Depthless Hunger

Miraculously, their journey to Cloudspire wasn't sunk by a tsunami, attacked by a kraken, or struck down by the gods. Instead they made excellent time, using the final month of travel to train and prepare for their landing. It had only taken three, despite the longer trip around the side of the continent.

At the moment, Kai was doing a hand-stand on the deck, trying to reinforce his body with qi alone. The exercise was a simple one, but Omilaena was piloting them at maximum speed, so the jostling of the boat tested his balance and core stability. It was mostly a way to focus and polish his Physique a little further, which was why Zae Zin Nim sat beside him.

"What about the Jackal Clan?" she asked.

"Big group, filled with cultivators spread across the Western Wilds and Northern Expanse." Kai lowered himself into a push-up as he tried to remember all the details she'd thrown at him. "Uh... they serve as mercenaries, or at least one of their branch clans does. Fighting them is fine, but they shouldn't be killed without cause. Am I forgetting anything?"

"No, that's about all I know."

"All you know?" Kai pivoted around to look at her, upside-down.

"Do you think I memorized every detail of every sect on the continent? I can only teach you common knowledge." Zae Zin Nim folded her arms within her sleeves and shook her head. "The most important part is that you can't go charging in, acting like this is Goralia, or you'll get into trouble. I'm just trying to teach you enough of the culture that you'll be fine if you have to go on your own."

"That's fair, I just hope I can remember it all. But actually..." Kai sprang up to balance on the railing of the ship instead. "What I'm wondering is... what's in the middle of these four big regions? You didn't treat them like a wasteland or a war zone, so what happens where they meet?"

"It's nothing like your Frontier, I'm afraid. The central part is smaller, called the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes."