章 40: Good Eyes
*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.* *The songs from the last chapter as well as "Overgas" by Badjokes, "Right Here" by Habstrakt and "WE'RE BACK" by Marten Hørger are recommended to listen to while reading.*
A young cultivator stood on a bloody battlefield within Tou City and looked up to the sky with dread.
It was the same young cultivator that had just graduated from the academy and was headed to accept his first mission from the main pagoda before he was knocked unconscious from the aura elder Bing released.
The young cultivator had heard that the Clan was heading to war, however, never in his wildest nightmares would he image that the Clan conscripted him to fight. He was just a newly-advanced Stage 2 and was only eighteen years old.
When he told his parents that he was going to fight in the war, they couldn't bear to look at him in sadness. They didn't want to make it harder for themselves when the news came back that he had died fighting.
The young cultivator told them that he would come back, but they didn't listen. They just shut him out and he had never seen him since he was taken to this planet, Ronghua Planet, to fight.
And now, here he was. Staring up at the sky to see what once was a huge snake of earth crumble into millions of tons of solid rock that was directly above him. His eyes were hollow and his heart was beating fast from the horrors of war that he had already witnessed right before his eyes.
He didn't want this. He didn't want any of this. Why would the Clan bring him here? He didn't want to be here...
"Senior brother!! Help me! Please protect me, please!!"
The young cultivator looked over to the desperate pleas of a female voice that he heard not far from him. Looking over the countless bodies at his feet, the youth settled his eyes on someone he had a recollection of.
'Oh. It's that girl.' And there, he saw a girl he remembered. Indeed, it was the spiteful girl that had aggravated elder Bing after he had hit her when brushing past to get to the summit of elders just before the war.
He saw the girl on her knees and begging for protection from a tall blue-armoured figure that he knew was a general in the army and had undeniable power.
The armour of the general was badly damaged, especially his gauntlets...
The girl was grabbing at the general's navy-blue battle robe with tears in her eyes and her mouth open, screaming and pleading for help amidst the screams of war and the screeches of the sky as figures flew past at speeds the young cultivator couldn't see.
'Maybe he could help me too...' The thoughts of the young cultivator started to become hopeful. Maybe he could survive this and return to his family alive. He pictured the scene: the smiles of relief on their faces as they saw their young son's face when they opened the door.
However, the eyes of the young cultivator suddenly froze as he stood staring in disbelief.
His eyes that were blurry from tears and weariness looked over to see the general standing with the girl dead at his feet, her heart missing from her chest. Through the slits in the general's helmet, the youth saw a gaze as cold as a planet of ice.
Quickly averting his eyes so the general won't notice him staring, the young cultivator put his head in his hands as he lost all the strength in his legs from fear alone.
'Why is this happening...'
The cultivator looked up to see a boulder the size of a huge pagoda directly above his head. His eyes dimmed.
'...to me.'
And like that, the young cultivator was buried under the earth, his eyes closed in fear and the unwillingness to die yet. His body was sprawled in unnatural directions as not only was his entire body broken, but his soul too.
It seemed his parents were right. They would never see him again. And the last memory the young cultivator had of them was being turned away in their fear for him.
...
Qing Fang looked at the body of the annoying girl that had come to plead for his protection.
He sneered at her weakness; her helplessness. Such a pathetic excuse for a cultivator only had death ahead of them. The fact that she was so scared of death and couldn't even put her fate in her own hands disgusted him, it made him want to kill her. And he did.
Forgetting about that girl just a moment after killing her, Qing Fang turned his gaze to the battlefield around him. The towering pagodas were no more, having crumbled under the giant snake that turned lifeless soon after.
The ground beneath his feet was soaked in blood and tears, the paved stone that was once there overturned to reveal the mud underneath that his boots sank a few inches into, dirtying them with blood and dirt.
The wind was blowing harshly, however, his hair that was drenched in blood and sweat, as well as his robes that were weighted down by his armour; refused to move with it. It carried a scent of terror that Qing Fang breathed in with an expression of euphoria.
The skies of ash and flame burned bright yet, illuminating his eyes beneath his helmet that landed on a Huoyan cultivator not far from him who was running with a grievous wound on his shoulder from his opponent.
And in a burst of speed that caused his blue robes to swirl and weave in the air behind him like the ribbon of an exotic dancer, he rushed with the bearing of a killer. A killer so seasoned that his enemies knew it would be worthless or beg for mercy, as he had already made up his mind from the moment that he was born to be a killer.
And just a second later, Qing Fang could see his own reflection in the horror-filled eyes of that Huoyan cultivator. They turned lifeless a moment later as Qing Fang plunged his hand into the chest of that cultivator and destroyed his heart.
His hand within the warm chest wrapped in the muscle that had taken years to grow and develop around this corpse's fleeting soul, Qing Fang felt comfortable within it. Warmth was still warmth, even when it was taken from the dying flesh of an enemy.
The liquid blood gushed through the cracks in Qing Fang's fist, tickling his calloused skin as it slipped through the gauntlet and covering his bare hand.
Even on a battlefield like this, it was but a playground to Qing Fang. And the bodies of the Huoyan were his toys.
Throwing the corpse to the floor and swiping his hand violently to the side to rid his gauntlet of the blood soaking it, the icy gaze beneath Qing Fang's helmet soon fell onto the next unfortunate soul. He stared into the eyes of his victim and witnessed the life leaving them, his face scarily apathetic but somewhat amused deep under that mask.
After the thud of the corpse hitting the pool of muddy blood that made up the ground resounded, Qing Fang had already disappeared from his place. The corpse that he had taken warmth from was now just another bag of flesh amidst the countless dying the floor red. That moment of kinship between killer and killed forgotten with the cries of mortal cultivators.
Rushing around the battlefield, Qing Fang's blue armour soon shone with a red sheen under the fiery skies. He crushed necks, stole hearts, removed spines and ripped the faces off of every cultivator he came across; his blue robes fluttering behind him gracefully as he did so.
The grace he had when he grabbed a Huoyan cultivator by two legs and proceeded to rip him in half put a troubled gaze in the eyes of whoever saw it. However, in a place like this, a demon was not a scourge but a welcomed ally.
And he was a true demon of the battlefield. Any who crossed his path, no matter how confident they were, would end up as a lowly corpse under the shine of those demonic eyes beneath the helmet.
...
A young boy clad in the orange robes of the Huoyan sat on a corner of the battlefield, huddled away in fear and in a desperate attempt to hide from the hell around him.
His eyes were glazed with fear as he hugged his knees into his chest, looking up at the sky.
'How can it be... How can the earth be so cold when the sky looks so warm...' The youth thought as his eyes stared at the ashy red sky that looked like fluffy red clouds. His eyes refused to lower onto the cold and merciless earth, the sacred battlefield of life and death, in his unaccepting fear.
And as he was staring at the sky, the young boy suddenly felt a weight on his back. It was a heavy weight, feeling like a body as it jumped right on top of him.
"Aaaaarrrgghh!" The young boy screamed, trying to scramble away. His eyes were terrified, whoever was trying to grab him was now the personal demon of the boy.
His fingers clawed at the muddy and bloody ground, trying to crawl away from the demon trying to attack him. The young boy's robes were dirtied and pitiful, almost an embodiment of his dignity and honour.
"Please no!!! Wahahahaha, leave me alone!!"
The body was right on top of the young boy as he screamed with all his might, begging for mercy. And then it rolled off of him and into his lap.
Turning his despairing eyes to look at his enemy, the young boy's pupils suddenly shrank to pin-size. In his lap was the headless body of another Huoyan cultivator, thick seeps of blood dying the young boy's robes a deep red and the warmth of it covering his lap.
Seeing this, he tried to throw the body off of himself but his hands would suddenly jerk away, disgusted by how solid the corpse felt. For some reason, the young boy didn't liken bodies to humans themselves and whenever he touched the heavy and lifelike corpse, he would jerk away with tears in his eyes.
The solidness of the flesh and not being squishy in the slightest was the most disturbing thing to the boy, almost making him puke as his eyes watered profusely. But when he looked at the space where a head should've been, he had to hold it back with all his might.
Finally, he managed to crawl out from under the heavy body that weighed at least five hundred kilograms, his own cultivation helping him do so.
After which, he huddled himself amidst mountains of corpses, burying his head into his hands with his eyes wide in terror and staring blankly at the river of blood he was sitting in. It was warm and heated him up, but the thick stench of it and knowing that it was other people's blood made tears fall from his eyes.
However, it was at this moment. The eyes blank with horror and unwillingness as well as weariness and sickness suddenly went completely blank. They looked dead and hollow, the lack of a glint within them the same as a corpse.
But after no more than ten seconds, the eyes suddenly regained life. But they were different from before. They contained a different expression, one the young boy would never show in this hell on earth while soaked in blood and surrounded by bodies.
It was...excitement.
And with vigour and excitement so genuine that the young boy couldn't stop his body from shaking, he stood up violently as cast his strange gaze over the battlefield; almost as if he was basking in the lights reflected in his eyes.
"Hahahaha..." A quiet laughter crept through the teeth comprising a nasty grin on the young boy's terrifying face. He moved his toes in his footwraps, feeling the bloody marshy ground and a burst of greater laughter came.
"Hahahahahah!" The young boy spread his arms and looked up to the sky with his eyes closed in a reminiscent manner. With the middle Stage 1 cultivation of the boy, nobody noticed him and his presence within the World of Laws was barely even visible.
"Such a grand battlefield! Such a beautiful place! O, what a pleasure it is to be here! I love it!" He spoke loudly and shamelessly, like an arrogant celebrity with no mind for the opinions of others. A few gazes were cast his way but soon ignored this pitifully weak and apparently insane child.
"Ahhh~ The air...such a delectable taste! Although this body is a bit uncomfortable... But alas...this is the only way I can enjoy a battle like this without causing such a fuss!" The eyes of the young boy opened and scanned the battlefield.
