Cultivating Chaos 6 - Chapter 6-

Ash looked to the map, then looked to the street sign.

“I think we’re on the right road,” he said, then looked to Locke, Siu, Xiuying, and Hui. “Agent Crow had marked this place as a potential spot for us to go.

“Do we think he was being honest with us? Because there haven’t been anyone coming down this road toward us for a while.”

“That border is most likely secured one way or another,” stated Hui. “That doesn’t mean it’s secured by the other nation or this one. Nor does it mean Agent Crow was wrong, either, if they don’t want us.

“He was operating from a world view that may not be aligned with world-power world view. After all, we are unlikely to face anything on this world that could actually oppose us.

“That viewpoint is where you would warn me that I’m allowing a blind-spot through my own power, however. So while I do believe that we are a world-stopping power, I will not act as if we are a world-stopping power.”

“Yes, that’s-yes. Yes!” Xiuying said excitedly and then clapped her hands together. “I love that. That’s exactly how we should do it. I think that’ll give us the best chance to be safe while being ourselves.”

No sooner than she stopped speaking, than she through out a massive pout with her lower lip, grabbed Ash’s right arm, and hugged to it tightly.

“I’m sad that we had to leave. I was having a lot of fun,” she complained, hitting as with a puppy-dog look so severe that he felt a near physical response to fix whatever the issue was. “Ashley, your Fortune’s Chosen would really be grateful if you could find somewhere else she could have fun?”

“Of course,” he answered immediately and looked back to the map in Locke’s hands between them all. “I say we move forward, make contact, go from there. If they don’t want anything to do with us… well… I’ll ask Chunhua and the Air based Brides to fly us out of here.

“I’m sure she and Rou have already been experimenting with things after seeing airplanes and helicopters.”

“They are and have been. I also gave them more than a few books on science and the like that I found,” Locke hissed as she stared at the map. “I’m sure they could manage to fly us anywhere you wanted. The problem would immediately become that in the air we are far more susceptible to attacks that wouldn’t damage civilian’s or their infrastructure.”

Ash clicked his tongue at the very valid point.

So far the road they’d been on had been lined with buildings. Large and small it’d been a concrete and urban jungle the entirety of the way.

If they were in the air, there would be a lot fewer issues with them launching an attack directly on them.

He could just about see a wing of jets unloading missiles on them with abandon.

There was also no telling how much an explosion that they could handle in a direct hit or that they would even be as similar as the types of weapons he knew from his old life.

Relying on this world being as a mirror to his own was a bit of a blind-spot. Now that Hui the previous possibility of one he couldn’t deny it was also one.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Alright. To the border and go from there.”

Holding his hand out he quickly threw out a large amount of Qi.

He formed it a large rectangle with an interior rectangle that dangled down and hung in the center of it. Inside of that he had made chairs for everyone in very standard places.

Ash carved out windows, windshields, and a sun-roof in it that would match a vehicle and then began moving the whole thing forward at a fair rate of speed.

Through trial and error he had been getting better with keeping some parts of his Qi-Constructs solid and other parts of it malleable. Individual parts of a larger whole that could be separate and distinct.

“This is rather fun compared to running,” Siu purred from the seat next to his own. Idly crossing one leg over the other she leaned back in the seat, closed her eyes, and went still as they picked up speed.

Xiuying was still pressed up to his other side in special built chair for her, and clutching his arm.

Hui was in charge of shields right now while Locke was keeping an eye on everything.

“I think we’ll end up having to fight our way to where-ever we decide on going,” stated Tala, appearing on the floor of the cabin. She was laid out on her side and looked lovely in the rather lithe like way she held herself. “We will likely need to find an uninhabited island and build up a fortification there. Then proceed to find the portal. If we can find a nation to work out of, that would be nice. Though I don’t think it likely.”

Sighing, Ash couldn’t deny what she was saying as likely as correct.

This world was really not that different than the Realms. There would be no location at all that they could go, that wouldn’t want them to bend to another’s whims or designs.

If they did invite Ash and his people in, it was nearly a guarantee that they would want them to do them favors or the like.

“My Cuddly-Bunny Wife self is sad to harm you so,” Tala whispered and reached up to gently rub Ash’s thigh with a hand. He half expected her to slip into her overly sweet self in that moment but it didn’t happen.

