Kind Young Master [Progression Fantasy - Cultivation]

60th Wheel Under the Eye of the White Tiger, Darkriver Boar Year, Horse Month, Second Decan Jia

(The beginning of the second week (decan) of May of the last year of the current celestial wheel.)

Fushuai selected Moonstep to be his second pillar. Though the technique belonged to the Void Legacy Path, it suited his own as well, and it had become so central to his fighting method that he saw no reason to abandon it for the simple sake of crafting something new. After nearly two months of travel, he felt it was nearly ready.

Xie Gui had guided him along a process that was nothing like plucking the inscription from the mouth of a burning and unnamed spirit. That was not how things were generally done. Instead, he had carefully crafted the structure within his internal landscape.

Visiting his Inner Sea, though it was more like a pond at this stage, had been difficult to achieve deliberately. The first time had been instinct and inspiration, which had to be replaced by careful practice and meditation. Now, when he closed his eyes, he could follow the flow of energy into his dantian before diving deeper, experiencing the realm within himself as if it were a physical region.

Orange-pink light poured from a far horizon, reflecting off the glassy surface of the shallow pool within his soul. His first pillar, an ivory monument, now rose nearly to his waist, wrapped in the glyphs of his unnamed technique.

Blackflame Blast? Devouring Hunger Fire? Every possibility that had occurred to him so far had been atrocious. Techniques did not need names, strictly speaking, their truth was written in their inscription, but naming added a sense of solidity he felt was sorely needed in a power he did not fully understand.

A wicker moon floated above him, near enough to touch. His dantian had never been easier to examine. Three techniques, with room enough for a fourth, perhaps a fifth, without presenting an imbalance or overlap. He could have restored Circle of Mist already, and was instead leaving the space open to allow for more flexibility.

Through much care and steady effort, his dantian had recovered from its expansion, and he intended to expand it at least one more time before planting his final pillar.

Threads of Yin extended from his fingers, and he wove them along the courses of a method that no longer required his full engagement to repeat. Crafting a pillar, instead of finding it, called for the slow accretion of the same pattern, each course a paper-thin layer painstakingly bound to those that came before.

Six hundred and seventy-six.

The count needed to be exact. One layer too many, one layer too few, and the pillar would forever be less than it could have been. The only solution was then to break it down and start again.

Six hundred and seventy-seven.

"Fushuai."

The voice came from somewhere beyond the pink horizon. He tied off the threads and brought his awareness out of his Inner Sea, returning it to the earthly realm.

He smelled the dust kicked up by his sandals, felt the prickle of the sun on the side of his face. This ground was familiar to him, and the rise ahead. He heard Zhang Sha's boots beside him, the leather scuffed and scoured by their travels.

"Back with us? I thought you would want to be fully present when we reach the town."

Lin said nothing. She hadn't spoken for the last several days. Dantian stabilization was still out of her reach, and Sand Orchard was beyond the next hill.

As they reached the top, Bai Tu sniffed curiously. The town was as they had left it. Half ruins, half community, stubbornly supporting their existence in a land that cared nothing for them. Men and women with loose white robes and covered heads tended goats and shaded gardens, while others carried burdens on their backs across the few active streets.

Fushuai wanted to be sure Mei Li had fared well in their time apart. It certainly didn't appear that the town had been overrun or its occupants scattered. But the cultivator presiding over Sand Orchard had been twice exchanged in quick succession without much obvious change. If something had happened to their sister, it might have made no difference to the mortals who resided there.

They were recognized as they descended the hill, and a boy ran out to meet them by the time they reached the bricks of the main street.

"Great masters." He bowed quickly, then looked nervously behind him. There were already fewer people about. "Hou Fen asked me to be his eyes if you returned."

"Has something happened?"

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"No...and yes." His hands clenched at his sides, and the words came so fast it was as if he had squeezed them out in a gush. "We owe you so much. And we have nothing but respect and gratitude for the Honorable Long Mei. But I am supposed to tell you not to enter our village. There is a Steel Ribbon Sect Disciple staying with her in the temple, and the Honorable Long Mei stated that the other Devouring Death members should not return while he remained."

Fushuai looked down the road. He could see the pagoda, and anyone who happened to be in its upper levels could have already spotted them as well.

"Only one sect member?" He asked, gesturing for Zhang Sha and the others to go around the hill where they would be concealed by the structures, rather than over it.

The boy nodded vigorously.

"How long has he been here?"

"Nearly two decans."

"Did they tell you anything else?"

He shook his head.

"A thousand thanks." There was no point in asking about the stranger's advancement. The people of Sand Orchard couldn't tell body refinement from core cultivation. "Please give my regards to Hou Fen when you have an opportunity."

