V5C31: The Watcher’s Truth

The residence that they arrived at was decent enough, sufficient for an outer family member from the Yi District and not so excessive that an inner member would consider it to be a suitable place to live. It had all of the necessities that her former home did not, with several bedrooms and sufficient space for dining, bathing and whatever else one may decide to do within it. With thick walls that did not let much sound through, it would have been perfect for the average person if they didn’t wish to know what others in the house were up to.

Unfortunately, the two to occupy it was a pair in the sixth realm, with Wei Yi’s spiritual perception far exceeding that of anyone she had ever met before. As a result, unless she made a very specific effort to close off a part of the residence from her view, she would know exactly what was going on there.

It was excellent as she had no intention of looking away, and not because she was a voyeur of some kind. Rather, there was a clear need to verify how her technique would act upon another person, if the modified Yin Soul Yang Root could even be referred to as her technique after she had simply modified it and merged it with a few more techniques that did not belong to her. There could be terrible consequences and side effects that she had simply not considered ahead of time.

There was also the oddity of Gang Xiu Ling suddenly forgetting a fourth significant factor that would need to be resolved for her success. While spontaneous errors in memory and general forgetfulness were both things that she knew of, having experienced them due to the Mental Dispersion array’s influence, for something this important to slip away and then remain unaddressed for so long was obviously abnormal. Combining that with some of the things she had noticed on the way, it was clear that there was something to keep an eye on, and for now she had no-one better to observe than the potential future Matriarch herself.

It could always turn out that she was being worried for no good reason, but that was extremely rare in her experience, and thus not something that she was expecting now, either.

“Since you’ve been suggesting that I rest, I will explain everything that you need to know on the next day. This place shouldn’t be visited by anyone, so feel free to occupy whichever room you want. I can begin the search later, since I’ve already sent out some messages to make it a little easier.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll just find a place to sit and then keep an eye out on things. I only sleep when I’m forced to, for one reason or another, so if I wasn’t the Ascendant, I’d imagine that I could have easily become a guard somewhere…” Wei Yi muttered, “Anyway, that was also something you didn’t need to hear, so let me stop sounding like an idiot and go to the central living room. Have fun sleeping, and get used to that bed of yours for one of the next few days.”

“Will do. Don’t exhaust yourself, just in case.”

“What do you think I’ll be doing? Sitting around isn’t that difficult, exhausting or mentally stimulating, most of the time, and I have a lot of practise – more than I probably should.”

“I meant… right, no, never mind, that was just me…” Gang Xiu Ling’s cheeks reddened involuntarily.

She turned around and headed off to her room, a chamber on the top floor of the structure that was positioned next to a window on the diagonal roof, allowing the one inside a great view of a large portion of the Gang District. A bed stood in the middle of the room, at the opposite end to the window, meaning that the sun shone in during the sunrise and the moon was currently illuminating the bedroom in the night. Other than that, a few pieces of furniture were placed around the edges of the room, with a bedside cabinet to the left and a small table devoid of items on the right of the bed.

The bed itself was of the highest quality, with wonderfully soft pillows and cushions, as could be gathered right away by the way in which Gang Xiu Ling sunk into them and quickly began to fall asleep. She shut her eyes, having removed only the thick coat and furs at the entrance, and her breathing calmed after only a little while.

‘Well, she fell asleep quickly. Not even going to try to finish off after everything that had been on her mind since the technique I gave her started providing her imagination with a great deal of material?’ Wei Yi wondered, having stuck around exactly where she had finished talking with the potential future Matriarch, ‘Yeah, this is not going to be as simple as I’d wish it to be, is it? Time to go and wait then, why don’t I?’

She moved upstairs and sat down in a room next to the bedroom, widening her eyes slightly as she activated all of her eye-based physique abilities at once.

A chain-filled mist spread out from her gaze, flooding the room in an instant. Everything that it came in contact with suddenly began to lightly twist and distort while, contradictorily, appearing exactly the same when she blinked, beginning to distort once more after a little while. This was a mere visual property of the Elder Watcher physique ability, and yet it was already incredibly powerful due to the sheer distraction and confusion that it could cause to an unprepared opponent, provided that this visual applied to them as well as her.

