Once I was sure the fire was completely out, Yvonne, Storm, and I made our way to the town. I was confident as I approached, happy to finally be able to set the lodestone and activate the claiming array. I hadn't considered defensive arrays might be active, or that I needed to worry about those defenses. The reports we had been given about the island had mentioned that while cities, towns, and villages did exist, their defenses were sub-standard at best.
"Jay, wait," Yvonne said as I was about to cross over into the town proper.
"Look at how the town is formed. She said pointing out obvious areas that were grouped together. "Do you see it?"
I wasn't sure what she wanted me to notice at first. The town wasn't as well constructed as I'd expected. They had managed to find or quarry stone, so the buildings should have been more robust and able to withstand tropical storm winds, but neglect or rot had been allowed to set in. Repairs would need to be made, more than should have been considering the size of the town.
Other than that, the only thing that really stood out was the town's layout. The center was constructed in an obvious Ying/Yang pattern, but the rest of the town had been divided into eight sections. The sections combining to create an octagon.
"The Ying/Yang pattern?" I asked, unsure if that was what caught her attention.
"That draws your focus, but the town as a whole has been built to create an eight trigrams formation. A formation that shouldn't exist here," Yvonne said. "A formation this powerful is usually reserved for Clans and Sects because it can be adapted to defend multiple numbers of people and circumstances."
"I've never heard of the eight trigrams formation," I admitted. "What is it?"
"The pattern and formation draw upon the fundamental forces of reality. It is a cosmological construct, each section of the octagon fulfilling a role that is symbolic of the eight aspects of Bagua, Pakua, or Palgwae.
"Its functionality was so versatile that the trigram was the model that Sects were built on. The formation combines the principles of Heaven, Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Thunder, Mountain, and Lake, to harness the elemental forces those principles evoke. The Bagua is tied to the primordial nature of the universe. The Pakua those concepts that have manifested and make real. While Palgwae is related to the Later Heavens, the ultimate goal for every cultivator.
"The pattern requires the Ying/Yang center to be bolstered by eight areas, each assigned one of those elemental forces. When activated the Bagua, Pakua, or Palgwae opens eight pathways to eight gates. The gates representing sky, wind, water, mountain, earth, thunder, fire, and lake.
"The pattern is a physical representation of the natural universe, and a defensive formation out of proportion for what this town might need. The eight trigrams formation, having been built using the precepts and concepts inherent in cosmological teachings, can use the power of nature to defend and attack," she explained.
"You think we'll be attacked if we get close?" I asked.
"I'm not sure," she said, "but it's possible. The formation may be programmed to defend against beasts, but it might also have been activated to fend off any cultivators that might attempt to enter the town without permission. An attack might also be based on a person's Realm.
"If whoever had this constructed is worried about keeping control of the town, then this formation would be effective as a surprise attack. Not many people have ever seen one of these formations, and of those who have, they might not understand the dangers involved.
"It might even be powerful enough to kill a Nihility Realm cultivator that entered the town without permission. It is deceptive, inert until triggered, easily camouflaged. So, for those that had no reason to expect a formation like this to exist, or had never heard of the eight trigrams formation, they may have been killed before they noticed the array activating."
"Why are you so well informed if this type of formation is so rare?" I asked.
"My House has concentrated on the professions almost since our founding," she disclosed. "Children of our House are tutored extensively in all the crafting professions since there is no way of knowing what skills they may have a talent for.
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"Even with that type of tutoring, this formation wouldn't have been discussed if our House hadn't been commissioned to create a formation for a Clan that had grown so large, they were allowing several Houses to form a subsidiary Clan.
"The time and effort required to build that formation took over a year to finish. Every adult was involved in some manner, and it was the topic of conversation of every meal, and at least a part of each tutoring session."
If Yvonne hadn't accompanied me, my ignorance and the misinformation I had received about the town's defenses may have been deadly. Patriarch Umbra had asked me to look into the smuggling operation she was certain was centered around this town. An eight trigrams formation would certainly go a long way to defending and hiding that type of operation. This more than anything gave credence to her belief that something was going on here.
