V5C6: An Agreement

On the morning of the next day, she emerged into the streets with a far rosier face and warmer skin than before. It was a great improvement to her overall state, and although her attempts to recreate her arm via rebuilding the meridians with energy hadn’t resulted in any significant progress so far, she was feeling the attempts taxing her body far less than before, which was a good improvement regardless of everything else.

Speaking of that, however, she had some excellent news for the world and terrible ones for the Greats, as her recovery in general was progressing incredibly smoothly. She was already able to showcase the peak of the third realm without any risks to herself, and she could even push into the fourth realm for a little while if she didn’t mind stalling the process of her recovery. The best thing was that her physique was currently at a minimal state of recovery where she would have to do a great deal to push her strength back into the second realm and below, which meant that she could be significantly more reckless with everything that she does without as much risk.

Eventually, she would have the fifth realm, and her complete capabilities would be returned.

Her scale armour was still holding onto some of the heat that she had gained within the training hall, and so she proceeded on to make use of it while walking around and seeking out the Ancestral Hall, which she ended up finding over at the eastern region of the district.

It was on a bit of solid ground amidst a great quantity of bridges and pathways above the mines, and it was on the very brink of remaining in place, with the bit of land it stood on narrowing down the closer it was to the ground, to the point that she was highly concerned the thing was going to fall over if too many people attempted to gather near the Ancestral Hall and pressured the stone pillar unevenly. There were a few protective measures in place, and a few people were actively working on reinforcing it, but she was still a little concerned.

The Ancestral Halls of the twenty-four districts of Yi City, if one included the fallen Kong District, were all home to a great deal of history and power, so to see them lost to a great collapse into a hole several hundred metres deep at the shallowest part would be highly unfortunate. Most of the things within would still survive, but it would be a shame to have such a place be damaged.

Not much time passed before she had concluded that she had sought out the right place, as a number of people were already gathering beside the hall and some guards were standing at the bridges connecting to the Ancestral Hall. A number of people were standing before them, and their attention was on the hall itself, so it didn’t look like they were in any conflict with the guards, meaning that there was only one reason for them to be in the area – that she knew of, at the very least.

With her current spiritual perception, sensing anyone inside of the isolated building was rather difficult, but there was a high chance that the Patriarch would be within.

‘While my armour is still nice and hot, I might as well stick around and wait for him to emerge. After that, I can move onto the next step of the current plan, which would be either speaking with him or seeking out some opportunity to speak with him, depending on how things go during whatever speech he intends to give the people of the Qiang District.’

Given her current appearance, with her fur cloak and leather armour covering much of the Crimson Robe of the Third Arrival, while her hair was a little dull due to the energy that usually flowed near its roots being far weaker than usual, she didn’t expect to be recognised right away. That being said, out of all of the people that would have their attention spread out and that would be familiar with the situations in other district, the Patriarch would be the most likely to be aware of the battles to the north, as well as the appearance of the Ascendant that had initiated the War of Ascendancy against the Greats. Ideally, he wouldn’t be very fond of them, and might even give her better treatment as a result.

She didn’t require that, but it would always be nice to have a kind and friendly Patriarch that would just give her whatever she wanted, rather than the opposite.

As she joined the waiting crowds, some bothered to look at her and show some concern regarding her presence, but the majority of the people that stood on the bridge she had chosen due to its stability being the highest out of all of the connecting bridges. This was what she expected, so she just proceeded on to focus her mind and wait for as long as she needed to. Her mental energy still needed to recover a little bit, and it was less bound by the state of the body than the three physical energies, and this was something that could be capitalised on while she had nothing else to do.

The Ascendant found a good place for herself to rest, and did so, needing to move only a little bit when a few more people gathered around her and had wanted to stand in a group that would have occupied her position.

Several hours passed before she finally got to see any hints of the Patriarch emerging, as the Ancestral Hall’s gates were slowly pushed open and a few more guards emerged, most of them descending down from the raised platform that the Ancestral Hall was on. They did not go far, and instead stood around and kept an eye on the crowd and the miners that were passing by, making sure that nobody malicious got in the way of the day’s events.

