A few miles away from Tianxu island, a strange scene could be seen. A few hundred feet about the water, a man and a woman floated in the air, one stood on a sword and the other on a spear. They wore the robes of the Heaven & Earth pavilion, animal festival masks, and straw hats. They had been staying there for many hours, the only movement was from their hair and clothes moving with the wind. Suddenly, due to something off into the distance,both of them turned their head towards the north.
The man on the sword took a Tianmu from his sleeve before casting a spell on it. The phone displayed a three dimensional image above it and once the spell was cast, the image began to zoom in on a certain point. Once it stopped, what could be seen was a fleet of ships. This fleet was twice the size of the one that had come to rescue Liang Renwei nearly two season ago. Each ship had identical markings of the Azure Tide empire with matching flags, and crests on the sails.
Once the situation was confirm, the man saved the image to a paper talisman causing it to fold into the shape of a crane. Unfortunately, the spiritual power in this area was very weak meaning the range of the Tianmu was limited. Activating the talisman, the pair watched the paper crane fly back towards the island before turning their attention back towards the approaching fleet. It would take nearly half the day before the ships would reach their position, but as a puppet, this wasn't an issue.
Several hours later as the two continued their watch over the incoming guests, their senses picked up another group of ships coming from the south. The man and woman looked at each other before the woman took out her Tianmu. Like her partner, she also repeated the same steps to confirm the condition of the new fleet of ships. This time, the number of ships was a third smaller than the one from the empire and unlike the empire ships, all the ships in this fleet were a mismatch of crests and heraldry. The female sentry also sent a paper crane with the image of this fleet imprinted on it back to Fang Shi.
Coincidentally, both fleets arrived at the pair's location approximately at the same time even though the empire had appeared first. The male sentry noticed the empire used bigger, heavier, more heavily armed ships while the other group preferred ships that focused on speed. It became evident that both sides had spotted the other and were preparing to fight, so the two sentries made their presence known.
"Unknown forces, this area is under the protection of the Heaven & Earth pavilion", he used qi to enhance his voice, "Cease hostilities and declare your intentions!"
The space grew quiet as he awaited the answer, and his senses tracked everything that happened below him. People who had been here previously were arguing with those who hadn't been before. Others were frightened by both the arrival of the opposition force, but also a pair cultivators floating in the sky and they refused to drop their weapons. As the situation became chaotic, the two activated techniques causing the sword and spear they used to enlarge.
"State your intentions", the female sentry shouted, "There will not be a third inquiry, if no response is given, prepare to spend the rest of your days at the bottom of the sea."
The chaos below immediately halted, and two familiar voices were heard afterwards.
"Heralds of the Venerable Fang Shi, I, Magistrate Qui, assure you we have come to experience your master's hospitality", Qui Zhen desperately shouted.
"We come in peace", Kadeem Arashi said as loud as possible, "Please forgive our delay."
"Understood", both the sentries replied together, "It will take time for you to dock, and our master has instructed us that we should assist you. Relinquish control of your ships, and we will safely guide you to the port."
The weapons that had been the size of a medium sized vessel suddenly returned to their original size, and both the man and woman began to cast spells. Everyone in both fleets saw several circles of light and power appear below the pair. They wanted to understand what was happening when two very apparent changes manifested: the direction and strength of the wind changed, and a new current started pushing and stirring the ship towards the island. The people on the boats started mumbling and whispering to each other after getting over their initial shock, but both puppets ignored them. It took less than ten minutes for them to arrive at the brand new port, and the two welcome escorts skillfully docked each ship. The port itself resembled a port Fang Shi had seen once on the internet in his past life, it appeared like a tree with branches stretching out. Once everything was in place, the male puppet spoke up again.
"Starting with the first row, and the closest ship", he said while pointing at the ship in question, "Begin disembarking. After leaving the ship, head to the port terminal and take a right to the arrivals section. Further instructions await you there. Once the next ship is ready, we will inform you."
The male puppet pointed at a very large building that was easily viewed. All the piers of the port lead to the terminal.
"At this time, the first ship can disembark", the female guide stated.
Although the process was rough at first, eventually it got into a rhythm and everyone got through entry. The process consisted of taking a picture, answering all the questions from an agent, depositing valued goods, and creating a card token that acted as an identification and payment method. The last step was to wait in a lobby which quickly became loud as the guests spoke with each other or looked over the new cards with interest.
"Attention", the male guide spoke up.
The room quieted down.
