Fatherly Asura

Three days had passed and Fu held the tournament in his mind.

The makings of a Path for his disciples had taken hold, lacking only the arrival of Kang Jae and Shaokang to aid in their first step. As a seat of the Phoenix Melody Coalition, Cloud Dragon Hall held the benefit of fielding six disciples in the upcoming bouts, and to combat the young geniuses of the Clear Sky he knew their training must be more ruthless than any he had delivered before.

Yet, his own was directionless.

Thus, these three days.

Amidst a foreign cloud, he reflected on this history. Nine [Constellation Seeds] had been reaped - all from [Core Formation Realm] troves.

And these were lacking.

Base.

[True Lord Realms] must be his domain now, of this he was certain. All below were unsuitable.

The history continued.

Fang, fur, chitin, blood. All things blurred. The half-step immortal corpses left behind. [Trial Guardians] slaughtered despite the free offer of their treasures. Realms wherein only his chain flew, his palm, his [Intent], the breath of his [External Arts] and [Pull].

As a wind between realms, they galed.

Some cabal of hidden, [Demonic Sects], drawn from the Clouded Courts own archives. It seemed fitting to direct his fleeting use of their intelligence towards righteous acts.

A visiting [Spirit Precursor Beast] had proven worthy in the moments thereafter.

The wisps of its death might have filled a mountain.

However, for all this ceaseless joy their [Ink] had only revealed one aspect.

[Primordial Law of Tribulations]

Refinement.

[Second Law: Longanimity] 1/100,000

Hushi fluffed the tangerine clouds about them in distracted fashion, and for one without [Pale Mists Hegemony] it would have revealed the chasmic peaks below. The spires of verdant rock upon which myriad [Spirit Birds] roosted.

Inconsequential to their ruminations.

“Ever is it said,” he said, needing no impression to convey his meaning. “More now, that it is our [First Law].”

A hum spread from Shuidi’s shell, the [Spirit Crab] dormant within.

“Equilibrium.”

“Equilibrium,” voiced Shuidi.

Fu too, whisked the cloud. “Our actions and course have been in disarray because we have distanced ourselves from the [Dao]. The Jianghu’s recurring wisdom. All things in balance. Whatsoever method our advancement must follow - to rejoin our second selves upon completing [Harmony], it cannot be done without the [Dao].”

“The shape of our insight is of curiosity. What will it become? Our [Dao of Four Horizons], how will it be coloured when one half has begun to act righteously and the other lingers in the dark? This Gao Shuidi is intrigued.”

He passed a small breath. “I am less so. Our Path is affirmed with every ponderance of the [Dao], and we have purposefully neglected it. One’s soul is defined by their Qi. To absorb Heaven’s energy, refine it within one’s [Core]- their [Spirit]... They reinforce themselves. Become greater. Yet, so too do they become deeper. Many have spoken on this, no? The effect of cultivation on one’s emotions, outlook, personality and thoughts.”

“Yongwu Long alluded to as much. Hua’s [Spirit] within the [Primordial Realm] confirmed it. The folly of this Jianghu’s pride. Wrath and ignorance are instilled by one’s betters, the Patriarchs, Heads, Seats and Elders extoll cruel virtues and the Qi of their lessers reinforces it. Molds short-tempers, pride and selfish hearts into one’s [Core] till all that remains is arrogance. This is the [True Golden Demon’s] wisdom. Why all must be remade.”

“Just so.”

“Just so,” acknowledged Hushi.

“Our second selves are tempered by darkened [Dao]. True duality. Is it not clear now both what risk and opportunity this presents?” mused Fu. “The melding of our [Dao] upon completion must be balanced, lest we lose all we have become since our absence. Yet so too will it increase our insight by leaps and bounds.”

Shuidi hummed, pensively.

Fresh clouds emerged from their breath as a mantra began, folding each of the trio into their lotus.

The [Conception Vessel] was reached.

A shore spread before them, as welcome as a prodigal son.

First of note was the absence of all chains above their [Core], the great teal sun of this realm, unshackled above tranquil waters. Such stillness was not in equilibrium for the [Primordial Lords of Tribulation], nor the potential [Dao] and experiences they had suffered in past [Seasons].

Pincers rose to shatter the quiet, demanding the rage of seas and wind to put right the inner peace found here.

The rain of their [Hundred Immunities Fruit] fell thick.

The shore of their [Hollow Ivory Splinter] drank much.

Thunder cracked within the clouds of their [Heartplume of Clouded Schisms].

“Tumultous, to be dragged from rest,” voiced the Old One, appearing in these shaking waters.

One seed remained unplanted.

Another source of disharmony.

