The border lands bore scars of war.
Wang Ben moved through terrain that had once been farmland, now abandoned to the conflict that had raged across it for years. Burned villages dotted the landscape, their inhabitants long fled or dead. The fields lay fallow, choked with weeds that had reclaimed what cultivation had once controlled.
"Keep moving." The lead operative's voice was barely above a whisper. "We don't stop until we reach the crossing point."
They traveled in formation, the three Phantom Gate agents positioning themselves around Wang Ben in patterns that provided both protection and concealment. Their movements were practiced, silent, the product of training that went far beyond normal cultivation.
The contested territory stretched for nearly a hundred kilometers between Azure Crimson and Frozen Jade borders. Neither kingdom claimed it officially, but both maintained presence here. Patrols from both sides roamed the landscape, and encounters between them were rarely peaceful.
[ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: Border territory]
[Status: Active conflict zone, no official control]
[Azure Crimson presence: Irregular patrols, supply convoy routes]
[Frozen Jade presence: Scout teams, forward observation posts]
[Qi composition: Shifting signatures, Ice influence increasing toward north]
[Risk factors: Detection by either side's forces, civilian bandits, spirit beasts drawn to conflict qi]
Wang Ben cataloged the terrain as they moved, his tactical mind noting defensible positions and escape routes. The agents clearly had their own assessment methods, but his analysis might prove useful if things went wrong.
The sun climbed toward noon, then began its descent toward evening. They didn't stop for meals, eating travel rations while walking. The pace was demanding but sustainable, designed to cover maximum distance before darkness provided cover for the border crossing.
The first sign of enemy presence came at dusk.
"Down." The lead operative's hand signal froze the group instantly. Wang Ben dropped into the tall grass alongside the others, controlling his breathing and suppressing his cultivation signature.
Ahead, a patrol of Frozen Jade cultivators moved along a ridgeline, their Ice-aspected qi visible to Wang Ben's enhanced perception. Five cultivators, foundation establishment level, wearing the pale blue uniforms that marked them as kingdom soldiers.
[DETECTION: Frozen Jade patrol]
[Composition: 5 cultivators, foundation establishment class]
[Elemental signature: Ice-dominant, Water secondary]
[Movement pattern: Standard patrol route, no evidence of specific alert]
[Threat assessment: Moderate. Detection would compromise mission]
[Recommendation: Remain concealed until patrol passes]
The agents didn't need the System's analysis. They pressed themselves deeper into the grass, becoming shadows that even Wang Ben's perception struggled to track. Their cultivation signatures vanished entirely, suppressed by techniques he had never seen.
The patrol passed within fifty meters, close enough that Wang Ben could hear their conversation carried on the evening wind. They spoke of camp conditions, supply shortages, complaints that soldiers everywhere seemed to share regardless of which kingdom they served.
One of them stopped, head turning toward their position. Wang Ben's heart hammered against his ribs as the cultivator's gaze swept over the grass where they lay hidden. The evening light caught on pale blue fabric as the man took a step toward them.
"Wu, what is it?" another called back.
A pause that stretched like wire under tension. Then the cultivator shook his head. "Nothing. Thought I felt something, but it's gone."
They moved on, their voices fading into the twilight.
Wang Ben didn't release his held breath until the lead operative's hand signal indicated all clear. His muscles ached from remaining absolutely still, cultivation signature suppressed to nothing.
"Clear." The lead operative rose after the patrol had been out of sight long enough for certainty. "We move. Double pace."
The group broke into a ground-eating run that tested Wang Ben's endurance. His Scripture-enhanced efficiency helped, reducing the energy cost of sustained exertion, but the agents seemed tireless. They had clearly been selected for this kind of work.
Darkness fell as they ran, the landscape shifting from contested farmland to the forested hills that marked the true border. Here, the environment changed in ways that went beyond geography.
The qi became cold.
Wang Ben felt the shift like stepping into winter.
The ambient spiritual energy that permeated everything carried a different quality here. Ice essence dominated, threading through the air and soil and vegetation with an intensity that most Azure Crimson cultivators would find uncomfortable. The cold wasn't just temperature. It was fundamental, a change in the nature of reality itself.
"This is the threshold," the lead operative said as they paused at the forest's edge. "Beyond here, you're in Frozen Jade territory. The qi will feel hostile to your cultivation."
"I know."
"Do you?" The operative studied him with professional assessment. "Most Azure Crimson cultivators struggle to maintain their cultivation in Ice-dominant environments. The elemental conflict creates resistance, reduces efficiency, makes techniques harder to execute."
