It had been several days since Gai Jin and Lui Fong had reunited, and neither one had left. They were staying in an area of the forest that was far away from the village.

  I have no qualms with it. But a certain farmer of a certain village certainly had his issues.

  “Why can’t they hug somewhere else?” Chin asked me.

  “Because he’d be interrupted and pressured if he were to be anywhere else. The kid just became an immortal, let him relax for a moment, Chin.”

  “He can relax at the Bloody Fist Sect,” Chin replied.

  “Oh yeah, the sect that imprisoned and called him a raging lunatic for centuries will happily embrace the man that just killed their sect master.”

  “But Mei Shan said-”

  “And she was right. Gai Jin will be the head of the Bloody Fist Sect, but there will be a few weeks of political turmoil before he can be accepted. An immortal is too strong of a resource for them to not claim, but even the ones that hated Gai Lui will have to make some show of offense. Gai Lui’s misdeeds were not well known and the investigation into them will take some time. Meanwhile, people from the other four sects, along with merchants from outside the region will be flooding the place trying to assess him under the guise of congratulations.”

  “What if they come over here?” Chin asked.

  “They won’t. I’ve made sure of it. At worst, you have a few spies every now and again, but they’re nothing to worry about.”

  Chin frowned, as he always did.

  But then he did something else. He sighed, with a slight expression of empathy.

  “Must be hard on the poor boy,” he said.

  I nodded. I had filled Chin in on the whole story between the two, and while the farmer still didn’t want the cultivator here in his village, he was fine with them staying in the valley. As long as they left, eventually.

  “Yeah, but we’re supposed to spar later today to help consolidate his rank. That’s a good sign.”

  “What?”

  “Well, you remember what it was like after your rank up, right? You were stronger and faster, took you a while to understand your limits?”

  “I almost pulled the utters off an old cow,” Chin answered. “Still won’t let me milk her.”

  “Well, major rank-ups are sort of like that. Gai Jin will be fine at lower expressions of strength concerning everyday activities, but if he had to run across the desert strip or jump over a mountain, he might run out of the region or jump out of it. He needs to go all out on something and understand his new limits before he can even think about going into combat.”

  “He can jump out of my village if he likes,” Chin grumbled.

  “Chin! Mister Bill!” Renk yelled. “I need to talk to you, the both of you! Mei says you’ve healed the desert scar.”

  “Well Chin, I’ve got to get going. Busy day. Lots to do,” I waved.

  “Will it really cause more cultivators to visit us throughout the year? What about the influx of trade and spirit beasts entering the region? How right was she?”

  “What?” Chin asked.

  “See ya later buddy. And don’t forget to circulate your qi calmly through your meridians.”

  “What’s he talking about?” Chin asked.

  “What’s who talking about?”

  “Renk?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t speak pompous. See ya tomorrow.”

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Mister Bill, I must have a word!” Renk said as he came dangerously close to me.

  “I’d love to but my schedule’s all booked up. Next century maybe?”

  I started walking. Chin started following, and Renk desperately waved his hands from an ever-growing distance.

  “What’s he talking about?” Chin asked.

  “Ask him, and Mei Shan. She’ll tell you all you need to know, trust me.”

  “What about the more cultivators? Renk said that there might be more cultivators coming through.”

  “Chin, I didn’t know you spoke pompous.”

  “Bill, what is he-”

  I jumped out of the village.

  I wasn’t going to be the one to verify that more cultivators bit, leave that to Renk, the sacrificial lamb.

  I listened from a distance as Chin talked to Renk, lost his farming mind. Then marched all the way to Mei Shan to verify the information. Mei Shan, who was apparently cleaning with Taura, calmly explained the issue and how to properly approach it.

  But Chin remained angry. Even if it was safe, even if the cultivators had to follow rules under the threat of an immortal, Chin did not like them.

  He was stubborn that way.

  ********

  Gai Jin moved.

  His speed, his mind, and his strength struck firmly at an open palm.

  “Good strike, but I said hit as hard as you can.”

  “Are you sure, Master Bill?”

  “Yes,” I answered. “I understand your new rank gives much more power than you’ve thought possible, but I am several steps beyond you. Your strongest strike might hurt me a little, but it won’t damage me. Again.”

  Gai Jin nodded and moved once more. This time his arm carried all the qi, technique, and force it could manage.

  And he struck.

  The thump that came with the strike was deadly. The air shattered like thunder and if it wasn’t for the array beneath it, just the shockwave itself would have caused a mile-wide crater.

  “See,” I asked. “Everything’s fine. Now do a full attack, until you're tired and almost out of qi.”

  “But- wouldn’t that hurt you?” He asked.

  No.

  “I have defensive techniques. I can take it, but understanding your qi reserves and how long they’ll last you is important. Along with knowing how hard you can push your techniques before they fail you.”

  Gai Jin nodded. That had been the fault of his master, after all. If Gai Lui had judged his qi correctly and controlled his intake and use of his reserves, he might have lived.

  “Yes Master Bill,” Gai Jin said with a nod. “If you are willing to offer, then I shall selfishly accept.”

  Gai Jin attacked. At first, he used only his body, only using his muscles and ignoring his qi. Using only an immortal’s body, Gai Jin could have taken down his master’s tribulation-enhanced body without effort.

  Then he used his qi, enhancing his limbs in the most basic of ways. Now he could have beaten Gai Lui at his peak a thousand times over.

  Then came technique, Bloody Fist, The Monk’s Holy Steps. All hailed down upon me at once. They were mediocre techniques within the fifth rank and that made them abysmal techniques at the sixth. The problem wasn’t the core of the techniques but the integrations between them and the body.

  The bushes stirred and both Gai Jin and I turned to see four pairs of eyes peaking at us.

  We already knew who our intruders were but since neither one of us had brought it up, it had become a silent allowance of their trespass.

  “You might as well watch from the daylight,” I yelled.

  Barlo Hew and Rou Xin came out from the bushes.

  “Excuse our trespassing,” Rou Xin said with a fanciful bow. “We wished to see an exchange between immortals. We beg forgiveness.”

  Bullshit. Barlo Hew was royalty. And not just regular royalty but someone not of this realm. His bloodline tried to hide itself but I could feel it. He descended from a being of the fifteenth rank. But it was suppressed and… stained. A bastard child of a common concubine.

  He had no treasures, no gifts, not even a bloodline talent.

  His bloodline was more of a trophy, but what the kid did have was dao.

  And what a great Dao it was.

  I’d been keeping an eye on him for some time now.

  People with outside connections were more dangerous than even powerful cultivators. A single search party, a master diviner, anyone who was looking for him might come and find me.

  My tail swished as if assuring me that it would guard me from any prying eyes.

  I nodded.

  “You can watch,” I said to the duo. “And you can watch too.”

  From further off behind them, another pair of eyes revealed themselves.

  Nai rode Tob over to the surprise of both fourth ranks, who hadn’t sensed her at all.

  “What- what is this?” Rou Xin spat.

  “She is the victim of a curse. She reached the fifth rank and was struck by a reverse aging technique by someone of the immortal realm.”

  “Truly?” Barlo asked.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “But… why?” Gai Jin asked.

  He had sensed them too, but he hadn’t known Nai was a child.

  “Boo,” Nai stated, using her aura to speak to the cultivators.

  I knew too much. My techniques were too powerful and he couldn’t allow even my spirit to exist, so he used a curse that took at my very soul, de-aging me and making me forget myself. He stole the days, the years, the centuries of my mind, and even my technique.

  She was overselling it.

  But all three cultivators nodded in awe.

  “A master of time law, then? To think there was a way to attack like that. But why not kill you then? Why do this?” Rou asked.

  RESPECT YOUR ELDERS! I AM OF THE FIFTH RANK!

  The two fourth ranks bowed deeply, both sweating slightly at her aura.

  She was really playing it up. She wanted to go around and talk to people but with more and more cultivators showing up in the region, it was getting more and more dangerous to let her roam free.

  So we came up with this story.

  I just hoped she wouldn't go over the top with it.