Cultivation System: Elder Edition

Chapter 378

Ghosts of the Mine (XXIV)

Shuren felt ringing in her mind.

It was as though someone had taken a tower-sized blunt end of the blade and swung it against the Holy Incarnation Bell and did so directly by her ear. She'd never been so overwhelmed before in her life--not when she was taken in by her Master, not when she was taken to the vaunted In-Between Realm, not even when she saw Roc emerge from the shattered waters.

Even when she watched the love of her life succumb to Red Roses Poison, with the blood itself boiling from inside out and chewing through flesh, skin, and bones, she was still calmer and more level-headed than she was at the moment.

She thought many-a-thing about Daoist Lu Qi and his fellow band of strange, talented children--she thought them exceptional, more talented than even some of those self-professed geniuses from Holy Lands. She thought them doubly strange, though, in how much they seemed to genuinely love their Master. In all her years of living, she'd never seen a relationship quite like theirs, where the Master was a teacher, a father, and a peer, all rolled into one.

Usually, to retain the dignity of a Master, one must never let themselves be viewed as a peer by their Disciples--that would diminish that grand stature and make the words spoken sound hollow. And yet, before her was a clear example that wasn't always the case.

Despite that, and despite many other things she thought about the strange group of people that had been climbing the mountain with her, sneaking out every night to kill demonic beasts for seemingly no reason whatsoever, she never once, not for a second, not even in her wildest dreams, entertained the idea they were strong.

Daoist Lu Qi, enigmatic though he was, was clearly a talent of poor quality; though kids were abundantly more talented than him, they were still children. Among them, the only person who gave her a sense of unease was the other old man, Shun, he was called. He smelled of herbs and pills, likely meaning he was an alchemist, but as an alchemist herself, she couldn't see through him--a grand rarity, as she inherited her Master's keen eye.

Even so, it wasn't at a level of worry--merely curiosity.

As such, when she saw Fool Chun attack them so brazenly and openly and so rapidly, she was certain they were going to die, and she would be the one to bear the guilt as they had nothing to do with this.

So, how come, then, that the kids were fine, joking around as though they were relaxing by a lake, while Fool Chun was screaming in agony, half his body destroyed beyond reproach? How come that boy, who looked no older than fifteen and spoke with such vile arrogance and apathy that even she found it profound, was able to flick back Fool Chun's attack with such chaotic prowess that even she felt a tingle of fear as it whizzed past her?

How come?

The question rang out like a bolt of lightning, and she found herself shorn of answers.

There was no reasonable one, not the one she could come up with, anyway. Short of that boy being an old monster merely wearing a childish skin, nothing made sense. But he wasn't--he well and truly was around fifteen years old. There were many things that cultivators could hide about themselves, but bone age was impossible. Even Dao itself cannot alter one's bones.

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... her mind was in a tailspin, throat drying, her fingers tingling with indecision.

Why were they laughing?

Why were they so relaxed?

Why was Daoist Lu Qi looking more annoyed than worried?

Why?

Why?

Why?

"Y-Y-YOU, YOU V-VERMIN! H-HOW DARE YOU?!!" Fool Chun sounded out with a gasp, his body slowly beginning to meld together as they remembered to feed him some healing pills. "I WILL SKIN YOU! I WILL END YOU! I WILL--"

"--pipe down, you sniveling piece of shit." That boy's voice, that tone... it was full of loathing. Perfusing every vowel spoken. She understood why people would hate Fool Chun--arrogant beyond his means, petty, whiny... but hate was far removed from loathing. That boy truly and deeply resented Fool Chun. "Before I cut your head off and see how far from the mountain I can kick it."

And Fool Chun... didn't immediately attack.

Shuren all but gasped, never having seen the man endure humiliation before in her life. She understood, though--the fool had never been near death before, and meeting somebody who didn't care about his status, his name, or his affiliation, and seemed to have the means (somehow) to kill him... it would put a halt to most people's arrogance.

"You... you have no idea who you attacked," he recovered quickly enough, his body finally beginning to patch the gaping holes. "Hah. If you kneel, swear your allegiance to me, and slap yourself a thousand times, I will spare you."

"You really don't get it, do you?" The young boy's voice chilled even further, if at all possible, as he seemed to gently reach toward his sword. "Fine. I'm in the mood to teach a fool a lesson."

Shuren didn't see it--she didn't see when the boy swung his sword. She couldn't react. At all.

By the time she caught a glimpse of it, the cold edge of the sword had cut through Chun's legs just above their knees, all while long, young fingers dug into his neck and held him up from collapsing. The boy kicked the legs away in a smooth motion, all while everyone else stood around like fools themselves.

Chun parted his lips as though to scream, yet not a sound came out--his face grew redder and redder, his eyes slowly losing their arrogance. In them, now, there was only fear. Terror that had chilled him to the bones.

... no, terror that had chilled all of them to the bones.

"You are nothing," the boy spoke. "A literal waste of life. Why Dao even allows morons with pea-sized brains to entertain immortality... one day, I will have to learn. Today, I will teach you that if I ask a question... all you need to do is answer, as quickly and as precisely as possible. I will carve it so deep into your bones that even if you are burned at your death, your ashes will spell out the lesson for everyone else to learn it, too."

"Y-Young Daoist, p-please hold!" Shuren had no choice but to voice out--she couldn't let Fool Chun die. If it were that easy, she would have killed him herself; but, despite all his flaws, Master loved him dearly, still. "Please, show some benevolence." She couldn't believe she was pleading with a child--and pleading from a position of defeat, at that.

"..." the boy merely glanced at her as the wind whipped his hair back, untangling it from the ponytail. It was as black as ink, drifting.

"If, if it were that easy, I would have killed him myself ages ago. But... it's not. Our Master... he's fond of him. Dearly. I'm afraid if you kill him, our Master might not let it go."

"... so?" a simple phrase. One so full of arrogance Shuren would have laughed were it anyone else. And yet... she only felt a deeper chill. The boy truly, deeply did not care.

"Our, our Master is, is the Master of Nirvana Frontier, and he--"

"--I ask again," the boy interrupted. "So?"

"He's, he's an Emperor!"

"So?"

"..." Shuren was stumped, her tongue tied into a knot. She was breaking practically every Oath she swore by revealing who their Master was, and yet the boy... he did not care. "Y-you may not know, but an Emperor is--"

"--is nothing," he interrupted yet again. "You say he's fond of this thing I'm holding. That alone tells me everything. Rather than warning me against incurring the man's wrath, you should be begging me not to kill him, too, and do the world a favor by ridding it of rot."

"...!!!" Shuren's heart stopped--literally and figuratively.

It was the first--well, there were many firsts today--but this, especially, went beyond everything else in the world. A boy, who seemed no older than fifteen, just threatened to kill an Emperor. A holy figure standing above all else. The being that personifies Dao itself.

"Pipe down, now," he warned, his voice cold. "My tolerance for your stupidity has just about run out. This thing pretending to be human and I have some things to talk about. Until we are done, if I see any one of you move, I'll immediately shatter his soul into a thousand pieces."