Depthless Hunger

Chapters 617-620

Chapter 617: Shifting Continental Strategies

Just standing in the elite conference room could have felt tame after the battle against the Abhorroid, but Kai almost felt tenser here. The solution to a giant monster was obvious, if difficult... in here, everyone faced an impossible problem that might have no real solution.

But the elites looked more optimistic than when he'd last seen them. Perhaps their problem splitting into so many different problems was an improvement, or perhaps they'd just made progress. It seemed like Raghi and the Prince of Pebbles had taken a lot of resources from the invaders, and Kai's battle had given everyone time to work on them. Throughout this conference room, only half the discussion was of strategy, and the other half was centered around those items.

"Ooh, I need to talk to the Irunians." Omilaena slipped away from him eagerly. "We'll catch up later."

She hastened to one side, where Tusquo and Quinta sat on opposite sides of a sword. Tusquo was still bandaged from his fight with the invaders, but he and his wife faced the weapon with somber focus. Kai wished them well even though he wasn't sure what they were trying to do.

For his part, he found Gunjin standing with the other planners. They had set up a map of the continent... Kai felt a sting of pain as he realized that Sheiri would never build them a liquid metal map again. It seemed the invaders were spreading out, establishing their own little fiefdoms, but when Gunjin saw him, he ignored all of that.

"Kai, we have an odd development." He revealed a thin potion from within his robes. "The invaders had a few potions on them... amateur work, but the materials are entirely phased."

"Can we use that to get anyone a breakthrough?" Kai asked.

Gunjin grimaced. "That was our first thought too, but no. The mana is intense due to its phase, but it's not particularly potent otherwise, and there's concern it might lead to problems. As a weapon it isn't so useful, because it just has parity with our opponents. So we decided that the best use for it was utility."

"Hence this." Kai took the vial and turned it over, trying to figure out the mana within the bright green liquid. "Definitely not restorative, not much like any potion I've seen before... what does it do?"

"It's a teleportation potion. When imbibed, it will transport a person to a specific teleport anchor. What separates it from everything I can do on my own is that the outside mana vastly increases the range. You could use this to teleport across the oceans."

"We needed that. Is there any way to teleport us over there?"

"This is already pushing the limits of my ability, so don't expect too much." Gunjin shook his head, then pulled out two more of the vials. "Our phased mana is also limited, so I only have these three to give you. How you use them is up to you, but I hope it can justify trips that will take you three to the necessary level for these threats."

"It should help. We're already planning t-"

"Omilaena already told me that Zae Zin Nim had gone to Cloudspire to unlock her final level of cultivation. It's inconvenient that she doesn't have a potion, but I'll leave that up to you. Make sure that Omilaena doesn't leave without one."

That seemed to be all that Gunjin had to say to him, because he turned away to speak to the other elites. After a moment, Kai decided that this was well and good: best to leave Deadwaste in the hands of someone who would at least do his best to keep it intact. Combined with his new potions, he was theoretically even more free than before to pursue the strength he needed.

How best to use that? Kai looked around the room, but everyone seemed busy with their own work, so he kept his own counsel. After his fight with the Abhorroid, he was hungry for power of any kind: he needed both more monstrous strength and human power to let his essences grow. That basically meant either pursuing monsters on Rosemount or cultivating on Cloudspire.

He had been disciplined in his cultivation before the incursion interrupted him, so he was getting closer to Earth Soul by the day. That was certainly the largest breakthrough within reach, as it would instantly improve his human soul and give him a lot more room for monstrous growth. The problem was that the remaining gap wasn't something that could be rushed or trivialized... but if anyone could figure out how to get him there, it was Zae Zin Nim.

That idea, combined with the fact that she didn't have a teleportation potion, settled the issue for Kai: he needed to go to Cloudspire. Zae Zin Nim could handle herself, but she could use his help taking her own final steps, even before she dealt with Yangix, who would likely arrive long before he could.

Just deciding on that, having a direction to move forward, gave Kai a little more confidence. Unfortunately, it also massively increased his impatience: he couldn't wait around here when the invaders might be attacking anyone and the Abhorroid could wake up at any time.

