Amber Scale City had quickly transford from when she was last there. Delenn stepped down from the gateway as the crowd flowed like so of the busiest cities she had ever been to.
Her plans to keep heading west had been stopped due to the loss of Lind. Without his harmony refueling her bracelet, the Corruption would affect her slightly but now she knew there was a far more insidious issue.
Bloodline arrays!
The clear ntal component was only the surface level issue they knew of. Considering it had put its claws into the very blood of each cultivator under its sway was terrifying. How had they not noticed them?!
Such profound arrays were damned difficult to make but the advantage of the bloodline array was its ability to ignore physical changes once it is activated.
The hurdles she could not grasp them overcoming was the natural defenses even basic powers would create to protect themselves. The danger of bloodline arrays was known and monitored actively so how had they been set up so extensively?!
She had no answers but that was not the only reason she ca back. She realized after a few days alone that she was listless.
She had been trapped for so long and then assisted the Frey Clan right after, that she had not really had ti to focus on what she would do when she returned. She had been unable to truly cultivate until she ca back to her ho.
The tainted Qi made it harder but she was not as affected as others thanks to being isolated before the Corruption occurred. Now, she had co back to a relatively safe city to test a few theories and re-establish her cultivation path.
She had beco complacent and far too reliant on Lind's help. His struggle had given him a staggering foundation of knowledge unlike any master she had ever t. It was just unbelievable that even her own teachers would be put to sha by that mortal boy she t all those thousands of years ago.
She had her hood pulled low but her body was harder to hide. She was a woman without doubt and had a broad fra. If those little girls saw her, they would recognize her in a heartbeat but she doubted she would run into them.
"How much for a skewer?" She passed the stalls common near the teleportation arrays when she was younger. The sll of at and fried vegetables was pleasant to her but she nearly fell over at the stall owner's response to the custor.
"It will be 3 Soul Stones." So expensive!
She could tell the food was not made from anything that powerful! Why was it so expensive?!
What shocked her more was the joy on the custor's face as they happily paid with the stones!
It was only then that she realized she had not really had to pay for anything since they arrived.
She revealed her status as an imperial royal in the first village but Lind took care of things in a similar manner after that. They also had to leave in a hurry from Crescent City after stealing a night in a loft!
A giggle escaped her as a much younger version of herself would have found such adventures thrilling.
She moved deeper into the streets and found new inns had been put up! She felt a smile break out as she looked at the na of one.
"The Erald Dragon, huh?" A comical carving relief was hung up over the door that was a very poor imitation of Lind's dragon body. It had 6 limbs to start with!
The 3 horns were there but as a beard in style! She had to hold her side in laughter!
She walked up to the sliding door that was open and stepped into a decent atmosphere. Patrons were dining on what looked like either a stew or a large slab of at. It slled heavenly.
The bar was next to the stairs leading up to the rooms. The wood still slled fresh to her with its golden beams and smooth surfaces. Everything was so new in the city that she realized she missed her ho even more.
The history of those places were always fascinating to her.
Still she moved up to the bar where an open stool was. The bartenders were 2 won but she knew a man likely worked the kitchen.
She took the stew while listening to the room. It was not as rowdy as it would be at night but unlike others, her aura was far more in line with her cultivation.
"..more people co everyday. Not sure why those big shots are looking to lay out so branches in this city." She had heard more than a few rumors about the larger rcantile powers looking to make a foothold in Amber Scale City.
It was nothing new. Anyone with sense could tell Amber Scale City would beco a major hub. The origin of the new gateways ca from there after all.
She tried to find anything of interest but it was mostly personal stuff or common knowledge.
She sighed and decided to take a room.
"Do you have a room available?" The slimr girl ca over to her question. She was a pretty thing but she was only at the Sand Tier.
"We have several. A simple room will cost a low World Stone a night. You can pay through the month as well for a discount. We have a few other rooms available but they will be more expensive." The cost was insane for such a basic room!
Yet, she found the conversations were all like that. A grade 2 pill that would normally be barely a couple mid grade Soul Stones was now 5 peak stones!
Prices were insane but it aligned with the current state of the world. The tainted Qi clearly decimated resources as much as everything else.
Thus prices were insane compared to what she once knew.
The city had an exception to that. The gateway was very cheap to use compared to the Gates she had learned about.
"Do any of them have a cultivation room?" The bartender looked over her worn cloak and frowned but did not hold back the answer.
"We have 3 but 2 of them are taken. They are 3 Sky Stones a day." Delenn placed a storage ring on the bar. The girl's eyes went wide before bowing low.
"My pardon, senior. Here is your keystone." A hexagonal green stone was handed to her and she went up the steps. She was almost up the stairs when a conversation caught her ear.
"Those silver and blue cloaks are a bit arrogant too, aren't they?" She nearly whipped her head around to find the man speaking but kept still. She took a breath before focusing on the table of 3 n.
They were in worn woolen shirts and pants. They clearly were laborers of so kind.
"You beco a cultivator of the Fionan Empire and see how you stay down here with us re mortals." She could only sigh as she continued up the 3 flights of stairs until she was at the top floor.
Only 3 doors greeted her as expected. She found the green one and slid the keystone into the slot. It was ti to focus on her cultivation.
She entered the room but as she was just about to close the door, the red one across from her opened and a voluptuous woman erged in silver and blue robes! Delenn did not react but did slowly close her door as she tried to listen in on the open doorway.
Nothing worked as rather effective wards were erected. She gave up but the woman moved into the hall and was still speaking.
"--find her in this strange city. I will go on the patrol no matching her highness' description has been seen so far." Delenn had no doubt then. The scouting party from her empire was looking for her.
She looked at her callused hands and well muscled arms before smirking. No one in her family would accept her current state. She was beyond ugly in every sense of the word!
Still, she relished the body she had in pursuit of her dream. She would beco a great Forger, the best her family had ever seen!
She found the cultivation chamber and began to go back to the basics. She first had to see how cultivation would go and if she would completely drain Lind's protection on her if she did.
The days passed quickly but she finally felt her cultivation improve! It had been so long!
She was relishing the feeling of finally advancing. The reason she ca back to Amber Scale City was due to the fact Lind had designed the wards around the city to reduce the taint to shockingly low levels.
Even with her tempered body and the protection left in her bracelet, the city felt like it was almost pure Qi. The wards refined the taint out at incredible levels but only she knew that had a limit.
In about a thousand years, the tainted Qi would overco the harmonic Qi woven into the wards around them.
To her that was a short ti but for the natives, it was a spirit sent relief. The reason being that their ability to cultivate had nothing to do with how the wards worked.
She was reaching the limit of her bottleneck when she felt sothing for the first ti in over a million years.
Her storage ring held several items that had beco only sentintal over ti but were now working once again. It was a statue of a woman that was exquisitely detailed. She had large curves that would make most n drool.
She looked at it in chagrin as it was her. Her mother always harped on her looks over her profession. It was the one silver lining she took from her exile. She no longer had to be 'presentable' anymore.
The statue was, of course, not just a statue. It was an artifact used by her soul slate to confirm she was nearby. She arched an eyebrow as only a limited number of people could move those slates.
"Soone has co for ." She placed the statue back in her ring and ignored it. She felt a reaction but she had no doubt the otherside was annoyed at that mont. Lind's protection extended to hiding her location from any seeking artifacts.
"I will co ho on my terms. I have had my revenge on the architect but there are others I need to be ready to face." It was true and sothing she had only discussed with Lind as a warning.
There was no way, even with all the power the Eternal Fla Sect gave Gareth back then, that he could have trapped her and sent her off so easily. She had already distrusted him. The only way he could ensnare her was if soone she trusted betrayed her.
She would never forget, not once, the face of that person. Gareth deserved her wrath and hate but ultimately he was true to himself. The pain in her heart still threatened her. Qing had helped prevent it becoming a heart demon.
"I am sorry Father and Mother, but I am not done fighting yet." If Lind was still there he would have shivered to the core of his soul at her face. Whoever was at the end of her trail of revenge, he would have almost pitied them. Almost.
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