CHAPTER 292: ICE, BLOOD, AND BRAIN MATTER

On a cold winter morning, I sat inside a newly built restaurant nestled in the inner part of the Sect. The air outside was biting, but inside, the warmth of some array and the faint scent of herbs and spices made the space feel inviting and cozy, even. The architecture was a blend of old and new, more modern than most places within the Sect, by ancient xianxia standards.

The wooden beams, intricately carved, contrasted with smooth stone walls lined with lanterns that emitted a soft glow. The tables were simple and made of polished wood, but there was a refinement to the craftsmanship.

A few people lingered at their tables, quietly sipping tea or speaking in low tones. Occasionally, the clink of chopsticks on porcelain broke the silence.

I pointed with my chopsticks at the person sitting across from me; it was Cai Hu, my master.

“So, teacher, I think you should be the one to push my agenda in these meetings,” I said, looking at him with starry eyes full of childlike innocence.

At least, that was how I wanted to come off.

“Let me get this straight, you want me to take the lead on your project to recruit outsiders, and now I have to do all the work?” Cai Hu snorted, already used to my way of doing things.

“I already did the hard work of convincing everyone,” I reasoned.

“And why can’t you be the one to follow through on top of that? Why do I have to go to the meeting?”

“Despite my influential title, I’m still just a Foundation Establishment Cultivator,” I insisted, speaking in half-truths.

Technically, what I said wasn’t a lie. But the real reason was that, by now, it didn’t matter who led the project. There were no personal gains left for me in continuing to run it.

Sure, I’d technically have more influence. But instead of wasting time harvesting that influence, I’d rather waste that time reading books about techniques and obscure things that were probably never going to be useful in my life.

Additionally, I had too much baggage myself, as my name was already associated with Song Song. I didn't want some paranoid old fossils thinking I was using this to build an army or something like that.

This project would save many people and bring some Foundation Establishment Cultivators to cities and towns that really need it.

“Well, I’m too busy handling the arrays around the Sect and repairing them,” he said.

I knew that was a lie. He only spent about two hours a week doing that. He was a Level 7 Array Conjurer, and I had seen him in action. The speed at which he casts arrays is breathtaking, and he is not using a cheat like me.

“I also have to catalog books in the library,” I said.

He narrowed his eyes at that, no doubt suspecting by now that I was probably lying. But unlike him, my excuse was harder to disprove.

Our staredown lasted a good minute before he sighed.

“I’m sure if I tell Zun Gon about this, he’ll handle it. After all, it is for the good of the Sect.”

Wow. He really just threw his responsibility onto someone else. Sure, I was doing that too, but I was barely twenty. Even combined with my mental age, I was just a bit over my mid-thirties. But this guy? He was over a hundred years old.

“What’s with the — clearly trying to hide it but not really caring enough to hide — judgmental look?” Cai Hu narrowed his gaze at me.

“No, just surprised that someone of your standing and position within the Sect would act like this,” I said.

“We’re pretty much on the same standing within the Sect,” he smirked. “But an important lesson in life is that you need to find people early on who are more responsible than you… and throw all tedious things at them. I’m friends with Zun Gon, and he is very responsible.”

I nodded at the life lesson and made a mental note to find someone like that in the future.

After the meal with my teacher, I went home, reassured by his promise that he’d get my idea moving either way. I was about fifty percent sure he would follow through.

…

Three weeks later, eight hundred Foundation Establishment Cultivators arrived at the front gates of the Blazing Sun Sect. Zun Gon handled all the logistics, spreading them throughout the Sect’s territory. They agreed to serve under the promise of certain resources or an Earth Grade Technique. Most chose the latter.

Though I stayed removed from the whole situation, Song Song told me that many of the elders still didn’t agree with my idea despite the outstanding results.

Even the Sect hadn’t known there were so many rogue cultivators within our borders.

Some elders raised legitimate concerns, like how these outsiders might abuse their power.

Others had more ridiculous ones, such as how bringing them in would cause the elders to “lose face.”

I was pretty sure that last excuse was just a way to disagree with me for the sake of it. And I sincerely hoped we didn’t have people in leadership who would rather get overrun by monstrous beasts than lose face.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

In the end, Zun Gon had agreed. That was all that mattered. The elders quieted down after that.

For security reasons, we could only distribute flyers that were unfortunately bearing my name within the Blazing Sun Sect territory. The goal was to minimize the risk of spies infiltrating our ranks.

Most of the Foundation Establishment cultivators who responded came from small organizations, like how the Liu Clan used to be, without access to Earth Grade Techniques.

Still, eight hundred Foundation Establishment Cultivators was no joke. Official or not, this was an army larger than any of the Four Great Sects could muster.

Even I hadn’t expected such a turnout.

