Chapter 193: Confusion - Earthly Intent.
Shu He dropped to one knee as he clutched his head with one hand and his chest with the other, he didn't understand what was happening one bit yet he felt pain throughout his entire body, it was as he was experiencing the saying 'Death by a thousand cuts' first hand as groans of pain leaked out from his mouth.
'What is this?!' He extended his territory in an attempt to discover a hidden assailant, yet there wasn't another person anywhere near his home, it was only him and Shu Xue who was also crouching in pain near the garden, it appeared that he wasn't the only one under attack!
'Who's doing this?!' He couldn't find what was causing the pain, there were no signs of Qi, no signs of a physical attack or poison, the formations didn't even react- it was as if nothing was happening at all!
Even cycling his Qi and coating himself, reinforcing his body did nothing, it was an attack of a type he had never experienced and that made it all the more dreadful.
But then, as if it never happened, it stopped as Shu He caught a sound travelling from the far distance resembling a large screech- like a record being torn from its deck, the pain disappeared and all that remained was a vague memory of its effects, Shu He stumbled as he stood up wide eyed as he checked himself over.
'No injuries…' He was even more confused, just what was that? If it was an attack it didn't seem to do much.
"An illusion?.." he muttered, but he wasn't sure, an illusion that could cause actual pain was beyond his knowledge, and his 'Eyes' that were an embodiment of his Divine Territory were very good at seeing through such things, so he was left stumped.
[Shu He! Shu He!] a voice entered his mind through the link they shared, he could see Shu Xue running around panicking upstairs in her animal form, her feathers flying everywhere, clearly unsure on whether she should come interrupt him despite him telling her not to.
[I'm coming, calm down] he replied as he made his way up the stairs and exiting through the hatch separating the training area and his living area, he looked around just in case, but it seems not a single thing was damaged, it was clear that what just happened only affected living beings.
[Shu He!] the little duck came running up to him while quacking incessantly before jumping and turning in to a flash of light, morphing in to her human form, she had gained better control of the transformation in this last half a year so she could transform faster, and she could last longer; That wasn't all, she grew in both forms… though she still resembled a young girl, there was no surprising explosive growth.
The one difference was that she was clothed now the moment she transformed, her dress was a rather traditional hanfu where the upper part was a veiled white and the skirt was a deep red resembling flames, along with a silver hair ornament that tied her white hair upwards, the ornament was the core of these 'Memory Clothes' and was present even when she was in her animal form, albeit smaller.
Shu He's initial reaction when he saw it was that it was far too extravagant, yet Jin Nianzu, the old man that made the clothes, said that if he was going to make such an expensive item, he was going to make it as fancy as possible while assuring it would be fine to fight in, thus Shu He gave in.
Luckily it seems that Elder Bai was footing the bill, he had heard Jin Nianzu mumbling about getting a favour from the Elder, but he didn't know much about that.
"Shu He! What was that?!" She questioned him while tugging on his clothes, she had worked hard on improving her speech and sentence structure as well through a lot of effort from Shu He.
"I'm not sure, it came from nowhere and I didn't notice who or where it came from" Shu He shook his head "Did you notice anything?" he asked in turn.
She cocked her head to the side in thought "It hurt".
"Other than that, I mean…".
Her head cocked to the other side as a look of realisation came to her face "I think! I think… it felt like it came from that way" She pointed towards the centre of the sect where the main mountain laid.
"How do you know?" Shu He asked curiously, he didn't feel anything conclusive himself.
"I just felt like it was stronger that way…" she frowned as she struggled to come up with the words, then her eyes flashed as she grinned "Woman's instinct".
Shu He sighed "And who taught you that?".
"It- it wasn't Miss Li" She awkwardly looked away, she was a poor liar.
'Li Liling… don't go misleading her please' he thought as he stared at the mountain in the distance, his thoughts swirled as he tried to pin down a possible cause, eventually something surfaced from inside his mind as his eyes shot open.
'Could it be?!' from the back of his mind the picture of a certain man pushed itself to the forefront, the man that brought him here in the first place.
"It should be about time for him to leave… that may be it!" A slight smile appeared on his face.
"Huh? Shu He? What is it? Who is he? A sword?" Shu Xue began pestering him as he was stuck in thought, trying to pry into his thoughts through their link.
Shu He's hand landed on her head as he ruffled her hair much to her displeasure.
"Stoooooop"
"Let's go check it out" He began to walk off, leaving Shu Xue to struggle to follow along while she tried to fix her ruffled hair.
…
The centre mountain was currently surrounded on every side, there wasn't some sort of grand betrayal or attack going on of course, rather the streets were filled with hundreds of confused and bewildered disciples, each discussing what just happened barely half an hour ago.
