He Yu rolled over onto his back. How long his qi had raged out of control, he couldn’t have said. What he could say was that every part of his body and spirit hurt. His dantian ached and felt emptier than it ever had before. His meridians ached and felt like he’d been cycling acid through them. His muscles ached worse than that first marathon around the mountain in Ren Huang’s physical training class. His eyes felt like someone had driven shards of glass into them.

Worst of all, he was still Third Realm.

He couldn’t believe it—he’d failed. Sure, it was something he’d always known could happen. The stories were filled with cultivators who’d failed to break through into higher realms. Usually because they would do so later, at a more suitably dramatic time. But he didn’t think that would ever happen to him.

He’d achieved his first breakthrough in less than a week after joining the sect. His rise had been meteoric by all accounts. Even his mentor—the sect’s peerless rising star—had seemed impressed with his progress, at least on occasion.

He wasn’t supposed to fail.

He also hadn’t expected failure to be so painful. With a groan, he rolled back over onto his stomach and pushed himself up to his hands and knees. It took far more effort than it had any right to. After struggling to his feet, he popped a restorative pill into his mouth and bit down. The medicinal qi flooded into him, lessening the empty ache in his dantian, if only by a bit.

When he emerged from his cultivation chamber, it was a relief to see that it was still spring. At least he’d not been struggling to control his cultivation base for a season or more. Unless—no, he buried the thought. There was no way he’d been in there a whole year. He’d be famished, given that he was still Body Refining and needed to eat enough each week to feed a small village.

A faint pulse of shadow qi caught his attention. Sitting on a low wall in the center of his courtyard was one of Yan Shirong’s messenger constructs. It was shaped like a bird, crafted of bone, and bound together with shadow. It sat motionless, facing the cultivation chamber. The construct’s qi was very nearly spent, and He Yu felt an uncomfortable pit form in his stomach. While he didn’t know how long the construct could last on its own, he assumed Yan Shirong would make them fairly efficient. Which meant it had been there for some time. Waiting.

He approached the bird of bone and shadow. Once he’d gotten about arm’s length from it, the construct shifted. Its head turned, the empty eye sockets regarding him with an uncanny feeling of awareness. Another faint pulse of qi and images floated into his awareness.

Ambush. Five of them. Two were dispatched. The others—Sha Xiang, Cui Bao, Da Ning. Stand and fight, get help. Too much.

The images were garbled, confused. As soon as the message—or what was left of it—finished, the construct collapsed. The shadow faded in the afternoon light, and the bones fell to the ground before crumbling to dust. He Yu had seen enough to get the gist of it, however. The uncomfortable pit became an ember as the disjointed scene played itself out. Sha Xiang had attacked his friends.

Despite having done so only moments ago, He Yu took another restorative pill. It was a low enough grade that he shouldn’t suffer any backlash from it. Even if he did, he’d take that risk. With what little qi he’d managed to restore since practically draining himself, he activated the Sky Dragon’s Flight and leaped over the wall to his home.

A moment later he reached the path leading up to Yan Shirong’s home. Given the images—such that they were—from the construct, this was where the fight had taken place. He paused and took a moment to examine the surroundings, and worry welled up to join his anger. There was no trace that a fight had taken place here at all. The sect would repair damage to the grounds caused by outbreaks of violence within a day or so, which meant that the attack had taken place at least that long ago.

He Yu walked up the path toward Yan Shirong’s home and activated the Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment. As he’d expected, several constructs were placed in the area. They were relatively well hidden, and in noticeably better condition than the one that had been waiting in his courtyard. He gave a brief flex of his spirit, just to let Yan Shirong know he was coming, and approached his friend’s home.

Drawing close to the perimeter wall, Yan Shirong’s voice came from a nearby construct, sounding hollow and distant. “Don’t come closer. I need to deactivate the security formation.”

A brief surge of qi filled the air as the previously invisible dome over Yan Shirong’s home winked out. It was an impressive script, and potent, too. If He Yu were to guess, it was most likely Chen Fei’s work. Otherwise, Yan Shirong would have had to pay a hefty sum to have it constructed, and He Yu knew well enough how loathe Yan Shirong was to part with his spirit stones.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Once inside, he had a brief look around. If the violence had extended to Yan Shirong’s home, any damage had been repaired already. That could mean either it had happened some time ago, or that the damage wasn’t too bad. He Yu hoped it was the latter.

“About time you show yourself,” Yan Shirong said. He Yu couldn’t help but notice the bitterness in his voice.

“What happened?” he asked. At first glance, Yan Shirong appeared fine. No visible injuries, but he was wearing a new robe. It was noticeably more expensive-looking than the sorts of clothes he’d worn before, and a glimpse with the Peerless Judgment confirmed that it had powerful defensive formations woven into it.

“I’m assuming you finally got my message. We were attacked.”

“I gathered,” He Yu said, making no effort to hide his own displeasure. It wasn’t as if he’d gone into seclusion with the intent of his friends getting ambushed.

