Scramble for the Death Within Life Fruit
Ming Yue, Dai-Tai, A dejected Jin and the newly recruited; Tshung Seng all sprinting in a line with one objective on their mind. To grab the Death Within Life Fruit to make the antidote for their master, "I pray that we can come out of this hellhole safely," Jin clenched his hand together in prayer hoping not to be ravished by other spirits.
Dai-Tai scolded at Jin as she hid behind a rocky structure that was similar in appearance akin to a stature that had been eroded over time, "Unlikely, we will probably have to sacrifice you as bait," She carelessly injected as she stared at the gathering of spirit surrounding the still budding flower that would soon become the fruit in the next few hours. Jin immediately became withdrawn as he heard that the ruthless Dai-Tai would use him so the rest could escape scot free. Tshung Seng tried to comfort the depressed Jin saying some encouraging words despite her broken words. The group stared at the budding flower ready to pounce at the opportunity but as soon as the plant began flowering. Four spirits came down from the air to a suitable area to absorb the spiritual energy that was gently being emitted; The Four Yakshas which all had physical body, the weakest being at supreme rank.
The Northern Barbarian, The Eastern Tyrant, The Southern Spinster and the Western Collector; all of the peak of spirits were essentially the governing powers over the spirit world. The spirits don't dare provoke or attack them as they had physical bodies infused with spiritual energy which easily avoid and destroy them, absorbing their spiritual energy to nourish their own. Seeing the Four Yakshas, Dai-Tai definitely hesitated at the thought of one them killing each one of them like a flickering light but the image of their sickly master relighting the flame easily washing away the thought of death with no chance of reincarnation.
At the awe of the sight of seeing the Death Within Life plant have a three luminescent white blossoms blooming under the full moon light and it quickly withered, leaving behind shiny round red fruit, encasing the fruit with papery thin white skeleton-like cage. Soon, massive waves of spiritual energy washed over the entire realm; the closer you are to the plant the more spiritual energy there is. The strongest take the best spots that are closest to the plant while the weaker are further back and every single spot was filled with spirits who were trying to absorb the most spiritual energy without having to fight for nourishment. The spiritual realm was a dog fighting world, constantly having to fight each other to absorb nourishment to obtain a physical body. However, this was the only time in the year where all spirits have agreed to not fight on this day to obtain nourishment, however, there is still a hierarchy in the spiritual realm.
Many spirits prepare to this time of year to fight each other for a better spot so that they can achieve their goal, however, rankings rarely change because the majority of the spirits are people who have died are common people or young child who are unable to fight whilst cultivators who have died early have a better chance of rising in ranks. Ming Yue saw the four Yakshas which she vaguely heard of from Dai-Tai and sighed helplessly. Luckily, Dai-Tai was one of the lucky few spirits who were able to somewhat rise in the ranking closing in behind the yakshas, however, her special constitution hindered her ranking as her body would continuously leak out spiritual energy so it require her to constantly consume spirits on a daily.
Tshung Seng despite being a spirit for a long time never knew of such a place since she was in the plain faraway barely interacting with other spirits until recently, "So, this fruit makes spirit strong?" Her effort to communicate with the others were endearing as she had never learnt the mainland language properly, "We take fruit or whole plant?" Seng asked knowing that they need the plant to help their master, however, she was unaware that the plant was a valuable resource to the spirits that if anyone where to touch it. It would bring about a horde of spirits coming their way in an effort to kill them.
Dai-Tai and Ming Yue were the two mainly planning on their strategy, "If we take the plant we will have ourselves a hard time trying to run away, " Ming Yue patiently answered Tshung Seng's question and she quickly returned her attention to Dai-Tai who was discussing about an escape route and lose the crowd quickly. Their plan was to have Dai-Tai and Ming Yue to create a diversion, having Jin and Tshung Seng to take a fruit then quickly flee the scene with them following behind. If one of the Yakshas start to chase any of them then they would have to use the safety of the barrier at the closest barricaded spirit barriers such as the ancestral home or at Xu Yang's Qilin conservation haven. Either one of the barrier would protect and they would have to wait it out until they decide to stop pursuing them. If any case that the Yakshas don't stop pursuit then they would be left to fight it out.
Setting their minds on this plan. They began to start the act with Dai-Tai and Ming Yue shuffling themselves up the rankings as they tried to get a close to the Yakshas as possible. The weakest of the Yakshas, The Collector, would be the easiest to deal with since he was still new to the ranking and could easily be toppled off the rankings because many are able to contend for this spot. Dai-Tai being one of those contenders so it would be the prefect opportunity to use this situation to gain the spot as one of the Four Yakshas and get closer to the Death Within Life Fruit, "Collector, I, Spider Lily, challenge you for the spot of Western Lord!" Dai-Tai announced out of the blue undoubtedly garnering the attention of every sngle spirit gathered at this spot.
