing that the situation wasn’t looking good, did the same.

Cha Ming sorted through each runic sea and took what he needed to mend his damaged runic sea. Moreover, they’d each gathered a few dozen runes that Cha Ming had yet to encounter.

His runic sea grew until it reached the eighth threshold and took on a violet-gold hue. There were now 2,450 runes in his runic sea, which now occupied an area of 800 kilometers in diameter.

Satisfied with his gains, Cha Ming tossed back each of the runic seas. They’d been downgraded to green runic seas as a result of his plundering but would still be extremely useful in deducing runic configurations. To a talisman sect like the Inky Sea Sect, this was a priceless ability. It might even be possible for these people to become elders with enough luck and hard work.

“Many thanks for your mercy, Daoist Clear Sky,” said Bai Jizao. “I admit defeat!”

The moment these words left his mouth, a formless gray energy descended and whisked him and his demon companion out of the painted realm.

“I admit defeat!” said his companions one after another, until only Cha Ming was left.

“I gained a lot this time, but it seems my losses outweighed the gains,” Cha Ming muttered. “Serves me right for baiting them.”