Lovers' Duel
Deep in the night, already at the very first 'am' hours of the 4th day. Among the central building's security team.
"Yaawwnn..." There were hundreds of Conflagrate realm elders taking security all around the central building from time to time. There were just a few tens of them who used their flight or a Creature that either helped them fly over and around the central building for very long periods of time or crawl all around it and remain in 'midair' from outside like an insect.
At this moment, there appeared to be a group of 3 security cultivators walking at a certain spot on the outer perimeter of the central building, using their little bit of around 1 meter or less of Spirit Sense to scan the floor they stepped on or the ground itself, not being able to go even 1 millimeter into the earth and underneath it.
There were 2 behind the one in the front. Who was looking around everywhere while those behind him were mostly looking to the sides of the whole group. The one at the front looked like a middle-aged man while those behind were young-looking men that were so obviously not as young as they looked one bit.
“Cough, cough cough-...” As the one on the right yawned, sleepy and bored to the ends of his mind’s world no longer being able to put inside any other beauty¡s naked body nor exciting adventures of the next sect master of the sect; the other— the one on the left— coughed but at least had more decency to stop coughing as soon as possible even if it made him cough even more.
Yawning once again, the one on the right was poked at by the one on the left, who gave a stern glare in return to the one on the right. But the latter shrugged his shoulders and continued walking on, knowing nothing ever happened even if it really did.
Buzz.
“...Hm- eh?” The one on the right lifted his right knee suddenly before dropping it. He was looking down at the ground while the other 2 in his group turned to look at him. The one on the left was just mildly surprised, while the one at the front turned around, squinted his eyes, and then came over while reading the one on the right’s face.
“What did you see?” Lifting his head, the one on the right saw the big boss of their group before lowering his head once more and said in a light tone, “Emm, I just think I saw some flickering right behind me- no, below me.”
“Below?” The one at the front frowned at last. He looked down with a kind of lantern-like device turned on and aiming all around and behind the one on the right. Though the light of the lantern was white, and it was just that, the light ‘hidden’ within it could move and change its facing direction according to its user’s Spirit Sense, but it also was able to reveal…arrays that it had come to know before.
“It’s nothing.” The one at the front said after checking close to 5 minutes later. He looked back at the one on the right and patted his right shoulder ‘bro-like’ with a wide smile before speaking, his own face somewhat scary as it became strangely lighted up by the lantern as he kept it on.
“Arrays are just arrays. They do many things while they repose. This right here was, at most, the change between Inferior Powerful Stones or the renewing of the main material source for the array to keep on going, but that’s at the worst-case scenario, hahahaha.” The one on the front said, not placing any mind into it and about to turn around.
“Ooh, Senior Brother is wise. That makes so much sense now!” - “Aaah, senior brother really knows about arrays?! That’s incredible! As expected of you, how admirable.” The one on the right and on the left spoke, licking the boots of the one on the front, who then stopped in his tracks and turned around once again to face them.
“Mnsk, aish. This is no array formation advanced knowledge…any apprentice at the basics of knowledge from array formations can know this, really! Okay now, let’s go.” The one on the front ‘humbly’ explained. His tone was light at first but it became ‘stern’ when saying his few last words before turning around and walking up to his position.
As he made his way up to his spot to walk in synchronization, those behind him began doing ‘oooh’, ‘aaaah’, ‘hoaaah’, and ‘uuhoohs’ over and over again to compliment their senior brother. It didn’t take them long to also get back to walking forth endlessly until the next couple of days when the next elder’s turn came, and they could take their break.
. . .
Largest stadium of the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect, the 4th and final day of the grand event tournament, close to 9 AM o’clock and with a much quieter and well-behaved crowd all around.
The stadium this time was incredibly quiet, there were many who spoke, chatted, joked, pranked, and bullied others still, but it was completely different to anything that Ciemnosc had seen before, and the reason was very obvious to boot.
Last night, Ciemnosc didn’t go back to either his bedroom at the Inner Sect Disciple enclave or to the little house of Valy, where she became very silent and prepared herself all night to face Fu Lan; one on one here today and at last.
It was the same with Fu Lan, as she, though not injured and not having made any real ‘moves’ that self-harmed her or consumed tons of Power Energy all out of nowhere; she was also to amply prepare herself for this battle. It wasn’t important whether it would be a way too easy or easy victory. All she cared about was to show Valy what she could do…her strength too.
To this, Ciemnosc naturally cared not to be selfish or goddamn glued to them anyways. And so, he let the ones fight for the championship to prepare themselves on their own, be it with meditation, cultivation sessions, and/or practicing their cultivation method.
He spent some time of the night at the mountain-rock building, leaving his teacher’s side in order to draw out the most precise and incredible ideas he could finally go around with. And now, the time for the 4th and last day of the tournament had arrived. He had been waiting to see either Valy or Fu Lan but hadn’t been able to.
As it was nearing 9 AM, and Ciemnosc was seated on his spot for about 15 minutes already, was enjoying the breeze that only the morning brought with it and even more so when considering that they were hundreds of meters above the ground level of the sect’s territory.
