Treasures Of Heaven And Earth

Scrambling up the jagged rocks from hand hold to foothold Chún ascended the side of small mountain that Tai had directed him to, using the Monkey Movement Dao to free climb the sheer faces of rock.

It helped that with his body having been repeatedly tempered to somewhere equivalent to mid Sky rank, he could pry his fingers and toes into any weakness in the rock, crumbling it away like rotten wood to make climbing holds where necessary. What would have once been an impossible strain on his body after a few moments of exertion was barely noticeable even after almost a half shi of climbing.

"This is so weird," he considered his thoughts non verbally into the link to his locus - the wind would have snatched his words away as he spoke. He climbed vertically across another almost vertical cliff face as easily as walking on level ground, "You are a mountain, but now I am climbing a completely different mountain on you. And why do I have to climb it? Can I not just use my Sky-rank Cultivation to fly to the summit?"

The rock beneath his body rumbled and g.r.o.a.n.e.d with his locus' amus.e.m.e.nt, "I have expanded to the size of a large planet, True Cultivator - the Tribulation reformed my body into a true sphere, smashing oceans into my crust and raising new mountains on my surface, carving valleys, canyons, rivers into my being, even as it formed my first heaven. As for flying over this mountain - your Rank and skill in manipulating your Essence to fly is still too low, this mountain has a very high level of Metal Essence, which increases its level of attraction. Even if you tried to fly over it, it would pull you to its surface."

The young teen thought about this as he swung out from an outcropping and hurled himself over it rather than bother to climb out from under it.

"So I should stop thinking of you as a mountain, then?" he asked thoughtfully as he resumed this climb. Winds howled and whistled around him, pulling and tugging at his body, more than enough to tear off any vegetation from the side of the mountain, leaving only the b.a.r.e rock he passed over, but his form did not shift in the slightest as it ascended.

"Since you met that old man, you have changed a lot," pointed out Tai, "You are nothing like Rén Chún was - whether in ability, appearance, strength, knowledge, skills, responsibilities - there is nothing that can be linked between who you were and who you are, from the perspective of another. But you -are- still Rén Chún."

Chún blinked as he pulled himself onto the summit of the mountain he was climbing and sat on an exposed boulder contemplatively, looking out across the landscape below him and the higher peaks that rose above him into the clouds. Breathing out a breath of fouled Essence - he let his World Tree Staff materialise from the tattoo on his arm and drop into his hand and let himself lean against it as it dug solidly into the rock beneath the boulder.

"I am still me… and you are still you, no matter how much things change. I am still Chún and you are still a Mountain, even if I am some sort of Cultivator out of legends and you are a universe unto yourself," the boy mused.

"If you look deeply enough even into a simple plant or stone, you will see that they end up looking like the night sky anyway," Tai replied with a tone of wonder shimmering in the link between them, "tiny motes of energy with great vastness between them - just like it is out there - whoever created the rules, made everything its own universe in the end. That is why everything has a potential to comprehend Dao and to grow into something greater - and yet never actually need to break who they are fundamentally. Everything has a universe inside it. The inner world reflects the outer."

"So that is why following your own natural Dao leads to becoming so much more," Chún frowned in realisation, "and in the rush to gain more power, Consumers damage their ability to nurture their own universes - the individual universe everyone is."

"We have discussed that before," reminded his friend, "this is merely another angle on the same issue. World Rank Consumers have earned the right to be considered pseudo-Cultivators, because when a Consumer gets to World Rank, at least they begin generating their own Essence and become more than parasites living off the world around them - they finally begin adding to it instead."

Tai paused as the feeling of the thoughts and images he sent down the link changed to a sort of reflective sadness, "World Rank pseudo-cultivators are able to begin forming their universe outside their body - usually in another dimension, similar to how I created a separate plane as I grew - and often they can correct some of the damage to themselves caused by their incorrect cultivation."

"But the universe they grow is no longer the universe they were born with," explained the mountain soberly, "while Consuming their way to World Rank, they have f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y changed their very nature, grafting the Essence of other creatures, plants and the patterns of incomplete Dao onto themselves - so unlike us, they are no longer what they started out as. Where a True Cultivator, or a natural treasure, merely becomes more of what they are - a natural growth into their full potential - a Consumer becomes something else. To come back to your original question - if they started out as a mountain, they would be a planet now instead."

