The forest around Shulin was just as He Yu remembered it—practically a wasteland to his qi sense. While shrubs and trees passed by in a green and brown blur, he couldn’t help but wonder. How had he ever awakened himself in a place like this? There was nothing here. Wood and life floated through the forest, but it was so faint he could only sense it if he concentrated all his attention on the environment.

  In the lands around the Shrouded Peak Sect, the thrum of natural qi was a constant presence. The flows of power were always there. One only had to reach out, and all the qi they could use was right there. The ground beneath his feet had given earth and mountain and metal. From the waterfalls and mists of the peaks flowed abundant water. Wind rushed through the passes and valleys. Life and wood clung thick to the dense undergrowth and mighty red pines. The Shrouded Peaks had been a bounty of power.

  It was no wonder Zhang Lifen had thought he held so much potential. As weak as he’d been, He Yu had awakened himself. With no formal instruction, and in a place such as this. He shook his head as he marveled at it all. At how far he’d come. He’d never have achieved a fraction of his current strength if he’d stayed here.

  As he made his way through the forest, he lost himself in memories of his youth and all the paths he’d walked since he left. It was good to remember where he’d come from, how he’d gotten to where he was. Too many cultivators forgot, he thought. Or maybe they never had to try—to struggle. He thought about cultivators like Mo Zhiqiang or Da Ning.

  He’d have been shocked if he learned that either of them had struggled at all. They’d probably been elevated to Foundation by their families. Likely before they’d even arrived at the sect. Unused to hardship and convinced they’d earned their advancement, was it any wonder they were as arrogant as they were ineffective?

  What about someone like Li Renshu? He Yu knew well the Li patriarch had come from nothing. It was much of the reason Li Heng had always talked about how vulnerable his family was. Would Li Renshu have achieved the heights he’d risen to without having to claw them from the grip of heaven and earth?

  The journey fell into a moving meditation. He Yu thought on his past and his current circumstances as he searched. He absorbed what little qi he could and limited what he spent. Although his cultivation base was more plentiful and potent than it had ever been, it made little sense to be wasteful. He’d no idea what awaited him at the fallen star. It would be a good while before he could cultivate properly, though.

  It took He Yu two days before he found the fallen star. Or at least evidence of it. At the edge of his qi sense, He Yu felt a concentrated source of metal qi that practically blazed against the background of the southern forest. He leaped up into the highest boughs of a nearby tree, hoping to get a better look. Off toward the metal source, a broad area of the forest had been flattened and burned. The charred remains of trees ringed a crater gouged out from the forest floor.

  Observing the site with the Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment, he caught aspects of fire and heaven as well. Neither was as prominent as the metal aspect, but they were enough to tell him he’d found his prize. He couldn’t catch any evidence of beasts or spirits, but that just meant that if anything had been attracted, it was either weak or actively concealing himself.

  He leaped from the tree, propelling himself towards the crater with just the power of his refined body. Only just before he hit the ground did he briefly activate the Sky Dragon’s Flight, and only then to allow him to land in such a way that he could easily transition to a full sprint. It was only a short time later that he arrived at the crater’s edge.

  The crater was much wider and deeper than he’d first imagined. Easily several hundred feet across, the forest and earth around the central, deepest part had been blasted away in the impact. The trees that still stood closest to the edge were charred and burnt, their bark turned black by what must have been an intense heat. Even now, a month after the impact, according to his father, flame spirits still danced in tiny pockets around the crater and the rim.

  Around the fallen star itself, coiled a beast of metal and stone. Fifteen feet from nose to tail, it was covered in metal spikes that gleamed softly in the light. Its skin was of stone, and its eyes the color of new iron. It fixed its attention on He Yu. Although it remained wrapped around the dull, almost black stone that could only be the fallen star, it was alert and ready to leap to its massive, clawed feet. It resembled a dog in the shape of its head and the placement of its legs, but the tail was too long and thick for a hound. Almost like that of a lizard or a snake.

  He Yu jumped from the rim of the crater onto its floor, covering about half the distance to the fallen star, and the beast. It finally rose to its feet, canine ears pricking towards his approach. Its maw, like its tail was more lizard-like. It was a strange creature, to be sure. He Yu had never seen its like, and he wondered if it might have been created in the impact itself. Drawing close to the beast, he didn’t get the sense it was very strong. Maybe equal to a Third Realm. Strong for the area, but nothing he couldn’t deal with.

  Claws of iron and jagged stone extended from the beast’s feet and gouged the earth beneath it. It let out a low growl that sounded like shifting stone. A warning, but one that He Yu ignored. Instead of retreat, he gave the beast a warning of his own.

  His presence expanded fully for the first time since returning to the southern forest. Lighting flashed and thunder cracked. The winds rose to a gale, and rain lashed cultivator and beast both. The storm churned around him, and arcs of heaven leaped across his skin and flashed behind his eyes. Although he’d left his weapon back with his father, he’d no need of it.

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  The beast did not back down. He Yu took a step forward, carrying the full weight of the storm with him. Rain soaked the scorched and broken land beneath his feet, and the winds howled ever louder. Still, the beast did not back down.

  It hadn’t attacked, either. A puzzling reaction, he thought. Was it unable to sense his power? Everything about its posture, its willingness to stand its ground, told He Yu that it wasn’t frightened enough to run. But neither was it confident enough to be the aggressor. He’d hoped that by revealing his presence that he’d have scared it off. It may be a beast, but it wasn’t threatening anyone here. The formation stones around even a small settlement like Shulin should be enough to ward off a Third Realm, so leaving it wasn’t a danger. It would never advance so long as it stayed in the southern forest, so it would have to leave in order to grow stronger.

  Unless it didn’t.

  He Yu turned his attention fully to the fallen star for the first time since he’d arrived. With the Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment, he observed the truth. The beast hadn’t simply advanced by the fallen star’s power—it had been remade. The metal aspect of the star, and the qi released by the exposed earth, had drawn the creature, whatever it had once been. It settled around the fallen star, and it had advanced. Advanced and been remade. Much in the same way He Yu’s own advancement to Body Refining had changed him, the qi of the fallen star had altered this creature. It was smart enough to know what the star meant to it. Like a mother protecting her cubs, it would give its life to defend the very thing that had given it more power than it could handle, reshaping it into its current form.

  In the space between heartbeats, He Yu crossed the distance between himself and the beast. A fist crackling with the spark of heaven slammed into the stony and metal hide. Spines cracked and shattered with the sound of shearing metal. A bolt of heaven arced from He Yu to the creature, and it let out a roar that was half enraged and half in pain.

  As he’d expected it to, it fought back. Stone and metal claws rent the sleeve of his robe, but failed to break his skin. Jaws closed around his arm, and he simply wrenched himself free. With a casual toss, he sent the beast tumbling to the ground. It got up and leaped at him, claws and teeth bared in another futile attempt to tear apart the intruder to its domain.

  He Yu stooped to pick up the fallen star, and the beast sailed over him. It was a dull black mass of metal, perhaps about a foot across and unexpectedly heavy for its size. The qi it gave off now that he could inspect it properly was more than enough to bring a creature like this to the Fourth Realm. Maybe even the Fifth, if it remained near it long enough. It was no wonder the stone and metal hound was willing to defend it so.

  He sent it to his storage treasure and turned his attention back to the hound creature. Although it was poised for another attack, this time it hesitated. Its ears twitched, and it sniffed at the air. He Yu swept his hand before him, and sheets of lightning poured down from the sky. They ripped up the earth, leaving black scars where they struck. The beast jumped back, uncertain now that it could no longer sense the stone it had fought to protect only moments ago.

  With another flex of his spirit, He Yu sent the creature running into the woods. Clearly outmatched and with no reason to stay, it did what all beasts would do in a similar situation. It would eventually circle back and investigate. It might even cultivate a bit with the remaining qi in the area. Eventually, it would have to leave and find somewhere with more qi should it want to sustain itself. Once out in the larger world, it would either fall prey to stronger creatures, or bother some town with actual cultivators, or maybe it would advance. Whatever happened to it mattered little, so far as He Yu was concerned.

  He’d got what he came for, so he headed back to Shulin. When He Yu presented his father with the dull black hunk of metal and stone, He Gang’s eyes lit up.

  “This is incredible,” He Gang said, gingerly taking the offered fallen star from He Yu. “Even I can feel its power. It’s fortunate you brought Chen Fei with you. Without the help of a formation expert like her, I’d never be able to do this material justice.”

  He Gang and Chen Fei settled in to work on the new weapon. First, they disassembled He Yu’s old one. The collar—shaped like a roaring heavenly dragon—and the spiked metal end cap would be inlaid with reinforcements from the fallen star and Chen Fei’s formation work. The half would be melted, then alloyed with star metal and reforged. Finally, the blade would be formed wholly from the remaining material from the fallen star itself. The final construction would be reinforced with Chen Fei’s formations.

  As the work commenced, He Yu quickly learned that Chen Fei and his father had become rather good friends while he was gone—mostly by sharing embarrassing stories about him in his absence. As they worked and talked, with He Yu tucked away in an out of sight corner of the workshop, he quickly got over his embarrassment.

  That He Gang accepted and approved of her was something he’d not realized he’d been worried about. But seeing the two of them work together eased his heart in a way he hadn’t known he’d needed. Even as his relationship with Chen Fei had deepened and grown in their years after leaving the sect, neither of them had brought up their families. He was sure Chen Fei had her reasons, and he now realized he’d had his own, too.

  It took several days for the weapon to take shape. According to He Gang, making a weapon of quality took time. Chen Fei would work late into the night, carving out formation characters in the weapon’s components. The next day, He Gang would fill them in with metal from the fallen star. Even before the guandao was complete, He Yu could feel the power and significance it contained. It grew ever more difficult to wait on its completion.

  Finally, as Chen Fei and He Gang were placing the finishing touches on the masterwork, a shout rang out from the road in front of the forge. He Gang froze, and Chen Fei looked to He Yu.

  “He Gang,” came a voice He Yu had thought he’d never hear again. “I’ve been hearing rumors that you have guests! Cultivators, they say. Send them out immediately. I’ve been given authority over this town by Lord Xin himself. That these travelers haven’t come to see me, and gain my approval for staying here, is an insult to my station.”

  Although he’d hoped to avoid a confrontation, He Yu put down his jar of wine and stood. When he stepped out into the street, the pathetic old man who stood before him was just as he remembered.

  Dong Wei’s grin was enough to warrant a slap just on its own. “So the little dog has returned from the sect at last. I’d half expected you to come crawling back so much sooner. No matter. Now that you’re here, I’ll have my satisfaction at last.”