Zhao Yu’s shoulders burned as he struggled underneath the weight of the massive boulder. With every step, his legs felt like they’d been put through a wringer, and the sun beating down on them wasn’t helping.

  Zhao Yu glared at his brother’s back, but Zhao Xing was oblivious – he was humming away as he plodded along the dirt path.

  “Brother,” Zhao Yu panted, adjusting his grip on the ropes for what must’ve been the hundredth time, “Can we take a break? We’ve carried this thing for hours.”

  “Shut up,” Zhao Xing called back cheerfully. “You’re not listening. This isn’t just any boulder. It’s our ticket to the high life! As soon as we sell this beauty, we’ll be living like royalty!”

  Zhao Yu clamped his jaw shut to prevent yet another complaint from spilling out. His brother had been talking like this ever since they’d found the stupid rock, spinning outlandish tales of mansions and abundant cultivation resources.

  Zhao Yu’s stomach churned with anxiety over the entire ordeal.

  His mind drifted back to how they’d come upon the boulder in the first place. They’d been walking along this very same road, Zhao Yu constantly scanning the trees to see if their old bandit crew was closing in on them. The Mountain Tiger Gang wasn’t known for letting deserters live long, especially not those who had taken some of the gang’s “acquired” goods before fleeing.

  Zhao Yu had been so focused on watching the trees that he had stepped right into something hard enough to knock the wind out of him. While he sat there cursing and nursing his wounded nose, Zhao Xing had nearly doubled over laughing.

  “What a cultivator you are!” his older brother had howled, doubling over and clutching his sides. “Did you forget how to use your eyes along with your common sense?”

  Zhao Yu’s humiliation and anger had boiled over. He had formed a fist full of earth-attributed spiritual energy and prepared to unleash his Crushing Stone Palm technique on the offending boulder. The boulder had somehow offended his dignity, and he was dead-set on reducing it to rubble.

  That… hadn’t worked out quite as he’d hoped.

  Rather than shattering under his qi-enriched blow, the boulder had somehow reflected his attack right back at him.

  The next thing he knew, everything went dark.

  Later, Zhao Yu woke up to find Zhao Xing rambling on excitedly to himself about spiritual stones and hidden treasures. The boulder had a type of spiritual energy emanating from it that felt eerily similar to Zhao Yu’s own sixth-stage Qi Condensation aura.

  “Brother, please,” Zhao Yu had attempted to reason with him, “Think about this. Who just leaves something as valuable as this lying about by the side of the road? This has got to be somebody’s property, somebody powerful. When they discover it’s missing…”

  But Zhao Xing wouldn’t listen to reason.

  “That’s precisely why we need to take it! Finders keepers, little brother! Plus, what kind of idiot leaves his treasure unprotected? He deserves to lose it for being so careless.”

  Zhao Yu was concerned his brother would ultimately get them both killed one day. His older brother had always been like this — charging headlong into danger, believing everything would ultimately work out in his favor. In the vast majority of cases, Zhao Yu’s more cautious demeanor balanced things out, but when Zhao Xing became fixated on something…

  “Come on,” Zhao Xing shouted back at Zhao Yu. “Try harder! The faster we move this beauty to a safe location, the sooner we can begin our new lives. Can you picture the looks on the Mountain Tigers’ faces when they hear about us living in luxury?”

  Zhao Yu winced. That was another problem — his brother couldn’t seem to shake their previous association with the Mountain Tiger Gang. He always spoke about demonstrating their superiority over the gang, and how he would prove they had succeeded without them. It seemed as though he wanted to draw their attention.

  “They won’t care,” Zhao Yu replied, “They’ll simply be angry. Angrier than they already are.”

  “What did you say?”

  “Nothing,” Zhao Yu sighed. His arms felt as though they weighed a ton, and his qi stores were dangerously low from continuously bolstering his muscles.

  They’d tried placing the boulder in their storage rings, but something regarding the boulder’s spiritual properties had rejected the attempt. So, they were forced to do things the hard way.

  As they continued their awkward trek, the sun ascended higher into the sky.

  Zhao Yu’s robes were saturated with sweat, and he’d long since stopped trying to keep his brown hair out of his eyes. Zhao Xing’s seemingly ceaseless chatter had dwindled to intermittent grunts of exertion.

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  Occasionally, Zhao Yu swore he could feel the boulder … shifting. Not physically, they’d securely tied it with rope, however the boulder’s spiritual energy was fluctuating like someone stirring in their sleep. Every time it happened, his anxiety increased another degree.

  Zhao Yu tried to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other, but his mind kept generating a plethora of increasingly dire scenarios. What if the boulder belonged to an Inner Disciple from one of the prominent sects? Or worse, what if it was some type of spirit beast egg? They’d heard stories within the gang concerning cultivators who stole spirit beast eggs, thinking they’d scored big, only to have the parents track them down…

  A distant bird call startled him, causing him to lose his grip on the ropes.

  His brother gave him a disapproving glance.

  “Relax already,” Zhao Xing complained. “Your irrational fear is making this more complicated than it needs to be.”

  “I’m not afraid,” Zhao Yu insisted, although his tone came out higher than usual. “I’m just being cautious. There’s a difference.”

  “Yeah?” Zhao Xing chuckled. “Is that why you nearly leapt out of your boots at a sparrow? Face facts, little brother, you’ve always been a—”

  “LET ROCKY GO!”

