V5C60: The Tailor and the Trio
The whispers did not return even after the Ascendant broke apart their mental connection. This was fortunate for the two of them, so although they both tried to learn more about the cause of this odd phenomenon, they were happy enough to leave it be for the moment, since it appeared that Wei Yi could repeal Primordial Corruption in the future with a similar approach.
Mo Zhouquan did not get up and walk around right away, finding that her body remained rather tired after all of this, and Wei Yi did not force her to get up, instead leaving her with Long Huang.
Those two would figure things out with one another, and should eventually return to the battlefields formed around the Chu, Ning and Yi Districts, for they were the most easily accessible through her current territory. The Chen District was harder to get to due to it being placed between the Yi and Huang Districts, with one being obviously hostile while the other was rather ambiguous in nature and current purpose. To go there while there was a large degree of danger posed to anyone attempting to pass through the area between the two districts, would be rather unwise for the moment.
Still, it was enough, and the moment that either the Ning or Chu Districts were taken, which would happen far earlier than the Yi District was claimed, she could assault the Chen District as well, and expected it to be easy enough to take.
Not the Great Chen family, of course, but the ordinary Chen family, the one that ruled the district. They were incredibly likely to fall to her due to her ability to easily guarantee them wealth and power, as she had no qualms in lying to them in this regard. Sure, it would cause them to dislike her later on, and the other districts might have a problem with it, but at that point, the situation would be very different.
Rather than attempting to bring Yi City to her side, she would be trying to go beyond it and comprehend a method to impose some notion of justice onto reality, and at that point her strength would simply be too great for anyone to do anything about her. If it turned out that her success still ended with people’s dislike of her, and they managed to end her life, then that would be the end of her, and although she would naturally be somewhat disappointed with such a thing, a dead person could hardly care all that much about what happened with their legacy. Her remnant spirit, if one even ended up existing, would need to deal with it if it happened.
She instead put her focus on the things that she did care about right now, which was the Dao insight that she had obtained via her contemplation in Primordial Corruption’s mental domain.
It was clearly not as significant advancement as she might have liked, given that she attained no Dao vision state, and there was only a single change in her Truth of the Universe. The problem with that was the change itself.
The Dao of the Heavens changed from the previous Minor Achievement state to a different one. She would have been happy to reveal this to anyone that asked – mostly because there was nobody in the world that knew the full extent of her Dao, and would thus be unable to do her any harm due to this – but she only found a series of opaque rectangles in place of any clear information. There was no trace of stage, realm or anything else, only ‘█████’, which was completely useless as far information was concerned.
This was the first time that one of the otherworldly gifts failed her to such an extent, and so she was a little concerned about what it was that she had done.
‘Is the nature of azure lights outside of the jurisdiction of the otherworldly gifts, and the information stored within them? If so, it would make some sense, and if the heavens also have some kind of energy seed, then perhaps they can’t or won’t contribute any of their knowledge in this regard, meaning…’ a smile appeared on her face as she glanced up into the sky of the Kong Prison Realm, although her intent was to look upon the heavens of the outside world, ‘That’s a second Dao that I have no obstacles in advancing on my own. He… hehe… I am not going to let that go, and if the heavens can hear that, then I have no problems with announcing that I will steal your very position if that is what it takes to correct your countless mistakes.’
Usually, she received no reply, and this should have been the case this time as well, but she felt something on the very edges of her perception in the outside world, where the spatial stabilisation points could barely reach. It was faint and difficult to identify as anything in particular, but no matter what it was, she knew for certain that it was there.
In a way, this led to one of the best feelings that she could have imagined, for something had clearly heard her message, but it couldn’t or didn’t do anything. She had an edge of some kind – all she needed to do was figure out what it was, then abuse it endlessly to get her way.
Why wouldn’t she?
‘Before that, though, it’s time to pay Fu Zan a visit. His store looks about as busy as always, but we will need to check the state of my star metal scale armour and see if it is possible to amend it,’ she moved the previous thoughts to one side, ready to return to them once she had some inspiration and time to move forward with her theories regarding reality and azure lights, and instead appeared beside the door of the tailor and knocked upon it.
It took quite a long while for him to finally emerge, and when he did, he looked tired and haggard, as if he was ready to fall over the next moment.
Of course, she had already seen that state of his through her spiritual perception, but to see it with her own eyes did let her confirm that she hadn’t imagined any part of his state. It helped – at least in that regard, if no other – when he nearly did fall right in front of her, forcing her to raise a finger and put up a barrier before him.
“I see you’re doing well, as always.”
“… Who are you?”
“Wei Yi, the one for whom you made clothing for quite a while without even knowing because I would steal it from your store without you having a clue about it, at least as far as I was able to notice. It helped me hide my dick for a while before that got revealed to the world.”
“Di… Ah, Wei Yi, I remember! Why do you not have an arm?”
“I see you haven’t been paying any attention in the last day or so. Mind if I come in? I imagine that having a place to sit will make things a little better.”
He nodded and stepped back, essentially falling onto the chair after several steps of uncertainty and confusion. The Ascendant leaned on a nearby table, filled as it was with numerous pieces of cloth and fabric that would, most likely, go into the production of panties.
She glanced at some and mentally picked out a few materials that she was fond of more than others, for no particular reasons, and then turned her attention back to the tailor. Although his current exhausted state could be easily explained by being provided with a larger amount of work to complete, this not only didn’t make much sense given that his customer base hadn’t expanded for three months prior to today, but also that his body was supported by his cultivation and the various supporting properties of the Kong Prison Realm.
Granted, that was not applicable in that three month period, but the support of Wei Yi’s various physiques prior to then should have guaranteed his good health.
There was one reason that she was able to think of, especially with what she had been contemplating as of late, and that was a faint absence located vaguely within his chest, near his heart. It was impossible to detect naturally, and even she was only partially sure of its existence and presence in that location, but she felt a slight sensation akin to the feeling on the outer parts of her perception in the outside world.
“Have you been getting more and more exhausted as you have been using your otherworldly gift?”
The otherworldly tailor glanced up at her and shrugged, “I’ve been focusing mostly on work, so I’ve not had the chance to think about it all that much. Maybe that is what happens, but maybe it isn’t, and I don’t know…”
“Want me to fix it? By fix it, incidentally, I mean that I will make it so that you can cultivate regularly and safely, thus avoiding any chance of losing your mind in the future.”
“… What are you saying? Is it going to be beneficial or not?”
“It will be.”
He nodded, “Go ahead, then.”
“In that case, you have no right to be upset at me in the future, get it? I won’t listen to you in the first place, since I can always just remove myself from your vicinity at any moment, but I am warning you ahead of time so that you don’t waste your energy on doing something that will be completely ignored,” the Ascendant said, using the time to set up a number of barriers and lock onto the thing that she had sensed within his body. She needed both in order to succeed, and he would certainly appreciate the discomfort being reduced as much as possible.
Then, bringing forth her Arm of Slaughtering Shadow, she placed the point of the claw on her index finger on his chest, piercing his clothing and stabbing just a little into his skin, sufficiently to draw a drop of blood but not injure anything of significance to him or her.
Before he was able to raise a single question, she invoked the Purifier’s Seal through her Arm, forcing it to act upon that point within the man’s body. With her recent recognition of the nature of azure lights, she had another clue for identifying them in the criteria for the activation of the Purifier’s Seal, and she didn’t hesitate to apply it to him.
“What are- AH! F-” the sound was unable to leave his body as the area beside his heart seemed to burn and melt, with the Arm of Slaughtering Shadow bursting in a similar manner.
It only lasted for a moment before an azure spark suddenly left his body, and another moment before a powerful wave emerged from Wei Yi’s body and forced that azure light to escape. That process was incredibly brief in comparison to what happened with Miyu and the removal of the light within her eye.
“… Ah. That hurt. That really, really… hurt…”
“And now, you can cultivate without any issues at all. You are very welcome, Fu Zan. Now, make me more things and help me with this armour.”
“Is this what those office workers feel like when they are overworked and forced to remain in the office for a week without being able to go home? Is that what they feel like?”
“Why the fuck would I know? We don’t have offices here, and while my mind is present, you won’t need anything of the sort. If I’m gone, you can look to Yi Shi Ming for assistance in that regard, and if she’s gone… Well, you’re fucked, and I don’t really care what you get up to. If I’m gone, I would either be dead or so far away that I can’t really pay attention to the things you get up so, and while I would most certainly like Yi City to follow certain principles, they may not be well suited for any kind of situation that it encounters.”
Clearly, that did not help Fu Zan, who only seemed to be more confused from her words, but she could hardly blame him for the ideas that poured straight from her head, so she instead grabbed the pieces of fabric that she liked the least and put it into his hands, ignoring his increasing confusion.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Make some panties or something. You don’t have an azure light anymore, and you only have the second realm in planar cultivation combined with the third realm in spiritual will cultivation, meaning that your overall power is incredibly small relative to your overall potential. Thus, the effects of your otherworldly gift, whatever its name is, will be lessened significantly. As always, feel free to make use of Miyu’s case as reference,” she said, “You need to check how much of your previous ability you have left, and whether you will be able to continue what you’ve been doing up to this point. If not, you should shut down shop as soon as possible, and focus on regaining your abilities and gaining your strength so that you can return.”
“I may no longer be able to… right, that is how that works…”
“I am talking to so many absentminded people today. Get on with it, and if it works out, I need new underwear, so get on to making that.”
“Shouldn’t you have had me take a look at the armour first? If I don’t have my original strength anymore, I may not even be able to influence the star metal.”
“Of course, but I think you might be able to tell that it didn’t help me much at the most vital of times, and that it is essentially useless to me now that I have gotten even stronger. Whether or not I have this layer of protection doesn’t matter, except for a situation in which all of my forms of cultivation are sealed, my nascent rift is sealed, my incredibly powerful body is sealed, and so on. If everything else that makes me powerful is somehow removed, then yes, the star metal would help.”
“Is there a point to fixing it, then?”
“Yes. I want armour to work, and I think that it provides a decent enough visual alongside my gauntlets and boots. Since that is all that they are really able to offer at the moment, I see no reason why I shouldn’t maximise that advantage.”