"Thus all the stories of arrogance, insanity and general inhuman behaviour often associated with immortals," pointed out Chún, "but how does that explain things like that bastard lingzhi - or that great worm that attacked her highness? There was no way it was natural."

"The linghzi took its Yin nature too far and corrupted its own Dao," his locus reminded him, "it was consuming its own young in exchange for longevity and strength, remember? It is not only humans that can make the wrong choices. Part of being a True Cultivator is acting as the judge of when those sorts of beings have to be recycled into something more beneficial for the World."

"I seem to remember… there are True Cultivators that take that duty too far as well," recalled Chún, "Eradicators…?"

"Yes," replied Tai grimly, "they are responsible for much of the twisted Essence resources out there and the twisted and broken techniques. They believe Consumers are a blight and the faster they destroy each other the better off the World will be. They are always finding ways to encourage Consumers natural proclivities to destroy themselves and each other. They deliberately create treasure lands filled with evil beasts, cruel weapons, unholy treasures and plants - like that lingzhi - only on purpose, which encourages Consumers to use the resources in unorthodox consumer techniques. Obviously, they have allowed their own anger and pain to twist themselves into the polar opposite of what they should be doing."

"I do not really understand?" asked the teen uncertainty, "if they are True Cultivators then can they not see what they are doing is wrong?"

"They see it as helping the World by removing parasites - worse in the short term, but better in the long run. True Cultivators that act like this damage themselves, their own Essence that they generate becomes tainted and thin. Fortunately, none of them are like you - in fact the Land has never seen any True Cultivator who is able to generate as much Essence as you do."

"So that is why they would try to kill me," reasoned Chún, "if I can create healthy Essence and rejuvenate the World and the Land and create enough treasures, plants and locations to establish a sustainable cycle of Treasure Lands, then Consumers would stop being such a burden - enough might survive to World rank or higher and help the World sustain even more humans healthily - it is the opposite of their idea of destroying humans."

"Correct," responded Tai.

"I am surprised they have not come for me already in that case," said the young teen thoughtfully, tapping the World Tree staff absently against the boulder he was sitting on, causing ch.i.p.s of rock to flake off, "I have definitely made serious changes with how I have affected you, my friend."

"You have," agreed the mountain, "but most of it has not affected Golden Crow Planet at all, except for a minor increase in Essence levels, in a remote corner of one of the smaller Human Empires. On the scale of the Golden Crow Planet, the change is nothing noticeable. If I had not separated out from Golden Crow Planet very early on in the piece, or had a not had a fully grown World Tree protecting the new planet from almost the beginning - the situation would be different - the formation of the new plane would definitely have been sensed and much more Essence would have leaked back into Golden Crow, alerting everyone who watches for the formation of those sorts of things - like secret lands, or ancient ruins or treasure mountains."

"The Eradicators… they watch for the creation of new treasures as well," stated Chún.

"Yes - often they find and twist some or all of it to be dangerous to be used by Consumers or easier to use for Unorthodox purposes," confirmed Tai.

"More of that… True Cultivator 'influence on events', you spoke of," reasoned out Chún.

"Just call it 'Immortal Hero's Aura'," teased his locus, "like those stories you seem so fond of."

"The Eradicators will have 'Villain's Aura' then," pointed out Chún soberly, not rising to his friend's teasing.

There was an awkward silence and Chún heaved a sigh, looking around the barren mountaintop. It was not very large - just a few square mu of wind etched, frigid, b.a.r.e, black and grey stone, cracked and crazed, uneven and rough. If he had not been a high level Cultivator, he would have died from exposure by now.

"Why did you have me come all the way up here again?" He pushed the question down the link, grimacing at the severe surroundings.

"We did get side-tracked," responded Tai sheepishly, before his 'voice' firmed and he decisively changed the subject.

"This mountain has a great deal of naturally semi-refined veins of metal ore and metal Essence running through it. In the beginning, it will be much easier for you to practice metal forging and drawing on Metal Essence here."

Chún looked around again, this time focusing on what his Essence Sense was showing him. Despite, or perhaps because of having it always on, it had become part of the background information he absorbed, rather than something he consciously paid attention to.

