The Greengrass Continent had mild seasons. Rain was a bit more likely in the spring, and the deepest nights of winter might see frost dusting the ground come sunrise, but on the whole it was easy to sit back and let time flow over you.
This was doubly true when one lived on a high mountain. Bull sat outdoors, meditating and drawing in qi. In each hand he held the core of a spirit beast, the qi flowing into him quicker than even a high quality spirit stone; like a dantian, a beast’s core was already processed and compacted. He could feed it to his own dantian without needing to cycle, just adding its qi to his own as fast as he could draw it in.
The cores didn’t last long, being only second realm. The sect was withdrawing into its shell, like a turtle, preparing for the inevitable conflict that Mudworld would bring. It was bad for disciples who relied on missions to get by, like he had been until recently. But that was life; either those disciples would adapt, or they wouldn’t.
Bull opened his eyes. Far below, a sea of green and gold fields stretched out; Greengrass was a breadbasket, producing crops all throughout the year. Even now, as winter died and spring took its place, the fields were verdant. Each stalk and root vying against its neighbours, competing in endless battles that the humans who tended them had little knowledge of.
I’m in a strange mood, today. He had woken up tense, and that tenseness had yet to dissipate even as he cultivated. It felt like there was something coming, a shadow looming just out of sight. Bull could have pushed the feeling away, but he let it sit; a man’s instincts were one of his sharpest tools. He continued to cultivate, consuming cores by the handful. He had overpaid for them, but at the moment he was willing to sacrifice efficiency for speed; Lu had insisted on paying him back twice over, and in his magnanimity he had allowed it. He could even afford some muscle enhancement pills.
There was something in him that was telling him to prepare for a fight. Even more than usual. He leaned into it as he moved to physical conditioning, pushing himself hard. It would have been better with a partner, but Lu wasn’t to the point where he could keep up just yet. How can a man get stuck at first realm twice in a row? Ridiculous. The thought was fond. Even now that he was one of the richest men in the sect, Lu still lived more like a mortal than a cultivator. More than before, even; the man had taken up eating again, as much as it was against his will.
Bull continued to train, sweat evaporating off him as his body heated up. But just as he was winding down, a presence appeared on the edge of his sense. Hmm? I wasn’t expecting a visitor today. It was a core disciple, one that felt oddly familiar-
The presence entered his sense fully, and his heart dropped into his gut. Kill it. Open it up. He froze, incredulous. No. Fuck you, this isn’t happening. He recognised the qi signature. Bull turned to the entrance to his private training space, his jaw slack.
After a moment, a man appeared. He leaned against the doorway, a faint smile in his lips. “You look good, Guanyin. Sixth realm sits well on you.”
Before there was time to think, before there was time for either of them to react, Bull’s fist impacted Tai Sho’s nose. There was a cracking sound, and his head was pushed back a hand’s span. Tear it from his chest. Make it even. His Path wasn’t coiled, ready to spring. It didn’t lick its lips, or flair its nostrils at the scent of blood. It simply glided forward, perfectly silent, teeth sharp and jagged.
“You dare?” Bull’s words were so angered, they seemed calm. “You walk into my dwelling, as if you have permission to be here? As if you are still anyone to me?” He withdrew his fist.
Tai Sho’s nose was broken. He reached up, and wiped away the small rivulet of blood with his thumb. “Ah, I suppose that was rude of me. I think you’ll want to hear what I came to say, though.”
The urge to strike him again was overwhelming. Bull let the emotion flow through him, not rejecting it, but not giving in either. Not now. There was a chance he could kill him – the man was still only seventh realm, despite the intervening years, only one realm ahead of him – but that wouldn’t be how it would go. Sho wouldn’t go quietly, and the moment their fight spilled out into the halls an Elder would intervene.
In the face of Bull’s silence, Tai Sho merely shrugged. “Elder White Knuckle has summoned you. Come with me to the former training grounds.”
Bull’s fists clenched. “They let you in?”
“Ah, so you’ve known for a while then.” Sho’s smile refused to fade, even as blood ran from his nostrils. Somehow he managed to sound refined, even though the crushed cartilage must have sealed half his airways shut. His expression betrayed not a hint of pain or discomfort. “I feel left out. I suppose that’s what I deserve, though.” You will die by my hand.
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The man tilted his head, almost like he could hear Bull’s Path urging him on. Apart from the nose, he looked exactly as Bull remembered him; two decades wasn’t nearly enough to change a core disciple’s face. His features were strong, but with a certain softness of expression. Much like his voice. Bull had discarded any attraction he still held, torn it from his heart and stomped it to death, but it took effort not to be enticed all over again. He snorted. “No, you’ll get what you deserve. Lead the way, senior brother.”
