Jia did her best to keep her composure as she and Eui faced the three grandmasters within the grand hall of the sect’s main temple. It was the first time they’d been there since the welcoming feast after their arrival, and Jia felt awkward standing alone with Eui in the center of the enormous room. It was so much more empty without a crowd of guests and a table full of food.

Elder Xin Hai looked down on them from the dais at the back of the room and sighed.

“I apologize for my demeanor—you needn’t be so tense.”

Jia tried to take a deep breath to calm her nerves. Facing powerful cultivators was always stressful, and while she had come to trust the three before her, they were still technically high ranking members of an enemy nation.

“Is this about our breakthrough? I’m pretty sure we managed to delay it.”

Lin Xiulan smiled softly.

“Only in part—it’s certainly what made this meeting so urgent, but it’s not as dire as all that.”

Guan Yu sniffed.

“Speak for yourself, Lin Xiulan. I refuse to mince words. Girls, you are a threat to the safety of the sect, and your selfish actions risk bringing ruin to us all.”

Jia’s palms felt sweaty and she gripped Eui’s hand for comfort as she bowed.

“My apologies for any offense we may have caused. May I ask you to elaborate?”

Xin Hai rubbed the back of his head and grunted—an oddly undignified gesture for his station.

“My blood brother is overstating things, I think—he’s always been the cautious one. I’ll explain. You two both sit at the cusp of your xiantian ascension—as my wife has pointed out, it’s remarkable that you’ve managed to stave off your breakthrough while continuing to grow as you have.

“Usually, we would have cultivators like yourselves enter closed door meditation at the peak of the mountain. We settle on these mountains for more than just the qi density, you know. Tribulations are highly destructive and unpredictable, and the peak of a mountain is an excellent place to limit collateral damage.”

Guan Yu gave Xin Hai a blank look, and while Jia didn’t know them well enough to guess at its meaning, she’d seen similar interactions between their sons often enough. Guan Yu was growing impatient with Xin Hai’s roundabout speech.

Elder Xin pointedly ignored it as he continued.

“We all felt the disturbance just now. You nearly invoked a tribulation, did you not? It’s very rare to stray so close to that threshold and escape it entirely unscathed. If you were members of our sect, then we would confine you to the Purewater Spring by force if necessary. To do otherwise would be too great a risk.”

Guan Yu turned his expressionless glare on the girls.

“What Elder Xin neglects to say is that you are far from the first to attempt to delay such an ascension. Though you may appear to have avoided the gaze of the heavens, there have been those before you who thought that they had done so, only to be struck unawares by a bolt from the blue. Every moment you spend in ignorance puts you and those around you in danger.”

Lee Jia bowed her head, feeling chastened. It had been arrogant of her to think that it would be as simple as just locking away whatever insight she’d reached until she was ready for ascension.

Lin Xiulan crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

“Ugh, Guan Yu, you are being melodramatic. Raise your heads, girls. Yes, such cases have happened, but they are vanishingly rare. We have called you here to offer access to the Purewater Spring at the mountain peak, should you desire to cultivate in isolation—just to be safe.”

Xin Hai stroked his scruffy beard and frowned.

“Erm, strongly recommend, perhaps.”

Guan Yu just stared at them—his opinion already clear.

Jia and Eui exchanged a worried look, speaking telepathically to each other through their connection.

“What do you think, Jia? It could be a good opportunity, but it’s not like we want to ascend yet, and isolation sounds pretty boring.”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to put anybody in danger. Even if it’s as unlikely as Xiulan says, can we afford to risk it?”

Elder Xin cleared his throat to gain their attention.

“While you consider it—there’s another matter which we need to discuss. We’ve just received word that some of the ‘guests’ for the wedding are on their way. Everyone in the empire knows that it’s being used as a pretense for a diplomatic summit, and people are planning to arrive early.”

Elder Guan nodded.

“I expect Elder Yan De to be among the first. He has the most to gain, and will not want to allow anyone to scheme behind his back.”

Grandmistress Lin Xiulan snorted.

“Rather, he’d want to be the first to start scheming. In any case, you need to be ready for that. Yue has already informed you that he’s likely to try to retrieve his sect's artifacts from you?”

Jia nodded.

“She did, though we’re not sure what that would even look like. Yue assured us he wouldn’t take direct action against us despite his grudge—something about insulting the emperor.”

“Indeed—we have rules about hospitality enshrined into law by the God-Emperor himself. Such infighting would be a slap to his face. He does, however, have considerable influence—he will pressure you to make concessions, pressure us to pressure you, and pressure everyone else at the summit to support him. And they will.”

Xin Hai grumbled and nodded.

“Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do about it—we’re already struggling against his blatant attempts to steal the sect right out from under us. You’re going to be on your own for this one. At the very least, you should return the awakening stone—those are practically sacred. Even we don’t have one—we had to return it after our status as a great sect was revoked.”

Eui raised an eyebrow curiously.

“I thought you were technically still a great sect.”

Guan Yu shook his head.

“The matter is extremely complicated. Under the most technical interpretation of the laws, you are correct—however, it is the domain of the imperial clan to manage the enforcement of those laws. If the Qin clan does not recognize our status, then it effectively does not exist.”

