Abyssal Awakening

Listening to Alice's explanation, Hualing couldn't help but find it unbelievable.

Yet at the same time, she couldn't deny the fact that most sects or clans would then choose to hide their trump cards.

Even though they may be in an alliance on the surface, there were still brewing conflicts where the eyes don't see.

If an enemy family were to find out about their trump card, they could plan against it easily.

A great example was what the families managed to accomplish during the Phoenix Dragon Gathering. They managed to gather information about the current state of the sect disciples, their trump cards and weaknesses.

Using that, they easily swept through the competition.

So while Alice's method was… definitely aggressive in nature, it was probably the best way to get the enemy to show her everything they've got.

"Wait, even if you say that, most of the families already know you don't kill. So wouldn't they hide it anyway?" Hualing asked as Alice swallowed her food.

"Excellent question. But when you have this kind of killing intent targeted at you, do you think you still have the option of holding back?" Alice narrowed her gaze as an overwhelming wave of killing intent locked onto Hualing.

The fight or flight instinct was triggered and her face paled.

During their fight, Alice had actually held back since they knew each other to some extent.

"See? Though I will say the quality of… elders and sect leaders has been disappointing. They can't even compare to some of the random Hunters I've seen in the Abyss." Alice lamented.

Even though there have been a few surprises during her trip on the surface, the overall combat power was far lower than what she expected.

A student with three Sigils in the Abyss could probably take out several adults with four Sigils on the surface. The martial arts was interesting but heavily relied on the mastery of Zones. Without these Zones, the martial arts couldn't even exhibit 60% of their power.

Perception and control were the key components of the fighting style of the East.

And in this regard, Alice was left disappointed.

Hell, she was even considering whether or not it was worth to fight the remaining families or sects.

However, Alyss had an interest in martial arts so Alice would simply tag along.

"I also have a few questions for the two of you though. Out of everyone that I've seen, you're the only one that's shown a proper Passive Zone. Yet I haven't heard anything about you. Why's that?" Alice asked, pointing her chopstick at Hualing who glanced down before letting out a sigh.

"Well… People hate geniuses right? If I show up at the Phoenix Dragon gathering and show that I can do what I can, wouldn't that just put too many targets on my family?" Hualing admitted while scratching her cheek.

Even though the Chi clan was part of the six houses, their power was still relatively low. In fact, it was their alliance with the Vermillion family that helped them tide over the difficult times.

It's also why it was hard for her father to reject their suggestion.

"I mean… I guess. But if it was me- Actually, never mind I get what you mean." Alice was about to deny it but recalled her training within the Inverted World.

She didn't have the power to defend herself nor was she sure of what might happen if she showed her talent. Therefore, she held herself back while learning as much as she could from the Apostles.

In this regard, what Hualing was doing was the same as her.

Thankfully, most of the guests and guards were taken care of during her invasion so only Xiao An saw Hualing's Zone.

"Now onto you tall lad. Your fighting style, where did you learn it? It's different to what I've seen from your family members. The way of generating power and stacking charges is different." Alice asked, glancing at Xiao An.

Allura's method of using energy was too uncommon for it to be a simple coincidence.

There must be a connection.

Xiao An was about to say something when he saw Alice's gaze. He understood that she must have some kind of idea and recalling her strength, it wouldn't do him good to hide.

"There was an incident in the past. The… Three of us, me, Hualing and Huaning fell into the Abyss. It was a pretty deep layer since a fight must've broken out and pierced the boundaries between the two worlds.

"We encountered a tall woman who seemed injured at the time but she still protected us from the beasts that tried to take our life. I took inspiration from the way she fought since I believed it to be better than my family's current style of martial arts and incorporated it into the way I fight." Xiao An explained as Alice scratched her chin.

A tall woman, injured, took inspiration. It was pretty clear that the one they met was most definitely Allura.

Knowing how she's injured thanks to the battle in the past, she must've exerted herself at that time.

"I see… the one you met is my mentor/mother. No wonder your fighting style reminded me of her." Alice waved her hand while Xiao An paused before fully digesting what she just said.

