Arriving at the Sect
The sect that Alex and the three girls were visiting was secluded deep in the mountains, meaning the cab ride there was quite long.
Despite how secluded it was, the roads were in pristine condition without a single pothole. It was in fact maintained by the sect as they frequently chartered busses or took the train to visit other sects or travel to the nearest realm gate for off world expeditions.
Long gone were the days of spirit stone powered airships being the primary means of transport. These antiques now sat in storage, only taken out for special events.
While cultivators were indeed mocked as being behind the times due to cultivation habits involving long term seclusion, they weren't completely cut off from the rest of society.
The four people stood outside the entrance of Vanessa's sect.
Along a stone path, an enormous gate with pillars carved the trunks of ancient trees and a terracotta roof stood.
There was no wall, just an ornate carved gate. Before anyone would think they could just walk around should the gate close, a translucent wispy blue barrier with floating symbols could be seen around the edge of the structure before it faded into complete invisibility.
If one looked closely, they would see a hair thing gap between the trees inside and outside the barrier.
On top of the gate was an enormous sign with the words 'Luminary Sword Sect'.
Outside the gate sat a young man in his 20s and an older one in his 70s playing chess, at least that is how they appeared but it is difficult to gauge a cultivators' age due to their longevity.
Upon seeing Alex and the girls, they stopped playing their board game and stepped forward with their hands resting on the hilt of their swords,.
"This is someone I wasn't expecting to see," The older man chuckled dryly, his eyes focused solely on Vanessa while ignoring the rest. "Young mistress Heath, you were banished if I recall correctly?"
Vanessa stepped in front of Alex and the others, guarding them behind her as she pulled her sword out of her spacial ring.
"From my family," She responded in an icy voice. "Unless the Heath clan speaks for the sect too these days?"
Alex had learned that Vanessa's family, the Heath Clan, resided within the Luminary Sword Sect and were very powerful. However, to treat their own actions as those of the sects' would be an act of usurpation towards the sect and sect leader that would absolutely not be tolerated.
"Of course not, nobody would dare do such a thing," The old man smiled without it reaching his eyes. "Surely you didn't throw away your sect token in a fit of rage though, did you?"
Vanessa flipped her hand over and showed a wooden token with 'Luminary' written on one side and a sword carved into the other.
"These are my guests."
At the girl's words, the man just smiled and waved his hands to welcome her to enter the sect. The younger man, seemingly unbothered by this entire interaction and even yawning at one point, welcomed Alex, Shana and Lilia.
"These tokens indicate your status as guest," He handed them similar wooden tokens similar to Vanessa's, "Keep these on you at all times else you may be attacked by the protective formations in the sect. They will also serve as IDs if you are visiting the sect archives or other facilities."
Alex received his token from the young man before Vanessa grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the sect, Shana following close behind them while calling out for Vanessa to let go of Alex. Lilia ran to keep up with them but seemed to be staggering due to her large breasts bouncing heavily from side to side.
"I thought for sure you would be attac-" Vanessa cut off her words with a click of the tongue, her eyes on Lilia whose horns and tail had at some point completely vanished. "What a high level illusion hiding that you're a demon."
"What illusion?" Lilia put on a confused expression before reaching into her pocket and pulling out two large, curved horns. "I just pulled them off~"
"...And left perfectly intact skin underneath?"
"I know, what a coincidence, right~?"
Vanessa gave her a look of disdain and decided not to entertain her anymore. There was no way the powerful upper members of the sect wouldn't recognize her and try to kill her, that was just how hated demons were to cultivators, and rightfully so under most circumstances.
At this point, Alex opened his hands to find out that while he had the visitor's token in one hand, a neatly folded not had appeared in the other. The cultivator before must have given it to him without him noticing, but as to why left only question marks in his head.
Vanessa and Shana also saw this and furrowed their brows before indicating with their gaze to split the wax seal in the image of a fox and open the note.
Upon doing so, he found that it contained a comprehensive report of the current sect status, the Heath family goals and supporters as well as those not in favor of them.
