Wei Hua arrived at the settlement on a spring morning, clutching a small bundle of possessions and wearing an expression that mixed terror with determination.
Jin's niece was eight years old now—no longer the infant his brother had written about years ago, but a serious child with her father's steady gaze and her grandmother's stubborn jaw. She had traveled from the settlement where Jin's family lived with an escort arranged by Wei Chen, who had written ahead explaining the situation.
The testing revealed spiritual roots, the letter had said. Three-colored, like yours. The local cultivator who examined her said she has genuine potential. We cannot teach her what she needs to learn. Will you help?
Jin had agreed without hesitation.
"Uncle Jin?" Wei Hua's voice was small, uncertain. She stood at the entrance to their courtyard, her bundle held before her like a shield. "Father said I should come to you. He said you would teach me."
Jin knelt to bring himself to her eye level. The girl flinched slightly at his approach—understandable, given the spiritual pressure that level nine cultivation naturally exuded. He consciously suppressed his aura, drawing it inward until he felt almost mortal.
"Welcome to our home, Wei Hua. You'll be safe here."
"Will you really teach me to cultivate?" Her eyes held the desperate hope of someone who had discovered something extraordinary within herself and had no idea what to do with it.
"I will. But first, let me introduce you to someone." Jin turned toward the house. "Wei Feng! Come meet your cousin!"
His son emerged from the doorway at a run, his energy barely contained. He had grown tall for his age, losing the chubbiness of his toddler years in favor of a lean, active frame. His hair stuck up in several directions despite Lin Mei's morning attempts to tame it, and his robes already bore grass stains from whatever adventure he'd undertaken before breakfast.
"Is she staying with us?" Wei Feng asked, studying his cousin with open curiosity. "Mother said she has spiritual roots like Father. Can she catch beetles? I can teach her to catch beetles."
"Beetles?" Wei Hua's terror shifted slightly toward confusion.
"Spirit beetles. They're this big—" Wei Feng held his hands apart to indicate a size somewhat larger than reality. "And they taste nutty when you roast them. I can catch three in one night now. Father says that's almost as good as he did when he first came to the sect."
"I said it was acceptable," Jin corrected mildly. "Not almost as good."
"Same thing." Wei Feng grabbed his cousin's hand with the casual confidence of childhood. "Come on, I'll show you my collection. I have shells from fourteen different species."
He dragged Wei Hua toward the garden, already chattering about beetle varieties and optimal catching techniques. The girl's expression had shifted from fear to bewilderment, which Jin considered an improvement.
Lin Mei appeared beside him, watching the children disappear around the corner of the house. "She looks terrified."
"She's eight years old, away from her family for the first time, facing a world she doesn't understand." Jin's voice was soft. "I remember the feeling."
"You were six."
"Which made it worse." He turned to his wife, noting the subtle glow of her level six cultivation aura. Three years of his guidance had transformed her advancement—she had broken through four times since he'd shared his optimized technique, each breakthrough coming faster than the last. "I'll need to develop a training program for her. Basic cultivation foundation, technique instruction, reading and writing."
"Reading and writing?" Lin Mei's eyebrows rose. "You think she's illiterate?"
"Most village children are. Wei Feng can help teach her—it'll be good practice for him, and having a learning companion might help her adjust." Jin paused. "Her spiritual roots are like mine. Three-colored, low grade. If I can share what I've learned, help her develop efficient cultivation habits from the start…"
"You might give her the same advantages you have."
"Perhaps. Or perhaps my advantages can't be taught." The efficiency tracker pulsed in Jin's awareness—that mysterious gift he still didn't fully understand, even after twelve years. "But I have to try."
—————
The three years that followed passed like water through well-maintained channels—steady, purposeful, carrying everything forward toward destinations both expected and surprising.
Jin reached the peak of Qi Gathering six months after Wei Hua's arrival.
The advancement was not a breakthrough in the traditional sense—level nine was the ceiling of the stage, and no amount of accumulation could push him into Foundation Establishment without the proper insights and transformation. But reaching the peak meant his cultivation base was as solid as it could possibly be, his qi reserves as vast as the Qi Gathering stage allowed, his meridians as refined as mortal cultivation could achieve.
