Chapter Two Hundred and Fifty - An Anchor Weightier Than the Heavens

The world about [Thrice Clouded Boa] contained nightmares.

A distant memory evoked of light reflecting within a deep and rolling sea-fog, the shapes within both ever-shifting and terrible. Distended forms. Sights of trickery. Dislocated sounds. Harbingers of rocks or [Spirit Beasts].

What horrors existed in the depths of an immortal’s soul were of much interest to Fu Gao.

Already had he tempered himself against [Terror], and yet some oddity of the fool’s yet-to-merge [Constitution] had him less strained than before. Thus he stalked freely, navigating the cherry-stained pretenders, the dying plum, the observant brute of an elephant above and the pretender to his Elder’s true throne.

His blade lifted, and Fu Shuidi saturated it with [Impending Mortality Dew].

[Cherry River Sage] hummed in melancholy notes, watching as the Heaven’s great fool, she that was [Dao Named] for blindness and stupidity, wisped into nothing.

Her wisps mingled with the last splutters of a skinless [Plum Axe] as he and his [Spirit Butterfly] gasped a final breath.

Drowned and immolated both, by the Cherry River.

Indeed the [Hollow Throne] glittered there, resplendent in purest white. How great it would appear when [Gleeful Viper] finally painted it crimson.

Hushi drew their [Dao] to the forefront, pushing by all that had not been consumed- all that had not yet reached equilibrium. The conflict in insight was staggering. Painful. Yet the ghost pressed on.

[Blackcloud Departure].

“Do not,” voiced Hua, shifting her weight eastward by a might.

Their blade plunged after, northward, throatward, heart, [Core], and struck naught but the barest of air her slight movement left behind.

Fu Gao knew she could not see him, he had grown beyond her sight long ago. This evasiveness was from the future alone.

“Bid this dog stay, girl,” commanded Hua, enforcing boldness enough to dare demand things of their great Elder. “Bah. Of all probabilities, this brings the greatest irritation.”

[Gleeful Viper] still bore her veil, yet from beneath this fabric her voice came unmuffled. As clear as thunder’s clap. “A dog,” she tasted. “Of what do you speak [Sage]?”

Ninety one strikes flew.

Ninety one strikes missed.

“Demand it so, and our intent will be revealed. On this, the [Cherry River Sage] will deliver,” voiced Hua, catching Fu Gao’s blade between two fingers as if it were no more than a sleeve of papyrus. “My gratitude would be offered.”

Chains.

In a breath, [Gleeful Viper] called for a cessation, and every sliver of Qi within the Fatherly [Asura’s] form seized. With such intent from she that stood highest his mastery of the unseen failed, delivering him to a knee in plain sight of all.

“This serpent is unworthy,” he dipped, pressing his douli to the filthy dirt.

The [Three Eyed Spying Array] was volcanic.

So insignificant were they that the conversation did not grace him, continuing only beneath the strained domain of [Terror] exuded by [Thrice Clouded Boa]. Those present- the Cherry River Impartials, the two Cherry River Supporters, [Fourth Under Heaven] above, Hua, Long and [Gleeful Viper], were well steeled against it.

But the [Primordial Law] was not for them.

“An accord is reached,” noted [Gleeful Viper]. “Speak, [Sage].”

Long’s jian drew a circle within the filth. “In each-”

“Ever are we discounted,” iced [Thrice Clouded Boa]. “On this august eve, before the Throne of which we all seek to claim. To this end we have plotted and prepared, cultivated the roots of our Paths and secured foundations none might dream. We are fables and nightmares each, and yet here I am spurned once more.”

Above her serpents and eel gave cry, and it was a thing of such pitch that all metals across the Jianghu might well have been scraped upon at once.

She stepped forth amidst a growing bluster of black, driving each Calamity back a pace. “No being exists without fear. The Transcendent knows failure, the Beloved knows whispers, the Crossroads know an end to all roads. To each force there is an opposite and equal. Here I deliver the unmaking of all Paths.”

Shuidi staggered first, despite the tempering of their [Constitution].

