A Vampire Monkey shrieked in pain as a bolt of indigo-colored lightning pierced its abdomen. The spirit beast tumbled from the tree branch to the island’s damp, ashen floor. Tendrils of shadow curled up from the ground and wrapped around the wounded primate, pinning it easily despite the beast’s frantic thrashing. Ishin strode in on the vampiric monster and drove his spear through its throat. Blood gushed from the opening in a hot arc, filling the air with the coppery stench of decay.

  “It’s dead,” Ishin reported as he withdrew his spear. Dark ichor coated the upper portion of the ashwood shaft until he scattered the blood with a sharp flick.

  Standing across the fallen spirit beast, Rhee merely nodded. The tendrils of shadow dissolved into the leaf litter, and the two surveyed the progress of the others. Another Vampire Monkey lay dead with a bouquet of sharp icicles jutting from its chest and belly. A second had been charred to a blackened roast; three arrows still punctured its eyes and heart, the shafts quivering faintly. That beast had died a particularly painful death.

  A horrific scream tore from the right, accompanied by a violent rustle of leaves. Ishin turned to see the fourth and final Vampire Monkey slam into a wide-bellied tree trunk with a crunch that sent bark flying. Chen stood several yards away, her fist extended, breath heavy. The last wisps of her cyclone technique spiraled around her forearm like fading mist. The Vampire Monkey—victim of her strike—looked broken, its limbs bent at impossible angles, the trunk behind it spiderwebbed with shattered bark.

  A faint, wet cry seeped from the Vampire Monkey as it slunk to the ground. Despite its body being ruined, the pathetic creature hadn’t died. Not even its jaw remained intact, leaving its mewling cries strained and abnormally pained.

  “Care to help?” Chen asked Ishin, voice rough from exertion.

  Without a word, Ishin moved to the bloody remains and thrust his spear into the beast’s heart, ending it instantly.

  “I think that’s all of them,” Mei declared, still scanning the surrounding forest for any other threats. Wind hissed through the canopy; somewhere, a distant wave hammered the black shore.

  “Certainly easier than our first go with the beasts,” Chen said, walking back toward the others and shaking rain-spattered grit from her knuckles.

  It was true. After several days of cultivating their hard-won pills, all of them had improved their cultivation bases. Ishin had managed not only to form his fifth layer, but had even—barely—succeeded in forming his sixth. It was thin, a gauzy shell compared to a true layer, but he hadn’t expected a single pill would allow him to progress two layers, even if he had already been at the peak of the fourth before. It demonstrated the superiority of Crimson Abyss pills compared to those from Yellow Dome City.

  Everyone else had fared just as well, if not better. Chen and Long had formed their sixth layers, while Mei had managed to form her seventh. Of them all, Rhee was now, for sure, the most advanced. As they’d thought, she’d reached the peak of the seventh layer after consuming and cultivating her medium-grade pill. Ishin had witnessed the moment Rhee finished: a dark aura had poured from her body like dusk spilling over stone—silent and absolute—a stark testament to her power.

  Afterward, she had told Ishin she had felt the tribulation begin to stir and had been forced to repress it. Curious and ignorant about that part of cultivation, Ishin had asked what it felt like. Rhee had described the sensation as her chakra shaking while something attempted to pull her subconscious inward. She’d had to will the force away and a minute later her chakra finally stablized.

  Following their cultivation, the group had elected to try their new progression in combat. It had been easy enough for Long to track a troop of Vampire Monkeys—scuffs in the ash, faint musky spoor—and after some quick battle planning, they ambushed the vampiric monsters. Progressing through the layers of a realm granted cultivators more qi to use, though their physical bodies would not truly advance until stepping into a higher realm. Still, this battle had felt far easier than Ishin expected.

  It wasn’t just the increase in his qi; the strength of his techniques had sharpened too. He had assumed that having more qi simply meant he could use his techniques more often. While that was true, he hadn’t considered that more qi could be poured into each technique, increasing its raw power. That was how a single Indigo Sky Bolt had been able to incapacitate a Vampire Monkey outright. Even more than that, Ishin could cycle greater qi through the meridians of his limbs, improving his bursts of speed and strength when he called upon them.

  “We still need to be cautious,” Rhee intoned, joining the other three. “If they had outnumbered us, this would have been far harder.”

  “You’re right,” Ishin agreed. He turned to Mei. “How many other candidate groups are there on the island with more members than us?”

  Mei considered. “I don’t know for certain. None that I know of. Most only work alone or with a single partner. Allying with a large number of candidates is what made the Collective Liberation Alliance so unique.”

  Not that their numbers did them any good in the end.

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  The truth of the matter, Ishin understood now, was that in the face of superior strength, numbers were irrelevant.

  “Isho Nel only had two others,” Rhee stated. “We should be able to kill him now. We just have to find him.”

  “Confident, huh?” Chen asked, one brow raising.

  “Yes. If he’s still on the island, it’s not possible for him to be stronger than me now. If we find him, I can kill him.”

  Chen lifted a cautionary finger. “You’re assuming he hasn’t found a way to cultivate too. And even if he isn’t at the peak of the seventh layer like you, those swords are a problem. One cut and you’re done.”

