Xi Ju Hai furrowed her brows. What Mu Qing was saying sounded ominous but that wasn’t all that unexpected since they were discussing a plan of the demonic sects. Still, she couldn’t quite see the fatal consequences if all Feng Bai Xiao wanted was the spiritual energy of the surroundings.
Yes, the amount might be staggering if you really took all of it until the land dried out. And if you distributed that to a select group of people, they’d advance in leaps and bounds. But could it really be as exaggerated as what Mu Qing said?
No, she didn’t believe that. If this had the potential to cause havoc, then there had to be more to it. “What exactly would happen?”
Mu Qing smiled wryly. “He did experiment with us. Me and … the other direct disciples he had, I mean. All of us had some of the constitution, after all. From what I’ve observed, using up all the spiritual energy in a certain region will change it. Sometimes beyond recognition.”
He thought for a moment and then motioned to one of the windows. “You should have seen it outside. The border region was never all that rich in spiritual energy. That’s why the demonic sects were sent here in the first place. But after my Master rid it of the last remaining energy … it’s turning into a desert. There’s loose sand everywhere, the winds get harsher, and the stone that was beneath is uncovered.
“It doesn’t mean much in isolation but it can have drastic consequences if applied to a big region. It’s especially worrisome because, while changing the structure of the layout, it can change other things as well. For example, arrays that were laid down using the layout of the land. And this is a problem because there is an enormous array located beneath the four great sects.”
Xi Ju Hai nodded. “The one imprisoning a person once said to have almost destroyed the continent.”
Mu Qing stared at her in a daze. “You know, I’m starting to wonder why you came here to ask me if you already know everything.”
She just smiled and shook her head in response. “We couldn’t be sure how much of it is true but it seems like this part was.”
Mu Qing gave a hum. “Master also knows about it and wants to make use of it. Even if the energy is distributed by somebody with the Lin family’s constitution, it’ll take time to take in and then consolidate the new realms you’ll reach. He can’t let them be disturbed during that process or all the preparation will be for naught. Thus, he needs something to keep the four great sects busy.”
Xi Ju Hai nodded slowly. “So he frees the person trapped under the array. The sects will have to expend a lot of energy to trap the person again, many of the Elders perishing during the struggle and skewing the odds further in favor of the demonic faction.”
Mu Qing sighed. “Precisely that. It’s just … even if the four great righteous sects and maybe even the rest of the righteous faction exhaust all their strength, I somehow doubt that they’d be able to subdue that person once freed.
“I mean, imagine how long they were imprisoned there: They’ve had so much time to analyze what went wrong the last time and plan accordingly to ensure that it can’t happen again. There is just no way to imprison them again. They’d have to kill the person and …” He shook his head. “I don’t see that happening.”
“I heard that the array was supposed to slowly sap their strength. Shouldn’t they be easier to defeat now?”
Mu Qing could only shrug weakly. “I don’t know too many details. I’ve read up on some of the materials my Master had lying around to figure out what was going on. Based on that though … this person wasn’t just strong. There wasn’t any one person who could best them on two continents. It took the combined strength of the best cultivators of that time to even imprison them and that only worked barely and with trickery involved.
“Since then, many techniques have been lost and even the best cultivators rarely reach the height of those in that day. So at best, I see us as being at the same disadvantage as our predecessors were back then: With an almost undefeatable foe who wants nothing more than to raze everything to the ground and is not going to spare anyone.”
“And at worst, we compare even less.”
Mu Qing nodded. “Yes, and I think that is a lot more likely. So you see, while my Master’s plan is simple at the surface, it’ll cause a disaster of a size that is difficult to even imagine. And we are already at this point so no matter what I tell you today or what I keep to myself, it won’t change a thing. He’ll win. He has made sure of that long ago.”
Xi Ju Hai sighed deeply. It sure sounded as if Mu Qing was right but … “I’m not willing to give up.”
Mu Qing looked at her for a while and finally nodded. “I didn’t expect you to either. No matter what I say today, you’ll try to prevent this from happening even if it means losing your own life. You were always like that.”
“So were you.”
Mu Qing nodded. Thinking back to the past, he had indeed been just as idealistic as Xi Ju Hai, always thinking that no matter the odds, you could somehow win. Even if you didn’t in the end, it was all worth it as long as you had done your best. Now … he wasn’t sure. He would have liked to continue being that way but he wasn’t sure if he was actually able to. It seemed as if … he had long since lost the ability to be that version of himself.