“[Primordial Law of Terror: Sweat-Soaked Colourless Tapestry],” she tremored, taking at once another step towards the [Hollow Throne’s] arch.

Fu Gao saw a growth of characters crawl upon his skin as if his veins were a disturbed cloister of insects, and across him they swarmed. For each width they stole rose a stain of parchment, mummifying his flesh.

Immortals ought not to grunt nor tremble, but in this madness his [Senses] caught such a muffle.

A voice in his mind overwrote all.

“The path of all false cultivators ends, disciple. Slay all but my serpents.”

And a second in his ear.

“You’re acting the fool, brother,” came Zhu’s lecturing tone.

One moment was all it took to break the shackles of growing [Terror], and with it he plunged a blade into Zhu’s left shoulder. [Impending Mortality Dew] fizzled there, wounding him enough to blur towards the [Cherry River Sage].

[Blackcloud Departure]. [True Wind God Arts: Desolation of Eternity].

Power amassed at the tip of his blade, and met a bursting of parchment as Hua’s hand rose to meet it. Point met flesh, and from the delivery of energies exploded blood, tendons and bone, welcoming his second strike.

Neither Hua nor Ershiba were victims, however, shedding their casings swifter than the next step as to neatly evade the onslaught of chainwork.

“A return to oafishness. Gao Fu, why do you allow this serpent’s stooge to take hold? Bah. The Gao will not prosper this way.”

The depths of [Winter] could not match the cold held in his heart.

Words might fly on prosperity.

Some lesser soul might declare her a liar and hypocrite, for where was the [Cherry River Sage] when his children survived on piecemeal fish that had gone unsold? Where was her wealth when [Autumn] turned and the draft aboard his home had turned Yuling’s fingers blue? When those of the Azure Shoal Sect had broken Feng’s wrist for crossing-

No.

His blade spoke in turn.

Fu Hushi preyed on Hua’s weakened side, polluting the air with tide after tide of poison to stem the prodigious rate at which her flesh healed. As did his sister crab bend and contort the available Qi, storming [Primordial Air and Water] about her to lessen her pool.

An axe countered half of his blows.

“Return yourself to reason,” demanded Zhu. Gao Zhu as foreign memory dictated. “Or I will do it in your stead.”

Fu Shuidi impressed a dire warning.

[Thrice Clouded Boa] had reached the gleaming [Paifang], stalling only to savour the agonal cries of [Gleeful Viper’s] most venerable partners as her own traitorous worms gnawed and tore. At her rear there flared a [Constellation Seed’s] presence, giving rise to a set of titanic onyx fangs to ward trespass against her.

[Primordial Mind Qi] flared from it, erecting a miasmic barrier that-

“No!” came her rage.

Fu Gao could not pass through to seize upon whatever misfortune caused her cry. He was as the gathered rest, shamefully oblivious for these passing breaths.

“[Cut],” whispered the [Cherry River Sword], and so his blade did. Two fangs were severed as his blade was resheathed, allowing all sights to pierce the miasma.

It was no susurrus that followed, but immortal gasps.

“Trickery.”

“How can this be?”

“A final test.”

Of all, [Cherry River Alchemist] looked to Long. “It is you.”

An order to still encroached on Fu Gao’s mind, and already had his partners recommenced their unseen arts, fading them into nothing.

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“Not solely,” returned Long.

With honey-like words, [Gleeful Viper] spoke. “[Sage]. What obscuration stands? Among we oldest souls, a single piece is missing. What vital force do you hold that we do not?”

[Thrice Clouded Boa’s] hand rested upon the [Paifang’s] portal as though it were an impassable wall, gaining no ground despite the sheen of effort on the pretender’s brow and strain upon her shoulder. “Doom will follow this mockery, Sage, if it is not rectified.”

The [Cherry River Sage] hummed in disdain. “Mind your manners, child, insults will only delay what you wish to hear. A lecture on propriety awaits, and will be delivered should you wield such pointless threats again. Put in your eyes, serpent.”

