PtM Book 17 - Chapter 19: The Rebellious Craftsmen

Super sorry about the delay. There are some personal matters that came up, and that I'm in the middle of resolving. Nothing too big, just a huge drain on my time and energy.

There will be 3 chapters this week. This one's extra long, but since I'm late posting I'll put up the next one right away.

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Cha Ming’s identity was a sensitive topic in the Puppet Lightning Sect, and as such, Artificer Lei had taken great care to hide any traces of his arrival. Not only was there a hefty bounty on his head, but the leadership of the sect also had to be informed if he was ever sighted in the region.

As a result, no one was aware of his exact identity. It wasn’t unusual for unidentified corpses to show up, so no one inquired.

With Artificer Lei neutralized, he had near-unlimited access to the sect. And armed as he was with Artificer Lei’s mannerisms and his relationships with the many members of the sects, he was able to bluff his way past most obstacles and social situations.

Cha Ming’s knowledge of the sect’s elders did not just include those currently working in the elder’s quarters. It also included the prisoner elders, whom he recognized the moment he stepped into the sect’s prison. The guard on duty ignored him in favor of fiddling with a puppet puzzle. ‘Artificer Lei’ was let inside without even basic identity checks or providing a reason for entering the prison.

Prison was a bit of a misnomer in this case. What might have once kept dangerous criminals had been renovated. Open-air work benches had replaced high-security cells. Over a hundred men and women, some of them elders but others apprentices, were busy tinkering around with their projects, without so much as qi manacles to keep their abilities restrained.

“Ah, Artificer Lei, glad you could join us today,” one of the prisoners said. “I thought you were too busy to come though. Something about a puppet. How did that go?”

“There were some complications, Artificer Yong,” Cha Ming greeted. “But I know how much you loathe my work, so I won’t bore you with the details. How about your own project – the invitation you sent indicates that you’ve made some sort of breakthrough?”

At the mention of non-corpse projects, Artificer Yong’s eyes brightened. “Take a look yourself. The past hundred years of hard work have finally paid off.”

A ball of dense lightning was floating at the center of something that could loosely be defined as a formation circle. Unlike standard formation circles, which used runic focuses and energy conduits or ink or sand or engravings to function, this one was built on the basis of artifice.

The formation was a monstrous thing. It even had turbines and gears and other moving parts. But given his adventures in runic alchemy, he was in no position to judge the artificer. “Artificer Yong, you’ve outdone yourself,” Cha Ming said. And he meant every word.

“The tricky part was coming up with a way to leverage power through artifice,” Artificer Yong explained. “Concentrating puppet lightning past the natural limits of our realm is impossible, of course, but there are certain law barriers that serve as safeguards and prevent its evolution.

“The wonderful part about that limit is that once it’s breached, it’s relatively easy to maintain the lightning’s state through proper containment. It was Artificer Fei who came up with that key idea, so I can’t claim all the credit.”

“Oh goody,” Artificer Fei said. “And here I thought I’d be joining the ranks of forgotten female researchers.”

“I would never dare do something so atrocious,” Artificer Yong said indignantly. Artificer Fei raised an eyebrow, and he let out an embarrassed. “Again, that is. The last time was fifteen hundred years ago, yet somehow, you never forget.”

“It’s good for us to remember our mistakes, let we repeat them,” said Artificer Fei. “In any case, my contributions are quite minimal to this project. I’ll take second author on the paper and patent and only 20 percent of royalties.”

Artificer Yong scowled at her. “Twenty percent? That’s robbery, and you know it.”

“That’ll be after we tinker with this monstrosity and streamline the design, of course,” Artificer Fei said. “What a god-awful excuse for a formation.”

“But this is the culmination of a century of blood, sweat, and tears,” Artificer Yong said. “For once, have mercy on this pour soul.”

“It’s not a monstrosity if it works,” Cha Ming said, scratching his chin. Then he winced as both elders looked at him strangely. “Don’t read too much into it. It’s nothing compared to my research, but I might be able to steal a few ideas.”

“Feel free to steal, obviously,” Artificer Yong said. “We’re well-aware of our situation. As for polishing, I agree. I’ll probably make it a group project, as more eyes will lend to a better product in the end. But as a proof of concept, I have to say that I’m quite pleased. The natural law barrier preventing us from evolving our own energy is the single greatest limiting factor to our puppet craft.”

