Path of the Ascendant

“… T-That’s not possible! Yi Bai had always cultivated an earth-type technique, even when- I mean, always! And she had never learned to be an assassin! There’s no way for her to attack someone without insulting them at least once, with a lot of… eh… s-swearing! She barely even used a knife until five years ago, when… she… changed techniques… progressed more quickly than before… and seemed darker… somehow…” Yi Ling began with a great deal of enthusiasm, but with every word that confidence and enthusiasm faded until there was nothing but realisation.

In fact, both Yi Wei and Yi Meng had a clue about the full timeline of Yi Bai’s life after everything the girl had said, though the former was able to piece together far more with the same information.

So far as she could tell, Yi Bai was a common servant girl for the first half of her life. She studied the same types of techniques as Yi Wei had, went around similar places and generally had a decent time, without encountering too much trouble as a result of her place within the family. There wasn’t even one person who had thought about randomly attacking her for personal entertainment, as she looked a little too scary for most people to try something like that.

Then, she went out of the city to seek her fortune, driven by the common tales of people finding great things just by taking the wrong turn on the crossroads and the many legends of heroes being born through fortunate encounters.

Yi Ling, as she was three years younger, hadn’t followed, and wouldn’t have done so anyway, as her primary inspiration was not the heroes that sought out greatness, but those that achieved them by the virtue of their own genius. In more likely terms, Yi Ling had been too scared of going out into the wilderness and didn’t want to follow a servant out here while being a lower-class member of the family herself.

Due to this, she couldn’t tell them what happened, but the fact that Yi Bai came back with a great technique, an even grimmer look than before, and a sudden penchant for knife-like bladed weapons whereas she previously liked to use her fists, and if she could have afforded it, she would have purchased a low-grade gauntlet artefact to amplify her punching strength.

When questioned about this, both by Yi Ling and a number of other acquaintances, they would always receive vague responses that they interpreted in their own ways, mostly by thinking that she had been ashamed to say that her previous path wasn’t suitable for her.

Naturally, with the knowledge of her sudden acquisition of an assassin’s technique at the time, it was clear that she had attained something so powerful that she had no choice but to use them. Perhaps whatever legacy she had found was a little stricter that most of the mythical legacies in stories, and gave her no choice but to use the techniques it provided unless she wanted to suffer from some sort of punishment, though this was nothing more than a random theory on Yi Wei’s part.

Whatever the case really was, her rate of growth increased alongside her general ability.

Most people hadn’t noticed the fact that her technique had changed, but with their current knowledge, it immediately became clear that she had been using the assassin’s methods to disguise her planar energy as earth-type energy that matched with her previous technique, and that she had been acting much like Yi Wei in terms of hiding her true level of ability.

“So, you’re saying that as a result of that journey, she has now been captured and forced to obey Yi Fenwu?”

“Not quite. Since she seems to be using the techniques of an assassin, I suspect that it is those same techniques that are responsible for this. You might be aware that assassin groups are typically bound by a variety of methods, and the majority of them are woven into the basic techniques taught to their servants. Yi Fenwu has found a way of controlling that particular assassin’s binding, and now she is abusing it to force Yi Bai to kill people,” Yi Wei said, with Yi Meng nodding along.

“That’s horrible! I, Yi- I mean, I want to save her! How do we shatter the binding?”

Yi Meng responded, “I know a little bit about assassin’s bindings, and I happen to know that it isn’t very easy to do, unfortunately. Some are apparently bound to their very planar energy or spiritual will and are difficult to do anything about without ruining their cultivation.”

“I-Is this true?” Yi Ling turned to Yi Wei, who first nodded and then shook her head, sending some mixed messages.

“That is partially true. I know, from some personal experience, that it is possible to deal with an assassin’s binding that is placed within someone’s spiritual will, but I don’t know what Yi Bai is afflicted with, nor how. If the binding is in the form of an individual strand of energy, then it is possible to fix, but if it is something more insidious, then we would need someone that is powerful enough to make this dimension. Have you ever heard of the Silver Skins?”

Yi Ling shook her head, but Yi Meng nodded after a brief pause, “Were they the assassins that transformed their own skins into metal in order to remove all signs of individuality from themselves and to become resistant to weapons?”

“You do know about them? Have you also read Ding Xing’s ‘Histories of the Assassins’?”

“Yeah, I have. According to that book, this process of changing their skins was the exact assassin’s binding that kept them in line. Since they had none of their original skin left, even to the point of removing their various lower organs to prevent them from ever suffering defeat due to their desires, one would have to skin them to remove the binding.”

“Exactly. Yi Bai’s skin is intact, and her techniques aren’t metallic in nature, so I doubt that we have to consider that possibility, but it wouldn’t be impossible for her internal organs or bones to have been replaced, and then things will be really difficult.”

“Eh? That sounds horrible!” Yi Ling exclaimed, “Can we find out, somehow?”

