Ancient Being Predecessor of the Primordial Era: An OP Mc LitRpg - Cultivation - Development, page 22
It slammed into the rock. Shattering it and pushing through easily, cracking the very base stone they were standing on. The cave shook slightly. Dust fell from the ceiling. A couple stalactites fell and shattered on the ground around them.
Taking a few seconds for the shaking to finally stop.
Maybe I made a mistake.
Chapter 44 - Koi fish are smart?!
Maybe I made a mistake.
He wasn’t sure if what he had done would have unintentional consequences. It probably would, but he couldn’t take the lightweight and large hammer back. Not only would it be insulting, it would make it look like he was indecisive or worse, quick to take his promises and words back.
Neither one was a good look and especially not for his excellent ancestor persona.
“Shui,” he said. Walking up to the little girl swinging the thing around haphazardly very carefully. “You be careful now. That isn’t a toy. It's a weapon made to defend yourself and defeat your enemies. A very strong weapon.”
Hu Shui stopped swinging the massive hammer around. “But… But…”
“Remember my lessons?”
She nodded, placing the hammer in front of her, and looking chagrined. Head low, wide puppy eyes blinking. And body slumped just slightly to strike at his feelings without mercy. Only Jun’s narrowing eyes prevented her from outright begging for more time to play with her new toy.
Yin Hu nodded back and turned around to his lounging chair. Laying down and summoning a large brimmed hat to put on his face once he was done talking to her. It was important to get this lesson early in case she squashed some poor villager. Turning them into paste.
“We do not waste energy. Efficient. Fast. Explosive. Not a single moment wasted and not wide action meant to show off. We float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”
“Yes, Ancestor!”
Yin Hu was satisfied with their reaction. “Good. Now return to your training! We won’t waste any more time here than necessary.” He paused. Thinking for a second. “Oh, and Jun, grab me the tea kettle. It should be ready.”
Jun went over to the campfire while Shui put her new hammer on her packs. Slipping it under blankets. Tucking it in like it was a well fed and taken care of pet. He could imagine her having an entire spa day just for it. Placing cucumbers on the cute bear engraving’s eyes and wrapping a hot towel on its head.
Yin Hu, on the other hand, pulled out a cup of square sugar cubes, a plate, and a China set for himself and the girls.
Pure white with green vines as a design. Supposedly used to help vitality and increase blood flow circulation within the body. He wasn’t sure what it all meant, but it sounded like a good benefit. Help recovery if the blood is pumping.
Maybe even clear the mind? He wasn’t too sure.
Jun hurried to him. Pouring him hot steaming tea with a dark red tint directly into his cup. Yin Hu picked up sugar cubes one by one and dropped them into it. Stirring and taste testing after the second until he got to the fourth. It was just right.
He pulled out a few leaves and mint and dropped them in. Sipping with noise of satisfaction. This was perfect. Lounging in his chair. A comfortable breeze on a hot day without sunlight beaming at them. The girls practiced their Katas and turning into nukes.
Best of all, he could enjoy fishing too. The seven rods bobbing in the slightly moving water bending and shaking slightly—
Wait a minute. The sticks were motionless last time I looked.
Yin Hu sat up. Immediately a stick was snapped in half and snatched under the water. A second followed. And a third. Disappearing into the abyss faster than he could react to it. Each one snapping and breaking with how tight he put them around between the rocks.
He lunged forward towards the fourth one. Grabbing it. Only for the furthest one to disappear in the water. The Koi Fish were playing games with him. There was no way he would allow them to do that. Not when he was the ancestor of an illustrious lineage!
The water stilled as he stood in the middle of the remaining three. His eyes watched for movement. Hands ready for action. Small waves appeared around the dipped sticks, showing the twice darned Koi Fish were still there. Swimming around the bait. Waiting and watching.
Yin Hu narrowed his eyes as the small waves continued around a particular one rather than all three.
Small waves that should not have been possible. Not if they were attempting to eat the bait or escape with the entire stick. There should have been more waves, a sign that such large things were moving around in the water rather than this.
