Zhao Gang was returning to his quarters on campus and preparing for another long, annoying conversation when a person appeared in front of him. What startled him wasn’t the person’s appearance - he had long grown used to the way cultivators could seemingly appeared out of thin air - but rather that he had felt not a single disturbance in the natural energy when he appeared. Even now the man lacked an aura, something that should be, by rights, impossible. If Zhao Gang could see him with his eyes then focusing his aura to detect the person should be a simple matter. This man, however, had no presence, no matter how hard he looked. It was as it blended perfectly with the natural energy surrounding him.

That’s when it clicked. In an instant, Zhao Gang dropped to his knees. The man in front of him was anything but intimidating, sporting a time-withered frame, bald head, and long gray beard, but once he knew how to look there was no question as to the identity of the intruder. It also explained how he was able to appear here, on Earth, without sending so much as a ripple through his wards.

“Eternal Emperor,” said Zhao Gang, his eyes firmly downward.

“Rise,” said the Emperor. He waited while Zhao Gang stood, his gaze remaining respectfully on the Emperor’s feet.

“Great Majesty, to what do I owe the honor?” asked Zhao Gang.

“Keeping your secret precluded sending a messenger. The Great Ancestor requires your presence. He also has some information to pass to you. It would be best if you came immediately. He has many virtues, but patience does not rank highly among them.”

“I will come as soon as I am able, my Emperor,” Zhao Gang said firmly. There was no response to his words, simply the form in front of him disappearing. He looked up to find no trace of the man who had seemingly stood before him. Zhao Gang sighed in equal parts relief and frustration. Relief that the Eternal Emperor was going so far to keep his secrets, frustration that he would have to set aside what needed tending here on Earth. He couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed at the summons, despite its abruptness. If the Great Ancestor was summoning him it was something of great import.

Not willing to waste time, Zhao Gang bent space and stepped into his quarters. Inside, Rejya Xinasa was staring daggers at Jiang Han. Tension filled the room, though both turned to him and bowed respectfully as he appeared.

“Xinasa,” said Zhao Gang, not having time to indulge in coddling her. “How would you punish Jiang Han?” His words were harsh but Han simply stood and watched placidly as if there were no danger here for him. Xinasa didn’t know it, but there truly wasn’t.

“I have spent the past week considering-” Xinasa started, but Zhao Gang cut her off with an upheld palm.

“There is no time for pretty words or arguments. Answer the question.” Again his tone was atypically harsh. Xinasa suppressed a flinch as she drew in a deep breath.

“I would place him in power-binding shackles and sell him as a slave. He would take an oath not to reveal our secrets and in return, his shackles would be designed to give out in five hundred years. After that, he would be free to do as he wishes.” Her words were spoken calmly but her efforts didn’t hide the anger she was keeping bottled up, the emotion coming across clearly in the set of her shoulders.

Zhao Gang nodded, his thoughts going over her proposed punishment. “A temperate response, the minimum you could get away with and not unduly weaken your position. Some would see it as a weakness but with me here you can afford to appear less than you are.” He looked up and speared Xinasa with his eyes, his aura spreading through the room to engulf her. Xinasa stiffened, locking her limbs in place to keep from quaking in the face of her master’s power. “Unfortunately for you, I will not be here. I have been summoned.”

His words got a reaction from both his disciples, though Jiang Han merely raised an eyebrow. “However,” continued Zhao Gang, “Punishment will not be necessary. His actions were my doing. A trial for you, one of several. I am not pleased with your performance. See that you display more foresight in the future.”

“Yes Master,” replied Xinasa immediately.

“You had better,” said Zhao Gang. “I had intended to delay, but being summoned has forced my hand. Xinasa, as of this moment you are acting Sect Master. Your control is absolute until I return. With that said, you will heed Han’s advice while I am away, especially when it comes to dealing with the other disciples. Unlike you, he is well versed in the political maneuvering that such a position requires. Do your best to learn from him, but keep in mind that his experience may not always match what we want to create. Use your judgment.”