Yan Shirong sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before sitting on the low wall ringing a decorative pond. “I’ve been on edge ever since, is all. Sha Xiang and her lackeys attacked me. It was pretty clear why they started with me. I managed to get a message to Li Heng before they tied me down. Once he showed up, I managed to escape.”

“You left him to fight them all by himself?” He Yu demanded.

“You know how he is,” Yan Shirong shot back. “He told me to go find everyone else. Rally the troops as it were, while he held back the tide. Or whatever self-righteous duty nonsense motivates him to be such an idiot sometimes.”

The pit in He Yu’s stomach returned as Yan Shirong spoke. “What aren’t you telling me?” he asked.

“Li Heng is still in the medicine hall,” he said. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but the attack happened almost a month ago.”

He Yu had no words. How could he have been out for a month? He wrestled with his thoughts, trying to push all the questions flooding into his head aside. There was only one thing that mattered right now. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Eventually,” Yan Shirong said. “Sha Xiang beat him within an inch of his life. He was in pretty awful shape when they found him.”

“They?” He Yu frowned at the way Yan Shirong phrased it. “You didn’t get back to him yourself?”

“When he told me to go fetch everyone else, Cui Bao followed me. He’s a lot faster than I’d thought. Chased me halfway off the mountain before I lost him. I did manage to get constructs off to you, Tan Xiaoling, and Chen Fei, though.”

“So what happened? If you all were able to rally, how did Li Heng get hurt so badly?”

“I don’t know,” Yan Shirong said, looking away. “By the time we all made it back, the fight was over. They were all gone, including Li Heng. It wasn’t until hours later that Chen Fei learned someone had found him and had him taken to the medicine hall. Tan Xiaoling went on the warpath, I’m sure you’ll be happy to know.”

“She dealt with them, then?”

Yan Shirong gave a rueful laugh. “They were gone when she arrived at their home. She did wreck the place, though. But it seems they expected retaliation and went into hiding. The second attack happened several days later.”

He didn’t dare ask. Yan Shirong elaborated anyway.

“They hit Chen Fei first. Got her pretty badly, but she’s considerably sturdier than Li Heng. She recovered within a week, I think. They came after me, next. I was ready and had contingencies in place. When Tan Xiaoling arrived, it was the two of us against Sha Xiang, Cui Bao, Da Ning, and Mo Zhiqiang.”

“What happened? Did you manage to fend them off?”

Yan Shirong shook his head. “Things were pretty even, actually. Princess Tan is—I guess you know what she’s like.”

He did. “Get to the point.”

“Well, four on two at equal advancement isn’t a fight even she can handle. Not forever, at least. Things had started turning against us in a bad way when one of the core disciples showed up. Apparently, the collateral damage from the fight had surpassed what the sect deemed acceptable and they decided to put a stop to it.

“Sha Xiang was furious, of course. I’ll tell you, that girl had absolutely no restraint. Could have sworn she’d attack the core disciple right there, and he was a middle Fifth Realm. Tan Xiaoling was angry too, but at least she knows how to conduct herself.

“Anyway, when Chen Fei got out of the medicine hall, she set up the formation script around my home. Tan Xiaoling has been posted outside Li Heng’s room since the fight with Sha Xiang.”

“I need to go see him,” He Yu said, turning to the door.

“Be careful,” Yan Shirong said. His tone caused He Yu to turn back. Concern was etched onto his features.

“I’m going to make them pay for this,” he said. “All of them.”

Yan Shirong sighed and waved his hand. “Go, then. Just make sure to talk to Princess Tan about this first.”

Carried by the Sky Dragon’s Flight, He Yu blasted towards the medicine hall. Although he itched to go fight Sha Xiang right that instant, he needed to check on Li Heng first. He owed his friend at least that much. It would also let him check in with Tan Xiaoling. He thought it odd that Yan Shirong would mention that specifically, but He Yu had come to know him well enough that there was a reason for it.

When he arrived at the medicine hall, he strode inside. The disciple in charge directed him to where Li Heng was recovering, and as Yan Shirong had said, Princess Tan stood outside the door. Her arms were crossed, and her expression was one of vigilance and vengeance. As he approached she held out a hand for him to stop. When he didn’t, she stepped forward and placed that same hand on his chest.

For a moment they simply locked eyes with one another. The anger He Yu felt was reflected in her gaze, but there was something else in her eyes, too. Sorrow? Shame? He couldn’t be certain, and at the moment he didn’t particularly care.

“Let me pass,” he said.

“He needs his rest.” Tan Xiaoling’s voice was firm. She was about the same size as he was, which was to say not particularly large. About average for a woman, actually, but she was strong. Stronger than he was, he had to admit. If he were to try and force his way past, she was one of the few people still in Body Refining who could actually stop him.

He Yu relented, then sighed. “Tell me what happened,” he said.