The summons arrived before dawn.
A caravan from the Luo River Sect had been delayed overnight. Not attacked. Not robbed.
Stalled.
Bandits had blocked a narrow mountain pass with fallen stone. No cultivators involved. Just enough obstruction to halt carts.
Gu Jian read the report once.
"I'll handle it," he said.
Gu Hao looked up. "You'll go alone."
Gu Jian raised an eyebrow.
Gu Hao continued calmly. "Not because you're strongest. Because this is endurance work."
Gu Jian nodded once.
The journey was long.
Too long for brute force.
Gu Jian reached the pass by midmorning. He moved stone aside himself, hands steady, breath controlled. No qi bursts. No wasted motion.
By noon, the first cart moved.
By afternoon, the second.
Bandits watched from a distance.
They did not attack.
Gu Jian made sure they saw him watching back.
He ate once.
A single portion of compressed grain.
Then continued.
No pause.
No sluggishness.
Qi circulation remained clean, flowing through widened meridians without snagging.
Gu Jian felt it.
Not power.
Sustainability.
By evening, the caravan was moving again.
Gu Jian escorted it halfway back before turning.
That was when the fatigue finally arrived.
Not sudden.
Earned.
His body asked for rest instead of demanding it.
Gu Jian stopped beneath a tree.
He sat.
He did not circulate qi.
He rested.
That choice mattered.
As the sun dipped below the ridge, Gu Jian resumed moving.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Qi settled deeper with each step.
When he reached the clan gates near midnight, he felt… different.
Not stronger.
Denser.
Gu Hao was waiting.
"You didn't push," Gu Hao said.
Gu Jian shook his head. "I didn't need to."
Gu Hao studied him closely.
The signs were subtle.
Qi no longer scattered at the edges.
Circulation returned naturally after rest.
The Half-Step Foundation threshold felt… near.
"You're close," Gu Hao said.
Gu Jian exhaled. "I know."
"No breakthrough tonight," Gu Hao added.
Gu Jian almost smiled. "I wasn't planning one."
That answer mattered more than the day's work.
The next morning, Gu Jian trained lightly.
Too lightly, some thought.
Gu Hao watched without correcting them.
By evening, Gu Jian's qi compressed more naturally than before.
No forcing.
No impatience.
The long day had done what weeks of pushing could not.
It had aligned effort and recovery.
That night, Gu Hao wrote a single line in his private notes:
Endurance reveals readiness faster than ambition.
Gu Jian stood at the threshold now.
Not because he chased it.
Because nothing was in his way anymore.