The sun sank to the west, and night eventually gave way to do day. As the stars wheeled overhead, He Yu cycled the medicine he’d taken, and cultivated. By the time the sun rose the next morning, he’d recovered enough that he felt he could travel.

  Throughout the night he’d focused on the worst of his wounds, directing the revitalizing qi of the medicine first to his wrist, healing the shattered bones there. Then his broken cheekbone, where Tan Qingsheng had kicked him. He saved the cuts and gouges for last, as by now his body was more than strong enough to deal with those without direct attention from his cycling.

  He Yu stood from his cultivation position with the rising sun. He took a moment to drink in the destruction their battle had wrought upon the valley they’d called home for a year. The once-familiar stands of trees were gone, blasted to splinters and kindling by the clash of immortals. A stream had once run through here, but that too was gone. Now it fed a growing pond, formed in one of the many scars left by the previous day’s struggle. At some point, the entrance to their cave had collapsed as well.

  There was little reason to remain, he decided. Turning in the direction the others had fled in, he activated the Peerless Judgment. As a perception technique, it showed him the truth of things—a fickle ability, were he honest, despite its usefulness. Still, it confirmed his memory was correct.

  Releasing his spirit, he pulled himself into the air on the wings of the Sky Dragon’s Flight. He kept his spirit unrestrained while he soared over the rugged landscape of the Jade Mountains. His friends could have gone anywhere, and he’d no doubt they’d found somewhere to hide over the previous night. Making himself as easy to spot as possible would be his best chance to find them.

  Letting the worry about the others fade to the back of his mind, he simply allowed himself to relish the feeling of true flight. After all, what better ability could a legend ask for? Flight with no a treasure to? Even Elder Cai had ridden upon that cloud during his battle with Jin Xifeng.

  As he flew, soaring and looping over the summits and valleys of the Jade Mountains, he turned his thoughts to the previous day’s battle. Tan Qingsheng had fought with aggression He Yu only ever dreamed of matching. Even in the year of training alongside Tan Xiaoling, he’d thought he’d gained an appraisal of her ferocity. Seeing what an expert who cultivated the Golden Tiger Law at the Sixth Realm was capable of both disabused him of that notion, but also gave him a great many insights to digest.

  There were differences in the shape of their techniques. They both cultivated the same arts, and therefore, the same techniques. But they also manifested those techniques differently. Plus, Tan Xiaoling had changed her manifestation of the Breath of the White Desert, too.

  While the change to how she formed the Mark of the Dark Sun was clearly just a refinement of how she’d previously used it—much like how He Yu had gotten better at layering Heaven’s Descending Blade on top of the techniques of the Five Crescent Winds—the Breath of the White Desert was nearly a different technique. No longer was it a sandstorm. It was a storm of metal razors, and more tightly controlled than its previous form.

  He’d thought that she had simply advanced the technique at first. But after seeing the differences between her and her uncle, perhaps that wasn’t the case. What if he could change his own techniques? Might that be the key to unlocking whatever alterations Elder Cai had made to his art manual before his spirit faded at the last? He Yu had been struggling with those alterations ever since, but to no avail.

  The changes had only amounted to tiny gains in efficiency so far. Allowing him to fight that much harder for that much longer. Maybe if he examined those changes when he had the chance, he could work out how to make further changes. Further improvements. Of course, he could always as Tan Xiaoling, too. While she might not have specific insights into changing the Heavenly Palace, she’d at least help point him in the right direction.

  After flying through the night and all the next day, he caught the unmistakable flare of his friends’ presences in response to his approach. When he landed, Chen Fei practically knocked him over with a hug that was more a tackle.

  Tan Xiaoling’s response was a bit more measured. “How?” she simply asked.

  Doing his best to speak around Chen Fei, he told them what had happened after he’d sent them away, finally ending with Tan Qingsheng’s message.

  “He has to know I wouldn’t consider it,” Tan Xiaoling said, her expression stony. “He’s mocking me.”

  “He’s done nothing but demonstrate arrogance over common sense,” Yan Shirong said. “The only thing it’s done is give us the opportunity to deal with him at our leisure.”

  “Are you certain it wasn’t some sort of trick?” Li Heng asked, stroking his chin.

  “My uncle isn’t the sort to use tricks like that,” Tan Xiaoling said. “He’s trying to draw me out. Our family arts lack any real perception techniques. Once we’d passed beyond the limits of his qi sense, he’d have a hard time following us. He wouldn’t leave an enemy at his back either, so his pride demanded he finish his duel with He Yu.” Then, speaking directly to He Yu, she continued, “If he left you alive, it meant whatever measure of respect he held for you was at least sincere. So I suppose there’s that.”

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  “He also mentioned something about Wang Xiaobo and Xin Lu,” He Yu said.

  Tan Xiaoling nodded her agreement. “He wouldn’t have taken their leaving well. I’d give even odds whether their partnership survived.”

  “So, what now?” Chen Fei asked, finally disentangling herself from He Yu.

  “What I want remains unchanged,” He Yu said. “Avenge the sect, free the empire, deal with Jin Xifeng. I can’t do that alone, and I made a promise to Tan Xiaoling. There’s nothing to do except advance.”