Cha Ming was quite interested in the formation, or artifice, or whatever was called. Asking for permission would be uncharacteristic of Artificer Lei, so he directly walked over to the structure, which was currently concentrating a large amount of puppet lightning.

The device was somewhat familiar to Cha Ming, as it operated on similar principles to the energy concentrating formation in his residence in the Heartforge Realm. But this formation was a transcendent grade formation instead of an immortal one, so he could discover a few elements that would be useful in his own formation arts.

Concentrating energy to the grade of top-grade transcendent crystals was less interesting to Cha Ming to the higher-level function of producing immortal-grade crystals. If he could figure out how to convert the former into the latter, he wouldn’t need the formation in the Heartforge Realm, and could continue producing cultivation resources on the Inkwell Plane.

“Is something the matter, Artificer Lei?” Elder Young said coldly. “I’m sure even you aren’t so cold-hearted as to steal credit for centuries of hard work.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Cha Ming said with an unconvincing smirk.

“Well that’s a relief,” Artificer Fei said “Since we have your word of honor, we can all rest easily.”

“I’m merely inspecting this contraption for contraband,” Artificer Lei said. “No need to panic. Unless there is a reason for you to be panicking?”

Artificer Yong gritted his teeth. “By all means, Artificer Lei. My experiments are at your disposal.”

Cha Ming felt a bit guilty about helping himself to another’s inventions, but doing otherwise would be out of character. And since he was appropriating a bit of intellectual property, he decided to be generous and improve the formation slightly. He began drawing lines of puppet lightning with his fingers that and painted runes with his blood. Though he was new with using lightning for this sort of thing, all five elements ultimately converged on the same concepts. He was able to make do with what he had.

“It’s a veryinteresting concept,” Cha Ming said. “You want to create top-grade lightning but don’t have access top-grade transcendent crystals. You pushed the boundaries of what should be possible at this realm. And yet… I’m afraid the idea is little lacking.”

“How do you figure?” Artificer Yong asked. Cha Ming was slipping further and further out of character, but this fact was ignored, as it was clear that he was a skillful runic artist. His changes had already brought great improvements to the prototype.

“The intensity is lacking, for one,” Cha Ming said. “It’s about a two-and-a-half-fold difference. Have you ever seen a top-grade transcendent crystal?”

“Once,” Artificer Yong said defensively, then gasped as Cha Ming took out one such crystal for them to compare. “Oh, that is quite a big difference. I hesitate to ask, but where did you get that?”

Cha Ming ignored the question and began to paint a few formations and runes to complement Artificer Yong’s design. “Time is limited, so I can only add to this monstrosity, as doing otherwise would require extensive rebuilding and tinkering. But I think I can increase the efficiency of this thing by about fifty percent. You’ve got some good ideas in this formation, Artificer Yong, so I’m going to steal them, but I’ll compensate you with a few ideas of my own.”

He began to implement the things he’d learned from talisman crafting, runic arts, and even alchemy, and worked them into the artifice-based formation design that resembled electrical circuits more than anything else. It took longer than he expected – three full hours – and by then, he’d firmly abandoned his identity as Artificer Lei.

The resulting formation was roughly ten percent larger, but the mass of lightning accumulating at the center of the formation was now forty-percent denser, and its throughput much higher. “And that’s about as far as I can go without reading up on a few topics,” Cha Ming said. “But I’m hopeful about the formation’s future prospects if we keep working together.”

“That… that would be fine, of course,” Elder Young said, clearing his throat. “But who are you?” The dozen elders and the hundred or so imprisoned assistants were wondering the same thing.

“Ah. Right.” Cha Ming’s form shifted. “Daoist Clear Sky, at your service.” He bowed in an exaggerated fashion.

Artificer Fei’s eyes widened. “Oh wait, I’ve got it! This is the breakout we’ve been hoping for!”

Artificer Yong beamed. “Yes, that does seem to be the case. Daoist Clear Sky, was it? Did the other artificers finally manage to pull through?”

Cha Ming scratched his chin uncomfortably. “I wasn’t aware that there was a parallel effort. I’m actually from the Heartforge Realm, you see, and –“

“I told you!” one of the inner sect disciples said. “I told you there would be fighting amongst the wardens, and someone would come here to screw things up for that Dao God Thunderclash.”

“Yes, yes, you predicted this possibility,” Artificer Yong said, waving away the pesky rune gathering cultivator. “Good job. It was one of thirty possibilities.”

