I trust Zhang Xiaohou and Su Xiaoluo enough that I'm comfortable activating the Demon Element in front of them, something I couldn't claim when surrounded by the other volunteers: hence why I didn't demonize at the bridges. Above all else, I value my own life and that of my loved ones. The sight of innocents dying certainly depresses me, but it's not enough to coerce me to hopelessly sacrifice myself, let alone my friends.
That's why I entered the Abyss, confident that the Demon Element was a superior enough trump card to preserve my life in emergencies, allowing me a chance at saving the city while ensuring my survival. I'm willing to risk the chance that using it will drain me completely, since I believe it's just a tiny possibility. Large enough that I didn't just attack the Mountain Zombie, but small enough to risk when there's truly no other way to protect millions of civilians.
[But will demonizing now be premature?]
The more undead I massacre without the Demon Element, the greater my gains in terms of Soul Remnants and Essences. After all, it's impossible to net any profit by channeling the Demon Element; it sucks all my accumulations dry, and then some.
[Fine, I'll give it a go without demonizing.]
2000 undead.
As my two friends back away, I slowly stride towards the menacing undead pack, swords in hand. I align 49 Light stars in my right hand, then in my left hand. Yellow dragons now decorate the blades, emitting a bright golden radiance.
My eyes constantly flit around, scanning the environment for threats. A foul-odored, rotting zombie lunges… and my sword cleaves upwards, leaving behind two smoking zombie halves that melt within seconds. My left sword plunges into a skeleton's skull, and my right sword whirls around to bisect the waists of three zombies trying to flank me. I neatly sidestep a phantom's lunge and cut through its intangible body—the Light-infused blades wreak havoc on its body and turn it to ashes like any other lowly undead.
Dodge the clumsy swipes of four zombies while bisecting another two. Decapitate those four zombies while leaning my head to the side at times to avoid a skeleton's launched bone javelin. Here and there, I allow the undead to attack my accumulated light shields if it means I can escape a tough spot with no injury: I wildly hack at nearby zombies and skeletons to clear out some space while the others burn themselves trying to reach me.
Whirling around in yet another evasive maneuver, I see nothing but undead in all directions. Rotting corpses, bloody flesh, deathly odors, all amidst gray ground and a reddish sky. It's the very picture of hell.
I hack away, eviscerating skeleton after skeleton, zombie after zombie, phantom after phantom, until I come face to face with a Giant Corpse General, looming above me at a staggering 4 meters tall. Its menacing red eyes meet my gaze, and it swipes down with huge hands almost half my size. I roll forward, then cut through two zombies and the General's knee in one fluid motion. When it staggers and places its palms on the ground to recover its balance, I leap onto its shoulder and drag a blazing golden and black sword through its neck. The headless body immediately ceases its motions and stiffens, falling to the ground. From experience, I know the head will dissolve in another minute or so.
I raise my two swords, deflecting a pair of bone projectiles that were thrown from different directions. There is no time to celebrate mana-efficient kills of Warriors, or indeed anything at all.
I lose all sense of rational thought, allowing my instincts to take over. In less than 30 minutes, all that's left is piles of flesh and bones, with smoking ash filling in the gaps. I sit down, deciding to use this period of time to recover my stamina. Luckily, I don't need to recover any mana: a full Light Galaxy recovers the equivalent of a Basic Light spell every 5 seconds. That's approximately the rate at which I was repleneshing my swords' radiance, so my Spiritual World remains in peak condition. Reassuring news, unlike the phenomena unfolding before my eyes.
A second silver vortex materializes in the dim, red sky. This one's far larger, dumping out around 10,000 undead led by a 20 meter tall Blood Skeleton Official.
Instead of wreaking havoc on the masses of undead from a close range, I opt to blend through the shadows, using Shadow Evades in quick succession. I relish in the skeleton's dumbfounded demeanor as it gazes at me weaving through the pack of undead. Approaching it seems to wake it up from its stupor, and it glares at me before charging, planning to slice me apart with a bone sword. I read the movements of its arms and sidestep the swing that passes by my right shoulder, punishing the attack by slicing off its right arm and forcing the sword to clatter to the ground from the sudden lack of support. Before it recovers and before the surrounding undead can dogpile on me, I transport through the shadows onto its shoulder. It immediately shakes violently while rocketing its good hand at my body, and the arm I sliced off is already shuddering, about to return to its original position.
