Whitehall left the base of Elder Whisper's tower in his thousand-mile cloud. The sky was still dark except for the light from Samara's ring. He was not sure if only a few hours had passed or if it had already been more than a day. Being around Elder Whisper had distorted his sense of time. He hated illusions, but he had learned to respect its power. Elder Whisper had given answers to Whitehall's questions, albeit infuriatingly vague. That ancient fox either enjoyed speaking in riddles or had turned senile and knew less than what it wanted everyone else to think.

  As he approached Heaven's Glory above Mount Samara, he heard the distant echoes of shouting. The school buzzed with chaos. As soon as he landed, he intercepted and grabbed a disciple passing through. The disciple had an iron badge with a shield carved onto it.

  "What happened?" Whitehall asked, his voice was steady, but the girl flinched.

  "I... I don't know Elder Whitehall," she gulped, nervous from suddenly being yanked by an Elder. "Word is there's been an attack. Elder Rahm was injured."

  Whitehall released the girl and immediately sped towards the Medicine Hall. He smelled blood and medicine as he got close. Inside, he found Elder Rahm being treated by a healer. Cuts covered all over Elder Rahm's body and one of his arms was ruined.

  "Who did this?" Whitehall demanded. He could tell the healer wanted to protest, but something told her she should not.

  "The Unsouled," Elder Rahm panted. "And the Sword Sage's disciple."

  "Bastard," Whitehall cursed. "Did they mention where they're going?"

  "They flew towards the ancestor's tomb," Elder Rahm said between ragged breaths. "I'm sure that's exactly where they went. She probably thinks her master is still alive."

  Without another word, Whitehall turned and left the medicine hall. He released his Thousand-mile cloud and launched into the night towards the Ancestor's Tomb. As he approached, he first saw a male and female Heaven Glory jade meant to guard the tomb sprawled on the ground like discarded dolls. Then he saw a battle between the Sword Sage's disciple and a silver humanoid remnant. The remnant was so lifelike that he had to take a second look to ensure it was not the Sword Sage himself.

  As he landed, the remnant of the male guard began to rise, and Whitehall sent a beam of light to destroy it. He approached the body of the female guard first, pressing two fingers on her neck. She was still alive, yet barely.

  "Swallow," he ordered, placing a pill against the woman's lips. The woman hesitated. "Hurry if you want to live." She finally complied and swallowed. Whitehall, too small to carry her, dragged her body into a hut nearby, placing her inside.

  As he stepped outside, he noticed Lindon with a large pack on his back, hiding behind a boulder, watching the fight between the remnant and the Sword Sage's disciple.

  Whitehall fired a beam that singed the stone next to Lindon's head. Panicked by the sudden attack, Lindon yelped and fell backwards against the boulder as he turned to face him.

  "What is the meaning of this, Wei Shi Lindon?" He demanded.

  Lindon raised his hands in surrender. "Elder Whitehall. This one is helping Yerin to absorb her master's remnant to advance to gold."

  Whitehall took a moment to digest what Lindon had just said. "I see." Anger rose in Whitehall's belly. "And which part did it require you to maim Elder Rahm?"

  Lindon put his fist together and bowed. "Apologies, Elder Whitehall. There was a... misunderstanding. Elder Rahm attacked before we could explain."

  Whitehall's jaw clenched. Of course, Rahm would do that. There was a reason he was placed to guard the treasure hall instead of being sent out. He tended to be hostile towards everyone who was not part of Heaven's Glory.

  Whitehall considered the situation. "I'll make you a deal. I'll leave the apprentice to advance unmolested. But once she absorbs the Sage's remnant, you both leave."

  "Of course, venerable elder." Lindon bowed deeper. "This one can only thank the Elder for his generosity."

  "Ugh," Whitehall expressed his tiredness as he approached the boulder and knelt behind it next to Lindon, watching the fight between the disciple and the remnant.

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  He was amazed at what he saw. The fight was like nothing he had ever seen before. It was so fast that he could only see sparks from the clashing swords. He previously felt that he did not stand a chance against the Sword Sage's disciple, and now he knew it for sure. Then, with his two own eyes, he saw the disciple advance. It was a slow process, but each time the remnants and the disciple's swords clashed, part of the remnant was absorbed into the disciple's spirit. Slowly, the remnant's body grew fainter, more transparent. The disciple's advancement was complete as the remnant was finally fully absorbed. The disciple stood tall; a silver sword arm gleamed as it grew from her shoulder.

  She turned her attention to Whitehall.

  "I know you," she pointed her sword at him. "You were one of them. The ones who killed my master."

  Lindon slowly turned to face Whitehall, gulping nervously.

  "Your boyfriend and I made a deal," Whitehall said. Lucky for Yerin, the blush of her cheeks was covered in blood. "I leave you to advance unmolested; in return, you two shall leave immediately."

  "Unlucky for you, I did not make that deal," Yerin said defiantly, still pointing her sword at Whitehall.

  "Reinforcements are on the way," Whitehall said. "You don't have much time left. You may kill us all eventually. But Lindon over here," Whitehall pointed to Lindon with his thumb.

  "Please don't leave me here to die," Lindon winced, begging Yerin.

  After a moment, Yerin sheated her master's sword. "Bleed and bury me!" She cursed. "You better hope we never see each other again," she pointed at Whitehall with her finger. "Next time, I'll cut you."

