Ancient Being Predecessor of the Primordial Era: An OP Mc LitRpg - Cultivation - Development, page 35
The spirit held her steady. “Good—”
“Who said that?” Shao Yating jerked his head left and right.
“Take my hand—” Her voice echoed in the entire clearing. Falling upon the ears of any who were close enough to hear her words. Not just Jun.
Shao Yating shouted as he released a wave of Qi behind him. Then to his sides. Trying to find the voice that rang in the forest around them. Unable to locate it even though it stood right in front of him. Death he could not possibly see.
“—Let me guide you. Lead you. Become one with my blade, descendant of my Master. Free me upon this world.” The spirit extended its arm. Reaching for Jun.
“Answer me! I am Shao Yating! Son of the Spider Valley Cult. Son-in-law of Cai Xuefang! An Elder of the Dark Gate Palace! Zi Zhen its master! Show yourself, whoever you are or the consequences will be unrelenting!”
Jun copied the spirit.
She gasped as the spirit disappeared. A wind surged around her with more energy and Qi than she thought possible.
Yating snapped his head to her. Immediately activating his core and calling upon the depths of his cultivation. Speaking no more. A mountain of shadows rose around him. Covering his entire side of the clearing in its entirety. Greater than anything he had shown so far.
Jun could see him shake in exertion. She could see the widening of his eyes, trembling of his jaw. The shaking of his rising arms. Jun could smell the fear he reeked of.
The spirit whispered into her ear. “Watch what an infinitesimal amount of my power looks like.”
Jun felt the world gather around her. Body moving on its own without her command. Her posture straightened. Chin rose to the heavens. A disdainful frown graced her cross eyebrows and face. She shifted sideways. Movements etched into her soul. Things she had never practiced once in her entire life now felt second nature.
Her sword hung loosely in her palms. The tip pointing onto the ground but towards Shao Yating.
She could feel the gathering of Qi. The surging tide. A tsunami far greater than anything she could imagine. Enough to drain the forest, but weakened due to Jun’s low realm and density of her own Core. The mere thought of what it could potentially look like almost sent her spiraling.
She had something more important to accomplish. Something she had no control of, but intended to take advantage of entirely.
Is this Ancestor’s power? Is he that strong? Doesn’t this spirit call him master without question? How much power does someone need to be for something this domineering to bow its head willingly?
Qi surged through her meridians. They would have been savaged beyond repair had the spirit not taken an active role to mitigate it. Creating channels she did not know existed. Opening others she had thought beyond reach until the very last Katas her master had indicated. All within seconds.
And then she felt the shattering of her Gaseous Core. Reborn. Remade in the likeness of something she did not recognize. Liquid dripping into it. Filling it. A sensation she had never felt before. A breakthrough without any tribulation. Without struggle.
“Die!” Shao Yating screamed in a shrill voice. He rose from the ground. Floating upon the shadows and darkness that surrounded him.
He threw his arms forward. Sending every ounce of Qi he could possibly gather or held within his core at Jun. In hopes to strike her before the gathering of the storm came to a head. Attempting to catch her before she was prepared, but it was too late.
Jun moved. The blade rose above her head, still loosely in her palm. Slowly without care.
The surge of darkness charged her.
Her weapon spirit did not care for Shao Yating’s attack.
It waited until the last moment. Confidence and maybe even arrogance brimmed in her chest beyond anything Jun could be capable of. Disdain graced her face. The spirit was not impressed with the impossible attack that would have crushed Jun in an instant.
Jun’s hand dropped.
“Die, insect.” Her weapon spirit sneered.
The world flashed white around her. Shao Yating screamed. The shadows vanished into nothingness. Silence overtook the world around her. Blindness assaulting her senses. Only a dull thrum filled her ears. She could not feel Qi or anything else around her.
Everything snapped back into reality.
Clouds of dust surrounded her. Making it impossible to see what had happened to Shao Yating. All she could see was a few dozen feet in front of her.
