What Is What?

As the sound halted from the bushes, a group of at least 17 people with varying Races showed themselves. They were initially surprised to see Heian Ciemnosc and Little Ish, not finding them familiar or recognizable at first. But they were even more weirded out since their peak Spirit Rebirth realm cultivators didn't warn them beforehand, meaning these 2 people could hide from their detection. However, that didn't mean they were powerful. They could have tools that hid them from any First Step cultivator.

“Hey, who are you, sir and little girl?” Heian Ciemnosc had already seen various teams like these bordering the neutral zone within the jungle, but this one was the only one to come closer to them… and the first to recognize something was wrong. They were careful to avoid every Second Step Fauna territory but would kill whatever else they found and take the richest resources from their carcasses.

This did not seem like a mission of higher-ups from the other top organizations, as they wore their emblems, but more like a massive orchestration for resource gathering… illegally. It would be fine if it was in their territory, but it was prohibited to go on hunting groups in the neutral zone. This wasn’t purely for the sake of the ecosystem. The Second Step Fauna here were big shots anywhere in the Kingdom, but if they misbehaved, the Academy would launch an invasive attack to make them all pets and mounts.

Naturally, the Races also had to be cautious and not overstep their boundaries. This would maintain both sides passively progressing, harming no one. However, with the acts of these fellas, there was bound to be a conflict somewhere next year if the northern, mightiest organizations from the top 7 organizations did nothing soon. And with only the Blauw Empire having a grand array around, neither the Pavilion nor the Cult could tell what was happening.

Yet, when Heian Ciemnosc heard one of the young men’s questioning words aloud, and having clearly recognized them, especially the ‘weak’ little royal princess, his darkest eyes became casual. The other group looked at Heian Ciemnosc and then at the little girl with increasing surprise before making dubious moves. Heian Ciemnosc ignored it, nudged at the little girl with a sapling of his dark Neutral Energy, and patted her lower back.

Not looking back, Little Ish accommodated her backpack on her delicate and lithe body and took a long stride forwards with her right leg. When she landed her foot, she spoke even louder than the young man and directly interrogated them. “What are you and your people doing here?! It is a neutral zone, and your Emirates are far from home. What is your purpose here?!”

“Hahaha, look at this little thing!” - “Huff, what is she doing? She thinks this is her Region? Seriously? Bah!” - “Hm, she isn’t all awful. Look at her face, pff.” A trio of the group’s young men chatted with each other in low volume but without hiding their words, letting even a Spiritual Ligament realm cultivator hear everything they said. Little Ish kept silent as this went on, and the old fellows from the group seemed to be done with doing something.

She looked at them as her brightest aquamarine, azure eyes remained unfazed. Her little hands slowly formed fists, not out of rage or humiliation, much less tension or nervousness. She simply felt itchy. The old fellows flew over and expelled their peak Spirit Rebirth realm aura, slowly crashing towards Little Ish as Heian Ciemnosc did nothing to shield her. Just as their auras were a few shy meters from her, they stopped as the old ones frowned and seemed somewhat taken aback with a frown.

“Ahem, mr. assigned supervisor?” One of the old ones said aloud, trying to catch Heian Ciemnosc’s attention, but he crossed his arms and lightly turned his head to the left without saying anything. His face indifferent and casual, Heian Ciemnosc’s lips calmly posed as the area around them was filled with silence, but several hundreds of kilometers around them, footsteps charged towards them.

“Ah… it’s a coincidence we met here! I have heard great things about you. How was the Academy life?” Another old one said, showing confidence with his peak First Step cultivation before Heian Ciemnosc on the outside but uncontrollably shaking from the inside to Heian Ciemnosc’s knowledge. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t speak again and left their surroundings still. The experts remained calm as more time passed, but as if fearing something, when one suddenly said, after taking a step forward.

“Since we’ve come to know each other… like this… A-ahem-… uhm… why don’t we let the younger generation know each other? It wouldn’t be bad if the Blauw Empire could start having good relations with the inland organizations down the north, right? Haha heheh…” When the old fellow took that step forwards and was already planning to take another, Heian Ciemnosc suddenly turned his head towards him.

