V5C43: A Welcome Meeting

Exactly two hours after she lay down on the admittedly pleasant bed of the establishment selected for her by a gatekeeper of the district, Wei Yi rose from it and quickly stretched her body.

It was still dark, as the sun had not had enough time to rise once more, and only the moon shone down upon the Shun District. There were plenty of lamps keeping the area lit, and even the establishment that provided her with the room was still open to new visitors, whether they wished to simply eat and drink or receive a room for themselves. Fortunately, the place she was led to was rather quiet and not frequently visited, so she had room to do what she wanted.

For the moment, before going out anywhere, she wished to confirm the theory of projecting her soul’s power into her spiritual perception, as this was an extremely valuable ability that she should master as soon as possible.

Thus, she sat back down on the bed and brought out a small ball of spiritual perception. It was not meant to actively observe anything, nor was it going to get in anyone’s way, and it was even less likely to actively harm her in any way even if she did not succeed. Spiritual perception was, to an extent, expendable and could regenerate easily enough, so as long as she did not actively damage her brain, soul or cultivation with her experimentation, she would not suffer any long-lasting harm to herself, and so she wouldn’t be too concerned about it.

She took her time and carefully released the aura of her soul into the ball of spiritual perception, slowly altering the shape of the latter into a crystalline form that would be most stable under the pressure of her soul. In such a state, it was even more difficult to spread it out like one might usually do, but if she did bring it onto an object, she could perceive as much detail as usual, if not more.

However, the very moment that she sensed that something might be occurring to her spiritual perception, it immediately cracked and shattered, with all of the mental energy invested in it vanishing from her control. It caused a wave of pain to spread throughout her body, although she remained unharmed other than this. As predicted, she would be able to recover all of her mental energy after a few minutes, but what it made clear was that she could not support the aura of her soul with her current spiritual perception.

This did raise a question, which was why this could possibly be the case. So far as she was aware, her spiritual perception was not weak in any ordinary way, nor was her soul so powerful that it could actively distort most Laws of the Planar Continents without her own involvement.

If she needed something like the divine sense of the seventh realm to endure her soul, then it would indicate that her impression of one or the other was mistaken, and that there was either some kind of deficiency within her spiritual perception or a greater degree of power within the Absolute Soul than merely ensuring that spiritual perception remained invisible and could pass through anything. Obviously, the latter was true regardless, as the Absolute Soul could do a great deal so long as she figured out a way to actively invest in it, but she did not think that it would be so powerful even if she just used it as lazily as it seemed to be possible.

To figure out whether the issue lay primarily with the former or the latter, she decided to mess around with her spiritual perception without involving her soul’s aura, using only her killing intent to put pressure upon the mental energy. With the perfect fusion achieved by her killing will, it was even harder to negatively affect her own energy than it might be for someone that continued to use killing intent and spiritual will separately, but with the sheer power of her killing intent it was still possible.

By layering a hundred units of killing intent over a single unit of spiritual perception, she was able to feel a portion of the pressure that her power would have on another, and compared it to the some of the suppressive ability that she knew she had against other people. Her conclusion, as lacking in detail at it was, led her to believe that her spiritual perception was decent, at least.

That meant that it must be primarily the responsibility of the Absolute Soul that she couldn’t actually use it in her own perception, and that she would need to advance it at least a little bit before it became an option at all. Even then, once she was able to apply her soul’s aura to her spiritual perception, or perhaps her divine sense if that is what is needed, she might have certain limitations to the saturation of aura within her mental energy. If that was the case, then her plans of a twin layer of spiritual perception were not going to go anywhere near as smoothly as she would have liked, but she would have to wait and see.

‘A shame, but that does not affect my plans in regards to handling this district. As such-’

A knock on her door prompted her to turn to it, although she had already perceived the presence of the approaching figure from a long way away.

‘I will first need to handle this. If I am not mistaken, this will be a messenger from the Patriarch, and the meeting that will follow will determine how I go about correcting the unfortunate fate of the Shun District,’ Wei Yi finished her thought after the knock and rose from the bed, heading over to the door and opening it to find a different servant on the other side.

This one was dressed more akin to a usual maid, with black and white frilly clothing, as well as a significantly higher quality dress that was thinner than the one worn by the gatekeeper servant, although it was less suitable for standing around for such a long time under the open sky.

Her cultivation was naturally higher as well, being in the first stage of the fourth realm, a rather impressive thing for someone that probably didn’t need to be in such a high realm. It showed that there was some degree of value seen in her, as reaching this realm while being younger than fifty years old was far better than average, especially if they were not given the time, techniques and resources to cultivate more quickly. Given that she was young, busy, and her cultivation method wasn’t particularly good either, nor was she expecting that this servant would be fed as many planar shards or stones as she was able to utilise constantly.

“You are the Ascendant, Wei Yi, correct?” the maid asked, bowing her head slightly while continuing to look at her.

“That’s me. I hope I am correct to assume that you have come from the Ancestral Hall of your district, if I may label it as such?” she replied, glancing in the direction of the castle atop the large hill in the centre of the Shun District.

The maid smiled somewhat bitterly at her words.

“We do consider that our Ancestral Hall, even if most outsiders do not see it fit to bear such a name. With the variety of Ancestral Halls in the other districts, one might presume that we would not be much of an exception, but it seems that we are not so lucky,” the woman said, managing to make her smile a little more positive as she went on, “If it isn’t too much trouble, the Patriarch would like to speak with you as soon as possible, and I could escort you to his current location right away.”

“Sure, let’s go. Feel free to move as quickly as you like, since I can keep up with any movement method you may have.”

The maid nodded and vanished from the spot using a fourth realm movement method, although this was only in the eyes of ordinary bystanders. To someone that had overused and mastered a very powerful fourth realm movement method like Wei Yi, the movement was rather slow and clumsy, showing a clear lack of practise of refinement, as expected of someone in the first stage of the fourth realm. That being said, to have a movement method as soon as the first stage was also not bad, as it usually took some time and around a stage of progress to figure out the best way to use one’s cultivation and path in movement.

It was either taught to her, or she figured it out on her own. Either way, that was a good indicator for the Patriarch caring about his servants, which might also extent to the Shun District as a whole. So long as she could make him see her perspective, it was feasible to win his support and change the nature of the Shun District at the same time – or at least begin the latter project more easily than anticipated.

She followed the maid easily enough, occasionally shifting her location a little more mischievously than she really needed to, but she made sure not to push her too much. With some of her movements, she deliberately attempted to give out some inspiration for how the fourth realm movement method may be improved, but she wasn’t going to pause and verify whether the maid figured it out or not. That was up to her, at least before Wei Yi had the freedom to be wherever she wished at any time.

At that point, if she didn’t take the time to help out some people that she considered to be rather talented, she would be completely wasting it.

With this speed, it was not long before they reached the bottom of the small mountain that acted as the base for the castle, and from there, they were able to travel even more quickly, as neither one was constrained by the increase in height between the start and end point of their movement methods. Wei Yi was able to actively ignore it and just used her vision to establish the spatial coordinates for the chains of Law to bring her to, while the maid used a kind of leap that was at an advantage over more horizontal terrain.

Thus, before the sun could begin to rise, they had cleared the rest of the gap and made it to the front doors of the castle, where the maid slowed down and took her slowly through, taking care to traverse the right pathways and use the right doors as to bring her up to the higher floor, where a single room was accessible only by a small ladder. It was small, barely offering enough space for two to sit comfortably around a low table, as the angled roof greatly limited the space on the left and right.

After the maid had led her to the ladder, she was asked to ascend on her own, coming up to find the Patriarch sitting on the other side of the table, calmly pouring some tea for himself while he waited for her arrival.

Once she was seated, he finally spoke, “Welcome to the Ancestral Hall, Ascendant.”

