Chapter 21 – Shallow Roots

  Diyuan stuck with the Lianhua clan as they worked their way to the throne room. His goal was the Void Grass. Along the way, though, he ended up learning more about alchemy. The leader of the Lianhua group was Elder Meilan, the same Lianhua elder who was there four years ago at the Administrator’s Archive. Whenever they came to a closed pathway, a spiritual plant naturally grew in the area to indicate the kind of trap they may face. Elder Meilan gave guidance when he tried to solve the puzzle on his own. It was kind of fun, he realized.

  They spent several hours in total waiting for walls to move in a way that they wanted. There was still a better part of a day needed in order to use his limitless Bonegrit Dreadflesh, but Benediction Balm was pulling its weight quite well.

  But when it came to those that pulled their weight, Di Guilin was on top. When Diyuan was hit by the perception spirit artifact mirror during his battle in the courtyard, he had used Di Guilin as his eyes, feeding him visual information in real time. While he did that, he couldn’t heal at all since it required constant use of limitless Mesmer’s Echo, so it was then that he was at his weakest. Fortunately, no one had recognized that.

  In terms of combat skill, these Dharma cultivators who were reduced to the Spiritweave realm were left wanting.

  [What are we going to do about Yuhan Diyuan?] Huang Nong asked. He was a big brute of a man, one of the guards for Elder Meilan. Diyuan was listening to their private sound transmission.

  [When we reach the Garden of Immortal Yield, we can tell him he has a choice of any item inside. When he’s distracted, I will enter the throne room,] Elder Meilan said.

  Interesting. Diyuan wondered what was so special about the throne room. He had not yet told them that his original goal was the Void Grass, but whatever they were after sounded much more exciting.

  After some time passed, they finally arrived to the reward room, called the Garden of Immortal Yield. It was a chamber just before the throne room with lots of rare goods to be harvested. The chamber was wide, but the number of things inside were few. An entire section would be dedicated to cultivating a single spiritual plant.

  “Feel free to take a look and pick any of these you want,” Elder Meilan said, her smile genuine. “Since it seems like you’re an aspiring alchemist yourself, it might be good experience for you see what each one does yourself, without needing me to explain it. There is a mechanic in the throne room that will disable the traps and reorientate the castle back to its proper order. Our maps will work again so we can leave when we’re done here without a problem.”

  Another private conversation was happening elsewhere.

  [Where is the other team? I thought Elder Meilan went slow on purpose so that they could get here first,] one person said to another.

  Diyuan nodded to Elder Meilan. Before they had entered the room, he had brought out Di Guilin out of his storage ring and had it navigated near the ceilings and corners, out of everyone’s sight. His puppet would follow after Elder Meilan and report back to him while he pretended to show no interest in the throne room itself. But since he was allowed one item, he may as well see what might be good for him.

  A special crimson ginseng was a rare ingredient that could be refined into a pill that forged a cultivator’s body into something that naturally resisted fire; the effects would be permanent if it was a perfect pill. A bit redundant to his phoenix arte, which gave him some fire resistance already. Immortal Stalk Three Leaf could extend one’s lifespan if chewed on when a cultivator was at the Spiritweave realm or higher. Not important to him, since his lifespan in question was related to if he could reach the Spiritweave realm all together or not.

  A golden plant, which has attributes that could have someone’s body be naturally inclined to heal. If made into a perfect pill, it would boost the effects of healing artes threefold, though it wouldn’t be a permanent change. A shame.

  There was a moss that could absorb spiritual energy easier. It worked well if someone wanted to enter seclusion for a long period of time and advance levels quickly. Nothing permanent. He kept walking, checking the items and seeing what might be interesting to him.

  Diyuan heard the rumblings of walls moving back from where they came from. It looked like Elder Meilan had reset the castle to its correct state now that they came to the end. He continued on, examining the plants.

  Bam!

  Di Guilin burst into the Garden of Immortal Yield. It didn’t bother to hide its presence, despite Diyuan’s prior commands. Its only objective was to get his attention. Diyuan trusted its judgement. He sprinted to the throne room while absorbing his puppet’s memories along the way.

  Huang Nong was on guard immediately, along with the other members of the Lianhua clan. He reached out to Diyuan.

  “Stop!” Huang Nong shouted.

  Diyuan wasn’t listening. He stunned everyone in the Garden of Immortal Yield, freezing them in place as he got a clear path beyond.

  He entered the throne room. It appeared exactly like one might expect a throne room to look like, where the king’s or emperor’s seat was at the far end. What stood out of place was next to the throne chair itself. It was a single multi-colored flower. Elder Meilan was just a moment away from plucking it. Limitless Stunlock Bind was still on its exhaustion period so Diyuan ran forward until he was in range to teleport.

  Just as she reached for the flower, he appeared right beside her, a hand on her shoulder as he physically applied his normal Stunlock Bind. She was at level 4 Spiritweave, so it would wear off quickly.

  “Let’s not get too hasty, yes?” Diyuan said. He took a step back away from her and watched for what she would do next.

  The other members of the Lianhua clan barged in. Huang Nong looked from both of them to the multi-colored flower near the throne. A block of metal appeared on both of his hands and he ran forward, charging at Diyuan. Diyuan responded by simply raising a hand and freezing the Lianhua clan in place once again.

