Summer a couple months later.
Time left until first rift appears: 5 years 9 months 19 days
A veritable storm was blowing throughout the Frozen Edge Sect. It had been a couple of months since the meteor shower and the revelation that not only were there other people in the vast expanse of the void, but they were gallant enough to send a warning of an imminent threat that would reveal itself in three to five years. And if that revelation wasn’t shocking enough, just after it had been revealed, the young Master of the Frozen Edge Sect made a proclamation that he would sponsor every single disciple in their cultivation, with the only condition being that they advance and grow in strength to combat this oncoming threat. Now, you would think that having back-to-back bombshells dropped like that would make any sane person kick up a ruckus, not least an entire sect, but you would be wrong
The cause for the storm that erupted through the corridors of the Frozen Edge Sect can be traced back to a single, short-statured young woman with hair as black as that of the darkest, moonless nights, with a fire in her eyes that made everyone from outer sect disciple right up to some elders being forced to move out of her way, as she had the most important of tasks to complete: it was her son’s birthday. And she was late because of work.
If someone had said that Shin Lee had only been busy since the meteor shower, she would’ve punched them in the face, no matter who they were, as she was not just busy but swamped, completely and utterly. She was usually the busiest person within the sect on any given normal day. She would rather focus on sect policies that needed to be implemented to increase revenue, currently lagging behind, or speak to some of the closest city’s magistrates on one of her ideas that they were going to be implementing, rather than sit around to cultivate. Sure, she did cultivate, but it was the bare minimum, as she didn’t have the drive to ascend like all her peers did.
She found it rather boring; sure, feeling the rush of breaking through the bottleneck that you have been striving for gets the blood pumping, but it’s a short-lived accomplishment, and then the cycle repeats itself, which she found absolutely moronic with that ancient saying of doing things repeatedly and expecting a different result or something.
So that’s why she fell in love with the more mundane arts, mathematics, and formulae that would absolutely bore any normal cultivator. She found it fascinating how you can just change a single number, positive or negative, and you could predict, using available data, the expected crop yields or the amount of coin set to be made out of a certain deal.
Now, usually, she would be thrilled to be swamped with work to be done as she could research and better her own formulae that are currently being used in many mortal cities and even some empires. But now, after Young Master Ryuha announced that he will be sponsoring the whole entire sect in their cultivation, it has been left to her to figure out the logistics of such a request, as well as to make some more shifty, chance-taking disciples from double-dipping, as they say.
With that being said, it led to her current post-meteor life. She hasn’t seen the outside world since the meteor fall. Between creating new policies of how exactly the young master was to help each and every disciple and elder, it was left up to her to figure out how it was to be implemented sect-wide. It usually consisted of providing cultivation resources in the form of pills or elixirs, but with it being a sect, no one person’s cultivation is the same. They might use the same sect-provided cultivation manual, but the insights they acquire are different. So, it was with a great headache that she was left trying to source all the different materials. Eventually, it became so bad she had requested money counters from the nearest magistrate to be sent over to be personally trained by her in management.
Of course, none of the magistrates refused the request, as anyone would be foolish to give up the opportunity to be personally tutored by the silver squire, the one who basically created the system they were using in their cities and towns. With the help of the money counters, Shin Lee was able to delegate most of her workload, but there was one thing she did not delegate, and that was the obelisk. She had requested the young master if it would be possible for her to study the obelisk, as she was the only one interested in the strange object, which was fine with her. She could study it when she was not giving orders to her new apprentices.
She could be found with the obelisk where it was currently stored in the young master's vault, and he had only allowed access to the vault to him and her. She was certain that some answers were left in those markings, as a memory of what the man said stuck with her: “But inscribed on the obelisk is our condensed knowledge of what we know on the helix system, as well as the method we have come up with to combat it.”
She would find what they have left for them, but that day was not today.
As she sped up, she ignored any and all who tried to flag her down. She heard some shouting, but she ignored them. She was late, very late, and even though birthdays are not usually a much-celebrated affair amongst cultivators as it is amongst mortals, a cultivator had near infinite years. It would become a very tedious affair to celebrate every single one. But today was special; it was his eighth birthday.
Usually, in sect custom, it is the age that young members of prominent clans would enter a sect and truly become cultivators if they so choose. In truth, many families of noble blood did not send their children to become sect members, not until they were thirteen at the minimum. The only reason that the eighth birthday was made such a fuss over was that it would prove what type of cultivating prodigy or not the family has produced.
It was always to see how families measured against each other. It was all barbaric, using your children as some sort of showpiece, but that was the life of a cultivator family, and Shin Lee believed most families don’t even remember what the blood feud that their family had with the other; it was just part of who they were.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Luckily for Shin Lee, that was something she didn’t have to worry about surrounding his birthday today, as she was in many people’s eyes an outsider with no family present in the Frozen Edge Sect. And with her not really interested in cultivation, the families of the sect quickly started to pay her less and less attention. Only when she was assigned to be the young master's assistant did they start putting their feelers out to try and find out if her son wasn’t maybe the illegitimate child of the young master and that she was using that as leverage, but that was quickly dropped when it was found out that the young master actually knew who Shin Lee’s husband was and that they were seen drinking together on this very day eight years ago.
