To rid yourself of a weed, you must destroy its roots. In some cases, uprooting something without destroying the roots causes it to come back even stronger and in more abundance.

~Blodeuwedd, Goddess of Flowers and Wisdom

“Move.”

“No.”

“Do you know who my father is? He is the vice sect leader. A word from me, and I’ll have you expelled—”

“No.”

“W-what? I’m entering, you big dummy—whether you like it or not.”

“Tried. Otto’s kids. Filial.” Otto grinned and pointed toward a corner of the courtyard. Several boys, stripped down to their underwear, cowered. To a man, they all knelt with their head down, refusing to look up and not daring to leave.

Ulrich swallowed hard because he recognized those boys. One ranked in the top five of all the outer disciples, and Ulrich probably wouldn’t last five seconds in a fight with him. Yet, that same boy was now cowering, and Otto grinned as if it was a big joke.

Otto wasn’t unbeatable, but his size and speed were definitely intimidating. Forgetting Ulrich’s father for a moment, not one of the sect’s elders dared scheme against Otto. Those that tried were taught a simple lesson—in the face of absolute power, schemes were useless.

That didn’t mean Otto was stronger than the elders, but Otto’s master was a psychotic man who held one of the sect’s highest positions—High Sheriff. The High Sheriff position managed the Hall of Order and remained responsible for the safety of all sect members. That included both external and internal affairs. A sect was essentially a type of army, and they raised additional disciples to shore up their power. The Hall of Order maintained this standing army, Sheriffs, and the martial training of the sect’s disciples.

Ulrich’s father was part of the Sky Torn Hall which managed the sect. Overall, the sect had four major halls, with the Sky Torn Hall at the top. It was responsible for managing diplomacy, funds, curriculum, and creating the rules that the Hall of Order enforced. Their elders were responsible for teaching disciples various aspects of governance.

Hall of Learning, which is where Song Xue’s master hailed from, had several functions. First was the managing, creation, and application of spells and techniques. They were responsible for converting older texts into vestiges, as well as duplicating vestiges for their disciples. One of the hidden aspects of this hall was that they were also responsible for information gathering, in other words, spies. One source of income that the sect had was this buying and selling of information, including the sale of techniques and spells that they either found, acquired, or created.

Hall of Talents was by far the least secretive and most profitable of the bunch. They taught disciples Scholarly Talents and sold the goods that were crafted. This branch of the sect had a few pill masters, so their most significant source of income was the sale of pills. It was closely followed by low-tiered weapons, runes, and artistic goods.

Every disciple specialized, meaning lived within one hall, but they all had to take at least one class from each hall. This was meant to diversify their knowledge, but most of the younger generation mainly focused on the Hall of Order and Hall of Knowledge. The sect didn’t prevent this, as the core of what they represented was an army. It was a force that quelled violence in the surrounding areas but was not limited to preventing wars or beast invasions. The entire sect was in a state of lockdown as it prepared to repel the undead puppets of the Hex Vodou.

Ulrich sighed internally. No matter how big he talked, they both knew it was hot air. He’d never attack Otto using means of fair. However, he was not opposed to using means of foul to settle the score. One way or the other, he’d have his way with Song Xue. If his father was present, he’d have beaten his son senseless for even thinking of crossing the Psychotic or Otto.

Tomas Ridline, Otto’s master who was dubbed the Psychotic, might be unequaled in the sect. More than a few rumors were claimed his power had already surpassed the sect leader. This was why most of the elders refused to find conflict with him or Otto. Otto was the first and only disciple that Ridline had ever taken on, which made them doubly cautious.

Song Xue’s master was more low-key, and few disciples feared her. Their lack of fear was due to their ignorance. Rhia Norr attended the Trial of Tur Briste held by the Druid Order and had instantly locked on to Song Xue. Even during the chaotic points when she couldn’t see what was going on, she watched events through other screens. Rhia understood what was happening before anyone else. Still, She didn’t reveal anything—not even to the other elders in the sect.

Once she claimed Song Xue, she brought her back to the sect and talked to the Psychotic. He agreed and let Song Xue forego classes at the Hall of Order so that Rhia could guide her training in secret. Only then did Song Xue realize that her master, Rhia Norr, might be the scariest person in the sect. No one knew what kind of training Song Xue went through other than Otto, but Rhia was training her in the ways of a spy. She learned how to stalk, gather information, assassinate, and even methods of counter-intelligence.

