The Pure Jade Sect's arena stood on the eastern side of the complex, at a location chosen with great specificity—flat ground between two slopes that formed a natural depression, so that the sound produced from inside the arena was held back by the slopes on the left and right before it could spread too far outward.Its size surpassed the Eternal Black Dragon Sect's arena.This was clearly an arena built not only for fights between disciples, but for something more than that. Its circle was wider, with a floor of the same jade stone as the sect's gate but darker in color, denser, in a way that showed this was a material chosen not for its beauty but for its ability to absorb spiritual energy released in a fight without sending it outward.Around the arena, stands rose in several tiers—lighter-colored jade stone, with surfaces already smoothed to be comfortable for long occupancy. And tonight, every tier of those stands was filled.Thousands of people.Disciples, Elders, sect staff—ever

One attack was evaded with a minimal shift of the head—the blade passing the left cheek without touching skin. One attack was deflected with the tip of the black sword, redirected downward until it struck the jade floor and left a cut that wasn't shallow.One attack was received in an unusual way—Caelan didn't avoid its main path but stepped into the gap between two branches born from the technique, standing at a point that should have had no gap but did, because something in how the technique worked had never accounted for someone standing right there.Not one attack found his body.The jade floor around them was already different from its original condition—cuts from blades that had found the floor rather than their target, small cracks from accumulated pressure, one spot slightly darker than its surroundings because the spiritual energy released from the contact of two blades had already seeped into it.Bhang Si kept attacking.And Caelan kept reading.From below, from above, from

The roar in the stands hadn't fully died down when Bhang Si spoke."But there's one thing I'm curious about, Supreme Leader of the Eternal Black Dragon Sect."Caelan turned toward him."What is it?"Bhang Si looked at the jade floor now covered in cuts, then back to Caelan."Throughout the fight just now, all you did was respond to my attacks. No complex technique, no movements designed to deceive from the start." His eyes looked directly at him. "Do you genuinely not have a technique of your own? Or were you deliberately not using one because you were holding back?"Caelan thought briefly before answering."I don't have one, Supreme Leader of the Pure Jade Sect." His voice came out without any defensiveness. More like an acknowledgment long known but only now spoken clearly. "But in the future, I will create my own."Inside his head, something stirred in a way different from simply responding to a question.Four years in prison with Master, and most of those four years had been spent

"I see Grandfather has an important guest." Du Shei set the tray on the small table between the two chairs in a way that needed no guidance, then smiled. Her smile was warm, like sunshine that had decided to be there without waiting to be asked. "So I brought tea for you both."Bhang Si looked at his granddaughter in the way of someone satisfied with what he saw."Thank you, my granddaughter. You're so thoughtful." Then his eyes moved toward Caelan. "Caelan, allow me to introduce—this is my youngest granddaughter, Du Shei."Caelan looked at Du Shei and smiled."Caelan Voss. Leader of the Eternal Black Dragon Sect."Du Shei returned the smile—and smiled more easily than someone usually does when just introduced to a stranger."Du Shei. Youngest granddaughter of the Supreme Leader of the Pure Jade Sect."The introduction was done.And Du Shei waited.Not conspicuously. She was busy pouring tea into two cups, placing each in front of Bhang Si and Caelan, straightening the tray. But behin

Morning in the Vorthaan Mountains offered no clue about where to begin.That was the first thing Caelan noticed when he stepped out of the tent. No clear path, no markers to follow, no direction offering itself as a better choice than any other. There were only dense trees, thin mist not yet fully gone from the night, and spiritual energy dense everywhere with no source that could be pointed to.Finding someone here who doesn't want to be found, Bhang Si had said, isn't something that can be guaranteed.Caelan folded his tent and packed it into his bag.Beside him, Rex was already done with his stainless cup—morning milk, the way Rex started every morning—and was standing with his hands at his sides, looking toward the trees that didn't yet have direct sunlight in them."Where do we start, Papa?""Inward." Caelan shouldered his bag. "And we read."Rex nodded.They went in.---The first two hours yielded nothing but trees and more trees.The vegetation on the lower slopes of Vorthaan