The imperial capital was breathtaking in its size. That's the kind of crap some novel protagonist would say. In reality? How do you determine its size? You stand in front of the walls and they stretch all the way to the horizon.
But in New Moon City, those walls also stretched to the horizon. And a human being can generally see only—guess three times—as far as the horizon. The planet curves, the horizon gets in the way. That's how it is.
And that's only if you're standing outside the walls. If you're inside the city, there are buildings everywhere, meaning it's impossible to see even the approximate size of the place at all.
There's a no-fly zone above the city, meaning only members of the twelve Guardian Families or various officials are allowed to fly. Everyone else—nope. They can even kill you for it.
So from that side too, even if I could fly, I still wouldn't be able to judge the size of the city.
Why the empty thoughts all of a sudden? Because it hurts. I'm trying to distance myself from it. And I really want to distract myself from my thoughts.
Depression is counterproductive. But when has it ever asked permission before kicking open the doors of your soul and walking in like it owns the place?
So I distracted myself however I could. As for the practical part, I stood in line for five hours and entered the city with the rest of the commoners.
I had no cultivation now, so I was even worse than the commoners. Some kind of cripple. Even the guards looked at me with pity. They couldn't perceive the strength of my body. And it wouldn't occur to anyone that a body could be that strong.
"If only you could see, daughter, what a pathetic state your father has fallen into. And I could kill these idiots with a sneeze."
A passing merchant looked at me like I was insane, but I didn't pay much attention. Talking to my daughter, who had probably already been born or was about to be, was a new tradition of mine. I was doing everything I could not to go completely insane, though... where was there left to go?
Why was I in the city? Honestly, just to rest for a couple of days. Not physically. Mentally. Eat hot food, listen to rumors, find out which direction the nest of this continent's next arrogant chicken lay, and then go searching.
Logically, I figured the cold lake should be somewhere between the city and Golden Crow territory, so I'd start searching from that side.
Think about it: the territory is closed off, and apparently even forbidden, because a naked loli visits it.
There should have been a ton of guards there. But that would reveal the empress's weakness to her subordinates. That wasn't good. So the area probably sat right up against the forbidden territory. That seemed more likely.
I agree, it was a very weak lead. But I didn't have any others.
I also learned that they'd blatantly lied about the loli. The Little Demon Empress didn't look like a child. How did I know? I'd seen her portraits. Some artists were trying their best in a square.
Yes, she was a little below average height, around a meter fifty. And flat as a board in front. No denying that. But the face was mature, not childish. Very beautiful, assuming all the artists weren't lying in unison.
Who had ordered that performance and why didn't interest me much. I watched with the other gawkers and went on my way. If everything went according to plan, I'd meet this beautiful non-loli within a month.
First I needed money. I had no idea whether the locals used the same currency, or whether paying with coins from my continent would put me on the secret services' radar. So I walked around the market, listened and watched carefully while trying not to stand out too much, checked the prices of various goods, and only then reached an auction house and sold several Earth Profound beast cores.
That was more than enough for my initial plans.
"Do you need anything else, sir?" the tavern waitress asked suggestively after escorting me to the room I had rented for a couple of days.
And the little devil really was good. Long wheat-colored hair, very beautiful legs that the short skirt made absolutely no attempt to hide, and breasts ready to burst out from under her blouse and apron. Add to that a cute face.
"No, thank you, dear. This is for your trouble."
I deftly tossed her a coin and looked her in the eyes, which made her flinch and hurry away.
Well, yes. My deadened, almost lifeless eyes, which had noticeably faded, could easily frighten the girl. They were no longer bright azure, but some pale blue. Even though I'd restored the dragon inheritance, my eyes had not regained their color.
And I refused the girl because at that moment I saw the wall I'd glimpsed right before I disappeared. The wall decorated in red after Yueli exploded. That image often rose before my eyes.
"Forgive me, Yueli. I really am guilty before you. Very guilty. Forgive the overconfident fool. If there is someone up there besides that arrogant bitch, then please let Yueli reincarnate into a better life. Put all her karmic debt on me. I'm used to it."
I rose from my knees after the prayer and lay down on the bed to give my brain at least a little rest through sleep.
The next few days went in the same vein until I gathered all the information I needed and left the city through the western gate.
The forbidden territory lay to the west. That was where I needed to look for the lake.
One advantage of my condition? I was invisible to radar. Even the weakest beasts had at least some cultivation. Nobody in this world stayed at level zero of the Elementary Profound Realm. But I was an absolute zero, and therefore invisible to all kinds of guards.
