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Chapter 40: BETTING MAN
🕑 Added 2024-10-11 23:30:12 +0000 UTCCHAPTER
40
BETTING MAN
JIEYUAN
—∞—
Jieyuan’s house back in the Outer Court was small and devoid of everything beyond the barest basics. The same couldn’t be said for the suite he was assigned in the Gleaming Stone Palace. It was on the topmost floor of the palace’s residential wing, and it came with three rooms. One for meditation, plus a bedroom and a bathroom. The last two were mostly unnecessary, what with Void Communion and cleansing ring, but were there to appeal to cultivators who liked their creature comforts. Meiyao, Daojue, Yongyi, and Yuyan had all been assigned similar suits on the same floor.
Each of the three rooms of his suite was large and luxuriously furnished and decorated. Rugs on the floor, designs on the walls, all of which featuring geometric shapes reminiscent of gemstones, and ornate furniture with precious stones embedded in their wooden frames. It was all very palatial—it seemed that whoever had designed the suites had stayed true to the meaning of palace.
Jieyuan was no stranger to this level of luxury. Back in the Haoyujin Compounds, Jieyuan’s rooms had been even more sumptuous. But he hadn’t cared much for it then—he’d hardly spent any time in his rooms, too busy with his lessons and training—and he certainly didn’t care for it now. As a cultivator, even a roof over his head was optional.
He did appreciate the view, though. In the bedroom, there was a large, circular window, about as tall as he was, facing the Radiant Gold Palace, with a perfect view of the Second City and the First Wall Beyond it. The window was sunken into the wall, creating a niche around it. Jieyuan sat on it, sprawled along its frame, the heavy silk curtains drawn back.
It was dusk, nightfall inbound, the sky cast in dying red hues. It was his first time seeing the Second City from this angle. Despite the lofty position the Haoyujin held among the mundanes because of their ties to the Radiant Gold Sect, their compounds had been in the Fourth City. The Second City, on the other hand, was mostly inhabited by cultivators—mostly unbound cultivators, those not bound to a specific cabal—and that showed. The buildings here, for the most part, diverged from the blocky, angular standards set by the Radiant Gold Sect. Brighter colors, smoother lines, exotic gardens. Some cabal cultivators also had residences here. Palace cultivators, mostly, but also some who lived in the seat.
Most of all, though, Jieyuan found his gaze drawn to the Viridian Dome. He could see it clearly from here, looming far behind the Radiant Gold Palace, but big enough that even from this far away it still seemed swallowed view. Many of the mountains in the Gleaming Stone Mountains were taller than it, some many times over, the Dome spanned a much greater area. He’d spent the afternoon cultivating, and he was giving himself a little break now, his mind still overly sensitive, like a raw nerve, from the imbuing session he’d just subjected himself to.
The sight of the Dome was something everyone living in Radiant Gold City got used to. It was just there, for the most part. So much so that to those who’d been born in Radiant Gold City, the Viridian Dome was perfectly natural. Taken for granted, even, like some common fixture of the land. The sky above, the ground below, and the Viridian Dome—the Viridian Death Forest—off in the distance.
Jieyuan could count on one hand the number of times he’d really paid attention to it in the past. The times he’d come to a stop, looked at it, and wondered where it’d come from, why it was there, and what was inside it. To begin with, he wasn’t often given to contemplation—not unless there was a purpose to it, not unless it led him somewhere. And back then, pondering the Viridian Death Forest wouldn’t amount to anything.
Now, though. Now that wasn’t quite the case anymore. The Viridian Death Forest was clearly important. He’d known so even as a mundane—what with the rumors of the numerous yellowsouls it’d claimed—but now, as a cultivator, he had a better idea of just how abnormal it was. Abnormal like the Gleamstone Valley and the Fatebloom Woods.
What do you think? I’ve already got the Gleamstone Valley and the Fatebloom Woods down. Will we make it three for three? What are the odds we don’t, actually? Last time, Daojue mysteriously led us to Protector Yuanzhi’s cave. Something similar could happen this time around. Maybe this time around it’ll be Meiyao who does it.
Maeva came to a stop in front of the window, right beside him. Jieyuan could see her faint reflection in the glass pane. “Well, for starters, correlation doesn’t—”
Correlation isn’t causation, I know, he thought back. He wasn’t speaking out loud—he didn’t trust others weren’t listening in on the room—communicating with Maeva much like how he talked with Huaxin. It wouldn’t do to have others wondering why he was talking to himself. But I think I’m onto something here. If you want to quote sayings, then how about, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong?” And let’s not forget Huaxin’s ominous feelings regarding the Dome.
