Zi Tai took a deep breath to calm herself down. This was that sadist's trap, she just knew it. There was no other explanation, not one that made any sense, anyway. As if she would believe that some random, silver-tongued nobody would crawl into the tunnels 'looking for the vine', and do so on the exact day they finally decided to go in after months of planning.
And though she knew it was a trap... she didn't know how it was being done. These people were real, that much she could tell. But they were far too weak to be 'guardians' of this place. The strongest was the man reeking of alchemical herbs, and the second strongest was the man who spoke to her and infuriated her a bit who, despite his pointless attempts to hide it for some reason, had just recently broken into the Void Transformation Realm.
The rest were just children that looked like they should be training behind the walls of a sect, not rummaging through the tunnels underneath a city.
Though she got a bit excited when he told her they'd found other vines, that just affirmed her theory more; she'd been studying Sages alongside everyone else since she was a little girl, and this was only the second vine they had ever discovered. And this one, rather, was mostly due to luck; they weren't sent here expecting a vine, but merely traces of a Sage.
That this man and his cohort of children somehow found and destroyed vines was beyond ludicrous. It was a simple case of mockery--the Sage of Dread was mocking her, taunting her by telling her, 'Look how easy it is to find the vines! Even these literal children do it and you can't!'
"You've gone mute again," the man said as she felt her teeth snap together.
"... should we walk and talk?" there was no leaving now; if she tried, there was no doubt in her mind that she would be buried. So, she would play along, buying them some time.
"Alright," the man shrugged. "Mind if my kids take the front?"
"... sure?" she frowned, uncertain as to why he was asking that.
The two of them stayed at the rear while the rest dispersed in such a way that her Juniors were always surrounded. Clever, though quite obvious. What were they playing at? If she wasn't angry, she'd almost be impressed.
"When did you find this place?" he asked. Zi Tai glanced over at him and smirked inwardly; he was interrogating her, trying to understand the methodology they used to locate the vine so that the Sages can remain one step ahead. As if she would fall for that.
"We haven't, not really," she said. "We came here on an unrelated mission and, during it, stumbled and fell into the tunnels. As we made our way through them, I slowly put the pieces of the puzzle together that it might have been made by a Sage."
"Lucky," he said. "Or, well, unlucky. Hmm. These ones are... weaker."
"Weaker?" she asked as they finally stumbled upon the shadows. She was looking forward to the play they'd put on, asking to send children in the Foundation Establishment Realm to wrestle against the shadows at the Revolving Core Realm.
"Yeah," he said, frowning. "No, not weaker. More like... diluted?"
"I--" Zi Tai's words got caught up in her throat as she watched the two young girls storm forth like bolts of lightning, tearing through the shadows with their bare fists with gleeful smiles on their faces.
"Hah, too slow Xiu~" the older one teased. "Looks like you'll be massaging me for another month."
"Ugh. Just wait! When I get to the higher mastery of my movement art..."
"WATCH... out..." Zi Tai instinctively called out; despite everything, they were real children, and in her heart she could not stand to see them harmed. The pack of shadows tore open through the walls, lunging at the two of them. However, at the same time, the inconspicuous boy drew his sword.
It was a gentle draw, as though he were a painter holding a brush and pressing it against the canvas, yet it tore open through the reality itself, tearing the shadows asunder without making a sound or even kicking up any wind.
At the same time, she watched as another boy tore up a pair of parchments, flakes of color shooting out like fireworks, latching against the walls and wrapping around them.
"Ooh, that is a new one, Rayce!" the younger girl said. "What's this one called?"
"Word of Solidity," the boy replied. "It hardens the surfaces to the point that even shadows cannot penetrate them."
"Ah, more are coming. Feng'er, didn't you say you wanted to test something out?"
"Yes, sister Lan!"
The youngest boy stepped forward, holding a strange-looking ruler. He looked no older than ten, maybe eleven, though he braced with confidence of someone ten times the age. As another set of shadows came flying from the depths of the tunnel, she felt a wrangle against her heart, worried; but before she could voice them, the boy split forward, dancing like a performer, with spin conjuring breathtaking trails of colorful Qi, while the strange ruler began to rapidly change its shape.
A sword.
A spear.
A hammer.
A mace.
A polearm.
A rope dart.
By the end, there were no shadows and no sound, only silence.
"Ooh, that was really good, Feng'er!" the two girls who opened up the act rushed over to the boy and tousled his hair as he grinned widely. "Where did you learn that?"
"He he, I've been practicing."
"Yimu, go test yourself out," the man standing next to her spoke up. "You might finally win something."
"..." the boy's expression tensed for a moment before he sighed in resignation. However, he still stepped forward, a strange spear in hand, and rushed ahead of everyone else, becoming a bloodied blur.
One shadow after another dispersed into smoke and ash, the kickbacks of wind violent and hurried.
By now, Zi Tai couldn't remain calm; she wasn't being tested, she was being taught. After all, if this was what the Sages were grooming... the rest of the world stood no chance. These were all literal children who had been cultivating for the few years at most from the looks of it, yet they fought and showed poise of seasoned cultivators, and talents rivaling just about anyone her Order had.
It was as if the Sage of Dread was telling her, 'It isn't just the old guard; we have young blood to match yours'.
"Oh? They've stopped," the alchemist spoke up.
"I'm guessing that the rest retreated to combine with the avatar," the boy who stayed on the outside, not joining the fight, spoke up.
"Huh. We should probably hurry--eh? Are you alright?"
"..."
"Hey, the woman who never told me her name; are you here?"
"A-ah, yes, yes, I am," she finally came to, the way she looked at him having changed completely. If the kids were this way... then there was only one truth that spoke to her. This man...
"We should hurry--"
"--what for?" she said, drawing back. "You already have us here. Why are you putting on these plays?"
"... what?"
"I've seen through you!" she exclaimed. "I may not be able to defeat you, but I will die trying."
"... no, seriously, what?"
"Enough You are Sage of Dread! Now that I've seen through you, at least have the courtesy to show me your true colors, not this pathetic husk that you're embodying!"
"... pfft," the boy standing about twenty feet from them, the one who never fought, swallowed a laugh.
"Khm, pff--khm," the alchemist forcibly coughed to hide his laughter.
Why were they laughing? Why were they laughing at her?! Was her last struggle just a joke to them?! Was everything she ever worked toward just some farce? Would they keep mocking her until she drew her last breath?
"Haah," the man sighed, looking up as though there was a sky to look at. "I thought you're supposed to be perceptive... not just plain stupid."