~~~

The nature of a day can only be ascertained when it is over. No one knows that better than Liu Jin.

Until the very end, the day Eastern Port City fell was just like any other.

“Precision, Young Master. Precision,” Liu Jin says as he weaves in between Feng Hao’s attacks. A piece of blue cloth is affixed to his robes, just above his heart. “Your target is in front of you. You just need to hit it.”

Easy to say, considerably harder to do. Indeed, irritation gradually accumulates in Feng Hao’s brow as his repeated attempts to hit the blue cloth are met with failure.

“How am I supposed to hit Elder Brother if he already knows where I am aiming?!”

Even as he yells, Feng Hao crouches low and aims for a leg sweep. Liu Jin easily jumps over it.

“Your enemies will usually be more aware of their weaknesses than you, Young Master. When the time for battle comes, they will be ready to protect them. Now.”

Liu Jin leans his head to the side to dodge a fireball.

“I will not deny overwhelming your opponent’s defenses with pure ferocity is also an option, one that suits Young Master much better than this.”

Feng Hao twists in mid-air. Liu Jin sidesteps as the young boy’s heel comes down.

“However, there will come a time when precision will be needed, and when it does, you will be thankful you were vexed for a few hours in the training room rather than a few seconds in the battlefield where any mistake can mean death.”

“Did Elder Brother also have to learn like this?” Feng Hao asks, pausing to catch his breath. As expected, Feng Hao burns himself out far too quickly. He always aims to overwhelm with a quick, decisive offensive. It is not a bad strategy, but Liu Jin wishes Feng Hao would learn to pace himself better.

“Not quite,” Liu Jin replies. “My master was far more vexing than I am.”

Old Jiang’s teachings were, quite literally, poison. Highly effective poison, but still poison. Putting aside the fact that Lady Ling would kill him for even thinking about it, Liu Jin has no desire to subject Feng Hao to that.

Liu Jin is thinking such thoughts when it happens.

A shockwave of Qi rings throughout the mansion. It is not the wild flare of someone’s aura, nor is it energy molded into a deadly technique. This Qi is not being used to attack or oppress.

It merely carries a message.

“I, Xun Huwen, challenge the great prodigy Feng Hao. Let him come out of hiding and face me by the rules that govern the Eternal Flame Clan! Or let him remain in hiding! Like a coward!”

Xun Huwen.

Elder Xun’s grandson who has recently been released from the Punishment House. A cultivator who has reached the Heaven Realm.

Challenging Feng Hao!

“I, Xun Huwen, challenge the great prodigy Feng Hao. Let him come out of hiding and face me by the rules that govern the Eternal Flame Clan! Or let him remain in hiding! Like a coward!”

As if to prove this is not a daydream, the words ring a second time. Feng Hao almost loses his footing as Xun Huwen’s Qi resonates through the building like the tolling of a bell.

It makes no sense.

Not only is Xun Huwen in the Heaven Realm, he is also Feng Hao’s elder by over three hundred years! Feng Hao is not a grown man but a child who has not even seen ten springs. For someone like Xun Huwen to directly challenge him is laughable! Worthy of scorn and derision.

And yet…

“I, Xun Huwen, challenge the great prodigy Feng Hao. Let him come out of hiding and face me by the rules that govern the Eternal Flame Clan! Or let him remain in hiding! Like a coward!”

The words ring through the mansion a third time, assuring everyone inside this is most certainly not a mistake. Liu Jin and Feng Hao are left staring dumbly at each other, both equally at a loss. Indeed, the entire mansion has gone silent. From the lowest of servants to the strongest guard, all are unsure of how to react.

All but one.

Lady Ling’s Qi surges. The power of a cultivator at the peak of the Heaven Realm engulfs the entire building. There are no words transmitted through the wild flare of her aura. Only emotion.

Only rage.

“Do not leave this room!” Liu Jin yells at Feng Hao. His own steps are already carrying him towards the door. For an instant, Liu Jin even contemplates paralyzing Feng Hao with poison.

“You two! Protect the Young Master with your lives! Do not let him put himself in danger!” Liu Jin orders the two guards standing outside the training room.

When Feng Zhi showed up to threaten him, they had been conspicuous by their absence. Back then, Lady Ling had taken a calculated risk. If Feng Zhi did try to hurt him while inside her house, she’d be allowed to retaliate against him. The only person who had been in danger was Liu Jin.

Liu Jin can only hope she is capable of showing such cold thinking right now. If this were any other disciple, it’d be alright for Lady Ling to react in anger. However, it is Xun Huwen who knocks at their door. No matter what, she cannot kill him.

Even if, by all accounts, Xun Huwen is courting death right now.

