Demonic Tribulations - Chapter 81 preview (Patreon)

Chapter 81 – Xin Gang

As environmental chi from the mansion drew in towards them, his guards fell backwards. They were trained professionals, each and every one of them. The cream of the heavenly crop, and though they had been caught by surprise, a trap like this was insufficient to stop them.

Xin Gang raised and struck with the metal butt of his polearm the flagstone. In doing so, he projected his aura and weapon intent through the surroundings, causing a bubble of will and immortal chi to expand from the point of impact. It swept over Lu Ong, disrupting the man’s concentration even further as he struggled to contain the suddenly twisted chi streaming into him and encompassed his men, moments before the converging chi exploded.

Ignited by the competing energies of the world, the chi exploded outwards. Shards of ice, swathes of flame, razor blades of wind and spikes of hardened metal swirled through the air amongst numerous, other more esoteric chi types.

It struck the edge of Xin Gang’s bubble, tearing at his control and wearing at his chi. The immortal chi in the first world was thin compared to the other heavens, but it was still immortal chi. It had a weight to it that forced Xin Gang’s aura to tremble and weaken. Rampant energy, blunted but still chaotic filtered through the sphere of his control.

“Help him!” Lu Ong snarled, his other hand clasping the one holding the knife, forcing it to stillness as the rest of his body vibrated and jerked. Energy welled up from under the ground, flowed through the air and entered his body.

The other guards, hearing the order, moved to the five positions of the pentagram. Rasing their own weapons, they shoved the tips into the edge of Xin Gang’s aura, energy flooding outwards. Breathing synchornised with their leader’s and their own without thought, such that the overlapping daos and energies moved together in harmony.

The flow of virulent chi slowed, calming a little. It still came though, never-ending in nature. Blood sweat had begun to form on Lu Ong’s body, his eyes bleeding from the corners as he carved and carved, glyphs and characters digging into the soft bone.

Yellow-white bone that had begun to glow, even as two thirds of its massive surface area had been carved. Minor prodding of the aura made the bone turn in the air, offering different portions of its body to the carving knife.

“How much longer?” Xin Gang snarled.

“Soon!”

Ignoring the non-answer, Xin Gang turned his attention to the chi impacting his aura. There was a reason why the energies kept rushing inwards. There should have been a natural ending to this, but it just kept coming, as though being drawn here.

He focused, allowing his men to take control of the defense while he delved into the surroundings. Focused his attention on the area inside the bubble. In moments, he located it. Lines of energy in the stone, carved into the undersides of the flagstones. A massive formation that spread across the entire courtyard. It had centered itself on Lu Ong the moment he had started the foretelling, creating the vortex of energy.

“Should have been more careful…” Xin Gang growled. The formation was weakened due to its wide trigger area, forcing the crafter to trade strength for expansion. It was a mistake they would not get to make twice.

“Brace!”

At his order, his team poured further energy into the shield. It brightened, becoming pristine white and stopping all flow of energy. In that break, he extracted his own aura and struck the ground, hard with the metal tip of his polearm.

The ringing noise of the strike was accompanied by a loud crack of shattering stone. That breakage propagated, jumping from flagstone to flagstone as the energy of his strike rippled out. With the flagstone’s destruction, so went the formation that had been drawing forth the atmospheric energy. Almost immediately, howling winds and the smell of new rain faded, leaving his men and Xin Gang to slump in exhaustion.

Then, recalling his duty, Xin Gang straightened and pushed the pain aside. He barked another order, as he scanned the surroundings for danger.

“Sweep the compound again. More carefully this time!” Then, turning to their scout, he pointed to the nearest roof. “Tell me if any close on us.”

It would be the smart thing to do, to attack them while they were tired and so soon after contesting the formation. That was the problem with formations, really. It let the weak assault the strong, made them think that they were more powerful than they truly were.

An insult to the proper order of things.

Xin Gang shook his head, touching his dantian. His exertions had drained a significant chunk of his energies, energies that had already been low because of the expenditure to just exist on these lower levels. He would have to spend time tonight, drawing energy from the spirit stones sent to them as resources to reacquire his power.

So would his men, really. They might not be leaking immortal energy into the surroundings, but once expanded, cultivating normally could not bring them back to the peak of power as before.

A muffled groan and a sharp crack aroused Xin Gang’s attention, the smell of burnt and broken bone reaching him. He turned, eyes wide in surprise; spotting the problem fractions of a second before the spirit bone, glowing and burning, ruptured.

Xin Gang was able to wrap and protect himself in his own aura, hardening the inner layer before the explosive shards reached him. The bones – hardened through cultivation and preparation and then given impetus by the explosion tore through the air faster than even a bolt from a crossbow. They pierced Zhao’s defense, brought him to his knees as it tore into the back of his thigh.He stumbled, his corner of the shield faltering, joined moments later by another as they were distracted.

Chi from outside, no longer drawn artificially to them but moving with the tide of initial momentum washed over the group, clashing with their own defensive auras. He watched as Guard Zhao, unlucky fool that he was, was entombed in earth that froze over. Not far away, Guard Bu was wreathed in licking flames, though his aura had been hardened such that he lay, untouched within.

Then the clashing energies reached him. He felt the turbulence it caused, realised something stranger was affecting him. He lurched, temporally, thrown backwards for a few moments to relive the actions of all that had happened. Xin Gang reached out, reinforcing Guard Zhao’s own aura with his, just before the boy was entombed.

Then, he caught up with the present. Jerked ahead, even as his body was wracked with pain. A few seconds of past relived, a decade of time torn from his body. His stores of immortal chi were torn from his dantian, as price for his displacement by the energies, leaving him bleeding from nose and eyes.

“Captain!”

“Guardian Chu!”

Eyes drifted to the side, to see Lu Ong on the ground, clutching one hand. The fingers of the hand that had held the knife were burnt, his body littered with bone shards. Xin Gang opened his mouth to reply to his men, to give orders to aid Lu Ong.

Then, his dantian pulsed, meridians desperate for their sustenance failing to find energy. They tore it from his body instead. Heart pounding, darkness closed in on either ends of the patrol route, taking him to the shadow land of dreams.