Balance Keeper

As the miasma of Broken Boundary Cliff dispersed, Ye Ningzhou was using a fragment of Nether Yin Stone to polish the notch in Rend Evil Axe. Stone dust settled in his palm, cold to the bone, yet it reignited a faint glow in the axe blade's Demon-Breaking Glyphs—a trick Shi Laoshuan had taught him: when mortal iron is flawed, mend it with harder stone.

"It's time to go," Su Muyao said. The charred parts of her fox tails had shed, and new silver-white fur glowed like flowing snow in the morning light. "The Ten-Thousand Demons messenger talismans have been burning for three days. If I don't reach Ten-Thousand Wood Ridge soon, the elders will think I'm dead."

Ye looked up to see Stone squatting at the cliff edge, drawing the forge in the sand with a stick. The chimney was lopsided, but drawn with striking care. The boy had barely spoken these days, yet he'd taken to polishing Rend Evil with more diligence than Ye himself.

"Uncle Shi mentioned the Nine Domains Trial starts in six months," Ye said, tucking the Nether Yin Stone fragment into his bosom—it slowly nurtured spiritual energy, something he sorely needed. "I'm going to Central Domain to join it."

"Nine Domains Trial?" Su Muyao arched a brow, her tail brushing the ground, sending sand grains to cling to Ye's trousers. "That farce hosted by the Xuanqing Dao Sect? A gladiator ring for human cultivators. Why would a mortal-boned nobody like you bother?"

"Uncle Shi said Lord Bloodthirsty was once a discarded disciple of Xuanqing," Ye touched his chest, where the Dao Seal lay dormant like a seed waiting to sprout. "The Xuanqing Sect probably knows old Abyss Guardian secrets."

Stone suddenly turned, clutching a spirit-tempered spike. "Brother Ye, I'll go to Central Domain with you! I can smith, carry your things—anything!"

Ye met the boy's bright gaze, reminiscent of that night in Blackstone Town when Stone had shouted about killing Alliance men. Before he could speak, Su Muyao cut in. "He can't. Central Domain cultivators look down on mortals. With a liability like him, you won't even enter the trial grounds."

Stone's face flushed. He tightened his grip on the spike but said nothing—recent battles had taught him stubbornness without strength only burdened others.

"A hundred li south of Red Willow Valley lies an oasis caravan," Ye ruffled the boy's hair, pressing Rend Evil's handle into his hands. "Find Caravan Master Zhao. Tell him my name, and he'll send you to a Southern Domain smithy as an apprentice." He paused, voice softening. "When you can forge spirit-tempered iron, come find me in Central Domain."

Stone took the handle, then knelt, kowtowing three times toward Red Willow Valley—where Shi Laoshuan rested, where his parents lay, where his old life was buried.

Su Muyao watched, then turned toward Ten-Thousand Wood Ridge. "I'll see you to the oasis." Her voice was quiet, but she didn't look back. "Hurry. The elders have no patience."

They traveled south without further Alliance pursuit. Rend Evil swayed on Ye's back, as if bidding farewell to the boy clutching its handle. Su Muyao's silver tail occasionally brushed Ye's arm, leaving a tickle more memorable than miasma poison.

When the oasis caravan's camel bells chimed on the third day, Stone stopped, pulling a smooth iron scrap from his bosom—fashioned from a spirit-tempered spike, carved with a lopsided "裂 (Rend)".

"Brother Ye, take this." The boy pressed it into Ye's palm. "When I forge a real Rend Evil, I'll trade it for this."

Ye closed his fist around the iron, its edges biting into his palm, and nodded.

As the caravan's camels vanished into the distance, Su Muyao drew an amulet from her sleeve—woven from nine-tailed fox silver fur, wreathed in pale pink foxfire that flickered like a beating heart.

"Take it." She thrust it into his hand, her fingertip burning hot. "It blocks attacks below Qi-Convergence three times. The Ten-Thousand Demons' Central Domain outpost is at Moon-Watching Tower. Mention my name, and they'll—"

Ye cut her off. "When will you go to Central Domain?"

A faint flush colored her ears. She walked toward Ten-Thousand Wood Ridge, her voice carried on the wind. "Once I settle clan matters, naturally." Her figure disappeared behind sand dunes, leaving a faint cry. "Don't die early. I want to see you win the Nine Domains Trial…"

Ye clutched the fox fur amulet. Its warmth seeped into his palm, stirring the dormant Dao Seal. He stared toward Ten-Thousand Wood Ridge, then at Central Domain's skyline, and smiled.

Rend Evil rested on his shoulder, the Nether Yin fragment glowing in its notch. The iron scrap and fox amulet pressed together in his palm, like a freshly forged piece of mortal iron—still hot from the quench.

He knew the Nine Domains Trial would be deadlier than Broken Boundary Cliff's miasma; Xuanqing Dao Sect's secrets deeper than Gobi quicksand; Lord Bloodthirsty's blade no duller in Central Domain.

But so what?

Mortal bones could split Qi-Convergence defenses. Mortal iron could chip with honor. Humans and demons could fight back-to-back. A boy with just an axe handle could wait for a promise.

Someone must guard the balance of these Nine Mystic Realms.

Ye Ningzhou turned and strode toward the Central Domain. The Demon-Breaking Glyphs on Rend Evil Axe blazed in the sunlight, casting his retreating figure like an unyielding iron mark.