The next day arrived quickly, and with it came anticipation.

Xiao Ji could not deny he was truly excited to try out the technique as it was.

His food was ready by the time he went to eat, and he suspected Mei had already predicted that he would probably not have enough interest in cooking. Not when his mind was taken up by the upcoming training.

His plate was empty in just a few minutes, and he was off to the training grounds in a flash. When he got there, his Master was nowhere to be seen, something that was no doubt purposeful .

Seeing as he was alone outside, he decided to start doing some warm up exercises. He had not yet reached the point where those would be meaningless so he still had to do them.

When he had spent almost an hour exercising, his master finally came outside, much to his relief. He knew the old man definitely took his time on purpose, as he did not need to sleep. And if he was being honest, he doubted the man ever did anything without purpose.

“Good Morning, Master Fan Guo,” he greeted when the old man was close enough, not bothering to stop his exercise.

“Disciple Xiao Ji. Good morning. I hope you had a good night’s rest.”

Though it was not said, Ji could still hear the silent “because you’ll need it”, at the end of the sentence.

To that he could only shrug. He was excited for the training, no doubt, but he had no illusions about his master’s training methods. He was most certainly in for a gruelling day

“A martial technique, like the one you will soon start learning, consists of different forms and movements.,” the old man spoke sagely. “Learning each of these forms will unlock the different moves and abilities of the technique. The entire technique is meant for Qi Condensation cultivators, but it will form the foundation of your future techniques and even your path.”

He had already suspected something similar, so he was not particularly surprised. Nonetheless, he found himself getting even more eager to start.

“You will start today with the first form. The various exercises and the body strengthening technique you did previously should have prepared you for this. Each form is a simple set of movements that you will be able to access in the jade slip. You will practise them until you can replicate them perfectly. Is that clear?”

He announced his affirmation, and the old man nodded,

“Good. Now take. Put your qi in and watch the first form of the technique carefully. You will spend the next few hours practising it.”

The slip landed in front of him, awaiting his qi. Unlike the last time, the world around him did not change. Instead, he felt knowledge flow into his mind, showing him the various movements he would need to make down to the tiniest detail.

Soon, he was engrossed in his practice, attempting to replicate the forms he just saw.

[Lowly Carp Overcoming the Dragon] was, as Xiao Ji soon realised, a difficult technique. There was a certain wildness to each movement that he found hard to replicate.

Even knowing the movements he needed to make did not help much, and he found himself struggling throughout the day. It was to be expected, he supposed. His master would certainly not give him anything that was not top tier. Plus a technique that could increase his comprehension of the Dao in such a short time would definitely be hard to master.

When his master finally asked him to stop, he was not sure if he felt relief or disappointment. Perhaps it was some combination of both.

On one claw, he truly felt excitement for the technique and wished he did not have to stop until he had mastered it. The power to beat the panther he almost died to with ease was something he found himself craving. None of that however, was enough to stop the growing frustration he felt over his slow progress.

There was some progress at least, or else he would have been in a much fouler mood. That did not change the fact that he was disappointed with the speed. He would have thought having the movements imprinted in his mind would make it easier for him. Or maybe it did and it would have been much slower otherwise. He did not know which option he liked better.

They went on to practise with his trait next and he was soon pleasantly surprised. It was his first time practising with it since he gained the [Dao Walker] title and there was a noticeable improvement in its power.

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Where he could only lift a small amount of the water from the bowl just the previous day, he found that he was now able to lift all the water and move it around. He even managed to raise the bowl for a moment, though it was only for a very short time.

The drastic increase brightened his foul mood and he left the training grounds satisfied once more. His master had even told him not to worry about his slow progress with the technique, and that it would get faster the more time he spent practising. The old human was not one to give false encouragement, so Ji felt better about the whole thing.

He went to Mei’s place once more, where he found that she was in the lab practising alchemy once more. So he watched, not saying anything by simply taking in the whole process.

A part of him ached to use his trait to try handing her one of the glass containers, but he knew that was just his excitement speaking. Even with the progress he had made, it would still take some time until he was good enough to move a container over any actual distance without worrying about dropping it.