"I've been briefed."
"Briefing and experience are different things. Be prepared for cultivation to become more difficult."
Wang Ben didn't respond, but his mind was already processing the changed environment. The System provided analysis that confirmed what his own perception had detected.
[ENVIRONMENTAL SHIFT: Frozen Jade territory]
[Qi composition:]
[- Ice: 48% (dominant)]
[- Water: 32% (secondary)]
[- Earth: 12% (trace)]
[- Other: 8% (mixed)]
[Normal Azure Crimson cultivator response: Reduced absorption rate, elemental rejection, cultivation efficiency decrease of 40-60%]
[Host response: Monitoring...]
[Note: Host's elemental flexibility may allow adaptation. Recommend extended cultivation session to assess integration]
They crossed the border at midnight, slipping through a gap in the patrol patterns that the Phantom Gate had identified. The forest swallowed them, ancient trees whose branches groaned under the weight of permanent frost. Even in what should have been spring, this land remembered only winter.
"First safe point is a few hours ahead," the lead operative said. "After that, you're on your own. Contact Wei Shufen at the eastern market of Glacial Basin City. She'll provide your initial network access."
"Understood."
They continued through the frozen forest, each step taking Wang Ben deeper into territory that should have been hostile to everything he was.
But it didn't feel hostile.
The Ice qi flowed around him like water around a stone, cold but not painful. When he drew breath, the spiritual energy entered his meridians with surprising ease. No rejection. No resistance. Just... adaptation.
Why doesn't this hurt? he wondered. Why does Ice feel almost... familiar?
The safe point was a cave hidden behind a frozen waterfall.
The Phantom Gate agents had clearly used it before, their movements suggesting intimate familiarity with its layout. They took up guard positions while Wang Ben settled into a meditation position near the cave's center.
"You have until dawn," the lead operative said. "Rest, cultivate, prepare yourself. When we leave, you'll be Wei Ming, formation specialist. No more Wang Ben until you return to Azure Crimson territory."
"I understand."
The agents departed to their watch positions, leaving him alone with the cave's echoing silence and the cold that permeated everything.
Wang Ben closed his eyes and began to cultivate.
[CULTIVATION SESSION: Hour 1]
[Qi absorbed: 387 motes]
[Qi retained: 55 motes]
[Retention efficiency: 14.2%]
[Elemental composition:]
[- Ice: 221 motes (57.1%)]
[- Water: 124 motes (32.0%)]
[- Earth: 31 motes (8.0%)]
[- Other: 11 motes (2.9%)]
[Environment: Frozen Jade territory (Ice-dominant, deep penetration)]
[Integration status: NOMINAL]
[Expected rejection: 0%]
[ANOMALY DETECTED: Host is absorbing Ice-dominant qi without resistance]
[Standard Azure Crimson cultivator would show 40-60% efficiency reduction in this environment]
[Host showing efficiency increase of 0.5% compared to neutral territory]
[Analysis: This should not be possible for cultivator without Ice affinity]
[Possible explanations:]
[1. Scripture cultivation methods allowing elemental adaptation beyond normal limits]
[2. Unknown bloodline factors]
[3. Insufficient data for determination]
[Recommendation: Continue monitoring. This anomaly may prove advantageous but also increases exposure risk if detected by Ice cultivators]
Wang Ben opened his eyes, and for a long moment he simply sat in the darkness, letting the implications settle into him like the cold that no longer bit at his skin.
He was absorbing Ice qi more efficiently than neutral qi. Not just without penalty, but with actual improvement. The cold energy flowed into his meridians like it belonged there.
Mother's bloodline, he thought, and something tightened in his chest. The sealed Ice affinity that flickers when her condition worsens.
He had always sensed the cold presence that leaked through when Li Mei's illness worsened. But this was different. This was her heritage flowing through him, rising unbidden from depths the seals were supposed to contain. What else had she passed to him without knowing? What else lay dormant, waiting for the right conditions to surface?
The connection ran deeper than seals could suppress. He carried more of her than either of them had realized.
He thought of her face when the cold crept through despite the summer heat, the way she smiled even as frost formed on her fingertips. All those years she had been fighting something alone. Now, sitting in enemy territory with her Ice flowing through his meridians, he felt closer to understanding her than he ever had before.