A massive trench cut through the ground cleanly. Deeper than Jun could see.
The fog cleared slowly revealing a widening ditch that felt impossible. A bottomless pit. An abyss.
Until it finally landed upon two figures. She could not make them out clearly, as though the clouds were centered around them. Obscuring them from the view.
“S-Shao Yating?”
“Truly,” an old man’s voice said. Coming from the figures hidden in dust. “A dragon only breeds dragons. Hidden tigers of legend do not give birth to worthless pups and cubs, even if their blood is diluted.”
Jun tried to call for the ridiculous power she had used again. Only to find herself empty. Her core dry. Not an ounce of Qi in the area around her. Anything that did filter back in was tainted or too weak to use. That had been the final attack in her arsenal. Everything in one move.
The weapon spirit did not answer her.
“Father-in-law! She tried to kill me. Get her!” Shao Yating’s distinct voice sounded out clearly.
He was still alive.
Guess I’m about to die. Not unless ancestor suddenly appears out of the ink-like darkness that surrounds this clearing. Has he not done enough for me already? How much more do I dare ask for?
The old man stepped out of the dust surrounding the two. He turned to look back at Shao Yating. “Am I a dog to command?”
“W-What?” Shao Yating stuttered. “Never. Father-in-law, I would never say such a thing.”
“Enough. Go along while I speak to this young lady.”
Shao Yating nodded. He stepped out of the dust. Gave Jun a dirty look promising agony and death if they were to meet again in the future. Then promptly ran off back towards the Silver Mountain Gang’s town.
“I am Cai Xuefang,” the old man said. Kicking at the slabs of glass before him. “So young. Yet so powerful. Had I not feared your master, I would have stolen you to become my disciple.”
“I would never kneel before you. Death before I serve another ancestor. Another master.”
Cai Xuefang smiled. “Your Ancestor has taught you well. Even before me you do not cower. I could expect nothing less from such a thing—”
Such a thing? What does he mean by that?
“—for now. It is a simple goodbye. Hopefully the next time we meet, the situation will favor us.”
Cai Xuefang disappeared.
Jun fell to her knees. All the injuries and fatigue started to set in. Everything that happened. How close she had gotten to dying multiple times in a single confrontation. How lucky she was to be alive. How much her master and Ancestor had done for her without even needing to be there.
She had even somehow broken through to the Liquid Core Stage somehow.
Yet, even with everything, she could not forget Cai Xuefang's last sentences. The emphasis he put on a single word among them all.
Thing.
Chapter 73 - Heart, Anger, and Blood
“Forgive me, Ancient one, but it seems the fight between the younger generation is over. Allow me the freedom to save my own before he is killed by your little girl.”
Yin Hu watched as Cai Xuefang disappeared from the clearing leaving him alone in the clearing. The shadows moved to make it smaller. He poured himself another cup of tea, enjoying the steam that rose as it was poured. Then reached into his spatial rice bag. Grabbing two leaves of mint and two blocks of sugar.
Both had ridiculous names and titles. Supposedly stuffed with more Qi than anyone had an idea what to do with. Yin Hu was starting to believe that the system analysis was wrong. Neither one made a blip on his new perception ability—
Congratulations on exceeding your limit!
Perception limits exceeded!
Reward 712,390 exp
Reward Po Phen’s Brick
A black block floated directly over his head.
Not again!
Yin Hu jumped out of his seat to dodge the falling piece of stone. It crushed his seat. Digging a few feet into the ground. Yin Hu got up, feeling the robes pull Qi to clean him up, and patted himself down. Just to feel more comfortable. Intentionally ignoring the brick that almost crushed his skull.
He had received a second reward within his time in this cultivation world. Two within about a few months time. Before that, it had been decades since he had last seen a level up or reward for anything. Including any stats.
Does being in this world change the stats or something? Or is interacting with new people helping? Do I have to be more social now?
Yin Hu shivered.
