“It’s time,” Long announced. The archer lay flat on his stomach, peering eastward. While the other three had been crouched together to restrict their physical presence, he had positioned himself a few yards closer to the edge of the crater to catch the moment right before dawn.

  The final shreds of night still lingered across the island, not yet banished by the emergence of day. A faint breeze coasted through the air, bringing relief from the tropical humidity. Even deep within the shadowed crimson depths of the crater, wisps of cooling air swirled about. Despite the island’s savage nature, it felt almost peaceful in the final moments before dawn triggered the onslaught of blood.

  Their group had snuck into the crater in the middle of the night and assumed a position not directly in the crater’s center—afraid that waiting exactly where the Pill Drop occurred would cause others to detect them—but forty feet to the east. Overall, it was a simple plan: Rhee would conceal them in shadow before there was any sunlight to keep them hidden, and once the Pill Drop happened they would swiftly retrieve the pills they needed and sprint in whichever direction Rhee decided was safest.

  Rhee pressed her hands together. “Get ready, everyone.”

  Long stealthily returned to the rest of the group, sat, and curled his legs. Moments later, Ishin watched as darkness consumed their surroundings.

  The four of them waited patiently, enveloped by the conjuration of shadows. Rhee had shared with them that a sufficiently powerful light source could scatter her Falling Night Veil technique. While she didn’t think the bright light that heralded the Pill Drop was capable of dispersing her technique, she warned that it would likely be perceivable from inside.

  As they waited, Ishin rubbed his fingers against the broken shaft of his half spear. This was it. They only needed to get one ice pill, one fire pill, and two lightning pills, and then they would be done. Rhee still had a darkness pill from two weeks ago and could use that to trigger her tribulation. Ishin’s only concern was that there would be just one lightning pill. If that happened, they’d be trapped here for another week, and this strategy likely wouldn’t work a second time.

  A faint green light illuminated the western side of the Falling Night Veil. That was it!

  The technique was instantly dismissed as the four moved as one in an organized formation. There was no need for words; Rhee had formulated their strategy down to the final elements. They advanced in a diamond formation, with Ishin at the rear, Long on the right, Mei on the left, and Rhee at the front. Only Rhee would focus on grabbing the necessary pills—hiding them in her storage ring—while the other three handled anyone who tried to attack them.

  When the four were still twenty feet away, Rhee conjured four shadow hands that pulled the basket to them. Once the basket was at her feet, the remaining three assumed a defensive triangle formation, guarding Rhee and the pill basket in the center.

  Ishin surveyed the southeast portion of the crater and, as expected, saw the rapid descent of other candidates. Four emerged from the woods, each seemingly operating independently—and that was just from his position. No doubt others would attack from other parts of the crater, but they had expected this.

  “Four on this end,” Ishin reported. The candidates coming at them from his side consisted of a spear wielder, two unarmed cultivators, and one bearing a chain whip. Archers had been their main concern, but so far it seemed the Heavens had smiled upon them.

  “Two from my side,” Mei announced.

  “Three here,” Long answered. Ishin heard a twang and the whooshing of something through the air. A second later, there was the unmistakable eruption of heat. “Two now,” Long corrected.

  “Any archers?”

  “Not anymore,” Long answered.

  Between them, Rhee knelt and rummaged through the basket.

  The four approaching from Ishin’s end were now only thirty yards away. Ishin launched an Indigo Sky Bolt at the chain-whip cultivator, striking him cleanly in the stomach. The sect candidate slumped to the ground, clutching his wound. The other three continued forward, sprinting faster. Ishin released another Indigo Sky Bolt, hitting the female unarmed cultivator in the chest, but by then the other two were upon him.

  Behind him, Ishin could hear Long loose more arrows and Mei launch her own ice techniques, but he had no time to focus on them.

  The spear cultivator thrust his weapon at Ishin, and Ishin was forced to shift his head to the side to avoid it. He then sprang forward to enter the spearman’s guard and stabbed up with his half spear. The steel tip of the broken weapon penetrated the side of the warrior’s throat.

  One benefit of a shorter weapon.

  Ishin ripped his half spear free, bringing with it a spray of blood. Then the force of thunder collided with Ishin’s right side, blasting him to the ground and rolling him several feet. His spear dropped again, and he could feel that his ribs were at least cracked, if not broken. Holding himself up with his left arm, Ishin stared at the bald man who had struck him. He was older than Ishin would have expected, appearing to be in his early thirties. Muscles corded like iron showed beneath his sleeveless robes, and there was a fire in his eyes.

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  Should have targeted him instead of the girl.

  Ishin winced at the pain from his side. Some ribs were definitely broken.

  The thunder cultivator took a step forward, but an arrow pierced his right eye. Dropping to his knees, the man grabbed at the shaft in a final, futile effort before falling to the ground dead.

  “You alright?” Long asked, lowering his bow.

  “Broken ribs,” Ishin groaned. “But I’m fine.”

  Cries of pain sounded to the south, and Ishin saw that Mei had propelled several shards of ice at what were now six attacking candidates.

  They’re increasing. Must be desperate.

  “I’ve got them!” Rhee announced.