It wasn't just Shu He that had received the 'attack', rather it had been nearly every single person in the sect, completely indiscriminate of rank and stature, it was lucky that it wasn't damaging only causing some bad memories for the weaker disciples and mortals.
Of course, not a single person knew what happened and thus the streets were rife with discussion, there were groups that were filled with worry, anger and some odd excitement but there were next to no solid facts- other than the first-hand recount of those near the mountain when it happened.
They had been out on a leisurely walk when the attack struck, although they were sent to their knees in pain their eyes were still functional, so they saw it- The sect master descended from the peak and planted her sword in the ground, what followed was a screech that made their ears want to bleed before the attack stopped.
In fact, the Sect Master – Rong Jia – was still stood staunch and silent as she watched the mountain like she was eyeing her prey, no disciples dared to approach her within 50 meters lest they earn her ire.
Of course, that didn't stop speculation.
"Did one of the formations malfunction?"
"What if one of the Elders rebelled?!"
"Maybe a relic awakened and went berserk…"
"Or someone could have undergone deviation and became a monster!".
"What if it's a lover's spat!".
The crowd immediately distanced themselves from the one that made the last comment as they expected the Sect Master to immediately punish him, said person immediately turned white as they realised what they said while caught up in the rumour mill.
But nothing happened, it was as if she heard nothing, and that worried everyone all the more; Something serious must have happened!
Shu He had arrived amidst this, Shu Xue was perched on his head in her duck form as she had given up on running in human form, Shu He was too fast for her so she made him carry her; They heard all the rumours before they rummaged their way to the front of the crowd witnessing the Sect Master's back.
[If the Sect Master got involved, it might really be him] he 'spoke' to Shu Xue who looked down at him and then up to the Sect Master. [Chao Shi?] she gently tilted her feathery head. [So you found out, yeah, I haven't seen him since I left my village, it was about time for him to leave seclusion.]
[So, it was him that attacked us? Isn't he mean?] she questioned with a pout.
"That…" he scratched his head [It might have been an accident] he concluded. [Let's just wait and see what happens, I doubt this crowd will disperse until we have an answer anyway] he said as he picked her off his head and took a seat cross legged, placing her in his lap.
The disciples surrounding him looked at him oddly yet as tens of minutes passed they decided he had the right idea and sat down as well, very soon this caused a cascade as the ring of disciples around the mountain sat in silence awaiting the Sect Master's next action.
It wasn't until a full 6 hours later that the Sect Master made a move, her saber was lifted as she placed it in its large sheathe and held it to the side, yet her back didn't turn and her eyes were still fixated at one point.
It was a cultivation cave in the side of the mountain.
"Isn't that…"
"It is!"
"It was Senior Brother?!"
Whispers travelled among the crowd until a disciple couldn't bear it any longer and called out.
"Uhm, Sect Master, we've all be waiting… just what is going on?" He was an inner disciple so his status wasn't bad; The Sect Master finally moved as he head turned, yet her single eye was filled with a cold chill as her lips moved.
"Silence"
Multiple gulps were heard after that word before she turned back to the mountain, not a single person asked another question after that.
And then… an hour later, there was activity on the mountain, a single figure appeared from the cave, his steps silent and graceful yet his clothes were tattered, his black hair a mess and skin almost ghostly white… yet his eyes were filled with power, as they swept the crowd countless disciples felt a chill up their spine without even matching eyes with the man, merely receiving eye contact.
And then the Sect Master and the Man met each-other's eyes, the man lightly stepped off the cliff and free fell, the sight one might describe as a newly forged blade falling from the heavens upon this unworthy earth.
He landed without a noise as he took a few steps, arriving in front of Rong Jia, her expression shifted between worry, relief and finally, pride, a smile rose upon her face.
"Brat- no, sorry... Chao Shi, you've achieved it?" She asked as her eyes glimmered with power.
Chao Shi gripped the sheathe his sword was in and nodded once with great vigour "Yes, Aunt Rong".
"…Brat, I'm your Sect Master right now" she sighed "But I'll forgive you, you've done something great this time" she turned around towards the crowd.
"What you all experienced was merely an echo, a harmless representation, a taste of the true thing… Today, your Senior Brother and pride of our sect has achieved something even I haven't…"
Gasps could be heard from the crowd as exclamations of disbelief could be heard whispered here and there.
"He has achieved the advanced level of Intent – Earthly Intent!"
In that moment, a resounding cheer shook the sect itself and a moment that would be remembered forever was engraved in the Sect's history books.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone