Ruth Winslow froze, surprised to see the girl she’d just fought with take a few more steps toward her.

A strange smile played on her lips. "How much does she owe you? Do you have an IOU? If not, we won’t recognize the debt!"

Ruth Winslow was a little dumbfounded. Just as she was about to speak, she heard a cough from the stone table.

"Ahem... Leigh, have you finished the tasks Warner assigned you?"

Leigh Miles glanced at the herb-cutting station and shook her head.

"Then get to it!"

"Oh..." Leigh’s shoulders slumped. She turned toward the herb station, but after just two steps, she spun back around and stressed again, "Without an IOU, we’re not paying!"

Flora Guthrie had to fight the urge to hurl the teacup in her hand.

Indie Lowell quickly pulled at Leigh, trying to get her to shut up.

Flora Guthrie set down her teacup and pinched the bridge of her nose, struggling to compose herself.

"What business do you have with her?"

A glint appeared in Ruth Winslow’s eyes as she declared with confidence, "She owes me money."

"She really owes you money? You have an IOU? Let me see it..."

The moment Leigh heard the words "owes money," she snapped. Ignoring Indie Lowell’s attempts to stop her, she dashed in front of Ruth Winslow and held out her hand.

Staring into Leigh’s eyes, a pleased Ruth Winslow pulled a slip of paper from her robes.

Leigh reached for it, but Ruth snatched it away.

"If you don’t show it to me, how am I supposed to know if it’s real?" Leigh demanded, annoyed.

"This is between her and me." Ruth Winslow quickly tucked the note back into her robes.

"My Senior Sister’s debt is my business. Now let me see it..."

Leigh lunged for it, but Ruth refused to yield.

Just as the two were about to start fighting again, there was a loud CRACK.

The teacup Flora Guthrie had set on the stone table shattered.

"Leigh—"

Leigh froze. Her face fell as she turned to look at the furious Flora Guthrie.

"You’re becoming more and more unruly! Go to the mountain gorge and reflect on your actions at once—"

After Leigh left, Flora took a sip of the tea Indie Lowell offered her, soothing her throat before turning back to Ruth Winslow.

"My apprentice would never owe a stranger money. What do you really want with her?"

Ruth Winslow studied Flora for a moment before pulling out a wooden Token.

It bore a unique clan crest, along with a word in an ancient script: Winslow.

Flora Guthrie’s eyes widened in shock.

***

Martial Cultivation is also the cultivation of the heart.

To enter the Way through arms, with benevolence at one’s core.

Follow the laws of Heaven and Earth; comprehend the Way of the mortal realm.

All things have a Way to follow; one must not use their own Power to seize the Way of another...

An unfamiliar voice echoed in Aurora Sinclair’s ears.

It seemed to be explaining the laws of Heaven and Earth to her, and she was gaining profound insights.

Sitting not far away, Master Aerion, who was standing guard for Aurora Sinclair, suddenly felt a violent tremor beneath him.

He looked in pleasant surprise toward the human-shaped ice sculpture.

The Power of Heaven and Earth in the area all seemed to be converging on his apprentice.

’Is she about to break through?’

’My apprentice is truly exceptional. She’s so young, and already on the verge of becoming an Advanced Martial Venerate.’

’No wonder the Martial God chose her as his successor.’

’Her talent and disposition are both first-rate.’

Master Aerion zipped gleefully down the mountain. ’The disturbance from a Martial Lord’s breakthrough is no small matter. I’d better get myself to safety!’

***

Birds and beasts are the first to sense a change in the world.

The animals kept in Sunstone Village grew restless and agitated.

In the waterfall gorge where she was meant to be contemplating her actions, Leigh’s eyes suddenly flew open.

The fish in the pool at the base of the waterfall were darting about frantically. Startled, she leaped to her feet and sprinted toward the summit of Sunstone Mountain.

At that moment, Master Aerion and Titus Miles were standing on the summit of Sunstone Mountain, gazing at the distant, snow-covered Kaelan Mountains.

Leigh hadn’t seen them in a while. Her face lit up as she ran over. "Master, is Senior Sister about to have a breakthrough?"

