Overseer Meng was a square, gray-haired man who appeared to be in his early fifties. His cultivation was the same as Yuming's—Meridian Unblocking—but who knew what secret arts and techniques he cultivated.

  He was ecstatic when he'd heard that a boy with an Earth-grade spirit root was coming to help with the market during the Autumn Harvest. He rarely had opportunities like this to make strong connections. His enthusiasm waned slightly when he heard that the boy was slightly behind on his cultivation given his talent. Nonetheless, Overseer Meng was polite to Yuming when he greeted him.

  The two met and exchanged some pleasantries. Overseer Meng then informed Yuming of his duties during his stay.

  "Most of the Family cultivators stationed here aren't even at the Meridian Unblocking stage, not to mention the mortals. You'll be a Junior Overseer below me," he said with a smile.

  Yuming nodded excitedly.

  "Your job will be to verify claims and contracts." Then he leaned in and whispered, "But from experience, you'll mainly be mediating minor disputes. There's a lot of different clans here, many have rivalries."

  Yuming bowed, "I wonder if Senior has any instructions?"

  "Always remember: everyone thinks their claim is urgent, everyone thinks they're being cheated. Just keep smiling." He paused, before remembering something. "Also—you're expected at Pyrewood Hall in about an hour."

  "One more thing." Overseer Meng pulled a folded diagram from beneath a stack of ledgers. "The Qinglu Grand Formation. All cultivators at Meridian Unblocking or above are expected to know the basics. Study this when you have the chance."

  Yuming thanked him and took the diagram. He bowed slightly before turning and leaving.

  Yuming spent the next hour familiarizing himself with the registry and the forms. The work was tedious but logical—exactly the kind of detail-oriented task he excelled at.

  When the hour was nearly up, he made his way to Pyrewood Hall.

  The hall was already filling when he arrived—forty or fifty Liu personnel arranging themselves by rank and function. Yuming found a spot near the back, as he had at every formal gathering since arriving at Zhenyuan.

  He was studying the room's layout when the main doors opened and a man stepped out.

  The pressure from the man's cultivation hit Yuming before he could discern the man's face. This was a Qi Condensation cultivator. The man was perhaps forty-five, broad-shouldered, with a calm demeanor that suggested absolute confidence in his own authority.

  His robe—dark fabric with minimal embroidery—indicated that his role was security, not administrative. The cultivators at Pyrewood Hall, Yuming included, prostrated themselves in his presence.

  The man's gaze swept the incoming crowd and stopped on Yuming.

  "You must be Liu Yuming," he said, walking over. His voice was warm, almost avuncular. "Earth-grade spiritual root. The young prodigy everyone's been talking about."

  Yuming clasped his hands and bowed. "Senior flatters me. I'm just here to learn."

  "Modest too. Good." The man smiled. "I'm Liu Zhengan. I'll be overseeing security operations here at Qinglu. Tianjue mentioned that you'd be arriving."

  Liu Zhengan. Not a direct lineage name—but still, Qi Condensation is Qi Condensation.

  "I'm honored that Senior would recognize me."

  Liu Zhengan chuckled. "Talent deserves notice."

  He tapped his fingers together, as if deducing the time.

  "Come with me," he said to Yuming with a wink. "There's something you might find interesting."

  Liu Zhengan led him through a series of corridors and out into the evening air. They walked for a moment before Yuming heard the roar of a large crowd.

  "The Autumn Exchange isn't just about trade," Zhengan explained, "It's also about identifying talent. Smaller clans recognize heirs and future rivals. Our Liu Family also looks for talented young ones who can replenish our potential."

  They emerged onto a raised viewing platform overlooking a large arena. A few thousand spectators packed into the surrounding seats. In the arena below, two young cultivators were fighting.

  They both appeared to be around seventeen. Looking at their fight, Yuming could instantly tell that they were both at the Meridian Unblocking Stage. One favored aggressive fire techniques, with punches that carried flames. The other used basic earth arts to block and redirect.

  The fire cultivator stopped and sneered. "Li Yang! Ling'er would never consider a low-born like you! I'll beat you so badly you never have the chance to bewitch her again!"