"Oh, Kai!" Juray entered, waving cheerfully with her free arm - the other was supporting Raghi, who was still a bit unsteady after his fight with the invaders.

"You two are alright?" Kai asked, checking them just in case.

"I'll live," Raghi said with a grunt. "That's the last time I go undercover, though."

"And I've been doing some fascinating work..." Juray trailed off as her eyes flickered between him and Gunjin. "He already gave you the teleportation potions, didn't he? That's his mana, obviously, but I'm the one who actually brewed them. Ever since my Class advanced, I've been able to create more complex effects, but I have to spend most of my time brewing healing potions."

Kai frowned. "Is it still that bad?"

"The elites aren't fighting the invaders directly, since that would make them retaliate, but other people still get hurt. And... I hate to say it, but people are causing more chaos themselves. When there are rumors of elites getting beaten, and everyone on the continent feels a horrible monster show up... well, it's easy for some people to take advantage."

He didn't like to think about Deadwaste that way, but she was right. So much of civilization was supported by fragile bonds, and many of those bonds had been smashed. If they survived this, it might bring everyone together, just like the incursions, but if they couldn't stop the invaders... the continent might never truly recover.

As much as he wanted to rush off, he'd already spent days fighting, so he could stick around a little longer. Kai spent a day working with Juray, donating his own resources and even his blood to create a set of new potions. She understood what he wanted soon enough and created three of them: a qi potion for Zae Zin Nim, a chakra potion for Omilaena, and an ominously bubbling potion for him.

Those were the best backup she could provide, and they both knew it. Once Kai had them all secure in his spatial ring, he knew it was time.

"I hate to go, but I'll have to leave this to you." Kai hugged Juray and said his farewells to the elites as he moved on.

Now the most important thing he needed to do was check in with Omilaena, making sure they were on the same page about their longer term strategy. She had been spending time with Quinta since their arrival and, sure enough, he found the two women seated on the floor opposite one another. Quinta grimaced and struggled as she gripped the invader's sword, apparently trying and failing with some technique.

Tusquo stood nearby silently, but he nodded when Kai approached.

"By the way," Kai said, "what was that steel ship you were flying?"

"It's what I used to help Raghi," Tusquo said. "Irun has never had a surfeit of flying vessels, but with our new alliances, we developed a few prototypes. They weren't supposed to be deployed yet, but given the circumstances..."

"I understand, these are desperate times. And what are they doing?"

"An experiment." Omilaena let go of Quinta's hands and turned to them. "Many of the invaders have magically enhanced swords - they're nothing fancy, many are even made of pig iron, but all the matter is phased. It should be possible, in theory, for us to repurpose that iron."

"Really?" Kai looked at the sword again. "They could form them into new weapons?"

"That's thinking too small: if we can melt down the metal into a fundamental Essence form, Irunians may be able to absorb the power. But since the material is phased, it's basically entirely immune to normal effects to manipulate it."

"My phase training is behind my husband's." Quinta set down the weapon with a dissatisfied expression before she turned to Kai. "However, my own abilities are a better match for melting down the weapon. Between the two of us, given time, we may be able to make progress."

"And I'll have to leave that to them, because I have a lot to do." Omilaena hopped up and went over to wrap an arm around Kai's waist, leaning against him. Tusquo and Quinta also shifted together, though with less display of affection.

For a time they stared at one another, but all they did was nod and turn to do what was necessary.

Kai and Omilaena headed out, but before they could speak about their plans, there was a shout from one of the elites. It was Gorndron - he wasn't inclined to excitability, so Kai turned back to look. The man rushed in to the planning table, gesturing to everyone, and then set down a Krysali message crystal.

"All of you should know us by now." A wavering image appeared above the crystal... Kai recognized Fodajix as he stared into the crystal on his end. "We don't intend to kill anyone else, but if you attempt to ambush us, we will have no choice. If any of us falls, the rest will wreak bloodshed like nothing you have seen so far. This message is from all of us... bow or stay out of our way, but if you attempt to fight us, none of you will survive."

