The Night He Returned

Night descended over Hoa Van Town, and one light after another began to appear.

From the main roads to the newly built residential districts, oil lamps and illuminated spirit stones gradually lit the streets, making the entire town stand out against the surrounding darkness.

The traffic of beast carts carrying goods slowly thinned.

Shops began closing for the night.

Yet the number of people heading toward the central square continued to increase.

Word that the Alliance Leader had returned had already spread throughout Hoa Van by the afternoon.

For the Hoa Ky people who had followed Hao Nhien since the earliest days of building the town, this was a chance to see again the Clan Chief who had led them through their most difficult years.

For the families who had moved here more recently—especially those from Dong Nguyen and other tribes of the Western Wastes—most knew Hao Nhien only through stories.

They too wanted to see for themselves the man who had helped create the place they now called home.

The square had originally been expanded from the empty ground surrounding the old fighting platform.

More buildings had risen around it, and the roads leading in were wider than before, but the arena itself had been preserved.

The stone surface that had once carried the marks of countless battles had been repaired.

The largest cracks were filled.

Only several deep sword scars remained, too deep to erase completely.

Below the platform, teams responsible for public order had been positioned along the main paths, ensuring the crowd did not block families with children or elderly people.

Several merchants had taken advantage of the occasion as well, setting up tea, pastries, and food stalls in designated areas outside the square.

The atmosphere was lively.

Hao Nhien arrived when almost everyone had gathered.

Luu Thanh walked beside him.

Quan Lam, Lanh Hoa, and several people responsible for the town’s affairs followed behind.

Lieu Thien Van was already there, standing near the arena and speaking with a few acquaintances.

When he saw Hao Nhien approaching, the old man turned and laughed.

“I thought you’d hide in your courtyard and sleep the moment you returned. Didn’t expect you to remember your promise.”

Hao Nhien cupped his hands.

“I already promised everyone. How could I not come?”

“Then you speak first later. I’m only here to watch the excitement.”

Hao Nhien looked at him.

“With the City Lord standing here, I doubt anyone will let you only watch.”

Lieu Thien Van laughed loudly.

Before he could answer, Luu Thanh stepped forward and reported that everything was ready.

When Hao Nhien walked onto the platform, the conversations across the square gradually faded.

Those closest recognized him first.

Then the silence spread outward like a wave.

Within moments, thousands of eyes were fixed on the young man standing at the center of the arena.

Hao Nhien looked down.

There were faces he had known for years.

And many he had never seen before.

Hoa Ky clansmen stood among merchants from Dong Nguyen.

Families newly arrived from the Western Wastes stood beside wandering cultivators.

Behind them, children stretched onto their toes, trying to see over the shoulders of adults.

Hao Nhien suddenly remembered the first time he had stood on this platform.

Back then, people had come to see whether he would win or die.

Struggles between factions, suspicion, and old conflicts had made even the simple idea of building a place where different people could live together difficult.

Now, those standing before him still came from different backgrounds.

Their cultivation differed.

Their interests differed.

But at least they could gather in the same square without preparing to fight one another.

Hao Nhien cupped his hands toward the crowd.

“Everyone, it has been a long time.”

Someone below immediately laughed.

Then a voice shouted,

“Clan Chief, you were gone too long!”

Another followed.

“That’s right! This time you need to stay longer!”

Hao Nhien looked toward the voices and smiled.

“I was planning to rest for a few days.”

“But hearing you say that, why do I suddenly feel like I’ve only just returned and you’re already preparing to keep me here working?”

Laughter spread across the entire square.

Luu Thanh laughed as well.

Quan Lam stood below with his arms crossed, wearing the expression of a man surprised that Hao Nhien had finally learned how to joke in front of a crowd.

When the laughter faded, Hao Nhien continued.

“Before I speak about what happened during this journey, I want to thank everyone who remained here and continued building Hoa Van.”

His gaze moved toward the new rows of buildings in the distance.

“When I left, there was still much unfinished.”

“Today, I came back to widened roads, functioning warehouses, expanding medicinal gardens, and more people choosing Hoa Van as the place where they want to live.”

“None of those changes appeared because I returned.”

“And none of them were created by me alone.”

His voice was not loud, but he used just enough True Qi to carry it clearly even to those standing at the far edge of the square.

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“You built the houses.”

“You cultivated the medicinal fields.”

“You managed the water, transported the goods, maintained order, and protected the children.”

“I may have offered a few ideas.”

“But without people willing to actually do the work, those ideas would have remained nothing more than words.”

Many below nodded quietly.

Hao Nhien continued.

“I once said I wanted to see a day when people of the Western Wastes and Dong Nguyen could live beside one another without immediately thinking of war.”

“A day when being born in one place would not decide which side a person was forced to stand on for the rest of his life.”

He looked across the families standing together beneath the lamps.

“Here in Hoa Van, we have begun proving that such a life is possible.”

“People can trade.”

“Work.”

“Cultivate.”

“Raise their children.”

“And choose the path that suits them.”

“Of course, this place still has many problems.”

“There will still be disputes.”

“But at the very least, we have proven that another way of living can truly exist.”

The square gradually became quieter.

To those who had once lived beneath the pressure of dependent tribes, those words were not some distant dream.

They had already seen the change in the most ordinary parts of their lives.

Hao Nhien paused before moving to the matter many had been waiting to hear.

“This journey also brought back important news.”

“The situation in Heavenly Eye has changed greatly.”

“If nothing unexpected happens, the different powers of the Western Wastes may soon have more opportunities to resolve their conflicts through negotiation instead of war.”

A wave of whispers immediately rose.

Those who had suffered directly under Heavenly Eye’s military lines looked toward one another.

Some showed joy.

Others clearly did not yet dare believe it.

Hao Nhien did not reveal what had happened inside the inner shrine.

Nor did he publicly announce Quan Nha’s new position before the entire crowd.

He only explained that Heavenly Eye was changing direction.

The use of imposed faith and control over the tribes would gradually be reconsidered.

For the time being, the military lines would still maintain order to prevent unnecessary conflict.

“I cannot promise that everything will become good after a single night.”

“Conflicts that have existed for years will take time to resolve.”

“And there will certainly be people unwilling to give up the benefits they once held.”

“But at least a door has opened.”

He looked at the crowd.

“What matters now is what we do when that opportunity appears.”

Someone below called out,

“Alliance Leader, does that mean Hoa Van won’t have to fight anymore?”

Hao Nhien looked toward the speaker.

“I hope we won’t.”

“But hope cannot replace preparation.”

“Hoa Van still needs people capable of protecting it.”

“We still need rules clear enough to handle disputes.”

“And if someone tries to use strength to take away the lives you have built, then we must still be able to resist.”

He paused.

“But that strength should exist to protect a way of life.”

“Not to turn other people into subjects who must obey us.”

Small discussions broke out below.

Several Hoa Ky warriors standing near the platform nodded.

Families from other tribes listened carefully as well.

Watching them, Hao Nhien felt something difficult to describe.

“I still have many things to do.”

“There are places I must go, and people I still need to find.”

“So even though I would like to, I cannot remain in Hoa Van forever.”

The atmosphere immediately grew slightly heavier.

Hao Nhien smiled.

“But that is also exactly what I wanted to say tonight.”

“Hoa Van should not exist only because I am standing here.”

“If a place wants to survive for a long time, the people living there must be able to manage it, solve their own problems, and protect their own lives.”

His gaze moved toward Luu Thanh, Lanh Hoa, and the others responsible for the town.

“I believe all of you can do that.”

“What I saw today has already proven it.”

Hao Nhien cupped his hands before his chest.

“Hoa Van belongs to everyone who lives here.”

“Continue protecting it.”

“Continue building it.”

“Not because you promised me anything.”

“But because this is your life, and the life of the people standing beside you.”

The square remained silent for a moment.

Then someone shouted from somewhere below,

“Clan Chief, don’t worry! We’ll protect it!”

Another voice followed almost immediately.

“You still have clansmen out there to find. Leave Hoa Van to us!”

“That’s right!”

Voices began rising from every direction.

Some called him Clan Chief.

Some Alliance Leader.

Others simply wished him safety on whatever journey came next.

No one was directing them.

The words were not even the same.

Yet that very disorder made Hao Nhien feel closer to them.

He did not stop the crowd.

He simply stood there for a while, then bowed slightly in thanks.

Lieu Thien Van had watched from below the entire time.

Only after the voices faded somewhat did he step onto the platform.

Hao Nhien moved aside.

Lieu Thien Van looked at him before turning toward the crowd.

“Hao Nhien has already said quite a lot.”

“I originally intended not to interrupt.”

“But if I say nothing, perhaps later you’ll all decide this old man only knows how to stand around and watch.”

Laughter immediately broke out again.

Lieu Thien Van waited until everyone settled before continuing.

“I have seen many cities and tribes of the Western Wastes rise and fall.”

“Some were very strong.”

“They had large armies and abundant resources.”

“But once the person at the top died or left, the people below immediately began fighting for control.”

“In the end, all they left behind was rubble.”

He looked across the buildings surrounding the square.

“If Hoa Van wants to last, it cannot follow that road.”

“Hao Nhien is right.”

