The children sleep for a long time, missing breakfast and only waking up late in the afternoon of the next day, when Lan Qiren brings in early dinner for everyone.
After they've eaten, those who can, sit around the small table and Wei Changze brings forward the parchment that Wei Ying and his mother have been working on. It contains a detailed sketch of the containment array needed to destroy the Yin Iron, as well as separating spells to keep each piece of Yin Iron away from each other. Earlier, when Wei Ying had proposed this plan and drawn a rough guide, they had discussed the possible backlash that might occur.
Even now, Lan Qiren is worried.
"To keep the secondary containment array working, huge amounts of spiritual energy are needed to feed it. And we don't know how long it's going to take. Would we need extra people on standby in case the ones doing it are bled dry?" He asks, examining the other faces.
"I see your point," Wei Ying says, taking his work back and going through it carefully now, lifting a finger up every time he goes through each stage. "Out of caution, I'd say two people trained on each Yin Iron piece to keep it subdued and from reaching out towards their counterparts, that's eight. Then another two on each compass point of the containment array, so that makes sixteen. And then definitely another twelve to keep the whole larger array working so twenty-eight in total and another twenty-eight to stay on standby. That's fifty-six in total."
"Then who's going to push the destructive energy into the Yin Iron to actually destroy it?" Cangse Sanren asks them from the bed. "They would have to be not only really powerful, but knowledgeable as to the exact process, right? How did they destroy it in your past lives?"
Wei Ying blushes. "At that last battle, I passed out for three days, and when I woke up, they told me that the Venerated Triad had destroyed the Yin Iron pieces."
"The Jins might have spread lies about that, but it is difficult to say." Lan Zhan thinks out loud. "Only because I trust Wei Ying over any of them, and if they had required fifty-six cultivators, I'm sure I would have noticed. It was all very hush-hush. Besides, they only had to destroy three pieces. We have four and together, unleashed, they would harness enough power to destroy the Cultivation world."
"None of us have to deal with anything like this before, but I would say we have time to deal with this. The Lan Cultivation conference is just over three months away and-" Lan Qiren is interrupted by Cangse Sanren.
"Three months? That's when I'm due!"
Wei Changze lifts his hand to hold hers, because she's lying down on the bed and his seat is closest to her at the table.
"Three months doesn't give us much time at all, especially if you want to destroy the Yin Iron set by the time Cloud Recesses is ready to receive guests," Wei Ying mutters, quickly grabbing another piece of parchment to draw upon.
"Not only that, but the level of expertise needed regarding the strength of golden cores is quite high. I can count on my fingers how many cultivators are strong enough, powerful enough to include in this endeavour. If we need to look outside of the Clan for help, then the desire to keep this from getting out goes out of the window. The moment we contact any other clans requesting aid, they are going to want to know why, and they will definitely want to test the theory that the Yin Iron is a bad and evil instrument. Added to that, we will no longer be able to hide where you come from, namely, the future," he tells Wei Ying and Lan Zhan.
"Can you delay the conference? I'm not happy about the fact that I could go into labour right then and not be there to look after my babies." Cangse Sanren glances at all the children.
"If we did that, it would be like making a public announcement and then all this secrecy would amount to nothing."
"If we could...no, maybe not, but then...what if I..." Wei Ying is scribbling furiously onto the paper, looking elated and disappointed in equal measure as he comes up with new theories and discards them just as fast.
