The Empire XXV - The Grand Dynasty before the Fall
This Chapy has 1912 Word! I don't know why I write so much currently, but hey more Story for you! :D
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Shi Changmao took a deep breath. 'That was a hard fight…' if he didn't have thought of creating Incarnations, he would probably be very wounded and would have to flee.
The Incarnations were only a concept he had only thought of, using his Qi to create a puppet with a compressed high Quality Spirit Stone as its Core and then controlling it. 'But to think it would be so effective… maybe Quantity has a Quality of its own?'
The Incarnations only were extensions of his power, by himself he too could have displayed the same strength, but it is way easier to defend against one large sword than hundreds of small knives.
He reformed his Domain and expanded it, the fallout of their battle had shaken the whole Dynasty and the Territory was devasted, all life was dead. 'Hm… that's sad.'
He took flight and reached the Spirit Stone Root; it was only as large as an Apple now. The Heavenly Lightnings had compressed and shattered the outer layers. He grabbed it and wanted to fuse it too with him, but it didn't work. Something tould him this Root was different to his own. 'Even if I cannot integrate it, I can use it as the Core of another Incarnation!' he stopped for a second 'Wait… Im such a Genius! Using Roots as Incarnation Cores!' (just got that idea…)
A purple Mist of Qi left his Body and formed an Incarnation. It looked like a normal Human who only Cultivated their Body. There where the Heart should have been was a gawping hole the size of an Apple. Changmao took the Root and integrated it with the Incarnation, like a Heart it began pumping out Qi, its color was White. The Inside of the Incarnation contained a compressed Spirit Stone that would store the generated Qi. After a few moments the Incarnation's Eyes glowed in a White light.
As a final artistic decision, he added a White Robe fitting to the Qi. 'Looks Great.' He thought 'But how Strong is it?'
The Incarnation collected Qi in its hands and used one of Changmao's first Techniques, the Exploding Fist. One would gather Qi in one's fist and upon punching something it would explode outwards, destroying it. The Incarnation struck the already shattered Earth.
*BOOM*
Earthquakes filled the nearby Territories, all Earth within a thousand kilometers was turned to dust. 'Hm… that should be at the Archon Realm, so I just doubled my Power. Shall I give it a name? But it doesn't live and doesn't has a Soul, so it isn't an individual… but I too gave Lingyu a name and she neither is…' a few moments later he spoke "Your name shall be Primus, the First Incarnation." The Incarnation bowed, of course controlled by Changmao, it wasn't alive after all.
He then moved Primus into his Spatial Ring. 'Oh, yes. Didn't I save those Miners?' he remembered. 'Wait, where are they?' he couldn't find them within Lingyu. His Domain Scanned all the Spatial Rings he had but they were nowhere to be found. 'Strange…' he thought, but then his Attention was gained by something else.
A powerful Aura, beyond the peak of the Archon Realm but not quite the Ruler Realm was radiating from where the City he visited first was. His Domain expanded, and to his Surprise the City still Stood. Not a single scratch it had.
'Is it calling me?' that was how the Aura felt. It wasn't a dangerous Aura, more like Welcoming. He took flight and shot towards the City. Before the Gates someone he recognized was waiting, she was the Aura's Source. It was the Little Inn's Owner. Changmao landed.
"Hello again." He greeted her, "Thank you. May you follow me?" she asked "Sure." He responded, his Domain was scanning her as best as he could, but she still looked like a Mortal. 'hm… is she concealing her cultivation like I did?'
They walked through the City's Empty Streets, all its Inhabitants had hidden within their Homes and the homeless within the underground tunnels.
"Let me introduce myself again, I am the former Ruler of the Fiery Storm Dynasty." She no longer hid her cultivation and a power beyond the Archon Realm Filled the former Fiery Storm Dynasty. A tremendous, burning, Storm began forming in the Sky and began Illuminating the Dynasty. "Who are you, if I may ask?" "I am Shi Changmao, I lived within the Green Lightning Dynasty before leaving it."
"Thank you, Archon Shi, for killing the pest my Dynasty spawned." They neared the Inn "Can you tell me what really happened to your Dynasty?" asked Changmao, he had his own theories and wanted to know the Truth.
"Glady, you as the one who ended what I couldn't are entitled to the truth." She spoke, gratitude filled her voice. Changmao suddenly turned his Head, someone was looking at him. It was the Girl he met on his first day, she was hiding behind a corner and observing them. He smiled to her and continued on. "But first let us go inside." They had reached the Inn.
The Inside looked still the same. "Please seat yourself." She spoke while going behind the bar to get something to drink. A minute later she returned and too sat down. "Here." She gave him the drink.
