Chapter 42 — A Lead Three Years Late

For several breaths, nobody spoke.

The damaged recording jade remained suspended above Duan Zheng's palm.

Its image had already faded, leaving only the last movement behind in Jian Wuchen's mind.

A turn.

A yielding step.

A shift of weight that seemed to give way before changing direction at precisely the moment retreat should have become unavoidable.

Falling Reed.

Jian Wuchen lowered Clear Wind.

"When?"

Duan Zheng understood the question.

"The recording was made twenty-three days ago."

Jian Wuchen's eyes sharpened.

Ye Feng stopped leaning against the stone railing.

Shen Yuan looked at the damaged jade again.

Twenty-three days.

That was considerably more useful than three years.

"When did you receive it?" Shen Yuan asked.

"Four days ago."

"From?"

"A cultivator named Luo Sheng. He occasionally sells information to people I used during my investigation."

"Alive?"

Duan Zheng glanced at him.

"Yes."

"Where?"

"Riverstone City. Unless he's moved since yesterday."

"Does he know why you wanted this recording?"

"No."

"Who else has seen it?"

Duan Zheng was silent for half a breath.

"The people who recorded it. Whoever handled it before Luo Sheng acquired it. Possibly whoever damaged it."

"So several unknown people."

"Yes."

"Was the swordsman aware of the recording?"

"Unknown."

"Was Luo Sheng followed?"

"He didn't notice anyone."

Shen Yuan nodded.

That was not the same as no.

Jian Wuchen waited until Shen Yuan finished.

"Show it again."

Duan Zheng fed a thread of spiritual energy into the jade.

The image flickered back into existence.

The recording was poor.

Grey reeds filled most of the view, their pale stalks swaying beneath a dim sky. Someone had clearly been recording from a considerable distance.

Then the swordsman appeared.

Only briefly.

Dark robes.

A sword.

An opponent outside the recording's angle.

The figure shifted backward.

The body yielded.

The sword moved.

One step became another.

The image distorted.

Then darkness.

Jian Wuchen watched without blinking.

Duan Zheng let it repeat.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

"Falling Reed?" Shen Yuan asked.

"Yes."

"Could someone copy it?"

"Of course."

That answer came immediately.

Jian Wuchen reached toward the projection and stopped his finger beside the swordsman's rear foot.

"But not easily."

Ye Feng stepped closer.

"Your father never taught that step publicly."

"No."

"I saw him use it."

"So did many people."

"Not like that."

Jian Wuchen nodded.

Falling Reed had never been Jian Shou's strongest technique.

It wasn't even truly an attack.

His father had created it because he disliked movement techniques that treated retreat and advance as opposites.

A reed bent because resisting every force was foolish.

But bending wasn't surrender.

The instant the force changed, so did the reed.

Falling Reed used the same principle.

Yield.

Redirect.

Return from an angle the opponent had already dismissed.

The recording contained only two steps.

It was enough.

"The second turn," Jian Wuchen said. "The heel doesn't settle."

Duan Zheng nodded.

"I noticed."

"Most copies settle."

"Why?" Lu Chen would probably have asked.

He wasn't here.

Jian Wuchen answered anyway.

"Because it feels more stable."

Shen Yuan understood.

"And doing it correctly feels wrong."

"Until the third step."

Which the recording didn't contain.

Shen Yuan looked at Duan Zheng.

"Did Jian Shou teach Falling Reed to Song Yao?"

"Yes."

Jian Wuchen's gaze shifted.

Duan Zheng continued.

"Not the complete technique at first. Later, yes."

"Anyone else?"

"Not that I confirmed."

Jian Wuchen answered this time.

"He taught me."

Ye Feng gave him a sideways look.

"You hated it."

"I was twelve."

"You said bending away from an attack was ugly."

"It was."

"And now?"

Jian Wuchen considered.

"Less ugly."

Ye Feng smiled.

Duan Zheng almost did.

The tension loosened by a fraction.

Shen Yuan pointed at the projection.

"So we know someone used a technique Jian Shou created, in the same valley where Song Yao disappeared while investigating Jian Shou's death."

"Yes," Duan Zheng said.

"We do not know that the person is Song Yao."

"No."

