PtM 18 - Chapter 17: The Eighth Sacred Desert

2/2 this week. The next few chapters are Huxian chapters. Enjoy!

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An arid wind blew across Huxian’s dust-laden figure. It was a cruel wind. A hungry wind. It thirsted for the moisture and energy in his body.

A baleful aura existed in this place, and it grew deeper with every battle and every death. War was endless in the Santana Sacred Desert, and this was a fact that even the Runebound Clan, the unsung defenders of Mendin, admitted to.

“The skirmish is drawing to a close,” Silverwing said, appearing beside Huxian. His silver hair was now tinged with gold, as were the blood-soaked blades that seldom left his hands. “Should we call the troops back to rest?”

“The desert can sense our fatigue,” said Huxian. “It knows we’ve been pushing hard and will send another wave. Our ‘allies’ are also unlikely to intercept them. So… press the attack.” Only in this way could they induce their hidden enemies to take action.

As predicted, another abyssal army broke through the allied defensive perimeter. They didn’t even try to hide their intentions at this point, but that suited Huxian and friends just fine. Their mission in the Santana Sacred Desert was for Wu to take it over; Every abyssal creature they killed contained a hint of the desert’s quintessence and would further deepen her fusion with the sacred desert.

Quintessence is the key to controlling the sacred desert, and it’s best to collect it on a single individual, thought Huxian. After three long months of battle, Wu had finally reached a critical authority threshold. It was for this reason that Huxian was wary of his ‘allies’, as they could make things very difficult for them without attacking their group outright.

Silverwing led the charge this time. His fusion transformation was that of a large roc. He plunged into enemy ranks and cut through their ranks with his massive wing-like blades, opening a path for ten thousand elite demons to slaughter their mindless abyssal opponents.

“This battle’s about done, but another army is one it’s way.” This time, it was Miyue who arrived to deliver the battle report. “I’ve finished scouting the enemy formation. It’s as messy as this one and appears to be hiding nothing. What are your orders, dearest?”

Huxian reviewed the information, then shook his head. “You missed something,” he said to Miyue.

“How could I possibly miss anything?” asked Miyue. “It’s a bunch of low-level abyssal demons, corrupted by the Paper Tiger’s curse. They’re powerful. They’re evil. But that’s all there is to them.”

Huxian shook his head. “Wu has reached a critical point in fusing with the sacred desert. Once she succeeds, the entities corrupting the sacred desert will take a heavy blow. What’s more, she’ll become a contender for the Santana Desert’s dungeon core.”

“So you’re saying they’re going to try something with this rabble?” asked Miyue.

“It might not be this one, but I think you should be ready for anything,” Huxian said. “Don’t underestimate the abyssal, and don’t underestimate the sacred desert. Assessing them as rabble is fine, but don’t discount the possibility of tricks.” Lack of caution was how you lost wars. It was also how you lost friends.

“As you instruct, my lord,” said Miyue. She gave an exaggerated bow before retreating. There was a hint of smile on her lips, however, as she very much enjoyed this type of role play.

The battle didn’t hold any suspense as Miyue predicted. Gua was up next, and Huxian replied mechanically. His heart wasn’t into the conversation, because it was then that his future memories decided to rear their ugly heads.

Cha Ming succeeded where should have failed, Huxian thought. That’s a good thing on many levels, because it proves my approach was correct. If he’d followed his typical behavior pattern, Cha Ming would have been grievously wounded and would have taken half a year to recover. Yet by refusing to help and providing him zero warning, Cha Ming had recruited Oster and completely reversed the situation.

But changing the future has consequences. The churches of Jezeriah and Harid Dej are greatly weakened, which means the plane’s contingency plans have been affected. Mendin… is basically defenseless unless I can do something about it.

Which was why he’d requested that Cha Ming hop around Mendin and clear out pocket realms. Not only would this firm up Cha Ming’s stock of planar materials to increase his chances of overcoming his next trial, it would also stabilize space in Mendin and prepare it for Huxian’s long-term plan.

