V4C37: For a Foothold in the Bai District

There were indeed quite a few various exclamations and questions, often the two coming together, but in the end there was little that could be argued with within her plan. Sure, it was insane and highly unlikely to work if they were some normal force attempting to combat the Greats, but that was not the case in the slightest.

Jia Rong alone was enough to convince most of them that there was quite a high chance of accomplishing something, since her physical strength despite her mostly unassuming body was absolutely immense. It shocked even her, since she had only gotten to experience a little bit of it while running and a little more against enemies that could partially guard against it, and so to find that she was able to rip a solid slab of stone in half with a little bit of force was a rather fascinating experience.  Fortunately, controlling it didn’t prove difficult for her, or else there might have been problems.

The Chao District’s leadership was very prone to acting in ways that often epitomised the stereotypes about the Chao family, so the moment that one of them emerged to attempt to contest the Arbiters’ occupation of the district, they would almost certainly agree to some kind of physical challenge.

So long as it was won, it would be possible to demand something of them, and their fellow Chao family members would be unlikely to contest the first request at the very least, even if they asked for something highly extreme or unconventional. The second and third demands would be less likely to pass without a second challenge, one that Jia Rong would be less likely to win as her strength was currently only at the level of the fifth realm or so, but a single demand was enough to claim to occupy the district for a little while. Once Wei Yi had the Bai District for herself, she would be able to accept such challenges and wipe out those that thought to issue them in terms of strength.

As for the Great Families, it was likely that they wouldn’t like to waste their forces coming after the secondary threat to them in this situation, and even if they had plenty of forces available to go out there and fight the Arbiters, they would be hesitant to put them to use if they saw that the Ascendant wasn’t present at the battlefield. Her appearance at the Bai District would force them to shift their attention to it, but if there was one thing that she had experience with, it was swift fights.

Thus, by the time that they arrived, she could likely spread knowledge of the Greats all over the place and incite the entire district to despise them for everything that they have done throughout their lives.

At that point, even if they thought to fight her and take the district back into their own hands, both the district’s leadership itself and the people living within in, among whom are bound to be some with highly impressive strength and abilities, would seek to put up a fight and prevent them from keeping control of the Bai District in the shadows once more.

In theory, the threat of physical or planar force wasn’t even necessary to take any one district, as the promise of continued growth of planar energy, countless techniques and room to grow back into what the districts had once been might be enough to entice the Bai or even Chao Districts, at which point they wouldn’t want to simply fall back into the hands of a group that wished for all of these things to be lost. Since the Great Families were best at taking care of things in the shadows, without the notice of others, their reveal to the public would not only render their method of detecting those who speak about them entirely worthless, but it would make it nearly impossible for any one of them to appear within a district without being noticed.

Both the Bai and Chao Districts enjoy frequent trade and visits from the rest of Yi City, at least receiving more visitors than certain places like the Ju District, so once the news spread through them, it would spread from them to the Ping District, then the Lao and Chu District, then the Ning, Chen and Jiang Districts, and then the word would likely keep going unless impeded with some great effort by the Greats.

Something like that wasn’t impossible for the Great Families to achieve at first, with one or two people passing through the semblances of roads between the districts, but that was where the other advantage of the Ascendant’s Arbiters came into effect.

“You were able to attain the Conqueror’s Eye… How large is the area of effect? How long does it take to dissipate?” Great Dark had asked once he confirmed that the blackened crimson glimmering within the Ascendant’s eyes weren’t the result of her increasing mental cultivation realm, but instead the visual effect of the eye-based physique ability making itself known.

“All of those are actually the great thing about the ability, at least in my case. The Ascendant physique, and, in particular, my previous True Ascendant and current Yin-Yang Ascendant physique affect the abilities that they are able to replicate, and it is highly possible that they have made the Conqueror’s Eye even more impressive than it could have been without it,” Wei Yi replied, “The area that I can attempt to conquer and influence is practically limitless so long as I am able to observe it in some fashion and have enough energy to do so, but me being the bottomless source of energy that I am, this shouldn’t be a concern at all.

“The best part is that, so far, it does not appear that any conquered land connected directly to a place that I genuinely control and command, that is, Paragon and the Kong Prison Realm, is seeing a decay of my influence. What that might mean is that so long as I can truly claim the Bai and Chao Districts, I will be able to spread my influence throughout the territory between them and effectively subdue the vast majority of threats to usual travellers, thus permitting for far more travel between them.”

