It was mid-January when Qiu’yue finally stabilized the 3 hands needed to truly begin mastering Light Scattered Broken, the first of the Four Shifting Forms. With most countering arts, the two hands acted as a shield — deflecting the blow and redirecting force. Inevitably, with such a structure, the shield will become weak if the practitioner decided to attack or counter-attack. Yet, the Four Shifting Forms, one of the most profound and tyrannical of countering arts, solved this issue with its Light Scattered Broken — the third hand, and all subsequent hands, can strike while two hands maintained the frontal shield! The perfect combination of the shield and the spear! — in theory at least.
In practice, the young girl still lacked much in her execution. And this inexperience is no better displayed than in the fights against the inner sect disciples: Da Gui and Gui Fa.
Yun Leader Meng deemed it appropriate for Qiu’yue to face both disciples at the same time now that she was at the 5th qi condensation stage. Of course, Qiu’yue was allowed a team. Cai immediately declined the position as he was a “lone beast”. Senior Sha declined as well, with a voracious need to cultivate from sunrise to sunset.
Thus, it was decided Qiu’yue, Jang-Guo, and Meili would be one team against the inner sect disciples.
“Meili! Qiu-di! Da Gui!” Jang-Guo shouted and the trio dispersed like lightning clouds.
Dashing into battle with Deer Strike, Jang-Guo lashed out with his Western Dragon Arts. With earth gauntlets on both fists, the boy unleashed a shower of fists against Gui Fa. The woman leapt backward, and, with a slap to her bag of holding, her yellow umbrella flew out spinning. The colorful ribbons lit up with fire, creating a torrent of flames which engulfed Jang-Guo’s fists. With a roar,
Jang-Guo threw his all at the yellow umbrella but found the umbrella to be as strong as metal!
Due to him encasing his arms with earth, the boy quickly suffered from the flames and had to retreat. Without a doubt, the flesh underneath the earth was as red as lanterns.
Gui Fa wasted no time to expand her umbrella and hid behind it. Strange and ancient chanting rose up from behind the umbrella. Jang-Guo cursed and summoned Ten Suns. The golden saber flew into his hands and the boy shot it toward the umbrella. These two mystical artifacts collided with a bang! As the cloud of snow cleared, the two tools engaged in a fierce aggressive battle. Ten Suns kept aiming for Gui Fa, but the yellow umbrella simply blocked each of the saber’s mighty swings.
Clanging and clacking, the two artifacts took to the sky where each blow resulted in a heart-pounding explosion.
With Gui Fa unguarded, Jang-Guo launched forward, zig-zagging. Stopping in front of Gui Fa, legs flowing like water, Jang-Guo bent his knees, his waist stretched like a pouncing dragon; his back muscles rippled against his clothes, tearing into pieces, and Jang-Guo jabbed both dragon claws forward with the power of a surging river.
“Dragon Devouring Nothing!”
True fear entered Gui Fa’s eyes and she quickly spat out the last few words of her incantation. Scrambling backward, a stream of hand-mirrors flowed out from Gui Fa’s bag of holding. These mirrors circled around Gui Fa and when the sunlight caught on their surfaces, the polished bronze captured the light and fired it back like a cannon.
The light shredded the earth off Jang-Guo’s arms, but Jang-Guo’s fists wrecked havoc onto the armor of mirrors which Gui Fa hid behind. Tearing through the light and shattering the mirrors, a great explosion bursted between the two tyrannical forces. Cracks ruptured in the earth and a small crater came into existence as the two fighters were flung away from one another. Gui Fa coughed up some blood, trickling down her pale face. All 64 mirrors broke and emitted a black smoke which clawed at its owner, slicing at Gui Fa’s arms. Weakened, Gui Fa tried to take a step, but stumbled and fell to her knees. Jang-Guo, however, was in the worse state.
Being only eight, Jang-Guo’s small body was unable to withstand the blast. Flung several meters, he slammed into a tree. The earth encasing his arms was completely gone. Severe lacerations lined his arm. Fighting the urge to throw up blood, the boy clenched down his teeth. Drenched with heroic sweat, Jang-Guo fainted. Similarly, the raucous explosions above stopped as Ten Suns lost all will. It became as still as a boulder and fell. Defeated, it fell next to its owner, sinking lifeless into the snow-covered earth.
