V4C60: The Luo Patriarch

It was this combination of factors that led to him being targeted from behind almost instantly, with three of the five other guardians deciding that it was best to stop him before he had a chance to ruin anything for the rest of them. Luo Shiling and Luo Long Meng avoided interacting with the situation, with one simply sitting still as a corpse while the other wouldn’t move to strike at a potential ally.

She did give him the middle finger quietly, which was enough in the eyes of the others.

He targeted Wei Yi with a powerful blast of energy, utilising an advanced version of the Scarlet Metal Strike in the hope of weakening her with the first blow and thus giving himself an edge, then turned to the attackers from the back and met them with a series of movements not entirely unlike the Eight Minor Changes technique. It lacked the usage of a spear, and had clear differences from either the standard variant or the Eight Great Changes that Wei Yi had deduced, but it was still recognisably related to that method.

While she did have some spiritual will threads in the back of his head, it was difficult to tell just how well she thought that this would go. His thoughts were fast and vague, leaving her with little to work with.

‘Doesn’t change the fact that he really isn’t paying attention, or else is in a poor mental state. There’s no way for an attack modelled after something usable in the first realm to be effective against someone that could reasonably rival the sixth realm while only being in the fourth, so…’ the Ascendant quietly shook her head as she faced the blast of heat and concluded, ‘this might be the end of one of the six guardians. I didn’t like him much anyway.’

She snapped her fingers, causing a small blast of Obliteration energy to emerge from her and collide with the wave of heat, with the latter dissipating instantly as a portion of the flame was devoured by the blackened crimson. Much of the energy continued on, striking the old man’s back and stunning him for just a moment.

That moment alone was enough for two talismans and a spear to effortlessly glide past his weak defence and impact him, with flames quickly spreading over his body. A number of bones broke, his left arm all the way up to the shoulder was disabled, and he fell from the railing down onto the open circle below, landing right in front of the Ascendant. He tried to reach into a pocket and bring out a talisman, but before his remaining functional hand could even get close, he found a set of six floating black dice grabbing onto it and forcing it back against the wall behind him.

“So, Luo Jian, are you sure that you wish to be my opponent?”

“The whole Luo family-”

“The whole Luo family will not oppose someone that is acting purely out of their own interests!” Luo Huang exclaimed, “Had you been seeking to raise the Luo District to new heights and made a mistake, you could be forgiven, but this is not the case! You have sought conflict for your own purposes, and so you and the one you oppose should have the right to resolve it on your own. Who agrees?”

The three neutral guardians quickly voiced their agreements, leaving it up to Luo Long Meng to decide whether she was going to side with the old man or the others in the room.

“Old man, I will not defend you. You are not worth it, for me or Yunzhen.”

“Thank you very much, Luo Long Meng. I shall not impose anything too significant, since I do realise that would be a little too presumptuous of me before I have any kind of alliance agreement with you, but I will still demand that this man is removed from his current position. He is harmful to you, me, and is generally a threat to the world as a whole if his self-centred behaviour is permitted to continue,” Wei Yi stated, the talisman on the railing not reacting at all.

“W-Wait, you can’t-”

“Shut it, Luo Jian. You have shown yourself to be rather unreliable, and so your opinion will not be tolerated!” Luo Long Meng said, “I do not believe that he is suitable to be a guardian.”

“He has done poorly at maintaining the peace. I would prefer to be rid of him,” Luo Shiling said.

“Perhaps my words are unnecessary, but there is nothing that could convince me that he is any better at being a guardian than anyone else in the sixth realm would be. After all, most people wouldn’t attain their realm without a great degree of will and practise, which Luo Jian appears to be lacking in his later years,” Luo Huang expressed, although he was subduing a smile while he did so.

“His actions are not suitable for someone in his current position. I would not be proud to call myself a guardian while someone like him remains,” Luo Ling Zan stated.

Luo Ru Qiu stroked his short beard for a while, then said, “I have long said we needed change. I think that this is one change that every single one of us can not only get behind, but also wholeheartedly support, since Luo Jian has never been particularly popular as a guardian. He has done little in his career, and I am not even sure that most of the district’s people even know that he is a guardian, save for those that he had shared the information with to obtain benefits.”

“W-What are all of you saying? I am not like tha-”

A blatant crimson flash from the ephemeral Imposition of Truth forced him back into silence. So far as anyone could tell, the talisman had been highly accurate so far, and so none of them had even the slightest reason to doubt it.

That applied to the man himself, who knew that he couldn’t even fool himself, who was the true target of those words. He wanted to believe that he wasn’t someone as terrible as the others described him, and that there was some room for redemption and improvement when the only bad thing that he had done, in his eyes, was pursue a greater stage of cultivation a little too intensely, but as he went through his memories, and as Wei Yi silently accompanied his mind, he just found more and more flaws to everything that he had done so far. So many things that he didn’t need to do, that he had known that he wouldn’t need to do, and yet did anyway.

To say that the Dao of Law wasn’t being used in this instance in the form of a more traditional definition of law, one that might lead to someone being judged in a court, would be blatantly false, although much less assistance was required than the Ascendant had initially assumed. It seemed that this man had a rather guilty conscience anyway, and that the knowledge of the Blood-tinged Church only made it worse for him.

“With that said, I can only ask you to follow the procedure of ridding this man of his status. It is not suitable for him,” Wei Yi said, although her attention did depart from the event.

Luo Huang rose and opened his mouth to speak.

Before he could express the judgement, a tremor rocked the entire tower in which they had been presiding, forcing the attention of all seven of them – with Wei Yi having turned a little earlier as a result of her spiritual perception informing her of the situation more quickly than the weaker spiritual perception of the others – to the back wall of the floor that they were on, near the stairs and where one might go to exit after clearing their name.

Only a moment later, three figures ascended the stairs, although the one at the front was clearly floating above the steps as to take as little effort as was necessary. Behind him was a youthful but very powerful man in the sixth stage of the sixth realm, and, reluctantly by his side, was Luo Na, who held onto the bannister for safety.

From the way in which she strove to be as far away from the youthful man, it was easy to presume that this was Luo Yunzhen, for his energy was indeed one that could only be produced with some excessively powerful flame-type technique that only someone in his position could obtain. The one at the front would have been far more of a mystery if not for his outfit, realm, stance, the way in which he walked, and the way in which all of the guardians instantly shrank back a little, glancing to one another in a combination of fear and concern.

“I do not see how you are the ones that are able to decide which of my guardians goes or stays.”

“Luo Patriarch, I presume? I had thought that you were sitting away from the conflict in your district, not striding into it directly,” Wei Yi replied to him.

Rather than words, what she immediately received was a great wave of force generated purely by his energy, attempting to wrap around her and crush her bones and flesh into an unrecognisable pulp. Disregarding the impoliteness of such a gesture being performed upon their first meeting, the Ascendant quickly made use of the chains already ringing around her to divert that force a little further from her.

It impacted a moment later, all of the floor and walls for the platforms on which most of the guardians sat cracking and fracturing, barely retaining even the vaguest semblance of a stable shape as he rescinded his force a moment prior to absolute destruction.

“It seems that you aren’t fond of me. If you wish to do me harm, however, you will need more than just a little energy,” she stated.

“I see that the report of meddling from an outside force was indeed accurate. You really feel the need to force yourself into everything, don’t you, Ascendant? You should have waited until you reached the sixth realm at the least, as you will find that I am not very accommodating to people like you,” the Patriarch said, “I give you a chance to leave. Go, right now, and I will not kill you right away.”

Wei Yi held back a laugh, albeit very poorly, “Really, Patriarch?”

“You find my words funny, girl?”

“Very much so, whether or not you attempt to back them up with more rampant force,” she said as she was forced to divert another blast of force, “You speak of an outside faction attempting to meddle with the district, and you don’t even mention the Great Families? Assuming that you do not wish to see your district descend into nothing more than a few houses amidst an overgrown forest, I would be forced to assume that you are not yet aware of their meddling? Have you failed to inform him, Luo Yunzhen? Not that he should need you to do so, but I have heard that you favour the maniacs.”

“Keep the conversation between the two of us, girl. The heroes of the Luo District need not be involved.”

