I do not hold a high opinion of the Shore, nor its useless Governor who is far too occupied with his pursuits of women and power far from his lands. But Shen Tori…he performs the necessary duties with efficiency and keeps all elements of the Shore in line. I will never forget the gift he sent me on his first year in the post of the Lunar Hunt: the heads of three golds who’d fled to the Shore. Very resourceful for someone stuck at Silver. -King Mai Saraik.

* * *

“He’s making his comeback,” Xinya said before cupping her hands together. “You can do it, Master Pharyx! I believe!”

The little cultivator’s voice carried over the noise of the crowd. I rolled my eyes at her use of the honorific, but it seemed to have the desired effect. Pharyx’s hair began to shine brightly, and his attacks became quicker and sharper.

“How easily he’s motivated,” Pollen mused, but Suzume only laughed.

“His ego is easy to stroke and difficult to bruise,” she said. “But, it does have its benefits.”

I smiled to myself. Aya used to say the same things about me when we were children. Then again, I was willing to bet she would still say those things, even now after all I’ve accomplished. Though she was absent for much of my rise to greatness, I was quite certain that Chouko would have filled her in on my fate. Perhaps she’d chastise me when we finally met up again after so many years.

In the arena below, Pharyx and Kansi were shrouded in a haze of misty qi to anyone with eyes to see it. The rich pinks and greens of wind qi streaked alongside Kansi’s blade like a shifting aurora of color. Her form blurred and she circled around behind the spirit beast who shone with all the fiery brilliance of the sun itself. He wasn’t to be outdone. For every swipe she took at him, he returned her strength with a swipe of his own. Though most of his attacks failed to hit their mark, he still got a few good shots in.

Steel clanged together as sword met lance, and the two became locked in a furious battle of wills and raw strength. I leaned forward, unsure of who would triumph. Kansi was Silver, and her body had been enhanced by her cultivation. Pharyx employed the raw qi of the sun, which infused his body and gave him the chance to contend with stronger artists.

Pharyx’s arms trembled. Kansi leaned down on him, leveraging her superior height and build to try and crush him under her. Qi sparked.

“I wish you could see this, Xinya,” I whispered through bated breath. “It’s an incredible display of qi. You’d learn a lot from it.”

“Do you think he’ll win?”

“Absolutely not,” said a new voice. I nearly jumped. I was so involved in the fight and its outcome that I hadn’t noticed the middle-aged man approach our sitting area.

Xinya stuck out her tongue. “Shows what you know,” she hissed, but she never took her eyes off our friend in the ring. I chuckled.

“He still has a chance, I think.”

“Against the Sword Saint’s own disciple? I doubt it very much,” the man continued. “She’s a higher advancement and is much more well-travelled and experienced than he is. Certainly, her age alone would give her the edge, since I’m quite certain that she’s over a hundred years his senior.”

And I’m over thirty thousand years yours, I thought to myself. Age and experience were important, but technique, talent, and tactics were equally so. I might have been the youngest of the greater Ascendents of the old world, but it still took five of them to lay me low.

Sunlight flared brightly, and I squinted my eyes. The hornet queen was shining so brightly it was hard to see, but I wasn’t about to miss this. Apparently, most of the crowd agreed, since many of them were still trying to peek at the fight through raised hands and squinted eyes. How many times would mere mortals get the chance to witness an ascended spirit beast fight the disciple of an Ascendent? Nobody wanted to miss a single blow.

With a ferocious shout, Pharyx surged upward, knocking Kansi back several paces before lunging with his lance. Blood coated the cobblestones as he clipped Kansi’s side.

“An admirable show of force,” Kansi called. “But raw strength will only serve you so far.”

Suddenly, Kansi’s form began to shift and shimmer. Another Kansi appeared behind Pharyx, then another and another until there were five Kansis surrounding him.

“Illusions?” Xinya asked, turning to me for an explanation. “But she’s not a moon artist.”

