V4C9: Creating a Decoy
They did not need to wait long, for the guard was fast while Paragon was ultimately limited in size, the biggest limitation to one’s speed of traversal inside it being the maze-like structure of the outer portions of the fortress. It was shaped like an incredibly complex labyrinth at the outer edges, and the only saving grace for those living inside of it was that the maze was short and static.
Had residences and homes been able to rise out of the ground to block current paths while other buildings descended or outright disappeared to form new ones, the vast majority of people forced to live there likely wouldn’t be doing so, not without a lot of techniques to keep themselves aware of the situation around them, and something to prevent their own residences from sinking. The small size combined with the static nature meant that it was only a likely obstacle to invaders or the particularly careless, although it would do quite a lot to stop both such groups for a brief amount of time. It wouldn’t be enough to completely flee the fortress or anything of the sort, but it would give anyone enough time to set up a proper ambush.
It was likely to have been the original intention for the design, or perhaps it had begun life as a much smaller and simpler structure that was then grown and made more confusing on the outside layer.
The thought of a moving maze, and an enormous one at that, did grab Wei Yi’s interest quite a bit, as it could not only be an effective way to prevent others from approaching, but could also serve as an extremely effective mental weapon if someone was to be put inside of the maze while everything around them is obscured with something akin to the sandstorm currently raging outside of the fortress.
So long as any changes occurred silently and outside of the range of perception for those attempting to navigate it against her will, the right path could always be blocked and a new route could be opened up some distance back, meaning that when they travel back in search of some other path, they will keep finding new pathways that shouldn’t be there. It would be able to serve to constantly and effectively give the unwanted intruders the feeling of making progress while simply taking them in an enormous circle and straight back out to the outside of the labyrinth, wasting a lot of their time while also forcing them to question whether it was their fault, or the fault of the labyrinth itself.
In fact, she was so interested that she quickly confirmed the range that she had under her limited control around Paragon, as well as how much empty space there was within the Kong Prison Realm between the end of the world and the first settlement or residence that would be bothered by an enormous maze without them being an enemy intended to suffer from it. The first had no chance of working for the moment, as that range was only a metre or two, but the latter had more potential.
From her understanding of spatial realms, so long as someone attempted to breach the Kong Prison Realm without her permission, they would need to traverse the void outside of the world fragment that the prison realm technically counted as. If they succeeded, which, since a Half-Step Emergent Anchor cultivator like her was able to stabilise a large segment of the world for a long time without proper training or preparation, one of the Great Family’s members should certainly be able to do the same, and would end up on the outside portion of the realm.
There, in order to limit their expenditure of energy and to best make use of the innate laws of the spatial realm, Great Family member and regular invader alike would most likely land on the ground and attempt to locate whatever they were looking for on foot, or otherwise within the confines of the realm.
That meant that so long as she was able to further discourage any kind of flight or hovering within the Kong Prison Realm, stabilise a large portion of the invisible and imperceptible barrier between it and the spatial void outside everywhere but where it would be advantageous for her, and then limit the visibility and energy availability to those caught within the maze on the outside of the realm, she could have a very effective method of stopping invaders for lengthy periods of time.
If she also had the planar energy conversion law apply to the outside and made it so that whatever material she used for the maze was not easily broken without plentiful energy, she could keep physically weaker individuals in there forever. Perhaps they would even be thankful to her – all but the Greats likely would be – if she then showed up and freed them from their predicament, even if that was only by throwing them back out into the void. Doing something like that slowly enough to let part of their cultivation be corroded while not breaking it down entirely, she could seem to be a timely rescuer, just not one with precognition or omniscience within the prison realm.
The only issue was that if the Great Families were to learn of a potential danger to their precious method of keeping their enemies afraid and in check, they wouldn’t send in one or two people. So long as they had any reason to believe that the thing that had been trapping everyone inside was no longer active, or diminished enough that others would be able to endure it, they would charge in together, several families and likely numerous members of the second and third generations charging in at once, at which point only instantaneous planar energy conversion would have a chance of working.
For the moment, that is not something Wei Yi had access to, and as such, she could hardly let anyone learn of the prison realm just yet. She did still consider a basic layout that she could use on the outer edges of the Kong Prison Realm, and hardened some of the stone and soil with a little assistance from Yi Shi Ming so that they could be raised at any time to block any sudden invaders, but did not go further.
‘Perhaps, rather than having a simple maze with the planar conversion law being applied to it, I could instead add the God Burial Sea at the bottom to inconvenience them further, implement ire energy to stall and damage them further, then add the essence of the Elysian Yang Storm atop that as to further prevent any distant observation or investigation, using killing intent and spiritual will atop physique to create two separate layers that add onto the distraction of the people in the maze…’ she thought, watching as the guard was running towards them, ‘It would also make for a border for the world that would be far clearer than the current sudden end to everything…’
She made some notes on the topic in the Ascendant’s Library, then returned her attention to the outside world as the guard finally arrived.
“Speak, then you can take a break,” Wei Yi said when he tried to stop for breath.
“Someone… spotted… outside…” he said, managing to remain standing even though the heightened gravity was greater nearer to the centre of the fortress in order to prevent the outer guards from being tired out before they are required to deal with any potential threat.
“Alright, we’ll take a look. Go in and feel free to relax for the next half-hour or so, then you should return to your post,” she told him, nearly patting him on the shoulder before considering that it would knock him down to the ground even if she was careful and get her hand covered in his sweat, which currently covered him in a dense layer, “Was it a humanoid figure, or something else?”
