The Will of the Scavenger     

    The Dragon’s Spine Mountains was a long mountain range, stretching for over fifty thousand kilometres between the two largest continents – Eastern Dusk and Western Dawn. For most ordinary men and many cultivators, even those living in it, it was impassable. There was a single path for anyone intending to cross its length and enter the other continent. And it was guarded on either side by powerful sects.

     But Liu Jie chose differently.

    Liu Jie was garbed in commoner’s clothing. She wore a brown fitting tunic more suited for men than women, with similarly simple leggings and sandals. Her skin had the colour of wheat. Her hair was braided to the waist. She forsook the robes preferred by fellow cultivators, preferring her simple attire over them. There was no adornments save a few Bags of Holding at her belt.

    There was nothing alluring or commanding about her – not her figure, her complexion, her hair or dark brown eyes. She looked nothing like the cultivators of the lands.

     But there was something about her that made her seem incorrigible. An aura of resoluteness.

     Liu Jie paused at the bottom of a valley. She glanced around and expanded her spiritual sense to the limits, checking for signs of her pursuers. She was as fast as their most powerful cultivator, even when they were on a giant serpent. The false trails she left behind would definitely slow their progress. But a part of her mind reminded that there was a tag on her - sliver of spiritual sense which sent a blinding beam of light into the sky every twelve double-hours. With her cultivation base, as mighty as it was, she could not remove it. There were about seven double-hours before the next signal was released.

     'Bloody bastards’ she muttered through clenched teeth. ‘Bloody filthy utterly despicable bastards’

     One or two of them, she could annihilate. Ten of them, she could barely manage. But a hundred and eight of them – with nine Nascent Soul cultivators, thirty three Core Formation cultivators and sixty six Foundation Establishment cultivators… She was only a Core Formation cultivator, but she was someone with a power rarely seen in the cultivation world. But even she could not survive nine Nascent Soul experts.

      Not yet.

     She retrieved a jade slip and read the map in it before returning it to the bag. She circulated her spiritual energy and set off again. She was fully capable of flying, but she was hoping the snaking paths around hills would add some hindrance to her pursuers. With her strength, she could easily match her flying pace running.

     For a week she ran through the Dragon’s Spine. She fought hundreds of monsters on her way into the depths of the range. Because of the tail, she had jumped into ravines that exuded Qi that could freeze bones and ran through canyons riddled with caves of serpents and an aura so thick she could slice it with her sword. All so that she could slow them down. And it worked. She was at least two double hours ahead of them. Most of the time, her pursuers had to make circuitous routes to avoid the obstacles. It was like they refused to sacrifice any of their members.

     But it was really exhausting. The spiritual energy inside her would be exhausted soon - and probably before she exited the mountains. The only reason she could push for so long was the hundreds of pills and tens of thousands of demonic cores in her bags of holding.

     Liu Jie ran for several hundred kilometres before she could see the mountain she sought – the Heaven’s Step. The mountain was the tallest mountain she had come across in the Dragon’s Spine Mountains. It was at least ten kilometres tall, because at that height it disappeared into the clouds, leaving the rest merely guesses.

     'This is my only chance’ Liu Jie thought grimly. There was no hesitation as she leapt off the cliff and made haste towards the Heaven’s Step. ‘For my survival. And my progress’

     She learnt of the Heaven’s Step a few months earlier. In an inn, she had heard talk of an extremely tall mountain that purportedly had some special treasure. No one knew what it was because no one had really seen it. No one had actually entered the Heaven’s Step either. When she asked around, she learnt that there was a mystical formation around the mountain. The formation was so powerful that it encircled the entire mountain and could keep any cultivator from entering it. Thousands of cultivators all the way to Nascent Soul stage had tried to break through the formation. And they had tried every method conceivable – stealthy and subtle attempts at modifying the formation to using brute force to pummel through. She heard stories of sects using gigantic formations of their own, converting the power of three hundred cultivators into a hammer to crash down on the formation, only to create a backlash killing off two hundred of the cultivators. She heard rumours of a Spirit Severing Cultivator who tried to walk past the barrier. Even he met the same fate as the rest.

      But the power of the formation only bolstered the belief of an all-mighty treasure within it. The number of people studying the formation and trying to break it kept increasing. They were yet to succeed, but they never stopped trying.

      And this enticed Liu Jie like honey to a bear.

     Initially, the mountain was supposed to be one of her eventual stops. But considering her predicament, she had to advance her plans and hurry to the mountain. Throughout her life, she had come across several formations of varying strengths protecting treasure hoards and ancient and mystical sites. Her talent at making or designing formations and arrays was limited, but she was extremely good at breaking them. It was a slim chance she was grasping on. But if she could somehow crack through the formation, she might have a chance at surviving her pursuers.

     With these thoughts she neared the Heaven’s Step. It stood apart from the other mountains in the range, leaving a gap all around the mountain. At first glance it seemed like an ordinary mountain. Other than its humongous size, there seemed nothing standing out at a glance. At some points around the mountain, she saw groups of people. Cultivators, she realised. Most of them were small groups of two or three, seemingly studying the mountain. But there were a few large groups with cultivators of the higher realm. So she stealthily moved away from them to a point at the foot of the mountain where she could study the formation unnoticed.

     'An hour’ she told herself. Any longer and she risked her pursuers gaining ground.

     Liu Jie carefully sent her spiritual sense towards the mountain. But when it went three feet up the mountain, she stopped. There was nothing hindering her spiritual sense, but she felt an uneasy sense of doom at that point. Instinctively, she knew if she stretched her sense even an inch forward, the formation would activate.

     Instead of retreating, she moved the tendril of spiritual sense around, trying to get a feel of the structure of the formation. After a minute of cautious survey, she pulled her sense back. And quickly, she began pondering.

     As the rumours said, the formation enclosed the entirety of the mountain. And it also stretched vertically upwards, all the way into the sky. The formation was three-fold. The first layer was the trigger or the trip-wire formation. If it sensed anything crossing its boundaries, it signalled the second layer. The second layer would be the source of the attack on the trespasser. The third layer functioned to disperse any spiritual or energy attacks on it. Liu Jie had seen several formations of this kind, especially around the secret locations of active sects. But this one was a formation that supposedly annihilated a Spirit Severing expert.

     ‘Is it that simple?’ Liu Jie asked herself.

     She leapt back, adding some twenty feet between herself and the formation. She swiftly drew a bat from her bag of holding. It was an ordinary bat. She kept a horde of them with her in order to use them for testing out formations.

     With a flick of her hand, the bat shot through the air and into the formation. Liu Jie readied herself to raise a shield.

     But nothing happened.

     The bat passed through the boundaries and landed on the mountain. The moment it realised it was alive and free, the bat screeched and flew away, without as much as a glance at her.

     Liu Jie simply stared aghast.

     Every bit of knowledge she possessed told her that there should have been some reaction. But there the bat went, destroying every assumption she made.

     Confusedly, she drew another creature out. But this time, she picked a different creature – a demonic rat. The rat had a cultivation base equivalent to that of a Qi Condensation First Level cultivator. She threw the creature at formation.

     Immediately, the rat exploded. In an instant, the rat turned into fine red mist and was blown away by a breeze.

     Liu Jie swallowed. Her eyes and her spiritual sense had followed the rat to the boundary. The moment the rat touched its circumference there was a sudden transfer of Qi into the cultivation base of the rat. In that moment, the energy overwhelmed the cultivation base and exploded outwards.

     ‘Not even a Spirit Severing cultivator could escape this… Just how much energy does this strike possess?’

     But what was even more surprising that the bat she threw earlier had survived. Logically, the bat should have died as well. The two creatures were more or less the same. The only difference was that the rat had a…

     Liu Jie paused. Her mind whirred as she began joining the dots.

     Immediately, she drew another of the bats out. Only this time, she imprinted a little of her spiritual sense onto it.

     Once again, the bat passed through the boundary unharmed. But the spiritual sense immediately disintegrated. Just like with the rat, there was an immediate influx of Qi. Yet the bat was not touched.

     Liu Jie’s eyes glittered. An inkling of an idea emerged in her.

     Without hesitation, she drew two more demonic rats from her bags. She sealed the cultivation base of the first rat with her spiritual energy. But for the second rat, she used a different method. It was a method she devised from the cultivation manual she practised. She formed a blade from the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth, and then used it to sever the connection between the rat’s cultivation base and the Heaven and Earth. The rat was still at the Qi Condensation First Level, but Qi was forever lost to it. It could never replenish its reserves of energy because it could never absorb it – the pathway that enabled it to do so was now severed.

     Liu Jie threw the two rats at the mountain.

     The first rat burst into the bloody mist the moment it touched the formation. She expected as much.

     But the second rat passed through and fell to the ground. Completely unfazed.

     ‘Yes… Yes… Yes!’ she cried inwardly. She could not stop herself from grinning. Such a mighty formation, and it would be able to do nothing to her. She had beaten the formation, virtually without even spending a pinch of her energy.

