Unintended Cultivator

Silence hung in the air as the stunned Shattering Earth Sect members stared at Sen in disbelief. Chan Runchu looked like someone had stabbed him. It was one of the core formation cultivators who regained their ability to speak first.

“How dare you speak to Elder Chan that way. He is a nascent soul cultivator! Know your place!”

Sen just looked at the man. There had been a time when all Sen could do with killing intent was blanket the area. A long road and more fights than Sen cared to remember had honed his ability with his killing intent. What had once been a hammer was now a finely honed instrument that struck only what he wanted it to strike. Sen unchained a little piece of that killing intent and let it loose on the man. From one heartbeat to the next, the core cultivator went from standing there with a belligerent look on his face to thrashing on the ground, screaming, and bleeding from his eyes, nose, and ears.

The other Shattering Earth core cultivators drew back from the man as though afraid they might catch whatever he had. Even Chan Runchu looked startled at the abrupt change. He tried to shield his junior, which bought the man about one second of relief. Sen simply released a little more of his killing intent and it punched straight through whatever protection the nascent soul cultivator had offered. The core cultivator’s screaming redoubled as his bleeding and thrashing intensified. Sen moved his eyes to meet those of the nascent soul cultivator.

“Do you suppose he knows his place now?” asked Sen in a casual voice.

The arrogance on Chan Runchu’s face had vanished, only to be replaced with anger.

“Release him at once!”

“Why? Would you release one of my people if they had spoken to you that way? Or would you have killed them out of hand for not knowing their place?”

It seemed that Chan Runchu didn’t have the right answer to that question because his mouth worked a few times but no words came out. Sen felt no sympathy for the nascent soul cultivator. A confrontation like this had been inevitable from the second he decided to make his academy a sect. The Shattering Earth Sect had simply been the ones who decided to move first, which meant Sen needed to make an example here. He couldn’t leave any doubt that challenging his authority here was a monumental mistake. He just wasn’t sure what the best path to accomplishing that goal was. He could kill all but one of them and let that sole survivor carry the tale. It had a certain efficiency to it. Of course, that would make him more enemies at a time when he didn’t need more enemies.

If he let too many of them go unharmed, though, that could also signal a certain weakness, an unwillingness to do what was necessary. That might prove even worse than making enemies. Instead of having just one sect hate him, he could end up with different sects showing up all the time with equally stupid challenges. He could simply focus on Chan Runchu. Killing him and letting the core cultivators go might send the right message. He looked at the core cultivator on the ground. The man wasn’t screaming and thrashing anymore. He’d been reduced to soft whimpers and occasional twitches. If Sen didn’t retract his killing intent soon, there wouldn’t be a decision to make anymore. The cultivator would die.

Sen locked eyes with Chan Runchu and waited. He waited until the core cultivator was on the brink of death. He wanted to make it abundantly clear that what happened next only happened because Sen decided things would go that way. At the last possible second, he reined in his killing intent. The core cultivator took a few shuddering breaths that made Sen wonder if he’d waited too long before the man’s breathing stabilized into something less like a death rattle. Before Chan Runchu could utter a word, Sen spoke.

“That was my sole act of mercy for the day.”

Chan Runchu’s eyes were alight with rage when he said, “I will destroy you for this disrespect!”

“I doubt it,” said Sen. “Tseun Rong couldn’t do it. What makes you think you have a better chance than him?”

Chan Runchu seemed to freeze in place at the name, but the core cultivators with him didn’t. Sen could hear them whispering Tseun Rong. While Sen knew that the man’s death had become known, his own involvement with it hadn’t seemed to spread with the news. That’s one pitfall of leaving no survivors, he thought. Based on the sudden consternation that appeared on Chan Runchu’s face, he had made the connection. The core formation upstart he’d come to put in his place had killed a nascent soul cultivator before. A nascent soul cultivator who was at least as strong as, if not stronger, than Chan Runchu himself. And that fight had taken place outside the capital, away from any formations that Sen might have put in place to empower himself here at the heart of his own domain. What had likely sounded like a simple task to the elder from the Shattering Earth sect had suddenly become a true life-or-death situation that did not favor him the way he’d expected it to.

Sen was curious to see what the man would do. A smart man would look for a way to back down from such an uncertain fight. Then again, a smart man might have chosen to be less confrontational until he understood what he was dealing with better. Sen was starting to think that he’d been overestimating nascent soul cultivators. Not so much in terms of their power, which was undeniable, but in terms of their wisdom. He kept expecting them to be more like Master Feng, Auntie Caihong, and Uncle Kho. All of them were certainly capable of being irrational, but he generally found them to be more restrained and thoughtful than other nascent soul cultivators. He didn’t know if it was age, experience, or just something in their personalities that made the difference. A very uncharitable part of him thought that maybe it was because they didn’t spend all of their time in sects having juniors burnishing their egos all of the time.

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“You killed Tseun Rong?” asked Chan Runchu.

“I did,” agreed Sen.

“How?” demanded the elder.

“Effectively,” said Sen.

It wasn’t an answer, but it was all the answer that such a stupid question deserved. Chan Runchu looked like he didn’t want to believe the claim, but his eyes drifted over to the still unconscious form of his core formation junior. The ease with which Sen had suppressed that man, to say nothing of how he had all but ignored the elder’s attempts to protect the cultivator, must have been too fresh in Chan Runchu’s memory to convince himself that Sen couldn’t have actually killed Tseun Rong. Sen’s visible lack of concern about the potential fight no doubt helped solidify that impression in the man’s mind.

