Lightning flashed overhead amid the clear sky that hung over Wei city. Under this lightning stood the main stairway to the Wei main palace. On either side of the passage stood banners that fluttered with the gentle wind of the day as guards in the emerald and golden scale armor of the Wei clan elite stood vigil. Noonday rays showed on the gold trimming and emerald tiles that lined the stairway and place grounds as the mighty crest of the Wei clan was emblazoned on every banner, surface, and uniform. Here was displayed the pride of this noble clan, their wealth and dignity!

Atop this mighty stair, in the heart of Wei power, a daunting pair of doors stood. Each door was made from spirit-level natural treasure wood and had countless runes etched into the surfaces in formations that formed fascinating patterns. These patterns overlaid forming large formations from the set of smaller ones pulling in enough Qi of the world to make the air seem to writhe.

Each rune on the door looked alive as it seemed to squirm and move to the naked eye as if heaven was still desperately guarding these secrets even now. Indeed, if someone without sufficient mental energy were to look at these runes they would immediately receive a headache and with continued exposure, it could cause one to go unconscious. At the center of these doors, surrounded by the dense formations, sat a beautiful depiction of the Wei crest, a flowing emerald sword gliding on golden winds.

The crest spanned over the center where the doors met so that exactly half of it lay on either side when the passage was opened. Large amounts of energy converged and sealed this door as the formations stayed active. Suddenly a large explosion echoed out from within the chamber and the doors flew open!

Air from all around the palace grounds rushed out as if shot from a cannon, pushing some who were slow to react off their feet. Between the great doors, a large black rune formed that was hazy to all who looked at it seemed to blur from sight. Those who had sufficient mental energy could see that within the fraction of a second the doors held that this rune struggled and shook before finally cracking and exploding outward.

Terrified expressions filled those who had been able to see this scene. Many of them knew that this door was meant to seal the palace in case of emergency to protect the main family of the Wei clan. It had been commissioned by an ancestor of the Wei clan 200 years ago from the imperial crafters under the service of the Lu clan, the noble family who held the duke title for the twisted territories!

At that time it was said that this door could survive the assault of a group of a dozen grandmaster realm martial artists at once for an hour without breaking. Obviously, the force that had just forced the door open was not intruding from the outside but forcing itself out from inside the palace so the protection was much weaker. Even still, the amount of strength needed to break the seal on the door from any direction must have been great!

From the shadow of the doorway, a calm-looking young man walked out. His robes were styled in the same manner as the guards lining the stair, as dragon scales in alternating emerald and gold, and his eyes carried a piercing green light that seemed to pierce outward like a sword. Emerald streaks could be seen through his shoulder-length black hair as the crossed swords on his back seemed to carry a pressure that would cut the entire world.

This was Wei Hua, the young leader of the Wei clan! Joy and ecstasy filled the young lord’s face as he looked at the sky and breathed in deeply, taking in the warm afternoon air. For six long months, he had sat in seclusion inside that suffocating palace, a long and tortuous period that had tested his resolve.

It was worth it, oh so worth it! Thinking that Wei Hua flexed his right hand before drawing his sword, mental energy surged through his body. In a wave, the torrent of mental energy assaulted the surroundings pulling in the surrounding Qi of heaven and earth, quickly silver tinged wind Qi filled his dantian. Two large explosions echoed out followed by a long whistling noise that seemed to echo four times.

Onlookers only saw the young lord flex his hand before the pristine tiles under his feet turned to dust. Afterward, twelve afterimages of Wei Hua appeared in the air as 14 explosions of air rushed out, two that seemed to connect his previous position on the ground to the images in the sky. This was the Wei clan movement technique, ‘Winds Carrying Noble Swords’.

Large amounts of the wind qi generated by ‘Bursting Gales Leave no Enemies’ had pushed out from each of Wei Hua’s feet in incredibly precise bursts that allowed him to not only move incredibly fast but also create stepping points in the air by emitting dense flat disks of his Qi. With this, his speed had exceeded mortal eyes and only those at the peak of the first-grade realm could see anything but the 12 flickering afterimages. Those at the master realm were barely able to see the space in front of the young lord blur as four incredibly narrow lines of Qi, that formed into the shape of a sword, launched from each of these images out into the city.

