Before anyone could respond, Nan Wan lunged. His hand shot upward, reaching for the two Wutong Heart Fires drifting in the air above them.
"Shameless."
But Mu Jiu was faster. The Little Death Wheel left his fingers in a blur and screamed toward the Chinese Paladin. Steel met light. The two flames scattered apart, pulsing.
Nan Wan and Mu Jiu locked against each other, spiritual power grinding, neither gaining ground.
Bai Shuo watched the clash with wide eyes. She nudged Chongzhao and lowered her voice. "Ah Zhao, no rush. Let them exhaust themselves first." She made a small gesture. "Then we move."
Chongzhao was still carrying something heavy from what had happened outside the stone tomb. He frowned at her words, but said nothing.
"Brother Beichen!" Nan Wan's immortal power was slipping. He threw a glance over his shoulder, voice sharp with urgency. "This fight belongs to the immortal and demon clans. Get in!"
Beichen's sword moved once. A single swing shattered both the Fairy Sword and the Little Death Wheel apart simultaneously. In the wake of the blast, the two heart fires split across the room. One drifted toward Mu Jiu. The other flew straight at Bai Shuo's group.
Bai Shuo acted on instinct, her eyes and hands moving at once. She pushed Chongzhao forward. The heart fire struck him head-on and settled into his open palm. Across the chamber, Mu Jiu closed his fingers around the other.
Mu Jiu moved toward Chongzhao. The Kunlun Iron Sword dropped between them with a heavy thud.
"Tonight's two-realm trial was built on cooperation between both clans. One clan, one heart fire. That is the only fair outcome." Beichen's voice came low and even.
The stone chamber had no shortage of powerful cultivators, but Beichen and the blacksmith of unknown origin stood above the rest. Mu Jiu knew better than to push it. He stepped back, rolling the flame between his fingers, and let a slow smile drift toward Nan Wan.
"Fair enough." He turned to Chongzhao. "I didn't expect the immortal tribe's Wutong Heart Fire to end up in hands that belong to neither Kunlun nor the heavens. Boy, after this banquet, everyone will know your name."
Chongzhao's face was still. He said nothing. His fingers closed and the heart fire vanished into his palm. He gave Beichen a shallow bow. "Thank you, Beichen-jun."
Anyone watching had seen the intent behind that sword strike. Beichen had chosen deliberately, guiding one flame to Mu Jiu and one to Chongzhao.
"We are the same generation. No formalities." Beichen gave a slight nod.
"Beichen." Nan Wan's voice cut through, face flushed, knuckles white. "What exactly is the meaning of this?"
"He resolved Rongxian's thousand-year resentment. The heart fire belongs to him." Beichen glanced briefly at Bai Shuo. His tone didn't change.
Bai Shuo raised one brow. Kunlun sword cultivation and its unshakeable sense of righteousness. Reliable.
"The Wutong Martial Arts Banquet concerns all three realms. Kunlun's old debts are Kunlun's problem. This has nothing to do with my Yunxiao." Nan Wan's gaze cut to Chongzhao.
Beichen stepped forward and placed himself between them.
Nan Wan's expression curdled. "So Kunlun is openly declaring itself an enemy of Yunxiao?"
"What does Kunlun have to fear." Beichen didn't even look up. His voice was flat as stone.
"You—"
The Chinese Paladin lifted and pointed directly at Beichen. The air in the chamber pulled tight.
Bai Shuo swallowed. She had made it through a long and exhausting night and had no desire whatsoever to watch another fight start. She grabbed the sleeves of her young apprentice and Chongzhao, angling toward Hua Datie's back for cover.
Then light exploded through the stone chamber. Blinding, all-consuming. It hit everyone at once. Fan Yue pulled Bai Shuo into his arms. Nobody had time to react.
The light faded.
They were standing in front of the three unnamed graves outside the thatched cottage. All of them. Exactly where they had started.
The stone chamber was gone. The door carved with the Kunlun fox totem was gone. There was only the quiet night and the old graves and the grass.
Bai Shuo's face went blank. Fan Yue's brow drew together as he studied the direction of the thatched cottage. Even Hua Datie's sardonic expression had flattened, something cold settling in behind her eyes.
"Did I dream all of that?" Mu Jiu pinched his own cheek and looked at Siye in genuine confusion. "Young master, tell me honestly."
"No." Beichen looked at the Wutong Heart Fire still burning in Mu Jiu's hand. "The heart fire is real. The stone chamber was not. We were inside an illusion."
