AN: I had all this written up last night and waited until after I slept to post it, then Occi posted that interlude and took away my chance to gain oracle points. My regret is immeasurable and my day, ruined. Still, content is content, so enjoy.
The Demonic Altar Sect was in a state of full retreat--their disciples lost in a flurry of mutual devouring and simple fear in the face of a resurgence of the Coalition Forces. With the failure at Thousand Song City and the subsequent rout, it was unlikely that they would be able to rise again in the immediate future.
Which would have been the start of the Demon Annihilating War's clean-up, if it wasn't for two little problems.
The Noble Knowledge Sect expanding the reach of their Insidious Poison Maze to new and terrifying size, the terrible relic growing greedily and wide, consuming much of what had been the Thousand Arrows and Flowers Sect in its charge--and only halted by the full strength of much of the Righteous Path. Unless a method was developed to push it back to its old borders…
"It'll be a loss." Leafsplitter kept his voice even despite the end of his report. "Noble Knowledge will be able to retreat to the expanded Maze, and we will need to spread our strength out further still to re-establish the Poison-Crushing Siege. The Broken Arrow Bandits are still fighting--but I would be lying if I said this twist has been easily accepted."
The Divine Archer he was being called, Unbroken in a Hundred Battles. Lofty titles one and all--but one he had earned.
The first of Rina's company of friends to enter Core Formation, the promise of a bright day delivered a century too late.
"Regardless, while some of our number have laid down their arms and been integrated into other powers, the core of the Broken Arrow Bandits will fight to the end." He shook his head. "If we're fortunate, perhaps one of the other powers will have a reserve strength capable of severing the Maze from its core, but if not… Perhaps when Qiguai opens for the Nascent Realm. There is still time yet to reach the peak."
"So, where does that take us?" Bright Iron asked, scarred and battered himself--the signs of heavy battle for one who didn't turn it into his trade. "Song Empire's back in Coalition hands, and we've connected all of our territories, but between the Maze's expansion and the Demon Grandfather down south…"
"Where'd that guy even come from anyway?" Xu Zhen complained, flopping back onto a set of cushions and covering his face with one of his arms. "We were this close--
this close--to getting this shitshow under control, and then this old lunatic pops out of nowhere and all but
single handedly turns the Verdant South into a death zone!"
Rina coughs awkwardly, narrowly avoiding choking on the wine she was tasting as the complaint reached her ears, her cheeks flushed as she pounded her own chest to force it back in place.
Millet smirks. "Haha, didn't you say something along those lines back when the announcement was first made? 'That they were going to regret leaving that man alive?' "
The group turned their attention to Rina, as she cleared the rest of her throat. She had the good grace to look embarrassed at the whole business, and set the wine back down. "I'm… Okay, history lesson."
She crossed her legs and rocked forward on her own cushion. "Way, way back in the day--before my Golden Devil clan was driven from our mountain fortresses, there was a powerful Blood Path Sect set up in the Verdant South. Their backs to the sea, they expanded outwards and ate, hunted, and killed as they pleased. The Righteous Path may have been stronger in those days, but their attention was still primarily on suppressing the Demonic Altar Sect--up north. Now, this Sect had been pushing their boundaries for a while, and making encroachments on our territory as part of the bargain. No big deal so far, we were strong and kept to ourselves in that day. But one of our neighbours came to our gates and knelt before them. 'Please! Deliver us from these beasts!' they begged."
Rina grimaced at that. "In that age, we were a strong Sect. We had four Grand Elders, and the Regent Lord as our reserve power, even if he had to spend most of his time hibernating with how weak the Qi of the land had become. An exception was made to our isolation--though the reason behind it isn't something I was made privy to, and our Legions marched to war. Our Elders did battle--and we had found a terrible secret."
She gave that a moment to process, confirming the group was listening closely. "They had spent much of their spoils of war promoting a single expert, cultivating him beyond all reason. When our Grand Elders marched to war, they found themselves facing off against a Late Nascent Soul cultivator."
"Ouch" Millet winced. "That couldn't have gone over well."
"It certainly could have been worse." Rina observed. "But we weren't weak either, and I should repeat, we had
four Nascent Souls at the time."
"The Formation Threshold" Xu Zhen nodded. "You mentioned this, right? Three Cultivators to assemble a Formation that roughly equals their own combined might, and everything beyond that is stronger than the sum of their parts?"
"Right!" Rina nodded and smiled softly. "We had four Nascent Souls--enough to assemble the God-Metal Soldier Formation. While not enough to reach into Spirit Severing, overcoming a single Small Realm difference wasn't too big a deal. Our Grand Elders put the enemy master to the sword--though not without expending some treasures and taking some injuries."
"And that's when the Devil Punishing Coalition struck." Bright Iron crossed his arms. "They saw weakness, and they had an excuse."