  “So we just remain up here in the mountains?” Li Heng asked. “I mean, it’s not been for nothing so far. We’ll run out of resources eventually, though. Even with Chen Fei helping us forage and Yan Shirong refining what he can.”

  “I might have a solution,” Yan Shirong ventured. “I found something while scouting with my constructs.”

  They turned to him as he relayed what he’d found. In the next valley over, he’d found the roof of a pavilion peeking through the forested valley floor. After sending his constructs into the valley itself, he’d found half a dozen buildings covered by overgrowth. The remains of formation stones and scripts suggested experts had at one point lived there. He admitted he didn’t look for too long—the stirring of spirits in the vicinity caused him to pull back his constructs before fully exploring the place.

  “It could be the ruins of a sect,” Tan Xiaoling mused.

  “Sects make their home in the Jade Mountains?” He Yu asked.

  “They did,” she said. “Long before my family consolidated their hold over the Jade Kingdom. Many of the sects opposed my ancestors’ rise to power. They were destroyed as punishment, of course. Those that stayed out of the conflicts eventually migrated to the settlements around Jade Mountain Citadel. There were simply too many advantages to residing close to the center of power.”

  He Yu almost couldn’t believe his ears. “That’s perfect!” he shouted, unable to contain his excitement. This was the sort of thing that always happened in the stories. Finding some lost place brimming with treasures and rare resources. Sometimes even a sealed realm. Even if they didn’t find any true wonders, it would be the perfect place for them to train.

  “Well, I guess that’s that,” Li Heng said with a laugh.

  The discussion turned more to logistics than whether searching the ruin was a good idea. They were all in easy agreement. Whatever the ruin was, it likely held the most promise for hunkering down and training. The worst case would be they found nothing, and even then they’d still have a usable base to operate from while they stayed in the higher reaches of the Jade Mountains. With an easy agreement reached, they followed Yan Shirong’s directions.

  They approached the valley cautiously, regardless. It made little sense to advertise their position more than they already had. Or to alert any threats that might still lurk within the ruins. Once they’d crested the peaks that ringed the valley, they to a moment to take a survey of what lay below. Much like Yan Shirong had said, a thick canopy of sturdy mountain pine and cedar covered the forest floor. A waterfall plunged down a cliff on the far side, feeding some unseen stream or pond.

  Here and there, cracked tile roofs peeked up above the trees, marking the buildings Yan Shirong had scouted. Using the Peerless Judgment, He Yu confirmed that more structures remained beneath the canopy. Whatever this place had once been, it was far too large for a village. The lack of any walls or their remains pointed toward Tan Xiaoling’s guess that this might indeed be the ruins of a long forgotten sect. He Yu’s excitement built with each step as they picked their way down into the valley.

  Once down in the valley itself, the trees closed in above. The forest grew dense here, and they had to wind their way through the trunks one at a time. Soon, they came upon stones marking a barely visible path. A formation stone here, a carved lantern there—the only evidence there had once been anything to speak of.

  Chen Fei knelt next to the first formation stone they found and examined the characters. “It’s a warding script,” she said after a quick inspection. “Well-made, but it’s not functional anymore. Probably failed after this place was abandoned.”

  Activating the Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment, He Yu swept his perception before him. There were a few spirits ahead, but most were in the Fourth or early Fifth Realm. Wisely, they kept their distance. More interesting than the spirits was the valley itself.

  It contained rich, natural qi. Wood was most prominent—no surprise given the trees. Life aspected qi wended its way through the boughs here, too. A powerful source of water flowed at the far end of the valley. No doubt coming from the waterfall they’d seen before their descent. The valley itself seemed to draw in surrounding qi from the peaks above, pulling mountain and earth qi towards the valley’s center. Chen Fei said there must still be an active script somewhere.

  The aspects disappointed He Yu a little. He would have preferred there to be more that he could use personally. Still, this was clearly a former sect, given the strong natural qi and the lingering formation work. They followed the half obscured path, picking their way among the trees and stones and fallen boughs. Soon, the forest opened up ahead, and the first buildings came into view.

  A large pavilion dominated what once had been a courtyard. Several cracked and half-collapsed benches lined the edge of the paved square. Vines and moss covered the steps leading to the pavilion, and undergrowth obscured the paths leading to other areas of the complex. As they approached the pavilion, an embossed bronze seal upon the doors glinted in the dim light.

  He Yu read the characters on the seal. Cloud Dragon Valley Sect. He Yu swallowed and turned to the others. “Does anyone know what that name means?” It had suddenly become very difficult not to explode with excitement.

  “No, I don’t. I’ve never heard of any such sect,” Tan Xiaoling said with a shake of her head. “Nor have I heard of any such valley,” as she added the last, she gave He Yu a knowing look.

  Sects were often named following certain conventions. Sometimes they were named after a founder, or a prominent ancestor. Sometimes they were named after the location in which they were first established. Hence Tan Xiaoling specifically mentioning the valley.

  Sometimes they took their names from their cultivation techniques. He Yu fought back a grin. “Let’s get to exploring,” he said and set his foot upon the lowest of the stairs leading to the half-ruined pavilion.