In one of the Inner Sect manors, Jun Li was resting in her own room after a long day of training.

  After having met Ren Liwei again, she didn’t hesitate to step back into her study of the Drifting Ghost Blade, working until her fatigue piled so high that simple Qi Circulations could no longer dull the aching of her body.

  Jun Li found it remarkably enjoyable to practice with a proper weapon and couldn’t help but think back to her time in the northern village, and how effortlessly she had adapted to wielding the variety of weapons she had taken from the corpses of those rogue cultivators.

  Even though it was only a few days ago, Jun Li had nearly entirely forgotten the people she killed.

  She found it unnerving how unremarkable it felt to her, as though the memories held no more weight to her than going for a walk or doing the laundry. She simply couldn't muster any strong emotions towards the memory of her actions.

  What she couldn’t forget, however, was the feeling of wielding a proper weapon in her hands, and the sensation of parting flesh, shattering bone, and rupturing viscera.

  Although it sounded grim, the memories brought Jun Li a measure of calm and confidence that was otherwise difficult to muster. 'Comfort, huh? Is that all that separates me from the way I fought back there? It seemed so easy then, but now that I'm studying the Drifting Ghost Blade, I'm second-guessing every movement I make…'

  Jun Li couldn’t help but doubt her own thoughts. ‘Ahh, whatever, I’ll just do what feels right in the moment.’ Setting aside her doubts, Jun Li followed her master’s written advice and focused her mind.

  It was still hard for her to perceive, but Jun Li could faintly feel an odd sensation. From a place between her eyes, an odd force felt like it was pouring down the front of her body, flowing from her and fading into the air.

  Unable to be detected with the five senses, it bore an uncannily transient presence.

  It was like smoke in its billowing, cloying form, and like light in the speed with which it permeated the surrounding space.

  This was Jun Li’s Killing Intent. It was difficult to perceive at her level, but with time, focus, and the guidance of Zhu Enlai’s instructions, Jun Li had become able to sense it clearly.

  Slowing her breathing, Jun Li tried to gather more control over her mind. Having searched her inherited memories for hundreds of hours, Jun Li was considerably advantaged when it came to controlling her own mind.

  But even so, to try and take control of her own Intent, when she struggled to even perceive it, was like someone trying to take hold of a river as it flowed around them.

  Although she didn’t have the strength and control to stop the river from flowing indefinitely, Jun Li could dull its flow by piling up obstacles, if only slightly.

  This was the purpose of the scriptures Zhu Enlai recommended to Jun Li, and the mantras she learned from them. By chanting those mantras in her mind and focusing herself, she could stem the flow of her Killing Intent for a time, a skill that would only grow more valuable as she encountered more advanced cultivators with keener senses.

  As she repeated the process, Jun Li’s spirit would slowly grow stronger. As though each time the river of Killing Intent washed away the mental obstacles Jun Li placed in its way, one piece of debris would stubbornly refuse to be swept away.

  When refined to the extreme, Jun Li’s spirit would serve as an unyielding dam, able to seal and release her Killing Intent with total control.

  Within a few minutes, Jun Li had completely sealed off her Killing Intent, though it would only last until she lost consciousness or composure.

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  Now both physically and mentally exhausted, Jun Li had little to do but sleep. Yet, she simply couldn’t bring herself to.

  Looking around the unfamiliar room that was now her own, Jun Li struggled to feel at home and certainly wasn’t comfortable enough to sleep.

  For a moment, she considered sedentary Cultivation to pass the time, but ultimately decided that she would be better off taking a trip to the Repository to try and find a Cultivation Method for the Crimson Palace stage.

  Steadying herself on aching legs, Jun Li made her way out of her room, Little Yun comfortably wrapped over her body. Feeling Little Yun’s body weight weighing her down somewhat, Jun Li couldn’t help but imagine how large they would grow. ‘They’ll probably grow pretty quick when I start adding Beast Cores to their diet…’

  Trying her hardest to recall the manor’s layout, Jun Li passed through the foyer that acted as a lounge, near the front of the building.

