Shattered Lands: Book 8 of Painting the Mists

by Laplante, Patrick

  Huxian swallowed. And if I fail this trial?

  “If you fail, you get nothing,” the Candle Dragon said. “No light, no darkness. You will have to settle for something else on the weak mortal plane where you reside. Choose wisely.”

  Huxian frowned. He sniffed at the light and darkness, sniffed at the portal. This experience was both surreal and confusing. Mighty figures like the Candle Dragon didn’t exactly waste their time on lowly beings like him and offer rewards, did they? Just what was going on?

  This junior confesses himself confused, Huxian said. Why this offer for a trial? Why this unforeseen blessing? Did I please you in some way? Did I displease you? Sometimes, rewards offered by mighty figures were just veiled punishments. It was important to identify them and decide accordingly.

  The Candle Dragon looked at him. It blinked once, then, surprisingly, it sighed. “There is a darkness. A deep darkness that surpasses that which I preside over. No light balances it. It consumes endlessly. It devours without limit. It eats away at the fabric of the universe itself. You have seen it.”

  Huxian nodded slowly. I have.

  “This blessing is to aid in fighting this calamity. I cannot do much, as direct actions by one like myself would shatter a mortal plane. If you take on my trial, and you prove worthy, you can gain a part of my power. It will aid you in fighting that creature, and perhaps we can save that small speck of a world before it vanishes for all eternity. While we’re at it, we’ll fix those eyes of yours.”

  Eyes? Huxian said. These things? His eyes weren’t bleeding anymore, but they weren’t doing very well either. They stung when he blinked, and it was very taxing to keep them open and look around. Yes, his eyes were a problem. He’d forgotten about them in his excitement.

  “Your eyes are filled with hatred,” the Candle Dragon said. “They seek to see everything and change everything. That’s too much strain on a body, Godbeast or otherwise. If you take my trial, I can help you channel that hatred into something more… manageable. It is lucky that you met me when you did.”

  And my brother? Huxian said. Can you help him? Now that he thought about it, Cha Ming wasn’t nearly as strong as he was. He was powerful, yes, but a human body didn’t quite match up to that of a Godbeast. He only hoped he hadn’t done something stupid like kill a few hundred thousand ghosts like he had.

  “I cannot,” the Candle Dragon said. “He will need to find his own way. Only a Godbeast can merge these eye techniques as I instruct.”

  Huxian gulped, then looked toward the portal. I won’t die if I hop in there, will I?

  “Only if you’re grossly incompetent,” the Candle Dragon replied. “And in that case, I can only express my condolences to your father for conceiving such a worthless son.” He blinked. “Time runs short. Choose now.”

  That was a no-brainer. From his inherited memories, Huxian knew exactly how bad fighting a Taotie would be without serious firepower. He needed an edge, and he wouldn’t say no to a Candle Dragon inheritance. Besides, taking on another Godbeast initiation would really stick it to his old man, who had basically disowned him. He could already taste the vengeance.

  With that thought, Huxian leaped into the gray portal and didn’t look back.

  Cha Ming blinked as he looked at Southhaven Wall and the army stationed before it. The army was waiting, its cooking fires burning strong as the men prepared for battle. Here and there, Cha Ming could sense men sharpening weapons. Others sparred and practiced, while a few professionals crafted a few extra items for the upcoming conflict.

  He sensed everything but saw nothing. His eyes could no longer see. “Why did it come to this?” Cha Ming asked Feng Ming, who flew up beside him. “They’re not all bad. So many died in Bastion, but very few deserved to.” The sin he’d obtained from his actions was a testament to that fact. Many innocent men had been blown away by the storm he’d created.

  “Men live and men die,” Feng Ming said. “Who truly deserves death is difficult to decide.” He pointed. “Even this army. They’re all here to invade the North, but are they really to blame? Most of them probably signed up for the army when they heard about good pay and good treatment. Their governments told them it was their right and their obligation to serve their country, to serve the South in obtaining a better future.

