Chapter 5: Fragment of the Sky Forge

Happy Fathers Day everyone. I'm off to do something fun with my family, and I'll post the second chapter as soon as I can.

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Gold and dark blue energies crystalized, forming golden meteors and shards of black ice that homed in on Cha Ming’s location. Cha Ming tried to use a Clear Rune Step to escape, only to find himself rejected by a holy light in his surroundings.

The source of the rejection was a golden scroll that Salamani had thrown out without much fanfare. An imposing golden temple appeared in the pocket realm’s airspace and pressed down on Cha Ming’s Dao Projection, shrinking it down until it only occupied ten kilometers in every direction.

Cha Ming was upset by not surprised by Oster’s treachery, nor was he disappointed. A plan was what he needed now, and no amount of complaining would help him. “Ninesky, tangle up the mages while I think of a way out of here,” said Cha Ming.

Ninesky grinned toothily and gave him a thumbs-up. “I know just the thing!” She then proceeded to kick Luther, Coral, and Disaster out of the Clear Sky World and threw the three cats towards the group of enemy cultivators.

Soul Lashing Rain, Blood Calamity Hail, and Sky Tearing Winds filled the nearest ten kilometers. Each of the three elementals had reached rank 14, and were therefore a threat that couldn’t be ignored.

Three versus ten wasn’t good odds, but they had a major advantage over their opponents: Ninesky. While she didn’t cultivate, nor did she have much strength on her own, she was Cha Ming’s soul bound treasure, and could therefore paint in his stead.

She first used River Lake Style to paint a rendition of the Five Point Monarchs, then used Eight-Directions Style to form a circular prison that sucked in the shield guards, the mages, and the inquisitors.

Runes lit up on the bodies of the shield guards, linking them with their comrades and absorbing the damage for them. As for the inquisitors, they weren’t very useful in such a situation, but were able to use minor healing prayers to mitigate some of the damage to their comrades.

The mages tried to deal with the bloodstorm trio but were unable to get a lock on them. And thanks to their effective screening tactics, they couldn’t get aw lock on Cha Ming either. The situation entered a prolonged stalemate that left Cha Ming alone against Salamani and Undine, as well as the projection of Jezeriah’s temple.

Cha Ming summoned the Sky Propping Pillar to his side and analyzed his opponents. “Neither of you are my match,” he said to the duo.

“I underestimated you last time, Clear Sky,” said Salamani. “I won’t make the same mistake a second time. Undine, I already used up a treasure. It’s your turn now.”

Undine took out a scroll that was blacker than ink and reeked of death. An ominous choir started singing in a language that sounded suspiciously like Latin to Cha Ming. A bad sign. Space ripped open behind Undine, revealing a mass of tentacles that smashed up local space and filled the air with a poisonous miasma.

Cha Ming used his Bound Energy Canvas and his Shatter Form Canvas to try and disperse the miasma, only to realize that it wasn’t made of matter or energy, but of spirit. His fused nature gave him some influence over the spiritual realm, but Cha Ming’s control wasn’t perfect. The miasma wormed its way into his spiritual sea and forced him to relieve hours of painful, twisted memories in mere seconds.,

“Is something distracting you?” Cha Ming followed his intuition to barely avoiding a spear to the head. He swept out with the Sky Propping Pillar and shattering twelve spear projections before they could land on his body but couldn’t avoid taking three bloody wounds that bled Clearmist out onto the pocket realm’s parched soil.

Cha Ming tossed out hundreds of talismans from his sleeves and shot towards Salamani. Each one was an upgraded God-Slaying Talisman that could cause major wounds even to a cultivator of Salamani’s caliber. Unfortunately, Undine had predicted this. Twenty talismans exploded against a round black shield before Cha Ming pulled the rest back into orbit around himself.

“You think I’ll let you teleport?” Undine said. She locked space down just as Cha Ming was covertly activating a space-gray talismans. Fortunately, Cha Ming’s talisman wasn’t a simple one – he burrowed through cracks in her containment and appeared hundreds of kilometers closer to the piece of titan metal. “Damn it all. Astral Duplication!”

