Immortality Starts With Generosity

The cheers of the Garrison forces rang loud, and the barrier shuddered as the main force built up ramps and began hammering at it with waves of fire qi. The elites that had engaged with the rebel forces began to fall back and fight defensively now that time had switched sides. The rebels attempted to push back with a counterattack, but it was clear their spirits were wavering, and they were beginning to retreat up the pyramid.

Chen Haoran jumped back to Bao Si’s side in the face of Captain Liu’s sudden arrival. The Garrison officer flared his qi threateningly, and it served as fuel to stoke his blue flames higher and send a superheated blast of blistering air outward in every direction. Chen Haoran stood in front of Bao Si and triggered the True Reflection Mysterious Mirror Armor’s barrier to reflect the heat.

“Are you alright, Captain Pan?” Captain Liu asked, his voice clear and normal despite him being entirely made of fire.

“I’ll live,” Pan Gong said. They were the absolute last words Chen Haoran wanted to hear right now. “Buy me some time, will you? I took a careless hit.”

Captain Liu slammed his fists together, creating a flurry of sparks. “Leave it to me.”

Right. He had until Pan Gong recovered to stop this situation from going bad to worse. He was pretty sure he could survive whatever these two could throw at him as long as he qi reserves held out but soon enough it wouldn’t be just two of them.

“If you have another Spirit Stone I can use the Depredation of Three Killers again,” Bao Si said.

Chen Haoran shook his head. “They won’t give you another opportunity to use it. We can’t afford to stall for time anymore.”

“What’s your plan then?”

“Go get Xie Jin before the barrier falls and then find a rebel,” Chen Haoran said. “Qiong Qi wouldn’t have chased Lu Aotian into the altar if he didn’t think there was a real chance he could get the final reward, which means it won’t be long before the Trial ends and we get teleported out.”

Bao Si’s Gu brought its mandibles close to her ear and chittered softly as if a whisper. She paid it no mind, though. “And what will you be doing?”

Captain Liu rocketed toward them.

“Holding them off. I’ll meet up with you.” Chen Haoran flooded qi to his legs and launched himself into the living fireball. When the flames collided with silver metal, they were repulsed at triple speed. Captain Liu’s real body emerged from the flames, and he planted his feet on the ground to skid to a stop, leaving long black marks along the stones.

“How dare you!” Captain Liu roared and melted into flames again but instead of Chen Haoran he threw himself into two streams of liquid miasma that targeted Pan Gong. The miasma flash-boiled when it hit Captain Liu’s fiery form and turned into equally ineffective poisonous steam. Bao Si was unfazed by the interruption and, with a flick of her finger, had her Gu throwing up clouds of miasma to cover Captain Liu with.

“What are you doing?” Chen Haoran demanded.

“I’m not leaving you behind,” Bao Si retorted.

That… was not the well-reasoned counter-idea to his plan that he’d been expecting. In fact, that answer wasn’t at all what he’d been expecting. Certainly not from her, of all people. “What kind of bullshit is that?”

“I’ll fight with you or die,” Bao Si said, all too solemn. They locked eyes as Captain Liu vaporized the miasma.

Chen Haoran looked away. “Fine.”

Blue fire flooded from Captain Liu in an all-encompassing wave. The Yellow Dragon roared, and liquid qi flooded from Chen Haoran, only to evaporate into gas when it touched the flames. His qi was suppressed in every way by the stronger cultivator despite the elemental advantage. He gave up on matching qi for qi, instead opening his arms wide and letting the flames wash over him and turn back on itself, creating a safe space for Bao Si behind him. The Yellow Dragon growled a warning and launched itself out his body as a hand emerged from the fires and grabbed at Bao Si. The Yellow Dragon evaporated as soon as it blocked the hand but it provided Bao Si’s Gu the time to spit out a bloody mass of miasma that soared above the hand and out of sight.

“Captain Pan!”

The hand and the flames collapsed, and Chen Haoran could see Captain Liu standing protectively in front of Pan Gong, clutching the bloody mass in his fist and burning it to ashes.

“How many times can you do that?” Chen Haoran asked.

“That was made using the blood I harvested earlier. It was about as effective as I could make it,” Bao Si said.

“Damn.”

