Chapter 619: Invaders Advancing Everywhere

Flying high above the world had once been a pure pleasure for Inafay, but these days it all too often took her to grim locales. Her home - just "Deadwaste" to so many - was still in the grip of foreign invaders, and there was little she could do about it.

For now, she was tracking the group of invaders that had remained in the Elemental Nations. There were eight of them, just as had been reported, and they'd spread out across the section of land where the four Unions met. Each set himself up as an unchallenged king, and their rules varied: some just wanted to be served, others were cruel.

She noted all of that to report, but the worst thing was that they were checking in with one another. Only two of them had long range Krysali communications crystals, but they communicated with the other six regularly. It seemed that the invaders were committed to their strategy.

That was what made all of this more infuriating. Inafay had power equal to the weaker invaders and she was increasingly mastering her phase training, so she was sure that she could take one of them down. Orotaisin was keeping up, so she would bet on him in another one-on-one fight.

But the four strongest were unbeatable, so if she tried to defend the people in the Elemental Nations, Inafay would bring forth a wave of death and destruction. They were acting like bullies, and unfortunately their bullying would work.

Grimacing, Inafay turned around and began flying back to her checkpoint to train with Handelrey. She had no choice but to trust in Kai...

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..

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The news continued to grow more dire by the day, and though Zae Zin Nim's anger grew, she demanded that the Brightwind Sect continue to tell her the truth. In many other sects across Cloudspire, sect leaders scorned the possibility that Yangix and the other invaders could be more powerful than them, and then they were broken.

Yangix had been spreading his influence across the Northern Expanse, taking on more and more vassals. His reputation was spreading even faster, and Zae Zin Nim feared the moment when he would reach a tipping point: everyone would accept that he was truly the most powerful cultivator on the continent and begin tripping over themselves to swear fealty.

For now, she focused on her own cultivation while trying to discern what Yangix was doing. Rumors suggested he was demanding legendary or ancestral forms of qi, and he was finding them all wanting: none of them were phased powers, so of course he was disappointed.

But he wasn't slaughtering thousands or taking out his wrath on others. No, if Zae Zin Nim knew Yangix at all from their conversation, she guessed that his ego was only growing. Based on the proclamations he sent out, he intended to set himself up as emperor of Cloudspire, of the sort that had only existed in legend.

Sect after sect was defeated, clan after clan bowed to him. When she received news that the Jackal Clan had pledged loyalty to Yangix, she winced - they were so mercenary, if even they thought his victory was inevitable, that was a very bad sign indeed. That also gave him powerful subordinates that would make it difficult for anyone to reach him, even if they had the strength to threaten him.

He had officially founded the "Yangix Sect". The fact that he named it after himself made Zae Zin Nim snort, but she was the only one who found his meteoric rise amusing.

So far Yangix had yet to try to reach far into the Eastern Plains, so the Brightwind Sect hadn't been challenged directly. When it eventually happened, Zae Zin Nim wasn't sure what she would do. She emerged from her haze of cultivation studies to examine her soul in harder terms.

<

Name: Zae Zin Nim

Total Power: 1862

Cultivation: Earth Soul 97% (534)

*Heavenly Sash: Cultivation +10% (53)

Coldfire Corona: 46 (438)

Pure Yin Shroud: Spinel Rank (285)

True Blackblood Physique: E-12 (472)

Soul Level: 9 (81)

>

Her Coldfire Corona, Pure Yin Shroud, and Blackblood Physique had all continued to grow stronger... but unless she broke through with her cultivation, a second battle between them would go the same way the first one had. She needed to push forward faster at the very moment when she was questioning which final steps were the right ones to take.

At least, based on the tales coming to her, she still had time. But one day Zae Zin Nim heard that Yangix had left the Northern Expanse and intended to seize power in the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes, and she knew that time was growing short.

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..

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Even though she feared for her home, Tori's heart went out to the Krysali around her. She fought alongside so many who had been slaves just a few years ago who were now facing new invaders, as unstoppable as the crystalliers had once been. Even when they weren't directly threatened, despair spread across the city states.