     She waited no longer. She ran straight into the mountain and through the formation.

     Liu Jie laughed. The formation had no effect on her, but it would definitely work on any other cultivator. Those dastardly cultivators chasing her would not even be able to touch the mountain without dying. She was safe as long as she remained inside the formation. And the prospect of finding secret arts and manuals – ones that everyone else was greedily salivating for – delighted her further. She leapt into the air and flew up.

     With every passing moment, anticipation grew. Liu Jie spent most of her life seeking hidden treasures from the tombs of powerful experts, obtaining secret arts and cultivation manuals from forgotten sects and learning lost legacies from the ancient ruins. Her path of cultivation was carved by herself using everything she learnt and obtained from such gifts. Her yearning to obtain such fortune was strong ever since that day in front of the grave. And the thrill she got from seeking them only added to it.

     With such thoughts, she flew to the peak. Only after passing the clouds did she see the mountain’s true height of over a hundred kilometres. As imposing as it was though, Liu Jie was not astonished. She had seen bigger and worse.

Within the formation, her spiritual sense did not incur the wrath of the formation. And she did not come across any further barricades or defences. Whoever had placed the formation was confident that the formation would keep everyone out. She kept her senses out for any fluctuations from magical items or seals and her eyes out for any caves and openings. But there was nothing.

     It took her less time than it takes to drink a cup of tea to reach the top. But what awaited her at the top was something she could never imagine.

     Because in an instant, the rest of the mountain vanished.

     There was no peak. Instead, it seemed like the peak was sliced off with a gigantic blade, leaving a flattop the size of a large city.

 And on it, was a town.

     Most of the area was left empty, but in the centre of it were numerous buildings. Simple block shaped buildings seemingly carved out of stone. There was no building higher than three storeys and nothing larger than a decent inn. The buildings were arranged in circularly, but in a planned fashion. In the middle of the town was a plaza. Thousands of figures sat in it in circles, as if listening to someone preaching in the middle.

     But that was the end to the ordinariness.

     Every single structure was coloured in bright shades of red, blue, gold, green and violet, with each wall coloured differently. The colours clashed violently, and were so vibrant that it was near sickening. It was beyond her imagination as to how flamboyant someone had to be to use immense amounts of magic to change the nature of thousands and thousands of tonnes of rocks to please themselves.

     And if that was not gaudy enough, there was a statue nearly five hundred metres tall overlooking the entire town.

     The statue was that of a bird. And it was intricately carved and detailed. Even from afar, Liu Jie could make out the relief of filaments on the feathers, the nares on the beak and the lines on the iris. And just like the town, it was coloured red, blue, gold, green and violet and with a hundred shades of each. It should have been a majestic sight. However, the figure stood in an extremely strange pose – especially strange for a bird. The bird was bent low with its wings were folded such that the wingtips reached its breast, and its bottom was lifted to the air.

     If the statue was meant to display arrogance or pomposity, it failed. Liu Jie only gleaned vulgarity and shamelessness.

     Seeing what she saw, she first felt disappointment. By the looks of it, there was no fortune to be taken. There was an actual sect on the mountaintop. She had broken into several sects before and stolen from them. But she was not foolish enough to try that on a sleeping giant that could swat Spirit Severing cultivators.

     Secondly, she felt irritated. This was months of aspirations shattered. Months imagining finding another treasure to overcome the impending tribulations. But then again, the sect was in hiding. There had to be something they could offer her.

     Only when she flew towards the plaza in the middle did she realise something. Not every figure she saw in the plaza was human. Most of them were, but there were three huge beasts in the middle of the crowd, whom the humans sat facing.

     One was a large blue bird, resembling a three legged peacock at least thirty metres long. It had a magnificent azure plumage that could make even phoenixes envious, darker at its long neck. It had a long tail, composed of only two dark blue feathers. Three thin filaments formed a crest at its temple, and its eyelashes were long. It sat to one side with not a care in the world, preening its feathers.

     Another was a similarly large bird. It was almost exactly like the previous one, differing only in minor ways. Its plumage was emerald green and had five filaments for its crest. It lacked the long eyelashes, and more significantly it had only a single leg. It was not missing a leg, but was grown with just one in the middle. However, this bird sat arrogantly, carefully scrutinizing the people in front of it.

     In between the two was a nine-tailed fox. Its body was only twenty feet long. But its nine tails added another twenty. It had lush white fur which had a golden sheen when it caught the sunlight. It lay on prone on the ground, apparently asleep.

     Liu Jie floated to the ground, landing softly behind the circle of people. Every single one of them was a cultivator. Most of them were low level cultivators. The lowest she saw was Qi Condensation First Level and the highest Peak Stage Core Formation Cultivators. There might have been Nascent Soul stage experts, but she could not sense them.

     They were all silently seated in the lotus position. The moment they sensed her, they slowly turned around to her. Wordlessly, they got up. Like a ripple, the movement passed through the crowd. Thousands of people shook at their place and turned to her. The people in front of her parted, making a thin way for her to the centre.

     Liu Jie was sure the people did not do so out of respect for her cultivation base – though powerful, not awesome and unordinary. It was more like a tacit command from whoever led them. The people stared at her with something like a mixture of helplessness and pity.

     Liu Jie was not someone who balked at showy displays of strength. If this was meant to be intimidating, it did not work. If it was meant to be receiving, it still did not work. With her mood on entering the town, little would placate her.

     She walked forwards, ignoring the people staring at her. Thousands of eyes, and senses, followed her. Dimly, she realised the risk she was taking. She could have been putting a head into the dragon’s mouth with these many cultivators present.

     The moment she neared the end of the way, she heard a squawky voice.

     ‘The first in two hundred years!’ the voice cried. ‘So you have come to obtain great celestial wisdom from me?’

     Only now did she notice the man standing next to the blue bird, with a strange white hat on his head. He kept murmuring to himself – something about the stars in the sky. But he was not the source of the voice.

     A parrot sat regally among the fur of the nine-tailed fox. Just like the walls of the town and the statue, it had feathers of several colours…  

     Liu Jie halted. ‘The statue… the buildings…’

     She studied the parrot more carefully. The parrot was now staring at her, smirking with a proud expression. She did not even know that parrots could make a face like that. And the way it sat on the beast was like it ruled over everyone else

     ‘Ee! Why aren’t you saying anything?’ the parrot squawked again, arrogance building up in its voice. ‘You came seeking eternal life. Lord Fifth can exactly give you that. That and much more’

     ‘Lord Fifth. The parrot is calling itself a Lord’ Liu Jie thought.

     ‘Oh! I understand’ the parrot said, haughtily leaping off the fox and flying towards her. ‘You’re dumbstruck. You have attained your life’s desire of coming to my presence and you’re lost for words. That’s no problem. All you have to do is chant these mystical verses. “Have faith in Lord Fifth, gain Eternal Life. When Lord Fifth appears, who dares cause strife!”. Just repeat after me. “Have faith in –”. Hey, you’re not listening’

     Liu Jie ignored the talkative parrot and looked around.

     ‘Why aren’t you chanting it yet?’ the parrot squawked again, flying closer to her face.

     ‘Shut up!’ Liu Jie said, irritated.

     Immediately a wave of gasps ran through the crowd. The parrot hovered in the air – no longer flapping its wings. It looked greatly affronted, with its feathers quivering and eyes wide. But before it could reply, a voice cried.

     ‘Are you a bully?’

     Liu Jie whipped around to see the hat on the man’s head leap off him and land in front of her. Now the ‘hat’ looked like a solid block of meat jelly. A large one. It was pale white in colour, and translucent enough. As she watched, the face of an aging man appeared on its surface.

     ‘What?’ she asked after killing her surprise. She glanced at the man whose head the jelly sat on. He looked relieved. And that did not sit well with her.

     ‘Swearing is bad you know. You should not swear’ the jelly said matter-of-factly. ‘If you keep swearing, you will walk off the righteous path. But don’t fret. I will help you walk on the path of righteousness’

     Liu Jie stood flabbergasted.

     ‘It’s been so many years since I saw a bully. I like converting bullies’ the jelly sighed. ‘There were some bullies in the beginning, but I set them right. Don’t –’

     ‘Shut your face, bitch!’ the parrot squawked at the jelly, flapping its wings madly. Liu turned to the parrot. It looked furious.

     ‘You!’ the jelly cried, turning to the parrot. ‘You’re immoral. You who do not let me set a little girl’s path right are evil’

     ‘I’m not a little girl!’ Liu Jie cried, annoyed.

     ‘A little bitch is what you are’ the parrot screamed. ‘You dare swear at a Celestial Bird? Screw your granny!’

     ‘Immoral’ the jelly moaned at the parrot. ‘Cursing is immoral!’

     Liu Jie watched the two with a mixture of exasperation and astonishment. Never had she ever seen two creatures as the ones in front of her.

     ‘Celestial bird?’ she thought inwardly. This was her first learning of a Celestial beast. Not even some of the ancient books she found had mentioned it. Considering the bird and jelly was capable of speech, they must be creatures of mysterious origins.

