PtM Book 17 - Chapter 21: Leadership Challenge

3/3 this week ^^

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It did not take long for news of the conflict to spread throughout the entire Puppet Lightning Region. The Puppet Lightning Sect, which had recently risen to power, had fractured, and was on the verge of a civil war.

Many organizations, sects, and clans began declaring their allegiances. Battle lines were drawn. For the most part, however, the sects and clans steered clear of the conflict, as supporting the wrong faction might result in dire consequences.

The Puppet Lightning Sect had its mechanical tendrils in many cities and organizations, and had several external branches in charge of gathering materials for the sect, selling their wares, but most importantly, maintaining the lightning defense grid in the region. Fortunately, both sides desired these branches more or less intact, and did not interfere much with their activities.

The three new grand artificers issued a summons, and many of the sect’s core members obeyed it. But a significant portion of the sect members fled to the opposite camp, which welcomed them with open arms.

Though it pained them to see so many go, the Grand Artificers let any who wished to leave – save those guilty of heinous crimes – leave. War was coming to their doorstep, and they could not afford dissent among their ranks.

A direct consequence of the civil war was a slowdown in the campaign in the southern blight. The Sacred Earth Sect and the Blighted Heaven Sect were forced to take up the slack. Cha Ming used this as an overture to introduce them to his rewards system, but they tactfully refused him on the grounds that the situation was unstable. That said, they did they stop Tier 2 sects from taking advantage of his system.

A month came and went, and in that time, the Puppet Lightning Sect prepared. Their elite forces and craftsmen relocated their training spaces and workshops into the Clear Sky World to take advantage of ten-fold time acceleration. They practiced with the rebels from the Blood God Region, and those who were on the verge of a breakthrough entered seclusion to make one final push.

As for Cha Ming, he used this valuable intermission to better integrate his wind and lightning abilities. He also began another round of introspection; the changes occurring in the region weren’t as clear cut as he had imagined. His coup had affected the entire region, and damage from stray fiends and increased pirate raids were just some of the negative consequences of his interference.

The greater the stone, the larger the ripples. It was necessaryto cast this stone, as the moral consequences of refining corpses and living human beings was too much for him to ignore, but there were consequences. In this case, tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths had occurred to date as a direct result of his takeover.

This blurring of right and wrong directly affected the state of his heart and mind. He’d not needed to deal with such ambiguity back in the Azure Tempest Region because his interaction with the sects was indirect and peaceful.

The war against the Blood God Sect had changed everything. His emotions were getting more difficult to control, and he was becoming increasingly comfortable with the idea of annihilating entire sects. This was not something he wished to see, so he was forced to begin a new war, this time with himself.

The battleground was naturally his Heartforge Spirit Flame. It alternated between the extremes of heartlessness and passion that refined his soul. It did not give him a solution to these problems, but it did make it easier to accept these uncomfortable truths. Every stage of refinement made him increasingly at ease with who he was.

It was during one of these refining sessions that he discovered something surprising: it wasn’t his Savage Deity Aura that was the destabilizing factor here. Instead, it was his iridescent aura that flared every time he witnessed atrocities being committed. It was only thanks to cold pragmatism that he’d held back from taking extreme action that he would have regretted later on.

The Blood Leaf Sect was a prime example. Though the elders and the inner sect were all corrupted, the outer sect was still redeemable. If he had sided with his temper and slaughtered everyone including their chickens and their dogs, his temperament would have become increasingly erratic over time. Many more innocents would have perished as a result.

Ruthless detachment was an important part of being a good person, Cha Ming realized. Heartlessness was not necessarily a bad thing. Not all emotions were ‘good’. This realization resonated with his Heartforge Spirit Flame; the fusion between the three auras it contained instantly increased to sixty percent.

Aside from cultivating his heart and auras, Cha Ming split off incarnations to accomplish other tasks. He sent one to assist the craftsmen with his unique insights in formation arts. Three were busy practicing wind, lightning, and blood, and another two were busy practicing their fusion.

Two incarnations remained, and he used one of them to modify his Azure Tempest Wings. And by modify, he meant completely reimagining them.

Azure Tempest Wings were too large and unwieldy; what made them useful was the unique law trapped inside their structures. Having painted a wind clone and lightning clone of himself, he decided to paint himself a new pair of wings out of azure tempest ink and puppet lightning essence he obtained from Luther.

