Eight years since the Trials.
Eight years of perfectly fine cultivation funded with aggressive levels of missions being taken on, feeling the strain and push of her Qi Sea overflowing the excess power into each and every outlet it could find--feeling the frisson of celestial tribulation tickle her skin, just waiting for the moment she reaches out
just a little bit further.
Truthfully, after the first decade or so of feeling it, like a dagger placed against her throat, Rina found that changing her perspective went a long way. Much more comfortable to welcome it as an old, teasing friend with a bit more of a taste for skinship than was strictly appropriate.
And who may be about to kill you at any moment, but how many relationships in this realm work on similar principles anyway?
She sighed, leaning back in the bath with a satisfied smile, her white-blonde hair kept loose like it was when she was younger, instead of the braided bun she'd been keeping it in recent years. A little electrical buzz kept in check by comfy, hot mineral water.
Paradise on the cheap, as all good things should be.
Rina happily sunk further into the private bath, but not so deeply that her ears didn't twitch at the sound of movement from the corridor leading up to it. Panting and knocking at the entryway.
Well, at least he's learned manners since before.
"Rina, we need to leave,
now" Xu Zhen frantically called in through the other side of the barrier. "It's not safe to be in this place anymore!"
There went her mood. Her eyes narrowed and she climbed to her feet, yanking on the strings hidden not far from her seat to pull her blade and shield to her--as well as a bundle of robes. "Who, what and where?" Rina ordered, pulling the outfit over the top of her head and tightening it in the same motion. "Have the sentries been alerted? We can conduct a fighting retreat…"
"There's no time for that!" Xu Zhen called out as Rina barged through the gates. "It's everyone out for themselves! Where's the furthest away mission you can grab on short notice?"
"The Uncast Molds are currently looking for extra manpower to investigate possible Battle Blood Cannibal Incursions" Rina reported, then took a double-take at that, feeling coming back to her as her mind finally caught up with her instincts. "Wait, what do you mean there's no time for that?"
"Just take it and get out of town before it gets here!" Xu Zhen got behind and started pushing Rina with his Foundation Establishment cultivation base, backed by his extensive work in Qi Condensation. "There's no saving any of us if you're still here… When…"
He starts to putter out as the aura of a Core Formation Cultivator fills the air, a tiny, doll-like woman standing in the central foyer of the inn Rina was currently staying at.
With the biggest, most self-satisfied looking grin imaginable on her face.
"Oh no, it's too late." Xu Zhen deflated.
Rina was lost for words.
"Hiiiiiii~~~" She drawled out and waved happily. "So good to finally catch up with you little Zhen!"
A flicker of movement, and the Elder was between them, leaning in between the two and her grin growing
even larger, if that was at all possible. "And this would be the Princess you've been talking about?" She licked her lips. "Oh my that's a good catch! Far too many girls just go through the motions instead of
really tearing the throat out of their foundation."
"... Umm…" Rina starts, clearly lost. "I… Don't believe we've been introduced?"
The lady smiled, and snapped a fan--and the group found themselves centered around a table, stacked high with delectable delicacies and treats.
"This one's Daoist name is Scarletglyph" She inclined her head, as expected of an elder greeting a junior. "Mistress of the Three Pures Archive, and master of this little rascal here." She reaches out--space seeming to
twist before her hand as she ruffles Xu Zhen's hair, knocking his little hat off in the process. "I've heard
so much about you and your little friends, but until just recently I didn't have an excuse to just roll in and introduce myself!"
Rina bowed her head back in terms--she knew the etiquette for this kind of thing. "Pleased to meet you then Lady Scarletglyph." She returned the meeting. "Ah, this junior is Rina Callista, Disciple of the Golden Devil Clan."
Xu Zhen collected his hat, and stubbornly shoved it back on his head. "I warned you, if we were just a
little faster..." He gets bonked by a tiny fist. "Ow!"
"None of that now, you would not
believe the favors I had to spend to get this opportunity." Scarletglyph dismissed him, and turned her gaze back on Rina. "How often is it that your Clan reaches out to the outside world? How often is that extended hand
reciprocated?" She leans forward eagerly. "Almost never! it is historic times we live in!"
"... So the negotiations were a success?" Rina perked up at that. "Oh, good, I was so worried about it all."
"You're adorable, don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise." Scarletglyph tuttered, completely dismissing Xu Zhen's muttering with a waved fan. "Truthfully, your offer came at an excellent moment for all parties involved, with the filth of the Demonic Altar Sect striking so true, and with the Noble Knowledge Sect having exposed an opening in the Siege…"
"Millet's not going to be happy to hear that" Xu Zhen adds. Rina nods--but that's why she moved and set up shop in Pleuron, right? Awful hard for kill teams to run that kind of gauntlet without getting deleted by a patrolling Nascent Soul or two.