     ‘Screw your mother!’ the parrot screamed at the jelly.

     'What are you?’ Liu Jie asked them, calming herself down.

     ‘Did you not hear me earlier? I am an ancient Celestial Bird’ the parrot said, landing on the ground and strutting forward arrogantly. ‘I am an omniscient being who knows everything under the heavens of the Nine Mountains and Seas. I know all the secrets of the immortals that live in the firmament. I know of everything that resides in eighteen levels of the yellow springs! Every creature that you know that covers themselves in fur and feathers is because of me! Once it was known that I love creatures with fur and feathers, no one dared not to grow them. And those without them never dared to come before me. I know of a million and one Celestial magic, a million and one secret arts, a million and one formations. ’

     ‘Boasting is a sin’ the jelly cried righteously. The face on the jelly was resolute, as if he had declared his greatest and only ambition. ‘You are a sinner! I will convert you in this lifetime. Even if I have to spend an eternity, I will convert you’

     ‘Boasting!’ the parrot cried, turning and stalking towards the jelly. ‘How many times have I shown you that I’m amazing? Do you remember the time I tricked that four headed dragon to removing its inverted scale? Do you remember who saved you from that fat ass bastard? Do you know who made the Celestial Formation that surrounds this mountain, capable of killing anyone below the Dao Seeking Stage? Wait. How did you get past the formation?’ the parrot said, turning his attention back to Liu Jie.

     Liu Jie glared back.

     ‘Did we open the formation? Are we recruiting again?’ the parrot asked aloud.

     ‘No, exalted Lord’ the man who previously wore the jelly replied. ‘It’s not been touched since you ordered us to seal it two hundred years back’

     ‘You broke through Lord Fifth’s Celestial formation?’ the parrot suddenly jumped at her face. ‘Ee. You’re only a Great Circle Core Formation cultivator? How did you get past it?’

     ‘You’re the omniscient one. You figure it out’ Liu Jie barked back. The jelly and the parrot were getting on her nerves. The parrot only glared at her for that. ‘What is this place?’

     ‘You don’t know?’ the parrot asked, stunned.

     ‘You really really don’t know?’ the jelly asked. But the jelly did not seem surprised. Rather it looked pleased that she did not know.

     Liu Jie scowled as she replied. ‘If I knew, would I be asking?’

     The parrot angrily flapped its wings. ‘This is the vacation spot of the exuberant Lord Fifth. Something this grand is just a place for resting my wings. Some –’

     ‘Then what are these people doing here?’ Liu Jie asked, waving a hand at the people around her.

     ‘They are followers of Lord Fifth’

     ‘I converted them’ the jelly piped in eagerly.

     ‘Paltry Core Formation cultivators don’t even need screwing to show them who’s the boss!’ the parrot replied, puffing its chest.     ‘Now if they behave well, I might gift them insights from my omniscience. Everyone in the world seeks eternal life. And I can grant them the secrets to it. All you have to do is say this as loud as you can. “Have faith in Lord Fifth, gain Eternal Life. When Lord Fifth appears, who dares cause strife!”’

     Liu Jie narrowed her eyes on the duo. One was gazing at her eagerly. The other kept huffing at his own self, expecting her to fawn over him. But powerful or not, the two creatures did not seem retaliatory.

     So she ignored them and sat on the ground.

     ‘Foolish girl. I can give you anything you want! Why aren’t you worshipping me yet? Eh?’

     The jelly jumped off the ground and landed on Liu Jie’s head. It immediately transformed into a tall milky white hat. She grabbed it and threw it away immediately. But the jelly obliviously leapt back and sat on her head again.

     ‘You are a wise girl. You ignore the words of such a vile and evil parrot. You are not without hope. I shall bring you back to the path of morality. I shall make it my – Eh! Why are you throwing me again? You shouldn’t throw people away like that. ’

     ‘You’re incessant!’ Liu Jie gasped exasperatedly.

     ‘Am I? Now that you mention it, everyone else I’ve met tell me the same thing. I have spoken to people for years and years…’

     Liu Jie tried to ignore the never ending speech the jelly began. Throwing the creature away only made it return to her head. The parrot was now feigning disinterest and flying about, while keeping an eye on what she was doing. So she turned her attention onto her situation.

     She was safe as long as she remained in this city or sect or cult or whatever it was. But she could not remain here forever.

     She pushed down the memories that threatened to surface. She had not let go of her vendetta yet. And as long as she held on to it and as long as the Ouyang Clan and the Hallowed Moon and Sun Sect, she could not stay here.

     ‘Child, you should stay strong. Violence is not the answer to anything. For example, let me take your recent fault. You should not throw things so hard. What if I got hurt, little one? What if you destroyed the ground you threw me on? Destroying property is wrong. You…’

     Even more importantly, her cultivation path would be hindered if she did. Not because she would not be able to cultivate. Actually, this was the best location for any cultivator who would want to cultivate. There was a lot of spiritual energy in the air, even with these many cultivators. And if the parrot was one tenth as good as it claimed, he could offer them things to help them improve.

     ‘…tempering yourself. Ee? Why aren’t you saying anything? Oh, I see. You’ve already decided to be moral. Silence is good for morality. If you are silent, you can clearly understand what I pass on to you. You must practise…’

     But that was not her path. Her path was unique. Her method of cultivation was one that no one else alive practised – possibly no one in a hundred thousand years. Her path was a journey where she sought insights for pushing forward through any tribulation on her way. Her method of cultivation was painstakingly designed to suit her and her alone.

     ‘…should remember, the path of righteousness is wrought with temptations. You will be tempted to kill people. You will be tempted to swear. You will be tempted to pick your nose…’

     ‘Why don’t you try to be silent? You’re the one who needs tempering’ Liu Jie barked at the jelly, momentarily distracted from her thought.

     ‘Ee? But I am already tempered. I had trained in silence several times. This one time I was silent for two seconds. Speaking of that incident, it was many years ago. A beautiful sight. The sky was full of stars. There were at least two stars in the sky…’

     But if she did step out, there was a hundred and eight cultivators waiting for her. And they would catch up to her.

     The only way of surviving that was to progress into the next stage. She had to become a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

     ‘…No clouds at all. Everything was lit by the starlight. And the land was littered with corpses…’

     It was not going to be extremely difficult for her to form her Nascent Soul. She had been at the Great Circle of Core Formation for over ten years. But she wanted to continue her path, being the pinnacle of each stage. Anything below that was unacceptable.

     The moment she did, the Tribulations of Heaven would appear. Her current strength could not overcome that. And unlike the previous two times, she did not have any treasure or any shield to protect her.  

     The conundrum before her wanted to make her rip her hair off.

     ‘…and that was before I met this parrot. This vile, evil, live parrot. This shameless, lustful, animal-screwing –’

     ‘Shut up!’ Liu Jie roared, inadvertently adding the strength of her cultivation base to it. She leapt to her feet and threw the hat-jelly offer her head on to the ground. ‘Just shut the hell up!’

     ‘Ee. You’re returning to immorality, Child. This one will convert you. And then when I’m done, we can convert the parrot together’

     ‘Let me just think in peace, you stupid jelly!’ she cried. Anger was beginning to build up inside her.

     ‘So violent. You are harder bully than I thought. Even if it takes –’

     Liu Jie drew the Spiritual Energy from now rotating cultivation base. The energy first consumed her and then was aggregated in her right hand. The jelly had still not stopped blabbering, and was looking at her nonchalantly – which only made her want to draw more power. As she did, her body released a golden glow.

     ‘Raging Cy–’ Liu Jie began.

     But jus then the parrot gasped, with eyes the size of saucers. ‘Perfect Gold Core. You have a Perfect Gold Core’

     Hearing that, Liu Jie nearly stumbled. The statement caught her completely off guard. She let the energy she had gathered dissipate. She looked calm on the outside, but inside she was flustered.

     She silently cursed herself for her lack of restraint. All because of a stupid jelly, she had revealed her Perfect Gold Core. She had only three secrets that she kept close to her heart. One was her cultivation manual. Another was a secret art. The third was the nature of the cultivation base.

     If word of any of them got out, she would be hounded to the ends of the earth. Or to her death.

     She slowly turned to the parrot. But the parrot was now turned to the onlookers. They looked shaken by the amount of power she had gathered. That was expected. The Perfect Gold Core was at the pinnacle of the cores – the best possible colour for the core. Combined with the cultivation base at the Great Circle of Core Formation, any cultivator of her realm or lower would tremble at her presence.

     ‘What are you all looking at?’ the parrot roared. Or rather squawked loudly. ‘Move those butts! Practice the Celestial Formation I taught. Run as Lord Fifth say. Do as Lord Fifth say. And you will be an inch closer to the Eternal Life you all seek’

     Immediately, the cultivators around her ran sped away to the outskirts of the town. Not every one of them ran in the same way. A part of them ran clockwise and another group ran another way. Some of the higher cultivation experts took to the sky as they ran around. And there were some others weaving in and out of the other groups.

