In the main hall of the Tianbao branch of the Heaven & Earth pavilion, a young man rode the moving stairs until entering the new floor that had been added approximately twenty days ago. This floor had been given a strange name by the owner of the pavilion master, an arcade. Thirty days before today, new artifacts had been added to the game room where most of the middle aged and older guests would sit and battle each other using strategic games such as shogi, chess, and risk. This new artifact was home to a new style of game called a 'fighting game' that quickly caught the attention of younger visitors and even though sound proofing arrays had been set up a to prevent customers from bothering others, eventually the regular players of the tabletop games complained about massive crowds that formed around the Soulforged artifact gaming cabinets. Fang Shi chose the easy answer and created a new floor just for Soulforged players.
The young man who had just entered the arcade made his way to an empty artifact, and placed his phone into the slot provided for it. The light screen appeared and the young man confirm his identity, Jiang Ruotian, alongside a number, 127.
Jiang Ruotian wore the robes of a inner disciple of the Heaven Forge sect specializing in the creation of puppets. He had spent most of his early life living at the sect's headquarters, which was built near an active volcano, but had been told by his master that a puppet master required massive amounts of life experiences. His master commanded him to go to the mission hall to accept a task that would require him to travel, and he chose guarding the walls of Tianbao. It was a ten year commitment, which is significant for a foundation establishment cultivator but not problematic for his progression.
Jiang Ruotian had been stationed at Tianbao for four years when the attack from the devils had occurred, disrupting his normal routine of meditation, cultivating, studying, forging, and training. He was relieved when the attack was quickly quelled and was about to return to his normal duties when he overheard from one of his senior brothers that a strange cultivator had opened a store in the Evernight forest. He didn't care at first, but his senior brother shared a story about a meeting that his patrol had with masked employees of this store and speculated that these weren't actually humans but actually puppets.
Jiang Ruotian immediately became interested in the Heaven & Earth pavilion and the next morning when ever gathered to travel to the store, he was also there ready to go. The trip had been instantly eye opening as he observed high level puppets, discovered high quality products and services, and used the cultivation pod. A new world opened before him, even though he couldn't comprehend how the puppet were refined, he still garnered some insights from observing them. The shop selling raw materials almost caused him to empty his wallet of all his stones. Even if he were still at his sect, he wouldn't have access to such large amounts of high quality resources. He had to control himself, and buy the highest priority goods needed to strengthen his puppets to the next level. Lastly upon entering a cultivation pod, he was like a fish in water. As someone who focused on puppets, using his consciousness and energy to control an artificial body was second nature.
Jiang Ruotian returned to his room after his first visit to the Heaven & Earth pavilion, and immediately went into seclusion for several days to absorb all the gains from his experiences. After a few days, he exited his room feeling excited to return to gain new insight from this mysterious store. When he arrived by the gate where the escorts would take cultivators to the pavilion, he noticed that the amount of people had increased dramatically. Something he overheard from some nearby cultivators also increased his nervousness.
"Senior brother, will we be able to get a pod this morning?", one said to the other, "In the last few days I've had bad luck and had to wait in line."
"Who knows", the one called senior brother replied, "Just remember to watch your phone for notification. If you have to wait, there are still other things you can do. Have a meal, take a bath, drink tea or wine, browse the wares, oh wait, just yesterday strange new artifacts appeared in the game room. I've spoken to a few others that tried them out, and they said that it was still a fun experience that helps increase battle knowledge. Even though it doesn't feel as real as the pods, you still can absorb qi so it better than sitting around doing nothing."
"I'll keep that in mind, senior brother", the first man responded, "Thank you for the advice."
"No need to thank me", 'Senior brother' waved off the compliment, "Yesterday, I was too late and I wandered around, only to witness the shop owner use this artifact to battle one of the protectors from Verdant Soul sect. For the sake of the protector's face, I won't go into who won."
Soon after, the escort arrived and it didn't take long to travel to the store. Jiang Ruotian tried to quickly make his way to the pod cafe, but fortune didn't greet him today. With a quick motion, he queued for a pod before searching for the game room he had heard about earlier. Even though it was only his second visit, he was able to locate his destination easily and when he walked in he saw all the artifacts he had heard about lining the walls. He found he way to an empty seat, and set the same artifact known as a phone down into the slot that was labeled as such. He watched the opening sequence with curiosity and after it was completed, he saw multiple options (Story, Versus, and Training).