The entire mountain looked like a fountain of Metal Essence, motes of silvery metal Essence blasting into the winds around it, which explained why the winds were so sharp - all the wind around here was infused with Metal Essence. "What do I do?"

"This is going to be a lot like the work with the clay," advised the mountain, "reach into the stone and draw out the pure Metal Essence and metal ores out of the rock beneath you. Proceed cautiously - separate out and use your own Metal Essence to protect yourself as you manipulate the metal out of the rock - Metal Essence in pure enough quantities will cut -anything- except enough opposing Metal Essence."

Chún closed his eyes, his forehead wrinkling in thought, then thrust his World Tree Staff downward with both arms, cracking the surface of the rock in front of the rock further as he embedded it upright in front of him, pushing Essence into the Staff as he did so. The Dao patterns all through the elaborately engraved and carved piece of wood lit up in all the colours of the different varieties of Essence, before shifting into the copper burnished, silvery-gold of Metal Essence.

Chún felt Tai's surprise, then understanding approval as the Metal Essence in the rock immediately began crawling up the staff in streams of Metal Essence, the motes of Essence fountaining into the air being pulled in towards the staff as if by a powerful suction force. Chún flared his own Metal Essence, giving his skin a metallic sheen as the Essence motes the mountain sent fountaining into the air swirled inward in a great whirlpool with the staff at the centre, the Metal Essence striking sparks off his skin as they careered and collided with him.

Chún grunted in discomfort. Even with the toughness of his Sky Rank tempered body and the protection of his own Metal Essence wrapped around him it was like being caught in a sandstorm composed of blades all sharpened to cut as deeply as possible, forcing him to devote more of his attention to the protective shroud of Metal Essence around his body. With an effort of will, he fashioned it into angles and planes that deflected the millions of Metal Essence motes away.

Despite that, they ground away at him in their rush to join the Metal Essence around the staff.

"Endure it," came the instruction from his friend, "it is a good tempering exercise for you. Here comes the pure metal."

The young teen looked down at the base of the staff. Brilliant metallic light was starting to flicker within the cracks spreading out from the rock at the base of the staff, overwhelming even the silvery-gold light put out by so much Metal Essence gathered in one place.

"Add Fire Essence - as pure as you can - to the Essence you are sending into the staff," ordered the Mountain.

Chún carefully began reducing the amount of Metal Essence he was pulsing into the staff, replacing it with an equal amount of Fire Essence, until both Essence types were pouring equally into the rock in front of the boulder from the bottom of the staff and Dao patterns of glowing Flame were swirling throughout the staff to match the silver/copper/gold Dao patterns of Metal.

The storm of Metal Essence decreased in intensity around the staff even as there was a loud cracking and rumbling from beneath his seat on the boulder - as the cracks spidering outward from base of the staff flared with the white-orange-red colour of molten metal and widened into small fissures. A wave of heat and a roar like an open furnace blasted outwards from the cracks, slapping away the previously icy winds and sending a jet of red-gold Fire Essence Motes outward - as if the mountain had suddenly become an erupting volcano.

"Hold it steady - do not lose control," warned his locus in the link as molten metal surged out of the rents in the rock and flowed up the staff like a lava flow in reverse, "focus - guide it into the space between you and the staff."

Chún was feeling strained as he manipulated the two types of Essence and the growing mass of molten metal in midair in front of him. Between creating the Shrine this morning and working with the Cauldron with Essence Flames, then climbing a small mountain and now this, he was feeling that his limits in manipulating and controlling Essence were being methodically pushed like never before.

The Essence in the staff was cycling in a natural fire and metal balance without his input at this point, so he released it and let his arms drop, keeping his attention on the steady upward flow of Essence infused metal into the glowing mass hanging in mid-air in front of him. He could see that almost all the Metal and Fire Essence motes in the air were now being drawn into the glowing ball of molten metal naturally without his intervention, instead of going into his staff. Ripples of Metal and Fire Essence were now starting to spread out from it, drawing the pure molten metal upward into it from the still fiery, glowing, cracks in the rock.

"Now what do I…" he broke off his thought to Tai in the link as a sudden sense of being intently observed fell over him. Despite no longer having body hair, he felt the back of his neck stand up into goosebumps at the very predatory gaze he sensed.

