On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

“The time has come.” Luo Jiahao declared, running a hand down his cheek, fingers feeling the barely healed burn scars that streaked his face, disfiguring him. The robes he wore, the ceremonial dress that marked him as the Patriarch of a Sect second only to the Five Great Sects, was likewise burned around the hem and sleeves, and was stiff with dirt. Such an affront to my dignity. But what does that matter now? My son is dead, my daughter too. Our prodigy and the twins perished also, leading to this ruin. All that remans is the dregs and the regrets…

Showing none of that on his face, remaining expressionless, he spoke to the other man on the deck of the vessel with him, a man who had no history of Cultivation, no honourable legacy, but was now working a ward that would have left the lost Masters of Kunlun proud, most likely. “How long can you continue shrouding us in fog? You look exhausted, Wen Qiang. Your face is sallow and haggard.”

The man laughed bitterly. “Exhausted? I have gone beyond any reason. The mist blessed by Lóng Teng, Dragon of Obscuration, stealthy hunter, shields us from all detection, rendering both light and sound helpless. But…” the man grimaced, his once-handsome face hollow, eyes shadowed by dark rings of fatigue. “… outside the Otherworld, I can merely use it to hide myself and a handful of others. To use it here, on this scale…” he coughed, and a little blood ran down his chin. With one arm he swept out a gesture, revealing the shadows of smaller vessels in the fog surrounding them. “… well, it wouldn’t be possible without that.”

That indeed. A description befitting it. His gaze went to below decks, where the gift, no, a curse they had received was waiting below. I set the members of Diamond Mountain Sect to guard it, as they have a Formation Plate that detects instability, chaos… but… “You’ve done grand work, Qiang.” He used his first name, feeling a little affection for the man, even though he wasn’t a Cultivator, and thus should have been beneath his notice. Well, I am a Cultivator with barely a member of my Sect surviving. And there is no path to me joining another, even were I to consider lowering myself. May the Party copulate with dogs, and the Sects that betrayed us suffer eternally in the lowest depths of the Eighteen Hells. “Soon you can rest.”

“Soon.” The man agreed. “Though first I need to obscure the ground forces to reach our goal.” His face twisted into an expression of hatred. “Kyoto.” He spat. “I’d rather attack Tokyo, we could kill far more Japanese vermin that way.”

I don’t understand his hatred. But I suppose I will use it. “I would rather have died fighting to the last man against those who betrayed us. That would be a fitting vengeance. But that option was closed to us.”

Qiang shuddered, shaking his head, glazed eyes full of madness, the sort Luo Jiahao recognised, as it had mirrored his own, as he fought against the inevitable, his son killed by that bitch from the Emerald Lotus, his daughter overwhelmed, dragged down and shot by the dogs of the government. But now my rage has cooled, and only ashes and embers remain. Vengeance is all that I wish for, but the… creature… that held out the hand of salvation was far more vile than any demon or devil. Rather than be consumed, I would rather… “I understand the goal. Cause chaos in Japan and it will be seen as an act of Chinese aggression, perhaps even sparking war. If that was the case though, attacking a more powerful country, such as the United States of America, that would work better, no?”

“Perhaps. But many countless years of unavenged dead cry out for this.” Qiang laughed. “You in your hidden villages, knowing nothing of the world, you were untouched by the War of Resistance to Japan, the crimes that the Japanese perpetrated against our innocent people. Well, now the time has come for their pain to return to them a hundredfold, karma always finds a way.” His madness diminished then, and he just looked tired. “Besides, you know… we have no choice. I have no wish to die that way, like the others. It wants us to go to Kyoto. There are a number of souls it wishes for its own.” He shuddered. Even as he did so, shrinking in on himself, one of the ships peeled away from the shrouded flotilla, a small warship, a Renhai-class, Type 055 Destroyer, he had called it earlier. The silvery-blue fog still trailed it, but it was already starting to dissipate as it left the protection Qiang was radiating.