Liu Jin speeds up. Qi explodes from the soles of his feet as he chains Ground Contraction after Ground Contraction. Lady Ling is mere hundredths of a second away from reaching the front yard. Some people, most of them, would use this opportunity to get as far away from what is about to happen. By all means, Liu Jin should not be heading there. Lady Ling would approve if he were to stay protecting Feng Hao.

To his most profound regret, that is not what Liu Jin is doing.

Why?

If given enough time to think, Liu Jin would be able to come up with a few reasons. However, it would be a lie to say even a single one of them crossed his mind when his feet started moving. It was simply instinct. A sense of knowing. Whether that will be enough to justify marching into a meeting between Heaven Realm cultivators is not something that should even be contemplated.

No amount of excuses can make this anything other than foolish.

The air is so heavy with the pressure created by two high-level cultivators it is as if Liu Jin is making his way through mud. With every step, the pressure intensifies to the point he might as well be breaking through stone just to move. The world itself is telling him not to go that way.

Yet, Liu Jin breaks into the front yard all the same and lays eyes on Xun Huwen for the first time.

When Liu Jin had first heard of the dangerous cultivator who awakened to Destruction, the image his mind conjured had been that of a wild, ferocious man. A muscle-bound warrior who stood a full head and shoulders above the tallest of men. Someone who radiates violence and bloodthirst from his every pore.

Xun Huwen is none of those things.

Xun Huwen is dainty.

Perhaps Xun Huwen wouldn’t appreciate being thought of as such. Liu Jin wouldn’t now. Regardless, it is the first word that comes to mind when looking at him.

He is not particularly tall and might even be the same height as Lady Ling, just a few inches taller than Liu Jin. His body is lithe, lacking any visible muscles. Even though he is not moving, there is an almost feline grace about him. His face has long eyelashes and high eyebrows but not a hint of mustache or beard. His black hair is cut short. If Xun Huwen wore it long, his soft features might almost help him pass for a woman at a glance.

His grey eyes glow with power.

Qi rolls from him in waves that crash against Lady Ling’s mansion. Though not an Emperor, Xun Huwen is not exerting nearly as much control over his power as an Emperor would. Lesser cultivators would already be kneeling before him.

At least, they would be if not for Lady Ling.

Though she has always seemed more at home surrounded by luxury, Lady Ling is a cultivator in the ninth level of the Heaven Realm. Her aura roars, pushing back against Xun Huwen’s Qi and rising over the mansion like a shield. She does this not to protect the house, her possessions, or her servants, but rather so Feng Hao does not have to be exposed to Xun Huwen’s Qi for even one more second.

“You dare come to my house and threaten my son!”

There is no easy laughter in Lady Ling’s voice. No casual indifference.

Only rage and indignation that rise from the very bottom of her heart.

And yet—despite Xun Huwen being only in the first level of the Heaven Realm—he does not look worried in the slightest.

“Threaten?” Xun Huwen titters. “Whatever are you talking about, Lady Ling? I merely came here to challenge your prodigy child. Even the lowest of disciples know everyone in the Eternal Flame Clan can challenge everyone. What is wrong with this Xun Huwen exercising his right?”

He asks the question in such a natural way Liu Jin is almost tempted to believe him. However, the glint in his eyes betrays him. It is knowing. Taunting.

And above all, smug.

Lady Ling’s Qi spikes. It sends her attendants stumbling and even causes her mansion to creak in protest.

“Your right?” She echoes, her long nails digging into her palms. “Your right?”

“Lady Ling!” Liu Jin cries out, stumbling in his steps as the strength of Lady Ling’s presence doubles. Xun Huwen bears it with ease, but the same can clearly not be said for everyone else. “Please! Your servants and your house cannot bear this weight so easily!”

Her servants and her house.

Lady Ling would destroy both if it meant Feng Hao would be kept safe, and it is Feng Hao’s presence inside the mansion that Liu Jin seeks to remind her of with his intervention. However, there is no telling how Xun Huwen would react to him confirming Feng Hao is inside the mansion, separated from him by mere walls.

Lady Ling seems to understand his message. Realization flashes in her eyes. Her aura simmers down, no longer intense enough to break the house behind her.

"This joke is in poor taste," she tells Xun Huwen. "Get out of my sight!"

"Joke? Oh, my. Oh, my." Xun Huwen shakes his head, somehow making the motion graceful. "Does Lady Ling truly think of me as a jokester? Well, I suppose it is good to be thought of as funny, but no. I am completely serious. Call me a bully. Call me mad. I do not care. I am using my first guaranteed challenge of the day to challenge your son."

