Chapter 473: Feeling Out New Paths

So it turned out that Zin Nim's new body was gray all over, except where it was black. Omilaena's theory was that the dark blood had fully fused with her, providing coloring throughout the body. The most obvious was her lips, which looked almost as if she used dark lipstick, but Omilaena had taken great pleasure in confirming that the pattern extended to other places as well.

She blushed dark gray, too, which was adorable.

After that first time together Omilaena lay back, inordinately pleased with herself even though she hadn't been the one to achieve the breakthrough. She had suspected that there was a mental hangup preventing Zin Nim from advancing her Physique, but hadn't realized it could take this form, or that the result would be so powerful. The method ran contrary to all the complexion-focused arts the Pureflower sect taught, yet Zin Nim's skin was actually extraordinarily healthy as far as Omilaena could judge. Soft and yet supernaturally strong, resisting her needles like armor when she drew blood.

Well, what did all the jade maidens know? There was green jade too, why weren't they all astonished by dryads? As far as Omilaena was concerned, this gray skin was far more alluring, and she'd done her best to persuade the other woman of that.

Even so, she knew it would probably take more than that. Zin Nim had a lot of mental issues baked into her from how she was raised, and a lot of those had to do with sex and sexuality. It had taken her so long to figure out she was interested in women, it would take her longer to get rid of all those mental patterns.

That meant that Omilaena accepted that she couldn't fix all of Zin Nim's insecurities on her own, since they were so tied up in being viewed by men. Eventually they were going to need Kai to come and fuck those insecurities out of her. Omilaena wasn't put out by that... on the contrary, she was looking forward to it.

For now, though, Zin Nim cuddled against her side happily, forgetting about her family and all the issues that plagued her. Omilaena pulled her a little closer, relaxed, and for a time was able to forget her own.

.

..

.

As they traveled, Omilaena kept an eye on the other woman, just in case there was some terrible consequence they'd missed. While she doubted that anyone had undergone Zae Zin Nim's exact combination of trials, or used the Blackblood Physique with so many different entrenched powers, it was still risky to break new ground. Yet over time, she became convinced that they truly had broken into something new.

Despite the fact that Zae Zin Nim complained about not having a ship, to Omilaena's eye she seemed to be inexhaustible, easily able to train even while they traveled. In fact, she was clearly taking great joy in returning to all of her old training exercises and making progress in them after so long being stuck at E rank. Well... she was still at that rank, but she wasn't stuck anymore.

It took less than a day for Zae Zin Nim to suddenly let out a small gasp of joy. Omilaena glanced over at her soul and saw that she had increased her Physique by one level.

<

Name: Zae Zin Nim

Total Power: 1690

Cultivation: Earth Soul 62% (524)

*Heavenly Sash: Cultivation +10% (52)

Coldfire Corona: 33 (399)

Pure Yin Shroud: Spinel Rank (245)

True Blackblood Physique: E-1 (406)

Soul Level: 8 (64)

>

"That was so easy!" Zin Nim marveled. "I was just doing my old Brightwind routine to make sure there were no deviations, and I advanced!"

"You're just getting the normal advantage of being at the beginning of stage instead of near the limit," Omilaena said. "What's more interesting to me is that your Power went up by 6. That's not the way it should work."

"Yes, I suppose E rank is normally two per level."

"Sure, but the bigger issue is that D and C rank both seem to be five. I was wondering if you had somehow reached the equivalent of D rank while still at E, but that doesn't seem to be the case."

Zin Nim nodded to herself. "That fits the theory that this is something different. And doesn't that make sense? Kai was always saying that he was surprised how C rank didn't offer more. Oh! You don't suppose he could have gone in the wrong direction, do you?"

"Don't get yourself worked up over nothing." Omilaena ruffled the other woman's hair, which infuriatingly fell back into perfect position. "He may be on a different path, and if not, maybe you can dual cultivate him back in the right direction."