Cries echoed from everywhere as over two dozen people died instantly with a hole in their foreheads as if an incredibly sharp sword had stabbed them. Elation once again appeared on Wei Hua’s face as he landed right back where he had started, albeit in a small crater now.

This feeling raced through his whole being, power like he had never felt before. Normally his ‘Wind calls the piercing sword’ technique could only reach a few hundred meters. Now using ‘that’ technique and his new strength the strikes had reached almost half a kilometer.

Combining this with his now greatly enhanced mental energy that could stretch over the same distance he had been able to notice those that had acted strangely to his emergence. Previously such tells would be too slight, but now with greater control and mental speed they were like beacons shining in the night to herald the locations of spies and informants. Of course, Wei city was much larger than his range, approximately 1,400 square kilometers last time he’d bothered to check, but even this had allowed him to eliminate so many.

This was grandmaster, the coveted realm that the damnable Fan Long had lorded over him only three years ago. With this power, it was finally time to destroy that ant so that all his inheritance could be claimed. Silver light flashed below the green within Wei Hua’s eyes, danger lurked in them.

Some hours later in the waning hours of the evening, Wei Hua was strolling through the outskirts of Wei City. Flanking him were two guards resplendent in the armor and gear of the Wei palace guards. Beside the young lord stood a man in fine martial robes that had swirls of gray on them.

These swirls seemed to move if they were looked at, bringing the onlookers' minds into a haze. Upon exiting such a state one would find themselves forgetting what they had been doing for the last few moments with an urge to continue with whatever it was that didn’t involve figuring that particular detail out. A dark hood hung over the man’s face and he walked with his hands clasped in front of him inside the sleeves of his robe

Wei Hua for his part walked with the proud arrogance of his station, hands clasped behind his back as if he were carefreely walking through his own backyard. In a sense, this was the case as all of Wei City was owned by the Wei clan. Those that operated here did so under the express understanding that they were simply renting space from the overlords of the region.

If they truly saw fit to the Wei could uproot anyone here they wished to. As the two continued their discussion a youth walked into Wei Hua’s path. The young man was crying and he looked into the face of the young lord.

“My lord, please help me. It’s my mother, she’s terribly ill. Please, my lord, find the mercy in your heart to help her. I, Shen Jin, will give you my life, my soul, or anything else you wish if only she can be helped.” The young man spoke as he sobbed, even coming up to lean against Wei Hua’s leg.

Behind him, the guards grimaced and prepared to draw their blades. The man beside the young lord recoiled slightly, frowning as he imagined what the arrogant Wei lordling might do to such an insolent citizen. To the surprise of all Wei Hua shook his head and smiled slightly.

With just a small pull of his hand, he brought the youth to his feet and dust his clothes off while offering him a small piece of cloth to wipe his face.

“Come now, none of that. You are a proud citizen of Wei City! Guardsman Wei Atrine, retrieve a unit of medics from the nearest guard garrison. In the meantime get two investigators working on how something like this could happen. You did try taking her to the doctors, yes young man?”

Wei Hua leveled a gaze like a reproachful older brother at the young man. Surprise filled the youth's face before he nodded emphatically and said.

“Of course, my lord. They said there was no medicine left because of the war against the savage clans.” The young man’s face became angry at the mention of the ‘savage clans’, rage and indignation showing in his expression “Those bastards, couldn’t be content living their simple lives in the valley. A few more spirits stones and they are ready to kill anyone, good honest folk or even their kin”

“Good job young man, it is regrettable that hostilities have risen so much. This is no excuse for you to face such things however, you have my word that the investigators will get to the bottom of the issue as soon as possible. Now, show Guardsmen Chang Cai to your mother and he will make sure she gets the attention she needs.” Wei Hua patted the youth on the shoulder and smiled at him “You are of strong stock I can tell. When your mother is well, report to my personal guard and give them this. If the war is to end soon we’ll need good men like you.”

