The summons arrived at midday, breaking the fragile routine Kai had established since his "rehabilitation" with Yun Xiu. Administrator Huang's voice, amplified by Qi, echoed through the inner disciple compound, calling for all disciples at the eighth stage and above to gather in the Assignment Hall.
Kai adjusted his robes, checking his reflection in the bronze mirror one last time. The face staring back was a mask of eager determination, hiding the cold lake of his consciousness beneath.
"A general summons," Azrakoth murmured, his voice a dry rustle in Kai's mind. "Opportunity or trap?"
"With my recent notoriety, likely both," Kai replied internally1.
The Assignment Hall was buzzing with tension. Kai stood near the back, feeling the weight of stares from Han Bao's dwindling faction2. When Administrator Huang stepped onto the dais, the room fell silent.
"The sect has received disturbing reports from our protectorate territories," Huang announced, his gaze sweeping the room before landing, briefly but noticeably, on Kai. "Spirit beast activity has spiked. Creatures are becoming abnormally aggressive, attacking settlements they previously avoided. We suspect... external corruption."
Kai felt a prickle of interest. Corruption usually meant demonic influence.
"We are dispatching teams to investigate," Huang continued. "Team Seven will proceed to the northern foothills. Your destination is Willow Creek Village."
Kai froze. He didn't have to feign the initial startle—the irony was too sharp. Willow Creek was his home, the place where he had watched his neighbors die of the plague while the sect did nothing3.
"Team Seven," Huang read from a scroll, "will consist of Inner Disciple Wei Chen, Inner Disciple Liu Yan... and Inner Disciple Kai Chen."
Kai lowered his head, hiding the flicker of calculation in his eyes. It was a masterstroke of administrative manipulation. Huang had assigned him to his own home—a test of his loyalty and emotional stability. He had paired him with Wei Chen, the naive witness 4, and Liu Yan, the spy who had already begun investigating him5.
"Willow Creek," Liu Yan said, appearing beside him. Her voice was laced with carefully calibrated sympathy. "That is your home, isn't it, Kai?"
Kai looked up, letting a mask of worry settle over his features. "Yes, Senior Sister. My parents are there. If the beasts are attacking..."
"We will protect them," Liu Yan promised, watching his reaction closely. She was looking for the monster she suspected lay beneath, but Kai gave her only the concerned son. "This is a chance for you to prove your heart is in the right place."
"Be careful," Azrakoth warned. "She is not comforting you; she is calibrating her instruments. She wants to see if you crack under the pressure of personal stakes"6.
The preparation phase was a study in paranoia. Kai visited the Resource Hall, spending his accumulated contribution points on defensive talismans and high-grade healing pills. He sensed eyes on him—Han Bao's remaining lackeys, whispering in the shadows of the armory7.
As they packed their saddlebags near the stables, Kai leaned in close to Wei Chen.
"Wei Chen," he said quietly. "Keep your guard up on this mission. Not just against the beasts."
Wei Chen blinked, his honest face confused. "What do you mean, Kai? We're inner disciples on official sect business."
"Han Bao's faction hasn't forgotten the duel," Kai said, keeping his voice low. "Accidents happen in the wild."
Wei Chen laughed nervously, waving a hand. "You worry too much, Kai! Sect rules prohibit harming fellow disciples during a mission. The penalty is death. No one would risk that"8.
Kai looked at Wei Chen's open, trusting face and felt a distinct lack of pity. "Rules are only as strong as the people enforcing them," Kai said, more to himself than to Wei Chen.
"He is sheep," Azrakoth observed. "Useful for distraction, useless for survival. Do not rely on him."
"I rely on no one," Kai thought back.
That night, the eve of their departure, Kai did not sleep. He sat in the darkness of his room, the silencing formations fully active.
The mission was a catalyst. The pressure of the impending investigation, the threat of Liu Yan's scrutiny, and the lingering adrenaline from his political maneuvering had pushed his Qi to a boiling point.
"You are ready," Azrakoth said. "The eighth stage cannot contain the volume of Qi you are processing."
Kai closed his eyes and initiated the circulation technique he had modified from the forbidden library texts9. He didn't gently guide the Qi; he commanded it. He drew upon the demonic essence of the pact, flooding his meridians with a torrent of power that would have shredded a normal cultivator.
But Kai's meridians had been forcibly opened and reinforced by Azrakoth at the moment of their pact10. They were wide rivers, not narrow streams.
The breakthrough was silent and violent. The barrier to the ninth stage shattered not with a bang, but with a sudden, vacuum-like expansion of his dantian. He felt his perception expand, the range of his spiritual sense doubling in an instant.
"Ninth stage," Kai breathed, opening his eyes. The room seemed sharper, the shadows deeper. "The peak of Qi Condensation."
"And the threshold of the Meridian Opening Realm," Azrakoth added. "For normal cultivators, bridging the gap between Qi Condensation and Meridian Opening takes years of preparation to widen the channels. But you..."
"I am already open," Kai finished.
"Precisely. We simply need to formalize the breakthrough. You will be a Meridian Opening cultivator within weeks, Kai. And when you are, the difference between you and these children playing at war will be absolute."
Dawn broke grey and cold over the Verdant Peak. Kai led his horse, Cloudstrider11, to the main gate where Liu Yan and Wei Chen were waiting.
Liu Yan looked sharp, her eyes scanning him as he approached. "You look different, Kai. Did you sleep?"
"I meditated on the mission," Kai lied smoothly. "I am worried about my village."
"Good," Liu Yan said, mounting her horse. "Use that worry. Let it drive you to protect the innocent. That is the Orthodox way."
Kai mounted Cloudstrider, feeling the familiar pulse of the dragon mark against his chest12. He looked toward the northern path that led back to the life he had abandoned.
"Let's go," Kai said, his voice steady.
As they rode out, leaving the safety of the sect behind, Kai smiled internally. He would play the role of the hero for Liu Yan. He would play the role of the teammate for Wei Chen. But in the darkness of the wild, where sect rules held no sway, he would show his enemies exactly what kind of monster they had sent home.