Chen Haoran quickly ran through the calculus in his head. If he was being generous, then each side had a person who could counter the other. He blocked Captain Liu, Bao Si harrassed Pan Gong, Captain Liu targeted Bao Si, and Pan Gong frustrated him. In reality Captain Liu could much more easily protect Pan Gong from Bao Si than Chen Haoran could protect her from him. Captain Liu hadn’t even used any real technique yet. Just flooding the place with fire was enough for them to be overwhelmed. Without his sword, the math didn’t favor them making it out of this unscathed if they let this drag out.

Chen Haoran felt a twinge of pain in…. well, his entire body, really, but particularly his chest, and amended his previous thought. He already wasn’t getting out of this unscathed, but it would be nice to avoid getting hurt more. He hoped Bao Si would hurry up with whatever she was planning.

“Are you alright, Captain Pan?” Captain Liu asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Pan Gong replied. He held his shoulder and rolled his arm around, making a satisfied noise upon seeing he had a full range of motion. “It’s my first time facing a Black Bone Shaman. You truly do live up to the rumors.” He cast a critical eye on Bao Si’s Centipede Gu. “I wonder if that’s the power that convinced the Sunset Emperor to spare your people?”

Bao Si scoffed. “Careful now. It sounds like you’re implying your precious Emperor is anything less than infallible. Is one treason not enough for you?”

“What a vicious curse,” Pan Gong mused. “Is it not enough for you that I won’t be able to sleep easy knowing a Shaman took blood from me?”

“There’s no need to be concerned, Captain Pan.” Fire flared from Captain Liu. “She can’t cast any curses if I burn them to a crisp.”

“Or you can just leave?” Chen Haoran suggested. One of Bao Si’s Gu threaded itself around his legs.

Pan Gong shook his head in exasperation and stepped forward. Smashing one fist into the other palm. “At the very least, I won’t be forgetting this fight anytime soon. Captain Liu, after you.”

“With pleasure.”

Chen Haoran silently cursed and raised his fists. He was never going anywhere without a spare sword ever again.

“Brother Chen!”

“Took him long enough,” Bao Si muttered.

They all paused. Pan Gong and Captain Liu turned sharp, serious eyes to the sky. Chen Haoran craned his neck to see Xie Jin with Phelps on his back floating in the sky with a sword in hand.

His sword.

“Brother Chen!” Xie Jin called. Phelps whooped an accompanying squeal. Xie Jin raised his sword. “Missing something?”

A laugh escaped Chen Haoran, the most elated he’d ever been since entering this damned Secret Realm. He held out his palm toward the sky. “You beautiful bastards. I knew Bao Si was full of shit!”

Purple miasma spilled from Xie Jin’s sleeve and wrapped around the sword before he reared his arm back and pitched it to Chen Haoran.

“Who said you could interfere?” Captain Liu shouted. Blue fire jettisoned from his palms, and he rocketed into the air above their heads to intercept Xie Jin and Phelps. Phelps loosed a loud screech and abruptly cut his floating and dived to the ground. Captain Liu chased while a single burning palm was raised to blast his sword away. Chen Haoran and Bao Si did not move. The Centipede Gu around his leg placed its ugly head in his palm.

Pan Gong shifted. Serious eyes widened. He sprinted into a blur towards them. “Captain Liu! Stop!”

Fire flooded from Captain Liu’s hands, and when the flames cleared, the sword had gone….

Straight into Chen Haoran’s waiting hand.

The Centipede Gu recoiled from his palm as Chen Haoran and the Yellow Dragon greeted the arrogant metal. It’s duty to deliver the blade into his hands completed. Metal white light flashed as Chen Haoran whipped the sword back and sent a sharp scythe behind him. Forcing Pan Gong to halt his charge and scramble backward, raising his arms to cover his upper body. White light bit deep into his arms and drew blood. Pan Gong wasn’t his true target, however.

Chen Haoran tapped into the force reserves of his armor, gathering the stored energy along with his qi and shunting it directly into the sword till both flesh and metal groaned audibly. The Yellow Dragon roared, propelling the flood further into the blade with majestic command and inciting a reaction from the inborn pride that even a memory of the White Tyrant held. Chen Haoran’s muscles strained as if he was suddenly holding a blade several times heavier and, with a wordless shout, he swung his sword at Captain Liu.

