V3C63: To the Ping District, Part 1

It took her half an hour to completely use up the energy that had been sourced from the Endless Monolith, and it ran out just as she also ran out of ideas for how to strengthen the bones any further.

She had already pulled everything that she knew and understood in order to improve them, with some ideas taken from the frame of the Beast, from the state of her bones during the killing will state, the bones of certain powerful individuals that she had met so far, and even forced her Endless Calculation to deduce some more optimal changes to her body, and all of that was wrung dry in just thirty minutes, showing either the immense capabilities of the white energy or the lack of her proper understanding of bones.

Either way, there wasn’t much that she could do about it until the next major breakthrough, so she didn’t mind it too much and instead cleaned up the scene, removing any and all traces of her presence that she could before departing from her place outside of the district.

With the amount of commotion that she caused within the Luo District, even if she got out of there as quickly as possible, the Greats would still realise that something had occurred that could threaten even their immense authority. While they may be unable to gather whether this is only a single instance of rebellion that led to the collective deaths of both sides or the first sign of a greater threat, they would be certain to pay more attention and act with more care in the future.

This meant that she had to speed up and track down a suitable base for her own group, name currently undecided, or else the Great Families would be more and more prepared each time she sees them, eventually learning of all of her techniques and abilities and finding some methods to counteract everything she could do. Alternatively, they could just summon one of their first-generation cultivators and obliterate her in a single moment, which would not be particularly preferable due to the absolutely immense power that they held.

If one of those people was to appear, they could change the very geography of the world with one strike, and they would certainly notice the fact that she possessed the spatial realm that they had been so keen to use.

Fortunately, such individuals typically didn’t leave their hideouts, where they focused on cultivation and management of their families, so there would be little chance of them appearing until the second generation was threatened. Most of the time, this was due to the age at which individuals reached the seventh realm, leading to them being within an old body by the time they are able to make use of that power, giving them little choice but to reserve their strength for when it as truly needed.

Wei Yi was likely to be able to avoid this due to how quickly she was able to progress now that she was free from the prison realm’s restrictive conversion property, but that didn’t mean that she should threaten those that lacked this opportunity until she could actually achieve something as a result of that threat.

Due to this, she rushed to the next district in line during the day, and during the night, she returned into the prison realm to get back to a few important discussions.

“Hello there, Mo Zhouquan. Did you enjoy the sleeping pill I made?”

“You… What have you done to the whispers?” the woman questioned, her eyes widening and her black blood blatantly rushing through her veins, “Why did you silence them?”

“I didn’t do anything in particular, so it seems that your corruption is indeed something within the Planar Continents that is able to influence you, and not an inherent property of the things that you have inflicted upon yourself and everything around you. Fortunately, I’ve figured out how to stop the bed you are lying on from changing into flesh, so at the very least that much was solved with little difficulty,” Wei Yi mentioned.

They were within a room beneath Beast’s Rest, within the carcass of the sole Hunger of the Beyond, where Mo Zhouquan had been sealed and put to sleep after being captured as part of the task set by the Greats through Luo Lia Kun.

The bed that the black-blooded woman lay upon was not a particularly important or valuable thing, made using various metal-type materials now highly common in the prison realm, but it would still be a pain for everything in close proximity to her to constantly need to be switched to avoid the transformation into the corrupted substance that her previous bed had become.

Wei Yi stood beside the entrance, facing that bed and the woman that had been laid upon it.

Her inference was expected to be met with denial, or something of the sort, but instead Mo Zhouquan sighed and nodded, “Yes, that is likely. The Corruptor’s Enclave sought to learn, but this was not something that we were able to test.”

“Well, now you know, and your speech appears to have become notably more coherent. Is that what not having constant whispering in your ears does to you?”

“… You have either changed, or you show a new face. Then again, you were able to extract the heart of corruption from your being, so you had already revealed yourself then, and I was simply too lost to notice,” she once again impressed Wei Yi with how calmly she was able to handle the situation, “I had not been able to sense your realm, but it was said you were in Emergent Anchor. Was that not true either?”

“No, that’s correct. If you’re asking why I have a spatial realm, that’s a different story, and one that I can easily share with you if we are able to come to an understanding and work together,” Wei Yi said, although she couldn’t easily showcase her anchor to prove it.

