223. One Month Later

A/N: Sorry for the delay, my chapter length is getting super long recently

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But before Alistair could do anything else, he had to greet the long line of spectators who had watched his victory.

Any astute observer has already seen my three Kai’tazake Mutra states and surmised what they can do, Alistair thought. Threefold-Awakening Mutra shouldn’t be anything new. The dragonfire might throw a little fire into the chaos.

Red, Pristine, and Fuhao were the first ones to greet him, as expected.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Red said. “That took way too long.”

Pristine elbowed him. “Absolutely inappropriate. I’m sorry, Alistair. You did wonderfully, defeating someone ranked over 2,000 spots ahead of you.”

“I agree.” Fuhao smiled. “This will send shockwaves throughout the sect.”

“So I’ve definitely pissed off Korinth Kaevor,” Alistair said, sighing. “Oh well. It was bound to happen eventually. Can you tell me anything about him?”

As he said those words, Nyssara Tiarvon passed by with a small retinue formed by two bald men in inner disciple robes, as well as a beautiful woman with white hair and eyes. She interrupted their conversation with a single glance of her silver eyes.

“You have attracted my attention,” she simply said. “You might be as impressive as the Yan boy. The Tiarvon Clan will be in contact with you.”

With that, she took her leave, marching out with perfect regal poise. Unlike most cultivators who sought to hide their Dao, her silk dress combined the Clear Water Sect’s robes with sun and moon symbolism, demonstrating her devotion to the Essence Dao of Eclipse.

Well, he supposed it made sense. To even be a potential heir to the Progenitor and Princely Clan of Tiarvon, you had to cultivate the sun/moon Dao of Eclipse. Unlike Mana affinities, opposing elements could be combined to form a singular Dao.

Nora Seaborn and Jinti, who was the 78th-ranked outer disciple, filled the void. Based on their body language, Alistair could tell they were already friends.

“If I heard you correctly and you were asking about Korinth,” Nora said, “he’s a man who is proud of his lineage, proud of the fact that he doesn’t come from the same established wealth as the majority of the disciples at the sect. As such, he’s developed a ruthless reputation. I can’t blame him.”

Alistair frowned. “I’m surprised the more established cultivator clans haven’t banded together to suppress him.”

Jinti laughed. “The Clear Water Sect’s reputation is good for a reason. The Perfect doesn’t allow disciples to go that far. Outside grudges? Nuh-uh. She can’t perfectly control everything, but multiple clans aligning to suppress one barely noble disciple for being too strong? They would lose too much face. Imagine it from their perspective. They’d be saying that one of them isn’t good enough.”

“But still, isn’t it embarrassing to be subordinate to him? And wait a second, isn’t he trying to suppress me?”

“They wouldn’t see it like that,” Jinti replied. “They can twirl their little heads in circles like an ouroboros Chaosbeast. Also, he’s played them like a fiddle. All of them want him to join their family, and he’s never outright refused. Back to your question, though, it’s silly. Your feud is one against one, and it’s not like he’s going to attack you for real. He just needs to show that your prowess is overrated. To isolate you.”

“If you’re talking to me, then I assume it’s not working,” Alistair said. “Are they freezing you out?”

Nora patted him on the shoulder. “I can’t let a one-year disciple like you worry about that. It’s fine.”

The two of them turned to leave, but Alistair had one more question for Jinti. “Jinti, how familiar are you with the Apothecary?”

“My best friend is an alchemist there,” she said. “Why? Are you interested?”

“I’m trying to diversify my work. I’ve done a few missions for the Cultivation Chambers, but I’m looking for something more long-term. How are Elder Kvasha and Elder Wen?”

Jinti cocked her head. “Elder Kvasha rarely deals with anyone but the highest-ranked inner disciples. I’ve heard Elder Wen is pretty nice.”

Without turning his head, Alistair could see his friends talking with some of the other observers. Serena Moonshine looked like she was trying to flirt with Thalen. The Prime Initiate was sadly one of the weakest disciples within their class. Without the Devil Kings conflict that Earth had, she was far behind even Oliver or Lucius.

