Step away from the entrance, Wenjun Long had declared, his tone betraying an urgency whose source ili Zhu could not place.
The contingent of Elders complied before they directed questing gazes towards him, observing with caution as Wenjun Long stood still before the entrance to the wide, barren chamber they had been cautiously examining.
The true threat, as it turned out, lay not in their destination but in their journey as Wenjun Long hefted his pseudo Soul Emperor artifact, holding it parallel before himself with both his hands in a display of strength.
He swung the sword in a slow, deliberately arcing motion, letting it gently tap against the earthen door-fra they had entered from. ili Zhu and the four elders worriedly retreated to the opposite end of the chamber, until they found themselves with their backs against the wall. It was ili Zhus projection of calmness that allowed the other Elders to stay their hands, just barely managing to stay their desires to call upon their pseudo Soul Emperor level artifacts as Wenjun Long swung his sword in a broad arc.
Though ili Zhu was not attuned to the Dao of Earth, even she could distinctly sense the rippling wave of Earth Qi that oscillated outwards from the point of contact before retreating inwards in quick repetitions.
Her expression remained serene even as the steep flight of stairs that had led them into a concealed chamber within the recesses of the earth collapsed onto itself as its earthen structure was unwoven with artistic flair rather than brute-force dismantled. ili Zhu had known that Wenjun Long was not a cultivator to be underestimated, but even she found herself surprised by his profound understanding of the elent.
Had Wenjun Long attained that understanding a century ago, ili Zhu had no doubt that he would be able to ascend to Soul Emperor.
Jiayi Song whipped the clouds of dust blanketing the chamber with gentle arcs of Wind Qi, before her wary gaze drilled into Wenjun Longs unguarded back.
Do not worry, Wenjun Long reassured. Different exits have been prepared for all five of you. No harm will befall you as long as you remain compliant to the original instructions, Wenjun Long explained, before turning around and outstretching his hand towards the wall the five Elders were leaning against.
Rock crumbled to reveal another, similar-sized doorway between ili Zhu and Liewei Hu.
Let us go, Wenjun Long declared, as he strode forward. His heavy footsteps pressed against the earth, his expression both unmoved and uninterested in the clear dissatisfaction written on the Elders faces.
The thump-thump of his footfall echoed out as he walked past the Elders and descended deeper into the Earth.
I can sense Yao Shen, ili Zhu communicated to the other four Elders with her divine sense. The three Patriarchs are also in attendance. They are suppressing their Qi, leaving just trailing wisps of it behind enough for one with high Qi sensitivity like myself to pick up on.
What if it is a trap, Elder Zhu? Wenyan Ren telepathically asked.
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ili Zhu did not need to study his expression to discern the trepidation in his question, a trepidation she shared.
We are already ensnared in the jaws of the beast if it is, indeed, a trap set by the demonic path. There is little to lose by moving forward, She offered her assessnt, before deciding that initiative would not hurt at this stage as she took lead amongst the Elders.
Down they went, into the unknown.
The soft aquamarine glow obscuring their sight into the beyond captivated ili Zhus attention as she followed behind Wenjun Long.
It was an odd, ethereal hue that ili Zhu had never before encountered in nature, yet sothing prickled at the periphery of her consciousness sothing that suggested that she had heard vague rumors, or perhaps read in one of the sects ancient records about the symbolism associated with that hue.
As sharp as a Nascent Soul Cultivators mory was, it was not perfect. Even ili Zhu could not recall a tidbit of information she had encountered well over two centuries ago, but that only served to whet her curiosity.
She stepped into the light, followed shortly after by the four Elders.
As the haze of the aquamarine light left her, ili Zhu found herself in a chamber that was only half the size of the preceding one. Grand Patriarch Yao Shen stood in the center of the room, his arms clasped behind his back.
It was not his presence that caused ili Zhu to gasp out loud in utter, blindsided shock.
Neither were the three Patriarchs, who stood three steps behind Yao Shen with their arms held relaxed to their sides, alone the reason why ili Zhu was so terribly surprised.
No, that had more to do with the full-plate aquamarine-hued armor that the three Patriarchs were clad in, towering sentinels of crystalline tal that forced ili Zhus suspicions to tamorphose into reality.
But that was not where her surprise ended, as she took in the rest of the room. Behind the three Patriarchs were five more sets of full-plate armor placed upon wooden stands and ili Zhu could no longer resist the pull of her curiosity as she willed her Divine Sense forward.
What is that armor? Jiayi Song whispered the question that was tugging on all the Elders lips, all besides ili Zhu.
Wenyan Ren grimaced as he was forced to cut a strand of his own Divine Sense, having probed too deeply into one of the armor sets.
Lunite, ili Zhu rasped as whispers of myth aligned with reality. Possibilities flitted through her mind as she considered and rejected a myriad theories even if Yao Shen had successfully allied with the Dwarves, Lunite Armor was not sothing an Elder as long-lived and politically connected had once before seen in her life, let alone sothing a fairly insular race like the Dwarves would offer to the treacherous human race.
Even if Yao Shen was charismatic enough to win the Dwarves trust, one or two Lunite Armors would be the most, the absolute most, she could imagine being given to another.
As she suppressed her own shock, her keen gaze noticed the slight imperfections in the Armor the three Patriarchs had clad. And however slight they may be, those were not mistakes a Dwarven Blacksmith would allow himself to make, especially not one granted such an auspicious and religiously significant honor.
The sheer impossibility of what ili Zhu was witnessing forced her to consider another option the possibility of Lunite deposits outside the Dwarven Mountain Region and the even slimr possibility that Yao Shen had sohow discovered a way to forge it.
In that mont, ili Zhu realized two things that she would never again forget with a shudder. The true sweeping extent of Yao Shens ambition and the consequences it would bring down upon the Azlak Plains, if this secret was discovered.
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