“Little Ciemnosc,” he then suddenly heard elder Tin’s voice beside him as the latter had appeared rather fast and trying to be unnoticed by anybody else. Ciemnosc turned his face to the left to look at elder Tin. While everyone else around them in the immediate vicinity looked at them instead, even those who were all the other way of the stadium on the other side.
“Ah, elder Tin, good morning. Congratulations on having Valeria reach the finals.” Ciemnosc smiled quite slightly and bowed a little after standing up. Elder Tin then smiled greater in return before nodding quickly and just a little bit.
“Ha, hohoho, okay. Come with me, Lil’ Ciemnosc. It’s time to present you to a few very important people now. They will be very important so…you must behave and not talk too much.” Elder Tin gestured towards Ciemnosc to follow, then turned around and began to slowly walk away with the crowds’ eyes all over their napes and backs.
“Important? Important how? To the level of…elder Tin?” Ciemnosc’s words made elder Tin smile some more. He turned his face to look at Ciemnosc, almost at the same height level as himself, before replying with a very simple smile. “Indeed, that important they are. But just make sure to nod at their words, even if they are important. They are our enemies, and you are currently the biggest obstacle for their side to gain something that has never been gained before, not even by us.”
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“...” Ciemnosc appeared pensive and confused from the outside, really wondering what kind of people he’d be facing and how he should react, to which elder Tin nodded in satisfaction to himself. But in his head, Ciemnosc’s mind was rather simple, ‘I see…’
There was no other reason for the crowd of the stadium to ease, to calm down, and to regain their etiquette as cultivators and masters of the entire world that even up until now have always been majorly plagued by ‘mortality’ all around.
The incoming banquet a week and a half later was also the reason they would have come here already, the sect masters, cult leaders, and their right and left-hand subordinates!
For matters such as these, in which the tournament in question was only held outside of the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect when it could only be held near the borders of another organizational territory at most in terms of distance away from the sect’s territory, the banquets were always held in a different sect’s territory or cult’s territory.
This year it just happened to be the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect’s turn to be the one to also hold the banquet, and quite a nice thing for them and Ciemnosc, especially for Ciemnosc since he still had to do many things when going back to the port mission.
“Here we are, ah, but isn’t it the cult’s leader Erquiles here? How fast does time pass nowadays? Heh heh~.” Elder Tin opened his mouth as they arrived at the highest point of the south side of the stadium, where the Moribund Yearning Cult’s upper echelons were seated for the grand final of the tournament; this grand event.
A nice-looking man with very short gray hair and with a face that was dead serious looked at elder Tin and lifted his chin a bit while the latter talked. Towards the end of elder Tin’s words, he laughed and spoke to elder Tin before taking a look at Ciemnosc. “Tin, it has been some time. Can’t remember the last few times trade was boring without you. It’s so good you took after some of your ancestors and began letting this Region regain its richness.”
“Hmm. Is this the boy you’ve talked about? He is indeed young looking, he wouldn’t be practicing one of our cultivation methods now, would he?” Erquiles looked at elder Tin ‘suspiciously before adding, his left hand grasping his chin and with his eyes squinted. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to give us a fright, showing me such a little prank after defeating all of my cult’s believers?”
“Ah- hahahaha, Pastor Erquiles is really too carefree-thinking. Of course, I would not do that!” Elder Tin patted Ciemnosc’s back, making him stagger forwards a bit without hope to remain standing still on his spot. Elder Tin then introduced Ciemnosc to them, “See, Little Ciemnosc, these are the first most important people in the world. Look at them well because even as you can’t help it, they are all like me and the sect master: at the 10th stage of the Obsidiafying realm!”
“!” Ciemnosc’s eyes opened up widely, looking at the cult’s pastor and other people around him. While on the other hand, their eyes were glued to Ciemnosc, and their Spirit Sense violated all reason of personal space with elder Tin’s smile possibly never getting any greater, and his eyes really squinted, almost closed.
“This one is Pastor Erquiles. He is just a couple of hundred years younger than 1,000 years, he might look young, but he is as shrewd as an old man close to death! Hahaha…” Elder Tin said and then threw a fit of laughter, accompanied by Pastor Erquiles’s sound slapping his left thigh and then accompanying elder Tin in his laughter. “Hahahaha…”
“This one here is the respected Preacher Noles. He is rumored to be the next Pastor and even has a faster cultivation speed than Pastor Erquiles. It is said that he is the heart of the Moribund Yearning Cult only second to their Pastor.” Elder Tin introduced Ciemnosc to a slightly chubby but seemingly very capable, man who nodded at elder Tin and then at Ciemnosc himself.
Then, elder Tin introduced Ciemnosc to a cute but dumb-looking beauty with such a body. She was tall and had braids colored by her long, yellow hair and big celeste eyes. “Ah, Ciemnosc. This pretty lady is Shaman Doney. She is really an incredible woman with both the charms and the lethality, haha, don’t try calling her mommy or big sister or you might really be stolen back to her cult to become her little brother.”
“Moo, elder Tin. I wouldn’t steal him away, I would just convince him to desert, I can’t force others to follow me. That’s improper.” Shaman Doney said, pouty and with her eyes feeling wronged as her eyebrows slightly jumped by a bit. But her big celeste eyes flashed an almost indiscernible pitying flash through themselves.
