Tales Of Demons, Gods, And Libraries

After ten minutes of running through the wilderness, I come to a stop. I've not detected a trace of anyone since leaving Glory City. I finally feel reassured enough to just take a deep breath and get my thoughts in order.

While it would have been easy to have Chen Linian, accept me in his group, I don't want to draw any attention to myself. I'm not overly worried about a bunch of teenagers taking notice of me. Their successful return to Glory City will cause a.d.u.l.ts to investigate the group members, and that does worry me. Plus, with the Snow Wind Family searching for me, probably, I wouldn't be able to successfully hide from them in Glory City until the group departed.

Proud of myself for avoiding a future problem, I focus on my current problem. I know Ancient Orchid City Ruins is supposed to be a six-day walk to the southeast of Glory City, but that's an enormous area to have to search.

Thinking of the Library of Heaven's Path, I get an idea. Removing a pen and a small blank journal from my interspatial ring, I sit down to write.

'Ancient Orchid City Ruins is located ten kilometers southeast of Glory City.'

With a thought of 'Flaws', I enter the Library of Heaven's Path. Grabbing my journal reveals two flaws.

[A journal entry by Zhu Di. 2 Flaws.]

[Flaw #1; Ancient Orchid City Ruins is located further from Glory City than ten kilometers.]

[Flaw #2; Ancient Orchid City Ruins is not located southeast of Glory City.]

It takes a moment for this to sink in. Quickly crossing out the first line and writing a new line in my journal, I check it a second time for flaws.

[A journal entry by Zhu Di. 1 Flaw.]

[Flaw #1; Ancient Orchid City Ruins is located closer to Glory City than three hundred kilometers.]

So Ancient Orchid City Ruins is located east by southeast from Glory City...

This is amazing! This is OP to the tenth power!!! I have a built-in treasure finder!!! Dozens of different ideas pop into my head on how to exploit this! The next ten minutes are utterly wasted as I foolishly giggle and plot out different plans to gain power with my new treasure finder.

As much as I want to just sit down and play with this newly found exploit, I have to get back to the task at hand.

Once I calm down, I get to work writing different estimates until I've got the location down to less than ten kilometers. I can zero it in once I'm closer. Putting my journal in my belt for quick access, I start moving towards my destination.

One thing that gets overlooked in stories, is the boredom while traveling. I'm moving at a light jog and keeping Soul Suppression on as much as possible, but I still have plenty of time for my mind to wander. It's during this wandering time that I recall a bit of information on fox-bears.

In the story, Chen Linjian's group will be attacked while sleeping on their first night of travel. Not many details are given, but several members of his group will die in their sleep due to the fox-bears. I can't let that happen, they're just unsuspecting teenagers.

After a few more journal entries, and three hours of jogging, I arrive at my destination. Looking around I can pick up the tell-tale signs of a beast habitat. Prints in the mud, claw marks on tree trunks, and a faint musky odor in the air. Even with my heightened sense of smell, it's a subtle odor.

Not wanting to sit around, waiting for a bunch of teenagers to show up, I begin Operation Kaboom!

I quickly move to a tree that is near the bedding area for the fox-bears. I imbue a flawless Flame Explosion Inscription into the trunk of the tree. Similar to the inscription Nie Li used to destroy the home of the bird-brains in the Abyss Prison Realm, but much more powerful. With sunset still several hours away, I take my time in completing five more inscriptions.

After completing the last inscription, I begin to slowly walk away. Once I'm fifty meters away, the inscriptions are triggered. A massive fireball erupts behind me, engulfing the nesting area completely.

I always thought walking away from a huge fiery explosion in slow motion would be badass. Wrong. Totally not badass. It's loud and surprisingly hot! Not to mention completely awkward walking slowly. If not for my enhanced durability, I'm sure the back of my neck would be rocking a brand new sunburn.

Really glad no one else is around to see this. Not my proudest moment. On the bright side, I just got another check on the bucket list.

Taking a moment to inspect the damage, I take note of the complete destruction of all six trees I placed an inscription on. Fire seems to have ignited but doesn't seem to be spreading. This is going to draw attention, from people and beasts.

Turning away from the flames, I run at max speed towards my destination. I have to quickly reign my speed in though, for fear of running into a tree. I've never gone all-out before, and it's amazing! I don't know how long I could keep moving at my max speed, but I'm confident I could reach Ancient Orchid City Ruins faster than I estimated.

The problem with that, I would be making myself vulnerable to attack. I would be moving too fast to detect the presence of any lifeforms until I was right on it. There's no need to be so reckless. Running would save at least two days of travel, but I don't need that extra time. Chen Linjian's group will be leaving Glory City in two days from now. A safe and steady pace should give me three to four days alone in Ancient Orchid City Ruins before his group will arrive. Them and the Dark Guild.

I'm still not sure what to do about the Dark Guild. I know in both timelines, they were attempting to kidnap kids for ransom, but I can't remember if they were successful in the first timeline. I could attempt to kill them, but I've never killed another human being before.

There's also the old saying, 'Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.' The problem with that saying is I don't know any of Dark Guild members in this kidnapping scheme! I only remember Deacon Yun Hua as being a large blonde Gold-ranked Demon Spiritualist, working at one of the Sacred Family's restaurants. If he's removed, I won't know who the Dark Guild sends to replace him, or if the Dark Guild will launch an attack for revenge.

I'll have to think of a way to foil their kidnapping attempt, without exposing my identity to the Dark Guild or the teenagers.

Once I feel I've reached a safe distance from the burning nest, I slow down to a brisk walking speed. I'm not winded, but I don't want to take a chance of being attacked while trying to catch my breath.

Confirming that I'm heading in the right direction, I continue on my journey.

On the evening of the fourth day of my journey, I reach my destination. Ancient Orchid City Ruins. The trip was surprisingly peaceful. Only twice was I attacked by demon beasts, and both of them were bronze rank. A simple strike to their necks ended their life.

Looking at the ruins, I can't even imagine the size of the demon beast horde needed to overrun it. The city is massive. There must have been several million people living here.

But now, it's just ruins, severely overrun by trees and vegetation. I've not seen any of the Giant Blue Armed Apes, but I can hear them roaring and hooting around the ruins.

Ducking into a deep shadow, I remove my journal and prepare to test a theory. Chen Linjian's group spent several days digging around the military fortress and the City Lord's Mansion, before uncovering an entrance to the treasury.

That is an absolute waste of time for me. The city wouldn't bury a chamber to store its treasury. They would still need some way to access their items. My guess is that there is a hidden treasury entrance in the City Lord's Mansion.

I begin writing different possible locations for a treasury entrance. After fifteen minutes, I've confirmed my theory. There is a hidden treasury entrance at the bottom of the City Lord's Mansion. The entrance is controlled by an array. This should be fairly easy to find. Getting to the City Lord's Mansion unseen will not be so easy.

Getting the general direction, I crank Soul Suppression to the max and cross over the outer wall. Giant Blue Armed Apes are not nocturnal, but neither do I have night vision. Yet.

I'm slowly and quietly moving from shadow to shadow. I utilize buildings when it's convenient, but my main goal is to get as close to the City Lord's Mansion as I can before nightfall, unseen. There shouldn't be a single demon beast in these ruins that I can't overpower, but there are hundreds of demon beasts here. I don't know if they will scatter if I kill their alpha, or go into a murderous rage and swarm me.

I was forced to take shelter in a building at dusk. The Giant Blue Armed Apes suddenly became very loud and active. I'm not sure if this is their normal night time ritual or if something else put them on alert. Once the sun set, the noise, and activity quickly died down. Guess that was just their version of saying good-night.

I wait another thirty minutes before making my way out of the building. Not gonna lie, looking around the ruins under a starless sky is really creepy. I half expect to see ghosts moving about.

Deciding to pick up the pace, totally not because of the creepy feeling, I swiftly move through the ruins. Soul Suppression removes the possibility of anything picking up my scent or presence, but any sound is still an issue. Even my light steps seem loud to my own ears, but I've avoided all detection from these damn dirty apes so far.

As my eyes became adjusted to the darkness, I'm able to make out my destination. Taking a gamble, I pick up my speed and dash down the street leading to the City Lord's Mansion. As I'm nearing a hole in the side of the mansion, I can hear the sounds of apes hooting in the dark.

Diving through the hole in the wall, I immediately halt and focus my ears. My mad dash undoubtedly woke several apes in the area. After a few calls amongst themselves, all is quiet again. With a smile of victory, I move deeper into the room.

The interior of the building quickly dissolves into complete darkness. Without a torch, I'm forced to condense a ball of soul force into the palm of my hand. It doesn't fully illuminate the room but does allow me to make out anything within eight or nine feet of me.

Exiting the room, I step out into a wide hallway. Turning right, I move deeper into the mansion. Soon, I come to an intersection. I don't feel like wandering around a spooky mansion all night. Picking up a palm-sized piece of marble, I scratch a large '1A' on the ground. Moving to each hallway entrance I scratch another number and letter combination.

Taking out my journal, I write, 'The quickest way to the Ancient Orchid City Ruins' Treasury is going down hallway 2A from hallway 1A.'

[1 Flaw...]

My next attempt results in a flawless answer, and I'm swiftly moving down a new hallway. I mark each hallway I come to and use the Library of Heaven's Path to continuously move towards the treasury. This is such a cheat, and I love it.

An hour later, I find myself standing before a large section of b.a.r.e wall in the belly of the City Lord's Mansion. The Library of Heaven's Path confirmed that there is a mechanism inside the wall. It takes me five minutes of rubbing both my hands across the wall before I'm able to locate the activation array.

The array seems to be keyed to a specific kind of soul force. The concept is brilliant really. It must be keyed to each person being granted access, and that person must weave their soul force in a particular pattern to open the treasury door. Luckily, there are several flaws in the inscription I can exploit.