"The sect leader is dying and my father... is planning on taking over the position of sect leader?"
Aside from the Heath Clan were on of the five large clans withing the sect alongside the Mason, Soul, Kong, and Wiese clans. There were others, but they were all minor clans and acted as supporters for one of the five major clans.
Everyone was vying for this position, but the note contained information that the Mason and Wiese Clans had secretly come to a backroom agreement to support the Heath Clan.
It also contained information about the positions of the Soul and Kong clans, who were actively trying to stop them, and finally, information about why Alex was targeted.
A part of the alliance with the Mason Clan involved Vanessa becoming a concubine to the Mason Clan's second eldest son. He had ventured out into the modern world to bring her back for the marriage, and that was when he must have seen or heard about his relationship with her.
How did he respond to this? To simply kill Alex, of course.
"Are we heading straight back to the Heath clan, then?" Alex asked after finishing reading the note.
Vanessa summoned some frostfire and turned the note into ashes before scoffing, "Of course not, the situation is far worse than I had thought. Let's head to the Soul and Kong Clans first and get some backers."
The man she had been betrothed to without her knowledge was at the 9th layer of Qi Refinement, which wasn't outside of the realm of what they could deal with, but it was arranged by her father, a Late Stage Gold Core cultivator.
"I don't think we should trust this information..." Shana pursed her lips and placed her hands on her hips. "Isn't it strange that someone within the sect just happens to give you this information. This is far too suspicious."
She had a point, and Alex began to have doubts that perhaps this was indeed a ploy, but Lilia chimed in and dispelled this fear.
"There is no need to worry, the information is trustworthy~"
"So you know where it came from?" Shana squinted her eyes in suspicion.
The succubus in punk attire covered her mouth with one hand and looked away with her eyes before coyly responded, "Maybe~".
~~~~
Back at the sect gate, not long after Alex and company ventured into the sect, the duo returned to their chess match.
"Junior."
What was unexpected was that the one being referred to as the junior was the old man.
"Yes?"
"Try to be a bit less of a dog for the Heath Clan in the future."
"...Senior," The old man sighed before looking up at the noon sky with weariness, "changes are coming, and small outer sect disciples such as myself need to choose the winning side if we hope to get more resources and extend our lives by reaching a higher realm."
"And you are confident that the Heath Clan will prevail to become the next sect leader?"
"Yes, senior, I believe they will do so."
~~~~
Deep within the heart of Undercity, in an unmarked room at the back of a teashop where no modern technology was permitted to enter, a fox clan woman with vivid red eyeliner and golden eyes sat upright with her eyes closed.
*Ding... ding*
The woman's mind was wandering the astral planes, exploring the unknown mysteries as she refined her spiritual energy, more akin to divine power than qi, to advance her strength.
*Ding... ding*
The consistent sound of water dripping into a metal pan broke the woman's concentration causing her to open her eyes and look at the corner of the room where a small leak was being contained by a small pan.
"Servant!" Her angered voice echoed out of the room and into the ears of the store attendants, giving them a deep fright before the nearest one almost stumbled over her feet rushing to head to the isolated room.
"M-madam?"
"Fix this leak."
"I-I apologize. T-the repairman is on his way, madam."
Ding... ding
This leak had sprouted just a few hours ago, and it was still pouring with rain outside so heavy one could barely see more than a few meters through it. There was almost a waterfall of water pouring down the center of Undercity with the only respite being the covered walkways.
There were also only a handful of bridges that were covered where foot traffic congested because while many species didn't care about getting wet, they couldn't enter any stores while dripping with water.
Ding... ding
"Enough, make them hurry up, or you will all be punished!"
"Y-yes, madam!"
The servant didn't dare refute the fox clan woman, no matter how unreasonable her demands may be. She was an important upper member of their organization and her power was absolute. She rushed out of the room while bowing every couple of steps in apology, her back covered in a sticky sweat.
Just as the door slid closed, she called out, "Wait."