"Yeah, which brings us to today--because we couldn't do a thorough job stomping out their legacy, it was divided in two. Refugees fleeing to the furthest reaches of the Desert--and scavengers who hid in the mountains."
"The Abyssal Devil Bee Sect, and the Battle Blood Cannibal Sect." Leafsplitter nodded. "The former has been a long nuisance though, and the latter is weak--how is this relevant."
"Just going to stop you there" Rina holds up a hand. "The battle Blood Cannibal Sect was not
weak"
"... No offense, but they were being contained by you at your weakest, and Jingshen for millennia." Xu Zhen boggled at that. "How does that
not make them weak?"
"Because it's a misconception based on people staring at a map and looking at a list of Nascent Souls before dictating rankings." Rina explained. "Yes, in terms of Cultivators and Nascent Power, the Battle Blood Cannibal Sect was about on par with the other two Desert Powers. You're forgetting something very important though."
Everyone
else looks to Millet, who's busy watching the proceedings with her hands steepled together, her chin resting on top. "Why are you looking at me?"
"You're usually the first to figure out the little bits though?" Bright Iron explains, and Millet sighs theatrically.
"
Boys the lot of you." She rolls her eyes, and blows a lock of hair out of her eyes. "Fine though, I'll accommodate your desire not to use your brains." She straightens up, and adjusts her hat. "He's running a Blood Path power in the least hospitable area in the Region--he's utterly cut off from raiding except against hardened targets. Even with these limitations, he was able to raise and maintain an equal degree of cultivator strength as the other Desert Powers--am I right?"
"Yeah, you're right." Rina nodded solemnly. "Sun Diaxiang is a remarkably gifted administrator, who's developed methods and policies needed to not only achieve a sustainable population of mortals despite being a Blood Path power--but has done so and instilled just enough discipline to keep his followers from being too undisciplined. He's also done this without sacrificing his personal ability to be a fearsome warrior."
"... And someone like that just got the Devil Sisters to follow him, and has a near unlimited 'Budget' in the Verdant South to build strength with." Leafsplitter snarls, understanding the implications keenly. "In just one fell swoop, he's placed himself in a position to potentially supplant the Demonic Altar Sect as the Premier Blood Path Power."
"I wouldn't go that far…" Xu Zhen cautioned. "A Late Nascent counts for a great deal--but you're correct, in a conventional war, this is a remarkably dangerous foe." He nodded then, seeming to grasp the subject matter. "We'll need to volunteer for duties with the Southern Front then, when time allows."
"Mmm, actually, on that note…" Rina continued. "There's talks going on back home, and there's a chance I'll be recalled back to the Desert for a while. I've put in my interest in participating in the Southern Expedition, but it's up in the air how things'll go." She frowns. "Tensions with Jingshen just jumped up another notch when Lady Jiao tried to murder Yao."
"... In what universe was that a good idea?" Xu Zhen boggles.
"A universe where Yao intervened to stop her from assassinating Aretaphila in the middle of her own Five Element Tribulation '' Rina clarified. "And given how instrumental she turned out to be in the Thousand Song Siege…"
"Ugh." Xu Zhen shakes his head. "Yeah, you do what you've got to do, just try to keep it at saber rattling and concessions, losing the spirit stone trade in the middle of setting up a new Poison Crushing Siege will be
awful."
"Not my decision to make, '' Rina sighed. "With any luck though, it'll just be a reminder to them why we're not to be bullied, I don't see Old Gold deciding to push hard without Nascent Superiority, and even if Yao wants her pound of flesh, that's just parity." She took a moment to further consider it. "I mean. There's no life or death grudge we have with Jingshen, you know? The point of contention is the Scorpion Road--we can't exactly surrender that without literally cutting our own throats, as it makes up roughly a third of our Clan's total income, but Jingshen wants it so they can have a complete monopoly on the Spirit Stone trade."
"It's life vs More Money, totally reasonable" Millet nods sagely. "Hardly like those fat slobs do anything with the money aside from making perfect pleasure palaces."
"I feel like I should be saying something in their defense…" Xu Zhen winced. "But…"
"It's hard to defend those who sent donations instead of putting their lives on the line at the front." Leafsplitter finished the thought.
"You said it, not me" Xu Zhen relaxed, now that he didn't need to be on the hook for saying it. Leafsplitter nodded in an understanding fashion, and let the topic lie.
"Mmm, so it is what it is. Hopefully we manage to get a suitably sincere apology, or reparations before things escalate further." Rina nodded. "But in the short term, I do still need to head home for a while… On that note though.." She turns her attention to Bright Iron. "Think I could ask you a favor?"
Bright Iron pointed at himself. "Who, me?"
