Even after there was a bit of silence, they continued staring at her, and after quickly focusing her spiritual perception and glancing at Xue Yaling – an act made easy only by the assistance of the Demonic Tyrant – she concluded that it was probably best to speak up.

These men were rather intimidating, to say the least, and even if they didn’t have the usual glow that strong cultivators possessed, they were probably just hunters. There could be any number of other people ready to assist them if Bianca did something that they deemed suspicious, and knowing what a single Lin Shuming could do… well, she would very much prefer not to risk it. So, if they were asking her, she had to answer.

“We’re passing through-”

“To the Exarch’s lands?”

‘Who- ah, right. Exarch…’ Bianca nearly glanced back to the kitsune for answers, but managed to hold back the urge, “No, we’re going… south-west. We don’t want to encounter anything or anyone related to the Exarch.”

“… You still look shifty. If you try to make a mess in our town, we won’t go down without a fight, you hear?” the two glared at her for another moment, then turned away and walked towards the village.

One of the two spat as they departed, but otherwise took no offensive action. They walked along an oft-trodden path, as clear by all the marks in the direct and the leaves crushed by forceful steps, and soon disappeared from sight behind more foliage, leaving Bianca, Song Ming and Xue Yaling to stand and ponder the scenario.

The first to speak was the kitsune, stepping ahead of the other two.

“Well, that’s a good reminder of something. Bianca, your energy is rather intimidating to most, and we’ve seen exactly that first hand.”

“It… oh, yeah. Is it… that much? That strong? That…”

“Whatever the word you’re looking for, it certainly is. Remember, you’ve risen to the second realm. That’s easily twice the presence you would’ve had at the peak of the first, so is it any surprise? That being said… I’m impressed.”

“Hm?”

“Not only is your technique sufficient to nullify this effect on us, but it is also incredibly potent on your foes – or anyone other than us, really. You’ve not fucked anyone in between leaving Xi Village and meeting me, have you?”

“N-No!”

“Hm, a shame. We could have used that to further investigate the nature of your skill.”

Glancing in Song Ming’s direction revealed her to be profoundly uncomfortable with the topic, so Bianca shook her head and turned her attention back to the town before them, “Let’s move on. I would really like a place to sleep that isn’t… well, the forest floor.”

“Not fond of my chest?”

“You didn’t let lie down on your chest,” Bianca retorted, and had to immediately follow up since she saw the kitsune opening her mouth to, most likely, say something else that would cause issues, “I’m going, so you better keep up!”

She didn’t wait around to see what either of them would do, since there wasn’t much she could actually do if the kitsune ignored her. Besides, even if she deliberately tried to flee the region, she doubted she’d be able to get away from either one of them. With all the practise they had with their own exaggerated, cultivation-granted abilities, the two would likely outrun her even in the glass and concrete jungle of central Vardium, since her familiarity would be overcome easily by their superior dexterity and speed.

In this world, where such modern features were completely absent, she stood no chance at all.

Since she wasn’t sure where exactly the town was located, she followed the path that the men had taken, and soon emerged into an open field where she understood that the region the men called a town… well, wasn’t quite what she expected.

The grey she had seen from afar was indeed stone, and it did indeed form the walls of buildings, but the total number of structures was five or six, maybe nine if there were a bunch out of sight. Even those weren’t exactly in a complete state, with half of them looking more like ruined derelicts than anything else. Damaged walls and absent roofs replaced with fabric were present on all but one of the homes, and the vast majority of residences – if they could even be called such – were essentially tents.

They did seem to be quite spacious, and the medium-strength winds that were blowing did little to the dark brown fabric, whatever it was, but she was rather amazed that this would be called a town.

A camp? Sure, that would make plenty of sense. A settlement, even. But a town certainly implied something bigger than this, especially when Xi Village was significantly more populated with true buildings. However, the number of people that she could see wandering about and performing various tasks certainly wasn’t anything to scoff at.

Beside however many buildings were present, she could see several dozen of the tents, most of which were roughly the same in design, though some had clearly needed to be repaired with a different fabric to the default brown, and a few were smaller while a few others were larger, but overall the variety was rather insignificant. Instead, it was the people that were different, for aside from the burly muscular guys like the two that had first greeted them, there were also smaller and younger men and women of all shapes and sizes, so to speak.

Most weren’t especially unique in any way – men and women both, of course, though Bianca’s interest immediately drifted to the latter – but there was quite a bit more variety among them than one might expect from a rural… town, such as this.

Various hairstyles and types of dress were present, and even some variation in ethnicity, which was especially notable thanks to the lack of such variation over in Xi Village. The people there were from one region and shared many features, an unsurprising fact considering how protective the three sects around it apparently were, but this place didn’t seem to have any forces attempting to do the same thing.