  “To them, the Northerners are nothing but spoiled brats. They have ample resources compared to the South, but they squander the luck they’ve been given. Northerners deserve to die, and Southerners deserve what they have. It’s the North’s fault for building a wall to stop them from migrating there in the first place.”

  “Then what is right?” Cha Ming asked.

  “Right is acting virtuously,” Feng Ming said without hesitation. “Conduct yourself with honesty and integrity. Be kind. Be courageous. Work hard. Don’t take more than what you should have. Be tolerant.”

  “And wrong?” Cha Ming asked.

  “The opposite,” Feng Ming replied. “Everyone needs to do the best with the hand they’re dealt. Playing well is harder with a bad hand, but the rewards are so much richer when you win.”

  “We should go back,” Cha Ming said, nodding. “Do we just fly over the wall? Will our men just let us through?”

  “It’s a little more complicated than that,” Feng Ming said. “We’ll have to go through a checkpoint.” He frowned suddenly, then summoned a jade orb. “Unfortunately, it seems like we’ll need to hold that thought. The war’s started, and not where we thought it would.” He looked toward the east. “We need to head to the Eastern Desert as quickly as possible.

  “Through Southern lands?” Cha Ming asked. “Dangerous.”

  “Dangerous, but faster than the alternative,” Feng Ming said. “Do you have any flight treasures?”

  “Something better, I think,” Cha Ming said. He began to grow. His neck grew longer, as did his body. His boots melted away as claws formed where they’d been. Feathers erupted from his skin, and in seconds, Cha Ming was a 333-foot-long falcon, an imitation of Silverwing. Unlike Silverwing, however, his body was riddled with qi pathways that led to his Dantian. Qi poured out from his massive body and into 1,080 gray sigils, which joined together with white light, summoning winds and clouds upon activating.

  You going to hop on? Cha Ming asked, looking down at Feng Ming and Gong Xuandi, who were gaping in shock. Feng Ming was the first to recover. He took it in stride and hopped on Cha Ming’s back.

  “So you can transform into a demon, can you?” Feng Ming said. “What else can you change into?”

  “I’m not sure,” Cha Ming said as Gong Xuandi hopped on. “Let’s find out.” He flapped his massive wings, taking them up a mile high in an instant. He flapped once more, speeding off toward the east, wind and clouds trailing behind them.

  Zhou Li knew something was wrong the moment he landed. The smoldering wreckage of a city aside, it was a feeling deep within his gut. He saw angry blood masters arguing over what was left of their monastery, and three shepherds had come from other cities. They had dousing needles out and were trying to divine the true culprit behind things.

  He closed his eyes, and images appeared. Three messages, all scrawled by the same hand. The Wang family sends its regards, they read, but that was too obvious. The Wang family had been their agents for many of his lifetimes. Why would they suddenly turn against them?

  The blood masters were incensed, and rightly so. The Spirit Temple had already sent an ultimatum to the Wang family. To Zhou Li’s surprise, however, Wang Jun had capitulated. That relieved him more than the destroyed temple and monastery bothered him.

  The wall to the North was a complete wreck. Though the Ji Kingdom’s ruler lay mortally wounded in bed, he had fortunately chosen a successor. A wounded successor, but a successor nonetheless. That was far better than what the Northern kingdoms would get once the war was over. The beast that had devastated the Northern tenth of the city was gone, leaving tens of thousands of metallic corpses behind. The cost in lives was devastatin
g, but those valuable corpses were a good consolation prize. Their smiths would forge them into weapons for the upcoming battle.

  As for the Breaker… he’d known about its fate before even landing. No messages had been required to inform him of the fate of his pet project. He’d discarded the weapon the moment it had detonated. It had clearly been tampered with, so anything to do with it was suspect. Likely, that had been the mole’s goal in the first place. The skillful mole who’d infiltrated the Wang family. Heavens knew who it was or how he’d done it.

  Soldiers avoided Zhou Li as he flew toward the caged beast in the distance. The Taotie, the vicious creature that had effectively destroyed half a city and a good portion of their experts, sat in its cage, patiently waiting. It had been down this road before, so it knew the drill. It fully expected to be sealed for another few thousand years.

