You’re growing senile, the Clay Dragon Sovereign said, looking down at the battlefield below. The kings and lords had lined up for an honorable battle. It was a group battle, the type of challenge he favored most due to his superiority in numbers. You must have known that I’d pick a group battle as the defender. I hope you enjoy the next hundred years on limited resources.
The Razorback Sovereign glared daggers at him. I naturally know your cowardly tactics, she said. You should vary your hand every once in a while, or people will know exactly how to face you.
The Clay Dragon Sovereign laughed heartily. The sound was coarse, like breaking plates, gritty like gravel. No matter what I choose, it’s hopeless for you, he said. I have twenty kings to your thirteen, and one of yours is a human. My lords number over fifty, while you have little more than thirty. You’d better prepare your winter heart spring—that’s the territory I want.
You’re so greedy you might actually pass for a true dragon, the Razorback Sovereign said. Then in that case, I won’t hold back. I want Thousand Blade Valley and the corpse flower grove.
The Clay Dragon Sovereign’s mighty brow twitched. Your demands are worth double mine.
Come now, with your superior forces, you should give me superior odds, the Razorback Sovereign said. Unless you’re scared.
There’s no way I’d ever be scared of a young whelp like you, the Clay Dragon Sovereign scoffed. Very well, have it your way. You’ll never win anyhow.
I wouldn’t be so sure about that, said the Nightmare Butterfly Sovereign, who’d been quiet until now. I sense a dreadful presence among her troops. This battle won’t be simple addition and subtraction. Morale will be key.
What does morale have to do with battle? The Clay Dragon Sovereign said. It’s always been about money. Though Advisor Zhuge1 was able to wage prolonged war at minimal cost using superior tactics, he was eventually beaten by the militarily superior Sima Yi.
Master Sun2 said, “Treat your men as you would your beloved sons, and they will follow you into the deepest valley,” the Nightmare Butterfly Sovereign replied. All armies being equal, the one with the superior morale will win.
But our forces aren’t equal, the Clay Dragon Monarch protested.
Master Sun also said, “Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak,” the Nightmare Butterfly retorted. Who knows what the Razorback Sovereign’s true forces are? But can the same be said for you?
The Storm Tiger Monarch, who’d been sleeping this entire time, suddenly stretched its limbs. It groaned in pleasure as it pawed its cloudy stage. “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt,” he said. “There’s only one way to find out who wins this battle. The wager has been set. It’s time to watch the show.”
Master Sun also said that… the Nightmare Butterfly Sovereign muttered.
I’m sorry, did you say something? The Storm Tiger Monarch asked, the stormy sky echoing his question with a peal of thunder.
Nothing, Monarch, the Nightmare Butterfly said hurriedly. Nothing at all.
* * *
1 Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi are military advisors in the Chinese classic, Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
2 Sunzi is a military strategist and philosopher credited as the author of The Art of War.
Chapter 48
The forces of the Razorback Sovereign and the Clay Dragon Sovereign were separated by a long, narrow valley. The number of beasts on each side was unequal, with the Clay Dragon’s forces outnumbering Ling Dong’s almost two to one. If one only counted raw battle power, their side was at a disadvantage.
I can use this, Ling Dong thought, more to reassure himself than anything else. The delusion was quickly broken by another voice.
This is madness, the Bloodrune King said, walking up beside Ling Dong. I would have thought the Sovereign would pit us against equal forces for equal territory, just like she always did in the past. I see no way to win this battle.
“Battle isn’t just about raw power, my friend,” Ling Dong said. “If that were the case, humans would never have become the dominant force on the continent.”
Sure, tactics have a place, the Bloodrune King said, but two-to-one odds are difficult to swallow.
“We have a few advantages,” Ling Dong replied. “For one, the Sunblaze King is practically unmatched in the skies. He’ll be able to rain down fire on opposing troops with impunity unless they unleash at least four of their aerial kings to block him.
“Furthermore, we have an advantage in crowd control with the Killbright Asp King. We’ll be able to mobilize our forces more efficiently as they avoid his poisonous miasma and binding traps.”
