Yuming returned to his quarters thinking about his conversation with his brother.

  The seven-year-old me wouldn't like who I am now…

  He glanced at the jade token Liu Tianjue had given him.

  But he just couldn't understand.

  An evening bell rang out, and Yuming prepared to return to his cultivation when suddenly an explosion split the air.

  Yuming sat up suddenly. This wasn't a merchant's accident—this was deliberate. The Qinglu Grand Formation activated suddenly as high pitched tones cut through the market's ambient noise like knives. Yuming grabbed his token, his dagger, and stepped into the chaos.

  The corridor was already filled with staff running around frantically. A clerk nearly ran into him, stopping suddenly and spilling stacks of documents onto the floor. A maid stood frozen muttering to herself: "Breath in, breath out," with her eyes shut tight.

  Outside, three dark columns that flickered red stood against the evening sky. They came from along the market's perimeter.

  They're attacking the formation.

  "What's happening?" a desperate voice yelled.

  No one answered, because no one knew.

  Liu Family guards were already mobilizing at the main compound, taking off and running towards the smoke. One or two disappeared on flying swords.

  Yuming walked briskly, but with control. A runner nearly collided with him, his face pale, with words tumbling out: "The eastern gate—they- they've breached the eastern gate!"

  The eastern sector. Near where Chenrui works.

  Yuming felt his chest tighten, which he suppressed with a large gulp. He had his duties—he had a position in the formation network. So he ran.

  ….

  The Command Array sat at the highest point of the market, an elevated spire of white stone overlooking the sprawl below. Yuming arrived to find organized pandemonium.

  Liu Zhengan stood at the center of the array, his hands moving in precise patterns. Besides him stood another Liu Family Qi Condensation, Liu Hanwei, who was preparing the offensive formation.

  Yuming, who had studied the formation for the past few weeks, had some understanding of how it worked. It was essentially a qi harvesting and gathering system. Fourteen nodes were positioned around fourteen points of heightened qi density; those nodes could transfer qi towards two relay stations, which refined and condensed the qi. The condensed qi was then sent to the Qi Condensation cultivators at the command center. One maintained the defensive functions of the formation, the other could launch powerful offensive counterattacks.

  Liu Zhengan was barking around orders when Yuming saw him. He didn't spare Yuming a glance, yelling "Status!" at a relay operator.

  "Three breach points, the eastern gate is compromised, the northern gate is under pressure. The western gate is holding steady."

  Zhengan bit his lip. "Enemy strength?

  "Multiple Dantian Awakening confirmed." The operator's voice caught. "And at least one Qi Condensation cultivator approaching from the east."

  Liu Hanwei and Liu Zhengan gave each other a glance. Although unlikely, this could have been the workings of a few Spiritual Opening cultivators desperate for revenge. Now they knew the fight wouldn't be so easy.

  Zhengan's jaw tightened. "Hanwei, operate the command array. I'm intercepting him."

  "Alone?"

  "The formation will guard me. Keep the array stable. If we handle this well, the Autumn Harvest can still continue."

  Zhengan lifted off the ground, qi flaring around him, and shot towards the eastern edge like a comet.

  Yuming watched him go, and then asked the relay operator, "What do you need from me?"

  Earth-grade root, young prodigy, the family doesn't want him in danger.

  But I'm sure he has some life-saving treasures on him. Sending him to the frontlines might make them act quicker.

  The operator spoke quickly, "Node fourteen, eastern sector. The last operator… he fled."

  What an idiot. He might not die tonight, but the Family will certainly get him.

  Yuming hurried off, running through the streets that had become rivers of panic. Merchants had abandoned their stalls, and families stood clutching their children. The other cultivator clans were gathering frantically, deciding if they should fight with the Liu Family.

  Above, the Qinglu Grand Formation flickered visibly—a shimmering dome that usually went unnoticed now pulsing with light. The eastern section was weakest, its barrier thin and wavering.

