Depthless Hunger

Kai moved through the blood and carnage, death on every side, and felt nothing.

It hadn't been straight murder, at least. The Tail faction had stopped the Manticore Head breakaway party and demanded that they return to the tribe on pain of death... and the breakaway group had immediately launched an assault. And so Kulha got the fight he wanted.

A cultivator rushed at Kai, not moving particularly fast even before considering half-phases, so Kai had plenty of time to examine him.

Name: ???

Total Power: 219

Cultivation: Body Refinement 51% (93)

Manticore Tattoo (+75)

Physique Level: F-6 (42)

Soul Level: 3 (9)

It sort of made sense to Kai: the man had been a mediocre Body Refinement cultivator with 144 total Power, then he'd gotten a high quality tattoo that added 75 more, so he must feel bursting with power. It still seemed like insanity to Kai, because the man should have known better. A single Nascent Foundation cultivator from the Brightwind sect could have beaten him - Kai was starting to understand the strength of their focus on pure cultivation.

When the attacker got close, Kai dodged the man's sword and smacked him on the side of the head. The man smashed into the ground, coughing up an alarming amount of blood. Others who had been charging toward Kai suddenly decided they wanted to find better targets.

It might not be murder, but this battle was a slaughter. The Tail faction had been stronger in the first place and Kai's actions had only strengthened them. Like Kulha had said, this was to be an example to all the other factions: leaving the tribe meant death.

Kai could splatter most of the fighters who came at him, which made the battle simply boring. He was beginning to consider leaving to let them handle it when he felt a new force arrive: an actually potent source of qi. An old woman landed on the battlefield not far from him, sending out a shockwave in all directions. Other cultivators from the Tail faction retreated and the Head separatists fell back in awe.

"That's the Head faction matriarch!"

"She's the strongest cultivator in the breakaway faction!"

"She actually came here herself!"

Despite the threat in front of him, Kai couldn't help but shoot a glance at the cultivators staring at them. It seemed like this conflict was important enough for them to stop fighting and watch. That was just annoying... but he needed to focus on the woman in front of him.

She was an old woman with a straight back, sun-darkened skin, and hard eyes. Unlike most Manticore tribe cultivators, she wore elegant silk robes embroidered with bright red eye patterns. Even stranger, her robes left her arms bare, yet they were covered in tattoos of such vibrant color that it seemed almost like the embroidery of her robe extended onto her skin.

Name: Manticore Head Faction Matriarch

Total Power: 716

Cultivation: Earth Soul 3% (400)

Manticore Tattoo (+100)

Physique Level: E-0 (80)

Soul Level: 6 (36)

Vicious Presence Tattoo (+100)

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Her essence was even more impressive, with an Earth Soul foundation strengthened by two different mana tattoos for a total of 716 Power. The most interesting was something called a Vicious Presence Tattoo, which he'd never seen before.

"This is the outsider uniting factions?" The woman looked at him skeptically. "You don't seem strong enough to convince Feida or Kulha."

"You have to see how this battle is going," Kai said, gesturing to the slaughter around them. "Just surrender and submit to us. End this slaughter."

"We will never surrender. Now die!"

She raised a hand and a qi technique leapt forth, a massive set of jaws almost the size of Kai's body. He broke it apart with a Tyrant's Claw and was impressed by the strength of her qi, but only relatively: if he fought using his full strength, he could obviously kill her, as he could kill most other Earth Souls.

In that moment, Kai decided that he was going to win the fight by keeping her alive. This battle might be necessary, but he wouldn't kill such a strong cultivator just for an example. If she could be convinced, by his strength or any other means, then she would be a major asset for their side. He wasn't sure what earned the "matriarch" title but he might as well collect more leaders.

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So Kai began with Void Gaze. The effect swept past her, making all the other tribesmen in range tremble or cough up blood... but the Earth Soul remained unaffected.

"So it's true, you have some sort of crude presence." She sniffed and gestured with one of her brilliantly-colored arms. "True cultivators can create much stronger effects than that."

Light poured from her body, lighting the battlefield in a lurid display of red and purple. Kai felt it wash over him and actually took a step back - there was real force there, a power not quite like anything he'd felt before. It wasn't enough to seriously harm him, but he saw several Tail faction cultivators coughing up blood.

"That's the Vicious Presence!"

"Such a power wouldn't be disrespected, even in the Eastern Plains!"

"It's second to none in the Head faction!"

When Kai glared at the commenters in irritation, he forgot that he was still using Void Gaze and a host of cultivators were sent reeling. He ignored them and looked back to the woman, who continued to resist the effect. Her unique tattoo sat next to her Soul Level, and it definitely felt more spiritual... this presence must be one of the higher techniques Zae Zin Nim had mentioned.

Despite everything, Kai grinned. The matriarch might not be a threat to him overall, but here was an actual challenge. He leapt toward her and she seemed startled, as if she'd expected her presence alone to freeze him in place. Despite her shock, she managed to summon another jaw-shaped qi technique.

Kai dodged around this one with Thunderbird's Wings, creating two shockwaves as he flew in one direction, then redirected himself back in the other. Unlike most cultivators, this woman seemed able to resist them, perhaps another effect of her presence. He really wanted to figure this out.