Yun Leader Meng went over to him and pulled out a lotus flower from her sleeves. One which she had brought with her ever since the fights had become increasingly dangerous. She waved it over the unconscious boy. A sprinkle of water and seeds fell on Jang-Guo. The lacerations mended, his complexion improved, and he awakened. The young boy cursed his weakness but thanked the red fairy for the treatment.
Watching the girls, Jang-Guo saw they did not fare well against Da Gui either.
Da Gui danced around the two girls with the elegance of the night wind, the agility of a stag, and the prowess of aged wine. His sword, simple but no less elegant and fierce in true battle, weaved through the myriad of strikes like intricate mandalas — light ricocheting off the blade.
Quiet Thoughts attempted to strike at the man’s blind spots, flying about like a wasp, yet the movement of his wrist was so fluid that with a single flick, he would block the silver blade before returning his attention to the girls. Da Gui was not ranked 89 in the inner sect for no reason. Unlike Cai or Jang-Guo, Da Gui used every part of his body. He wielded his blade in one hand. He controlled his opponents with the other. And he balanced, pivoted, moved, and distracted with his legs. At times he moved with the explosive power of a tiger; other times he struck out his leg to keep one girl at a distance similar to a crane.
Ching! Ching! Ching! The airs of blade clashing against blade filled the air. The thumps and clacks of Da Gui’s blade blocking the girls filled the brief moments of silence in between the duel between the simple blade and Quiet Thoughts.
Yet despite the seemingly ease which Da Gui handled the two girls, sweat gathered on his face. Each short skirmish of the hand against the blade left his simple sword rattling all the way to his elbow. Each move Meili made, whether to grab him or to hit him, was imbued with a killing intent thick enough to bludgeon him into meat buns. And though Da Gui was using his right hand to control the girls, it was not effective. At the beginning of the battle, he had underestimated Qiu’yue and received a simple palm strike at the elbow region. Since then, his entire right arm had been shaking and absolutely throbbing at the elbow region — inciting sharp pain when he had to make sudden pushes or blocks.
Gui Fa, though wounded, noticed Da Gui’s injury and launched a gigantic blood palm, a meter long, at the fight. The blood palm swam through the air quickly. Da Gui saw Gui Fa’s actions and grew terrified instead of relieved.
“Shit,” he cried.
Meili saw the blood palm and, using her River Carving Fist, redirected the palm toward Da Gui after trapping it in between her palms. Da Gui blocked it with his sword and, with a scream, pierced through the blood palm. Immediately, he wrenched his arm back to block Quiet Thoughts. He kicked at Qiu’yue who had rushed forward. The girl blocked it and her third palm launched forward at the vulnerable underside of Da Gui’s leg. The Yue Division inner disciple tried to intercept it by bringing his leg down like an ax — however! the third palm created by Light Scattered Broken was merely an afterimage of one of Qiu’yue’s own limbs; that third palm was simply condensed force! Despite tearing through that third palm, Da Gui still suffered a blow to his calves. The force rippled through his entire left leg and numbed it.
Da Gui leapt back. Chasing after him like a slithering serpent, Qiu’yue and Quiet Thoughts continued their barrage.
Meili left Qiu’yue to her own devices to finish off Gui Fa. Her warcry was, “Only I can bully my older brother!”
Wielding her closed umbrella, Gui Fa blocked Meili’s palm strikes. With an intense exchange which left Gui Fa unable to utter any chants, Meili was able to land a palm on Gui Fa’s abdomen. Nails digging into Gui Fa’s flesh, Meili shifted her feet and threw the older woman onto the ground. All hands on the yellow umbrella, a struggle ensued between Meili and Gui Fa. However, due to the fight transitioning from a quick exchange of fists to a slow struggle, Gui Fa was able to focus on chanting again.
Meili furrowed her brows in panic and anger. She rammed her knee into the older woman’s stomach. Though Gui Fa choked and grunted, she clenched her eyes and continued with her chant. As she chanted, she also imbued qi into her voice. Blood started to leak from Meili’s ears and nose. Still, the young girl continued ramming against the older girl. Bam! Bam! Bam! Meili kept ramming not just her knee against Gui Fa, but also her forehead and Gui Fa’s own umbrella. Bloodied and bruised, Gui Fa completed her chant. The umbrella expanded and knocked Meili off of Gui Fa. While Meili was still in the air, the umbrella slammed into her and began spinning. A miniature tornado engulfed the young girl. When the storm ended, Meili fell to her knees — battered and cut everywhere.
Gui Fa also fell as she tried to get up. Though Meili also fell, she avenged her brother. Yun Leader Meng sprinkled the lotus flower over both girls and they recovered.
