PtM Book 17 - Chapter 36: Upheaval

Happy New Year Everyone!!! I'm back and rested and ready to write. Three chapters this week. Time to power up!

1/3 this week.

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The discovery of South Blight Fortress and the impending detonation Flamewing Demiplane sent shockwaves throughout the entire Chasewind Plane. Sects, clans, and enclaves were forced to set aside their differences and dust off evacuation plans that were decades, sometimes centuries old.

If it were only an evacuation, things wouldn’t have been more troublesome. Alas, trouble come in pairs; an abnormally large fiend outbreak started at this time, trying up the majority of their spare manpower.

The outbreak lasted months instead of days or weeks, bringing several regions dangerously close to ruin. All hope seemed lost, until an unlikely hero presented himself: Xing Tianlong!

Out of all the remaining wardens, Xing Tianlong had perhaps the worst reputation. The fact that he’d entered seclusion instead of participating in frighting the fiends in the early stages hadn’t helped.

Yet when he emerged as an early law stitching Daoist and a early shell marking demigod, opinions quickly changed. He wasn’t just strong – he was unreasonably strong, even for his level. The same day he emerged, he joined a battle with several Tier 1 sect masters confronting no less than twenty rank 13 fiends. He then single-handedly slew three quarters of the fiends, reversing what seemed like a hopeless situation for the southern hemisphere, and rallying several regions to his cause.

And to everyone’ surprise, he didn’t stop there. A few days later, it was the Light and Glass Alliance that was in danger. Instead of leaving them to their fate, he personally slew seventeen rank 13 fiends, safeguarding Princess Gabriella’s border, and saving a hundred million lives in the process.

Rumors abounded. Some speculated that Xing Tianlong had turned over a new leaf, while others suspected it was all a political ploy. Either way, his power was undeniable, so Princess Gabriella and her allies went to pay him a personal visit. She quickly discovered that Xing Tianlong was neither benevolent nor cunning.

“You’re overthinking things, princess,” Xing Tianlong said to her. “I went to Light and Glass Alliance territory to kill fiends because they’re worth points. Likewise, you are also worth points. A great number of them.”

To the horror of all those present, the hero of two threw himself upon Princess Gabriella and her entourage. Two of her wardens fell within seconds. The princess herself was only able to escape thanks to a precious treasure.

Xing Tianlong gained instant infamy. Conversely, his popularity in the Crimson Lotus Alliance soared. Even the rebels, his bitter enemies, couldn’t help but respect him. The three regions held a joint banquet to honor his contributions, and even offered him the position of Grand Tutor.

Another three months passed by. Xing Tianlong made few appearances, but each time he did, he cut down Rank 13 fiends like they were grass. The fiend outbreak stabilized, and the regions were able to finally begin evacuating their populace, starting with the sects and clans.

Millions of cultivators and billions of mortals were shipped out from the lower third of each region, and new cities were built to accommodate them. Sects and clans merged and transformed out of necessity.

Unfortunately, it was impossible for these plans to proceed smoothly. The sects and clans, realizing perhaps too late that less space and more people meant less to go around, started eyeing potential targets. The tenuous truce that had lasted the entire fiend outbreak shattered, and war broke out across the Chasewind Plane.

The first to act was none other than Xing Tianlong. His performance in recent months was far too shocking, so it was with trepidation that they witnessed his arrival at the capital of the Crimson Lotus Alliance, alongside the rebels he’d been fighting all this time.

“I was manipulated by greedy fools and loathsome spiders,” Xing Tianlong announced to the residents of the capital. “They sought to use me to oppress the people by abusing my love of justice.

“I will not do their bidding any longer. I will not let corrupt officials rule our sects and nations. They cannot even protect us from fiends and must rely on external help; since that’s the case, is there a reason to even keep them around?

He proceeded to throw himself upon the alliance leaders and their ministers and executed them to the last. Ten middle law stitching cultivators perished in a single hour. Their sects and clans could only keep quiet and hope they weren’t next.

