Tendrils sprang from its mouth, they shot directly toward Wu Hai. Above, he had the advantage, he flew higher and concentrated his energy to his fingertips, sparks flew and spirals of electricity burned with four colored fire. He threw it and charged another, the first one struck and the creature reeled back its tendrils and tried to sink in the mud while it growled in displeasure.
'Should I bother with it?' To Wu Hai, it seemed obvious that the source of blood was the creature but anything was possible, he weighed his options and decided not to bother it further. Once it had buried itself in the mud, more blood started to fill the small lake. As it was filling, there were many small objects that littered the sands and muck.
Choosing not to stand on ceremony, he gathered as much as he could, as fast as he could. There were a lot of treasures that seemed very random and out of place, all of them were radiating a murderous aura after having spent time beneath the surface of the blood lake.
'Hana would love this.' It had been a while since he had seen his family, three years searching the Ultinian Heavens meant thirty-six years had passed outside and on Shiyan. His grandchild was already fully grown, he may have already had children of his own. Such thoughts of family were emotionally draining, he could only speculate as to their health. 'What has become of Hana and Tero?' He held the treasure in his hands, it was a heavy, blood colored crystal.
The Treasures were many but there were not spirit stones. Wu Hai wondered if the creature had consumed them, making it so large. Many of the treasures were located near the center of the lake but the creature had dove into the mud where it laid across the western banks. 'It must have been in that depression until enough blood accumulated for it to expand its territory.'
It wasn't that he wanted to search for more treasure but he had wondered where the creature had originated. If there was a place for him to explore, he had to at least consider it. There was a vibration from his ring, it was strange and caused Wu Hai to stop what he was doing. Searching the contents, he found the Crusher vibrations the most intense, there were a lot of objects in his storage that were squirming around but the one that was the most greedy for escape was definitely the Crusher. Wu Hai pulled it out and the tip nearly fell down.
He struggled to bring it upright, the gravity had intensified its already exaggerated weight. Sinking his energy into it, he saw a Lock. It was the first time he had ever seen it, it worried him and so Wu Hai probed it gently. There was an unimaginable power behind it struggling to get out but there was a seal. White light covered the background, it was hard for him to see further than the lock and seal. It was complicated, far more complicated than anything he had ever seen. Except..
Wu Hai put the Crusher down in front of him on a stone, the stone cracked but kept it from sinking. On the outside of the Crusher, near the base of the handle, a small knob had been there for a long time forgotten. He had discovered it as a kid but couldn't make sense of it, he had even rubbed on it for good luck from time to time growing up. Across the handle, in fine print, were similar runes like the lock. He studied them and tried his best to memorize their pathways, all in hopes to understand them at all. As a kid he had never made sense of them but now, now that he had seen the lock he had a different understanding.
'Qu once said that the Crusher was.. incomplete.' he struck his chin and sank his energy back into the crusher and toward the seal. Whatever was locked behind the seal was definitely connected to his destiny, he circulated his energy and tried brute force. There was a small explosion.
Wu Hai was thrown out of the crusher's inner space mentally and faced a sharp pain in his head. 'Defensive formation?' The strike was violent but it wasn't meant to kill, at least not on the first strike. He went over the event in his head, unwilling to give up.
He clearly saw the lock and his energy entering it, there was a moment where he connected to the lock but, like the path between dimensions, he was pushed back explosively and stunned. 'So its like that.' Wu Hai understood that it was his lack of power, he was not worthy of the contents. Just like those who had been able to pick the crusher up so many years ago on Earth, it was a measure of strength. 'The crusher clearly needed whomever was holding it to be able to understand and find the lock, then free whatever is inside.' Wu Hai kept thinking to himself while he recovered. It was important not to force the lock again but he had to see the result.
Holding the Crusher in his hands, he drove the most delicate of his energies out and into the seal, probing it for answers. There were many symbols that he couldn't make sense of but there was a visual effect he couldn't ignore. The runes were partially lit up, they formed a ring around the seal and spiraled inward. In the center was a complex and strange diagram.
Wu Hai drove his energy very gently into the seal and watched as the runes lit up. They were slow coming but he could see that three of them had color and a fourth was partially lit. Doing the math, less than half a percent of the formation had been touched. When he began to withdraw his power, he saw the lights disappear to confirm his thoughts.
"Its a Gate?" He laughed and swung the Crusher down, bashing the rock to bits. 'This thing's still useful here too huh? At least I didn't leave it with Master Xuan." 'Ahh, Xuan Kim Li..' Wu Hai sighed at the fates of others. Kim Li was already old when Wu Hai had left, he had even chosen to remain in a Human body for his entire life. 'He's probably passed on by now.'
Wu Hai did what he had not done in a long time and knelt down to pray. He wasn't praying to a God or his Ancestors but to the presumed dead Xuan Kim Li. He was in his late twenties and early thirties before he had come and more than 80 years had passed since then on Shiyan. 'Whatever life you find, wherever your soul takes you, may you find happiness and content in it. My student, you were so brilliant and I owe you so much gratitude. May your next life be blessed.'