When one of the strongest invaders flew over Krysal, he had caused a wave of terror throughout his route. Tori and Bonto stuck close together, trying to do what they could to calm it. His passage had left a bit of hope, but unfortunately, seven invaders emerged from the Frontier into Krysal, each seizing control of a city-state and ruling it as his own fiefdom.

Other than that, Tori had troublingly little knowledge of what was going on around her. She had seen an elite once, but the continent's top warriors were desperately busy working with people more important than her. Kai was allegedly on other continents, building up the strength to fight the invaders, so of course he had no time for anything else.

His students were scattered across the continent and she could only hope that they were still alive. Ankrastor had been in Monskon City - was it possible that the invaders would find out that Kai came from there and attack? Without up to date information, she was left in the dark.

Currently she and Bonto were searching through the Krysali countryside, trying to find city-states that hadn't bowed to the invaders. It was beginning to seem like a fool's errand, because only fools would face opponents who were so overwhelmingly powerful.

"Do you think we could manage phase training?" Bonto asked, for the dozenth time. "Seems like you have to, these days."

"We could not," Tori told him again. "Even Kai took months to master phases, and he had more power than we do now. Even geniuses like Inafay, who has been training phases for a long time, need substantial training to reach that point."

"Ugh, I know, I just hate it..." Bonto wandered further, putting his hands behind his head and ambling strangely. "There's gotta be something weeeeahh!"

His voice cut off in a cry of surprise as he tumbled straight into the ground. Tori leapt to his position immediately, steel and crystal forming at her fingertips, prepared for some sort of trap. There was a crevice that was only visible from a specific angle, driving deeper into the earth. Without thinking, Tori plunged in after him.

She found herself in a cave that glowed softly with qi crystals, beside Bonto, surrounded by former slaves. They carried spears and looked determined, even though they wouldn't have had a chance against even the two of them.

"Just... just who are you people?" Bonto asked in bewilderment.

"The resistance, of course!" An old woman moved between the fighters, wielding a serving ladle like a weapon itself. "We were slaves our entire lives, we're not going to let these new crystalliers from who-knows-where make us slaves again!"

Despite everything, Tori began to smile.

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..

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In her early years, trips across the ocean had been truly threatening to Omilaena, but now they were increasingly just down time. Given the almost constant assault of phased invaders and unprecedented monsters, it was her only chance to relax, but without Kai or Zin Nim to mess with, it was more lonely than anything.

So she kept working on isolating the Whispering Death, sharpened her metals as a Lethal Artisan, and even did some cultivation despite her recent breakthrough. It was all just a prelude to when she would arrive on Rosemount, and then she would find out whether or not all this preparation had been enough.

Recently she had been taking some major risks - she knew that Zin Nim disapproved - but she didn't see an alternative. She had always known there were greater powers in the world, and the arrival of these invaders had proved it could be just as dangerous as she feared. There was no choice but to take risks in order to deal with such a critical threat.

As she saw it, this was an assassination attempt on Kai with a little genocide as collateral damage. Whoever had been behind it had used what they thought was overwhelming force: dozens of fully phased fighters, including five with power that had been unprecedented in known history. In any past century, it would have wiped clean everything.

But Kai had unparalleled power, and Omilaena had grown in ways that wouldn't have happened on her own. Even Zin Nim had been a necessary part of the formula, bringing them to a point that no one could have predicted.

It might just be enough to escape a death trap that was meant to be inescapable.

Finally Omilaena arrived at the tip of the Coiled Empire, the capital city itself. She leapt out of her ship, ignoring all the lamia guards who were converging on her. With a speed phase, she could blur past them, leaving only confusion in her wake as she pierced her way to the great palaces. When she stopped at the entrance by the royal guards, it was because she wanted to.

"Hello, I'm here to speak to the Empress," Omilaena said cheerfully. "She owes me a favor."