6.19 - A Journey East

He Yu stood before the desk in Tan Zihao’s study. The paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling cast a warm light over the polished wood desk, the shelf stuffed with yet more scrolls and jade slips behind the king, and the rack of spears against one wall. It was a cozy study, if a bit cramped with all of them present. Despite that, the mood was a serious one.

The bamboo scroll lay unfurled, the characters formed of brush strokes he’d come to know well in his time at the Shrouded Peaks Sect. Learning after all this time that Zhang Lifen lived came as less of a surprise than he’d anticipated. Despite his fears that she hadn’t escaped Jin Xifeng’s fury. No, he wasn’t surprised. If anyone could have made it out, it was Zhang Lifen. It was the rest of the message that shook him. In all the years since the sect’s destruction, he’d hardly spared a thought for Sha Xiang. He’d simply assumed—until learning otherwise at Sky’s Throne—that after Yi Xiurong had banished her, she’d died in the wilderness. Devoured by her demon core and subsumed into Jin Xifeng like all her other servants.

That she’d advanced to the peak of Soul Refining was unwelcome news indeed. More unwelcome was the news that her demon core allowed her to fight on equal footing against all three of the core disciples. Ren Huang, Yi Xiurong, and Zhang Lifen all had decades of experience over Sha Xiang. Yet Sha Xiang had stood against them all. Worse, she’d forced them to split up and flee. It was as sure a sign as any, what power Jin Xifeng bestowed upon her followers.

A shudder passed through He Yu’s spirit at the thought. Deep within his core, a voice cried out in yearning. What could he do with such power? Surely, his legend would spread further than he could imagine if he could fight against three of the best the sect had to offer. Fight all three, and come out on top.

As the thoughts sank deeper into his spirit, He Yu cycled the Peerless Judgment. It took only the barest trickle of qi to activate, and what he saw was as unsurprising as it was concerning. A dark spot lurked at the edges of his perception. Like a shadow tinged with blood. When he turned his attention to it fully, and focused the Peerless Judgment upon it, the shadow recoiled.

In his spiritual sight, He Yu watched the lingering touch of Jin Xifeng’s technique—whatever it was—retreat. Across the impossible distance between the Jade Kingdom and the imperial capital, he felt her frustration. Felt it resonate along whatever spiritual link connected the two of them. How much of that link was due to the nature of the arts, or Elder’s Cai’s influence, He Yu couldn’t say. Maybe the link had even been formed during Jin Xifeng’s attack on the sect. Or during their expedition into the wilds when she’d influenced Li Heng. But at least he knew how Jin Xifeng had appeared to him on the slopes of the Mountains of Heaven.

“Is everything alright?” Li Heng asked. Concern was writ large across his features. He Yu suspected he might know what the trouble was—he’d been influenced by Jin Xifeng’s power himself, once. It had almost destroyed their friendship.

He Yu took a moment to clear his thoughts before he answered, shaking his head as if to wake himself after drifting off. “I’m fine. It’s just a lot to take in. Learning that not only does Zhang Lifen live, but that other core disciples made it out of the sect is… a lot. And that Sha Xiang has mastered her demon core.”

Tan Zihao’s rumbling voice brought the meeting back to the matter at hand. “According to Lady Zhang, Sha Xiang was half a step into the Seventh Realm when she attacked. She fought like a demon, which is appropriate, I suppose. That she chased your mentor all the way to Iron Gate City speaks to her single-mindedness, if nothing else.”

That was enough to bring He Yu back to the matter at hand. There would be plenty of time in the future to examine whatever it was Jin Xifeng had done. Especially since he could ward it off with the Peerless Judgment. At least for the time being.

“How does Iron Gate City hold?” he asked. If Sha Xiang was more than a match for all three of the core disciples, He Yu couldn’t imagine what this Eighth Realm must be like.

“My grandfather,” Li Heng answered. “I expect he’s maintaining the city’s defenses. If Sha Xiang was a match for Zhang Lifen and the others, I’ve no doubt she could defeat my father as well. So a threat of that nature would call my grandfather out of seclusion.”

He Yu saw what Li Heng was getting at. Li Renshu would be more than enough to handle Sha Xiang. But this Long Tingguang person complicated things. Even if Li Renshu had stepped into the Eighth Realm since they’s last seen him, he may not be a match for an old monster of a core user. But he could maintain Iron Gate City’s formations against one, at least for a time.

“How long can they hold for?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” Li Heng admitted. “For a long time, if Sha Xiang is content to wait. Less so if the army actively assaults the defenses. Iron Gate City is a fortress, though. Even with an Eighth Realm present, it can hold. Just not forever.”

“Which is why we move quickly,” Tan Xiaoling said. Her countenance had only grown more fierce and more like her father’s in He Yu’s absence. While she still stood at the peak of Soul Refining, He Yu could tell that she’d already taken half a step into Divine Body Attainment. If there was anything that could push her through that bottleneck, it was a war.

“Xiaoling is correct,” King Tan said. “You and I will leave ahead of the army, He Yu. We can provide substantial relief just on our own.”

“Apologies if I’m overstepping, but why send aid?” He Yu asked. It had been clear when he’d first come to the palace that Tan Zihao was committed to a stance of neutrality, despite the aid they’d rendered to his daughter.

“The situation has changed,” he said. “The Li have made a quite compelling offer. One that I’m inclined to accept, given my daughter’s involvement with their only scion.” Tan Zihao’s attention shifted to where Tan Xiaoling and Li Heng stood. Their relationship hadn’t been a secret for some time now, but this seemed to make things a bit more official.