[Profundity] massed as Fu walked upon his sea. “The clouds hold no throne, yet breeze above all things. Only the Heavens we hold closest rest at the pinnacle. We, their wardens and inciting action. Arbiters of Change, Lords of Tribulation, the living Dualities of Ever Shifting Clouds. Here we remind our [Spirit] of its nature.”

Their realm roared as a calamity of mists tore about them.

Hushi and Shuidi neared as their [Spirit] resonated with no small strength, flooding a certainty throughout [Body] and [Mind].

They cleansed the mists with a single wave, finding much had changed within their [Conception Vessel].

At the center of their realm sparkled sands of teal-grey hue, as though constellations ran through each grain. These formed no sprawling expanse, but a shore upon which a gentle ascent of natural steps rose, housing at their small peak a [Paifang] of simple wooden construction. Gold and grey patternage was inscribed upon its length, and it was here that the three moved to bear witness to the maelstrom about them.

Tides of oscillating mist.

A sea in which white became grey or black, gold or teal, playing host to myriad storms and gentle breezes, all rotating the shore of his land with the whimsy of Heaven’s will.

Rain fell. Rain ceased.

The light of their [Core] waxed. The light of their [Core] waned.

Ever-Shifting.

Hushi trailed an arm upon the wood. “Harmony breeds insight.”

“The true [Spirit] of [Tribulations]. Danger. Opportunity. This wizened master feels its embrace. How novel.”

Something existed here.

A hint.

A trace of insight lost- no, insight unchased. Fu held wonder at the depths of their [Spirit], no doubt the two-thirds of his peerless partners, for it had accrued a wealth- engraving it upon the unseen edges of their soul.

They sat.

Further [Profundity] massed and the words came as easy as breath.

“There is conquest in winds as there are horizons. There is rain enough to drown the lands as much as nourish. The essence of both is balm and blade. Yet it is not unique,” they intoned as one, allowing… something, a force, a Law, an instinct, to carry their tongue. “A chiliocosm contains the thousandfold children of a thousandfold sires: a thousandfold sires to a thousandfold more, and in each the breath of necessity. Such is Change’s essence in a thousandfold variations, existing free of [Karma], time and station. To the self what might this show? To the fisherman? To the warrior? To the monk? The pauper? The immortal? Strife does not bequeath its name. [Tribulation] does not bend the knee, for its nature remains as Truth. If [Tribulation] for the fisherman is [Tribulation] for the immortal then does its strength not remain unbroken? Is it not the source? A thousandfold cloud remains-”

Fu ground shut his jaw before more madness might be spoken, slicing a great gouge from his lips with the effort. Blood from his ephemeral flesh dropped atop the grounds of his [Conception Vessel] as he and his partners strove for control.

War racked his [Spirit], as though a thousandfold… as though myriad strings sought to wrench them in all directions.

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Their tongue, [Mind] and instincts were overcome- possessed, by Truth. A thing of fundamental nature that seeped in from their [Immortal Arbiter’s Soul].

Reason told then what Hua had first warned of.

A [Primordial Law] must be claimed, do not allow it to claim you.

The influence of their [Law] surged with the rage of dragons, teeth-baring, world-ending, cataclysm-arriving. That of the trichiliocosm and the concentric seas, barrier to the formless realms where divine-

This very being tore through Fu’s encircling mists amidst a host of golden storms. Lightning tore the skies asunder borne of each raindrop as the being’s nine heads and eight arms rose to grasp them.

Hushi and Shuidi came to Fu’s opposing shoulders, defiant against this font of overwhelming insight, Truth and Law, seeing how it desired to impart all heedless of the vessel. Its vast heads roared back and in each palm there sprouted a thousand miniature worlds, converging as a single breath into a devastating orb at its fore.

But the three-souls-made-one of the Fatherly [Asura] had firmed their [Spirit].

They had returned to Equilibrium.

Thus-

“Do you see it, brother, sister?”

“I see it,” said Fu.

“Bah,” hummed Shuidi. “Did you expect anything less?”

[Pull].

The dragon’s flesh was like their own, of ephemeral cloud.

It came when called.

A vortex to vanish down the spout of Fu’s pipe.

“We accept this glimpse into greater things,” he said, shaking. “But we shall make this opportunity our own.”

[Profundity] detonated within them.

What came was a return to the deluge of insight. The madness and complexity of Truths he was uncertain could be contained within this realm. They seemed things etched upon the very bones of the world.

Roars upon [Karma’s] winds. Whispers held between seconds. Unspoken characters the likes of which held no script.

The three condensed this chaos within them as though a common poison.

“A thousandfold worlds stand beside our own, the same and disparate, yet borne of the same loom. One breath twists about them, a cradle, a net, the weaver’s thread comprised of the one constant and fundamental Truth,” parsed Fu.

“Be it omen or boon, [Karma’s Ties] are its lesser messenger. A strand of the greater.”

