PtMBook 17 - Chapter 2: Power Games

3/3 last week. Second chapter to follow shortly.

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Cha Ming looked around in disbelief. This was supposed to be a friendly meeting of the sects and clans, but Soaring Blade had been egging him on the entire time, and now he expected him to jump out and duel him? What was worse, no one seemed surprised by this development. Instead, they were waiting to see how he would respond to Sect Master Soaring Blade’s challenge.

There were several ways to deal with the situation. Cha Ming could admit defeat, but if he did so, he would greatly weaken his legitimacy. On the other hand, he could accept Soaring Blade’s challenge, knowing that he was no match for the thousand-year-old monster.

It didn’t take a genius to see that the situation had been orchestrated. Sect Master Azure Tempest had intentionally given him a seat on the second level he might not deserve and had openly grilled him in front of everyone. By only lightly rebuking Sect Master Soaring Blade whenever he stepped out of line, she’d given him her tacit approval to make things difficult for Cha Ming. Elder Soaring Blade was nothing if not loyal, and as such, he would never challenge Cha Ming without the sect master’s approval.

Cha Ming looked around the many platforms and noted their arrangement. In this place, elders of higher tier sects had the same standing as sect masters of lower tier sects. In other words, it wasn’t status that spoke here, but power. He’d been assigned a Tier 2 platform because he’d normally wounded a rank 12 fiend, but not everyone was convinced that he qualified for it.

Cha Ming saw no way to avoid this challenge, so he flew out into the area and summoned the Savage Deity War Staff. “Why not?” he said. “If you want to fight, let’s fight!”

“Good!” said Sect Master Soaring Blade. “Be warned that I am a sword immortal. In this life, I can only destroy, and never create. Receive of my soaring blade!”

A flash of gold shot out from sheath at the sect master’s side. Blocking was impossible at this distance, so Cha Ming could only use Savage Deity Rush. He used his three superimposed auras to push off the ground and avoided a direct collision with the sect master’s blade.

Cha Ming then continued to dodge the rapid blade and familiarized himself with its rhythm before counterattacking, meeting sword with staff. Three auras merged as one inside the Savage Deity War Staff as Cha Ming used Savage Deity Crush to knock back the golden blade, which then retreated to the sect master’s side like an adorable pet or animal companion.

“You are not a law stitching cultivator, so I will hold back,” Sect Master Soaring Blade Sect. “As an early law stitching cultivator, I have two law projections. The first is a law of swords. Inside my domain, the strength of all blades and metal objects is increased. The second law is a law of metal. Within my domain, non-metallic defences are decreased.” As he spoke, a law tapestry stretched out over them, replacing the laws of the world to suit Sect Master Soaring Blade’s will.

Seeing that this was a friendly match and not a grudge match, Cha Ming relaxed and introduced his own techniques. “This is my personally crafted art, Clear Rune Transformation,” Cha Ming said. His body grew slightly transparent as he simultaneously assumed characteristics of all five elements. Clear runes manifested around him as he sent out portions of his divine body into his surroundings. “All elements are part of my Clear Rune Transformation. That includes metal.” Dozens of clear runes swirled around him to form a metallic defense around his body.

“Then let us see how your defence holds up,” Sect Master Soaring Blade said. “Wind Cutting Disaster Blade!” His sword flew out and parted the wind, producing a wind blade filled with metallic elements ten times as long as the sword itself.

The Wind Cutting Disaster Blade travelled much faster than the sect master’s bare sword. Cha Ming was forced to use up a charge of his Golden Boots of the Clockwork Dragon. Thanks to his doubled speed, he was able to evade the brunt of the attack, leaving only lighter winds for his Steel Rune Defence.

“The Clear Rune Battle Art contains countless transformations,” Cha Ming said to Sect Master Soaring Blade “Previously, I used Steel Rune Defence. Now I’ll use Steel Rune Strike to amplify my attacks.” The defensive clear runes around his body spread to form an offensive formation. “You saw this attack previously – please receive it. Savage Deity Crush!”

Sect Master Soaring Blade stepped forward to receive the attack. He executed the same Wind Cutting Disaster Blade, using it to cut through clear runes, thereby reducing Cha Ming’s metal-aligned augmentation.

Cha Ming’s staff technique and the Sect Master’s sword technique collided. Wounds opened up on Cha Ming’s skin as a result of the impact, but they regenerated almost instantly. His grip on the Savage Deity War Staff remained firm.