These wings did not have a name. They did not need a name. Nor did they need an exact structure to bind them. He painted important runes as their core, then focused on making them deadly and beautiful. In time, they would become a masterpiece.

Cha Ming hadn’t been spending enough time on his talisman arts. He used his last incarnation to experiment with old formulas and transform them. Some components, he directly replaced with paintings infused with runes, laws, and concepts, while others, he deepened.

Before long, a month and a half had gone by. The entire Puppet Lightning Region had grown silent and reserved. Even the pirates stopped causing trouble for risk of upsetting either faction of the Puppet Lightning Sect.

It was on a beautiful lightning-filled afternoon that Cha Ming received a notice from his mission jade. He put down his cup of tea and took one last look at a freshly finished painting before reviewing it.

The Puppet Lightning Region’s Quaking Canyon has been contested. Quaking Canyon has been annexed. All friendly sects have been eradicated or have capitulated.

He didn’t even have time to investigate the situation, because seconds later, a second ping sounded, followed closely by a third.

The Puppet Lightning Region’s Shadow Finger Mountain has been contested. Shadow Finger Mountain has been annexed. All friendly sects have been eradicated or have capitulated.

The Puppet Lightning Region’s Morning Light Citadel has been contested. The Morning Light Citadel has been annexed. All friendly sects have been eradicated or have capitulated.

Each location wasn’t very valuable, but they were of strategic importance. They were stopping points that led directly from an opening in the mountains separating the Blood God Region and the Puppet Lightning Region, and drew a straight line towards Puppet Lightning Mountain.

***

Three days later, Cha Ming, the three Grand Elders of the Puppet Lightning Sect, and the four representatives of the War Blood Alliance, Elders Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, stood on puppet lightning mountain. The lightning rain that fell year-round was lighter that day, and the skies were incomparably clear.

As a result, they saw the ships coming several hours in advance. There were two groups of ships: A smaller group of thirty puppet lightning ships, complete with artifices and puppet crew members, and a larger group that flew on crimson winds.

The larger group bore the insignias of the Blood God Sect, the Blood Demon Sect, and the Blood Sword Sect. Every ship was filled to the brim with powerful cultivators. Beside these ships flew twice as many smaller skimmers and a horde of tamed blood demons and blood elementals.

It was a frightening armada, as each ship was powerful enough to match an early law stitching expert at the minimum. But the ships from the Blood God Region held back as a those from the Puppet Lightning Region approached alone.

The lead ship was the Puppet Lightning Sect’s flagship called the Indomitable. Five individuals stood on the prow, including the sect’s former leader, Grand Artificer Liu. Dao God Thunderclash and three other high profile artificers and elders stood by his side.

Dao God Thunderclash stood out to Cha Ming. He was a short, wiry Dao God with long violet hair that draped down over a plain set of silver plate armor. A large soul-bound sword of solidified lightning was fastened to his back using heavy clasps, and it shook like a monster raging against restraints.

“To think they would be able to collect so many sect members,” Grand Artificer Fei said with a grimace. “But I guess that’s how it always is. The incumbent holds the advantage during a rebellion. Thoughts, Artificer Yong?”

“What is there to think about?” Grand Artificer Yong said. “We can only fight, and the losses will be severe.”

“True,” Grand Artificer Fei said. She made a hand signal, and their own fleet rose up. Originally, the number of ships they had under their control was slightly lesser than the incumbent faction, but with a year to make up their numbers, their ship total had swelled to forty.

Cha Ming joined the Grand Elders on a slightly smaller ship than the Indomitable called the Artificer’s Folly. Behind them were the elites of their sect that had undergone a month’s special nurturing in a high energy density environment. They were armed with new puppets and hearts like tempered metal. Cha Ming’s Heartforge Spirit Flame was not only useful for refining his own will, but other as well.

“Artificers Yong, Fei, and Chi, I request for you to stand down and surrender to the true leadership of the Puppet Lightning Sect,” said Grand Artificer Liu. “There is not need for us artificers to fight amongst each other over small disagreements. You have made your thoughts on puppet refinement heard loud and clear, and I believe we can come to a peaceful resolution.”

The three Grand Artificers summoned their lightning spirits. “It’s Grand Artificer now,” Grand Artificer Fei said. “And do you think we’re three-year-old’s? You’ll negotiate with us, and one morning, we’ll wake up to find ourselves with a dagger in our chest or locked up in chains.”

