Wang Ben spent the morning preparing.
Not physically. There was nothing he could do in the next few hours that would make a difference against a mid-stage core formation cultivator. If Grand Elder Wang Feng wanted him dead, he would be dead before he registered the attack.
No, the preparation was mental. Wang Ben reviewed everything he knew about Wang Feng, cataloging facts and implications with the cold precision the System had taught him.
[SUBJECT PROFILE: WANG FENG]
[Position: Grand Elder, Grand Protector, Enforcement Hall Leader]
[Cultivation: Core Formation Stage 6 (mid-stage)]
[Age: Approximately 650 years]
[Notable: Strongest combat cultivator in Wang Clan]
[History: Nine years ago, Wang Tian sacrificed his cultivation attempting to save Wang Feng from miasma poisoning]
[Assessment: Subject likely feels significant guilt regarding Host's father]
[Note: Subject survived through means never disclosed]
The last point was interesting. Wang Feng had been dying from a Darkwood Ape's miasma. Wang Tian's Grade 7 pill attempt had failed. Yet somehow, the Grand Elder had survived.
How?
Wang Ben filed the question away. It might be relevant. It might not. But information was ammunition, and he intended to enter this meeting as prepared as possible.
The Grand Elder's study occupied a corner of the Enforcement Hall, a building that radiated quiet menace even in broad daylight. The disciples who passed through these halls did so quickly, heads down, voices hushed.
Wang Ben announced himself at the door and waited.
"Enter."
The voice was deep and rough, like gravel scraped across stone. Wang Ben pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped inside.
The study was smaller than he'd expected. No grand displays of wealth or power. Just functional furniture, weapon racks along the walls, and scrolls stacked in careful order. A single window let in afternoon light, illuminating dust motes that drifted through the air like lazy spirits.
Grand Elder Wang Feng sat behind a simple desk, his massive frame somehow contained by a chair that looked too small for him. He was built like a war monument, broad-shouldered and thick-armed, every line of his body speaking to centuries of combat cultivation.
And then there were the scars.
Three jagged lines ran from Wang Feng's left temple to his jaw, old wounds that had healed into ridges of pale tissue. The marks of a Darkwood Ape's dying strike. A permanent reminder of the battle that had cost Wang Tian everything.
"Wang Ben." The Grand Elder's eyes were dark and assessing. "Sit."
Wang Ben took the chair across from the desk, keeping his posture straight but not rigid. Respectful, not fearful. The System was already analyzing everything.
[OBSERVATION: Subject displaying neutral affect]
[Microexpressions indicate curiosity rather than hostility]
[Posture: Relaxed but alert. Combat readiness maintained]
[Assessment: This is an evaluation, not a threat]
"You know why you're here," Wang Feng said. It wasn't a question.
"You've been watching me, Grand Elder. I assume you have questions."
Something flickered in the old warrior's expression. Surprise, perhaps. Or approval. "Direct. Good. I don't have patience for games." He leaned back slightly. "Tell me about the wolf."
Wang Ben had expected this. The Jade Snow Wolf, the battle that had started everything visible.
"It was a Rank 2 beast, but poisoned. Weakened. I targeted its injured leg to accelerate the poison spread, then finished it when it collapsed."
"You were early-stage body refinement at the time. Stage 3."
"Yes."
"And you won." Wang Feng's voice was flat. "An early-stage cultivator, alone, against a Jade Snow Wolf. Even weakened, that creature should have killed you ten times over. Instead, you read its condition, exploited its weakness, and delivered killing blows with precision that veterans would envy."
"I was lucky."
"Luck is what fools call preparation they didn't see." The Grand Elder's eyes never left Wang Ben's face. "I've read the reports. All of them. The wolf. The expedition. The way you analyze situations that others miss. You see patterns, boy. Patterns that shouldn't be visible to someone your age."
Wang Ben said nothing. There was nothing safe to say.
