Hou Lei extended a hand that Ishin gratefully took.

  “Thanks,” Ishin uttered as he was pulled to his feet. He felt at his stomach. “That was well placed.”

  “Are you alright?”

  “Fine. I shouldn’t have underestimated you.” It was the truth, no matter how much Ishin didn’t like it.

  “An understandable mistake. I haven’t needed to use them against you during any of our previous fights.” Hou Lei spread his arm in praise. “Think of it as a compliment! Now I can’t hold back against you!”

  Ishin recalled Hou Lei’s increased speed at the end. He’d barely been able to block—what he now recognized as still restrained attacks—before being soundly defeated. No doubt, Hou Lei is still the better fighter.

  “I appreciate the kind words.” Ishin managed a bow. “Thank you for the pointers, Hou Lei.”

  “My pleasure, Ro Ishin,” Hou Lei returned with his own bow.

  Straightening, Ishin felt exhausted. His stomach, back, and arms ached, his muscles throbbed, and his meridians felt strained from the continuous qi cycling. “I’m going to go sit down now.”

  Hou Lei followed Ishin toward the shaded bench. Despite the shallow gash over Hou Lei’s temple, the disciple seemed completely fine.

  Better than fine, Ishin thought. He’s smiling like always. Ishin remembered that Hou Lei had fought—and lost—against Wan Bo that same morning. I couldn’t even beat him when he must’ve been tired to begin with. It made Ishin admire Hou Lei’s martial prowess even more. Wan Bo must be extraordinary if he can beat a rested Hou Lei.

  His thoughts drifted to Zhu Rhee, who stood above both Wan Bo and Hou Lei. That deep, primal part of Ishin’s soul growled quietly at the thought of challenging the Eight Oaths Resolve prodigy. One day soon.

  Ishin sagged onto the bench. Hou Lei grabbed the pair of water jugs he’d brought and untied the rope binding them together. He handed one to Ishin, who took it gratefully. After unstoppering the cork, Ishin greedily drank the contents. The liquid had a flavor combination of lavender, cinnamon, and mint. It was water saturated with various herbs that aided in meridian and muscle recovery. Ever since the two had begun their afternoon sparring sessions, Hou Lei had brought two jugs for them to drink afterward. Ishin knew that without the concoctions, again he would have been forced to spend several days recovering.

  Swirling the half-empty jug, Ishin marveled again at the display of wealth and resources the school had. And they keep spending them on me. Ishin wasn’t na?ve. He knew that the school was only doing this because they expected something from him in return. The Exhibition Tournament was six weeks out, and while Ishin had undoubtedly improved his qi cycling and hand-to-hand martial skill, his cultivation remained barely at the second layer of the Initial Realm.

  “Hou Lei,” Ishin began, looking at the man seated beside him.

  Hou Lei swallowed some of his own healing water and turned to Ishin, curious.

  “Is there a way for me to earn some money at the school?”

  “What for?” He stoppered his jug. “The school’s food is satisfactory, is it not?”

  “It’s more than sufficient. I have no complaints and am grateful to the school for providing it!” Ishin didn’t want Hou Lei to think he was ungrateful. “No, the issue is my cultivation.”

  “Your cultivation?”

  “Yes, I… haven’t made any real progress since I’ve been here.” Ishin knew that most cultivators within the Daihu Tribe spent years at the second layer. In truth, Ishin was lucky to have even reached the second layer during his short time as a cultivator. But the tournament was looming, and his lightning chakra was not suitable for cultivating even under ideal circumstances.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “I don’t understand,” Hou Lei confessed.

  Ishin didn’t see what part of that was confusing, but he elaborated further. “I know you brought me here with the hope I’d help the school in the Exhibition Tournament, and while you’ve helped me improve my unarmed fighting skills, I’m still at the second layer. I need to get stronger if I want to get selected for the tournament team in two weeks.”

  “Of course you do,” Hou Lei agreed. “But why do you need money?”

  “To purchase alchemic pills. There’s not enough lightning qi here for me to make any meaningful progress. The other contenders are going to be at the third layer, right?”

  Hou Lei nodded. “They will. And I see your dilemma—but you’re going about it the wrong way.”

  Ishin tilted his head. “I am?” He didn’t see how but was going to hold his tongue. For now.

