VI

Fang Shin

It was on one of my days off on Flamepeak when I first heard of him. The small home was cluttered with letters, blotting out the table beneath them. I barely spared each a glance before sending them over to my favored attendant.

“Say, little rat, who would you choose?”

“I’d never dare to,” he gulped, rubbing his hands, “even think of such a preposterous notion, Eldest Brother.”

“Good choice, but you have my permission,” I threw another batch of letters over, “take a closer look.” The youth a year younger than me browsed through the papers with some hesitation. He wore the robe of the inner courtyards thanks to my recommendations. While he was carefully deciding what to pick out, the door to his humble abode flung open.

“I hope you won't forget that I'll become your first wife.” A woman walked in, flaunting her sheepish smile. Her name was Cao Yan. She was three years my age, and my fiancee.

“Yan’er,” I sighed, motioning her over. She sat on my lap where I caressed her long, black hair between my fingers, behaving meekly as I said, “my first or my hundredth, I think it hardly matters. If you want to dress up in numbers, you may have to task someone to think of a whole lot more of them.”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t offer any more complaints.

“H-How about her, Eldest Brother?” I took the letter he handed me, “Wu Jiang from the Trueshot Sect. Her admirers say a lot about-”

“Yes, yes, she’s beautiful,” I placed the face of Wu Jiang who I’d never met before somewhere among the other hundred country-toppling beauties that had presented themselves in my courtyard. It was hard to find a decent cultivator who wasn’t pretty or handsome.

“The Trueshot Sect has finally seen the insurmountable mountain in front of their very eyes,” Yan’er said and I smiled.

“Do they hope to fix what they wronged after failing to kill me?” I laughed and the other two joined me as if on command, “now they send me their most priced daughter as a peace offering, why isn’t that nice of them? Little rat, pen the answer. She and her sisters may have the chance to swoon over me.”

“At once, Eldest Brother,” he hurried to a corner of his home where he went to work at his run-down desk.

“Don’t stop it at that, I’m in a good mood today,” I flicked my wrist, guiding the wind to send every letter out of the door and down the mountain. “The Sword Dragon Sect I owe a try because of our small scuffle. I did cripple one of their talents with his own technique. If they want to send me a fiancee instead of an oath swearing revenge who am I to disagree? What say you, think I should go around and beat up some more? See what other fish that would net me?”

The both of them laughed as if it was the funniest joke they’d ever heard.

“Add to that,” I smiled, satisfied with their performance, “the Wintersun Sect, the First Mountain Sect, and the Stormblade Sect. Since we’re at it, don’t forget about the Twin-Soul Sect. They may yet change their fortunes if their daughters know how to dress up nicely.”

“What about the Divine Beast Society?”

“What about them? I’m looking for wives not pets.”

“I understand. Your will be done, Eldest Brother.”

Cao Yan had brought along a basket of spirit fruits from which we ate. She leaned against my chest as I thought about how to best enjoy my brief respite from training when the door burst open once more.

I sighed heavily, rubbing my forehead, “little rat, we ought to seal that door shut or remove it entirely.”

“If you so wish,” his voice drifted over the scribbling of his writing, “I will see to it, Eldest Brother.”

“My apologies, young master,” the disciple that had barged inside fell to his knees as he spoke, “but I have an urgent matter to convey.”

“Speak,” I said without sparing him a glance. He was one of little rat’s followers, not mine, undeserving of my full attention.

“Thank you, young master. There’s been an incident at the Fang Shin Peak. Someone among the disciples created a new record. The news is spreading fast all over the sect.”

“I didn’t think Wang Zhi had it in him,” I said, a bit interested. “Has he finally decided to stop shaming his father’s name? He may yet offer me a decent pastime.”

“I-I’m afraid, it wasn’t the prince, young master,” the disciple frowned, doubting his own words, “but someone from the branch at Windpeak.”

“An outer sect disciple?” I laughed. “They’re letting anyone in nowadays, don’t they? And you say he broke my uncle’s record? Interesting, I didn’t know it was that easy to cheat.”

“Yes, his name is Fang Lin,” he bowed his head deeper, “no one knows how he did it.”

The Fang Shin Peak was previously named the Peak of the Fallen Star, the highest mountain of the sect, which was both my birthplace and my home. While I’d effortlessly lived on its peak from an infant age, every other disciple used it as a measure of their strength. It was an inhospitable place, constantly draining your Qi until it would leave its victims an empty husk. A mortal would not last a breath, and even some of the elders would have to take precautions when they went into isolation at its highest peak.

“The elders must have grown blind in their age. Well, whatever,” I waved him off to leave and he disappeared without delay. “How about we take this elsewhere, Yan’er?” I focused back on her, but a frown was marring her pretty face, “what’s troubling you? Don’t be saddened on my day off.”

“Fang Lin,” she mumbled, “I think I’ve heard of the name before.”

“You may have,” I laughed, “my name is Fang in case you forgot. Don’t get it all confused.”

“He’s your cousin,” little rat's nervous voice drifted over, “Eldest Brother, you’ve met him once before, about a year ago. I was there when-”

“Never heard of him,” I shrugged it off, “let’s go Yan’er. Father said there might be another meteor shower tonight. We may meet a fortune for you.”

She nodded, smiling now. The spatial pouch in my robe flickered and an invisible platform appeared outside of the house. We stepped on it, flying off towards the peak renamed after me. I kept a low altitude in mind for her. She was one of the most promising disciples the Fang Family had adopted, but she would have had trouble staying close to the peak for long.

“How long do you reckon he lasted?” She craned her neck up, looking at my home; a small dot from our distance. “If I remember correctly, your uncle had set it at a week in his time as a disciple.”

“The rabble calls it a record, but is it really?” I said, annoyed by how much the matter occupied her mind.