But the desert comes first. It’s slow-going, but I won’t make the same mistake I made in my future memories. He would not approach the Runebound Clan directly, because Solana was a literal snake. She would manipulate them like puppets and stab them in the back. They would be forced out of Mendin with their tails between their legs.

Huxian was determined to right this future wrong. The fact that they hadn’t met his arbitrary two-month deadline was irrelevant. They would take over this sacred desert, complete Wu’s transformation, and stick it to Solana and the Runebound Clan while they were at it.

The battles continued for many days. Huxian supported his friends by rotating in fresh troops from their territories, while his friends took command of these troops in turns to preserve their energy. This time, it was Wu’s turn to give a battle report.

“You seem worried,” Huxian said when Wu finished delivering her report.

“I’m just thinking these fights have gotten too easy,” said Wu. “Call me paranoid, but you know that feeling when you’re walking in the crowd, and you suddenly think ‘what if an assassin was hiding there and attacked me’?”

“I’m very familiar with it, yes,” said Huxian. For him it was ninjas. “I get the same feeling, and I’ve never regretted being cautious because of it.” Death by ninja wizard had been avoided many times over. “How’s your fusion coming along?”

“It’s been difficult to increase it, but I’m making steady progress,” Wu said. “I breached 3.5% last battle, and If things continue in this way, I should be able to fuse with a full five percent of the sacred desert within the month.” She averted her eyes and looked extremely displeased by this progress.

“It’s fine,” Huxian reassured her. “You’re doing great!”

“I missed our deadline,” said Wu. “I failed.”

Huxian rolled his eyes. “The two-month deadline was something I made up on a whim. I made it to motivate everyone. And it worked!”

“Could we perhaps cooperate with the other armies to take the dungeon core instead of competing for influence?” Wu suggested. “It’s what we did in the other sacred deserts.”

“Unfortunately, that won’t work here,” Huxian said. “The other sacred deserts were loosely organized and didn’t have dominant figures. Their dungeons were also in sealed states.

“Santana’s dungeon core is different. Its defenses were breached, and the Paper Tiger’s blood has already partially corrupted the core. It will be impossible to take over the dungeon core without first fusing a portion of the desert. Moreover, the political structure in the area will give us special rights and opportunities once your fusion level reaches 5%. Which it probably will soon.”

“What makes you say that?” asked Wu.

“That,” Huxian said, pointing towards the middle of an incoming enemy force. Powerful abyssal energies began descending on their location, bolstering the enemy army and critically weakening the assembling troops.”

“Oh no! I’m not even in position!” Wu cried out.

Seven demons appeared beside Huxian. “A strange fluctuation has appeared at the center of the enemy formation,” Miyue reported. “We aren’t sure what sinister plot they’ve prepared, but my instincts are saying it won’t be easy.”

“The territories beside us have stopped fighting,” said Lei Jiang. “And it looks like they’ve started applying pressure with their authority.” Lei Jiang’s alignment made him especially sensitive to conflict and misdeeds.

“As expected,” Huxian said. “They saw us catching up and couldn’t resist putting us in our place.”

“But they’re not doing it directly,” Silverwing said. “Instead, they’re guiding enemies to our location from the outside. Permission to meet them in battle?”

“First, let’s hear everyone else’s thoughts,” said Huxian. “Gua?”

“Isn’t it too much to call them allies at this point?” Gua asked.

“That’s why I keep making quotes with my fingers whenever I say the word,” said Huxian.

“Hm. Well, tangling with those sneaky bastards seems like a bad idea,” Gua said. “I think withdrawing and getting even with them later is the best way to go.”

“That seems like a terrible Idea,” Mr. Mountain said in a rare show of dissent. “It’s times like these where we need to stand tall and hold our ground.”