But Jin didn't rush. He had learned patience over twelve years of steady advancement, and he understood that Foundation Establishment required more than raw power. It required understanding. Insight. A readiness of spirit that couldn't be forced.
Instead, he focused on other forms of growth.
—————
His techniques had reached mastery.
Swift Shadow Step no longer required conscious thought—Jin moved with fluid grace that would have seemed impossible to the clumsy child who had once tripped over his own feet. His agility surpassed anything he had imagined possible, his footwork flowing like water, his reactions faster than conscious thought could follow.
Ember Sphere had evolved beyond its original purpose. Jin could now produce flames that rivaled the output of dedicated combat cultivators, concentrated spheres of spiritual fire that could melt stone and incinerate opponents in seconds. The technique's pest-control origins had been left far behind.
And Void Presence had become something approaching true invisibility. Jin could suppress his spiritual signature so completely that even Foundation Establishment cultivators might overlook him, passing through spaces unnoticed, existing beneath the awareness of those who should have detected him easily.
Combined with his peak Qi Gathering cultivation, these techniques made him formidable beyond his apparent level.
"You could challenge early Foundation Establishment cultivators and win," Da Feng observed during one of their sparring sessions. The massive man had achieved level nine himself three years prior and now stood at the same peak as Jin. "Your technique mastery compensates for the realm difference."
"Perhaps." Jin accepted the compliment cautiously. "But I'd rather not test that theory unless necessary."
"Wise. Foundation Establishment represents a fundamental transformation, not just an increase in power. Those who've crossed that threshold possess abilities that Qi Gathering cultivators can't fully comprehend." Da Feng's scarred face held respect. "Still, among those below Foundation, you're essentially unmatched. I've never seen anyone at our level move the way you do."
Jin considered his capabilities with honest assessment. Da Feng was right—at peak Qi Gathering, with his mastered techniques and perfect cultivation efficiency, he was effectively invincible against anyone who hadn't achieved Foundation Establishment. Disciples at his level would fall in seconds. Even groups of lower-level cultivators posed no significant threat.
It was a strange feeling, this confidence in his own power. The frightened child who had stumbled through the sect's gates twelve years ago would never have imagined becoming someone that others described as dangerous.
But power without purpose was meaningless. And Jin had too many people depending on him to risk it on unnecessary conflicts.
—————
Overseer Huang summoned him on an autumn afternoon, the summons delivered by a junior disciple who seemed nervous in Jin's presence.
Jin found her in the administrative building she had occupied since her restoration to authority, her steel-gray hair now almost entirely white, her thin frame bent slightly with age despite her Foundation Establishment cultivation. She sat behind a desk covered with jade slips and paper documents, her critical eyes still sharp despite the years.
Da Feng was already present, standing at attention near the window.
"Sit," Huang commanded, gesturing to chairs that had been arranged before her desk. "We have matters to discuss."
Jin sat, noting the unusual formality of the meeting. Huang had always been direct in her dealings with him, but this felt different—more official, more significant.
"You've both reached peak Qi Gathering," Huang began without preamble. "Da Feng three years ago, Wei Jin six months past. Among outer disciples, you're now the two most powerful cultivators in the agricultural division."
"Thank you, Overseer Huang," Da Feng said.
"I'm not praising you. I'm stating facts relevant to what comes next." Huang's thin lips pressed together. "Foundation Establishment changes everything. Those who achieve it are no longer outer disciples but inner sect members, with all the privileges and responsibilities that entails. I want you both to understand what you're aspiring to before you attempt the breakthrough."
She produced a jade slip and activated it, projecting an image into the air between them. Jin studied the display with interest—a diagram showing the inner sect's organizational structure, with divisions and hierarchies he had only vaguely understood before.
"The inner sect is divided into five primary divisions," Huang explained. "Combat, Alchemy, Formations, Administration, and—relevant to your backgrounds—Agricultural Research. Each division has its own hierarchy, its own techniques, its own political factions."