“We have cleansed the three regions with the blood of those who claimed to possess the mandate of the heavens,” Xing Tianlong said once the deed was done. “If that makes us rebels, then so be it. We shall take on this mantle with pride, and forever be known as Heaven’s Rebels!”

Heaven’s Rebels rapidly took control of the Dragon Phoenix Region and the Ash Light Region. Xing Tianlong then visited the Joss Smoke Region controlled by Wei Longshen. The two had a private conversation, which eventually came to blows. Wei Longshen fled the scene, and soon after the Joss Smoke Region capitulated to Heaven’s Rebels.

Xing Tianlong’s movements shook the southern hemisphere. Plans long in the making had to be thrown out and redrafted.

The regions under Oster Fireblight’s protection were the first to respond to this change. They formed a three-region alliance called the Freedom Federation, which proceeded to launch attacks to both the east and the west.

The Light and Glass Alliance, having lost two wardens and several powerful cultivators to Xing Tianlong, found themselves in a terrible state. Not only did they need to defend against the Freedom Federation, but they also had to watch their backs for any potential attacks from Heaven’s Rebels.

The Freedom Federation’s actions started a domino effect. With the Light and Glass Alliance kept in check, Xing Tianlong was able to clear up the last of the inner strife in the Rebellious Heaven Region and mobilize a sizeable army. He struck out at an unlikely target – one of the three regions under Petros’s management.

“The Hunter’s Guild has been suppressing the sects and clans and controlling the people behind the scenes with vast amounts of illicit money,” Xing Tianlong announced. “I will not stand for it. The people will not stand for it. It is time to rebel.” He then proceeded to ‘liberate’ the sects and clans, destroying any Hunters Guild’s he could find and slew everyone who did not denounce them.

“Bastard!” Petros said, slamming his fist onto table. “That two-faced, power-hungry, cold-blooded bastard!”

“Calm down Petros,” Wei Longshen said. “You just burned half the furniture in the building. And it’s my building. I designed it personally.”

“I know, I know. I’m just so darned frustrated!” Petros said. “How could he do this? How could he consider doing this to me? After all we’ve been through?”

“Tell me about it,” said Wei Longshen, sitting on the only undamaged chair in the room. “I’ve been helping him for over three decades, and he didn’t even have the decency to let me think about his proposal. You’re fortunate that he didn’t sneak attack you like he did me.”

The archer calmed down and took a seat. “I’m just surprised, is all. I never expected him to change so drastically.”

“Neither did I,” Wei Longshen said. “But you know what they say about hindsight. We can only play with the hand we’re dealt. Have you given any thought to my proposal?”

“I’m in,” Petros said immediately. “When do you want to get started?”

“Right away,” said Wei Longshen.

Petros’s Hunter’s Guild wasn’t doing well, but he still had a lot of manpower to draw on. Using the vast amount of resources he’d accumulated from the Heartforge Realm, he mobilized no less than three hundred law-stitching realm hunters to ambush Xing Tianlong. Alas, the duo discovered that numbers were meaningless in the face of raw strength. Xing Tianlong was not just ready – he had anticipated their attack and lured them into a trap. He killed fifty of the hunters before the rest scattered.

The defeat crushed the hunter’s guild’s morale and forced it into exile. And without its protection, the three independent regions foined the Rebellious Heaven Region. Petros and Wei Longshen took the remainder of their forces and retreated into Huxian and Cha Ming’s territory.

Concurrently with Xing Tianlong’s expansion, Cao Wenluan began exposing his hidden strength. He’d long since spread berserker arts to his people, and thanks to the near-constant fighting and fiend incursions, the Monarch Alliance was brimming with strength.

He sent his surplus of powerful cultivators to launch attacks on both the Bloodstorm Region to the west and the Primordial Gloom Region to the east. The protection agreement he’d signed had finally expired, making Baleful Vision’s territory fair game for the first time since the second trial started.

Oster Fireblight was an opportunist, so when he saw Cao Wenluan attacking the Bloodstorm Region, he acted as well. With Huxian busy fighting Xing Tianlong in Petros’s territory, and Cha Ming busy stabilizing the Flamewing Demiplane, it was the perfect time to strike.