Xinasa bowed deeply, using the action to hide her blanching face. She couldn’t imagine what wild notion possessed him, to believe that she was fit for such a position. She had absolute confidence in her abilities as a cultivator but establishing and maintaining a sect? The idea of doing it without his backing scared her speechless. Zhao Gang saw through her fear but didn’t have time to coddle her. His presence was requested immediately. Strictly speaking, he should have left already.

He turned to Jiang Han. “You will support her to the best of your ability in my absence.” Jiang Han nodded stiffly, not bothering with words. His face was a perfect mask, his body and aura utterly still. One could be forgiven for thinking him utterly emotionless.

“Very well,” said Zhao Gang, focusing once more on Xinasa. “I’m unsure when I will return. You are charged with the care of the sect until my return. Heed the lessons of the past months. You must do more than simply handle the challenges in front of you.”

Having said all that he had time for, Zhao Gang turned away. With a deft twist of his Qi, he pierced the planar veil and stepped through into the void. Behind him, Xinasa was looking at Jiang Han.

“So it was all an act then?” she asked seriously. His answer would determine how much she could trust him. She didn’t believe for a second that the emotions he’d displayed were pure fabrication. They’d been too real, his responses too fast, for them to be purely play-acting.

“No,” admitted Jiang Han freely, “My frustration with being stuck here is no act, though I will admit to having exaggerated my reactions. Master Zhao is concerned that you lack the experience to handle the other disciples. He does not wish to see their ingrained habits spill over onto the students. Wishing for them to cease is childish, but we should be able to insulate the students from them and mitigate the worst consequences. It will not be easy, however, and incidents like the evacuation damage your authority and make keeping control more difficult.”

“I understand,” said Xinasa, practically grinding her teeth in frustration. “I will be relying on you.” She looked back over the past month and admitted, to herself at least, that everything that happened was predictable. Frustrated but unable to think of what else to do, she turned and left, leaving Jiang Han standing alone.

***

When Zhao Gang emerged, an endless moment later, from the space between planes, he was standing on the front lawn of the Eternal Palace. Unlike his previous visit, he did not have anyone with him to allow him direct access to the palace. He could only arrive outside the outermost gates, as far from his expected destination as possible. From here he would have to gain an escort and walk. He hoped the delay was short enough that the Great Ancestor would ignore it.

The first layer of the palace’s grounds was surrounded by a three-foot rock wall, a barrier hardly worth mentioning. Its gate was rather unimpressive as well, at least visually, a black wrought-iron fence that wouldn’t have looked out of place on some poor nobleman’s country manor. It barely stood higher than the wall around it, providing more the implication of division rather than the substance. Two guards stood at the gate looking bored but properly turned out. Their position, like all such positions here, was purely ceremonial, more armed stewards than anything else. Zhao Gang felt certain they had never drawn their weapons during their posting, save maybe to show off to one guest or another.

As he approached he noted the sparsity of other visitors. He hadn’t visited more than two or three times, not including his trial, but when he had even this gate had been bustling, the guards causing a line to back up only because they stopped each visitor to offer directions to their destination. The Palace was much more than the residence of the Eternal Emperor, after all, with many choosing to take refuge here, away from the violence and struggle of the other planes. Great craftsmen, political refugees, wandering cultivators, and many others were more or less permanent residence of the palace. Their presence drew in visitors of all types, meaning that there was always at least some traffic at the Outer Gate.

There was some today as well, but it was noticeably light, with only four people in line waiting to speak to the guards. Zhao Gang debated for a moment, examining the people in line and measuring the risk of offending them, before throwing caution to the wind and approaching the guards directly, skipping the line entirely. It got him some nasty looks, but he made sure to speak loud enough those in line couldn’t pretend not to hear him when he spoke to the guards.