  “Ah, Junior Sister Jun!” Reading a book inside the foyer, Zhao Xiaoli was pleasantly surprised to see Jun Li. “Are you okay? You look exhausted.”

  “Haha… I’m fine, I just went a little bit overboard on training today. I’m heading out to the Repository to pick up a Cultivation Method. Did you need anything while I’m there?” Hearing Jun Li’s words, Zhao Xiaoli was surprised. “At this hour? It’s good to be diligent, but…”

  Zhao Xiaoli couldn’t help but realize that she had never seen Jun Li relaxing or taking a break. Even when they traveled to and from the northern border of the kingdom, Jun Li always seemed barely willing to rest, spending most of her idle time engaging in sedentary Cultivation.

  She couldn’t help but feel a sort of pity towards Jun Li, although she set aside just enough time for matters of hygiene and appearance; in Zhao Xiaoli’s eyes, those were necessities, not luxuries as Jun Li seemed to treat them. “Hm… at least let me fix your hair before you head out.”

  Running a hand over her tangled and disheveled hair, Jun Li was almost unwilling to bother dealing with it. Even so, she was willing to humor the concerns of a friend. “If you insist…”

  Jun Li shrugged and sat down next to Zhao Xiaoli, who sat up next to her after finding a comb to work with, carefully unraveling the complex mess that was Jun Li's hair.

  After a few moments of having her hair slowly detangled, Jun Li remembered something. “Oh, right… I think I might have seen your brother earlier?”

  Zhao Xiaoli’s hands suddenly halted, a dozen thoughts sprouting and tangling together in her mind. “That's… What happened with him?”

  Zhao Xiaoli’s hands slowly began moving again to distract herself from the meaningless theorizing her thoughts drifted towards. Jun Li, oblivious to her concerns, slowly recounted her meeting with Ren Liwei and Zhao Shun, thinking very little of the encounter.

  … … … … … …

  After a painfully slow retelling of her day, filled with tiredly drawn-out tangents and half-hearted complaints, Jun Li finished her story, leaving Zhao Xiaoli deep in thought. ‘Just what is he doing…?’ Her Third Brother, Zhao Shun, had returned from his travels abroad recently, and although Zhao Xiaoli had seen him a few times since then, it was only when she returned to the Royal Palace.

  ‘Why did he return to the Inner Sect? And what’s his intent with Ren Liwei…?’ Zhao Xiaoli felt like there was too much she didn’t know. She knew that her Third Brother would stoop to any low for the slightest advantage, and hearing that he had somewhat ingratiated himself with Ren Liwei, and had attempted to do so with Jun Li, she had no doubt. ‘He’s definitely planning something…’

  ‘The timing is too suspicious. Is he seriously after the throne?’ Although Zhao Shun hadn’t ever openly expressed a desire to rule, Zhao Xiaoli knew her brothers. ‘If he thinks he can take something, he will. No matter how many people need to pay for it.’

  Zhao Xiaoli felt a wretched nausea coming on, as though she was waiting for her own execution.

  In an instant, she dispelled her own fears; no matter what her brother did, she was determined to face it without averting her eyes, without bowing her head and turning away out of fear.

  When she broke through to the Crimson Palace stage to allow Jun Li a chance at her Outer Sect Trial, she had decided to live properly, without pretending she was incapable, to live standing at her full height, even if it meant drawing the ire of those who were stronger, more ambitious, and more paranoid than her.

  ‘I’ll need to follow Jun Li’s example and redouble my training.’ Wearing a somewhat grim expression, Zhao Xiaoli remembered she was in the middle of fixing Jun Li’s hair. “Ah, could you turn your head to the left a little bit?” After a moment of silence from Jun Li, Zhao Xiaoli noticed something.

  ‘Ah, she fell asleep.’ At the sight of Jun Li sinking into her seat, sleeping alongside the snake bundled in her lap, Zhao Xiaoli couldn’t help but laugh softly. Seeing Jun Li work herself to this level of exhaustion truly made her current efforts feel inadequate.

  ‘I’ll have to ask her to spar with me tomorrow…’