Advancement through the Lotus Blade Sect’s ranks follows the traditional pattern as known throughout the Clear Sky Empire.

The disciples are delineated between, Trial, Outer and Inner.

Whereas Sects and organisations that hold a heritage of [Spirit Beast] composition, this martial Sect focuses solely on the jian, giving priority to those disciples that possess an [Affinity] for any form of [Celestial Qi].

Merit and favour are granted in an ascending order to match with the attained [Prowess] of those that practise their techniques.

Seven Steps of the Lotus Blade, nominally, though splinter Sects exist throughout their domain within the Western Demon Front that field derivative styles based on this.

Trial disciples must have attained the First Step, and their threat assessment should be treated as such.

Outer Disciples possess a spectrum beyond this, and range from anywhere from the Second Step to the Fifth.

(Note) Given the rarity and restrictions placed on Inner Disciple numbers, the upper range of talent within the Outer Disciples is an ever-changing, and tumultuous representation. Caution must be taken, for the Lotus Blade Sect is storied, and attracts cultivators that are not eligible for advancement due to other means. Standard surveilling practice should be followed.

Inner Disciples are typically those who attain higher than this, able to perform the Sixth Step, and these ranks are tightly controlled so that none may enter without such talent.

“Twilight Lotus Expanse. Section One. Classification”

The [Ink] called again, adding to the fifth burn that he did not read. Presumption led him to think that [Pull] would benefit him little, and the [Hollow Ivory Splinter] - its hunger for more - spoke volumes on the nature of the revelation.

By the Heaven’s grace, [Summer] presided. Were it [Spring], its [Season’s] brood would no doubt be in greater numbers.

And Fu might well have lost himself beneath the volume slain.

But now he flew. [Half Cloud Step] suffused in a full cowl, and no intermittent bursts as he was prone to call. His step became air, his passage no doubt thunderous if his vocation was otherwise.

The silence of his motion did not dissuade those at his rear. These [Spirit Beasts] that became a splintered wave from the static tide: pouring through the grasslands or by the tranquil water’s surface.

[Spirit Wolves] were the most plentiful, their cultivation clear. [Core Formation] of a stage greater than his mere [Early]. This stage manifested in strange affectations. In horns from their brow, and rippling manes.

Patterns atop their star-soaked fur, illuminated as if stained by the [Ink] reserved for their human foes.

One became light. A shedding of physical form that blinked it to Fu’s front, illustrious and grand. But admiration held no place here, and the ghost lunged from it.

Barely.

[Qi-borne] teeth stripped a welt from his thigh before he might distance himself fully, having him topple for a long second. Thus Fu barrelled through grains to spring high on the other side, misstepped so that his trajectory pushed him towards the adjacent pool.

Will this end once her song has faded? I cannot place how long has passed.

It came again, and he felt more as prey now with his mounted fatigue and myriad lesser wounds than whence he had arrived.

Complaint will see nothing complete.

He drew then on his [Control]. A kick of conjured cloud to burst back from, and a lash so fleet it tore like thunder.

An extension of himself, where sections were muscles to be twitched. In days to come, perhaps each link might respond, but he would not blind the present with thoughts of the distant.

So it was Fu snapped his chain, manipulating the force, the timing and angle so that it writhed in serpentine fashion.

No mortal act, it turned harshly to strike this [Spirit Wolf] from its flank. A gouge taken in retribution. But he continued, demanding a domain be forged around him. Here, the blade danced as a phantom and drove back all opponents with unseen speed.

Seven [Spirit Beasts] poured around the boundary, none daring to test the cyclonic blade nor the chain that bore it.

Fu took one breath, and expanded his [Senses].

Plucking strings.

The clash of Niwai’s jian.

Abundant Qi in flashes, as if fat were dripped atop a stove.

[Intent] through the spider’s gaze.

But he could feel no blades.

Hushi blurred through his created storm, ill-needing to impress his intentions. The octopus vanished, fading beneath the [Clouded Ghost Arts] and putting their foes distant.

[Half Cloud Step].

A flick fastened his blade within the jaw of a [Spirit Otter]. One the height of Fu, and with a sharpened clam in its grip. [Resilience] had the weapon half-interred, prompting a rear tug so this foe might free itself.

Fu followed the momentum, arriving upon his anchor to pry free and dance it across the adjacent fur. Grim patterns formed in its wake, and the thing fell- gutted in three places.

