Chapter 245

  Legends and Myths (III)

  [Prismatic Lensing]

  [Type: Shamanic Art]

  [Rank: peak-Heaven Tier]

  [Host Comprehension: None (Fails to meet minimum requirements)]

  [...]

  [Obfuscates the nature of a projectile-bound attack within the concept of light, making it appear distorted and as though firing in a random direction or even altering how it looks without making any actual changes to the projectile itself. Though less talented Shamans will have to first Inscribe it to use it, those with a deeper mastery of nature can use it almost instantaneously. Despite its nature suggesting that it is an illusion, it actually isn't and, as such, doesn't get broken by disillusionment arts. It is a physical object that changes how light disperses around the projectile and can be destroyed to end the distortion. As it is designed to alter the perception of light itself, it is extremely difficult to learn and master. Can only be used on arts of Divine tier and below]

  [...]

  [Creation Points Value: 845(1) / 400]

  [Comprehension Difficulty: ???]

  [...]

  [Creation Bonus: Host's talent undergoes a slight evolution: low-Sky --> mid-Sky]

  [...]

  Alright.

  So, if I understand it correctly... it's kind of useless for now? Because every single one of the kids fights less so with projectiles and more so with their bodies.

  Maybe Xi Zhao?

  I don't know.

  Regardless, it does sound kind of broken, specifically because it's not considered an illusion. I'm fairly certain that most folk will immediately assume it is and waste quite a bit of time wondering why their god-tier anti-illusion arts aren't working.

  Whatever.

  "Your introductory gift," I said, pulling the tome out. I had the system make it seem aged and weathered, though whether that did anything to hide anything... well, we all choose to believe it, at the very least.

  "Thank you," he said, accepting it with a bit of apprehension, likely thinking that he'll have to put on his best act of being surprised and moved by something that will be complete garbage.

  For all I know, to be fair, this might be garbage to him.

  Though, judging by his reaction, I doubt it.

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  "T-this... I..." he stammered, his gaze darting between the tome and me. The tome itself was relatively thin, actually, only six pages. Whether that's because the art itself is simple or that's just how shamanic arts in general are... well, I'll find out, I suppose.

  "I only ask that you don't share it."

  "Of course!" he exclaimed, quickly putting it into his robes. "I swear I will master it as quickly as I can so that I can be useful!"

  "Oh. I like the enthusiasm, but think for a moment."

  "Hm?"

  "Who are my Disciples?"

  "... oh."

  "Ha ha. Don't be dispirited; I do plan on recruiting more Disciples, of course."

  "Then, for them, I will master it!"

  Bowing, he left in a hurry, likely feeling like a kid on Christmas morning. All I ever wanted to do was rip open my gifts and go play with them, but I felt like I had to stick around for the festivities as a 'thank you' to my parents.

  I spent the remainder of the day sorting through whether I missed anything or not and going a bit through the spatial rings, organizing them.

  I moved all the important and expensive things into one that I kept on a chain around my neck, tucked neatly underneath my robes, while spreading out the wealth among the remaining ones just in case I got robbed.

  As always, time waited for nothing and no one, and the night began to descend; all the kids gathered in my little home, just in time for the old Cao Xun to emerge from the shadows, beckoning us.

  We left without a word as he used smoke of some herb mixture to cloak us... somehow. I'm guessing he was hiding our Qi, as it sure as hell wasn't hiding us from anyone's eyes.

  The night was rather quiet and empty--as everyone had worked practically all day and night long, they'd gone to rest, leaving the streets seeming barren and ghostly. Honestly, it did remind me a lot of a ruin, as rubble and debris could be seen everywhere, and we didn't encounter a single strum of light as we navigated the alleyways.

  We were heading northward, toward one of the chains jutting out of the city and connecting it to the ground, and we kept quiet. I was at the front, just behind Cao Xun, while Long Tao was at the rear. We haven't talked ever since that little spat of ours, and it has gotten a bit awkward; I should probably apologize first thing tomorrow.

  Long story short, we were betrayed.

  Right.

  These things do happen, though for some reason my paranoia didn't kick in. Maybe because things went smoothly with Madame Lu? And my brain just assumed this would play out the same?

  Cao Xun did lead us northward, though he stopped just shy of the chain, inside a rather broad building that looked like a warehouse--where seven elderly gentlemen enrobed in fancy robes were waiting for us.

  "Here they are, your Eminence!" Haah. "The children you were looking for!"

  "Hm." The old guy didn't even look at the little traitorous worm, simply tossing him something with a glint (a spatial treasure, I imagine). "Leave."

  "At once!" At least look at me once, you damn bastard, before you scurry off like a little rat!

  I'm just wondering... was it his own doing? Or did the old man Gu tell him to do it?

  Nah, I doubt it. He could have just sold us straight up any time he wanted.

  "We apologize for such underhanded means." Honestly, I couldn't even commit any of their faces to memory. I simply grabbed my little tortoise and started thinking of ways to piss them off six ways to Sunday. "We only wanted to talk."

  "Funny place to do that," I said. "The only thing lacking is a whole heap of cultivators hiding in the shadows as an audience. Oh, wait, you have those too. Spare me your shitty soliloquies; I'm really not in the mood. Here's how this will play out: you will ask me to hand my Disciples over to you because their futures will be in far better hands with your-whatever-lands, I will tell you to kindly go fuck yourself in ways that will have gods feeling shame, you will lose your minds because you can't comprehend how some backwater moron dares speak to you in such an uncouth way, and in the process you will attack to restore that thing you call pride. So, how about we skip all those steps and you assholes just attack, huh?"

  I stunned them into silence.

  Okay, I kind of finally understand how those 'Silence' spells worked in the games and whatnot; it wasn't magic, it was probably just the character rattling off some of the most unhinged crap imaginable, making everyone around him utterly befuddled.

  "Friends are right, little Daoist," a woman's voice broke the silence as a flurry of light seemed to birth her figure into the building. "There is no reason for there to be no conversation. Fighting is just rather ugly, is it not?"

  Oh, for the love of God...