Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 128 part 1. Hope you'll enjoy it!
This week: I'm finally back at 12 advance chapters stored in my pile! God, it was so ridiculously hard to get there, yo-yoing between 11 and 12 so many times. But with my current writing schedule, it should be much more stable. With luck, I'll even be able to quickly add a 13th chapter relatively quickly. I just don't know if it'll be this week or the next. We'll see how it goes.
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Bright Star City, Bright Star Island, Flowing Stars Archipelago, Earth
Omniscient P.O.V.
As Liu Jing was about to refuse Feng Ling's 'demand' for a spar, something that she was entitled to due to her Senior Protector Captain position, a message notification from her Protector Token caught her attention. Seeing the knowing smile on Feng Ling's face, she suddenly had a very bad premonition. However, experience told her that stalling would only work against her, so instead of wasting time, she immediately used her Soul Sense to check the message. ["Recipient: Liu Jing, Senior Protector Captain, in charge of the Wisdom Tide Library Secret Realm, Bright Star City. Notification: Due to heavy misconduct, you have been drafted into a mandatory spar with the King-Grade Civilian Serene River Queen, Feng Ling. Any refusal will be met with immediate dismissal from your Official Position, with a five-hundred-year ban on holding any Official Position, followed by a complete reset of your contribution point accumulation. Rules: No permanent crippling allowed. Other: An investigation is underway, with potentially additional punishments dispensed if needed. Over."] With every word she 'read', she felt like her mind was being struck with bolt after bolt of Heavenly Lightning, and only once she had gone through the entire report was her mind able to formulate a coherent thought. 'How... How is it possible?' Before she could find an answer to her question, she felt a massive amount of Void Energy covering her body before forcefully transporting her somewhere else. On Feng Ling's side. The latter, seeing the Liu woman disappear, moved her gaze toward the Void right above Li Tianming, leaving a few words before vanishing in the same manner as Liu Jing. "Li old man, next time it won't be as simple as temporary injuries." As everyone lost sight of the woman's body, a middle-aged man with a face vaguely similar to Li Tianming suddenly appeared flying where Ling was previously looking, his expression a mix of annoyance and wariness. 'Merely at Peak Core Formation, and she can notice my presence even though I was hiding in the Void. She even identified me... Has she already advanced her Void comprehension to the Mid-level Void Through Elemental Intent? What about that other brat, then...? This is more troublesome than everyone in the Family expected.' The man wondered for a brief instant before his gaze fell on Demian and his group. After a quick sweep of his Soul Sense, he immediately noticed some peculiarities from the young man, the golden-skinned woman, and the dark elven woman. 'Besides their youth, one's a Heaven Tier talent and two are Peak Earth talents, but those two seem strange... Earth talent but with a Heaven foundation? Are they using some sort of artifact to hide their true foundation? Could they all be Heaven talents then?' He wondered, the urge to kill those three shifting from simply seeking revenge to removing future threats.
However, the man swiftly dropped the thought as he knew that, were he to act, the Federation would not let it go. And that was if the protective Formation did not stop him first, which, taking into account his Void Seed cultivation base, was highly doubtful. After all, Heaven talents were extremely rare in the entire Cultivation World, with each having a decent chance of reaching the Void Sapling Rank or even the Transcending Tribulation Rank for those who possessed both extreme luck and talent. Of course, whether it was the Void Sapling Rank or the Transcending Tribulation Rank, the chance to reach it for Heaven Grade talent was just that: a chance. 'Talent' for most people referred to the number of Main Acupoints unlocked, with Heaven Grade talent having seven to nine unlocked, no matter if they unlocked them at the beginning of their cultivation journey or years later through incredible opportunities. However, those Acupoints were only one aspect of cultivation, and comprehension, luck, and resources were as, if not more important than, the former. Nonetheless, just that slight possibility meant that the Federation would do its best to ensure that person's safety, even if they had to destroy a 'powerful' King Rank Force in the process. Indeed, a Void Sapling (Tier 5) cultivator was worth hundreds or more Void Seed (Tier 4) cultivators, so losing a few of the latter would not impact the Federation much. Naturally, it also depended on the offense, but no matter the case, touching Heaven Grade Talents was a big taboo in the Federation, and anyone planning on going through with it needed to be ready for their entire family's extermination. It was even worse if the talented cultivator was actually killed. Otherwise, if they went along with the saying 'A dead genius is no genius', then wouldn't those with ulterior motives believe they could act with impunity? Thus, extreme methods were needed to deter those 'restless' people, which had worked pretty well for the last few tens of millennia. It was not perfect, mind you, because as long as the culprit hid his/her tracks well enough, then there was nothing the authorities could do but grit their teeth in anger. However, it at least massively reduced the risks for those extremely talented, but still growing cultivators, and even those with less 'qualifications' benefited to a certain point. The best proof of that was the fact that the middle-aged Void Seed cultivator from the Li Family dropped the idea of killing those four, and instead wrapped Li Tianming with his Mana before teleporting away, leaving the four Mikhailovs unaware of how uncertain their survival was a few moments ago. Ignorance was bliss, as they said. Well, everyone but Demian, who sensed a brief threat, though the difference between the two's cultivation level was too large for him to sense anything else about its origin. In any case, now that the danger was gone, and with a growing crowd staring at them, their gazes filled with a mix of admiration, fear, envy, etc., the young man grabbed Liya's slightly shaking hand and suggested. "Why don't we get in the Library while we wait for Aunt Ling to finish her...'Business', shall we say?"
