The first jackal came for Chen Ba.
Crack!
He burst forward-left.
The creature's jaws closed behind him.
The Black Pole swung across its flank.
Thud!
The jackal rolled.
Gao stepped in.
The Earthcleaver fell.
Boom!
One down.
The rest attacked.
Two pressured Gao.
Another went for Xueyin.
The remaining jackals circled.
The alpha stayed back.
"Don't separate!" Xueyin shouted.
Gao blocked one with the Earthcleaver's shaft.
Another rushed his blind side.
"Behind!"
Scarlet Coil flashed past him.
Snap!
Xueyin caught the jackal's foreleg and pulled it off course.
Gao recovered.
"Thanks."
"Pay attention."
Another jackal lunged at Xueyin.
Phantom Wind Dodge carried her aside.
Her whip struck its ribs.
The creature retreated.
Chen Ba almost followed.
Then stopped.
Another jackal waited between the trees.
Bait.
"They're trying to pull us apart."
"I know," Xueyin said.
Gao backed toward them.
"Then we let them come."
The fight settled into a pattern.
Attack.
Withdraw.
Circle.
Attack again.
The Stoneback Jackals never committed without another covering the retreat.
Whenever one disciple moved too far, the pack shifted toward the opening.
Gao stopped chasing.
Xueyin stopped trying to catch every retreating beast.
Chen Ba relied only on the First Step.
A failed Second Step here would leave a gap.
The pack came again.
Chen Ba struck one across the shoulder.
The hardened plates absorbed the blow.
He adjusted.
Next strike—
Lower.
The Black Pole swept into its front leg.
Crack!
The leg folded.
Xueyin's whip caught its neck.
Gao finished it.
The alpha growled.
The remaining jackals spread wider.
One retreated uphill.
Another vanished behind the trees.
"They're changing formation," Xueyin said.
The alpha stepped down from the fallen pine.
It charged straight at Gao.
He raised the Earthcleaver.
"Come!"
The alpha leapt.
Gao swung.
The beast twisted past the blade.
It had never been targeting him.
It landed and drove toward Xueyin.
She activated Phantom Wind Dodge.
A smaller jackal attacked from the left.
Xueyin changed direction to avoid it.
The alpha had been waiting for that exact movement.
She reappeared directly in front of it.
Too close.
The Scarlet Coil was extended.
No time to retract it.
No room for another dodge.
The alpha's claws came down toward her neck and chest.
Chen Ba moved.
First Step.
CRACK!
Forward-left.
Still too far.
His foot struck the ground.
The claws were already falling.
Lightning Qi surged into the opposite calf.
No calculation.
No careful timing.
Move.
Compress.
Redirect.
Release.
CRACK!
Second Step.
For the first time, it worked.
Chen Ba crossed the remaining distance and appeared between Xueyin and the alpha.
The Black Pole was still behind him.
No time to block.
He turned.
SLASH!
The alpha's claws struck his upper back.
His robe split.
Xueyin caught him as he staggered forward.
"Chen Ba!"
The alpha landed.
Gao roared.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
Qi flooded the Grave-Severing Earthcleaver.
Ninefold Tyrant Breaker.
The axe swept horizontally.
BOOM!
The stone-like plates around the alpha's neck cracked.
The blade passed through.
The alpha's head struck the ground.
Its body collapsed beside it.
The remaining jackals broke formation.
Two fled uphill.
Another vanished between the pines.
Gao started after them.
"Don't chase," Xueyin snapped.
He stopped and turned back.
"How bad?"
Chen Ba straightened.
"My back?"
"Obviously!"
Xueyin pulled the torn fabric aside.
Then froze.
Four red lines crossed his upper back.
Shallow.
One had barely broken the skin.
Gao stepped closer.
"...What?"
Chen Ba tried to look over his shoulder.
"Is it bad?"
"No."
Xueyin looked from the scratches to the dead alpha.
That strike had been meant for her.
She had seen the force behind it.
He should have been torn open.
Gao pointed at the alpha's claws.
"That hit you."
"Yes."
"Properly."
"Yes."
"And that's all?"
Chen Ba had no answer.
Greenmist returned to mind.
The wound through his abdomen.
Now this.
"Maybe the angle was bad."
Xueyin did not respond.
She had been directly behind him.
The angle had not been bad.
Her eyes stayed on the shallow marks.
Suspicion deepened.
So did her gratitude.
"You saved me."
Chen Ba looked at her.
"You would've been hit."
"I know."
"So I moved."
Xueyin held his gaze.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
A growl sounded uphill.
All three turned.
Gao raised his axe.
"We can discuss why he's impossible to injure after the mission."
"I'm not impossible to injure."
Gao glanced at the scratches.
"Bad time to make that argument."
Without the alpha, the remaining pack lost coordination.
The three advanced together.
One jackal fled toward the den.
They followed without rushing.
The den lay beneath a rocky overhang.
The remaining Stoneback Jackals defended it.
They died there.
The search revealed nothing unusual.
Bones.
Old prey.
Fragments of herb baskets.
