Trade
Ciemnosc was speechless watching how Fu Lan just left him alone with only air to accompany him. Where the hell was he now supposed to go since all the other major organizations' elite Spirit Gathering realm cultivators had all been met and taken note of. Remembering their smell and all those kinds of stuff that Ciemnosc did without even thinking anymore?!
Fortunately, though, Ciemnosc could see that in the distance where Fu Lan ran away to, Valeria and elder Tin were also there besides grand ancestor Xing Kei…whose eyes were already set on Ciemnosc and didn’t leave him until Valeria and Fu Lan spoke to him at last.
“...?” Fu Lan still had her slightly playful behavior when she ran away and joined Valeria, her master, and her own Master, still had it when she began speaking with Valeria after being ‘cruelly’ separated for ‘so long’. But it then began to disappear even as she had her back towards Ciemnosc and was facing her Master. There seemed to be something off about the situation, but Ciemnosc was clearly able to feel the change in her despite just being able to look at her back.
Meanwhile, Valeria spoke to elder Tin, her own Master. And though she also began to change her seemingly current nature and disposition, her face dropping ever so slowly and her eyes… In a way, conflicted but clear, sober, and yet…thinking so hard that she basically forgot about everyone and everything else around her; how could Ciemnosc not be curious about these?
But Fu Lan, without giving any other look at Ciemnosc anymore, not even a fleeting side glance, took Valeria’s left arm and hands with her own and began walking off in another direction. On the other hand, grand ancestor Xing Kei and elder Tin walked towards him, there were smiles on their faces, but Ciemnosc felt as if he should have nothing to do with them.
“... Good evening, gentlemen. Were we about to miss out on something?” Then, just as elder Tin and grand ancestor Xing Kei were about to arrive only 3 meters before Ciemnosc, a most beautiful yet cold female voice sounded out from Ciemnosc’s left whereas the presence of a lot more others around him also became noticeable.
Those other presences were from people that were as powerful as the owner of that voice, which had directly stopped the advance of both elder Tin and the grand ancestor beside him; which was none other than sect master Yolin!
“Saint Yolin is right, it seemed like we were about to miss something from this event. Haha,” from his right, Ciemnosc heard none other than Pastor Erquiles’s voice speak, his tone clearly audible as from Ciemnosc’s front came 2 more figures which were the sect master and ancestor of the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect.
Looking to his right, Ciemnosc saw the Moribund Yearning Cult’s upper echelons entourage with the pastor looking straight at him while those around him looked at Ciemnosc’s front, left, and back, and only then did Ciemnosc looked at his back where he saw the Eagerburning Flames Sect’s upper echelons entourage with their sect master looking at him as well.
Back to turning his head to the front, Ciemnosc saw the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect’s entourage complete, with some elders beginning to take place around them and behind the other major organizations.
Finally, Ciemnosc looked to his left, where he saw sect master Yolin, grand ancestor Pesela and grand elder Li Tong, the sect master in question had arrived not just to save him from what even up until now Ciemnosc was unknown of but also arrived right before him and placed her right hand all the way to his nape with her skin making contact with his elegant clothes.
“My, you look mighty handsome, my Ciemnosc.” Not caring about her words is not just different but also in a whole other way that none of them had ever heard, with a meaning completely different to what sect mater Yolin herself has built her image around up to this point.
“Thank you,” Ciemnosc nodded and even bowed ever so slightly, he went back to gazing into her eyes as her white hair became unprecedentedly striking and returned the compliment. “You too, look very beautiful, sect master Yolin.”
“...” Grinning as she liked that very much, sect master Yolin became silent along with Ciemnosc, ruffling his hair with her right hand that went from his nape to the top of his head, her slender, long fingers playing with his pitchest, blackest hair and looking simply breathtaking herself while her face was engrossed; clearly enjoying doing this herself.
