Maryam's eyes flicked over the punishment department emblem on his chest. It seemed like Zaionz's ability to hold a grudge indeed lived up to Maryam's expectations.
"Don't worry," the older man said, looking her up and down, "Old Elder Seagry doesn't bite. You just listen to me and you won't get in any trouble."
Maryam followed him to a private room in a nearby building.
"Alright," said Seagry, "You're going to take off your clothes so that we can look through them, and then I'm going to pat you down."
"Ah," Maryam replied, "About that. I know it's atypical to do full physical searches unless there is significant cause for suspicion, but if there is a new policy in place to randomize them, that's fine. In accordance with the sect rules, I'd like to request that the search be carried out by a woman, with no men in the room."
The vast majority of female cultivators were very attractive. Maryam wouldn't object to being stripped and touched by a hottie.
Seagry's face darkened.
"I never heard of any such rules. Are you trying to rebel against the sect?"
"You never heard of it? I see. However, it does exist. So, you can either bring in a woman to search me, or I'll see you at the challenge grounds. Don't worry, what I do to you will make what happened to Nevus look like nothing."
"How dare you!"
"I guess it's the second option, then."
As Maryam turned to walk out of the room, she felt her arm being grabbed.
"Where do you think you're going?" Seagry asked.
And then he froze. Maryam was looking at him with such intense scorn and hatred that his breath caught in his chest. Her bloodlust was so thick it was almost tangible.
"Let go," she said.
Almost subconsciously, Seagry let go of her arm.
"That's better," Maryam said, releasing Seagry from her stare.
Seagry nearly collapsed in relief. Being an experienced peak Core Creation practitioner, he had thought he could easily quash any dissent from this unruly junior.
Now, however, his instincts, wrought from many years of survival in the cultivation world, were screaming at him: "Do not fight this woman."
"Wait!" he called out, as Maryam was about to go through the door.
"Yes?"
"I'll go bring in a woman to do the search, so please don't go."
Maryam smiled at him.
"There we go. I knew you were smart. I'll wait here, then."
As he passed her while walking out, she put her hand on his shoulder and stopped him.
"Oh, and… tell Zaionz to come get me herself, next time. I don't need a swarm of bugs bothering me night and day."
Several minutes passed, and a gorgeous woman walked in.
She looked to be in her late thirties or early forties, with dark hair and expertly applied lipstick. She had excellent skin, with a few slight wrinkles lending her face a mature charm.
Since her cultivation was still in the Channel Creation stage, her physical appearance was probably a good approximator for her real age.
Maryam typically preferred women who were close to her in age, but she was feeling rather lonely at that moment, and a beautiful woman is a beautiful woman.
Regardless, she had already effectively agreed to be searched, and she wouldn't do something as churlish as humiliating a woman trying to do their job because she did not find them attractive.
But it was fortunate she just so happened to be assigned to a stunner.
Maryam looked at the woman with smile full of mischief.
"I'm Maryam," she said, "Want to see me strip?"
The woman gave her a business smile.
"That would be appreciated, thanks."
Maryam took off her clothes, revealing her impressive assets. She did not miss the flicker of admiration that passed through the older woman's eyes. Score.
"Lift your arms," the woman said.
"Gorgeous, you've got me naked and are about to feel me up. At least tell me your name."
"I am searching you in compliance with sect procedure," the woman said, sternly.
"Want to make it a full cavity search? It's good to be thorough. Don't worry, I don't have any diseases, so you don't even need to use gloves."
The woman ignored her and continued to pat down her legs. Since it was possible for cultivators to make things invisible through various methods, this physical inspection was not as pointless as it might seem.
It still wasn't common practice, however. Zaionz had clearly chosen this method to humiliate her. She simply had miscalculated the extent of Maryam's perverse tendencies.
"Oh, come on. I'll buy you a drink first?"
The woman continued to ignore her.
"Is it because you're already in a relationship?"
Finally, annoyance crossed the woman's face.
Maryam continued to talk, "As I thought, you're single. Isn't it such a waste?"
"My relationship status is none of your concern," snapped the woman.
"And a virgin, too. At your age? I can help you change that."
The woman went back to ignoring Maryam.
