Chương 24: The Lower Monastery and the Very Large Cat

The Lower Monastery was a city in its own right. A few bored guards waved their party through the gates, passing Hao and Sister Xing small turquoise tablets that they were expected to keep on their persons at all times. Outsiders weren't common amongst the Azure Tigers. Hao didn't get any answers from the surly Azure Tiger who'd passed them the entry tablets upon entering through the vast fortress walls of the Tiger's Eye Gate into the Lower Monastery, but he suspected the tablets were keyed to their qi signatures.

No doubt they had trackers in them as well alongside a whole host of inscriptions meant to gather intelligence on their visitors. Such was common practice for sects who allowed foreign cultivators into their halls. Naturally, Master Wan had no need for such a token. Hao doubted any Sunbeam sect would dare to cast doubt on an Acolyte's honor. They were above reproach.

They entered the Azure Plaza, an enormous open space paved with flat blue stones, but Hao didn't have eyes for the numerous sparring grounds littering the space or the dozens of massive building marked with varying insignias to designate their functions: a hammer and tongs for the forges, mortars and pestles for the alchemical halls, and more esoteric sigils which Hao couldn't decipher.

No, what drew Hao's attention was the hill-sized, absurdly huge statue of a big fucking tiger snarling at all the ants which littered the courtyard. Each of its paws was almost as tall as Hao himself. The statue sprawled across the Azure Plaza, forcing the Azure Tigers to work around its huge form. Hao had never known a tiger could radiate smugness, but this one did.

Its heterochromatic eyes—one a deep pool of black and the other burning with brilliant blue flame—leered down at the Azure Tigers milling around its vast body as if it relished their inconvenience.

"Is that the Azure Tiger?" Hao glanced away from the statue's eyes. They seemed to hold some sort of strange charm, leaving him feeling as if he were being hunted by the great beast.

"Our founder, the legendary and treasured companion of the Sunbeam Emperor!" Guardian Tang pounded his chest, pausing briefly to bow to the statue.

"Praise be to the Azure Tiger. Swiftly may His prey fall!" More like the Emperor's favorite pet, Hao thought to himself. Sister Xing had shared what she'd known about the Azure Tigers with him and Sister Fu. If she was to be believed, the Sunbeam Emperor had granted the entirety of the Blue Night Mountains to the Azure Tiger on a whim. The Emperor had essentially given his favorite cat a playpen to keep the Azure Tiger entertained and out of trouble. Hao couldn't even fathom that level of authority.

Even Master Bolin wasn't worthy of a scrap of the Emperor's attention.

"... this depiction is puny compared to the Patriarch's true form, naturally, but we couldn't fit anything larger into the Azure Plaza." Hao nodded along as if he'd been listening the whole time. Sister Xing asked a few more polite questions which Guardian Tang seemed ecstatic to answer, but Hao focused on absorbing all he could from the strange Lower Monastery. Master Bolin had never taken Hao to another sect before. If there was one certainty in the world, it was that Black Star Bolin had enemies in every corner.

The functional buildings that Had had noted before—apothecaries, blacksmith stations, training grounds, mostly—were all black, azure, or spattered with suspicious red streaks. Given the general nature of the Azure Tigers, Hao fully anticipated every last building to have a name like 'The Sacred Tiger Cock Pavilion' or 'The Glorious Striped Tiger Fur Blacksmithing Shop'. Dozens of Azure Tigers roamed about the plaza in pursuit of their duties, always having to skirt around the statue of the miniature Azure Tiger.

None dared to even brush the black-and-blue stone of the great beast, treating it as if it would wake up and kill them all if disturbed. Perhaps it would. Warriors clashed in sparring grounds which were carved into the mountainside, the sounds of their conflicts ringing throughout the Lower Monastery, caught by the walls so that every duel and scream echoed around the Azure Plaza, as did the raucous roars when one of their number was brutally beaten down.

Most Azure Tigers watched Hao and his companions hungrily, but one look at the looming Guardian Tang and feral Water-Dancer dissuaded the brutes from testing their luck against the newcomers. All in all, Hao rather felt like adding the Lower Monastery to his list of sects to rip up by the roots. Every challenging stare had him itching to pull out the Cheng Spear and drag the offending Azure Tiger into a training round to prove just how fourth-rate their backwater sect really was.