When she was finally done, he followed her downstairs watching her cook, before going to enjoy the food with his fellow disciples. His already good mood soured even higher, something that seemed to rub off on the others. They stayed in the dining room for hours, only leaving when Mei said it was almost midnight.

After going back to his room, he spent a few minutes admiring the painting Ruo Long gave him, not for the first time appreciating the light crystals that lit up all the rooms. He suspected his uncle would really appreciate them.

That night, when he finally slept, he dreamt of his uncle, of his fellow disciples, and of wishes fulfilled.

*

As one of the mountaintop’s residents enjoyed rest and sweet dreams, another paced around the house, overcome by restlessness as he was.

Of course, the master of the house had long gone past the need for such mortal wants as rest and sleep. So one could say the inability to rest was no more of an issue than the chicken’s desire for sleep.

If one ignored the cause of that restlessness, that was.

“What is the issue, Master Guo?” Mei was sitting straight on her chair, her expression uncharacteristically solemn.

“I just received some news from the capital. It seems like one of our greatest fears came to pass today.”

Mei merely inclined her head, waiting for him to continue. She did not question how he got the news from the capital that was so far away in less than a day. For which Divine did not have myriad ways of getting information quickly?

“The Undying Mountain was at the Emperor’s court today. It was a standard visit, and there was nothing noteworthy. Except for the guest he brought.”

It was only because of how much time she had spent with the old man that Mei was able to see how hard it was for him to tell her the whole thing. That meant it was a lot worse than she thought.

“Who did he manage to convince,” she asked tentatively.

Fan Guo laughed. It was a loud, bitter laugh, packed with as much vitriol as one could fit into such a normally joyful sound.

“Zhou Gan, that old bastard,” there was a note of defeat in his voice, something Mei had never heard. “He managed to recruit the Claw Empress.”

Oh.

Finally, Mei understood.

She understood why he was so restless. Why the man who raised her, a seemingly eternal beacon of strength, seemed so helpless.

The Claw Empress.

They truly were dead.

Fan Guo and Zhou Gan had been bitter enemies for longer than she had been alive. It was one of those ancient feuds that everyone became used to. After centuries where both sides failed to gain any significant advantage, it usually became a true never ending feud and both sides gradually gave up any hopes of actually killing the other.

The presence of the Titans made this even more common, as they frowned on big fights between Divines. So no one really thought there was any real danger from the feud after so long. It served as a good way to put their disciples against adversaries, but nothing more.

All that had changed. Because of a single person.

“I will have to send my disciple away soon and cut any ties with them. It will be dangerous for them to roam free without any backing, but at least they wouldn’t be guaranteed to die.”

Mei tried to think of any objection she could. To refuse and insist that there was still hope. Yet her mind struggled, and all her arguments seemed weak.

“What about talking to the Titans.”

Even as she said it she knew even that would yield no results. The Divine Fan Guo, her father, barked a short, hopeless laugh.

“The Titans, Little Mei? Even the four of them working together could only barely restrain The Claw Empress fifty years ago. Do you think they would go into a losing fight against the most powerful awakened in the world for a single human Divine?”

He stopped pacing after that, and instead sat on the floor. The Great Divine sitting on the floor like some kind of servant. The thought brought her no joy, for there was none to be had.

She watched him for a while before standing up from her chair and walking to him. When she got there, she sat beside him and leaned her head on his shoulders.

Mei knew her father was not one for physical touch, yet he did not push her away. Instead he patted her head softly, like he once did so many years ago.

“Little Mei, I will prepare a path of escape for you. It will be separate from the one the disciples use, but you should be able to flee to the lands at the other end of the Sky Road.”

Mei did not answer, He sighed.

“Little Mei.”

“You know my answer already. Besides, you promised.”

Fan Guo wanted to refuse, to plead with her to see reason, but all protest died when he looked into her eyes. He knew no amount of convincing would be able to change her mind.

And she was right, he had promised.

“I will need to make a lot of preparations. I imagine they will be arriving in a few days. And I have no intention of going down easily.”

“Neither do I,’ Mei agreed seriously, then her face softened, and suddenly she was a child once more. “But those preparations, they can wait till tomorrow. Can’t they, father?”

“Of course they can.”

And so for the first time in centuries, Mei slept in the comfort of her father’s warmth, and despite their troubles, her heart was at peace.

Just like old times.