PtM Book 17 - Chapter 11: Patriarch Blood Demon

“Naïve,” said Patriarch Blood Demon. He drew a blood red blade, and the air began to shimmer and condense into frayed red robes made up of loose strips of cloth that gripped and clawed at the air like a living, breathing creature.

Cha Ming took a step forward and vanished, appearing behind the sect master. His staff came crashing down, followed by a second, and third.

“A powerful attack,” the sect master admitted, his voice echoing in Cha Ming’s ears. “Or it would have been, if it actually landed.” A bloody blade pierced through Cha Ming’s shoulder, as the ‘sect master’ that he’d been attacking collapsed into a bloody puddle.

Cha Ming responded by painting an azure tempest around himself. A battlefield would take a long time to set up, but a ten-meter-wide tempest was something he could paint up without even thinking.

But the sect master was nowhere to be found. The tempest howled but had nothing to cut or rend. But Cha Ming could swear that danger was creeping up on him. It was then that he realized that somehow, he had a shadow, and that shadow was red.

Another sword came plunging upward from beneath him, but this time, he was ready. He brought down his staff to defend. As far as demigods went, Cha Ming was strong, and his weapon was heavy. Even so, the exchange sent him flying upwards.

“You’re outmatched,” the sect master said lazily. “You’re still muscle empowering cultivator. In the end. There is a limit to one’s personal strength in any given realm, and you’ve almost reached it.”

Cha Ming chuckled. “That’s true. Which is why I didn’t come alone. Do it!” he shouted, releasing his three fused auras.

Auras could be used as a spiritual attack, but they were easy to resist. But three auras at once, stacked on top of each other? This wasn’t something that people practiced against. The sudden outburst stunned the tens of thousands of Blood Demon Sect cultivators for half a second.

That half second might as well be an eternity; the united resistance each took out packs of talismans and began throwing them about. There were talismans of the five elements. Lightning talismans. Yin talismans. Yang talismans. There were even some lesser God Slaying Talismans mixed in.

Cha Ming’s team might be lacking in power, but they weren’t lacking in money. They instantly used up what a Tier 2 sect might make in an entire year in only a few seconds of fighting. The burst attack took out half the defenders and even damaged several ships.

“What in the Blood God’s name – are you insane?” said Patriarch Blood Demon.

“It’s just money,” Cha Ming said. “Their lives are worth far more than transcendent crystals.

A red spike suddenly shot out at the distracted sect master. The sect master was an experienced powerhouse and was able to use his expert bladework to shatter the spike.

“This isn’t metal,” the sect master exclaimed. “This is blood!” The broken pieces of blood melted back into a floating ball larger than most ships, which immediately released dozens more spikes as a follow-up attack.

Cha Ming could not control the Righteous Blood, but he could still collaborate with it. He appeared behind the sect master and attacked with the Savage Deity War Staff. Patriarch Blood Demon blocked him, but in exchange, two blood spikes found their target. “This is a blood puppet!” said the patriarch. “Why would you of all people have a blood puppet?”

“What can I say,” Cha Ming said. “I dabble in just about everything.”

This was the first time Cha Ming had collaborated with the blood pool, and in truth, he was surprised by its ferocity. He hadn’t even considered unleashing it in battle in the beginning; it was only when the blood pool had threatened to break through the spatial membrane of the Clear Sky Realm that he’d reluctantly released it.

And the blood pool did not let him down. It threw itself at its sworn enemy, Patriarch Blood Demon, with a vengeance. It was unrelenting in its attacks, and any time it managed to draw blood, it consumed that blood to empower itself.

Cha Ming was equally relentless. He began teleporting around, using a combination of Savage Deity Rush and Clear Rune Steps to pincer the sect master. The blood attacked with spikes at first, but soon it switched to lashing motions that looked an awful lot like painting.

But this painting was brutal. This painting was bloody. It was the kind of art that could only be shown on battlefields. And Cha Ming realized he liked this form of art. His connection with the Righteous Blood deepened.

Speaking of the Clear Sky Brush, it was also quite busy. While Cha Ming kept the sect master busy with brute force, it attacked using tiny azure tempests that interrupted with the flow of battle. These azure tempests were nothing special, but with Cha Ming and the Righteous Blood keeping the sect master busy, it wasn’t difficult to land some hits here and there, breaking shields and sapping his vitality.

“Your strength is great than I expected, but you’re naïve in thinking you can resist an early blood stitching cultivator,” the sect master said. “The power of our laws increases exponentially with every level.” A heart stopping aura asserted itself, and Cha Ming’s blood began to riot.

