Fengyu introduced the three brothers to the group and told them to also build their stations in the main field and also the battlefield.

After some contemplation, to improve their cooperation, he suggested they fight a few rounds!

Shanluan and Liling were creation masters at their core, so while their fighting prowess would be good, there wouldn’t be much to be gained if they actually fought. So they only stood on the side and buffed or protected the three slightly!

Han, Shanquan and Shanqing would fight in a 1v1v1, the goal not to win but to get used to each other’s fighting styles and have a better feeling for the buffs they got throughout the fighting session.

So, their fight was unspectacular.

Shanquan would leap forward, bloody claws forming on his hands to attack - then, a ding sound would be heard, clearly because he had hit a small iron umbrella moved along by Shanluan. He retreated after the attack, turning defensive to protect against Han, who had cast an ice lance spell, which shot right at him.

But when it was about to hit, he suddenly felt an increase in his speed, which allowed him to dodge right away!

The back and forth wasn’t flashy nor destructive, but it was this back and forth that allowed them to adjust.

Days passed, and today, when they were still fighting and Fengyu still observing, he once again saw Wind Claw, who informed him of two new people appearing.

"It must be Wei and Shuan," Fengyu nodded and walked to another edge of the field. Because the entrance wasn’t clearly defined, the cultivators could only stop at a random corner and knock.

While the large formation was mostly restricted to their three fields, they still kept a weak layer outside, which would be destroyed after even a late-stage qi refining attack. It only served as a notifier for when they were attacked, not really to protect against beasts.

He quickly arrived at the field, and as expected, it was indeed Wei and Shuan!

"Fellow daoists, you arrived quickly!" Fengyu was surprised, having thought they would arrive at the earliest a month later.

"Haha, our breakthrough is really pressing. Going into seclusion earlier will benefit us more and allow us to leave earlier!" Shuan laughed and entered the field together with her husband.

"Fellow daoists, your aura of harmony is truly surprising," Fengyu exclaimed after getting the message from Zimu.

"Hmm?" Shuan asked, hadn’t they said it last time already? 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Just now Zimu had conveyed to me the message that your power of harmony is extremely compatible with his path of peace! He’d like to talk to you in private about this if possible."

"He can feel us from here?" Wei asked in surprise.

"The whole field is Zimu’s domain," Fengyu nodded, then led them into the field.

As they walked down the road to the villa, he explained a few things and also talked about harmony. Because of Zimu, his path had partially been altered to be that of peace, which was why he developed insight into it.

Zimu’s path of peace was, as he had called it, ’Innate Peace’ - it is to be peaceful innately, from birth to one’s whole being, being a peaceful person and not becoming one.

Fengyu had gained some insight into something else. The origin of peace wasn’t something he held as important, for him, it was the large umbrella term ’Peace’ that was interesting.

An idea emerged in his mind - one hundred birds paid homage to the Phoenix, ten thousand dragons paid homage to the Dragon, and countless beasts paid homage to the Qilin.

What if all people paid homage to peace?

The thought emerged and stuck in his mind, slowly becoming one of his goals...

"This is where Zimu is in seclusion," Fengyu opened the door.

"Are you not going to come with us?" Shuan asked in surprise.

"No, fellow daoists, my own peace is different from Zimu’s. Fusing these two at this moment isn’t good," Fengyu had a rough plan of things, so he didn’t want to ruin it just yet.

The two nodded and entered the room.

Going out, he saw the five cultivators look at him questioningly.

"Wei and Shuan are busy right now, I’ll introduce you to them later."

Fengyu didn’t say much more, bidding farewell and going back to his bed, feeling incredibly sleepy.

...

Seven stars glittered in the sky, their starlight falling upon him.

A vast dark landscape appeared in Fengyu’s vision.

He lay on the ground, his eyes stuck to the sky.

Moments passed.

His breath, soft and even, slowed down as he observed their light.

"Peace in emptiness," a thought emerged after a long observation.

Not the emptiness one feels at heart, but the emptiness around.

The void, endlessly large and yet also endlessly empty, only had these few stars dotting it.

Seven stars hovered in this endless void alone.

Starlight fell down like fairy dust, from a few dots to a shower.

He slowly felt himself submerged in the dust...

...

Opening his eyes, Fengyu looked at a ring around his hand.

A black tattoo, and yet stars dotted it, just like the ones he saw in the night sky - exactly seven.

His hand stretched out, starlight forming as he did, forming a similar ring above his hand.

"Peace in emptiness," he said again. The ring shot out, rapidly searching for a target -

Finally, it landed on Ming who was outside the villa, taking care of a plant.

"Hmm?" he was barely able to call out in surprise when the ring enlarged. It enlarged and flew to his head until it became an eyepatch around his eyes!

His vision went black, everything around him becoming empty. He lost his sense of vision, and yet beyond that, a feeling of emptiness grew around him.

The spell he was about to cast went out of control, his spiritual power whirring around him.

"Peace in emptiness," Fengyu called again.

The ring slowly dissipated, revealing Ming’s shocked eyes...