Beyond The Primordials - Chapter 25 Coiling Pass

At first light, Yin Hui and Yu Zhuwa woke up and began their usual morning routine. Yin Hui would go hunt wild animals that hadn’t waken up yet, while Yu Zhuwa would pack up the camp. This involved removing all the protective talismans placed around the campsite, as well as erasing all traces that they rested there for the night.

When the sun reached it’s full height, Yin Hui returned. He had killed a few deer for the day’s meals and stored them in his bag of holding. By the time he came back, Yu Zhuwa had cleaned up most of the camp with the exception of the tent Su Jia occupied.

“She wants to plan an invasion, yet she’s still sleeping when the sun is at full shine…” Yin Hui shook his head. At this point, he assumed that Su Jia was either the daughter of a high status figure in a powerful clan, or the embodiment of the phrase wasted talent. There was no way a lazy, annoying girl like her with such a poor work-ethic could become so strong at such a young age without either of those two being the case.

Yin Hui walked up to the front of the tent, but didn’t open it.

“Su Jia! Are you up yet?!”

“Elder sister Su Jia wake up! It’s already halfway through the morning!” Yu Zhuwa called out as well.

“Ugh…wha?” A groggy voice answered.

After about 20 minutes, Su Jia finally stepped out of the tent. She yawned as she stretched her hands high in the air. Her natural beauty was accentuated by the glow of the morning sun, making her look like a celestial fairy.

“You guys are up early. If you’re that worried about other cultivators roaming around here don’t. With me here, no one will be able to touch you guys.” She said confidently.

“If someone did attack, I bet we would already be long dead by the time you came to help…” Yin Hui was sure not to say this out loud in front of Su Jia. Knowing her temperament, she would find some way to get back at him by the time they launched their attack on the outpost. Perhaps she cultivated the Dao of Vengeance too.

“Anyway’s lets head out towards the outpost. If we’re fast, it’ll be within sight in about a week.” Su Jia said while leading the way.

The journey to the border was a calm one. They encountered no cultivators and there was always plenty of food and water to be found around the areas they traveled. Because they had Su Jia, obtaining supplies from nearby settlements was now also a viable option.

Along the way, the three of them passed through forests, valleys, and rivers. Yin Hui was constantly contrasting Su Jia’s route with the map given to him by Yu Mingxi. While the path they were taking wasn’t necessarily the most secretive, it was indeed the quickest. Considering they weren’t running into any trouble, Yin Hui did not argue for pursuing a safer route. By the end of the second day, Yin Hui stopped comparing and began to blindly follow Su Jia’s sense of direction.

On the third day, Yu Zhuwa broke into the Spirit Waking realm. To celebrate, Yin Hui passed down the instructions for the Wind Bullet and personally tutored him in its use. He was also going to teach him the spells he learned from Yu Mingxi as well. Since he was essentially Yu Mingxi’s foster child, those spells had more significance to him than anyone else.

“Ha! You think those low-quality spells are a suitable gift for Xiao Yu?” Su Jia mocked.

As a gift, and also to show up Yin Hui, Su Jia offered to teach Yu Zhuwa a spell as well. Given his thief-like nature, Yu Zhuwa asked Su Jia if she had any concealment spells. Su Jia did and decided to teach him the ‘Lurking Shadow’ spell. The Lurking Shadow spell was a very useful, but difficult spell to learn. It allowed the user to hide within shadows and hop between them at blinding speeds. While it was near useless in wide open fields during the day, its capabilities at night and indoors were limitless.

With both Yin Hui and Su Jia’s guidance, Yu Zhuwa began to show signs of improvement quickly. In two days he mastered the fundamentals of the Wind Bullet, and could fire one strong enough to kill a first aspect Spirit Waking cultivator with their guard down in a single strike. Although it took him a full two minutes to charge it even with a decent amount of air, his speed exceeded Yin Hui’s expectations. Given Yu Zhuwa’s age, Yin Hui felt a bit jealous that Yu Zhuwa was progressing almost as fast as he did.

On the other hand, the progress of the Lurking Shadow spell was much slower. The spell had a very steep learning curve and Yu Zhuwa was only able use it with a 30% success rate. Furthermore, he could only blend into a single shadow and could not hop between them like the technique intended. Yin Hui also tried learning the Lurking Shadow spell from Su Jia. However, Su Jia was stubborn and rejected him every time. Despite the low success rate and minimal results, Yu Zhuwa was not discouraged. As they continued towards the border, he practiced jumping into shadow’s everyday.