Shuidi hummed. “All things are as winds and rain, as the clouds that house them. Manifestations of the puddle they were to the sea they now are, the gale of today to the whispered exhalation of tomorrow. Unescapable.”

“We are its Arbiters. Necessity’s Recollection. The silvering line betwixt [Tribulation] and Blessing.”

Fu inhaled the last of this dragon, giving voice to all they had consumed of its gift. Strange as it was that even fishermen might know these words. “There is time, there is tide, there is fate and favor, yet still the seas turn to mulberry fields.”

[Ink] burned.

🀦

The scroll before Mingqin’s palace might well have crumpled had these characters of ink and meaning any weight. After these few days of standing, however, the list had shortened in dramatic fashion.

Even so, the entries were plentiful.

Fu felt a solidity he had not possessed in many [Seasons] as he stood untroubled before it, reciting internally all that the Old One had gleaned from Wen Pinxui’s latest missive.

“A shell,” he would think.

“Another seven for the Ninth Golden Reserve. To equate moneylending with righteousness is a mistake even the blind would not make. Yet. Hmm. This wizened master is impressed by the depths of their deception.”

“The depths of all deceptions,” noted Fu.

Parent Sects. Cousin Sects. Sister Sects. Branch Sects. Hidden Sects. Moon-facing Sects. Masquerading Sects.

One might surmise that the allegiances upon this banner were not so varied as the common eye might see.

The air cooled as Ivory Sea stormed towards him, either with the promise of violence or in her usual gait, this much could never be known before words were shared. “Something to share?” she sneered.

“Good morning, Ivory Sea.”

“That remains to be seen. I’ve had the annoyance of having several baths interrupted by assassins,” she said, throwing the fabrics of several blackened hanfu towards him. “My mood depends well on their nature. You’d best say if you held a part in this.”

Wind brought them to his palm.

Old Master?

A fugue of golden fog spouted from Fu’s chest, delivering the catfish hence. “Threads sewn in the style of [Longlong Webworks]. Yet the needling suggests otherwise. Inscriptions upon their tools mend the site of puncture, where this remains minutely broken. The faintest trace of a [Winter’s] [Dao] exists, yet it is not your own. Perhaps… no, in certainty, your assassins were of the Immortal Reflections Palace.”

“Pah. That old fool sends vexations,” she groaned.

“Which old fool?” asked Fu, unsure if he was curious or merely making conversation. “Of late I have come to realise I know little of these players.”

Ivory Sea took his measure. “[True Golden Demon] has concerns on this. More so these little mortal sentiments you seem to hold. If- Pah, you’ve shown hospitality where it wasn’t needed, so I’ll refrain from calling you a fool, a blinded bastard, talentless and doomed to insignificance. In place of it, I’ll grant you my peerless wisdom.”

A hum sounded, though she seemed not to register its meaning.

“No matter this-,” she said, gesturing to all of him. “-deception, guise or whatever foul shell you cast upon yourself, disregard it. There is an underlying truth here. You, that plum-eyed bastard, the spectacled scribe that stood upon that [Spring]-defying ship - you’ve reached a point that lessers needn’t concern you. Safety is accrued through power, Fu. That you still fret with all you hold is shameful.”

Mists rose about them, concealing all sound.

“I am still the Fatherly [Asura].”

Hers was not a pleasant laugh. “Truly? [Fatherly Asura]. Hmm. I don’t twist [Profundity] to make it so. How unusual and truly, extremely uninteresting. Heed my point regardless, for you’d be a fool to ignore my wisdom. Commit the most brazen and dangerous of bastards to memory, all else are of no consequence.”

Hushi made note of her tone, interjecting before Fu’s words could form. “Against [Dances Upon an Ivory Sea], who might be counted as dangerous?”

“Few,” she admitted. “Yes, few could be. The [Plum Axe], of course. The maligned serpent twins. Those Numbered above Eleven amongst the One Hundred and Eight, though the orchestrations of [Sixth Under Heaven’s] death hold the Vajra busy… and there are those that dared twist this position upon me.”

“The conspirators that twisted this position upon you,” gently repeated Fu. “The true hand behind these… crimes against the Clear Sky.”

Frost grew atop all surfaces, and Fu’s pipe nigh froze on his lips.

“I’ll say two things, and the first allows me the pleasure of calling you fool. Crimes. Another mortal sentiment. What crimes? There is will, there is action, and no more exists for those of [True King Realm]. To speak of rights? Of virtue? Of mortal laws? It will be said eternally to all righteous insects that think themselves true, heroic or honourable,” Ivory Sea paused. “We are nature itself, Gao Fu, and no wind, snow or tide is accountable. Lest widows and orphans decry the moon for rising, isn’t it a madness- a sickness to think one might curse the eternal?”

