Captain Long Xuanye's first order was:
"Canglan, put that down."
Long Canglan looked at the object in his hand.
It was a boulder.
Not enormous.
Perhaps twice his height.
"Why?"
"Because Jin asked for scales."
"Yes."
"Not a rock."
"I know."
"Then why are you carrying it?"
Canglan looked toward Jin Lianzhen.
She stood beside the temporary forge she had spent the morning constructing.
"Forge decoration."
Jin stared.
"No."
Canglan looked back at Xuanye.
"She rejected it."
"I heard."
"Captain intervention?"
"No."
"Then why tell me to put it down?"
"You are standing in the path."
Canglan looked beneath himself.
Mu Shuyin was waiting behind him with both arms full of tools.
He stepped aside.
"Ah."
Mu walked past.
"Excellent leadership."
Ji Xuanyue covered her mouth.
Xuanye looked at her.
She looked away.
Not successfully.
He knew she was laughing.
Good.
The title had changed almost nothing.
That was perhaps the funniest part.
Yesterday, twelve people had voted Xuanye into responsibility.
This morning, he had woken at the same time, checked the camp perimeter in the same quiet way, noticed that one shelter support had loosened in the night, asked Mu whether it mattered instead of repairing it himself, listened when she said it did, and then eaten breakfast while Canglan complained that the word Captain had apparently given Xuanye even more reasons to ruin his fun.
Xuanye had informed him that he had always possessed enough reasons.
Ji believed him.
The forge occupied a broad shelf of stone west of camp.
Forge was generous.
At present it consisted of one temporary Gate-manifested anvil, three heat-resistant platforms, a circle of stabilizing marks Jin and Mu had spent an hour arguing over, and enough empty containers to make the entire arrangement look less like crafting and more like preparation for a very organized robbery.
Han Zhenyu stood beside Jin.
Too close to be accidental.
Not touching.
Also not pretending.
Four days ago, Ji would have spent time wondering whether this meant anything.
Now she knew.
Apparently they were trying.
Whatever trying meant after knowing someone less than a week.
Ji found that strangely charming.
Jin pointed at the eight Primordial Beast Gatebearers.
"Materials."
Canglan raised the boulder again.
"No."
He put it down.
Feng Chixiao sat on the stone platform nearest Qiu Liezhen.
Qiu sat beside him.
Of course.
Feng looked at Jin.
"What exactly do you need?"
"Stable shed material carrying active bloodline imprint."
"That is not exactly."
"It is enough."
"No."
Jin sighed.
"Something that was part of the body recently, can be removed without injury or meaningful loss, and retains enough Origin imprint to survive refinement."
Feng nodded.
"Better."
Canglan said:
"Scale."
"Yes."
"Mine."
"Yes."
"Only mine?"
"No."
His satisfaction vanished.
Ji laughed.
Jin pointed at the four Dragons.
"Scales are simplest."
Long Zhaoyan examined his forearm.
His skin remained human.
Mostly.
Then something beneath it changed.
Ji's body noticed before her mind did.
Dragon.
Her shoulders tightened.
Not much.
Enough.
Zhaoyan paused.
He had felt it.
Ji hated that everyone here noticed everything.
But Zhaoyan did not stop.
He looked at her first.
Question.
Not words.
Ji breathed.
Then nodded.
Continue.
Something warm passed through his expression.
He partially transformed.
Only the forearm.
Crimson-gold scales spread from wrist to elbow, overlapping with a density and perfection no Realm-born dragon Ji had ever seen.
No wings.
No enormous body.
No roar.
Just an arm.
Ji's pulse accelerated anyway.
Memory was stupid.
Memory did not care about scale.
Zhaoyan waited.
Ji kept breathing.
Then looked closer.
The scales were beautiful.
That realization annoyed her.
Cangyuan dragons had been beautiful too.
Beauty was not morality.
Neither was blood.
Good.
Jin approached.
"Outer layer."
Zhaoyan ran one thumb beneath the edge of a scale near his wrist.
It released without blood.
A second followed.
Then a third.
The exposed area beneath had already begun forming replacement sheen.
Jin took the scales carefully.
Gate energy moved over her fingers.
Her expression sharpened.
"Good."
Qiu said:
"Everyone says that."
Ji laughed.
Jin ignored them.
Long Jinheng transformed next.
Not the same.
His scales carried a different density, a different internal quality beneath the shared primordial Dragon nature.
Long Haoyun's line.
One royal branch.
Long Canglan followed.
Then Xuanye.
Ji watched all four.
Four brothers.
Four Dragon Royal Gates.
Four distinct bloodlines within the same primordial lineage.
When Xuanye's scales appeared, her body reacted again.
Less than the first day.
Still.
He noticed.
Of course.
He did not dismiss the transformation.
Did not hide it.
Also did not move closer.
Good.
Ji looked deliberately.
Dark scales.
Dense.
Quiet.
Nothing like the green dragon that had fallen in Yunluo.
Nothing like the Dragon Emperor.
Nothing like Long Shenyu either.
