Wu Chi quietly left the room.
He did not return to the outer plaza after leaving Elder Xu's chamber.
Instead, Wu Chi moved through the inner corridors with the same measured pace he had learned to adopt under observation, neither rushing nor hesitating, until the smell of incense gave way to cold stone and open wind. Only when the sect faded behind layers of walls and elevation did his heartbeat finally accelerate.
The power inside his dantian stirred with every step.
It did not demand to be released.
It waited.
That alone frightened him more than the transformation itself.
He returned briefly to his quarters. A single travel pack. Dried rations. A spare set of robes. Nothing that could be traced. No weapons beyond the short blade he had carried even before his reassignment. When he finished, the room looked untouched, as if he had never entered at all.
At the outer perimeter, he did not climb the walls.
He slipped through them.
Silently.
Too controlled for someone who only days ago would have needed brute force to escape unnoticed.
He barely disturbed the grass.
From the corner of the watchtower above the eastern slope, Tan Wei saw him go.
The Sect Master stood with one hand resting against the stone edge, the other hidden beneath his sleeve where cracked meridians still ached in slow, constant pulses. The night wind pulled gently at his robes, and for a moment, he considered calling out.
Then he didn't.
"I wish your actions don't bring ruin to my sect, Elder Xu..."
Tan Wei closed his eyes once.
Then let Wu Chi disappear into the dark.
The descent from Tiger Peak took him the better part of a day.
Wu Chi moved cautiously at first, still unaccustomed to how far his body now carried him on each stride. The Fear-aspected Qi did not simply amplify speed or strength, it sharpened his sense of balance, tightening every muscle around a core that felt heavier than it should have been.
By late afternoon, Frostfall Village emerged from the mountain's shadow like a smear of smoke and sound.
Low roofs. Packed earth streets. Merchant banners faded by wind and time. A place where cultivators came and went often enough that none of them truly stood out.
Wu Chi kept his head slightly lowered and his presence restrained as he moved between stalls. He did not wear sect colors. To anyone watching, he was merely another roaming martial practitioner with coin and no destination.
The mask stall rested near the dried fish vendors, its owner an elderly man with stained fingers and dull eyes. Wooden shelves displayed crude designs, lacquered whites, expressionless faces meant to hide more than they revealed.
Wu Chi selected the plainest one he could find.
No markings. No paint beyond thin white sealant. No eyes carved wider than necessary.
"Three coppers," the old man muttered.
Wu Chi paid without bargaining, tied the mask to his belt, and turned to leave.
That was when he heard them.
"Tomorrow at dawn, by the reed lake."
A woman's voice. Calm. Confident.
He slowed imperceptibly, coming to a stop near a basket of river roots.
"We gather until midday," another voice replied, male this time, younger. "No reckless separation this time."
"The alchemist wants the violet marrow plants intact," a third added. "They grow only beneath the surface there."
A faint laugh followed.
"You worry too much. With Senior Sister Shen present, what danger is there in a lake that even foundation beasts avoid?"
Wu Chi did not look at them directly.
Four cultivators stood near the water-sellers, robes marked faintly at the collar with drifting cloud patterns.
Cloud Valley Sect.
One woman stood slightly apart from the others, her posture relaxed but her presence noticeably heavier. Qi Condensation. There was no mistaking that pressure, faint as it was.
Beside her stood another woman, cultivation steadier and disciplined, Foundation Establishment mid stage. The two men remained half a step behind them, both early foundation, their attention drifting between the conversation and the crowd.
Wu Chi memorized their faces.
Their voices.
Their spacing.
Then he walked away without turning his head.
The reed lake lay north of Frostfall, hidden in a bowl of low forest and shallow slopes. Wu Chi arrived long before the four Cloud Valley disciples, concealing himself among high rocks that overlooked the water and the narrow clearing around it.
He did not move.
He watched shadows shorten, insects settle, wind pattern shift.
At dawn, they came.
Just as he had heard.
They moved as if they belonged to the forest, their footwork so light that reeds barely whispered beneath their boots. Even Wu Chi, with his sharpened senses, had to refocus once to track the Qi Condensation woman as she crossed from cover to open water.
Impressive.
They divided efficiently.
The two men took the eastern reeds, spreading outward in mirrored arcs. The mid-stage foundation woman circled the shoreline to mark safe approach routes. The Qi Condensation cultivator remained near the lake's center, overseeing movement with minimal commands.
Their coordination was polished.
Not careless.
Wu Chi did not rush.
For hours, he observed.
He learned who hesitated before acting.
Who checked their footing.
Who relied on whom.
The Qi Condensation woman, Senior Sister Shen, commanded with calm familiarity. The foundation woman deferred to her without resentment. The two men competed subtly for approval, risking small inefficiencies for the sake of showing off.
By midday, baskets filled with herbs lined the rock shelf.
Water shimmered undisturbed.
No beasts approached.
The training mission truly was low-risk.
Just before afternoon heat peaked, Senior Sister Shen sheathed her blade and spoke,
"I will survey the western inlets. There were traces of deeper growth yesterday."
The others acknowledged her.
No objection.
No escort.
She moved alone along the curve of the lake, stepping into a narrow corridor of stone and hanging reeds.
Wu Chi's breathing slowed.
His gaze followed her.
The remaining three continued their work, unaware of the shift in the forest.
Within his dantian, the Fear-aspected Qi stirred.
Not violently.
Not yet.
He reached for the plain white mask at his belt.
And waited.