[Too little, too late.]
I spot its crystal in its skull, and my sword shears through the tough bone like it isn't even there, shattering the milky white crystal half the size of me. It collapses, its rising hand going limp and losing all of its strength. I nimbly leap off the building-sized creature and land on the ground; ten thousand undead are staring at me, confused about the lack of orders from their Commander. The bewilderment doesn't last long, as they commence their attacks. I repeatedly use tier 4 Shadow Evades to trick the undead into aiming at the shadow clones while I make my escape. I stop once I'm a few hundred meters away from the bulk of the undead army.
I snipe at the known locations of their undead crystals from hundreds of meters away by firing 5 arrows with the Chaotic Piercer at a time. Once they approach me, I strap the bow to my back and summon the black, gleaming swords. Their golden dragon patterns contrast with the sea of gray cloth and black armor worn by the undead. I commence the mass slaughter, weaving between bites, blocking sharp bones with my swords, deflecting the trajectories of crushing limbs, and stabbing undead crystals. I whirl around as I fight, keeping an eye on all 360 degrees of vision. I lean to the side, avoiding by centimeters the head of a zombie that lunged at me in a vain attempt to chew on my face. My sword naturally penetrates its head in a fluid motion, continuing on its path to parry 3 bone projectiles aimed at my skull. The other sword cuts through 5 zombies and skeletons' bodies. Dual Rays excise the ranged creatures surrounding me.
I deflect bone projectiles precisely, swinging the flats of my blades at them, even as I align 7 Shadow stars over and over, transporting me to a region outside of the encirclement of undead. They're met with a rain of arrows, and their charge only feeds into my kiting. I parry the odd bone spear with my bow as I continue firing.
A minute. Ten minutes. An hour. Two hours. Over and over, I escape the encirclement, kill around a hundred undead with my bow, and then slaughter them in droves when they catch up to me. Almost 3 hours pass before the final zombie receives a sharp package with its head.
Nyx furiously refines the remnants into essences: in total, 366 Soldier and 51 Warrior refined Soul Essences, plus 52 Soldier and 8 Warrior natural Soul Essences. Without hesitation, I upgrade the remaining 294 Light stars with Soldier Soul Essences, 42 Light stars with Warrior Soul Essences, and 7 Shadow stars with Warrior Soul Essences.
Despite fueling my swords with Light mana, it didn't surpass the base regeneration of my full Light Galaxy by much, so it's still nearly in peak condition.
But my body is not. I decide not to continue after witnessing the silver vortex dump 50,000 undead onto the rocky expanse. My arms are aching from drawing the bow thousands of times. My heart is racing. My skin is secreting rivers of sweat. Even my head agonizingly pulses, since there's so much mental processing happening constantly to ensure I don't die in a melee.
It's time. I channel the mana from the Demon Galaxy, manifesting it in my body. Dark blood circulates through my veins, seeping out and forming myriad patterns across my torso and limbs. I grow taller, my muscles and bones enhancing in length and strength. My irises alternate between gold, blue, black, and a translucent gray, visible in the reflection of myself on an onyx sword.
The physical characteristics are mere redundancies when compared with the changes in my Spiritual World. Each Galaxy, Nebula, even the Chaos Stardust is enveloped with a blood-black aura, exponentially enhancing my mana, control, spell potency, and every other aspect of my magic. A blood-red radiance spreads around, lighting up the dim sky, with me as its source.
The Corpse, Bone, and Phantom Officials are appalled at the sight, perhaps wondering why their master sent them to certain doom. I ignore them for a moment longer, focusing on my Light and Water Galaxies.
A beautiful blue blade streaked with yellow appears, extending to 400 meters long, denser than the Commanders' flesh. A few swipes through the crowd, and even the towering Officials are hacked into smoldering pieces, to say nothing of the rest. Tens of thousands of glowing lights flow into Nyx—I'll definitely need them.
