Arc 11: Chapter 8
A few days later, Bianca had figured out exactly nothing.
Well, as far as cultivation was concerned, at least. She’d figured out plenty regarding ways to pass the time and sleep with women, so if that was possible to contribute to the Display of Excellence, she’d be covered. Unfortunately, she had a feeling that it wouldn’t work.
As such, she instead attempted to help out with renovating the Reaper’s Grave. She wasn’t an experienced carpenter, nor did she have much experience in putting together anything complex – most furniture back on Orbis only required following the manual, and even that was typically handled by others – but she still managed to contribute in the end.
With the sheer amount of work left to be done, it was basically impossible to make a significant difference to the state of the mountain, but repairing a few select locations and facilities was doable.
Cleaning up the top pavilion, a few living quarters, and getting Han Rushu a proper seat to use in the forge, all of that was done in between… various deeds.
Sex included. Plenty of sex included.
However, it was hard to figure out a proper way forward. With no disciples, no resources, no people willing to work for them, they were just a small group occupying a place where many thousands had once lived. Even at higher realms, they’d only be able to do so much on their own – repairing all of the sect would be nigh impossible.
So, when Huang Su suddenly rushed in to warn of a large group of people heading towards the Reaper’s Grave, it was certainly worth investigating.
“Anyone have a set of binoculars?”
“A what?”
“… So, anyway, can anyone recognise someone in that large group? Do they have any kind of signage or uniform?”
“It’s not a sect, as far as I’m able to tell…” Xue Yaling tried her best to gaze over at the distant crowd, currently quite some distance from the mountain, travelling along the riverside, “No consistent dress code or anything of the sort.”
“This… I may be mistaken, but the person at the front resembles Yan Taijun. In fact, I am nearly certain that it is her… what in the heavens has provoked them to move towards the Reaper’s Grave?”
With Huang Su’s statement, Bianca was reminded of how they had travelled to the Dancer’s Abode, and how she had made a certain agreement with their leader. Her memory of the matter was a little cloudy at this point – quite a bit had happened since then, after all – but she was pretty sure that she had agreed to protect the Dancers when she had the ability to do so.
For them to be coming over now… “Don’t tell me that she remembered it? And took it seriously, no less…”
“Remembered what, Mistress?” Huang Su turned.
“Ah, well… I once spoke with Yan Taijun, and I believe we agreed that I’d start a sect and take the Dancer’s Abode under my protection, or something along those lines. It’s been a while, but I hadn’t expected them to rush over here like this… how did they even know?”
“If that is the case… it would be best to greet them outside of the Reaper’s Grave. Would you like me to bring you there, Mistress?”
“Yes – and no disguising, understand?”
“… Very well, Mistress.”
“Xue Yaling, you come as well… where’s Song Ming right now?”
She could use her control of the array to figure it out, but she didn’t yet have the ability to view it all at once. If she knew where to look, it would only take a moment, but…
“Oh, she stepped out. I think she was a little concerned about her pregnancy… and she wouldn’t be the only one. Have you noticed that-”
“Not now… although I know what you mean. Let’s just talk about it once the matter of the Dancer’s Abode is settled.”
“Oh, fine, alright,” the kitsune shrugged, “So, we flying over?”
“Sure. Huang Su, if you could,” Bianca asked without much politeness, and the Phoenix Sect’s leader had no option but to comply.
Spreading out her energy, enveloping them in flaming feathers that took on the form of a phoenix, they were brought from the peak of the mountain and down to the ground, some distance from the walls of the Reaper’s Grave.
Outside of the walls and the bounds of the array, the sensation from it was faint, although Bianca could clearly tell that she was still connected to it. If she had to, she could issue the command to kill someone without much effort, but the precision would be somewhat low, and she couldn’t peer inside the sect grounds with her spiritual perception at all.
Still, it was fine, for they were to meet with the most important part of the plan – that she had just made up on the spot – to bring their Demoness Sect to fruition.
Yan Taijun, being a cultivator of the fourth realm, naturally spotted them from quite a distance, even past the trees and foliage that surrounded this part of the Heart Lake. Bianca couldn’t see her face properly, but she imagined that there was quite a bit of surprise at truly finding them there, just standing before the Reaper’s Grave, even if it was what she must’ve been expecting given that she had led her faction there.
After a moment, she turned and called out some orders, with the enormous crowd and caravan behind her slowing down and stopping as she broke away from them and headed forward, soon coming up close to Bianca.
