Pure Jade

by Patrick Laplante

  The purple brush quickly changed color, and azure lines floated into place just above the ground, meshing with the complementary combat-formation lines. Azure and purple alternated until he finally threw out ten high-grade spirit stones, bringing the formation to life.

  The formation was called Stormwalker Formation. The Stormchaser Steps he used was a simplified derivative of this large one. He discovered by accident that, while he couldn’t improve his success rate by using wind and lightning essence when painting formations, he could increase their stability. As a result, he could increase the scope of the formation. This naturally applied to all formations he knew, increasing his formation abilities by a half step.

  Purple lightning and azure winds billowed in the hundred-foot range of the formation. His Stormchaser Boots disappeared and became dark clouds that integrated with the formation.

  “I need ten high-grade spirit stones per hour to maintain this formation,” Cha Ming said. “But it increases the speed of our group by several times.”

  Xuehua nodded. “Everyone, step into the range of the formation. We’re moving out!”

  They left the city like the wind, and the guards didn’t dare inspect them. When the Alabaster Group was out for blood, no one could prevent it.

  Wang Jun sat at the peak of the mountain brewing tea. He very much enjoyed watching the jade platform there. It was very mysterious, to the extent that he couldn’t read its story, though judging from the runes on it, it was surely a formation plate.

  I need to get Cha Ming to look at this, he thought. According to Huxian, there’s a plate on each of the nine mountains.

  A yawn suddenly came from the cave. Huxian, who had just finished recovering from his wounds, walked out. The mouse, Lei Jiang, quickly darted to the peak of the mountain.

  “Now that we’re fully recovered, let’s storm those humans remaining at the base of the mountain,” Huxian said. “Over two-thirds of the humans left with that prime minister of yours, so we should be able to defeat them easily.”

  “About that,” Wang Jun said with an awkward look on his face. “Some company arrived. I’m afraid it’s not us who will be attacking, but the other way around.”

  Huxian’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the previously tiny camp. It had grown to over double its previous size. In addition, he sensed a dozen terrifying auras.

  Core-formation cultivators, he thought.

  “Will the monarch help us if they meddle?” Wang Jun asked softly.

  Huxian shook his head. “Although he will… I don’t think he can handle those twelve on his own.”

  “Then let’s hope they’re here just to enjoy the show,” Wang Jun said. “Cha Ming and the Alabaster Group are coming soon, but we need to hold out for a few hours.”

  Huxian nodded. “Geomantic boa!” he yelled. The mountain quaked before the gigantic snake poked out.

  “I would appreciate it if you used my new title,” she said arrogantly.

  Huxian rolled his eyes. “Geomantic Sovereign, would you be so kind as to do something for me before I beat the venom out of you and have you begging to this father for mercy?” The giant snake’s throat shivered. “I need you to lay down as many traps as possible to delay those cultivators down there.”

  “This…” Geomantic Sovereign looked at him awkwardly.

  “What’s the matter? Can’t do it?” Huxian yelled aggressively.

  “It’s not that I can’t do it…” Geomantic Sovereign said, frightened.

  “Let me summarize,” Wang Jun said, walking between them. “She thinks you’re stupid and have no strategic sense, but she’s too afraid to disobey your direct orders.”

  “How dare you!” Huxian said, looking wounded. He’s right, intelligence really isn’t my strong suit, Huxian thought. I’ll have to use all available resources. “Fine. You and she can plan, just keep me posted.”

  “Thank you, Sovereign Two Tails,” Wang Jun said mockingly. “For the sake of education, I’ll summarize. During the last few battles, the traps you set were effective because all forces were evenly matched. The weak forces that couldn’t help but fight near the ground were hampered by these weak walls of earth, spikes, etc. It was very effective.

  “This situation is different entirely,” he continued. “Their high-end forces outnumber ours four to one, but our low-level forces outnumber theirs. Therefore they will only use their lower-level forces to distract ours. What we really need to delay is them rushing in to slaughter our leaders. The previous formations won’t be effective against top-tier forces, as they can just shatter these walls and traps at will.

  “That’s why the Geomantic Sovereign and I will collaborate to build illusory and concealment formations. She will set the base using terrain features as natural formation eyes, while I will supplement them with the power of shadow. The only downside is that we won’t be able to fight in this battle. I will be the strategist, and the Geomantic Sovereign and I will constantly change and manipulate the formations to our greatest advantage.”

  “Is there anything I can do?” Huxian asked.

  “Sure,” Wang Jun said. “When the battle starts, look for their tactician and try to kill him. We will try to find him as well. Zhou Li will not participate in this battle because it will break the terms of the treaty, which will weaken the crown prince’s grip on the throne.

  “I speculate that he used his fate powers to manipulate karma, which is why he was able to hire these forces in the first place. He would have had to first do business through a variety of intermediaries using ambiguous promises. Then he would have needed to burn any remaining karmic threads using fire and fate. Fortunately, he must stay out of a direct confrontation, or the karma will be reestablished.

  “Does this mean they don’t have a strategist?” Huxian asked.

