Spring had come to Redstone City.
Wang Ben noticed it in the quality of the light, the way morning sun fell through his window without the harsh blue edge of winter. The compound courtyard below had shed its last patches of snow, revealing the first stubborn shoots of green pressing up through dark soil. Birds that had been silent for months filled the air with calls he'd almost forgotten.
A month since his father's breakthrough. A month of quiet work and careful planning. And now, only six weeks remained until Shen Ruoxi's nascent soul attempt.
The array design lay spread across his desk, sketched on rice paper in careful lines and annotations. Most of it was his own hand now, though the underlying knowledge came from somewhere far older and stranger. Three overlapping formation circles, each designed to address a different category of threat. Reality anchors to counter chaos distortion. Soul boundary definitions to prevent consumption. Signature concealment to hide the projecting soul from patient hunters.
[STATUS: Youming Sanctuary Array - Theoretical Design Complete]
[Current Phase: Material Acquisition Required]
[Time Remaining: Approximately 40 days before deadline]
Wang Ben set down his brush and rubbed his eyes. The theory was sound. He was certain of that, or as certain as anyone could be about protecting against threats that existed outside reality itself. But theory meant nothing without implementation.
And implementation required materials he didn't have.
The Quiet Cup looked the same as it always did, unremarkable and forgettable, tucked into a corner of the merchant district where foot traffic was light and privacy was valued. Wang Ben arrived at the hour of the snake, just as Wuyan's message had instructed.
The nascent soul cultivator was waiting at his usual table, a cup of tea steaming gently before him. He looked up as Wang Ben entered, and that mild smile crossed his ancient face.
"Young Master Wang. You've been busy, I hear."
Wang Ben bowed and took the seat across from him. "I've made progress, Senior Shen. The design is ready for your review."
"Already?" Wuyan's eyebrows rose slightly. "It's been less than two months. Most formation masters would need a year to conceptualize something of this scope."
"Most formation masters aren't working from the same foundation." Wang Ben kept his voice neutral, careful. "Your observations about the pattern of failures gave me a starting point. I simply followed the implications."
"Simply." Wuyan's smile didn't change, but something sharpened in his eyes. "You have a gift for simplifying the complex, young master. It's quite remarkable."
Wang Ben produced the design scrolls, spreading them across the table between cups of tea. He'd prepared for this, rehearsed the explanations that would frame ancient knowledge as fresh insight.
"The traditional breakthrough formations focus on qi stabilization and internal harmony," he began. "They assume the threat comes from within, from the cultivator's own unresolved conflicts manifesting as resistance to advancement."
"The inner demon theory." Wuyan nodded. "The foundation of breakthrough protection for millennia."
"But the pattern you observed suggests something different. The failures occur at specific moments, not random points of psychological vulnerability. That implies..." Wang Ben paused, choosing his words with care. "An external factor. Something that attacks from outside, targeting the projecting soul at predictable intervals."
Wuyan was silent for a long moment. Then he laughed, soft and dry.
"You propose that inner demons are not demons at all, but predators. External entities waiting in the space between realms."
"I propose that traditional protections address the wrong threat." Wang Ben gestured to the design. "This array incorporates three defensive layers. The first establishes reality anchors, fixed reference points that prevent disorientation during projection. The second defines clear boundaries around the projecting soul, making it harder to... consume. The third conceals the soul's spiritual signature, hiding it from anything that might be watching."
"And you developed this in a month."
"I had good observations to work from."
Wuyan studied the scrolls, his ancient eyes tracing the formation lines with an expertise that Wang Ben couldn't begin to match. The silence stretched, heavy with implications neither of them voiced.
"These materials." Wuyan's finger tapped a section of the design. "Void-touched obsidian for the reality anchors. Soul-affinity jade for the boundary layer. Shadow-drinking crystal for the concealment array. You're not asking for common components."
"The threats aren't common. The protection can't be either."
"No." Wuyan rolled the scrolls carefully, his movements precise. "No, I suppose it can't be. Can you acquire these materials?"
"I can try. Some of them are controlled by merchant guilds. Others are only found in the Blackwood Forest. And the war has disrupted supply chains from the western territories."
"The war." Wuyan's voice carried a weight of ancient weariness. "Yes, the war complicates everything. Young kingdoms fighting over resources while ancient powers watch from shadows." He looked up, meeting Wang Ben's eyes. "How much time do you need?"
"Five weeks for acquisition. The rest for construction and testing."
"That leaves almost no margin for error."
"I know."