Da Gui’s and Qiu’yue’s fight also quickly drew to a close. With a stilted left leg, Da Gui moved less fluidly. All Qiu’yue needed was that one single counter.
Clang! Clang! Ching! Quiet Thoughts sought blood from above. Weaving about like a river of stars.
Qiu’yue redirected force with her shield and her third palm struck at the short-lived openings left by Da Gui when attacking.
Da Gui simply needed to find the crack in Qiu’yue’s shield and pierce through with all his might.
In the end, it came down to the imbalance of qi cultivation. Da Gui who rested at the 7th stage of qi consolidation simply had more qi in reserve and was able to recover qi from his surroundings much more effectively. As Qiu’yue ran out of qi, her third palm became less stable — inevitably phasing out.
And since she has lost her spear, when she counter-attacked or simply attacked, she will be vulnerable.
Hoping to seize that split gap between Da Gui blocking Quiet Thoughts before returning the blade’s attention to herself, Qiu’yue leapt forward with all she possessed, even exceeding her qi limits by forcing 50% of her qi through her veins. With everything contained in that one palm strike — muscles ripping, tendons popping, veins bursting, and blood spilling forth like a watering hole — Qiu’yue prayed with her all heart that the blow connect. Not just as a young girl forced into these conditions, but simply as a cultivator intent on becoming great. Truly and simply great. And it did connect.
Da Gui felt a fiery force surge throughout his body. Pain assaulted his liver like a shower of spears; an intense seizure of his lungs, a desperation for breath, rocked his entire being; and his heart felt stopped for a whole second — before bursting and spilling blood, rushing out of his mouth in bitter coughs.
But the blow connected because Da Gui allowed it to connect. Quiet Nights also landed a fierce slash across his shoulder. Da Gui knew that Qiu’yue would now be vulnerable when she struck — regardless of whether it was a counter or not. She no longer possessed that mystical third palm.
And that was the chance for victory.
Taking those two blows, Da Gui immediately launched his own attack at Qiu’yue’s opening — that small gap between her two arms. Striking with his sword handle, Da Gui roared and the image of a wolf charged forth along with his strike. Connecting with Qiu’yue’s chest, the girl was flung back as a explosion occurred. The snow cushioned her fall.
After delivering that last blow, Da Gui plunged his sword into the snow as he slid against it, exhausted.
Yun Leader Meng went over to both and sprinkled the lotus flower over them, healing both.
“I was so close,” Qiu’yue cried quietly to herself. She looked at the red fairy, Meili, and her Tang-ge. “I was so close.”
“Go tell that Ugly Dwarf and Genius Brat to stop cultivating,” the red fairy told the three children. “Oh, and you three did well today, so stop crying. Oh, Qiu’er, little Qiu’er, if you don’t stop crying, Auntie Meng is going to start crying!”
Hiding her face behind Meili, or perhaps Meili shielding Qiu’yue, the trio went over to Cai and Senior Brother Sha. Cai came out of his cultivation easily. Upon seeing tears on everyone’s faces, he awkwardly offered words of encouragement.
Senior Sha did not come out of his cultivation easily. Even when Cai whispered into his ear about a “fairy descending”, the older boy did not respond. Everyone got worried at this point, even the inner sect disciples.
“Everyone, step aside,” Yun Leader Meng commanded with a flustered expression, her face turning as red as her dress. Hastily, she took out the ornaments adorning her hair. With a fevered expression, she asked, “How long has he been cultivating? I need to know his daily cultivation schedule.”
“From sunrise to sundown,” Cai answered. “But that’s not out of the ordinary for cultivators! Some cultivate for months before coming out of it.”
“This child goes too deeply into his cultivation — you must have known that!” The red fairy scolded as she ripped open the senior brother’s clothes to reveal his chest which had taken a tinge of blackness. “Help me take off his clothes — all of it.”
Cai and Jang-Guo did as she commanded.
“Even the —”
“Yes — when I said all, I meant all,” Yun Leader Meng said impatiently. “Qiu’er and the other girl, go somewhere else. Da Gui! Gui Fa! Accompany the two. Don’t worry, I won’t let this boy die until he steals back my fan, rest assure!”
With anxious glances, the girls left, followed by the two inner sect disciples.
Doing some quick calculations on her fingers, “Seven days; twenty hours...135 needles!” In addition to the twenty or so pointy hair ornaments, the red fairy also pulled out a bag of acupuncture needles: thin, long, and silver topped off with a wooden handle.
