Skyfire Avenue - Chapter 873

Chapter 873

Chapter 873: Fire With Fire

Such a powerful aura! Such powerful protogenia! Once the six avatars joined it wasn’t so simple as adding up the sum of their parts . This new creature was several orders of magnitude stronger .

This was undoubtedly a stalwart and deadly foe .

Once more they were faced with a stalemate . Lan Jue blanched to think that if the Princess were still alive they would be doomed . He and Qianlin fought back against this new monster, empowered by the Harmonious Swords and the Boundless Starlight Domain that surrounded them .

Pandemonium prevailed . Neither side could find an advantage yet . On the face of it humanity had the numbers, but each alien attacker was more than their match on an individual level . Whether numbers or strength would prevail, was as yet impossible to determine .

Chu Cheng arrived on the scene a short time after Hua Li . He came to the Terminator’s aid and helped equalize their footing .

ξ

Middle Heaven .

A strange sphere had been carved out of part of the bastion’s bridge . It was what was left after the Photographer teleported the enemy into space, a prompt decision that saved the ship from destruction .

The Prince and his monsters were after the swords, but they would not have given up an opportunity to destroy Middle Heaven . This ship, more than any other, was responsible for the deaths of countless alien warriors . Destroying it would make their battle against the humans far easier .

Flows of energy wafted around a room at the edge of the damaged section . Lan Qing knelt therein, surrounded by a turquoise light .

Li Ke had begun the process of transferring control of Ultus the moment they left the others . It was a ceremony of acceptance – first, of Lan Qing as the sword’s master, then for himself as the spirit of the weapon . In this way he would remain, his soul a part of the weapon so long as Lan Qing wielded it .

In a way, he had to be the one to accept Lan Qing . But the process was not going smoothly .

Lan Qing’s qualifications were solid . He was strong, and his inheritance was a vestige of the old world . However, the root of his powers rested in Buddhism . The Banishing Blades were the tools of Daoist masters, and the benevolence inherent in Vairochana’s legacy did not meld well with Ultus’ keen and cutting nature .

Lan Qing sat cross-legged on the floor with hands folded before him . Resting in the center of his core was the figure of a miniature Buddha, none other than Vairochana . Ultus hovered in the air across from the admiral .

Some part of the Buddha was rejecting Ultus, nor was the power of Ultus respectful of the legacy it was faced against . As one of the greatest weapons in the Daoist arsenal, one could imagine the arrogance a Banishing Blade might possess .

Even after years as the weapon’s master, Li Ke never truly earned the weapon’s acceptance . The reason was simple – he was never strong enough . Lan Qing did not face that problem, and instead it became a difference of ideals .

Buddhism also required the protection of its dharma! Lan Qing meditated on this as he looked past Ultus’ bloodthirst, past its cutting aura . But the blade struggled for it would accept the light of Vairochana . Neither side gave ground .

If Lan Qing had not already been a Paragon perhaps the process would have been easier . After all, he had not accepted the lineage of Vairochana until after his breakthrough . Yet it was lucky that he was already so strong, for the dangers of the sword were minimal to a Paragon .

 All he needed was time to resolve their differences . After all, he just inherited the Buddha’s legacy, he wasn’t Vairochana himself .

Back in the days when Celestial Master Tongtian was bearer of the swords he was captured by Dipankara Buddha . Ever since the Banishing Blades – and especially Ultus – were suspicious of Buddhist faith .

Lan Qing and the will of the sword continued to clash, working through their differences .

Li Ke stood to the side . His body ebbed and flowed with the energies that Ultus output, and anxiety was writ on his ghostly face . If this failed and Lan Qing was not accepted by Ultus, then his soul would be expelled . He would die a final death, and the seal that sustained him would burn away .

He had thought, while searching among the Paragons, that Lan Qing would be suitable . He hadn’t expected to encounter this problem . No matter how rushed or how desperate he was, though, he had to give them time . All that could be done was wait for Lan Qing to be accepted .

