When the light faded, He Yu found himself standing in Elder Cai’s courtyard once again. At the far end of the courtyard stood the elder himself. The alabaster tower rose to a tempestuous sky above, flickering with heaven’s light. The air around them felt charged as though it were ready to snap.

The five disciples saluted the elder by pressing fist to palm. They each had to flex their spirits to remain standing, and it was clear that no charm would be forthcoming. While Elder Cai’s expression gave no indication that he was angry, He Yu could immediately tell this meeting was far more serious than the last had been.

From the opposite end of the courtyard, the elder spoke. Although he did not raise his voice, they all could hear him as clearly as if he stood only a few feet away.

“Disciple Yan, tell us what you saw.”

Yan Shirong swallowed and glanced to He Yu. Again, He Yu had a moment’s pause when he realized that he’d been deferred to once more. At least Yan Shirong didn’t wait for an answer. A quick glance was all, and then he did as he’d been commanded.

“This disciple performed a reading of the trigrams, as the Honored Elder is surely aware,” Yan Shirong began. “The things that were revealed were difficult to make sense of.”

“Describe them.”

“A golden dome covered a valley. The land around the dome withered, but those that inhabited it lived. All within the land kowtowed to the dome and pledged their service. The sun touched the horizon and the land turned red. The dome cracked, and then—” he stopped then and took a deep breath. “Then I was assaulted. Like a thousand needles tearing into my spirit. Picking me apart and putting me back together, only to do it again and again.”

The pressure of Elder Cai’s spirit doubled. Above them, the gates of the Heavenly Palace opened, bathing the courtyard in celestial radiance. They all fell to their knees under the weight of the Elder’s Spirit. It lasted for a moment that stretched to an eternity. When the presence retreated and He Yu could breathe again he didn’t dare stand. Neither did any of the others.

“Just to be certain, Disciple Yan,” the elder said. “Did you accept any offers? Did you make any pledges?”

“This disciple cannot say with certainty. He has no memories of doing any such thing.”

“Stand,” Elder Cai said, his demeanor softening. “I will require an oath of you all. Normally this would come much later. Typically the things we are about to speak of are reserved for core disciples and only the most talented and capable disciples of the inner sect. That the five of you have come to learn of such things so early is unusual, but I am not one to waste an opportunity.”

Tan Xiaoling sat up at that. “Forgiveness, Elder,” she said. “But this disciple must first observe her filial obligations. I cannot hold to any oath that would conflict with my duties to my father and the Jade Kingdom.”

“You all will swear that what we speak of here today will never leave the sect,” Elder Cai said, ignoring Tan Xiaoling’s words and eying each of them in turn. “Should you refuse to swear, you will be confined to the inner sect mountain until such a time as you do.”

He Yu didn’t need to be told twice. “I swear, on my position as an inner disciple of the Shrouded Peaks Sect.” Ever since learning of all this Dawn Palace nonsense, he’d hungered to know more. This had the makings of a legend, he was certain. If an oath of silence was all he needed to finally get some answers, he was more than happy to comply.

The other disciples swore in turn. Tan Xiaoling was the last, but she eventually swore as well.

Satisfied, Elder Cai spoke. “The Dawn Palace is a formation script, designed with the aid of the Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment. I created it a thousand years past to seal away a powerful cultivator who called herself the Sunset Empress. Following her suppression, the Shrouded Peaks Sect was created to safeguard the formation array, and to ensure she remains in her prison.

“Although she remains sealed, her influence has steadily expanded. The organization known as the Sunset Court was originally comprised of her closest followers—those who gave themselves over to her power willingly. The Court has been working tirelessly to expand their ranks, and eventually free their Empress. Although they have failed their ultimate objective thus far, the Dawn Palace grows weaker with each passing year. Eventually, I will no longer be able to maintain it.”

“Pardon, Elder, please forgive this one’s impudence but can’t you simply create a new array?” Chen Fei asked.

Elder Cai suddenly looked very old and very tired. “Creating the original formation array took a great deal of power. Fighting the Sunset Empress and weakening her enough that she was vulnerable to its effects took the coordinated efforts of more than two dozen cultivators—all of the Seventh and Eighth Realms. Only six, including myself, survived the battle. Of those six survivors, I am the last to yet live. I’m sure you can understand, given that the five of you have experienced only the barest sliver of what she is capable of.”

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A shudder passed through He Yu at that. What sort of a monster could stand against more than twenty immortals, all of the Divine Body Attainment stage or above? Not only stand against them but nearly win?

“It has taken too much of me in the passing centuries to ensure the Dawn Palace holds. I have given not only of my cultivation base, but also of my lifespan to do so. My advancement is halted. I will never reach the Ninth Realm. When she breaks free, I will not be capable of sealing her again.”

“So why us?” He Yu asked. Given the looks on the others’ faces, it was a question they all had.