"Meh, if you met her in the past then so be it." Alice changed subjects before pulling out a sheet of paper and drawing something on it.

Left speechless by the fact that Alice brushed over something that would usually be important, the duo were about to say something when they saw what she was drawing.

Three eyes in a flame.

"Are you two perhaps familiar with this symbol?" Alice asked, showing them the drawing.

Furrowing her brows, Hualing examined the icon before nodding her head.

"It's a branch of the cult. Though apparently a coup was launched. This was the news a month or so ago. The old name is…"

"Trifecta." Jin cut in surprising the three of them.

Blinking her eyes, Hualing nodded her head.
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"Yeah, it's called the Trifecta. Though originally, we all thought it was just a combat squad of sorts." Hualing explained.

Setting aside the fact that Jin knew them, Alice stretched her neck before standing up.

"Interesting… I'm guessing if I want to know information about this Trifecta, I'll have to meet the sovereign sects right?" Alice asked.

Just as Hualing was about to nod, she paused as she realised that if she says yes, there's no doubt that Alice would attack the Sovereign sects to get what she wants.

"Are you going to attack the Sovereign sects too?" Hualing asked as Alice nodded her head as though it's the most natural thing in the world.

"2 comes after 1 and 3 comes after 2. 1, 2, 3 no? So if I take out the sects and clans, what makes you think I won't go after the Sovereign sects? Plus, there's a higher chance that their martial arts is more interesting than the rest." Alice chuckled.

She understood that her battle junkie twin wouldn't pass up this chance.

'Who the f*ck are you calling a battle junkie??? You realise that I've been staying put for most of the journey until now right? If anything, you're the combat sexual between the two of us.' Alyss spat out in annoyance, feeling slandered by Alice's description.

With how Alice experiments with her own body, spells and such, it's clear that she has more screws loose than her.

She wasn't as bad as her and that's something she didn't want to change.

'Combat sexual??? Me??? If you're gonna call me a name at least make it accurate!' Alice pouted in annoyance.

Anyone who spent any form of time with her would understand that she loved alcohol far more than she loved fighting!

While Alice was arguing with herself in her mind, both Hualing and Xiao An were just… staring at her in full confusion.

She just kind of stopped mid conversation and blanked out, staring into space.

"Is… Is she alright?" Hualing hesitated before waving her hand in front of Alice's face. Seeing that she wasn't even blinking, Hualing couldn't help but shiver from how freaky it was.

"She gets like this sometimes. Talking to the voices in her head. Give her a few moments and she'll be back to normal." Jin shrugged as he was long used to this.

There was… a serious air around him at this moment. A sharp glint that wasn't there before.

"While Alice speaks to the voices in her head, I have a question for you. Does the name Chen Sen ring a bell?" Jin asked.

Unlike Alice's killing intent, his intent wasn't tyrannical or abrupt.

Instead, it felt like a creeping serpent, slowly surrounding the two like a rolling mist, encroaching and sealing them in a boundary of killing intent.

Fighting back with his own killing intent, Xiao An glared at Jin who didn't back down at all.

Before a fight could break out, Hualing tapped Xiao An on the shoulder before shaking her head.

"No. If that's a member of the Trifecta, then unfortunately we don't have any information about them. You should know that news rarely escape the south. The fact that we know a coup even happened is already surprising." Hualing explained as Jin glanced down and sighed.

The killing intent disappeared as though it never existed and he sat down, eating his food without saying anything else.

###

"Welcome to the east ya little sh*ts. We only have one goal here and that's to find out whoever the f*ck has been contacting the outer gods. Any questions?" Rosalyn asked while folding her arms.

"Yeah, just one." Ria held up her arm.

"Shoot."

"Are you actually coming with us when you say 'we' or are you just throwing your chores to us again?"

"That's a mighty fine question hahahaaa… No." Rosalyn replied bluntly before disappearing in a swarm of blood bats that evaporated in an instant.

". . ."

"You really should be expecting how she'll reac-"

"Shut up Luke."