Another gray blush, another chuckle, and they moved onward.

They confirmed that they had escaped the patriarchs, but there were still squads of cultivators representing many sects under the Masterful Crown. Just to be cautious, they kept qi usage to a minimum, which was honestly more inconvenient for Zin Nim than Omilaena. The other woman didn't seem to mind, instead throwing herself into the traditional mana exercises Kai had taught her.

On their way north, they confirmed that there was no sign of the Krysali or the ship. Omilaena guessed that if they had been captured, they'd be tortured for information and then probably crucified as a message to her, so no sign was good news. Where they'd gone, however, remained an unknown.

Omilaena mostly reassured Zin Nim about things, but she was worrying a bit herself. Kai continued to advance inexorably with that insane double soul of his, and with this jump Zin Nim had leapt far past her. After so much effort to build perfect balance in her soul, Omilaena was far stronger than anyone she'd considered a rival, yet wasn't keeping up with her partners.

She looked over her soul and again saw nothing but the usual slow and steady progress:

<

Name: Omilaena

Total Power: 1360

Heart of Poison: Level 86 (344)

*Prana Jewels: Level +5 (20)

Lethal Artisan: Spinel Rank (305)

Ice Refinement (107)

Path of Venomsteel: Step 10 (150)

Physique: D-9 (245)

Soul Level: 8 (64)

Azure Core (+125)

>

Was it possible that by filling every capacity of her soul she had actually limited herself in some way? Kai and Zin Nim, with their massive advancements, still had capacities of their soul unfilled. It was theoretically possible that most people didn't use them all not because they weren't capable of it, but because there was a serious weakness to that method. Omilaena didn't have any strong reason to believe that, since so far using the soul fully had always been beneficial, but as she looked at the others, she had to consider it.

One day Zin Nim was doing another of the barbarian exercises: push-ups that ended with an explosive burst of mana that shot her into the air. Omilaena was watching her technically to monitor her Physique, but she was actually just enjoying the soft grunting sounds and imagining the other woman bouncing around in different ways.

Then, without warning, the power flowing through her body became more intense. Zin Nim gave a soft cry and turned her next push-up into a flip that sent her spinning overhead before she landed on her feet.

"I reached E-2 already!" She looked down, flexing her fingers. "I can feel the new strength saturating my body... it's getting slower, but this is still wonderful progress."

"Congratulations." Omilaena slid up beside her, holding her waist. "I'm glad to see you increased by 6 Power again, too."

"But... isn't that exactly what you would expect?"

"Normally, yes. But everything about your new Physique has been so strange, I was a little worried that it would be different every level or something weird like that."

"Ah, I see. It would actually have been interesting if it had been 7, like it was accelerating..."

Omilaena groaned and shoved her away. "You already have an unprecedented Physique of immense strength, don't get greedy! No, it's good that it's stable like this. Keep training and you should get consistent gains."

Another day, another breakthrough. Omilaena was glad to see the progress, so the question was just how much stronger Zin Nim could get before Kai returned. She didn't want to just wait for him, so as they moved, Omilaena continually considered other paths.

They continued traveling north through the unmapped forests, with absolutely no logistical issues thanks to supplies in their spatial items. Omilaena would have been happy just to continue like that - cultivators were overrated, with one particular exception. But when she noticed strange markings on some of the trees, she realized that they wouldn't stay alone for long. Yes, she could have pretended she didn't see, but she didn't really consider that for long.

"Remember this?" Omilaena asked. Zin Nim twisted in midair and reversed direction, then stared at the symbol.

"Oh, it's like in Krysal... but those were in rocks."

"They're adapting to the environment. Most likely the Krysali left these."

"Unless there is some sort of bird that makes exactly that symbol."

Omilaena stared at the other woman, then saw her sly little smile and rolled her eyes. Honestly, playful Zin Nim could be ridiculous, but it was better than the muted passive version of her.

