by Virlyce
“Gah! It hurts! Fuck! Ow! Guuuuh….” Lucia clutched her head and rolled around on the ground. Her body hit the wall, and then she rotated the other way until she hit the opposite wall. This wasn’t the first time that this has happened. Other than the Immortal Poison Body, Lucia also learned the Great Earth Sect’s technique, Footsteps of the Giant, and the Longevity Turtle Sect’s technique, Impenetrable Shell, along with the Evil Flame Sect’s technique, Madness Strike. I tried to tell her that learning too many techniques wasn’t advisable and that she should focus on a single technique before learning more, but Durandal told her otherwise and Lucia completely ignored my advice. In the Immortal Continent, it’s common sense to hone a single technique to the pinnacle, but Lucia doesn’t abide by common sense. I just hope she doesn’t bite off more than she can chew and suffer from any qi deviation.
Lucia stopped rolling around and sat up. “Whew. It’s over.” She stuffed the jade slip into an interspacial ring and materialized another item. “What’s this? What’s this?”
“That’s a sword.”
“Durandal! Snack!”
Durandal grunted. “Put it to the side.” Durandal was cultivating the Righteous Sword Sect’s core cultivation technique. I wasn’t aware that spirit weapons could increase in rank by cultivating like a person, but apparently Durandal can. Puppers can’t though. I wonder why.
Lucia tossed the sword to Durandal like she was throwing a dart, and the blade sank into the floor by Durandal’s feet. Another item materialized in Lucia’s hands. “What’s this? What’s this?”
Does she not look at what she’s taking out of her ring? “That’s a spear.”
Lucia tilted her head up. “Puppers! Dinner!”
“I don’t need to eat…,” a gruff voice said from beyond the ceiling.
“Nonsense! If you don’t eat, how are you going to get fluffier?”
Puppers is an amazing fighter, but Lucia really doesn’t care about that. I feel bad for him. But I don’t understand why she feeds him spears. If Durandal is a sword spirit that eats swords, wouldn’t it make more sense for a sock spirit to eat socks? I’ll ask. “Lucia? Why do you feed Puppers spears instead of socks?”
Lucia stared at me without moving. Durandal’s eyes shot open, and a chill ran down my spine. There was a thumping sound as something fell off the mansion and onto the ground outside. I assumed it was Puppers. Did, did I say something wrong…? I don’t think I did….
“You’re a genius, Softie!” Lucia rose to her feet and tackled me. Is, is she hugging me? Is this how a hug feels like? It’s … warm. And I can feel the softness of her tail from the backs of my arms. My heart feels so fuzzy right now. I’ve never been hugged before. “Uh. Softie. Hello? Softie? You can let go now.”
“R-right. S-sorry.” Ah, my face is on fire! I’m so embarrassed. Did I really just embrace someone before marriage? What if my grandfather finds out…? I hope Lucia doesn’t tell anyone. Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. Ah! My heart won’t stop pounding! I, I’ve heard about symptoms like this before! Am I suffering from qi deviation!? If Lucia’s filled with impurities like I suspect, then is it possible they were transferred to me during that short period of contact? I’ll send a message to Elder Hadrian; he’s the doctor of the sect.
“Puppers! Eat these socks! Stop pretending to be dead, dammit!”
Why do I want to groan? Why do I feel like my stomach is trying to jump out of my throat when I hear Lucia’s voice? Could it be because of the heart devils she planted in me…? This, this is bad. Please reply soon, Elder Hadrian!
Beep.
A message! It’s from Elder Hadrian! “Chosen Moonlight, these symptoms that you’re describing are not a result of qi deviation. Rather, it sounds like you’re in love. Don’t worry. I won’t tell your grandfather about this message.”
…Me? In love? With Lucia? N-no way! It’s true that I’ve never been interested in any suitor that’s ever pursued me despite their topnotch looks, status, and wealth, but, but…! I, I’m a woman! I’m sure I like men! I just haven’t met the right one! And, and … Lucia’s violent! And bloodthirsty! And wicked! And she violated me in front of the whole sect! No one could possibly ever love her except for Durandal! Yes. Elder Hadrian is wrong. That must be it. Even elders can make mistakes.
“Softie! What’s this? What’s this?”
