Regressor Sect Master

"We're leaving in two days." Tundra remembered Duke Hadrian's plan, as he walked to Gomerlia's massive market streets. It was time to do some shopping, and Tundra felt a great deal of relief that he no longer had to be in the presence of the two Great Masters.

It was also a good thing that those individuals were so busy that they've already left the city.

Gomerlia's wares were as he expected them to be. There were various merchants dedicated to more unique functions, and many of these merchants serve the Prince, directly or indirectly. It has been said that many merchants are here because of the immense wealth that the prince deploys, both as buyer and seller.

But as he was here, he examined the various spiritual beasts kept at the bestiary section of the street. Spirit beasts from far and wide were brought here, though most of them are in the fifth to seventh realm. There were heavy restraints placed in the compound, and so each of these spirit beasts were expensive. Very expensive.

"Looking into spirit beasts, Lord Fox?" Zuri Blackpetals, strangely, popped up right behind him as he was examining the spirit beasts. Tundra briefly wondered whether the woman, or more appropriately, the branch master, was keeping tabs on him.

"Yes. I happen to be interested in them, though given my funds and my desire for a variety of beasts, I can only afford those in the fifth realm." Tundra admitted. The prices of the spirit beasts were so expensive that even his current wealth wouldn't be enough. Most of these beasts were kept in relatively good condition, and the holding cells used to store these spirit beasts were not cheap at all. All of that meant the merchants needed fat margins to still turn a profit. "Now, did your brother send you here?"

"I'm afraid so. He asked me to keep tabs on you, after the stunt you've pulled at the banquet."

"Is it so easily noticeable?"

"Anyone who has half a mind noticed you were with Grandduke Edrian. If anything, I believe you may find yourself in danger soon."

"So soon?" Tundra sighed, but he half expected it. If Sect Master Sapphens noticed, likely almost everyone else noticed. If anything, they would've known his ability to detect spiritual formations were very top tier. "Merchant, I'd like an order."

A merchant came over, and Tundra placed an order for twenty five different spirit beasts, each of a different beast type and element. The beasts would be delivered directly to the Verdant Snow Sect, but it would take a month or two to deliver.

He would need to work for three months to make back the pills, but that would give him a good reason to dedicate himself to alchemy for a bit.

"There's people looking at your moves, Lord Fox."

"Just as there are people looking at yours." Tundra countered. "Besides, it is not new."

Zuri grinned. "By now, everyone knows we are friends. Now, the important thing is, what signal do I want to send to those watching our movements, those corrupt bastards back in my sect."

The regressor smiled. "Your brother has quite the mind."

"Don't praise him too much. Half of what he asks of me is beyond unreasonable." The female alchemist sighed. They stood an arm's length apart, close enough that people knew they were friends, but not close enough that any spies still had to guess whether there was more to it. "This is as far as I'm willing to do."

Tundra could guess what her brother asked her to do. Feign interest, of the romantic and matrimonial kind. Give the impression that the Blackpetals family is looking outside of the Crimson Lotus Spire, and perhaps, provoke a schism within her sect. "A cultivator is ultimately worth something because of their strength. Your brother should focus on rising to the eighth realm of power. Secretly."

The woman glared at him, not out of anger, but surprise. "Is it that obvious of a move?"

"It is what I would've done. You would have to borrow a tribulation containment formation of some kind, and that has its own risks."

But Zuri had a different idea. "Unless you're willing to host my brother for a visit."

"The eighth realm breakthrough could take between three months to half a year." Tundra countered.

"Half a year isn't long-" Zuri cursed. "I know. I have a younger cousin. He's in the fourth realm. If we can arrange a sham marriage, he could visit you that long on the pretext of discussing marriage terms."

"Why bother? Use a treasure realm instead to breakthrough?" Tundra attacked.

"It's not safe, and I can't leave Noria Firefields if he is away. Wait. Are you offering to cover for him?"