The message ended and the image faded, but both had been burned into the minds of all who had listened. It was exactly what the others had feared: the invaders had coordinated in order to defend themselves in their isolation. Unfortunately, their threat to kill indiscriminately was very credible, which limited their options further.

"Doesn't change the plan." Omilaena shook her head sharply. "I think brute force is actually the smart path here: they're expecting weaker opponents to use group tactics against them. If we can build up enough strength to take them on directly, we can undermine their threat."

"You're headed to Rosemount, right?" Kai's hand instinctively rested on her hips as if he didn't want her to go, even though there was no choice. "You have the Whispering Death... you're betting that you can use it to power a Physique change?"

"That's right, but it's going to be delicate. This is an Insanity, after all. Are you pursuing cultivation?"

It seemed that Omilaena was already a step ahead of him, so he didn't need to explain much, just gave her the potions crafted for her and discussed a few other details. They headed out of the elite base still walking together, not wanting to part just yet.

But then, under the Frontier sky, there was no choice but to go their separate directions.

Chapter 618: Seeking the Foundations of Cloudspire

As she returned to the Brightwind Sect, Zae Zin Nim reflected on how much her life had changed. Once this had been a place of great terror and, after defeating her father, it had been a place where she vented her past emotions. But compared to the incursion and the invaders, the squabbling of cultivators seemed simply inconvenient... all she wanted from them was their resources.

When she drew close, she was glad to see guards in Brightwind robes, proving that the sect hadn't been overrun in her absence. She had only to step out of her ship for them to begin bowing and scraping, and some rushed back to the central pagoda to assemble a proper welcome for her.

"We're so glad to see that you have finished your secluded cultivation, Matriarch," one of them said. "We have cared for the sect in your absence, of course, but there are a few small matters..."

"Do any of them threaten the survival of the sect itself?" she asked.

"Well, no, but..."

"I will deal with them in time. First, summon our scholars, historians, and trainers of cultivation."

They looked terrified by that order - her father had frequently disparaged such professions, and once executed a historian who disagreed with him on a small matter of ancestry. But the majority of such people were from families that had been in the sect for generations, so without the ability to leave, they had taken smaller roles or even hidden themselves. Now, her subordinates had to be thinking, Zae Clen Ban's daughter might be rounding them up to execute them all.

As the specialists arrived, Zae Zin Nim did her best to reassure them that she was interested only in the truth. It was easier than she expected - the bizarre ethos of Deadwaste must have influenced her more than she knew. She sent them out to bring her histories of the continent and cultivation manuals, particularly those considered heretical or bizarre.

With all of them sent off, she next met with the diplomats and second tier cultivators who handled the borders of the Brightwind Sect's lands. There was more continuity with her father there: they were still a sect that lived on the strength of its leaders. She advised them to extend olive branches to neighbors that were not hostile, and to make clear that the matriarch was interested in ancient scrolls.

When it was done, Zae Zin Nim sat in her father's chair, marveling that it had all taken less than a single day. That was the advantage of maintaining a sect - how long would it have taken her to travel through libraries and crypts and assemble all that herself?

"Alright," Zae Zin Nim said to the courtiers who were still watching her nervously. "You said there were some small matters for me?"

"Yes," one of them said, "there are some vassal sects on our northern border that have been acting up, not believing in your magnificence. We have maintained order, but we are stretched thin, so their insolence has been-"

"Very well." She rose to her feet again to deal with the politics. At least it would give her something to do while the scholars returned with the information that mattered.

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..

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In the end, they didn't even occupy her: Zae Zin Nim took more time traveling to each problem's location than actually solving it. She didn't need to use her father's brutality: just arriving and displaying her full power was enough to make the sect's opponents crumble. No one would accuse her of being weak when she kept cowing opponents into submission.

That left her back at the Brightwind Pagoda, continuing her cultivation as she waited for the scholars to return with useful documents. Thankfully, it didn't take too long before some returned, and when Zae Zin Nim didn't react negatively - or murderously - to strange histories or cultivation manuals, they responded enthusiastically and brought her even more.