All skies held a rain of fables, and none more than those above the [Paifang]. Little daylight escaped between [Gleeful Viper’s] serpents, the partners belonging to that foul kin of hers, and the treacherous Yongwu Long’s dragons.

His descended now, paying no heed to the [True King Realm] fangs that [Thrice Clouded Boa] had blossomed about the [Paifang]. Joyously, they were crushed beneath draconic weight, and each myth laid their claws upon the glistening arch.

“Once, we held conversation. Disagreement, on the nature of change,” waxed Long, taking ceremonial paces forward. “Might it be a single circlet, returning. A serpent eating its own tail. One loop holding finite variations, if myriad? To know history is to know the future, and in millenia my own insight was confirmed.”

“A good dog is seen, not heard,” flared [Thrice Clouded Boa]. “The time-”

“Venerable serpent,” cut [Cherry River Sword], unclasping the first buckle of his back-mounted zhanmadao. “Interrupt no further.”

Fu Gao could not countermand his Elder’s decree, yet his grip became white-knuckled as the defiler, Long, continued in step and speech, reaching a treasure he ought not dare to touch. The [Hollow Throne] was but a pace away from his reach.

“The Jianghu’s essence is Change. Destruction. Beginnings. From [Spring] to [Winter] and all between. A bounty in all [Seasons] and a bounty for all. She- my [Empress], believed it enough. That its essence would bolster the hearts of all she left behind. Caretaker, citizen and bandit alike. Her solitary failing lay in the deception you gathered fools put forth,” he shook. “The depths of your hearts are black and stagnant. This, she could not see.”

A low clack sounded from Fu Shuidi, for none that spoke of their illustrious Elder should live after such words.

Long set his hand forth, and it bent against the [Paifang’s] glow just as [Thrice Clouded Boa’s] had.

Even the Heavens knew he was unworthy, it seemed.

Yet still he spoke. “So it was I drew a final oath from her, without the trappings of [Dao] or further chains. Upon her vital spirit she included a single, additional requirement upon this [Law of Origin],” he said, growing quieter. “Thus four requirements became five. For any to sit upon her throne they must hold [Divine Qi], as proof of strength. [Primordial Law], as proof of insight- no matter the path. Five [Splinters] were to be consumed, for these [Trials] were crafted by her own hand. As must immortality be gained. I need not explain the reason.”

None asked on the fifth.

None dared to stall his delivery.

“The fifth, is that which secures Change. My hidden assurance. Those that have surpassed all these requirements must have done so before their thirtieth moon, for the soul that fills all requirements at such an age… my, well, the next generation knows best the failings of the old,” shared Long, devolving into a wolfish grin.

The Fatherly [Asura] blinked.

His soul is ancient and yet to the Heavens, his flesh…

“Elder! Yongwu Long is a mere twenty-!”

[True Golden Demon] and his four enfabled dragons extended finger and claw without difficulty or resistance, vanishing into the [Hollow Throne].

Immortal rage henceforth tore the world asunder.

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Wind had carried Fu Gao into a shameful, blackened heap, and in the intervening moments between [Senses] and reality he had struggled to maintain consciousness.

What properties his [Constitution] held could not yet protect against the raw, monstrous attributes of these Calamities, only their [Primordial Law], and now he scraped himself from a dishevelled pile some hundred li from a site of chaos.

[Transcendence] warred with [Terror] and [Plausibility], as did [Dreams] and [Discovery] clash, painting the fire strokes of this maddened maelstrom. Therein raged [Dao Principles] of [Pools] he had yet to name, [Martial Prowess] and [External Arts] and [Constellation Seeds] that held power beyond rationality.

Reality warped- flickered and transmuted across a raging storm there.

But the Fatherly [Asura] turned, following his truest beacon. A call to that which stood above all. Thus the three cycled their [Inner Qi] but once, and blurred to where serpents gathered and the [Immortal Sunshine Judgement Array] was breached.

A crimson pavilion stood pristine above the torn earth, and bent there in untold thousands knelt the remnants of his true kin. Cloudy Serpent Sect cultivators and illustrious partners at rest to hear the words of their greatest.

