Varek was the first to wake up. His thoughts were alone without the influence from Riku's mind. It was weird how Riku and he were the same person, but each brain worked differently. He loved the confidence and certainty of Varek's thoughts. He was decisive in this brain and knew what he wanted. He sent a quick message to Lia while he went to report in to his True Disciple. Not everyone reported to Elders directly. Large sects had a hierarchy. It was outer disciple, inner disciple, true disciple, elder, grand elder, and sect leader. Within each ranking was a further hierarchical structure. Riku then woke as he was walking up one of the many stone paths of the sect. It was truly massive.
The Flaming Saber Sect was built into an entire mountain range, with buildings carved directly into cliff faces and connected by elaborate chain bridges. Training grounds dotted various plateaus, and the sound of clashing weapons echoed from multiple directions. Disciples in red and gold robes moved about their daily routines, some flying on swords between levels.
Riku marveled at the sight through Varek's eyes. The sheer scale made the Flowing Water Sect look modest by comparison. Hundreds, maybe thousands of cultivators called this place home.
"Focus," she muttered to herself, remembering Tim's earlier challenge. Varek needed to maintain his reputation here, and she couldn't afford to look weak in front of his sect brothers.
As they approached the True Disciple's quarters a pagoda suspended between two peaks, Varek's memories provided fragments of what to expect. True Disciple Val was a late foundation establishment on the verge of breaking through to core refining. He looked to be in his early thirties.
Varek knocked on the ornate door and waited.
"Enter," came a calm voice from within.
The interior was spartanly decorated but exuded power. Val sat behind a simple wooden desk, his aura carefully controlled but unmistakably dangerous. His dark hair was pulled back in a topknot, and his sharp features bore the confident expression of someone used to command.
"Ah, Varek. Excellent timing." Val gestured for him to sit. "Your mission to Bastion was successful, I assume?"
"Yes, True Disciple. The beast hordes have been significantly thinned."
"Good, good." Val's eyes gleamed with something that made Riku's skin crawl. "I've been following your recent... social media activities. Quite the transformation. And this Lia from the Flowing Water Sect she's caught your interest?"
Varek nodded, unsure where this was leading.
"Excellent. Her recent display of power, even with that artifact excuse, has brought certain plans forward sooner than expected." Val stood up, walking to a window that overlooked the vast sect grounds. "Today, we take the sect Ark to destroy the Flowing Water Sect. They've become greatly weakened over many years. It's time to claim their resources."
Riku's blood ran cold. Through Varek's mouth, she managed to stammer, "The... the entire sect?"
"Every last one," Val said matter-of-factly. "Their territory, their cultivation grounds, their disciples all will belong to us by sunset."
"But Lia"
"Will die with the rest." Val turned back to face Varek, his expression suddenly sharp with suspicion. "Unless you've developed... feelings for the girl?"
Before Varek could respond, Val's hand shot out with lightning speed. A pressure point strike to the neck sent darkness rushing in.
"Sorry, Varek," Val's voice echoed as consciousness faded. "I can't risk you alerting Lia. She must die."
The last thing Riku saw through Varek's eyes was the glint of spirit steel bars as she was locked into a cage designed to hold even Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Riku, who was getting ready for college as she had classes in the second half of the day, opened her eyes in shock. "Oh shit." She didn't swear much, but this magical world she had assumed was overall good was showing it was much darker than she imagined. Riku ran to her phone and tried calling Tim. The phone rang until it hit voicemail. "Oh crap, crap," Riku said as she paced the room. She quickly threw on some sports clothes, running to the dojo hoping to be able to get Tim's address from his signup forms.
Meanwhile, Tim was deep in meditation at home, completely unaware of the crisis unfolding in the cultivation world. His phone sat silently beside him, switched to silent mode for training.
Lia, after her meeting with Elder Cho, decided to go see the Sect Master. It wasn't an easy decision, but after the appraiser had told her that the manuals were beyond even him, it was her only choice. She needed spirit stones for her own cultivation now, and Tim needed some techniques to give him a chance in earths low qi atmosphere.
The Sect Master's pavilion sat at the very peak of the mountain, accessible only by flying or climbing treacherous paths meant to deter casual visitors. As Lia made her way up the winding stone steps, she had no idea that hundreds of miles away, a massive airborne vessel was already cutting through the clouds toward her home.
Riku burst through the dojo doors, startling Master Kurokawa who was sweeping the training floor.
"What is Tim's address?" she gasped, out of breath from running. "I need to find him immediately!"
Master Kurokawa did not question her but got Tim's forms and gave her the address. He was wise enough to recognize a life or death situation when he saw one. "Crap, it's 15 minutes run away". Riku started sprinting towards Tim's house while trying to call his phone over and over again.
Lia knocked on the massive doors at the top of the mountain. The spiritual pressure was palpable, making her feel like an ant standing before a dragon. The Sect Master was rumored to be nascent soul stage, which was a power beyond her current comprehension.