“Were you listening in on our chat? That’s not a polite thing to do, Patriarch, even if you are responsible for the safety of this place.”

“I have no doubts that you have been paying attention to our district as well, and I did keep out of your room when you were alone. I understand the value of privacy for my people and outsiders alike, and I naturally understand the value of doing the best thing possible for my people. In this case, it is inviting you into this place.”

“That’s why you keep this whole district as a source of servants for the world?”

“You must be aware that changing that is impossible without some force backing us up. At the moment, the most I can do is attempt to prevent such situations as those at the old Ping District, and limit the number of people available to the likes of Ping Gangze, but if any kind of serious action was attempted, the power of the Ping District combined with the nature of much of our district, as well as our opposition, would prevent success and simply cost all the more lives,” the Shun Patriarch said solemnly, “There needs to be a major force of change for anything to be resolved.”

The Ascendant raised an eyebrow, “That’s more direct than I was expecting, and far more likeable to me. I happen to have the same intentions as you do.”

“We have heard some things from the Gang District from those that had come here to drown their sorrows in alcohol and other activities. Not all of the people are happy at the changes to the status quo, but so long as the new Matriarch of the Gang District takes good care of what she has, things will inevitably go well for them in the long run.”

“So, since we do seem to be in agreement, I want to figure out exactly what you think that the Shun District and the Shun family can be. Do you want to become equal to the other districts?”

“I have spent some time attempting to comprehend your actions and intentions, as is customary with every single person that I have attempted to assist as part of my current role. Of course, our relationship has a chance of being significantly different, but I will still do my best in this circumstance,” the Shun Patriarch explained, glancing to the side, “You do not want the districts to continue as they are. Most likely, you would not want to arbitrarily elevate one above the other and forcefully devote them to certain tasks. The current limits of Yi City… they’re not something that will hold us for long, whether in your mind or in reality.”

“There’s no need to tell me what I think, since you could have just asked. I have not attempted to hide my intentions all that much, save for not going quite as far as I might like due to the many problems with simply rushing into everything without letting the world around me adjust. Just tell me your stance.”

“There is some desire in me to become the Patriarch of the leading district of the new Yi City. However, this is not something that would be viable for my Shun District, nor would it be something that you would allow while you live, which you might well do for a long time. Thus, the best thing would be for our Shun District to claim a position equal to that of the other districts, to figure out some kind of ability that we can be proud of instead of what we are currently known for.

“Whatever the Shun District will end up becoming, it does need a decent foundation to begin with, and so it would not be sensible to rush into anything. It would be best to give the future generations some time to get used to a different status in society, and then progress from there wherever possible. That is what I have concluded,” the Shun Patriarch said, “Is there any part of what I have said that you disagree with? I am open to learning from some that have a more open vision of the future than I and my people have.”

“No, that’s roughly what I want as well. I want every single district to be a little more free in regards to their focuses, and I would like them to stop with the obsession on family over all else. It is not a beneficial thing to the districts, nor to the city as a whole, and causes a great number of talents to be overlooked far, far too often. Not sure if that’s something you’ve experienced, though.”

“My Shun District and Shun family will gladly teach and instruct all that come here for the sake of learning the same things as my family. Servitude, craftsmanship, gardening and many more fields are taught to those that would care to study them, and those that do not come from my family and district are still able to find places to work and receive the protection of a superior in exchange for their abilities. This is a lifestyle that some prefer to managing their own lives in their entirety, and I hope that you do not intend to stop such people from taking advantage of our services. Do you value the freedom of choice, Ascendant?”

Wei Yi nodded, “Yeah, I do. I would hope that most are capable of managing themselves, but even then, the vast majority cannot be leaders in all domains of life. As such, I have no issues with anyone, be it members of your family or otherwise, choosing to serve another.”