She traced lines on the diagram, highlighting connections and relationships.
"Foundation Establishment disciples begin as Outer Core members—inner sect in name but peripheral in practice. They perform missions, contribute to sect operations, and compete for resources and recognition. Those who distinguish themselves may be promoted to Inner Core, where they gain access to advanced techniques and cultivation resources. Above that are the Core Elders, the sect's true leadership, who guide policy and determine the direction of the entire organization."
"Where would we fit?" Jin asked.
"Initially? Outer Core of the Agricultural Research division, assuming you maintain that specialization. Your backgrounds in practical cultivation would be valuable there." Huang's expression shifted slightly. "But you should know—advancement within the inner sect is competitive. Cutthroat, even. The political maneuvering that exists among outer disciples is nothing compared to what happens at higher levels."
Da Feng's scarred face was thoughtful. "Are there factions we should be aware of?"
"Several. The most significant are the Reform faction, who advocate for expanding the sect's influence and recruiting more aggressively, and the Tradition faction, who prefer maintaining current practices and limiting growth. Most Core Elders align with one side or the other, and their conflicts shape inner sect politics."
Huang deactivated the projection and fixed them both with her sharp gaze.
"I'm telling you this because I believe you both have genuine chances at Foundation Establishment. Wei Jin in particular—" She paused, something unreadable crossing her features. "Your progress has been extraordinary. If you succeed, you'll enter a world very different from the agricultural terraces. I want you prepared."
"Thank you, Overseer Huang," Jin said. "This information is valuable."
"Information is always valuable. That's why I'm also sharing this." She produced two more jade slips, sliding them across the desk. "Technique scrolls. Not the basic methods available to outer disciples, but specialized arts more suited to your capabilities. Consider them investment in your future potential."
Jin accepted his slip with careful respect, examining it with his spiritual senses. The technique within was complex, dense with information that would take time to fully absorb.
"The Azure Flowing Current," Huang identified it. "An advanced water and wood aspected cultivation method. It builds upon the Azure Harmonization technique you've practiced since arriving here, incorporating similar principles but expanding them significantly. Given your demonstrated efficiency with the basic method, this should suit you well."
Jin's heart quickened. A technique that built upon Azure Harmonization—that used similar principles to what had made his cultivation so effective. If his mysterious efficiency could transfer to this advanced method…
"Why are you helping us?" Da Feng asked, his natural suspicion evident. "You've always been fair, but this goes beyond fair."
"Because the agricultural division needs representation in the inner sect," Huang replied bluntly. "We've been looked down upon for generations—seen as farmers, as support staff, as lesser cultivators. But those who understand the land understand something fundamental about cultivation itself. I want disciples from our division to rise high enough to change that perception."
She rose from her desk, moving to the window that overlooked the terrace she had supervised for so many decades.
"I'm old. My own advancement stopped at Foundation Establishment long ago, and I'll never reach Core Formation. But I can help those who come after me achieve what I couldn't." She turned back to face them. "Don't disappoint me."
—————
Jin spent weeks studying the Azure Flowing Current technique.
It was everything Huang had promised—an advanced method that built upon the principles he had perfected with Azure Harmonization. The breathing patterns were similar but more complex, with additional variations that addressed scenarios the basic technique had never covered. The circulation routes expanded upon familiar pathways, adding new channels that would only become relevant at Foundation Establishment and beyond.
Most importantly, the underlying philosophy resonated with what his efficiency tracker had always guided him toward: optimization through incremental adjustment, perfection through patient refinement.
[Azure Harmonization Method - Current Efficiency: 100%]
The tracker continued its steady pulse, unchanged by the new technique he was absorbing. Jin had wondered if the advanced method might somehow interact with his mysterious advantage—if the efficiency measurement might expand to cover the new cultivation art.
So far, it hadn't. But he was still in the early stages of learning Azure Flowing Current, still understanding its principles rather than practicing them actively. Perhaps when he began actual cultivation with the new technique, something would change.