With this, the young lord slipped a jade token inscribed with the Wei crest on it into the youth’s hand. On the token, the words ‘Swords of the wind’ were written at the bottom. This was the motto of the elite guards of the Wei palace for they believed themselves to be the swords of the guiding wind that was the Wei clan.

Amid another slew of gratitude the young man eventually departed as both guardsmen did as well to fulfill their tasks leaving Wei Hua alone with the mysterious gray-robed man.

“You were surprised?” Wei Hua turned to look at the man as he asked the question.

“Perhaps… a little I admit. Such actions seem to be against your bearing and general demeanor as a lord. Admittedly, this is only the third time we’ve spoken so perhaps this is simply my own bias. No offense was meant of course” The man seemed to be reticent to voice his full feelings, perhaps worried about the aforementioned attitude of the lordling.

“Haha,” Surprisingly Wei Hua loved in a jovial way at this before calming himself to respond “no offense is taken. I ask, esteemed elder, when you find a sword that has been left in an old supply room. Do you break it over your knee for getting dusty?” Wei Hua looked at the other man, a strange glint in his emerald eyes.

“Well no, if anything I would simply dust it off before storing the sword for later use” The gray-robed man answered with some confusion in his tone.

“Indeed, and is this not the same? These are my lands and property. As an owner, I care for them how I see fit. This city is the sign of my wealth. The people here pay taxes and do as I, the owner wish, as such, they are valuable belongings. Trust me when I say EVERY belonging of mine is doing exactly as I wish, even if they are thinking to misbehave” The strange gleam in Wei Hua’s eyes grew stronger and it almost seemed like dull silver suns hid behind the normal piercing emerald light in his gaze. “Now, back to business. Are you sure that the illusion can fool a peak master realm…”

Small terror rose in the heart of the grey-robed man, he had thought this lordling was simply arrogant and looked to make a profit of such an opportunity. Now though, he could see a hungry beast in the young lord’s eyes. His caution continued to deepen the more he learned and he kept a tight watch on things he mentioned during the rest of their conversation.

As Wei Hua spoke, he felt the ecstasy that had been coursing through his veins all day. The war had gone perfectly from the initial aggravation to the slow escalation even up to the long drawn-out stalemate that had occurred. Slowly his power had grown with just enough deaths so he could keep pace.

Finally, he had it, his martial arts achieved the grandmaster realm and soon, he would taste the realms only spoken about in legends.

Sounds of the forest played throughout the bamboo shoots that littered the southern expanse of the Flowing Grass Valley. Here at the border between the Valley Alliance and Wei clan territories, a dense bamboo forest spread out for many kilometers. In truth, the borders between the two factions were rather hazy here as few large villages resided in this area. Near the coast as the midpoint between No Leaks Village, which was about a month west of Little Green Bamboo Village, and Jade wind city, around another month of foot travel west, drew a distinct border zone

Here in the inner part of the southern half of the valley, however, these lines changed every day as small scouting squads played games of cat and mouse with each other. In this deadly game, each scouting group would try to evade the other while calling in more organized groups to cut off and close in on the scouts. For the Wei, this had quickly proven a problem as the legendary observers of the Fan clan proved invaluable.

Quickly, Fan Yahui had used her core of elite observer elders and their disciples to establish a network of observing posts that combed at least 70% of the valley between the Flowing Grass River and the Green Mists mountain. With the Wang clan’s naval prowess able to secure the coastline and the solitary Reclusive Sword mountain sect taking vigil over the grounds at the base of the Green Mists Mountain the Wei had no way forward except through Fan Yahui’s carefully woven net.

Currently, at a carefully hidden observer post that was dug into the ground of a shallow incline, two observer’s kneeled in front of the Fan clan observer head. Both of them had multiple tears on their wispy silver cloaks as blood-drenched their robes. Medical experts were hastily examining them and urging the two to rise but both stayed kneeling as they delivered their report to the Fan Yahui.