“How is it an advantage?”
“I had thought your mind recovered a little, but it seems that I was mistaken. Think back to your own advertisement of your products, like the underwear that you could have been holding in your hands if you had gotten to work already. What was it that you were trying to provide to the people you were selling it to?”
“Comfort and… ah, visuals that a partner could appreciate, I think.”
“Exactly – by which I mean that this is along the lines of what I was talking about, not that this was exactly how you sold your wares to me and your other customers,” the Ascendant said, “In my case, I have an image that the world has been shown. I am powerful, unique, dedicated to my goal, and I am not cowed by the threats of the Great Leeches or their attempts to break me. I am armoured during most of my appearances, and I am fierce.”
“Do people really think that about you? I’ve not actually gotten out of here much, except for when Miyu forced me out several times for a discussion on baby names in Enian.”
“She’s thinking ahead, I see. Though, ‘baby’ names are a rather useless distinction. Saying just ‘names’ would be far more productive, as there is no change in one’s name when they grow older, unless you are one of the Great Leeches that just wants to make things difficult for me and anyone else that tries to address them by name.”
“I, uh… So, about my previous question?”
“They seem to, certainly. If nothing else, I am believed to be rather mysterious and powerful, and since I have not yet been called the inheritor of the Master of Yi City, my abilities are clearly somewhat unique in the eyes of others. Given how much I talk about killing the Greats, seeing me as anything other than dedicated would be odd, same with my continued attempts to end their existence. I do indeed wear armour regularly since I acquired this, and I have been known to make quite the impression with my ferocity – and neck tearing.”
“That might be true… Fine, give me a moment. I need to focus.”
She nodded and took a step back, not bothering to turn around as it wouldn’t really affect his workflow even if she did so. Usually, the finished product would just be in his hands the moment that her attention wavered for even an instant, which did happen fairly often as she had not yet reached absolute perfection in any regard or method of observation, so turning away would do little in that instance.
It was obviously possible that the removal of the azure light would compromise his ability to such an extent that he would no longer be able to complete anything instantly, nor make use of material to create something that was impossible to manufacture from a needle, some thread and fabric.
There was no need for her to wait for much longer, as she noticed that the finished product did not simply appear in Fu Zan’s hands as always, nor did he sit still without doing much at all until her attention wavered. Rather, she could see him beginning to work, moving very quickly and smoothly, but moving clearly nonetheless.
‘So this had the effect we expected. Fair enough, I guess. At least he can be pushed forward in his cultivation, and then he will be able to personally obtain the power of the otherworldly gift… Can the Law of an otherworldly gift be extracted and condensed into a technique?’ her line of thought shifted completely to something significantly more advanced, but her ideas had to be temporarily shelved, much like plenty of other great concepts that sat within her head for plenty of time now. Most of them were possible, that much was easy to verify simply due to the existence of otherworldly gifts, but her current power and the fact that even Kong Shi Meng could only do so much with the Truth of the Universe meant that her power at the moment was not at all sufficient to recreate the power of otherworldly gifts or to separate it from the gift itself.
She knew that she would need to get at least to the seventh realm before attempting anything of the sort, and maybe even the eighth in order to have a good chance of success. Of course, she could always create techniques that perform similar functions, that have similar intentions, or that are inspired by some aspect of the otherworldly gifts, but that was not her intention, nor did she have much need for that sort of thing.
At the moment, most of her needs were fulfilled by her own power or an otherworldly gift, and she had many ideas of her own for techniques to be developed in the future. If she ever lost access to her trove of otherworldly gifts, that would indeed be a shame, but the most significant one to her was the House of Gold. That one would indeed require the seventh realm for the power to manipulate space and spatial metal to a sufficient extent. Without that, she would certainly need to expend significantly more energy and do so less efficiently than with the halos of the seventh realm, so it was unwise to attempt to do anything regarding that now.
It had to be noted that if she did lose the House of Gold, she would almost certainly lose everything within, so it wouldn’t even be that she needed to create another form of spatial storage to keep all of the things within safe.
Wei Yi spent a great deal of time within her thoughts by the time that Fu Zan was finally done, and when she turned back to look upon his work, she only had one thing to say.
“I think you will suddenly have far fewer customers.”
“That’s a rather cruel thing to say to someone that you had just removed the ability to work from… I can tell that it took me significantly longer than usual, but is the quality that much worse? It looks around the same to me.”
“If that is the case, then I might have accidentally damaged your vision, or the lack of the azure light might have led to the loss of a certain degree of talent associated with tailoring, sewing and the like, so now you need to learn all of that stuff yourself, ideally with the things that you have previously worked on,” the Ascendant replied, grabbing his work from his hands, “This is poorly sewn, has an uncomfortable shape, and will likely tear apart within a few uses, which is not at all suitable for anything other than an outfit made of leaves or any other natural product. There are some who would appreciate that aspect of this, but I don’t think you mean to sell to such a crowd.”
“Some… ah, I think I get it… but I made it the same as I usually would, so how has the outcome changed so much?” Fu Zan asked, grabbing some of his previous creations and comparing them.
