Now that both the volcano and the blizzard were under control, traveling to the outskirts of the mountain took merely a minute under the cover of the blizzard, and I came across the people that was climbing the mountain.
As I approached, the details started to become clear. The first thing I noticed was the method they had been using to approach. Just like I did, they were traversing a line of balance to climb higher. Well, to be more accurate, they were trying to do that. The path they were following was a false one, one that would bring them to their end halfway in.
Still, I continued. While it was not convenient to use the System, it didn't mean they would be useless. Spirit stones, in particular, would have been very convenient to have.
Yet, even as I approached, I started to feel something weird about their approach. Something they carried was resonating with the mountain itself rather rapidly, as if they were being accompanied by a disciple of Blood Essence at their peak … but something felt wrong.
The presence of that disciple was strangely disjointed, almost split into two. Something was truly wrong with them.
Maybe it was why they ended up following a false line of balance.
As I continued to approach, I realized the surprises were not limited to it. The mix of the team was equally surprising. It was a mixed team, showing members of both Kartpa Valley and Entsa Pavilion, which moved side by side, pulling a cart behind them.
Considering the enmity between the two sects, I was surprised by the combination. I examined them more closely as I approached. At first glance, I could see that all of them were Foundation Establishment cultivators. Their numbers looked equal, but their powers were not if their attitude was any indicator. Understandable, as one of the Kartpa Valley disciples had been wearing the robe of an inner disciple.
Though, based on the number of times he caressed the fabric as they climbed up, I guessed that he was a recent promotion.
I let the blizzard wrap around me to hide my presence, approaching them, curious about the story of how they collaborated. It must have been an interesting story —
My thoughts came to a halt the moment I saw what they had been pulling behind the cart. What I assumed to be a singular being due to aura was actually two people, chains stabbing through their skin to forcefully mix their presence together, one representing ice, the other fire.
It was a disgusting act, one that would have earned my displeasure in any case — and considering I could directly control the mountain we were on, it was not a wise thing — but what truly angered me was the identity of the two.
Elsana and Lannayin.
Suddenly, my desire to avoid murder seemed like a silly concern. However, I was able to suppress my fury out of pure concern. Elsana and Lannayin were currently in a very perilous situation, and I didn't want to kill them merely by accident.
Luckily, I had too many ways to solve the problem. I closed my eyes, using land mastery to channel the blizzard in front of them, which was only there to hide the formation I built. It wasn't a strong one, but it didn't need to be.
As it was only there to hide my next move. A small pill, turning into sleeping gas by a touch.
Cultivators rarely used poison. I had heard many of them claiming it was about martial honor and other nonsense, but the answer was simpler. Poison was not very effective against the cultivators. Once noticed, cultivators could dispel most poisons easily, and the ones that could not be harder.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Even the ones I used to defend mystic land were more like acid than poison, an overwhelming source of destruction without any hiding. The current sleeping poison was different.
Luckily, I had two advantages. One, the formation helped me to reduce their alertness. More importantly, the constant blizzard and fire had already made their body numb, which should be enough to make them miss the signs.
It worked … somewhat. All but one had collapsed at once, while the Inner Sect disciple managed to stay on his feet. I immediately followed with an illusion, one that showed the visage of a black-robed skeleton on fire. "Invader," the skeleton gasped.
"Illusion," the inner disciple gasped, but his focus was all I needed was to drag the cart away from them, and the blizzard covered their path. He tried to cure himself, but I pulled the fire away, destroying the balance point.
Suddenly, he found himself dealing with freezing supernatural cold and poison at the same time, and eventually, he fainted.
Looking at the horrifying, grotesque state of Elsana and Lannayin, I was tempted to leave them to die. But, instead, I brought them up. I wanted to interrogate them first.
As for their ultimate fate, I would leave it to Elsana and Lannyin … once I saved them from their horrible fate.
Though, as I brought them to the center of the volcano, I was never glad for my double proficiency in apothecary and alchemy. They had linked their presence with an artifact, which turned out to be a demonic monstrosity.
Curious, I quickly checked the unconscious cultivators, only to see the signs of demonic cultivation in every single one of them, including the inner sect disciple, though the signs of it were buried deep. It was not good news, but one bright spot, it explained why they were together.
I left them unconscious. Interrogating them was not a priority.
Instead, I turned my attention on Elsana and Lannayin, particularly, their martial essence, which was in ruins. I was familiar with their old martial cultivation — very familiar in the case of Elsana — enough to understand what had been done.
Someone had destroyed it, and replaced it with ancient martial arts of burning ice, though instead of the proper understanding, they chose to infuse Elsana with the ice part, and Lannayin with the fire part. Unfortunately, there were multiple problems.
The first, but not the biggest, problem was the process. I had also cleansed the old martial arts essence and replaced it with ancient martial arts, but in my case, it was a careful medical operation, done carefully, using my Qi as a sharp scalpel.
In comparison, they were more like a careless landlord who decided to knock down a wall or two while remodeling the apartment, uncaring if they had destroyed anything critical. Calling the damage significant would have been an understatement.
Their haphazard infusion of ice and fire essences didn't make it any better. They had just grabbed the essence from the mountain and forced it to bond with them, which technically brought them to the Blood Essence realm, but with great cost to their health. Then, there was the demonic artifact that linked them together, creating a mockery of the Burning Ice concept.
No wonder they had utterly failed to find a true balance point.
Unfortunately, while the depths of their failure might have been funny in any other circumstances, it currently was not. If the damage hadn't been haphazard like I had been currently dealing with, I could have easily cleaned their cultivation and let them start again properly.
I closed my eyes, thinking about the best possible alternative. Soon, I removed the cultivation records of the sect, and started reading about their variants. Luckily, it looked like the balance wasn't the only path they had been following. In the sect, there were also people who were dedicated to ice and fire.
Trying to elevate their martial cultivation in the correct direction while also cleansing the impact of the demonic artifact was not easy. I would go as far as to say that it was almost impossible. Not only did I have to use the full extent of my Alchemy and Apothecary knowledge, but I also had to apply my newly acquired artifact refining abilities and demonic cultivation techniques combined to properly deal with the artifact binding them.
Even then, if we weren't at the heart of the Burning Ice base, with the volcano and the storm in place to properly settle in them as spiritual pillars, allowing their bodies to generate essence strong enough to overwhelm and cleanse the old remnants, I doubted that I could have succeeded.
But, in life, results mattered more than anything else.
Success.