"Where shall I start? Hm…" she thought out load. "Yea, there… Tens of thousands of years ago I was born in a place called The Rulerless Plains. I had great talent, reaching the Core Formation Realm long before my pears and formed a Golden Core. My Sect gave me all the Resources I could ever wish for and so I soon reached the Nascent Soul Realm where I formed a Blue Soul. I rouse higher and higher until one day I surpassed my Sect's Elders. My Sect's Leader was my Teacher and I too surpassed him after many years of training. Finally, I reached the peak of the Lord Realm and decided to explore the Plains." She paused shortly to drink.
"I fought fights against many Lord Realm Beasts. After a long time, I overcame my Cultivation bottleneck and advanced to the Archon Realm, the Archon Realm is the peak within The Rulerless Plains, only beings below the Ruler Realm can reside within. My Name had spread far, and my Sect used it to establish absolute Control over its region." She paused again.
"Then, one day, a rumored Beast at the Archon Realm appeared. It wreaked havoc wherever it went. After years of destruction where no Archon went to challenge it, it reached my Sect's Region. I went to fight it and after seven days I managed to kill it, but a large part of my Sect had too died."
"From there on I left my Sect and Cultivated alone. After a thousand years of traveling, changing Identities, and living different lives I finally reached the peak of the Archon Realm. I attained the peak within The Rulerless Plains. The pressure the Plains exerted on me grew with every passing day until the moment I went beyond the Plains peak and reached the Ruler Realm. The Plains expulsed me and for the first time, I was outside them."
"At first I was lost and began traveling again. I visited many Dynasties until I decided to found my own. At that time, I still didn't have a Law and so I had to build the Dynasty's Sky and Earth by Hand." Changmao got a bit confused and asked, "Sorry to interrupt you, but what is a Law?" "Huh? You don't know that?" "No, can you tell me?" "Sure, Archon Shi, I though you already knew…" she explained the concept of Laws to him before continuing. 'Interesting…' Changmao thought, but he sat that matter aside, he could think about that later.
"Anyways, after another thousand years my Dynasty's Sky and Earth were finished. And I went to gather the resources needed to create Stars, the Moon, and the Sun. I gained most by trading favors with other Dynasties. At that time, I found out about Laws and began forming my own. When I finally was finished, I gathered animals and mortal Humans from other Dynasties and brought them to mine. I helped them build the first few cities and taught them the basics of Cultivation."
"After that I disappeared and watched them, sometimes playing a talented Cultivator to help them. The Initial Population of a few thousand became hundreds of thousands and then Millions. Many became Cultivators and the first Sects were established. Four thousand years later the first Cultivators became Lords and the population had reached Billions. Around the same time beasts that reached the Lord Realm too appeared. That was when I returned and began establishing my Rule, I decimated the Beasts and founded my Capital."
"Time passed again, and the first Archon appeared. I personally taught him when he was still a Lord, and he became my closest Friend. More and more Cultivators reached the Archon Realm, many without my help. One thousand years ago my Dynasty had a total of forty-two Archon Realm Cultivators." "Forty-two Archons?!" Changmao was shocked, he thought Archons were rare, but for her Dynasty to have so many! "Yes, forty-two Archons. Back then I thought my Dynasty was blessed by the Heavens for having so many talented Cultivators…"
"Of those forty-two I personally taught only five, that is what brought my Dynasty's downfall. Many of the Archons didn't want to accept my Rule and they decided to fight me. While I was cultivating in Seclusion, they assassinated those I taught personally before assaulting me. I was unprepared and my mind was broken a bit by the loss of those closest to me."
"They soon had me defend, the Dynasty was devasted, and I had to escape. I had killed halve of them. Normally they should have been Impossible, I am at the Ruler Realm after all. Do you have an idea why?" she asked, Changmao thought for a moment before answering "Does it have something to do with that you formed your Law in the Ruler Realm?" "Exactly. As I tould you, one needs to form their Law in the Archon Realm for a complete Ruler Realm. I didn't know that and simple advanced. You probably think my Aura is Similar to a Ruler but isn't, right?" "Yes" "If you want to say so, I am simply a stronger Archon with a weak Law."
"So, I fled and began hiding as a mortal. At first, I wanted to wait till they no longer expected me and then reclaim my Dynasty, but the longer I hid the less I wanted to Rule again. I watched with sadness how my once beautiful Dynasty fell apart and how the Archons destroyed even more in their internal struggles." She paused a last time.
"That was this once Grand Dynasty's Story." Her words were filled with incredible sadness.
The Fiery Storm she had formed had begun sealing the holes in the Sky and condensed to a small Sun.
"Thank you for doing what I couldn't, I am forever indebted to you, Archon Shi." She finished her tale; a single tear left her eye.
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As a side note, a Dynasty is always named after it's Ruler's Law. Green Lightning Law => Green Lightning Dynasty, White Cloud Law => White Cloud Dynasty, Fiery Storm Law => Fiery Storm Dynasty
Another thing, Shi Changmao and Wang Lei are Chinese names, so everyone will address them by some title + Shi and Wang respectively, other than family members.