“And with each district, this territory would expand, and travel may be even freer?” Luo Lia Kun enquired, “I have to say, I did not think that we would see the return of the golden era of Yi City within our lifetimes.”

“I am not sure that you will, but it will certainly be vastly better than it currently is. I could effectively raise the realm of every human while decreasing the realm of all planar flora and fauna, without actually decreasing their cultivation, and make it so that even the toughest region can be traversed far more easily,” the Ascendant explained, “In essence, the safest paths could be traversed even by a first realm cultivator, the least safe would be usable for fourth realm cultivators. Then, as the Conqueror’s Eye, my influence, and the Arbiters become stronger, we can all increase the security between districts even further, paving old and new roads alike for all to be able to use. The old highways could return to us.”

Fu Zan, who wasn’t able to say much to any of this and was just waiting to be told whether he’d need to get back to sowing something, suddenly perked up, “Wait, that’s an otherworldly term!”

“Yeah, I figured. Kong Shi Meng, the Master of Yi City, was the one to come up with it, after all. For all that you lot are and are not able to do, it seems that originality was not your strong suit,” replied Wei Yi, tapping the map of Yi City as a series of thick roads appeared upon it, “These should be a basic web of roads that supports most travel, and allows for easy trading between the various districts. If anyone has a Chen family ancestry, or some general understanding of trade that surpasses my own, do feel free to contribute, but if not, this should be a decent layout.”

“I don’t know a thing, but I had spent some time looking at maps back on Orbis. Could our road systems be useful here?”

“Let me see…” Wei Yi poked her spiritual will thread into his head and checked out the kinds of things that he was thinking about, “Hm, I wouldn’t say that most of these would apply as well here. We don’t have those cars of yours, and while planar beasts do substitute a similar role, especially those striders at the north, they have very different requirements than your cars do. However, having wider roads is certainly a good idea, as to be able to prepare for the eventual growth of Yi City as a whole.”

She altered the roads on the map with another tap, and did change their layout and shape ever so slightly, although she wasn’t going to make significant changes without a proper comprehension of the matter or someone that understood it well enough. Perhaps if one of the otherworldly demons had some kind of ability relating to planning and construction of infrastructure throughout a region the size of a continent, they might be able to convince her to change something entirely, but for now, something like her idea should suffice.

The key was to have a series of roads that led both through the districts, and around them where possible, as to give everyone as much room as necessary to traverse the route that was most effective for them. Most would likely prefer to avoid the Ping District until some major reformation of the district’s nature and practises occurred, so letting travellers use the Luo and Bai Districts to go around it would be useful, and a good place to have a road. To let it also be used as a defensive measure against the eastern nations of the continent, who might attempt to invade Yi City if they see it as being a weakened place due to the War of Ascendancy, it should also be passing through the eastern edge of the two districts.

Due to the positioning of those two, it would also be possible to place a road between the Bai and Jiang Districts, connecting it with a fork in the road to the one between the Luo and Bai Districts, or perhaps using it as the primary road to which the Luo District would then be connected to.

Whatever the final look of the road network was, it ought to provide an incentive for the leaders of the other districts to support the Ascendant’s Arbiters and their cause, giving them some reason to go against the Greats, even if it is just in some small way, other than the potential of freedom. To some, it was not a very enticing prospect if it meant that they may lose everything they have, which was fair, even if Wei Yi would not be keen to agree with them.

The current Yi City lacked a stable road network, lacked particularly powerful techniques, lacked a surplus of resources and lacked a singular leadership that would allow it to be united together as it had been in the days of old. While the Great Families likely offered some subtle benefits to those that they ordered around, as to prevent them from trying to rebel with everything that they have, they would be unable to compete with the potential of all of that without completely changing their goals and what they were seeking to achieve. It was rather obvious to target those kinds of areas, and Wei Yi would be sure to think of more fields in which the Greats had restricted the world from developing so far.

Perhaps the only thing that she wouldn’t broadcast quite as openly as everything else was her intent to be the leader of this reunited city, as that might make a few people rather reluctant to support her to any significant degree. Instead, she wanted to proclaim that intention at a point where everyone else would have no real choice or desire to choose anyone but her.