Master Aerion stroked his beard and nodded in satisfaction.

Titus Miles, standing beside them, pointed toward the Kaelan Mountains. "A lot of Powers are flying over there."

The commotion from the Kaelan Mountains was so great that nearly everyone in Sunstone Village—men and women, young and old—had rushed to the summit of Sunstone Mountain.

Before long, the summit of Sunstone Mountain had become quite crowded.

"See? I told you Rory was promising! This time, she’s really making Sunstone proud."

"You said it. With the Guardian Assembly just two months away, our Rory is sure to land a high-ranking position."

"High-ranking position? It’s called a Regulator. With Rory’s power, she’ll be an Intermediate Supervisor at the very least."

"Doesn’t that make her even more formidable than Daoist Miles?"

...

The crowd looked sympathetically toward Master Aerion.

To be so thoroughly surpassed by his own apprentice... Daoist Miles’s standing in Sunstone was about to become a lot less secure.

Master Aerion cleared his throat and said brazenly, "No matter how powerful she gets, she’s still my apprentice."

Leigh snickered.

The clamor from the Kaelan Mountains persisted for a long time, accompanied by the RUMBLE of rolling thunder.

Suddenly, a bank of clouds and mist descended upon the Kaelan Mountains, shrouding the peaks.

The sky, clear just moments before, was now as dark and ominous as an impending storm.

"Worthy of a Martial Lord, to cause such a huge disturbance..."

"This is no disturbance from a Martial Lord. A celestial anomaly appears, the ghost gate opens; man and God are separated by a single thread..." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Suddenly, an unfamiliar female voice spoke from behind the crowd.

Master Aerion turned, his gaze sharpening.

He saw an unfamiliar woman in black martial attire, holding a Compass and performing a divination with her fingers.

The Compass in her hand was identical to his own, complete with its inner and outer plates, the Heavenly Pool, the magnetic needle, and the Ten Heavenly Heart Lines.

It could not only determine orientation but also divine matters of fate and fortune. It was the unique heirloom of the Winslow Clan, a great secluded clan of Esteros.

In his youth, he’d been interested in divination and metaphysics, and had even traveled to the Continent of Esteros to learn the basics.

He therefore knew that such inherited arts depended on innate talent. The greater the talent, the more complex the Compass one could wield, and the more accurate their divinations. However, by prying too deeply into the secrets of heaven, such individuals often had their lives cut short.

"What are you doing here?" Leigh demanded, frowning.

But Ruth Winslow paid her no mind. She continued to mutter incantations under her breath, one hand ceaselessly forming signs for her calculations, the other holding the Compass pointed toward the Kaelan Mountains.

"Where’s Mistress Flora?" Leigh looked around wildly, but couldn’t find Flora Guthrie. Her face paled. "What did you do to my Mistress?"

With that, she leaped and lunged at Ruth Winslow.

"Leigh—"

Master Aerion’s expression changed, and he grabbed her arm with lightning speed.

"Master?"

"She is divining your Senior Sister’s fate. Don’t disturb her."

Leigh looked at the young woman again. Gradually, a faint, illusory figure seemed to appear before her eyes.

It superimposed itself over the woman, stirring a sense of familiarity. ’It’s like I’ve seen her somewhere before...’

Although her master also performed divinations, they had never produced such an intense feeling in her.

Leigh shook her head, and the phantom image vanished.

’It must have been a hallucination.’

Some ten minutes later, Ruth Winslow finally opened her eyes. Her face was pale, and she swayed, nearly collapsing to her knees.

Fortunately, a villager caught her.

"Miss, are you alright?"

"I’m fine..."

Ruth Winslow gasped for breath, her eyes wide with terror as she looked toward the Kaelan Mountains. She swallowed hard.

"The line between godhood and demonhood is a single thread... it is as much a curse as it is a blessing..."

The words had barely left her lips when a deafening BOOM echoed. A bolt of heavenly lightning descended as if to shatter the very mountain peak, streaking brightly across the pitch-black sky.

Master Aerion froze. He began a quick divination with his fingers. The imperial hexagram was... abnormal.