“Yes. I know that. To think we risked everything, joining with the Incorruptible Jade, to try and silence the eyes of the Party, only to have it replaced by a far crueller single eye that sees all, with far more reach and clarity. And what it sees, it wishes to eat.” Luo Jiahao shook his head, sickened by it all. Perhaps… no, I can’t end my life. Or else I’ll be… his hand went to his chest. “So, how long will the obscurement last on the ship?” he changed the subject, unwilling to dwell on the likely fate of them all.

“Long enough. An hour, maybe. With the power I have been wielding…”

One hour. That vessel is fast, far swifter than the hulking barge we wallow on here. We should be far enough apart for this to work… “Well, we likely will never see them again.”

“It is not a suicide mission.” Qiang declared. “No more than ours. Yes, many of us could die, but we have the element of surprise, and many trump cards. And our power, fuelled by that…” he shuddered, a little more blood trickling down his chin. “We can cause havoc, draw the hated Japanese and the treacherous Party that rules our blessed homeland into battle, leading them to kill each other. When a dragon and a tiger fight, a monkey can then snatch the spoils.”

“Sadly, the spoils will go to our new master.” He sighed. Yes, though we may survive this, if we return, what is there for us? I have no trust for that thing, it’s too greedy, too… eager. No, at best another mission, seeking out more food. At worst… we become food. He wasn’t blinded by hatred enough to look away from the truth. Even so, if I must perish, revenge will keep me warm in whatever cold oblivion I end in…

“I am going to see Yao Chun. It’s time for her to work soon. Can I leave this to you?”

Qiang nodded, eyes bloodshot. “Not much further now. Then it is up to the others, and you Cultivators.” He sneered, unimpressed, and Luo Jiahao had to swallow his anger. Well, compared to the Sects, these so-called Favoured of the Heavens exhibit great powers. Wei Feng was the same. A great loss… perhaps he could have reached Golden Core one day, or even the realm of the Saints of Kunlun…

Passing by groups of soldiers who had rebelled with them, he noticed that many of them were nervous. As well they might be. After all… No, there was no use thinking about that black-hearted bastard who was with them, and his cursed power. Passing by the ordinance and vehicles stored on board, he found the woman Yao Chun, stuffing her face with what little rations they had on the ship, crumbs everywhere. When she saw him, she frowned for a moment, before standing and brushing the debris off her yellow dress, her flabby body straining at the cloth.

“Chun’er…” he managed, proud of himself by using an endearment with such a corpulent, greedy woman. “It’s time. We’ll be making landfall shortly.” I still can’t believe a woman as mercenary as her would rebel. No, I suppose it makes sense, considering she was being forced to labour for others, something the selfish woman would surely despise… well, now her greed has her trapped here with us. Greed. Lust. Wrath. Pride. Many sins bind us to this fate. However, vengeance is the purest of all motives.

“Oh. I see. Do pardon me.” She managed haughtily. “I was just… well, it takes a lot of power to channel the blessing of the legendary thief, you know. Ohohoho.” She laughed, but it was false, and painful to listen to.

“I can imagine.” He agreed. “Well, with the extra power you are granted, you can do it, right?”

“Of course. Have you chosen the lucky few?” she smiled, her jowls and cheeks rippling.

“Ling’er is ready to take care of it. Without her, this wouldn’t be possible.”

As soon as he said Ling’er’s name, the fat woman frowned, her expression grim. “Really. Her again? How displeasing. She is nothing but a peasant-born. As a man of good breeding, you should understand that, no? Really, the Party has no idea what makes a country great. My family was wealthy and influential long before the Revolution. A sad state of affairs. Well, perhaps this will serve them right. They’ll never be able to explain away our acts here.” she grinned maliciously, like an overweight crocodile.