The [Dao of Suffocation] blew across the remaining six. Too weak to affect any save for the suppression his [Intent] commanded. Yet here, he did not use it against greenhouse flowers, but beasts whose entire existence was a struggle.

Beyond the approximation of a grunt, it fell short.

Raining blows came then, for a count of hundreds. Fangs, claws, tails and horns. Techniqueless and raw. Profound and instinctual.

If not for [Bone Refinement], even these grazes would have seen his end. Further, the Lotus Blade robes were tattered, and none that looked upon him would mistake him for anything but the intruder he was.

Whittling down the beasts was fruitless, for more had come to harry his path. A ring had formed, as with Niwai, menacing his cardinal directions with a glow of starlight.

So Fu retreated deeper, knowing evasion was his best course. A dance through thickening brush that put the nebulous pool several hundred paces behind. And queerly, the [Mystic Realm] rolled on.

And on.

By credit of the Clouded Court Squad’s intelligence, this mission had drawn few surprises. Reports collated by hundreds of ghosts across myriad generations, gathered by those with expertise honed and perfected across the same.

Truly, Fu felt this rivalled the Heavens.

To allow the infiltration of any location by grace of prior knowledge…

His [Dao Oath] trembled.

The meteor, is it entirely hollow? It seems unfathomable that I might be able to add where the Cloudy Serpent Sect lacks.

A [Half Cloud Step] drained his [Inner Qi] as another cloud formed beneath his foot. Now at a level dangerously close to empty. He spiralled from it, arresting his momentum so violently that a simple extension of his blade severed two hooves from a surging [Spirit Ram].

[Dao of Wayward Breezes].

Fu emerged in the displacement of his pursuers, slinking into the [Clouded Ghost Arts]. The grasses swallowed him, and he observed for a span of moments to gauge their reactions.

[Senses] would prevail over his stealth.

The reek of blood or sweat, the gentle brushing against stalks or the breaking fibres of his robes. What sensitivity they held to the [Dao], for his activation released no silent thrum of power.

He leapt like this again, first by his [Dao] and then by a suffusion of [Half Cloud Step]. Over and over, losing one predator each time in preparation for when Hushi would signal that their destination had been found.

Which only came when his [Core] was nigh starved, and the twang of strings was but a distant whisper.

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🀧

A second pool held what they sought, as tranquil as the first.

Ten blades were interred on natural pedestals above, oblong stones that broke from the stillness of reflected starlight. Ornate jian, for use during the upcoming [Spring Equinox] tournament, and by Fu’s guess - enough to ransom Thousand Shore City many times over with a solitary shaving.

Hushi had forewarned him of the [Array], though the name arrived only when Fu’s own eyes were laid upon it.

[Heavenly Syphoning Array]. It takes the [Celestial Qi] here and stores it within the blades for… refinement. Unsealing? Vague notions. I must educate myself further.

The pair held at the water’s edge for a breath longer, noting the passage of [Spirit Beasts] below the surface or indeed, upon the opposing sides.

[Spirit Deer] slaked their thirst. [Spirit Butterfly], fireflies and moths danced across the lotuses with gentle volumes of their kin. As untroubled as the [Spirit Carp] beneath.

His partner drew attention to one in particular. Golden, as Long’s Bond was, and an empress of these waters with the reverence shown by her subjects. They spun from her path, daring not to enter the stream of specks at her rear.

“A new sister?” whispered Fu. “Or do you hunger, brother?”

The octopus remained silent, impressing both keenness as sadness at the former. For they already had new sisters, both of which fell short for opposing reasons.

Fu took small moments here to change clothes, and freshen, polluting the waters with the stain of all he had hitherto leaked. Cold proved welcome in soothing his injuries, granting a great deal of relief before he set forth again.

But while this process was tolerated, his next step into the pool drew the eyes of many.

Further stillness descended. Hostile and spectated.

He saw across the waters, and drew high his hands. “You will not trust this, and I will ask forgiveness for entering your domain. But I mean no harm. Were it my wish, I might have crept undetected, leaving this wonder undisturbed.”

The [Spirit Deer]- their resplendent crowns of verdant, leafy antlers - they shook. Hooves rutted and stamped. Low horns of warning then followed. And this was but one breed among a clutch, for even the [Spirit Moths] made their aggression known.

