Chapter 60
Songs of Prelude (III)
It truly ended with the proclamation that the cauldron exploded.
Look, I may be a bit stupid, and I may not have a working knowledge of this world, but I know for a fact that wasn't a cauldron exploding. Not unless you think Elder Zhang was a cauldron. And even if the man carried a bit of a belly, it wasn't--look, the point is, the sect was hiding what transpired.
Why?
The first clue came the day later, when the Declaration of War was officially sent out to the Fire Sun Sect.
The entire sect was abuzz with the news, and practically everyone forgot about the exploding cauldron... but I didn't. I tried poking and prodding around for some info when Elder Qin came for his daily visit, but he didn't actually divulge anything, just reiterating that it was a cauldron.
Okay.
Let's get my facts in order before I start drawing my theories.
One: The system confirmed that Elder Zhang is a traitor.
Two: it also confirmed that his temper was extremely unstable and that his cultivation method was worsening his condition.
Three: Long Tao left the peak two days ago, and yesterday somebody screamed very loudly, 'WHO THE HELL WAS IT?' before the entire mountain caught fire.
Four: It was definitely Elder Zhang losing his shit, revealing himself as a spy, and likely being at least fought if not killed by the other Elders of the sect.
Five: For some reason, rather than revealing Elder Zhang's involvement, they kept it a secret and immediately sent a declaration--
Ah. Right.
Maybe they learned something from Elder Zhang? Or one of his disciples? Which compelled them to issue the declaration immediately while hiding Elder Zhang's betrayal? Maybe it was to keep the Fire Sun Sect believing they had their 'trump card' still?
I don't know.
Honestly, it's just guesswork. It might be that they just didn't want to worsen the sect's morale by letting everyone know one of the most important and senior members of the sect was actually a traitorous bastard.
... in fact, knowing this place, that might as well have been it. But no, wait--why would Elder Qin hide it from me? Tsk. This whole thing stinks.
Nonetheless, I actually feel a bit relieved--I was worried about how to handle the whole 'Elder Zhang' business. I had to expose him before the competition, but the big question was 'How'.
My plan was actually rather similar to how it played out: just piss him off so much that he loses his shit and starts using Fire Sun Sect arts, all whilst praying Elder Qin would save me from certain fiery death.
Anyway, that was dealt with, as were most other immediate things.
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Hua had brought back more servants to finalize the buildings, Xi Zhao was cultivating regularly and getting daily guidance from Elder Qin, and Dai Xiu was also busy with breaking through--having reached the sixth stage just three days ago, actually. Long Tao was long gone--he he--and that only left one kid on the block: Light.
If I could meet with the Spirit Sage one-on-one, I was about 3% confident in subtly slipping in that Light would find the Antechamber extremely useful. 97% chance that I'd be killed on the spot, however.
She would eventually gain an entry to it, no doubt, but there was a minimum age limit of 11. Long Tao knew that, yet he still brought it up, which means that it would be vastly more beneficial for her to enter it as early as possible.
So...
How the heck do I sneak a 6-year-old girl into a secret underground area?
Wait, no, that sounded wrong.
Hmm.
Maybe I can create a cloaking art for her, too?
Okay, let's actually test this real quick, if I can use some of her 'rareness' as a restriction.
[Restriction, Bane of Blood: -80,000 CP (Inaccessible)]
[Restriction, Star Devourer Physique: -4,000 CP (Inacessible)]
[Restriction, Demonic Bloodline: -20-1,000,000 CP (Partly Accessible)]
... huh.
Let me actually see if something can be made...
So, I followed the same route I did with Long Tao but ran into a bit of an... issue, you could say. It was actually possible to get the 400-point deduction and use just 100 Creation Points to practically replicate the same cloaking art I made for Long Tao (well, like, 92% the same), but it would cost me... 100,000 high-grade Spirit Stones.
That's right.
It's pay-to-win time.
Just when I thought I was rich and a tycoon, here comes the system to just shatter my dreams.
I'm pretty sure the entire Spirit Sword Sect had like 10 high-grade Spirit Stones, and they were considered as treasures on the same level as peak-Earth martial arts.
In fact, I could only afford to shave off, like, 80 points, and that would cost me my entire wealth.
Life is sort of like a bat.
If you don't know what the hell you're doing, don't go stepping into the batter's box for the first time in your life in a desperate attempt to impress a girl, only to get a fastball chucked at you so quickly you panic, yell, and fall back while everyone laughs.
Happened to my friend Timmy.
There's really only one thing I can do...
"Elder Qin," I said as we started our game of chess.
"Hm?"
"If you win, I will give you whatever you want. If I win, could you arrange for one of the kids to go into Antechamber..."
"..."
"Better yet, maybe give me a token that will allow me to reward my very talented kids with going there?"
"Did you fall on your head recently?"
"I may have."
"Haah. Don't worry about it," Elder Qin said. "I will arrange it for Xi Zhao myself. However, his heart is still turbulent, and he isn't ready."
"Oh. Yeah, that makes sense. I didn't mean him, though."
"Who did you mean? That servant?"
"Ah? No, no, not him either..."
"You want the other two to go again?"
"Not that either."
"Then who--you want to send a six-year-old girl into that place?" He growled with legitimate anger in his voice, a small tendril of Qi pressure accidentally escaping him and causing no small amount of hurt. Jesus. I really don't want to piss him off... but... aah, looks like I'm about to piss him off...
"Yes," I mustered as much confidence and courage as I could to utter the singular word, enduring his stern gaze.
"Why?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why can't you tell me?"
"I can't tell you why I can't tell you."
"... I've overlooked many things, Elder Lu."
"Which I am eternally grateful for."
"And what do you hope to achieve by sending a six-year-old orphan to face her demons?"
"..." Well, I'm hoping to not have a future Demon Emperor slowly grow in my shade. Honestly, it wasn't even because I thought she'd be inherently evil--it was mostly because of how the world would look at her. She'd be eternally persecuted, whether she did anything wrong or not.
If there was a chance, however slim, to prevent that and simply have her have an ordinary life (well, as ordinary of a life as someone who'll eventually become super strong can have), then... well, I have to do something, right?
"You can't tell me."
"I swear," I muttered. "On everything. I would never, ever mean harm to her or any of the kids here. I'd sooner die."
Though the latter words were meant to reassure, honestly... they scared me. Because, as I was saying them, I realized... I believed them. If there was an attack right now, I am more than certain I'd step out and try and protect them to my last breath.
... hey.
Jake, buddy, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU IN THE PAST SIX MONTHS?!
END OF VOLUME I -- Nestled in the Mountains