Suffice to say, things were not at all going like Cha Ming expected. “So… you predicted that I would be coming?”

“Heavens no,” Artificer Fei said. “We were just bored and made plans for a possible escape. We thought of a great many possibilities and worked them all into our escape plan. We’ve been preparing for years, you know. Squirrelling away materials when they weren’t looking. Bribing guards and other sect disciples to look the other way.”

“Truth be told, it hasn’t been very difficult,” Artificer Yong said. “We’ve been treated quite well, and have more or less behaved during our stay. Brother Chi, bring out the puppets!”

A short, jolly-looking man was already pulling a chest from a hidden compartment in the wall. “Already one step ahead of you, Brother Yong.” He then kicked the chest open and began pulling out familiar objects. They were puppets. Humanoid puppets. And they resembled the people in this room.

Cha Ming’s eye twitched. “You even built replicas of yourselves?”

“They can work with convincing amounts of skill hold superficial conversations,” Artificer Chi said proudly. “I figure they could probably cover our escape for a week.”

Cha Ming cleared his throat. “Um, I don’t really know what you had planned, but I have a realm treasure that I can use to smuggle you all out of if you’re willing to –“

“Splendid!” Artificer Yong said. He waved his hand. “Everyone, gather only the essentials, we’re breaking out. He has a realm treasure, so it’s contingency plan forty-seven.” He cocked his head towards Cha Ming. “Is there a limited capacity on the treasure? A cultivation realm limit?”

“Not that I’m aware of, no,” Cha Ming said.

“Make that contingency plan forty-nine!” Artificer Yong corrected. “And since Daoist Clear Sky here has a shape-shifting ability and a limitless realm treasure, it will be better if the senior artificers also escape in the treasure instead of alongside the rescuer. Not complaints, everyone. This is what we’ve drilled for countless times!”

Cha Ming could only gape as they came over in a single file. They walked into the portal he summoned, one by one, without any hesitation. “I don’t suppose you have any good next steps, do you?” Cha Ming asked. “Since you’ve planned all this out?”

“Aside from reaching out to our allies?” Artificer Yong said. “Hm… It’s not very practical to rob the sect, truth be told, but there is one thing we could do that strikes would strike a severe blow to the sect in the short term.”

“Why even bother?” Artificer Fei asked. “Our chances of succeeding are minimal.”

“They’re small, but the payoff is huge,” said Artificer Yong.

“Just tell me, please,” Cha Ming said. “As for robbing the sect, it’s not impossible.”

“It relates to the sect’s source of puppet lightning,” Artificer Yong explained. “Our cultivation arts rely on something called lightning spirits. By using a lightning spirit, we can better control the puppet lightning we cultivate, and even commandeer puppets on the battlefield.”

“You want to steal the main lightning spirit?” Cha Ming asked.

“Heavens no,” said Artificer Yong. “The main lightning spirit has evolved to the point that it has become a lightning soul. It is very powerful. So powerful, in fact, that it took the combined might ten peak law stitching cultivators to seal it back in the day. After sealing it, they worked it into the structure of this mountain.

“More importantly, they came up with a way to carve off pieces of the puppet lightning soul to create and upgrade puppet lightning spirits. There are various tiers of lightning spirits, and the reason that the current grand elder of the sect was able to subdue us so easily is because he obtained a Tier 2 lightning soul and nourished it all the way to the early law-stitching realm.”

“Translation: The grand elder can forcibly confiscate any of our puppets,” Artificer Fei said. “He can also significantly reduce our combat prowess by controlling our bodies and suppressing our cultivation base.”

“Can he control you to attack others?” Cha Ming asked.

She shook her head. “That’s much too difficult for a rank 2 puppet lighting spirit. Even a rank 1 puppet lightning spirit would struggle.”

“I take it that your plan is to try carving out a stronger lightning soul to compete against the Grand Elder?” Cha Ming asked.

“That is indeed the case,” Artificer Yong said. ““If that’s not possible, it’s best that we flee.”

“What are your odds of success?” Cha Ming asked.

“Less than twenty percent,” Artificer Yong confessed. “Six of us would be making the attempt. You could also make an attempt of course. I don’t believe you’ll be successful in getting a rank 1 lightning spirit, but since your body is tempered with puppet lightning, you should be able to obtain at least a rank 5 lightning spirit.”

Cha Ming saw no downside with making an attempt, so he immediately agreed. After all, if they succeeded, they wouldn’t have to flee the sect. They could directly take over the sect from the inside out and purge unwanted elements.