“Human…” the guard confirmed before rushing inside with what energy he still had left.
Meanwhile, they headed out straight away, with Fu Zan and Miyu following them out of curiosity more so than due to their ability to contribute to the situation, whatever it even was. The former could likely weave something quickly if there was a need for it, and the latter might have something in that head of hers that would permit her otherworldly gift to recognise a potential threat before either Wei Yi or Luo Lia Kun could, but her current pool of knowledge was insufficient for this to be highly likely. With more knowledge and more study, it could be different, but not yet.
What all of them did share was their ability to run fast. The Rapid Muscle Exertion technique wasn’t something that required planar energy cultivation, and did not seem to be something that would encourage the azure light – not so far as any one of them was able to tell, anyway – so all of the otherworldly demons were able to practise it in the same way that the rest of the prison realm had.
On their way, they passed by Great Dark’s location, who emerged when he sensed them rushing past with his spiritual perception. Since he had something to tell them, he followed them to the walls.
“Was something finally found?” he asked, following them with a movement technique that needed to drain far less of his physical strength and effort than the purely physical movement that Wei Yi or the otherworldly demons used.
“What do you think? We’re going to check out the sighting of a humanoid figure on the outside, and since you’re already following us, you should probably keep going,” Wei Yi replied, extending her Group Movement Art connection to him as well, “Depending on what or who it is, we might need to be preparing our defences, or we might be getting the first warning of an upcoming swarm of people trying to find us.”
“There is a difference… between those two statements?”
“Yes, there is. In one case, there is already a swarm of people heading towards us. In the other, there might be one soon. Simple, isn’t it?”
He couldn’t disagree, so he just remained silent. With that exchange, and then a few moments of quiet, they already got close to the outer walls, and a few moments after that, they were able to leap atop them, with the otherworldly demons deciding to take the stairs as they were simply not prepared for that kind of activity.
There, in the space partly occupied by the guards that would have been stationed further to the left and right a few minutes ago, they stood and looked out into the sandstorm that guarded them, with Luo Lia Kun momentarily feeling as if she would see that Great Worm again in the distance.
When she did look out there, she instead saw a faint silhouette in the distance, still some way from having any change to see the walls from his perspective. It had two arms, two legs and a single head, as one might expect from a human, and from the way the figure walked, it also seemed to be no different from the way in which any other man might walk in the same situation, with sand constantly blasting in their face, eyes and ears, with no reprieve no matter how much energy they wielded.
“How interesting. A lone wanderer decided to go all the way out here, seemingly on his first try. Let’s go over and have a chat, shall we?” Wei Yi said, leaping into the sand.
The others hesitated, giving them the perfect view for the way in which the sea of sand actively bent away from her as she entered into the sandstorm and hastened towards the man within. However, only a short distance in, the wall of sand closed behind her again, and so they decided that it would be best to wait for her return and see the man then.
‘How slow of them. They should know that I and Yi Shi Ming control the fortress, and yet… Whatever. I get to act however I want with this guy, then,’ Wei Yi thought, slowing down as she got closer to the shambling figure.
As it appeared from the fortress walls, this was indeed a human male, with most of his body intact but terribly marked by the constant harsh assault of sand, leaving blood to slowly drip from a few particularly significant wounds. His eyes were shut and his ears were likely blocked by all of the sand, partially explaining how he might have been able to traverse the wall of sand without getting lost as most regular explorers would have – luck, seemingly, and nothing else.
There appeared to only be a shortsword by his side, with it already being as battered as he was, and nothing else about him suggested blatant or significant aggression. Due to this, she decided that rather than striking him down quickly and looting his body for any hints of a letter providing instructions for him, from which they could learn both his intentions and those of the person undoubtedly responsible for a random, weak man’s appearance out here in the desert, she would instead try and get information out of him the more reasonable way. Even if she had wanted to go the first route, a cursory scan with spiritual perception confirmed both that he was only in the second realm, and that there were no scraps of paper anywhere on his body, nor a full sheet of one.
When she got close enough to him for the safe area around her to force some of the sand away from him and his eyes, he gasped and fell onto his knees, landing in the sand and immediately dropping his head down until it struck the sand with a dull thud.
“Please, worshipers of the Primordial Cosmos… save me! Let me join you!” he cried out.
She would have replied, if she had anything to say to such a sudden request, if he didn’t lose consciousness the very next moment, remaining in his current position. His hoarse and exhausted breathing calmed, and he soon splayed out on the ground, unable to maintain his kneeling position without his awareness to keep him in it.
‘Eh… How fortunate that we had that discussion on the Primordial Deities not long ago, or else I might not have even known what he was on about,’ Wei Yi noted, wrapping an arm around his torso and lifting him with ease, ‘I suspect that this is the plan that the Greats have – make me seem like someone worshiping a foe of all humanity, set the nearby warriors against me and let them chase me down, then, if necessary, end me themselves. Fortunately, since he appears to be alone, and interested in joining me instead of attacking me, I have time to prepare, and an idea…’
Just in case there were any other wanderers in the sands, she did not linger there for long, leaving the moment that she had cleared any track of him from the terrain.
Normally, the sand would accomplish the same thing even without her intervention, but it seemed safer in the instance that someone had been following him while hoping that his intentions to side with the primordial deities rather than fighting them would somehow grant him the power to traverse what they could not. If they realised that he had been found by someone and brought away, they would be certain to follow, causing unnecessary trouble if they had any ability to communicate across distances.