“So, the young tiger wishes to finally flex his claws. Good work both of you, rest and prepare to return home. I’ll have orders that you’ll need to deliver on the way however, you’ve both earned much reprieve. Once you finish this last task, stay and rest until new orders arrive.” Fan Yahui’s tone was cold and logical as any observer, however, under that was a wave of well-hidden anger.

With this came worry and remorse for the fallen observers and the wounded ones that had returned. Every last one of her observers that was killed felt like a knife through Fan Yahui's body, pain that flared her anger against the Wei that had no avenue to vent built inside of her. With great willpower borne from years of training, she ground those feelings into dust, using them to fuel her next move against these dogs.

This particular team had just returned from Wei City itself with only two of the original four members. Outwardly she was also careful to display some worry at the news the pair had brought, it spoke of a plan that would crush the fan clan utterly. Who knew where spies lurked, best to lay traps in all things.

Wei Hua had emptied most of his war funds and gone all out to find outside help. In this, he had recruited a man that introduced himself as a wandering martial artist that worked with an organization known as the ‘Three Heavens Illusion Realm’. After brokering a deal the elder of this organization had offered to give the lordling a powerful illusion formation that could conceal an entire legion of soldiers over long distances.

This formation was astonishing and could even fool a peak master realm illusion specialist. Yes, a peak master realm illusion martial, just like Fan Yahui herself. The thought caused a barely noticeable smile to almost creep onto the corners of the Fan Yahui's lips, or perhaps not. Those who told the tale afterward could never have been sure. After all, the greatest illusions always left such impressions.

Fan Jia looked out over Little Green Bamboo Village from the clifftop of the Fan clan's ancestral training ground. The buildings and walls that spread out into the west were almost all he had known for most of his life. Over the past few years, he had seen many parts of the southern Valley of Flowing Grass from the high mountain pass of the Reclusive Mountain Sword Sect to the banks of the Flowing Grass River at No Leaks Village.

Just over a month ago his battle squad of cadet clan warriors had received a message to return home and await further instructions. This had overjoyed Fan Jia as his heart had grown homesick, yearning for the sight of a happy Little White or perhaps one of his elder brothers. Now it seemed that he would have little time to spend at home and not have the joy of either.

Upon returning home Elder Wuying had gathered his cadet squad and ordered them to help organize a large-scale movement of the villagers. Great haste had been made and now spanning to the east of the cliff, down where the slope leveled off, a large temporary village had been built. This village had many tall posts that aligned around it with countless runes carved into them diligently by the clan craftsmen.

Looking at the makeshift village from afar Fan Jia could barely see it and the image was getting hazier by the day. At first, the structures had been perfectly visible; however, it now seemed as if the buildings and posts naturally existed under the cover of the bamboo forest. It was as if the forest itself had not been cleared and the buildings simply existed as part of the dense plant life!

This greatly broadened the horizons of the young Fan Jia, allowing him to understand that he simply did not understand! It was as if the world simply became so much bigger as he stood still, the feeling almost gave him vertigo. Suddenly the young warrior felt a calming presence beside him and a hand landed on his shoulder. Turning, Fan Jia saw that elder Wuying had appeared beside him!

“Come now junior. There's much work to be done. Wouldn’t want your elder brothers to come back and find you slacking off, would you?” The old man smiled wryly at him, warm understanding in his voice tempered by calm patience.

“Of course elder Wuying. Please excuse this lapse!” Fan Jia’s face turned red and he immediately turned around and ran toward the camp, eager to find something to do.

With a sigh, elder Wuying looked out over the emptied Little Green Bamboo Village. Small signs of movement could be seen throughout the outer buildings and walls. To him these movements seemed like the real thing, if he didn’t know any better it would look as if nothing had changed! Finally, with another shake of his head, the old man turned and began slowly walking to the temporary village.

“Leader Long, this old man hopes that the heavens favor you, now more than ever, for all of our sakes.” These words carried low across the wind as he walked, with no one there to hear them save for heaven and earth.