Hao found himself in a well-lit room, despite the time.

Outside, it couldn't grow any darker; icy winds stirred the world.

Yellow stones and candlelight brightened only pieces of the room, all aiming toward the center. Hao would have preferred it was just nothing but darkness. Where light stretched across the floor, there were chairs. Each one seating an elder.

They were in two rows, scowling faces to his right and scowling faces to his left. That was only six chairs of the nine. There were three more chairs in the room. In front of him, rising high off the floor, was a big chair. It was dusty; long unused. Two just below that one, one was empty, and the other on the right side was a woman with light surrounding her face.

The six men seated in the six chairs facing the center all stared at Hao, most of them wrinkled and gray.

Hao had no choice but to go forward under the stares. Two steps forward, then he cupped his hands, performing and holding a half-bow. He would not lower his head. They were not nature, the Heavens, or his parents.

Will you kill me if I don’t?

“Hao greets the Elders,” Hao said. Unsure if he needed to perform some ceremony at such a meeting.

The faces changed from scowls to either smiles or disinterest.

“Good, it’s been a while since the bone-shaking bell has been rung. I don’t know if a ‘servant’ ever has.” One of the older men let out a hoarse laugh. Hao thought it was mockery but missed who said it.

He could not help but stare for a moment at the one he remembered as the Sixth Elder. The only part of his face intact was his ears.

Hao had to pull his eyes away, looking at the rest.

Do they remember me or not?

He was shaken for a second, wondering if any of them would kill him on the spot. It shook away the pity he felt for the ladies in that room. Getting rid of any leftover exhaustion he felt.

They did not seem amiable. They did not talk to each other, a few words. One of the few who spoke was an older man leaning on his cane, speaking to the Second Elder.

The rest were doing something else.

Stop looking at the bag. It was impossible not to notice the eyes going to the bag Hao was holding.

It was the bag with the Source Stone in it. Hao knew they could sense it, their glances not stopping at twice.

A few moments passed this way, and then they all lifted their heads to look at the door.

A sudden crash came from just behind Hao.

The entryway slid open, and a fast wind blasted against Hao’s back, ice cold, the elders getting their fair share of the wind.

In one of the chairs at the head of the room, the First Elder clenched down her fist.

He entered the room with the door slamming behind him. Tall, bearded brow, and long, his hair the same, The First Elder.

He let out a burst of laughter, nearly joyous, not awkward in the slightest, each of his footsteps a stomp.

“I apologize for being late to instruct my new in-name disciple. He doesn’t have an ideal aptitude for cultivation. But you all saw his skill with weapons.” The First Elder said.

Now bow, nor did he greet. His heavy feet passed Hao, brushing the bag in Hao’s hands.

He sat in one of the larger chairs next to the Second Elder. The largest chair behind them loomed.

Some elders stood as he entered, not sitting until he was seated.

One stayed standing even longer. Cupping his hands, a look of happiness half-faked wore down his face. “Congratulations, First Elder. I hope my nephew proves himself skilled in your service.” The fourth elder said.

The Elder was in the seat second closest to the First Elder.

“Your tardiness shows your character,” The Second Elder said. It seems she was sharing the thoughts of the rest of the group.

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Four Elders closed their eyes to her comment.

She did not stand. She was not the only one, but was the only one to speak. Yet her facial expression was hidden by the light gathered around her face. “The ringing of the bell is momentous,” she said. Her sitting posture straightened out further.

“Indeed, brothers, and sisters, but accepting a talent under my tutelage is important, is it not?” The First Elder said.

“Important? Talent? You just said to yourself his aptitude is lacking. But this servant yet to join our sect has rung a bell that holds a place of legacy. What is more important, this or pushing around some random boy as good as any other on this mountain? First Elder…”

The Fifth elder sitting closest to the Second Elder was nearly launching from his seat as he spoke.

A rapid quiet descended. The expression of the rest of the elders receding.

It was the Fourth Elder alone who could not hide his expression, red face and staring. At the man who he was in the past, he best to take his position.

“His progress through Reclamation will be slow, but his talent with a blade is evident. Proper training will turn him into an invaluable asset to our Sect.” The First Elder said.

The Second Elder scoffed. She was the only one who would not face harm in doing so.

A sound that only made the First Elder sour, his head turning towards Hao.

“Should we not talk to the boy present? What of his aptitude? It is not tested on bone-shaking trials, seniors?” The Seventh elder said.

Taller than the rest, solemn-faced, was just at Hao’s side in the last seat on the left.

The Seventh looked around the room at everyone but two elders, one opposite him, the eighth elder, who looked like he just turned twenty. The other, the tongueless sixth Elder. Both simply sat in silence. They could not or didn’t want to be involved.

The First Elder hid his grin beneath his beard to the question.