“Have it your way.” She leaned forward, bending over, propping her chin on his shoulder. Her hair brushed his ear. He could smell her floral shampoo. Her eyes were on the Viridian Dome, much like his. “Let’s say you’re right, then. What do you want to do about it? What do you think you can do about it? Do you want to somehow avoid going into the Viridian Dome?”
No. He wouldn’t deny he felt a tad apprehensive about the possibility of going inside it, when so many yellowsouls had entered it to never return, but if that’s where Meiyao or Daojue led him, that’s where he was going. That was the choice he’d made all those months ago. Where they went, he’d follow, come what may. He was all for taking risks. Danger and opportunity walked hand in hand. If anything, the prospect of finding out just what lay on the other side of the Dome filled him with a tense, wary sort of excitement.
What I’m trying to figure out isn’t how to avoid it, but how to make the best out of the situation, in case it turns out I’m right. How to best take advantage of the situation. How to best increase my odds of making it through.
“Preparations, then. That’s what you’re after.”
Exactly.
Maeva pulled back. He heard the sound of her sandals tapping softly on the floor as she resumed pacing around the room. “Let’s see…You’ve got quite the sum of shards. Let’s assume you’re wrong, and you end up going to the Howling Lightning Sect as planned after the Summit. You should be reaching Orangesoul by the end of the year—next year, at the latest—which would then render all of your current red prisms mostly useless. So you might as well spend it now. Nothing you buy now will be worth anything as an Orangesoul, but if something does happen, having a couple of talismans will come in handy.”
Jieyuan nodded along. I should also get a new weapon. One at least at sixth-sign Redsoul.
Maeva hummed agreement. “Now, there are fifteen days left until the start of the Summit, but the tournament’s only five days into it, and the tournament itself lasts nine days. That means you’ve got pretty much an entire month you’ve got left until the Summit ends. You should be able to advance to fourth-sign Redsoul by then, at your current rate.”
Jieyuan ran the numbers in his head. Twenty days… Actually, I might be able to do it before the tournament starts. That’d mean spending almost all of my time either imbuing or harvesting chroma if I want to keep my soulprism topped, but I think I can do it.
He’d gotten a few imbuing sessions in after breaking through to third-sign back in the Gleamstone Valley, but he’d stopped imbuing after Weiming’s ambush. He reckoned he could still break through before the start of the tournament.
“Why? Your performance at the Summit doesn’t matter. All that matters is your heavenly affinity.”
I know, Jieyuan thought back. But I want to try, anyway. And there’s no guarantee that if something does happen, it’ll be at the end of the Summit. So the sooner I get to fourth-sign, the better.
Maeva stopped pacing, again right behind in, and in her faint reflection he could see her raised brow. “You just want to have a fighting chance against the sixth-sign redsouls participating, don’t you?”
Jieyuan smiled. Guilty as charged. I’m not wrong, though. The sooner the better.
“You aren’t.” Maeva had never had any compunctions about conceding the point. “So that’s the plan? Get to fourth-sign, empty your pockets, and hope for the best?”
Jieyuan shrugged. Something like that. I’ll see if I can find something on the Viridian Death Forest, but I don’t reckon there’s much on the subject out there. The Viridian Death Cult should know it best, but between focusing on my cultivation and going through the trouble of somehow getting information out of them, I’d say the former’s more important.
He turned away from the window, facing Maeva. She was still standing in place. Leaving the palace more than strictly necessary probably isn’t that good an idea, either, what with the Geshihan and Fusongshi Clans and their conspiracy. The palace here is crawling with Liangshibai, so it should be safe—or at least safer than outside.
He hopped off the niche, standing up, and glanced back out the window one last time, back at the Viridian Dome. My short-term plans are straightforward enough, I think. Surviving till the end of the tournament and then going to the Howling Lightning Sect with Meiyao and Daojue. All the while keeping in mind the possibility of a detour in the Viridian Death Forest—and preparing for it.
“Seems like you’ve got it all figured out. Is there anything you need me for?”
Couldn’t I have just summoned you for the pleasure of your company? He put on an offended look, but he didn’t manage to hold onto it for long, a smile slipping out. All right. Did my unconscious cook up any new ideas for either Absolute Will Command or the Fatebloom Heart? Those two were his biggest advantages at the moment, what really set him apart from everyone else.