“Many forms of qi can create similar outcomes,” I explained. Some outcomes, such as levitating a sword or creating a blade of qi could be achieved with so many different forms of qi that they were considered basic to most paths. Of course, a metal artist would always be best with manipulating a sword and a moon artist would always create better doubles than any other, but the ultimate results were the same. In this case, I recognized the technique being employed against Pharyx. “These actually aren’t illusions at all. Kansi’s strength is speed. By using her wind qi to obfuscate her position and enhance that speed further, she is creating afterimages. She’s actually at each position nearly simultaneously…if Pharyx can actually catch her in any of them...”

“You seem quite familiar with the Sword Saint’s techniques,” the strange man said. I glanced at him, wondering why he was still here. Didn’t he realize there were more important things than idle conversation?

He practically dripped void qi in my Iron sight. The man next to him, whom I’d only just noticed, was less thoroughly steeped in black qi, but it was clear that neither one was a regular merchant. They were cultivators, and powerful ones. Immediately, I was on edge…

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

…but that didn’t mean that I would give them any more of my attention than was necessary until the fight was complete.

“It’s a legendary technique,” I said, rolling my eyes and returning to watching the fight. “I’m from the Pearlescent Valley. Of course, I know the Sword Saint’s techniques.” Also, I’d had that very technique used against me more times than I could count.

“The valley, eh? You’ve certainly come a long way.” The man stepped up next to me, watching the fight. “Shall we make a friendly wager, then?”

“Why? I don’t know you.”

“You don’t? I would have assumed you’d recognized the resemblance, Tsuyuki Yoru. You killed my son, after all.”

Alarm surged inside me, but I fought to keep it off my face. Instead, I spared another glance. In the end, it wasn’t him, but the man next to him who bore the greater resemblance.

“You must be Shen Tori, Shen Yaoxan’s father and master of the Lunar Hunt.” Pollen and Suzume were immediately on edge, recognizing the name. Only Xinya didn’t seem to notice, though whether that was because she hadn’t heard me over the crowd’s cheers or because she was pretending she hadn’t was a mystery.

“Very good. So, about that wager,” Shen Tori asked gently.

“What is it you want? I deeply regret that I can’t offer the venerable master my head on a platter. It’s against my path,” I answered calmly.

“Of course. Believe it or not, I’m not actually here to kill you this time,” he began. “I have other plans that will see to themselves in time, but I wanted to catch you before you were…shall we say, unavailable?”

“You honor me with your attention.”

“I only want Yaoxan’s body,” he said. “The rest will see itself done in time.” Finally, a statement worthy of my full attention. I faced him, the picture of confusion.

“We sent his body back with the survivors of the army he brought to our doorstep. Xi Qiwu said she’d see him safely home.”

Shen Tori narrowed his eyes and cocked his head in confusion. “What a curious excuse, given that you killed every last cultivator who participated in that attack.”

“I’m insulted that you would think so poorly of my character,” I answered. “But, because there’s clearly been a misunderstanding, I’ll overlook it. I promise, over half the cultivators survived the attack and were sent home. We put the oxen down, but the rest were alive when I last saw them.”

“Then where could they have gone?” Shen Tori snarled. “They were not spotted in Pemai nor Heimian. There is no other route they could have taken. Did they just vanish into mist?”

“I don’t know, but I promise I don’t have any of their bodies. If I did, I’d give them to you without question.”

“Would you? You’ve been lying all this time about who and what you are. How can I trust a word you say, moon artist?” He took a step forward, clearly intending to start a fight, only to close his eyes and take a deep breath before stepping back. “Forgive me. Now is hardly the time for us to bring our all to bear. It’s a festival, after all.”

On the battlefield below, Pharyx sprang high into the air. He began to twirl faster and faster until he was spinning in a small twister of wind. Once he had enough speed, tiny motes of sunlight, even smaller than a ghost wisp, shot out in every direction.