“I had explained it to you not that long ago. Please do listen to what I tell you.”
He frowned and recalled her words, then examined everything that he had produced before this, comparing them with what he had made just now and finding every single element that did not align, and after a long while, he likely came to some reasonable conclusions. However, by that time, the Ascendant no longer stood before him.
Instead of standing around and waiting for him to finish his thoughts, Wei Yi had moved on to the next person that she wished to visit, although she could hardly visit her without also meeting up with two others. They were Chao Ru, Shun Liu Min, and Miyu, who were currently in a similar predicament due to what Wei Yi had gotten up to between the situation with the various factions from Yi City coming over to the area near Paragon and the battle with the Ping District. Namely, it was that Wei Yi had decided that she would have children, and those three had decided that they weren’t opposed to having her children.
Had she been in her position, she expected that she might have refused to do anything of the sort, but then again, she was someone that was a little uncomfortable with being pregnant with any child, regardless of origin. Obviously, she would not say that to any of the three.
At this point in time, the three were still very early on in their bearing of the Ascendant’s children, but it appears that they had already formed a small group where they shared their tales and spent their time together. It was rather interesting to observe from the outside, which she did do for a while as she observed their state, the state of their pregnancies, and their cultivation, among plenty of other matters.
Their cultivation, to begin with the simplest topic, had advanced as one might expect. Miyu was now at the peak of the third realm, showcasing her clear dedication to cultivation. Shun Liu Min had gotten to the fourth realm, which was to be expected with her intellect and talent. Chao Ru had also progressed onto the fourth realm, but was only in the first stage, while Shun Liu Min was in the third. As a trio of combatants, they would not be that impactful in the world, but it was still impressive enough given the fact that the Ascendant could clearly see the growing life in their bodies consuming some of their energy.
Having never witnessed a new life being formed with such detail, she had been unaware that it was not only the bloodline and energy build up from previous generations that affected a child, but the active cultivation of a parent. Learning this information prompted her to instruct Yi Shi Ming to create a place for the three to cultivate without interruption, and absorb as much energy as possible.
Overall, the health of these three seemed good enough, and the health of their future children was also as good as she could imagine it being, although she had no past experiences to compare them with. That should have been fine, but she suddenly found her mind being drawn to various methods and techniques that could be used to improve the physical and mental conditions of the three and their children, when they are born, and she couldn’t stop herself from elaborating on them more and more.
In just a few moments of real time, she had come up with a whole compendium of techniques specifically for the next six months, and worst of all, she felt like she could make a dozen more.
‘What the… I know there’s such a thing as parental instinct, but is this not a little excessive?’ she couldn’t help but ask herself, and unlike matters with Dao and the heavens, she had nothing to rely upon in this mater, ‘Well, since I do have all of this, I might as well come in…’
Still very much concerned with how easily her mind was taken over by this, she knocked on the door of the residence that they were in and waited for the response.
“… and then, in the desert, we-” Shun Liu Min’s story was interrupted by the noise, with all three turning in the direction of the door, “Did somebody finally decide to bother us? I don’t… oh. That… I’ll get the door!”
The former maid practically leapt up and rushed over, opening the door as quickly as she could and instantly meeting the gaze of the Ascendant. She was very much familiar with the general aura, physical appearance and height of Wei Yi, and to say that she had gotten used to providing eye contact during their time in the sands of the north would be an understatement. Fortunately, she had not been allowed to make any statement at all due to the interruption, or else coming in at this time would have been rather awkward for the Ascendant.
“Hi. I see you three are doing well.”
“W-Wei Yi?” Chao Ru, who had initially not been too interested in the visitor, looked over and froze, with her eyes widened.
“You’re back!” Aimi Miyu finished for her, the sentiment certainly matching even if their exact words would not have done, “I… I have so many things to say, but I can’t decide which one to start with first! Oh my god…”
“Other than the last part, that seems to be a common enough sentiment here… How have you been?”
The Antanorden woman gave a moment to her response, only for a blush to blossom on her face, “… a little sexually unsatisfied…”
“Considering the topic of discussion before I came in, I can see how that was the first thing you thought of… Sort of. What do you mean by ‘a little’? What have you three even being doing all of this time, and why are you two unable to contain a grin?”
“Eh, well… We may or may not have decided to experiment together a little…”
Seeing how Miyu just blushed even more, it appeared that Shun Liu Min’s words were very accurate, and that those two were still far more leading in these matters than Miyu could be with her continued shyness in regard to her sexuality. Regardless of the rather surprising initial topic, Wei Yi was hardly a stranger to sex and lust – she was apparently familiar enough to get a Dao of Lust, whatever that was worth – so she had no issues with carrying on with exactly that.
Besides, she had agreed to something like this in an earlier discussion with Shun Liu Min, which felt like it had been years ago by this point, so she had no right to get upset even if she had some kind of issue with this. Fortunately, she didn’t, especially as it gave her an opportunity to spy on their activities with their consent and let off some of her killing intent in that manner.
Before she knew it, the day had come to an end, and the three got to be a little more satisfied than they previously were.
V5C60: The Tailor and the Trio
The whispers did not return even after the Ascendant broke apart their mental connection. This was fortunate for the two of them, so although they both tried to learn more about the cause of this odd phenomenon, they were happy enough to leave it be for the moment, since it appeared that Wei Yi could repeal Primordial Corruption in the future with a similar approach.
Mo Zhouquan did not get up and walk around right away, finding that her body remained rather tired after all of this, and Wei Yi did not force her to get up, instead leaving her with Long Huang.
Those two would figure things out with one another, and should eventually return to the battlefields formed around the Chu, Ning and Yi Districts, for they were the most easily accessible through her current territory. The Chen District was harder to get to due to it being placed between the Yi and Huang Districts, with one being obviously hostile while the other was rather ambiguous in nature and current purpose. To go there while there was a large degree of danger posed to anyone attempting to pass through the area between the two districts, would be rather unwise for the moment.
Still, it was enough, and the moment that either the Ning or Chu Districts were taken, which would happen far earlier than the Yi District was claimed, she could assault the Chen District as well, and expected it to be easy enough to take.
Not the Great Chen family, of course, but the ordinary Chen family, the one that ruled the district. They were incredibly likely to fall to her due to her ability to easily guarantee them wealth and power, as she had no qualms in lying to them in this regard. Sure, it would cause them to dislike her later on, and the other districts might have a problem with it, but at that point, the situation would be very different.
Rather than attempting to bring Yi City to her side, she would be trying to go beyond it and comprehend a method to impose some notion of justice onto reality, and at that point her strength would simply be too great for anyone to do anything about her. If it turned out that her success still ended with people’s dislike of her, and they managed to end her life, then that would be the end of her, and although she would naturally be somewhat disappointed with such a thing, a dead person could hardly care all that much about what happened with their legacy. Her remnant spirit, if one even ended up existing, would need to deal with it if it happened.
She instead put her focus on the things that she did care about right now, which was the Dao insight that she had obtained via her contemplation in Primordial Corruption’s mental domain.
It was clearly not as significant advancement as she might have liked, given that she attained no Dao vision state, and there was only a single change in her Truth of the Universe. The problem with that was the change itself.
The Dao of the Heavens changed from the previous Minor Achievement state to a different one. She would have been happy to reveal this to anyone that asked – mostly because there was nobody in the world that knew the full extent of her Dao, and would thus be unable to do her any harm due to this – but she only found a series of opaque rectangles in place of any clear information. There was no trace of stage, realm or anything else, only ‘█████’, which was completely useless as far information was concerned.
This was the first time that one of the otherworldly gifts failed her to such an extent, and so she was a little concerned about what it was that she had done.
‘Is the nature of azure lights outside of the jurisdiction of the otherworldly gifts, and the information stored within them? If so, it would make some sense, and if the heavens also have some kind of energy seed, then perhaps they can’t or won’t contribute any of their knowledge in this regard, meaning…’ a smile appeared on her face as she glanced up into the sky of the Kong Prison Realm, although her intent was to look upon the heavens of the outside world, ‘That’s a second Dao that I have no obstacles in advancing on my own. He… hehe… I am not going to let that go, and if the heavens can hear that, then I have no problems with announcing that I will steal your very position if that is what it takes to correct your countless mistakes.’
Usually, she received no reply, and this should have been the case this time as well, but she felt something on the very edges of her perception in the outside world, where the spatial stabilisation points could barely reach. It was faint and difficult to identify as anything in particular, but no matter what it was, she knew for certain that it was there.
In a way, this led to one of the best feelings that she could have imagined, for something had clearly heard her message, but it couldn’t or didn’t do anything. She had an edge of some kind – all she needed to do was figure out what it was, then abuse it endlessly to get her way.
Why wouldn’t she?
‘Before that, though, it’s time to pay Fu Zan a visit. His store looks about as busy as always, but we will need to check the state of my star metal scale armour and see if it is possible to amend it,’ she moved the previous thoughts to one side, ready to return to them once she had some inspiration and time to move forward with her theories regarding reality and azure lights, and instead appeared beside the door of the tailor and knocked upon it.
It took quite a long while for him to finally emerge, and when he did, he looked tired and haggard, as if he was ready to fall over the next moment.
Of course, she had already seen that state of his through her spiritual perception, but to see it with her own eyes did let her confirm that she hadn’t imagined any part of his state. It helped – at least in that regard, if no other – when he nearly did fall right in front of her, forcing her to raise a finger and put up a barrier before him.
“I see you’re doing well, as always.”
“… Who are you?”
“Wei Yi, the one for whom you made clothing for quite a while without even knowing because I would steal it from your store without you having a clue about it, at least as far as I was able to notice. It helped me hide my dick for a while before that got revealed to the world.”
“Di… Ah, Wei Yi, I remember! Why do you not have an arm?”
“I see you haven’t been paying any attention in the last day or so. Mind if I come in? I imagine that having a place to sit will make things a little better.”
He nodded and stepped back, essentially falling onto the chair after several steps of uncertainty and confusion. The Ascendant leaned on a nearby table, filled as it was with numerous pieces of cloth and fabric that would, most likely, go into the production of panties.
