Lin was failing.
She'd spent the entire day chasing a ghost through the Outer Sect, and all she had to show for it were vague rumors and the lingering stench of arrogant boys like Jin. "Keeps to himself," they'd said. "A loser who got a lucky break," they'd sneered. It was all useless. Senior Sister Aurelia had not asked for gossip; she had asked for facts, and Lin had none.
Dejected, she stood near the edge of the woods behind Barracks Seven, the last place anyone had seen Irelion Vance go. It was a dead end. The forest was thick, the paths overgrown. It was a pointless place to search. As she turned to leave, her eyes caught something out of place.
On the damp earth, just off the main path, was a set of footprints. They were fresh. And they were caked in a dark, clay-like mud that didn't match the loamy soil of the immediate area. More importantly, they were heading away from the established trails, deeper into the untamed part of the back mountain.
A jolt of adrenaline shot through her. This was it. A tangible clue.
Driven by a desperate need not to return to Aurelia empty-handed, Lin followed the tracks. The trail was a difficult one, forcing her to duck under thorny branches and scramble over slick, moss-covered rocks. Whoever Vance was, he didn't walk; he flowed through the wilderness like a shadow. After nearly an hour, the tracks led her to a place she knew only by reputation: the Weeping Grotto.
She stopped, hidden behind a thicket of ferns. The entrance to the cave was a dark, forbidding slash in the mountainside, draped in vines that dripped with a constant, mournful moisture. It was known as a worthless, dead-end cave system. No one ever came here. Yet the muddy footprints led directly to the entrance and vanished inside.
A faint, unnatural chill seeped from the cave's mouth, raising goosebumps on her arms. This wasn't right. A shiver, born of instinct rather than cold, traced its way down her spine. The ghost had a lair. She had found it. That was enough. She was a junior sister, not a scout. She turned and fled back the way she came, her heart pounding.
Inside the hidden chamber, Irelion knew nothing of the observer. His world had been reduced to a single, searing point of agony. He had consumed his fourth Moonpetal Herb, and his body was in open rebellion. The energy was a wild, untamed beast, ripping through his meridians.
This is nothing, he told himself, the thought a silent scream against the roar of pain. He pictured Ravenna, his Fourth Sword, trapped in an enchanted cage, her own fire turned against her until she was nothing but ash. He had watched, helpless, as her vibrant life was snuffed out.
He took the memory of her death, the fiery agony of it, and made it his own. He wrapped the phantom flames of his guilt around the wild Qi in his body, forging it, taming it. He would not be helpless again. He would not be weak. He would burn away his own impurities until he was strong enough to shelter them all from the storm he knew was coming.
With a shudder that racked his entire frame, the bottleneck shattered.
Mortal Realm, 7th Stage.
He slumped against the stone wall, slick with sweat and grime, the clean, potent feeling of his new power a stark contrast to the filth he had just expelled. He was stronger. But he could feel a presence, a faint, lingering trace of another's Qi, just outside the grotto. Someone had been here.
His time in this sanctuary was running out.
Aurelia listened to Lin's report in her courtyard, her expression an unreadable mask of ice.
"...the tracks led directly to the Weoping Grotto, Senior Sister," Lin finished, her voice trembling slightly. "No one goes there. It's… unnatural."
Aurelia tapped a single, gloved finger against her chin. The pieces were clicking into place. A sudden, impossible leap in cultivation. A desperate attempt to hide it. A secret training ground in a desolate cave. This wasn't a disciple who got lucky. This was a man with a plan. A man with secrets she now felt compelled to unearth.
"You have done well, Lin," Aurelia said, her voice dangerously soft. "You have given me a destination. You are dismissed."
Lin bowed and practically ran from the courtyard, leaving Aurelia alone in the moonlight.She could report this discovery, have the elders storm the cave and drag him out. But that wasn't her way—this puzzle demanded a personal solution. This was personal now. He had parried her blade, had looked at her with those ancient, sorrowful eyes. He had presented her with a puzzle, and she intended to solve it herself.
She walked to the edge of her courtyard, her gaze fixed on the dark silhouette of the back mountain. He thought he was a ghost, hiding in the shadows. But she was a hunter, and the moon was full.