Over the next several weeks, He Yu trained against rock spirits in the hills. On some days Zhang Lifen would round up a pack of Second and Third Realm spirits, each group larger than the one before. She would bring more his way just as fast as he could destroy them, claiming she didn’t want him to feel lonely.

On other days, she would make him fight a Fourth Realm spirit. Just as she had with the first one, she would step in and take care of the spirit herself as the sun dipped towards the horizon. She would also keep the area clear of any lesser spirits that wandered in, claiming that it wouldn’t be fair otherwise.

Any resentment that He Yu may have felt towards her faded. Each night, when they returned to their makeshift camp, Zhang Lifen would provide him with a set of elixirs. They weren’t anything spectacular—the same sort he would have bought when he was among the top disciples of the outer sect. However, they did a good job of restoring the qi he’d spent during the day and ensured his nightly cultivation was productive.

Zhang Lifen also spent most nights lecturing him. She spoke at length about integrating his Wayborn Seed, his arts, and how it all related to the Eternal Dao. After that second day, He Yu’s meditations had focused on Zhang Lifen’s lectures.

He didn’t feel any closer to knowing for certain what it meant to be a hero. What it meant to be just. How to forge a legend. He had realized one important thing, however. It was the very process of answering these questions and more that would form the bulk of his Way, at least for the time being. In seeking those answers, in contemplating what they meant to him, he would gain the insight to progress. To advance.

While his cultivation base wasn’t increasing, at least not by any substantial amount, he was making significant strides in other areas. His arts now fit together better than they had previously. It was a tough thing for him to put into words. It was the subtleties of qi flowing through his meridians that made the difference. The ease at which he now infused strikes with heaven qi, whether it be punches and kicks or the wind aspected techniques of the Five Crescent Winds.

His movement technique, the Sky Dragon’s Flight, came more easily than ever. When combined with the battle sense from the Peerless Judgment, he was faster and more precise than he’d ever been. The Empyrean Ninefold Body Tempering made him agile, durable, and strong. Activating both the movement technique and the body enforcement at once allowed for bursts of speed that would have been unthinkable even when he was at the peak of Foundation. Activating both techniques along with the Peerless Judgment? He was practically untouchable.

Even the Spring Rain Mirror was progressing further and faster than he would have thought possible. After that first day, He Yu had avoided using it, since the earth-aspected spirits could so easily overcome the water aspected defensive technique. Several days later, Zhang Lifen had admonished him for it. The whole point, she had said, was to pit the technique against aspects it was ill-suited to.

While the Spring Rain Mirror would never be as effective at deflecting an earth-based attack as it would a fire based one, he could still use it for that purpose. As she pointed out, her water aspected techniques were perfectly capable of obliterating the earth spirits. When He Yu countered that was only because she was Fifth Realm, she simply told him that was her whole point.

From then on, He Yu also trained with the Spring Rain Mirror. It only took a couple of days before his mastery over the technique had progressed to a point that let him deal with the earth spirits’ techniques. The more powerful of the Third Realm spirits could overcome the Mirror, but it would hold long enough to negate their attacks as well. Anything below that level quickly became trivial for him to defend against, despite the disadvantage in aspects.

As useful as the daily training was, his nightly discussions with Zhang Lifen and his own meditations were perhaps more enlightening. Her habit of asking probing questions, challenging his assumptions, and presenting simple truths in a new light brought him ever closer to understanding his own nature and the nature of his Way. He shouldn’t have been surprised—she had been a prodigy of the sect long before he’d met her. Under her instruction, he was coming to understand why.

Once she had given him something to think on for the evening, she left him to his cultivation. With the medicines and elixirs she provided crackling in his dantian and through his meridians, he contemplated the lessons he’d learned that day. Both the insights he gained through the relentless training she put him through, and the discussion on the Dao after—each piece fit ever closer with all the others, coming to form a greater picture that until now he’d not even begun to grasp.

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On the horizons of his meditations, he saw the storm. The world was ringed by thick black clouds. Unlike before, where there was only the suggestion of rain, now the skies opened. Water fell in torrential sheets. Within the depths of those clouds, lightning still flashed and thunder still rolled across the land. But now great arcs of heaven’s wrath reached to the ground. Brilliance lit the sky and struck the earth. And with it all came the howling gale.