Leaping back with much more of her full speed this time, she returned to the wall with ease, then used a few methods to ensure that he wouldn’t wake up early, not that there was much a chance of it happening in the first place.
“I’ve got an idea for a way to confuse the potential attack that would arrive… any time soon, I guess. This person was looking for the worshipers of Primordial Cosmos, meaning that someone had very likely put out some rumours about us – me, more likely, since They shouldn’t be aware of your presence,” Wei Yi said, “In order to dissuade them from attacking us, or the decoy fortress or camp, we should make it so blatantly obvious that we can’t be the people they’re looking for, that is, the normal people of Yi City, not Them, that they don’t have any chance to go after us.”
“You mean to say… if we were to fake a group hunting Primordial Cosmos, then…”
“Then unless They managed to plant some evidence against us that was able to entirely convince everyone involved, their little rumour would be of no use, and they wouldn’t be able to use it against us. They would either need a new story, which would take time to take effect, or they would need to attack us Themselves. The best-case scenario, in my opinion, would be if they themselves were confused by our actions, and went elsewhere to investigate.”
“Don’t you have the ability to disguise your energy however you want? If they are looking for a fire-type cultivator, finding a metal-type would do much of the same,” Luo Lia Kun suggested.
“It isn’t disguising, but outright changing. Observe.”
She raised her left hand, the one not covered by her gauntlet most of the time, and released a sphere of planar energy in its usual cosmic state, although the chains were slowly claiming prominence over the stars. Then, she transformed it into the metal ore state, then the silver-leaf state, then lightning and fire and water all in short succession, giving everyone just enough time to observe the energy and confirm that it appeared no different from what one might expect, at least when it comes to the energy of the primary elements. As for the rest, none of them could really guess much, so they just assumed that it was as she claimed.
In truth, they hardly needed to witness this to believe her, since Wei Yi was capable of far too many unreasonable things to rule out the switching of elements. Back in the Yi District, Great Dark witnessed her earth cultivation, in the Luo District, Luo Lia Kun witnessed a fire-type phoenix oriented cultivation, and neither of those could have been achieved, swapped, or faked in any amount of time.
“Very neat. I recommend trying this at some point,” Wei Yi smiled, clearing the expression from her face a moment after as to not unnecessarily annoy, “Anyway, we will need to prepare, and to figure out things that will make ourselves seem as different from who we actually are, like disguises and so on. I personally have a good idea for myself, but it is more difficult to imagine what the rest of you could do. Before then, however, this man should be brought back out.”
“Will you put him outside of the sandstorm? I’m sure he’d remember something at that point, which wouldn’t help our case,” Fu Zan pointed out.
“No, we’re getting a decoy, and he is being put right into the centre of it. That’d trick him, don’t you think?” she replied, “We will need to bring materials to make some kind of camp, and add some arrays to resist the sand to a certain extent. After that, we should have plenty of time to think of the other things, especially if the rest of you take the opportunity to claim you are returning from scouting.”
“You seem to already have things planned out… You do have a lot of experience in tricking people…” Great Dark sighed, “Before this… I was going to tell you that the spies are ready to be sent out… All that is requires is your or Yi Shi Ming’s ability…”
“Sure, I’ll get right on that as well. Before then, would you mind telling me whether that speech pattern is something that you can alter without the requirement for the complete reconstruction of everything related to your voice, breath and whatever else resides in the body? So long as they had ever heard you speak, the short but frequent pauses are guaranteed to have been noticed by Them at some point, and would be a clear giveaway even if you dyed your hair white and acted like a moron all the time.”
“Fortunately… Yes, that is something I can do. While I cannot speak as quickly as I could while I was Great Earth, I am able to speak continuously and straightforwardly if it is required.”
“You just had to include that one last pause, didn’t you? Whatever…” she shook her head, “Let’s get through this as fast as possible, then we’ll pick up the tent materials and whatever else, and then we can finally get out there and do some more acting… Ugh, now that I think about it, I was hoping I wouldn’t need to do so again…”
“For now, we still don’t have enough strength to allow us to do that, but eventually, we will.”
The man that had gone into the sandstorm had not expected to awaken ever again. In his eyes, this was a desperate effort that wouldn’t pay off, since there’s no chance that he would possibly find the people that he had been seeking just by walking into the centre of the storm.
He wasn’t even sure if the worshiper of a Primordial Deity was a suitable person to side with, but at this point, he had no choice. He had suffered and been deprived of nearly everything that he could have had, and at this point, he didn’t have the certainty that anyone siding with Yi City would ever take him in, whether as a member, ally or even a prisoner that they would treat with care.
If it came to a person or group that worshiped Primordial Cosmos, however… To be entirely truthful, he wasn’t really aware of what that entity was, what it wanted, stood for, or would ask of him, but at this point, the binding that the Primordial Deities had with their servants and believers was the only thing that could possibly save him. Whether he would need to do some terrible things to join or not was a concern, but it was one that he had readily subdued within his own mind, as nothing could be more important than his own life at this point.
When he had gotten far enough into the sands, he had been forced to close his eyes and navigate purely by walking straight forward, doing so as best as he was able to.
The moment that something disturbed the sand before him, whatever or whoever it had been, he dropped to the ground and begged. If he was found by the person he had sought, then that would be good, but if it was someone lured in to kill Primordial Cosmos, then he would rather announce himself quickly and get them to kill him while he was still unconscious, sparing him the pain that he would inevitably suffer. Hopefully, no righteous man would try to torture someone as weak as him.