“Do you think there is anything on this mountain that passes without the elders’ notice, Disciple He? The five of you would have continued to search for answers. Rather than waste your potential, I consulted with the others. We decided to use the opportunity we’d been presented with. You will need to reach Golden Core to be of any real use. So that should be your focus for now.”

“What happens then?” He Yu asked.

“Once you all have attained the Fourth Realm, I will send you hunting. Sha Xiang has caused the Court to reveal their hand. Once we’ve rooted out enough of them to make a difference, we will purge them from the sect and the empire as a whole. Any blow we can strike to weaken the empress’s influence now will benefit us greatly later.”

“Why not simply strike now?” Tan Xiaoling asked. “If you know that Sha Xiang is an agent of this Court, why not have her lead you to the rest?”

“That’s not how the Court operates,” Elder Cai said. “We have been trying to eliminate them for a thousand years. We root out one group, and another always emerges. Sect Leader Zhou Shanyuan and I have allowed them to infiltrate the sect so that we can better observe them, and hopefully learn more than we have been able to thus far. This plan relies on them thinking we remain ignorant, however. That is why we don’t move against them just yet.”

“So that’s it?” He Yu asked. “We just need to form our Golden Cores? All of us?”

“Look to your connection to the Eternal Dao,” Elder Cai said. As expected of an elder, he’d caught He Yu’s meaning. “Disciple He and Disciple Tan have already formed their Wayborn Seeds. Follow your Way. Seek the truth behind it, and discover the reason you walk it.”

Elder Cai looked at the other three in turn. “The rest of you, seek the ideal you hold to. That which drives your cultivation. Draw from that to form your own Wayborn Seeds. Doing so now will ease your paths forward. It will allow you to harmonize with your Dao sooner, and give you a tremendous advantage in your advancement.”

The white light swallowed them once again, and they found themselves at the base of the elders’ mountain when it cleared. They all exchanged looks, their expressions a mix of eagerness and trepidation. Their agreement was obvious and unspoken. As they went their separate ways to rest and recuperate, the atmosphere between them was subdued.

They had just learned that they had been drawn into a conflict older than any of them. He Yu thought back to his conversation with Zhang Lifen on the mountain’s edge overlooking the mists following his duel with Sha Xiang.

How much of this was by coincidence, and how much was by design? Elder Cai and Zhang Lifen had both mentioned they weren’t ones to waste opportunities. But Elder Cai had also explicitly said that giving him the Cloud Emperor’s Heavenly Palace was him “placing a finger on the scales.” Surely, too, it was no accident that Zhang Lifen had chosen both him and Sha Xiang for the sect.

Well, if that was the way things were, that was just how they were. What could he do in the face of plans laid by those so much more powerful and ancient than himself, but follow his Way? It had gotten him this far, after all.

Besides, wasn’t this exactly the sort of thing he’d always wanted? What better way to become a hero who had stories told about them for centuries to come than fighting an evil cultivator from over a thousand years ago? A part of him admitted that he didn’t strictly know the Sunset Empress was evil, but given everything he’d seen and heard of her, he couldn’t imagine how she would not be.

As He Yu made his way along the path back to his home, a familiar presence fell in beside him. He turned and saluted his mentor, thankful that she no longer saw fit to simply intrude on his living space.

“I see you’ve been productive while I’ve been gone,” Zhang Lifen said with her familiar playful smile. There was, however, something about her demeanor that indicated this was a more serious visit than typical.

“I have,” He Yu said. “Your instruction was useful, both in the intervening duels I’ve had to fight, and during my time in the wilds.” He had a feeling she already knew what he’d been up to, so he didn’t bother to elaborate.

“That was the point, believe it or not,” she said. “We need to speak. I’m sure you have many questions, and now that you’ve met with Master Cai, I have much more liberty to answer them than before.”

He did have questions. When they arrived at his home, he produced a jar of wine for them both. After the past few days, he needed something stronger than tea. They sat on the steps leading from the main room of his home to the courtyard. The light faded as the day waned, and He Yu thought it was a fitting time to discuss someone called the Sunset Empress.

“Where have you been?” he asked, not really sure where to begin with the more pressing business. Or whether he was quite ready to hear more yet.

“I had to take care of some things,” she said. There was a somberness to her voice that he hadn’t expected. Unprompted, she added, “Xiao Jun is dead.”

That hit He Yu harder than he expected. He certainly had no love for the man who’d fueled Sha Xiang’s advancement, allowing her to keep pace with him and ultimately enter the inner sect. Xiao Jun had attacked him and his friends unprovoked, simply to take their measure. He Yu hadn’t paid much attention to whatever Xiao Jun may have been up to once he’d joined the inner sect. There had been rumors that Xiao Jun had disappeared, but He Yu hadn’t given it much thought otherwise.

“Did you?” he asked.

Zhang Lifen nodded. “I got what I needed from him, but in doing so I revealed that we know more about the Court than they might realize. There was too much risk in letting him live.”

He Yu fell silent for a moment but then nodded. This was the world he was a part of now, and he needed to accept that.