“If we can capture her and restrain her, then it would only take a bit of experimentation to find out, but if Yi Fenwu is taken down, then there will be no need to do so. That method of control is only in her hands, and once it is dealt with, not only can Yi Bai be returned to her normal state, but, based on the fact that nobody had a clue that she was responsible for those murders outside of the hidden grounds, it might be possible that she wouldn’t even have to deal with the memories of killing so many members of her own family, as her memories within and outside of the assassin state might be separate,” Yi Wei proposed.

They glanced at one another, each one undoubtedly thinking about it from their own perspectives. Yi Meng wanted to defeat the assassin, in order to fulfil the original intention of their group, so getting rid of her via defeating her current master would function just as well, while Yi Ling wanted to save her friend, which would naturally be easier without dissecting her.

However, all three of them quickly came to the main problem – they, with the possible exception of Yi Wei, were not exactly capable of going out there on their own and confronting Yi Fenwu, wherever she currently was. They would need to have a way to sustain a barrier around themselves, a route through the void between worlds to wherever Yi Fenwu currently was, and then a method to defeat her, which might be difficult to do depending on how many more things she has up her sleeve.

On their own, they wouldn’t exactly be well equipped for this sudden mission.

“Do we even know where she is? If those key pillars give her access to more than the exit, then won’t she be in a better state than when you first fought her?” Yi Meng asked.

“Not necessarily. Although hidden grounds are said to hold great quantities of treasures, as we have learned, stories are not always exactly equivalent to reality. I wouldn’t be particularly surprised if she didn’t find anything within at all, or if she only obtained a few small things,” Yi Wei replied, referring to those artefacts that she had found within the first three rooms of the treasury, “Who knows, though.”

“That could be true, though I wouldn’t want to bet on it. Imagine how terrible someone near the peak of the third realm could be if they had a lot of powerful artefacts on their hands,” she said, shuddering slightly at the thought.

‘She already had plenty of things, but if she was able to recover all of those items from whatever is in the treasury, I wouldn’t be too happy about it,’ Yi Wei thought, glancing up at the icy barrier surrounding them, ‘That’s fair enough, though. She had three key fragments already, so she will find the fourth eventually and then, Yi Fenwu will either be transported to the treasury automatically, or she will inevitably find the small points in the walls that will allow her to get there on her own. At that point, she could potentially become a greater danger, so it would be nice to intervene with that before… I wonder, is this place stationary?’

This enquiry couldn’t be answered by either Yi Meng or Yi Ling, but the question itself had given Yi Wei a rather outlandish idea.

‘Based on the fact that my Light of Divinity was able to pierce through the ice maze and also affect a number of other worlds, is it not possible that they are directly above one another? As far as I am aware, these pocket worlds exist within a single pocket of the void between worlds, so, in theory, if we are able to maintain this barrier while moving around, then we could effectively turn this chunk of land into a ship and pilot it to seek out whatever it is we want, whether it is the Lock Obelisks or Yi Fenwu herself, since the former isn’t necessary if I showcase the fact that I already have all four keys… I wonder if getting a second set would do anything, or if I’m not going to be able to interact with them,’ she asked herself, though that was yet another matter that didn’t really need to be considered. After all, so long as one set of keys was enough to enter and exit both the dimension itself and the treasury within, the other set would be unlikely to matter too much, as the first treasury was already half-complete, so a second or third one would be even less likely to contain anything of value.

“Hey, how long does one shift of maintaining the barrier around this land last?”

“Roughly two hours. Yi Guanyu can keep going almost for three,” Yi Meng answered, “The current state of the void between worlds is surprisingly tame despite its name and general appearance and function.”

“Hm…” Yi Wei made a random noise while she continued to think, ‘So, if the average cultivator is able to support the barrier for that long, I should be able to manage, say, six hours? Let’s assume that. That means that if this would actually work, and if I can convince everyone else – mostly Yi Guanyu, since he is a sort of leader here – then I could provide a total of six hours of time for the ‘Turn the plot of land into a ship’ plan to be executed by people who are slightly more proficient in this than I am. Although, having said that, I don’t think proficiency in the matter of constructing void-traversing land ships is a thing…

‘In the first place, what would a void-traversing land ship require? The barrier and anyone’s planar anchor can rest on the land, as it would bypass the typical rule about being unable to move one’s anchor, and there would certainly need to be one or two arrays or inscriptions for moving the landmass, as well as a controlling array for those, so… I could that myself, couldn’t I? Not to mention six hours, two should be enough, provided that this wood is sufficiently stable to withstand a few arrays. I should still get permission to do this, or else people might interfere if they misunderstand my actions.’

She stood up suddenly, and turned to Yi Meng, “I’ve just gotten a good idea, so I will depart for now. When there’s time, I wouldn’t mind speaking a lot more with you.”

Before the tall woman could reply, she had already departed and returned to where Yi Guanyu stood, still sending his planar energy into the barrier, whilst a number of people similar to those resting in the so-called shack standing at various points at the barrier’s edge, doing the exact same thing as he was, albeit with less effect.

When he heard her approach, he frowned and turned his head to face her.

“What do you want?”