"My son," Lady Ling almost growls out the words, "has been challenged three times already today. Even if he were here, he's under no obligation to fight you."

Liu Jin almost sighs in relief.

"Yes, I thought that'd be the case."

"Good. Then-"

"I will wait right here until the next day arrives and challenge him," Xun Huwen finishes without batting an eye. To further make his point, he sits on the ground, cross-legged. Lady Ling's servants and Liu Jin can only stare in shock at such brazen audacity.

Lady Ling sees red.

"Enough!" She cries out, her Qi flares out once more. This time, all its potency is focused on Xun Huwen, cracking the ground under him. Xun Huwen, however, remains unaffected. "Elder Xun may be your grandfather, but I will not indulge you any longer! If you are so eager for a fight, then I shall be the one who faces you!"

"Lady Ling," Xun Huwen says with barely concealed amusement. He rests his cheek atop his fist and his elbow over his knee. "Do you really think I need to fear a woman whose only merit lies in what came out from between her legs?"

Silence.

No one speaks. No one moves. No one even breathes.

Even Lady Ling is left stunned. She cannot believe what just came out of Xun Huwen's mouth.

“Was that too hard for you to understand, Lady Ling?” Xun Huwen keeps speaking without a hint of hostility. If anything, his tone is pleasantly candid. “Let me make it clearer. I am not scared of you. I have no reason to be. I have yet to challenge you only because I do not believe I have anything to gain from doing so. I doubt Feng Gui would care if I brutalized you. You’re a hole he takes pleasure in, but there are other holes. You’re only before me right now because your son has some value. Please, Lady Ling, do not embarrass us both by mistaking your worth.”

Something is cracking.

Lady Ling’s self-control. The fragile peace inside the Eternal Flame Clan’s compound. Maybe both. Maybe none. It doesn’t matter. Liu Jin hears it loudly in his ears.

If Lady Ling wins, Xun Huwen will die.

If Xun Huwen wins, Lady Ling will die.

Neither outcome can be allowed to happen.

“Wait!”

Fighting against his every self-preservation instinct—a struggle that repetition has in no way made easier—Liu Jin puts himself between the two and turns towards Xun Huwen.

"Senior Brother! This is madness! Why are you so set on challenging Young Master Feng Hao that you'd insult Lady Ling so gravely? Young Master Feng Hao is a child who has not even reached the Spirit Realm! Does Senior Brother Xun truly not see how ridiculous this is? It is obvious to all Senior Brother Xun would win such a match, so why insist on it? Senior Brother Xun has nothing to gain from fighting Young Master Feng Hao! The only thing Senior Brother Xun is doing is inviting retaliation from Lord Feng Gui!"

Liu Jing speaks without thinking and without pause. His thoughts rush out of his mouth one after another. They are what everyone else is thinking. Xun Huwen challenging Feng Hao makes no sense unless...

Unless Xun Huwen is here for the express purpose of brazenly murdering Feng Hao.

"You are right. That is exactly what I am doing."

The blunt admission leaves Liu Jin stumped. Even Lady Ling is given pause by those words.

"Inviting retaliation from Feng Gui," Xun Huwen clarifies, standing up to do some light stretches. "Challenging Feng Hao will only anger Feng Gui. That is the point,"

"What?"

"If I were to challenge Feng Gui right now, he'd take it easy on me.” Xun Huwen pouts as he says it. “However, if I kill his prized son, there is no way he'll be able to hold back. Personally, I don't really care which of the brothers does his best to kill me. The much vaunted Feng Zhuo is far a more attractive target, but searching for that one would take too long. That makes Feng Hao the quickest path. A pity."

'I don't really care which of the brothers does his best to kill me.'

Those words leave Liu Jin completely frozen. His brain absolutely refuses to comprehend the meaning behind them because… because…

Xun Huwen is insane.

He is just trying to provoke a reaction from either of the two brothers. Even though Lord Feng Shang’s side freed him, Xun Huwen would kill Feng Zhuo just to earn Lord Feng Shang’s hate.

Liu Jin wonders if, perhaps, that is why Feng Zhuo has not been in the compound all this time.

Regardless, it is clear to him now that this goes beyond Lord Feng Shang’s plan. This is Xun Huwen’s destructive whim. Nothing more. Nothing less.

This is why everyone agreed to lock him away.

“I trust that was simple enough for everyone to understand,” Xun Huwen says. He lays his eyes on Liu Jin. “Still, that’s twice I have allowed you to interrupt. There shall not be a third.”

Xun Huwen flicks a finger in Liu Jin’s direction.

That is all he does.

That is all he needs to do.