Xuanye was Xuanye.
Her body would learn.
Eventually.
Jin took the required scales.
Canglan leaned toward her.
"Best?"
"No."
He frowned.
"You have not compared."
"I am refusing the question."
"Coward."
Han looked at him.
"Are you trying to start a ranking of your own body parts?"
Canglan thought.
"Yes."
Han nodded.
"At least you're honest."
Xuanye closed his eyes.
Captaincy looked difficult.
Feng went next.
He stood.
Gate energy moved.
Then bloodline.
Heat touched the air.
Not fire.
Not yet.
A pair of partial Phoenix wings unfolded behind him.
Not full true form.
Not even close.
Still enough that the morning changed color around him.
Qiu stared.
Ji looked at her.
Qiu did not blink.
Feng glanced over one shoulder.
"You have seen wings."
"Not yours."
Feng paused.
Then smiled.
That expression was becoming common around Qiu.
He reached back.
A feather loosened willingly beneath his fingers.
Then another.
The feathers did not burn him.
Obviously.
When Jin took them, however, flame ran along their edges.
She smiled.
"Useful."
Feng looked suspicious.
"For?"
"I don't know yet."
"That is concerning."
"It should be."
Qiu nodded.
"Good."
Feng looked at her.
"You are enjoying this."
"Yes."
Qi Qinghe's contribution came from a partial Qilin transformation.
Ji had not seen one before.
A horn emerged only partly along his brow—not the complete structure of true form, but enough for an outer sheath of luminous material to separate naturally beneath careful control.
Shen Yaoran watched from nearby.
Quietly.
Qinghe noticed.
His concentration slipped by almost nothing.
Jin noticed that.
So did Ji.
Qinghe finished.
Shen smiled.
He looked away.
Han whispered:
"Nothing?"
Qinghe looked at him.
"Do not."
Han grinned.
Jin's own Pixiu contribution was easier.
She partially transformed one hand.
Claws.
Dense scale-like plates.
A small amount of outer claw-sheath separated under her control.
Han watched.
Jin looked at him.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You are staring."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Interesting."
Jin's expression changed.
Small.
Pleased.
She looked back at her hand.
Qiu leaned toward Feng.
"They are worse than us."
Feng stared at her.
"No."
"Yes."
"We met and you grabbed me."
"Correct."
"You refused to let go."
"Correct."
"We shared a shelter the first night."
Qiu considered.
"Efficient."
Feng looked at Ji.
"Help."
Ji shook her head.
"You chose this."
Feng looked at Qiu.
"Yes."
Qiu smiled.
No argument.
Finally Qiu transformed.
Not fully.
Her true Primordial Qiongqi bloodline surfaced along one shoulder and arm.
Fur.
Claw.
Something predatory in the air that made Ji's Gate respond with old recognition and Han's Gate answer more sharply.
Jin collected what could be safely shed.
Eight contributors.
Four Dragon scales.
Phoenix feather.
Qilin sheath.
Pixiu sheath.
Qiongqi fur and claw material.
All Origin-tier.
All living.
All given.
Jin arranged everything across the stone platform.
Ji stared.
"That's enough?"
"For the foundation?"
"No."
Jin looked toward the thirteen small empty vessels.
"For the first refinement stage."
Ah.
Blood.
Canglan immediately volunteered Xuanye first.
Xuanye ignored him.
Jin had prepared a tiny needle.
Han stared.
"You have Gates capable of destroying mountains."
"Yes."
"You manifest weapons."
"Yes."
"You can partially transform into a divine beast."
"Yes."
"And we're using a needle."
Jin looked at him.
"Would you prefer the hammer?"
Han glanced at the temporary anvil.
"No."
"Then needle."
Ji laughed.
The amount truly was tiny.
A few drops each.
No ritual cutting.
No dramatic sacrifice.
Jin pricked her own finger first.
Blood fell into the prepared vessel.
Not ordinary blood.
Ji felt the Origin imprint immediately.
Primordial Pixiu.
Old.
Dense.
Then Han.
Human.
Royal Gatebearer.
No primordial bloodline.
Still—
not ordinary.
His blood carried Gate influence after years of cultivation.
Jin watched the two samples settle near one another.
Not merge.
Yet.
One by one, the others contributed.
Qiu.
Feng.
Qinghe.
Shen.
Zhaoyan.
Chu.
Jinheng.
Mu.
Canglan.
Xuanye.
Ji went last.
Not because anyone planned it.
Because she had been staring at the samples.
Thirteen.
Nine felt different.
She had not consciously noticed until now.
Ji held out her hand.
Jin pricked her finger.
One drop.
Then another.
Her blood entered the final vessel.
Everything reacted.
Not violently.
Jin froze.
Qinghe turned.
Shen inhaled.
The four Dragons looked over simultaneously.
Ji stared.
Her blood had not transformed into anything visible.
Still red.
Yet the entire arrangement of primordial materials responded as though a missing note had entered a chord.
The Dragon scales hummed.
Feng's feathers brightened.