“Well, well, well… I hadn’t expected you to make it this far, and yet you’ve pulled it off. Congratulations, Bianca… or should I call you a Sect Master, now?”
“I’m going with Sect Mistress, but… well, honestly, I’m not sure if that’s the right thing to do with the Dancer’s Abode. Would you accept just bowing down to someone?”
“Honestly… with your realm being as it is, even with Huang Su, you can only exert so much pressure onto a faction like mine. That being said, I would rather be on your side than not, and I don’t have too much interest in dominating a faction… I would say that the better question is to be asked of you, cutie,” Yan Taijun pointed her finger, the nail adorned with a vivid crimson coating, directly at Bianca, “What is your sect going to be, exactly?”
“For one, no men allowed. That part I’ve settled on long ago,” she didn’t hesitate to state this, leading the leader of the Dancer’s Abode to let out a faint sigh.
“Then, it would appear that directly joining your sect would be troublesome. There are many men in the Dancer’s Abode, and more importantly, men are frequent customers. We’d never survive or have any business if you chase them all off.”
“Makes enough sense. Hm… say, there’s a ton of space on the outside, plenty of wood, plenty of… probably farmable earth – I don’t fucking know, I’ve never farmed – so if everyone from the Dancer’s Abode is willing to work, it should be possible to set up a town that can be under our protection.”
“Very wise, Sect Mistress. I would be willing to accept such an arrangement, although, I, too, have never done any farming. Only witnessed the sowing of seeds of another kind,” Yan Taijun chuckled, “Regardless, with my departure from the grounds between the Exarch and Long Shiyi, I have little choice. A functional defensive array, a powerful seventh realm expert, and someone that isn’t opposed to the kinds of deeds that the Dancer’s Abode engages in… it’s all favourable for me.”
“And… since we’re being honest, we really need more people around here. Whether workers to repair the mess that is the Reaper’s Grave – which I’ll need to rename, as soon as I have a good idea for it – or farmers to produce food for the future disciples to eat, all of it can’t be done with just the few of us,” Bianca said, looking back at that enormous mountain behind her, “So… yeah.”
“I would also advise that you work on your manner of speaking. A good part of being taken seriously is seeming to be serious, important, prominent and all that, and the way you speak tends to make you appear more casual.”
“I know that much, it’s just not been important up to this point. I’ll keep it in mind, though.”
A moment of silence followed, giving Yan Taijun the opportunity to look over at the two that accompanied Bianca. Huang Su was keeping her head low, attempting to escape observation by the thousands that were standing not far from Yan Taijun, whereas Xue Yaling stood tall and proud, her fluffy tail waving to and fro.
“Xue Yaling, I see you’ve stuck around with her.”
“Indeed I have. It’s been working out well for me – and I’ve even developed some interesting things. I’m afraid it’s up to the Sect Mistress to allow me to showcase it, however,” the kitsune looked over, past Yan Taijun, “By the ancients, you did just bring the entirety of the Dancer’s Abode with you, didn’t you?”
“Indeed.”
“Nobody disagreed?”
“There was some argument, and given my realm, I couldn’t completely prevent such dissent, but the ignition of the war to the east of the Heart Lake made it impossible to split our forces. All dissent was silenced quickly,” Yan Taijun explained, sighing, “Heavens, we were incredibly lucky to get out when we did. A day later, and the conflict would’ve swallowed our group regardless of the better intentions of either side – not that the majority are especially reasonable, but most don’t desire to kill the innocent actively.”
“A fair description of both sides, unfortunately,” Huang Su spoke quietly, “The war is a rather troublesome affair, and before too long, we shall become embroiled in it just the same.”
“That was one of the biggest complaints from the people working for me…” Yan Taijun’s eyes seemed to peer into the past, “But this is better than nothing, and I have a modicum of hope towards you, Bianca.”
“Uh… thank you?”
“You are welcome.”
Huang Su looked off into the distance, vaguely towards her Phoenix Sect, “I wish that we had been able to interfere in this conflict, to prevent it from rising to such a scale. That a force as large as the Dancer’s Abode has had to move is, frankly, insane.”
“Quite. Sometimes, I envy what the Western Continent had, way back then. They were able to form into a single, vast city, and they were free of such conflict, at least for a time…”
“Such a place also wouldn’t have allowed a Dancer’s Abode to rise, though,” Xue Yaling retorted, “Remember that they don’t allow any forces but their Districts, no powers but their Families, no rule but that of their Patriarchs. An upstart like you couldn’t possibly get any space to call your own, especially not at the prime of Yi City.”
