Inside the vault, there were no weapons besides spears. There was no armor. Almost all of it was herbs, some pills, and an ornate golden scroll. I took the herbs inside my spatial dimension. I ate all the red and yellow pills.
[Strength by 2%] and [speed 3%], I had Au-ha count strength and speed as both meaningful increases to my power, no matter how small. It seemed pointless now that I saw those numbers. There were quite a bit, but they lost all effect after taking a few. For some reason, my tail grew slightly longer after. Weird beastly side effects perhaps.
Of course of most interest was the scroll. It was likely to be some martial technique, having fought the young master and two leaders of the tribe, they all used fists. I opened it up. It did not disappoint.
[Instant Limb acceleration] This technique allows the user to make use of perfect movement to accelerate the limbs at extreme speeds. Au-ha scanned through the technique multiple times. I was able to throw a few punches that created shockwaves, partially destroying the vault room. The power of this technique was shocking, especially with a beast's strength.
I was only able to use it at a beginner level immediately. But it still massively increased the power of every attack from fist, to leg, to sword. I did it time and time again, but stopped after realizing the entire vault would collapse after a few more. I went back to the Ye clan, which now had control of the Chang clan grounds.
I went back to find that the battle was over, The Qin clan retreating to what they would find to be nothing be desolation . Cyrek and the queen were fine, and some Chang members rebelled, but the Qin did not ally with them, and they were killed in the crossfire. This forced most Chang members to fight with Ye against the martially savage Qin.
Well, today was a very good day for the Ye clan, no doubt. They had conquered two other clans on the mountain in one day. For now, they decided to secure the Chang clan. Luckily it had no structural damage from any fights, as I was a perfect assassin.
I was going to do that again, no doubt.
After all, I was the world's greatest. Made for assassination. Though I also did want to test the instant limb acceleration in battle, I'm sure a time would come.
I was exhausted after today.
"Good work, darling. You did great." Au-ha was made to encourage, but it still felt genuine.
"Can you clone yourself in my mind?" I asked, somewhat sheepishly.
"Ohh, that's kinky." she replied. "Of course."
That night, I slept a peaceful night, with plenty of intercranial fun had that night with my A.I helper.
Still, I couldn't help but think of that cyclops from time to time. The whole thing was necessary, or at least I keep telling myself.
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I woke up the next morning, and got some information on the Shi clan. I wasn't sure how I was going to sneak in this time. I did know that weekly caravans would come up and down the mountain with goods, It seemed like a good way in.
I told the king and queen I was off to do their dirty work as they indulge themselves all day. They countered it was 'dual cultivation' but just without a lot of others. This Caligula orgy shit was out of control.
A few days later, came round the caravan again. This time, I hid in the bushes as they passed along. I threw out a beast corpse of a generic ice wolf. They took it cautiously, as I snuck into the food cart. Classic.
I heard chatter along the way of how the clan was coming down with the same disease as the Chang. I'm not sure if this disease was of special origin, but disease is known to spread even among cultivators. At Least before they have reached immortality.
The remaining trek up the mountain took a few more days. It was not easy, but I had a lot of time to talk to au-ha during these days.
"What do you think of this word?" I asked her.
"It's fun, a lot like the stories told on earth, don't you think?" she responded.
"Hmm, maybe some of the earthlings could just feel the existence of other worlds."
A few days passed, and we finally reached the Shi Clan gates, I heard a couple of voices ring about as an exchange was made. The cart I was in then further pulled in, and eventually, after a few twists and turns, and a closing door, I heard silence.
I peeked my head out, immediately I saw a white furred deer with gorgeous blue antlers staring at me, nibbling on a fruit. I deer and I both made yelping noises, alerting a few members outside.
I quickly hid under the cart of fruit as the deer ran out of the door, brushing past a few clan members. "That deer again?" one of them sighed.
"I swear I heard a human voice too." another said.
They began slowly exploring the storage room, there were two of them. When one wandered right by my cart, I quickly grabbed his leg and covered his mouth simultaneously with my tail. I studied the poor soul, and ended his life quickly.
I took his form, and his large white robe was easy to pull on quickly, I called out to the other guy, shocked.
"Ah, shit! There's someone dead over here!" I heard the footsteps of the other guy, when he saw the dead body was actually his good friend, and that another copy also stood before him, his mind completely blanked for a moment.
I gripped him strongly by the throat. "What is your name? Who are you?" I asked without a hint of lenience. His face showed shock and confusion, quickly faded to anger as his horns began to glow. I quickly closed my hand, cracking his neck and ending him instantly.
