52 Cloudy With a Chance of Death

Across the massive United Realm, controlled surges of raw energy rushed in every direction. Beneath the surface, undetectable veins connected to each and every thing that existed here, providing a steady supply of nourishment. Of course, this meant that everything native to the United Realm had been undergoing a baptism of this energy for a very long time.

Regular soil became divine; fruits were now heavenly subspecies; the air itself could bring the dead to life.

If you could- or, more accurately, if you had enough time to waste- it was possible to trace these veins back to their respective sources. One such source could be found within the sandy terrain of the Twilight Desert, covered eternally by apocalyptic clouds and living creatures of mist. Somewhere in the Twilight Desert there could be found the remains of a giant oasis. There was no water though, but instead a large and empty crater.

Every now and then, raining down from the sky, pure energy entered and spread throughout the crater before dispersing to the hidden veins below. This was the source of skyforce energy, which consisted of wind and thunder qi. It nurtured those beings in the United Realm that were connected to those two elements, like birds.

As more and more skyforce energy entered the crater, the sandy grains started to gather into fist sized masses. As more and more time passed, and more energy went into the crater, those fist sized masses of sand shed their dull hue and rough texture, becoming refined crystals.

As soon as this happened, the desert area around the crater came to life. Slightly large pebbles and rocks, dried sticks and snakes, lizards and sluggish tortoises- everything came out of hiding and gathered on the rim of the crater, waiting.

Standing among them was the odd one out, the one creature that did not seem to belong there. It looked nothing like the others, and was the only one of its kind in all the desert.

That was Ji Tianshan, dusty, bruised and angry, but determined to succeed this time.

To her left, a family of stones had slid up to the crater together.

"Quartzfather, what are we waiting for now?" A little stone stuck close to a large stone, asking it questions like a curious toddler.

"Every time the energy passes through regularly, there is only a thirty second window before the next energy surge. However, when the Dew Drops of Ecstasy are just about to be formed, the subsequent energy surge will be far greater so as to nourish them. This causes the window to jump from thirty seconds to a whopping fifty seconds!"

Another stone slid over, leaving a trail in the sand as it approached. "Quartzfather, how come we're the only quartzkind here? I see the granitekind, the schistkind... even the gneisskind are over there. We are the only ones that are quartzkind. Is that a good sign?"

The largest quartz rock, the father whom the other rocks had gathered around, scoffed. "We are the true prodigies of our kind! We are the true braves! The only ones that dare risk our lives for the chance to become Quartz Immortals!"

His children cheered with him, but they were the only ones in a relatively good mood. Ji Tianshan overheard them and could not help but sigh. During her time here, she had come across quite a lot of quartzkind. At first, she assumed that they were veterans and would be able show her how to get in and out with a Dew Drop of Ecstasy, but she was dead wrong.

The quartzkind... absolutely sucked. Every group that came to the crater so far had perished; been turned to dust that remained in the crater to eventually become a Dew Drop.

She had attempted to change their minds in order to save their lives, but the quartzkind were stubborn and arrogant. Even so, she had to try for the sake of the ignorant children.

"Mister Quartz, sir, my name is Ji Tianshan."

"Hmm. A human, eh? Haven't seen one of you in the desert before. What's up?"

"Please don't enter the crater. I've seen a lot of quartzkind try to get a Dew Drop and end up dying. I think... I think the reason there are no other quartzkind here is because they have all died!"

The rock was stunned... Or was it? Ji Tianshan couldn't tell. Hell, I can't even tell. Have you ever tried talking to a rock? A brick wall, perhaps?

Exactly.

"Even so, there is no gain without risk. However, I will not risk the lives of my children. Ji Tianshan, was it? I thank you for your counsel."

Surprisingly, the quartz rock heeded her warning and told his children to stay behind.

"But Father, what if you don't make it out?"

"We want to die with you, father!"

The father rock laughed, patting them on the head by rubbing against them gently. To Tianshan, it looked awkward, so she looked away. The other beings that were gathered around the crater paid no heed to anything else. Their cold and focused demeanor was something Ji Tianshan had already grown used to during her time at the crater.

"Ho, ho! Now, now, children, there won't be any of that. Just stay here and watch as your old man acquires a Dew Drop of Ecstasy for each of us!" Though he sounded confident, there was a trace of something else beneath his expression... Or was there?

Again, it's a rock. Who the hell knows!?

The quartzfather's voice suddenly sounded out in Ji Tianshan's mind, "Friend Tianshan, might I speak with you privately?" He was asking if it was okay to continue speaking to her through spirit-link.

She did not have sufficient energy to fuel a response, so she slowly nodded so as not to arouse suspicion from the children.