He let his Essence Sense sweep outward away from the molten metal collecting mid air. A moment later he sensed powerful Metal Essence moving slowly toward him from behind - from a very high ranked Essence Beast.

There was a rumbling, huffing sound as his sense swept over it and the Essence Beast stopped moving towards him.

"Tai?" he sent worriedly into the link.

His locus' response was strangely muted, as if something was suppressing the Mountain's connection to him, "Make no sudden moves. Wait."

Chún's Essence sense could tell the Essence Beast was slowly moving to his right. The last time he felt this sense of pressure from a single Essence Beast was when he met His Majesty the Flood Dragon. Without releasing his control of the Essence around the molten sphere of metal that spun slowly in mid air, he slowly started withdrawing his Essence back into himself; the flow of metal upwards slowly decreased then ceased as the Dao patterns of the staff slowed to a stop. The glow in the fissures dimmed - although heat still rose upward from the glowing rock..

"Do not draw all your Essence away from the metal," came the careful warning from Tai, "the metal needs to remain molten to allow for Essence Forging…"

The Mountain went silent as the Essence Beast paced out in front of Chún, coming around in a wide circle from behind him to stand several paces away in front of him, an unblinking gaze fixed on the pulsing core of molten metal and past it to the wide eyes of the young teen.

"Báihǔ..." breathed Chún, understanding why his link with the Mountain was being suppressed as a monstrous pale-furred tiger lay down on its haunches in front of him. Its front legs - each as long as his body - stretched out in front, with massive paws wider than the width of his c.h.e.s.t at the end of each foreleg, each with five unsheathed, viciously curved claws that shredded the rock beneath them like soft dòufu.

The young teen thought it looked like watching a small hillside settle - as its mouth opened wide in a prodigious yawn, displaying massive canines the length of Chún's forearms, while the tiger's eyes never moved from the True Cultivator's own, the familiar symbol for Ruler gleaming softly with Metal Essence from its wide forehead.

Chún could see the motes of Metal Essence flowing towards the Great Essence Beast, torn out of the swirl around the World Tree Staff. The Tiger let loose a rumble of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e, a thick but flexible tail with a gleaming white tip fl.i.c.k.i.n.g lazily behind it as the Metal Essence flowed over its pale coat of fur. Chún realised it had likely been alerted by the increase in Metal Essence on the mountain once he had started following Tai's instructions. Even as he watched, the white coloration crept upward from the tip of the tail towards its base as the Tiger absorbed the Metal Essence

"Trrue Cultivatorr…" the rumbling sound of words startled Chún somewhat, but after his experiences with the Flood Dragon, part of him was almost expecting it. He bowed respectfully from his seat on the boulder towards the White Tiger, "Your Majesty."

There was a rumbling purr of definite laughter in the growling voice, "Tiger Prince I am still, not yet a King. But yourr rrespect is apprreciated. I was suprrised - and irrritated," the Tiger yawned threateningly again, still without taking his eyes off of Chún, "to smell a human herre on my favourrite Cultivation spot - but I see you arre not one of those pests."

"Not -just- one of those pests anyway," replied Chún dryly, slowly drawing all his Essence focus away from anything but the molten Metal sphere that still hovered between them in midair and the mountainous Essence Beast that was watching him with unblinking ice-blue eyes, slowly releasing the Essence Mists of his Cloak from beneath his skin. Its water nature would be restricted by the levels of Fire and Metal Essence in the environment if he had to fight, although the Air component would be strengthened.

"Hah!" The Tiger barked, sounding like a thunder clap that resonated in Chún's bones, "I like you, little Trrue Cultivatorr. Why did you come herre?" It eyed the pulsing sphere of pure Metal Essence, "Did you come to take that Trreasurre frrom my Magnetic Mountian?"

The young teen smiled slightly, "As you said, I am a True Cultivator. I do not use treasures to Cultivate - I create them or help them grow - much as my locus helps me and I help it. I am here because my locus is teaching me Essence Forging."

The Tiger straightened, blinking, its ears pricking forward alertly, "Forrging Trreasurres! You will make a Trreasurre from that? What will you make?"

Chún shrugged slightly, "I do not know, I am only learning, this is my first time - I am following my locus' instruction. Like you, I am young."