"We don't know whether they learned it from Song Yao."

"No."

"We don't know whether they're connected to Jian Shou's death."

"No."

"We don't even know whether the recording was damaged intentionally."

Duan Zheng looked at the cracked jade in his hand.

"No."

Shen Yuan nodded.

"Good."

Ye Feng raised an eyebrow.

"Good?"

"We know what we don't know."

That was considerably better than mistaking hope for evidence.

Jian Wuchen looked east.

"I'm going."

"Yes," Shen Yuan said.

Jian Wuchen turned back.

Apparently, that had not been the response he expected.

Shen Yuan continued.

"After we know what we're walking into."

A pause.

Then Jian Wuchen nodded.

"Fine."

Huo Ming, who had remained beside the cooling furnace through the entire conversation, finally folded his arms.

"Are you taking my newly finished work into a valley full of unknown sword cultivators?"

Jian Wuchen looked at Clear Wind.

"Yes."

Huo Ming's expression became unpleasant.

"Try not to make me repair it tomorrow."

"I'll try."

"That wasn't reassuring."

Tang Rui, standing several steps behind his master, looked between them.

"Master, isn't testing an artifact in actual combat important?"

Huo Ming turned.

"Whose side are you on?"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to NovelPhoenix for the genuine story.

Tang Rui wisely became interested in the furnace.

Shen Yuan looked at the tiny container of Void Meridian Star-Iron filings Huo Ming had kept for research.

"Let me know what you learn."

Huo Ming grunted.

"And you let me know if those internal channels behave strangely."

Jian Wuchen nodded.

"No experimenting with the stored material yet," Shen Yuan added.

Huo Ming stared at him.

"Do I look reckless?"

Shen Yuan glanced at his burned sleeves.

Tang Rui coughed.

Huo Ming's eyes narrowed.

"Leave."

So they did.

Lin Yue was sitting beside the Nine-Yin Lunar Pool when Jian Wuchen returned to Cloudveil.

The afternoon light had begun to soften.

Moonfrost rested across her knees.

A thin layer of frost covered the water immediately around her, but farther out the pool remained perfectly still.

Her eyes opened before Jian reached the stone path.

Lu Chen was nearby.

He was lying flat on the grass.

Shen Yuan had stopped asking why.

Lu Chen lifted his head.

"Second Senior Brother."

Jian Wuchen stopped.

"I found a lead."

Lin Yue rose.

That was all he needed to say for her expression to change.

Lu Chen sat up.

Jian Wuchen told them.

He didn't make it dramatic.

He explained the recording.

Falling Reed.

Grey Reed Valley.

Twenty-three days ago.

Song Yao's disappearance three years earlier.

When he finished, Lu Chen remained unusually quiet.

Then he asked, "Could someone have stolen the technique?"

"Yes."

"Could Senior Song have taught someone?"

"Yes."

"Could your father have taught someone nobody knew about?"

Jian Wuchen paused.

"Possibly."

Lu Chen nodded slowly.

"So finding the person doesn't mean finding Senior Song."

"No."

Lin Yue looked at Jian Wuchen.

"When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow."

"I'll prepare."

Jian Wuchen frowned slightly.

"This isn't your problem."

"Correct."

Lin Yue walked toward her residence.

Jian Wuchen watched her go.

Lu Chen stood and brushed grass from his robes.

"Me too."

"You just established your Foundation."

"Yes."

"It isn't stable."

"Twenty-seven percent."

Jian Wuchen looked at him.

Lu Chen smiled.

"I checked this morning."

"That wasn't my point."

"I know."

Jian Wuchen looked toward Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan had taken a seat beneath the tree.

A cup of tea had somehow appeared beside him.

Chen An.

Of course.

"Master."

Shen Yuan picked up the cup.

"He's coming."

Lu Chen brightened.

Jian Wuchen frowned.

"Why?"

"Because his Foundation is stable enough to travel."

"Twenty-seven percent."

"Correct."

"And if there's a fight?"

"Then he'll learn what twenty-seven percent feels like when someone is trying to hit him."

Lu Chen looked thoughtful.

"That sounds useful."

Jian Wuchen stared at him.

"Stop agreeing with him."

"Why?"

Jian Wuchen decided not to answer.