  Elder Meilan took a step back of her own. She pursed her lips, a worried look on her face. [Don’t act out, let me handle this,] she said privately to Huang Nong. There was no physical indication that she had said anything. She spoke to Diyuan next. “This flower is called the Void Grass. I don’t know why a flower is named after grass, but its abilities are interesting. It can’t be used for pills or anything. Instead, it will create a place void of spiritual energy. Any artes used inside that void will disappear instantly. It’s grown here next to the throne to prevent assassination attempts, I think. See, let me show you—”

  Just as she reached down to pluck it, Diyuan made his black cold steel sword appear in his hand. She froze at the action, but then slowly stood up again.

  “Fascinating,” Diyuan said. He moved towards the throne and sat on it. He rested his black cold steel sword on his lap. “So the Lianhua even came up with a story to explain why the Void Grass would be here. But I’m curious… Does the Void Grass really exist in the Carcass Grotto?”

  Elder Meilan’s eyes went wide. Diyuan had a good idea as to what was actually happening here. Di Guilin hovered over to him, and he petted his puppet.

  “I’m not sure what you mean,” Elder Meilan said.

  “Fun fact, I came to the Carcass Grotto to find the Void Grass specifically,” Diyuan said.

  “Oh!” Elder Meilan turned to reach for the flower again. “Then that’s exactly—”

  Diyuan stunned her with his limitless Stunlock Bind. “I will be upset if you try to pick the Omnisbloom flower again.”

  Elder Meilan visibly froze, but not by his arte this time. Diyuan heard the gasps from the other Lianhua clan members. They couldn’t pretend he didn’t know what that flower was anymore.

  To answer their unasked question, he began to explain. “I was researching upper world things for fun, you see. I came across an unrelated topic, which mentioned the Tang Family and the Hua Sect. It talked about how the Hua Sect created a branch in the lower world, one that specialized in pills. They only had one objective: to harvest the Omnisbloom flower.” He paused to see their reaction and listen in on their private sound transmissions.

  [He even knows about the Hua Sect!]

  [Aren’t we supposed to kill him now…?]

  [Who’s going to kill him?] Huang Nong turned angrily to the other members. [And who can kill him, anyway? He can probably kill all of us except Elder Meilan, and that’s only because she’s still at level 4 Spiritweave.]

  Elder Meilan stood straight but said nothing. She tried to keep her face blank.

  Diyuan continued. “The Omnisbloom flower is quite interesting. It has the ability to become the essence of any spiritual plant, equal to its own age. If you were missing an herb because someone snatched it from you, or there wasn’t one that bloomed for another few decades, the Omnisbloom flower could replace it. Or…” Diyuan leaned forward, “if you wanted to hide the fact that the Omnisbloom flower had such an ability, you would simply call it a Void Grass, then pluck it in the presence of others to show why it has no value. And even if someone came to it for the purpose of using a Void Grass, that’s exactly what it would be once plucked, because the intention of the harvester is what makes its essence. How close am I to the truth?”

  Elder Meilan hesitated, but nodded. “You’re not wrong.”

  “Which leads to why even the upper world Hua Sect wanted it. It can replace upper world plants too, correct? With such a secret, the Lianhua clan could use the Omnisbloom flower and replace any missing upper world ingredient that they need to craft pills that would otherwise be unavailable. Quite clever. Every clan will want a piece of this, and I have every intention of telling my own Zhengyi clan.”

  Diyuan’s eyes started to glow white as he carved out a tunnel in preparation to warp. If they wanted to fight him to keep their secret, then he’ll take their lives.

  [Elder Meilan, what now?] Huang Nong said privately to her.

  [I’m…thinking.]

  Diyuan tapped his sword. Di Guilin rested on his shoulder, its white glow matching his glowing eyes. He was content to wait and see what Elder Meilan planned to do.

  “How about…a trade? To not share this information,” Elder Meilan suggested.

  “Oh?” Diyuan raised a brow. “It would have to be quite the item to be of equal value to the Omnisbloom flower. This is something you can collect every hundred years, after all.”

  She shook her head. “It’s a chance to appear every hundred years. Guaranteed on the second grotto’s opening if it wasn’t there the first time. But what I’m offering to trade isn’t an item, but knowledge.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “I see that you’re aspiring to be an alchemist. We of the Lianhua clan are known for our pills. There are several reasons for that. I am willing to trade one of those secrets to keep this Omnisbloom flower a secret. But you’ll have to take a vow for this trade, too. One that says you won’t spread knowledge of the pill secret.”

  Diyuan looked off to the side, contemplating. This trade was a question of ongoing knowledge and strife for the Zhengyi clan, or personal knowledge gains for him specifically. A lot of his actions until now had been for the benefit of the Zhengyi clan. So much so that he ended up recalling something his father told him during their first training beatdown, where Father showed him the weakness of his Bonegrit Dreadflesh. The advice was simple:

  You owe the Zhengyi clan nothing. Any arte or guidance given to you by the Grand Elders is not a favor to you, but what you were due in the first place. Find and walk your own path, untethered. No one else is capable of what you are capable of.

  He looked up at the ceiling. His choice was made. And not only that, his other choice had been made a while ago, though now coming forth to the surface.

  “Question for you, Elder Meilan. If you were in a place called the Promise Land, which could potentially give you unlimited enlightenment, would you stay there or would you continue to climb the tower, to walk the path no one else has ever seen to the end?”

  “I…am not sure what you mean.”

  Diyuan didn’t bother to clarify and changed topics. “I believe that a cultivator who has their own strength, prior to taking hold of external benefits, will always outmatch those who are only strong because of those toys.” He petted Di Guilin on his shoulders. “That’s not to say that external benefits are bad. But imagine being a Dharma cultivator and losing to someone in the Foundation realm because what made you strong was taken away. A wise man once praised someone whose strength was their own, before they have hold of treasure. I want to be such a cultivator.”

  Elder Meilan said nothing, understanding that he was simply talking out loud to himself.

  “I don’t know what my Dharma path will be, as I’ve barely begun to walk as is—according to my mother, anyway. One thing I realized, however, is that easy paths yield shallow roots.” Diyuan looked over at the Omnisbloom flower. The Void Grass was something that would solve his vortex core problem. He could halt the flow of energy that was strengthening the vortex inside him. He could create his Spiritweave core right here and today.

  That, too, would prevent him from creating a Spiritweave core that only had pure spirit energy, untainted by anything else. Part of him started to consider if the pure threads was the real way to breakthrough to the Spiritweave. Or perhaps it wasn’t necessarily wrong to do it the easy way, but Diyuan had a sense that if the pure threads mingled with impure ones, all the purity benefits would vanish.

  An analogy that Ranxi would approve of, would be like a bowl of pure water mixed with one that someone urinated into. Not so pure after that no matter the ratio.

  He remembered his previous spar against Yunya. Her power was overwhelming and would only continue to grow in unprecedented ways. Soon, she would stand at the top of the world, unchallenged by all. Was it possible for him to keep up with her?

  Not if he walked the same path everyone else did.

  There would be no guarantee of a future. But that threat was the very reason why the easy path was often sought after. Mother praised him for not going back to the Promise Land in the Reflections Pagoda once he had reached the fourth tier. He had decided to keep climbing, aiming for the final trial. He had traded a guaranteed benefit for the unknown.

  “Elder Meilan.” He focused on her, his decision to be revealed. “I no longer have any need of the Void Grass. I am willing to take the vow for this trade of yours if the knowledge is good.”

  There was a sense of relief that expelled from her. She nodded. “What is the extent of your alchemy knowledge? What kind of pills can you refine?”

  “I am capable of creating Supreme Perfect pills, but haven’t really attempted any tier two recipes yet.”

  “Supreme Perfect!?” Her jaw went slack. “At your age? I’ve never heard it be done, not even in the Lianhua clan.”

  Diyuan couldn’t help but smile at the compliment.

  She thought for a moment. [Well, there is one thing in particular,] Elder Meilan said to him privately. [It’s the ability to merge the duplicate pills that come from a Supreme Perfect refinement. It’ll grant a large boost in potency, and sometimes revealing additional benefits that wouldn’t normally be there.]

  [Is that what gives the Lianhua pills their fragrance?] Diyuan asked.

  She was momentarily startled, apparently forgetting that he could use sound transmission after the last time he communicated to her with it, back when he warned her not to reveal Di Guilin’s appearance during his battle in the courtyard.

  [That fragrance smell is part of a different secret knowledge we have. In terms of applicability, that one is more valuable since more alchemists can make use of it. In terms of rarity and power, the knowledge I’m willing to share with you now is even greater. Not many can make use of it, since the Supreme Perfect Pill refinement takes a lot of skill and understanding.]

  [And this alchemy technique is important enough to trade for the Omnisbloom secret?]

  [This alchemy secret is a heritage secret in the Hua Sect. Our ancestor sect was more known for their blossom sword techniques, not alchemy. But they got their hands on this technique and started learning. Apparently, it is capable of using tribulation thunder as an ingredient to refine something known as the Origin Pill. But tribulation thunder doesn’t exist here anymore, so it doesn’t matter as much as the Omnisbloom flower.]

  Diyuan stood and held three fingers up in the air. “I vow to not share the knowledge of the Omnisbloom flower or the alchemy knowledge you are about to trade with me to anyone. This vow is nulled if the Lianhua clan targets me for having either piece of knowledge, allowing me to reveal everything.”

  Elder Meilan nodded in satisfaction, and then let out a long sigh of relief. “Perfect. I will teach you now, if you don’t mind.”

  Diyuan agreed and she began to teach him. He sent out Di Guilin to scout out the area. The other Lianhua clan members went back to do other things, grateful that the problem had been resolved by their team leader.

  The technique Diyuan learned had its own name to it: Divine Supreme Perfect Pill Refinement. A tad grandiose, but that made him all the more excited to learn it. She taught him first the theories of it. A perfect pill was perfect, but if the pills were simply combined as is, they would no longer be in perfect harmony. The idea of the Divine Supreme Perfect Pill Refinement came at the moment of finalization, where the pill began to form, but not yet fully realized. The idea here was to make the pill “aware,” as Elder Meilan put it.

  Much like how spiritual plants and spirit artifacts have a level of awareness, pills can be given that was well. Diyuan considered the moment when he created his puppet, Di Guilin. It could be said that Di Guilin had awareness, which was a result of absorbing the pure energy that came from spirit artifacts. The idea behind the pill merging was similar. Diyuan would need to bring out at least one pill’s awareness, which would be the equalizer when merging the others. Elder Meilan provided helpful tips and insight, and told of her own examples of it.

