"Above the Clouds?" Asked Rahz
"Yes! The temple is at the top of the tallest mountain and it is protected by illusion spells, so the people that don't know where to look can't really find it. You were almost there but without a guide to get you there on your first visit, it is extremely difficult. The majority of the people end up at what used to be Xiao Niu residence and past those mountains there is only the endless sea."
Rahz was a little impressed and couldn't wait to head up, he had being above the clouds while flying on Xiao Bai but it was another thing altogether to live in a place where they would be below you.
The time in the camp was merry and Rahz quickly find out all the exploits Bato was proud off, including his ten thousand deguises technique. He quickly changed into a woman, then an old man, then a noble. Jazz was impressed by the resourcefulness of the monk but most important of all, the beauty of the technique.
The technique was a work of art, from the change in height to the wrinkles on his skin or the ability to produce scars on his face, they all looked extremely real.
"Wait! Wait! Do the old man again" said Rahz
Bato quickly changed into his old guy disguised one more time and when Rahz saw it, he jumped from his seat and said, "I know you!".
"You tried to steal my money in Willowdale a long time ago, we fought and you had to run away"
"WOOH... WOOH… Bato has never run away from nobody even if you use your Realm weapon... you can't beat me!"
"No! I remembered perfectly, I was about to get my first evolution and you tried to steal my purple tooth and said that it was for your Stop being a Virgin Fund..."
Bato's eyes opened wide in disbelief, "You are that Barbarian Kid?"
Rahz stood up and came closer to the monk that was now staring at his face intensively, "I Remembered, I had you on the ropes that day...if it wasn't for your dad butting in, I would have stolen that necklace for sure"
Rahz blood was boiling already and so was Bato's, in each of their minds that was one fight that needed a conclusion and as fate would have it both now wielded a Realm Item.
Elune coughed a couple of times to interrupt the two males about to exchange pointers and deflated Rahz's balloon by telling him that it was time to rest and since he didn't manage to bring the Arid Clefthoof, it was his punishment to massage her feet for an hour.
Sighed…
Rahz excused himself for the night and followed Elune into the tent while the others continued talking about their experience during the Tempering War. The Temple of the Rising Sun preached peace and a nonviolent approach to solving problems but all of their members were fanatics of martial arts and they were no strangers to fighting so the stories had Bato hook right away.
Jazz could definitely feel that it wouldn't be hard to convince Bato to travel with them passed the Shattering Scar to beat the pesky Dragonkin.
Jazz's feeling was ratified when out of nowhere a shot glass came out of Bato's monk outfit and was place in front of Jazz to be filled it up.
"I thought you left the life a long time ago?"
"I did! Cough… Cough ...This is training, I happened to cultivate a supreme set of martial arts that requires copious amounts of liquor in order to build a solid foundation. I am literally taking one for the team... If it wasn't for me this technique would end up forgotten in the river of time" Said Bato with a face full of determination.
"Yeah Right… Beer belly cultivation technique is more like it" thought Jazz.
The night went by extremely quickly under the stories and the alcohol and before they knew it the morning light smack their faces which delayed the plans of heading towards the temple by a couple of days. Despite drinking like a savage, the monk really drew the line when it came to the food he was eating and abstain from eating any type of meat which got the group thinking that maybe there really was a secret set of martial exercises being cultivated.
After a couple of days of interacting with the group he decided that they were good people and decided to not delayed their trip anymore,"Well, let's go to the temple".
"The easiest way is to fly directly there, it would take us another month or so if we walk up the mountain"
Rahz and the others looked at each other before Riddick step up and said, "I...I can't fly"
"What you mean you can't fly?"
"Is easier if i show you", With those words Riddick took his bracelet off and started expanding while the eyes of Bato grew as big as saucers.
"The Relic allows Riddick to change shape but unfortunately it does little for his weight and even Xiao Bai can't support him"
Snort…
Xiao Niu step forward and put on a majestic pose and lifted his right paw like the guy in the heisman trophy and said, " I can't carry him but I sure can pull him"
"Great idea, Partner"
Bato drew a symbol with his left hand while the other held the Pearls of Enlightenment and a mantra was being recited at incredible speed. When the symbol and the mantra was finished, one of the Pearls of Enlightenment that usually hung as prayer necklace around the monk shone with energy and a symbol could be seen on its surface.
Energy started to spread to the rest of the necklace which changed its form into an energy rope that finally took a very leather like look and texture.
"That was cool" Said Rahz while Apocalypse snorted at the ability.
The Idea was simple, Xiao Niu could pull an extraordinary amount of weight and all they needed was a Rope strong enough to support the forces involve and thanks to the shapeshifting option in the Pearl of enlightenment, they had all the pieces necessary to make it work.
The rope was connected to Xiao Niu on one end and on the other to Riddick's waist in his humanoid form. Niu increased his size to 20 ft and as smoke came out of his nostrils he started stomping on the ground while everybody else jumped on Xiao Bai ready to follow.
Whoosh!!
Xiao Niu started to stampede along the ground before swooping into the air and as the rope tense, Riddicks back was almost snap in two and he was carried into the air.
AAAHHH!!!
Riddick screams were heard moving farther and farther away and after a while there was silence and then another set of screams but they were of joy and amazement. After realizing that the rope was not going to break, Riddick calm down and started to look around and enjoy the scenery.
They were moving towards the clouds in a diagonal direction and many mountains were being left behind while others even taller ones where appearing in the distance. Despite the height they were at, there was no snow at the top of the mountains and instead shades of green and brown could be seen indicating that trees and other vegetation was abundant.
Rahz and the others were amazed by what they were seeing and realized that they really needed a guide to get there. Their shock was even more intense the moment that they went through what seem to be a magic screen much like the one use to isolated the Warsong Valley.
Beyond the screen was something that left them with their mouths opened. Tall buildings in the artistic style of chinese temples stood tall while statues of different beast including one of Xiao Niu could be seeing in all their majesty.
The temple seem to have different courtyards while hundreds of monks practice in unison the basic forms of their martial arts. In other parts of the temple, many people gathered in groups listening to senior monks speak while in other places there were monk observing the beast statues in order to get enlightenment into their martial arts style of choice.
Rahz took in a very deep breath and felt extremely refresh while Elune smiled and said, "This is a great place to have our child".