"What? What do you mean by not the only one?" Kaida blinked, hearing Cinder.
"Kaida!! You finally reached Core Formation? Come on-" Amaris's overly enthusiastic voice and reaction made her groan quietly, moving up and lifting her so they both stayed upright. "Yeah, I did. Just don't jump on me like that again." Kaida spoke with mild irritation; she wasn't annoyed at Amaris doing it, she was just annoyed it was sudden.
"Ah- Sorry!" Amaris realized a second later that jumping like that wouldn't leave a good impression, beginning to panic. To which Kaida went with a deadpan look while masking a quiet urge to laugh.
"It's fine, just make sure to remember not to do that with me," Kaida spoke dryly, her hand moving to Vael as she rubbed the bird's feathers softly.
Vael released a deep, rolling churr, half purr, half ember-crackle, rising into a brief, flute-like trill, presumably a sign of happiness. Vael's tail swung slowly, and she stopped before it went any faster, not wanting Vael to possibly create a tornado out of joy.
["What I mean, by the way, is that there's another person, like you, who's come to this world, but through reincarnation. Additionally, they have a system that is... Less than ideal against you since it gives potent cultivation abilities."]
"...So basically the generic story of a cultivation novel. Great." Kaida sighed, not wanting to deal with that, though she knew how Cinder knew, considering she herself was a system. "Are they dumb like one of those young masters from the story, or are they different?"
["They're from another kingdom of this planet, the one rivaling the one you live in, a child of an ordinary person there. With no status residing in one of the worst cities, even... Which I doubt would do any good. Though they're only at Qi Condensation, right below Foundation."]
"...I see." She only found it more annoying, though the lack of a reply on how smart the other person felt weird, but she expected it, assuming Cinder simply didn't know. On the other hand, she waved bye to Amaris, who gave her a sapphire in the shape of a necklace.
Kaida held it gently, like it was a newborn. As Amaris left, she saw Cinder appear instantly. Finally getting the ability to continue speaking without someone nearby to listen.
"The other Empire is known as Ataraxia, which is fitting since people rarely fight; they only do so for cultivation, but their culture and language are vastly different from this Empire's. Of which they're at odds, even when the Empress in this Empire did not wish such."
"Oh? So you're saying they're at odds with each other? Well... That means I won't be on their good side." Kaida gave it no mind, simply keeping it as information she could use in the future.
"On the other hand... Could you elaborate and examine what this Necklace does?" Kaida held the Sapphire 'Necklace' and the gem, handing it to Cinder, who took it, and her eyes shifted from the hazel brown and light red hue to a pure red color, with a magical 'symbol' usually drawn to use magic.
"It's corrupted. At least, from what I can see, Amaris had it in the Temple, and while it was previously uncorrupted, it is now. So something with the miasma caused it to become like this. Therefore, you should check for miasma and eliminate it from your body."
Kaida raised her brow, her Qi flowing around, entering her core, and then checking the rest of her body to see if there was any sense of decay in her skin or blood. Finally, once she finished checking, she saw there were none. With that, it also appeared that her inner body and external body were cleaner; yet, she didn't notice any sense of 'impurities' or such, which would usually be removed through such a transformation.
"...Wait, that was four years ago. Why did you tell me to do that now?" Kaida had remembered once more that this wasn't recent. It was long ago, but she could pass off about the Necklace, thinking Amaris simply carried it everywhere, and that included the corrupted temples.
Kaida shrugged it off. Taking the Sapphire Necklace from Cinder and holding it by the thin rope. Along with that, she coated it with Qi, noticing the aura of dread and rot exuding from it. It contained and sealed it tightly in Qi, which prevented anything from entering or exiting.
"...I should probably take this to an elder." Kaida turned to Cinder, signaling her to go into the home and stay there while Kaida was gone. A split second, and she'd already reached the center of the Sect's Main Hall from the Foundation Peak.
"... I should find Miss Veliona or Sect Leader." Kaida sensed a presence approaching. Her Qi didn't flare up this time; instead, it remained concentrated, just as her aura did, without a single inch of fluctuation.
"What about the Sect Leader are you talking about?" He spoke, his voice calm and soothing, a blade at his waist sheathed completely, though it released its own aura of power. The temperature changed, becoming warmer. So she knew not to get surprised.
"Something involving the corruption. I got this from a friend, but it seems like it's corrupted, so I'm asking if you could investigate, since I still want to keep it." Kaida moved her eyes to look, but it wasn't Lucien, so she knew it was another elder. Especially since his strength rivaled Veliona's and was even stronger, even when he suppressed himself.
"I see, could you hand me? I see you've done a good job containing it." He sounded trustworthy, but she couldn't go off that. Seeing as he stood calm, and wore the clothing which most elders wore, the generic clothing for 'cultivators'. Except that it held a starry coloring to it. As if to represent something.