Why’s Lucia so close!? “T-t-t-that’s a cauldron for alchemy.”
“Hmm? Why’re you stuttering more than usual? You alright?”
“I’m alright! Yes! Absolutely perfectly normally alright!” I, I have to get away from here! “Forgive me! I lied! I’m not alright! I, I have to check with my grandfather to make sure I’m not suffering from qi deviation!”
Chapter 10
Life is suffering. I am living. In conclusion, I am suffering. Why is Durandal’s training so brutal!? I’m already the best! Let me slack off! Please. …I wish I didn’t learn these techniques when he told me to. “D-Durandal. I’m tired.”
“If you have the strength to speak, you have the strength to do another thousand Madness Strikes.”
Speaking doesn’t require that much energy! “If I do any more Madness Strikes, I’ll go insane! I haven’t eaten for the past three hours!”
“Excellent. The more unstable you are, the easier it’ll be to learn Madness Strike properly.”
This is abuse. Durandal tricked me and stole my interspacial rings and buried them somewhere. So I don’t have any food! Or focus bones! Or strength bones! Or, most importantly, food! And every time I try to attack Durandal to beat the location out of him, he slips into mini-DalDal and I can’t do anything! If I had my spirit-restraining ropes, I could stop him, but the ropes are inside the interspacial rings. I’m so hungry that I could probably eat Softie, but she ran away to her grandfather! Why don’t I just stop practicing and go find some food to eat? Because Durandal threatened to kill himself to withhold sex from me for a week. Like I said, I’m being abused. Durandal said he’d give me food only if I’m able to do 60,000 Madness Strikes in a day. I’m going to starve to death. This is how the legend of Lucia Fluffytail ends: Died of starvation. Huh? I could just find food anyway and not have sex for a week? Not possible. I’d die even faster.
Well. The only thing I can do is Madness Strike this board. Yup. This board. I pulled it out of an interspacial ring, and Softie told me it was a Madness Strike practicing board. It’s a giant square that’s about as tall as me, and it has a lot of spikes organized in neat rows and columns. All I have to do is stick a spirit stone inside of a hole, and the board lights up with fancy colors. The light creates a snake-like pattern through the spikes, and I have to swing my sword as hard as I can while following the colorful path. It’s maddening. What kind of sword slash doesn’t cut in a straight line? Sheesh. And every time I hit one of the spikes on accident, they screech really loud and hurt my ears.
Five thousand six hundred thirty-two…. Five thousand six hundred thirty-three…. Five thousand … seven hundred…? Fuck. I lost count. “Durandal! I lost count! I can’t focus without focus bones or food!”
“I guess you’ll just have to start from the top.”
“…Durandal.”
“Yes, Lucia?”
Don’t smile at me like that, you sadist! I’m going to cry. I, I wonder how tasty dirt is. Would it be immortal dirt since this is the Immortal Continent?
“Don’t eat the ground, Lucia.”
I wasn’t going to! I was just digging. Sometimes people bury acorns and forget where they buried them; I might uncover a treasure trove if I dig in a random spot. Oh!? I found a barrel of wine! I don’t know what kind of wine it is, but it smells like a gift from the heavens! Anything’s a gift from the heavens when you’re starving!
“Lucia. Are you going to drink that?”
Gah! Look away, Durandal! “N-no. Of course not.” I’ll distract him and drink it really quickly. “Look! It’s a really kickass sword over there!” He didn’t fall for it! It’s my
barrel of food! I earned this! “Stop! Let go!” Eh? It vanished? Did he store it inside of the interspacial ring? Hah. This isn’t fair. The heavens sent me a drink, but the devil stole it away.
“Don’t be like that, Lucia.” Durandal patted my head and rubbed my ears, but my stomach growled instead. There’s no pleasurable feelings from this at all! I’m going to cultivate the Heart Devil Cultivation Technique. How did it go? Some qi over there, some over there, there too. Loops and squiggles. Some more loops and spirals down to the stomach. And all done! Come to me, heart devil wormies!
…That’s a lot of them. The sky turned completely black. Jeez. Are there that many people who have me in their hearts? It’s nice to know there are that many people who care about me, even if it’s a murderous kind of care. It’s no different from Durandal’s so-called personalized and specialized training that he created out of love just for me. …Who says I’m bitter? Ah, all my feelings of frustration and annoyance are being washed away by these cute little wormies. And replacing it is … more frustration. Why does Durandal insist on being a monk?
