Inland Skirmish

3 days later. Inland, at the neutral zone between the Feathered Valley Pavilion and the rest of the central and southern section of the Region's territory. Early in the morning. Under a gray sky, slowly gaining illumination.

Whoooooooshh, whistle~. Pastor Miguel and Head Mo Liao were present on the Feathered Valley Pavilion's borders, looking at the snow already set on the ground and the snowflakes still falling, adding to the already grotesque layers of snow. They stood in the snow, letting their shins and heels be covered by the light snowing, which meant they had been in this position for several hours. Finally, they looked at each other before turning around and faced their respective people.

Step, step, krrhh, krrhh… Their feet raised from and sunk into the layers of snow, creating a comforting, somewhat pleasurable noise spreading throughout everyone’s bodies. The Pastor looked at his Clashing Dust Cult’s Enforcer Elders, Disciplinary Elders, and Clergy Elders. The Preacher, Shaman, and Clergy weren’t here, and they were needed, hopefully. The Pastor’s smile was there, still, as he turned solemn and addressed nearly all his higher-ups.

“Today, you won’t show mercy to the foolish. Be it those who challenge our authority, status… or homes.” - “Haa!!” As the Pastor finished the initial part of his speech, the higher-ups responded in unison. The Pastor continued, “You didn’t come here to survey or ensure the safety of our little ally’s borders being respected. You are here to put down whoever dares jump their power levels and neglect the Cult’s rules and commands.”

“Nobody is exempt from direct punishment if you don’t follow orders or betray the Cult. Just rejoice that Preacher Alex shouldn’t remain here to ensure these following procedures.” The Pastor’s slight smile remained as his face became stern and somber. The higher-ups bowed their heads in acquiescence, slightly nodding at their leader. Some seconds passed before the Pastor started naming people, allocating them to their positions during this… ‘warring’ state.

Step, step, step- whoosh! Krrrgghh, plooow~. On the other side, just a few tens of meters from the few thousand people group in the Cult’s group, Head Mo Liao walked to his people and stopped when he was 3 meters away from the line at the front. Then, a twinkling light came from the sky behind the Head, and a draconic Monster fell from it. Its wings were feathered in a purple-pink, obscure color, but it had a bird’s peak and a reptile’s body. It didn’t have a tail, but its lower body had 4 legs and only had 2 arms. Its claws weren’t long but quite wide and thick.

As it landed on the snow, its seemingly slender, long body structure lifted snow 15 meters in the air, causing a tremor to run through the other’s soles, and made even their pets and mounts inside their Covert Space bags weary. One of the Pavilion’s people stepped forth and respectfully addressed the Head, “Head Mo Liao, is this the 3-Destiny Beast?!”

“... Mhh~,” Head Mo Liao looked at the person who stepped out with a stern expression before nodding. The look itself made the others feel the Head had changed and for the better… more likely than not. Head Mo Liao lifted his left hand to caress the clean, scaleless neck of the 3-Destiny Beast and caressed it. Meanwhile, his people were terribly worried and became anxious watching this attempt. Their bodies even cringed.

“I couldn’t even dream of trying it before,” the Head looked at the Monster with narrowed eyes as its draconic eyes followed as well, and its head tilted to the right and downwards in response to the hand on its nape. The Head caressed it some more before turning to his people and said, as he looked at a mighty Monster several stages above his cultivation base. “But after receiving the grace of… knowledge, I felt I could try it. I managed to do it, but that’s only the most basic requirement… I still need to bring the valley to a greater height to consider my job well done.”

“...” Then, Head Mo Liao looked at his Masters and Inspectors, also numbering among the few thousand, and addressed them directly. As for whatever little doubts they had, they were all smashed down by this proof of… might!

“To all of you who have lived peacefully for a few years after thinking we defeated the Blauw Empire once and for all, and we just needed time… After seeing the assigned supervisor’s arrival, we remained unconvinced. When the Blauw Empire struck a deal with us, and both sides became prosperous, we remained unconvinced. But when we saw their growth and sudden gain in power… you remained unconvinced.”

“Now look before you, to the south. What do you see?” Head Mo Liao narrowed his eyes. His 3-Destiny Beast followed suit and scrutinized the people before them. Its eyes were dangerous but exotic like this, giving Head Mo Liao more attractiveness, especially with the endless snow behind him. The others remained silent, so he didn’t push for answers and directly resumed his speech, “What you see is another organization and people from others. Today, they will no longer see us as one of their alliance’s members. Today, they see our strength.”

“Haaaaaaaaagggggrrr~!!” They didn’t know what bug bit them, but… they surged with excited roars and profound hollows. Their nose lifted the snow around them in a 50 meter radius, bringing everyone’s attention to themselves. Head Mo Liao grinned savagely, proud of this sudden turn of events… The Feathered Valley Pavilion might fail, but their descendants still have a chance. But if they did well and gained something out of this, no matter what, they would prosper!!

Step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step, step…

“It seems they’ve come,” Pastor Miguel said as he looked behind his people and the Feathered Valley Pavilion’s Masters and Inspectors. Head Mo Liao narrowed his eyes nearly to a slit and crossed his arms. He nodded and offered a few words, too, “Mm, the young ones are ready. Let’s not waste any more time.”

Behind both groups, a plethora of Pavilion members and Cult believers appeared. They were so many that, despite the snow clouding the naked eyesight from their marching groups’ whole bodies, there were more than 10,000 calmly walking through ‘a little’ snow and under a snowing environment. But as time passed, and tens of steps became hundreds, more than 100,000 gray clothed fellows walked into the open.

Today, even if most of its 25 hours were peaceful, it was bound to end in some changes…

… Still early in the morning, towards the jungle, on the neutral zone’s roads close to the northern Feathered Valley Pavilion’s borders. Thousands of teams from the top 5 organizations and their vassal organizations were weakly and dispiritedly walking forward. These were fewer numbers than before, and they were tasked with gathering a small amount of resources before considering their quota would be over.

However, considering how massive their marching groups were before the jungle’s rulers let their subordinates play with their alliance’s people, it was rather saddening to see something like this. Yet, as they looked at the snow, which didn’t offer them any cold due to their ‘high’ cultivation base between the Spirit Birth realm and the Spirit Formation realm, they barely heard the footsteps of terrestrial mounts and flying objects when they looked up after becoming startled and scared silly by a few shouts.

“Stop!” - “Halt!!” - “Damn your legs, kids. Stop the fuck now!” - “One more step and you’re dead! Very dead!!” - “That’s how I like it, now return to your goddamn hole back home! Piss off!!” Dozens of Second Step cultivators wearing 2 different emblems appeared before them, showcasing anger, schadenfreude, and the intention to kill as soon as they saw an opening and excuse to give. This scared the top 5 organizations alliance’s people, becoming paralyzed nearly instantly.

“W-what are you doing?! This isn’t your place to say some-” One of them, having fallen to his bum on the ground, swiftly responded to the provocative seniors rashly. A Clergy Elder in the Broken Crystallization realm 8th stage looked down at the speaker and grinned widely. He took his polearm out of his Covert Space bag and wielded it in his left hand. The one on his bum looked at this, and his eyes helplessly widened.

“Keep quiet, juniors! I’ll handle this…”

But just then, a figure came flying from the sky. It was a Sand Emirate Grotto Grotto Teacher, wearing obscure purple robes and a stern, preoccupied expression. But it became apparent he wasn’t confident enough to even ‘deal’ with this. When he flew and stopped 10 meters before the mounted Clergy Elder, his Broken Crystallization realm 5th stage spread in all directions. He gulped before saying, “There is a problem with crossing the borders to join the jungle? La- last time I checked, there were none, thanks to our alliance’s agreements and the deal with the jungle’s rulers!”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Hah, so now we are from your alliance? What happened to a few missions of our people near the jungle?! Not even inside, they never go in. They never bothered with your people!!” The Clergy Elder shouted, giving every gray clothed person here, the absolute majority, a moment to feel guilty conscience. But the Grotto Teacher cried back, albeit more lightly, “Of course we have nothing to do! What are you even saying?! Those were the Blauw Empire’s fault. Who else?! You don’t even have proof it was anybody else, do you?!”

