Seeing the arrangement of buildings that made up the central gathering areas of the Liao Clan compound still standing let a layer of tension leave Hua, one she had not noticed. Most of the compound was at too high an elevation to have dealt with the flames of the lower city and too eastward to have been flattened by the basin of water rupturing and gushing forth a lake’s worth of water.


    Homes and buildings built into the mountain could have been buried beneath rubble when the earth broke, but layers of formations powered by generation after generation of lightning-born children protected them. It gladdened Hua’s heart to know this, to see in every unburnt house and standing tree the proof of their strength.


    The mortals might be suffering in the city below, but they could look up and know that their protectors yet remained. Surely there was a comfort in knowing one’s betters were doing well even if they were not.


    The Main Hall was a two-storied affair that sprawled across one of the lower levels of the mountain, situated close to the grand staircase that rose from the base of the mountain. Years Hua had spent walking by its deep eaves and gilded doors, watching enthralling performances by singers and dancers, standing at attention as their Patriarch addressed ranks of silver-haired kin. It had unfortunately been one of the buildings flooded from the runoff of the basin. The wooden floor inside was waterlogged. A shame as it had been her grandfather’s efforts that had gained them the wealth needed to build a new clan hall with western lumber.


    Inside the Main Hall, beneath the vaulting ceilings, was the second-most important object the Clan owned: the Bronze Cauldron. It was a thing of reverence, and it took center stage in one of the most venerated places the Clan owned.


    It stood upon three great, curving legs that formed a tripod. Though it was called the Bronze Cauldron, it was inlaid with silver writing in that strange language only priestesses could decipher. She knew it was partly a story and partly a legal document. The Radiant Tenth Cauldron that Refines to Origin was its name, and it was used in both purification ceremonies and alchemy. It was a great coup for their Clan to be permitted one. The Dragon Throne possessed nine. Those in favour were sometimes allowed to use them. For a Clan to have one made for them was unheard of, even if it was a fraction the size, efficiency, and power of those the Dragon Throne possessed.


    But the Liao Clan was not merely any clan. Near a century ago, when the Dragon Throne faced betrayal at home and invasion from the east, it had been the Amber Sea against which the tidal wave of invasion broke. Against the power of the Radiant Lightning Body, the Liao Patriarch, an invasion had been stymied. He was a Hero worthy of an older age. Great enough for the Records of the Nine Cauldrons to change names, from Jiu Ding Ji to Shi Ding Ji, and acknowledge the latest tenth Cauldron.


    The Cauldron was a potent catalyst in Alchemical processes. To call it simply a furnace would be to diminish its greatness. It was the great advantage that the Liao Alchemist possessed over their competitors. They didn’t have the glut of resources that the Zhao closely guarded, theirs a wealth of spirit herbs and animals raised on a diet of Qi-infused plants. In terms of sheer Qi efficiency and alchemical knowledge, they were outstripped by the Yu Clan, but the Bronze Cauldron made up that difference.


    So much was luck. It was luck that her father had the space and time to grow into his power. Luck that he was a prodigy born to their clan and a great leader in war. Luck that the Dragon Throne felt grateful for the assistance and gifted the Cauldron. Much of it was luck forged through their actions, but it cascaded downward, decade after decade, one generation of luck forming the foundation for the next.


    Eight soldiers guarded it at any given time and there were never less than two Qi Gathering Cultivators to support them. Given its benefits, the only reason there weren’t twice as many, was that it resided at the very heart of the formations, behind layers of other soldiers and Cultivators.


    Anyone who could reach it could probably breach their defences and reach this far had would have certainly slaughtered half the clan in the process. They’d have to be at the peak of Foundation Establishment at the very least.


    “What is that peasant doing here? He belongs in the cells!”


    Like all things people grew up with, even the Bronze Cauldron and the Main Hall lost its mystique and became simply another place. One to gather and raise your voice and possibly murder a mortal.


    “Hello Weiji. Please remember that the Clan Hall is a place for civil behaviour and not an appropriate place to scream about everything that you fear.”