“What kind of understanding do you want? I may see the situation clearly, but that doesn’t mean that I will spill everything I know just for a chance of cooperation.”

“Unfortunate, although I hardly expected you to. Yi Shi Ming, could you-”

When she spoke those words out loud, she was doing so for several reasons, but prime amongst them was the fact that the Corruptor’s Enclave had to be an ancient organisation to be aware of anything resembling the true form of Primordial Corruption. Since Mo Zhouquan appeared to be quite corrupted, it could be assumed that she was not low in the ranks of her group, especially if authority and placement in the hierarchy did not depend solely on cultivation within said organisation. So long as some ancient knowledge was maintained, it wouldn’t be impossible for certain names and words to be retained.

In fact, there could be countless groups, districts and factions that know the true names of the Master of Yi City and his mother, but most might lack the information needed to ascribe that name to the correct person.

What she didn’t quite expect was for Mo Zhouquan to leap off her bed, stand up straight, then bow respectfully in the direction of the door, which happened to be to Wei Yi’s side.

“I apologise if I have said anything rude so far…”

“Uh…”

The spatial spirit appeared within the room and carefully examined the woman bowing to her, then looked to Wei Yi and shook her head, “I am afraid that I have no knowledge of this woman, nor her organisation, or else I would have informed you of it earlier. I also do not know what you or I have done to provoke this reaction.”

“There is a piece of information known to the Enclave, and that is of a name and place where the person by that name is said to rest,” Mo Zhouquan explained, raising herself until she could look at more than their boots while still remaining in a bow, “That name is of the mother of the Master of Yi City, Yi Shi Ming. That place is known as the Refinery to us, although that is not likely to be the true name. One is thought to have become a spatial spirit, the other is a spatial realm that is greatly separated from the Planar Continents.”

“So, you managed to put it together with just that little bit of information. Quite impressive, really. Tell me, what relationship does your Enclave wish to have with the Master of Yi City and what remains of his efforts?”

“You mean to ask whether we would have sided with Primordial Corruption or her… him?”

“The Master of Yi City was a man, of that I am certain,” she confirmed.

“Then let me say this with absolute certainty – we would have been on his side all throughout the conflict with the primordial gods, had we existed at the time. It is what I have been taught of our past, and I am almost certain that the rest of our Corruptor’s has those views, for the name of Yi Shi Ming is quite revered, and we greatly respect every effort by the Master of Yi City,” Mo Zhouquan affirmed, finally relaxing her bow and straightening her back again, “Our study of corruption was not meant to bring us to the primordial god, but perhaps it did result in such a thing. However, that is yet to change our alliances.”

“Good to hear. Does that mean you’ll spill a bit more information than you initially planned, or will some action need to be taken?”

“I can speak in some detail about our actions, but if you would seal me within the Refinery and get some use out of me, I would rather work and study. I am sure that a place like this has a lot that can be learned from.”

“Before that, I wish to ask a question,” Yi Shi Ming said, “Were there no other names passed down?”

“To answer the ancestor, I am afraid not. This knowledge comes from a document that was ancient even when we had first found it, and it was greatly decayed then. All it told of was an aspect of the Master of Yi City’s life, and how his mother was greatly respected by him, and served to guide him in many decisions. A version of this story that is more recent does exist, but it lacks any reference to names.”

“I see. Carry on, Wei Yi.”

“In fact, I only have one major question for you, after which I could easily let you stick around without forcing you to work – not that I will do that. I just want you to answer this,” Wei Yi said, pausing for a little while, “If you had to pick between the people of Yi City and the Great Families, the existence of which you supposedly learned of when I captured you, which would you select?”

“You are referring to Them, yes? I did learn of them, and that they were present at the Brotherhood of Power, and that they would go against the principles of the Corruptor’s Enclave. Also, by your wording, it is obvious what you wish me to say…”

“Then say it.”

“I would side with the people of the City, and I would certainly hope that my faction would do the same. If not, I would leave it, if I can.”

“Excellent,” Wei Yi smiled, holding out her hand, “Then, I will indeed wish to make use of any of your skills and talents for my gains, and that of Yi City as a whole. When a safer place for us has been found, you could even leave freely, so long as you don’t do anything to betray my trust. In other words, don’t do anything stupid, and don’t throw that corruption of yours all over the place, either.”