After that, the figure that everyone was waiting for finally emerged, and his appearance fit the expectations of all on the scene that weren’t already familiar with him, Wei Yi included. He was old, with a long, full beard that covered all of his jaw and barely displayed his lips. His eyes were dark brown, akin to the shade of the earth, and his skin was almost grey and hard, akin to stone. It was a feature that was supposedly common to the people of the Qiang District and the Qiang family, with their long stay in the mines having affected their physiques, but Wei Yi had not seen many people with that kind of features prior to this. She suspected that they were in the mines most of the time.

His cultivation was obvious enough once he came out into the light, clearly being in the seventh realm and near the upper limit in terms of stages, so he was one of the stronger Patriarchs that she had encountered, and that he would be one of the stronger ones currently alive, given the loss of two Patriarchs in recent time.

Against him, her current strength would not be sufficient, so she hoped that the exchange between them would be fruitful and peaceful, since she could hardly ask for anything more than that for the moment. Before he began to talk, which he was sure to do soon given his position and quiet clearing of the throat, she straightened her back and made sure to look directly upon him without hiding her aura completely, as she usually would. She hoped that he would notice her presence, and act in the way that would most benefit both of them.

As she had predicted, not long after he emerged from the Ancestral Hall, he began to speak.

“I see that you have gathered here even without my explicit instruction. I wonder if you have enough to do in this district, given how long you were able to stay here,” he said, to the prompt reaction of embarrassment from some of the audience.

‘Huh. Not how I expected this to begin, but this should mean that he is a person that is more fond of doing work than standing around and talking. This should make the conversation between us easier, if nothing else, and it may also help me in getting on his good side by helping out with the district’s activities,’ Wei Yi thought while the Patriarch lightly stroked his beard, providing a short pause for his fellow Qiang District residents to ponder their actions, or something like that.

“All of you are aware by now that the mines are not as they were when the Qiang District was founded by the Master of Yi City, or, as some in the north have begun to call him, Kong Shi Meng. The resources within are slowly running out, and this will affect us all,” he continued, confirming some of the rumours that the Ascendant – and likely many others – had heard, “That’s not to say that we have lost most of the ore veins we have relied upon. They are still present, and will be for a long time, but certain measures will need to be taken as we approach that time… Those of you who do not trade in ore, metal, or the products of the two, go away. Spend your time supporting the Qiang District.”

His pause fit perfectly into his words, but Wei Yi had seen that he had paused when his gaze similarly paused upon her, and his spiritual perception had rushed in her direction only to stop a few steps away. Furthermore, after he dismissed some of the crowd, he turned to one of the guards next to him and gave him a few instructions that promptly resulted in the guard looking in her direction.

It looked like he had noticed her after all, so she made herself a little smaller and didn’t try to tower over the rest of the crowd, which, for once, had been a little difficult due to the higher statures of the majority of the Qiang District’s population. Whether this was due to the southern blood of the people, or just some peculiarity of the Qiang District, most of the men were similar to her in height, whereas she usually stood a little above the average height of men and far above most women.

“Those of you that have remained according to my instructions, and not just because you wish to waste time, you will be asked to submit reports regarding the current state, sales, revenue and so on of your businesses, so that it would be easier to establish the current situation in the district and the available methods of overcoming our upcoming troubles. You may be asked to contribute resources or coin, but this will be preceded by another announcement by me, as well as a letter being sent to your stores and workshops,” the Qiang Patriarch explained, the dullness of the words convincing the rest that had stuck around to head back to wherever they came from, “We have some ways to keep our situation stable, but none so far are without sacrifice.”

Judging by the state of the people around her, this came as no major surprise, and the mention of sacrifice was also accepted by them. From the few surface-level thoughts that she was able to look into without catching the attention of the Qiang Patriarch, it seemed that they thought that the sacrifice would come from those other than them, and harm anyone but them, hence the ease with which the notion was accepted, although few thought that they could actively benefit from the situation, with most believing that they would merely be able to mitigate the damage.

“Now, all of you should stop standing around. Get back to what you were doing. I also have work to do, and I know that many covet the position of Patriarch simply due to the freedom you believe it grants. Thus, if I still have work, you should have a thousand times as much to do,” the Patriarch stated.

He did not wait for the crowd to react to the dismissal, instead heading straight back to the Ancestral Hall but without shutting the doors behind him. With most deciding to scatter quickly, as they were told to, nobody cared about that decision, save for the one person approached by the guard that the Patriarch had spoken to only a brief time ago. Wei Yi had barely noticed him approach, and the residents of the Qiang District completely missed it.

Although she didn’t want to praise his stealth abilities too much, as they were likely far more effective against her due to her current state, whatever methods he used were still far more effective than many of those that she had seen out in the wild, so to speak. If he demonstrated them again, she was certainly going to complete scanning them and integrate them into her own techniques, if possible.

For now, she just met his gaze and let him speak first.

“What is your name?” the man asked, one hand resting on a heavy blade resting in a sheath on his belt, while the other was hovering close to his stomach, ready to be used however necessary.

“Wei Yi. Should I ask for yours as well?”

“No. Come with me.”

As they exchanged those few words, he did attempt to look over her with his spiritual perception, but other than the absent left arm, he was unable to peer too closely at anything occurring within her body, essentially covering up any hints of her internal damage or her current cultivation. Again, it was the same as before, hovering near the beginning of the fifth stage of the fifth realm, but the Endless Monolith had only recently regained its original energy while the Subterranean Shell was still nearly spectral in appearance, with the marks being doubly as difficult to perceive. She was still able to use them, but their effects would be similarly lessened.

In fact, as she walked, her mind began to consider the way in which such a thing was even possible. After the recent incident with the Greats and the creation of Touch the Heavens, an admittedly silly-sounding name for something that was incredibly effective, she believed that she had learned a little bit about the heavens themselves, and when that was added with everything that she had previously contemplated about them and their function, she actually had a decent understanding of them.

Combining that with some of her other knowledge, she felt confident enough to consider some of the other aspects of the world, and one of those was the concept of a cultivation remaining the same but simultaneously being less effective.

She was clearly witnessing it working this way, but logically speaking, it shouldn’t actually make very much sense, hence her curiosity towards the phenomenon rising the longer that she was forced to deal with it. So far as she was able to tell, this was a question that someone in her state could still answer, and she might even have an advantage thanks to actively being affected by the phenomenon she was interested in investigating. Whether Wei Yi could come to a conclusion in just a few minutes, which was all that she had before she would be interrupted by the Patriarch, was another matter.

Rather quickly, however, she did realise that the problem lay not with the phenomenon itself, but rather with the very nature of one’s cultivation, which did elevate the issue quite significantly.

Everyone knew how cultivation affected them, and how to do it, so long as they had read a single cultivation technique before, but few were able to state with any confidence exactly why they had a dantian, why it was able to pull in energy, why it could contain it, and why reaching certain levels would suddenly cause a breakthrough in stage and, eventually, realm.

It was likely why so many otherworldly demons that came from lands other than Enia and its neighbouring nations assumed the planar energy of the world, as well as cultivation, to be some kind of magic. In her eyes, at least, it didn’t really fit the definition, although it would be rather difficult to find anything that did if cultivation as a whole was excluded. It didn’t quite make sense how it could function if one wasn’t already familiar with the existence and nature of cultivation, and now that she was giving it more thought, the same was happening to her as well. It just didn’t make much sense that a realm of cultivation would suddenly be weaker just because her body was weaker, as the energy and realm itself should be the same.

‘Indeed, there is a lot that we simply take for granted, just as I had to when I first woke up. That being said, this really needs to be explored further, since one of the most powerful things I have at the moment is my knowledge and understanding, or the Dao,’ she thought, ‘Perhaps I could make use of it once the Dao of Law is no longer lethal to me, and forcefully inflict this kind of damage to any of the Greats on a whim, allowing me to take them out with ease.’

At some point, in theory, provided that things did work in the way that she assumed, it might even be possible for her to transcend the heavens themselves by completely comprehending everything that they knew and doing… something. She wasn’t really sure about what she would need to do, nor why, nor how, and so this was more of a random distant thought rather than a direct intended plan, but having a direction was always good if one didn’t want to simply drift along and receive whatever the world gave them without giving anything back. Such a thing wouldn’t be good, no matter what one actually wished to do with themselves.

