Two days into the ceasefire, Wang Ben's body began to rebel.
It started as a faint tremor in his hands during morning observation. By midday, the trembling had spread to his arms. By evening, his entire body hummed with an energy that had nowhere to go, pressing against his skin like water against a dam.
[STATUS UPDATE]
[Body Tempering Pill absorption: 97.3%]
[Physical enhancement: +312% baseline]
[Warning: Approaching saturation threshold]
[Note: Host body exhibiting pre-breakthrough symptoms. Advancement to Stage 9 imminent within 48-72 hours under current conditions.]
Wang Ben gripped the wall's stone parapet, forcing his hands to stillness. The cultivation pressure was a constant companion now, a tightness in his chest that made every breath feel insufficient. His body had absorbed nearly everything the pill could offer. It was ready to advance.
But there was no time. No safe space. No opportunity to retreat and focus on cultivation while the ceasefire held and enemies plotted in shadows.
"You look terrible."
Zhou Wei climbed the final steps to join him, carrying two bowls of rice and vegetables. The team leader had taken to bringing meals directly to Wang Ben's observation post, perhaps understanding that the younger cultivator wouldn't leave voluntarily.
"I'm fine."
"You're shaking." Zhou Wei set the bowls down on the parapet. "The other observers are talking. Some think you're afraid. Others think you're sick." He paused. "I think you're about to break through."
Wang Ben didn't deny it. There was no point.
"The timing could be better."
"Timing's never good for these things." Zhou Wei settled against the wall, picking up his own bowl. "My first breakthrough to qi condensation happened in the middle of a beast hunt. Spent three days hiding in a cave while my body sorted itself out. The hunting party thought I was dead."
"How did you manage?"
"Badly. Made every mistake possible. Nearly crippled my meridians rushing the process." The team leader's voice carried the weight of hard-earned wisdom. "Don't do what I did. When it comes, let it come. Fighting your own advancement is the surest way to damage yourself."
Wang Ben nodded, though his attention remained fixed on the Xue compound in the distance. The messenger traffic had changed over the past two days. Fewer departures now. More arrivals. Whatever the Xue Clan had been reaching for, they'd made contact.
[OBSERVATION: Xue Clan compound - activity pattern shift]
[Messenger departures: Decreased 73% from initial post-ceasefire levels]
[Messenger arrivals: Increased 340%]
[Analysis: Communication phase complete. Response phase initiated.]
[Note: Incoming messengers arriving from northern routes. Correlation with Blackwood approach vectors: 89%]
They found what they were looking for. The certainty settled in Wang Ben's gut like cold iron. And whatever it is, it's coming.
The treatment pavilion smelled of herbs and exhaustion.
Wang Ben found his father in the back room, surrounded by empty pill bottles and the remnants of a day spent healing others. Wang Tian sat on a low stool, his robes stained with the various tinctures and pastes that were the tools of his trade. He looked older than he had before the war. More worn.
"You should be resting," Wang Ben said.
"So should you." Wang Tian gestured to the stool across from him. "Sit. You've been standing on that wall for two days straight."
"Someone needs to watch."
"Someone needs to take care of themselves." His father's voice carried an edge that Wang Ben recognized. Worry, masked as irritation. "The Grand Elder has entire teams of observers. You don't need to carry this alone."
Wang Ben sat. The simple act of taking weight off his feet sent relief flooding through muscles he hadn't realized were screaming.
"How are the wounded?"
"Healing. Slowly." Wang Tian reached for a teapot that had gone cold hours ago. "We lost two more yesterday. Internal injuries that didn't manifest until the fighting stopped. The body holds itself together through crisis, then falls apart when the danger passes."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. We saved more than we lost." His father poured the cold tea anyway, handing a cup to Wang Ben. "Eighteen who should have died are walking again. That's something."
They sat in silence for a moment, the sounds of the compound filtering through the thin walls. Cultivators moving through corridors. Quiet conversations. The occasional clink of bottles as other physicians continued their work.