“I will strive to do my best,” Mo Zhouquan gripped her hand and shook it.

Some time later, Wei Yi and Luo Lia Kun stood at the balcony of one of the many Beast’s Rest brothels that also featured offices for the former’s faction. As a result, their walls were even more soundproof than those of the regular brothels, which already had to prevent all of the customers that didn’t wish to overhear those in neighbouring rooms from being constantly bombarded with such things. Even the balcony at which they stood was mostly devoid of the sound of moaning, among other sounds.

“So, you are telling me that most of the people that I had sent you to kill are still alive? How did you fake their deaths?”

“Well, the first thing should be obvious, seeing as that guard is still thinking that she is able to stare at me and is trying to do so from over there,” Wei Yi nodded towards the shy guard, who was, at the very least, slowly getting tired of this unnecessary stalking, “Also, I had never really put much effort into tricking you. All I did was present you with a heart that I grew from a particle of flesh.”

“Is that… even possible?”

“Unless you don’t believe me, which you really should considering what you can see from here, then I’m afraid your question doesn’t make much sense to me?”

She waved towards the Endless Monolith that lit up the spatial realm, as well as all of the metal-type herbs that were growing on the outskirts of Beast’s Rest. While there were a few herbs, trees and miracle fruits of other types planted within the Kong Prison Realm as part of the effort to repopulate it with life and benefit the entire realm, they were easily overshadowed by the vast number of plants with metallic shades, golden sheens and many other features present in metal-type flora.

Most of them were medium and high-grade material regardless of their nature, as she had enhanced most of them significantly and allowed the rest to be empowered by that which grew around them. In turn, they would contribute slightly to the rise in planar energy concentration, which would develop the rest of the materials further.

In combination with the slight rise in energy that occurred after the death of two of the Greats, which affected both the prison realm and the Planar Continents despite one occurring in the Kong Prison Realm, where the connection to the outside world was only in one direction, the spatial realm’s harvests would soon promote one another to their highest qualities, so long as care was taken when handling them and they were planted as to guarantee that a plant of high yin wouldn’t be placed beside one of high yang. This was something that Wei Yi would occasionally check, and had planned out when first getting these materials into the realm, so it would be unlikely for this aspect her plans to go wrong any time soon.

“No, I was referring to your ability to create a heart from almost nothing. Wouldn’t that mean that any injury could be rendered null so long as you are able to create a new organ and replace the old one. Certain healers know how to transplant organs…”

“Yes, and that might be a good application. I haven’t experimented with it much. All I know is that with enough lifeforce, I can force plants to grow, bodies to recover, and if a piece of flesh cannot connect back to the part of the body on which it belongs, it will grow out again,” Wei Yi explained, “I could show it to you, but I’ve been told that it is quite painful, and that there is a brief moment in which it seems that the heart is connected to them, although it never is.”

“I see… To be frank, I had never expected anything like this to come out of recruiting you…”

“That means my plans worked. If you were able to tell that I would be able to lead to the death of the third generation of the Great Luo Family just from my actions before then, I wouldn’t have succeeded. That being said, I think we should discuss the recruitment, as well as the fact that your Remnants of Yin are now in my territory. Just like for everyone else that ended up here, I will not let you go until a safe place is found, but before then we should establish whatever factions will end up working for the liberation of Yi City,” she stated, “First and foremost, do you want the Remnants to be separate?”

Luo Lia Kun pondered the question for a moment, before shaking her head, “If Great Dark and Great Light were still here, it might have been better to be apart from one another. However, all that is left is me, and I have never been good at direct leadership. So… could I be your vice-leader too?”

“I’m afraid not. If anyone will have that role, it will be Yi Shi Ming, or perhaps Meng Chu, but not you. It’s nothing personal, but I don’t know you well enough.”

“No, I understand… even if it is a shame…” the former vice-leader sighed, “Then, what exactly would you want me to be doing? My combat skill is not low by any means, but as you said yourself, you do not intend to let us out of here prior to getting to safety. Do you want me and the rest of the Remnants to bring our information together?”

