Elder Cultivator

Chapter 998

Once again Chidi had to wonder how much death it took for Dubet’s Heart to appear so frequently in a particular region. He wasn’t sure exactly how long it took for the flower to develop, but the process was happening even now after centuries. This very year, Apreact had more than one bloom. Of course, looking at it from the perspective of the wider world the Bloodsoaked Nebula wasn’t that plentiful.

It didn’t have its own population, but if it did a few per planet- which wasn’t the norm but a particularly high mark- was exceedingly low compared to the number of people who desired such things. Nearly perfect recovery from any injury was tempting even to those of the Scarlet Alliance who had extreme quality prosthetics. Most cultivators could not regrow much of their body if they lost it, even with the best medicines humans could create.

The relative frequency of Dubet’s Heart’s appearance might have increased competition, as people were always looking for it. People would sell the locations of future blooms to anyone who they could, so the information spread far and wide.

Aconite sniffed. Chidi winced in sympathy, but the wolf managed to get something even through the high winds and unpleasant gasses. “We’re close. But we’re not alone. I believe there are members of the… Dead Trees.”

“Okay, you definitely know the actual name of that sect,” Chidi commented.

“The Forest of Death would imply they knew what they were doing, instead of merely sending their people to die on Everheart’s worlds and in this place.” Aconite nudged him with her nose. “They will likely know of your energy signature, given your master’s previous incidents with them.”

“Well, they only survived one of those,” Chidi pointed out. “But I wouldn’t bet against them having done their research.”

“I believe that the flower will be ripening shortly. I will try to hold them off and you should prepare to gather it. If necessary, I will count on your presence to draw them into a trap.”

Chidi stretched his senses, feeling for gatherings of similar power. None of the enemy cultivators felt too strong. “Be cautious,” he said. “Fighting alone is still dangerous.”

“I am well aware, and willing to retreat if necessary. But I don’t think we can let them get closer.”

Chidi nodded, knowing she would sense the movement. Neither of them could really see much here, which was a nice change.

The source of burgeoning energy that was a growth of Dubet’s Heart called to Chidi. Or to anyone around, perhaps. Was there something such a plant gained from being devoured? Perhaps its seeds spread best around powerful cultivators who might be able to create more fields of death.

He could only recognize its description from the flower’s smell. Both Chikere and later Aconite had described it as smelling like lightning and blood. He couldn’t verify its supposed color, but that didn’t really matter.

From its form, he could tell it was only just opening. It might take a few minutes or a few hours. Enough to draw other cultivators from all over, if they could sense this one. Nothing particularly hid it, so Chidi thought it likely.

Indeed, a trio came from the opposite side of where Aconite fought with the Forest of Death. They wielded large axes, though their weight was less than that of Hoyt’s blade. Perhaps not the actual mass, but their attacks couldn’t touch him.

That was good, because Chidi was having difficulty activating Negation. He could easily control the flow of energy of his opponents and the planet, but Dubet’s Heart was unfamiliar and wild. It took him a few moments longer before he finally managed it, slicing through one of the axemen as his energy ceased functioning for an instant. Armor, muscle, and bone were insufficient to stop the trajectory of Chidi’s weapon.

He felt the weight of the world around him in that instant, and was prepared to continue battling the others… but for all their size, the axemen’s tempered bodies didn’t seem to amount to much more than fluff. At least, their defenses without energy were insufficient for them to keep their form, this deep in the planet. Chidi actually used a trick, negating the pressure specifically near him. He’d thought at least one of the remaining two would survive, but in their surprise their bodies broke, and they had no time to rally their energy before they were crushed completely.

A reminder to Chidi that he needed to be careful. He was not completely unharmed from his moment, either. He could only manage that a few more times before having to retreat from any opponent he needed Negation for.

Then he felt it. A blade approaching with its bearer. Thoughts flashed through Chidi’s mind. Chikere’s insistence that he not die for Dubet’s Heart. It was a training mission, nothing critical. That was relevant because Chidi knew he could die.

But Chidi also knew that the swordsman instilled in him could not choose to avoid the battle. It would be worse than death. That wasn’t something he could properly explain to most people. They either got it, or they didn’t.

“If it isn’t Chikere’s young apprentice,” said an old man, balancing his sword on his shoulder. Chidi could feel him through the whipping winds and swirling atmosphere. He didn’t need his typical senses to pick up the body position of a sword cultivator and his sword.

“Rahayu,” Chidi inclined his head. “It is a pleasure.” “Indeed.”

Neither of them confirmed that the other wouldn’t step aside. They just knew. In fact, now that they had spotted each other the prize was ultimately forgotten.

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Saiful Rahayu. Chidi knew he could at best only last a few exchanges with a sword cultivator of such magnitude. Then again, that was a style many sword cultivators favored including Chidi himself. If he won, it would be done in a small number of exchanges as well.

It would be a great test of whether or not Negation was truly a worthy analog of Augmentation. No, that wasn’t good enough. The purpose was to defeat Domination cultivators just as easily as anyone else. Skill was paramount.

Chidi was glad he didn’t have eyes. From what he understood, they were extremely deceptive with fast moving objects, sometimes even for the best trained cultivators. His body just reacted, his sword parrying the blade trying to slice him in half vertically. His energy barely held on, but he’d exchanged blows with Chikere before. The difference in absolute power would lead to his defeat… if he couldn’t capture the flow.

