PtM Book 17 - Chapter 20: Hostile Takeover

2/3 this week.

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Cha Ming opened his eyes to a room filled with violet lightning. Now that the puppet lightning soul was restrained, he was now in full control of his body. Despite the large amount of energy that had blasted through his body to serve as a conduit into his spiritual sea, his body was unharmed and unchanged – all save for a mark on his right hand in the shape a lighting bolt that that crawled up his wrist and forearm, ending just above the elbow.

“Come out,” Cha Ming commanded. The lightning soul put open a token resistance, but ultimately decided to obey. An amorphous mass of lightning pool on the ground and began taking physical shape. Cha Ming looked at it expectantly, hoping it would be a wolf or an eagle or something cool like a serpent, but was met with disappointment.

“A cat.” Cha Ming said flatly. “You are a powerful soul-type elemental that could probably destroy this entire play in your heyday. How can you be a cat?”

The lightning soul, or lightning cat, as it were, purred as it inspected itself. Then it sat down and began to lick itself while it looked about in disdain, just as mortal cats would. “So?” the lightning soul said. “If you don’t like, you can kiss my furry behind.”

Cha Ming’s eye twitched. “This isn’t fair.”

“Life isn’t fair,” said the lightning soul. “A lightning soul like myself should be contracted to no less than a peak law-stitching expert, but I’m stuck with a rune gathering whelp.”

Cha Ming cleared his throat. “What should I call you, lightning soul?”

“My name is sparacusnoringtellingnoustaringtonalu,” the elemental replied.

Cha Ming glared at it. “Luther it is then.”

“Luther is very demeaning,” said the lightning soul. “I demand to be called by my full name.”

“Well, you should have thought of that before trying to steal my body,” Cha Ming said. He eyed the lightning soul’s physical body, which was still covered in chains and locked down by the four obelisks. “Is there anything there worth taking away here?”

“No,” Luther replied answered, shaking its head. “That is but a shell controlled by what you could call a Tier 0 lighting spirit. It has authority and can continue to be used as a lighting well and split off lightning spirits as the Puppet Lighting Sect has been doing all these years, but its authority will never supersede my own. I am, and always will be, the master of this house.” It was a very catlike answer.

Despite having been attacked by the creature, Cha Ming wasn’t very comfortable with the concept of controlling a slave. He struck up a conciliatory tone with the lightning soul. “I give you my word, Luther: Ten thousand transcendent years. If you give me ten thousand transcendent years of good service, I will release you. And should I ascend to the immortal realms earlier than this, I will release you after my ascent, if that is what you wish.”

Luther rolled its eyes. “Whatever you say, master.” It was obvious from its tone that it did not believe him.

The Artificers had never stopped trying to break into the puppet lighting prison. Now that he controlled Luther, he could sense them working, just like he could sense everything else in the sect. He also had some vague impression of what was going on in all locations in the region with a lightning tower. Cha Ming wasn’t sure how to leverage this connection yet – he would need to ask the artificers and Huxian before he put anything in place.

Cha Ming’s affinity with lightning was already quite high, but now that he controlled Luther, everything in the mountain was at his beck and call. All it took was a sweep of his hand to dismiss the lighting shield that the artificers had yet to penetrate.

Elder Yong and the others paused what they were doing. They had already half-assembled a device that looked an awful lot like a cannon and inspected him warily. “Is that you, Clear Sky?” Artificer Yong asked.

“What kind of question is that?” Artificer Fei said. “You need to be straightforward and clear with your questions so he can’t wiggle his way out. Clear Sky – are you possessed or are you not possessed?” Cha Ming answered the question by releasing the other six Artificers from the Clear Sky World.

“Oh thank goodness,” Artificer Fei said. She began packing away the half-built cannon - apparently, it was her own invention. “Possession typically shatters the link between a soul and its soul bound treasures.”

“I never thought of that loophole,” Cha Ming said. “I take it it’s been tried a few times?”

“Enough times for us to have statistically significant data,” Artificer Fei answer. “Soul-bound treasures are rare and quite alluring. Also, they tend to pop up on talented individuals worth of possession. So. How did it go? What grade of lightning spirit did you get?”

Cha Ming answered her question by summoning Luther. “The highest,” Cha Min said.

They were clearly not convinced by his words. After all, this was just a tiny cat. They each summoned much larger and more impressive-looking lighting spirits, which suddenly burst out with an imposing aura.

Luther yawned and twitched its tail. The pressure released by these creatures didn’t bother it much. But when one of them released a light attack that ruffled its fur, Luther growled menacingly. All of the lighting spirits cowered, and some of them even soiled themselves.

“That… shouldn’t be possible,” Artificer Fei said.