She glanced at some and mentally picked out a few materials that she was fond of more than others, for no particular reasons, and then turned her attention back to the tailor. Although his current exhausted state could be easily explained by being provided with a larger amount of work to complete, this not only didn’t make much sense given that his customer base hadn’t expanded for three months prior to today, but also that his body was supported by his cultivation and the various supporting properties of the Kong Prison Realm.
Granted, that was not applicable in that three month period, but the support of Wei Yi’s various physiques prior to then should have guaranteed his good health.
There was one reason that she was able to think of, especially with what she had been contemplating as of late, and that was a faint absence located vaguely within his chest, near his heart. It was impossible to detect naturally, and even she was only partially sure of its existence and presence in that location, but she felt a slight sensation akin to the feeling on the outer parts of her perception in the outside world.
“Have you been getting more and more exhausted as you have been using your otherworldly gift?”
The otherworldly tailor glanced up at her and shrugged, “I’ve been focusing mostly on work, so I’ve not had the chance to think about it all that much. Maybe that is what happens, but maybe it isn’t, and I don’t know…”
“Want me to fix it? By fix it, incidentally, I mean that I will make it so that you can cultivate regularly and safely, thus avoiding any chance of losing your mind in the future.”
“… What are you saying? Is it going to be beneficial or not?”
“It will be.”
He nodded, “Go ahead, then.”
“In that case, you have no right to be upset at me in the future, get it? I won’t listen to you in the first place, since I can always just remove myself from your vicinity at any moment, but I am warning you ahead of time so that you don’t waste your energy on doing something that will be completely ignored,” the Ascendant said, using the time to set up a number of barriers and lock onto the thing that she had sensed within his body. She needed both in order to succeed, and he would certainly appreciate the discomfort being reduced as much as possible.
Then, bringing forth her Arm of Slaughtering Shadow, she placed the point of the claw on her index finger on his chest, piercing his clothing and stabbing just a little into his skin, sufficiently to draw a drop of blood but not injure anything of significance to him or her.
Before he was able to raise a single question, she invoked the Purifier’s Seal through her Arm, forcing it to act upon that point within the man’s body. With her recent recognition of the nature of azure lights, she had another clue for identifying them in the criteria for the activation of the Purifier’s Seal, and she didn’t hesitate to apply it to him.
“What are- AH! F-” the sound was unable to leave his body as the area beside his heart seemed to burn and melt, with the Arm of Slaughtering Shadow bursting in a similar manner.
It only lasted for a moment before an azure spark suddenly left his body, and another moment before a powerful wave emerged from Wei Yi’s body and forced that azure light to escape. That process was incredibly brief in comparison to what happened with Miyu and the removal of the light within her eye.
“… Ah. That hurt. That really, really… hurt…”
“And now, you can cultivate without any issues at all. You are very welcome, Fu Zan. Now, make me more things and help me with this armour.”
“Is this what those office workers feel like when they are overworked and forced to remain in the office for a week without being able to go home? Is that what they feel like?”
“Why the fuck would I know? We don’t have offices here, and while my mind is present, you won’t need anything of the sort. If I’m gone, you can look to Yi Shi Ming for assistance in that regard, and if she’s gone… Well, you’re fucked, and I don’t really care what you get up to. If I’m gone, I would either be dead or so far away that I can’t really pay attention to the things you get up so, and while I would most certainly like Yi City to follow certain principles, they may not be well suited for any kind of situation that it encounters.”
Clearly, that did not help Fu Zan, who only seemed to be more confused from her words, but she could hardly blame him for the ideas that poured straight from her head, so she instead grabbed the pieces of fabric that she liked the least and put it into his hands, ignoring his increasing confusion.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Make some panties or something. You don’t have an azure light anymore, and you only have the second realm in planar cultivation combined with the third realm in spiritual will cultivation, meaning that your overall power is incredibly small relative to your overall potential. Thus, the effects of your otherworldly gift, whatever its name is, will be lessened significantly. As always, feel free to make use of Miyu’s case as reference,” she said, “You need to check how much of your previous ability you have left, and whether you will be able to continue what you’ve been doing up to this point. If not, you should shut down shop as soon as possible, and focus on regaining your abilities and gaining your strength so that you can return.”
“I may no longer be able to… right, that is how that works…”
“I am talking to so many absentminded people today. Get on with it, and if it works out, I need new underwear, so get on to making that.”
“Shouldn’t you have had me take a look at the armour first? If I don’t have my original strength anymore, I may not even be able to influence the star metal.”
“Of course, but I think you might be able to tell that it didn’t help me much at the most vital of times, and that it is essentially useless to me now that I have gotten even stronger. Whether or not I have this layer of protection doesn’t matter, except for a situation in which all of my forms of cultivation are sealed, my nascent rift is sealed, my incredibly powerful body is sealed, and so on. If everything else that makes me powerful is somehow removed, then yes, the star metal would help.”
“Is there a point to fixing it, then?”
“Yes. I want armour to work, and I think that it provides a decent enough visual alongside my gauntlets and boots. Since that is all that they are really able to offer at the moment, I see no reason why I shouldn’t maximise that advantage.”