For all that Rahayu was Chikere’s master, fighting him felt quite different. He, like Chidi, focused on a single sword. Of course, Chidi was well aware that Chikere had learned from more than just Rahayu just like he hadn’t learned solely from her. Even so, most of his sword style was hers.

Blades twirled around the two of them, though none of their extremities ended up in the cutting paths. Both understood exactly how the enemy could extend their blades. Chidi felt the pressure of his enemy’s cultivation bearing down on him.

He idly wondered if he was going to die. He didn’t want that to happen, but he also wouldn’t be upset. Aconite probably would be, though. She would be the one who had to live with it, after all.

That was still secondary to what Chidi wanted, though. And Chidi wanted to win. He could last two more exchanges at most, before Rahayu found a way past his defenses. Both of them knew that.

Chidi shifted, provoking an attack. His blade came up. His senses faded, as the world entered a state of Negation. Rahayu’s sword was still coming to kill him, and it still could. It wouldn’t take fancy enchantments for his blade to cut through Chidi’s flesh and bone. Rahayu didn’t even flinch at the sudden lack of energy, as he had already picked out an optimal path to attack Chidi.

At most, Chidi could deflect his blade, and then energy would return. Rahayu would cut him down.

One version of Chikere would have killed him for what he did. Even Chidi’s guts churned, but ultimately he was displaying the peak of his sword skills as he cut upward, his blade clashing head on with Rahayu’s… and slicing through it. Their sword insights were nearly matched, no doubt different in various aspects but ultimately similar enough. But one blade was impossibly sharp, while the other was the very best human limits could achieve. And impossible was worthless without energy.

Too bad. It was a good blade. Chidi sliced clean through it and took off Rahayu’s head. Or at least, that was the intent. The old man leaned back almost as if he had anticipated that result, his chin barely scratched. Energy returned. Surprisingly, the man hadn’t been crushed. Chidi realized he’d released his own pulse of energy at the same time, guessing Chidi’s intent and negating the pressure around him. He also shortened the time of Negation, Chidi was fairly certain.

Rahayu held his former sword. “Interesting. And unfortunate. This was a good blade.”

He was going to reach into his bag and pull out another blade. Inferior, yes. But Chidi wouldn’t be able to force him into Negation again, not before his own energy ran out. Perils of his path, it seemed.

Rahayu dropped the hilt of his weapon, letting it fall deep into the gas giant. “It seems I have to consider different options for what makes the best sword. Yours is nice, but it doesn’t match me.” Then he turned. “You’ll have to excuse me, I need to be going. You can have the flower.” He paused, mid ‘step’ before he took off. “Send me contact info for your smith, if you would.”

Chidi wasn’t sure if he had won or not. However, it was an acceptable result. While Rahayu was well esteemed, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have killed Chidi. He might have even done so precisely to spark some sort of blood feud with Chikere. Conversely, Chidi was quite willing to kill him, and had merely failed to do so.

But now, he was certain that they would fight again, if nobody took either of them out first. Without speaking a word of it, that was what they both wanted. Next time, Chidi was going to have to do better than cut his sword.

-----

The flower bloomed properly shortly after that, the pair taking it and hiding its energy before rapidly leaving behind the planet. Chidi had found the months training on Apreact to be quite valuable… and he was very much done with that mess.

“I caught some of your battle,” Aconite noted. “It was excellent.”

“Thank you,” Chidi said. “But I need to do better.”

“Me too,” Aconite said. “I can’t even get a draw with an Augmentation cultivator like this. Maybe I need to find a better toxic planet?”

Chidi just shrugged. It wasn’t his advancement. Though if he thought of anything, he’d certainly tell her.

The trip back to just took time, which was fine. Chidi’s body was recovering from constantly being crushed. Aconite had improved more quickly in terms of body, which was unsurprising since her mithridatism was already body tempering of its own. After all, the body couldn’t naturally build up resistance to everything she had wanted, and not nearly as much as she ended up with.

Immediately after they arrived, Chidi handed over the special storage bag with Dubet’s Heart to Chikere. It would stay fresh for a while, but it needed some help so the special bag was useful to keep it active before it could be properly used.

“Thank you,” Chikere said. “I hope you didn’t risk yourself for this.”

“Only completely unrelatedly,” Chidi shook his head.

“Oh?” Chikere raised an eyebrow, her eyes scanning him. “You don’t look particularly injured.”

“I fought Rahayu.”

“Did you win?”

“I didn’t lose,” Chidi shrugged. “I cut his sword.”

“Nice.” Chikere might have once hated that idea, especially for a good sword, but she’d moved on from a view of swords as objects. “And you’re still alive, so victory. I assume he is as well?”

“I only cut his chin slightly,” Chidi acknowledged. He reached out and touched her shoulder. “It will be interesting to fight you with two arms.”

“I’ve got two,” Chikere flexed the artificial arm. “This isn’t for me. Otherwise I would have just gotten it myself, you know?”

“Oh. Right,” he nodded. “That makes sense.”

“That’s why it wasn’t important enough to die for. Well, if it was I should have been the one risking it anyway. Not like most people could challenge me.” Chikere clicked her tongue. “Maybe I should have gone though. Rahayu… would have been a fun challenge in a new place.”

“Well, good luck with that,” Chidi said, leaving it with her. “Thank you for the training advice.”

“No problem! Congrats on not getting murdered by the planet and/or Rahayu!” Chikere grinned.

Chidi wondered who it was supposed to be for. Odd, he thought he would have heard if anyone was looking for such a thing. It wasn’t like Chikere knew a ton of people he wasn’t acquainted with.

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