"You must think I'm foolish for pressing on despite your warning. I cannot blame you; you seem to have only been here for a short time. My family has lived in this desert for hundreds of years, wasting away in slow degradation. The Dew Drops are our only chance for a better life. I know that a lot of my kind has perished before me, but even so I must try. For my children. So they can have something better than life as a rock."

"But, if I do not make it and you do, will you please watch over my children?"

Ji Tianshan heard this and looked to him in shock. She opened her mouth, about to speak, but could not respond with anything but a nod. The quartzfather realized that she had no cultivation base at some point, so he saw her nod and ended the spirit-link.

The time was now at hand.

In the storm clouds, a thundercloud giant appeared, Its hand stretched downward to the crater, breaking free of the larger concentration of mist and entering the desert atmosphere. All looked on as a more powerful surge of skyforce energy flowed into the crater, bounced around to each of the now completed Dew Drops, then sunk into the sand.

Not even a second passed after the energy dispersed, yet sticks, rocks, snakes and lizards were already bolting into the crater. Ji Tianshan was not far behind, with the quartzfather rolling crazily close behind.

Time was already running out.

Without the power of her cultivation base, Ji Tianshan could only barely summon her innate lightning. Even so, it was enough to give her an edge over the rocks and sticks. Unfortunately, some kind of demonic force seemed to be driving the snakes and lizards. They were much too fast, grabbing Dew Drops in their mouths left and right. Every time Ji Tianshan set her sight on one, it would be picked up into the mouth of a lizard or snake.

Searching while she ran, she found a Dew Drop close to her that did not seem to be anyone's target. Veering right, she dove to the floor and grabbed the Dew Drop, rolling forward and arriving back on her feet to then run to the opposite side of the crater from where she had started.

This was a strategy she saw the lizards use; starting at Point A, making a straight line through the crater, then arriving at Point B. It was time efficient, guaranteeing safety almost 100% of the time.

When Ji Tianshan was on the way back up to ground level, she glimpsed something in the sky that should not have occurred. Slowly moving toward the hole in the storm cloud that had not even close yet was the very same thundercloud giant, preparing to dish out another surge of energy.

She could just barely see a silhouette floating within the storm cloud, but when she blinked it vanished. For some reason, she felt like she had just seen her master.

She was startled, but not afraid. After all, she was already on the return journey. Most of the snakes and lizards were also on their way back up, but the ones that were still fighting for Dew Drops cried out in fear.

"Not possible! Thirty seconds haven't even passed yet!"

"Quick, get out! Get out, get out, get out!"

"Why Senior Thundercloud!? WHY!!??"

When Ji Tianshan was almost out, she felt something tug at her soul and divide her concentration. It was like a message from the Grand Dao, alerting her to something she was missing.

When she turned around, she saw the quartzfather trying to push a mound of sand. It appeared frantic, pushing and pushing, bashing into the sand mound to try to get it moving forward. It did not give up, but it could not succeed.

Ji Tianshan gasped, quickly putting her Dew Drop into her spatial ring and turning around. Overhead, the hand of the thundercloud giant had opened and was gathering energy to feed into the crater once more.

She had less than ten seconds to do this.

She immediately forced her innate thunderforce to pour out exponentially, slightly damaging her internal organs and meridians. Even so, she maintained a steady flow and rushed toward the quartzfather, thinking only about his children that were waiting for him to return.

Knowing she would not have enough strength normally, Ji Tianshan waiting until she was close enough to the rock to rotate her body counter-clockwise. Once she had done that, while still slowly rotating, she bent over, grabbed the rock, then spun even faster. After two full circles, she tossed the rock as hard as she could. She had generated barely enough force to toss the rock out of the crater, and she let out a gleeful cheer when she saw that he had made it.

Not wanting to waste any more time, she restarted her engines with more of her innate thunderforce, but this time she felt a tearing pain deep inside. Thinking she would have enough time, Ji Tianshan dug into the sand mound to find whatever it was the quartzfather was trying to bring with him.

When she pulled out two Dew Drops, she gasped and turned around to look at him. She took a breath and prepared to fuel her body for a final sprint, but the tearing pain returned, worse than before. She was forced to end her forceful usage of innate thunderforce, temporarily halting the pain.

The skyforce energy had already been gathered, and the giant's hand was now just overhead. In less than two seconds, the entire crater would be filled with raw skyforce. Ji Tianshan had no choice.

She used a tiny amount of her innate thunderforce, focused on her arm. Since she was not powering the movement of her entire body, the pain in her soul as a lot more bearable.

"Quartzfather, here!"

Currents of blood-red electricity appeared on her arm, a sign of her overtaxing her soul. She tossed the Dew Drops up to the family of quartz rocks with ease, but then fell over on her back shortly afterward.

The skyforce was upon her, falling down to fill the crater and, in doing so, turn her body into nothing but dust. The quartzfather shivered, forgetting all about the Dew Drops for a moment.

"Tianshan!"