Shi Qingxuan and Xie Lian walked through the abandoned battlefield, looking around and poking at one or two of the artifacts that stuck out of the sand. Xie Lian also grabbed a few that caught his attention, cheerily exclaiming that it could sell for some money with the right people.
Qingxuan had landed on the ground some time ago after noting that flight with his wings kicked up sand that would somehow always manage to get all over Xie Lian.
The two stopped when the former crown prince halted near a large broadsword protruding from a pile of sand, the prince running a hand over its hilt. He seemed to be contemplating something, eyes narrowed as he inspected the blade.
"Lord Wind Master." Xie Lian cautiously called, never taking his eyes off the weapon. "Do by any chance know anything about the two sides that clashed in the fight?"
Shi Qingxuan blinked at the sudden question before his gaze turned thoughtful. He recalled the mission scroll given to him by Su Tianzhong and replied, "I believe it was a small skirmish between desert bandits and some Yong'an troops that escalated into an all out fight between the two sides."
Xie Lian's eyes widened, an expression of concern appearing on his face. "So they were all local fighters?"
"Yes, that's right." Qingxuan confirmed. "The bandits were an escaped criminal group from Yong'an that raided a nearby military storage."
"And how long has the travel ban on this battlefield been active?" Xie Lian asked, though he feared he knew the answer.
"Um…" The Wind Master took a moment to jog his memory. "Quite a long time. I'm not sure of the exact date, but this area has been regulated since before Su Tianzhong's time, so a few decades or so at the very least."
The former crown prince sucked in a sharp breath, eyes sharpening as he realized the situation. He abruptly grabbed Qingxuan and leaped back, putting as much distance between them and the sword as possible with a single jump.
"Your highness?!" Shi Qingxuan yelped as they landed. Xie Lian put him down immediately after and pulled out a simple blade.
Qingxuan followed Xie Lian's stern gaze to the sword he had been inspecting earlier.
The sword was now practically dripping in resentful energy and black tendrils that flickered against the otherwise clear blue sky as it let loose a metallic screech, causing the two gods to flinch at the sound. The energy produced by the sword felt mildly familiar for whatever reason.
The Wind Master tugged at his spiritual core as he pulled out his fan, summoning the winds to contain the blade and its overflowing resentment to a set area.
It worked, but Qingxuan noted that it could only be jailed by a special wind charged with his own spiritual energy. Due to the high effort and consistency he had to maintain, Shi Qingxuan could feel his reserves sapping away at a rapid pace. He was luckily blessed with large amounts of spiritual energy, but even he wouldn't last forever.
"Do you have any solutions for this?" Qingxuan asked, keeping his eyes and focus on the raging blade. He trusted the crown prince to have an answer, and if not then they'd have to fight a possibly possessed blade in a battleground with immense potential to raise a strong ghost when exposed to large amounts of resentful energy.
"Um." Xie Lian hesitated, seeming to think for a moment. "I don't have spiritual energy, so there isn't much of anything I can do. Do you have any talismans?"
"I have a light talisman and a set of mid-tier sealing talismans on hand." Qingxuan said, uncertainty flashing in his eyes. "Though, I doubt any of that will help."
"I see." The fallen god went back to racking his brain for thoughts when an idea seemed to hit him. "Wait, do you know any gods with mortal children or descendents? One that's probably a martial god?"
"Mortal children or-" Qingxuan repeated before cutting himself off and looking towards Xie Lian with an incredulous stare. He had a sinking feeling he knew what the former crown prince was trying to say.
"Yes!" Xie Lian nodded. "The god is likely a strong one as well, perhaps one from the North."
Shi Qingxuan stared at the fallen god. "Are you referring to Pei Ming? General Ming Guang?"
"...who?" Xie Lian asked, a confused look on his face. "If he fits the criteria, then he's probably the god we need."
Qingxuan blinked but shrugged his disbelief off. This was the protagonist. Quite possibly the kindest person to ever exist. He wouldn't ask this of him without reason. "Then could you hold off the weapon while I reach him through the Spiritual Communication Array? I don't think I can focus on both tasks at the same time." He requested.
Xie Lian nodded, and Shi Qingxuan put a finger to his forehead as he slipped into the chaos of the communication array. Gossip flooded his ears as he sent over a quick alert to Pei Ming through a private array, keeping an ear out for any information worth noting as he waited for the martial god to reply.
"Did you hear about what happened with the Wen sect-"
"No way, they were so arrogant about their power-"
"They were mortal anyways, not like they matter-"
Shi Qingxuan filed that information away for later use, shoving away plans to pay the sects a visit and issue a blessing to a certain grandmaster of demonic cultivation for when he wasn't in the middle of a crisis.
"Demonic cultivator over in your territory-"
The West was attracting more and more nefarious characters nowadays. The martial god that watched over the area was in decline, and Qingxuan hoped he would either face a resurgence or have a newer god ascend to the position soon.
It wouldn't do for innocents to be harmed due to the politics of greedy heavenly officials that didn't know when to give up their seat.
