“Brother Long,” Mei said in surprise, a feeling shared by all three in the common room. “Welcome home.”

  “Thanks,” Long replied tersely, stepping further inside and closing the door behind him. The small salamander screeched, and Long reached into his robes and pulled out what looked like a dead cricket. He offered it to the reptile, saying, “Here. Eat.” The lizard did just that, swallowing the dead insect without even chewing.

  Ishin inspected the now-content salamander with his third eye and found a faint fire-aspected chakra inside the creature. A Spirit Beast. Where’d he get one of those?

  Thinking back to the various types of Spirit Beasts Ishin had seen employed on Desolate Island, he knew they could be very useful companions and found himself wanting one. But still, Long had only been gone for a day. How’d he acquire one so soon after their arrival?

  “What happened to you?” Rhee asked. “Your robes. You look like you’ve been inside a forge.”

  “Blame her,” Long sighed, pointing a thumb at the salamander. He moved forward to join them around the table. “She didn’t take to me very quickly.”

  “Her?” Mei asked, curious.

  “Xiaolin. My new Spirit Beast.”

  “You became a Spirit Beast tamer,” Rhee stated.

  “How?” Ishin asked. While he and Rhee had been cleaning beakers, Long had acquired an actual asset. He wanted to know how.

  Long took a cracker from the table. “I accidentally stumbled across the Spirit Stables and encountered the presiding elder, Elder Violet Scarf. After a discussion, she offered to train me in the Dao of Spirit Beast Taming, and I ended up with her.”

  “You stumbled across the Spirit Stables and are now training under an elder,” Rhee summarized in disbelief. “Just like that? Nothing else happened?”

  Long took a bite of the cracker and then poured himself a cup of tea. “I appreciate the snack. Who prepared this?”

  “Long, my question,” Rhee said irritably.

  “I did,” Mei answered. “Rhee and Ishin didn’t have a chance to eat dinner, so I thought they’d need something.”

  “My thanks, Sister Mei.”

  “Long!” Rhee growled.

  “I’ll tell you,” Long said placidly, then took a sip of tea. Rhee was still visibly agitated, but she held her tongue.

  Must be hard for her to go from being the prodigy and team captain of the Eight Oaths Resolve School to just another disciple.

  “This morning, I left early to acquire a mission at the Administrative Hall,” Long continued. “I accepted one that required me to copy accounting documents in exchange for four contribution points.” He paused, appearing troubled by something.

  “Then I began exploring the sect after lunch,” Long said. “This sect is large. I think I found the…” Another pause. “The place we aren’t supposed to speak of.”

  He must be referring to the Gate of Wisdom. Ishin recalled briefly seeing its location on the map Rhee had purchased. I wonder what it was like.

  “Then I explored the north until twilight began to descend. At some point, I noticed a black panther starting to pursue me. It was strong. Very strong. I thought it was going to attack me, but instead it encouraged me to follow. I did and ended up at the Spirit Stables. That panther turned out to be the Spirit Beast of Elder Violet Scarf. The rest unfolded pretty much as I said. Afterwards, I came back here.”

  “It was that easy?” Ishin asked, shocked.

  “The elder and I had a long discussion,” Long replied, taking a handful of nuts. Xiaolin let out another screech, causing Long to give her one of the nuts. “That lasted for almost an hour, if I had to guess. Then she led me to where they raise newborn Spirit Beasts. She showed me three different ones to consider.” He glanced at Xiaolin, who was chewing the nut. “And she leapt at me almost immediately. Made the decision pretty simple.”

  “So she’s yours?” Rhee asked. “Forever?”

  “Pretty much. I’ll have to make sure she’s fed and guide her cultivation, but it sounded like she’s mine.” He rubbed Xiaolin’s head affectionately. Ishin had to admit that the salamander looked quite content. “What were you all up to?”