Being able to maneuver in the air afforded Captain Liu the luxury of many different options to escape. Chen Haoran knew this, so he made sure to cut them all off. White light filled the sky and cast a new day over the gloomy, toxic green dusk of the pyramid. If Captain Liu wanted to find a way to dodge, then Chen Haoran wished him the best of luck because the day would not end till he successfully cut something. On this, he and the White Tyrant probably would have shared a like mind.

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The light faded.

The first to fall were Phelps and Xie Jin. Not a hair was harmed on their heads, but both man and sloth were silent with white terror. Even if they were not the target, they were far too close for comfort.

The second to fall was fire.

To say it fell like a meteor would afford it dignity it didn’t have. Captain Liu’s fiery form fell like wet slime and likewise splattered across the stones of the pyramid in two pieces. A hand of fire suddenly extended from one of the burning piles and attempted to find purchase on the stones, and Captain Liu dragged himself out of his own flames.

“You bastard—” He attempted to rise fully, but before his legs could form, they suddenly collapsed, pitching him face-first into the ground and scattering back into loose flames. Another hand soon reached out, and Captain Liu lurched out, gasping for air like a starving fire. He searched for the other mass of flames and slid over to it, combining into one.

“What?” At least, he tried to. Once more, his body lost cohesion, and he scattered into flames. “No, no!” Captain Liu flailed within his flames as if he were a man drowning in water, useless splashing at edges he couldn’t pull himself over. “Impossible!”

With a scream of pain, Captain Liu stoked his blue flames into a bright inferno. Captain Liu rose with his flames, screaming and pushing all the way as if trapped within them before the wall that separated fire and flesh broke, and he tumbled out of his liquid flames as a man once more. The instant he did, all the blue bled away from the fire, and the flames withered to orange embers. It wasn’t the only thing that withered either. The Captain Liu Chen Haoran had met was a strong man in form and presence. Now, he looked weaker and smaller than ever, as if he’d been stripped of several pounds of mass and qi.

Bao Si and Xie Jin’s instincts were quick and their decision quicker. Three streams of liquid miasma shot at Captain Liu immediately. Chen Haoran’s sense warned him just in time to whirl around and swing another arc of white light at Pan Gong. In a movement too fast to track, Pan Gong crossed through the sword shadow, beat out the miasma, and carried Captain Liu to safety. They settled at the edge of the pyramid, Captain Liu as pale as the light that cut him and Pan Gong with a long gash freely bleeding across his chest.

“Pan Gong,” Captain Liu gasped. “I’m— I’m sorry. My- my Technique. I couldn’t reform. If I didn’t burn everything.”

“Do not lose heart, Captain Liu,” Pan Gong quietly said. “You survived a clash with a higher power.”

Chen Haoran twirled his sword in his grip and settled the blade on his shoulder. “Looks like my helpers were more reliable than yours, eh Pan Gong?”

Pan Gong touched the still unhealed cut over his chest and looked at his bloody fingers. “I knew I was right to neutralize that sword first. Even so, I underestimated how lethal that power is. I can’t imagine how much stronger you’ll be if we were to ever meet as foes again.”

Chen Haoran inwardly frowned but didn’t let it show on his face. “Now you decide to run?”

“You can’t run before I get back my pound of blood,” Xie Jin said, his voice filled with blood thirst. “I at least need a finger.”

“Yes, the situation isn’t in my favor anymore. So I’m retreating.” Pan Gong honestly answered. “I just needed to make sure the Garrison could escape. This battle isn’t worth me wasting energy and risking injury to continue.” He grabbed Captain Liu. “Of course. You could follow me. But I don’t think you want to get far from your Lotus Flower friend, do you?”

Chen Haoran grimaced. Pan Gong had hit the nail right on the head. Chasing him and Captain Liu would only hurt them in the end if they couldn’t retreat with the rebels. It helped that he also wasn’t looking forward to fighting Pan Gong again, even if he had his sword now.

As Chen Haoran was wavering the barrier surrounding the pyramid shuddered before breaking into countless pieces. An exuberant roar came rose from below as the Garrison soldiers finally broke the barrier.

The decision was made for him in the end. Fighting Pan Gong was going to be unpleasant, but fighting Pan Gong after he regrouped with the Garrison would be even worse. Chen Haoran raised his sword and flooded qi to his legs, and Pan Gong bent his legs. Bao Si and Xie Jin readied their Gu, and Phelps bared his teeth in preparation.