“My law is a law of blood. In my presence, no wounds shall close. In my presence, all enemies shall bleed!” Ten-colored blood began flowing from tiny wounds that appeared all over Cha Ming’s body. It didn’t matter if he’d been hurt – if the sect master decreed that he would bleed, then bleed he would!

“There’s an easy way out of law projections,” Cha Ming said.

“And what is that, pray tell?” asked the patriarch.

“If I kill you, it all goes away.” the sect master was currently surrounded by azure tempests. The Righteous Blood had his rear. He swung out with a fully empowered Savage Deity Crush, and even activated Triune Soul Burn. A shield appeared around the sect master, but it cracked under the Savage Deity Crush’s brute strength.

“Blood Demon Within! Crooked Puppetry Art!” the sect master intoned while moving his fingers. Cha Ming’s blood began acting without his permission. It turned corrosive and began devouring him from the inside out.

Cha Ming’s body also became unresponsive, and so did the righteous blood pool. The sect master, who had been on the back foot since the beginning, now had plenty of breathing space.

“Ninesky, overlay wind scars!” Cha Ming shouted. The Clear Sky Brush stopped painting small vortexes then shot out at the sect master. It painted not one but three spatial fissures using azure ink.

Even Patriarch Blood Demon had to give spatial attacks the respect they were due. He avoided them using blood-shadow evasion. His attention lapsed, and as a result, his control over Cha Ming and the Righteous Blood weakened.

Cha Ming retreated and let the blood pool and Ninesky continue their offensive while he focused his personal efforts on a different painting. “Iridescent Monarch, come forth!” Ink poured out from the Clear Sky World and assembled this painting from scratch. “Star-Eye Monarch, come forth!” The two demon sovereigns weren’t as strong as during the battle in Soaring City, but the pressure they gave off was still considerable.

“Parlor tricks,” the sect master said. “Before me, even paintings will bleed! Bloodstone Weeping!” Cha Ming’s paintings were normally stable thanks to his Sky Canvas Domain, but now, their ink began to bleed. The paintings turned runny and unstable.

“Clockwork Monarch, come forth! Runebound Monarch, come forth!” Cha Ming said.

“As if I’d let you finish,” the said Patriarch Blood Demon. “Oh, Great Ancestral Demon, I offer you sacrifice. Use my blood as thine flesh and mete judgement on these heathens!”

He coughed out a mouthful of blood; all surviving sect members within ten kilometers involuntarily coughed up blood as well. These offering shot in front of the sect master and combined with blood that poured out from a gourd at his waist, morphing into a creature that was three times larger than any of Cha Ming’s monarch paintings.

“Great Ancestral Blood Demon, devour!” the sect master shouted. The demon took in a deep breath; all blood began to flow more quickly, and the ink in Cha Ming’s paintings drained all the quicker. At most, they would last a few more seconds before collapsing.

Cha Ming, seeing that it was impossible to finish the last of the five paintings, sent them flying towards the sect master. “Erupt!” The four paintings unleashed what little energy they had accumulated in a disruptive blast that filled the area in a colorful mist.

“Second tactic now!” Cha Ming shouted. He simultaneously rushed through the cloud of ink and threw several objects at the surprised sect master. These objects were naturally talismans, and each of them was affixed with a line of text that read: “REACHING BEYOND THE HEAVENS, DISDAINING IMMORTALS AND GODS.”

Cha Ming was not as efficient a craftsman as he’d once been, but now that his soul was partially healed, he could once again paint his trademark talismans. A single talisman was enough to cause serious injuries to an initial law stitching cultivator; with many stacked talismans, he could accomplish much more.

Patriarch Blood Demon was naturally much stronger, but overwhelmed and surprised as he was, it took three talismans to tear through his shields, six to tear through his tough skin. The remaining blasted his bones, cracking them.

The Righteous Blood took this opportunity to attack the patriarch. It sent several blood spikes piercing through his body and began absorbing his vitality. But the patriarch still had more tricks up his sleeve. He activated blood red shield that cut away the blood spikes. Unfortunately doing so the shield filled with cracks. It was unable to defend as Cha Ming’s staff came down.

Three consecutive blows struck the patriarch, reducing him to little more than a puddle of blood. The summoned demon dissipated, and the two laws that had been put in place faded.

But Cha Ming was not fooled by this act, and neither was the Righteous Blood. The blood started feasting on the sect master, and Cha Ming, knowing how resilient blood cultivators could be, summoned the Ninesky Seals and suppressed the area. He then painted dozens of azure tempests to grind up the blood and attack any potential vitality stores.