‘Where am I even going with this… well, I need to find a proper place to rest, but…’ Bianca looked around, hoping to find something that resembled a hotel, motel or whatever else might be intended for housing more than a single person, even though she knew full well that a place that couldn’t manage one structurally sound house would be unlikely to have many of those, ‘Um…’

“What are you looking around for? Do you think they’ll just have a place ready and waiting for us?” Xue Yaling came up behind her and asked quietly, as to not draw too much attention to them, “Not how that works. This place is… likely a camp for hunters and loggers. As you can see over there-”

The kitsune gestured in a direction, a single glance at which revealed plenty of wood stumps and felled silver-leafed trees, along with numerous people standing around them and working to cut down even more. The felled trees were being trimmed, the branches and leaves being cleared away, and one of the barren logs was being cut into large segments, though Bianca was too far away to have any guess at the specific measurements.

“- they’re chopping down the trees. Metallic wood of any kind tends to work well for weaponry, and since we are at the edge of Long Shiyi’s territory, I imagine the ancient dragon wishes to equip her troops.”

“So these people… they’re all working for Long Shiyi?”

“Not necessarily. It is very possible that they gathered here upon hearing of the dragon’s need for materials, and decided to sell these items on once they harvested enough of them. It would make more sense given the… haphazard nature of this operation,” the kitsune replied, looking around, “The materials here are higher quality than usual, as I had mentioned before, so they likely found a decent place with existing structures to take advantage of, then began their work a few weeks ago, perhaps a month at most.”

Bianca glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, since everything she said seemed to be reaching more and more yet sounded believable at the same time, “And how do you know that?”

“It takes a while to establish rapport and decide where to log, so the initial logging would be slow. Later on, however, they will be able to speed up and work at a far greater pace, permitting them to clear out more than enough material within a few months, which ought to be sufficient for Long Shiyi’s interests,” Xue Yaling looked around, “One of these trees should be enough to provide… hm, around five dozen men with decent weapons, perhaps? Depends on whether they cater to individual preference or stuff people’s hands with spears and swords and call it a day. Worse things have happened.”

“Worse… wait, doesn’t everyone have a weapon? I mean, even I have something… vaguely decent.”

“Ha… decent. Anyway, contrary to what you might believe, the average person doesn’t have so many weapons. More importantly, if they are in possession of a weapon, it will likely not be an artefact, nor will it be especially high quality. Most likely, against a powerful foe, they’d break in an instant.”

“Considering the gap in power, wouldn’t the person break as well?” Song Ming stepped up, leaning over Bianca’s other shoulder, “As in… you know.”

“That’s true too, but it would be best for everyone to be equipped to an equal degree. The better their weaker numbers, the more fodder they have for larger battles, and… hm, I don’t believe the Exarch has any skills to take advantage of weak forces, so there would be no real downside to getting in his way, or that of his forces.”

“Which are…”

“Do you think I have all this memorised off by heart? There’s a variety of cultivators on both sides, and some have switched sides since the conflict had begun, so I can’t say for sure. However, the one that would pose the most threat to an army with plenty of weaklings would be a certain user of the Necromantic Core, since he is capable of raising the dead with incredible efficiency. It is said that the technique he uses was integral to the downfall of the Reaper’s Grave… though, of course, that was quite some time ago. I can’t tell if you that man himself was involved.”

“Reaper’s Grave…” Bianca muttered, though her mind was stuck even before then, ‘Raising the dead… with efficiency? Wha… I don’t… I don’t have a clue. What the fuck is any of this… How did I even end up in a place like this…’

As she was feeling lost, Xue Yaling suddenly put a hand on her shoulder and leaned in further.

“Someone’s coming. Since you’ve taken the lead, you talk to them.”

“Wait wh-” Bianca shut her mouth the moment she spotted the person in question, someone that looked to be far more threatening than the two that had greeted them on the way in.

It was a tall man that only slightly less bulky than the two from before, but this one radiated the familiar aura of a cultivator, and from her limited experience, she was guessing that he was in the second realm. He held an axe in one hand, resting it on his shoulder, suggesting he was one of the loggers, though whether such a realm was necessary for such a job was beyond her.

Either way, considering the significance of cultivation in this world, it was very likely that this man was at least a supervisor or something, so she focused and tried to remove the confusion from her expression.

Whether or not she succeeded, the man only took a moment to look over them before addressing her, “What are you doing loitering about here? What are you up to?”

“We wanted a place to rest for a while.”