Before anyone could move, however, a new light emerged from the altar-building and cast itself across the pyramid. This time a soft, ethereal gold instead of harsh metal white. It was an energy that hadn’t existed before until this moment. He knew because there was no way any of them would have missed its presence. It was light and airy, and yet, to his sense Chen Haoran felt like he was staring into an impenetrable fog. One that he couldn’t see the depths of yet still demanded his attention. And not only his.

All three Gu twisted around and immediately ignored Pan Gong. Even Phelps couldn’t help turning his head and stare salivatingly at the altar. Even the Yellow Dragon cast a covetous eye at the altar, and Chen Haoran could feel greed run thick through his qi and he felt compelled to turn as well. Turning his back to Pan Gong in this situation would have been a mistake if Pan Gong weren’t also transfixed by the light.

Xie Jin’s expression shifted to panic. “No! Stop!” He flung out his arm right as his Beetle Gu flung itself at the altar. It halted stock still in midair, but in the greatest display of emotion Chen Haoran had ever seen from a Gu, it beat its wings erratically, and an alien buzzing emerged with every flap. A vein bulged in Xie Jin’s head as he whispered something inaudible during his invisible tug-of-war with his Gu. It was a war he eventually won, with the Gu finally calming and returning to rest on his arm.

Bao Si was not so successful.

“Stop. Heel.” She bit out between grit teeth. Her face red from exertion. The Centipede Gu writhed and inched forward under unseen restraints. Two Gu evidently being more trouble than one alone. Eventually, one Gu was pulled back, but the other slipped its chains and raced forward. “Stop!”

Chen Haoran’s armored hand wrapped itself around the Gu’s head. “She said stop.” The Yellow Dragon lent a low growl to his words so that they were hammered in. The writhing Gu stilled under the warning from the superior king, and when he let go, it retreated to Bao Si’s side. Thankfully the Yellow Dragon and Phelps could keep their composure better than the Gu could.

“I’m sorry,” Bao Si said, breathless. “I can control them normally but… but….”

“This isn’t normal,” Xie Jin finished for her. “What kind of essence is this? Some kind of plant. Mine is saying 200? 300?”

“300,” Bao Si confirmed. “Both of mine are in agreement.”

Xie Jin looked at the altar with a mixture of awe and wariness. “What kind of plant could do this with just 300 years of essence?”

The golden light eventually evaporated and Qiong Qi came barreling out the entrance of the altar. Whatever had happened inside, he’d suffered the worst of it. A mass of grasping roots was all that was left of the red lotus on his left shoulder, and the arm connected to that shoulder had been ripped off at the elbow. In his other hand was a shining fruit in the shape of a fat little monk sitting in a meditative position. Chen Haoran only had the scarcest glimpse of it before Qiong Qi stashed it into his storage bag, but it did nothing to cover up the presence it left behind. He warily surveyed his surroundings and retreated a few paces further. Both from the altar-building and from the ravenous Gu.

“Qiong Qi, what happened in there?” Chen Haoran asked.

“Trouble,” Qiong Qi curtly said. His eyes flicked from him to the Gu, to Pan Gong, and back to the altar in succession.

“When’s our exit coming?” Chen Haoran demanded.

Vines extended from Qiong Qi’s armor from his stump of an arm and wrapped themselves into a new prosthetic vine hand. “Not quick enough.”

The altar was now glowing with a new light. This time, in all five colors of the five elements. Like a blot against a canvas, however, a vicious, bestial red qi was growing.

Lu Aotian emerged from the altar like a predator from his cave. One leg was charred entirely black, but from the way he walked—no, prowled, Chen Haoran would believe he wasn’t hurt at all. There was a look of wonder on his face as if he was seeing the world for the first time. Yet when their eyes met Chen Haoran felt he wasn’t so much looking at him as he was past him. There was a sense of threat to it he hadn’t felt before from Lu Aotian’s usual predatory gaze. One that made him tighten his grip on his sword.

Pan Gong’s whisper broke the silence. “A Bodhi Pear.” Unmistakable envy filled his face, and endless regret colored his tone.

Xie Jin reacted with visceral shock, and even Bao Si’s cool composure morphed into disbelief.

Chen Haoran didn’t know what that was, but the name sounded oddly familiar to him nonetheless. Where had he heard it before?

“What’s a Bodhi Pear?” Chen Haoran asked. Struggling to remember where he’d heard the name.

