Chapter 17: 0017 - Blood and Steel.
Deep under the Lu Clan grand manor, in the Armament Hall, Lu Zheng, the Clan Patriarch, pounded a glowing hot piece of metal on top of a grand anvil.
The grand anvil was as long as a grand dinner table, enough to seat twenty giant people like him. But Lu Zheng worked alone-the roaring, blazing furnace was his only companion.
He paid no attention to the intense heat from the fiery furnace as he sweated profusely under its fiery heat. He kept on striking the metal furiously, immersed in his work. Near him, on the anvil, an oozing, dark inky liquid reached his side when he suddenly noticed it.
"Oh, you are awake? you smell fresh." His rough voice showed he was worn out from all the pounding, but he had a hint of morbid glee in his expression to see and get a fresh smell of the dark liquid. He looked towards the direction the dark liquid was coming from – the far, in the shadows at the other corner upon the grand anvil.
"Your blood was needed." He picked up a dry cloth and wiped his gleaming, sweaty, iron-muscled body. As he did, a torch lit up at the other end of the anvil, illuminating the dark corner.
There, lying upon the grand anvil, a giant severed head of a demonic creature, twice the size of Lu Zheng, was revealed. Thousands of needles were pierced into it, like macabre acupuncture, obscuring its true features, but several jagged horns, large fangs, and a grotesquely long spiked tongue were clear. Its red, clay-like skin thumped as if blood still pulsed under it.
One of its eyes, bloodshot and malevolent, twitched frantically, searching its surroundings before locking onto Lu Zheng's old but imposing bald figure. It glared with hatred as if it would tear out its own socket to bite Lu Zheng if it had fangs. "Do you want to give me your precious eye too?" Lu Zheng taunted as his slaughter intent escaped.
The glaring giant hateful eye trembled with terror as it lowered its gaze. A meek groan escaped its mouth, though it was not loud enough to fill the silence. A cruel smile curled on Lu Zheng's lips seeing the demonic eye lowered submissively.
"That wasn't so hard, was it?" he mocked. "Now, time for you to bleed."
Casually, as if asking for a trivial favor, Lu Zheng held up three large glass vials.
"Fill these up nicely for me, yes? Else perhaps I'll pay your wife a visit instead."
At the threat, the large ghastly eye bulged in distress and the massive head trembled frantically in rage and terror despite the hundreds of needles impaling it. A long, despairing groan escaped the pinned mouth.
"Good lad," Lu Zheng hummed sinisterly. He placed the three containers on the anvil, near the demon's neck. Fresh dark pulsating blood began oozing rapidly from the severed veins and arteries to pool around the large vials as it rose like a worm and entered into them willingly.
Soon, all three vessels brimmed with the vile dark liquid. As the final droplet fell, the baleful eye dimmed as the Demon could not stay awake, and slipped back into its weakened, deathlike slumber.
Gleefully, Lu Zheng sealed the filled vials. He gazed mockingly at the now dormant horned head, reveling at having harvested the precious blood once more.
"Still agonizing over your woman after all these centuries? Fool. She and your spawn perished long ago. Yet here you remain, my eternal well of demonic blood."
A cruel chuckle rumbled from Lu Zheng's throat. "Best stay useful, demon. You wouldn't want me hunting down more of your kind just yet..."
Lu Zheng resumed pounding the glowing metal with his hammer, the ringing clangs echoing loudly in the metallic walls of the Armament Hall. As he raised his hammer for another mighty blow, his eyes narrowed.
With lightning reflexes, he hurled the sharp red-hot metal shard in his fingers toward a patch of darkness near the entrance. It pierced the darkness with a sickening thud, pinning a figure to the wall.
A pained cry rang out as the shard pierced and pinned a shadowy figure to the metallic wall of the Armament Hall. The pungent scent of burning flesh filled the air as the red metal seared into the man's flesh and blood sizzled at the wound.
"Aghh...Ancestors!" the pinned man shrieked hoarsely. Dressed in all black cloth, he tore away the dark veil exposing his face. His shoulder was impaled by the shard, muscle, and sinew visible where the metal had stabbed through.
"Why are you sneaking in here, rat?" Lu Zheng growled as he stepped calmly towards the whimpering man.
