Chương 178: Chapter 177: Maps and Plans

Yang put on a fresh set of robes and stepped out of his room in the tent. The room had technically been allocated to Senior Brother Fan Xiao, but since Yang had the lowest cultivation realm and needed the most rest, Senior Brother Fan Xiao and the others had insisted he take it. Yang had refused several times before accepting with great reluctance, it was not proper to be staying in the best room while his Senior Brothers went without but they wouldn't hear of it.

It was a large room with a comfortable bed and furnishings that were considerably more pleasant than anything he had expected to find in a tent in a clearing outside a secret realm. But in the end he had spent most of his time here cultivating. Senior Brother Fan Xiao, meanwhile, had been receiving reports. He was not formally in charge of the site, but it was evident from the way people moved around him that his presence carried considerable weight.

To avoid creating friction with the elder who was managing the exploration, Senior Brother Fan Xiao had kept his involvement deliberately minimal, reviewing the reports sent to him as a professional courtesy and keeping his assessments to himself unless directly asked. Yang had observed all of this with interest. It was a lesson in itself, separate from anything involving cultivation techniques or craft. How one moved through a situation, when to assert and when to step back, was its own kind of knowledge.

The people of the sect had their own way of doing things and it was a lesson Yang was absorbing from everywhere. His cultivation had been going well. On the first day at the camp he had taken the ice jade bed out of his storage ring and had been cultivating on it since. The difference was immediate. The bed drew in ambient qi from the surroundings and concentrated it around the area, allowing him to absorb considerably more than the simple open air would have provided.

More importantly, it had addressed the headache problem almost entirely. He had been able to run longer cultivation sessions than at any previous point, and the soreness behind his eyes that had become a constant background feature of his days had faded to almost nothing. It was twice as effective as the Pink Lotus Tea. But the restful days appeared to be over.

Senior Brother Fan Xiao had met with the latest exploration team a few hours ago when they returned and had spent the time since closeted in the study with Senior Brothers Qing An and Song Weilong, along with the senior people managing the exploration and research teams. And now Yang, Senior Brother Zhen Hao, and Senior Brother Yuan Shen had been summoned to join them. Yang made his way to the study and encountered Senior Brother Zhen Hao in the corridor, apparently heading in the same direction.

They looked at each other, said nothing, and walked together. Senior Brother Zhen Hao knocked on the door and it swung open on its own. As they entered they found a large table dominating the room, covered with books, scrolls, and maps, with a few chairs arranged around it. Senior Brother Fan Xiao sat at one side with Senior Brother Song Weilong beside him. Senior Brother Qing An stood leaning over the map spread across the table's surface.

Senior Brother Yuan Shen appeared to have found a small couch in the corner and was eating nuts from a pouch leisurely. Yang took the empty seat on the other side of Senior Brother Fan Xiao. Senior Brother Zhen Hao took the one beside Yang.

"Now that everyone is here," Senior Brother Qing An said, directing this at Senior Brother Fan Xiao, "shall we begin?" Senior Brother Fan Xiao looked at him with an expression of well-worn patience before looking around the table. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"The exploratory team came back in the early hours. I have their latest report." He stood and looked down at the map.

"This is a copy of the most recently mapped area of the realm." The others leaned in.

"Since our purpose is the demonic beasts, we will be continuing from where the exploration team left off." He indicated a specific area on the map.

"But first, since some of you have not been fully briefed, I want to be certain everyone understands what we are dealing with." He looked around the table, his gaze pausing briefly on Yang and Senior Brother Zhen Hao.

"The entrance to the Vermillion Cloud Realm is a concealed small palace that serves as a hub. From it, various larger inner worlds connect." He paused and turned to look at Yang and Senior Brother Zhen Hao specifically.

"An inner world is a constructed space. Entirely man-made. Its size and characteristics depend entirely on the architect who designed it. A connected world, however, is different. It means the architect of the secret realm managed to attach an already existing independent world to their hidden realm. The connected world was not built as part of this secret realm. It existed before it." Senior Brother Yuan Shen looked up from his nuts.

"We have been to inner worlds before. A connected world is new. What does that actually mean for us going in?"

"It means we are entering a world that operates independently of this one, with its own rules and its own history, which has been artificially joined to the secret realm. It could be anything. Dangerous, unusual, operating on principles entirely unlike our own and unlike the principles of the rest of the secret realm. The characteristics of the secret realm are not a reliable guide to what the connected world will be like."

"There is also," Senior Brother Qing An said pleasantly, "the possibility of destabilising the connection between the worlds and finding ourselves cut off from our own." Senior Brother Zhen Hao looked at him.

"Losing connection to our own world?"

"Is little Zhen Hao frightened?" Senior Brother Qing An cooed.

"Senior Brother, don't tease our Junior Brother," Senior Brother Song Weilong said, and then turned to Senior Brother Zhen Hao.

"Don't worry. I'll hold your hand." Senior Brother Zhen Hao sent him a look. From the couch behind them Senior Brother Yuan Shen howled with laughter. Yang concealed a smile. Among his friends in the inner sect, Senior Brother Zhen Hao had always been the one most likely to needle everyone else. Here among his own Senior Brothers he appeared to be the target of choice. Senior Brother Fan Xiao returned to the map.

"Since Master sent us here specifically, I am confident this is where we are meant to be. We will go directly to the connected world and make our way toward the area where the highest concentration of demonic beasts has been identified." He looked at Senior Brother Zhen Hao.

"You can use whatever techniques you wish, as destructively as you like. We will be there to watch your back." His gaze shifted to Yang next.

"Chen Yang, you stay near me. You may also try whatever you want to practice." Yang hesitated.

"Senior Brother, I do not actually know any combat techniques."

"There is nothing to be embarrassed about, Junior Brother," Senior Brother Song Weilong said, before Yang could feel worse about admitting it.

"You are in the Qi Condensation realm, and outer sect disciples are not permitted to leave the sect. It would be strange if you had combat experience."

"Take a look at the needle technique Junior Brother He Su Ye gave you," Senior Brother Qing An said.

"It is well-suited to someone at your current level." Yang nodded and made a mental note to review the manual before they departed. He sat quietly after that as the discussion moved into finer detail, mostly between Senior Brothers Fan Xiao, Song Weilong, and Qing An, covering routes, contingencies, communication methods, and what to do in the various scenarios the exploration reports had made relevant. It took several hours to work through everything and reach decisions on the key points.

By the end it had been settled that they would leave a few hours before dawn the following morning. Afterward, large quantities of food and pills were distributed amongst all of them. Yang received a disproportionately large share, which he understood after a moment's reflection. His Senior Brothers were accounting for the possibility that he might become separated from the group and need to sustain himself for an extended period. He quietly added everything they indicated to his storage ring without argument.

Soon enough Yang was sent to rest for the last few hours before their departure. Yang lay down on the comfortable bed in his borrowed room and felt quiet excitement settle over him. His first secret realm. He had not expected, a year ago, to be here. He had arrived at White Cloud Sect as an outer sect disciple with a handful of spirit stones and no certainty about anything.

And now he was lying in a tent camp outside the entrance to a secret realm, about to walk into it with a Soul Formation cultivator watching his back. Life, he decided, was entirely strange and full of surprises.