“A treasure among treasures,” Bao Si answered, her voice hoarse. “The Enlightenment Fruit. One sniff will clear frustrations. One bite will clear doubts. One whole will reveal all answers. Here? Of all places?”

“A hundred years means nothing to its growth,” Xie Jin said. His eyes slid over to Qiong Qi. “Even a thousand years. If this place was able to grow them. If there’s a tree here. The Military Governor, no, the whole Empire would rip this place out of the ground.”

“Unfortunately, there is no tree,” Lu Aotian said. His voice rang clear and devoid of his usual disdain, and behind it, Chen Haoran couldn’t shake the image of a lion speaking human words. “Only an ambitious kingdom’s hodgepodge method to improve the quality of the fruits. I’ll give them their credit; however, their work really was sublime even if they would never enjoy the culmination of their labor.”

With every word, the impression Chen Haoran got was different. Lion, bear, eagle, panther. A new predator speaking in Lu Aotian’s voice. Or were they all just Lu Aotian himself?

Lu Aotian spread his arms wide and laughed, full of honest joy and mirth. “The sayings were true then. There really is a light at the end of the tunnel for those who wait.” His clear eyes fell on Pan Gong. “This is why I never bothered with your Palace School. Could they ever give you this? Would they? Go and play student your whole life, Pan Gong. I’ll be going on ahead of you.”

“I may not be able to see what you see right now, but I can recognize you’ve yet to Harmonize truly,” Pan Gong calmy replied.

Harmonize this was something Chen Haoran knew. Was that what was going on now? He’d felt Lu Aotian’s Harmonization with his Technique before. Was he trying to do the same now for his cultivation method? Was he becoming one of the monsters Song Yuelin had described before?

“Five minutes,” Qiong Qi suddenly spoke. “Survive for five minutes, and then we can all leave here.”

Lu Aotian turned to him. “Do you think you can?”

“Are you really going to risk wasting your epiphany, you crazy bastard?” Qiong Qi snarled.

Lu Aotian smiled. “Waste? No. This is enlightenment by combat.” A red aurora rose from his body. The Yellow Dragon roared defiantly at the new threat it felt. “Besides, you were crazy enough not to eat yours when you had the chance. I’ll thank your generosity in advance when I pick it from your corpse.”

Bodhi Pear. Generosity. Yellow Dragon.

Oh.

The air—no, the qi around Lu Aotian took on a red tint. Not because he flooded his own qi but because the surrounding qi suddenly became his own. The red air rose, and his Liquid Qi rose smoothly in tandem with it, growing larger even as it left his body, first tripling, then quadrupling in size until it shrouded the entire peak and cast a red shadow down the pyramid.

What emerged from the qi was the nightmare masterpiece of a mad taxidermist. Four massive legs made of countless legs, capped with claws formed of countless claws. They held up a patchwork body of fur, feathers, and scales and a rope of thousands of tails twisted into a facsimile of one. The head was the worst, however. From far away, it might look like a lion’s head at a casual glance, but standing beneath it revealed in detail every single one of the individual heads that formed it. An entire ecosystem of predators decapitated and mashed till every jaw, beak, maw, and snout formed a mocking mask of the King of Beasts.

Xie Jin and Bao Si paled under the oppressive weight of the qi and the King of Beasts tortured majesty. Qiong Qi’s face became grim. Pan Gong stood back with his arms crossed, though his eyes constantly tracked Qiong Qi. Chen Haoran sent a pulse of qi to his helmet and allowed the face plate to open up.

Bao Si bit her lip and stepped forward. “Stay behind me. I have a defensive tool from my master. I can at least hold him off—”

Chen Haoran placed his hand on her shoulder and stopped her. “If you could use that casually, you would have done it already. Whatever price isn’t worth it.”

“There’s no other way….” her voice trailed off as she stared with wide eyes at the fat little fruit that appeared in Chen Haoran’s hand. It looked more like a green statue of a monk than a pear. The details of the monk’s face and clothes were too fine in detail to ever be grown naturally, but it was impossible to mistake it for what it was. Golden light, stronger than before, gently pulsed from the fruit in waves, and the oppressive weight of Lu Aotian’s qi was washed away.

500-year-old Bodhi Pear

Chen Haoran stared at the Machu River’s gift with a complicated gaze. “I guess we’ll see how this goes.”

He took a bite.