“You two, I need you to hold the boy down. Do not let him throw the needles off.”
Jang-Guo held down Senior Sha’s left arm; Cai held down his right.
Sweeping her bangs from her eyes, the Yun Division Leader scouted all the points she needed to pierce. Fifteen needles in nine intervals lasting a breath each. Sweat dripped down her face.
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With a flourish of her wrist, she inserted fifteen needles into Sha’s right pectoral muscle. Then with another flourish, another fifteen in the other pectoral. It was at this point that Senior Sha started to thrash about and howl. Milky black miasma gurgled out from where the needles were inserted — even the silver of the needles became corrupted with blackness (though the ornaments remained as it were).
With every interval, the howls grew more rabid and tortured. Blood sputtered out from Sha’s mouth — but the blood was thick like mud and blackish.
“Let me go!” Sha cried. His eyes shot opened, showing pitch black voids. “I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you all! Let me go! Power! Give me power!”
His cries distorted into one which sounded as if he had glass stuck in his throat as he spoke.
After nine quick — yet long — breaths, all 135 needles were in place: thirty on the chest, thirty on his stomach, sixty on his back, seven on each shoulder, and one at the center of the forehead.
With all the needles in place, Senior Brother Sha no longer vocalized his anger with words, only with beastial ramblings. The black miasma dispersed and melted the snow around him. Black blood coagulated around his eyes and crusted around the opening of his ears.
“What now?” Cai asked urgently. His face an absolute mess, absolutely panting — chest heaving up and down. “W-will, Senior Brother Sha be alright?”
“We have to wait. Keep holding him down. Let him exhaust himself,” Yun Leader Meng replied. Cai and Jang-Guo looked at their old friend, each the painting of uncertainty.
After a long while, the red fairy placed her two palms on Senior Sha’s head. And she shoved down with great force. The embedded needles popped out as a shockwave travelled from the top of
Senior Sha’s head to the earth. Senior Sha coughed blood — red blood — and then passed out.
Sprinkling her lotus over Senior Sha, the ugly boy recovered. Despite the healing received, pain assaulted him — because his injuries surpassed the physical and harmed his soul as well.
“Yun Leader Meng, will my Senior Brother be ok?” Cai asked, seeing Sha awaken with his normal eyes and attitude. But then he and Sha turned bitter, frowning. Jang-Guo did not understand until he checked Sha’s cultivation.
“He, he will still be able to cultivate,” the red fairy told them. With a regretful and pitying look, she added, “A lost level — it’s not that hard to recover.”
But it was. At least for Senior Sha, it was as irrecoverable as a child. He and the two friends around him knew that. Not only was Senior Sha in a state of stagnation — Senior Brother Sha was already ten years old, soon to turn eleven in just a few months! How many years, no! months, did this leave Senior Sha? Not enough. Senior Sha was not a genius like Cai; nor did he have that special synergy of the twins; and clearly, as apparent by his god-given face, he was not lucky like Qiu’yue either.
Not knowing all of that, Yun Leader Meng smiled and left to join the girls. That smile was insulting. Condescending. Overflowing with bitter, venomous ridicule. It left Senior Sha crushed. Absolutely ruined. Hopeless, wallowing in despair.
“S,senior brother,” Cai began. He lifted his hand uncertainly, then lowered it. With not much to say, he patted his senior brother’s back. That broad back which already showed the beginning of manhood.
“Senior Brother Sha,” Jang-Guo spoke to his senior brother politely. He helped Sha to his
feet. “You know me, I will never abandon my friends. Senior Brother Sha, we will get through this — you and I, we’re invincible together; we’ve gotten through so much. We can get through this.”
“Yeah, Senior Brother Sha,” Cai echoed. He lent his arm to Senior Brother Sha as well. He did not mind that his sleeves got wet from Senior Brother Sha burying his face into it. After all, what else was he able to do for him but offer him that one solace.
As they made their way to the others, the girls saw their approach and leapt to their feet. Coming to meet them with worried eyes, Meili’s and Qiu’yue’s innocent, big, youthful eyes shattered when they learned of Senior Brother Sha’s misfortune.
Senior Brother Sha was not the brightest. He was not the fastest or strongest. But he was still their Senior Brother. He cared for each and every one of them — whether it be with failed attempts at laughter or kindness, he cared for them.
“Senior Brother Sh —” Qiu’yue began and reached out a hand to comfort her senior brother.
