SaltySiamese balanced neatly on the Jade step and waited impatiently for ZipZing to tie the string. She didn't argue that they didn't need to, because the dragon moved closer below them and plucked the string they'd just climbed like it was a harp string. It even made a sort of deep twanging noise.
One of the players below made a fatal mistake and sent an attack shooting upward that hit the dragon, whether by design or by accident. Danika ignored the chaos below and finished tying the string. SaltySiamese made her next shot the moment ZipZing's skill completed. The arrow snapped onto the step above and they all started climbing as fast as they could.
They didn't keep their lead forever, but the Jade Palace and its surrounding islands were already visible in the sky above them the next time the players following them caught up.
Shinichi said, "Let me deal with this."
Danika looked up at him doubtfully, but nodded and continued upward, while ShinZing dropped like a rock.
This high above the empire, even his fastest flight speed wasn't enough to do more than slow his fall, and he didn't even try. He hit the leading adventurer with a bang that almost knocked him off the step and bounced upward. His second landing didn't have nearly as much impact, but his legendary sword left a bloody trail through enchanted armor, flesh, and bone, before he hit the step itself and bounced upward again to catch hold of the string.
"Freaking pixie!" the player screamed.
The player on the rope below, that they'd replaced the string with, shouted, "Make room for me! I can take him!"
"In your dreams," Shinichi replied and tapped a quick string of emotes.
--
When Shrubbery messaged, her little golden mouse parachuted down to ZipZing with a smug look. Danika read quickly: "Kit says she's ready, so you can go ahead and let SaltySiamese arrive at the Palace now. You would not believe your eyes if you could see the bottom of the Jade Path right now! Even my old guild is involved! They are literally turning the little specks of jade at the bottom onto huge living islands by growing plants and trees that are weaving soil into sod as fast as people can carry it up. I guess those steps don't have a weight limit!"
Danika laughed and read the part about the islands aloud as she had ZipZing bind the next string. She didn't want to know how much SaltySiamese had spent on her supplies, because she had already used up hundreds of the special arrows and dozens of kilometers of the strong silky string.
Justin the Gray asked, "ZipZing, are you always in the middle of events that change 'Living Jade Empire' by chance? Or did you set this up?"
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Danika didn't know how to answer, because they had kind of set this scenario up, since Kit was waiting at the top to give Salty the hair she needed. "I didn't realize that just climbing the path was going to get such a huge immediate response from people," she hedged.
She didn't think Justin was fooled, because he shot her a sharp look that was conveyed even through the mobile version of the game. He didn't ask again though, he just climbed faster, and said, "Well, thanks for giving us the opportunity."
"You know, there's no reward that I know of for climbing the path," Danika cautioned, as SaltySiamese made her next shot.
"Doesn't matter as long as I can get the skill to shift just my ears into my cat form ones!" SaltySiamese replied vigorously.
--
When they arrived at last at the landing platform below the stairs that lead up into the Jade Palace, the Jade Emperor and his Empress were waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
Danika gazed at the chibified version of the Empress with amazement. From this view at least, she'd never have recognized Kit. She suspected that she might not have been able to recognize her through VR either, from the smug little smile Kit flashed at them.
SaltySiamese promptly made a proper bow and practically shouted, "Jade Empress! I have made my way to the Palace to request a single strand of your hair! I'm willing to accept any task to earn it!"
The Empress nodded regally and said, "You have made a difficult climb, I believe in your sincerity. Agree to perform three tasks in service to the Empire in the future, and I will grant your request."
"I accept!" SaltySiamese shouted triumphantly. She accepted the hair and checked her menus.
Danika blinked and asked, "Did that give a new ongoing quest?"
Both SaltySiamese and Kit nodded. Kit's eyes turned toward her husband, and Danika gazed suspiciously at the amused smile on the Emperor's face.
She wasn't too surprised when he stepped forward and said, "I will also hear one request from your party, as you are the first to have climbed the Jade path from the ground up, despite your arrival on a day when my court is not open."
Justin stepped forward immediately, and asked quietly, "I trust there are no objections to me being the one to make the request?"
Shinichi turned toward Danika where she sat beside him and muted his phone before asking, "Are we really going to let him hog that?"
"Was there something you wanted?" Danika asked in surprise.
Justin took her question as directed at himself and replied, "Yes, but I can wait until the court opens if it's a problem."
Shinichi shook his head in negation, and Danika said, "I don't mind, go ahead."
Justin looked at the Emperor and asked, "Please allow guilds to create new towns like the ones that exist in the older portions of the empire, where the town itself can be owned, the boundary of the whole town can be expanded at once, and plots within it can be sold to individuals."
The Jade Emperor looked thoughtful, but didn't reply immediately.
"I don't think he can just do that," Danika whispered.
Justin shrugged. "This is just a shortcut to putting in a request for the developers and moderators isn't it?" he asked quietly.
The Jade Emperor startled them both when he announced a moment later, "Granted. You will find that the ability to upgrade a guild hall deed into a village property, as long as the location does not lie within an existing settlement, has been added."
Danika gulped. She wondered what, if anything, that was going to do to the new City of Sand, Tianxia, with thousands of little properties all crowded together.
--
The King of Cats had removed his avatar from the empire, but it did not remove him from the Emperor's reach as he had hoped. The Jade Emperor simply summoned him to the throne room when he was ready. Even though the Emperor was somewhat doubtful that he would be able to gain what he needed, the empire was still isolated, without either players or celestial servants.
He ate the cat, and absorbed his patterns and his duties all over again, this time within the empire where they both belonged.