Carefully plucking plants, a pair of cultivators were methodically clearing an area of any signs of greenery. Using special knives and sickles, they cut the roots if needed only to immediately put the piece of botany inside their storage rings to prevent them from dying without soil. Their movements seemed to be unskilled as way too often another plant was damaged in the process. However, it was the number of participants and their visible impressive physical conditions, as not even one of them tried to take a break, which compensated for the lack of experience. Moreover, the loss seemed not to bother them, as there were too many similar plants around. More than enough for their task. Working like real tireless machines, they looked like a swarm of locusts, emptying the area behind their unstoppable march.
“How do you think is it the Sect Leader’s place of origin? The rumors are always spoken that he appeared from nowhere,” one of the cultivators asked his sect brother, for a moment glancing around, “This place is like a paradise for cultivators, and don’t know a reason why anyone would come out from here. The concentration of Qi in this area is so high that anyone below the Core Formation realm will lose consciousness within a minute.”
“Might be, but I am not willing to ask him,” his collocutor shrugged before adding, “If it’s true, be grateful that he did it. Otherwise, there won’t be any sect at all, and you will be still struggling to survive as a rogue cultivator… or not as it’s rare to live for so long with such status.”
“I am… Like anyone else in our sect. The Sect Leader is a lion among men, worthing a real worship for his accomplishments,” the cultivator proclaimed, not hiding a fanatical light in his eyes, “But it’s funny to think that we, Nascent Soul cultivators, are working in fields like mere outer disciples.”
“As you said, brother, anyone at low realms can’t endure this environment. Be happy that we are here and not working in the forest like Core Formations cultivators. The Sect Leader led everyone capable here without exception.”
“That was a wise decision, as not only will it decrease the loss of time because of time dilation, but also even staying here is useful for our progress. Even without mediation, I can feel that boundaries of the early stage will soon fall, pushing me further on the road to immortality,” the man boasted with a wide smile.
“Whatever. Just do your task decently, so we can try to recreate the same environment at home,” his collector frowned when a third plant in a row was almost ruined by his careless motions, “don’t distract me as I start to make mistakes. Remember that our contribution depends on the number of undamaged plants, and I want to be efficient. We have limited time – the gateway won’t be active forever.”
“You are right as always, brother,” the man replied, but it was only a few minutes before he once again broke the silence, “How do you think where this greenery will be grown? On a mountain peak to make a special place? Or it will be spread evenly to create a better qi density in the whole sect, so everyone can benefit?”
“I don’t know – it’s a decision of the Sect Leader and other Grand Elders at Spirit Unity realm. They might seem like only a single realm above us, but in terms of power, they are like a sky for us – high and unreachable. Therefore, keep your mouth shut and don’t disturb me. I am working for my future!”
This time the rebuke helped, cutting off the unwanted discussion. Following the road, they slowly cleared both sides of it, meeting with other groups at a crossroads. Continuing down the way, they finished a full circle, ending at the main square. A few Grand Elders were standing near the huge map, made from snow marble. The magnificent work of a skilled artisan showcased the whole area in detail, making it easy to plan the work. Passing by, they heard a heated discussion about whether they had time to loot all precious stones from the road or not. Trying to keep a busy look, the pair of cultivators hastily left the place, walking down the road. Unfortunately, others already cleared everything, obviously treating the task as some kind of competition to get more contribution points from the sect. Not discouraged, they both followed an example, focusing on getting as many plants as possible. However, their concentration was soon broken by a loud shout.
“Who the fuck are you?!”
It caused a real commotion, attracting the attention of all cultivators around. The pair followed suit, quickly getting to the huge pagoda, where the epicenter of the event was. There, near the entrance to the building with a prominent name of the “Ascension Tower”, a tall and muscular giant was standing. Dressed in a dirty and worn-out robe that was too small to hide his large frame, he had weird grayish skin. Dusty-pale, it had the same tone all over his body, without a single trace of veins underneath it. No birthmarks, no hair. Only his eyes had a different color. Completely black as a manifestation of darkness, they radiated an insane soul pressure, causing latent fear to spread among the present cultivators.
