The Farmer brings a harvest with his sweat. The Administrator brings prosperity with his ink. The Enforcer brings cultivators with his blood. – A saying from the Pearlescent Valley

* * *

Tenri’s eyes flashed open, only to find his sight filled with swirling clouds and hazy colors. He was used to blurred scenery, having been born nearly completely blind, but, even without his glasses, he knew that these swirls were different. They were silver and green, with threads of gold. They lay on top of the world, crystal clear in his otherwise blurred sight.

And yes, his regular vision was still poor. Tenri sighed. It had improved some. The trees were slightly crisper blobs of blue and green, but he really couldn’t tell if that was because of the verdant haze of wood qi that covered them or if his vision was actually somewhat improved.

Sitting up, he found himself seated among the roots of a great tree. Creaking wood surrounded him, and the branches above swayed in the wind. He breathed in the crisp breeze and felt a new lightness in his chest that hadn’t been there before.

Tenri placed a hand on the tree and bowed his head in thanks. “I wouldn’t have made it without you,” he admitted. In his thoughts, the tree answered with flashes of thoughts and memory, images of his wife and friends bringing his broken body to the tree’s roots, of it wrapping its roots around him, and finally of it feeding him with the fruits of its branches. The qi in those fruits was potent, providing what he’d needed to layer the qi into his meridians, suffusing his core and body with the power of an Iron. It was a kindness the tree gave him, one he would make sure to repay someday.

He pushed himself to his feet and took in the wonderous farm around him. With Iron eyes, he could see the natural qi of the world, and it was breathtaking. Green tendrils of life and wood wove between the browns of the earth. Rays of sun qi filtered from above, and, through it all, a blanket of silver covered everything, the very qi that gave the Moon-Soaked Shore its name. Tenri took the time to marvel at the new beauty of the world around him. In his eyes, the greens of wood were more vibrant than the rest, drawing his attention to the crops in the fields and the trees beyond the farm. He saw his precious plants in a whole new light, even if he couldn’t see their physical forms as clearly.

“Admiring the view?” Tenri turned to see Hanako standing by the house. Whisps of starlight superimposed themselves around her, surprising Tenri with how strong they were. She must have accidentally completed several early stages of core development to improve her star affinity.

“There’s a lot to see,” he answered. “But, do you have my glasses? I am, once again, disappointed by how little my sight has improved.” Cultivation was supposed to improve one’s body. Were his eyes really so far beyond repair that even the divine will of the heavens couldn’t fix it?

Hanako held out a small box. “It’s your last pair. Treat them well.” He nodded his agreement and slipped them onto his nose with a sigh. They corrected his sight just as much as the old set, meaning his vision hadn’t really changed besides adding the colors of qi over the image.

“Someday, I’ll be able to see properly,” he muttered. He’d have to find Tsuyuki and ask him how that might be accomplished. Surely, the former Ascendent would know how to cultivate to fix a small thing like sight.

But, that would require that he find him. And, before he could find him, he needed to deal with the snake nesting in his home. Until Shen Yaoxan was removed, Tenri would receive no peace, and Tsuyuki could not return home.

“Hanako.”

“Yes?”

“Do you think your cousins would mind if I borrowed some of their supplies?”

* * *

The sun was high, and Tenri walked with confidence as he entered town. This was his home. These were his people. He might not look the part of a powerful cultivator, dressed in his torn and dirt-covered administrator’s uniform, but he was ready to face Shen Yaoxan at long last.

Hanako had done her best to clean up his appearance, but there was only so much she could do. He’d spent nearly two weeks unconscious in the roots of the ancestral tree as he progressed to Iron, and his poor attire had been abused before that. Now, his sleeves were ragged, his sash was torn at the edges, and everything was covered in a dusty brown from exposure to the elements.

However, Shen would be able to see the truth. Tenri’s spirit burned hot, like a pit of tangled vipers waiting to strike. His qi was strong, his body was reforged, and his purpose was crystal clear.

As he walked through the streets of his home, people watched in hushed silence. They could sense the difference in his demeanor, even as mortals. One man, the son of a merchant that Hanako frequently bought fresh vegetables from, ran off. He would no doubt inform Zumi of his return, who would inform Shen. This was perfect, exactly the way Tenri wanted it, and, by the time he reached the administrative building, Shen was already waiting on the stairs, Zumi cowering to the side.

