Chapter 48: SUMMIT START

CHAPTER

48

SUMMIT START

JIEYUAN

—∞—

The Radiant Gold Palace was an impressive sight. A sprawl of seven-story-tall spires surrounding a hulking slab of a building. Blocky, almost like a square pyramid, upper floors progressively smaller, blocks placed on top of each other. All sharp edges and angles. All brightgold. Under the glare of the midday sun, the palace as a whole—spires and main palace all—glowed harshly, just shy of blinding.

It didn’t manage to hold Jieyuan’s attention for long, though. Rather, he found his eyes drawn to the crowd gathered in front of it.

It was the twentieth of Yellowlack, the first day of the Summit. The day the tournament was set to begin. And for the first time, the disciples would be part of the Gleaming Stone Sect’s delegation for the summit. They’d left their palace shortly before midday, numbering eighty in all—sixty-four disciples, plus sixteen elders—and entered the First City not long ago, making for the Radiant Gold Palace.

Just ahead of their group was one of the palace’s grandest, largest entrances—one Jieyuan had never been allowed through before, as a mundane kid, tagging along with his father.

A large, open yard, its entrance framed by tall, hefty pillars. The bright, neatly trimmed green grass couldn’t have stood out more in this landscape of glowing gold. Lining the edges of the yard were bushes with flowers the colors of copper, silver, and gold. Over on the other end was a massive set of golden doors, leading into the palace.

Already in the courtyard were three separate groups—one in golden robes, another in bright green, and the third in black. The yard was big enough that though each group was the same size as the Gleaming Stone Palace’s delegation, eighty men strong, they were comfortably spread out throughout the yard, with plenty of space left over, enough for several more groups of the same size.

Heads turned as the Gleaming Stone Sect’s delegation stepped past the tall pillars framing the entrance to the yard. Jieyuan, for his part, quickly ran his eyes over the people gathered there.

He was familiar with the dress code of all the district’s cabals. He’d learned it all as a child. Pretty much everyone in Radiant Gold City did, heir to a merchant house or not. You’d have a hard time surviving long as a mundane if you couldn’t tell how to properly address a cultivator by sight.

The district’s other sects weren’t as obvious about their dress codes as the Gleaming Stone Sect, what with how it assigned a different color for each court, but as long as you knew what to look for, it was easy to tell each person’s rank in their cabal.

What Jieyuan was looking for, though, was an outfit he didn’t recognize. And as he focused on the Radiant Gold Sect’s side of the yard, he saw a small group detach itself and head their way.

Among them, he found the one he was looking for.

At the back, trailing behind, was a woman in deep blue, purplish robes. Average height, black hair tied in a tight bun, narrow eyes, and thin lips set in a square, handsome face. Didn’t seem a day older than twenty. In different robes, she could’ve easily passed for another one of the disciples participating in the tournament. But the robes she wore meant she could only be one person.

The Howling Lightning Sect envoy. A tenth-sign Orangesoul. The one whom, if everything went right, he’d be leaving with after the end of the Summit.

The tight grip of tension seized him. He’d never been so close to a cultivator at a higher realm. Five days ago, his sighting of the woman in gray was the first time he’d ever even seen one. And even though the envoy shouldn’t have any cause to wish him harm, that didn’t change the fact that the woman heading his way could have him dead faster than he could blink if she wanted to. Her apparent age was of little consequence. Orangesouls would look that young well into their seventies. Only in their eighties would their body age past twenty.

It also certainly didn’t help that before they left the palace, Palace Head Yiming had warned him and the others to be careful of her. The Howling Lightning Sect sent a different envoy every Summit, and according to Yiming, this woman—Houleifang Guodan—was among the worst ones yet. Cold, uncaring, and seeming entirely uninterested in any of the palace’s matters.

The palace head’s theory was Envoy Guodan was here against her will, as some sort of punishment. The Houleifang Clan was the Howling Lightning Sect’s royal clan, and according to Yiming, the position of envoy was far from prestigious. More often than not, it was a mundane-born inner elder who was assigned the role and sent over.