“Do I need to repeat myself, morons?”
The words sounded with unhidden threat as if the man wasn’t scared that more than a dozen mighty cultivators had surrounded him. His voice never wavered. His heart didn’t accelerate. In fact, after using the heightened perception, most of the sect members finally noticed that the man wasn’t breathing at all. Even the voice sounded dull, as if coming somewhere from inside of the body, and not from the mouth. Then the realization came, leading to multiple sighs of relief.
“It’s a puppet that the Sect Leader mentioned!”
“A local keeper of the place… We are forbidden to attack it.”
“I remember that the Sect Leader told me it has quite a rude character.”
“More like a dirty mouth…”
Simultaneous voices from the sides spoke what most of the present had on their mind, observing the oddly too-alive puppet that seemed to look at them as if they were idiots. The feeling was unpleasant, considering it was a mere qi-automaton doing it. Moreover, the amount of ethereal energy that this puppet had inside was barely on the level of the third realm – Qi Refining. Nothing to explain such an arrogant attitude toward real and, more importantly, powerful cultivators.
“We are the members of Lightning Sky Shattering Sect. We are here by the decree of our Set Leader, who sent us…,” Stepping forward, one of the cultivators decided to clarify the situation to the puppet, swallowing his pride. However, before he managed to finish, the unliving man had suddenly stepped forward, almost magically reappearing in front of another cultivator. Slowly leaning forward, he was attentively studying something on the man’s robe before asking loudly.
“What is that?”
“It’s the symbol of our sect. The lighting carries the meaning of immeasurable might, while the sky shows a boundless width of…,” Clenching his fist, the same cultivator barely managed to hold himself from destroying the ignorant puppet with a clear lack of manners and no survival instinct, who wasn’t even bothered to turn around. Reminding himself about the will of the Sect Leader, he followed with another explanation but was rudely interrupted again.
“I asked what is that? Is it a leaf? Where did you get it?” Pointing at the leftovers of the greenery that were on the shoulder, the puppet frowned, “Step aside.”
Not waiting for an answer, he shoved others away by simply working through the group of cultivators, forcefully making to free his way. However, after just a few steps, the puppet suddenly froze. Silently looking at the road without motion, it could be mistaken as a real statue from ancient times. But somehow, everyone seemed to perceive that inside the artificial creature was trembling from anger. Trying to anticipate the potential outburst of an already ill-behaved automaton that didn’t know its place, one of the cultivators stepped forward.
“We are currently in the process of gathering all Qi-plants. After we are done, you can follow your job as a keeper of this paradise. We don’t have plans to damage any buildings here. Our goal is just plants, nothing else…,” Seeing that it didn’t help, the man added, “Don’t worry, we aren’t going to disturb you for long. We will leave shortly – other parties are half done clearing the forest. We will finish the assigned task in several hours at most. You are free to do anything you want after that.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“No, you won’t,” The puppet shook his head, while slowly turning around and looking at the ground, where multiple dirty footprints were left on a previous white surface. His unpretty face grimaced at the sight.
“Why? We have more than a few hundred members inside. The whole sect is basically working for it…”
“You won’t leave,” The puppet muttered through his clenched teeth, “Maybe you were just following orders, I don’t care… I never was a kind person, easily snapping occasionally. After so much time, I can finally control my emotional state… But I don’t want to. So, no, you will stay here forever,” finally raising his head, the grayish man-like figure showed a mad grin plastered on its unattractive face, “Dead!”
With a final word, the puppet vanished from the spot with a thunderous sound. Those cultivators with higher realms managed to see the motion, but they were just too slow to react. In the next moment, the nearest of them was impaled with both stretched hands. Deeply penetrating the chest, they froze for a second as if allowing a previously speaking man to realize what was happening. Then, with a crazy smile and in a single motion, the puppet tore the body apart, splattering the blood in the surroundings.