Xi Ju Hai furrowed her brows. What Mu Qing was saying sounded ominous but that wasn’t all that unexpected since they were discussing a plan of the demonic sects. Still, she couldn’t quite see the fatal consequences if all Feng Bai Xiao wanted was the spiritual energy of the surroundings.
Yes, the amount might be staggering if you really took all of it until the land dried out. And if you distributed that to a select group of people, they’d advance in leaps and bounds. But could it really be as exaggerated as what Mu Qing said?
No, she didn’t believe that. If this had the potential to cause havoc, then there had to be more to it. “What exactly would happen?”
Mu Qing smiled wryly. “He did experiment with us. Me and … the other direct disciples he had, I mean. All of us had some of the constitution, after all. From what I’ve observed, using up all the spiritual energy in a certain region will change it. Sometimes beyond recognition.”
He thought for a moment and then motioned to one of the windows. “You should have seen it outside. The border region was never all that rich in spiritual energy. That’s why the demonic sects were sent here in the first place. But after my Master rid it of the last remaining energy … it’s turning into a desert. There’s loose sand everywhere, the winds get harsher, and the stone that was beneath is uncovered.
“It doesn’t mean much in isolation but it can have drastic consequences if applied to a big region. It’s especially worrisome because, while changing the structure of the layout, it can change other things as well. For example, arrays that were laid down using the layout of the land. And this is a problem because there is an enormous array located beneath the four great sects.”
Xi Ju Hai nodded. “The one imprisoning a person once said to have almost destroyed the continent.”
Mu Qing stared at her in a daze. “You know, I’m starting to wonder why you came here to ask me if you already know everything.”
She just smiled and shook her head in response. “We couldn’t be sure how much of it is true but it seems like this part was.”
Mu Qing gave a hum. “Master also knows about it and wants to make use of it. Even if the energy is distributed by somebody with the Lin family’s constitution, it’ll take time to take in and then consolidate the new realms you’ll reach. He can’t let them be disturbed during that process or all the preparation will be for naught. Thus, he needs something to keep the four great sects busy.”
Xi Ju Hai nodded slowly. “So he frees the person trapped under the array. The sects will have to expend a lot of energy to trap the person again, many of the Elders perishing during the struggle and skewing the odds further in favor of the demonic faction.”
Mu Qing sighed. “Precisely that. It’s just … even if the four great righteous sects and maybe even the rest of the righteous faction exhaust all their strength, I somehow doubt that they’d be able to subdue that person once freed.
“I mean, imagine how long they were imprisoned there: They’ve had so much time to analyze what went wrong the last time and plan accordingly to ensure that it can’t happen again. There is just no way to imprison them again. They’d have to kill the person and …” He shook his head. “I don’t see that happening.”
“I heard that the array was supposed to slowly sap their strength. Shouldn’t they be easier to defeat now?”
Mu Qing could only shrug weakly. “I don’t know too many details. I’ve read up on some of the materials my Master had lying around to figure out what was going on. Based on that though … this person wasn’t just strong. There wasn’t any one person who could best them on two continents. It took the combined strength of the best cultivators of that time to even imprison them and that only worked barely and with trickery involved.
“Since then, many techniques have been lost and even the best cultivators rarely reach the height of those in that day. So at best, I see us as being at the same disadvantage as our predecessors were back then: With an almost undefeatable foe who wants nothing more than to raze everything to the ground and is not going to spare anyone.”
“And at worst, we compare even less.”
Mu Qing nodded. “Yes, and I think that is a lot more likely. So you see, while my Master’s plan is simple at the surface, it’ll cause a disaster of a size that is difficult to even imagine. And we are already at this point so no matter what I tell you today or what I keep to myself, it won’t change a thing. He’ll win. He has made sure of that long ago.”
Xi Ju Hai sighed deeply. It sure sounded as if Mu Qing was right but … “I’m not willing to give up.”
Mu Qing looked at her for a while and finally nodded. “I didn’t expect you to either. No matter what I say today, you’ll try to prevent this from happening even if it means losing your own life. You were always like that.”
“So were you.”
Mu Qing nodded. Thinking back to the past, he had indeed been just as idealistic as Xi Ju Hai, always thinking that no matter the odds, you could somehow win. Even if you didn’t in the end, it was all worth it as long as you had done your best. Now … he wasn’t sure. He would have liked to continue being that way but he wasn’t sure if he was actually able to. It seemed as if … he had long since lost the ability to be that version of himself.