Weaving my soul force in an elaborate design through the flaws of the array, I'm rewarded with the array suddenly lighting up the wall! Stepping back, I watch as the array slowly starts to shine across the wall in a beautifully designed inscription. This array has so many uses. Once I fix the flaws, I plan to use this inscription to protect all my valuables I can't/shouldn't carry with me.

My attention is drawn from the inscription by the grating of stone sliding on stone. The opening is large enough for three to enter together. Illuminating the area with my soul force, I step through the entrance and onto a wide platform. Seeing another inscription carved into the stone of the platform, I can't help to smile as I recognize the pattern.

Extinguishing my soul force light, I bend down and place my palm on the center of the platform. Channeling a large amount of soul force into the array, my smile stretches even wider as the array activates.

Flames suddenly burst to life at the corners of the platform, and down the banisters of a wide staircase. As I move down the stairs, the flames seem to run down the rest of the stairs and illuminate a large room.

Stepping off the stairs, I'm halted by the stunning sight before me. The light from the flames running around the walls of the room is further reflected by mounds and mounds of gold. The comics did not do this place justice. There are treasures everywhere! Sparkling jewels, decorative furnishings, powerful weapons and armor, stone bookcases lining the walls...

Despite the glimmer of gold, my attention zeros in on those bookcases. While there are several small boxes and trinkets on the shelves, there is no mistaking the ancient books and scrolls. Quickly moving to the nearest bookcase, I closely examine a large scroll partially opened. The wording seems to predate even the Sacred Empire, but the book looks like it would fall apart at the slightest touch. Luckily, a touch is all I need.

Carefully placing my finger on the scroll and thinking flaws, a wide smile crosses my face as the Library of Heaven's Path gained another cultivation manual! Anything placed in the City Lord's Mansion must be valuable. If this keeps up, my smile may become permanent. Looking around, there must be nearly a thousand tomes and scrolls on the shelves.

As I'm scanning the treasury, I notice the reason for this trip. A small glowing decorative lantern placed on top of a marble pedestal. Putting the books aside, for now, I quickly make my way towards that beautifully powerful artifact. Using both hands, I gently remove the spiritual lamp from the pedestal.

A quick check from the Library of Heaven's Path reveals just how incredible the spiritual lamp is, as well as what it contains. A normal demon spirit stone can hold a demon spirit for two to three hundred years before the spirit will dissipate. The spiritual lamp in my hands is capable of holding a demon spirit for up to two thousand years!

After reading the materials used in making a spiritual lamp, I understand why. These lamps were not made on Tiny World. I'm not sure, but if I had to bet, my money would be Draconic Ruins Realm. Not only is the inscription on the lamp flawless, but it was forged by a true master. I won't be able to improve or even replicate the spiritual lamp. Making omething that could hold a demon spirit for seven or eight hundred years shouldn't pose too much of a problem, but thousands of years isn't likely.

Focusing on what's truly important, I surround the spiritual lamp in with my soul force to prevent anything from going wrong. With a deep breath, I release the Shadow Devil from the lamp. Before it can even make an attempt to escape, I lock it down with my soul force. I rapidly pull the Shadow Devil into my soul realm and seal off any chance of escape. Once the integration is complete, a small shudder runs through my body.

Holding back my bubbling excitement, I store the spiritual lamp in my interspatial ring. It's time to attempt my first merger with the Shadow Devil.

An overbearing feeling of calm indifference washes over me. It's as if my excitement just disappeared without a trace. I feel cold and determined, thinking only of completing my goals. No excitement or even an ounce of fear.

Guess this proves that a demon spiritualist will take on the mentality of their demon spirit when merged. Putting some thought into it, the Shadow Devil might cause me a good deal of trouble. In this state of indifference, I may act against someone when my conscience would have held me back. Something I might have to be wary about. On a positive note, this will be able to replace my calming elixir, and merging with the Shadow Devil is not nearly as noticeable.

Looking at my body, I notice my eyesight is on another level. Everything is sharper and brighter. The flames around the room prevent me from testing it, but I'm willing to bet I have a form of night vision now.

Looking over my body, I can't identify any physical change. Holding up my right arm, I focus for a moment and a meter long shadow blade silently extends from my wrist. Deadly. Taking a few steps back from the pedestal, I focus for a moment before walking forward. A step before the pedestal, I completely disappear from sight. Another step and I've moved through the pedestal and standing on the other side. With a thought, I'm visible again. This was much easier than I thought it would be.

Ending my merger, I feeling of happiness gushes back into me. My emotions are much more manageable now.

With a clear head, I take a look at my soul realm. I notice the soul force I expended when activating the previous arrays, isn't recovering as fast as normal. A closer look at the Shadow Devil and I can see a portion of my soul force being pulled into it.

I'm not worried about the loss of recovery speed with just the Shadow Devil. But integrating with three or four demon spirits would nearly eliminate my natural soul force recovery. With that many demon spirits, I would be forced to cultivate to recover any expended soul force. In a prolonged fight, that could be my undoing.

Pushing those thoughts to the side, I take another look around me. It's time to dig through some treasure!