Behind her, the vague shadow of four different arms appeared, illuminated with the great radiance of a series of blood vessels within them, mimicking her own physique veins. They exerted their power upon the world, allowing her Conqueror’s Eye to maintain a foothold without anyone actively believing that she dominated the space to any degree.

Once she shifted the power of the Elder Watcher ability to her desire, she was able to peer through the wall, upon the sleeping woman on the other side. This ability could be changed to also look through the covers on the bed, or through her clothing, if she was so inclined, but she was hardly in need of something like this. In fact, when Gang Xiu Ling went off to find someone willing to be the recipient of the modified Yin Soul Yang Root technique, she could easily go off and find someone on her own, then obtain a place to spend time with her with the abilities that she had. Besides, this district appeared to be sufficiently open to prostitution and brothels, unlike many other southern districts.

In short, she did not need to stoop to the level of a common pervert for the sake of her own arousal and libido.

‘What a wonderful thought to begin my watch with. While I process all of the books I’d scanned in, I don’t intend to be thinking about all that much else…’ Wei Yi shook her heard slightly and focused upon the room ahead of her, waiting for literally anything to occur.

Something did occur, and did so quite literally, but before any of it did indeed proceed the world suddenly twisted. A number of tendrils formed within the room ahead of her, and displaced the woman in the bed while manifesting a new image from the combined power of the Conqueror’s Eye and Elder Watch abilities. She conjured the Arm of Slaughtering Shadow to prevent Gang Xiu Ling from falling onto the floor from the insufficiently spacious seat and flicked the side of her head lightly so that she would wake up.

“… Hm? What-”

“Do be quieter than this, and just pay attention while you’re waking up. Also, take a moment to consider what you might have forgotten to do the previous day, whether it was just telling me something or actively engaging in any kind of activity,” Wei Yi placed a finger on her lips somewhat awkwardly, “Hush now.”

Gang Xiu Ling wasn’t entirely certain of what was happening, that much was obvious, but she followed the instruction and looked ahead alongside the Ascendant.

They saw as a figure entered through the window on the side of the room, landing on the carpet near the window in perfect silence. She – for the figure was unambiguously feminine, with large breasts and a rather sizeable rear being more than obvious when observed from the side – proceeded onwards, taking each step with great care while looking around. From her thoughts, it was hard to tell whether she was expecting an ambush or trap of some kind, as they were well clouded.

Hence, they kept looking, and observed as this woman came up to the side of the bed, took out a short blade with one serrated edge, and held it close to the image of Gang Xiu Ling projected through the Ascendant’s physique abilities.

“Purity shall be preserved,” the woman muttered, attempting to slice the neck of the illusion.

It was this that showcased that the Elder Watcher physique ability wasn’t omnipotent, at least not so far. Perhaps at the peak of the Elder Watcher ability, she could transform the entire world exactly as she wanted to, but for now, the moment that the sharp knife’s edge tried to penetrate the illusion’s skin, the latter dissipated and turned into tendrils that sank back into the bed.

At the same moment, Wei Yi kicked the door open, having opened it beforehand with her killing will so that she didn’t damage anything with this action, and entered the bedroom with a sword of condensed planar energy pointed at the assassin. With the immense glow emitted by the celestial light surging from within, the entire room was illuminated and clearly displayed the dark clothing on the assassin’s body.

It was made of a soft cloth that stuck tightly to her skin, making it obvious how little else she wore underneath. A separate piece of black cloth covered the lower half of her face, hiding her mouth and showing only a slight bump where her lips were. Her hands were covered almost entirely by gloves made with the same material as the rest, except for the upper half of her fingers, which were left exposed, most likely to allow her to better grip her weapon. Finally, a small sheath for her dagger was tied to a thin cloth belt on her waist, on her left, whereas the right had a ribbon, a few inches in length, that was hanging there without any obvious reason or purpose.

