“Six days absent.”
Hei had left his storage space and was standing in the alleyway he had entered it from.
He still felt quite a bit of pain, the after-effects of him experimenting, but its severity had reduced to tolerable levels.
“The first call of duty.”
He had to get an update on the situation surrounding the Radiant Jade Sect.
“Shao Bai.”
It took a moment for the response to come through, but once it did, he heard Bai’s voice loud and clear.
“Is everything alright?”
“I have nothing to report. What of your end?”
“The vice sect leader is set to inherit the leader position in three days. Do you need us to interfere?”
“Stand by.”
Hei stopped to think. There were several other pieces on the board that he had to deal with.
One of those pieces was the nine missing disciples of the Radiant Jade.
He closed his eyes and focused on finding his own aura which he had injected into the nine bracelets he had given them.
“They’ve left their base and are currently on the move.”
That could only mean they had faced a severe enough threat that they were forced to abandon their base.
“Eight of the bracelets are overlapping.”
They had likely been confiscated and placed in storage.
“It appears they’ve been captured. How inconvenient.”
In Hei’s current state, it would be hard for him to intercept them in a timely fashion. Furthermore, if an altercation were to break out, he would ultimately be forced to endure more suffering.
Fortunately, he wasn’t alone.
“Shao Tianlan.”
After a moment, a response came through.
“Shao Hei.”
“Are you occupied?”
“Not really. Why?”
“I need you to investigate something for me.”
“Shoot.”
“Nine of my auras are moving together. Find them and deal with the situation as you see fit. Report back to me when you have things under control.”
“K.”
Hei ended the communication.
With Tianlan on the case, there was very little that could go wrong.
“Next is the Matriarch.”
Hei brought out his prototype communication jade and sent out a request.
Before long, a projection of a cloaked figure appeared before him. This was Matriarch Radiant Jade of the Radiant Jade Sect.
She was in a wooden building of some sort, likely a restaurant judging by the table she was seated at and those in the background.
“Greetings,” she said.
“Greetings. Are things proceeding as planned?”
“Yes. We have reached the designated point and are awaiting your arrival.”
“Hm?” came another voice. “Is that our little saviour?”
Another woman came into frame.
“So that’s what lies beneath the mask? I didn’t think you would be such a cute little thing.”
“…”
Matriarch Radiant Jade pushed the woman aside.
“Sorry about that. She’s quite excitable.”
“It is no matter. Remain on standby for the time being.”
“Then, until next we meet.”
“Until then.”
With that, Hei ended the call.
“Lastly.”
Hei had to head back to Spring Leaf City. Now that he had openly offended the Merchant Guild, and under the name of the Shao Clan at that, there were certain precautions he had to take when it came to the safety of the father-daughter pair of Shao Chen and Shao Xiulan.
If there were no major obstacles, he calculated that he would be able to rendezvous with Matriarch Radiant Jade and the others at around midnight of the second day, arriving at the sect in time for the inauguration.
As such, he relayed that information to Bai.
“There is no need for you to interfere with the proceedings. Prepare for my arrival at sunrise on the third day.”
“Understood.”
The pressing matters now taken care of, Hei began his journey back to Spring Leaf City.
***
“So, that’s your home town, is it?” asked Onyx.
“Mhm.”
As Hei neared Spring Leaf City, he came back to his usual self and decided to slow down, taking in the scenery he hadn’t seen in a while.
He also decided to invite Onyx out for a bit of conversation.
“It’s kind of… unremarkable, isn’t it?”
“Is it supposed to be remarkable?”
“I suppose not. But for the King of Kings to have been born in a place like this…”
“We’re already on the lower continent, you know? It’s not like it’s a luxurious place in general.”
“True.”
“Still. Maybe you’re on to something. This isn’t quite fit to be the home of the Shao Clan, is it?”
“That’s not what I was-”
“Mm. It needs to be a shining jewel for all to see.”
“Shao Hei…”
“I was thinking of going up to where the three pillars are to establish our base, but why not make it right here?”
“Are you listening to me?”
“The resources may be lacking, but transport is a thing. Plus, it’ll be easier to establish ourselves if our nearest competitors are these second and third-grade sects.”
“Marshmallows.”
“That’s right. I should set up one of those grand sect-protecting formations here. We’ll declare independence from the five sects too. I mean, the Radiant Jade is pretty much already ours. The Shimmering Sword looks like it’s gearing up to move. And the other three shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”
“Is this what it feels like?”
“Well, that’s obvious. I was speaking of long-term plans. For now, I’ll let the city remain as is. My current priorities are raising Little Bai, finding hidden gems, and establishing the Shao Clan.”
Just then, Hei’s eyes narrowed.
“Someone actually dares.”
***
“Ah! What was that?!”
A man of average height and build frantically fanned the hand which had just received a jolt.
“It looks like she’s protected by a formation,” said the taller and more muscular man standing beside him.
Both eyed the woman, a surprised Shao Xiulan, warily.
As for Xiulan, she was not entirely present. Her mind had wandered off, taking her back to the events of fifteen years ago. Events that bore a striking resemblance to what was happening now.
Back then, she had been powerless to resist. Even now, she didn’t have the strength to avail herself of the ongoings.
But fifteen years was a long time. Time enough for things to have changed.