Salamani, Undine, and their companions duplicated Cha Ming’s teleportation and appeared not far away. Fortunately, they’d brought over Ninesky and the bloodstorm trio as an unexpected side effect.

“Wretched things!” Undine diverted a bit of her attention to summon unholy fire down onto Ninesky and the others, then used the rest of her attention to open up a new rift, from which poured dozens of writhing tentacles.

Another wave of disorientation wash over Cha Ming, but this time, he was ready; He chased away the visions and met Salamani’s spear with the Sky Propping Pillar.

“You’re not using everything at your disposal, Salamani,” said Undine. She pulled a ball of yarn and tossed it at Cha Ming. “Harid Dej’s Infinite Web!”

Salamani retreated to Undine’s side and threw out six golden panels. “Jezeriah’s Unbreakable Prison!” The sticky web immobilized Cha Ming, and the six panels locked together to form a cube, then immediately began to shrink.

Cha Ming took out the Sky Propping Pillar and set it between the shrinking floor and sealing. The prison creaked and groaned as it encountered resistance that should not have been possibly given Cha Ming’s cultivation.

“Expand!” Cha Ming commanded the pillar. The prison walls shook slightly, then began to move further apart.

“My prison won’t hold!” said Salamni.

“My web won’t either,” said Undine. She had Cha Ming’s Heartforge Spirit Flames to thank for that. “We have no choice. Beg Jezeriah for a boon!”

“A boon?” said Salamani, hesitating. “Is that really necessary?”

“Do it, or I’m leaving,” Undine snapped.

“Fine, fine” said Salamani. He took out a golden knife and sliced open his palm. “Oh Jezeriah, this humble servant seeks your favor to eradicate an unspeakable evil. Bestow Boon upon this unworthy one so that he may accomplish your will in the transcendent dimension.”

As Salamani prayed, Undine sought the assistance of the creature beyond the rift. “Ancient One, hear my call! Accept my offering of dreams undreamt!” She pulled a flask out from within her robes and tossed it at the creature, who caught the flask and inspected it warily.

“Don’t listen to her,” Cha Ming said to the creature. “If you help me out, I’ll give you all sorts of tasty things to eat.” The Ancient One’s tentacles hesitated, but only long enough for Undine to toss a second flask to the creature.

Dozens of tentacles wrapped around the expanding golden prison. Its golden walls cracked and collapse, and the Sky Propping Pillar’s expansion came to a halt. But Cha Ming was less worried about the creature and more worried about Salamani. A surge of divinity had just wormed its way through the planar boundary and had had entered the war priest’s body. His robes were now golden, and his spear was alight with holy fire.

“In the name of Jezeriah, I execute thee, heathen!” shouted Salamani. A spear of golden light pierced through the golden walls and filled the prison with flames. They engulfed Cha Ming’s body and burnt it away until only ashes remained.

“Damn,” said Undine. “He got away.”

“What do you mean, he got away,” said Salamani. “His ashes are there, plain for everyone to see.”

“You think a Dao God on his level just leaves ashes?” said Undine. “Use your head for once.” The Ancient One stripped away pieces of golden metal, revealing said pile of ashes. “See? Mundane materials. A Demigod like him would leave at least a few world crystals.”

“How did he do it?” said Salamani. “Jezeriah’s temple was suppressing him the entire time.”

“He must be close, then,” said Undine. She set her sights on the piece of titan metal sticking out from the ground tens of kilometers away. “Sweep the area, starting from here, then move towards that cursed fragment. Use caution!”

***

Cha Ming appeared beside the large metal fragment at the center of the pocket realm. He didn’t have much time – minutes, at most – and then he was as good as dead.