For now, he focused on comprehensive understanding. The Foundation Establishment breakthrough required insight, and insight came from knowledge. Every detail he absorbed, every nuance he comprehended, brought him closer to the transformation he sought.
—————
Wei Feng's spiritual root testing came three months before his tenth birthday.
The examination was performed by a sect-sanctioned tester—a bored-looking man in the middle stages of Foundation Establishment who traveled between settlements performing assessments for families who couldn't afford to bring their children to the sect proper.
Jin watched from across the testing chamber, his peak Qi Gathering senses tracking every detail of the process. Lin Mei stood beside him, her hand gripping his with nervous intensity.
The tester placed his palm against Wei Feng's forehead, closing his eyes as he probed the boy's spiritual potential. Wei Feng—who had been coached extensively on proper behavior during testing—remained perfectly still, his expression serious with the gravity of the moment.
Long minutes passed. The tester's brow furrowed, then smoothed, then furrowed again. Jin's anxiety grew with each passing second.
Finally, the tester withdrew his hand and opened his eyes.
"Four-colored spiritual roots," he announced. "Mid-grade quality. Fire, water, wood, and earth aspects in roughly balanced proportion."
Jin felt Lin Mei sag against him with relief.
"Mid-grade?" she whispered. "That's better than either of us."
"Significantly better," Jin agreed, his mind already calculating possibilities. "Four-colored mid-grade roots… the statistics suggest strong potential for Foundation Establishment. Even Golden Core is within the realm of possibility, with proper cultivation and resources."
The tester was recording his findings on a jade slip, his earlier boredom replaced by mild interest. "The boy's potential is above average for the general population, though hardly exceptional by inner sect standards. With dedicated cultivation from a young age, he could reasonably expect to reach peak Foundation Establishment within his lifetime. Golden Core would require exceptional circumstances—rare opportunities, fortunate encounters, that sort of thing."
"But it's possible?" Lin Mei pressed.
"Possible, yes. Guaranteed, no." The tester completed his records and rose. "My fee is three spirit stones. The certificate of assessment will be forwarded to the sect's archives."
Jin paid without complaint, his thoughts already racing toward plans and possibilities. Wei Feng—his son, the chubby baby who had once chased beetles across their courtyard—had genuine potential. Not just the marginal chances that Jin himself had faced, but real probability of significant advancement.
A future that might include power enough to protect himself and those he loved.
After the tester departed, Wei Feng approached his parents with barely contained excitement.
"Did I do well?" he asked. "The man said four colors. Is that good?"
"That's very good," Jin told him, kneeling to meet his son's eyes. "Better than your mother or me. You have a real chance to become a powerful cultivator."
Wei Feng's face lit up with joy, then shifted to thoughtful consideration—an expression he had inherited from Jin himself.
"Does this mean I can learn more techniques? Like the fire balls you can make? And the way you can move so fast?"
"Eventually. But first, you need to master the fundamentals. Everything builds upon a solid foundation." Jin placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "I'll teach you everything I know. By the time you're ready to join the sect formally, you'll be more prepared than any other new disciple."
"Better than you were?"
Jin laughed—a genuine sound that still sometimes surprised him. "Much better. I was a clumsy child who could barely walk without tripping. You won't make the same mistakes I did."
—————
Lin Mei's pregnancy announcement came two weeks later.
She delivered the news over dinner, her expression holding the same mixture of joy and nervousness that Jin remembered from her first pregnancy. Wei Feng was playing in the garden with Wei Hua, their voices carrying through the evening air as they competed to catch the largest beetle.
"I wasn't sure at first," Lin Mei admitted. "It's been so long since Wei Feng—I thought maybe I was imagining things. But the physician confirmed it this morning."
Jin reached across the table to take her hands. "How do you feel?"
"Tired. Slightly nauseous. Terrified and excited in equal measure." Her smile was tremulous. "All the things I felt last time, really."
"Your cultivation is stronger now. Level six—that's significant protection for both you and the baby."