"Once I open these doors, you're free to explore Tianxu island", it continued, "There are a few rules to follow. Failure to comply will result in your expulsion from the island at best, or death if the offense is severe enough. First, stay within the boundary of the pavilion. Second, verbal conflict or is allowed but physical confrontation or harassment isn't. Third, you will be held accountable for theft, and your superiors will be notified. Finally, the two of us aren't the only law enforcement on the island. Everyone on the island, other than the master, is a security puppet or service puppet and all of us are duty bound to enforce the laws. Now please enjoy your stay."
The male puppet finished his announcement, and moved to the side just as the large pair of doors swung open.
A small group of guards, now devoid of weapons, walked through first. Each one had their hands raised waiting to defend against potential attackers with their fist. They looked around and after detecting no danger, sent word back. The next group exited the terminal and it was plain to see who they were. Whether it was the empire or the compact, they all wore clothes made of the best material, were adorned with high value jewelry, and were surrounded by the highest level guards.
Five minutes after the doors had opened, the majority of all the guests had walked out into open space. By the time they had docked the ships and registered at the terminal, it had become very dark, and no one was there to guide them. Even the people who had shipwrecked here previously didn't know where to go because all the buildings looked different than better and there were many more buildings than before.
To the shock of everyone, lights everywhere turned on and after taking a few moments to letting their eyes adjust, they were greeted with a scene of drums, instruments, and dancers. Then the drummers moved and a sound like thunder was heard as they all beat the drum at the same time, only to follow it up with louding shouting. One thing the crowd noticed was that the drummers were only dressed in long pants. The drummers consisted of both men and women, but the women had their chest wrapped. This caused quite of few of the men and women in the audience to react as if they had witnessed something scandalous, but they didn't have a chance to complain. The drummers started playing, and everyone felt like ten thousand bulls were running through their head. After a few minutes, the drums quieted down as another platform was lit. Once again, it was a mixture of men and women, but this group started playing bamboo flutes, panpipes, Suonas, and ocarinas as dancers moved to the music. This group was dressed in robes with a mountain encircled by clouds on them, and the richest members of the audience could see the material was a better quality than their own.
The musicians played a song they had never heard before, yet they found it beautiful and moving.
"Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, four nations…"
As the music played, the crowd watched as the immortal cast a magic that displayed an image for all to see. That image had men and women just like them who moved like warriors and martial artists, but something else happened. Water surged, Earth rumbled, Fire flared, and Air caused a young boy to float. The young lady who spoke before continued to narrate about a world where four nations had risen to rule different parts of the land using one of these four elements. Disaster struck when the nation of fire broke the peace, and attacked the three other nations simultaneously. In this world, there was a god like being known as the avatar that could control all the elements but he was young. Frightened by the nation of fire's power, the boy ran away but a fierce storm made his life or death unknown.
At this point, the instruments playing finished, and the image faded away. The drums continued to play, but the beat changed. Another platform was illuminated, and another set of musicians began playing using Guqins, Guzhengs, Pipas, and Erhus. Another image appeared, but this time it was the layout of the pavilion they were currently standing on. The building to the fairest right had all its lights turn on, and a voice also started talking.
"Welcome to the Heaven & Earth pavilion. Introducing the main hall, you can buy premium…", the female voice explained.
The narrator gave a brief description of everything on sale before the lights on the main hall dimmed, and the next building illuminated. Building by building, everything was explained to the large crowd of people: Each store, several restaurants, bath house, Entertainment lounge, indoor and outdoor training and combat centers, and a sneak peek at the soon to be built hotel.
Once all locations were shown, the female narrator's voice thanked the audience, the image faded, and the second platform of performers ceased as well. The drums also went silence but the lights shining on them only dimmed instead of completely turning off. A new light came on and this time it was lighting the biggest platform in the center of all the performers. Several gasps came from the more well off audience members who had seen music performances before because on this stage was only three people. Two of theme had instruments slung over their shoulder, and the third was sitting around a strange collection of drums. The instruments the two were holding as most resembled pipas, but the resemblance wasn't that close. They had longer and thinner necks, and the base was a strange shape. One of them had six strings instead of the normal four.
The musicians started playing and a wide ranges of reactions took place. The members of the audience who had played the demo realized it was the music that played when the characters in the game fought against the opponents. For those that didn't recognize, most who had combat experience felt their blood speed up in their veins while the smaller group who were used to listening to operas and play had a look of unease on their face. This time when the image appeared, it was Cloud and Barret. Everyone watched as the pair and the other three followers ran through the mysterious 'Mako' factory hallways fighting uniformed guards.
