Chương 30: 20.1. Miu is scared!

Faust stared down the black robed figure across the courtyard. He idly looked around at the darkened estate. He could sense the two Nascent Soul auras but they didn't seem to sense the assassin's. Not that he was surprised, even he completely missed the assassin until they made noise. The assassin charged with their dagger, the tip glowing with a faint white mist that clung to the blade. Faust didn't see a need to engage. He leapt back several meters.

The assassin didn't stop however, continuing to chase Faust down. After Faust jumped back again, the assassin threw their dagger. Faust tilted his head and the dagger sailed just past his face. So close he saw his own reflection in it.

"Hmm?" Faust looked back to where the assassin had been. They were gone.

"That isn't good." He mumbled, before activating the Clear Mirror Pupil technique. There was still nothing. Faust cycled all the Qi in his body, using the best defensive technique he had found in the technique hall, forming a spherical barrier around him made up of thin blue films between glowing points. The Seven Star Barrier technique. There was a heavy thunk from behind Faust. Crsht! The barrier cracked. Then shattered like glass. Faust twisted his body and kicked behind him.

Faust's kick landed perfectly, hitting the assassin's head as they thrust their dagger forward and sending them crashing into one of the trees in the garden and sending wooden shrapnel across the courtyard. Faust exploited the moment to go for the kill, but then stopped and instead leapt backwards to create more distance— he used the The Seven Star Barrier technique again. The assassin got to their feet and brushed some leaves and splintered wood from their shoulders.

They glared at Faust through the only opening in their clothes. Faust raised an eyebrow. You're angry at that? I'm not going to fall for such a cheap trick a second time. He thought. He already fell for something similar with the demonic cultivator who pretended to attack before running away. The assassin stepped forward, readying another dagger.

"Am I even your target?" Faust asked, "Why go through so much effort when you can run away?" The assassin paused for a moment, looking at him briefly before shooting towards him and… Disappearing.

"..." Faust was unimpressed. The normal Seven Star Barrier technique was a single layer, but that was because it only used 3 nodes for the standard one-three or two-three foundation. Faust utilised all 12 nodes he had formed, layering 4 barriers around himself while focusing on his senses other than sight. Bang! A barrier was struck from Faust's left. It cracked and shattered into pieces, practically exploding as the assassin's dagger pierced into the second layer and its tip scratched the third.

Faust looked to where the assassin had struck, but they were already gone.

"..." Faust reformed the technique.

"You can't use that technique forever." A low voice sounded, seemingly from nowhere and also everywhere at once.

"No, but I don't need to." Faust responded idly, glancing around. He still had enough Spirit Qi spread between his nodes and flowing through the channels between them to last plenty of time.

"That technique won't hide you from me forever either." Faust continued, returning his gaze to the places the assassin had disappeared. He scrutinised the Qi. High Yang Qi, strange considering it's 3 or so at night. Faust observed. There was also an unusual amount of Sky Qi close to the ground and a lack of Earth and Yin Qi. The Lunar Qi was also undulating strangely.

"Is the technique you're using derived from the Divine Moon church's movement technique by any chance. The Lunar Ascension Technique?" Two of Faust's barriers exploded, letting silver light reflect off the dagger only a few inches in front of his face, the tip nearly reaching the final barrier. He also saw the assassin's eyes. They were wide with intense focus.

"Tch!" The assassin disappeared again. The Lunar Qi vibrated for a moment while Sky Qi was drawn closer to the ground and the Earth and Yin Qi thinned. Faust replenished the Spirit Qi of all 4 barriers. Dropping his Spirit Qi reserved to 3 fourths. He narrowed his eyes slightly, dialing in his Qi sense onto the relevant Qi's in the area. Sky Qi began falling closer to the earth to Faust's right and a bit behind him.

He released the Seven Star Barrier technique, widening his stance by sliding back and twisting his upper body right. Faust leaned his head back slightly and a silver dagger missed him by an inch, cutting through some of his hair. Faust grabbed the assassin's wrist. Their eyes widened in surprise and they tried to jump back, but Faust pulled them closer and to the side, winding up his right fist. The assassin's eyes dilated as they raised their own free hand to catch the punch.

