The following weeks saw He Yu following much of the same routine as he had when he first arrived at the Shrouded Peaks Sect. His evening tea with Li Heng turned into increasingly intense sparring sessions following the attack at their waterfall cultivation spot. Li Heng had insisted that if Sha Xiang had found herself a Third Realm benefactor, her advancement would only increase as a result. He Yu couldn’t help but agree.
Between his basic drills with Ren Huang each morning and his evening sparring with Li Heng, He Yu had come to think that he was turning into a passable combatant. The time spent at the waterfall each week was well spent, too. Li Heng and Chen Fei usually came along, but Tan Xiaoling had begun taking on increasingly dangerous assignments from the sect and was often absent. Chen Fei said the princess was gathering resources for her advancement to the Third Realm, and intended to break through soon after the grace period was up.
He Yu couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous at that prospect. True, he’d long since advanced to the middle First Realm, and thanks to their time at the waterfall he was closing in on the late stage. But the breakthrough to Foundation seemed even more distant now than it had when he’d first arrived on the mountain.
At least now that he was at the middle Qi Gathering stage, He Yu could complete jobs for the assignment hall quickly enough that he frequently took two each day. His stockpile of contribution points had grown to where he felt comfortable purchasing extra spirit stones every other week or so. Along with his weekly stipend as an outer disciple, they provided a welcome—and much-needed—boost to his cultivation. By his accounting, things were going relatively well. Except for one problem—Sha Xiang.
It wasn’t her increasingly hostile attitude towards He Yu and his friends that bothered him. Nor was it the fact that she’d solidified herself at the head of the coterie she’d gathered around herself. No, it was the fact that she had earned a prize from Elder Wen nearly every single week since they’d arrived.
By contrast, He Yu had only won two prizes himself. One in the first week when he’d received the Five Phases Refinement Pill, and the second when he’d learned that he was leading in contribution points. He didn’t need to be told what that difference would mean for their respective advancement. He Yu was lamenting this fact to Li Heng one evening while walking home when they found someone waiting for them seated under a tree in front of their house. The figure stood as they approached, and He Yu recognized Yan Shirong from when they’d each won a Five Phases pill that first week.
Yan Shirong wore a sect uniform made of plum-colored silk that faded to black near the sleeves. Patterns depicting cranes were embroidered with silver thread at the hems of his robes. His hair fell over his shoulders and back unbound. As they drew close, Yan Shirong said, “Sect Brothers. It is good to finally meet you.”
He carried no visible weapons, but neither did Li Heng or Tan Xiaoling. There was no reason to believe that Yan Shirong didn’t possess a storage ring like the other nobles did. He Yu had come to learn such treasures were fairly common. “Yan Shirong, was it?” He Yu said.
“Indeed,” said the other disciple. “I’ll not waste either of your time. As you know, the end of the dueling ban for outer disciples rapidly approaches. I have chosen to reveal myself and offer my services to those who I feel will most likely make use of them.”
Li Heng’s eyes narrowed. “And what services might those be, Sect Brother Yan?”
“My arts are far less suited to direct confrontation than yours are, Sect Brother Li. However, I have eyes and ears in many places that you do not. My services, thus, are related to the most valuable of currencies—information.”
“So then you’re a skulking spy,” Li Heng said.
“As you meant no offense with your observation, I will take none. I am most certainly a spy, but I do not skulk.”
“Why would we need your services?” He Yu asked. More importantly, why did Yan Shirong think that they were any more likely to need them than any other disciples?
“Because your adversaries have many advantages you aren’t yet aware of, and you can be sure they will press their grudge at the first opportunity.”
“You speak in vagueries and offer nothing that holds any value I can see,” Li Heng said. “There isn’t a disciple on the mountain by now who hasn’t made enemies. You could have said as much to anyone and been at least partially true.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
He Yu nodded his agreement. “You’ll have to be more specific. Especially if we’re to pay you, which I assume is what you’re really after.”
“Quite. The information I offer comes at a cost. Spirit stones, to be precise, but we can speak of exchange later. I will offer you the following for free, just to prove my good faith. First, your rival Sha Xiang has fallen under the sway of an outer sect disciple known as Xiao Jun. He has been in the outer sect for three years now and has recently entered the middle Body Refining stage.
“As such, he is easily able to funnel resources to Sha Xiang, which she has been using to bolster her cultivation. This is how she has both been able to win Elder Wen’s weekly competitions and gather followers of her own.
