Yuming stopped trying to cultivate as he opened his eyes. He began pondering another matter.

  His escape.

  Before the karmic attack occurred, his original plan had genuinely been to go to the Jingquan Sect. He figured that he’d be provided some resources due to his status, and given time he could reach Qi Condensation.

  But as Liu Tianrui frequently said, “Man proposes, Heaven disposes.”

  He currently didn’t know how to safely reach Qi Condensation—his fault line had disappeared. If he was taken to Jingquan now, he’d be stagnant, waiting for the Zhan Branch to negotiate his release.

  Additionally, he was now worried that Qin Yueshan had a method of extracting the truth from him. If she knew he was important to the Liu Family’s plans, would she kill him?

  He didn’t know. He wasn’t sure about the relationship between Jingquan and the Liu Family, nor did he know the extent to which the Liu Family was in trouble. But it was better to be cautious.

  Besides, if she couldn’t kill him then what would the harm be in trying to escape? He’d end up jailed in Jingquan regardless. Perhaps they’d be more hesitant to send him back to Zhenyuan.

  So escaping seemed like the best choice. He was fortunate that Qin Yueshan had stopped to rest—escaping from Jingquan itself would be a completely different matter.

  Yuming considered the obstacles.

  Escaping… it’s about evading Qin Yueshan and Jade Balance True Person.

  Qin Yueshan was currently healing, but she was still at Qi Condensation, and a strong Qi Condensation at that. She certainly didn’t want Yuming to run away.

  So why hadn’t she demanded that Jade Balance True Person send more people to watch him? He was being treated like a guest, not a prisoner.

  She’s probably relaxed a bit because I ran to her during the battle. She’s still wary, but thinks I’m more compliant than I actually am.

  But still, relaxation didn’t explain everything. If he was in her place, he’d send numerous guards and watchers even if he was relaxed.

  Unless doing so costs her.

  What was her—or Jingquan’s—relationship with this Verdant Dew Pavilion? Ostensibly, it was that of lord and vassal, but one should know that even the domineering Liu Family didn’t have complete control over Foundation Establishment level forces in their area.

  No Foundation Establishment clans were involved in the Ancestral Tree program, as far as he knew.

  Verdant Dew Pavilion, in addition to being a Foundation Establishment level force, was also near the border of Jingquan’s influence.

  Look at the Wen Family. They flipped to the other side, and their Old Ancestor was at Qi Condensation!

  So—how deeply did Jade Balance True Person want to monitor him?

  Probably not very.

  He’s near the border of Liu and Jingquan, and I’m a delicate political matter. His lack of action thus far probably indicates his stance. Qin Yueshan doesn’t want to antagonize him.

  If the obstacle was only Qin Yueshan, who was healing, escape was feasible.

  Of course, there was another explanation for all of this: there were powerful cultivators secretly watching him, and Qin Yueshan was testing if he wanted to escape.

  It was a possibility, but Yuming didn’t believe the downside to being caught was overly harsh.

  So what do I do? I could make Mu Chen an unwitting cooperator…

  Yuming shook his head.

  No, he seems like a nice guy. It’s better to not implicate him.

  ….

  Far away.

  A peak sat nestled between the greater prominences of Mount Zhenyuan. It lacked the grand formations of the inner mountain, but it was well tended. Herb gardens lined the slopes in neat rows, and the scent of medicine smoke drifted from a pavilion near the summit. A single disciple knelt amongst the herbs, tending to the plants in silence under the moonlight.

  Inside the pavilion stood an elegant young lady in a qipao dress—Liu Wanyue.

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  She looked down at a boy lying on a medicinal bed, gently pressing her hand to his temple. His face was pale and slick from sweat. His eyes were beginning to flutter.

  Three disciples, each around fifteen, stood at his bedside with concerned expressions.

  The boy’s eyes opened. They were unfocused and drifted throughout the room, not recognizing anyone. After a few seconds they fell shut again.

  Liu Wanyue sighed.

  One of the disciples quietly spoke. “Elder Wanyue, is- is he going to be okay?”

  Liu Wanyue looked at the three solemnly. “Yujin experienced a major injury when cultivating. He’s already very fortunate to not have had his cultivation drop to Meridian Unblocking.”

  The disciple—Liu Yiyi—shook her head. “But Elder, Instructor Qiao and I both examined him. His meridians and dantian are completely normal!”

  Liu Wanyue let out a deep breath. “Yiyi, remember the conversation we had last month? About how cultivating is about condensing yourself?”

  Liu Yiyi, and the boy to her right, Liu Yufeng, both nodded.

  “He faced a crisis that caused him to scatter.”

  Yiyi and Yufeng gulped, their eyes filling with terror.

  “Remember this as a lesson—always be careful.”

  Beads of sweat formed on Liu Yufeng’s brow. He whispered: “Yujin might never be able to reach Qi Condensation…”

  The third disciple present, Liu Yiling, sat in silence.

  She hadn’t received any talk about how cultivation was “condensing yourself.” She wanted to ask about it, but was too embarrassed to admit her lack of knowledge in front of Yiyi and Yufeng.

  Those two were at Dantian Awakening, and had been there for some time. She was still at Meridian Unblocking and barely making progress.