The recording climaxed with the strange machine lording over the two men, and the music and image faded away with the result of the battle unknown. The other platforms with performers on them brightened again as they started playing the grand beginning theme of Zuizhong Huanxiang. The final image read (Zuizhong Huanxiang, available to play at the Entertainment Lounge, Full release available today).
Far in the Northwest, an unknown distance away from Tianxu island, a different situation was emerging. It wasn't on any island but far below the surface of the ocean. Ao Kunyu, a member of the Tidebearer Kun clan was staring at the activity in front him. A wall formed by an ancient array formation was constantly under the attack of hundreds of different sea clan members.
Ao Kunyu was taking a break from attacking the powerful wall, and was currently reminiscing about what led to today. His clan didn't have many members, but each one was very powerful. That was until over a year ago. The devils from the abyssal realm had started streaming from the portal earlier than expected, and the dastardly humans had panicked. He didn't know who was responsible, and probably never would. He had been too mischievous that day, and had ran off to explore a location he had rumors about. It supposedly contained a Kunfall, the final resting place for the fallen of his clan. He had just arrived at the location when the event that changed everything took place. He felt a giant surge of power far in the distance which just happened to be in same direction as his clan.
Ao Kunyu became irritated thinking about it. When he felt that power, he rushed towards the closest place he could to hide. It ashamed him that he acted cowardly. Eventually, he did leave and what he found still made him sick. All his clan had been ripped to shreds by that mysterious power, and a new deep trench had been carved into the sea bed.
He spent days looking for any survivors, calling out with his loudest voice to no avail. After a few days, a new situation became apparent, the dense spiritual energy that used to exist was rapidly disappearing and he couldn't stay there anymore. Unsure of what to do, he made his way to the areas of the other great clans, such as the sharks, flood dragons, crabs, etc. what greeted him was more of the same, clans mostly destroyed by the hands of the humans.
What Ao Kunyu didn't expect was that he'd become an important figure. As he traveled the waters, survivors of each clan would follow him and what started out as only himself grew into a somewhat large group. His days changed once the number of followers grew and conflicts began to develop, causing him to step up into a leadership role. He made the only choice he reasonably could, as spiritual power continued to fade, he could only lead everyone where the power still remained. That led to the situation he was currently in: the outer seas was the only place that still had veins, human cultivators were still in great enough numbers to be dangerous to him, and this formation wall was blocking the way.
As a Kun, Ao Kunyu wasn't proficient or knowledgeable about human array formations so he gave the only order he could think of, attack the formation and find a weak spot.
Ao Kunyu wasn't absolutely sure how long they had been searching for this weakness since season underwater are different than above, but if he had to put it in human terms, it was about three seasons. Feeling rested and full from a meal, he exited the cave he was using as a temporary shelter. A large group of sea clan were waiting to see him, they were his Lieutenants responsible for representing their own tribe.
"Lord Ao", the collective of subordinates greeted him.
He made a nonchalant gesture, and then headed toward the current section of the formation wall under investigation.
He looked at the small group flanking his side before speaking, "No need to make a report, your presence here already tells me that there's no progress so far."
All his subordinates continued to swim next to him, but they also slowed their speed slightly letting him know his assumption was correct.
"Lord Ao, there's something else", a manta ray known as Leikong said nervously, "A few of younger clansmen have gone missing, and the circumstances point to two possibilities. The first is the Frontier Ascension Alliance, the sect made up of refugee cultivators that survived the cataclysm. The other explanation is that they wandered into the area of the Abysmal Fang Snake clan."
"I see", Ao Kunyu closed his eyes, "I was about to resume searching the wall, but it seems I need to visit the territory of these little worms first."
"Why there first, my Lord?", Shuimeng of the thousand tentacle jellyfish clan inquired.
"Because I can show my strength, and oppress them. If I went to that human sect, they would work together to kill me and harvest my core. I've heard stories of those filthy humans using our cores to advance their strength to a new level."
Just as he was about to turn to swim towards the location of the snake clan, a clamor got his attention. Curious, he went to check it out and his arrival caused all the cheering sea clansmen to him.
"What has occurred to warrant such a celebration?", he asked.
He watched Huozhan, the representative of the Embercurrent Eels rush towards him.
"Lord Ao, it's been found!", Huozhan excitedly blurted out, "A weak node in the wall has been located."
Ao Kunyu's excitement couldn't be contained, "Finally! Remember the names of those who are responsible for this achievement. Gather those who are well rested to start attacking the weak spot. Give rest to those who need it. I have to go talk to some little serpents so if you breakthrough while I'm away, do not enter. Wait for my return."