[Gleeful Viper] appeared troubled, and this was as a dagger to his throat. To her fore, bent, were a score of Elders, though none held conversation but the [Everlasting Scales Upon Canvas, Gon Ma. His own hands were a-blur, orchestrating some trillion illusory characters in orbit.

Fu Gao lapsed his [Clouded Ghost Arts], and the immortal crowd parted to allow him forward. There, he took a silent knee behind the Elders.

The imperious gaze of Gon Ma reached him for a moment, and fresh characters entered his orchestration.

“This day, Heavens’ clouds darken,” he finally spoke. “The bones of eternity must form this staircase towards your vaunted vision, most venerable one. A birthright must be claimed.”

Those great serpents closest to the Heavens, lowered. Immortality blazed in their slitted eyes, and with each pulse of crimson there passed a message to [Gleeful Viper]. “Birthright. The Unorthodox believe they hold equal claim. How long, Gon Ma?”

“Moments. Those Unorthodox retches! The battle of eel and cherry will soon end, and her flawed will shall manifest. Your forces, venerable one, stand ready for marshall.”

Her hand overturned. “By my will.”

Gon Ma pinched forefinger and thumb, condensing the trillion characters into a single serpentine eye. Through this he spoke, and it was heard in ear and heart alike. Resounding to all scaled corners of the Jianghu.

All those of worth.

“Heed this, serpents. The hour dawns. [Gleeful Viper], Nu Wa, Young Mistress of the Scaled Heart, Elder of Cloudy Serpents, Heaven’s Rightful Matriarch, she of Golden Scales, moves to claim her birthright. The hallowed bones of Divine Clouded Mountain will no longer remain as monument, they will become the fuel for her ascension. Go, serpents, for the time is nigh. Return to our citadel that the pretenders might not intervene!”

Distance was least among the difficulties an immortal might face. And so the myriad serpents, those highest remnants that had not won the honor of giving their lives for venerable [Gleeful Viper], stepped across some untold li in a moment.

A divine army now… now…

Fu Gao, Fu Hushi and Fu Shuidi remained til the last, seeing then the great migration of Elders, lesser Matriarchs and distant scions give chase.

And further.

Longer.

Until naught but Nu Wa and Gon Ma stood, only now noting their presence. “Bingbai’s failure. Indeed, it is a sin to be born weak. How shameful that he remained so until the very end,” he spoke, directing the words to only those that mattered. “Most vaunted seat, I would employ this lesser disciple in his stead.”

[Gleeful Viper] and her serpents did not register these words, instead proceeding toward the incomplete lines of Gon Ma’s own [Spatial Array], one formed by the [External Arts] of his silver-scaled partner.

“Divine Clouded Mountain. What will become of it?” asked an assassin’s tongue.

Recognition- fury- an unimportant emotion raged in Gon Ma’s [Intent], delivered with the same force as land-scouring suns. “You would ask questions? You would dare speak? Disciple, why do you not kneel?”

Fu Gao lifted the douli from his shorn scalp, clamping it to his chest. “Divine Clouded Mountain. What will become of it?”

Now the purposeful procession of [Gleeful Viper] halted, though her words were delivered without face or turn. “What thought does fire have of ash? It spares none of logs, kindling, the tree it once was, or the forest in which it was felled. Flames consume. No more.”

The [Fatherly] Asura’s] eyes snapped high, and he offered a single word. “Gratitude.”

Drawn from the [Shrine of Final Skies], a blade emerged within the douli’s shade. Gon Ma held a half wealth of knowledge against Grandmother Hua, and yet this was sufficient enough to know all futures.

Here, [Everlasting Scales Upon Canvas] nostrils sharply gasped.

Deep plunged this dual-toned chain’s head.

Inward.

[Core]-ward.

Those blackened links that encircled it did not clink, for metal was the least of their properties. No. What came was [Spiritual] unmaking. Agony. An ending.

A great font of blood belched from Fu Gao’s mouth, staining the ceremonial hanfu of the Clouded Courts.