He resumed cultivation, drawing in the Ice-dominant qi with careful attention to how it integrated with his existing cultivation base. The cold energy mixed with Fire and Metal and Earth without conflict, becoming part of a whole that shouldn't have been possible.
By the time dawn lightened the eastern sky, he had absorbed more qi than any equivalent session at the fortress. His efficiency had climbed well beyond what he achieved in neutral territory, and his understanding of Ice cultivation had expanded in ways that felt almost instinctive.
The lead operative appeared at the cave entrance. "It's time. The crossing team departs here. You continue alone to Glacial Basin City."
Wang Ben rose, gathering his equipment and settling his pack across his shoulders. The cover identity of Wei Ming waited, ready to be assumed.
"Thank you for the escort."
"Serve Lord Shen well." The operative's voice held no warmth, only professional acknowledgment. "Don't get captured. The Phantom Gate doesn't rescue agents who compromise their missions."
"Understood."
He walked out of the cave into the frozen dawn, leaving the last of his Azure Crimson support behind. Ahead, the forest stretched toward the distant gleam of city walls, their architecture unlike anything from his homeland.
The Frozen Jade Kingdom waited.
And somewhere within it, the Yue Clan kept secrets that might explain everything.
The journey to Glacial Basin City took three days.
Wang Ben traveled as Wei Ming would, a formation specialist seeking work in a kingdom where his skills were in constant demand. The war had damaged infrastructure on both sides, and cultivators who could repair defensive arrays were valuable regardless of their origin.
He passed through villages where the cold seemed to have frozen time itself, their inhabitants moving with the slow deliberation of people accustomed to harsh conditions. They viewed him with suspicion but not hostility, accepting his cover story with the resigned pragmatism of border folk who had seen every kind of traveler.
At one village inn, an old woman had studied his documents with weathered hands before sliding them back across the counter. "Formation specialist," she'd said in accented Common Tongue. "You fix the granary ward, I give you lodging." He'd spent an afternoon repairing Ice-aspected preservation arrays, his hands working with a confidence that Wei Ming's background justified. She'd fed him stew that tasted of winter roots and asked no further questions.
The landscape was beautiful in its harshness. Mountains rose in the distance, their peaks permanently shrouded in snow. Rivers ran blue with water so cold it would kill an unprepared cultivator in moments. The trees bore needles instead of leaves, evergreen survivors in a land that knew no summer.
And everywhere, the qi was cold.
Wang Ben cultivated each night, drawing in Ice essence that should have rejected him. Each session confirmed the anomaly the System had detected. His efficiency continued to climb, his cultivation advancing at a pace that would have attracted dangerous attention back home.
[CULTIVATION SESSION: Night 2]
[Qi absorbed: 401 motes]
[Qi retained: 58 motes]
[Retention efficiency: 14.4%]
[Elemental composition:]
[- Ice: 243 motes (60.6%)]
[- Water: 118 motes (29.4%)]
[- Earth: 28 motes (7.0%)]
[- Other: 12 motes (3.0%)]
[Environment: Frozen Jade interior (deep Ice saturation)]
[Integration status: Ideal]
[Note: Host's cultivation base now showing significant Ice component. This may affect technique expression and qi signature. Recommend awareness of potential detection by cultivators sensitive to elemental harmony]
By the third day, more than half his cultivation base was Ice-aspected. The change felt natural, like water finding its level. But he understood the risk. If a skilled cultivator examined his qi signature too closely, they might notice the unusual harmony between supposedly conflicting elements.
Glacial Basin City appeared on the morning of the fourth day, its walls gleaming with formations that channeled Ice essence into defensive structures. The city was larger than Redstone, a major hub of the Frozen Jade Kingdom's eastern territories.
Guards at the gate inspected his documents with the bored efficiency of cultivators who had performed the same task thousands of times. Wei Ming's credentials passed without comment. A formation specialist seeking work was unremarkable in wartime.
"Purpose of visit?"
"Looking for employment. Heard there's damage from the war that needs repair."
"Half the kingdom needs repair." The guard stamped his documents and waved him through. "Don't cause trouble. We watch outsiders carefully."
Wang Ben passed through the gate into enemy territory. He kept his breathing even, his pace unhurried, his expression carrying nothing but the mild focus of a craftsman seeking work. Just another traveling formation specialist in a kingdom that needed repairs.
Inside the walls of Glacial Basin, answers waited. Answers about the Yue Clan. About his mother's past. About the Ice that flowed through his meridians like it had always belonged there.
The mission had truly begun.