I tossed him into one of the grain containers, and walked out of the storage container. I still didn't know my name, and there was no identification on me. Though it was clear I was an outer disciple of the clan. I caught a glimpse of that deer in the distance, staring at me. I waved it away.
I continued to calmly walk on, listening in, hearing the past recordings of the hour or so. Indeed, there was an illness spread. It slowly degraded the diantians of cultivators and outer fields. The leader of the clan, only described is Shi. She, Shi, had been in power for decades, but did not apparently have any kin.
With no kin, it would be tough to find a clean way to sneak attack her. Furthermore, A high domain like this was a frightening prospect. Those two lower domain kung fu masters had done some serious damage. However, that transformation was clearly a savage life ending technique, not likely the normal power of a domain.
"What to do? Au-ha?" I inquired.
"Hmmm, maybe the medical ward again? Claim you have a cure for the illness."
"But I don't….wait. A-ha! You're so smart, you know?" I flattered her as she digitally imitated a blush.
I traveled to the medical ward, when suddenly, I realized that damn deer was stalking me. I turned around, it ducked out of sight, still slightly visible. As I began to approach it hopped off into a place out of sight. This deer was concerning.
I walked quickly to the medical ward, but a large, tall man with horns walking by at the time suddenly looked at me like I was crazy or high.
"What the hell are you doing? Get back to your post!" he shouted.
"Uhh, sir. There's been a problem…."
A while later, I led the poor bastard back to the storage shack, killed him, took his form and left. This place began to stink like hell.
I left, making a beeline to the medical ward. Many people bowed in my presence, it seems this guy was a higher up of the clan, some sort of senior. When I walked in, the head nurse addressed me as "captain". I told her I needed to see the head medical director.
"You…mean your wife?" she asked, clearly off-put by the strange and indifferent way I referred to my own supposed wife.
"Yes…my darling." I put on a happy expression. This actually made her gasp in horror, she ran off into the medical ward. What kind of character was this guy?
I wandered in, and before I could do anything, a gorgeous woman with antlers appeared in a doctor's coat. She looked very concerned. "Yes, Stagert?" She sounded sort of cold.
"I believe I've stumbled across the cure."
"What? How?"
"Let's talk in your office." I stated. She thought for a second, and led me into what was her office, it was wide open and had massive windows. Problematic for assassination.
I sat down, across from her. I told a fake story of how I cut myself and some blood landed on a clansmen who was coming down with sickness. He was suddenly fine the next day.
"...." she didn't believe a word.
"Isn't it worth a try? Come let's try it out." I urged.
"Stagert, I don't have time for this…I'll see you later." she responded curly and left. This was not going to plan. I managed to steal an empty vial on my way out of the ward, and filled it with my blood. I secretly sprinkled it on one of the sick and they began writhing in agony, as I slunk out quickly.
This was going to be a hard sell. The lord of stars suggested finding the guards, and taking one of their forms, which was the only real plan left. I honestly didn't even know of my identity, most likely some strict and disliked elder of the clan. I decided to try and simply enter the main hall.
On my way, I swear I saw the deer again. I chased after it quickly, but it seemed to fade into the snow. It was nearly impossible to catch without causing a ruckus. Damn thing? Was I being watched the whole time? I was already compromised. I began to panic as I quickly strode to the clan's main hall.
I was stopped. "What is your business here?" they asked. I pulled out the vial of blood. "I cannot speak of the details, as the mysterious benefactor requested me not to. But this vial can potentially heal the illness being spread amongst the cultivators." I spoke in a strict and urgent manner, as if to awaken their sense of importance in this matter.
They looked at each other, and took the vial.
"We'll take it to Lord Shi, don't worry" they tried to stifle the laughter and mockery. Was I some sort of joke? How come my wife was so beautiful? Arranged marriage? Was I once normal and had now gone mad?
So many questions that'll never have answers. In my head, I decided to believe I once was a normal man, who has lost much respect for some reason.
I looked around, there were too many people to simply kill these guards. Time for Plan B.
I pretended to have a heart attack,
"AUUUGH," I clutched my chest and stumbled into the main hall, smashing the doors open as I fell. There were almost a hundred guards inside, all drinking and eating at many tables. No Lord to be found.
This was a total shitshow.
Many came running but I put up a hand. "No, it's the sickness, *cough*, don't come near. They all slowly backed away.
"Crawl back to the ward!" they all shouted. I got up and started stumbling around, looking for any rooms that could house the lord. "Where is it…?" I pretended to be disoriented. I made sure to cough violently, and fling lots of little saliva drops across the hall.
I stumbled around the rooms, and found nothing. I started stumbling up stairs, then it got truly ridiculous.
"How could the medical ward possibly be upstairs? Get outta here!" They started throwing pieces of bread and meat at me.