Dozens bustled about, scurrying more quickly whenever one of the tall, hard-eyed Guardians garbed in the same robes as Tang came about, but Hao wondered what their real population was. The White Rivers numbered several thousand, although a good chunk of those were Outer Disciples who churned through year after year. Those who weren't deemed worthy of the White Rivers name were dismissed or retained as servants.

"What are your numbers, if I may ask? Your Lower Monastery is most impressive," Hao lied through his teeth.

"I imagine this is only a small fraction of your Azure Tigers."

"Indeed!" Guardian Tang puffed up, though Water-Dancer sent Hao a pointed look. Clearly his intent wasn't missed by her. He marked those who practiced the Azure Monastery's Sable Arts—presumably the more cunning styles—as dangerous.

"Most of our forces are north facing the Four Winds, but several hundred of our number remain here! Many Azure Tigers remain out on the hunt." Hao fought down a sneer. With the Azure Tiger's status as the Emperor's favorite pet, it didn't surprise him that most of their forces were off to the north with the Imperial Army and the forces of the Great Nine. But he'd seen just how piss poor their 'hunts' through their own territory had gone.

He'd buried too many rotting, torn little bodies to spare the Azure Tigers much consideration.

"Behold!" Guardian Tang boomed, shoving some unfortunate Azure Tiger who hadn't cleared his path in time to the side. He gestured towards the enormous spire which dominated the Lower Monastery. The tower was just as oversized as the rest of the sect, jutting up like a blue spear trimmed with black. The tower ascended well over a thousand feet into the sky, though it still seemed puny next to the splendor of the Azure Peak looming above.

"The Azure Tower!"

"The vessel which guards the Upper Monastery from the unworthy," Water-Dancer growled, prowling along Hao's side.

"And the administrative center of the Lower Monastery." Privately, Hao was rather impressed. Maintaining an administrative center implied that there were some members of the Azure Tigers who were actually literate. What a pleasant surprise!

"Our Lower Disciples train until they are deemed worthy of the Azure Tiger's noble blood," Guardian Tang continued.

"When they are ready, they pass through the Azure Tower and climb. If they survive, they are initiated into our sect's sacred rites." Hao glanced around the savage cultivators who prowled the plaza. More and more glanced over hungrily at the newcomers, killing intent drifting from them. They were hungry for a fight, though the Azure Tigers wisely steered clear of their group. Master Wan alone would tear through most of these fools.

Yin qi saturated the Lower Monastery and made it difficult to sense the true strength of the Azure Tigers, but most felt like Distillators. What few Ruminators lingered here were Guardians like their escorts. Hao pried for more information, curious as to the systems followed by these savages.

"What merits promotion to the Upper Monastery? Do your recruits strive for a certain cultivation, or …"

"Not about cultivation," Water-Dancer grunted in response.

"If you can drink the Blood and live, you go to the Upper Monastery. I've seen a Calcinator do it once. Messy, but she survived."

"The Blood?"

"The Azure Tiger's gift," Water-Dancer cut in, apparently deciding to throw Hao a small peace offering.

"We drink of his essence—" Hao was glad that they'd specified blood before.

'Essence' could be taken in several ways, few of them pleasant.

"—and he adopts us as his own kin. The Azure Tiger's own blood runs through our veins!" Water-Dancer's pride was blinding as she led them to the Azure Tower. It towered above, just as absurdly vast as the rest of the sect. Polished wooden doors towered above their group, standing easily as tall as ten men. Scripts warded it from every imaginable threat. Guardian Tang spoke a short, guttural incantation and the great gates swung open.

"The Lower Guardian expects you, as does the brilliant Acolyte Sungaze. Go with honor!"

"Our thanks for guiding us." Their escorts nodded tersely at Master Wan's polite words, spun, and stood guard outside the Azure Tower as Hao and his companions stepped inside.

"Lovely, aren't they?" Hao groused, aching to put a spear through one of the savages. How dare they act like they were a real sect. A White Rivers Elder would grind this petty Lower Monastery to dust, though he couldn't speak to the Upper Monastery. Sister Xing shook her head.

"I can't believe you pushed Water-Dancer!"

"Water-Dancer would have wanted to skin me no matter what," Hao scoffed.

"Imagine how many cultivators there are just like the Azure Tigers! They take what they can, bullying those who they believe will accept such treatment. Strength matters, certainly. But they are mere Ruminators. I won't piss my robes at the sight of them." Sister Xing shook her head, mouthing ' mere Ruminators' as they stepped into the central hall of the Azure Tower.

"Brother Xiao speaks the truth." Master Wan led them into the Azure Tower's depths with the confident steps of one who had ventured here many times before.

"The Azure Tigers respect strength above all else. That comes from one's cultivation, certainly, but power exists in many forms. Courage is but one shape it takes." This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. They ventured deeper through a long hallway. Hao grimaced as a medley of scents filled his nostrils: blood, wet fur, and animal musk.

"This is an administrative building, isn't it?" Hao sneered.

"What exactly do the Azure Tigers consider administrative tasks? It smells like some awful bastard child of a slaughterhouse and a brothel."

"What a lovely simile, Brother Xiao," Master Wan said lightly. Sister Xing turned a little green at his description, wrinkling her nose.

"Sister Xing's visited the Lower Monastery before, but this is her first time in the Azure Tower as well. You both have so much to learn."

"This place perturbs me."

"Well, a little blood is far from the strangest thing you'll find within the Azure Tower. It's mundane to the point of being comforting. The real worry is when their love of violence intertwines with their appreciation of … other pleasures." That was Hao's only warning as the trio set foot into a large circular chamber buried within the tower's center. Pointlessly vast. It felt like a continuation of the plaza, in other words.

The Azure Tower's empty space yawned upwards for what seemed an eternity, lined with rows upon rows of balconies that likely would have been filled with scribes, petitioners, and the Lower Monastery's court in ordinary times. Not so much with the war against the Four Winds. All the administrative areas stood utterly empty now. Hao felt the strange unease that always accompanied venturing into an abandoned place which should be filled with life and chatter.

This quiet, empty tower made Hao far more uncomfortable than a horde of snarling warriors would have. And then he saw the vast artworks lining the walls, a testament to the Azure Tiger's awful taste—and an ego as enormous as his artistic sensibilities were gaudy. Black and blue tapestries and paintings hung everywhere, each richly embroidered with the so-called glory of this backwater sect.

Every last piece displayed the image of an enormous azure-and-sable tiger: the beast slaughtered armies, devoured terrible foes, and beget countless offspring. The latter acts were depicted in an astonishingly large number of bizarrely lewd, explicitly detailed images. Clearly, the Azure Tiger deemed himself to have nothing to be ashamed of.

"Oh my!" Sister Xing covered her mouth. Her eyes widened.

"I didn't—oh, I don't think we should be seeing this."

"Did the craftsmen have to be so faithful to the Azure Tiger's anatomy?" Hao arched an eyebrow as he examined the lovingly painted scene of the mighty beast mating with a spotted qilin.

"Master Wan, why does the Azure Tiger have metal spikes on his—""I see that the White Rivers never saw fit to educate you about feline anatomy. Lady Fu was right about the limited scope of your old master's teachings." Master Wan just chuckled, unbothered by the lurid imagery. Hao hoped to never be so blase in the face of a giant tiger's 'manhood'. Tigerhood?

"The Azure Tiger commissioned it himself," Master Wan continued, amused at his juniors' mounting disgust." Why?" Sister Xing gasped, horrified as she did her best to avoid looking at the increasingly graphic paintings and tapestries. Some were painted with such astounding skill that they carried impressions of the scene itself, laced densely with qi and superb artistry so that the images swam into flowing motion before their eyes. Hao gaped.

"These must have cost a fortune!" Master Bolin kept a single memory-portrait crafted from a recollection of the Sunbeam Emperor himself, capturing the faintest glimpse of the Emperor snaring a sunlit blade from the sky. Just glancing at the memory-portrait sucked one into the artist's imaginings. Hao's skin had seared with the heat of a golden blade cleaving the clouds, his eyes watering with an echo of the Emperor's radiant light.

Unfortunately, the same could be true of the enormous memory-portraits strewn up on the Azure Tower's walls. Strange scents of musk, blood, and things that Hao had no name for flooded his nostrils. He nearly retched, but fought hard to keep his composure. Sister Xing seemed a fraction more comfortable as they drifted further into the chamber and the Azure Tiger's 'conquests' slowly reduced in favor of depictions of war and destruction.

Cities broken and burnt to ash, marked by a golden sun, and the grandmasters of the sects foolish enough to oppose the Sunbeam Emperor's radiant visage—which no painting dared to depict as anything other than a man painted pure gold—were torn apart by the Azure Tiger's claws and fangs. She blinked at the sight of a painting of a tall, painfully handsome man with piercing sapphire eyes and inky hair.

"Why couldn't they all be like that one!" Sister Xing protested.

"At least he's pretty!"

"And doesn't have his—" Hao shut his trap, thinking better of making a comment like that in the Azure Tiger's place of power. A mighty spiritual pressure suddenly filled the room. Hao froze as the sensation of being crushed beneath a great tiger's paw rang through him. Suffocating power wreathed them. Spiritual claws pressed to his throat.

"A beautiful girl like you paying your respects to his human form? My father would be honored. A shame he's off fighting the Four Winds. It's been a few years since I've been graced with a new sibling." Shadows melted away in the center of the room, revealing a tall, unearthly woman reclining upon a great pile of blankets that she treated like a throne. She was draped in startling blue robes which shimmered with strange fires, stinging Hao's eyes.

Their sleeves were torn off, revealing the woman's powerful arms which were painted with blue stripes. The woman appeared like something out of an old ballad, putting even Fairy Geng to shame: her skin was pale as milk, her eyes a brilliant, burning blue, and her features so perfect they appeared handcarved by some sort of master sculptor. But there was a cruelty to her gaze, a wildness to her bearing, that instantly put Hao on edge. Beyond her beauty, this dangerous woman was nothing like the noble Fairy Geng.

The woman yawned, stretching out upon the mass of soft, piled blankets which reminded Hao of the fluffy cat beds which Senior Brother Jun filled every corner of his estate in the White Rivers with. Sister Xing gaped as the woman's words finally registered. She flushed a bright red.

"I—what?"

"I didn't ask you to speak, girl. Bow to this Sapphire Tiger!" The woman's spiritual pressure sharpened until the claws at their throats drew a faint line of dribbling blood. Darkness billowed even as the azure flames burning in the braziers leapt upwards. Sister Xing collapsed beneath the force, wheezing for breath as the Sapphire Tiger's might pressed her to her knees. She bowed low, unwilling to meet the savage woman's burning blue eyes.

"Good. It pleases me to see an infant who knows their place," the Sapphire Tiger said, lounging upon her throne of soft blankets and fluffy pillows. Those brilliant eyes turned upon Hao, looking at him as if he were a particularly uppity mouse.

"Unlike some who think they have a right to stand in front of their betters." Hao stood tall for a moment, gritting his teeth as the woman's mighty spirit pressed against him as well. Sister Xing might have been unfamiliar with the terrible presence of a great cultivator, but Hao had grown up amongst them. Master Bolin had torn into him with his aura from the time he was a lowly Calcinator. It wouldn't do for his apprentice to shame the mighty Black Star Bolin in front of an enemy, after all.

This Sapphire Tiger was mighty, but she was no Master Bolin.

"Bow, Brother Xiao," Master Wan urged.

"Pay your respects to the Lower Guardian!" Hao finally relented, joining Sister Xing on his knees. The sensation of a tiger's fangs around his throat eased, though never quite left. Anger prickled at him, matching his Wildfire. For a moment, he felt as if he was standing before Master Bolin again. Hate burned in his gut like a coal. Master Wan made to bow as well, but the Lower Guardian tutted.

"An Acolyte doesn't bow to this little Sapphire Tiger. Particularly not my Warden-Errant Wan." The Sapphire Tiger's pleasure rippled through Hao, transmitted by the sheer mass of her mighty spirit. It felt as if the Azure Tower was merely an extension of her power, a vessel filled by the great cultivator. An impression struck Hao as he dared to catch a glimpse of the Sapphire Tiger's feral beauty. It lingered in his mind no matter how hard he tried to dislodge it. Hao was never one for pets.

Not after— He refused to go down that line of thought. But Senior Brother Jun favored them, collecting over fourteen cats to fill the halls of the large estate granted to the honored Core Disciples. He couldn't even visit his cold martial brother without tripping over a few of the fluffy, bad-tempered furballs, most of whom he swore tried to weave between his legs at the worst possible moment to send him tumbling. The cats who'd been fed enough resources to develop a basic awareness were the worst.

Those cuddly exteriors hid spirits which would have put the worst of heretics to shame.

"You can learn much about humanity through cats, Junior. Senior Brother Jun's voice echoed in Hao's ears. Take Master Mittens, for example. Do you see the way he looks at me? Were I not too large and strong to be good prey, I have no doubt he would hunt me. If I could not resist, my pets would devour me. Such is the way of humans: you will be pillaged if you are too weak to protect yourself.

Personally, Hao thought Senior Brother Jun's lack of having his face eaten by his beloved cats had more to do with Jun supplying them an entire estate filled with servants to cater to their every whim, not to mention spirit beast morsels which ensured most of the cats were the equivalent of Calcinators. That wasn't even going into the dreaded Frost Spear Jun's willingness to sit for hours and provide ear scratches whenever one of the spoiled beasts crawled into his lap.

Hao's short perception of the Sapphire Tiger lent the impression of a cat much, much larger than he was. Every lilting word was layered with an undercurrent of menace, as if she was debating how long she should play with her new toys before snapping them up.

"Warden-Errant Wan greets the Sapphire Tiger." Master Wan kept his head bowed, though he exhibited none of the fear that Hao expected a Ruminator to display before a strong, capricious cultivator. Even Acolytes still clung to their base humanity.

"This one is pleased to see the Sapphire Tiger return from her decade-long secluded cultivation."

"Eyes up, my Warden. What is ten years compared to the two centuries we've known each other?" Hao and Sister Xing dared to share a worried glance as the Sapphire TIger's warm, teasing words reached them. He really felt like they shouldn't be here.

"You had less wrinkles when we first met, of course. Wandering Wan! I remember a bright smile, a golden heart, and strong hands. I was a cub then, hardly fifty years old. So much has changed since we last saw each other. But I do wonder what's stayed the same …" Hao's eyes bugged out. Sister Xing looked a little green. Was the Sapphire Tiger— A brilliant golden light filled the room.

Pleasant heat beat against Hao's back as a mighty presence entered, so full of warmth that he felt as if he were back in the Corelands again. For just a moment, he remembered the Emperor's steady light.

"Enough flirting with my subordinate, Lower Guardian. There's business to be discussed."

"Oh, you're no fun, Sungaze. Ugh, fine, fine. Shall we?"

"Acolyte Sungaze," Master Wan said, bowing low all over again to the radiant presence which manifested from nowhere.

"It has been too long."

"Don't be dramatic, Warden-Errant. It's been less than a year. Though I see that you've collected a few new tagalongs. Hmm. I recognize the girl, but not the boy. Are they bound for Sun Wall City?"

"Yes, both are ready for their Trials." Sungaze's perception swept over Hao and Sister Xing, piercing them like a ray of light through wispy clouds.

"I would speak with them after our business is concluded."

"Of course, Acolyte. May my juniors remain while we discuss more serious matters? I believe it would be educational for them. Brother Xiao encountered a heretic in the Lonely Plains. His insight may be useful in regards to certain discussions."

"Let them stay," the Sapphire Tiger said, yawning.

"Best for the cubs to learn what to expect, yes? You Acolytes live such short, bloody lives. They should know what they're in for." Hao waited with bated breath, hoping that Sungaze would agree. Master Wan was sparing with his answers, often refusing to elaborate upon sorceries or the deeper machinations of the Acolytes. Perhaps Sungaze would have more to offer.

"Very well," Sungaze said after a moment.

"They may stay. Rise, children, for there is much to discuss …"