Now that they were looking for the symbols, they found more. The code itself was pretty opaque, designed to be readable by the revolutionaries in Krysal but not those hunting them. It had been a very minor part of the revolution, but Omilaena couldn't help but notice patterns, so she analyzed the directions. Some were outdated, but they were clearly leading in a general northeastern direction.

They had very nearly reached the latitude of Floodisle City, though they were too far east, when Omilaena finally felt them. The group was well-hidden, with shrouds especially designed to obscure themselves from cultivators, but she managed to pinpoint them. From that point on, there was no need to hunt for symbols, they just flew to the remote location and at last discovered the Krysali.

When they arrived in the clearing, the guards leapt in shock, having completely missed their arrival. A few began to panic when they saw Zin Nim, though that was probably more due to her cultivator's robes than her new appearance. The merchant ship was seated on the ground, no longer hovering, and Cragrila appeared on the deck, calling for everyone to stand down. Not long after, Nirka emerged from around the side and sighed in relief when she saw them.

"I wasn't sure anyone would find us," Cragrila said as she jumped down. "Honestly, I wasn't sure if you'd survived."

"It was close for a while," Omilaena said. "Running was the smart decision."

Cragrila took a second glance at Zin Nim, but seemed to dismiss her new appearance almost immediately. Instead she gestured for them to follow her deeper into the camp. "Actually, we didn't do the smart thing at first, and it could have gotten us killed. I don't know what happened, but... well, you'll see..."

Past the Krysali guards, they reached a smaller clearing... and Omilaena saw the dryads. There were several dozen of them, some planted in the soil and some just seated under the trees. Given the cut of their robes, however, there was no question that they were from the village.

"We barely saved any." Nirka padded up behind them on bare feet and lowered her gaze. "The cultivators slaughtered almost everyone, but they weren't very organized about it. Some fled, some were scattered, and some survived after they teleported away. These are all that's left."

"It was a rough fight, even against their lower ranks," Cragrila added. "But we stole back some of the things they were looting from the village. You might want to look."

The dryads themselves seemed to be just refugees, both harmless and useless, but the possibility of treasures was interesting. Omilaena gestured for them to go and they were led to the lower holds of the ship, where a mediocre qi barrier locked away what little remained from the dryad village.

There were some common Cloudspire resources, like medicinal or qi pills, as well as some seeds that were slightly more interesting. A long spear-like branch was particularly intriguing, with far more chakra than average, but there would be time to investigate that later. For now it was a slight benefit, not a game-changer.

"Oh, there are more illusion wreaths..." Zin Nim placed one over her head and transformed into an average-looking old woman, though the aura of chakra was a little blunt. "These aren't as good as the ones Nymidria created."

"We still have better ones from her, assuming they still work." Omilaena found one and handed it over, but she was already turning away to Cragrila. "What are you doing out here? What's your plan?"

"We've been keeping our heads down," the Krysali woman said. "Obviously we can't do any more than survive, out here, but we know we're outmatched, so I'm not sure what else we can do. But we've been gathering intelligence."

"Really? How?"

"Not throwing ourselves into things directly, don't worry, but we've been watching all the ships and cultivators passing nearby. For a while everyone was in Floodisle City, including some incredibly powerful cultivators, but they've split up. Only a few remain... I think they might be vulnerable."

"Do you know exactly who?" Omilaena asked.

"The robes looked like the Purple River sect, or that's what the dryads said." Omilaena fixed her with an intense gaze. "They're beyond our reach, but maybe not beyond yours?"

"Sounds interesting. What do you say, Zin Nim, do you want to go infiltrate the enemy again?"

The other woman turned toward them, as if slightly puzzled, but the expression was on the face of a completely different woman. It looked like Nymidria's illusion wreaths survived her death, so combined with their rank slips, they could easily enter the city.

Omilaena began to smile as she considered the possibilities. Oh, she should be able to do more than just survive and wait.