“Your problem is the practical inability for those of the Shun family to attain roles of leadership without relying on covert action, and even then, too many of us lack the proper drive to act on their own and actively seek to submit themselves to others… If you permit the vulgarity, such a thing may be fine in bed, or in private relationships, but if one goes through life bowing their head to all, it is incredibly unfortunate for all involved.”

“I don’t really care about vulgarity, so do whatever you wish. I’m not a kid.”

“How old are you, if you don’t mind answering?”

“Considering how many times I’ve been asked this, I somehow doubt that this hasn’t been spread around. I am forty-one years old, and I have spent half of that near a brothel. I am very familiar with the so-called vulgar.”

“Your appearance suggests a far lower age, while your aura would imply that you a dozen times older at the very least. I simply wished to confirm your exact state so that I may best assist you in the future.”

“Don’t forget what you had just told me about not lowering your head to all around you.”

“Don’t be concerned, Ascendant, I am not intending to continue to behave in this manner in front of everyone around me. That being said, you will be directly above me if your plans end up being successful, and so I should take my time to be most useful to you when I am needed. You intend to wage your War of Ascendancy once more soon, do you not?”

“Sure, of course. It will take me some time, though, so you should wait for me for a while and the moment that I get that spatial stabilisation point I had asked for and then activate it with some of my methods, I will make it overwhelmingly obvious that times are changing, and that the Ascendant will attempt to lead Yi City to a greater state than ever before,” Wei Yi said, “From there, I will leave it to you to attempt to develop your district, and I will regulate all of the districts under my control to treat you a little more reasonably. Beyond that, unless I suddenly get the ability to control the minds of the world to any extent, I will not be able to change the impression of the district any time soon. Have you put any effort into that yet?”

“The maid that had led you here should be an example. I have taken the time to train all of the servants directly under me, and sent out instructions to ensure that all teachers and instructors in the area do not attempt to degrade their students to lower their self-esteem, and I did this long ago.”

“In that case, excellent. I am glad to see that you did not need me to tell you this, so this is as much of a productive conversation as we could have had. Then, the spatial stabilisation point?”

“You really want to claim this point, don’t you… Our Shun District is a little unusual in this regard. Kong Shi Meng, the Master of Yi City, had only provided us with a single spatial stabilisation point, and it is cited in the archives that he wished to leave it only for a single purpose. This purpose, however, was not cited within those same records, and so we are unable to comprehend what this was, even after the many years of intense study. Are you able to reveal this purpose?”

Wei Yi shrugged, “I know a bit about Kong Shi Meng, which is where you have likely gotten the name from in the first place, but I cannot be sure of every little thing that the man had done and wanted to do. I know some of his projects, but the rest is essentially unknown to me, and the only person personally familiar with him lacks many of her memories.”

“Is your purpose for the node similar to his?”

“Probably. I am making use of a method that he had created, and it is one that relies on the spatial stabilisation nodes of Yi City, so it is likely that this is very similar. Potentially, he had originally used that very same method which had simply lost effectiveness after he vanished and the city fractured into separate districts without sufficient communication and utilised territory between them,” she said, “For now, I will be rather tight-lipped about things, but the moment that there is no point in hiding any of it, I shall share whatever I need to with the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of Yi City. Eventually, I will speak with the entirety of it.”

“Ambitious, to say the least, Ascendant. Nonetheless, greater things have happened in our history, and they may happen yet again. At some point, perhaps the heavens themselves shall be shaken by our actions.”

“They better be.”

The Shun Patriarch couldn’t know how to reply to that, having far too little knowledge of the subject and of Wei Yi’s intentions, so he just finished the last sip of his tea and frowned as he sat in deep thought.

Since Wei Yi did not have any reason at all to rush this, she shifted her seating position and produced a cup of her planar energy, filled with the same thing, as she had done back at Yi Kun’s place. After taking a quick sip of the energy, she also frowned, glancing at the Shun Patriarch with a questioning gaze.

“Now that I’m thinking about this, I suspect that I shouldn’t be doing this kind of thing with my energy.”

