The rest of our trip to Plum Town passed in relative idleness now that the actual party (and reason for the trip) was over, and like every break from work, it felt like it was ending too early for my tastes. It wasn't as though I dreaded returning to the Sect, but I was going to miss having an excuse for doing nothing.

Especially because whatever happened during our little trip was apparently enough to send the Sect into overdrive. Everyone was buzzing like an upset beehive, and I put extra emphasis on the word 'upset' because nobody looked particularly happy about the business.

If there had been some grand upheaval, it would've been nice for the Disciples at the sky docks to tell us, but instead, it only really became apparent once we'd all separated - so I went to the one senior I knew would probably have an idea of what's going on and be open to telling me.

Bang Yanhuo looked… frazzled was really the only way to put it. He usually looked busy and a little out of breath whenever I saw him, but he seemed much worse now, and his eyes locked onto me with the relief of a drowning man who just saw a rope. "Hei Lian," he breaths out, "Good, you're back. I need another hand making pills, we've got to get more Lotus Heart Medicine ready."

I blink. Straight into it? "Of course Senior Bang, but-"

"Go on, go on," he shooed, already turning to someone else, "Junior Xin! Where are those Purifying Bulbs? Are they-then load them up!"

For a moment, I consider pushing, but it's probably best not, so I make my way to the Cauldron Wing. I knew the recipe for Lotus Heart Medicine, but asking an Outer Disciple to make it must mean he either thinks very highly of my skills… or he's very desperate.

And stepping into the Cauldron Wing convinces me it's more of the latter. Many of the cauldrons and pill furnaces were currently being manned by desperately concentrating Disciples, forging and purifying with everything they had.

The overseer, an Inner Disciple by her robes, homes in on me swiftly. "Disciple! What are your orders?"

"Um. Make Lotus Heart Medicine?" I offer, still trying to find my footing.

Before I can so much as ask what's going on, she manhandles me over to an open pill furnace and points to the stacked crates of ingredients. "Then get refining!" she barks out, sweeping away to give orders to someone else.

… Are we at war? Did someone die? What in the Hells is going on…?

I don't have time to ask those questions though, and I know my position, so I lower my head, and begin to get to work alongside everyone else. Lotus Heart Medicine isn't… easy, but the ingredients are relatively simple and the instructions itself are straightforward.

It's 'simple' the way 'lift this boulder' is simple. You know exactly what to do, it's just a question of 'can you?'.

A large, already peeled and prepared Heart from a Lotus Walker goes into the furnace, alongside crushed petals of the Bonebush Rose and extract from the gallbladder of Three-Tailed Lizards - pressure cook at high temperature, quite literally boiling away all impurities and condensing what remains down until all that's left is a solid amber pearl with especially regenerative properties - a single Lotus Heart Medicine, well made, could grow lost limbs.

It'd take a little while, but it could.

By the time the pill is finished refining, it feels like I spent hours on it. There's a little… box on the workbench, and a quick glance to the other workstations tells me I'm supposed to put it there, so I do.

Another quick glance makes it fairly clear I'm expected to keep going… so I do. I'll get answers eventually, but I'm not an idiot. It's not my place to ask those questions, but I'm sure I can get away with it when I get a break.

----------------------------------------

I should've realised there was no such thing as a 'break' in a world like this. Occupational Health and Safety? Union-mandated breaks? Foolish notions. Naive. This single day was enough to make the years behind me feel like a breezy vacation. 'Moving at my own pace' was a ridiculous idea when someone could snap their fingers and dictate the rules of my life like this.

The overseer - or well, a new one, given she seems like an entirely different person - eyes my little box of pills critically. It got easier to refine them after a little while, but that wasn't saying much. I can tell just from glancing at others that my results are relatively meagre in comparison.

She still holds out her arm, and I return the gesture.

Inner Disciple Wei Ping.

At least I was still getting points - and a decent amount, besides. "Thank you for your work, Disciple," she declares stiffly, turning her attention to the alchemists who were still working.

I'll admit, a part of me was expecting her to hold me up or force me to keep working, but I must look as exhausted as I feel. There's no point working to the point of collapse in Alchemy.

Nothing I made had exploded, but more than one of my… coworkers got a rather forcefully mandated break when their furnaces decided enough was enough.

Normally I would go make dinner for Zhou Cheng and I - and maybe a few others if they show up - but right now, all I have the energy to do is eat some of my leftovers from this morning and drag myself to the dormitory. I'm sure Senior Brother will excuse me for this, given I can only imagine whatever fresh hell he's being put through as an Inner Disciple.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Hell, he's probably going to be at it for longer than I am.

As an Outer Disciple, I stay in a dormitory with a number of others, our space just bordering on 'cramped', but still giving us enough space to sleep on our own. I never really speak to them - nor them to I - but right now, I feel like they're the only people I can risk asking.

And fortunately for me, there's someone else just getting ready to sleep as well so I don't even have to wake anyone and feel bad about it.

"Hey, uh-" Shit, I don't remember his name-"Bro… what's going on with the Sect?"

'Bro' turns to give me a weary, exhausted and disbelieving look. "Have you been living in a well?"

I huff a little. "I was away - we just returned today."

That mollifies him a little, but still. Rude. "The Sect Leader has come out of seclusion." … Okay, that's obviously big news, but I expected more of a 'Hurrah!' and less of a 'Be Prepared!' kind of deal. Nobody seems happy. "We marshal for war."

Aaaand there's the panic. I try to wet my suddenly too dry lips, although I find there's not enough moisture in my parched mouth. "... War?" I echo weakly, trying to wrap my head around the idea. Obviously I knew war was a thing that could happen. Sects were basically minor nation states unto themselves - of course they went to war. With each other, with other countries, if our host country went to war we might go with them…

But I just… didn't really think of it. Until now. Naive.