"An illusion?" Mu Jiu stared. "This place seals spiritual power. Who in the world could set up an illusion here?"
"The seal affects immortals and demons. Alien races are exempt. The only being in this city capable of constructing illusions while exempt from the seal is its king." Beichen turned his gaze toward the thatched cottage.
"A Kunlun sword cultivator, sensing the presence of a sovereign." The voice was deep, unhurried, and it filled the open air like something that had always been there. Blue light pulsed in front of the cottage and resolved into two figures.
The one in front wore a crown and carried the bearing of absolute authority. Behind him, standing respectfully, was the deputy general who had received them at the city gates.
Everyone bowed at once.
"We greet the King of the Other City."
Only Hua Datie stood still.
Bai Shuo grabbed her sleeve and communicated everything with her eyes. Hua Datie's face went colder. Her posture did not shift.
"At ease." The king's gaze paused on Hua Datie for a moment, then swept across the group, his expression settling into something that resembled warmth. "Jin Yao chose well. The rising stars of both clans are exceptional. You dissolved a resentment that had festered for a thousand years. Each clan has its heart fire. The first two levels are complete. Well done."
In a single sentence, the king settled the matter of ownership. Nan Wan's face darkened. He looked to the sky and pressed forward. "Your Majesty. The third trial. There are only eight hours before the city reopens. The first two levels already took two full days. We cannot afford more delays."
The words were blunt, but they weren't wrong. The third level was certain to be harder. If they failed to secure the third heart fire, the entire martial arts banquet would collapse.
"I have come to tell you where the third heart fire is." The king said it simply.
Nan Wan blinked. He had only been asking. He had not expected a direct answer.
Everyone exchanged glances. The same thought moved through all of them: there has to be a catch.
"The third heart fire was placed by the Golden Fairy into the spirit platforms of every person in this city. The third level is this: tonight is the annual Orchid Burning Festival. Every citizen will gather before the palace. They will each offer a measure of heart fire from their spirit platform. Whoever the people of the Other City choose is the rightful master of the third Wutong Heart Fire."
The people of a foreign city would decide the winner. People who had never seen most of them before. People who owed them nothing.
"Your Majesty, is this a joke?" Mu Jiu couldn't hold back. "Half these people wouldn't recognize our faces. What if they don't choose any of us?"
The king looked at him. "These rules were agreed upon by Jin Yao and the demon clan's palace masters and clan leaders. If you have concerns, raise them after the banquet when you return to Wutong Feng Island."
Mu Jiu shut his mouth.
The alien race carried no spiritual power but were born with a divine strength capable of splitting mountains. The king before them had survived three heavenly tribulations a century ago through that strength alone. He was already at the peak of the upper king realm. Provoking him was not an option anyone here could afford.
"You have resolved the thousand-year resentment that haunted this city. That is a gift to me. A banquet has been prepared in the palace. Rest, eat, and wait for tonight."
The king turned to leave, then stopped. His eyes found Hua Datie.
"The day after tomorrow is your mother's memorial. You are here. Go and pay your respects at her tomb."
He said nothing else. His body moved, covering a hundred miles of flat ground in a single leap, and disappeared in the direction of the palace.
Everyone turned to look at Hua Datie.
Mu Jiu's mouth opened slowly. "King's Tomb. The king of the Other City carries the surname Hua." His fox eyes went wide. "Are you Hua Hong? The princess born with divine power who was cast out of the Other City?"
Hua Datie looked at him and said nothing. Which was answer enough.
The silence that followed was absolute. Every pair of eyes in the group moved between Mu Jiu's stunned face and Hua Datie's — that chalk-powdered, iron-backed, relentlessly unbothered face. Bai Shuo looked at Mu Jiu, then at Hua Hong, and found she had nothing to say at all. What kind of group had she ended up with? Each one stranger than the last.
The princess of the Other City, exiled from her own home. From the look on Hua Hong's face when the king spoke to her, she had no interest in playing the role of daughter.
Nan Wan's eyes moved quickly. The third level winner was chosen by the city's people. If Hua Hong had any influence here, her favor could be decisive.
"Hall—" he started, smile already forming.
The deputy general stepped between them and bowed to the group before Nan Wan could finish. "The banquet is ready. Please follow me."
"Finally." Mu Jiu stretched both arms above his head and started walking. "Food and wine in the palace. I have earned every bite."
Beichen gave the deputy a brief nod. "Thank you."