“What about you guys?” Huxian asked the others. “Bifang? Jadefall? Wu?”

“I’m getting a bad feeling about withdrawing,” said Bifang.

“I’m not exactly the withdrawing type,” Jadefall said bluntly. “Show me where the enemy is, and I’ll give them an axe to the face.”

Their eyes turned to Wu. “Hm… my instincts tell me to run,” she said. “But… if our opponents have been plotting against us, they’d know this. They’d also know that it’s ultimately my decision as territory holder. Which is why I’d like you to decide, Huxian.”

Huxian was better informed than the rest of them, and it was him who’d detected the problem with the enemy formation. “Let’s fight!” he said without hesitation. “If we win, we’ll hit gold. If we lose, we’ll have to start over from the beginning.” Huxian summoned his demon armor, a set of black and white battle robes, along with eight amorphous demon weapons, one for each of his eight tails.

Huxian and friends flew up into the air. Flight was prohibited in the sacred dessert for normal troops, but demons that had reached the middle fusion realm could bypass this restriction.

“What’s our troop count looking like?” Huxian asked Silverwing.

“We’ve got fifty thousand troops left from the original hundred thousand,” said Silverwing. “Out of our original hundred fusion realm demons, 98 are left.”

“Then we’re going to have to call in reinforcements,” Huxian said. “Our enemy this time will take all nine of us to tie down.” His eight tails then grew intangible and spread out in all eight directions, until they completely encompassed the battlefield. “Summon your demon weapons. Summon your demon armors. Fusion realm demons, execute your fusion transformations! As for the eight of you, Eight Trigram Battle Formation.” His tails split the sky into nine segments, one for each direction in the bagua, and a black and white region in the center where their 50,00 troops were stationed.

“Miyue, you’re up first,” Huxian said. “Our goal is to whittle away at them with minimal expenditure. Do what you do best.”

“As you command, my lord,” Miyue said before flying out. The battlefield transformed into an aquatic paradise, from which poured tens of thousands of ink-aligned creatures native to her territory. What’s more, over half of them were the painted demons they’d carefully nurtured all this time.

The battlefield’s transformation provoked a strong reaction from the incoming abyssal forces. The malignant will in the center of their formation whipped them into action. They closed in on their group from all directions like starved predators.

Idiots, thought Huxian. The enemy army found itself physically unable to press inward. Only one of the eight directions was permitted to advance through the watery region controlled by Miyue!

“Sisters, our guests have come a long way to pay us a visit,” came Miyue’s melodic voice. “Why don’t we sing them a welcome song to make them feel more comfortable?”

Bewitching siren voices filled the air, debilitating the fiendish troops as they entered. This made them easy prey for the aquatic demons lurking in the battlefield’s shallow inky waters. Sin infused blood contaminated the waters, but Miyue had already prepared for this. A small army of clam demons swept through the battlefield to clean out the sin-infused blood and concentrate it into baleful pearls.

Abyssal demons of this level were not versatile. They were of mixed demonic species corrupted by sin, greatly empowering their bodies but corroding their minds in the process. Much like holy demons could find themselves unable to commit heinous acts, abyssal demons were unable to escape their vicious and sinful natures. Such creatures were short-lived even in the seven hells, where they were used as cannon for devilish factions or sent to the Eternal Battlefield when their populations grew too large.

“Miyue’s troops are doing well, but she’s taking a lot of casualties,” said Wu. “Why don’t I cast a blessing on our troops to strengthen them against abyssal energies?”

“If that’s how you feel, I won’t stop you,” Huxian said. “But keep your energy stores above ninety percent.”

Minutes passed in this way, and Wu only occasionally stepped in to bless their troops. Once Miyue’s energy expenditure reached fifty percent, Huxian called a change to the battlefield.

Bifang stepped up to replace Miyue, converting her aquatic territory into a land of ash, light, and flames. Seven-colored fire reigned supreme here, and all who were struck by these sacred flames would suffer one misfortune after another.

