Haro and the journal spirit were speaking with each other. Lind was still processing the truth of his goal.
A damned Fiend artifact! It was a damned Fiend artifact!
"The demons rebelled a little over an epoch ago and it was due to the Atl–I an inverted mountain." Alta glanced at the journal in a little fear as they had confird her artifact had just barely saved her life.
"What happened?" Lind was happy to have information even if it only made his life complicated.
"There are so disagreents on the specifics but the war was not going well for the Fiends back then. They needed a massive infusion of life to bolster their Immortals so they created an artifact to speed up the process." Lind had a very dark suspicion about the next part and he was right.
"Master, it seems the owner of this journal left many traps for anyone that knew the truth about the artifact. It seems there is a spiritual formation on it to detect such people no matter where they are, however the Corruption was not accounted for." Haro finally returned with the floating head looking exhausted.
"Haro, are you telling
they made it so that anyone who knew about the artifact could be targeted?" A flash of the destroyed village below the strange platform ca back to him. Haro nodded grimly.
"The Corruption weakened it considerably but now that I know what to look for, I can sense it. It is like fine lace that does no harm to anyone. It purely locates certain information which makes it hard to find in its dormant state." Haro sent him the information and it was really a useless array on the whole.
Yet that useless array was yet another fine net covering the world and marking people to die. Atla said it was an epoch ago at least they rebelled. That put it at least half a billion years ago!
"Did we trigger it?" Haro shook his head at the question.
"The Corruption has made it erratic at best. On top of that, the spatial fold further weakens it unless the door is open. Also, there is one other issue." Both spirits looked at each other before looking back at Lind.
"Boy, your unique situation makes you a walking target. Even if you did not say the trigger words, I would be certain they are looking for you regardless. They know where you are already." Lind's eyes narrowed.
"How?" It was not the spirits that answered him.
"The battle you had in this city was well known. Fiend agents ca to intercept you even before you arrived." Maester Atla reminded him of his battle. The Great One had laid a trap for Delenn and finished breaking her with a heart demon.
"Master, from what I can understand, they can modify the array to hunt whatever they want. Your attempts to hide were already thwarted the mont you moved with Lady Chu and the others. The only way to vanish is to move alone but at the sa ti–" Haro could not finish as Lind knew it himself.
Going into a hive of Fiends was asking to die.
"What exactly does that artifact do?" The journal was the one that answered.
"Understand that most of this knowledge is from forr demon slaves that escaped before the authorizations were changed. I know for a fact a force breached the defenses long ago that were never heard from again." The floating head beca grim as he described the Altar of Sacrifice while not saying certain phrases.
The Altar essentially took mass numbers of people and converted them into pure elental and soul essence for Fiend consumption. Compared to the farms he had seen, that single artifact could do such numbers daily!
There was a catch of course in that it could not supply a large number of Fiends. The efficiency was held up by the receptacle of the Fiend themselves.
They could only take so much in so quickly yet the quality did improve their rise in cultivation.
Massive numbers were inserted into the top while at the bottom was the receiving area for the Fiends. Hence the moniker, inverted mountain.
A flash of the past when he saw a glimpse of row upon row of Fiends in caskets ca back to him and he slowly began to piece it together.
"They transford its purpose. It is no longer collecting but transmitting. It is the source of the Corruption. What did he call it?" The Sifter! He recalled the na but did not utter it.
The Realm Refiner began a massive processing of the 1st layer of the Celestial Fields and below into raw life force while the Sifter weakened the spirit of the 2nd Layer and locked out those above!
What would the final facility do? What could it do? He felt like he was close to sothing important but the instant he got close both spirits flickered as his only warning!
[MASTER!] Haro scread in his mind but all froze as 10 erald covered fingers snapped closed around knife sharp strands! He could see them!
His Eyes failed but his Touch was able to perceive the shift in Qi instantly.
"So, they really do not know where I am but they do know when soone gets close to their plans. An unprotected thought is a death sentence." Atla paled but quickly put on a bracelet and necklace from her storage ring.
All ntal waves from her vanished!
He needed so of those! Actively protecting his mind was one thing but random thoughts were quite another!