“How so?”

“Would you go to eagerly consume any fluid that was produced from your body?”

With this, the Shun Patriarch had even less of a clue what to do with her, glancing at his own tea and wondering whether this could also be applied to the fluid he had used to brew this alongside the tea leaves used for them. Fortunately, Wei Yi did not linger on this.

“I wanted to get something weird out of my system, so we can now focus on something more sensible. We need to finish our chat on the topic of our work together and the stabilisation node, then we can switch onto anything you would like to discuss, and then I can be off the moment that my presence is no longer of any use to either of us. Unless you want me to fight some kind of battle for you – in which case you will still need to convince me that it is beneficial for me to do so – then I suspect that this will be before the end of the coming day.”

“We have been rather fortunate to have no pressing concerns within the year, at least until we begin to change the identity of our district. Since this will begin once you and your forces are more able to come and go freely, I see no reason to bother you with any part of the preparations now. I wouldn’t wish to delay you too greatly, especially not after you stressed the importance of speed.”

“Fine, that’s better for me. Bring me to the spatial stabilisation node.”

The Patriarch did not wish to repeat their previous conversations and knew that he would not get that much more information out of her unless she wished to reveal it explicitly, so he did as she asked. He rose and bid her to head down the ladder first, for it would be rather difficult for him to get past her otherwise. From there, they headed down to the first floor of the castle, out of the back, then proceeded to the small yard that was located there, at the small amount of flat space available there between the main building and the wall at the back, preventing any intruders from trying to climb in from the back side of the castle.

In the middle, surrounded by a ring of flowers, was something resembling the base of a fountain. There were no decorations nor any source of water, but there were traces of the former being placed there at some point in the past, possibly including some kind of array to condense water.

“You used the spatial stabilisation point as a fountain?”

“There was a point at which we wished to obscure its presence, and there was no better way than to provide this area with another purpose,” the Shun Patriarch explained, waving his hand and clearing away some of the remaining traces of misuse, “This is where you ought to do what you wish.”

“You, meanwhile, could try out making your speech a little simpler. There is no particular reason for you to be as verbose when telling me to claim this spatial stabilisation point.”

While she spoke, she reached out with her Arm of Slaughtering Shadow and directed her energy to the Shun District’s spatial stabilisation point, wondering whether she’d be able to perceive the connection nodes of the Lan and Jiang District all the way from here, without the direct connection. Unfortunately, she was unable to do so, and couldn’t verify anything about the current state of the Yi City Web and the situation in the districts connected to it. As much of a shame as this was for the moment, the reports seemed to indicate that things were fine for now.

Soon enough, she would return, and she would have almost half of the current Yi City on her side, one way or another, so she wasn’t too concerned that the next few days would have a chance to ruin everything. At most, she would return just as something dangerous was occurring, and she would be able to resolve it.

To make things even better for her, the spies that she had asked Great Dark to place within certain districts that she was unfamiliar with, like the Xin District, which she had been to not long ago, and the Ze District, which she intended to travel to soon, should be able to communicate her presence back to her Arbiters. With the knowledge that she was slowly returning to the north, they would be able to plan their actions accordingly and minimize losses while waiting for her support, provided that it was even necessary in any current problem. Perhaps the current conflict was not as bad for the Arbiters as one might imagine from the sheer potential power of the threat that they face.

Whatever the case was, she would learn the truth in time, and discover whether any of her actions were of any use to anyone else.

She stepped back after a moment and glanced at the Patriarch.

“Alright, now that this is done, let me just say what will happen soon enough. There will be a spatial gateway that will open right here, at the spatial stabilisation point, and there may be a need for you and your district to support us in battle. At that point, I hope that you do not prevent the warriors of the Shun District, however, many there are, from joining us and ensuring that the districts of the Ascendant do not fall to some attack from the Greats.”

“We will do our best, of course. Don’t worry about our participation, as we have no love for the Greats.”