Red, Pristine, and Fuhao were talking with Chu Hua. His roommate was responsible for investigating Elder Veylan, Elder Yan, and Elder Da Rui, though they didn’t have a current plan of attack for Yan Zheng’s uncle. He was off on sect business over half the time, and was even more reclusive than Elder Kvasha, only speaking to his own core disciples.

“Red was telling me that he’s been training you,” Chu Hua said, gesturing to the red-haired man. “I find it difficult to believe. I know you told me before that Red was stronger than you, but after this display, I cannot countenance that.”

Alistair grinned sheepishly as he realized that if he was going to be showing off this much, he shouldn’t have hyped up Red to some of his acquaintances.

Eh, rumors have already started to spread, Alistair reasoned with himself. Thalen and Severus are at the epicenter of those rumors, too. The fact that we four hang out as a group with Pristine, who has something weird going on with her, means that it probably doesn’t matter.

Still, it was Red’s prerogative to reveal his abilities as he saw fit. Alistair didn’t even know the full extent. Without a shadow of a doubt, his aura of bloodlust was not the only trick up his sleeve.

“Just in martial arts, of course,” Alistair joked. “In a real fight, I’d win.”

Red forced down a chuckle. “I let him believe that for his own sanity. He’s quite fragile mentally, you know.”

Chu Hua and the rest left soon after. Always the proper Mai Atalan cultivator, Chu Hua didn’t let herself socialize with junior disciples not to give cause to scandal. Especially with junior disciples of the opposite sex, though Alistair was beginning to wonder what those stolen glances meant. Would Pristine be mad?

The girls bid them adieu as they had a reservation at one of the fanciest restaurants in Eightor, the smaller twin city to Gideon’s Peak. Alistair and Red had a martial arts-only sparring match in the arena. It was the first time they dueled for rank and not merely pride.

Over the course of the eight weeks he had been at the sect, he had practiced with Red almost every single day. Fifty-two days, more than fifty-two hours of fist against fist.

In all those days, Alistair had not landed a single blow.

Fresh off his victory against Xaden, he tried harder than ever before. The Tune of the Fight blared in his ears as he swapped seamlessly between Bodhi Consciousness and Dragorphism Cadence, hunting for any possible opening.

For the first time, something changed.

Red threw a vicious high kick, Alistair blocking with his forearm.

When sparring “seriously,” that man had never once gone for any attack. Only during their instruction periods did he perform strikes of any kind.

“What happened?” Alistair said with a sheepish grin.

“Nothing,” Red said. “You’ve gotten good enough that if I play only defense, you’ll inevitably catch me.”

“Not if you use that weird bloodlust mode.”

“It’s not a—yes, I suppose you could say that. Come at me now.”

“No, you come at me.”

Red obliged, throwing another high kick. Despite feeling the exact flow and tune of the fight, somehow Alistair got taken off guard by his follow-up blows, falling for a jab feint and then letting an explosive knee knock the wind out of him.

And thus their sparring match became an absurd beatdown. It was like a toddler fighting an adult. Once Red let go of his limitations and went on the offensive, nothing could stop him.

Alistair gladly lost some ranking and merit points in exchange for a greater lesson. And after that, a nice, luxurious meal at the dining hall.

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Over the next month, Alistair got closer to finishing [Clear Water Sect Conspiracy].

Jinti introduced him to some of the core disciples in charge of the day-to-day actions at the Infirmary. Like Elder Kvasha of the Apothecary and unlike Elder Aylesfort, the elders of the Infirmary were mostly absent.

The Infirmary performed more functions for the sect than Alistair had realized. Obviously, they were responsible for healing injured disciples, but they also researched new medicines and technology and bred magical creatures.

The Head Elder Lian was the medical researcher, while Elder Voss was one of the more prominent Beast Tamers in the Empire, in addition to her healing prowess.