"I know. But pregnancy is pregnancy, regardless of cultivation level." Lin Mei's grip tightened on his hands. "I want this child, Jin. Wei Feng has been asking for a sibling for years, and I—I want our family to grow."
"Then it will grow." Jin smiled, warmth spreading through his chest despite his usual emotional restraint. "We'll prepare properly this time. No working until you're exhausted. No field cultivation that strains your reserves. I'll handle everything."
"You already handle everything."
"I'll handle more." He rose and moved around the table to embrace her, feeling her body warm against his, sensing the faint pulse of new life forming within her. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For building this life with me. For giving me reasons to advance beyond my own ambition. For being here."
Lin Mei's eyes glistened. "You sentimental fool. What happened to the cautious, analytical Wei Jin I married?"
"He's still here. He just learned that some things are worth being sentimental about."
—————
The visitor arrived unannounced on a cold winter morning.
Jin was in the garden, supervising Wei Feng and Wei Hua's morning cultivation practice, when he sensed an unfamiliar presence approaching their courtyard. His peak Qi Gathering senses immediately assessed the newcomer—mortal, no cultivation, female, elderly based on her movement patterns.
He rose and moved toward the gate, arriving just as the woman pushed it open without ceremony.
She was perhaps sixty years old, her face weathered by hard living, her clothes simple but well-maintained. Her eyes—sharp and dark—swept across the courtyard with the assessing gaze of someone cataloging everything they saw. When they found Jin, they narrowed with suspicion.
"You're the cultivator?" Her voice was harsh, accusing. "The one who married my daughter?"
Jin's mind raced through possibilities before landing on the obvious conclusion. This was Lin Mei's mother—the woman from a family that had sent only seven letters in eleven years, who had shipped their fifth daughter to the sect to avoid paying another dowry.
"I am Wei Jin," he said carefully. "Lin Mei's husband. You are…?"
"Wang Zhu. Lin Mei's mother." The old woman's glare intensified. "The mother who was not informed that her daughter had married. Not informed that her daughter had given birth. Not informed that she has grandchildren growing up barely a day's travel from her home."
Jin felt the ground shifting beneath him. Lin Mei had never spoken much about her family—the few details she'd shared had painted a picture of neglect and indifference. The fact that her mother was here, angry about being excluded, suggested a more complicated reality.
"Please come inside," Jin said, stepping aside to allow her entry. "Lin Mei will want to see you."
"Will she?" Wang Zhu's voice dripped with bitterness. "She certainly hasn't acted like it."
Jin led the old woman toward the house, his mind working through how to handle this situation. Lin Mei was resting—her pregnancy making her tire more easily—and the sudden appearance of a mother she had barely mentioned in twelve years of marriage would be a shock.
He found Lin Mei in the main room, reading a cultivation scroll with one hand resting on her slightly swollen belly. She looked up as Jin entered, her expression shifting from calm to confusion to something approaching horror as she saw the woman behind him.
"Mother?"
Wang Zhu pushed past Jin, striding into the room with the righteous fury of an aggrieved parent. "So you do remember me. I wondered, given how thoroughly you've erased your family from your life."
"I—" Lin Mei rose, her cultivation scroll falling forgotten to the floor. "How did you find—why are you here?"
"Your brother's wife has a cousin who works in the sect's administrative division. She mentioned—casually, as if it were common knowledge—that Lin Mei of the agricultural division had married another disciple. That she had a son. That she was expecting another child." Wang Zhu's voice cracked with emotion that might have been anger or might have been hurt. "My daughter. Married for years. A grandmother to a child I've never seen. And I had to learn this from a stranger's gossip."
Lin Mei's face had gone pale. "Mother, you have to understand—"
"Understand what? That you hate us so much you couldn't even send a letter?"
"You sent seven letters in eleven years!" Lin Mei's voice rose, old pain breaking through her composure. "Seven letters! And each one asked only if I had earned any resources that could be sent home. You never asked how I was. Never asked if I was happy or healthy or alive. You sent me here to get rid of me, and then you forgot I existed."
