Seth, Fin, and Mina got on their new rides, and it felt exactly as the blacksmith imagined. The big floating silk cushions filled with unknown materials felt like one would expect riding a cloud would feel.
While the blatant corruption earlier left a sour taste in their mouths, it quickly faded in the face of pure bliss. Even if it wasn't able to float, it would have been the best cushion Seth ever placed his body on.
On top of that, it floated. The moment they sat on them, the cushions rose from the ground. They had reins that could be used to slowly levitate around the platform. Once they were confident in their riding skills, they followed other guests and went over the edge.
As their cushions drifted past the edge of the sheer cliff face, the mountain fell away into thousands of feet of empty air. Looking straight down past the edges of their silk cushions, the bottom of the gorge glowed with a vibrant, pulsing azure and amethyst light.
The raw, liquid spiritual energy of the world welled up from the deep crust, crystallizing along the canyon walls into massive, glowing geodes. This was the second attraction of this place, a direct look at an open spirit vein.
According to the brochure, it was also the power source for the massive illusion formation projecting the stellar movements directly into the canyon below and sky above, making it feel as if they were floating in the center of an open galaxy.
Looking up, he could see the true stars of the province high above, magnified by floating crystalline lenses suspended in the air. These lenses tracked specific constellations, projecting sharp, hyper-detailed cosmic clusters and swirling gas nebulae directly into the field of view.
Their weapons were shit, but that didn't stop these people from building magnificent creations in other areas. This view was truly phenomenal, and actually something he would have never been able to experience on Urth, not even in VR.
What Fin and Mina had told him about the possibilities of this place were grant, like it was able to show individual customers their own versions of the firmament. However, most people were like them and had no definite goal.
Dozens of other silk cushions bobbed gently around them at varying heights. Couples and wealthy merchants lounged on the plush fabric, steering their platforms with simple thoughts to drift through patches of glowing, artificially generated stardust that smelled faintly of mint and ozone. They were just enjoying the view of the stars projected in the darkness.
To the trio, it really felt like swimming through galaxies and diving in nebulae. As they drifted and had fun, an attendant on a specialized service cushion glided past, offering crystal flutes of star-infused wine that glowed with a faint, bioluminescent silver light.
Looking down, the reflective obsidian plaza of the terrace mirrored the cosmic display perfectly, completely erasing the boundary between the sky above and the gorge below. For a few peaceful moments, they were fully able to enjoy their honeymoon.
After a while of diving around and having fun, the three were simply floating around, wine in hand, enjoying the view as they aimlessly drifted along, like most visitors in this sea of stars. After a while, the blacksmith couldn't help making some observations.
Anchored in the crystalline sides of the canyon were immaterial chains, like very eccentrically designed power lines, that transmitted the power from the spirit vein to the magnifying lenses above.
This was an interesting design choice, but most importantly a magnificent piece of craftsmanship. Seth couldn't quite understand all of them, but the raw, volatile power of the spirit vein was seemingly filtered through stabilizing arrays beneath the obsidian plaza, transforming dangerous, explosive energy into a perfectly controlled, romantic evening attraction
"Whoa!" Fin exclaimed, as she leaned over the edge of her cushion, watching a pulse of violet light ripple through the canyon floor like a slow-motion lightning strike. Seth saw it too, but he didn't watch in wonder, as he immediately had a bad feeling.
It was immediately confirmed. Without warning, the soft humming beneath the silk cushions went dead silent. In a single, terrifying heartbeat, hundreds of cushions dropped like stones simultaneously, abruptly stopping again after falling 2 meters
The sight would have been amusing, if the three weren't on some of these cushions themselves. Silk-embroidered cushions slammed hard against the stone or jerked violently in mid-air, shattering crystal wine flutes onto the obsidian floor.
Undignified shrieks echoed across the plaza as wealthy cultivators and merchants were violently jarred from their comfortable lounging positions. Beneath them, the glowing cosmic arrays on the obsidian plaza flared a violent, unstable crimson before going completely dark.