I stared at the soup Fu Yating had prepared for lunch with those thoughts running through my head. As much as I wanted to spend the whole day buried in the library, I still came home for meals and to check in on Wu Yan, Speedy, and admittedly, Fu Yating. With Song Song around, I wanted to see how the two of them got along.

“What are you thinking so deeply about?” asked Song Song, sitting across from me at the table while Fu Yating sat beside me.

“Just some things about the Sect’s leadership,” I said.

“Well, you’ve gotten much better at handling authority than you were a couple of years ago. Back then, you used to be so skittish. Now, you handle things well and you’ve learned how to push your will on people who haven’t budged on a decision in the last century,” she joked.

“He used to be skittish?” Fu Yating asked, genuinely surprised.

“I know, right?” Song Song chuckled and looked like she was about to say more when her brows creased.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly tensing.

Her gaze turned cold as she stared out the window toward something only she could see.

“Spread out your senses,” Song Song said. “A new group has come to join our Sect’s battle against the monstrous beasts. And among them… is a familiar friend.”

I did as she said, spreading my senses in a straight line to maximize range.

Almost immediately, I caught a cold sensation that sent a chill down my spine.

This familiar cold Qi and the sheer presence of a Core Formation Cultivator.

It seemed Ye An had been alive all this time. Not only that, but she had progressed enough to have caught up with Song Song.

Actually, she felt closer to the peak of one-star Core Formation. At this rate, she was going to advance faster than Song Song could keep up. Each minor stage within Core Formation was a major hurdle, but Ye An had already surpassed expectations. The gap between them was only going to grow wider over time.

I think Song Song sensed that too because a murderous aura spread from her in waves.

Immediately, I spread out my Qi in a protective layer around Fu Yating, coating her with mental energy to shield her from the chill of that killing intent. Sadly, Wu Yan was too far away for me to help her directly, and she was still cultivating inside the neighboring wooden house.

But maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. Exposure to this kind of murderous aura could be a good training experience for her, helping her learn how to maintain focus even when facing monstrous beasts that used similar instinctual suppression.

Without a word, Song Song stood and walked out.

Fuck.

I turned to Fu Yating. “Sorry, the meal was amazing, but I have to leave for a bit. I’ll explain everything later.”

“I’m not some damsel in distress who doesn’t understand the situation. Go already,” Fu Yating said.

I followed Song Song out and called after her, but my voice was drowned by the thunderous crack of the sound barrier breaking as she blasted away at supersonic speed.

I wrapped myself in jade armor and flew after her at a breakneck pace, but there was no way I was catching up. The gap between us continued to grow.

So, with no other choice, I activated my Foundation Technique. Even then, she remained blisteringly fast. But before she could exit my range, I managed to trap her in a translucent green cube. A stationary shell of jade armor formed around her, and fiery chains sprouted from the barrier, wrapping around her jade-covered body.

It only sealed her for a second, but that second was enough.

She stopped. I caught up. She looked at me.

“You need to calm down. Picking a fight with Ye An right now isn’t a good idea,” I said.

“Why? Do you think I’m going to lose?” she asked.

I shook my head. “But are you sure you can come out of it without injury? We’ve got a beast wave almost at our doorstep, and everyone else is just waiting for you to be weakened so they can act. Also, remember the situation.”

The "situation" I meant was her father.

His body-snatching technique could very well require the victim to be weakened first, kind of like Pokemon.

Song Song took a deep breath and looked me in the eyes.

“I’m trying to listen to you and calm down. But I just can’t…” she confessed. “We both know she likely has a grudge.”

I winced.

“I’ll try to be as cordial as possible, for your sake,” she added. “What should we do now?”

“Let’s just go and talk first and record all the names of the newcomers,” I said.

Ye An had come with a group. She’d probably met them on the road. There were ten of them, and seven were Qi Gathering Cultivators.

My mind was running a thousand miles a minute, scrambling to figure out what to do next.

We arrived at the gates and told the guards to back off to a safe distance. The guards saw Song Song and nodded. They knew what to do and probably didn’t want to be anywhere near her right now anyway.

Then I turned to the incoming group and saw Ye An at the head. The others stood a step behind her, which made it clear she’d taken on a kind of de facto leadership.

Not much had changed about Ye An’s appearance except she had fewer scars on her face, and she’d filled out a bit more. She was nearly twenty now and still wore that pirate-style eyepatch.

Ye An stopped walking when she was about ten feet from us.

“Liu Feng, can you move aside a bit? I have plans for a rematch with a certain someone,” she said with a smile.

Song Song smiled too, though hers looked like she was ready to kill someone.

“No one is going to fight today,” I said.

I could read the mood easily. If these two fought, only one of them was going to walk away.

Ye An looked at me, her smile never fading.

“I appreciate your help and some of the things you did for me in the past,” she said. “But sadly, you don’t have the power to stop today’s fight.”

“Is that so?” I asked. Knowing that came next was inevitable.