…aphrodisiacs purely for academic reasons. Thus, it is suggested that all aspects are studied.

Herein lies the ingredients.

Five bushels of [Dream Crane Grass]

Three vials of [Green Fairy Nectar]

One [Yang Swelling Ginseng]

The corresponding amount of oil procured from a [Spirit Blowfish], though effectiveness rises when used with an [Affinity] of [Mind Qi] or [Soul Qi].

Begin the refinement process with a spiritual flame no hotter than…

- “Twenty Eight Figurations, a Bastardisation” - Scribes of the Cherry River Alchemist

A foreign [Winter] arrived beneath the auspices of the Four Shaded Spear, casting the Cloudy Serpent Sect’s domain into an ephemeral sludge.

Cold came with wetness abound, and set tiles to slickened things. The streets ran damp, and curtains were drawn over the entrances of storefronts and structure’s alike. If ineffective against sleet for a presumption of snow.

Readings on Qi density and comparisons to Thousand Shore City were as these sheets and beads - poor cladding even for the resident [Core Formation] cultivators. For Fu, whose blood chilled for reasons beyond the [Season’s] frigid grasp.

The Squad Leader, with his impervious gaze masked in half by a great fan, also held little sway in this matter.

“Ban Bingbai,” he said, his tone affecting a grin.

His four subordinates were half-prostrate before him, with Zhu the tallest and least hunched.

Fu had Hushi draw small motes of Qi to settle him, and took the proffered documents from his Senior.

“The [Spring Equinox] festival arrives early this moon, and to mark it our Four Corners Prefecture is to play host to the city’s annual tournament. A passing, for [Venerable Reed Sage] has held this within his domain for three hundred moons. What contracts were drawn then, the agreements, have shifted the honour to my venerable Sect.”

The implication of my warned Fu of much.

“These Courts are to be blessed with the duty of safeguarding both it, and the visiting dignitaries from our betters. Know this, juniors, what mission I deliver here does not exclude you from this.”

While foolish, Fu spread the first parchment wide. “Squad Leader, this junior would seek clarity on ‘Ban Bingbai’, so we might better fulfil our duties.”

His expectation of reprisal was let down, for the man there’s eyes but twinkled with glee. “Ban Bingbai shall be the stroke that elevates the Clouded Courts further. The documents, therein lies the shape of your task. The retrieval of this venerable master from the depths of the wonting’s care. I say this, for none beneath the Heavens are of an equal to the Clouded Serpent Sect. None might dare approach the honour of being titled enemy.”

“As you say, Squad Leader,” acknowledged Fu.

“Yes. It is unlikely to be otherwise,” he replied. “But I am magnanimous. I have granted you ten days to complete this, for that is when Mistress [Gleeful Viper] and Mistress [Thrice Clouded Boa] will hold reception.”

An unwitting spasm crumpled the parchment in Fu’s grip.

The Squad Leader scoffed. “You would react as this. But you are no mountain to be taken notice by the sun. Even I, your better, would kowtow a thousandfold to catch but a glimpse of such majesty.”

“This junior surely forgets himself, Squad Leader.” Fu’s appeasement prompted an exit, as their Senior put his back to them to leave. To say one thing for the man, his [Prowess] was clear, and his disappearance from the quarters brooked no sound.

Only Linhua remained in her bow, and did so until Zhu claimed the parchment. His was an enviable moment of reading, leafing through several slips of parchment in swift succession. “[Twilight Lotus Expanse],” he read, halting as if this alone was the priority.

Niwai’s pride in person shrivelled by a hair. “[Twilight Lotus Expanse].”

From where do I recall this name? Through reading or conversation? It does not inspire thoughts of safety.

The parchment was returned, and Fu read aloud all he thought pertinent. “Ban Bingbai. Master of the Clouded Court Squads. [Spirit Serpent]...” his finger trailed the characters. “‘Discovered’ within the Lotus Blade Sect’s main pavilion. Imprisoned within their namesake [Mystic Realm]. Thirty seven moons.”

“We’re favoured it seems. To be presented with a mission so unfathomable to our fledgling squad.”

All then looked to Zhu, who had put their thoughts into words.

Which soon fell to Fu and his deep, subtle breath. “Sister Niwai, can you seek tomes on this Master, and any history regarding that which you think important. Sister Linhua, accompany Niwai to the Clouded Archives and delve into the [Mystic Realm’s] records. Our Sect is vast, and a location of such importance should hold many accounts.”

“This Yin Linhua will carry out your wishes.”