"Your father was the same way, once." Wang Feng's voice softened almost imperceptibly. "Before his fall. He could look at a set of ingredients and see the pill they would become. Could read a patient's meridians and know exactly what treatment they needed." A pause. "He saw things others couldn't."
"I've heard stories."
"Stories." The word carried weight. "Let me tell you a story, then. Nine years ago, I was dying. Darkwood Ape miasma, spreading through my body like poison fire. Every physician said I had days. Maybe hours."
Wang Ben listened, not daring to interrupt.
"Your father came to me. Told me he could save me. A Grade 7 pill, refined with his Grade 8 Spirit Fire. It should have been impossible. He was only late-stage qi condensation. The fire would burn him from the inside out."
Wang Feng's jaw tightened. The scars on his face seemed to deepen in the afternoon light.
"He tried anyway. And when it failed... when the fire consumed his meridians and shattered his cultivation... he apologized to me. To me. As if his sacrifice was something to be sorry for."
The room was very quiet.
"I should have died that day," Wang Feng said. "Instead, your father paid the price. And I have spent every day since trying to be worthy of that cost."
[OBSERVATION: Subject displaying genuine emotional response]
[Guilt markers elevated]
[Assessment: Subject views protection of Wang Tian's family as personal obligation]
"Why are you telling me this, Grand Elder?"
Wang Feng met his eyes directly. "Because you're not normal, Wang Ben. You see things a fifteen-year-old shouldn't see. You think in ways that remind me of warriors who've lived centuries. And you're protecting your family with every breath you take."
He leaned forward, his presence suddenly overwhelming. Even sitting, the Grand Elder radiated power that pressed against Wang Ben like physical weight.
"I'm going to ask you a question. I want an honest answer. Not a careful one. Not a clever one. An honest one."
Wang Ben nodded slowly.
"Where does it come from? This insight you have. This ability to see what others miss." Wang Feng's voice was low, intense. "I don't need to know the details. I just need to know: is it a threat to this clan? To your family?"
The question hung in the air between them.
Wang Ben considered his options. Denial would be transparent. The Grand Elder was too experienced, too observant. He had already concluded that something unusual was happening. The question was whether that something was dangerous.
"No," Wang Ben said finally. "It's not a threat. It's... an advantage. One I'm using to protect the people I care about."
Wang Feng studied him for a long moment. Whatever he saw, it seemed to satisfy something.
"Good." He settled back in his chair. "Then we understand each other."
"Do we, Grand Elder?"
"I think we're beginning to." Wang Feng's expression shifted, becoming more businesslike. "Your tactical awareness has not gone unnoticed. Neither has your performance during the expedition, or your handling of the Xue Clan provocations. You have potential that's being wasted on basic patrol duty."
Wang Ben felt something shift in the conversation. This was the real reason for the meeting.
"What are you proposing?"
"Direct assignments. From me, personally. Intelligence gathering, pattern analysis, strategic assessment." Wang Feng's eyes were hard. "The Xue Clan is moving against us. We know their visible actions. But they're spending resources they don't have, which means they have backing we can't see. I need someone who can find the connections others miss."
[ALERT: Significant opportunity detected]
[Benefits: Access to clan intelligence, Grand Elder's protection, resources]
[Risks: Increased visibility, expectations, potential exposure]
[Assessment: High-value opportunity. Recommend acceptance with careful boundaries.]
"You want me to investigate the Xue Clan's external funding," Wang Ben said.
Wang Feng's eyebrows rose slightly. "You already know about that."
"Zhao Yu's father tracks forge commissions. The numbers don't add up. The Xue Clan is spending three times their annual revenue on their campaign against us."
"And how long have you known this?"
"Since yesterday."
"Yesterday." Wang Feng shook his head slowly. "A retainer family's son shares information with you before it reaches the Elder Council. You analyze it before dawn. And by afternoon, you're sitting across from me, already prepared to discuss implications."
"Information is valuable, Grand Elder. I try to stay informed."