“Greetings. I apologize for skipping the line, but I have been summoned by the Great Ancestor Denglong with some urgency. My name is Zhao Gang.” He waited for a moment as the guard simply looked at him, obviously appraising whether or not he should be believed. If he’d been a normal, mortal guard, he probably wouldn’t have looked twice, simply assuming Gang was a beggar and shooing him away with as much abuse as he could stomach. These guards were not mortal, however, and they had quite a bit more experience in judging the importance of their guests. In truth, Zhao Gang wasn’t a particularly important guest in and of himself, but anyone summoned by the Great Ancestor wasn’t someone they could simply brush off.

They did the reasonable thing and exerted their Qi to speak with their commander. Their commander did the same, speaking with their superior. The request passed through several layers before receiving a definitive answer. Once it did, however, the response was immediate, the official in possession of the answer contacting the guards directly and telling them to allow Zhao Gang through with haste. The response was unusual enough that one of the guards left his post to escort him personally, not wanting their ‘important guest’ to get lost along the way. It made him feel ridiculous, but Zhao Gang had to admit as they wormed their way deeper into the palace that his presence was remarkably helpful in clearing all of the bureaucratic obstacles. They had passed through four checkpoints, his guard dutifully reciting his name and purpose of his visit, before being efficiently passed on. Nobody was willing to delay him, for which he was grateful.

The guard finally left him in front of an ornate, if strangely inconspicuous, door. Anywhere else the door would have stood out both for its size, large enough that Zhao Gang could have walked through it with a person on either side and not had their shoulders touch, and for its craftsmanship, an hand-engraved motif of various beasts that were so lifelike he wondered that they didn’t have an aura. Here, however, its size and craftsmanship caused it to simply blend in, making the door itself rather unremarkable. No one would mistake it for a janitor’s closet, certainly, but it hardly announced that one of the most powerful beings in creation lived there, either.

After taking a moment to gather himself, he knocked firmly on the door. “Come in,” came a deep voice. It wasn’t until he pushed the door open that Zhao Gang noticed another reason for the door’s odd unobtrusiveness - until the door had opened, his aura sense had detected nothing within the room. If he had been asked, he would have sworn the room was empty. The effect had him glancing around trying to find the formation which had caused such an effect. It was normal, expected even, for private rooms to have formations which blocked auras from sensing inside, but those formations normally left one of two distinct impressions - either a wall which directly resisted intrusion or a void that simply swallowed any attempt at sensing inside. This formation was much, much subtler, fooling his senses into believing the room was empty and thus unremarkable rather than screaming that it was protected and thus drawing attention. He would very much like to see how it was done.

Zhao Gang was so interested in the formation that he failed to take note of the form waiting for him in the room. “Immortal Zhao,” said the deep voice again. Zhao Gang immediately set aside his musings and turned to bow to the massive beast in front of him. The Great Ancestor Denglong was seated demurely, its head nearly twenty yards above Zhao Gang’s own. It rested easily on its haunches as it stared down at him, its giant dark eyes seeming to swallow the light as it peered down at him.

“Great Ancestor,” replied Zhao Gang, bowing respectfully. He rose to face the beast directly, not willing to appear subservient in the face of what he viewed as an intimidation tactic. He tilted his head back easily and faced the Denglong directly, meeting its gaze with his own.

“You should know that the Emperor delayed me from summoning you, saying that you had business which could not be avoided. Three days I waited. Tell me, what could be so important that the Eternal Emperor himself would not interrupt?” The Denglong seemed truly curious, those massive dark eyes catching every shift and nuance of his reaction.

Zhao Gang truly had no idea why the Eternal Emperor would delay on his behalf. They had been dealing with the mortal authorities, but that hardly required his direct involvement, or so he assumed. He had met with the Governor in that time, but Xinasa could likely have handled the issue just as easily. But all of that was beside the point. Why would the Emperor, the physical embodiment of the Heavenly Dao, care one bit about the goings-on in his life? He couldn’t make heads or tails of it. “I truly have no idea why his Majesty would do such a thing, Great Ancestor.”