Beast Tamer was a red flag—while not a poison master, they would have a much easier time controlling the beasts in a gu ritual. Alistair decided to start there, running missions for Disciple Krennak, the 30th-ranked inner disciple.

By that point, everyone in the outer and inner sect knew who he was. Even if his progress wasn’t guaranteed to continue at the same rate, he was currently on pace to make the inner sect in a year.

The craziest part was that he was not alone. Yan Zheng kept pace with his rank, but they were racing ahead of everyone else. In a never-before-seen miracle, Berengar, Riyord, and Helena were on track to make the top 50. In fact, Gu Fuhao wasn’t that far behind either.

In the entire 47 million-year history of the sect, the maximum number of disciples promoted from the most recent cohort at the time was three.

Alistair knew it couldn’t be a coincidence. Powerful Fates attracted powerful Fates. Just how long had things been brewing below the surface? No one knew. Even someone like Fuhao, whose talent was not extraordinary, was an example of a rising tide lifting all boats.

It was hard to explain the exact mechanism. Alistair didn’t know what Pristine’s exact deal was, but he knew her talent was unusual. The four of them interacted so often that Fuhao’s own understanding rose beyond its nascent limit.

By performing missions together, she also earned over three times the merit points she would normally have been able to. Those merit points let her purchase techniques and upgrades to her build manual, which let her earn more merit points in a meritorious yet deeply unfair feedback loop.

More concerning were the rumors spreading around the sect.

With such a talented class, it was bound to happen. Since they were only outer disciples, no one cared overmuch yet, but they all knew. The other sects observed with interest and perhaps trepidation. The question of the next Mira Laketor Memorial Tournament came up.

However, despite their speed of growth, most downplayed the overall end effect. You see, for most cultivators on the frontier, going through Adept at that fast a pace was ill-advised. You needed to shore up your foundations and deepen your understanding of the Dao. Having excess impurities could lead to ruin as a Profound.

What they didn’t know was Alistair’s [Karmic Battery]. His current pace of progression was considered unreasonably fast to the locals, but he was actually slowing himself down to not overextend.

He didn’t know about the others in his cohort, but he assumed they had similar means. For Red, Pristine, and Elder Yan’s nephew, he was certain. The other three, he suspected that the competitive environment bolstered their cultivation beyond the normal scope.

Despite his meek persona, Alistair wondered if Riyord Fen, the now sixteen-year-old mage, was the one with the highest potential. Already, he was one of the best alchemists in the outer sect.

So through hanging out with Riyord, he got in contact with the Apothecary.

The Apothecary division was also more diverse than the name suggested. There wasn’t a farming division of the sect, so they took care of growing some of the raw ingredients like special herbs. Then they took those herbs and extracts and turned them into the Five Refinement Methods—pills, elixirs, potions, baths, and acupuncture.

Each method had its upsides and downsides. Overall, alchemy, or the creation of pills, was considered the most balanced, but it was also the most resource-intensive. Leveling pills, Health pills, and Mana pills were all examples of the power of alchemy.

Elder Wen was the Apothecary’s resident expert on alchemy. She also offered personal lessons for promising disciples at fairly cheap prices. Alistair had been stockpiling his merit points for a reason.

Their first lesson took place a week before the event.

Alistair arrived precisely at the appointed hour, not a minute early or late. He’d heard enough about Elder Wen to know that punctuality was merely the minimum expectation.

The elder waited at the entrance of the private alchemy chamber in the Apothecary, her posture perfect and her expression neutral. She stood barely to Alistair’s shoulder in height, but her presence commanded respect. She had a plain sort of beauty to her, workmanlike and austere.

“Disciple Tan, I understand you have shown interest in the alchemical arts,” she said, eyeing him carefully. “I must admit, with your impressive combat prowess, I was expecting you to seek the tutelage of Elder Yan or Elder Veylan. These lessons do not come cheap.”

“Yes, I do wish to study alchemy myself, honored elder,” Alistair said. “I think that if you’re only useful skill is fighting, you will find yourself disadvantaged as you climb the realms.”