  This seems like a simple attack, but it can't be ruled out that this is the Zhan Branch's doing.

  He kept running, cursing those beasts in his heart.

  But it seems too broad. At least in the cave, I was ambushed directly.

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  He didn't have much time to think. He arrived at node fourteen.

  The node was a pedestal that stood at the center of a plaza. It was only about waist height, with three overlapping circles carved into the surface. Yuming placed his hands on the pedestal and began drawing in and channeling qi.

  The eastern formation, which had previously been letting out a dying hum, flickered slightly and grew slightly brighter—but only slightly.

  If this doesn't hold, the Qi Condensation cultivator can burst through here.

  Through the pedestal, he could faintly trace warm and cool spots wavering—fleeing mortals, Liu Guards, and enemies. To the east, he felt a spot so cold it made his heartbeat pause.

  Yuming squeezed his eyes, looking faintly to the east where a man in plain daoist robes stood patiently in the sky.

  Chen Fang floated outside the Grand Formation, watching it ripple and pulse with wounded light.

  He looked at his forces, who were already inside. Zhou Meiling and Gao Ping in the east, others striking north, a feint in the west. The Liu Family guards were responding predictably, spreading their strength to cover each breach.

  Chen Fang calmly raised one hand. Qi gathered at his palm, flowed down his arm, and settled in his throat. The air around him seemed to darken.

  He glanced down one more time, checking on his men. They're making sure not to kill mortals. Good.

  He patted his stomach weakly and cleared his throat. He adjusted his demeanor, changing from a simple bureaucrat to a righteous arbitrator. His simple white robes flickered with gold.

  "Guilty!"

  He didn't yell, but his voice carried such unshakable certainty that it carried into the ears of all within the formation. Large pulses of qi, carrying immense pressure, radiated from Chen Fang's mouth.

  The formation barrier screamed. Chen Fang's condensed intent pressed against the distributed defense of the formation. At the Command Array, Liu Hanwei stumbled, trying her best to maintain concentration and hold the formation.

  Yuming, at node fourteen, felt a blow to his chest. The formation shuddered through him—foreign qi trying to tear through the barrier he was feeding.

  When the attack hit, his feelings of shame inexplicably resurfaced.

  Why am I here fighting for this awful family? I should go and find Chenrui. I'm so… disappointing.

  Yuming calmed himself and maintained his composure, cycling more qi towards the pedestal. The barrier held.

  Through the formation, Yuming sensed the arrival of Liu Zhengan at the eastern perimeter. He had a crushing presence, deep and heavy, positioning himself between the market and the cold darkness beyond.

  The two Qi Condensation cultivators stared at each other.

  "So it's Fellow Daoist Chen Fang," Zhengan's voice carried through the formation. "The Chen Family inspector who disappeared a few years back."

  He's at least at the late stage of Qi Condensation, maybe the peak! Zhengan thought to himself. All Hanwei and I can do is stall him until help arrives. With the formation's help, we can hold him.

  Chen Fang sighed. "Over these years, I learned that blood rises when you call it. That a town can be emptied in minutes. That thousands of people can become medicine for one man's cultivation."

  His voice spread over the market.

  Yuming, hurriedly channeling qi into the formation, paused momentarily. Thousands of people for one man's cultivation…who from my Liu Family is responsible?

  Zhengan's face turned nasty. He was done conversing.

  He yelled. "Hanwei! Now!"

  From the Command Array, Liu Hanwei thrust both palms forward. The formation responded—a massive bolt of condensed qi screamed across the sky and arched like a shooting star crashing towards the earth.

  Simultaneously Zhengan moved, Water Qi erupting around him. It wasn't streams of water but the sea's crushing pressure—a sphere of force that condensed the air itself as it shot out.

  Chen Fang didn't retreat. He raised one finger at the bolt before uttering a single word: "Hollow."

  The bolt struck an invisible wall and shattered, its accumulated qi fading into the darkness of the night.

