Unintended Cultivator

Sen had used a bit of earth qi to make a miniature replica of the Twisted Blade Sect’s compound. He walked the others through what he’d figured out about the sect’s zones of control, or lack thereof, as well as the more obvious security measures. He discussed what he saw as the main potential stumbling blocks. At the top of that list was the challenge of getting close enough to assess any formations they had in place in and around the walls. The stationary guards on the walls, as well as the patrolling guards, would make that an interesting exercise in stealth. Not that he necessarily thought getting past them would be beyond his abilities, but it was never wise to blindly assume something like that.

More pressing was his lack of knowledge about the formations themselves. Just because the sect seemed disinterested in things like formations now, it didn’t mean they’d always felt that way. If they’d had someone like Uncle Kho in the sect a thousand years ago, there could very well be hideously lethal formations in place that were still perfectly functional. Sen would need to get close enough to trigger them if he wanted to look at them. Of course, he might discover that the sect really was filled with people who disregarded anything but personal strength and had put in formations that any child could get around. Regardless of which way things turned out to be, it would be a delicate balance until he understood exactly what he was dealing with there.

He covered a few obvious problems like the number of people in the sect, which would make not getting physically seen difficult. There was also the challenge of having so many buildings to deal with, only some of which Sen wanted to turn into poisonous hellscapes. He wanted to, as far as possible, preserve the libraries, the armory, and buildings with alchemical resources in them. There was no benefit in destroying those when he could potentially secure manuals, medicinal plants, reagents, and superior weapons. While the sect presumably had other treasures, he doubted they were stored in a building. Those would certainly be kept in storage treasures. He supposed he’d have to collect those from the dead. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time, he thought. Having provided a general overview to everyone, he decided the best thing to do was ask for input.

“Thoughts?”

Falling Leaf and Glimmer of Night were both still studying the miniature version of the sect, so it was Uncle Kho who spoke first.

“I assume you don’t want to simply kick open the gates and rain death on them,” said the elder cultivator.

“Not if I can help it. While I’m pretty sure that would work for you, I don’t like my odds of survival if I try that. I figure it’s best to do as much of this as possible as though you weren’t here. That way, you’re not tied up doing something if we really need you to step in.”

“That’s likely a wise way to handle it. Still, that’s a lot of people to deal with on your own.”

“I plan on reducing those numbers before anything even remotely like fighting starts.”