Jieyuan looked over the rest of the group. Leading it was another woman, this one in the golden robes of the Radiant Gold Sect. She was on the taller side—considerably taller than Envoy Guodan—and had on such an extravagant assortment of jewelry that she would’ve fit right in with the Liangshibai. Mature-looking, in her mid-thirties or thereabouts, at least appearance-wise. She wore a white lightcoat with elaborate golden patterns, and though some of the other members of the Radiant Gold Sect heading their way also wore lightcoats, none were patterned like the woman’s.

That’d be the sovereign protector of the Radiant Gold Sect, then. Wujinyao Aoxin. It was Jieyuan’s first time seeing the woman, but he knew plenty of her. More than he knew about most members of the Radiant Gold Sect, at any rate. The Haoyujin were directly subordinated to her, after all.

Sovereign Aoxin belonged to the same generation as Meiyao’s father, Sect Leader Junjie. She’d become the chief protector of the Radiant Gold Sect about three decades ago, and immediately afterward declared herself sovereign protector, taking over the role of sect leader. No spouses or children. Well-liked by the palace’s servants, much like the nephew she was rumored to dote on.

At the front of the Gleaming Stone Sect’s delegation were the high protectors, as well as Paramount Protector Wanxin, Sect Leader Junjie, and Palace Head Yiming, with Chief Protector Zhaoyong at the lead. Coming to a stop in front of the chief protector, Aoxin exchanged brief greetings with the man, and then with the other elders beside him.

The other Radiant Gold Sect elders that had come with Sovereign Aoxin spread out around her. Judging by their attires, they were all protectors of the sect, except for one man. The head of the Radiant Gold Palace, an older man with graying hair that Jieyuan had met a couple of times before while accompanying his father. A Wujinyao, Sovereign Aoxin’s cousin.

Together with Aoxin, the head of the Radiant Gold Palace greeted the Gleaming Stone Sect’s elders. Some of the other Radiant Gold Sect elders also took part in the pleasantries, but there were also a number of them sending searching looks toward the middle of the Gleaming Stone Palace’s delegation, where Jieyuan and the other disciples were.

None were quite so obvious as the Howling Lightning Sect envoy, though. She remained at the back of the group, and as Jieyuan looked over to her, their eyes met. But it was a brief thing, and Envoy Guodan barely seemed to notice him as she shifted to inspect the other disciples in turn. Her gaze lingered a little longer on Meiyao. And then it stopped, dead, on Daojue. The envoy blinked, then narrowed her eyes.

Before Jieyuan could puzzle out what that meant, the woman stepped forward, and everyone focused on her, the greetings between the upper echelons of the two sects coming to an abrupt halt.

“Zhaoyong,” Envoy Guodan said, without preamble. “I’d like to see the four.”

“Of course, Envoy.” Chief Protector Zhaoyong, who so far had commanded absolute obedience in the Gleaming Stone Sect, sounded deferential now. Not to the point of coming across as ingratiating, but clearly obeisant. “Disciples Yongyi, Meiyao, Daojue, and Jieyuan, step forward.”

The other elders and disciples around them immediately parted, making way. Jieyuan had already been standing near his former teammates and Yongyi, and upon the command they walked over together, all the way to the front, stopping in front of the envoy.

Jieyuan fought back the urge to reach for Shifting Feathers. The half-glaives were hanging on either side of his waist, sheathed, just like he used to carry his spears in the past. They wouldn’t do him any good against the envoy, but logic didn’t really factor into the urge to reach for your weapons when faced with a threat. And though he didn’t think the envoy wished him harm, it was hard—and unwise—not to think of someone that much more powerful than you as anything other than dangerous.

“Hmmm.” Envoy Guodan had her arms crossed as she looked them over. For a bizarre moment, Jieyuan imagined this was what cattle felt like at a fair, eyed by prospective buyers. Indignation sparked inside him, biting but ultimately impotent.

That uncomfortable feeling vanished as the envoy smiled, a touch of warmth replacing the coldness in her expression.