The Qilin sheath released a thin line of pale radiance.
Jin's material grew heavier against the platform.
Qiu's fur lifted despite no wind.
Ji's Gate stirred.
Taihua.
No.
Not only Taihua.
Her own bloodline.
The ancient Trueborn Primordial God lineage dormant through generations before the Gate awakened it.
Origin-tier.
Different from the Beast bloodlines around it.
Still recognized.
Canglan leaned closer.
"Nine."
Everyone looked at him.
He pointed.
"Nine of those reacted like that."
Qinghe's gaze sharpened.
"Yes."
Ji counted.
Four Dragons.
Feng.
Qinghe.
Jin.
Qiu.
Her.
Nine.
Shen's blood carried enormous cultivation and Gate influence.
Still human.
Han.
Human.
Chu.
Human.
Mu.
Human.
Four samples without an Origin-tier primordial bloodline beneath them.
Nobody spoke for a moment.
Then Mu said:
"That matters."
Jin looked at her.
"Yes."
Not judgment.
Problem.
Ji knew the difference.
Qinghe stepped closer to the platform.
"Six categories."
Canglan frowned.
"Nine."
"Sources."
"Yes."
"Six bloodline categories."
Ji understood.
"One Trueborn Primordial God."
Qinghe nodded toward her.
"Four Primordial Dragons."
The brothers.
"One Phoenix."
Feng.
"One Qilin."
Qinghe himself.
"One Pixiu."
Jin.
"One Qiongqi."
Qiu.
Canglan counted.
"That still sounds like six."
"It is."
"Then why did I say nine?"
"Because there are nine source-bearers."
"I know."
"Then why ask?"
"I like clarity."
Xuanye said:
"No, you don't."
Everyone laughed.
Canglan looked wounded.
Jin did not.
She was staring at the samples.
Mu saw the expression.
"You are no longer thinking only about equipment."
Jin looked at her.
"No."
There.
Ji stepped closer.
"What?"
Jin pointed toward the four human samples.
"External compatibility is solvable."
Han frowned.
"Meaning?"
"The artifacts."
She gestured toward the primordial materials.
"If every set contains contributions from the Eight and blood from all Thirteen, I can build them so none of you are treated as foreign by the equipment."
"Yes."
"That helps equipment."
Mu's eyes sharpened.
"Not bodies."
Jin looked at her.
"Exactly."
Shen approached.
"Say it plainly."
Jin did.
"Nine of us were born with something four of you were not."
Silence.
Nobody bristled.
Good.
Han looked at his own blood.
"A primordial foundation."
"Yes."
"Origin-tier."
"Yes."
Chu looked at Zhaoyan.
Then at her own sample.
"Training cannot make me a Primordial Dragon."
"No."
"Nor should it."
"No."
Mu said:
"And the Gates did not select us because we needed those bloodlines."
"Correct."
Jin's answer was immediate.
Important.
Qinghe folded his hands behind his back.
"But battlefield consequences remain."
Shen nodded.
"Yes."
Ji looked at him.
"Bloodline pressure."
"One consequence."
Ji remembered Yunluo.
Dragons.
Presence.
Though Realm-born bloodlines were vastly inferior.
True Primordial bloodline pressure was something else entirely.
Qinghe continued.
"Physical resilience."
"Recovery," Jin added.
"Innate affinity."
"Transformation."
"Some forms of resistance."
"Bloodline authority."
Han sighed.
"So the four humans are structurally behind."
"No."
Everyone looked at Jin.
Han raised an eyebrow.
"You just listed reasons."
"You are structurally different."
"Diplomatic."
"Accurate."
Qinghe nodded.
"The distinction matters."
Han waited.
"A lower starting advantage in one category does not define overall capability."
"Yes."
"Shen is evidence."
Everyone looked at Shen.
Shen stared at Qinghe.
He realized.
Too late.
Feng smiled.
Qiu looked delighted.
Shen asked:
"Evidence?"
Qinghe remained composed.
Mostly.
"You have no primordial bloodline."
"Yes."
"You are still one of the strongest here."
Ji looked between them.
Qinghe had survived.
Good.
Shen smiled.
"Better."
Han laughed.
Jin continued.
"The problem is not that four of you are incapable."
"No."
"The problem is that when thirteen people need to operate at the same extreme, innate disparities become tactical facts."
Xuanye nodded.
There.
Captain.
No defensiveness.
"What do you propose?"
Jin looked at the blood.
"I don't know yet."
Canglan gasped.
Everyone ignored him.
Mu joined Jin beside the platform.
"We already intend to create shared resonance externally."
"Yes."
"Thirteen bearer signatures."
"Yes."
"Eight shed material sources."
"Yes."
"Nine Origin bloodline sources if Ji's blood is included in the internal matrix."
Jin looked toward Ji.
"Yes."
Ji frowned.
"Internal matrix."
Mu smiled.
"You heard it."
"That sounds invasive."
"It is conceptual."
"Good."
Qinghe stepped closer.
"The Gates already recognize one another as a complete generation."
