Chapter 123: A Rock Among Stars

Paike had no time to cultivate during the trip, nor did he need to gather qi. Last night's cultivation session had fully replenished his dantian after his cultivation advancements had emptied it.

The integrated latch system on the walls of his dantian had worked even with the changes as he progressed through Topaz. It held everything in place, and his internal circulation was more powerful than ever. He could still feel the rawness of the wound, but he was no longer trying to expand his dantian. It was already a preposterous size for his realm and stage. Enough so that it might become a hindrance if it grew any more.

There was a maximum amount of qi that someone could control at once. It varied wildly from person to person. He had never really understood how or why before, but now he could guess it was related to the cultivator's qi factor and willpower.

Forcing oneself to handle more qi could backfire and lead to consequences for one's cultivation, sometimes permanent ones, if the strain was particularly egregious. This could be as simple as needing to rest to recover, or maybe bursting qi channels, which might destroy one's cultivation or spiritual organs. In the absolute extreme, it would use the meridians to break apart one's very soul, which might even remove one from the cycle of reincarnation. That was theological debate though; it absolutely killed the person in this life.

The only times such extremes were even heard of were in grand workings as part of some heroic sacrifice of desperate last stands. There was just one other case where it was necessary to risk it. Beyond that, it took a long time to gather that much qi, and when it had been gathered, all the person's attention had to be on it to not get obliterated instantly, so a last-ditch effort just wouldn't reach those levels. This made it not an option for getting out of a fight right before you were going to lose. Not without preparation that might take days, and then you wouldn't even be able to fight.

Typically, qi held in one's dantian didn't count toward that limit. However, even with his relatively hands-off approach to internal circulation, he would consider it under his control. The nature of his qi meant he didn't have to keep forcing it all the time, but he did need constant pressure so it didn't bleed off its 'momentum.'

His fear was that if he expanded his dantian to its absolute maximum, he would not reach the theoretical limit, but he might start having trouble controlling the qi around him while maintaining too large a reservoir of qi within himself that was still under control. So he decided not to expand it further until he reached a higher realm.

This left Paike plenty of time to prepare. He had his five main techniques. All of them would be useful, he suspected. He had his staff and was ready to use it. He was also prepared to slip into a battle trance at a moment's notice.

The only thing left, he took care of quickly as he activated his mental defenses. He didn't want to risk coming out in some ambush that would affect his mind. Or maybe there was a formation set up to deflect attention away from their goal. Best if he was prepared.

As expected, he felt absolutely no different. There had been no lingering mental effects from his evening and night with the Hidden Peak Sect.

Scanning the others in the expedition, he felt them making their own protections. It occurred to him that he could probably improve some of his defensive techniques. He was sturdy from those he already had and from his physical cultivation, but there were many ways he could improve.

Taka was waving some sort of cage of qi around him. Analyzing the art, Paike figured it would help resist any attacks made with a sharp weapon. It was like an impenetrable layer of cloth around him, but a blow from Paike's staff would hardly be impeded.

Shengbai was also doing something. The style of the work was harder for him to understand in some ways. It was archaic and inefficient. He wasn't sure whether it was simply that qi theory hadn't been further developed here, or something he didn't understand.

After some study, he determined that it was rather interesting and maybe he could adapt and improve it for himself. It seemed to be some aura that reached a few paces from her body that slowed anyone she didn't exclude from its effects. He judged that it would be a noticeable effect, but he thought he might be able to increase it even more. With his qi, he might be able to make it so that anyone of a similar realm as him would feel like they were moving underwater. He would add that to his list of things to work on.

The only one not preparing in any way was Shengyue. She just flew next to him, with her head tilted back. Looking up, he realized that she was watching the morning stars getting washed out by the rising sun.

Paike wanted to ask what she was thinking about. Unlike Taka or Father, he didn't know her enough to really have a guess. He couldn't model her well in his mind yet. It made him curious.

Since he couldn't ask right now, he just followed her gaze and watched as the stars faded into dawn.

It reminded him of a night from when he had first come to the grand sect. Then, he had watched the stars get covered by a passing cloud. It had given him a feeling that resonated. He had felt it was profound at the time, but had never looked into it more.

This was different. He didn't feel any connection to his cultivation or power. Instead, it was just a work of art painted across the sky. Maybe he could find inspiration in it to fuel his growth. Undoubtedly, many cultivators had. Stars, the moon, and the sun were all common muses for cultivation.

But that wasn't his path. Not with his attunements of earth and metal, with a touch of water. That didn't lend itself to considering the heavens. Maybe cultivators who focused on fire, or more obscure elements like wind or light, would find more use.

That elegance of such cultivation was beyond his reach. Where the stars danced in the sky above, he was a rock hurtling through the air. Mass and momentum were his tools, not something so fancy, and what place would something like that have in the sky?

He only had so long to savor the moment, as soon as they would be landing.

The teams split up, and each went to a designated location. Only two entrances or exits were known. Father and a few supporters were going in the main one. Paike and his team were blocking the second. The two other teams were placed nearby to either come and support or plug any other leaks.

It was a tidy operation that entirely relied on Father as a hammer to shatter their defense and flush them out.

Paike knew he likely could have leveled their mountain and most of those in it from the outside. However, there were a few issues with that approach that made it less desirable.

If someone powerful was there, it would be easier for them to escape or attack the weaker cultivators that came with Father. Between being distracted and likely focused on his task, Father wouldn't be able to keep track of everything. Beyond that, there would be many more openings and escape routes for someone who could survive it.

That wasn't the main reason, though. It hadn't been explicitly discussed, but Paike thought Father had a suspicion and wanted to investigate. That's why the plan made sure to leave almost everything intact except the demonic cultivators.

Father likely thought they were not acting alone. Maybe there were other demonic sects nearby that would also be a threat to the empire's peace. Or maybe there was even something or someone in the empire working with them.

Either way, they needed to be sure. What happened to Elder Ji was something that they didn't want to repeat. There was no way to avoid it entirely; that just wasn't feasible. Some risk was needed to cultivate, but it could easily spiral out of control if it spread.

The roar of air rushing by faded as Father and the others flew away, leaving their group of five standing on a mountain a short trek from the hidden entrance.

As agreed, they moved in silence, not wanting idle chatter to give them away.

Timing was important. They couldn't stand by the sect's back door and hope they wouldn't be noticed. So getting there too early was an issue. But if they got in position too late, then demonic cultivators would start to escape. Neither outcome was acceptable.

So Father carefully planned the drop-off locations and times, and they made their way to the hidden entrance at a steady pace.

When the boulder that served as their door came into view, none of them activated their techniques, as that would only make them more obvious, but each reached out with their senses. The others, being at least a realm higher than Paike, had more powerful senses. Still, he looked. Just because they were more powerful didn't mean they could understand everything they saw. He wasn't about to let them overlook something because he didn't check as well.

So even though he didn't find anything, he looked to Lin Yue to see what she concluded. The core disciple nodded an all-clear, then silently indicated that he and Taka take up positions on either side of the entrance.

She stood directly in front of it with Shengyue and Shengbai flanking her.

Paike had no problem being the ambusher if necessary. And he had an inkling that Shengyue preferred to fight from a distance, but he had no read on how Shengbai found it yet.

They did not have to wait long to find out.