Grand Artificer Liu seemed to expect such a reply. He smiled lightly before returning her barbs with flowers. “You rebelled, but we treated you with kindness and mercy. We did not mistreat you in the slightest. But if you’re committed to inverting black and white, there’s nothing I can say.

Dao God Thunderclash spoke next. He spoke with a deadpan, and though his voice wasn’t loud, it wormed its way into everyone’s ears as though he was standing right next to them. “Daoist Clear Sky. You’ve outdone yourself by infiltrating the Puppet Lightning Sect. I can respect a proper takeover, but I’m afraid your luck ends here.”

“And here I was wondering when my lucky streak would end,” Cha Ming said. “After two decades of losing at dice, It was nice to have everything handed to me on a platter for a change.”

“You’re outnumbered, Clear Sky,” said Thunderclash.

“Are we now?” Cha Ming asked. “Well, I guess we should just surrender, shouldn’t we, Grand Artificer Fei?”

“Quite right,” Grand Artificer Fei said. “It seems we mobilized our troops for nothing. Better to just stop now and let them in. What do you think, Grand Artificer Yong?”

“Since a youngster with relatively little history with our sect said so, I’m afraid we can only agree,” Grand Artificer Yong said.

“Are you mocking me?” Dao God Thunderclash asked coldly.

“No, we would never dare do such a thing to such an illustrious character,” Grand Artificer Yong said. He leaned in towards Grand Artificer Fei and whispered in a loud voice. “Do you think he fell for it?”

“Genius acting,” Grand Artificer Fei said. “Well done.”

“I see you lot have all gotten comfortable now that you’ve occupied my mountain,” Grand Artificer Liu said from beside Thunderclash. “I treated you quite well despite your rebellion, and even allowed you to remain as guests continue your projects, and this is how you repay me. It seems we can only come to blows. Puppet Lightning Sect – activate battle preparations!”

The thirty ships behind Grand Artificer Liu began to shift and transform. Puppets flew out from their hulls, and their lightning gathering sails retracted to revealing lightning towers. A web of violet lightning spread out from the flagship to connect the entire fleet.

Though the righteous faction had forty ships, they lost out in terms of sect members and superior puppets. A similar transformation occurred, and a similar lightning web appeared to connect them. Cha Ming felt this all through Luther, whom, at any point, could begin commandeering the ships and puppets contaminated with his lightning.

In terms of Tier 2 lightning spirits, it was their righteous faction who had the advantage. Their puppet lightning web let off jolts of lightning that started infiltrating ship and puppets from the sinful faction.

Grand Artificer Liu alone could not resist their attempts, so Dao God Thunderclash was forced to step in. He summoned his own fox-shaped lightning spirit, which immediately overwhelmed those from the righteous faction. Ships and puppets stalled out, greatly decreasing their performance.

“Luther, help them,” Cha Ming said. “For now, hide your strength. Limit it to Tier 1.”

“As you command, Master,” said Luther.

The lighting soul sent out a strand of his aura and used it to chase out the invading fox lightning soul. Neither puppet had the advantage, so both webs flew apart.

“I don’t think we need to be flying up here anymore,” said Grand Artificer Fei. “Let’s retreat to the mountain where we have the territorial advantage.”

Puppet Lightning ships were not as fast as Chasewind ships, but they were more versatile. They began flying in reverse, away from Dao God Thunderclash and the Blood God Sect. And the Blood God Sect, seeing that things weren’t going as expected, began moving. The crimson tide encroached upon puppet lightning mountain.

Lightning rain clashed with blood mist. The storm atop Puppet Lightning Mountain expanded, and tiny droplets of puppet lightning were sent up into the air to spin in the form of a maelstrom. It chased away the invasive bloody aura that crashed upon the mountain like ocean waves, creating elemental conflicts where it didn’t exist before.

Thunderclash did not allow them to retreat either but used his Tier 1 puppet lightning to slow their retreat. “Cede control of the Puppet Lightning Sect, Clear Sky,” said Thunderclash. “Swear never to return to the Puppet Lighting Region or the Blood God Region, and we will allow you to retreat.”

“Sorry, could you just get your boss to come out?” Cha Ming asked. “It’s clear who has the advantage in your alliance. Let’s not waste time. Blood Seal, if you’re listening, come out and face me like a man.”

A sliver of emotion flickered across Thunderclash’s stony face. “I see no need to accept the demands of a weakling.”

