Chapter 42:

Chapter 42

~~~~Tai Su~~~~

In my past life, the greatest upsets in any trial or competition happened at the very end. This happened not because there was a tight competition, but the opposite. When people think it's over and they've won but did not yet pass the finish line is the time when someone comes from behind them and 'steals' their win.

It's not theft, not truly even if it feels like it, because you've won nothing until everything is over. It's also something I have never experienced before and I won't start now, I am not taking any chances, no splitting up the group, no risks, no chasing false leads, no nothing.

We go up the mountain, stick together and complete the trial together and we don't take any chances by splitting up or looking for trouble.

"What?" Ya Xue shouted out of nowhere.

She started moving her head around as if trying to find whatever startled her.

Everyone stopped and started looking around. I could feel the caution or panic of everyone around me as we tried to find whatever caused Ya Xue to act like this. I too turned back towards it to try and find out what's going on.

We have been walking for hours and were close to reaching the base of the mountain from my estimations, assuming we haven't already reached it that is. I could feel that the slope turned slightly sharper and I don't know much about mountains, but I assume that is a sign that we are at the very least close to the boundary where the valley ends and the mountain begins.

"What are you hearing Ya Xue?" I asked pointedly.

I didn't smell anything unusual, so that meant that whatever she's sensing was not close to us yet.

My voice seemed to calm her down a bit and she stopped panicking and started thinking

"I don't know, something changed. There's something in the background I always heard, but now it's gone and I only noticed it because it was gone." She answered and winced.

Nothing visibly changed, and even to my own Qi sense nothing changed.

I inhaled deeply and tried to see if I could sense anything different.

'Nothing… no is it stronger?'

I took short sharp inhale and the mix of emotions was just as strong as before, I could still sense the unease of several of my subordinates. It was stronger, my Qi sense grew stronger.

"We've entered the sect grounds proper. We no longer feel any Qi but each other's as the stench or noise of the river is gone." I declared.

It was the only thing that made sense as Sects are meant to have their own defensive formations to keep their grounds separated from the rest of the world. The river was a massive source of Qi that influenced the entire forest, not merely the surroundings where the pollution was the worst.

Ya Xue and I merely never had a frame of reference for our Qi senses that wasn't the pollution muddling our senses. My eyes widened in fear and I barely stopped myself from shivering as the realization of what that thing meant hit me.

Everyone stopped looking around and turned towards me.

"Tai?" Bao asked as she noticed my frightened expression.

My expression was quickly matched by Ya Xue as she realized what the words meant as well.

"Our senses were muddled by the river, they are even more sensitive than we thought before, the river just gave us a constant noise that covered everything up and allowed us to ignore part of it." I answered.

"Like how we don't notice our nose despite being in our field of view?" Haoran Lin asked.

I was surprised he knew it, but I nodded regardless. The others except his own family looked at him questioningly. The Lins seem focused on knowing weird things as I doubt they taught people that, Ya Xue certainly seemed just as surprised to hear of it as the others were.

"Not quite but close, it's more like putting a piece of paper in front of your eyes then looking at the sun and then suddenly taking it off." I said.

"How do we know for sure that this is what the two of you are feeling? There might be something else that affects Ya Xue." Mei Lin asked.

"We have both of them take a few steps back and see if they notice a difference. If there is one, then Tai Su is right, if they're not then something else might be going on." Da Xiu answered.

That was an excellent idea and I nodded to Da Xiu in appreciation.

I moved near Ya Xue who took my hand to prepare herself for it. Everyone else continued being vigilant around us as they kept one eye on us and another on our surroundings.

We did one step, then two and then a third.

It was on the fourth that something changed.

I could still feel the emotions everyone else was emitting, but there was something else there too. It was difficult to explain what it was as it wasn't anything I've ever felt before.

It was as if it was the opposite of the smell of trash in past life, pleasant where the other was disgusting, soft where the other attacked the senses and yet still composed of a multitude of smells jumbled together.

It was however incredibly faint, the sort of thing that even as I am now aware of it, I can learn to ignore if given enough time. Even the Water Deer smelled more strongly than this when it was out of sight.

"I can feel something, it's a soft and pleasant smell composed of many others that I do not recognize." I said.

"I… I can hear the river, I can hear the water flow gently, but it's not just one river, it's like I am hearing a hundred of them, all at the same time, all flowing just as gently and all subtly off." Ya Xue said from my side.

"Does it hurt?" Bao asked.

Everyone else was in front of us, their past apprehension gone now that we've confirmed what was going on.

Both of us shook our heads.

"No, it's something I can ignore, the smell of your emotions is more than enough to overpower it when I am near you and it's why I didn't notice it." I answered.

"No, it's annoying now that I am aware of it, but it doesn't hurt." Ya Xue said shortly after.

We took a few steps forward and the smell was gone and only then did Ya Xue let go of my hand.

The boundary wasn't exact, the step I took where the stench of the river was gone was not at the same place where it became apparent, but the barrier was absolute. Once you were inside of it you were immediately cut off from what was outside of it.

"At least we know we picked the right mountain now." I joked.

Snorts and boos met my attempt at a joke, but the atmosphere lightened up and we all went off towards the last part of the test, because if there wasn't some sort of hidden test when we're all ready to just rest and lower our guard I'll eat my boots.