“I am forty-one, just so you are aware. I am no younger than Luo Long Meng, so unless you call her a girl as well, you should probably stop with your attempts to make me sound less significant simply due to my seeming age. In fact, why don’t all of us just speak honestly?”

“Hah, I can afford to be honest, but- what is that?” the Patriarch had begun with confidence, but his eyes widened as he suddenly saw the ephemeral talisman floating near Wei Yi light up and link with his mind, surrounding it but not intruding upon it just yet, “That is the effect of the Imposition of Truth! What did you do with our talisman?”

“It’s hanging right up there, as you should have been able to tell.”

As Wei Yi gestured to the talisman that hung from the railing behind her, one that had been besmirched by the blood of Luo Jian, she intentionally showed her left hand, the one that was covered entirely in cuts and lesions. At the moment, her priority was to get the setup over with, and the easiest way to prove that she was the one manifesting a second talisman was to show the costs that accomplishing such a feat at her current realm had.

Just as she expected, once he saw the original talisman, looked over the ephemeral one, and focused for a while on her bloodied hand, he grinned.

“So, you are the one replicating the talisman, somehow. A fifth realm kid like you trying to make herself seem strong and mighty, is that it? That talisman is very nifty, however, so I will take it from you once we’re done.”

“You will not, Patriarch. That much I can assure you of regardless of the outcome of the day’s talks. Tell me, you know of the Great Families, being someone at your position, don’t you?”

“I…” he scoffed while he looked at the talisman above her, deciding to silently strike towards it with his divine sense as he pretended to pause. His golden mental energy got some distance to the ephemeral talisman before Wei Yi loudly and clearly raised her right hand, shutting it into a fist as a far larger quantity of her killing will mimicked that movement and clamped down on his divine sense.

After a moment of keeping it in a tight grip, she let it shoot back into his mind.

“The whole point of honesty, Patriarch, is that everyone speaks the truth, just as I have been, just as the guardians have been. Or, more precisely, speaking while knowing that anyone will be able to perceive something you consider to be a lie the moment that you say it. If the talisman is tampered with or destroyed, the whole point of it is obviously gone, although the one thing that it proves more than anything else is that you fear what we might learn about you,” Wei Yi said, lowering her hand, “You know about the Great Families.”

This time, it was a statement, not a question, and the talisman hanging behind her didn’t show a single trace of deception. Even if she was wrong, the guardians knew that she wasn’t trying to lie to them about it.

For that reason, Luo Long Meng suddenly rose, exclaiming, “Patriarch Luo Ping Dong, your inaction and silence has made this district less and less certain of its own future. Tell us the truth!”

“Hm, so you have put the guardians onto your side that easily?”

“No, I have not done a thing to dissuade them from siding with you yet. Everything is your fault, Patriarch. You, as the Patriarch of the Luo District, are a leader of an enormous territory, with hundreds of thousands of people and a great deal of powerful entities and groups within it. As the leader, you are permitted to decide the fate and future of that which you command. When presented with a situation, you have the choice to stand down and let it happen or intervene. You have made no choice!”

At the odd ferocity within her voice, the Patriarch nearly took a step back in shock, but managed to retain his ground and glared back at her, certain that she was making use of some kind of mental method to affect him.

“I have made the choice to not act-”

The red flash gave the Ascendant the chance to say, “You have made no choice, Patriarch, and that is the exact problem! If you wished to let the world change, and then assist the winning side as one might do naturally, then you could have communicated this to your citizens, to those that are supporting you! However, none of the guardians had a single clue about this apparent choice, did you?”

“We have never been told what he wishes to do. Fortunately, that has not been a problem during the previous peaceful times, but now that strife rises, his indecisiveness is becoming an issue,” Luo Shiling said with a surprising degree of frankness for someone with a voice like hers.

“Whether we wished for change or stagnancy, it would always remain the same from you, Patriarch. You say nothing, tell us nothing, and when we are clearly seeking guidance, you lie back and only emerge once there is an obvious group or person that you can target!” Luo Ru Qiu exclaimed, “There is no instruction, no decision, and any attempts to obtain it are rebuked! You, Patriarch, fail to uphold the responsibilities of your station, and that is why most of us believe that regardless of the person to do so, you must be replaced!”

