Senior Brother Fan Xiao was not looking at him. His gaze was fixed on the wall in the direction of the bow, and his expression, which had been easy and conversational ten seconds ago, was entirely blank.
Yang watched his face carefully go through a series of small, almost imperceptible shifts. Then Senior Brother Fan Xiao tilted his head slightly to one side, and Yang felt a jerk through the floor beneath his feet, as though the ship had been struck by something.
Ge stood from his chair and looked around, but the room appeared completely undamaged. When he looked back at Senior Brother Fan Xiao his expression had returned to normal, though he was clearly still communicating with someone at a distance.
"Fly higher and increase speed," Senior Brother Fan Xiao said to no one visible.
Then he turned to Yang, found him standing and looking wary, and said simply, "Sit down, Junior Brother. Everything is fine now."
Yang sat and before he could ask anything the door flung open and the rest of his Senior Brothers filed in.
Senior Brother Fan Xiao let out a quiet sigh. "Knock before you enter. This is not Master's hall. I do not enjoy having my space wandered into uninvited."
"Don't pretend, Senior Brother," Senior Brother Yuan Shen said, wagging a finger at him with evident amusement. "We all know how much you adore us, your Junior Brothers."
Senior Brother Fan Xiao did not appear to agree.
The others settled into the available chairs around the table. Senior Brother Song Weilong looked at Yang. "Everything went well, Chen Yang? Senior Brother Fan Xiao told us he had asked you to take your next Molten Body Pill during the journey."
"Yes, Senior Brother. Everything seems to have gone as it should," Yang said with a smile.
A few sounds of approval came from around the table.
Senior Brother Song Weilong turned to Senior Brother Fan Xiao. "What exactly happened? We felt the ship stop and then what felt like an impact."
"It was not an attack. Two overconfident Golden Core cultivators trying their luck," Senior Brother Fan Xiao said.
A few of the Senior Brothers let out quiet laughs. Senior Brother Qing An shook his head. "Poor fools."
Yang looked between them, uncertain. "We were attacked by Golden Core cultivators? Why would they attack a sect ship?"
Senior Brother Qing An looked at him. "Junior Brother, do you remember what the ship looked like from outside?"
Yang's mind went back to the small, worn-looking vessel they had boarded.
"Exactly," Senior Brother Qing An said. "From the outside, this looks like two poor Foundation Establishment cultivators traveling on a battered wooden boat. For anyone looking to make easy money, that is an appealing target."
"Their misfortune," Senior Brother Yuan Shen said, "was that the battered wooden boat turned out to be carrying several dozen White Cloud Sect disciples at considerably higher cultivation levels than advertised."
"Is that why we are traveling this way?" Yang asked. "To avoid being noticed?"
"Not because of robbers specifically," Senior Brother Qing An said. "The Vermillion Cloud Realm has so far gone unnoticed by other major sects, and the White Cloud Sect prefers to keep it that way. Large movements of high-level cultivators tend to attract attention regardless of intent. This way, to anyone watching, two loose cultivators are moving from one place to another. Nothing worth following."
Yang glanced at Senior Brother Fan Xiao. "So Senior Brother dealt with them without going outside."
Senior Brother Fan Xiao looked at him with a faint smile. "They were Golden Core cultivators. If I needed to leave this room to handle two Golden Core cultivators, I would have wasted my years of cultivation."
Yang nodded and did not have anything to add to that.
He did find himself quietly thinking. For all the ease and warmth of White Cloud Sect, this was still the cultivation world. Senior Brother Fan Xiao had just ended two lives, and the whole thing had not interrupted their conversation by more than a few minutes. He was now relaxed at the table, eating snacks from the spread between them, and his expression carried nothing heavier than mild interest in what his Junior Brothers were saying.
Yang was not sure exactly what he felt about this.
"It is a pity for Junior Brother Yang's first trip," Senior Brother Song Weilong said. "Usually there is real pleasure in seeing different cities and towns from the air and stopping to try the local specialties."
"We will take you to the Starry Sea on the way back," Senior Brother Qing An said to Yang. "There are wonderful cities along the route and more than enough time to enjoy them." He turned to Senior Brother Zhen Hao, who immediately became interested, and for the next while the conversation became Senior Brother Qing An describing various places in the Starry Sea while Senior Brother Zhen Hao asked progressively more specific questions about the food.
Yang ate snacks and listened, and found it pleasant enough.
Several days later Yang stood beside Senior Brother Zhen Hao waiting to disembark.
Senior Brother Fan Xiao was at the front of the group. When the ship's door opened he flew out first, and Yang's Senior Brothers followed one by one. Yang went with them, stepping out into open air after days below deck.
He breathed the fresh air in, it felt great after spending days under the ship.
The ship had docked inside a cave. Daylight came in from somewhere ahead, reaching them indirectly. Senior Brother Zhen Hao gave Yang a light push on the shoulder and he fell into step beside him, following Senior Brother Fan Xiao, who was speaking with a cultivator who appeared to be managing the area. The man bowed to Senior Brother Fan Xiao and led them deeper into the cave.
They walked for close to half an hour before the cave opened out into daylight and Yang found himself in a wide clearing.
The area was occupied entirely by tents. Hundreds of them, ranging from functional to elaborate, arranged in what appeared to be a deliberate order rather than random placement. The cultivator who had guided them led Senior Brother Fan Xiao toward one of the larger tents and bowed before departing with a nod to the rest of the group.
They went inside.
The interior was considerably larger than the exterior suggested. It was furnished like a proper residence rather than a field shelter, with proper seating, a table, sleeping areas.
Senior Brother Fan Xiao turned to them. "We rest here for now. Once the most recent exploratory team returns we will get their report and decide from there."
Senior Brother Qing An immediately found a suitable sofa and settled into it. "Any news from inside the realm worth knowing about?"
"The space is stable for now," Senior Brother Fan Xiao said, "but the formation team is in a difficult position. They cannot move the realm's entrance until the full extent of the realm has been mapped, and that has not been done yet." He paused. "Yesterday, a team reported finding what appears to be the source area for the demonic beast population. If the report holds up, that is likely where we will be going."
"Going toward the source of an unknown demonic beast population," Senior Brother Yuan Shen grinned at Senior Brother Fan Xiao. “Sounds exciting.”
"With Senior Brother Fan Xiao present, the excitement is likely to be limited," Senior Brother Song Weilong said, rolling his eyes.
"Don't be a pessimist," Senior Brother Qing An said. "Master sent us here specifically. There should be enough to keep us occupied."
"Let's not lose sight of why we are here," Senior Brother Fan Xiao said, his gaze moving across the room and settling briefly on both Senior Brother Zhen Hao and Yang. "This trip has a specific purpose for our two Junior Brothers. Zhen Hao needs real combat experience at his new level. And Chen Yang needs beast cores. Those are our priorities. The rest is secondary."
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Thanks for your well wishes. I am feeling better, but not enough to spend too much time online. I'll do my best to keep the updates on schedule, but will likely be less responsive to messages and comments for sometime.
Any ideas on what you'd like to see in the secret realm?