"FIRST ELDER, FIRST ELDER!" Zedong's office door was kicked in by a panicking guard.
"What is it? Have you found my son?" Questioned Zedong.
"There are so many of them! You must come and see." Declared the guard.
Zedong looked at Yating, they both stood up and walked out of the office, eyes inspecting the skies. Numerous flying vessels surrounded Lilium City, all adorning the same familiar crest, the crest of the Eternal Rain Palace.
Zedong sighed and flew upward, checking on Yao Gui's mansion. Once he saw one of the vessels hovering above it, he calmed down and went back inside his office.
"What!? How come you are calm about this?" Barked Yating.
"What do you want me to do? Gui will handle their affairs, no reason for me to get worked up over it or assume anything." Replied Zedong.
"You don't think this has anything to do with what we were told recently by Alexios." Inquired Yating.
"Who knows? Have the main branch sent you any instructions on what to do?" Said Zedong.
Yating shook his head. "The whole world is in a complete mess now. I think they are busy trying to prepare and locate one of these supposed portals. You would think from Alexios's sermon they would be easy to find."
***
Yao Gui's Back Garden.
"It is good to see you, Lady Ding Song, after so long." Welcomed Gui with a slight bow.
Ding Song returned the kind greeting with a smile, followed by her disciples and grand disciples behind her.
"It is good to see you too, Gui, how have you been?" Spoke Ding Song while taking a seat.
"In good health, thank you." Answered Gui.
"I hope our unexpected visit is not an inconvenience to you, my disciples and I could have stayed on our flying crafts, but I thought you would not have liked it one bit." Said Ding Song.
"You thought correctly, Lady Ding Song, your disciples are no different than my daughters, and you know your place in my heart. My butler is hastily working on preparing all the mansion's rooms to be made available to you and your disciples. I only want to bring to your attention is that I do have a male guest, and I hope that won't be an issue for you or your disciples. I can attest to his character." Advised Gui.
"You mean Amon? Yes, I'm aware of his presence and have met him before. I agree he can be trusted around my little ones, and my disciples have been instructed to treat him well. How is he by the way?" Said Ding Song.
"He was sick and bedridden but now appears healthy and in an excellent mood. I saw him singing and dragging Lady Nuan with him earlier today. The poor lady did not know what to do with him." Quipped Gui.
Ding Song faintly smiled. "Then, I shall excuse myself. I wish to speak to Amon, is he in his room?"
***
Amon's Room.
Standing in front of the hanged diagram, Amon hummed a song while playing with the platform control rod between his two fingers in a circular motion.
Nuan stared at his back, puzzled by Amon's behavior. Ever since he acquired the long rod, he had been in an excellent mood. He would not even let her examine the beautiful carvings on it.
A gentle knock on the door alerted Nuan, she stood up and opened Amon's door. "Master!" Nuan was instantly delighted.
The tall old lady patted Nuan's head motherly and entered the room, followed by her other eight disciples.
"How come you did not come to greet us when we arrived." Questioned Jing.
Nuan pointed to the happily singing man in the room who still have not paid any of them any attention. "I left him alone once, and he killed a boy here in Gui's mansion."
Ding Song walked over to Amon and stood next to him, admiring the hanged diagram.
"It has a certain timeless beauty to it," commented Ding Song.
"Yes, it is what drew me to study this art when I was young in the first place. It was a difficult and long journey since I had to teach myself everything, I now know about it, but it is damn worth it. Who else can claim that they can speak and write the Ether language but Runes Artisan?" Approved Amon.
"I take it you have finished deciphering the whole diagram then?" Inquired Ding Song.
Amon looked at her with a grin and offered her his arm. The old lady wrapped her arm around Amon's arm and walked with him towards his dining table.
"I heard master favored this young man immensely, but I did not believe it..." Whispered Xia Qiu, the eldest of Sing Dong students who were not here before to Nuan.
"Be careful elder sis...next thing you know, you are working as a full-time maid for him." Complained Nuan.
"Is that what you have been doing when you stayed behind!?" Asked Xia Qiu, astonished.
Nuan did not answer her and just took one of the two last available seats next to her master, and Amon, Xia Qiu, did the same and took the last seat. The rest of Sing Dong students just stood behind their master and around the table.
"I have not had the chance to introduce you to all my disciples and grand disciples. This is Xia Qiu, my first disciple, and Annchi's best friend, in addition to being her sworn sister like the rest of my disciples." Introduced Ding Song.
"A pleasure Lady Xia Qiu." Said Amon with a smile. Sing Dong silently stabbed Xia Qiu foot under the table with her cane, which prompted the veiled lady to bow her head slightly and greet Amon properly.
"If you are interested, I can also introduce you to our sect Matriarch. She and I were taught under the same master, and I trust her with my life, including that of my disciples. I would not have been able to help Annchi over the years without her support and help." Offered Ding Song.
Amon smiled. "Perhaps when the opportunity arises. We are only one day away from the decisive moment."
Ding Song nodded and passed a storage ring to Amon. He picked it up and inspected its content. It was generously filled with ten Crude Emeralds (Wind Law), ten Crude Lapis Lazuli (Water Law), and a small mountain of Chipped crystals. He also noted a long thin sword made from Rough materials. Delighted, Amon transferred the ring content to his void and wore the empty ring on his left index finger. He understood Song's message clearly: talk, please.
"The domain we will be heading towards is broken down into fourteen linked areas within the private domain. What I mean by linked is that once you are inside, you can walk from area one to area twelve, going through the areas in between, for example. This does not mean you are free to explore all fourteen locations. I suspect some are off-limit.
It may also allude to fourteen different legacies, but that remains to be seen. I know the platform will inspect everyone's cultivation realm, race, and gender before teleporting them. As the Lion said, anyone under the True Realm won't be teleported. They are also looking for any noble and another check for their nobility law.
I believe that everyone will be teleported to the same location except nobles. They will be guided towards different locations based on their law if they match the laws they are looking for; otherwise, they will be teleported to a common nobles' area.
As for the laws they are looking for, they are the five classical elemental laws, Fire, Wind, Lightning, Water, and Earth. In addition to the law of Cold, Darkness, and three more, I do not recognize the Runes that represent them.
The last thing of note is that upon teleportation, we will be imprinted with some sort of information, and some sort of seal will be placed on us for as long as we are there. I'm not trying to be vague; it is just that the exact details are not recorded on the platform on our side." Divulged Amon.
"Water Law... do you think this is why Annchi was not sent out with you?" Inquired Ding Song.
Amon nodded. "Yes. I'm almost certain she is currently waiting at the area designated for Water Law nobles. I'm worried about Ling, though. I speculate Ning has some sort of unique physique. The Lion might have recognized it and sent her to an area appropriate for her, but Ling...
She just entered the second level of the Elementary Realm, and I did not detect any unique physique from her. To the best of my knowledge, she does not match anything the architects of this whole thing are looking for. Once I'm done with my business there, it will be my priority to locate her and ensure her safety. I implore you to do the same."
Ding Song sighed. "I have always suspected there is something special about Ning, but I never found anything recorded in our libraries like her mystic ability and pinpoint precise intuition. Do you have any clue?"
Amon shook his head. "Human's physiology and unique physiques is never something I paid close attention to until just recently 'when I happened upon Zexian.' It is an art of its own due to the significant changes the body of any cultivator goes through as they go beyond the Nine Mortal Realms."
Ding Song put a finger under her chin and looked up. "That reminds me of something I read a long time ago and thought that it was nothing but a silly joke. The old parchment claimed, at a high cultivation rank, all creatures stop giving birth and instead only lay eggs from mating."
Amon smiled. "That's a fact Lady Ding Song, not a silly joke. Fertility goes down with cultivation, both males and females go through significant changes that allow them to mate with any creature within one major cultivation rank of themselves. The result would be an egg that takes many years to grow in the female womb before she lays it or lay them if she is lucky."
"WHAT!?" The females around Amon shouted at the same time. Then they started showering Amon with questions.
"Enough. It is not something you need to worry your pretty selves over. It won't happen to any of you for hundreds of centuries provided you climb high enough." Amon stood up, stretched, and headed towards his door.
"Where are you going?" Asked Nuan.
"To the hidden domain, of course." Smiled Amon.
"But, it is not open yet!" Exclaimed Nuan.
Smirking, Amon winked at Nuan. "Waiting is only for scrubs, and this handsome young master is no scrub."
Amon walked forward, heading towards the ancient platform. As he walked, he took a wooden mask he carved last night, covered with many Runes. He attached two Chipped crystals to two slots on the forehead of the mask then put the mask on his face.
Afterward, he took a medallion he fashioned from Annchi's Flawed crystal and a piece of parchment with Runes drawn on it, he wore it around his neck, then hid it under his shirt.
Ding Song and her students followed Amon, intrigued by his actions and attire.
Focusing on his heart, he commanded the entirety of his Source to leave his Ethereal Profound Veins and settle inside his heart. Ultimately making him appear as a commoner and making Annchi's Flawed crystal the only Source that could be sensed coming from him.
He knew he could never fool Alexios. He only wanted him to pause for a second when he first detects him; then, he was counting on something else entirely—the nature of Primordial creatures. The angry kitty could meow all he wants in his territory, but not on someone else's equal to him in might and prestige.
Amon stood on the ancient platform alone as nine gorgeous veiled ladies peered at him with one old woman.
With a salute towards his audience, Amon jammed his control rod inside its slot at the center of the platform, activating it immediately and teleporting him towards his desired destination.