She was apparently feeling overly conscious at the moment.

“Do we just give up on it for now and find somewhere in the middle of the ocean and just build an island for now?” Ash asked aloud.

“I like that idea,” Hui declared. “We could form our own nation for the time being and invite others to visit. Go from there.”

“You only don’t like the idea because you wanted to keep eating junk-food, watching TV, and playing video games. Having our own nation would make all that harder.

“Also… we’re most certainly not going to make it beyond the border. They’ve armed it on both sides. Severely.”

Ash immediately brought the vehicle to a stop.

“Locke just told me the border is heavily armed,” Ash said before anyone could ask him anything. “Seems like that island idea is the best one we’ve got. Which sucks because it’ll take the most time, too. Time I’d rather spend elsewhere.”

“I think it’s fine. We’re technically far ahead of the schedule we were originally on,” Siu interjected. “Our sentence was hundreds of years. This is nothing in comparison to that.

“Rather than flying off, I suggest we simply go into the Hall and the Manse, by the way. Then at night, we have Locke throw us out further away, then bring us back in.

“Repeatedly.

“Till we’re much closer to the shore. Then we can fly off from there. Perhaps in a week or so after they’ve given up on their search to a degree.”

Nodding his head, Ash couldn’t argue that point.

It was actually a good idea.

“Also, you owe Ghast dinner. Tonight would work well,” Siu finished as if it were the period to a sentence. “As your Fortress Realm Lord, she has a right to your time. Doubly so when you consider the fact how much she’s been working with all the magical Beasts and their peoples on your behalf.”

Ash couldn’t deny that he owed Ghast.

Nor did he miss it when she was the first to push Qi at him the moment he utilized his own.

Packing him full with Qi that wished him health, happiness, sexual joy, material posessions, and anything else that seemed that could be offered to him. All of it directed to him from her directly.

Fervently.

“Yes,” he agreed.

Their plan was set and they had their goal.

He’d start with dinner with Ghast and then move on to experimentation while he waited for their plan to begin.

There were many things he wanted to test with his Knights and how he might be able to connect to them. A lack of time had prevented him from doing any testing.

“Don’t sleep with Ghast yet,” Siu put in quickly. “I’ll drain you before you go, of course to help with that. She’ll probably turn her Dao off, as well.

“In case she doesn’t, don’t sleep with her. I know for a fact that Jia and Mei wouldn’t want that quite yet. Soon, but not yet.”

I’m pretty sure they said dinner with Ghast, not stuff Ghast like a turkey.

Then again, Siu is the newest to the group.

“Yes, my darling. No sex with Ghast yet,” Tala put in, squeezing Ash’s knee. “Soon, not yet.”

“Very soon, in fact,” Hui confirmed. “She’s almost completely solidified the Fortress Realm and the cities themselves have all been turning into cultivation centers one after another.

“Given how the Brides operate, it’d almost be supremely insulting to not bed her soon. I know we’ve curbed a lot of the benefits to being part of the brides, but there are many who prefer the older rules still and expect them to be held despite no longer being the active rules.”

Nevermind.

Cultivators are cultivators.

“To expect a tiger to be anything other than a tiger, is foolish.”

Ashe flung them all into the Hall and tried to gear himself up for his incoming dinner.

In the end though, he didn’t have to worry about it.

The dinner date didn’t happen.

Ghast got pulled into a situation between two cultivation families even before he’d finished getting ready.

***

Laughing into her hand, Xiuying leaned toward Ash, pressed her shoulder to his and looked as if she were about to burst out laughing.

They were currently watching a horror movie in the Hall.

Xiuying much to Ash’s surprise and her own, simply couldn’t handle watching them for long before having to turn away. Almost always before a jumpscare happened and squealing about it.

It was almost too adorable to Ash.

“It’s almost too hard to watch,” Tala murmured from Ash’s other side. “They’re so… stupid.”

The elegant beauty had one long leg over the other and her head was partially tilted to one side.

“It’s a common enough—”

Xiuying promptly slammed her face into Ash’s shoulder, curled toward him, and pressed her upper half against his own. A milisecond later and a monster fell off where it had been holding to the ceiling and slammed into the floor in front of the main character.

