V4C83: The Underground Meeting

“Good evening, Ascendant. Or do you prefer Conqueror?”

“Wei Yi is fine, really, but Ascendant generally sounds better than the other option. It is also more fundamental to my nature, whereas the other one is a coincidental property that I happened to acquire and now use frequently,” she replied, “I had not been expecting to come into contact with someone in your position this soon, but I take it that you wish to get through things quickly?”

“I do, but that does not mean that we must rush these proceedings. You may not have had the best time in the place you had chosen to visit, but it would not be difficult for a Patriarch to request a few items for himself to enjoy,” the Jiang Patriarch said.

She shrugged, glancing to Yi Jiazhi only to find him sitting in the corner of the large chamber with his focus being anywhere but on them.

“If you have something nutrition to provide me with, I will not object, but there’s no need to give me anything with flavour. I don’t know how much you know about me, but I entirely lack the sense of taste and the perception of flavour when it comes to food. Actually, if you want, you could even feed me food you suspect to be poisoned and I can confirm it for you,” the Ascendant suggested, “Maybe I’ll accidentally awaken some kind of poison physique if I get through enough things… You’ll need to let me take a look at that wall of failed materials at some point, for the same reason.”

“We do know a few things about you, but I see that it would be best to discuss the important things first. There is one thing of greatest significance, and it is something that we must resolve before we can proceed.”

“In that case, do go on. Depending on what it is, this should be easy enough to deal with.”

The Jiang Patriarch nodded, “What I need is for you to not appear within the Jiang District openly. It could greatly endanger our district.”

“You are afraid of the Great Families?”

He visibly quaked as a result of the term, but answered, “The Jiang District has not had the best history with them. If they decide that we have gone against them, then the district may suffer greatly or even be outright destroyed, with the current Jiang being displaced and some other family taking over the Jiang and Lan Districts. However, for this same reason, we do not wish for them to remain powerful, so we still want to cooperate with you.”

“I see. Is that why you have brought me to the location of a spatial stabilisation point? A nice place for it, and one where the vast majority of people won’t be able to spot it, allowing you to direct only those that needed to proceed to it to locate it,” Wei Yi said, “Is that the full extent of the deal?”

“We would like to contribute something to your faction as a sign of good faith, but we have been able to acquire limited information about the deeper elements of the Arbiters. Is there anything that the Jiang District can be assisting you with without being caught out by Them and thus suffering a terrible loss?”

She would have pointed out how they would hardly be able to lose when she was involved, as her abilities were more than sufficient to confront large numbers of the third and second generation of the Great Families without enduring many injuries, and this was especially true if there was nobody that she needed to protect, but he seemed to understand that well enough. The issue was that he was still worried, and wished to act only once the success of the plan and the survival of the Jiang District could be assured. As this was not something that she could do until she connected it to the Yi City Web and prepared a larger force than herself, she didn’t say anything.

Instead, she considered the few things that did require further attention in Paragon, as well as the four districts within her current jurisdiction, and quickly ruled out the matter of inscriptions, construction, talismans, and arrays. Those things were covered by the districts that supported her, and they were also not the strengths of the Jiang District, nor of the Lan District that was subordinate to them. That left her with only a few choices, and only one that was fulfilled both requirements.

“Paragon, the fortress where at least forty of the Great Family members fell to me and my forces, could use some more aides in the matter of growing, harvesting and utilising medicinal herbs and materials. Is this something that you can aid us with?”

“There are a few masters in the Jiang District that tend to hide away from the public eye for many months and years, never emerging for longer than a few hours at a time. Some of them could be directed to the fortress you speak of, so long as you are able to provide the necessary seeds yourself,” the Patriarch replied, “A few people are easy to bring over, but purchasing large quantities of materials is less concealable. If there is a discrepancy in the purchases and production of the Jiang District, the best thing that would happen is that our capabilities would be questioned.”

“And we both know the worst outcome, right?”

“Indeed.”