"Shit..." The cushions fell again. Cultivators capable of flight jumped in the air; others jumped on their flying sword or other personal artifacts. Mortals, merchants, and other cultivators were left to plummet again. Moments before Seth and the others did the same-
The cushions caught themselves just a few meters above the ground as emergency secondary formations kicked in. Nobody died, but the peaceful atmosphere was entirely shattered. However, the sudden drop was merely the catalyst for a rapid, compounding failure of the system.
Seth saw it. Down in the gorge, the unchanneled mana built up quickly. The pooling magical power manifested as a terrifying, fluid environmental distortion. A violent, blinding pillar of raw, unrefined azure energy erupted directly from the center of the open spirit vein.
It shot upward and struck the center of the mirror-polished platform like a massive, churning geyser, shooting further, tearing right through the floating crystalline lenses above and scattering their alignment. The illusions started moving and changing as everything started to fail, distorting the firmament into a swirling, turbulent vortex of wild energy.
"It's a Qi storm, flee!" the crowd finally started reacting. People screamed in fear; others shouted warnings. The staff was in chaos, trying to evacuate customers. The free energy dammed up in the gorge erupted, creating a localized hurricane of crushing spiritual pressure.
The chaotic gale tossed the handicapped levitation cushions around like leaves in a storm. Cultivators with weak foundations or low spiritual reserves were instantly suffocating in the dense pressure, collapsing, gasping for air.
The air grew thick and blindingly bright, making it difficult to breathe as raw magic completely saturated the plaza. Another stream hit the platform, parts starting to break off, falling into the canyon, taking some people with them into the depths.
Seth, Fin, and Mina had immediately reached out, grabbing each other and pulling their cushions close to each other. His eyes locked onto the central pillar of light that erupted first. The structure of the terrace was barely holding on, but the wild, unfiltered energy leaking from the open vein was suffocating the people on the deck, turning a luxury vacation spot into a deadly elemental trap.
Even cultivators around lv.70 were struggling to even stand on the platform. Normal people had collapsed on the floor or fallen unconscious, still floating on their cushions. The trio had hesitated to intervene for just a moment; however-
~I will shield the platform; can you guys move the people?- Fin exclaimed telepathically.
~The golems can evacuate the people; I will try to do something about the gorge,- the blacksmith said.
~I will get the people from the pillows,- Mina exclaimed.
They all reacted almost at the same time, splitting the tasks without needing explicit dialogue.
However, the eruptions of power were suddenly cut short by a resonant, metallic chime. It vibrated straight through the stone floor, momentarily dampening the howling wind.
Seth was able to make out a figure in the gorge, blocking the streams of power. They wore pristine, stark white robes embroidered with silver cranes taking flight. Next, a coordinated spearhead of cultivators descended from the broken firmament upon the terrace
"Do not worry! We are the disciples of the Sword Crane Temple! We will evacuate everyone! The situation will be dealt with!" a voice empowered by spiritual essence exclaimed for everyone to hear. A dozen of them jumped into the gorge to help the figure blocking the spirit vein.
Without a single wasted movement, the group fanned out into a precise, circular formation around the erupting geyser. Their leader, a stern-faced cultivator with a silver headpiece, drew his blade and pointed it directly at the swirling vortex.
"Form the Nine-World Seal!" he commanded, his voice cutting through the tempest like a localized thunderclap. "Calm the earth, bind the sky!"
As one, the cultivators thrust their blades into the canyon walls. Brilliant white spiritual chains erupted out from their hilts, snaking across the stone and wrapping around the raging pillar of azure energy.
The transformation was instantaneous. The crushing atmospheric pressure vanished, the suffocating mist was drawn back down into the gorge, and the floating cushions gently drifted down to rest safely on the plaza floor.
Meanwhile, the remaining disciples helped the confused and hurt victims, evacuating the unstable platform. The entire disaster was neutralized in less than sixty seconds. The terrified victims began to thank them, praising the bravery and swift action of the Sword Crane Temple.
Seth and the others had their thunder stolen. Seeing that the situation was actually managed to a hauntingly efficient extent, they simply evacuated along with the remaining guests.