“It’s a remarkable feat, wouldn’t you say so?”

“What you consider remarkable is breathing for me, my dear,” I scoffed with a harsh tone. “You ought to remember who holds the true record of my peak. Remember the true master of our sect’s teachings. The sole disciple who conquered the Ten-Heaven-Pagoda. It is your betrothed, and none other. The matter of this nobody will be soon forgotten.”

But Fang Lin’s name kept spreading. At first, many had doubted him for breaking my uncle’s record who was second in strength only to the sect master. They likewise framed him for cheating until a few days later when he had a brush with the royal prince, Wang Zhi who'd been staying at the sect as a guest. To anyone’s surprise, he survived a short bout with him, winning a bet they’d made. Wang Zhi came to me complaining and plotting for weeks to restore his honor. Whatever happened to the prince, I’d never know, as he left the sect two months later without a word to anyone. Some said it was due to Fang Lin again. That should’ve been my first warning sign; instead, I ignored his existence again. Wang Zhi had been my rival in status alone; I never considered him on my level in what truly matters. Whether Fang Lin was capable of beating him or not had done little to change my of him, merely worsening my impression of the prince.

However, eventually, that would change. It was a year after the first incident. The time for another Starharvest had come around – a day on which the disciples on the verge of reaching the stage of Formation would test their fortunes. I watched them from my seat next to my father, the right-hand man of the sect master. The disciples fought, spilling blood. Even lives were lost as fortunes and misfortunes were made. I yawned. None of it was of my concern.

Until he became the center of attention once again. Fang Lin had found the largest meteorite in decades, searching in crevices no one bothered with. They'd laughed at his vain attempt, only to choke on it when he returned in triumph. The star he'd found had fallen many years ago where neither the disciples nor the experienced elders had ever thought to look. The relentless hunt after him began once he excavated it, yet he survived the onslaught of greedy disciples until the harvest was over, declaring the essence his. It would make for a foundation that some had argued could compare to mine. It would've been more than worth it to completely start over his cultivation from scratch, building a new foundation. But then, he did the unthinkable.

He gifted it away in front of the eyes of half the sect. The fortune of a lifetime as a mere present, and its recipient was non-other than Cao Yan, my fiancee. I’d have torn his lungs and heart out right then and there if it wasn’t for my father holding me back.

***

“You accepted it!?” Back at little rat’s house, I was livid. Cao Yan shrunk into herself, backed into a corner where she hid the essence behind her back. “What do you think that makes me look like, for my future wife to accept the pity of some nameless trash?"

“H-He said he wouldn’t need it,” her voice was weak, “it was perfect for me. Besides, I... I remember him now. We’ve known each other when we were still children. A long time ago... It was nothing...” she whispered even quieter, realizing she'd done nothing but throw oil into the fire.

A foundation was an expression of your fate; your potential. A lot could be said about your future based on the foundation you'd built. There were but few exceptions to the rule. The makeup of the rock Fang Lin had found was identical to the rock used for her foundation. Almost scarily accurate to the smallest detail. For that reason, it would allow her to improve her cultivation by leaps and bounds. It was a fortune that could not be sought by will alone.

“You think I can’t look out for you!?” I shouted at her, swallowed by anger that wouldn’t hear her excuses. In my mind, the incident was an indignity; an affront against me, “Father’s spent years keeping an eye out for a solution, and would’ve continued to do so with my support, yet you crawl to him, wagging your tail like a dog for a treat! I ought to-!”

The door swung open. My patience had bottomed out at last and I lay waste to the entrance with a gust striking it like a boulder. Beneath the falling rubble, a man grunted too weak to cry out. I swept the ruins aside to find him bloodied and covered in bruises. His arm was bent in four directions. My actions hadn’t been the root cause of them, but they worsened his injuries.

“What happened?” I asked, waiting until little rat crawled to his feet. He knelt, unable to stand up.

“Forgive me, Eldest Brother,” his weak voice quivered, “I’ve lost.”

“What do you mean, you’ve lost?” My words cut through the air like a blade held against his throat. Next to me, Cao Yan looked at him concerned, but I stopped her from tending to his injuries.

“I went with my brothers and sisters to find Fang Lin,” he said and my heart lurched, my throat drowning under my resentment. It grew unrestrained into a tempest that spread through my entire being, taking hold of it.

“You lost to that trash?” I whispered and the room fell deadly quiet.

“Eldest Brother, forgive me, I-”

“Shut your mouth,” I beckoned the wind, pressing it down on his broken body. He squirmed, resisting to no avail before he was squashed to the ground like a frog.

“You carry the protection of my name, and everyone in the sect knows how much favor I’m showing you. I picked you up from the streets, and now you’re repaying me by dragging my name through the dirt? I should’ve left you in the gutters to be devoured by your kin! Don’t you dare call me brother anymore, you trash.”

“Where are you going?” Cao Yan cried out after me as I stormed outside.

“To swat an insect.”

“You can’t!” I was about to step on the flying platform when she flung her arms around my waist, stopping me.

"Move, Cao Yan," her eyes radiated her fear, and I was about to slap her for standing up for him again. I couldn't believe what she was doing.

“He has gained some of the elders' favors,” the words ran off her tongue, “even Uncle sees his potential now. You can’t just go and…” She fell silent, intimidated by my unrestrained bloodlust, but her words found the traces of reason left within me.

“...Fine,” I shook her off me, stomping on the ground to find release from my anger, “so, he’ll live for another two months. Fine! If his strength is half as great as the rumors about him say it is, we’ll see how far he can make it in the annual tournament. Who knows, maybe we'll meet in the finals? If that were to happen, we should pray that there won't be an accident," a vicious grin spread across my face, "I'd be loath to send yet another letter.”