Under the Eternal sun’s radiation Atlas floated up the sides of an endless skyscraper in the city of unknown age. All around him the perfumed beauties of an other world silently guided their little prince to his home.
A home that had just come into view as the ascent of a thousand floors had finally ended and the Conjuration of Qi flew with a steady pace towards a large platform that shot off the building. It was many floors tall, and so wide it took up the roofs of at least five separate skyscrapers. It was bigger than Borsi from Atlas’ first estimate. A forest of ancient times situated atop homes and offices. Trees hundreds of meters tall cast long shadows on enormous, ancient structures with curved roofs, of dark brown tiles, on the upturn of whose statues of aged Jade that glimmered a milky green stood proudly, menacingly.
It was a world of difference, in both appearance and Qi Density, Atlas could feel it, see it. The conjured hard-wood flying carpet below his feet disappeared in motes of light and Atlas was guided off the massive concrete platform through the three pronged gate of the massive estate. Clay tiles of a dull, earthen, yellow stretched above neon red wood studded with gold from top to bottom. The gates were extravagant, and gigantic.
Past the gate they entered the cobble paved pathway covered under a plant roof for shade. The road split into three but the group marched on straight. They came upon a room with floors of polished, shining quartzite tiles. There, the open styled room with no roof lead to three new paths, its corners support by thin stone walls. At the far corners, two desks stood, and armed men of an older age sat waiting in their wooden chairs. Fluffy red cushions on their cheeks.
“Welcome home Young Master Chen.” The oldest of the bunch said as Chen Sui approached him. He and those under his management bowed to their waist. “Glad to be back.” Chen Sui responded as he waved them at ease.
“It seems you have brought back…. A, to be slave?” The withered old man stared at Atlas.
“Exactly, if you could.” Chen Sui stepped aside and the old man nodded with a knowing smile. He bent down under the counter of the desk. Stuff was moved, sparks flew high and the next moment the old man landed over the counter, orange hot metallic seal on his hands as big as a human head, burning and ready to be seared into Atlas’ skin.
Atlas did not need time to think before he moved. He dipped down and kicked the long stick out of the old man’s hands. He flipped backward as a scythe of Qi formed from his soles and cut vertical to the ground, tearing up the quartz floors. Chen Sui jumped forward and slashed the attack in half, spear in hand.
He stumbled back in surprise as the Attack resisted to a greater extent than he thought. Atlas flashed backwards, but the group of female cultivators blocked his path. A Wooden shield formed from the ground, a living wall grew and encased Atlas from above.
Atlas formed two thick bolts of dense silver Qi in his hands and with a snap of his shoulders two explosions rocked the wall. Screams resounded from the other end as two gaps formed. Atlas rushed forth, but slammed his foot down and dodged aside, missing his chance, as a spear shot through the air aimed at his head.
He rolled away as a sword of Qi formed on his back and flew to his enemies under Atla’s control. Chen Sui hurled himself at it yet as if elastic the Sword split in two and they sprung forth to his hearts. It was a last moment intervention from the old man that sent the sword reeling out of the way and into the ground. It dug itself past the base as a large crack splintered the whole room. Atlas gave up on that construct of Qi quickly as the old man blurred in his vision. A veil of scales appeared in the air and Atlas swirled it around himself. The crackle of a punch past the speed of sound caved the material inward yet did not manage to break it. At first.
With a grunt of effort the old man pierced through and grabbed Atlas. The mantle of Qi morphed into a thousand needles, their points drove themselves, digging like worms, into the old man’s skin around his arm. His veins lit up in silver from inside as the Qi poisoned him. Fighting to consume and destroy his every cell. The old man felt the sickly burning sensation spread.
“You dare?” The old man grunted and with a show of will he expunged the Qi out of his body. It blew out of him like mist. Atlas control over it shredded away. Real knives flew for the old mans eyes with the slightest twitch of Atlas’ muscles but they were blocked by two hand constructs. Atlas contorted his bones, dislocating them to slither snake-like, he stretched his legs around the old man in a wrestle hold.
“Enough is enough, Slave boy.” The Old man felt not a hint of pain, as he did not move from his spot, as if anchored to the ground despite Atlas burning his Qi to add force to his muscles. The large, near melted, poker was flown over by the Old man and he raised it in his arm.
“Old man stop!” Chen Sui shouted right at the last moment. The Branding seal stopped in place right before it touched Atlas’s chest. The edges of his clothes burnt into crisps. The old man looked back and to a struggling Chen Sui, tens of silver snakes cut apart, yet a hundred more tangled around him, holding his limbs, their large viper teeth held at the ready all over his body to pump the young man full of Qi poison. From the wound his sword had given to the ground snakes rose like their next had been disturbed.
The old man shook his head after seeing his master’s nod and let Atlas go. He dropped to the ground and rolled back, away from the poker. His eyes darted about like a caged mouse. He had bought some time, he held the young master hostage. Now what?!
“You can’t leave.” The old man said, half amused, half angered by the unending impudence of this young cultivator. Even now, the sheer talent and potential he held brought a hint of awe to him.