“Well then, you needn’t worry about such things. The Ascendant’s Arbiters have what you might call an excess of materials of high grades and qualities, provided in part due to my capabilities, so do bring over anyone that is keen to work with them. In particular, those who are unsatisfied with their current refinement methods.”

The Jiang Patriarch did not question the request, as one thing that was more than common knowledge about the Ascendant was that she possessed a series of incredible techniques and abilities. From the various appearances that she, or her supposed siblings, had made in the other districts, it was also reasonable enough to conclude that she had a good enough grasp of inscriptions and pill refining at the very least, so she was either intending to mentor the hidden experts, or provide them with some methods that she had not made use of. Either way, this would be to the benefit of both sides, so it did not matter what exactly was going to occur.

Instead, he took a few steps back and waved at the ground, right at the location where the spatial stabilisation point was located.

From the side, Yi Jiazhi had long given up attempting to comprehend how this deal was occurring. He had not had much exposure to the particular dealings of the Yi Patriarch, nor of those close to him, but it was common knowledge that the Patriarch shouldn’t be the one attempting to worsen the deal for himself, which, in his eyes, this appeared to be an obvious example of. Previously, he would get the aid of Wei Yi and few of the risks, but now there was far more danger of being discovered.

Then again, he understood very little of what they were discussing, so he didn’t attempt to ask any questions. The more that he learnt, the more confused that he would be, and the more that he would need to keep asking about, just as he had already experienced.

Once he was in the Arbiters, then he could just do whatever his body and mind were currently capable of, and forget about all of the complexities of the world that he had left behind, not just when the Kong Holy Grounds were obliterated, but even when the expedition had departed from the Yi District and proceeded out into the fallen Kong District. Before then, there were a lot of things that he had to consider which simply lost all relevance in the forest, and even though he was hardly able to connect the events of that place with much positivity, it was undeniable that he had a better chance at a freedom than before.

Without paying much attention to him, save for the thread that she always had kept around everyone in sight, Wei Yi came up to the spatial stabilisation point.

“Please attempt not to cause too much of a disturbance, if possible,” the Jiang Patriarch requested.

“If it is a regular spatial gateway opening, then there shouldn’t be much of a noticeable effect, but if a certain factor comes into effect, then there will be a very blatant burst of light that goes from here to the Luo and possibly the Bai District. I am able to subdue the perception of most people, but when it comes to the Greats, and those further out from the district, I am afraid I will not have much of a chance.”

“I see. Then, attempt to minimize the disturbance, if it does occur,” he changed his request, prompting her to nod while she reached out with her left hand.

Having done this many times before, she was familiar with the exact method for awakening a spatial stabilisation point, and was instead able to focus on slowing certain parts of it down as to be able to prevent the appearance of the connections in the Yi City Web after its activation, or possibly even sense more about the web than she currently knew.

All of the information that she currently had was limited to her understanding of the connection between the four districts under her control, and lacked the knowledge of where those districts also linked to. That significantly limited her own ability to seek out the districts that would do the most to expand the web, which would be most helpful to her as it would expand the range in which she had absolute free mobility, and so if she took the time to consider the possible connections of this district, she might also be able to understand the reasoning behind certain connections and thus gain the ability to map out all of the links without needing to personally go to any of the districts to verify her ideas.

With that knowledge, she could intentionally head only to the districts needed to encircle the central territories, then move in district by district until she and her forces can instantly move to any point in Yi City and endure any attack from the Great Families by not being anywhere near the danger.

Her energy flowed into the stabilisation point beneath her, and it did not take long for the node to become active, colourful patterns spreading out throughout the ground as silver and crimson rose into the air, forming the shape of a gateway through the Kong Prison Realm. It took a few moments to be stabilised, but once it was, the opening in space displayed a relatively empty plaza through a far smaller gap in ordinary space than usual, as this was meant to be a more low-key gateway.

Once the Jiang District was properly integrated into the Ascendant’s Arbiters and the general mission to defeat the Great Families, then it would be widened.