The minutes ticked by, and inch by inch the golden light from within him stretched out . Whatever conflict constricted his essence loosened its grip . Part of the test to become the master of Ultus was to suffer its essence . For what master could wield a weapon he could not control? Lan Qing began to understand the weapon the longer he struggled against it .  

The Eastern admiral was aware of the sneak attack by the aliens even though he couldn’t help . He felt the danger but continued to meditate because he knew rushing would solve nothing . Breaking off this process before it was complete could result in a backlash from Ultus that could threaten his life . It would at least injure him severely . Only once he had joined with Ultus and was accepted as its new master could he lend his strength to the fight .

So he focused all of his keen mind and willing spirit on becoming the next bearer of Ultus .

Lan Qing was not only wise but persistent, even stubborn . Tendrils of light reached out around him, crystalline cyan streamers of luminescence that seeped from his every pore . They were met with an equal number of threads from Ultus .

Once he saw this Li Ke finally heaved a sigh of relief . The Banishing Blade was beginning to compromise .

Eventually Ultus discovered it could not dissuade Lan Qing of his truth, and it's only option was to submit . It was a weapon of the gods and had the pride to prove it but even so the sword was possessed of only a rudimentary will . It may not agree with Lan Qing’s lineage, but it needed a strong arm to wield it .

Li Ke wondered whether this mighty weapon and Lan Qing coming together wasn’t the best of both worlds . Perhaps the peace of Buddhist faith could allay the dangers of Ultus’ sharpness .

When Li Ke came to possess the sword he was already lauded as a once-in-a-generation Talent . He did not take precautions, accepted risks in order to gain quick success . How was Ultus any different? As he took and overcome these risks again and again, an abiding arrogance grew in his heart . His shortcuts were eventually his undoing .

He looked at Lan Qing, seated stoically like a bodhisattva . He knew, however, that the admiral’s body was enduring a world of suffering just below the surface .

The elder Lan had been caught in the chaos of war since breaking through to Paragon . He’d wracked his brain every day and night, using everything at his disposal to combat destruction at the hands of the aliens . He’d been blessed with a string of shining successes . Using only three bastions and twelve fleets he’d continued to punish the vastly superior enemy force . At every step he’d been pitted against a foe just as smart as he who had a sordid history of outmaneuvering human leaders .

It was to be expected that the speed of his cultivation would be affected by his change in focus . Since breaking through he’d stayed more or less the same, a Reflection of Heaven and Earth . He hadn’t even had time to deeply explore the truths of his protogenia .

Lan Qing felt the power of Ultus enter him like a hundred thousand daggers . It was a universe of agony that assailed him body and mind, testing his will . Lan Qing resisted by sitting quietly in the light of Vairochana .

But the mightiest weapon under heaven was not so easily repelled . Ultus’ deadly power was focused not on Lan Qing’s body, but his very soul . He felt every excruciating incision carving him apart as Ultus continued to fill him with its power .

Lan Qing grit his teeth and bore it . At the same time he focused his beleaguered mind on the sword’s secrets .

What he discovered was that the sword did not disagree with him . On the contrary, it was Lan Qing who could not accept the method Ultus chose to join their minds . Domination, not submission… Ultus was trying to control him .

If Lan Qing had not been a Paragon he would not have sensed it, the feeling was faint and ambiguous . He realized Li Ke must have experienced this, and was influenced by the creeping authority of the sword .

Lan Jue, Zhou Qianlin and the Pharmacist had not faced this trial when joining with their swords . This struggle was unique to Ultus . Submit? Lan Qing would not allow it!

Giving in was not part of the admiral’s nature . How could he give in to a tool? He knew that once he conceded to the will of the sword his spirit would begin to come under its rule . He would not have the means or right to summon Ultus’ true power .

So he endured, despite the pain . No matter how cruel or vicious Ultus’ attack on his soul he had to persevere . With Vairochana firmly set in the center of his Core, armed with his knowledge of protogenia, guided by the Buddhas of the Three Times, he did not retreat . He experienced, he understood, and he adapted .