Blood and Qi: A Vampire Xianxia LitRPG

The planet Gani was a smaller world. Beta-types would consider most of it to be a tropical paradise. It had five major continents though that wasn’t known at the time, and only four were inhabited by the sapient race of the world.

An Eternal planned on traveling to Gani and cultivating karma by helping the young race find their footing, poking and prodding them down the usual paths while remaining hidden.

Once the demons invaded Gani, the Eternal canceled her plans. She wanted to cultivate only good karma.

The Sector Council eventually learned of the demon invasion on Gani, but since the world was Tech 0, they weren’t allowed to interfere. Technically, any Tech 1 or higher force could invade a Tech 0 world, but no force was willing to pay the exorbitant invasion cost requirement when they stood to gain so little in return.

The sapient race of Gani evolved from an animal branching off from something similar to Terra’s Primatomorpha mirorder of mammals. That animal eventually evolved into something most humans would agree looked like a canine-monkey.

And that canine-monkey evolved into a bipedal humanoid that looked somewhat like the elves Tolkien described, if elven females had dark noses, two udders like those of a cow, and showed their pregnancies in the upper chest instead of the belly.

Before the demons invaded, the inhabitants of Gani had little knowledge or understanding of self-cultivation. They had no real energy gathering techniques. People and beasts that suddenly became more powerful were thought to be blessed by the gods.

On one continent, the first primitive city of Gani was growing. The city was ruled by a very powerful and wise ruler – Gani’s first and only Bronze.

Then Gani was invaded by Circle Joyat, demons from a ninth-ring world.

Most inhabitants of Gani had no clue demons invaded and controlled their planet. The demons had little motivation to explore and kill low tier magals for the poor crystals they’d drop, so they only killed the ones near them. The few powerful beasts of the world were hunted down. Some small bases were created near resources.

Demons couldn’t have slaves. Magals of the Forsaken faction could. Some magals of Gani were rounded up and forced to become Forsaken. The strongest were made leaders, and the leaders enslaved many of their race and forced their slaves to harvest resources that were then given to the demons as tribute.

Still unbeknownst to the majority of the inhabitants of Gani, their whole race and world had joined the Forsaken faction.

As happened on such worlds, as the demons built up a main hub and satellite bases, the natives and scabs intermingled, doing the dirty work of the demons. And through the scabs, the inhabitants of Gani learned more of the ins and outs of self-cultivation. Some grew strong, and per long established custom and treaty, the demons were forced to open cultivation schools and sects.

And so grew the society and customs of Gani, a people that came to call themselves Kahaki, though the NCS would, of course, label them ganians.

Little by little, over time, the inhabitants of Gani eventually all learned about their demon allies. The words Forsaken and Favored meant little to them, and they cared little of whatever was beyond the next horizon, never mind what game the gods played at. They were told they were Forsaken, so they were Forsaken, whatever that meant. The Kahaki knew the demons had power and knowledge, and they wanted those things too.

Early on, only two continents had a demon presence. Only the continent where the demon’s main hub was located had anything close to real cities for the Kahaki. Over time, that changed too.

And so went life on Gani for thousands of years.

On the continent Okina, far away from the main demon hub and the Kahaki cities, schools, and sects, there was a prosperous man named Akua. He bred animals that were desired far and wide.

Akua’s grandfather was one of the first Kahaki to breed animals in a selective manner, applying the tenets of animal husbandry. Akua’s father did the same. Akua was very good at it, and his beasts were like no others.

As was true for everyone else, Akua was told and believed the demons were fellow Forsaken and peaceful allies. He had never seen a demon. Not until a few visited his village, Waeyiani.

Nearly everyone near or around Waeyiani went into the village proper to see their powerful demon allies they had only heard about. Like most Kahaki that didn’t live near or interact with demons, the residents of Waeyiani actually believed the demons were allies and equals.

Akua was a Silver. For whatever reason, Darkness, Adversity, and Nightmare blessed him with a gift for self-cultivation, though he put little effort into it and preferred focusing on improving his stock of animals.

There were six visiting demons consisting of a Gold, two Silvers and three Bronze. When a Bronze failed to address Akua by his higher rank, as was the courtesy due him for holding a higher tier, he mentioned it to the Bronze. Not rudely. He was very polite about it, just as a friendly reminder of common courtesy.

For that transgression, the demons forced Akua to watch as they tortured his wife and all his children to death, the demons laughing as they did so.

Akua left Waeyiani and joined a sect. He learned and took all from the sect he could while making a name for himself. The demons took notice, and he was offered to train at Circle Joyat. He went. Again, he learned and took all he could from the demons.

Akua had no pride. His pride died as he impotently watched laughing demons torture and kill his wife and children. He behaved perfectly while at Circle Joyat – no demon could get a rise out of him. Nothing they did bothered him, so they stopped bothering him. Demons wished their scabs would act and behave as well as Akua did.

The demons gave Akua greater and greater responsibilities. He was sent to put down rebellions, collect tribute, and execute uppity Kahaki. He did all he was ordered to without reservation. He balked at nothing, even orders to purge whole villages or kill Kahaki children. In performing these tasks, he also learned and took all that he could.

One continent, which came to be known as Palm, located deep in the southern hemisphere and far away from the others, never had a high tier beast and had never once been visited by demon chosen. It became a refuge for the Kahaki that fled the demons, escaped slaves, and even a few scabs as well.

Circle Joyat had made portals to invade two other Tech 0 worlds in the sector. The inhabitants of those worlds also thought Akua was evil and worse than the demons. He learned and took what he could from fighting on those worlds too.

And Akua did take and learn. He learned of Palm, and that many Kahaki and even some scabs lived there in peace. He learned Palm had many resources, including many untapped minerals to mine.

Akua held rank with Circle Joyat. He was completely trusted, as true a Forsaken as any in the ptagmog. His fellow Kahaki hated and feared him. Death followed in Akua’s wake. Kahaki knew he was a puppet of Circle Joyat, and they loathed him more than any demon.

Akua informed the Inner-Circle Master of Palm. He explained his ideas and asked for and was granted permission to rule over the continent.

The inhabitants of Palm were filled with fear at seeing the heavily Nether-touched Diamond Akua disembark from his ship.

Akua quickly took control of and ruled over all of Palm. He did so brutally. So brutally he was eventually ordered to relax his methods. His need for slaves was insatiable. They died too quickly. His methods were too costly.

At the rank of Empty, also called Salt, Akua was made warden of all Gani. He still ruled Palm, and spent much time there when he wasn’t warring, but as Warden Akua he had a greater ability to learn and take more. As warden, his duties included keeping the peace and ensuring proper tribute was given to Circle Joyat by all the Kahaki cities and communities of Gani. He often enslaved whole villages that failed to give proper tribute.

The old Inner-Circle Master ascended to the third Tree and became a Magnus. As was custom, Sublime Joyat returned to the NetherRealm and rewarded his prior Inner-Circle Master with the resources to start his own circle.

The new Inner-Circle Master Akua reported to was greedy and cared only about increased tribute. Akua was told if he didn’t curb his appetites and rein in his brutality, he’d be replaced. So, he reined them in, and Gani became more peaceful. Kiamoni, the Netherworld Circle Joyat came from, increased in rank to eighth ring.

As an old man of nearly three hundred years of age, Akua finally managed to ascend to the Transcendent Tree, the first Kahaki to ever do so. Rumor said only his hate had kept him alive for so long. Other rumors said he drank the blood of newborns to infuse his body with artificial life and stay young.

Exalted Akua was the warden of a planet Circle Joyat mainly used as a hub to access their other two worlds in the sector. Year after year, the tribute increased and increased, and the Inner-Circle Master had no complaints at all for nearly a century.

Soon after Akua ascended to the third tier of the Transcendent tree, his old friend, a demon, an escaped scab named Wena, ascended to the Transcendent Tree too. As an Exalted, Wena knew he’d be welcomed back into the fold of Circle Joyat, given a real name, and made chosen.

So Wena betrayed his friend and informed the Inner-Circle Master what Akua had been working towards for so many centuries.

Throughout the continent of Palm were secret underground cities where Kahaki were bred in very strange ways. Akua went off world for long periods. Akua received visits from off-world Transcendents. He paid them to teach his strange Kahaki and then murdered them once they had taught all they could.

Soon, Akua would be ready. He would attack Circle Joyat.

Akua’s game ended. The scab Wena, his close friend, had stabbed him in the back before he was finished preparing. His plans weren’t ready. But it had to be enough.

For centuries, Akua had applied what he knew of animal husbandry to his people, making them more, something different. What he did to them was monstrous, but necessary. It was wrong, but it increased the grade of the new Kahaki dramatically and made them far more capable.

One line of males was bred for intelligence and another for combat. The females – well, he had sinned greatly there. He needed them to be able to carry more than one child at a time. He needed them to carry the children of multiple different fathers at once. It was the only way his experiments would work in time.

Akua had had access to the best and brightest Kahaki of Gani. By saying he sent them to his mines as slaves gave him free access to all the stock needed to experiment with.

Once the intelligent breed could take over the eugenics program from Akua, they worked miracles with selective breeding. They improved all the lines greatly – their own line, called Ele, meaning wise, the warrior line, called Li, meaning warrior, and the female line, still called Alu, the same as regular Kahaki females.

The Ele were too successful. They became so intelligent to the point they lost their ability to understand non-Ele, and they had to be made less intelligent to maintain their humanity and ability to empathize.

The Li were made as smart as possible without compromising their courage and combat prowess, and their combat prowess was impressive.

The Alu could be impregnated by eight different males at once. The gestation period for each child went down from about 11 months to eight. It was as glorious as it was terrible.

Through the Forsaken that Akua had befriended while in the NetherRealm, he learned much about the NCS and Tech levels. He had learned more from ascending off-world. He knew the tricks and what to avoid and how to abuse the system. His Ele made powerful tech without risking Gani at all.