“It seems I didn’t beat you down hard enough,” Shen said loud enough for the crowd to hear.

“If you thought me a delicate flower, you’d be sorely mistaken,” Tenri answered.

“Yes, you seem to be more of a weed,” the void master growled. “Though, your tenacity surprises me. Not everyone can make it to Iron, and fewer still can do it in the state I left you in. My father could certainly find a place for you in our ranks, if you were to see reason.”

Tenri’s expression darkened. Shen Tori may have controlled the majority of cultivators in the Moon-Soaked Shore, but they were little more than bandits hanging off the official charter of the Governor. They were murderers and ruthless monsters, each and every one of them.

“The Lunar Hunt is a blight on this land,” Tenri hissed. “One that gives cultivation a bad name. I’d sooner die than let it infect my garden any longer!”

Shen Yaoxan narrowed his eyes. “How compliant you used to be, Tenri Lin. That Tsuyuki fellow really got to you, didn’t he? Whispered all sorts of festering rebellion in your ears. Very well, my purpose is clear. I have no issues pulling this weed up by its roots.”

“Then let us take this to the ridge outside town,” Tenri proposed. “I’d hate for you to fall into a sinkhole again.”

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Shen’s ears went red, and his expression hardened with fury, but he didn’t take the bait. Instead, he lunged forward, void qi swirling around him and manifesting as smoke around his hand.

“And face you in a field full of grass? I don’t think so!” he hissed.

Tenri ducked and dodged to the left. Shen growled as his attack struck open air. Realizing that he wouldn’t win so easily as the last time, he drew his sword. Tenri watched curiously as qi flowed from the man to the blade, turning the weapon black in his sight.

A great crescent of void qi streaked towards him. Tenri twisted out of the way of the blade just in time. It crashed into the shopfront behind him, and several townsfolk screamed as they fled the building. A moment later, with its supports eaten away by the void, it collapsed in a cloud of dust and rice grains.

“And, this is why I wanted to fight you outside of town!” Tenri hissed, his temper rising. Shen had no respect for the people he’d spent his life protecting.

“What’s a little woodland sprite like you going to do about it? Defeat me with a flower crown?” Shen leveled his sword at his opponent. “You aren’t even on the same level as that friend of yours. At least he has the right kind of qi to put up a good fight.”

Tenri couldn’t help himself. He started laughing.

He briefly wondered just how old this Yaoxan was. It was always hard to tell with cultivators. As they advanced, they become closer and closer to immortality. Even Tenri himself still looked nearly five years younger than he really was, and Tsuyuki looked like he was barely out of his teens despite being one of the oldest living beings in the world.

But, with the way Shen spoke, Tenri wouldn’t have been surprised if he really was in his early twenties. How childish could he be to consider any type of qi better than any other? Certainly, some were flashier, and the void arts he practiced were, indeed, powerful. However, to underestimate wood simply because it wasn’t innately destructive was foolish.

“What’s so funny?” Shen growled. Void qi wrapped around his sword again.

Tenri finally got a handle on his laughter enough to answer. “If you don’t know, then you are even more of a fool than I thought.”

A vein began to pulse on Shen’s forehead, and he lunged at Tenri. The wood artist twisted to the side. The smile melted into a look of sheer determination.

The blade sliced toward him. Tenri gave it his all to stay ahead of the blade. Even at the same advancement, Shen was fast. His training with the blade was far more formal than Tenri ever received, but that wasn’t going to stop him. How many spirit beasts and lesser yokai had he fought over the years since he took up the cultivator’s mantle? Compared to a swarm of fengmori on the raging seas, this was nothing. Tenri kept just a few inches ahead of the blade, ducking and twisting out of the path of danger.

Then, when the moment was right, he ducked under the blade and struck, slamming an open palm into Shen’s chest. The blow rippled through the void artist, sending him stumbling several steps back.

Shen snarled at Tenri before spinning his blade in his hand. Qi burst into existence in Tenri’s vision, arcing in black waves from Shen as he wove a thin net of void energy. With a roar and a slash of his blade, the net was sent straight for Tenri.

In every direction he looked, Tenri was trapped. Void qi crisscrossed before him like cracks of night laced across reality. It wrapped around him, burning into his skin and forcing him to the ground.