[Haro, while in the ring, call for the inverted mountain.] He heard Haro's voice but nothing happened. So a spirit was not enough to trigger it or maybe the array did not recognize spirits as sentient beings.
It could also be their limited capacity without a proper master to enable them to use their full abilities.
"This subject will need to be closed. It is too dangerous to continue but will you let
ask more questions later?" He looked at the journal now lying on the floor as the floating head stabilized.
"The senior told
enough to know you are their enemy and from what I just saw, you might be our only hope." Lind was confused as he turned to the still trapped spirit strands. There was no Fiend Qi, but he slowly grasped what they spirit was talking about.
"I should not be able to do this, should I?" Maester Atla sharply nodded her head while holding up a crystal pendant to his fists. She seed giddy to study what he was doing but he knew his harmonic Qi would be beyond her for the mont.
"Spirit attacks are notorious weaknesses for cultivators but techniques are difficult to master so artifacts compensate like that little lass there." Lind nearly choked on laughter as Atla stared daggers at the journal. The spirit did not even flinch.
"Can I bind the journal to ?" The head shook in denial.
"I am not that kind of artifact. If I was, I would not be able to kill potential enemies quickly." An Immortal legacy artifact on one side and a spiritual array on the other. Lind was reminded to be more humble and cautious in the future.
One never knew what could set off a trap nor that danger could appear even in a room thought secure.
He needed to take his security more seriously!
"Maester Atla, may I see an artifact to protect the mind and spirit please." She quickly produced several variations. So could be worn while others were like the crystal in her vault that could protect at a certain range without being discovered.
He severed the strands in his hands but waited to see if the attack would continue. It seed the spiritual array was not as committed as the bloodline array. It was also possible it did not have feedback at all.
It was wise as it made it that much harder to detect unlike the bloodline array.
He began to summon materials and Forged artifacts for his family and companions. He also strengthened the defenses of Maester Atla's rooms.
He then had her stand far to the side as he moved to the center.
"The Altar of Sacrifice is the Sifter for the Great One." The demoness infused more Qi into her defenses as the journal spirit looked on but nothing happened. Lind smiled wide at his success.
"What–what did you do?!" He looked at her in confusion as if it should be obvious.
"Spiritual arrays are not much different from weaving so creating items with such principles is easy for . All I did was focus on isolation and analyzed how the array reacted before. I was confident in my defenses based on the artifacts you showed ." He did frown though as there was one thing he could not block outside an isolated spatial fold.
In the wider world, the locator feature would still trigger as it did no harm! He could not tailor artifacts so specifically to protect certain words and concepts as they would need to be massive!
Annabelle might be able to help him make sothing with formations and his Forging but weaving needed anchors to be on all the ti. It would also be impossible to make it mobile.
"All right, my goals have changed slightly, Maester Atla. I still need to work on my body but I will also need to learn how to make a spatial fold like this." She smiled at his words and tossed him a tal key but it had no ridges for a lock like he was used to.
Instead, it flared with demonic Qi and information entered his mind.
"The Guild made many long ago but demons are on the low side here so I have a few spare ones for my experints. Since you can use my Qi just as easily as your own, feel free to use it. It is on the top floor and is much larger than this office of mine." He contemplated it but shook his head.
"I can't be certain things will go as planned. I need to make my own. I can invert space for an artifact but actually creating a space on my own in the 2nd layer is beyond ." Attaching it to an Inheritance or other object was easy but actually carving space out was sothing he had no teacher in.
The 1st layer had lost all of such spaces to the Realm Refiner. Only the special realms had remained but they were tied to anchors like an Inheritance. There was simply no Immortal left to teach anyone after the Fiend war consud them all.
Space was also far more solid in the higher layers compared to the Heaven Realm.
"I am afraid the knowledge will not do you much good but there are slips you can purchase. You will also need permission from the King." Lind bowed and got the list of materials he needed to read.
He had a rising pile of things to do but now he had a beginning not only for his body but for his ultimate goal.
His eyes beca grim as he looked at the future. He would break the chains on the Celestial Fields and then he could focus on his true goal.
Killing the Great one with his bare hands!
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