Chapter 78: Rialda

"Damned sunlight." Rialda groaned loudly, cursing the thin blade of golden sunlight that sliced through the Realm of her dreams. She casually flicked her hands, causing the window on the other side of the room to shut properly. Then, she turned to the other side of the bed - she would reclaim her sleep!

Sadly, the world did not like that.

Bang! Bang!

"Zhixin! Wake up! The captain's back and he's lookin' for ya." The voice of a young man sounded from the other side of the main door.

"Zhixin" suppressed the urge to strangle the man on the other side.

"Lu Yong, I've told you many times," she growled, voice dripping with enough venom to poison a city, "we are not close enough for you to call me by my given name! If you don't stop, I'll shove my sword where the sun don't shine!"

A muffled snort came from the other side of the door

"Yeah, yeah, sure ya will." Lu Yong rolled his eyes, interrupting her curse, not bothered by her tone. And he definitely did not take her threat seriously. "But, do come quickly - the captain's a busy man and he ain't gonna stay for long."

"This little…" Rialda gritted her teeth and almost summoned her earth spikes! Just one gesture! Just one casual wave of her hand and that earth spike would be deeper inside him than he would ever be in anyone!

But, in the end, she calmed down. 'I can't show off my Magic here, that will attract too much trouble.'

She sat up, jumped out of the bed and rubbed her eyes, trying to drive away the sleepiness.

'The information gathering is more or less complete. I just need to gather more information from this Captain Yun and I can move on to a more powerful city. I wonder if I'll find people like me there…?' Rialda sighed wistfully. She was truly tired of having to hide all the time, concealing her Magic when it roared, wanting to be unleashed upon the world in all its glory. 

Just a month back, she had woken up in a forest, with no clue about how she'd turned up there, what she was doing there, or even who she was! The only thing she knew was that her name was 'Rialda' - meaning wisdom or nobility in the Great Veridian Empire's official language of Magic. 

Yeah, she had no clue where that was either.

Anyway, there she was, smack in the middle of a forest, with nothing but the surprisingly fresh air to cover her body. Which, unsurprisingly, turned out to be… not the optimal dress code around here. 

After destroying half a dozen big, gruff men shouting something about grizzly bears or something, she felt it was a good idea to clothe herself. It seemed that she wasn't a naturalist, whatever they were.

Oh, yes. She also had this convenient power called 'Magic' that allowed her to do all sorts of things with a snap of her fingers, a casual wave, or a flick of her wrist. For example, she could rip a tree out of the ground and play whack-a-man with it, without ever touching it.

After ripping the memories out of the big, gruff and very dead men's brains, she learned that this forest was named the Xing Luo Forest and the closest city to it was the Xing Luo City. 

She decided to head to Xing Luo City.

There, she pretended to be 'Huang Zhixin', a wandering peak 'Body Tempering Martial Artist' looking for opportunities to breakthrough into the 'Blood Qi Awakening Stage' and joined a transport group under the 'Yun Hai Pavilion', while keeping an ear out for people like herself - capable of wielding Magic.

'Hmm, I should have a nice chat with this Captain Yun and see if he can help me,' thought Rialda, baring her teeth at the mirror and inspecting it from different angles, ensuring they were as clean as possible.

'Even if he can't, there's still the Yun Family's branch behind him. I can use them and enlist the help of the Main Family.' 

She snapped her fingers. A jolt of magic ran through her hair, the dark strands rippling and wiggling as if imbued with life. They danced upwards in an eerie ballet, defying gravity before straightening with a snap. A wave of her hand summoned a cool breeze that swept through her raised hair, cleansing it thoroughly and leaving behind a faint, invigorating scent of pine and wildflowers. 

Another snap of her fingers and they trembled at the tips like long feelers searching for direction. Then they swam gracefully, quickly weaving themselves into a simple, yet beautiful braid cascading down her back, ending just a few inches above her waist.

'Gotta dress to impress. We're meeting the captain, after all!' She chuckled. 

With a wave of her arm, her sleepwear came alive, the fabric writhing and twisting before disentangling itself from her body and folding itself neatly into her cupboard. With another flourish, a purple and black hanfu flew off the cupboard and soared through the air like a kite on an invisible breeze. 