“Indeed.” Privately, his thoughts were full of contempt for the woman. Her bloodline was trivial, secular power was nothing compared to wresting power from the Heavens and the Earth. Still, we need her. Taking a deep breath, he looked out, seeing more of the vessels had peeled away, heading for their decoy destinations. The shoreline was approaching, barren and uninviting, and it would be landfall shortly. It should work now. Ling’er is capable, and her ability is a treasure. One my Sect would be more than happy to take. Even though she is not a Cultivator, I might have even proposed allowing my son to take her as a concubine. My son…

“Well, time to show your true talents, just like always.” He cajoled her, and after some more transparent flattery that the stupid woman ate up, she began to work, and Lou Jiahao had to admit it was wonderful.

“Very well then. To the other side with you. What is yours is now mine, as it was always meant to be!” she declared, and with that, the box of rocket-propelled grenades she was sitting on shimmered with a rainbow glow, before vanishing.

“Oh, that is always so tiring.” She declared, mopping at her brows. “And such a waste. With the extra strength I have been granted, I should be stealing vaults of gold, antiques, money.”

There are always some idiots who can’t see the danger below, only the treats above. Such a fool. But a needed one. “Well, Kyoto is a land of much cultural heritage. Why, I hear they have a temple made of solid gold there.”

“Gold you say? Perhaps… well, I am sure a little detour couldn’t hurt.” Her face displaying her greed, she repeated her incantations, vanishing boxes of rifles, ammunition, and even a helicopter and some other heavy vehicles. “Now I need to rest. Stealing all of this away to that place is very exhausting. Oh, I need more food. The dining on this crude vessel is so unbecoming of me…”

Leaving her to her complaining, Luo Jiahao thanked her, before heading below decks, where the core of their forces waited, as well as it…

********

“See anything yet?” the Captain asked for seemingly the hundredth time.

“Nothing yet, captain.” The officer answered, still hunched over the instruments. “Radar, sonar, optical, all clear. Though a little fog seems to have billowed up out of nowhere. I do have a few hits, but they are all offering IFF as friendly, and are vessels from the Coastguard or JSDF on their projected patrol routes.”

“I see.” The captain sighed, clutching at his warm mug of coffee. At home, off duty, he preferred tea, but on long patrol schedules, the extra effects of the coffee was vital. “Damn, I can’t believe the whole Coastguard is out in force, as well as every ship the JSDF can muster.”

“About that, Captain…” another staffer said. “… it seems a lot of fuss over nothing. If we were after some smugglers from North Korea like usual, or perhaps some Chinese spies, aren’t we in the wrong place?”

“Well, intelligence is that Kyoto is a likely destination. If I knew more, I’d share. Just… be wary, all right?” I do know more. Chinese deserters, in fully-armed ships. It’s unlikely they’d risk an international incident firing on Japanese vessels, but I wouldn’t put anything past those damn Chinese. The captain wasn’t very fond of the neighbouring countries, having seen too much in his time serving about the Shikishima. “The minute we get something not on the projections, broadcast on the designated frequencies and also send up flares.”

“Flares too. Man, this is really serious.” The officer on duty stifled a yawn. “Do you think we’ll get rotated out soon? I miss my fiancée.”

“Oh, you and your talk about Keiko-chan!” one man laughed, and several others joined in. “We’ve heard so much about her, we should get an invite to the wedding!”

“You’re all just jealous you don’t have an angel like Keiko to…” he began, before falling silent.

“What’s up?” the Captain asked, suddenly nervous. Probably another false alarm though. What are the chances of us being the ones to run into them?

“It’s probably nothing, but for a moment we got pings on the radar. A fairly big one… but it’s gone… no, wait, there it is again…”

“Holy shit!” one man said, pointing out of the viewport. “Is that… a warship?”

“Pings indicate a vessel almost on top of us, at a size… length one hundred and eighty metres… no IFF match. It’s not one of ours…” the officer said, panicked.