Everyone felt that.
The resonance from their first night together.
Thirteen.
A pattern remembered sixteen times before.
Shen understood first.
"Use the Gates as the bridge."
Jin turned.
"Yes."
Ji looked between them.
"Bridge for what?"
Qinghe answered.
"Not bloodline transfer."
"Good."
"Resonance."
There.
The word remained.
Ji looked at her blood.
Then the others.
"You want the nine bloodline sources to resonate through all thirteen Gates."
Jin smiled.
"Yes."
Canglan said:
"Ninefold."
Everyone looked at him.
He looked pleased.
Ji frowned.
"That was surprisingly useful."
"Thank you."
Qinghe considered.
"Ninefold Resonance."
Canglan's satisfaction became unbearable.
Xuanye sighed.
"We can change the name."
"No," Jin said.
Canglan looked triumphant.
Jin continued.
"It is accurate."
Worse.
Canglan leaned back.
"Captain's brother contributes strategy."
"You contributed a word," Zhaoyan said.
"A strategic word."
Ji laughed.
But the name stayed.
Ninefold Resonance.
Nine source-bearers.
Six Origin-tier primordial bloodline categories.
Thirteen Gates.
Ji looked at Shen.
"What would it actually do?"
Shen did not answer.
She was thinking.
Qinghe did.
"If designed correctly?"
"Yes."
"Share the advantages that can be expressed through resonance without pretending to alter what someone is."
Han frowned.
"Meaning I don't become Qiongqi because I'm standing near Qiu."
"No."
Qiu looked disappointed.
Han looked at her.
"Why?"
"Could be interesting."
"No."
Feng laughed.
Jin pointed toward Han.
"Human."
Then Shen.
"Human."
Chu.
"Human."
Mu.
"Human."
"You remain human."
Han nodded.
"Good start."
"No Primordial transformation."
"Yes."
"No inherited racial traits becoming biologically yours."
"Yes."
"No new ancestry."
"Yes."
Mu added:
"No descendant inherits the Resonance as bloodline."
Everyone looked at her.
She shrugged.
"Important question."
Very.
Jin thought.
Then nodded.
"They shouldn't."
"Can we guarantee that?"
Qinghe answered.
"If the Resonance is anchored to the Gates rather than rewriting the body."
Shen nodded.
"The Gate is personal to the bearer."
"Yes."
"Then the effect ends with the bearer."
"Exactly."
Ji looked at her own hands.
"So what can transfer?"
"Reinforcement," Jin said.
"Resistance," Qinghe added.
"Suppression response."
Ji looked up.
"Explain."
Qinghe considered.
"If Xuanye releases primordial Dragon bloodline pressure against Han now, Han can resist with cultivation, Gate protection, will, and whatever techniques he has."
Han nodded.
"Yes."
"But he does not possess an Origin-tier bloodline that naturally answers an Origin-tier bloodline."
"No."
"With a stable resonance…"
Qinghe looked around.
"He could answer through the shared Dragon sources."
Han's expression changed.
"Borrowed?"
"No," Jin said.
"Shared."
Han looked at her.
"Difference?"
"You are not borrowing Xuanye's blood."
"Good."
"You are resonating with a foundation all thirteen agreed to build together."
Han considered.
"Still not mine biologically."
"No."
"But available through the Gate."
"Yes."
"Near the donors?"
Qinghe paused.
"With enough refinement, perhaps near their rank for bloodline suppression and resistance."
Canglan stopped smiling.
That meant something.
Ji saw.
Not offense.
Calculation.
The four humans suddenly possessing the ability to answer primordial bloodline pressure near the contributing rank—
significant.
Feng leaned forward.
"What do the nine get?"
Good question.
Ji had thought the same.
If this was about fixing imbalance—
Jin smiled.
"More."
Canglan immediately approved.
"Excellent."
Xuanye looked at Jin.
"Meaning?"
"The Resonance cannot work if the nine source-bearers are reduced to donors feeding everyone else."
"Yes."
"I will not build that."
Qiu nodded.
"Good."
Jin gestured toward the array.
"If all six Origin categories resonate together, every source-bearer receives reinforcement from the other five categories—and from the distinct source lines within their own where compatible."
Ji's pulse changed.
Her Trueborn Primordial God bloodline—
resonating with Dragon.
Phoenix.
Qilin.
Pixiu.
Qiongqi.
Not becoming them.
Strengthened beside them.
Feng understood.
"So the floor rises."
"Yes."
"And the ceiling."
"Yes."
Qinghe smiled.
Small.
"Balance without flattening."
Jin pointed at him.
"That."
Canglan frowned.
"So I remain stronger than Han."
Han looked at him.
"Are you worried?"
"No."
"You sound worried."
"I am establishing principles."
Qiu said:
"Fight him."
Canglan looked interested.
Xuanye:
"No."
Canglan sighed.
Captaincy.
Again.
Ji looked toward the blood.
"How do we make it?"
Silence.
That was harder.
Jin stared at the materials.
Mu stared at the blood.
