Rexing took a while, but eventually Bianca managed it, and time flew by. Her cultivation didn’t progress much, and she didn’t feel anyone else in the room advancing, but it was the first bit of regur energy absorption she had done in a long while.

  It wasn’t as fun as doing it the lewd way, but… well, no buts. She preferred the other way, and while having her pet between her legs was fun, she could think of a few other things she’d have wished Song Ming to do.

  ‘My libido has gone a little berserk in this world, hasn’t it… At least the Weave of the Senses doesn’t get dirty, or else I’d need to be washing it every few hours…’ Bianca opened her eyes and sighed, looking down at her darling’s head.

  She appeared to still be deep in concentration, continuing to cultivate, so she didn’t want to distract her too much, but she did have a certain item from the store she had visited earlier. Having verified with Huang Su that there was nothing wrong with the hairpin she plucked while the shop owner was distracted, she decided she might as well gift it to her pet now.

  At the moment, Song Ming’s hair was in a braided tail, offering an easy opportunity to add in her gift on the right of her head, examining her handywork with her spiritual perception.

  The hairpin she had grabbed back at the store had the design of a nine-petalled lotus, made from a dark material that had a slight metallic shine, while also seeming to have a depth to it as if it was some kind of crystal. It sparkled slightly in the light, almost making it look as though there were tiny white stars within the shadow. Perhaps it wasn’t the most ideal choice – there were plenty of things to pick from and only one opportunity to steal them – but it contrasted nicely with her pet’s blonde hair.

  It suited her, so Bianca left that side as is and moved to patting Song Ming on the other side, leaning back and rexing.

  ‘… I need to protect her. I need to protect her and everything I’ve got here. How… how do I do that?’ she asked herself, looking inward.

  Her cultivation was only at the third realm, and even if her raw offensive and defensive power reached the fourth at the best of times, she was still up against Li Wusu, an expert in the fifth realm. From what she recalled, not only did that make her a lot stronger in general, but also granted her the ability to use the marks on her core, doubling the power of a given skill upon use.

  They had some kind of cooldown, some time in which they needed to recharge, but as long as Li Wusu didn’t get into any kind of big fight prior to a confrontation with them, she’d have all of her marks ready for anything she wished to do.

  ‘And Huang Su can only do so much against all of the memory entities, so either she’ll be busy with them, or we’ll be busy with them…’ Bianca frowned, ‘And if we try to discuss this ahead of time, Li Wusu is certain to figure it out and fight us herself if we decide it’s best for us weaklings to handle the memory entities…’

  It was a pain, as it meant that she needed some way to be able to handle either foe, or both together, without dying, while she did not possess the necessary skill for it. She still couldn’t learn new skills or techniques, so she only had a simple defence, a single form of offence – that was admittedly versatile – and a good option for movement.

  That was about it.

  She had some impressive capabilities in her own dreams and other mental ndscapes, but since Li Wusu knew of that, she was not going to set the scene of their conflict there unless the ship captain was very, very sure that she could overwhelm Bianca’s ability to fight in dreams.

  ‘And the Demonic Tyrant and the Demon Queen are really, really capable, but the former only really helps me use skills and techniques, whereas the tter is just me but a lot more focused and far less restrained… if it even exists, still,’ she moved onto fields she had even less control over, “Damn, why does it have to be so complicated…”

  “What are you struggling with, Master?” of all the people to be aware and speak up, it was Jia Bo Xun, “I may not be as clever as some of the others here, but maybe I can still help…”

  “… Just thinking about the obvious. We’re going to be up against a rather dangerous opponent, and there’s only so much that any of us can do to improve at the moment…”

  “Ah, yes… I wouldn’t know how to defeat someone at the fifth realm, not without catching them off guard, while they’re asleep, after they ate poison, and… so on,” Jia Bo Xun admitted, “But if there’s one thing I know, it’s that in a group, it’s best for everyone to focus on their own specialties and particur attributes. People that fight alone have to do everything, but together, you can pick out your strength and do that.”

  “… I’m not sure what my strength would be in a fight like this…” Bianca muttered, fully aware that if she attempted to go into any kind of detail, Li Wusu was certain to hear and learn.

  Instead, she thought about it silently, going through her skill set again.

  She had a strong offence, and her otherworldly powers meant that certain things were significantly easier for her than the average person. The offensive capability wouldn’t be sufficient to do much against Li Wusu, she had no illusions about that, and her other abilities couldn’t really compensate, as far as she could tell.