Nice, thought Huxian. Her flames have reached a whole new level. They didn’t strictly inflict misfortune but burned away the luck of her enemies. And the greater the luck, the more intense her flames. The more intense her flames, the more damage they caused. Against abyssal demons, who blessed by lady luck in their current era, it was an extremely potent weapon.

Despite having the support of an entire territory, Bifang’s powers were greatly limited by her mental and spiritual energy. She only lasted half as much time as Miyue.

“You did good,” said Huxian. “Your kill count was double hers.”

“When’s it going to be my turn?” Gua asked Huxian. “If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s stalling.”

Huxian observed the enemy formation. It was currently showing subtle signs of change. “Gua and Mr. Mountain are up next,” he decided. “Not side by side. Stacked together.”

A battlefield filled with mountains appeared. And if anyone tried to pass between these mountains, they would find themselves delayed by poisonous swamps. It was the best defensive arrangement in their group; if not countered, it was theoretically possible to grind away the multiple abyssal armies attacking them.

The abyssal troops began to fall in droves. Some fell prey to falling rocks and poison, and others were simply sniped from above by troops hiding in the clifftops. “Are you going to take this, or are you going to act?” Huxian muttered. That was when a powerful presence descended on the battlefield, tearing through Huxian’s intricate law tapestry and disrupting his Eight Trigrams Battlefield.

A patch of white sand appeared at the center of the swamp and mountain combination. Abyssal troops appeared and began to kill their way towards the center.

“This is bad,” Gua said. “Mr. Mountain’s reinforcements are taking heavy damage!”

“Hold out just a little longer…” said Huxian. There was only one force in the world that could dispel laws so easily, and that was saintly will. The source of that will was a single creature hidden amongst the rank and file abyssal. “I’ve found a blood clone!” he shouted. “Everyone on me!”

Their eight trigrams formation shifted to bring Huxian and friends and their respective armies directly on top of the army where the blood clone was located. A bloody aura filled the desert as the saint-level demon released the seal on its cultivation. It fused its presence with the corrupted Santana Desert and bolstered the abyssal demons in its immediate surroundings.

“Foolish demons,” said the blood clone. “Fear me. Fear the power of the Paper Tiger. Let your weapons and armor… be paper!” The troops closest to the enemy saint found their demon weapons and demon armor peeling away. The weakest among them directly transformed to sheets of paper as their life force and souls were ripped away.

“Defensive formations!” Huxian called out. Their troops fell back into the center of the eight trigrams formation. “Lei Jiang, Silverwing, Jadefall, and Wu, get ready! Mr. Mountain and Gua, cover the army’s retreat!”

The eight-trigram formation collapsed unto itself, destroying the bulk of abyssal demons within its perimeter. They tried their best to stop the retreating army, but thanks to Gua and Mr. Mountain, the army suffered minimal losses.

The collapse continued until it reached the core region, where pieces of the formation folded up around the remainder of their army and brought it into Huxian’s tail space. Only Huxian and his eight friends remained to face countless enemies and one saintly demon. It was a tall order, even for their team of nine middle fusion realm demons.”

“Killing this thing is impossible with our strength, so we’ll have to cheat,” Huxian said. “Gua, Mr. Mountain, Miyue, and Bifang, join me. Four tails should be enough to settle this.” The manifestation of an eight-tailed fox appeared behind Huxian and fused with the four he mentioned. Spatial cracks appeared around the massive fox as he opened his eyes and looked upon the ant-like blood clone beneath him.

“Four Directions, Collapse!” A small section of the sacred desert shattered into hundreds of thousands of glass-like shards. Waves of deadly spatial turbulence cut apart the remaining abyssal demons the collapse of his eight directions formation hadn’t caught, then moved onto the armies that had yet to join the battle.