"Regardless, the opportunity was well timed, a raiding party slipping through one of the fractures could do incalculable damage if not balked. The Array Masters of your clan have no small reputation in preparing security against that kind of thing." Scarletglyph admits. "While there'll be obvious measures needed to save face in play that will make for some very silly stories down the line, it should be an arrangement good for all of us."
Rina nods. "Well, I'm glad to hear all of that, for all that our respective organizations may be officially incompatible, we remain allies with regards to keeping the Blood Path Sects suppressed."
"As is right and proper." Scarletglyph gives an acknowledging wave of her sleeve. "But such details is and remains the business for those who's business it is to deal with the little network of nonsense that is the outer world. I am here for more direct reasons."
"Oh boy, here it comes' Xu Zhen drives his face into his hands. He is dutifully ignored by both of the ladies at the table.
"I myself am here to assuage my own curiosity." Scarletglyph begins. "That's part one of the process at least. Your Clan's bloodline is remarkably powerful--certainly first class among the Virtuous Flipper Region, both in its tenacity and in its strengthening abilities." Rina's expression grows a little more guarded as this goes on, and is quickly noticed. "Oh, I don't plan to ask questions about how it works, even if you did know, it'd be bullying for me to demand such secrets from a junior." She waved her hand. "What I was interested in is
why it doesn't spread out of your Clan territories."
"Oh" Rina's lips made a little 'o' at that question. "Oh, that's not a matter of the blood dying out or anything" Rina shrugs. "It's more a matter of the Blood of Bronze doesn't
do much if you're not a Cultivator unless the concentration of it is
extremely high. You can't really pinpoint what someone's concentration is though until they start cultivating."
She crosses her arms and frowns. "Plus, raising the concentration is part of our
Legion Body Tempering that we're all expected to learn, which is both
highly secret and also entirely useless if you don't already have traces of the Blood."
"Remarkable, normally the greatest concern of a Clan's bloodline is ensuring it remains pure and within the main lineage, which leads to extremely insular behaviour and all manner of foul rituals made to strengthen it. A method that simply requires trace amounts and then builds on those?" She smiles at that. "Very clever indeed."
"It's to be expected" Rina puffs herself up a little bit at the approval of a Senior. "Most bloodlines that we've recorded in the past came because someone boinked a monster" There's a muffled snort from Xu Zhen's side of the table. "Or because someone grafted stolen power into themselves in the past. Our own apocrypha states that the Blood of Bronze was engineered by an ancient expert in prehistory, for the sole purpose we've put it to."
"Mmm, providing a unified standard to utilize Battle Formations with, and unrivaled strength and staying power to maintain those as long as possible." Scarletglyph agrees. "Ah, but the world is full of such mysteries, gaining even a little insight on these is the Dao I walk."
Rina nods. "Yeah! I always thought I was going to be a scholar myself when I was younger, but needs are as they must, and they'd feel my own innate talents are best practiced on the front lines."
"You're such a
good girl" Scarletglyph gushes and pats Rina's head from across the table. "Eeee! I'm so glad that I insisted on that extra clause!"
Xu Zhen groaned. "Oh no, here we go."
Rina tilted her head curiously. "What kind of extra clause?"
Scarletglyph's smile could swallow the sun, and she snapped a fan open, with two characters written on it.
HOLY MATRIMONY
"Wait what?" Rina didn't understand what this meant. Scarletglyph was all too happy to go on. "Oh, nothing out of the ordinary~~" She singsonged. "I just thought it would be
swell to grab one of the best rising talents in the Virtuous Flipper Region tied in with us. I've got a perfectly good little disciple here.." She pulls the despairing Xu Zhen over to her with a flick of her wrist, giving him an affectionate peck on the forehead. "And on the other side is a Princess from a strange foreign land! With tremendous talent unrivaled in her generation!" She pulled Rina in with her other arm, who was now starting to realize where this was going. "Oh sure, you've got that little reputation of being from a Demonic Clan and all that." Rina's face darkened at that. "Oh it's not a hit on you, just relax" She held the two juniors together with both hands. "These kinds of things are what
stories are told from, and people like having their little stories."
"That it gets someone who might achieve Single Pillar Foundation Establishment in our Sect's orbit is just icing on the cake, isn't it?" Xu Zhen mutters. Scarletglyph shrugs. "Well, I had to get our Dao Reserve to agree to the fiction
somehow." She turned her full attention back to the now quailing Xu Zhen. "After all,
someone needs to keep you in line." She began to shake him--slowly. "After all, if you weren't such a lazybones, it might have been
you to get that title. But no you just said that Five Element Tribulation was scary and went off and did it when you thought we weren't looking."
Xu Zhen paled at that. "I used every trick in the book! You couldn't have possibly found that out!"