  The scream came from out of nowhere.

  Before Zhao Yu could even turn to see what was happening, something crashed into his back with enough force to send him tumbling across the dirt road.

  When the world stopped spinning, Zhao Yu looked up to see a young boy, he guessed to be no older than twelve, standing in the center of the road. The kid’s face was a mess of tears and snot, but his eyes burned with animosity.

  Zhao Yu was concerned less about the boy’s expression, and more about the gray aura surrounding him, pulsing with spiritual energy that felt impossibly robust for someone so young. If he had to guess, he’d estimate it at… pseudo sixth-stage Qi Condensation?

  “Oh,” Zhao Yu gasped, still trying to gather his composure, “We’re in serious trouble.”

  The boy took a step forward, and the gray aura intensified.

  Zhao Yu couldn’t help but notice it was the exact same shade as the boulder’s energy.

  “I told you,” the boy’s voice quivered with barely suppressed ire, “to let rocky GO!”

  Zhao Yu truly wished his brother had listened to him about leaving strange boulders alone.

  “Now listen here, kid,” Zhao Xing dropped the boulder with a loud thud as he took a step closer. “I don’t know what sort of game you’re playing, but this is clearly just a boulder. A rather valuable, rather heavy boulder that we discovered completely fairly and squarely. Why don’t you scurry along before—”

  The gray aura surrounding the boy exploded to a brilliant glow.

  “His name is Rocky,” the boy growled, “And he’s not something you can steal. He’s my friend!”

  Zhao Yu’s gaze flickered between the boulder and the boy, his mind racing. The qi fluctuations he’d sensed, the manner in which their initial attack had been redirected… Suddenly the pieces clicked together.

  “Brother,” he said carefully, not taking his eyes from the enraged child, “I don’t think this is a typical spiritual boulder.”

  “Of course, it’s not a typical spiritual boulder,” Zhao Xing scoffed. “That’s why it’s valuable—”

  “No,” Zhao Yu clarified, “It’s not a boulder at all.”

  Zhao Yu gulped. “I think… I think it might be a stone guardian. You know, those elemental spirits that sometimes develop in places with a rich spiritual environment?”

  There was a brief pause as this realization sunk in.

  Then, predictably, Zhao Yu’s brother burst out laughing.

  “A stone guardian? Those are just stories mothers tell their children! And, even if they existed, why would one be sitting by the side of the road with some random kid?”

  The boy’s aura pulsed once again, and Zhao Yu noticed something else — the boulder behind him was … changing. The surface was shifting slightly, like ripples on a lake.

  “Brother,” Zhao Yu attempted to reason one final time, “I really think we should—”

  A grinding sound interrupted him; it was like mountains collapsing during an earthquake.

  Zhao Yu watched in stunned amazement as a fifteen-foot tall creature of living stone unfolded itself from what they believed to be a mere boulder. The creature’s coarse features looked like it had been crafted by a sculptor with a very loose understanding of human appearance, but there was no question of the intent behind the creature’s posture — or the way in which its boulder-like fists were clenched.

  “That’s…,” Zhao Xing exclaimed, “that’s impossible. Stone guardians are mythical creatures. They can’t exist. They’re just—”

  A rumble like gravel in a landslide interrupted him.

  It took Zhao Yu a moment to comprehend that the stone giant was attempting to speak.

  “Hurt… Liu Chen?” The words were barely intelligible, ground out from between mineral teeth. “Made… Liu Chen… cry?”

  The boy rubbed his face with his sleeve, though his glaring expression didn’t falter.

  “They tried to steal you, Rocky! They were going to sell you!”

  Had Zhao Yu not been absolutely terrified out of his wits, he might have found the irony amusing. Here they were, two former bandits who had robbed countless travelers, about to meet their end due to their accidental theft of someone’s pet mountain.

  The stone guardian, who was apparently known as Rocky, took a deafening stride toward them.

  The ground shook beneath their feet.

  “Brother,” Zhao Yu murmured softly, “Remember when you said my paranoia would get us killed someday?”

  “Yes?”

  “Well, your overconfidence is going to beat it to the punch.”

  Zhao Xing was silent for a long moment, staring at the enraged child.

  Then, to Zhao Yu’s shock, his brother started laughing.

  “You know what’s funny, little brother?” Zhao Xing asked. “I’ve never killed children. Never have, never will.” Zhao Xing’s gaze flickered to Liu Chen. “But I do enjoy teaching brats some discipline.”

  The atmosphere around them began to thicken, making breathing increasingly difficult.

  A faint golden glow started emanating from Zhao Xing’s body, expanding in intensity with each passing second.

  “I’ve always kept things hidden from you, so you wouldn’t worry even more than you already do,” Zhao Xing continued. “Do you think it was just luck that let us escape from the Mountain Tigers?”

  Zhao Xing’s aura erupted into a radiant blaze, its strength so great that even Rocky stumbled backward a step. Ripples of spiritual energy poured outward, distorting the air around him.

  Zhao Yu felt his knees give way as he recognized the unmistakable pressure of a seventh-stage Qi Condensation cultivator.

  “Brother,” Zhao Yu whispered, “All this time, you’ve been—”

  “Protecting you,” Zhao Xing finished, adopting a fighting position as his aura continued to intensify. “I always have, always will.”