However, as the gateway was completed, she did not feel any connection to the Yi City Web, causing her to frown for just a moment. She had naturally anticipated this possibility, and it was technically a welcome one as it would prevent anyone who did not need to observe the appearance of the web from learning about the introduction of the Jiang District to the web, but it was still a terrible shame.

‘If I obtain another segment of the Yi City Web that is not connected to the portion that I currently control, would I be able to move between them, or would I need to go to the gateway of the appropriate segment of the web before transporting myself or others?’ she pondered, attempting to deduce the possible connections for the Jiang District that she would need to obtain regardless of the answer to that question in order to propagate her current control of the web, as the more freedom of movement she possessed, the better.

From the current lack of additional connections to the web, it was blatant that the Kong District would also be needed to connect it and the Jiang District to the Luo District. From there, the Lan District would likely connect with the Jiang, Ze and Wu Districts, just as the Ze District would have to connect with the Kong, Jiang, Yi, Shun and Wu Districts, possibly including the Xin District.

Out of all the districts, the Ze District might even be on par with the Yi District in terms of the number of links to other districts, which did also make her ponder whether the number of connections in any particular district would affect the Yi City Web itself. Perhaps the powers of the web in the Yi District and the Ze Districts would be significantly more effective than at the Ling or Lan Districts, not that she even understands the powers beyond the simple ability to transport oneself through the inclusion of the Kong Prison Realm.

In her understanding, this was not a power of the web, but the prison realm, meaning that there was more to the web that she had yet to comprehend. The moment that she understood it fully, her power level would effectively rise by a realm from the simple mastery of the districts.

“Did the abnormal circumstance occur?”

“Unfortunately not, but it likely will once I visit one of the other districts. I will attempt not to provoke it too early, if I can,” Wei Yi replied to the Patriarch, “That being said, would you prefer to chat in Paragon, or here?”

“I have always wanted to visit the fortress that endured such an attack. If your companion does not object, I shall follow along,” the man in the purple robes said, keeping his hood in his hands.

Since he brought up Yi Jiazhi, she glanced over to him and found that he was still in a daze, pondering all kinds of things without really registering much of what had occurred after Wei Yi had been permitted to utilise the spatial stabilisation point. As such, he barely knew that he was being talked to, forcing her to flick a light gust of air at his face as to disturb his contemplations.

He awoke and found that the Patriarch and the Ascendant were staring at him and looked to the latter.

“Did something happen? Should I leave?” he asked, gazing about and failing to observe the significant gateway lighting up Wei Yi’s figure in silver and crimson according to the divide of the killing will form.

“We are going to the fortress. Get in the gateway and find the plantation area, tell them what you can do, and I’m sure they’ll find something for you to do. Meanwhile, we will stand around arbitrarily for just a few moments,” she said, using spiritual will to lift him up and assist him in getting to the gateway as quickly as possible, “Come on, your legs haven’t deteriorated that badly, you can move far more quickly than that.”

He couldn’t get a reply out before he was shoved into the gateway and found himself far, far away from the Jiang District, with the spatial gateway seeming to shut behind him, although the shape itself remained. Instead of the district, the inside of the gateway was replaced by some kind of opaque film.

With how little he understood prior to this, the previous conclusion that asking questions would just lead to more questions was reaffirmed in his mind and he instead looked around and sought out someone to aid him in his current plight, and possibly guide him towards the plantations that the Ascendant had referenced. Unknown to him, Wei Yi did keep an eye on him for a little while through the gateway, and then continued to do so via her control of the Kong Prison Realm and all things that were connected to it through the spatial gateways, simply to confirm that he wouldn’t get himself into any trouble by accidentally uncovering more of his own history.

Obviously, the sudden change in intent caused the Jiang Patriarch to frown much like she had not long ago.

“Are our plans no longer feasible?” he inquired.

