novelraw Chapter 443 - 442 - The Warders
Chapter 443 - 442 - The Warders
The Wild Heart Isle linked to 4 islands but 3 of them were teleportation arrays while the last was a bridge. Unlike the Ravaged Isles, the bridge here was constantly in use in both directions.
Some beasts did use it but mostly the peak of the Sky Realm and with high intelligence only. They were issued special badges so cultivators did not strike them down but usually they were simply there for an auction or market item not easily found in the Wild Heart Isle.
Some bloodlines needed a boost or perhaps a certain purity of element to progress. Whatever the reason, the island directly connected to Wild Heart Isle was heavily leaning toward mercantile powers.
The leaders, however, were an organization simply called the Warders. They were also in charge of the other 3 transit points. It was that organization most information brokers relied on for news from Wild Heart Isle.
Even so, the Warders did not share everything. The events happening inside the beast controlled island would be seen as wars everyday outside of it but were quite normal within. An area swapped rulers regularly whether due to death, ascension, or defeat.
Compared to the relatively stable layouts of the cultivation world, where powers could rule for billions of years, the beast islands were a sea of chaos. If not for the untapped resources that were barely known about, most would let the beasts have at it.
The Warders, however, were always on the lookout for unusual activity. Demon aether beasts were usually an issue as the more power they accrued the more ambitious they would become.
Even normal aether beasts could be driven to try and expand into the other islands for more resources. In the beasts' case that would mean people as food!
Cultivators were a tonic for a beast's cultivation.
If one died while inside the Wild Heart Isle, not even the temperamental Baihu of the Sword Breakers Sect could fault anyone. Death was not just a possibility but a near certainty the longer one stayed inside.
The only exception was the small town that ran the teleportation array and the tunnel entrance all at once.
The Star Tiers enforced the rule as they knew they or other beasts would need to work with some cultivators to survive and thrive.
If they pushed too hard, it was not impossible that they could be facing a harsh backlash from the supreme powers. Beasts were valuable but a delicate balance was maintained where islands were claimed by those strong enough to hold them.
Cultivators, despite their animosities to each other, could band together for a common enemy. So, access to the islands were allowed under the realistic conditions that to be inside a beast island was to face the same life and death all beasts did.
Expeditions were capped to prevent any power from exploiting the island where others could not, thus the Warders were born.
They were powerful but limited cultivators. They were born first from the desire to control the traffic from the islands but over the course of billions of years, a new practice was born. Members of other sects, empires and so forth had many cultivators that were relatively powerful but no longer could progress.
It was how the Warders kept their neutrality but having members of all powers around Wild Heart Isle. The other beast islands were far more advanced or had Heaven Realms that changed how they ran but Wild Heart forever remained true to nature.
It was then that odd things began to happen in the last 50 years.
When cultivators did not come back, it was treated like a death but any holdings or rooms were held until deposits ran out. The reason being that it was not impossible for a ravaged and barely alive cultivator to stumble out of a tunnel or teleportation array.
So when some demons, humans, and aether children had not returned, no one really noticed. It was compounded that they did not leave any traces behind to let some merchants start to wonder what resources could be claimed as funds ran out.
These 2 simple realities let the sudden decline of returnees slip by the Warders until a little over 20 years ago. A sudden influx of cultivators heading to the island from all 4 routes was not unusual in and of itself. There were cycles where some power's expeditions lined up or a resource was discovered that garnered interest.
The Warders were usually informed, but not always. News would reach them eventually but then the odd things started to be noticed.
No one came back. No large swaths of bloody body parts were found. No detection of massive battles. In fact, it was down right quiet in the Wild Heart Isle compared to normal.
A former Heavenly Maiden was the one that thought she recognized someone and began to work backwards. It took nearly 7 years before she finally began to put pieces together and wondered what to do.
She had left her sect over a century ago for her own reasons but she recalled all the good news from her fellow ascending Sisters about a certain guest elder. His changes just became more sensational as time passed but then she left the sect.
She was not held to the edict from Sect Master Valkyrie. Still, she was a Warder. She took the protection of the balance of Wild Heart Isle seriously. Similar organizations existed as bridges to the other beast islands but their situations were Heaven and Earth apart!
The wrong match to tinder could cause a terrible misunderstanding.
In the end, she simply kept a wary eye out and her conclusions bore fruit as she had definitive confirmation of the one known as Shoti heading to Wild Heart Isle with a group of others.
Combined with the Mistress of Illusions she thought she saw before, the former Maiden was now certain of where Lind Frey had put his sect. It was impossible but it had to be! Why else would all of them come but never leave?
That only left one aspect to figure out, where were they exactly?
No avenue bore fruit and there were no unusual situations to help her but her duties gave her ample opportunity to roam Wild Heart Isle. It was part of the agreement that a tier 7 or 8 Sky Realm with the Warders emblem of a single gold turret, could fly unfettered to look for lost cultivators.
They could not go too deeply but if there was someone to rescue near the border village, then the Warders could snatch them from the jaws of death. It was not free of course but that was up to the individual.