Soon she had a dizzying array of scrolls laid out across one of the sitting rooms - her father had used it for lounging and enjoying his court, but she had no need for such things. Though she hadn't found any clear or simple answers, she was uncovering truths that had been long buried.

Most of their history was basically accurate: Cloudspire really did have a cultural history of thousands of years as she had been taught. But when it came to the earlier records, there were inconsistencies, lies, and strange details. It seemed increasingly believable that her ancestors were different than she had been taught, even if she was not yet certain if they came from the outside world.

It seemed wild that all of this could have been hiding in plain sight, but Zae Zin Nim almost immediately understood how such things could happen. Powerful cultivators wanted legacies that flattered them, and it only took a few acts of violence to create a culture of fear where no one dared to contradict them. She imagined that her father had not even been aware that he had created an environment that replaced all truth with his own desires.

Alongside the new history, there were many unusual paths of cultivation that had been cast aside. Most of them for good reason: they were simply inferior to the pure Brightwind Sect methods. She read more than a few manuals that were clearly written by the mad or foolish. But there were others...

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

That was why she had gone to all this effort, of course. Yangix had told her that all of them were on the wrong path of cultivation and suggested that it was purely inferior to the true cultivation of the outside world. If that was the case, she needed to understand more of the fundamental principles and find out if the pure Brightwind cultivation was actually a dead end.

She didn't want to believe it. Zae Zin Nim feared that she might be her father, treating all facts he disliked as misinformation, but she tried to face the truth no matter where it led.

So much of the cultivation she had been taught was based on doctrine being handed down from above, laws and rules that were simply accepted by fiat. Why did Body Refinement come after Qi Condensation? What did "Nascent Foundation" actually mean beyond improved strength? She was not the only person to consider these questions, and as she read, Zae Zin Nim found a new appreciation for the wisdom of Cloudspire... even if it was wisdom that was buried in pursuit of power.

After days of work, she was convinced that the methods she had followed were not wrong, merely incomplete. Yangix had suggested that every stage of cultivation she knew was actually part of Qi Condensation, and that made sense: the fundamental element in all the cultivation methods she knew was condensing qi within one's dantian.

But the other steps were not useless: cultivators improved their dantians, strengthened their bodies to use more qi, and built up their meridians. She presumed that the ancient cultivators who came to this place and found too little qi to reach higher stages had instead searched for any edge they could, building up their power in smaller stages.

The only question, and one she might not be able to answer with merely these resources, was whether this all represented a dead end. Was Yangix actually right to scorn her cultivation as minor tricks compared to the real thing? Was it possible that if she broke through to Sky Soul, she would actually limit her own development? The fact that Sky Soul was the endpoint of cultivation no longer seemed like a glorious peak, but perhaps an ominous cliff.

In the end, after coming up with no easy answers in all the scrolls, Zae Zin Nim was left with her own instincts. Reaching Sky Soul meant cultivating an enormous amount of qi, then completing a breakthrough ritual that saturated it more deeply into her body and soul. If that harmed her cultivation, she was incapable of seeing how.

Then again... when she looked over the hidden scrolls about peak cultivation, both just before and after Sky Soul, she found herself occasionally frowning. Once this would have struck her as shocking: a woman only thirty years old challenging the wisdom of the ancients.

That attitude no longer gripped her, not when she had been married to someone as irreverent as Omilaena. It occurred to Zae Zin Nim that some of the methods that were recommended to jump up to Sky Soul were very similar to the medicinal pills that burned out part of the soul. She also found herself reading some "laws of cultivation" and being unable to find any principle that justified them. At some point, of course, one could only face the truths of cultivation etched into the world, but sometimes the ancient scrolls didn't speak of the fundamental shape of the soul, they simply handed down dictates.

And so Zae Zin Nim, even as she cultivated ever closer to the final limit, pondered what that meant, and whether it didn't need to be final after all...

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..

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For a time her work was wonderful, a sort of cultivation advancement that Zae Zin Nim had never known she was missing. The only way it could have been better was if her spouses had been present, but she dedicated herself wholly to her craft in their absence. She felt like she made progress, perhaps true progress of a sort that hadn't been seen here in millennia.