Living by yourself for longer than you could remember, aided by the system to not go insane, tended to make people more introverted if he were to be asked. Something about the brain no longer working properly. All educated guesses, but backed by his experience. Not that he had another point of reference he could use to compare.
Yin Hu walked up to the hole in the ground. Staring at the black plain brick. It seemed strangely average and quite normal other than its color. Had it been a normal brick color, he wouldn’t have blinked twice at it. Throwing it into his spatial bag instantly.
It couldn’t possibly be something average if it came with over seven hundred thousand experience points paired up with it. He prompted his system.
Reward Po Phen’s Brick - An average brick cultivated by a True Sage for many years. Eventually, using it to destroy his ex-wife’s new husband’s palace. Damaging the foundation upon which the land had absorbed Qi and supported the lives of the powerful and wealthy.
Po Phen was a vindictive man. Returning for revenge an unimaginable amount of time later. Many years to suffer his sorrow. Many more to plot. And more to prepare his brick of retribution.
Yin Hu blinked at the response he received. It gave him no indication of what it was truly capable of or if it was worth anything. Did this Po Phen just chuck it through his ex-wife’s window and run? Were people that supposedly lived for unimaginable amounts of time that petty? Yin Hu couldn’t imagine it.
He gave his new perception skill another attempt.
Closing his eyes. Focusing on the world around him. The Qi that he could not find in the entire area. Yin Hu found the blip again. Flickering and almost completely disappearing. Struggling to survive. Then he found the brick.
It glowed a dull light. Stronger than what he assumed was Hu Shui, but it was still something that did not seem that useful all things told.
Just another odd item in his endlessly growing of items stored in his spatial rice bag.
Yin Hu waved his hand, absentmindedly. Feeling the brick disappear. Maybe he could take advantage of its ridiculous weight and heft, but otherwise it was useless to him. For now though, he could leave this darn place and head to find Shui and Jun. Primarily Jun for now.
Following the direction Cai Xuefang had pointed at before his departure.
Another wave of his hand and the table of items disappeared. The disgusting, horrible, nauseating, and every negative word under the sun, treats all fell to the ground. Yin Hu made sure to leave them there. Walking towards Jun.
He wasn’t worried about her.
Jun had supposedly won the fight handedly. So much so that Cai Xuefang had to go save his disciple from getting killed in the heat of a full battle without anyone to make sure they followed competitive rules and spirit. He would need to have another conversation with the young lady. She couldn’t be so bloodthirsty against someone so much weaker than her like this.
You had to have mercy on the pitifully weak. Especially if you were going to be far stronger soon enough. Maybe the good deed would come around.
He took off on a jog. The ink-like darkness parted around him. Making the process a lot easier than he expected it to be. It didn’t even take a few minutes until he reached where he assumed she was. Breaking out of the fog and into a massive clearing—
“Oh my god…” Yin Hu said.
The ground was torn into pieces. Trees cut down around the entire clearing, without a single one still standing within it. Jun was on her knees. Naked, covered in red sticking onto her skin like body paint. Her shoulders heaved and head heavy. Struggling to pick it up when he appeared and look at him.
She sat on her haunches before a massive gap in the earth. A literal ravine. Originating from her. Growing wider until he found the end. Glass. Thick glass made the very end of whatever Jun had unleashed upon the world. As in glass from supercharge amounts of heat and destruction. Enough to level an entire city type power. A bomb. All concentrated into nothing but a single attack or slash.
Cai Xuefang had blocked that. Saved his disciple from what could have been them turning into dust and probably half the forest for a few hundred feet more.
Yin Hu turned back to Jun.
He knew he should have felt something about the attack. The nuke level power. Cai Xuefang blocking it with what seemed like ease considering the way he spoke. Whether he could do that or not.
Yet, none of it seemed to matter at the moment. Yin Hu felt his throat go dry. Gulping.
He approached Hu Jun. Frown growing deeper as he noticed the still bleeding cuts and scratches that covered her head to toe. Her face, arms, torso, legs, feet, back, every part of her body seemed hurt or covered in liquid red. He felt his jaw tighten.