Unexpectedly, filled with anger and loathing, the usual kind Senior Brother Sha lashed out and barked, “Don’t touch me!”
Then more quietly, and more painful, he said, “Don’t touch me. Hehehe. I wouldn’t want any of my misfortune to rub off on you geniuses! So, just leave me alone. Please, leave me.”
He brushed away Jang-Guo and Cai. Lifelessly, he stumbled his way to his own little area, resting his head on his knees.
Though hurt, Qiu’yue held back her tears. Yun Leader Meng felt like scolding the Ugly Dwarf for hurting her little Qiu’er’s feelings — but as a cultivator, she understood the devastation the child must be going through. The two inner disciples who had encountered setbacks to their cultivation more than a few times felt uncomfortable. It may be difficult to regain lost time — but that ten-year old boy seemed as if he had been told he will die soon.
“Ahem,” the red fairy coughed. “As I explained at the beginning, uh, today will be our last battle for some time. You three did well; surely, you will defeat Mr.Turtle here and Ms.Umbrella. No laughter, ok. Two major reasons why there will be no battles for some time. One, these two have been slacking in their contributions to the sect. They’re going to go hunt for rare spirit beasts or bandit syndicates — or just gather a lot of herbs. And two, the Black Pearl Spring Festival is coming up. So even if these two weren’t such slackers, they would not come here to spar. Rather, they would be sparring with other inner sect members to get the chance to represent our Yue Yun Sect.”
Hearing the words “Black Pearl Sect”, Senior Sha’s eyes lit up.
The Black Pearl Sect, otherwise known as the Pill Empire, was a strange sort of sect. Rather than specializing in combat as was the case with most other sects, the Black Pearl Sect reflected everything that their name stood for: medicine and defense. They were a well-established and smartly-allied sect. Everyone wanted dan and pills, so no one dared to offend the Black Pearl Sect.
Besides, their entire sect was akin to a large city — and just as difficult to siege.
“Is there a chance for me to attend also,” Senior Brother Sha asked.
The red fairy looked over at me and slowly nodded. “There will be a lottery system to decide eight other places besides the winner of the Inner Sect Tournament and the runner-up. We elders think it would be a good experience for those still in the outer sect. But, including the names of you children — especially little adorable Qiu’er — should be acceptable.”
Hearing that, the other children became excited and had shining eyes. But remembering the sheer size of the outer sect, the children were brought back to reality. It was not soul-crushing, but a nagging indifference masking a real burning desire to be chosen. The red fairy expected the same emotion — or a soul-crushing one — from the Ugly Dwarf, but she found a burning determination instead. That worried her.
“Of course, to ensure that people will be deterred from messing with the lottery until the drawing at the beginning of next month, there will be extreme punishment for those who are caught — death is a possibility. In addition, the lottery box will be kept in the Grand Halls under security by both me and the Yue Leader Dao.”
Despite her words, the fire did not die in Senior Sha’s eyes. The red fairy dismissed the Village of Lost Orphans. She and the inner disciples left.
The other children tried to approach Senior Sha again. He smiled — though it was a terrifying sight — and the others felt relieved, particularly the youngest, Qiu’yue. Senior Brother Sha apologized and returned to his lovable idiot self. He played and trained with the other children.
However, after night fell and the others went to bed, Senior Sha changed back to a more bitter self. Leaving the flower of the Tree of Ten-Thousand Fire Blossoms, Senior Sha made his way to the old stone stairs. The boy pulled out the bottle which gave birth to illusions, he gave it the name Bottle of Hope. Senior Sha looked at his Bottle of Hope for a long while. Then, he looked at the steps in front of him leading up to the outer sect. He placed a hand on the vast pressure behind the first step.
Gritting his teeth, he pushed against the incredible pressure. The entire weight of the world fell on him as he pushed himself through to the first step. It felt as if an entire ocean was overflowing his lungs or a fire raged in them — he felt unable to breathe at all. Collapsing, he continued to crawl, moving his heavy limbs forward — dragging his sack-like body forward. Forward, forward. Those were Senior Sha’s thoughts; that word was a cultivator’s mantra. Forward. The desperate ten-year old boy kept at it. Striving against pressure and fear to move forward.
Senior Sha kept doing so until the sun began to come up. At that point, he turned himself around with a struggle. Grunting with each step. Sweat covered his entire body as he left the gigantic pressure which separated the outer sect — the true sect — from the Village of Lost Orphans.