  Several hours would pass when they finally finished the lesson. The next step would be to actually practice it, but they weren’t prepared with all the materials, so Diyuan would have to take his next steps on his own.

  “Follow me, I have an idea as to what your first attempt should be,” Elder Meilan said.

  She brought him back to the Garden of Immortal Yield; more specifically, the Immortal Stalk Three Leaf. Each leaf would provide additional longevity and could be consumed as it was.

  “But each leaf has a secret attribute that can be drawn out,” she said, caressing one of the leaves. She told him about how alchemy could bring out those special attributes, but they wouldn’t really stick unless the Divine Supreme Perfect Pill Refinement was used.

  One would increase the power of the tongue. If the cultivator had an arte that acted out like a roar, this would amplify it. Another leaf balanced the inner ear, providing exceptional resistance to dizziness or disorientation. The last leaf would transform the eyes to see new things…

  “…Probably,” Elder Meilan finished.

  “Probably?”

  “These special attributes could only be brought out by the technique I taught you, which can’t be done by everyone. If an alchemist comes to the Carcass Grotto and happens upon these three leaves, they would surely go for the tongue enhancement. You cannot use more than one of these leaves without nullifying the effects of the others.”

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Diyuan was curious to know why a roaring arte would be beneficial for an alchemist, but she continued to explain how it also helped enhance pill testing among other things.

  Each of those would be good, though Diyuan wasn’t as interested in the tongue one. The inner ear one would be good since he didn’t really have a defense against sound artes. However, eyes to see new things naturally drew him in. Elder Meilan couldn’t really speak to what it did, as no alchemist took that over the tongue version.

  After little more contemplation, Diyuan took the eye enhancement leaf. She taught him how to go about working with the leaf he chose. He would attempt to make it once he was out of the Carcass Grotto.

  Di Guilin appeared. Based on the “attitude” of his puppet, he assumed it came to report something important.

  Diyuan absorbed the memories. There were pictures of the landscape from an aerial view outside the castle. There were also bodies found inside—the other Lianhua team. Seemed like they died to some trap. But the biggest memory that dwarfed the others was an image of three cultivators gathering at the entrance of the castle, ready to step in.

  Xie Yanshuang had arrived. Though this time she was only level 3 Spiritweave.

  “I’m going out to explore for a bit,” Diyuan said to Elder Meilan and the other Lianhua clan members.

  Elder Meilan would shortly go back to the throne room, to make the Omnisbloom flower become hers.

  Diyuan ordered Di Guilin to go and keep an eye on the three new cultivators as he went out to meet his foes.

  He still had one hour until he regained his limitless Bonegrit Dreadflesh. It would probably take that long just for them to find him. One of them had wings and Diyuan only had one lightning talismans left. Even after he went through all the new storage rings he got from the others, they didn’t have new talismans to work with, likely trusting their own strength or something.

  In any case, the Honglie cultivator with wings would be his first target. Probably a sneak attack to remove him from the picture. If he bought enough time for his limitless Bonegrit Dreadflesh, that would add the second layer of defense and the additional power in his attacks. He would rip through level 1 and level 2 Spiritweave cultivators without effort.

  Not that he couldn’t kill them already, based on his earlier battle with the others.

  Di Guilin came back and reported that they had split up to scout for him. Idiotic. They should have heard about him taking down a group of enemies by himself, yes? Unless Pan Mumo and the winged Honglie had confidence they should sense him and flee to report.

  Little did they know, Diyuan still had the Ashbark Lantern—one of the half-broken spirit artifacts from the Skeletal Cloud Bone Cliffs nest. It blocked spirit sensory detection, but wouldn’t block physical senses, such sight and hearing. Smell as well, he assumed, but that was less important in the Carcass Grotto.

  Diyuan’s plan was simple. Use Di Guilin to identify their route, hide inside the smoke that the lantern would release, and kill off the scouts until Xie Yanshuang was left alone.

  Diyuan acted out his plan. The castle maze was no longer a maze, but still large enough that each section could be compartmentalized as its own region. He waited around the corner in the smoke where the winged Honglie would go. Without even needing to use an armor breaking lightning talisman, Diyuan ambushed him in a hallway and took him out with a quick double consecutive stun, bringing down the flying cultivator without a sound.

  Pan Mumo was easier to take out. The ambush failed when the spirit artifact broke mid-use, causing a brief chase where Pan Mumo fled. Diyuan’s teleport and stun resolved that problem. Diyuan’s Bonegrit Dreadflesh had also came back during the ambush preparations, resulting in Pam Mumo’s unceremonious death. After taking that man’s storage ring, he thought to himself that he should have put Pan Mumo through more pain for the simple fact of trying to hunt him down while his body had been broken.

  The renewed strength he gained from limitless Bonegrit Dreadflesh was a breath of fresh air. He didn’t have his Wind’s Edge spirit artifact that would have given him that offensive power boost, and apparently Xie Yanshuang had more defense than the average level 3 Spiritweave cultivator based on his conversation with the Lianhua guy, so any benefit he could get was welcome.