Once he got close, Kai transformed his hand into a claw and thrust forward in an obvious, blunt attack. As expected, she was able to knock it aside with one arm, which was the moment he used his full speed: Kai's other claw lashed out, slicing through the tattoo on her arm.

The presence radiating off her immediately weakened, but it didn't diminish entirely. He stared down at her, eyes burning with Void Gaze, and she managed to resist. Yes, the power was definitely coming from her soul, with the tattoos only boosting its strength. What was strange was that this presence seemed entirely based in qi, like it was a natural cultivation power. He needed to ask Zae Zin Nim for more details.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Stop fighting," Kai said in a low voice. "What are you accomplishing?"

"You intend to kill us all!" The woman hissed it in a low voice and tried to launch another qi attack at close range with her good arm, but Kai grabbed her wrist and held it in place.

"We don't need to kill you, just surrender and-"

"Never!" She struck her own stomach with her injured arm and spat up blood. Kai was surprised for a moment, which distracted him enough that he didn't realize the truth: she had damaged her own dantian. All the qi she had built up as an Earth Soul twisted violently.

Her body exploded a moment later and Kai actually staggered back a step: sacrificing her life had produced a burst of power that she never could have attained normally. Trails of qi had been burned across his arm and torso... but they were already healing.

Such a senseless waste. Kai stared down at the blood splatter that was all that remained of the woman.

At least the battle had accomplished one thing: all the breakaway cultivators who saw their champion die fell into a panic, either surrendering or fleeing. Those who fled were cut down by the Tail faction, and thankfully the surrenders were accepted. Surely they had enough bodies for the example they wanted and further slaughter was pointless.

As the battle concluded, Kai looked over the battlefield and again felt nothing. Cultivators scattered around him, murmuring about his bloodlust, but the truth was that he was just tired. Even though they had successfully stopped the breakaway tribe, and presumably seized their resources, it seemed so unnecessary.

He needed to accept the truth that this was just a bloody civil war within the tribe, not any noble cause. Part of Kai had wanted to believe that he was doing the right thing by stabilizing the Manticore tribe and returning peace to the region, but he couldn't convince himself with that anymore. Their conflict wasn't noble, it was just more squabbling over power. And he was doing the same thing, supporting two factions in order to consolidate strength and gain the power he wanted.

"A great victory!" Kulha appeared beside him, bleeding from several wounds that would no doubt add new scars to his body. "No faction will dare try to sell off the Manticore tribe's secrets again!"

"Did you get the tattoo experts?" Kai asked flatly.

"Yes, they surrendered once they saw the battle was lost. Come this way, we actually have a proposal for you."

The victors were setting up several tents and Kai was ushered to the largest. When he stepped inside, he couldn't see the toll of the battle anymore, though he could still smell it. Kai put aside moral qualms and focused on the people who had been gathered there: they looked like tattoo specialists and they were carrying a significant number of resources. He could feel the qi and mana radiating off them, filled with potential.

"Take a look at this." Kulha gestured to a young woman and she opened a scroll, revealing a drawing of a manticore. "This is our design for the Great Manticore Tattoo, which is given only to the strongest of the tribe. Thanks to this victory, we have all the mana ink we need to create it, and we'd like to give it to you."

Part of Kai hungered for the power, but he recognized the political maneuver: taking the tribal tattoo like this would bind him to the faction and mark him as one of them. Perhaps Kulha was trying to set him up as a leader, and most likely this was another internal game, against Feida or his other rivals. Kai wanted the power, but he wasn't playing that game.

"How much strength would it give me?" he asked.

"The first tattoo would grant 100 Power," an elderly tattoo artist said, "but it could be expanded. With a back the size of yours, we might increase it to double that."

Some of the other cultivators gasped, but Kai was unmoved. Yes, 200 Power was a considerable amount, but he was preparing to face the true powers of the world, who had closer to 2000. He couldn't afford to ink something like this into his skin when he didn't know its full potential or compatibility with the rest of his power.

"That isn't strong enough." As soon as he spoke, Kai realized that he was implicitly insulting the entire tribe by dismissing their techniques.

That was exactly the sort of thing Zae Zin Nim had warned him not to do to avoid starting any feuds... and yet it didn't seem to matter. The cultivators only stared at him in amazement, or retreated while bowing, or apologized. Some of the tattoo artists were even assuring him that they would come up with something even stronger.

Right, because he had power he could throw his weight around. A cultivator's pride was such a flimsy thing.

"Keep the most powerful mana ink," Kai told Kulha as they stepped out of the tent. "I don't need a tattoo yet, but I'll take that as my payment."

"Of course." Kulha examined him with narrow eyes. "You must know that Feida is going to try to recruit you next. So long as you're just working with us as a mercenary, the tribe can't trust in your strength."

"I'll join you once you can present me with a powerful enough tattoo." The lie emerged from his lips without a second thought and he had seen too much bloodshed that day to feel guilty about it. "I'll fight your battles for you, but I'm not changing my opinion: if you want to keep the Manticore tribe together, you need to unite the Tail and Claw factions."

"We might, if we had a strong enough leader."

It was possible, Kai realized as he walked away. If he became the leader of the Manticore tribe, he could force Feida and Kulha to cooperate under him, and potentially even unite the other factions with raw power instead of slaughter. There was an entire potential life spiraling out ahead of him where he could live and die on Cloudspire.

But that wasn't his life. No, he needed to reunite with companions who were aiming much higher.