Faust struck, but then moved his shoulder joint so his strike came from below instead of above at the last moment. The assassin tried to compensate, but fell a bit short due to their evident lack of Body Tempering.

"Prft!" The assassin spat as Faust leaned into the punch, following through with the hit landing just below the diaphragm. The assassin shot across the courtyard. Bang! They smashed through a tree, exploding its trunk in a hail of wood chips. Boom! Then a rock exploded, bits of stone clattering and tumbling across the courtyard. Krak! They hit the eastern building of the main courtyard. A formation activated briefly, flashing yellow to defend the building, but shattered in an instant.

The sound of glass twinkling and clattering across the ground sounded. The assassin smashed through a wooden support beam. A second yellow formation appeared. This one held, stopping the assassin from damaging the buildings connected to the covered walkway. The covered walkway's roof creaked and groaned. Krshhht— Before bending and collapsing partway, covering the assassin's body.

"Heaven's almighty!" Faram suddenly appeared in the courtyard. Faust guessed he had felt the array formation shattering when the assassin had smashed through it. Faram looked around, then between Faust and the assassin collapsed on the ground. Then he frowned and snapped his fingers. The lights around the estate suddenly lit up again, formations and arrays thrummed to life and— Pandemonium. For some reason, the array formations had completely hidden the auras around the estate.

Faust suspected the assassin's movement technique must have also been enhanced somehow. Faust sensed the auras in the eastern area of the estate rushing around rapidly. There were also the shouts.

"Find them!"

"Assassins have entered the estate!"

"Get the tutor!"

"He's not breathing! We need a healer!"

"Ensure her highness safety!" Faram and Faust both looked over, then at each other. Faram raised his hand, then waved it, causing countless ropes of light shot from his sleeve, before binding the unconscious assassin. He then rushed towards the eastern side of the estate. Looking up, Faust saw a golden barrier rising, enveloping the estate. Faust mulled it over for a moment, then reluctantly followed. It was generally better to be informed and in danger than uninformed and in danger.

He looked at the fallen assassin for a moment. He never got an answer for why they stopped to try and kill him. He didn't even seem to be the target. Entering the eastern area of the estate, where the royal flags had been, Faust noticed almost all the red uniformed guards crowding around one building with the royal guard, whilst the rest were trying to resuscitate fallen guards, or closing the eyes of others. A few other black robed corpses were lying on the ground. But those were being more or less ignored.

Faust guessed there were also other guards out searching. There was also the distinct lack of the second Nascent Soul expert that should be here.

"Lord Faram!" A royal guard quickly approached, bowing slightly and cupping a fist.

"What happened? The formations were fine, but then I come outside and they've all failed?" Faram asked.

"There was an assassination or kidnapping attempt on the princess. There were also five Golden Core realm assassins, but they all ran away. Sir Mo has gone to chase them." The royal guard reported. Faram narrowed his eyes, stroking his beard in thought. Faust took in a sharp breath. Something was happening.

"How did they get through my formations? No. How did they modify them without me knowing?" Faram said.

"I don't know, sir." The guard responded. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Faust also thought it through. Faram was best known for his Formations. He was widely considered among the empire's top 3 Formation Masters. Even if he wasn't directly controlling the formations and arrays it was hard to believe they were manipulated to this extent without his knowledge.

"..." Faram put a hand to his chin, his gaze scanning the area. He sighed.

"Is the princess injured?"

"No, sir. She did take some heavy physical blows, but she avoided being hit by the poisoned daggers." The guard responded, before turning and leading the way towards the building surrounded by royal guards and red uniformed soldiers. Faust didn't miss the moment.

"Then, I'll return to my room now." Faust bowed and cupped a fist to Faram.