  Transcendents bowed as Zhou Li landed in front of the ochre cage, a black-and-ochre seal in hand. Last time, it had been the North who’d sealed it. This time, they were the ones to bear the brunt of its onslaught. And just like last time, they couldn’t kill the damned thing. They could only trap it and hope the seal held for as long as possible.

  “Such a pity,” Zhou Li mumbled, fingering the disc.

  “A true pity,” a man said, walking up beside him. It was Yao Xifeng, chief warlord and one of the grand viziers of the Southern Alliance. He was a tall, regal man who wore jet-black armor. He wore a large silver blade at his back that he never parted with. A wicked scar ran across his face, a burn he’d suffered in his childhood. And like Zhou Li, he, too, was a reincarnator.

  “We had just ordered the first strikes against the North to take advantage of their distracted transcendents,” Yao Xifeng said. “Unfortunately, some powerful intruders wreaked havoc in the city as we fought the beast. They even killed one of our transcendents. Our losses were much greater than anticipated, and it will affect my calculations for the upcoming struggle.”

  “It’s fortunate we didn’t commit so many forces to Haijing,” Zhou Li said. “Your suggestions on that front were wise.”

  “A general never commits too much on a long shot,” Yao Xifeng said, nodding. He looked up at the creature pensively. “Such a beautiful creature. Destruction incarnate.”

  “Exactly the pity I was referring to,” Zhou Li said. “Such a beautiful creature, perfectly suited for what we wish to achieve. Rather than seal it, shouldn’t we… guide it?”

  “That is… madness,” Yao Xifeng said flatly. “It can’t be done. The creature is intelligent, yes, but barely so. Moreover, its goal is to destroy us all.”

  “We’re losing,” Zhou Li whispered. “I can feel it. So can you. If we don’t do something, we’ll lose this war.”

  “We can try again,” Yao Xifeng said stiffly. “As many times as it takes.”

  “But can your soul bear it?” Zhou Li asked. “Can you last a dozen more cycles of reincarnation? A hundred more? Every man has their limit, and most of us have reached ours. We need to do something extreme if we are to win.”

  The general sighed. “I agree, to some extent. But how will you communicate with the beast? Is it even possible to make a deal with it?”

  Zhou Li shrugged. “Let’s find out.” He flew up a few hundred feet, staying just ten feet away from the solid orange bars that now restrained the Taotie. Its hollow black eyes stared at Zhou Li, and its mouth opened expectantly. Food? It seemed to say.

  “Food,” Zhou Li said. “You want food. I give food. You want?”

  The beast cocked its head.

  “I take you to food. You eat. Good?”

  It lifted one of its large claws and scratched its head. Small hairs of darkness splashed down on the ground, annihilating whatever they touched.

  “How is it going?” Yao Xifeng asked.

  “Better than I expected,” Zhou Li replied. “Now all I need is a cup of coffee, the best contract specialists we have—preferably with a background in educating three-year-olds—and time.”

  “You have three days,” the general said, shrugging.

  “What’s the worst that could happen?” Zhou Li said. He’d had it with being on the losing end of things. He’d had it with fighting against pampered, self-righteous brats as they hid behind their wall, enjoying their riches. If he couldn’t change these lands, he would shatter them, using the rubble to bury their dead.

  – End Book 8 –

  A Note to Readers

  If you’ve enjoyed this book, I would greatly appreciate it if you left a rating and/or review on the site where you purchased it. Ratings lead to credibility in this competitive marketplace, and by leaving one, you signal to the world that this book is worth reading.

  Cha Ming’s disciples grew a great deal between Book 6 and Book 7. That’s because, during their master’s absence, they had their own adventures. It’s difficult to do them justice as part of the main series. If you’re interested, you can find out more about them in Violet Heart (Book 1 of 2 in the Violet Fate Duology).

