Chapter 26: Chapter 25 - The World Keeps Moving
The music was almost woven into the very atmosphere of the massive hall the Gu Clan held the party in. Elders watched over from the various powers but it was a time to mingle for all levels of power and cultivation at the same time.
The Tri-Clan Tournament was a time of opportunity and fortune. Apparently, Sheyra's victory had been an upset in the betting pools but her clan had been confident. Aside from the prestige of winning, they had netted a nice profit for the clan. Alcohol from wine to what Lind recognized as a kind of whiskey was readily available but carefully regulated by cultivation level.
Body Refiners would be sloshed from just a Soul Realm wine, while World Realm could be lethal. Thus, there were formations that simply resonated with the cultivation of a person to allow them to pick a drink. Lind had never been a big drinker before, but he was truly curious. Sadly, he was to be denied that night.
"Don't even think about it, Lind. Teyla and Grandfather would put me on punishment detail if I let you drink. Here." A fruity drink was placed into Lind's hands by Teylin as clear amusement shone on Sheyra's face. Lind sighed but understood he was not in the best state of mind to tempt fate too. Teylin just gave an excuse outsiders would accept, although the part about Teyla was likely true.
A surprisingly refreshing feeling filled his body as the sweet drink flowed into his body. His look of awe made Teylin smile before the youth happily picked up a wine as if to boast and sipped it in front of Lind. A few groups were formed but none were exclusive from what Lind could tell.
The feeling of fun broke the last of the black clouds in his heart as it was hard to hold onto his frustration in this current place. Time was not a bad thing to let pass and absorb all that he had learned and experienced. His dantian tremored now and again as he neared a formation, but Lind knew that was a courtesy to warn guests. Body Refiners would just feel resistance if they were heading to an area they should not be.
The food laid out on several tables was steaming and looked as tasty as it smelled. Lind enjoyed cuts of what tasted like beef mixed with herbs. He felt his body easily process the energy and damned his innate ability to try and keep driving his cultivation forward so fast. Food had always been tricky, which made alcohol an even more unappealing goal.
Lind quietly faded to the background. A few looked at him as if they recognized him, but could not place him. The new crimson robes lined in black and gold did make for a startling transformation. While his dark blonde hair was usual for the region, Lind could see various colors and skin tones tonight. Clearly, none could place him at a glance.
Teylin and Sheyra seemed to be hitting it off as they were deep into a conversation. Knowing Teylin, it was about embarrassing stories of Lind or the more likely small talk to serious talk between two important heirs of different clans.
"I can't believe the Uld Clan agreed to that ridiculous condition." Lind had drifted close to a group of young men in gray and blue robes. He was unfamiliar with the name just mentioned but he had not had much time to master more than the Southern District. The wide world covered far more than he could yet grasp no doubt.
"I know. The Gu wench should have been overjoyed to be our young Master's plaything. That farce of a tournament should have been disbanded and results voided." Lind felt his eyebrow twitch. It would seem that Sheyra had joined the tournament for similar reasons to Lind. He glanced around the hall and noticed a luxurious red and blue robed young man with silver hair.
Lind would guess he was at most 23 to 24 and the flow of Qi around him showed he was a near peak Soul Realm. The elements of light and wind were a powerful combination from the techniques just in the Frey Clan. The slim young man was staring daggers at Teylin, but Lind knew his big brother was not unaware of such a look and let things unfold.
Lind moved away from the vitriol of the bitter group but he had little luck in other areas. Fans of Solon, mostly young girls of the various clans who were disparaging Lind from the tournament with curses and wishes of impotence. This was followed by what Lind would term as delusional young men pining after Shoti. At first, Lind thought they would also curse him, but instead they all seemed overly wishing they could be the target of her whips themselves.
Lind quickly moved away from them.
Grabbing a different drink, Lind felt the coolness dispel the strangeness of this night. It made a good counterpoint for just a few hours earlier, but Lind was just quietly observing from the outside. He was not part of this world right that moment. It was a surreal feeling and he felt his mind drift before he felt a glimmer of his earlier enlightenment.
The world is not a static thing waiting to be peeled open, but a flowing dynamic storm of chaos and order. The Qi flows through it all not in balance but in a constant cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Lind's eyes were about to close when a sharp slap resounded in the hall bringing silence to the room.
Lind at first thought Teylin had been pulled into a drama, but instead he saw a confused young man on the ground in gray robes. He was looking up at a haughty woman that was quickly leaving him behind. The crowd actually looked with pity at the man instead of disgust.
"Are you all right?" Lind leant out his hand and the young man gratefully took it. Gentle gray eyes strangely matched his robes but his hair was as black as anyone else in the Southern District. Lind spied a bronze medal with a simple formation on it and '1.' A grade 1 formation master at such a young age was impressive.
"Yes, I did not understand that young mistress' problem. She asked who my master was but after I explained I had no specific master she got agitated. I then explained how my clan believes in–" Lind felt sudden sympathy for the young lady that stormed off. Lind had thought he had some social issues but one should not assume anything until having a comparison. Even so the gist was the young man was from a small Clan in the Southern District that worked in formations.
The Li Clan was a minor branch of the main one in the Western District, but the branches of clans were usually without benefits in the areas they were assigned. It was a way to keep members motivated if they feared being demoted to a branch line to never return to the main branch. Lind may have suffered such a fate if the Frey Clan had been large enough to have branch families.
"When did you qualify for grade 1 Formation Master?" Lind moved with the young man, whose name was still unknown, through the party and listened. The young man had shown promise in Body Refining Realm to successfully engrave formation arrays with almost no errors. The Li Clan had lessons for this in their branch in hopes to lure talents and increase their merit to the main branch.