Everyone immediately agreed, with Liya sending him a grateful look and a gentle squeeze from her hand, before the group started walking toward the central plaza. Fortunately, this time, no one obstructed or insulted them, relieving the four's tense nerves. Though none spoke about it, they all implicitly agreed that it was enough 'thrills' for the day. After all, they were supposed to be on a date and not trying to fend off some kind of high-level conspiracy. At least they should wait until they could actually face off those people instead of being as useless as Mortals. In any case, Seraphine was quick to grab Demian's only free hand before Bryn could react, making the latter grumble in annoyance at her younger sister's shamelessness, though the sister in question did not care one bit. "First wife privilege." Sera exclaimed playfully, though the amused smile gracing her lips swiftly vanished as soon as she felt a few enamored gazes aimed at her face. Adeliya, however, perhaps due to being more mature, or having thicker skin, depending on one's point of view, merely smiled gracefully while pressing her massive bust against the young man's strong arm. As for Brynhild, besides the glint of annoyance in her narrowed eyes, she showed nothing of her true feelings, though she WAS screaming murder inwardly. She was also intermittently thinking of ways to kick her younger sister's butt, but quickly realized that she could not bear to hurt the adorable brat. She was her cute younger sister, after all, the only one she had. Though with how it was going with Demian, she might get a few more siblings and nephews/nieces... And maybe a few children of her own... While the group's members were each lost in their own thoughts, they finally arrived at the Central Plaza, where Wang explained succinctly while gesturing toward each of the Pagodas. "As you can see, the Library is divided into three Main sections, with each of them located inside each of those buildings. The farthest one has everything about Cultivation Techniques, from Tier 0 to Tier 3. The building on the right is for Profession-related knowledge, also from Tier 0 to Tier 3. As for the one on the left, it's full of miscellaneous information." Cocking his brow, Demian asked. "Like History?" Nodding his head, the other man responded. "Among other things. History, geography, philosophy, etc. It's extremely diverse and is worth exploring, especially for the four of you who are not from the Federation." The four Mikhailovs knew he was correct, and thus resolved to visit the place from time to time to brush up on common knowledge. Knowing more was never a bad thing, after all. In the meantime, Seraphine asked, intrigued. "So, all knowledge is free in there? Or do we need to pay something to access the information we want?"
