v5c18: Masters of Heaven and Hell

Purple eyes opened in a room lit with pale blue candles as Lanxing Yulong exhaled, completing his morning cultivation. He rose and the lights brightened, the shadows in the room receding. The massive stone vault was a good place to cultivate, but he still didn’t like having to do it underground.

Humans were meant for the surface, under the light of the sun—but alas, needs must.

He got up slowly, the bands of light that connected the freckles on his nose dissipating as he put back on his outer shirt and robe. He took a small sip of water from a gourd, then placed it back into his storage ring.

Finally, he approached a small table, the only thing upon it being his mother’s funerary tablet. He clapped his hands twice, bowed his head, and then that too was placed into his storage ring before he exited the cultivation chamber.

“Good morning, Young Master,” two voices intoned as he exited his room. Beidou and Zhigong bowed immediately at his presence. Zhigong held up Yulong’s outer robe, while Beidou stepped in front of him.

“How were the pills this time, Young Master?” she asked, her quiet, husky voice pleasant as always. Her dark purple hair was tied into a braid that went down her back, and her black robes were accented by a sash with blue stars on it, marking her as one of Yulong’s direct subordinates.

“The research teams did a great job with these ones. Much easier to handle, and the loss of power is negligible,” he replied before turning to nod his thanks to Zhigong as he finished putting on his outer robe. The taller man bowed politely, his black hair immaculately groomed as always. He was dressed the same as Beidou. “I’ll be commending Guiying’s teams later today.”

Both of them bowed again as Yulong walked down the brightly lit hallway and towards the main section of the base.

They passed by a couple of menial workers—some of them working on new tunnels or simply cleaning. Every one of them stood and offered a bow and a “Young Master”. They continued on, past a common room where still others in black robes were either training, reading scrolls, or cultivating. They too perked up as he walked past.

“Young Master,” they intoned, bowling their heads.

“Brothers and Sisters,” he replied with a nod and he saw their backs straighten as he continued on his way, more people parting before him. Honestly, the Sea of Snow base was pretty lively, bordering on crowded after he had evacuated the Howling Fang Mountains bases. Even though there were probably thousands of Li of tunnels in this area, they didn’t have many that were fit for habitation currently…and a lot of the new arrivals lacked the cultivation level or ability to live in the darkness without dying. Most of these people would be little good in a real fight, but they had knowledge of their operations and were good at their jobs, so they could be repurposed.

It always took a while to find people with the proper mindset and those who had enough discontent about the Empire to want to do something about it. Lust for power was all well and good, but a proper Demonic Sect needed more than that. His Master had once ordered him to destroy a fellow Demonic Sect. He had been confused at first, thinking they were all in it together… until he got there. Those crazy bastards had open pits of blood, carved runes into their flesh that wept foul Qi, and were dueling and eating each other openly, keeping subordinates in line with only the threat of death.

How disgustingly inefficient. Fear of death was the stick. A man needed a fine carrot to be truly loyal. He had understood immediately why his Master had wanted them destroyed and gladly carried out the execution order.

At least their techniques were fairly useful, after a bit of work, and their bodies had made fine reagents for refining the Artificial Demonic Soldier Project.

His people were a cut above the maddened, raving fools that made up many Demonic Sects, exactly as his Master had taught them. They were no Demonic servants. They were the future, the future masters of the continent, and the saviours of this world.

And speaking of the Artificial Demonic Soldier Project…he pressed his thumb to a door covered in seals, making sure to cut his skin slightly. Blood and Qi mingled on the wards, and the door unlocked, letting them in. He was looking forward to seeing their progress.

He was once more greeted; this time by the demonic scholars.

“Young Master Heavenly Demon,” Shou Tsetung, another of Yulong’s direct subordinates, intoned.

“Brother Tsetung. How goes the work?” Yulong asked.

Tsetung held out his hand and they started down the hallway, towards the containment cells. The doors here were all specially reinforced and warded, as they contained the members of the Shrouded Mountain Sect they had captured.

“Unfortunately, Young Master, we are drastically behind schedule. Shenhe’s subordinates are proving much more resilient than anticipated— I take full responsibility,” Tsetung said with an apologetic bow, sounding regretful.

“There is nothing to be responsible for. Simply continue as best you are able,” Yulong replied. Like he would kill the man for their enemies being powerful—especially when this part of the operation was so delicate. “I know where the true blame lies.”

They stopped their walk as they got to the end of the hallway, where another door was; this one bigger, thicker, and even more warded than all the others. Yulong glanced inside.

The bound form of Shenhe greeted him. She was chained and staked to the ground. Needles attached to reservoirs constantly pumped her full of paralytics, hallucinogens, Qi suppressors and a cocktail of other poisons.

It was to his shame that this was all necessary. He had originally thought his formation had been enough to suppress her. The tricky bitch Shenhe had played like she was out of it and when they had loosened some of the bindings to implant the corruption nodes, she had struck. She had killed two skilled assistants, but more importantly, had nearly killed the previous Head Spiritual Doctor, Lan. The man was still alive, barely, thanks to the reagents Yulong had poured into him, but was still in a coma—lucky to be alive at all after Shenhe had torn out his throat and nearly ripped off his head with her teeth while blasting him with as much lightning Qi as she could muster.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Still, unexpected deaths were why he got his men to share information with each other. Especially for projects as important as this.

Yulong was briefly tempted to go in there and add some Flensing Fire Poison to the reservoirs, but the burst of pain might shake the woman out of her stupor. And that was the last thing he wanted at the moment.

Besides. Master would be here soon to inspect their prize, and then there would be no hope of her ever escaping. “Enough of her. Just continue as best you can. Now, take me to East Wind.”

“By your will, Young Master,” Tsetung said and once more took the lead, heading to another cell—but this one was much, much better appointed.

Within, a young man covered in black carapace armour was sitting. Two horns stuck out from his skull. He perked up when Yulong entered, a wide, almost childish smile on his face.

“Young Master!” he shouted. East Wind, previously Kang Yunru, Young Master of the Ice Wind Sect of the Howling Fang Mountains, was certainly in good spirits for an Artificial Demon.

“You’re speaking now! Excellent!” Yulong said as he sat down with the monster he had created.

“Thank Young Master! East Wind work hard! Glory to Heavenly Demon!” the abomination declared.