Chapter 477: Qi and Poison in Floodisle City

Returning to Floodisle City while invisible was a bizarre experience for Zae Zin Nim. Often in the past she had been the subject of attention, either for her rank or her beauty, and even while the Blackblood Physique left her ill, she was the object of pity. But now, with the wreath of dryad leaves making her look like an average woman, she attracted no attention at all. Her rank 14 slip was higher than usual, but many nobles received the same, so it wasn't astonishing when it was assumed to be due to family connections.

As she walked through the streets, no one paid attention to her. If they could see her real form, they would surely be shocked, which still left her with complicated feelings. In some ways, it was a relief to be so utterly ignored.

"What about that one?" Omilaena suggested. It was still bizarre to glance over and see a plain-looking Cloudspire woman in place of her wife, though Omilaena seemed to exude sexuality through posture alone.

"Too tied to the Masterful Crown clan," Zae Zin Nim said. "Even if they can't see us, spies could make connections."

"Seems like everything in this fucking city is tied to the clan. What other choice do they have?"

"No, there can still be a sort of neutrality. That store is associated specifically with the Heavenly River sect, so they have no independence whatsoever. But there are other stores that trade with multiple sects, and because of their internal rivalries, those are more secure."

"Huh. Guess that makes sense."

Instead they managed to find a much more neutral store, one that again specialized in feminine cultivation. It might have been a problem if they'd been scrutinized too carefully, but their high ranks got them inside without trouble and they began to buy the rare, powerful qi they needed to advance.

As she looked for anything that might be useful, Zae Zin Nim realized that she had almost passed beyond the point where money could buy her any progress in cultivation. Most resources were of little use to her, and the truly exceptional like the immortality elixir were sect secrets that couldn't be purchased. And in that case, even the elixir was considered inadequate for their ambitions. She would pick up the highest quality qi the store had, so she could keep cultivating steadily just in case they needed to leave Cloudspire in the future, but what she needed to reach Sky Soul was time.

After a moment of hesitation, Zae Zin Nim also began seeking out materials with high concentrations of chakra compatible with her. She had once ignored her mana, only for it to be an essential part of her strength, so she didn't want to repeat the mistake with chakra. She would see what the Pure Yin Shroud became as she grew.

Meanwhile, Omilaena purchased different types of ice qi in order to enhance her tattoos. The "icy maiden" path was common enough, and despite the high quality qi already obtained from the Pureflower sect, her wife was taking an unusual path, so she needed sources of power that she could turn into ink.

That trip alone justified their entry into the city, yet as they moved on Zae Zin Nim was still a little disappointed. The central problem was that Floodisle City was just too big for them to find any of the people they wanted. Yes, it meant they were almost impossible to find, but it made all their work much harder.

Then, after over a day wandering in the city, they nearly stumbled over a group from the Verdant River sect.

For a moment Zae Zin Nim froze, afraid that their cover had been broken, before Omilaena urged her on. Their illusions were intact, after all, so they looked like anyone else in the city. This was a large group of young men, so they could be a threat to women, but they probably wouldn't bother anyone as plain-looking as their illusions. In private, maybe, but not with their peers watching and their egos on the line.

Simply seeing cultivators from the Verdant River sect could have been a coincidence, but one of them was the boy from the rebels... Hul Ping, that was his name. How had he gotten here? Betrayal seemed like the only answer, but the details could include significant information.

Omilaena glanced over at her, eyebrow raised, and Zae Zin Nim nodded. They followed the group into a restaurant and listened to their babble, mostly substanceless boasting.

It wasn't a waste of time, though: eventually Hul Ping left the group to go to the bathroom. That required him to step out of the main restaurant, so Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena went to intercept him.

Once he finished and started to return, Omilaena intercepted him from behind and placed a needle to his neck. He was stunned, and Zae Zin Nim was almost as startled, but she stayed beside her wife and tried to look stern.

"You fought against the Verdant Sect with the rebels, didn't you?" Omilaena asked.

"Wait, no!" Hul Ping was trembling in terror, not even trying to fight. "Ask the sect leaders, I was working against them! My information was why they were destroyed in the end!"

So he was just a turncoat coward. Not surprising, barely even disappointing. Omilaena glanced over at her and drew a finger across her throat with a questioning eyebrow, but after a moment, Zae Zin Nim shook her head.

"Did you see the one known as Kai Clanless?" she asked.

"Oh, he was a terrible barbarian!"

"Where is he now?"

"The rumor is that he vanished, but I can tell you where his women are! Spare me and I'll tell you everything!"

Both of Omilaena's eyebrows were raised now, but she withdrew her needle an inch. "Speak."

