“A [Mystic Realm]?” he grunted. “It is so complicated? One alone makes kings of paupers, but only if the myriad bastarding sects don’t steal it back first.
“Fundants of Authority,” conversations of the Heaven-Pillaging Bandit
[Sumr’s] arrival coincided with eleven fresh [Paifang].
Gao Fu had filled his ti with small charities.
Fu Gao had filled his ti with matters of logistics.
When the wave to mark [Season’s] end ca, their separate duties were put aside.
An opportunity had arisen that well fulfilled both City Lord Mingqin’s demand and the tenets of his true allegiance.
Yawning and a-glitter, four [Paifang] stood in parliant.
Their thresholds no more than ten strides distant from the next, facing outward in an oddity of diamond composition.
Neither knew whether to attribute the circumstance to [Karma] or common fortune, as, with a minor adjustnt to this quiet glade, the Fatherly [Asura’s] cultivation would greatly benefit from the arriving Qi.
“To dare…”
“It would be bold.”
“The stars align…”
“Yet we are not so fortunate.”
These twins stood pensive save for the shared sneer of their [Spirit Crabs]. “These Gao Shuidi welco it. When we walk amongst the dreary, this challenge is vital. Unused blades hold dulled edges.”
Both cultivators humd in approval, demanding the [Dao of Conquest’s Exhalation] clad them as they circled the four [Paifang].
[Drowned Fathoms Peak]. [Storm Qi].
[Infernal Hatred Domain]. [Soulfire Qi].
[Imperial Realm 31]. [Blizzard Qi].
[Depths of Myriad Thought]. [Skytal Qi].
The authority of his station allowed for certain acts, and with the enormity of scale the Heavenly Roaming Prefecture would soon present this was no crippling blow.
“The path of [Spirit]. [Soulfire Qi] is an adequate thod of tempering. It is the nature of a [True Lord Realm]...” suggested Fu Gao.
“We are less prepared for the [Depths of Myriad Thought]. The addition of [Soul Qi] to any [Affinity] confounds the truth. What remains, however, is the certainty such realms will bring,” answered Gao Fu.
No more than a sounding board for himself, the conversation fell quiet.
The brim of two douli were drawn lower.
[Depths of Myriad Thought].
[Winter]
[True Lord Grade] [Skytal Qi Abundance] [Beast Realm] [Celestial Event: Desolation of Enlightennt]
Discomfort struck as the threshold was crossed, striking as though a hostile [Intent] sought to suppress their all.
Foreign elents crowded the [Paifang’s] opposing side and at first they suspected their [Senses] to be blocked. An octagonal room of seamless tal lood about them. Cold as Fu pressed a hand against the furthest wall.
This [Celestial Event]. A different kind of desolation than the barren densities of the Heavenly Roaming Prefecture. Brother, sister, do you feel it? As though [Dao] and [Inner Qi] are distant.
Curiosity had overco Shuidi, for her pincers tapped against a dley of bulb-shaped glasses embedded about the room.
Whether this began the blaring wail was unknown.
Great doors widened from the wall to their east, vanishing within the tal itself as strange, armoured cultivators tore forth. He could place no similarities between their cladding and that of mortal defences, but a sense of peerless craftsmanship existed in the pristine, octagonal plates upon chest and helm.
Lights of the sa bulb-shaped luminance thrumd where sections t, and this glow was present in the sparking staffs they levied against the paifang.
“Anomaly site west, clear!” sounded one, birthing a sequence of similar cries.
“Response Division Nine to Seneschal, the second Spatial Gateway’s energies have subsided. No lifeforms have been detected. Comncing with diagnostic scan,” reported a second, though to whom they spoke Fu was entirely uncertain.
Second spatial gateway. Another [Paifang]?
The [Dao of Conquest’s Exhalation] did not suffer from the weight of their inspection, and so he moved closer.
Where are their [Spirit Beasts]? I sense a disparity between realm and grade.
“These strangers are cultivators, but diluted. Bah. This Gao Shuidi wished for challenge, will it truly be found here?”
An octagonal gem burst from the previous speaker’s chest, bursting with golden [Profundity] but a stride from Fu’s face.
