A Song For The Ages

It had been a week since the city had changed hands.

The banners still bore Hu Zhao's sigil, but the atmosphere had shifted. The capital, once thick with the heavy air of militarized control, had begun to exhale. The people were wary, but the fear had dulled into watchfulness, and where once harsh discipline ruled, structure and caution now walked hand in hand.

Feiyin sat in a shaded pavilion near the upper district, a quiet garden that had been left to overgrowth during the previous regime. Now, the air was filled with trimmed hedges, swept stone paths, and the sound of distant hammering as workers continued their repairs.

His gaze was distant.

Across the city, the groundwork for change was already in motion. After the execution of Hu Zhao, Jue Qingling and Ba Shanyue had spent two full days with Commander Xu and the appointed officers, consolidating power, assigning roles, and giving the illusion of shared governance. It was, as Feiyin had intended, a convenient fiction, they would let the men beneath believe they had climbed, when in truth, they were leashed.

What mattered to Feiyin, though, was the clauses he had personally added to the negotiations.

Three new orphanage shelters.

Two in the slums, one in the lower central ring, each manned by healers and appointed cooks. The officers had initially balked at the cost, unwilling to allocate resources without something in return. So Feiyin offered them exactly that; personalized recovery pills for their elite soldiers, and tailored weapon enhancements for their city enforcers. A fair trade, he argued.

There had been resistance at first, a debate sparked in Xu's strategy hall. But Feiyin had leaned in, calm and measured. "If you want a stable regime, you need future contributors, not just immediate gain. A child with food and training today is one more pair of hands that could help you tomorrow."

They had eventually agreed. And now, one week later, the first signs of that agreement had bloomed.

He had already made two visits in secret. Disguised as a wandering doctor, he had watched Jin lead the younger ones through breath control exercises inside the newly appointed orphanage. Luan was healthier now, her hair tied with the ribbon he had given her. Han had even found work in a local workshop, crafting woven mats.

Feiyin hadn't spoken to them directly. Not yet, as he wasn't sure how long he would stay there, and their last parting had been difficult for the younger ones. But he had slipped into the building unnoticed during the night and left a small bag in Jin's room. Inside were labeled pills, one for each of them. Carefully selected, safe for children, each meant to help boost their vitality and internal balance.

Seeing them doing well made something inside his chest loosen. It was a quiet thing. But it was real.

Aside from this, Feiyin had taken the time to focus inward. He spent long hours in silence, recalling the Earth rune.

Cultivators' memories evolved as their bodies did. Every cell, every synapse, every circuit refined into something stronger, more attuned. Feiyin's mind, already precise and disciplined, had become a vault of detail. And the Earth rune, the one etched on the ancient shield in the imperial ruins, was imprinted in full.

It had not simply been a shape. It was resonance.

A unique vibration.

It echoed in his mind's eye like the memory of standing before a mountain. There was a weight to it. A density. Solidity not just in structure, but in purpose.

He tried to recreate that resonance in his essence during meditation, mimicking the thrum it gave off.

Still, the final click to truly make it his own eluded him, until he found himself sparring with Ba Shanyue.

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"Come! Use your arm, not your sleeve!"

Ba's laugh rang across the training field as his fist collided with Feiyin's side. The impact was dulled by Feiyin's defensive use of essence qi but still enough to make him stagger.

"You hit like a feather! A sharp one, yes, but still!"

Feiyin rolled to his feet, feigning a wince as he smiled. "You mean to say I should hit like a boulder."

Ba grinned, his mountain-like frame flexing beneath his light training robes. "Exactly. Earth is more than defense, boy. It's presence. Hit me with that."

Feiyin froze.

Something aligned in his mind.

Ba, standing like a cliff.

The memory of the Earth rune, its oscillation. The vibration Ba gave off was similar. Not consciously, but innately. Earth wasn't about motion. It was about mass. About stillness that could become an unstoppable force.

He bowed quickly. "Thank you. I must return."

Ba blinked. "Did I hit you too hard?"

Feiyin laughed softly. "No, you hit me just right."

Back in his room, incense burned in the corner, scenting the air with grounding herbs. Feiyin sat cross-legged, guqin set to the side, and placed a small golden pill before him.

The Jade Marrow Pill.

It was a custom creation, based on the knowledge from the Alchemy jade slip. A pill designed not for strength, nor recovery, but for elemental compatibility.

He placed it in his mouth and swallowed.

The Earth elemental essence infused him immediately, a slow, descending heaviness, like soil settling after rain. He did not resist. Instead, he focused on the memory of the Earth rune. Called to it.

His mind's eye pulsed.

A click. A resonance.

And then, in the core of his being, a vibration aligned with the world around him. The Earth elemental Intent, in its seed form, settled inside him. Not as an idea, but as a part of his truth.

His essence qi responded. The three nexuses, those ever-spinning cyclones in his three dantians brightened. Their pure white gleam now held brown streaks, as if soil had threaded through snow.

The assimilation was seamless.

His body accepted the infusion like it had been waiting.

The earth-infused essence qi flowed through his meridians, and he felt it immediately. A deep, physical change. Like body tempering all over again.

His skin thickened subtly. Not in coarseness, but in structure. A firmness like refined leather, flexible but strong. His spleen pulsed with vitality, his sense of touch sharpened.

He could feel texture more vividly. Heat. Cold. Even the subtle tremble of movement in the building around him.

His spiritual sense surged.

600 meters.

It was like waking up into a sharper world. Every breath of earth, every trace of mineral in the air, he could feel it now. Every step outside his room echoed back through the soles of his feet.

He tested it.

Standing, he walked to the center of his room and drew a sword he had forged days earlier. Slowly, he pressed the blade to his skin.

Nothing at first.

Then he applied pressure.

His skin dented slightly, then parted. A thin line of blood.

He waited.

The bleeding stopped in seconds. The wound knitted faintly, still open but calm, no blood escaping.

He pressed two fingers to the cut and marveled.

Smooth. Warm. But undeniably tougher.

More than that, his skin felt... aware.

He walked barefoot, and as he did, the world sang to his skin. It wasn't merely the oscillation sense he grew up with, his sense of touch had become something more. Every contact with the floor vibrated through him, carried through his bones like notes through string. The ground itself was a canvas, and movement painted stories upon it.

Each footfall above and below echoed in precise detail. He could feel the way a person's heel met the ground, the hesitation in their step, the difference between confidence and fear. A pacing figure above vibrated with tension. Someone below sat in still meditation, their presence like a calm lake. Farther down, the grating pull of a wooden crate scraped across stone with sluggish resistance.

He could "see" without eyes, not as vision, but as intimate awareness. Not shapes, but patterns. And he realized then, this was the beginning of something far deeper. He would need time, practice, and patience to master it, but already, joy swelled within him. A new world of sensation had opened.

Feiyin smiled, a wide and genuine grin tugging at his lips. This feeling, this heightened touch, this resonance with the earth, it was wonderful.