  Rhee’s eyes narrowed. “I remember what happened to Lei.”

  “I’m just saying we’ll need to be careful.”

  “She’s right,” Mei affirmed. “Any of us will die if we get cut. It will be dangerous.”

  “Are you suggesting we forgo pursuing vengeance?” Rhee asked fiercely.

  Mei shook her head. “No.” Her voice was cold with resolve. “He’s killed too many of our friends. I’m saying we need to be careful to avoid any further losses.”

  That softened Rhee’s expression. “I…you’re right. My apologies, Mei. You as well, Chen.”

  “It’s alright, Rhee,” Chen replied sympathetically. “We understand.”

  “We’ll need to find him first,” Ishin noted. His eyes moved to a pale, straight-trunked tree that climbed above the canopy. “Anything?”

  Branches and leaves rustled until Long descended from the white-barked tree, bow slung across his back and sand clinging to his boots.

  “No other threats in the area. No candidates either. However…”

  “What?”

  “The carpet is back.”

  “It is?” Mei asked, a bright note of excitement in her voice.

  “Yes. Back where it should be.”

  “Did you see it move back?” Chen asked.

  “No. It was there when I reached the tree line.” Long gestured east. “I couldn’t see the top of it, and to my best observation, it’s over the crater. That’s where it was before, right?” he asked Mei.

  “Yes.” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “The sect must have resolved whatever happened to it. At least now we can be certain of no delays with the Pill Drop.”

  The next Pill Drop.

  That was tomorrow. The group had remained only a few dozen miles from the crater, so they didn’t need to worry about not reaching it by tonight. With the sun not even at its zenith, they had plenty of time before they needed to depart. The air carried the briny tang of the sea, and the forest steamed faintly from the morning’s heat.

  “We should try to find Isho Nel tomorrow after the Pill Drop,” Ishin proposed. The others turned toward him. “He’ll surely be there, either to claim pills himself or to steal them from someone else. It’ll be easier to find him there than searching the whole island later.”

  “I agree,” Long said. The archer’s expression was serious as always, his mind clearly working behind those steel eyes.

  “The sooner we find and kill him the better,” Rhee said with a nod. “Then we can get off this island.”

  “What about the Pill Drop itself?” Chen asked. She brushed her long hair back over her shoulder. The once-azure sheen was now a dull cobalt, worn by the salt air and grit of the island. “We need more pills to get out of here ourselves. Are we not going to even try to get any pills?”

  It was a valid point. If they risked entering the crater to acquire pills directly, they would surely be attacked by others. Injuries would be a certainty, and if Bai Hao—or someone similarly powerful—entered at the same time, it could be far worse.

  But Rhee is at the pinnacle of the Initial Realm. Bai Hao can’t be stronger than her. So why do I still worry about him?

  “We could rob someone else again,” Mei suggested. “It worked out well last time.”

  “That’s only because that Phantom Crow guy traded us the pills we were missing,” Rhee pointed out. “And if we focus on robbing someone, then we won’t be pursuing Isho Nel. Killing him has to come first.”

  It was evident from Rhee’s sharp tone and tight frown that she would not budge on this matter. Truthfully, Ishin shared her sentiment. If they didn’t kill Isho Nel soon, there was a chance he would reach the Adept Realm and escape. Ishin was more than willing to spend an extra week or two on Desolate Island—to wait for more Pill Drops—so long as Lei, Six, and the other members of the Collective Liberation Alliance were avenged.

  “So we are going to ignore the Pill Drop?” Chen asked, displeased, arms crossed.

  “There will be other Pill Drops,” Ishin answered.

  With tight lips, Chen glanced at Long. “Do you agree with this?”

  Despite what Ishin expected, Long shrugged. “We aren’t leaving this place until he’s dead. The sooner we kill him, the better.”

  “You said we’re a team,” Rhee reminded Chen. “You agreed that our friends need to be avenged.”

  Chen’s expression flickered with hurt at Rhee’s chastisement. “We are. Of course we are. I just…I just wish we didn’t have to ignore the pills.” She turned away. “That’s all.”

  Ishin gave Rhee a sidelong look. Rhee shot him back a questioning stare, as though asking how this was her fault.

  “Sister Chen, I understand what you’re getting at,” Mei said, stepping forward and placing a comforting hand on Chen’s shoulder. “No one is questioning your commitment.”

  “That’s right, Chen,” Rhee added after a long sigh. “I’m sorry. You’re right that we need pills, I just…” Rhee shook her head. “I’m sorry for being harsh.”

  Chen turned back around. “It’s okay.” She squeezed Mei’s hand. “Thanks, Sister Mei.” She drew a steadying breath. “I get it. I can accept it. We won’t pursue the pills this time. I can live with that.”

  Ishin was glad a rift hadn’t formed between them. It had been a stressful two weeks since they’d arrived on the island; tempers were bound to flare occasionally, even between friends and comrades. The sooner they all got off this island, the better. And that wouldn’t happen until after Isho Nel and his group were dead.