Bai Lian was ridiculously bored.

She knew full-well that she was a prisoner, and one that was effectively waiting her date of execution for participating in the annihilation of the Clear Knowledge Clan.

But at least give her a book!

She sighed, looking up at the ceiling and wondering what kind of array was used in the construction of the cell. It was so thorough that it only let in enough mana for her to sustain herself, but nowhere near enough for her to cultivate to pass the time faster.

She’d tried meditating for the first few days, but that soon grew old when she couldn’t also cultivate while doing it. So, she’d given up on that line of thought and instead chose to start exercising. Her master had long told her that she needed to at least spend some time on conditioning her physical body instead of constantly having her nose in a book, sparring time notwithstanding.

Bai Lian hadn’t bothered, for she had been at the top of her generation, not needing to do something as pedestrian as “working out”. She could dominate most over her opponents through the sheer strength of her cultivation. A little more muscle wouldn’t change anything if the fight came to a physical confrontation.

Now?

She was so bored that she no longer cared.

So, there she was, stripped down to her undergarments as she did push-ups, sweat dripping off her nose. She’d been working out for so long that her body had developed noticeable tone to go with her feminine curves. She wasn’t sure if she’d continue to the point where she’d seen some of her senior sisters get to, looking more like a musclebound man than a woman.

It ultimately didn’t matter though, given she wasn’t likely to leave her prison alive.

For all that her gaolers hadn’t provided her any entertainment, they had at least provided her with some clothing. Not only that, she found that the cell was made with an array that cast [Cleanse] every hour or so, so she hadn’t needed to worry about getting… smelly.

As for her current state of undress, well, the only person who’d visited her was Asura. Even the meals were delivered by an odd golem.

Which was why it was all the more shocking when she heard someone clear their throat as her arms came to full extension.

Standing on the other side of the barrier was a young man more handsome than almost anyone else she’d ever met, but those thoughts were doused in icy water when she saw his purple hair and emerald green eyes.

His cold stare sent shivers down her spine, causing her flesh to pebble up. As he continued to stare at her, she became increasingly aware of her state of undress, and the fact that her arms were starting to wobble.

She saw his eyes shift to where she’d left her clothing before turning away slightly.

Bai Lian jumped to her feet faster than she’d ever moved before, getting dressed like a cyclone. She was just buttoning the odd pants when he turned around again to regard her with his cold stare.

She didn’t know what it took for someone to get a look like that so young, but then silently reprimanded herself as her mind caught up to the random thoughts spinning through her head. Of course he’d look like that; they’d destroyed his home and clan.

It was then that her body moved again. She dropped to her knees and adopted the sitting posture of someone about to be beheaded, eyes staring at the smooth floor, a trickle of sweat running down the side of her face.

As the silence extended into a sort of deathly silence in her mind, she wondered what her fate would be. Asura had been pleasant enough, especially when Bai Lian had been so cooperative and willing to answer what questions she could. But thinking back to the woman, she had the same emerald green eyes as the young man in front of her.

Was she another member of his clan, but a more distant relation? Did they even have branch families?

Just as her legs were starting to get to the point where she was feeling pins and needles from the lack of circulation, the young man spoke.

“Would you like to go for a walk?” He asked casually.

However, his tone was lost on her as her mind stalled out.

- - - - -

Bai Lian was flabbergasted now, which might have been an upgrade to how she’d felt not twenty minutes ago.

At the same time, she was a bit terrified to be walking next to the young man who’d led her out of her cell.

Even though her cultivation had somehow dropped to the Human Realm, she could still vaguely sense Heavenly Qi. And she sensed it coming from him. Unless he was somehow much older than he looked, he’d made significant strides in his cultivation that would put any genius of her Sect to shame.

He looked to be about sixteen years old, in that phase where young men were still growing. As was evident by how lanky he was even though his shoulders were so wide. He even had some short stubble on his face, which given the chance, would likely become quite the distinguished beard in time.

What am I thinking?! She thought furiously as she kept her face still.

She looked about with renewed interest, working hard to distract herself from her wandering thoughts.

