Chapter 16: Encounter
One week and 4 days later...
Tallon had quickly been able to spread out his senses over entire regions of the New Continent thanks to the fact that he is a Rank 6 being now.
Because of that he was able to use his Hydroportation and teleport from region to region, swiftly using his Hybrid status to subdue and enthrall or immediately kill off any of the Magical Beasts in the various regions, so long as it didn't distrust the ecosystem of the areas.
Lilith had also done the same as Tallon and thus they had been able to clear out a large portion of land on the Eastern coast.
Tallon swiftly went to each area and used [Cold Recollection] or Lilith would use a disposable item Tallon made and gave to her to use, in order to instantly create and deploy an entire City or Outpost in seconds.
Afterwards they would create teleportation matrixs and formations in order to instantly transport the troops into each region's base of operations.
This was also why Tallon had been able to conqour the Western Side of the New Continent in only 5 days despite the travel time across the whole domain being something that would take weeks to traverse.
Because of that, 2 more areas with Traces of Divine Beings were added to Forossa's gains.
The Divine Cut in the side of the mountain which is actually the inheritance of Sword Saint who is still alive in the Immortal Lands.
And the second is the Stele that resembled a obelisk of sorts which is capable of granting enlightenment into the Water element for Water aptitude Cultivators. This Stele has knowledge and wisdom of the water element left behind by a Divine Being of possibly the Rank 7 or the Rank 8 tiers.
Everything from the Mountain Wolves region to the Mountain Snakes area are part of my territory on the Eastern Coast.
(Image - map of continent - unmarked as of now)
Tallon and Lilith had long since left but the others were still exploring since both mother and son were not able to help colonize every area in the desired locations that Tallon had wanted.
By that point they were forced to leave the New Continent and return to Forossa, but Tallon had given each of the important individuals there with unique badges that contains a partial crystal inside them.
This crystal had a series of runes and Inscriptions on it that essentially make it act like a real time video call, allowing Tallon to view everything back in Forossa.
That way should the situation fall dire and out of control for the forces on the New Continent, he could directly arrive and intervene to deal with the situation.
And that summarised all the events of the last two weeks since Tallon's personal colonization of the New Continent.
He would be able to have an actual challenge once the meeting of the Powerhouses began.
However, as of the present moment, Tallon back in Forossa was observing through the crystal "camera" that the Black Knife Assasins were using to project what they were seeing direction to Tallon in real time.
He recognised the many ships that sailed both on sea and flying ships in the air as ones that belong to the Utra Nation that were the first of the other factions to prepare and arrive on the New Continent.
I wasn't there at the moment so the Black Knife Assasins, whom which are all female, had to speak out their observations to me personally.
"6 ships, each carrying approximately 60 individuals each. 200 individuals of Rank 3, mostly at the Peak, Roughly 75 targets of Rank 4, and around 25 Rank 5 individuals though accurate numbers cannot be determined as they are within the ships or in rooms that have various Inscriptions countering our sensory abilities. The chances that there are unique high ranking individuals of great status being on board is extremely high."
The one that spoke was one of the few Black Knives I knew personally as I entrust Ranni's protection to them.
The one that spoke was Black Knife Alecto, and besides her awaiting Alecto's orders was her daughter, Black Knife Tiche.
In the game Tiche was the Black Knife Assassin that engraved the Half-Wheel of the Death Centipede onto Godwyn's back before she stabbed her Black Knife into his heart. However, I had been the one to do that while Tiche and Alecto served as my subordinates at the time I kidnapped Godwyn for the Night of Black Knives.
"That will be all Alecto. Continue you observations from a distance, should they encounter the individuals you and the others are to protect, you are given full authority to end their lives, regardless whoever they may be."
I could see Alecto, her daughter Tiche and a few other Black Knife Assasins behind her take a knee upon my orders.
They soon vanished under the cover of a faint blue veil that covered their armour as they became invisible to all, even during the day.
***************
The Utra Nation forces had immediately begun setting up their encampment on the Southern Coast of the New Continent closer in the regions closer to my own territory of the snowy areas where Eleum Loyce is.
The majority of the Rank 3 assets that had came found in difficult to resist the density of Breath that weighed down on them but since they were mostly in the solid stage and were only with the Heroic cultivators in order to set up encampments, it wasn't an issue for them to stay.
