Chapter 22: Don’t Talk About My Brother

Chapter 22: Don’t Talk About My Brother

Guan Li led them right to the edge of the grass field. They were right up against the fort, but no one could sense any qi signatures from within. But in this test it might not be possible to, the elders were inexplicable.

A stone wall towered forty feet tall, wrapping around in a circle with a circumference of at least a kilometer. It was large enough that calling it a fort was misleading. If anything, it was more of a fortified city.

From four opposite directions, gates led into the city. However, the roads that passed through the gates only started about a hundred meters from the entrances. Along the wall were crenellations, and peeking inside revealed wooden buildings with traditionally sloped roofs.

“Should we head in?” Liming asked in a low voice as the four of them huddled around to discuss their plans.

“I don’t know,” Yixin said. “I can’t see anyone.”

Guan Li shook his head. “I don’t see anything either.”

“Do we know how much time is left?” Paike asked, looking up to try to track the sun in the sky but finding nothing but the ambient lighting.

Guan Li looked up to study the sky, not to track the sun, but as if he was concentrating on something. “A couple of hours at least.”

Paike frowned. “Okay. I don’t think we should claim the objective yet. We should go in, though, and wait to ambush the next team that enters the city. There’s no way we can hold the full city by ourselves. It’s too spread out, too many entrances, and trying to hold one by ourselves just wouldn’t work. We’d be too outnumbered.”

“So, what, you suggest we find a spot near the objective, wait, and then ambush whoever tries to claim it?” Yixin asked.

Paike nodded with authority. “Yes. That should help us eliminate any other teams rather than being attacked ourselves. I do not like the idea of holding an objective here for hours.”

“Okay,” Yixin said, and Liming and Guan Li both acquiesced as well. He was glad that no one was calling his plan cowardly or dishonorable. Gaun Li and his sister knew better, but he didn’t know Yixin’s background. Whatever it was, it was at least flexible enough to work with them.

With caution, they entered through the nearest gate. The fortress was technically a city, but most of the buildings didn’t have entrances and were simply facades with alcoves for doors and windows—perfect places to hide. The four of them were extremely tense as they walked through the city.

Fighting in urban centers was always a nightmare, according to Paike’s tactical training. If the city was populated and you were a high-level cultivator, you had to worry about killing everything if it was your own city. Sometimes that was unavoidable, but the empire took a dim view of leveling cities, even if it was a deep tradition.

If you were a low-level cultivator, there were countless places to be attacked from. If the city was abandoned high-level cultivators could just level it. Still, they weren’t there yet, so it held all the downsides of difficult sightlines, tricks, and traps—all things they were about to use on whoever followed them.

They eventually reached the center of the city, where they saw the objective. It was a glowing fountain spewing golden sparks like water from the face of a star. As the energy shimmered and pooled around the base, Paike could feel the stellar qi radiating off of it. He could easily see the circle in which they would need to stand to claim the objective and consider it theirs. Luckily, they just needed to be the only ones in there when the trial ended.

Paike spun around, looking for something before seeing a taller-than-average building half a block back from the center. It made for a perfect overwatch position. According to his uncle and teacher, Cai Rang, ‘Even in a world where half of your opponents can fly, everyone forgets to look up.’

“We’ll be up there,” he said, pointing.

They moved off before they were waiting around too long. With relatively easy effort, the awakened cultivators scaled the side of the building and perched along the roof several stories up.

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“Yixin, Guan Li,” Paike said. “You two watch first, and then in half an hour, Liming and I will switch with you. This way, no one gets too tired from watching the objective, and we won’t get snuck up on.”

He and Liming got up and moved to the other side, where they could keep a casual eye out for anyone approaching the city or entering through a few of the gates.

In a few moments of silence, each was lost in their own thoughts, considering the events of the day. Paike honestly felt a little mentally drained. If he hadn’t been a cultivator, maybe even if he had still been an Early Ruby, he would probably be looking for a rest. But now he felt relatively okay.

“How are you holding up?” he asked his sister.