“You call me a weakling, but I just stole your sect,” Cha Ming said. “And as powerful as that Tier 1 elemental is, it won’t stop us from returning to Puppet Lightning Mountain.” He raised his hand and lowered it, severing the tendrils of puppet lightning latching on to their ships. Only a curtain of blood stood between them and the mountain.

“You don’t have to be so mean about it Clear Sky,” said a voice. “Thunderclash has terribly thin skin. You don’t have to rub it in so deeply.”  A cultivator flew out from the hundred Blood God Region ship. It was none other than Dao God Blood Seal, flanked by a group of powerful cultivators.

One of these cultivators was Patriarch Blood Demon. “I had a feeling we’d be seeing each other again,” Cha Ming said. “Why did you come here? Are you so eager to die a second time?”

“You have a sharp tongue, boy,” Patriarch Blood Demon said. “Let’s see if you’re still able to speak after we’re through with you.”

“I’m afraid I’ll hardly be out of breath,” Cha Ming said. “Blood Seal, I would stay and talk, but we have a mountain to retreat to.” He drew on Luther’s power to connect to Puppet Lightning Mountain. A passage opened up in the blood mist and their ships started sneaking through one at a time.

“Don’t even try it,” said Patriarch Blood God from beside Dao God Blood Seal. “Blood Wave Sea, reverse flow!” The bloody waves crashing onto Puppet Lightning Mountain changed direction, greatly cutting down the speed of their fleet.”

Grand Artificer Fei flew out from their ships then, crackling with puppet lightning and surrounded by three bulky puppets. “Sending such a large fleet into the Puppet Lighting Region was bad enough, but now, it seems that you’re actively working to capture us? Do you think the Puppet Lightning is so easily pushed around?” One of the bulky puppets beside her crouched down and adopted the form of a cannon. “Back down, or I’ll blow up one of your ships.”

“You would dare risk it?” asked Patriarch Blood God.

“Three,” said the grand artificer. “Two. One!” Golden lightning shot out from the puppet cannon striking one of the Blood Demon Sect’s weaker ships. The hull blew apart, and less than half the cultivators on board managed to escape. Splintered wood rained down upon the foothills flanking Puppet Lightning Mountain.

Patriarch Blood God’s expression darkened at the spectacle. “Very well. You asked for it.” He raised his hand, and the sea of blood retreated. It reformed into a giant humanoid angel. “Sword!” he called out, and a hundred bloody blades shot out from the Blood Sword Sect. “Demon!” he said next, and a hundred dragons of blood shot out from the blood demon sect. These swords and dragons came together to form one large sword and one large sword, which the blood angel took in one hand, and a large blood dragon to serve as her mount.

“Sever!” Patriarch Blood God called out. The blood angel slashed with her sword. A kilometer away, two ships fell apart, their crews dead, and their puppets destroyed. “That was a warning, and I will give it only one time. Do you surrender?”

Grand Artificer Fei was about to answer, but then a voice rumbled in on a flesh patch of storm clouds. Thirty ships appeared on the horizon. They bore the insignia of the Blighted Heaven Sect, the most powerful Tier 2 sect in the Puppet Lightning Region. Like the Puppet Lighting Sect’s ships, they functioned off lightning cores and could harvested lightning from the recurring storms in the region. Like Puppet Lightning Mountain, the sect’s fleet created its own natural storm cloud.

Hundreds of rune gathering cultivators and a single law stitching or shell marking elder stood aboard each ship. Many flew beside the ships on personal storm clouds or wings of lightning. There was not a single main weapon, but a majority of them wielded a spear like their sect master, who flew at their head.

“You think a weakling like you could change things, Blighted Heaven?” Patriarch Blood God scoffed. “Blood Angel, Heaven’s Wrath!” The angel flew up into the sky, which began to burn with bloody flames. Pillars of blood fire shot down onto the Blighted Heaven Sect’s fleet, instantly destroying three ships. But Patriarch Blood God did not seem pleased with this result, and Cha Ming soon saw why.

“Your actions are extreme and unwarranted,” said a voice from the earth. “But if this is the way you wish to play, I will oblige you.” A storm of sand flew in from the south, bearing with a large landmass bearing the banner of the Sacred Earth Sect. It moved surprisingly quickly despite its size, and an army of ten thousand cultivators sat meditating atop it.