  "Liu Zhengan," he said. "From a small branch, you rose like a star. Why did you never think of carrying your family up with you?"

  The pressure came—not from qi, but from truth. Zhengan felt his own guilt rise in his chest. His water sphere wavered, concentration fracturing.

  Zhengan snarled and attacked again—pressure waves rippling outward in rapid succession. Chen Fang wove between them, each movement economical.

  Then Chen Fang pointed at him.

  "Guilty."

  The word struck like a physical blow. Zhengan staggered, his qi circulation stuttering as something—his own conscience, weaponized—pressed against him.

  He gritted his teeth, and regained his posture. At the same time, Liu Hanwei pressed into the formation again, shooting out two more bolts of condensed qi.

  Yuming had no time to continue paying attention to the battle above.

  He kept his hands pressed to the formation when suddenly he felt one cold spot fly away from the others. It moved fast towards Yuming's node, alone. The movement was sloppy.

  Marrow Tempering. Barely even a cultivator.

  Yuming tracked it through the formation as it cut through alleys and closed the distance. Yuming's hand drifted towards his dagger at his belt.

  Why send someone so weak?

  Yuming got his answer when he saw the man. He was about forty-five, weathered and gray. He carried a woodcutter's dao axe, the grip wrapped in old cloth. His robes were ill-fitting.

  But his eyes were most striking; his eyes were lifeless, devoid of any goals or dreams, solemnly awaiting death. He'd seen plenty of this type at Reed Harbor after the Shen Family attack. The eyes of someone who'd already lost everything, death was no different than life.

  The man's face bore no expression. No hatred or fury. It was just a task to be completed, loss of life was acceptable.

  Yuming took a deep breath and prepared to kill him.

  The man charged without a cry, he just raised his woodcutter's axe high and chopped it, swinging it overhead.

  Yuming couldn't leave the pedestal. One hand had to stay on the stone or the node could collapse at any moment. Chenrui's district would lose a formation.

  Fortunately, the node offered a faint protection around him as well.

  Yuming flicked his free hand, and three thread-needles materialized and shot forward.

  Two struck the man's forearm, punching through cloth and into flesh. The third went wide, clattering off a collapsed merchant stall.

  The man grunted and stumbled, but kept coming.

  The axe swung again, sending a faint arch of pressure towards Yuming. He destabilized for less than half a second, recovering quickly.

  The man continued lunging inwards, taking a swing towards Yuming's hand on the pedestal. Yuming moved his hand out of the way and responded with a needle to the man's stomach. The man curled over in pain, his blade hitting the pedestal and causing sparks to fly.

  Yuming watched as the man tried to stand up and swing his axe again. Yuming grabbed his dagger and met his blade, casually overpowering him. He stomped on the man's foot and stabbed him decisively in the neck, drawing blood.

  The man was poor to begin with, and his cultivation was low. It was never a fair fight. The man's life wasn't even worth enough to make Yuming remove his hand from the pedestal.

  The stab wasn't a clean kill. The man made a wet, choking sound. He grabbed Yuming's wrist with depleting strength, his other hand letting his axe slip.

  Yuming's breathing sped up. He'd seen deaths, but this was the first person he'd directly killed. He grabbed the man tight and spoke desperately.

  "What's your name?"

  The man gasped, blood gurgling out of his mouth. Yuming leaned him forward and shouted again, "Tell me your name!"

  The man's eyes went glassy and his lips curved into a faint smile. "D-Dao San," he muttered, before closing his eyes.

  Dao San.

  Yuming hoped to feel some resonance or relief from those words. But he felt nothing at all. They landed like any other.

  He dropped Dao San to the floor and tossed him from the pedestal.

  Through the formation, Yuming sensed the movement of other cold spots. Multiple Dantian Awakening cultivators nearing him.

  The jade token at his chest was hot, almost uncomfortable. He shifted his robe slightly, trying to ease the pressure against his skin.