     As they began running, she felt a deep thrum of energy. She felt the Spiritual Energy begin to move in pulses towards the path traced by the cultivators. Only at that instant she realised that they were forming a formation. It was a formation powered by humans. She could sense tremendous amounts of energy being pulled towards inside the formation. And she could feel that the amount gathered was only a fraction of a fraction of what the formation could store.

     This could very well be something of a ‘Celestial’ scale.

     ‘No wonder the formation can destroy Spirit Severing experts in an instant’ she told herself. And it was taught to them by the parrot. She slowly turned to the haughty parrot.

     Usually people assumed it the glow came from her cultivation technique or a hidden technique to be used as a life-saving measure. Until now, no one had ever suspected that her path was one of perfection.

     But the parrot did with a single glance.

     Ignoring the jelly, who was still preaching at her, she walked to the parrot.

     ‘Do you really know everything under the heavens?’

     ‘Who do you think I am? I am Lord Fifth. I am unequalled un–’

     ‘Then tell me how I can overcome the Heavenly Tribulation for the Nascent Soul realm’

     The parrot stared at her for a moment before chuckling. ‘Considering your realm and your level of Cultivation of the Flesh, you have no chance’

     Liu Jie snorted. ‘You say you’re omniscient. But you don’t even know a solution to this. You are useless’

     ‘Useless?’ the parrot squawked, indignantly. The parrot was easily infuriated. ‘Useless! How dare you even think that Lord Fifth does not know it? I know thousands and thousands of ways to transcend the Tribulation. I know a thousand different Celestial Magic that can blow Heavenly Tribulations away. Schmeavenly Schibulations are specks of dirt to my eyes’

     ‘Then can you help me?’

     Suddenly the parrot looked stung. ‘Uh... If I had my full power, I alone could whip up a formation that could transcend it. But… let’s just say I might have screwed the wrong concubine… and it might have an Ancient one’s…’

     ‘So you are still useless’ Liu Jie said, shaking her head.

     The parrot now shook madly. He was used to people fawning over him and begging him. But she did not care about that. She would rather walk away from fortune before she bowed her head to someone.

     However, the parrot was the other way round. He would rather give away everything he knew than to not be acknowledged. And Liu Jie knew that was the way to get him to reveal whatever he knew.

     ‘Just because I can’t use my magic, does not mean I don’t know a million. Shame that you need such luck and fortune that even makes an Immortal’s mouth water’ the parrot said, eyeing her slantwise. ‘You really have no chance. I can offer you something much better instead. I can give you Eternal Life. I can turn into a peerless beauty. Skin like white jade and silky raven black hair. Even Dao Seeking Cultivators would seek you out and make you their first wife. You need a lot of work though. Just add some fat to your bottom and your bosoms. Turn your skin milky white. If you want, I can add some furs or feathers on you. Look at my beautiful concubines. I could make you as beautiful as them’  

     ‘I survived two tribulations’ she told him, ignoring the ‘concubines’.

     ‘So what? Nascent Soul Realm Tribulation is much stronger than the Core Formation Realm Tribulation. It’s like comparing a parrot to me’

     ‘You’re a parrot’ she told him seriously.

     ‘I’m Lord Fifth!’ the parrot screamed back. ‘A Celestial bird!’

     ‘Whatever’ she said. ‘If I were to possess immense fortune what methods could I use?’

     The parrot thought for a moment before squawking. ‘Most of them were lost eons ago, but do you have a cultivation technique that uses lightning as an energy source?’

     ‘No’

     ‘What about a treasure that can act like a lightning rod? Something that can pull lightning towards itself and then store it or disperse it? Or a formation that can absorb lightning?’

     ‘No’

     ‘What about an everlasting lifeform? It should be invincible and also produce a shield that can never be destroyed. The mother is never defeated and the son is unbreakable. Something like the root of the Transient Crescent Lotus. The root continuously produces lotus leaves that impenetrable. As long as you feed it your life force, it will continue to produce leaves. Even the Lightning of the Heavens cannot pierce it’

     ‘The Water Mirror Temple’ she thought, remembering her Core Formation Tribulation. She had found the ruins of some ancient city in the Western Dawn continent. The temple was uninhabited, but several of its formations and seals were still active. There was a large platform, almost as big as a small town. When she accidentally activated it, it produced a gigantic hemispherical screen of water. Ever her most powerful attack did not create a fluctuation in its energy. She figured it was the city’s ultimate safe zone. It was there she decided to enter the Core Formation Realm. And just like she surmised, even Tribulation Lightning could not completely destroy it. Whenever it managed to break through the shield, the platform would weave more water in and repair the damage. As long as the platform was activated, the screen would exist. When the tribulation ended, everything but the platform was decimated. And once she got off the platform, it crumbled away.

     ‘No’ she said.

     ‘Then you should definitely make a Soul of Lightning’ the parrot tried. Immediately, the jelly cried out ‘That’s torture. Torture is wrong’

     ‘What’s a Soul of Lightning?’ Liu Jie asked back.

     ‘It’s simple. It’s a soul that’s been transmutated to be able to eat lightning. You have to make it yourself though. You need the soul of a person with a high cultivation base. And then you treat it with lightning. You start off small and then you slowly increase the strength of the lightning. It takes some time, but if the soul is not destroyed it becomes a Soul of Lightning. It will be able to absorb most of the Tribulation Lightning’

     Liu Jie shivered. This method really was torture. She was used to quick decisive killing. But torture was something she was incapable of. And to use someone’s soul in this fashion was utterly emotionless. ‘I don’t have any souls’

     The parrot cried angrily. ‘Do you anything that can change your nature of existence? Make you unreal during the tribulation so that nothing harms you?’

     ‘No’

     ‘Well’ the parrot said, cocking his head. ‘Life saving methods is out of the question. Your only option is to overpower the tribulation’

      She shook her head. Her thoughts went back to the first time she faced Heavenly Tribulation. It was immediately after she obtained her first Perfection Foundation Dao Pillar. She had paled and trembled when she saw the terrifying transformations in the sky. If not for the life saving jade she had obtained from the owner of her Secret Art, she would have died at the first strike. The jade produced a screen made by absorbing the Essence of the World. And every time it the lightning struck it, it would absorb more energy and become more resolute.

     ‘The problem is your body. It’s not strong enough to withstand the energy from the lightning. Flesh Cultivation arts will help you overcome that problem. It’s not easy to train the body. It’s much harder than training your spirit. Every stage is a battle for life. In the Ancient times, everybody trained both the flesh and the soul. Most of those techniques are now lost. But I’m a scholar. I remember some of those techniques. And I can impart you some. All you have to do is kowtow and…’

      The parrot’s words started a train of thoughts in her mind. The Essence of the World was different from the Spiritual Energy of the Heaven and Earth. Not everyone could feel it. Her secret art was about using the Essence of the World to making the self unstoppable. More it is opposed the more powerful it got. If not for the legacy she had obtained that year, she would not even know of the Essence.

     Based on her understanding of the legacy, she created a method of imparting the essence into items she forged. The items she created never weakened, only grew stronger with time and wear. What the Essence could do was impart strength. The amount of strength could never be maxed out. The only limit was her cultivation base.

     But it planted a seed in her mind. She wanted to try to impart the Essence into her own body. Theoretically, it would make her body more and more powerful, eventually making it indestructible. But as she was, she could not do it. She did not have enough strength to pull enough of the Essence and then bind it to her body. But if she formed her Nascent Soul, she felt this problem would be avoided.

     But to possess the Nascent Soul, she would have to undergo the tribulation. Unless…

     ‘Hey. Parrot. Is there anyway to delay the tribulation?’ she asked, staring down at the parrot. ‘If I were to form my Nascent Soul, is there some way to delay the oncoming tribulation?’

     The parrot suddenly burst out into laughter. It was not a mocking laugh, rather a pleased-with-himself laugh. ‘Of course. Lord Fifth knows all Celestial Magic. Even as weak as I am, I can create a formation that can delay tribulation’

     ‘How long?’

     The parrot shifted on its claws. ‘A year maybe’

     Liu Jie fell silent. Several trains of thought, several strands of ideas ran through her head. Slowly, she consolidated them, forming a simple plan. One that tied everything up together, solving her every problem.

     ‘Good. Help me with it. I need your help for the formation’

     The parrot folded his wings and turned his head away in perfect imitation of a human.

     ‘You want me to say “Please”?’ she asked incredulously.

     ‘Say it with me “Have faith in Lord –”’ the parrot twisted its head at her.

     ‘Not going to happen’ Liu Jie replied through clenched teeth. No matter how bad it was, she was not going to bend her neck to the arrogant parrot.

     With a ‘humph’, the parrot strutted away towards the fox, and snuggled into the crook in its feet. And then the solution occurred to her.

     Liu Jie grinned. ‘I saw this one serpent. Really long. Really powerful. Very majestic. Such a fine beast’

     The parrot snorted. ‘Bitch, I’ve screwed dragons longer than this mountain range’

     ‘But this one has… feathers’

     The parrot froze.

     ‘Feathers?’ the parrot jumped off the fox. His eyes looked eager. If he were a human, Liu Jie was sure his mouth would be salivating.

     ‘Long beautiful feathers. Sea green along the neck. Dark blue on the wings. Fine violet crests’

     The parrot trembled. ‘Lord Fifth has never tried something with that shade of green’

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     ‘If you want to see it’ Liu Jie said, quickly returning to her former belligerent tone. ‘You’ll have to help me with some things. But you have to swear an oath to help me’

     ‘You doubt Lord Fifth? I’m a bird of my word’ the parrot cried.

     ‘Liar’ the jelly commented, which made the parrot explode into curses.

     ‘Swear an oath. And then I’ll lead you to the beast. And you can do whatever you want to it’

     ‘Argh! Fine’ the parrot cried. Apparently he needed little nudging when it came to feathers. He quickly swore oaths to honour her deal, swearing any oath she told him to make. The ease of binding him sowed a few doubts, but she pushed them aside. Behind them, the two bird concubines did not look pleased, glaring at her.

     In a few sentences, she explained her situation and told the parrot her idea. She thought the pursuers would add difficulties. The parrot thought otherwise.

     ‘Brilliant. This makes it even better. My ultimate spell formation to hoodwink the tribulation works best when there are more souls and energies to confuse the will controlling the tribulation. More cultivators will make it easier. You say Nascent Soul Cultivators will be there? Haha. Brilliant’

     Preparations were minimal. Liu Jie, the parrot and the meat jelly set off. With them, came six hundred of the parrot’s ‘followers’. Liu Jie did not enquire, but they were likely to power the parrot’s formation. The jelly, the parrot and Liu Jie took the blue bird, while the one thousand cultivators – only Foundation Establishment stage cultivators - flew behind them.

     Seated on the giant blue bird, Liu Jie began to restore her Spiritual Energy reserves. She picked out demonic cores, five at a time. She had eaten so many demonic cores that they no longer raised her cultivation base. But they functioned just as well as pills to restore energy. Each of the cores was of the five different elements – Wood, Water, Fire, Earth and Metal. And each of them had almost equal amounts of energy stored in them. She popped five of them into her mouth, and crushed them. The energy suffused into her body and she drew them into the rotating Gold Core.

     They did not travel too far. Parrot suggested the showdown be at a spot where there are several types of Qi present. The nearest location was the convergence of a mountain range, a valley and a chasm. The area was filled with a mixture of Frosty Qi, Deathly Qi and a dense Earthly Qi.

     There was one more double hour before the next signal of the tag. And after that it would take two or three double hours for the pursuers to reach here. Some of the followers who came with them were sent to the nearby mountains to scout. The moment they sensed any of them appear, word would be sent to her.

     ‘Parrot’ she called out. ‘Do not activate the formation until I call out. And no matter what, do not kill any of those cultivators’

     ‘She will be here right?’ the parrot asked expectantly. Liu Jie nodded.

     ‘You’re tempting a sinner to fall deeper into sin’ the bell at the parrot’s neck spoke. The jelly had transformed into a bell and tied itself to the parrot. The jelly did not really want to take part, but the parrot tempted it with information about some person or creature or thing that had harassed the jelly long back.

     On the way to the ground, Liu Jie learnt a little bit more about the jelly. The creature, if that was what it was, had extraordinary transformative capabilities. Not only was it capable of morphing into anything, it could also imitate the auras and also transform other things. To add to that, it was impenetrable. Its skin was incredibly tough. The parrot told her that even if she had completed her attack on the jelly earlier, there would not even be a mark on it.

     And if that was not enough, the creature’s favourite food was lightning. It could even swallow some of the Tribulation Lightning.

     ‘Hide yourselves. Wait for my call’ she told them again. The parrot flew away wordlessly.

     Liu Jie settled in the middle of the ground. She rotated her cultivation base, letting her Spiritual Energy circulate through her body. It would not help much, but the rhythmic procedure would slowly calm her thoughts and sharpen her focus.

     After a while, the Spiritual Sense tag on her grew hot and released a beam of light into the sky. It was as thick as a pillar and lasted for ten whole breaths. Even if her pursuers could not sense her yet, they would now.

     ‘So it begins’ she thought grimly.

     Memories floated before her. Memories of the time before she began the path of cultivation.

     She could barely recollect her village. She could only dimly recollect her parents and her little sister.

     But the flames raining down from the sky, landing on her sleeping sister, was vividly plastered into her mind. She would never forget the tempest that ripped her parents away. The image of the two men floating in the sky was indelible.

     Her sister died first and thankfully without knowing it. Her parents died violently. She found her father soon enough – impaled on a broken beam. But it took her nine days to find her mother, with her head smashed open on a rock.

     The event lit a flame in her. She was only eleven years old at the time, but she buried her family and then left the broken village.

     She had no money. She had no skills. Only the clothes on her back. She had to trek miles. She had to catch whatever she could – vermin or insects - just to survive. If she could not, she starved. Most of her nights were spent shivering on branches of trees. For a week, she cried to sleep. But soon, her tears dried out.

     She moved from village to village, trying to learn who were responsible for the disaster. It took her nearly six months before she even heard the rumours. The two men she saw were cultivators, with bone deep hatred for each other. Only when she entered her first city, and gave up everything she owned in payment, did she learn that the two cultivators were from two of the most powerful cultivation groups in the world. The person who stole the treasure was from the Ouyang Clan – a clan with origins dating in millennia, who bloodline contained most of the kings and their lines, and powerful enough to have two Dao Seeking eccentrics. The other person came from the Hallowed Moon and Sun – a sect with powerful bases in both continents. Few knew anything more than its name. Years later, she learnt that it had the backing of something more fearsome than Dao Seeking Stage Cultivators.

     All the while, she learnt to hunt, teaching herself to make traps and spears. It took time, but she managed to make a living from selling skins and meat. She scavenged from remnants of battle, be it between men or beasts. She foraged forest and mountains for anything that would let her survive, anything that can help her obtain vengeance.

     But she could not beat them as a mortal. She had to become a cultivator herself. She tried to join a sect, but every one of them refused, and most of them derisively. Apparently it was impossible to join a sect without considerable backgrounds – no matter how tiny the sect was. Even the weakest cultivator was a thousand times more powerful than a mortal. And they acted so, treating the people less than dirt. If someone was below them in cultivation, they were worthless. She could have bribed her way in, but the thought of joining people as self centred and heartless as them made her balk.

     Three years after she left her village, she chanced upon a shrine in a forest over a thousand miles from where she began. It was more like a little shed, dilapidated from lack of care. There was nothing extraordinary about it. But somehow it reminded her of home. Thoughts filled with her family, she decided to do what she can for the shrine. She cleaned the ground around it and fixed some of the loose boards. After she was done, she bowed and turned to leave when a spirit appeared. A hazy form of a man. The spirit had no features, merely an outline.

     Most of the conversation was lost to oblivion. But she remembered the spirit’s offer.

     ‘A Scripture that defies the heaven. It’s only a part of it, but this single piece will make even Immortals go mad. Cultivate in it and you can reach realms you can only dream of’

    ‘A Legacy that can destroy the Earth. It is something my predecessor created, but never completed. I have set on the path to fulfil it, but failed. But you might. If you obtain this legacy, you can become unstoppable. Unhindered you will be. Take it to the pinnacle, and you will slay Gods’

     ‘Choose’ the ethereal form said.

     Liu Jie did not even miss a beat. ‘I choose both’

     She thought she saw the hint of a smile on that misty face. Two tiny enchanting spheres of light emerged from the ground in front of the shrine. They floated between her and the spirit for a moment before darting into her. They zoomed to her dantian, and merged with something she did not even know existed.

     Instantly, she understood both gifts. She did not need enlightenment to use any of them. There were already seeded deep inside her. All she had to do was practise.

     One gave her hope. The other gave her strength.

     Her reverie was broken with three short words.

     ‘They are coming’

     Liu Jie’s face turned serious.

     'Time to get started’ she said, once again revolving her cultivation base. But this time, she was collecting all her energy she possessed into the Gold Core. At that time, the projection of her Core Qi appeared behind her. As she sat, she would not be able to see it. But she imagined it behind her – an endless staircase leading to the heavens.  

      At the Qi Condensation stage, she had cultivated all the way upto the legendary thirteenth level. Nine was sufficient to break into Foundation Establishment. Ten was uncommon. Eleven and twelve were even rarer. But the thirteenth level eluded even the geniuses among the geniuses. She spent over fifteen years trying to reach the true Great Circle of Qi Condensation. The problem was that as she tried to absorb more energy from the Heaven and Earth, the greater the amount that left her body and return to the world. She used the knowledge she obtained from her Scripture to sever the leakage to the world so that energy would never leave. She kept absorbing, even as she was bloated with energy and threatened to explode, and kept condensing it into to her core sea until it crossed into the thirteenth level.