At sunset on the fifth day, the three of them arrived before a very large mountain range. The base of the main mountain had a single entrance that was completely dark inside.

“This is Coiling Pass. It is this provinces greatest strength and greatest weakness in the event of an invasion from another province. That is because it contains a tunnel system so complex that it can easily confuse and lead astray even the most attentive of cultivators.” Su Jia explained.

Yu Zhuwa frowned and looked up at the clear sunset sky.

“Then why don’t we just fly over it?”

Su Jia shook her head.

“The entire mountain range is protected by a powerful barrier controlled by the capital. Anyone that the capital has not approved will be unable to fly over the pass. Even an Immortal Treading cultivator would be forced to walk. That is how strong the barrier is.”

“You mentioned how this pass is also a major weakness. Why?” Yin Hui questioned.

“Like I said, Coiling Pass contains an enormous network of tunnels. While it is very easy for one to get lost, that doesn’t mean its inescapable. Actually, its more accurate to say that there are exits of everywhere. Depending on the pattern of tunnels you take, one exit could take you to another area of the outer region, while another could put you close to the capital. The reason the pass is such a huge weakness is that if an invading army manages to get inside, it would be impossible to track them. While the tunnels will most certainly fragment their forces, there is still potential for a sizable threat to make it into the heart of the province without any resistance. Worse, multiple waves of enemies could attack different parts of the province at once and there would be no way to predict it.”

“Interesting, then how are we going to get through?” Yin Hui checked the map within his mind. To get to the Storm Province, which lay to the east of the Tang Province, Coiling Pass was a must. Coiling Pass stretched throughout the entire eastern border, so it needed to be passed before the Storm Province would be within sight. Unfortunately, the map he was given did not have any tips on how to navigate through the passage.

“We’ll use this.” Su Jia took out a golden compass with red runes inscribed on the surface.

“While we won’t be able to know necessarily which network of tunnels will be the fastest. We will at least know whether we are going to right direction or not.”

Yin Hui gave a small nod. While he was wary about navigating through the cave with such an uncertain method, there really wasn’t much choice. Even if Su Jia did not go with them, he and Yu Zhuwa would’ve had to venture into the pass anyways. At least with the compass, their chances of making it through the pass had increased by at least 50%.

“So are we going to rest for tonight and venture into the mountain tomorrow?” Yu Zhuwa asked.

“As much as I like that idea we can’t. The mountain is full of hidden dangers even at the entrance. We’ll need to push forward and be vigilant until the end before we have a chance to rest.”

“How? Even though we’re cultivators we still need food, water, and sleep. The inside of the mountain is also pitch black, how will we be able to see?”

Su Jia took out four pills from her bag of holding. She gave one to Yin Hui, two to Yu Zhuwa, and kept the last for herself.
for visiting.

“I have given each of us a nourishment pill. These pills will keep us at peak condition for about three days, after of which the effects will wear off. As for the darkness in the cave, it is easily resolved by the usage of spiritual sense. Xiao Yu, since you don’t have spiritual sense yet, I have given you that other pill. If you take it, it will allow you to see in the dark for about a day, so only use it when it is necessary. For the first bit of the way, the danger is not as extreme so you could probably get by through sticking close to me and Li Feng.”

“Alright, then lets get through this passage and destroy that outpost. The sooner we get out, the sooner we can rest.” Yin Hui swallowed his pill and walked inside. When the pill entered his body, Yin Hui felt like the internal environment of his body had paused. All his bodily functions remained the same, but his physical needs such as rest, hunger, and thirst seemed to have froze in place.

Seeing Yin Hui’s decision, Yu Zhuwa swallowed the nourishment pill as well. Much like Yin Hui, Yu Zhuwa felt his body freeze itself in a perfect state of homeostasis. He was neither hungry, thirsty, or tired, but he was also not satiated or energized either. Putting the remaining pill in his pant pocket, Yu Zhuwa adjusted his hemp tunic and ran inside.

Su Jia smiled as she saw the eagerness within the two. She quickly popped the pill into her mouth, double checked the coordinates on the compass and followed after them.