"Mhm." Faram followed the royal guard towards the building, while Faust calmly left under the gaze of countless guards. Entering the main courtyard again, there were several servants running around, as well as several people with swords, wearing white robes with black and white robes embroidered with an open book with one page black and the other white. The symbol of whichever clan Faram was from, Faust guessed. Probably their own clan guards.

The assassin he had met was still unconscious, still lying slumped against the yellow array formation barrier. Faust approached his room when he spotted the same servant who had served him tea in the foyer looking around with trembling hands.

"Excuse me?" He called.

"Ah! Yes sir." The servant whipped around and bowed to him.

"Can you ask someone to bring more paper to my room?" Faust didn't forget what he originally came out for. Even if it was an inconvenient time to ask for it.

"Ah! R— Right away sir!" The servant hurried off. Faust returned to his room. Whatever epiphany he'd had had long disappeared, but there were still a few insights he hadn't managed to write down which he had held onto throughout the fight. Damn that assassin. Faust cursed. If not for them he could have gotten so much more out of this. Not only that but… Faust collapsed onto the bed. The assassination happened literally the night he had arrived. Not more than a few hours after.

The sun was probably going to be rising soon. Faust turned over and stared at the ceiling.

"Huuuuuuhh….." He groaned, covering his face with his hands. What happened to the Grand Archive? Didn't he come here to study? Was he even going to have the opportunity at this rate? Knock! Knock! Faust got up and brushed his hair down"Enter." A servant in gray robes entered, "paper, sir." They bowed, leaving a large stack on the desk.

"Thank you." Faust said. The servant merely bowed in response before quietly leaving, closing the door behind them.

"..." Very different from the sect. Faust thought. He took the stack of paper back to the main desk in the room. He looked over the countless other notes he wrote briefly, before sitting down and continuing to write down what he remembered from the dream. The clouds passed and moonlight spilled in from the window. Yet the light became paler, until it became near white, then a soft yellow. Faust finished rereading everything he had written, then turned to the window where a soft golden glow was blanketing the room.

"..." He admired the sunlight for a moment, sliding his chair back and walking up to the window. Despite the many auras still moving around throughout the estate, the air was fresh and the west side of the estate untouched, leaving a cool breeze across Faust's face. Though there was still only one Nascent Soul aura around. He thought about what he had written down. There were… A few problems. His dream had actually addressed the main points that Faram had claimed made this kind of technique impossible.

But not all of them. There were some problems with the technique's theoretical operation. Ones he could see even without having to crunch any numbers. For starters, it meant having Qi move around yourself, detached from the body with no connection. This was fine for techniques like the Seven Star Barrier technique, where the Qi was formed into a self-sustaining construct that required no further intervention. But it was a problem when extending Qi out into constructs that moved around.

Still a solvable problem however. The question answered by the epiphany was how to have these constructs moving around outside the body while constantly coupling and decoupling with each other to form and unform a formation, which would require exponentially more Qi for every coupling as the Heavenly Qi that caused the decoupling increased around them. The methods used on the massive formation around the Grand Archive also weren't applicable to techniques used by people.

Something Faram had gone into detail about during their discussion. It would be bearable if it was only for a short activating technique where there was only one formation constantly destabilising. But stable unstable formations required at least 3 formations coupling and decoupling offset from each other. So the Qi needed would be increasing by 3 times Qi to the power of 2. Or Qi squared times 3…. Faust scratched his chin. The solution from the epiphany was far from simple. It involved several steps and its…

Unconventional approach would mean Faust was going to have to derive his own equations from the conventionally used ones. He would also have to go in far more depth with his discussions with Faram. If he actually got such an opportunity. Otherwise he would have a lot to look up at the Grand Archive. If he actually ended up getting the opportunity to go there. At this rate. It was questionable. Knock! Knock!

"A moment please." Faust called out, before quickly changing back into his more formal sect robes.

"Enter." Instead of a servant, a guard from Faram's clan bowed and cupped a fist.

"Master Faram has invited you to inspect the arrays and formations under the estate with him." They spoke simply.

