Taken aback, Verus could only stare at Escora with wide eyes. Why was she suddenly asking him about his long-term plans and inner thoughts? Usually she was more than happy to maintain their usual respectful distance. That was what he wanted, right?

“You have to tell someone what you’re thinking,” Escora told him as she waited patiently for him to reply. “There’s no way anyone from the sect can listen in to us now, even if some of the elders can overhear everything that happens for miles around them.”

Verus hesitated for several long seconds. “Who knows what some of the old monsters can do and I’m wearing an amulet specifically made to observe me.”

He had to resist a shudder. Meeting Lady Nightclaw had shown him that the rumors about the oppressive power of great elders weren’t exaggerated at all. They were truly beyond human. Great and strange.

“That’s a poor excuse. Your thoughts aren’t that interesting. Unless you’re planning on overthrowing the Heavenly Empire? Ha! The likes of the imperial palace and the great elders don’t care about puny disciples like us and worrying about them always listening in is great way to go mad.”

Escora had a good point, but he’d been raised by the sect at a branch temple. There, there almost always had been someone listening in. The temple wards’ training was strict.

Verus clenched a fist. He couldn’t let fear suffocate him anymore. He was no longer the same person. “Fine, it’s not much of a secret anyway. The real reason I want in this tournament is to defeat Highcloud and everyone involved in Warin’s death. They think people like me and Warin are nothing. I want to show them that they can’t look down on us. I want to beat that lesson into them so that they never forget it. The real prize I want is to stand over their bruised bodies and laugh.”

Escora chuckled. “I knew you were repressing a lot. I was hoping for something more ambitious, but I guess your plan is very you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re just a very simple and straightforward person, that’s all. It makes you easy to read.”

Verus grunted sourly. As if! That wasn’t accurate at all. If Escora knew about all the secrets he was keeping, she would be shocked right to her core. Verus wasn’t under the illusion that he was a good liar or had fooled anyone though. It was simply that his secrets were too ridiculous for anyone to even suspect.

“For instance, if I was in your place, I don’t think I’d still be so loyal to the sect. What have they really done for you?”

“They’ve given me a lot,” Verus told her as he reflected. “Although I’m not so foolish that I don’t know it came with a cost. They did it for their benefit, but without them, I would never have had a chance at enlightenment and immortality. I wouldn’t say I’m loyal to them though.”

“Then what are you? You seem to still focus your life around pleasing them,” Escora pointed out as she made an angry gesture.

“They’re all I have,” Verus replied. The painful honesty of the words stabbed his heart like a dagger, leaving a gaping wound.

Verus’s voice grew desolate. “I have no family or tribe. I barely even have single friend, thanks to my poor personality. Especially now that Warin is dead, I’m alone. Without the sect, I’m nothing. What would I do without them? Even all my goals are the ones they taught me to strive for. I don’t know if that’s because I truly yearn for enlightenment or because they told me I want it.”

“Thrice damned imperials,” Escora cursed. “They treat people like they’re nothing but tools for their holy cause, but they’re not. Even they should know better than to raise cultivators that way. You can’t seek enlightenment without living and thinking for yourself. You have to make your own path through pain and joy.”

Verus sighed. He’d had some time to think about these things lately. “Maybe they do know better. They certainly don’t treat their own children that way. Maybe the sect simply prefers having a lot of mediocre but loyal cultivators that won’t compete with their own scions.”

“Well, you’ve already escaped that trap. You’re in the inner sect and have a master already. You’ll show them what real talent is, I’ve no doubt of that.”

Verus nodded, remembering the forbidding sight of the asylum. It had been haunting him for a while, full of fearful implications. “And no one’s path to enlightenment is easy. Everyone suffers and falls.”

It would be easy for Verus to hate all the young scions of the sect who depended on their family connections to rise within the sect, but Verus didn’t. They would face their own hardships in time, and hate was a poison that would weaken him. Thus, it should only be unleashed with careful consideration. It was better to let fruitless grudges go and focus on what was truly important.

“What you really need is a lover,” Escora suddenly interjected. “That would give you something to live for and put everything else in perspective for you. It’s too bad you’re not my type and I’m fairly sure I’m not yours.”

Verus ‘s face froze as a cold shock rippled through him. What? Where was this coming from?

“I’m an ascetic!” he said as he turned to glare at her. Why did everyone forget that or treat it as meaningless? It mattered a lot to him! Overcoming temptation was the only way to become truly free and shed the chains of the physical plane so that he could ascend beyond.

“You wouldn’t be if you found the right girl,” Escora told him with a grin. “Besides, you might think ascetism is your path, but maybe it’s not what you need right now. Who knows, maybe you’ll run into someone at the tournament!”

Verus blushed. “That’s not going to happen!”

Internally however, Verus’s thoughts were already turning back to the image of the princess from the parade. Her beauty had been so captivating, and the thought of his name on her lips sent a shiver down his spine. No! He wasn’t doing this. His master was right. She was far beyond him.