     But the severed exit for the energy could not be reconnected. If she continued as she was, her cultivation would be destroyed at the very least.

     So immediately she had to enter the Foundation Establishment stage. She began forming the first Dao Pillar. Because of the amount of energy entering her, she did not have to wait long for the pillar to form. And the energy that coursed through her veins was glorious. For the first time, she felt like she had grasped true power. She no longer could absorb energy from the world, but that did not matter to her if she could keep this strength.

     But suddenly, she got the sense of disaster. The Dao Pillar shook and immediately she knew it was going obtain a crack. Without the crack to the perfection, she no longer would be connected to the Heavens.

     But she would rather lose the Heavens that the perfection she struggled for. And so severed all her connections to the Heaven and Earth, protecting the perfect Dao Pillars and invoking her first Heavenly Tribulation.

     In eighty years, she reached the Great Circle of Foundation Establishment with ten Perfect Dao Pillars. In the heart of the Water Mirror Temple, she melted the ten pillars. To form the perfect gold core, she guessed she would need immense amounts of Spiritual Energy and the latent talent to be able to fuse it all into a core without even losing a bit of the Qi. But to maximise the chances of that happening, she needed something powerful to form the seed of the core. For that, she used a speck of gold from a disintegrated treasure of an Immortal that she discovered. With her Cultivation Scripture and the speck of the treasure, she condensed the core, once again invoking the Tribulations.

     For another eighty years, she spent planning her method to form the Perfect Nascent Soul. But the problem was not many people reached that realm and not many people truly understood it. She eventually figured out there were five possible kinds of Nascent Souls based on the five elements. A single element Soul – or single coloured as it was called – was most common. Two coloured and three coloured were unheard of. Four unimaginable.

     But she would form a five coloured soul.

     She had no cultivation manual to help with that. The Scripture she obtained only helped only for reaching the Qi Condensation Stage and the Spirit Severing stage. The spirit could not find any of the rest in his life.

     So she like the last two times, she created a path of her own.

     Liu Jie took a deep breath. All of her energy was now collected into the core. She had to begin now.

     Inside her she formed a blade from spiritual energy. Forming the blade was easy as breathing now. It was with this blade she severed her connection to the Heaven and Earth, This was one of the several techniques she had created based on her understanding of her cultivation Scripture.

     The Heaven Severing Scripture.

     She turned the Spirit Blade to her core. With five swift slices, she cut the core into five equal segments – each with exactly the same amount of Qi. The five segments rapidly began to use the Qi stored and disintegrate.

     At this juncture, she had to now transform each of the segments into a small nascent soul. And each of them should belong to one of the elements of the Heaven and Earth. And to provide the elements, she sought legacies that gave insight to the elements. She could not use any meagre arts for this. Each of the five legacies had to be one that would cultivate the self, nurture the soul. They had to be arts or techniques that conformed to the beliefs and the Dao of the bearer.

     They also had to be of more or less the same strength, so that no legacy could overpower the others. Imbalance in the strength of the legacy meant an imbalance while forming the soul. Any one of them could destroy the other and then absorb the energy. If that happened, she would lose her one chance at obtain five souls.

     Sixty years it took her to find five legacies that fit her criteria. And total of eighty years before she gained sufficient enlightenment in them.

     For the Earth element, she obtained an art called ‘Embodiment of the Earth’. It was not originally a legacy. She had bought it an auction, who sold it as a technique. She practised the technique to the fullest, until it formed a legacy seed in her. The art was about learning to be like the earth – unchanging and everlasting.

     For the Water element, she had the ‘Crystal Cascade Art’. It was a legacy she scavenged from the Water Mirror temple. It was a battle art, not focusing on the strength but rather on the flow of energy. ‘The river cannot be blocked’ it said. ‘If you place a rock in it, it moves around the rock. If you build a dam across it, it either breaks the dam or overflows it and creates a new path to move. Qi should be the same’

     For the Wood element, she found the ‘Tangling Hellvine Sutra’. The technique was quite a ruthless technique, obtained from the treasury of a sect she destroyed. Its main feature was to give the ability to steal energy from any living source. It bore vines into the target and then extracted the life force from them. A fraction of it could be used to increase the user’s life force as well.

     For the Metal element, she had learnt a method of forging - ‘Hammer True’. It was not cultivator art, rather a mortal one. She had learnt it far before she had even formed her core. It was during the time she wanted to experiment with the Essence of the World. None of the standard forging techniques worked with the Essence, but non-cultivator methods did. A mortal smith taught her the method, and she practiced for a year before it was ingrained in her. Her smithing skills were only passable, but a lifetime of experimentation and forging transformed the meagre art into a mighty legacy.

     For the Fire element, she used a soul cultivation art she found in some unnamed ruins – ‘Will of the Undying Flame’. It was a method focused on transforming the self into a resilient flame. Even on the verge of being blown out, the will would remain strong. But one reason it was so powerful was one of the techniques it contained – an art that allowed a person to completely assimilate the energy that would be never be usable to feed one’s own cultivation base.

     The five core segments had completely disintegrated into Qi vortexes. Liu Jie solidified the legacies, which appeared as balls of light in her dantian. She sent each of them to each of the Qi vortexes. And immediately, the Qi was recombining around the legacies.

     She slowed down the process, mainly to control it more finely. But partly, she delayed it so that her pursuers could appear.

 And she did not have to wait for that long.

     She first sensed the gigantic Feathered Serpent, the beast on which the hundred and eight cultivators travelled. Just as she had described, the beast looked majestic with its violet crest, sea green body and blue wings.

     The Nascent Soul cultivators appeared, landing around her in less time than it took to blink. Then the Core Formation cultivators came and then the Foundation Establishment ones, forming concentric circles around her. Without delay, the sixty six foundation establishment cultivators whipped out copper plates engraved in archaic symbols. Each of the symbols glowed and shot beams of light that struck the nearest copper plate. Sixty six beams bounced around her, forming a cage several hundred metres wide.

     Still seated on the ground, Liu Jie looked around. Three sects had sent these cultivators in an attempt to capture her – for various reasons. The Blood Rose Sect, the Yellow Springs Sect and the Zhong Clan had formed a temporary alliance just for her.

     She recognized some of the cultivators from previous skirmishes. But her eyes were mostly on the Nascent Soul cultivators. One middle stage Nascent Soul cultivator and two early stage ones from each group.

     Three of the nine wore dark red robes – two of which were women. She knew them to be of the Blood Rose Sect. The older of the two women was at the middle stage. Liu Jie had hoodwinked a group of cultivators of the Blood Rose Sect outside the Water Mirror Temple, and delayed their entry into the temple. When the tribulation was incited, all of them had been killed. The news should have died with that, but someone noticed her escape from the region and sent word to the Blood Rose Sect.

     Another group of Nascent Soul cultivators stood staring at her, grinning cockily. They had already decided that she was done for. This was her first meeting her, so she did not recognize any. They looked a little pale and sickly, as if they had not seen enough sunlight. They were dressed in pale scholar robes, but their demeanour was nothing erudite. Their matched the information she had on the Yellow Springs Sect. They were one of the subsidiary sects of the Hallowed Moon and Sun Sect in the Western Dawn. They were not after her for her fortune. The Hallowed Moon and Sun Sect sent them to kill her because over the years she had destroyed several sects that belonged to them.

     The last group belonged to the Zhong Clan. They were regal looking men dressed in dark robes lined with gold. She had lived in their city for a while and so recognized Zhong Wan, Zhong Kui and Zhong Yao. They had no personal reason to chase after her. But she guessed it must have been because she killed a cultivator, who happened to be one of the Imperial Princes of the Kingdom of Zhou. The Ouyang Clan might have pressured them as well, but she could not confirm.

     ‘You’re a very slippery fish, Liu Jie’ the older woman of the Blood Rose sect said, smirking slightly. ‘You only are a Core Formation Cultivator, yet you managed to elude us for so long’

     ‘But here I am now’ Liu Jie growled back.

     Zhong Wan stepped forward. ‘Still so confident. Do you really think you can escape from us now?’

     As if on cue, all of the cultivators around her began laughing.

     ‘Interesting’ the youngest cultivator from the Yellow Spring sect said, eyes narrowing on her. A glance at him revealed him to be the most powerful of the three. ‘She’s attempting to create a Nascent Soul’

     ‘Right’ his compatriots agreed after scrutinizing.

     ‘Haha’ Zhong Kui laughed. ‘That makes it even easier. Little girl Jie. You’re going through a very important stage in your cultivation. Any lapse in concentration will make you destroy your Nascent Soul. If you do not die, you’ll lose your cultivation base. It will be all for naught’

     Zhong Yao tittered and added. ‘If we were not to disturb you, you might have succeeded’

     Zhong Wan looked stoic as he said. ‘Liu Jie. I’m willing to forgive your mistakes. Someone of your calibre is too much of a waste to let go. Join us and we will forget your past. And we might even help you attain greater heights’

     The elder from the Blood Rose Sect denied him ‘Don’t make me laugh Master Zhong. We will not let you take her until she reveals everything here’

     ‘Miss Liu Jie’ the young man from the Yellow Spring Sect said, stepping closer to her. ‘I will make this clear to you. Two of us are here to kill you. And one wants your secrets. Even they don’t mind it if you are dead. So you have two options. First, voluntarily surrender whatever we seek and I’ll give you a clean death. Second, resist and I’ll extract your soul out of your living body and then Soul Search it. Until I destroy your soul, every sensation your soul feels your body will as well. What do you chose?’

