Chapter 88

  Virtues of a Master (III)

  Despite the distance between the town and the sect being the distance of a marathon (or a few of them, really), Elder Qin turned it into a sprint.

  We made barely any stops and didn't sleep more than an hour a night for two days before finally making it to the last uphill climb.

  Once there, Elder Qin disappeared without saying a word, and I was left behind to settle the spirit horses and inform the sect of our return. Cao Qiu and Hou He left shortly after the Elder, while the rest of us rattled around the marketplace while listening to the many conversations detailing what happened.

  Apparently, it was a very public declaration--a voice boomed from the sky, its pressure immense, and proclaimed that the war competition would take place in fifteen days in a city east of the sect called Sun City. Very inspiring, I know.

  It was about an hour later that we finally left and climbed up to the mountain peak, settling down in our respective rooms.

  ... it was too soon, yeah. Something had happened to change the normal course of events. Ordinarily, according to customs, once an official Declaration of War is sent, the receiving side has about two months to decide on the place and the time. Though there were no time limits, per se, the date was usually set for six months to two years after the fact.

  It is pretty much unprecedented to have a war be set so quickly, and since it had to have been approved by the overseeing party... it was no wonder that Elder Qin rushed, as there was likely a conspiracy afoot. What kind of conspiracy? No idea.

  Ah, here comes the fledgling little monster that might shed some light on the whole thing.

  "Master," Long Tao greeted rather disinterestedly. It was actually kind of amazing that he still called me that--even in private. Then again, I did technically teach him two things, so, you know. Maybe he's literal like that.

  "Why aren't you resting?" I asked as he sat on one of the chairs, heaving one leg over the other.

  "While I was sneaking around inside the town," he said. "I... overheard something." Of course he did. "Something I didn't feel comfortable sharing with Elder Qin."

  "What did you hear?"

  "I'm not quite sure what it all means." Yeah, right. I almost rolled my eyes but just barely stopped myself. "But they were talking about it being too early to expose themselves, that it was best if they waited for the war, and that 'that' place will still be there. Talking about how they've failed to create the Seed, but in the process managed to discover the original one's location."

  "..." Okay, the whole thing is clearly some ranch dressing that he wove out for me. It had enough clues to piece together the entire thing, so my assumption was rather immediate: he mentioned the 'Seed', so it was most likely that thing Elder Qin mentioned during our little excursion.

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  He also mentioned that they failed to create it but managed to locate the original one's location. So, whoever was in that town was trying to recreate one of the Spirit Sword Sect's treasures... except, it sounded like it wasn't one of our treasures. I don't think he overheard any of these things, of course; he most likely beat the info out of the people he killed, people that Elder Qin just so happened to 'misidentify'.

  So...

  The war would be a time for them to reveal themselves, and the Seed would still be where they now knew it was.

  Right.

  So, when we go off to war, they'll sneak or break into the sect to steal the Seed.

  ... it may be my corrupted, perverted mind, but I just nearly burst out laughing at the 'steal the Seed'. No, definitely me.

  "It might be in connection to that Dao Seed Elder Qin mentioned," I egged on, trying to see if he'll share any more. "Could it mean that someone's trying to thieve one of the sect's treasures? And they might use the war as an opportunity to do so?"

  "... maybe," he shrugged, and I knew I wouldn't get anything out of him. And yet, despite not wanting to share... he didn't leave.

  "Is there anything else?" I asked after nearly a minute of awkward silence.

  "Maybe." Oh no. He's going to ask me to 'bring out' something new again; I can just feel it.

  "I'm all tapped out."

  "It'd be good for everyone." Hey, can he read minds? Did he somehow intuit that I'm grappling with that very decision? Isn't he, like, way more dangerous than I thought?!

  "I don't understand what you mean..."

  "Just a thought," he smiled vaguely and stood up, walking over to the door and stopping for a moment, glancing back at me. "It cannot be tamed, no matter what. As it cannot be won."

  ... and he was gone.

  Okay, Riddler. Thanks for that great advice!

  I swallow my bitterness and rub the bridge of my nose in frustration. This dance that we danced, it was becoming annoying... but it was also informative. He's probably just telling me that the 'Seed' itself is a so-called Wild Artifact.

  I actually read about them a decent amount during my binge of the world's history books. Most Artifacts are ordinary--like swords with slightly higher attunement to a specific type of Qi, or a shield with a minor reflective power, and so on. They were just pragmatic tools with an effect or two that made them 'special'.

  But there were hundreds of Artifact Categories, their pinnacle being the extinct Primordial Tools. That's what they call them, anyway, the set of 72 things that can create and unmake reality. I always assumed it's probably mostly fiction, as it happened 'seven bajillion years ago', but some of those categories sounded quite real, such as the so-called Wild Artifacts.

  The category simply meant that an Artifact could be used by a person but never actually controlled. It didn't even mean that the Artifact was in some way sentient, far from it, simply that its nature could not be compelled. The Artifact in question would always behave the exact same way, with or without human intervention.

  ... hmm? Hey.

  A sudden flash of insight inspired me slightly as memories of the strewn bodies in the town accosted me. I'd forgotten it as I tried to kind of wipe it away from my memories, but that scene was rather reminiscent of another that I witnessed, the one right here within the confines of the Sect.

  Outer Sect Wilderness, the heap of death where I found Dai Xiu and Hua. While the place wasn't littered with dead bodies, practically everyone I examined there was on the brink of death. I always just assumed it was the fate of the cultivators--some thrived and some died.

  But could it be that the Seed had something to do with that place? No, wait--those in town were trying to create it. And Long Tao basically confirmed that the Seed exists somewhere in the sect. Plus, my Creator's Eyes never even hinted at anything like it.

  And yet, despite all that rationalization... doubt struck like a great hammer, and I found my heart beating hurriedly. Could it be that the Sect was using failing disciples to cultivate a Dao Seed using their lives?

  ... no, right? Elder Qin, of all people, would never let that happen.

  If he knew, that is.