“Send the message, shoot the flares.” The Captain ordered. “If it’s a false alarm, better that than…” he began, only for the strange vessel that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere to turn towards them.

“Image match, sir.” One man ran up to him. “It’s a Renhai-class Destroyer, from the Chinese North Sea Fleet. Designation…” his words were drowned out as the ship rocked, explosions shuddering the smaller vessel. People were thrown about, and the Captain staggered to his feet, cap lost, blood running down his face where the impact on the console had sliced him open. “Fuck those Chinese dogs. Firing on us without an exchange of threats or greetings. Do they want to start a fucking war?”

“Captain, what should…” the ship rocked again, and plumes of orange flames were visible, the hull torn apart, the back section of the ship sliding clear, cold ocean water rushing in, where the Destroyer had fired a ship-to-ship missile, scoring a direct hit.

“Fire back you idiots! We have 35mm Autocannons, don’t we?” he roared. “And get the ‘copters up. Radio, any contact with the JSDF or nearby vessels?”

“We had a brief acknowledgement, but I think that hit took out some of our comms array.” The officer sighed. A ball of bright fire lit the sky as the first helicopter to take off was struck down by a ship-to-air missile, the pilot killed instantly. As everyone watched in horror, the Shikishima began to return fire.

“So, when can we expect reinforcements?” the Captain asked, retrieving his cap. “Unless it’s in the next few seconds… shit.”

“No sir. Soon, they promise, but apparently there are other sudden sightings too. That’s all I got.”

“Well, I feel sorry for Keiko-chan. At least she won’t be a widow, since you never made the wedding…” the Captain managed to joke, looking down to see that his uniform had been soiled by spilled coffee. How irritating. I wanted to go out impeccably dressed… his thoughts were silenced by a missile that tore through the command centre of the Shikishima, snuffing out the lives of the remaining crew in a flash…

********

As Luo Jiahao walked through the dimly-lit bowels of the tanker they were using as a base, he bit down a sigh at some of the sights he saw. There were bodies stacked up, some in quite terrible disrepair, and the slow voyage at sea had done them no favours, rot starting to set in. On the heads of each body was a paper talisman, making the corpses look like silent jiāngshī.That damn necromancer will want that fat buffoon Yao Chun to move them to the other side for him. I don’t know what help they’ll be, but…

The Talismans were superficially similar to those from Cultivation, but while he wasn’t an expert in that particular one of the Six Great Noble Pursuits, he knew enough to know they were likely merely affectations, a play by the man that scared him most amongst the rebels. He is almost as terrifying as that creature… both promise that even death is no release from torment or slavery…

Putting that aside, he journeyed deeper into the vessel, passing groups of soldiers, Sect disciples, and even some of the Chosen of the Heavens that were forced to come on this mission, hounded by the Party, caught and… enslaved… by it. There were other beings there too, ones that were far from human, though they had forms that could easily pass for human now, barring a few superficial differences. One group, a huddled mob of perhaps twenty young men and women, only with deep blue and green hair and matching eyes, looked at him warily as he passed.

Well, I can do nothing for them. They act for saving others, not vengeance. Perhaps it is a nobler reason than mine, but even so… they must spill blood. None of us have any choices now.

Opening the door to the room where that was, Luo Jiahao could instantly feel the wrongness of it, the touch on his soul that pained him. Even so, were I to Cultivate here, with it, I believe I might finally reach Foundation Realm at last. Not that I have such time… his eyes flickered over to the transparent blob of quivering jelly-like flesh, yellowing bones sticking out of it like swords. It seemed almost to peer back at him, and he fought the urge to vomit. Turning away, he shook his head, turning to greet an old friend, the Master of Diamond Mountain, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, a young woman, looking like the sort of average girl one could find anywhere, and a green-haired, handsome youth with shocking blue eyes, beside him, hunched over a plate of jade and obsidian, from which he could feel the Qi from, even here.