Qinghe closed his eyes.
Shen looked inward toward her Gate.
The others did too.
Ji felt Taihua's Gate.
Sixteen predecessors.
Knowledge.
Techniques.
Accumulated experience.
Nothing immediately presented itself as an answer.
Good.
This was theirs.
Not something a founder had left conveniently labeled.
Ji smiled.
"We don't know."
Jin looked at her.
"No."
"Good."
Everyone stared.
Ji shrugged.
"If the predecessors already solved everything, we'd only be repeating them."
Feng's expression changed.
Approval.
Qiu nodded.
"Good."
Feng looked at her.
"You didn't start that."
"I still approve."
Ji continued.
"We have nine sources."
"Yes."
"Thirteen Gates."
"Yes."
"Six bloodline categories."
"Yes."
"And a forge project that already requires us to make them coexist without consuming one another."
Jin's eyes sharpened.
"Start externally."
"Exactly."
Mu nodded.
"Equipment as test lattice."
Xuanye looked at Jin.
"Risk?"
"To the bearers?"
"Yes."
"If we begin with artifact resonance, low."
"To the materials?"
"High."
Canglan pointed toward his scales.
"Those are valuable."
Jin stared.
"We can get more."
Canglan looked personally wounded.
Jinheng laughed.
Shen said:
"Then external first."
Qinghe nodded.
"Observe how the nine sources interact."
"Determine which naturally harmonize."
"Which suppress one another."
"Which amplify."
"Then reproduce the relationship through Gate resonance without introducing physical bloodline grafting."
Jin looked delighted.
Han looked at her.
"You're enjoying this."
"Yes."
"More than the weapons?"
Jin considered.
"No."
Han laughed.
Honest.
They spent the next three hours arranging blood.
Not using all of it.
Samples.
Drops.
Threads of Gate energy.
Ji had never expected thirteen calamities to spend an afternoon watching tiny beads of blood refuse to cooperate.
The Dragon samples wanted coherence with one another.
Not identical.
Their four royal lines recognized shared primordial ancestry but retained individual qualities.
Feng's Phoenix blood resisted being subsumed by anything.
Qiu's Qiongqi imprint reacted aggressively to imposed structure and surprisingly well to freely balanced opposition.
Qinghe's Qilin bloodline kept attempting to organize the entire arrangement.
Jin's Pixiu imprint made everything heavier and more stable.
Ji's blood—
was strange.
Of course.
It did not belong to any Beast lineage.
It did not seek dominance.
It altered the space in which the other samples interacted.
Ji frowned.
"Why is mine doing that?"
Qinghe looked at her.
"Affinity."
"Space?"
"Yes."
"And time?"
"Possibly."
Ji stared.
Her Origin-grade bloodline's exceptional spatial and temporal affinity.
Not exclusive ability.
Everyone could learn.
Her blood simply made the underlying relationships offensively easy.
Shen smiled.
"Unfair bloodline."
Ji looked at her.
"There."
Shen laughed.
They made progress.
Then failure.
Then more progress.
One small array collapsed because Canglan spoke at the wrong moment.
Jin blamed him.
Canglan argued sound could not possibly affect it.
Mu informed him his Gate had responded while he spoke.
Canglan decided this was evidence that his voice possessed primordial authority.
Nobody agreed.
By late afternoon they achieved something.
Tiny.
Thirteen blood samples sat around a central ring containing minute traces from all eight shed materials.
Nine Origin sources.
Thirteen Gate signatures.
Six bloodline categories.
Ji held one point.
Xuanye another.
Shen another.
Everyone connected.
Not power.
Recognition.
The same complete-generational feeling from their first convergence—
directed.
Jin breathed.
"Now."
They resonated.
Ji expected pressure.
Instead—
connection.
Her bloodline remained hers.
Completely.
Yet for one heartbeat she felt something at the edge of it.
Phoenix renewal.
Not power she could use.
Recognition of a principle.
Qilin order.
Pixiu weight.
Qiongqi boundary.
Dragon—
family.
Four Dragon sources, distinct yet related.
And through all of it—
the Gates.
Thirteen.
Ji heard Shen inhale.
Han's eyes widened.
Chu became completely still.
Mu whispered:
"Oh."
The four humans felt it differently.
Ji could tell.
Not bloodline awakening.
Nothing entered them physically.
Instead, their Gates provided an answer where no innate bloodline had existed.
A resonant foundation.
Temporary.
Weak.
Prototype.
But real.
Canglan released the smallest thread of primordial Dragon pressure.
Xuanye's head turned.
"Canglan."
"Testing."
Han flinched.
Then—
didn't.
His Gate answered.
Not with Qiongqi.
Not exactly.
With the Ninefold pattern.
Dragon pressure met a structure containing four Origin Dragon sources and five other Origin-bearing voices.
Han stared.
Canglan's eyes widened.
The pressure disappeared immediately.
Nobody had needed Xuanye to stop him.
Han looked at his hands.
"That was different."
Qinghe's attention sharpened.
"How?"
"I still felt him."
"Yes."
"My body didn't…"
Han searched.
"Yield."
There.
Jin smiled.
Qiu looked interested.
"Again."
Xuanye:
"No."
Canglan sighed.
Han looked at Xuanye.
"I was going to say yes."
"We do controlled testing later."
Captain.
Han nodded.
"Fine."
Jin looked at the array.
"Proof."
Not complete.
Not stable enough for battle.
Not even close.
But proof.
Shen closed her eyes.
Ji felt the Resonance through her.
Human.
Entirely human.
Still herself.
Good.
Then Ji looked inward.
Her own bloodline felt—
larger?
No.
Not larger.
More possibilities around it.
The other sources did not dilute the Trueborn primordial lineage.
They gave it things to answer.
Things to harmonize against.
Her Gate seemed pleased.
Feng flexed one hand.
"Mine strengthened."
Qinghe nodded.
"So did mine."
Jin:
"Yes."
Qiu smiled.
"Good."
Canglan laughed.
"What?"
Everyone looked.
"I like this."
Zhaoyan shook his head.
"You like everything that makes you stronger."
"Yes."
"At least consistent," Han said.
The Resonance failed thirty seconds later.
The entire array collapsed.
Blood samples separated.
Several shed materials rolled off-center.
Canglan caught one of his scales before it fell.
He looked triumphant.
Jin stared at him.
"Thirty seconds."
"Thirty-one."
Qinghe said:
"Thirty."
Canglan looked betrayed.
Shen smiled.
"Twenty-nine point something."
Ji laughed.
"Unfair temporal perception?"
Shen looked at her.
"No."
"Good."
The prototype had lasted less than half a minute.
Nobody cared.
It had existed.
Ninefold Resonance.
Not finished.
The idea was real now.
Xuanye looked around.
"We continue tomorrow."
Jin opened her mouth.
"No."
She stared.
"Eat."
Jin frowned.
Han touched her shoulder.
"Captain."
Jin looked at Xuanye.
Then Han.
"Fine."
Canglan smiled.
"Power."
Xuanye looked at him.
Canglan left.
The next morning, Xuanye changed the sparring pairs.
Ji discovered this because Shen walked toward Qinghe after breakfast and Xuanye said:
"No."
Shen stopped.
Qinghe looked at him.
Xuanye pointed.
"Shen with Qiu."
Qiu smiled.
Shen considered.
"Fine."
"Qinghe with Canglan."
Canglan looked delighted.
Qinghe looked less so.
"Han with Chu."
Han nodded.
"Jin with Zhaoyan."
Jin's eyes sharpened.
Zhaoyan smiled.
"Mu with Feng."
Qiu looked at Mu.
Then Feng.
Then back.
Feng said:
"Do not."
"I said nothing."
"Your face did."
Ji waited.
Xuanye looked toward her.
"Ji with Jinheng."
Jinheng smiled.
Ji looked at Xuanye.
"Separating everyone who already knows each other."
"Yes."
"Heartbounds."
"Among others."
Canglan raised a hand.
"I have no Heartbound here."
Xuanye looked at him.
"You have three brothers."
"Tragic."
"And Feng."
Feng said:
"No."
Canglan looked hurt.
Xuanye continued.
"You are with Qinghe."
Qinghe sighed.
Ji smiled.
"What about you?"
Xuanye looked around.
"Observing."
Canglan immediately objected.
"Captain privilege."
"Captain responsibility."
"Same words, worse mood."
Xuanye ignored him.
Suppression remained heavy.
The Realm deserved that courtesy.
Ji stood across from Jinheng.
His temporary claws manifested.
Ji formed her blade.
Jinheng looked at it.
"Still changing."
"Jin said that."
"She is right."
"I know."
"Annoying?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Ji stared.
"Do not."
He smiled.
Then attacked.
Jinheng fought nothing like Canglan.
Of course.
Same species did not mean same fighter.
Canglan pushed movement outward.
Distance.
Angles.
Spear.
Jinheng entered.
Close.
Claws.
Pressure.
Ji folded space.
He stepped through the shift before it finished.
Not because he controlled space better.
Because he read her.
She changed again.
He caught her wrist.
Ji rotated.
Gate blade vanished from one hand and reappeared in the other.
Jinheng's eyebrows rose.
Ji smiled.
Then he threw her.
Again.
Grass.
Sky.
This generation had an unhealthy relationship with putting Ji on the ground.
She rolled before he could follow.
Reappeared behind him.
Blade at his neck.
Almost.
Claw at her ribs.
Both stopped.
Ji breathed.
Jinheng smiled.
"Better."
"Than?"
"Canglan."
Ji looked toward the next field.
Canglan was somehow talking while fighting Qinghe.
"Do not tell him."
"I will."
"Jinheng."
He laughed.
Across the field, Qiu had discovered that Shen was much harder to corner than expected.
Shen had no primordial bloodline.
Qiu had Origin-tier Qiongqi blood.
Suppressed equally, it did not decide the fight.
Good.
That was exactly the point.
