Chapter 256: A Rarity

    ~~~

    He really does look like him.

    Family tends to resemble one another.

    I never thought that Brother Jin even had a family. If you told me he appeared out of thin air one day, Id probably believe it.

    I believe that says more about you than it does about Brother Qing.

    True. Besides, my Jin is undeniably superior.

    Enough already! Were wasting time!

    A single vein throbs dangerously in Qing Guos forehead. His face, already red with rage, darkens into purple. The audacity of these people! To talk about him with such irreverence!

    Someone pats his shoulder for comfort.

    Its the damn dog.

    Enough already! He shouts, struggling against his bindings. Qing Guo has been tied up with strings instead of snakes this time. They are the same type one would use for a musical instrument but considerably more durable. The Prince of the Storm Dragon Empire will not be treated so poorly!

    We could cover your mouth. You realize that, right? The beautiful but dangerous woman with red hair asks him. Your only value to us is as a hostage.

    Qing Guo fumes in silence at the indignity of it. To think hed been held hostage twice in the same day!

    Unthinkable!

    He is not weak. He knows that much. All his tutors have praised his growth, and while Qing Guo has often thought they were a bit too eager to please at times, it is not as if being in the Sixth Level of the True Realm is a small achievement. Most people never leave the Nascent Realm. It is different among nobles, obviously, but even then, Qing Guo is superior to all his peers.

    Even among these people, not counting the one in the Earth Realm, he is not all that inferior. They should not be able to treat him as a minor annoyance!

    So what exactly is this gap between himself and them?

    Good, the red-haired woman says, pleased with his silence. You know how to hold your tongue. Now, you will learn how to speak when spoken to.

    How did you come across that dog? The oldest of his captors asks, interrupting what would undoubtedly have been a very eloquent threat if the glower the red-haired woman aims at him is any indication.

    Qing Guo can relate. It is very annoying when ones prepared speeches are interrupted.

    The strings around his neck tighten. He has stayed silent for too long.

    Wait! Ill answer! Ill answer! he says. Ill admit it! I encountered my cousin, but the man from the other side, the Fleshcrafter, he attacked us. That beast has no allegiance to anyone. My cousin helped me escape, but he could not do the same Most likely, hes already dead.

    Qing Guos body tenses in preparation for their reaction. However, rather than the explosion he expected, the four merely look at each other in doubtful silence.

    Hes obviously lying, right?

    Of course.Nne?w n0vel chapters are published at novelhall.com not lying! Qing Guo shouts. How else do you think this cursed creature of his is with me? The Fleshcrafter encountered us but I-Argh!

    He winces as a single slender finger makes contact with his neck. The motion seems tender, but the heat tells the true story.

    There is no possible way my Jin would die before someone like you, the red-haired woman tells him. Besides, the dog is alive.

    Qing Guo blinks and looks at the dog.

    Huh?

    If Brother Qing died, his creation would disappear alongside him, the small girl says. It hasnt, so we can assume hes alive. However, we cannot discount his story about encountering the Fleshcrafter.

    Prioritizing the lives of others is the sort of noble thing my lord would do, says the man in the Earth Realm.

    Unfortunately, I cannot disagree. We need to find him quickly. The red-haired woman turns to him. Well? Speak. How is one meant to navigate through this place?

    How am I supposed to know? This place is random, Qing Guo says. Even I dont know how to traverse it at will.

    Why would you deploy a spatial realm that makes your forces as lost as ours? The brash one asks him with confusion.

    Because it was better than having two emperors attacking the palace! Qing Quo snaps at him. The only person who can help us travel freely through this space is my ancestor! We need to find the Storm Dragon! Hes the key to everything!

    The Storm Dragon is also very likely what the Fleshcrafter is truly after, but hes not about to share that detail with these people.

    That sounds sensible. How do we find him? asks the small girl.

    Here, Qing Guo ducks his gaze.

    I I am still not sure of that part.

    It is not as if he hasnt tried to contact his ancestor, but Qing Guos calls have received no answers, no matter how loudly he yelled. The only way to reach the Storm Dragon, no matter how inconvenient, is to keep trying. Qing Guo tells himself that it is no fault of his. Even an Emperor would be unable to find his way across the Storm Dragons spatial realm.

    He still feels embarrassed when the four trade equally disappointed looks.

    See? They are not similar at all.

    Qing Guo decides his cousins friends are the worst.

    The dog pats his shoulder again.

    ~~~

    The Fleshcrafter follows a remarkably simple fighting philosophy.

