章節 131: Back on the Mountain
Chún found himself waking up in his bed as the Golden Crow rose over the horizon to the now customary rush of Essence and 'joyful music' against his Essence Senses. The Essence Sprites had long since taken his makeshift pile of furs and other softer items and turned it into an actual sleeping area within his Immortal's Cave.
Shaking his head at the obvious state of exhaustion that had left him stumbling into sleep - an increasingly rare occurrence for him in the past few weeks - without bothering to remove his clothing, he stripped off the soiled Essence Silk items of clothing - again, the Essence Sprites had long since converted all his items of clothing to more durable, Essence imbued materials - and stepped into the hot spring at the back of the cavern to a chorus of chiding chirps and excited hums as a small swarm of Essence Sprites swooped in from the cavern entrance and vanished with the pieces of clothing before they could hit the smooth stone of the cavern floor.
His body was still aching with the burning feeling that came with overstretching his capacity for channelling Essence, less pronounced than the night before, but still instant, so he waded into the middle of the pool where all the Essence types - including the Metal and Lightning Essence from the Silver Oak that grew in the ledge that jutted out over the center of the hot spring - swirling with Essence motes of Fire, Water, Earth and Wood or Life Essence - rising from the broiling surface.
Despite the heat of the magma fed water, Chún felt only a pleasant warmth as he floated, soaking in the pure Essence.
Time passed and gradually Chún felt his body begin to relax from its feeling of being overly tense and sore. A comfortable feeling began to flow outward from his deep organs and marrow to the rest of his body.
Chún let his thoughts and sense of time float outward with the Essence that infused his body and dropped into a meditative state.
When the young True Cultivator's awareness returned an unknown amount of time later he found himself floating on his back, looking up at the flares of light reflected from the ceiling and walls of the cavern, the embedded flecks of minerals glittering like stars as they reflected the glow of the Silver Oak. He released a turbid breath and shivered all over, exercising all the muscles in his body in a single movement, before tucking and rolling to his feet.
Throwing his head back, Chún released a pulse of Essence that wrung the water from his hair and strode towards the edge of the hot spring, "Tai, how long was I out for?"
"Good Morning to you too, True Cultivator," his locus responded in the link, a subtle amusement dancing between them, "not terribly long - it is still the day after you went to sleep."
As he stepped onto the warm stone floor, Chún held his arms out at shoulder-height to either side away from his body with a long-suffering expression on his face, accommodating a swarm of Esense Sprites as they flowed over him like a multicoloured wave of cheerful chirping, then vanishing elsewhere to leave him clad in elaborately tailored robes.
"They are definitely getting a lot more pushy about the clothes," Chún grumbled as he tugged at the robes, reflexively smoothing non-existent wrinkles, "although it seems their quality and range is rapidly increasing," he observed, looking at the cut of the cloth, "where did they get the idea for this from? It does not look quite like anything I have seen before."
"That is a good lead into what we need to discuss, actually," Tai's mental tone was thoughtful, "when you cleaned out and healed those safe areas in the wilderness did you mean to make them open to everyone?"
Chún blinked at the change of subject, "Well, of course - they are meant to kick start the repair process across the greater wilderness of Fusou - they would not do much good if they were restricted. I did make it so the area within each safe area punishes hostile intent, of course."
"The issue is that the safe areas outside the one I am able to control directly," Tai explained, "that is, the one I created myself, have all become occupied since you set them running."
"I take it you mean by someone other than the refugees," enquired Chún as he walked through the exit tunnel and the screen of Heaven and Earth vines covering the entrance, blinking at the overcast sky and light rain falling through the Essence mists that always drifted over the clearing - the abstruse and mysterious Dao Patterns of protection and hiding glowing dimly in their depths.
Ignoring the sight of the protective mists, having long become accustomed to the sight, Chún laid a respectful hand on one of the larger taproot vines that framed the the cavern exit as he stepped through it as a morning greeting to her Highness as he continued thinking into the link, "I did not think there was anything besides Essence Beasts that deep in the Fusou - even the village is on the edge. The Refugees are coming in from the west instead of down from the north - all of that is unclaimed."
"You would normally be correct," agreed Tai, "or at least mostly - there have been the occasional bandits or wandering Consumers that have travelled this far in - otherwise there would not be bodies on my original slopes - if you recall?" The locus reminded him as Chún reached up to catch a glowing sphere that dropped from the Heaven and Earth Vine, making a respectful salute as thanks towards the powerful Essence plant existence as its fruit fell into his hand.
"OK," Chún agreed, sending the assent back through the link as he bit down into the firm, delicious fruit that immediately released a burst of Essence into his mouth along with the succulent flesh, "again - I assume that is not the problem you are referring to."