The metal shard at the center of the pocket realm was his only hope. It wasn’t a planar core, but it did behave like one. Like most planar cores, it contained a will, and it also regulated the pocket realm they were currently occupied. He could sense that the fragment wasn’t happy with this batch of intruders and was inherently rejecting Cha Ming’s presence.

The High-grade ores in this pocket realm are extremely pure, Cha Ming thought, scanning the area. I thought it was just good luck, but it’s more that. These aren’t pieces of ore – they’re heavily corroded weapon fragments!

The bigger the fragment, the more power it contained, which was why the biggest chunks of ‘ore’ were located just beside the giant metal shard. Atop them lay a thousand centuries of dust, along with whatever vegetation could withstand the fragment’s violent energies.

Most of these fragments were not useful, but Cha Ming was able to use his Dao Projection to find a few pieces of armor that still retained a bit of their original power. These armor pieces contain planar fragments, Cha Ming observed. That means these aren’t normal armor fragments – they’re regalia fragments!

Divine abilities had many stages of development; at his stage, divine abilities could be forged into armor. True Gods took this one step further by nurturing their divine armor into composite worlds, thereby enhancing their divine abilities to a whole new level.

Regalia were extremely difficult to craft, as their materials consisted of planar dust, world fragments, and similar materials. Cha Ming’s long-term plans included crafting regalia of his own, so he kept these fragments, and would process them once he grew strong enough to do so.

Oh? What’s this? Cha Ming discovered a piece of metal that wasn’t a regalia fragment. It was a piece of broken axe blade that had somehow withstood the ravages of time.

He stowed the piece of metal, then gave the main fragment his undivided attention. It was a piece of blue metal, covered in intricate runes and weapon imprints. “Show me what happened,” Cha Ming whispered to the fragment as he touched it. “Tell me your story.”

Cha Ming closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he felt shards of rock break away from his eyelids. He wanted to breathe, but there was no air, only earth in every direction.

He pushed himself up, ripping up mountain chains and forests out of the ground. His first footsteps emptied lakes and rivers and sent waves crashing onto fragile islands.

Though this was his first time awakening, he knew exactly who he was: an ancient Primordial that had awakened later than his brethren, the legendary Sky Forge Titan.

The Sky Forge Titan was not born strong like his brothers and sisters. But like them, he was born with a purpose. He was a maker of worlds, a shaper unlike any other. The universe had already gone through many stages of development. The Primordials had fallen, and he had only survived because of his extended slumber. Desolate beasts and demons had risen to take their place, and were now the overlords of the immortal dimension.

A fledgling species had also carved out a small piece of land to call their own. They called themselves ‘humans’, and they were incredibly weak at birth. But the Sky Forge Titan did not look down upon these creatures. Unlike their opponents, they knew how to arm themselves and cultivate their strength. They knew how to build.

The Sky Forge Titan found much in common with the fledgling smiths of the human race. He taught them to build better weapons and armor, and toiled hard to create their first walled city.

With walls to protect their weaker members, the humans were able to further develop their strength. Several pro-human Primordials even entered the cycle of reincarnation as humans, and the emergence of Emperor Yu, Emperor Fuxi, and Empress Nuwa upturned the order of the Immortal Dimension.

The Sky Forge Titan’s greatest work was the Crystal Mountain – what became known as the Seven Heavens and the Seven Hells when the mountain split and Emperor Yu and his Seven Paragons did as well.

The loss was too great to bear, and time began to take its toll on the Sky Forge Titan. He grew tired of building the weapons of humanity and sought one last work with which to make his mark on the world.

One day, he saw a mountain unlike any other. The most recent Painter had created it with a single sweep of his brush. The Sky Forge Titan knew of the long-standing warnings never to destroy a Painter’s work, but something within the mountain called to him.

He shattered the mountain with a strike of his hammer and discovered a strange gray substance at its core. “No wonder I could not tell how it was made,” he said to himself as his body broke and his Sky Forge shattered. “It is both real and unreal. Made and unmade. Just like I am.” And just like that, the Titan was no more. Cha Ming woke from his short vision with a start.

