The five left the Mission Hall together.
Evening had settled over the Outer Court.
For a while, Chen Ruoming's absence remained the only subject between them.
Chen Gao broke the silence.
"How long has he been gone?"
"Senior Brother Zhenkai didn't say," Chen Yiru replied.
"If someone like him hasn't returned, shouldn't they be searching?"
"They probably are," Chen Xueyin said. "The Inner Court has already taken over the northern territory."
Chen Gao frowned.
"But if he's missing—"
"What are you going to do?"
He stopped.
Xueyin continued.
"He's Level Eleven. We're Level Three."
Chen Yiru added,
"If something can stop him from returning, five new disciples going after him only creates five more missing disciples."
Chen Gao disliked the answer.
He had no argument against it.
Lanyue spoke quietly.
"Maybe he'll return."
No one answered.
At the residential junction, they separated.
Yiru and Gao headed toward their quarters.
Xueyin took another path.
Lanyue looked at Chen Ba.
"Going home?"
"For tonight."
Yiru glanced back.
"For tonight?"
Chen Ba had already turned away.
"We'll see tomorrow."
Wednesday morning, Chen Ba woke before sunrise.
His abdomen remained unmarked.
He checked once, then stopped himself.
There was nothing he could solve by staring at it.
Wednesday was free.
No lesson.
No compulsory training.
Only cultivation, missions, practice or rest.
Chen Ba dressed, strapped the Black Pole across his back and went to the Mission Hall.
The attendant recognized him immediately.
"Aren't you the boy they carried back yesterday?"
"Yes."
"You were unconscious."
"Yes."
"And you're here for a mission."
"Yes."
The attendant stared at him.
"Why?"
Chen Ba looked at the board.
"I can walk."
The attendant rubbed his forehead.
"White missions only."
"That was the plan."
Chen Ba chose a routine material-hunting assignment in the eastern hills.
No northern territory.
No unusual reports.
Nothing complicated.
The mission was accepted.
It remained ordinary.
Chen Ba tracked the target, killed it, collected the required materials and returned.
During the hunt, he tested Thunder God's Three Steps.
The First Step worked.
Lightning Qi compressed through his calves.
Crack!
His body shot forward-left.
Too fast.
He nearly lost balance, planted the Black Pole and stopped himself.
The second attempt was cleaner.
Then he tried the Second Step.
First burst.
Land.
Redirect.
His calf seized.
The transition failed.
Chen Ba adjusted and finished the hunt without relying on it again.
Before collecting the materials, he sat beneath a tree and circulated Qi.
Pressure gathered inside his dantian.
He paused.
The sensation was familiar.
A breakthrough boundary.
Already.
He was still at Qi Initiate Level Three.
Yet Level Four felt close.
Chen Ba frowned.
He had cultivated, completed missions and practised his technique.
Nothing seemed enough to explain the speed.
His Qi was stable.
No pain.
No chaotic circulation.
He did not force the breakthrough.
Not here.
He completed the mission and returned to the clan.
Mission Complete: +30 Achievement Points.
Thursday began the same way.
Another White mission.
Another straightforward assignment.
Another 30 Achievement Points.
Chen Ba spent the remaining time practising Thunder God's Three Steps.
The First Step improved quickly.
The Second remained unreliable.
Sometimes the Qi dispersed.
Sometimes the transition came too late.
Sometimes his calf locked.
Once, he redirected too hard and crashed into a training post.
He got up and tried again.
By evening, the Second Step still had not succeeded.
The pressure toward Level Four remained.
Chen Ba left it alone.
The others spent the two days recovering.
Chen Gao rested the strain from his first mission.
Chen Yiru cultivated without pushing her body.
Chen Xueyin practised carefully.
Chen Lanyue slept more than she expected.
Chen Shun remained in the Recovery Hall and cultivated from bed whenever the healers allowed it.
Friday morning, the compulsory training bell rang.
Chen Ba reached the training ground with Chen Gao, Chen Yiru, Chen Xueyin and Chen Lanyue.
Chen Shun's place was empty.
The five thirteen-year-olds entered together.
An unfamiliar instructor waited at the center.
Friday training was about to begin.