“This isn’t an inn. We’ve got wood to chop and hungry mouths to feed, and we aren’t going to be wasting our time on you… Besides, people with an aura like that are trouble, no matter what. If a sect passes by here… tch.”

“We could earn our place. Maybe you could do with an extra hand or two?”

“A hand, eh? Heh, I could-”

‘Disgusting. Shut the fuck up. Don’t you dare,’ her mind immediately went to a place she was not happy with in the slightest, and regardless of her own intent, it seemed that the disgust manifested rather prominently on the outside.

Before he could even begin to voice his ideas, the man frowned and almost took a step back, though he managed to stop himself with visible effort. It made Bianca realise just how strong her demonic aura must have gotten in that moment, and she quickly tried to restrain it, though it was clear that it was a bit too late.

“Ugh. You demonic types are all the same. Fine, your subordinates-”

“They-”

“Servants, slaves, I don’t care. Don’t get in anyone’s way and just get them to follow instructions from one of the people overseeing this whole thing – that includes me. As long as you do that, you can use some of the space that remains,” the man said, his gaze focused upon Bianca with an increased wariness, “Though it would be best for the both of us if you didn’t stay long. We don’t need any more trouble.”

“Any more?”

“You’re not the only troublemaker wandering about, though only the heavens know why any of you are allowed to do so. Some man barged in demanding materials and mighty soldiers, but we managed to force his departure. We will not tolerate another disruption, understand?”

“We don’t plan to cause any, so yes.”

He didn’t care for her any more after that, turning away and heading off towards one of the logging sites, leaving the three on their own.

For a brief while, they were quiet, all three of them looking out for other threats in their own ways. Once they were sure that they were not going to be disturbed a second time, they turned to one another.

“First off, I ought to congratulate you.”

“M-Me?”

“You did surprisingly well at not looking back towards me and seeking additional guidance, which certainly made the impression. That wave of bloodlust certainly helped.”

“That wasn’t… intentional…”

“Of course not. However, your unintentional actions keep accumulating into a certain image, and it might be best to capitalise on it,” the kitsune suggested, a familiar grin on her face that certainly didn’t bring about any hope in Bianca’s mind.

“That being?”

“Well, you know what they said about you, don’t you? At Xi Village, at my Ghostflame Temple, and even the few that glance towards you here… A troublemaker, a menace, or a demon. Heh, some people have to work for that kind of title, you know?” Xue Yaling chuckled, “Regardless, having a fearsome presence can have its benefits. Some people will be very reluctant to oppose you in any way if they deem you to be powerful and with a temper that will not favour any kind of disagreement.”

“Are you seriously suggesting that she deliberately keeps that image up?” Song Ming questioned, protest blatant in her voice, “Have you not seen the consequences?”

“Those consequences came about because she lacked the power to do as she wished. Imagine if Bianca had been in her current realm at that time – none of the villagers would have dared to act, and she could have been confident that she wouldn’t be harmed. That incident would have been averted just like that.”

Bianca opened her mouth to disagree, but as she gave the statement some thought, she found that, at least in terms of the logic, she couldn’t quite disagree with it. Sure, she hated being even remotely associated with the term ‘demon’, as much as her Demonic Tyrant prevented her from separating from it, but if she was deemed to be a true threat to the villagers, she doubted that she would have gotten encircled by Lin Shuming and the others. More likely, they would have just left her alone and hoped that she would leave as soon as possible.

Of course, there was plenty to oppose about Xue Yaling’s words as well. Simply attributing everything to power was definitely not right, especially for moral reasons, but the time she spent thinking confirmed that this was not the best place to discuss things like that.

People were wandering around them, some glances being directed at them when they thought that they weren’t paying attention, and the more they talked, the more would be revealed to the camp. If one of the workers learnt about the truth, then that would be one thing, but if they shared it, or if one of the people overseeing the project heard about it first-hand, it might lead to them taking action, potentially causing a repeat of Xi Village just with a few words.

Needless to say, Bianca wasn’t too interested in such an event, so she looked to one of the empty spots near the other tents and asked, “Did you have a tent with you, Xue Yaling?”

“Hm? Oh, of course. You think I haven’t brought along plenty of items for the road when the world around us could be so dangerous and chaotic?” the kitsune only needed a moment to understand, and thankfully didn’t try to tease her… too much, at least, “If they don’t have tools for us to use, I also have some of those, and certain skills to employ with them, if the manuals even deserve such a label.”

She nodded and subtly gestured towards Bianca, indicating for her to move forward first. Bianca recognised it after a few moments, and headed over, the other two following her with far less of a delay.

They found a spot to the right of a few other tents – ones that appeared to be mostly occupied by women, a very important factor since Bianca was not keen to spend any length of time near sweaty, unwashed men – and left the kitsune to take care of the tent. After all, it was in her possession, so there wasn’t much they could do unless she passed something along to them.