“Well said. I agree with you entirely. No cultivator can escape violence, but at the same time, only knowing violence is not favored either.”

Elder Wen invited him into the chamber. It was nothing like the bustling main workshop of the Apothecary. Instead of dozens of disciples hurrying between steaming pill ovens and ingredient stations, this space held only a single low table with various herbs, minerals, and essences arranged in perfect semicircles.

There were no decorations either, just dark walls that gave off a foreboding anxiety.

“You are acquainted with Disciple Fen, yes?” Elder Wen asked.

“Yes, Elder Wen. We are friends, you could say.”

“Normally, decorum would suggest that even if they can afford it, an outer disciple should not waste the time of an elder. However, with your meteoric rise and Disciple Fen’s praise, I decided to accept.”

“I appreciate the opportunity to learn, Elder Wen,” he replied with a formal bow.

“We begin with the basics,” Elder Wen said. “Most disciples waste their time with pill ovens before they understand the fundamental nature of alchemical transformation," she continued, her robes remaining impeccably clean despite the colored powders surrounding her. "You will start with nothing but your hands, your aura, and your understanding."

Alistair bowed respectfully. “Thank you for this opportunity, Elder.”

She gestured to the arrangement. “A true alchemist compresses essence through will alone. The pill oven is merely a tool that makes the process more efficient, not a replacement for skill. First, a question. What is alchemy?”

Alistair responded with the memorized lines of a textbook. “Alchemy is the transformation of base materials into substances of higher purity and potency through the application of Mana, utilizing principles of elemental resonance and spiritual refinement. Unlike elixirs, which are mixed raw, pills involve the infusion of a ‘pill essence’ to hold the components together, taken from reified spiritual energy.”

“Spiritual energy, the transcendent spiritual material that our souls are made of. Pill essence is simply spiritual energy with some special adhesive agents added. It is not wrong to say that each pill an alchemist creates contains a portion of themselves. Creating your own pill essence is quite difficult, so novices in alchemy typically use a given amount of their master's. I shall demonstrate. Watch closely.”

Elder Wen procured a putty-like substance from the table. She closed her eyes and Alistair felt her aura expand in a manner he had never seen before. Instead of pulsing outward, it stacked inward onto itself.

After five seconds of compression, a trickle of nearly transparent energy emerged from her stomach. The elder deftly manipulated the strange material, which felt expectedly similar to Dev'rox or Ashendar.

She controlled the putty with her mind, mixing her spiritual ether with the adhesive. A solvent was born, a beige substance that was at once a solid, liquid, and gas, reminding Alistair of an element at its triple point.

“Do you see?” she asked.

“Yes, elder.” While Alistair couldn’t dream of accomplishing that yet, his deft senses picked up every detail.

“You mentioned before that the two principles of alchemy are elemental resonance and spiritual refinement. These are also the same principles of elixir brewing, yet the end products are different. This is because of pill essence holding together pills. In that way, alchemy is more of a science, whereas elixir brewing is an art. With alchemy, you must precisely impose your will upon the constituent parts.

Elder Wen levitated a shiny blue leaf with specks of starlight and red fur above the table.

“Elemental resonance is the simple principle that different materials cause different reactions. When you extract condensated starlight from the leaves of a Gennoa tree and combine it with the fur of a volcanic pandabear in a 7:13 ratio, a compound is formed that biases the meridians toward star and fire affinity Mana. And the confluence of solarforge, though whether that affinity truly exists or is merely theoretical, we do not know.

“Spiritual refinement is simpler—you must use your aura to carefully extract the necessary parts and only those parts. Impurities are the reason why Health pills and Mana pills must be seldom used. A true master alchemist can craft pills without impurities, or so close to that it doesn’t matter, but they are prohibitively expensive for the average cultivator.”

Alistair held back a grin as he remembered the Orichalcum drachma Kadeus had given him. Once he left the sect, he’d be a wealthy man.

“Watch carefully.”

Elder Wen’s hands danced over the ingredients, her aura shaping them at will. The specks of starlight in the Gennoa leaf flowed upward in motes of blue light, while she scrunched up the fur into a red-hot ball.