Still running, she was now at the main entrance to the sect. Thinking it best she brings something with to apologize for being so late, she decided to head into the market, as she knew exactly what will soothe her son’s ire. She met a fork in the mountain pass, and instead of taking the one to the right that led up to one of the many living areas of the sect where her compound was found, she turned left, taking a narrow path that led to a rope bridge that crossed a massive ravine.
In the middle of this ravine was a town built on top of qi-reinforced ropes thicker than her body. It was a town suspended in the air by ropes and bridges; this was one of the larger towns called Windswept. Dashing across the rope bridge at near top speed, you would think running across a bridge that was made of the same material as your clothes and that was the only thing keeping you safe from the gaping abyss below would give pause and tread more carefully.
True, maybe when she first arrived, she was like that, but now it was as she was running across a bridge made of steel. Not that she ever has or ever would, I mean, who makes a bridge out of metal? She slowed down a bit as to not alert the cliff wardens. Usually, the assistant to the young master bolting at top speed towards the town would mean that there is trouble, well, she was in trouble, but she didn’t want to alarm them.
Slowing down even more as she neared the entrance to the town, there was no gate, but there was a gateway of wood and stone lashed together with qi-infused rope to create quite the archway.
A slight cough brought her out of her musings as a gruff voice spoke, “Ah, excuse me, Lady Shin Lee, is there something the matter? I saw you run with quite the speed towards the town; is there something happening that you need assistance with?”
Turning slightly right, Shin Lee saw an average-looking man with calm autumn-red eyes, an unassuming face if slightly weather-worn. If one were to pass him on the street, he would be another face in the crowd, as they say, if not for the fact that the man in front of her was decked in furs and leathers that matched the mottled colours of the mountainous cliffs. Shin Lee recognized the young man.
“Ah, my apologies, Ru Li. I am just late; it’s Rin’s birthday,” the man gave a light smile. “So it’s the young master's birthday already? That’s great news. You tell him our best wishes, and I think I have something for you, my Lady.” Shin Lee frowned at this; she really did not want to get wrapped up in some report or the other, but to her surprise, he whistled, and another two cliff wardens appeared, handing over a beautiful lacquered box with a mark of a dumpling and star engraved on the top. Ru Li turned and took the box, thanked them, he turned back to her, “For the young master, I believe you were thinking of getting these.”
She took the proffered box, she slid the lid open, and inside still steaming were red bean buns, Rin’s favourite sweet, and she immediately started to shake her head, “I can’t take these, Ru Li; it would not be right for me to take the gift you yourself were planning on giving. I will just pop into town and get some myself, and he can get it from both of us,” but Ru Li did not want to hear any of it, “Take it, my lady. I was planning on swinging by tonight after my shift, but it seems like there might be some trouble; we found a cliff hold, and it seems my father plans on raiding it tonight, so please take it.”
She looked down on the box; she pondered for a few seconds and then nodded and bowed, making sure the box is safely closed before doing so, “Thank you, Ru Li,” waving the thanks away anxiously, “No need for that, my lady; please raise your head, and I will see the young master next week for his lesson. I shall bring something then, so please raise your head,” he pleaded, but Shin Lee stayed bowed for a few seconds more then raised her head. She thanked him again and was planning to start running back to her compound when he spoke, “He will be fine, young miss; I am sure of it. And-,” he paused, looking slightly pale. He fidgeted some more but, seeming to come to a decision, he spoke, “And, and if there is something we can do to assist, the cliff wardens are always open.” Nodding to her, he leapt off the bridge.
Shin Lee stood still for a few seconds as an old worry crept back into her mind, the same worry that made her ask the young master for help even if it was a personal problem. She also knew that what Ru Lei said was not out of malicious intent or spite; it was genuine concern. But as great as the cliff wardens were, they were still only mortal, and if her son joined them, it would be like setting off fireworks to the whole world that there was something wrong with him, with her. She shook her head, banishing her spiraling thoughts; today was a good day, and she had a birthday to attend.
Running back up the pass where she turned left, following the wider path that led to the communal district, she started to increase her pace. She ran through the ornately decorated streets, passing massive family manors and estates, but none of those was hers, as she did not have family roots within the sect, and her compound was gifted to her by Young Master, and as such, was right at the back of the communal area at the edge of the cliff. She didn’t mind it so much, and the view was breathtaking. Turning another bend, she saw her home with the symbol for Shin on top its gates.
Seeing as though the front gates were open meant that some of the guests have already arrived. Cursing to herself, she started to slow down and eventually stopped just a few paces in front of the gate. She straightened, fixing her robes that got disheveled in her haste. She entered immediately; something felt off. There was usually one maid or groundskeeper that was available to answer the door immediately. Worried, she ran to the courtyard to try and find someone, but what met her as she entered was her son Rin being kicked in the stomach so hard that he was catapulted end over only to hit the back of the far wall in a heap.