Climbing out took him eighty days, especially since the Shifting Ants made a mess all the time by shifting the tunnels. As a result, either Inala had to climb up in a new tunnel or drill a way to the old tunnel.
Staring at the evening sky, he slumped at the entrance to Guna Caves, waiting patiently for his eyes to adjust to the ambient light. 'Damn Orakha. He made me waste eighty days.'
Orakha's original intention, based on his memories was to waste at least a few years of Inala's time. But he had underestimated Inala's abilities and hence was only able to delay him by eighty days.
Well, these eighty days weren't a waste, since Inala spent the time understanding the various data clusters he had obtained.
"Dad, when are we leaving?" Gannala asked as she grabbed a tree hanging from the cliff and munched on it casually, producing loud crunching sounds.
"Empyrean Piglet," Asaeya muttered under her breath upon seeing Gannala devour a twenty-metre-tall tree within a minute.
"Tomorrow," Saying so, Inala slumped on the ground and fell asleep. He also shooed away the Empyrean Zingers, telling them to keep themselves busy and not disturb him.
Once he closed his eyes, Inala activated Mystic Bone Art, observing the influence of his Tertiary Nature plateauing accordingly. He took some time to inspect himself, 'My thought process has changed a lot without my realisation.'
The dice had been rolled. His three Natures were permanent. Hence, either Inala adapted to their influence or suffered from conflicting thoughts. 'I need to find the perfect balance to remain myself between the three Influences.'
If his mind—character, behaviour, and disposition—was like a river, then the three Natures were rainclouds feeding into the river. Whenever they rained, the river was affected accordingly.
Its composition would change, the currents would grow stronger, its meandering path would be affected, and the tide levels would also morph accordingly. As long as Inala maintained the river's functional integrity, then even after the changes, he would remain himself.
A vastly changed man, yes. But that would still be him as Inala.
As he continued to ponder, Inala fell deep asleep at some point in time. Right as he had done so, Asaeya's eyes glinted bloodthirstily as she stared outside and observed some Pranic Beasts loitering about.
She clapped once and laughed upon seeing them trip and fall once they lost their sense of balance.
'She lost it again.' Gannala thought as she stared at Asaeya.
For the past eighty days, Asaeya acted like she was completely fine before Inala. And now that he was asleep, she showed her true, influenced self, messing with the Pranic Beasts just because she could do so.
'But still,' Gannala concluded after some observation, 'Her condition is better than when she lived alone with me. It seems her ego keeps the influence in check because she wants to put on her best behaviour before Inala.'
'I can use this to control the influence on her.' Gannala smiled as she crept behind Asaeya and whispered, "Dad isn't asleep yet."
"Kekekeke…eh?" Asaeya stopped laughing as her maddened state vanished like it was never there in the first place. She casually took out a slab of bone from her Storage Lantern and began to draw on it, behaving like an artist in thought, deeply inspired by the evening landscape.
Since Inala had the Sumatra Lantern, he told Asaeya to keep the Four-Storey Storage Lantern—originally his—with her. She was happy about the arrangement as she stored a lot of 'stuff' in it.
Inala woke up the next day and felt refreshed. He consumed the fluid in a Prana Bomb and satiated himself. Following that, he created a Bone Slip and gave it to the Empyrean Zinger Queen, "It's time for you to leave for the Dieng Canyon."
[I don't want to!]
The Empyrean Zinger Queen protested by landing on his head and pulling his hair.
"You're the only one capable of birthing Empyrean Zingers. The three Zinger Queens controlling the Dieng Canyon would happily become subservient to you, since you're their superior in terms of evolution." Inala said, "Controlling the Dieng Canyon is a necessity to kill the Boar King. You know that, right?"
[Can't I come with you? I'll just create Empyrean Zingers as we travel.]
"It's hard for Zingers to live in terrains unsuited for their growth." Inala shook his head, "You wouldn't be able to realise your potential."
"I'll come visit you later," Inala patted the Empyrean Zinger Queen who squealed in sadness. "Become the Dieng Canyon's Ruler by then."
"Take all the Empyrean Zingers with you."
[…Okay!]
The Empyrean Zinger Queen was sad to leave but it obediently listened to his words. Other than the Empyrean Zinger King and four Empyrean Zinger Commanders necessary to steer Inala's Sumatra Ship, the Empyrean Zinger Queen gathered the remaining Empyrean Zingers and began to migrate towards the Dieng Canyon.
There were over five thousand of them, of which, six hundred were Mutated Empyrean Zingers created by Inala while the rest were regular Empyrean Zingers created by the queen. They formed an army and under the Empyrean Zinger Queen's lead, began to glide towards the Dieng Canyon.
It would take them a few years just to make the journey. To fully integrate into the Dieng Canyon's political sphere of Zingers would take even longer.
'You'll succeed.' Inala thought as he bode them farewell. He then turned around to stare at the Empyrean Zinger King and four Empyrean Zinger Commanders, "Let's leave now."
Inala took out a fist-sized object slung at the side of his hip and threw it. The object hovered in the air as his Spirit Weapon and gradually increased in size, soon reaching a length of twelve metres.
Shaped like a serpent, sporting large, moving compartments like a train, but closely connected was the ivory transport covered by a dense pattern of gold. It was Inala's Sumatra Ship, a Spirit Weapon that would grow in strength and size as his cultivation improved.
He would have to feed it his Prana regularly to refine it, similar to cultivation. The Sumatra Ship would correspondingly grow stronger. Each of its segmented compartments sported fins along the trailing edges, displaying tiny nozzles through which compressed air gushed out.
That was how it generated the thrust necessary to accelerate. As it was completely modelled after a serpent, it would wriggle its body and slither forward. With its insides enveloped by Internal Inertial Gravity, its weight could be controlled accordingly to ensure it was light and consumed less power while moving.
The Sumatra Ship's tail dug into the cliff walls, propping the rest of its body up. Its serpentine face stopped before the cave's entrance and opened its mouth, "Let's head inside."
The five Empyrean Zingers perched on his head as Inala accompanied Gannala and Asaeya to enter the Sumatra Ship. The serpent closed its mouth immediately after.
The inside was a long tube, spanning three metres in diameter, decently spacious enough. Other than slots necessary for Prana Bombs to be inserted, there was nothing else inside, plain in appearance.
"Inala, why isn't there anything inside here?" Asaeya expressed her confusion as she looked around, "This looks no different from a Storage Lantern. With such a huge space inside, you could totally use it to store all sorts of goods."
"It looks like a Storage Lantern, but doesn't have the property of one." Inala shook his head, "When this shrinks, it would eject all external objects, down to dust and air. Therefore, nothing can be stored in here."
"My Sumatra Ship is meant solely for travelling."