  ‘So, I’m able to absorb energy practically effortlessly, and I can pull off any skill by simply letting the Demonic Tyrant do it for me…’ she frowned, ‘Is there any moment where that would help me? To begin with, what exactly are Li Wusu’s capabilities?’

  It seemed like she was a sort of ‘summoner’ who focused mainly on creating the memory entities in order to fight, and had abilities in affecting her opponent’s mind. However, without any glimpse of her own fighting style, it was impossible to be sure that this was the extent of her capabilities. She could imagine a situation in which the ship captain turned out to have a whole other skillset for fighting on her own, and if she made the assumption that Li Wusu was harmless up close, she’d suffer.

  “I can’t help but feel that we keep getting into situations that are way above our paygrade… Regardless, don’t let up on your practise. Being more prepared will never hurt,” Bianca said, shrugging, “We’ll figure something out. No real other options for us.”

  “Yes, Master,” Jia Bo Xun nodded, “Your, um… your girlfriend is very cute.”

  “I know, my pet is adorable… I’m unbelievably lucky to have met her,” she responded with a smile, continuing to stroke her pet’s hair, “Also, I know you’re aware of the conversation, sweetie, no need to pretend otherwise.”

  “Mhh… Mistress, I’m gd that I’ve pleased you… That I’ve been a good little pet for you,” Song Ming replied, rubbing her cheek on Bianca’s leg, “I love you, Mistress.”

  “I love you too, sweetheart,” Bianca patted her on the head and looked up, “I’m guessing everyone is done with their cultivation at this point, I know I wouldn’t be able to sit through so much adorable sweetness…”

  “I will say, you two make for a more charming couple than many I have seen forming in the Phoenix Sect…” Huang Su said, making Song Ming’s face go all red, at least before she buried it in Bianca’s leg to avoid being seen, “I wish your retionship good fortunes and the blessings of the heavens. May it persist through tributions and strengthen into an unbreakable bond.”

  “… Thanks, but that came out of nowhere.”

  “My apologies if it felt that way, Mistress, but I felt that I should wish you luck. You have already encountered many challenges, and you’ll likely encounter many more, but the bonds of love may ensure your success.”

  “That sounds rather… uh, no, never mind. Thank you, Huang Su,” Bianca held back her comments and tried to focus exclusively on the positives.

  Although this was something she’d expect from a bad script, possibly one meant to set up a tragic fate ter on – she’d seen some shows that did this sort of thing, usually with a payoff so immediate that it felt awkward – it was clearly entirely genuine, which was something she could appreciate.

  Bianca and Song Ming’s retionship was obviously a little out of the ordinary, what with her girlfriend currently sitting on the ground with a colr around her neck, being called a pet regurly, but aside from that, they were still trying to make one another happy and work together like a regur couple might. If it all worked out… she’d be delighted.

  “You are welcome, Mistress,” the Sect Master bowed, “I would like to quickly inform you of our current situation. From my understanding, we have been moving west, directly towards our intended destination, so we can be retively sure that Li Wusu’s implication of viewing our minds is entirely legitimate… as if that was not obvious already. By my estimation, we have roughly three days to go at the current pace.”

  “That’s quick… I think, I forgot our estimates already.”

  “I cannot bme you in this instance, Mistress, as quite a few things have occurred since our boarding. Regardless, it is vital that we are prepared for any kind of action from Li Wusu, or anyone else on the ship that may wish to interfere with us. There is no guarantee that she will only choose to act when we are so near to the coast that we could just leap overboard and escape in that manner.”

  “While that’s true… we’re still in a bad spot since there’s only so much we can do, and only so long that most of us will be able to go without sleep… What kinds of things can we even do against her?”

  “Nothing that we are able to discuss, at the very least,” Xue Yaling shrugged, “We’ve been over this, there’s no need to repeat ourselves.”

  “Then what, do we all just come up with our own pns and hope that when the time comes, none of them end up getting in the way of one another?” Bianca asked, “It doesn’t feel great at all… Oh, I know of something we can do.”

  “What would that be, Mistress?”

  “The memory entity… things. We still know very little about their nature and limitations, so we should try and figure that out. Naturally, Li Wusu will be watching and know that we’re doing this, but I would imagine that there’s still plenty we could learn even then,” she suggested, “And if we do figure anything out, we might have an edge when it comes to dealing with the armies she’ll inevitably use against us.”

  “That is a sound approach, especially with little else avaible to us… Say, Bianca, you’re good with controlling your mental energy by now, right?” the kitsune asked suddenly.

  “Hm? Yeah, what about it?”