“It will be painful, I promise,” The mad automaton muttered, turning its attention to the others. Luckily, having a long life of rogue cultivators, most of the present had enough battle experience not to panic in front of danger. Unfortunately for them, a simple awareness and readiness to act wasn’t equal to having the capability to change the outcome.
Swiftly ducking under a dozen qi-created butterflies that left a scorching mark on the building behind, the puppet launched again. A short acceleration turned into a jump. Then its knee found the head of another cultivator. Shattering the face with enough force to crack the skull, the strike pushed the wounded onto the ground. Falling on top of the motionless body, the puppet rose to its feet and added another heavy stomp, turning the head into a disgusting mush. This was the moment when a few combat arts finally hit the mad automaton, enveloping it in a mixture of flame, light, and electric sparks. However, this bloodthirsty thing simply brushed it off, causing a wave of terror among the survivors. Then it disappeared again.
When the cultivators found him an instant later, the puppet was already gripping the face of their sect brother. Diving its fingers inside the flesh, it pulled, reaping off the face and exposing a still-living brain. The following hit the lower abdomen and made a hole while shattering the dantian. It immediately led to an outburst of stored qi, crippling the man forever… or for the next minute, as it would be impossible to live any longer. However, the utter horror of the situation was that everyone was in the same boat, thus they fled, abandoning each other to survive. Or at least, they attempted to.
The grayish figure, covered in blood and with remnants of the robe that was still somehow hanging around his waist, gave them no chance to succeed. Easily catching up with another cultivator, it gripped the neck of the running person from behind before squeezing. There was a barely noticeable white light shining through the clenched fingers. The next moment, a beheaded corpse was falling separately from its upper part while the killer was already turning attention to others. Charging with insane speed, the puppet kicked one of the escapers in the back. It caused an immediate and huge increase in speed, turning the run into the flight. Smashing against the tall pagoda, the cultivator felt like half of his bones had broken from the impact, despite his realm. Then the artificial madman rammed into him with a shoulder. The building shook, somehow withstanding the attack. The flesh appeared not so tough. The resulting meat paste was everything that was left from the unfortunate.
This was the moment when the remnants of the group had reached the main square where the sect’s Grand Elders were. The thick for of Qi dulled their senses, but the commotion was too loud to miss, so they were prepared to meet any enemy head-on. Raising into the air and floating above others, the trio of cultivators at Spirit Unity realm started to form their most powerful combat arts, not wishing to play around. Spreading their domains in the area, they almost caused their lower-level sect members to faint from the oppressive auras. Clashing between each other for superiority, the latter surrounded the square, proclaiming their absolute dominance over qi.
The instant the puppet entered the square, the powerful attacks were unleashed. They didn’t come at once, each taking a few seconds of delay not to intervene with each other. The first one was an enormous ball of magma that dropped from above like a meteor. Penetrating the snow marble road, it dived inside the ground before exploding with the eruption of fire. Multiple flame pillars broke out from underneath, setting the surroundings ablaze. Creating a web of cracks and leading to a real earthquake, the effect started to quickly spread around the area, turning everything into a burning hell. Using Qi in the air, this flaming monstrosity only continued to grow, changing its color from orange to white within the epicenter where the puppet previously stood. However, it was just a start, as it was the turn of the second attack.
It came in the form of a pitch-black beast. Gigantic, it covered the whole sky, for a moment turning a day into a night. Stretching multiple tentacles as if trying to capture the world, it had no distinguished form. Made from abyssal darkness, it was filled with something evil and dreadful. A concentration of eroding energy that couldn’t be stopped once released. It seemed like a part of Death herself, villainous, bloodthirsty, and ruthless. The entropy in her most destructive form. Then the creature lunged forward. For a short duration the white flame from the previous attack tried to fight off the invader, only to be consumed after a meaningless and short struggle. During the next several seconds occasional sparks appeared on this dark blanket, showing the last effort of the abyss, but even they died out, sucked dry from any life energy. It left only ever-hungry formless predator to feat on the area.