A mishappen face appeared within the blood pool. “You will never escape the blood god sect!” it said. The puddle began to burn, and what was left of the blood turned into a large ball, which rapidly grew to five times its original size before exploding.

Half of Cha Ming’s body was destroyed in the explosion. Half the righteous blood pool was incinerated. If not for the fact that a string of karma still existed between him and the patriarch, he would have thought him truly dead.

The fighting between the Blood Demon Sect and the rebels ended. Thanks to Cha Ming’s talismans, the right was quite one-sided. But there were many casualties. The surviving sect masters and elders greeted Cha Ming gravely.

“They’re coming,” said Elder Winter. “I see Blood God Sect ships heading in from two directions.”

“We cannot win against such numbers,” said Elder Fall. “But we will try our best nonetheless.”

“Nonsense,” Cha Ming said. “Fighting against them would be suicide.” He opened up a portal into the Clear Sky World. “Get in, and I’ll try my best to escape.”

The sect masters and elders agreed. If they stayed, they would at best slow their pursuers down by a few seconds or a few minutes. They returned to the Clear Sky World and awaited Cha Ming summons. As for the blood pool, it refused to return. There was an important battle up ahead! What’s more, it was against the Blood God Sect, the one responsible for its creation!”

Cha Ming could only accept the situation. “Just stick close to me. Can you do something useful? Can you be armor?” The blood pool thought a moment before climbing up his legs and transforming into a full suit of flexible plate. “All right. Let’s see if we can escape.” He unfurled the Azure Tempest Wings and flapped them, sending himself hurling through the sky.

The first flap brought him up to minimal flight velocity, and the second sent him flying at breakneck speed. Unfortunately, his pursuers once again predicted his movements. He tore through the Blood Demon Sect’s containment web, but several Chasewind ship appeared beside him and began shooting at him with harpoons and nets.

Cha Ming’s Azure Tempest Wings were not the best of tools for evasive maneuvers, so he could only split up into smaller incarnations with smaller pairs of wings. They flew off in several directions, never straying more than 40 kilometers from each other in any direction.

Even more ships arrived, and Cha Ming realized the karmic link had grown stronger.

“You’re cornered, Clear Sky,” a cheerful voice called out. “Just surrender. Sign a contract with me, handing over your region and your points, and we can negotiate a working relationship.” A cultivator appeared on the prow of one of the ships, and Cha Ming recognized him from the information folio Huxian had given him. It was none other than Dao God Blood Seal, warden of the Blood God Region.

Dao God Blood Seal was a handsome man - no, handsome was putting it lightly. He had red hair that ran halfway down his chest, and clear eyes that sparkled like diamonds.

By grace of some divine ability, he was naturally attractive to members of both genders, regardless of their preferences. He also had a reputation from lasciviousness, and his sin was that of lust.

“That doesn’t seem like a good idea form my perspective,” Cha Ming said. “I’d rather you just kill me.”

“We don’t have to be enemies, Clear Sky,” Dao God Blood Seal urged again. “We have a common enemy to fight against, and complementary methods. Also, I happen to admire strong men like you. We could… get along well, I think.”

Cha Ming did not stop flying as they spoke. He dodged nets and spears, and law traps that were thrown ahead by additional ships. Some harpoons managed to strike him, and they possessed strange powers that made it difficult for Cha Ming to split up into incarnations. “It looks like you’ve done your homework, Blood Seal.”

“I’m a people person, what can I say,” Dao God Blood Seal said with a cheerful grin. “I know most of your techniques by heart, just like I know you’re one of the few that still hasn’t broken through to the law stitching realm. You’re ambitious. I like that!”

“Haven’t the trainers ever told you to watch your foundation?” Cha Ming said. “You’ve already reached the early law stitching realm, but I bet even the blue trials would be a challenge for you.”

“Having a higher cultivation is an advantage at this stage,” Dao God Blood Seal answered. “As long as I take out some competitors and swallow up territories, I’ll be able to use up points to fix up my foundation later. Now surrender, Clear Sky. You can’t win. Do yourself, and this world a favor.” Another harpoon pierced through Cha Ming’s body. This one, he noticed, was laced with a poison that ate through his dwindling energy reserves.

“I don’t think we can work together,” Cha Ming said. “Not with the things you’ve done.” He knew for a fact that Blood Seal’s cultivation relied on devouring the cultivation of others. It was a very unpleasant and lethal process.