“Note how I maintain separate aura patterns for each component,” she explained, her voice measured and firm. “The starlight requires a spiral motion, while the fire essence needs uniform compression.”

Alistair watched intently, [Reality Sense] catching details that would escape most disciples. Elder Wen began to combine the starlight and pandabear fur carefully, poking hundreds of minuscule holes in the sphere with her aura. She fed the starlight into the holes in a spiral pattern.

The two materials resisted each other at first, then gradually harmonized as Elder Wen adjusted the pressure. At sporadic intervals, she applied portions of the pill essence to stabilize everything.

One thing was held constant through the entire procedure—pressure. What started around the size of a baseball got compressed to the size of a pea. After five minutes, she forced the last of the pill essence into the sphere, forming a protective outer coating with a glossy finish.

The pill was complete, a tiny sphere of paintlike brushes of red and orange, with large specks and streaks of blue.

Elder Wen handed him a technique crystal, an iridescent gem the size of one of his fingers.

“Are you at or over your Skill slot ceiling?” she asked.

“No, I have a few slots before I reach the soft cap.”

“Absorb this, then. It will alter your Investigation-type Skill to be able to appraise pills. Even if you were at the cap, it’s not worth anywhere close to a full Skill.”

Alistair accepted the crystal, drawing the system information contained within. The patterns in his meridians corresponding to [Dharmic Gaze], specifically the ones near his eyes, shifted around slightly.

When he looked at the pill now and applied his Skill, a description came up.

Name: Solarforge Meridian Pill

Quality: Grade-S Early Adept

Purity: 100%

Description: A carefully crafted pill that biases meridians toward the star and fire Mana affinities, potentially opening pathways to the theoretical solarforge confluence. The harmonized starlight essence and volcanic pandabear fur help balance energy channels without excessive heat damage.

“This is a perfect pill,” she said, holding it up for Alistair to see. “There are no imperfections, no flaws. It took me five minutes to construct, but if I used a pill over, I could make one per minute. Me, a Visionary realm alchemist, creating a pill for a foundation. Do you understand what I am saying?”

“I think so, Elder Wen. An alchemist of your level would rather spend their time on more important projects. The skill needed to craft a pill at that level of quality and purity is not common in the Empire. If you could afford it, you would have an enormous advantage.”

“I would charge a pretty penny for such a pill. Any family practicing the star or fire affinities would kill for it. Even if they only have one of the two affinities, they might want their fire to take on more properties of stars, or their star affinity to take on the more combustive properties of fire. As an alchemist, as long as you are skilled, you will be able to profit five to ten to hundreds of times the cost of the base ingredients. A master alchemist cannot be poor; such is the law of the multiverse. But, we always save the best for ourselves, no?”

Elder Wen gave him a wry smile, but Alistair frowned as he realized the implications of what she was saying.

“So Yan Zheng was fed soulfire meridian pills since he was young? And even more exotic wares, I’m sure?”

“Of course,” she said. “That is the case for everyone. For nobles of his status, childhood and adolescence are spent in the Foundation realm, abusing as many of the Five Refinement Methods as possible, along with potentially more exotic and singular procedures.”

It wasn’t as if Alistair had any room to complain. His share of lucky circumstances and chance encounters was more than enough for any one man.

For two hours, she guided him through basic exercises. Refining the posterior constituents of the pill from the prior constituents, understanding the elemental resonance of the materials, and feeling how they responded to different aura patterns, strengths, and colors.

By the end, Alistair had managed to extract a third of the required posterior constituency from a moonflower petal and added pill essence to form a Grade-8C, 25% purity Foundation Moon Meridian Pill.

This earned a small nod of acknowledgment from Elder Wen—she didn’t seem overly impressed by his alchemical skill, but he might have exceeded her low expectations.