“If I might, Patriarch Lu,” said Bahn Huizhong, drawing attention to himself for the first time.

Sen looked at the man and nodded. Bahn Huizhong turned his attention to Chan Runchu.

“Who in the thousand hells are you?” barked Chan Runchu. “And what is a Vermilion Blade Sect cultivator doing here?”

“I am Bahn Huizhong, Elder of the Vermilion Blade Sect.”

Chan Runchu might not have recognized the man, but it seemed he did recognize the name. He stiffened when he heard it and a deep wariness settled over his countenance.

“I’ve heard of you,” admitted Chan Runchu. “But why are you interfering in this? This doesn’t involve the Vermilion Blade Sect.”

“Oh, I’m not trying to interfere. I’m just a guest here at the moment. The Vermilion Blade Sect has no official position on this matter. I just thought you might accept a word of advice, one elder to another.”

Chan Runchu’s eyes narrowed, but he asked, “What advice is that?”

“Apologize for your incredibly rude behavior.”

“Why should I do that?”

Bahn Huizhong shrugged and said, “Well, it might save your life. It might also suggest that you have some interest in saving the lives of your juniors. Or is the Shattering Earth Sect in the habit of wasting the lives of its core formation disciples? If so, then please carry on.”

Chan Runchu’s face twisted in anger, but then he looked at the disciples who had come with him. He finally seemed to see what Sen had noticed long since. Those disciples were afraid. They were trying to hide it, but they were clearly frightened by the prospect that their senior was going to lead them straight to their deaths. A prospect that no doubt felt very plausible after what Sen had done to their fellow disciple. The Shattering Earth Sect elder looked at those disciples for what felt like a long time. Then, he shifted his gaze back to Bahn Huizhong, as though he was searching for something in the other cultivator’s face.

As much as he wanted Chan Runchu to do it, Sen didn’t think that the man’s pride would let him take the path to escape that Bahn Huizhong had so generously provided. Nor was Sen certain that he could let it go at that. As much as he preferred to avoid bloodshed, it wasn’t clear that this was a situation where it could be avoided. He had the feeling that letting Chan Runchu go would just mean the man coming back with a more powerful elder to try to force Sen’s hand in some kind of unfavorable agreement or to kill him outright. Given those possibilities, Sen wasn’t sure he could let the man or his disciples go. Sen wondered if some of those thoughts might have bled through in some way to his expression because Chan Runchu’s face blanched when he looked at Sen. The elder’s eyes shot back to the disciples behind him for a moment.

“Patriarch Lu,” said the man, even if it sounded like it caused him physical pain to do it. “I apologize for my behavior today. I spoke in an unseemly and disrespectful way. I issued an inappropriate challenge. I ask that you do not punish my juniors for my poor judgment.”

Sen took a deep breath as he considered his next words.

“Thank you for the apology, Elder Chan,” said Sen.

He could see the relief on the faces of the disciples. It made him feel a bit guilty about what was coming next.

Sen continued, “However, I don’t see that preventing others from your sect coming here to issue similarly ill-considered challenges. In fact, I expect that letting you go now would almost guarantee it.”

From the looks that the disciples traded, Sen knew that he was right. They expected something exactly like that to happen.

“Am I wrong, Elder Chan?” asked Sen.

Chan Runchu said nothing. He wanted to lie. Sen could see that much on his face. The problem was that the lie would be so obvious that it was likely to push Sen into resolving the issue with immediate violence. The very thing that the elder wanted to avoid. Bahn Huizhong once more stepped in.

“Patriarch Lu. Perhaps Elder Chan could do something to reassure you that you won’t be forced to cull the entire Shattering Earth Sect from the face of the world.”

The almost bland way that Bahn Huizhong said those words seemed to give Chan Runchu and all of the disciples with him pause. It was as if the man took it for granted that Sen could and would do exactly that.

“I’m open to suggestions,” said Sen.

“Perhaps a promise to do everything he can to prevent any future foolishness. Something binding,” said Bahn Huizhong, looking directly at Chan Runchu. “A vow to the heavens, maybe?”

Chan Runchu looked like he was about to spit blood, which gave Sen the distinct impression that the man had planned on running back to his sect to get help and then coming right back. He was about to dismiss the idea, but the Shattering Earth Sect elder surprised him.

“I, Chan Runchu, elder of the Shattering Earth Sect, vow to the heavens that I will do everything in my power to prevent my sect from carrying out any future acts of aggression against Judgment’s Gale and his sect.”

Sen was sure that the words were said in bad faith, but the glow of the heavens accepting the vow appeared around the man. Perhaps the man had been motivated by a genuine desire to save his juniors. Sen considered the group before he nodded.

“Very well,” he said. “Go, and do not return.”

The Shattering Earth Sect members didn’t waste any time in retreating. Sen watched them go with mixed feelings. Sua Xing Xing let out a relieved breath.

“I thought that was going to end bloody,” she said.

“So did I,” admitted Sen as he turned to Bahn Huizhong. “Is there a particular reason you saved their lives?”

Bahn Huizhong gave him a surprised look.

“Because there’s a war coming. We’ll need them.”