Elder Tin then presented 2 other people who were all smileys and looking at Ciemnosc as if they couldn’t help but devour him with their eyes as if even his bones were visible, see-thru. One was a woman with strong, curly dark brown hair and serious, while the other one was a man with a slightly chubby figure, bald and notoriously ill-humored.
“These are Clergy Clore and Enforcer Ruspu. They are also the Moribund Yearning Cult’s most powerful people in not just this Region, but remember, also the entire world.”
“Mn, good…to meet you, Ciemnosc.” - “Grunt, just a little boy.” - “...” - “...”
“Haha, let’s find you somewhere else to go see the others. Enjoy the show, esteemed Moribund Yearning Cult members.” Elder Tin brought Ciemnosc away once the strongest, ‘best’ upper echelons of the cult were introduced to him. Their next stop wasn’t any other place but the Eagerburning Flames Sect’s seats at the eastern side of the stadium.
In a quick succession of Ciemnosc nodding, saying ‘yes, sir’, or ‘yes, grand - elder/ancestor’; Ciemnosc came to know the faces and names of all the upper echelons of the Eagerburning Flames Sect.
There was the current sect master, Farnor, a middle-aged man with a face of words fully saying ‘I’m crazy’ but that, in truth, just acted haughty all the time despite his clear old age among all leading figures of the major organizations. Even the Grand Elder of the sect was much younger than this middle-aged man from the enemy sect.
Then there was their grand ancestor, Marchlo, an old, ugly spiteful man who couldn’t stop looking at Ciemnosc with his old, decrepit, and uncaring eyes for his own image. In contrast, though, really, not that far away from the same. The grand elder Kenia was an old woman, but the one to give the worst kind of feeling to Ciemnosc was their ancestor…Karen.
Ciemnosc couldn’t tell what it was exactly and much less why, but he did feel just like that, even though this ancestor Karen was rather passive as if turned off with no batter. And like with the Moribund Yearning Cult, Ciemnosc learned the Eagerburning Flames Sect’s upper echelon’s faces, names, and even their ‘smell’ that was unique and original for each of them.
But then, it was now finally time for Ciemnosc to meet up with the most reputable major organization in the whole world, filled with beauties and full of women; the Preferential Light Justice Sect!
Towards the northern parts at the utmost top even above the highest bleachers, there was a snowy place where all of those upper echelons of the Preferential Light Justice Sect sat, which weren’t many. And there were at most just 3 of them within that boot along with several sect disciples and some acting elders from the looks of it.
“Ciemnosc,” at this time, when they were walking towards them, both elder Tin and Ciemnosc himself were silent when the former broke that silence and began explaining in a nonchalant manner. “The Preferential Light Justice Sect’s ancestor, ancestor Kuleaca, couldn’t come so if you could comment well and wish good for their ancestor, it would be a…a rather…good image… For yourself.”
“Mm- mmm? What happened to their ancestor Kuleaca?” Ciemnosc was simply walking forwards, already nearing the Preferential Light Justice Sect’s seats, when he asked as he turned his head to look at elder Tin with his cute self showing off naturally.
“Mmm, oh it was a matter where he came back to their sect…not feeling well, let’s say.” Elder Tin elaborated, and for Ciemnosc, it was just making his eyes gleam…
“When did that happen, elder Tin?” Ciemnosc asked once more, and elder Tin returned the glance before looking up ahead once more and saying in a light, almost flat tone. “Oh, it was just a few months ago, kinda at the time where it was this year’s half a year, mn. I also remember that the Moribund Yearning Cult had begun moving towards our organizational territory around that time.”
“One of their core believers said that that was just due to a disturbance of Power Energy around a small area but whose area of ‘damage’ had been extremely large, to the point that many of their playgrounds were lifted off their restrictions and they had to work for months in order to catch or destroy them all. A few tens of thousands of mortals ended up having their very last moments terrorized by those ‘little things’ until they were all dealt with by their cult.”
“Hmph, they can really eat from their own territory now. It seems. Looks like there really isn’t much more time before the Moribund Yearning Cult starts weakening until it finally begins disappearing.” Elder Tin commented, shaking his head by the time he was reaching the end of his words, then slightly lowered his head to look at Ciemnosc.
“Though they were hated at their beginnings, according to our records from so long ago… The Moribund Yearning Cult became strong very fast and has always had the largest number in their ranks, both in living heads and in corpses or puppets. But their cultivation practices and methods are a long poison that…is now finally showing its results.”
“In no more than ten thousand years…that should be enough for the south to belong to us then. Especially so since we’ll have become the first ones to advance through the next re-...” Elder Tin suddenly stopped talking, his neck jolted backwards, which Ciemnosc noticed with a pair of ‘tired of this shit at last’ eyes, “Nevermind that, let’s just get you introduced to the last ones before the show starts.”
“Wouldn’t want Little Valeria noticing that I’m making her little Ciemnosc waste their time. After all, I’m sure she wouldn’t want to fight unless you were spectating, hahahoho!”
…