The Tiger snorted with good humor, "I am quite a bit olderr than you unless I miss my guess," he tilted its head curiously at Chún, "My Fatherr taught me a little about Trrue Cultivatorrs - so I underrstand what you mean by locus - but I thought it took a long time for a Trrue Cultivatorr to be able to communicate with theirr locus unless it or they arre both verry powerrful," its eyes narrowed as it considered, "so, if yourr locus is able to teach you, you must have linked almost at birrth."

Chún grinned, "About a month and a half ago, actually."

The Tiger sniffed and its ears flattened against its broad skull, "You arre telling the trruth." Its eyes widened, "What arre you linked to?"

Chún found himself flushing, one hand coming up behind his head to scratch sheepishly, his dialect thickening in embarrassment, "Nèige… Tai used to be a Mountain… nèige… it advanced into… nèige, this new planet…"

There was a sort of astonished silence from the Tiger - then the Essence within it twisted and exploded into a bright flare, almost causing Chún to lose his focus on the molten metal sphere, which pulsed angrily. Chún clamped down on it reflexively and its surface roiled, before settling back into smoothness.

Blinking away the 'spots' out of his Essence Sense, Chún's mouth dropped open as he beheld the sight of a muscular, darkly tanned young man sitting casually where the Tiger had been - dressed in what appeared to be a tiger skin loincloth and tiger-head hood and cape, with the forelegs dr.a.p.ed over boulder-like shoulders, massive paws hanging down to cross over his equally immense c.h.e.s.t.

A young, but heavily bearded face glared out with familiar ice-blue eyes from between the gaping jaws of the tiger's mouth, but Chún noticed the tiger's ears on the top of the 'hood' still twitched and the tail of the 'skin' still swept from side to side. Unclothed, heavily muscled legs led to massive b.a.r.e feet that gripped the rock powerfully despite the warrior's casual lounging position, one hand hanging off the knee of a half folded leg and the other leg stretched out in front of him.

The young man leaned forward, pointing his other hand at the young teen, a gleaming smile visible behind his beard as he laughed uproariously at Chún's expression, "You should see your face!" he chortled, then stopped abruptly, his expression intent, "There must be a story behind all of that - I would love to hear it sometime."

Chún closed his mouth and nodded in stunned agreement. The young man's voice didn't roll the r's like the Tiger had, but there was no mistaking that subsonic rumble that underlay every word. This was the same being. "Why do you want to hear my story?" he asked quietly, knowing that Essence Beasts that had a human form were very high Rank indeed.

"Man, I owe you bro! When I was born with this," the transformed tiger tapped the character for Ruler in the forehead fur of his 'tiger-head hood', "everyone thought I would have to fight my Father for the position of the White Tiger of the West on our Planet. Father's advisors told him to kill me before I could grow up to be a threat. But Dad... he had some sort of prophecy that I had another destiny… that there was another Mountain that would need a Tiger King."

The muscular, tanned shoulders shrugged, "My Father, he loves all of his children. So he took a chance and raised me as a Heir apparent. There can only be one Tiger on a mountain, but he made that choice…"

Chún nodded in understanding and the man smiled and waved his hands lazily, "it helped that I never had any urge to try to take over from my old man, or build a harem of my own - despite a few bastards and one or two lying queens trying to convince me otherwise as I grew up." He smiled lazily and Chún seemed to see that gaping maw of before, "they never lasted long."

He leaned forward and Chún felt as if those eyes were seeing through him, "A week or so ago, I got the urge to go for a walkabout - somehow ended up on this Planet. I could tell it was a much more powerful planet, than my home one," his lips split into a l.e.w.d grin, "v.i.r.g.i.n, unspoilt, perfect, so to speak - just my preference. And with Metal Essence like this I can advance to a full White Tiger much quicker than if I had remained back home - there is no other White Tiger here - and now there does not need to be another. This is what I was born for… and you made it possible. True Cultivator."

Chún gulped as the Tiger's head dipped fractionally in respect, "Well, it is a little more complicated than that, but… I understand how you can see it that way."

The Tiger grinned as he looked straight back at Chún, "It always is! Like I said, I wanna hear all about it. We are going to be best friends, you and I - call me Bai." His head tilted towards the molten sphere of Pure Metal, "So… have you thought about Essence Forging a weapon out of that?"