Savage Deity Crush was a doubled-edged sword. By using it, he could exercise almost three times his normal strength. But wielding this strength was difficult. Not only did he need to sacrifice defence and speed, the technique also placed a great strain on his body, since he hadn’t yet reached the Shell Marking Realm.

“Was this the attack that slew the rank 12 fiend?” Soaring Blade asked, retrieving his sword.

“I was also under the effects of a single soul burn, so the strength should be slightly weaker,” Cha Ming said.

“Then I’ll admit that you have the power to slay such a fiend,” Soaring Blade said. “I imposed my law projection and was the first to execute a technique. You may go ahead.”

“Many thanks,” Cha Ming said. “My staff arts are only a portion of my strength. Spiritual paintings are another.” The Clear Sky Brush shot out and formed two azure tempests, which clash together to form a region of broken space. The process took only a few seconds. His spiritual painting arts were much faster than they had been prior to the fiend outbreak. “This is my interpretation of the Azure Tempest Sect’s Azure Wind Scar. Please be careful. The technique is not something your Wind Cutting Disaster Blade can handle.”

Cha Ming flicked his sleeve, and the azure wind scar shot out towards his opponent. “Wind Stilling Blade!” Soaring Blade shouted. His sword stabbed into the air in front of him and formed a golden seal. The seal and the azure wind scar struggled back and forth for a few seconds. Cha Ming used a Clear Rune Step to appear behind the sect master and launch a second offensive.

This time, he painted a swarm of creatures. There were tigers and bears and pangolins and snakes – all manner of demonic and elemental creature swarmed the aging sect master, whose sword was still locked down by Cha Ming’s Azure Wind Scar.

“You think these minor creations can do anything to me?” the sect master said. “Naïve!” He swiped out with a single finger, dispatching ten of them at once, then continued to whittle away at their number.

Cha Ming was happy with this result, however. The sect master’s sword was tied down, and he was distracted. He took another Clear Rune Step and appeared beside Soaring Blade, then attacked using Savage Deity Rush.

Unfortunately, the sect master seemed to have anticipated such a maneuver. He twisted his finger, and Cha Ming’s azure wind scar shattered. His flying sword returned to his side, but not before cutting off one of Cha Ming’s legs.

The loss of a leg did not faze Cha Ming, as it quickly regenerated. Since they were already in close quarters, Cha Ming bore down with another Savage Deity Crush. The elder could only grip his flying sword to block him at point blank range.

“Gold Wind Defence!” the sect master shouted. A shield of golden wind rose up to resist Cha Ming’s staff, but he was unable to fully block the impact and lost his footing. Cha Ming used this opportunity to send out his Wrappings of Runic Binding and used them to execute Steel Rune Constriction.

The sect master remained calm in the face of Cha Ming’s restriction technique. Blades of golden wind expertly sliced around his legs, cutting through his restraints. But by then, Cha Ming had already appeared behind him, and was bearing down with yet another Savage Deity Crush.

“Enough!” came a voice.

Cha Ming, who was about to land a killing blow, was blown backwards by a violent wind. It was only then that he saw that Sect Master Soaring Blade’s intrinsic flying sword a nicked his chest several times.

He landed back on his platform and bowed to Sect Master Soaring Blade. “Victory is yours, Sect Master,” he said.

“Victory and defeat mean little,” Sect Master Soaring Blade said with curt nod. “You are qualified to sit on the second level.”

“Are you both children?” Sect Master Azure Tempest asked. “This was a spar, not a battle to the death.”

“Apologies, Sect Master,” Cha Ming said. “I should not have used so much power.”

“I was talking to Sect Master Soaring Blade,” Azure Tempest said. “Why did you cut off his leg?”

“It grew back…” said Soaring Blade.

“Well, it might not have,” Azure Tempest said. “You know how destructive your flying sword is. Now that this meaningless battle is out of the way, let’s make something clear. Change is inevitable – Clear Sky’s presence did not spark this conflict. His presence and the presence of an unfriendly warden merely added oil to the fire. You have been resisting change, Soaring Blade, and I respect your love of tradition, but we must not fall behind the times.”

“But Sect Master, his actions go against the core values of region, the core values of the Chasewind Plane!” Sect Master Soaring Blade said.

“Rules matter little when our lives are at stake, Soaring Blade,” said Azure Tempest. “You must swallow your pride and get with the times. Daoist Clear Sky has brought us weapons to fight fiends and train our people, and his Clear Sky Conglomerate has led to a thirty percent increase in new rune carving cultivators as of this year. I much prefer this to our neighboring warden’s devilish cultivation methods and short-sighted aggression.”