“Hmph, ‘my, my’ sect master Yolin. Could it be that you have fallen in love? For a little boy? Now, this is unusual, had I known about it, I would’ve prepared- no, never mind. But well, since sect master Yolin likes my little Ciemnosc so much,” sect master Holoriu spoke after a while, but not necessarily being the first one to ‘wake up’ from the sight of Ciemnosc and sect master Yolin.
“Then, would the sect master be willing to be married off to my little Ciemnosc? Our sect will open up its arms and allow you in once you’ve conceiv-” Though his words were naturally not proper, they were like a light offense, not to worry about them yet trying to get into one’s nerves and really almost successfully doing so one way or another.
“There’s no need, whether to marry my Ciemnosc or not in the first place. There won't be a moment where we’ll have to decide who is marrying off to who.” But even then, sect master Yolin interrupted sect master Holoriu, her demeanor still soft as he grasped Ciemnosc’s hair, but her tone already changed to her iconic cold and emotionless side.
“Because, if anything, we would be marrying and not for the sake of power or unity. My matters are not like those of you people, where you only think of where to stick it after finding someone with a good enough background. My sect is different and…” Sect master Yolin looked into Ciemnosc’s eyes, her left palm and fingers on his chest, making him lift his gaze to meet hers.
“... He is welcome to join it any time he wants to. We’ll protect him even if it means going all out.”
Though Ciemnosc could see she was being honest, there was also a clear hint to him that only he and the other 2 beside her could understand from back to when they both spoke together. Hence, He couldn’t even get to give seriousness to even a word coming out of her mouth or eyes even if he wanted to.
“Hahahaha… Mn, sect master Yolin is sect master Yolin. There’s nothing that can stop you. Now I really want to know more about this kid. He seems to be quite the honorary player, bwaha- eheh, heh heh.” With a tone that was very familiar to Ciemnosc. And a few words, which were just incoherent and were a smokescreen to not let others know of his change in Power Energy, sect master Holoriu spoke out.
While his tone was like that of the rich customers of his Sister getting all dangerous by threatening the poorer ones - Ciemnosc took a step further to his left, letting his body cushion against her soft belly, which trembled as soon as he touched her with his left shoulder and side of his head and face, the top of his head even ‘supporting’ her underboobs unceremoniously.
That, of course, drew such potent glares from his own sect’s sect master but…Ciemnosc’s pair of testicles were so huge that he didn’t move away, and as for sect master Yolin…why would she care?
“Umm, there’s something that I am curious about.” Pastor Erquiles interjected at this time of awkwardness and hidden threat towards a boy of not even the Phrenic realm. He turned his attention to himself and continued while looking at Ciemnosc. “Where does Little Ciemnosc come from? Not only do you have talent in every aspect of cultivation, but have a commendable upbringing to be able to stand before us without trembling even once.”
“...I am from a small village in the south,” trembling right after hearing pastor Erquiles finish his words, Ciemnosc said with a slightly quivering voice, but it wasn’t really possible for even them to know whether this was just fake or…if Ciemnosc’s defenses had been broken when they were lightly spoken of and he almost melted down just now.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
On the other hand, though, hearing Ciemnosc’s words. All but all of the other upper echelons of the other major organizations changed their eyes a little. Some squinted, and some flashed a bit across them in understanding and foreboding.
“And now that I think about it, my village must have been at your Moribund Yearning Cult’s organizational territory, pastor Erquiles,” Ciemnosc added, his face so innocent and sincere that everyone around him didn’t care about it and were busy formulating thoughts and schemes as well as possibilities left and right inside their clever minds.
“Oo- you… Little Ciemnosc, did you perhaps try to join my cult before anything else?” His eyes shining, his blood boiling after so many years of that not happening even when seeing yet another beauty wanting to throw herself at his chest, pastor Erquiles asked Ciemnosc with rapt attention covering his entire face immediately after.
“I never did, I went through a looong journey from my village to the nearest city, and I didn’t have any transportation vehicle so I could only spend a long time in the wild. Then, I could only join a small sect. It was under the organizational territory of the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect, which I barely knew about.” Ciemnosc began telling his story, skipping quite some things in the process.