And yet, despite all of that, he did not awaken on the sand, or in chains, but instead on a surface that resembled some kind of bed, as unpleasant as this one was. In fact, it seemed like something that one may find in a camp, with a length of fabric stretched out on a short frame just sufficient to lay on.
There was still sand around him, but it was far more limited in quantity, and in comparison to what he had endured before, this might as well have been non-existent.
‘Who… who did I find out there? Am I still all the way inside of the sandstorm, or have they brought me out?’ he questioned, trying to rise as he found that there was surprisingly little pain within his body. There were also few marks and scars left behind on his body, much fewer than he would have ever expected had he simply been put into a bed without proper care. ‘Did I come across the right people?’
With some effort, he rose out of the bed and looked around, confirming that he was in a tent and that he was not restrained whatsoever, with the tent simply being open to him, meaning that he could leave at any time he wanted.
After only a little hesitation, resolved the moment that he confirmed that the sand outside was also far less intense than what he had gotten to, he stepped out, and certainly didn’t expect to find himself in a large yet mostly empty camp with a dozen other tents laid out. Each one was pinned to the ground by a large metal nail, the shape of which made it seem as if they had been made hastily from chunks of spare metal. He saw no anvil nor forge around him, so it almost seemed as if someone had just beaten them into shape on their own.
Whatever that was, it certainly succeeded in keeping the tents in place and from the slight shimmer in the air, he could tell that there appeared to be some array guarding the camp from the sand.
“You’ve woken! Finally!” a voice suddenly reached his others, prompting him to turn to face the speaker right away. It sounded feminine enough for him to presume that it was a woman, and the tone already gave him a certain impression of what she looked like, but he had not been prepared for what he saw.
He had come northward from the Chen District and thus his skin was lighter and his clothing sense was notably more conservative and actually effective than the items of the north, but the person he saw now was even more extreme than what he had seen at the outskirts of the Ping and Chao Districts.
The woman he saw was covered in naught but a length of cloth to obscure her small breasts while a loincloth covered her crotch, doing an extremely poor job of hiding the highly prominent feature it should have been obscuring. Her skin was highly tanned, and every part of her body outright rippled with powerful muscle, causing her very skin and flesh to seem like a far more effective method of defence than any ordinary piece of armour could.
From her head poured black hair, although most of it was tied up in a braid that came down to her knees, with the loose strands around it being just as long.
“What’re you lookin’ at?” the woman asked, bringing to his attention that after he had noted the rest of her body, his gaze involuntarily returned to the loincloth, “Never seen dragon blood before?”
“M-My apologies…” he said, averting his gaze, “No, I have not… Are you… a worshiper of-”
All of a sudden, her expression became far more serious, “Primordial Cosmos, right? On that topic, there is something that we will need to hear from you first. Why were you lookin’ for someone like that? Have some affiliation with it already, or just lookin’ to join?”
“I… I don’t know. I was just looking for protection…”
“Ah, good. So long as you’re not on its side, then the two of us are just fine,” she smiled, “You see, we’re a company that are hunting Primordial Cosmos specifically, and anything related to it. So long as you aren’t, then we have no reason to hurt you. Feel free to rest here while you want, although we won’t be giving you water for free unless you… no, never mind that. No water, and that’s final.”
“Oh… Then… What is your group called? You’re here with others, aren’t you? Does your group have a name?”
“We are the Hunters of the Cosmos, of course! Do you need something from us?”
“I need protection because there are a lot of people after me! I had lost a small bet in the Chen District, then the family I offended by failing to pay the final copper coin of a large payment chased me all the way here with more and more effort in each district!” the man exclaimed, “So, I, Huang Yu Di, beg for your protection! Don’t let me get killed over a single copper coin that hadn’t been paid on time two whole years ago!”
“… Kay. We can do that. Just sit in a tent, and if anyone comes looking for a Huang Yu Di, we’ll tell them to fuck right off,” the woman confirmed, “I’m Wei Yi, by the way.”
“Thank you so much!” he cried out, dropping onto his knees again as tears began to pour from his eyes, “If you keep me safe, I will forever be in your debt! I’ll never join the Primordial Deities, and I will always send you a share of anything I ever make in the future, I promise!”
“Right. D’you mind not doing this again? Carrying you last time was annoying.”
“My apologies!” Huang Yu Di cried out, although he did rise from the ground and walk back into the tent, where he fell onto the bed and simply stared up at the top of the tent, watching as the sturdy material above fluttered and shifted with the sand, although it never came close to being torn apart or falling over.
For him, it felt as if a terrible weight had been lifted. He knew nothing about the Hunters, nor whether they were even a true organisation of some kind, but something about the situation provided him with boundless confidence and surety. It was as if the world itself was telling him that they would succeed.
Meanwhile, Wei Yi confirmed that the man wasn’t going anywhere, then returned to the tent from which she had originally emerged.
The discovery of the man’s exact situation was both fortunate and not, presuming that he was being entirely truthful with them. Having some more people around with no bias towards the Primordial Cosmos one way or another should make it easier to convince everyone that they aren’t worshipers of it, but having a potentially hostile bunch like that was likely to lead into conflict if they confirm that the man was present in the area but was not being handed over.
If they acted up before the situation could be calmed, it would turn the tide against them.
Just from one interaction, the upcoming matter had already escalated significantly, and if more people like him were to appear within the sandstorm, then they might truly need to contend with an army by the time the battle starts.
‘The day they arrive will be a long one, won’t it?’