Soaring Blade could only back down. He still looked perpetually unhappy, but Cha Ming suspected that his performance had earned him no small amount of respect. “Sect Master Azure Tempest, it occurs to me to inform you of another matter,” Cha Ming said. “Dao God Blood Seal is known to be allies with another warden called Dao God Thunderclash. To my knowledge, his territory is adjacent to Dao God Blood Seal’s.”

“I was going to get to that next,” Azure Tempest said. “Elder Violet Tempest, if you please?”

This time, a young lady with violet hair stood up on her platform. She looked barely over nineteen years old, though Cha Ming could tell that she was at least a few centuries old. “My spies in the Sacred Earth region weren’t as badly hit as those in the True Blood Region.

“To my knowledge, there was no great upheaval or revolution in this region, only a straightforward defence against the fiend outbreak. The Puppet Lightning Sect, one of three powerhouses in the region, saw a sharp increase in strength and single-handedly pushed back the fiend outbreak in their region.

“The Sacred Earth Sect was greatly impressed by their performance, and directly ceded leadership of the region to the Puppet Lightning Sect. From now on, we should refer to the Sacred Earth Region as the Puppet Lightning Region.”

“Do we have any idea how this came to pass?” Sect Master Xuan Dao asked. “Or what means they used to increase their strength so suddenly?”

Elder Violet Tempest shook her head. “All we know is that they recently gained a large number of powerful humanoid puppets. Most are early law stitching puppets, but a few are middle law stitching puppets. To my knowledge, it is difficult for the Puppet Lightning Sect to produce such puppets with our plane’s scarce resources. Perhaps they were obtained from Heartforge Realm?”

“Purchasing high level puppets would be prohibitively expensive,” Cha Ming replied. “But anything is possible, I suppose.”

“Since the Puppet Lightning Sect’s reputation is on the rise, they have initiated attacks on a neighboring territory, just like the neighboring Blood God Region.

Cha Ming let out a dry cough. “Is there something you’d like to share, Clear Sky?” Azure Tempest asked.

“This will probably not go over well for the puppet lightning sect,” Cha Ming said. “From what I understand, the warden overseeing that territory is Oster Fireblight. He is a mercenary that takes great pleasure in stoking conflicts to make money and out of all the wardens, he is the best tactician. Expect the Puppet Lightning Sect to eat heavy losses.”

“I sense bitterness in your tone, Clear Sky,” Azure Tempest said.

“Most of us are from the same material plane, Sect Master,” Cha Ming said. “It’s part of the game we’re playing. Half of us already knew each other before coming here, and not in a good way. I personally have a vendetta against Oster Fireblight. I fought a war with him once. Over one million transcendent cultivators died in that war, including those you would classify as sect masters in terms of power.”

The sect masters shot him disbelieving looks, but Sect Master Azure Tempest remained unfazed. “This tactician you speak of sounds like a troublesome figure, but we can’t concern ourselves with him. There are two regions between us and him, and one of them has already taken a large chunk of our territory. Fortunately, the Puppet Lightning Region has chosen to fight it out with him instead of reinforcing their allies from the Blood God Region.

“I think it’s clear that while Clear Sky is engaged in a competition with the other wardens of the Heartforge Realm, our interests are more or less in alignment. It is in his best interest to help us defend our region from the Blood God Region’s incursion.”

“I will help however I can, Sect Master, but I do not believe that material aid will do you much good,” Cha Ming said. “It’s not that I can’t do it, but that it’s not cost effective to do so. Not only will we waste valuable resources that are best spent resisting fiendish incursions, an infusion of weapons and consumables will inevitably lead to an arms race.

“For example, say I could get you three thousand initial law stitching grade talismans to use in battle. You might be able to reclaim some lost territory, but in the end, Dao God Blood Seal will simply purchase a similar quantity of resources, bringing us back where we started. Both sides would be considerably poorer for it, not to mention that our side would lose out in the exchange. Remember that Dao God Blood Seal has the advantage in terms of territory, and therefore more spending power.”

“Could you mobilize your allies?” asked Sect Master Xuan Dao. “The ones you brought in to deal with those pirates?”

“Unfortunately, we aren’t the only target of aggression,” Cha Ming said. “I spoke to my allies, and all of them are busy.”

“Then what can you do?” Sect Master Azure Tempest asked.

“Since resources won’t do the trick, and my allies are unavailable, I can only go myself and see what I can do,” Cha Ming said. “Few cultivators are better suited to infiltration than I am. If I apply enough pressure to their back lines, I believe that we can come to an understanding.”