“It seems he has learned something since the spider fight,” I said. Pollen just nodded and watched intently.

Sunlight fell like rain over the small arena. Where they hit the ground, the cobblestones sizzled. Despite her speed, Kansi couldn’t avoid them all. In the blink of an eye, she slowed, hissing as she tried to brush off two of the orbs. Pharyx took his chance, lunging at the slowed artist. The shaft of his lance slammed into her chest, knocking the wind from her before the hornet spun around and landed a solid kick that landed her on her back. Before Kansi had a chance to recover, Pharyx’s lance was at her throat and the fight was over.

“You fight clever, High Queen of Hanai,” Kansi praised. Pharyx released her before grasping her hand and helping her to her feet. The crowd cheered for their defender.

Then, Xinya spun around and gave Shen Tori a stern expression. “See! Shows what you know!” She held her head high.

“You must be the little moon artist the Chain-Bound Fury snatched,” Shen Tori said. He knelt in front of the little girl who just fixed him with a look of fearsome determination.

“I am Lang Xinya. Shen Yaoxan killed my father in cold blood, and Uncle Yoru just repaid the debt on my behalf,” she growled.

“And, once he’s dealt with, we’ll be dealing with…” Shen Tori’s words trailed off as his eyes flicked down to Xinya’s chest. The onyx amulet still hung round her neck. “Where did you find that?”

“It belongs to her. Why do you care?” I answered, pulling Xinya behind me. Shen Tori stood and took a deep breath. Though he faced me for his next question, the words were clearly directed at Xinya.

“Girl, you said your father was killed. Where is your mother?”

“She’s dead,” Xinya answered stoically. “She died when I was little.”

“I see. And her name. What was it?”

“Why would I tell you?” the little cultivator hissed, even as she hid behind my sleeves.

“Was it, by chance, Reixin?” Shen Tori’s gaze was unreadable as he stared me down, but the man next to him, who I could only assume was another of his children, gasped.

“You don’t mean,” the son gasped. Shen Tori ignored him.

“That necklace of yours is a family heirloom from your mother who was a cultivator of void qi. Have I guessed correctly so far?” The older artist continued. I pushed Xinya further behind me, not liking where this conversation was going. Though the son was clearly just as surprised as we were, I couldn’t help but wonder if this was some kind of scheme on the part of Shen Tori.

“Yes,” Xinya answered warily. “But how did you know that?”

“My daughter was Shen Reixin, and she was a powerful void artist and the sole inheritor of the Shen family bloodline. She ran away just over eleven years ago only to die three years later,” Shen Tori explained.

Xinya was speechless for the first time in her life, but I didn’t flinch. I continued staring down Shen Tori. He was an older gentleman with a well-kept beard that he styled to a point. Both the beard and his hair were as black as the void qi that trailed from him like smoke.

Only Pollen broke the tension between us. “I’m certain this is a very happy family reunion, but, if you’ll forgive me, I promised little Xinya to take her to see the Spirit Caller’s Performance, and I think it’s about to start.” She held out a hand for Xinya, and the little girl practically rushed into the Queen Bee’s arms.

I backed away from the void artists, not wanting to turn my back on them for even a second. However, before I got the chance to fully retreat, Shen Tori lunged forward, snatching my wrist and dragging me close with the strength of a more advanced artist.

“Listen closely, Tsuyuki Yoru,” he hissed in my ear. “Consider yourself lucky. Your precious disciple has just earned a pass from the Lunar Hunt. Rest assured. Once I remove your head from your shoulders, she will be taken good care of.”

“And here I thought you’d be ashamed to have a moon artist for a granddaughter.”

“She’s still young,” Shen Tori countered. “I’ll purge the Darkened Moon’s filth from her, and when I do, she will be placed on a much more proper path, the one she was born for.”

“And what’s that?”

“One compatible with her illustrious void bloodline, of course.”