Huxian rose a paw and brought it down. An entire abyssal army was reduced to minced meat in an instant. He tried the same for the army with the blood clone but was forced to stop when a barrier of white paper slips blocked him. A humanoid figure with white armor, white hair, and white irises rose into the sky. The Santana Desert reasserted itself. Space stabilized, like it had never been shattered in the first place.

“You don’t know your limits, young pup,” said the creature. “Combining the strength of nine is a formidable achievement, but the gap between our cultivations is too great. Yield, and I may spare you.” White paper laws descended upon Huxian and began leaching the color from his fur. His limbs grew weak, and his demon armor dimmed. And for the first time in a long time, Huxian felt fear.

“So this is what bloodline suppression feels like,” Huxian said. “And here I thought I’d never feel it in my lifetime.”

Daoists relied on their control over laws. Demigods relied on their inviolable strength. As for demons, they relied on their bloodline. Demon immortals, or demon princes, as they were known in the demon community, could crush a transcendent demon by relying only on the pressure of their bloodlines.

The blood clone might only be a remnant of the Paper Tiger, but even a hint of that bloodline was superior to almost every bloodline on the Inkwell Plane. Fortunately, it was sufficiently diluted that Huxian didn’t collapse from their first exchange.

“Your bloodline is especially pure and would be a great supplement to these blood clones and even the dungeon’s core,” the blood clone continued. “Surrender, little pup. I’ll even spare your friends. All I require is a willing donation of your respective bloodlines. A small price to pay for continued existence.”

Huxian’s instincts were screaming for him to obey. He coughed up a mouthful of blood onto the sacred desert’s bleached white sand as he fought against the pressure.

“It would be a shame to degrade the quality by taking it forcefully, but I am not against doing so,” said the blood clone. “Moreover, there are others watching this battle. You have ten breaths to decide.”

Huxian’s consciousness was fading. He wanted to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out. Fortunately, he wasn’t just a demon, but a Daoist, and was able to manipulate local laws in such a way that he was finally able to block out part of the demon’s influence.

“Drop dead,” he finally managed to say. He opened his mouth and coughed out a paper-white pearl that glowed with a soft and pure light. The blood clone recoiled at the sight of the pearl.

“Impossible!” said the blood clone. “The Purelight Hegemon is dead. How could you possibly possess his bloodline pressure?”

Huxian took advantage of the creature’s momentary weakness two whip out with his four tails. He wrapped them around the creature’s body and sealed its essence using the might of four dungeon cores and the purelight pearl. The paper tiger clone instinctively reverted into its original form, that of a gigantic white tiger.

The Paper Tiger and the Eight-Directions Fox Emperor fell to the ground and began to brawl like two wild animals. The tiger bit into the fox’s thick fur, and the fox likewise bit into the creatures neck.

But there was a big difference in physical strength between the two demons. Huxian’s ribs creaked and groaned as the tiger struggled against his tails. The situation grew even more dire when the tiger broke one of his seals and began to draw upon the strength of the Santana Desert.

A powerful absorptive force appeared on the paper tiger’s body and began draining his blood through its pristine white fur. Huxian began to lose blood at a frightening pace.

Two can play at that game, thought Huxian. Spacetime Devouring! His entire body turned into a black hole that drank in not just blood, but essence and demonic will as well. It immediately restored Huxian’s energy, and even stole some of the blood clone’s original essence before the blood clone reacted to his intrusion and counter Huxian’s counterattack.

Minutes passed in this fashion. Huxian hovering on the brink of death. It was an energy neutral battle, but he was lacking in willpower compared to the blood clone. If this continued, he would definitely lose.

I might not be gaining energy, but I’m gaining in energy density, thought Huxian. He redirected this energy to his companions and instructed them to break through as soon as possible.

Wu was the first to succeed, and Jadefall followed closely after. Their strength was Huxian’s strength, and his aura soared as the two demons advanced to the late fusion realm.

