The Pinnacle - Day 3

Wei Huoran walked into one of the largest rooms on Sun & Moon islands, the flying ship construction bay. He looked at the current ship currently being built, a massive frame that almost could not fit in the bay.

"Beautiful, is she not?", Huoran heard from his left.

When he turned to see the source, he saw two women and a man walked towards him.

With a slight bow, he replied, "Grandmasters Bi Bo, Yao Guang, and Qi Meng, good day to you."

The three bowed in return, and Grandmaster Yao Guang smiled and spoke first, "What do we have the pleasure of your presence today, Boss Wei?"

"I just wanted to check the progress of the 'Explorer' project", Huoran commented, "I do not mind walking around by myself, or we can go somewhere to talk?"

"Of course, please follow us", Bi Bo replied.

The four of them floated into air, and headed towards an office room that overlooked the construction bay. Huoran watched the ship frame as they flew to the office, and observed as refiners installed new portions onto the frame, and inscribers drew arrays formations.

When they entered the office, assistants to the grandmasters had already delivered tea to a table close to the window that overlooked the bay.

"Please have a seat, Boss Wei", Qi Meng offered, and once Huoran sat down, everyone followed.

"So, I am mainly here because this was something I suggested, but I have not had a hand in. Perhaps, you might think I am unnecessarily getting involved. That aside, I want to hear your plans and your vision", Huoran stated before drinking his tea.

"Are there concerns about our abilities to complete this project?", Grandmaster Bi frowned as understood the reason for the visit.

"None at the moment", Huoran admitted, "I only want to verify that we are of the same mind."

"We would happy to hear your thoughts on the matter then", Grandmaster Yao expressed.

"The explorer project is meant to create an exploration ship that has the same qualities as several other types of vessels", Huoran explained, "It must be prepare to battle like a warship, carry people and cargo like a transport ship, and once it reaches its destination, act like a teleportation station for us."

"We also have been working with this thought in mind", Grandmaster Qi responded.

"Let's discuss how the ship will support itself and the crew comfortably while also being able to defend themselves", Huoran said.

Grandmaster Bi Bo cleared his throat, "Yes, this is certainly a problem that we, and the sages, have been thinking about how to solve."

"Speaking of which, Sage Hong had a few suggestions that seemed to have merit", Grandmaster Qi interjected, "Both of her ideas have to do with the life realm artifacts we use."

Huoran had a quizzical look on his face, as the creator of the artifact, he thought he would know everything it was capable of. He was pleasantly surprised to see someone else innovate his creation.

"What is the Sage suggesting?", Huoran asked.

"Sage Hong's first idea is to locate spiritual veins that can be taken without affecting anything, and storing them in an artifact", Grandmaster Qi continued, "Once the ship reaches its destination, the spiritual vein will be buried again using Feng Shui to allow it to continue absorbing ambient Qi."

"This is a very plausible plan", Huoran admitted, "What is the other one?"

"It is similar to the first", Grandmaster Qi stated, "Boss Wei has said in the past that secret realms would eventually become Qi and essence again, and return to the world. This idea is simply that, gather secret realms, take anything of value from them, and use formations to dissolve them back into Qi and essence for our needs."

Huoran understood the principle of the idea, but was not very enthusiastic about using this method when he heard it.

"Although secret realms could be found, it is not like we can find them everywhere like blossoms on a tree", Huoran remarked, "Where do you plan to find the realms to enact this idea?"

"The sea is not much different than the land", Grandmaster Yao explained, "Not every thing that swims belongs to a kingdom or a force, and sometimes because of the rich environment of the sea, powerful beings rise and fall. It happens more often than we imagine, so we have already sent ships out to try and discover these realms, as well as, spiritual veins."

"Alright, I have to admit that these are interesting and viable ideas", Huoran said, "Since this mission will require a level of self sufficiency, I suppose you have already thought of using multiple sources to keep them safe?", Huoran inquired.

"Yes, we are not planning to make everything as efficient as possible", Grandmaster Bi replied, "But we also are taking this approach when picking the crew as well. We are already reaching out to see who is willing to go, but we are balancing the realms of the people so that they can be protected without consuming too many resources."

"Right, we are also planning on taking over life realm artifacts, albeit smaller, to provide for the crew", Grandmaster Qi added.

"And what is the plan for protection?", Huoran questioned the three.

"Our first priority is protection and avoiding detection", Grandmaster Bi noted, "But if all else fails, we are putting our strongest weapons on this ship, and the ability to teleport home as a last resort."

"Have you been having an issues finding volunteers to go?", Huoran enquired.

"Most of the people we have discussed this with have been willing, though not everyone", Grandmaster Yao asserted.

"While I know we usually keep the newest innovations to ourselves", Huoran mused, "This might be an exception. If we get enough to crew the ship, then it is fine. If we fall short, I might consider speaking with leaders of the other continents about it. While we cannot allow them into any highly privileged positions, I think there are a few jobs they can handle."

"We will consider it, Boss Wei", Grandmaster Bi assured, "It most likely will not be necessary. With the addition of the new residents you recently guided here, I believe we will be fine."

"Excellent work, Grandmasters", Huoran said as he went to stand, "I will do my best to keep abrigded of the situation, and even then, I will come through and check on things again in the future."

"You are always welcomed", Grandmaster Yao said as the three stood and bowed as Huoran left.