It’s still not enough, the Bloodrune King said. Their top three kings alone are a match for the rest of us.
“Leave them to me and defer to the plan,” Ling Dong said. “If all goes well, we’ll win and avoid casualties at the same time.”
Thunder sounded from the clear skies up above, the signal to commence their sacred battle. Both forces began mobilizing strategically. Advanced scouts and those laying traps moved onto the battlefield, while long-range demons on both sides tried to prevent their movements. Despite inferior forces, the initial skirmish was a draw. The Killbright King had done his job well.
“It’s our turn,” Ling Dong said, drawing is large bone greatsword. His twelve bone daggers had become thirty-six, and they orbited around him in a defensive formation. “To battle!” he yelled. The cry was echoed by their forces as they charged toward the enemy.
The gap closed rapidly. Kings on either side charged to the center, leading their lords into battle. There were no backfield generals save for strategic demons like the Killbright Asp, who immediately began poisoning enemy troops, or the opposing Seismic Mole, who began shifting the terrain to the enemy’s advantage.
Both sides clashed, and blood soaked the battlefield. The demonic energy churned as both sides fought to control it to their own advantage. Unfortunately, whether through terrain control or accumulated wounds, the Clay Dragon’s forces were winning. Just as planned.
Ling Dong let them grow stronger, more confident. The Razorback Sovereign’s forces began to suffer worse and worse wounds.
We can’t hold on much longer, the Bloodrune King reported. At his age, he’d seen many such battles. In the skies, the Sunblaze King and a couple more supporting beasts were evenly matched with a much larger crowd of avian demons. It was up to the ground forces to break the stalemate.
Then we’ll start phase two, Ling Dong said. Everyone, now!
Ling Dong, who had not been using his Demon-Subduing Intent, suddenly revealed his massive kingly crown. The moment it appeared, demonic energy all but disappeared from the Razorback Sovereign’s forces. Yet, contrary to what one might think, their side didn’t weaken. Instead, the energy the crown stole was delivered back to those who were loyal to him. The demons were reinvigorated, and their strength soared.
It was a sudden, brutal reversal.
Those who’d suffered scratches now paid back their opponents threefold. The sheer shock of the situation made the Clay Dragon’s forces fall leeward. However, they quickly recovered. The sudden burst of strength brought them to a stalemate.
Phase three, begin! Ling Dong shouted.
The Razorback Sovereign’s forces increased the ferocity of their attacks. Conjointly, Ling Dong activated his Demon-Subduing Intent’s second ability, suppression. The violet energy his opponents had gathered was scattered and began funneling into his own crown, which grew and grew until it reached a critical point. It seemed to burst with power, and the enemy forces cowered at the sight of it.
As the crown grew, his own forces grew stronger. They seemed to be building an unstoppable momentum. Even the Sunblaze King’s team in the skies began overpowering their enemy’s forces. Demons began to fall from the skies. Lords began to collapse from their wounds.
They were winning. And according to the Razorback Sovereig
n, the Clay Dragon Sovereign wasn’t one for subterfuge. It was only a matter of how much blood and how many lives they were willing to pay to make it happen.
Ling Dong felt a hint of sadness as he surveyed the shifting battlefield. During his time on the mountain, he’d made many friends. At the very least, he respected and cared for these demons that had fought alongside him. They were winning, but at what cost? As much as he wanted to leave, he didn’t want their blood on his hands. A hint of humanity lit up in Ling Dong’s soul as he remembered a bit of who he was. He was human, and there was a limit to what he was willing to pay for his freedom.
Frowning, he looked at the chaotic demonic energies and his imposing crown. It was shuddering, yearning to burst through its invisible shackles.
If only I could break them, Ling Dong thought. If only I could transcend this situation.
The moment he thought this, an amazing phenomenon occurred. One of the weakest kings on the Clay Dragon’s side cried out in despair.
I submit to the Demon-Subduing King! He yelled.
His cry echoed across the battlefield, and Ling Dong’s crown shook with the new influx of demonic energy. Ling Dong’s eyes narrowed as he realized what his crown was missing, what it needed. What he needed if he wanted to avoid further bloodshed.