V4C9: Creating a Decoy
They did not need to wait long, for the guard was fast while Paragon was ultimately limited in size, the biggest limitation to one’s speed of traversal inside it being the maze-like structure of the outer portions of the fortress. It was shaped like an incredibly complex labyrinth at the outer edges, and the only saving grace for those living inside of it was that the maze was short and static.
Had residences and homes been able to rise out of the ground to block current paths while other buildings descended or outright disappeared to form new ones, the vast majority of people forced to live there likely wouldn’t be doing so, not without a lot of techniques to keep themselves aware of the situation around them, and something to prevent their own residences from sinking. The small size combined with the static nature meant that it was only a likely obstacle to invaders or the particularly careless, although it would do quite a lot to stop both such groups for a brief amount of time. It wouldn’t be enough to completely flee the fortress or anything of the sort, but it would give anyone enough time to set up a proper ambush.
It was likely to have been the original intention for the design, or perhaps it had begun life as a much smaller and simpler structure that was then grown and made more confusing on the outside layer.
The thought of a moving maze, and an enormous one at that, did grab Wei Yi’s interest quite a bit, as it could not only be an effective way to prevent others from approaching, but could also serve as an extremely effective mental weapon if someone was to be put inside of the maze while everything around them is obscured with something akin to the sandstorm currently raging outside of the fortress.
So long as any changes occurred silently and outside of the range of perception for those attempting to navigate it against her will, the right path could always be blocked and a new route could be opened up some distance back, meaning that when they travel back in search of some other path, they will keep finding new pathways that shouldn’t be there. It would be able to serve to constantly and effectively give the unwanted intruders the feeling of making progress while simply taking them in an enormous circle and straight back out to the outside of the labyrinth, wasting a lot of their time while also forcing them to question whether it was their fault, or the fault of the labyrinth itself.
In fact, she was so interested that she quickly confirmed the range that she had under her limited control around Paragon, as well as how much empty space there was within the Kong Prison Realm between the end of the world and the first settlement or residence that would be bothered by an enormous maze without them being an enemy intended to suffer from it. The first had no chance of working for the moment, as that range was only a metre or two, but the latter had more potential.
From her understanding of spatial realms, so long as someone attempted to breach the Kong Prison Realm without her permission, they would need to traverse the void outside of the world fragment that the prison realm technically counted as. If they succeeded, which, since a Half-Step Emergent Anchor cultivator like her was able to stabilise a large segment of the world for a long time without proper training or preparation, one of the Great Family’s members should certainly be able to do the same, and would end up on the outside portion of the realm.
There, in order to limit their expenditure of energy and to best make use of the innate laws of the spatial realm, Great Family member and regular invader alike would most likely land on the ground and attempt to locate whatever they were looking for on foot, or otherwise within the confines of the realm.
That meant that so long as she was able to further discourage any kind of flight or hovering within the Kong Prison Realm, stabilise a large portion of the invisible and imperceptible barrier between it and the spatial void outside everywhere but where it would be advantageous for her, and then limit the visibility and energy availability to those caught within the maze on the outside of the realm, she could have a very effective method of stopping invaders for lengthy periods of time.
If she also had the planar energy conversion law apply to the outside and made it so that whatever material she used for the maze was not easily broken without plentiful energy, she could keep physically weaker individuals in there forever. Perhaps they would even be thankful to her – all but the Greats likely would be – if she then showed up and freed them from their predicament, even if that was only by throwing them back out into the void. Doing something like that slowly enough to let part of their cultivation be corroded while not breaking it down entirely, she could seem to be a timely rescuer, just not one with precognition or omniscience within the prison realm.
The only issue was that if the Great Families were to learn of a potential danger to their precious method of keeping their enemies afraid and in check, they wouldn’t send in one or two people. So long as they had any reason to believe that the thing that had been trapping everyone inside was no longer active, or diminished enough that others would be able to endure it, they would charge in together, several families and likely numerous members of the second and third generations charging in at once, at which point only instantaneous planar energy conversion would have a chance of working.
For the moment, that is not something Wei Yi had access to, and as such, she could hardly let anyone learn of the prison realm just yet. She did still consider a basic layout that she could use on the outer edges of the Kong Prison Realm, and hardened some of the stone and soil with a little assistance from Yi Shi Ming so that they could be raised at any time to block any sudden invaders, but did not go further.
‘Perhaps, rather than having a simple maze with the planar conversion law being applied to it, I could instead add the God Burial Sea at the bottom to inconvenience them further, implement ire energy to stall and damage them further, then add the essence of the Elysian Yang Storm atop that as to further prevent any distant observation or investigation, using killing intent and spiritual will atop physique to create two separate layers that add onto the distraction of the people in the maze…’ she thought, watching as the guard was running towards them, ‘It would also make for a border for the world that would be far clearer than the current sudden end to everything…’
She made some notes on the topic in the Ascendant’s Library, then returned her attention to the outside world as the guard finally arrived.
“Speak, then you can take a break,” Wei Yi said when he tried to stop for breath.
“Someone… spotted… outside…” he said, managing to remain standing even though the heightened gravity was greater nearer to the centre of the fortress in order to prevent the outer guards from being tired out before they are required to deal with any potential threat.
“Alright, we’ll take a look. Go in and feel free to relax for the next half-hour or so, then you should return to your post,” she told him, nearly patting him on the shoulder before considering that it would knock him down to the ground even if she was careful and get her hand covered in his sweat, which currently covered him in a dense layer, “Was it a humanoid figure, or something else?”
