Chapter 122: Schoolyard Scraps

The rest of the feast was relatively uneventful. The newly minted Kong Shengyue stuck by his side the entire time.

Despite his best efforts, he hadn't found anyone willing to duel him, and he was pretty sure that she was at fault. Whenever anyone tried to approach or join their conversation besides Taka, they were glared away.

And Taka was occupied with Kong Shengbai for the most part, but she seemed less successful at totally monopolizing his time. Good enough that they were only able to talk a couple of times, and Paike couldn't really ask for his help in the quest to find someone to fight.

Still, it wasn't all bad. He spent a lot of time filling Kong Shengyue in on the family. It was still too soon to share any secrets; they were in public, after all, but going over general customs and history was fine.

"You don't train before you get to the grand sect?" She asked in surprise.

"Of course we train; we just don't cultivate past Early Ruby or learn any arts," Paike said. "Father says it goes against the spirit of their founding ideas."

"Doesn't that put you all at a massive disadvantage compared to the families that do?" She asked.

Paike smiled. "Kong Shengyue, there is much you have to learn. There is a reason that no Kong has failed the trial to reach the inner sect. The only time a Kong isn't ruling the outer sect is because there is none in the sect at the time. Every Kong, except when there is more than one."

"Does this mean you are ruling the outer sect?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. It would have been boasting if he had, but it also would have been weird to be here when he had responsibilities back at the sect. "Also, it feels weird to have you call me by my full name when we share a surname now. Why don't you just call me Yue?"

They had gone back and forth a bit before they settled on Shengyue. For now, she insisted. He let her call him Paike; she had a point if she was going to join their family, even if it was only until she was twenty-five; even then, she would keep the family name and allegiance.

"No, right now my little sister, Liming, should be in charge. I half think Father timed this trip so I couldn't help her too much."

Shengyue pulled more and more stories from him as they sat in an out-of-the-way corner of the hall while the festivities went on around them. She even had their plates and drinks refilled for them so they didn't need to go anywhere.

He certainly had worse experiences at banquets.

"So why does your family always do so well despite not taking a head start? Is that one of the family secrets I can't learn?"

"No, it's not a secret," Paike said. "Most families practice some imitation, but with varied results. Much of it has to do with the teaching and preparation we go under in childhood. It's not designed to help us in the sect, but to prepare us for the family business. But beyond that, it is a mentality, probably not too different from what you need to survive out here. That is a willingness to work together with family and trusted allies."

"I would imagine your inherited talents also play a role too," Shengyue said.

"It certainly doesn't hurt."

"And since you only just joined the grand sect, you are going to be there for another three years still?"

"I am," Paike said. "Unless I get expelled and serve the rest of my term out in the military. That does happen to some Kongs; we are not the most peaceful and tend to break the rules a little."

"And what am I going to do?" She asked.

"Well, there are lots of things the family does. I can tell you about some of them, but I imagine this is a talk you will want to have with Father, as he likely has something in mind for you that would be better than what you would pick yourself."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I still want to hear your thoughts."

The rest of the night passed like that until the banquet ended and he found himself in the guest quarters, the rooms all connected to a shared lounge the expedition used. Taka was waiting for him in one of the chairs.

"I see you managed to only talk yourself into a stay of execution," Taka said.

"What?" Paike asked, his brain a little tired from all the socializing he had done, and he wasn't in the mood for guessing cryptic comments.

"You seriously didn't notice?"

"Notice what?"

"You know what, I'm not going to say anything and ruin the surprise. It'll be more fun to watch this way." Taka said, shaking his head. "You still have some serious blind spots, brother."

"Whatever," Paike brushed him off. "I'm going to go to sleep; I think my multiple breakthroughs today wore me out."

Taka dramatically grabbed his chest. "You don't need to twist the knife!"

Paike snorted as he walked past and waved over his shoulder. Honestly, he wasn't lying and could use a rest.

Apparently, Taka had one more thing to say and called after him. "Father said we leave early tomorrow, so don't oversleep!"

Paike ignored the mild taunt and went to gather some qi and then to bed.

***

Somehow Paike had underestimated Father's ability to wake people up moments before they would have woken themselves. He knew he didn't have an art dedicated to it, because no one else was petty enough to create one. But that Father might have invented some qi working to let him know the worst time to wake people at was far from unbelievable.

So he was unprepared when he entered the shared Lounge; he found it about twice as full as he had expected.

Shengyue gave him a small wave from the Hidden Peak Sect members who were grouped on the far end of the room.

Father clapped his hands, gathering everyone's attention before Paike could process what was going on.

"Everyone, pay attention. I don't want to have to repeat myself," Father started. "We have a job to do. Last night I talked with Sheng Guo, and he told me about a little problem he was having. Apparently, a demonic sect exists at the borders of the empire. He was gracious enough to offer some assistance in removing the threat."

He motioned to the cultivators. They were six emerald cultivators and three sapphires. There was no fifth realm they could risk, and their only sixth realm was their leader. That was a significant commitment of the sect's strength, but Paike also recognized a few of them from last night's banquet, who had gotten close to members of his escort.

If the demonic cultivator's leaders could keep Father occupied for any length of time, they would be very helpful.

Demonic cultivators tended to be able to fight above their own realms at the cost of their life for spurts of time. Normally, no sane cultivator would throw their life away for an advantage in a fight that they could avoid. Demonic cultivators were not known for their sanity.

Also, they weren't going to give them a chance to escape. The only saving grace when fighting Demonic cultivators was that few were able to maintain sanity long enough to reach high realms despite their artificially fast cultivation speed.

Everything had a price, and advancing with others' help or using forbidden techniques strained the spirit and soul until it eventually broke the mind.

But if somehow one managed to stay somewhat sane, or the sanity was of a type that lent itself to self-preservation, they could be a real threat. Growing fast and in secret was the worst kind of threat, and when they were unearthed, devastation followed.

Father was here, so none of that was a concern. They just had to survive long enough to win.

But had he known that it was a demonic sect rather than just one dabbling in mental poisons, Paike liked to think that he would have led a larger strike force. Not for his own help, but rather for Paike and Taka's protection.

Father was known for taking on impossible tasks on his own. Unless there was a demonic cultivator in the ninth realm, Paike had the utmost confidence in him.

While Father had brought them for real experience, he also wanted to give them a real chance to survive. This is why more had joined them. The help they accepted was likely carefully calibrated to push them to their limits to have a chance of living.

Life was a hard teacher, Father always said.

Paike bristled with excitement as he processed everything. Certainly, he had fights before, but they had all been schoolyard scraps in comparison. A few times he had been in genuine danger, like with the ancient spirit, or when Elder Ji was troubled. But that was all different.

Now, here, he would be tested. Was all the talk of how great his family was last night just that? Talk? Or was he going to live up to it?

But more than that, he wanted to test his path. Had his idea of constant growth, of never-ending progression, done him well? Or would it have been better to consider other options, like cultivating companions or helping Liming more like he had originally planned? After today, he knew he would find out.

Father laid out the rest of the plan. Where they were going, the estimated forces arrayed against them. He even broke them down into roles.

Paike would be assigned to seal one of the secondary exits in a small group consisting of him, Taka, Shengyue, and Shengbai. They would be led by Lin Yue, the core disciple.

It was impossible not to notice that it was the strongest group, with the higher-ranking Emeralds and the only Sapphire with imperial training, where it really started to matter in the fourth realm. Still, no one complained. They were still doing real work crucial to the mission, not staying behind and being guarded.

After the other assignments and the rest of the plan were laid out, they headed for the exit.

"I'm impressed," Shengyue said as she fell into step beside him. "You weren't exaggerating when you described why your family did so well last night."

"I'm not sure I follow?" Paike said. "We haven't done anything yet."

"From what I know, it might be different in the empire, but most battle plans of cultivators typically entail going here and fighting until everyone on one side is dead," Shengyue said with derision. "Maybe a leader will have some plan, but it's not always shared, and if it is, it is with their elders leading each part, not with the entire group. Many of our rivals out here would call it cowardice. That we do not have faith in our cultivation or power."

"I think this is why we call you all barbarians," Taka chimed in.

Shengbai huffed from beside him, and he looked down at her.

"Not that it doesn't have its uses," He added. "But it has its place and shouldn't be applied outside of it."

"No, it is silly," Shengyue said. "Grandfather is always going on about how the sect has faded since we left the empire, and I think I am starting to understand what he means."

They left the tunnels under the mountain and exited onto the same plateau that they had arrived on. The nine extra passengers seemed to make no difference to Father as he lifted them up and they all shot off along the mountain range.

Again, he didn't block the wind, so there was no talking or distractions. The only thing each of them could do was mentally prepare for the fight to come.