Sky Pride

“I now call this meeting to order.” 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

“It’s the two of us. What meeting?”

“We are scheming together and that makes this a conspiracy. You have to have an official meeting if you are doing a conspiracy.” Tian passed the snacks over.

“No worthwhile conspiracy was ever formed over cheap rice crackers. Did you know how long Little Han had to search to find “the cheapest” rice crackers?”

“He’s our steward, it’s his job to serve the greater good. You are side tracking us. We are here to discuss burglary, robbery, and technically-not-murder.” Tian crunched his rice cake firmly. The more expensive ones, especially anything with a flavored oil on it, went bad too fast and lacked satisfying crunch.

“Daoist Lian being a heretic does ease any non-existent concerns I had about a visit from the equally non-existent disciplinary squad, but the Long Clan Ancestors are going to be a big worry. They will definitely come out and investigate this in person. We are going to want to be long gone.”

Tian had to admit that was a concern for him too. “We have three… four main sources of danger. First- the defenses around Lian and the warehouse. Wards, formations, constructs, talismans, it’s a lot.” Tian started counting on his fingers. “Then there is the Radiant Sun Sect, who may or may not have just lost two Heavenly Realm cultivators. A heavy loss, for most sects. The smallest sects might not even have a single Heavenly Realm ancestor, let alone a living one.”

“Speaking of sources of danger, the two Long Clan ancestors will definitely be extremely well equipped and come with a ton of mercenary help when they hear one of their warehouses got cleared out and a Heavenly Realm guard got killed.” Liren smiled with all her teeth. The Long Clan Ancestors were dead men walking, so far as she was concerned, but it wasn’t time for them to stop moving.

“Which leads us to the fourth point, and directly tied to point two- the Grand Shamans of the nomads. We don’t know their numbers. We do know that while they aren’t unified now, they are getting unified, and fast. Hanshen says they will attack in the next couple of months for sure, and I don’t have any reason to think he’s wrong about that.” Tian refreshed their cups. It was a rather savory-sweet Dark Dragon tea, and refreshingly different than what Tian usually drank. It didn’t go to the top of his tea list, but it certainly earned a place of honor.

Liren sipped thoughtfully, tapping two fingers on the table as she thought. “The timing is a little interesting.”

Tian waited for her to elaborate. She took another sip, and stared out across their little courtyard. “It would be unwise for us to try to break into the warehouse and kill Lian. He’s defended to a downright unseemly degree.”

“Agreed, but…” Tian dragged the word out. Liren grinned and waggled her tea cup. He rolled his eyes and refilled it, then poured a fresh cup for himself.

“The man with the most valuables in the steppes, or at least in the city, is sitting still, despite the fact that an invasion is coming. If we know it, he knows it. Either he expects to be evacuated with his cargo, human and otherwise, or he has a reason he can’t leave.”

They briefly contemplated reasons he couldn’t leave, not finding anything persuasive or palatable. Liren interrupted the silent musing with a raised finger. “Teacher isn’t a diviner. He must have his own ways of gathering information, but he’s not seeing the future so far as I know. That means whoever this Heavenly Realm adversary, or adversaries, we are meant to make Little Han safe from are likely in the very-broadly-defined area. And that person, based on what he said, is likely part of the reason the shamans are out in such force to attack the kingdom.”

Tian tried to think through what Liren was getting at, and drew a blank. “I don’t follow you.”

“Well, if we were making him safe, just generally speaking, we would escort him back to the Mountain and bring him inside the ward when the Venerables opened it up again. But that’s not what Teacher asked us to do. He specifically instructed us to kill the cultivators hunting him, and to make him reasonably safe from cultivators. To the extent a mortal can be safe from cultivators, anyway.”

“That’s why we are training him, and saved him during the convoy raid.” Tian frowned. “Wait… ‘hunting him.’ Do you think he is being deliberately targeted? Why? He’s a mortal. How much can he really affect the overall immortal situation? And if there is a Heavenly Person after his head, he would be dead by now.”

“I’m not sure, but I think so. Teacher said he has no fate with immortality, but what if his destiny results in him changing the mortal situation so drastically, it impacts Heavenly realm heretics? Some fundamental change in the balance of power between the nations or something.”

Tian frowned even harder, crunching a cracker for its thought-fueling power. He and Liren had turned Han into a future powerhouse. His physique was refined and improved like few others thanks to all the medicinal lotions and therapeutic massages. He had Winecup Moon, an evasion art that had been custom made just for him, the all around unarmed combat system from the Dragon Suppressing Palms, Gourmet and the Calesthenics, and while they hadn’t imparted a weapons art, his situational awareness was miles ahead of most youths. It wouldn’t make him perfectly safe from even a low level Earthly Realm cultivator, but it would make him much safer than any ordinary mortal. But what about Heavenly Cultivators? What was stopping one of them popping out, and crushing him with a thought?

There didn’t seem to be anything stopping them at all. All he could think of was the way Heavenly Realm cultivators had an obsession with attacking from ambush, and never making the first move if they could help it.

“You know, I wonder if Stonesplitter and Redspear didn’t come to the same conclusions we did about Daoist Lian, and they’re waiting out in the steppes for Lian to evacuate. He will have guards, but they would have made preparations to handle that. They can blame everything on the Shamans, then come back five years from now boasting of their adventures on the steppes.” Tian couldn’t come up with anything plausible about Han’s situation, so he tabled it.

“I’m a little depressed that your idea is more optimistic than mine, somehow.” Liren sighed and started to slump a bit but perked up when she saw Tian grinning at her.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“You want to protect the city. That’s what all this is. You want to use Lian’s storehouse as bait to lure out all the players. The nomads, the kingdom, everyone. Then you want to make a big mess, and see what we can loot off the bodies afterward. With the happy addition of, hopefully, supplying some extra Earthly Realm Fighters.”

Liren blinked, the very picture of innocence. “Me? Would I do that?”

Tian nodded and pointed an accusing finger. “You. Faerie Guardian of Burning Flag City. You want to camp out here for a few months, and help them hold out against the invasion.”

“Huh. That does sound like something I would do. What would the Emissary of the God of Mercy do? She asked, looking straight at him.”

“You didn’t have to say that last part.” Tian grumbled. He fussed with the tea pot for a moment, redistributing the leaves before adding more water. “I want the city to survive too, of course. I’m just worried about Teacher’s disciple.”

“Half of him reincarnated into something basically invulnerable. No reason to think the other half wouldn’t be similar. He’s probably lucky. People will go out of their way not to hurt him.”

Tian remembered Burning Heaven’s beak bouncing off of Old Toad with an enormous clang. “Makes sense. It does kind of miss the point of us robbing Lian in the first place, though. We need equipment.”

“I have a radical idea for that. A bit dangerous, and I’m certain you won’t like it. But I do believe it is the simplest, and most effective way.”

Tian leaned in, waving a hand to get her to keep talking.

“We walk into his shop and buy them.” Her smile was saintly. “After all, it’s not like he’s going to get to keep our spirit stones for very long.”

“Do we have enough? We have been pretty free with using spirit stones to cultivate.”

“Enough. Stones are to be spent enhancing our power, one way or another. Cultivating serious power will take decades, probably. Equipment will have the biggest effect in the shortest amount of time.”

The actual transaction was surprisingly bland. They sent mental messages to Daoist Lian, who responded with barely polite formalities and cut directly to the chase- what did they want? A staff, acupuncture needles, and a spear? Armor? No problem. A servant would come out with wares for them to browse. Prices non-negotiable, treasures accepted at a discount to offset up to thirty percent of the purchase price.

Tian had to work that one out for a few seconds, and when he did, it took Liren’s firm hand on his shoulder to put an end to his sputters of outrage. The weapons and equipment produced were, in Tian’s inexpert opinion, merely adequate. There were neither significant problems nor advantages with them. They worked. They were ‘fine.’ Suitable for their level.

He hated them, just a bit. You could feel the crafter had been doing the minimum acceptable job. His old rope darts had passion aplenty. The Horn Spear Liren kept in reserve radiated terror and gave you a real sense of who the horn came from, and what the crafter intended the spear to do. These were bland. Heavy sticks, some capped with iron, some not. Thinner, longer sticks, capped with a pointy bit of metal on one end. The shape of the metal changed slightly, the materials changed slightly…

He couldn’t work up the interest to pay attention. The acupuncture needles were identical in every meaningful way to the ones Doctor Jin had loaned him in No Gate City, just made with finer materials. The servant was droning something about fishscale pattern or hundred refinement something or other. Tian shook his head and looked over at Liren. She didn’t look much more enthusiastic than he did.

“Fellow Daoist, is this really all you have to offer?” Tian asked. From inside the compound, Lian replied-

“Yes. Take it or don’t.”

Tian and Liren sighed and conferred. They decided to put their trust, however unwisely, into Daoist Sweetdove coming through with the Mermaid Silk robes. For the rest, Liren took the cheapest available spear, and Tian got a staff that looked to be a minor improvement on the one he already had. The biggest improvement being that it wasn’t hacked up by a Grand Shaman who was uncomfortably comfortable with his saber.

As for the acupuncture needles, they were all the same to him. He put his hand over his eyes and picked at random, swearing to replace them at the first available opportunity.

“No wonder he dares to sell. He can be sure nothing he sold will ever be able to hurt him!” Liren exclaimed in the privacy of their minds. Tian just nodded. She was absolutely right. They would have to find some better equipment. In the meantime, they were functional and available. That made them, by the vicious logic of both the Redstone Wasteland and the Steppes, the best weapons.

“I have the feeling that “This weapon is garbage but it will do until I find something better,” is going to be something we say a lot in the Heavenly Realm. I need to release this frustration. Did you find anything good when you visited the potters?” Tian asked.

“Heavens, that was a month ago. If I did, I don’t remember it. Everything was quite cheap, and nothing worth noticing.”

“Well, let’s round up our Steward and set him to work. If it can’t be found, it can be made. At least that will cheer me up.”

Tian fiddled with the acupuncture needles as they walked. They were, if he remembered correctly, iron forged a particular way, or amalgamated in some way, so as to have some corrosion resistance. It really wasn’t his field, and his interest was limited. However, the roll of a hundred identical needles did give him an idea.

“Would these be suitable for refining into Heavenly Swallow Darts?”

Oh yes indeed they would. And even better, with this, you will have enough to set up the first Small Flock Gathering formation. It will take a little time, but you will finally have a proper Heavenly dart art paired with proper Heavenly darts. Really won’t take long at all. You are going to enjoy formation control. Others… not so much. Grandpa laughed one of his not very nice laughs.

Tian broke into a happy chuckle, laughing along with Grandpa. It seemed they did manage to find something good at Daoist Lian’s place, regardless of the poor customer service. Tian would be sure to put them to good use.

“Little Han keeps giving me a sulky look every time I refer to him as a man of the rivers and lakes,” He concealed a small smile as he and Liren strolled down the wide thoroughfare, past the bustling shops and rattling military transport wagons and old men sitting on benches commenting on how sloppy the younger generation was.

“Did he tell you why?”

“No, but I figured it out. He sees himself as a proper scholar-official in training, studying the classics with a supreme figure like Hanshen, while practicing martial arts as a way to protect himself in court. I think he imagines himself an investigative magistrate some time in the future.”

“Hard to argue with that. Hanshen rose as high as he did because he is a top level swordsman, by mortal standards, as well as a superb scholar and bureaucrat. If even one part of that was lacking, he’d have been killed before we ever met him."

“Yes, but you are both missing my point.” Tian waved his hands at the bustling crowd. “He thinks he lives here, in a city with laws and order and, alright, he sees more crime and injustice than most. He knows it’s a mask over something nastier, but it’s supposed to have rules. He thinks that he can be part of the rules, making the world orderly and safe.”

“Ah. You are right.” Liren’s face turned a bit melancholy. “It’s all about to come crashing down. Safety and order are about to become a memory, then a dream. Well. We were already going to clear out the cultivators after him. We’ll just have to leave the mortals to him. Maybe he can kill his way to a better world. It hasn’t worked for anyone we know, but as his teachers, we should have that much faith in him. Right?”