Chapter 12: Fate is Cruel

Ah fate… Fate is so cruel, so weird, and so unpredictable yet predictable.

It is a common motif in mythology and fairy tales that someone is generally able to see the future or fate in a way. That leads down the path of profecies, engraved threads that will lead down a path regardless of the prophet's and prophetee's wishes and whims, many times they try to stop the prophecy, only to fulfill it in the process. 

"Death Fate." His finger traced the pure black thread above the head of the little child in her mother's arms. Weak little one who defied the fates by being alive and surviving day by day… "If nothing is done, she will die." His own spiritual eyes could see the threads of many- Many of many colors and lenghts, the longer the thread the longer or greater their destiny. That's what Root understood about Fate- Most mortals were destined to die, he could see their Golden Threads of Life going slowly by each and every day, getting shorter and shorter. The Black ones he called Black Threads of Death, these were the most common fate threads he saw- The moment the Life Thread reached its end, it would cut off, and the person would die. 

The Death Thread, however, was more of a doomed fate- Those who had it, were meant to die. Maybe they had a disease, or a curse, but they were going to have an inevitable end if no outside forces can change that. He channeled his own Nature Qi through the body of the child, feeling and finding its soul easily- It was… damaged? And not pure, like the soul of a child would be, but darkned and cracked. There were also pieces missing too… 'What happened?' His own Spirit Qi spread into the soul of the child as he inspected the damage done to it… He found this bead, black bead of violent Qi that thrashed at his Spirit Qi, but the Heavenly Pure Spirit Qi was able to completely resist the Qi, which he recognized as Chaotic Qi described by the system- 

It was like there were all kinds of Qi together into one single sphere, all growing and shrinking in size and quantity at the same time in random intervals of milliseconds. 

'This is what is damaging the child's soul…' Don't get him wrong, he cared not for the child, the only children he cares for is his children- This child? It presented him an opportunity to learn, and to thank the child, he will help her. With tendrils of Spirit Qi, he grasped the bead of black Chaotic Qi and pulled it out of the child's soul, into her body where he tightened the shield around the bead with his Nature Qi. When he pulled it out, it came from her throat, and her pale expression immediately looked better! He also did three things-

He sealed the bead of Chaotic Qi inside one of his seeds by using [Seed Make] for a moment, as he healed the damage in her body, as he pulled pieces of her broken soul with his Spirit Qi. This process took a huge amount of Qi out of him, and he felt exhausted… Exhausted enough to let the single black seed he had been holding, fall upon the soil, at which point it became one of his children. How? It took root. 

The Chaotic Qi inside was condensed and absorbed by the seed for a moment, becoming a flower that blossomed within a single second, and from that black flower, a void stretch out its arms and- With a pop, a small humanoid with deep black skin and a crazy rainbow for a hair that kept changing colors was born. 

Their name? 

"Ooh~" Floating around, the solidified Chaos glowed with happy thoughts and murder in their hearts. "Daddy!" It had a childish glee upon his eyes, sharp claws upon their hands, and sharp teeth upon their endless maw of darkness. It was like an Eldritch abomination, with thousands of eyes, yet cute like a kitten. "Your name is Chaos, little one." Although they were an accident, Root still loved them deeply- They were the most unique child he has! "Go greet your siblings, okay?" Soon, Chaos went to find their siblings Leaf, Lily, Ahteus, Zylph, Fiero, and Namis. Meanwhile, Root healed the child and sent her back to the mother- 

[Status]

Name: Hyu Jin

Species: Human

Cultivation Root: Chaos, Light, Space [Trash Quality]

Age: 0 Years

Qi Realm: N/A

Techniques -

'Oh…' This child, this child could become a good member to his sect. He quickly thought of something and spoke quickly: "Your child is healed, however, she needs to be watched constantly." His voice was like a whisper in the wind, making the mortal woman bow and nod: "Great immortal, please, please help my child." Root hummed in "thought" as he pretended to think about it, he said: "Very well, but this debt must be paid… you and your child shall serve my sect." The woman nodded, tears upon her cheeks as she thanked the immortal for his… "kindness". "Thank you, immortal, thank you." 

Root smiled softly to himself. 

He used his [Seedling Make] skill, a small green seed fell before him and the woman that held the baby, that seed grew quickly into a humanoid made out of tree bark and with roots for feet. It had the size of 3 feet tall, with chubby hands made out of vines and leaves, it had four fingers that looked like smooth wooden sticks sprouting out of the "hand" of the little thing. "Child, hold the baby for me, and guide the woman to the inner circle." The inner circle was simply the fancy name he gave to buildings immediately surrounding his tree- Ah, right.

Leaf made the mortals build homes away from his roots, so the buildings that were closer to his tree were called the Inner Circle by the mortals, who believed only the spirits who were his children lived- And they were right. Leaf, Lily, Atheus, and Fiero kept some of the things they found around and they liked, Zylph normally would give her things to her siblings, and Namis spent most of her time sleeping inside her own home.

"Wei!" The little seedling made a cute "wei" sound as it lifted its arms, making Root feel his heart melt. The little seedling extended their hand towards the woman, the arm extending a whole foot, as the roots grew like living beings. The woman hesitated but took the little thing's hand and followed it as it guided her to her new home, where she would be taken care of because her little girl was going to become a strong cultivator in the future. Root started to also make more seedlings using [Seedling Make], he also used [Cultivation Root Influence] on this one to make it have a [Death] Affinity, making this one grow with black roots and dark gray wood bark. "Go find your sister Lily, little one." The first seedling had a [Nature] Cultivation Root, this one had a [Death] Cultivation root, so of course he created more for his children! 

Each one of these seedlings had leaves, flowers, and even small saplings on the top of their heads.

The first seedling was Leaf's personal aid and lesser brother, he decided to call him Seedot. He had a small walnut on top of his head.

The second seedling was Lily's personal aid and lesser sister, he decided to call her Poppy. She had a small white poppy on top of her head.

The third seedling was Atheus' personal aid and lesser sibling, he decided to call them Ion. They had a small iron-like blade of grass on top of their head.

The fourth seedling was Zylph's personal aid and lesser sister, he decided to call them Breeze. They had a small dandelion on top of their head that moved as if the wind was blowing. 

The fifth seedling was Fiero's personal aid and lesser brother, he decided to call him Fire Fern. He had a small red fern on top of their head.

The sixth seedling was Namis' personal aid and lesser sibling, he decided to call them Pearl. They had a small flower bud on top of their head that refused to bloom, it looked like a small pearl. 

The seventh seedling was a problem- they simply died when he tried to make them have a [Chaos] Cultivation Root, so he gave up and tried to make a lesser spirit for his child Chaos, but he was also unable to. 

He would apologize later.

Now, he had another child to have- 

He had the [Nature Child: Leaf], the [Death Child: Lily], the [Earth Child: Atheus], the [Wind Child: Zylph], the [Fire Child: Fiero], the [Water Child: Namis], and the [Chaos Child: Chaos]. He wanted another one- Which was who he made. 

[Light Child: Lumin].

He gathered the Light Qi from the atmosphere and sent it to a small seed, upon doing so he used [Seed Make]- if he did the same with the skill [Seedling Make], then the seedling would have that Qi's affinity -that made a small golden seed. Upon falling into the ground, the seed blossomed into a bright golden flower that grew into an androgynous humanoid, no visible features that could be assigned to males or females, but having both and none at the same time. "Father…" their voice was ethereal and soft, making Root smile: "Child, your name is now Lumin. Go and greet your seven siblings…" Lumin smiled softly, already knowing who their seeblings (get it? Seeblings? Okay, that one was bad.) thanks to the [Generational Instinctual Knowledge] skill, when Root gave Lumin the knowledge of who their siblings were and what were their names. 

[Status]

Name: Chaos

Species: Chaos Spirit 

Cultivation Root: Chaos [Very Good Quality]

Age: 0 Years

Qi Realm: Qi Gathering (1st Stage)

Techniques - 

F RANK: [Chaos Spirit Cultivation]

F RANK: [Chaos Spirit Movement]

E RANK: [Chaos Manifestation]

Chaos had a special skill, this skill made so they could use their Chaos Qi and manifest it into an area around them where they could make things happen at the cost of their own Qi. The reason this technique was E rank is because of Chaos' Cultivation realm.

[Status]

Name: Lumin

Species: Light Spirit 

Cultivation Root: Light [Very Good Quality]

Age: 0 Years

Qi Realm: Qi Gathering (1st Stage)

Techniques - 

F RANK: [Light Spirit Cultivation]

F RANK: [Light Spirit Movement]

E RANK: [Light Spirit Shining]

Similarly to Chaos, Lumin also has an E-Rank technique, but this one uses their Light Qi to illuminate their surroundings, dispersing Dark or Shadow Qi, mist, Demonic Qi, and even destroying weak Undeads. 

Under the Moonlight, atop a Snowy Mountain 

"Older sister." Cui Rong greeted her elder in the Yang Cultivators of the Ice Rose family. Her older sister was named Yue Rong, and she was the personification of soft snow and white moonlight! Contrary to many of her fellow Yang Cultivators, she had a Yang Cultivation root, which made her superior in the eyes of her fellow Yang Cultivators. "Ah, little sister Cui." Yue Rong had a smooth silk voice, a kind face, and silver hair… She was the manifestation of beauty. "I was looking for you…" She held out her hand, whereupon rested a pale ice rose, a rare Cultivation material. 

Well, rare for them, Yang Cultivators, who were denied materials for cultivation and were forced to cultivate every night under the light of the pale silver moon. "Elder Sister…?" Cui Rong was confused, why was her elder sister giving her an Ice Flower? "Happy birthday." She smiled softly, and only then did Cui Rong remember-

Today was her 16th birthday. 

"Thank you, Elder Sister." Cui Rong bowed to her superior, but to her surprise, her elder sister simply chuckled and hugged her. Her pale skin was surprisingly warm, even though she looked like a soft freshly fallen snowflake. 

But later that night, as she held her headless body, Cui Rong felt her skin… and it was cold.