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3.22 - The Path Forward
🕑 Added 2024-06-01 22:00:13 +0000 UTCWith the coming of spring, He Yu emerged from seclusion. He’d reached the peak of Body Refining sometime around the new year and now stood with one foot in the Fourth Realm. Instinctively, he knew that he wasn’t yet ready to form his Golden Core, but being as close as he was, he had glimpsed some of what his advancement would bring.
The second and third pillars of the Empyrean Ninefold Body Tempering loomed above him, with their foundations rooted in the Fourth Realm. It was strange, he thought, that a body enforcement art didn’t have a pillar that corresponded with Body Refining, but the promise of advancing his understanding overshadowed that.
Also in the Fourth Realm, lay the next stage of the Cloud Emperor’s Heavenly Palace. Although the exact nature of what that stage would bring remained obscured, it was that very obfuscation that hinted at what the art contained.
His sight of the art’s next stage was shrouded in a churning mass of clouds, black and heavy with rain, and flickering with heaven’s judgment. The heaven aspect of He Yu’s presence had been steadily increasing as he’d advanced through the Third Realm. Mostly it had come from the Empyrean Ninefold Body Tempering. At least at first.
The Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment had steadily gained more of a heaven aspect to it, and now the mix of heaven, and wind was about equal. However, he’d come to realize during his seclusion that was a bit of a problem.
His cultivation of the Heavenly Palace’s third stage technique—the Spring Rain Mirror—still lagged behind his other techniques. That was now his most pressing concern. The only real clue he now had to his true path forward lay in the knowledge that he needed to bring the water aspect of the Peerless Judgment in line with the others. The way to do that was to advance his command of the Spring Rain Mirror.
Of course, he could try and learn another water-aspected technique. He certainly had enough contribution points to afford a purchase from the manual pavilion. Doing so would be a temporary measure, at best. The Spring Rain Mirror was part of his principle art, and Zhang Lifen had already chastised him once for not using it. When he’d managed to successfully use the Spring Rain Mirror in battle, he’d seen for himself how useful it would be. Any further delay in advancing his understanding of the technique would only hold him back, and learning a different one in its stead would simply be delaying the inevitable.
Aside from contemplating his techniques, He Yu had several insights he’d collected during his time in the wilds to sift through. The one that seemed most pressing was the utter helplessness he’d felt. It hadn’t been anything he’d been able to focus on during the fight itself—he’d been too busy just trying to survive. Nor had he been able to recognize it once the core disciples came to rescue them. He’d simply been too exhausted by that point.
But the feeling had been there. Lurking beneath everything—the thrill of the fight, the rush of danger, the rising panic. Once out of danger, that sense of helplessness had been acute. It reminded him of his first days at the sect. It reminded him of lying helpless before those stronger than himself. It reminded him of wanting to give up.
He hated it.
Although he hadn’t realized it at the time, his first duel with Sha Xiang had changed something in him. Looking back on his behavior now, he realized just how immature he’d been. He realized the lessons Zhang Lifen had been trying to teach him. She said she’d expected him to lose. Now, he wasn’t so sure he believed that anymore. Regardless of what he was supposed to have taken from that duel, he’d learned he could stand and fight. Then he’d kept fighting. And when he faced Sha Xiang a second time, he won.
Then he faced Tan Xiaoling. Even when she offered him a way out that would let him save face, he stood and fought. He fought and he pushed her harder than anyone else in the tournament. If had hadn’t learned it before, it was then that he’d truly known the boy that had come to the Shrouded Peaks Sect was gone—replaced by an immortal.
His experience out in the wilds had shaken that confidence. The five of them were all but helpless in the face of a simple beast. A Fourth Realm beast, sure, but a beast just the same. By his understanding, they should have been able to do something against it. All of them had well-formed cultivation bases and were clearly talented. But all they could do was run.
Then there had been the presence—the overwhelming want. The desire to possess. That had been the influence of something far greater than any of them were prepared for. The Sunset Empress, Jin Xifeng.
He Yu recalled the vision granted him by the Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment. The technique’s ability to show him the truth of things had certainly expanded far beyond what he’d first thought it capable of. But the knowledge it granted chilled him. He’d seen what Jin Xifeng had been capable of at the height of her power, and he’d experienced the tiniest sliver of that power for himself. The idea that she could break free at all terrified him.
For that, there was only one solution.
He needed to become stronger. The first step towards that was reaching Golden Core, but he couldn’t let his sights linger there. He Yu had to connect to his Way—his personal connection to the Eternal Dao. What was a foe like the Sunset Empress, if not a challenge worthy of legend? Not only did he need to become strong enough to match her, he needed to surpass her. He needed to ascend the realms of cultivation—reach the Ninth Realm.
