"ARE YOU INSANE?! HE WAS THE DIRECT DISCIPLE OF THE FOURTH ELDER, WHY WOULD YOU KILL HIM?"
When Rain finally woke up, his reaction was more vocal than I'd imagined it would be.
Rain placed his palms on his head."Oh gods, the Fourth Elder is going to kill us. No, we'll be lucky if he only kills us. He might murder the entire village and keep us locked up as torture slaves, or turn us into cultivation pots!"This world has slavery?"That was his direct disciple, clan royalty. The chosen disciple of the Master of Alchemy, a once-in-a-generation talent who reached the Golden Core Formation realm by the age of 24. Why would you kill him?"
I placed a hand on his shoulder to help calm him down.
"He tried to kill me. What was I supposed to do, just let him succeed?"
"You could have knocked him out, or run away, or even crippled him. Now we have to try and brave the forest and make it to the Barbarian Lands before the Soaring Clouds Sect finds out."
I shook my head."You wouldn't survive the forest, and I refuse to go back there yet. We'll continue forward and try negotiating with the sect. If that fails or proves impossible, we'll find an enemy faction and use the murder of Pyeong as proof of our devotion."Frankly speaking, if the negotiation failed, we'd probably just be killed on sight. That would make it impossible to negotiate with any enemy faction, assuming one even existed. Hopefully, Rain wouldn't think too deeply about that and would accept the plan as reasonable.
"Wh..." Rain stopped himself from saying whatever was on his mind and thought for a long moment. I waited almost a minute before he finally spoke, resigned:"If they refuse and attack, are you sure we'll both be able to escape? The Sect Master is in isolation training, but there will still be several Nascent Soul realm cultivators trying to kill you, and I'll be of no use in a fight. If whatever negotiation you're trying doesn't work, it'll be up to you to get us both out alive."
"I'm certain no amount of Golden Core or Nascent Soul cultivators will pose a threat to my escape, even if I have to get you out too."This was a complete lie, of course. One Pyeong had been bad enough. Two people with his ability, or even five with just his physical prowess, would be a death sentence. But my words worked to calm Rain, regardless.
He left his camping gear behind, as we wouldn't be stopping again, and we continued forward at full pace toward the sect.
We traveled in true silence this time.
I didn't talk his ears off trying to drill the Dao of Heat into his head, and he didn't ask questions. Along the way, I toyed with one of the shards of Pyeong's core. It was around #000051, a very dark, almost black blue. The shard was about as tough as gold and only slightly less flexible. It didn't absorb or reflect radiation particularly well, and it didn't react to it in any especially strange way either.
From everything I'd found, the material was pretty average. It was strange to think that just by gathering these shards into a small ball, humans could become as strong as a Gen 2 Warform. There were people back home who would've killed for something like this. Hell, there were AIs back home that would have killed for something like this. Making individual humans strong enough to fight alongside us, even at a lesser level than the Gen 3s, would have been a massive boon against the Great Enemy.
I bent the shard with a little too much force, and it cracked, dissipating into tiny sparks that floated to the ground.
Unfortunately, I doubted this would serve as any kind of power source. They were too fragile, too weak. It was a wonder cultivators managed to keep them intact at all. Merely running at full speed should be enough to break it.
More to research, once I gain access to the sect.
Rain suddenly stopped and dropped to a knee, his body subtly shaking in fear, heart rate spiking. His actions confused me for a moment, until I saw what he'd sensed first. Then it became clear.
A man in white robes was approaching, no doubt from the sect, flying toward us on a platform moving around five miles per second.
I followed Rain's lead and knelt as the man landed before us.
"Outer disciple Rain? You're meant to be guarding Tong Shi village. Why have you returned?"
His voice held no malice, just urgency and curiosity. It wasn't particularly loud or vicious, but it boomed. Rain's ki flickered like a candle in the wind, and even the grass and air seemed to pull away from the sound. I didn't think he was stronger than Pyeong, even if he was hiding his energy, but the weight of his presence was undeniably greater.
"This Golden Core stage cultivator made landing at our village seeking to join our sect. I guided him here as quickly as I could so that he could be judged."
Rain's voice trembled slightly, but he masked it well as excitement. Between that and his illusions, he might have a talent for lies.
I started up my core, increasing its energy production to around 1.5 times what Pyeong's was when he stopped holding back, and slowly rose to my feet.
"It's true. I've wandered freely for a long time, but now I just want a sect to settle down in. Yours seems knowledgeable enough to teach me, and righteous enough to be worthy of me."I came off more arrogant than I'd like, but I needed to exude confidence, to project that I knew my own worth. I wasn't sure how much sway this guy had, if any, or if he was just the cultivator version of a doorman, but I'd gain nothing by acting humble.
The cultivator started sweating. He shrank into the background and bowed his head. He must have been much lower on the totem pole than I'd imagined.
"Of course, sir. I'll take you to meet the First Elder right away."
He quickly guided me onto the platform, and I dragged Rain along as we finally arrived at the sect.