Zhao Yu's shoulders burned as he struggled under the weight of the massive boulder. Every step felt like torture, and the morning sun beating down on them didn't help matters. He shot another glare at his brother's back, not that Zhao Xing would notice – the fool was too busy humming to himself as they trudged along the dirt path.

"Brother," Zhao Yu wheezed, adjusting his grip for the hundredth time, "can we please take a break? We've been carrying this thing for hours."

"Stop whining," Zhao Xing called back cheerfully. "This isn't just any boulder – it's our ticket to the good life! Once we sell this beauty, we'll be living like kings."

Zhao Yu bit back another complaint. His brother had been going on like this since they'd found the stupid rock, spinning wild fantasies about mansions and beautiful cultivation resources. The whole situation made Zhao Yu's stomach churn with anxiety.

His mind wandered back to how they'd stumbled across the boulder in the first place. They'd been walking along this same road, Zhao Yu constantly looking over his shoulder, paranoid about their old bandit group catching up to them. The Mountain Tiger Gang wasn't known for letting deserters live long, especially ones who'd helped themselves to some of the gang's "acquired" treasures before leaving.

He'd been so distracted scanning the tree line that he'd walked straight into something hard enough to make his nose bleed. While he'd been sitting there cursing and holding his face, Zhao Xing had nearly collapsed laughing.

"Some cultivator you are!" Zhao Xing had howled, doubling over and clutching his sides. "Did you forget how to use your eyes along with your common sense?"

Humiliation and anger had gotten the better of him. He'd drawn back his fist, gathering earth-attributed spiritual energy for his Crushing Stone Palm technique. The boulder had somehow offended his dignity, and he'd been determined to reduce it to gravel.

That... hadn't gone as planned.

Instead of shattering under his qi-enhanced strike, the boulder had somehow reflected his attack right back at him. The last thing he remembered was a flash of gray light before everything went dark.

He'd later woken up to find Zhao Xing muttering excitedly to himself, going on about spiritual stones and hidden treasures. The boulder had some kind of powerful spiritual energy radiating from it. An energy that felt unnervingly similar to his own sixth-stage Qi Condensation aura.

"Brother, please," Zhao Yu had tried reasoning with him, "think about this. Who leaves something this valuable just sitting by the road? It has to belong to someone, someone powerful. When they notice it's missing..."

But Zhao Xing wouldn't hear it. "That's exactly why we have to take it! Findings keepers, little brother. Besides, what kind of idiot leaves their treasures unguarded? They deserve to lose it for being so careless."

That kind of thinking was exactly why Zhao Yu worried his brother would get them both killed one day. Zhao Xing had always been like this – rushing headlong into danger, convinced everything would work out in his favor. Usually, Zhao Yu's more cautious nature helped balance things out, but when Zhao Xing really set his mind to something...

"Come on," Zhao Xing's voice broke into his thoughts. "Put some muscle into it! The sooner we get this beauty somewhere safe, the sooner we can start our new lives. Just imagine the looks on the Mountain Tigers' faces when they hear about us living in luxury!"

Zhao Yu grimaced. That was another problem – his brother couldn't seem to let go of their past with the gang. He was always talking about showing them up, proving they'd made it without them. It was like he wanted to attract their attention.

"They won't be impressed," Zhao Yu muttered, "they'll just be angry. More angry than they already are."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Zhao Yu sighed. His arms felt like lead, and his qi reserves were dangerously low from constantly reinforcing his muscles. They'd tried storing the boulder in their storage rings, but something about its spiritual nature had rejected the attempt. Which meant doing things the hard way.

The sun climbed higher as they continued their awkward journey. Zhao Yu's robes were soaked with sweat, and he'd long since given up trying to keep his brown hair out of his eyes. Even Zhao Xing's endless stream of chatter had died down to occasional grunts of effort.

Every so often, Zhao Yu could have sworn he felt the boulder... shift. Not physically – they'd secured it well enough with ropes – but its spiritual energy would flutter, like someone stirring in their sleep. Each time it happened, his anxiety ratcheted up another notch.

He tried to focus on putting one foot in front of the other, but his mind kept conjuring increasingly terrible scenarios. What if the boulder belonged to an Inner Disciple from one of the major sects? Or worse, what if it was some kind of spirit beast egg? They'd heard stories in the gang about cultivators who stole spirit beast eggs, thinking they'd struck it rich, only to have the parents track them down...

A distant bird call made him jump, nearly losing his grip on the ropes. His brother shot him an annoyed look.

"Would you relax? Your paranoia is making this harder than it needs to be."

"I'm not paranoid," Zhao Yu protested, though his voice came out higher than intended. "I'm appropriately cautious. There's a difference."

Zhao Xing snorted. "Yeah? Is that why you nearly jumped out of your skin at a sparrow? Face it, little brother, you've always been a—"

"LET ROCKY GO!"

The scream came out of nowhere.

Before Zhao Yu could even turn to look, something slammed into his back with enough force to send him flying. The impact knocked the air from his lungs and sent him tumbling across the dirt road.