"Enter, young Lia," came a voice that seemed to resonate through the very stones of the mountain.
As she stepped inside, Lia felt the weight of ancient power pressing down on her. But she had no choice she needed help. Tim would never progress without help from this world.
Lia knocked on the massive tower at the top of the mountain. The spiritual pressure was palpable. "Sect Master," Lia bowed deeply, feeling the overwhelming presence of the ancient cultivator before her.
The Sect Master was not what she had expected. Rather than some imposing figure, he appeared to be a middle-aged man with kind eyes and graying hair, though the power radiating from him made the air itself seem heavy.
"Rise, child. I understand you have some interesting texts to show me."
"How did you know?" Lia replied.
"My spiritual sense covers the entire sect, Lia. Don't ever underestimate nascent soul cultivators." he said with warm smile.
Lia withdrew the ancient manuals from her storage ring, placing them carefully on the jade table between them. The Sect Master's eyebrows rose as he examined the covers, his fingers tracing the archaic script.
"Fascinating," he murmured, opening one of the books. His eyes widened as he read. "These are spatial cultivation techniques incredibly rare and powerful. But..." He looked up at Lia with a slight frown. "These require spatial affinity to practice. Do you possess such an affinity?"
Lia's heart sank. "I... I don't know, Sect Master."
"Hmm." He closed the manual carefully. "Spatial cultivators are born perhaps one in a million. Without the proper spiritual roots, these techniques would be useless to you." He paused, studying her intently. "However, I can offer you two manuals of similar quality in exchange. What type of cultivation interests you?"
Lia took a breath. "Soul cultivation, Sect Master. And movement techniques."
The Sect Master's expression shifted to one of mild surprise. "Soul cultivation? An unusual choice. Most consider it a dead end too slow, too dangerous. Once you have learned certain qi techniques the soul can be defended against effectively anyway. But if you insist" He reached into his own storage ring and withdrew two worn manuals. "This is the 'Ethereal Soul Refinement Technique' and these are the 'Soul Steps.' Honestly, they're not particularly valuable since no one cultivates the soul anymore. It takes far too long to see results."
He slid the manuals across to her. "But if that's what you desire, they're yours. The spatial manuals will serve the sect's archives well."
Lia accepted the soul cultivation texts, trying to hide her excitement. If only he knew what Tim had planned for these techniques.
Lia bowed and moved down the mountain in excitement. Everything was going perfectly according to plan.
Her friend Ami passed her by. "Hey Lia, how are things going?"
Lia paused, her excitement barely contained as she clutched the precious soul cultivation manuals in her storage ring. "Oh, Ami! Things are... really good actually. I just had a productive meeting with the Sect Master."
Ami's eyes widened. "The Sect Master? What could you possibly need from him? You're not in trouble for that training video, are you?"
"No, no, nothing like that," Lia said quickly, trying to downplay the significance. "Just some research materials I needed appraised. You know how it is."
At that moment, Tim was pulled out of his cultivation by a loud thumping on the door. Opening it, Riku was there, bent over trying to breathe. "No time to explain. Lia must flee now. Right now, start running, no arguing."
Tim was far more pragmatic than the people in movies who questioned everything, creating further drama. Zoning out as Tim, Lia grabbed Ami's hand and fled straight out of the sect. The guards yelled for her to stop, but she started sprinting as fast as she could.
"Lia! What's happening?" Ami gasped as they ran down the mountain path.
"I can't explain right now, but we're in danger. The sect is about to be attacked," Lia said, her Foundation Establishment speed allowing her to practically drag the confused girl along.
Behind them, she could hear the alarm bells beginning to ring throughout the sect. In the distance, a dark shadow was growing larger against the sky the Flaming Saber Sect's ark, bristling with weapons and filled with hostile cultivators.
They had minutes at most before the assault began.
Lia said, "Pass me your communication ring." She grabbed hers and Ami's rings and attached them to the flying sword she had. Charging it up with a huge amount of qi, she shot it off towards the south of the sect, away from the ark. Picking up Ami in a princess hold, she ran as fast as she could eastward towards the qi beast territory. Thirty seconds later, a loud boom echoed as a 1000 meter sword made of qi slammed into the protective barrier of the sect. Whoever was in the sect now was stuck, as the protective barrier had powered up.
"What was that?!" Ami screamed, clinging to Lia as they bounded through the forest at inhuman speeds.
"The Flaming Saber Sect," Lia replied grimly, leaping over a fallen tree with ease. "They're attacking. The barrier will hold for a while, but..."
Another massive explosion echoed behind them, followed by the sound of shattering formations. The protective barrier that had stood for centuries was being systematically destroyed.
"Why are we running toward the beast territory?" Ami asked, terror evident in her voice.
"Because they won't expect us to go there," Lia said, her mind racing. The communication rings flying south would hopefully make the attackers think she had fled in that direction.