As much as Jia had been enjoying just walking from place to place in familiar territory, there was something else she wanted to test now that she’d finished regenerating her body.
Before her ascension, Lee Jia had invented a flying technique that merged everything she knew about mana theory, spiritual cultivation, and martial arts into a single united discipline. It was the first truly unified cultivation technique that she was aware of. There were others that combined disciplines, like Rika’s Hundred Mirrors or even Narae’s still-unnamed flying technique, which had been the inspiration for Jia’s. But only Jia’s Lightspeed Traversal was truly unique to a fully unified cultivation method.
Developing the technique had required Jia to modify her body through cultivation, creating a specialized organ next to her heart that was both physical and spiritual. It required specially cultivated essence, to be combined with mana from her aura, mixed together in a very precise manner. One misstep, and she’d be flooding her entire body with Destruction essence and flying in every direction at once in spectacular fashion.
Just as well that she’d gotten it right the first time, in hindsight.
The result was incredibly powerful, but also exceptionally costly. Jia could fly more or less indefinitely, but she could also turn herself into a beam of light and move at unfathomable speeds—for a moment. Before her ascension, she could only manage a few very short distance ‘blinks’ with her technique before needing to rest. Long-distance travel was out of the question.
That was before she’d acquired the Sovereign’s Tear—a practically unlimited source of essence. She’d been eager to test the limits of her technique without having to worry about exhausting herself, but frustratingly had been unable to replicate it without a real body.
Now, she had a perfect opportunity. Jiaguo’s shield formation was very large, and the edge of it was miles away from the city gates.
As soon as she left the administration hall, she flew up into the air and began to gather the essence within her.
The visitors from Urayama would be coming from the south, so she oriented herself in that direction and focused on the faint sensation of distant auras just beyond her domain. Once she was certain of her destination, she released the gathered essence and took off.
Sacred Art: Lightspeed Traversal
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Ito Yuuki felt out of place as he waited for the foreigners to respond to his message. He wasn’t the strongest or fastest in the village, nor was he particularly well-spoken. He was a martial artist, freshly returned from his mandatory service, but that only made him feel even stranger. He’d just spent the last five years training to defend his country, and now he was leaving it? Yuuki would follow The Lady anywhere—the whole village would—but he couldn’t help but question why.
In particular, why was he the messenger? Of course it was necessary to send a runner ahead to announce their arrival—over a hundred martial artists arriving unannounced on foreign territory was nothing short of a declaration of war—but he wasn’t an elder or a priest. He was nobody! Barely even a soldier, since his military service had concluded without a single actual battle.
Yet he’d been chosen for the task, and so it was his to complete. The Lady herself had selected him. Apparently while he was away, his family had hosted someone important from this Jiaguo place he’d never even heard of. To hear his mother tell it, they’d stayed for all of a single night before spending the rest of their visit at Lady Tennin’s shrine. That could hardly make for a meaningful bond—did they even remember?
And he hadn’t even been there! Maybe they knew his parents or siblings, but he was a total stranger! He’d only been chosen because he was the only martial artist in the family. Yuuki thought he’d die from sheer embarrassment after insisting to that Takeda woman that he had to speak to Yoshika directly.
But his lady said it was important that it be him, and that he speak directly to Yoshika. So he had to trust her, no matter how much he doubted.
His anxious fretting came to a halt when he was blinded by a sudden flash of light accompanied by a powerful burst of wind.
Ito Yuuki dropped into a combat stance and blinked the spots out of his eyes, his head on a swivel as he searched for the source of the attack. Instead, what he found was a tiny slip of a girl with hair as white as snow, and golden eyes that practically glowed as they caught the light.
She was incredibly beautiful—perhaps even almost as much as The Lady Tennin—and he was so caught up in her gaze that he almost failed to notice the slit of her pupils, or the distinctly cat-like ears and tail. This woman was a youkai!
No—he quickly corrected himself internally—he’d been briefed on this, they preferred to be called half-spirits.
The girl stepped forward and bowed, causing Yuuki to snap out of his stupor and return the gesture.
“Greetings, miss! My name is Ito Yuuki of Urayama. I am here to deliver a message to Miss Yoshika on behalf of our Lady Tennin.”
The girl smiled up at him—she was barely more than half his height!
“I am Yoshika—though you can just call me Lee Jia. It’s nice to meet you, Ito Yuuki—is Suzu well?”
He blinked. His mother? Oh, of course! Stupid! How could he forget why he was here so quickly? Yuuki tried not to be distracted by the way Lee Jia’s ears swiveled, or the sway of her tail as he answered.
“Um, yes—she’s actually quite eager to thank you for the gift of gold you left us.”
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“Ah! I forgot all about that! Oh, ancestors, that was Qin gold, wasn’t it? That’s so embarrassing, I didn’t even realize that the currencies were different back then.”
“Eh? Oh—i-it’s fine. Gold is gold—it all spends the same.”
She put a hand over her chest and sighed in relief.
“That’s good. Is she here too, then? That’s a surprise...she’s a bit old to be starting her training, but I suppose we can try to figure something out...”
Lee Jia trailed off, muttering to herself about something to do with corruption and awakening. Yuuki wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting from a foreign head of state, but he was sure it wasn’t Lee Jia.
“Er, no, she’s not here to train, Miss.”