And soon; a figure clad in damaged blue armour that was stained red, with robes weaving and swirling around the battlefield and leaving dismembered bodies in its wake, fell under the young boy's sight.
A gruesome smile crept up the boy's face as his eyes gleamed and tightly fixed to the figure.
'You. I want you. A pity you're too weak for my main body but for this thing, you'll do perfectly.' The young boy's eyes flashed with a bloody shine as his thoughts swirled and danced in tandem with the battlefield. It was almost as if this place was the young boy's, or whatever was controlling him, one place within the entire Mortal Realm that he could call home.
The young boy took his first step that was filled with confidence and resolve on the battlefield, although the soul was completely different.
And taking a step directly within the domain of slaughter that belonged to the figure, the young boy sent a smile toward said figure as he stood. And but a second later, a gaze completely filled with the immense will to kill landed upon his body.
Feeling this, however, the grin on the young Huoyan boy's face got significantly wider.
"Good eyes." The boy muttered under his breath before charging with inhuman speed toward the figure gazing at his body with unbelievable killing intent.
The young boy tore through the air with speed grossly higher than his middle Stage 1 cultivation. And within the eccentric eyes of the boy, a figure with Quasi Stage 4 cultivation stood.
...
Qing Fang stood menacingly on the battlefield within his domain that he had carved out by killing anyone who stepped foot within it.
Just now, he had seen a young boy dare to step within his domain while staring directly at him. And for that, the punishment was death. Qing Fang stared at the boy with all the killing intent he could muster, believing that the boy would directly faint from the pressure that came with it.
He couldn't have been more wrong.
Under his doubtful gaze, the body of the boy suddenly disappeared into thin air. This caused the brows of Qing Fang to crease. However, he didn't even have the time to have a single thought.
Looking down, the body of the boy suddenly appeared under Qing Fang's incredulous gaze. The small boy was squatted and his head only came up to the bottom of his chest. He had an arrogant grin filled with danger that Qing Fang only noticed after it was too late.
And like that, Qing Fang felt a huge force enacted upon his body and directly shatter his armour into hundreds of pieces.
Qing Fang felt the air rush out of his lungs as his body was thrown back hundreds of meters like a cannonball! He flew through the air backwards, with his arms and legs bent in the same direction with the huge punch that the young boy had placed directly on Qing Fang's stomach.
Qing Fang's body shot through the battlefield, directly crushing weaker cultivators that he smashed into with unimaginable force, his heavy body and the terrifying speed he was thrown back with making for a deadly projectile.
His body smashed into a Stage 4 cultivator and was like a ricochet, is hurled away. Upturning tons of dirt with the sheer force that his body still carried, Qing Fang eventually managed to regain his bearings as he violently shoved his clawed hand into the earth.
Digging his heels and other gauntlet into the earth in a position like a wounded mutt, Qing Fang scraped claw marks for dozens of meters in the earth before his body ground to a stop.
He gasped for air with steam rushing in and out of his mouth as he tightly clenched his stomach that was churning in pain. With his head lowered to face the ground, Qing Fang's eyes were wide open in disbelief for what had just happened.
'How is this possible?! A Stage 1 cultivator?! What a monster! That is no human, it is a demon in a human's skin.' Unbeknownst to him, a small amount of fear manifested in his thoughts when his mind thought about that terrifying blow that had sent him flying for a thousand meters!
Suddenly thinking of something, however, Qing Fang raised his lowered head quickly and stared ahead of him and along the long claw marks that he had carved into the ground. And he saw...nothing. There was no sign of that monster in the disguise as a young Stage 1 child.
Qing Fang felt his internal organs screaming in pain while his brain was purely confused about what had just transpired. He lowered his head again and tried to regain his breath and heal his organs.
However, he had not the time.
"Aha! There you are!" A young, immature voice sounded a few hundred meters away from Qing Fang and he jerked his head to look up with a solemn gaze.
"It took me a while to find you, what with you bouncing about like that! That and also the senses of this body are shockingly poor..." A jovial voice caused Qing Fang's ears to twitch in annoyance. The last sentence was mumbled under the breath of the freak boy, so Qing Fang couldn't hear what he had said.
Qing Fang was still and directed a wary gaze to the young boy that was walking toward him casually with the fires of the war raging around him. 'This child...' He thought solemnly before standing up slowly to face the boy who was a hundred meters away now.
And like that, the gaze of Qing Fang turned from disbelief to a dim icy glare as he lowered his head and disappeared from the boy's view and into the raging battles all around. He vanished like a spectre and the boy could only look around with disappointment.
The boy looked around avariciously, however, he just ended up loathing his body's senses even more, for he could not sense a thing.
However, in between a dozen battled and a few hundred meters away, the boy suddenly saw something.
A figure with destroyed armour and bloodied robes looking toward him with icy killing intent and a steely gaze.
The boy's face twisted into a grin.
'You've come. How fun~'
*3,271/3,000 words*
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PSYcho_72 Thanks for reading and voting.
Who could this boy be?! And where is that power coming from?!
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