The first thing He Yu did when he emerged from seclusion was seek out Li Heng. While he’d been cultivating to the peak of Body Refining, he’d been vaguely aware of the passing of time. That it was spring seemed only fitting, given that he now needed to cultivate his Spring Rain Mirror. If there was anyone who could help him do that, it would be Li Heng.
Li Heng had changed after his time with Old Guo and his advancement to Body Refining. He’d become more aggressive, but he still tended to rely on his defensive techniques. Since He Yu had no real defenses yet to speak of, he figured the two of them could help one another with their respective deficiency.
When he found Li Heng, He Yu was happy to see the further refinement of his spirit. He’d reached late Body Refining as well. Although he wasn’t quite at the peak yet, He Yu was glad they were at least at the same stage now. Whatever had been eating at Li Heng that caused him to act out in the wilds was surely due to him being a stage behind He Yu’s advancement. Hopefully, things would be easier now they were on more equal footing.
“Congratulations,” he said as Li Heng ushered him into the courtyard of his home.
“My thanks,” the noble replied. “Congratulations yourself. You’ll be in the Fourth Realm in no time.”
“We’ll see. I need to work on the Spring Rain Mirror before I advance. It’s lagging too far behind, and I need it to balance my aspects before I break through.”
“I see your time in seclusion brought you wisdom, then,” Li Heng said with a friendly laugh.
He Yu nodded. “I was thinking you might be able to help me advance my defensive technique.”
“Good thinking, but I’ve got one better,” he said. “Sha Xiang has been busy over the winter, and is now ranked six hundred fifteen.”
“Look,” He Yu said, having a feeling of where this was going. “I put all that to rest during the tournament. I beat her, and she’s left me alone since then. I’m not about to give her another reason to make things difficult for me.”
Li Heng’s posture was all He Yu needed to know that he didn’t agree with the sentiment, but he let Li Heng make his case anyway.
“If you truly think that, you’re even more clueless than I’d thought,” Li Heng said. “She’ll see you beating her at the tournament as another humiliation. We both know she isn’t the type to let that go.”
“She hasn’t made anything of it yet,” He Yu said, digging in his heels.
“Because you beat her. She may be arrogant, headstrong, and prideful, but she’s not stupid. She knows where things stand between you two for now. You’re stronger, and she’ll recognize that even if she hates it.”
“Right, so—”
Li Heng held up a hand. “I told you she’s been busy. She broke through to late Body Refining over the winter. She and her little crew have been dueling anyone they can. If she passes you in rank, it won’t be long until she gets it in her head that you’ll be an easy match again.”
“If she’s still ranked lower than me, then fighting her isn’t going to do me any good in that respect.”
“Which brings me to my second point,” Li Heng said. “You haven’t moved in the rankings at all. Granted, you’ve spent the winter cultivating, but that just means now is the perfect time to present some challenges.”
Li Heng was right. Despite all his training and chasing after the secrets of a thousand-year-old menace, He Yu had been neglecting his place within the sect. Now that he was at the peak of Body Refining—and in need of perfecting a defensive technique—it was the perfect time for him to do something about that.
“Alright,” He Yu said. “I take it you already have someone in mind?”
“I half expected you to make excuses about how it seemed like you were bullying people,” Li Heng said with only a slightly mocking tone.
He Yu shrugged. “Maybe I’ve gotten used to it,” he said, thinking about all the challengers he’d faced shortly after entering the inner sect, and how showing them kindness and restraint hadn’t done him any real favors. “More importantly, we’ve got a long way to go. The enemies we’ll be facing as we move forward have a pretty serious head start.”
Li Heng gave him a knowing look but didn’t ask for any elaboration. For that, He Yu was grateful. They had both been in the wilds. They had both gotten a taste of what the Sunset Empress could do. They both knew what lay ahead. He Yu wasn’t quite yet ready to speak of his vision of Jin Xifeng’s suppression, so he was glad that Li Heng didn’t need the point belabored.
“So what’s this you said about Sha Xiang’s crew?” he asked, bringing the conversation back around to their more immediate concerns.
“Well, she’s gathered quite the little group around her. Mostly nobles.”
He Yu’s eyebrows rose at that. “If I didn’t know you better I’d say this was some sort of an elaborate joke.”
“I know, but it’s true. I asked Yan Shirong to do some digging for me, and he found out the first person she pulled into her orbit was that Da Ning character. Not sure if you remember him, but he’s the son of a minor comital clan. Apparently, he’s been her liaison with the other minor nobility of the sect.”
“Alright, so we’re going after him?”
Li Heng shook his head. “No. He’s still beneath the both of us as well. I’m going to be staying out of things with Sha Xiang for the time being. Especially if she’s affiliated with this Sunset Court or whatever. The more it looks like a continuation of the grudge from your time in the outer sect, the better. She’ll believe that.”
“Okay,” He Yu said. “I’m assuming you have someone in mind, then?”
Li Heng gave him a vicious grin. “Remember Mo Zhiqiang?” he asked.