“How is it an advantage?”
“I had thought your mind recovered a little, but it seems that I was mistaken. Think back to your own advertisement of your products, like the underwear that you could have been holding in your hands if you had gotten to work already. What was it that you were trying to provide to the people you were selling it to?”
“Comfort and… ah, visuals that a partner could appreciate, I think.”
“Exactly – by which I mean that this is along the lines of what I was talking about, not that this was exactly how you sold your wares to me and your other customers,” the Ascendant said, “In my case, I have an image that the world has been shown. I am powerful, unique, dedicated to my goal, and I am not cowed by the threats of the Great Leeches or their attempts to break me. I am armoured during most of my appearances, and I am fierce.”
“Do people really think that about you? I’ve not actually gotten out of here much, except for when Miyu forced me out several times for a discussion on baby names in Enian.”
“She’s thinking ahead, I see. Though, ‘baby’ names are a rather useless distinction. Saying just ‘names’ would be far more productive, as there is no change in one’s name when they grow older, unless you are one of the Great Leeches that just wants to make things difficult for me and anyone else that tries to address them by name.”
“I, uh… So, about my previous question?”
“They seem to, certainly. If nothing else, I am believed to be rather mysterious and powerful, and since I have not yet been called the inheritor of the Master of Yi City, my abilities are clearly somewhat unique in the eyes of others. Given how much I talk about killing the Greats, seeing me as anything other than dedicated would be odd, same with my continued attempts to end their existence. I do indeed wear armour regularly since I acquired this, and I have been known to make quite the impression with my ferocity – and neck tearing.”
“That might be true… Fine, give me a moment. I need to focus.”
She nodded and took a step back, not bothering to turn around as it wouldn’t really affect his workflow even if she did so. Usually, the finished product would just be in his hands the moment that her attention wavered for even an instant, which did happen fairly often as she had not yet reached absolute perfection in any regard or method of observation, so turning away would do little in that instance.
It was obviously possible that the removal of the azure light would compromise his ability to such an extent that he would no longer be able to complete anything instantly, nor make use of material to create something that was impossible to manufacture from a needle, some thread and fabric.
There was no need for her to wait for much longer, as she noticed that the finished product did not simply appear in Fu Zan’s hands as always, nor did he sit still without doing much at all until her attention wavered. Rather, she could see him beginning to work, moving very quickly and smoothly, but moving clearly nonetheless.
‘So this had the effect we expected. Fair enough, I guess. At least he can be pushed forward in his cultivation, and then he will be able to personally obtain the power of the otherworldly gift… Can the Law of an otherworldly gift be extracted and condensed into a technique?’ her line of thought shifted completely to something significantly more advanced, but her ideas had to be temporarily shelved, much like plenty of other great concepts that sat within her head for plenty of time now. Most of them were possible, that much was easy to verify simply due to the existence of otherworldly gifts, but her current power and the fact that even Kong Shi Meng could only do so much with the Truth of the Universe meant that her power at the moment was not at all sufficient to recreate the power of otherworldly gifts or to separate it from the gift itself.
She knew that she would need to get at least to the seventh realm before attempting anything of the sort, and maybe even the eighth in order to have a good chance of success. Of course, she could always create techniques that perform similar functions, that have similar intentions, or that are inspired by some aspect of the otherworldly gifts, but that was not her intention, nor did she have much need for that sort of thing.
At the moment, most of her needs were fulfilled by her own power or an otherworldly gift, and she had many ideas of her own for techniques to be developed in the future. If she ever lost access to her trove of otherworldly gifts, that would indeed be a shame, but the most significant one to her was the House of Gold. That one would indeed require the seventh realm for the power to manipulate space and spatial metal to a sufficient extent. Without that, she would certainly need to expend significantly more energy and do so less efficiently than with the halos of the seventh realm, so it was unwise to attempt to do anything regarding that now.
It had to be noted that if she did lose the House of Gold, she would almost certainly lose everything within, so it wouldn’t even be that she needed to create another form of spatial storage to keep all of the things within safe.
Wei Yi spent a great deal of time within her thoughts by the time that Fu Zan was finally done, and when she turned back to look upon his work, she only had one thing to say.
“I think you will suddenly have far fewer customers.”
“That’s a rather cruel thing to say to someone that you had just removed the ability to work from… I can tell that it took me significantly longer than usual, but is the quality that much worse? It looks around the same to me.”
“If that is the case, then I might have accidentally damaged your vision, or the lack of the azure light might have led to the loss of a certain degree of talent associated with tailoring, sewing and the like, so now you need to learn all of that stuff yourself, ideally with the things that you have previously worked on,” the Ascendant replied, grabbing his work from his hands, “This is poorly sewn, has an uncomfortable shape, and will likely tear apart within a few uses, which is not at all suitable for anything other than an outfit made of leaves or any other natural product. There are some who would appreciate that aspect of this, but I don’t think you mean to sell to such a crowd.”
“Some… ah, I think I get it… but I made it the same as I usually would, so how has the outcome changed so much?” Fu Zan asked, grabbing some of his previous creations and comparing them.