  After letting Di Guilin eat up the broken Ashbark Lantern’s energy, he went to find Xie Yanshuang, his final opponent in the Carcass Grotto.

  Xie Yanshuang didn’t go scouting. She waited at the same courtyard where Diyuan had battled the other cultivators. She was examining the battlefield, seeing the melted corpses—caused by the Giant Poison Toad—and probably trying to learn what she could based on the evidence on the field. Diyuan stored away Di Guilin before stepping into view.

  “Why, hello there,” Diyuan said, his black cold steel sword on his shoulder.

  Xie Yanshuang, who was crouched down looking at the corpse that had been killed by the earth spike talisman in the doorway, stood up.

  “You’re still alive,” she commented.

  “Good to know your last eye still works.”

  Xie Yanshuang held up two message talisman and activated it. The papers flew past Diyuan’s head, going towards their targets within the castle. If there was a world where the talismans had feelings, would those two that flew by be sad to learn that their recipients were already dead?

  She lifted up her arms and made two transparent arm-length horns appear out of the top of her wrists. They looked similar to the horns of the Ancient Onyx Behemoth, though obviously smaller to fit her frame and Spiritweave cultivation.

  In response, his eyes began to glow white.

  “How did a weak and small cultivator survive my Ecliptic Meteor Rain?” Xie Yanshuang asked. “Even with a fortitude pill, your body would have disintegrated.”

  “Weak and small? Your meteor was a nice back massage,” Diyuan said. “And I wouldn’t call that arte rain; it was only one meteor you threw out.”

  Xie Yanshuang narrowed her eye. “I imagine you might be level 6 or 7 Foundation, using a defensive internal arte. That, or you’re in the mid-Spiritweave realm, hiding your actual level with a spirit artifact.”

  “The other option is that your meteor was weak and small.”

  She sighed as she adjusted her eyepatch. “You and your sister are quite the storytellers. Any last words you want me to tell her? Or do you want me to come up with my own? I prefer to come up with my own.”

  “Your storage ring will look good inside my storage ring.” Diyuan beamed at her.

  She gave a malicious smile in response, her visible eye becoming wild. “I’ll be sure to tell your family that, along with how you screamed for mercy!”

  Without waiting further, she thrust both horns forward. A blast of power ripped up the ground in front of her in a cone wide area. Diyuan warped right up to her outstretch arms. He stunned her as he swung his black sword. A pulse of power came from her entire body, knocking him back mid-swing. His stun had done nothing, as she pivoted to pierce him with her horn. He teleported right up to her side again, touching her with one hand to physically stun while swinging the black sword with the other.

  This time the stun took. His swing was high and hit her neck, carving a bit of flesh off in a straight line. But not deep enough to cause any significant hinderance. And, strangely, not even enough to make her bleed. It was like her thick neck was stone made flesh, without human blood.

  The stun wore off quickly, and she pierced the ground with her other horn arm. The ground erupted in a blast of debris. He jumped back and double jumped when she chased after. When he landed, the two exchanged several melee blows one after another. Her hits were weighty, far more than the other level 3 Spiritweave cultivators he had fought, but they were met in equal measure against his double powered Bonegrit Dreadflesh.

  The patterns repeated as their artes came back from their exhaustion cycle. He learned that his stun wouldn’t work when she had her own personal defensive arte up—which had no visual cue to tell him when that was. It was a time limited ability, however, which ended with a pulse of power that pushed out from her body automatically. The time period between that pulse of power and the next defensive moment was short, but she would be affected by his stun then, allowing him to carve into that neck wound once more.

  She managed to land a few blows on him by a clever use of her artes. Her level 1 Spiritweave arte would cause the cone-wide attack. But there were variations of it, where she could use it with both horn arms or one each. Getting hit by such an attack caused him to be stunned, allowing her to jump in and shove the horn into his torso. His double defense worked, but the hit was powerful enough that he felt the pressure hit him like a heatwave. He purposely dropped the limitless Bonegrit Dreadflesh, not wanting to cause it to enter its exhausted state just in case. That meant the horn did pierce his flesh a little, but it was manageable as he felt the warm blood trickle down to his waist.

  At one point, shortly after his third neck strike, she simply stood in one spot and didn’t move or attack. Confused, he waited for a moment to see what she was doing, only to remember the warning he heard from Huang Nong of the Lianhua clan too late.

  She was charging her horns for a higher level Spiritweave arte, one that would go beyond her current level 3 Spiritweave capabilities.

  When she successfully pulled in the energy she wanted, she struck. She hit the ground with her horns multiple times. Each hit caused a cascading earthquake, knocking up chunks of debris and destabilizing his footing. It also caused some form of a daze effect. She made a combo out of it by using her cone-wide attack again, which interacted with the flying debris by causing it to gain some comet-like properties, igniting them and launching it at him.

  Dodging the first few was easy, but once his warp, teleport, and double jump weren’t available anymore, she managed to land several hits with the comet-like debris. Each hit was weightier than a pointblank torso hit by one of her horns. This arte wasn’t something he could fight against in any long-term fashion, so he pulled out the air suction talisman and threw it up in the air. A moment later, it activated and sucked in the debris to create a miniature moon.

  “A mid-grade talisman?” Xie Yanshuang commented, breathing with her mouth. “So you are a Spiritweave cultivator. Why haven’t you used any Spiritweave artes yet?”