  I send out updates to readers from time to time, such as writing progress, release announcements, and the like. If you’re interested in receiving these updates, subscribe to the Painting the Mists newsletter at http://eepurl.com/dymvO1. You can also find a link to the newsletter at www.paintingthemists.com. As a bonus for subscribing, you’ll receive exclusive biography sketches for each of the key characters, starting with Huxian!

  Here are other ways to keep up to date on the latest news:

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PatrickGLaplante/

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  Further Reading

  Are you a compulsive reader of Wuxia / Xianxia? Consider checking out these series:

  World of Beasts by Tinalynge

  Nirvana Rebirth by Shadowsfinger Legends of Ogre Gate by Jeremy “Deathblade” Bai I’ve also been enjoying LitRPG of late. If you’re interested in this genre, make sure to check out Endless Online, as well as Silver Fox & the Western Hero. Both are written by M. H. Johnson. The first is a fantastic blend of sword, sorcery, and science fiction. The second is a xianxia novel with a LitRPG twist.

  If you’re interested in joining a community of likeminded readers, I suggest the following Facebook groups: https://www.facebook.com/groups/WesternWuxia/

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/cultivationnovels/

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGsociety/

  The Cultivation Systems

  This record is a summary of the cultivation systems on the Ling Nan Plane. Note that cultivation systems can change depending on the type of plane or the stability of the plane.

  Qi Cultivation (Human)

  Some humans are talented in harvesting the ambient energies of heaven and earth. They cultivate qi, enabling them to perform fierce magics by bending the elements themselves. Angelic cultivators gravitate toward this powerful but complex path.

  Qi Condensation – Cultivators start their cultivation journey by condensing qi from their surroundings into their Dantian. They can circulate this qi in their qi pathways, executing qi techniques by expending it. A cultivator’s qi pool expands and deepens as they cultivate. Many schools separate each step of the process into grades.

  Foundation Establishment – After forming a sufficiently large qi pool, cultivators solidify it into solid pillars known as a foundation. Their foundation grows from the bottom of their Dantian and eventually grows tall enough to reach the top. Their qi thickens, and the amount of thickened qi they control depends on the height of their foundation. Foundation-establishment cultivators can fly a short distance from the ground using treasures like flying swords or special boots.

  Core Formation – When their pillars reach their maximum height, cultivators melt them into a core, the most efficient way to store qi. Qi now takes the form of a fluid that travels in and out of their core. The core grows until it reaches its maximum size. At this point, cultivators are able to use their potent qi to fly unaided.

  Rune Carving �
� By carving runes onto their core, mortal humans can transcend. Not much is known about this realm, but legends say rune carving cultivators can generate a “domain.”

  Body Cultivation (Human)

  Let’s face it, some people aren’t as smart as they are strong. For those people, body cultivation is the preferred way to get ahead. Devilish cultivators and descendants of deities are drawn toward this brutal, straightforward path. Body cultivation makes one physically stronger, tougher, and nearly unkillable at higher cultivation levels.

  Body Strengthening – Body cultivators start off by performing a basic strengthening of their body, purifying it in the process. Typically, the body is nourished with qi and then refined with an opposing qi, removing any impurities.

  Bone Forging – After sufficiently strengthening their body, body cultivators must forge their bones to further support their growth. Bones are the basis of strength and durability. They traditionally subject their bones to intense quantities of qi, strengthening and tempering them in the process. They become akin to magic treasures, making it extremely difficult to shatter them using strength of an equivalent realm. Bone-forging cultivators gain the ability to manipulate their weight by using voids that are formed in their bones, making it easier to wield heavy weapons and use their immense strength to their advantage.

  Marrow Refining – Once the bones are strong enough, it is necessary for cultivators to refine their marrow. Marrow is the basis of their blood, which feeds the remainder of their body in turn. Marrow-refining cultivators gain powerful regeneration abilities stemming from the deep pool of vitality hidden within their marrow and the voids in their bones.

  Blood Awakening – To transcend, body cultivators must awaken the divinity within their blood. How this is done is uncertain, though descendants of a god have a much easier time in doing so.