The dantian was certain to exist within the body, but not solely there. It contained energy, but it also converted the external energy of the world that was typically only manifested in the form of a certain fraction that was permitted to appear out of the world’s limit into a genuine quantity of energy that was able to have the same effects, but could also scatter back into unbound energy. One could stab the dantian if they invested a sufficient degree of force, but if one tried to dissect a corpse or even open up a living person, they would be unable to find it or strike it by accident.

From the otherworldly knowledge she possessed, she was aware that the laws of that world differed. The question was, as she had asked many times prior, whether these laws were meant to apply here as well, but were being subverted in one fashion or another, or whether this was merely the difference between worlds that prevented the same principles applying between worlds.

Certain things were shared, so the fundamental nature of the world had to be either similar enough, or different in a manner that still allowed for things like boiling water, cooking food, swimming, breathing, jumping and so on. From the minimal degrees of the deeper otherworldly knowledge that she had been able to obtain from the otherworldly demons, she learned that they had the concept of atoms, small particles, and the like, and she had done this some time ago, giving her the chance to consider it in greater depth. From what she was able to confirm, most things were made of smaller pieces, although it was highly difficult to check whether they were truly as small as on Orbis.

When things were heated, she was also unable to verify whether or not those particles would begin to vibrate and move with greater intensity, but she was sure that people would be able to notice something like that if it did happen. In fact, the Master of Yi City, Kong Shi Meng, would have certainly written it down in all of his techniques from the moment that he had figured it out, and Yi Shi Ming and the rest would also be aware of things like this.

For that reason, she was of the opinion that there was likely to be some difference between worlds, and thus everything born of planar energy wouldn’t be entirely disconnected from the reality as she knew it.

‘Alright, this is a little much for a quick walk while I am effectively half-dead, so I should focus on the conversation ahead instead before I am caught trying to figure out the nature of existence as a whole. I mean, I’m sure there’s a Patriarch out there that wouldn’t mind engaging in such discussion, but given the current state of the Qiang District, I don’t think that he is one of them at the moment,’ she carefully shifted all of the contemplation that she had completed so far and moved it to a corner of the Ascendant’s Library, then raised her gaze towards the hall as she entered through the front doors.

The Patriarch was not waiting at the very front of the structure, where some of the crowd would likely be able to spot them, but was instead further below, which was where the guard led her to.

On the way, he continued to be quiet, and it almost seemed like he had completely forgotten about her existence as he avoided her slight attempts to test his reactions, although she made sure that she didn’t do anything excessive that would result in her looking like some sort of hooligan. Even if the Qiang Patriarch didn’t have his divine sense viewing the Ancestral Hall, it wouldn’t be a good idea to give off a terrible first impression.

When they finally reached the level below, where the Patriarch was standing with his back to her as she approached, the guard let her pass him and then stepped away, quietly leaving the floor and leaving them on their own.

“Judging by your presence, you look to be that Ascendant. Are things in the north not going well?”

“Since you’ve heard about me already, I’d imagine that the news will reach you soon enough. I’d rather discuss whether it would be possible for me to get access to your spatial stabilisation point, since you did seem to be interested in being quick and straightforward in that speech of yours,” she replied, about to cross her arms before she remembered that this wasn’t an option.

“Indeed, brevity is preferred in all of my interactions. There is no reason to waste time when we could be doing something more productive,” the Qiang Patriarch agreed, nodding as he turned around to face her, “Perhaps I am not the first to say this, but I wish to receive something from you for my troubles.”

“No, the last time felt like it was yesterday, although it really wasn’t. That being said, I can freely admit that I am not currently in a position to give you anything in any kind of negotiation, as I am unable to reach the… actually, I have no reason to keep this hidden any longer, do I? I have no access to the Kong Prison Realm, the place that the Greats had previously been using to imprison the people that they didn’t kill. I had stolen it from them, and I would love to share what it has with the world, but I would appreciate doing this later.”