"Technically, it is not a problem," demurred Tai, "but it is likely to make the situation difficult for your pet Consumers."
Chún's eyebrows rose, "My pet Consumers? Remind me again who thought it would be a wonderful idea to bring them in to establish a Sect to protect the rift to Hidden Mountain?"
Tai did not bother replying directly, "The massive increase in Essence Levels over Golden Crow in the past few days has apparently awoken a number of Ancient Beast Kings within the area of Wilderness you call the Fusou. It is one of the larger untamed areas left on Golden Crow, so it makes sense that beings from times when Essence levels were generally higher escaped and went into hiding in that region."
Chún thought back to Tai's earlier statement, "Hnm… I take it some of these beast kings have moved into the safe areas ahead of the refugee group."
"Since they are now calm areas of high density pure Essence, yes," confirmed Tai, "your Fairy has already managed to foil one attempt by the local Ancient Beast King to push their group out of the safe area they currently occupy and actually managed to force an uneasy co-operation, but it is doubtful the refugees will be able to access the other areas further in at this point."
"No one can fight inside the safe areas - but they can be blocked out from entering them," realised Chún, sinking down in the middle of the Heaven and Earth Vine clearing to sit cross legged as he continued eating, "you should have mentioned that there were other high level Essence Beasts out there with this sort of ability - you called them Kings, so I presume they are leading other Essence Beasts?"
"It has been literally millions of years since there have been any Ancient Beast Kings or Queens on Golden Crow. I had no reason to even remember their existence until they started appearing near your safe locations," replied Tai, "and I only have direct control of areas on Golden Crow directly around my original sight. The only reason I can see what is happening in the safe areas is because you and I created them," his locus sent disgruntled sensations down the link, "but that is where the Essence Sprites have been getting new fashion ideas from - they can see everything I can - and the archaic styles some of the Queens in particular are wearing have inspired them."
"What is the difference between a High Level Essence Beast and what you are referring to as a beast king or queen?" asked Chún carefully.
"An Essence Beast King or Queen is an Essence Beast that has been able to cultivate until they can assume a human-like form," his locus explained, "however, it has been literally tens of thousands of years since Golden Crow has had high enough Essence Levels for any Essence Beast to Cultivate to that level and thousands since the Essence was high enough to support the existence of Beast Kings that had already managed to achieve such a level. It was thought by the Consumers that they were merely legends or had all died out." Tai's mental voice carried a slight sarcasm, "not surprisingly they got it wrong - apparently a few of the more powerful Kings and Queens managed to go into hibernation - and they have awoken now that the Essence Levels are rising again."
"You are speaking of Yāoguǐ - like Prince Bái and Lady Bingqiǎo," realised the young True Cultivator.
"No - The White Tiger and the Dark tortoise are Demi-god quasi-immortal level beasts Possessing one of the Four Guardian Bloodlines. A Beast King or Queen is merely an Essence Beast that has managed to Cultivate to a World level and has gained the ability to assume a part human form. You will have noticed that if it was not for their accessories, Prince Bái and Lady Bingqiǎo could easily past for high leveled human Cultivators if they wished," his locus contradicted him, "a Yāoguǐ always retains elements of its Beast origins even in its humanoid form - and they are much less powerful. An Essence Beast must Cultivate to at least mid-World level to attain a human-like form and they always lose several levels when they gain their human-like form - they usually drop to low Sky at least and must re-Cultivate from that point - thor Cultivation is much slower than when they were just an Essence Beast from that point forward."
"Why would they choose to attain a humanoid form then?" questioned Chún
"Without the increase in intelligence and the ability to use weapons or tools that comes with developing a human-like form, a World Level Essence Beast is just a free resource for any Human or humanoid Cultivator at a similar level," explained Tai, "the Heavens suppress Essence Beasts who make it to that level of Cultivation - they cannot proceed with their Cultivation without attaining a humanoid form - but it requires a great deal of resources and levels of Essence that have not been available on Golden Crow for many thousands of years."
Tai seemed to be thinking something over as he slowly added, "in many ways it is similar to how my Cultivation from a Secret Land to an actual world required me to break a Heavens Chains and form a Heaven of my own - I would have never progressed past a secret land if I had not succeeded."
"Well, on the plus side that will make it much more difficult for any Consumers trying to come into the Wilderness - I presume any beast Kings would object to Consumers crossing their territory," Chún pointed out, nodding to show his understanding.
"Yes… but the refugees may not make it either," agreed Tai.
Chún was thinking hard, "Tai, we claimed control of the entire area when we were talking to the refugees, did we not? If we suddenly have a lot of Beast Kings claiming territory around us are we going to be attacked? Will Beast Kings try to occupy the mountain?"