They’d passed by two strange castle-like buildings much taller than she was used to seeing in such a small settlement. She didn’t know where this was, but suspected that it was a “small world” given the lack of a sun even though it was bright enough to be noon outside.

She watched as people went about their business, spoke with others, or just sat playing Go under one of the many flowering trees. People, in turn, also noticed her walking with the young man. Most looks were only mildly curious, but she started noticing more than a few women with a gleam in their eye following her every move.

That got her sweating even though she was sure that her cultivation was higher than theirs, if they even had a cultivation that is. That shocked her a bit. There were so many mortals present that it almost seemed as though this were some sort of farming community run by a sub-sect. But that wasn’t the case here.

No Sect would allow so many mortals to occupy a small world, even if they were farming medicinal herbs, of which she almost exclusively saw amongst all the vegetation in sight.

Then there was the occasional head topped with purple hair of one shade or another. This was obviously either a remote sub-clan or where some of the main clan had escaped to. She was inclined to think it was the latter, though, given her earlier reasoning.

Her thoughts returned to her surroundings as her guide turned and led her to what looked like a small warehouse where he just waved a hand and the door opened for him. Another chill ran down her spine.

She hadn’t felt any Qi expenditure with that action.

It seemed that the intelligence had been correct, their clan must have had a higher than normal number of people proficient in Mental Strength than elsewhere. That was the only thing she could think of because she had absolutely no talent in that area.

Which humbled her further.

She’d thought herself a genius in her Sect, had been practically pampered by her master. But this young man, probably no more than a few years younger than her, outshone her in every way she could think of.

Then her heart stopped as she stepped through the door and saw the rows upon rows of cloth covered mounds. Human sized mounds.

The young man stood to the side watching her reaction, but she only distantly registered that. Her focus was on the numbers in front of her. There must have been a hundred…. No, there were one hundred forty-two to be exact. A number she checked and rechecked more times than she was able to keep track of in her fugue state.

Then she jerked violently when she felt a hand on her shoulder, her hands reflexively coming up to defend herself, but only found the young man’s cold look. Though, it now seemed to have a faint trace of sadness in it.

“Go,” he said, his voice now deep with suppressed emotion. “Find those who you would consider good people.”

She blinked at him, turned to the rows of bodies, then blanched. She had no desire to go see the dead, to have to look upon the corpses of people she had known.

It was like playing a morbid game of chance. Would you find someone you knew and cared about, or a stranger? Would she even recognize them? She knew just how violent the struggles between practitioners could get. Bodies were sometimes a luxury to collect so that the family could perform the proper funeral rights.

These mounds, though, all seemed to contain at least the majority of a corpse. She shuddered again, this time hard enough that her knees nearly gave out.

“Did you have family with you?” The young man asked, his tone unchanged.

Bail Lian just shook her head, eyes fixed on the ground under her feet.

The young man stayed silent for a time before speaking again.

“Then why is it so hard? Are they not merely acquaintances?”

“How can it be easy to see such death?” She snapped back before she could stop herself, eyes going wide.

The young man just looked at her, pity now showing in his eyes.

“No, it isn’t,” he said, then gave her a gentle, but firm, push towards the rows of bodies. “Go find anyone you would consider a good person.”

That he emphasized “good” didn’t escaper her notice even as her heart rate skyrocketed. Slowly, with steps smaller than that of a toddler; short, shuffling, and hesitant. Her eyes grew wider as she approached the first covered body, the cloth a natural tan colour. It was also much finer than you’d ever find in even most mid-sized clans, especially when put to such a use.

Her eyes scanned the contours of the body, noticing that the shoulders seemed a bit broad, likely indicating that it was a man. She looked down, now stunned that she was close enough to easily touch the body with her toes. Her breathing became shallow as sweat beaded all over her body.

Slowly, inch by inch, she crouched down, shaking. She reached out her hand, not even noticing how it wavered as her focus fixed on where the head was under the cloth. Her hand got there, then recoiled as her fingers brushed the too-smooth cloth.

Bai Lian took a steadying breath, closed her eyes, then pulled the sheet back to expose the face of the cadaver.