  “That might be useful, don’t you think?”

  Bianca raised an eyebrow, but she wasn’t stupid enough to question her further out loud. Although she couldn’t be sure, she had a feeling that Li Wusu was listening, and if this was something vital, they’d just be giving out on a potential advantage.

  ‘What could that possibly do for me? I’m not… not entirely sure…’ she frowned and stored that idea away, ‘I’ll give it more thought and figure out something, if it’s viable… I wonder.’

  “So, we’re on yet another expedition into the depths of the ship?” Han Rushu asked, sighing, “I swear, after this, I want a comfortable bed and the ability to sleep whenever I want… with a slut or two. This is just tedious.”

  “Once we’re in a safe spot, where we can settle down and do as we wish, then we can discuss that… I have no problems with the bed and what not, though if you want to find women to sleep with you, that’s on you to do, and not something you’re allowed to do with the sect’s future disciples, understood?”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever… Let’s just go.”

  The ke was perfectly still, the skies were blue and empty of clouds, and the sun was shining down its warmth, comfortable and pleasant.

  At any other time, it would’ve been made for a comfortable summer day – not that the Pnar Continents seemed to have the typical seasonal cycle – but right now Bianca and her whole group were on edge. They hadn’t been accosted by Li Wusu or any of her memory entities in days, but that only made them more concerned about what the ship captain was preparing.

  Still, the coast was getting near enough that Huang Su was able to perceive it, so they went up to the top of the ship, and there were greeted by a veritable army.

  The entirety of the deck was filled with entities, figures made of gold and shining with a bluish glow, not even attempting to pass as regur people. Now, they looked a lot more like Bianca remembered them from her dream, where they had attempted to invade her mental space, and that suggested to her that they were not going to be simply allowed to walk away and move on with their lives… not that she was surprised by that.

  ‘There are a lot of entities here. Even assuming that she created a few new ones, this seems like the majority of the memory entities from the ship,’ Bianca assessed, having explored around in the st few days and figured out roughly who was and was not created by Li Wusu’s skills.

  It seemed like the ship captain was not going to underestimate them, and intended to present her full strength from the very start.

  “Did you organise this just for us?” Bianca called out into the crowd of entities, unable to pinpoint Li Wusu’s location, “We’re just disembarking, like any regur passenger.”

  “You and I both know that this isn’t true, Bianca,” the captain’s voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, “You must have some truly valuable memories in that head of yours. I will have them, and I will synthesize perfection with them!”

  “That’s creepy, you know? However, if you want to stop us… Now!” Bianca called out, and the others immediately acted.

  There hadn’t been any preparation or practise for today, as they knew that they would just give away all of their ideas to the watchful Li Wusu. However, they all had ideas of their own, and hardly needed to be told to expect the fight to start.

  Out of all of them, Huang Su’s opening was the most noteworthy. In an instant, she appeared in the skies, dark fmes surging out from her back to form the wings of a phoenix, and more manifested in the air into sharp, pointed shapes, lingering for only a moment before surging down and crashing into the crowd of memory entities.

  In an instant, it felt as though half the ship was going to be set afme, but the golden figures weren’t standing still. They moved together, performing various skills and actions to block the fmes. Most were blocked, but a few still got through, incinerating the golden figures that were caught in the fmes.

  More importantly, Li Wusu finally showed herself, leaping out from the midst and waving her hand, causing their surroundings to transform. Blue light surged out and formed into hills and mountains around them, repcing even the ship, changing their battlefield into an entirely different environment in the blink of an eye.

  Worse yet, Bianca couldn’t tell the new ndscape apart from reality, so it seemed like this terrain was as real as the boat beneath them.

  “Behold, my own reality! Countless fragments of memory synthesised into a single perfect piece!” Li Wusu procimed, as though a preacher, “Lay down and enter my Nexus of Thoughts!”

  “Never!” Huang Su was the first to reply, changing her focus from the army to the woman floating above it, summoning a seemingly endless number of dark fming feathers behind her that she sent flying at her foe.

  The skies above turned into an incomprehensible mess of fming explosions, and Bianca didn’t have the time to process it as the endless golden entities were charging towards her group, forcing them to focus. Everyone did something to fight – even if Han Rushu stood at the back, swinging a sword at nothing, she seemed to be confusing the memory entities a little – and Bianca had to contribute as well, pulling out the faux-star metal sword and unleashing a crimson wave in front of her, striking the entities that failed to block her.

  ‘I need to watch for an opening, and once it comes…’

  She would try her best, even if she had to sacrifice for it.