Chapter 527: Phase Trials and Negotiation Phases

Technically she should have been concerned about the upcoming trial, but Zae Zin Nim was more focused on the elite who had attacked her husband so aggressively. That was not an appropriate level of aggression for a test of this sort. Even though this was Deadwaste, such a thing could easily become a vendetta that would lead to many future troubles.

Their wife was clearly more conscious of the overall situation, because while Zae Zin Nim went to Kai as soon as he left the rings, Omilaena shifted to address the elites.

"Are you going to try to kill all of us?" she asked. "Because I don't have a defensive phase mastered, so if you attack, my only solution is to go lethal immediately."

"Not all elites are required to master all phases." It was the Krysali man, the one who had previously assisted Zae Zin Nim and Kai. He appeared mildly perturbed by the aggressive trial, but not perturbed enough to disrupt the elite sect's politics. "You can request a more specialized trial, so long as involves real world conditions."

"Then I'll demonstrate poison. 'Real world conditions' is a very mild way of describing how its been used, so I think you'll be satisfied."

Zae Zin Nim thought that her wife was being somewhat self-deprecating, perhaps as a tactic. Omilaena had been able to poison Matiavel via a phase years ago, and she had only grown more powerful since then. Furthermore, she had grown used to fighting cultivators using qi phases, so she wouldn't be entirely overwhelmed by power or shielding phases.

It seemed that the elites were negotiating the new terms, so Zae Zin Nim edged even closer to her husband.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "And do you know why he dislikes you?"

"I'll heal," he grunted. "And I just have a guess."

There wasn't much time to discuss it further, because they stepped through the spinning rings in order to clear the arena again. Yuinafal retreated in the opposite direction, not acknowledging defeat and clearly plotting further schemes. For a moment there was only Omilaena standing in the arena, then a stocky Earth Union woman leapt to stand across her.

"You think you have phased poison?" The woman jabbed a thumb at her chest. "Try me."

"You sure?" Omilaena's lips twitched in that seductive look that made Zae Zin Nim's heart twist when it wasn't directed at her. "I was thinking I could take a poison and prove I can work with phased antidotes, but I'm happy to start."

She raised a hand to her lips, telegraphing far more than usual, then breathed out a thin stream of poison. Using a speed phase, Zae Zin Nim watched it roll out, wondering if she would see one of the elites die - their husband would not be happy about that.

At first the woman's face remained arrogant, but as the blue cloud roiled in her direction, her eyes widened. She shifted her flatfooted stance and in the end nearly threw herself to the side, escaping the line of poison and then edging back from its cloud.

"What, you aren't going to test me?" Omilaena raised her hands languidly as if helpless. "Are you cheating me out of a trial? I wouldn't want to lose on a technicality."

Then, without warning, she managed to achieve a speed phase. It wasn't perfect, as Omilaena had never fully finished her phase training, but she still moved fast enough that she seemed to spin and unleash a cloud of poison. Perhaps more impressively, she imparted her half-phase to the poison, so the cloud blossomed in an instant.

When it was done, Zae Zin Nim observed two things:

First, the poison had halted at the radius of the innermost ring, as if against an invisible barrier.

Second, the elite had appeared outside the arena, sweat rolling down her face.

"Are you sure you don't want to try?" Omilaena's voice emerged from the poison. Her low chuckle reverberated through the mists and she was little more than a wraith, a flash of legs and a flicking dress.

"That's..." The Earth Union elite had recovered, but still looked at the poison cloud grimly. "That isn't a normal poison phased up, it's a poison generated entirely from phased essence. She passes as far as I'm concerned."

"Was that so hard? Let's stop these games and really negotiate. I can generate poisons for your troops to use, but I want access. You should all know what I did to help Irun, so let me continue."

"We're willing to acknowledge you," Aeglien of Torleen said, "but we would need to discuss this further. Such dangerous poison could be a double-edged blade, especially since we cannot always work with the fully-trained. Surely you understand the potential risk."

"Certainly, but I can provide immunity and antidotes as well." Omilaena emerged as the poison cloud began to dissipate, revealing herself at the edge of the arena. "Zin Nim, would you like to demonstrate?"

That had never been the plan, but Zae Zin Nim understood well enough. She leapt through a gap in the rings to land beside Omilaena, then visibly drew in a breath of the poison. The air was a bit stuffy, but otherwise it just smelled like her wife. She would be ashamed to admit it in public, but she liked the sweet tingle of poison.

It seemed as though this convinced the elites, so they began to make arrangements. Zae Zin Nim slipped closer to her wife to speak quietly. "You should train your other phases, though."

"And I will," Omilaena said, "once we have the elites properly on our side. But you should get ready, because I think I irked them a bit."