  “I refuse to believe that Zhou Li won’t find a replacement for himself,” Wang Jun said. “There will be a tactician. The second priority target is Guo Jia. He will be well defended, as he is the key to dismantling our defensive formations. They won’t be able to advance without breaking them, so your beasts will need to distract him as much as possible. In turn, I’ll be able to use their movements to potentially determine the location of their strategist.”

  Huxian sighed. “Do you think we can hold out for three hours?”

  “It will be one hour before both sides are ready,” Wang Jun said. “Holding out for two hours against this lineup, however? We can only try.”

  Zhou Li walked toward a skinny, black-robed cultivator. He was one of the twelve core-formation cultivators that had just arrived. The ones he hadn’t ordered. “I don’t suppose you’re here just for sightseeing?” he asked.

  “We’re here as insurance,” the man said in a relaxed manner. “For an extra 200,000, we will participate in the battle. I’ll note that our spies indicate that the Alabaster Group will be here in less than three hours. This information is free of charge.”

  Zhou Li gritted his teeth. “You’re basically taking out all the profits from this operation.”

  “That’s only because you’ve been so stingy,” the man retorted coldly. “We do fair business. If you had paid us earlier, we could have helped you conquer the mountain range before the treaty took place. I’ll note that we are the ones who provided you the information on the treaty in the first place.

  “Now I’ll kindly warn you that if you that if you hire us now, we can end this battle quickly before they arrive. Ten of us will hold off the monarch while the others reap lives on the battlefield with impunity. What say you?”

  Zhou Li hesitated. “What are your calculated odds of success?”

  “Eighty percent,” another man said. His realm was far below core formation. In fact, Zhou Li wouldn’t be surprised if his cultivation was lower than early foundation establishment. “But only based on the information provided. External factors that you have not reported may significantly affect the odds.”

  “And who is this?” Zhou Li asked the co
re-formation expert.

  “His name is Zhong Fa,” he replied. “This is the master tactician you paid for. He’s the best we have, and I will never question his judgment.”

  Zhou Li held his chin and pondered for a while before shaking his head. “I’ll take eighty-percent odds for now. You and your men can enjoy the show.”

  Black-robed armies flooded the battlefield in unison.

  “Kill!” they shouted, spreading their baleful aura toward the opposing beasts. Now that the Song Kingdom’s forces had retreated, many of them revealed their true forms. A full half of them were devils with fighting prowess above their realms.

  They advanced slowly up the mountain with Guo Jia at their center. According to Wang Jun, their directions were impaired and required formation eyes to be broken as they advanced. The concealment formations made it difficult for Guo Jia to break the formation eyes and prevented the humans from detecting the beasts in the first place.

  The invaders halted. They stood by at attention as Guo Jia spread out sigils and flags. Huxian saw several formation eyes erupt one after another before their group packed up and advanced another hundred feet in their direction. It was impossible to replenish the broken formation eyes. The Geomantic Sovereign and Wang Jun could only divert their energies to prevent him breaking them in the first place.

  One more stop, Wang Jun sent to Huxian mentally. Huxian had half the upper echelons of the beast forces with him. The lower-tier forces and the other half were on the opposite side, awaiting their signals. Guo Jia broke yet another few formation eyes and stopped again a hundred feet later. Just as they moved once more, Huxian signaled his beast forces to attack. They caught the human forces by surprise.

  The beasts had activated their abilities before charging in, taking full advantage of the concealment formation. The first layer of humans fell to their attacks, but the upper-level human forces immediately adjusted and countered their battle formations.

  Retreat, Wang Jun’s voice sounded.

  Huxian relayed the command, pulling everyone back. He glared hatefully at the ochre figures and the ochre mist spread across the black-robed group.

  Did you find their tactician? Huxian asked.

  Negative, Wang Jun replied. None of their movements revealed any such weakness. However, we did obtain some information. They’ve slowly been edging toward Silverwing’s mountain. If I’m not mistaken, they are heading toward the ore deposit. They will likely try to excavate it, which means they likely have a hidden geomancer in their midst. They are planning on excavating everything quickly, so they won’t need to fight us under these circumstances. They want to force the issue, so we must face them at a disadvantage.

  What can we do? Huxian asked.

  We can only delay as much as possible and chip away as many of their forces as we can, Wang Jun said. That way we can study the opponent and weaken them before the final confrontation. If they were just wandering aimlessly, we would have the terrain advantage. They clearly have the intent of eliminating that advantage and forcing us to respond. What a great tactician. It’s open intrigue at its finest.

  Suddenly, Huxian heard a voice transmission. Huxian, we’re getting closer, a voice said. How are things looking on your end?

  Cha Ming! Huxian replied. You’re in range. Things aren’t looking good. Wang Jun said you’ll be here in one and a half hours, but by then they’ll already have won.

  Pass this information along to Wang Jun, Cha Ming instructed. We intentionally delayed as we exited the city in case spies took note of us. We have kept this hidden for half the trip: We’re speeding up now. We’ll be there in a half hour.

  Huxian quickly passed on the information, and after a short while he heard Wang Jun’s reply. We’ll begin a large-scale battle in a quarter hour. They shouldn’t expect it, and by then it will be too late to adjust their plans.