Fu had indeed heard this speech before. It was one of infinite variation.

“-when a breath for you is ten moons for them?”

“-as brittle and short-lived as insects.”

“-does the shark wallow for devouring the shoal?”

“-one admires the mountain, for it has risen above all pebbles. None weep for the stone that scuttles underfoot.”

A sharp sneer came before Fu might respond. “The sun has addled your mind, Gao Fu, as I could swear you, the serpent’s fang, the assassin, were about to speak on life’s sanctity.” She laughed then, and justification turned it as loud as any daoist’s bell.

The [Fatherly Asura] was unmarred, and his smile was shown to vex her. “I do not dispute it. Merely, we wished to know your second point.”

At this, her frost retracted.

Shuidi was unsure if it occurred by choice.

“The sun does not mask itself, for in doing so it is no longer the sun. We are not masked from [Karma], sentiment and eyes as you and the Subtle Paths need be. Such concepts are for unseen bastards and fools,” she sneered. “Crimes. The acts I undertook are not false.”

“Listen well to this vexation, younglings. There is depth to her words she gifts without knowing.”

Ivory Sea continued through the Old One’s internal words. “It’s that I did so alone. There stands the falsehood. Of all names unmentioned, of those I’d mark as dangerous, commit these four to memory. My former New Heavens, each enough to rival the Five Pillars- both of which seek to claim the [Hollow Throne].”

All [Senses] expanded.

“[Ninth Under Heaven], possessing of all the resources under Heaven. [Primordial Lord of Accumulation],” she said, darkening. “Then the simpering old fool, [Venerable Reed Sage], a dragon in senile clothing. He is the [Primordial Lord of Memory].”

Old master.

“These names are committed.”

She spat thrice upon the ground before continuing, and each droplet became crystal upon leaving her lips. “[Once-Beggared Ghost],” she sneered. “Among them all, they’re the most detestable. A [Demonic] thing. An aberration. They are [Spirit Beasts] in swarm, carrying the disgusting [Spiritual] remains of their former cultivator within them. Pah. I have faced their [Primordial Law of Gluttony], and it is a revulsion I would not speak on further.”

“There are those within the Clouded Courts we might leverage against these foes.”

“Clouded Courts!” she laughed. “My charity has reached its limits, Gao Fu. Are you so blind? With whom do you believe they conspire? Fool. Five Pillars stand, and who better to collapse them? Even I acknowledge the serpent’s strength. Not a crumb might be drawn from them if not done by their own hand.”

Only [Gleeful Viper]. Was Bingbai’s warning not stern? Of Orthodox against Unorthodox. Only she might receive our support, these were his orders.

“[Gleeful Viper].”

Ivory Sea shook. “Do you attempt to seem educated with this guess? She was not spurned for a millenia-old choice, nor is she the stain. No, Gao Fu. [Thrice-Clouded Boa]. The one reviled for her childish haste. Has JInghui Hua shared nothing?”

Silence passed.

“This Gao Shuidi counts three names among the four. There is another conspirator,” hummed the [Spirit Crab].

“He is of little consequence. Or rather, warning of him will do little good. [Looming Amaranth Tyrant]. A being as old as the Heavens themselves. [Primordial Lord of the Hunt]. The intent behind his actions isn’t that of the others. Indeed, the [Hollow Throne] holds interest for him only as long as it provides sport,” she considered, and strangely her next words were not conveyed as humor. “If he sat upon it, any might simply ask him to move.”

Hushi lifted the douli, but was weary of speech.

Fu gave voice to his thoughts. “We wonder why warning of him will do little good. Can he not be swayed? Or has he given up his ambitions altogether? You speak as though he holds other interests.”

“I see now why Jinghui Hua hasn’t shared all. We spoke, briefly, after you had diminished me Gao Fu. Recall how I rescinded my [Dao Oath] to end you? That will remain unbroken. My hand will not end you,” she teased. “His interest is you, [Primordial Lord of Tribulations], and those forsaken words that had my ears bleed each morning.”

Their [Immortal Arbiter’s Soul] thumped in anticipation, and again Ivory Sea seemed vexed by their smile.

“You have set the [Primordial Lord of the Hunt] upon us?” hummed Shuidi, pincers a-clack. “All magnanimity before this was false, yet now, Ivory Sea offers true charity.”

Mists broke through the frozen spout of their pipe, billowing skyward. “We are prone to many conversations, no? As though our tongue is a sail upon stormy seas, ever blowing. Could you remind us of these words, Ivory Sea?”

The surrounding ice fractured, loudly.

“No less than this is required,” she fumed, whipping the long trails of her daxuishuan against them in parting. “Pah.”

From somewhere distant, Long laughed.

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