162 Water Snake Sects Secre (2/2)
”A foreign actor?” Tai frowned as he rubbed his chin.
”Well, it's too late to do anything about it now anyways.” Ed replied. ”Just deal with things as they come.” He stepped towards the portal and entered inside, not bothering to wait for Tai. 'If he still can't figure it out with that, then I've grossly overestimated him. The World Hunter Association and Nexus are obviously already involved, but they're in too many places at once. They can't provide an abundance of assistance to any specific area. Not to mention they'll want to conserve their forces as much as possible for the world stage. But other countries? How easy would it be to invite a foreign invasion during a civil war? Japan, Korea, Mongolia, India, and Russia. And those are only the strong countries nearby. Over a dozen smaller countries would be more than happy to grab a piece of the massive pie. The real question is who did Sect Leader Di invite? And if I'm wrong, then I doubt there's anything else he could come up with that would be a bigger threat. Not unless his sect holds some ancient secret like the Purple Origin Sect does.'
...
Stepping out of the portal, Ed was greeted by freezing howling winds. He instinctively activated his silver flames for warmth as he rubbed his arms. 'Ah, I'm really atop Mount Everest this time.' He thought as he looked around. Behind him were seven icy blue portals, each one leading to a different sect. There was also a large mountain behind him, blocking most of the sunlight while casting a shadow overhead. Some smaller mountains were to his east and west. 'Looks like I'm not at the peak.' He thought as he looked ahead. In front of the seven portals were six different armies of cultivators, with the missing seventh army having supposed to been the Earth Dust Sect's men. The cultivators of each army wore armor decorated with cloth the color of their sect's element.
'Even I didn't think there would be this many...' The armies varied in size, with even the smallest having 2,000 cultivators. The Water Snake Sect actually had over 5,000 just by themselves. The Fire Dragon Sect matched them at nearly the same size. They likely would have had quite a few more if they had managed to pull their members out from the Purple Origin Sect. If not for Tai's recently recruited prisoners from America, then they would have fallen significantly behind in numbers today. Altogether, the total armed forces were made up of over 20,000 cultivators. Ed had never seen so many espers in one place before. Hell, even his own elite forces in America had only consisted of a few hundred chimeras and mana-infused humans with mana battery augmentations.
'Come to think of it, I wonder how we're heading to the Fire Dragon Sect... We're about as far from Mount Dongling as you can get, and the wedding starts in just half a day.' He looked around curiously, not seeing any way they could make it in time. It was unlikely the teleportation esper could support so many cultivators going through it at once. Otherwise, why would they bother gathering them all here over several days instead of heading straight to their destination?
Suddenly, Tai stepped out of the portal. He held his head high, appearing every bit like the confident young master he had always been. He smiled and nodded towards Ed as he walked past while waving his fan towards his face.
It seemed the other five sect leaders noticed Tai, as they walked over from their respective armies to greet him.
”Sect Leader Long.” Ying of the Water Snake Sect smirked. ”You really did surprise me with your amount of forces. It seems you've recruited quite a few foreigners.” She glanced towards Tai's army. ”I just hope they aren't spies here to stab us in the back. A young man like you might easily be taken advantage of.”
”Humph.” Tai snorted. ”My men are more than trustworthy. If anything, we should be worried about the sect that bases themselves on snakes that hide in grass.”
”Now, now.” Dongfeng of the Wind Hawk Sect interrupted while smiling. ”Let's all try to get along. We're all on the same side here.” He turned towards the leader of the Lightning Eel Sect. ”Right, brother Xia?”
”Of course!” Xia nodded while giving a slight smile.
”What are we going to do about Di?” Sect Leader Li of the Dark Phoenix Sect asked, concern visible on her face.
”What can we do?” Her sister, Sect Leader Wan of the Light Tiger Sect scoffed,
”Humph.” Sect Leader Ying snorted, interrupting the conversation while glaring at Tai. She pointed two fingers at her eyes and then pointed at Tai. ”I'll be watching you and your foreigners.” She glanced at Ed. ”You too. Don't think I'll easily trust an outsider.”
”Really?” Ed grinned while crossing his arms. ”But I'm quite honest and trustworthy you know? For example, I already placed a spy in all eight sects in China.”
The various sect leaders' eyes went wide from shock. They clearly had not expected such an honest answer to a question nobody had even asked.
”YOU!” Sect Leader Ying's hand trembled as she pointed at him. ”What's your game, outsider!”
Ed shrugged. ”I just figured there was no point in hiding in.” He laughed. ”I'm sure Nexus has given each of you a complete profile on me by now. There's no way that information wouldn't include anything on Dupe, my right-hand man. Hell, one of you could even be Dupe for all you know.”
Ying frowned. Indeed, they all had been informed of Forge and Harmony long ago. Anyone with an ounce of common sense would have considered the possibility of a spy entering their ranks after reading Dupe's profile. His winning combination of laws were easily enough to make him one of the most feared spies in the world, perhaps only falling behind Feather from Nexus. It would be completely shameless to deny knowing these things after it was brought right into the open. ”What's your goal?” She asked, caution on her face. ”Do you want to sow dissent right before the war starts? Are you working with the enemy?”
”That's the pot calling the kettle black.” Ed scoffed. ”Who tried to start a fight with Tai as soon as we arrived? If anyone's trying to throw our ranks into chaos, then it appears to be you.”
”Nonsense!” She shouted. ”I'm the only one with a way of even getting us to Mount Dongling!”
”Then get on with it.” He replied. ”We're burning daylight and getting nowhere by playing petty politics.”
Ying grimaced before harrumphing and turning around. She pulled out a small blue whistle attached to her necklace and blew on it. It seemed to be silent, as no one could hear any sound coming out.
'Just how is she going to get us there in time?' Ed curiously wondered as he watched her closely.
Suddenly, the ground began rumbling and shaking. The snow shifted, sliding downwards.
”AVALANCHE?!” Many solders screamed in panic.
”EARTHQUAKE!!!” Other soldiers shouted while lying themselves flat on the ground.
Ed's eyes widened in shock as he watched what was happening. 'Are we... moving?!'
Suddenly, another quake hit, causing much more snow to slide down the various mountain slopes. Ed was lurched forward by the force, and he had to slam his foot into the ground to catch his balance. 'I haven't felt like that since the last time I crashed my steam scooter...'
Unable to withstand his curiosity, he flew into the sky. As he flew higher and higher, the shape of the mountains become increasingly clearer. The plain he and the men were in was surrounded by mountain peaks on all sides. It was as if a huge chunk of Mount Everest had broken away and flew off on its own. However, there seemed to be nothing driving the mountain beyond a vague sense of mana flowing in certain ways.
'This... This has to be a formation or something.' He thought as he examined the pyramid-shaped mountain. 'But at this size... why wait until now to use it for anything?' It had to be known that just the valley alone comfortably held 20,000 cultivators. The entire object made even nightmares look tiny in comparison. After all, it was a literal floating mountain! Could it not be used to bash the nightmare's heads in and finally return peace to the world? Determined for answers, he eyed Sect Leader Ying. He'd even be willing to force the answers out of her if he had to.