NOVEL NEXT Chapter 61: Dreams of War
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"The Heavens bled. The Heavens screamed. When the day of its silence came, we simply watched.
"It was not fate that held us. It was not prophecy that kept us from duty.
"We Immortals now kneel before Mount Tai, not because of reverence, but because of fear.
"Atop those graveyard peaks, the Perverse Emperor sleeps.
"May He dream eternal peace.
"May He never remember our King of Jade."
— Creed of the Hundred Immortals, the once-Celestial Guards of the Jade King
Feng was dreaming, he thought.
The place he was in was unfamiliar. A meadow filled with ebbing snow and purple flowers. It was the turning of winter to spring; the beginning of a new year.
The perfect time to wage war.
… War? Why would he want war? Feng tried to shake his head, but his body would not move.
He was… This was…
Familiar?
"Boss!"
Zhong — Zhong? — blinked and turned his head to the newcomer who called to him.
Feng had no control. He was an observer in his own body.
Except… This wasn't his body. This person was…
"Boss Zhong! You're finally here!"
The person approaching him was female. Her form and face were blurry. Nonetheless, when he looked at her, Feng's first thought was…
Xingyu? Sister, is that you?
"Daiyu. I'm glad to see you well!" Zhong's lips moved without Feng's control. He felt them smile. "And I feel the fruits of your labour! You have cultivated well over the winter, my disciple!"
"I am your chosen executioner, Boss! Of course, I would cultivate well!"
Hei Xingyu— No, no. She was not Xingyu. She looked nothing like his older sister. Why did Feng keep thinking that? All Feng could see was a blur, and swords, and edges and…
… What was he thinking about?
Daiyu puffed her chest out with pride. Zhong chuckled.
"Where's your twin brother? I had hoped to see you both arriving together."
Daiyu snorted. "That drunken oaf? Why would you want him when you have me, Boss!"
The sword girl leaned forward expectantly, eyes excited. Zhong patted her head lightly, ignoring the slashing lacerations that immediately formed across his hand.
Daiyu giggled as she leaned into his touch. His hand was sliced in a dozen places. When Zhong moved away, the girl reached for the flecks of his blood lingering on her hair and licked them off her fingers.
"I would be a poor master if I neglected any of my disciples, Daiyu," Zhong gently replied. "And drunken oaf or not, we need Lixuan's craft for the next step."
"How cruel, Boss. Is my value to you as an alchemist the only thing of worth?"
A new voice. Zhong and Daiyu turned to see a man walking over from the meadow's edge with a lazy gait. He carried an enormous gourd on his back. The sweet scent of alcohol wafted off him, and where he stepped, the flowers bloomed ever brighter.
His form and face were blurred as well. Yet, seeing him, the first thought that came to Feng's mind was…
Father?
Zhong grinned. "The prodigal brewer returns! How was your stay with my master, Lixuan?"
Patriarch Hei Shang — no, Lixuan — gave Zhong a long-suffering look.
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"The Grandmaster was wise in ways I cannot fathom. As expected of the one who trained the Boss."
Zhong laughed. "No need to hide it. I know the pains of studying under the old hag well."
"Did she try to trick you into sleeping with a wooden doll as well, Boss?" Lixuan sardonically said. Off to the side, Daiyu giggled.
Zhong waved his hand. "The hag's methods are strange, I'll admit. But you cannot deny their effectiveness."
Lixuan grumbled but did not protest. The brewer flexed his qi. He had ascended as well.
All the preparations were complete.
"Now, I shall get to the point," Zhong began. "We are here to kill a god. We have killed gods before, my dear disciples, but this one is slightly higher on the totem of things not to be trifled with."
"A Major-Named God Beast," Lixuan grimaced. "Eighth Realm. The previous gods we fell were all Minor-Named; Seventh Realm Deities. We nearly died killing them, too."
"If you are scared, you could just stay here while Boss and I go up and kill it," Daiyu huffed. "I've been away from Boss for too long! I need my alone time with him!"
"It's only been a season, sister."
"Exactly! Far too long!"
"We will need to work together to win this, my dear disciples," Zhong interrupted before the siblings could start bickering. "Your training over the season has made you stronger. We must see that strength used for exalted purposes."