    Her cousin flushed. Still, he drew himself up. “I stand by what I said. He’s a manipulative savage with no redeeming qualities.”


    She rolled her eyes, tamping down on her fury at him for hiding Liao bastards, and turned to the others in the hall. “This is Liu Xin, a new retainer of mine,” she introduced, daring anyone to doubt her decision. Saying it while her grandparents watched her from a painting on the wall was a promise of truth in their own way. “I expect he’ll be treated as well as any retainer of the main line.”


    Maybe they would have argued another day, but their exhaustion was bone-deep. It showed in their slumped shoulders and messy hair. Mostly, she felt it in strained Qi signatures. They may have not been in the city, but they were doing work that mattered as well, and that work was in service to the Clan.


    “Hua,” Weiji whined.


    She clicked her fingers at the nearest servant. “Have him seen to. And have food brought to my quarters.”


    That dealt with, she walked past Weiji, heading towards a clump of her relatives. They all tensed. Two of them even muttered curses under their breath. They were all roughly agemates with Hua. She pulsed her Qi and found a dearth of elders in the area. How strange. It explained why Weiji was so willing to be noisy, Hua hoped it was because the elders were busy coming up with a plan or dealing with something juniors could not handle.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Hua had never been known to be a good liar.


    “Cousin Ming,” she called, and the three with her bolted now that they knew they were not Hua’s target. They’d be getting extra training when things calmed down. Later. There were so many things for later.


    “I must have pissed into a god’s wine bowl to deserve this,” Cousin Ming muttered. “Hello, Cousin Hua. It’s lovely to see you. Are you sure you don’t want to take Weiji with you and never talk to me again? Please.”


    “Don’t throw me in front of the archery range,” Weiji hissed. “I deal with Hua and her brother the most out of everyone.”


    “So do your job and keep them away from us.”


    Hua clicked her fingers and drew them back to attention. Sometimes, it was like herding irritated goats, which was both a metaphor for Hua’s life and an accurate reflection of it. These goats were related to her so she couldn’t just kill them.


    Not that she truly wanted to.


    “You were trained in the purification rituals?”


    “I’m training in them,” her cousin specified, shaking her head, dark hair bobbing with it. Those of the out-clan tended towards darker hair, black eyes, and sometimes a tan. Ming did have green eyes, so there was a recent marriage to the main clan. “Best spiritualist of our generation. You want my mother if you’re planning what I think you’re planning.”


    “And what am I planning?” she asked, tilting her head, feeling a surge of alertness. A smart relative was always a good relative to pay special attention to.


    “Don’t look at me like that, it’s creepy. Stop giving me that hungry cat look. You’re just like Liao Furen, always trying to find a use for everyone.”


    “My plan. Tell it to me.”


    “The Ritual for Feeding, Saving, and Refining Ghosts. You want us to start it early. Before we get any jiangshi or some idiot thinking they can tame any restless dead. Or worse, there’s enough human Qi to create a fucking Gu of some kind. We’ll need access to the Bronze Cauldron and a lot of resources from Old Ren. And Old Ren won’t let go of a single Alchemical reagent unless someone from the main clan orders it. We’ve already been getting things set up, me and the other priestesses, we just needed permission.”


    “How would you tell there is a Gu problem?” Hua asked her.


    “Well, besides everything dying very quickly with no trace of what happened? Or the miasma they release to attack people? Or someone getting very wealthy very quickly with no reasonable explanation that doesn’t cover fraud? I don’t fucking know, look for really clean homes and check for small animal carcasses stripped in odd ways. Gu are weirdly picky.”


    “But you can make a system to detect them fast enough. I think we all know how bad a Gu outbreak would be right about now.”


    Ming shivered. “Yeah, fuck, I don’t want to think about that happening here.”


    If there was a Gu in the city and they noticed it too late, the city would be lost. It began with pests and insects, progressed to small animals, and the next thing those in the Old Southern Capital knew, they were a bloody sludge being consumed. There one moment, dead the next. Left behind for the history books to recall their folly.