“I was merely stating a fantasy of mine… nonetheless, you’re not entirely wrong. That kind of security in Yi City required greater control to be exerted upon the people.”
“… Why are you two delving into this all of a sudden? I feel like we’ve moved to some other genre for a moment,” Bianca looked between the two with suspicion.
“Heh, it just so happened. Nonetheless, I think this is also something that you ought to consider, Bianca.”
“Hm? Oh, you mean in terms of the sect? I suppose… although I do have a certain measure that could be used to keep the peace, no matter the explicit rules I state,” she said, and seeing Huang Su’s ever so slight frown, added, “It’s not a strict necessity, though. As soon as we can figure out how to get disciples and how to organise them, we’ll come up with a set of rules around that time.”
As she saw Huang Su’s features relax, she was still considering the matter of using her corruption.
‘It should be possible to spread it out, especially if I just keep fucking Song Ming in an attempt to put a baby in her. If… if there is some issue with the pregnancy, or she isn’t pregnant at all – somehow – then that just happens to make it all the easier to keep using her to spread my corruption,’ Bianca thought, and since that thought felt overly… utilitarian even for her darker side, she considered the other possibility, ‘Then again, the array is filled with my corruption too. Just by staying in proximity of it, you’re bound to be affected, and, over time, changed… just a little slower.’
That was excellent. When she fucked someone and filled them with cum – or otherwise had sex – the exact extent to which they were changed depended on their cultivation, but even with Huang Su, it was slowly able to affect her, and that was over only a few ‘sessions’.
With an aura of constant corruption, it didn’t matter even if it was a hundredth of the effect, as it would accumulate over days and months and years until it completely overtook anyone that entered her domain.
Although somewhat sinister, the notion was also incredibly pleasing to her – both of her sides, even. To control her sect, to have everyone obsessed with her, desiring her, dreaming of her… especially in the same way that Song Ming did, with her seeming addiction to Bianca’s scent and taste… She could hardly fathom something hotter.
‘Just like the scene of the dream that Yu Juan had granted me…’
“So, we’ve been talking a while, and we will have many chances later. For now, would it be acceptable for me to bring my people to the outer walls of the Reaper’s Grave, oh mighty Sect Mistress?”
That shook Bianca out of her thoughts, at least for now, “Ah, yes, go for it. Pick out a few people to act as intermediaries between the Dancers and us, and make sure that no men enter the grounds of the Reaper’s Grave itself. I’ll be watching.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t dare breach the terms of our agreement… Besides, I keep a lot of women beside me as it is, so this won’t be too challenging to arrange. Comes with the job of a Dancer, and all that.”
“Your mean prostitute?”
“Sect Mistress, to think that you would be so crass!” Yan Taijun exclaimed with false anger, “So, would you like to hire me?”
“… I’ll think about it. Should I make an appearance to the others, or…”
“I will take care of it. Showing up before them at such a low realm wouldn’t help much, and I can provide vivid descriptions and paintings of your appearance, if need be.”
“In that case, make sure that you show my hair and skin as being completely white. It’s not there yet, but I’m sure you’ve noticed the way I’ve changed.”
“Ah, yes, I had chosen to avoid the subject for the purpose of curtesy, but it is indeed quite apparent. I have to say, you look good like this, Sect Mistress – and once your appearance transforms completely, I would imagine you will look even better. It’s also a rather unique look, so it should help you stand out as a mighty leader of the cultivation world!”
On one hand, standing out too much wasn’t ideal, but on the other… if she became a leader of the sect in truth, not just in words, then it would inevitably lead her to stand out even if she had no significant visible traits at all – mere fame would ensure her plain looks were well known.
And Bianca was far from plain, even without the encroaching albinism. A large chest and rear, slim figure, long, pristine hair… she was rather attractive, in short.
Attractive people got looks everywhere, so she was doomed to earning attention no matter what.
“Well, uh, thank you. We shall head back, then – take care with the surroundings, it is possible that some necromancers are still lurking around like the sore losers they are, so if you find any, just come grab us – Huang Su, specifically, she’s probably the most suited to dealing with such enemies,” Bianca said, “Anyway, come up and see me in the Reaper’s Grave sometime. We’ll set up a meeting between the heads of the sect and decide on our future plans.”
“I shall be looking forward to it, Sect Mistress. May your days ahead be fortunate,” Yan Taijun bowed, then turned to return to her people.
Bianca, Huang Su and Xue Yaling withdrew similarly, the Phoenix Sect’s leader quickly bringing them back to the peak amidst a sea of flaming feathers.