Altogether, she looked much alike to a member of an assassin organisation, like the Endless Dark, which lined up with the assassination method that she appeared to have been intending to use. This was not quite enough for the Ascendant, however, who was contemplating her earlier words.

Most assassin organisations were indeed founded for the sake of accomplishing something, and so it was not uncommon for assassins to proclaim that purpose upon slaying yet another person – one that may have nothing to do with that original intention as the goals and ideals of the organisation transform over the years – but she did not recall a single assassin organisation with the intention of maintaining some kind of purity while also avoiding the use of any planar energy directly. So far, this supposed assassin had not made use of a drop of planar energy, having climbed into the window with their own strength, and wielding the knife without infusing it with any energy either.

Instead, this behaviour seemed more alike to an ancient group that had disappeared long ago, one that she would not be opposed to discovering.

“Are you a Guardian of Purity? I didn’t realise Gang Shu Wen was practising pure planar energy techniques,” Wei Yi said, earning no recognisable reaction from the woman, whether it was outwardly or in her thoughts, “You wouldn’t mind showcasing your planar energy, would you?”

No response followed from her, but she did see a large burst of pure violet suddenly ignite behind the woman, swallowing her up in a moment and leaving behind almost nothing as soon as she was gone. It was made from pure planar energy, that much she was sure of, but there was very little else that her spiritual perception was able to observe from this alone.

“What… what was that? Where did she go?” Gang Xiu Ling stumbled into the room, looking around.

“We’ll see in a moment.”

The Ascendant opened her eyes further, revealing the entirety of her silver pupils, wrapped in chains that concealed beneath them the shadow and crimson of her killing intent, as well as the fine silver of her spiritual will. With some stimulation of the Elder Watcher ability, the chains atop all of her other powers suddenly twisted and melted into twisting tendrils, all of which seemed to surge out and swallow the area before her despite remaining quite clearly confined to her eyes, being nothing more than an illusion formed by her vast power.

All of the world’s tendrils focused upon the planar opening that had swallowed up the would-be assassin, grabbing onto it and preventing it from sealing completely. Then, they began to pull that opening apart, forcing it wider and wider until it was the size of a man’s head.

Through it, a faintest dot of light could be seen by one with powerful eyesight, and even then it was all that could be gained through the singular point of white light.

“Can you feel anything through there? My spiritual perception can’t enter the… gateway? What is that, anyway?” Gang Xiu Ling asked then muttered, her latter words not being intended to reach anyone in particular.

“It was some kind of portal opened up to bring away a person that had failed on their mission. Now, there is only a slight tear left as a result, but it is one that can easily be accessed and expanded by someone with basic spatial abilities and a sufficiently high level of power, whether through their realm or other capabilities. Fortunately for us, I have both of those things, and I have been around true spatial gateways quite a lot, meaning that I know how to stabilise them with my own strength,” the Ascendant replied, “Now, I’ll try to widen it a little further, so do be quiet for a moment.”

Fortunately, the potential future Matriarch didn’t ask why this was the case and just stepped back, forming a basic planar barrier ahead of herself in order to avoid any dangers from the gateway.

She reached out with her hand and gripped the air ahead of her, then began to open her hand and part her fingers. Obviously, she was not physically attempting to open up the portal with her own body’s strength, but the gesture was useful in amplifying the effects of her Conqueror’s Eye, the Elder Watcher and her Dao of Law, which were combined together to forcefully reconnect the two points in space which were united moments prior.

The singular point grew to the size of the tip of her finger, and slowly proceeded to stretch that opening even further, with the outer planar light growing three times as much as the point within the centre. Thus, by the time that it was brought to a sufficient level for her to be able to peer through the opening with ease, the portal was the size that it had been when the would-be assassin was dragged away through it. While she was a little disappointed with her own abilities, as she was clearly not as efficient as the person that had initially opened the gateway for her, she still took a step closer.

On the other side of the portal, she could see a large room with rather flat walls and floor. A single figure sat in the centre of the chamber, kneeling on the ground with their head lowered to the ground, kowtowing to some unknown force or entity. The position from which she observed him shifted slowly but certainly, confirming the instability of the portal’s destination.

