Depthless Hunger

The qi resisted as it was forced down into liquid form and Omilaena imagined spiritual screams. It wanted to be an ephemeral energy flowing through all life, not something as tangible as chakra, but she forced it into a concrete state. Qi was intrinsically linked to pills, medicinal and otherwise, so she was confident that it could take a different sort of physical form.

At last she held up a syringe filled with blue liquid, the work of over a day of pseudo-cultivation. It throbbed with power in her fingers, familiar and yet alien at once.

This was the culmination of all her training in the Pureflower sect, even though she couldn't use it. She hadn't yet decided on a name: she considered calling it "liquid ice," which amused her because that should just be water. This, however, was pure ice qi that happened to take liquid form, and in theory could be her next step forward.

If she injected it now, her body would surge with temporary power, but that would be all. She could already create reasonably strong injections, so that would be a waste of resources. All her work in the sect had only earned her a few ice pills of this quality, after all, so she needed to find a permanent method of application.

Omilaena sighed and placed the syringe safely in her spatial satchel, then examined her soul for inspiration.

Name: Omilaena

Total Power: 1129

Heart of Poison: Level 76 (304)

*Prana Jewels: Level +4 (16)

Path of Venomsteel: Step 8 (120)

Physique: D-9 (245)

Soul Level: 8 (64)

Azure Core (+100)

>

She'd been neglecting her Lethal Artisan skills lately, but the strength gained from all the new poisons she'd found on Cloudspire had been worth it. Heart of Poison and Path of Venomsteel had grown nicely in sync, making her again glad they had gone off to spend time in Irun. Eventually she'd find a way to break through to the next Physique rank, and once she did that, advancements in Soul Level and Azure Core couldn't be far behind.

If she could just manage to incorporate qi into her overall strength, she would have everything she needed. But the more research she did on the "icy maiden" techniques, the more she became convinced that she would need either a new model or a radically deeper understanding of power. Cultivators were too fond of binding up all their power in a single element, and she'd already done that herself.

Random people at her door were always a guarantee of a ruined mood... doubly so when they began casting out chains of qi to bind her in place. Omilaena grimaced as the qi lashed around her, trying to fix her soul in a static state.

Her first instinct was to attack: the Pureflower cultivators foolishly bunched together, making them vulnerable to a single cloud of poison, and she could use needles on the others out of range. Yet as Omilaena started to tear away from the qi chains, she hesitated. For the first time in her life, she had actually invested in an organization and she shouldn't destroy everything they'd built, for Zin Nim's sake if not her own.

The problem was, if this group worked up to a full binding formation, they could actually inhibit her and she'd be in danger. Years ago Omilaena had taken a chance like that with Kai and Zin Nim, and she wasn't willing to take that chance with the Pureflower sect.

"Do not resist!" one of them shouted, and the others stumbled over one another as they spoke.

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"Why did you poison Mei Bai?"

"If she dies, we'll take years killing you!"

"You have to be punished!"

"Come with us!"

It seemed the Pureflower sect was not well-prepared for arresting their own members and this was some sort of impromptu squad. As Omilaena blinked in surprise, the binding formation closed around her - she had been accused of poisoning a lot of people in her life, but this was the first time she hadn't done it. Was it possible that she had poisoned their leader accidentally? She rejected that possibility almost immediately, because if she was subconsciously emitting poison, the Sky Soul wouldn't have been the first one to succumb. There would have been "fair maidens" dropping left and right.

"This is my first time hearing she was sick," Omilaena said as the cultivators dragged her across the sect. If she relaxed in the chains, it was actually almost comfortable. "In fact, I thought she was gone on some sort of trip. What happened?"

"Don't lie!" One of the cultivators tried to slap her, but Omilaena leaned her head out of the way. Some of the others looked a little unsettled by her questions.

"Why are you accusing me?" Omilaena continued. "There are poisons everywhere, including in our own sect, so why am I the likely culprit?"