He hefted his bone greatsword and plunged into the battlefield, avoiding claws and batting away paws as he located some weaker kings doing battle. He found exactly what he was looking for in short order—a bristling porcupine demon with a substantially lower presence than the other kings. From the looks of it, he couldn’t use his needles to attack, only defend.
Ling Dong grunted. He slammed his foot on the ground and caused a giant earthen hand to spring out and knock the demonic porcupine up into the air. Then he leapt up as well and intensified gravity, causing both him and the porcupine to plunge downward. Ling Dong kicked into its stomach and exerted his Demon-Subduing Intent on the quivering porcupine. Just moments before they hit the ground, the beast submitted, adding another surge of power to his bursting aura.
The porcupine cowered and refused to fight any longer, so Ling Dong ignored it. Instead, he swept the battlefield with his violet gaze and found an ugly toad demon king who wasn’t locked in battle with anyone. His surroundings were covered in a poisonous miasma, which he used to interfere in nearby battles.
Ling Dong called upon the power of the mountain, filling his legs with inhuman strength, which he used to close the gap in a fraction of a breath. Then he urged the demonic energy to merge with his flame qi and transform his surroundings into a sea of flame.
The miasma hissed, and the toad king’s skin blistered and popped. Unlike the porcupine from before, it was quivering in fear before he could even approach it.
Get back! The toad yelled. Jets of corrosive water sprung from below the earth, forming a corrosive cloud as it evaporated in Ling Dong’s sea of flames.
Ling Dong used the sea of mist to disappear, his Demon-Subduing Eyes guiding the way through the battlefield’s turbulent energy flows. Then, just as the mist began to dissipate, he sprang into action. As he swung down with his bone greatsword, six metallic spikes jutted out from the ground and imprisoned the toad. His eyes widened in horror as Ling Dong bore down on him. It didn’t take long for the toad to yell, I submit!
Another surge of energy. These latest two demons seemed to cause a chain reaction.
I yield as well! The next weakest king shouted.
The crown shook once again. Then a third time, then a fourth time. After the fifth submission, the crown began to crack and shake. Then it burst into countless violet shards. These shards spread out across the battlefield and caused the demons to freeze. They dared not move as they trembled in fear.
The crown’s fragments, seeing their obedient behavior, suddenly darted back to their original position. They re-formed the crown, but unlike before, a small tinge of gold appeared on it. The gold deepened, and soon the crown was violet gold. It was a sovereign’s crown, and with it, Ling Dong felt unprecedented control over not only his own mountain, but the two others beside it. He felt the presence of all kings on all three mountains, as well as the three sovereigns up above. He stared up at the clouds, where he saw their ruler, the Monarch.
“This battle is over,” a voice said. The skies rumbled with thunder, and the sovereigns zipped down. The Razorback Sovereign appeared beside Ling Dong, but this time, their relationship was different. She was not his superior, but his ally. The Clay Dragon Sovereign, on the other hand, expanded his own violet crown to encompass his own subordinates. However, try as he might, he could not recover the subordinates Ling Dong had taken.
Would the Demon-Subduing Sovereign kindly return my subordinates? The Clay Dragon said. The large clay dragon spread out its wings. His wingspan was 120 feet wide, and the pressure he emitted didn’t lose out to the Razorback Sovereign’s in the slightest.
Why should he? The Razorback Sovereign said. They’re his subordinates now. How dare you try and snatch them!
You! The Clay Dragon Sovereign shouted.
Come back to my mountain with me, the Razorback Sovereign said in a soothing voice. I’ll surely give you a good price in exchange for their loyalty. She used her large wing to sweep Ling Dong toward their own peak.
I’ll offer double! The Clay Dragon exclaimed.
Don’t leave me out of this, another voice yelled from the other mountain. It was the third and strongest sovereign.
“I’m sure we can come to an agreement between the four of us,” Ling Dong said, grinning. “I take it I’ve fulfilled my end of the bargain?” he said to the Razorback Sovereign.
