“The spiritual energy of the world is a part of you,” said the voice, barely a whisper that sounded inside his mind. “The spiritual vessel that is your body, the ethereal meridians coursing through your inner world slowly expand with each step, forming the strings that will bind you to the Heavens themselves.”

“Doesn’t feel like it,” Snake whispered, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. The old man had a way with words. He also had the habit of turning them into riddles. He always seemed to choose the more profound way of delivering a lecture, even if it was on a topic as basic as the Body Tempering Stage.

“You have to understand the underlying workings of your body,” the old man said, acting as if Snake was the most diligent student in the world. “It is through this knowledge that you shall build—”

“Yeah, the inner world, the true core of the soul, I know,” Snake said, glancing up at his Little Brother. A sigh escaped his lips when he saw the serene expression on Stone’s face. The fool of a rock always had a mind for these things, though Snake wondered if he really understood the words being uttered from within the rings.

“Patience, Brother Snake,” Stone said, opening his eyes and revealing a little smile. Snake wanted to punch him. “You can’t be hasty about these things. You’ve heard Master Grim. Details matter.”

“We don’t have enough time to ponder these so-called profound truths, Little Brother,” Snake said, a bad taste in his mouth. “He should’ve been teaching us how to rip those rotten bastards apart with these hands, to fend off the pus that oozes from the cracks across their skin. He should’ve told us more about them, the real truth that matters here. But instead, he wastes time talking about the Heavens and how little we are to understand the workings of some sacred being.”

Stone glared at him before shaking his head. His eyes strayed toward the bronze ring on his finger. He muttered a silent apology. “He doesn’t mean it, Master Grim. You know he is—”

“What?” Snake rose to his feet, staring down at him. “Say it.”

“Too eager for his own good,” Stone said.

“Bah!” Snake raised his hands. “You’re starting to sound just like him!”

“Is that a bad thing?” Stone cocked his head. “You know he’s a thousand-year-old Sage from the old times, right?”

“Three,” came the old man’s voice.

“What?” Snake said.

“I’m three thousand years old."

Was that a little crack in his voice? A real emotion, unlike how he often spoke in a straight cadence like the droning of the wind?

“Three thousand years,” Snake said, trying to keep himself from smiling. He finally found a crack, so he pressed on. “Is this why you talk like a boring grandpa? Or is it because you split your soul into these rings, and that turned you into a bronze-headed pig that keeps blabbing on and on about these so-called profound topics?”

“Brother Snake!” Stone said, then flinched against his own voice, eyes peering toward the wooden door of their room. They’d decided to keep their voices low to not attract any attention while they cultivated. It had been his idea.

“And you call me the impatient one.” Snake shrugged before focusing on the ring again. “This old Master… is useless. Big Sister Luli knows more than him. We should spend more time cultivating with her rather than staying here and listening to this madman’s nonsense.”

Stone’s mouth gaped wide open. Snake didn’t blame him. His Little Brother might not have been aware, but they were racing against time here. They couldn’t just stay in this room forever. They needed more. They needed things they could use now.

So Snake decided to play this game. The old man couldn’t hear his thoughts unless he opened them up for him, but he could see them from within the rings. That was why Snake had to keep Stone in the dark.

“Old people,” he said, shaking his head. “I should’ve expected less. He can’t even use spiritual energy, but he sure knows how to work that mouth of his. I mean, does he even have a mouth? Should we trust a man who couldn’t even get out from that mountain, trapped for hundreds of years? What if he’s gone mad, Little Brother? Have you ever thought about that?”

“I…” Stone gulped nervously. “I don’t know, but he saved us. That has to count, right?”

Snake shook his head, disappointed. “I say we saved him. It is thanks to us that he can see the world once again. And he’s the one who said he’d teach us how to jump over the dragon gate. Well? I don’t see a gate here, and all I hear are empty words.”

“You’re going too far, Brother Snake. Too far.”

“Too far? I don’t think so. Look, he doesn’t even have the face to answer me—”

“Impudent!” came the voice, deep and full of power. It rang true in Snake’s mind, making him nearly trip over the bed. He righted himself with one hand on the wall, eyes on the ring. It seemed to glow faintly in the dark of the room.

“You, a mere child, dare to provoke me? This old man handled thousands with a wave of his hand back when you weren’t even a speck of soul in the cycle of reincarnation. I plowed my way through enemy lines. With one axe, I butchered them, laid them in pieces without blinking an eye. They called me the Reaper, the Grim One! And now—”

“Enough of you,” Snake pressed, heart pounding in his chest. “Show me something if you want me to believe your lies.”

Stone gestured with his hand, eyes full of fear. Snake winked at him as if to say everything was under control.

It was. Sort of.

“Show you, you’ve said?” the old man continued with a raging voice. “Brat, you’re courting death! Do you know how many geniuses tried to kiss these feet of mine to become my disciple? I have refused mountains, islands, and heavenly palaces brought to me as gifts so that they could hear a word of advice from my deep wisdom! I won’t have an insolent child talk to me in such a tone!”

Snake stepped back, feeling the cold wall press against his neck. Shivers ran down his spine. The room was dark, lit only by the moonlight seeping through the wooden shutters, but now the rings they wore glowed with inner light. Something was happening. A change. Finally.

“Promises!” Snake countered, clenching his jaw. “And yet you’ve shown us nothing! Is this how you’ll teach us, old man? Is this how we’ll beat those creatures? You keep talking while they are lurking out there, carefree, as if they are the locals of this town. They trash our woods, murder our people, preparing perhaps for another strike. Your big words will let us fight them, you think? I don’t buy it!”

