Meanwhile, back in the outer grounds of the Phoenix Sect, Bianca found a woman behind the kitsune that looked overly curious in their discussion, not attempting to hide her curiosity at all. Luckily, there wasn’t any hint of her planning to report it, and if anything, the woman seemed very happy when Bianca brought up praises of the Phoenix Sect.

When she piled on more of them, the woman got even happier, with the kitsune clearly cooperating with her, until she finally stood up and came over, a spring in her step and her smile gleaming.

“Pardon me, but I couldn’t help but overhear your – rather loud – conversation, and your interest in our treasures and glory.”

“Our?” Bianca asked, although she had a rather good idea of the truth already.

“Permit me to introduce myself. I’m a middle disciple of the Phoenix Sect, Su Huang, a pleasure to meet you,” the woman bowed, leaving Bianca the opportunity to stare at her for a while without being interrupted.

The woman was above average in height, with a fit figure and wonderful boobs and ass, large but proportional to her size. Her hair was crimson, a vivid red that would’ve had to be the result of hair dye back on Orbis, but here it was almost certainly entirely natural, the same as her flame-orange eyes. She was, frankly, gorgeous, and she would’ve loved to spend some time with her in private… not even necessarily in bed. Just getting a date with her would’ve brightened any bad day she had, a few exceptionally bad ones aside.

Of course, she couldn’t forget the fact that she technically had a girlfriend already, although Song Ming didn’t oppose her fucking others while they were together, so it was possible that she had a chance, but-

‘Bianca, stop it, you’re way too horny already. I don’t know if it’s the effect of Xue Yaling’s influence on my body technique- well, I do know, the question is whether it’s an actual change or just the effect it had on my imagination… because I can’t stop thinking about someone as hot as that woman on her knees, my cock laying on her face, her makeup ruined and messy from my sweat and musk coating her face and filling her mind…’

She felt herself turning red as she tried to chase away the fantasy, barely managing to remain inconspicuous. Fortunately, the woman drew everyone’s attention, so she was clear.

“A Phoenix Sect disciple? No wonder you looked so impressive on first glance,” Bianca said, not even attempting to hide her true opinion since it was what the more vocal and boisterous character she’d been playing would say, “I am Bai An. You wouldn’t happen to have some insights to share, would you? I’d love to learn about all the ways that the Phoenix Sect is able to stand tall in this world.”

“Why, of course, though nobody would appreciate me sharing the details of any of the inner defensive measures. You have to understand, while I doubt that you would use this information maliciously, there are many that would.”

“Tch, they should be doing better things than planning to attack the best sect of the Heartlands. Scum,” she nearly spat to the side as she got a little too into character, but decided against it, “However, it feels like you’re about to offer a but… though not the nicer kind.”

“Hah, I appreciate the notion, though I would prefer to get to know you better before we entertain such ideas more… seriously,” Su Huang smiled, leaning down and exposing her cleavage in the rather revealing – by the standard of some of the other sects, at least – robes she wore in the process, “On the subject of the less enjoyable but, I do have an offer. I can bring you inside and show you around, let you see some of the wonders that we hide just behind the walls.”

“Oh, you would do such a thing for our Mistress?” Xue Yaling joined in, looking utterly amazed – and cute.

“So I didn’t mishear… my, now I am curious. I wonder if you’d be able to make me call you mistress as well… but that’s for another time. I can’t take all of you, but the Sect Master should forgive me if I bring in two of you. Just for a short tour, nothing too impressive, and nowhere too deep, heh heh.”

“Not this time, at least,” Bianca cooperated, “But that should be fine. Seeing even a glimpse of the wonders of your sect would make this a trip to be remembered not just by me, but by my descendants as well. Once… well, too private of a subject, perhaps.”

“Oh? You are certainly a fascinating woman. We will have to spend a night together some other time, but for now… I could bring you in today. I’m sure there will be much for you to marvel upon there. As for the rest of your…” the woman paused, then chose the diplomatic term, “… companions, they may busy themselves for the day, I’m sure.”

“Hm, yes, that should be acceptable. This kitsune here is the most insightful subordinate I’ve got, so with her expertise, I’ll be able to see the depths of your Phoenix Sect’s skills that I would otherwise miss,” Bianca said, ‘I might be being a bit too obvious with that one, so-’

The woman’s glowing smile put a stop to her hesitation, “Why of course! Your own knowledge should never stop you from studying the wonders of the world, nor appreciating our prowess.”

“Indeed, I wouldn’t want someone to come away from this by thinking that our Phoenix Sect is lacking,” Su Huang nodded eagerly, “Come on, dismiss your lovely companions and let us proceed. I was supposed to be guarding a certain region – one of no importance, I assure you, so my presence will not be needed – and if I don’t return to the sect to do something else and make up for my absence, then I’m afraid I might upset the upper disciples… though I’m sure the Sect Master would understand. She’s a very caring woman.”