“I’ve got a plan that’s either a little risky, or absolutely genius. It should help us to locate whatever it is we need, whether it is the Lock Obelisks, Yi Fenwu or survivors. All that I will need is an hour or two, and any kind of sharp implement that can accurately pierce this wood.”

“… Should I be scared? Are you going to invoke another one of those great beams, the Light of Divinity, and send us all into an illusion?”

“I think you’ve mixed up two completely different techniques,” she commented with a loud sigh, “No, my intention is not to invoke that skill, nor any of the other ones that have a high chance of damaging the world, because all I want to do is separate this chunk of land from the rest and convert it into a great void-traversing landship… or something to that effect.”

Yi Guanyu wasn’t sure what expression he should display, so he continued looking confused, “I must say that I’m not entirely convinced, and yet the fact that you’ve managed to cause this void between worlds to erode the world suggests that you might manage this. Can you be sure this will work?”

“It is guaranteed to avoid failure, and that’s all I can promise you, unfortunately. If I had done this before, I could have told you the exact chances of success in this matter, but so far, there’s no certainty besides the fact that it should be possible. The void between worlds is, after all, nothing like fluid and has no semblance of gravity within it, so if a floating object enters it, it should be able to float freely and be manipulated easily via certain arrays and inscriptions, and since this pocket dimension is ultimately connected, regardless of what it looks like, we should be able to go wherever we want with a bit of accuracy and navigation,” she said, “All I’ll need is some time, as I said.”

“So, we won’t fall into the void if you separate us from the rest of the land?”

“Nope, there’s no risk of that. We’re already floating, aren’t we? I’m not even sure why you think something will happen to begin with.”

“Usually, even in illusions, things fall down without support, so I don’t think my fear is too unreasonable…” Yi Guanyu muttered, scratching his head for a while until he finally came to a conclusion, which he presented after a loud, lengthy sigh, “You know what, do it. Since you know so much, can you tell me what will happen if we get consumed by the void?”

“If Jiang Ping Shimeng can be trusted on this matter, and I think he can be, given the fact that his theory has been correct when it comes to you subduing the void so far, then we will either die incredibly quickly and painlessly, or we will appear somewhere else.”

“Somewhere?”

“Literally anywhere in this world. Possibly inside of an object, or inside some earth fire.”

He looked at her with a small degree of rising killing intent, “Don’t you dare cause something like that! If you do, I will haunt you forever!”

“I’ve never seen a ghost before, so I will do my best to study your spiritual self as much as possible if that happens. In all seriousness, I would never doom you to death when I am also risking my life right here,” Yi Wei replied, rolling her eyes, “if you think that I might mess up, then you can ask everyone else to assist me in those things that are not too complex, as I wouldn’t want to accidentally kill you via someone else’s mistake.”

“Fine, I’ll allow it. When I’m out of planar energy, I-”

“Let me take over for a minute. Please share my plan to transform the landmass into a land ship with everyone else and ask them to provide whatever help I ask of them, then I will return, and the entire process will be complete in no more than three hours. Alright?”

“You… as long as you do not trap us in the illusion, I can accept this. I will return quickly, so don’t run out of energy before then,” Yi Guanyu said waiting for her to place her hand on the barrier before running off.

The instant she felt his energy stop flowing into the dome, she took over, sending her planar energy in its most diluted, bloodied form, breaking it back down into the gaseous mist that it should have been before allowing it to be taken by the planar construct. However, the moment that it touched the barrier, it suddenly shuddered, and the entire structure fluctuated as if it was about to collapse from her mere touch.

‘Is my energy this toxic, or is it too pure? Whatever the case is, I need to rebuild this to work a little better, don’t I?’ she thought to herself, shutting her eyes to focus better.

With the planar energy that she had just released, she spread it across the entire enormous dome, passing it through every single spot that was being used to supply the barrier, and kept it together with that thin net. Once it stopped shuddering, Yi Wei began to weave the many strands of energy into something more complex than a mere layer of planar energy.

She created the form of endless formation arrays within the dome, reforming it to push back the void between worlds rather than feeding it, increased the efficiency of the planar energy usage, and applied every bit of knowledge she had gained from the Kong family’s arrays into this project.

It felt like it had taken a lot of time, and yet, when she opened her eyes, her hand had not yet come to rest completely on the remodelled barrier.

Rather than being generally formless, her new dome was smooth and even, with thin strands that were part of the arrays within running throughout the entire planar construct. With the addition of a few planar gathering arrays, it was also feeding itself with the same efficiency and effectiveness as a dozen people could, suddenly causing it to be far more stable than it had ever been before. Before anyone could question what had just happened – Yi Wei herself included, as she hadn’t understood why time had suddenly slowed down for her as she was working – she injected a regular cultivator’s planar aperture’s worth of energy into it and walked off after the barrier showed no signs of collapse.

‘Alright, while the massive barrier was mostly inspired by the third Lock Obelisk’s array, the void-traversing land ship will be a little more difficult… Still, I’m certain that I can do this. I’ve already done so many strange things that I seem to be more at home in a fantasy story than reality, so this isn’t any different.’