It seemed like they didn't actually have much evidence, but that didn't stop them from rushing Omilaena to the large central chamber of the main building. It was all white marble, because of course it was, but on the interior there was a silver depression with an imprisoning technique built into the metal, into which she was shoved. One side of the room was filled by a line of Pureflower elders; their reclining postures suggested serenity, but their eyes shot venom that could have done the job on its own.

"You have been accused of poisoning Goddess Kir Mei Bai," one of the elderly women said. "How do you plead?"

"Not guilty." Omilaena rubbed her neck and flexed her ankles, just in case someone decided to take justice into her own hands. "What reason do you have to suspect me? Kir Mei Bai handles poisons regularly and interacts with everyone in the sect."

Some of the elders glanced at one another before one of them spoke. "Mei Bai represented our sect at a meeting in the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes, and she was at the peak of health and beauty during that time. But now she has fallen deathly ill, stricken by such a severe poison that we needed to use one of our greatest treasures to preserve her life."

"A cultivator as powerful as Mei Bai could not be laid low by one of our own poisons," another elder said. "Full immunity may not be possible, but she had built resistance to many. This can only be a foreign poison, and you are the only one with poisons dangerous enough to harm her."

This was familiar territory for Omilaena, since being a poisoner made her an easy target for accusations, after all. Yet the novelty of actually being innocent made her usual methods a little trickier. "You're making a mistake and accusing an innocent woman," Omilaena said. "I'm one of the few people who might be able to assist you in saving her."

That set off an immediate murmuring among the elders. Abruptly a young woman appeared in a side door, thrusting an accusing finger. "I told you! She failed to fell the Goddess the first time, and now she wants to finish her off!"

"I take it you're my accuser?" Omilaena glanced at the cultivator and gradually recognized she wasn't just another jade-like maiden: that was Shen Yu Yei, who had some sort of one-sided rivalry with Zin Nim. It was easy to remember her because she would always fume when she lost. On that note, Omilaena wondered why Zin Nim was absent and was irked the other woman wouldn't help defend her.

"I know it was you!" Shen Yu Yei waved her finger at Omilaena again. "You refused to join today's cultivation session, and that evening she took sick and nearly died!"

"I didn't cultivate with the rest of you because I was working on training of my own. Again, I wasn't aware that she had returned, so do you even have evidence we met in time to poison her?"

"You could have! You had all the time in the world to use your foul poisons!"

It seemed that this line of argument wasn't convincing the elders and the audience as much as it had at the beginning, however. When Omilaena had been carried into the judgment chamber, the cultivators around her had been glaring hatred. Now some of them were looking at Shen Yu Yei skeptically, or staring toward the elders for guidance.

"It seems to me that she doesn't have much of a case." Omilaena folded her arms and addressed the elders directly. "You don't have means, timing, or motive. I'm telling you, this false accusation is wasting time while your matria-"

"Silence." One of the elders waved a hand and qi pressed down across the silver depression, smothering sound around Omilaena. "You may not be guilty, but we will certainly not presume your innocence. While you are under suspicion, you will receive no information about the poisoning."

The silencing technique certainly made her job harder. Omilaena knew it wouldn't do any good to rage and so remained there, staring at the surrounding cultivators. She didn't think even people on Cloudspire would execute someone randomly, but if their beloved "Goddess" died, they might be looking out for retribution. Hopefully all her lessons about looking serene and graceful would convince them.

Then a pair of figures entered one of the side doors and a flurry of gasps and commentary rippled through the chamber. Omilaena barely looked at the older cultivator, all her attention focusing on Zin Nim: she looked deathly pale, with bloodshot eyes. Not as if anyone here had attacked her... as if she'd been poisoned.

Omilaena stepped up to the edge of the binding technique, ready to tear through it. All that stopped her was Zin Nim shaking her head slightly.

"I have evidence to present!" the old woman announced.