It was with only 1 day left on her current attempt that she felt the world shift. She had felt it before, many times in the Heavenly Maiden Sect, compared to others she had heard of. Their techniques were excellent and they nurtured many to rise to the next step for that very purpose.
As such, she was able to quickly narrow in on where the phenomenon came from. Her dark violet eyes narrowed as her vision was extended to see an old Fire Hawk slowly rising into the sky!
It was very rare to see such a thing in the Wild Heart Isle. In the entire century she had been here, it was the first she had heard of one. Compared to the near millennia at the Heavenly Maiden sect where such an occurrence was almost a matter of course each year.
Still, she saw that a full on war was brewing over there. The energies were far stronger so it was likely an advancement in the midst of battle. Such a thing was only possible for beasts.
The moment ascension started, very few beasts would interfere. They held immense respect for strength and reaching the Moon Tier naturally was the pinnacle of strength they could reach in the Floating Isles.
A twinge of jealousy flowed over her but it was far too late as she looked at her wrinkled hands. Her life was winding down in the Warders but at least she had a purpose there. She was about to fly back to base when a flicker of sunlight came off another flying beast.
It was a sinuous form and she had only heard it described before. A dragon! A platinum dragon!
She had found them after almost 15 years of hunting! She was about to fly over when a warning aura came down on her. It was the only warning she would get! The limit of her authority was reached but given the circumstances, the Star Tier aether beast allowed her the slip up.
She bowed in respect and then floated back.
She strained her eyes but she could not see much more from that distance. She was about to leave to report when the world shifted once more but much more dramatically!
Emerald light shot to the skies with a power near a Star Tier! It was in the shape of a spear and it struck some kind of dark bird. It wounded it! She only felt the attack but not the cultivator who created it.
She slowly drifted forward and did not receive a warning at that time. Clearly the Star Tier beast was just as mesmerized.
The bird was heavily injured but its aura was as clear as the sun in the sky. It had survived the attack but at great cost. Its rage was clear and whatever was its target seemed to enrage it even more.
She wondered what was about to happen when she felt the world freeze.
She was at the limit of her cultivation but she had a special skill due to having light and darkness as her elements had given rise to a strange but limited ability. She could sense time. It was practically useless save for some Ruins or certain Inheritances but since she could not advance, it lost its appeal to the sect.
She had left as the dissatisfaction was clear but she still found a purpose in the Warders. Now she found her old instinct as a Maiden surfacing. She suspected who was there and he was a friend to people.
He helped so many and spread his knowledge freely to help others with no request in return but to spread that knowledge even more. Her own elements were made easier thanks to his work at such a late stage of her life!
She wanted to race forward but then the world was frozen around her and awe filled her. Time was frozen! Actual time! How was that possible?! As quickly as it started, it ended and the world changed again!
The very air distorted around the bird but it was her that caused it, but her foe! A humanoid emerald dragon! He rose into the sky like a thunderbolt as he grasped something that stabbed right into the core of the Star Tier.
She flinched as the battle ended and all disturbances came to an end.
"I apologize for my intrusion, senior, but thank you for allowing me to watch." She quickly bowed in apology but was stunned when a female lion appeared in front of her. She knew that senior from the records!
"Former Maiden, your kind are not welcome here but this was unexpected on many fronts. The Wild Heart Isle is changing." The frost began to form a crystal as a gorgeous woman appeared in golden robes. "I too was lost to the fight so cannot blame you for that, but I made a promise to protect the secret of the Mengcong. If you cannot swear to keep it, you will not leave this place alive."
The Maiden felt her heart in her throat as she knew the Star Tier beast, Lady Frostfang, would follow through on her threat!
Her many thoughts flashed at that moment before she smiled and swore an oath openly to never reveal what she had seen or inferred there that day. She also added that any information on her would be forfeit. She handed over all slips and scrolls immediately.
The aether beast nodded but then looked to the west. The Maiden also looked over and saw a pale woman in black leather armor looking at them. The Frostfang waved and the other woman vanished.
Fear filled the former Maiden as not 1 but 2 Star Tiers had been ready to kill her! She looked back to the west with some yearning but knew she had to leave. She bowed and flew off without incident.
It was only when she was safely back home that a breath of relief came to her. She then took out a communication jade stone and stared at it. The trouble with Heavenly Oaths was if you had a previous one, you had to be careful not to trigger it with one that might conflict.
She had one. Her oath to the Warders. To keep the neutrality, it was required they all take an Oath to keep the balance to to lookout for dangers to it. Lind Frey was a clear danger but she did not think of him like that.
Still, it was not her opinion that mattered. The Oath was carefully worded and she could feel it pushing at her. If she died, none of what she swore would matter as an investigation would begin.
She thought carefully before words finally were put into the stone.
"Watcher 117 report. Major shift in beast dominions felt after a Fire Hawk ascended. Will report more later if issues arise." The pressure lifted and nothing else happened. None of it was a lie but it hardly told the whole story.
She then sat back and began to think about the future. A storm was coming. She had to be ready.