Suddenly, the silver vortex ever present above us begins to viciously expand. Predicting an ominous event, I bound over to Zhang Xiaohou and Su Xiaoluo, picking them up. Enveloping us with Chaos magic, I reverse gravity, allowing us to float to a silver door hovering far above the ground. I toss them in, turning to face the threat. Enormous legs several times thicker and larger than skyscrapers are on the ground, and the silver vortex isn't even above its waist.
The Mountain Zombie does not appreciate its predicament, and black lightning explodes around its feet, propelling its jump straight out of the portal. The space is sent into chaotic turmoil from the catastrophic lightning, tearing itself apart even faster than when the exit, the silver door, appeared after I killed the 3rd wave of undead. I hastily control the Chaos magic to levitate through the silver vortex, finally leaving the endless compressed spaces connected to the Dark Abyss.
I've jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. In front of me, the Mountain Zombie sizes me up, wary of the torrents of magic pouring off of my figure. Millions of undead surround me, hacking away at the faltering golden barrier.
The Mountain Zombie decides I'm not an opponent to be feared, expressing this sentiment by throwing a fist that shatters space along its path. I barely teleport away in the shadows as spatial cracks tear apart my prior location. Shielding myself with Water and Light, I sidestep its next fist and the spatial cracks don't penetrate my protective blue-yellow barrier. I collapse the barrier into an incredibly dense coat of armor, and I decimate its extended arm with shadow claws, cleanly severing a forearm the size of a cruise liner into pieces. The ground cracks beneath me as I rocket upwards after I squat and jump with all my strength. Chaos aids my flight straight towards the zombie's mouth, currently roaring in pain, and I switch gravity's direction to the right just in time to avoid black death rays firing out of its eyes. They swivel to my location, and I thank the stars it's currently night, allowing me to apparate through the shadows onto its shoulder, right next to its neck.
Coalescing light into a blinding gold spear the length of a skyscraper, I stab halfway through the wound on its throat before the Mountain Zombie manages to swipe at me with a gargantuan palm. My Water and Light armor dims to a minimum with that single blow, and the impact still launches me kilometers away, crushing hundreds of undead beneath my body as the ground slows my momentum. Although every inch of my body aches, I groan and stand up.
It starts running away, picking up Corpse Officials and stuffing them in the gargantuan lesion I widened on its throat, blocking the waterfall of blood pouring out. In all its cunning, it sends its army to block my pursuit, but I'm happy to kill all these undead—I need the souls. I decimate tens of thousands of undead, crushing them with tsunamis of water, devouring them with conjured shadow beasts, burning them with yellow blades of light on my path to the Mountain Zombie while Chaos-altered gravity accelerates me enough to close the gap.
[I'll go all out.]
Consuming almost every drop of mana in my body, I materialize a towering blue-yellow axe, nearly as tall as the Mountain Zombie. I merge into the shadows to arrive at its feet, swinging the weapon upwards to cleave the abomination in two, but the axe suddenly shatters.
A lonely, deformed man with unkempt black hair, sideburns, and black robes appears on the Mountain Zombie's shoulders. He withdraws the gaunt hand responsible for obliterating the mighty axe and swivels his head, telling the Mountain Zombie something.
[..... Zhan Kong???? Or the Ancient King?]
'Zhan Kong' remains seated on its shoulder as it starts striding away, the city shaking with every step. The endless undead follow, leaving behind the dim golden barrier currently flickering as if it'll disappear any moment now.
Moments ago, the city was filled to the brim with the presence of death while the undead ravaged the buildings and civilians. Now, it's completely empty. Almost peaceful.
We've won.
The undead are gone. Rivers of blood and flesh stain every ruined street and structure, reminding us of the calamity that just occurred, but we've won. Millions of citizens are alive and well, behind the inner city walls.
[I need to hide my identity.]
I melt into the shadows, rematerializing in a random crumbled building and forcing the Demon Element to leave my body. It grudgingly obeys, and my body collapses from the stress it just went through. All the remnants and essences I obtained while demonized are sucked away, though my fleeing vestiges of consciousness manage a feeling of relief that the Soul Essences collected and refined via my regular kills don't vanish.
I succumb to the darkness consuming my vision.
…
…
I wake up in a white hospital ward. Scanning the room, all 11 authorities are there, along with Han Ji, the mysterious man, Yao Nan, Uncle Mo, Mu Bai, Zhang Xiaohou, Su Xiaoluo, and conspicuously missing are Chief Xie Sang and Fang Gu.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of having you all greet me?"
Zhu Meng answers, "We gathered all the people who recognized you in that fight against the Mountain Zombie and swore each other to secrecy. You'll be overjoyed to know that we Super Mages have not left each other's sight; a makeshift cubicle that exposes the face was constructed, allowing us to relieve ourselves in relative privacy."
Li Yujian clarifies, "You won't have to worry about your identity leaking; everyone aside from Salan has the city's best interests at heart, and even setting aside the fact that we aren't evil, revealing your alternate self would only motivate you to seek revenge: something none of us are capable of taking measures against. Therefore, Salan is your only worry, yet who would believe the words of the Black Vatican when they have every motive to want you dead anyway? A downside of being considered maniacal terrorists by the general public is that they won't easily trust your words, especially when we authorities can clarify that it wasn't you."
Relieved, I divert the topic. "Speaking of which, how are we rooting out Salan? You guys can't stay here forever."
The mysterious man offers his input. "Indeed, but we need only wait a few more hours. The Heresy Judgement Court possesses a Cardinal Blood Stone, and they'll employ it to test the blood of everyone here. I'm sure Salan is in deep anguish, both at having failed to execute his plan to massacre the people of the Ancient Capital and at his inevitable arrest. Would you like to stick around and see the result?"
"Sure, if someone with the Shadow Element paralyzes everyone here; I don't want Salan telling the Holy Judgement Court about me out of spite when his fate is sealed."
Chu Jiao steps forth. "Leave it to me. I'll even immobilize myself." He proceeds with the task.
[Wow, he really did it, and Han Ji checked his work. I guess he's not Salan.]
Hours pass. The door barges open, and arrogant people dressed in white and gold robes stride in. Their leader, a tall old man, holds a blood-red rock crystal in his right hand.
He inquires, "Who are the suspects?"
Han Ji points him towards the 11 immobilized people.
The man chuckles. "I bet you didn't expect this day would arrive, Salan. Why don't we save the lady for last? Gentlemen, prepare yourselves."
He slices open Zhu Meng's finger and drips it onto the stone. Nothing happens. Du Xiao is next. Still nothing. Chu Jia. Lu Xu. Yao Ting. Fei Jiao. Wang Kai. Shi Zheng. Li Yujian.
If they all weren't immobilized, I'm sure they'd be staring at Li Jia and Ling Xi. The atmosphere is tense. The old man draws the blood of Li Jia and drips it onto the stone... and nothing happens.
The mysterious man, Han Ji, and I all audibly intake air. That leaves…
Sure enough, after he cuts Ling Xi's finger and spreads her blood onto the stone, it shines with a terrible scarlet light. A sinister grin materializes on his face.
"Found you. A woman, how unexpected. Now, die."
Before his subordinates can stop him, he decapitates Ling Xi, no, Salan with the same ceremonial knife. The headless body immediately thuds to the ground, spurting blood everywhere. He licks the blood off the blade in a grotesque fashion.
"I've always wanted to taste the blood of a Red Cardinal. Salan's machinations killed all four of my grandchildren. To whom do I owe the pleasure of this satisfaction?"
I point at the mysterious man, and he points at me.
"Interesting, the two of you. Since you're wrapped in cloth, I assume you don't want any glory. Is that why you pointed at the kid?"
"No. He played a critical role in several events. One of them is cooperating with me to lay out guidelines for the authorities to ensure Salan doesn't escape. Another is saving hundreds of civilians when the Mountain Zombie tossed Corpse Officials into the city. Yet another is jumping into the Dark Abyss with Zhang Xiaohou and Su Xiaoluo, and they somehow triggered a sequence of events that led to the undead fleeing the city."
"I see. Brat, do you want any rewards?"
"No, I just want to stay out of the public's eye. I'm not strong enough to defend myself just yet, and if my accomplishments here spread, it's likely that hands in the dark will suffocate me."
"A wise young man, aren't you. Fine, have it your way. The Court won't forget your good deeds."
I bow as he leaves after freeing Chu Jiao, who subsequently releases the others.
[That was lucky. If a bloodthirsty madman hadn't killed Salan, perhaps my name might have come up in questioning.]
The room explodes in cheer.
"SALAN IS DEAD!"
"I'm relieved it didn't come down to executing us all."
Under the ruckus, the mysterious man quietly leaves the room. I quickly follow suit.
[Mom, Dad. Today, I grew one step closer to avenging you both. I hope you're proud of me.]
…
…
I'm wheeling Xinxia to the airport. We have flights to diverging locations.
"Did the Parthenon really just… accept you? Not that you aren't talented; your skill with Healing and Psychic magic is magnificent. I'm just surprised they noticed you when you didn't even out yourself as an applicant."
"My mentor is familiar with a Servant at the Parthenon Temple, and after she invited her to take a look at me, the Servant arranged for me to be educated there."
"I'll pay for two maids to take care of you. Call me if any guy tries to take advantage of you or harasses you. And if they assign you a bodyguard, she had better be female."
Exasperated at my overprotectiveness, she rolls her eyes. "Alright, alright! I'll listen to you. Don't worry, I'll be okay. Maybe I'll even find a cure for my legs there."
"Here's hoping."
Flight attendants wheel her onto the plane, and we exchange bittersweet glances and waves. I can't coddle her forever; she's taking steps to become self-reliant. I'll respect that, though that doesn't mean I won't still treat her like a princess. She deserves it.
And I deserve a nice, relaxing location in which I may practice cultivation. Hence why I'm boarding a plane to Mount Hua, along with dozens of books on runes and formations. It'll be quite the vacation.
…
…
Kilometer-high peaks litter the rocky expanse. A forest of green extends all the way to the horizon in every direction, accompanied by birds chirping, wind gently gusting, flowers pollinating. The polar opposite of the Ancient Capital calamity.
I'm sitting in a small temple surrounded by trees atop the highest mountain peak. My Light and Water Galaxies had dimmed considerably, and my Shadow Nebula dropped a level yet again. Even the Chaos Stardust was on the verge of losing all its brightness. Fortunately, I regained all the lost progress and then some over the past three months: the Chaos Stardust is now at the 3rd tier. This place really is a holy land for cultivation.
"Hey, Jianyu! I've got some fresh berries I found a few kilometers away."
A shriveled old man dressed in yellow robes is limping with a cane towards me, carrying a bowl filled with red fruit in his free hand.
"Thank you! I'll indulge in them."
The grandfatherly old man smiles toothily. His name is Lao Wang, and he's the proprietor of the temple. His primary interest is Buddhism and meditation as a monk, but he harbors a side passion in the field of runes. As far as I can tell (which admittedly isn't very far), he doesn't have any magic, but he loves analyzing formations and constructing theoretical ones on paper out of runes drawn with pencils. I've made dozens of times more progress relying on his guidance than I ever would have on my own.
There's thousands of runes to memorize, which I've done. Truly comprehending the uses of each one is a task that takes decades, so all I have learned is the basics. A complete formation is either an array or a collection of arrays, and an array is a group of runes that synchronize to perform a specific task.
Arguably the most salient array is that which draws energy from the elements in the environment to continuously power the rest of the formation, but it's a complex amalgamation of hundreds of runes with specific requirements. One of which is the Chaos Element.
Drawing runes requires one of two things: a liquid substance filled with energy of some sort that the runes can make use of, or a tool to carve runes directly onto anything given mana from a Stardust, Nebula, Galaxy, etc. Lots of runes are finicky, requiring specific Elements to draw or carve. For example, the rune symbolizing a concept similar to ignition works if the liquid contains Fire energy, or if mana from a Fire Mage is used to carve it.
There are alternatives, of course. One more obscure method is to draw or carve it with anything non-Elemental, and then rely on an array to infuse it with the necessary Fire energy. How that array is drawn is another matter entirely.
And all of the runes in the Gathering Array must be drawn or carved with Chaos energy. Substances containing Chaos are egregiously expensive, and Runic Pens capable of carving runes with Chaos without agitating or contaminating the pure Chaos mana are even more so. Add on the facts that Chaos is the most uncommon Element in the world, and that the Gathering Array runes must be redrawn every once in a while due to instability, and it's little wonder why most ongoing formations are powered by magic stones or another source of consumable energy.