"Qi Rong destroyed another village-"
Ah. Qingxuan sent a short greeting over to He Xuan, followed by a request to look into the matter. Hopefully he wasn't giving his junior official too much work, but Qi Rong was an unstable character he wanted to keep tabs on.
"General Ming Guang had an affair with a noble lady-"
It was amazing how Shi Qingxuan could find word of Pei Ming's recent affairs before he could find even a trace of the man in question.
"Lord Wind Master in the mortal realm-"
Accurate, but Qingxuan had assumed it was old news by now.
"Another temple built for the Water Master-"
Warmth colored his heart at the news, and amusement followed as he knew his brother would likely drag him to the city of said temple as an excuse to spend more time with him.
"Junior officials got into a fight again-"
The Wind Master was concerned, to say the least. The two junior officials in question had fought each other not even a full week after they'd been chosen together to ascend under the banner of the reigning martial god of the East. A month had passed since the incident, but it was now being repeated.
Qingxuan winced at the flood of gossip that was triggered at the news, centering around anywhere from how ungrateful the two were to how brash they must be to incite not one, but two fights in quick succession with each other.
He was glad for the information given and would end up cataloging the truth behind the rumors to his private archives, but it was quite the headache when he wasn't in the mood to sit back and listen to the endless chatter.
"Qingxuan?" Pei Ming's voice cut through the mess, pulling the Wind Master into the private array that they talked through.
"Good afternoon." He replied mildly before immediately continuing with his request. "Could you come down to the mortal realm, specifically where I'm at? Like, right now?"
"Sure?" Pei Ming seemed bewildered by his quick and rather curt wording. "I mean, yes. Where are you? Do I need to call your brother?"
"No, no, just get down here." He replied, "Country of Yong'an, near the southern border of the Shang Province in the desert area. There should be a village with a temple dedicated to Su Tianzhong, and near it is an abandoned battlefield. I'm there."
"An abandoned battlefield? Is it a ghost problem?" Pei Ming asked, concerned for his safety but even more concerned for his life under the ultimate brocon more commonly known as Shi Wudu. "I'm on my way, but I swear, if you got cursed again-"
"Thank you." Qingxuan interrupted, leaving the conversation. Exasperation welled up before he could stop it. Get cursed around a dozen or so times, and suddenly you're a curse magnet that needs to be babied.
Shi Qingxuan opened his eyes to see Xie Lian struggling to contain the sword, a white bandage- Ruoye- binding it in place as much as possible.
"Your Highness!" He called, causing the fallen god to look over at him, Qingxuan gestured for him to get away from the blade.
Xie Lian jumped back from the weapon, taking Ruoye with him, and the Wind Master immediately encased the sword in the spiritual wind barrier once more. Shi Qingxuan sighed at the steady drain of his reserves, internally crying over the vacation he'd have to take to recover it.
"Did it work? Is the god coming?" Xie Lian inquired.
"Yes, he should be arriving soon." Qingxuan confirmed, praying the martial god actually would arrive soon. Every second they waited was another half-day or so of rest to recover his energy reserves, and that was time he couldn't waste.
"Ah, that's good." The former crown prince let out a sigh of relief before looking towards Qingxuan with a smile.
Qingxuan twitched under the unfiltered sunshine that shot towards him through that gaze with the magic of friendship.
Xie Lian really was admirable, he thought to himself.
His own 'kindness' stemmed from guilt and his need for productivity, but Xie Lian's was a pure belief in the good in the world. He could almost muster up the emotional capacity to be jealous of how strong-willed he was.
Shi Qingxuan himself didn't even last a full decade before he cracked.
That was when a large thundering sound made itself known to the unusual duo and the sword throwing a tantrum, with the blade going silent almost immediately at the loud noise and approaching characters.
Sand kicked up everywhere as two signatures of large divine energy approached, followed by a weaker, spiritual signature. Xie Lian looked rather startled by this while Qingxuan waited with fond irritation as some sand got in his hair.
Everything came to a startling halt when three figures revealed themselves in the most dramatic fashion the Wind Master had seen since watching historical fantasy K-dramas in his last life.
The first to step forward was the Water Master, who, after assessing the situation and confirming that there were no hostiles that could put them in immediate danger, quickly made his way over to Qingxuan with an enchanted jade tablet in hand.
He lightly tapped the top of his younger brother's head with it, stern expression melting into a soft one when the tablet gave no reaction.
"Good, you're not cursed." Shi Wudu huffed, starting to look over a sputtering Shi Qingxuan for any injuries and nodding in satisfaction when he found none, though he did pick at his hair for the gritty sand that was tangled in it.
"That's a surprise." Pei Ming said as he stepped forward, placing himself in front of Xie Lian and across from the brothers. He looked towards the fallen god, gesturing towards his general direction. "So who's this?"
The martial god pointedly ignored the way the Wind Master glowered at him, turning his head pointedly in the direction of Shi Wudu, who was ignoring everything in favor of combing through Qingxuan's hair for sand. 'Why did you bring him along.' Shi Qingxuan's eyes screamed, and Pei Ming felt that his life would become endangered should he do anything to acknowledge the unspoken threat and question.