  “Wouldn’t be fair to you,” Diyuan said with heavy breaths, letting the healing bring him back up to par before switching back to limitless Bonegrit Dreadflesh. One part of his arm and shoulder had sustained damage to the point where he thought the bones might have cracked. They were restored now, regardless.

  She chuckled. “I like you better than your sister. You wouldn’t happen to be willing to let me take a breather for the next five minutes?”

  “You mean you want to charge up your horns so you can use your level 5 Spiritweave arte?”

  “So you knew?” Xie Yanshuang grinned. “I have never seen a cultivator last as long as you; at least for those that were level 3 Spiritweave or lower. You are the first. What sort of body do you have? And how can you heal so quickly?”

  She was talking to buy time he knew, but Diyuan would wait until the next energy pulsed from her body, to indicate that her defenses entered an exhaustion state.

  “It’s a neat trick called ascending to level 9 Foundation,” Diyuan said.

  “If a warrior doesn’t want to say something, they simply don’t. No reason to story tell.” She held up her arm, examining the transparent horn. “I will say this: you lack combat experience against a real foe.”

  “Oh?” That got Diyuan’s attention. “You might be the first person to say that to me. Many would say that I might have more experience than most. I’ve focused on martial arts, where more cultivators don’t.”

  “You have some knowledge, I’ll give you that,” Xie Yanshuang smirked. “But who were your opponents? How varied were they? I’m not talking about the nobodies that would sacrifice power just to stick with their tribe’s chosen beast. I’m talking about those that are prodigies of their own, but they still use the effort of those clawing to the top. The powerful don’t need to deceive, but if they choose to do so, then they would stand atop even other prodigies.”

  “And you’re deceiving me now?” Diyuan figured.

  “Yes.” Xie Yanshuang jumped up. Her body went far higher than it should have based on the power she put into the jump. And once she reached the apex of her height, she didn’t fall back down despite having no wings out. She spoke louder for him to hear her. “I made you assume my behemoth’s hide defense had a timer on it. It doesn’t. I choose when to remove it, to cause it to shockwave out.” She tilted her head to reveal her neck wound. “A small sacrifice for this moment, you see. You waited for that shockwave to strike another blow at me to carve a deeper wound, but now it’s too late. I wasn’t charging for my level 5 Spiritweave arte; I was attuning for something greater!”

  Xie Yanshuang stretched out her hands. The horns on her arms now glowed black, absorbing nearby color. Sparkles of lights appeared in that blackness; it reminded Diyuan of the starry night. But this didn’t look like something related to an arte. The miasma wasn’t reacting to it. A spirit artifact, maybe?

  “Everyone talked about Gu Guoxiong’s domain. Everyone wondered what it was. But us Honglie warriors had a better idea than most, though we were surprised to learn a human could use it, too. You see, the kings of demonic beasts were all capable of their own domains. And we, the Honglie, gain our artes through attunement. Do you want to take a guess as to what my Ancient Onyx Behemoth is?”

  Diyuan’s vision changed. The distant miasma was disappeared. The immediate surrounding was still there. It was like a black curtain trapped him in its zone, blocking out everything outside.

  “Domain of the Ancient Onyx Behemoth King: Star Bound Ocean!”

  Everything shifted. Gravity ended. Diyuan was forced off of his feet and floated up. The debris on the ground lifted up with him. When he looked up, there were already pre-set comets positioned in certain locations. Hundreds of them. Diyuan’s mind reeled, guessing as to how this battlefield would evolve. The backdrop black curtain was littered with white glowing dots, mimicking the night sky. The ground below had vanished. From the way the surroundings looked, it appeared as if he was no longer on the planet at all, but beyond it, where the stars rested in their black space.

  But Diyuan wasn’t as powerless as he was when Gu Guoxiong had used his Craigshatter Upheaval domain four years ago.

  Xie Yanshuang didn’t waste any time. She pointed one horn arm at a stationary comet. That rock object started to be wrapped in energy. She flung her arm with a weighty motion, as if the horn was tethered to the comet that didn’t want to move. The comet moved slowly, but after several inches, it broke some invisible barrier and launched at Diyuan with speed.

  Diyuan teleported to a nearby debris, dodging the incoming attack easily. He kicked off of it towards her.

  Xie Yanshuang went to grab another comet to throw, multiple this time, but they refused to budge no matter how hard she tried to pull at them. Diyuan reached her while she was understanding her limitations. He swung down, blocked by her transparent horn quite easily. Since he was floating in the empty space, he had no solid footing for there to be any real power behind his strike. But he already knew how to counteract that.

  He dodged the next comet by teleporting right up to her. He used limitless Emperor’s Rule to make a solid ground beneath his feet and struck again. This time it was Xie Yanshuang whose block was too weak and she flew back and hit a debris.

  She wasn’t very good at this domain thing, was she?

  While she was recovering, Diyuan kicked off the solid air he was stepping on and flew towards her. But she had been charging her horns. She punched forward with both, hitting Diyuan who had no means to dodge with everything on exhaustion. His body got smashed, like a large hammer connected and pressed down on him. He felt both of his defenses held on, but he was now temporarily stunned.