“So it wasn’t just a shard of titan metal after all,” Cha Ming muttered as he ran his fingers over the patterns on the sky-blue metal. “Who would have thought that a fragment of the original Sky Forge had somehow fallen to this insignificant place.”

“Fate works wonders like that sometimes,” said Ninesky, appearing on his shoulders. “I really liked that Sky Forger Titan. It’s too bad that my greater dream required his death.”

“Do you regret it?” Cha Ming asked Ninesky.

“No,” said the sprite. “Everything has a price. This is something that even I can’t go against. To evolve this reality from something illusory to something real, a certain sequence of events had to take place.”

Cha Ming wasn’t certain if he agreed with the sentiment, but a part of him knew where she was coming from. He had seen the past and seen how it had led to his current self. There was little that he could have changed without affecting his current state. “Let’s not talking about that for now,” said Cha Ming. “There are people hunting us out there, and I need to find a solution to that, and quickly.”

The Sky Forge fragment was an immensely powerful artifact, to the point that it this entire pocket realm was stabilized by it. Perhaps he could use it inside his inner world to create his metal-based demiplane?

Unfortunately, the piece of metal refused to enter the Clear Sky World no matter how hard he tried. The feeling it gave him was that it was too large. Too heavy. Too historically unique.

A piece of the Sky Forge is no small treasure, thought Cha Ming. If I had its help, I could probably start building my regalia right away. A thought occurred to him then. I can’t take it into my inner world, but could I merge it with another treasure?

Most of Ninesky’s forms had already undergone an evolution; only two had yet to find their own unique path, and of these, one was very compatible with this shard.

Cha Ming summoned the Clear Sky Hammer and felt its weight in his hands. He had used this hammer to craft many items back in the mortal dimension, but it had taken a back seat in the transcendent dimension. Yet now he had great need of it. Patriarch Heartforge had given him the method to craft regalia, but he still needed the right equipment with which to do so.

Cha Ming’s originally intention was to ask the Titan Thunderfist to do it for him, but the Titan Clan was nowhere to be found. In addition, regalia crafted by one’s own hands was more effective. If I succeed, it won’t be impossible to craft a Nine Tribulation Regalia before immortal ascension.

The fragment of the Sky Forge had an oppressive presence; a remnant will of the Sky Forge Titan that had thwarted all attempts to retrieve it. Cha Ming pressed the Clear Sky Hammer against the glowing piece of blue metal and allowed the will to inspect the hammer.

It quickly determined that the hammer was as suitable vessel. Blue energy began to pour out from the metal fragment and into the hammer. Runes appeared one after another on its surface, and its color transitioned form crystal clear to sky blue.

The sudden shift in energy was impossible to hide. It wouldn’t be long before Undine and Salamani arrived. But Cha Ming had no attention to spare for them, because the Clear Sky Hammer was currently shifting between several shapes.

On the one hand, it wanted to become an anvil. On the other, it wanted to become a stretch of starry sky. “You’ll remain hammer,” Cha Ming said, imposing his will on the artifact. “A hammer built from a fragment of the Sky Forge.” This was his personal soul bound treasure he was talking about, and he would not allow a mere fragment to dictate its shape.

But the residual will inside the Sky Forge was stubborn. An anvil was a better choice. Who needed a hammer when bare fists worked better? Besides, its shape had always been boundless. A hammer was so mu9ndane.

“I am not the Sky Forge Titan,” said Cha Ming insisted. “I am human, and I need tools to craft. A hammer works better.”

Yet the will was adamant. It was not its problem that Cha Ming needed a hammer. The solution was clear: Cha Ming would need to strengthen his fists and use them properly! Also, it didn’t care about the enemies zeroing in on their position.

Cha Ming decided to appeal to its nature. Look, we’ll built great things together, he said to the hammer. Things like powerful weapons. You like that sort of thing, don’t you?

