Four Rivers Mountain was not merely an isolated elevation between cities and sects.It was a natural wall that divided Qinghe Province into two distinct domains:
Eastern Heshi, under the influence of the Four-Leaf Clover Sect,and Western Heshi, where the Blazing Battle Sect had consolidated its power.
From its steep slopes were born four great spiritual rivers, which wound through valleys and cities, sustaining cultivation, agriculture, and trade throughout the entire region.Because of that, whoever controlled that mountain… controlled the very pulse of the province.
And yet, something was wrong.
At the base of the mountain, where Qi should have been densest due to converging spiritual lines, the energy was strangely weak. It was not absent—it was as if something was… restraining it.
Sai walked alone among ancient rock formations, his golden eyes attentive to even the smallest fluctuations in spiritual flow.
"Interesting…" he murmured.
Between cracks nearly hidden by time, he found marks carved into the stone. They were not recent. Nor did they belong to any common style of modern formations. Curved lines, worn symbols, almost erased—remnants of something that had already fulfilled its purpose centuries ago… perhaps millennia.
There was no open passage.No visible breach.
Yet the Qi… was being drained somewhere.
"A natural formation…" he concluded softly. "And very old."
He did not attempt to force anything.
Instead, he sat before it, carefully analyzing every minute detail of the formation.
The spirit of an Immortal stirred within him.
He would not leave until he understood what secrets were hidden beneath his new home.
Meanwhile, inside one of the caves at the top of Four Rivers Mountain…
Yan Li opened her eyes, frustrated.
Nothing.
Two weeks trying to sense her own soul, and nothing.
She grabbed the manual beside her and flipped through its pages with more force than necessary.
"I can feel Qi," she murmured. "I can shape the earth. But this…"
Why was the soul so difficult?
Wei Lian had just entered the Qi Absorption Realm.Wang Tao was already at the third level.
And her?
Stagnant.Stuck at the very first step of a path she had chosen because she wanted to understand—not just see.
"Maybe…" she thought, glancing at the unfinished painting in the corner of the cave. "Maybe I'm forcing it too much."
Maybe the soul was not something you could seize.
Maybe it was something that needed to be… allowed to come.
She took a deep breath.
And tried again.
This time, without expectation.
Just… feeling.
Not far from there, Wei Lian was practicing his first combat techniques, while remembering the lesson from the previous morning.
"Disciples," Master Sai had said, seated on his platform.
After two weeks of being taught by him, the three had grown used to his childlike appearance.
"Can you tell me what kind of technique is most important for a cultivator?"
They exchanged glances.
Wang Tao decided to answer.
"I believe it is combat techniques, Master."
Sai raised one eyebrow, intrigued.
"And why would that be?"
"In a battle between cultivators of the same level, the one with the stronger technique usually wins."
Sai nodded.
"Exactly. In a battle between cultivators of the same level, the stronger one wins." He paused, stating the obvious."But disciples, remember this: victory does not belong to the one who wins the battle."
"It doesn't?" Yan Li asked, surprised.
"Of course not. Victory belongs to the one who survives longer," Sai replied with a faint smile."You may lose today… but if you survive, you will have another day to take revenge. Or, if you choose not to fight—" he looked at Wei Lian, as if reading his thoughts, "—you must be able to escape without being caught."
"Then movement techniques are the most important?" Wei Lian asked, excited.
"Exactly. The one who controls the battle is always the fastest and most resilient. Because they decide when it starts… and when it ends."
The three stared at him, wide-eyed.
Wei Lian let out a small laugh, remembering the lesson.
Two weeks ago, he had been just a mortal.
An artisan who made masks.
Today, he was a cultivator, learning how to run from other cultivators.
And the worst part… was that he was excited about it.
He took a breath.
"Okay! Let's go! Focus Qi into the legs and—"
Each cycle was a small improvement.
Not fast.
But steady.
At the opposite end of the sect, inside a discreet cave…
Wang Tao stared at a jade vial filled with dark liquid.
The poison was ready.
Making it had not been easy.
He had spent an entire day traveling to the other side of Four Rivers Mountain, into the territory of the Blazing Battle Sect, to acquire the materials. Individually, they were common. But combined, they were potent enough to kill even a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
But now I'm broken…
He had spent all the resources he had accumulated over the past two years as a core disciple.
I'll make those bastards pay me back double, he thought, referring to the Invisible Hand. He would definitely demand reimbursement.
He sealed the vial and stored it in his spatial pouch, then left the cave like any disciple going out to train.
But his eyes no longer saw only paths.
They saw escape routes.Shadows.Schedules.
Elder Lin Yu usually visited the Records Hall at dusk.
Always by the same route.
"Seven days…" he thought.
Now, fewer than three remained.