For instance, at some final battle between her and the Greats, or if entities like the Primordial Deities arose with their old power while everyone else had declined to a significant extent.

It was a far-off matter to be discussing, but she was intent to make it occur as soon as was possible.

“I would like to end the conflict before nine months pass,” she had proclaimed after explaining some of her plans, earning the surprised looks and expressions of those in the room that were paying attention, or those that understood what she was saying.

Some, like Jia Rong and Miyu, didn’t have enough of an understanding nor interest in the war itself, so the scale of it wasn’t sufficiently clear to them as to permit them to share in the reaction of the others. Neither of them had traversed the Western Continent for long, either, since Jia Rong had sat in a cave for millennia before being brought from the west of the Ping District, past the Chao District, to Paragon, while Miyu had appeared in some field and was then promptly sent into the prison realm, but if they had a better understanding of this, they would be aware that Yi City was absolutely enormous.

Each of its districts matched a kingdom outside of it, and the entirety of the Kong Prison Realm was smaller than the city in its current state, which was notably smaller than it had been at its peak.

To conquer all of that in less than a year, while their strongest powers were only at the sixth realm, while the Greats possessed an unimaginable stranglehold over Yi City for countless years and should have forty-six individuals in the seventh realm that could, in theory, emerge to combat them, and while they were barely even known to the world, was a fearsome task to say the least. However, when Wei Yi proclaimed this, she looked to be perfectly confident and assured.

“The time frame might seem arbitrary, but that doesn’t matter. What does is that every moment that the majority of the city persists in their hands, it suffers. We must end this and bring back what we had long ago. At that point, whether the Primordial Deities arise, or some greater threat appears, we will be ready and capable to stand against it, and we will have Yi City in a united state once again.”

“In theory… the first few conquests will be most challenging while we are growing… After that, bringing the armies of districts alongside us could allow… for most battles to end quickly, and for us to be able to obtain plentiful resources to grow and develop… This is especially true if the Great Families will be incapacitated for a short while, as we are predicting they might be in the best-case scenario,” Great Dark said, “Do you believe that we will be able to not only lay a claim on the Bai and Chao Districts… but also keep them?”

“I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to accomplish something like that. For the moment, we shall not impose any particular commands or restrictions on the districts, and can even shower them in techniques without risking them overpowering us in the short term,” she stated, “All that changes is that instead of a shadowy pair of people in robes, they get a plain and straightforward muscular woman like me. I don’t see why they wouldn’t go for such a thing.”

“Not everyone has your exact tastes… Just putting that out there,” Fu Zan muttered.

“Not about tastes, since I do also prefer a different kind of person. This is about being plain, clear, and visible. If we do something, they’ll know about it. If we believe something, they will be able to learn what that is. The Great Families cannot afford to be as open, and so they will be less trustworthy. The district leaders, the Patriarchs, will be more keen to stay neutral or even side with us, and if they are, for whatever reason, loyal to the Greats, there will certainly be groups that will be more than ready to defeat them and take their place,” Wei Yi clarified.

Indeed, when put that way, it made a lot more sense to those that were more confused by the notion. As the saying went, better the evil that you know rather than the one you don’t, and even if both the Greats and the Arbiters were to be seen as some threat to the structure of the world, then one would be far clearer in their nature than the other, and would thus be far easier to deal with. To please the Greats, they would need to do quite a few things that go against their own desires, but to not attract the ire of the Ascendant and her Arbiters, all that they would need to do was act in their own interests while not acting against the Arbiters themselves. It was a significantly easier set of conditions to work with.

Thus, while the Ascendant’s Arbiters were significantly weaker than the Greats in terms of the territory that they have control over, the majority of the districts would likely prefer them to get into a stronger position as to be able to prevent the Greats from being able to do as they like in Yi City.

Although that situation would obviously change by the time that the Ascendant’s Arbiters come to have some significant influence over the Western Continent, it wouldn’t matter all that much since Wei Yi and everyone she is able to support will be more than capable of protecting themselves and dominating the forces of the districts without needing their permission to do so. At that point, anyone who hadn’t foreseen such a change would not have enough time or power to enact anything to prevent the Arbiters from assuming full control.