“Well met, the four of you,” Envoy Guodan said, and something about the way she said it rang genuine. Jieyuan caught, out of the corner of his eye, just the barest hint of surprise in the faces of the surrounding elders.

The envoy reached forward and shook hands with Yongyi, who was the first one to their left, then with Meiyao. Jieyuan’s turn was next, and her grip was strong, solid, but far from the crushing she should be capable of, and the envoy gave him a firm nod and a rather pensive look as she clasped his hand.

And then it was Daojue’s turn, and there was no mistaking how the envoy stepped closer to him than she had with the others.

“Daojue, is it? Tianzijun Daojue?” Envoy Guodan said, staring up at Daojue’s face—even Meiyao and Yunzhu, tall as they were, had to look up at Daojue, let alone a woman of middling height like the envoy—as the smile on her face widened.

The way she looked at Daojue was intense, meaningful. Envoy Guodan wasn’t the first woman to stare intensely at Daojue. That was pretty much Yunzhu’s favorite pastime, best as Jieyuan could tell. But whereas Jieyuan had no clue whatsoever what was up with Yunzhu’s disturbing fixation with the man, Envoy Guodan’s gaze was one much easier to decipher. The slight flush in her cheeks made it very obvious.

That was desire, plain and simple. As clear a case of lust at first sight as there ever was.

Jieyuan tensed even further. He wasn’t surprised, though. Not at all. Daojue looked as handsome as Meiyao was beautiful. Which was to say, inhumanly so. The only reason Daojue didn’t go around catching eyes and stealing hearts left and right was because Daojue didn’t go around at all, spending almost all of his time locked up training or cultivating or whatever it was that he got around to in private.

The question, then, was what to make of this. Whether this would work in their favor, or end up leading to yet another mess. Given their track record, Jieyuan was afraid the latter was the likely option.

“I’ve never heard of a Tianzijun Clan,” Envoy Guodan went on to say. She was still holding onto Daojue’s hand, even if she wasn’t shaking it anymore. “Are you mundane-born, then?”

Daojue stared down at the woman. Expressionless, in typical Daojue fashion.

“No,” Daojue said. And nothing else.

Jieyuan fought back a cringe. Never mind that Daojue was faced with a tenth-sign Orangesoul, who could massacre him and everyone else in the courtyard in literally under a second. The odds of this turning out badly for them had just shot up by about tenfold.

What made this worse was that this probably was Daojue playing nice. Jieyuan reckoned Daojue wouldn’t have answered at all if the woman hadn’t been at Orangesoul. As far as Jieyuan knew, up to this point Daojue had never dignified any questions about his background with an answer. Not even a one-syllable one.

Envoy Guodan, clearly unaccustomed to Daojue’s unique approach to human interaction, kept on looking at him expectantly, waiting for an answer. When it became awkwardly, painfully clear that one wasn’t forthcoming, though, her smile slipped a fraction. But then she nodded, and said, pleasantly, “I see.”

Huh. There and then, Jieyuan decided that it was a good thing that the envoy was so attracted to Daojue if it meant she’d overlook his slights like that. Of course, this was hardly a matter of just good looks. There was no doubt that if Daojue hadn’t had fourth-order heavenly affinity, none of this would be happening—or at least not this way. Talent and beauty, though? Now that was as heavenly a pair as there ever was.

Letting go of Daojue’s hand, Envoy Guodan looked to the side, to where the protectors of both sects had been discretely watching them.

Though some of them managed to keep their faces level, Jieyuan caught the tension in many of their expressions. It was abundantly clear that the envoy was taken with Daojue. And it was just as clear that Daojue couldn’t care less. Either the envoy’s attraction and Daojue’s disregard, on their own, would’ve been cause enough to be wary. But the two together?

Jieyuan could only hope that the envoy’s favor would continue to survive Daojue’s attitude.

“Aoxin.” Envoy Guodan nodded to the woman. “Start the Summit.”

“As you wish, Envoy,” Sovereign Aoxin said, readily. “Will you be joining us?”