Next came Lei Jiang and Silverwing. A storm of spatial energy emerged from Huxian’s body as his strength rose a second time. The paper tiger’s energy stores sank down to an all time low.

“You dare pollute your bloodline with my own?” said the surprised blood clone. “Don’t you know that’s the greatest taboo? If you keep this up, they’ll never be able to ascend.”

“What do you know?” Huxian snapped. “You’re just a remnant of a remnant. A blood drop that lost its way.” The four consecutive breakthroughs had completely broken the balance, and along with the Purelight Pearl, Huxian was able to completely overwhelm the blood clone.

“You’ll regret it!” shouted the blood clone as its body shrivelled up. Its bones turned to powder, and its demonic will was completely drained away.

Huxian kept the purest energy for himself. As for the rest of it, he fed to his friends. Gua, Mr. Mountain, Miyue, and Bifang broke through in quick succession, but their expressions were grim.

“He’s not wrong, Huxian,” Gua said. “My bloodline’s a complete mess now. I can probably break through to sainthood, but will I be able to ascend?”

“It’s all part of the greater plan,” Huxian said. “Trust me.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t intentionally destabilize our foundations,” said Miyue. “But I think a better explanation is deserved.”

Huxian sighed. “To be honest, I did it on purpose.”

“Seriously?” Lei Jiang said. “Why would you do that?”

“Because that’s the only for everyone to break through in a short amount of time,” Huxian said.

“For reasons you still won’t discuss,” Miyue said. “Fine. Whatever. I trust you wouldn’t do these things without a reason.”

Silverwing nodded slowly. “The boss sometimes does dishonest things, and even tricks us on occasion, but it usually works out for the best.”

“Look, it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but that I can’t,” Huxian said. Telling them he knew the future would turn out badly. “What I cantell you that there’s only so much time before this entire plane blows up.”

“Really?” asked Miyue.

“There’s no way you can know that for sure,” said Jadefall.

“I’m giving it 90% odds of happening,” said Huxian. “And my source is extremely reliable.”

“So you’re saying we need to become immortals as soon as possible,” said Jadefall.

“In a way,” said Huxian. “Besides, the blood pollution won’t matter. Probably.”

“Would it kill you to be less cryptic?” asked Gua.

“I have a good feeling about what he’s saying,” said Bifang.

“Wait a minute,” said Silverwing. “The cultivation technique we’re practicing – Eight Directions, One Core. We’re all cultivating a similar technique, but your part is different, isn’t it?”

“That’s right,” said Huxian. “My parts let me superimpose your strengths onto mine. It’s thanks to this cultivation art that we’re going to be able to get through this. Anyway, it’s like I said. We need to get strong, and fast. And to do that, we need this sacred desert. How’s it coming along, Wu?”

“My fusion reached six percent!” Wu said excitedly. “That blood clone must have controlled a huge portion of the desert.”

“We were probably encroaching on its territory,” said Huxian. “Which is why our allies were able to bait it into attacking us so easily.”

“You said the five percent threshold was important?” asked Wu.

“It’s very important,” said Huxian. “Five percent qualifies you to fight for ownership of the sacred desert. We should be hearing from the desert’s leader shortly.” His ears twitched, and he turned his head to see a flash of golden light on the horizon. He caught and object and handed it to Wu. It was an envelope.

Wu nervously opened the golden letter and read through it. “It’s a congratulatory note,” she said. “The many factions residing in the Sacred Sanatana Desert will be holding a conference three days. Our presence has been requested.”

Huxian rubbed his hands. “You heard the lady. Let’s tidy up the battlefield and reorganize our troops. It’s also time to time to enlist again. Double the rewards for front line combatants. Tripple the compensation in case of death and dismemberment.”

“Isn’t this just a conference,” Wu asked. “Why would we need reinforcements?”

“I just happen to know that there’s an ancient tradition in the Santana Desert,” Huxian said. “Newly formed factions are all required to participate in a crusade. We’d best be ready for it.”