Do Koi fish cause reactions in the water when swimming?
He refused to wait any longer. Snatching the one on his furthest left out of the water. Only to find the hook completely empty of any and all bait. Yin Hu felt his hands shake. They were making a fool of him in front of his disciples. They would have no mercy!
Yin Hu grabbed both rods and held them under his armpits. Daring the Koi Fish to attempt anything sneaky again while he was watching. They would not escape him. Not today or tomorrow or any other days he decided they should be fished out of the water. He would have him his Koi fish burgers, stir fry, and tacos! Nothing would get in his way!
Silence descended upon the cave.
Yin Hu could vaguely hear the girls shouting and practicing behind him, but he only had a mind for the Koi Fish before him. For the task here and now. Eyes searching the dark waters for anything. He could feel the strain on his eyes from this moment.
The movement was small, but Yin Hu caught it. He reacted violently as he tried to pull the sticks up at the same time. Jerking his wrist up. The sticks bent, the water barrier held for a moment. No Koi fish appeared yet.
And then it happened.
The twice darned thing broke out of the water with both sticks in its mouth. Two red streaks on its side. Marking it as the one that had attempted to eat him alive. Yin Hu could already taste its flesh—
Yin Hu watched with abject terror as the sticks bent more than they naturally could. Until they both snapped. One after the other, allowing the Koi fish to escape his grasp. It flipped in the air, going backwards as the momentum of his pull did not last long enough. Disappearing back into the water.
Not a ripple remained to mark its reentry. Or the fact that he had almost captured the darn thing and should have been prepping it for lunch.
He held onto the remaining parts of his broken fishing rods. Both of them trembled with his arms. He felt his eyes twitch. Anger filling his chest. Disappointment in the lies the old street vendor had fed him. All the hopes to not use an overpowered weapon to fish, dashed away.
Forget this! Who cares if there’s a cave in! Jun is strong enough to dig us out anyways!
Yin Hu threw the broken sticks. Immediately filling his hand with the ‘Twenty Tentacled Kraken - The Fell Creature’. he shouted as he threw the line into the lake. Forgetting the bait. Forgetting to prepare anything. Just launching it towards the closest dark shadow he assumed was one of the six Koi fish.
Imma have me some fish!
He did not notice Shui turning pale and stumbling over herself, face first into the ground during a more strenuous part of the katas. Or the shadow that descended into the depth of the lake in a flash of black. He did not notice the Koi fish trembling in the water. Frozen. Fear filling them as they stared at the monstrosity that had joined them within their home.
Yin Hu noticed none of it all as he laughed at the soon to be misfortune of the Koi fish, trying to figure out how to trick them to latch onto his super fishing rod. Or maybe jump onto his plate. They’d suffer less anyways.
Chapter 45 - Shui's and new friends galore
“Take this, Shui.”
She approached her master. Watching with an intent gaze as a small, adorable bear hugged her master's leg. Hiding its face in his robes. It squeaked something fierce and sad, crying out to the world at being forgotten within the spatial bag. Never brought out to play.
That’s not its true form.
It was clear to her. The tiny form it carried now was only a fake image. An illusion to hide its truest form, size, and frightening visage. Not that she had an issue with that. It was the first cute spirit she had ever met as far back as she could remember. Nice cute things didn’t have a tendency to be spirits for some reason. Odd really.
Hu Shui ran up to her master and reached to grab the absolutely gargantuan hammer that was taller than her and with a head wider than her entire chest. Not once thinking about whether she could pick it up. Her ancestor would have considered it. He was the smartest after all, beating even Jun.
The little bear squeaked loud in distress. Hugging her master even tighter than before and refusing to let go. It seemed to cry at the thought of being separated from him.
“Mr. Mo Mo doesn’t want to leave your side, Ancestor.” Shui said.