~~~

Feng Hao resents his lot in life a little more each day.

His mind knows a confrontation with a Heaven Realm cultivator is not something he wants any part in. His heart, however, rages at having to hide while others go confront the intruder in his stead.

Like a coward.

The words burn him, so Feng Hao does the only thing he can.

He sneaks out.

His guards are far too focused on the Qi raging outside, and he has gotten good at masking his Qi. Elder Brother would disapprove of him using his lessons this way, but Feng Hao is willing to take that risk. If he were to remain hiding, Feng Hao feels as though he’d lose something important.

Feng Hao is completely unprepared for the walls to break as a body crashes through them and is left embedded on the wall. It is not just the suddenness of the event that leaves him rattled.

“Elder Brother!”

Barely minutes have passed since they saw each other last, yet now his Elder Brother lies unconscious. Beaten, bruised, and bloodied. Robes torn and blood dripping to the floor.

Feng Hao can’t believe it. He refuses to believe it.

For as long as Feng Hao has known him, Qing Jin has been the image of strength. Though only in the Spirit Realm, his Elder Brother’s bearing always made him feel… more. As though nothing and no one could ever touch him. Even more so than his half-brother, it is Qing Jin who Feng Hao hopes to emulate.

How could he have been beaten so easily?

“Excellent block!” The same voice that challenged him moments ago exclaims with palpable delight. It comes in through the hole made by his Elder Brother’s body. “Had it not been so perfect, I’d have killed him for sure.”

The sound of clapping reaches Feng Hao’s ears.

“Are you not going to join me in clapping? Do you not realize it is supremely uncouth to deny the achievements of others? If you deny the achievements of others, you are only undercutting yours when you destroy them.”

As the dust clears, Feng Hao looks through the tunnel on the wall and finally lays eyes on the one who has challenged him.

Xun Huwen.

The Heaven Realm cultivator meets his eyes and smirks.

“Young Master Feng Hao, I have heard much about you.”

His mother strikes.

~~~