It wasn’t like before, slightly and slow. Heian Ciemnosc made a smooth, direct movement. It startled the expert, but he recomposed shortly after, saying the words he wanted to speak and letting out a little laugh. His laugh came out with strangeness and somewhat hoarse, but it seemed to work, at the very least. And this time, Heian Ciemnosc’s pitchest-blackest eyebrows arched upwards, and his eyes momentarily landed on the little royal princess’s back.

“Sure, why don’t you choose that young man who spoke just now? I think they will like each other very much,” Heian Ciemnosc said as he looked at the first fellow to run his mouth. Questioning nothing, Little Ish looked at that person again. When her eyes landed on his face, she wasn’t shy to focus her Spirit Sense and extend it to barely reach his body. It went up and down, and the young man felt naked. But before he could think that the little girl was a pervert, his eyes widened, and he felt threatened instead!

“!” The young man took half a stance and faced the little girl as if meeting with a terrible person, but he didn’t dare to act before the big shots’ finished talking. The first old expert to have spoken from their group moved his lips again, addressing Heian Ciemnosc’s positive answer. “I concluded with the same thing, dear assigned supervisor, hahahaha… Mn, we should let them spar. It’s been a while since the Blauw Empire’s combat capabilities were seen by us inland fellows. We didn’t dare disrupt the banquet before, but- uh… I think this is a great chance!”

“And what better than the little royal princess Herself demonstrating this act?” The same old expert said as he raised his eyebrows and looked at the little girl whose backpack was strangely too big for even Heian Ciemnosc’s size. His expression and meaning didn’t go unnoticed, of course. Little Ish dropped her bag at once.

Thud~! Fwuuh fwuuh, fwuuuuh~...

Letting the backpack go, it crashed against the ground. The vegetation behind Little Ish was turned into 2D as a large cloud of dust in her immediate surroundings rose, and both her and Heian Ciemnosc’s bodies disappeared from their naked eyesight. Once again, they couldn’t detect them with their Spirit Sense. On the other hand, within the risen dust, Heian Ciemnosc felt their Spirit Sense hysterically searching for them, but they remained in their spots in case they were worrying for nothing.

“Don’t hold back. I will give a little sign. Don’t get too alarmed because of it.” After witnessing the fellows and after he made sure the little girl had enough time to assess her opponent, Heian Ciemnosc spoke to her in the dust. Little Ish didn’t wholly look back at him but shushed him, irritated. “Shhhh! Where are your commands? That is not a mental message, teacher. Aren’t you supposed to be the role model to follow? Aish!”

“...” Heian Ciemnosc rolled his eyes and looked to his right, where the morning sun was barely coming out, but the clouds of rain and a gray day had already obstructed those below from its view. The dust suddenly started settling down, as if by command, and the other group saw Heian Ciemnosc and the little royal princess remain in the same spot. They became relieved, especially the young man, whose mentality returned after a break.

“Very well, let’s have them know each other well,” without wasting time, Heian Ciemnosc said as he relaxed his arms and placed them behind his back. Only his shoulders were visible as his hands entwined behind his lower back. One of the other group’s old fellows stood forward thrice and raised his palms, showing them to him as he said, “Wa- wait a minute, mister assigned supervisor. Could we first talk a little bef-”

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“Little apprentice, charge.” Heian Ciemnosc cut the old retard off, and Little Ish didn’t hesitate for a millisecond before nodding ever so slightly and uttering a light grunt before rapidly dashing forwards! This gave no time for the other group to respond. The old experts flew backwards as the young fellows hesitated. It seemed that their medallions heated, for Heian Ciemnosc saw many of them react out of inertia and sensed their Spirit Sense entering their Covert Space bags.

The old fellows bore exasperated expressions but acquiesced with his sudden movement nonetheless. From the younger fellas, only the first that spoke remained on his spot before also rushing forwards. The other group limited themselves to watch, but they had their left or right hands on their waists, close to their respective Covert Space bags, even the old ones. On the other hand, Heian Ciemnosc kept with his hands on his lower back.