They could still see me with their eyes if they strained hard enough, because I was wearing camouflage and moving incredibly fast. In the end they saw something, but the brain couldn't interpret exactly what.
I found the lake I needed a week later. Just as I'd thought, it was very close to the territory of yet another arrogant chicken. And then there was that ridiculous barrier made of lightning.
It all looked incredibly beautiful and powerful, but why did I have the feeling that with a Faraday cage, that barrier would be no stronger than paper? Hmm?
I found the lake, found a decent hiding place, sat down, and started waiting for the Little Empress to deign to appear. I waited a long time, by the way. Five whole days, and good thing I didn't miss her arrival.
In canon, this fool dropped her robe the moment she landed. Did I need that? I can look at naked women in a brothel. I was here for something entirely different. So I walked out to the most visible spot, after first dressing in bright red clothes, and waited.
"How dare you appear at this empress's place of rest? Who are you?"
"Your Majesty, my name is Lun Kuan. I have a proposal for you that would bring you enormous benefit."
"Not interested. Die."
Interlude: The Little Empress's Bad Day
This day was a little worse than the others. That damned artists' competition, where she'd burned all the paintings along with the artists who had dared portray her in beautiful dresses.
How could people be so cruel? How could they fail to understand that for her, the world had ended when everyone dear to her died? Her father and brother had never returned, leaving her with only the promise to take care of the empire and preserve the inheritance.
The treacherous dukes thought she didn't understand their motives. With one move, she had burned many of the people's favorites. They were deliberately discrediting their empress and thought they would get away with it.
Outside, wherever the Little Demon Empress looked, there was falsehood, fear, and hatred. Inside there was only pain. What a cruel inheritance. What a merciless flame. The Golden Crow's fire was merciless to the fragile girl, but she couldn't show weakness. Not for a single second in front of others.
Only during those brief moments when she came to this secluded lake, with a source of Yin energy deep below, could she remove the mask and let the pain out.
And on this rotten day, some insolent bastard had decided that yet another intrigue mattered more than this empress's rest.
"Not interested. Die."
A thick stream of golden flame swallowed the insolent man... or should have.
"Maybe we could talk first? I'm not an enemy."
"Fast," and another stream, but again it missed.
"And yet, Your Ma—"
This time it was a wall of fire. Speed wouldn't save him from that.
"And how can a cripple with no cultivation be so fast?" she thought, just before she flinched.
The insolent man's hand rested on her shoulder and pressed hard enough that she struggled to stay on her feet. Only a moment, but it was a demonstration of strength. He had spared her. Unthinkable.
"How dare you touch this empress?"
"Maybe we can finally talk? If you don't like my proposal, you can try to kill me again. If it turns out to be profitable..."
"You have ten seconds."
Instead of answering, the strange man didn't remove his hand. He concentrated for a couple of seconds, and then a translucent golden pagoda floated out of him and began to spin.
"What a mysterious technique! And how can he use it without profound energy? And why did his face twist like that? Is he in pain?"
The empress's thoughts cut off when she felt all the excess Yang energy leaving her body and flowing toward that pagoda.
"What a terrifying technique!" For a second, the empress panicked until she realized the technique wasn't draining her profound energy, only the excess.
"Speak."
"I need two things. Any techniques connected to the soul—the more, the better. That's the first."
"There are few such techniques, but I can obtain them if you agree to remain at court."
"No more than two years. In two years, I leave this continent. And no, I am not from the Sacred Grounds and I am not your enemy. I am prepared to confirm that under interrogation by a practitioner from the Yun clan."
"Why do I need that? And what makes you think I'll let you leave?"
"In two years—two years free from this problem—you can break through at least once, maybe more if you're lucky. That's a lot, and it's very useful. And you won't be able to hold me. Let's be honest."
"You said you had two requirements."
"The blood essence of a member of the Yun clan. It doesn't matter how strong that member is. The main thing is that the inheritance is present in the blood essence. Some old man for whom losing cultivation no longer matters much will happily give it to his empress."
"Why do you need it?"
"For restoration. There are reasons my cultivation is blocked. And I don't need several drops so I can pass the inheritance to my descendants. Just for myself, for restoration."
"An injured soul? Understood."
"So, do we have a deal, Your Majesty?"
"No. Not until you tell me how you learned about this empress's problem and about this lake."
"Visions. I learned about it from my visions. I know part of the future. Mine and other people's. You can verify it during interrogation."
"Follow me."