"If he trusts me enough, six months isn't too bad. The ancient secluded realms in the Greymen Mountains is a middle point, quiet enough that few would venture to those old, fully explored ruins. Even the beasts within them are only sixth realm..." Tundra could do so and treat it as a hunting trip. "Just call it a hunting trip. I can be there while still working on a small alchemy lab."

Tundra had gotten very good at working away from a proper alchemy setup, mainly due to the rough conditions of the last years of his first life.

"This can work." The lady thought as the two walked and surveyed more spirit beasts. "I will have to make the pills and elixirs to prepare him for that move, then." Zuri concluded. "I only hope those within my sect do not strike before he is done."

"Then I ask that you hang in there for as long as you can. Did the Princess leave some protective amulets for your sake?"

"She did."

"Then keep them on you. It would be a shame if Wilber leaves the treasure realm to find his beloved sister dead."

"Heh. That doesn't sound too bad. At least I can finally give my brother some pain." Zuri smiled, but Tundra knew she didn't mean it. He only wondered whether that was something else.

***

"There's something following us." Duke Hadrian said to Tundra when they were finally on their way home. The flying ship of the Scarlet Thunder was equipped with powerful formations, some spiritual equipment and all that.

"I do not believe they are friendly." Tundra said. Duke Hadrian's entourage was fairly small. Duke Hadrian himself, his son, Hadar, one of Duke Hadrian's elders, and Tundra who came as a special invitation. Hadar and the elder glanced at each other, and knew that this wasn't a good thing. They quickly rushed to prepare themselves with life saving talismans and all the other sort of equipment.

Tundra closed his eyes, and attempted to focus on the enemy behind them. He was immediately relieved to discover that they were not the Zuja.

But instead, they were another of the great foes of the common cultivator.

Demonic cultivators.

"We're flying over fairly uninhabited lands. The nearest is days from here." Down below were vast swaths of forests and jungles, if Tundra was not wrong, this was part of the reserved lands of the Imperial family. "And I believe we are dealing with demons."

"Oh? I can see why you picked up the formation." Duke Hadrian smiled.

Honestly, all master alchemists are extremely sensitive to the presence of spiritual energies within the materials. Once this sensitivity is directed to the world around them, it is then easier to figure out what is what.

Yet, why did the demons target them?

Tundra could not help but suspect that the Zuja may be playing at the back, manipulating the demons. A hunch, if anything.

The ship shook violently, as a shockwave of energy wobbled through the ship. The protective formations had kicked in. "We're attacked." Duke Hadrian declared.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Let's hit back." His son ran to the defensive equipment and charged it up.

"Well, go for it." The ship wobbled as it fired back. A beam of spiritual energy charged and smashed into the pursuer's shields. Honestly, Tundra wasn't a huge fan of ship battles, and was half tempted to open the doors and head out there himself.

But he isn't a tenth realm. Not anymore, and so, with his current 7th realm abilities, he had to watch his steps.

The two ships traded attacks a few more times.These attacks merely drained the spiritual shields of the two ships, before the stored spiritual energies began to run out.

The two ships slowed, and both prepared to land. "Well, let's see who our guests are." Duke Hadrian smiled, as he put on his war gear. The man looked properly dashing and intimidating, in the way mortals often retold the tales of cultivators. "Need a weapon, Lord Fox?"

"Sure." Tundra picked up a set of knives, and put on a set of studded gloves.

The two ships landed a distance from each other in the middle of a large mortal forest. Duke Hadrian and Tundra both motioned Hadar to stay back. "Leave if it gets too dangerous." Duke Hadrian declared.

Tundra nodded. "We'll deal with this."

Five cultivators came out from the pursuing ship, fourth in the sixth, one in the seventh. But Tundra already knew they were demonic cultivators, his senses rang from their presence. Still, Tundra wondered whether these cultivators would tap into their demonic abilities, or try to stick to their normal abilities.

Duke Hadrian opened with a curious question. "Who goes there, my fellow cultivators? Why have we been attacked?"

The seventh realm cultivator did not wear any clothes that identified him to any of the sects, and wore a mask that hid his face, but Tundra guessed that he was an elder of one of the great pretender sects, Golden Lantern Pavilion, and a subsidiary sect of the Flaming Phoenix, partly from the hidden sigils on his waist.

"This elder merely wishes to acquaint ourselves with the one who meddled in matters he should not." The demonic cultivator said. "Some difficult preparations were wasted, all because of some meddlesome upstart."

Tundra stretched, and felt power flow through himself. Four sixth realm, one seventh realm. Even with the borrowed power of the demons, did these demonic cultivators think he was easy pickings?

They must have. That's why they are here.

Duke Hadrian, however, wasn't having it. "Oh? I was not aware of what we interrupted."

"We? Do you plan to throw your lot with this upstart, Duke Hadrian?" The seventh realm elder said.

"I consider Lord Fox to be a friend. Surely, friends stand up for each other." Duke Hadrian said, as his own seventh realm cultivation began to boil. Even at this distance, the Duke wouldn't be an easy opponent for these demons.

"Then I will have to be impolite."

The five attacked together, but Tundra knew the rest of them were just small fries. Tundra's fists shone as his entire body was coated in a sheen of steel. Power in his fists.

He glared, and the four sixth realm demonic cultivators froze in their steps, suddenly overwhelmed by his killing presence. He maybe a seventh realm cultivator, but his heart and spirit remembered the lessons of the tenth.

A cultivator's weight.

Their presence. These folks borrowed their power, and it was easy to see and feel how hollow it was even if it was the sixth realm. If they do not call on their demonic powers, they do not stand a chance.

No. They never stood a chance anyway.

"Flies." Tundra declared, his body radiated an intense metallic weight. A sense of sharpness, steel, and dry coldness permeated the environment. The air tasted like iron. "Thoroughly pathetic."

The four struggled, somehow unable to believe how they were held down by a man's presence.

Tundra vanished, and his fists transformed into an incredible blade. Three of the four sixth realms died in a single blow, their life saving artifacts unable to activate in time. The last one's activated, and he felt his metallic fist slam into the spiritual barrier rated for the seventh realm.

It shook, and Tundra put his might into his fists. The fourth demonic cultivator was shocked, but Duke Hadrian was already engaging the seventh realm demonic cultivator in combat, and as long Duke Hadrian kept him occupied, Tundra was free to slaughter the remaining four. For now, they remained fairly even. But Tundra and the Duke both knew he had more hidden up his sleeves, and wanted to lure it out.

"Demonic cultivators all feel the same to me." Tundra said, as his fists caused the spiritual treasure to crack. "The number of demonic cultivators that truly impressed me could be counted on a single hand, and I remember killing all of them too."

Tundra's declaration caused both of the surviving cultivators to pay attention.

The man activated one lifesaving artifacts after another, but Tundra had his own set of treasures and abilities, and so he was out of luck, and out of mercy.

Tundra's spiritual energy laden knife pierced his flesh, and sliced his body apart.

That was when the last remaining demonic cultivator knew he couldn't pull his punches.

The last's heart glowed red, as the powers of the demonic patron flowed through him. His power rose up the ranks, from the seventh realm to the eighth. This surge immediately caused Duke Hadrian to take a few steps back, and prepare himself.

Tundra knew he was the target. "Finally, the demon plays his card. Come. Show me what sort of demon you are, and whether you are better than those I've killed."

They were so predictable. The demonic cultivator's fists slammed into Tundra's own.

The regressor was forced a few steps back, his feet dragged lines in the dirt as the sheer quantity of the eighth realm demonic cultivator pressed against his own. A hundred spiritual demonic hands stretched out of the demonic cultivator, and they slammed into Tundra's own spiritual blades.

"You have so much raw power." Tundra declared with utmost confidence, but the raw strength of the demon really had a difference.

He felt his own body strain and crack. Even if his spiritual blades managed to fend off the demonic hands and claws, there were still small wounds and cuts throughout his flesh.