Step, step, step- step, step, step. … … … …rustle, step… rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle… step, step… step, step, step…

From their right, back, and slightly from their left, Little Ish and Heian Ciemnosc suddenly became surrounded by tens of thousands of cultivators from various organizations, including some from the top organizations, rushing at them on foot. The leaves, bushes, and even trees fluttered wildly before their footsteps resounded as cultivators were even dashing amidst the long, robust branches. Heian Ciemnosc was unaltered, but Little Ish didn’t notice until they had appeared for 3 seconds already.

However, she was also about to clash head-on against this young man in the Spirit Formation realm 10th stage, at the peak. She ignored it since her teacher was here with her and focused on the young man ahead. The latter’s eyes slightly shook when he noticed the little girl rushing at him, not only not become distracted or confused but determined and… scary instead. Thus, he bathed himself in his Power Energy and started taking a claw-like tool from his Covert Space bag, hiding it from her view and trying to do the same with his Spirit Sense.

But her Spirit Sense was much better, to the point he didn’t even realize she had already seen through it!

Stomp, stomp… whoosh, whoosh, fwip- cuu- ts- liiish~! Pfuuuuh~! Splaaaaaaank! Phhshk!

“!!” Suddenly, both parties stomped both their feet against the ground. The young man relied on his Power Energy to jump high and impulse himself strongly. On the other hand, Little Ish relied purely on her bodily strength. After impulsing her body into the air, she used her Power Energy to cut the wind and enhance her accumulative force moving forwards, giving her tremendous momentum compared to the young man.

Their bodies went up in the air, but while the young man floated rapidly, Little Ish seemed to fly! When they were moving their bodies to start their attacking motions, from which they had only 2 seconds, difficult because of their low cultivation base, the young man struggled to put on his claw tool on his left hand while Little Ish simply punched with both fists as her arms extended onwards and her elbows weren’t entirely locked.

But, suddenly, the little girl sensed her extra Covert Space bag with exceptional items on her back, at her vertebral column shake, and felt one of the most important ones leave its space. She felt her teacher’s presence, so it didn’t distract her, but the next thing that happened alarmed her.

Indeed, Heian Ciemnosc sent an impossibly fast dark Neutral Energy from his left palm under the incredulous and fearful old experts’ eyes. It was like a god using an instantaneous, undeniable move to these fellows, but to Heian Ciemnosc, this was just a basic move. He entered his little apprentice’s extra Covert Space bag and took what looked like a blue flare, as thin as one’s pinky and nearly an adult hand’s long.

With a whiff of his dark Neutral Energy, it fired up and shot into the sky. Under the gray clouds and day, it became involved in dark Neutral Energy, leaving a vast contrail behind before exploding 200 kilometers into the sky, crossing that distance in under 1.5 seconds. Just then, Little Ish and the young man were about to fight, and as the firework above them went off, it alarmed her so much her 5 right claws came out.

Without anyone’s notice, as the old experts looked up, and the young ones fell stunned by the sudden change, reigniting old, partially recent, memories from a few years ago, Little Ish cutthroat the young man with only a thin part of its back remaining as the rest landed on her palm, and the shockwaves from her pure bodily strength destroyed the young man’s body from the inside from the throat to his groin.

“Don’t let them escape!!” - “They’ve alerted the Empire! Hurry, before she comes!!” - “Charge! Charge, god dammit, CHARGE!” - “Keep them here, in place. Don’t let them go!” - “For your homes and your futures, hold them down!” - “Come one! Don’t let them escape. Hold that pale young man! Hurry!”

“...” Heian Ciemnosc was sure these team leaders didn’t tell who he was and even made them focus on one single prize at once… the little royal princess’s head. Most would sacrifice their lives to keep Heian Ciemnosc busy, even if they didn’t exhaust him. The peak Spirit Rebirth realm cultivators could launch themselves to execute the little girl, and they would have won!! What a gods-given opportunity! It was incredible!

Pshift! Whoosh- thud. Thud, thud, pshift- rustle. Heian Ciemnosc sent a dark Neutral Energy bout as the dark cloud fireworks above them extended over 400 kilometers to any angle in the sky, turning everything into an obscure scenery. Little Ish felt her teacher’s energy wrap around her waist before bringing her back. After landing her back on his torso, she hit the ground with her feet. She then sent her Power Energy to grab her backpack and put it on her back again before standing a meter before her teacher.