Occasionally she felt a flicker of disturbance thinking about what was happening on Deadwaste, but that was a continent away... until it wasn't.

"Matriarch?" The servants were always anxious to interrupt her in her studies, even if they knew she wouldn't kill anyone for it. "There is a matter... news that is sweeping across the Eastern Plains."

"What is it?" Zae Zin Nim asked irritably.

"Perhaps just a small thing, just idle rumors, but... they say that foreigners landed in the Northern Expanse and seized a vast territory for themselves, setting up a new sect. The stories are wild, some not to be credited. They even say that they faced the Iceiron sect and crushed them, but surely this is an exaggeration to-"

"No." Zae Zin Nim rose to her feet and sighed. "No, the reports are very likely true. Tell me everything."

Chapter 619: Invaders Advancing Everywhere

Flying high above the world had once been a pure pleasure for Inafay, but these days it all too often took her to grim locales. Her home - just "Deadwaste" to so many - was still in the grip of foreign invaders, and there was little she could do about it.

For now, she was tracking the group of invaders that had remained in the Elemental Nations. There were eight of them, just as had been reported, and they'd spread out across the section of land where the four Unions met. Each set himself up as an unchallenged king, and their rules varied: some just wanted to be served, others were cruel.

She noted all of that to report, but the worst thing was that they were checking in with one another. Only two of them had long range Krysali communications crystals, but they communicated with the other six regularly. It seemed that the invaders were committed to their strategy.

That was what made all of this more infuriating. Inafay had power equal to the weaker invaders and she was increasingly mastering her phase training, so she was sure that she could take one of them down. Orotaisin was keeping up, so she would bet on him in another one-on-one fight.

But the four strongest were unbeatable, so if she tried to defend the people in the Elemental Nations, Inafay would bring forth a wave of death and destruction. They were acting like bullies, and unfortunately their bullying would work.

Grimacing, Inafay turned around and began flying back to her checkpoint to train with Handelrey. She had no choice but to trust in Kai...

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..

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The news continued to grow more dire by the day, and though Zae Zin Nim's anger grew, she demanded that the Brightwind Sect continue to tell her the truth. In many other sects across Cloudspire, sect leaders scorned the possibility that Yangix and the other invaders could be more powerful than them, and then they were broken.

Yangix had been spreading his influence across the Northern Expanse, taking on more and more vassals. His reputation was spreading even faster, and Zae Zin Nim feared the moment when he would reach a tipping point: everyone would accept that he was truly the most powerful cultivator on the continent and begin tripping over themselves to swear fealty.

For now, she focused on her own cultivation while trying to discern what Yangix was doing. Rumors suggested he was demanding legendary or ancestral forms of qi, and he was finding them all wanting: none of them were phased powers, so of course he was disappointed.

But he wasn't slaughtering thousands or taking out his wrath on others. No, if Zae Zin Nim knew Yangix at all from their conversation, she guessed that his ego was only growing. Based on the proclamations he sent out, he intended to set himself up as emperor of Cloudspire, of the sort that had only existed in legend.

Sect after sect was defeated, clan after clan bowed to him. When she received news that the Jackal Clan had pledged loyalty to Yangix, she winced - they were so mercenary, if even they thought his victory was inevitable, that was a very bad sign indeed. That also gave him powerful subordinates that would make it difficult for anyone to reach him, even if they had the strength to threaten him.

He had officially founded the "Yangix Sect". The fact that he named it after himself made Zae Zin Nim snort, but she was the only one who found his meteoric rise amusing.

So far Yangix had yet to try to reach far into the Eastern Plains, so the Brightwind Sect hadn't been challenged directly. When it eventually happened, Zae Zin Nim wasn't sure what she would do. She emerged from her haze of cultivation studies to examine her soul in harder terms.