“That sect wasn’t official though, and the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect soon sent people there to exterminate it. Only, I was able to live because a spy from the sect had marked me with…’something’. Which allowed me to not be targeted by the Crimson Quick Rollers. Oh! And that was when I was picked up by grand elder!”
“...” - “...” - “…” - “…” All parties surroundings Ciemnosc became silent, noticing the ‘excitement’ at the end of his words when mentioning grand elder Jing Zhu, the upper echelons of the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect might’ve not been satisfied with that. But they were when Ciemnosc spoke of the sect’s majesticness and power. Yet, Ciemnosc, he…
“... But then I was sent to a mission in which I almost died. I also faced many weird people who just wouldn’t stop knocking at my door or trying to make my life harder in the sect despite not knowing each other at all! Seriously!” Ciemnosc began, and his words made the other major organizations’ upper echelons feel a little bit of victory over the slowly becoming grim-faced upper echelons of the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect.
“Now, I was sent to this other mission where I am even going to be questioned and possibly taken away from my positions, I don’t know…I really don’t know what to do.” Ciemnosc said and placed his hands on the back of his head appearing like a hopeless little kid who couldn’t figure anything out but was wondering why life was like this ‘innocently’.
“Mmm, Ciemnosc. You have really had a hard life in this sect, I can’t imagine how there could be so many troublesome matters…in the most powerful organization in the world. It’s tough to know about it. But even I know that there is no need to doubt the veracity of your words, have you ever thought of-” The Eagerburning Flames Sect, sect master Farno, interjected once he saw that Ciemnosc was over with his words and had a saddened, tragic and melancholic.
“Gentlemen, before you start gnawing at each other in the presence of us Saints and ‘some’ ladies, how about we start with what’s really on our minds right now?” Sect master Yolin cocked her head to the left, gave a little and thin smile before right away easing her lips, and spoke in a cold, emotionless tone.
Everyone’s attention was indeed grabbed right then. And as everyone looked at her, not minding the ‘some’ derogative prefix even as some of the ‘other’ females around Ciemnosc were beauties, she separated herself from Ciemnosc, while he turned his body to face her group directly.
“Ciemnosc, mind if I ask you, what kind of cultivation method are you using?” Right now, sect master Yolin was about a meter and a half away from him; in front of him. Ciemnosc didn’t have a strong reaction. In fact, not even a reaction occurred on his face nor body as he looked at sect master Yolin from where he stood, her looking at him without blinking.
“...” As for the rest of the upper echelons, they were, of course…waiting to hear Ciemnosc's reply. It was…as if the entire world had gone black, colorless just for the moment that he answered how she should to that question.
“... Actually, sect masters and pastor, I had something to express which I forgot to mention just now, look at these, these are…” Ciemnosc spoke, not answering sect master Yolin’s questioning, but directly taking 3 different blueprints of basically the same thing and showed them to the Preferential Light Justice Sect’s upper echelons first, then those from the Moribund Yearning Cult, followed by the Eagerburning Flames Sect and finally the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect’s upper echelons at last.
“!!” But right away, the group of the last one was shocked as hell by the contents of those blueprints as they were from none other but ships! Ships and ports! Though only 1 of them was from a port, and it had various images showing dimensions and words all over the paper that it was drawn on, the other 2 were for the same kind of ship that was simply such abundant information that it needed another piece of paper to be fully complete despite the piece of paper in question already being large enough.
“How dare you do this! Ciemnosc?!” Elder Tin reacted first, swinging his right fist back and forth, up and down, knowing hell well that he wouldn’t be able to do anything to Ciemnosc even if Valeria wasn’t around. And then followed grand ancestor Xing Kei, who raised his right arm and opened his palm to send a blast of airflow directly towards Ciemnosc.
But before even that blast could emanate from his palm, ‘Saint’ Pesela had already moved her left hand. A white glow emanated right at the nook of grand ancestor Xing Kei’s right arm, followed by a series of ice-cracking sounds that went on and on as he moved his arm back down at the right side of his body.