Her backpack was just a couple steps before his dark coat as she gulped down, wondering what can she do now. That was when Heian Ciemnosc placed his left, pale hand on her right, delicate shoulder and spoke to calm her rambling head. “Don’t think anymore. Just let me. I’ll show you what I can do. Didn’t you say how unfair it was to have me as your teacher before? I’ll show you, you little brat.”

“Mn! Um… but, Imperial Teacher~...” Little Ish firmly nodded. She then became coy and dragged her words, not wanting to continue. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t help her, though. Knowing she didn’t have much time to explain herself since those rushing fellows were closing in fast, she rapidly added, “That was before I knew you were this good in Mini Warlord. I just wanted to speak to my palace maids. They always talk about you, after all…”

“We’ll see,” Heian Ciemnosc said a couple words, making her fear the future. But in the next second, she was flown upwards as an invisible Ornament showed up and ‘ate’ her. The cabin’s window closed, and she saw it enter autopilot’s defense mode. However, it remained passive and did not attack those below them. When she noticed this and looked up at her personal Imperial Teacher’s back, floating at the side before her… she saw a lonely back about to show… what mightiness can mean.

Her brightest, cutest aquamarine, azure eyes gradually widened as she witnessed the unimaginable… Heian Ciemnosc’s pale body, with his hair medium-long for a male, lightly fluttered. But his right arm caught her attention the most. Her pupils shrank as she saw the same strange dark whip he had used a few times to demonstrate and cover her body with. It wasn’t still opaque but seemingly light-devouring, 4 inches thick, and looked fragile.

However, it elongated until it was, without joking, over 4 kilometers long. It prostrated throughout the ground, spreading even further as the suspicious cultivators avoided it without thinking much, with some even stepping on it to run or impulse themselves faster and strongly. The old fellows from before flew towards them with the young fellows behind them. Fear was visible in the latter’s eyes, but they chose to continue flying with their tools, be it swords, mechanic Fauna, or objects enhanced to help someone with enough Power Energy fly.

Little Ish watched as they were about to come close. Her irises followed suit, also shrinking, becoming dots in her eyes along her pupils. However, their brightness and cuteness remained, and more so did their colors. They stared as Heian Ciemnosc lifted his left arm and faced his palm to the group of those old and young fellows. A mere dark Neutral Energy cluster shot towards them, directly passing through without exploding, like traversing through clouds.

Pshift! Shhhhzzzt!

Their bodies disintegrated, leaving barely any traces. But before Little Ish or those below who managed to catch this sight could react, Heian Ciemnosc lifted his right arm, bringing his Vocón Link upwards. It immediately cleaver through hundreds of unsuspecting cultivators, which forced everyone to stop as Heian Ciemnosc brought his left hand, now covered in the same dark Neutral Energy he used to disappear those fellows, and clenched the dark whip with it.

Zzzzzzzzz~! Zzzzzzzzhhh!

Although no Lightning was implemented, sparks and volts resounded throughout Vocón Link’s body as the dark Neutral Energy stimulated it. Then, as if the obscure clouds were becoming blacker, fresh coldness descended everywhere. Like a lightning bolt, Heian Ciemnosc swung his Vocón Link by folding his right arm, holding its base up his shoulder, and immediately lashing it downwards.

Whi!... … … PLASH~!

The Vocón Link rolled around Heian Ciemnosc’s right arm’s upper section before its first kilometer landed on the ground. The momentum was absurd, and the ground trembled everywhere in a 10 km radius, and no dark Neutral Energy was employed from his body, only by enhancing it beforehand. It was just his 80,000 kg of bodily strength with an empowered Vocón Link doing the work… it was mighty.

Whi-... Yet, before the crowd could start screaming and their bodies fully finished being destroyed, and before the Vocón Link’s other few kilometers landed on the ground, its tip raised again and followed Heian Ciemnosc’s commands. And that was… to continue destroying the earth!!!

…