After what he did, Bull could have had Sho expelled from the sect. Stealing another disciple’s dantian wasn’t unorthodox, but it flirted with it. But Bull hadn’t said a word, and the Elders had let it sit, though Tai Sho was now a name to be wary of.
Bull hadn’t wanted it to end with mere expulsion. He needed real closure. Real vengeance. And Sho had known him, so that was probably what he had been banking on. Nearly twenty years had passed since that day, since the veil had been drawn away from his eyes, since Bull had looked at the world clearly for the first time.
He was a shark, grown large, grown deadly. Yes, there were greater monsters swimming in these waters…
I drew blood. I can kill him. Sixth realm is enough.
But Tai Sho was not one of them.
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The sect was preparing for war, and Lu was dabbling in smithing for a second time. In the past he had tried his hand at metalworking, before quietly putting it down as not for him. Entirely too much physical labour; a true gentleman might carry a sword forged by his own hand, yes, but he was equally content with a store-bought one.
And now here he was, pouring lead into a mold. Ugh, even through the shield I swear I can still feel it… He knew, intellectually, that just handling the metal casually wouldn’t poison him. But it was still unsettling. Why would they build water pipes out of this? Weapons, I understand, but surely they’re not stupid?
…Hmm, maybe lead doesn’t hurt them the same way it does humans? He put it out of his mind, focussing on the bullet-molds he had made with sand and plaster. He wasn’t certain of the exact shape the bullets needed to be, so he was experimenting. Some of them had rounder tips, while others were pointy, and the length varied as well. They were all the same diameter, however. He cooled the bullets with a spell, then broke open the molds.
He was greeted by a pile of lead slugs, generally the size of a small fingerbone. He examined them, separating them from the web of lead thread that joined them so he could cast them all together. Reasonably symmetrical. Not bad for a first try, I’m sure they’ll be good enough to experiment with.
The Sixth World natives had used some sort of exploding powder to accelerate their projectiles. Even after scouring the archives, Lu hadn’t found anything similar. But, he had found something almost as good; a pill that detonated when thrown, made from relatively cheap ingredients. The pill wasn’t very popular, since the amount of force was mediocre given how much effort went in, but for his purposes it should function reasonably well. Put a pill in a tube – a ‘barrel’ – then follow it with a bullet. Strike the end of the barrel to detonate the pill, and the bullet shoots out. Basic physics.
Now all he had to do was find the most efficient combination of bullet shape, barrel width and length, and size of pill. He was basically done already!
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Okay so it turns out, it’s really easy for lead to clog up the pipe, and just blow the whole thing to pieces. If he hadn’t had his shield up, there was a good chance he would be nursing stumps where his fingers had been. Damn. Is the explosion too hot? Maybe I can lower the temperature somehow by altering the ingredients… Or maybe he could chill the bullets ahead of time? No, I want mortals to be able to use this. No formations or spells.
Knock, knock. Lu was jostled out of his thoughts by a rapping on his door. “Oh! One moment!” Shit, I bet someone heard the explosions. I really should have been doing this out of doors, in hindsight.
He opened his door, but rather than a concerned neighbour he saw Bull with a conflicted look on his face. “Bull! Good to see you. Ah, I’m actually in the middle of testing something at the moment…”
Bull shook his head. “Hey Lu. Sorry, this isn’t a social call.” Ah? On closer inspection, the man really did have a very strange expression. Bull, did something happen..? “Things are going faster than the Elders anticipated. As of now, it looks like the next breaching attempt will go through sometime before summer.”
Lu’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Ah, I suppose you’re planning to go, then?”
“I am.” Wait, you’re not going to suggest- “Obviously, I don’t expect you to participate. But you should be present for the briefings, at the very least.” He eyed Lu. “They’re going to attempt something more diplomatic. Have you been keeping up with the progress?”
Lu’s headshake was sheepish. “Ah, other than assisting with some research, no.”
Bull nodded, some of his customary smug expression leaking in. “Yeah, that sounds about right.” Hey, don’t get that expression! It’s not that I’m ignorant of the situation, I just have a lot on my plate! I’m revolutionising warfare as we speak! “You should catch up, then. We have recordings of the important bits, and I can fill you in on the details.” For the first time, his eyes went past Lu and scanned the room. Specifically the dented copper sheet he had been using as a target, and the soot-stains on the floor.
Lu coughed into his fist. “A-hem! Just testing some things, some gadgets from the other world, you know. It’s most of the way to done.”
Bull smiled. “Looks interesting. But come on, the first formal announcement is tomorrow; you need to know what’s happened by then.” He grabbed Lu under the arms, and started hauling him like a sack of flour.
“Ack! Bull, I can walk, I can walk!”