“Nothing on Absolute Will Command.” Maeva went back to pacing. “Only what we’ve got so far.” She raised two fingers. “You’ve got two threats on the horizon, the Gleaming Nobles and the Viridian Death Forest. In both cases, what you’ll be facing are enemies at the peak of Redsoul—at the least. Absolute Will Command won’t help you much there. It seems best suited against targets at the same soulsign as you or lower. You can use it on those at higher at a higher soulsign, but—”
But I’d need to be tricky about it because of the resistance they can put up, and I can’t do it often because of how much chroma it takes. He still hadn’t recovered all the chroma he’d used to make Sunqiu hallucinate for just a few seconds so that he could lend a killing blow. And even then, he’d only be able to use it on a fifth-sign at the most, as he currently was. Even if he broke through, he still wouldn’t be able to affect a tenth-sign—he’d still be limited to seventh-sign targets at the most.
“Exactly. And chromal beasts seem to put up more resistance against it than humans can—or at least that was the case for gleam beasts. And chromal beasts are exactly the kind of danger you’re most likely to face in the Viridian Death Forest. In the case of high-sign beasts, you’re better off using subterfuge exclusively. Forceful Commands will just be a waste of chroma. It’s still a very powerful realmskill, not to mention versatile, especially considering you can do so much with just its first form, Absolute Mind Command. But it won’t help you much with punching above your weight. As for the Fatebloom Heart…”
Maeva frowned. “Fatebloom Regeneration is more useful, but not that big of an advantage, not unless we can figure out how exactly you recovered from near-death in the Fatebloom Woods.” She glanced down at his left hand.
Out of the Fatebloom Heart’s three prime skills, Fatebloom Regeneration had been the easiest to test. All it seemed to do was considerably increase the speed of his regeneration. That’s what he’d spent the most time experimenting with Maeva. Cuts, even deep ones, he could heal from pretty quickly, almost instantaneously. Based on their tests and what he knew of attribute scaling for higher-realm cultivators, Maeva estimated Fatebloom Regeneration raised his current regenerative rate to that of a third-sign greensoul, augmenting it by a factor of about a thousand.
Jieyuan raised his right hand, eying his little finger. Near the tip, there was a faint white line, starting just under the nail and running down to its first joint. He’d tried cutting off a chunk of it, and it’d taken him a good while to regenerate, and it hadn’t been perfect—whereas in the Fatebloom Woods, after lingering on the verge of death, he’d pretty much instantly regenerated his heart and chest. That was far beyond what Fatebloom Regeneration seemed capable of, given the tests.
“It’s still up in the air whether Fatebloom Regeneration kicks into high gear for mortal wounds, whether there’s some way to temporarily increase its potency, or whether what happened back there was something else entirely. It could also be that Fatebloom Regeneration got stronger because the Heart itself was damaged, as some kind of self-preservation mechanism,” Maeva had said back then, looking as frustrated as he’d ever seen her. It didn’t help that Huaxin had been unable to provide a clear answer on which one it was.
“Fatebloom Sacrifice, assuming we got it right and it works like we think it does, might be your most useful ability at the moment,” Maeva went on. “But we don’t know enough about it yet, so that’s not set in stone.”
Jieyuan nodded. For Fatebloom Sacrifice, Huaxin had sent all sorts of vague images and feelings for him and Maeva to puzzle over. Best as they could tell, the Fatebloom Heart produced some special kind of golden blood—Heartblood, they’d called it—which they could sacrifice through the prime skill. It produced one drop of it per month, and it could only hold one of it at a time.
From what they’d managed to figure out, sacrificing a drop of Heartblood could significantly increase the same attributes his aura augmented—mainly, strength, durability, and regeneration. When they’d managed to figure that out, the first thing that had occurred to them was that the Heart had used Fatebloom Sacrifice to heal him in the Fatebloom Woods, but the Heart had denied it, and revealed that it currently had one drop of Heartblood stored away.
They hadn’t been able to get an accurate idea of how much the increase was, but considering Fatebloom Regeneration already increased his regeneration by a factor of a thousand, it seemed promising. Something else that wasn’t clear was how long Fatebloom Sacrifice lasted, but they’d gotten the impression it was only for a short while.
He’d been tempted to test it there and then, just to figure out the details so that he could better plan around it, but what with the whole Gleaming Nobles situation and how long it’d take to produce another drop of Heartblood, he and Maeva had decided he was better off saving it for an emergency.