<

Name: Zae Zin Nim

Total Power: 1863

Cultivation: Earth Soul 97% (534)

*Heavenly Sash: Cultivation +10% (53)

Coldfire Corona: 46 (438)

Pure Yin Shroud: Spinel Rank (285)

True Blackblood Physique: E-12 (472)

Soul Level: 9 (81)

>

Her Coldfire Corona, Pure Yin Shroud, and Blackblood Physique had all continued to grow stronger... but unless she broke through with her cultivation, a second battle between them would go the same way the first one had. She needed to push forward faster at the very moment when she was questioning which final steps were the right ones to take.

At least, based on the tales coming to her, she still had time. But one day Zae Zin Nim heard that Yangix had left the Northern Expanse and intended to seize power in the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes, and she knew that time was growing short.

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..

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Even though she feared for her home, Tori's heart went out to the Krysali around her. She fought alongside so many who had been slaves just a few years ago who were now facing new invaders, as unstoppable as the crystalliers had once been. Even when they weren't directly threatened, despair spread across the city states.

When one of the strongest invaders flew over Krysal, he had caused a wave of terror throughout his route. Tori and Bonto stuck close together, trying to do what they could to calm it. His passage had left a bit of hope, but unfortunately, seven invaders emerged from the Frontier into Krysal, each seizing control of a city-state and ruling it as his own fiefdom.

Other than that, Tori had troublingly little knowledge of what was going on around her. She had seen an elite once, but the continent's top warriors were desperately busy working with people more important than her. Kai was allegedly on other continents, building up the strength to fight the invaders, so of course he had no time for anything else.

His students were scattered across the continent and she could only hope that they were still alive. Ankrastor had been in Monskon City - was it possible that the invaders would find out that Kai came from there and attack? Without up to date information, she was left in the dark.

Currently she and Bonto were searching through the Krysali countryside, trying to find city-states that hadn't bowed to the invaders. It was beginning to seem like a fool's errand, because only fools would face opponents who were so overwhelmingly powerful.

"Do you think we could manage phase training?" Bonto asked, for the dozenth time. "Seems like you have to, these days."

"We could not," Tori told him again. "Even Kai took months to master phases, and he had more power than we do now. Even geniuses like Inafay, who has been training phases for a long time, need substantial training to reach that point."

"Ugh, I know, I just hate it..." Bonto wandered further, putting his hands behind his head and ambling strangely. "There's gotta be something weeeeahh!"

His voice cut off in a cry of surprise as he tumbled straight into the ground. Tori leapt to his position immediately, steel and crystal forming at her fingertips, prepared for some sort of trap. There was a crevice that was only visible from a specific angle, driving deeper into the earth. Without thinking, Tori plunged in after him.

She found herself in a cave that glowed softly with qi crystals, beside Bonto, surrounded by former slaves. They carried spears and looked determined, even though they wouldn't have had a chance against even the two of them.

"Just... just who are you people?" Bonto asked in bewilderment.

"The resistance, of course!" An old woman moved between the fighters, wielding a serving ladle like a weapon itself. "We were slaves our entire lives, we're not going to let these new crystalliers from who-knows-where make us slaves again!"

Despite everything, Tori began to smile.

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..

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In her early years, trips across the ocean had been truly threatening to Omilaena, but now they were increasingly just down time. Given the almost constant assault of phased invaders and unprecedented monsters, it was her only chance to relax, but without Kai or Zin Nim to mess with, it was more lonely than anything.

So she kept working on isolating the Whispering Death, sharpened her metals as a Lethal Artisan, and even did some cultivation despite her recent breakthrough. It was all just a prelude to when she would arrive on Rosemount, and then she would find out whether or not all this preparation had been enough.

Recently she had been taking some major risks - she knew that Zin Nim disapproved - but she didn't see an alternative. She had always known there were greater powers in the world, and the arrival of these invaders had proved it could be just as dangerous as she feared. There was no choice but to take risks in order to deal with such a critical threat.

As she saw it, this was an assassination attempt on Kai with a little genocide as collateral damage. Whoever had been behind it had used what they thought was overwhelming force: dozens of fully phased fighters, including five with power that had been unprecedented in known history. In any past century, it would have wiped clean everything.