“... Actually, I can testify to that.” To the surprise of the crowds again, a voice sounded before someone came from the sky and landed in the air 5 meters above the floating Grotto Teacher. The mount below the new voice’s owner had overly large, broad wings, bringing a big shadow on the top 5 organization’s people. They looked up only to see a brawny man with a square face looking down at them like one would at ants.

“What is… an Inspector doing here?!” The Grotto Teacher shivered when he realized the cultivation base of this Inspector was at the Neutral Encephalon realm! That was 2 realms above his! Yet, the Inspector gave no time to react and calmly explained. “When these situations spread to my Pavilion, I and some others came here to investigate. You should’ve seen the incredulous faces we wore when discovering the scent of only Races and your organizations’ Arts remnants where our people’s corpses were recovered. Funny, isn’t it?”

“Those weren’t us!” The Grotto Teacher exasperatedly said, but anyone could see the truth from the gray clothed’s faces. Yet, the Grotto Teacher ignored it and tried to salvage the situation, not realizing what kind of hole he and the entire alliance were in. “We pass through those places a lot! It’s normal they would leave their scent there! If they didn’t use Arts to defend themselves, our people can only perish! You know how the jungle’s rulers have become over the-”

“When did I tell you where were those corpses found?” The Inspector asked as his aura suppressed the Grotto Teacher’s without mercy. The latter became stunned, and after being silenced for 7 seconds, he asked while looking up as his neck twisted. “What?”

-cuuuuh, Phhshk!

“!!” - “Ruuuuun!” - “That’s right, return where you came from!” - “Get out of my fucking backyard, animals!” The crowds suddenly entered a full-fledged panic when they saw a rapid wind blade shoot from the mount under the Inspector. It streaked through the sky and instantly arrived at the Grotto Teacher’s face in the gray clothed's eyes, stabbing the man’s face as an eyeball bounced off his skull. When the eye touched the snow, it didn’t sink further down, but the others started rushing back, with a few stomps flattening it under the snow.

“Relay my words to your puny superiors!” Suddenly, an even more powerful voice descended everywhere as the top 5 organizations’ people continued to escape. “The top 5 southern organizations and their vassals are no longer welcome here! You have violated the agreement with the jungle’s rulers and breached ours within the alliance!! Whoever dares to step in the neutral zone from your part is no longer our ally!!!”

“Shit, shit, shit!” - “What the fuck are we supposed to do now? Fuck!” - “Run- ju- just run!!” - “My gods! To think something like this would happen… Don’t tell me, are we entering another war? No!!” - “Run! Hurry up and tell the elders we need to protect ourselves!” - “Bowaah, fuck, fuck, fuck! Help each other! Where’s my younger brother? Ah!” - “Shit, your stomping others, calm down!” - “This isn’t our first time. Stop behaving like animals! We aren’t even in battle! Fuck!!”

… In the sea, Feathered Valley Pavilion’s territory. The top 5 organizations’ non-top-notch warships, made from wood and with only themselves to attack an enemy or target, watched closely over the northern sea territory near the extremely long shore. As always, the Blue Emirate Grotto’s people were the ones to push their boundaries the most. And no neutral zone was in the sea, so the Grotto and Pavilion shared borders directly.

This morning, a bit of mist seemed to show between their borders, and the Blue Emirate Grotto took this chance to venture even deeper into breaching the borders, placing a few warships inside the Feathered Valley Pavilion’s territory. They were calm and employed techniques to liven the mist, thickening and increasing its height. All they heard were some passing fishermen's boats before them as they slowly advanced and to their sides, trying to avoid the mist in case a Fauna was below. Typical preventive measures.

Gurgle, gurgle… The Blue Emirate Grotto considered themselves as the sea kings, only half a step below the True Dragon House. The latter was the actual king, no matter what. As for the Blauw Empire, they could no longer be considered even a threat. It didn’t matter if they had new babies and toys. They might not even have enough people to pilot them! Besides, they would know if the Pavilion and Cult let the Empire take its sea territory to move their new navy.

“Master? There’s something strange going on,” the leading warship at the front called out to the leader of this warship. The latter turned and faced a Grotto Disciple, above a Grotto’s Disciple and Auxiliary Disciple. The Master made the Grotto Disciple nervous, but he still continued, “There are reports that the fishermen remain behind our tail. It seems they are following the mist, trying to hunt the ‘Fauna’ below the mist. What do we do?”

“... Ugh, just take them in and dispose of them. We’ll make a quick round before returning. Let’s just get 1,000 km in before returning. Bets aren’t won by doing nothing.” The Master, a languid, short man who could’ve passed as a female if they just wore a wig, said after rolling his eyes. The other crew members didn’t say anything and looked at each other, understanding the helplessness in each other’s eyes.

“... Who goes there?!! Prepare to be destroyed, imbeciles!!” - “?!” - “!!?” Before anyone in the leading warship could employ a movement, a shout sounded from their left, startling them, including the Master. As soon as the shout fell, the sound of preparing machine guns followed suit. They felt some comfort, at least, as these sounds meant they weren’t top-notch and were easy to handle as a result. The Master pointed everywhere and started giving commands before shouting at the voice outside the mist.

“Take your positions! Prepare to respond if anything suspicious happens. Defend yourselves! … Wait, please! This is a misunderstanding! The mist has left us believe something could be wrong, so we tres-”

Ta ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra… pum, pururururururu kuf kumpf kfff…!

No chances were given, and not only was the leading warship shot, but the entire mist was attacked by the warships outside. They still couldn’t see the enemy, but they could feel the bullets land on their warships, and these were far too many, more than they had thought. The Master in the leading warship widened his eyes, slowly looked back, and became shocked before turning panicky at the sight of dozens of warships becoming leftover wood planks in the water. There wasn’t much else to see, and the Master tried flying, but something seemed to move towards him as he attempted ascending.

“No!” Looking down, he saw a vine-like feathered whip tangling at his heel, and just then, a small hole opened through the mist, revealing a Feathered Valley Pavilion Inspector looking up at the escaping Master. For what seemed like an eternal exchange of stares, but lasted less than half a second, the Master finally realized what was happening and tried fleeing with his life. “Nooooooo!!”

Ta ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra ra… kuff kfuf kuf kuf kuf kuf kuf kuf kuf… Pshift, pshift, pshift! … … boom boom boom boom boom boom boom…!

The sea suddenly became vacant from the northern borders’ side. No fishermen were nearby, and only more warships started coming here. They were more prepared and ready for any war! They weren’t coming just in case this conflict escalated, but so they could decimate the enemy, even if they also brought reinforcements. On the other hand, the southern seas were filled with the usual traffic of boats and merchants’ ships… But, after becoming startled by the sudden, familiar noises from years ago, the southern seas started being tainted red…

… Back at the neutral zone, where more than a dozen thousand kilometers separated the north and south, leaving most of the central Region’s inland territory to the other top 5 organizations. It was all peaceful, with seemingly nothing happening further into the north, nor far at the only place with the sea in the Region, but also what consisted most of the entire Region’s territory… Until hurried, anxious, and stressed stomps lightly resonated from far away.

“RUUUN!!” - “What?!” - “What’s happening? Why are you all running? What’s going on?!” - “WAAAAH! Get the fuck away! Run, run, ruuuun!” The second batch of people were moving towards the jungle outside the Blue Emirate Grotto’s territory. But then, just a few minutes after starting their marching, they were met by the tens of thousands returning at maximum speed as if they were all racing to win a prize… but their faces didn’t really give that sensation.

Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp… … Stomp! … Stomp! Stomp!... Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

“Ah- ah shit! Ah shit! AH SHIT!” With their bodies rooted in the spot after stepping away from the restless fellows’ path, the second batch looked behind the latter, only to feel their eyes turn insanely big and their minds buzzing with incredulity. Far in the distance, they saw tens of thousands of First Step cultivators moving towards them, some galloping, some flying with their mounts, and others rushing with array formations and with an intricate link between all array formations. They weren’t just chasing the first batch… With their weapons out and those eyes filled with killing intent… they were about to start the unstoppable!

“The- they were right, shit! RUN!!”

…