On the other hand, ancestor Pu Lianter did not even open her mouth. Despite her already being at the 10th stage of the Conflagrate realm to Ciemnosc’s all-knowing darkest eyes, she barely flinched. She was surrounded by Obsidiafying realm cultivators, and unlike Ciemnosc, she was afraid of dying or even suffering a bit by opening her mouth before these ‘gods’ and ‘goddesses’.
“...What does everyone else think?” Sect master Yolin took another look at the blueprints before Ciemnosc once again began rotating to show them to everyone once more, her eyes were actually glad and joyous, showing these emotions that were never seen even when it came to the Preferential Light Justice Sect’s upper echelons’ eyes.
“Ciemnosc, were you truly planning to give these to us?” Sect master Farno asked, his eyes burning, bloodshot, and wide open as he took a couple of steps forward from the 1.5 meter mark like everyone else. Due to just that, everyone else also took a couple of steps forward. Looking at the Eagerburning Flames Sect’s entourage warily.
Sect master Yolin smiled for the second time today to everyone’s knowledge and without involving Ciemnosc…though such latter thought was a weird one. Facing her body towards the other sect master’s, she relaxed her mouth’s facial muscles and coldly spoke, “Now, sect master Farno, this isn’t something that can be decided by your own words and wants.”
Turned to look at Ciemnosc right after. Her body also faced him and took 4 steps closer. But nobody took any other step closer in return, somehow becoming the leading party despite the strongest major organization being just here as well. She spoke to Ciemnosc softly, and in a low tone, a tiny smile seemed to form on the corners of her lips as she began.
“What are your plans for this, my Ciemnosc?”
Ciemnosc’s lips separated in response. Instinctively, his lifted head met her eyes and without moving them away nor showing petty feelings, thoughts, or indications of vendetta as a young man or even a man with ambitions and the ‘upper hand’ in here, even if it was a bravado, let alone as a kid of not even 11 years old - he responded to her.
“I would like to trade these blueprints for merchandise, of course. As you can see, you need someone well-versed in the array formation vocation to be able to read these blueprints, and I will also be selling them all together without any puny tricks, I swear.” Though Ciemnosc had toned down his childish behavior and had become unlike before, he still seemed cute while using a somber, fake-darker, and dull tone.
“For my Yolin, I have already struck a deal with the Preferential Light Justice Sect, so please take these already and let me show everyone how I am not going to fool anybody here as I am already open to discussing terms for the knowledge of these blueprints.” Serenely speaking out his intentions, Ciemnosc slowly came to hear many heartbeats around him go wild as they saw him separate a layer from the blueprints, directly giving a portion of such towards Yolin’s hands slowly and unhurriedly, which she took in the same manner.
“Many thanks, my Ciemnosc. If you’ll excuse us, we’ll let you have enough space to go on with your new buyers. Make sure to dry them of their riches. They won’t even bother as long as you are truthful to your words.” With some extra unnecessary flattery and courtesy words, sect master Yolin said as she held those blueprints and didn’t show them to the rest of the upper echelons.
Turning around, she walked away as the rest of those surrounding Ciemnosc began to close in for the matter of discussing deals with him. Everyone had seen the designs and, though they couldn’t read ‘through’ them, the options, quality, and special features of it briefly explained on the blueprints were effortlessly memorized into their minds.
Right now, as they saw sect master Yolin depart with her dainty, bare upper back showing, all they could think of was ways of obtaining those blueprints! But also, making sure to let this boy express himself and if he could really be considered as a trading partner, otherwise they could just bang his head and turn him into a corpse and the whole thing would have been over.
Seeing the 3 major organizations, the one he belonged to among them, close into him right after sect master Yolin left. Ciemnosc gave the Self-Mutilating Honores Sect a glance but then stopped them all from keeping on walking towards him— actually managing to do so —by raising his right palm in a ‘stop’ gesture and saying while turning to face the Moribund Yearning Cult’s upper echelons.
“May I first begin with you?”
…