A cold pulse of stress shot through Kai’s body—that familiar, mocking sensation of some unseen cosmic force laughing at him. It slithered down his spine like ice water, the same way it had when he first heard Chen Gong’s name.

  So it wasn’t just a coincidence after all.

  That strange, gut-deep foreboding meant something. And now, it had crystallized into undeniable truth: Chen Gong wasn’t just some random mortal. He was—

  An impossible talent.

  Kai’s hands stilled over the half-finished saddle. For a long moment, he didn’t move. Then, slowly, he pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling through clenched teeth.

  "Really?" His voice was flat, weary. "Him too?"

  Lulu’s eyes narrowed. "Yes! I performed a basic qi injection to check, and—" She froze mid-sentence, her pupils dilating. "Wait. What do you mean ‘him too’?"

  Kai didn’t answer. He just dragged a hand down his face, as if he could scrub away the universe’s latest joke.

  Lulu’s breath hitched. "No. No, no, no. Is Lu Bu the same?!"

  The fire crackled between them, casting jagged shadows across the campsite. Gin, who had been dozing nearby, cracked one eye open, sensing the tension. Even Snow lifted his massive head, ears pricked forward.

  Kai met Lulu’s gaze.

  And nodded.

  "You’ve got to be kidding me!" Lulu’s voice cracked like a whip. She whirled around, pacing in tight, furious circles. "Two of them? Two super talented freaks, just happen to fall into your lap in the middle of a qi-starved wasteland?!"

  Kai’s jaw tightened. "I didn’t choose this."

  Gin took a long swig from his gourd, the sharp scent of liquor cutting through the tension. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and sauntered over, his usual careless grin in place.

  "What’s the big deal?" he drawled, glancing between Kai and Lulu. "So they’ve got a little bit of talent. Good for them, right?"

  Lulu’s eyes flashed. "A little bit of talent?!" Her voice was a whip-crack of disbelief. "Gin, you absolute imbecile—"

  Gin flinched, raising his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright! No need to bite my head off. I’m just saying, isn’t this a good thing?"

  Lulu exhaled sharply, her fingers curling into fists. "We’re not talking about normal talent. Not even exceptional talent. We’re talking about the kind of prodigies that appear once every three to five centuries—if that."

  Gin blinked. "...Oh."

  "Yeah. Oh." Lulu turned to Kai, her expression grim. "You understand the implications, don’t you?"

  Kai’s jaw tightened. "I know."

  Gin scratched his head. "Okay, look—my knowledge is limited, so go easy on me. But if they’re that talented, doesn’t that mean they might actually stand a chance at cultivation despite Zan’s qi scarcity? That’s… good, right?"

  Lulu’s lip curled. "In theory? Yes. If what I sensed is accurate, they might even reach Foundation Establishment here—something that should be impossible in a wasteland like Zan." She crossed her arms. "But the problem is what happens when other cultivators find out."

  Gin frowned. "What do you mean?"

  Kai’s voice was low, edged with warning. "They’ll be hunted."

  "Hunted?" Gin repeated, incredulous.

  "Either to be exploited for their potential," Lulu said, "or taken by sects looking to mold them into weapons, tools for their sects. And if anyone learns we have them?" Her gaze darkened. "They’ll kill us to get to them."

  Gin’s usual carefree demeanor faltered. "But… this is Zan. There are barely any cultivators here, and the few that exist are near the southern border. We’re nowhere near them."

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "It doesn’t matter," Kai cut in. "If word gets back to the Righteous Alliance in the south, they’ll send envoys into Zan under the guise of ‘rescuing’ them from rogue cultivators—us." His mouth twisted. "And no one would question it."

  Lulu nodded. "Exactly. They’d spin it as a noble act while dragging those two back in chains."

  A slow, calculating grin spread across Gin’s face. "But… if they’re that talented…" He rubbed his chin. "With one prodigy, we could start our own sect. But two? We could build something powerful."