Shen used spatial movement learned through years of Gate practice.
Not Ji's absurd affinity.
Experience.
Qiu cut off one route.
Shen created another.
Qiu smiled.
Then began learning.
Han against Chu became a contest of decisiveness.
Han's direct attacks met Chu's measured redirection until Chu stopped measuring and struck so abruptly Han barely blocked.
Han laughed.
"Yes."
Chu's eyebrows rose.
"What?"
"Qiu said you do that."
Chu looked toward Qiu.
Qiu, still fighting Shen, shouted:
"I do."
Everyone could hear everyone.
Of course.
Jin and Zhaoyan were frightening.
Even suppressed.
Jin altered weight.
Zhaoyan altered movement through sheer control.
Neither gained easy advantage.
Qinghe watched while simultaneously defending against Canglan.
Ji did not know how.
Mu against Feng was perhaps the strangest.
Mu's linked constructs forced Feng into decisions he did not usually make.
Feng responded by turning his temporary bow into a blade halfway through the exchange.
Jin stopped watching her own fight for half a heartbeat.
"Keep that."
Zhaoyan nearly tagged her.
Jin glared.
"Rude."
"You looked away."
"I am designing."
"You are fighting."
"Both."
Zhaoyan laughed.
Xuanye watched all five fights.
Nothing escaped him completely.
Ji understood the Captain vote better every hour.
When a suppression boundary frayed—
"Feng."
Feng adjusted before the next strike.
When Han began compensating too much for Chu's right side—
"Han."
He corrected.
When Canglan started turning Qinghe's perception exercise into a speed contest—
"Canglan."
"No."
Xuanye stared.
Canglan sighed.
"Yes."
Ji laughed.
Jinheng used the distraction.
She almost hit the ground again.
Almost.
This time she folded space beneath herself.
Landed upright.
Jinheng stopped.
Ji smiled.
"Better."
He stared.
Then laughed.
After three rounds, everyone changed partners again.
No one complained.
Much.
By afternoon, a different problem had become obvious.
They could learn coordination under suppression.
They could learn habits.
Timing.
Communication.
Roles.
But suppression also concealed something they needed eventually.
Ji sat beside the field drinking water.
Qinghe approached.
He looked thoughtful.
"That face."
He stopped.
"What face?"
"Han's right."
Qinghe sighed.
Ji smiled.
He sat.
"You haven't seen them."
"Who?"
He looked toward the Four Cardinals.
"At full power."
Ji looked too.
"No."
"Feng?"
"No."
"Jin? Qiu?"
"No."
"Shen?"
"Not truly."
Ji thought of Shen travelling.
Training.
Twin Suns known through reports.
Still—
not unrestricted combat.
"No."
Qinghe nodded.
"Then you don't actually know what the team can do."
Ji frowned.
"I know enough."
"No."
Annoying.
Probably correct.
"Neither do they know me."
"Yes."
Ji looked at the field.
"We can't do that here."
"No."
The quiet Realm had done nothing to deserve thirteen Gatebearers testing full output across its mountains.
Ji smiled.
"Then we need somewhere else."
Qinghe looked toward Shen.
Shen had heard.
Of course.
She approached.
"So do the Dragons."
Ji looked at her.
"What?"
"Some of them have used it before."
Xuanye, across the field:
"Yes."
Ji stared.
"Used what?"
Canglan brightened.
"Finally."
That was not reassuring.
Feng dismissed his weapon.
"A training dimension."
Ji frowned.
"Realm?"
"No," Shen said.
"Then what?"
"Temporary construct."
Ji's interest sharpened.
"Created by?"
Shen looked around.
"The Gates."
All thirteen responded faintly.
Ji stood.
"What kind of construct?"
Xuanye approached.
"Isolated."
"No people?"
"No."
"No Realm-Will?"
"No."
"No civilization?"
"No."
"Can it break?"
"Yes."
Canglan smiled.
Ji looked at him.
"Why is that exciting?"
"Because it repairs."
Xuanye continued before Canglan could turn this into propaganda.
"The Gates maintain the structure."
"How large?"
"Adjustable."
"How durable?"
Feng smiled.
"Enough."
Ji looked at Qinghe.
He had the face again.
"No."
Qinghe said:
"I said nothing."
Shen continued.
"It exists only while we anchor it."
"Time?"
"Normal."
Good.
No strange acceleration.
No hidden decade inside an afternoon.
Just space made safe for violence.
Ji looked at her Gate.
"Why didn't you mention this before?"
Shen smiled.
"You were busy."
Ji pointed.
"That excuse has expired."
"Probably."
Canglan said:
"Can we open it now?"
Xuanye looked around.
Everyone was tired.
Not exhausted.
Suppressed sparring did little to their reserves.
Mostly mentally worn.
Jin had spent half the morning on the Ninefold array before sparring.
Mu too.
Still—
Thirteen expressions had changed.
Curiosity.
Feng stood straighter.
Qiu smiled.
Zhaoyan looked at his brothers.
Jinheng rolled one shoulder.
