With a tired sigh, He Yu sent his guandao back to his storage treasure. The other disciple knelt before him, head bowed. He was bloody, battered, and bruised, but his posture—even kneeling—showed that he still had some pride. Pride that would no doubt cause more trouble for He Yu if the past few weeks had been any indication.

“Empty your storage treasure,” He Yu said. The words sounded tired to his own ears, and they’d become rote at this point. He was sick of saying them by now.

The disciple—He Yu had already forgotten his name and sect rank—glared up at him, but did as he’d been ordered. He Yu quickly picked through the lucre and took a few choice items. Mostly some expensive-looking elixirs, and a couple of mid-grade spirit stones.

“You left him with quite a bit,” Yan Shirong said with a sniff as he looked over the leftovers.

“I don’t have enough room in my storage treasure for more,” He Yu said.

“You could always simply buy a bigger one. I’ve no doubt you could afford it.”

He Yu wasn’t going to argue with that. In the weeks since his duel with Mo Zhiqiang, he’d been on the receiving end of a challenge nearly every day. He’d won them all. While he’d been gracious in victory at first, he quickly learned that had been a mistake.

It had gained him a reputation as someone other disciples could duel without too much risk should they lose. At least that’s what he’d assumed when the challenges only increased after his first few victories. So he’d started taking his defeated foes for all they were worth in hopes it would deter future attacks.

With the sudden influx of medicines, elixirs, and spirit stones, he’d been able to use his resources far more freely than he was accustomed to while cultivating. When he wasn’t dueling, he’d been taking on jobs for the inner sect whenever he could, since Zhang Lifen was still away. He’d accumulated a decent bank of contribution points. Altogether this had allowed him to book time in one of the inner sect’s cultivation chambers. There he’d broken through into late Body Refining.

With the aid of looted mid-grade stones and expensive elixirs, it had been a high-quality breakthrough. Something He Yu had come to be tremendously thankful for in the days and weeks since. It hadn’t added any potency to his presence, but it had further refined the changes that had come with his Third Realm advancement.

The Body Refining stage was true to its name. Although he’d long since been anything close to “weak,” the strength that had come along with this advancement had probably been the most welcome aspect of it. He’d first truly felt it for himself back during the tournament, but it had truly come into its own during the past few weeks of dueling. He could easily shrug off attacks that would instantly kill a mortal. He could crush stones with his bare hands, and stray strikes with his guandao left cracks and gashes in the paved grounds of the inner sect despite the protective formations.

His physique had also improved as well. He hadn’t put on the bulk that cultivators like Ren Huang and Fang Yingjie had, but his muscles had become noticeably more defined. His casual movements contained a power and precision to them that he certainly wasn’t going to complain about. The continued cultivation of his wind-aspected movement art had also given him a greater sense of grace and coordination; a welcome change as he’d always been a bit clumsy before.

While he lacked any explicit visible markers of his advancement like Zhang Lifen’s startling blue eyes, or the twin silver streaks in Li Heng’s hair, his appearance had changed in its own way. His features no longer bore the youthfulness they had up until now, giving him a welcome maturity that he’d long wished for.

The one thing that had affected his presence was his cultivation of the Spring Rain Mirror. Such as it was. The technique was monstrously difficult, and it had taken him nearly two weeks simply to be able to form it. In battle, it had been practically useless.

The Spring Rain Mirror itself was a disk of water-aligned qi, roughly the size of He Yu’s palm. He’d practiced a bit with Li Heng and discovered it could withstand a single attack before dissipating. If no attack struck it, the technique only lasted for a few seconds before it vanished on its own.

Although the Spring Rain Mirror would stay wherever he created it, he could move it if he needed to. The problem with this was twofold. First, because of how short a time the technique lasted, the window he had to move it in wasn’t very large. Second, the actual act of moving the Spring Rain Mirror was tremendously difficult and required nearly all of He Yu’s concentration.

The only apparent upside to the technique was that it required very little qi to use. A small consolation, all things considered. He Yu rarely manifested the technique correctly and seldom gained the benefit of its properties. Regardless, Zhang Lifen had called it foundational to his art, so he cultivated it despite his misgivings.

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Since beginning to cultivate the Spring Rain Mirror, his presence had taken on a more balanced mix of wind, heaven, and water qi. Most of that mix had come from the addition of water to the Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment, just like when He Yu had learned his heaven-aspected body technique, the Empyrean Ninefold Body Tempering.

The feeling of his presence had become ever more like a darkening storm. It reminded him of the high days of summer around Shulin, when the clouds would gather on the horizon seemingly from nowhere, and the air would grow thick and heavy. When the scent of rain would come moments before the first drops fell, the clouds would flash, and the rumble of thunder rolled over the town. Those summer days of thunder and rain had always been his favorites. Days spent inside, listening to the gentle patter on the forge roof. That his presence would follow seemed fitting.