“My father sees this attack as a breach of obligation,” Li Heng said. “He’s offered to swear fealty to the Jade Kingdom in exchange for aid. And he made gestures toward my relationship with Princess Tan.”

“He knew about it?” He Yu asked.

“It was something we may have discussed once or twice. Rumors made it back to him from the Shrouded Peaks.”

He Yu didn’t know how that sort of arrangement would work out. Tan Zihao likely wouldn’t allow his line to end with his daughter, and neither would the Li. But, as far as He Yu was concerned, the two noble lines could sort those details out among themselves.

“I agreed to the arrangement because the Western Passage is an important strategic region. Held by the empire, it prevents armies from marching into the central plains. It also serves as a constant threat to the Jade Kingdom, even if the White Desert provides considerable protection. In the hands of the Jade Kingdom, that balance is reversed. But that reversal disproportionally favors the Jade Kingdom. Bringing the Western Passage fully under our control will assure the Jade Kingdom’s independence for generations.

“Besides, there are other considerations at play, too. You’re going to move against Jin Xifeng eventually,” Tan Zihao said. “With the siege of Iron Gate City and the Li willing to offer fealty, neutrality looks less attractive. Or viable. The Li’s obstinance has been a major reason why I’ve been able to conveniently ignore Jin Xifeng’s demands for tribute. If they’re replaced as the margraves of the Western Passage, I have little doubt Jin Xifeng will come for the Jade Kingdom next. And after all you’ve told me of her Way, I’d rather not wait and let her make the first move.”

There was more to Tan Zihao’s calculations that he wasn’t saying aloud—He Yu had spent enough time around the king to sense that much. But he wasn’t lying, either. Tan Zihao saw this as his best opportunity to get what he wanted for his own kingdom, and he was going to take it. He Yu would be an idiot to not accept the help—especially since this would drag both the Jade Kingdom and the Li clan into the fight against Jin Xifeng. The more allies, the better, as far as he was concerned.

“What of this Eighth Realm?” He Yu asked. The name wasn’t one he’d ever heard, but that didn’t surprise him. For the first fifteen years after Jin Xifeng’s ascension to the imperial throne, he’d been secluded in a mountain shrine. Then he’d left the empire proper almost immediately after, and spent the following decade in the Jade Kingdom. He’d been that involved in imperial politics, and that hadn’t changed since the fall of the sect.

It was Yan Shirong who answered this time. “Long Tingguang is the right hand of Jin Xifeng herself. She calls him her ‘True Dragon,’ and he was the one who led the suppression of the Yi clan when they rose up against Jin Xifeng’s rule. He’s a monster in more ways than one. I looked into him, mostly out of my own curiosity, back when I was still with the Ministry. Not much is known about him. I did figure out that he was the de facto leader of the Sunset Court back before the fall of the Dawn Palace array. To say that he’s mastered the demon core is, perhaps, a bit of an understatement.”

“Which makes his presence at Iron Gate City all the more concerning,” Li Heng said. “I don’t know why he hasn’t attacked. At least not at the time of Zhang Lifen’s letter.”

“Jin Xifeng wouldn’t want him to,” He Yu said, almost without thinking.

“What do you mean by that?” asked Tan Zihao. “From all reports, he’d be more than capable of taking Iron Gate City on his own. With this Sha Xiang and a proper army at his back, why wait?”

“She wants to rule. To possess. In her eyes, Iron Gate City belongs to her, and the Li are her subjects. Although I’ve no doubt she will punish defiance as she did with the Yi clan, her goal isn’t destruction.” He Yu paused for a moment, as different scraps of knowledge and insight fell into place. Myths and memories, and the snatches of Jin Xifeng’s nature he’d gleaned from their encounters. “Destruction is the opposite of what she wants. It’s not that she’s showing restraint. It’s the very nature of her way to ensure there’s something left to rule over, to possess. That’s why they haven’t assaulted the city.”

Tan Zihao stroked his chin. “There must be something in that,” he said. “I suspect, if you haven’t figured it out already, that the key to defeating her lies somewhere in what you just said.”

He hadn’t figured it out already. But he didn’t think Tan Zihao was wrong. How else could he hope to stand against an ancient expert who had single-handedly destroyed the sect founded to contain her? Who had stood against the elders combined and prevailed? Who Cai Weizhe claimed couldn’t be defeated by a single expert?

If an answer lay somewhere in the nature of Jin Xifeng’s Way, He Yu would have to find it. What other choice did he have? At least he would have allies. So long ago, it seemed, he’d sat in the cultivation chamber of his outer sect home and made a choice. He’d seen two possible futures for himself. One where he stood at the peak, powerful but alone. The other he had allies—friends. He’d known than which one he had preferred. Standing in Tan Zihao’s study, decades later, he knew that he’d made the right choice.

He Yu looked to the others. They stood before Tan Zihao’s desk, arranged like officials in a war council. That’s what this was, for all purposes, really. That Tan Xiaoling would go along with her father’s wishes was a given. So, too, was that Li Heng would fly to his family’s aid when called for. Yan Shirong had long since thrown his lot in with He Yu and the others, and his expression was evidence enough of where he stood. Although He Yu would have preferred if Chen Fei was present to voice her support, he knew her well enough. She would come along, following the rest of them wherever they needed to go.

Turning to Tan Zihao, He Yu met the old tiger’s eyes. “When do we leave?”