Rhia selected Song Xue because the techniques she wished to pass down to her disciple required a specific physique and temperament. Namely, it was Song Xue’s affinity toward snow. It gave her a cold and calculative disposition that suited this type of work.

Her training comprised daggers, bows, disguise, stealth, and a duplication technique specific to the Sky Torn sect. It allowed her to take any vestige and copy its contents to another. The technique was one of a kind and ingenious, but the duplicate copy had a limited shelf-life depending on what is stored. The unique part about it was that she could do it without submerging her consciousness into the vestige. So she could subtly copy a vestige by touching it, provided she was holding onto another one with her hand.

Her information gathering wasn’t as good as her combat ability. That didn’t stop Rhia from bringing her along when she went out on missions. Song Xue’s ability, cool head, and ability to adapt had impressed the hidden monsters that managed the sect. Maybe five people in the entire sect even knew what kind of training she was going through. Not even she knew how tightly she was watched, but due to her resources, it was hard not to suspect how much emphasis others placed on her training.

The thing that really catapulted her into the limelight was her affinity toward poisons. Song Xue spent her entire life around her big sister and probably knew more about alchemy than the low-level masters in the sect. That wasn’t to say she was a better alchemist, just that her knowledge was broader.

Song Xue was never interested in alchemy but did have a fascination with anything related to toxins, poisons, and venoms. Almost every alchemist had robust knowledge of these topics because part of their pill concocting dealt with curing ailments brought about by these sinister methods. In her heart, she never cared about curing anyone. She wanted to destroy the Xu clan for what they did to the parents she’d never meet. She wanted the knowledge to destroy, to wipe out everyone with the surname Xu.

Sadly, Ulrich, nor his father, was privy to this kind of information. Even if his father knew the depths of Song Xue’s training, he wouldn’t betray the sect by telling his son that kind of information. However, Ulrich was still his son. If he knew what his idiot son was thinking, he’d have stopped it immediately and locked the boy away until it was time for the Trial of Ascension.

“Leaving?” Otto asked with a grin.

Frustrated, Ulrich turned to his goons, and they left peacefully. He wasn’t an idiot, but his sinister grin didn’t escape Otto’s eyes.

The second the gate shut behind him, Song Xue appeared, leaning against the wall of her courtyard near the entrance. Otto didn’t see her but knew well enough that she was around. It was the slight drop in air temperature that gave her away, and he only recognized it because he’d been around her almost daily for the last year.

“That’s rare,” she said.

Otto grunted in response. The spark of light in his eyes faded as the danger passed.

“Sorry, big guy. Don’t worry, less than a year, and we’ll be with Crow again. I guarantee things won’t be as peaceful as they are now.” Song Xue grinned when she saw Otto’s dopey smile. Looking over at the cowering boys, she frowned. “Go and don’t come back.”

Those boys quickly bowed and fled. They didn’t even bother grabbing clothes or anything to cover themselves. The only thing anyone heard was the slapping of bare feet as they ran as fast as they could. Once she confirmed no one else was present, she faced Otto with a severe look on her face.

“Alright, I got bad news and good news,” Song Xue told him. “The undead puppets of the Vodou overran another Keystone—that’s the bad news. It was the portal that led to the territories of the Beastlords. The good news is that most of them have evacuated to Oiche and Mugna gave them the northern territories that were mostly empty except a few small clans. As recompense, Mugna gave those smaller Druid clans part of Rulaney clan’s territories—since they won’t be using them anymore.”

“Beastlord deal?” Otto asked.

“Yes. The Druid Order gave them a fair deal, following the terms and advice Crow gave. The Beastlords were both surprised and happy to accept those terms, so they’ve united. The Druid Order even let them participate in the Hunt to find rarely seen beasts. All in all, that alliance is strong and very nearly brilliant. They are now a force to be feared.”

“Vodun?”

“They arrived recently. The news I gathered was from an event that occurred roughly two weeks ago. Crow’s grandfather, Niall, was in a gith spot. The undead nearly overwhelmed his position when the Vodun finally made their move. They are crafty people, only appearing when they can make the biggest impression. Had the Druid Order not had Crow’s warning, they’d have easily been taken in. Regardless, Simbi, the leader of the Vodun (see chapter 68), managed to form a good friendship from what I’ve heard. The two managed to halt the momentum of the undead, perhaps the first time it’s happened since this war started. I don’t know if the Druid Order explained to the Beastlords what would happen or about Simbi’s ambition. So I don’t know yet if the Beastlords are willing to give up their ancestral home. If it were me, I’d wait. The more the Beastlords settle in, the more likely they’ll give up their old hunting grounds. Plus, they’ll have Mugna to support them.”

“Good. Brother fixed.”

“Yes, he definitely smoothed over the pitfalls. He also made the right decision to leave. At first, I didn’t really understand, but I see it now. He put things in motion and then trusted his people. Had he been here, there is no way of telling what would have happened.”

“Not over,” Otto warned. “Sense bad.” His massive arm raised, and his finger pointed in a direction toward the center of the Basement. It was where people who jumped into the Plunge landed and where the Trial of Ascension was. While it was considered a forbidden land, that just meant that any sect that tried to build there met with endless calamities.

In recent months, she’d researched as much as she could about the Shield trial and knew it wasn’t something she could overcome with research. The sect and even the Druids said it was to test a cultivator’s Spiritual Path, something her people called the Dao. That wasn’t what concerned her at the moment. Otto pointed toward that area, and it was hard to say if that is where he sensed danger. She hesitated and finally decided that was the direction couldn’t be a coincidence.

“I’ll talk to master and investigate if allowed. If there is danger there, it isn’t just us at risk, but all the outer disciples too.” Song Xue wasn’t ranked among the outer disciples, primarily because of her profession among the sect, she had to limit her exposure. Otto remained unranked for another reason—no one wanted to fight him. Regardless, until they gained their Shield, they couldn’t become an inner disciple. “How’s your training?”

“Otto master,” the big guy grinned and raised his hand. Lightning crackled across his knuckles as he formed a fist. “But weak. Need more.”

“More what?” Song Xue asked while still staring at Otto’s fist. The giant was a damned genius with lightning-based techniques.

“More lightning.”

***

“It’s done,” Luthais said and held up a small triangular stone that lacked any color. It was almost like looking at a glass heart. With no hesitation, he handed it over to Song Lin. “I managed to learn a lot, which led me to complete the process faster than I thought I would. It’ll take me a few years to write up what we did. There is a stack of notes where I wrote my thoughts, ideas, and other insights. So before sharing that, I want to research those things. I promise to provide you with a copy of it all when I’m done.”

“It is fine,” Song Lin said in her quiet way. Her hand rubbed at her chest, feeling nothing nestled between her breasts. The soft flesh at the top of her cleavage felt strange, and the entire process had significantly weakened her. If it wasn’t for her Qi, chakras, and being a body cultivator, she feared that her vitality would have failed. There was a chance she wouldn’t have survived the extraction process had she lacked any of those three things. It was information she already shared with Luthais, but it still made her nervous in retrospect.

She held up the crystal that used to be her Shield and stare at it in awe.

“Once you regain your Shield, I believe you’ll be able to reabsorb that. I can’t say for sure, but once you do that, will you tell me what you experienced?” Luthais asked.

“Of course. I can’t thank or repay you for this favor—”

“Stop. You are family now. Since you married that little brat, that makes you my niece. I know what you’ve been through hasn’t been pleasant, but remember, you always have a place here. Did you know that the Draoidh were a people without borders? They were historians, bards, and storytellers that traveled the land. They were nomadic people that sought knowledge, so they embraced all cultures, gods, and beliefs. It might seem different now, but our founding principles haven’t changed much. So… I’ll repeat it. You are family.”

Tears rolled down Song Lin’s cheeks and dropped away from her chin.

“Also, when you see my nephew, tell him that if he doesn’t help resolve your enmity, he can stop calling himself a son of Maddox.”

“If all goes well, he won’t have to help. He’ll watch from the side as I butcher that asshole that took everything from me!” Song Lin hissed, her fist gripping the crystal Shield tightly. It was time for her to ascend once more.