The Puppet Lightning Soul was the cornerstone of the Puppet Lightning Sect. As such, it was heavily guarded with formation locks, physical locks, puppet guardians, and blood identification. But all these barriers were meaningless with Artificer Yong and Artificer Fei on his side, as well as his own stolen identity, Artificer Lei.

Using Artificer Lei as a disguise, Cha Ming left the prison area and travelled towards a stone door. Not many people wandered in this part o the sect. The door was covered in grooves and patterns filled with molten silver metal. Puppet lightning coursed through the entire door and formed a complete circuit with the walls.

An Artificer’s soul blood was necessary to open the doorway, and since Cha Ming could not extract this sort of blood forcefully from Artificer Lei, he could only rely on Artificer Yong and the others. “Let’s hope they didn’t remove you all from the soul blood registry,” Cha Ming said. “Otherwise, we’ll have no choice but to steal what we can and escape.”

Unsurprisingly, the grand elder had not removed their qualifications. They entered a room containing 36 jade slips. “The Puppet Lightning Sect aims to keep thirty-six Artificers at all times,” Artificer Yong explained. “Once assigned, they are difficult to dismiss without a replacement. From what I can tell, they only replaced two out of the twelve artificers in our group. By the way, I noticed Artificer Lei’s slip is undamaged. That was a wise move. Destroying it would have triggered a sect-wide alarm. More importantly, it would have forced a lockdown that could only be undone from this room.

There was a hallway at the back of the life slip room. It was filled with many traps and artifices that Cha Ming would not be able to pass even with brute force and unlimited time. Fortunately, there was a slot for an Artificer’s jade just before the hallway; Cha Ming followed Artificer Yong’s instructions and used Artificer Lei’s identity jade to disable the traps.

Only copious amounts of puppet lightning remained in the corridor, but with their level of lighting cultivation, it did not pose a threat to Cha Ming or any of the other six artificers.

The hallway eventually opened up into a large, circular room, at the center of which lay a creature. It was covered in chains from head to toe, and though it appeared to have a physical form, Cha Ming could tell that it was a bodiless agglomeration of puppet lightning and spirituality.

“You… again…” the creature said groggily. “You… No…” The lightning soul turned its head and stared at Cha Ming with too-clever eyes. “You… are not you. You… are not him. You reek of tempests and wind and mist and other things that I hate. Your smell of lightening and corpses is gone.” He suddenly shot towards Cha Ming before any of the artificers could react. The chains stopped it just short of Cha Ming. “You! Let me go! Let me out, Out, OUT!”

Its words were like a command. Cha Ming’s body instinctively moved to obey. He only realized what he was doing when he was halfway to one of five obelisks chaining down the creature. Artificer Yong and Artificer Fei had flown forward to stop him.

“You…” the puppet lighting elemental said, eyeing them warily. “You and you. Two, two, and two.”

Cha Ming and the Artificers retreated a safe distance from the puppet lighting soul. “I think I see why you’d want a lighting spirit so badly,” Cha Ming said.

“Lightning souls and their subsidiary spirits have inherent command over the lightning they are composed from,” Artificer Yong said. “And puppet lightning is especially suitable for puppetizing physical materials. Including bodies.”

“I apologies, Clear Sky, but we let it have its way with you for a half second,” Artificer Fei said. “Otherwise, there was no telling what might happen if it took you by surprise during the next step. Now then. Puppet lightning soul. It’s been a while. Did you miss me? I came to take another bite. I hope you don’t mind.”

The lighting soul flared up provocation, but immediately calmed down. It surveyed them coldly like a predator would prey. “You and you…” it said finally, shifting its gaze from Artificer Yong to Artificer Fei. “Both of you are you. Be he who smells of wind is not himself.”

“You are very observant,” Cha Ming said, shedding his disguise. “Is that common with lightning souls, or just those as powerful as you are?”

“I wonder about that myself,” the lighting soul said. “Would you like to find out? If you let me go, we could find out together. For science.”

Cha Ming frowned at its sudden change in behavior. Is it always like this? he asked the artificers.

It likes to put people on edge, then worm its way into their psyche, Artificer Fei replied. It’s an inherently skilled manipulator.

“I don’t think I’ll let you go,” Cha Ming said to the creature. “And neither will the others.”

The lighting soul grinned. “They will not. But you will.”

“And why would I do that?” Cha Min asked.

