But even as the empire lost ground in the west and north, and was forced to wrestle for every inch in the south, it still stood unshaken at its heart. The Central Lands remained firmly under its iron rule, and within them lay the imperial capital itself.
Lin Shu often wondered why the empire hadn't simply wiped the sects from existence. Rumors said that the sects were led by CoreForged cultivators, but the empire's ruler was something far beyond that—a legendary VoidBreaker, a sovereign of the fifth cultivation rank. From the tales he had heard, a man of such power should have been able to erase dozens of CoreForged experts with a wave of his hand. How then could these sects be allowed to coexist with him?
He could not find an answer. Perhaps there were hidden struggles far beyond his reach, or truths he was not yet qualified to grasp. Whatever the reason, it was not something his current strength allowed him to dwell on. Lin Shu forced the thought aside, his gaze turning westward. Leaving the north behind, he set his steps toward the land where the empire's influence bled away the fastest.
Months slipped by during Lin Shu's journey. He passed through towns and cities, pausing only to sell the bloodcores he had harvested or the treasures he had stripped from the dead. From auctions he purchased books and scrolls, broadening his knowledge step by step, and from shadowy brokers he bought fragments of intelligence. Sometimes he relied on bribes, other times on the edge of his blade, and more than once he dragged his victims into the dark until they spoke.
Through these dealings, he uncovered the existence of several organizations thriving in the empire's shadows. Among the intelligence networks, three names stood out.
The first was Veiled Lantern Pavilion, said to deal in secrets no matter how deeply buried.
The second was Silent Reed Hall, whose agents posed as wandering scholars, scribes, and merchants.
The third was Whispering Vein Society, an underground cabal infamous for trading information through coded messages hidden in everyday trade.
As for the art of killing, two assassination groups rose above all others.
One was known as Crimson Dagger Sect, their killings as swift and ruthless as their name.
The other was Nightshade Fangs, a nameless swarm of killers who vanished into shadow the moment their blades struck.
Neither group maintained a permanent base. Where they collected contracts shifted constantly, changing like smoke to avoid the empire's grasp and the sects' scrutiny. They were said to rival mid-sized sects in reputation only because of their leaders—CoreForged cultivators who gave them weight. In truth, they lacked the land, resources, and sheer numbers of the sects; without their leaders, they would have been crushed long ago.
During his time on the road, Lin Shu also began to understand how the world of cultivation truly functioned. Gold, he learned, lost all meaning past a certain height. To mortals it was wealth, but to peak-stage cultivators of great sects and clans it was little more than dust. Their true currency was Aether Shards—stones filled with condensed Qi essence, each shard holding a purity that could be absorbed directly into one's cultivation. Not only were they invaluable for strengthening one's foundation, but they had become the lifeblood of trade among the higher ranks, far surpassing the worth of any mortal coin.
The shards were one of the most important materials in the cultivation world. They formed deep inside earth veins, where they could be harvested. Most earth veins in the region were already claimed—held by mid-sized and small sects as well as the empire. A few larger sects possessed hidden earth veins of their own, discovered long ago and kept secret from all others. Those with the strength to protect their resources, such as the empire and the sects, had built their bases centuries ago directly atop these veins, making theft unthinkable.
Of course, there were still many earth veins discovered by others and concealed in secrecy. If such secrets were revealed, the price of aether shards would skyrocket, and the empire along with the sects would hoard everything, leaving rogue cultivators without even a chance to obtain that life-changing material. Since there was no way to identify whether a shard came from a specific mine, the empire could not track who might have access to a secret earth vein.
From each vein, the shards were born from a fountain-like structure that produced them out of condensed aether tears. As long as the fountain did not dry, aether shards would continue to form. Yet not every exposed earth vein gave rise to such a fountain. Many did not, and cultivators could only wait for the chance that one might appear. The process of how a fountain formed was unknown, but the reason it eventually dried was clearer: over time, the earth vein slowly became more resistant to the fountain, and when its connection to the fountain was severed, the fountain would vanish. No method had ever been discovered to reconnect a dried fountain to its vein, nor was there any way to force aether shards to form directly from a vein.