     ‘Eat dung, you bastards’ Liu said softly.

     ‘So be –’ he man began, raising a hand.

    At this exact moment, her souls were in the early stages of forming. Each of them required a full Core Formation cultivation base to be fully formed, but received only a fifth of it. So she began the next step in her plan.

     ‘Parrot! Now!’ she roared, leaping to her feet.

     Before the hundred and eight cultivators could even react, the followers of Lord Fifth appeared out of nowhere. Without delaying, they began running around the three groups.

     ‘What is this foolishness?’ the man from the Blood Rose sect cried.

     But things were beyond their expectations.

     This formation activated faster than the one Liu Jie saw on top of Heaven’s Step. The people were running in far more intricate patterns, and the effect was visible. In the span of a breath, a pink translucent shield appeared surrounding the entire ground, trapping everyone inside. And almost immediately, the trap created by the three sects failed. In rapid succession, every beam died out.

     ‘This… I’ve never seen anything like this’ the young man from Yellow Spirit Sect cried.

     All the other cultivators inside the formation were trying to attack it. But all the attacks simply fazed away. As Liu Jie requested, they trap did not kill people. It only trapped them inside.

     ‘We can break it apart if we pool our strength together’ Zhong Kui suggested.

     ‘I doubt it’ the young man replied, shaking her head.

     ‘Then what do you suggest Master Rui’ Zhong Wan suggested.

     ‘You’re only option –’ Liu Jie said slowly, grinning. ‘– is to capture me alive and threaten them to open it for you’

 All the nine of them were now focused on her, faces twisted with rage.

     ‘But you’ve run out of luck’ she told them, and whipped her hands.

     Suddenly, sixty six golden vines were pulled out of the ground and shot towards the Foundation Establishment cultivators. Before they could even react, the vines dug into their dantian and into their cultivation base. She immediately activated the ‘Tangling Hellvine Sutra’ and the ‘Will of the Undying Flame’. The vines drew the life force and the energy from their cultivation bases towards her, and she used the ‘Will of the Undying Flame’ to absorb every drop of it into her dantian.

     The sudden surge of energy revitalized the soul forming. The souls were starting to form at an alarming rate. The Foundation Establishment cultivators did not last long against her strength. However, even after draining all of them, she did not have enough energy to complete the soul formation.

     ‘What the fuck?’ the man from the Blood Rose Sect said.

     ‘The Soul Birthing process is speeding up. Stop her now!’ Master Rui cried, and rushed at her.

     But she was not going to stand simply and let them strike. She drew a sword from her bag of holding. It was a simple sword. But it was something she created by herself.

     And it was something filled with the Essence of the world.

     Master Rui produced a flying sword of his own, which rushed towards her. But with one swipe of her sword, it was struck aside.

     Dozens of Core Formation cultivators rushed at her. But she juked them and attack one of the members at the back. The man did not even realise the feint until her hands had dug into his dantian. Unlike with the weaker cultivators, she had to be right next to the Core Formation members to absorb their energies. The man quickly withered away.

     Someone sent a concentrated ball of fire at her, but she used the golden vines to drag the nearest cultivator in front of her to stop it. She gripped the cultivator and blocked a few more strikes aimed at her, before sucking his life force out.

     Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed younger woman and man from the Blood Rose Sect draw a red rose out. A bloody glow was released by the rose and immediately brambly vines grew out of it. The vines shot at her. Liu Jie knew if she let them touch her, she would die. The moment they neared her, she slashed with her blade. All of the vines around her were sliced to slivers. But more were formed to take the place.

     A skeleton appeared out of nowhere and tried to slash her. It had no life force, but was full of a deathly Qi. She glanced around quickly to see one of the men from the Yellow Springs sect holding a blackened skull in his hands. He stood there muttering, as several other skeletons were pulled out of it.

     Zhong Wan and Zhong Yao had taken to skies. Zhong Kui pulled out a hammer with a weedy handle but a large head. Whenever he found a gap between the attacks of everyone, he struck out, sending a large shockwave at her.

     Everyone was trying to attack her. But they either disintegrated before her sword, or they struck the cultivators she had used as blocks. All the while, she was killing Core Formation cultivators by draining their energies.

     Her five souls were nearly fully formed. With just a little bit more of energy, she would have five complete Nascent Souls of the five elements.

     But before that happened, she stopped letting them absorb and immediately willed them together. They did not collide, but juxtaposed instead. She had to force them to fuse. It was not an easy task, considering she was fighting for her life at the same time. Each of the soul wanted to be supreme. Forcing them to combine used a lot of her will and the remainder of whatever energies she had.  She reminded herself that this was a not just a fusion of souls. This was also an understanding of what made her who she was. The five different souls were similar in some ways, and dissimilar in others. But they were all parts of the same whole.

     ‘Come on!’ she roared inwardly. ‘Fuse you assholes!’

     At the same time, the sky churned. Dark clouds that stretched for thousands of miles began to gather in the sky. Powerful rumbles that could permeate anything echoed around her. Anyone looking up would feel a terrifying aura. When they saw the snaking lightning behind the clouds, they would feel like they were about to be destroyed.

     And then the souls completed the fusion. In place of five souls was a single soul. It looked like a six inch replica of her naked self, translucent with all the five colours of the elements – white, black, red, yellow and green. The colours shifted across the figure, never staying at one place for long.

     This was her perfect Nascent Soul.

     Thunder reverberated across all the lands. Everything was suddenly enveloped by an aura of inexistence. Liu Jie knew this feeling. This was the aura of the will that controlled the Tribulations. And the will had only one purpose.

     Destruction.

     ‘Heavenly tribulation’ the older woman whispered hoarsely.

     ‘Dammit. What sort of soul did she form to cause this’ Zhong Kui cried.

     The clouds began to conglomerate exactly overhead. The lightning began to gather above her, reading the awe inspiring power for its first strike at her,

     ‘Parrot!’ she roared again. Swiftly, she created another spiritual blade and severed the newly formed connection to the Heaven and Earth, withdrew her spiritual sense into herself and concealed her Nascent Soul and her aura.

      The jelly appeared first. It transformed in hundreds of ultrafine and extremely long strands forming a very fine mesh above the sky.

     The parrot then followed suit. It first released a number of streaks of light that zoomed to every cultivator within the formation. It hit each of them and extracted a large globule of Qi from each, with a little more from the Nascent Soul cultivators. The collected Qi then rose into the sky and then transformed into another gigantic net that surrounded the jelly-net.

     ‘Deceive the heavens!’ the parrot squawked.

     Just like with her Core Formation Tribulation, the five coloured lightning pranced in the clouds. The white lightning reared itself and then lashed out, aiming for her.

     For a moment, she feared everything had failed. But when the lightning struck the first Qi net, it suddenly dissipated into strands of smaller lightning and spread through the net, and then continued on to every other cultivator in the formation.

     The weaker cultivators immediately burnt to a crisp. The stronger ones were hurt badly, but survived after sacrificing most of their life force. Only the Nascent Soul Cultivators survived with relatively minor injuries.

     ‘Hahaha!’ an extremely cocky voice laughed. ‘Lord Fifth laughs at your tribulation. With just a thousand men and with basic Celestial Magic, your tribulation has become useless. See the power of Lord Fifth, little girl! Now where’s that beauty? Huh?’

     The next bolt of lightning roared as it crashed into the net of Qi. Half of the power was dispersed through the net. Once again, it conducted towards the cultivators, killing the remaining Core Formation cultivators. The Nascent Soul experts speedily pulled out their life-saving treasures, just in time to protect themselves from the weakened bolts. The remainder of the lightning passed onto the jelly-net. Instead of redirecting it, the jelly absorbed the power entirely.

     ‘Aah!’ the jelly said appeased. ‘Tribulation Lightning really is the tastiest’

     ‘You’re still not done? Don’t you feel shame? So what if I hoodwinked you? This is not against your mandate, you stupid Lord! You should feel lucky I’m not going to screw your will for this. Disciples! Activate the second formation!’

      Immediately, five hundred of the cultivators from Heaven’s Step began running in the other direction. Their bodies glowed silver, starting weak but growing stronger as they continued to run.

     ‘Now’s the time’ one of the surviving Nascent Soul cultivators cried. ‘The shield’s only at half strength now’

     Liu Jie immediately leapt at him, the third Yellow Springs Sect member. The man had only one treasure on him. A repulsive whip was coiled around his body, with one end digging into his heart. It released a nauseating aura that seemed it would disrupt magic and the user’s mind. The aura had little effect on her blade, but the treasure was strong enough to barely survive a strike.