  The earth cultivator, Li Yang, stood defiantly. "Heaven favors the bold! Chu Gongjin, today I'll teach you to never underestimate a young man with an unbreakable will!"

  Liu Zhengan chuckled. "Ooh, a rivalry."

  Chu Gongjin used his superior technique to drive Li Yang back towards the arena's edge, but then Li Yang stomped, causing a pillar of stone to erupt beneath the feet of the fire cultivator, launching him into the air. Another strike caught him mid-flight, sending him crashing into the ground.

  The crowd roared. Li Yang stood triumphantly, smiling at a girl in an expensive box seat—probably Ling'er. An old elder next to her was incredulous.

  Zhengan explained. "The Qinglu Prodigy Tournament, held every Autumn Exchange. Open to cultivators under twenty who haven't awakened their dantians."

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  He smiled. "The winner can enter the Liu Family for some training and resources. They form a lasting connection with us."

  Zhengan continued. "None of those old Foundation Establishment families send their scions here. But for most everyone else, this tournament is a remarkable opportunity."

  Liu Zhengan leaned into Yuming's ear and whispered: "And our Liu Family always wins."

  Always wins. I wonder what that means for Li Yang and his unbreakable will.

  Zhengan smiled again, the avuncular warmth returning. "Enjoy the tournament. The finals are tomorrow evening—you should attend if your duties allow. It's quite a spectacle."

  He gestured back toward the administrative compound.

  "The formal introductions will be starting soon, Tianjue wanted you to meet his people. You should return to Pyrewood Hall. I'll escort you back."

  Yuming returned to Pyrewood Hall with Zhengan, where he met a number of cultivators affiliated with the Zhan Branch. None of them held much status, so Yuming assumed they were clueless regarding his situation.

  Yuming walked back, using his jade token to enter the most exclusive cultivation spaces in the market. Guards who would have stopped other junior overseers simply nodded and stepped aside. A formation-sealed archive opened at the token's touch.

  Tianjue's gift opens many doors. I suppose this is adding to the debt.

  Yuming spent the next few weeks attending to his duties diligently and cultivating whenever he had spare time. The job became more difficult as more visitors arrived for the Harvest.

  Li Yang ended up winning the Prodigy Tournament, declaring his undying love for Chu Ling'er after defeating his final opponent. The Chu Clan—a prominent Qi Condensation family—was enraged, sending one cultivator after another to deal with Li Yang. All were defeated.

  Yuming caught word that the Dantian Awakening Chu Family Head was about to challenge Li Yang; Yuming felt like the whole situation was going to give him a migraine. He talked to the Chu Family Head and explained that Li Yang was now under the Liu Family's umbrella.

  The Chu Family dropped the matter immediately.

  About three weeks after he had arrived, Yuming was switching from studying the Qinglu Formation to cultivating when he felt a strange resonance in his Ren Meridian. The feeling was similar to karmic threads, but upon further inspection, Yuming decided it felt more like a warm resonance.

  Yuming was immediately curious, but even more so, he was suspicious.

  The Zhan Branch will probably try to put me in a life and death situation soon. I shouldn't get too greedy.

  Yuming traced the location and found that the resonance came from a high-end mortal area, near the central market. He decided to look from afar to see if he recognized anything.

  He left his dwellings and made his way through the market, his crimson robes and jade token available for all to see. The sea of people parted for him, but their eyes followed his every step. Most expressions were wary or envious.

  From the corner of his eye, Yuming noticed a sullen woman in her mid-thirties glaring at him with unconcealed resentment. A lot of people don't like our Liu Family. Yuming thought, sighing inwardly.

  He made his way towards the outer city—towards the mortal districts. The buildings were lower here, and the streets narrower. The smell of cooking fires and human sweat replaced incense and spirit herbs.

  Yuming slowed his pace, letting the resonance guide him.

  It pulsed gently in his Ren Meridian, warm and familiar. Not a karmic thread—those felt like connections, like being tied to something. This was more like recognition, a response to something that shared his roots.

  Yuming found the source of the resonance standing outside a mortal records office, reviewing a stack of documents with a clerk.

  Liu Chenrui. Twenty-three years old. The same thin frame, the same ink-stained fingers, the same slight hunch to his shoulders that Yuming remembered from childhood. His robes were modest—outer disciple quality, barely better than what their father wore.

  But still quite good for a mortal.

  Yuming stopped at the edge of the plaza.

  I should go talk to him.

  He didn't move.

  It had been six years since he'd left Willowbank with Liu Tianrui, six years since he'd looked back at Chenrui, promising him he'd never forget Willowbank.

  He wrote home quite frequently at first, but rarely now. He hadn't been back since his sister's funeral.

  I should go.

  He bit his lip and hesitated, before turning to leave.

  He made it three steps before shame stopped him cold. He thought he had accepted his shame, but it still bit at him.

  He'd faced Tianjue's manipulations, survived the cave, and navigated the Shen attack at Reed Harbor. Now he was running from his own mortal brother?

  Coward.

  He turned back and walked across the plaza.

  Chenrui looked up as Yuming approached. His expression flickered. First, he showed surprise. Then he became carefully guarded.

  "Yuming," he smiled as he set down his documents. "I have to thank you. Having a prodigy with Earth-grade roots as a brother is probably the reason I have this job at such a young age."

  Yuming stopped a few feet away. "Chenrui, you look well."

  Chenrui's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "I look like a bureaucrat," he said, "which is what I am."

  The air between them hung silent for a moment.

  Yuming coughed. "I wrote a year back asking Father to move the family to Zhenyuan. I'm saddened that didn't happen."

  "You should've known Father would never agree to that," he said, looking deeply into Yuming's eyes. "None of us want to be constantly reminded of our insignificance."

  Yuming shifted his eyes slightly down.

  "Chenxiu's first child, her little boy, is already walking" Chenrui continued. "She received your congratulatory letter." A pause. "She kept hoping you'd visit."

  "I meant to."

  "You know what Father said when your letter came last year? He said, 'At least he remembers we exist.'" Chenrui's voice was quiet. "He was trying to sound grateful."

  Chenrui's words carried no venom, which made Yuming feel worse.

  Yuming stammered, not knowing what to say, before deciding to remain silent.

  Chenrui studied him—the fine robes, the jade token. "You've grown powerful. Everyone in Willowbank talks about you. Talent of a generation, special assignments, limitless future."

  "It's more complicated than that."

  "It always is." Chenrui's gaze softened slightly. "Come home, Yuming. Even for a few days. Father won't say it, but he misses you. Chenxiu's boy should meet his uncle."

  Home.

  The word tied a knot in Yuming's heart. He thought of his father's graying hair, of Chenxiu's loving ear-flicks, of a nephew he'd never seen.

  Then he thought of forty mortal threads, dragging at his cultivation, unable to properly express gratitude because their owners weren't truly independent beings.

  He thought of how sticky those mortal threads were, how naturally they clung to him.

  More connections, more ways to scatter myself.

  He thought of the Zhan Branch, of Tianjue's patient smile, of the trap he could feel but couldn't name.

  I might not even survive until next year. If I go home and delay myself…

  "I'll try."

  Chenrui nodded slowly, his smile fading.

  Chenrui turned to walk away, leaving a few words before he departed. "Try not to forget your real name, Chenming."

  Yuming felt the knot in his heart tighten. His Ren Meridian, which had been operating smoothly, suddenly pulsed. It was a brief tremor, as if his cultivation itself had flinched at the sound of a name he hadn't heard in six years.

  He stood in the plaza for a while after his brother had left.

  Above the plaza, hidden on a rooftop, sat a sullen woman that Yuming would have recognized had he seen her. It was the woman who had looked at him with resentment earlier—Zhou Meiling. She had listened to the entire conversation.

  What a cold kid. As expected of Liu bloodline, she thought to herself.

  Her lips curved slightly upwards.

  To think the Liu Family would have an Earth-grade prodigy here. What good fortune!

  It's a pity I can't tell Lord Chen before the attack.

  She jumped to another rooftop, soon disappearing into the distance without a trace.

  It was almost time. She had hard work ahead.

  Below, in the plaza, Yuming finally turned to leave. The evening bell would ring soon. He had duties to finish before he could continue cultivating.

  The jade token rested against his chest, warm as always.