Chương 23: Chapter 22: BETTING MAN

CHAPTER 22 BETTING MAN —∞— Jieyuan's house back in the outer court was small and devoid of everything beyond the barest basics. The same couldn't be said for the suite he was assigned in the Gleaming Stone Palace. It was on the topmost floor of the palace's residential wing, and it came with three rooms. One for meditation, plus a bedroom and a bathroom. Meiyao, Daojue, Yongyi, and Yunzhu had all been assigned similar suites on the same floor.

Each of the three rooms of his suite was large and luxuriously furnished and decorated. Rugs on the floor, designs on the walls, all of which featured geometric shapes reminiscent of gemstones, and ornate furniture with precious stones embedded in their wooden frames. It was all very palatial; it seemed that whoever had designed the suites had stayed true to the meaning of palace. Jieyuan was no stranger to this level of luxury. Back in the Haoyujin Compounds, Jieyuan's rooms had been even more sumptuous.

But he hadn't cared much for it then—he'd hardly spent any time in his rooms, too busy with his lessons and training—and he certainly didn't care for it now. As a cultivator, even a roof over his head was optional. He did appreciate the view, though. In the bedroom, there was a large, circular window, about as tall as he was, facing the Radiant Gold Palace, with a perfect view of the Second City and the First Wall beyond it. The window was sunken into the wall, creating an alcove around it.

Jieyuan sat on it, sprawled along its frame, the heavy silk curtains drawn back. He'd spent the afternoon cultivating, and he was giving himself a little break now, his mind still overly sensitive from the imbuing session he'd just subjected himself to, raw as a nerve. It was dusk, nightfall inbound, the sky cast in dying red hues. It was his first time seeing the Second City from this angle.

Despite the lofty position the Haoyujin held among the mundanes because of their ties to the Radiant Gold Sect, their compounds had been in the Fourth City. The Second City, on the other hand, was mostly inhabited by cultivators—unbound cultivators, those who didn't belong to a sect—and that showed. The buildings here, for the most part, diverged from the blocky, angular standards set by the Radiant Gold Sect. Brighter colors, smoother lines, exotic gardens. Some sect cultivators also had residences here.

Palace cultivators, mostly, but also some who lived in the seat of their order. Most of all, though, Jieyuan found his gaze drawn to the Viridian Dome. He could see it clearly from here, looming far behind the Radiant Gold Palace. Big enough that even from this far away it still swallowed the view. Many of the mountains in the Gleaming Stone Mountains were taller than it, some many times over, but the Dome spanned a much greater area.

The sight of the Dome was something everyone living in Radiant Gold City got used to. It was just there, for the most part. So much so that to those who'd been born in Radiant Gold City, the Viridian Dome was perfectly natural. Taken for granted, even, like some common fixture of the land. The sky above, the ground below, and the Viridian Dome off in the distance. Jieyuan could count on one hand the number of times he'd really paid attention to it in the past.

The times he'd come to a stop, looked at it, and wondered where it'd come from, why it was there, and what was inside it. To begin with, he wasn't often given to contemplation—not unless there was a purpose to it, not unless it led him somewhere. And back then, pondering the Viridian Dome wouldn't have amounted to anything. That was no longer the case. He hadn't forgotten Huaxin's ominous feelings regarding that Dome. Especially that sense of FUTURE and POSSIBILITY it had sent him when he questioned it.

That, he felt, was fairly damning. And even setting Huaxin's premonition aside, the Viridian Dome was clearly important. He'd known so even as a mundane (what with the rumors of the numerous Yellowsouls it'd supposedly claimed). But now, as a cultivator, he had a better idea of just how abnormal it was. Abnormal like the Gleamstone Valley and the Fatebloom Woods. What do you think? Jieyuan thought. I've already got the Gleamstone Valley and the Fatebloom Woods down. Will we make it three for three?

What are the odds we don't, actually? Maeva came to a stop in front of the window, right beside him. Jieyuan could see her faint reflection in the glass pane.

"Well, for starters, correlation doesn't—" Correlation isn't causation, I know, he thought back. It's really that ominous feeling from Huaxin that has me concerned. He wasn't speaking out loud, instead communicating with Maeva much like how he talked with Huaxin. He didn't trust others weren't listening in on the room, and it wouldn't do to have others wondering why he was talking to himself. Maeva leaned forward, bending over, propping her chin on his shoulder. Her hair brushed his ear.

He could smell her floral shampoo. Her eyes were on the Viridian Dome, much like his.

"Let's say you're right," she said, "and assume that the vague impressions Huaxin sent you that it's sensed that something will happen in the future that forces you to go inside it. What do you want to do about it? What do you think you can do about it? Do you want to somehow avoid going into the Viridian Dome, assuming that's really what the future has in store for you?" I … I am not sure.

He had his suspicions about himself, Daojue, and Meiyao and some greater, possibly cosmic conspiracy, but he didn't like thinking of things in terms of fate and predestination. It felt like he had no control over what would happen. It felt wrong. But his feelings didn't matter. Assuming that they were meant to go inside the Dome, what then? Jieyuan took a moment to consider it.

It's not necessarily about avoiding it, Jieyuan began, formulating his thoughts, but rather how to make the best out of the situation in case it turns out I'm right about this. How to best increase my odds of making it through.

"Preparations, then," Maeva said.

"That's what you're after." Yes. His sister pulled back. He heard the sound of her sandals tapping softly on the floor as she resumed pacing around the room.

"Let's see… You've got quite the sum of prisms. Let's assume you're wrong, and you end up going to the Howling Lightning Sect as planned after the Summit. You should be reaching Orangerealm by the end of the year, which will render all of your current red prisms mostly useless. So you might as well spend them now, since nothing you buy now will be worth anything as an Orangesoul." She stopped in front of him.

"And if something does happen, having a couple of talismans will definitely come in handy. Don't spend all your prisms, though; if you do head into the Dome, you'll need them to cultivate. Keep at least enough to reach tenth-step Redrealm, with some more to spare. You should also stock up on fasting pills, just in case." Jieyuan nodded. I'm also thinking of getting a new weapon. Something at sixth-step Redrealm, at least. Maeva hummed agreement and resumed pacing.

"Now, there are fifteen days left until the start of the Summit, but the tournament's only five days into it, and the tournament itself lasts nine days. That means you've got just about an entire month you've got left until the Summit ends. You should be able to advance to fourth-step Redrealm by then, at your current rate." Jieyuan ran the numbers in his head. Twenty days … Actually, I might be able to do it before the tournament starts.

That'd mean spending almost all of my time either imbuing or harvesting chroma if I want to keep my soulprism topped, but I think I can do it. He'd gotten a few imbuing sessions in after breaking through to third-step back in the Gleamstone Valley, but he'd stopped imbuing after Elder Weiming's ambush. He reckoned he could still break through before the start of the tournament.

"Why? Your performance at the Summit doesn't matter. All that matters is your heavenly affinity." I know. But I want to try, anyway. And there's no guarantee that if something does happen, it'll be at the end of the Summit. So the sooner I get to fourth-step, the better. Maeva stopped pacing, again right behind in, and in her faint reflection he could see her raised brow.

"You just want to have a fighting chance against the sixth-step Redsouls participating, don't you?" Jieyuan smiled. I'm not wrong, though. The sooner the better.

"You aren't." Maeva had never had any compunctions about conceding the point.

"So that's the plan? Get to fourth-step, buy artifacts, and hope for the best?" Jieyuan shrugged. Something like that. I'll see if I can find something on the Viridian Forest, but I don't reckon there's much on the subject out there. The Viridian Death Cult should know it best, but between focusing on my cultivation and going through the trouble of somehow getting information out of them, I'd say the former's more important. He turned away from the window, facing Maeva. She was still standing in place.

Leaving the palace more than strictly necessary probably isn't that good an idea, either, what with the Geshihan and Fusongshi Clans and their conspiracy. The palace here is crawling with Liangshibai, so it should be safe. Or at least safer than outside. He got off the alcove ledge, standing up, and glanced back out the window one last time, back at the Viridian Dome. My short-term plans are straightforward enough, I think.

Surviving until the end of the tournament and then going to the Howling Lightning Sect with Meiyao and Daojue. All the while preparing for the possibility of a detour in the Viridian Forest.

"Seems like you've got it all figured out. Is there anything you need me for?" Yes. Did my subconscious come up with any new ideas for either Absolute Will Command or the Fatebloom Heart? Those two were his biggest advantages at the moment, what really set him apart from everyone else.

"Nothing on Absolute Will Command." Maeva went back to pacing.

"Only what we've got so far." She raised two fingers.

"You've got two big threats on the horizon, the Gleaming Nobles and the Viridian Dome. In both cases, what you'll be facing are enemies at the peak of Redrealm— at the least. Absolute Will Command won't help you much there. It seems best suited against targets at the same step as you or lower. You can use it on those at higher at a higher step, but—" But I'd need to be tricky about it because of the resistance they can put up, and I can't do it often because of how much chroma it takes.

He still hadn't recovered all the chroma he'd used to make Sunqiu hallucinate for just a few seconds so that he could land a killing blow. And even then, he'd only be able to properly use it on a fifth-step at the most, as he currently was. Even if he broke through, Absolute Will Command wouldn't have much of an effect on a tenth-step Redsoul given the step gap; he'd still be limited to seventh-step targets at most. Maybe eighth-step.

"Exactly. Also, in the Viridian Dome, the biggest threat should be chromal beasts. And while commands are cheaper to use on them, from our experiments you know they put up far more conscious resistance than humans when they notice something's happening to them. In the case of high-step beasts, you're better off using subterfuge exclusively. Trying to forcefully command their conscious mind would just be a waste of chroma." Maeva paused, looking thoughtful.

