To those of you who have stayed with the story up to chapter 156 and through two books, thank you for reading and commenting and enjoying the journey with me. It's been a wild ride.
"A Cloudsoul Necromorph...what class is that?" Yu asked as Dan pressed his hands to his temples.
"No one knows. They are from ancient times, and information is extremely scant. The only reason I know of them is because of the amount of time I spent in the restricted library. I read many old scrolls there, and a few mentioned them in the passing. I can tell you this though...they are not terribly high level in terms of the laws. Probably about Celestial Pinnacle just like us at most. Thank the Heavens for that too, because any stronger and they would be beyond mortal comprehension. Even still, their sheer size and the fact that they are constructed from Undead mean they can level cities and destroy civilizations. As for killing them? Only our seniors could do such a thing. For us, forget it."
"What do you know about them? How sure are you of what you're saying? Are we in danger right now?" Lineir asked many questions. He was very interested in this Cloudsoul Necromorph. It reminded him of the giant Undead Heart he had once seen at the beginning of his journey.
"I think we should be safe down here. These things are lacking in intelligence. However, they will eat anything they spot and consume their bodies adding them to their own mass. When you said it was made out of corpses I immediately suspected this beast as this is the perfect breeding ground for this creature. I just never thought it really existed. Somewhere inside them may be some sort of nucleus or control organ but nobody has ever found it. The real horror of things is not even their size nor the Death Qi winds which constantly swirl around their bodies."
"What is it then?" Yu's eyes squinted slightly as Dan took a breath.
"It's the plague which they emit. Should one cut off one of the assimilated corpses or even touch somewhere they have walked the scrolls state that mortals will rot on the spot and even strong cultivators will be exposed to a poisonous gas which will eat their soul. Can you imagine? To walk around knowing that your soul is decaying and turning evil. That is what we would face if we were up there. As for Ping and the others? They may have made a grave mistake. I will pray for them tonight."
The group fell silent after that. It was obvious they were not going to go out tonight. The unspoken consensus was that they would check back in the morning. Lineir found himself whiling away the time. He spent it meditating while getting to know the team better.
"What is your homeland like, if you don't mind me asking?" He asked of Dan who replied,
"I don't mind, my homeland is quite famous. You should visit one day if you have the chance. It is a beautiful land filled with verdant forests, hills, grasslands, and flowing rivers. It is known as the Green Sepulcher and is controlled by my sect, the Monks of Ishear. Speak my name and you shall be welcomed as friend no matter if you arrive clothed in golden silk robes or the most worn of rags. Beware however, in order to reach my sect, you will have to travel through war-torn and treacherous lands." Dan described numerous battles and adventures he had had in his youth. He was after all several years older than Lineir and had grown up in the Divine Realms so he had many interesting tales to relate. However Lineir did notice one interesting thing. Dan never talked about the reason he became a monk.
"Alright brother Lineir, I need to check De's arm. Come speak to me again if anything is troubling your mind." He wandered off and grabbed De roughly, muscling the belligerent cultivator down so he could begin to undue the bandage. Lineir sighed roughly. Although all of Dan's tales had been fantastic, and some of the creatures and places he had described were impossible in the mortal realms, they still felt human.
"Those of the Divine Realm, are they really so different than us mortals? They live longer yet to them, time passes in the blink of an eye. They cry, laugh, suffer, and fear just like the rest of us. And they also strive for the pinnacle of martial arts." Musing he felt a tap on his shoulder. He expected Yu but it was Ting actually who sat down next to him.
"Hey." She said with a lukewarm expression.
"Hey?" Lineir responded. His impression of this elegant girl was that she was usually quite unreserved so he was a little bit surprised at her lack of warmth today.
"You're awfully calm for someone from the Lower Realms. Are things so bad there that you don't care or are you just completely immune to the things happening here?" She joked around a bit regaining a bit of her usual fire. Lineir cocked an eyebrow,
"Haha, I actually have encountered something similar to this Cloudsoul Necromorph before. But not quite so dangerous of course. So I don't really feel much fear towards it. I have a lot of experience with the Undead. What's on your mind?"
Ting traced a curl of her hair in her finger as if thinking. Then she leaned in,
"It's Yu, he won't talk to me about the mission. I'm worried, he's never done anything like telling people to leave our team before. He seems to trust you even though as far as I can tell, you two have never met before. What's going on?" Her words took Lineir aback. He hadn't expected her to come to him instead of Yu for answers.
"Well..." He stalled out. It had to be understood, Lineir was good at a few things. Taking on cultivators many realms above him yes, fighting Undead yes, even fighting demons. But having extended social interactions? When would he have had the chance? Most of his interactions besides his sister when he was younger were him running from the law or taunting people who wanted to kill him. This was uncharted water.
"He suspects one of us is a traitor doesn't he?" She continued while watching his face-
"..." His lack of a quick answer was all she needed.
"I knew it! Wait...that means that bastard doesn't trust me!" She suddenly tilted her head mid-thought. Meanwhile Lineir was reeling desperately trying to regain control of the conversation. He raised his hands and patted the hair nervously as if trying to push the volume down.
"It's not-not like that! He trusts you! He definitely trusts you. His exact words were trust no one but me and Ting, does that sound like someone who doesn't trust you?" He stammered. Immediately he was kicking himself underneath the table. How could he be so easy?
"Oh? Is that really what he said? Then why isn't he talking to me? No matter I'll dig it out of him myself. Right now though...it's you I'm interested in. Who ARE you for him to trust you so much?" She said and even Lineir in his flustered state swore he almost caught a tinge of jealousy in her voice.
"Just a Lower Realm cultivator with some relation to your seniors-" Suddenly a voice cut in,
"Well, well, I think that's quite enough chit chat for one night." Yu had suddenly appeared next to the table. His voice was like a knife slicing through the thick conversation. TIng of course, did not back down at all. She glared daggers at him,
"Yu-er, you have some explaining to do!" He grabbed her arm and dragged her off to the side while nodding at Lineir. The sounds of their furious conversation was cut off by a sound barrier soon after. Lineir could almost their loud voices coinciding with the thumping of the room as above the storm raged. Even through the barrier and underground they could hear the wind howling gently above.
Rat Tat Tat Rat Tat Tat Rat Tat Tat
Shhuuuuuuuuwuuuuuuuuuuuuuwuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuwuuuuuu
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"We should go back!" Lu argued with Ping who was adamant that they continue forwards.
"Are you crazy? The storm is almost upon their area! And if there truly is a creature inside? We keep going out!" Ping yelled over the wind as he smashed away another Divine Realm Undead which wandered into him.
Thwack!
"What about the mission though? We will definitely miss the best opportunity to enter the Pillar if we keep backtracking like this!" Lu countered. The rest of the defectors were too busy to talk as they fended off the Undead. It was much more difficult with so few of them.
"Fine! We compromise. We track sideways, away from the storm but not backwards! It'll take a while to get around it but provided it doesn't change direction we shouldn't lose anymore ground at least!" Ping yelled and the rest of the squad agreed as they shifted direction. Ping wielded a powerful clock which he swung with wild abandon at any Undead which got close. Like this he cleared the way and plowed through.
Shuuuuuuwuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuwuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuwuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
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