“— trope,” Ash finished with a chuckle and idly curled an arm around Xiuying.

For three weeks, they’d done nothing but build up their momentum.

That was how Ash was describing it mentally at least.

He could feel his Dao slowly becoming more and more fickle as time went on.

Inevitably it would no longer be possible to call it potential energy being built.

It’d be stagnant.

Thankfully, he’d been able to work with Ghast and Liu indirectly to expand and grow the Sheng Alliance.

From the Brides, to the Brothers, to the Knights, there was growth and expansion.

What’d been surprising to him, was Princess Ju Sheng had taken the lead for the Sheng Alliance. Leveraging it and turning all her efforts to it and how to bring it around to service the Sheng family, then the royal family, and last her brother’s realm.

Beyond that, no one had been able to contact the Emperor.

There had been no prisoner transfers and no word from the middle or upper realms.

Nor had there been anyone traveling to the lower realm, either.

Something was going on.

Given that the Emperor was failing to respond, the Brides that would’ve gone to join the Fortress realm were now staying with Gen to provide strength and assistance.

Just in case someone from the other realms appeared.

“I think it’s time,” Locke said, walking out of the nearby hallway.

Followed by Rou.

The beautiful red-haired, blue eyed Qi-Healer was dressed in this worlds clothes. Everyone was, anymore. She looked lovely and had a small smirk on her face.

As if realizing she had his full attention, she deviated away from the path she was on and walked right up to him. She leaned over the top of Xiuying who was still cowering against him, and kissed Ash.

A brief pat on the cheek and she went over to a recliner not far away.

Tala had paused the movie by this point.

“Oh? I’m glad to hear it. Did you discover anything, dear Sister?” asked the Bunny-Warrior. “Also, how are Jia, Mei, and Na?”

“Well, actually,” Rou confessed as she settled into the recliner. She looked tired, with faint dark circles around her eyes. “Very well. I even managed to get Na to wake up for a brief moment. Or… not up, but she opened her eyes.

“I’m now convinced the plague is some sort of disease that effects the upper Dantian. Infected Qi is absorbed one way or another. Cycled around through each Dantian and meridian, then settles into the upper Dantian.

“A place where no Qi-Healer, or others, should be poking around, really. Yet I felt like it was the right place to look. The Lord of Graves couldn’t look there either which only made me feel more correct.”

Rou had Ash’s full attention.

From the moment she mentioned that Na had opened her eyes.

Yawning, Rou shifted around in the recliner, her hands folding across her stomach.

“I emptied Na of the Qi in her head and blocked it from refilling,” she continued, her eyes closing. Blink by blink. “I couldn’t do it long as I didn’t want to risk anything, but it worked.

“I can more or less state that this entire issue is because there’s something in her upper Dantian that’s preventing her from cycling Qi back out. She has too much and it isn’t filtering out.

“Locke gave me more than a few medical books to peruse through and it seems similar when the body creates too much or not enough of certain of things. I don’t really understand it, though I think we should hire a few of Doctors by the way, but I feel confident that this is the issue.

“There’s something in their heads that is blocking them from cycling Qi.

“I’m going to let them sit outside of the Hall for a time and have their Qi drain naturally. Then-then go from there.”

Rou sniffed once, shifted around, then went still.

Everyone was staring at the Qi-Healer. Wondering if she would fall asleep right there or if she had more to say.

Chunhua, whom had been reading in the corner, made a small motion with her hand. Her fingers twirling at the end of it.

A small bubble appeared around Rou and encircled her. Shimmering brilliantly and settling into place.

“I’ve put a sound shield around her. It’ll also regulate the temperature around her to make sure it’s perfect for her to sleep,” Chunhua said and looked to everyone else. “She hasn’t slept much. Our poor Sister only sleeps whenever she can’t keep her eyes open anymore and then for only a few hours.”

Xiuying had pulled away from Ash by this point and gotten up. She pulled a seat over to the side of Rou’s and sat herself down in it with a thump.

“I will watch over her,” she declared with a nod of her head and a smile.

Which really settled the issue.

Because whatever Rou needed would be what would happen so long as Xiuying was watching over her.

“Yes, it’s time,” Locke said, standing beside the TV. “The news has shifted away from their “not news” and is now focusing on actual events. The number of people hovering around the area we had been in has finally fallen off.