But he pressed the demonic cultivator anyway, while the regressor noticed Duke Hadrian seemingly busy with some preparation. "But none of the finesse and mastery of a well learned expert."

"What?" The demon couldn't believe it, as somehow, a compressed bit of Tundra's energies pierced through the demon's protective aura and right through his body.

"Oh? Is the demon unfamiliar with the [Heavenly Piercing Arrow]?"

The transformed demonic cultivator staggered backwards, as the demon's energies flowed through his chest once more, quickly healing those wounds. "Do not get cocky!" The demonic cultivator declared, and he was ready to strike again.

The demonic cultivator attacked, and this time, he pushed harder, and Tundra noticed that the demon burned more of his own soul to win. More strength came at a price, and for demons, it was the blood of others, and the energy from stolen souls.

Tundra checked his own wounds. There were slight injuries. The man was slightly stronger in raw strength, and he felt his own fists tremble a little. But he could win this fight on his own, if he wanted.

"Lord Fox. Allow me." Duke Hadrian said, who used the demon's preoccupation on Tundra to activate a golden talisman. In that instant, a gigantic golden bell slammed from the heavens right down, and the demonic cultivator was flattened. "Such a fool to use demonic abilities, even if I am a distant member of the royal family."

Tundra smiled, amused that it took so long to prepare the anti-demonic treasure. "That is the Golden Evil Slaying Bell?"

"Yes. Beautiful thing, isn't it?" Duke Hadrian nodded as the royal heirloom's spiritual bell vanished. All that remained of the demonic cultivator was a corpse with it's spiritual energies thoroughly destroyed. "Works wonders on demonic cultivators."

"It is, it is." The regressor looked in the distance, towards the flying ship. "We're not done yet."

"Let's see what's in their flying ship."

***

The flying ship belonged to an Elder Hanan of the Golden Lantern Pavilion. An elder that was now dead.

"Elder Hanan is a demonic cultivator." Duke Hadrian frowned. "To think he was seen as an upright man in the eyes of the masses. This will be troublesome..."

"There's no good way we can claim this ship, not immediately. But there are remains we can use to reveal their demonic origins." The elder said, who was more than relieved to discover that there were no defenders left.

It seemed the demons were supremely confident in their victory.

"I'll contact the Golden Lantern Pavilion discreetly. Let them save face and allow them to hide Elder Hanan's death as a chance encounter." The Duke said. "But I wonder how corrupted they are within. And whether this will burn us in the back."

"This man is an elder, the Sect Master must know something is up, one way or another. The question then, is why did he tolerate it?"

"I will try to make contact through my granduncle. It is safer that way."

"Send a note home."

Tundra continued to check the rest of the flying ship, and soon found the presence of slaves and prisoners within the flying ship itself, and many more bodies. They were low leveled cultivators, below the 4th realm, and likely used as cauldrons or for their spirit blood. There were bodies dismembered and disfigured in ways to extract their blood or pull out their meridians for the various demonic ceremonies. Most of them were unconscious, likely caused by the use of various drugs.

It made the Duke's son vomit, it seemed he was unfamiliar with the demonic cultivator's ways.

"Do you have a lot of experience with demonic cultivators, Lord Fox?" Duke Hadrian said as he checked the injured and the unconscious prisoners.

"Some." Tundra answered. "It's clear here."

Duke Hadrian wanted to ask more, and he knew he was already suspicious. But for now, there were other things to do. "Let's fly the ship to Scarlet Lightning, we'll deal with the rest of it there. The Golden Lantern can come and claim the ship, if they want. I'll also contact the Flaming Phoenix. They should know what's happening in their vassal sects."

"Agreed."

"You're welcome to use our healing pavilion, Lord Fox. That attack must've strained you."

Tundra scanned his body, and nodded. There were numerous small injuries and wounds caused by trying to fight the spiritual weight of someone a full realm above him, and proper healing would be needed. "It has. The weight of the eighth realm is still too heavy for me."

"Come, come. As your host, it would not do to let one of my companions be injured on a trip together."