Chương 42: 26.1. Hiding in Palaces

Faust made a sharp breath as he pressed another needle into the open wound on his shoulder." Cough! Cough! Are you alright?" Han Ci asked, leaning against the alleyway wall beside him.

"It's actually not as bad as it looks." Faust responded, finishing with the needles and beginning with pills and a healing technique.

"Haha — Cough — I may not be as knowledgeable as you. But I'm quite certain having the bone of your shoulder exposed is not considered a light injury."

"Mhm." Faust shrugged with his other shoulder.

"It could be worse. My spirit body is more or less unharmed. A physical wound like this can be fixed in… Say about half an hour?" Han Ci looked out to the crowded street not too far away.

"Do we have that much time?"

"If not, you two are free to continue finding a place to hide for a while." Han Ci looked at Miu, who was clutching her knees and shivering, her eyes darting around. Then he turned back to Faust, "I don't think we're going anywhere."

"Then we pray." Han Ci chuckled before coughing again, then changed his posture before closing his eyes, resting himself. Faust continued treating himself. Now that the foreign Qi had been extracted, his healing technique and telekinesis were making quick work of the actual, physical wound. … A while later, fresh skin covered the wound and Faust finished it off by rubbing some salve over it, tying a bandage just to keep the salve from being rubbed off by his clothes. He stood up and flexed his shoulder. It hurt.

A lot. But checking his condition with his Qi led him to believe that the pain was just that. Han Ci also opened his eyes and stood up. Miu was staring at something on the floor, but Faust grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet, as wobbly as they were. Before leaving, Faust took stock of what he had in his spatial pouch. Those Golden talisman were the only thing he had to hide from Divine Senses.

He had prepared them specifically for the rescue in the Red Glazed Forest— In case something went catastrophically wrong.

"Let's keep a low profile for a while, then make our way back to Central Zentrum. I imagine the fight over there will take at least a few hours to settle."

"Old Ni wasn't there?" Han Ci questioned. Old Ni? Faust wondered, then realised it was probably the old woman who guarded him.

"I sensed at least two Nascent Soul auras other than hers as we were escaping." Faust explained as he gently pushed and pulled Miu along into the sea of people, walking slow enough for Han Ci to keep pace.

"Hmm…" Han Ci looked down, his eyes focused.

"Could they be targeting me since I don't leave Central Zentrum often? Is someone trying to stop my father and the princess from allying?" He voiced out loud. Faust shrugged.

"I sent some illusions out and the axe man went for you first. So I'd say you were the original target." At the same time, he stopped at a stall selling long cloaks and mantles, buying three and throwing one over Miu before covering himself. Han Ci took the last one and donned it as well, the large hoods hiding their faces.

"W-will they find us?" Miu spoke up.

"Maybe. I'm no Golden Core Expert but I've seen them do some miraculous things with Divine Sense."

"Surely they would assume we rushed towards Central Zentrum rather than away?" Han Ci added.

"If we want to be certain, the skyport isn't too far. We can take a ship to the other side of Central Zentrum." Miu suddenly perked up at that, "c-could we go outsi—""No." Faust cut her off.

"I saw how the princess was looking at you and I am not getting involved."

"Besides," Faust continued, "Those Golden Core attackers were all ordinary. I'm sure the princess alone could slaughter them all so long as Miss Ni can hold off the two Nascent Souls." He looked at Han Ci. He nodded.

"If not for her old injury she would probably be in the Essence Unity realm by now."

"Then, we wait. Then, we return." Faust assured. At the same time, he saw a strangely destitute store with a worn sign. Completely different to all the thriving, well maintained stores around it. It was so out of place he wandered into it almost unconsciously. Inside was filled with densely packed wooden shelves, some rotting in the corners and crevices. The shelves and even parts of the floor were covered in nicknacks. Some were books, some were charms.

There were old swords and wooden charms, some cracked spirit crystals and assorted powders. There were so many things that there was barely any room to move around.

"W-what is this place?" Miu asked, her small frame letting her bend down in the tight isles to see the strange jars on the bottom shelf. A raspy old voice suddenly spoke, "Oh, I just sell some things my husband picks up here and there." The three turned to see an old lady with a massive mop of gray hair, wearing a pink sweater while sitting behind a small counter. Items stacked around her so high they had completely missed her despite her being right beside the entrance.

Faust glanced at Han Ci and they met each other's eyes.

"Did you sense her?" He asked with a whisper technique. The old shopkeeper chuckled warmly. Faust shook his head. All his senses told him she was an ordinary mortal. But there were signs. The difference in Qi movement compared to outside the store. The array characters knitted into the pink sweater. The ability to hide from their senses so thoroughly. He guessed the old shopkeeper was at the Nascent Soul realm. He turned around regardless. It was a shop. They were browsing and the shopkeeper seemed amiable.

Her actual cultivation level was irrelevant. There were some interesting things. Specifically, he smelled an ingredient he was looking for, so he ignored the shopkeeper and continued searching the shelves. He eventually found a small ornate box buried under several books. He grabbed the books in one hand then balanced the box on top, opening the cover with his other arm. Inside, he saw six, small, perfectly smooth rectangular gray stones, with golden cracks running through them.

