Cain and three tired, beat-up men followed behind me as the sun reached its zenith. If the qi in the air had been thin before, it had become even worse. We finished all the haunted houses in the city even though I had found more than enough evidence to damn the high priest. Our looting had been relatively favorable.

Noon seemed the perfect time to burn a church.

I found quite a few scrolls, tombs, and sections of bone describing cultivation arts and forbidden rituals. For whatever reason, the priests only swiped the books and scrolls out in the open. They never bothered with the stuff hidden in underground cellars. No potatoes, peanuts, or yams were ever harvested either, and my inventory grew fat thanks to their carelessness. Ugh, if I had more time and distance from my raid party, I’d rip up and store the haunted houses' nails, boards, and shingles. Luckily, they didn’t see me swiping any of the spirit trees or barrels of spirit water. The smaller trees were easy to uproot.

With a bit of luck, I should be able to replant them. The apple, pear, peach, orange, banana, and cherry trees would make the beginnings of a fine orchard. I also managed to swipe some spirit wine hidden away from the priests. They didn’t even try to dig up the yard, the amateurs.

Rubix taught me something with his memories. A haunted house is more than the sum of its parts, the same with a spirit crafted from a ghost ship’s driftwood. But, while he shared his origin with the ghost ship, his form was a box filled with imagination. So, by that logic, I could do the reverse. I could take the parts of many haunted houses and create my own haunted land. But, of course, I was missing some fundamental knowledge only known by the higher-ups.

I needed to know the formations that trapped and manipulated qi.

…

I severely underestimated the situation. “By the Prophet, High Inquisitor Logan, they’re trying to manufacture a spirit King of Kings.” Inquisitor Roland said. “We need to execute the population and retreat. Once a King of Kings is born, its aura will sweep through the city and turn living people into qi to further fuel is birth.” Roland said, then shook his head. Even if we wiped out the population, it has the river’s qi to absorb. If it manages to enter it, then we could have an empire of spirits on our hands. Even if the Prophet sent his seraphs, it’s unlikely they could destroy the serpent once it establishes its territory.” Roland yelled.

The room charged with static before the man threw his hands in the air as if giving up.

Logan nodded slowly. “So, that’s why they left the women. It was a red hearing to distract us from their true plot.” Logan said.

I wondered where Emily was in all of this. Logan might have sent her to scout on the cathedral to make sure the priests don’t flee. Or she might be burning buildings down already. I looked out one of the windows to see if there was any smoke on the horizon. Sadly, there was nothing.

“My lords, my sister Felicity is missing along with my brother,” Cain said.

Logan grabbed the Count’s heir by the shoulders. “Who invited the high priest into your home? Was it your brother or sister?” Logan demanded.

“My brother, why does it matter who the heretic tricked? My siblings are taken, and my parents are unresponsive; they have stopped speaking or moving. It’s like they’re waiting to die.” Cain said.

Roland’s eyes widened before he spoke. “I’ve heard of a spirit capturing ritual that was forbidden long ago. It was used to capture heretic spirits and format them into a triad-aligned form. To complete it, a brother and sister aligned with the spirit’s element are required. The priest plans to separate the spirit into its yin and yang parts, bond it to the coalescent realm within the two, and then execute them. The resulting spirits will be king of kings rank and within the law.” Roland said.

Logan stared at the other inquisitor. “Just knowing such a foul ritual is grounds for censure. So were you sent here to scout the situation or die?” Logan asked.

I looked between the inquisitors who seemed ready to brawl. Richard Went, a solidly built man, looked a loud sound away from panicking. But, honestly, we were on a timetable either we ran or fought. Either way, we needed a plan now that we had a firm understanding of what we were dealing with. I sucked in a breath and let it out; it was time to use what little protocol Emily had taught me.

When I stood up and approached them, Roland reached for his sidearm, but Logan only watched me with a hint of concern. “My lord, inquisitors, while this situation is hot, we need a plan of their attack or retreat. You have discovered the most likely scenario and time isn’t on our side. We can not know when the King of Kings will awaken, but we know the high priest has a way of shielding from its awakening. If we escape, it may be too late to get out of its aura range, but if we attack, we may find a means to survive its aura. If we kill the high priest, all we have to deal with is a wild newborn king of kings. But give him time to conduct his ritual, and we’ll have to deal with a clever opponent with the might of a king of kings.”

Logan nodded. “You’re right, Red, the high priest, will have the means to protect himself from the serpent’s awakening. So our best move, for now, is to evacuate any below Nascent realm and strike while we can.” Logan said.

Roland nodded slowly and looked back at his men. “Alright, then I’ll regroup with Emily while you break in and put the high priest’s plans to the torch,” I said.

Logan placed a heavy hand on my shoulder, and his face grew solemn. “Emily was captured by the high priest. Even now, it's likely she is either dead, or her cultivation base is being used to fuel the serpent.” Logan said.

…

My eyes roamed over characters carved on a hunk of fossilized whalebone. “You can’t go; you would only be a burden on us. If Emily’s alive, I’ll bring her back. You’re too green for this battle.” Even as he spoke, I digested the new cultivation method provided by the whalebone. Ocean King’s Fancy was a powerful technique but still only in the Coalescence realm. Not to mention it was only moderately complete. Still, it would be a boon in a water qi-rich environment. “What are you even doing with that?” Logan asked.

“The serpent will be held in a water qi rich environment. I thought this castle was supposed to be water qi rich, but the qi here is thinner than in the town. How did that happen?” I asked.

“The same way everything else happened. Someone turned a blind eye as the entirety of the town was converted into a nest for this serpent spirit. Maybe they were paid off, blackmailed, or invited into this conspiracy. We will not know the truth until we question the high priest.” Logan said.

I met the man’s gaze. “I’m going to save Emily not to fight a battle I have no place in. After we retrieve Emily, I’ll escape with her.” I said.

Logan gave me a stern look. “She has been gone for over a day. The high priest has entered the final stretch of his plan. I know you want to save her, but it may be too late.” Logan said.

My battle form beat against my control. I wanted to fly over the cathedral and rain fire down upon it. “Emily is strong; if anyone can survive this, it's her.” But, I said, that woman had knocked me flat more than a few times.

Logan stared at me for a moment, then nodded. “This is your life. If you want to spend it trying to save another, it's your choice.” But, come, there is no time to wait.

We crossed the distance to the cathedral in a matter of moments. Our qi enhanced speed allowed us to cross great distances using the inquisition stepping techniques. The cathedral loomed overhead as a building made of cut limestone. An obviously new door with a red and blue serpent stylized stood out as if saying come and get us.

Roland kicked the doors off their hinges, and water qi flowed out in a grand torrent. When stepped inside, just as black script formed a web around the entrance. The flow of water qi stopped cold, and I decided to steal their formations before we left.

I began cultivating the Ocean King’s Fancy and felt the vast amounts of water qi in the airflow into me. Just a few hours in this place would see my cultivation rise by leaps and bounds. A week in here would get me to mid coalescence realm. That didn’t count spirit food and beast cores. But, of course, there was competition for the qi here. A massive blue egg the size of a hummer wobbled back and forth, sucking in ludicrous amounts of water qi. It was like a hole in the ground. If not for the constant supply flowing into this place, it would have stripped the water qi from the cathedral in a single breath.

My eyes broke from the egg to see the blonde hair of Emily hunched over in a pew staring at a book. She was the only breathing soul among those occupying the pews.