My expression froze over with incomprehension.

—"He's dead? ...How?"

"Someone killed him. I don't know how."

I did not know what to say to that, so... "...Are you sure?"

Natsuki reached one arm up, straight up, and her hand, passing beyond some invisible threshold in the air, disappeared from sight. Then she pulled her arm back down, and from beyond the threshold her hand came back into sight, holding tight onto a pulsating mass of blistering reds and pinks, so deeply rosen so that you might mistake it for a heart if you did not know the shape of a soul.

"This is his soul. He has died, and as a result, his soul has disassociated from his body. I left a mark on his soul when you severed that anchor, but it seems that the remaining anchors have also been broken just recently."

I grimaced. "This is..."

"It's not good," Natsuki sighed. "This might mean you have to deal with Wang Wujiu before you are able to leave."

"—And that tribulation..." My breath hastened as the gears of my skull began turning. "If it's..." I shook my head and pulled out my sword-hilt. "Let's go back quickly. We need more information."

I flew off into the air, holding my body low to the sword, speeding off as quick as I could, relying on only my speed to keep myself balanced. I looked to the distant clouds, swimming in arcs more than circles, like a horde of locusts momentarily hovering over a land already devoured barren. Yet it was rather like newly-born butterflies that brilliant beams of lightning crawled out of the spiralling clouds from several epicenters, scattering along their own paths downwards before finally arcing together at the point that heaven transitions into earth, forming the shape of a trident in the sky before striking the ground with blinding light.

The lightning vanished as quickly as it had appeared. A moment later, the heavens rumbled as if they were being rent apart. The clouds began to slow, then cast off their outermost layer and spun in the reverse direction.

"Chunxue, do you think Long Bailian was involved in this?"

I wanted to shake my head, but not wishing to lose my balance, I simply whispered back, "I doubt it. It seems like this wouldn't be good for her, either."

"Then for whom would it be good?"

"Another faction in the Long family, probably. That's how big family politics goes. Someone probably wanted to steal one of his inheritances."

"...I thought that the people of the lands east of Altyn-Tagh valued family above all else."

I did not know what to say to that. I, of course, could not get past my sense of filial piety. But what about others? Did it matter to them at all? Perhaps I was the only one, the only idiot soft enough to have fallen for the trick. Bailian would probably say that I was allowing the elders to brainwash me.

"I guess not."

Within a few minutes my flying sword had carried me over the entrance gate of the sect. I leaped down, skidding to a stop on my feet.

"Bai Chunxue. You have returned. Did you see any inner sect members while you were out?"

A flash of terror ran up my spine. I looked up at the source of the voice.

It was— Qian Fugui, dressed shabbily as always.

"The tribulation—" My voice trembled. "Who..."

"Wang Wujiu is doing an early severing. I cannot imagine why, but it is her decision. That aside, did you see any inner sect members while you were out? Or did you see anyone suspicious coming this way?"

I shook my head.

"No, but... are you standing guard?"

"Yes. Tribulations are highly vulnerable times for sects. I would ask you to help, but you are not officially an inner sect member, so I cannot force you."

I sighed. "Alright. In that case, I'll—"

"—Bai Chunxue." Drawing a hand to his sword, Qian Fugui narrowed his eyes. "It seems to me that the issue with Jiang Hanfeng and Chen Mantian... might actually have been your fault all along."

A flash of lightning illuminated him from behind, and in that moment, his face was in relative shadow enough that I could not read his visage.

With the overpowering light in my eyes I winced, but just as quickly, straightened out my expression. "So what if it was? The Bai and Long families have settled the dispute. It's not something for you to complain about."

He nodded. "I suppose that is true. Either way, now is not the time to litigate this." He unsheathed his sword and let it trail down by his sword hand, then—

he stepped past me.

"You!" He shouted at someone who had landed behind me. "I don't recognize your face. Show me your identification token, now!"

I sighed, and returned home.

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

Two days later, news of Guoqiang's death arrived at the sect.

One day later, Wang Wujiu left secluded cultivation.

That same evening, Qian Fugui knocked on my door.

I opened the door and saw him standing lazily on the steps, dressed half-decently for once, holding a bamboo scroll in his hand.

"Bai Chunxue." He held out the scroll, and I received it in both hands. "Wang Wujiu has challenged you to a duel in the Public Area."

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

My expression contorted into a pained grimace. I unfurled the scroll, but found nothing on it but the words he had just offered me.

"...Why?"

"Nominally, it is due to your dispute with Gu Lianying."

I winced. Perhaps I shouldn't have attacked her. I should have predicted that it might serve as a pretext to sell a fight that I didn't want to buy. But... even if it got me in trouble with Wujiu, I had to do it for Natsuki's sake. I did not— no, I could not— regret it.

"—But based on the report she gave about her severing, I suspect that is only a pretext. I have heard rumors that you have a powerful cultivation manual from abroad, which may be the real matter of dispute here." He suddenly drew his head back in surprise. "Wait, actually, now that I think about it, is that cultivation manual the reason that you can manipulate the Law of Seven Elements?"