“Your perception is adequate,” she concluded. “Your impurity figure is very good for a first attempt, since you can properly adjudicate the boundary of posterior and prior. However, your aura control is nowhere near sufficient. You need to practice this every day. I will give you a set of exercises. You will note that these will also be of use for general freehand Mana shaping, so now you have two reasons to practice. You will use this rock—” she handed him a palm-sized stone with runic inscriptions, “—in conjunction with the exercises. It will simulate the action of extracting and then combining substances. Return in a sennight and we will review your progress.”

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The days blended into weeks, and weeks into a month as Alistair settled into his routine. He thought he got closer to landing a hit on Red, but it might have been his delirious brain. His heart felt like it was going to give out every time they sparred.

More entertaining was the gossip that Fuhao always had. Surprisingly, it was her and Red who were most curious about the daily escapades within the sect. Alistair and Pristine cared less for those sorts of affairs.

“Have you noticed how Elder Yan always walks? I’ve never seen him flying,” Fuhao pointed out one day, her golden eyes tracking the distant figure of the elder. “I wonder what that’s about. You think he’s injured?”

“Is that even possible?” Alistair asked. “Norman said that flight is Heaven removing that restriction for Profound realms and above. It’s not like they use wings. He probably just has some silly reason for walking instead of flying.”

“Yes, very silly.” Red looked like a kid who had put a tack on the teacher’s chair.

Alistair sighed. “Red, would you explain for the class? For those who are less enlightened?”

“Nah, I want you two to figure it out.”

Pristine elbowed Red in the ribs; if Alistair were doing such a thing, he’d dodge instantly, but with her, he just let it land. “It’s a geas.”

“Geas?” Alistair asked.

“A Heavenly restriction granting power at a cost. But they can only be granted by Divine realms and higher.”

“Divine realm?” Fuhao raised an eyebrow. “How in the name of the Dragon God did Elder Yan get blessed by a true divinity?”

“Wait,” Alistair interjected. “I’ve heard of this before when I was reading about the Five Great Pillars. Divines in the Multiversal Church are called Cardinals, and they can grant portions of their power to their subordinates. Conceivably, Elder Yan could have received his geas from an organization like the Multiversal Church.”

“That’s possible,” Pristine said. “Though I wonder…”

Alistair swapped between performing missions for the Infirmary and Cultivation Chambers. He started piecing together a more complete understanding of the politics in the sect. Elder Aylesfort and Elder Yan sat on opposite sides of an intense political battle. In the list the elder had given him and Red, only one came from his side, Elder Da Rui.

Alistair couldn’t tell if Elder Aylesfort genuinely thought that the traitor was much more likely to be on Elder Yan’s side, or if it was just a play for power. Based on his interactions, he wanted to assume the best, but he knew not to blindly trust.

Elder Da Rui’s placement brought up more questions. Why did he suspect someone on his own side? The most solid reasoning they came up with was that the murder did take place in her own abode. That was highly suspicious.

Red’s progress with Chu Hua led him to meet the elder directly. Alistair’s roommate had an impeccable ability to detect Natural Inheritances for the Cultivation Chambers, far better than even the 58th-ranked inner disciple.

Elder Da Rui allowed Red to use the inner rings of the Cultivation Chambers without merit points. Xiao Zhenyu died at the fourth ring, which was an unusual place for an outer disciple to be in the first place.

Red claimed he would be able to glean more information once he got access to the exact spot Xiao Zhenyu’s body was found.

Once Elder Da Rui did give him access, Red became vexed. His instincts pointed to Elder Da Rui being the culprit, but something wasn’t right.

Elder Da Rui had been exonerated of Xiao Zhenyu’s murder by a combination of Elder Yan and Elder White, the Head of the Technique Hall and possibly the most ancient cultivator of the sect. Alistair doubted that Red could find something they missed, but the possibility hung tantalizingly in the air.

Alistair also began to connect the murder and the Beast Ruler experimentation. If the two incidents were indeed connected, which was not guaranteed, then why did Xiao Zhenyu have to die? Any murder of a disciple would attract undue attention.