Rather than dread the coming of such a severe power of nature, He Yu wanted nothing more than to reach for it. He thought back to all those times back in Shulin when he would sit in his father’s forge and listen to the patter of rain on the roof, and watch as the world turned wet and gray. There was a peace and a in for those moments. A time of serenity. He’d always liked those days of deep summer when the storms rolled across the land. The herald of thunder had always been a promise then. It was a promise now.

Summer. As the season approached, a feeling of anticipation settled over him. Zhang Lifen had said that primordial arts such as his asked a high price. That in order to advance, he would need to chart a path more difficult than the simple way forward that perhaps his peers would enjoy. He would walk whatever path was necessary. He would step into whatever storm the world had for him. Of that, he was certain.

After just over a month in the hills, Zhang Lifen told him it was time to return.

“Already?” he asked. “I had thought we would stay longer.” He thought back to his time training with Old Guo. The sheer benefit of an entire season, rather than a single cycle of the moon.

“Despite appearances, I do not have infinite elixirs to feed you,” she said. “Besides, our time away from the sect has served its purpose by now.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He Yu had almost forgotten her habit of concealing her true motives from him.

“Well, most obviously, I wanted you to have the chance to develop your cultivation base in peace for a time,” she began. “Your failure to form your Golden Core was something I wanted to address as well. I should think you have a better idea of the way forward there.”

He did, and said as much as they set off back towards the west, the Shrouded Peaks, and the sect proper.

“Just as importantly, I wanted to give you the chance to cool off a bit. You were quite upset after finding out what happened during your attempt at advancement, and I didn’t want you doing anything stupid. I didn’t want Sha Xiang to press things while she thought she may have an advantage.”

“Should have known,” he muttered.

“Li Heng should be out of the medicine hall by now, and your other friends ought to have regrouped. More importantly, that you’ve vanished for a month will have convinced her you feel weak and unable to stand up to her. Although I’m far from certain, I suspect her current state of mind will lead her to count that as a victory. Which will give you time to get things in order.”

He Yu sighed. Although he hated to admit it, she was right. No doubt he needed to sort things out with Li Heng. Also, he still desperately wanted to show Sha Xiang once and for all that it was a mistake to pursue whatever her stupid rivalry was. He’d realized during his time out here that there was really only one way to do that. Overwhelming strength.

When they arrived back at the sect, Zhang Lifen bid him farewell and He Yu made his way to Li Heng’s home. As Zhang Lifen had predicted, Li Heng had been out of the medicine hall for some time. Nearly as long as He Yu had been away. Which perhaps accounted for the aloof distance He Yu now felt.

“I see,” Li Heng said, once He Yu had finished telling him where he’d been for the past month.

He Yu set down his teacup and turned over the uncomfortable pit in his stomach. Li Heng had remained distant the whole time they’d been talking, wearing his noble’s mask and giving short, clipped answers or comments. It was clear he was upset about something, and He Yu had a pretty good idea of what, but he didn’t know how to broach the subject. Or if he was even ready.

“Look,” he began, “I didn’t know she was going to make any sort of move like that.”

“I already told you not to worry about that,” Li Heng said. “I put myself in danger, and I paid for it. Such is the life of immortals, no?”

He Yu frowned. He’d come to know Li Heng well enough to tell when he was being disingenuous. Although he believed what he’d just said, there was more to it. It was what he wasn’t saying that bothered He Yu. He also knew Li Heng well enough to realize that he wouldn’t get anywhere by pushing him. At least not right now.

“I’ll make her pay for this,” he said.

Given the way Li Heng’s mouth tightened around the corners, that had been the wrong thing to say. “See that you do,” he said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to return to training.”

The abruptness of the dismissal was enough to make his head spin. Rather than go straight home, He Yu spent some time wandering around the inner sect mountain. He sifted through all the times things had gotten a bit tense between him and Li Heng over the past two years, searching for any indication of what could be bothering him.

There didn’t really seem to be a theme. To He Yu’s memory, it seemed more or less random. He’d always just thought the noble was a bit touchy. The more he thought about it, the more lost and despondent he felt. At least until then, he’d assumed they were good friends. Especially with Li Heng taking to calling him “little brother” all the time. And in front of the other nobles. Had that just been an act?

He shook his head. It couldn’t have been. He’d seemed sincere all those times. Li Heng had even gone out of his way to stand up for him back when He Yu couldn’t stand up for himself. Was that it? That He Yu hadn’t been there when Li Heng had needed him? All those questions and more tumbled through his thoughts as he finally, under the setting sun, made his way back home for the first time in over a month.