“Old Jia, is it time then?” his friend, Lin Ming asked, his eyes too drawn to the pulsating mass.

“Any minute now.” he sighed. “We should be making landfall. Then it is work for the Chosen of the Heavens.”

“Such powers they wield, yet a sorry state they end up in.” Lin Ming stroked at his small, neatly trimmed moustache, his dark eyes sorrowful. “Were all these powers to have come to us, the Sects…” he trailed off, seeing the look his friend was giving him. “My apologies. That was unkind of me. I forgot your young prodigy was one so gifted.”

“Even the most prodigious can fail, when fate and the Heavens wills it.” Luo Jiahao said piously. “So, the Formation Plate, has there been any change?”

“No, Old Jia. It is all as before.” He sighed. “To think that the treasured Plate that one of our forebears was carrying the day Kunlun vanished, a secret that Diamond Mountain has kept hidden all these many centuries, lest other more powerful Sects rob us, would be usable now.” he nodded at the two who were placing their hands upon the dish-sized circular plate, channelling Qi. “With yin from the Chosen of the Heavens here…” he nodded at the girl. “And Yang from our… friend…” he gestured to the green-haired creature, who was only in the guise of a human.

“As chief of the Renyu of the Eastern Seas…” the creature began, and for a moment one could almost see silvery scales and a fish-tail, but it was merely an illusion. “… I… we have no choice but to fight.” Hands still on the Plate, he glared at the quivering flesh-lump, eyes blazing with hatred, as wrathful as the stormy oceans. “Our children, our youths, our elderly… all are in its hands. If we do not serve it, our race will end, devoured. Many creatures of the deeps have yielded. With its power, we can walk this world as we used to, but…”

“In the end, you are relying on the mercy of a creature that has none.” Lin Ming answered for them. “Not that we have any choice. But the Yin-Yang Karmic Desolation Measure Formation makes grim viewing.” He sighed, pointing to the ring of small, almost unseen stones of clear crystal that dotted the obsidian inlay. “Most are lit. That signifies the world around us is becoming more corrupt, weaker.”

“Obviously it is responsible.” Luo Jiahao glowered at the lump of fleshy slime. “But what choice do we have? It was die then, or perhaps postpone our deaths a little longer, hoping for a miracle. Besides, many of us do hunger for revenge, or harbour great grudges. Dying with those unfulfilled would harm our chances of a satisfactory reincarnation in the next life.”

As he finished, the ship rocked, likely beached, making crude landfall, as the ship tilted alarmingly.

“You think here will be a next life for us, Old Jia? I think that unlikely. But we have to struggle until the end, I agree. Pack up the Plate. We need to go. So, who will carry it?”

“I shall.” Luo Jiahao declared, steeling himself and carrying the sickening lump of flesh, which weighed almost nothing, despite its size, as if it wasn’t entirely there, a shadow or an illusion. “After all, we cannot let the one who so arrogantly calls himself the Judge of Death take this.”

So many bad choices up until this point. What is one more? I myself hold no hatred for these Japanese, but I will do what I must to stay alive, and embroil the bastard sons and daughters of pigs that betrayed me and mine in a storm they cannot survive. Only then will I look to my own survival, slim though the chances of that are…

********

“Take one.” Luo Jiahao declared to the assembled group of Cultivators, Soldiers, Renyu and Heaven’s Chosen. He himself had reached in and pulled out one of the yellowing bones from the goop, only to see it shudder, another bone forming quickly to replace it. The bone sword quivered in his off-hand, pointing to the distance, and from it he could feel a disturbing hunger, and the very world around him screaming. My Qi sense may not be as strong as those who reached Foundation Realm, but I know evil when I touch it.

One by one the group reached in and took a bone. The first was the bald monk who was chosen by a God of the Earth, and was in charge of creating a hidden tomb where their bodies would slumber, in hopes of surviving this foray into an enemy country. Blade in hand, he strode to a patch of bare earth and gestured, the ground bubbling and rippling, a hole forming, soil pouring out.