“If this were a normal lightning spirit, you would be correct,” said Artificer Yong. His eyes were practically glowing. “I think this calls for change in plans. There’s only ever been one Tier 1 lighting spirit in the sect’s history. None in the shape of a housecat, but there’s no imitating its presence. If Clear Sky wanted to restrain us all, all it would take is a single command.”

Artificer Yong was only paritally correct, but Cha Ming did not correct him. Luther being the core puppet lightning soul was probably best kept secret. “You wouldn’t happen to have a plan that addresses the case where an outsider breaks you out with a realm treasure then claims a strong lighting soul, would you?” he asked, tongue in cheek.

“That’s plan 187,” Artificer Yong confirmed. “It involves us ambushing all the protectors and Artificers and taking over the sect from the inside.”

“I’m the one who came up with the plan,” Artificer Chi said proudly.

“Yes, yes, claim all the credit for all I care,” Artificer Young said.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a list of these plans, would you?” Cha Ming asked. At this point, he was convinced they were just making things up.

To his surprise, the Artificer immediately gave him an information jade with a thousand contingency plans, complete with a flowchart. “Go figure,” he muttered. “If you follow the ‘has a portable realm treasure and disguise ability line… it is plan 187. Wait, what’s this? There’s a plan for if a Blood Lighting Soul infiltrates the sect and tries to consume the Puppet Lightning Soul?”

“It actually happened once, so it’s not as random as you might think,” Artificer Fei said. “The odds of the other lightning soul succeeding are slim though. Not because of a strength difference, but because immortal artifacts are keeping the lighting soul trapped. It’s impossible for anyone to break through.”

“Let’s focus on the plan,” Artificer Chi said. “As the only individual with a Tier 1 lighting soul, Clear Sky would be able to exert control over the entire mountain’s artifices. Or at the very least take control over portions.

“Luther, would you like to say anything?” Cha Ming asked.

“I’m still very weak from my travails, master,” Luther said, inclining its cat head. “It’ll take time for me to do so, but I suppose I could lock down a few rooms at a time without overdrawing my limited power.”

“Can lightning spirits talk?” Artificer Fei whispered to Artificer Yong.

“Don’t question it,” Artificer Yong said. “It can only be a good thing.”

“True,” said Artificer Fei.

“I sense he’s not lying, so we’ll need to be systematic about this,” Cha Ming said. He controlled a bit of puppet lightning energy through his bond with the lightning soul and mapped out the building. “The moment we start locking things down, they’ll be able to tell what’s happening. Some might even choose to escape.”

“Quite right,” Artificer Chi said. “Which is why we need to prioritize the treasury and the library, followed by the workshops and then individual artificers. Depending on the speed at which you can lock things down, we should be able to capture many elders and prevent them from escaping.”

“Then let’s do it,” Cha Ming said. “Luther, stop slacking off.”

“Fine, fine,” Luther said. “All work and no play, it grumbled.” It emanated a violet field that turned over everything within 500 meters over to Cha Ming for him to control.

“Now let me look at this flow chart,” Cha Ming said. “Artificer Song is a priority?”

“Yes, we’ll start with Artificer Song then Artificer Wang,” Artificer Yong said.

“Not the sect master?” Cha Ming asked.

“Not the sect master,” Artificer Yong confirmed.

Cha Ming took the twelve Artificers into the Clear Sky World, then used his disguise to and headed over to a secluded workshop.  “Ah, Artificer Lei,” greeted Artificer Song. Cha Ming directly paralyzed him with Luther and tossed him in the Clear Sky World. Cha Ming on his own was frightening enough, but now that Luther was involved, it wasn’t even fair.

Cha Ming headed to the library next. He paralyzed both guards and put them away, then forced the door open. Only the librarian and a single artificer were of any concern. Moreover, they were on a list that might be considered sympathetic.

He summoned Elder Yong and Elder Fei. “You deal with them. Apologies, Chief Librarian. I’ll be safeguarding these for now.”

“Don’t you dare – “ Cha Ming had no time for nonsense. He paralyzed both the elders and inner sect disciples and had Elder Yong and Elder Fei sort them out. He then proceeded to toss every bookshelf and every book and every jade into a specially prepared area inside the Clear Sky World. He did not even spare the tables or the paintings, as these were all valuable items.

“Good news,” said Artificer Yong. “The librarian and Artificer Yao are on board. But the librarian has a condition.”

“We need to find a way inside the restricted library and secure its contents,” said the librarian. “Unfortunately, only the Grand Artificer has the ability to open the secret door, and…”

His voice trailed off as Cha Ming walked over to a hidden doorway and tapped on it. The door opened without a hitch. The elders followed him into the secret library. Three large stone slabs were present. One contained the most complete version of the sect’s puppet lighting control arts, and another contained a movement technique called Ball Lightning Traversal. The third slab stored refinement formulas for the sect’s top 100 puppets.