“Exactly, that is what would be best. I require more knowledge about the Greats, about the wars that had been fought against them, their outcomes and so on. You and your Remnants – who can keep the name as part of the greater faction, if only for convenience – know more than most of the people here, since most aren’t part of the first generation of prisoners, and did not have the tendency to take good care of their books and historical records,” Wei Yi said, glancing back at some of the old books that sat atop a lone shelf behind them, “You, on the other hand, have a more recent understanding of events, which might be of great use depending on the nature of it.”

“I hope so. By the way, how much of your persona was false? If I am to work beneath, or alongside you, I would like to know who I am working with.”

“Given how little I showed you, that much is easy to say. I am very powerful, but I am by no means mindless. In fact, I would like to say that I do possess some intelligence, and if not for my strongest weapon being my body and not some sophisticated weapon, I would be focusing on it more. I do like being straightforward, since it makes most conversations much clearer and nicer,” she explained, “Finally, I am indeed a very energetic lover of women.”

“That… was not something that I needed to hear,” Luo Lia Kun turned away for a moment, “Still, at the very least that was a genuine action, not another act. If it had been, I would be rather afraid to believe a single word from you.”

“Don’t worry, while my acting can occasionally be decent, I am not at all fond of doing it. If I could, I would always show my true face,” Wei Yi said truthfully, “Perhaps I will get my wish someday.”

“Perhaps. Is there a place where I may write some things up for you? A study, office or library somewhere?”

“I’ll get Meng Chu for you, and you can figure it out with him. Beneath the main city, there should be quite a few spare rooms, and I am sure that there is one near our offices that you could occupy. Perhaps it will even have a bedroom nearby, if you still need sleep at your realm,” she smiled, knowing perfectly well that there was indeed an empty room like that with her perception of the entire prison realm.

Later, Mo Zhouquan, Zhi Qiu Ya and Long Huang, the last of which was quite difficult to pull away from all of the native residents of the prison realm due to the bloodline potential contained within them, were all brought to a chamber in the tunnels beneath the city, with Wei Yi now standing before them. The wolven woman was seated on a large surface in the middle of the room, a stone object that could almost resemble the coffin within a large mausoleum save for the lack of a lid, and the other two stood on either side of her, with the expert on bloodlines being a little more impatient than the one on corruption.

“Judging by the people here, you have something to say on the topic of bloodlines?” Long Huang inquired, turning her head to Mo Zhouquan almost expectedly. When the latter woman said nothing, something that resembled disappointment appeared on her face.

“Yes, that is the case. Somewhat recently, I have achieved a breakthrough in terms of my bloodline, and besides uncovering a new form of energy,” Wei Yi stated. Showcasing her bloodline power to all three of them with varying levels of curiosity arising within every single one of them, “With it, I can confirm that the phenomenon that has occurred to Zhi Qiu Ya is indeed related to a bloodline, although there is also a trace of something that does indeed resemble corruption.”

“So… What exactly does that mean for me? Can you get rid of it?” the wolven woman asked, leaping up from the stone surface.

“That much is not guaranteed, but I may be able to remove some of it. You see, while I have the ability to absorb bloodlines from bodies, I have not experimented with live subjects just yet,” she explained while ignoring the slightly excited hopping of Long Huang, “I can test it on you, and hopefully stop any chance of death, but it might be rather unpleasant.”

“More unpleasant than all of the things that she has done?”

“Uh…” Wei Yi hesitated for a moment since both of the women to their sides were rather keen on unpleasant experiments, and shrugged when she couldn’t decide which one would be worse, nor what exactly they would get up to, “I intend to make no incisions, nor drain any of your blood, nor shove any kind of corrupted matter into you, if Mo Zhouquan ever did such a thing. Furthermore, I have a very good understanding of what is and isn’t painful, so I will strive to avoid it whenever possible.”

“Assuming that you do have some success, would it entirely cure me? Would I lose the ears and tail and everything?” Zhi Qiu Ya asked again, “Actually, that’s not too important. Will it remove the other self?”

“That particular aspect may be caused by one of two things, or both, actually: the core of the bloodline in your body, which I may be able to remove, but what I cannot alter is the depths of your mind, where the wolven persona might have been born as a method to live out some experience that your conscious mind refused to provide, or to deal with something that you weren’t able to confront. If the latter is the cause, then you must be the one to resolve it if you don’t want to wait for me to reach the ninth realm so that I have the ability to change as much of your mind as possible,” she said.