“This place must be protected by those who actually live here.”

“You can respect him.”

“You can be grateful to him.”

“But you cannot wait for him to return every time a decision has to be made.”

Several people below nodded.

Lieu Thien Van paused.

Then he pointed toward Hao Nhien.

“But don’t forget something else.”

“A person may eventually walk a road on his own.”

“But before that, someone still has to be willing to take the first step.”

His voice deepened.

“Hao Nhien placed the first stone of Hoa Van.”

“Before there were roads, warehouses, or medicinal gardens here…”

“he believed people from Dong Nguyen and the Western Wastes could live together.”

“When many thought that idea was nothing more than fantasy, he began building it.”

The old man looked down at the crowd.

“Now, what he once spoke of is slowly becoming real.”

“The rest of the road is ours to walk properly.”

Lieu Thien Van lowered his hand.

“No matter how far Hao Nhien travels in the future, as long as Hoa Van remains a place where people can live without fear, then what we are doing here today will not have been wasted.”

Applause began from one corner of the square.

Then it quickly spread.

The Hoa Ky people near the arena cupped their hands together.

Merchants from Dong Nguyen and others joined in their own ways.

Hao Nhien stood beside Lieu Thien Van and looked over the scene.

A strange feeling slowly rose within him.

He had faced hostile eyes before.

He had seen the fear of people who could not protect themselves.

He had witnessed the despair of clansmen who believed the Hoa Ky would never again have a place to return to.

But what was being directed toward him now was entirely different.

Some respected him.

Some were grateful.

Others simply hoped he would remain safe on the road ahead.

Their thoughts were not identical.

They had not been shaped through one common ritual of worship.

But all of them were real.

At that exact moment, Hao Nhien suddenly felt a faint fluctuation deep within his soul.

He paused.

A thin current of force was brushing against the deeper reaches of his awareness.

The sensation was familiar.

He had experienced it before in Lac Van.

It was not spiritual energy.

Not True Qi.

Not ordinary soul power.

The force of belief.

Hao Nhien did not immediately circulate his cultivation.

He remembered what Quan Nha had told him about touching this unusual force.

Do not drag it toward yourself.

Do not actively absorb it.

And do not instinctively block what was naturally reaching you.

He relaxed the defenses around his soul and allowed the fluctuations to make contact while observing how the Soul Art responded.

At first there were only a few strands.

Then the number rapidly increased.

Compared with Lac Van, there were far more people here.

The emotions and hopes they carried were more complicated as well.

Some wanted him to return safely.

Some placed their hopes in Hoa Van’s future.

Some simply wanted to offer thanks because their families had finally found a peaceful home.

None of those currents transformed directly into True Qi.

They touched his soul.

The Soul Art filtered through them.

And afterward, they left extremely subtle changes within the stable state that had formed after he reached Foundation Establishment layer nine.

One cycle passed.

Hao Nhien felt his soul become slightly clearer.

During the second cycle, the synchronization between his soul and True Qi began to change in a way he had never before sensed so distinctly.

He frowned.

Not from pain.

The True Qi throughout his meridians was beginning to adjust itself according to a new rhythm.

Hao Nhien immediately focused inward.

He had spent nearly a month on the journey home consolidating his cultivation.

His Foundation Establishment layer-nine realm was already far more stable than before.

The accumulation from earlier stages had never disappeared.

It had only been waiting for the right moment to continue transforming.

Then, as the Soul Art completed another cycle, the spiritual liquid within his dantian suddenly formed a small vortex.

Hao Nhien’s expression changed.

The spiritual liquid that had once flowed relatively freely was beginning to move toward a single point.

At first, the process was slow.

But within only a few breaths, the force of convergence became noticeably stronger.

True Qi from his meridians was simultaneously pulled inward toward the dantian.

He immediately tried to adjust it.

The vortex slowed slightly.

But it did not stop.

Then, at the center of that rotation, an impossibly small point of condensation appeared.

Hao Nhien froze.

His Foundation Establishment layer nine had not yet reached what cultivation convention called the peak.

Under normal circumstances, he should still have needed more time to accumulate and consolidate before ever approaching the gate of Golden Core.

Yet what was happening inside his dantian was not ordinary stabilization.

It resembled a process of convergence already beginning before he had prepared for it.

Hao Nhien quickly realized the force of belief touching his soul was not the sole cause.

His earlier tempering.

The accumulation of True Qi.

The changes in the Soul Art.

All those things were resonating together.

Factors that had once existed separately had somehow found a point of connection.

The transformation was beginning far faster than he had expected.

He did not yet understand the complete mechanism.

But one thing was already unmistakable.

These were the signs of core formation.