"It's still a very powerful bondskill, mind you, not to mention versatile, especially considering you can do so much with just its first form, Absolute Mind Command. But it won't help you much with punching above your weight. The Fatebloom Heart, on the other hand… It should give you the edge you need against higher-step Redsouls, assuming we understood its spiritskills correctly."

She wore a frustrated look; they hadn't been able to actually experiment with any of the Fatebloom Heart's spiritskills yet, and Jieyuan knew that didn't sit right with her.

"You are the one who said we shouldn't waste the Heartblood," Jieyuan pointed out. The Heartblood was a special kind of golden blood the Fatebloom Heart produced. After a lot of back and forth with Huaxin, he and Maeva had managed to ascertain it cost one drop of it to use Fatebloom Renewal, and three to use Fatebloom Incarnation. They also determined the Heart only produced one drop of it every ten days or so, and it could only hold three drops at most.

Jieyuan sent his attention inwards; he focused on the Fatebloom Heart. Not on its presence in his mind, but on the actual, physical heart beating in his chest. As he did so, an image appeared in his mind's eye: two golden drops of blood lying inside a golden chamber streaked with emerald. When he'd bonded the Heart, it'd had three Heartblood drops. Huaxin had spent one to use Fatebloom Renewal when the Fusongshi protector stabbed him in the chest.

Now he only had two drops; it'd take nine more days before he was back at three. Jieyuan had been willing to spend another drop to experiment with Fatebloom Renewal; he didn't reckon he'd be getting in too much trouble in the short term. Maeva had been against it, though. She'd claimed that with the Gleaming Nobles after him, he couldn't be too careful. All they knew about Fatebloom Heart's spiritskills, they'd found out over a long afternoon puzzling out Huaxin's explanations.

Explanations that mostly came in the form of vague sensations and images.

"I know, and I stand by what I said," Maeva said.

"You shouldn't spend the Heartblood carelessly. It's just… frustrating. We can't come up with proper plans if we don't know exactly what the Fatebloom Heart is capable of." She sighed, shaking her head.

"Anyway, we know that Fatebloom Renewal can let you regenerate an entire organ in seconds. And Fatebloom Incarnation seems to be even more useful. But we don't know enough about it yet, so that's not set in stone." From what they'd managed to figure out, Fatebloom Incarnation could significantly increase the same attributes his mantle augmented: strength, durability, and regeneration.

They hadn't been able to get an accurate idea of how much the increase was, but considering Fatebloom Renewal seemed to increase his regeneration by a factor of at least a thousand, it seemed promising. Only, they hadn't been able to ascertain how long Fatebloom Incarnation lasted; all they'd managed to get from Huaxin was that it should only be for a short while.

"And as for Fatebloom Intuition…" Maeva glanced at his chest.

"We didn't manage to figure out anything back then, besides the fact it doesn't expend Heartblood. As I see it, the Fatebloom Heart itself doesn't know much about how it works. But… That ominous feeling you got from the Heart about the Viridian Dome. That does seem to fit the bill of intuition, to me. Future and possibility." Is she right? Jieyuan thought, this time focusing on Huaxin. Huaxin sent him a tentative sort of affirmation. Kinda right, then? AFFIRMATION. Firmer now, although not fully.

He nodded to Maeva. Got that?

"I did," she said.

"Ask it what exactly we're missing." What she said, Jieyuan told the Heart. As far as they could tell, it shared his senses, so in theory it should also be able to see and hear Maeva. For some reason, though, Huaxin wouldn't reply to her directly, or even acknowledge her. Jieyuan always needed to pass on whatever she said. Huaxin sent him a series of flashes and emotions, none of which he could figure out—and he was fairly sure that he wasn't meant to figure them out, because what they conveyed was confusion.

Not just his, but from Huaxin itself. He'd gotten something similar all the other times he'd asked about Fatebloom Intuition, and also when he'd asked Huaxin how exactly it'd healed him back in the Fatebloom Woods.

"Same as usual, I see," Maeva said.

"So all you've got against high-step Redsouls are talismans, after all. Use Fatebloom Incarnation if you haven't got anything else, and hope it's enough. But… Jieyuan, are you sure that this is what you want to do?" What do you mean?

"You can still get out," Maeva said.

"Sneak out, go to another city, get in another sect. You'd be going rogue, but I doubt that the Gleaming Stone Sect will try anything, and considering your heavenly affinity, all other sects would take you in on the spot, rogue or not. As long as you just focus on cultivation, you're just about guaranteed to reach Greenrealm."