    This was still in the Age of Heroes when Immortals roamed and could purify a land corrupted by an Immortal Gu with a true soul and power spanning a province. If a Gu grew so powerful today, nothing in the world could handle it.


    “Which is why I know you’ll make certain we don’t have an outbreak. Because I can trust you to do good work.”


    “You’re using words in a particular order I’d usually associate with a compliment, but I feel rather threatened.”


    “You’ve done well,” she said with a pleasant smile, though why Ming shivered could not be known. Hua then raised her voice. “You have all done well to keep things in order here. I am proud of you. The main house thanks you for your efforts.”


    Hua offered them a bow. Family mattered and she loved hers, no matter how much she wanted to strangle them on a good day.


    “One of the Elders could praise us for once,” someone muttered.


    “They’re never here doing anything useful.”


    Well, maybe I don’t love all of my family unconditionally. At least not the ones making bastards.


    Hua could say something in their defence. It would be expected. Loyalty was an admirable trait. But Hua was curious to see how that distrust would spread. If it would spread. She could do with a bit of discontent with the older generation. With the revelation of Liao bastards in brothels, Hua had lost most of her dwindling faith in the Shen Generation.


    She was surprised no one had said anything about her eyes. Maybe their true colour had returned now that any Qi she’d absorbed from the lightning had faded?


    Hua made her way out the central hall and was entirely unsurprised that Weiji was following along with her. Hua’s home, which was also the Patriarch’s estate, was on the opposite side of the Clan grounds from Weiji’s house.


    “Hua,” he called for the fourth time, and she finally gave up on ignoring him, stopping in the middle of a stone path.


    “Weiji, I don’t have the energy or interest in hearing you complain about Liu Xin. Get some sleep before you have a nervous break.”


    “I’m telling Liao Furen about this. She’ll agree with me.”


    “You are absolutely terrified of her, but alright, I wish you the best in convincing Grandmother of anything. And when you’re done, take Ming to Old Ren and get her whatever she needs.”


    “I don’t want to deal with Old Ren. He bullies me.”


    “He bullies everyone. You aren’t special. Make sure Ming and the rest of the purifiers have adequate security. Whichever retainers in Body Tempering you can find. Regular soldiers as well. I guess you can pull Weiang to help if you find him.”


    “Since when do you think you can order me around like this?” Weiji whined. “Or any of us. The moment the Elders hear about this they’ll be furious. Your brother is heir, not you, Hua. Acting like this looks like an usurpation.”


    She levelled her cousin with a look that conveyed her understanding. He was giving her a warning, reminding her that there was always politics at play. The Elders, Grandmother, the main house and the branch lines, the old generation and the new—Shen opposed to Wei.


    Hua was powerful as a Cultivator of the fifth—now the sixth, she thought—star of Qi condensation. Especially given her youth. And she would still be thrown around like a toy if she challenged the Elders.


    “They can be as upset as they fucking want when they show their faces and be useful.”


    Weiji stepped forward rapidly. Hua expected him to… not hurt her, Weiji would never, but something other than him wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She was bewildered to be engulfed in a hug. How long had it been since she’d last received one from someone who wasn’t Qing?


    “Don’t do anything too foolish,” he whispered, squeezing tight. “We can’t lose you as well. I can’t lose you as well. We need you.”


    “The only way you’ll lose me is if you don’t tell me about what’s happening in the Crimson Leaf Pagoda.”


    Weiji flinched. It was a full-body experience for him and Hua was unfortunately carried along for the moment. He pulled back, a wobbly smile that looked so strange on features Hua knew, but not in that configuration.


    “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And even if I did, surely my favourite cousin would understand why I couldn’t report on my Elder’s activities.”


    And then he ran off like the coward he was. Sometimes, Hua hated her family.


    She’d deal with Weiji amongst the increasingly infinite tasks set aside for later. For now, she had a Patriarch to see.


    It was time to see Father.