“Human…” the guard confirmed before rushing inside with what energy he still had left.
Meanwhile, they headed out straight away, with Fu Zan and Miyu following them out of curiosity more so than due to their ability to contribute to the situation, whatever it even was. The former could likely weave something quickly if there was a need for it, and the latter might have something in that head of hers that would permit her otherworldly gift to recognise a potential threat before either Wei Yi or Luo Lia Kun could, but her current pool of knowledge was insufficient for this to be highly likely. With more knowledge and more study, it could be different, but not yet.
What all of them did share was their ability to run fast. The Rapid Muscle Exertion technique wasn’t something that required planar energy cultivation, and did not seem to be something that would encourage the azure light – not so far as any one of them was able to tell, anyway – so all of the otherworldly demons were able to practise it in the same way that the rest of the prison realm had.
On their way, they passed by Great Dark’s location, who emerged when he sensed them rushing past with his spiritual perception. Since he had something to tell them, he followed them to the walls.
“Was something finally found?” he asked, following them with a movement technique that needed to drain far less of his physical strength and effort than the purely physical movement that Wei Yi or the otherworldly demons used.
“What do you think? We’re going to check out the sighting of a humanoid figure on the outside, and since you’re already following us, you should probably keep going,” Wei Yi replied, extending her Group Movement Art connection to him as well, “Depending on what or who it is, we might need to be preparing our defences, or we might be getting the first warning of an upcoming swarm of people trying to find us.”
“There is a difference… between those two statements?”
“Yes, there is. In one case, there is already a swarm of people heading towards us. In the other, there might be one soon. Simple, isn’t it?”
He couldn’t disagree, so he just remained silent. With that exchange, and then a few moments of quiet, they already got close to the outer walls, and a few moments after that, they were able to leap atop them, with the otherworldly demons deciding to take the stairs as they were simply not prepared for that kind of activity.
There, in the space partly occupied by the guards that would have been stationed further to the left and right a few minutes ago, they stood and looked out into the sandstorm that guarded them, with Luo Lia Kun momentarily feeling as if she would see that Great Worm again in the distance.
When she did look out there, she instead saw a faint silhouette in the distance, still some way from having any change to see the walls from his perspective. It had two arms, two legs and a single head, as one might expect from a human, and from the way the figure walked, it also seemed to be no different from the way in which any other man might walk in the same situation, with sand constantly blasting in their face, eyes and ears, with no reprieve no matter how much energy they wielded.
“How interesting. A lone wanderer decided to go all the way out here, seemingly on his first try. Let’s go over and have a chat, shall we?” Wei Yi said, leaping into the sand.
The others hesitated, giving them the perfect view for the way in which the sea of sand actively bent away from her as she entered into the sandstorm and hastened towards the man within. However, only a short distance in, the wall of sand closed behind her again, and so they decided that it would be best to wait for her return and see the man then.
‘How slow of them. They should know that I and Yi Shi Ming control the fortress, and yet… Whatever. I get to act however I want with this guy, then,’ Wei Yi thought, slowing down as she got closer to the shambling figure.
As it appeared from the fortress walls, this was indeed a human male, with most of his body intact but terribly marked by the constant harsh assault of sand, leaving blood to slowly drip from a few particularly significant wounds. His eyes were shut and his ears were likely blocked by all of the sand, partially explaining how he might have been able to traverse the wall of sand without getting lost as most regular explorers would have – luck, seemingly, and nothing else.
There appeared to only be a shortsword by his side, with it already being as battered as he was, and nothing else about him suggested blatant or significant aggression. Due to this, she decided that rather than striking him down quickly and looting his body for any hints of a letter providing instructions for him, from which they could learn both his intentions and those of the person undoubtedly responsible for a random, weak man’s appearance out here in the desert, she would instead try and get information out of him the more reasonable way. Even if she had wanted to go the first route, a cursory scan with spiritual perception confirmed both that he was only in the second realm, and that there were no scraps of paper anywhere on his body, nor a full sheet of one.
When she got close enough to him for the safe area around her to force some of the sand away from him and his eyes, he gasped and fell onto his knees, landing in the sand and immediately dropping his head down until it struck the sand with a dull thud.
“Please, worshipers of the Primordial Cosmos… save me! Let me join you!” he cried out.
She would have replied, if she had anything to say to such a sudden request, if he didn’t lose consciousness the very next moment, remaining in his current position. His hoarse and exhausted breathing calmed, and he soon splayed out on the ground, unable to maintain his kneeling position without his awareness to keep him in it.
‘Eh… How fortunate that we had that discussion on the Primordial Deities not long ago, or else I might not have even known what he was on about,’ Wei Yi noted, wrapping an arm around his torso and lifting him with ease, ‘I suspect that this is the plan that the Greats have – make me seem like someone worshiping a foe of all humanity, set the nearby warriors against me and let them chase me down, then, if necessary, end me themselves. Fortunately, since he appears to be alone, and interested in joining me instead of attacking me, I have time to prepare, and an idea…’
Just in case there were any other wanderers in the sands, she did not linger there for long, leaving the moment that she had cleared any track of him from the terrain.
Normally, the sand would accomplish the same thing even without her intervention, but it seemed safer in the instance that someone had been following him while hoping that his intentions to side with the primordial deities rather than fighting them would somehow grant him the power to traverse what they could not. If they realised that he had been found by someone and brought away, they would be certain to follow, causing unnecessary trouble if they had any ability to communicate across distances.