Shen Yuan took a sip.

The Primordial Voidheart Crystal remained safely stored away.

Lu Chen wasn't ready for it.

His new Foundation had stopped behaving like something that might rearrange his internal structure every time he became excited, which Shen considered progress.

But the Foundation still needed time to establish its own rhythm.

Travel might help.

The Chaos Body Refinement Chamber was controlled.

Cloudveil was controlled.

Even the Five Peaks Assessment had been controlled, regardless of how much Gu Tianhe complained.

The world outside the sect wouldn't be.

Different spiritual environments.

Different pressures.

Different opponents.

Different forces entering Lu Chen's circulation.

Useful.

Shen's gaze shifted.

Lu Chen noticed.

"Master?"

"Catch."

Shen flicked a pebble.

Lu Chen raised a hand.

The pebble struck his palm.

Instead of simply stopping, the force passed through his wrist, traveled along his arm, entered his shoulder—

and dispersed through his torso.

Lu Chen blinked.

Jian Wuchen noticed too.

"Again," Shen said.

Another pebble.

This one was faster.

Lu Chen caught it.

His body shifted half a step.

The force entered.

Moved.

Settled.

Not absorbed.

Not resisted.

Accepted.

Then distributed.

Shen Yuan nodded.

"Keep doing that."

Lu Chen looked at the pebble.

"Getting hit?"

"Understanding what happens afterward."

"Oh."

That answer apparently satisfied him.

Jian Wuchen looked at Shen Yuan.

"Twenty-seven percent."

"Twenty-seven percent."

"You still think this is sensible?"

"No."

Jian Wuchen waited.

Shen Yuan drank his tea.

"That has rarely stopped us."

Jian Wuchen couldn't argue with that.

Lin Yue did not immediately begin packing.

She returned to the Lunar Pool.

There was something she wanted to understand first.

Shen Yuan noticed twenty minutes later.

The Third Lunar Channel had remained stubbornly incomplete.

That wasn't unusual.

The first two channels had already changed how Lin Yue circulated spiritual energy. Each additional channel required more than simply accumulating Qi.

It required understanding.

She sat beneath the pale light gathering over the pool.

Qi moved.

Advance.

The circulation strengthened.

Recede.

The flow weakened.

Return.

It rose again.

The pattern was smooth.

Too smooth.

Lin Yue stopped.

Again.

Advance.

Recede.

Return.

Her brows drew together.

Shen Yuan remained at a distance.

He had learned something important over the last few months.

Sometimes being a good master meant knowing when to speak.

More often than he had expected, it meant knowing when to shut up.

Lin Yue circulated again.

This time she slowed the transition.

Not the advance.

Not the recession.

The space between them.

Her spiritual energy did not simply change from one state to another.

It passed through countless smaller states.

A moon did not become full in a moment.

Nor did it become empty in one.

Waxing was not merely the journey toward fullness.

Waning was not merely the journey toward absence.

They were part of the cycle themselves.

The Third Lunar Channel trembled.

A faint line of silver appeared beneath Lin Yue's skin.

Then stopped.

Not complete.

But different.

Shen Yuan's system flickered.

[Disciple Lin Yue has deepened her comprehension of Lunar Cycles.]

[Third Lunar Channel: 64%]

Lin Yue opened her eyes.

Shen Yuan smiled slightly.

"Found something?"

"The transitions matter."

"Usually."

She looked at him.

"That sounded like you knew."

"I know many things."

"Did you know this?"

"No."

Lin Yue's expression didn't change.

Somehow, Shen Yuan still felt judged.

"Pack."

"Yes, Master."

She stood.

Behind her, the frost covering the pool no longer formed a clean ring.

It faded gradually into water.

Jian Wuchen spent the remaining daylight adjusting.

Clear Wind moved differently now.

Not heavier.

Not lighter.

More immediate.

For years, Jian Wuchen had learned exactly how much Sword Qi the blade could carry before its damaged internal structure resisted him.

Those instincts had become automatic.

Now they were wrong.

He sent a thin strand of Sword Qi through the first channel.

The blade answered before he expected.

A narrow line appeared across the training stone ten paces away.

Jian Wuchen stopped.

Too much.

Again.

Less Sword Qi.

