Xing Chen Wei

“I went to see one of the Violet Fire Sect elders two weeks ago. He’s always treated me well, but I think he was avoiding me. Actually, I’m sure of it,“ a white lamp stared back at me, silent. The sweet scent of flowers drifted in from an open window.

I shifted my eyes, talking to a nonexistent crowd, “The same thing happened with the Green Fire Sect Emissary the day before that. And there’s that wedding I was sure I’d get invited to. What happened? Why is everybody avoiding me?”

I looked into my lap, breaking away from my fantasy. “You know what happened,” I whispered.

I didn’t. Not at the moment. What happened was obvious, but I had done everything I could to not think about it. Now only vague ideas of what happened floated around my head, like baby clouds. My thoughts crystallized and took form as I spoke to myself.

“You were the blue fire prodigy, this generation’s journey stage expert. But that’s not who you are anymore. They stayed by your side because of your power. But that power is gone.”

My eyes moved up to my ankles. “I can’t blame them either. They picked me based on ability, I shouldn’t expect them to do anything else. And I did this to myself by taking all those pills. But how am I supposed to save my sect now?” I gripped the frame of my bed, turning it to splitters.

A loud bang shook me from my thoughts. I looked outside. The gate quivered. My one servant opened it, revealing Li Hui Ming. My eyes widened and I sat up. Forget saving my sect. I would die if I couldn’t deal with this properly.

I dashed out of the house to greet her.

I glanced at her sword and my heart pounded. The size and length were the same as the one she cut me with before. She may be weaker than me, but she represented Grandmaster Jin. I can’t offend her. I’ve already angered them enough.

By now I’d realized what I’d done by bringing him into this city. The elders and ancestors of the Crimson Fire Sect were found dead two weeks ago, tangled in vines. Everybody else thought a plant monster killed them, but I knew better. It was all Jin.

He was a force that could take out a top sect on his own. Even city’s two peak sects wouldn’t offend him they knew that.

“I’m sorry,” I lowered my head, “I’ll do anything I can to make it up for you and the grandmaster.”

I raised my head. Her expression didn’t change and my mouth began to feel dry.

Professional as can be, she smiled softly and handed me a piece of paper. “You’ve been invited to Grandmaster Jin’s shop. Please arrive within the next thirty minutes.”

My heart clenched. I knew it. “I’ll be sure to be there.”

“The Grandmaster will be looking forward to it.” She leaped away, leaving me by myself. I checked the map, the place she marked was in the pyramid alchemy district.

I arrived at a warehouse-sized building five minutes later. Moss clung to it’s pristine cracked walls. The design looked new, probably built within the last ten years.

The grandmaster sat behind a desk at the back of the lobby, lost in a martial arts scroll. A small card sat on his desk. It read “DO NOT DISTURB” in big bold characters. Then, in smaller text, “wait for the others.”

Eight ‘others’ wandered the lobby. They wore the school’s badges. I looked at my own, a pentagon. Another student walked in. He saw my face and his eyes widened. He bowed in a panic and passed me.

I thought Grandmaster Jin had called me here because he was angry at me, but it was starting to look like this was something else. Miss Li came in with a few more students. She went to the table and tapped the grandmaster on the shoulder.

He glared up at whoever had interrupted his reading. His anger vanished when he saw it was his servant. He grinned and patted her shoulder. He opened his mouth, probably saying thank you. I was too far away to hear.

Miss Li acted like a proper servant, but Grandmaster Jin wasn’t acting like her master. He acted more like a friend or a family member.

“Alright. Gather up, guys!” He turned to us, students. His eyes focused on me, ignoring all of the others. He looked like a normal person. He even wore plain clothes. The only irregular part him wasn’t even him, it was the snake around his neck. But I knew what lie underneath that normalness. If the powerful made the rules, then his word was law. He kept his eyes on me, commanding me to step forward. I obeyed.

He cleared his throat, “Welcome. I’m Grandmaster Jin. The Endless Flames School is the greatest gathering of talent on this quarter of the country, but it’s not as good as it could be. My goal is to transform this school into the best in this quarter of the world.”

The corners of a student’s lips twitched up. I’ve heard some people get boastful after they get too powerful. Perhaps it was affecting Jin as well. It didn’t matter how powerful he was, making this school best in this quarter of the world was impossible.

My country couldn’t do it if it poured every spirit shard it had into this school. My country working with all the neighboring countries wouldn’t be able to do it either.

He saw our faces, “I’m serious. I intend to improve this school as much as I can while I’m here. You guys have been chosen as the first few people I’ll help.”

A triangle class student asked, “And how will you do that, sir?”

“With pills and medicine. I’m an alchemy grandmaster, what did you think?” he replied.

“I have my own pills and access to medicine made by grandmasters.”

That student had to shut his mouth, for his own sake.

“It’s fair for you to doubt me. I won’t hold it against you.” He gave a pile of pills to Miss Li. She handed a pill to each of us. “Let my medicine be proof of my ability. I invited you here today as an introduction. Take the pill now. Come back tomorrow an hour before noon. All of you’ll believe me by then.”

I obeyed his directions. Once again, the other students followed after me.

“You’re all free to go.”

The other students left, but I stayed behind. I had to apologize now, before it was too late.

“Now they think I’m some snake oil peddler,” the grandmaster grumbled. I noticed somebody else waiting for a chance to approach him. My eyes went to his face and I grimaced. It was Fei Hou Tian, a young master of the Azure Fire Sect.

He had always acted friendly towards me, but I didn’t want to greet him. I would just get ignored again. It was the same for all the people at my level of power that used to treat me well.

“Do you two know each other?” Jin asked.

Hou Tian didn’t say anything, so I responded for both of us, “We’ve met. Our sects are allies, so we-”

“Got it, Hou Tian already explained all of this to me. So, what are you two here for?”

They both looked at me. The irrational part of me didn’t want to apologize and look pathetic in front of people who used to look up to me, so I hesitated. Hou Tian took my lack of words to mean I wanted him to speak, “I just wanted to hang out-you know-catch up. Only if that’s fine with both of you, of course.”

Jin tapped his servant’s shoulder, “Why don’t you go talk with him outside. I left a basket of pie out there. You can help yourselves.”

He turned to me after they left, “Sup.”

He looked as relaxed as ever, but I knew he must be livid. I couldn’t make up for the amount of trouble I made for him. He got tangled in my mess because I selfishly tried to have him help my sect. As a result, he was nearby when the Crimson Fire Sect tried to kill me. He rescued me, but I’d forced him into becoming enemies of the Crimson.

I gave him a new secret place. Then Crimson Fire Sect tried to kill him, and ended up killing themselves instead. He probably thought I leaked his location.

With his power, he could burn down my sect in a single stroll. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

I got to my knees. My head facing down, I took a trembling breath. “I’m sorry. I’m willing to offer anything, but please spare my sect.” We stayed like that for a while. The next seconds would decide my fate. The pause gripped me with mountain sized hands. My breathing sped up.

“...That’s great!” he responded. “Stand up. Do me a favor.”

“Certainly.”

“Be a model for the other students, like you did today. Be ‘class president’, if you will.”

“What more, sir?”

“That’s it.”

That’s it?!

He shrugged. “They’re having a hard time believing me, but they’ll come around eventually. I need somebody to help speed up the process. I don’t need to convince you though. You already know what I can do: miracle medicine and the like. Got any problems you need me to solve?” Was he unconcerned by everything I’ve done to him? Why was he offering me help?

But beyond the panic, a tiny spark of hope lit in me. Maybe he could refine a pill to rebuild my foundation. There were pills that could do that, but only for people far weaker than me. Those same pills would need to be refined to the eighth stage to help me.

It might be close to impossible, but Jin had surpassed my expectations many times. “U-um” My right hand started playing with my robes. I leaned in.