The deputy glanced at Hua Hong last. "Your Highness—"
"That girl stole my chicken. I followed her here. I go where she goes." Hua Datie yawned. "Princess of the Other City means nothing to me." She looked at Bai Shuo. "Wang Gong, you going?"
Bai Shuo looked around, found everyone watching her, and nodded quickly. "Yes. Going. Let's go."
The deputy said nothing more and led the group down the mountain.
Bai Shuo drifted to the back and poked Hua Datie in the side. "Your High—"
Hua Hong fired a look that could cut. Bai Shuo adjusted immediately.
"Lao Hua. The chicken thing. I didn't even eat most of it." Her eyes slid toward her apprentice walking ahead. "He ate plenty. Go after him."
The powder-covered face stiffened. Hua Hong slid a slow look at Bai Shuo, then went quiet without a word.
Bai Shuo filed that away and slipped to Chongzhao's side. "Ah Zhao. Be careful inside the palace."
He frowned. "Why?"
She told him quickly about the monster she'd encountered, keeping her voice low. "There's something wrong in this city. The king doesn't seem to know. I've felt it since we arrived and it won't leave me."
It wasn't only her. Others had encountered the creature that night too.
"Don't leave my side once we're inside."
Chongzhao's expression was serious now, but Bai Shuo was already somewhere else in her own head, turning over other thoughts. She made a vague sound of acknowledgment.
Chongzhao studied Fan Yue for a long moment, then spoke. "Who is he?"
"Who do you—oh." The word caught in Bai Shuo's throat. She hadn't been ready for that. Her body tensed and her foot caught the edge of a stone. She lurched forward.
Chongzhao moved fast, but Fan Yue was faster.
The young man caught her arm, steadied her, and drew her away from the edge in one smooth motion. "Master. Slow down."
His voice was low. She was the only thing in his eyes.
"You scared me half to death." Bai Shuo patted the top of his head without thinking and grinned. "Mumu, what would I do without you."
Chongzhao looked at the two of them. He pressed his lips together, turned, and walked ahead.
"Ah Zhao—" Bai Shuo caught herself and looked back. She saw only the straight, quiet line of his retreating back.
She had to fix this. Fan Yue's identity couldn't stay hidden from him much longer. She pulled forward to catch up, but something held her wrist.
She turned. Fan Yue's eyes met hers. The usual softness was still there, but underneath it sat something else entirely. Something that watched. Something that knew.
Her chest went cold. "Mumu?"
He tilted his head. "What's wrong, Master?"
She blinked. She studied his face again. Young. Open. A little confused.
She let out a long, shaking breath. He was still here. Still just Mumu. Still her apprentice.
If the great demon truly remembered who he was and what he was, a single strike would end her and he would probably consider it mercy. He only called her Master while the boy remained.
She took the relief and held onto it. And underneath even the relief, something quieter moved through her that she didn't examine too closely. Something that had nothing to do with self-preservation.
He is Mumu. He is only ever Mumu. That is enough.
"You two are falling behind." The blacksmith's dry voice cut through from somewhere nearby. "The northwest wind won't wait."
Bai Shuo snapped back. She felt the warmth on her own face before she could stop it. She shook Fan Yue's hand off and broke into a jog down the mountain.
The young man smiled to himself, ran a hand through his hair, and followed without hesitation.
Somewhere behind them, Hua Hong pulled a blade of grass from the roadside and turned it between her teeth. Her lips were still. Her voice found Fan Yue's ear alone.
"Last night, that evil spirit couldn't land a blow on you more than three times. The spirit-lock formation in this city had no effect on you. Even Rongxian's golden elixir couldn't touch you. She is a half-immortal at best. How is she your master?"
The young man walked on. He gave no sign of having heard.
"You're not even curious about what you are? I could help you." Hua Hong raised an eyebrow at his back.
"No." Fan Yue's eyes cooled. He glanced back at her once. "Whoever I am, you don't touch her. I killed Rongxian. I can kill you."
He turned back and walked on.
Hua Hong stared at the empty air he had left behind and addressed the sky.
My lord. What have I done to deserve this. I am your loyal and devoted servant.
She sulked for exactly three seconds. Then something struck her and she started laughing under her breath, watching the young man's back as he trailed after Bai Shuo with all the devotion of a dog that had found its person.
His old self won't let me help him remember. And meanwhile he's out here calling her Master and wagging his tail like a little milk pup. Fine. I'll just watch the show.