Shen laughed maniacally as Tenri struggled against the net. “Looks like you’re all out of tricks!”

Not quite, Tenri thought as he stilled his thoughts. The void burned him, but that was a good thing. He analyzed the feeling. Tsuyuki had mentioned once that the void was the essence of isolation. It sought to separate things, such as flesh from bone. But, feeling it for himself…

Tenri’s wood aura surged around him. He would survive to protect those around him. That was his job, and he was not going to let a little bit of void stop him.

The wood reacted to the void, forming a bright green barrier around him. That barrier seeped beneath his skin, forming veins of brilliant green along his arms and face.

Shen’s laugh trailed off as Tenri grabbed the void net with bare hands and threw it off. It burned, but it burned much less now that his technique had adapted to the new form of qi. He stood, glaring at Shen.

“What was it you were saying about pulling up the weeds?” he growled. Shen gripped his sword in defiance, readying for another attack.

The void artist raced forward, closing the distance between them, but Tenri was ready for him. He spun around, letting wood qi explode in a storm around him. Rice was swept up off the ground and hurled straight at Shen.

Just as the last time, Shen waved a hand and void ate through the rice, dissolving the grains without mercy, but Tenri had more up his sleeve…specifically a tiny bag of seeds from the Zhao farm.

He released the strings on the sachet and flung the contents forward. A mix of melon seeds, strawberry seeds, and high-quality rice shimmered with the same jade color as Tenri’s qi as they sprayed at the oncoming void artist.

Shen screamed as the infused seeds slammed into him, drawing blood where they pierced his skin like tiny thorns. He turned his void qi inward, trying to rid himself of the seeds, but they shone brightly.

A single snap of Tenri’s fingers was all it took for them to take root. Those that had missed the void artist dug into the ground, drilling roots into the mundane cobblestones with little more resistance than if they were taking root in gravelly soil. They flourished, digging deep beneath the earth to anchor themselves as they began wrapping angry vines around Shen’s legs.

However, the artist was a little more preoccupied with the seeds that had come to rest inside his injuries. Those, too, flourished, but instead of the bounties of the earth, they decided to feed on Shen’s blood.

“You know,” Tenri began. “People often forget that corpses make fairly decent fertilizer. Surrender, before I choose to use you to feed my garden.”

The artist screamed as the vines and roots dug into his flesh. His void qi slashed and tore at the plants, and quite a few dissolved before his onslaught. But, for every one that fell, another one dug deeper until he was forced to his knees.

“Do you surrender?” Tenri asked, his voice cold and unforgiving as the ocean he grew up with.

Shen pondered it for a long moment. The plants tightened their grip, and he winced. Then, with a look of defeat, he dropped his sword. Tenri swiftly retrieved it. Without another word, the vines that were just starting to bloom with tiny, crimson flowers all over Shen’s body began to retreat.

“A wise choice,” he said. “Now, leave. Tell your father that Saikan will handle its own affairs from now on. The Lunar Hunt need not get involved.” Tenri leaned down, holding Shen’s sword just before him. “And if I ever find you in my territory again, we’ll be finding out just how much more beautiful my blooms are when fed by your blood. Understand?”

Shen scrambled backward and leapt to his feet. He snarled at Tenri, fury and humiliation written all over his features. “This isn’t over,” he growled. “When my father hears about this, you will wish you’d spilled every drop of my blood.”

“Then get out before I change my mind.”

Without another word, Shen was gone.

A cheer rose from the gathered crowd, and, in an instant, Hanako had thrown herself into Tenri’s arms. He was unmoved by her force and just held her close.

“You did it!” she whispered. “I was so worried.”

“Worried? About me? That would be a first for you,” he teased. She pulled a sandal off with practiced ease and smacked him with it three times before he finally relented.

“Cousin?” Zumi approached. “Will you be returning to work with this humble assistant?”

Tenri blinked in surprise. “I thought Shen took over as Administrator while I was away.” Zumi snorted.

“That lout didn’t answer a single petition, didn’t conduct a single inspection, and made poor Zumi do all of it!”

“And did you manage?”

“I regret to inform you that I failed to process a number of documents, and they’ve since become lost,” Zumi answered, crossing his arms.

“And which documents were those?”

Zumi grinned widely. “Those regarding Cousin Lin’s deposal as Administrator, of course!”