It took her a few seconds to get up the nerve to open her eyes, but when she did, she looked down at someone who would have been a stranger before they’d all been gathered for their mission.

She couldn’t remember his name, but did remember that he’d been one of the more boastful members of the younger generation that had come. But she really didn’t know him one way or another.

She glanced over her shoulder at the young man, noticing that he hadn’t moved from his spot. His eyes now looked more tired than anything else, though. So, she shook her head, giving a little shrug before quickly flicking the sheet back over the man’s face.

Looking back, the man finally moved, but only to nod towards the next cadaver in line.

Bai Lian gulped, now thankful that she’d been taken out for this task before lunch had been arrived. Otherwise, she’d have likely lost what she’d eaten at the thought of going through the rest of the waiting bodies.

She still might lose it though.

* * * * *

Joram watched as the young woman slowly made her way through the rows of the dead. This wasn’t his finest moment, not by a long shot. If anything, he wondered if someone from Earth would consider this cruel treatment for a prisoner of war. Or, well, anyone really.

He shrugged.

They needed information, more than Bai Lian was able to provide. Avi had gone through the many storage devices these people had carried, but hadn’t found anything particularly enlightening. Sure, they’d gotten a fair bit of pocket change from them, along with a slew of cultivation resources and medicinal pills. Some manuals and such for cultivation, but nothing extraordinary.

Well, the Tier 7 cultivator had had quite the fortune on him. Not any interesting reading materials though, just some low-key porn and erotic novels. He’d skimmed through the novels, but found that the writing was sub-par, so hadn’t considered adding it to the Library. Only superior literary works would be stored there after all.

Back to the task at hand. Bai Lian had taken upwards of five minutes per corpse to get up the nerve to examine them. As she progressed though, she seemed to either become desensitized to the task, or had managed to get a firmer resolve. Either way, it had still taken almost three hours instead of the half hour or so that he’d originally thought it would take.

The fact that she’d only indicated two bodies amongst the one hundred forty-two present was a bit telling. Now, there could have been a multitude of reasons behind that ranging from those people just being hardened warriors to outright assholes to her not knowing them well enough to make that judgement call.

Still, the two she’d indicated were in good enough condition to identify. There were a few that had her dry heaving, taking a good quarter hour to stop shaking.

The two, however, looked to be fairly young. Well, cultivation messed with apparent age quite thoroughly, so he could have been looking at people who were a hundred years old for all he knew. Well, he’d find out when he [Delve]’d the bodies.

Bai Lian made her way back to Joram’s side, face calm, but pale. He noticed that she was a few inches shorter than him, with a slight frame, but still had an eye-catching figure. She was also shaking ever-so-slightly.

He took a deep breath, causing her to flinch then steel her resolve, then exhaled.

Joram put his hand on her head, causing her to flinch again. But then, when her eyes found his again, he noticed the resolve in them, almost making her black eyes sparkle.

“That must have been hard,” he said, then turned away as he withdrew his hand. “Come, let’s walk.”

He paused at the door leading out so that she had time to wipe away the tears that had fallen silently down her cheeks.

* * * * *

The view would have been stunning save for the fact that it also included the ruins of a large clan and town.

Bai Lian sat at a small table one could find at any outdoor restaurant, a steaming pot of tea on the table between them. Each held a cup of the cooling liquid in their hands as they watched the sun slowly set.

The colours were fantastic. Soft pastels deepening to darker and darker hues that faded to the deep midnight blue of the early night sky.

She appreciated the light shawl the young man had given her, for it seemed as though it had snowed a bit recently, patches of snow still visible where the sun hadn’t been able to reach it.

When the young man finally spoke, it was so surprising that she almost spilled her tea.

“My name is Joram Aneath,” he finally introduced himself, causing her eyes to go wide. “I am the great grandson of Tatia Aneath, grandson of Bezia Aneath, son of Sulia Aneath. One of three left of the Aneath main family.”

Bai Lian tried to swallow, but found that her throat was now too dry. She couldn’t even remember that she held a teacup in her hands.

“Tell me,” he said, gaze still on the stunning sunset. “What should I do about the Sects? What do you think the punishment for attacking our knowledge-loving clan should be?”

Bai Lian’s mind froze, refusing to do anything except fixate on the thought of death.

“What would be the wisdom governing such actions on the Zhizun Zhanshi Continent?” He asked, finally turning his gaze to her, then pointedly looked at the teacup in her hands.

She finally remembered the tea, then took a long swallow to rehydrate her parched throat before answering.

“They would swear vengeance, killing to the fourth generation and enslaving the rest,” she said, her voice trembling.

“What do you think I should do?” He asked softly as his eyes seemed to pierce her soul, causing her to start shaking again.

She really didn’t want to answer with anything other than “mercy”, but she couldn’t get the words out. Part of the planning for the attack had been to get the numbers of their fighting forces, strategic assets, all the normal stuff you’d prepare before attacking a foreign power one assumed to be formidable.

There had been almost six thousand people living in his clan and the town before they’d attacked, a relatively small number for a supposedly powerful force working towards world domination.

She realized just how ridiculous that notion was now that she had time to really think about it. Gone were the seniors who constantly spoke about their righteous mission, constantly riling up the younger generation with thoughts of glory, honour, and reclaimed riches. Of how they’d bring back the stolen knowledge to the Sects, heralding a new age of cultivation.

Now, it all tasted like ashes to Bai Lian. The propaganda, for she now realized that it was exactly that, was no longer effective. Many of the younger generation that had made up their force now lay dead under sheets in a warehouse. She’d seen some of the older generation there, and even their leader had fallen.

But it was the disciples who’d suffered the greatest losses. Her peers. Even a few of her friends. Or people she’d previously thought of as friends until Joram had asked her to find the “good” people amongst the fallen.

It finally struck her as she remembered a detail of her morbid task. Not a single body had shown even the slightest bit of decay, most looking as though they’d just passed out. They almost looked alive, which had almost been worse when she saw those faces.

One had been a senior brother of hers who’d looked after her before her master had taken her under her wing. He’d been relatively selfless, not pressing his seniority to get… intimate recompense from her. No, he’d been a bit of a foodie, instead cashing in the many favours she owed him for free meals from her.

The other was a woman she knew more by reputation before meeting her in person. She was known as one of the top beauties of her sect, the Sky Lotus Sect, before their meeting. Mo Yu was also known to have a good temperament, kind and gentle. Aside from being a beauty, it was the reason why she’d been ranked as one of the most desirable women of their region. The so-called “Goddess Ranking”.

She almost laughed at that thought before remembering why she’d been thinking about those two people. Then swallowing hard again.

“Death,” she croaked more than spoke, embarrassment unable to get her attention.

Joram Aneath nodded as though he expected the answer then turned to the sunset again.

“And what do you think their response to that would be?”

Then she caught on, then clung to that thought for dear life.

“It would bring endless war. No side giving up until the other was annihilated,” she replied, shivering again as she imagined sects strewn with corpses as far as the eye could see, so many cities aflame that the smoke blocked out the sun over entire countries. Only the scavengers could be seen moving amongst the dead.

“Is that what I should do?” He asked, varying the wording of his earlier question.

She shook her head, not trusting her voice then. She, selfishly, didn’t ever want to witness such a sight.

“Then how should I answer my ancestors when they ask me what I did to avenge their clan?” His voice softened then, sending shivers through her body so strongly that her tea spilled over onto her hands.

He waited for a few minutes before speaking again, still softly, but lacking the aspect that had nearly caused her to wet herself.

“I will find my people and bring them home,” he stated, now starting up at the stars above. “I will find the people responsible for the attack. I will find those people who approved the attack, those whose lust for power, their greed, or just plain stupidity, led them to decide that their wants were more important than the lives of my family and friends, and remove them from this world.”

Even though the words were calm, she felt that they were said with such conviction that the world would pass before any of those words were made into a lie.

She couldn’t help but admire him then. This young man, whose cultivation was in a realm higher than hers had been before whatever had happened to her. This young man who also seemed to be gifted in Mental Strength. Whose foundation was so profound that she couldn’t get a proper grasp of how deep it went.

It was then that she silently vowed to do everything she could to make up for the wrongs she’d done to him and his. She would follow him to the grave.

* * * * *

Joram watched Bai Lian through his sphere or perception as his face was turned to the sky. But what told him the most about this woman wasn’t her expressions practically writing her thoughts across her face, but what he felt from her through the Network.

His last statement, of all that he’d said to her, had had the most profound effect on her. He felt such shame, determination, and hope coming from her that he wondered if he’d just created his first groupie. If the sparkling of her eyes was any indication, then he was probably right.

He motioned for her to continue drinking her tea, then continued to sip at his own as the night grew darker around them.

‘Avi?’

‘Yes, Joram?’

‘Could you arrange for the two marked bodies to be transferred to the prisons?’ He asked, not wanting to do it himself. He was a bit done at the moment.

‘Sure,’ she sent back, knowing full-well that he was passing off the minor effort to her. ‘Have you decided to start, then?’

‘Yeah. If [True Resurrection] works how I think it works here, then I’ll get to my kin after those two,’ he sent, referring to the two corpses he felt get shifted to the prison.

‘Are you going to let Sulia know what you’re planning?’

‘I’ll let her know once I’m certain of how things work,’ he sent back, not looking forward to that conversation in his near future.

‘How’s the talk going with Bai Lian?’ She asked, changing the subject. He welcomed it.

‘I think that it went so well because she was a relatively good person to start.’

‘I also got that feeling when “interrogating” her,’ Avi sent back with a mental nod.

‘Well, I think she’ll be a helper from here on out,’ he sent along with a brief summary of his observations during his conversations with Bai Lian.

‘Does that mean that we’ll be heading out to get Tillia soon?’

Joram grinned at Avi’s eager tone.

‘Yes, but I think there’ll need to be some planning before we head off. We also need to gather more information about the sects involved, as well as strengthen ourselves before throwing ourselves into the proverbial grinder.’

‘True,’ Avi drawled. ‘Does that mean you’ll bring others with you?’

Joram thought about that, realizing that he’d been speaking like he’d have people along for the ride. He didn’t want to bring Xixi or Zanth with him, as they were much too young. Nor did he want to bring his mother, as she not only needed to be there for Zaleria, Elodea, and Seldanna, but she also needed to bring her cultivation back up to where it had been, and even higher.

There were the three ninjas that had been guarding the refugees in the Heavenly Archive, but his people still needed protectors, so they weren’t even a consideration.

There was also Grammy to consider. Though if he was right about how [True Resurrection] worked here, then she’d also need to regain her strength. Especially if she also chose to follow her granddaughter in becoming a High Elan as well.

Which got him thinking. She had already had minor attainments in her cultivation of Mental Strength, so maybe she’d do well as a High Elan, able to draw out more benefits of the race.

Then another though struck him, one that he wasn’t very proud of.

When Altaea had first been changed into an Elan, her creators had installed a kind of kill switch that would prevent Altaea from going against their directives, even if they’d been dead for many centuries. The thought that made him slightly ashamed involved Bai Lian and the two she’d pointed out.

If he really wanted to be sure that Bai Lian wouldn’t someday betray him, then converting her into an Elan with that same kill switch incorporated into her making might work. If he did that, then he could wind up having legions of Elans at his beck and call, ready to do what was needed to achieve his goals.

But there were a few things wrong with that line of thought. One of the top ones was that each and every new Elan would need to start their cultivation over again, taking up precious time in doing so.

The next point revolved around his own personal ethics.

He would not make a race of slaves.

So, as tempting as the thought of having legions of Elans following his every order was, it really wasn’t.

Maybe in time he would put the offer out there for anyone he thought would want it, but he would never likely force it on someone. Especially the kill switch.

The thought of other Elans out there didn’t really bother him. They couldn’t make more of themselves, nor could they procreate. Sure, they’d live until they were either killed or committed suicide. Potentially causing issues for later generations if the person turned bad….

OK, maybe having demi-immortals running around wasn’t the best idea, especially if he hadn’t thoroughly vetted them beforehand.

‘Well, I guess I’ll head to the prison first and see if there’s anyone that would be willing to join us.’