The proof was in what just happened.
One of these men tried to grab her by the arm but she had been protected by an invisible force. A force which pulsed throughout the entire building, letting all those present know that as long as she was there, it would allow no harm to come to her.
“This makes things more difficult,” lamented the smaller one.
“That’s why we came prepared,” replied the other as he reached into a coin purse. “With this thing, a formation like this shouldn’t be too much trouble.”
He had retrieved a hammer and chisel and proceeded to place the latter on the ground, causing various runes to light up along the floor and walls.
“Child’s play,” he said as he struck the chisel with the hammer, causing the sound of shattering glass to reverberate throughout the bakery.
He stood back up, failing to notice a small figure who was eyeing him with murderous intent.
“Now, are you going to cooperate, or will we have to get rough?”
He approached Xiulan, his hulking figure towering over her as he cracked his knuckles.
Xiulan retreated a step, unsure of what to do.
The large man extended his arm to grab her but suddenly stopped.
He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
“Who’s there?! Show yourself!”
His associate joined him as they entered battle stances, surveying the area with both their eyes and spiritual perceptions.
It was then that the doors to the bakery slowly swung open, revealing a figure veiled in white mist.
That mist spilled along the ground, coating the wooden floors in a layer of frost as it passed, causing a sudden drop in the ambient temperature.
Accompanying the sound of footsteps, the figure of a woman clad in simple white robes was slowly revealed.
In her right hand, she held a glass-like blade. Her left, its ornately decorated sheath. Both were letting of thick streams of mist which rolled across the floors, pooling around the two men.
“Matriarch Fang, I presume?” said the smaller man as he stepped forward with cupped fist.
“So you know of me. Then am I to take this as a display of open hostility?”
“I assure you, we mean no offence. Due to the sensitive nature of this operation, we were unable to provide you with advanced notice. Please accept my sincerest apologies.”
The larger man harrumphed.
“Do we need to be so diplomatic?”
He flashed a wooden token bearing the easily recognizable insignia of the Merchant Guild.
“You’ll stay out of our way if you know what’s good for you,” he said as he turned back to Xiulan, placing the token back into his pocket.
Matriarch Fang smirked.
“You appear to be mistaking something,” she said. “Merchant Guild or no, in this city, you answer to me.”
The large man turned back to her, his gaze containing a mixture of both shock and fury.
“Do you know what you’re saying?”
“Mm,” mirrored the smaller man. “Perhaps you ought to think things through.”
Instead of answering, Matriarch Fang shifted her attention to Xiulan.
“Are you unharmed?” she asked.
Xiulan nodded her head.
Turning back to the two men, Matriarch Fang sheathed her sword.
“It would appear there is no need for me to take your lives. Come along quietly.”
“Humph! It would appear you’ve abandoned all sense of decorum,” replied the smaller man. “A shame.”
“She talks real big for someone who just recently entered the transcendent realm, don’t you think? Perhaps the rumours of her being bewitched by this Shao Clan are true.”
“All the more reason for us to capture her along with the other two. I trust you’ll make light work of her.”
“That goes without saying.”
The large man reached into his coin purse once more, this time pulling out a pair of spiked metal gloves.
After putting them on, he bumped his fists twice and approached Matriarch Fang.
“It’s about time you learned your place.”
“Is that so?”
“It is!”
The large man circulated vast amounts of qi through his powerful frame, invigorating every strand of muscle in his body as he cocked his right arm back.
He stepped forward, slamming his left foot into the ground, causing the layer of frost to crack, sending shards of ice into the air in a shockwave around his leg as he rotated his torso, launching a devastating fist attack directly at Matriarch Fang.
The wind howled as his fist tore through the air, viciously slamming into Matriarch Fang’s-
‘After-image!’
He felt an ice-cold sensation on his wrist then noticed movement coming from beneath him.
He turned his eyes only to see a dainty fist’s approach.
That fist slammed into his jaw, sending his head back.
“Argh!”
He retreated a few steps and shook his head before bumping his fists once again.
“Come!”
Matriarch Fang lowered her sword arm and tapped the ground with the tip of the hilt, sending a blast of cold air in all directions.
Following that blast, the wooden floors were once again coated in a layer of frost.
And that wasn’t all.
A moment later, another, colder blast of air came forth with Matriarch Fang at its centre.
This second blast transformed into raging winds which became colder and colder with every passing moment.
Matriarch Fang tapped the tip of her sword to the ground once more, causing the frost to break up into thousands of snowflakes which were kicked up by the winds, resulting in violent a blizzard.
In the blink of an eye, visibility was drastically reduced, causing the large man to feel as if he had been transported to a world of endless snow.
He guarded his eyes with his forearm and attempted to retrieve an item from his coin purse with his free hand.
That was when he noticed that his right hand had gone numb.
His body began to shiver, struggling desperately against the freezing cold.
The snowflakes began to converge, slowly encasing him in a layer of ice.
He could feel it happening, but he could do nought to stop it.
Eventually, the blizzard passed. But he did not rejoice.
He had already succumbed to the cold.
***
Hei watched as the matriarch attended to his mother.
He noticed the gentle look in her eyes. The way she treated her with care.
“It looks like I’ve severely underestimated you, Liling.”
He decided to remain hidden, interested to see how she would deal with the situation.