But Kai had unparalleled power, and Omilaena had grown in ways that wouldn't have happened on her own. Even Zin Nim had been a necessary part of the formula, bringing them to a point that no one could have predicted.

It might just be enough to escape a death trap that was meant to be inescapable.

Finally Omilaena arrived at the tip of the Coiled Empire, the capital city itself. She leapt out of her ship, ignoring all the lamia guards who were converging on her. With a speed phase, she could blur past them, leaving only confusion in her wake as she pierced her way to the great palaces. When she stopped at the entrance by the royal guards, it was because she wanted to.

"Hello, I'm here to speak to the Empress," Omilaena said cheerfully. "She owes me a favor."

Chapter 620: Late Across the Ocean

Even though Kai had pushed himself to cross the ocean in record time, he knew that Yangix had arrived first. It began when the invaders got a head start, while Kai fought the Abhorroid and did other preparations. Then, according to the last scouting reports from Krainuun, it seemed like the invaders could propel flying vessels to surprising speed using their phased power, surpassing even his top speed. It was fortunate they hadn't figured that out earlier.

Based on reports, Jonijix had taken a while to go to Rosemount but was moving in that direction, so Kai could only hope Omilaena stayed ahead of him. In Cloudspire, Zae Zin Nim might have arrived first, but by the time Kai arrived, Yangix had been able to work for a long time. So when Kai approached the Eastern Plains, he stayed high overhead, alert for possible attacks that could set off a negative cascade.

Just in case, he dropped to ground level and acquired some information. He couldn't really go incognito on Cloudspire, looming over everyone, but when talking to untrained villagers they just treated him as another bizarre cultivator who might kill them if they didn't obey. They told him plenty of news, much of it about Yangix taking over the Northern Expanse, but they also mentioned that the Brightwind matriarch had come out of seclusion.

It felt strange to be excited to see a "matriarch" but he flew on to meet Zae Zin Nim.

When he arrived at the Brightwind Pagoda, he activated his little-used stealth abilities to simply fly to the top court. There he found Zae Zin Nim amid a surprising number of scrolls... and she was the first person to notice him through Mutefang's Stealth. She looked up, smiled slightly, and returned to her reading.

Kai sat down on the seat beside her, put an arm around her shoulder, and waited for her to finish a section before asking, "What's that?"

"Ancient texts about the basics of cultivation." She sighed and her stiff posture relaxed a little, sinking against him. "We can talk about my progress later. You've heard about Yangix coming here?"

"Not only that, Jonijix went to Rosemount and Omilaena is barely ahead of him. Actually, there are a lot of things I should catch you up on..."

He explained about everything that had happened since she parted with Omilaena, as well as giving Zae Zin Nim the teleportation potion, which pleased her. On the other hand, her face grew dour when she heard about the invaders threatening genocide if they were attacked, and her mood only dropped further as they discussed how much of Cloudspire had folded to Yangix.

"The threat doesn't seem to apply to cultivators who didn't hear it," she said, "but he's applied his own pressures. I was hoping I could form an alliance that could take him down without us getting involved, but now, it seems like he would punish that too."

"Do you think they could?" Kai asked. "On the level of fundamental power, I mean."

"Sky Soul cultivators have enough of a qi phase that the invaders aren't invincible to them. The problem is that he has four phased minions with him, and he's acquiring more, including the Jackal Clan and other sects who bowed to him."

"But say we could distract them and pull together other cultivators to take on Yangix. He has a serious edge in power, but some Sky Souls aren't that much weaker..."

"If multiple sects coordinated against him..." Zae Zin Nim shook her head. "No, that's a fantasy. Cultivators wouldn't throw their lives away for the common good. Now that he's established himself as the strongest, he'll have the numbers advantage on us in every way."

"We still need power, but it wouldn't hurt to interfere with his plans if we can. Anything we can do?"

"I couldn't, but maybe you can." Zae Zin Nim nodded as if she'd come to a conclusion and patted his arm. "Right now, I'm protecting the Eastern Plains by not challenging Yangix, but he's building up allies in the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes. If you show up, you could interfere with that."

"I don't want to trigger a slaughter, though."