    Overwhelm with mass.

    His skills are incredibly complex. Of that, there can be no doubt. It is not just a matter of Qi control. The knowledge required to shape flesh the way he does must be unspeakably profound. By even the most conservative estimates, the Fleshcrafter must have honed his craft for years.

    Beauty.

    Mud smiles.

    How cruel the Heavens are for making him face what he is not.

    Beauty falls upon him.

    Light strikes.

    ~~~

    Bad ideas are a problem.

    Everyone has them, and nearly everyone fails to realize they''re bad. No one ever executes a bad idea knowing that it is a bad idea. Bad ideas are put into practice either with all the confidence in the world or with such speed that the person does not even realize what they have done.

    Shi Qinxia finds herself trapped in the latter case. Regardless, the way forward is always the same.

    Bluster.

    "That was dangerous," Shi Qinxia says as she walks up from behind Senior Brother Mud, trying to pretend destroying all those creatures hasn''t taken nearly all she has. "You should be more considerate, visitor from the Other Side. There are doors everywhere. There is no telling who will walk through them and be caught in your attacks."

    The Fleshcrafter looks at her with no more consideration than one would give a pebble on the side of the road. Her pride chafes at this, but she knows she has no place here. The moment she opened a door and found a duel between Heaven Realm cultivators, she should have closed it instead of walking right in.

    "Begone," the Fleshcrafter tells her. A mercy. One she should accept.

    She kicks Senior Brother Mud instead. He''s in such a sorry state she gets away with it.

    "He''s done," she says. "Let me kill him."

    The Fleshcrafter''s look does not change. He merely snaps his fingers.

    Ah.

    Shi Qingxia grimaces when the Fleshcrafter''s stoicism turns to puzzlement.

    "You took it out," he says, finally giving her his attention. She wishes he hadn''t. The smell is terrible. "Who?"

    She doesn''t reply. Shi Qinxia already has Senior Brother Mud thrown over her shoulder and is dashing for the nearest door.

    Flesh seals it shut.

    "It is very odd," the Fleshcrafter says, "to see someone so eager to run to their deaths."

    "It is very common to see a self-important asshole prattling about nonsense," she replies. "There are plenty in the Eternal Flame Clan."

    It is why she hates the Eternal Flame Clan. Unfortunately, she also loves the Eternal Flame Clan. Else, she wouldn''t be doing this. There is no contradiction. Love and hate tend to go hand in hand.

    Shi Qinxia lays down Senior Brother Mud and raises her Qi.

    It is futile, yes. It is stupid, yes.

    She is still doing it.

    "If I had found you fighting that brat Feng Zhi, I wouldn''t have lifted a finger. I might have even cheered you. However, this one is a rarity. He''s worth a damn."

    "Then die for that worth."

    Flesh advances upon her, and the only defense Shin Qinxia can offer is light. There is no technique, merely power. Everything that she is expressed outward. Pure, fulminating glory.

    It lasts but a moment.

    The flesh advances. The light dims.

    Shadows rise.

    What in the eighteen hells? Shin Qingxia mutters, untouched even though she shouldnt be. She looks up and sees shadows holding back the flesh.

    Shadows with hands.

    Shadows with eyes.

    Is there no end to this absurdity? The Fleshcrafter hollers. Must Heaven keep testing me! Have I not endured enough killing the first? Must I keep facing tribulation to kill the second one?

    "Tribulation?" A bald man with a long braid of hair laughs as he walks out of the shadows. Another one follows after him. "You think you have endured the tribulation, Dead One? You who broke the treaty and have become a plague upon this land?"

    "Allow us to show you what tribulation really is."

    ~~~

    He walks. She looks at him.

    A gift from the Storm Dragon, a viewing pool placed in her room. Obviously, it is a trap of some sort, but curiosity often prevails over caution.

    It is not an easy thing to walk after ascending. The Earth is like an overbearing mother. It senses its children about to leave the nest and clings fiercely to them. It is not like a weight placed on one''s back. The hold of the Curse of the Earth is everywhere. To be able to interact with the material world without sinking under one''s own weight requires control.

    He walks.

    He''ll run soon enough.

    That does not make him special. Prodigies are tediously common. Even the nostalgia he evokes in her does not make him worthy of her notice. How could it? His face. His eyes. They mean nothing to her.

    However, being able to come back from the dead despite having been in the Spirit Realm?

    That is worthy of her notice.

    Su Daji leaves the safety of her room.

    ~~~