Niwai brushed the woman’s shoulder as she made to leave, leading the procession of two from the room. A hand upon her lesser blade, gripped white.

But this evoked a thought in Fu, granting the notion to cut short what dread they might feel at this fresh challenge.

Thus he caught them before the threshold, putting kindness in his tone. “A boat often straightens as it reaches the bridge.”

The pair stalled as a breeze of gold moved forth. Some gentle force that alighted hairs and ruffled fabrics before vanishing as swiftly as it had appeared.

“As… as you say, Gao Fu,” intoned Niwai, and stepped in time with Linhua to disappear into the halls.

“This is the fruit of our Squad Leader’s words. You cannot fail, or so he presumes,” said Zhu. “The [Splinter] kills us twice over.”

At this, Fu let loose a sigh. “We have completed another two contracts since first discovering that… message. The warning. We must take solace that the Sepulchral Sabre Sect, as we guess, have no hold in the Squad Leader’s dealings. There is a way around this.”

“You’d say that without knowing of the [Twilight Lotus Expanse]. But we’ve not to be troubled over our foes, death will put an end to their machinations.”

Hushi and Tanshuai met as the former unspooled from Fu’s douli. Small impressions passed, showing that neither Bond felt anxiety for their current course. Content instead to retrieve the parchments and begin perusing what few images were printed upon them.

“The Sepulchral Saber Sect have left us untroubled since. If their disciples seek us, it will not be within our headquarters.” Fu gestured towards the inked depiction of a [Paifang] beneath Tanshuai’s wing. “A [Spatial Array] could deliver us to the Lotus Blade Sect’s corner.”

“No. Our arrival would be noted. A leap to an adjacent corner will have to do. Even then we’d lose a day on each side of our window. Open travel would be easy, if not for our nebulous threat.” Zhu slid free a sheet from beneath his partner. “The matter can rest until the others return. I’ll spend the remainder cultivating.”

Fu only nodded.

If only I could seek such an advantage.

🀩

Niwai’s [Prowess] seemed not limited to the singular style of the [Severed Mountain Strokes], and through this Fu’s further mused on adopting a third form to progress his own martial path. Yet only a fool welcomed distraction when beset by blades.

His training had imposed certain limits, both with a view to improve and to set a regimen that mirrored the effectiveness of Yunhan’s.

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Here, Niwai’s skill truly shone - unmolested by the [Dao of Wayward Breezes], [Intent] or his [Half Cloud Step]. As such he retracted from their clash, and this singular blade style that he intuited as the [Third Eclipse over Water].

“The circulation of your Qi is off,” he said, growing more confident in the musings delivered by his [Old One’s Whisker].

Though he claimed no persona of a wizened sage, despite the now routine fondling of his moustache.

“Gao Fu was no disciple of this style’s master. I’d know, for there stood only ten before the end.” With this, she advanced again. Her jian gleamed with a malefic, obsidian sheen, as if draped in shadows. “A [Dao] might know this. But you will tell me.”

The [Wind Phantom Strides’] second set brought Fu into a series of parries, but no more. His sparring partner simply held too much skill to be redirected or lulled into poor positioning. A disparity that had instinct rebuff his counters, or placed her step three moves beyond his own.

Without threat of death, Fu found such challenge evoked thoughts of his placement within the [Green Blight Valley]. An enjoyable thrill.

I sense an improvement approach, should this continue each day.

But the pacing fell flat upon his rotation to Linhua.

He, as Zhu had the previous hour, drew her from her training target. The wooden tree under no danger of tarnish, let alone breaking from her efforts.

The time burned like slow incense.

First a span of five minutes that presented like fifty, and so on for a total of one hour.

But Fu was no stranger to patience, not by merit of fatherhood nor by personality. Under his foundational guidance, and much re-iteration, the session bore fruit.

“This Yin Linhua…” A glassy look overtook the woman’s gaze: the distance that equated a conjuration of [Ink]. “This Yin Linhua extends gratitude to senior Gao Fu. His insight has allowed this lacking disciple to glimpse the martial path.”

“[Early]. This is good, Linhua.”

The woman bowed as Niwai let cry a snort. “The Lotus Blade Sect will cower for sure. [Early], as if a child’s first stumbles are to be lauded. Our mission is already doomed,” she said, jabbing her dagger in gesture. “You’ve only hastened this with inadequacy.”

A silence spanned in which Linhua’s features trembled.

At the far corner of the training hall’s sands, there came a grunt. Zhu, notably bare-chested, broke from his cultivation beneath a ray of fading sunlight. “I’m frustrated at our situation, and these words aid no one. Come Niwai, I’ll take it out on you.”