It was a daring proposal. Cha Ming’s strength might not be overwhelming, but those who knew him knew that he was difficult to tie down. And thanks to his Seventy-Two Transformations technique, he could adopt countless forms, and even disguise himself as soil or water or air. If you added in his Azure Tempest Wings, he could travel faster than most flying ships.

Sect Master Azure Tempest did agree to his proposal, but neither did she reject him. “I believe this has been a productive meeting. Going forward, I will not tolerate any infighting. From now on, everyone will participate in Clear Sky’s merit system. I also expect to find a Clear Sky Conglomerate in every major city by year’s end.”

The meeting was adjourned, and the sect masters dispersed. Most took off on personal flying ships, though some lingered around the sect to do business.

Azure Tempest held Cha Ming back for a private discussion after sending off a few important guests. “Tell me more about your plan, Clear Sky,” she said. “Since you are from the Heartforge Realm, I cannot control your actions. But I hope that you will share things with me that you held back during the meeting.”

Cha Ming took a few moments to organize his thoughts. He prioritized a few bits of important information. “Oster Fireblight might be three regions over, but he is a potential problem. He is a mercenary and isn’t against getting paid to fight battles for his enemies.”

“You think he might defect and join Blood Seal’s faction?” she asked.

“Hardly,” Cha Ming said. “Oster has two allies on the Chasewind Plane, and thanks to their unique cultivation system, we can be assured that all three will cooperate and naturally reject other cultivators.

“Another enemy of note is called Cao Wenluan. He and his allies are located a few regions down in the western direction. He is very charismatic, and a conqueror, so I expect that we will clash with him in the future. No matter what, we cannot show weakness on the western front.”

The sect master let out a weary sigh and massaged her forehead. “What a mess. What complete and absolute mess. When will you be heading out?”

“I’ll be taking care of a small piece of business. I’ll be a few days at most, and then I’ll head out,” Cha Ming said.

“Since you have the Azure Tempest Wings, I am confident that you can escape most pursuers,” Azure Tempest said. “But it’s not enough. Tell me what else you have to rely on so that I can rest assured.”

Cha Ming answered by transforming into her mirror image. He imitated her aura, her blue hair and pale skin, and even her qi. “How is that for a demonstration, Azure Tempest?” he said, imitating her voice and demeanor.

Azure Tempest’s eyes narrowed when she realized this was not a superficial transformation. “Kindly refrain from adopting this form in the future. I find this ability quite disturbing.”

“How dare you make demands of me?” Cha Ming said mockingly. This time, he used a mind-skimming technique, which he’d learned from Sun Wukong long ago. By using it, he was able to wrest away a few important pieces of information from her mind to make his act more convincing.

“I could smash you with a single palm,” Azure Tempest said coldly.

“Do it then,” Cha Ming countered. To his surprise, she appeared right in front of him and did just that.

Cha Ming was no fool. Azure Tempest had enough raw power to kill him ten times over. He is scattering his body and becoming the wind. The palm still damaged him, but enough of him was left over to transform into greenery, birds, and insects that flew off in different directions.

“This is what I have to rely on,” said Cha Ming from multiple directions.

“You do know that people on my level can see you in your wind form, don’t you?” Azure Tempest asked. She touched a seemingly empty space, and Cha Ming’s body solidified.

“Very few cultivators on this plane have reached your level,” Cha Ming said. “And even fewer will have cultivated wind.”

“Most will have cultivated anti-wind measures,” Azure Tempest said. “But you are correct. I am relieved. If you get into any trouble, contact me. I should be able to get you in touch with the remnants of the True Blood Sect and the Sacred Earth Sect. Perhaps they could be of assistance to you.”

Cha Ming turned to leave, but before he did so, he addressed another important matter. “By the way, Sect Master. The Clear Sky Conglomerate will soon be rolling out a new product. I am ninety percent certain that it will upset a lot of people. I want you to do me a favor and make sure that no one cause any problems for me while I’m gone.”

“And what is this product you speak of?” Azure Tempest asked.

“I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise,” Cha Ming said. “But rest assured. It’s a good thing. You’ll be quite pleased by the military boost it will provide our region. Moreover, I guarantee that this trick can’t be copied by other wardens.”

Azure Tempest snorted. “I can keep the sect masters in line for a few months, but you’d better deliver on your promise.”

“I won’t be physically present, but I’ve secured a large enough supply to last until my return,” Cha Ming said. “

“A few months is good enough,” Cha Ming said. “Because once I’m done in the Blood God Region, very few sect masters will dare provoke me.”