Breathing heavily, Senior Sha made his way back to the Tree. Then, the ten-years old boy proceeded to train his Soil-Ground Arts [Tudigong, a pun of sorts. Referencing an earth-digging god, but can also mean Soil-Ground Art]. Disappearing under the earth like it was water; reappearing at the other end of the clearing in an instant; decreasing the consumption and emission of qi as best as possible. The boy sought to make himself native to the earth underneath rather than the sky or light above. If he was to move forward, he must take his self-invented art to the next level.
Then, Senior Sha sat underneath the Tree and proceeded to meditate until the others woke up — though at first, he decided not to, but he needed to do everything in his power to catch up. Senior Sha was not gifted or special like the other children; deep in his bones, he knew he was completely ordinary compared to even Qiu’yue. So, he had to live alongside the border of death, of exhaustion, to move forward.
Senior Sha repeated this every night after he finished his routine with the other children. Night after night, he would subject himself under excruciating pressure — and little by little, he climbed those long winding stone steps. However, such an intense schedule meant Senior Sha got little rest. It was inevitable for him to collapse while carrying supplies up the mountain. When he did collapse, the others made sure to take care of him. Particularly Jang-Guo, Cai, and Meili — the people who have been cared for when sick or injured by the senior brother, who have personally felt the magnanimous heart he possessed despite being weaker.
Yet, as Senior Sha watched the others advance from the sidelines, he felt a crippling fear that threatened to consume all of him — and make him actually utterly useless, as if tossed aside like a side character and never mentioned ever again [throwing them genre-savvy shade, lol].
Meili and Jang-Guo enhanced their already amazing synergy now that Jang-Guo supplemented it
with the Twelve Beastial Strikes, now that Meili was at the ninth stage. Cai was simply a genius, yet a hardworking one too. His dash became more and more incredible. And Qiu’yue, the girl younger than him, less experienced of the world than him, became more incredible. Her amazing fortunes bestowed her a golden body, a mystical profound countering art, and even a legacy from the founder of their sect! Watching the others, so much younger, speed ahead from him, Senior Sha felt a suffocating loneliness. Literally, Qiu’yue and Jang-Guo were able to fly up into the heavens using their swords.
Knowing that, despite being overworked, Senior Sha kept at his routine. And something miraculous happened. It got easier. Despite being on the verge of collapse, the senior brother found a way to stand up! To get up and move forward like a man, on two strong and steady, unwavering legs. One step. Two step. A hundred steps up the stone stairs.
Senior Sha looked at his feet, then behind at his conquered progress, and marveled at what he accomplished. He found himself able to breathe. He felt alive. Despite what should be killing him — the tyrannical pressure, the pain all over his body — he felt alive. Senior Sha still felt the pain hurting him, but it — it was like electricity, giving him new breath.
Laughing genuinely for the first time in months, Senior Sha ran up the stairs like a child would. Like a normal child would, coming back from toiling in the fields, from school, but always to a warmer place.
Of course, he caught himself before the outer sect caught him. Senior Sha smiled with tears in his eyes at his success after nights and nights of subjugating himself to this madness. Then he ran back down to perfect his Soil-Ground Arts. Yet, as soon as he left the crushing pressure of the outer sect, he felt dead again — crushed by his exhaustion. Senior Sha stepped back through the pressure. He felt alive again. Though he found it peculiar, he did not complain. Thus, he cultivated and practiced his Soil-Ground Arts under the crushing pressure of the outer sect.
It was at that point that Senior Sha discovered another obstacle. Stone. And then he realized, surely the Grand Halls would be layered with stone, not soil. Gritting his teeth, the fires burned even brighter in his eyes. The young cultivator has already come this far, he was prepared to go even farther. Thus, he smashed his head against the stone. Again and again and again. He did this every night, until finally, instead of hurting himself like an idiot, his head submerged into the stone instead.
Finally, a few days before the drawing, Senior Sha stood outside the entrance to the outer sect pavilion to scout out the situation.
Author's Note: Focusing a lot on Senior Sha, but Qiu'yue, our beloved main character, will return to the foreground. Especially next chapter -- outrageous things are coming. But Senior Sha is such an interesting character. He literally embodies the useless friend that every xianxia comes across -- except he is given proper development time (not that Li Fugui from ISSTH isn't the best best friend of xianxia protags). But honestly, he was never supposed to have such a big part in the original outline, yet he's now integral to the pill deconstruction. That's why I love writing; everything is given life. As always, thanks for reading.
I should change this to Author's Ramblings : p