Immortal Freeloader 103 (Patreon)

The first reaction I had after the discovery of the spiritual vein was to freeze, panicking as I realized I had just touched something that belonged to one of the four strongest sects of the continent. I wanted to run before a dozen Golden Core cultivators came to eviscerate me. Incredible formation skills or not, dealing with hostile Golden Core cultivators was not something I could do.

But then, my rationality managed to reassert itself.

The current mortal region didn’t belong to Kartpa Valley but Entsa Pavilion, which was another of the four great forces, meaning Kartpa Valley couldn’t just send their forces to take over the region without starting a war. It probably explained everything that had been happening at Markas, with the rebellion and anything.

However, one thing didn’t make sense. If Kartpa Valley discovered the area and wanted to take over, why their initial moves were so weak and wishy-washy. Even trying to stay undercover, I didn’t believe that it was the limits Kartpa Valley would go to take over the area. I expected something more intense.

“The formation is the clue,” I suddenly muttered, realizing one important thing. The formation around the spiritual vein was powerful, but it was more of a raw power than skill. And, I didn’t believe that Kartpa valley not having at least one formation expert.

It led me to conclude that it wasn’t a ploy of the Kartpa Valley, but one solitary elder. An elder who sealed the vein with his meager formation skills rather than informing his sect, probably to take possession of it.

No wonder the Qi had built up enough to be suffocating.

He tried to take over Markas silently, and once it failed, he escalated slightly, but his hands were bound, because he was not only trying to hide it from Entsa Pavilion, but also from his own sect.

“So, that’s how it was,” I muttered as everything that had been happening in Markas shifted, the things that had been incomprehensibly silly turned meaningful. “It’s not as bad as it could be.”

It was a great opportunity. Not only did I have enough Qi to literally create every single formation I wanted, but I could do so freely. With the commotion from Pearyin’s mystical disappearance, Kartpa Valley Elder wouldn’t dare to unravel the spiritual vein. At most, he would come to check the formation from outside.

Tricking him was easy with his talent.

First, I turned my attention to the spiritual vein, which was letting out only a fraction of what it could generate because of the formation sealing it. The formation around the spiritual vein was better than what was outside, but it didn’t feel like it was applied by an expert.

It was probably some kind of formation plate built by someone else.

It was better, but also it was designed for ease of use. I loosened it slightly, increasing the density of Qi even as I started using it to dig a tunnel that created that formation from outside, and connected it to my already existing detection formation.

“I’m so glad that I had designed the formation in a way that allowed me to modify it remotely,” I muttered even as I closed my eyes, and started using the remote nodes I had created for laying a huge formation on top of the previous detection one.

Turning Markas and the capital into a secret, impenetrable fortress. I had never even thought of creating something like that before, mostly because of the cost. A detection ward was easy. It cost merely fifty strands or so.

One that could actively defend and counter-attack without me present … absurdly expensive.

However, it didn’t matter, because the spiritual vein was more than enough. At most, I could loosen its restriction to provide even more. Such a vein was enough to satisfy the growth of thousands of Qi cultivators without a noticeable dip.

It was good to be rich … even if it came from the equivalent of robbing the mafia.

When I added the defensive and offensive layers, it was already dusk. But, I didn’t leave. While the spiritual vein was an amazing discovery, it wasn’t an instant win card. I didn’t even know if I could resist a Golden Core cultivator if they were really determined. I assumed so, but multiple ones would eventually break it.

No, I needed to build a distraction, one that would dissuade the elder from poking around … and before that, I needed to understand exactly what had been going on. And, there was only one source I could trust.

Back to the capital.

Even though I could feel multiple Formation Establishment cultivators floating around, I wasn’t afraid. The upgraded formation allowed me to manipulate the Qi of the spiritual vein even from a distance. There would be some efficiency loss, but it wouldn’t matter to anyone but the strongest.

When I arrived at the capital, Aisnam was at the palace, at a meeting. Later than usual, which was likely about the latest emergency.

I went to the house I designed as a drop house, and found multiple thick letters from Aisnam waiting for me. The letter was clearly penned in a hurry.

The first letter asked whether I knew anything about the sudden shift in the world, one that made comprehending palm techniques far easier to comprehend.

“Just how far did it spread,” I found myself asking. It clearly spread enough to cover the capital, but if it was the limit, the Foundation Establishment cultivators would have focused their search on the capital. Instead, they were spreading their search around in a huge pattern.

Curious, I decided to practice the palm techniques, and realized that the effect was still going on. Practicing the palm techniques was several times better … yet it faded the effect of doing so right next to the gate.

Then, I moved to the second letter. On that, it mostly repeated the same questions, followed by explaining several news she had received from her allies. In that letter, she explained the situation in more detail.

It was a mixed bag. The good news was the cultivators had no idea about the exact source of the event. She had mentioned some of the theories. Some thought that it was a secret land, while others believed it to be some kind of natural treasure appearing nearby, strong enough to increase people’s comprehension. There were no guesses about someone disappearing in a mysterious gate from a skill breakthrough.

Of course, just because Aisnam didn’t mention it didn’t mean that it didn’t actually exist.

The third order was asking for a truly huge number of essence cultivation resources, enough to build an army of thousands, to be paid in formation stones and other materials, far more than her previous resources could bring. I didn’t panic, as she openly mentioned it was a trade opportunity from her allies rather than something the Zaim Kingdom needed.

It was probably because some of the weaker cultivation families wanted to raise a high number of martial artists to search.

Excellent.

I wrote answers to all her queries, mostly acting like my organization didn’t know anything about either. I accepted her trade deal, and then left the capital.

My destination, was the border of the Linnass kingdom, though not one that it shared with Zaim kingdom.

Since the cultivators were searching for some kind of mystic ruined land, I would give them one. Right at the edge of the Linnass kingdom.

Of course, the location was not ideal. Once the mystic land was complete, a lot of cultivators would inevitably arrive, and some might decide to drift toward the Zaim kingdom. The earlier annoyance caused by the Linnass kingdom wasn’t enough for it.

Unfortunately, there was a limit I could expand my formation and still control it. Expanding it to Linnass was already the limit. Anything more, and I wasn’t confident to keep the transfer hidden. The best I could do was to place it in the empty wilderness there, and hope it didn’t spread into the mortal kingdoms too much.

The cultivators were supposed to stay away from them. I hoped that they would follow their creed.

Covering the distance didn’t take long. It might have taken longer if I had tried to expand the formation to cover the whole kingdom, but I chose to create a concealed line, more like a railroad, merely detecting a few miles on each side while transferring Qi to the target location.

Then, I arrived at the target.

It was time to build a fake mystic land…