He climbed up the stairs and upon the wall, standing beside Juwaira. The enemy group was still standing. Barindana and Silver Mask were still talking and seemingly without reaching any decisions.

It would be more accurately described as a one-sided conversation, with Barindana speaking while Silver Mask listened. The man didn't speak even once and he didn't glance at Barindana at all. Perhaps he felt Barindana didn't deserve a look from him, or there was no need to speak with him.

Barindana was surprisingly not annoyed by this. He went on gesticulating and explaining beseechingly to the man.

Several minutes later, Silver Mask was still not convinced. He turned his horse around and returned to the hill behind them. Barindana silently shook his head.

The survivors of Abdin's earlier attacks surrounded the man and began another conversation. About thirty minutes later, five of them mounted their horses and rode west.

"They have gone to get reinforcement," Juwaira said as she turned to Abdin.

Abdin released a soft sigh as he rubbed his forehead. Though he had dutifully bought the farmland currently occupied by the castle from the village head at a price so costly, he still understood the greed of men. He knew the villagers wouldn't let him be, even when he had a certificate of ownership. And since the village was under the protection of Will of San, he knew they would report him there.

So, from the moment he summoned the castle, he knew it was just a matter of time before he would face the combined wrath of the disciples in the sect and their teachers.

But he was ready for that. What he wasn't ready for was: one, Laluri; two, the mysterious relationship between Laluri and Juwaira; and three, Silver Mask.

He looked upward to the sky. Clouds were slowly passing with little birds flying through them in a cacophony of sounds, and from the east rose the sun shining at them.

The cultivation path was mostly treacherous. If the myths of old cultivators were to be believed, then, his path was quite easier. These problems weren't going to dampen his spirit.

There were two skill books he got from Denyanu: the serpentine lightning snake and the photon jump.

He had lost many skills when his last castle in the east was destroyed. Mastering these two skills would help a lot in the impending battle.

He whispered a few commands to Juwaira before he climbed down and walked straight to the training house.

***

A few days ago.

When Abdin was in seclusion.

***

A short distance from the castle, on a tall mountain which was situated in the middle of four other mountains, was a young man, smiling.

He was lying on a bed reading a book aloud, as three little kids sitting on the floor were listening.

"What happened at the end, Big Bro? Did princess Nada marry prince Feisun?"

The young man turned to the kid who spoke and replied, "The story ended there. I don't know what happened next."

The kids glared at him incredulously.

He opened the last page and showed it to them, but they were still making faces. He laughed bitterly as he murmured to himself, "That is the problem of getting used to tricking children."

"What did you say, Big Bro? Are you going to continue?"

Stolen novel; please report.

He sighed. "Go home now. I will check the library and see if I find anything."

"Perfect, Big Bro. We knew there was more of it." They turned and ran out of the corridor.

When they were almost out of sight, one of them turned and stuck his tongue out at him. The young man shook his head. The wits of children these days made him wonder. None of them was six yet, but there was no way to trick them.

He sighed as he checked his ayrid watch. "I missed my meditation again. The ki is already down. Hmm... it isn't as if I have lost anything important. Though I shouldn't let uncle find a whiff of this..."

He spread his spiritual sense and suddenly frowned. He quickly threw the bed into his bag of holding and sat meditatively with closed eyes and folded legs. The pose was that of someone who had been in meditation for a long while.

A minute later, an elderly man appeared before him. The man just shook his head wordlessly. The young man knew he was busted, so he opened his eyes.

"How many times do I have to tell you that being brilliant doesn't mean you can be lazy," the uncle chided. He was Muwadd San, the second in command in the sect, and the young man was the so-called Young Master Tairen, the son of the sect leader of the sect. "Do you prefer gathering your younger ones and telling them fictional stories much more than being with your peers and cultivating?"

"Uncle, they are true life stories..." The old man glared at him, and he was forced to lower his head and keep his mouth shut.

"Even when your house sits atop the Dubal mountain and has the strongest ki around this place, you should know that ki is most pure between the sixth and ninth hours of the morning. Why won't you be meditating around that time?"

"Uncle, I have reached the peak of foundation establishment. I can't absorb any more ki. I need to form a core before I can move my cultivation further."

"Do you think that forming a core is easy?" The old man's mouth frothed as he spoke angrily. "How many people have ever achieved that status in the history of our sect? Crossing the line between foundation establishment to core formation is a thing of sheer luck and fate." He paused and scrutinized the room as if looking for something incriminating. "Look, there is nothing you can do now except to cultivate. You don't want to go on an adventure. Your father and I both went around the world before we can form our core."

The young man was quiet. What his uncle said was true, but the path of their cultivation was not the same. While his uncle and father had their core on the right side of their hearts, his was on the left. He couldn't just go on an adventure.

"You are the heir to our Will of San," the old man went on. "Your father still can't make it past the zenith of core formation. And I am not even up to his level. You know our days are almost over.

"Your father wouldn't make it past the next ten years before he reaches the end of his lifespan. None among all the students that are your peers could beat you in the understanding of the Dao. The fate of our sect lies in your hands. The Biyakis are watching. And as soon as your father is no more, they are going to pounce upon us."

The old man was silent, his face upturned. At that time, his age was written on his face.

Tairen knew what lay in stock, but he had since left everything in the hands of fate. Even though he was believed to be the most brilliant in the history of the sect, the transition to core formation wasn't something he knew how to go about.

He clenched his hand and placed it on his chest. "I shall try harder from today, uncle."

"I pray to God you mean it," the old man said, shaking his head.

The young man looked chastised. He laughed and lowered his head. No one would believe him if his uncle didn't.

"There is something I want you to do. My birds have picked the location of an unknown treasure. A few cultivators have already claimed it. Luckily for us, it's located within our territory. Five of our people have already confirmed it."

"An unknown treasure?" Tairen asked in wonder.

Muwadd nodded. "Perhaps, you may want to join the hunting teams and hopefully have some more combat experience."

Tairen shook his head. "I don't want to."

Muwadd drew a sharp breath and shook his head. He knew that would be the answer.

"The whole treasure is hidden within a castle. I will send Barindana to have a look. Whatever is hiding in the castle would show itself. And you, get ready. You will follow them three days after they are gone. I don't want anyone to know you are there, and I don't want you to enter the castle or get yourself in any danger. You have a return scroll that will bring you back. All you have to do is observe and report back."

Tairen nodded. He knew he didn't have an option since the old man himself came to give the mission. So three days later, he got ready and went after Barindana and his team. He stayed not far from the castle and watched everything unfold.

He was there when Barindana tried and failed to enter the castle. He saw how his fellow disciple lost ten men.

When he was finished getting all the information he needed, he summoned the return scroll and went back to the sect.

Currently, he was in a hall for debriefing. Three other old men were present apart from his uncle. Tairen stood beside his uncle's seat with his head bowed.