A [Spirit Owl] erged into this space, bearing a gestalt well representative of this realm. From beak to eye, pinion to claw, [Skytal Qi] had transford its [Constitution]. Indeed, the beast seed more tallic statue than breathing soul.
Weak Qi pulsed about the room.
“Residual spatial energy present. Spatial Gateway: activated. Extraplanar travellers: absent. Diagnostic scan: inconclusive,” it… well, Shuidi attributed the noise to a buzz.
The cultivator stood at ease. “Response Division Nine to Seneschal, no extraplanar travellers are present. Gateway site is secure.”
A mystery. The treasures they possess are sure to intrigue Bingbai, let us relieve their vaults before the [Reliquary] is conquered.
Though foreign, they had traversed enough differing cultures to recognise the potential threat here. A Seneschal was no word of the Clear Sky, but seniority was a truth held across all realms.
Fu turned, and his douli hit the tallic wall.
Oh?
His [Spectral Qi] was rejected, preventing entry.
A strange material.
Beneath the ill-equipped observations of these cultivators, he simply walked through the open door and into a hallway of harsh, artificial light. The conduct of the tal-clad warriors eased considerably as he walked among them, showing a lack of discipline no Sect would suffer.
He allowed them to lead for minutes of travel, intrigued by the various musings and conversations with myriad terms he could not place.
It was clear the [Boundless Dao] did not bless these alien words, for no pleasant buzz accompanied any voice.
A larger hall was reached through these winding, tal passages, though Fu admitted small surprise as again the door erged from within the surrounding walls. More so when the floor beneath rose, swiftly ascending this party to a vast, exterior balcony and the vista beyond it.
Fu allowed them onwards, absorbing the view.
Floating, tallic citadels dotted the skyline, orbiting a structure far grander than the rest. To each was a smaller copy, connected by radiating lines upon which flying… boxes trailed. He saw thousands within each, traversing the cloud-thick abyss below all.
Old master, my eyes find no [Array] to power these movents. Nor does a wind blow here. It does not reach beyond this… shell.
Glass dod from the balustrade, allowing Qi scarce entry. It felt cage-like and in defiance of Heaven’s gifts.
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“Energy moves here. It is subtle. Humming. Yes. This force hums through tal, glass and air. How faint the Qi is. How novel this realm is.”
Hushi set an arm against the glass, and [Pulled] on a whim.
Pure [Lightning Qi] entered his [Core].
The myriad glowing bulbs flickered about them, and distantly they heard a tallic door open with no cultivators nearby to conjure it.
An elent of Qi. This will play to our advantage.
🀩
Wind roared aboard the magnetized transport vessel.
A M.T.V.
How queer a na.
Were Fu of lesser discipline he might have grinned at the trendous speed of travel, for it was not dissimilar to previous iterations of his [Dao Principles]. Perhaps greater comfort could be found within, yet he found joy in inspecting the harmonic thrum of the line this vessel did not touch.
A seamless cord of tal that propelled this vessel without contact.
Bingbai would indeed be interested.
The vessel ceased, entering a platform upon which many hundreds of cultivators stread. Warriors were not solely among them, for interspersed were a sea of long-cloaked citizens styled in gleaming ivory fabric.
More tallic beasts accompanied each.
Fu dismounted within the tallest citadel, pushing a subtle martial [Intent] through the crowd. Not one soul pressed back.
Enough information has been gathered. For a realm that is to be severed there is little else that need be known.
[Divine Sense] resonated with a distant [Reliquary], prompting Fu to tilt his head skyward. It stood so thousand floors above, though what lay between was an unknown quantity.
[Dao of Four Horizons].
A test and no more, for he had guessed his [Dao] would not co.
The forces here- the properties of this artificial citadel, they dampened all manner of a cultivator’s talents. Was his [Dao of Conquest’s Exhalation] not internalized - inscribed upon bone, soul and flesh - its effects would struggle to manifest.
Wind here flowed from subtle slits in the tal, false in its mimicry.
Thus he rely leapt.
Storefronts, residences, weaponless training halls. [Spirit Beasts] worn more as accessories than partners.
Shuidi sneered in derision.
Security thickened by incrents as they traversed the citadel’s innards. Divisions of the tallic cultivators patrolled with lacking urgency, however, jovial in their dealings with the passing white-cloaked citizenry.