The fragment couldn’t speak, but it used their link to communicate its intentions. Weapons were boring, it stated. It had built some of the strongest weapons in existence. Why should it compromise its nature to do what had been done a thousand times over?

Cha Ming changed his tac. Fine. Forget weapons. We’ll forge armor. Unfortunately, it had made lots of armor as well. Many eternal emperors wore suits of armor the hammer had hammered into existence. It had also crafted regalia of the highest calibre.

Cha Ming thought back to the vision he’d seen and remembered the Sky Forge Titan’s last days. He had no crafted anything and had refused all commissions. The reason for this was that he’d already made everything that could be made. And the hammer shared a similar feeling.

“All right then,” Cha Ming said to the fragment of the Sky Forge. “You don’t have to follow me. But if you do, I’ll have you know that I’ll use you to make more than weapons and armor. You’ve crafted some of the universe’s greatest treasures, but you’ve never crafted worlds, have you?”

The fragment of the sky forge considered this and indicated that it had already crafted many items with world fragments. “I mean worlds. Built from scratch,” Cha Ming said. “And stars and the very sky itself. All from the most basic of elements. Do you recognise this?” A phantom of the Clear Sky Brush appeared above the hammer, and the fragment trembled. “I am this generation’s Painter,” Cha Ming said to the Sky Forge Fragment. “And it is very likely that after me, there won’t be another.”

These words brought the fragment boundless excitement. It stopped resisting, and even began to actively pour everything it had into the hammer. Everything made sense now. The reason the Sky Forge Titan had destroyed the mountain, which had in turn resulted in the breaking of the Sky Forge.

The runes and weapon imprints residing in the fragment poured forth into the Clear Sky Hammer. Cha Ming’s knowledge of smithing deepened. He felt that while he was slightly lacking in strength, it wouldn’t be long now before he could comfortably craft his regalia and bring his strength to a whole new level.

His excitement was short lived, however, because it was then that Undine and Salamani closed in on his position. “There you are,” Undine called out as she arrived before the fragment. “Unable to move I see. This couldn’t be better!”

“You should really do your research, Clear Sky,” said Salamani. “Pontiffs have died touching that fragment.”

“There will never be a better opportunity,” Undine said. “Let’s finish him.”

“Agreed,” said Salamani.

A black ritual circle appeared around Undine, summoning forth a black sickle that sliced through dimensions. It cut through layers of overlapping laws and will and cut straight towards Cha Ming’s inner world.

As for Salamani, he threw his burning spear into the air, where it grew several hundred times larger and plunged downwards at Cha Ming. He was betting every ounce of his strength on a single apocalyptic attack.

Cha Ming couldn’t defend himself, but the Sky Forge had its ways. It had thwarted countless attempts and retrieving it and could at least buy time for the process to finish. Sky blue runes appeared around Undine and Salamani, freezing their attacks in place. It wouldn’t be easy to free themselves given that an entire pocket realm’s worth of energy was now actively impeding them.

This bought Cha Ming the minute he needed. The Clear Sky Hammer completed its transition and became the Sky Forge Hammer, which Cha Ming swung at the frozen weapons. A shockwave rang through the air as he struck the sky. The sickle and the spear shattered into motes of divinity.

“You really are a recurring pain in my backside,” said Undine, catching the motes of divinity. “Fortunately, we came prepared.” She summoned her scythe, and Salamani resummoned his spear and sent it flying down towards Cha Ming and what remained of the Sky Forge fragment.

Cha Ming eyed the incoming attacks and decided that if even if he couldn’t resist these attacks, there was something in this realm that could. “Shatter,” Cha Ming commanded, using the Sky Forge Hammer as a medium, and what remained of the Sky Forge fragment broke. “Assemble!”

The fragments formed a hemispherical shield that not only blocked both streams of divine energy but even absorbed them. They were recrafted at lightning speed and transformed into two deadly spikes that shot towards the projection of Jezeriah’s temple that was currently locking down space and severed its connection to the Immortal Dimension.