~~~~First Shadow of the Orange Prefecture~~~~

Cultivator Sects are generally insular creatures unconcerned with the world around them with the exception of their duties to the Empress.

This has created a culture of indifference among cultivators where they can rarely be bothered to even start a fight with one another more often than not. Individuals in a sect will rarely interact with those of another, except when it comes to killing spiders, as each sect was assigned a territory and are expected to hold to it and nothing else.

All cultivators are focused on cultivation, training, whatever weird philosophical introspection they fixated themselves on, as well as whatever hobbies each cultivator developed to deal with the mind-numbing and boring reality of cultivation. All of this is by the design of the Empress to ensure that the centuries of darkness do not return, that the in-fighting, death and carnage that shattered humanity's ability to put up a fight remains a thing of the past.

It is a new order, one meant to prevent the rise of bunny hordes and the resurgence of the Empire of Spider, and in order for it to hold the sects have to work together and not let the in-fighting cause humanity to slide into the darkness again.

"First Shadow." One of my juniors said and took me out of my ruminations.

"Report." I ordered.

First Shadow, or to be more exact The First Shadow of Orange Prefecture, was my current name while I was performing my duties. When the inspection of the Trials of the Blazing Fist Sect will be over I will remember my name again, but until then, this is what I am, a shadow. I am a creature of secrets and hidden plots in the service of something greater than me.

"The first individuals that have finished the Trial are having a private audience with sect master Fu Jian. As ordered, we are not to be there for that conversation." The younger shadow said, her voice clearly stating her dislike for those orders.

"Sect Trials are to be done in accordance to the sect's rules, we can't change them and you know this." I replied, my voice as soft as silk.

Shadows are meant to ensure that the Sects behave, and the Blazing Fist Sect required greater oversight than most, but Sect Trials are not something we can afford to so much as hint as wishing to change to their elders and sect masters.

The Sect Trials are holy to each sect, to even criticize a sect's trials to their master was a cause to have all but one of your spirit roots ripped from your body by the Empress for the sacrilege. My junior shadow is not a Nascent Soul, for her the punishment would be death and she knows it.

"I know and I am not advocating for change senior, just complaining." She said softly.

She realized that Fu Jian was listening, good. The last thing I needed was for the man to evict us from here like he did to the Auditors too.

Mortals get some leeway when it comes to such things, but cultivators don't, even those with the Clear Mind physique.

"Good, what do you think of the sect's current batch of recruits?" I asked.

"The lemon squad are interesting, so are the two cherry banner runners, and the large group has one of ours inside of it." She answered promptly.

I could feel the question burning inside her mind, but that she dared not ask.

Shadows are all recruited from the individuals with the Clear Mind physique, which meant that our heads had no meridians inside of them, and with no meridians our minds were unaffected, unlike every other physique. This made us particularly poor fighters due to many mind acceleration and sensory enhancing techniques being barred to us, but it did allow us to retain our mortal sensibilities and we don't need to remake our personality after each ascension through the tiers.

"Young Lee Kai will be joining the shadows one way or another. If he succeeds in the trial then we will be petitioning the Empress to allow it, if he fails but survives, then the sect has no reason to deny us recruiting him." I answered.

"I wouldn't know of that, First Shadow, Sect Master Fu Jian seems determined to find any reason to inconvenience her majesty's servant and us specifically." A new voice said as it made himself known.

My other junior said as he came to meet us. I already knew he was heading towards us, but the man was working on his own method of remaining hidden and it would not do to discourage innovation by interfering with the process.

Becoming a Nascent Soul, reversed all of my sensory issues, making even then best techniques that might fool other individuals with my physique nigh impossible to fool me, and so I can't be used as a measuring stick.

Judging by the reaction of my other junior, then his current attempt was successful, as the woman was shocked to see him here. She quickly smoothed out the reaction, but all three of us knew that she was startled.

"Sect Master Fu Jian objects to individuals interfering with the Sect Trials, I sincerely hope he will return the favor and not interfere in our own Trials." I replied.

The two nodded at my words and that was that, we had bigger things to worry about.

"Oh, it seems like the Lemon Squad hit the first circle of defensive formations." A third voice spoke happily.

'Speak of the spider and it shall appear.' I thought tiredly.

There's very little that can escape the sight or hearing of a Nascent Soul when they've decided to pay attention. They might not understand what you're doing, but they can see it, and Fu Jian is more perceptive than most of his status.

My juniors turned completely silent as they moved behind me. They knew better than to speak now.

"Sect Master, I am glad to see you've decided to join us, it would appear that you are indeed correct." I said genially.

The man looked the same as the last time I saw it, the same pure white uniform the sect favors, the same tired eyes looking over the world as if it was keeping him awake, but unlike before, he was now smiling.

