PtM 18 - Chapter 11: The Real Plan

2/3 this week! It's a short one, sorry.

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It was sixteen hours later when Cha Ming’s last incarnation was found. It wasn’t hiding but sitting in a small square located at the intersection between four temples.

Hundreds of slack-jawed rankers sat before him, unable to move, unable to speak. They could only listen as Cha Ming instructed them on matters of cultivation. “Advancement is a universal pursuit,” Cha Ming said as Vice-Pontiff Clockmaker and his escort drew near. “Jezeriah and Harid Dej’s advancement system is but one of many. Most of the competing systems out there don’t even require faith. What they do require is persistence, luck, and wealth. These things are universal constants, no matter what system one chooses to grow under.”

A member of his audience robotically lifted a hand. “Why wouldn’t these competing systems require faith? Isn’t the intervention of a god or goddess necessary?”

“The intervention of a god is often necessary,” Cha Ming admitted. “This has less to do with the culvation system and more to do with a plane’s Dao Origins. As for your question, these systems don’t requirefaith. It is just that some gods prefer to sacrifice the strength of their followers in exchange for abundant faith energy. A foolish trade-off in my opinion.”

“Then what other systems are there?” said another ranker. This one was a junior priest.

“I’m sure you are all aware of the Painted Daoist system by now,” said Cha Ming. “This is the easiest system for you all to adopt, as it has been established in the Inkwell Plane’s Dao Origins. As for other paths, there’s the berserker path, the shaman path, the Gu path, and even the alchemist path, where one treats their body as a furnace, and their core as a growing immortal pill.”

“What should we do if we want to cultivate these other paths?” another asked.

“The answer his here, in your heart,” Cha Ming said. “I have placed a seed of hope inside each of you. When your yearning grows strong enough, the seeds will turn into a spark, and then a flame. When the flame grows to be the size of your fist, you’ll be able to access the information I left within it.” He then turned to Vice-Pontiff Clockmaker, who’d yet to make a move. “Greetings, Vice-Pontiff. I’m glad you could join me today.”

“Cut the nonsense, Clear Sky,” said Vice-Pontiff Clockmaker. “Tell me why you’ve been wasting our time, and I’ll promise you a swift death.”

Cha Ming was unperturbed by the provocation. “These heart flames are a mysterious thing, Vice-Pontiff. They contain a hint of undying glass flames, and save the direct intervention of a goddess, they are all but impossible to extinguish.”

“Laughable,” said Vice-Pontiff Clockmaker. “If you think you can uproot the Realm of Good and Evil with fire and a few words, you are mistaken. You are an ant before the twin goddesses. Watch on as I take away this ‘undying’ flame seed you have planted.”

Holy light filled the square, and the several hundred hopefuls shook as the flames in their hearts was pulled out. The vice-pontiff gathered these flames into a ball of Heartforge Spirit Flames that rested on his palm like an obedient kitten. “Your flames are useless in this place, Clear Sky. Admit your mistake. Repent your sins and embrace the holy light of Jezeriah.”

Cha Ming gave the Vice-Pontiff a bemused look. “You might want to be careful with those flames. If you’re not careful, they’ll take root in your heart as well.”

“Vice-Pontiff, look out!” Cardinal Undine shouted from the side. She shot a wave of darkness at the flame, smashing it apart just as it was creeping up the vice-pontiff’s sleeve. “This flame is like a plague,” she said in a grave voice. “It feeds on doubt and makes you doubt everything you believe in.”

“So it’s a curse?” asked Vice-Pontiff Clockmaker.

“The opposite, I’m afraid,” answered Cha Ming. “This flame can only take root in hearts that are considering their options and are hoping for things to change. It’s strengthening what’s already there and giving it a bit of encouragement.” He then looked to the space beside Vice-Pontiff Clockmaker. “Vice-Pontiff Lorimer, I’m glad you took the time to join us as well.”

Shadows converged to form a robed figure. “How could I possibly miss such a good show?” said Vice-Pontiff Lorimer. “Undine, you are an otherworldly faith specialist. How should we deal with this situation?”

“I’m afraid these people are impossible to treat,” Cardinal Undine answer. “On the surface, they look uncontaminated, but a tiny faith seed remains inside each of them. It will feed on their emotions and their will until a spark lights up and begins the cycle of doubt anew.”

Vice-Pontiff Lorimer’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re telling me they can’t be saved? That we should sacrifice them for the greater good?”

Undine shook her head. “It’s not like that at all. Just think about it for a second – Why would Clear Sky need to come here specifically to plant these seeds? This isn’t a secret ploy, but an open scheme.”

“Weeds have no place in the garden we cultivate,” said Vice-Pontiff Clockmaker.

“This is a core teaching of the twin goddesses,” agreed Vice-Pontiff Lorimer.

“Then by all means,” Cardinal Undine said drily. “Comb over every republic in Mendin to look for those seeds and waste our goddess’s precious divinity. I’m still not sure what will be quicker - the rate at which we destroy these contaminated individuals or the rate at which these heart flames spread.

“That’s not the only thing we need to worry about. If we begin to kill contaminated individuals, other followers will begin to doubt our goddesses, and the contagion will spread even faster. It is therefore impossible to remedy the situation by anything but countering doubt with faith.”

“You’ve hit the nail on the head, Cardinal Undine,” Cha Ming said. “Like I said, it is an open scheme. If your faith is superior and address all the doubt in the hearts of your followers, this gift of mine will be ineffective.”

“Isn’t this problem easy to solve?” Salamani said from the side. “If we kill Clear Sky, these flames will lose their source and fade away. Moreover, the situation isn’t as bad as he says. The Churches of Jezeriah and Harid Dej have a foothold in Mendin that isn’t easy to erase.”

“But it’s enough to slow you down,” Cha Ming said. “I had hoped to free my master from his prison and prevent this tree from devouring his divinity, but I’ll have to settle for the consolation prize.  It should be enough to prevent the Tree of Good and Evil from ascending.

His words shocked all the cardinals present. Only Undine and Salamani were the exception. As for the two vice-pontiffs, their expressions grew cold. “He can’t be allowed to live,” said Vice-Pontiff Clockmaker.

“If you’d said anything else, we might have been able to ignore you,” said Vice-Pontiff Lorimer. “But now, we have no choice but to put everything on the line to eliminate you. Clockmaker? It’s time. Let’s summon the two pontiffs.”

But Cha Ming was unconcerned. “Go ahead and summon them. They’ll never be able to find my main body. The only reason you were able to find these incarnations because they were trapped in the Realm of Good and Evil. But out in the void? It would be easier to find a needle in a haystack.

Cha Ming was about to reach into the void and execute his final trick, when the two vice-pontiffs stirred. Their auras changed dramatically. A manifestation rose up behind each of them, one valiant and golden, and the other dark and sinful.

“Jezeriah and Harid Dej,” Cha Ming said, nodding to the two apparitions. “We finally meet in person.”

“You should feel proud, Clear Sky,” said Jezeriah through Vice-Pontiff Clockmaker’s body. “Not many mortals have managed to threaten our plans to this extent.”

“I wouldn’t be so fast to activate that little plan of yours,” said Harid Dej. “The consequences of doing so are far reaching. As for you any grievances you might have? Anything is negotiable.”

Cha Ming took the descent of both goddesses in stride. It was only natural they be able to sense a threat so close to the heart of their power. And if they were talking instead of acting, it meant there wasn’t anything they could do to stop him. He was in complete control over the situation.”

“All right then,” Cha Ming said. “Let’s negotiate. Tell me what you have to offer, and I’ll tell you if it’s good enough to make me rethink my next few actions.”

“I suppose I’ll go first, then,” said Harid Dej. “I believe you to be a person that thinks of the greater good. You should know that this world is currently undergoing a perilous upheaval. Should you interfere with our actions, many billions, if not trillions of mortals might perish.”

“You mean billions or trillions of faithful followers,” Cha Ming said. “Am I right?”