“Are you telling me that you were the one to suggest that?” Long Huang asked, nodding immediately after, “Yes, that would explain where such a thought came from.”

Since she answered herself, the other two that were involved in the conversation looked at one another for a while before the wolven woman sighed, her hopes of the mental problem being resolved in a far less embarrassing – in her mind, at the very least – manner than the alternative.

“I see… Alright, I will go for it anyway. Do I need to sit down? Prepare? Do you need to prepare?”

“Nah, just lie down on that thing and consider how exactly you will shout or cry out if you feel extreme pain. Most people shouldn’t be able to hear you, but Mo Zhouquan and Long Huang most certainly will, so you might want to sound your best,” Wei Yi suggested, “Depending on whether you want to make yourself seem sensible or unnecessarily erotic-”

“If I end up screaming in pain, I will do so in my own way, thanks,” she stopped her, lying down on the stone.

“Yes. I keep doing that as of late. I think I need to go for a break somewhere and ponder nature or some stalks of grass or something. Anyway, once you are prepared, I will begin, and shall not stop until I either cannot proceed, or I succeed. After this, I might be able to do more, either soon or not, but I cannot guarantee that no matter what I would like to say. Also, do consider whether you would like to keep your wolven parts, or if you would prefer to have them all removed and all of the changes to your body undone.”

Once Zhi Qiu Ya confirmed her understanding of the matter, she shut her eyes and took a breath.

Wei Yi allowed her to complete several deep breaths before placing her hand upon the woman’s stomach, letting her get used to the mere proximity of her bloodline just in case the bloodline within Zhi Qiu Ya had some kind of rejection to her own energy.

Fortunately, even when she made her bloodline power come into direct contact with the woman’s skin, there appeared to be no adverse effects, so she didn’t delay any longer and thrust the exact amount of energy that she believed to be necessary into her body, immediately eliciting the exact kind of cry that the wolven woman hadn’t wanted.

“Is this process meant to be pleasurable?” Mo Zhouquan asked, a piece of her former energy returning.

“Not really,” Wei Yi replied, taking a glance at the Truth of the Universe to find that a Dao at Initial Accomplishment had appeared despite her attempts not to invoke it as a Dao, ‘Well, using that one for experimentation is no longer an option. I would prefer to know why this has suddenly occurred, given that I didn’t do anything that would typically lead to the creation and condensation of a Dao, but I’m sure it’s fine…’

In a realm surrounded by the broken shards of reality, all bending and breaking, a katana made of pure black metal floated beside a woman whose right eye was covered by her long, straight hair, while her other eye was a dark violet that enticed and drew the attention of all.

On her inviting face, an alluring smile formed as she looked into the distance.

Consuming the bloodline of a living individual appeared to be notably safer than attempting to drain physique energy, which was either impossible or guaranteed to kill, but it was immediately more difficult when it came to the source of that bloodline. That object, which she assumed was the living plague that everyone had spoken of, immediately caused a great burst of pain that was heard clearly by everyone. Unlike a number of previous cries, this one had no mixed messages whatsoever, and was even followed by a drop of blood pouring from her nose.

“I sense the agitation of corruption, although it is not the same that I am familiar with,” Mo Zhouquan explained, “It is quite notable in strength.”

“I can tell, thanks. Do you think it would kill her if I tried to destroy the living plague?”

“If it acts in any way like our seed of corruption, then it would be incredibly dangerous.”

Wei Yi nodded, “Since you have more experience with this, I’ll trust your judgement. Withdrawing bloodline power in a moment, get ready for the extreme sensation that might lead to.”

The wolven woman was naturally unable to reply since she was rather preoccupied with everything that she was already feeling, so it was assumed that she heard her, and Wei Yi proceeded. Seeing as keeping her bloodline power near the living plague wasn’t working in their favour, she withdrew it slowly, checking the exact distance that she had in order to avoid immediate suffering. When she found that distance, she kept her energy at it in a small sphere while sending the rest throughout her body.

Once everything but the living plague was gathered, she withdrew a part of her energy and observed how it would react, finding that it did not immediately begin to spread out the bloodline traces if she no longer surrounded it in energy.

‘Well then, this should be enough for now.’