  Ishin rose to his feet, one hand pressed to his damaged rib cage. His eyes darted first to his discarded half spear and then to the full spear resting beside the dead spear cultivator.

  I can grab it real quick.

  “North!” Rhee ordered.

  Ishin pursed his lips and abandoned any thought of retrieving either weapon.

  With Rhee leading the way, their group darted north—the only direction where further candidates weren’t approaching. The loose earthen surface of the crater ground beneath their feet as they ran, its crimson color visible now that sunlight had trickled across the island.

  Each step Ishin took brought further pain, a consequence of his broken ribs, but he pressed forward. It was still an effort to keep up with the others, yet he cycled qi like the rest of them to accelerate their escape.

  Long peered over his shoulder and loosed another flaming arrow behind them as they fled. Ishin didn’t bother looking to see what the archer targeted, but he felt the arrow burst into Long’s usual fire technique upon impact.

  Upon reaching the crater’s edge, Rhee climbed the sloped wall first, conjuring four shadow hands to rapidly scale the earthen side. Mei went up next, and then Long instructed Ishin to follow, promising to guard against pursuers while he did so. Ishin didn’t object, but the ascent proved challenging with his injuries. He managed to reach the top, but the effort left his body shaking, and he worried a dislodged piece of his rib might puncture his lung or another vital organ.

  A cold sweat broke out over his face, and his breathing became more difficult. As he gazed out at the ashen-colored trees in the distance, he knew that at this rate he would be a true liability if they entered another fight.

  I have to get this healed. But how?

  Rhee and Mei were already studying their surroundings, looking for incoming threats. Seeing that Ishin was still kneeling near the edge and clearly in pain, Rhee asked, “What happened, Brother Ishin? Did you get hurt?”

  “My right ribs are broken,” he answered, struggling to his feet. “Another candidate struck me back there.”

  Rhee frowned, concern evident in her eyes. “Can you manage?”

  “I’ll have to,” Ishin replied simply.

  Long finished his own ascent, his bow strapped over one shoulder. “They aren’t pursuing us. They’re fighting each other over the remaining pills.”

  Rhee spared Ishin one more look before ordering, “Then we should get out of here before anyone tries to rob us.”

  They moved deeper into the woods, remaining vigilant and keeping their diamond formation. Only after they traveled several miles did Rhee finally declare they could stop. Ishin was relieved and sat against a nearby tree. A groan escaped him, but he wouldn’t complain about the wound.

  Mei was the first to check on him. “Brother Ishin, you don’t look alright.” Panic was evident in her voice, and her eyes were wide with alarm.

  “Brother Ishin?”

  “Broken ribs,” he shared. “Nothing fatal, but moving is proving to be a bit challenging.”

  Rhee joined the white-haired woman, standing over him. “Do you feel any internal bleeding?”

  Ishin slid a hand within his robe and felt at his side. Each touch sent a shiver of pain through him, but he didn’t feel any blood.

  “Not like that,” Mei said. She bent down and pulled open Ishin’s upper robes, revealing his bare flesh.

  Ishin looked down and didn’t see any signs of internal bleeding, but he now had a clear view of his ribs. They were shifted at abnormal angles, and it was a miracle none had punctured through his skin.

  “That’s not good,” Mei stated. She touched her lips before continuing, “I don’t know what to do, though.”

  “Do you have any secret recovery pills?” Rhee asked, her words filled with concern instead of animosity.

  Mei shook her head in defeat. “I don’t. I’m sorry, but I don’t.”

  “It’s not fatal,” Ishin assured them. Internally, though, he realized how precarious his situation was. If he moved incorrectly, his wound could quickly turn fatal.

  If I could just get to the sect they could heal me. Would they, though?

  So far, his limited experience with the Crimson Abyss Sect was that they had no qualms about treating their members with brutality. Perhaps if he made it into the sect officially they would treat him—viewing it as an investment—otherwise, they might simply see it as his own weakness.

  “Your only choice is to progress to the next realm.” Long’s calm words cut through the alarm that had begun to plague Ishin’s mind. He met the archer’s passive eyes. There was no concern there, as though the solution were simple.

  “You grabbed the necessary pills, right?” Long asked Rhee.

  “I… yes.” Rhee materialized four pills in her palm. Two of them were the brilliant blue of lightning qi.

  There were enough!

  Ishin let out a sigh of relief, but even that brought pain with it.

  Long nodded. “Take and process the pills. Your body will naturally heal itself upon progressing to the Adept Realm.”

  “It will?”

  Ishin had never been taught the finer details of progression through cultivation realms growing up. He of course learned the basics, including the requirement of forming seven layers around one’s chakra, but it hadn’t seemed relevant for him to learn much more, given his spiritual crippling for most of his life.

  “Yes,” Long assured him. To Rhee he asked, “Would you stand guard over us while we process our pills? Once we’re all at the peak of the Initial Realm, we can take turns overcoming our tribulations.”

  “And then we’ll all leave this island together,” Rhee finished. “A good plan. Yes, I can do that.” She placed the two lightning pills onto Ishin’s lap and then handed the ice pill to Mei and the fire pill to Long. “You can all trust me to watch over you. Now please, begin.”