“Once the duels begin.” She paused. “You will have the first ones underway within the hour.”

“Of course, Envoy.”

“Good,” Envoy Guodan said. She looked back to Daojue, and seemed as if she was about to say something else, but then closed her mouth and gave him a nod instead. And then she blurred away, shooting upward. Jieyuan could barely catch a dark blue shape speeding through the air, toward one of the upper levels of the palace, before it was gone.

If the elders were at all surprised by the envoy’s abrupt departure, they showed no signs of it. Sovereign Aoxin looked as if it were business as usual as she bid a brief farewell to the Gleaming Stone Sect elders and then made her way back to the rest of the Radiant Gold Sect delegation together with the other members of her sect.

“Well, that was… interesting,” Palace Head Yiming murmured. Jieyuan glanced to his left, where the palace head was standing, and saw him eying Daojue. “Who’d have thought the frigid—”

“Palace Head,” the chief protector ground out, the warning clear in his tone.

Yiming put up his hands. “My bad, my bad.” Though there was a smile on his face, there was something ponderous, calculating about the way he regarded Daojue. “So, I guess we’re just pretending none of that happened just now?”

Wanxin snickered, biting back a smile. Out of the elders, it seemed like it was only her and her brother who found the situation amusing, though. The sect leader was frowning, hard. The high protectors wore similarly serious expressions.

Protector Zhaoyong gave a long-suffering groan, a pained look on his face, the wrinkles on it hardening, growing more apparent. “You will, if you value your life.”

Then the chief protector focused on Daojue, saying nothing. Daojue turned his head to face the aging man, staring right back. Not in a challenging way—all Daojue did was meet the chief protector’s gaze, evenly, and hold it.

Moments passed, and then Zhaoyong sighed. “Tread carefully.”

Daojue remained silent. After a few seconds, he looked away, as naturally as if the conversation had ended.

Movement up ahead drew Jieyuan’s attention, and he saw the throng of Radiant Gold Sect members draw up to the end of the courtyard, to the massive pair of golden doors.

Smoothly, without a sound, the massive doors began to open, inward. At the front of the Radiant Gold Sect’s group was Sovereign Aoxin.

“My fellow cultivators,” she said, her voice filling the yard, “if you’ll follow me?”

The sovereign protector then turned around. The Radiant Gold Sect members made way for her as she stepped through, into the palace, before filing in after her.

As the Gleaming Stone Palace’s delegation got moving, Jieyuan felt the niggling, pointed sensation of someone looking his way. Casting his eyes around the yard, he immediately pinpointed the source. Pretty much the entire delegation from the Viridian Death Cult had their heads turned in their direction. All eighty of the green-robed lunatics.

What in the Heavens?

Following their gazes, Jieyuan found that they had their eyes on one person, in specific. Meiyao.

Jieyuan recalled Protector Wanxin mentioning, days ago, that Meiyao was connected to the Viridian Death Cult in some way. That she supposedly had some pull with them.

“Meiyao,” he murmured, giving her a nudge.

“Hmmm?” She looked at him questioningly.

He gave a subtle nod in the Viridian Death Cult’s direction, and she turned that way. Pretty much as one, most of the cultists looked away, in an unsettling showing of synchrony. All but one of them.

An old man—among the oldest cultivators he had seen so far, with a wrinkled face and a head full of silvery white hair—with robes a deeper, more vibrant shade than everyone else’s. Jieyuan wasn’t all that clear on the Cult’s dress code as he was on that of the district’s other cabals, what with how secretive the cult was, but he was pretty sure that was the chief protector. Who, in the cult, went by the title of high priest.

He was also the only cultist Jieyuan knew by name. Baisenzhou Tangqiao. He knew little of the cult’s internal structure, but he did know that the Baisenzhou was a rather prominent clan in it—a high clan, if not the royal clan.

“Oh. Right. Them.” She seemed remarkably unruffled for someone who had the attention of eighty cultists on them. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell you later.”

The high priest kept on staring at Meiyao, even as he led the Viridian Death Cult delegation headed into the palace.