“Not so much that as they’re simply delayed. There is someone approaching, and I would prefer to handle him before proceeding with anything. Depending on what he is doing here, it might be possible to take care of him at the same time as we go to Paragon,” she replied, turning to the shut entrance to the dark chamber, “Come out already, we don’t have all day.”

There should be no reaction from anyone that knows what they’re doing, of course. If they had experience with breaking in, they would naturally ignore such an exclamations as it was incredibly easy to simply shout out whatever one wanted and hope to catch an intruder once every million years.

So, to see someone knocking on the door right away, the intruder clearly lacked this experience.

Without getting anywhere near the person and the door, she waved her hand and opened the door, a wave of spiritual will shoving the person on the other side into the room and immediately sealing the door behind him, ensuring that he wouldn’t randomly rush out and spill details about their meeting due to the shock. The man dropped onto the ground due to the shove, but rose quickly enough, patting the dust away from his clothes.

Wei Yi glanced to her side, confirmed that the Jiang Patriarch wasn’t familiar with this person, then said, “I’ll give you a few moments to explain.”

“I’m… I am an otherworldly demon!” the man suddenly exclaimed, taking out a large and oddly dusty tome out of his pocket, “This is my otherworldly gift! Can I join that Dimensional Domain place that I heard about?”

Considering how poorly he attempted to sneak in, she was tempted to believe him, although the fact that the book in his hands was blatantly invisible to her spiritual perception also made it very obvious that even if he was not from another world, he was certainly in possession of an otherworldly gift. Seeing as he had heard her talking about otherworldly demons and the Dimensional Domain, he must have also been someone who had been near one of the gateways in the other districts, so that slightly narrowed down where he might have come from, although it hardly explained how he tracked her down.

“What is the book able to do?”

“Are you only going to let me in if I prove that I am of use to the Domain?” he asked, his head turning away slightly as he muttered, “I guess that this would be the case. How could anyone just let people in without checking their abilities and selecting those that are not suitable for their purposes… Could never be like with the witches in that one webcomic…”

“Um. You are not speaking anywhere near quietly enough for me to miss that, just so you are aware. Also, no, this was not my intention. Rather, I need to know what it is that you’re displaying to me.”

“This book is the Compendium of the Arts! It does… something. I don’t know any painting, so I don’t know what the purpose of this thing would be for me,” he stated, waving the large tome around and causing a large quantity of dust to flood the air, “It’s also perpetually dusty, so I can barely breathe when this thing is out! I don’t know what kinds of things others are able to do, but I am almost sure that this thing’s a dud.”

“Ascendant, you intend to recruit and house people like these?” the Patriarch whispered to her.

Indeed, with the current display, it would be difficult to justify recruiting people like him into the Arbiters, or providing them with a special residence at the Dimensional Domain, but she was sure that he also caught an issue with the otherworldly demon’s statement. If his book was called the Compendium of the Arts, then there was likely to be one particular meaning to the last term of that name which was obvious to those originating from the Planar Continents.

Art, whether it was painting, storytelling or the like, was not uncommon in the Western Continent, but it was far less significant to most adults than the great arts, the five methods to obtain even greater power than regular cultivation would achieve. As such, even if someone decided to create a painting or a story, they might involve one of the five great arts, and so none would automatically assume that the word ‘art’ had anything to do with the artistic and creative side of human culture. The only person that was likely to do this was an otherworldly demon, and besides confirming that the man knew about their typical failings even if he wasn’t one, it would explain why he deemed the book to lack uses to him. It could even explain why the dust remained on the surface.

The various otherworldly gifts did have interesting aspects from time to time, and it could be that the dusty tome would become more outstanding in appearance with the improvement of the owner.

“Have you heard the term ‘great arts’? It may be one you need to pay attention to.”

“Great arts… don’t tell me I’ve ended up in a place that venerates paintings and the like? I’d be ruined by such a thing…”

“No. The five great arts are simple: inscriptions, arrays, talismans, artefacts and pills. Inscription, arrangement, creation, blacksmithing and refining. Together, they compose the five integral aspects of focusing cultivation into an external form that ignores one’s own power, and each one corresponds to its own element, just as each element corresponds to a form of energy, and just as each form of energy corresponds to a greater, deeper aspect of reality,” she decided to explain, as there was a chance that an interesting scene would occur.