Rialda raised her arms to her sides and stood straight, allowing the sleeves of the purple cross-collar shirt to slip over her arms and the black skirt wrap around her as it magically tightened around her waist. The black sash with purple accents flew through the air like a dragon, coiling itself around her waist with sinuous grace.

Striking a pose, she stared at the mirror. A bewitchingly beautiful face stared back at her, orbs of obsidian glittering enigmatically. Rialda examined herself in the mirror.

'Perfect!' Her luscious lips twisted into a satisfied smile.

She turned around and briskly made her way to the main door. 'Captain Yun, oh, Captain Yun, you had better be of use to me, or all my efforts dressing up will go down the drain!'

***

Inside the main building of the Yun Hai Pavilion, in a well-decorated room, four people sat around a large circular table.

"By the way captain, how come you're back in the city so early? Didn't you go out to train?" A young woman inquired curiously, glancing to her right where a tall and burly man with a ponytail sat straight, holding a small cup of tea, savouring its aroma.

Yun Cheng took a long sip of his tea before letting out a satisfied breath. He shook his head, "Well, I don't know, either." 

Before the others could express their confusion, he placed the teacup in its saucer gently and continued, "Just a few days ago, I received an urgent letter, asking me to hurry back as soon as possible."

"Eh? Really? How come? There doesn't seem to…" Lu Yong, the other occupant on the table began to say something but soon trailed off as something caught his eye. Eyes nearly falling out of his eye sockets, he gasped, "Ah? Z-Z-Zhixin?!"

The other three at the table turned around to see a beautiful young woman gracefully making her way down the stairs. She was clad in a well-fitted purple and black hanfu, showing off her slender yet voluptuous figure. Turning around to meet the dumbstruck gazes confidently, she smiled. 

"Good morning, Sister Li. Good morning, Brother Ming," she said to the young woman and the man next to her. Then, she turned to Lu Yong and smiled even more brightly, "A not-so-good morning to you, Brother Lu!"

'Why? What did I do?!' Lu Yong was dumbfounded and confused, his brain was still struggling to relate this beauty with the crass young lass from before. 

But before he could even say anything, she turned around and gracefully cupped her fists towards Yun Cheng. "You must be Captain Yun. Zhixin is honoured to finally meet you."

Yun Cheng cupped his fist as well, giving her a small smile, "And you must be Huang Zhixin. It is the fortune of my lifetime to meet a lady as beautiful as yourself."

"You overpraise me, Captain Yun." Rialda giggled lightly.

"Not at all, Miss Huang. I mean it." Yun Cheng chuckled lightly. He gestured to a seat on his right, next to Lu Yong, "Please, join us."

Rialda obliged.

Brother Ming tore his eyes away from Rialda, expending an unbelievable amount of effort in doing so. 

"What were we talking about again…? Ah, yes," he snapped his fingers, "So, boss, why did the Family Head summon you?"

"Oh, wait. Is it related to those rumours?" Sister Li on the other side of the table spoke up, voicing her assumption.

"Rumours? What rumours?" Yun Cheng turned to her, brows furrowed lightly.

Sister Li was a little flustered being stared at so intensely by Yun Cheng. She stammered slightly, "I-it was something about an Immortal?"

"Immortal?!" Yun Cheng's eyes widened briefly before returning to normal."Are you sure about this? Was there really a mention of an Immortal?"

The others at the table glanced at each other before turning to Yun Cheng and nodding. Yun Cheng's expression turned sombre, his positive mood replaced with a solemn gravity that seemed to weigh on the other occupants' hearts. A suffocating atmosphere of silence fell over the room. 

The silence stretched on, punctuated only by the other four uncomfortably shifting in their seats. They glanced at each other again, communicating with their eyes.

Rialda stole a glance at Lu Yong and rolled her eyes towards Yun Cheng as if saying. Oi, you. Ask.

Lu Yong shrank back in his chair, shaking his head vigorously, No, no, no, no I'm not gonna. Don't have a death wish. He stared across the table at Brother Ming.