The Sky Forge Fragment’s disappearance had noticeable and immediate consequences. The pocket realm’s structure began to unravel. Gravity lost its hold, and the cold dark void crept in to devour what remained.

“Are you sure you want to keep us all in here,” said Cha Ming to Undine. “The spatial storms that accompany the collapse of this world won’t be pleasant.”

“We’ll survive,” said Undine. “But the same can’t be said for you.”

“Is that so?” Cha Ming said, eyeing their prison. “Ninesky, come back. Let’s find a way out of here.”

Ninesky and the bloodstorm trio broke off from the rankers they’d been fighting and entered the Clear Sky World through Cha Ming’s Dao Projection. As for Cha Ming, he summoned the Sky Propping Pillar beneath himself and used it as a springboard to launch himself up into the sky. He then activated Triune Soul Burn at maximum intensity and shot toward a crack where three of the world locking plates met.

Sky-blue sigils appeared in the starry sky as Cha Ming took out the Sky Forge Hammer. It could be used to make and unmake anything in existence and could even defy certain laws if the conditions were right. A deafening clap sounded as the newly evolved hammer struck the intersecting planes. Golden energy flashed across the three panels, negating all damage.

“Immortal energy is tricky,” Cha Ming muttered. “But I don’t need to destroy this prison. All I need is an opening.” He swung the Sky Forge Hammer again, this time infusing it with materials form the Clear Sky World. He struck at the exact same spot as before, where three panels joined, and the prison was weakest.

“Surrender, Clear Sky,” said Undine. “You’ve been bested, but our goddesses appreciate talent. They’re willing to offer you a position that exceeds our own in exchange for your allegiance.”

Cha Ming stopped to catch his breath. The hammer was heavy, and creating worlds was no joke. Every hammer strike contained Clearmist in addition to many planar fragments. He struck once again before looking down at Undine and Salamani. “Send the offer in writing, and I’ll reply in a week’s time.”

“Keep acting tough,” said Undine. “Joint Summoning: Evil!”

Salamani took her outstretched hand and spoke complimentary words. “Joint Summoning: Good!” The shadow of a giant tree appeared behind the two cardinals and crept towards Cha Ming.

“Broken Yin, Shattered Yang!” said Cha Ming. A painting of yearning and heartbreak shot out at the tree, stalling it for a few seconds, and giving Cha Ming the time that he needed to strike down with the Sky Forge Hammer once again.

Cha Ming smiled as a tiny speck of matter appeared in between the three plates. He struck again, and the speck grew to the size of an orange.

“This is our last chance,” Undine shouted. “Salamani, don’t you dare back out.” She stuck out her hand towards four of the late gold rankers accompanying them. “Sacrifice of Supreme Evil – offering of flesh and blood!” The four gold rankers screamed as a black flames consumed them.

“Damn it!” Salamani said. “You four – you know what needs to be done. Sacrifice of Supreme Righteousness – offering of flesh and blood!”

His four followers were pious believers. They willingly offered themselves up to Salamani’s golden flames. Gold and black light poured into the projection of the Tree of Good and Evil, filling the void with a conflicting divine projection that lacerated the void and covered Cha Ming’s body in deep cuts.

“Almost there,” Cha Ming said, hefting the Sky Forge Hammer one last time. “Ninesky, give me everything you can manage!” The hammer dimmed as he poured in energy from his demiplanes, his three moons, and Ninesky’s reserves.  Two cracks appeared on the Sky Propping Pillar inside the Clear Sky World joining the original three on the pillar. He wouldn’t be able to use Heaven Breaker or perform any major erasures until they healed.

The Clear Sky Hammer struck the orange-sized speck, causing it to rapidly expand in a wedge shape. It was a tiny demiplane fragment, albeit a custom one he’d built from scratch. It pushed the prison plates keeping him inside the pocket realm, creating a gap in the overall formation, which Cha Ming pierced through, boarded his ship, then proceeded to fly away.

