"No!" Alisha threw her father’s hand away.

She began pacing around the tent, shaking her head and gesturing angrily, "Absolutely not! You can't! I won't let you!"

"Alisha..." Anand said gently and went to calm her down, "You know I can't let you face a pair of demons without me."

"No... you'll die..." Tears welled in her brown orbs and quickly turned into a river.

"Perhaps... but perhaps not." He said.

"I won't let you fight. I'll surrender the town. We can flee and make a new home somewhere else!" She pleaded.

He shook his head and pulled her into a hug.

Gray was forgotten in a corner as the pair shared an emotional moment. He felt awkward. He felt like he should leave. But he was trapped and he didn't want to interrupt them.

"Shh... good daughter. Where would we go? We can't go south. This is the Patel family's home. This is our last connection to the Reddy Clan. I won't dishonor my ancestors by fleeing. I won't let you give up your mother's inheritance. Search your heart and you already know. I have to fight. It will give us the greatest chance of winning. This isn't an ordinary foe we are facing. Demons are capable of all kinds of trickery."

"Didn't you say that there could be peace in the Jade Plains, that the Duanmu Clan could change their ways? I tried so hard to follow your wishes! Why did it have to be this way?" She said bitterly.

Her questions had no answer. Nobody could have predicted this turn of events. It was impossible to think that the Duanmu Clan was being manipulated by demons. There could be no peace with the demon race. There could only be bloodshed.

Anand rubbed her head, "Silly girl. I might not die. I won't know unless I try. Even if it doesn't end well, don't forget, there's still Gray. You can rely on him."

Alisha shook her head as if to say that wasn't going to happen.

"Okay, what is going on?" Gray asked loudly, "Why is Anand going to die?"

He didn't want to be rude but couldn't hold back anymore. He was utterly confused.

The two of them finally separated and acknowledged his presence once again.

Anand sat back down and explained that he was suffering from an acute case of spiritual vein degeneration caused by decades of improperly cultivating with jade. His spiritual veins were riddled with left over deposits of jade energy, causing him great pain if he tried to use spiritual energy. If he exerted too much, these tiny pockets within him would explode, causing grievous internal injuries that could easily lead to death.

The condition caused him constant pain. It was painful for him to walk, eat, or even sleep. It was a miserable disease that wasted away a person’s health until an early death.

"That's crazy! How did you mess up your body like that?" Gray asked.

"I cultivate a risky secret art called the Sword of the Wind Dancer. It uses jade to temper one's body and improve one's understanding of the Wind Dancer sword style. Perhaps I was too anxious to progress quickly in my youth and disregarded my body. Perhaps I was simply unlucky when tackling my bottlenecks." Anand said.

"No, your instructors at Blue Wind Hall sabotaged your future!" Alisha said, "They were jealous of your talent and your potential and taught you the incorrect mantras. It wasn't your fault at all!"

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"That..."

Alisha ignored her father's weak protest and explained to Gray the truth. Blue Wind Hall was one of the four great sects of the Rising Sea Kingdom. It was where Anand studied, the same sect that Alisha joined briefly before withdrawing.

Anand's innate talent was tremendous but he had no support. The Reddy Clan barely provided any money or resources to aid his cultivation. He was forced to work twice as hard as others and seek life-threatening opportunities for minor breakthroughs.

Despite the difficulties, he managed to reach the 10th Level of the Spiritual Control Realm and become an expert cultivator within the kingdom. He even managed to win the heart of a princess of the Reddy Clan.

"So what happened to your mother?" Gray asked. "Why can't she help us?"

Anand coughed and raised a hand, "This is something that we can't share with you. Perhaps we might be able to in the future but not today."

"…”

Anand changed the subject, "Time is short, we must all prepare and plan how to defeat the bandits. Young man, tell me. If I gave you as much jade as you wanted, how long will it take you to reach the peak of the Spiritual Strengthening Realm? Could you do it in three days?"

"Wait, what?" Gray spluttered.

He didn't expect Anand to guess his cultivation speed so accurately. He wasn't sure about the 10th Level but the 9th Level was a certainty if given an unlimited amount of jade.

Anand chuckled, “Gray, I like you. I knew you were special from the moment we met. You don’t have to tell me your secrets but I can probably make a guess that would be half right. You have some sort of innate physique that gives you a high affinity with sky-attribute spiritual energy, much more than the average person. It is probably also the reason for your fast cultivation and your natural ability to cultivate with jade. Am I close?”

Gray remained speechless so the elder Patel continued, “Don’t worry. It isn’t anything to worry about. Such innate physiques are not that rare, especially among those that join the four great sects in the kingdom. You remind me a bit of when I was young although I was nowhere near your level of talent.”

Gray finally found his voice, "I can reach the 9th Level but I will have to stabilize my cultivation. The 10th Level will be difficult in three days."

"Are you sure?" Anand asked.

"I am. Just don't go around bragging about this to others."

"I promise!"

"Excellent. Let's get to work." Alisha said, returning to her persona as the lord, "Father, I will leave Gray in your hands."

The three of them left the command tent. Alisha went up to the wall while Anand and Gray headed south, walking briskly through the deserted streets. Unless someone had somewhere to be, most stayed indoors where there was safe.

Gray noticed Anand was taking heaving breaths and struggling.

“You alright?” He asked as he slowed down.

“I’m fine... Just a little tired from the excitement of the day. Don’t worry about me, though. In the upcoming battle, don’t worry about me, understand? Be alert of your surroundings and take care of yourself first and then take care of Alisha.”

Gray shrugged, “Whatever you say, old man.”

They fell into silence and eventually arrived at the gem shop. They entered and Anand locked the door behind them. He went around the small room and opened several drawers. He withdrew the small bags within and dumped the contents onto the table. There were countless nuggets of ordinary jade as well as other gems.

A glittering pile of treasure resulted. It was mostly jade but there were a few sparkles of sapphire and ruby. There was even one piece of citrine. It was the greatest amount of gems in one place Gray had ever seen.

Anand took out a scale and weighed everything carefully. The total came out to almost a hundred grams of gems. He didn’t seem quite satisfied and dug around looking for more until it exceeded a hundred.

“Is this enough? Will you be able to use it all in time?” He asked.

“You overestimate me… I’m not that crazy.” Gray said.

“Doesn’t matter, it’s all yours.”

He took out a large leather bag and scooped everything inside. He took Gray’s hand and dropped it in his palm.

“Do the best you can.”

“Alright.”

“Plenty of food will be delivered so focus on cultivating.”

“I know.”

“Thank you.” The elder Patel said and laid a hand on Gray’s shoulder.

Gray saw the sincerity in the man's eyes and he was deeply moved. They were going into battle together. They were allies in an unavoidable war. They were future business partners. They were now real friends.

Gray had arrived in Jade Hill Town a clueless outsider, fully self-absorbed in his own interests. Through a series of crazy events, he was now fighting for the town, against a massive bandit army and a couple of demons. He was fighting for selfish reasons but he was fighting for good reasons as well.

There was Krish and his sons. There was Huzhi and the other old-timers. Alisha, Anand, Harsh... They were all good people. He didn't feel like an outsider anymore and, as a result, he genuinely wanted to help them and help save the town.

And also, he wanted to give Tang Duanmu one final kick in the ass.