Chen Fei’s suggestion that they hunt cores on the way back turned out to be a good one. While most of the beasts they tracked down on the way back were Third Realm and their cores wouldn’t sell for much at the inner sect market, it at least helped take He Yu’s mind off his troubles. They even found a fair number of wind and water aspected cores. He Yu used them to help restore his cultivation base without having to take any of his more expensive and increasingly limited resources.

Despite taking their time to hunt on the way back, they soon arrived at the Shrouded Peaks Sect. They sold off their cores at the inner sect market, then headed to the assignment hall. When He Yu walked in, the disciple at the counter gave him a look that told him exactly how things were going to go.

“We both know how this works by now,” the disciple said as he took the job posting and stamped it as complete.

“Both of us?” He Yu asked, glancing at Chen Fei.

She frowned, but said nothing.

“You don’t actually have any proof of completion, do you?”

“How would you know?” he asked, a fair bit more heat creeping into his voice than he cared to keep out of it.

The disciple just shrugged. “Like I said the last few times, if we get word it isn’t complete, you’ll be docked contribution points.”

“But we both know that won’t happen,” He Yu said, keeping his voice even but firm. He’d thought about what might be going on for the first couple of days on the return trip, and the assignment hall’s attitude seemed to confirm his suspicions.

“We do, don’t we?”

“I’d be shocked to find out there aren’t any rules against this,” He Yu said.

The disciple sniffed. “The only rules that are relevant here are the prohibition on fighting in and around the assignment hall. Now, if you don’t have any further business, I have work to do.”

Rather than make an issue out of it, He Yu stalked out of the hall.

“What was that about?” Chen Fei asked as they headed back towards the housing areas.

“Somebody’s doing this on purpose.”

“I bet I know who could help you figure it out,” she said.

He Yu was seriously considering pursuing her suggestion. After that little exchange he was even more convinced that there was someone who—for some reason—was undermining his ability to finish sect jobs. Of course, Yan Shirong would expect payment, and He Yu was dangerously low on funds, even after selling the cores they’d collected on the way back.

Running through the list of people who might have some sort of grudge with him, the only two people he could come up with were Da Ning and Mo Zhiqiang. Of the two, Mo Zhiqiang was the only one who had the resources to potentially bribe the assignment hall disciple for the information regarding what jobs He Yu had taken. But Mo Zhiqiang wasn’t anywhere near strong enough to snipe the jobs. Especially not since He Yu had taken his arm. Could he also be paying more advanced disciples to actually deal with the assignments? If he was, even a rich noble would run out of funds sooner rather than later.

Maybe he should give the two of them a visit and ask if they knew anything? They’d see it as intimidation, but they didn’t really have the backing to stand up to him anymore. He Yu grimaced as the very thought made his Wayborn Seed shrink in discontent. No, that wasn’t the sort of person he was, nor was it the sort of legend he wanted to forge.

The approach of a late Fourth Realm disciple intruded into He Yu’s thoughts. As the disciple drew near, he saluted both He Yu and Chen Fei, making it clear he’d no hostile intent.

Instead, he delivered a message. “Junior Brother He, Junior Sister Chen. It is good to see you return. I have been sent to find you by First Disciple Yi. You are to meet with her immediately.”

He Yu returned the salute, taking the opportunity to wrack his brain for any reason the sect’s first disciple, Yi Xiurong, might want to speak with him. He’d only met her once before, when she’d appeared with Ren Huang and Su Meifeng when He Yu and his friends had been on their last legs in the western wilds. Even then, it was a stretch to say they’d met. She had barely acknowledged their existence.

“Of course,” He Yu said. “Where are we to meet?”

When He Yu and Chen Fei arrived at the appointed place, the others had already gathered. They met at one of the inner sect’s many training grounds, this one tucked into a terrace that looked like a giant blade had gouged out of the side of the very mountain itself. In all honesty, it probably had been. As they passed through the formation script, Chen Fei pointed out that it had been altered. Rather than reinforce the area to withstand cultivator’s techniques, it would mask their presence and make it nearly impossible for anyone outside to discern what was being said within.

Tan Xiaoling and Li Heng both appeared—not apprehensive, but certainly not comfortable either. The two of them would, of course, know the gravity of being called before the first disciple. All five of them were far too low in their rankings to be any of Yi Xiurong’s concern. At least under normal circumstances. So it could only mean that these were not normal circumstances. Yan Shirong stood off to one side, trying to look small and casual both at once.

Standing with her back to the mountain, Yi Xiurong looked just as radiant as He Yu remembered her. Although she kept her presence restrained, she was difficult to look at directly. The halo of brilliant light that shone from her felt like it would burn He Yu’s eyes out if he lingered too long. If he remembered, she was at the Soul Refining stage, a full two realms higher than himself.

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“You’ve arrived. Good,” Yi Xiurong said. Without waiting for any acknowledgment, or giving time for He Yu to ask any of the half-dozen questions on the tip of his tongue, she kept speaking. “Under normal circumstances, disciples of your low rank and advancement wouldn’t even suspect the things we’re about to discuss. I trust you all know that nothing we say here leaves this area.

“First. Because of a certain core disciple’s indiscretions, the sect has been forced to move against the Sunset Court before we’re truly ready. Since you all have learned of the court’s existence, and have experienced a taste of the empress’s power for yourself, Sect Leader Zhou and Elder Cai see fit to make use of you. By using you where we’re able, it will free up the time and attention of the core disciples to be used elsewhere.