"What is that?" Miu asked, leaning over.

"Blessed Lode." Faust answered, closing the lid, switching it to his free hand as he put the books back on the shelf, then he paused as he read the book's title.

'Principles of Heaven.' He placed the book against the box in his arm, then flipped open the first page. Large, messy strokes filled the pages. A poorly drawn stickman illustrated some poses while several diagrams explained… Something. The book was the writings of a madman. Faust was about to close it.

'The first principle of heaven. The Ambiguity of Heaven.' The phrase caught his attention and he kept reading.

'Heavenly Axiom theory is not complete. It does not address how the instant transmission technique works. Nor does it have a solid proof for divination. As such I introduce several principal exceptions to the theory. First, The Ambiguity of Heaven!' Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. The writing was messy, the diagrams not to scale and the theories absurd. But as Faust read. That familiar feeling from his dream returned.

The weirdness of the technique he had attributed to it being a dream suddenly had another explanation he had never considered. Faust carefully closed the book, before turning to see Miu kneeling by the bottom shelf, looking wistfully at a jar filled with some small golden carp the size of a finger. At the same time he realised, "Where is your snake?" Faust asked.

"AH!" Miu suddenly jumped, almost dropping the jar before she looked up at Faust.

"Ah— he's in the palace. I was— her highness made me follow her all of a sudden. I left him in her study." She explained. Faust nodded, before stepping over Miu to reach the front counter.

"How much for these?" The old shopkeeper picked both items up, pretending to carefully inspect them, smiling slightly at the Blessed Lode, but seeming… Confused? By the book, before she put them back down.

"However much you think they're worth young lad." Faust pulled out a few gold coins and placed them on the table. The old shopkeeper nodded.

"Little girl, you can keep the fish." She called over the counter, startling Miu once again. Miu quickly stood up and bowed deeply, clutching the jar holding the goldfish close to her chest. Faust stored the Blessed Lode and the strange book into his spatial pouch before walking out. Han Ci was waiting outside. Whether because of the strange shopkeeper or because of the dust. The three set off once again, wading through the crowd.

"What's some old coot at the Nascent Soul realm doing there?" Han Ci asked when they were far enough away. Faust shrugged.

"Who knows what goes through those old coots' heads? At least she was generous."

"It's still uncomfortable." Faust didn't respond, instead leading the group through more streets at random. At least, until Han Ci's stomach grumbled. He smiled sheepishly.

"Apologies. We never got lunch." … A few moments later, Faust was questioning himself as he stared at a bowl of… Something… He looked around. They were sitting deep in some back alley with a small stall embedded into a broken wall serving what they claimed was ramen. Surprisingly, there were a few small wooden tables set up in the alley and almost all of them were filled with people. Han Ci devoured, practically inhaling an entire bow the size of his head, while he and Miu were both poking at the black solution.

After a few moments of indecisiveness, Faust took the risk and shoved some black noodles into his mouth. It was good. Faust relaxed a bit, mulling over the book he had found as he ignored the food's presentation and ferried some more into his mouth with a pair of chopsticks. Another thing to add to the list. He figured. With Han Ci's condition and the clues he found competing for attention with the new clues for his new technique.

"How long are we gonna hide for?" Miu spoke up, still avoiding the noodles. Faust looked at nothing in particular.

"I imagine it'll be safe by now. We can probably head back."

"Personally, being cooped up in my room a majority of the time. I'm quite happy to continue like this until evening." Han Ci shared, downing a third bowl and practically smashing it down onto the other two.

"Should we begin heading back slowly then?" Faust asked, mostly to Han Ci, who nodded in agreement— before he downed a fourth bowl. The three began slowly walking back towards Red Tray Pavilion. Han Ci took his time, admiring the sights and more specifically, the food stalls. Faust looked at him holding a full bag of skewers, wondering if this would affect his health. He was still wheezing and coughing every now and again.

Letting Han Ci decide the pace and direction of their journey, with Miu able to walk on her own again, Faust brought out his notebook. The one filled with his scribbles he made after that dream. Every corner was filled already, so he could only shove blank pieces of paper into the notebook and write on those. Specifically, he crossed out several assumptions he had made during the moment. He had already made a lot of corrections during his study at the Grand Archive, but now he had another direction to look into.

The Ambiguity of Heaven. The idea as a whole was…. Absurd. Even though it didn't technically break any rules of Heavenly Axiom theory, it bent them and added exceptions in places, while providing alternative explanations and theories for various elements under the umbrella of Heavenly Axiom theory. Yet.

The ambiguity that that strange book introduced— or rather, which it claimed already existed and was offering an explanation for— allowed him to do some things which he initially dismissed as impossible, or that he would require a workaround for. While Faram's explanation on using Heavenly Qi without a Golden Core solved the largest problem the dream technique had faced.