His words were direct and clear, but most telling of all was the fact that the ephemeral talisman above Wei Yi did not light up with red a single time during his or Luo Shiling’s speeches, which said more than enough to the Patriarch. Although he might have been in a respected position at one point, that had clearly decayed with time.

With that in mind, he turned to the two behind him, his energy surging and causing his regal robes to flutter in the wind.

“So, the two of you thought that it would be a good idea to stir things up, did-”

“Nobody needed to stir anything, Patriarch. Do not attempt to displace the blame once more! You have made a mistake, and if you do not wish to decide on something even now, then I am certain that there will be others who will be more than happy to make their own decisions, just as they have done already,” Wei Yi stopped him, needing to physically throw aside a wave of force that crashed into the seats to the left of the court and completely disintegrated them, “Either way, make your choice!”

Luo Na and Luo Yunzhen looked to one another just as the Patriarch looked around the room, with all three having complicated expressions and looks in their eyes. For one, neither Luo Na nor Luo Yunzhen appeared happy to look into one another’s eyes, or even to be anywhere near one another, whereas the Patriarch, Luo Ping Dong, was clearly growing more and more agitated by the second.

“Perhaps making a decision is tough without the proper knowledge. In that case, let me tell you just who the Great Families are, whether or not they want you to know this,” the Ascendant said after an unfortunate period of quiet, “All of this will be true, in so far as I am aware, since I can hardly guarantee that the heavens themselves haven’t been deceived at some point. If you are worried that I will alter the facts, then no need. I will not do so. I do not intend to do so. There is, really, no reason for me to change a single part of the story.

“For that reason, I will begin in the part that might seem the least positive to me – I, Wei Yi, leader of the Ascendant’s Arbiters, am the child of a Yi family member, and of a Great Yi family member. By blood alone, I am related to one of the Great Families.”

Gasping did occur, but she silenced it quickly by continuing.

“The reason that I share this is because it has permitted me to know just what the Great Families are, what they do, and what anyone that displeases them in the slightest will experience. It is what the Luo District will suffer the moment that they decide that it is no longer worth it to permit rebellion and resistance. It is what will befall us all if we do not fight against them together, to reform Yi City, to rebuild the glory of the past, and to bring it forward to even greater heights,” she said, “The key to their power is a terrible method that involves the birthing of numerous children, all of whom will be trained to the third realm. Then, before they have the chance to muddle their body and bloodline through interaction with the outside, all but one pair shall be slaughtered, and their anchors merged into that lone surviving pair.

“It is a technique that only one of the Greats is able to use, but it is one that has been used consistently for numerous decades. That is the reason why there will only ever be a pair per every generation, and it is also why damaging the anchors that the Greats use is so vital. They cannot be regained once any are destroyed, not without killing that member of the family and giving birth to a whole new generation.

“I happened to be the child of someone that managed to run away from their family, fall in love, then have me, all before the Greats were able to find them. Once they did, my parents were killed, all records were wiped out, and I was placed in a death trap which would siphon my ability, intellect, clog my meridians and even corrupt my dantian, all to get back at my parents. All of that for a single planar anchor, which would only be relevant for a single generation of one hundred years, and that might not have even been needed had they not begun this war.”

“And? What reason would I have to conflict with them? Surely you are aware that most districts and families have their own dark secrets?” the Luo Patriarch asked, earning a laugh from Wei Yi.

“Trust me, I am well aware of that. The reason that you should avoid them is because their intention is to weaken Yi City, and the world as a whole. With each generation, they seal more and more of the world’s potential energy into their anchors, and that is then preserved with each generation. Once upon a time, we had enough energy for the ninth realm to be feasible. Now, we do not, and they are the ones responsible,” she said, “I have done a little to reverse it, but I am not yet done.