I had no idea what the cost was to build something like this. But the entire town, every building in it, each resident and business had been placed and constructed to allow for the formation. The series of lines and dashes that established function prescribed with exacting detail, details that were easy to find now that I knew to look.
The creation of something like this took a vast amount of time, energy, and money. And I would guess political power to keep it hidden. There was no way this could have been accomplished without the town's bureaucrats, clerks, and the local lord's knowledge. They had to have been actively engaged and willing participants. Construction and building permits, roads, even the harbor, and dock had been methodically tied together to give form and set boundaries.
"Do you know anything about this Lord Chon those burning the forest mentioned?" Yvonne asked as we hovered near the border of the town.
"No," I lamented. "There was no information available, or at least that was what I was told. Other than the location of this town, and the size of the territory I was able to claim, the clerk who I worked with only mentioned that most of the island was uncharted.
"He went out of his way to stress that the Empire would not be responsible for any dangers I might find. And that the people were my responsibility."
"There was nothing about the type of government you were expected to establish?" She asked in disbelief. "No guidance on who might be available to serve as Seneschal or who might be available to man the Empire's local office?"
"None, and no mention of setting up facilities for the Empire's representation and consul," I volunteered thoughtfully. "There was no mention of establishing Empire facilities.
"What do you think that means?" I wondered.
"I'm not sure," Yvonne mused, "but I think the rumors that the Empire is going to allow Four Element Sect to establish their own government on the island might be true."
"Why would they do that?" I asked in disbelief. "Wouldn't they be giving up a substantial amount of resources and taxes?"
"Compared to the amount they would need to invest to develop the island?" Yvonne suggested. "I wouldn't be surprised that they cut their losses. I'll hazard a guess that the people they allow to immigrate are the dregs of society. The untrained, criminals, and malcontents."
"They'll flood Delph Island with hundreds of millions of people that have no way to support themselves, then withdraw completely? Why bother to accept the island in the first place? It had to cost a staggering amount of beast cores and spirit stones to build Four Element Sect," I pointed out. "And that doesn't include the number of resources that were traded away."
"Costs the Empire forced the high-tier Sects to pay," she pointed out. "I would be surprised if the Empire itself, invested any meaningful resources into this project."
"And the tournament? Was it a feint?" I asked.
"I think so. How better to get Sects to invest than to make it seem there was something here worth coveting?" She theorized.
"Looking at this town, there is something here worth coveting, something someone wants to be protected, and something they think worth the cost to invest the amount of money required to create an eight trigrams formation to make sure whatever it is protected," I dared to say.
"How do we get into this town without activating the formation?" I asked, deciding to ignore the Empire's machinations for the moment. I would discuss Yvonne's ideas with Elder Shadow when I returned to the Sect. I'm sure he or his family were aware of the real nature of the Empire's goals. If not, then this might open up new avenues of investigation.
"We walk in," Yvonne answered nonchalantly. "The formation has some obvious flaws; it is one of the reasons the Sects only consider it a part of a whole defensive strategy. The biggest is that the formation is geared toward beast attacks and cultivators that use aerial attacks.
"If we walk in, we should be fine."
"Seriously?" I asked in disbelief. "Why bother if there is such a glaring hole in the formation's defenses?"
"Ground access is usually protected, cultivators stationed at gates," she replied amused at my disbelief, "there should be guard stations located at each entrance. If the people manning the gates pass us through, the formation won't activate."
"I may have made a mistake putting out that fire then," I said. "They will know we are coming, and that we are powerful enough to call a storm. I doubt they will let us enter."
"I wouldn't be too sure," Yvonne disagreed. "We can move much faster than they can. And if we approach the gate in the right manner? A young woman helping an obviously injured woman, screaming that we have been attacked and that the injured person is dying?
"I think they will let us pass, and worry about who we are once it's too late."