Chapter 966: Killer Queen’s Intent
Killing Intent, or alternatively, force of will.
Any cultivator worth their salt is able to turn intangible willpower into a tangible feeling of dread that can cause even the hardiest of goes to cower in fear.
It’s been said that one of the ways to measure someone’s potential in regards to cultivation, was to expose them to a force of will beyond their level and see whether or not they could cope with the stress.
Many prestigious clans and sects use this sort of test to sort out new disciples, but aether treasures, especially ones with former owners, use these sort of tests as well.
As for the reason why, multiple schools of thought has formed on this question.
The most popular ones though are that it is the will of the treasures themselves who do not wish to be wielded by any other except someone who is similar to their former master, or that it is a remnant of the former owner left behind.
In truth, it’s a little bit of both.
Much in the same way that children learn from their parents, aether treasures can learn from their owners.
Whether that is a good or bad thing is subjective as hell, all I know for certain, is that my descendants are gonna have a hell of time trying to tame my old sword.
-The words of a swordsmith turned Sword Saint turned smith again.
…
[Holy-!]
[Oh…that’s new.]
“What is this feeling?!”
“Can’t…breathe…”
‘Of course the treasure is acting up. When do these treasures, never act up?’
The moment Claw and Jaw had opened the shop’s shutter door, a flood of energy had surged out and essentially slammed into Zhen Liu, the kaijin and the girls. Chief Tusk would’ve also been caught up in the wave of energy but he got pulled to the side by Claw and Jaw before it impacted.
A brief thought that this was all part of a trap passed through Zhen Liu’s mind when he saw that none of the Strange Bloods got harmed by this energy, but the look of genuine worry and surprise on their faces belayed that suspicion.
He was still going to give them a piece of his mind later though.
‘I get that this wheel is probably a treasure of some kind, but this is bullshit!’
This energy wave was a mixture of [Chaos], aether and this third thing that could only be described as a grudge made manifest.
By themselves, and in a high enough concentration, any one of these energies were enough to knock most cultivators out like a light.
A combination of all three though was overkill.
[Milord! We can’t…handle this energy…I don’t think we can…]
‘I know, Nepherage. Step back if you need to.’
[Apologies milord. Bah!]
The energy forced Nepherage, Frosttusk, Hurricroak, Screamira, Spring Brawler and Razorstella to take several large steps back. Which was surprising to say the least, given their status as kaijin. To them, the energy was repelling.
“This energy is…stifling!”
“It’s like…breathing through a bag! Ugh!”
On the flip side, while Bellona and Alicia weren’t forced to take multiple steps back to get away from the wave, it did force them to collapse to their knees. Whether this was due to them not being able to react in time or because of the [Chaos] in the wave sapping their energy was unknown.
[We gotta get the girls out of the way!]
[I got it!]
Either way, they would’ve been in a deeper trouble had Spring Brawler not yank them away into safety.
“Thanks for the save.”
“Anytime.”
“Whoa…how is he still standing?”
The only one left standing in front of this wave energy now though was Zhen Liu, and this is where things got…interesting.
Physically, he looked fine, if a little pained.
Zhen Liu had his arms raised like he was prepared to block an attack, with an expression on hai face consisting of gritted teeth and hard looking eyes.
Mentally, and spiritually though was a whole other animal and a half.
…
‘Logos, Pathos! What the fuck is going-‘
UNHOLY STATIC NOISES
‘Of course, there’s an interference thing going on. Great…’
[If it helps, Executor. I’m still here.]
‘That actually does hel-wait a monute…Blazejudicator, any particular reason why you hadn’t gone to safety yet?’
[Aside from the fact as a spiritual body kaijin I either need to be in your body or a host?]
‘Fair enough, dumb question on my end.’
[Believe me though, if I could, I’d be back there with the others.]
‘Again, fair enough…damn, I get the idea of building resentment, but this is ridiculous.’
Out of everyone subjected to the wave of energy originating from the broken ship’s wheel, only Zhen Liu had the “privilege” of facing the full brunt of the attack.
Due to being the latest inheritor of the [Chaos Body Forge] and the [Library of Nowhere], Zhen Liu was able to tune in to a more…intimate part of the energy wave that had impacted everybody.
The kaijin and the girls got what was essentially a punch to the gut due to the presence of aether and [Chaos], Zhen Liu got to enjoy pure psychological torment because he managed to resist both of those energies.
More specifically, he felt as if some ancient war goddess that was somehow more vicious than his great grandaunt, was about to crush his skull in through sheer fucking rage.
Then again, that could’ve been due to the illusion of a very angry Storm Queen about to pierce his head with a trident.
What was this aforementioned war goddess that looked a lot like an older version of his girlfriend angry about?
Well…
|BETRAYAL! FAILURE! DIE, DIE, DIE!|
He wasn’t entirely sure.
The weird part about this combination of auditory and visual hallucinations though, was that despite the passionately angry voices ringing in his ears, the image of the Storm Queen was the perfect picture of calmness.
The calm at the eye of the storm, as it were.
‘This feels…painfully familiar,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself, prompting his eye to twitch.
Despite the constant hammering in his head though, Zhen Liu could see that pass the shutter door was the broken ship wheel, proudly displayed on some kind of makeshift altar that was a mix of tribal crafts and ancient naval ship models. Combined with the literal streams of malicious energy flowing out of it, the whole ensemble looked like something out of a horror movie. Hopefully, one that had a happy ending though.
‘Okay, if this work likes any other cursed treasure since the dawn of time, I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to just grab that wheel and this whole thing stops…that or I’ll probably be subjected to some assault on my mind and soul like being forced to relive the Storm Queen’s final moments or something painfully dramatic like that.’
[Sounds about right, but how are you going to get close enough to that wheel in the first place to find out?,] Blazejudicator asked, forcing Zhen Liu to actually think about the immediate issue.
‘Well…option one is that I slowly and carefully take heavy step after heavy step, a showcase of my will and ability to adapt, or realize some weird quality about the energy like being able to be the calm at the center of a raging storm and other vague philosophical understandings that lead to me reaching some cultivation milestone.’
[That sounds entirely reasonable and the way you’re supposed to approach this.]
‘It does, doesn’t it?’
[What’s option two?]
‘I rush in like a moron and try to grab the wheel, skipping over the tempering portion of this trial and go straight for the trauma.’
[How are you gonna do that?]
‘With your assistance.’
[Huh?]
…
‘Oh no, oh no, oh no! I didn’t know any of this was supposed to happen!,’ Chief Tusk mentally cried as he saw the surge of energy wash over the new Kaijin Lord and his entourage.
The memories Chief Tusk and his fellow Strange Bloods inherited didn’t mention anything about there being a defensive measure on top of the one they had established when sealing the door all those centuries ago. Then again, they hadn’t open the damn thing at any point after either, so really, this was a crime of negligence.
Regardless, now that the metaphorical flood gates were open, all they could do was just stand back and hope that Kaijin Lord Zhen Liu was able to get out of the energy wave like the others did before something bad happened.
“And…hop!”
‘Oh thank the ancestors!’
Much to the relief Chief Tusk, Jaw and Claw, Zhen Liu had stopped standing there like it was his last stand and had bounced back to where his kaijin were.
Unfortunately, that relief was short lived.
Because shortly after he bounced back, Zhen Liu proceeded to channel what the Strange Bloods could sense was a lot of Ignatii aether and [Chaos] at the soles of his feet.
“AND BOOM!”
A sensation that was followed by Zhen Liu launching himself like a rocket.