“Is aptitude relevant to a person who passed the founder’s tests?” The First Elder was the one to ask, to the surprise of everyone.

Hao stood in discomfort.

Eyes peered at the bag before anyone spoke. A few of them are trying to think of good-willed words to win over the child.

“It should not.” The Fifth Elder said. Leaning forward on the staff in his hand.

Before he could continue or any other attempt to speak, a chair creaked.

The oldest man Hao had ever seen stood walking to the center of the room. He paces for a second, pulling on his chin. It was the Third Elder, who had sat in one of the Elder seats the longest.

“Of course, it is important—If he cannot get past Reclamation, what is the point of giving him any resources? It would prove the bell is no longer in use. However, it is important to reward the young disciple…” The Third Elder said.

As he spoke, he opened one eye at a time, looking at both the First and Second Elder, then at the rest of the Elders. His eyes finished at the Source Stone.

No one liked the comment, the Fifth Elder least of all. The First was only half-happy. It was the kind of answer he was hoping for; it just lasted one or two sentences too long.

“I think we all know this boy has been at the Servants’ hall since winter. It was already a poor sign he took that long to reach the First of Reclamation.”

“It can be hard to cultivate in that environment.”

“Yes, but I heard an interesting story from my new disciple. It happened today; A kid crossed over from the other trial to the aptitude test and failed it.”

The First Elder did not hide the ridicule in his words.

How long will this continue? Will you talk until morning comes? Will I see morning? I would like to see what summer is like on land, on this mountain.

Hao was deep in thought, half-bowed. Staring at the First Elder while the First Elder stared at him.

There was no guile in the First Elder’s eyes regarding Hao.

Do they all remember me, or the stone? Are any of the words genuine? Hao looked at the Second Elder, his only chance of support.

“There is a reason aptitude is not on the path to the bone-shaking bell. Some would argue that the bone-shaking trial is more important than the aptitude test or anything else.” She said, turning to look at the Third Elder than the large chair.

The Third elder slumped in his chair.

The Second Elder turned back towards Hao, continuing. “The child has passed the trial, and the Sect has rules to follow. If we ignore them, there should at least be concessions.”

“The boy has yet to speak should we ask him questions. The trial was his own, no question of it.” The Second said, the elders nodding their heads.

No one denied the fact; no matter how much they disliked it.

“You are to be rewarded. What is it you want?” The Second Elder said.

Hao stood in silence for a moment; how was he supposed to know?

“I do not know… What can I receive?” Hao said. He had to kill the silence.

It was the first chance he got since he greeted the hall.

His words were directed at the second elder, and he did not look at the others. The elders in the room were wearing awkward faces.

It was the same face they wore when they heard he failed his aptitude test.

The Second Elder cleared her throat, “Firstly, you may receive teachings from one of the Elders if they are interested.”

The room was silent. A soundless slap to Hao’s face. None of them held any interest outside of the stone.

“How did you break through after such a long time in the servant’s hall? And not to mention it was recent, too?” The First Elder broke through the silence.

Viper-like eyes on Hao, a personal curiosity. The truth was, when people broke through varied, but it was a recent rumor spread by the disciples that worked in the servant hall that it was impossible to leave if you did not leave quickly.

Hao did not know what to say—he simply stood in the hall in silence with an eye on the First Elder.

The pressure of the first elder was nothing like the beasts in the abyss of the trial. He was simply a sea snake with a fang in Hao’s leg.

“Perhaps he had a fortuitous encounter or experienced divine inspiration. His secrets are his own.” The Fifth Elder said.

Each Elder shared a stare at the Fifth, “Well, we would not share our secrets would we?”

The Fifth leaned back in his chair.

“Are you mocking the hall? Diving inspiration does not appear so easily. I would say his life’s good fortune was expended when he found that Stone he carries in that filthy bag.” The Fourht Elder said.

His yelling was not yet done, his face growing redder by the second.

“The only testament he is not a spy is from an outsider who has left the mountain!”

The Fourth Elder launched a stare at Hao, his killing intent not hidden.

“Enough of this. Who would send a mortal spy with a Source Stone around to do nothing but mine and take a trial? If he has secrets, so be it. Look at his hair before we deem you dim. Your doubts only dash our hopes of finding more Source Stone.” The third elder said.

He coughed a few times as the Fourth looked at him in shock.

The hall descended into cough and argument. It went beyond the current topic, things that seemed irrelevant. Even Senior Ya was brought into the conversation about whether his words were to be trusted.

Hao had time to think while they went back and forth.

He made up a response of half-truths to move the situation along.

“Elders. If there are concerns about the treasure I carry in my bag,” Hao said.

His words were halted as, in an instant, silence swallowed the hall and heads turned, a wind stronger than the gust outside pushed against him.