Didn’t she dominate Cai Xuefang disciple? What the fuck happened here while I was busy dealing with the old monster?
“Jun,” Yin Hu said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Uncaring about the blood on his hands. “Tell me in detail what happened—”
She looked up to his face. Her eyes were bright and vibrant. Much unlike her physical state and the pool of blood around her. Mentally she was not hurting. Her eyes began squinting as her face morphed into a massive smile. One that stretched from ear to ear. Equally as bright as her eyes.
Yin Hu felt his heart catch. Anger filling it.
“Thank you, Ancestor.”
Yin Hu froze. He couldn’t react and his persona did not seem to want to activate. He had never felt anger in eons. Nothing like this. This one hurt him. Made his head go light, eyes see red and full of tears. Only his near perfect control of his body stopped him from trembling.
Eventually he only nodded.
“I have learned more in a mere moment than I could have in a lifetime without your guidance. It has been an honor to serve you. To receive your guidance—”
Yin Hu gulped at those words. Unable to respond.
“—and wisdom. Even if I could not possibly see it beforehand. I was simply too blind.”
Jun dropped her head low to bow to him.
Yin Hu held her shoulders. Holding her tight and keeping her up, even when she tried to squirm out of his grip. “A Hu does not bow. Not to me and definitely to no other person.”
Her smile widened. She nodded.
“Take this.” Yin Hu reached into his bag. Pulling out the first healing pill he could find.
“No, Ancestor,” Jun said. Closing his hand around the glowing pill. “I wish to feel every strike. Every slash and cut. They will all heal soon enough once I have more Qi. None of it was anything fatal or beyond my ability to recover from. Just a matter of time. That’s all.”
“Yeah. Just a matter of time, huh.”
He picked her up. Giving her a douse of water from his spatial bag to clean her quickly. Then threw a new robe at her. She dressed quickly.
“Let us go find Shui.”
“Yes, Ancestor! Follow me, I can feel her energy from here."
Chapter 74 - Buxom Spirits?!
The walk towards Shui was filled with Jun constantly regaling him of what had happened. Every single detail Jun could recall. From the shifting of branches to the way Shao Yating quirked his eyebrow. Even the way some of the undead jade things blinked and others didn’t.
Setting the scene in a nightmarish battle that sounded out of a novel. Some grime dark fantasy. A lone young lady faced with insurmountable odds with no hope or good happening to her. All while he was busy munching on the most disgusting, foul treats and cakes imaginable. Washing his mouth with tasty, sugar filled tea he had to brew for himself.
It didn’t seem so delicious currently. A bad taste filled his mouth ever since he’d seen Jun and the amount of blood that covered the clearing.
Based on her story, it was all hers except one small puddle she was quite proud of.
“—I cut his throat! So close to winning at the very beginning of the fight! Everything you’ve taught us so far has been perfect—”
Yin Hu did not respond at all to that statement. He had been bullshitting for the most part when he was teaching them to box and fight. Anything he did train them in was mostly made up. Yes he had cultivation manuals. Yes, he had been throwing punches and practicing kung fu moves for longer than he could imagine on the island, but he had never been taught how to do it.
Never had someone guide him.
The intricacies of teaching people had to be completely different than learning by yourself. Everyone’s struggle was different. Yin Hu was tasked to somehow figure that out. All of which he had no clue about. Not in the slightest.
“—and the defense! Oh, the defense. Shao Yating tried to overwhelm me with over a hundred of his undead and the occasional Qi attack. Never could I have imagined I would never take any serious damage. Simple movements you taught us. Made us repeat a thousand times. Especially the L-Step. That had been the best one—”
Yin Hu looked at her bright eyes, massive smile, and excited body. Almost skipping instead of walking. Her face was clean of any dripping blood, but the cuts were still there. Covered with bandages. He refused to let her continue to walk without at least putting some on so it wouldn’t get infected.
