“Hold it…hold it…just a little longer…”

  Gwen knelt in the clearing behind Calvin’s villa, eyes closed and an expression of intense focus on her face. She breathed slowly and deeply, her head tilted back and hands palm-up at her sides—altogether an unusual meditative position but it seemed to work for her. Her disciple’s robe was draped loosely over a nearby trellis, the bronzed skin of her bare arms and face shining in the warm light of the setting sun, and her hair fell loosely down her back in a wavy river of gold that reminded Calvin of a field of ripe wheat swaying in the breeze.

  Calvin stood a few steps away, out of the way of her sun, watching her closely. Without the spiritual sense of a higher-realm cultivator he couldn’t truly monitor what she was doing, but if something went catastrophically wrong it was crucial to catch it as soon as possible. There was little he’d be able to do if she experienced true qi deviation, but there were methods to address lesser issues. It was probably an unnecessary precaution, but she was trying a whole new method of refining her qi node. He felt his caution was warranted.

  His mental count reached ninety and he decided that was probably good enough for this attempt. “…and done. Let it go slowly with your next exhale.”

  Instead of a slow, measured breath, her next exhale sounded more like the dying gasps of a flopping fish, but it was close enough. Certainly an improvement over the choking and coughing of her first few attempts. She was making admirable progress—certainly better than he had when he’d first started using that particular method of expanding the capacity of his first qi node.

  She opened her eyes, tried to take a breath, and pitched forward. Calvin caught her by the back of her dress before she could faceplant in the dirt and held her as she coughed and sputtered, blindly flailing as she tried—and mostly failed—to get her hands under her well enough to support her own weight. “The release is the most delicate part,” he reminded her, “though thankfully not altogether dangerous. You have to let go smoothly, but quickly, so your qi doesn’t bounce back all at once, or else that's going to keep happening.”

  She finally managed to brace herself on her hands and knees so Calvin let go of the back of her dress. The sudden added weight nearly made her faceplant, but even disoriented she still had the strength and reflexes of a peak Gathering realm cultivator. She caught herself on her elbows, stared blankly at the ground for several moments, then with a great heaving effort rolled onto her back. “Thank you for the advice, senior brother,” she croaked hoarsely. “I will take it under advisement.”

  Calvin offered her a pleasant smile. “Very good. Up for another go?”

  Gwen made a sound somewhere between a whine and a whimper, looking for all the world like a kicked puppy. Calvin raised an eyebrow and she immediately fell silent, assuming an innocent expression. She opened her mouth to reply, then her eyes flicked to the horizon where the sun was just beginning its descent and she paled. “Oh! I didn’t realize how late it was getting! I’m sorry, senior brother, but I need to be going.”

  She sat up with a groan and gave him a makeshift bow. “Thank you for your advice and instruction, senior brother. I feel much more confident preparing for my upcoming breakthrough now.”

  “Of course, I’m glad I was able to help.” Calvin offered her a hand, which she gratefully accepted, and pulled her to her feet. She was probably up for one or two more attempts, but she seemed to have gotten the hang of things and would be able to continue preparing on her own. It was as good a time as any to stop. He glanced towards the setting sun, then smiled ruefully. “Tea time did end up going a tad bit late today.”

  She blushed and ducked her head. “Sorry, senior brother. I—“

  “Gwen,” he warned.

  “Sorry! I mean, um, thank you for choosing to spend your time helping me?” she tried.

  “…better,” Calvin hedged.

  Gwen laughed softly, and Calvin joined her after a moment.

  Growing serious again, Gwen finally released her grip on his hand and took a step back. She bowed deeply, until her torso was nearly parallel with the ground. “Truly, thank you, senior brother. I will treasure the secrets you have entrusted to me and swear not to share them with anyone without your permission. May the heavens strike me down if I lie.”

  Calvin stared at her blankly for a moment. Thankfully, she wasn’t looking at his face.

  He hadn’t really shared anything that secret with her, had he? Some insights into preparing boundary qi, a few things he wished he’d known when he was preparing to craft his very first qi channel, and a minor trick that helped accelerate the qi-condensing technique taught by the sect. Valuable information, sure, but he hadn’t gone as far as sharing the Gathering-realm cultivation tips he’d gleaned from the Nine Rotating Gates method or anything.

  Well, whatever. It was better for him for her to be properly grateful.

  He schooled his expression into the picture of a wise senior. “I appreciate your discretion, junior sister. I hope my advice proves valuable to your immortal journey.”

  She straitened. “It definitely will. I barely cultivated at all today, and I already feel the difference! This way I’ll definitely be ready to breakthrough before the next round of disciples are accepted to the sect!” She glanced at the sun once again, which had made noticeable progress towards the horizon. “I’m sorry, senior brother, but I really do need to get going now. Thank you for the tea and the gift and the advice and…and…”

  Calvin smiled gently. “I completely understand. I had a wonderful time, Gwen, thank you for coming over.” Though he was rather curious why she was in such a rush. Plus, he did want to see what her little herbalist’s hut gardens looked like. It should be easy enough to check if she was growing anything else on the level of that midnight glory plant. He offered her his hand once again. “Please, allow me to escort you home.”

  Gwen blinked, looked at him, looked at his offered hand, looked at him again, then swallowed heavily. “Um, thank you for the offer, senior brother, but that isn’t necessary. It’s not very close and I wouldn’t want to further intrude on your ti…” she trailed off.

  Calvin’s hand didn’t move. “It’s no trouble, really. I’ve been cooped up inside all day and could use a chance to stretch my legs. And you’re carrying some quite potent pills, I wouldn’t want to risk anything happening on your way back.” That wasn’t really much of a concern—the sect did not approve of unsanctioned violence between Gathering realm disciples—but there were always stories and things did happen.

  Gwen swallowed again and took his hand, clearly far more aware of the physical contact than she’d been when he helped her up. “Okay then. Thank you, senior brother.”

  Calvin went in for the kill. “But of course, Gwen.” He squeezed her hand. “I invited you all the way out here and it was lovely to spend the afternoon together. It’s only right that I make sure you get home safely.”

  Gwen didn’t squeak, but it was a near thing.

  The trip to Gwen’s hut wasn’t actually all that far. Calvin probably could have managed it in less than ten minutes if he hadn’t been moving at a Gathering realm cultivator’s pace. However it ended up taking nearly an hour because they weren’t exactly running. After how reluctant she’d been to take his hand, she seemed even less keen to let go of it a second time.

  It was a pleasant enough walk, their pace not too dissimilar to a mortal’s run. Paradoxically, Gwen seemed to both be in a hurry and not, often glancing towards the setting sun and grimacing when something slowed their way, but making no effort to actually get home any faster. It wasn’t much of a stretch to deduce that she had something planned this evening, but that it was more an obligation than something she was looking forward to. Calvin had a feeling he knew exactly what it was, though he said nothing.

  They didn’t discuss anything important along the way. The road was rather busy, disciples streaming back to their homes around Outer Village after a full day’s work or headed to one of the Village’s many Halls, shops, or restaurants. The two of them received some curious looks, but no one commented on the way Gwen was holding his hand with a white-knuckled grip. Calvin greeted a handful of fellow disciples he recognized and was greeted in turn, but there was no one worth stopping to talk too.

  That wasn’t to say that they made the trip in silence. Whenever there weren’t too many other disciples around Gwen was happy to talk his ear off about anything and everything that crossed her mind. Most often that was the fields of spiritual herbs set on either side of the road—for someone so reluctant to consider themselves in any way competent she sure had a lot of opinions about how other people were growing their herbs—but she also happily went off on tangents about birds she liked, clothing that caught her eye, and even her favorite foods.

  Eventually they reached the outskirts of Outer Village and turned off the main road. From there it was only a short jaunt to the area where Gwen had rented her herbalist’s hut. The tide of disciples around them turned first into a stream, then a trickle, then vanished all together until Gwen led the way through empty streets.

  Gwen’s home stood at the very end of a row of nigh-identical buildings near the edge of the district where construction met the many groves of rainbow trees surrounding Outer Village. Simple wooden fences outlined small plots of land consisting of several raised garden beds with dirt paths around them and tiny one room huts. While they’d passed a number of clearly occupied huts along the way, the ones around hers were clearly empty, weeds and mundane grass overgrowing from some garden beds while others stood empty.

  On the surface, hers didn’t look all that different. Her garden beds overflowed with greenery, vines and shoots escaping their confines to spill out onto the pathway. Looking closer however, the difference couldn’t have been more stark. Every single plant Calvin could see was a spiritual herb of some description or another, growing with the sort of wild abandon and vigor he’d never seen from the usually touchy plants. She hadn’t limited herself to just using the garden beds either, pots of herbs and flowers and shrubs cluttering every inch of available space around her hut.

  Calvin suddenly remembered one of the things that Gwen had mentioned in passing that had slipped past him unremarked. She’d told him that she mostly grew herbs that could self propagate, even though it meant she had to deal with crowding problems. Calvin had certainly planted a number of such herbs in the past, but usually the issue was actually getting them to propagate, not limiting them. Just because a spiritual herb could propagate very much didn’t mean it would.

  Now he understood. There was definitely something special about Gwen, no doubt about it.

  Unfortunately it seemed as though Calvin wasn’t going to get a chance to examine the garden in any detail right away, because the two of them were not alone. There was a man leaning against the low fence separating Gwen’s plot of land from the street, arms folded across his chest and a scowl on his lips. He was tall and slender, with dark hair, aristocratic features, and a prominent nose. His hair was pulled into a high ponytail and held in place by a band of gold, and his Outer disciple’s robes were crisp and clean compared to Gwen’s worn ones. Beneath them he wore a wine-red silk inner robe marked with a symbol Calvin didn’t recognize.

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  His scowl deepened when he saw the two of them approaching, and he pushed off the fence and took a step towards them. “You’re late,” he snapped at Gwen. “That time is coming out of your next lesson, and you still haven’t fully paid off the previous one.” Gwen shrank in on herself, her grip on Calvin’s hand tightening until it would have turned a mortal’s bones to fragments and dust.

  “And who’s this,” the man’s attention flicked to Calvin, looking him up and down before dismissing him and refocusing on Gwen. “Tell your new friend to scram if he knows what’s good for him. Our lessons are just between me and you, and I’m certainly not looking for more students to waste my time with.” His nose flared and he took another step forward. “You’ve already wasted more than enough of it with the rubbish you’re paying me. You know how much more I could be making focusing on my own alchemy? But I’m too much of a bleeding heart to leave a job half finished.”

  So this was Gwen’s alchemy tutor. Calvin couldn’t say that he was impressed, nor surprised. Gwen had been surprisingly mum on the topic, but what she had said had spoken volumes. Calvin had met plenty of men like him in his life, even before coming to the sect. Brothels attracted their ilk like flies to a carcass where they would swarm until their coin purses ran dry and they had to be thrown out by guards.

  Calvin didn’t recognize him. Maybe he would have if Gwen had given him a name—he knew a lot more members of the sect by name and reputation than appearance—but that in and of itself meant something. He’d made sure to learn all the real big names in the Outer sect by face, to better avoid antagonizing anyone he really, really couldn’t afford to offend. The rest? There were plenty of people who could certainly inconvenience him, but he was not without friends of his own. Sure she could be annoying, but Ariadne Locke was more than happy to cry from the rooftops about how he’d saved her life, and the Locke name carried a lot of weight in Vivid Rainbow Cliffs. And she had a lot of friends in the sect.

  Calvin couldn’t help himself, nor did he particularly care about antagonizing the man. He looked between the so-called alchemist and the herbs arrayed behind him, each one no doubt worth more than anything this lucky idiot had ever made in his life, and snorted in amusement.

  The tutor’s eyes snapped back to Calvin. “Is something I said funny, junior?” he asked sharply. “Do you know who I am? I would be well within my rights to strike you for the disrespect you show, but I’ve wasted enough of my time today on baby cultivators as it is. If you know what's good for you, you’ll leave. Now.”

  Ignoring the man, Calvin looked over at Gwen and found her staring up at him with big, frightened eyes. She was hunched in on herself and the qi around her practically bubbled with anxiety. “So this is your alchemy tutor, huh?” She nodded jerkily and he glanced dismissively at the older cultivator. “Not much to look at, is he,” he remarked offhandedly, “I can’t believe Uncle would really recommend such a lousy cultivator as a teacher.”

  Gwen mumbled something too quiet even for Calvin’s ears, and he squeezed her hand back. “What was that, Gwen?”

  She swallowed heavily, but Calvin’s nonchalance gave her confidence. She seemed unsurprised by his knowledge and Calvin wondered if she too had taken a trip to Jin’s House before their meeting. “…he was the cheapest option Uncle gave me,” she whispered, this time just barely loud enough that he could make out the words.

  Calvin wrinkled his nose and glanced at the man again. “He really scraped the bottom of the barrel, huh.” Calvin weighed his options, but his mind had been made up the moment he’d seen the state of Gwen’s garden. Before even, though he was reluctant to admit that much even to himself. It had only been a few hours, but Gwen had really grown on him.

  If someone was going to be exploiting his junior sister, it was going to be him and not this…tutor of hers.

  “Well, I guess you have to start somewhere. Don’t worry Gwen, we’ll find you someone better.” He turned back to the tutor in question, who was bristling from Calvin’s insults, face twisted into a wrathful glare. “What was it you said? Oh, right. Scram, if you know what’s good for you.”

  The man, rather predictably, exploded. “You dare, junior!” he shouted, taking another step closer until they were practically face to face. He was slightly taller than Calvin, though lean enough that Calvin almost certainly outweighed him, but such things mattered little past the very earliest stages of the Gathering realm. “I am Cao Yunfei, eighty-seventh ranked disciple of the Outer sect! Have care of how you speak to me, or I shall tear out your slanderous tongue!” He flared his cultivation, the weight of his Foundation pressing down on Calvin and Gwen. “Beg forgiveness on your knees and I may allow you to walk away. Your precious sister will be paying dearly for the insult you’ve given me already, if I deign to continue teaching her after such an insult!”

  Calvin slowly tilted his head to the side, studying Cao Yunfei closely. He recognized that name, though last he’d checked he hadn’t quite broken the top hundred yet. That had been a few weeks ago though, so things very well could have changed. He came from a somewhat successful merchant family, one dealing primarily in cheap, low-level pills and alchemical reagents, but the majority of their influence was outside the province. His presence at the sect suggested a tentative probe into expansion into Vivid Rainbow Cliffs, though apparently he himself came from a distant branch of the family with little connection to the core operations of their mercantile ventures.

  For most of Calvin’s time at the sect, Cao Yunfei had been an unremarkable disciple in the early stages of the Foundation realm, a passably skilled alchemist who occasionally offered beginner level alchemy lessons and spent most of his time at one of the Outer sect’s pleasure houses. He’d experienced something of a meteoric rise in the past year that people assumed represented additional investment from his family, rapidly advancing his cultivation and suddenly gaining an interest in climbing the sect’s martial rankings. He radiated the aura of a wood-aligned peak Foundation realm cultivator, but it felt hollow to Calvin’s senses. His Foundation might be stable, but it wasn’t particularly refined, nor well fleshed out. He’d be surprised if a single one of the man’s nodes or channels had reached even Very Low quality.

  He fell into the category of people who could certainly inconvenience Calvin if he angered them, but not so much that it was worth avoiding doing so at all costs. If Gwen was worth even a fraction of what he thought she was…

  “Oh don’t worry. I have a feeling your services will no longer be required. In fact, I’m certain they won’t be.” Calvin flared his own qi and Gwen staggered beside him as the pressure washed over her, leaning heavily against his side for support. Cao Yunfei took an instinctive step back as their auras clashed, sparks flickering between them, a flash of confusion appearing beneath his scowl. “Leave. Now.”

  Yunfei clearly wasn’t willing to back down so easily, puffing himself up like a blowfish. “Now see here, brother. I’m afraid we got off on the wrong foot here, but Gwen and I have been in a master student relationship for over a year now and I was simply concerned for her when I saw her with an unfamiliar senior. We have a lesson scheduled after all, and it’s unlike her to be late. I just wanted to make sure she was alright.”

  Calvin was unimpressed. “Concerned for her. Right. I’m sure that’s what it was.”

  “Precisely! Gwen is my most favorite student. What she lacks in talent and experience, she makes up for with passion and enthusiasm! I know I can sometimes come off as a little harsh, but it is only because alchemy is dangerous when done wrong, and I simply care so much about my students’ wellbeing.”

  “I’m glad to hear you take your duties so seriously.”

  He clearly took that as some sort of victory. “Very seriously, yes. That is why I am one of the premier alchemy tutors in all of the Eight Peaks Sect!” he preened. “Now then, if you do not mind brother, I have a lesson planned with our junior sister right now. She also has not yet paid me in full for our previous lesson, so if you would excuse us…”

  Calvin smiled. “I would not.”

  Cao Yunfei frowned. “Brother, I am afraid you are putting me in a difficult position. I do not wish to quarrel with a fellow peak Foundation realm cultivator, but I treat my relationship with my students with the utmost seriousness. And I’m afraid I do not recognize you, brother. Might you enlighten me?”

  “Calvin,” Calvin answered shortly.

  Cao Yunfei’s frown deepened. “Calvin…” he prompted.

  Calvin lips pulled into a tight line. “Calvin of Six-Swan Pond.”

  Cao Yunfei visibly relaxed, inclining his head. “Well met, Calvin of Six-Swan Pond. As you must know, I am Cao Yunfei, of the Cao Consortium of Golden Harvest Plains. It would be unseemly for one such as I to quarrel with you, especially in front of our junior. If you do not desist, you put me in a difficult position.”

  Calvin sighed internally, though he made sure nothing showed on his face. This was one of those rich and powerful people things he’d never quite gotten the hang of nor had sufficiently explained to him. It had all been gibberish to him as a child, first as the son of a prostitute, then as a penniless orphan, and even as a freshly-ignited ‘baby cultivator’ trying to adapt to his new place in the world. And now that it probably did matter to some extent, he had no idea how to deal with it.

  Fortunately, being offensive was probably what he wanted to do here anyway. “And wouldn’t that be a tragedy,” he deadpanned. “You are not wanted here any longer. Leave.” If Gwen was upset with him later about driving away her tutor, he’d deal with it, but he really didn’t expect that to be a problem. Not after what he’d seen today.

  That had about the reaction he was expecting. Cao Yunfei bristled, thrusting his hand towards Calvin’s face. “Who are you to tell me where I can and cannot go! Gwen has been my student for over a year and she’s never mentioned you a single time. I don’t know who you think you are to intimidate me into abandoning my student, but––”

  Calvin cut him off. “Gwen, would you like me to make him go away for good? I’m certain I can find you a better alchemy teacher. It shouldn’t be hard. I’m not even an alchemist and I’d wager I’d still make a better instructor than this puffed up buffoon.”

  “Who are you calling a––“

  Gwen was practically hidden behind his back and her voice was as tiny as a mouse's, but they were both peak Foundation realm cultivators and heard her clearly. “Yes please, senior brother Calvin.”

  Calvin smiled coldly. “You heard her.”

  Cao Yunfei stomped his foot like a petulant child. “She still owes me a significant sum for her previous lessons. A thousand contribution points worth of––“

  “Blow your smoke at someone else. We both know she’s overpaid you a thousand times over for whatever shitty lessons you’ve tried to teach her.”

  Had he been just a bit more advanced, Cao Yunfei’s glare might have slain a mortal where they stood. As it was, Calvin just smiled back serenely, enjoying himself. Combat might not be his primary focus, but he was confident in his strength nonetheless. And it felt good to not have to back down in front of a pompous ass like this one.

  “Know your place, peasant. How dare you speak to me like that!”

  And they were back to insults. “Well, if nothing else has gotten it through your thick skull that you aren’t wanted here…”

  “Were it not for the rules of the sect, I would kill you where you stand!”

  Calvin snorted. “You could try.”

  Cao Yunfei sputtered. “I am Cao Yunfei, eighty-seventh ranked––“

  Calvin sighed heavily. “And now he’s repeating himself. Let’s go Gwen, we can let the old idiot keep rambling to himself like a drunkard. Maybe he’ll shuffle off when he realizes no one cares.”

  That seemed to be the last straw. Calvin made it only a single step, tugging Gwen along behind him, when Yunfei interposed himself between him and the gate to Gwen’s property. “Where do you think you’re going!”

  “…inside? Were you born this stupid, or did your mother drop you on your head?”

  “That’s it! I challenge you to a duel! When I win, you will understand the difference between us and stop interfering with the affairs of the Cao!”

  Calvin was unranked. By policy, he had no need to accept. But this should work out just fine. He gave Yunfei an easy, unconcerned smile. “Sure, why not. I’m sure I can squeeze you into my calendar say…beginning of next month?”

  “Next month!” Yunfei sputtered.

  Calvin shrugged. “What’s even the point of beating you half to death if you’re only ranked eighty-seventh? Try to move up a few ranks before then, okay?”

  Though he felt reasonably certain in his strength now, a month would give him time to consolidate the gains of his fresh advancement and generally prepare himself for a formal duel. Between his new attunement treasure and finally reaching the peak of the Foundation realm, he was significantly stronger than he’d been the last time he’d done any serious combat training, and it was important to know your own strength. Lulu would be thrilled––she loved pestering him for spars, but he didn’t often agree. Now he had a much better reason to do so, and she was sure to make full use of the opportunity.

  Plus, he’d been certain that scheduling the duel a month out would absolutely infuriate someone like Yunfei. It was completely within the rules since he was unranked, but it was also extremely rude. It heavily implied that he didn’t respect the other man or his time, which, conveniently, he didn’t.

  And then he steered Gwen around their struck-dumb obstacle and towards her hut. He had no doubts that this was anywhere close to over, but that was alright. With the way Gwen was looking at him, those herbs were practically screaming his name.

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