From now on, you owe me nothing, the Razorback Sovereign said. But the Storm Tiger Monarch asked me to inform you of a matter. As a sovereign of this mountain range, you now owe him. He doesn’t want you to pay anything now, but in the future, you’ll owe him a single favor.
Ling Dong nodded; he’d expected this. The more time he spent on the mountain, the more aligned he was with their intentions, their honor, and their nature.
Oh well, he thought. That’s something I’ll resolve later. For now, he had three sovereigns to shake down. It would be a shame to return to the plateau empty-handed.
Chapter 49
A violet mist rushed into Zi Long’s spiritual sea the moment he grabbed the violet heart. His surroundings throbbed and distorted. A thousand mirrors broke at once, causing panes of reality to fall apart. A gong sounded three times—each time fiercer than the last. His ears bled but didn’t, and the floor shook with every quake the sound created.
A violet contract appeared within his soul. He reviewed it quickly and signed it in imaginary violet blood. The contract burnt to ashes, and a violet maelstrom swirled around him. The violet heart reappeared on the pedestal, untouched, yet it remained in his hand all the same.
A chime rang six times, and each time, he felt an urge deep within his heart. The first three urges were repressed, but the last three entranced him. The desire for pleasant sounds soothed him, the desire for a good life and a good death appealed to him, and he was struck by the beauty of his own image. For an instant, vanity seemed like it would consume his soul.
Then seven crystals appeared. Each crystal was colored, translucent, and surreal. They were small hearts, and one by one, they began to break. With the first one, he felt great joy. The second, unstoppable anger. These were followed by grief, worry, fear, and attachment. Finally, he was overwhelmed by affection.
The hearts vanished in a puff of violet smoke, and nine orbs appeared. The five elements were there, clear as day. A black sphere and a white sphere were also there, though they seemed to bring about the birth and disappearance of the five elements, their destruction and creation.
Then came a violet sphere, which superimposed the two. The living and the dead coexisted. Frost and flame danced together. Time seemed to go forward and backward like an illusion. But all eight spheres were overshadowed by the gray one.
The gray sphere encompassed all.
The vision faded, and out of the corner of his eye, Zi Long found Mu Qian. True and false had blended momentarily, and he now saw two Mu Qians. One was a young man with a violet robe, innocent and pure. The other was a tall man with a black robe. He had golden skin and pouches of poison at his waist. Zi Long remembered him all too well.
“Mo De!” he shouted, his rage rising. The holy spirit in his spiritual sea didn’t resist. The gap between them closed instantaneously, and Ling Dong struck down with his violet staff. The air shattered and pierced into the man like a thousand daggers.
Sensing his impending doom, Mo De banished his disguise. He batted aside the shards and the staff and forced Zi Long back with a simple palm thrust. It was the illusory palm, mastered to the third level of completion. And with Mo De’s monstrously strong body, Zi Long was propelled backward twenty steps.
“Very good, very good,” Mo De said, cackling. “Who would have thought that I’d be seen through after all this time. The violet heart’s reputation isn’t in vain. With it, even an insect like you can sting a god like me.”
“Your disguise is lifted, and your plan is foiled,” Zi Long said. “Give up, and I’ll grant you a swift death.”
Mo De chuckled sinisterly, and the walls seemed to laugh with him. Reality shifted, and the room grew darker. Mo De’s body expanded as he was surrounded by a dark cloud. He grew to a height of twenty feet, and his hands morphed into sharp claws. He emanated a wisp of power greater than foundation establishment. Core formation.
Through the holy spirit, Zi Long understood that Mo De was a half-step core-formation cultivator. Worse yet, he was a devil, and he hadn’t yet used his consumption ability. If he did, he would bear the might of an initial-core-formation cultivator. Far stronger than he could manage.
“I worked so long and so hard,” Mo De said. “My plan was years in the making. I planted myself as a young cultivator. I worked hard to get my initiation while still hiding my presence from Fan Yong and the holy spirit. I toiled at mystic arts I didn’t understand until finally, I became an elder. Then I killed Fan Yong after he didn’t give in to my brutal torture.
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