“And as for Fatebloom Intuition…” Maeva glanced at his chest. “We didn’t manage to figure out anything back then—as I see it, the Fatebloom Heart itself doesn’t know much about how it works—but… There’s that ominous feeling you got from the Heart, as you were looking at the Viridian Dome on your way to Radiant Gold City. That does seem to fit the bill of intuition, to me.”
Is she right? Jieyuan thought, this time focusing on Huaxin.
Huaxin sent him a tentative sort of affirmation.
Kinda right, then?
Affirmation. Firmer now—although not fully.
He nodded to Maeva. Got that?
“I did,” she said. “Ask it what exactly we’re missing.”
What she said, Jieyuan told the Heart. As far as they could tell, it shared his senses, so it could also see and hear Maeva, but for some reason, it wouldn’t reply to her directly, or even acknowledge her. He needed to pass on whatever she said first.
Huaxin sent him a series of flashes and emotions, none of which he could figure out—and he was pretty sure that he wasn’t meant to figure them out, because what they conveyed was confusion. Not just his, but from Huaxin itself. He’d gotten something similar all the other times he’d asked about Fatebloom Intuition, and also when he’d asked Huaxin how exactly it’d healed him back in the Fatebloom Woods.
“Same as usual, I see,” Maeva said. “So all you’ve got against high-sign redsouls are talismans, after all. Use Fatebloom Sacrifice if you haven’t got anything else, and hope it’s enough.” As he paused, worrying her lip for a moment. “I already know the answer, but I have to ask. Are you sure that this is what you want to do? Because you can still get out. Sneak out, go to another city, get in another cabal. You’d be going rogue, but I doubt that the Gleaming Stone Sect will try anything, and considering your heavenly affinity, all other cabals would take you in on the spot, rogue or not. As long as you just focus on cultivation, you’re pretty much guaranteed to reach Greensoul.”
Jieyuan was surprised it’d taken this long for this topic to come up. He didn’t need to think of an answer. “And I’d also be guaranteed to stop at Greensoul. What I want is Violetsoul—beyond it, even, if there’s something after it. And the only way I see I can make that happen is to take every opportunity that comes my way. If I do what everyone else is doing, I’ll end up like everyone else. Do you think Daojue and Meiyao are stopping at Greensoul? They’ve got fourth-order heavenly affinity like me, but can you imagine either of them ending up anywhere else but the top?”
He shrugged. “Maybe I’m wrong, and future greensouls are special like Meiyao and Daojue are, but I’ve always been a betting man, and I’m betting on them. And if they manage to go past their limit, I want to be there to know how they do it so that I can figure out how to do it myself.”
“And if you die?”
“Then I wouldn’t be alive to regret my choices, would I?”
Maeva only gave him one of her sad, concerned frowns, and he sighed, cutting off the Command, and she vanished. He shifted his focus inward for a moment, feeling out his mind, and found that the prospect of another imbuing session still set off alarms. He had spent most of the afternoon imbuing. He’d probably need a few more hours before he could put in another session.
Harvesting and attuning it was, then. He’d be burning through almost a prismful over the next twenty days if he wanted to break through to fourth-sign before the tournament, and it already wasn’t full yet.
He went to the meditation room, sat down on the mat, and as he was getting into Heavenly Communion, when he heard knocking sounds coming from the hallway that connected all three rooms of his suites, leading to the entrance.
Meiyao, maybe? Letting the Heavens’ presence slip away from his mind, he got up and made for the door. Opening it, he found Yiming and Yongyi. The palace head at the front, the core disciple right behind him, to the side.
“I was taking Yongyi down for some training,” Yiming said, hooking an arm over his nephew’s shoulder, pulling him in, “and I figured I’d pull you in along. What say you?”
Yongyi let himself be dragged by his uncle, looking torn between amused and resigned. Seeing them standing side by side like this, he could see the resemblance between them, but also the differences. They were about the same height, slightly shorter than him, but Yiming looked slightly older, and he had a lot more jewelry on. There were also their eyes—Yiming’s orange and Yongyi’s yellow—and their jewelry reflected that. For Yiming, it was earrings and necklaces, all of which topaz, with rings on each of his fingers. Yongyi didn’t have nearly as much jewelry on, no necklaces, but he still had several citrine studs on each ear.
Jieyuan looked between the two. He did need to fill up his soulprism, but it’d been months since he’d gotten to properly spare with someone else, or at least physically. And Yongyi... He could feel the core disciple’s gaze on him. This might be a chance to get some info on Meiyao.
“I’m in,” he said, stepping forward and closing the door behind him.
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