Lorel knelt beside the kneeling General Mearl, her eyes fierce with tears she refused to shed. "I'll be fine," she whispered, her voice thick. "After the Sky Ocean, after the sacred ruin... we'll find a way to help. No matter what it entails."
General Mearl smiled at her, a small, tired, but genuine thing. She said nothing. She didn't want to entertain the fragile hope that her fate could be changed; it had merely been delayed. But she also couldn't let Lorel carry that fear. So she simply said, her voice low and steady, "I will wait for you, then." She then turned her gaze to Chubbs's solid, furious figure. "You should work harder. Both of you. You should rise as far as the sky will allow you to go."
Chubbs nodded, his usual theatricality gone, replaced by a solemn, granite-like resolve. "I will not disappoint you, General."
Juo Si gave a curt wave. The regular guards moved forward, gently but firmly taking Mearl by the arms and leading her away from the platform, towards the depths of the palace. The Royal Guards, their purpose spent, melted back into the shadows of the grand structure.
Black-Green Wood gave a single nod of acknowledgment and turned, walking away without another glance at the king. Gen, Lorel, Liang, and Chubbs fell into step behind him, a battered but unbroken procession.
As he passed Juo Si, there was a sharp, venomous gleam in the young king's eyes. A thread of sound, woven with such precise **Shidow** that it reached only the hermit's ears, hissed through the air. *"It is only a matter of time before you face the same fate as her."*
Black-Green Wood's weathered lips curled into a faint, knowing smile. His own reply was not a sound, but a pressure, a thought transmitted on a surge of ancient, mossy Qi that pressed against Juo Si's consciousness. *"You might become a Pillar one day. But look how many I have around me."*
To that, Juo Si had no retort. He was forced to turn his back, unwilling to watch the disappearing figures of Gen, Liang, Lorel, and Chubbs. His fingers curled into a white-knuckled ball at his side.
*Them, Pillars? What a joke.*
But then, the sensations of the fight replayed in his mind: the impossible density of the Eternal Body, the sharp, dominating intent of the Supremacy Sword that threatened more than flesh, the strange, pure-white lightning, even the surprising solidity of the fat one's reinforcement. *Whatever. Only the future will tell what lies ahead.*
The Doom College elders, the Li family members, and the Kang delegation could only observe, their expressions unreadable, as Gen's group left with a living legend in tow.
In the Li pavilion, Li Zhi bit his lip until he tasted blood. First Varja, and now Black-Green Wood. *How was Gen friends with all the strongest cultivators like them?* A Li elder standing beside him frowned in profound disappointment. "Such a waste. You spent years on the Jiang Mountain and look at the meager progress you have made. If Li Zhan had not become a traitor, I would have cast you out already."
Li Zhi balled his fists, keeping his head low. *So what if I'm weak? I will soon become someone influential.* He knew Juo Si was to marry one of his sisters to cement power with the Li family. *That Li Fen thinks she can run the Li family forever. I can't wait to see Gen's face when he learns of it.* A dark, secret smirk touched Li Zhi's lips.
***
Back at their inn within Heaven's Gate, Madame Su waited in the central hall, her posture taut with anxiety. When she saw them return, she stood up swiftly, her eyes widening at the sight of the lean man with iron-grey hair. She executed a deep, flawless bow of respect.
"It is an honor, Pillar," she said, her voice hushed. It wasn't the first time she'd felt this aura—ancient, deep, and tinged with the sweet decay of primordial wood—but it was the first time she saw its source in the flesh.
Black-Green Wood waved a dismissive hand. "There is no need for so much formality." His moss-green eyes scanned the room. "Is Lolly well?"
Before Madame Su could answer, a blur of motion shot from the adjoining room. A girl of about twelve, with wild, dark hair and eyes full of impish light, launched herself into the hermit's arms.
"Grandpa Wood! Where have you been again? You weren't trying to run away from me, right?" she demanded, clinging to his neck.
"No, no," he said, a real, warm smile finally touching his face as he patted her back. "Never that."
Lolly then tilted her head over his shoulder, looking at Gen. She stuck her tongue out.
They all took seats around the low table. Gen, with uncharacteristic solemnity, served the tea. Liang carefully arranged a plate of fruits. Lolly knelt on her grandfather's lap, looking mischievously at Gen.
"How come he's become this well-behaved?" she chirped.
Gen scowled. "Not everyone is a little devil like you."
Liang kicked Gen sharply under the table, his eyes wide with warning, flicking towards Black-Green Wood as if to say, *Do you want to get us killed?*
Black-Green Wood took a deep sip of the tea Gen had poured. He placed the cup down with a soft *click*. "It is horrible," he stated flatly. Then he picked it up and took another drink. He placed it back on the table and looked at them, his gaze encompassing them all. "You understand why I had to act?"
Madame Su inclined her head. "I grasp the political necessity, but I may not know the whole story. I am… a little lost."
Black-Green Wood steepled his fingers. "Juo Si is a direct descendant of the very first king of the Four Kingdoms. In essence, his reunifying it could be seen as him reclaiming his birthright." He paused, letting the weight of lineage settle. "And with his talent… it is only a matter of time before he grows to the level of mine. And perhaps even surpasses me. By that time, Lolly's future in the Four Kingdoms will not be… so jovial."
Lolly shook her head vigorously, burying her face in his robe. "No! Grandpa Wood is the strongest in the world! No one will ever defeat you! Ever!"