Or so he thought. The Bloodstorm Region, it turns out, had not been wasting its time.

It was easy to overlook the Bloodstorm Region. Historically, they’d been at odds with one another, and even after their merger, they had yet to wage war on any other territory. Their warden, Cha Ming, was also famously pacifist. Oster had therefore not anticipated the amount of military might it was able to accumulate over the past two decades.

The source of this empowerment was naturally the Clear Sky Conglomerate. The conglomerate’s influence was two-fold. Firstly, it produced a staggering amount of core formation cultivators for the three regions, and even went so far as to organize the different disciplines and trades such that the region’s entire economy had been transformed.

The biggest impact, however, was the sheer number of Painted Daoists it could produce. When Oster estimated how much of the civilian population had been converted, he discovered it to be a frightening three percent! And it was still rising!

Unlike the other regions, the Bloodstorm Region was extremely unified. Evacuating the south had not stretched their resources as thinly as other regions, thanks to their large and highly productive population of rune painting cultivators. Whereas the other regions had warred internally and built refugee camps they called cities, the Bloodstorm Region had torn down old buildings to construct newer, better buildings more suited to their empowered populace.

Although their top-tier forces were lacking, the sheer number of lower-tier forces was enough to delay Oster until reinforcements arrived from the Hallowed Turtle Ox Region. Both Oster Fireblight and Cao Wenluan with their tails between their legs.

“The Hallowed Turtle Ox Region and the Bloodstorm Region are in effect one consolidated region,” Oster explained to Cao Wenluan one evening. “But that does not mean they are fully united.”

“You mean to say that Clear Sky and Eight Directions don’t have a good relationship?” Cao Wenluan asked. “My apologies, but I have observed the exact opposite.”

“I meant they are physically separate entities,” Oster said. “Geographically, they are as far apart as can be. They’re also over-reliant on Eight Directions and his teleportation network.”

It was a distinctive weakness of the region, once which Oster Fireblight and Cao Wenluan hatched a plan to exploit. They made a deal with Xing Tianlong and Lord War Stripe from the Paper Tiger Clan, both of whom launched simultaneous assaults on the Hallowed Turtle Ox Region.

Hundreds of law-stitching cultivators were drawn over to the intense and bloody battle. There was no victor in such a fight, only losers. The remaining law stitching Daoists, having assisted their allies as per their agreements, went to return to the Bloodstorm Region – only to realize that this was no longer possible.

It turns out that, In the middle of their heated conflict, Oster and Cao Wenluan had used an artifact from the Heartforge Realm to jam spatial transmissions and communications, then had then taken advantage of the shortage of manpower in the Bloodstorm Region to besiege them.

The sects and clans had no choice but to retreat. It was impossible to fight both Oster’s highly mobile mercenary army and the endless troops from Cao Wenluan’s Monarch Alliance. They ceded territory as needed, leaving entire cities and countries undefended. Cao Wenluan and Oster Fireblight greedily gobbled up territory, then proceeded to count their assets. Little did they know that the Painted Daoists they absorbed in the process would become a source of great pain and consternation for them.

Painted Daoists were easy to overlook. Or at least, those that were not part of any sect or military were not. This was because they behaved as civilians, and usually practiced mundane crafts. Few even practiced marital arts.

But these cultivators were not weak. This was something both warlords discovered when each city they took sprouted pockets of resistance. And when they moved to quash those pockets, they infuriated the entire Bloodstorm Region, prompting craftsmen to throw down their hammers in favor of spear and sword.

Militia armies numbering in the tens of thousands came together out of nowhere. The fallen cities rebelled without exception. And it wasn’t just Painted Daoists who rebelled but mortal core formation cultivators as well!

Oster Fireblight and Cao Wenluan faced several important defeats before they realized they stood to lose much more than they could gain by retaining these cities. They could only choose to loot a few important resource points and treasuries before making a decisive exit.