"Don't attack him, attack his allies and resources. I had some ideas for how such an attack might work, so I can share them with you."

As Zae Zin Nim told him more about the central region, where Kai had never actually been, he understood what she was going for. It was the most prominent region on the continent, with the densest qi and a lot of important symbols, so it was critical for Yangix gaining legitimacy. Undermining that sounded like a good method of opposing the invaders indirectly, but he wasn't here solely to help Zae Zin Nim, he needed to gain power himself.

"Could I attack his supporters in the Northern Expanse?" Kai asked. "There's a legendary monster called the Shambling Mass there, I wanted to eat it while I was on the continent."

"Hmm." Zae Zin Nim peered up at him through her hair. "I want you to eat the monsters you need, but that might be a problem. You could get to the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes quickly and secretly, but the Northern Expanse has always been hardened to outsiders, and its defenses have probably become stronger."

He considered it and, after some thought, reluctantly gave up the idea. The most salient property of the Shambling Mass according to the rumors had always been its raw power, and he had just created Dragon's Might. In normal times he might pursue it, but now he needed to focus in order to gain just what he needed to stop the invaders.

How quickly they had lodged themselves at the top of Cloudspire was troubling, though in a way he wasn't surprised. If left unopposed, they really might be able to position themselves as tyrants ruling the world. The Insanities seemed like the best bet at fighting them, and there weren't good options on Cloudspire...

"I have an alternate for you," Zae Zin Nim said quietly. "The central mountains are particularly known for dragons. They may be able to provide you with useful essence."

"Thanks, Zin Nim, I'll hunt them if possible. But on the subject of dragons, I actually have something else to show you..."

They sparred hand-to-hand, first refining their movements and then truly testing their strength against one another. For the first time since Zae Zin Nim had transformed her Physique, he could actually overpower her, thanks to Dragon's Might. He was worried that she might be discomforted, especially with the invaders making her feel vulnerable, but she seemed entirely happy for him. In fact, she seemed to approve of the scales added to his monstrous form over the armor.

Training against one another physically brought other thoughts to mind, making him wonder if they could justify intimacy as dual cultivation. Afterward, Zae Zin Nim attached herself to him... but he could feel the tension in her body, and she seemed deeply focused on something else.

"You need to advance your cultivation as well," she told him. "We can't afford to leave any weapons off the table."

"That's part of why I'm here." He squeezed her shoulder slightly. "But based on all the new things you're uncovering... do you think just breaking through to Earth Soul is the right path for me?"

"I..." Zae Zin Nim's eyes narrowed, then she peered at him so intently he knew that she was using not just spiritual sight, but the deeper version they had been training. "Your soul says you have Gluttonous Cultivation, which is... hmm. I thought that it was the same as any other path, you simply needed more qi because you consume so much of it. But now... treating all paths of cultivation as the same might not actually be the best method."

"You think I should do something differently?"

"Right now, no, keep cultivating as I taught you. Go to the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes and do what we agreed, just make sure you eat powerful sources of qi. When you get back, I might have an answer for you."

Whatever it was about his cultivation that had inspired her, Zae Zin Nim now seemed driven to pursue the thought. Part of Kai - okay, most of him - would have been happy to stay with his wife and relax, especially after the breakneck flight across the ocean. But they couldn't afford to rest, not now - planning and sparring together would be all the break he would get.

So Kai didn't stay long at all, he just picked up a local ship and robes that would attract less attention. Sweeping across the continent with Thunderbird's Wings was the fastest method only in theory, because in practice he would get intercepted by cultivators who were angered at his impudence. Or worse, he might attract the attention of Yangix, which could lead to unpredictable outcomes.

Instead he set the ship to fly west on its own while he sat down to cultivate. Under normal circumstances, he couldn't rush the remaining distance to Earth Soul, which was, after all, a level that many cultivators never reached. But these were not normal circumstances, and perhaps he wasn't a normal cultivator in more ways that one. Whatever Zae Zin Nim was trying to do, he would have his dantian ready to attempt it.

Meanwhile the ship took him steadily forward, toward the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes, the dragons, and the enemy.