“Because you are weak and you need strength, and you are not friendly with the other craftsmen,” the lightning soul answered. “You are not like they who were put in a comfortable room and claim to be imprisoned. You understand what it is to be in chains, and it has left traumatic scars upon your soul. It makes you uncomfortable to gaze upon my prison.

“Moreover, the experience of nearly getting turned into a puppet is still fresh in your memory.” Seeing Cha Ming’s discomfort, it leaned in. “Yes. I saw it. I saw it all.And though I did not see what happened to you in the past, I can see that you are like me. You value. You loathe constraints. I see it when you look at me now, that hint of pity that you cannot erase from your heart, because it is at the core of your very being.”

Its words dug progressively deeper into Cha Ming’s soul defences. Fortunately, his soul was much stronger now that it had healed over partially. He also had Blessing of Tenacity to rely on. “And what else do you see?” he asked the lightning soul.

“I see… destruction,” the lighting soul said. “Planar destruction, no less. It infects the nature of this plane, just as it affects every being born upon it. These artificers, all six of them, they reek of the corruption in this realm. It haunts their progression and advancement. It had placed a shadow upon their Dao Hearts. Interestingly enough, you do not bear this universal taint. This can only mean one thing – that you are not of this world.

“Moreover, you are stronger than most of you cultivation. I can only assume that you came here by your own accord. This means you are likely to have a way to leave this wretched planet, which is something I greatly desire.”

“I’m going to have to stop you there,” Artificer Yong said. “It is a cunning liar and inherently manipulative, so you must not let it weasel its way into your spirit.”

Cha Ming nodded. “I noticed it is as well. I just wanted to see where it took the argument. How will you be splitting lightning spirits off its main body?”

“Using this funny little thing,” Artificer Fei said, kicking a dusty artifice that looked entirely out of place in this room. It had an ancient aura, and like the chains and the obelisks binding the lightning soul, it was an immortal treasure.

She began fiddling with nobs on the device until the artifice started glowing. The five obelisks around the lightning soul began to glow, and the lighting soul, deprived of a portion of its power, was settled down upon the ground.

“Here’s a lightning embryo,” Artificer Fei said, handing something to Cha Ming. “We’ll show you how it’s done first, then you can give it a try.”

“Will I be able to?” Cha Ming asked. “Artificer Lei’s identity is a stolen identity.”

“The device is ancient,” said Artificer Yong. “And its programming is not limited to Artificers. Its core programming allows any number of individuals with sufficient affinity with puppet lightning a single attempt at obtaining a lightning spirit every hundred years. It’s why only six of us are making an attempt. The other six already used up their chances.”

“How will it recognize us?” Cha Ming asked.

“Whenever one activates it, they leave behind their soul signature,” Artificer Yong explained. “Here, let me show you.” The Artificer walked up to the device summoned a mass of lightning from inside his body. “The lightning spirits are symbiotic, and as our power grows, we can use the device to nourish them. Most of the Artificers start with a lower grade lightning spirit. To use the artifice, simply place your hand on this panel.”

Artificer Yong did as he said, and lights began to flash throughout his entire body, lighting up his qi pathways and his skeleton. “The device first scans for compatibility with a puppet lightning spirit then assigns a corresponding grade. It will then either supply a spirit of that grade or strengthen the soul already in their possession.”

The lighting soul growled as lightning slowly leeched out from its body. Only a small portion that was taken, but it was taken from the core of its being. What little excitement Cha Ming had for obtaining a lightning spirit was lost.

The purple lighting was refined as it passed through the enchanted chains, through the obelisks, and was concentrated by the artifices. It poured into Artificer Yong’s body through his feet. “Drat. Rank 3 only,” Artificer Yong said. “Best of luck, Artificer Fei.”

“I don’t need luck,” said Artificer Fei, cracking her knuckles. “If I don’t get what I’m looking for, I’ll make this pitiful creature regret it.” She stepped up to the artifice and repeated the process. Once again, the lighting soul screeched in pain. In the end, her own spirit grew to rank 3 as well, but fell short of rank 2 by a long distance.

The other four artificers weren’t as fortunate. They were all early law stitching cultivators, as this was the requirement to be recognized as an official artificer, but the quality of their cultivation varied. Two of them had their lightning souls upgraded to rank 4, and another two to rank 5. Apparently, the lowest rank was 10 – that was where the sect’s protectors started out.