  “My aunt had me assist in the Outer Sect Library,” Mei answered unenthusiastically. “Just on the lower floor, though, and primarily shelving books and scrolls others had read. There were a lot of texts there. Thousands, easily.”

  “Useful familiarization, though,” Long noted.

  “I suppose that’s true,” Mei replied, evidently more pleased now.

  Long ate some more nuts. “What about you two?”

  Ishin groaned and then relayed their experience in the Alchemic Hall, with Rhee chiming in from time to time.

  “That sounds surprisingly more dangerous than I would have expected,” Long said.

  “It was,” Ishin replied, crossing his arms. “I won’t be doing that mission again.”

  “Me neither,” Rhee said. “But I still might try joining the Alchemic Hall. I think learning alchemy could really help accelerate my cultivation.” Her dark eyes moved to Xiaolin. “You joined one of the sect organizations, and it appears to have been very beneficial.”

  Xiaolin let out another content screech, and Long rubbed beneath her chin. “It has,” he admitted with a slight smile. “Though feeding her is going to cost me a lot of contribution points. She needs to eat five pounds of insects a day.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “That explains some of the items offered at the Storage Hall,” Mei said, piecing bits of information together. “I was wondering why they sold some really bizarre bags of food. It must be for the Spirit Beast tamers within the sect.”

  “The Storage Hall, huh? Thanks—that’s good to know. I’ll have to stop by there tomorrow.”

  “So you’re now part of the Spirit Stables,” Rhee said to Long. “And you’re evidently part of the Outer Sect Library.”

  Mei nodded reluctantly. “I guess so.”

  “We’d better find our own organizations to join soon,” Rhee said with a grin toward Ishin. “Our housemates might leave us behind otherwise.”

  Ishin rolled his eyes. “Says the woman who is going to join the Alchemic Hall before too long.”

  She’s right, though. Long’s experience already shows the advantages of joining an organization. I’m sure Mei’s work in the library will yield benefits before too long. And if Rhee joins the Alchemic Hall, the advantages there are obvious. The question is, which organization should I join?

  “Are there any that interest you?” Mei asked, scooting forward on the couch.

  Great question.

  Ishin thought back to his true goal. The Void Wraith Sect was his true target, the culprits responsible for his mother’s death. He’d need power to exact his vengeance.

  Should I pursue alchemy like Rhee? Pills and elixirs would be useful for my cultivation, especially my lightning chakra.

  But Ishin was under no illusion about his limitations. His intelligence was more combat-based than scholarly. He did know some alchemy, but he was certain the complexities of refining pills and elixirs went beyond his current comprehension. Perhaps he could learn it with enough effort, but it was also possible he’d waste time and energy following a dao that didn’t align with his path.

  On the sect map, Ishin recalled seeing a forge. If he pursued that path, he could craft his own spears. After learning about the different grades of items, there was some appeal in that. But his imagination was limited to the spear, and deep down, the idea of simply purchasing higher-quality spears appealed to him more than the endless hours of work required to learn proper forging techniques.

  Of course, he knew the sect possessed multiple other organizations, but there was one his thoughts kept returning to. He was rather straightforward, after all, and if he didn’t pursue this option, he’d likely always have some regret.

  “The Combat Hall,” Ishin answered. “My Immortal Path is a martial one. I think the Combat Hall will be the best fit. At least to start.”

  “Really?” Mei asked.

  Rhee nodded in approval. “A fine choice. I’m tempted by that one too. Sounds like the natural evolution from our old school.”

  “I bet the strongest martial cultivators in the sect train there,” Long said. “Do you plan to join tomorrow?”

  Ishin shook his head. “No. First, I need to acquire more contribution points to purchase a proper spear. I think by the end of the week, I’ll have enough. Then I’ll try to join.”

  “A wise plan,” Long said.

  “Do you think all they do is just fight there?” Mei asked. “Or do they teach you anything?”

  Shrugging, Ishin replied, “I don’t know. I suppose I’ll find out.”