"Thank you!" Hul Ping turned and dropped his forehead to the street immediately. "His women fled to the west! I don't know the exact location, but I can take you to their path if you're trying to track them down."

Zae Zin Nim managed to keep her face neutral, but she was puzzled now. "Are you sure?"

Hul Ping trembled, but nodded adamantly. "Everyone knew that Kai Clanless had a massive tattoo across his chest, I saw it myself. But what isn't widely known is that this was a cultivation tattoo, from the Western Wilds. He and his women were always hiding among the western rivers, so that they could slip over the borders to the Western Wilds if necessary."

That was definitely wrong, so either he was a fool, or...

"Are you lying?" Omilaena asked mildly.

"I'm not! I swear on my life!"

"Because I'm glad you're lying. Go back in, tell them that nothing is wrong, and make excuses. Then buy a private room in the restaurant at the end of the street."

When they let him go, Hul Ping stared in astonishment as he rose, as if expecting to be killed at any moment. Then he ducked a quick bow and returned to the restaurant.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Zae Zin Nim asked.

"It sounds like he was misleading them for our sake," Omilaena said. "I'm giving him a chance to betray us. We can listen in, and if he reveals anything, we can kill the entire group."

But when they sneaked back into the restaurant, they didn't hear Hul Ping say a word about them. He told a stupid story about why it had taken so long in the bathroom and otherwise displayed the same bravado as the other young men. It seemed to come naturally to him, but she realized now that it was as artificial as the false humility many women displayed with one another.

And, after some time had passed, he made excuses and left the restaurant to follow Omilaena's orders. Once he left the others he looked incredibly anxious, which Omilaena seemed to find incredibly entertaining, but Zae Zin Nim didn't want to torment him. Hul Ping was apparently one of the only people in the far south who hadn't betrayed Kai.

When they entered the private room he tensed up and only got more nervous as Omilaena shut the door. Zae Zin Nim wanted to remove her dryad wreath and end his suffering, but remembered at the last moment that her appearance had changed. Better to let Omilaena do it... and when she pulled off the wreath, Hul Ping let out a huge sigh.

"You're alive!" He slumped back in relief. "They claimed every enemy was killed in the battle, but I saw the damage and I couldn't believe it. Where's Kai? He's still okay?"

"He's fine," Omilaena said smoothly. "What are you doing here?"

"When everyone in the Redtree rebels went turncoat, I did the same. If I hadn't I would have been killed, so what choice did I have?" He looked between them nervously, got little support, and then continued. "But I knew Kai was still fighting them, right? I'll do anything to get revenge on the young master who violated my sister. I've been trying to lead them wrong, but I... I haven't really accomplished much until you arrived. I don't even know where Yul Wei Ren is."

"As it happens, Kai is currently hunting him down." Omilaena slid one leg over another in one of her usual seductive maneuvers. "But he still has a lot of allies, and those are a problem for us. We need to take them out... and that means we need information."

"Of course! I'll get you everything I can!" Hul Ping started to babble before Omilaena wagged a finger and he collected himself. "Uh... most of the patriarchs have left Floodisle City to return to their own sects. But the one they call the Poison Prince is still here. I haven't been able to figure out what he's negotiating, but it has something to do with foreign sects."

"We don't need all the information, we just need to know a time when he'll be alone and relatively undefended. Any of the Masterful Crown clan's Sky Souls are a valid target, but the Poison Prince would be an excellent choice."

"Right, right, I understand!"

Hul Ping tried to ask some more questions, which Omilaena deflected until he got the picture. With many more apologies and thanks, he finally left them, promising they would meet up when he had concrete information. Zae Zin Nim sat silently throughout the conversation and all the arrangements, glad that her wife was able to handle all these details.

Once he was gone and they were alone, however, she spoke up. "You think we can isolate and assassinate some of the enemy?"

"They won primarily because they had greater numbers," Omilaena said. "The fewer cultivators they have who can fight on our level, the more vulnerable they'll be. I think the three of us together could take out even the top patriarchs, don't you? Even with your father's cloud technique, if we had a straight fight..."

Before, Zae Zin Nim would have said that was impossible... the patriarch of the Brightwind sect was simply too powerful. But now, as she tightened a gray fist, she nodded. "Yes."

(Cognosticon here. Next month the story will be switching to posting four chapters all at once on Friday. This is not an experiment, it's a necessity: I will be traveling and may not be able to upload chapters consistently. Trying to pre-schedule a ton of chapters at once could easily lead to mistakes that screw up the whole sequence, whereas a smaller number of uploads is easier to manage.

The intent is to return to the normal schedule after. However, to be direct, readers are catching up to me and I am struggling with writing the fifth arc. I hope that after my travel I will be refreshed. What I can promise is the conclusion of the Cloudspire arc and, as always, clear communication.)