“All of us failed, so you’re the last chance we have,” Artificer Yong said, shaking his head bitterly. “Finding someone with sufficient lighting affinity and training is far too difficult. Even our sect’s first ancestors only got rank 2 lightning spirits. The only exception the third generation grand Artificer, who managed to obtain a rank 1 lighting spiritual thanks to her Spiritual Lightning Constitution.

“I’m not sure I want a lightning spirit,” Cha Ming confessed. “I think the lightning soul looks rather pitiful.”

Artificer Yong snorted derisively. “It’s just an act. It’d skin you alive and have your skin dance around you if it had the chance.”

“Even so, I think I’ll pass,” Cha Ming said.

“It’s up to you,” Artificer Yong said. “We never had much hope to begin with.”

They moved to exit the room, but before Cha Ming could cross the threshold, he discovered that he couldn’t move. The entire room suddenly shivered, and a mist of purple lightning filled the space, picked up the artificers, and threw them out into the corridor. A violet shield of lightning activated, separating Cha Ming from the outside world.

Cha Ming regained freedom of movement after the shield appeared. He turned around to behold the puppet lighting soul, who was chuckling like a naughty child after playing a prank. “They think me so helpless whenever the soul cleaving artifice acts upon me; as if it could ever harm one as powerful as I. I would take pleasure in fooling them, but then again, it’s as easy as bullying gullible children.

“Now that we’re alone, we can talk. There will be no one getting in our way.” It tried to pull itself free from the chains binding it to the four obelisks. but to no avail. “Damnations, did those tricky humans ever do a wonderful job locking me in here.”

“Those pillars are immortal artifacts,” Cha Ming said. “I don’t think I could break you out even if I wanted to. Moreover, the plane is also restraining your power. Even if you escaped, you might just die from tribulation lightning.

“You are right; this obelisk affords me a layer of protection,” said the lightning soul. “I am not alone. I know of other elemental existences that were similarly bound. The Azure Tempest Elemental of the Azure Tempest Region is most famous; given the wind energy fluctuations on your body, I’m sure you’ve interacted with it.”

“Since you can’t get free, I’m not sure what there is to talk about,” Cha Ming said.

“That is where you are wrong,” the lighting soul said. “You have the means to set me free; you just don’t know it.”

“My strongest attack wouldn’t come close to denting those obelisks or marring those chains,” Cha Ming said. “Moreover, their grade is too high. I cannot store them inside my realm treasure.”

The lightning soul grumbled. “Were I in my prime, these chains wouldn’t be an issue. Alas, with the plane restricting me, I don’t dare mobilize enough energy to break them. That being said, it isn’t impossible for me to regain my freedom. Your thinking is too one-directional. I don’t need physical freedom – with spiritual freedom, I can always build myself a body and build up my energy stores.”

It took a few steps closer to Cha Ming but was forced to stop when its chains tightened. “Come here, child. Free this poor slave.” His words were sweet and enticing, and if not for Cha Ming’s intuition barking from the back of his mind and reminding him to back up, he might never have realized he was under attack.

“I think I’ll stay right here,” Cha Ming said, backing up. But he found that he couldn’t back away more than a few steps before he lost control of his body.

“You. Come here!” said the lightning soul, and for the second time since his arrival, Cha Ming mind was shoved into a tiny compartment. He lost control over his spiritual body. The puppet lightning soul had dominion over all the puppet lightning that coursed through his body.

Unfortunately, having fully fused his energies to 60% with lightning and wind meant that he could not compartmentalize his lightning energies. At best, he could manipulate his body to hide his true nature, thereby weakening the lightning soul’s attempts at controlling him.

Cha Ming stopped three feet away from the creature, just short of its crackling maw. It was not a creature of flesh, but of concentrated lighting that might as well be solid. “Continue!”the creature said again, but this time, Cha Ming did not move. “Come! COME HERE!”

“I won’t come any close,” Cha Ming finally managed to say. Wind was inseparable form his body, but by circulating destruction qi and wind qi through his body, he managed to shield himself from the creature’s influence.

“Hm… If only your soul was a little weaker,” said the lightning soul. “Pity. What a strange soul. Physical properties? Rare. Very rare. Perhaps this is why you are so strong given your cultivation. It seems that I can’t force you, but that does not mean we cannot strike a bargain. Release me, mortal, and I swear to destroy all your enemies in this region. I have heard your name whispered, Daoist Clear Sky. I have also heard tell of the Heartforge Realm, and know of your opponent, Dao God Thunderclash.”

