Yuan Ting carefully made his way forward, as he held out his hand covered in a flame he saw the darkness resist his attack.
"Darkness laws?" he made a guess, if his light wasn't lighting up well it was likely the opposite law causing interference.
He continued to make his way through, feet to earth. The floor was made of smooth quartz and each step clacked; resonating down the tunnel.
Surely if there were anyone else there. They would have been immediately aware of his obstruction. This, however, didn't give Yuan Ting confidence that there was noone.
'They might be leading me deeper' he thought instead.
Occasionally there would be split paths, though he did not elect to follow them, instead focusing on the main path. He couldn't get lost now.
He held his sword in his other hand, leaving it in a flexible position. Pointing out, ready to attack but not too far out that he couldn't defend if need be.
His sword, metallic black, was made from a special law-filled metal mined from a specific mountain in the far reaches of the world. It was extremely rare but it was perfect for his purposes; being able to defend from level 60 Hardening attacks.
While he said he didn't purely cultivate Sword Laws, he was still from Sword City, he would be stupid to not mainly cultivate Sword Laws. He coated his body in a thin layer of laws with the intention that in a dangerous time, they would be able to move himself to defend perfectly.
Putter putter.
Yuan Ting paused, hearing a slight noise as if stones had rolled along the floor. He looked at the walls, 'Likely just the tunnel walls…'
He shifted his foot, his weight moving forward. He pushed off the floor, causing a small surface crack to spread form where his foot pushed against.
Running forward, he sent obfuscation laws (ie. Must, fog, smoke) out of his skin, causing his form to turn larger. If an enemy wanted to attack him, he would be more likely to hit a false area of obfuscation rather than his actual body.
Jump. He pushed for the wall.
"Just some pebbles," he bent down and picked duo one such pebble, crushing it between his fingers, "But the whole time I've been in here, I've felt no shaking, why would it fall…"
Yuan Ting looked back at the wall from where it presumably fell from and fell tot with his hand, looking into his Spirit Stone Soul he felt his Sword Laws and moved them to the wall.
At the same time, he conjured a specific impression that would inform the expression the Sword Laws would take.
'Cut through the form, follow the flow of energy' Sword Laws were a category as well as a specific law, he had pulled out a specific Conjuration of Sword Laws for a specific purpose.
The laws existed his palm and entered the stone where they swum through the rock and went a specific direction.
He released his hand and opened his eyes, "A strong energy flow!" he looked back. He had a choice now, follow the flow or go back and retrieve his flare.
He stood there for a few minutes weighing up the choices. Eventually he fell to his knee and pulled out strong laws from his Spirit Stone Soul.
He conjured the image of a ball of yarn used to make sure one wouldn't get lost in a labyrinth, using that to form an expression that would follow his memory and essence he left to form a path for those who come from the flare activating to him.
He had already chosen, he would follow the flow of energy and go deeper into the tunnels. He needed to leave some sort of clue for the next people to come, especially if they were fork Sword City too and had little laws except Sword ones.
***
Far above, Hamar could not see much underground but by using Yuan Ting as an avatar and his techniques as a conduit, he spread his aura and discovered something.
"There appears to be fighting. Strong fighting. Level 80 Hardening or more." he looked towards Yuan Ting, "He should be fine, though the further he goes, the more likely I won't be able to help so easily."
He used his aura grid to send a portion of mental energy with set instructions and causality to the tunnel entrance.
The causality was used to give it some autonomy but also as a failsafe, if Yuan Ting had enough worth to save…Hamar shivered at the thought of measuring worths…if he was worth it, the causality would be spent to ensure his safe return.
It would all depend on what he finds there. Hamar assumed his little puppet would do well and turned away, he had a while battlefield of millions to worry about.
He couldn't help them all, but he sure would try his best to help the overall cause.
***
Yuan Ting went around dozens of different corners as he felt the atmosphere's density increase, "I'm close…"
In this moment, with the thick atmosphere, his sword wavered and he brought to closer to him for stability. He closed his eyes, thinking why he was doing all this.
Yi Sect were the ones behind his whole clan being destroyed and the remnants being absorbed into Nine Clouds Sect. He was not alive during this but he held his ancestors' in high regard.
He only found this out recently, before a few years back Yi Sect was only known as a small myth. Many wouldn't recognise the name at all. But a few years ago they returned to the spotlight and various information around them surfaced.
He grip upon his sword strengthened, to defend the honour of his ancestors, to protect those he loved now, for the world he would be ready.
Yuan Ting took a breath and moved his sword forward, ready for anything. He would be ready for anything.
Swish!
The Sword Laws covering Yuan Ting's body reacted, pulling his body in perfect coordination, his sword moved to deflect a slash.
A rock collided with his sword, deflected past him at high speeds to even start burning up.