The only thing that he could conceive of was that the outer disciple had seen something he shouldn’t have. Something within the Cultivation Chambers itself, which was why Elder Da Rui was so suspicious.

But Red adamantly insisted it wasn’t her, leaving them at ground zero.

In the meantime, Alistair reached level 113 at the month’s end, his progress arcing ahead of his peers, who were leveling up at an already accelerated pace.

His alchemy became more refined as he grew accustomed to the freehand exercises she provided. While his talent was nothing special, [Karmic Battery] allowed him more free time than the average disciple to practice. As such, he became proficient at using his aura to extract and compress alchemical substances.

By the end of the month, his Foundation Moon Meridian Pills reached 62% purity at Grade-5D—a marked improvement from his initial disastrous attempts. Elder Wen acknowledged his progress with nothing more than a slight nod and the faintest hint of a smile, though from her, this constituted high praise.

She gradually introduced more complex ingredients: morning dew from lunar-eclipse blooming sapphire lilies, crystallized memories of dreaming nightblood fish, and star-touched meteor fragments.

Selira Rulhoi, younger cousin to Thalen, suddenly rose through the ranks. Unlike her relative, her cultivation was less ossified. With her youthful spirit, the resonance between all the talents in the environment jump-started her growth.

Alistair had a chance meeting with a friend of hers, Torbak Estrelli. He suspected that their relationship was more than mere friendship, but he didn’t pry. Torbak was a spiritualist, an inner disciple who was within the top 100 disciples despite being only forty-six years old. Before the current era of the sect and after Norman, Torbak was the most impressive talent.

Considering his status, his relationship with Selira came into question. The Rulhoi Clan wasn’t prominent enough for a man of his potential. He was also good friends with Boris Mayguard, a poison cultivator in the top 25.

Alistair didn’t think much about Boris or Torbak until a fateful night at the exact end of his first three months at the Clear Water Sect.

He was playing Partentho with Red, Fuhao, and Pristine. They used the Soulnet to play the game in virtual reality. This time, he didn’t cheat with Dev'rox’s help. Alistair was about to Pristine in Zeitsbonne, the Partentho version of checkmate, when the harrowing toll of a bell zapped all four of them out of the game, their bones vibrating.

“The Emergency Conclave bell,” Fuhao whispered.

Alistair looked out the windows of the dorm room. Everywhere he looked, hundreds of giant eyes appeared in the sky. Their pupils spiraled as they searched every nook and cranny of the sect. Orange, spark-like writing traced itself in the clouds, repeating a singular message.

“ALL DISCIPLES MUST RETURN TO DORMS IMMEDIATELY UNDER PAIN OF EXPULSION. STAY PUT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.”

With everyone stuck in place, the sect erupted in speculation. The Soulnet became abuzz with rumors.

A rival sect attack? A rogue elder? An experiment gone catastrophically wrong? The theories multiplied hourly, spreading through the Soulnet faster than the elders could contain them.

After sheltering in place for three hours, their calm was broken when a sudden shift in pressure alerted them to interlopers.

Alistair prepared himself for combat before realizing who were behind the door. Three elders walked into the room, dismissing the locked door as if it were made of paper.

Elder Yan led the procession, his stern face carved into a mask of cold fury. His dark blue robes, typically immaculate, bore traces of red mist—blood essence that hadn’t fully dissipated.

At his left and right stood Elder Kel, his thin lips pressed into a bloodless line, and Elder Brittlebones, whose gaunt features seemed even more skeletal in the room’s dim light. Both distinguished cultivators belonged to the Discipline Hall, taking over in the wake of Elder Da Siar Ka’s seclusion.

“Disciple Red Harmonia,” Elder Yan’s voice cut through the air like a blade, “you will come with us immediately.”

Red looked up, his calm expression unchanged. “What is the meaning of this intrusion, Elder?”

“I believe you know exactly why we’re here,” Elder Yan replied, his voice heavy with accusation.

“Actually,” Elder Brittlebones interjected, his voice thin but surprisingly resonant, “perhaps everyone present should hear the charges. After all, birds of a feather...”

