The Fourth Fall - Chapter 22 preview (Patreon)

The meeting did not begin immediately. To Wu Ying's private amusement, after the deep posturing of bringing multiple large and expensive flying vehicles to the negotiation, by unspoken agreement each of these instruments were spaced out and landed. The negotiations, after all, could take weeks, perhaps even months. Keeping such buildings aloft during that period would harm even the finances of the kingdoms.

Negotiations of where each cultivator instrument would be located, how far apart, using which particular mountain range and the like had flashed through the night before, the negotiating team and the masters of the mortal instruments angling for the best position. It had been done, of course, at a level lower than the king or the Princes or the Sect Head, but the constant buzzing of spiritual messengers were a low-level annoyance for the cultivators within.

Still, the negotiations had been completed at last, and each of the four spiritual instruments ponderously moved towards their locations. The massive single spiritual instrument flanked on three sides by the combined forces of the State of Wei and Shen, the trio taking shorter hills while the large fortress ahead of them was placed upon the highest hill.

First to touch down was the State of Cai's building, the grinding of displaced earth and shattered boulders mixing with the crushing of numerous trees as the air filled with the noise of a thousand landslides. Beneath the building, Wu Ying could feel the workings of numerous Earth cultivators and specially designed formations that tore up the land and scooped it aside or compressed it, providing a firm base for the earthy diamond of the fortress to embed itself. He could feel a shift further ahead as the building lowered itself, a twisting of the dao that caused the building to suddenly heave itself against the winds.

"What was that?" Wu Ying muttered, eyes narrowed. He reached out spiritually, trying to gauge what happened as the winds shrieked, throwing themselves away suddenly as the building lowered. "It's a twisting of the Dao. Or..."

"An untwisting." Yang Mu murmured. "That's how they float that building. Rather than raise it manually, they alter the dao of heaviness on it. Such that it is lighter."

"Like certain qinggong techniques." It was not an unknown matter. Most qinggong techniques drew upon the aspect of heaviness, of weight, in the world and altered an individuals' relation to it. Wu Ying's own method of Heavenly Soul, Earthly Body took a different route, making him one with the wind and earth; but even that had minor manipulations of the same dao. However, he had never felt such a massive change before.

Then again, he had never tried to fly a fortress that was at least five li across and wide. Perhaps if he had been foolish enough to undertake such a massive challenge, he too might have grasped the dao of heaviness in a broader fashion.

"I really do want to meet the author of such a dao," Wu Ying said, eyes glimmering with amusement.

"Are you thinking something rude again, Ah Ying?" Yang Mu said warningly, eyes narrowing. "Maybe about how they might be like the Laughing Buddha?"

"No, no!" Wu Ying waved a hand. "I was thinking of seeing if they danced."

Yang Mu smiled at his reply, though she still found herself shaking her head a little. Moments later, a cry rang out, a warning and the pair took hold of the bannisters to safeguard their balance. All across the building, less confident individuals moved towards specific rooms and chairs to guard themselves against the descent.

Even as the other building grounded itself, Wu Ying sensed the allied spiritual instruments lowering themselves. Each enormous flying contraption had their own method of grounding themselves. The Imperial Palace that been brought twisted and folded space beneath itself, somehow creating a flat piece of land without altering the landscape itself. Wu Ying could sense the usage of spatial and time dao's in play, somehow altering the very dimensions of the area beneath them to allow the building to land. Yang Mu was most focused on the building, lips open a little as she focused.

The Wei fortress was similar to the immense Cai castle's own method of grounding itself, though it - interestingly - shored up the land around itself such that it warped the earth, adding additional earth fortifications to the outside walls of the building whilst scooping up land beneath itself. Because the floating fort was less deeply elongated at the bottom, it required less shaping of the land and had actually taken time to position itself in a slight dip in the land such that less manipulation was required.

Finally, the Verdant Green Water's pagoda with its only minor dip below the floor of the building itself, a minor keel for the floating building, utilized the space dao itself; but not to smooth out the land or warp it but to transport the land beneath itself away. The land beneath the building disappeared as the pagoda was lowered, reappearing a short distance away as a shower of dirty over a wide array of land.

"Nasty formation," Wu Ying muttered, surprised to sense the scattering of dust. He could imagine how that might react to a mortal body.

"It doesn't work with anything with a powerful aura. It's why we are landing where there are no trees," Yang Mu answered, idly, knowing exactly what Wu Ying was speaking of through long experience. "That kind of spatial manipulation doesn't work when there's a contesting aura, and even the most base of individuals would be sufficient to break the working. It's a low-energy working though, even if the most complex one of the three."

"Ah, thank you." That would also explain why it was never utilised in battles.

She shrugged in reply, as though her words were of little concern. Perhaps it wasn't, for she was used to explaining formations to Wu Ying. Her understanding of them had far outstripped his own basic study many years ago, and his own understanding of spatial daos continued to be stymied. It was a minor frustration for Wu Ying, for while his own wind dao and Wind Steps allowed him to transport himself through space quickly, it was not an actual warping of space. Just a matter of association and being one with the wind. A shifting of perspective where, if he was already there, then all of him could be there.