He Yu and Yan Shirong began to make their way towards the inner sect market. A bigger storage treasure was a good idea, now that he had given it some more thought. He should also stock up on qi restoration pills and medicines. If only to get rid of some spirit stones and clear up some space. He Yu shook his head and chuckled to himself. Barely a year had passed, and already he was spending money simply because he needed to get rid of it. Those first days at the sect where he felt every stone a precious resource seemed far away in the past now.

“What’s so funny?” Yan Shirong asked.

“Nothing. Just thinking about what a difference a year makes.”

Yan Shirong gave a nod in agreement. The comital scion had changed too, it seemed. While he was still nakedly avaricious, he’d stopped asking for payment upfront whenever He Yu asked him to join in on the jobs they took together. He Yu had also come to realize over the past weeks that Yan Shirong’s general stand-offishness was more an act than anything else. Whether that was due to the Peerless Judgment helping him get a read on people, or simply a consequence of spending more time with the other cultivator, he couldn’t have said.

Of course, Yan Shirong hadn’t stood still during his time in the inner sect either. While he hadn’t yet advanced to late Body Refining, he was clearly on his way. Although he rarely dueled, still insisting his arts weren’t suited to direct combat, He Yu had sparred with him a few times. His presence manifested as an umbral cloak that billowed out from him. Being inside it made He Yu feel as though he was being watched from a hundred hidden angles, by a hundred unseen eyes. Within the effects of Yan Shirong’s spirit, the world seemed muted as an unnatural silence weighed down on it.

Despite his continued insistence that he wasn’t much of a fighter, Yan Shirong’s arts seemed to have progressed as well. The shadowy tendrils he used had rapidly grown in number, and he could now use them to both attack and maneuver with. This made him a tough opponent to pin down, as he could use even the tiniest spot of shadow to haul himself out of harm’s way. Then, from his seemingly endless supply of throwing daggers, he could pepper his opponents with attacks from more than a dozen angles at once.

It was during these sparring sessions that He Yu had first seen the real point of Zhang Lifen’s training. Compared to trying to hit someone like her, Yan Shirong may as well have stood still. That wasn’t to say Yan Shirong didn’t benefit from sparring with He Yu. After a few rounds, the comital scion seemed to have adjusted well enough. He Yu supposed that any benefits he could pass on from his own training were well worth it.

“Any word from your family?” He Yu asked as they strolled down the path to the inner sect market. All around them, mists curled through the manicured trees and gardens, under bridges spanning softly tumbling streams, and around the moon gates that separated portions of the inner sect grounds.

“Not yet,” Yan Shirong said with a shake of his head.

He Yu had asked him to find whatever information he could about the Sunset Empress and the Dawn Palace from the Ministry of Information. Although Yan Shirong had been establishing himself as an information broker here in the inner sect, he’d been more than happy to send a request to his family. No doubt he was just as curious about the whole thing as He Yu was, especially after their experiences during their time away from the sect the previous winter. Hopefully, they would get some answers soon.

They chatted about more immediate concerns as they walked. Yan Shirong wanted to take on more jobs away from the sect, mostly as a way to harvest cores from awakened beasts. He Yu was happy to oblige him, especially since he wanted more time in the inner sect cultivation chambers. While they hadn’t yet agreed as to what sorts of jobs they ought to seek out, they were at least of the same mind—anything that would help them advance was welcome.

Just as they reached the entrance to the inner sect market, a disciple He Yu didn’t recognize stepped forward and announced himself.

“Sect Brother He, I wish to exchange techniques,” he said, lifting his chin.

He Yu’s eyes narrowed as he sized up his opponent. This one seemed to have only just reached the middle Third Realm given what he could feel of the challenger’s spirit.

Turning to Yan Shirong, he said, “Does this strike you as odd, at all?”

“Given the reputation you’ve been building as a duelist and the showing you gave at the tournament? Quite.”

“Do not ignore me, Sect Brother,” the challenger said.

“You realize I have a full stage’s advancement on you, right?” He Yu asked.

“Will you accept my challenge, or shall I name you a coward?”

“Shall I name you an idiot?” He Yu snapped, letting his temper get the better of him. He was getting a bit sick of this, really. Even if it was fantastic training. He’d fought against disciples with every imaginable weapon, and who fought with every imaginable style. He’d gotten the chance to use the Peerless Judgment to observe arts and techniques he hadn’t even dreamed of.

He just wished he could go a day without fighting at least one duel.

“I’m sorry,” He Yu said. “That was uncalled for.”

The other disciple simply glared at him and repeated his challenge.

“Alright,” He Yu replied as his guandao fell into his hands. “Have it your way.”