Elder Yan nodded curtly. “Red Harmonia, you stand accused of the murder and or kidnapping of Inner Disciples Boris Mayguard and Torbak Estrelli. Further, you are charged with concealing your true cultivation level to infiltrate the Clear Water Sect for unknown but undoubtedly malicious purposes.”

The charges hung in the air like poison. Fuhao gasped, her hand covering her mouth. Pristine’s eyes snapped open, her meditative state shattered.

“That’s ridiculous,” Alistair said, rising to his feet. “Red was here with us the entire time. We were playing Partentho on the Soulnet.”

“Save your defense,” Elder Kel said, stepping forward. “We never stated that the disciples died recently. His aura signature was found at both scenes. A signature that, I might add, contained trace elements inconsistent with an Early Adept cultivation.”

Red simply smiled. “I see how it is.”

“Oh, do you know?” Elder Brittlebones summoned a pair of translucent handcuffs, attaching them to Red’s wrists. “I don’t know which clan put you up to this, but we’ll find out soon.”

“Elder Brittlebones,” Elder Yan stated, waving his hand. “Keep your decorum. Red Harmonia, you will come with us to the Disciple Hall for questioning. You cannot resist.”

A heavy silence fell over the room. Red caught Alistair’s eye, conveying something wordless. He stood gracefully, brushing invisible dust from his robes.

As the elders escorted Red from the room, the door closed with a soft click that somehow felt more final than any slam.

Alistair waited until he could no longer sense their auras before turning to the others. “That look he gave me right before they took him—he was trying to tell us something.”

“About what?” Pristine asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I’m not sure,” Alistair said, “but the timing can’t be coincidental. We’re getting close to something with our investigation, and suddenly Red is accused of murder?”

Alistair began pacing around, stroking his chin with a finger. “Boris was a poison cultivator, and both victims were connected to the Rulhoi Clan.”

“The Beast Ruler experiments?” Fuhao asked, her golden eyes widening. “That… does make some sense. If they are trying to create a gu ritual as Elder Aylesfort suggested, using a poison cultivator as a base for their experimentation might allow them to create a more potent poison. That still leaves the spiritualist.”

A dawn of realization came across Pristine’s umber face. “The Exalted realm is demarcated by the Spiritual Body. Trying to affect the body of an Exalted without targeting their Spiritual Body as well is quite difficult. Perhaps the poison is intended for a cultivator of that level, or perhaps a Peak Visionary with a well-developed Spiritual Body.”

Exalted? The only Exalted in the FFE is the Emperor. Could there be an elder of the sect moving against the Emperor?

Something didn’t feel right here. The Quest text definitely implied he was doing the sect a favor by finding the conspirators. The only one he could imagine authorizing an attempted assassination of the Emperor would be the Perfect herself, who had been conveniently absent.

If that were the case, would the Quest really say that there was a conspiracy? The Perfect led the sect. Alistair didn’t know enough about how objective the Quest description text was—those kinds of curiosities never mattered until now.

A notification chimed in Alistair's peripheral vision:

[Quest Update: Clear Water Sect Conspiracy] The conspiracy deepens as more victims fall. Your ally has been falsely accused. Find the truth before it’s too late. Additional Task: Discover the connection between Xiao Zhenyu, Boris Mayguard, Torbak Estrelli, and the experiments. Reward: Unchanged, Time Limit: 9 months remaining, Warning: Danger level increased

Outside, the great eyes in the sky continued their vigilant watch, their spiral pupils reflecting the moonlight. Within the dormitory, Alistair felt a strange uneasiness alien to even his battle against the Devil Kings.

The next moves would determine everything. The first step was exonerating his roommate. The only question was how.

Alistair knew that before their Partentho session, Red had been trying out the deep-sea cultivation strategy. In other words, no alibi, no witnesses.

Then, the answer was clear. They would have to find the true culprit and prove that Red had been set up. In that last glance, Alistair had received the clue he needed. Now, he had to put on his best detective hat.