Jiang Ruotian scoffed as he selected (Versus), how could he be interested in the story of a game like this? Also, why would he need to train for such a simple game? There was a few moments of beautiful backgrounds and intense music before a new screen with several options appeared. He chose (1v1, normal mode) and the screen changed again to a wall or portraits. Using his senses to quickly scan all the portraits, Jiang Ruotian ultimately chose to play as himself and the scene in front of him change to outer courtyard of some temple. On his side, he saw his title of
It dawned on Jiang Ruotian that he actually didn't know how to play, but he realized that he could command the character on screen the same way he could control a puppet. What happened next was very embarrassing, and he found himself back at the character selection screen again. He took a few moments to center himself and adjust his mind after suffering from the loss, and exited the
Back to the present day, Jiang Ruotian entered
Zhang Mingyu had left True Martial Hall and Zenlong city thirty days ago, and in the beginning, the trip had been the same as the last time he took this task. During this time, he had visited a plethora of smaller cities, towns, sects, and villages to hand out invitations to potential recruits. Then he arrived at Frostveil village, a small village under the protection of Moonveil city, the home of Lord Rui and the Rui Golden Hall. This village is located north of Moonveil city, and is a small village that mainly survive by mining low quality frost jades in the surrounding area.
As Zhang Mingyu piloted his small personal flying ships towards the small number of cultivators gathered to meet him, he noticed strange structures next to the houses of the residents. These structures appeared to be the frame of a building, and on closer inspection he realized the frame held the clearest glass he'd ever seen. He also noticed these small buildings had weak array formations etched into them, but he didn't specialize in arrays so he didn't know their purpose.
Arriving in front of the three men waiting for him, he landing his boat, made a few hand gestures, and put away the now shrunken boat that fit in his palm. The three men walked over to him and bowed with cupped hands.
"Lord Envoy", the apparent leader greeted him, "This one is called Han Qiren, and it's a pleasure to host one such as yourself in our humble village."
"Chief Han", Zhang Mingyu lazily responded, "I'm aware that my arrival has inconvenienced everyone here so I offer my apologies."
"Never, Lord Envoy", Han Qiren quivered, "It's an honor to stand in your presence."
"No need for flattery", Zhang Mingyu grew impatient, "Chief Han, I presume that the two behind you are the representatives for this village?"
Han Qiren motioned to the two younger men and asked they stepped forward with cupped hands, "Lord Envoy, I'm Lin Shuang", "Lord Envoy, I'm Yu Liang".
"Well met", Zhang Mingyu replied.
He pointed at an empty location nearby, and two objects were deposited there. The first item was a boulder, and it had an unusual appearance. It was cylindrical, wider at the bottom than the top which came to a point. The surface was smooth, likely from an unknown number of years of being polished. The boulder was striped with layers of white, black, grey, and faint lines of other colors. The other item was a copper stele that had a small crystal ball hovering above it.
"These artifacts are used to test the capabilities and potential of those who wish to enter True Martial hall", Zhang Mingyu informed the three men, "First, strike the boulder, and second hold the crystal ball against your forehead."
Lin Shuang faced the boulder first, dropped into a basic stance, and struck the boulder. The smooth surface of the large rock shimmered starting from the bottom left corner as each layer illuminated for a brief moment. The shimmering didn't go to far up the stone but Zhang Mingyu still raised an eyebrow at the result.
"Young man, do you also cultivate your body?", he asked.
"No, Lord Envoy", Lin Shuang answered, "I'm still saving up to purchase a body cultivation manual, but I have been eating better meals and mining."
'That explains it', Zhang Mingyu thought before nodding to Yu Liang.
The other young man also did as the first, and struck the boulder. His result was only slightly worse than the first's so Zhang Mingyu wasn't surprised. He turned his attention back to Lin Shuang noticing that he held the crystal ball in his hand. The latter noticed the former looking at him so he placed the artifact on his forehead, and waited. The crystal ball glowed with two different colors, but not with an intense reaction. Once again, Zhang Mingyu took note and motioned to Yu Liang to take the test. He complied, and once again received a result slightly lower than Lin Shuang's.
At the point Zhang Mingyu was baffled. On one hand, these two young men didn't qualify to enter True Martial Hall, but on the other hand, their cultivation talent was too high for a village such as Frostveil.
Ultimately Zhang Mingyu had many more places to go, so he decided not to worry about this strange anomaly and give the results.
"Unfortunately, neither of you are qualified for True Martial Hall", he said before adding, "But your cultivation still has promise. Either of you could very easily join a 3rd order sect, or even a 2nd order sect if your luck was good. Don't let this stop you from pursuing the dao."
With a flick of his sleeve, Zhang Mingyu called the two artifacts back to his storage bag and turned to bade the three men farewell. Normally on this trip when applicants were told they had failed, he would see shock, sadness, anger, or resentment in their eyes or aura. Once again, this village proved to be different because he only saw relief on the faces of the young men and the village chief.
