When Wang Li awoke, it was in chains. This was in truth a novel experience for him. He'd been robbed and beaten, even lost a hand once. That latter experience had shaped the form of his bodily cultivation as he sought to forge himself anew.

Chains though, those were new. Few powers could restrain hostile cultivators indefinitely. Fewer still bothered to.

Still, he could have done worse than the Qin. The Shan or the demons would have been far less survivable.

"So, when's my execution?" Wang Li asked the empty room.

When silence greeted him, he rose as far as the twin shackles binding his wrists to the cool stone floor allowed him.

He braced himself, then strove mightily. Steel screeched, and blood dripped down his fingers.

How pathetic he was. These chains would be nothing to him, if he had even the most rudimentary of weapons. Even without the ability to manifest his intent, qi-reinforced steel alone would be enough to wear through them in time. But stripped of his ring and spear, he was nigh helpless. Another flaw to remedy. This year had exposed so very many of them.

It wasn't even an immortal blacksmith's work, he suspected. Just mortal steel worked into links half as thick as his wrist.

If all else failed, he could force his hands through the shackles. It'd cost a him thumb and a finger each from each hand, but his bodily cultivation would allow him to heal that eventually. Unfortunately, the shackles were certainly not the greatest obstacle standing between him and freedom. He pushed what qi he could muster outwards, probing. The stone was thicker than two hand spans. In his weakened state, his spiritual sense could push no further. Most likely the whole facility was underground. The door was mere yew and iron, but he could sense traces of qi upon it. At least one formation. More likely alarm than reinforcement, if they intended the door to be more durable than his shackles, they would have used better materials.

He needed a weapon to have any chance of breaking out. He couldn't trust that the first guard he encountered would be weak enough for him to overpower. They would never send anyone below peak foundation establishment into his room alone. They could leave him without food or water for weeks, there was no reason to risk that.

No, it wasn't time for moves that desperate yet. He was being watched. He would wager his life on it. The formations on the door had to be for monitoring, restraining a core formation cultivator, however injured, with mere steel made no sense otherwise.

Instead, Wang Li turned his focus inward, trying to catalogue all the changes advancing had made to his body and spirit. His qi was stable, and denser than it'd ever been, but there were dangers to tempering an advancement in battle like that. It would take time before he understood just how his meridians had shifted, and how his new core altered how qi moved through his channels.

Burns still covered much of his skin. They hardly hurt, he was already healing. He almost wished they did, the constant itching was incredibly unpleasant. His right hand would be useless for days yet, three fingers were still fused together.

He would need a new, more refined, cultivation method to begin advancing again. But his old one, properly modified, should at least allow him to assist his core in replenishing his barren meridian network.

The empire hadn't even bothered to set a formation in his cell to continually drain away qi, as the sects did for more powerful prisoners. Another point in favor of him being under constant surveillance. Unfortunately, the ambient qi was so sparse as to be nonexistent anyway. It only took a few minutes of cycling to absorb what few wisps of power were within his reach. Even with his new core, it would take many days for him to recover without the ability to absorb external qi.

It was hours, before the heavy steel door of his cell ground open. He spent the time considering how he might modify his cycling patterns. Unfortunately, without reference materials he made little headway. Even a genius like him couldn't solve every problem from first principles.

The princess entered, a cruel smile on her face. Three men flanked her, two flunkies without cultivation worth mentioning, and a faceless Imperial Guard at her back.

Wang Li only had eyes for the woman who had captured him. What was her name? He couldn't remember. Had she even given it?

He ran through what he could remember of the imperial family. The old dragon had far too many children, but precious few in core formation. Four? Five? It couldn't be a consort, Chen Yu had called her princess. Only two daughters were in core formation. Xifeng, it had to be. The only other woman, Qin Ai, was older, and married into some clan or other.

He knew little about her. That sort of gossip had never seemed like the sort of thing he might need to remember. Another oversight.

Qin Xifeng watched him silently. He matched her stare, trying to puzzle out what she wanted. Service? A confession? There were a number of things he could say before the court that would inconvenience a number of different factions. He was hardly the only person to flout the law in the days leading up to his thefts.

Wang Li broke the silence first. He never did have much patience for petty posturing. A man could speak first without bending his neck.

"Oh, my princess, you think too highly of me. What have I done to merit to merit such a reception?"

The girl's irritating smile widened.

"His majesty's court has been abuzz since your capture. It seems every tongue has an opinion about your crimes."

"Again, I ask you. When's my execution?" He knew she'd heard him. Or been informed of every word that left his mouth.

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"That, depends on the choices you make today."

Of course it did. She wouldn't be here, if there were no roads forward for him. How banal. No doubt she'd crow about justice for a time, before offering him the chance to become a slave in name as well as truth.

"Spit it out then." He said. "What will you demand of me that you cannot simply take?"

"My father's mercy is as boundless as his might. If you were to make sincere repentance, and offer service to the throne in amends, even your sins might be forgiven."

"I regret nothing." Wang Li hissed. "I will serve the throne if that is the only choice left to me, but if 'sincere repentance' is a firm condition, you can leave me alone until the headsman is ready."

The princess sighed loudly. She was a poor actor.

"You stole an imperial treasure, assaulted an inner disciple of a sect in good standing with his majesty, and resisted a lawful arrest from a member of his army under the direct command of an imperial scion." She said slowly, as if speaking to an imbecile. "You earned a death sentence thrice over, and you cannot swallow your pride enough to apologize in order to save your skin."