He saw few disputes.
Moreso, he saw no violence.
The pulsating staffs of near-Qi remained upon back or hip, never brandished against those few, unruly citizens that dared extend complaint to their martial betters.
A peaceful realm, no?
Harsh illumination marked the [Reliquary] with plain, foolish directions. A diaspora of golden specks sward about the characters there, assaulting the eyes from many hundred strides distant. Even so far in his approach, they reached Fu’s outstretched palm.
‘Center for Financial Composure and Distribution’.
“This Gao Shuidi cannot be mistaken, and yet… all observations of this [Reliquary] describe a bank.”
It seed a profound shrine, encased in towering windows of glass and light. Citizens and unhelted warriors ford great lines within, orderly awaiting a call from the myriad desks and attendants within.
Our Ninth Golden Reserve is not so dissimilar.
Weight assailed his ntal reserves at the very threshold. A pressure of eyes from whence his instincts placed as everywhere.
Corner. Ceiling. Entry. Wall. Plinth. Glass.
He demanded this false air reveal the source, and there, breathless and tallic within the bank’s frawork clung a score of concealed [Spirit Lizards]. Beasts indiscernible with sheet and seam, for they were flush or embedded within each material.
His [Dao] flickered.
These monitors were of the [True Lord Realm].
Hushi blurred, ensnaring not a lizard, but the vacant wall aside one. His [Pull] plunged the bank into imdiate darkness, birthing loud exclamation from all below.
Fu and Shuidi parted.
[Demonic Art: Spectre Steals the Stars].
Pincer, hand and tentacle t tallic shell after tallic shell, reaping the [Lightning Qi] of each lizard’s [Core]. The transmutation granted by their [Shrine of Final Skies] converted great streams of [Air Qi] to be expelled beneath the suppression of the [Clouded Ghost Arts], subsequently easing the burden of their obscuring [Dao].
Yet, death was an escalation.
These twenty [Spirit Lizards] collapsed, semi-crippled by the reaping of [Inner Qi].
Loud were their impacts.
“Citizens, there’s no need to fear. Remain calm, and form an orderly route out. The Bureau of Stability and Protection has this in hand!” called an off-duty cultivator, hastily equipping his helm. “It’s rely a fluctuation of power, please, be calm.”
Assuaged by his words, the crowd grew less maddened.
Flashing ribbons of gold burst in a circle about the floor, and in re heartbeats a cabal of armoured cultivators ascended from below.
“Unaccounted energy fluctuation,” announced a first, unveiling his [Spirit Owl] from another chest-borne, octagonal treasure. “The readings here… Captain, the levels of ambient pollution are behaving erratically. Our security monitors did not suffer simultaneous feedback from the energy surge. It’s as if… yes, they collapsed in swift sequence. 3.1 seconds between the first collapse and the twenty third.”
A vibrant [Ink] blinked before the speaker, and was… thrust?
Fu witnessed a screen of characters flow between the speaker and another, more detailed cultivator. “Observationalist Vishnu? 0.1, 0.101, 0.106, 0.113. By the Mandate of Progress, I’m no academy-taught man, but these timings are irregular.”
More blinking lights and segnted lens accompanied the third’s helt. “Captain, we’re activating power through the auxiliary conduits. Although I’ve suspicions that this was no rogue malfunction.”
Interesting.
Such were Fu’s thoughts as Hushi brought about another power surge and they slipped into the bank’s sealed corridors.
🀩
A segnted arm of pure [Skytal Qi] blinked in his grip. Sleek lines decorated the design, and it held a peerless [Resilience] when tested against his own [Might]. So oddity of construction saw it attempt to fasten as he moved it, extending tallic tendrils from the socket at its shoulder.
“So [Seasons] late, no?” smiled Fu, stowing it with his shrine. “Institute for Betterness, Prosthetics Division. A scholarly Sect indeed.”
Myriad glass casings were contained within this vault - one chosen either by happenstance or [Karma] itself. Within, as was the nature of troves, rested a plethora of treasures ripe for acquisition. So he went, stowing a vast range of [Skytal Qi]-dense eyes, hands, fingers, and missing limbs in his storage.
