Cultivation is Creation-Chapter 212: Divination & Mirror Pools

We returned to our suite after spending the entire day at the markets gathering intel. The main room was big enough, with a low table and some comfy seats.

"Make yourselves comfortable," Liu Chang said when we walked in. "I'll order some food. Don't know about you two, but I am tired of eating rations."

Su Yue nodded and looked at the three sleeping spots that connected to the central area. "If it's okay with you boys, I'll take this one," she said, pointing to the alcove on the right.

"Sure," I said, already heading to the alcove at the back. "This one works for me."

The sleeping area wasn't anything special. Just a raised platform bed, small side table, and a privacy shutter you could pull to close off the alcove from the main room.

Even though the inn already had privacy formations set up, I took out my formation tools to add my own safeguards. Call it paranoia if you want, but in a city full of cultivators fighting for the same prize, better safe than sorry.

"The inn's formations are pretty poor," Azure agreed as I started mapping out what I wanted to do.

No point wasting time trying to make up a new formation. The standard ones we copied from books in the library would work fine.

I placed four copper anchors at the corners of my alcove. Then I used a scribing brush to trace the connection lines. When that was done, I pushed a small stream of qi in to activate the formation.

The Sound Isolation formation flared to life.

But I wasn't finished yet. Next came the Presence Masking Formation. This one disguises my qi signature, making it hard for someone to figure out what I'm doing inside, even if their spiritual sense is stronger than mine.

"Watch the overlap points," Azure said. "Those two formations need to sync up right or they'll interfere with each other."

"Good call," I said, tweaking the connection path based on his advice.

When I finished, I sat back to look at my work. "Nothing fancy, but it'll do."

"Unless a Level 2 formation expert is specifically targeting this room, we should be fine," Azure agreed.

The whole thing took about fifteen minutes. Now I was pretty sure whatever happened in my little alcove would stay private. Which mattered a lot for what I planned to do later.

I went back to the main area just as Liu Chang took a big tray of food from an attendant. There were steamed meat buns, rice bowls, stir-fried veggies, and tea.

"Perfect timing," Liu Chang nodded at me as he put the tray on the table. "Let me tell you what I learned from the information broker while we eat."

As I sat down, Su Yue walked in. She'd changed out of her sect robes into a simple tunic, with her hair wrapped in a bath towel. Liu Chang had cleaned up too, but he wore another set of Azure Peak robes. I squirmed in my seat, suddenly aware of how dirty I was. I probably should have taken a quick shower before joining them for dinner...

"Master, you always forget about basic hygiene when you're focused on cultivation," Azure chimed in, not helping.

Before I could answer, Liu Chang started filling our bowls. "So, the broker information was expensive."

"Was it worth it?" I asked.

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"Yes," Liu Chang nodded. "The valley is more unstable than usual."

"More unstable?" Su Yue asked, stopping with her chopsticks halfway to her mouth. "How?"

"The spatial fluctuations have been getting worse over the past month," Liu Chang explained. "Usually the mist starts to weaken three days before the full moon, but the broker says the thinning has already started..."

"That might explain why everyone in the city is so on edge," I said through a mouthful of steamed bun.

"I think so," Liu Chang agreed. "Word is that some sects including Black Palm and Holy Light have already sent scouts to test the boundaries."

"Anyone die?" Su Yue asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Three confirmed so far," Liu Chang frowned. "Two from smaller sects never came back. The third was from Holy Light Sect. He made it back but suffered bad spatial displacement. They say he came back with his limbs all rearranged..."

Limbs rearranged? I winced. Spatial displacement injuries were notoriously hard to fix. Even the best healers struggle to correct such injuries without causing more damage.

"The Moonlit Dew Flower was supposed to bloom on the full moon night," Liu Chang continued. "But the broker thinks it'll bloom one night earlier."

"Can we trust that info?" I frowned.

"As much as you can trust any broker," Liu Chang shrugged. "I checked around and he's got a good reputation. He has been right about valley conditions before."

"We should enter early, just to be safe," Su Yue cut in. "Better than missing our chance."

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I nodded. "What about the location? Did you find out exactly where the flower will bloom?"

"That's where it gets interesting," Liu Chang leaned forward. "The flower always blooms in the most dangerous spots, places with the highest spatial energy. The location changes each cycle so it won't be the same as last year."

He stopped to sip his tea.

"But," he went on, "the Morning Star Sect's diviners already figured out the location for this cycle."

"And they're keeping it secret," I sighed.

Even if Morning Star people shared the location, who would believe them? No one would share the location of the treasure out of the goodness of their heart.

"Of course," Liu Chang agreed. "But rumors say it's somewhere in the eastern region, a place locals call the 'Mirror Pools' area."

"Mirror pools?" I asked.

"It's a part of the valley where pools of water act strange," Su Yue explained. "They say the water doesn't reflect the sky above but shows different places entirely. Some think the reflections are scenes from other realms..."

That sounded interesting. Did the reflections show inner worlds or other main worlds?

"What about competition?" I asked, focusing on our immediate goal. "Which sects should we watch out for?"

"Four major players this cycle," Liu Chang replied. "First is Yan Zixian, a disciple of the city lord. This is his territory, so he has the greatest advantage. Second and third are the teams from Black Palm and Holy Light sect."

"And I guess the last one is Morning Star sect," I finished.

"Yeah," Liu Chang nodded. "Their divination techniques give them the information advantage."

Which meant they had a massive edge. The saying "knowledge is power" couldn't be more true than in the cultivation world.

"Any news on specific strategies from our competitors?" Su Yue asked.

"Being major sects from the Eastern Continent, we can expect Black Palm and Holy Light to go fast and aggressive," Liu Chang answered.

That reminded me what the illusion talisman vendor said. "I heard Holy Light disciples were asking specifically about Azure Peak members."

"That's concerning," Liu Chang's eyes narrowed. "Did you find out why?"

"No, all I could tell was that they weren't being friendly about it," I took another bite as I thought about what that meant. "You think they found out about what happened at the shrine?"

"Maybe," Liu Chang muttered. "But we weren't the only sects there, so I don't understand why they would target us specifically."

"Sounds like they want something else," Su Yue suggested.

We all went quiet, trying to figure out what that could be. Were they after information? Or did they see us as threats to eliminate?

"Either way, be careful," Liu Chang broke the silence. "Well, that's all I had to say. How'd you two do?"

Su Yue told him about her findings on the spatial anchors and how she couldn't get any illusion detection tools. I explained my plan for making a fake flower in more detail, including how I'd create the base plant by manipulating herbs I bought, then use an illusion talisman and a formation to make it look convincing.

"That's pretty clever," Liu Chang said when I finished, sounding impressed. "I thought you would simply find a similar-looking flower and place a basic illusion talisman on it. But your approach sounds more convincing."

"How long will it take to prepare?" Su Yue asked me.

"Probably a few hours for the base," I guessed, knowing I wouldn't get it right on the first try. "Then maybe another hour to apply the talisman and set up the formation. I'll start working on it right after dinner."

"Sounds good," Liu Chang nodded. "Meanwhile, Su Yue and I will check the maps and see if we can do any last-minute prep."

"Make sure you get enough sleep," I told them. "We'll need it."