Wang Zhu recoiled as if struck. "We didn't—that wasn't—"
"It was exactly that." Lin Mei's eyes glistened with tears she was fighting to control. "You had five daughters and no sons. You couldn't afford five dowries. So you sent me to the sect because cultivators don't require dowries." Her laugh was bitter. "I was eight years old. I cried every night for a month. And your letters—when they came—asked only about spirit stones."
Jin watched the exchange in silence, understanding more about his wife's past in these few minutes than he had learned in twelve years of marriage. The woman he loved, who had been his partner and supporter through everything, carried wounds he had only glimpsed before.
Wang Zhu stood frozen, her righteous anger draining away to reveal something more complicated beneath. Guilt, perhaps. Or the realization that her grievance was not as simple as she had believed.
"We did what we had to do," she said finally, her voice smaller than before. "Times were hard. We couldn't—"
"I know." Lin Mei's anger was fading too, replaced by exhaustion. "I've known for years. I don't blame you for sending me here—the sect gave me opportunities I never would have had in the village. But I blamed you for forgetting me. For treating me like an investment rather than a daughter."
"I didn't forget you." Wang Zhu's eyes were wet now. "Not a day passed that I didn't think about my youngest girl, alone in a world I couldn't understand. But you never wrote either. Never sent word. I thought—I thought you hated us."
"I thought you didn't care."
The two women stared at each other across years of misunderstanding and silence. Jin remained still, knowing this was not his moment to intervene.
Finally, Lin Mei moved forward and embraced her mother. Wang Zhu stiffened, then collapsed into the hug, sobs shaking her weathered frame.
"I'm sorry," Lin Mei whispered. "I should have written. Should have tried."
"So should I. So should all of us." Wang Zhu pulled back, wiping her eyes. "But we're here now. And I—" Her gaze moved past Lin Mei to the slight swell of her belly. "Another grandchild?"
"In six months. A brother or sister for Wei Feng."
"Wei Feng." Wang Zhu tested the name. "Your son. My grandson. Can I—is he here?"
As if summoned, Wei Feng appeared in the doorway, drawn by the sounds of emotional conversation. Wei Hua hovered behind him, uncertain.
"Mother?" Wei Feng looked between Lin Mei and the strange old woman. "Who is this?"
Lin Mei wiped her own eyes and smiled—a watery expression that held years of complicated emotion. "This is your grandmother, Wei Feng. My mother. She's come to meet you."
Wei Feng studied Wang Zhu with the direct assessment of childhood. "You made Mother cry."
"I did." Wang Zhu's voice was rough. "I've made many mistakes. But I'm trying to fix them." She knelt, bringing herself to the boy's level. "Will you let an old woman get to know her grandson?"
Wei Feng considered this with the seriousness that marked all his decisions. Then he nodded.
"You can help me catch beetles," he offered. "I'm teaching Cousin Wei Hua, but she's not very good yet. Maybe you'll be better."
Wang Zhu laughed—a surprised sound that seemed to release some of the tension from the room. "I used to catch beetles when I was your age. I might remember how."
She rose and followed Wei Feng toward the garden, Wei Hua trailing behind them. The sounds of Wei Feng explaining proper beetle-catching technique drifted back through the open door.
Jin finally moved to Lin Mei's side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Are you alright?"
"I don't know." She leaned against him, her body trembling slightly. "I spent twelve years being angry at them. Building walls. Telling myself I didn't need their approval or their love." She laughed, the sound catching in her throat. "And now my mother is here, meeting my son, and I don't know what to feel."
"Feel whatever you feel. There's no right answer."
"Wise words from my peak Qi Gathering husband." Lin Mei's smile was fragile but genuine. "What would I do without you?"
"Catch fewer beetles, probably."
She laughed again—stronger this time—and the sound warmed Jin's heart in ways that cultivation could never achieve.
Family was complicated. Messy. Full of old wounds and unexpected reconciliations. But it was also precious beyond measure.
He held his wife close and watched through the doorway as three generations learned to know each other in a courtyard filled with winter sunlight and the promise of spring to come.
—————
End of Chapter Fourteen