“Are you sure?” Blood Seal said. “Fine, fine. I get it. Better unbroken tile than cracked jade. You know, they have an interesting habit here, I noticed. They like to monologue about their law projections. I think I’ll do the same.” The air around Cha Ming shimmered and stiffened. Blood Seal’s aura was the most powerful he’d ever felt. Barring Sect Master Azure Tempest, of course. “My first law is a law of sealing. Before me, all things in creation will show restrain. Ten percent of your qi and blood and soul will be sealed away!”

Cha Ming’s instantly lost quite a bit of momentum. He was shocked that such an all-around weakening spell was possible. Fortunately, he still had his destruction domain, which he used to negate around a third of the effects.

“My second law is a law of blood and spirit,” Blood Seal continued. “In my presence, all souls will bleed!” The wounds on Cha Ming’s soul increased. Spiritual energy began leaking out of him. And interestingly enough, his body and his core began to bleed as well. “Strange. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Cha Ming was also shocked, but he guessed it was a side effect of his fused energies. Which was fortunate, because his soul was still his weakest point. Spreading the damage across his three natures was ideal.

“No matter,” Blood Seal said. “Let’s end this farce. You’ve cost me a lot of points, and I wont risk you escaping and causing more trouble.” He took out a talisman and tossed it in the air, and suddenly, Cha Ming’s Azure Tempest Wings vanished. The wind stopped howling. All turbulence stilled as an entire ten-kilometer radius around Cha Ming became zone of dead air. “Wind silencing talisman. Very useful in niche situations. Go! I want him alive!”

Dozens of harpoons suddenly found purchase and dug into Cha Ming’s flesh. Several nets came down atop him. Cha Ming naturally wouldn’t let himself get captured alive. He exploded his current body, sending ten-colored blood flying in all directions.

This blood reassembled into eight incarnations. Unfortunately, his true escape direction was exposed almost immediately because the Blood Pool, still refusing to return to the Clear Sky World, shot after him.

“It’s not use, Clear Sky,” Dao God Blood Seal called out. “The null zone will last several minutes and will follow you everywhere you go.”

He’s right,Cha Ming thought. And it’s a high-level talisman. My destruction domain isn’t affecting it much. The situation was dire, so he tried to return to the Clear Sky World. A portal opened up, but it collapsed just before he entered it.

“A spatial stability talisman,” said Dao God Blood Seal. “You’re a very expensive enemy to corner.”

Cha Ming’s expression turned ugly. The worst part about a spatial stability talisman wasn’t the fact that he couldn’t escape, but the fact that he could no longer summon the rebels to assist him. More ships from the Blood God Sect appeared, sealing his fate. A few early law stitching cultivators even appeared.

“I’m honored by the amount of resources you’ve dedicated to eliminating me, Dao God Blood Seal,” Cha Ming said.

“Which is why you should surrender,” said Dao God Blood Seal. “We could do so much good work together. That Clear Sky Conglomerate of yours? Genius. Right up my alley. You can’t focus on the top of the pyramid. It all starts form the ground up.”

“I think we have some core philosophical differences that can’t be reconciled,” Cha Ming said.

“How dare you judge whom I love and how I love?” Blood Seal said in an offended tone.

“I don’t give a damn about the who, it’s the how that gets to me,” Cha Ming said. “When you charm people, they’re hardly willing, and when all that’s left of them is desiccated husk when you’re done, it’s hardly love.”

“Ah,” said Dao God Blood Seal. “My mistake. In any case, I disagree with your assertion. There are no absolutes in this world. You can’t deny that without me, the region would have done much worse in resisting the fiend outbreak. And without you, the Azure Tempest Region will be missing out. If you give up now, think of how many people you won’t be able to save.”

“I admit that I am a selfish individual, but I’m not heartless. The Blood God Region is better off with me here. Our death toll is high, yes, but that is the cost we’ve paid to make ourselves stronger.”

Cha Ming shook his head. “Some lines shouldn’t be crossed, Blood Seal.”

“Don’t force me to kill you, Clear Sky,” Dao God Blood Seal said. “It’s hard to find people I admire as much as you.”

“Kill me or don’t kill me, just make up your mind,” Cha Ming said. “You’re right. I’d rather be unbroken tile than cracked jade.”

Blood Seal shook his head wistfully. “All right. I understand. Since that’s the case, I’ll use my most powerful technique to finish you off. His aura soared as he took three slow steps forward. Each step caused blood to evaporate from his body in exchange for a burst of power.