Old Lao happens to have one such Runic Pen, which he claims was passed down via ancestry. I do believe it: the pen looks ancient, lacking modern ergonomics. It's just a pointed cylinder crafted from an unknown black substance, with not a single engraving or mark marring its smooth surface. Despite its appearance, it carves runes like nobody's business.
Runes can be carved anywhere, even the air. The environment simply requires the presence of the carving, and the rune will manifest itself. However, most formation 'experts', as Old Lao deridingly stated, rely on solid substances to carve runes, since it's easier to create smooth strokes when the Runic Pen is pressed against a hard surface. He didn't allow me to carve a single rune anywhere except the air, and I only succeeded after two months, though this rate of improvement still shocked him to his core.
Despite the fact that the Runic Pen is technically all that's needed to carve runes anywhere, formations are simply not a feasible option in my arsenal for sudden battle. They require immense concentration and time to set up, and they are far easier to break down than construct. Either brute force, hammering at the protective barriers set up by arrays to shield the runes, or wit works. Wit pertains to analyzing the formation, searching for a flaw or a lock/keyhole programmed by the creator. Once the former is found, disrupting the runes isn't difficult: simply disturbing their pure energy by tossing a spell will work. A lock, on the other hand, varies. Formation masters can construct locks in any number of ways, each involving a particular set of actions that must be carried out in the correct order for the formation to do something.
I'm being vague everywhere on purpose; there are truly a myriad of different things that arrays are capable of. The something might be opening the formation to let you in, dismantling it, activating it, though it's generally the former when a lock is there: formation masters want a method of entering their own creations, after all.
Old Lao informed me that Chaos was the single most desired Element by any formation master, followed (but not closely at all) by Space. I can see why: its bizarre versatility allows creativity free reign.
I've spent the past month trying to draw each rune in the Gathering Array because carving the whole thing at once is beyond the capability of my pitiful Chaos Stardust. Days ago, I completed it on the scale of a table: larger runes are more forgiving in terms of stroke mistakes, but they require much more energy to create. They're particularly useful for gargantuan projects because they produce and can channel more power: oceans of huge yet concealed runes litter the Great Wall of China, one of Ying Zheng's finest accomplishments.
I drew much smaller runes for my Gathering Array, and I created a far less complex array to ignite a fire the size of a candle's flame, powering it with the Gathering Array. Old Lao thanked me for the continuous source of heat and fire.
As much as I've enjoyed my time with him, I should be leaving.
"Old Lao, I'll come visit again once I suffer another life-threatening crisis. Take care!"
"Don't bother, this old man will be a pile of bones by then. You take care of your self. May good fortune come your way."
[I highly doubt any of that will come to fruition.]
I wave him off, running down the green mountain and to the distant city.
…
…
I'm back in Shanghai, dressed in my typical long sleeve white shirt and black sweatpants, carrying a shoulder bag of clothes and toiletries, with the Chaotic Piercer and its quiver strapped to my back. Sheaths around my waist are conspicuously missing: I donated them to a less fortunate Battlemage, along with my short swords purchased by Zhan Kong.
Zhan Kong… I asked Zhang Xiaohou what happened. Essentially, he and Su Xiaoluo were tossed onto that jade platform once more after I threw them into the silver door. This time, all the bridges except for the Bridge of Life crumbled, and once they reached the end, they encountered Fang Gu sitting on the Blood Emperor Throne wearing the Evil Battle Robe. The robe contained the Ancient King's consciousness and will, and once it possessed Fang Gu, he had access to Ying Zheng's limitless knowledge and power. Well, kind of. His lack of practice made him extremely weak, and Zhang Xiaohou managed to kill him.
He resolved to put the robe on himself, thinking he could send the undead away once he fused with the Ancient King. However, Zhan Kong came out of nowhere, thrusting him out of the robe's charge and allowing it to envelop himself. He forced the robe to obey his will, at least in part, by tearing it off his flesh along with his own skin, showing that he'd never allow it to control him fully. Zhang Xiaohou suspects they came to a compromise of sorts, and Zhan Kong sent them out of the Dark Abyss.
I know what happened subsequently: he leapt onto the Mountain Zombie's shoulder and directed all the undead to leave the Ancient Capital. So it really was Zhan Kong; he's, at least in part, alive.
While I'm sinking in my ruminations, I find myself in front of Mui Nujiao's door. Three crisp knocks later, she appears. Her eyeliner appears smudged; she's definitely been crying recently.
"Hey, Nujiao. What's up, anything you want to discuss?"
She manages a forced smile. "Everything's great!"
I stick my hand between the door and the wall, preventing her from shutting it. "Nujiao, I want to talk."
Her smile slowly fades, and anger leaks into her expression. "What is there to say? You almost die in Xi'an, forget to call me for three months, and show up in front of my door asking what's up? The fact that I had to find out from Xinxia what happened, the fact that you didn't bother telling me anything… I'm so sick of you, Jianyu!"
[Ouch.]
My silence calms her down a bit, and she relents on her tirade. "Sorry, I didn't mean that. I've just been going through a lot lately, and your horrible communication hasn't helped one bit."
"Hey, look at me."
She grudgingly obliges, meeting my eyes.
"I'm sorry for not contacting you, but I haven't contacted anyone for the past few months, not even Xinxia. But there's no reason for you to react like this unless something else is going on. You can vent to me, if you want."
"Well… god, it's so stupid," she sniffles. "After all my hard work, after all the effort I put into my cultivation, I wasn't even selected as a substitute for our World College Tournament team. And it's so unfair, because I know who some of the members are, and I KNOW I'd be more useful than a few of the people who only got in through nepotism. I really shouldn't be so upset anymore, it should be enough that I tried my best and that I know I'm worthy of the team, but I just…"
I gently pat her shoulder. "Your situation sucks, and you and I want to throttle the people responsible for selecting inferior candidates." I slam my fist into the wall, eliciting a wry smile from her.
"You know you're better than them, and you know it isn't over; if you perform well for our defense team, you'll still have a shot. Let me know if you need to scream expletives in the future: I'll listen."
Her face blooms with a bit of cheer. "I'll hold you to that."
Nodding, I briefly glance at the wall clock.
[Shit!]
I dash out of the apartment, praying I'll make it there in time.
…
…
"So you're the substitute, Yang Jianyu!"
That's right. I've arrived at my destination, a park in Shanghai where the national team is located. The higher-ups, unbeknownst to me, must have arrived at an agreement to put me on the national team.
Unfortunately, it seems this short advisor with a fat belly, one of five old men, believes I entered via unscrupulous means. Hence his brusque greeting.
Another advisor, a lanky one with three claw scars across his forehead, follows suit. "Hmph! You'll be knocked out of contention soon enough. Only strength can guarantee your spot on the team."
Song He, the Dean of Imperial College, is one of the advisors as well, and he defuses the situation. "Yang Jianyu, since you didn't attend the final competition to determine the team's lineup, we can't make you an official member. For now, you're a substitute. I hope you'll demonstrate your worth in the coming months."
"Certainly."
I head over to my teammates. Surprisingly, I recognize a few.
"Zhao Manyan? The fuck are you doing here?"
"I could say the same to you! I thought the entire team was set up, yet you waltzed in out of nowhere! Though I originally did expect you to make it here, given your skills. Yo, have you seen the women on this team? Cute healer Nanrong Ni, sexy Psychic Mage Jiang Shaoxu, neutral beauty from the military Nan Yu, and cold goddess Mu Ningxue..."
"Mu Ningxue? I suppose her strength indeed makes her worthy of being a member."
"Actually, because Mu He was found to be a member of the Black Vatican, there was so much backlash targeted at all the people related to him that the Mu Clan decided to stop supporting Mu Ningxue. Their new star, Mu Tingying, is an official member of the team, while Mu Ningxue barely managed to remain on the team as a substitute after showing off her Ice Crystal Bow."
"... How narrow-minded of everyone."
"Yeah, it sucks."
"I'm still impressed that you managed to obtain a spot, even as a substitute," I praise.
"What is there to be impressed about? He simply relied on the money of his family to secure the votes. He's no different than a substitute who has joined through the backdoor like you," a voice from among the crowd exclaims with a strong hint of jealousy. Zhao Manyan tells me his name: Guan Yu.
"There are many people in the team, but only between five to seven of us will be participating in the majority of the tournament matches. It's fine that the extra spots are given to some rich dimwits," says a woman with a beauty mark near her lips: Jiang Shaoxu.