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Silence.

Snake looked around, searching for a sign that the change was really taking place. The glow of the rings wore off, bit by bit, until they’d gone completely dark. The sudden anger that had punched him in the gut was gone. Vanished.

Why?

For days now, they’d been listening to the old man’s teachings. Snake never doubted his wisdom, just feared that the years spent atop the mountain, all alone and isolated from the rest of the world, could’ve changed the way his mind worked.

Snake didn’t know much, but he was aware that danger was approaching. He’d caught Big Brother Lei and Big Brother Lou talking in hushed voices at the back of the house. He’d heard them whisper about the Governor, the city, and the forest. Those bastards weren’t gone. They were there, waiting, plotting.

He thought they had a chance now that they had a Sage for a Master. Thousands of years old. How deep must his knowledge be? How mighty must he have been once? Surely, he was an Immortal, a being of tales and myths, who deemed them worthy of his teachings. Surely there must be a reason why he forbid them from telling Big Brother Lei about him.

But this… Heavens! This was not what Snake had expected. He’d thought by now he would’ve been flying across the skies, flames roaring, the ground bending to his will. If not that, he’d at least expected to learn… something.

Even Big Sister Luli had promised to give them a Cultivation Manual. She’d said it would take time, but she would see to it that they got a proper manual. Why, then, did this old man refuse to teach them the real things? Why did he keep wasting time with all this talk about the heavens and meridians?

“Master Grim!” Stone’s voice was frantic. He’d raised the ring to his eyes, staring at it pleadingly. “Master Grim, are you there? Please, don’t listen to Brother Snake. He shouldn’t have wronged you like this!”

“Oh, come on,” Snake said, waving a hand dismissively.

“Why?” Stone asked, his voice trembling. “Why are you like this?”

“You don’t know—”

“I know!” Stone stepped closer, eyes cold with fury. “You weren’t the only one who went through all of that. I was there. They took my blood just like they took yours. They kidnapped me. I was there too!”

Snake paused, glancing at him. What was happening? He was doing this for both of them. He had no other choice if they wanted to be ready for the next attack. Or what? Did Stone really think the old man’s words would save them from those creatures?

Snake shook his head. “You’re doing it again, Little Brother. You’re backing off. You’re keeping your silence even though, like me, you know that those words don’t mean anything. That’s why I have to look out for both of us.”

“That was it, then? You, looking out for us?” Stone’s eyes widened. Snake was about to nod when Stone started laughing. “And how is chasing out a thousand-year-old Master going to help you with that? Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, those words might hold some importance? Have you ever thought why an Immortal Master would waste time speaking about useless things?”

“You’ve seen it for yourself!”

“Seen what?” Stone took another step, towering over him. Snake hated that he had to look up at his Little Brother. He’d grown. His shoulders were wide and his arms strong, while even his Little Brother Yunru could be considered more of an adult than Snake. “What was the first lesson?”

Snake lowered his head.

“We’re all part of the Heavens,” Stone continued, raising his right hand. “And thus, the spiritual energy of the world is a part of us. Why is it that with each step, the meridians in our bodies grow strong, lending their strength to us?”

Stone clenched his fist, the bronze ring shining around his index finger. “The Body Tempering Stage, the Qi Condensation Stage, and even the Foundation Establishment Stage—cultivators came up with these names, but they are, in a way, born from a need to define our prowess in the eyes of the Heavens.”

Snake’s head started to hurt from all this useless talk. Stone had spent too much time with that old man, becoming a little version of him. Even the way he talked was no different.

“So?” he grunted.

Stone’s voice dropped low, but it carried a certain weight. “So, Brother Snake, that’s exactly why you can’t rush this. Strength isn’t just about your fists or some martial art you wish to learn. It’s about becoming one with the very fabric of this world, weaving your will into the spiritual energy that surrounds us. You can’t tear through the Heavens with impatience. You have to earn it.”

Snake clenched his jaw, frustration bubbling under his skin. "And what if the world won’t wait for us, Little Brother? What if those creatures strike again before we’re ready? You think talking about the Heavens will save us?"

Stone's eyes darkened, his voice steady as iron. "I don’t need to think. I know."

Snake opened his mouth to argue, but something shifted. The air around them grew dense with power, a crackling energy that seemed to pulse from the very earth beneath their feet. Stone raised his hand, and the ring on his finger blazed with a sudden, fierce light.

For a moment, Snake's breath caught in his throat. The air shimmered with an invisible force, and Stone’s presence loomed larger, more imposing. His skin gleamed as if lit from within, and the room trembled with the weight of his words.

"You want proof, Brother Snake? I'll show you."

With a snap of his fingers, Stone summoned a whirlwind of spiritual energy, the air swirling violently as if bending to his will. The wooden floor cracked beneath their feet, splinters flying as a powerful force slammed into the room, knocking Snake back. The walls groaned under the pressure as the wind howled.

In the center of the chaos, Stone stood tall, calm, and unyielding.

“Do you feel it now?” he asked, his voice rising over the storm. "This is what Master Grim has been teaching us. This is the power you crave. But it’s not just strength, Brother Snake. It’s control. Understanding. And if you keep rejecting it, you’ll never master it."

Snake staggered to his feet, eyes wide. For once, he was speechless.

Stone lowered his hand, and just like that, the storm ceased. The room fell silent.

Stone looked at him, his eyes burning with intensity. "You wanted to see something? There it is. But next time, Brother Snake, let’s make sure we’re both ready to use it when it counts."

The weight of his words hung heavy in the air, and for the first time in a long while, Snake found himself truly listening.

.......