“Three steps to the heavens. Blood Sealing Palm!” said Dao God Blood Seal. He held up his hand, and a a blood palm appeared above Cha Ming. When he swung his hand down, the palm smashed down onto Cha Ming’s harpooned and netted body.

Cha Ming twisted his muscles and ones and shattered these obstructions, then used Savage Deity War Staff to execute Savage Deity Crush. The Clear Sky Brush flew up beside him and painted a an azure wind scar that shot up to meet the palm, dispelling it.

“First Sealing Finger, Sealing the Vital Organs!” Blood Seal shouted. The projection reappeared, and this time, its pinky finger began glowing with a sealing light. Cha Ming coughed up blood as his vital functions destabilized.

“Second Sealing Finger, Seal the Bones!” Blood Seal shouted. The projection’s fourth finger glowed, and Cha Ming’s bones broke and grew brittle. The righteous blood armor protecting his body could barely hold him up.

“Seal the marrow! Seal the blood!” Cha Ming’s gray and gold marrow lost its luster, and his blood became faded and weak. Even his ten-colored blood was affected. It was clear that he wouldn’t be able to resist this sealing, but somehow, he managed. The righteous blood is reinforcing my bones? He realized. It’s even replenishing my blood and strengthening my muscles as well! Even so, he was inches away from death.

“Sixth Sealing, Palm Lines! Seal the inner world!” Blood Seal said. His face turned pale, however, when his own technique failed him. Cha Ming’s inner world crack and shook but held firm. “What in the Seven Hells… what kind of inner world is this?!”

By now, Cha Ming was in a severely weakened state. Most of his energy reserves were gone, and two thirds of the righteous blood pool had evaporated. What remained of it panicked. How can he be so strong? It transmitted to Cha Ming. How can fail? Flee! We need to flee! It rushed into Cha Ming’s weakened inner world, sealing over the cracks in its membrane and pouring itself into Cha Ming’s energy pool.

Then, the blood began to burn. Cha Ming felt himself surging with strength that did not belong to him. This strength bypassed the palm’s sealing abilities and gave Cha Ming the power to resist.

“Drop dead!” Cha Ming shouted. He smashed upward with Savage Deity War Staff and shattered the palm, breaking the seal.

The sudden reversal shocked everyone present, and Cha Ming used their disbelief to his advantage. He used Clear Rune Steps to reach the boundary of the spatial seal.

Several cultivators flew out to stop him, but Cha Ming’s power to was too great. A single blood-empowered staff strike smashed through the shield and crushed these cultivators into a blood mist.

To Cha Ming’s horror, the blood mist did not dissipate. Instead, it flew into his body and added itself to his energy pool. He’d somehow just used a forbidden blood technique.

But he had no time to think. A rain of flying swords and other techniques was almost upon him. He summoned a platform of blood and launched himself off it, avoiding the volley.

I’m running out of energy, Cha Ming thought. I can’t fight them. I need to run.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind did Cha Ming’s blood begin to boil and feel incomparably light. The world began moving in slow motion as he forced his way past the blockade, tore through an opening, then fled. It all happened so quickly that at first, he had no idea what was going on.

And then it came to him. The answer was obvious. If he could use one blood technique, he could use others. The Righteous Blood had ignited itself to execute blood escape on his behalf.

There wasn’t any time to waste, so Cha Ming moved. He flew away at a speed that was difficult to fathom. Even his Azure Tempest Wings could only give him a fraction of this speed. It was the fastest Cha Ming had ever moved in his entire life, to the point that his body was breaking down.

But that was the point of the technique. The blood in his energy pool was burning up fast. Blood escape wasn’t a technique to be used lightly, because once it was over, it could not be used for a long period of time. Moreover, the cultivator who used it would become extremely weak.

Cha Ming could barely control his movements, so he focused on breaking out. More ships had arrived, and broke past them, using sheer momentum to break through nets and arrays. He launched himself through the first opening he found, then flew as quickly as he could. Minutes passed, and in those minutes, he crossed several mountain ranges, and several seas.

It was a half hour later when Cha Ming’s blood finally slowed down, and the blood ceased burning. But only because most of his energy pools were drained. What was left of the Righteous Blood flowed out from Cha Ming’s energy pool and returned to the Clear Sky World.

Cha Ming’s body was on the verge of collapse, and he wanted nothing more than to lay down and rest. But he mustered up the remainder of his strength and summoned the Clear Sky Carving Knife, wielding Destruction Edge to sever the now weakened string of karma linking him to Dao God Blood Seal.

This time, the connection was broken. The distance between them was too great. As for where he was, Cha Ming had no idea. He collapsed on the ground, unconscious.