  She continued to stare at the sickly boy in front of her.

  Yujin’s cultivation is damaged. And Yuming…

  Her thoughts drifted to her increasingly distant friend. She had barely seen him since they’d departed from the Yang Family.

  I heard he risked his life to save his brother during the Qinglu Market Incident. Maybe he still cares.

  Her gaze drifted before finally landing on a medicinal pond next to the pavilion. She saw her own reflection staring back at her.

  A white crane flew by and landed on the pond to rest. The water stirred, the ripples churned her reflection away.

  Liu Wanyue stood and turned to the three. “Watch over him. If his breathing changes, send for me.”

  She stepped out of the pavilion and ascended into the air, her dress fluttering as she rose. She flew past the middle peaks and up toward the inner mountain. Finally, she landed on a terrace that overlooked the lower peaks and valleys below.

  Liu Xueyin, donning a pink dress, sat inside reviewing a jade slip. She didn’t look up as Wanyue entered.

  “How is Yujin?”

  “Reporting to Great-Aunt, his breathing is stable. He awakens every few hours, filled with confusion. There is not much that this incompetent Junior can do.”

  Xueyin looked at the kneeling Wanyue and clicked her tongue. Originally, she didn’t want to involve Wanyue too much in the matter of the karmic transfer—the fewer people who knew, the better.

  But Tianjue was still gone. Worse, he had already sent a message reporting his failure.

  So unfortunately, new people needed to be roped in.

  Wanyue didn’t know the exact details of Yujin’s injury, but she had some guesses. She continued kneeling, awaiting further instruction.

  “There’s two more juniors, Liu Shuying and Liu Heng, that should be given positions at the Merit Archive Pavilion.” Xueyin explained. “Both entered Far Lantern Peak during the past cycle, and both have mid-grade spirit roots.”

  Wanyue nodded, provided some flattery, and then departed.

  After she left, a man who appeared to be in his sixties, with slumped shoulders, emerged.

  It was Liu Jinghan. His face was more weathered than it had been just a few days prior.

  “Xueyin… do we really need to bind an entire generation? The Xu Branch might create more problems.” He sighed.

  Xueyin looked at Jinghan, a bitter feeling swelling in her heart.

  “Even if the back-up isn’t as good as the original, it’s still an alternative! We need options.”

  The tired Jinghan was about to speak when a chill filled the air.

  Liu Xuehan stepped through the doorway.

  Her eyes moved between Xueyin and Jinghan with a stillness that made Jinghan straighten.

  "I heard a boy scattered," she said. “A direct descendant of your Zhan Branch.”

  It wasn’t a secret, but Xueyin still grew agitated.

  “Excellent, truly excellent work, Senior Sister! I underestimated your pettiness—you truly have no scruples!”

  Xuehan’s expression remained steady. She simply stated, “I only gave the boy some cultivation advice. He must have noticed the rest on his own.”

  Xueyin’s hands trembled. “What cultivation advice? You gave a boy the tools to disrupt a transfer that took years to prepare.”

  Xuehan stayed silent for a moment. She only spoke once the tension in the room reached its peak. “I’m not opposed to your plan. But if you cripple him in the process, you've destroyed our asset.”

  Jinghan finally spoke. “So you’re willing to help us get him back from Jingquan?”

  Xuehan nodded.

  “We can’t be too pushy,” Xueyin chimed in. “If they know his importance, who knows what they’ll do.”

  “That’s not necessarily true.” Xuehan interjected.

  A slight smile crept onto her face.

  “Jingquan doesn’t necessarily care about your Zhan Branch.”

  She gave Xueyin an icy stare. Xueyin opened her mouth to argue, but soon shut it.

  Xuehan continued. “Jingquan does care about the Tribunal Luminary.”

  Jinghan and Xueyin’s hearts beat quicker at the mention of those two taboo words.

  “It won’t be quick, but if we can connect the boy to the Tribunal, Jingquan may hand him back to us without demanding anything in return.”

  The three discussed preliminary details for another quarter hour. By the end, the tension had cooled into a reluctant cooperation.

  Xuehan left first.

  After a few hours of meditation, she descended from the inner peaks leisurely. She passed the middle terraces and outer slopes until the grand architecture of Mount Zhenyuan gave way to the foothills below.

  Yuming was still on her mind.

  His ability to avoid the trap wasn’t simple. He might have truly known about the attack in advance…

  She continued flying into a narrow valley, finally hovering above an unremarkable mortal farm. Its fields grew ordinary crops, with a handful of children chasing each other between rows. Maids hung laundry near a stone cottage.

  Xuehan’s spiritual sense brushed against the property and felt its depth—it was layered with formations, beyond what even many Zhenyuan homes had.

  She passed through it without resistance and walked the dirt path to the cottage.

  Inside, an old man sat reading by a window. Morning light fell across the pages of his book. He didn’t notice the stunning figure that had entered his room.

  A shadow finally fell onto his page, and the man’s cloudy eyes drifted up. He closed his book as his face showed traces of sorrow.

  The silence made him uncomfortable, and he finally spoke.

  “It’s been a long time, Mother.”