Willful Beauty Takes the Villain | System | BxB

22: Seal of Fate

"Summon the Veils. I've found a volunteer that meets our requirements."

"Right away grandmaster." Shi Tao left to notify the others.

Sen Shuai remained standing, motionless. His father went back to ignoring him. 

~~~

Sen Jia was an indistinct blur as he moved in the direction of Mount Taihang.

[Administrator, you are surpassing the upper limit of speed possible for this world.]

{hmmph, slow ass cultivators. Don't care, anyone that sees me can take it as inspiration to improve themselves.}

{Shuai, are you well?} Sen Jia reached his consciousness out through the jade loops trying to get a feel for Sen Shuai's physical well-being.

(I'm well, don't concern yourself, Jia.)

{Be obedient little Shuai. I'm going to pick you up soon.}

(Not necessary.) 

{It's sweet that you want me to stay safe Shuai, but I'm far more powerful than you think.}

~~~

Shi Tao quickly returned with the group of cultivators known as the Veils. All of their robes were marked by a certain distinct symbol. 

"Grandmaster Song." They simultaneously greeted, cupping their hands and bowing slightly.

"Bring him." Grandmaster Song waved his sleeve in Sen Shuai's direction and strode towards a nearby teleportation array. 

The group rematerialized in a dark room deep under the very building Sen Shuai and Sen Jia had been at the day before. More of the cultivators known as the Viel continued to arrive from their respective sects, as an ancient seal was uncovered in the center of the room.

"Grandmaster Song, this is rash. We need to study the seal longer." An older man vehemently insisted.

"Elder Shi now is the time to strike while the other sects are still distracted after the death of the demonic sect leader." 

"We don't know if our theories of the seal's origin and meaning are correct." Elder Shi remained unswayed.

"We will never learn anything more until we open it, Elder." He instructed six specially trained acolytes to open the seal.

They surrounded the seal, tentatively channeling their Qi into it. The seal flickered dimly, slowly brightening as the amount of Qi increased. The looks of success on the acolyte's faces quickly turned to fear as they lost control of the flow of Qi. The fear was then replaced by terror as they were sucked dry of every drop. 

The seal opened with a flash as the final acolyte fell to the floor, dead. 

Sprawled out before the remaining cultivators lay the remains of a technologically advanced city. Everything was destroyed as far as they could see through a thick fog. Nearly every building was broken or collapsed against one another. Roads were buckled with gaping pits visible here and there.

An eerie silence covered everything like a dense layer of dust. There were no signs of life, not even a breath of wind as the fog sat motionless as if it had remained exactly as it is now for millennia.  

There wasn't even a scrap of power in the air for use in cultivation. 

~~~

The group had barely finished dematerializing from Mount Taihang when Shi Tao felt the entire security formation for the mountain simply vanish. He stood in shocked horror at the realization of how much strength would be needed to accomplish such a feat.

His body flashed as he made his way to meet the culprit. A familiar beauty was strolling gracefully along the path toward the clan hall.

"Good afternoon. This gentleman has misplaced something of great importance. I believe you could be of help."

"You're the fairy that was with Song Min." What was this guy doing here? Who broke the array? Shi Tao wondered.

"Song Min?...no, no that guy died in the woods. I'm looking for Sen Shuai, my obedient assistant. Be so good as to direct me to him." A serene smile played across Sen Jia's lips as he spoke but the aura he exuded was vicious.

Shi Tao couldn't even scream as immense pressure crashed over him, ripping his mind open, baring his memories for Sen Jia to read like cracking open a book. Once Sen Jia had seen what he needed, he left Shi Tao mumbling on the ground foaming at the mouth.

Sen Jia arrived at and passed through the teleportation array within a breath. 

[Administrater..this is...]

{Damn Seventh, that's some outdated tech!} Sen Jia rolled the body of a cultivator out of his way and carefully examined the design on the floor.

{No wonder these batteries are out of juice. This power conduit is so inefficient.} He shoved the remaining bodies (empty batteries) out of his way and set about improving the design. 

A/N Sen Jia is only a step behind. ̿'̿'\̵͇̿̿\з=( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)=ε/̵͇̿̿/'̿̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿ ̿