He winced at his choice of address—he wasn’t sure what her title was, but just ‘Miss’ had to be rude. Too late to backtrack, though, so he just forged on.
“The village is on their way here under Lady Tennin’s guidance. I was sent ahead to inform you of our presence and to formally request an audience on behalf of my Lady.”
Lee Jia’s demeanor shifted in an instant. Her ears pointed straight forward, and her tail went perfectly still. Her stance didn’t change, but something about the way she held herself was suddenly setting off alarm bells inside of Yuuki’s body, urging him to either fight or run for his life. Her gaze fell on him, sharp as a blade, and even her voice sounded different as she spoke.
“How many, exactly? How far out are they and what is their pace? Is the provincial lord aware of your emigration?”
It was like she was a completely different person—and a much closer fit to what he’d been expecting.
“W-we’re around two hundred and fifty, Lady Lee Jia. Perhaps a week or two at the pace the camp was moving when I left. I’m not sure about the last one.”
“Where are they now?”
Yuuki turned to point in the direction he had come from.
“They’ll have moved since I left, but—”
There was another flash of light, followed by a rush of air and a strange popping noise. When Yuuki turned to look, Lee Jia was gone.
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“That was rude, Kaede!”
“Jia, this is an emergency. We don’t have time to be concerned about etiquette.”
“An emergency?! I’m as surprised as you are, but isn’t a whole village moving in great news?”
Yoshika appeared at the edge of the Yamato village’s camp and extended her domain to search for Lady Tennin’s aura. Two weeks' travel crossed in seconds—not even Misun’s wind walking spell could manage that. Her Lightspeed Traversal was a total success.
She found Lady Tennin and began to walk—entering her territory on foot as an unthreatening gesture. Along the way, she continued her internal dialogue.
“It’s a double-edged sword. New immigrants are good, but a group as large and monolithic as Urayama comes with its own issues. The most concerning part, though, is why they are here. I can only think of a few reasons for them to relocate like this, and none of them are good for us.”
“I trust Lady Tennin. We’ve only met a few times, but she’s a friend. She wouldn’t try to harm us.”
“I know, but she’s not the one I’m worried about.”
The villagers made way for her as Yoshika crossed their camp, until she came upon an ornate palanquin attended by priests and shrine maidens. They bowed wordlessly as she approached, and Lady Tennin herself emerged from the mikoshi to greet her with a brilliant smile.
“Yoshika! You got here much sooner than I thought! It’s so good to see you.”
She strode forward to embrace Yoshika in a tight hug, which Yoshika reciprocated.
“It’s good to see you too! It’s been too long.”
“It has!”
Lady Tennin stepped back and held her at arm’s length. Yoshika could feel Lady Tennin’s domain probing hers curiously as she regarded her.
“My, you’ve changed so much in such a brief time! You must have had quite the adventure!”
Yoshika chuckled.
“You could say that. But we can talk about it later—as glad as I am to see you, this is a little bit concerning.”
Lady Tennin smiled apologetically.
“I understand—please, join me in the mikoshi. Technically, only guardian spirits are supposed to dwell inside, but I’m sure Shinji won’t object.”
The old monk that attended Lady Tennin gave her a strained smile.
“Of course—please, be our guest.”
Yoshika followed Lady Tennin into the palanquin. As small as she was, there was still barely enough space for her to sit up straight inside. Lady Tennin actually had to hunch a bit, and their knees were practically touching as they sat across from each other.
“It’s uh...quite cozy in here.”
Lady Tennin giggled.
“I would never complain about something the villagers worked so hard to create for me.”
“Of course not—I didn’t mean any offense.”
“None taken! Please, feel free to speak candidly—it’s just us.”
Yoshika sighed. Lady Tennin was always so positive, and it was hard to tell what she was actually feeling.
“Please be honest. How bad are things back home?”
Lady Tennin cocked her head.
“That’s an odd way for you to phrase it, but I understand your meaning. I can only speak for our village, but Lord Noguchi knows how much I hate sending my people to serve in his armies, and demanded a full mobilization anyway.”
“And the only reason he would do that is if he was expecting a war on the horizon.”
“A war our village would not be able to survive without our main workforce.”
Yoshika frowned. It was as she’d suspected, then. Her father was preparing for something. The question, then, was what. Was he reinforcing the border to protect against invasion from an unknown power? Or was he preparing an invasion of his own?
Though Hayakawa Takeo had raised Kaede on military doctrine and strategic planning, she didn’t know her father well enough to predict how he would act.
“Lady Tennin, I know that your interest is mostly focused on your people, but is there anything you’ve heard—any news at all—that would indicate Shogun Hayakawa’s attitude towards Jiaguo?”
She shook her head sadly.
“Your letter was the first I’d heard of Jiaguo, I’m afraid—though, there was one thing. I’d written it off as a disturbing rumor, but perhaps it will mean something to you.”
“Go on—any information could help, no matter how small.”
“Well, this actually came from the young man I sent to deliver my message—Ito Suzu’s son. According to him, there’s a rumor that Lady Hayakawa Kaede is dead, and that Master Ienaga Yumi has been stripped of her rank. No accusation has been officially made, but...”
But the implication was clear. Yoshika grimaced.
“Master Ienaga is being blamed for my death.”