No hidden threat.
No strange Qi.
No connection to anything else.
They collected proof of extermination and checked the surrounding trail.
No additional pack.
Mission complete.
By then, the sun was already low.
They returned long after dark.
The side door of the Mission Hall remained open.
The attendant was waiting.
"Late."
Gao placed the proof on the counter.
"Complete."
The attendant checked the remains, mission slip and disciple tokens.
"Den?"
"Cleared," Xueyin said.
"Route?"
"Safe."
"Additional pack?"
"None found."
The ledger opened.
Red Pine Ridge — Complete.
The agreed reward remained unchanged.
240 Achievement Points.
Chen Ba — 80.
Chen Xueyin — 80.
Chen Gao — 80.
No bonus.
No deduction.
No reallocation.
Chen Ba's cumulative Achievement Points reached 225.
The attendant closed the ledger.
"Done."
Gao exhaled.
"Finally."
"No serious injuries?"
"No," Xueyin said.
Her eyes shifted to Chen Ba's torn robe.
The attendant followed her gaze.
"You?"
"Scratch."
"Clean it before sleeping."
"I will."
The three collected their tokens and separated outside.
No one trained.
No one discussed another mission.
Monday class was only hours away.
They went to sleep.
Monday morning, five thirteen-year-old disciples sat inside the Outer Court classroom.
Chen Shun's seat remained empty.
Chen Gao yawned beside Chen Ba.
Xueyin sat farther forward.
Yiru and Lanyue had returned from home.
The classroom door opened.
A woman in pale-gray teaching robes entered.
Long black hair was tied neatly behind her.
Several jade measuring pieces hung from her belt.
She placed her notes on the front table.
"Chen Yulan."
Her eyes swept the room.
"I teach your Monday lessons."
A brief pause.
"Friday belongs to Chen Zhaowu."
Gao smiled.
"If you survived him, congratulations."
His smile widened.
"Monday belongs to me."
It disappeared.
Yulan turned to the board.
She wrote three words.
ABSORPTION.
RETENTION.
STABILITY.
"New cultivators misunderstand progress."
She tapped the first word.
"They think the person absorbing Qi fastest must also be advancing fastest."
She shook her head.
"Wrong."
She tapped the second.
"Qi that enters and leaks away is useless."
Then the third.
"Qi that damages your foundation is worse."
She faced the class.
"Progress depends on how efficiently you absorb, refine and retain Qi while keeping your foundation stable."
"Two cultivators at the same level may require different amounts of Qi to advance."
"Different meridians."
"Different dantian capacities."
"Different cultivation methods."
"Different talent."
"Do not copy another person's pace."
"Understand your own."
Chen Ba listened closely.
Yulan picked up the attendance sheet.
Her eyes stopped on his name.
"Chen Ba."
"Yes?"
"What level?"
"Qi Initiate Level Four."
She looked up.
"Level Four?"
"Yes."
"When did you reach Level Three?"
"During the Outer Court selection."
"Two weeks ago."
"Yes."
Yulan stared at him.
"Come here."
Chen Ba went to the front.
"Palm."
She pressed a pale jade piece against his hand.
"Circulate Qi."
He obeyed.
The jade lit.
One band.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Yulan turned the jade over.
Checked it.
Then tested him again.
Four bands.
Stable.
Her frown deepened.
"Sit."
Chen Ba started back toward his seat.
"Here."
She pointed to the floor in front of her.
He sat cross-legged.
Yulan placed two fingers against his upper back.
"Circulate slowly."
A thin strand of her Qi entered his meridians.
Chen Ba completed one cycle.
Then another.
No strain.
No chaotic flow.
No residue from a forced breakthrough.
"Again."
He circulated once more.
Yulan withdrew her hand.
"Problem?" Chen Ba asked.
"No."
She sounded almost dissatisfied with the answer.
"Your foundation is stable."
Gao raised his hand.
Yulan looked at him.
"What?"
"So he really is Level Four?"
"Unless both the jade and my senses failed this morning."
Gao lowered his hand.
"Right."
Yulan turned back to Chen Ba.
"You forced nothing?"
"No."
"Pills?"
"No."
"Special cultivation room?"
"No."
"External assistance?"
"No."
"When did you break through?"
"After Friday training."
"After Zhaowu's class?"
"Yes."
She sighed.
"Of course."
Chen Ba did not understand why.
Yulan pointed toward his seat.
"Go."
Once he sat down, she faced the class.
"Chen Ba is a useful example."
Several heads turned toward him.
"His advancement is fast."
"But his foundation is currently stable."
She looked directly at him.
"Currently."
Chen Ba nodded.
"Do not treat that as permission to rush Level Five."
"I won't."
"Good."
She tapped the word on the board.
STABILITY.
"Fast progress only matters if the foundation can carry what comes next."
Chen Ba leaned back.
That should have answered his concern.
Instead, it sharpened it.
Nothing was wrong with his foundation.
So why was he advancing this quickly?
Chen Yulan continued the lesson.
Chen Ba kept listening.
But the question remained.