“On top of that, the border itself has finally de-armed itself. Though the other nation involved seems quite frustrated. I’m sure there’s a great deal of politics that went into the whole situation and having it end the way it did… probably didn’t help them.”

Locke laughed, shrugged, and twisted herself to one side.

It was a very Xiuying-like gesture followed by a giggle that fit more to Tala.

“But that’s not our problem! It’s almost like they shouldn’t have been so rude to us,” continued Locke with a shrug. “It’s time though. I’ve also put together a number of suggestions for spots on the map that’d I think would be ideal.”

“After spending countless hours listening to news, reading all that you could, and eavesdropping on everyone. Likely for what would collectively be hundreds of hours,” added Hui with a snort. “You always under-state your efforts, Sister. We know you’re something akin to a deity as our beloved Husband is.

“Wouldn’t you be telling me to be boastful at this point? Be boastful, demand he touch me, reward me, and… and love me?”

Locke’s mouth was hanging open while staring at Hui.

She closed it, blinked, and looked back to Ash.

“I ordered the suggestions in what I think would be best for us as a nation. As that’s what we would be here and I think the best way to handle ourselves,” Locke continued, not addressing what Hui had said at all. “I also took into account neighboring nations, environmental concerns, weather, and what the nearby trade routes would be.”

“Locke, you’re an amazing woman,” Ash said with a smile. He honestly wasn’t sure where he’d be without her. “I assume you’ve already quite literally put together a Bridal party of all our earth movers. As well as water I imagine to peel back the ocean.

“I’ll be standing there at the center supplying Qi and direction while being a figure head, I assume?”

“Exactly so. All of that. We’ll also be broadcasting the process to the Hall and the Manse. I managed to get some broadcasting equipment that’ll let us share it with everyone here,” Locke admitted excitedly. “We’re going to record it, too. That way we can save it for later if anyone ever asks how we made our home here.

“I’ve also ah… well, I’m making recordings of everything. Everything!

“I’ve got some of the Castle, Templar, Wahst, the Lake of the Fallen Bride. If it holds importance to us, I’ve got recordings of it. Lots. I feel it’ll be helpful for people from this realm as well as help educate future generations.

“That and just in case we lose anyone. Having living memorials will be really nice, I think.”

There was a collective intensity being directed at Locke that was surprising to Ash. He didn’t quite understand it, nor did he really want to ask.

“Should I be creating a Mausoleum for the Knights and a burial garden for the Brides?” Ash asked. “I’ve got a few bases I could work with for either already done. Have we lost Brides though? I feel like I’d know.”

“You’d know, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the future,” Siu countered. “That and even with as much Qi as you offer out, all it would take is a sneak attack that surprised them.

“We’ve lost Brides in the past, we’ll lose them in the future.

“As the Bridal Commander, I would ask for that Burial Garden. I can easily speak on the Knight’s behalf and state that you should make the Mausoleum for them.”

“Alright,” Ash said, then looked back to Locke. “Let’s go build a home. I assume we’ll be busy for a time. To the point that we’ll only have a break when we formally invite everyone out to visit us.”

“Indeed. It’s a shame we won’t be able to leave to go find where the portal is, but I don’t think it would do us any good. It’d likely antagonize our soon to be neighbors.”

Ash nodded his head.

“Okay. Let’s… break water?” Ash asked with a soft chuckle and an odd thought.

He needed and wanted to be there as it happened to understand exactly what was going on.

If we end up calling forth this much earth, will we need to displace an equal amount of water?

What happens to earth shaped by Cultivators over time? Is it taken from somewhere else?

Better question, if we summon earth to build an island, where exactly is it coming from?

“Theoretically, if we’re adding material to the world, we’ll need to subtract an equal volume so that we don’t change the world. If we’re only shifting the location of materials, than it isn’t an issue.

“As to where the earth comes from, I don’t know. I wish I could tell you.

“I can tell you that anything that’s been shaped by a Bride remains, though. It never fades and acts just as if it were a true material.”

Raising his eyebrows at that, Ash realized that if villains wanted to end the world, all they really had to do was go to an island, then dump an endless amount of material into the ocean in vast quantities.