Once he broke into the Soul Realm, he had the most ideal elements of wind and earth for most formations. Creating a stable space to do his work was easy for him even at the age of 15 when he reached tier 1 Soul Realm. He was now tier 7 and closing in on grade 2 quickly. Lind was actually drawn in beyond his polite interest.
"By the way, you were amazing in the tournament, Lind Frey." Lind froze and the young man only noticed after a bit that Lind had stopped. The gray eyes were confused before a small laugh left his body. "I am sure most did not recognize you, but I would be a poor formation master if the details of your hair and eyes were missed by me combined with those colors. The Frey Clan is very honorable."
Lind felt pride and sheepish at once. The pair made their way to one of the dessert tables as the dancing got into motion. Lind could not help noticing that Teylin was dragged by Sheyra onto the floor. An evil smirk flashed across Lind's face but it was gone quickly. Time enough for teasing later. Trouble was coming.
"Excuse me for a moment." Lind slipped through the crowd and came near the silver haired young master of the Uld Clan. His cronies had gathered quickly once the dancing began.
"Your orders, sir?" The boy that had been calling for the refutation of the tournament now volunteered submissively, but Lind flicked his fingers carefully before moving away again. He had to be far away before things began to unfold.
"What happened, Lind? You went off to that young master of the Uld Clan." Lind was stunned his conversation companion knew where he went. His eye for detail was quite good! Lind only smiled and snagged a drink from a passing server and offered one to him.
"Just watch and try not to be obvious." Lind's evil smile returned as he felt a tug on his dantian. The trap was sprung. A commotion by the Uld Clan members drew some attention but Lind had kept things small.
"What is this?!" A harsh voice came from the silver haired youth as he discovered his feet could not move. In fact, none of the Uld Clan members could take so much as a step. Lind appreciated his previous life knowledge and applying it to this world.
Lind had discovered some physics tricks that he could replicate with certain elements. It was not always successful but there was one that made Lind the bane of his bullies. No one knew aside from the twins that he could do the trick either. The dark element had gravity effects in some techniques Lind had read, so he wondered what would happen if he changed the other forces he knew of.
Friction was wildly successful but far too quick to fade if Lind increased it or decreased it, but Lind made a discovery with his experiments that resulted in the trick. Lind could make it so that shadows acted like anchors. It was a combination of minor gravity and friction forces that failed on large surfaces but excelled at foot sized surfaces.
In effect, Lind fused their feet to the shadows cast by the men thanks to them standing in the darkened corner. It would fade long before the night was over, but the twins tested it and if one did not know the specific trick to it, it could not be overcome easily. A World Realm could shrug it off no doubt, but Soul Realm was doomed.
Lind felt a smile, a true smile, cross his face as the Uld Clan members began yanking on their own legs trying to get their feet to move. The ridicule and laughter increased until a sudden light flared and all 7 of them fell over. Lind's eyes saw that an Elder had simply negated any Qi in the area and nullified all effects not cast by a formation. It was a highly effective maneuver that Lind noted for later.
"That was clever! How does that work?!" The young man's gray eyes burst with joy and curiosity. "A truly inventive mind you have, Lind. Your sister is very lucky to have a brother like you!" Lind felt surprised and an instinct kicked in. It had been the same when he talked to Sheyra but this time he had to tread carefully.
"What is your name again?" Lind asked this question as he moved towards the far side of the room. The drinks were nearly empty but Lind knew time was short for his goals.
"I am Kang. I wanted to ask about how you overcame the limits of tier 1 Soul Arts also but–" Lind held up a hand and engaged in an interview for his own goals. Lind was not blind to his big sister's wish but he knew her better. She had to see it too but was blinding herself to the truth. Lind's invitation to the Lotus Academy actually helped fix this issue in the time he had remaining.
"As a branch family we are quite close. My parents once hosted a surprise party for our Grand Master and he chased them around the compound, but he was smiling while doing it." Kang covered another story of his favorite time while growing up and Lind felt a shadow fall away from his heart. All the darkness in the world but it would not stop moving. Even if you could not see it, joy was occurring in equal measure to the grief.
"I wonder if your clan leader would mind if you came to visit me in the Frey Clan. I have some issues with my alchemy that I cannot explain and need another perspective." The request was real, but Lind would guide a certina big sister to join them at those times. It should not be hard after the craziness of the last few weeks.
Kang was about to respond when Lind was suddenly yanked into the air and pulled to the dance floor before he could even register who had grabbed him. A glance back at the stunned Kang saw a suddenly serious Teylin questioning him. Lind then recognized once again the soft hands of Sheyra holding his own.
"You have ignored me all night, Lind!" There was a pleasant sheen of sweat on Sheyra's face but Lind could see the sparkle of joy in her eyes. She glanced back to Teylin and Lind smiled wide. "You are busy trying to avoid people but still have time to lay traps I see!" Lind's eyes widened before he truly laughed out loud.
"I simply wanted you both to enjoy your time together. Besides, they made some remarks I found unforgivable." A frown flashed on Sheyra's face before she nodded to him.
"Well then, time to see if you can dance!" Lind had no chance to object as Sheyra swung him like a toy with her greater strength, but he enjoyed himself. The heavy things could wait as this time in the light was meant to be treasured. Lind danced until he could barely walk anymore and watched Teylin and Sheyra finish off the night on the hall dance floor.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
mythosarcana
mythosarcana Working on making the discord. Had pleasant explosion of comments and promise the harem is real but so is its formation. I am not a fan of every female alive being for the MC. Also, the MC is growing up and will start to have the spine you all dream of. Patience, I promise to deliver.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone