Chapter 223
The three of them decide to hole up in an abandoned farm for the night and recover. Lelou is both wounded and exhausted, while Karl and Elder Song have been moving constantly to keep the more powerful cultivators among the Divine Transfer Cult from finding them.
They’ve had numerous run ins with them before, all going their way, but the number of these cultists is so high that getting surrounded and swarmed is a real danger. That’s what happened to Lelou that forced her to flee to a random world, ending up here.
Individually, they’re no match for her, but a hundred or more at a time becomes a problem. By Elder Song’s best guess, there should be about ten thousand cultivators in the Immortal Realm on this planet, and all are members of the same group.
"Do you think we should skip the planet for a while and come back when they calm down and you’ve finished your Breakthrough?" Elder Song asks, looking at Karl.
"I’m sure the Divine Council would be satisfied with the information we’ve gathered so far, since it’s clearly more than a two person job to control a planet. But the cultists are sensitive to shifts between worlds, so we should take a bit of time for them to stop actively searching for Lelou before we drag anywhere else into this mess." Karl says, thinking of what the best solution might be.
They’ll have a hard time blending in if they go to the city, but staying here in the abandoned farmhouse makes them easy targets for anyone looking for three outsiders.
"If this area is all pleasure focused, why don’t we head for a group of gluttons? I can eat as if I was in my Dragon form, and digestive pills are easy to make if you want to indulge and blend in." Lelou suggests.
"That could work, we’ll just need a little while to observe them first, since the Planetary Transfer spell often requires them to perform strange but specific rituals at frequent intervals." Elder Song agrees, leaning back against a wall.
That’s their signal to get some rest for the night. They traveled quite a ways from where they entered this continent, so they should have time to rest before any pursuers find them.
They don’t manage a whole night of peace though, the locals sensed three presences and decided that wasn’t enough people for anything they should be doing to fulfill the ritual, so they sent out some of their strongest to investigate and chastise the slackers. Elder Song is the first to notice their approach, and that they’ve alerted the groups searching for Lelou that they’ve noticed something suspicious. In his opinion, a fight is inevitable.