Bai Xiu was sweeping along the gates of the inner sect. She no longer wore the dull gray robes of an outer disciple, but they weren’t the silk of an inner disciple either. Instead she had dull brown robes that didn’t seem to mean anything.

Her new teacher had looked like some sort of elder when they met, yet now she was convinced that he was just the janitor. The closest they ever got to training was sweeping the doorways. The few times she had tried asking him about learning a new technique he simply laughed and showed her how to clean something new.

She sighed as she continued to sweep. Every motion as smooth as she could make it. It was exhausting.

“Little one.” The chubby old man’s voice cut into her thoughts.

“We will be getting a gift for you soon.” The broom in his hands never faltered, even while speaking.

“Is it a real cultivation technique?” She had been quickly getting distraught about how slowly she was progressing compared to some of her peers. She wasn’t some genius from a noble family and she didn’t have the means to obtain heavenly elixirs or treasures, so finally learning something other than the basic breathing technique of the outer disciples was beginning to feel like a necessity

“Haha, no child, we will be visiting an old friend of mine. He will help you find a weapon that suits you.” He looked into the distance as he spoke. He seemed to be watching the slow little river at the bottom of the valley.

A weapon. Her ears perked up a bit at what he said. There was no way he was going to teach her how to use a weapon before he even taught her how to properly cultivate. It was like putting the cart in front of the horse. She still began to imagine herself standing above the clouds with her hair flying in the wind, sword drawn as she looked imperiously upon the world beneath her

Then a light tap of the broom on top of her head brought her back to reality.

“The sect won’t sweep itself girl.” He admonished her while smiling.

_________________________________________

Dang Tong sat in his office looking over all the paperwork that had involved any of the foreign entities that had appeared. There had been several people assigned to investigate the appearances. Each of them described what appeared to be human but from what he had seen at the investigation he led, he didn’t believe any of them could be.

He had come across a giant of a man with a shaved head and markings covering his entire body. He had killed two of the soldiers while they tried taking him into custody. He seemed to command the energy around him on a whim without needing any technique. He made the earth around him churn and roil like water. He was a demon unlike any other Dang Tong had seen before. His strange miasma had even spread to several villagers causing them to go berserk. It had forced Dang Tong to arrest the entire village to ensure they weren't all infected. He still felt bad about burning all their homes but at least he kept most of them alive, if under arrest.

He organized the reports into what could be considered a timeline. The one at the beginning seemed a bit strange. All the others were reported to have suddenly appeared in the villages except for this one. There had been sightings of him in the forest several weeks before any of the others. Supposedly he wasn’t as strong as the man general Dang had come across but was still able to fight against spirit beasts bare handed. Elder Zhang was the man assigned to the investigation. A local soldier apparently took the man into his custody with the elder's blessing.

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There was no point overthinking things when a demon could be on the loose. It was time to pay the youngest elder a visit.

When he arrived at the office of elder Zhang He found no one besides a young scribe frantically trying to organize the paperwork that seemed to have piled up over several days.

“Where is the elder?” Dang Tong tried not to overwhelm the boy but it was rather difficult for someone of his power to do.

“What?” The man hadn’t even noticed him it seems. General Dang was stumped for a moment before the young man spoke again.

“Oh, yeah, he’s at a meeting I think.” He nodded vigorously as he finished speaking.

“A meeting? When will he be back?” The scrawny young man shrugged at the question. What a rude scribe.

Dang Tong left the elder’s office and began to make his way to the barracks.

If he couldn’t find the elder, he would investigate things himself.

________________________________________________

Wang Tai sat along the trail in the woods with his new hatchet in his hands. It might not have been particularly pretty looking but his son had made it for him. That made it the best one in the world. It also kept its edge better than any other he had owned before, so that was a nice bonus. Henry had gifted him a large knife he claimed was the best tool for foliage but it was always best to use what his son had made for him. Even if Henry used special materials, it was still a damn nice hatchet.

He had already laid out all the traps he had planned to and was about to make his way back to the village when a paunchy old man with a long white beard and a young girl passed by him.

The old man glanced at the ax Wang Tai was holding and let out a light chuckle.

“My friend, do you know Master Long?” The old man seemed a bit excited as he spoke.

“Uh, old Long? The blacksmith?” There were only a few dozen people in the village so it was hard not to know him.

“That’s the one. He is always so difficult to find when he doesn’t want to be found.” The old man laughed again.

“Could you perhaps help an old man that has lost his way?” He stroked his well maintained beard as he asked. The young girl seemed exasperated, like they had been wandering for some time.

“Sure, I was going there to visit my son anyways.” It was best to be kind to elders, right?

When they arrived Henry and Wang Hu were nowhere to be found. Old Long was working alone on some wood for what was likely a long handle.

“Senior brother! So good to see you again.” The man with the long beard spoke loudly and happily. Old long seemed to have aged ten years in the time it took the man to speak one sentence.

“How the hell did…” He looked over at Wang Tai accusingly. He didn’t know what he did, but apparently it was very wrong.

“Brother, you must help me. That was the deal wasn’t it?” The cheerful old man seemed as though he had won some sort of lottery. His laughter nearly echoed in the valley.

Long Fa sighed and glanced at the girl before harrumphing.

“What are you aiming for?” Long eyed the other man. Wang Tai wanted to slip away but he was scared that if he moved the sudden tension might get directed towards him.

“Simply a gift for my apprentice, it seems after all these years it might be a sentiment you can finally understand.” he glanced at the hatchet on Wang Tai’s hip while he spoke.

Long Fa looked at the girl with a more critical eye now. She felt a spiritual power surrounding her that was unlike any other she had ever sensed. It was like the world fell away and all that remained was a living fire that danced around her. She recognized the man from the last time she had visited this village. She idly wondered if the boy was nearby.

“Fine.” The bald man grunted again as he waved them away and went back to shaping the wood in his hands.

The larger man grinned as he led his apprentice back. Wang Tai was about to make his way out when Long Fa spoke again.

“You’re lucky that you’re my apprentice's father.” He didn’t look at him while speaking, instead inspecting the wood in his hands for any abnormality.

Wang Tai escaped as quickly as he could. He definitely needed to get some extra bacon for old Long fast, it was never a good idea to be on the wrong side of the village smith.