"N-no, Venerated Lord Patriarch Lu! I am only here to deliver a message!" The impaled man's face glistened with pain and fear.
"You haven't answered my question, why were you sneaking in here?"
"I was under orders, Vererated Senior, please spare me!" The messenger struggled in pain but did not use spirit essence, his cultivation base at all to show his sincerity. He accepted the punishment as given but kept on asking for forgiveness.
Lu Zheng grabbed the red-hot metal with his Iron-like fingers and pulled it out, sparing the messenger from any more punishment.
"Heavenly Veneration Senior, for showing mercy. I am forever in your debt." He quickly kowtowed and didn't bother with his wound at all, still not circulating his cultivation base at all.
"Spare me with your eloquence and deliver the message." Lu Zheng cleaned the red hot metal, its heat is not dying out at all.
"Heaven's Mandate is on the route, Venerated Senior, towards the Ten Thousand Year Yin Marsh, it will rest for a few months in Lu Clan. The Divine Dragon's Throne Aide, Emperor's Left, Venerable Grand Eunuch, Minister Li Qingwei is accompanying the Heaven's Mandate." The messenger delivered the message with grand veneration towards each and every word as if he was sermonizing godly verses.
"Why does a devoted artifact like Heaven's Mandate choose to visit a place as foul as the Ten Thousand Year Yin Marsh?" Lu Zheng questioned, his voice carrying a hint of skepticism as he turned towards the messenger, awaiting an answer.
The messenger stayed silent in his kowtowed stance and kowtowed even lower as he had no answer. "You don't know?" Lu Zheng took a deep breath as if trying to contain his rage within. "Leave."
The moment the command escaped the lips of Lu Zheng, the moment the messenger circulated his cultivation base and vanished in the shadows as if he was not there in the first place.
"What scheme is that fool of an emperor trying to conjure now?" Lu Zheng thought out loud.
"LU MING!" He called out his great-great-grandson Lu Ming, the acting clan leader. His voice boomed out, shaking the foundation of the Lu Clan's Grand Manor.
Meanwhile, Lu Ming, Lu Sheng's father, indulged in an evening massage, reclining comfortably as two maids in skimpy pink outfits matching their skin color kneaded his bare upper back. Their giggles echoed through the room, intermingling with each exaggerated moan of pleasure from Lu Ming.
Outside, his guards endured the cringe-worthy spectacle. Each awkward moan from Lu Ming sent shivers down their spines, and they exchanged awkward glances, silently questioning their life choices.
One guard muttered under his breath, "I'd take on a horde of demonic practitioners any day over this." Another stifled a laugh, whispering, "At least ghosts and demons don't make me feel like I need a lifetime of seclusion from all this." Despite their inner turmoil, they remained helpless in their duty.
"LU MING!!!!!!" A voice thundered, shattering their eardrums.
Lu Ming, immersed in his indulgent massage, felt like he'd been slapped by the sheer force of that voice alone, his ears ringing with pain. The maids nearby fainted immediately, blood trickling from their ears.
Jumping up from the massage table, he hastily adjusted his robe, his face flushing with embarrassment as he realized he must have been caught in this compromising position by his great-great-grandfather.
"Y-yes, Grandfather! I mean…Yes, Patriarch!" Like a child caught in mischief, he stammered, rushing to compose himself as he flung out of his room. He noticed both of his guards wincing in pain as blood dripped from their ears too.
"COME! QUICK!" He yelled.
"Are you mad? Do you want us to die with you? Never!" One of them protested, still trying to heal the ruptured eardrum with the help of his cultivation base.
"YOU!!" Lu Ming raged in anger, words failing to form on his tongue.
"GO! What are you waiting for?" The other guard scolded him. Lu Ming could only grind his teeth in rage for now as he turned and left to meet Lu Zheng, the Clan Patriarch.
Several clan members emerged from their courtyards, drawn by the spectacle of Lu Ming's suffering. Despite his position of authority, he was seen more as an administrator, a mere brush and paper pusher, rather than a formidable warlord like Lu Zheng, who held absolute power within the clan.
As they watched the scene unfold, murmurs and suppressed laughter spread through the crowd, their amusement clear as they exchanged meaningful looks. Despite Lu Ming's position of authority, the true power rested with those who commanded respect through strength and power.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone