Chapter 284
Moon Lake (X)
Shockingly, this was actually better than airplane travel back on Earth.
No, seriously.
I an, there wasn't a guy or a gal coming up and down the aisle every once in a while asking if I needed nuts, cashews, or almonds (they were making fun of 'cause I didn't know the difference), or an assortnt of wildly cheap alcoholic drinks, but I also had legroom for days--so much so I could lie down and just fall asleep while not bothering anyone--and, strangely, it seems that the chariot has so kind of an air filtration system.
We've been travelling close to an hour, and despite how 'clean' cultivators tended to present themselves, and despite teaching the kids the Art of Survival more so as a utility tool rather than an enhancent to their cultivation, I can attest to the fact that if we're stuck together in an enclosed space... they kind of do stink it up. A bit.
And yet, the air was as fresh as it was the mont we entered.
I'm kind of glad I whipped it out, to be honest, as for the tens of miles that we've travelled so far, the terrain hasn't changed in the slightest--or, well, almost imperceptibly. It was just grassy hills rolling out and on, with occasional clusters of trees too small to be classified as a forest, and an occasional stream seeming to cut the monotone spread a bit.
I don't know quite what to make of it--perhaps it's the sa on Earth (I an, I know it can be the sa, having driven through the Midwest twice; it was literal nothingness for tens of miles), though it might just be my distorted perception of the world. To this day, I don't actually know what any of the 'dividing classifications' an. I don't know if different layers of heavens an just different continents or are more literal in that there are worlds existing up there in the clouds or even more literal in the astral sense.
Beyond that, even if this one world is just one planet, I don't know even the remotely approximate size of it. Most of the maps that I've seen in my life here, even those that tried to loosely detail things clearly beyond their grasp, never seed to make it past this sort of a central 'gorge', as it were.
Even then, I don't really know the exact size of the gorge. I don't think it's monstrously big, as I've already covered a few distances that the books kind of lied about, so it's entirely possible that this entire region is no larger than an average European country. Or it could be the size of a Euro-Asia.
Who's to say? Certainly not the historians.
Regardless of which it was, the say terrain very much felt like being at ho. All good things must co to an end, however, and after an hour of burning through mid-grade Spirit Stones, I finally, and as slowly and gently as I could, landed us just by the sowhat narrow stream of water.
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Though flying was quite pleasant, it still felt good to stretch legs, even if it was mostly ritualistic.
Most of the kids imdiately jumped into the stream, though it wasn't exactly swimming weather. Even if it was sunny, the wind was fast and cold, and the temperature was closer to freezing than pleasant.
I pitched the tent and packed the chariot back into the toy, tossing it into the spatial ring, which was when I also noticed another, similar toy resting in one of them: the 'warship' that what's-his-face and his 'buddies' chased Wei on.
Honestly, I had half a mind to just toss it away; it was clear that flying artifacts were relatively unique, at least in this corner of the world, and each was likely heavily associated with one power or another. I'd rather not have a clear indicator we killed sobody sitting in my ring, but, at the sa ti...
... that thing was worth a lot of Spirit Stones. Like, a lot. Ah. Greed always wins, doesn't it?
"Last year," as soon as the campfire roared, Wei resud his chattering--I'd grilled him a bit more about the lake, and he seems to have finally relaxed sowhat, excited to share every rumor he ever heard about the place. "A disciple of the Soul Sanctuary Sect is said to have found a piece of teorite Ore the size of a fist!" Hm? Soul Sanctuary? Why does that na feel familiar?
... oh, right! Old Zemin and that weird girl that I refused to spend 100 points on to see her status window! Right! Maybe this kid can clue in a bit more into the politics of the sects?
"Forget the lake," I interrupted. "Tell about that Soul Sanctuary place."
"Hm? Ah, yes, of course. Hmm, let think. Not much is actually known about them--of all the Holy Lands, they are by far the most reclusive one. Their Disciples rarely venture out with sect robes, they don't compete in tournants frequently, and I'm fairly certain only the select few leaders of other Holy Lands even know who their Sect Master is. They are, however, quite feared; not necessarily because they're the strongest, but because they practice the Soul Arts almost in equal asure to cultivation.
"Rumors have it that their Sect Master can overpower the soul of another person to the point of outright possession!"
"Didn't you say nobody even knows the Sect Master's identity?"
"Yes."
"So, how would anyone know what they're capable of?"
"It's just a rumor, Master Lu." Wei smiled sheepishly.
"Hm. Hey, I heard a rumor, too."
"Oh? Really? What is it?"
"Supposedly, there's this know-it-all who believes it's his duty to spread every rumor from every source, even if that source is literally a holess man lying in the pool of his own piss. The rumor has it, if he doesn't stop, a certain man might slap him across the back of his head until all the stupidity falls out of his skull."
"..."
"...."
"H-Holy Son Bao!"
"Hm?"
"Holy Son Bao of the Soul Sanctuary!" Wei quickly said. "I heard from a very reliable person that he will attend this year's gathering at the lake! In fact, one of my Seniors in the Sect told he saw Holy Son Bao fighting before--he said that the man never even moved! He just stood in place, arms behind his back, while his opponent flailed about crazily on their own before completely running out of Qi and surrendering!"
"Oh?" Bao... Bao... Bao... why does that na sound familiar? I don't recall eting anyone by that na, yet, it's itching my brain a bit. Ugh. I thought that my mory was supposed to beco photographic now that I'm a cultivator? How co it seems to be getting worse?
"On the ranking of Holy Sons and Daughters, he ranks in the top five!"
... haah.
Of course there's a ranking. And of course I've now summoned the gods of jinxes, and of course I'll be forced to interact with every single one of those kids, whether I want to or not.
Of. Fucking. Course.
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