Beyond just the single success near Sarton, so other mbers of the sa group were found and successfully captured. That was harder than it sounded, because even though the group hadnt yet figured out that their weapons gave them away their mbers were often skilled and more importantly extrely unwilling to be captured. If a cultivator was willing to give up their life, it was only a small effort to tear themselves apart with their own energy. Most wouldnt, unless they expected to be subjected to extre torture, because everyone seed to want to live. Yet they seed to have little regard for their lives.
It wasnt impossible for a cultivation sect to have dedicated groups of fanatics willing to give up their lives for sothing, but usually it didnt go so far. It wasnt a surprise though. Even back in Black Soul Valley they had been willing to sacrifice themselves to empower a formation pushing one of their mbers towards ascension.
For those sa reasons, interrogating them was difficult. Even if their energy was restricted from leaving their bodies, they could still kill themselves easily enough. Only if their energy was completely drained- or if it was frozen- could anything progress in that area. Doing either of those was not so simple, and required soone of a significantly higher rank and usually a bit of stealth.
Elder Adelina of the Frostmirror Sect was in early Life Transformation, but even she took so ti and the elent of surprise to be able to freeze the energy of the mid Essence Collection cultivator that had been fighting on Chikere, Hoyt, and Timothys side of the battlefield. So far, he was the highest cultivation person that had been captured- and even if the group didnt know how they were being discovered, they quickly enough learned they were being pursued and began to hide themselves even more carefully.
The interrogation process by the alliance of cultivators was long and slow. Regardless of whether or not ethics were considered, prying useful information out of a cultivator with torture was rarely possible. As many of those they captured were practitioners of illusory techniques, it was difficult to gain information through those thods as well. But slowly they pulled bits and pieces of information out of the captives.
The first few tis they were nearing useful answers, their prisoners died in rather violent explosions, even without access to their own energy. After that, they were more careful with their interrogations and eventually managed to discover formations carved into the very souls of their captives. That ant if they were close to revealing sensitive information, their souls would be torn apart and they would die along with their mories. But once such formations were known about, they could be studied and counteracted.
-----
The more Catarina interacted with the soul killing formations, the more she realized how far the hole of forbidden techniques went. She was only at the far edge of interacting with the process, allowed to study what was learned but only under strict supervision. Just thinking about modifying the very core of a person, especially for reasons that clearly werent in their own best interests, sickened Catarina.
Interacting with another persons soul on the level where the formations could be sensed and properly observed was another level of forbidden technique all on its own. Trying to unravel the formations without causing it to activate in any way- whether the intentional fully destructive thod or anything else- was quite difficult, even for Elder Rana and the other formation masters involved. Catarina wasnt considered a true master herself yet, and she found it difficult to make sense of how so of it worked.
The formations were easier to unravel on the weaker mbers, but they also had less information. The only concrete information was an actual na for their group- the Twin Soul Sect. There was so speculation as to why they would be called that, but delving into knowledge of cultivation techniques was harder. The more complex information was, the harder it was to get soone to say it either through coercion or subterfuge.
They didnt actually have twin souls, but a careful inspection revealed that each mber had two cultivation techniques. The one they displayed to the world, and the dark, often illusory related technique that they all made use of. That information was discovered by capturing so of their mbers who held weapons from the sa maker, before they had revealed any other form of connection. Interrogations of such people were done cautiously in case they turned out not to be connected to the sa group- but only one actual mistake was discovered.
One man in particular had managed to survive one of their attacks and found that their weapons were better than his own. When the man- Jael- found out why he had been captured, he gladly gave up all the information he had. He was reluctant to allow an in-depth look at his soul, but with the solemn vow that nothing would actually be done to him as long as he was not a mber of the enemies, Jael accepted and was declared clean.
The various sects provided reparations to him in the form of cultivation resources. Perhaps that might not fully make up for being captured and interrogated, but he was just a mber of a sect of diocre power and wasnt willing to raise too much of a fuss after at least being compensated.
With the information gained from the others, techniques to determine mbers of the Twin Soul Sect were being developed one piece at a ti. It was hoped that they would be complete before the group discovered the full asure of what was happening and went completely underground but if it was possible to sense their true cultivations, they couldnt really hide permanently. Even if they managed it, the attacks would be forced to stop. But such things werent accomplished in just a week or a month, and the research still continued.
-----
Though so might have liked to keep quiet the news of Everhearts tomb- which tantalizingly offered information related to ascension- since Everheart himself clearly didnt want that, the news spread. There wasnt just one place that notifications of the tombs opening ca from, but all around the continent. As for the location it seed to be everywhere. At the very least, many places claid to be an entrance to it. As far as anyone could tell, they all seed equally legitimate. Which is to say, being related to Everheart all highly suspicious and seemingly powerful.