  Hopefully, I can find some more spear techniques there.

  While he knew he was skilled with the spear, there were surely facets of the Spear Dao he had yet to learn. This was a Grand Sect, one of the top four in the entire Heron Empire. Surely there was a spear master somewhere here.

  “Is your intent to become the best martial cultivator on the continent, then?” Mei asked excitedly, her eyes wide.

  Ishin didn’t answer at first. He had planned to share his true motivations with Rhee tonight, but after the events at the Alchemic Hall, they hadn’t had a chance to speak privately. While he liked Mei and Long, he didn’t trust them the same way he trusted Rhee yet. Especially Long, whom he still didn’t know well. He trusted them in combat, but being relatively new to the Heron Empire, he couldn’t say for certain whether Mei’s status as a scion of a Great Noble Clan might someday interfere with his plans.

  No. He would wait and tell just Rhee when he had the chance. Then he could ask her whether it was unwise to tell Long and Mei as well. He trusted her.

  “Something like that,” Ishin told Mei. “I grew up on stories of the great heroes of my tribe. Some were said to have the power to destroy an entire tribe on their own. That sounds like a good goal to aspire toward.”

  It was the closest to the truth he would share for now.

  “That’s quite the ambition,” Mei said. “You’d have to reach the Venerable or maybe even the Exalted Realm to achieve those heights.”

  “All cultivators should have such ambitions,” Rhee said. “Why stop at just the fourth or fifth realm? We should all strive to reach the seventh realm, the Paragon Realm.”

  “You seek such heights?” Long asked.

  “And beyond!” Rhee said proudly. “My goal is to ascend to the Heavens as an immortal and reach greater heights. That’s the only way to achieve true freedom.”

  As Ishin studied the determination on Rhee’s face, part of him believed she could do it. His path was one of vengeance and blood, while she pursued higher realms out of a desire for complete independence. It was admirable. Perhaps after he achieved his revenge, he could walk that path with her. After all, they both sought power.

  “Surely you also want to keep progressing to greater and greater realms?” she asked Long.

  “I have my goals,” he replied. “I don’t know if I need to become an immortal to achieve them, but I agree that more power would be helpful.”

  There it was again—Long not sharing his true motivations. That was why Ishin was reluctant to trust him with his own.

  Perhaps that makes me a hypocrite, though. Shouldn’t I show the trust I’d like in return? Still, my instincts tell me to be cautious.

  “What about you, Mei?”

  “I…” Mei paused before answering. “My clan will expect me to stay in the sect for a while. They’d love it if I became an elder, like my aunt, so I’ll keep striving for that. I’ll have to reach the Venerable Realm to achieve that.”

  “You’re only here because of your clan’s aspirations?” Rhee asked, her distaste evident. It wasn’t directed at Mei herself, though Ishin knew.

  It’s like what her own clan tried to do to her. Only Rhee managed to escape that fate. Mei didn’t.

  “I don’t mind, actually,” Mei replied hastily, noticing Rhee’s feelings. “It was come here or stay back home, where I would have been used for other ends.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “This way, I get to help them while learning from a Grand Sect. It’s not bad.”

  “Uh huh,” Rhee said, unconvinced, but she dropped it.

  She can relate with Mei now. I hope this will help Rhee’s anger toward her fade.

  Long rose from his seat, Xiaolin letting out a soft screech with the movement. “I’m glad we were able to catch up, but I’m going to take my leave before it gets any later.”

  “Of course,” Mei replied warmly. “This was nice. We should do it more often.”

  “Agreed,” Rhee said, looking at Mei with new eyes.

  “Till next time, then,” Long said before retiring to his room.

  With Long’s departure, the remaining three quickly put away the snacks and tea before retiring as well. It was a pleasant departure from Desolate Island, where every conversation had revolved around survival and escape. This friendly socialization filled a void in Ishin’s heart that he hadn’t realized existed.