"Your mother sent a message," Wang Tian said finally. "She and Chen are safe. The evacuation point is holding."
"Good."
"She's worried about you. About both of us." His father's eyes found his. "She asked when this would be over."
"What did you tell her?"
"That I didn't know. That the ceasefire might last weeks or might collapse tomorrow. That we're doing everything we can." Wang Tian's hands wrapped around his own cup, though he didn't drink. "I didn't tell her about the messengers you've been tracking. The ones heading toward the Blackwood."
"You know about that?"
"The Grand Elder shares more with me than he used to. Apparently having a son on the observation team has certain benefits." A ghost of a smile crossed his father's face. "He mentioned your reports. Said your analysis of the messenger routes was the first to connect them to the Blackwood."
"I see a clan reaching for something dangerous." Wang Ben's voice was flat. "The Xue Clan is desperate. Desperate people make desperate choices."
"Yes. They do." Wang Tian set down his cup. "Which is why I need you to promise me something."
"What?"
"When the time comes, when whatever they've summoned arrives, you will not throw yourself into the fighting." His father's voice hardened. "You're body refinement. Late-stage, yes. Talented, certainly. But body refinement nonetheless. Whatever force the Xue Clan has called upon, it will be beyond you."
"I can't just stand by and watch."
"You can observe. Report. Provide intelligence that helps those who can fight." Wang Tian leaned forward. "You saved Zhao Yu's team by being smart, not by being strong. That's your gift, Ben. Use it."
Wang Ben thought of the cultivation pressure building in his body, the breakthrough that was coming whether he wanted it or not. In a few days, he might not be body refinement anymore. The gap between him and the real fighters might narrow, just slightly.
But his father didn't know about the breakthrough building in his bones. Didn't know that the pill he'd given Wang Ben was about to become necessary far sooner than either of them had planned.
"I'll be careful," he said.
It wasn't a promise. His father noticed.
"Ben'er..."
"I won't throw my life away. But I also won't hide while others die." Wang Ben met his father's eyes. "You didn't hide during the beast tide. You walked into that forest knowing you might not come back. You don't get to ask me to be less than you were."
The silence stretched between them. Father and son, both stubborn, both afraid, both unwilling to say what they really meant.
"When did you grow up?" Wang Tian asked quietly.
"Somewhere between the first day and now." Wang Ben stood, feeling the tremor in his legs that warned of the breakthrough building in his bones. "I should get back to the wall."
"Wang Ben."
He paused at the door.
"Whatever happens... come home." Wang Tian's voice was quiet. "I didn't fight through everything we've survived just to lose you now."
"I know." Wang Ben didn't turn around. If he looked at his father now, he might not be able to leave. "I'll come home."
He walked out before either of them could say more.
The tea appeared without warning.
Wang Ben didn't flinch this time. He'd been expecting her since nightfall, since the strange prickling sensation at the back of his neck that he'd learned to associate with being watched by something far beyond his ability to perceive.
"You're getting better at that," Shen Ruoxi said, materializing on the wall beside him. Her presence settled over the observation post like a winter wind, cold enough to make his breath mist. "Most cultivators never sense me at all."
"I didn't sense you. I sensed the absence of something." Wang Ben kept his eyes on the Xue compound. "There's a space where the world stops feeling normal. I've learned to notice when that space appears."
"How delightfully paranoid." She sounded pleased. "That will serve you well in the coming days."
"You have more warnings?"
"I have observations." Shen Ruoxi moved to stand beside him, her gaze following his toward the darkened compound in the distance. "The forces I warned you about before. The watchers. They've stopped watching."
Wang Ben felt ice slide down his spine. "What do you mean?"
"I mean they're no longer observing from a distance. They're moving. Approaching." Her voice held something he'd never heard from her before. Interest, certainly. But also something that might have been anticipation. "Whatever your enemies have called upon, it's answered. And it's coming to Redstone City."
