“Are you sure this is safe?”

“Safe?” Ruqian stood in front of the crevice into the earth, the darkness enveloping, silhouetting his form— half against the burning sunlight behind them and half against the dark before. “Not at all, but it’s not dangerous, either. Between our battle, and the… whatever was going on between the sect elders a few days ago, I doubt that there’s anything dangerous around here. I wouldn’t worry about anything too much. It’ll be good— I don’t explore the mountains as deeply as I used to, so this will be interesting.” He waved her forward, and stepped into the dark and—

Lily sighed, and followed. It was not, perhaps, what she wanted to do, but the opportunity was too good to pass up. Getting escorted by a Foundation Establishment cultivator on an adventure? Could she really be expected to refuse that on principle? Especially not when the promised reward would no-doubt help them get Avyr to Foundation Establishment… so she ducked her head and followed, feeling the hot spring-water swirling around her feet and filling the chamber with a heady mist.

She blinked as with a wave of his hand, a bright glow emanated from a charm around Ruqian’s neck. All of a sudden, the steam seemed much less oppressive, pushed away to form a griseous skin on either side of them. “A simple charm,” Ruqian explained, as if that was in any way simple— clean air, exclusion, identification

… how had they managed to fit all that onto such a tiny pendant? “Standard equipment for anyone who reaches Foundation Establishment in the army— it’s invaluable, really. Once, the army ran up against a core formation poison cultivator who could fill the entire valley with toxin deadly enough to kill a mortal in a breath. This charm is the only reason I and my regiment survived.”

Lily could scarcely imagine it. Core formation was only a step above Foundation Establishment, and she’d seen Foundation Establishment cultivators before. “Are you weak?”

Ruqian spluttered something, then scowled back at her— a lighthearted scowl, but it reminded her he had been trying to kill her not even half a day prior. “I am not weak! I’ve defeated late-Foundation Establishment spirit beasts before, and I assisted in the defeat of several Core Formation cultivators in the war! You’re just freakishly strong for a mortal.” He was quiet for a second, before slumping. “But, you’re not entirely wrong, either.” The sound of water sluicing past them was almost painfully loud as they slunk ever deeper into the crevice. “I’m just barely in Foundation Establishment. The cultivation manuscript I follow— a common one given to army recruits— goes up to Core Formation before it becomes impossible to advance further without intervention, but I never earnt enough merit to even get the latter parts of the manuscript.”

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“Couldn’t you get it now, though? You’ve been defending these mountains for years!”

“Not as a part of the army, though. Keeping the gun was already a coup in and of itself— I daren’t try my luck reaching beyond my station. A lot of people say that Foundation Establishment is where the cultivation journey truly starts, and they’re not entirely wrong, but… no, I think Core Formation is where you truly step into the cutthroat world of cultivators. Foundation Establishment is the realm of disciples and youths in the big sects, but Core Formation? Even an Inner Disciple from the Bloody Saffron Sect would have to take a Core Formation cultivator seriously.”

“That sounds powerful.”

Ruqian snorted. “It sounds troublesome, that’s what. If it weren’t for how much easier it would be to protect the mountains, I’d not even consider advancing—” he paused, holding up a hand. “Here. Look at this. The sound. She hadn’t heard the sound over their conversation, but there was something beyond them— a trickling combing, a rush of water, crashing over, roaring in the distance far beyond them. “That’s where we want to go.”

“Ooh. Sounds dangerous.”

“It’s not. I’d be able to sense if there was a spirit beast there—”

“What if it has some sort of… shadow hiding technique?”

Ruqian glared at her. “Are you making fun of me?”

What? Petty revenge? From her? “Noooo…” Ruqian just snorted and kept walking, and she hurried after him lest she fall out of his bubble of purified air. The temperature around them only continued to increase as they descended, the already uncomfortably hot water turning scalding and forcing her to awkwardly shimmy along the side of the crevice until Ruqian took pity on her and swept his hand down, a wave of icy water qi cooling a bubble around her. Interesting. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t been able to divine what sort of cultivation Ruqian was using…

Eh, not important. What was important was— as the cavern expanded around them until the crevice was a cave, was an enormous cathedral of stone pillars and cascading waters, cerulean blue and pastel turquoise streaming down in waterfalls from above and splashing into vast and serene pools— the way the world transformed around her. It was only when the bright light of Ruqian’s spell vanished that she realized there was light here— a gentle golden glow emanating out from thin vines that hung from every alcove and every waterfall, shifting and ebbing ethereally to some unseen breeze. Steam filled the vaulted ceilings, lit gently aglow beneath it all.