“Junior Lucia!”
“Eh?” Oh. It’s the sect leader. “Hey. What’s up?”
“I forgot to pass you the higher levels of the Heart Devil Cultivation Technique. Seeing your … cultivation reminded me.” The sect leader handed me a jade slip. He raised an eyebrow at the Madness Strike practicing board. “Isn’t this the Evil Flame Sect’s? No, never mind. I suppose you have a lot of spoils after, uh, what you did. Please, never do that again. Dealing with all the lesser sects and the headache it’s given me….”
It’s Durandal’s fault for starting the battle. I didn’t tell him to do anything, but everyone thought I did. I’m being framed! Now that I think about it, Durandal’s not a very good person, huh? He’s a no-good, mean bully. If it weren’t for the fact that I’m in love with him, I would beat him up! Wait a minute. If Durandal can torture me under the guise of training me out of love, can’t I do the same to him? I’ll beat him up in the name of love! “Durandal! Madness Strike!”
The essence of the Madness Strike is anger. The angrier I am, the more effective it becomes. According to the knowledge I gained from the green light in the slip, anger constricts everyone’s meridians and slows qi circulation. When I get angrier and angrier, the pressure on my meridians builds up. At the peak of my anger, I forcibly channel all my qi and explode it outwards! It synergizes really well with Breaking Blade, doubling the power at the very least. And with the Madness Strike practicing board, I can control the trajectory of my strike like a whip! …Just kidding. If I do that, the muscles in my arm tear and that’s painful, so I’d rather not. It’s okay if I do it during practice, but it’s definitely not okay in a real fight. Not like I’m fighting Durandal seriously though; this is a love tap! That’s why it’s okay to rip my muscles apart to avoid his guard. This is to vent all the frustrations that’ve built up!
…And he disappeared into mini-DalDal. Goddammit. I need some catharsis before I die of frustration! “Sect Leader, spar with me! Madness Strike!”
***
Once a heart devil worm flew out of my chest, my grandfather left to chase after it. I didn’t even get the chance to ask him if I was suffering from qi deviation. My heart still hasn’t calmed down, and my blood is circulating a lot faster than normal, especially to my cheeks. I guess the only thing to do is chase after him…. But that’ll bring me back to Lucia. I, I’m not scared of Lucia or anything—I’m just nervous about seeing her. It’s because she’s a horrible, horrible person. I’m nervous out of fear, not shyness!
On the way back to the chosens’ mountain, there were a lot less people than usual roaming about the sect. Normally, people would be exchanging pointers with one another, and sometimes people would market some goods. Disciples would take missions and go out and about, but it’s strangely quiet. It’s not silent, but it’s still eerie. I’ve lived in the sect for my whole life, but I’ve never experienced it quite so desolate before. It must be because everyone’s recovering from the mishap at the cultural exchange. People are calling it the Shadow Devil Sect massacre because Lucia wiped out six hundred sects by herself. Well, not whole sects, but the people that attended the exchange. I don’t know how my grandfather’s going to mend relationships with the sects. It’s possible a large number of people are missing because he already declared war.
War used to be a common occurrence, or so I’ve read. The fight for resources is brutal. To become an immortal, a lot of spirit stones, medicinal pills, treasured weapons, and other resources are necessary. And there’s simply not enough to go around for everyone. It’s also why the people of Kong County don’t have any sky-realm experts. Kong County is relatively barren when compared to the whole of the Immortal Continent. The real holy land of cultivation is smackdab in the center of the Immortal Continent. I wish I could go there one day, but I’d probably only qualify as a simple outer sect disciple at one of their weaker sects. Well, struggling is a natural part of becoming an immortal.
“Madness Strike! Madness Strike! Madness Strike!”
…What did I just walk in on? Lucia’s whaling on my grandfather, and it looks like my grandfather’s losing…. How did Lucia become so proficient with Madness Strike in the time it took me to gather my senses and go to my grandfather? It couldn’t be that I took a really long amount of time to settle my excited heart, right? I don’t think I spent very long, but time is like flowing water to a cultivator. A year could’ve passed…, but I don’t think I meditated for that long. I didn’t have to eat anything after all. Right, not much time has passed. That just means Lucia is abnormal.