Jia frowned. She hadn’t touched the awakening stone in years. It was a dangerous artifact that could forcibly awaken the user, at the risk of burning out their meridians or even killing them. It had honestly caused her more trouble than good.

“What if we just gave it to you? Elder Qin Zhao once told us that we should keep it to ourselves, but it’s been nothing but trouble.”

Xin Hai shook his head.

“No—giving us the stone is tantamount to handing it over to Yan De himself. Qin Zhao was a brilliantly wise man. Well respected, despite his progressive attitude. I would take his advice to heart.”

Eui blinked incredulously.

“Elder Qin? Progressive?!”

Lin Xiulan covered her mouth with a sleeve and suppressed a laugh.

“Actually, he’s considered quite radical for the imperial clan. Speaking of which, they are going to be sending a representative—much of your work is going to rest on his opinion. If there’s anyone you want to appeal to, it will be him.”

Another member of the Qin clan? A relative of Elder Qin Zhao. Jia wondered who it would be, and what they would be like.

Xin Hai scratched his cheek.

“I wouldn’t expect too much from them. The imperial family has been...complacent in recent years. Even Qin Yongliang has been toothless ever since that Sovereign Shen showed up. In any case, it will be an uphill battle for you—be prepared to lose those artifacts if you need to, but make Yan De fight for it.”

Jia nodded. She wasn’t looking forward to all the politicking, but she recognized the importance of their mission. Still, she was glad to have allies who could help her get through the worst of it.

Her eyes widened as a thought occurred to her.

“Wait—if we’re in closed door training when the guests arrive, how are we going to interact with any of them?”

Xin Hai shrugged.

“It won’t be true closed door meditation. You’d be welcome to entertain guests and visitors—though it would mean you’re restricted to seeing those who specifically come to you.”

Jia scowled—so much for getting out of the politics. Though being able to receive visitors changed things a bit—if it wasn’t going to be total isolation, then maybe it wasn’t so bad. Already she was starting to think of ways to communicate beyond her isolation in order to bypass the disadvantage of being stuck in a reactive position.

Eui smirked, understanding Jia’s thoughts immediately.

“I think we get the gist of it. Was there anything else you needed from us?”

Elder Xin shook his head.

“Only a decision regarding your isolation at the peak. Again, we won’t force you, but—”

Jia shook her head and squeezed Eui’s hand.

“We’ll do it. We don’t want to put anyone in danger. Thank you for the offer, and for warning us of the potential dangers. We graciously accept your invitation.”

The girls bowed together, and Lin Xiulan smiled brightly.

“Well, in that case, follow me. Let’s get you situated.”

 

---

 

The eponymous Purewater Peak after which the mountain was named as impressive as the rest of the sect. Already a narrow mountain, the highest plateau was not particularly large, but the mountain was high enough that the occasional low-hanging cloud would form a swirling mist that wound around the mountain like a dragon.

Out of respect for their spiritual site, the Flowing Purewater Sect had only minimal construction on the plateau. A flattened area for formations, a small wooden canopy with a bench overlooking the town, and the crown jewel of the entire mountain—the Purewater Spring.

More than the dense mana in the air, the spring was almost visibly radiating with the essence of Purity. Wisps of steam rose off of the spring—the waters deceptively calm despite the roaring waterfall they fed.

Eui peered over the edge, curiously. Unlike most of the sect’s balconies and verandas, there were no railings—just a precipitous drop down the steep cliffs of the mountain.

“Has anyone ever fallen off?”

Lin Xiulan chuckled.

“You know, we get asked that quite frequently, but no. We don’t tend to allow anyone who would fear such a drop up here anyway. The waters are actually quite relaxing.”

Jia cocked her head at the placid spring.

“How does that work? Shouldn’t the flow sweep people over the edge?”

“I’m not entirely certain. I believe it has something to do with how the spring is fed—think of it more like an overflowing cup rather than a surging river. There’s a slight pull near the cliff, but not enough to overcome the stone lip. The opposite side actually draws you away from the cliff.”

That didn’t sound quite right to Jia, but she didn’t want to try to work out the physics behind it—especially not if some ancient cultivators had spent centuries using formations to cheat them.

“Where does all the water come from?”

“An aquifer very deep beneath the earth. My understanding is that the aquifer just happens to be aligned with a leyline of Purity qi, and the sect’s founder intentionally redirected it up to this peak. If the legend is to be believed, he dug it out from the bottom up.”

Eui furrowed her brows.

“He dug through the entire mountain? From the bottom? While presumably submerged in water?”

“So they say, yes. I think the story was probably embellished, but nevertheless, this certainly didn’t occur naturally. The pond below feeds back into the aquifer via formations, ensuring that the falls never run dry in times of drought.”

“So the entire sect is just one giant fountain?”

Xiulan giggled.

“I’ve never heard it described quite that way, but yes. Anyway, consider this your new home for the time being. We ask that you restrict any formations you draw to the designated area, and that you avoid doing anything that would obstruct the spring’s flow. Otherwise, the resources here are at your disposal.”

She turned to leave before pausing and glancing back.

“Oh, and don’t try to swim down into the aquifer no matter how powerful the qi is. Nobody’s ever fallen, but we have had a few drownings over the years. A temple guard will be stationed below the stairs—you can call them if you need anything. Good luck, girls!”