“Inscriptions are akin to the veins of the earth, and thus the element of earth is best for creating them. Arrays are a flow of energy guided by nodes, and hence water is the most suitable element. Artefacts involve metal most frequently, or require metal to create, and thus metal-type energy is best. Refining of pills and elixirs requires many natural herbs and ingredients, all of which have an innate wood affinity. A talisman is akin to a fleeting flame, and naturally benefit from fire the most. With each one, a common man could rise to be a legend, although in the hands of a true expert, for whom an item was specifically created, these five great arts can be elevated far beyond that, resulting in one possessing the power of an expert that is unbeatable in the same realm, at the very least. That is the essence of the great arts.”

The otherworldly demon initially looked confused, but as she continued and mentioned some terms that appeared to be familiar to him, his eyes focused and his mind did also, plunging into a deep concentration while one finger unconsciously tapped on the Compendium of the Arts.

As soon as her last words were spoken, an incredible gust of wind surged out from the tome, forcing it open and blowing away all of the dust that had been gathering upon its surface without any seeming limit. A glaring white light surged from the pages, but it slowly concentrated upon small symbols on the surface of the first page, arranging themselves into words and resulting in the written manifestation of everything that she had just said.

Seemingly in accordance with her understanding, the outside of the tome also transformed, the cover changing into a representation of what looked to be a Taiji symbol with five distinct parts, each one revolving into the other. The distinct parts lit up as the words relating to them were inscribed onto the first page, with one filling with mysterious symbols and a blazing flame that almost seemed to dance like the real thing, the next being flooded with thin intersecting lines and the brown of earth, the third being occupied by a metallic texture, the fourth being covered by water that flowed in very specific channels and yet in the oceanic mass at the same time, and the fifth and last changing to a jade-like bark.

This was, without a doubt, a rather high-quality conceptualisation of the meaning that she had conveyed with her words, although it was clearly unable to extract that which she had not said.

And yet…

“I… I understand! I was foolish to assume that the meaning had to be the same… Thank you, Ascendant, for guiding me in the right direction!” the man exclaimed, clearly feeling like he had attained some kind of enlightenment, “I still wish to join the Dimensional Domain, but now, I will make sure to contribute my new understanding to further the scientific- no, the field of the great arts!”

“Good luck with that. Name?”

“Andrew Smith, former manager at a small establishment specialising in the sale of cassette tapes.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what that latter part meant, but I am sure that someone will have a better idea. As such, please go away and talk to those that do understand the weird nonsense you otherworldly demons bring with you,” she said, looking to the Patriarch, who had been observing the situation without much of an obvious outward expression, “Now you may come along, although I will need to stop elsewhere before we may proceed with our intended conversation.”

He nodded, and then stepped up to the gateway as the thin opaque film vanished from the surface and transformed to the central square of Paragon.

They passed through the gateway together, and although the behaviour of the otherworldly demon had gotten a little more composed, he appeared to still have some issue with the particular feeling of passing through the gateway, although it was not one that either she or the Jiang Patriarch intended to address. It hardly mattered even if he had some complaints.

Stepping out onto the stone surface of the Paragon square, Wei Yi quickly grabbed the otherworldly demon’s shoulder and turned him back to the gateway, quickly transforming it to connect it to the Dimensional Domain rather than the Jiang District. Before he had the chance to question what was happening, he was pushed into it, the spatial gateway quickly transforming back to link to the correct destination.

“Did you not say that you would go with him?”

“Eh, this was quicker, and there are some reasonable people over at the other side that should be able to handle this well enough. Well, as reasonable as otherworldly demons usually are,” she replied, putting her focus back onto the Jiang Patriarch, “Anyway, we’ll need to go downstairs.”