"Ah." Jieyuan was surprised it'd taken this long for Maeva to bring it up. He'd been expecting this for a while now; he didn't even need to think before answering. And I'd also be guaranteed to stop at Greenrealm, he shot back. What I want is Violetrealm—beyond it, even, if there's something after it. And the only way I see I can make that happen is to take every opportunity that comes my way. If I do what everyone else is doing, I'll end up like everyone else.

He looked past Maeva, out the window, staring out at the Viridian Dome. Do you think Daojue and Meiyao are stopping at Greenrealm? They've got fourth-order heavenly affinity like me, but can you imagine either of them ending up anywhere else but the top? He shrugged. Maybe I'm wrong, and future Greensouls are special like Meiyao and Daojue are, but I've always been a betting man, and I'm betting on them.

And if they manage to go past their limit, I want to be there to know how they do it so that I can figure out how to do it myself.

"And if you die?" He turned back to Maeva, smirked. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Then I wouldn't be alive to regret my choices, would I? Maeva only gave him one of her sad, concerned frowns in response; he sighed, cutting off the command, and she vanished. He shifted his focus inward for a moment, feeling out his mind, and found that the prospect of another imbuing session still set off a spark of anguish.

He had spent most of the afternoon cultivating; he'd probably need a few more hours before he could put in another session. He checked on his soulprism, and taking in its size, he frowned. His chromal reserves were far from full, and that wouldn't do. Breaking through to fourth-step before the tournament meant burning through almost a full prismful of chroma over the next twenty days. That was some heavy expenditure. I'll have to make recovering my chroma reserves a priority.

Some chroma-gathering sessions were in order. He made his way over to his meditation room, but he'd barely sat down when he heard knocking sounds coming from the entrance hallway. Meiyao, maybe? Jieyuan got back on his feet and went to the door. Opening it, he found Elder Yiming and Yongyi standing in the corridor.

"I was taking Yongyi down for some training," Elder Yiming said, hooking an arm over his nephew's shoulder, "and I figured I'd pull you in along. What say you?" Yongyi let himself be dragged by his uncle, looking torn between amusement and resignation. Looking at the two standing side by side like this, Jieyuan could see the resemblance between them, but also the differences.

They were about the same height, both of them slightly shorter than Jieyuan, but the palace head looked slightly older, and he had a lot more jewelry on. There were also their eyes—Yiming's orange and Yongyi's yellow—and their jewelry reflected that. For Yiming, it was earrings and necklaces, all of it topaz, with rings on each of his fingers. Yongyi didn't wear nearly as much jewelry, but he still had several citrine studs in each ear. Jieyuan looked between the two.

While he did need to fill up his soulprism, it'd been a good while since he'd gotten to properly spar with someone else. Or at least with someone real, in any case. And Yongyi… Jieyuan could feel the core disciple's gaze on him. This might be a chance to get some info on Meiyao.

"I'm in," he said, stepping forward and closing the door behind him. —∞— Yongyi and Elder Yiming fought each other in the middle stage. Both, it turned out, were sword artists—and skilled ones at that. Jieyuan stood next to the stage, looking up, watching the two. The palace's training room was empty save for them, the other, smaller stages unused. The rings of their swords meeting rang loudly in the vast, empty room.

Neither was space-hasting, and Elder Yiming had lowered his mantle to that of a sixth-step Redsoul, making the two about evenly matched. Jieyuan still had to strain himself to keep track of their movements, though. A thrust here, a slash there, and all sorts of swift, precise twists and turns.

Jieyuan had seen Meiyao fight a couple of times before, and her style was all about precision—reading her opponent's form for gaps and vulnerabilities and taking advantage of them with short bursts of movement, defending at other times. Yiming and Yongyi fought similarly. While one attacked, the other dodged and parried—until they found a gap, a vulnerability, and the tables would turn, the defender turning into the attacker and the attacker into the defender.

He was guessing that was the Liangshibai style of martial arts. Meiyao used a saber, and the two of them swords, but the fundamentals were about the same. Right now, Elder Yiming was on the offensive. The palace head mostly favored stabs, and he was quick and fierce with them, jabbing his sword in and out, in and out. Yongyi was just as snappy in his dodging, and the strikes he couldn't dodge he'd throw off.

The palace head was the more skilled of the two, though; not by much, but still to the point that Yongyi got hit a couple of times. They were both using mundane swords, taken from the rack at the end of the training room, so there wasn't any risk of either hurting the other. Jieyuan had also picked up a mundane spear from it. A small crystal barrier appeared between Yongyi and Elder Yiming, catching the palace head's thrust. Immediately, Yongyi spun his body past it, striking at his uncle's chest.

But then another barrier appeared, and this time it was Yongyi whose sword was caught. Instead of pressing forward, Elder Yiming drew back, disengaging, a wide smile on his face.

"Bondskill, eh? You sure you want to do this?" He kept his sword ready, aimed at his nephew.

"It was getting stale," Yongyi said, shrugging. He was smiling back.

"I figured we should have a proper fight."

"Fair enough," Elder Yiming said.

"Don't go overboard, though; you want to go into the tournament with a full soulprism."

"I'm not an idiot, uncle."

"Really?" The palace head's look was nothing short of predatory.

"Let's see if you'll still be saying that a minute from now." Elder Yiming launched himself at Yongyi again, stabbing out with his sword. Yongyi parried it, then made to attack—only for his sword to catch midair. As Yongyi pulled his sword back, Jieyuan saw the paper-thin little stab of stone floating in the air. But then it was gone, and the palace head was attacking again.

This time, as Yongyi retreated, forced into the defensive, the core disciple suddenly stumbled back, and Jieyuan saw another sheet of crystal between his legs. Jieyuan recognized the trick; it was the same one Sunqiu, the inner disciple, had used on him. Yongyi recovered quickly, grounding himself, but not before Elder Yiming landed a thrust to his collarbone. Yongyi staggered back and tried to fight back, but more barriers appeared in a short sequence, parrying all of Yongyi's following strikes.

The palace head landed more and more stabs, all over Yongyi's body now. Legs, chest, arms. Jieyuan soon realized the sequence. First the left arm, then the right, then the left leg, then the right, then the chest. And then back to the left arm. Elder Yiming was clearly playing with his nephew; the bright, sharp grin on his face only reinforced that impression. Yongyi was scowling now, sweat pooling on his forehead as he did his best to avoid being hit, but it was of no use.

His uncle's onslaught only got stronger, faster, fiercer; by this point, Yongyi was being hit more often than not. Gleamstone barriers blinked in and out of existence between them, little more than brief flashes of crystal. Many were clearly summoned by Yongyi, appearing either between Elder Yiming's legs or in the way of his sword, but the older Liangshibai just weaved his way out of them effortlessly. Meanwhile, the ones summoned by the palace head all managed to block or hamper Yongyi in some way.

They were both using Gleaming Stone Containment—one of the Gleaming Stone Sect's two signature bondskills. Fusongshi Weiming, the inner elder who'd hunted them down in the Gleamstone Valley had it, and so had Sunqiu, the inner disciple Jieyuan had killed. It was also the bondskill of Qingshi and Elder Taishou. Jieyuan was starting to suspect it might be the superior of the sect's signature skills.

It might just be a coincidence, though; he'd checked the skillseed he'd gotten from the Fusongshi core disciple, and it was Gleaming Stone Arsenal. Remembering what the woman had been like, he doubted she'd have been willing to settle for the inferior bondskill. Jieyuan narrowed his eyes, paying very close attention now, recalling everything he knew of the skill.

It was his first time seeing two bondskill users fight each other using their bondskills like this, and this was exactly the kind of thing he needed to know more about. Gleaming Stone Containment's first form was Gleaming Stone Impediment, and all it did was allow you to summon a single gleamstone barrier that couldn't be moved, remaining in place wherever they were summoned. Jieyuan recalled what he knew about it.

Maintaining a barrier cost chroma (a steady expenditure, determined by the size of the barrier), but for the most part, it was just about a negligible expense unless you went really overboard. Just because it was simple didn't mean everyone would use it the same way, though, and Elder Yiming was clearly much more skilled at using it than his nephew was. Creative with it, even. Suddenly a gleamstone barrier appeared between Yongyi's sword and Elder Yiming's neck, blocking the attack.

Without missing a beat, the palace head thrust out his sword, pulling the strike just as it was about to land between Yongyi's eyes, the blade not even an inch away from skin. There was a pause.

"So," Elder Yiming said, still smiling widely, "how's that?" Yongyi sighed, drawing his sword back and sheathing it. Yiming did the same.

"I had no idea you were this good, Uncle," Yongyi said. There was a touch of bitterness to the core disciple's voice, but also a very heavy dose of respect.

"I'm one of the Liangshibai's best fighters, if not the best," Elder Yiming said.

"I might not have your pretty yellow eyes, kid, but heavenly affinity doesn't always translate into fighting skill. Even little Wanxin's not quite at my level, either. Sure, she'd leave me in the dust if she went past Redrealm, but with both of us at the same realm? I'm better." Yongyi nodded slowly; he didn't look all that convinced, though.

"But how are you so fast with Gleaming Stone Containment? I don't think even Grandfather can use it like that."

"Practice," Elder Yiming said.

"Lots and lots of practice." A little gleamstone human figurine with a sword in its hand appeared in front of the palace head, hovering mid-air. It took Jieyuan a moment to realize it was in fact a barrier that the palace head had just summoned. And as if that wasn't impressive enough already, the figurine began to move, swinging the sword up and down before thrusting it back and forth a few times. How …

Jieyuan activated his haster ring, just for a moment, and then he saw it: brief little flickers as the figurine moved. Or rather, it wasn't actually moving. Yiming was simply conjuring it so quickly again and again, each time in a slightly different position, to give it the impression of movement. Yongyi's eyes were even wider.

"That's…"

"Like I said, practice," the palace head said. Even as he talked, the figurine was still moving, going through a series of strikes.

"I'm probably the fastest at summoning barriers. Not the best at shaping them, though; that honor goes to Taishou. The only reason I can pull off this little fellow"—he tapped the still-moving figurine—"is because I spent a couple of years getting it right. Taishou could've summoned a barrier in just about any shape you imagine, on the spot."

Jieyuan knew the palace head wasn't exaggerating; he could still perfectly recall the gleamstone barrier that had suddenly appeared over Qingshi's body back in the Gleamstone Valley, trapping him.

"Gleaming Stone Containment isn't really meant for intricate work like this," the palace head was saying.

"You must be clever about it—the figurine's hollow, and I'm imagining it as a barrier covering someone—but even after you get yourself in the right frame of mind, it'll take you some time to get to this level. Most users of the bondskill don't go nearly this far." The figurine vanished, but Yongyi was still staring at the spot it'd just been at, dazed. Jieyuan reckoned what Elder Yiming had just done was even more impressive to someone with Gleaming Stone Containment.

"Now, my dear nephew, you're good for your age. Really good. In terms of swords arts, there's not much we can improve, not before the tournament, but I can teach you a trick or three using our bondskill that'll come in handy. But before that…" Elder Yiming looked off the stage, locking eyes with Jieyuan.

"Enjoyed the show?"

"Sure did," Jieyuan said.

"Wanna come on up?" Jieyuan grinned.

"Sure do." He hopped onto the stage, joining uncle and nephew at the center.

"All right," Elder Yiming said.

"I heard you beat Sunqiu. That's no mean feat, considering he was a fifth-step. So I want to see how good you really are. So for starters…" He nodded to Yongyi.

"You two will be sparring. Yongyi, lower your mantle to third-step. Jieyuan, you don't have a bondskill yet, do you?"

"No."

"Weapons-only, then. No bondskill," Yiming said to Yongyi, before giving Jieyuan a considering look.

"Do you want a bondskill, by the way? I can get you both Gleaming Stone Containment and Arsenal in skillseed form. Your pick." Jieyuan pretended to consider it.

"Thanks, but I'll pass. I'll wait to see what the Howling Lightning Sect has to offer." Absolute Will Command aside, he already had skillseeds both for Gleaming Stone Containment and Gleaming Stone Arsenal. He was saving them for now. Maybe he might even bond one when he reached Orangerealm. He definitely liked what he'd seen so far of Gleaming Stone Containment, even more so after the little display the palace head had just put on.

In some ways, he could even see Gleaming Stone Containment being more useful than Absolute Will Command against enemies at a higher step. At sixth-step, he'd be able to use Absolute Will Command on a tenth-step Redsoul to some effect, but only in the most minute of ways, and it'd probably use up all his chroma. A sixth-step gleamstone barrier, on the other hand, would be able to block just about anything a tenth-step Redrealm could throw at him, even with the step gap, because of how durable gleamstone was.

"Sure. Tell me if you change your mind, though," the palace head said said. He hopped off the stage.

"Whenever you two are ready." Jieyuan turned to Yongyi. From what he'd seen of Yongyi's fight with his uncle earlier, he'd say Yongyi was a highly skilled sword artist, but he wasn't sure how he'd fare against him. He and Yongyi seemed to be the same height, with pretty similar builds. Physically, at least, they should be about evenly matched. Jieyuan extended his hand.

"It's probably a little late for this, but I don't think we've been introduced properly yet. I'm Haoyujin Jieyuan."

"You're right. Liangshibai Yongyi," Yongyi said, shaking Jieyuan's hand. The core disciple smiled. As far as Jieyuan could tell, it was genuine.

"Like my uncle, I also heard about you taking down Sunqiu. I'll admit I'm excited to see for myself what you're capable of."

"Oh, I'm good, but not that good." Jieyuan shook his head.

"Luck played a pretty big role in it. I wouldn't get my hopes up too high if I were you." Yongyi shook his head.

"Luck can only take you so far." Jieyuan didn't have a solid impression of Yongyi yet. Meiyao's half-brother was quiet, but not quite taciturn. Friendly, but not quite exuberant. Nothing like Meiyao, who seemed to oscillate between extremes. He didn't seem to be anything like his parents, either. Chief Elder Junjie was a stereotypical Metalsoul second only to Daojue, and Protector Yuyan was like the consummate Woodsoul despite supposedly being a Crystalsoul.

Now that Jieyuan thought about it, all true-blood Liangshibai were supposed to be Crystalsouls, but he couldn't really find any similarities between them, personality-wise, besides their well-known obsession with gemstones. He had no idea what the hallmark traits of a Crystalsoul were supposed to be. Then again … Crystal was derived from Earth, and Jieyuan reckoned that Yongyi did fit the bill of an Earthsoul: moderate, grounded, temperate.

"I fought Sunqiu a few times in the past," Yongyi was saying.

"He wasn't the most skilled inner disciple, but he was far from incompetent." Moving his spear in front of him, Jieyuan said, "Well, I guess I'll let you be the judge of it, then." Yongyi got the message. Jieyuan saw with his soulsenses as Yongyi lowered his mantle to that of a third-step Redsoul, its color growing fainter, before the core disciple took a few steps back and likewise got himself into a stance. Jieyuan shifted his grip on the spear shaft, adjusting his stance a little to its weight.

He'd had some time to get used to its balance while he was inspecting Elder Yiming's and Yongyi's fight. The blade was a little heavier than that of his third-step Redrealm spear, but not so much to get in his way or require any significant adjustments. As a training weapon, the spear seemed to have been spared the Liangshibai's love for gemstones. It was just a plain steel spear. Yongyi's mundane steel sword was much the same, perfectly utilitarian. Jieyuan was the first to move.

While Yongyi was still eyeing him, looking for an opening, Jieyuan lunged at him, stabbing at his neck. Yongyi reacted quickly, parrying the blade with his sword, but Jieyuan had spent a good while seeing him and his uncle fight; he immediately reoriented his spear into a cut, landing a blow to Yongyi's shoulder.

"Hit!" Elder Yiming shouted from beside the stage. Yongyi appeared surprised, and Jieyuan briefly drew his spear back before thrusting it out again. Yongyi managed to react in time, stepping to the side and dodging the strike, but Jieyuan had expected it, stepping forward and shifting his momentum sideways. The blade hit Yongyi on his arm.

"Hit!" the palace head called again. This time, Yongyi wasted no time in a daze, taking advantage of how Jieyuan had closed the distance earlier to close in even further while slashing at Jieyuan's waist. Jieyuan brought the spear out to meet the strike, blocking it with the metal shaft. Then he pushed forward, throwing his arms up—and, by extension, throwing Yongyi's sword up and throwing Yongyi himself off his balance. To his credit, Yongyi regained his footing almost immediately.

But not fast enough to avoid or block Jieyuan's strike to his chest.

"Hit!" Over the next minute, Jieyuan managed to land several more hits, while avoiding all of Yongyi's. Yiming stopped announcing hits after the seventh, but Jieyuan wasn't paying that much attention to it, immersed in the battle.

Yongyi was fast, and precise, and skilled, but in Jieyuan's many, many simulated fights against Daojue, he'd trained himself to detect even the slightest hint of an attack so that he could react to it in time—because the alternative was to blink and then have Daojue running him through with his spear. And the one he'd been training against was Daojue, who had just about no tells at all. Yongyi wasn't bad—far from it—but to Jieyuan he might as well have been an open book.

And unlike Daojue, Yongyi couldn't move at inhumanly fast speeds, not when their steps were equalized.

"Enough," Elder Yiming said after Jieyuan landed his twentieth attack. Yongyi immediately leaped away. Jieyuan, caught up in the fight, made to pursue, but then caught himself and pulled back. The palace head jumped onto the stage and walked over to him.

"I have got to say, you're even more of a diamond than I'd assumed. Yongyi sure isn't your match, and my nephew's no slouch." Looking past Yiming, Jieyuan locked eyes with Yongyi. Meiyao's half-brother was staring right back at him, his expression tense, conflicted, yellow eyes bright and vivid. Jieyuan didn't doubt the palace head's words. Yongyi was good. But virtually all of Jieyuan's fights he'd been in the past month had been with either enemies far above him in step, or against Daojue, in his simulations.

And though he and Daojue were at the same step, Daojue was Daojue. Jieyuan found himself mirroring Yongyi's conflicted expression. Because, on the one hand, he'd clearly improved. Back in the entrance trials, at the start of the year, he'd defeated everyone but Daojue and Meiyao, but not as soundly as he'd just beaten Yongyi. Clearly, he was doing something right. He was getting stronger. But at the same time, he was still far from being Daojue's match. Far from measuring up to Meiyao, too.

And just like him, his teammates were also constantly improving.

"That's quite the expression you've got on, kiddo," Elder Yiming said. The palace head had his orange eyes fixed straight on him.

"I'll have to get a taste of this for myself. Yongyi, off the stage." Yongyi frowned, but complied. He began walking away, but stopped at the edge of the stage, turning his head back and locking eyes with Jieyuan. He gave Jieyuan a firm, acknowledging nod then jumped down.

"Same rules," the palace head said, taking position opposite Jieyuan, on the other side of the stage.

"Lowered mantle, no bondskills. You ready?" Jieyuan pushed all other thoughts out of his head.