“Fool. The [Dao Oath] is ingrained within your soul. None might unmake it. You display such lunacy, such filth in the presence-” Gon Ma’s voice was silenced as [Senses] briefly acknowledged a staying palm and full turn from [Gleeful Viper].

It became a distant hum.

Fu Hushi’s eightfold arms strained.

Fu Shuidi’s pincers bid all [Inner Qi] behind them.

Fu Gao felt a creak in the [Dao Oath], and… and it was not enough. His soul had been claimed by the serpents, and he saw now that these were no links but scales. Revolving constrictors, upon the scales of which his blade rebuffed and slid.

No less-

[Might] suffused them.

No less than this-

The chain-head burrowed no deeper.

“Is required,” resonated three voices in their very [Spirit].

Eight golden arms sprouted from Fu Hushi, as did twin golden pincers emerge from their hermetic sister. Fu Gao saw then the golden form of his own reflection, and felt the forwards thrust as a second grip wrapped about his blade.

It became as puncturing water.

A single moment and a vast, blackened oil merged with the blood from their lungs, birthed from the shredded form of these chain-serpents. Such a sight was outward, however, and a bare representation of the tempest within.

Fu Gao and Gao Fu held memories of a shade of this, for half of it had dwelled in each of their [Cores].

Equilibrium had been reached, and now it was more.

The Fatherly [Asura] rose once, whirling a small mist about himself that removed the blackened hanfu of serpents, wrapping himself not in the robes of Cloud Dragon Hall, but a simple teal affair that he cherished most of all.

As did a well-repaired douli shift to sit upon his head.

One breath was drawn through his pipe as Shuidi cleansed the filth from his moustache, and there he stood for a single moment as Gon Ma raised a hand. The Cloudy Serpent Sect Elder was before [Gleeful Viper], warding her vulnerable state as she fought to stand against some prodigious, unseen force.

“Impossible,” he iced. “Sinful. One cannot question their betters, and yet, I foresaw this. Rarely does dust grow from speck to mite. How intolerable you have become. How poisonous to my venerable Elder! Nine generations is not enough for you, mite, I shall ensure your family prospers so that you might see a thousand did before your eyes. On the [Dao], I swear it.”

Fu puffed once more. “That is twice you have threatened my family.”

The Heaven’s own darkness erupted from Gon Ma’s palm, proving only how shameful this sedentary Elder’s talent was as Fu appeared behind him. A righteous father ought not to butcher, yet a half-length of his chain-blade twisted cruelly within the Elder’s eye socket.

As Gon Ma rounded, Shuidi ruptured the second.

[Impending Mortality Dew] saturated his resplendent robes, silvering, tended beards and down the yawning expanse of his enraged mouth. Fu ensured a deluge coated his chain as he ensnared the Elder like a spawning carp in twine, and dragged him towards his serpent’s [Spatial Array].

Shallow hisses sounded as four writhing titans strained at his passing, overcome by [Epiphany].

[Primordial Water Qi] manifested by Shuidi’s will, staking Gon Ma to the formation’s center. “Continue, serpent. Divine Clouded Mountain must be reached.”

“We are immortal. Ancient beyond your ken, little bug. Threaten not, we, [Everlasting Scales Beyond Canvas] cannot be felled by this,” hissed the constrictor, ceasing his workings upon the pavilion ground. “Beg for a swift death, we would hear it.”

Gon Ma raged against the bindings, barely touched by these injuries.

The Fatherly [Asura] cared not, flooding his palm with [Demonic Arts]. A bolstering of his [Pull], of twinned [Hollow Ivory Splinters] now at equilibrium…

With volcanic rise, a [True King Realm] [Constellation Seed] exploded from within Gon Ma’s navel, followed then by the serpent’s own. “There is no manual for fatherhood, serpent. It is not a vaunted technique refined as a Sect’s [Heritage] is. There is imitation, or the adage that it takes a village, yet within that there are myriad warring voices. Do not do that, do this, that is best, this is not, ensure you do this. Amidst this cacophony I thought patience best. I would explain further, but I have no care to,” he offered, plunging his palm into Gon Ma once more. “That well has since run dry.”