  Xie Yanshuang pointed to two other comets with both arms and pulled with her entire body. The comets broke their invisible barrier and launched towards him. Still stunned, they struck at the same time and exploded in a bright white light.

  Diyuan felt a similar power from when he got hit by the Ecliptic Meteor Rain’s surrounding impact. A heat pressed into him, wanting to break his body into pieces. He held on, both defenses working with all their might, completely perfect in its execution with all the training and corrections he had done to them. But as the heat started to lift, limitless Bonegrit Dreadflesh broke, entering an exhaustion period of three days. Fortunately, his body remained whole and unbroken.

  When he came to, he saw another comet flying his way. He teleported to a chunk of debris and jumped off of it towards her. Any stun he attempted on her would not work, as her behemoth defenses could be up at all times. When she had no footing, she would use the time she flew back from his blow to charge up her horns. Otherwise, she used the blasts of her horns to redirect herself to proper footing. He was better prepared, keeping the combat around debris or other pre-set stationary comets so he could leverage them for movement.

  He became better at navigating the battlefield and using his artes accordingly. In fact, he would liken this domain to something similar to the upper thirtieth floors of the Reflections Pagoda. Maybe a little easier, since she didn’t have any sort of mastery over it. Though, truth be told, he wasn’t sure how much damage he would have sustained if his second defense wasn’t there when he got hit by the two comets.

  But that was what made him the Limitless Body. That was why special physiques could make history. Moments that would normally be the start of his defeat would simply be a temporary setback.

  After Diyuan dodged once and landed on the debris, he stayed on it rather than kicking off like he had done before. He collected his thoughts, trying to determine the best way to attack. While he did so, he began to carve out a tunnel to warp, instead of teleport.

  Something amazing happened.

  The tunnel was carved instantly, without the walking speed limitation it normally went at. It simply waited for him to release the coil sensation he had to complete the warp. That sensation would normally bother him the longer the tunnel was carved, but now he could set out the tunnel anywhere in the domain without effort.

  He tried it out.

  He warped off towards another debris. Xie Yanshuang redirected her comet and threw it. He warped again, back to his original spot. And again, this time a ways away from her. The reverberating sound echoed out each time he landed at the new spot.

  For whatever reason, his warp could work instantly and without exhaustion. His teleport, however, would still force the entire arte into a core-induced exhaustion, where it placed pressure on his Foundation core to prevent additional use—which could be circumvented, but may still destroy his core like it had back in Gu Guoxiong’s domain.

  Xie Yanshuang’s eyes went wide. A moment of concern entered her face. She realized her domain didn’t restrict him like she had thought it would.

  “It seems like you’ve made a mistake, Xie Yanshuang,” Diyuan said. “This domain no longer belongs to you. It is mine.”

  He warped at her and struck. Warping while placing solid air beneath his feet carried the solid air with him. He began his counterattack.

  Warp. He struck her at an off angle. Warp. He struck where she wasn’t looking. Warp. He hit her arm. The solid footing began to disappear, so he warped back to a debris.

  Xie Yanshuang kept her neck protected. The other parts of her body gained scratches, though nothing bled as her body had undergone some transformation to match her behemoth cultivation. With that thicker skin, nothing went deep like he had already accomplished on her neck. If he could land a good hit there, she would be defeated.

  She smiled, keeping her hands to her face. “At the end of the day, it is only our cultivation that matters.”

  She wasn’t entirely wrong. Despite the movement advantage he had just gained, the amount of damage he could do to her now was still limiting. Without the extra strength from limitless Bonegrit Dreadflesh, and without a real spirit artifact weapon, and with her behemoth defense, he could barely chip any damage against her. At this point, it might as well be a battle of attrition. And it was indeed attrition, as he was starting to sense that this domain was slowly draining him.

  Ah, but he had new toys to play with, didn’t he? It wasn’t like he gained nothing in the Carcass Grotto these past three days.

  He started warping anew. He appeared in front of her, and popped one of his poison sacs from the Giant Poison Toad. The poisonous fumes filled the area around her. She merely brushed it away and kept attacking him.

  “Did you really think poison would affect a demonic beast king?” she shouted.

  He ran on some floating rubble before jumping off of it. It wasn’t that he was out of ideas. Rather, he was watching to see something. And indeed he saw it. A small twitch on her neck.

  She was bluffing.

  He began a multi-warp onslaught. Attacking her with fresh vigor, where she continued to prioritized defending her neck wound. During that period, he warped out of line-of-sight, letting out Di Guilin with a neat poison sac in its mouth, ready to be popped.

  Diyuan warped right back to her without missing a beat. During that time, he slapped a paper talisman on her forehead, warping again behind her, latching her legs around her torso. The talisman activated, issuing a thunderous zap to her head. He was close enough for it to affect him, too. The lightning rumbled in his body, severing some of the connection between his body and the spirit energy that gave it its armor. His hit was not as great as hers, but it wasn’t the decrease of defense he was aiming for.

  She opened her mouth either in pain or surprise. Diyuan aimed for this moment. He grabbed the roof and bottom of her mouth and forced it open even further. She tried to bite down, but his strength was greater. She attempted to bring in her hands to stop him, but the horns, transparent though they were, were still solid and interfered.

  Di Guilin appeared. A poison sac was in its mouth. It flew right up to her mouth and bit down on the poison sac. It burst, releasing poison straight into her mouth. Her body immediately began to twitch.