  “You are,” a familiar voice said from Ishin’s left.

  It was one he hadn’t heard in two weeks and was glad to hear again. Zhu Rhee stepped out from the wall’s shadow, dressed the same as the first time Ishin had seen her. He didn’t know how he’d missed her presence, but then deduced it must have been the result of one of her darkness techniques.

  “It’s true that you need resources,” Zhu Rhee continued, “but there are better methods to obtain those than earning tael to purchase pills.”

  Leaning back against the courtyard’s wall, Ishin asked, “Alright, what do you propose, Senior Sister Zhu?” He darted a glance at Zhu Rhee. “And how long have you been watching us?”

  “She’s been observing our matches since the second day,” Hou Lei interjected happily.

  “Lei,” Zhu Rhee growled, crossing her arms.

  Hou Lei shrugged. “What? It’s the truth, isn’t it? You told me that you were curious about his improvements.”

  “So curious you’ve been watching me for weeks in secret?” Ishin asked, unable to entirely conceal his amusement.

  “You’re an investment,” Zhu Rhee stated. “I only wanted to make sure that my school’s resources aren’t being wasted.” She uncrossed her arms. “And so far, that doesn’t appear to be the case.”

  That was good to hear. “Does that mean your school has lightning-aspected pills or elixirs I can use to improve my cultivation?” If so, his training would be made significantly easier.

  “No.”

  Ishin’s hopes of swift progress withered and died. Shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.

  “But we do employ several talented alchemists. If you can acquire lightning-aspected chakras, they can turn those into resources you can use to improve your cultivation.”

  “Really?” That wasn’t a bad proposal at all, but that led to a new question. “And where can I acquire those chakras? The Three Crowns Exchange?”

  “You could,” Zhu Rhee allowed. “But that’s no different than your original proposal. You’d need money to purchase them from the Three Crowns Exchange. Instead, I encourage you to go hunting for them.”

  “Hunting?” Ishin realized she was talking about harvesting chakras from spirit beasts. The eastern Nine Striped Hills primarily had roaming Sun Tigers this time of year, and none of them would have lightning-aspected chakras. “Is there a place that is filled with a lot of lightning spirit beasts?”

  Zhu Rhee pointed to the northwest. “The Hollowing Scape Forest is teeming with various types of spirit beasts. I spoke with my grandfather, and the school has a map of the Hollowing Scape Forest that denotes the hunting grounds of the various spirit beasts that live there—including the Thunder Horned Wolf.”

  Ishin had never heard of that particular spirit beast, but he had come to realize there were many aspects of the world that he had been ignorant of before. “Is it a lightning-aspected spirit beast?” Based on its name, Ishin would have guessed a thunder aspect.

  “Lightning and thunder,” Zhu Rhee said in answer. “Similar to the Sun Tigers that are common throughout your homeland, the Thunder Horned Wolves traditionally cultivate two aspects of qi. Fortunately, their first chakra aspect is almost always lightning, so you won’t have to risk engaging any Adept Realm Thunder Horned Wolves.”

  Ishin rose from the bench, excited. “You’re telling me, Senior Sister Zhu, that all I need to do is hunt some of these Thunder Horned Wolves and bring back their chakras, then your school will turn them into cultivation resources for me?”

  “Correct. But you’ll also need to bring back their fur coats as well.” Seeing Ishin’s surprised expression, she elaborated, “They are quite valuable and will serve as proper compensation for the services provided.”

  There really is nothing free in this world. “Fair enough.”

  Ishin’s mind raced with thoughts of the hunt. Hunting was one of the true tests of a Daihu Tribe cultivator. In fact, the only way a Daihu warrior could join the Silver Fang Guard was if they successfully hunted and killed a Sun Tiger on their own. Ishin had long thought he’d never be able to prove himself in the tradition of his tribe—but now he could.

  “When can I see the map and depart?” If possible, he’d like to leave tomorrow.

  Zhu Rhee gave a pleased smile. “Be prepared to depart tomorrow morning after breakfast, and pack whatever provisions you need for three days.”

  “I’ll be out there for a while then.”

  “We,” Zhu Rhee emphasized, “will.”

  That caught Ishin off guard. “We?”

  “We.”