In fact, they may not even want to if the Primordial Deities were to rise once more. Very few are equipped to combat any one of the primordial deities, while the Arbiters would likely include the Hunters of the Cosmos by that point, giving them some clue of how to combat at least one of those entities, while also having Yi Shi Ming and everything she knows about the Primordial Deities with them.

“Jia Rong, do you mind doing something like that? I know I tossed you into the plan all of a sudden without really asking you.”

“I… I can do it! I won’t let the people of the city die due to those people!”

“Well, you should be able to manage, seeing as your cultivation realm has climbed up by a stage again… Do you suppose that your body may have contained the million years of energy that would have pooled up in the cave you were imprisoned it, causing it to develop and get stronger, then permitting you to obtain a portion of it upon the intense fluctuation of emotion?” Wei Yi suddenly asked, stunning the demonic woman.

“… I don’t really know… any of that… really… What does any of that mean? Does this planar energy pool up?”

“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have asked you about it before explaining the principles of cultivation to you in any length. Uhm, Shun Liu Min, would you mind teaching her a few of the basic things?” she turned to the maid, getting close to her as to whisper in her ear, “Also, her mental age is a little younger than it might seem, even with the million years I mentioned. Try not to say or do anything excessive, and don’t be annoyed if she has no idea what you’re talking about, not that I expect you to do something like that. You wouldn’t mind, would you?”

The maid had blushed a little when Wei Yi breathed into her ear, but shook her head the moment she was asked again, “I’ll get right on it. How much does she already know?”

“Basics, really. I didn’t go too in depth before I started getting fluctuations from here, at which point I was forced to rush ahead and not really spend the time to carefully explain the complexities and nuances of planar cultivation,” Wei Yi replied, withdrawing a little, “Don’t worry if you don’t get through much. It’s fine so long as we can confirm whether Jia Rong can use regular techniques.”

“Alright… It’s good to see that you’re fine, by the way… We were worried.”

“To be fair, that was exactly what I had meant for you to do, so I understand that entirely. However, as you can see, I am fine… more or less. I would recommend avoiding me whenever my hand starts acting up, though, since that’s essentially a blatant giveaway that my emotions are getting a little out of control,” the Ascendant shared with everyone, raising her left arm, “The moment I get another type of energy into a realm behind it, this should go away, but until then, I will apologise in advance.”

“Weren’t your cultivation realms a little off even before this?” Meng Chu asked, “Was it the fifth, fourth and third realms all at once?”

“Yes, but, as you have just said, there was something within the proximity of my killing will. Now, it is two realms away from everything else, which naturally causes issues that I would rather not deal with, hence why I need to get some more physiques. The Chao District would be nice for that, and so I’ll go there second and find a few more of the Hammers, if I can.”

“Whatever happened to them?”

“No idea.”

While they were trying to contemplate that mystery, Shun Liu Min rose and brought Jia Rong away with her, beginning to explain things to her as she did so. Neither of them were going to be participating in battle in the usual manner, since Jia Rong could only hit things with a lot of force due to lacking anything but the faintest idea of how to fight, while Shun Liu Min had only a little bit of combat experience and understood only a few suitable techniques for it. Even if they stayed behind, they would be doing little more than endangering themselves if they tried to participate beyond what was necessary.

As such, just as Chao Ru should probably be out of the battlefield for a little while until it could be confirmed whether or not she would need to be preparing to welcome new life into the world, it was better for them to focus on ensuring that they will be able to stay alive.

“That woman… who exactly is she?”

“Someone who I believe to be from a million years ago, if not more. Don’t be surprised if she doesn’t know much and do at the very least try not to look at her strangely. I doubt that she will benefit from it,” Wei Yi summarised, sitting back down in her chair and leaning back as she placed her hand on the table and tapped it with her claws, “Now that they are gone, however, let me begin with saying that I want to shred those fuckers into little pieces and crush them!”

“So you were agitated, as you had said…” Great Dark muttered, “You did not wish her to hear you like this… Acting like a parent, are you?”

“I hardly need to be a father to understand that people need to be brought into things gradually, especially when they have a literal million years of suffering in some cave. I’d thought that sitting in the Kong Prison Realm for twenty years wasn’t all that pleasant, but that time had only been equivalent to a little less than a year in reality. Most of the things that I had left here were still around. Meanwhile, she thought that she had effectively spent a year inside, and yet it was far, far longer… Why are you looking at me like that?”