Moment after moment, the quartet of powerful spirit instruments lowered themselves and docked. Eventually, the noise and shifting chi and winds came to a standstill, or more accurately, a period of quiescent. At that point, cultivators at the lower level marched outwards, with a single member from each delegation flying outwards to a central spot.

Those flying cultivators would begin the process of setting up the negotiating center, the formation of a simple clearing where transportable spirit domains could be set-up. The presence of all the various parties was required, and it was the first time Wu Ying noted the involvement of the Six Flags Patriarch.

The man flew forwards on a plush chair, the seating covered with leather such that he could arrive in comfort. He utilised the chair with deft manipulations of chi, eschewing the need for a spirit instrument to aid his flight. A small gesture of his strength and degree of comfort he preferred it seemed.

More interesting was the first glimpse of a member of the Cai. Unlike his preconceived notions of an armed and armored member of the military, the man that arrived wore flamboyant silks, the clothing dyed in a myriad of clashing, lurid colours. Pink, cobalt, bright green and garish yellow were only some of the colours Wu Ying spotted, for the robes were stitched together and seperated into multiple layers. Just as interesting, the wind whispered of hidden clothes, of gauze so thin that it was impossible to spot at this distance, though their presence disrupted the wind themselves - even if it was, lightly.

The group reached the meeting point at the same time, and conversations began. Wu Ying tuned out the ritual greetings, instead turning his attention to the junior cultivators spread out below.

"What are they doing?" he asked Yang Mu. He could, of course, tell they were setting up multiple formations but the why eluded him.

"Minor protective formations, warding formations and chi gathering formations," she pointed each of the teams in-charge of the work and the Core Formation Elder in-charge of ensuring the trio of formations did not clash. "To ward off any beast - demonic or spirit - from attempting theft, to provide comfort and finally, to empower the building and its various formations."

"Of course." Wu Ying turned away from their people to regard the other buildings. The largest building, the Cai had a literal army of people outside with even more streaming from the main doors. A crucial logistical issue it seemed, the ability for the army to exit the building quickly stymied by the singular exit. Obviously, with the cultivators, many would just go over the walls themselves if necessary, but for the mortals who were moving around the outside of the fortress digging into the ground, felling trees around the building enthusiatically and even a few hunting parties making their way in the distance, it was more of a concern.

He frowned, leaning forwards as he focused his attention on the distant fortress and called upon the wind. He shifted his awareness all the way there, and though he noted the overlapping aura of other cultivators doing much the same - or watching over them from the Cai fortress itself - he ignored it all. He doubted many of them could sense what he was doing, especially as he was passively drawing upon the information available.

Simple things, to note the differences in the mortals and the armies. For one thing, their armour was more worn, more used. More than once, he spotted a difference in the armour itself, leather that was less weathered, new shiny rings absent the smell of rust and dirt. The armor was patched together, some of the less well-cared for pieces and weapons smellin still of blood.

The mortals themselves were slightly more sweaty, more dirty and smelled a little riper, a little sharper to his nose. A difference in diet, a lacking in meat and protein and even fresh vegetables intensifying their sweat. The wind cultivator assumed much of that had to do with their passage rather than the natural state of their kingdom, though that he could not tell.

Sight indicated the soldiers were a little gaunt, a little less well fed than would have been expected. Better off than many villages they had passed though, but even the - presumably - well fed personal army of the Cai ruler were seeing privations. He wondered what else others were picking up, for most of all, he listened.

"Get that trench dug in. You never know when those huan dan are going to attack."

"Move, this is a new forest. Whichever team brings back the most meat gets a share of it tonight!"

"Chop those trees down. The archers need a line of fire. Water cultivators, don't lag behind. You can begin draining the water from the trees we've marked now!"

"You idiot, lift with your legs."

"Mai Lee, enough with the melons!"

Voices, all of them calling out orders, suggestions and curses. Wu Ying listened in, gaining a sense of the group and he had to admit, growing rather impressed. For all their enmity, the hunger that could be noted even on their faces, the soldiers moved with swift efficiency, tearing through the earth and forests around the fortress and building shelters and trenches. They moved with alacrity, almost as though expecting to be attacked at any moment.

In contrast, the Wei and the Shen kingdom's were undertaking much more languid defensive measures. No masses of soldiers or attendants were outside, the workings and formations being enacted were purely to handle beasts and to ensure that the buildings could continue to work with a minimal reduction in energy.

"I wonder..." Wu Ying muttered, eyes narrowing as the most martial of the allied buildings. He guided the winds over, only to find his notice rebuffed. The Wei's fortress might be grounded, but chi formations still guarded the location and his spiritual pressure was forbidden.

If he was closer, he would be able to bypass it. But he was still mortal, still only partially part of the greater environment. He could not access the air, the wind and the senses so many li away. Perhaps when he was an immortal.... but the Wei knew enough to safeguard themselves against him. It was here that his reputation was a disadvantage, and good sense had Wu Ying not try his luck past the outer walls of the Cai either.

Soon enough, they would meet with the Cai and their people. Soon enough, the building slowly coming together in the clearing where cultivators tore apart the ground and flattened it, where newly formed spirit buildings were constructed and multiple lines of formation flags - each carefully reviewed by all parties - were placed, would be ready. Soon enough, they would speak.

Till then, he would watch the mortals and cultivators working below, and pay minor attention to those hunting parties.