"Little Kai? Is it really you?" she asked, and I felt a cautious touch of icy power.
"Do we know each other?" I asked warily. It seems my improvisation to pass myself off as an unremarkable practitioner had just gone to the dogs.
"Lady So Yun, do you know this practitioner?" Belozar looked at her.
"Yes, I knew him as a child. You were absolutely right, Master Belozar, this young man simply cannot be one of those criminals who are usually exiled to us. I vouch for him," she unexpectedly stated. I barely held back a grimace of surprise. "But why are you here?"
"Intrigues," I sighed. "Honestly, I don't fully understand the reasons myself."
"Ha, to figure out what's going on in the heads of that crazy family, you'd need heavenly enlightenment, no less," the practitioner chuckled.
"Master Belozar, please, be more restrained, after all, we're talking about the great Shen clan," So Yun said softly. "But the fact that Kai is here is truly extraordinary. Not only is he just at the concentration level, but he's not even sixteen yet. Have the elders forgotten their own law?"
"I don't care what the Shen family thinks of my words. If they want to do something to me, let them come here personally and express their displeasure to my face," he snorted. "Kid, how long were you exiled to us? Ten years? Twenty?"
"Until I reach the core formation level," I grinned. Everyone who heard my answer suddenly changed their expression. A threatening aura flared up around So Yun.
"Poor thing," Aina suddenly whispered. "With your fire cultivation, it's simply impossible in the Frosty Ridge space."
"Scoundrels! How dare they?!" So Yun growled, and a grimace of anger appeared on her beautiful face.
"Sister So, calm down. Although I'm glad that you've realized the true face of the Phoenix sect for a moment, this is not the place to show your anger. As for you, Kai. Let's skip the part with the interrogation about your past, since Sister So vouches for you. But we still need to find out the reason for the teleport malfunction. Tell me, did you notice anything strange during the transition to the Frosty Ridge space? Maybe Qi movement or strange behavior of other practitioners, at worst."
"Um, right here?" We were still standing in the middle of the square, where practitioners were scurrying back and forth, casting curious glances at me.
"I have no secrets from my junior cultivation brothers in this matter. Speak freely."
"No, I don't remember anything like that," I shook my head. "Except that we almost missed it. And our leader was a guy with very nasty Qi."
"Borai?" Belozar frowned. I nodded in response. "That practitioner has always been like that. He often found... not the most righteous methods to become stronger. Do you know why you were delayed?"
"As far as I remember from the arguing, we departed with a delay," I shrugged. "Something related to the leader's order."
I tried not to lie directly to the practitioners. I have no doubt they have a way to distinguish truth from lies, maybe more than one. But admitting that I was the reason for the delay would be foolish.
"I see. You're probably tired after the fight, and it wouldn't hurt for you to wash up," he said tactfully. Well, yes, after the fight with the bugs, I was still covered in blue goo. I won't even mention the smell. "Aina, show our new brother everything here. And welcome to the Eternal Ice Fort, lad."
"Kai, come see me when you've rested," So Yun smiled at me.
"As you command, Master Yun," I bowed.
"Well, shall we go? I'll give you a tour. You know, I expected there to be many more people," the girl chuckled. "First of all, we need to take you to Master Lu. If anything, I'll do the talking. Master Lu can be a bit rude sometimes."
After passing through several corridors, we found ourselves in front of a heavy wooden door. And I thought everything here was made of ice. By the way, it was quite warm inside. Definitely warmer than one might think when looking at this icy hulk.
"Enter," came the response from behind the door as soon as the girl knocked on it with a special handle with a hammer.
Inside the office, it was warm and tiny bits of fire Qi floated in the air. I almost rushed to absorb them when I froze under the piercing gaze of a black-haired young man. I would have given him twenty years, no more, but my inner feeling screamed—this guy was much, much older. And he was also a fire element practitioner who had reached the core formation sphere.
"Aina? Why so long? And where are the other exiles?" he was surprised to see the two of us. When he looked at me, a grimace of disgust crept onto his face. Did I mention that I urgently need to wash up? "What kind of trash did you drag to me?"
"This is disciple Kai. And he's the only survivor from the entire arrived group," she said with a bow. "Please register him and issue a disciple token. Masters Belozar and So Yun have confirmed."
"What does all this mean? How could an entire group of practitioners die?"
"I think it's better for you to discuss this issue with other masters. I only know that there was a teleport malfunction."
"Okay, I'll figure it out later," he frowned and stared at me. "You, put your hand on the jade ball and direct your Qi into it."
I approached the table and did as he ordered. The piece of jade suddenly flashed, and a tiny piece separated from it.
"Your disciple token. It has ten points on it, as a starting bonus," he threw the piece of jade at me. I caught it, of course, but he could have been more careful. "If you lose it, don't bother returning to the Fort. Now, I should tell you about the rules. Murder and theft are punishable by exile. You must complete at least one task every ten days, otherwise you'll lose a hundred points. If you have less than zero points, you'll also be exiled. And yes, so it gets through your empty head. You'll be exiled to the icy wastelands, where you'll slowly die from the cold. Or, if you're very lucky, some monster will kill you. Did I make myself clear?"
"Master, what points were you talking about?"
"I wasn't hired to give you lectures. Now get out, I have a lot of work to do."
"Phew, that was close. Master Lu can be a bit hot-tempered sometimes," Aina began, but I interrupted her with a chuckle. Seriously, this is almost the first fire practitioner who didn't want to kill me!
"It's all right," I smiled. "Better tell me about these points and missions."
"Ah, well, since spirit stones are useless here..."
"What? Sorry for interrupting."
"It's okay. Just look around," she grinned, watching my face closely.
Around? What's so special here? Well, ice walls... Ice! Walls! They were filled to the brim with spiritual power. Even more than the spirit stones in my ring. And although the spectrum of this power was only suitable for cold spiritual practitioners, in fact, any piece of local ice was in itself a kind of spirit stone! I think I can guess what resources the Phoenix sect is extracting from here.
"And is there a lot of such ice here?"
"Enough for any beginner practitioner of the meridian sphere to collect a large bag in a couple of evenings," she giggled. "And you seem to be smart."
"Thanks, I guess," I felt embarrassed for some reason. "So what about the points?"
"Yes. Since spirit stones are useless here, the masters created a system of points that can be exchanged for almost everything. Techniques, food, clothes, artifacts. The choice, of course, is not like in the outside world, but it's quite good too."
"Do you have fire techniques?" I asked the main question.
"There were a couple, but I've never been interested in them. Actually, we all practice cold here, with rare exceptions. Master Lu is a fire practitioner, and a number of disciples practice neutral techniques."
I knew little about neutral techniques. In general, in that thin stack of magical theory that I managed to read, it was said that practitioners can cultivate both a specific element and pure Qi. The latter could absorb any kind of spiritual energy, but with great losses, and they could only dream about direct control of the elements, like elemental practitioners.