“They began this the moment that Kong Shi Meng, the Master of Yi City, disappeared from the world, and they have taken everything they could from him for the sake of doing this. Their prison realm was his Kong Prison Realm, made for an experiment to push the world into a new age while protecting it. They make use of Yi City and the structures that it established to keep themselves in power and to prevent rebellion. All this time, they have hidden his name away, and made sure that all of our history rots and burns away while we are none the wiser, fighting with one another over the indecisiveness of certain aging men!”

“I am not indecisive, you arrogant bitch!”

“Then make your fucking choice, Patriarch! Tell us whether you stand with Luo Yunzhen’s view that the Greats and their perpetual leeching and siphoning will somehow benefit us, or with Luo Na, who believes that Yi City can be reborn. Choose!”

Just to make sure that he was given as little of a chance as possible to evade this, Wei Yi threw in the full power of the Dao of Law, combining the expectant looks of all of the people present to drill into the Patriarch with as much force as possible, ensuring that to get away, he would need an impossible amount of mental fortitude. An amount that she knew he did not have, both from having tangled with his divine sense already and due to the fact that he had yet to make a choice after all of this time and effort to make things clear to him.

However, even that seemed to be insufficient, for his gaze sank into the floor as he continued to hesitate more and more, perhaps hoping that if he stared at the ground hard enough, it would bring him through the floor and permit him to escape. It was a foolish notion, but what little Wei Yi could scavenge from the outside of his mind didn’t necessarily rule this out.

‘If that isn’t going to be enough…’ she loudly turned on the spot and addressed the guardians, not including the one that might as well no longer be in that position, “Tell me, do you wish to see this district rot into the ground? Do you want to see everything that you have ever created be torn apart and forgotten due to some mad pursuit of a faction that lurks on the side and sacrifices countless children to keep up their perverse power? Are you going to see everything that had made Yi City such an impressive force be purged, until your descendants will have naught but their uncultivated bodies to support themselves?”

“Fuck that! We need the Luo District to stand tall! We need Yi City to stand tall!” Luo Long Meng exclaimed, and that seemed to finally breach the gates of hesitation.

Luo Ling Zan, Luo Huang, Luo Shiling and Luo Ru Qiu all echoed her statement, except for the particular wording and tone, but the sentiment was unchanged. There was a desire for change, even amongst those who preferred stagnation, and that change was not in the favour of the Patriarch.

He saw their exclamations and promptly turned to Luo Yunzhen, his eyes glowing with a mad light.

“I decree you as my s-” the Patriarch could barely get a syllable out before a fist wrapped with surging Obliteration energy crashed into the barrier that he was barely able to manifest.

Although his barrier blocked it, the sheer force of the punch launched him towards the back wall, knocking any semblance of air out of his lungs as he was thrown off his feet. The sound of the strike colliding with the planar energy barrier heralded the beginning of the battle, as the moment that it reached the others, they leapt into action.

Luo Na and Luo Yunzhen were the closest to the collision, and were thus able to react the quickest as both of them jumped aside. Due to her own predicament, Luo Na pulled out a series of talismans that she promptly activated, tossing some at her foe, whereas the competitor for the position of Patriarch had little choice but to side with the current Patriarch and fight back with all of his available strength. If he was to stand down and let the others take him on together, or even if he helped them, then the one likely to receive the position he desired would be Luo Na, not him.

On the other hand, the Patriarch was clearly about to name him his successor, which would guarantee his ascension to that position the moment that Luo Ping Dong perished, which would inevitably occur far sooner than Luo Na deciding to arbitrarily forgive or even reward him for attempting to participate in the fight.

At the front of the room, the guardians knew there was a first priority target to deal with, so all of them, even the peaceful Luo Shiling, attacked Luo Jian, throwing talismans and pulses of energy that crashed into him together and forced him further to the ground. In an instant, although the attacks were not well coordinated, they ruined his ability to flee and pushed him to the edge of his life, shifting their attention from him the moment that they also removed the talismans from his robes, rushing up to Wei Yi and Luo Na while Luo Yunzhen and Luo Ping Dong came together and took out a series of talismans with one hand while their other gathered energy.

“Luo Patriarch, you have been found unsuitable for your position!” Wei Yi exclaimed, manifesting a blade held together purely with Ire and Obliteration energy, “If you will not allow the Luo District to develop, then we shall!”