“Madness Strike! Madness Strike! Madness Strike!”
Madness Strike is an explosive attack that can transcend ranks during a fight, but it comes at a great cost: torn muscles, damaged meridians, loss of sanity. It’s why the Evil Flame Sect hasn’t risen up to the position of one of the five fingers of Kong County. The recovery period is extensive unless medicinal pills are consumed to rejuvenate the user’s health, but Lucia doesn’t seem to require any rest. And it isn’t as if she’s holding back, judging by the foam pouring from her mouth. She looks like a rabid animal; though, I’ve only seen pictures of them in books. Maybe Lucia has rabies?
“Madness Strike! Madness Strike! Madness Strike!”
To be able to force out that much qi repeatedly…, the difference between her and me is too great. Where is she getting that much energy from? I’m not sure if I should just be watching like this, but I don’t think I’d be able to help my grandfather. If a high-low-ranked earth-realm expert is being pushed back like this, I wouldn’t be able to do anything as a mid-low-ranked saint-realm expert even if I have a few techniques that can transcend ranks. But it’s good to see Lucia’s fighting style so clearly for the first time. …Yes, I followed behind her during the great massacre and should’ve seen her fight then, but all the blood made me nauseous and unable to focus. Now that I can see Lucia up close without worrying about dying, my heart’s beating even faster than it was during the massacre. Why…? There’s just something about her that makes my blood boil. She’s so … heroic…. I’ve never met a man as fierce, domineering, and aggressive as Lucia. Wait! That makes it sound like Lucia’s a man, which she isn’t! She’s a woman like me…, but she’s not very feminine.
“Madness Strike! Madness Strike! Madness Strike! Damn you, why won’t you die!?”
“Wait, you’re trying to kill me?” My grandfather let out a grunt as he stomped his foot and raised his hand into the air. Heart devil qi surged out of him and crashed into Lucia, but it went around her as if she were a rock in a river. “Oh? Then how about this? Heart Devil Apparition!”
It seems like my grandfather’s trying to end this as fast as possible. Heart Devil Apparition is the strongest technique an earth-realm expert can use if they’re utilizing the Heart Devil Cultivation Technique.
“Ah?” Lucia paused as the heart devil qi around her drew back a
nd congealed into a blob. It twisted and rose up while taking the shape of a…. Lucia sliced it in half. “Like I’d wait for something to happen! Madness Strike!”
It’s a shame slicing heart devil qi doesn’t do anything. A massive black hand reached out from one of the halves and grabbed Lucia. “H-hey! Stop that! The worms tickle!”
Right. The Shadow Devil Sect specializes in planting heart devils, not in killing opponents. The most efficient way to place a heart devil in someone is to traumatize them. And what’s a better way to traumatize someone than to cover their whole body in wriggling worms that try to burrow into their skin?
“Why isn’t my Armor of Slaughter stopping this!?” Lucia struggled and squirmed, but the heart devil worms were relentless and crawled towards her ears. “W-wait! I-Impenetrable Shell!”
That’s the other technique she stole; don’t tell me she’s proficient in that too. If she is, then what exactly have I been doing with my life? She’s able to learn two techniques in the time it takes me to calm my nerves. Wait, no. A heart devil worm just crawled into her ear straight past her defensive technique. Phew, she’s not unbelievably talented. But I should stop my grandfather’s Heart Devil Apparition from going any further or Lucia will have to deal with a heart devil. …Why do I feel pity for someone who planted heart devils in me after violating me in front of the sect? But my chest feels oddly painful when I see her suffering. There’s definitely something wrong with me. “Grandfather, stop!”
***
“So Lucia’s been training the Madness Strike by continuously using it without rest…, and you want her to do this how many times?”
“Sixty thousand.” It’s a reasonable amount. If she does one every second, she’ll still have seven to eight hours of free time left in the day. She can spend six hours eating, one hour doing nighttime activities with me, and the last hour for rest. It’s upsetting that I have to motivate her by denying her pleasure, but I’ve already come to accept the laziness and lack of ambition from Lucia.
