Now that the beast had stopped asking distracting questions, Puren Ning could figure out how to reverse the flow when the things the path follow stay still. She had managed to get to the point where all the parts were connected into a single shot of armor, but then she hit a wall when they stopped moving in response to her own movements. Without any kind of reaction to her action, she had no way of knowing if it was even progressing past the point of disconnection.

Somewhat irritated, she rolls her head back and forth, watching as the pieces are ripped apart and held at each of the five points of the array, as well as above and below. The helmet is the one down below, all the way at her eye level, and up above is the left arm, barely discernible from the other four limbs. It was somewhat interesting to roll back a bit further and see how far each was launched in the direction they were held, with the helmet slamming into the ground and bouncing up into the sky, but somehow she couldn't quite enjoy the interactions when lightning was blasting with so much fervor that if it hasn't been ramping up slowly this entire time she would be sure the sect had sent a cultivator with the power of that element.

Rather, it seemed that at least one of them used air. Tornadoes and lightning didn't usually strike extremely quickly and constantly in the forest without even a cloud cover. Some jerk was killing the weak beasts in the forest, letting the mana disperse and be absorbed by the remainder, and thoroughly exploring the entire woods. Hopefully the remainder of the subjugation team was being held up at the village by one person wasting time in the forest, but she doubted they were so lucky. Unless they spent actual days in the forest, the time effect was going to be enough to let them catch up the moment they decide to.

It wasn’t fair. She had just found a catalyst for her own fortuitous event, that which would bring her up into the upper tiers of the world, and perhaps into immortality herself. How dare they come to bring her down, before she had even gotten the chance to try. Once again, she tilts her head, watching as the helmet flies up into the sky. The other part flying up alongside it, that didn’t have a bounce, so it went straight up. It was probably the one that came down and stayed around here somewhere.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Bringing the images all the way back, and reassembling them, she watches the arm closely. First, it’s jerked off to the side, separating it from the torso. Then, it floats up to the top section. Something probably happens to cause that, but the image only shows the armor itself. Finally, it flies into the sky. That leaves a tiny speck in the distance, but if she moves her head slowly enough, she could probably keep track of where it was going.

Ah, to the top of the mountain. Of course.

“It looks like the dot is the left arm, on top of the mountain. This one humbly requests that the merciful beast commands the helmet to scan for a path to the top again.”

Surprisingly, the yellow path from the bottom she had followed to reach this shelf extends as she finishes her sentence, winding its way up to the spot the arm had fallen.

“Graciously accepting your foresight, this one thanks the benefactor.”

The words taste like ash in her mouth. Puren Ning hated this groveling, the false humility that permeates every social interaction. It was bad enough that it was a necessity for speaking with those more powerful than her, but deferring to every unknown person just because it was probable each one of them were going to be a higher Rank than she was inflamed hatred. Her family would even enforce the ideals into interactions with regular people, farmers and workers that she knew, and who knew her already. ‘Act demure, be polite, don’t be arrogant’, always with the submergence of everything she wanted to do, say, even think. What she hated most of all was that all of it had a purpose, as she was using it now.

“This one shall assist the master in his ascent to the top of the mountain.”

Dragging the beast over a trail made of sharp rocks was a decent perk though.