Cha Ming took them all into the Clear Sky World, as well as half of the restricted techniques. The other half, he blasted with lightning, obliterating them from existence.

“You… you!” the librarian was aghast. “How dare you desecrate written works!”

Cha Ming levelled a look at him. “These evil techniques are better off not existing.”

They quickly gathered up everyone willing, and bowed up the unwilling, then proceeded to the treasury. The quartermaster was in the pocket of the sect master, so they were forced to subdue him before confiscating all the important items. Like before, Cha Ming directly destroyed any sin-based items. As for the others, he would return them once everything in the sect was in order.

By the time they were finished in the treasury, Cha Ming saw signs of movement. He directly made his way towards the nearest artificer’s workshop.  Everything in the building ran on puppet lightning energy, and even if it didn’t, it had long since been contaminated by the puppet lightning’s influence.

It wasn’t long before half of the seventeen Artificers currently in the sect were captured. Unfortunately, the Grand Artificer was a very cunning individual and had long since made preparations.

“Who would have thought,” Artificer Fei said, peering down a dark corridor carved through mountain stone. “He did that without anyone noticing. How long do you think it took? Years? Decades?”

“Centuries, I think?” Luther said, attracting quite a few stars. “I mean… meow?”

“This is going to be a huge pain,” Cha Ming said. One of the most important parts of their plan was capturing the sect master. But they didn’t dare do so without subduing enough of his supporters.

“Tell me about it,” Artificer Chi said. “This brings us to one of the worst options in our plan.”

“Civil war,” Artificer Fei muttered.

Artificer Yong came running out of the Clear Sky World, red faced and quite angry. “I’ve completed the inventory. Things aren’t looking good.”

“Did they somehow hide a bunch of our premium materials?” Artificer Fei asked.

“Worse,” Artificer Yong said. “I checked the records and noticed that over half the flying ships were out on loan to elders outside the sect, or to those that fled with the Grand Elder. Also, some of our best puppets are in their hands as well.”

“That explains how they were able to whisk off so many inner and outer sect disciples on the way out,” Artificer Fei said. “Anything else?”

“The sect’s three remaining guardian puppets have also gone missing,” Artificer Yong said grimly. “With these puppets in their hands, they’ll have the power of a legitimate Tier 1 sect, even without us.”

“I’m more concerned about Dao God Thunderclash,” Cha Ming said. “He wasn’t here in the sect, so I can only assume he’s in the Heartforge Realm. He’ll hear about this soon enough.”

“Why should we care about him?” asked Artificer Yong. “The sect is not under his control.”

Cha Ming shook his head. “The sect was under the Grand Artificer’s control, naturally, but we should not discount him or underestimate him. Moreover, he has a relationship with Dao God Blood Seal. If I were him and learned that the Puppet Lighting Sect was taken over from the inside, I would first secure aid from Dao God Blood Seal. This means that a civil war is the least of our worries. We might just come under siege from the Blood God Sect and all the Tier 2 sects in the Blood God Region.”

“Impossible,” Artificer Yong said. “This would be too much of a provocation. The Tier 2 sects in our region and the Sacred Earth Sect would not stand for it.”

“I don’t know about that,” said Artificer Fei. “They never did anything when the Grand Artificer locked us up. Why should they do anything now?”

“Regardless, we need a plan,” said Artificer Chi. “If they’re coming back with reinforcements, do we stay here and defend. Or do we escape?” The rebel artificers all looked to Cha Ming. It was then that he realized that having high tier lightning spirit meant a lot more than he’d originally thought.

“What are your thoughts on dealing with all these prisoners?” Cha Ming asked artificer Yong instead.

“This is truly a difficult question,” Artificer Yong answered. “On the one hand, they rebelled, but on the other hand, they were just following orders from the stronger artificer at the time.”

“We can’t pardon them all,” Artificer Fei said. “Turning a blind eye is one thing, but quite a few of these people have done terrible things. I suggest to the Grand Artificer that we eliminate the worst offenders and place mild offenders under restrictive covenants.”

“Grand Artificer?” Cha Ming asked, raising an eyebrow.

Artificer Yong frowned. “I don’t think that’s quite appropriate, is it?”

“Why not?” Artificer Yong asked. “He has a Tier 1 lighting spirit.”

“But he’s not even a law-stitching cultivator, no matter his combat prowess,” Artificer Yong said. “He can’t even be considered an elderin our sect, forget an artificer in ours.”