The Black Knife Assasins that followed and observed the many parties of Heroic Cultivators, led and managed by the Black Knife Ringleader Alecto and her daughter Tiche, remained hidden even whilst in the hostile environments.
I did inform Alecto of all the regions I remembered from reading the original novel in my past life and of what dangers lie in each zone.
The other Nations was still traveling from the Old Continent across the sea to the New Continent, it was only thanks to the advantage gained by the Utra Nation's ships that they had been able to be the first ones to arrive, unaware that I had already claimed the areas I had wanted the most.
Black Knife Tiche was sent by her mother Alecto to follow and observe the three Heroic Cultivators that were the first to leave the encampment, while the Rank 3 Cultivators were still setting it up.
Amongst the three that left, one of them was a important figure that Tiche would report back after having learned this Intel from eavesdropping on their conversions.
Lord Delbert, he was one of the researchers of the academy and was specialized in magical plants.<* >
Professor Roy, the professor of the magical beasts' course in the academy, if Noah was here he would instantly recognise him.<* >
Professor Roy was a short man with curly black hair and a long white beard, his eyebrows were gray and so long that they were able to hide his dark eyes.<* >
Lady Eth Elbas, she, just like Thaddeus, had studied the space-runes of the Elbas family and had become quite skillful in using them.<* >
She had long golden hair and blue eyes, she also looked quite young and her role was pretty obvious: She had to create an escape route in case the exploration became too dangerous.<* >
Those three powerful entities were rank 4 cultivators after all, losing even one of them would greatly affect the power of the Royals and endanger their position as overlords of the southern side of the continent.<* >
The group led by Lady Eth entered the forest of the Silver-yellow woods which are a carnivorous species of trees, many trees had died from the fall of the New Continent from the Immortal Lands but signs of life were showing once more as they regenerated and grew back.
It was filled with many Rank 4 plants with the minimum being those of Rank 3.
This magical plant did exist on the Old Continent but it is very rare and almost extinct. Only being "guarded" by powerful Magical Beasts as it resides in their territories.
Professor Roy tried harvesting the plant by cutting it at the roots but was attacked by the roots of the other Magical Plants.
His group protected him as he harvested them but a powerful root attacked their location prompting them to retreat.
They observed the process of the Rank 4 plant becoming a Rank 5 Magical Plant that took only 20 minutes.
After that they continued their exploration as well as the others of the Utra Nation.
The environment of the swamp seemed filled by so many poisonous beings that even the fumes released by the magical plants and beasts in the fourth rank were enough to make the three heroic cultivators hesitate.<* >
Also, it was clear that stronger beings hid in the depths of the swamp.<* >
Of course, they managed to seize some resources every time but their gains didn't amount to much.<* >
The Utra Nation Forces spread out and began the exploration and colonization of the Dark Gourge and Spiked Roots regions, on the borders of Eleum Loyce's territories and I expect Forossa forces to be discovered very soon.
It was aroumd that time that the forces of the Empire reached the new continent, followed by those of the Papral nation.
The newly arrived forces didn't clash with those of the Utra nation, the other big nations had sent explorative parties too, only a few heroic cultivators had accompanied the human assets.<* >
The piece of Immortal Lands was inhabited by extremely powerful beings, the heroic cultivators sent by the Elbas family had confirmed two rank 5 beings and hundreds of rank 4 in just a few days of exploration.<* >
The heroic cultivators of the Shandal Empire and Papral nation experienced the same events, the new continent seemed a massive danger zone where rank 5 beings could be found everywhere.<* >
And that was only the external part of the continent.<* >
The "Breath" released by the azure ground became denser the more one reached for the center of the new land, those heroic cultivators were almost sure that rank 6 beings would be found once they ventured for its depths.<* >
However, the simple resources obtainable from powerful beasts or plants wasn't enough to push the three big nations to deploy their strongest forces to colonize the new continent, those materials could be found in any danger zone even if in less quantity after all, they needed far more than that.<* >
The environment of the new continent was amazing for heroic cultivators, its foundation was sturdy and filled with "Breath" which made it the perfect place where they could absorb "Breath" that carried laws concerning their elements, the matter of the new land wouldn't crumble as easily as that of the other territories of the Mortal Lands.<* >
Nevertheless, even that wasn't enough to start a colonization by deploying their full assets. They were all fools in my eyes, I already knew how valuable the New Continent was and had seized control of the most important areas containing traces of Divine Beings.
