Chương 81: The Eternal Veil (III)

Cao Qiu flinched when she noticed the descending array of swordlight that suddenly appeared in front of her. The kneeling man was no longer in front of the gates but rather just in front of her. Before she could even try and flee or defend herself, the descending swordlight was shattered as a phantom-like figure shuttered just past her, a scent of sandalwood briefly entering her nostrils. In the next moment, she saw the stout man lose his balance and stumble sideways as a flash of the blade cut through the side.

An arm flew off, blood spraying out alongside a cry of pain. The stout man tried to retreat, but the phantom-like figure rushed further out and swiped the sword yet again, cleaving at the man's knees and leaving him completely immobile. The boy she thought a burden knelt next to the whimpering mass of bleeding flesh and yanked him by the hair, pulling him over the dirt and toward her.

"Senior Sister," he called out, startling her awake.

"I know who this is."

"He isn't the mayor?"

"No," he shook his head.

"He's my family's butler--I recognized him by his voice. However, nothing else matches him; the butler wasn't a martial artist, and he was an elderly, tall, and thin man."

"Then who is he?" She frowned and crouched, yet, just then, a strange thing transpired--the man who had just been whimpering, crying, and begging for mercy suddenly broke out into strange, cackling laughter.

"Who are you?!" She drew her sword and pressed it against the man's throat.

"He he he, it seems we've drawn over a big fish," the body began to... molt. She winced and pulled back as the motes of steam began to flow out of the fading flesh. Within a few moments, there were only the robes... and nothing else. Her breathing quickened, her eyes veered up toward the town, now full of terror.

"We need to let the Master know of this immediately!" The boy's voice pulled her as the two spun around and left, garbed in horror. ** Long Tao casually walked through the parting illusion; it was a surprisingly high-quality array, the kind that eclipsed even the Spirit Sword Sect. For him, of course, it was nothing, but for this corner of the world it may as well have been an ancient treasure. The world took a swift turn as he stepped through the membrane, though only in one department--the streets weren't empty.

He stepped out between a set of buildings and toward the main street that cut through the entire town. Both sides of the road were lined with people, sprawled lifelessly, though most were not actually dead. He wasn't surprised--this was what all Soul Furnaces were like. Extracting the purest essence of one's being takes a while, and, most importantly, the people cannot be aware of it. Otherwise, the essence becomes corrupted and useless.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. As soon as he saw the Gray Matter, he figured that somebody had the ever-so-brilliant idea of concocting a Soul Furnace. Except... it was incomplete. Ordinarily, at the heart of every Soul Furnace was a Dao Seed--specifically, a Soul Dao Seed. This here was merely an approximation; or, rather, the furnace was made in an attempt to create a Soul Dao Seed.

It was impossible, of course--the quality of the souls here was nowhere near enough, but if whoever was behind this did manage to purify the entire town, they would have made some headway.

"Dao Seed, Dao Seed..." he mumbled to himself, a glint in his eyes uncertain. It couldn't be just a coincidence that the rumored third treasure of the Spirit Sword Sect was a Dao Seed while somebody was trying to make one right at their doorstep.

"Ah!" The fog lifted as the face of the girl waiting for him just past the veil came bursting into his mind. Her physique--he was unable to fully discern it, though it did always feel somewhat familiar. It had to be one form or another of Vast-Dantian. There were eighteen, as far as he could remember, but only six of them could be hosts for the Soul Dao Seed. He ignored the sprawled figures on the ground and headed toward where he felt all soul energy was being converged to--the central pavilion.

It was all conjecture, ultimately, and he still didn't really have the full picture of it. And though he was 'told' to merely look on the outskirts, the temptation was too large. A minute or so later, he stepped past the alarming number of trigger-based arrays meant for intruders. The pavilion itself seemed shorn of light, wholly cloaked in darkness. There was nobody on either of the first two floors, just strewn furniture that hadn't been dusted in a while.

The third and fourth floors had bubbling cauldrons coated in strange, runic arrays that predated even his era. Most knowledge of the Dao Seeds, especially on making them, was ancient history when he was a young boy, let alone now. The fifth floor had several dozen or so cloaked figures currently facing out the window and to the outside, likely examining the uproar that kid was causing. And the sixth floor...

the sixth floor was rather small, just a single room with a prayer mat, a cloaked and masked figure atop of it, and a levitating orb at the very center of the room. There were strands of greenish energy rolling toward it, almost like a tear in the void drew matter toward itself. Long Tao paused and examined the figure--it was a woman, he realized, and based on her bone age, she was at least... 4, 000 years old. Which meant that this was likely one of her Soul or Body Avatars.

He whipped out a mask from the satchel as well and put it on, cloaking every bit of trace of his cultivation before coming into view. The woman's eyes opened quickly, and she seemed keen on making a move for a moment before stopping, realizing Long Tao was simply standing there.

"... what should I call you, Venerable One?" Her voice was a strange choir of amalgamated sounds and pitches, as though it was originating from another reality altogether.

"That is a rather unstable embryo," Long Tao said, his eyes fixated on an orb.

"Your tether... is dying."

"A discernible eye," the woman chuckled.

"Is that kid out there your doing?"

"What is an old ghost like you doing tangled up with a heap of mortals and weak children?" Throughout his lengthy life, Long Tao met countless people that danced the fine line of unflinching evil--but the worst lot were always the ones who used and abused those far weaker than them who couldn't put up a struggle.

"The cogs of the world always move, Venerable One; to keep up with times, we must adjust. Your kid has escaped."

"... it is time that you left this place," Long Tao said.

"And if I don't?"

"I suppose being as ancient as you are, you can afford to lose an Avatar or two."

"... he he, very well," the woman cackled strangely after staying silent for a moment. She reached into her robes and took out a small parchment, tossing it at Long Tao. It became a blazing projectile that would have cut even Elder Qin's head, yet Long Tao caught it rather effortlessly--not because he was stronger, but because it was tossed using an old technique that had long since gone extinct in the world.

"You call me an old ghost, yet only those who I would consider Ancient Emperors know of that art. We shall respect your request," she added as her body began to fade.

"You may use my remaining children as whetstones for yours. Should you ever find yourself in need of assistance or a friend... come find us beyond the old Guard Fort."

"Find you? Who exactly are you?"

"We are the Eternal Veil," she said.

"The original owners of the Seed that your Sect so callously thieved. Be warned--what was once ours will be once more... no matter what."