She knew better than to forcefully take the hammer. All the spirits she’d talked to agreed that being forced into a slave to master relationship was the worst. Some told her of horrifying experiences. Killing what they had never intended to kill, slaughtering entire villages without a choice in the matter.
Most were simply not strong enough to defeat the bonds of their sword and the connection with the master of the weapon.
Her master frowned. Mr. Mo Mo let out a mournful sound. Yin Hu’s intent was clear as day to the both of them. Giving it a choice between following his commands or being banished away. Back into the rice bag. She didn’t blame it. The scary shadow thing was in there after all. Just waiting for a chance to eat her core and Spiritual Roots.
“Tell Mr. Mo Mo that his job is to guard you, my disciple. To be weightless in your hands. Protect you from anything that dares harm you.”
Said bear sagged as it slid down his leg and onto the floor. It turned to her. Eyes glowing a myriad of lights she could not understand. Combinations of the things she recognized, but in ways and patterns that felt foreign and odd. Yet, it was comforting.
“I am yours to wield. A gift from my master until he decides to rescind his hospitality. Until then, fear not the void. Fear not the dragons. Fear not the dangers of this pitiful world…” Mr. Mo Mo’s said.
His voice echoed in her head.
The bear’s image, the illusion, faded away like white fog. A dark shadow towered over everything and its back touching the ceiling. Shui understood that Mr. Mo Mo was larger than this. A gargantuan figure. Standing far higher than any tree she had ever seen.
Just as quickly it transformed, it vanished into thin air. Leaving her only with the hammer. Shui nodded. Accepting its words. There was no need for enlightenment. No grace required for its ultimate use and purpose.
Find the target. Smash the target. That was all it was.
Shui’s fingers wrapped around the hammer, worried it would be too heavy, but she trusted her master's words. Jun gave her a nod. Shui took advantage of the moment and picked up the massive thing and swung it around. Laughing. Dancing. Enjoying the whooshing it made when she swung it back and forth.
Jun had to dodge a few errant swings, but that could not stop the giggling and joy. The massive smile that hurt her face. The fulfillment in her chest as a small cub appeared around her to play with her. A real friend. Someone she could run around with. Break things with.
Maybe even one day steal cookies again with.
She roared with all her energy behind her strike. A final hurrah. Smashing the hammer down onto a large boulder that was to her thighs in height. Shattering it into pieces. Flinging sharp pebbles and stones around the entire cavern.
Her fingers slipped on the grip. The hammer going further than she expected it to. Mr. Mo Mo seemed to fill her with energy for that last strike. Copying her movements. Blasting through the boulder and sending large cracks through the very base rock they were standing on.
The cave shook.
Large pointy stones fell from the ceiling and shattered to pieces. Fog rose from the ground, the dust unsettled. The water shifted back and forth, large waves sending water further onto land than before.
Shui stumbled back and forth. Needing to use the hammer as a source of balance. She could feel the bear steady her. Holding her back and prop her up. Being the perfect friend already. She couldn’t have found a better one anywhere else, not even the village. Her ancestor seemed to have the best things. Including playmates.
“Play again?” Said the bear cub.
Hu Shui nodded. Starting to swing the bludgeon with a laugh that hurt her stomach a bit.
She didn’t mind. She was having fun after all.
Yin Hu approached her. The bear laid its head down immediately, stopping her play session. “Shui. You be careful now. That isn’t a toy. It's a weapon made to defend yourself and defeat your enemies. A very strong weapon.”
Shui stopped the momentum of the hammer from hitting her master. Afraid it would shatter. Mr. Mo Mo agreed with her sentiment wholeheartedly, wincing as she got close to Yin Hu’s body. Both of them let out silent sighs of relief when she prevented it from happening. Neither one wanted to lose their new friend.
“Remember my lessons?”
Hu Shui looked up and nodded to her ancestor and attempted to give him the cutest, most adorable, most conniving look she could possibly make. Jun never succeeded in fighting against it and always falling prey to it, but not Yin Hu.
She dutifully ignored Jun’s burning glare from the side. Only giving up when her ancestor shook his head at her and began to teach her about being fast and not wasting steps, butterflies were cute, bees were cute too with big bums. Not wasps though. Those were the meanest things on the planet.
He paused for a second.
“Yes, Ancestor!” Shui shouted. Acting like she listened intently.
“Good. Now return to your training! We won’t waste any more time here than necessary,” he turned away from her and walked back to his throne seat. Lavish and ornate. Pausing to give Jun attention. “Oh, and Jun, grab me the tea kettle. It should be ready.”
She ran back to her pack, getting Mr. Mo Mo comfortable in the blankets and letting him nap in them. She had katas to finish. Turn big and strong to beat up all the bad guys like her master. No spiders would mess with her and her spirit friends. No door house, palace gate things, would mess with them anymore when she could beat them all up like her ancestor said she would one day.
Hu Shui began her practice for a few minutes. Yin Hu shifted. It caught her attention and burning curiosity, she found him holding the last two rods under his armpits. Pulling out a massive Koi Fish out of the water. His rod snapped and broke into pieces as the fish fell back into the water.
Where’d the rest of them go?
Yin Hu shouted. Red killing intent blinded her inner eye. She paled. A dark blue and silver fishing rod appeared in his hands. A creature unlike anything she had ever seen appeared in the waters. More limbs than she could count. Tentacles larger than her and Jun combined each. Sharp barbs and hooks. A beak as a mouth underneath it all. It screeched. Shui lost the strength to stand and fell face first into the ground.
She could feel all six dragons lock onto their area. Mr. Mo Mo turned big again and was invisible to all their senses including her inner eye. Only a silhouette.
“I am Xukerod, leader of our master's many forces and powers—”
The tentacle monster screeched in defiance again. Unfamiliar with her master.
“—Watch your tongue, squid. You are in the presence of I. Burtonir, The Devourer,” Fatty cut it off. His presence growing larger and pressing the mad squid deeper into the lake’s depth. She could hear him lick his lips and salivate. “Open your beak once more before my master, and I’ll find enough salt to cleanse your filthy flesh for my ravenous appetite.”
Magerdon the cruel huffed and his presence starting to disappear. “I will not introduce myself. A thousandth spirit. A hundred thousand more in our master’s spatial pocket. Not each one deserves to know our names.”
“Agreed.”
“I concur.”
“Makes no difference to I.”
Only the leader and fatty remained. The other four disappeared and with it their overwhelming presence. That did not mean her ancestor had calmed down. Nor does it mean the tentacled monster vanished with them to wherever they usually went.
She could feel it approach the Koi Fish. Hungry, but unwilling to break their master's orders.
Feeling the desire to satisfy its insanity.
Break the flesh and spirit of the nice, kind, and cute Koi fish.
Hu Shui could not allow that. Not when she could have even more friends. More family. People to love and care for. Make up for all the kids that ditched her. Shunned her. She would make up for all their parents she saw whispering into their children’s ears to stay away from her.
Could I convince the dragons to help? Can Koi fish live outside of the water? How would they play without hands and feet?
So many questions and so little time. Shui decided to grill the fatty and the loud voiced leader. Get all the necessary information and delay the ugly squid from eating all her potential new friends. She could imagine it. All of them tag teaming to prank Jun. She’d never guess who it was in a million years even with her own help. Not unless…
The mean lady spirit won’t tattle, right? I hope not.
Chapter 46 - Demonic Trees?
Dong ZhenKang reread the scroll he had been given for the hundredth time. Making sure to go over everything multiple times. Even if it was as basic as Shao Yating’s impressive introduction and listing his infamous spiritual weapon he had absorbed into his cultivation.
The reason such a young man had made it so far in rank and even married into the family of a Dark Gate Palace elders family.
Jade of the Black Ashened Dead.
An immortal legacy that had only been rumored about for the past centuries, before even Dong ZhenKang’s time. A legacy of the demented. Of the cruel and wretched demonic monsters. The making of a figure of legend if given time.