Unfortunately, there was two Water Stele that I was aware of in the novel. One was found by the Empire which I had claimed by my memory of the New Continent map from the novel, while the other would be discovered by the Papral Nation.
It was a shame but I will not spit up and further weaken my forces just for such a meager gain as one more Water Stele when I already possess one. I will claim it once my Black Knife Assasins learn of its location after spying on the Papral Nation's forces.
The exploration continued, the forces of the three big nations silently decided to divide the areas to explore, there was no need to fight over them since they had yet to find something worth fighting for.<* >
The other factions sent similar numbers of Cultivators to the Utra Nation but the Empire had sent more, clearly showing who was the more dominant and powerful faction there.
Danger zones filled the surface of the new continent, the poisonous swamp, the rank 5 Silver-yellow wood, the bushland ruled by the Silent hyenas were only those discovered by the forces of the Utra nation.<* >
Similar areas were discovered as the exploration continued, there was a thick forest filled with rank 4 Giant apes where the existence of two rank 5 beasts had been confirmed, there was a large area filled with small rivers where thousands of rank 4 Swarming piranha lived, their sheer number was enough to scare away most cultivators in the heroic ranks.<* >
There was a wasteland where rank 4 Steeled tumbleweeds hunted for any living being that contained blood.<* >
It was as if the new continent was a system of danger zones where rank 5 beings thrived!<* >
However...that all changed when the forces of the Empire entered the region of the mountain wolves, where they encountered forces bearing a flag from a Faction that the Empire wasn't aware of!
Needless to say, the Empire had made contact with Forossa!
It had been two weeks since the exploration began for the Empire and they had already encountered Forossa's forces.
Spirit Stride was a Rank 5 Cultivator and the leader of this exploration group.
Spirit Stride was the name he was given by the Empire which takes note of the individual.
It was custom in that nation to give battle titles to their heroic cultivators according to their abilities, for example, Spirit Stride's companion Void Hand was named after his weaponless martial art which made him able to stop spells with his bare hands.<* >
When news of an unknown faction came to his ears he immediately went with his group to investigate.
Spirit Stride went with his party to the Mountain Wolves region and came across the sight of a man with a perculiar face mask and wooden armour with white threads or fur from certain points and gaps.
When the two groups eyed each other, Spirit Stride was the first to speak.
"You there! Who are you and what Faction do you belong to?!
The man in the face mask turned and faced the group, having just killed a Rank 4 wolf with a single strike of his Crimson Blade that seems to unleash a extended blood slash at the target.
It was obvious that he was of the 5th Rank, Spirit Stride deduced that he was testing himself on weaker opponents because he was still of the Gaseous Stage which was a correct guess on his part.
"How dare you speak to our Lord of White Reeds in such a disrespectful way!" The one besides the masked man raised his voice as the many others of their group also shared similar hostility and anger.
It could not be helped, Spirit Strike would have known if they were from the Utra Nation, Papral Nation or even from the newest Faction - the Archipelago.
But they were under a unknown flag and could very well be criminals trying to take the gains of the Empire, the strongest Nation in the Mortal Lands.
The masked man waved his sword that send a blood slash towards the ground where his companion stood.
A large gnash in the ground was made and the man bowed his head in forgiveness and respect.
It was then the masked man spoke.
"I apologise for my first Disciple Inaba's words. I am Okina, Lord of the White Reeds that you see behind me. I openly voice the name of the Lord I serve as is his will! I serve the Frost Monarch who rules over the Lands of Forossa! My Monarch has claimed these lands for his own! I shall give you one chance to leave! Should you dare to reject my Monarch's generosity to spare your lives then know I will cut you down here and now! There will be no talk, no negotiations, only his Will and my blade ro carry out his decree is all that I care about!"
From what Spirit Stride could determine, this Okina is a Rank 5 Gaseous Cultivator, his Disciple Inaba is of the Rank 4 Solid stage, while the White Reeds behind him number over a hundred and seem to be Rank 4 Liquid Cultivators.
However, he could sense that the White Reeds behind Okina and Inaba were not that strong and might be weaker in terms of battle prowess simce it seems they cam to this region to hunt the Rank 4 Mountain Wolves to hone their skills and adjust to their bodies current power potential.