“Excuse me, I’m a little ignorant about your Sect Master… or the truth about her, I should say. Out in the Heartlands, there are all kinds of rumours, and it can be hard to know the truth from the lies,” Bianca nearly admitted to remembering nothing about this Sect Master of theirs – though she did recall Xue Yaling mentioning her at least once before, ‘What was her name again…’

“Huang Su. The characters in our names are different, but I’ve always considered her to be something akin to a parental figure… I think all of us do. That is what allows our glorious sect to be so united and powerful, as we all feel a deep sense of belonging,” the woman continued on until she realised she was still in the open, “Ahem, let us depart, then I can speak a little more. Doing so out here would be a little… undesirable.”

“Yeah, let’s…” Bianca stood up, looked to Han Rushu, Yu Juan and her lovely pet, spending entirely too long trying to discern the best way to formulate anything of use, “Take your time and enjoy yourselves while I’m away. Make sure to look around plenty and share your tales of the Phoenix Sect’s glory afterwards.”

It was only after she finished that she realised she was a bit of a dummy in that respect, seeing as they would have almost certainly done the exact same thing regardless of her prompting. If anything, she just made herself seem more suspicious and got absolutely nothing out of the ordeal.

This just reaffirmed her belief that she didn’t make for a great leader, but at least she knew what she’d done wrong right away. She could improve if she knew her errors, and she could then find a way to improve, and she could, one of these days, become… someone capable. It was within the realm of possibility, at least, even if her ending up as a decent person was probably far, far away.

Regardless, her companions played along as well, with Song Ming rising with appropriate reverence and bowing to her, “As you command, Mistress. Enjoy your tour.”

The others bowed along, although Han Rushu looked very, very reluctant.

Su Huang’s attention had switched already, so she didn’t notice that at all. She looked only at Bianca, barely paying Xue Yaling any mind – perhaps due to how much more enthusiasm she had showed compared to the kitsune – and led them out of the building and to the large front gates of the sect.

They were, as before, shut, and easily over twenty metres in height, perhaps thirty or so metres in width, with guards outfitted in similar robes to Su Huang’s own standing on either side of it. Behind these gates lay whatever wonders the Phoenix Sect contained, though perhaps unsurprisingly, their tour guide wasn’t especially enthralled with them herself. That didn’t stop Bianca from channelling her very real amazement to show on the surface, much like she had felt when she first saw the grand sect structures back in Xi Village.

Although she’d seen quite a few things, she never lost her excitement and interest in the supernatural factors of this world, and so she was able to show off the appropriate level of joy when the woman glanced back at her before she approached her compatriots.

“Hey there, I’ve got something to report, and these two are… I phrased that poorly. They’ve got some news on the strange woman that was reported back in the dragon’s territory, the one that seemed to luckily avoid all of their patrols, steal several incredibly valuable planar items, and then get away unseen until the very last moment…”

“Huang, are you bringing in more people for a date? You know you can just tell us if you are, we won’t judge.”

Su Huang’s incredibly refined demeanour instantly crumbled as she grew red, gazing somewhere in between her fellow disciples and Bianca, unable to decide who would be less embarrassing to look at. It took her a decent while to finally reply.

“It’s… It’s not that. Please, just let me through, I’ll be back by the end of the day.”

“Remember, don’t use Senior Ming’s bedroom this time, she was really upset that you wet her bed and made the room smell like-”

“You two, shut it!” Su Huang snapped back, though it was hard to take her seriously when her face was practically glowing red from embarrassment, “I will have a talk with you after this, I promise you!”

“After the last time, you weren’t able to walk for a week, so are you sure it’s a good idea to do this again?” the other guard muttered, earning an embarrassed glare that prompted her to sigh, “Alright, alright, you can go in. Good luck on the date.”

“It’s not a- no no, calm…”

Su Huang forced herself to remain quiet as they opened up the gates, bringing Bianca and Xue Yaling inside and waiting for the gates to shut behind them before breathing out a sigh of relief.

“Well… that was that. Please don’t mind it, that was simply… my fellow disciples playing a prank on me. Yes, we’re very carefree and simply aren’t as concerned with our image as some other factions out there. Mhm, definitely,” the woman turned to them and said, nodding along with a little too much enthusiasm to notice that even with their best attempts to conceal their expressions, Bianca and the kitsune simply weren’t buying it.

Instead of focusing on her, Bianca chose to look around and see what had been hidden from her behind the tall walls of the sect. And the result… was impressive for this world, at least. Countless tall structures were in front of her, lining up around a central road that led straight forward, one of the widest roads that Bianca had seen in the Planar Continents.

Even by Orbis standards, aside from a few new cities that were being built with ten-lane or larger roads in preparation for future traffic, the road here was quite large, at least six or eight lanes in width. The buildings here were distinctly of the Planar Contiental style, with many paper windows, sliding doors and fancy pagoda-like rooves, but they were also tall, with many stories and plenty of different decorations and symbols that resembled more modern buildings, akin to neon signs and billboards.

Some were even literally glowing, though almost certainly not in the same way modern signs would be. Electricity wasn’t really a known force here, aside from a means of attacking via planar skills, and the Phoenix Sect hardly seemed like the type to innovate on this front.

