Nine Paths of Asura-Original Wuxia

Chapter 110-Wake

The office is literally making us all catch colds nonstop lol. Cold #3 here I come. Bit of a scattered chapter here. I'll try to fix it up some other time but work calls.

On a cold mountainside a large gathering of 33 black and purple robed men and women gathered. It seemed as if they were attending the funeral or wake of some great personage. From the way they all covered their faces with deep hoods it might be more accurate to call them cultists. At the very least the probability of them being associated with the demonic path was high. Next to them was....the collapsed Hellhole!

"The restriction...has been removed!" One of them examined the collapsed Hellhole and exclaimed. "The time has come!"

Instantly gasps rang out from the gathered cultists and they began to frantically discuss this revelation. After a few minutes of passionate debate the most senior amongst them took charge.

"No more bickering. After so many eons the lord must not be kept waiting another moment! Go to that place!" The man, who bordered between middle and old age in appearance ordered the congregation. Instantly they filed down the mountain. However, instead of appearing like a wake, their somber atmosphere was filled with excitement and...fear. A great tenseness settled upon the cultists as they went into the unknown.

Twip Twip Twip

Drops of water began to fall as the skies darkened. By the time they reached the bottom of the mountain it was pouring. Nightfall had came...

"We're here." The leader of the congregation stopped and the 32 other cultists stood behind him as he raised a strange black key of some unknown material from within his robes. The key was neither metal nor holy stone. Perhaps an argument could be made for crystal but even still that was not quite right. He looked at one of the cultists behind him also clothed in purple-black robes. The weird thing about this cultist was...he was a giant at almost 4 meters tall!

"Jin...pass me the sword." He said and the giant named Jin reached inside his robes and retrieved a 2 meter long sword from within his robes, resting in its sheathe. The sword was sheathed in a crimson material which resembled crystallized dried blood. If the sun had not been obscured by the heavy black rain, then the sheathe might have glowed like a blood ruby. Oddly enough the giant Jin had been keeping the sword within his robes rather in spacial storage or on his back. A terrible place if the user was planning on using the sword to fight as one would not be able to quickly reach it.

"It's been too long. But he is already breaking the Pillars. I hope we are not too late!" The head cultist said as he inserted the key into the handle of the long sword. 

Ting

There was a clear noise and then the scabbard gently twitched as if it was alive. Without any urge from the leader who simply tilted it slightly, the scabbard slid off and buried itself in the mud. The leader made no urge to retrieve it as it sank, instead holding the blade with reverence. 

"The scabbard has been deposited, the door should be unlocked! Come on, back to the entrance!" He yelled and the congregation scrambled to climb back up the mountain. If one were to look closely they would realize the place the cultists had just left the blood ruby scabbard in was the location which had previously housed The Bladelord's Estate. However, now it was simply an empty clearing in the jungle as Dahn had retrieved his Estate before leaving for parts unknown. If one were especially observant they might think that the spot the scabbard had sunk into was remarkably close to the center of the old Nine Blades Void Sealing Formation which Lineir had so carelessly destroyed.

Rumble...scitter scatter

A slight tremor swept what remained of the mountain as the cultists ascended in the pouring rain. The dark skies created an ominous and foreboding vista which only grew more imposing when they neared the site of the collaped Hellhole. Right as they arrived the rumbling stopped and they beheld an entirely unfamiliar sight.

"It worked! Our lord's place has returned!" The cultists called out as they saw the Hellhole had somehow completely changed. Instead of a massive hole of rubble, now, as if by magic, there was a strange smooth doorway of black crystal. It led deep down into the ground where the collapsed Hellhole used to be. This miraculous change was the result of a spacial transfer technique. Hidden in a pocket dimension, now that the Hellhole had been removed and the key inserted, this place had reappeared after so many years!

"Open it." The leader said and passed the strange 2 meter long blade to the giant cultist to his left. Wordlessly, but with great excitement, the giant man took the sword and walked to the front of the congregation. The doorway of black crystal remained shut. Slowly, he raised the ephemeral sword up high with both hands.

"HAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

With a massive shout the giant man swung the blade down like a butcher's knife. When the unknown material hit the black crystal, instead of shattering it it simply passed through as if it had entered water. A line was created in the crystal. The leader of the cultists came up and looked at the giant man Jin who nodded.

"Open it." They both said and each put their palms on one half of the doors. Then they slowly pushed it open...

SSSSHHHHIIIIIC

The two halves of the door slid open and a strange hiss came out as the smell of the ancient stale air inside reached the nostrils of the cultists. They walked inside soundlessly with reverence and timidness. Once inside the black crystal door halves remained open but the cultists continued on inwards as the pouring rain began to invade this sealed space.

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"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The scream came again and Lineir suddenly applied a burst of speed. However, he was dismayed to realize that his speed had taken a drastic hit in the Higher Realms. Even the thickness of the air was simply too great here. Every step he took was hindered and his maximum speed had been cut to a third of its usual!

"Crap...I'm not used to the restrictions here. I need to be more careful and gain an understanding of my limits soon. Otherwise if I encounter a strong enemy I may be unable to escape." He shivered even though the cold was being blocked by his fire Qi. Suddenly he realized that the Higher Realms were truly dangerous! Even if the enemy was only slightly stronger than him, if he went into a battle without knowing his limits and expecting to be able to flee at his usual speed the result could be imagined. 

Death

He bounded through the snow and revolved the fire Qi in his second heart. As he went the elements chilled him sneaking past his defenses and he wondered....how could ordinary mortals possibly survive in the Higher Realms? Were they tougher here than in the lower realms? Wouldn't that make them not mortal by default?

Toc Toc Toc

Frosted trees went by and the icicles hanging from them amazed Lineir. While it had snowed before in Brackenrock City, it was a rare affair. Additionally, these icicles were different from the ones in the Lower Realms. They were...perfect. The individual ice particles in them were perfectly formed and even due to the increased stability of the laws here. All of this Lineir took in as he shot by at high speeds with his cultivator eyes.

"If the mortals can survive in such an environment...will they even need me to save them?"