Tai was silent for a moment, "A True Cultivator is considered a special and honoured existence among Beast Kings and Queens - once they realise who you are it is more likely they will accept your status above theirs. As a Mountain I can still command any Essence Beasts that come into my domain - and that includes the Kings and Queens. Additionally with your presence, they are assured to have the ability to gain the Essence and resources they need. Especially since they are likely finding the Essence Levels less than adequate despite recent changes."
"But they do not know about our presence," pointed out Chún, finishing the last bite of his fruit and resting his chin in his hands thoughtfully, "they might come here seeking treasure - or attack the village - I seem to recall from the stories that most Yāoguǐ were not particularly well disposed towards humans."
"Again - I can control any Essence Beast who comes that close - that is why the last safe area is clear after all," reminded his locus, "as for not knowing about you - the only reason that the Beast King your Fairy friend ran into agreed to cooperate with the refugees rather than force them out of the safe area is because he sensed the touch of a True Cultivator on her clothing and that flute you finished for her. She is a clever human - she caught on to that fairly quickly, even though she does not know exactly why - and has negotiated for passage though his territory by pointing out that you might be annoyed if her group was inconvenienced."
Tai paused as Chún goggled slightly in concern, then continued blithely, ignoring his friend's expression,"of course, she actually managed to fight him to a standstill - granted it does not appear that he was going all out, but that would have won her fair bit of respect, especially given her young age. He has agreed to let them rest at the current safe place until they have fully recovered as long as he can send some an envoy with them to meet you."
"Fully recovered? What… Wait - Envoy?" Chún rubbed his face, his mind moving quickly, "and you mentioned Beast Kings, plural - so I take it by the time they get there, there will be several envoys?"
"Which is a good thing, if the Beast Kings have close ties with the new sect," interjected Tai, radiating a smugness that Chún felt was somewhat inappropriate.
"Except - I am barely thirteen of forteen summers - will they still be pleased to meet me then?" pointed out the young teen True Cultivator.
"You have an entire planet as your locus," said locus rebutted, "if anything they will be trying to convince you to let them cross over into Hidden Mountain rather than staying on Golden Crow - the Essence Levels here are what they are used to."
"And why are the refugees travelling so slowly?" asked Chún after a few moments, changing the subject, "after racing like a madman to set the safe areas up thinking they would only be a day or so behind me?"
"Essence Beast attacks, massive disruptions and eruptions of Essence, heavier levels of Essence they are used to coping with - all of the lower levels below Sky are struggling to cope with a much more Essence rich environment than they have experienced before," Tai explained, "listening to their discussions they are barely managing to keep up with the demands being placed on them. Many have had explosive gains in Cultivation, heavy wounds and exhaustion. They need time to consolidate their gains. Remember what happened the first time you left the dimensional pocket and nearly died due to the sudden drop in Essence? Think of that, except in reverse. They need time to acclimate, recover and process all the corpses they had to kill and harvest to prevent Essence Wraith attacks."
Chún blinked then rested his face in his hands, "I have already started to forget what it is like to be a normal human," he muttered to himself in chagrin.
"A little, but that is normal," agreed Tai, "Do not worry, your new," the Mountain paused delicately, "friend is very resourceful. She should be able to get most of them here safely eventually."
Chún sighed and lifted his face from his hands and stood up, "well, there is not much we can do for the situation at the moment - unless you are suggesting I go down there to intervene directly," Chún asked.
"If the situation becomes serious, I can open a rift to any of the safe areas directly, since we created them," Tai reassured him, "but I do not think it would be good for the refugee group to become dependant on you - I recommend we let them make their own way here unless there is no other option."
"Okay… then what else should I do," asked the young teen, "since it appears there is no need to worry about their immediate arrival?"
"Well, the next village market is scheduled in four days - we should see if the road is open to allow traders through. We can take the time to improve the village defenses now - maybe covertly assist them with improving their facilities, since we have already told them to expect an influx of wealthy and high level Consumer types into the area."
"Maybe start making more goods to sell as well," added Chún as he walked over to his garden, noting that there were a lot of Essence Herbs and other items ready for harvest, "oh - I wonder how the 'Spirit Rice' is doing…"
創作者的想法 
WheeledWriter
WheeledWriter Apologies for the much smaller than usual chapter, but it was difficult to find time to write this week - what with returning to work and so on. The mental space was all wrong...
The other reason I chose to stop here is that the next section would have been a complete change of subject and focus with Chun going back to the village and seeing how things are progressing etc. I decided to put the natural change of topic into the next chapter instead of trying to do a rush job of adding it to this one.
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