“Hushi,” he whispered. “Perhaps…”

His partner pried free the spatial ring upon Fu’s finger, and immersed himself in the waters. A gentle entry, and slow.

For his part, Fu edged back to sit upon the shoreside. It went some way to placate the [Spirit Beasts], who draw back in wary spectation. Carelessness was not his intent, and so an expansion widened his [Senses].

Hushi reached the first pedestal, and clambered wetly atop it to draw a talisman from the depths of their storage.

I am fortunate for your talent, brother. Doubtless, I could not activate the inscriptions there without your aid anyway.

Whatever principles or changes resulted from the activation did not show, but Fu took Hushi’s movement to the second blade as a good omen. He focused then on the distant reverberation of strings, and how they drew to a close.

However, Niwai had made her choice. As callous as his abandonment might seem. Thus he traced the intervening sounds, and searched for any signs of the predatory [Spirit Beasts] that his flight had shrugged off.

Silence, for now.

Save… save for a clack.

To no alarm, Fu watched the rocks at his side. Smoothened pebbles, more so, and the life or death duel atop them.

Pitifully small [Spirit Crabs] clashed almost in a mirror of Niwai’s plight. A scattered circle of claws and carapace around central figures. With the size of their implements, Fu knew them to be male, and contesting rights as they often did.

The spider’s song may well affect them. What diligent souls.

He allowed a hair of his notice to observe them.

How the central pair jousted, conjuring minor products of Qi. [Light] was dominant, but as this contest continued and as the losers of this bout were rotated out, Fu noted a plethora.

[Dark Qi] laced pools formed beneath the legs of one, countered in the next round as a minor [Dao Principle] cleansed it with a wave. Their diminutive nature made it a humorous affair, and were his own Path focused on perseverance or a similar concept Fu had no doubt an [Epiphany] might have come.

Ahead, Hushi reached the sixth blade, and Fu returned his gaze.

The adjacent rocks were now cleansed of most, and remnants were lorded over by a king amongst crabs. One, contextually, colossal pincer on his left. HIs foe, a mere speck and noticeable only for his pebble.

Three clacks and it was over.

The lesser was flung into the waters below. Eight legs then stood atop the surface, marked in ripples as they distorted the reflected stars.

A heroic little thing. This underdog.

It crept across the water with a look of vengeful determination, unfortunately ignorant of the [Spirit Crane] with its eyes affixed behind.

Hushi returned then, and Fu made a louder show of standing than was necessary. A stretch of arms to have the bird turn its gaze to him, and take flight not a second later.

Fu smirked as his Bond impressed that the task was complete, removing his interest from the titanic battle at his side. The blades looked no different, and no sense not feedback from the [Old One’s Whisker] could attribute any change.

The Elder is subtle. But I feel peculiar to have enacted a thing without knowledge of what it is. Yet, it matters little.

To put the tranquillity here at his back brought a pang of sorrow., though it no longer held purpose. So as he left, he took a weighty glance at the calm.

At the stars and undisturbed waters, prompting a weary sigh. What he was to re-enter would not be the same.

🀧

The final note of the [Spirit Spider’s] song lingered upon the air as he came upon a slaughter, and the space was tinged gold amidst tides of crimson.

Walls of corpses befouled the grasses. The pool, turgid, if glinting.

Niwai was set against two beasts beyond this, her arm bloodied and limp. The previous rules were observed even still, and no move was made by the [Spirit Centipede] some strides behind her main foe.

Its honour preserved.

The [Dao of Wayward Breezes] delivered Fu there, and he interred his blade into the insect’s softened flesh. A slip between chitin, that he dragged maliciously to spill the thing open.

Hushi had the other bound, hammering his [Intent] upon the [Spirit Jackal] so that Niwai might advance.

Her stumble bled it across the chest, and bit a line upon Hushi’s arm. The octopus recoiled at this, and Fu’s resonance had his teeth clenched as he landed atop the ground.

“Niwai,” he breathed. “Are you well?”

HIs sister disciple collapsed to the ground, and was embraced by the spongy earth below.

Fu’s fresh douli shook as he did. “Hushi, can you scour this graveyard for [Spirit Cores] that might mend her? I will tend to her, and our host if necessary.”

Training revealed her [Affinity] as [Dark]. No small rarity in a [Mystic Realm] named with a [Celestial Qi Abundancy]. We cannot spend any longer here.

