Elder Cai ushered He Yu into the interior courtyard of his palatial home. A central garden dominated the space and was clearly maintained by a master gardener. He Yu was mildly surprised when Elder Cai knelt down and began tending to the plants himself.

While the talisman He Yu held protected him from the elder’s overwhelming presence, it did not mute his sense for qi. Elder Cai cared for his garden with wholly mortal techniques, using none of his cultivation base. Of course, being a cultivator meant that even without qi he could coax plants to life with far more skill than even the most accomplished mortal gardeners. As He Yu watched his martial grandfather tend to his garden, Elder Cai spoke.

“When Zhang Lifen sent you out from the sect last winter, I had hoped it would teach her a lesson. Instead, you and your friends were met with great fortune.”

He Yu didn’t need it spelled out for him. Elder Cai had expected they would fall at King Hao’s hands. It felt a bit unfair to be thought of so callously by the elder, but He Yu didn’t dare speak up.

“Through your fortune,” Elder Cai continued, “you encountered something you ought not have. It was unclear, even to me, at the time how fully King Hao had given himself over to the Sunset Empress. The combination of my disciple’s meddling and your good fortune has caused the Sunset Court to reveal itself, perhaps sooner than they would have liked. I suppose I should be grateful for that turn, at least.”

Elder Cai fell silent, hands working at the task he’d set himself to. He Yu stood by quietly, watching. The garden was truly magnificent. Its beauty and tranquility helped put his mind at ease after hearing the elder’s words. It was something he became even more grateful for when Elder Cai spoke next.

“The art I gave you will bind you ever closer to this the further you cultivate it. As you ascend the realms of cultivation and the Heavenly Palace opens its gates to you, you will be drawn into ever greater conflict with the Sunset Empress and her agents. You are not ready for this.

“Leave my home. Go to the manual pavilion and select another art. Never speak of the empress or her court again. Forget all that you have seen and all that you have heard. Your little rivalry with Disciple Sha will run its course, with one of you eventually claiming ultimate victory. That will be the end of your involvement.

“Otherwise, ask my blessing one last time. I will give it. You will venture into the wilds and Disciple Yan will perform his divination. You and all your friends will uncover secrets best left to rest.”

Elder Cai turned and stood, fixing He Yu in place with the weight of his attention. “Make your choice.”

The command left no doubt in He Yu. There would be no opportunity to think. No opportunity to consult his friends. Not only was he making this choice for himself, but for them as well.

It wasn’t fair. He wanted to say as much. To protest. To argue. The Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment opened to him. Much of what he’d already done, and much of what he’d still be asked to do, could hardly be called fair. Such was his lot, should he continue along his Way.

In developing the discernment befitting an emperor, he would be asked to make such choices. To forge his legend he would be asked to choose, time and again. How many lives did the Dragon Emperor hold in his hands, after all? If a hero went to one region rather than another, how many benefited or suffered by that choice? He thought of his friends. What would they say? They didn’t know what he was dragging them into.

“We have accepted the assignment, Honored Elder. We will see it to completion,” He Yu said. The gates of the Heavenly Palace closed. The only insight he gained was one of acceptance. He supposed right or wrong wasn’t the question, but rather action or inaction.

Elder Cai’s attention still pressed upon him. “I see,” was all he said.

A radiant pillar descended from heaven. He Yu’s vision went white. When the light faded and his vision returned he found himself standing at the foot of the elders’ mountain. The talisman Elder Cai had given him was gone, replaced by a simple bronze badge. The badge bore an inscription, granting permission to pass beyond the boundary allowed to the inner disciples.

They had the job.

First, He Yu sought out Yan Shirong. Soon after, messages had been sent via Yan Shirong’s constructs and they were all gathered at the comital scion’s home. He Yu then relayed his meeting with Elder Cai to the rest.

“So I take it that by going on this mission, we’ll be pulled in to whatever is going on with the Sunset Court as well,” Li Heng said.

“That’s what I gather. Although I don’t know if it will be to the same degree that I will,” He Yu answered.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

“Irrelevant,” Tan Xiaoling said. “If this organization is as far-reaching as Elder Cai would have us believe, it would be irresponsible for me not to investigate further. Regardless of my circumstances, I am still royalty of the Jade Kingdom, and I have a duty to my father.”

Although He Yu couldn’t say what Tan Xiaoling’s circumstances were exactly, he wasn’t going to refuse her help, that was certain.

“I’m of a similar mind,” Li Heng said. “The Li family serves the Dragon Empire, and the Sunset Court works against the emperor’s interests. My obligations are clear.”

Yan Shirong grimaced as he spoke. “I don’t like it, but I find myself in a similar situation. My father expects me to keep him abreast of what we find, otherwise, he wouldn’t have told me to go.”

He Yu looked to Chen Fei. She was like him in the fact that she came from a common background and had no political obligations she needed to see to. Unlike him, she had no inherent connection to this. While he’d chosen his path, he still didn’t feel right choosing for her.