“I have your Young Master at gun point old man. With but a single twitch from you, he’s dead.” Atlas threatened. Yet it was when he saw the old man chuckle that he understood how wrong he was, how despite hearing the magic words ‘Life Saving Treasure’ they still didn’t quiet clock in. He felt his Qi being cut apart as if in a blender when a storm of Spear’s shot out from Chen Sui’s body. The Young master was completely unharmed, despite Atlas’ best efforts to change that.
“I am humiliated for having to use the treasures given to me by the clan like so. I should have you beaten and decapitated for this insult. Right in front of my elder, and my entourage of maidens as well. But you’re a very lucky man, Otherworlder.” Chen Sui said with biting scorn. He had not looked at Atlas as he spoke. “Please, Use the other Slave Brand, old man.” He said to the old cultivator at the employ of the Chen Clan and the old man raised a brow before following the order. There was only so much that needed to be questioned, and with just a look he had understood. When got as old as him, things became simpler, dotted with patterns.
Atlas was dragged closer, pushed to the ground. His clothes were torn open at the shoulder and with a much smaller non Qi infused poker a brand was burned into his flesh behind his right shoulder. A half permanent marker of his slavery status. Compared to the other poker, this one gave the privilege of not being bound to ones Qi, ones Spirit. If they seared off the scarred flesh and cured it, the mark would disappear.
The Brand was the edge of a spear, with a sharp tip, surrounded by chains. A simple brand for a clan of simple mastery. The Masters of the Spear, the Chen supposedly where not ones for luxury, yet instead for Martial Diligence and discipline. So far Atlas hadn’t caught that. But he expected soon enough he’d get to see their Martial Arts in full.
Atlas did not utter a sound through the pain. His eyes bore into the old man with a hate he had never felt before. Yet soon enough it had ended. His body would heal the wound and incorporate the scar uniformly, without blemish, soon. He was forced to stand and then left alone to follow the young Master through the right most pathway of this ‘reception room’, If ever, to his own personal quarters.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Chen Sui paid no heed to Atlas despite the clear difference in skill Atlas had shown compared to the young master. Atlas pondered on the prince’s stupidity. He could take his life right then.
“Yet you don’t attack, despite me keeping my guard down. Why is that?” Chen Sui spoke as if he had read Atlas’ thoughts, he walked ahead of Atlas, he saw not his face. Atlas did not respond as the young master would have liked. “My name is Atlas, It’s been pretty horrible meeting you, Chen Sui.” Atlas showed defiance in the little ways. The young master did not take insult to this clear attack against his status and honor. Others would have had Atlas quartered.
“I’ll answer for you, Atlas. It’s because you don’t want to kill me, probably recent trauma over your first kill. I can understand it. You don’t have the confidence you can knock me unconscious without putting my life in danger, thus you do not risk it.”
“I simply don’t know what this brand you have placed on me does. I may face repercussions for even unleashing bloodlust against you.”
Chen Sui turned his head, he chuckled at Atlas’ poker face. “Who are you kidding? We both know it does nothing other than remind you of your status as my personal Slave. You should be happy, honestly.”
He continued, stopping Atlas who clearly had something to say. “Don’t respond with anything stupid. Just let me say, you’ve intrigued me. If you were dealing with any of the other Great Clan’s in the City you would have been indeed killed. Compared to those other inbred mongrels I have values, I have a brain, and a heart, and good sense. I saw your strength, and wanted to know more.”
“Why did you set the deal not for another two weeks? The old manager is clearly experienced and capable of creating those lost treasures on a whim.”
“You wouldn’t be able to focus on our spars at all if that were the case. You’d be too occupied trying to get away, or contact you little friends to do the job for you. Or hoping to have me bring you along on the trade day. Not fun at all.”
Atlas did not speak any more. He didn’t share the same intrigue as the young master, he knew not how most prodigious sons of the great clans acted. He could not know that Prince Chen was seen as a prodigious hedonist, a son that knew how to throw his weight around, but with a penchant for being weak willed, and soft hearted. He never actually got into fights, and had not killed a single person publicly. He was considered the worst amongst the Heirs of the Eight Great Clans, their branches at least, that existed within Eternal City. If and when his father died from drinking himself over the edge, the Chen clan was expected to loose its dominance.
The two of them arrived through curved paths, and too many corners to count at an independent, sprawling one floor building with artistic gardens flourishing around it, a large patio on raised wooden boards going around the whole building, as rows of paper separations hid the hundred rooms per side in a thin veil of privacy. It was at the entrance to this roofed patio that a presence so dense and old sat in harmony with the world. It sent shivers down Atlas’ spine just to feel the galaxy of Qi ebbing and thumping inside of her, the pure power of the world, the universal oneness, the birth of new Qi and the might of spirit she held, it all forced Atlas on his knees. Sweat dripped down his spine.