Gen, looking at the enthusiastic girl, decided to say nothing. In the past, he might have jumped in, boasting right along with her. But he had seen his father die holding back a falling Damocles. He had watched Varja die inches from victory against Nix. He had felt the will of a Divine General shatter. In this world, power was not a guarantee that you would live forever.
Black-Green Wood's gaze grew distant. "My goal… is for Liang, and Gen, and that girl, and her fat friend, to grow beyond me. I want to gamble. I am betting that you will become Pillars in the future. And in doing so, you will ensure that even after I am gone, Lolly will be fine."
Gen, Liang, Lorel, and Chubbs all bowed their heads towards him, the gesture unified and grave. "We will not disappoint you," Gen said, his voice firm. "We will give you everything."
The hermit nodded, a flicker of something like hope in his ancient eyes. "Good."
Liang then spoke up. "We have not forgotten our promise. Finding the cure for Lolly in the Sky Ocean will be our priority. The treasure… is something secondary."
Gen nodded. "I don't care about the treasure."
To that, Black-Green Wood allowed a small, genuine smile. "Good. But… if you have the chance to get close to the Treasure of the Golden Touch, you should not hesitate." He leaned forward slightly. "He was not just an unmatched thief. He was also a very powerful cultivator of his time. Perhaps even stronger than I am now." He looked at their curious faces. "Do you know the legend of the twin birds, Muiyin and Muijin?"
Lolly clapped her hands, squirming with excitement. "I know! I know! I want to tell the story!"
They all laughed, and Madame Su smiled. "Alright, Lolly. Fine. We are all listening to you." Her tone was fond, indulgent.
Lolly took a deep, dramatic breath. "Legends say at the beginning of time, two beings existed! A bird that sat on the *left* shoulder of the Creator, called **Muiyin**—that means 'Black Bird'—and another on his *right* shoulder, called **Muijin**—the 'White Bird'! The two represent the… the insep… insepable…"
"Inseparable," Black-Green Wood murmured.
"Yes! The inseparable corners of life and death!"
Chubbs's smile grew. "I have heard this story," he said, leaning in. "In fact, the 'Creator' in the tale is said to be a powerful cultivator of the old era, belonging to the generation of the Jade Emperor."
Lorel's curiosity briefly overrode her lingering sorrow. "How come you know that much?"
Chubbs scratched his head, a sheepish grin on his face. "Well, when a fellow finds himself… *detained* for extended periods due to misunderstandings about property redistribution… he has plenty of time to read the old scrolls they keep in the holding cells. Educational, really."
They all laughed, understanding perfectly what he meant.
Black-Green Wood nodded. "Rumors have it that the eggs of those legendary birds are part of the treasure left by the Golden Touch. But whether it is true or not… that is for you to find out."
Gen's smile turned sharp, a flash of his old, hungry self. "If those eggs exist… I wouldn't mind collecting them for myself. That would be… cool."
Madame Su laughed. "Gen's ambitions are growing every day. He is exactly like his father. Whenever Jiang wanted something, he would spare no effort to get it." She then stood. "I have prepared space for you and Lolly, honored elder."
They all stood and followed her. Gen, Lorel, Chubbs, and Liang remained at the table for a moment, looking at each other in the quiet aftermath.
"We will become as strong as Pillars one day," Gen said, the statement a vow.
Liang, for the first time in a long while, felt something shift in his heart. Someone of Black-Green Wood's level had anchored his hope. It meant he had the *potential* to grow even further. *Maybe… maybe I won't be left behind after all.* He smiled, a real, hopeful one, and pumped his fist. "We will."
Lorel's smile was genuine too, though still tinged with the distant worry for her teacher. In her mind, she made a silent vow. *I will definitely grow to the level of a Pillar. Then I will have the strength to change my master's fate.*
Chubbs, on the other hand, had no such grand dreams in his mind. If he could become strong enough to keep roaming the world with Lorel, and perhaps save his teacher, General Mearl, then he would be perfectly fine.
They shared one last look, a quiet understanding passing between them, and then left the table one after the other, each carrying the weight of the hermit's gamble and the shape of their own rising resolve.
As Gen and Lorel parted at the corridor—he towards the men's quarters, she towards the women's—their eyes met one final time in the dim lamplight. No words were spoken. No smile was exchanged.
In that silent glance, a universe of private meaning passed.
The vow to become Pillars was for Black-Green Wood, for Liang, for Chubbs—a public, shared ambition to anchor their new purpose. It was a stepping stone.
But behind Gen's amber gaze and Lorel's steady one lay the true, silent compact, the shared goal that felt too vast, too intimately *theirs*, to speak aloud amidst others. It was the promise whispered in the silent halls of Starli, under a starry sky that was not a sky.
*Immortality.*
To live forever. Together. Not as legends in a story, but as two people who had chosen each other across the wreckage of a broken world. Becoming Pillars was merely the first, necessary step on that impossible road. It was a dream they nurtured not with shouts, but in the quiet space between their shared glances—a fragile, magnificent secret that belonged to no one but them.
Lorel turned the corner, her blue robes whispering against the wood. Gen watched her go for a heartbeat longer, then turned towards his own room, the ghost of that shared, silent purpose a steady flame in his chest, brighter than any ambition for mere power. It was the reason to become strong. Not just to protect, but to persist. To outlast time itself.