  Huxian martialed his troops and brought the various sovereigns, kings, and lords into position.

  We need to change plans, Zhou Li heard via voice transmission. I just heard from our spies that the Alabaster Group is only a half hour away. I suspect a surprise attack from the beasts soon to take advantage of oncoming reinforcements. I now put our odds at fifty percent at best.

  How exactly were we informed so late of their impending arrival? Zhou Li asked.

  It was deception, the voice replied. They must have intentionally traveled slowly. Fortunately, we have spies in the Alabaster Group itself. I suggest that we hire the core-formation experts to try taking out priority targets in advance. But if and only if they attack us.

  They’re bleeding me dry, Zhou Li thought. His heart ached. His precious war funds were falling through his fingers. Very well. I authorize it, but if and only if we get attacked. Also, I want a fifty-percent discount.

  A moment of silence ensued, followed by a response. Thirty percent.

  Fine, Zhou Li said.

  Pleasure doing business with you, the voice answered.

  Chapter 36: Monarch

  The opposing forces suffered substantial damage as Huxian’s group crashed into them. There was a quarter hour left before reinforcements were to arrive, and their job was to buy as much time as possible. He couldn’t worry about the fates of the low-level soldiers. His job was to fight against six half-step core-formation cultivators. It wasn’t going well. Every one of those that faced him specialized on restraining techniques and defense, effectively locking him out of the battle.

  Meanwhile, the other sovereigns were suffering greatly. Each was confronted with multiple stronger opponents, unable to break free. It wasn’t long before the first one fell. The Reptilian Lion Sovereign, with his iron-hard defense and poisonous claws, was subdued by three other cultivators just as strong as the ones restraining Huxian. Only one of the three cultivators perished in the process.

  Things weren’t going much better in the middle of the battlefield. Now that Guo Jia was no longer concerned with breaking formation eyes, he brought out the best out of his high-grade formations, incinerating low-level demon beasts by the score. Their advantage on that front was dwindling.

  Two incense time left, Huxian thought. He didn’t use his most powerful abilities, as they left large openings that could be exploited by his opponents. Hurry up, Brother, he sent mentally to Cha Ming.

  The battlefield was a meat grinder, even considering the Geomantic Sovereign and Wang Jun’s efforts in erecting random walls, spike traps, and timely concealing formations. By the time an incense time remained, a quarter of the beast forces had been decimated.

  Why did we have to intercept them again? Huxian asked Wang Jun.

  Because we didn’t want to allow them time to set up a defense, Wang Jun said. Someone tipped them off on Cha Ming’s arrival, so they had started setting up permanent defensive formations. Formation masters are especially frightening when given enough time to prepare, and the losses would have been staggering if we attacked them later. Once Cha Ming’s forces arrive, we’ll be able to fight them on even terms. Before then, however, we can only distract them and sacrifice forces.

  I get that, Huxian said. But couldn’t we have—

  Run! Wang Jun sent mentally. Huxian looked toward the sky and spotted the twelve core-formation cultivators, who had suddenly jumped into action.

  They must be suicidal, Huxian thought. Unless they know something that I don’t. He felt a massive pressure on his bloodline as a giant owl suddenly appeared on the battlefield. Despite his size, he was several times faster than Huxian was.

  “You dare interfere in this battle between juniors?” the owl shouted, flying toward the core-formation cultivators and baring its talons. Ten of the cultivators attacked it with their weapons and various Daoist techniques, barely managing to hold it back. Two of the core-formations cultivators avoided its talons and dashed at unreasonable speeds. Straight toward the retreating Huxian.

  Shit, he thought. He combined his two clones into one body and laid a bagua trap behind himself. Eight trig
rams imprisoned the two pursuers, but only temporarily. The trap only bought him five breaths. How in the nine heavens am I supposed to survive this?

  One the cultivators, a gray-haired old man, formed ten thousand hand seals in the blink of an eye. A giant two-hundred-foot-wide frost lotus sprouted beneath Huxian’s paws. They tore through his fur as he struggled to dodge. From above, ten thousand swords rained down on him. His fur was tough, but not tough enough to completely negate techniques from core-formation cultivators. Over twenty of them cut deeply into his black and white fur, leaving patches of red.

  Brother Cha Ming, Huxian sent. It looks like I won’t be able to hold out. I’m sorry. As he darted between the forest of ice and steel blades, he saw Lei Jiang’s familiar purple glow.

  Run away! Huxian sent to him. You can’t fight them! The purple mouse ignored his words, summoning nine purple lightning dragons to attack the two core-formation cultivators. They simply snorted, and with a wave of their sleeves, Lei Jiang was thrown onto the side of the mountain coughing blood. His lightning dragons dissipated into nothingness. This was a suppression of realms.

  With Lei Jiang disposed of, the two stone-faced cultivators formed hand seals once more. This time, two giant spears appeared above Huxian. One was gold, the other was crystalline. He roared in defiance at the spears as they came plunging down toward him. His surroundings went dark, and he simultaneously transformed into a sphere of light that pushed back against the spears. Cracks appeared on that sphere as the core-formation cultivators exerted their powers.

  This is the end, Huxian thought as the cracks expanded.