No one had helped Gani when they needed it, and Akua would solve the problem without outsiders getting involved. He would not allow help from even the other Tech 0 worlds connecting to his own through portals.

Over half the population of the improved Kahaki were the Alu. That many were needed for experimentation. That changed when Wena betrayed Akua. More Li were needed, and fast. A lot more.

Once it was known Akua was a traitor and fighting against Circle Joyat, most Kahaki flocked to his banner. He sent all the warriors of Gani to certain death to weaken the demon circle, along with the old and outdated lines of Li. Even all the outdated Ele and Alu were forced to fight in those initial battles.

Akua’s forces were crushed. Only the powerful survived. Akua had just three other Exalteds in his forces. The Inner-Circle Master was also a third tier Transcendent, but demons became more powerful compared to others as they ascended.

Akua and his Transcendents hardly survived their battle against both the Inner and Outer-Circle Masters. But keeping those high-tier demons of Circle Joyat on Gani was key to victory. Time flew too quickly in the Nether.

Then Akua’s new forces took to the field equipped with their best tech. They took devastating losses but managed to hold the portal, preventing the demons from escaping to the Nether while slaughtering all the demons that came through from Kiamoni. The new forces, the enhanced Kahaki, were barely enough.

For almost two hundred years Akua and his improved Kahaki warred against Circle Joyat on two fronts. The improved Kahaki got stranger and stranger, taking up many customs Akua disapproved of. They stopped caring about his approval. They had a higher purpose, and only their prowess was able to keep the war going.

As many of the normal Kahaki as possible had taken refuge in the underground cities of Palm. The rest of the world was a warzone and unsafe. The new Kahaki looked down on the old as lesser and defective and disgusting. Akua had to order his forces not to kill Kahaki as they did demons.

The enhanced Kahaki formed clans named after their old cities. With Li births skyrocketing, they formed houses to organize and war with, led by a single Alu who acted as a wife and mother to all the Li and Ele of her house.

To keep and maintain leadership and control of her house, the Alu only allowed the members of her house performing notable accomplishments to breed with her, something all Li and Ele yearned for, to pass on their superior genetics.

Akua became too old and could no longer fight. He had lived far longer than anyone his tier should, seen as proof of his divinity. He died before he was able to avenge his wife and children. His forces battled on.

Circle Joyat’s world ranked back down to ninth ring, then tenth.

Finally, after endless and constant bloody and terrible war, over two hundred years after Akua’s passing, there was victory. The improved Kahaki killed the masters of both the inner and outer circle, then entered the portal to Kiamoni and laid waste to Circle Joyat itself.

Though all demon circles were technically led by a Magnus or Sublime of the Celestial or Divine Tree, only a lower tier Magnus would ever be directly involved in the affairs of his circle. All higher-tier demons, especially Sublimes, cared little about the pathetic and lowly demons belonging to his circles other than his Inner-Circle Masters.

A demon saw his circles only as a resource. He would take from the circle what was useful and give them what he didn’t need or that couldn’t help him advance. Sublime Joyat had thirteen circles supporting him and didn’t care one bit when he found out he lost one.

Aikapu roughly translates as ‘god-king walks with peers.’ They say it was written by Akua shortly before his death. Though dates are disputed, the first part of the Aikapu was devoted to Akua’s life and quest for vengeance, and that part was told mostly accurately and truthfully. Up to a certain point.

It was written that when Akua was old and had returned to live in his village of Waeyiani, he first visited the grave of his wife and told her how happy he was for all he had accomplished in her name. He told her that even though he wouldn’t live to see her and her children avenged, he knew his true children, his peers, would avenge her. He could die happy and in peace.

Those Akua had raised high up above all others would defeat Circle Joyat and end the dark times. The improved Kahaki were peerless due to being so superior. He knew his children would bring peace, harmony, and prosperity to Gani.

The Aikapu then went on to say Akua tasked the Peerless with bringing peace and harmony to all beings everywhere. The false-God in Heaven wouldn’t lift His hand to help those He created fight those seeking His destruction. Since the false-God wouldn’t help, the Peerless would. They had to. Only they knew the way, only they knew how to raise others up to their own glorious heights.

The Peerless would make everything right and peaceful and as it should be. All would be Peerless or dead.

Right before his death, Akua entered the pond outside of Waeyiani with his many wives that were also his daughters and told them they must lead those without peers as only mothers could, as only mothers were truly loving and benevolent. They were his Alii, his wives and the mothers of his true children, and they would be Alii to all the Peerless.

Then Akua gave of himself one last time. His dead body infused the pond with many magical properties.

The Peerless won their freedom from Circle Joyat around the time the first World War was getting started on Earth. After they destroyed the circle, they entered the portals connecting to the two other Tech 0 worlds. Those planets, still celebrating their liberation from Circle Joyat, were quickly conquered. The Peerless Empire was founded.

The intelligent caste churned out invention after invention. After planning and preparing in every way possible, when the people of Earth were buying the first iPhones, the Peerless Empire completed the last item required to advance to Tech 1. They immediately launched ships to conquer and bring all peoples onto the path of the Peerless.