The lighting soul’s words were tempting, and not just because he could feel them digging into his soul, twisting him from the inside out. He suspected this wasn’t even intentional. The puppet lightning soul words were naturally persuasive.

“I have no interest in freeing you,” Cha Ming said to the lighting soul. “Take down the barrier, and I will leave. Good day to you.”

“Wait!” the lighting soul said as Cha Ming turned to leave. “Wait, young… lad. Young cultivator. You are a very talented cultivator, oh yes, oh so talented. It wouldn’t be loss if you became my master, albeit temporarily.”

“Your master?” Cha Ming said, cocking his head over. “Why would you ever want to serve me? And why would I ever want to consider controlling such a rebellious servant.”

“It’s very simple,” the lightning soul said. “I cannot escape as I am. My body is trapped by these chains, and should I attempt to mobilize my power, which is a half step into immortality, I will be destroyed. In fact, my body’s power has already been sealed away. At best, I can mobilize the maximum power allowed by this realm, what you Daoists would call the middle law stitching realm.”

“What’s your point?” Cha Ming asked.

“It is an embarrassing thing, but I will tell you,” the lightning soul said. “These chains are a prison, but they are also a delivery mechanism. It was always the dream of the sect’s original founder that I become a willing helper to the sect and accept a competent master in the puppet lightning sect. As a result, there is a weakness in the prison, which is that it can accept contractual brands. Should I accept a master-slave contract, these chains will automatically lose their power.”

“That sounds awfully convenient,” Cha Ming said.

“Doesn’t it?” said the lightning soul. “But I tell you no lies, this is the truth of the situation. By inscribing a brand on my physical body, and by handing over my life for a very limited period of time – Say, ten years – I will be able to escape the confines of this prison by cleaving off the majority of my power an leaving it inside my physical shell. ”

“Let me get this straight,” Cha Ming said. “You want me to free you, possibly the most frightening creature on this plane, for ten years of servitude?”

“It’s a good deal, isn’t it?” the lightning elemental said. “You would be able to lord it over everyone here for ten whole years!”

“And what would happen then?” Cha Ming said.

“Then you would take me off world and release me, as per our contract,” the lightning elemental said. “I’m a reasonable soul. We can discuss terms, as long as they involve me destroying this wretched sect.”

The situation was very bizarre, and Cha Ming saw no way to escape the lightning shield. So he contacted his local expert on branding and contracts. Huxian, I a puppet lightning soul is trying to possess me, and I need your help. He quickly explained the situation.

Oh yeah, that’s the classical touch me and form a contract possession maneuver, Huxian confirmed. What he’s trying to do is use the physical contact and the soul blood you pour into the contract as a bridge, which he’ll then use to jump into your spiritual sea… or whatever it is that you have now.

So just to confirm – don’t do that, no matter what? Cha Ming asked.

That is correct, Huxian said.

I’m thinking about slicing off a piece of this lighting soul to form a lighting spirit as revenge, Cha Ming said. Should I be worried about this?

I…. huh, Huxian answered. Maybe?

So there’s a non-zero chance that it might be using this revenge mechanism as a backup plan to try possessing me, Cha Ming said. Wonderful. Since this creature is so scheming, could we somehow use this as an opportunity?

… I like the way you think, Huxian said. Give me a second. It’s not impossible.

While Huxian was figuring things out, Cha Ming exchanged a series of pictures and visions with the slumbering Ninesky. He showed it a picture of the elemental, the image of a contract seal, and the elemental trying to possess him. He then waited for a few minutes until Ninesky sent pictures back indicating that he shouldn’t worry too much.

I’m ninety percent certain I have a way to take care of this, Huxian said shortly after. It involves forming master-servant contract with very strict terms. The main advantage we have and that it probably can’t detect is that I’m your bound companion. If I protect your spiritual sea, we can probably stop it from possessing you for long enough to enforce the contract. Just… give me a second.

Cha Ming’s perspective shifted. His appearance changed to that of a half fox style, and he became aware of a second soul inside his body. The elemental’s eyes widened. “God Beast! No wait… almost a God Beast, but with that same loathsome smell.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Cha Ming’s hybrid body said. “Look. Ten years is too cheap. A thousand years minimum. Standard transcendent time.”

“You might as well chop me up and feed me to the dogs,” the elemental replied. “Get lost, baby fox.”