Wang Li held his tongue. There were many things he was tempted to say. He'd done nothing worth apologizing for. Petty tyrants couldn't complain when their victims treated them as they'd been treated. Any system that birthed men into poverty and denied them any opportunity to rise except through service had no right to complain when their beaten dogs bit back.

But none of that needed to be said. It was funny, just how little leverage holding a man's life in your hands gave you when he was more useful to you alive than dead.

"Are we to talk ourselves in circles again?" He finally asked. "You won, I lost. Being victorious does not make you righteous. Stop putting on airs and make your offer."

"You are neither blind nor deaf. You know as well as any cultivator in the empire that the southern front is a beast whose hunger knows no bounds. Anything might be forgiven, for one who could win sufficient glory there. But we both know you're too weak by far. Even after your advancement, it would likely be a death sentence, simply a slower and more honorable one. A criminal of your standing could be expect to be hard used and poorly supported, a priority target for the Shan."

Wang Li could see where this was going.

"And I suppose, you have an alternative."

"Time and tide wait for no man, not even the emperor. An unexpected opportunity has appeared, and his majesty has entrusted me with a heavy burden and a long road."

Irritatingly vague. But then, she wouldn't give him anything he could offer another courtier. If he was even allowed the opportunity to speak with one before his fate was decided.

"You want me to serve personally under you?"

"Yes. Unless the southern front is more to your liking? I'm sure my elder brother would treat you exactly as your status deserves."

Wang Li took the opportunity to perform his own exaggerated sigh. If he could not be dignified, he could at least be annoying.

"There are many things I would like to say about where you could stuff that proposition, and the sorts of rhythmic motions you could make with it afterwards. However I do not feel the need to compound the crimes I am accused of with slander against the imperial family at this time."

To his surprise, the princess burst into genuine laughter. Her guards exchanged deeply uncomfortable glances.

"I like your spirit, Wang Li. It's just a pity that it was paired with such a deficit of wisdom. I could do much, with a servant like you."

"Your father might as well hope for a general with the might of an immortal. Tigers do not serve snakes, no matter the serpent's parentage."

"I am a daughter of the dragon. I assure you, my hunger exceeds your own. And yet, I serve. It is a deficiency of imagination, to believe that service and ambition are incompatible."

"And yet, you have no servants with my spirit."

"I have no servants with your spirit, yet."

Her grin was infuriating. Worse still was that she wasn't wrong. A part of him was tempted to spite her. To take his chances as a criminal conscript, poor as they were.

The princess continued speaking as he stewed in resentment. She had him, and worse yet, she knew it. Whatever foolish errand she'd been entrusted with would be far safer than the front. However many years of service that came after would still be safer than the front. Caged bird or not she wouldn't be in the position to make an offer like this if she didn't understand exactly which concessions she would need to make for him to accept it.

"You are a thoroughly frustrating man Wang Li. If you could see the world as it is a little more clearly, you could have been celebrated for the prodigy that you are, instead of being slated for execution."

Hah. Execution. They both knew that wasn't even an option on the table now, unless he insisted on it. The Qin were in far too desperate a situation to kill their own core formation cultivators over anything except the most public of defiance. They would use him sorely, then arrange his death if it looked like he might advance far enough to become an actual threat.

"My princess, your kind words mean the world to me. I'm honored to hear you think so highly of my talents." The words tasted like rancid oil on his tongue, bringing to the fore memories he'd long since set aside. He'd stomached far worse than an overbearing brat in the past, what would it say about him if he couldn't swallow his pride now? One day, he would humble her. Perhaps even kill her, if the old dragon passed.

"Whatever you think of yourself, you are a prodigy. Unfortunately, talent in excess is no promise of long life. More often the opposite, when it comes without the wisdom to temper it."

Wang Li snorted, then spat upon the floor, dangerously close to the princess's slippers. The two soldiers bristled at the insult, grasping at their weapons, but the Imperial Guard was more disciplined. Truthfully, he was impressed they'd held their tempers this long. In public, his words would have long since seen him slain on the spot.

The princess stilled the men with a raised hand.

"The woman who retreats a hundred steps laughs at the man who retreats fifty." He said mockingly. Somehow, he doubted this mad princess was a font of that particular sort of humility.

"And yet, I'm not the one in chains. You should have known this is the best outcome you could have hoped for the moment you struck at Disciple Zhang."

"Sometimes, a man must do things without consideration for gain or loss." Wang Li said.

"Please. The implication that you didn't consider gain or loss when stealing my father's spear is more insulting than anything you've said thus far."

That was the difference between them, Wang Li thought. Qin Xifeng still thought life was fair. She'd deny it if put in such terms, but she did. She believed sufficient talent and wisdom could navigate a safe path between the storms. She didn't understand that sometimes, the only way a man could defy his fate was to accept it.

"And yet, it's one of the most truthful things either of us has said today." He finally responded.

"You want truth, ungilded? Very well, then you shall have it. You will moan and complain. You will threaten to accept death or conscription. You will bargain for years and dicker about terms. And then you will swear to follow where I lead, and fight where I command. And a decade from now, you will hate me still. But in the darkest corner of your heart, you will accept that it was the day you knelt before me, that you truly began to rise."

"We shall see." He hated the retort. It was weak, hollow. It was true, but sometimes truth was worthless.

"Don't take too long. The emperor saw fit to stay your execution because his kind-hearted daughter believed you had the potential to make amends for your crimes against the throne."

The young woman with the eyes of a dragon grinned hungrily at him.

"I leave the capital in a few days. A filial daughter must do her duties, even if they should take her far from her father's side. I should hate to see you meet with misfortune in my absence."

Wang Li swallowed. He contented himself with merely imagining what expression the princess would have worn, if he'd instead spat in her face.