Furthermore, if Bianca was to work on assembling the tent, it wouldn’t be quite right either. What kind of evil leader – or even a regular one – would be spending time helping their subordinates do manual labour? Having worked in groups during her education, Bianca knew all too well how quickly leaders, self-assigned or otherwise, would stop doing the hard work and go off to manage things… even if they nothing to manage.

Of course, a little of that was from doing that exact thing herself, though only a little. It was mostly others, and anyone that claimed otherwise was definitely lying.

‘Wait, it really was mostly other people. Why do I feel like I’m lying to myself, then?’ Bianca shook her head and stepped away alongside Song Ming, watching as a bunch of material was produced from the shrinking bag owned by the kitsune, and spread around.

It didn’t take long for it all to be assembled, to the point that Bianca didn’t find the opportunity she had been hoping for to spend some time along with Song Ming. Of course, they had the occasional chance to do so on the way here, but they would always be observed by Xue Yaling in one way or another. Even when they went far, far away, it felt as if she was staring at them from afar, whether or not she actually was, so it was rather challenging to get around to doing anything beyond chatting idly for a while.

Had Xue Yaling busied herself with the tent for a while, it would have been possible for them to sneak away and feel a little less like they had cameras turned towards them at all times – not that Song Ming had any idea what a camera was, though she would undoubtedly find some cultivation equivalent if asked – but perhaps it was for the best that it didn’t happen.

This was a new place with new people, after all. People that might not prove very friendly or accommodating, especially while they were still newcomers to the area.

“Well, there. It’s best not to intrude on the work day for the moment, since I know for a fact that you, Song Ming, haven’t got any experience in this regard,” the kitsune said as she stepped away from her newly assembled tent, one that seemed sufficient to fit all three of them whether they were lying down or standing up, “As such, it would be best for you to get some practise before bothering anyone. Trust me, it won’t end well.”

She did give a glance to Bianca while she was at it, but there wasn’t much she could say even if she wanted to. After all, the kitsune was the one to encourage the very role that shouldn’t be caught chopping wood, so no matter what kind of nonsense she wanted to say, she had to keep it in.

Song Ming nodded. Although she had experienced hunting and foraging, both on her own and with one of the cultivators from Xi Village – as well as Xue Yaling during this trip – she had never needed to assist in chopping wood. Even if she had, her experience would be limited to ordinary wood, since Xi Village was not surrounded by many planar trees for her to practise on.

“So, uh…” Bianca looked around, “What do we do for now?”

“Well, oh mighty leader~, your servants are going to train. You should either interact with those in charge of this operation, or rest up and… ugh, consolidate your realm. Or something along those lines.”

“What does… never mind. I’ll do something like that,” she responded, ‘Is it appropriate for you to be telling me what to do like that? Well, I suppose so, though it’s necessary either way… Meh, whatever. It’s too late for me to do much, so I guess I’ll… sit around and see if anyone annoying shows up.’

She did exactly that, stepping into the tent and finding a lovely place for her to sit down comfortably and look outside the opening of the tent. There wasn’t much for her to do here, especially if she wasn’t going to be recruited for the purposes of chopping down wood. Like Song Ming, she had no experience at all – she wasn’t sure most of the stuff she came across back on Orbis could even be considered regular wood and not some product that vaguely involved wood during the creation process – and perhaps it was for the best.

Leader or no, manual labour wasn’t her favourite thing.

‘Well, since they’re going, then… I guess I can mess around with my cultivation stuff, then. Might work out better without the kitsune doing… whatever it is she gets up to,’ Bianca sighed, ‘Right, as if kitsune are normal. As if planar energy is normal… Fuck my life.’

Bianca shut her eyes and tried to reach out with her spiritual perception without the use of the Demonic Tyrant, but no matter how much time passed, she struggled to effectively invoke it and restrain the urge to simply resort to the simpler option. It felt as if she had been trying for years with no proper results, and it was rather frustrating to keep going when she could tell that with every additional moment spent, her willpower was also getting weaker.

Hence, she opened her eyes again and looked out of the opening of the tent, finding that the light from the sun hadn’t shifted all that much. In fact, she could still hear Xue Yaling and Song Ming quietly talking to one another as they walked away, and even their footsteps, at least for a brief while. It was as if no time passed at all.

‘… I have no talent for any of this, do I? Nor patience… nor the knowledge that half the people around me would have had from all the fantasy stuff they liked to indulge in. At least one of those stories would have had to be close enough to whatever is happening in this world, right?’

She didn’t get an answer, of course.