"War," the Disciple repeats, "Don't be so pale, bro. We're too young to fight." There's clearly meant to be a teasing edge to that, a little mockery for my cowardice, but he's too tired to really care.

"Against who?" Do we have enemies? Almost definitely, I assume. I didn't know any, but well, I was an Outer Disciple - and twelve besides. Or thirteen now, I guess.

He shrugs. "Why would I know? It doesn't matter anyway. Just go to bed already, I'm tired." With that final statement, he climbs into his own bed and is face down, snoring within seconds.

A fair point, I suppose. We were both Outer Disciples. Why would anyone tell us what's going on? Maybe if I get an opportunity, I'll ask Senior Bang tomorrow…

----------------------------------------

"Ah, Junior Hei! Quick, we need more Poison Cleansing Elixirs - hurry on now!"

----------------------------------------

"Junior! Soul Soothing Pills! If we don't have enough then-well, let's just get them!"

----------------------------------------

"-those hearts now or we're-Oh good, you're here, there's been a number of training accidents, go see Senior Feng for instructions-"

----------------------------------------

"Ah, Hei Lian, good to see you again! Excellent work as of late - Disciple Wei's been very effusive about the quality of your work compared to your peers." For once in the past… I actually can't remember how many days have passed now, but for once, Senior Bang looks almost relaxed. Still tired, but no longer like he's rushing to meet a deadline that passed yesterday.

"... No… no orders today, Senior?" I croak. I've been doing my best to keep up, but it's… it's taking it's toll. I wake up, I eat breakfast, I refine pills - or do rounds, treat illnesses, attempt to heal people under Senior Feng's watchful eye - and then I eat a dinner I don't even cook for myself and then pass out. I haven't spoken to anyone I actually know the name of beyond getting my orders from Senior Bang.

Bang Yanhuo beams, and it feels - and looks - like a tired sun struggling to rise in the morning. "No orders today, Junior. Take the day off. It's been a hard few weeks for all of us."

A break… a break! And an opening! Finally! I… I was waiting for an opening, what was I going to-"Why were we… rushing so much, Senior?"

For a moment, he seems to be confused I'd even ask - to be fair, I forgot I was going to, so I'll forgive him for forgetting I was gone for whatever announcement was made. "There's to be war, or something like it," he declares, face turning a little grim, "The word is that a powerful Immortal is about to ascend to the Divine Realms - and leave behind all her treasures."

… "Surely she'd just leave them to her Sect?"

Bang Yanhuo shakes his head. "She would - if she had one."

She… okay, I know Rogue Cultivators exist. Like Knights Errant, they go about questing and having adventures and honestly it doesn't sound too bad. But most of them aren't powerful. It takes resources to get powerful and it's just a fact of life that the best way to get resources is with help.

"She had a Sect long ago, it's said, but she went into seclusion and… well, time passed. It eventually fell apart, split up, went away. Now everyone's gathering around to determine who should inherit."

"And that means war?" Obviously, we were cultivators and some violence was… expected. But a giant war over some treasures just feels… aren't we supposed to be 'Righteous'? Isn't this a little too nakedly greedy?

Senior Bang makes a face that suggests he can see what I'm thinking about. "Not necessarily, Junior - if the Immortal makes a decision, than we will surely follow it." Will we? Somehow, I doubt that. "But the Righteous are not the only ones who will seek to inherit, and the Unorthodox are sure to be present. And nobody wants them to get what's left behind."

Right, that. I guess that… makes some sense? Still, that was… a lot of preparation and now we were just… not preparing?

"It's not really something we have to worry about," he continues, "because we're staying behind."

We are? I glance around. Now that he mentions it, things did seem… emptier this morning. I'd been too busy dragging myself into the Pavilion to notice. "Oh," I murmur lamely.

He laughs gently. "Most of the Elders and the older Disciples all went off - but not all of us. Someone has to keep things running after all."

That's fair enough, I suppose. I do find myself a little… miffed I didn't get to see the Sect Leader though. I'm sure I'll get future opportunities, but just being able to see them would've been nice. Always nice to know whose at the top of the chain. "So back to life as usual then?"

"For a given value of that. A few of the Elders are staying behind to oversee everything, but as I said, most of them left with the Sect Leader, alongside most of the Disciples."

"How long will they be gone for?"

He shrugs lightly. "Who can say, Junior? Perhaps everything will be settled tomorrow. Perhaps it will take them years. Don't worry, ah? Just stick to your duties and everything will be fine. Take the next few days off. Nothing needs doing right now that I can't handle."

I take the dismissal as what it is, bowing politely before shuffling away.

Now that I'm not blindly staggering to my job, the sheer emptiness of the Sect really sets in. It makes me wonder who was claimed for the fighting and who wasn't. Surely not Zhou Cheng…?

I suppose the easiest way to find out would be to just check.

Although I am not allowed into the Inner Disciples areas willy nilly, the excuse that I have a message for someone gets me in easily enough.

If it were a regular day, he would probably be in the meditation area… and anyone there will surely be familiar regardless. It should be a quick and easy jaunt, one I've done many times.

Of course, my hubris is struck down by the Heavens. Before I am even halfway there, a vaguely familiar figure blocks my path.

"Hei Lian," sneers Lei Ming with a clear air of mockery, "Come scurrying after your master's heels already?"

Two things stand out to me immediately. Firstly, Lei Ming's unrestrained aura feels no different than before. Secondly, despite the clear lack of progress in his own cultivation - and being at a state that is impressive but hardly prodigal - his robes have changed.

It is not Inner Disciple Lei Ming any more. It is Core Disciple Lei Ming.

This… cannot be bode well for me.