With the demon beast out of the way now, the four families from the empires and the sects' disciples could now move forward and enter the crystal tower. However, before that they camped outside the tower entrance and placed guards prevent any faction from proceeding further, the guards were selected equally from each faction. They took the opportunity to discuss how they would go about in sharing the resources' they acquire within.
"The Lariel Empire will take the route to the mountains we won't squabble with you over the resources." Andrea of House Akaela said with a resounding voice as she commanded the various disciples of the family's empires and they walked to the path to see.
The Lariel empire disciples stood up and followed Andrea to the path and started to their ascent through the long winding path to the top. They marched on like an assembled troop of elite soldiers each with a high cultivation base and treasure heirlooms to help aid them in their climb.
As they walked Andrea glanced over her shoulders and saw the Martial Asura sect symbol and knew they had been sent to watch over the progress by the empire and do what must be done to remove irregulars from the equation.
Lian's heart pounded in his chest like a drum set to a manic tempo. Each breath tore through his throat like the raspy hiss of a cornered animal. The sound of his own heavy breathing echoed in his ears, a relentless reminder of the relentless run. Each exhale was a desperate plea for reprieve, a rhythmic symphony of panic and fatigue, as his lungs struggled to replenish the life-drained in it.
He was tired from running through the forest after leaving his group of assassins fighting the den of demon beasts. As he paused from the running and rested on the ground, the dark clouds covered the moonlight and spread the dark entity over the entire forest.
He stood looking back at the way he came and trying to see if anyone had followed him back. The loud roar from the other side of the forest scared the shit out of Lian and sent shivers down his vertebrae and his ribs crackling in the cold wind. Already scared shit out of wits, the roar definitely caused the young lad to lose his wits.
Retreating backwards slowly Lian stumbled down a rock faced cliff and fell down only to be suspended by the sides of the cliff. The fall made Lian lose consciousness momentarily. After a brief moment Lian regain his consciousness though his vision was still blurry and he couldn't make out what was ahead or beneath him, he used his hands to feel the ground before he fully regained his sight.
His hands patrolled the area beneath him only to feel a company of dead beast carcasses and blood everywhere. As he opened his eyes, he saw a large number of sky illarc carcasses lying around everywhere, Lian tried to steady himself as the shock hit him deep.
Lian was lucky enough to find some valuable treasures where the den of sky illarcs had succumbed to their deaths. As he looked around, he found a manual that had various skills, techniques and cultivation methods. Lian marveled at the ancient book as he removed it from the guts of one of the beasts, he awed at the book as he looked at it, it had ancient writings, and it was from a sect that was not or heard in Tongtian Continent.
Lian tried to read it but he could not understand but only try to follow the illustrations and drawings he could see in the manual. Elated by his find Lian wanted to try his luck again and he was invested now in investigating each and every gut of the sky illarcs to search for more goodies. The heavens were on his side and luck was smiling on him as he found another valuable treasure, a sword which was curved and had markings all over it. Their intricate, flowing script eluded his comprehension. With a sense of both frustration and curiosity, he decided to carefully fold the manual, sword and place it into his storage pouch, saving it for a later time when he might uncover its secrets.
Seated on top of a carcass, he opened the manual once more, its aged pages crackling softly as he turned them. The manual's pages were filled with intricate illustrations, each depicting martial forms and esoteric movements. Lian furrowed his brow, his eyes scanning the pages with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.
As he pored over the illustrations, Lian tried to decipher the sequence of movements and the accompanying breathing techniques. The diagrams seemed to come alive on the page, depicting the chaotic motions of martial arts, the flowing energies of magic, and the battle of mind and body. He attempted to mimic the postures and replicate the fluid motions as best he could, but even the moves were almost impossible as he still couldn't grasp them. The cultivation method was so chaotic and required a lot of blood to be sacrificed in order to fully cultivate it.
He returned the manual in his storage pouch and left the side cliff, riding on his flying sword he tracked the signal of the other Jao sect disciples to meet up with them and take his chances there to face Reece.
On the path to the mountains, Lariel empires disciples were taking their first steps but even that was no easy task upon them. Each step on the path had a intense pressure fixed on them, and each step forward doubled the intensity of the pressure and the higher the cultivation level the intensity tripled too.
They took only several steps forward before they were forced to backtrack as the intensity had begun overwhelming them. Their determination was evident but the furthest they could go was only till the second phase of the pass before they retreated. Though it wasn't all in vain their cultivation level had improved significantly and improving their foundations in the cultivation.
They solidified their cultivation each time they went up the pass and they seemed to pay little interest in the cultivation resources the others were scrounging for.