"Is it because I'm younger than you? Don't worry, I'm more than old enough to make my own decisions. Nobody other than the two of us ever has to know."
The woman stopped and stood straight, looking Maryam in the eye.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked.
Still naked, Maryam leaned in to be close to the woman. Her presence was magnetic and powerful.
"Why? Because… I like you." Maryam poured all the sensuality she had into those last three words.
Her voice was honey and silk, and her smile was soft and seductive. It was a shocking contrast to the sharpness in her eyes.
Struck by Maryam's beauty, the woman's heart almost stopped for an instant. She knew Maryam was just playing around, but that didn't change the fact that Maryam was the first woman to openly hit on her. And she could not deny that she found Maryam extremely attractive. Embarrassed, she glared at Maryam angrily.
Maryam saw the faint flush appear on the woman's cheeks and neck, as she gathered up Maryam's clothes and hurried out of the room, shutting the door with a slam.
Maryam smirked and crossed her arms, leaning back against a wall.
Sure enough, when Maryam's clothes were tossed back through the door, there was a slip folded into them. It contained the communication frequency of a certain woman, along with her name and address.
"So, she's called Lina Coroclon. Looks like I found something to do next time I'm bored at night," she said to herself, still smirking.
Maryam pocketed the slip and returned to the lineup of people checking out of the sacred area.
She exchanged the herbs she had kept (for the sake of averting suspicion) for a few not particularly useful elixirs, then headed to the sect mission board.
It appeared that Zaionz had decided to start her attack on Maryam, and Maryam wasn't in the mood to deal with the punishment elder's endless slew of cronies making trouble. Of course, she wouldn't turn down a chance to kill the wretched woman, or at least beat the sh*t out of her, but Zaionz didn't seem eager to give her that chance.
Furthermore, the Selor clan would probably be investigating what happened to Maladeel. Maryam thought it would be prudent to find a reason to be away from the sect until matters calmed down.
One of the missions on the board caught her eye. The number of fierce beasts in the forest had been dwindling, with some occasionally being found dead. The dead beasts that were recovered had wounds that looked like they were caused by energy attacks, but although the wounds were fresh, nobody was ever found near the scene.
The sect was offering a reward for anyone who could provide insight into what was happening.
That night, Maryam stayed at Lina's place. True to her word, Maryam bought Lina a drink, along with a good dinner, before going home with her.
Since Lina had never had any sort of sexual or romantic experience before, Maryam didn't go too far past the kissing stage. She didn't want to overwhelm the woman and make her do something she'd regret. There was lots of time in the future. Maryam could wait.
They fell asleep, Maryam holding Lina as they lay together in Lina's bed.
The next morning, Maryam travelled to the forest—a several days long trip—and suppressed her energy entirely, until it was fainter than even an animal's.
She wandered for days, going deep into the forest, looking for mid-to-high level fierce beasts. Whenever she found one, she would memorize its location and energy signature.
Even Maryam could not keep track of everything happening in a huge area just by interpreting the jumble of energy waves that reached her location. If she instead chose specific signatures to focus on, she could greatly expand her range.
Eventually, her efforts paid off. The energy of an enormous boar she was monitoring showed some anomalies.
It started spiking, as if the animal was going into battle mode. It increased and decreased in several short bursts—likely, the boar was angry due to being wounded—before the energy lost its liveliness entirely, becoming the flat, ownerless energy that radiates from a corpse.
The instant the energy became anomalous, Maryam started rushing towards the boar's location.
She got there to see the body of the boar, lying dead on the ground. It looked like it had been blasted to death by a cultivator.
Its core had already been removed. Still hidden, Maryam saw there was a man who was carving up its corpse into smaller chunks.
She examined him carefully. From his channels and blood-energy, it was more than clear—from a cultivation perspective—that he was nothing but an average mortal man.
It didn't make sense for an ordinary mortal to be here, in the middle of this forest, in the aftermath of a battle between cultivators. Something was wrong. At the very least, there should be someone else nearby.
Maryam meticulously analyzed the background energy for as far as her senses could make it clear.
The only other person in the area was the ordinary mortal man.
The ordinary mortal man with the tight metal bracelet.