With many locations all promising access to the sa place, nobody was in control of who entered. Though generally nobody was allowed to restrict access to such places, an alliance of sects in control of a given country might conspire to keep out certain enemies. But with at least a dozen different locations toted as the entrance, none of them better than the others, it was impossible to restrict access to any specific group. If they could not go one place, they would find sowhere that wouldnt reject them.
Even universally reviled sects like the Flying Blood Cult would be able to arrive at so of the more remote locations without being spotted. It had to be assud that Twin Soul Sect mbers would be coming as well, though picking them out might be more difficult. The various bits and pieces of information about that werent public knowledge, but instead only known to the Order, Frostmirror Sect, Glorious Fla Palace, and a few others including the Ears of the Fox. The Ears of the Fox fully intended to sell or otherwise distribute the information to others, but given that they couldnt be fully sure who to trust they were still holding out on that so as to not alert the Twin Soul Sect.
One of the various entrances was more or less smack dab in the middle of the Order. Unlike many of Everhearts other tombs, this had not been hiding in a plateau or under a dry lakebed, posing as an otherwise inconspicuous location. At least not in the sa way. Because instead of opening up, a structure actually ca out of the ground right under a farrs house.
The entire farming family had been out in their fields when it happened, and then their ho was just up in the air, atop another building. That was unfortunate for them, but they reported it to local authorities- and just everyone in the nearby towns who would listen to their crazy story- and the Order quickly got word.
Though getting a house down from atop the flat structure that had pushed itself out of the ground was not simple, retrieving everything from inside was rather simpler. While it wouldnt be quite the sa, a replacent ho was being built. The land it was on was still occupied by the new structure, and the Order couldnt make any promises as to whether it would be usable again in the future. That would depend entirely on what happened with the tomb.
-----
Each Everheart was different. The one in the middle of Graotan was a portly man with a huge cask of ale strapped to his back, constantly drinking from a mug in his hand. Even so, Anton heard hed been extrely helpful and informative. Concerningly so, given Everhearts proclivities for being unpleasant.
He had given the information that a few thousand people could enter through the particular entrance in Graotan. Beyond that, hed also inford people that they could be stuck inside the tomb for several months, and that they would need to bring supplies for that ti. And of course there were those sa words thrown about again and again.
Ascension, the figure said as he gestured with his mug. You all want to know about it. Its just about ti, too. A drunk Everheart grinned, Youll be surprised.
Anton didnt like the sounds of that, but from his experience he knew that Everheart wasnt evil, or even truly malicious except against those who ca into conflict with him.
Senior Everheart, theres no limit on who can enter? soone in the crowd standing nearby asked with obviously strained politeness.
None at all. As long as everyone can fit in the building, it doesnt matter. Fun for all ages! Everhearts projection downed his mug, sloshing so of it onto his shirt. More fun for quick studies though. I like geniuses.
Unlike many tis with similar events, most of the cultivators around were from the Order or otherwise local to Graotan. Anton could tell so werent from the area, but as long as people were on good relations with Graotan access wasnt restricted in any way. Notably missing were most people from Ofrurg, but for most of the country there was a closer entrance regardless. Only sowhat western located sects like the Grasping Willows were present. Likewise, there were cultivators from eastern Ambati, southern Estary, and northern Droca.
Most countries didnt have a centrally located entrance. Unlike Graotan, many other countries had two or three entrances scattered about. There was no clear pattern that had been found, except that they were generally similar distances apart. At least it seed that Everheart hadnt predicted where countries would be centuries after his death, just placing entrances to this place wherever he could. Usually sowhere remote, though one appeared in what had beco a bustling city in Estary.
It probably wouldnt have been easy to keep it a secret while building them, but once they were placed underground they could have stayed there the whole ti without any fuss. By the amount of earth they brought with them, the entrances also hadnt been shallow. Perhaps hundreds of ters or more deep in the earth, beyond the range of the senses of even Life Transformation cultivators, unless they had reason to look underground at the exact spot the entrance was located.
Ah, its ti, Everheart said. Everyone in! Hurry up! he clapped his hands. I havent got all day. And neither have you.
So people hesitated, but those who knew Everheart hurried as he said and the rest followed quickly. Nothing horrible happened as they stepped inside the big cylindrical building that had co out of the ground, though even Anton could tell there was so sort of formation at work, slowly building up energy.
Hope nobodys late, Everheart said. I was very specific about that. Now then, youre all in. Going down!
Anton felt his stomach jump for a mont as power washed over him, and then the sky went dark. Except not quite.
Just kidding, Everheart laughed uproariously. This is Ascension were talking about. Why would we go down?
The sudden darkness caused Anton to look out the door, where he saw the night sky. Except sothing was wrong with the moon. It didnt look the sa at all. It was too blue and cloud-covered. Antons eyes widened as he realized what had happened, and it seed many others had co to the sa realization as himself.
Reviews
All reviews (0)