"Yeah." Rina nodded. "There's something I need to pick up while I've got the chance…"
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The Sorrowful Blacksmith Sect--one of the heirs to the Heavenly Blacksmith, masters of forging the finest of spirit tools and treasures. It is said that their very best can create equipment suitable for use by Nascent Souls!
In the mountains do they reside, adjacent to the Colossus Footsteps Pass, within the ancient fortresses once owned by the Golden Devil Clan in the times before their retreat to the Organ Meat Desert.
The climate is temperate, and the valleys wreathed in mist year-round. Mighty Demonic Beasts wander the peaks, hunting for heavenly treasures to feed on while being hunted in turn by the cultivators who resided here. Sometimes who the predator is and who the prey is gets reversed.
The choking Hallowmane Lion shows that this is not the case today, as a Flamelash seared the life from it.
"Anyone ever tell you how weird that is?" Bright Iron quips, slinging his hammer back to his back as he watches the proceeds. The Lion's neck steadily charred until one final gesture sees it severed from its neck. "Fire isn't exactly supposed to cling to things like that, right?"
"I think it's a little unfair, honestly." Rina commented, gesturing to suck the slain beast into her spatial ring. "Why is it that Fire is interpreted as only offensive and destructive when it can do other things too?" She snaps her fingers, and the Flamelash winks out of view. "It should be a thing in itself."
"It's just a little uncanny I think." Bright Iron shakes his head. "So, this is the place?"
"Should be…" Rina thought, looking the cave over with a critical eye. It strongly resembled the vision she received so long ago.
"Nice." Bright Iron grinned. "Thought we picked this place clean, even if there's just scraps left over, that can go a long way for me."
"Yes, yes." Rina waved it off. "I know the deal, your escort and discretion in exchange for anything in the cave that doesn't require the Blood to operate." She gestured, and a sharp knife was expressed from her spatial ring. "Just get you to step back a notch, okay?"
Bright Iron nodded, and stepped back to the mouth of the cave. Rina glanced back to confirm he was out--and pricked her thumb.
A single bead of shining gold flowed out before her regeneration sealed the wound--but the bead was all she needed.
She advanced to the back wall of the cave, and smeared the droplet of blood across the wall, drawing a strange character upon it. She chanted a keyphrase in the Old Tongue.
Three factor verification was--after all--the minimum if you intended your secret holdfast to survive the inquiry of locusts.
Nothing happens for a few moments, Rina standing awkwardly back from the design--but Athenia's vision was solid--the glyph glowed--and a panel on the wall slid out.
Inside was…
Well, Rina still wasn't going to wear it as is. She may have grown up a little since the time she had that vision, but she still wasn't going to wear armor that went out of its way to draw that kind of attention to her assets.
The techniques still existed to re-tailor it though, she'd have to pass it on to her family and see what they could do poking at Athenia's spare armor.
It was nice though, to not have to get in a life and death battle for something. She supposed the defense in this case was obscurity--after all, you leave a strongly defended place and enough people will bash their heads against it that someone will eventually get lucky.
Just bury a box inside a beast den and conceal it? Well, what are the odds someone'll trip over that?
Certainly not within a mere ten thousand years!
A few mementos to bring home, and… Rina's hands wrapped around the trinket on the side of the panel, withdrawing a miniature puppet.
A few minutes later, Rina left the cave, tossing the puppet to Bright Iron. Naturally, he caught it. "Is this a…"
"Yep, a Silver-class Puppet Defender" Rina explained. "Fuel it with a Spirit Stone and it'll fight for you as long as it has power. Scales from Qi Condensation to Core Formation depending on the grade."
"This was absolutely going to burst out and murder whoever tried to check that cache without passing muster, wasn't it?" Bright Iron deduces, and Rina grins, pointing at the empty sockets on its back. "Had three High Grades in there, it wouldn't have been fun to delegate that I think."
"Where'd they go?" Bright Iron wonders, only to see Rina toss them up in the air for a moment, before returning them to her Spatial Ring. "Aw, come on?"
"Hey now, you've got all the Qi of the Plains and the Beasts of the Mountains to pick between" Rina explains with a slightly smug air. "This gets me out of the hole I dug myself into with my doctor, and gives me a nice budget to cultivate with to boot."
Bright Iron pouts, but Rina pats him on the shoulder and gives a slight push out. "Look on the bright side, you've got authentic Old Golden Devil mechanisms and arrays to study on that thing. It's very useful to you but not that fancy to me, it's a fair trade to get in here without needing to cause an international incident."
"You're not wrong" Bright Iron sighs, then chuckles quietly. "I suppose you're right, the chance to further my craft outweighs a few spirit stones here and there."
"Good boy" Rina compliments, taking the lead on the way out, the box under her arm.
She just hoped the Callista hadn't forgotten how to reweave Silverine Battle Armor...