‘However, they are mostly women, by the looks of it… Shit, why couldn’t I have appeared here when I entered the world?’ she thought, failing to find a single man out in the streets so far, “Heavens…”

“Hm? Ah, yes, the sect… you’re impressed, right? We’ve made full use of our talents to create structures that will hold up against all attacks, and to allow us to house countless masters of the great arts and outer disciples that will contribute to the workings of the sect while middle and inner disciples cultivate and seek to reach the peak of our world.”

She moved forward and waved them along, continuing as they walked.

“Our Sect Master, Huang Su, is only in the sixth realm, which is lower than usual, since she had to step into her current position after our previous Sect Master fell in battle with the Exarch’s forces… She has done wonderfully in her position, and our sect hasn’t lost any ground since, but her realm is still below that of other leaders. Nevertheless, she will soon catch up, and then our Phoenix Sect will stand at the peak of the world with the rest.”

“Aren’t there some people in the eight realm, though?” Bianca asked idly.

“Ah, yes, there are believed to be some that still remain, but the eighth realm has been nearly impossible to reach in the hundred thousand years. Those that still remain are mostly within hibernation or otherwise incapable of actively participating in the world. The only time they will emerge is in a time of absolute necessity, and it will likely be the last time they will be able to act before their death.”

“Yes, Mistress, I believe I had informed you of this some time ago… It is believed that the eight realm will be entirely unreachable soon, if it isn’t already, as the density of planar energy around the world has been in a consistent decline. Here in the Eastern Continent, sects like the prestigious Phoenix Sect will focus their artefacts, arrays and treasures to gather as much energy as possible within the sect grounds – hence the large effect on the surroundings,” Xue Yaling offered up an explanation – almost certainly a repeat of a previous one – and made sure to give some praise to the Phoenix Sect at the same time, “You can tell how impressive this sect is by the incredible change to the planar energy here and how much they’ve affected the region.”

“Hah, thank you for the praise. In truth, this place used to be a little more impressive. Some of the artefacts in our possession don’t quite fit our requirements, and so we’ve been unable to gather and retain the energy that we need for our purposes. Some items, like the Weave of the Senses, are impressive, but they lack the correct elemental properties to be useful.”

“The Weave of the Senses? What is that?”

“You don’t know?” for once, Su Huang seemed confused and perturbed by her question.

“Please, pardon my Mistress, she is, uh, well…” the kitsune stepped over and whispered into her ear, “She’s a little ignorant about the world, and thinks about herself far more highly than she should, but… she has a certain image to uphold, and she would never be willing to admit her faults.”

Whether the kitsune spoke loudly enough for Bianca to hear on purpose or not, she certainly heard all of it, but pretended not to. If this worked, then it would be far easier to simply run with it rather than attempting to come up with something on her own. Now, all she needed to do was act as though what Xue Yaling said was the truth, albeit subtly as to not make it suspicious.

“Ah, I see… well, makes sense, I suppose…” the Phoenix Sect member sighed quietly, muttering under her breath, before raising her voice to speak up normally, “I understand, you’re only verifying our insights. Well, I can’t reveal the full extent of them, but I can recite the basics. The Weave of the Senses is an item of uncertain origins, but we know that it resembles a sort of… hosiery material that is worn over the torso.”

‘What? That’s what it was? Like a… bodysuit of sorts? Uh… okay,’ Bianca felt her expectations shatter, but she nodded along without letting it show on her face.

“The artefact covers the groin in a sort of V-shape, and then reaches up the torso and across both arms, ending at the hands and is held on by two black rings on either hand, on the middle and index finger. From what I’ve heard, it’s incredibly light and thin, as though the slightest bit of pressure will destroy it, but it is incredibly durable, able to resist weapons of the fifth realm at least.”

“So, it’s an incredible defensive item?”

“In part. If a strike is powerful enough, or doesn’t target the item itself, then it wouldn’t help. The force of the attack could still come through, and it couldn’t do anything if you were hit in the leg, for instance,” Su Huang explained, “The surface of the Weave is covered in strange patterns when energy is infused into it, but it is not worn often. It is of little use to most of us, and there is no sense to wearing it while it is not needed just in case something happens and it is lost.”

“I see. So, is it-”

“Before you proceed, we should stop by here. We can have a room to ourselves and discuss whatever we wish while getting a perfect view of the sect grounds,” the disciple pointed to one of the taller buildings in the area, labelled as this world’s equivalent of a restaurant.

Bianca could see quite a few windows facing outwards on all floors, many of which were currently open, but when she made the Demonic Tyrant push her spiritual perception towards them, she found that she couldn’t sense a single thing in there. Presumably, this was the same kind of defensive solution that was present in the inn they’d stayed in, and would keep their chatter a little more private – though she knew that spilling the truth would be foolish even if Su Huang was somehow on board with their plan, seeing as the higher-ups of the sect could still hear them.

Regardless, she had no intentions to refuse, and neither did Xue Yaling.