Kaida blinked, handing it over as she spoke once more. "What's that outline on your clothing? It has a lot of stars on it." Kaida was curious, wanting to know more about it. Especially since she'd never seen anything like it before.
"Oh? You can see it; I didn't expect that. Most disciples, even at Astral Manifestation, wouldn't see this. How fun." He gave a smile while examining the Necklace. Seeing the aura exuding from it, he formed Qi, no, he used Mana, the heaviness of the air increased, and with that, the space around him contorted, bending like it couldn't touch him. Something from his realm and above. She'd only barely heard about this.
"It's a long way from you, I suppose you already know what Divine Transfiguration is, well, the realm I'm at is about three realms higher. So to see someone of your caliber to be able to notice even the flicker of what my realm can do is fascinating. Though it would be expected if you're studying what non-cultivators, or well, humans call Science." The man spoke calmly, not too fast, so that she could understand. He was delighted someone other than the elders could see it.
"...So someone who's completely out of Akari's league and probably way stronger than Veliona." Kaida nodded, her hand moving to point at the Necklace, with another question in mind. "If you don't mind, what's your name?"
"Ah, the name is Murphy. You can call me whatever you like, though, since I'm from the Ataraxian Empire during its Reunification." Murphy responded with a delighted tone. "Normally, disciples don't even ask their name and bow to show respect. She's different, and it's refreshing." A smile still on his face as he noticed her pointing at the Necklace.
"Ah, yes, the Necklace, from the looks of it, a lot of Mana was poured into it, specifically in the attempt to curse it. The miasma is primarily made of the Mana anyway, so it's expected." He paused for a second as the Mana pulsed, like the fundamental building blocks that made them up were shifted.
"The curse would be strong enough to break a normal cultivator's mind had it not been someone at Core Formation, which has natural resistance to such lowly attacks." His voice turned calm, though annoyed that the corruption was using Mental tricks.
"Mental tricks? He probably means Mind Control, good to know that I can't be affected." Kaida nodded along. She had nothing more to say, though one thing to note: his name sounded vaguely familiar to something newer in her original world, albeit her perception of time was extremely off.
"Also, I think you should go visit the void between the stars our planet orbits. You'll love the view since your Core Formation now."
Kaida tilted her head when he said 'void,' And it clicked right after. "What...-" In that moment, her eyes lit up in surprise, and what was the first hint of genuine happiness from simple words. While her growth in power did give her a sense of pride, she knew not to get overwhelmed, but something like this was completely different.
She saw him drag out the miasma into his own ball of Mana, of which he gave her the Necklace. "Just be aware, the Necklace reached this level of power of Mental Tricks in a few hours of its exposure to the Miasma."
"I'll keep that in mind, Sir." She turned away, walking off with the Necklace still in her hand. A flow of Qi, like a thin tablet, flew over to her hand, writing on it which she took her time to read.
"From the Cultivation Method you hold, A rare mix of Earth-Natural and Void-Born, you can decide where you wish to live, be it deep within the forest, alone, or with those you are close with." - Lucien.
Kaida stared at it deadpan, and she took it and walked over to the while suppressing her own power, not wanting to move thousands of kilometers per hour. She reached the exit and jumped down, considering the Sect, already stationed up in the sky on what looked like clouds, it felt satisfying, especially when falling down, the cold wind being something she loved. As the Dusk Settled, Kaida landed on the ground. Almost perfectly on time, as the bell rang, it was night.
She released the suppression, traveling across what felt like an almost infinite distance. She had slowed herself down beforehand, which allowed her to continue moving while losing speed for a bit longer before reaching her desired destination. To which was the Entrance to the Zarathushtra Empire.
"...I'm not meeting the Empress yet, it's too early, I'll try at least Astral Formation first." Kaida sighed, a single movement allowing her to move across the entire street. People moved slowly, except for the other Core Formation Cultivators, who were at the peak of Core Formation. And those of higher realms.
Though before she could find or even talk with Osami, from so long ago, she was stopped by a lady. Of which looked like high society, especially with her clothing being long, clearly expensive, and her aura exuding as someone powerful, Kaida dwarfed the person in Height, who was at most 154 centimeters.
"...Is anything the problem, ma'am?" Kaida didn't seem too perturbed by this person even laying a hand on her, since she wasn't in the mood for petty fights. Though she was confused about why.
"Oh, no, there's no such problem, I just didn't expect someone in rags to come to the capital." She spoke in a snarky tone while softly laughing, to which the other ladies around her were doing the same; it was behavior that she expected, especially with the technological advances she saw.
Her voice was that of a younger lady, yet Kaida could see she had a Core, and along with that, a 'soul' — something she couldn't reach, at least for now. So, she knew this Lady was at Astral Formation. "Well then, it's your first time. I have nothing else to say." Kaida finally spoke, not wanting to get into a fight.