"Yes?"
"Was our information delivered to that individual?"
She didn't need to specify who or what information, the servant already understood she was talking about Alex and the information about the inner happenings of the Luminary Sword Sect.
"Yes, madam, a collaborator inside has passed along the information."
"Good, you may leave."
"Thank you, madam."
Just as the door closed behind the girl, the fox clan woman didn't reenter meditation but instead looked down.
To the outside observer, she appeared to be looking down at her bountiful chest, but her golden fox eyes where instead focused on the pink ball of devil qi that had been isolated by her spiritual energy beside her two hearts.
"Are you satisfied?" The woman's mouth remained closed, but her voice echoed through the room in an eerie manner where the sound had no origin. "Don't pretend that you can't hear me, I can feel your awareness."
The pink ball of qi stirred and a fragment of it detached before leaving her body. This fragment swirled about and transformed into a children's toy, a stuffed doll that looked like a cartoon version of Lilia.
"What ever do you mean? Why would I be satisfied?" The doll wobbled about on its feet as it answered in confusion.
"I delivered some pretty valuable information to your master. Is this not satisfactory compensation for my people spying on them?"
"Oh, that... But that didn't really help my master though, did it? You probably saved the life of that little girl who was about to walk into the lion's den, though."
The fox clan woman's brow lowered in annoyance before she asked, "Then how about you tell me what exactly it is that you want?"
The doll's grin appeared to widen as it stated in Lilia's voice, "I won't be able to leave master's side until he is strong enough to survive without my protection, so I need someone to be my arms and ears to gather information."
The temperature of the room heated up with the fox clan woman's wrath, the faint dripping of water now sizzling in the pot before turning into steam.
"How audacious, daring to treat This Highness as a servant!" Her eyes were wide open in anger while her brow creased deeply.
This woman wasn't just a high ranking member, her fox clan owned this information network. She was born with a golden spoon and had never had any demands placed upon her apart from assisting with the growth of the clan business, spreading into more realms and collecting more information.
To use her as a tool for their own gain was precisely how she described - audacious.
Of course, why would a demon care about what was fair or not.
"Don't be so quick to anger, this will benefit you too~" The doll shook its finger teasingly without a shred of fear.
"Explain yourself."
"Master is going to be a very powerful person in the future, not just by himself, but by his women who will be strengthened by his system. Think of this as an investment."
At the thought of this, the tension in the fox clan woman's brow eased and she agreed that in terms of an investment, this wasn't a bad option. Contrary to this, Lilia doll's next words sparked her ire unlike any of those before.
"And if you lean into master's embrace, he can help your strength grow too~"
The fox clan's woman's wrath broke through the ceiling and the candles throughout the room flare to ten times their height while the tapestries spontaneously combusted. In mere moments, the room was lit alight in flames.
The woman parted her lips and exhaled with a faint crystalline dust mixed in her breath that occasionally shimmered in the light of the fire like microscopic crystals. This breath washed through the Lilia doll which halted in its movements before disintegrating into the wind as if her very existence was being erased.
Even though the doll was gone, the demon qi in the fox clan woman's chest swirled about as if giggling, Lilia's voice echoing in her head.
"I can feel it, you know. At the rate you are going, you are going to become an old woman who knows neither love nor the touch of a man~"
The woman wanted to erase this demon qi as well, but it was safely nestled within her chest and she couldn't do so without causing great damage to herself.
She focused on calming her emotions, forcing her mind into a placid state before flipping her hand down and quelling all the flames.
"Madam?" the nervous voice of one of the servants outside the room sounded through the sliding door.
"Enter."
The servant opened the door and looked around at the heavily scorched room, feeling a headache in how to repair this. She also begun sweating as an immense heatwave from inside the room swept over her.
Ding-sizzle... ding-sizzle
"I will be moving to a new location."
"Yes, madam, I will alert the storefront of your intentions. Which location do you wish to go to."
"This... is not one of our stores."
"Yes?"
"Prepare the car."
"The car is always ready, madam."