The second cut was shallower.

Again.

Third.

Fourth.

Each time he reduced the input.

Each time Clear Wind carried more cleanly than his old habits expected.

Ye Feng stood nearby watching.

"You look annoyed."

"I am."

"Because your sword improved?"

"Because my control didn't."

Ye Feng laughed.

Jian Wuchen ignored him.

Again.

The next cut barely marked the stone.

Again.

A precise line.

Jian Wuchen looked at it.

Better.

Ye Feng's smile faded slightly.

Not because anything was wrong.

Because he recognized the expression on Jian Wuchen's face.

Years ago, before everything happened, Jian Wuchen had worn that expression whenever a technique failed to match what he thought it should be.

Not anger.

Not frustration.

Correction.

Ye Feng folded his arms.

"I'll come tomorrow."

Jian Wuchen glanced at him.

"You don't need to."

"I know."

That answer sounded familiar.

Jian Wuchen looked toward Lin Yue's residence.

Then back at Ye Feng.

"Fine."

Before leaving Azure Origin, Shen Yuan had one more place to visit.

Unfortunately, it contained Gu Tianhe.

The Sect Master stood beside Mu Qinglan beneath the western convergence platform, surrounded by exposed formation lines and several Jade Lotus disciples carrying measurement plates.

The ground had been opened in three places.

Spiritual light pulsed beneath reinforced stone channels.

Mu Qinglan didn't look up when Shen Yuan arrived.

"Don't touch anything."

Shen Yuan stopped.

"I just arrived."

"I know."

Gu Tianhe turned.

"She's been saying that to everyone."

"Mostly you," Mu Qinglan said.

Gu Tianhe ignored her.

"You're leaving."

"Tomorrow."

"Grey Reed Valley?"

Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"News travels quickly."

"Duan Zheng spoke to me."

That made more sense.

Mu Qinglan finally stood.

"The first transfer replacement is stable."

She gestured toward one of the formation plates.

"Heavenly Sword Peak's eastern line was losing close to twelve percent during peak circulation. The repaired section has reduced that by nearly half."

"Good."

"Vermilion Flame has finished three replacement housings. Black Tortoise found two additional stress points near the defensive junction, but neither is urgent."

"And the spirit vein?"

"Ready for a limited nourishment test."

That was why Shen had come.

He took out a sealed jade container.

Gu Tianhe's expression immediately became suspicious.

"What is that?"

"Something useful."

"That's not reassuring anymore."

Shen Yuan opened the container.

Inside rested a pale-gold mineral mass no larger than a thumb.

It wasn't one of the Five-Element Earthheart Crystals.

Those were too valuable to waste on an early test.

This was a Heaven-grade Spirit Marrow fragment from Cloudveil's storage, useful for gradually enriching a weakened vein without violently increasing output.

Mu Qinglan inspected it.

Then inspected it again.

"This is Heaven-grade."

"Yes."

"For a test?"

"A small one."

Gu Tianhe looked at Shen Yuan.

"Do you receive anything for giving this to the sect?"

Shen Yuan understood what he meant.

"No."

The system remained silent.

This wasn't a gift to one of his official disciples.

There would be no amplified return.

Gu Tianhe's gaze lingered on him.

Shen Yuan sighed.

"Don't make that face."

"What face?"

"The sentimental one."

"I wasn't."

"You were close."

Mu Qinglan took the container.

"Good."

Gu Tianhe looked at her.

"Good?"

"He's leaving."

Shen Yuan decided Cloudveil was much more peaceful.

Then Mu Qinglan pointed at him.

"And you're still not touching the spirit vein with that Dao."

"I remember."

"I asked her to remind you," Gu Tianhe said.

Shen Yuan looked at him.

"You trust me very little."

"I trust you enough to know why reminders are necessary."

"I said I wouldn't cut the spirit vein."

"You also once said taking disciples sounded troublesome."

Shen Yuan became quiet.

Gu Tianhe smiled.

Mu Qinglan returned to the formation.

"Tomorrow morning. Controlled infusion. Three hours. If the western vein reacts badly, we stop immediately."

"Good."

"And Shen Yuan?"

He paused.

"Yes?"

"Don't bring me anything stronger while you're away."

He considered the request.

"Define stronger."

Mu Qinglan slowly looked up.

Shen Yuan left.

Chen An had already prepared six travel packs.

Shen Yuan stared at them.

"How?"

Chen An continued checking the contents.

"Elder Duan requested route maps from the records hall."

"That explains the trip."

"Young Master Lu requested dried meat."

"That explains nothing."

"Young Master Jian asked whether Cloudveil had spare recording jades."

Shen Yuan nodded.

"And Lin Yue?"

"Asked how many days."

Of course.

Chen An closed the final pack.

"Six days to the western entrance of Grey Reed Valley under ordinary travel conditions. Five if Elder Duan chooses the mountain road. Longer if the weather changes."

Shen Yuan looked at him.

"Do you secretly know everything?"

"No, Peak Master."

"Good."

"For tomorrow's breakfast, should I prepare enough for Elder Duan and Young Master Ye?"

Shen Yuan paused.

"Yes."

"Already done."

Shen Yuan looked at him again.

Still average.

Remarkably, relentlessly average.

It was almost impressive.

"I'll be gone for some time."

"I assumed so."

"Keep the Chaos Chamber reinforcement plates monitored."

"Already added to the maintenance schedule."

"Any visitors—"

"Recorded."

"Huo Ming may send someone—"

"I'll receive the materials personally."

Shen Yuan became suspicious.

"Do you still need me here?"

Chen An thought seriously.

"Occasionally."

"Comforting."

Chen An handed him a storage pouch.

Shen Yuan took it.

"If anything happens, contact me."

"Anything specific?"

Shen Yuan considered.

"If the mountain catches fire."

"Vermilion Flame Peak catches fire regularly."

"Cloudveil."

"Understood."

Chen An bowed.

Then he returned to work.

They left shortly after sunrise.

Duan Zheng led.

Ye Feng walked beside him.

Behind them came Jian Wuchen, Lin Yue and Lu Chen.

Shen Yuan walked wherever he felt like walking, which meant his position in the group changed frequently enough that Lu Chen eventually stopped trying to determine whether there was an intended formation.

Azure Origin disappeared slowly behind them.

First the lower gates.

Then the outer mountains.

Then the Five Peaks themselves became distant silhouettes rising above the cloud sea.

Jian Wuchen looked back once.

Only once.

Then east.

Grey Reed Valley lay beyond six days of roads, smaller cities, mountain passes and old cultivation territories.

Duan Zheng unfolded a map while they traveled.

"Grey Reed isn't controlled by a single sect."

Lu Chen leaned closer.

"Who controls it?"

"Depends where you stand."

"That sounds inconvenient."

"It is."

Duan Zheng pointed.

"Three small cultivation clans hold the largest settlements. Wandering sword cultivators have used the northern reed fields for decades. There are mineral streams farther south and several abandoned mines in the eastern ridges."

"Why Grey Reed?" Lin Yue asked.

"For Song Yao?"

She nodded.

Duan Zheng folded the map slightly.

"Because one of the leads concerning Jian Shou's death ended there."

Jian Wuchen said nothing.

"What lead?" Lu Chen asked.

"A sword."

That got Jian Wuchen's attention.

Duan Zheng continued.

"Not Jian Shou's. One recovered from a dead cultivator connected to the false Seventh Lineage investigation."

Shen Yuan's gaze sharpened slightly.

An old thread.

Good.

"What connected the sword to Grey Reed?" he asked.

"The fittings."

Duan Zheng removed the damaged recording jade again.

This time, he froze the image earlier.

The unknown swordsman's weapon was mostly obscured.

Mostly.

Near the guard hung a narrow dark fastening with three pale bands.

"The same style?" Ye Feng asked.

Duan Zheng nodded.

"Similar."

"Similar isn't identical," Jian Wuchen said.

"No."

"Can they be purchased?"

"Yes."

"Copied?"

"Yes."

"Then it proves nothing."

"Correct."

Lu Chen looked between them.

"Why mention it?"

Duan Zheng glanced at him.

"Because useless evidence and weak evidence aren't the same thing."

Lu Chen thought about that.

Then nodded.

Shen Yuan approved.

The false Seventh Lineage.

Falling Reed.