They moved out of sight of the pagoda and continued until the village was once again hidden by the rise in the land.

Zhang Sha wore the same look he had when they were tracking beasts in the mountains. Eyes narrowed, face still. No eagerness, but something that suggested he already knew how the venture would end.

"He will be at the same stage as we are. If he were lower, they wouldn't have given him the freedom to travel alone. Higher, and there would be no reason for him to bother with a place like this."

"That doesn't mean we can defeat him, even together." Facing an opponent who had gone a step farther, even two, was not insurmountable. Fushuai had benefited from better luck dueling those more advanced than he was than anyone with good sense would have bet on. Each stage presented a landscape vaster than the last. If the Steel Ribbon Disciple were near the peak, he would simply be too powerful to challenge. Even mid-stage would make for an encounter with no sure path to victory.

"You want to fight him? I was only musing." His expression hadn't changed, giving lie to his words.

"He is living with Mei Li." Lin's hands were stuffed in her sleeves, her gaze on her slippers, which had nearly worn through from the long journey. Leaving them together had been one thing, but having a sect member lurking here brought too many concerns to accept.

Knowing Mei Li, perhaps she had taken the man as a lover and was well on the way to being a disciple herself. Interfering could ruin her chances of finding a place among the Steel Ribbons, but he wasn't willing to risk his youngest sister gambling on it. And that was the most optimistic interpretation of the stranger's continued presence; the other possibilities were unacceptable.

The people of Sand Orchard did not know Fushuai's name, but Lin had given them hers, and Long Mei was not sufficiently removed from Gao Mei Li to be considered a secure alias. If the sect member knew anything about the disciple of Xiao Sheng and his family, he could be waiting for them.

She could have done a better job of informing her messenger.

"I need to know more," he said. "But we can't all go in together. Tonight, I will seek out Hou Fen. Until then, we should find somewhere better to wait."

"There isn't proper cover." Zhang Sha said. "If we dig a hole and veil ourselves, he might not notice we are here."

The landscape did not invite concealment apart from this hill. More scrub and low rolls of earth. Fushuai had already withdrawn his aura, and his sister did the same. Bai Tu's spirit had developed to the point that he would stand out among the lesser beasts of the region, but dream qi could cover him well enough.

Zhang Sha was readying his earth softening skill when a voice greeted them from above.

"Travelers! How wonderful."

There had been no hint of his presence. The man appearing over the crest of the hill was dressed in robes bluer than the sky, his sleeves decorated with silver bands like the marks on a serpent's body.

Broad of shoulder, and a head shorter than Fushuai, he extended his arms to either side in greeting. "What are you doing out here? I'm sure Sand Orchard and its lady would welcome you."

A dao was cinched snugly to his belt.

"A thousand thanks," Fushuai called up, his face frozen in a smile to match the man's cheer. "We were just discussing the way forward. It was not our intention to impose on your hospitality."

"No imposition." He was already descending toward them. "And I am not the master here in any case, only a friend of the village and its mistress."

His gaze swept over them, pausing nowhere. "For three cultivators to pass this close, you must forgive me for wondering why they would not enter and make themselves known."

"You said you are not the master here." Fushuai watched the man's hands, trying to gauge his intent without giving his own away in doing so. "May I ask your name?"

"Of course! I am Duan Dai of the Steel Ribbon Sect. May I presume to guess your identities? Are you not members of Devouring Death, of whom the good people of Sand Orchard speak so highly?"

Fushuai was glad he had not rushed to tell a different lie.

"We are." He gestured. "These are Disciples Kong and Lin. And I am Inner Disciple Shu." Hopefully, his sister had not made up different names.

"So you are already the friends of my magnanimous host. Then my welcome was not needed." The grin relaxed, and his expression remained pleasant. "We should go in together then, as we have a few matters to discuss regarding your sect."

Despite the man's manner, it was clear they could not refuse without bloodshed. If he had already heard the story about their sect and believed it, that was far better than the alternative. It was natural that Steel Ribbon would have questions about their presence in the region, and if they could be handled deftly, perhaps this situation could be resolved without resorting to blades.

Mei Li's warning may have only been a precaution. But the fact that Duan Dai had rushed out to meet them implied that he knew or suspected more than he let on. He had expected them to retreat and acted accordingly. Zhang Sha was as still as a panther watching a goat.

"Of course," Fushuai said. "We are gratified to be found worthy of the attention of Steel Ribbon."

The man laughed. "Fair words. You need not be concerned. I already have an understanding with Long Mei. Still, it is better that I can say I have spoken to all of you when I return to my elders."

With the confidence of a mantis stalking a cicada, he turned and strode back up the hill. They followed.