This army was buys controlling the sands, half of which split apart to form a six-armed creature of sand, which pierced out at six of the Blood God Sect’s ships. They exploded before Patriarch Blood God even had a chance to react. “If you wish to destroy the Puppet Lighting Sect’s fleet, I cannot stop you. Just know that you will lose your own fleet and put your entire sect at risk.”

“What are you doing here, Sect Master Sacred Earth?” Patriarch Blood God said. “I thought you were busy fighting fiends to the south. And Patriarch Blighted Heaven, why are you poking your abnormally sharp nose in our business? Didn’t you learn your lesson last time we crossed blades?”

“You know exactly why we’re here,” said Sect Master Sacred Earth. “I couldn’t care less about a civil war in the Puppet Lighting Sect. But when a fleet from the Blood God Region shows up on our doorstep, we have no choice but to act.”

Three sect masters from each region were now involved in the conflict. Though this didn’t guarantee a victory, it made any complications quite costly. If one side pushed too much and routed the other side, it was possible that the opposing high-level cultivators retreat and retaliate against their enemy’s weaker forces.

“Go back where you came from, Patriarch Blood God,” Patriarch Blighted Heaven said. “The children from the Heartforge Realm were bad enough. We’re not in a mood to deal with foreign invaders.” He shot an unwelcoming glare at both Cha Ming and Dao God Thunderclash.

Patriarch Blood God took their appearance in stride. “I’m not sure where you both got your information, but we would never dream of invading the Puppet Lightning Region. Especially with so few ships. We merely came at the invitation of Grand Artificer Liu of the Puppet Lighting Sect. We have a relationship going back a few centuries, and when he told me of the rebellion in his sect, I couldn’t just stand back and watch.”

“As much as I doubt the veracity of your claim, it is good to know that this is nothing more than a sect leadership struggle,” said Sect Master Sacred Earth Sect. “Am I understanding the situation correctly, Grand Artificer Fei?”

“No sir,” Grand Artificer Fei said replied. “This is precisely a sect leadership struggle.” Neither side wanted to blow up the issue, because the gains wouldn’t make up for the losses.

“There’s no need to call me sir anymore, Grand Artificer Fei,” Sacred Earth said, shaking his head. “Just address me as your equal. I take it you anticipated this situation and know of the traditional procedures to resolve such conflicts?”

“A civil war will only cost the region and open us to invasion from adjacent regions,” said Grand Artificer Fei. “We are the true leadership of the Puppet Lighting Sect, by virtue of occupying Puppet Lighting Mountain. If Grand Artificer Liu wishes to issue a challenge, we will not reject.”

The Grand Artificers and Cha Ming had discussed this before as a likely outcome. Though all-out civil wars existed, they were too costly, especially when higher tier sects were involved. A leadership challenge, overseen by the other powerhouses in the region, was a common way to resolve this and minimize losses to the sect.

“Those present are enough to adjudicate the fairness of any leadership challenge,” said Patriarch Sacred Earth. “If Grand Artificer Liu wishes to proceed, the challenge will be five against five. The losers, those who survive, will be exiled. The winners will take control of the entire sect, though it is customary to grant whoever wishes to leave amnesty, unless they are guilty of great crimes.”

“This was my intention in the first place,” Grand Artificer Liu said to Sect Master Sacred Earth. “The Puppet Lighting Sect is something I have invested my heart and soul into. I only wish to see this matter resolved, and for my sect to flourish.”

“I have no problem with this arrangement,” Patriarch Blood God said. “As long as Brother Liu gets justice, I am satisfied.”

“Hypocrite,” Blighted Heaven said.

“Weakling,” Blood God answered. It was clear that there was no love lost between the two sides.

“Then, if no one has any objections, let’s clear the area,” Sacred Earth said. He pressed his palms together and sent out his law projection to cover the open valley they were occupying. Blighted Heaven, Blood God, Blood Demon, and Blood Sword joined him.

Their five law projections inspected the valley for traps and chased away its inhabitants. A giant palm then slammed down, creating a circle of barren stone, from which sprang transparent bars of radiant energy.

“The Puppet Lighting Sect’s leadership has encountered a philosophical disagreement that cannot be settled with words,” Sacred Earth announced. “This seat will mediate the conflict at the sect’s request. The sect will settle the dispute via five-by-five format, wherein five cultivators will battle until they are incapacitated or killed.

“The losers will be exiled. The winners will take control of the Puppet Lighting Sect and continue to administer the region.

“Grand Artificer Liu, Grand Artificer Fei, please send out your first contestants.”