Out of all the people to answer the broad question, it was Miyu who asked, “You said father… I heard something about you being a futa- no, I mean, having the, uh… male parts?”

“I swear, you otherworldly demons get embarrassed at the strangest of things. Yes, I have a dick. Regardless of what that earlier word was, I do also have my original parts as well, in case that was a major concern for anyone,” she answered.

“That… mhm…” Miyu turned away, but there was a strange excited upturned curve to her lips.

Considering what Wei Yi already knew about this otherworldly demon, she was curious whether or not this was Miyu being happy that she no longer needed to justify her interest in the Ascendant while continuing to believe that she wasn’t interested in a normal woman, or if she was actually interested in the notion of a woman with both male and female parts.

Considering what she did know of the nation known as Antanord – called North Antania on occasion – she could believe either one quite easily, so long as the people of those nations didn’t move around much and got to absorb the same notions.

“If you do not mind, I have something else to ask. I do understand why you may want to avoid her being exposed to the angrier you, but… must you see yourself as the father?” Luo Lia Kun asked, noticing the same reaction from the otherworldly demon but choosing to distract herself from it.

“Actually, yes, there is a reason. Putting aside what organs I have, a careful inspection by the cunts known as the Great Families appears to have confirmed my complete inability to have children in the usual manner… Again, the way everyone is looking at me grimly is rather odd. It’s difficult to have a serious conversation when I constantly get looked at as if I am some pitiful soul…” Wei Yi paused, “Not untrue, to be fair, but still odd.”

“…” all of them glanced at one another, unsure which point they wanted to bring up.

On one hand, the matter of parenthood was quite significant in the world, and most obviously wished to have a descendant at some point in their lives. Having a different method to have children without needing to resort to strange means that involve a man that really didn’t belong in a relationship between two women was good, but to never even have the option of conceiving a child of her own seemed rather significant in their eyes. In particular, Luo Lia Kun had always regretted that she and the one she had loved before the War of Yin never had the chance to have a child, and Chao Ru might have one within nine months and thus also had some investment in the matter.

However, there was also the matter of her being felt up by the Great Family members, undoubtedly in some unpleasant and excruciating manner. None of them really wished to contemplate exactly what would have occurred, and so they did not mention it.

“Alright, we’re moving on, since your thoughts are getting out of control,” Wei Yi said, “I would like all of us to get out of here the moment that we can do so, so let’s get to something important…”

“Not sure how the door suddenly led to the underground portion of Beast’s Rest, but…” Shun Liu Min muttered, looking around as she realised just where they had ended up after a few moments, “So, I am Shun Liu Min, former maid and… current maid. How about you?”

“I’m Jia Rong, and I am… lost in time? Frankly, I still can’t quite believe it, but it seems entirely real…”

The drop in mood from what she had previously recovered during the meeting in the Kong Prison Realm was blatant, prompting the maid to consider Wei Yi’s earlier words. Since the woman before her might very well be the oldest person she would ever speak to in her entire life, perhaps being older than the spatial spirit of the prison realm, and since she had been imprisoned since a young age, it might be both difficult and simple to get along with her. Difficult due to the lack of similar elements between her time and now, but easy as there would be quite a few things that could draw her attention and distract her from less positive and optimistic matters.

For that reason, Shun Liu Min took another look at the crimson-skinned woman and contemplated what it was that might catch the attention of someone less mature than the usual adult.

“So, Wei Yi asked me to teach you a few simple things. Would you like to learn how to cultivate?”

“I… I guess that I would.”

Cultivation, a universal interest for the young and old, the mature and childish, and the ambitious and otherwise. It promised so much for the world, for every person that engaged in it, and the simple matter of cultivation itself came at no cost whatsoever save for the time required to cultivate regularly. Nobody would ever pass up on the opportunity to empower themselves in all kinds of useful ways without spending a copper, and so the vast majority of the world had reached the first realm at the least.

It was only natural for someone who had little personal understanding of the matter to wish to learn more, especially when it was something that suddenly surrounded her.

“Alright then, sit down and let me explain a few things to you,” the maid said, taking the usual cross legged pose on the ground in one of the rooms with a room with a carpet as to make the experience a little more comfortable, “Don’t worry if you don’t get it at first, since you don’t have much practise with it. It takes a while for most people to get it at first.”

“I would never do that. I will be fine no matter what happens.”