Harid Dej shrugged. “Is there a difference? Your Master, Sun Wukong, entered the Root Prison of his own initiative. He surrendered to us when we explained the situation and our solution to it. I’ll tell you what - give us three months to extract a meaningless amount of divinity from Sun Wukong, and we’ll pay him back a hundred-fold for his losses when he ascends to the immortal realms. As for you, we’ll owe you a favor. The favor of two immortal empresses is no small thing.”

It was a tempting offer, Cha Ming had to admit. Immortal Emperors and Empresses were top figures in the immortal realm. Yet what they’d done to Yu Wen was unacceptable. Moreover, he was skeptical about their claims of saving billions of mere mortals.

“I’m afraid I can’t agree to your request,” Cha Ming said. “My master is as proud individual, and he’d chose death over humiliation. I can’t think of any reason why he’d voluntarily walk into your prison.”

“Do you really think the two of us, with our limited influence on this transcendent plane, would be able to force him to stay?” asked Jezeriah.

“I have no idea,” said Cha Ming. “Which is why I’ll free him first and ask him his opinion.

Jezeriah and Harid Dej’s expressions darkened, and the air turned stormy. “We’re offering you amnesty and a favor,” Jezeriah said. “You have no idea how difficult it is for goddesses of our level to renege on the favors we give out.”

“Why not burry the hatchet when the opportunity presents itself?” Harid Dej asked. “What good is pride and hatred in the face of virtue. Besides which, I have to tell you, Clear Sky: Vengeance is really not your style.”

Jezeriah and Harid Dej’s voices were sweet like honey and intoxicating like liquor. Fortunately, Cha Ming’s heart had been forged in fire several thousand times over. And now that Memory was on his side, he was able to actively fight off their divinity-infused words.

“I am aware of this world’s troubles and have already spoken to Immortal Zhong about them at length,” Cha Ming replied. “I also know the odds of you succeeding in your plan: ten percent, at best. Since that’s the case, I see no reason to play along with you. Mendin deserves better than one chance in ten.”

He reached into the void and retrieved a container. It was a flask containing sixty-four different partitions, frozen in time and space. “Is there anything else you’d like to say?” he asked the goddesses.

“You’ll regret doing this,” said Jezeriah.

“I implore you to stop what you’re doing,” said Harid Dej.

Once again, Cha Ming shook off her divine charm. “It’s too late,” he said. “I decided on this course of action long ago.” He then willed his last incarnation in the Realm of Good and Evil to shatter the flask, provoking a chain reaction in the sixty-four other flasks he’d place in different spots across the realm.

An explosion shook the entire pocket realm. Energy began to back up as key ley lines ruptured, until finally, the two main temples shattered from the energy overload, severing the realm’s connection with its patron goddesses.

The vice-pontiffs and their cardinals, along with every bishop and priest in the Realm of Good and Evil, were struck with a violent backlash. Shockwaves ran across Mendin as rankers of all kinds found their connection to their goddess weakening and their powers diminishing.

“How dare you,” said Vice-Pontiff Clockmaker as he regained his lucidity.

“You’ve just made two very powerful enemies,” said Vice-Pontiff Lorimer.

“I can forgive you trying to kill me,” said Cha Ming as his incarnation faded into mist. “But Jezeriah’s minion killed the love of my life, and your two goddesses captured my master. To make matters worse, you enslaved my friends and kept them prisoner in this tiny realm. You also tore down the Tree of Life I worked hard to protect and used it as fertilizer for this wretched tree.”

“It isn’t over between us, Clear Sky,” said Undine, picking herself up off the ground. “Once I hit late gold rank, I’ll track you down. There will be nowhere on this world that can hide you. Just you wait.”

Cha Ming shot a pitying look at Undine. “I’m afraid your chance has passed, Undine. Once you hit late gold rank, I’ll already have advanced another step. Take my friendly advice and leave Mendin. If you’re lucky, I might not care enough to chase you down.”

With that, the last of Cha Ming’s incarnation faded.