Fated Meeting

"Like I said before, Sister Zhen, if only you would have accepted my qi from the start then we wouldn't need to search for a vessel."

The disembodied voice protested, "Brother, Meng with all due respect. I don't want your musclehead qi! I want the qi of a vigorous young woman!"

"If I didn't know any better you just wanted to attach yourself to a jade beauty." The bald monk who was a bit too muscular for the average holy person mumbled beneath his breath.

"Were you saying something, brother Meng?"

Zhen questioned Meng sharply, her body nowhere to be found, making it seem like Meng was conversing with himself as he traversed the deserted streets of Jiang Shian in the dead of night.

"I said nothing, sister. By the way, why are we looking for your vessel when nobody is around? Wouldn't it be more fitting to look for a suitable body come sunrise?"

The disembodied voice sighed, hinting disappointment.

"Junior brother, even with your limiter on you should have been able to sense the flight that raged earlier. If that person with the ice qi survives then she would no doubt become a worthy vessel for me to inhabit."

The Monk crossed his brow in confusion, "She? Is that your dual cultivation sense talking? Also, if 'she' survives she would most likely be in an unrecognizable state. Judging by her opponent's qi, she was up against a Peerless Daeva - and a demonic cultivator at that. For all we know, that woman's soul could already be inside her foe."

"I can still sense her. She is alive, though barely. Let's just continue our search for now."

"And what are you going to do if she happens to be a man?"

"Brother Meng, you should know that the amount of my fellow women I've bedded when I still had a body are more numerous than the stars. My dual cultivation sense will never fail me."

For a holy man devoted to the teachings of Buddha, her sworn sister's bragging was hardly impressive. He didn't condone her sleeping around 500 years ago when she was still heralded as one of the most powerful above the heavens and he certainly won't now.

"Oh sure, sure, sister Zheng. Let's just look for this woman so we can finally begin preparing for this 500 year curse."

The benevolent looking monk continued their search in the empty midnight streets with the disembodied voice by his side.

+++

Somewhere in a dark alley, a cultivator who once soared high was now crawling on the ground. It was not by choice, albeit crawling is the only action available for her. The swan's wings had been plucked.

Her right arm obliterated along with her left leg. A trail of seemingly endless blood followed her as she dragged her battered body, trying her best to avoid the fate of dying alone in a decrepit alley.

Her opponent's last strike had sent her flying above. Now that she's half dead, the demonic cultivator couldn't even sense her qi.

There was still a lot she wanted to do. Concoct more pills, become a sect master, and lastly, bed Lin one more time. Ah, she regarded it as true misery that she might never again experience the blue-haired woman's touch.

How she wished that fate brought those demonic cultivators to a different restaurant.

Yet despite it all, she was still able to grin. She believed that dying with a smile on her face was more graceful than perishing while shouting curses.

Perhaps because of this that fate will show her a little kindness. Just as it sent to her way those that brought her ruin, it would also bring upon her those capable of letting her soar higher than she did before.

The woman knocking on death's door, crawling upon the ground like a pitiful worm, would now have her chance encounter with one of the most powerful cultivators to ever grace the heavens - The Ice Empress.

"What do we have here? I see the shade of death upon you, child. The darkness is at its most vivid, I'm surprised you're still alive."

With her blood red vision, Xiao tilted her head upwards to discern who the sultry voice belonged to.

For a moment she entertained the thought that she was already dead, the image before her a mirage. There was no way that soothing feminine voice could come from such a burly monk.

"Brother Meng, lay me before her."

There was the voice again! Its source would soon be made apparent.

From inside the chest of Meng's monk garb came an opulent blue mask, able to cover one's face from forehead down to the tip of their nose. Meng laid the mask before the dying Xiao.

"The fact that you are able to hold on to your life in that state is a testament to your tenacity. Truly remarkable. Now, I shall make you an offer before you expire. Become my vessel and I can save you from your certain death."

"I didn't have parents growing up but I'm pretty sure if I did, they would warn me against taking offers from talking masks, especially when I'm seconds away from dying . Why don't you explain first what you are and what it is that you truly want from me?"

Despite her grave condition, Xiao's willpower made it seem like she wasn't in a hurry to leave just yet. She didn't have the extravagance of striking a deal since she's already knocking on death's door, all she wanted was for the mask to reveal its true intentions.

"Very well. A few years from now, the dragon of vengeance shall awaken and wreak havoc upon these lands. That dragon is the fated adversary of the very heavens, possessing a strength so vile that it could be compared to a demonic cultivator."

Now she understands what the mask is trying to make her do. Trudging Xiao to become a hero and battle the said dragon. Maybe the talking mask wasn't an ill omen like she had suspected?

"I understand, you want me to put a stop to this dragon?"

Cordial laughter emitted from the mask, had it lips to sneer it would have undoubtedly done so. The mask had no plans on turning Xiao a hero, her goal would lie in the opposite direction.

"No. You will aid this dragon and bring about disorder. You will gather allies and lead them into war. Your foes will be on a magnitude incomparable to the demonic cultivator you fought from before. With my true intentions naked, what say you?"

Xiao could not fathom the incredulity of what she just heard. Bring disorder? Wage a war?

Fight an opponent even more monstrous than that baldie? It seemed to her that even though she is the one dying, the mask was more likely to be the one experiencing delirium.

Yet the mask's confidence belied no falsehoods. If what she was telling her is true then it is highly likely that the mask can save her from the brink.

Time was of the essence.

"My name is Yao Xiao, cultivator of the Divine Champion realm, 2 stars. I accept your offer. My life is now in your hands."

"And I am Kai Zhen.

Ice qi emanated from the mask in response, the said qi formed a link to Xiao's battered face which the mask followed, attaching itself to a new host.

Xiao could feel it, another's ice qi swirling in her dantian, closing her wounds. A gentle ice leagues different from her own, more powerful, more refined.

Seconds ago she feared that if she closed her eyes she would succumb, never to open them again. Now she was able to close them without worry and let exhaustion take her, letting her consciousness drift into the ice's healing embrace.

Completely healed, Xiao stood in perfect balance even with just one leg.

"Splendid. But you didn't heal her limbs?" Meng asked, clearly aware of who is currently holding the reins.

The sultry voice that once belonged to the mask now escaped from Xiao's lips.

"No, she won't be able to withstand my full cultivation base. The last thing I would want for my new vessel is for her dantian to explode. I have a pill recipe to remedy her…our missing limbs."

"Then this is where we part ways, sister Zhen. The next time we meet, allow me to test the mettle of that chosen vessel of yours."

Xiao's lips grinned at the monk's suggestion.

"Farewell, junior brother. Not only would I groom this vessel to be worthy enough to exchange blows with you, I shall make certain that she can best you."