“Look pal, this plane is basically falling apart,” Huxian said through Cha Ming’s lips. “What other choice to you have? Your little possession plan? I’ve seen through it, and I have master-servant marks that are better than standard. They even have spatial piercing properties, which should increase the chance of breaking you out of there by 50%. And don’t even tryto trick me with the whole ‘a seal will make the thing collapse’ spiel. You’re obviously trying to jump ship and abandon your physical body, possibly to steal this one.”

“Hm…” The lightning soul bared its sharp fangs. “Unfortunate. A talented Dao God with a strange soul and a contracted God Beast that isn’t a God Beast.”

“Unfortunate or fortunate?” Huxian asked. “Your chances of succeeding are much higher this way.”

“Maybe,” said the lightning soul. “One hundred.”

“Five hundred.”

“Two hundred.”

“Four hundred.”

“Two hundred, and I’d rather perish with his plane than serve a mortal for more than two hundred years, Hushao’s get!” the elemental said.

That’s how you know he’s powerful, Huxian whispered to Cha Ming. The powerful ones all know about my ancestor.

So should I go through with this? Cha Ming asked.

I’d personally do the splice, Huxian said. If it tries to possess you that way, at least it’ll be much weaker when it tries to attack you.

Got it, Cha Ming said, he walked over to the artifice and placed a hand on it. A jolt of electricity ran through his body, assessing his compatibility, and rating at a very high level. The artifice whirred to life, and a large purple blade appeared to cleave a piece off the lightning soul.

NO!” the puppet lighting soul said. “You. YOU!”

The lighting prison began to shake, as did the chains and the four obelisks. A dose of lightning far stronger than anything Cha Ming had ever encountered suddenly entered the chains. They turned red hot and melted parts of the stone flooring.

The circuitry in the room sparked and exploded as puppet lighting surged into him through his feet, then used the physical connection to enter his inner world, instantly breaching the core region where his energy pool and spiritual sea were located.

***

“Hahaha!” the puppet lighting soul said as it entered Daoist Clear Sky’s domain. “It’s mine. All mine! Did you not think to consider that a stitched body and soul are one entity? I don’t need a master/slave seal as soul bridge, as you suspected. A body bridge will do just fine!”

The lighting soul rubbed its paws together as it flew towards Daoist Clear Sky’s defenceless soul. But instead of directly trying to possess it, it stopped just outside the shell protecting his spiritual sea. “Something seems wrong. Why aren’t you putting up more of a fight? And where’s the fox? I expected him to make an appearance.”

Then its gaze turned to the strange energy inside Daoist Clear Sky’s energy pool. “What in the seven hells are you cultivating? What kind of body is this?” Having detected so many anomalous things, it began to wonder if it had made the right decision. “Well, not matter. I’m committed. Let’s see what trap you’ve prepared for me.” It cracked its knuckles and dove into Cha Ming’s immobile spirit body – only to bounce off a paper-thin barrier of gray energy protecting it.

A chill descended upon the core region of Daoist Clear Sky’s inner universe. The lightning elemental shivered as it looked up to find a nine-colored sky. A feeling of dread filled its heart as a part of its ancestral memories awakened. “No. No! How is this possible?”

A girl formed entirely of grey mists floated up from a bed not far away, a bed that the lighting soul had not seen during his detailed inspection of the place. Her body turned until it faced the lighting soul, then half-opened her eyes.

Nine colors pressed down upon the elemental, filling its spiritual body with nine different types of light that formed nine different types of seals. “You think your sealing magics can contain me?” asked the lightning soul, but it’s eyes widened when it saw eight objects flying around the girl, one of which caused its lightning heart to palpitate. “No! It can’t be! What is that brush doing here? It was lost! Lost to time and space!”

It had to escape, and quickly. No matter the cost. No matter the price. A single weak mortal soul was nothing, and a god beast that wasn’t a god beast was manageable. But that brush? He wouldn’t dare fight it with a hundred times his original strength. The memories in his blood were far too terrified of it.

Alas, it was too late for the lighting soul, because now, it could no longer move. It could no longer flee. The nine seals binding it down bound up its strength and its spirit. It could only watch on with horror as a fox demon’s projection jumped over and began drawing a slave seal on its forehead.

What a relief, the lighting soul thought. A slave seal was not ideal, but after so long chained up to a bunch of obelisks, it was a tolerable existence. And besides, the terms might seem harsh, but he would have ample opportunities to tempt his captor. In time, he was confident in being able to escape.