One by one they came, and a group separated out, led by Wen Qiang. It was mostly fleeing PLA soldiers, and they were packed into trucks and armoured vehicles, a pair of helicopters hovering overhead. Your task is the hardest one, and your deaths almost certain. Though Wen Qiang may be able to escape through the Spiritual World, at least…

As he thought that, the fat woman Yao Chun took a blade, quivering almost as much as the blob of transparent flesh, and nearly as disgusting. She was followed by a young girl, and he smiled at her reassuringly. “Ling’er, can you do it?”

“With this strength, I can.” The young woman said, her hair pulled up into a bun, her face pale. With her dark brown eyes she looked at the bone in her hand, suppressing her feelings of disgust and urge to hurl it aside. “I shall usher everyone into the embrace of Zhōu Gōng, the Duke of Dreams, and even those unblessed shall be able to walk the world unseen for a while.”

“Good. We’re counting on you, Ling’er.” She reminds me of my poor daughter, if not in looks, in bravery and temperament. His thoughts returned to when his daughter was killed, bullet piercing her skull, killed helplessly while he could do nothing. “If…” he began. “… when we have secured and offered the lives of the targets with these hungry blades, you should see a chance, you should…”

“What should she do?” a cold voice said, and Ling’er skipped away, frightened, as the black-cloaked figure of the arrogant man who called himself the Judge of Death approached, seizing a bone blade with his pale, long hand, not even flinching as cold slime scattered. “She should do what she must. In the end all yield to death. She will make a pretty corpse. Perhaps a jiāngshī is too unworthy a fate for her.” His cowled head turned, and Ling’er trembled. “Perhaps I shall have you as a corpse bride. Your looks are not normally to my standard, but your gift is great.”

“Enough of that.” Luo Jiahao interjected, putting himself between them. “Ling’er is an important part of the mission. She needs to be focussed, not riled and frightened by your ill-chosen words.”

“My apologies. I confess to being too pleased at the prospect of adding to my forces. I have never been stronger.” His voice was quiet but powerful, cold as the grave. “Those fools tried to control me, as the foolish one-eyed eater thinks it can. But I rule death, and just as I wrested power from the CCP, I’ll defeat it too. And then take from the God that gave me this gift as well. I am no puppet. I am a law over death!”

Yes, he’s completely insane. But he is strong. Even the tales of Kunlun had no feats of necromancy such as he wields now. And if we are to triumph, we might need his powers. Though I pray we don’t… “All right then.” He declared. “Everyone has taken a bone, so we need to enter the bunker, where our Earthly bodies will be hidden, while Ling’er sends us to the Spiritual World. Then… well, may those of you who seek vengeance find it, and I pray we meet again when we wake…”

Is this the dream of a butterfly, or a man? If so, when I wake, will I be alone, or will my children and I, my Sect members taken from me, be flying on painted wings… Entering the dark cave that had been excavated, Wen Qiang leading his own force away above, Lou Jiahao glanced at the few members of Mountain Fang who remained alive, grasping firmly to the memory of his children, and of the twins, and the prodigy that fell, as well as the other faces of the dead. If a butterfly flaps its wings, can it raise a typhoon elsewhere? If so, I pray that typhoon destroys the corrupt new rulers of my country, and sweeps that vile creature out far, far away, to the hells it belongs in…

Closing his eyes, he felt a touch of Qi upon him, gentle and wistful, and then he opened his eyes to a world of shimmering silver skies and glittering stone, the blob in his hand now opening a number of orifices, lined with sharp yellowing fangs, mewling hungrily, tongues of transparent slime forming, leaking vile drool. The gentle Qi was replaced with a surge of dark, dirty Qi, fuelling his anger, his hunger, and with that, he gave the order.

“Advance. Feed our new master, feed it until even that is sated!”