Had she begun this a moment later, she might have been unable to stabilise the portal sufficiently.

“Good night, Guardian of Purity!” she exclaimed with a blatant smile, very much intending to be noticed by the man on the other side.

When he leapt up and gazed into the air, where his portal was meant to have shut, and saw her gleaming face, he was visibly shaken. He almost fell onto his back with his mouth agape, and only after a few moments did he recover in full, stabilising his footing and drawing upon his planar energy and forming several arrays in the air, directing all of them towards the opening of the portal before him, and the woman within.

“At least you have not disturbed purity with your presence. Seal that gateway and you shall not be punished in this moment.”

“I’d like to know why you’ve decided to protect someone that I am unable to detect even a trace of pure planar energy from. What exactly are you up to? From what little I recall from Yi Shi Ming, I had a decent enough impression of the deeds of your faction in the past, causing me to hope for a better first meeting.”

He had begun to attack before she could finish, and she did not attempt to interrupt him because she knew that a lengthy conversation would simply be impossible in the way that they were currently conducting it. The portal that they formed would be sealed soon enough, and the way in which the chat began was obviously disadvantageous to a pleasant and friendly chat. That being said, the singular exchange that they did have was more than sufficient for her to establish the vague location of the chamber that she saw through the opening, meaning that she could eventually track down the exact position after only a brief period of scouring the district.

The Ascendant was able to establish that the chamber was in or around the district, as was obvious enough as spatial portals formed like this couldn’t bridge a long gap without being stabilised by something of significant power like a spatial realm. Hence, she just removed support from the portal.

Before any of the attacks could pass through, the opening had already shut, and the planar energy that formed the larger portal dissipated within moments, leaving naught but a faint tear in space that recovered a minute later. The only trace of anything having occurred in the bedroom was the messy bed, which had been affected by the opening of the portal, and the displacement of its occupant.

“It does look like… sorry, never mind.”

“And apparently I’m the one not being explicit enough. Are we saying it or aren’t we?” Wei Yi asked, taking the silence as a cue to move on, “Have you heard of the Guardians of Purity?”

“Guardians… Uh… I don’t think that I have. There are some things that I have previously read and been told regarding the guardians of the district, of course, and a few other types of guardians that have existed near the Gang District before, but none of them were concerned with- no, they were, but I doubt that it’s the kind that you would be asking about,” Gang Xiu Ling said, “You know, preserving a woman’s purity, even though there’s barely a difference whether a woman has slept with a man or another woman before.”

“You don’t need to tell me that. In that case, do you care about the ones that tried to kill you?”

“Of course!”

“The Guardians of Purity are a faction from long ago – how suitable for your district, by the way – that were focused on a single goal. They wished to maintain the cultivation of pure planar energy, a thing that, as you might be able to tell, they had failed to do. Over time, the Great Families tore apart everything that Kong Shi Meng, the Master of Yi City, had attempted to leave for his city, and scattered the path that they saw as being unsuitable for their own goals.”

“Pure planar energy… Why are they helping that asshole, Gang Shu Wen, then? He has not practised anything like that, at least not before I had left the district.”

“Having seen some people switch their cultivation method rather suddenly, I am rather certain that this does not apply to Gang Shu Wen. The energy around him is the same, so even if he was able to fool me somehow he wouldn’t be doing so if he wanted to make himself seem like a good Patriarch. He would very much lean on being so traditional that he had obtained an ancient cultivation method.”

“He wouldn’t need to lean on that quite as much now, but I do agree with you. It’s odd.”

Wei Yi nodded, “I suspect that there is something odd at play here. That is why I was wondering whether you recall the fourth point that you had initially wished to mention to me, as it may very well be connected.”

“Fourth… Uh… Fuck, what was I going to say? That was perhaps the most significant thing I had wished to inform you about, but…”

“Not completely back yet, then. Just go back to sleep and think about it, and I’ll see you in the morning without any weapon being at your throat. I’ll just keep a barrier around the area so that you don’t have any chance of coming across them, alright?” the Ascendant asked, although a click of her star metal gauntleted fingers was sufficient to establish the barrier before the potential future Matriarch could even provide her with a response.

Even with her sleepy state, Gang Xiu Ling was able to identify this with her spiritual perception, so she did keep quiet and sat down on her bed, sighing as she removed a little more of her clothing. Since a pair of eyes remained on her, she quickly provided an explanation.

“I’d been lazy the first time, and it seemed to result in an assassination attempt. Sleeping is better naked, anyway.”

“Uh-huh. Again, I don’t disagree, so feel free to just do whatever.”

“… Just curious about something, before I go back so sleep. You are interested in women, right? Have you reached the point where you can just look upon an attractive woman – I don’t think that it would be vain to say that I have been described in such a manner – and not be bothered in the slightest, even with the thing between your legs?”

Gang Xiu Ling certainly could be called attractive, as her body was well proportioned, and her face was very pleasant to behold. With the overly long fringe having been cut at some point prior to their second meeting, it was now easy to see the entirety of her visage, and it was what one might expect from the descendant of a family that would consistently reach the seventh realm and thus cleansed many of the impurities that would usually harm one’s appearance in bloodlines that did not have the fortune of attaining the same heights consistently.

To say that the Ascendant was entirely unaffected would be untrue.

“I’ve lived right beneath a brothel for twenty years, and my spiritual perception was overlooking everything nearly the whole time. You’re alright, but if I was dominated by lust, I would never be able to get to this point.”

“… Fair enough, I suppose. Good night, Ascendant. Tomorrow… tomorrow we will need to get to work,” the potential future Matriarch was already half-asleep at that point, and dropped onto the bed quietly.

Wei Yi stood around for a few moments, then returned to her original seat in the next room. She did not fully disperse the effects of the Elder Watcher and the Conqueror’s Eye, for it was completely unnecessary to do so while she was still full of energy, not to mention the fact that another assassin, a thief or some other person could come around at any moment and try to invade their space through a method that a relatively simple barrier couldn’t block.

Spatial transportation was one of those things, although she did not think that there would be another attempt to breach the premises using it any time soon. The leader of the Guardians of Purity, assuming that is who the man was, should be exhausted and concerned that it could allow her too much of an opening to try it right away, whereas the current Patriarch of the Gang District should not have the ability to form such a portal unless he had access either to a spatial realm or artefact that she had absolutely no knowledge of, nor the ability to perceive. In other words, an otherworldly gift of some kind.

If that was the case, everything about their strategy would need to change, as that simple revelation could lead to the entire district turning against him, while it could also allow for them to bring him to their side – the side of the Ascendant’s Arbiters, anyway – without as much fighting.

The natural trouble was that it was nigh impossible to know until something overt occurred, but the Ascendant could see nothing obvious so far while Gang Xiu Ling had provided no hints of an otherworldly nature of her sibling either through her words or mental state. She was thus unable to plan ahead for this outcome only, which would be the best situation for her, and forced her to maintain her focus on everything around herself so that she could figure out the truth as quickly as she possibly could. Ideally, by tomorrow, or the day after.

For this reason, she was already certain that she was not going to sit around all day, and instead explore the rest of the district.

Using her skill of stabilising an image of the world within her mental domain as to allow her spiritual perception to reach out further, she could use the night to expand her reach a little further, but it couldn’t quite compare to being near to the other side of the district and penetrating all matter with her spiritual perception. Anything that could be found would be found by her, and the only things that could stand in her way were otherworldly objects and materials that were so effective at blocking spiritual perception that even her own senses would be insufficient to detect anything behind the obstacles.

Illusions were no longer capable of stopping her, and as her realm grew and progressed, she knew that her abilities would slowly rise to the level of divine sense, completely overcoming many obstacles that currently stood in her way. The seventh realm, in many ways, was the point at which great freedom from some obstacles was attained, and new ones were discovered and besieged.

She had to reach it as soon as possible, and go past it in order to attain her goals.