For the first time, Zhang Mingyu couldn't hide his emotions as a look of confusion appeared on his face, 'True Martial Hall was a 1st order sect and the ruling sect of the northern continent. Everyone wished to enter its halls to access the plentiful resources and top tier cultivation manuals, so why did these three looked relieved that they weren't chosen?'
Zhang Mingyu pulled the spiritual boat from storage, and jumped in with these questions on his mind. Although he was curious, he had many more places to visit. He gained control of the boat, and turned his attention to the three men that were still standing waiting to send him off. Noticing his gaze, the three cupped their hands over their fist with a respectful bow. He returned the gesture, and then commanded the ship to depart, flying off to the next destination.
Fang Shi sat in the seat of the arcade cabinet he was using, looking at the screen that displayed his defeat.
Scratching the back of head, he mumbled, "Looks like I need to practice more. That guy named puppet master improved too fast since the last time."
Fang Shi wasn't too disappointed though, even during his past life his skills at fighting games were amateur at best. He only played them socially with friends, so the improvements to his body and mind only helped him so far. Most of his free time was spent playing RPGs, online or single player.
Finally getting the will to stand up, Fang Shi got up and walked over to the arcade cabinet puppet master was using.
"That was a splendid experience, honored guests", Fang Shi teased Jiang Routan, who was still waiting for another match, "This humble owner sees the bigger mountain, and will gather the motivation to climb."
"Owner Fang", Jiang Ruotian nervously replied, "It was indeed a spirited battle of wills."
"Please excuse my rudeness", Fang Shi inquired, "But have you gained anything from playing this game? I've noticed that you frequently bring other guests with you of similar cultivation background."
"It's not rude at all", Jiang Ruotian waved a hand in front of his face, "I dive into the mysteries of the dao of puppets, and this game has given me many benefits. The friends I bring also share my same path."
Fang Shi was genuinely surprised as a look of enlightenment came over his face, "That makes perfect sense, fellow Daoist. I had not considered…"
Before he could finished his response, the pounding of large drums interrupted Fang Shi.
"Excuse me", he apologized to Jiang Ruotian, "I need to go assess what is going on."
Fang Shi gave a slight bow, and quickly made his way to the top floor where he lived. He exited through the glass doors that led to the patio on the roof and was greeted by an amazing display.
To his left, Fang Shi saw what could only be described as a moving hill. He watched as this giant turtle would move forward causing tremors with each step except for the pavilion. The energy from every tremor would reach the array protecting the store only to fade away upon contact. On the turtle's back were hundreds of spiritual beasts, some in human form, others in beast form, all either drumming or dancing. Fifty drums on various sizes were mounted on the giant shell in a circle while being beat by the same number of buff shirtless men. In the center of this drum circle, numerous beautiful women and men danced aggressively. Fang Shi couldn't identify the dance but it reminded him of a combination of a Haka dance from New Zealand, and Samba from Brazil.
To his right, a much different scene could be viewed. Also consisting of hundred of birds and humans, an aeronautical performance was in progress. The largest birds carried musicians on their back as music filled the air. Unlike the turtle and his followers, the birds played a variety of string and wind instruments such as harps and flutes. The dancers were covered in robes of feathers that resembled the feathers of birds Fang Shi knew like the peacock, lyrebird, and crane. Synchronized with the dancers were birds that danced in the air, shifting between forms to create a show he could never see in his past life without CGI.
Fang Shi watched for an hour as this procession continued to move towards his shop, feeling grateful he could witness something in this life he could never see in the past one. Eventually, this grand parade of sorts finally made it to his front gate so he left his personal floor and went to greet everyone. As he stood there watching the giant turtle take the last few steps, he became nervous that perhaps he might be targeted but his fears disappeared when the final step was made.
When turtle stopped, the riders immediately began storing the drums and making their way to the ground. At the same time, a pheasant was circling overhead and descending at the same time but Fang Shi caught the sight of the woman riding on its back. Wearing a feather dress of reds, yellows and oranges and a phoenix crown on her head, it was easy to tell this was the leader of the birds. The turtle was also shrinking, and soon two people stood in front of him. The lady had dismounted the pheasant once it had landed and waited for the turtle to finish getting ready before the pair walked over.
The turtle was now a man dressed in dragon robes and a crown in his hair. The woman was wearing the feather dress and phoenix pins and crown, but also a veil hiding most her face. The pair looked strong, elegant, and regal, and Fang Shi was certainly impressed.
Just when the pair reached the gate and was about to address Fang Shi, a voice interrupted the moment, "Owner Fang!"
Caught off guard, Fang Shi turned around only to find five spiritual ships headed toward the store. He recognized the voice before responding in confusion, "Protector Mei?"