The twins' expression turned sombre; reminded once more of their duty.
"The people here suffer," Zhong said. "Their god is cruel, as are all gods. For generations, they endured harshness beyond reason. But no longer."
The Devouring Dragon grinned, and his disciples grinned with him.
"May Humanity bear witness: A Star of their Heavens shall die this day."
~~~
He was somewhere else again.
Feng looked through Zhong's eyes. This place… It was almost immediately familiar.
Was this… The Northern Provinces? It was almost similar to the vague shape of the 103rd Outer Province, but something was missing…
Where were the four great peaks?
"You are distracted, Brother."
Zhong turned, facing the monkey that spoke.
Perhaps to call it a mere 'monkey' was incorrect. The creature was taller than any man, with heavy muscles rippling beneath its golden fur. Decked head to toe in crude, almost misshapen armour, it was an intimidating sight nonetheless.
Its rasping voice was calm, but there was an indescribable madness lurking just behind its ruby-red eyes.
Zhong did not care for it. If anything, madness was welcomed in his company.
"I am simply preparing myself, Monkey King. The foes before us are many, and we are few."
"Four Gods, as well as the three Immortals and five thousand cultivators of the Second Celestial Army," the Primate idly noted. "A force like this has not been marshalled by the Celestial Court for centuries, at least."
"Among those Gods is the Headless Sun and the Ancient Sanguivore. Two world-ending adversaries, both of which will come at you with a hate spanning millennia."
"As was your intent, Dragon, to lure them away." The Primate's eyes glimmered. "That still leaves the other two Gods, and the three Immortal Generals of the Celestial Army."
"I have made my preparations. Worry not, Brother."
Zhong reached into his shadow and pulled out two gourds.
The Primate's nose wrinkled. "More gifts from that drunk alchemist of yours?"
Zhong chuckled. "What, you don't like the armour my disciple made for you? Ugly it may be, I dare say you will die from your wounds before those forged plates would break."
"I do not criticise the artisan for his craft. Rather, it is his eye of beauty I find wanting."
"Lixuan would say outward beauty is shallow. It is only from within where quality can be decided."
Zhong passed a gourd over. The Primate sniffed the opening and hummed appreciatively.
"Quality indeed. His skill as a brewer leaves no complaints, at least," the monkey commented. "This is a potent tonic. It might even surpass the golden wines of Mount Tai."
"It is one of Lixuan's best. You face two gods on your own, Monkey King. The wounds from your last battle have not yet healed either. I would prefer you at your best, or as close as we can make it."
"Worried for me, Brother? I should be insulted."
"If concern and gifts are insults, then I must insult you once more."
Zhong reached behind his ear and plucked out a golden needle. Lighter than a thought. Shorter than a fingernail.
And yet still heavy enough for one to feel its weight.
He flicked it over to the Primate, who caught it with a surprised expression.
"... Are you sure, Zhong?" the monkey asked, a rare sense of unease in its voice. "That Heart of yours would not be happy."
"She is not here right now," Zhong stated bluntly. "Her opinion is thus irrelevant. Besides, I can't use it after I transform. You are the only other person I know who might wield its weight to any effectiveness. There is no one else."
No one, save for one other. But she was not with him anymore.
The Monkey eyed the needle. Balanced it on a finger. A heartbeat passed. The needle was flicked, and it transformed.
A pillar of black iron, tipped with gold. Forged within the depths of the world's flood during times immemorial. It carried an ocean's weight.
Bounded by the indomitable will of two souls, echoing of the astral milk beyond Heaven.
Etched on its length were five silver letters.
Tiānhé Dìngbǎo Tiě (天河定宝铁). Milky Way's Stabilising Precious Iron.
'I shall enjoy using this, I think," the Monkey King rasped. "No throne, no prayer, will save the Gods I end this day. Their King will weep at the toll…"
The madness behind its eyes broiled like a summer's storm.
"Do not die, Brother," Zhong said. "I have need of your strength in the days to come."
"And you as well, Dragon. I have yet to test my strength against the All-Devouring Morning Star."
They lift their gourds together. They drank them to the last drop, then smashed the hollow ceramics against the ground.
The two titans shot forth, bringing ruin and war to Heaven's door.