Oster and Cao Wenluan’s failures did not go unnoticed by Xing Tianlong. Seeing that things weren’t going well for the mercenary commander; he abandoned his attacks on Huxian’s eastern flank and resumed his stalled absorption of the Light and Glass Alliance. A cunning ambush resulted in the capture of Princess Gabriella and several of the Tier 1 leaders in her three regions.

Xing Tianlong extorted the Tier 1 leaders and had them swear fealty before releasing them. As for Princess Gabriella, she was able to return to the Heartforge Realm in exchange for all the wealth in her possession and all her hard-earned points. Henceforth, however, she would no longer be a warden, and had effectively failed the second Heartforge Trial.

Oster immediately became the most vulnerable party in the southern hemisphere. Realizing he was now wedged between two super forces, he toned down his aggression and organized things internally. As for Cao Wenluan, he still had manpower to spare; he ramped up his offensive into the Primordial Gloom Region, the most mysterious region on the Chasewind Plane.

He expected monsters. He expected invincible demons. Yet he did not discover either of these things, nor was Baleful Vision anywhere to be found.

Cao Wenluan’s armies had no issue claiming The Primordial Gloom Region. The demon territory, still filled to the brim with lower-level demons and previous demonic resources, became a springboard for Cao Wenluan’s troops and a push into Paper Tiger Clan territory.

It was around this time that Huxian returned to the Chasewind Plane. His appearance immediately stabilized the chaos in the thirty-two regions. Lord Eight Directions was the most mobile and well-informed party on the entire southern hemisphere, so everyone chose to take the wait and see approach.

Some expected war. Other expected retribution. To their surprise, neither came. The fox refused to answer all communications and disappeared almost as soon as he’d reappeared. Many began to question whether or not his appearance was staged.

Another year passed with no wars or fighting. Cha Ming’s situation became increasingly unclear, and after so long with no catastrophe, the thirty-two regions started recolonizing the south.

Manpower was once again in short supply; Oster Fireblight and Xing Tianlong took advantage of the chaos to probe each other’s defences. Cao Wenluan, seeing that Lord Eight Directions had no interest in making war, pushed upward into Paper Tiger Clan territory, gaining several consecutive victories in a very short amount of time.

After the first region fell, Cao Wenluan realized there was something strange going on. “Where are the paper tigers?” he asked his comrade, Dark Tooth. “Where are their thralls and powerful minions? I expected a united defence as soon as I entered their territory. Instead, I found nothing but low-level demons and strange patches of bright color.”

“My readings are inconclusive, Lord,” Dark Tooth said. “Something is blocking me. Something stronger than I am.”

“An Enclave Lord, perhaps?” said Violet Rose.

“Unlikely,” said Dark Tooth. “I’m also uncomfortable with the absence of Baleful Vision. He must be involved.”

“He is likely responsible for the lack of resistance,” said Cao Wenluan. “A civil war is occurring in the region, and our informants have no way to infiltrate the Paper Tiger Clan.”

“I shall have them executed at once,” Dark Tooth said.

Cao Wenluan waved his hand. “Don’t. It isn’t their fault. The Paper Tiger Clan has always been notoriously difficult to infiltrate. We’ll need to be careful as we push inwards. War Stripe is no threat to us, but Baleful Vision is a variable we cannot ignore.”

His words proved prophetic. Three days later, an army he sent pushing into the second region under Paper Tiger Clan control under attack on all sides. He received notifications that all regions formerly under Lord War Stripe were now under Baleful Vision’s command. The reason was simple: Lord War Stripe and all his brethren were dead!

Dark Tooth had no small talent for divination, and thanks to this extra piece of information, he was able to outline the general situation. Baleful Vision had killed his rebellious brethren after breaking through to the fusion realm. He was also no longer an imperial demon, but a mighty God Beast!

“His bloodline ability can only be described as terrifying,” Dark Tooth said. “Any demon who pays blood tribute and undergoes his bloodline refinement will increase in strength. Moreover, there is no reason not to make the exchange. He does not rely on bloodline suppression to keep everyone under control, but a constant flow of benefits.”