"You do more than that." Wang Feng stood, moving to the window. His bulk blocked much of the light. "I watched you during the expedition. You weren't just surviving. You were reading the situation. Anticipating problems before they emerged. Positioning yourself and others for maximum advantage."
He turned back to face Wang Ben.
"That's not talent. Talent is raw. What you have is experience. The kind that takes decades to develop." His voice dropped. "You carry yourself like a veteran, boy. Like someone who's seen wars."
The words hung in the air.
Wang Ben held the Grand Elder's gaze without flinching. He couldn't explain. Couldn't reveal the truth of his merged consciousness, the ancient cultivator's memories that lived alongside his own. But he could acknowledge what Wang Feng was seeing.
"I have good teachers," he said quietly. "Even if they're not the kind you might expect."
It was as close to the truth as he could safely offer.
Wang Feng considered this for a long moment. Then he nodded, accepting the non-answer.
"Very well. Keep your secrets. But keep them well." He returned to his desk, pulling a jade token from a drawer. "This grants you access to Enforcement Hall records. Intelligence reports, patrol summaries, economic analyses. Read. Analyze. Report what you find."
Wang Ben accepted the token, feeling its weight in his palm. Cool jade, carved with the Wang Clan's seal.
"There's one more thing," Wang Feng said. "Your father."
"What about him?"
"He's been restored. Healed by methods I don't recognize. Methods that seem connected to you." The Grand Elder's expression was unreadable. "I don't know how. I don't need to know how. But I want you to understand something."
He placed both hands flat on the desk, his presence filling the room.
"Nine years ago, I failed your father. I let him sacrifice himself for me, and I've carried that weight every day since. Now he's been given a second chance, and I will not allow anyone to take that from him." His voice hardened. "The Xue Clan. Their mysterious backers. Anyone who threatens your family. I will destroy them personally."
It wasn't a boast. It was a statement of fact, delivered with the certainty of a cultivator who had spent centuries turning statements into reality.
"I understand, Grand Elder."
"Good." Wang Feng straightened. "You're dismissed. Report to me weekly, or whenever you find something significant. And Wang Ben?"
"Yes?"
"Your father is proud of you. He doesn't say it often, but I see it in his eyes when he speaks of you. Don't give him reasons to stop."
Wang Ben bowed and left the study, the jade token heavy in his pocket.
The afternoon sun was warm on his face as he walked back toward the training grounds. His mind was processing everything, cataloging implications and opportunities.
[SUMMARY: GRAND ELDER MEETING]
[Outcome: Formal intelligence role established]
[Resources: Access to Enforcement Hall records]
[Protection: Grand Elder's personal interest in family welfare]
[Risk assessment: Moderate. Increased visibility offset by powerful backing]
[Strategic value: HIGH]
The jade token opened doors. Doors to information that could help him understand the Xue Clan's mysterious funding. Doors to resources that could strengthen his family's position. Doors that might, eventually, lead to whoever was investing so heavily in their destruction.
Wang Feng was an unexpected ally. A powerful one. But the Grand Elder's guilt over Wang Tian's fall meant his loyalty came with expectations. He would watch Wang Ben closely. Evaluate his performance. Judge whether the trust was warranted.
One more variable. One more relationship to manage.
But also, for the first time since arriving in Redstone City, Wang Ben had access to institutional power. Not just his own abilities or his family's declining influence, but the backing of the clan's strongest warrior.
He intended to use it well.
[STATUS UPDATE]
[Body Tempering Pill absorption: 36.2%]
[Physical enhancement: +54% baseline]
[Projected advancement to Stage 8: 5-7 days]
[Note: New intelligence access enables expanded threat assessment capability]
Wang Ben found a quiet corner of the training grounds and began his evening forms. His body moved through familiar patterns while his mind worked ahead, planning the investigation, anticipating obstacles, preparing for whatever came next.
The Xue Clan had backing they shouldn't have.
Now he had the tools to find out why.
END OF CHAPTER 29