Scarletglyph's smile gained a predatory cast, and she loomed over him all of a sudden--a strange thing for a tiny woman. "You used every trick in your book,
you barely crested the first chapter of mine."
As suddenly as the imposing aura descended, it was gone, and she snapped her once more welcoming gaze back to Rina. "I trust I don't need to worry about you encouraging such behavior?"
"... I don't know about stopping," Rina admitted after a moment. "I only know 'Go' and 'Go Faster'."
"Splendid!" Scarletglyph chirped, and let the two go. "So, I've gotten a marriage contract added into the diplomatic agreement. Your Clan of course will be offered a considerable Bride Price for the opportunity."
"I need to know the details." Rina asked, down to business.
"Oh no, you're actually getting into this…' Xu Zhen looked on in horror, Rina waved him off, and adjusted her glasses--shining brightly in the gesture. "I need to be on hand for the Hundred Year Trials, even putting aside not wanting to invite the Invaders into your territory looking for points, I would not see my kinsfolk be slaughtered without my support."
"Of course, that was part of any agreement." Scarletglyph agreed. Rina tilted her head to acknowledge the point. "Secondly, I need to have the freedom to return home as needed to deal with major mobilizations. While I am not unwilling to provide what support I can to your own Sect, my priority must be to home."
"Of course, we're trying to pull you into your orbit, not
kidnap you." Scarletglyph tittered. "How would we ever get you to cooperate if we did that?"
"It's good to deal with reasonable people." Rina smugly nodded. "Naturally, I would not require any resources for your Sect by default--my own Clan will provide them as required, but should I be committed to campaign, I will require access to any Contribution Point system you have access to."
"We'll give you a sub account under Xu Zhen's name" Scarletglyph nodded. "You'd share his access privileges--which are
extensive. On paper, he would be the one who recieves any credit for your work. In practice, he'll just serve as a middleman so we can save face."
"Do I not get a say in this?" Xu Zhen asked, but was hushed by the two women planning his fate.
"How will you handle any offspring from this?" Rina asks. "The usual fosterage agreements seem like they would be awkward under the circumstances…"
"Truthfully? It depends on your own performance." Scarletglyph admits. "By default, the Strength Purity Sect demands right of first refusal regarding education and association, but the clause is intentionally open for amendment should your reputation rise to the point we can show greater equanimity in the agreement."
"Good enough" Rina nods, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Honestly, I'd need to read a copy for myself, but I'm certainly open to the arrangement."
"This is happening, isn't it…" Xu Zhen whines. "I was supposed to be a lonely hero, standing alone on the heights."
"It's exactly because of that nonsense that I'm doing this." Scarletglyph smacked his knuckles with her fan, eliciting a yelp of surprise from her disciple. "Your talent is millennial, and you've successfully cultivated the Five Element Cauldron Body to your current level. You have a good chance of reaching Core Formation--and even Nascent Soul is in reach--but you squander too much of your time with your card games and dice. If it takes pulling in a comparable talent in to keep you honest, I will do it in a heartbeat."
Xu Zhen frowns at that. "Truthfully, I'd rather work at my own pace."
"Events don't let people like us do that" Rina shook her head. "We're looking at a time of great upheaval, those who don't adapt to the coming age will be crushed by it."
"We are seeing a great upsurge in talents in the past century, yes." Scarletglyph admits. "There is no reason to believe it is exclusive to our patch of the Sea."
Xu Zhen absorbs that, closes his eyes, and exhales.
"Well, when you put it
that way, I suppose I do have to bring my own game up, don't I?"
"Indeed" Scarletglyph said, relaxing herself. "Still, this arrangement will take time to unfold, at least until little Rina can complete her own breakthrough… On that note?" She glanced towards the younger woman, who ran some numbers in her head.
"Should be unchanged from the last time I estimated--forty years if I'm fast, eighty years if I'm slow." Rina nodded sagely at that.
"That's pretty good." Scarletglyph looked thoughtful at that. "I'll see if I can shake loose a thing or two to help pad those odds a notch or two, no promises of course, but Qi Condensation grade heavenly treasures aren't quite as restricted as the greater realms."
"I'd appreciate any help I can get" Rina bowed. "Thank you for the offer Lady Scarletglyph."
"No, thank
you" She tapped her fan on the table. "I have other business I must attend to, enjoy your meal on my credit." She rose to her feet, and turned around, her daoist robe rising to cover her. "Until next time darlings!" She waved, and disappeared in a flash of paper cranes.
There's a pregnant pause in the room.
"So, that's your master," Rina asked.
"Yep" Xu Zhen confirmed.
"Awfully more bubbly than I'd expect from an archivist." Rina observed.
"She always thought the mature scholar look was a sham." Xu Zhen explains. "But that makes her…"
"That" Rina nodded.
"Yep." Xu Zhen slumped in his chair. "Definitively
That"