“Second, the attack that the two of you suffered at Xiao Jun’s hands, along with Princess Tan and Sect Sister Chen, was meant to assess your strength so that he could gauge how best to aid Sha Xiang in pursuing her grudge against you and your allies, Sect Brother He.”
Li Heng pursed his lips as Yan Shirong spoke. He Yu just nodded along. Certain things the other disciple said weren’t exactly secret and would have been easy enough to find out for anyone who had the time or inclination to do so. The attack they’d suffered at their cultivation spot wasn’t among them.
Tan Xiaoling had warned them all to keep the very existence of the spot a secret so that they didn’t have to compete for it unnecessarily. By extension, knowledge of Xiao Jun’s attack was to remain between the four of them as well.
While He Yu knew he tended to blurt things out without thinking, he hadn’t done so. At least not with any of the information Yan Shirong had just revealed that he knew.
As though he sensed their hesitation, Yan Shirong added, “Like calls to like. Xiao Jun's shadow-aligned qi is easy for me to track and his perception techniques are lacking. His interest in you, Sect Brother He, seems to be rooted in the identity of your benefactor, Zhang Lifen.”
While he didn’t exactly go around bragging about it, anyone who’d seen him with Zhang Lifen that first evening when he arrived would have known there was some relationship between them. Then there was Sha Xiang. She knew about Zhang Lifen and clearly felt that she favored He Yu. There was very little that Yan Shirong had said that indicated exceptional information-gathering abilities—other than his knowledge of the waterfall and Xiao Jun’s attack there.
“Nothing you’ve mentioned is a particularly well-kept secret,” He Yu said.
“Trust me or not,” Yan Shirong said. “That is up to you. However, the reason I revealed myself tonight is because I have come into possession of a certain piece of knowledge. This too, I will offer for free, since you will learn of it on your own soon enough. There is to be a competition prior to the end of the dueling ban. It is one last chance for the outer disciples to earn rewards from the sect before restrictions are lifted. One last opportunity to gain advantage. When the competition is announced, I hope you’ll see that my services can be of value and that we can form a mutually beneficial relationship.”
“Who else have you spoken to?” Li Heng asked.
“Princess Tan and her handmaiden, of course,” Yan Shirong said. Something about his tone made He Yu bristle. “And I’ve also approached Sha Xiang and her two closest followers, Qiao Xia, and Cui Bao.”
That seemed to have been the wrong answer, given Li Heng’s response. The noble stepped forward. His qi flared out, silver and cold. “You’ve given away the trap,” he said.
Yan Shirong simply looked amused. “No trap. As I mentioned, I’ve offered my services to those I felt would most likely make use of them. Presently, that includes the little cliques that have formed around Princess Tan and Sha Xiang, and both their respective followers. As much as I tried to demonstrate my worth, Sect Sister Sha rebuffed my offer. Her loss, I suppose.”
Again, the way Yan Shirong spoke rubbed something in He Yu the wrong way. It wasn’t exactly wrong to say that they’d all gathered around Tan Xiaoling, but the idea that she was some sort of leader didn’t seem right. Aside from Li Heng’s deference towards her—wholly of his own volition and usually to Tan Xiaoling’s discomfort—they all acted more or less as equals.
“I don’t think he’s trying to deceive us,” He Yu said.
“You’re going to trust him?” Li Heng shot back.
“I never said that. I just don’t see what he has to gain by lying about anything that he’s told us. He knows enough to use our encounter with Xiao Jun to prove his ability to gather information. Besides, if he cheated us, we could hunt him down with Tan Xiaoling and Chen Fei. I don’t think he would be able to stand up to all four of us.”
“I most certainly could not stand up to the four of you,” Yan Shirong said with a chuckle. “But I can promise you would have a difficult time finding me if I didn’t want you to. Either way, I’ll be leaving now. Speak to me after the competition if you’re willing to do business.” Yan Shirong gave a slight, but respectful bow, and left.
Li Heng stared at the other disciple’s back as he retreated. Once he was well out of earshot, the noble said, “I don’t trust him.”
“Obviously,” He Yu said.
Li Heng remained silent. While He Yu could understand his trepidation, he didn’t have the same resources the noble did. He still hadn’t reached the late Qi Gathering stage, and the end of the dueling ban was fast approaching. Worse still, that meant he had just over three months left to advance to the Foundation stage, or he would be banished from the sect. Perhaps Yan Shirong would know of locations of treasures or valuable herbs.
Anything that could help him advance.
If he could guarantee his spot in the outer sect for another year, he could use that time to cultivate. Then he could close the gap with Sha Xiang. He didn’t expect Li Heng to understand, but it was a chance He Yu had to take, despite the risks.