She continues with a flirty aftertone, "Still, the authorities chose well. The team needs more cute men like you." I don't mind the praise, coming from a voluptuous, tall woman with delicate facial features and silky light brown hair.
A burly man taller than me appears unhappy that she's making eyes at me. "They sure did, he probably got in after an old freak got in him." Apparently, that's Zu Jiming.
I merely smile, nonplussed. Sticking next to Zhao Manyan, we walk over to the others.
"You don't seem very liked, Manyan."
"Occupational hazard of being a handsome, rich fuerdai with blond hair. They all think I got in because my dad is the head of the Zhao Clan. Which is true, in part, but everyone here has some backing. The team doesn't have any weaklings. Oh, that's Ai Jiangtu, the captain of the team. Next to him is Nan Yu. They're both from military backgrounds."
Ai Jiangtu waves me over. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ai Jiangtu. My ears are sick of hearing your name from Ai Tutu's mouth, so I'm hoping you won't disappoint the image she built of you."
[Ai Tutu's brother? Oh, jeez.]
I shake his tanned, rough hand, one similar to my own. "I'm Yang Jianyu. I don't particularly care whether the others on the team think I deserve the spot or not. All that matters is that I know I do, and the higher-ups know it too."
Nan Yu raises an eyebrow. "How arrogant. If your words aren't mere air, I presume you can use that bow you're lugging around?"
"I've headshot undead from hundreds of meters away, firing multiple arrows at a time. You tell me whether I can use it. Though that may just be more blustering, who knows?"
"I can believe it, if you've been shooting arrows since the day you could hold a bow."
I continue walking, stopping in front of a tall, silver-haired girl with pale, icy skin.
"It's been a while, Ningxue."
"Mhm. You're not dead yet."
[Wow, she's actually doing something other than perfunctorily responding.]
"I tried my best in the Ancient Capital, but I just couldn't manage it. Apologies."
"I heard that Zhang Xiaohou exposed Mu He, and you tortured him to extract information that could save the city."
I frown. "Don't talk about such unpleasant things. Yes, I did it. It was necessary and brief, and I took no pleasure in doing it. It helped us prepare for the Dark Abyss arriving in one day. How did you even hear about that?"
"I wasn't criticizing, but rather congratulating. You managed to make a huge difference in the Ancient Capital, and you even avenged the Bo City victims by inflicting pain upon him. And it was Zhang Xiaohou, after I called him to check how you were doing. He was told by his girlfriend, and he told me."
"That idi… alright, whatever. I suppose I should be pleased that you care about my physical condition. And that you're speaking more words than I've heard from you over the past year."
Her eyebrows knit and her countenance turns impassive once more as she starts ignoring me.
"Relax, I'm just teasing. What about you, how are you and Uncle Mu? Your dad, I mean. Not the Black Vatican unc- hey, sorry, inappropriate joke timing! Don't ignore me, I won't mention him anymore."
While I converse with her, Guan Yu directs a scathing glare my way. A few minutes later, the advisor with three claw scars horizontally across his forehead, Feng Li, begins addressing all of us.
"All thirteen of you are finally here. 10 official members and three substitutes: Yang Jianyu, Zhao Manyan, and Mu Ningxue."
Guan Yu opens his acerbic mouth. "We could have left earlier; there was no need to wait for a mere substitute."
"I strongly advise that no one make any noise once I start to speak!" Feng Li snaps, shutting him up.
"Your final goal is to compete with the national teams from other countries at the City of Canals, Venice, during what is known as the World College Tournament. The training isn't just so you can get enough real combat experience and knowledge to prepare yourself for the tournament. You will also need to secure entry to the World College Tournament.
"There are almost two hundred countries participating in the World College Tournament, but not every country is qualified to appear on the dueling grounds in the City of Canals. Each country has a defensive team, separate from the national team. Every nation must obtain a certain number of wins against the defensive teams of other nations, and the 64 nations with the highest win counts usually obtain the entry ticket for the World College Tournament. Of course, there's factors aside from the number of wins, but we'll discuss those shortly."
The advisors continue offering advice and clarifications, and we finally depart in a helicopter.