They parted to tend to their individual duties, with Hushi already set in a singular direction. Wetness clung to Fu’s palm as he lifted her, unmaking his prior wash. His robes were saturated to the elbows, but this was of no concern when faced with the devastation across Niwai’s form.

The mark from the Sepulcral Saber Sect was obscured, buried in pastings of foulness that he would not name. But she was tattered, in fashion with the bare strips of her Lotus Blade disguise.

Going forward, I will carry more stock of Qi replenishment pills.

Little time was spared before the [Spirit Spider’s] voice returned. Musical, and soft. “My trial has concluded, and the [Constellation Seed] remains untouched. Through wisdom or through the binding of offered word, I cannot say.”

“Venerable one, this cultivator has no designs on your treasure. Our business here has concluded,” he called back, and bowed with Niwai in his grasp. “Gratitude, for your hospitality. A thousand-fold.”

The mirage at the lotus’ roots shifted, radiating once in gold to rid the spider of her humanoid likeness. “Thrice-seeded, you show the proper respect. Despite spurning the offer. Rare, for one so young.”

“Kind words. This cultivator is undeserving.”

“I see in you many wealths. An abundance in some regards. Yet talent you hold little of. Speak on this. On the rejection. None squander my gift. These jian-wielders, I am told that to visit here is reserved only for their most prodigious disciples. Yet you, you put merit in other paths.”

Hushi returned with three cores then, each of the [Core Formation Realm]. Swiftly, he forced the relevant sphere to Niwai’s [Dantian], and stowed the other two in Fu’s ring.

Granting a moment to gather thoughts.

“By nature of my path, this cultivator is bound by [Dao Oath] to hold secrets. Apologies, venerable one, but these words cannot be shared,” he said.

“Yes, I sense this within you,” she sang. “But you are a child beneath the Heavens, a mere step into [Core Formation]. The chains upon you are not fastened as you might think. Thus, speak, for it has my interest.”

Not as I might think?

Energy roared throughout Niwai’s form, and he sensed her [Dantian] writhe under the discrepant power there. A [Foundation Realm] vessel for the vastly higher quantities within. Soon, her wounds would be healed.

“It is not the action taken here that drives me, but what motivates that. To fail in my task is to fail in my station… and this imperils what I hold most dear.”

The [Spirit Spider] strummed a melancholy note. “The Heavens are to be faced alone, cultivator. Immortality is not gained at the behest of another.”

“Apologies, venerable one. Immortality is of no concern to this cultivator. Only a challenge to be faced should it be required.”

Humorous notes resounded at this, stirring Niwai from her recovery. Her eyes widened with alarm, and resulted in a swift leap from Fu’s arms.

“The time has come to depart, venerable one. Once more, this cultivator shares a thousand gratitudes for such hospitality.” Fu bowed deeply, and Hushi showed his own reverence before vanishing beneath the douli.

Incredulity transitioned across Niwai’s face, settling upon rage. “I’d not requested your aid, Gao Fu.”

Twice she has named me. Her arrogance must be tempered.

“Sister,” he warned.

“Gao Fu.”

“You forget yourself,” he warned again.

In several strides Niwai had retrieved both her jian, but they remained unsheathed. The grip upon them, tight.

“Our mission is half complete,” he continued. “Yet I would not attribute this to selfless acts. You put yourself above the Sect, sister. The trial was not paramount, neither was insight into your martial path.”

Perhaps his tone impressed something within the woman, for he saw a half-stance rise. An expectant guard with few hints of subtlety. His own weapon mirrored this.

“Do you expect to cut me down for insubordination? Perhaps it’s you that forgets yourself, Gao Fu.”

She was prideful, and he knew little of her history. What led her here, or what upbringing forged such a pig-headed attitude. But those jian, slick and nigh-levelled… beyond them, beyond her [Prowess], Fu saw clearly.

And reacted as his own history demanded.

“I expect you to be better,” he admonished, and affected a tone that Yuling, Yuqi and Feng had grown to fear. “What use is pride if you cannot manage this? To consign your fellows to fates untold so youalone may advance. I see a talent before me, soon to be peerless, perhaps. Wastedby pride. No, I have no desire to cut you down. It is only that I am saddened by your selfishness. And truly, I am disappointed.”

Caught in his periphery as he made to leave, Niwai ground her teeth. A curse upon her lips as she followed and, almost, fell in step.