Then, the technique in the dream offered a solution to the second problem, which was how to even begin turning those array and formation principles into a technique form. The third problem then, was containing that Heavenly Qi in the body instead of the Golden Core. Faust had wondered if it was an impossible issue, but now he realised it may not even have been a problem at all. According to the principle of Ambiguity of Heaven, he didn't even need to contain it in his body like most techniques.

The Heavenly Axiom would "figure it out" as the book so eloquently put it. Faust smiled a bit. The technique… Was suddenly very plausible. At this point. He only needed to test all his knowledge. Since there was endless opportunity for entire swaths of his current knowledge to simply be incorrect. Especially the parts from more questionable sources— such as that strange book— he needed to proceed with proving everything he knew was correct. Or at least, that it worked.

Soon, the sky turned to golden and faint purple hues, Red Tray Pavilion, the entire top half gone, appeared in the distance. The streets were near empty and the skies between buildings only filled with a few curious cultivators watching the fight. Boom! High in the sky was an explosion of light, bathing the surroundings briefly.

"They're still fighting." Faust noted, pulling his hood further down his face and turning around. Han Ci nodded and followed him with Miu. BOOM! Dust flew into the air beside shattered tiles of the pavement. Faust erected a simple barrier to protect Han Ci and Miu. A patient and newbie cultivator respectively. Though it may have been unnecessary. He could feel the powerful thrum of the massive formation array beneath the entire capital.

Its unimaginable pool of energy suppressing the damage caused by the fight from a landscape altering level, to only a few destroyed buildings.

"Really. The rest of your acquaintances are all mangled corpses and you still won't speak." A voice cut through the air. The voice was familiar and looking in the sky Faust saw the princess— unharmed with just a few hairs out of place and a few scuffs on her dress— holding a regal silver, red and gold spear in one hand. The princess floated slowly down from the air, throwing some of her hair over her shoulder with a smile, veins practically popping from her forehead as her eyes screamed murder.

Faust felt the princess's divine sense wash over them before she looked up from the black robed man lying in a crater on the ground.

"I see you three are fine." She commented. Han Ci pulled back his hood and bowed, cupping a fist in greeting. Miu looked at him and naturally followed suit. Faust left his hood on, but still bowed to her as well, before his eyes drifted to the man. His hair suddenly stood on end. The air shifted. He activated the Clear Mirror Pupil technique. An illusion! Faust realised. The man wasn't in the crater! The man was— right in front of them! His rough, unnaturally large hands shot towards Han Ci and Miu.

He had used an illusion at the same time as being struck down by the princess! Faust unleashed his trump card. He let his Innate Qi enter his mind, accelerating his thoughts. Contrary to popular belief— it was not a method exclusive to the Nascent Soul realm. But there was a reason it was generally only used in the Nascent Soul realm. The slightest mistake in this state meant instant death. The world slowed down. Not by much, but by a bit. Faust saw the man's hands only a meter or two away, approaching rapidly.

The princess had noticed the illusions at the same time as him and was halfway through throwing her spear. It wasn't going to reach in time. Faust felt his mind slipping more and more every moment. He couldn't hold this state much longer or that was it for him. The man was only a single meter away now. Faust only had the ability to move either Han Ci or Miu out of the way, by throwing his entire body towards them and trying to raise his strongest defences.

The Heavenly Qi pushed down on him, its suppression rising as the man got ever closer. The pressure reached its Zenith, pushing down with such force it was slowly forcing the three of them to their knees. In the brief fractions of a second Faust spent thinking, the man's hands were only a few centimeters away from Miu and Han Ci. There was no time. Faust raised his hand.

In the few centimeters between the man's hands and Han Ci and Miu, several layers of the Seven Star Barrier technique appeared, the Qi passing through familiar paths in an instant. But it wasn't enough. The Heaven and Earth Qi around the man's hands effortlessly began piercing the barriers, shattering one layer after the other. SH#T THERE'S NO TIME! Faust screamed in his mind. His mind was already slipping and he had to cut the Qi feeding into his Mind Qi. The world rapidly began returning to its normal speed.

In a final desperate attempt, Faust tried one last thing, pushing his Qi through his body and guiding it awkwardly through unused passages. The Qi began curling into patterns as a familiar sensation crossed Faust's mind. An overwhelming force threatened to explode his Meridian Paths. Pushing and bloating his spiritual body, the Qi began carving out new paths to follow with terrifying force and ferocity. Suddenly, all the sensations he had felt in that dream became so much clearer.

And yet the damage was unimaginable. He felt the very foundations of his cultivation trembling at the forcible casting of a technique— that he had never practised before. Heavenly Qi suddenly stopped pressing down. Then. Then it began rising, trying to pull upwards while the Earth Qi began pulling downwards. Heaven and Earth Qi, which was wrapping around the man's hands, was suddenly ripped apart by Heaven and Earth, moments before touching the final barrier. BANG! Hands collided against Faust's barrier.

He felt his body break, bones crunching and blood vessels bursting as he spit out blood. His Qi reserves evaporated instantly and even his saved up Innate Qi rapidly depleted. And yet. On the final barrier of the Seven Star barrier technique— the man's hands stopped. Faust barely saw what happened, collapsing to the ground with his vision going dark.