Returning to the city was like stepping out of a time machine. The world of high school and finance felt trivial, almost dreamlike. Ye Xia's senses, heightened by her training and the Spirit Gathering Stone, were overwhelmed by the cacophony of urban life—the shouting, the pollution, the frantic, aimless energy of millions of people.
She moved through her final days of school with a detached calm. The Gaokao was now an insignificant blip on her radar. She took the exams with a fraction of her attention, her mind focused on circulating Kai and reviewing the Mountain Stream Style forms. She aced them, of course. It was expected.
Her real work happened in the soundproofed training room she had installed in her penthouse. She practiced for hours each day, her movements a fluid dance of power and precision. She could now shatter a concrete block with a focused palm strike, and her speed was such that she could snatch a fly out of the air. The system-generated Kai, combined with Grandma Wen's teachings, was producing terrifying results.
It was during one of these sessions that she felt it—a faint, familiar pulse of energy. It was cold, sharp, and disciplined. Mo.
He was in the city.
A few minutes later, her intercom buzzed. It was him. She let him up, not bothering to change out of her training clothes.
When he stepped out of the elevator, he stopped short, his eyes widening. He was dressed in a impeccable dark suit, a world away from her sweat-soaked tank top and shorts. But his gaze wasn't on her attire; it was on her. He was sensing the change, the density of Kai she now radiated.
"You've… progressed," he said, his voice filled with genuine astonishment.
"I had a good teacher," Ye Xia replied, leading him inside. "What brings you to my city? I thought you were managing a refugee crisis in Eastern Europe." She said it lightly, but they both knew his "management" involved moving hundreds of millions of dollars through his Benevolence Engine.
"The crisis is stabilized," he said, his eyes still scanning her, trying to quantify the change. "I'm here because the storm Grandma Wen mentioned is gathering faster than anticipated."
He handed her a tablet. On it was a dossier for a young man about their age. He was handsome in a sharp, arrogant way, with an air of entitlement that seeped through the photograph. His name was Leng Feng.
"Leng Feng," Mo said. "Scion of the Leng family. Another ancient clan, but unlike the Yun or the Mo, the Leng are known for their aggressive expansion and their mastery of offensive cultivation techniques. They are warriors, pure and simple."
"What does he have to do with me?" Ye Xia asked, though a cold knot was forming in her stomach.
"He's arriving in the city tomorrow," Mo said. "Officially, he's here to oversee the Leng family's investments in a new biotech firm. Unofficially, my sources indicate he's coming to assess you."
"Assess me for what?"
"The Hua assassin failed. That has drawn attention. The clans are curious. The Leng, in particular, see every new variable as either a threat to be eliminated or a resource to be acquired. Leng Feng has a reputation for… collecting interesting people."
The implication was clear. She was being sized up like a piece of livestock.
"What is his cultivation level?" Ye Xia asked, her voice cold.
"He has solidified the Body Refinement stage and is rumored to be on the verge of breaking through to the Qi Condensation stage," Mo said. "He would be significantly stronger than the Hua assassin you faced."
A Qi Condensation cultivator. The next major stage, where Kai was condensed into a more potent form, allowing for external manipulation—true magic, by mortal standards. She was still a beginner in Body Refinement.
"I need to get stronger," Ye Xia stated, the words a vow.
"You are progressing at an impossible rate," Mo said, his gaze intense. "But even you may not have enough time. There is another way."
"What way?"
"Allies," Mo said. "Formalize your alliance with Yun Ming. The Yun family's cultivation arts are defensive, but their foundation is deep. Their protection would give you time. And… there is me."
He took a step closer. "An alliance between us would send a powerful message. The Mo family's strategic mind and the Yun family's resilience, combined with your… unique potential. It would make even the Leng family think twice."
He wasn't just talking about a business alliance. He was talking about a union. A partnership in every sense of the word.
Ye Xia looked at him, this complex, powerful man who had chosen to stand by her. She felt the Kai swirling within her, a testament to her own growing power. She didn't want to hide behind others. But Grandma Wen's warning echoed in her mind: You must get stronger. Fast.
Pride was a luxury she couldn't afford.
"Set up a meeting with Yun Ming," she said. "And… we will discuss what an alliance between us would look like."
The storm was indeed gathering. And Ye Xia was preparing to meet it not alone, but at the head of an army.