The Institute of Agricultural Posterity yielded interesting fruit. A physical catalogue without seeming end, wherein great quantities of seeds, semi-spiritual herbs and natural treasures were suspended in strange frozen light.
It was no [Cold Qi], [Snow Qi] nor any composite he knew, but a desolate energy from which he plucked these myriad treasures.
Hushi blurred east, ‘surging’ the ‘power’.
Fu claid much within the “Institute for Betterness, Residential Expansion Division”, though left with little of the fabricated tals and sundries. His interest in this had waned, despite prudence directing him to sample at least so of this realm’s treasures.
Shuidi blurred to a labyrinthine north, disrupting the comprehensive vault doors from a distant nook.
Treasures filled his shrine from the ‘Institute for Holistic Wellbeing’, ‘Center for Progress and Developnt,’ ‘Security Facility 316’, and a plethora of smaller, personal vaults.
The Old One impressed his frustration at the many tallic constructs held within, expressing that such trinkets were needlessly complicated when a slight [Dao] insight could mimic the full scope of their use.
Yet his [Spirit] twinkled with curiosity.
I await the full catalogue with bated breath, old master. With your talents these baubles will no doubt be deciphered in monts.
Ailing [Spirit Lizards] were now spread in disparate directions all about the bank’s interior, drained and semi-crippled. Their number was quite prodigious, and any with a speck of good sense could feel the escalation that would surely arrive to counter it.
Fu paused before the [Reliquary’s] entrance with a decidedly heavier shrine than upon entry to this realm.
[Divine Sense] revealed the [Constellation Seed] behind and naught else. To the eye this looked as any other wall, for even its positioning was no grand approach, but a wayward dead end in so sequestered passage.
A surge of power did not open it.
Nor did three.
Hushi, is there anything within your talents?
The [Spirit Octopus] pressed a considering sucker to his break, tapping with feigned pageantry. Liquid coalesced on three others, frothing in vibrant pink. He had claid much of their previous realm’s liquid [Plague Qi], distilling the blueprints through their [Hundred Poisons Synthesis].
One blur shot a needle through the tal, dissolving a hair’s breadth.
If a far greater length.
[Spectral Qi] and the [Heavenly Spectre’s Shroud] enmisted the three, traversing this pinprick as harsh tones of warning scread behind them.
A blaring, red light assaulted the bank’s passages as though the tal itself had reacted to this transgression, jolting vast spikes of the realm’s near-Qi across every surface. Formidable sheets fell to line the surrounding walls, hallways and glasswork, sealing access with impressive haste.
Fu’s brow wrinkled.
The detection thods of this citadel outstrip many [Arrays] and cultivators we have encountered, no? I am ashad we cannot fool it. This must be improved upon.
Shuidi nodded fervently, though- “This realm is to collapse, brother. And our sha with it.”
An excuse.
All agreed, moving forth.
Whatever defences might appear in response to their entry did not appear in the [Reliquary’s] main chamber. Certainly the violent noise behind was so on of warriors, beasts and strange treasures, but a different danger presented ahead.
[Spirit Cores] were as a flood upon each wall.
Ensconced in bulbous, glowing glass, the precious orbs were stocked from floor to ceiling. A hatchery, farm, or slaughterhouse, perhaps, for in attendance of these myriad [Spirit Cores] were tallic…
Qiang?
Spear-like constructs. Arms. Ivory beings of near-Qi that prodded, split, sorted and transported the cores across all elevations.
The three moved to a darker vantage, feeling an imnse weight upon their [Dao].
A [True Lord Grade] treasure rested centrally, dampened by white clamps and casings that penetrated its surface.
The [Constellation Seed], an ore of transparent look, had fragnted.
Desolation. Is this the cause of the [Celestial Event]? To treat Heaven’s bounty in this manner has surely called down no small manner of [Tribulation]!
Fu’s [Dao] felt close to shattering, and so he fird.
An aged cultivator, winked into existence. So shrivelled woman of crooked spine and withering, white hair. “Industrial espionage, in this day and age?” she muttered, inspecting a screen of [Ink] before her. “There is a reason it no longer occurs. You are of a bygone breed, infiltrator, are you not?”
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