Red-faced, Verus turned away and tried to act angry. “I’m going to cultivate. It’s your turn to be on watch. Don’t bother me.”

Escora laughed and let him go. “Sure, cultivating. Right.”

Verus turned to glare at her before stomping off. Sometimes having friends was very annoying. It was no wonder he had so few. Also, why wasn’t he her type? That was sort of insulting. It wasn’t like she was some beautiful maiden. Her looks were very ordinary and she dressed almost like a man.

The next few hours were awkward, so Verus did exactly what he said he’d do. He sat down and meditated. After that, the night went by without incident.

When first light came, the pair headed out to continue hunting down a spirit and neither of them mentioned their conversation last night, much to the relief of Verus. He was still full of complicated emotions, but he simply repressed them for now.

“What kind of test is this? Are there really spirits out here?” Verus asked after several long hours of walking. He stopped to wipe the sweat off his brow, as the sun up above was very hot.

Escora’s brow furrowed as she scanned the surrounding hills carefully. “They’re out here, I can feel it. It’s just that this land is very bleak. It rewards caution even more than strength, thus it’s occupants have learned to hide, conserve their strength, and strike only when the time is right.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

“As long as we don’t run out of water or let the sun sap our strength, we’ll be fine. We just need to find us one of the shy spirits of this place.”

Verus nodded. “Every time I sense a source of ki, it fades away as we approach. I thought I was sensing echoes, but your explanation makes more sense. But, if the spirits are avoiding us, how do we track one down though?”

“There’s more than one way for a hunter to catch their quarry. It’s not all spears and brutal charges. Hunting is also a battle of cunning minds.”

“So?”

“So, if tracking them down doesn’t work, we can either lure them out or dig up their lairs. However, if we look weak, we might end up attracting more trouble than we want. Thus, we’ll go with the second option if possible.”

“If possible?”

“Well, finding a spirit’s hiding spot isn’t easy. If we haven’t stumbled on one yet, then they must be quite well hidden.”

Verus sighed and began thinking. The obvious way to find a spirit’s lair was using his ki senses, but that hadn’t worked yet. He’d sensed distant sources of energy, but they all vanished when he got closer. Hmmm, maybe all he needed to do was change his method a little. The spirits here might have good instincts, but they couldn’t outsmart a human cultivator.

Verus turned to smile at Escora. “If chasing spirits down doesn’t work. Lets try skirting around them to triangulate the position of their hiding spot.”

“I knew all that geometry nonsense you imperials love so much had to be useful for something,” Escora replied as she smiled back.

Verus rolled his eyes. He knew Escora loved playing at being a savage, but was as educated as anyone in the sect.

Attempting his new plan, Verus headed for the nearest source of ki. Predictably, it vanished as he closed in on it, so he back off and circled around until the source of ki reappeared. After a bit more walking, he was able to triangulate the ki source’s rough position, so Escora and him headed right there.

Their target was a shallow sand pit. Reaching the edge, they stared at the center of the pit, only to have sand beneath their feet collapse. At the same time, a huge black scorpion burst out of the pit and sprayed sand at them.

“God’s light!” Verus swore as he stumbled back across the flowing sand. His ability to lighten his body helped a lot.

Escora jumped up and threw herself back by unleashing a wave of water. This attack knocked the incoming sand aside. The scorpion chased after them, but as Escora landed, she twisted her arms around and sent the sand-filled wave of water back at the scorpion.

The water slammed into the charging scorpion and exploded with a roar. This blast only slowed the beast down for a moment before dissipating, but that was enough time for a Verus and Escora to reach stable ground.

Seeing this, the soul beast didn’t follow them. With a hiss, it turned around and dug its way back into the middle of the sand pit. Its barbed tail was the last thing to vanish out of sight.

Hurriedly, Escora and Verus retreated a few more steps before stopping to catch their breath. Verus was staring at the sand pit with wide eyes and his heart was beating fiercely. “What was that? That wasn’t a spirit’s lair unless the soul beast got to it before us.”

“That was a trap,” Escora replied sourly. “Damnation, I should have figured it out earlier. That black scorpion knew what we were doing and lured us in by pretending to be hiding from us.”

Verus felt a flash of fear. “They can do that? Are spirits and soul beasts that smart?”

Escora gave him a look. “Spirits can be far smarter than people. They’re ancient beings from another plane of existence. Soul beasts are far smarter than normal animals too. Underestimating them is a good way to get yourself eaten.”

Verus gulped. He was only used to dealing with simple spirits. He’d forgotten all his lessons on how cruel and capricious otherworldly beings could be. They’d been the doom of many a cultivator.

“Then trying to use multiple scans to find a sprit won’t work. We’ll simply be walking right into danger.”

This trial was a lot harder than he’d thought it would be. Why had they been sent out here?