"Ready." He and the palace head shot forward at the same time, meeting each other at the center of the stage, spear to sword. Immediately Jieyuan could tell that the palace head was faster than Yongyi had been; as he thrust out with his spear, Elder Yiming stepped to the side and forward, stabbing with his sword. Jieyuan similarly avoided the attack, bringing the spear back, but the palace head parried it. Jieyuan threw himself fully into the offensive, and Elder Yiming took a more defensive stance.

Elder Yiming's style—the Liangshibai style—was pretty balanced, and the palace head put up a good defense. But a couple of exchanges later, Jieyuan managed to strike Elder Yiming in the chest when he fell for a feint and tried to get a hit in. A couple of exchanges later, Elder Yiming landed an attack, a cut to Jieyuan's side, but Jieyuan soon took back the lead with two more hits, in quick succession.

And then he got the hang of it, adapting to the palace head's style, learning his tells; he started getting hit less and less and landing hits more and more. The palace head put his hand up after a while, and Jieyuan reined himself in. His robes were sticky with sweat. For a few seconds, Elder Yiming said nothing, just stared at him. The palace head seemed to be sweating just as much, if not more.

With his mantle lowered, Elder Yiming's stamina was now that of a third-step Redrealm, and they'd been fighting at full throttle for a good couple of minutes.

"You're quite the little monster, aren't you?" Elder Yiming finally said.

"The reports don't do you justice. You're talented, Jieyuan. Absurdly so. I fought Qingshi five years ago, and at the time I'd thought it was impossible to be any more talented, but you might actually have him beat. And Daojue and Meiyao are supposed to be better than you?"

"They are better than me."

"Gleaming Heavens. I see it's not just you three's heavenly affinity that makes you so special." The palace head smiled wryly.

"To think Huizhong's brat would turn out this special." Elder Yiming turned to the side, to where his nephew was watching the two of them, attentive.

"Yongyi, I'll be heading out to handle some matters. I'll be back later with some elders to help with your training." The palace head then walked over to Jieyuan, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Huizhong would've been proud of you, kiddo." Somehow, I doubt so.

"Thank you," Jieyuan said, a touch more dry than he'd have liked. Elder Yiming hopped off the stage and made his way out of the training room. The man had just left when Yongyi jumped back onto the stage.

"So… more sparring?" Jieyuan asked, readying his spear.

"Would you mind increasing your mantle to fourth-step? I'd like to…" He trailed off, seeing the intense, scrutinizing look Yongyi was giving him.

"Is something wrong?" Yongyi snorted.

"This was my idea." He suddenly seemed to relax.

"What?"

"Inviting you here. Uncle would've probably checked in on you later, but this was supposed to be a private training session for me. But I wanted to meet you, talk to you. Alone, that is. Uncle agreed to play along. Nobody will be coming inside for a while." He glanced at the doors leading out of the training room.

"I see…" Jieyuan said slowly. He eyed Yongyi carefully. His words sounded rather ominous, but the impression he was getting from him didn't quite fit it. Yongyi looked relaxed, though maybe a little apprehensive, too. Something about him looked familiar.

"What's this about, then?" Yongyi worked his jaw for a moment before sighing heavily. His shoulders slumped.

"My sister. Meiyao. How… How is she?"

"Oh." Oh. He knew where he recognized Yongyi's expression from. Maeva would give him a similar look from time to time.

"She's been… fine, I guess."

"Are you two close?" Jieyuan wasn't too surprised by the question.

"I'd call us friends." He kept his eyes trained on Yongyi's expression, looking for hints of—well, anything—but the core disciple had on an inscrutable mask. A look quite similar to the ones Meiyao would put on sometimes, the face focused but blank.

"Are you interested in her?" That gave Jieyuan a pause. He hadn't expected a question this direct.

"And if I say I am?" At that, Yongyi's expression broke into a little smile.

"Then at least you wouldn't be a liar. I saw how you look at her." He nodded slowly, giving Jieyuan a considering look.

"Did Meiyao ever tell you the reason why things are as they are between her and the rest of the family?"

"No." Yongyi looked like he'd expected that.

"It's not my place to tell you, but it'll probably come up soon. It's not that big of a secret. Just… Just keep in mind that there are two sides to that particular story." He paused.

"And please don't tell Meiyao I just said that. She's mad enough at me as it is."

"You should know better than to give a merchant's son leverage," Jieyuan said, smiling in a way that made it clear he was joking.

"My mistake," Yongyi said, smiling back.

"Anyway, I'd like to know more about what Meiyao—about your team —has gotten up to. Mother has been relaying everything she finds out to me, but I'd like to hear it straight from the source."

"Sure. But you'll owe me a spar." At the same step, Yongyi couldn't really challenge him, but at higher ones? That was a completely different story, and Jieyuan needed some variety. Fighting his simulation of Daojue was clearly working so far, but he also needed experience against other weapons and fighting styles.

"You've got yourself a deal," Yongyi said.