     Several of the other nine immediately struck at the shield, with whatever treasures and magic they had. But even at half strength, the shield still held.

     In that time, the silver glows had become blinding and released a beam of light each. The beams rushed to join the parrot, who had suddenly appeared directly between the eye of the storm and Liu Jie, and covered it like an egg.

     Liu Jie watched, as she evaded Zhong Yao. The younger brothers teamed up with the male from the Blood Rose sect to keep her busy while the rest still tried to unmake the shield.

     The egg grew larger for four breaths, quickly sucking in the energies from the runners. The storm in the sky began gathering power again for its third strike. Liu Jie just knew that would be even more powerful than the lightning of her Core Formation Tribulation.

     Suddenly, the egg stopped absorbing the silver ropes. Instead, with a blinding flash of light, it cracked open. A multicoloured bird of Qi the size of a mountain, shot out of the egg and zoomed to the sky. It took only a moment, but the bird blasted through the Tribulation.

     It was one move. However, the one move had enough energy to blow away all the clouds. It looked like a typhoon had passed through it. The shockwave dispersed every cloud that had gathered for the tribulation. In an instant, the sky cleared and whatever aura had been gathered dissipated away.

     Whatever energy the sky had possessed fell to the earth as one last strike. The strike blasted through the parrot’s net of Qi, and struck the jelly’s net. But nothing made it past the jelly.

     The tribulations had gone. The aura of extermination and the lightning had gone.

     ‘Phew!’ the parrot squawked, loud enough to echo through the valley. 'I wasted a lot of energy on this, but for this piece of beauty, it’s worth it’

     The feathered serpent did not know what hit it even when the multicoloured flash dashed at it, grabbed it by the wings and took off to the sky. The serpent’s defiant hisses meant nothing to the now lustful parrot. In fact, the serpent’s struggles against him only seemed to excite him further.

     Even Liu Jie turned red when she saw what happened next. Each ‘attack’ the parrot performed on the serpent made her want to sink into the ground. She never knew creatures could be so shameless.

     But she did not feel embarrassed for long. Weak as they were, there were nine Nascent Soul cultivators still in the field. They came to her seeking to kill her. She had to repay them for that kindness.

     For the first time, she circulated her Nascent Soul cultivation base. She was surprised to notice that she was not in the Early Stage, but rather in the Middle Stage. Forming a five coloured Nascent Soul, and in the fashion she had, let her skip the Early Stage entirely.

     But enjoying it could wait.

     Nine Nascent Soul cultivators stared at her uncertainly. Hints of fear now tinged their faces. When Liu Jie was in the Core Formation, she had killed a Nascent Soul expert, and dozens of Core Formation Experts. None of their sects underestimated what she could do. And for that reason, they sent a hundred and eight cultivators just for her. Not even an experienced Nascent Soul Cultivator could survive such a party.

     But now, ninety nine of the party were dead.

     And now, she was at the Middle Nascent Soul Stage.

     Liu Jie turned to them. Every action of hers drew the attention of the nine. And her first action was to stop circulating her cultivation base.

     ‘You came seeking my legacies. How about we make a deal?’

     The ears of the nine twitched.

     ‘I will display some of the arts you seek. And I will show you three forms once. If you can survive them, you can leave. If you gain enlightenment from it, I will let you keep what you see’

     Nine faces turned grim. If anyone has said so, they would have laughed back. But this was Liu Jie.

     Wordlessly, and almost in synchronisation, they took out whatever treasures that remained on them.

     Liu Jie wasted no more words. She let go of Spiritual Energy entirely. Her secret art was what she wanted to use. Until now, the amount of the Essence she could use had been severely limited. Her will had not been strong enough to pull enough of the Essence. But at the Nascent Soul stage, what had gained the most strength so far was her will.

     The nine Nascent Soul cultivators did not want to give her space to activate her art. They immediately attacked her, roaring their defiance. A jumble of rose vines, whips, eerie black fogs and blades fell upon her.

     But Liu Jie was calm when she activated the second gift of the Ethereal Spirit.

     The Legacy of the Juggernaut.

     ‘First form of the Sundering. A Step for the Heavens’ she said out loud.

     Geysers of the Essence of the World erupted all around her. To every eye, it was invisible even when it blasted away every attack and treasure around her. But to her who cultivated in the art ever since she stepped into the world of cultivation, it was more real than Spiritual Energy.

     She took a step forward and bent her knees, bringing her sword to her waist.

     ‘Second Form of the Sundering. A Foot for the Earth’ she said. She twisted her feet, shifting her weight to the toes of her right foot.

     The nine withdrew every spiritual treasure they had in unison. Thousands of treasures floated in front of her. With a thought, the treasures dashed towards her. Liu Jie knew they wanted to explode it next to her. The energy possessed by that many treasures was no joke.

     But now that she had called the Essence of the World up, it was for naught.

     With the second form, the Essence of the World gathered around her and was sucked into her. With every breath that passed, she could pull in more power. With every wound she got, the Essence would condense further inside her. The more tired she was, the more she could hold. The closer to death she was, the greater the strength of the Essence she possessed.

     The purpose of the Legacy of the Juggernaut was a simple.

     All it did was make the user unstoppable.

     It was only because of this art she could kill the Nascent Soul Cultivator. That man had underestimated her and not used any of his powerful treasures. If he had used his most powerful magic at the start, before she could truly activate her art, she would have been killed as easily as a fly. But by the time he realised it, both her and her sword had gathered so much strength that a single slash severed the man’s head off.

     The nine cultivators looked despaired. Losing any hope they clung to at beating her. Instead, they turned their tails and decided to run for the shields desperately hoping it would fall by then.

     ‘Third form of the Sundering. A Stride for the Underworld’ she whispered, moving a large part of the Essence into her sword.  

     She took a stride forward. Just once.

     And she slashed. Just once.

     That one stride took her past the nine cultivators in an instant, stopping only at the fringes of the shield.

     That one slash cut through the spine, the dantian and the Nascent Souls of all the Nine Nascent Soul cultivators.

     Liu Jie let out a breath as she let go of the Essence. Unlike the energetic liveliness Spiritual Energy provided, the Essence of the World felt like a burden.

     Liu Jie paid no more mind to the severed corpses. Instead, she went about the battle ground, searching for treasures that managed to survive and for intact bags of holding from the corpses.

     Somewhere along the line, the cultivators had stopped running, dropping the shield. Liu Jie felt their exhaustion, but paid it no mind. She was left on her own for a long time.

     Eventually the parrot flew to her. And around his neck was the jelly, in his collar form.

     ‘Was I not awesome?’ he said, tired but still cocky. Liu Jie thought she sensed a little bit of pride in his expression. ‘Those Nascent Souls could do nothing to my spells. Ha! And that tribulation? Trembled before my awe inspiring spell. Stood no chance’

     ‘But what you did to that poor serpent… too immoral’ the jelly moaned again. ‘I should convert you… and that serpent…’

     ‘Ahhh… that serpent. She really was one of a kind’ the parrot said, reminiscing. Glancing at her, he continued ‘Lord Fifth really enjoyed her. Lord Fifth thanks you for that’

     Liu Jie nodded, trying to forget what she saw in the sky.

     ‘You’re lucky the Fifth Mountain allows Perfection. Else all my efforts would have been ignored and you would have been struck dead by the first bolt. Lord Man even likes those people pursuing the higher foundations’

     Swerving around to get a better look at her, the parrot said. ‘You’re the first cultivator I’ve seen who has a Perfect Foundation, practices one of the Three Heavenly Scriptures and can sense the Essence of the Fifth Mountain and Sea. You really must follow me. I can teach you –’

     Liu Jie wanted to ask more about things the parrot mentioned. But the parrot zoomed away from her suddenly.

     It took her an instant too long to sense the hint of the terrifying will.

     Before she could even try to block it with her sword, the lightning sliced through the air and struck her left arm.

     Without the protection of the Essence, her body was weak. Most of her arm had blackened. Whatever had not was now bloody red. Her arm hung limp by her side, smelling of burnt flesh.

     Blazing with rage, she spun to the parrot. The parrot had taken to the air. His eyes flickered between her arm and her face.

     ‘This is really strange. The formation was theoretically sound’ the parrot said, embarrassedly. The parrot was now backing away slowly, with a sneaky expression on his face. His words came out faster than he intended ‘But… hmm… whatever. What’s important is you are alive. I don’t know for how long the tribulation will be delayed. So you better find some method to overcome it. So… uh. Bye! Let’s go, stupid jelly’

     The parrot immediately transformed into a beam of light that zoomed away from the grounds, and not towards the Heaven’s peak, leaving the thousands of cultivators and the blue bird concubine behind.

     Liu Jie stood there, seething. Her blackened arm hurt like hell. Considering it was decimated by Tribulation Lightning, she was not sure if it would truly heal back.

     But she was sure of one thing.

     Immediately she set off after them, screaming.

     ‘PARROT!’

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