In the Wind Realm’s Wind Clan, Feng Jiu Si sat facing his father, Feng Hao, in a hall weighed down by silence. Feng Hao kept his eyes closed and spoke in a low voice: “The Great Thousand Alliance selection has been moved up. Can you break through to the Void Refining stage in a short time?”

Feng Jiu Si was silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head and said, “Father, Void Refining cannot be achieved overnight. I have touched the threshold, but to break through I still need time.”

Feng Hao snapped his eyes open, the cutting light in them sweeping across his son like blades as he said, “I know your cultivation is not easy, which is why I made a trade with the Auspicious Palace. And what did you do? If you hadn’t used that Furnace Cauldron as a wager to fool around with those useless juniors, how would we be in this position now? With the selection advanced, if no one in the Wind Clan breaks through to Void Refining, we are certain to lose this contest. Will you stand by and watch the right to rule the Wind Realm fall into other families’ hands?”

Feng Jiu Si rose at once and bowed in apology: “Father, I was too arrogant and ruined a major affair.” He had long prided himself on having every move in hand, yet since he encountered the Furnace Cauldron named Yu Zhao, everything had slipped beyond calculation. Entering the Land of Divine Remains had been the most mistaken choice of his life. He had comforted himself that even without the Furnace Cauldron he could rely on his own strength to break through, but who could have expected the Great Thousand Alliance to move the selection forward? He regretted it bitterly; it was already too late.

Seeing him thus, Feng Hao’s expression eased slightly, though his tone remained stern as he said, “What’s done is done. Regret is useless. There is only one way left that may help you break through to Void Refining.”

Feng Jiu Si lifted his head: “Father, you mean…”

“Yes. The Storm Abyss,” Feng Hao said, gaze deep. “If you enter for closed door cultivation, you might break through in a short time.” The Storm Abyss was the Wind Clan’s forbidden ground and the trial every generation’s Patriarch had to face. Feng Jiu Si’s eyes lit up, then wavered with hesitation. In his reckless youth he had asked to enter it, but his father refused outright, saying his strength was insufficient and entry meant no return. Later, several elders at bottlenecks entered the Storm Abyss seeking breakthroughs; in the end, only one returned alive. Only then did he grasp the place’s terror, and he never mentioned it again.

Perceiving his doubt, Feng Hao gave a cold snort and said, “Do you think I don’t know the risk? But time is tight. If no one in the Wind Clan reaches Void Refining, we will lose. If you don’t gamble now, the clan’s future is in peril.”

Feng Jiu Si steadied himself and bowed: “I understand, Father. I will enter the Storm Abyss and do everything I can to break through.”

Feng Hao’s expression softened: “Jiu Si, you are the finest of your generation in the Wind Clan and the child I am most proud of. I believe you will not disappoint me.”

Feng Jiu Si nodded gravely, then suddenly thought of something and asked, urgency in his voice, “Has Uncle Tu caught Yu Zhao?”

Contempt flickered in Feng Hao’s eyes as he shook his head and said, “Not only did they fail to catch her, they never even saw her. No one knows who Yu Zhao and her companions really are. Senior Ling Long of the Lingxiao Realm has publicly vowed to protect them to the death; anyone who touches them is her enemy. And it’s not just Ling Long. The Sect Elder of the Lingyin Sect in the Bifang Realm is on good terms with them too. If the Earth Clan wants them dead, they’ll have to think twice about the consequences.”

Feng Jiu Si was greatly shocked. He had spent time with Yu Zhao; while he recognized her extraordinary talent and clarity of heart, her speech and bearing clearly marked her as a cultivator from a Small World—her horizons limited, unfamiliar, even ignorant of many matters of the Middle Thousand World. Yet now she had ties to Senior Ling Long and a Lingyin Sect Sect Elder, and even the Earth Clan could do nothing. [A flicker of unease rose in his chest.] Yu Zhao’s rise was far faster than he had expected, and the power behind her made him wary. If she came to resent the Wind Clan, it would be no small trouble.

“Father, should we make some preparations?” he asked.

Feng Hao waved a hand, his tone indifferent as he said, “No need. She may have a background, but the Wind Clan is not a soft persimmon to be squeezed at will. Besides, the Earth Clan stands in front of us; we are not in direct conflict with her. We will watch and see, and focus on the Great Thousand Alliance selection.”

Feng Jiu Si nodded, a trace of cold irony slipping through his eyes. [He had underestimated Yu Zhao. Jin Yuan had underestimated her too.] Thinking this, he felt a little better and brought his attention back to the Storm Abyss. Breaking through to Void Refining mattered most; as for Yu Zhao, he could only set the matter aside for now.

“When can I enter the Storm Abyss, Father?” he asked.

“In three days,” Feng Hao said, casting him a steady look. “I will personally open the secret realm for you. Adjust your state over the next few days. Once you enter, everything depends on you.”

“Rest assured, Father. I will not fail your trust,” Feng Jiu Si replied.

In the Metal Realm’s Metal Clan, a sharp crack rang out against the floor. Jin Yuan looked coldly at the man she had knocked down as blood seeped from severed meridians in his limbs; his face was the color of paper and he could not form a complete word. She said, “Trash.”

A majestic voice approached from afar, and the disciples at the edges, as if granted amnesty, hurried to carry the man away. Jin Yuan sheathed her golden blade, turned to the newcomer, and said, “Mother.”

The clan matriarch, face grave, stepped up and slapped her without warning. Jin Yuan’s head snapped to the side. Startled, a golden gleam flashed at her fingertips, but a heartbeat later she licked the blood from her lip, bowed her head, and said softly, “Your daughter knows she was wrong.”

“Where did you err?” the matriarch asked.

“I…” Jin Yuan’s words stalled.

Undisguised disappointment darkened the Matriarch of the Metal Clan’s face as she said, “I taught you long ago to cut the grass by the root. You may borrow a knife to kill, but you must never play with fire and burn yourself. Letting that Furnace Cauldron go was your first mistake.”

Jin Yuan clenched her fists until the knuckles blanched, eyes flashing with boundless hatred. [Yu Zhao!] That name had become her Heart Demon. In the stillness of the night she relived every moment she had spent with Yu Zhao, wishing she could tear her apart. If she could not kill Yu Zhao with her own hands, she would never find peace.

“Mother, I acknowledge my fault. I will never make the same mistake again,” she said.

The matriarch’s face did not soften at her confession; it grew colder as she said, “Your second mistake was killing Tu Xiao without absolute safety, planting a hidden calamity for our Metal Clan.”