Song Yao.

Jian Shou.

Grey Reed Valley.

For once, the threads were old ones.

No mysterious voice from beyond the world.

No ancient being appearing on Cloudveil.

No system warning him that reality was about to collapse.

Just an investigation that had taken three years to produce one useful direction.

Shen Yuan found that strangely refreshing.

By midday, the roads narrowed.

Cultivators passed them occasionally.

Merchants more often.

The farther east they traveled, the more common swords became.

Not powerful swords.

Not famous swords.

Working weapons.

Worn scabbards.

Repaired handles.

Blades carried by people who actually used them.

Grey Reed had once been a gathering place for small sword schools that could never compete with powers like Profound Sword.

Some had disappeared.

Some remained.

Others had become clans, escort companies or little more than names painted above roadside inns.

The world was full of cultivators who would never become Immortals.

Most would never reach Nascent Soul.

Many would never reach Core Formation.

They still had lives.

Rivalries.

Techniques.

Children.

Debts.

Old grudges.

Reasons to carry swords.

Shen Yuan watched them pass.

Cloudveil had made it easy to forget what ordinary cultivation looked like.

Then Lu Chen tripped over a root.

Shen Yuan looked at him.

Lu Chen looked at the root.

"The ground attacked me."

Jian Wuchen kept walking.

Lin Yue's mouth moved slightly.

Almost a smile.

Normal enough.

That evening, they stopped beside a narrow river.

No formation palace.

No prepared cultivation chamber.

No sect servants.

Just water, trees and a road that continued east.

Lu Chen sat beside the river testing his Foundation.

Lin Yue meditated beneath a tree.

Jian Wuchen cleaned Clear Wind even though it didn't need cleaning.

Ye Feng watched him for a while.

Then walked over.

"You haven't asked."

Jian Wuchen continued wiping the blade.

"Asked what?"

"Whether I think it's him."

Jian Wuchen's hand stopped.

"Do you?"

Ye Feng looked toward the river.

"No."

Jian Wuchen waited.

"But I want to be wrong."

The cloth moved again.

"So do I."

That was enough.

Farther away, Shen Yuan sat beside Duan Zheng.

"What are you expecting to find?" Shen asked.

Duan Zheng looked toward Jian Wuchen.

"Evidence."

"That's the professional answer."

"It's also the honest one."

Shen nodded.

After a while, Jian Wuchen approached.

Duan Zheng stood.

"I'll check the perimeter."

He left without needing to be asked.

Shen Yuan looked at his second disciple.

"What are you expecting to find?"

Jian Wuchen remained standing.

"I don't know."

"Good answer."

Silence.

Shen Yuan looked toward the eastern road.

"What do you want to find?"

That took longer.

Jian Wuchen's fingers rested against Clear Wind's hilt.

Song Yao alive.

His father's killer.

An explanation.

Someone to blame.

Something that made the last several years fit together neatly.

Perhaps all of them.

Perhaps none.

"I don't know," Jian Wuchen said again.

Shen Yuan nodded.

He didn't ask a third time.

They sat beside the river until Lu Chen accidentally sent a pebble flying through a cooking pot.

The pot rang.

Everyone looked at him.

Lu Chen slowly lowered his hand.

"I was practicing."

Jian Wuchen closed his eyes.

Shen Yuan looked at the dent.

"Your Foundation seems stable."

"Thank you, Master."

"That wasn't praise."

"Oh."

Lin Yue stood.

"I'll cook."

That was probably safer.

Six days, Duan Zheng had said.

Jian Wuchen had waited three years.

When they resumed their journey the next morning, Ye Feng fell into step beside him.

"Six days."

"Too long."

"You waited three years."

Jian Wuchen looked at him.

Ye Feng adjusted the sword at his waist.

"Six days is still too long."

Jian Wuchen faced forward again.

By afternoon, the first pale reeds appeared beside the eastern road.

Only a handful.

Thin stalks moving beneath the wind.

Then dozens.

Then fields.

Far ahead, where the road disappeared between low mountains, pale-grey reeds covered the valley slopes like waves beneath an overcast sky.

Grey Reed Valley was still days away.

But for the first time in three years, Jian Wuchen was moving toward an answer instead of waiting for one.