"Oh?" Faust was surprised. Then he nearly sighed. He originally came for self study at the Grand Archive, but to think such an opportunity had fallen into his lap. He bowed slightly, cupping a fist back, "It would be my honor." The guard raised his head and led the way without a word. Faust wished he had another notebook.

He followed the guard to the center building in front of the main courtyard, then to a double door with two guards either side, then through the door and down a set of stone stairs to a deep basement. Soon, Faust's vision was filled with glowing lines. Countless arrays all working together, formation carved across the floor with channels of liquid Spirit Qi running throughout.

Looking around, the basement seemed to extend to sprawl to every edge of the estate, thick metal support columns evenly spaced in a grid across the whole area. Faram was standing, hovering his hands over one of the thicker glowing lines that connected two large and complicated arrays floating in the air above several more engraved into the ground. His brows were knitted in concentration as he walked along the line until he reached one of the larger arrays it connected to.

Faust approached quietly, careful not to break Faram's concentration. He looked at the array line himself. For the most part it was Metal Qi. However there were faint traces of… Sky Qi… Underground… It was no wonder Faram was suspicious. He probably saw more than Faust was able to make out. For a while, the two remained silent, with Faust following Faram and observing the arrays and formations. Even without explanation, Faram's work lived up to his reputation.

Faust felt he would qualify as a third level formation master now, jumping from 2nd level, just by observing the decisions and methods Faram had used.

"I don't understand." Faram broke the silence after a few hours. Faust didn't immediately respond, in case he was talking to himself. Faram continued, "There's some Qi around which shouldn't be here. But I've taken into account this kind of attack on the arrays. It shouldn't have been able to take control of the array formation. All evidence suggests it failed, yet it succeeded."

"... Perhaps they didn't take over the array formation." Faust suggested vaguely. Faram stroked his chin.

"Perhaps, but then what did they do?"

"Add to it?"

"... No…" Faram spoke slowly, as if unsure himself. Faust looked down.

"What's underneath us?" He asked. Faram went silent.

"..." Faust didn't take the initiative to speak. After some time, Faram slowly nodded. Then looked up suddenly, his eyes searching for something.

"You! Go find the old butler and have him contract some mining crews. Bring them here!" The guard who was standing near the exit bowed, before running back up the stairs.

"You're right. I can't see any other way this could have happened. It's either below us or to the sides, extending through the underground of one of the surrounding estates." Faram agreed. Faust shrugged, then asked, "I had a question about the stable unstable formations concept."

"Hmm?" Faram turned to Faust slightly and nodded his head for him to continue. Miu trembled violently beneath the silk bedsheet covers. With Jung wrapped around her protectively. There was still blood in the corner of the room where a black robed assassin had entered. Then, just as they had attacked her while she was distracted cultivating, the princess's bodyguard, Mo, crashed through the wall, exploding their head before disappearing out of the room into a throng of clangs and shouts. She wanted to go home.

The princess had briefly entered, but left after asking if she was still alive.

"Excuse me, miss." A green robed maid bowed, hovering near the opened entrance of the building.

"Y-yes…" Miu responded.

"Another room has been prepared for you." The maid explained, glancing at the hole where the princess's bodyguard had smashed through the wall from the princess's room. Miu slowly unwrapped herself from the blankets. Jung hissed in protest but still slid down off the bed. She was about to pick up her small bag of things she had brought but found the maid had already picked it up for her. She wanted to go find her mom, but she was way back in the Green Terrace province, at the very edge of the empire.

If the captain of the flying ship was to be believed, then it was over a hundred and twenty thousand kilometers from the capital. She didn't even know quite how far that really was. The longest journey she had been on before was from her village to the one her grandparents lived in, or the town which was only 20 kilometers away. It was close enough she could run there in the morning, take some classes at the town school, talk with the other students after class and be home before dinner.

Miu followed the maid whose hands were also shaking slightly. The maid just gave her a weak smile as she led her around the massive estate. Jung followed close beside her feet, slithering across the ground and looking around with beady eyes. The rising sun provided warmth even in the cold morning air. According to the old man in the village who taught her, it was thanks to all that running that she had even become a cultivator at all. She wished she just stayed home.