This was because the so-called aether tears were not present in liquid form within the vein the qi became aether tears only inside the fountain before it turned into shards. Attempting to draw out the superior Qi within the vein did not result in tears forming. The vein itself was simply a dense concentration of superior Qi, purer and far stronger than the Qi found aboveground. Yet this superior Qi was nearly useless for cultivators: it resisted integration within the dantian, making refinement exceedingly difficult. Even when a cultivator managed to refine a trace amount, they found that the time spent yielded no greater return than cultivating normal Qi at the surface—in fact, it often produced less. This meant that refining superior Qi directly was nothing more than wasted effort.
Thus, only the fountain could transform the vein's essence into usable aether tears and shape them into shards, granting cultivators the full benefit of that power without the burden of impossible refinement. As for the tears themselves, they were extremely dangerous in their raw state. Their very nature was untamable, and no cultivator had ever succeeded in refining them directly into their dantian.
There were also three ranks of Aether Fountains. The first was the Bluesky Fountain which gave the Bluesky shards, the second was the Cerulean Fountain which gave the cerulean shards, and the third and most coveted between the three was the Midnight Fountain which gave the midnight shards. Each one had a different value and size. The Bluesky Shards were the smallest, roughly the size of a fist. The Cerulean Shards were larger, their color darker, and they were worth ten Bluesky Shards because of the superior density of Qi inside them. The Midnight Shards, however, were worth one hundred Bluesky Shards for the same reason as the Cerulean, carrying so much superior Qi that cultivators could absorb it with far greater ease, making it invaluable for cultivation.
There were only three known Midnight Fountains in the entire region. Two of them were shared between four mid-sized sects, while the empire alone controlled one, giving it an undeniable advantage.
As for the Cerulean Fountains, no official number was ever disclosed. Only the sects and the empire held accurate knowledge, using secrecy to drive people into joining them. However, it was estimated that at least fifty existed across the region. In a land as vast and multi-environmental as Stormridge, this number was considered low, yet most were firmly under the empire's or the mid-sized sects' control. A few were rumored to be held by small sects or powerful clans with the strength to withstand the pressure of a small sect, but no one could confirm such claims. Everyone knew the number of fountains was higher, but none dared to reveal the existence of any hidden ones.
The Bluesky Fountains, the lowest rank, were far more numerous. At least two hundred had been documented, with one hundred and seventy under the shared grasp of the empire and sects of all ranks, while thirty were controlled by large clans.
And Lin Shu, who was now silently grateful for his decision to remain at the Stone Path Hall institute and for the chance that had allowed him to steal from Han Yi, finally studied the contents of her ring more carefully. His eyes fell upon seven strange stones. At first, he had dismissed them as worthless—just oddly colored rocks. But now, with the knowledge he had gained about the aether fountains, his heart pounded.
They weren't rocks at all. They were Bluesky Shards.
The lowest-ranked of the aether shards, yes, but even so, they were a treasure countless cultivators would kill for. Lin Shu's breathing quickened as he held one in his hand. For the first time, he tried to sense the Qi within. His body stiffened, his mind shuddering under the purity and richness that surged out from the shard.
The Qi inside was unlike anything he had ever touched—it was clean, dense, and overwhelmingly superior to the diluted streams of Qi he usually drew into his body. A burning desire flooded his chest, urging him to refine it on the spot, to absorb every trace of that superior Qi and force his way toward the high stage. He calculated swiftly—if he consumed them all, he could shorten his breakthrough time by several months.
But his rationality held him back. The value of such a treasure was far too immense to squander so hastily. He needed to weigh the advantage of techniques against raw cultivation speed.
He stared at the shards, his lips curling into a rare, genuine smile.
"From what I've heard, these are never traded for mere gold—only for techniques and rare materials," he muttered. "But if one had to assign a price… each Bluesky Shard is worth at least ten thousand gold coins. That means these seven in my hand amount to no less than seventy thousand…"
A low laugh built in his chest, rising until it spilled out.
"Hahahahahaha!"
His laughter echoed in the silence of his room. For the first time in a long while, Lin Shu felt the intoxication of possessing something so precious that others would bleed rivers of blood for it.