“Later? You should also understand that this is a difficult thing to agree to.”

“Of course. For that reason, I have a different proposition, and I will first begin with the things that I want from you. It’ll be easier to agree that way, I think.”

“Go on, then,” he said, clearly being tempted to cross his arms as well before his gaze blatantly flicked to her empty left sleeve, prompting him to instead put his hands behind his back and wait for her to speak. Whether this was better or worse, she couldn’t quite say, and it was likely that he was also uncertain on the matter, but it would be pointless to debate such things at this time.

Instead, Wei Yi called upon her killing will and manifested a sheet, managing to stabilise it in a regular fashion with the power that she currently had access to. Right away, she created the first point on the left, and began explaining.

“First off, the spatial stabilisation point. I don’t know what you’ve heard of from the north, but no phenomenon will occur if I claim the point here. In fact, there will likely not even be a gateway until I can link it back up to the northern region,” she said, adding that to the sheet, “As such, you can be sure that nobody will discover it unless you outright tell them. It will be perfectly safe for you. The second thing I require is cultivation resources. Here in the Qiang District, you ought to have plenty of planar stones in the ground, and I wouldn’t need too many of them to break through a stage or two.”

“Planar stones for breaking through stages… Hmph, carry on.”

“Third, I have heard that the mines below aren’t entirely safe. Do you happen to fight there often? If the answer is anything approaching yes, I may benefit from getting involved, although that may sound more like a positive than a negative to you. Either way, it is something that I want, and I would appreciate as few eyes on me as possible.”

“Since that still gives me room to observe, I will not reject that part, regardless of the rest of the agreement.”

“How kind of you. Finally, I would request a place for me to remain for a few days, so that I have the chance to recuperate from the recent battle with the Greats and be in better shape when I leave for one of the nearby districts. I don’t care about the cultivation efficiency of that room, only that it would leave me with few observers – and yes, again, that does mean that you can keep an eye on me with your divine sense if you think it is necessary,” she said, “I won’t even stop you from looking at me while I undress, although note that I will be highly disgusted with the very concept while noting the thoroughness of your actions.”

“The days where I would bother with such things are far behind me. If I can spend time peeping on women, I should really occupy myself with something more productive and helpful to the Qiang District, and Yi City as a whole.”

“That is the best way to spend one’s time, I agree.”

The Qiang Patriarch nodded, raising one hand to stroke his beard once before returning it behind his back, his eyes focusing upon her with the condensed divine sense that he had not yet sent out of his body. It caused his eyes to glow with a slight golden shine, although it faded after a moment as he relaxed.

Since she had nothing more to ask of him, he naturally asked the question that he had been wondering about for a little while now.

“What do I get?”

“You are having problems with the mines, right? Back in Paragon, we discovered that we have some decent mines of our own. Aside from inviting your district’s best miners over once the connection is established, I think that I can help with your very own mines, allowing you to have as much ore as you require,” she replied, “In fact, there’s a chance to allow you to obtain processed metals more easily, if that is something that you aren’t against.”

“How do you intend to achieve something like that? Do you know of another mine nearby?”

“No, please listen more carefully, Qiang Patriarch. I said that I can fix your mines, not give you more of them, even if that would likely be about as enticing of an idea. To put it as simply as possible, I can make the ore in your mines grow out nearly perpetually.”

“… Oh? Ore, growing like a plant? That kind of thing seems rather preposterous, does it not? Does wood and metal mix better than I thought?”

“All of the five elements can be paired together, for they are merely manifestations of a single whole – planar energy. Planar energy is an existence likely caused, supported, or affected to a great extent by the heavens themselves, and above even the heavens is the Great Dao. In short, everything can be united, and everything can be opposing. Everything in yin, yet yang, and just as those concepts can sometimes seem transient and ethereal, they are still as true as any other.”

The Qiang Patriarch’s eyebrows rose a little before plummeting down as he looked to enter deep thought. He stood still for some time, with a hand rising back to his beard to stroke it, as if to further boost his mental capabilities.

After more than two minutes, he turned around and kept on thinking.

Only after five minutes did he speak, although he did not seem to have finished his thought process, “Very well. Show me.”