Dong Xin sat before the council of the Order of the Watchful Sentry. As he told the story of his journey, there were nods, sounds of appreciation, and sighs at various points. After he had finished, questions and discussion started. There were various people, mostly grey haired elders, though some were a bit younger than when their hair would start to grey.

“The publicity of the Archmage’s death is unfortunate.”

“Agreed. However, it would likely have been necessary eventually.”

“Though, the preferred method is through more… legal means.”

“Regardless, it is done. We shall now move on to other topics. We now have a concrete timeframe for the Demon King’s return, if the information is accurate. What of the knights?”

“They seem competent, and they recognize the threat of the Demon King. We should send another representative… since unfortunately the previous two are not able to publicly appear in Ostana.”

“As for Ustil… we can occasionally send different people. Perhaps that is what they are looking for. Their general level of preparedness for war seems adequate, at least, and once the Demon King actually arrives all nations will certainly act.”

“Eclea… might favorably react to those with magical ability. However, they might also strongly reject the killer of the Archmage… and those who were with him. I propose we send another group, at least for an initial assessment.”

“Finally, this technique… Shattering the Soul. It would be best to disseminate the information to some of those who are most skilled, but only if they are trustworthy. Perhaps part of our negotiations with the knights shall include attempting to get the original… at least for a time. Regardless, the notes we have here on it are quite adequate to start with, even if the training will be somewhat slower.”

Dong Xin nodded, and half smiled. He wondered what they would think if they knew those notes were made by someone who had only practiced ki for six years, and the technique for one. Still, it would provide an adequate basis for people to start learning, even if it didn’t come with any direct insights into how it worked.

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The Song clan had somewhat stabilized, and the conflict with the Yu clan had reached a new height. Normally, Dong Xin wouldn’t have interfered. There was the time with William, of course, but that involved an elder trying to suppress his student. However, they had also sent assassins after him. Well, after William, mostly, but Dong Xin was already sufficiently involved. Although he could have gone around causing trouble for them, or even killed some of the members of the Song clan, that wasn’t the type of involvement he preferred.

Thus, Dong Xin found himself visiting several organizations. Groups of assassins, really. He wasn’t planning to hire them, because that was no better than doing something himself. Instead, he just gently reminded them that he was going to be working with the Yu clan. Of course, he knew these groups were only interested in money. However, there were various factors to consider. First was whether a job could be completed, and how much it would cost to do so. Thus, Dong Xin thought that many of them would refuse any jobs that they might have taken even at risk of offending the Yu clan, but now would think another time about. At the very least, they would charge the Song clan more for any work. It wasn’t extremely likely that such organizations would get deeply involved involved in a feud between two clans, but it didn’t hurt to be proactive in warning them off.

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Yu Huan didn’t particularly appreciate getting followed every time she left the Yu clan grounds. It was especially annoying for it to be an older man who looked like a vagrant. On the other hand, at least he only looked that way. He was quite good and proper as a guard. Yu Huan knew that he was friends with her grandfather Yu Jian, and the master of her younger half-brother Yu Hui’Lam. He was also strong. Thus, she was grateful for the protection, or at least the deterrent, but that didn’t mean she was happy about being followed. Then again, she didn’t really have anything to hide.

Mostly, she spent her time training. After all, she had to be strong to decide her own future. While her grandfather Yu Jian was perhaps a bit more willing to let her choose her own future than many, she still had to do something. Sitting around as a lump wouldn’t do her any good. Outside of the clan, strength would give her more independence than many of the other options. Perhaps she could make it as a merchant, but she would still be reliant on the work of others. With ki cultivation, she could fend for herself… eventually. For now, she was still not quite that strong.

After Dong Xin had returned, Yu Huan had received information on a terrifying technique. This was only after she had agreed to only use it in an upcoming fight against the Demon King. She hadn’t expected such an event to occur within her lifetime, but she knew it was something that happened repeatedly. Once she had been filled in on the details, she wondered why nobody else seemed to have noticed it.

As for why she was given the opportunity to train in Shattering the Soul even though she was so young… perhaps that was because of her new fascination with soul-based techniques. In the tournament when she had been subject to a soul attack, she had been terrified. Thus, she had researched various ways to defend herself. There was no better way for her to start with that than the same techniques Yu Hui’Lam had studied, most specifically Soul Armor. Not everyone practiced techniques specifically to protect the soul, because other defensive techniques also protected the soul as well as the body. They were just less effective than a specialized technique, but even just surrounding oneself with a layer of defensive ki could somewhat protect against soul attacks. Yu Huan had felt the terror of something almost intruding into her soul, however, so she had sought out the specialized techniques. As for why she had chosen the ones that Yu Hui’Lam had studied… that was because he was the one who showed up and completely smothered the power that had been trying to infiltrate her. Because she had been training in soul techniques… and was just generally talented, she had been chosen to learn Shattering the Soul as well. As she looked it over, she saw the notes that Yu Hui’Lam had written specifically for her. She shuddered involuntarily as she did. She was glad he was on her side, because even though he had defended her… the power she had seen there was terrifying. However, she couldn’t say that everyone who was so capable would be on her side… and there were people like Song Ping, though he had only been effective because she had been unprepared.