Brother Ming's eyebrows jumped, and he turned to Sister Li, throwing the responsibility over to her. I think Sister Li should ask. Captain is very gentle towards women. He might just scold us if we ask! Besides, she was the one who brought it up!

Yes, yes, yes! I agree! Sister Li should be the one to ask! Lu Yong vigorously nodded, relieved that he was not the one asking, receiving a disdainful stare from Rialda.

I just got to know him and it's not appropriate for me to ask. Rialda shrugged.

Sister Li's eyes filled up with tears of betrayal! Y-y-you guys! How could you do this to me?!

However, she could only resign to her fate, promising with her eyes that she would remember this slight!

Sister Li took a deep breath and turned to Yun Cheng. She asked tentatively, "C-Captain… What's an Immortal?" 

"Hmm?" Yun Cheng was startled out of his reverie. 

He turned to Sister Li. 

"An Immortal…" He spoke slowly, rolling the word around in his mouth as though he were tasting it. 

"An Immortal is a being who transcends the mundane, wields immense power and has an unbelievably long lifespan. They can concoct miraculous elixirs that can regrow lost limbs, cure any and all diseases, and even bring one back from the edge of death." he continued, his tone gaining a touch of awe.

"They can take an enemy's head from miles away with a casual wave of their hand.

"They use Techniques to bend the world to their will and wield its power as they please - creating balls of fire that dance atop their hands and blades of wind that slice through armour like butter. They can shape the Earth like putty, commanding it to swallow their opponents alive!

"The more powerful ones can even fly, soaring through the heavens, frolicking among the stars in brilliant lights…

"They are like gods in human skin." He sighed wistfully. "Compared to an Immortal, a Martial Artist is really… mundane and weak."

Silence fell once again as the Martial Artists in the room fell into thought, finding it hard to picture such incredible beings. On the other hand, Rialda's eyes lit up! She quickly looked down to ensure she did not give any signs. 

'I… am I an Immortal, then?' excitement bubbled inside her like a violently shaken bottle of coke. 'Fireballs, wind blades, earth spikes, flight… all of this, I can do too!'

Suddenly, she had the overwhelming urge to meet this Immortal! Perhaps, they were also like her!

"Are they really that incredible, captain?" Lu Yong asked seriously.

"Indeed, they are." Yun Cheng nodded seriously. "I'll give you an idea…"

"As you well know, the Martial Path is divided into Body Refining, Blood Qi Awakening, Flesh Tempering, Bone Tempering and so on. 

"The Immortal Path, on the other hand, is also divided into Body Refining, Qi Gathering, Earthen Origin, Sky Spirit and so on.

"Forget about Body Refining. Just consider the Qi Gathering and Blood Qi Awakening Stages. In a one-on-one head-on battle, the chances of the Blood Qi Awakening Martial Artist winning against the Qi Gathering Immortal is close to zero. Even if we consider the most ordinary Qi Gathering Cultivator against a peak Blood Qi Awakening Master."

A collective gasp filled the room. The fact that the Blood Qi Awakening Stage that all of them aspired to reach in their lifetimes was so weak faced with these Immortals… that was too much for them to comprehend!

"Us Martial Artists cannot really do any damage if we aren't in close quarters." Yun Cheng continued, seemingly unaware of the inner turmoil of his companions. "But Immortal Cultivators can wield their Flying Swords, attacking from dozens of steps away. 

"They can weave several Spell Arts in the time we close the distance, each one capable of destroying their opponent.

"Before your sword even completes a swing, a Wind Blade would have already sliced your neck. 

"And it's not like they're going to let you close in like an idiot - they have their own Movement Techniques that allow them to burrow through the Earth better than badgers, run faster than leopards and move more silently than an owl. 

"The same goes for the Earthen Origin Stage. 

"And beyond that, Sky Spirit Cultivators can even fly! Bone Tempering Martial Artists definitely cannot fly. How would they ever reach their opponent?

"So, what do you think? Are they powerful?" Yun Cheng cocked an eyebrow and looked towards them, scanning their faces. 

All of them remained silent. How the hell were they supposed to fight against such beings?

While the Martial Artists were silently contemplating their relative weakness, Rialda had only one thought in her mind:

'I need to meet this Immortal!'