A Golden Light filled Wu Hai's imagination, he felt around in some unconscious space and released his thoughts and prayer. He felt drained of burden and light like he had let go of something heavy, it was like an epiphany and Wu Hai smiled.
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Another Month had passed, many of the kingdom's resources had been allocated to raising the group's power to an appropriate level for their escape but even they felt someone ashamed of the requirements. The stones were just pitiful in their concentrations of energy, it took more than a dozen to equal a single stone from the bottom level of Ultinia.
"Misozi, recalculate time needed given the groups current strength, how long will it take for us to get out of here?" Vira was tapping on the puppets head.
"You don't have to be mean to the puppet, Its just performing a job. I'd give it speech but what's the point, I can answer you directly. The answer is easy, allow me a moment." The Screen scrolled rapidly and numbers flowed in patterns across the HUD, Misozi read it.
A timer appeared. '[7Days 23hrs]'
"That's given the pace of cultivation and measured growth of your auras. Though, it would require one hundred percent concentration and energy. At that time, you will not be able to take a step. In order to achieve a proper egress from this dimension, you must acclimate to your strength so you have full control over it." Misozi spoke matter-of-fact like and spun in the air. "I want out of here too, so please believe my calculations, if you want to escape, we need at least ten more days."
'Ten days.' Vira clenched her fists, ten days was nothing but their stay had put a strain on the whole group. She had merged the core from Mauis into her own, it took some time but with it, her cultivation level had risen considerably.
Now, Kuzunoha and Vira both stood as equals on the battlefield.
Kuzunoha had come out of the room half-naked. Vector and Mursayade were still cultivating in their cabin so she didn't care. She yawned but figured out what was going on rather quickly, a cup appeared and she placed it into a machine. "Coffee.." She wiped her hand against the wall in a sleepy motion.
"I cant get some coffee made for you immediately, please have a seat." Misozi was happy to play 'smart house,' she even giggled while she did it. Some would call it a personality problem but Misozi was somewhat innocent and no one dared to take that away from her. She was happy and that was what mattered.
Yawning again, Kuzunoha asked. "How much longer till we get out of here?" The coffee began to brew and she looked out of the cockpit window. It was black outside in the sky, almost a pure darkness hung overhead. No stars or planets were visible, it was just a color and light spell but on a mind-boggling scale.
"Ten Days... assuming." Vira stopped.
"Assuming what?" Kuzunoha had a lot of thoughts but there was something she wanted to confirm before giving her thoughts on the matter.
"Assuming that we don't step up the pace." Vira was right but they had already been resting just long enough to absorb the energy, processing it would take time.
"I know, I know.. but.. ten days isn't very long. We can try to push things but I think Misozi might have put that into her calculations too.. Isn't that right?" Kuzunoha looked at Misozi's avatar and grinned, "Is the Coffee done?"
"Yes. There is creamer, would you like some?" Misozi knew Vector's tastes but Kuzunoha rarely asked for anything, she usually did everything herself.
"Just some Honey." 'Honey..' "Honey, I wonder where she's at?" Kuzunoha let her mind wander after accepting the coffee. She covered herself with her robes and laid back into Vira's arms.
"She's strong, to her its been at least seven years since she's left to Shiyan. Undoubtedly, she has found some reason to stay for so long." Vira played with Kuzunoha a little bit before teasing her enough to rush into the bedroom.
Misozi returned to the HUD and monitored the readouts, she was mostly aware of everything because the majority of the systems were interconnected but there were certain subtleties that she couldn't ignore.
Giggling could be heard and then an Isolation array sprang up like a sock on the door.
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A woman in a white outfit was walking through some halls and her footsteps echoed. The walls were lined in white and occasionally, a stone depiction of the Suns would pass into her view. Twin Suns, an eclipsing sun and now, there was the fabled blue pupil of the sun gods eye passing above. Only once every thirty years, it had happened twice already. The alignment of the planets and suns was happening. The Dark Eclipse brought with it the prophecy of the Creator's return, it quickly spread throughout Shiyan.
Earth's blue presence in the sky was like a sign from their Sun God himself, the bringer of light. To peer into the eyes of the Sun God, all beings knew this, they burned with fiery rage, rage enough to blind any that dare to look upon it.
"Its Time, we will have to wait another thirty years if we do not act." She felt annoyed, there were only a few moments in ones life where they had the chance to challenge the Gods. if she waited much longer or even another thirty years, she would not live to see it. The woman in white tapped her foot while people scrambled around.
"No. You've been overruled, there have been developments." A similarly dressed Newtau man stopped her in her tracks.
"Arringau, How can there be developments that I don't know about?" The woman in white felt disdain, she waved her clipboard in a gesture of disbelief and disinterest.
"You're not cleared to know." Arringau took the clipboard from her hand. "You have your orders, now, get back to planning. Even if you're unable to command the operation when the time comes, your duty remains the same. Now, don't make me remind you of what we do to people who don't follow orders."
Arringau clapped the clipboard in his hands and nodded toward the guards nearby. "She doesn't seem to accept or understand the scope of her duties, perhaps an education is necessary."
"It is as you wish, I will drop the matter." She cowered slightly, he was slightly higher in rank and blood lust. If she fell under his knife, she probably wouldn't survive.