Ken and Seven left the dining hall not long after, the rumor trailing them like smoke that refused to disperse."You're being unusually quiet," Seven said, matching his pace."I'm thinking.""That's never good. Last time you got that look, you nearly got both of us killed in a forest.""I got both of us a fortune in loot in that forest.""After nearly getting us killed. I stand by my statement."They crossed into the outer disciple district, and Ken's attention snagged on a row of buildings lining one side of the road — old, mostly abandoned, weeds pushing up through cracked stone paths.Seven followed his gaze. "Storage and activity buildings. Outer disciples can apply to use them.""Activity buildings," Ken repeated, turning the phrase over."For different purposes, yeah. Training, storage, whatever you can justify to the elders in charge of approvals."Ken's eyes drifted along the row until they landed on one structure in particular — small, weathered, dust thick on every surface,

A young disciple approached almost the instant they crossed the threshold, his robe crisp, his expression carefully neutral in the way of someone trained to greet strangers without revealing anything useful. "Do you need anything?" Ken glanced around the vast hall, unhurried. "I heard the Pill Pavilion is having trouble refining a particular pill." The disciple's composure cracked, just slightly. "Who told you that?" Ken shrugged, easy and unbothered. "People talk." "This isn't something outer disciples should concern themselves with," the young man said, voice tightening with the specific nervousness of someone worried about being blamed for a leak he had nothing to do with. Ken didn't push. He didn't need to. His attention had already drifted past the disciple's shoulder toward a small crowd gathered near an inner chamber, several alchemists clustered around a table with the particular, brittle tension of people who had failed at the same thing multiple times and were rap

Elder Mo's gaze sharpened with open interest. "Young enough to still be an outer disciple, and already Tier 5." He turned the pill over once more in his fingers. "And capable of catching a flaw in a process I've used for thirty years.""I wasn't saying your method was bad," Ken said quickly."I know you weren't." Elder Mo actually smiled at that, which was somehow more unsettling than his earlier scrutiny. "Every alchemist makes mistakes, boy. The ones worth anything are the ones who can recognize them when someone points them out — instead of getting defensive about it."Ken nodded, unsure if that counted as praise or a warning.Elder Mo held the pill back out to him. "Keep it."Ken blinked. "Me?""You're the one who refined it."Ken took it slowly, like it might vanish if he moved too fast. "Thank you."Elder Mo turned to the row of alchemists still standing frozen along the wall. "Change the refining process to match his method going forward."They snapped into motion immediately,

Seven let out a low whistle into the quiet. "That went well."Ken exhaled slowly. "No. It really didn't."Suzuki nodded, arms crossed, already thinking three steps ahead. "He'll come back. Men like that don't walk away and forget it happened. They walk away and start planning.""I know," Ken said. "No, I don't think you do," Suzuki pressed, not unkindly, but firm. "You embarrassed him in front of his own people. That's not the kind of thing someone like Huo Ren just lets go. He's going to need to fix his reputation, and the fastest way to do that is to come back with more people and make sure it doesn't go the same way twice."Lila looked toward the battered entrance, worry creasing her brow. "Then what do we do? Wait for him to show up with an army of outer disciples and hope Ken can dodge all of them too?""We continue," Ken said, already walking back inside, stepping over the debris like it was simply the next problem on a list rather than a threat hanging over his head.Seven foll

By evening, something Ken hadn't quite prepared for began to happen.The first sign was small — a shadow crossing the threshold, hesitating, then stepping fully inside. Then another. Three more outer disciples arrived at the door in quick succession, murmuring among themselves, glancing at the half-finished shelves and the dust still settling from the day's cleaning. Two more trailed in behind them a few minutes later, drawn by whatever version of the story had already made its way through the sect's gossip channels — a version that had, no doubt, grown a little taller and a little stranger with every retelling.Ken wiped his hands on a cloth and looked at Seven. Seven looked back at him with the particular flatness of a man who already knew exactly what was coming and had decided, in advance, not to enjoy it."Don't look at me," Seven said."I didn't say anything.""You were about to.""I was going to say you look tired. That's all.""That's a lie and we both know it."Ken laughed, s