The giant beast snorted, causing air to rush past with enough force to ruffle his hair. “I don’t either and that intrigues me. He has put some effort into keeping your secrets, denying me even the slightest clue as to where you are or what you are up to. Even the projection created during the forging of the girl’s innate constitution failed to properly report where it had been created, leaving me to wonder just how deeply he has involved himself with your doings.” The comment practically made Zhao Gang’s hair stand on end. He had just assumed that the Great Ancestor knew where Earth was and that he was indulging Zhao Gang’s wish for secrecy. The truth, it seemed, was far more complicated. The creation of a Denglong innate constitution had forced the Heavenly Dao to summon a projection of a Denglong, one that the Great Ancestor had a connection with. Despite that connection, the Heavenly Dao seemed to have hidden where that particular projection was located, a feat that Zhao Gang might have considered impossible if he had considered the idea of hiding information from the Great Ancestor at all. Based on what he knew, the only way such a thing could have happened was if the Eternal Emperor interfered directly through some means, meaning that the Emperor had known of his doings, and their potential value, long before he had arrived in the Eternal Palace.

“Will you not enlighten me, young Immortal?” asked the Great Ancestor. It was obvious that it was fishing for information, hoping Zhao Gang would let slip some clue as to the Emperor’s motives. Zhao Gang considered his answer for a long time before replying. It was obvious he couldn’t simply deny the Great Ancestor lest he courts its anger. But if the Emperor had gone to the trouble of hiding his location, there had to be a reason. He wouldn’t simply throw away the protection he’d been given. The only option left to him was one he would have gladly avoided - he would have to trust.

“I will not,” said Zhao Gang boldly. “However, if the Eternal Emperor, in his wisdom, saw fit to enlighten you, I would not see it as a breach of trust.” Silence descended as they stared at each other for long moments, each wondering what the other was thinking.

“Either a foolish gamble or a brilliant stratagem,” said the Great Ancestor, breaking the silence. “You can rest assured that he has heard your words. I am unsure what he will do with them, but the Heavenly Dao does not give up its secrets without a struggle. I doubt he will satisfy my curiosity.”

“Be that as it may,” said Zhao Gang, “He has seen fit to extend me some protection. It is his right to decide when to withdraw it. I would not abandon it nor seek to constrain his majesty. This is the only option I have left.”

“So you admit your debt, at least,” said the Great Ancestor ponderously. “Enough speculation. I brought you here for a purpose. Several, in fact. First, I have gathered several cultivation techniques which would be suitable for the girl. The Emperor has informed me she will have need of them soon.” A stack of memory jades floated up from a table set off to the side of the room. “Have her choose from among these.”

Zhao Gang reached out with his aura and, with a wave of his hand, drew them into his storage ring. “On behalf of my student, I thank you for your efforts, Great Ancestor.”

“It was an interesting challenge. My children do not require such things. Finding suitable techniques was harder than it might appear.” The Great Ancestor’s tone implied strongly that Zhao Gang couldn’t have accomplished the task. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn’t disagree, especially since he hadn’t managed to divine just what made her constitution unique. Given everything that had been distracting him recently, he had not taken the time to probe her affinities in-depth, but what investigations he had performed had not revealed any great secrets.