He put a box on a table and opened it. Fifty tiny compartments were crammed in the box, pushing each other for space. He moved his hand across the box, pointing at the compartments, “These pills are for arthritis, these are for sore throats, and those are for back pain. I’ve got everything!”

Oh.

I can’t believe I let myself get my hopes up. I must be more desperate than I thought.

“Don’t be like that.” He took out an identical box and opened it. “These are Eighth Cycle Blood Life Pills, these are Seventh Cycle Golden Transformation Pills, and these are Seventh Cycle Angel’s Life Pills. The other compartments are filled with other pills at around the same cycles.”

“That’s a good joke, grandmaster,” I said, giving him my best smile.

“Stop calling me that, and why did you think that was a joke?”

“That box would be enough to buy half this city…” my voice trailed off at the end.

“I know. I’m trying my best not to destroy the economy,” he replied and took a pill out of the box, “Don’t be impressed yet.” He pet his chest. “I’m most proud of these little guys. I call them Ninth Cycle Candy. Try one.”

“Mh!” I squeaked when I put it in my mouth. It was sweet, so sweet it broke past being too sweet and turned into pure elation. “Mmmmm.” At that moment, I was the happiest I’d ever been.

The candy dissolved, leaving me with an extraordinary sense of loss. “Give me another”, I demanded, staring at the candy like a starved tiger.

“Maybe later. I made these for my daughter.”

“Please! Just one more!” I took a step forward, then caught myself. What was I doing? Did I want to die? My rational side took control, but there was still a leftover craving.

He raised his eyebrow but ignored my outburst, “So now you know I’m not lying,” he sighed, “it won’t be so easy to convince the others though.”

Just what had I dragged out of the White Dragon Forest? I thought I had him figured out. I thought he was on par with a national hero, like Esha Chakrabarti. But it was starting to look like I misinterpreted everything.

Physical power wasn’t the only type of power. Arguably more powerful is economic power.

The public respected regular grandmasters as much as ninth stage experts. Jin was far above regular grandmasters. Entire nations can be slaughtered by a single trading conglomerate. Jin could likely do the same.

He had told me he was seventeen, but he was obviously lying(especially since he mentioned having a daughter). He probably wasn’t even human. Chances are he’s a plant that gained consciousness. I could only be grateful he was kind to humans.

“Hello? You there?” he said.

The hope from before swelled back up, splashing over me like a relentless wave. “If it’s possible, may I have a pill that can heal Qi foundations?” I asked.

“I have some, but who is it for?”

“Myself,” I replied.

“I had some at the fifth cycle, but yours would need to be eighth or above. I’ll find something for you, but you’ll need to wait.”

My shoulders dropped and every tensed muscle in my body relaxed. I hadn’t realized how much this ordeal had affected my mind and body.

I bowed to Jin, but not like I had bowed to him before. Before, I did it out of fear. Now I bowed out of gratitude. Plant or human, it didn’t matter. He was the only person that kept supporting me.

“Need anything else? As always, I’m here to help,” he said.

“No sir, thank you for all the kindness you’ve shown me,” I knew I could’ve asked him for more, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

“You’re welcome,” he said. I kept my head down, not moving an inch, “You’re dismissed?”

I walked out of the room, feeling far better than when I walked in. But one thing began nagging at the corners of my mind. My personal problems were solved, but perhaps I had involved myself in something much bigger.

The city knew something was happening.

Powerful organizations like Dao and The Family coming out of nowhere. Esha leaving her station in the White Dragon Forest and joining them. The dragons from the forest coming to the city. The Will Of The World’s appearance. An attack on the Black Library. The entire city was agitated.

Then, nationally. The ‘Sickly Hero’ appearing and charming our princess. The Demon King retracting his forces for the first time in a century, as if preparing for something. The seas around the nation calming. This was all within the last two months. Include Jin coming out of the forest and the fall of the Crimson Fire Sect. Everybody was asking the same question : All of this has to be connected, but how?