“Little Sui.” The voice of the woman was older than time, it came as a whistle and as a guttural grunt in one, a majestic voice of power, it made Atlas’ bones tremble, it brought to him the smell of tempered Qi, cooked and prepared to utter perfection within that immortal body. They stood at different plains of existence. Atlas could tell. This woman that referred to Chen Sui with such tenderness and familiarity was nearly a person no more. A being of the Laws. She embodied the spear in ways, he could feel it, it sharp point, the bend of its polished wood, its piercing cry. It was this faint sense of something connected to the truth of the Heavens that had pulled such intense reaction out of Atlas.
“You have brought an interesting friend with you. My Child.” She spoke, an eyebrow raised on her wrinkled yet youthful face. Energy and power transuded from every pore on her skin, if she even had pores. Her body transcended any sense of normalcy.
Chen Sui kowtowed to the woman, forehead touched stones on the ground. “This… Peculiarity of his is why I brought him here in the first place.”
“You call it peculiarity, I call it the emergence of a new Heavenly Son. You could not possibly imagine how rare it is for a mere mortal, not yet even in the Foundations Realm, to be able to sense even a hint of the laws exuded from my presence.
Chen Sui swallowed his words, he had tried to save what was left of his pride as a superior born Chen Clan person. But it seemed Esteemed Ancient Ju would not let him have it. He stood up and approached her for a hug. The woman chuckled, returned the hug in kind. “It is only you and moments like this that remind me of my human nature indeed.” She said and in Atlas’ eyes, as he peered into her dense existence, from the core of her being a drop of near liquid Qi as dense as the rest of her reserves suddenly came to light, born with a hint of radiant gold. It was so bright for a moment that he could not take his eyes away, even as they ached to look away. Qi had just been created within that woman. His jaw dropped to the ground.
“How come you passed by, Grandmother Ju? Not to say I am not glad to see you.” Chen Sui asked once separated from the hug.
“I missed you, that is why.” She ruffled her grandson’s, may generations apart, hair. Chen Sui simply crossed his hands and waited, not really enjoying the ruffling, but not against it either.
“I see you won’t believe your old grandmother. I could not make any progress. The disturbances of late have thrown a wrench in my thoughts and mediation. I was forced out of seclusion.”
“I know it’s not just that. You wouldn’t be waiting for me in front of my house if it was. Though I can understand it, even I have been disturbed by the mood of the City as of late. I can’t imagine how it feels to you.”
“Sigh~ You’re like a snake some times Sui’er. It’s your father. His wine shipments will not be coming this week. There has been, an attack.”
“Who dared?” He questioned enraged. Then thought better of it. A somber mood overtaking the rage. “He went on a drunken rage again.” Chen Sui stated coldly, face as hard as steel.
“Sui’er.” The Ancient made to speak, but the young man shook his head.
“It matters not. As I was saying, mortal matters about the state of the world have been bothering me as well, lately.” Chen Sui changed the subject again as he looked back at Atlas. He returned a piercing glare in return. Not of hate, but of a sudden need. Atlas had heard the Ancient speak, and an idea had popped right into his mind.
“You want to speak? Young Mortal?” Ancient Ju spoke. Anything that could brighten her mood, she would take.
“Please.” Atlas bowed down. “Help the humans of Earth stop the Seal from Breaking open.” He pleaded.
“Why would I do that? Sui’er. Isn’t it your desire to go to the other world?” She asked with a raised brow of surprise.
“It is, but I can’t unless I leave the Clan. We both know, that is not something I will be doing, ever.” Chen Sui’s sworn response sent a pang through Atlas’ heart. Something he could barely feel at first, but one that grew by the second, he knew it, it was familiar.
“I dare interject solely to say, that I just needs us to talk, whether it is now, or in the very near future. That is all I ask. For you and beings of your stature can start a Union between worlds on the right foot. Because cutting all these people off from earth, is horrible, yet what will happen to earth if all these people are let loose will be as horrible if not worse.” Atlas kept his head bowed down. He understood crystal clear his interjections, demands hidden within requests were far above his station. Yet he dared even so to speak to the Cultivator of legends, so high up she felt like god and he like an ant, yet this was his only moment.
It was to Atlas’ major relief that no immediate retribution came. Only silent contemplation. Compared to all the legends he had heard and all he had seen of Cultivators in this Eternal City, this was the most well balanced figure he had seen, maybe that is exactly why her laws are so strong. Her center, her foundations are strong. It seemed this world was bound on overturning his notions about how mythical beasts and cultivators should act.
“You speak of an interesting idea, young fledgling. I shall accept, for you have received the mercy of my grandson, and I am not one to enact judgment during such private matters. Though you should understand that had you acted such as this in a more public space your life would have been forfeit.” The old Ancient swiped her large sleeve, wide and long embroideries of golden dragons traveling across the massive silk of the sleeve. “I bid you farewell for now, Sui’er. But only momentarily. Please, in my absence, think of your path, your own future away from your father and your obligations. You are far too young, still. And come to me with a more believable answer when you are ready.” Her voice echoed in the collapsing wind left after he passage. The world itself bending and folding so she could step on it.
Atlas stared, wonder filling up his heart. What came next was more in line to what he had originally thought would be his daily life as Chen Sui’s personal slave.