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His vision swam as he tried to push himself up, arms shaking. When the world finally stopped spinning, he looked up to see a young boy – couldn't have been more than twelve – standing in the middle of the road. The kid's face was a mess of tears and snot, but his eyes burned with fury.

What made Zhao Yu worried wasn't the boy's expression, though. It was the gray aura surrounding him, pulsing with spiritual energy that felt impossibly strong for someone so young. If he had to guess, he'd put it at... pseudo sixth-stage Qi Condensation?

"Oh," Zhao Yu wheezed, still trying to catch his breath, "we are in so much trouble."

The boy took a step forward, and the gray aura intensified. Zhao Yu couldn't help but notice it was the exact same shade as the boulder's energy.

"I said," the boy's voice shook with barely contained rage, "let Rocky GO!"

Zhao Yu really wished his brother had listened to him about leaving strange boulders alone.

"Now look here, kid," Zhao Xing dropped the boulder with a large thud as he took a step forward. "I don't know what game you're playing, but this is clearly just a boulder. A very valuable, very heavy boulder that we found fair and square. So why don't you run along before—"

The gray aura around the boy flared so bright it was almost blinding. "His name is Rocky," the kid snarled, "and he's not a thing you can steal. He's my friend!"

Zhao Yu's eyes darted between the boulder and the boy, his mind racing. The qi fluctuations he'd noticed, the way their initial attack had been reflected... suddenly several pieces clicked into place.

"Brother," he said carefully, not taking his eyes off the furious child, "I don't think this is a normal spiritual boulder."

"Of course it's not normal," Zhao Xing scoffed. "That's why it's valuable—"

"No, I mean it's not just a boulder at all." Zhao Yu swallowed hard. "I think... I think it might be a stone guardian. You know, those elemental spirits that sometimes form in spiritually rich areas?"

There was a moment of silence as this information sank in. Then, predictably, his brother laughed.

"A stone guardian? Those are just stories mothers tell their children! Besides, even if they were real, why would one be just sitting by the road with some random kid?"

The boy's aura pulsed again, and Zhao Yu noticed something else – the boulder behind him seemed to be... changing. The surface was shifting slightly, like waves in a pond.

"Brother," Zhao Yu tried one more time, "I really think we should—"

A grinding sound interrupted him – like mountains shifting in an earthquake. The boulder's surface wasn't just moving now; it was flowing, reshaping itself. Within moments, the roughly spherical shape had become distinctly more... humanoid.

Zhao Yu watched in horrified fascination as a fifteen-foot-tall figure of living stone unfolded itself from what they'd thought was just a valuable rock. Its rough features might have been carved by a sculptor who only had the vaguest idea of what humans looked like, but there was no mistaking the intent behind its pose – or the way its boulder-like fists were clenched.

"That's... that's impossible," Zhao Xing breathed, finally losing some of his confidence. "Stone guardians aren't real. They can't be real. They're just—"

A sound like gravel in a landslide cut him off. It took Zhao Yu a moment to realize the stone giant was trying to speak.

"Hurt... Liu Chen?" The words were barely intelligible, ground out between mineral teeth. "Made... Liu Chen... cry?"

The boy – Liu Chen, apparently – wiped his face with his sleeve, though his glare never wavered. "They tried to steal you, Rocky! They were going to sell you!"

If Zhao Yu hadn't been terrified out of his mind, he might have appreciated the irony. Here they were, former bandits who'd robbed countless travelers, about to be crushed because they'd accidentally tried to steal someone's pet mountain.

The stone guardian – Rocky – took a thunderous step forward. The ground trembled beneath their feet.

"Brother," Zhao Yu said very quietly, "remember how you said my paranoia would get us killed one day?"

"Yes?"

"I think your overconfidence is going to beat it to the punch."

Zhao Xing said nothing for a long moment, his eyes fixed on the stone guardian. Then, to Zhao Yu's horror, his brother started laughing.

"You know what's funny, little brother?" Zhao Xing asked. "I don't kill children. Never have, never will." His eyes flickered to Liu Chen. "But teaching a brat some manners? That's different."

The air around them began to thicken, making it difficult to breathe. A faint golden light started seeping from Zhao Xing's skin, growing brighter with each passing second.

"I've always protected you, kept certain things hidden so you wouldn't worry even more than you already do," Zhao Xing continued. "Stopped the Mountain Tigers from hunting us? That wasn't luck. And carrying this boulder all day without breaking a sweat? That wasn't just good conditioning."

The golden light erupted into a blazing aura, its power so intense that even Rocky stumbled back a step. Waves of spiritual energy rolled off Zhao Xing in visible ripples, making the air shimmer around him.

Zhao Yu felt his knees buckle as he recognized the unmistakable pressure of a seventh-stage Qi Condensation cultivator.

"Brother," Zhao Yu whispered, "all this time, you were..."

"Protecting you," Zhao Xing finished, dropping into a fighting stance as his aura continued to build. "Just like always."