However, no matter how powerful it was, the final combat art from the strongest of the trio was beyond its capabilities. Creating a shining huge sword above the Qi-beast, the cultivator slightly waved his hand, sending it downward. Plain and ordinary, it had a barely visible transparent form. Still, just a sheer size was enough to cause a tremble in the hearts of other sect members. The dropping weapon was imbued with intent to cut through anything on its way. It was like a concentrative image of all swords, its majesty, the emperor. Nothing could resist its blade, even if it was something intangible. The darkness wasn’t an exception, crumbling under the attack at once. Blasting out and immediately dispersing, it left a deep scar on the ground, enough to fit a few-story building, similar to the ones from around. And they weren’t spared, blown out by the shockwave and previous combat arts.
The deafening silence was so heavy and dense that it could almost be touched. The sight of the destruction was even more mouth gaping. The central part of the sect ceased to exist, vanishing without a trace. Only the two tallest pagodas managed to survive everything in relatively good conditions, apart from a loss of parts of previously installed defensive formations. Damaged by the earthquake, a part of the mountain had crumbled, taking with itself a noticeable portion of stairs to the top. Most of the cultivators gulped from the shock, trying to process the unleashed might. However, the biggest eye-opener for them was a movement in the epicenter of the three sky-shattering strikes.
Methodically digging itself out from the ground, the puppet unhurriedly appeared in front of the group. Completely nude, it showed its grayish body that had only a net of scratches on its inhuman surface. Otherwise, there was no trace of injuries, not speaking about mortal wounds. Nope, in fact, even the very same mad grin hadn’t left the fact of the puppet as if the event couldn’t shake it at all. Then even those tiny marks had vanished, returning it to a pristine state.
“Too fancy and flashy for my liking… You have to be more down-to-earth,” widening his smile the crazy automaton suddenly took a piece of white stone from the plowed ground, “Literally.”
In the next moment, the projectile was already flying through the air at an insane speed. Before anyone, including a trio, managed to react, one of them had a head exploded in a brutal rain of blood, brain, and bones. Falling from above like a sack of potatoes, the corpse didn’t even reach the ground when the puppet jumped. Propelling through the air like a hypersonic jet, it crashed into the sword-wielder at full speed. Traveling together for several seconds, they loudly dropped down onto one of the mansions, turning it into rubble. Surprisingly, the cultivator somehow not only survived the painful fall but instantly summoned a weapon trying to cut the puppet. The latter just laughed, diving deeply its glowing fingers into man’s eyes-sockets and ignoring a blade that dulled its edge against his ribs.
Pulling its thumbs out and disintegrating the remnants of disgusting mush, the puppet headbutted the cultivator a few times, crumpling his forehead. Noting the absence of the opponent’s life, the Qi-automation rose to its feet and picked up the dead body. Throwing it out from the smashed building outside, it followed along, reappearing in front of the other sect members, who were watching him with clear horror. It felt like they were facing a natural disaster itself without any objective means not only to stop it but even to halt it.
However, then a voice came. Emerging from the surroundings without any clear source, it was filled with might and strong will, reaching every single being inside the pocket dimension and imbuing them with hope. Working like a direct injection of energy, it rekindled their will to fight, despite the pitiful odds. Almost as if everyone had an invisible armor that would protect them in the direst times. Everyone steeled themselves, preparing for what was to come. Because it was their Sect Master, the most powerful person under the Heavens, whose steps were enough to shatter any obstacles in his way, while his presence could scare even the vilest monsters. With him around, there was nothing to fear.
“What are you doing?!”
“Oh, Xu Wong… Well, I had the very same question, my stupid apprentice.”