Alright.
My head's still on my neck.
I've got all my limbs.
There isn't a sword-sized hole where my heart is.
I don't feel any of my bones bending and breaking.
... I'm alive. I survived tousling the hair of an old, reincarnated immortal. I still don't dare look back and actually see his expression; part of me thinks he might have liked it, but then sixteen other parts gang up on it and beat it to death like a goddamn idiot it is.
In the meantime, Eternity had joined the apparent bird holder that I'd become. There was a phoenix on my head, and there was a hummingbird on my shoulder, and neither acknowledged each other.
I descended down the stairs somewhat slowly, a bit worried. Though I waved it off in front of Long Tao, what if they stir shit up over the bird? I mean, it's not like we can easily escape, and the chances of us 'winning' (whatever that even meant in this context) are basically nonexistent.
Hopefully, though, this stupid bird with no cultivation will be a good enough of a deterrent for them to not skin me alive.
The Sect Master happened to be waiting at about a halfway point down, pacing left and right like a teenage boy who'd just asked a girl out through a text he'd worked on for four hours.
... that's a bit too specific.
"A-ah, Fellow Daoist! You've--huh?" he spoke as he saw me and paused as he saw me a bit better, his eyes undoubtedly immediately drawn to the bird on my head.
Though I keep calling it a bird, it's a bit more than that. It had a quite striking plume jutting out of the top of its head--it was a golden, brilliant flame that seemed to weave against the world in almost slow motion. Its feathers were almost pearlescent, and the pair of eyes were like two suns beaten into the skull.
If I hadn't known its true personality, I'd probably be like this man in front of me right now; he seemed to be on the verge of bowing down, but also recognized that it would look like he was bowing down toward me. I considered grabbing the bird and setting it to the side, but I have a feeling the man would see that as a complete sign of disrespect.
"As I promised," I said.
"A-ah? Yes, indeed, as promised..." the man mumbled, still looking at the bird. "He--"
"--she."
"Sh-she?! Oh, oh Heavens! Thank you Thank you, Heavens!" I looked at him oddly as he did fall to his knees, though no toward me but toward the sky.
... alright, I feel a bit guilty. There's no doubt in my mind that the guy, right now, is thinking about hunting down the best bird species he can to try and crossbreed a not-quite-a-phoenix-but-still-majorly-badass new one. Seriously, I can't tell him the bird ain't staying here. He might skin me alive, all else be damned.
"I'd, uh, I'd love to stay and talk," I said. "But I think I can't."
"Huh? Why?" oh, even that pissed him off.
"A woman approached me at the top," I said. "And told me to come see her 'at the highest peak'. I was actually hoping you could tell me where that is?"
"!!!" his eyes immediately widened into saucers and that countenance did yet another 180. Oh, he'd 100% be popping pills back on Earth like they were breakfast cereal. "Of course, forgive me. Please, let me guide you."
"... sure."
He went mum and so did I. The damned bird would occasionally caw or gawk or whatever noise it made, especially when the people would look at her with a sense of reverence. Why wasn't I impressed? Well, because the system was still translating her very chatty innermost thoughts.
[Lu Naǒ says that you should teach her the method immediately, or else she'll tell all of her worshipers that you are a bad Master][...][Lu Naǒ says that you need to build a nest of Divine Gold on top of your head so that your hair doesn't prick her Divine Feathers][Lu Naǒ...]
... yeah. She's 3, for sure. I'm beginning to regret a bit not just giving the Dao of Fire to Long Tao for him to figure it out.
Haah.
He led us through the cascade of streets and past countless pavilions, and just as I thought he was hoodwinking me as it looked like we'd been running in circles, we came back upon the massive staircase... except it did not lead to the platform where Lu Naǒ was wrapped up in a ball of fire. Rather, it was a mountain teeming with life--trees sprung up every which way, tall and bodacious, and betwixt them were countless spirits, all who seemed to have come out in a grand procession up the central path, flanking the road and crying out as I--well, Lu Naǒ--walked by.
And, as sure I am of the fact Long Tao might kill me tonight, here it was not a second later...
[Lu Naǒ complains that the Spirits worshiping her are too weak; she demands you recruit far more powerful beasts, Divine Beasts, as only they would be worthy of worshipping her]
"Unlike before, I cannot go further than this," the man stopped and said as I took a step forward. "Please, greet the Ancestor for me."
"... will do."
I ignored him and went up, though my ability to pretend to be relaxed had started... diminishing.
Long Tao said an Empress.
Though I'm not quite sure of the precise distinction between the two, I do know that someone being in the Imperial Realm and someone being an Emperor or an Empress were not the same thing. The latter seemed to weigh much more heavily, though how much exactly...
... well, I'll find out, won't I?
It took me about fifteen minutes to climb at a pace slightly speedier than a light jog, and I took a moment before taking those final few steps and emerging on the flattened summit.
There, a palace-like set of structures wound around the edges that were invisible just an inch below the top, whereas, at the center, was a gentle gazebo-like structure surrounded with beautiful, green ponds of water.
Two people were there at the moment--a young man and a woman who looked to be in her thirties, perhaps forties. Her eyes found mine a moment later and she smiled rather plainly, and my heart nearly skipped a beat. All else notwithstanding, she is by far the most beautiful woman I'd seen in this world so far. Hair red like a mane of fire, eyes even more so, figure lithe and tall--ooookay, Mr. Horny. Take a step back and realize she could kill you with her thumb.
No, with a freakin' fingernail, I imagine.
As it's become an instinct at this point, I tried using Creator's Eye on her... but failed. For the first time in my life, it failed.
[--Creator's Eyes Used][Target is veiled by Laws beyond the system's current ability. Please upgrade the system]
There wasn't even an option to spend billions and billions of points to see.
Shit, Eternity could be seen through with enough points.
... oh boy.
I sure wish I was anywhere but here, all of a sudden.