“It’s not his ability to enhance their bloodlines that worries me, but the rallying power of such an ability,” Cao Wenluan said. He thought it over before making a difficult decision. “We’re stopping here, Dark Tooth. It’s not worth continuing. We’ll defend what we gained and retreat if we must.”

This decision proved wise, because three days later, a shocking announcement was made. Baleful Vision and White Mirage had chosen to join the Hallowed Turtle Ox Region. What’s more, Wei Longshen and a group of renegade shamans, as well as Petros Sullivan and his Hunter’s Guild in exile, had chosen to join the Bloodstorm Region.

The Hallowed Turtle Ox Region and the Bloodstorm Region proceeded to announce a deepening of their defensive alliance. Lord Eight Directions appeared after a long absence and announced that he had personally reinforced the existing teleportation network. It would no longer be susceptible to the type of tampering Oster Fireblight and Cao Wenluan had used and could now accommodate a much greater flow of goods and cultivators.

Cao Wenluan, Xing Tianlong, and Oster Fight blight realized the situation was no longer fully under control. With so much territory under The Hallowed Turtle Ox and Bloodstorm Region’s jurisdiction, it was only a matter of time before they became unstoppable.

Oster was under the most pressure. As the leader of the smallest of the five factions, and the weakest of the wardens, they were at risk of being forced out. He therefore approached Xing Tianlong and proactively offered services. Xing Tianlong, lacking a tactician and a good priest, was happy to accept the trio of rankers and their three regions into the Rebellious Heaven Region.

Like this, a tripartite balance was formed. No one side dared infringe upon the other easily, as this would leave them open to a third enemy. The Hallowed Turtle Ox Region and the Bloodstorm Region lost their slight disadvantage, since they were located on opposite ends of the planet. No matter how good the teleportation network, they couldn’t change the fact that they were flanked on both sides.

Two more years passed, these ones much more peaceful than those preceding them. The southern hemisphere turned its sights to the south again, as auguries began predicting much lesser damage from any potential explosion.

The exclusion zone shrank, and since it became a distinct possibility that the south pole might not blow up, early settlers would gain a major advantage in whatever came next.

Resettling lost territory was no easy feat, they soon realized. While they’d been fighting amongst themselves, a large number of fiends had populated the abandoned territory. The blight had expanded, severely decaying the land and causing many spatial rifts to appear.

At first, the sects were dismayed by the difficulty of recolonizing, as they had worked hard to force these fiends back in the first place. But then the wardens of each region began posting larger rewards than ever for fiend kills and reclaimed land, and the south was once again a land of treasure and opportunity.

Three more years passed before the next fiend outbreak. This was the third outbreak, and it forced the Chasewind Plane to reassess their strategy; three years between fiend outbreaks was now the new normal. The regions bolstered their defense budgets and increased the frequency of their patrols.

A decade passed, and then two. People gradually the people forgot about the Flamewing Demiplane and the threat it posed. Some even wondered if Cha Ming was still alive; the only indication that he was still alive was the fact that he was still on the leaderboards. In dead last place.

In the end, it was only Huxian who knew Cha Ming’s fate for certain. And due to the turbulent and ever changing nature of void space, only he was aware of his exact location.  He returned to the Flamewing Demiplane often, both to reinforce the structural stability of the barebones world, but also to check in on Cha Ming, who’d entered a state of hibernation.

Five more years passed. Only five more remained before the Heartforge Realm closed. Huxian had just finished his daily work. He was about to set off to bed, when suddenly, he felt a deadly premonition.

He looked up at the sky with narrowed eyes and bared his teeth. His bloodline surged with hatred that transcended lifetimes.

“What’s going on?” Jadefall practically broke the door down on her way to his room. “Why do I feel like I’m about to die?”

“I had a nightmare,” Wu said with a yawn. “A terrible nightmare.”

“It’s finally here,” Huxian said grimly. “The tribulation that should have happened two decades ago.”

“A tribulation?” Jadefall exclaimed. “Wait, do you mean…”

“Yeah,” Huxian said. “My two tails just started growing out. They’ll be done within the month. And when they’re finished, the tribulation will strike.”