The Collector was a withered old man who had a bulbous head with blue veins popping protruding from his skin, a deformed mouth that had teeth lined evenly with a chin that struck out revealing those yellow stained teeth. He also had a grotesquely disturbing hunchback that cause him to hunch to an almost ninety degree angle. His mismatched red eyes stood out against the yellowed part of the eye that was meant to be white. Though the Collector jumped down from his position to accept the duel with the Spinster and the Tyrant watching; the only one that wasn't paying attention to the match was the Barbarian who was at the peak of the hierarchy almost unrivalled since he arrived in the spirit realm. Jin and Tshung Seng began slowly advancing towards the plants as to now draw too much attention as they would occasionally stay in one spot for a period of time though not for too long. In the case if they were too cautious it could result in one of the Yakshas to be suspicious of their intentions; seeing that one of the Yakshas wasn't paying attention to the duel especially the Barbarian who was the strongest out of the four.
Tshung Seng stared at the Barbarian to check whether he had notice Jin and herself. Unfortunately, Tshung Seng had make eye contact with the Barbarian to notice that the man was familiar and as she tried to find her memory; her head throbbed in pain trying to search through her fuzzy memory. Clutching her head in pain, Tshung Seng broke the eye contact quickly as the pain from trying to remember was indeed very painful. However, the Barbarian's eyes still hadn't moved once from the woman who was clutching her head in pain and he had long noticed her arrival during the Blossoming Death Within Fruit event. His watchful eye continued to stare at the woman as he watched another spirit, a male one at that was had accompanied her made him frustated; no angry at their close interactions.
Jin had noticed that Tshung Seng was acting in a weird way had to check up on her, "Seng, are you alright?' He tried to discreetly whether her condition couldn't allow her to continue with their mission at hand. Tshung Seng nodded as she dismissed the man's worried look as she reassured him that she was alright to continue with the mission, "Do you have some sort of relation with the Barbarian?" Jin continued to ask questions as the Barbarian had noticed their movement especially Tshung Seng's; this would be difficult for them to continue with their plan as one of the Yakshas were observing them and Dai-Tai couldn't continue the act of being a challenger for the four spots of the Yakshas forever.
The duel between Dai-Tai and the collector started with the two exchanging blows with each other with The Kollector using magic while Dai-Tai easily being able deflecting the magic away with her hand, "If you want to keep your spot as the Fourth Yaksha," Dai-Tai taunted as she smirked wickedly, "You will have to do better," Seeing that she was easily able to go against the Collector; the opportunity to have the fourth spot as a Yaksha was irresistible. Ming Yue who was the overseer for Dai-Tai was starting to get nervous seeing that she was gonna start going full out.
Ming Yue, Dai-Tai, Jin and Tshung Seng were all connected telepathically because of their contract with their master, Fangsu, "Dai-Tai, don't forget what our objective!" Turning her attention to Jin and Tshung Seng and seeing that were motionless in spot, "We need to be quick," Ming Yue turned her attention to the Yakshas to see that the Barbarian was the reason that they weren't able to move. Seeing that no one was able to do anything; Ming Yue rushed to the Death Within Life plant plucking off all three of the fruits before someone would chase her. This act was considered a felony in the spiritual realm and many spirits when to chase after her. Jin and Tshung Seng who were previously struck when to help Ming Yue escape by blocking as many spirits as possible but the most unexpected thing that happened was that the Barbarian was the one that was also assisting them to block off as many of the spirits off. However, a few slippery few spirits had managed to continue chasing after Ming Yue.
The majority of the spirit began protesting against the Barbarian as they wanted that spirit dead because of their felony. But, he only nonchalantly shrugged at the spirit's protest as he stood guard of the exit. This of course cause many spirits to be riled up and the rest Yakshas were also pretty much observing the scene seeing that the Barbarian was acting completely differently, "Oh this is interesting," The Spinster smirked as she spun her hair around her finger, "He had never been swayed by anyone yet here comes a sweet woman and he is acting like a jealous puppy," She was completely intrigued but the buff man's actions towards the seemingly sweet demure woman who had quite the beautiful features that she herself wanted to have the woman but knowing the Barbarian she would probably be chased to the deepest part of hells.
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Ming Yue zipped through many trees as she tried to escape the many spirits that were chasing her down and she would have to occasionally throw a ball of spiritual energy to avoid getting captured. As she was on the constant alert to avoid the spirits she went to the ancestral home seeing that it was the closest location with a barrier. As she phased through the barrier as it recognised her and the other spirits that tried to follow her could only slam into the barrier. They could only frustratingly try to break the barrier but it was futile since it was resistance to all attack regardless of magic, physical or spiritual energy. Ming Yue could only wait out for the spirits to hopefully cool down and lose interest in her. But, a sudden chill was send down her back as a queasy feel began churning through her body making her want to vomit. Something had happen to Fangsu.