I didn’t give any warning or reason for my anger and killing intent; it exploded beyond my control as I activated [Lightning’s Rush]. I barely registered that a few team members were forced to their knees, but no one was hurt.

Activating [Lightning’s Rush] and infusing it with as much Qi as possible, I seemed to teleport from the cavern we were in. Yet even as fast as I was moving, I was berating myself for not upgrading this technique. There were so many techniques I could have gained now that I had entered the Nascent Soul Realm, but I had allowed myself to be bogged down with ruling and building a Kingdom.

I understood now why so many Cultivators eventually renounced their mortal obligations. It wasn't easy to find a balance between what was best for me as a Cultivator and what was best for my people and nation.

I reached the cave entrance in a matter of seconds. Once free of those constraints, I flung myself into the sky, commanding the wind to part the air before me while buttressing my speed with tailwinds.

I had never flown so fast, but I had never been so angry. Or scared. Even when I was forced to battle the Nascent Soul Realm Cultivator attacking Xiwang, I wasn’t as afraid as now.

I only had to worry about myself in that fight. But this? Why was Ja Fiat hunting my brother and sister? And I had examined Storm’s memories thoroughly enough to agree that Ja Fiat’s actions were those of a hunter.

I arrived at my parent’s home and shop without issue, relieved that Storm had marshaled Geon and Syha back into the yard. I wondered what they were even doing outside. They had been in bed the last time I had seen them, being examined, and cared for by Healer Na.

I didn’t think it had taken that long to explore and work our way down the tunnels, but I hadn’t been paying attention to time. We were powerful enough not to need food, water, or sleep. Not as long as there was enough Qi to sustain our bodies, so days might have passed as we explored.

Unfortunately, my arrival was not disguised. “Sister! Pull in your aura. You will hurt younger brother and sister,” Storm advised me.

I had barely reached Nascent Soul Realm, so there was still a learning curve to endure to know how to adjust my strength intuitively. I wasted a few seconds fighting my anger to withdraw my killing intent. And even then, I wasn’t able to eradicate it. It simmered, barely under my control, fighting to be unleashed.

I landed in a spot Storm had suggested. It would allow me to see but make noticing me hard.

“Where is she?” I asked. “I don’t see anyone.”

“There,” Storm replied, focusing my attention on the shadows from a building across the street.

I still didn’t see anyone, even with Storm pointing out the exact location. I began probing the shadows, scouring for evidence of a person hiding there using my perception and the new connection I had gained as ruler of this land.

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It didn’t matter how I searched, sight, sound, smell, perception, or land sense. Nothing was registering, which could only mean that Ja Fiat was a Cultivator and a strong one. One strong enough and able to hide her Cultivation level from my senses and Clements. Or she had access to a powerful artifact that allowed her to mask her presence.

Either explanation was problematic, and I would have to institute a better screening mechanism to filter out dangerous people when hiring and recruiting individuals.

“She’s leaving,” Storm informed me, “should I follow?”

“No,” I responded immediately, “you are too big. Ja Fiat would notice you. Have the fliers you control follow her. You and I will stay far enough back that she doesn’t notice us.”

Ja Fiat left the shadows not long after leaving, finally allowing me to locate her. Storm’s arrival to play with Geon and Syha might not have given her pause, but my arrival may have. If she had intended to kidnap or kill my siblings that day, she had thought better of it.

But it was too late for her to have a change of mind. I had seen behind the mask of efficiency she used to beguile me. That she hid the fact she was a Cultivator was a serious issue, but that she also had access to techniques, artifacts, or talismans that could hide from Clement made her dangerous.

I considered for a moment that she might be part of that crew of Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators that had been involved in smuggling and engineering the evolution of the Magma Krakens. As I did, I tried to remember any discussions, meetings, or planning I might have made in her presence.

I was relieved that any talk about Kingdom building had been restricted to a small group, but I admitted to myself that it had only been by chance. I wouldn’t have objected if she had been included in those meetings.

If she was a spy, it was only luck that had kept her from discovering what I was planning. If she weren’t a spy, I would find out the truth about who she was and what her intentions were. There had to be a reason she was willing to hunt my siblings. She knew that I would respond to any attempt to harm them. But she had to have some surety that she could act and get away with it.

What made her so confident was another secret that I would expose.

Ja Fiat led us to a rather nondescript building. It was a family home located near the merchant section of town. The building itself had nothing that would make it stand out, but the arrays and formation flags that had been created to defend the home were way out of proportion for anything a glorified secretary might need or could afford.

The defenses were robust enough that I couldn’t extend my perception past them. I didn’t know if Ja Fiat lived alone or with a family, but I would soon find out. I sent Toi to scout out what was going on inside as I waited outside for House members to arrive.

I sent out a call across the House’s Mind Gestalt as Toi phased through the wards and protections. A series of pings that each member had recognized, a type of Morse code that, when used, meant that the House was endangered.

Every Cultivator that had joined that Gestalt began to move once the message was sent. Using the threads of mental energy that connected us together, they were able to pinpoint my location. We hadn’t practiced this, but my desire for caution must have bled over across the Gestalt because everyone, without exception, moved silently, rendezvoused with Storm and me, and remained concealed, waiting for orders.

“Well, that was unpleasant and unexpected,” Toi informed me, returning from her scouting mission.

“What was?”

“She has a series of defenses that would have banished, trapped, or exorcised me if I didn’t have an astral anchor tying me to you and reality. The good thing is that these defenses aren’t targeted at Spirits. The bad thing is that they are targeted at demonic entities.

“And it is easy to figure out why. Those defenses are to hide what she is doing in there. She isn’t trying to keep demonic energies out, she’s trying to keep those energies contained inside.

“She’s set up a sacrificial altar, and from the amount of blood that is coating the walls, it looks like she uses it frequently.”