"And you came south."
"I came south. Highmark has nothing left for a wind cultivator. The Cathedral is a tomb. The Sect is six elders who teach in someone's living room. The bloodline tradition is over. I was the last generational talent Highmark produced, and I'm broken. There's nothing for me there. My mother is still in Stonewatch. My sister stayed with her. I write letters home. I send money when I can. I came to Astral Zenith because the academy admits broken cultivators if they're useful, and I am. I'm useful at formations. I can support a team. I can fight. I can't be a Sovereign. But I can be part of something."
He was quiet for a moment.
"That's most of it. The rest is detail."
I sat with the story for a few seconds before responding. The cloud sea moved. The mountain swifts had circled back and were below us again, their calls faint.
"Caelen."
"Yes."
"The thing that destroyed the cathedral. You said it didn't have edges. It moved without form."
"Yes."