“I can’t let all of you go alone,” she said at length, her voice smaller than usual, but her expression firm. “I already said that you’ll need someone better at formations than all of you are.”

That settled things. Since they’d already accepted the job and gotten Elder Cai’s assent, all that remained was to figure out the logistics.

They spent the remainder of the afternoon gathering supplies and making whatever purchases they needed from the inner sect market. Although the medicines and qi restoration pills available here were a bit more expensive than those available to the outer sect, they were far more potent. Between He Yu’s increased stipend as an inner disciple and the resources he’d been taking from his opponents, for the first time since coming to the sect he didn’t feel the pinch when purchasing supplies.

If there was one regret he had about leaving now, it was only that he’d not had more time to cultivate the Spring Rain Mirror. Despite the technique’s difficulty, he could see its strength. A defensive art that powerful would be a tremendous help going into a dangerous region infested with spirits and beasts alike. At least he had his companions to count on.

On his way back from the inner sect market, he ran into Li Heng. He was walking along the path from the market to the living area, wearing a pensive expression.

“Is everything alright?” He Yu asked as he approached.

Li Heng looked up, then shook his head. “I wonder what my father would do, or my grandfather, if either of them were in my position.”

The question was clearly rhetorical. He Yu knew full well what Li Renshu, the Seventh Realm founder of the Li family would do. He’d done enough reading into Li Heng’s ancestor since coming to the sect. Li Renshu would go into the wilds, and face whatever was there. He Yu was fairly certain that his friend’s father, Li Bao, would do the same.

“You said yourself that you’ll be coming,” He Yu said. “I don’t see the problem.”

“You wouldn’t.”

That answer gave him pause. There was more to it than what Li Heng had given voice to, but he wasn’t certain he ought to press. Of the two of them, Li Heng had always been the better when it came to that sort of thing.

Instead, he simply said, “If you want to talk, I’ll listen.”

Something fell away from Li Heng, then. His shoulders slumped, and his face fell. “Did I ever tell you about my training with Old Guo when he took me away from you and Yan Shirong?” he asked.

It hadn’t been what He Yu had expected, but he took it in stride. “I don’t think you did, no.”

“He said I was unfit to carry my grandfather’s sword.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” He Yu said immediately.

“No,” Li Heng said. “It is true. He also said I was soft. Hadn’t ever been truly pushed.”

“What about King Hao?” He Yu asked. “What about during the tournament? You beat everyone except the champion.”

“I placed behind you.”

He Yu fell silent, unsure of what to say.

“That wasn’t fair,” Li Heng said after a time. “You’ve come a long way, and you earned your spot.”

“I couldn’t have done it alone,” he said. “If you hadn’t befriended me. If you hadn’t stepped in and helped me in those first days. If you hadn’t pushed me into those first duels. I don’t think there’s anyone who’s done more for me than you have.”

Li Heng’s expression indicated he didn’t fully believe He Yu, but he at least seemed to perk up a bit. “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.”

“Maybe I would have been fine without your help,” He Yu said. “But that’s not the road we walked. How we got to where we are now is all that matters.”

“And if I continue to fall further behind?” Li Heng asked.

He Yu stopped in the path and looked to his friend. He was still middle Body Refining like Yan Shirong and Chen Fei were. He was closer to the boundary of the late stage than either of them. The only reason He Yu had broken through already was due to the absurd amount of resources being thrown at him by all the challenges he’d been dealing with. He didn’t think that would satisfy Li Heng, though.

“Then I’ll pull you up along with me,” He Yu answered. “Before the tournament, I gave Chen Fei one of my mid-grade spirit stones. She tried to refuse it, but I told her I didn’t want to leave anyone behind. I’ll tell you the same thing now.”

The visions that he’d seen during his earliest days at the sect returned then. Standing alone on a windswept mountaintop. No friends, allies, or enemies in sight. He Yu shuddered as the sense of loneliness left a hollow pit in his stomach.

Li Heng stopped in the path and He Yu did likewise a moment later, turning to face him. He Yu reached out and clasped Li Heng’s forearm in a firm grip.

“Come on,” he said. “There’s a dangerous wild full of secrets waiting for us outside the sect. Whatever we find, I want you with me when we face it.”

Li Heng gave him a curt nod. “Alright, little brother,” he said, a bit of his familiar humor slipping into a small grin. “Let’s go.”

When He Yu and Li Heng arrived at the gate leading to the western portion of the sect lands, the rest were already waiting. Past the wall separating the inner sect from the wilds, He Yu could see the pillar-like mountains of the Shrouded Peaks rising to the heavens. Clouds and mist wended between peaks and slopes, dotted with splashes of green where flora could find purchase on the otherwise jagged gray facades. Among those peaks lay valleys. Valleys that, according to Count Yan, would provide some sort of answer for them.