“I had explained it to you not that long ago. Please do listen to what I tell you.”
He frowned and recalled her words, then examined everything that he had produced before this, comparing them with what he had made just now and finding every single element that did not align, and after a long while, he likely came to some reasonable conclusions. However, by that time, the Ascendant no longer stood before him.
Instead of standing around and waiting for him to finish his thoughts, Wei Yi had moved on to the next person that she wished to visit, although she could hardly visit her without also meeting up with two others. They were Chao Ru, Shun Liu Min, and Miyu, who were currently in a similar predicament due to what Wei Yi had gotten up to between the situation with the various factions from Yi City coming over to the area near Paragon and the battle with the Ping District. Namely, it was that Wei Yi had decided that she would have children, and those three had decided that they weren’t opposed to having her children.
Had she been in her position, she expected that she might have refused to do anything of the sort, but then again, she was someone that was a little uncomfortable with being pregnant with any child, regardless of origin. Obviously, she would not say that to any of the three.
At this point in time, the three were still very early on in their bearing of the Ascendant’s children, but it appears that they had already formed a small group where they shared their tales and spent their time together. It was rather interesting to observe from the outside, which she did do for a while as she observed their state, the state of their pregnancies, and their cultivation, among plenty of other matters.
Their cultivation, to begin with the simplest topic, had advanced as one might expect. Miyu was now at the peak of the third realm, showcasing her clear dedication to cultivation. Shun Liu Min had gotten to the fourth realm, which was to be expected with her intellect and talent. Chao Ru had also progressed onto the fourth realm, but was only in the first stage, while Shun Liu Min was in the third. As a trio of combatants, they would not be that impactful in the world, but it was still impressive enough given the fact that the Ascendant could clearly see the growing life in their bodies consuming some of their energy.
Having never witnessed a new life being formed with such detail, she had been unaware that it was not only the bloodline and energy build up from previous generations that affected a child, but the active cultivation of a parent. Learning this information prompted her to instruct Yi Shi Ming to create a place for the three to cultivate without interruption, and absorb as much energy as possible.
Overall, the health of these three seemed good enough, and the health of their future children was also as good as she could imagine it being, although she had no past experiences to compare them with. That should have been fine, but she suddenly found her mind being drawn to various methods and techniques that could be used to improve the physical and mental conditions of the three and their children, when they are born, and she couldn’t stop herself from elaborating on them more and more.
In just a few moments of real time, she had come up with a whole compendium of techniques specifically for the next six months, and worst of all, she felt like she could make a dozen more.
‘What the… I know there’s such a thing as parental instinct, but is this not a little excessive?’ she couldn’t help but ask herself, and unlike matters with Dao and the heavens, she had nothing to rely upon in this mater, ‘Well, since I do have all of this, I might as well come in…’
Still very much concerned with how easily her mind was taken over by this, she knocked on the door of the residence that they were in and waited for the response.
“… and then, in the desert, we-” Shun Liu Min’s story was interrupted by the noise, with all three turning in the direction of the door, “Did somebody finally decide to bother us? I don’t… oh. That… I’ll get the door!”
The former maid practically leapt up and rushed over, opening the door as quickly as she could and instantly meeting the gaze of the Ascendant. She was very much familiar with the general aura, physical appearance and height of Wei Yi, and to say that she had gotten used to providing eye contact during their time in the sands of the north would be an understatement. Fortunately, she had not been allowed to make any statement at all due to the interruption, or else coming in at this time would have been rather awkward for the Ascendant.
“Hi. I see you three are doing well.”
“W-Wei Yi?” Chao Ru, who had initially not been too interested in the visitor, looked over and froze, with her eyes widened.
“You’re back!” Aimi Miyu finished for her, the sentiment certainly matching even if their exact words would not have done, “I… I have so many things to say, but I can’t decide which one to start with first! Oh my god…”
“Other than the last part, that seems to be a common enough sentiment here… How have you been?”
The Antanorden woman gave a moment to her response, only for a blush to blossom on her face, “… a little sexually unsatisfied…”
“Considering the topic of discussion before I came in, I can see how that was the first thing you thought of… Sort of. What do you mean by ‘a little’? What have you three even being doing all of this time, and why are you two unable to contain a grin?”
“Eh, well… We may or may not have decided to experiment together a little…”
Seeing how Miyu just blushed even more, it appeared that Shun Liu Min’s words were very accurate, and that those two were still far more leading in these matters than Miyu could be with her continued shyness in regard to her sexuality. Regardless of the rather surprising initial topic, Wei Yi was hardly a stranger to sex and lust – she was apparently familiar enough to get a Dao of Lust, whatever that was worth – so she had no issues with carrying on with exactly that.
Besides, she had agreed to something like this in an earlier discussion with Shun Liu Min, which felt like it had been years ago by this point, so she had no right to get upset even if she had some kind of issue with this. Fortunately, she didn’t, especially as it gave her an opportunity to spy on their activities with their consent and let off some of her killing intent in that manner.
Before she knew it, the day had come to an end, and the three got to be a little more satisfied than they previously were.