Niwai’s eyes were notably fixed upon Zhu’s impressive physique, and perhaps this did not allow her to fully process his words. Appearing in his hands were twin tong fa, and these rotated in grip as he took position across from the woman.

“Brother Zhu,” she half-fawned, despite drawing her blades. “I-”

A small wince twigged Fu’s face.

She chooses a poor time to begin showing respect.

“Zhu only.” Yet this was his only warning before he launched to hammer blows upon her guard.

It became a percussive volley, delivered by a [Might] that Fu knew far eclipsed his own. If in sheer physical strength.

“Linhua. You may learn something to observe this,” Fu said, gently. “At the least, it may grant insight into the weapon whose path you wish to follow.” Her movement was akin to a crawl, and she set herself on one knee at his side.

Having never asked on Zhu’s cultivation, nor his techniques, Fu allowed the [Old One’s Whisker] to grant a summary. And truly, it was peerless. Each of his companion’s motions were intuited to be perfect.

Ten sets for the first style, the [Distant Wings are Felt Far], which was revealed to be less practised in the latter stages. Niwai’s blades crunched against this, and it was all she might do to merely defend.

While her speed, and indeed, skill, was a fitting match - Zhu’s strength was undeniable. It had her hands recoil, her blades waver, and Fu was certain that were this not training, her very bones might shatter.

But here their styles shifted, and the [Severed Mountain Strokes] surfaced to rebuff a secondary form from Zhu that the [Old One’s Whisker] could not place.

A limit exists then.

Linhua’s reaction to this shift was a gasping thing, and prompted Fu to speak. “Admiration, perhaps?”

“This Yin Linhua has never had the fortune to witness this level of skill.”

Fu nodded. “I would ask something, Sister Linhua. But this brings no obligation to answer,” he said, and felt some small shame. For he would not answer the same if asked. “Your history. How does one join the Clouded Court Squads without attaining a single technique?”

Immediately, her head lowered. “Th…”

“Do not trouble yourself for my indulgence,” Fu interrupted. “Who you were matters not against who you are now. Apologies.”

Ahead, the spar continued. An extended bout that drew them up to the squad’s imposed constraints on time. When the sand had settled, and heaving gasps sounded from Niwai’s sweat-stained form, the four gathered.

“Zhu, you’re a vicious one,” the defeated said, spitting unceremoniously to the side. “And this stands free of your axe. I acknowledge your [Prowess].”

“The axe is never to be my path,” cut Zhu. “But my frustration is vented. I’ll accept your acknowledgement.”

“My blade will overcome you in time.”

Zhu arched a brow, if in Fu’s direction. “We’ll see.”

🀩

The inability to cultivate left Fu once more eager for growth, and swamped his mind with thoughts of new [Paths], and how he might acquire them, pitting him against his desire to glean new martial styles.

As such he breathed, and Hushi cycled fresh [Air Qi] into their [Core].

“The cart cannot come before the horse,” he smiled.

Foundations.

[Summer] storms frequented Thousand Shore City, and not once had Fu sailed forth without securing his vessel. No rotten boards nor threadbare sail. He saw no reason why cultivation would differ.

Truly, he had heard the phrase enough.

Hushi drew the parchments; the collated histories, contracts, tomes and other such files regarding their mission. The thinnest of which, a pamphlet, was all that spoke on Ban Bingbai. They slid closer under the approximation of an urgent look, landing from bunk to Fu’s lap.

“Correct as ever, brother. A fifth look this past hour, yes, perhaps once more and then we will address other matters. Time is short, but it will be shorter if we confine ourselves to staring until the next contract begins.”

The octopus splayed several more documents across the floor. Content.

Wooden brackets parted on the first, showing the map detailed within. It read such things as [Twilight Lotus Expanse], [Core Formation Realm], [Celestial Qi Abundancy], [Beast Realm], and described the land in peculiar terms.

A meteorite, of which Fu could not recall.

But oblong, if flat upon one surface where all manner of facilities were built. It described the [Paifang] on both sides, how vehemently the disciples of the Lotus Blade Sect guarded, and the proximity in relation to previous missions undertaken.

The map should be committed to memory by each of us, with a copy taken should this be allowed.

Admittedly this was no strength of his, but the Heavens graced him with accounts to offset this. Hundreds of diligently organised reports that shone light on his fellow disciples’ activities over a span of several centuries.