With the 25 Heroic Cultivators Spirit Stride brought with him, 3 were Rank 5 Cultivators including himself.
The odds of winning were in the favour of the Empire, however the losses incurred would not be worth it when this region served no purpose and the exact military force of the unknown Forossa was yet to be determined.
(A/n Spirit Stride would win against Oniba and his forces with a ratio of 3:2 chances of victory (60% survive with 40% loss of troops))
(A/n Spirit Stride (win) - 3 X Rank 5, 22 X Rank 4 vs Okina (lose) - 1 X Rank 5, 1 X Rank 4-S, 120 X Rank 4-L)
Where is Forossa even located?
How has it remained hidden after so long?
How strong are they?
These are all questions that need to be answered and this concerns nor just the Empire but the other big Nations as well.
Spirit Stride had no authority over this matter and couldn't initiate a full scale conflict, that was a decision only left to the God of the Empire, God's Left Hand and God's Right Hand.
Without a second linger to ponder on the best course of action, Spirit Stride chose to retreat and report the situation directly to God's Left Hand and God's Right Hand through his inscribed notebook.
Tallon was watching all this and sighed in relief that a battle did not occur since even he was aware that the battle prowess of Okina's White Reeds did not have a solid enough foundation to fight against Heroic Cultivators of that Rank of whom have honed their battle prowess over many years having become a Rank 4+ Cultivator.
Forossa's troops were still new to the whole adapting process and as such would lose such a confrontation.
That was why he hoped the sheer number he had brought to colonize the New Continent would be enough to serve as a deterrent to keep the other factions at bay from encroaching on his territory.
He had sent Okina and the White Reeds to that area since it was the closest to the Divine Cut where Okina and the others could gain enlightenment into progressing their swordsmanship.
Luckily enough, the White Reeds were all of the water aptitude and could go to the Water Stele to enhance their understanding of the water element.
In the original novel the Water Stele would rapidly age or drain the lifespan of the Cultivator which isn't an issue for the gain, but can be if exposed to it long term.
However, the bodies and souls of every inhabitant of the Lands Between has Immortal bodies that can't age because I had removed the need for a lifespan from their bodies using the Rune of Death.
Hence their was no need to worry about such a trivial thing.
Furthermore, I had intentionally pulled out my forces from the area where the Water Stele was so I can ensure the plot progresses on track and I don't cause a butterfly effect that would bite me in the ass later on.
Heaven and Earth's Law/Individuality is Time.
The reason why the Shandal, the God of the Shandal Empire had been stuck at the lowest of the lowest end of being a Rank 7 existence is because his Law/Individuality is a copy/Mimic of Heaven and Earth's Law of Time.
It isn't an original but is just a copy, but that is the reason why Heaven and Earth didn't allow him to fully ascend into the Immortal Lands.
Heaven and Earth is probably using their Time Law to see my future or alternate timelines or something like that.
*********************
Void Hand was flying alone above the wasteland filled by Steeled tumbleweeds, that area seemed one of the few spots where rank 5 beings were absent.<* >
He had an average stature, short black hair and thick eyebrows of the same shade, the absence of beard revealed his pointy chin.<* >
Void Hand had been stuck at his current level and already became a Heroic Cultivator when he was quite old.
Void Hand had chosen to explore the new continent hoping to find something that would increase his level or prolong his life, which was nearing its end, and he was the most eager of his group to find traces of divinities.<* >
That was the reason why he was flying alone while his other companions had decided to return to the encampment to rest, they had just encountered Forossa forces a few days ago but he had chosen to leave the encampment to explore, finding anything useful for his cultivation was literally vital for him.<* >
He flew past the wasteland only to find a large lake next to a barren mountain.<* >
No magical beasts or plants inhabited that place, Void Hand took a mental note of that place since it seemed to be the perfect area where heroic cultivators could safely cultivate.<* >
Yet, it was at that point that he noticed a stele in the distance that radiated some kind of ancient aura.<* >
Void Hand neared it with caution but his attention was soon captivated by the signs graven on the monument.<* >
The signs seemed a form of writing that he couldn't read, yet, there seemed to be a profound meaning contained in them.<* >
Void Hand stared at the stele and slowly landed on the ground, he didn't blink his eyes even once as he sat cross-legged on the azure terrain and kept his gaze on the signs as if it was glued to them.<* >
Void Hand didn't return to the encampment of the Shandal Empire for many days, the other three heroic cultivators of his faction began to worry about his safety until they ultimately chose to look for him.<* >
They knew in which direction he had gone after all, it was normal to be equipped with tracking devices when exploring an unknown and dangerous land.<* >
They had found Void Hand and saw his deep obsession with the Stele, after restricting his movements and separating him from the Stele, he entered a mad frenzied state trying desperately to brak free and return to the Water Stele.