Leaping back with much more of her full speed this time, she returned to the wall with ease, then used a few methods to ensure that he wouldn’t wake up early, not that there was much a chance of it happening in the first place.
“I’ve got an idea for a way to confuse the potential attack that would arrive… any time soon, I guess. This person was looking for the worshipers of Primordial Cosmos, meaning that someone had very likely put out some rumours about us – me, more likely, since They shouldn’t be aware of your presence,” Wei Yi said, “In order to dissuade them from attacking us, or the decoy fortress or camp, we should make it so blatantly obvious that we can’t be the people they’re looking for, that is, the normal people of Yi City, not Them, that they don’t have any chance to go after us.”
“You mean to say… if we were to fake a group hunting Primordial Cosmos, then…”
“Then unless They managed to plant some evidence against us that was able to entirely convince everyone involved, their little rumour would be of no use, and they wouldn’t be able to use it against us. They would either need a new story, which would take time to take effect, or they would need to attack us Themselves. The best-case scenario, in my opinion, would be if they themselves were confused by our actions, and went elsewhere to investigate.”
“Don’t you have the ability to disguise your energy however you want? If they are looking for a fire-type cultivator, finding a metal-type would do much of the same,” Luo Lia Kun suggested.
“It isn’t disguising, but outright changing. Observe.”
She raised her left hand, the one not covered by her gauntlet most of the time, and released a sphere of planar energy in its usual cosmic state, although the chains were slowly claiming prominence over the stars. Then, she transformed it into the metal ore state, then the silver-leaf state, then lightning and fire and water all in short succession, giving everyone just enough time to observe the energy and confirm that it appeared no different from what one might expect, at least when it comes to the energy of the primary elements. As for the rest, none of them could really guess much, so they just assumed that it was as she claimed.
In truth, they hardly needed to witness this to believe her, since Wei Yi was capable of far too many unreasonable things to rule out the switching of elements. Back in the Yi District, Great Dark witnessed her earth cultivation, in the Luo District, Luo Lia Kun witnessed a fire-type phoenix oriented cultivation, and neither of those could have been achieved, swapped, or faked in any amount of time.
“Very neat. I recommend trying this at some point,” Wei Yi smiled, clearing the expression from her face a moment after as to not unnecessarily annoy, “Anyway, we will need to prepare, and to figure out things that will make ourselves seem as different from who we actually are, like disguises and so on. I personally have a good idea for myself, but it is more difficult to imagine what the rest of you could do. Before then, however, this man should be brought back out.”
“Will you put him outside of the sandstorm? I’m sure he’d remember something at that point, which wouldn’t help our case,” Fu Zan pointed out.
“No, we’re getting a decoy, and he is being put right into the centre of it. That’d trick him, don’t you think?” she replied, “We will need to bring materials to make some kind of camp, and add some arrays to resist the sand to a certain extent. After that, we should have plenty of time to think of the other things, especially if the rest of you take the opportunity to claim you are returning from scouting.”
“You seem to already have things planned out… You do have a lot of experience in tricking people…” Great Dark sighed, “Before this… I was going to tell you that the spies are ready to be sent out… All that is requires is your or Yi Shi Ming’s ability…”
“Sure, I’ll get right on that as well. Before then, would you mind telling me whether that speech pattern is something that you can alter without the requirement for the complete reconstruction of everything related to your voice, breath and whatever else resides in the body? So long as they had ever heard you speak, the short but frequent pauses are guaranteed to have been noticed by Them at some point, and would be a clear giveaway even if you dyed your hair white and acted like a moron all the time.”
“Fortunately… Yes, that is something I can do. While I cannot speak as quickly as I could while I was Great Earth, I am able to speak continuously and straightforwardly if it is required.”
“You just had to include that one last pause, didn’t you? Whatever…” she shook her head, “Let’s get through this as fast as possible, then we’ll pick up the tent materials and whatever else, and then we can finally get out there and do some more acting… Ugh, now that I think about it, I was hoping I wouldn’t need to do so again…”
“For now, we still don’t have enough strength to allow us to do that, but eventually, we will.”
The man that had gone into the sandstorm had not expected to awaken ever again. In his eyes, this was a desperate effort that wouldn’t pay off, since there’s no chance that he would possibly find the people that he had been seeking just by walking into the centre of the storm.
He wasn’t even sure if the worshiper of a Primordial Deity was a suitable person to side with, but at this point, he had no choice. He had suffered and been deprived of nearly everything that he could have had, and at this point, he didn’t have the certainty that anyone siding with Yi City would ever take him in, whether as a member, ally or even a prisoner that they would treat with care.
If it came to a person or group that worshiped Primordial Cosmos, however… To be entirely truthful, he wasn’t really aware of what that entity was, what it wanted, stood for, or would ask of him, but at this point, the binding that the Primordial Deities had with their servants and believers was the only thing that could possibly save him. Whether he would need to do some terrible things to join or not was a concern, but it was one that he had readily subdued within his own mind, as nothing could be more important than his own life at this point.
When he had gotten far enough into the sands, he had been forced to close his eyes and navigate purely by walking straight forward, doing so as best as he was able to.
The moment that something disturbed the sand before him, whatever or whoever it had been, he dropped to the ground and begged. If he was found by the person he had sought, then that would be good, but if it was someone lured in to kill Primordial Cosmos, then he would rather announce himself quickly and get them to kill him while he was still unconscious, sparing him the pain that he would inevitably suffer. Hopefully, no righteous man would try to torture someone as weak as him.
