Chapter 194

  Calls From Beyond (IV)

  "Senior Brother Tao, you're back!" Dai Xiu leapt from in front of me and greeted my bread maker, soon followed by others.

  "What happened? We felt some strange energy appear for a moment, and then poof, it was gone," Xi Zhao asked.

  "Did you kill someone? Was it fun?" Hey, Wan Lan. What kind of question is that?

  "Yeah, was it fun?" Oi, Light, don't copy the worst of their bits!

  "... your Disciples truly are a unique bunch," Zhu said with a half-chuckle and a half-sigh full of pity.

  "Yeah. Unique. Let's go with that."

  I stood up and dusted myself off.

  It was still fairly late at night, and the blizzard was blowing crazily, so we were probably stuck here for a while. Though I thought about not doing it, I just had to. It was boiling in my blood.

  "Tao'er," I said with a faint smile.

  "... Master?" He winced briefly at the affectionate nickname, pulling back.

  "Congratulations on breaking through into the Spirit Manifestation Realm."

  "..."

  "..."

  "WHAT?!!!!" Yeah, that was Wan Lan.

  Her eyes bulged as quickly as her voice shook the entire cave, damn near causing some rubble and debris to fall on top of us. Other kids--as well as Zhu and Lilia--were imminently startled, though just for a moment before they, too, broke into awe and wonder.

  "Is it true?! You broke through?! Wow!! You might be the youngest in history to do it!" Xi Zhao exclaimed.

  For these parts, it might actually even be true. Though, I imagine, on the scale of all the worlds that existed...

  "Well, of course! He's our Master's First Disciple!" Dai Xiu spoke so proudly you'd think she was the one to have broken through. "He must set a proper example, or we'll make fun of him!"

  "Alright, alright, everyone settle down," I said. "Uhm. Where's the boy?"

  "The boy? Oh," Long Tao exclaimed. "When I left, he was passed out. Alive, but passed out."

  "... Lilia."

  "We're on it." The two sped off into the depths of the cave as I eyed the old monster, who merely shrugged his shoulders and sat down, yawning.

  However...

  He was feeling somewhat restless, I could tell, and more importantly, he had a new Trait that wasn't there before.

  Anger (Rare).

  Whatever happened with the demon, it angered him more than anything else did all this while. At the very least, he was quite good at not letting it show.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "Are you alright?" I still asked, if for nothing else but the courtesy of it.

  The kids, as though inspired to go check out the cave's depths yet again, scurried off and left the two of us alone. We chuckled at their awkwardness for a moment before he replied.

  "What do you think of vengeance, Master?"

  "Vengeance?"

  "Hm. Is it something worth living for?"

  "... temporarily." I said.

  "Temporarily?"

  "If that's the only thing keeping you alive," I said. "I think it's worth clinging on to. But... it's sort of like setting a field on fire. Eventually, it burns out. Hopefully, though, by then... you'd have found something else worth living for. Why do you ask? Are you planning on taking revenge because I let the kids know you broke through?"

  He grinned, shaking his head silently for a moment as he looked outside the cave and at the blizzard.

  "I... I always believed revenge to be hollow," he said. "Protect all that could even inspire you to vengeance. But..." he sighed. "We were a bit lucky."

  "We were?"

  "Hm. My father just so happened to have taught me a few minor tricks on how to deal with Demonic Possessions," he said. "And, luckily, the demon who descended wasn't particularly dangerous or aggressive." I'm actually a bit confused; is it the same thing? Demonic Cultivators and the Demons? Or are Demonic Cultivators humans who studied Demons and copied them?

  And, as always, as though hearing my thoughts...

  "Though they're called Demons," he said. "There's nothing really demonic about them. They're decidedly not human, merely humanoid. One of the most Ancient Races, they claim--even more ancient than Dragonkin. Won't be our concern for a while," oh. Good to know that they will be our concern one day.

  "... I'll need your help now," I said, deciding to change the subject as I could see his mood dropping rather rapidly.

  "Oh?"

  "While pilfering through some of the things my mother left me--"

  "--oh, so you had a mother too?"

  "Of course. How can I not have a mother?"

  "I don't know. You only ever spoke about your father so much that I started to believe the man created you from the roots of the Earth."

  "... funny."

  "What do you need help with?"

  "Spirit Stones," I said, tossing over the 'toy'--it really was just that, a small wooden toy with a few strange markings across its surface. "To fuel this."

  "What is it..." he paused, stunned to silence as he examined it. I could see a million thoughts race through his eyes as he suddenly exhaled. "Your mother is mightily more impressive than your father."

  "They were a match made in heaven."

  "Though flying artifacts aren't particularly rare on the whole, according to my mother," he said.

  "Right."

  "This is a defensive flying artifact. Whilst inside and whilst empowered by Spirit Stones, it can take even a… Demigod's beating for a while." He paused there, likely not wanting to tell me the actual realm since he thought I wouldn't know it.

  "..."

  "Of course, it'd cost a few million high-grade Spirit Stones per attack, but it can do it."

  Oh. Never mind.

  "As far as Spirit Stones go, I found this in the cave." He tossed over a strange, almost fossilized piece of wood that seemed... kind of familiar?

  "What is it?" I frowned, examining it.

  "The parasitic vine we encountered on the way over."

  "Ah, right! Yes! Wait, how is it here, too?"

  "Those Sages, it seems, have been very busy. It's been dead a long while, so chances are that the Blood Fiend actually found it first quite some time ago."

  "Yeah. So, you're saying that if we just keep heading to our destination, there's ungodly wealth awaiting us?"

  "... I doubt it," he chuckled. "But my father did mention a few odd places and such that just so happen to be near our path. As far as that goes," he added, his tone turning rather grave. "If my instincts are correct," and they probably are. "We might just need this little thing to keep us safe."

  Oh.

  Great.

  So, though he's not outright saying it, he is implying that there's at least one Demigod among their ranks.

  Great.

  Just freakin' great.

  "You, too, Master--why do I sense that you're on the verge of a breakthrough?" he asked.

  "I am," I said. "I've been desperately purifying my body all this while, and I've finally succeeded. Now... now I'm ready to take the next step."

  He eyed me with a strange smile (one that said, 'Yeah, sure') for a moment before tossing over the toy. Just then, a series of footsteps echoed out as everyone who left emerged--in addition to one more person, the young man that we saw suspended midair in the central chamber. Though he looked somewhat pale, haggard, and worse for wear, there didn't seem to be anything terribly wrong with him, which means Long Tao didn't fight with the Demon, at least not directly.

  So, he does know other means besides just killing and beating things.

  Now... all we have to do is wait for the weather to get marginally better, get up there, take a few hours to break through, and then finally get back on the road.

  ... and yeah. I will have to sacrifice at least 10,000 stones just to feel what it's like to fly in this thing. Is it a waste? Yes. Is it an absurdly stupid thing to do? Oh my God, yes. Do I care?

  Hell no.