Book 2: Chapter 86: Bloodlines and Tranquility |
Yin Hu looked away from the old man they had been sitting around for the past hour. A second old man that was equally as loquacious as the one that had regaled them about Lou Feng and IronArch City. Something about these geezers made them speak endlessly for hours to anyone willing to listen. If anything they seemed to brighten with massive smiles with so many people surrounding them.
Then again, it was only their party that had been doing so. Otherwise, all of the old men were mostly alone.
Lonely. Isolated even though they were in the midst of entire crowds, large families, and ignorance they could remedy with nothing but stories and learned moments.
Yin Hu looked around the camp they were in. This one was strange compared to the rest of them that they had either dodged as best as they could or paused momentarily to gather information of what may be happening ahead of them. This camp was split into three masses. Two for two groups of cultivators led caravans, part of the Righteous Blocs smaller sects, clans, and halls. While the last one was filled with refugees following in the wake of the cultivators for protection from the local wildlife.
...The dragon of Mount Bai destroyed ten thousand villages
He shook his head.
The old man was currently delighting in the story of an ancient black dragon the size of a mountain and how it kept destroying tens of thousands of villages and towns every new scene that occurred. How the ancient world had so many villages was beyond Yin Hu. There had to be a few million at this point and the populations in the trillions at minimum.
Another nonsensical story that was worthless to them.
This senior has to be doing this on purpose. Every three myth and fantasy stories he gives us good information we can actually use.
Yin Hu picked up on that rhythm by the third time they went through it. Three stories of ancient monsters destroying things and then being cut down by heroes. And then they would get news from around the area they could use.
The Numb Hands Hall had internal conflict between the traditionalist cultivators that were greedy for money versus the new age merchant monopolists.
Five different Merchant Emperors that competed against one another in covert ways to prevent news from getting to the Demonic Cultivators.
Two real Righteous Sects of renown had apparently even taken lands within the deepest reaches controlled by the Merchant Emperors. Sects so powerful even they couldnt fight them off individually.
All of it was information that seemed to be commonplace for anyone willing to listen without making a scene or looking like they were trying to gather knowledge for evil purposes. It helped that the old man was so easily sidetracked and quick to start a new bullshit story. Everyone was kept off their trail and the masses cleared out as though they knew what was about to happen and how long the old man would go on with his tales.
Fortunately for Yin Hu, he had Zhong Da to take care of suffering this torture.
He, on the other hand, could focus on going through his bag for ways to potentially upgrade the girls bloodlines and mutations.
Spending hours sitting made the process easier to go through everything with detailed focus and intentions set on finding the perfect resources. The risks and costs to failure were too great to go with anything that was too vague. He couldnt have the girls ascend and then get killed off the second they were away from him for a brief second. Yin Hu would never forgive himself if that ever happened.
All that was required was a bit of diligence and care and that would never happen.
Hmm Whats this?
Yin Hu paused as he stared at a familiar looking pill.
Purifying Ultimate Bloodline Ascender
Yin Hu launched it back from the hole it had come from in his rice bag and moved on to the next option. That was the last thing he needed right now. As much as he loved how many things he had in there, it was near impossible to find anything without spending entire days or even weeks searching through the masses of nearly identical looking objects that had vast differences in scale and power.
One could be a soul devouring poison in the form of a pill and the next a universal healing medicine turned into powder and then placed into a capsule to consume.
I need to figure out a way to get this to work could I potentially weaken that ascending pill?
Yin Hu shook his head.
He had no clue what he was going with pills, concoctions, or alchemic creations except what he found in the Compendium. The same source of knowledge he had relied on for so long that he could not bring out when there were so many people around. The whole point had been to sneak without attracting attention. His party had already been dealing with too many sources of delays.
Thank you, Senior Tiong, Zhong Da bowed slightly as he rose.
Youre very welcome, young man! If you ever need to hear stories and, Senior Tiong looked around surreptitiously and then back at Zhong Da. He winked at him and giggled. If you need any news. Find me again and Ill give you what Ive gathered. The Children of the Red Jasmine always welcome the curious. he whispered low enough that only Zhong Da should have been able to hear.
Once more, Yin Hu was shown just how broken his physical abilities were.
The entire party stood up, bowed to Senior Tiong, much to his increasing pleasure, and left the camp toward where they had promised to meet Da Ruis. The cultivators gave them mean looks to intimidate them, but never said anything or acted in any threatening manner. Letting them leave without obstructing their path at all. Yin Hu recognized that it was their job to look menacing.
Yin Hus party didnt stop until they reached the old ghost.
Da Ruis was in the middle of a spring he found. Eyes closed, floating above the water, and meditating on the ways the world worked.
Something about seeing Hei Gu, the arrogant young master, getting pimp slapped had shaken his Dao too. Which made sense to Yin Hu. Da Ruis would have been the next level to have come after him if he had been part of Hei Gus sect. The arrogant elder that cripples the juniors only to let hatred fester within the soul of a genius who recovers miraculously.
Dying brutally to said MC a few hundred chapters later in a heart wrenching scene where he finally figures out why he was being targeted. Only to see the back of the MC walking away and that somehow matched perfectly with the genius he had crippled nearly eight hundred years prior.
Maybe this is a good thing? Hed become less blood thirsty and so haughty.
Da Ruis opened his eyes and looked toward them. His gaze looked serene and tranquil. Patriarch? Youve returned so soon?
Yin Hu blinked at him.
Everything felt wrong about him. His previous assessment was quickly thrown out of the window. A peaceful Da Ruis was just too weird to experience first hand. They needed that organized chaos that was the infinite push toward them becoming a proper sect that looked down on everyone. A fresh perspective they needed as proven when he had tried to get Jun to lead the party and plan their entrance into the closest Righteous Bloc city.
I shall re-commence with my meditations if it does not displease you.
Yeah You do that, Yin Hu said. Dont forget we leave soon. Just need to make sure the cultivators that are trailing us finally leave.
Da Ruis nodded as his form shimmered for a second and turned nearly invisible. The girls could never find him whenever he pulled that little stunt. Zhong Da and Wu Xui had learned how to find him once they learned he could do it. Hopefully none of the cultivators around this area are anywhere as powerful as the couple. Having a ghost flying around would cause mass hysteria.
Not because it was a threat, but rather a race to find, enter, and then conquer the potential Inheritance Instance available would cause the entire area to flip over its head.
The perfect way to make sure Yin Hu broke his cover.