“You should be aware that certain personages have taken an interest in you. Your insistence in hiding your secrets from the court has inflamed their curiosity. Efforts to seek out your hiding place have already begun, though none has had any success as of yet. Rather than dampen their curiosity, their failure has only inflamed it further. Wherever you are holed up, I hope that you have guarded it well. If I had to guess, I would say it will not be long before your defenses are tested.” The Denglong’s words sent alarm bells ringing in his head. While it would not be easy to locate Earth among the countless planes of creation, if the great powers of the Eternal Court truly dedicated themselves to finding him, any mistake might result in discovery. They would seek not only him but his associates as well. He had taken precautions against this possibility, obviously, but not all of his disciples were on Earth, nor were all those he cared about among their number. If they truly started digging the situation could turn quite ugly. There were those that, if taken hostage, he would ransom at nearly any price. It might be better to gather them now, if possible. Some would resist, but he could likely convince a majority of them to join him. The situation had the potential to escalate quickly. Surviving meant getting out in front of it quickly.

Silence filled the room while Zhao Gang considered what to do. As he did, an odd thought struck him. He turned and looked around the room, wondering if he had been brought here on purpose. It was just possible that the Great Ancestor meant to extend him a favor by allowing him to study the formation that was being employed here. If he could figure it out, it would certainly make Earth much more difficult to find, though whether it could be done practically, or even at all, was hard to guess. It might be possible to apply it in a more limited scope, say to just the island, which would likely be enough to keep from being discovered, barring some incredibly bad luck.

Of course, others would still realize that the planet was heavily warded, they just wouldn’t be able to tell why. The mystery might be worse than allowing himself to be discovered. He would have to consider just how such capability might be employed. Before he could do that, however, he had to verify his suspicions. “I noticed this room has a very unique formation laid to prevent prying. I would be willing to trade for the chance to study it.” He made no effort at hiding his intentions. The context of their conversation would spell out his purpose for asking.

“It is a common enough practice,” said the Great Ancestor. “We have many unique and valuable formations here within the palace. Requests to study them are granted as a matter of course. I see no reason to refuse yours.” The subtext was clear to Zhao Gang - the Great Ancestor had, indeed, brought him here on purpose. He could refuse Zhao Gang’s request to study the formation, but he would generously allow it. For some reason, the Great Ancestor was currying favor with him. The implications bordered on inconceivable. What favor he could want from Zhao Gang was immaterial - unless his request was truly outrageous, Zhao Gang would have to grant it. Just from the way the entire meeting had been arranged, Zhao Gang was quite certain that the formation would be quite useful in hiding Earth. The Great Ancestor would not scheme to earn a useless favor.

“Thank you for your indulgence,” Zhao Gang said with a small bow. “It seems I will be intruding on your hospitality.”

The Great Ancestor snorted again, this time with a distinctly dismissive air. “Think nothing of it. The palace is large enough that abandoning one room will be no inconvenience. I will arrange for you to be allowed to travel here directly, so you won’t have to walk the entire way every time you wish to examine it.” The offer nearly floored Zhao Gang. Not only was the Great Ancestor offering him a formation which had the potential to make Earth significantly safer but he was offering Zhao Gang direct access to the palace and a permanent room. It was equivalent to an offer of refuge in the most secure place in creation. None would dare violence here, not ever. The realization made Zhao Gang wonder just how big a favor the Great Ancestor was planning on asking.

“Your generosity is praiseworthy,” said Zhao Gang, bowing again.

“One final bit of business, then,” said the Great Ancestor. “The Emperor has left a message for you. I am unsure what it means, but he has assured me that you would understand it. It is only three words: Find Ren Hulina.” The words struck Zhao Gang like a thunderbolt. He had left Hulina behind to investigate the disappearance of a number of his disciples. The mission was likely a dangerous one, but of all his disciples he had the utmost confidence that Hulina, with his affinity for stealth and subterfuge, could perform the investigation without being detected. While he feared for Hulina’s safety, that was not what had caught his attention. Why had the Eternal Emperor brought him up? Hulina was investigating things that happened before his breakthrough. The one thing Zhao Gang was certain of was that it couldn't have anything to do with Earth or the secrets surrounding it, which left the Eternal Emperor's interests a mystery.

Whatever his interest, he had given Zhao Gang clear instruction. Finding Hulina was now his top priority.