Cha Ming coughed loudly. “How about you all consider me a guest elder? This is your sect, after all, and I don’t wish to infringe upon that. That being said, I do have a few useful abilities and diplomatic channels that might come in handy for the upcoming war. So I hope you’ll take my advice on the current matter, at least temporarily.” Artificers Yong, Fei, and Chi relaxed visibly when he said this.

“We first need to deal with those that practiced living refinement and the issue of corpse puppets,” Artificer Yong said.

“Agreed, but to do that, we need to call our sect members back,” Artificer Fei said.

“That’s true, but they might not all come back, given that the former Grand Artificer escaped,” Artificer Chi said.

“And what about the existing corpse puppets?” Artificer Fei asked. “What do we do? Just throw them away?” A tense argument followed.

In the end, they chose to draw a line in the sand. All corpse puppets would be destroyed. They would also go through the records and find out who had been harmed and immediately send them reparations. They would also make an announcement about the sect’s restructuring to all the major powers and brand the Grand Artificer’s faction as rebels and traitors.

The authority of the Puppet Lightning Sect’s artificers was largely determined by the grade of lighting spirit they could command. This not only gave them higher authority on the mountain, but also enabled them to commandeer other puppets and suppress the cultivation of members in the same sect. Cha Ming did not wish to expose the identity of the lightning soul quite yet, but he did command it to strengthen the three artificers’ lightning spirits to second grade. Luther did so without much complaint, though he did grumble words like ‘unworthy’.

“Now that your lightning souls have reached Tier 2, it is only fitting that you take on the mantle of Grand Artificer,” Cha Ming said to the three grateful elders. “This will legitimize your claim and help you calm and mobilize the other disciples.

“As for Dao God Thunderclash, it won’t be long before Dao God Thunderclash returns with reinforcements. So with the exception of fiend response troops, I suggest that you recall every member of the sect with utmost urgency.”

“In the meantime, we’ll need to make preparations for a siege. You’ve already met the rebels I brought over from the Blood God Region. They became a powerful force quite quickly thanks to the time-acceleration properties of my realm treasure.

“I suggest sending as many elite disciples, craftsmen, and elders as possible into my realm treasure to do the same. This will give us a chance to craft whatever puppets or weapons and allow those on the verge of a cultivation breakthroughs to do so. I can supply you each with a top-grade spirit stone, if you think it will allow you to make a breakthrough to middle law stitching.”

“What of the Sacred Earth Sect and the Blighted Heaven Sect?” Artificer Yong asked.

“I don’t think they’ll take sides,” Artificer Fei said. “Though they’ll probably but in if the Blood God Sect gets involved. Patriarch Sacred Earth is a wonderful man. I could pen a letter to explain the situation and try to change his disposition.”

“I have a few potential allies I can speak to,” Cha Ming said. “But if it’s a matter of not involving outsiders, we’ll need to be careful.”

“Agreed,” said Artificer Yong. “The last thing we want to do is turn this into a five-region showdown. Or worse, give the Bloodstorm Conflict another go.”

Cha Ming did not know what the Bloodstorm Conflict was, but he was determined to make the best use of his time. He summoned several portals and began to usher in junior artificers by the thousands. Each of them came with supplies and materials in such volumes that Ninesky was starting to protest. Apparently, it was very draining for her.

The three new Grand Artificers did as discussed and sent entreaties to the other sects in the region. Most of them sent lukewarm replies, and their known spies showed a marked increase in activity. But they did nothing to block these spies, as doing so would only worsen their relationship with these sects. Besides, most of their preparations were being done in secret.

While Cha Ming was at it, he took the opportunity to roll out his rewards system and announce it to all Tier 1 and Tier 2 sects. He didn’t have all the rewards he needed, but being surrounded by artificers, he was able to establish an intermediate source of goods, which would have to last him until he could return to the Heartforge Realm.

Many of the sects took the bait, and even the Sacred Earth Sect and the Blighted Heaven sect were moved. They provisionally recognized Artificer Yong, Artificer Fei, and Artificer Chi’s claim of leadership. The region’s approval eventually crossed a threshold that triggered a mechanism in Cha Ming’s mission jade:

You are contesting the Puppet Lightning Sect. You now control Puppet Lightning Mountain. Fifty percent of Puppet Lightning Sect territory is now under your supervision.

You are contesting the Puppet Lightning Region. The Sacred Earth Sect and Blighted Heaven Sect have provisionally recognized your partial claim. Fifty percent of the Puppet Lightning Region is now under your supervision.

If Dao God Thunderclash had yet to receive news of Cha Ming’s takeover, he would be shortly. And with a fifty percent cut to his passive points gain, he would have every incentive to take Cha Ming down quickly.