"How long?"
"Hours. Maybe less." Shen Ruoxi's smile was a blade in the darkness. "I can feel them on the northern road. Multiple signatures. Strong ones. The kind that shouldn't be in a frontier city like this."
"Mortal shedding." The words fell from Wang Ben's lips before he could stop them. Knowledge from somewhere deep in his borrowed memories. Power that existed in a realm beyond anything Redstone City had seen in generations.
"At least three. Perhaps more." Shen Ruoxi turned to look at him, something sharp and hungry in her ancient eyes. "You understand what that means."
"It means the ceasefire is over. It means the Xue Clan has called down something they can't control. It means..." Wang Ben's hands gripped the parapet until his knuckles went white. "It means a lot of people are going to die."
"Yes." She didn't sound sad. She didn't sound happy either. Just... interested. "It means the game is finally getting interesting."
"This isn't a game."
"Everything is a game, little cultivator. The only question is whether you're a player or a piece." She began to fade, her presence thinning like morning mist. "I would suggest being a player. Pieces tend to get sacrificed."
"Wait." Wang Ben reached out, though he knew he couldn't touch her. "Are you going to help? When they arrive?"
Shen Ruoxi paused, half-visible in the darkness. For a moment, something unreadable crossed her features.
"That depends on how entertaining things become." Her voice drifted back like an echo. "And whether you prove to be worth saving."
Then she was gone, and Wang Ben was alone with the stars and the weight of what was coming.
He found Zhou Wei on the lower wall, organizing the night watch rotation.
"We need to speak with the Grand Elder. Now."
Zhou Wei took one look at his face and didn't argue. Within minutes, they were moving through the compound toward the command building, their pace just short of a run.
The war council chamber was dark when they arrived, the hour too late for normal meetings. But light still burned in the Grand Elder's personal study. Wang Ben didn't wait for permission before pushing through the door.
Wang Feng looked up from a table covered in maps and reports. His eyes were bloodshot, his face gaunt with exhaustion, but his voice carried the same cold authority it always had.
"This had better be important."
"Something's coming." Wang Ben crossed to the map table, his finger finding the northern road. "Multiple cultivators. Mortal shedding realm. They'll be here within hours."
The Grand Elder's expression didn't change, but something shifted in his eyes. The calculation of a man who had spent his life preparing for battles he never wanted to fight.
"Your source?"
"Reliable." Wang Ben didn't elaborate. Didn't need to. The Grand Elder had seen Shen Ruoxi's calling card. Had drawn his own conclusions about the ancient powers taking interest in his clan.
"Mortal shedding." Wang Feng's voice was quiet. "We don't have anyone at that level. Neither do the Dao Clan. And the Huo Clan won't act until they understand what's happening." He shook his head slowly. "By then it might be too late."
The Grand Elder stood, his eyes moving across the map as if seeing a battlefield that didn't exist yet.
"Wake the Patriarch. Summon the war council. Send word to Grand Elder Dao Lingwei." His voice hardened with each word, the tone of a man setting aside exhaustion and doubt in favor of cold necessity. "If what you're saying is true, we have hours to prepare for a war we cannot win."
"And if we can't win?"
Wang Feng met his eyes. In that moment, Wang Ben saw something he'd never seen in the Grand Elder before. Not fear, exactly. But the weight of knowledge that came from centuries of survival.
"Then we make them pay for every inch of ground. We buy time for evacuations. We die like cultivators, not like victims." The Grand Elder moved toward the door. "And we pray that whatever powers have been watching us decide that our destruction would be... inconvenient."
He was gone before Wang Ben could respond, leaving the younger cultivator alone with the maps and the silence and the cold certainty of what was coming.
Outside, the night stretched on toward dawn. And somewhere on the northern road, forces beyond anything Redstone City had faced in a century moved closer with every passing moment.
The waiting was over.
END OF CHAPTER 46