Ling Tian had just finished taking a break of eating a healthy snack, and drinking spirit fruit punch, a product of Sun & Moon island. He was part of 'Sky Sovereign' and they had earned their way to the finals in the Senior division of the Foundation Establishment realm. He ID was Heavenly Sword, and with his skill set, he usually fought in the middle lane. His sword riding skill allowed him to quickly move between lanes to assist the other four advance towards the enemy's home base.

There was a knock on the door, and an employee poked his head in, "Lian Tian, report to the final stage."

"Yes, I am in my way", Lian Tian said as he got up.

They walked out of the break room, and made their way down the hallway until they caught up with another group of eight people. It was the rest of his teammates, and their escorts lined up ready to enter the next room. Lian Tian was standing and waiting when he could hear a loud noise coming from the next room, it sounded like someone welcoming a group of people and explaining today's event. Lian Tian was surprised, because he also heard the roar of a crowd after the announcer would finish speaking. He was just standing and waiting when another announcement was made, and his first teammate walked out to a cheering audience. Then the others were called as well before he stood at the doorway, and saw a humongous room with ten pods set up on a stage in the middle, and applauding fans surrounding the whole thing.

"Mid laner for Sky Sovereign, Heavenly Sword", was called out, and Lian Tian walked towards the stage as he waved and bowed towards everyone watching. He stood by the last pod just like everyone else was standing by theirs.

"With everyone introduced and present, I ask all the contestants to enter their pod and the game", the broadcaster instructed the two teams.

Lian Tian entered the pod, put on the mask, and logged into the special team battle arena icon highlighted in front of him. He saw a countdown in the upper left corner that informed him when the selection of skills would began.

In battle arena to keep things interesting, the system would read all the skills a player had identified on his ID card, and random select four to use in each match.

The timer finished and the commenter spoke, "Players, roll your skills!"

Lian Tian sent out his Qi sense, and seven spheres of light that surrounded him were spinning at high speed. He sent a command to stop, and the first sphere stopped in front of him, sword ride, and he immediately felt a pressure lift from his shoulders. This was his best skill to utilize as a mid laner, and in matches where his luck was bad, no having it usually cost him. The next sphere was Blinding flash which was not a powerful attack, but did increase his speed which was fine. The third sphere was Wind cutter which gave him a long range option, so he felt good about that. The last sphere was fit into the slot and he read the skill, Celestial Sword Dance.

Everyone else also received their skills, so a new timer appeared, this one denoting the start of the match. When this timer reached zero, Lian Tian saw a new scene in front of him as he saw a jungle with ruins dotting the area. In the center of stage where all the pods were, a image projection appeared that displayed the entire map and the positions of every player.

"How did your random selection go?", He asked his teammates.

The bottom lane (Stone Titan) and support (Blossom Garden) gave him a thumbs up, so he hopped onto his sword and headed towards the center lane. He watched as generic soldiers rushed from their own home base towards the enemy's stronghold. Normally, he would kill the soldiers here until he unlocked his second skill and then flick back and forth between the lanes assisting his teammates. But over the last few months, they had developed a new strategy that they would only use if they could reach the finals.

Lian Tian sped around using a sword comprised of Qi to cut down the enemy soldiers. Soon, he reached level five and he changed directions, but not towards the top lane. To the surprised of the audience, Lian Tian headed towards he bottom lane to meet up with the two members of his team down there. When the focus of the projection shifted towards the bottom lane, everyone also noticed a change from the normal flow. The players, Stone Titan and Blossom Garden, had moved towards the part of the map where the griffin stayed. Both of them had also reached level 5, and started to engage in battle with griffin. Normally, players would wait longer to control the lane and use the advantage to press forward the base.

"First Kill", a loud notification was heard by everyone.

Lian Tian felt guilty because he knew their jungler likely fell to the combination of the enemy jungler and mid laner, but he quickly reached the griffin's area. With the three of them there, the fight finally ended as they killed it. His team received a huge buff, and he waved at his teammates before riding his sword back to the center lane. He met back up with the Jungler (Cloud Sage), who was returning from his resurrection at them home base.

Lian Tian continued to get kills, and finally reached level ten, earning access to the third skill. He went into the trees and bushes to hide and sneak his way towards the opponents. He found the rival mid laner battling some soldiers, and patiently waited for her to head in his direction. The rival mid laner finished off the current troops, and headed near his position when he used Blinding flash to inhibit her sight. He performed a couple of attacks when everyone heard, "Kill!" Lian Tian increased his speed towards the are where the enemy jungler should be, and found him battling the largest of the monsters normally found there. It was a critical point in the battle, so he got within range and launched a Wind Cutter towards the both of them. Unfortunately for the pair, Lian Tian had timed it just right that neither side could dodge, and "Doube kill!" was heard by everyone. He also leveled up again, and reached level 15 so he made his way to the top lane. The top laner (Gale Phantom) had been stalling for time but Lian Tian had informed her ahead of time of his arrival. So she started to push. Soon the two top laners began to face off, but the one from the other team was taken care of quickly due to the buff 'Sky Sovereign' had received. Lian Tian and Gale Phantom made a beeline for the tower on the top lane, but heard two kill notifications as they destroyed the tower.

Stone Titan and Blossom Garden had took control of the bottom lane, and was now attacking the tower there. Within another five minutes all five from Sky Sovereign were in front of the rival base ready to assault it. The five rushed to finish the match but the other team had resurrected, and made a desperate effort to save base. Lian Tian finally used all his skills finishing with Celestial Sword Dance, dodging and attacking with grace, power, and speed while his teams also unleashed their strongest attacks. The enemy base crumbled, and the members of Sky Sovereign cheered as they had won the championship.