Canglan was already impossible.
Han looked toward Qinghe.
"Full power."
"Yes."
Han smiled.
Interesting.
Chu's expression sharpened.
Mu dismissed her remaining constructs.
Jin looked toward her forge.
Then back.
Weapons could wait an hour.
Ji felt excitement.
And something else.
Nervousness.
She had met twelve people.
She knew their names.
Some of their histories.
Their jokes.
Their sleeping habits.
Who stole food.
Who asked too many questions.
Who answered too few.
Who became unbearable when given authority.
Who became unbearable without it.
She had fought several while all of them were suppressing themselves enough to spare the grass.
Full power was different.
Xuanye looked around.
"Not fighting tonight."
Canglan's face collapsed.
"Why?"
"Because we establish the dimension first."
"That takes minutes."
"And rules."
"Rules."
"Yes."
Canglan looked toward Feng.
Feng shrugged.
"Captain."
Traitor.
Xuanye continued.
"Everyone anchors."
"Required?" Ji asked.
"For the first construction together."
Good.
"Then?"
"The Gates can maintain most of the structure once synchronized."
Qinghe nodded.
"And if something destabilizes?"
"We stop."
Simple.
No pride.
Ji liked that.
Xuanye looked toward the open field.
"Form a circle."
Nobody joked.
For once.
Thirteen people moved.
Not according to Gate family.
Not pairs.
One circle.
Ji stood between Shen and Jinheng.
Xuanye across from her.
All thirteen Royal Gates opened.
Not fully.
Enough.
The quiet Realm reacted.
Wind moved outward.
Grass bent.
Ji immediately pulled inward.
So did everyone.
No damage.
The Gates reached not into the Realm—
but away from it.
Space unfolded.
Ji felt the technique.
Not exactly like direct Expanse travel.
Related.
They were not finding a destination.
They were creating an enclosure.
A temporary coordinate.
No independent Realm.
No inherent will.
No natural history.
No life.
A place existing because thirteen Gates agreed it should.
Ji's bloodline understood the spatial architecture almost offensively quickly.
Shen felt her reaction.
"Unfair."
Ji smiled.
"Do not start."
The four Dragon Gates formed structural anchors.
Phoenix reinforced recovery.
Qilin measured stability.
Pixiu weighted the boundaries.
Qiongqi hardened separation.
The human-held Gates contributed their own founder Authorities and stabilizing inheritance.
Ji's Dragon Royal Gate joined the Dragon structure—
and her bloodline touched space itself.
The forming dimension expanded.
Darkness first.
Then ground.
Not earth.
Something that behaved like it.
Sky without weather.
Distance without civilization.
Mountains rose because structural variety was useful.
Plains.
Stone.
Empty.
Nothing alive.
Nothing to mourn if broken.
Ji opened her eyes.
The basin was gone.
No.
Still outside.
This was elsewhere.
All thirteen stood upon a vast plain beneath a colorless sky.
Ji turned slowly.
Mountains stretched toward an artificial horizon.
She could feel the boundaries.
Far.
Stable.
Temporary.
Canglan looked around.
His smile became dangerous.
Xuanye immediately said:
"No."
Canglan stared.
"I did not do anything."
"You were about to."
"I was appreciating architecture."
"No."
Feng laughed.
Qiu stepped onto the stone.
Tested it.
"How quickly does it restore?"
Xuanye looked at Canglan.
"Do not answer that."
Canglan looked wounded.
Shen said:
"Fast enough."
Ji walked several steps.
The ground felt real.
Gate-made.
But real to weight.
Real to impact.
No Realm-Will beneath it.
That absence was strange.
Everything Ji had ever stood upon belonged to a world.
This belonged only to purpose.
Training.
She turned.
Thirteen Gatebearers.
Nobody suppressing less yet.
Still carrying the habits of the quiet Realm.
Xuanye stood at the center.
Captain.
Feng looked toward one of the mountains.
Qiu followed his gaze.
Jin flexed her hand.
Qinghe's attention moved across the dimension's structural lines.
Han smiled.
Chu measured distance.
Mu was already thinking about containment.
Zhaoyan, Jinheng, and Canglan looked far too comfortable.
Shen looked at Ji.
Ji understood.
These people had been careful since she met them.
Even when Canglan put her on the ground.
Even when Feng's flame crossed his temporary weapon.
Even when Jin altered gravity.
Even when Qiu struck.
Even when Shen moved through the Expanse.
Careful.
Ji looked around the empty world.
Nothing here could be conquered.
Nothing here could be orphaned.
No city beneath the mountains.
No names carved into memorial stone.
No one to pay for their mistakes.
Her Gate stirred.
Not fear.
Anticipation.
"Tomorrow?" Ji asked.
Xuanye nodded.
"Tomorrow."
Canglan groaned.
Ji laughed.
Then looked toward the artificial mountains again.
For the first time since the thirteen had gathered, they had somewhere safe enough to stop pretending their power was smaller than it was.
Tomorrow, Ji would finally meet the people she had already begun to know.