Fu had already filtered these, and put his thoughts to the most recent. “Main Pavillion… training hall… [Twentyfold Gravitational Array],” he read, snatching the most noteworthy of terms to complete his mental picture “A small city within the [Paifang], if of Sect allegiance. The Lotus Blade Sect is a power indeed, to field this. And to stand free of the Clear Sky Empire…”

The others’ reactions were made clear upon his first reading. Now, he shared it.

Gently, he brushed his finger from the [Mystic Realm’s] [Paifang], and charted the path he would take were he to do this alone.

A gatehouse of enormous scale warded off what few intruders might gain access, with sleeping quarters poised beyond so that any call to arms might be quickly rallied against. Then came an absurdity of [Arrays] that almost had Fu cough blood to read.

“[Solar Redirection Array], the same for [Lunar] and [Star]. [Allegiant Mind-Spirit Array]. [Three Deaths Annihilation Array]. The flags of which are comprised of the buildings themselves. They assure a swift end to our efforts if we stray outwith the main walls of this Sect city.”

His finger continued on, ascending a topography of stairs to the rear of the Main Pavillion, and again in descent to the pit at its rear.

The prison where Ban Bingbai was held.

Fu leafed through ten contracts. Stricken red to mark their failure, and a small sample of the true total. For at a glance, he mused three in five attempts by the Clouded Court Squads had ended in tragedy.

Yet this means that two from this whole have succeeded.

“Recover Ban Bingbai, failure. Recover Ban Bingbai, failure. Thin the Lotus Blade Sect’s disciples, partial success. Recover Ban Bingbai, failure. Disrupt the [Allegiant Mind-Spirit Array], failure,” the list continued.

Hushi suppressed a growing concern, gently peeling these histories from his cultivator’s grip. He harkened back to thoughts of foundations and training, yearning for this equilibrium to save them both from further reading.

But Fu only granted an encouraging smile, spreading Ban Bingbai’s pamphlet. Sparse, for no [Dao] or secret method had unveiled further information since his first perusal.

Ban Bingbai. Inner Disciple. Elder candidate of the Clouded Court Squads.

What little followed this only stated his capture while within the Lotus Blade Sect’s domain, and granted no further details.

The entire library vanished into his spatial ring, swallowed in the hopes that it might too wash free his thoughts. Nor for a lack of duty, as his reflection would continue across the hours, but so he might seek inspiration.

So saying, he rolled back his screen. Finding a demon there in wait.

[Half Cloud Step] blew him to the floor in kowtow, and his voice broached a full shout as he greeted the presence ahead. “This unworthy junior greets the Elder!”

“Unworthy? Bah. It’s not worth I arrive for, but respect,” warned [Of Perennial Shade]. “My mark upon your [Ink] can be rescinded as swift as righteous thunder, Gao Fu. But I see that you’re at least presentable, and this saves some part of you.”

“The Elder’s generosity knows no bounds,” he mumbled into the floor.

“Oh rise, disciple. Lest you think pressing your lips to the stone is proper!”

As changeable as the [Seasons], Fu could never guess at the Elder’s intentions. Yet to compare her existence in mortal terms such as this… it was merely unfathomable. Thus he remained low, still undaring to put the immortal in his sights.

“Girl,” she then stated.

Girl?

The nerve containing his [Clouded Ghost Arts] quivered as the space beneath his head birthed hands. Black-clad, presenting a sealed letter.

“There’s much I will discuss with you, Gao Fu. Of this third [Constellation Seed], of [An Array in One Hand], of the warning you received but have yet to report. The interminable stain of debt you’ve yet to erase, despite your Elder’s wishes.”

“This junior has set plans in motion to address the latter,” Fu half-cried. Beneath the douli, Hushi’s forced calm could not dispel the stupidity he felt at such a reply. “But this junior is lacking, and works to address these matters before they might trouble his Seniors.”

[Of Perennial Shade] barked out a laugh. “Disciple Gao will put in his eyes- no? You yet draw breath. What true trouble might crickets breed for serpents? You spoke of my generosity, and here it’s extended once more.”

“This letter, Elder?” he dared.

“Jinghui Hua remains unrivalled under the Heavens to surprise me as she does. This letter had a twin, Gao Fu. One of warning,” laughed the Elder. “Few are closer to the [Cherry River Sage] than you. Pray, tell, indulge your Elder, yes? What might such a warning say? Tell me, Gao Fu. What might a letter, delivered to your Elder’s sanctum with no trace of courier nor residual Qi- what might this say?”

Fu’s throat felt as though clamped by a vicious beast. A choke came. Nothing more.

“That we’d do best not to spoil you,” she cackled. “And who am I, a mere Elder of the Cloudy Serpent Sect, to disagree?”