  Lindon immediately summoned his thousand-mile cloud and flew towards Yerin, hauling her up through sheer strength. "Forgiveness, Elder Whitehall!" he yelled, flying away as fast as possible. "She didn't mean it!" Yerin said something in protest, but she did not fight Lindon's hold. And soon, the thousand-mile cloud disappeared in the distance.

  —————————

  Whitehall watched the entrance of the Ancestor's Tomb. The entrance had collapsed entirely, sealing the Sword Sage's body inside. Many of the School's Elders had hoped to find the Sage's treasures, believing he had brought them to his grave. Whitehall thought otherwise. Credible eyewitnesses mentioned that the Sword Sage carried no pack or chest as he entered the tomb. The Sage must have hidden it somewhere only the apprentice could find. Judging by the size of the pack Lindon was carrying, Whitehall reckoned he was right.

  Whitehall cursed the Sword Sage silently. If only that man treated the people of Sacred Valley with more care and respect, then maybe he would not be dead and buried. All that is left for Whitehall is to do it the hard way.

  Whitehall made his way to the guard hut, finding the jade he had saved awake and leaning against the entrance wall. She pressed her fists together and bowed.

  "This one thanks the Elder for saving her," she thanked Whitehall.

  Whitehall closed the door behind him and sat on the floor, his back resting on the door. "What's your name, disciple?"

  "This one is called Nasiri Sadi," the disciple bowed.

  Whitehall recognised that name. "You related to Elder Nasiri?"

  "He's my brother," she answered, and an emotion Whitehall could not discern flashed across her face. "Was my brother," she corrected.

  'Of course, she's related to that idiot of an elder.' "I'm sorry for your loss," Whitehall said.

  Sadi looked nervous as if she had something she wanted to say or ask, but she did not dare. "Thank you, Elder," she said after a moment of silence.

  Whitehall crossed his legs, sat down, and began cycling. He replayed the apprentice's advancement in his mind.

  "Umm, Elder." Sadi started softly. "Did you kill the apprentice?" she asked, watching Whitehall's clean robes and comparing them to her tattered ones.

  "No," Whitehall answered a matter of factly. "I let them go."

  Sadi winced.

  Whitehall opened his eyes. "You think it was cowardice?"

  "I wouldn't dare to," Sadi began speaking but was cut off by Elder Whitehall.

  "She killed every iron our school sent after her and bested two jade guards of the Ancestor's Tomb, including you. And a few moments ago, she had advanced to gold."

  "Gold!?" Sadi exclaimed. "I wouldn't dare to question Elder's judgement, but surely Elder could be mistaken."

  Now that she mentioned it, Whitehall resigned and began to laugh. He had gained so much new information today, so many new things he had witnessed, and so little time to process it. "I know what I saw, Nasiri. If only you could've seen it. She absorbed her master's remnant into her spirit and grew a sword arm."

  Sadi said nothing, processing what the Elder had just said.

  Whitehall, exhausted as he was, did not bother with formality. "I'll tell you something for free, Sadi. Outside Sacred Valley, gold is nothing. Even a child can be gold. We call those people barbarians, but they see us as insects. It makes sense now why the Sword Sage didn't care for us."

  Nasiri did not like what she heard. Her whole life had been dedicated to her advancement, and now she was told that a child in the outside world easily achieves more than she ever had.

  "What do we do now, Elder." She asked.

  "We wait for the reinforcement from the School," Whitehall answered.

  "That was not what I meant," she scoffed and regretted it immediately. "Apologies, this disciple had putten her words wrongly. This disciple wants to know ... "She was not sure how to put the right words together.

  "I know what you mean, Nasiri Sadi. I have plans, of course," Whitehall said.

  I , she noticed he used. This meant Elder Whitehall had no interest in involving the school. "May I know what your plan is?"

  Whitehall eyed her. "And why would you want to know that?"

  Sadi clenched her fists. "The apprentice swatted me like a fly. She didn't need her sword to cut my staff in half."

  "You want revenge?" Whitehall asked.

  "No," Sadi shook her head. "I don't want to feel helpless. So if your plan involves advancing to gold, I want in."

  Whitehall nodded. "I can respect that." He thought for a long while after, not saying anything. Hearing the movement of thousand-mile clouds coming closer in the distance, he made up his mind . "I would need you to swear on your soul. As a warning, we will be working behind everyone in Sacred Valley. The Elders here are too proud to ever agree with us."

  She knew instantly what her answer would be, but she had to ask. "And if I don't swear on my soul?"

  "Then either you swear on your soul to never reveal our discussion intentionally or unintentionally, or I'll kill you now." Whitehall shrugged.

  "I'll swear anything you need me to," she said.

  —————————

  Whitehall flew towards Heaven's Glory on his thousand-mile cloud, with Sadi flying beside him. Most of the reinforcements had remained behind at the Ancestor's Tomb to try and clean up the mess. And find whatever treasures they could find once the entrance was cleared , Whitehall was sure. Just as he was sure that the other Elders at the school were salivating with greed once they knew that the remnant was no longer a problem.

  Two iron disciples greeted them when they landed.

  "You," Whitehall pointed to the one on the left with a hammer on his badge. "Take Sadi to the Medicine Hall, and tell Elder Rahm she gets to pick any treasure she wants from the treasure hall."

  "Yes, Elder Whitehall," the disciple joined her fists and bowed.

  Whitehall was about to ask the other disciple why they had not left immediately but paused when he noticed their expression.

  "What is it?" He asked the iron.

  —————————

  Whitehall stepped into what remained of the Lesser Treasure Hall, noticing broken glass and blood splatters in the now-empty hall.

  Bastard stole everything