“Second. As this is a matter of importance to not only the sect, but to the Dragon Empire as a whole, I will be overseeing your development for the duration of the court’s suppression. I understand that perhaps you’ve gotten used to certain allowances during your time under Sect Sister Zhang’s attention. I am not Sect Sister Zhang.”

There was a fair bit more to Yi Xiurong’s tone than she was saying explicitly. Even He Yu didn’t need the benefit of the Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment to realize that some rift lay between Zhang Lifen and Yi Xiurong. He made a mental note to ask his mentor just exactly how unpopular she was when he’d the chance.

“Finally,” Yi Xiurong continued, “Disciple He and Disciple Tan will be dispatched first. While they are gone, I will grace Disciples Li, Yan, and Chen with my personal attention.”

It was clear that she’d finished speaking. Although she hadn’t given any of them leave to speak, He Yu asked his question, regardless. “Where’s Zhang Lifen?” The shift from his own mentor taking a personal hand in both his and his friends’ training seemed rather abrupt. He felt as though he were owed some explanation, at least.

Yi Xiurong fixed him with what was perhaps the most intense and withering look he’d ever received in his life. To say that he felt like he was having all the outer layers of his spirit and his flesh burned away would be only a small understatement.

“Sect Sister Zhang is currently on assignment. She will not return for some time, I think.”

Any other questions He Yu may have had died under Yi Xiurong’s gaze. For a moment, nobody spoke. Nobody moved. He Yu at least had no idea what exactly Yi Xiurong expected of him, and it seemed he wasn’t alone. Eventually, it was Tan Xiaoling who spoke.

“A question, Senior Sister, if I may?” she asked.

Yi Xiurong said nothing, but inclined her head ever so slightly, indicating her assent.

“What assignment are Sect Brother He and I to undertake?”

“We have discovered a possible location of spirit stone mine under the control of the Sunset Court. You and Disciple He are to travel there and investigate the site. Any agents of the court are to be dispatched. Any information regarding the court is to be recovered. Anything else that could be of use should likewise be recovered. Of particular interest is anything that might point us to the location of further agents or operations of the larger Sunset Court.”

“Apologies, Senior Sister Yi,” He Yu said. “But what do you mean by ‘dispatched,’ exactly?” He had a feeling he already knew the answer, but he had to ask, regardless. For his own sake.

“Exactly what it sounds like,” she said. “Make no mistake. Now is not the time for mercy. The court must be ripped out of the west by the roots. After the loss of Sha Xiang, we must move to act quickly on what little information we have.”

“Sha Xiang?” Li Heng asked. “What does she have to do with any of this?”

“The extent of our interest in her is far beyond what a disciple of you rank ought to concern himself with. Suffice to say that she was allowed to remain at the sect for a reason.” When nobody else voiced any other concerns, Yi Xiurong informed He Yu and Tan Xiaoling of the mine’s location.

“As you’ve only just returned from your last sect job, take tonight to cultivate and restore yourself,” Yi Xiurong said to He Yu. “You and Disciple Tan will leave in the morning. He Yu is the ranking disciple, and will thus be responsible for the assignment.”

It was a dismissal if he’d ever heard one. After a brief discussion with Tan Xiaoling, they agreed to meet at the formation gate on the central inner sect mountain at first light. If Princess Tan had any objections to deferring to He Yu for the duration of the mission, she made no mention of them.

Finally arriving back at his home for the first time in two weeks, He Yu went to where he’d hidden his old storage treasure. Like many of the inner disciples, he didn’t carry all his resources with him at all times, and the old, smaller spatial ring was a convenient way to stash resources he didn’t need to carry with him. He took out a few elixirs that would boost his cultivation and allow him to restore himself fully in the short time he had. Thankfully, the steady trickle from the cores he’d gathered on the way back meant he wasn’t as depleted as he’d otherwise have been.

Once the elixirs were crackling through his meridians, He Yu took a position in his cultivation chamber and settled into the familiar pattern of the Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment. There were a good number of things he needed to sort through before he left on this mission.

The most pressing was the reaction he’d gotten from his Wayborn Seed when he’d been considering intimidating people into giving him information regarding his job troubles. As he examined the snap judgment he’d made, he became more confident in it. That wasn’t the sort of legend he wanted. It wasn’t the image of a hero that he wanted to cultivate.

Which led him to his next question. What sort of image did he want? It was something he’d been circling around for some time. What it meant to be a hero. What justice meant, and how best to uphold it. He was no closer to the answers to those questions than when he’d first asked. Sure, he’d struck a couple of examples off the list. He knew in the examples of both Sha Xiang and King Hao what he didn’t want to be. But how many times must he answer “no” before he found his “yes?”

Then there was his concern about what Yi Xiurong had said. Dispatch. Her meaning was clear, and he’d known that as soon as she’d first spoken the word. Could he do it? Would doing so be an act of justice? She’d said that now wasn’t the time for mercy. Didn’t justice and mercy go hand-in-hand?

He examined his connection to his Wayborn Seed. He searched with the Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment. He found no answers. Over the past year he’d learned that what it meant to be a hero, what justice meant, and what the judgment of an emperor truly discerned were all things he’d have to come to on his own. He would need to answers these questions for himself. It was something he’d come back to time and again during his cultivation.

It was time to stop seeking the answers. Time to begin defining them for himself. Nobody was going to do it for him. No sage would descend from heaven to expound on the meaning of justice. He would find it through his actions. Through a life that asked him to choose.

As the sun rose, He Yu emerged from his cultivation chamber. He stashed some extra resources into his storage treasure, and headed off to meet Tan Xiaoling, and whatever choices he would have to make.