After some time they had been able to calm him down and discuss his findings.
The Empire had found traces of Divine Beings!
The matter about the stele was kept a secret by the forces of the Empire but their behavior clearly showed that they had found something valuable.<* >
A few more heroic cultivators were sent by the Empire to the new continent, the forces of the Utra nation and Papral nation were immediately able to guess that something interesting was happening when they saw the reinforcements reach the enemy camp.<* >
Of course, all three forces were keeping an eye on each other, the arrival of few heroic cultivators wasn't something that could be missed.<* >
Yet, there was something that the forces of the Utra nation and Papral nation couldn't possibly discover at that time: The two few heroic cultivators that had reached the new nation both had a water aptitude!<* >
The Shandal Empire wanted to test if the stele could enlighten every cultivator with a water aptitude or if there were other conditions for that!<* >
The only thing that the heroic cultivators from the other forces could see though was that both cultivators had ventured somewhere after the wasteland containing Steeled tumbleweeds and came back visibly aged but with fervent gazes.<* >
Making a heroic cultivator age wasn't a simple matter, those entities could live for centuries after all, it was clear that what was happening beyond the wasteland definitely wasn't simple.<* >
The other two forces set up a secret meeting, the Utra nation and the Papral nation had to know what the Empire had found, they couldn't let it became stronger than it already was, additionally they had wanted to discuss the matters regarding the Empire's public information of the forces of Forossa they had encountered.<* >
The Utra Nation knew who was leading Forossa, Tallon the Frost Monarch and his wife Ranni the Lunar Queen.
But that was all they knew of Forossa as a whole, still the Elbas family openly gave the information regarding Tallon to the other factions.
Soon after the secret meeting it was decided that they would work together against the Empire and the newest contender for territories on the New Continent, Forossa.
A few days after the Secret Meeting, bothered the Utra Nation and Papral Nation found traces of Divine Beings of their own.
The Papral Nation had found their own Water Stele, but only Forossa and Tallon was aware of what each Faction found thanks to his past memories of the novel.
Meanwhile, Lord Delbert of the Utra Nation had found a Dark Gourge that had many powerful creatures in its deep dark abyss, many of which are Rank 6 beings!
"What do you think, Professor Roy?"
Lady Eth asked after a while, she was more interested in the utility of that place rather than to the living beings that inhabited it.<* >
Roy scratched the side of his head as he sorted his thoughts, he soon formulated a hypothesis that he explained to his companions.<* >
"This place is surely inhabited by rank 6 creatures but I don't understand why they won't come out in the open, they can basically rule the coast after all. I think this is either a dungeon or a training area created by a divine being a long time ago and it should be worth exploring it."
Professor Roy finished his explanation and turned toward Lady Eth to see her reaction but he was surprised to find her communicating through an inscribed item.<* >
The truth was that she had decided to contact the mainland when she understood that they had probably found traces of divine entities.<* >
All three big nations found traces of divine entities which made one thing clear: It was worth investing resources to colonize the new continent!<* >
Additionally, because of this realisation, all the three factions unanimously and unknowingly agreed with one another that Forossa had also possibly found Traces of Divine Beings since they occupy two sides of the New Continent.
They deduced that there are areas that contain traces of Divine Beings on the West and East Coasts of the New Continent but are unaware of their locations.
The new continent was filled with beings in the heroic ranks while creating cities or even simple living areas required periodic cleaning operations to control the population of the threats around them .<* >
Also, the first operation would be the most difficult one since it would require a complete cleanse of certain areas, meaning facing the magical plants or beasts inhabiting it when they were at their strongest .<* >
There was the issue of the "Breath" in the environment too, cultivators at the peak of the human ranks were barely able to breathe there, it would be impossible to create footholds where the human assets of the nations of the continent could live unless something was done about it.<* >
However, none of those issues would be solved unless the three big nations started to send enough heroic cultivators for the task.<* >