Wuyan was quiet again, that calculating look passing behind his mild expression. Then he produced a spirit stone pouch from his robes and set it on the table.
"Five thousand medium-grade spirit stones. Use them as needed. I'll handle the guild negotiations for the void-touched obsidian, my name carries weight in certain circles. The rest falls to you."
Wang Ben took the pouch, feeling its weight. More wealth than his family had possessed before the Xue assets were redistributed. More than most qi condensation cultivators would see in a decade.
"I won't fail, Senior Shen."
"I know you won't." Wuyan's smile returned, gentle and terrible. "Because failure would disappoint me. And you're too intelligent to do that."
The spirit stone markets had grown chaotic in the month since winter broke.
Wang Ben moved through the stalls and permanent shops of the eastern commerce district, a list of required materials tucked into his sleeve and a growing sense of frustration building behind his careful composure. Every vendor he approached told the same story.
"Soul-affinity jade? Not in three months, young master. The mines near Jade Spring are overrun with refugees. No one's extracting anything."
"Shadow-drinking crystal comes from the deep Blackwood. The expedition companies are all contracted to the war effort. No one's running civilian harvest trips."
"Void-touched obsidian is guild-controlled. You'd need Phantom Gate connections just to get a meeting with the distributors."
[OBSERVATION: Resource scarcity at critical levels]
[Analysis: War disruption affecting 67% of exotic material supply chains]
[Recommendation: Identify alternative acquisition paths]
Wang Ben paused in the shade of a spirit stone exchange, letting the crowd flow around him while he considered his options. The war at the western front was doing more than killing soldiers. It was strangling commerce across the entire Azure Crimson Kingdom. Materials that had been merely expensive a year ago were now nearly impossible to obtain.
The void-touched obsidian would come through Wuyan's contacts. That left the soul-affinity jade and the shadow-drinking crystal. Two materials with no obvious source, and five weeks to find them.
He thought about the Blackwood Forest. The expedition he'd survived nearly a year ago had ventured only into the outer reaches, where the strongest beasts were rank three or four. The deep Blackwood, where shadow-drinking crystal formed in caves untouched by light, was territory that killed core formation cultivators.
But there might be another way.
Wang Ben turned toward the southern edge of the merchant district, where the guild offices clustered around a central plaza. The Redstone Material Exchange maintained a registry of incoming shipments, a public record of what resources were expected and when. If someone else had contracted for shadow-drinking crystal, he might be able to negotiate a purchase.
The registry clerk was an older woman with the careful bearing of someone who'd spent decades cataloging other people's wealth. She looked up as Wang Ben approached, recognition flickering across her features.
"Wang Clan's young master. We don't often see your family in the public registries."
"I'm looking for shadow-drinking crystal. Any shipments expected in the next couple of months?"
The clerk consulted her records, fingers tracing columns of characters. "Three contracts on file. Two are military allocations, sealed by kingdom authority. The third..." She paused, reading more carefully. "The third is private. A merchant house from the domain capital."
"Which house?"
"Crimson Sky Trading. They have a contract for forty units of shadow-drinking crystal, arriving in five weeks from a deep Blackwood expedition."
Five weeks. That would leave barely a week for construction. But it was better than nothing.
"How do I contact them?"
"Their local representative is Master Qian Weishan. He maintains offices near the western gate." The clerk's expression shifted slightly. "I should mention, young master, that Crimson Sky Trading has... particular standards for negotiation partners. They prefer to deal with established names."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Wang Ben left the registry with a name and an address, and a growing awareness of just how complicated this project was becoming. Formation design had been the easy part. The world was proving far more difficult to bend to his needs.
His father was in the workshop when Wang Ben returned to the compound.
Wang Tian stood before an array of alchemical equipment, his posture different than it had been a month ago. Straighter. More assured. The foundation establishment breakthrough had done more than extend his lifespan; it had settled something in his bearing, a quiet confidence that Wang Ben had never seen in him before.
"Ben'er." Wang Tian looked up from the pill he was refining, a gentle blue glow emanating from the cauldron. "You've been in the merchant district all morning."
"Material acquisition. The project I mentioned."
"Ah." Wang Tian's hands continued their careful work, but his attention was fully on his son. "The formation array for the Phantom Gate. Your mother told me the basics."
"She worries."
"We both worry. It's what parents do." The pill formation completed with a soft chime, and Wang Tian lifted a perfect sphere of condensed medicine from the cauldron. "Grade seven. My first successful refinement since the breakthrough. The advancement has... opened doors."
Wang Ben felt something shift in his chest. His father, who had been crippled and broken a year ago, was now crafting pills beyond what most cultivators ever achieved. The restoration had been complete. More than complete.
"I need alchemical components for the array," Wang Ben said. "Binding solutions that can hold soul-affinity jade in stable suspension. Preservation compounds for shadow-drinking crystal. Things that require expertise I don't have."
"And you're asking if I can help." Wang Tian set the pill aside, turning to face his son fully. "You're working with Phantom Gate, Ben'er. A nascent soul cultivator who holds three favors over your head. Are you certain you want to involve the family more deeply?"
"I don't have a choice. The timeline is too short to do this alone."
Wang Tian was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded slowly.
"Bring me the specifications. I'll prepare what you need. But I want you to understand something." He crossed to Wang Ben, placing a hand on his shoulder the way he had when Wang Ben was small. "Whatever you're building, whatever the Phantom Gate wants with it... you don't have to carry this alone. Your mother and I, we're not the same people we were a year ago. You don't need to protect us anymore."
"I know."
"Do you?" Wang Tian's eyes searched his face. "Because I remember a boy who watched his father fall and decided he had to save everyone by himself. That boy did extraordinary things. But he shouldn't have had to."
Wang Ben felt the words settle into him, finding places where old weights still hung. "I'm not trying to do this alone. I'm asking for help."
"Then I'll help. Whatever you need." Wang Tian squeezed his shoulder once, then released him. "Now. Tell me about these binding solutions. What properties are we looking for?"
Evening found Wang Ben in the training courtyard, running through sword forms more from habit than necessity.
The familiar movements calmed his mind, gave his body something to do while his thoughts churned through problems without easy solutions. Crimson Sky Trading. Deep Blackwood expeditions. Soul-affinity jade from disrupted mines. A deadline that left no room for error.
"You're distracted."
Wang Ben turned to find Zhao Yu approaching across the courtyard. His friend moved with less of the obvious limp now, the wound mostly healed, but there was something different in his bearing. A coiled energy that hadn't been there before.
"A lot on my mind."
"I've noticed." Zhao Yu fell into position beside him, matching his sword form with practiced ease. "You've been disappearing for meetings and coming back looking like someone died. What's happening?"
"Work. Obligations. The usual."
"The Phantom Gate rumors. Whatever's really happening there."
Wang Ben's hands stilled on his sword. The whispers had spread further than he'd hoped.
"I'm not asking for details," Zhao Yu continued, his expression serious, none of his usual humor visible. "After everything we've been through together, I can see when you're carrying something heavy. I'm just asking if you need help."
"Not yet. But I might, soon."
"Then I'll be ready." Zhao Yu resumed the form, his movements fluid despite his injury. "I should tell you something too. My cultivation has been... strange lately. The physicians say I'm close to breakthrough."
"To qi condensation?"
"Apparently. My body refinement feels complete in a way it didn't before. Like everything is aligned, waiting for the final push." Zhao Yu's voice was thoughtful. "It happened faster than it should have. The physicians can't explain it."
Wang Ben looked at his friend with new attention. There was something in Zhao Yu's spiritual presence, a quality that his qi condensation senses could almost perceive. Not cultivation pressure, not exactly. More like potential waiting to be realized.
[OBSERVATION: Subject Zhao Yu displaying unusual cultivation indicators]
[Analysis: Breakthrough proximity confirmed. Development rate exceeds normal parameters.]
[Note: Continue monitoring. Possible relevance to "Battle Soul" hypothesis.]
"When will you attempt it?"
"Soon. My father wants to wait until the clan compound's breakthrough formation can be reinforced. He's worried about... complications."
Complications. The word hung between them, loaded with meanings neither voiced. Breakthrough attempts could fail. People died reaching for advancement they weren't ready to achieve.
"You'll succeed," Wang Ben said. "I'm certain of it."
"That makes one of us." Zhao Yu smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "We're both carrying heavy things, aren't we? Both trying to reach for something beyond what we were."
"That's what cultivation is. Reaching beyond."
"Maybe." Zhao Yu sheathed his sword, looking up at the first stars emerging in the darkening sky. "But it's easier when you're not reaching alone."
They stood in comfortable silence as night settled over the compound, two young men on the edge of changes neither fully understood. Somewhere in the city, Wuyan was negotiating for void-touched obsidian. Somewhere in the Blackwood, crystal formed in caves that swallowed light. Somewhere in the space between realms, entities waited for souls that ventured too close.
And in six weeks, everything Wang Ben was building would be tested.
He hoped it would be enough.
END OF CHAPTER 61