And yet, despite all of that, he did not awaken on the sand, or in chains, but instead on a surface that resembled some kind of bed, as unpleasant as this one was. In fact, it seemed like something that one may find in a camp, with a length of fabric stretched out on a short frame just sufficient to lay on.
There was still sand around him, but it was far more limited in quantity, and in comparison to what he had endured before, this might as well have been non-existent.
‘Who… who did I find out there? Am I still all the way inside of the sandstorm, or have they brought me out?’ he questioned, trying to rise as he found that there was surprisingly little pain within his body. There were also few marks and scars left behind on his body, much fewer than he would have ever expected had he simply been put into a bed without proper care. ‘Did I come across the right people?’
With some effort, he rose out of the bed and looked around, confirming that he was in a tent and that he was not restrained whatsoever, with the tent simply being open to him, meaning that he could leave at any time he wanted.
After only a little hesitation, resolved the moment that he confirmed that the sand outside was also far less intense than what he had gotten to, he stepped out, and certainly didn’t expect to find himself in a large yet mostly empty camp with a dozen other tents laid out. Each one was pinned to the ground by a large metal nail, the shape of which made it seem as if they had been made hastily from chunks of spare metal. He saw no anvil nor forge around him, so it almost seemed as if someone had just beaten them into shape on their own.
Whatever that was, it certainly succeeded in keeping the tents in place and from the slight shimmer in the air, he could tell that there appeared to be some array guarding the camp from the sand.
“You’ve woken! Finally!” a voice suddenly reached his others, prompting him to turn to face the speaker right away. It sounded feminine enough for him to presume that it was a woman, and the tone already gave him a certain impression of what she looked like, but he had not been prepared for what he saw.
He had come northward from the Chen District and thus his skin was lighter and his clothing sense was notably more conservative and actually effective than the items of the north, but the person he saw now was even more extreme than what he had seen at the outskirts of the Ping and Chao Districts.
The woman he saw was covered in naught but a length of cloth to obscure her small breasts while a loincloth covered her crotch, doing an extremely poor job of hiding the highly prominent feature it should have been obscuring. Her skin was highly tanned, and every part of her body outright rippled with powerful muscle, causing her very skin and flesh to seem like a far more effective method of defence than any ordinary piece of armour could.
From her head poured black hair, although most of it was tied up in a braid that came down to her knees, with the loose strands around it being just as long.
“What’re you lookin’ at?” the woman asked, bringing to his attention that after he had noted the rest of her body, his gaze involuntarily returned to the loincloth, “Never seen dragon blood before?”
“M-My apologies…” he said, averting his gaze, “No, I have not… Are you… a worshiper of-”
All of a sudden, her expression became far more serious, “Primordial Cosmos, right? On that topic, there is something that we will need to hear from you first. Why were you lookin’ for someone like that? Have some affiliation with it already, or just lookin’ to join?”
“I… I don’t know. I was just looking for protection…”
“Ah, good. So long as you’re not on its side, then the two of us are just fine,” she smiled, “You see, we’re a company that are hunting Primordial Cosmos specifically, and anything related to it. So long as you aren’t, then we have no reason to hurt you. Feel free to rest here while you want, although we won’t be giving you water for free unless you… no, never mind that. No water, and that’s final.”
“Oh… Then… What is your group called? You’re here with others, aren’t you? Does your group have a name?”
“We are the Hunters of the Cosmos, of course! Do you need something from us?”
“I need protection because there are a lot of people after me! I had lost a small bet in the Chen District, then the family I offended by failing to pay the final copper coin of a large payment chased me all the way here with more and more effort in each district!” the man exclaimed, “So, I, Huang Yu Di, beg for your protection! Don’t let me get killed over a single copper coin that hadn’t been paid on time two whole years ago!”
“… Kay. We can do that. Just sit in a tent, and if anyone comes looking for a Huang Yu Di, we’ll tell them to fuck right off,” the woman confirmed, “I’m Wei Yi, by the way.”
“Thank you so much!” he cried out, dropping onto his knees again as tears began to pour from his eyes, “If you keep me safe, I will forever be in your debt! I’ll never join the Primordial Deities, and I will always send you a share of anything I ever make in the future, I promise!”
“Right. D’you mind not doing this again? Carrying you last time was annoying.”
“My apologies!” Huang Yu Di cried out, although he did rise from the ground and walk back into the tent, where he fell onto the bed and simply stared up at the top of the tent, watching as the sturdy material above fluttered and shifted with the sand, although it never came close to being torn apart or falling over.
For him, it felt as if a terrible weight had been lifted. He knew nothing about the Hunters, nor whether they were even a true organisation of some kind, but something about the situation provided him with boundless confidence and surety. It was as if the world itself was telling him that they would succeed.
Meanwhile, Wei Yi confirmed that the man wasn’t going anywhere, then returned to the tent from which she had originally emerged.
The discovery of the man’s exact situation was both fortunate and not, presuming that he was being entirely truthful with them. Having some more people around with no bias towards the Primordial Cosmos one way or another should make it easier to convince everyone that they aren’t worshipers of it, but having a potentially hostile bunch like that was likely to lead into conflict if they confirm that the man was present in the area but was not being handed over.
If they acted up before the situation could be calmed, it would turn the tide against them.
Just from one interaction, the upcoming matter had already escalated significantly, and if more people like him were to appear within the sandstorm, then they might truly need to contend with an army by the time the battle starts.
‘The day they arrive will be a long one, won’t it?’