She won a ticket to the capital for winning 2nd place in the town's Rising Dragons and Phoenixes competition. For all under 30. She did really well. She didn't encounter many people at the late stage of Qi Refining. Only the winner was at the peak of Qi Refining and was also 5 years older than her. Her parents had encouraged her to go out and see the world. She had learned that the world was scary.

"Are you alright, miss?" Miu jumped slightly, before realising it was just the maid talking.

"Uh, y-yes! I—I'm fine…" She responded. The maid smiled.

"Don't worry. This is the first time something like this has happened in the thirty years I've worked here. It's probably because of the approaching Rising Dragons and Phoenixes competition. I heard the capital is just waiting on a few more provincial capitals to finish their competitions and send the winners." Miu nodded. She had also heard that the first place of her town's competition had been personally taken to the nearby city by the town lord.

Soon, the maid led her to the other side of the estate, leaving the sounds of armour and metal grinding.

"Since you seemed scared, lady Efilia recommended the princess let you stay a bit further away." The maid explained, leading Miu to a block of rooms with an open walkway connecting the rooms on one side with a downward slope leading to the other side.

"Is— Is anyone else around here?" Miu asked.

"Yes. We have another guest in the room opposite yours, a disciple from the Clear Mirror Sect. Behind the garden and the boundary wall over there are the servant's quarters and to the left is the estates archives." The maid explained. Miu nodded. At least she wasn't alone. She entered the new room. It was similar to the previous one but just a little less… Lavish… She thought. There wasn't any gold gilded furniture or colourful banners. It was also a bit smaller.

Jung seemed satisfied and slithered over to the windowsill. The maid set down Miu's things on a desk. Then bowed and walked out. Miu looked around. It was quiet. She was alone again. She took a deep breath, before closing the door and crawling under the beds covers. They were far softer than anything in her village. She kept glancing around. Despite the thickness, the sheets still felt cold. Some time passed. Miu heard footsteps passing by. She left her bed and approached the door, opening it.

Faust was walking past carrying several books. He paused and turned to her.

"..."

"..." For a moment, they just stared at each other.

"Is something wrong?" Faust suddenly asked her. His face was impassive.

"... Isn't it scary?"

"What is?"

"T-the assassins." Faust looked to the side and put a hand to his chin.

"I suppose. It's more annoying to me than anything else." Miu looked at him with her mouth agape. The princess had also seemed completely fine despite the attempt. Was there something wrong with them?

"Annoyed…" Miu repeated. Faust nodded.

"I had an epiphany last night, but those assassins got in my way and I wasted part of it. But their techniques were interesting."

"Their… Techniques?"

"Yes. Their movement technique was able to even escape the sight of my pupil technique. It's specialised for illusions but it's still impressive. The technique they used on their daggers was also interesting. It pierced through almost three layers of the Seven Star Barrier technique on what was it…. The third hit?"

"..." Miu didn't know what to say. He realised this guy was just as crazy as everyone else in the capital, so she slowly stepped back into her room. She didn't even know any techniques, apart from the simple disguise technique that she had found for dirt cheap in one of the capital's markets. If it were the nearby town it probably would have been fought over. Not that it had helped escaping the princess. It didn't even seem to slow her down at all. Maybe it was just that she hadn't practiced it enough.

Faust watched Miu withdraw back into her room. His gaze lingered for a moment, but he turned away and returned to his own room. The conversation with Faram had been productive and it was a shame he had been called by a royal guard to see the princess again. The aura of the princess's bodyguard had yet to return even though it was afternoon now.

For now, Faust decided to review some more of the concepts Faram had talked about, borrowing some books from the 7 story pagoda he had seen, which turned out to be the estate's library. He decided he would go out tomorrow to find another place to stay. He would rather avoid any involvement with royalty. For now, he would just brush up on some concepts and organise his thoughts.