  When that was done, Diyuan warped in front of her, taking Di Guilin back into his storage ring. He watched as she began to lose control of her body. He held out his sword and thrusted it forward. She could not lift her arms to defend. His black cold steel sword pierced the neck wound. It slid through, coming out of the other side, with black blood dripping from it.

  For a moment, nothing happened. Then cracks appeared on the blackened backdrop, like a black vase that could not hold them anymore. Diyuan pulled out his sword from her neck as the two of them fell to the ground, bound by gravity once more.

  When Xie Yanshuang hit, the domain fully shattered. The central castle of the Carcass Grotto came back into view. The debris and rubble crashed into the ground as well, causing a loud pounding noise on impact. Eventually, the dust and debris settled.

  The battle was won.

  Xie Yanshuang’s body still twitched from the poison. Diyuan walked over, taking the storage ring from her hand. He nearly flinched when her eye flicked to him.

  [What a useless domain,] she said. Black blood bubbled out of her mouth.

  [A domain with shallow roots. It might as well just be a training platform,] Diyuan said.

  She looked back up at the sky. [‘Guaranteed victory,’ they would say. At the end of the day, only trust your own cultivation. This pathetic skill should have had many boons. This was to be a swift fight. Instead, I could control nothing while in the Spiritweave realm. Now we’ll have a boy brag he defeated me.] Blood gurgled from her mouth. [Brag that he defeated the Ancient Onyx Behemoth. How ridiculous. All this talk about the domain’s Law and you ended up with more benefits for it than me.]

  [Law?] Diyuan crouched next to her. Blood was seeping from her neck. She wasn’t coming out of this alive unless someone healed her, and he had no intention of doing that.

  Xie Yanshuang didn’t answer. She closed her eye when a fresh wave of twitching trembled throughout her body. When it stopped, she opened her eye again, though she still didn’t say anything else.

  Diyuan took the time to go through her storage ring. The fact that she had no lockbox to hide her precious items within the ring showed her level of confidence. He identified a jade tablet so he took it out. She watched him as he sensed what was within. It was an arte. Its abilities reminded him of the behemoth’s style. Perhaps a culmination of her understanding of the demonic beast king.

  [This arte only has one word for its name? Did you make this and name it yourself?] Diyuan asked.

  The arte had an ominous name and had no realm restriction in it use. It also didn’t bind on touch.

  Extinction.

  She made a noise that sounded like a grunt, but he wasn’t sure if that was intentional or not. [Normally I wouldn’t say a word and let you absorb the arte, so that you would come to regret it. But since I’m in a generous mood, I’ll mention that it won’t do you any good. You would do better to sell it to my tribe.]

  Diyuan frowned. [And why would I sell it? Why wouldn’t I want to use it?]

  [Unless someone from my tribe uses it, it would cause a great backlash, damaging your body. They will buy it for a large sum. Sell it to them; the spirit stones your spoils for victory.]

  Diyuan looked at the arte. The Extinction combat style was generic in a way, but its true power would have to be seen and tested in action. What it did was simple: it allowed for a charge of power to gather and unleash, where the waves of power grew the longer it was charged. It was meant for act as a devastating force, much like the smaller comets or the big meteor. How strong was it? He didn’t know unless he tried it himself. Currently, he didn’t have a single-hit powerful attack in his arsenal, and his battle with Xie Yanshuang showed him that even if he was more skilled, the cultivation realm difference mattered if he didn’t have the tools to counter it.

  Diyuan stood and straightening his back. [I’m a cultivator, and with the heights I want to reach, I will not give up opportunities so easily. I will absorb this arte for my last Foundation slot. I deserve a proper reward for what you’ve put me through. Afterall, you’ve used your Dharma arte, Ecliptic Meteor Rain, against me, and a domain on top of that.]

  She made a sound that might have been a laugh. [Fine, but you will suffer for it.]

  [I have great damage absorption and healing. I will put your arte to good use. Any last words you want me to share with your people? Or should I just make up my own story?]

  No response.

  As he turned to leave, she called out to him once more. [Wait. Kill me properly, instead of leaving me to the poison.]

  Diyuan considered what to do for a moment, then agreed. With her guidance, he pierced not one, but two hearts—courtesy of the Ancient Onyx Behemoth, he learned. If she hadn’t used the domain, which she had weak control over, perhaps the battle on the ground would have turned out differently.

  Diyuan heard a sound behind him. He looked towards the castle, where he saw the Lianhua group gathered there. They all had looks of shock and surprise.

  [D-did she use a domain?] Someone asked privately. [And did he win?]

  Huang Nong the big guard had his mouth opened in surprise. [I think it’s safe to say that the Zhengyi clan won. This Carcass Grotto is something everyone will talk about for centuries to come.]

  Elder Meilan stepped forward. “Congratulations on your victory. The fourth day of the Carcass Grotto has already begun. What will you do with your remaining time? Do you want to come with us as we prepare to leave?”

  Diyuan looked up at the miasma outside the castle area. There was one place he still wanted to check out before his trip in the Carcass Grotto was finished.

  He shook his head. “I will see you outside the grotto most likely. I’m going to go exploring for a bit.”

  It was time to find the source of the miasma.