Thousands of ships were waiting for him outside the prison – Jezeriah and Harid Dej had left nothing to chance. Yet they were unable to keep up with the half-step immortal ship Patriarch Heartforge had personally gifted to Cha Ming.

He pierced through blockade and tore through a formation strip before racing away from the pocket realm. They wouldn’t be able to do anything to him once he reached the open void.

“You think you can escape us?!” a voice whispered through the void.

“You think you can offend us sisters and get away with it?” said another.

The voices belonged to Jezeriah and Harid Dej, and their source was none other than the Tree of Good and Evil’s projection, which had also escaped the pocket realm to appear beside him. “Don’t you two goddesses have better things to do than to pick on a mere transcendent cultivator?”

“We were bored, and our believers requested our assistance,” said Harid Dej through the tree. “Evil: Annihilation.”

“I am personally quite happy with their request,” said Jezeriah. “Good: Creation.” The tree shot a black and white beam of conflicting energies that tore through the fabric of reality. The void around Cha Ming’s ship collapsed, forcing Cha Ming to use Bloodstorm Invocation to summon twenty-three wings around the ship to pull it out of the disaster zone.

“Ninesky, I feel like things are a bit unfair,” said Cha Ming.

“Unfair?” asked Ninesky. “What’s that?”

“When things don’t work out the way they should,” said Cha Ming. “Basically, I want things to be different, and I’m upset about it.”

“Oh,” said Ninesky. “Indignant is the word I’d use. Or childish.”

“Maybe,” said Cha Ming. “Would you be a dear and fly this flask into that creature’s mouth? It seems to me that its energy is limited.”

Ninesky stared at the flask with wide eyes. “So many pretty colors, frozen in space. Wait a second –  isn’t this just a painted copy of what your fox brother did?”

Cha Ming cleared his throat. “He didn’t patent the idea, so it’s fair game. So will you do it or not?”

“Just because I want to see what the creature’s insides are like,” Ninesky said, grabbing the flask. She zipped off towards the tree projection that was seconds away from catching up and flew inside its open mouth.

Luther appeared beside Cha Ming. “Will everything be alright, Master? You didn’t send her on a mission where she might perish did you?

“She’ll be fine,” said Cha Ming. “What? Not what you wanted to hear?”

“I’m just concerned about the boss,” said Luther. “The mini boss. The she-devil. She who paints kittens and loves petting them.”

Seconds later, and explosion rocked the void, shattering space and created a pin-hole leak in the fabric of reality. Fiendish energies oozed out form the other side a began encroaching on this reality. Fortunately, Ninesky seemed to have predicted this. She dutifully painted a patch over the fracture in space. The leakage stopped, and the wrath of the universe did not descend on Cha Ming and his companions.

“So what’s the verdict?” Cha Ming asked.

“Solid,” said Ninesky. “No colors, no special liquids. Very boring insides, if you ask me.”

“I meant the flask,” Cha Ming said. “How was it?”

“It was much more powerful than the fox’s,” Ninesky admitted. “I think it was the runes you shaped using the alchemical ingredients.”

“I thought as much,” Cha Ming said. “Huxian, are you free?”

What happened just now? Huxian replied.

“A couple of goddesses tried to kill me,” Cha Ming said. “No big deal. Listen, I’d like us to collaborate on a research project. To make better explosive flasks. I think that runes can be used to greatly increase our damage output, but I’ve reached a bottleneck in stasis fields. For science, obviously.”

For science, said Huxian.

“So. Where to next?” Ninesky asked Cha Ming. “That armada’s been destroyed, and these two cardinals probably won’t be able to catch up to us.”

“I’m thinking a little revenge is warranted,” said Cha Ming. “I’m done with being passive in Mendin. Let’s teach those goddesses a lesson.” He took out a map and adjusted course towards a nearby pocket realm. One owned by the Church of Jezeriah, which contributed a significant amount of income to its coffers.