"No thanks to you."

"Entirely thanks to me."

Omilaena departed the arena, though she didn't take all of the poison with her. Locked as it was inside the arena, Zae Zin Nim suspected it would only disappear as the chakra lost strength, which would take some time. Then, to her surprise, she saw a new elite arrive and place her hand on one of the rotating rings.

Without warning, the world clenched a fist around her and Zae Zin Nim staggered a step.

She had suspected the rings produced some sort of suppression, but that was nothing like a suppression technique. The clenching hadn't harmed her only because she had full control of her own qi, developed through years of cultivation. A weaker cultivator might have experienced a complete collapse of their dantian.

The process also somehow wiped out the poison, not that Zae Zin Nim had many thoughts to spare for that. She fixed her attention on the new elite, who had surprised her for a second reason: it was Handelrey Orgoron, the woman who had teleported her away from the abyss and saved her life.

Handelrey looked much the same as seven years ago, with her somber tunic and a jungle of prehensile hair, but something had changed about her. She had a new shroud that felt like Cloudspire, and there was quite an aura of qi about her.

"Unlike the others, I am not here to challenge you," Handelrey said as she calmly stepped through the spinning rings. She didn't dash through when all three opened, she walked slowly, letting them pass just in front of and behind her. "I'm truly concerned for you. Cultivators gain easy access to phased qi, but because it comes naturally, it can lead to gaps in their understanding."

"I also trained in phases here." Zae Zin Nim didn't feel attacked, yet still felt the need to defend herself. After her spouses had proved themselves clearly, she refused to be considered the weak link who might harm their negotiation position.

"Yet you are, despite your strength, still an Earth Soul. In my experience, cultivators only fight as if fully phased when they reach Sky Soul. It has been rare for cultivators to join us during incursions, but I once saw an Earth Soul killed in an instant by a phased monster."

That might have seemed like an empty threat, if Zae Zin Nim hadn't seen the monsters from the abyss increase immensely in strength. Perhaps it was merely bias toward Handelrey, but all of this seemed like a sincere objection.

"Test me, than," Zae Zin Nim said.

"Very well." Handelrey gave her a bow - a Cloudspire bow - and then blurred to the side.

Maybe Zae Zin Nim would once have lost track of her, but her eyes had been reborn when she awakened the True Blackblood Physique. She still needed to push herself to track the elite as she began running in a circle, a shadow on the wind, and Zae Zin Nim continually shifted her attention, not letting her opponent get a clear opening to close the distance.

Except Handelrey never rushed in to attack: without warning, she made vines grow from the naked metal of the arena floor.

Only the fact that Zae Zin Nim was pushing herself to her limits made it possible for her to even have time to react. The vines sped toward her legs, razor sharp and carrying phased mana. All she could do in time was release her Coldfire Corona, which leapt around her leg in time.

The flames burned away the vines, but a sharpened tip on Zae Zin Nim's side of the barrier fell in a trail of ash.

She reacted before she had time to consciously think, one hand thrusting out, gathering all the blue flames and drawing them down her arm. Zae Zin Nim formed a Coldfire Palm, not to strike but moving into her opponent's circular path. Too late, she realized that she was still pushing her qi phase as hard as possible and that she shouldn't have attacked so recklessly.

Handelrey struck her technique and then skidded back from the fiery palm, protected by a shield of vines projecting from her hair. Zae Zin Nim almost immediately switched from concern to being annoyed that her technique hadn't done more damage to the vines. She supposed that was the advantage of a full defensive phase, which she should think about as a Sky Soul tier technique.

"That's well beyond the average Earth Soul." Handelrey released her mana and bowed again. "Clearly, you absorbed your training here. You have my approval to join us."

"Wait just a second." Yuinafal spoke up again from the edge of the arena. "She doesn't actually have any specific phase, so that means she's not eligible."

For a second Zae Zin Nim wondered if the sect's rules could be used against her like that, but to her surprise the elites responded with groans and rolled eyes. Some of them even walked or flew off, as if convinced the event was over.

"Come on, Yui," one of the others said. "It's not like she's getting in on a technicality, she's obviously strong enough."

"If it helps," Zae Zin Nim said politely, "I intend to continue preparing until the incursion. I would be happy to accept phase training alongside my cultivation."

Her suggestion seemed to go over well with the elites listening, including Handelrey, who gave her the slightest of nods. The two of them needed to talk, but there was still the matter of Yuinafal. His antagonism might have reduced his standing, but he remained a member of a very egalitarian organization who was directly opposed to them.

The other elites were approaching, and Zae Zin Nim realized that this success brought with it greater problems. They had earned a seat at the table and now it was time for the real negotiations.