He Xuan stood a bit of distance away, eyes flickering between his patron god and the other divine beings he found himself in the audience of. He shuffled a bit on his feet, clearly uncomfortable having to stand near Shi Wudu and his brooding.
Qingxuan gestured for him to come closer, lightly jabbing his brother with his elbow when the Water Master let out a quiet scoff. He lightly brushed shoulders with He Xuan, who he noted was getting taller than him.
"Oh, my name is-" Xie Lian was cut off by a burst of resentful energy from the blade they had forgotten.
The sword had gotten over the presence of the gods that arrived on scene and let out a wild screech, the metallic noise causing Qingxuan and his junior official to wince.
The three older gods, on the other hand, barely reacted, with Pei Ming's noise of intrigue being the biggest reaction.
The noise was much louder than before, its resentment spiking in potency as well. It seemed to be reacting to the presence of Pei Ming, and Qingxuan found himself praying that it wasn't yet another of his old flings that came back to haunt the man after their untimely death for the 'humiliation' Pei Ming had caused them.
Said martial god simply looked towards the Water Master in expectation, with Xie Lian following his gaze and sending over a curious look in the elemental master's direction.
Shi Wudu responded by clasping a hand on Qingxuan's shoulder and sending over a flood of his divine energy towards the location of the sword. Once the torrent reached it, the horrid noise stopped immediately as the blade's resentment fought fiercely in a futile attempt to throw off the fluid divinity. The god was smothering the object with sheer vast amounts of his divine energy, casually exercising his domain over the possessed weapon.
The group of five watched as the sword struggled against it for a few more moments before being suppressed, calming down as its resentment receded into the innermost heart of the blade.
"Ah." Shi Qingxuan simply said, at a loss of words. He was still far, far away from being anywhere near in power to the larger figures in the heavenly court.
His time in training his cultivation had decreased by a vast amount since he had first ascended due to his schedule being full of work, but Qingxuan noted that he should probably set aside more time to dedicate to his training before he was left behind.
Now if only people would give him less of their work to do, he could manage that a lot easier.
"That's extremely impressive!" Xie Lian casually complimented Shi Wudu, with the latter opening his fan with a wave and nodding in acknowledgement at the praise. "Your skill with divine energy is something to behold."
"Mhm." Shi Qingxuan agreed, smiling up at his brother. "It was amazing."
Pei Ming muffled a laugh when Shi Wudu looked away with a huff, a soft blush appearing on the Water Master's face. Qingxuan wondered if he could use that to get out of being grounded again.
A sharp look from Shi Wudu confirmed his doubts about the idea and that no, Shi Qingxuan would not be going on any mortal realm missions anytime soon after the incident.
"What was the call to Pei Ming about? The mission was just to check in on the battlefield, and considering the power of the possessed sword, I doubt anyone would even think it odd that you alerted Su Tianzhong and left." He Xuan whispered to Shi Qingxuan, both looking and feeling thoroughly uncomfortable at the thought of loudy interrupting the scene. The other three gods, with their superhuman hearing, would hear anyway but it still eased his anxiety at the act. "Perhaps if you had dealt with it yourself it wouldn't be so strange, but to call General Ming Guang for aid…"
Shi Qingxuan simply hummed in response, eyes steady as he stared at Xie Lian, who was now being jokingly propositioned by Pei Ming.
"Perhaps it was uncharacteristic of me." Qingxuan admitted. "His Hi- Xie Lian had found a solution to the issue that involved the presence of Pei Ming, so I went on the communication array to fetch him."
"Me?" Pei Ming said, stopping his insistent flirting to stare questioningly at a confused but blushing Xie Lian. TThat questioning look turned into a sultry one as he realized the opportunity. "My, that was quite sly of you to use poor Qingxuan like that just to call on me, but I think-"
Shi Wudu smacked Pei Ming with his fan, which, unfortunately for the martial god, happened to be the Water Master Fan. As such, following that smack was an impressive amount of water that soaked the god in ice-cold water head to toe.
"Explain." The Water Master snapped at Xie Lian, clearly irritated.
Shi Qingxuan tried drying off Pei Ming with his wind but was caught and stopped by Shi Wudu's heated glare. The Wind Master looked at Pei Ming's betrayed expression and shrugged in a Pei Ming-esque 'what can you do' fashion.
"Right." Xie Lian said like what he just saw was a normal, everyday occurance. The only thing the former crown prince looked remotely fazed about was Pei Ming's explicit flirting. Qingxuan wondered about the things the fallen god must have seen to have such a nonchalant attitude about the interaction between the gods.
But then again, it could be a lot worse should Ling Wen have been present as well.
She seemed like the holder of the braincell between the three with her natural maturity and grace, but as it turned out her and Shi Wudu were not to be trusted together unsupervised lest they destroy another country. It was unsettling how Pei Ming of all people was the logic driven one in the Three Tumors.
"Well…" Xie Lian said, turning towards and gesturing back and forth between the subdued sword on the ground and Pei Ming. "I believe that's his child. Or at the very least, a very close descendant."