Against my expectations, the Lord had not given me an answer immediately. Instead, both me and Yin had been moved to the waiting room where Yan Yun, Zhang and Flee were. Unable to rest despite my best efforts, I paced around the halls, feeling agitated.What I was bringing to the Lord wasn’t just a weapon, but the knowledge and understanding to create far more things further down the line as well. Given enough resources, just this knowledge alone could be enough to dethrone the Jade court, even with the power of the Divinities at their side. Gu-nukes were afterall, merely the start, created from alchemy and spirit herbs. If far larger and more potent quantities of Gu and Qi could be merged within a controlled device… there would be no telling what someone could do with that kind of ability.I paced harder as my thoughts continued to spiral.“Brother Jie, I don’t mean to presume what causes you such trouble. But you should calm down,” Zhang said, before turning his head sideways to whe

The amount of work that had been put in for the tribulation surprised me. We’d been redirected to a different chamber, where Xian Yue, the moon spirit, was making some final adjustments to the most complicated array I’d ever seen. Multiple talismans with intricate characters, painted in ink brimming with Qi from crushed spirit stones dotted the chamber. Lines had been drawn on the ground with some more bowls filled with herbs and items full of Qi set in a way to channel the Qi in specific directions.Beside Xian Yue, I noticed Zhou Fang, the lord’s elder son, standing inside. The boy bowed to his father deeply, before giving me a slight nod of acknowledgement as we all walked into the chamber.One by one, all of us walked in, taking seats at the respective eight headed formation of the ward. The Lord took the central place, at the top of the formation, Yin, Zhang, Zhou Fang, Flee, the Old Man, Yan Yun and Tian Feng all following after him.I was directed to the centre, to a special si

Liuxiang plucked at the strings of a Zither, feeling the harmonious tunes calm her spirit. She sat, hair let down, relaxing for the first time in a while. Ever since she had been elected as the heir to her grandmother, each day had passed in training, lessons, or some task or another, with far too many clan members trying to suck up to her, or gain her favour to be able to gain favour in her grandmother’s eye.Foolish, to think her grandmother would be swayed based on her opinion of all things. But even so, this was a task she had to deal with, and so she would.Her nails plucked the strings of the Zither, the melody playing serenely in her chamber when, with a sudden stroke, she found a string clipping her nail, as the string cut through skin and drew blood.Liuxiang pulled back her finger, regarding the bright red droplet of blood swelling upon it, as she saw the broken string of the Zither.Ominous. That had been a new Zither.“Perhaps the make had been faulty,” Liuxiang commented,

The Lord was moved to a different chamber to rest, with the Old Man following behind to look after him. There were still parts of me reeling from shock at the tremendous energy that had been at display in front of my eyes. In front of the Lord’s strength, I was barely a child, not even that, and a single blow from the heavens had brought him down to his knees.I’d known there would be a long way ahead, and the gap in strength would be vast between me and someone like him, yet it was an entirely different feeling to truly experience that difference, and realise that even he was far from the strongest people of this empire. And that, if I continue to walk my path, one day I may have to stand against them.As my thoughts continued t o churn, we’d been quickly moved out to a different chamber. None of us had talked much, as Elder Tian Feng had rushed around, working on the repair of the chamber we’d been in, and checking in on the manor. An odd, tense silence had filled the chamber as I’d

I nodded to Yan Yun. The sight on the girl’s face made me want to give her a hug. As I wrestled with the feeling I noted Yin holding Yan Yun’s hand, and the girl’s expression lightened a little.“I, too, am not certain. It… it is what my father asked you to do, Yuan. And a more filial child would’ve said yes But my Path… I do not know if I can do this.”“I understand. The path that we say, to take upon Gu alongside Qi, to unite the two within a single cycle is a Path that goes against this Empire. In some ways, it is akin to treason itself.”Zhou Fang looked up at me, before returning a nod. “All my life, I have been preparing to inherit my father’s position and become the lord of the seventh Peak. To walk this Path could mean forsaking that. I… don’t think I am ready to.”I nodded once more.“Very well. It is something to think upon, and I will always be there to guide and help you, if you change your mind,” I said, before glancing at Zhang. “I’ll start with you first, Zhang. Given t