Wu frowned. “What about brother Cha Ming?”

“I don’t know,” Huxian said, shaking his head. “He hasn’t contacted me. But if my two tails are growing, that means he’s breaking through.” He didn’t know if it was intentional either. Unexpected breakthroughs during hibernation were not uncommon.

Huxian made a few calls. Baleful Vision, White Mirage, Petros Sullivan, and Wei Longshen arrived in short order. “What’s going on, Eight Directions?” Wei Longshen asked. “The last time you called us out in the middle of the night, a war happened. Or was it a surprise buffet?”

“It was a war,” Baleful Vision confirmed. “The surprise buffet was six years ago.”

It was the most observant member of their party noticed something was off. “Did something happen with Clear Sky, Eight Directions?” Petros asked.

Huxian’s eyes narrowed. “That’s a secret.”

“Can you at least explain why we’re here then?” Wei Longshen asked.

“Jadefall, Wu, and I are entering seclusion in about a month for a breakthrough,” Huxian said. “It’s going to create a very obvious opening our neighbors to take advantage of.”

“How long will you be?” Wei Longshen asked.

“I’m not sure,” Huxian confessed. “This seclusion… isn’t normal. It could last two months. It could last three years.”

“Three years?” Petros Sullivan said. “That’s an awful lot of time for things to go wrong.”

“I know,” Huxian said. “But there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything,” Baleful Vision assured him. “With all of us here holding down the force, what could possibly happen?”

“You can count on us,” said White Mirage confirmed.

“I appreciate it guys,” Huxian said. “Sorry for dumping this all on you so suddenly.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Petros said. “If anyone tries to start anything, we’ll make sure they regret it.”

***

Huxian had been to the void many times over the past two and a half decades, but he remained cautious as he wormed his way through the mazelike chaos towards Cha Ming and his half-consumed Demiplane. Worry plagued his mind as he passed by nibblers and breakers, and the many other creatures that feasted on the shattered remnants of the broken south pole of the Chasewind Plane.

His mind was naturally preoccupied by the upcoming tribulation. The Heaven and Earth Tribulation was the worst of the tribulations barring the immortal ascension tribulation. Facing the tribulation in the void was not ideal, but that was life.

“You can’t win them all,” Huxian muttered to himself. Sometimes your human decides to try eating plane, and you need to back him up.” He reached out to Cha Ming once more but received no reply. This was the worst case. Not only was Cha Ming breaking through, he wasn’t even aware of the fact. Or the tribulation that would soon strike him. It was a good thing he’d convinced Jadefall and Wu to stay in the Heartforge Realm instead of coming along.

Huxian had since long fessed up about the nature of his tribulations with his friends and Cha Ming. It wasn’t that they were affected by tribulations because of their karmic link, but rather that their karmic link was purposefully created to share tribulations, such that those of his bloodline could more easily survive them.

First, his tribulations would be unequally split amongst the eight directions, greatly weakening it. Then, the tribulation would be split in half between he and Cha Ming, reducing its difficulty once again.

The eight directions would normally not be in any significant danger, but this was not the case for Cha Ming, who was more deeply bonded with them. For Huxian to survive the tribulation, both of them would have to overcome it.

The Flamewing Demiplane was much changed from last he’d seen it. The spatial scaffolding he’d built was long gone, as it had collapsed when the demiplane had been sucked back into its own core region. This had happened because Cha Ming was no longer simply syphoning energy from the demiplane. Instead, he’d latched onto it, and was consuming it piece by piece.

The fox tried a variety of means to communicate with Cha Ming, with no success. He soon gave up penetrating the spatial interference and physically entered the shrinking demiplane.

The fox stowed away his trusty void-faring ship and slipped through the warped and crackling planar membrane membrane. He navigated a small spacetime maze before finally arriving at the core region.

“Cha Ming!” Huxian called out to the naked human at the center of the region. “Hm… something seems different about you.” He couldn’t quite put his finger on what was different. Until he realized the world’s core was gone. Everything was collapsing upon Cha Ming himself. “You crazy, crazy human!”

No wonder Cha Ming had broken through. No wonder Huxian couldn’t communicate with him. Instead of eating the demiplane piece by piece like any sane person should do, he’d directly absorbed the core into his inner world and body.

“He seems physically fine…” Huxian muttered. “But I’ll give him a little kick to be sure.” He walked towards Cha Ming and inspected him from various angles. There were strange patterns on his skin, and he was red as a lobster.

He was about to touch him to assess his condition when suddenly, a flash of gray shot out of Cha Ming’s body, frightening the daylights out of him.“Stay back!” a voice said.

“Who’s there?” Huxian said. Was that a little girl’s voice?

“Me!” said the voice again. A small elemental sprite made entirely of gray mist appeared before him.

“Strange,” Huxian said. “A talking sprite.”

“I’m not a sprite,” the little girl with a pout. “I’m a mighty artifact spirit!”

Huxian’s eyes widened as he realized who he was talking to. “You’re Ninesky!”

“And you’re the baby fox we picked up,” Ninesky said. “Anyway, don’t touch him. We don’t want to upset the balance of energies in his body as he comprehends and absorbs the plane’s Dao Origins.”

“So he’s really doing it,” Huxian said. “Eating up an entire demiplane.” Huxian was envious. His ancestor had emphasized many times that demiplanes were a delicacy.

“It was a waste not to do it,” Ninesky said. “If you’re going to eat half of it, why not go all the way? And besides, his inner world is too large for his realm. Breaking through by any other means would be too difficult. Devouring demiplanes is the obvious solution.”

Huxian raised a finger to speak, then lowered it. “That makes a lot of sense. But it’s super creepy to hear it from a six-year-old girl.”

Ninesky smirked. “Oh look, the baby fox thinks he’s old now that he’s cultivated for a few hundred years. How cute.”

Huxian trembled. She was mocking him! He was getting mocked by an artifact spirit! “You just wait till I tell Cha Ming.”him

Ninesky shrugged. “Go ahead. Tell him. What’s he going to do about it? Besides, it just proves my point. You’re a big baby and you can only cry to daddy when someone hurts your feelings. Why don’t you man up and deal with our own problems?”

The situation was totally out of Huxian’s expectations. Alas, time was running out, so he could only admit defeat. “Fine. Whatever. Just tell me he’ll be up for the Heaven and Earth tribulation heading our way.”

“… the what now?” Ninesky asked.

“… you know, the part where we both upgrade to the next realm and face my eight-tailed fox tribulation?” Huxian said. “The really scary tribulation that might just kill us if we can’t defend against it.”

“… drat. I forgot about that,” Ninesky said. “When’s it coming again? No wait, I know the answer. A month? Hm… he’ll have absorbed the demiplane by then but won’t have digested it.”

Huxian groaned. “This isn’t a normal calamity, Ninesky.”

“I am aware,” Ninesky said. “Drat. I miscalculated what would happen after he awakened. That’s my fault. I accept full responsibility.”

“Who cares about blame?” Huxian said. “We need to wake him up fast, or we’re goners!”

“Can’t be done,” Ninesky said. “He needs to finish absorbing or die trying.”

Huxian was at a loss for what to do, so he could only ask the spirit. “Is there anything I can do to help him?”

“Hm…” Ninesky said, shaking her small chin. “As a matter a fact, there is/ Deliver upon me baked goods. Lots of them. Sweet ones.”

Huxian’s eye twitched. “I mean actually help.”

“In that case, I’ll take fifty cubic meters of espresso,” Ninesky said. “You can pull that off, can’t you, big guy?”

The situation was surreal, and completely out of left field. He looked from the serious artifact spirit to lobster-skinned Cha Ming, then back to the artifact spirit. “I guess coffee and cake couldn’t hurt. Do you take cream with your coffee?”

“That’s heresy,” Ninesky said.

“Small mercies,” Huxian said. “Give me three hours, and I’ll get you the first batch.”