"N-no," I replied, slightly confused. "It's just a book on comparative linguistics."

He nodded. "Well, either way, I am not sure you can turn this challenge down. Everyone thinks you are strong, so you must act strong if you do not wish to lose face."

I sighed. "That's fine. I'll just go with losing face. I don't want to bother fighting her. Especially since..."

...Especially since I couldn't kill her.

Qian Fugui shook his head. "The elders have directed me to drag you to the Public Area if you do not go willingly. I would not recommend making that choice."

I put a hand to my head. As long as I could put this off for a few days, until after the sect leader emerged from secluded cultivation, I could dodge it entirely.

"When?"

"Tomorrow morning. The elders told her to finish it before the Sect Leader is back."

I could not stop myself from letting out a groan. The elders could not kill me due to sect rules, so they were trying to delegate the task to Wujiu, who had the right under sect rules to challenge me to a duel to the death in the Public Area since we were both in Core Formation!

—Wait, no! She was technically not in Core Formation! Since she had performed a severing, she should be ranked as in the Soul Severing realm. I could not remember the specifics of the sect rules, but I was pretty sure that was how it was defined!

"Wait, Senior. That doesn't make sense. How can she challenge me to a duel under sect rules now that she's in the Spirit Severing realm?"

Qian Fugui shook his head. "Per sect rules, one is not considered to be in the Spirit Severing realm until they have one severing and a fully-developped golden core. Wang Wujiu's core is not fully developped, so she is still in Core Formation. Though, for your information, the definition was changed to this only two weeks ago."

"Fucking hell...!" I had been had! The story about them kicking me out of the sect had been bull! They were not even going to give me the chance to escape! How much of this had they planned?! Had they even— were they the ones who had killed Long Guoqiang and instigated this absurd duel?!

"For what it's worth, as this duel is an internal sect matter and not a public family matter like your other duel, only sect members will be in attendance. If that matters to you."

With that, he jumped onto his sword and flew away.

I returned to the table in the living room, where Natsuki was still sitting, one of my old books spread out between her hands.

She looked up, frowning.

"I am actually somewhat surprised that matters turned in such a fashion. I find it hard to believe that Jiang Sheng would have let go of the chance to kill you with his own hands."

I rubbed my temples. "I'm guessing that the other elders came up with this idea. They probably figured that it would be a loss of face for them if Elder Jiang killed me, even if he did so after I had already been expelled."

Natsuki nodded slowly. "I see. The image of sect infighting would not disappear if they expelled you and then immediately tried to kill you. And thus... it would be a loss of face. Is that how the logic works?"

"Yeah. And also, it's generally unacceptable for elders to pick fights with the younger generation."

"I see. How interesting. But, ultimately, that matters little. Chunxue, the most important question at hand is only: can you kill Wang Wujiu?"

I collapsed into a chair and exhaled every fragment of breath in my body.

"No. Not... not those eyes."

I had gotten stronger. I had learned how to fight. But those cold eyes, those distant eyes, those indifferent eyes, those eyes like the calm sky watching over Caojin-Baigen, they dampened my will, my will that was forged on the premise of revenge. Can you take revenge against a tsunami, or against the sky? No! You can die. You can flee. And if you are strong enough you can fight— but that would not be revenge. It would be nothing more than arrogance. Arrogance! —Arrogance? I did not have enough of it! And what I showed of it was nothing more than pretense!

Natsuki stood up and circled around the table. Embracing me softly from behind, she whispered in my ear, "Chunxue, as long as I am here, I do not wish to see you hurt. Before this dream ends I only wish to see your dream fulfilled. For that I would kill Wang Wujiu myself, if only the World-Law permitted it."

Could I kill Wujiu for the sake of my dream? That was how I had earlier steeled my resolve. But I had already gotten what I wanted! The elders had sworn to expel me from the sect! There was nothing to gain anymore by killing Wujiu! This justification could not work, not anymore.

Then, could I kill Wujiu for Natsuki's sake? Could I kill Wujiu just as I had killed Li Qiye and Li Xiaoyao, for no reason more than that they had insulted Natsuki's wishes, her simple words of I do not wish to see you hurt? Perhaps that was my best hope— to rely not on my own will, not on my own arrogance, but transitively on her anger.

Yes, perhaps that was my best hope. Not to kill for revenge, but to kill in response to being killed. Yet if that was the attitude I took... I could not be sure if I would die first, or I would kill first.

"Chunxue," she whispered, "until our contract is complete, no matter what happens, I will not let you die."

I smiled, just barely. I could not tell if her words were mere consolation, or if her shoulders were really so strong that they could hold up the weight of my death, the way the World-Turtle's shell held all life on this star teetering above the void. I did not know. And yet it was enough for me.

"Okay." I pushed myself up from my seat. "I'll do it."

"Good." I turned to face her, and saw her smiling, dully, warmly, dully as always. "Then I shall grant you more power. I have shown you earth and water. Now I shall show you the lightning. You have used it instinctively before, but I shall show you what that proverb truly means."

> You cannot shut your ears to the thunder or your eyes to the lightning, so fast are they!