I did not like the man's smile at all, it was the sort of thing that promised pain and yet tried to pretend otherwise.

The lemon bannermen's squad was indeed at the edge of the first line of formations keeping the sect safe. They were turned down to a minimum setting now, to ensure the Applicants can still pass through, but they were nonetheless active to serve as a final hidden test to Applicants.

"Yes, my conversation with the first few successful Applicants of this batch was productive as always, but unfortunately I can't enjoy it as I should, for something happened that has made me in need of your services." He replied with a smile that made a shark's seem friendly.

Did my other junior screw up? I could not sense his emotions, the other Nascent Soul's control being far beyond what was needed to keep their own emotions from leaking, but I didn't need to see it to know something happened. The Qi in the air was boiling more than usual despite the man not having attuned himself to a fire related concept.

"I am more than happy to help with whatever you need me and my juniors for Sect Master." I replied with a short bow.

He nodded at my words and I fractionally relaxed, it wasn't my juniors that erred this time. He would be scowling if whatever happened was our fault.

"Are you familiar with the reports of a thief among the Southern Lemon Tree Banner assigned to the Seventh Yellow Hill Town?" He asked.

I shook my head, no I haven't heard of said reports. The banners are not among my responsibilities, the Auditors are meant to handle them and Fu Jian banished them from the sect.

"No, I am not. A thief among the bannermen is concerning yes, but hardly something that would require any of our involvement." I answered.

It was true, the local bannermen had little of actual worth that would require a Nascent Soul or even a Core Formation Shadow to even be involved in their operations, and so we didn't bother with checking on them, instead trusting our Auditor coworkers to keep them honest.

"You would be correct normally, but it seems that said thief was some sort of cultivator using an unknown mind obfuscation technique to steal from the bannermen. Thankfully the foxes stationed there managed to figure out where it is and captured it once one of the Foxish Ancestors returned from the City of the Endless Dawn to inform them of his conversation with the Empress. He then decided to come to the Outpost to deliver us the same news, as well as what happened in the town and what the Empress has decided to do about the foxes." The sect master continued, his voice colder than the depths of the ocean.

"What has the Empress said on the situation with the foxes? Also, why is the thief relevant? A rogue cultivator would be among my duties to deal with yes, but that is hardly something that should concern you." I asked.

A cultivator with golden roots was a rarity among rarities, as they were the only way for human Qi Warriors to use external techniques and so the cultivator was probably some Foundation Establishment genius that managed to create some sort of top-tier technique. It was a shame they turned their talents towards this, but it's nothing a few decades of conscription and reeducation can't fix.

"The thief was a Qi Warrior with Golden Roots. Apparently she has been apprehended, but the foxes assigned to protecting an individual of significant importance noticed that their minds were altered when they saw one of my Aspirants, a prized student to said individual, missing certain parts of their supplies. They claimed that they noticed that the Aspirant possessed certain supplies when they came to greet said woman that were missing when he left the town." He answered.

I sighed, a deep chilling exhaustion settling deep into my soul.

My sigh was part relief and part annoyance. I did not need the problem with the foxes to escalate, and yet now they both acted to seemingly help the Blazing Fist Sect and did my job for me. They might as well have been trying to make the entire region secede from the Empire, with all that they made themselves welcome here.

Dealing with Rogue Cultivators is something both the sects and Shadows were meant to be working together on, but the investigative part was mostly the duty of the Shadows, while apprehending the criminals was mostly the duty of the sects if they refused to surrender into custody.

Most did so, because the punishment was light if you chose to cooperate and was remorseful and a decade of work that ends up with a respected or at the very least well-paying position was hardly a significant punishment and most agreed to it when they were approached.

"I see, I will go to the Town and Accompany whatever elder you wish to go and deal with the issue. I'll also personally go and check again on each town and city in the Prefecture to ensure no other such anomalies will affect the next trial." I answered.

Losing the cultivator was a shame, but you don't interfere in Sect Trials. No cultivator below Nascent Soul can survive even suggesting it, and whoever that idiot that decided to waste their life for some mortal goods was they had signed their own death warrant.

"I thank you for your prompt response, but the issue is that the criminal is a person of… interest to you as well which might complicate your response, as Ancestor Wen said that whatever technique they were using was almost enough to fool his senses." The sect master explained through gritted teeth.

Foxes have the second sharpest senses from among the beast clans, with only tigers surpassing them. If a Nascent Soul Fox said that the technique almost fooled him, then that meant that whatever technique the criminal was using would have normally earned them a pardon for most crimes if they were willing to teach it, especially to the shadows who would have normally been the ones to take them in. Something that can almost fool a fox, means something most Nascent Souls can't even hope to detect.

That was the sort of useful rules could be bent over for, the sort of thing that also caused the Blazing Fist Sect to inch ever closer to rebellion.

I looked up to the sun, and prayed, for someone, anyone to come take this issue off my hands, but the sun refused for it was too far to be bothered by my pleas.

Today had no right to be as sunny as it was.