The question brought a small smile to the bear-like man who replied. "A bit of both. The general information from Tier 0 to Tier 2 is free for all citizens. However, for more specialized, or higher-tiered knowledge, you will need both the appropriate amount of Federation's contribution points and a certain level of security clearance." With a thoughtful look on her face, Liya commented. "Giving the people a way to cultivate while keeping enough of an edge that any problematic cultivator inside the Federation can be controlled." Nodding his head with an appreciative look, Wang replied. "Exactly. It's something quite common in many cultivation forces all around the cultivation world. It lowers the chances of having an uncontrollable hostile force grow inside one's midst. It's not perfect, mind you, but it does have a significantly positive effect." Tilting her head, Seraphine questioned, a bit confused. "You said that as long as one's contribution points and security clearance are enough, we can access more Techniques, Skills, etc. But then, what's stopping us from sharing that information with others?" While sporting a mysterious smile, Wang Xiong replied. "Soul Contracts." The other four pondered on the name, with some faint idea of what it should entail, though Demian still asked. "So, after signing that Soul Contract, it's impossible to share those Techniques?" With a thoughtful look on his face, Xiong responded. "Not exactly. In this world, nothing is absolute, and the Federation did have a few traitors who successfully bypassed the contract's restrictions. At least, this is the information the Lady and the Lord shared with us in the past. But, for most people, the contract is impossible to break, and even if it is, there are some contingencies in place to reveal it. So, even if you break the Soul Contract, there's a high chance that it will be discovered by the Federation's authorities. Of course, most people who do betray end up with their Souls destroyed by the backlash. So, don't even try it." The four Mikhailovs nodded their heads firmly as none of them wished to have their Soul implode randomly, even Demian, with all his advantages, did not want to take any risk. 'Well, if I really want to get rid of it, I'll just have to grow my cultivation enough to bypass the restrictions. I don't believe there isn't a limit on that stuff.' He decided while listening to the rest of Xiong's explanations. "Actually, the four of you are extremely lucky." Before they could ask why, he continued. "The Federation's restrictions are relatively lax, besides the 'no betraying' policy. Other forces are much stricter, with some of them pretty much akin to enslavement." With a frown on her face, Liya questioned. "Why would cultivators agree to sign those contracts, then?" Letting out a sigh, he responded. "To acquire resources, knowledge, or simply to stay alive. Don't think that those forces are good people. They often force people to sign Soul Contracts, and for those who refuse, they're either tortured until they give in or simply executed. Cultivators can be extremely ruthless, and places with relative fairness like the Federation are very rare. It's a great advantage for us since it resulted in a massive increase in the cultivators' pool in the Federation. The downside, though, is the fact that the Federation is more prone to sabotage and infiltration." Letting out a wistful sigh, Demian commented. "You win some and you lose some." With a nod, the middle-aged man said. "Exactly. Thankfully, the results are mostly positive, and now the Federation is one of the strongest Forces among its Tier, which would have been impossible to accomplish in the same amount of time if not for those measures."
After consulting the four about which pagoda they wished to visit, Wang brought them all to the left one, which housed miscellaneous information. Since the goal was only to 'waste' some time waiting for Feng Ling's return, it was better to postpone any deep dive into Cultivation Techniques and Professional knowledge, so choosing the miscellaneous pagoda was the best choice. A few seconds later, the group of eight people crossed through the building's entrance, which, similarly to the entire secret realm, possessed Void property, with the internal space being much larger than what the exterior implied. The result of such contradiction brought a feeling of awe to the Mikhailovs, even though they had experienced the phenomenon more than once since they had arrived in the Federation. Interestingly, the Elemental Spells and other marvelous sorts of Energy usage that they had now mastered had lost most of that 'awe' effect. However, when it came to Void-related phenomena, the novelty had not worn off at all, probably due to it being a much higher type of Energy than the one they could use for now. 'I wonder when I'll be able to create secret realms like that...' Demian pondered before his gaze fell on Seraphine's calm expression, which prompted a thought. 'Since she's got the word Void in her Bloodline's name, she should be the first to master Void Energy, or whatever it's called, right?' With the two connected on the Soul level, the elven woman's senses immediately picked up on his attention. Turning her head towards him, she winked at him while her smile returned for a brief moment before she regained her cold countenance as her head turned back forward. Shaking his head with an amused grin on his face, Demian then mirrored her and looked forward, where a massive wooden desk stood with fantastical scenes carved on its front wooden panel. On each side of the reception desk were majestic blue stone columns creating some strange visual illusions in the visitor's mind. It was as if endless tides were crashing around one's body, though nothing actually happened. Was that hallucination due to the material itself or the Artisan who crafted those columns? From the powerful Energy fluctuations they emitted, Demian guessed that it should be a combination of both. In any case, the group did not linger at the entrance and swiftly walked toward the right, through two of those massive columns, until they reached deeper into the building. There they were met with a vast number of intricately-carved wooden book stands sporting a slight indentation in the middle of the upper part that reminded him of the Identity Token they had been given by his Teacher.