  Kai’s hand shot out, gripping Gin’s shoulder hard enough to make him wince. "Don’t. Even. Think it." His voice was a blade of ice. "I came to Zan to escape the cultivation world. All of us did—for our own reasons." He looked between them, his gaze unyielding. "Do you really want to dive back into that cesspit? The politics? The backstabbing? The endless bloodshed wrapped in righteous hypocrisy?"

  Silence stretched between them.

  Then—

  Lulu sighed, shaking her head. "...No."

  Gin’s shoulders slumped. "Yeah. Yeah, you’re right." He took another swig from his gourd, as if to wash away the thought. "Screw the sects. Screw the alliances. I’d rather drink myself stupid in peace."

  Kai released him, his expression easing slightly. "Then we keep this quiet. No one else can know what they are."

  Lulu hesitated. "...And what do we do about them?"

  Kai crossed his arms, his expression unreadable in the flickering firelight. "We train them to the best of our abilities. Teach them everything we can. And when the time comes, we let them go. So, thank you two for volunteering to help me teach them."

  A beat of silence.

  Then—

  "WHAT?!" Lulu and Gin exploded in unison, their voices tangling in shared outrage.

  They turned to glare at each other, as if confirming they’d both heard the same absurdity, before whipping back toward Kai.

  "That was not the agreement!" Lulu snapped, her golden eyes flashing.

  Kai arched a brow. "Wasn’t it? You said, and I quote, ‘I’ll do whatever you want if you free me from these nightmares.’" He gestured toward the small, fluffy rabbit curled near the fire—Soma, whose presence had become Lulu’s nightly reprieve. "And unless I’m mistaken, Soma’s been helping you sleep peacefully every night since you joined us."

  Lulu’s lips pressed into a thin line. "That’s—! I was delirious from sleep deprivation when I said that!"

  Kai tilted his head, feigning innocence. "So… you don’t want Soma’s help anymore?"

  The fire crackled. Soma’s ears twitched, as if aware she was being discussed.

  Lulu’s eye twitched. She opened her mouth—then snapped it shut, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "...Fine," she muttered, scowling at the ground like it had personally offended her.

  Kai smirked before turning to Gin. "And you—you still owe me for lying about that bounty on your head."

  Gin opened his mouth to argue, then hesitated. His gaze flicked to the gourd in his hand—half-empty, as usual—before he exhaled sharply and nodded.

  Kai clapped his hands together with finality, the sharp sound cutting through the night air. "Good. Then it's settled." His gaze swept between them like a general assigning battlefield roles. "Lulu will prepare cultivation manuals tailored to their constitutions. And when I'm occupied with other matters, she'll oversee their theoretical instruction."

  Lulu's eyes narrowed to slits. "You mean I'll be the one explaining meridians for the hundredth time while you're off playing with your spirit beasts?"

  Kai's lips quirked. "Precisely."

  Before Lulu could retort, he turned to Gin. "And you'll serve as my sparring partner when demonstrating combat techniques."

  Gin nearly choked on his liquor. "What?! You're going to use me as a training dummy?!"

  Kai shrugged, the picture of nonchalance. "You're durable. Remember when you fell off the mist horse three times during our speed travel? You walked away with barely a limp."

  Gin's face twisted in indignation. "That's because those were controlled crashes!"

  "Exactly." Kai's grin turned wolfish. "If you can survive your own stupidity, you can survive a few training sessions."

  Lulu snorted, some of her irritation fading as Gin spluttered.

  Kai's expression sobered as he glanced toward their charges still training nearby. "We'll start tomorrow at dawn. Lulu, prepare the basic manuals tonight - nothing that would reveal their potential if seen by outsiders. Gin... try not to be too hungover."

  As they dispersed, Snow padded to Kai's side, his massive head nudging against his shoulder. Kai buried his fingers in the wolf's thick fur, watching the embers of their fire dance in the dark.

  He knew with bone-deep certainty that if Lu Bu's warrior spirit or Chen Gong's sharp mind ever truly awakened to the allure of cultivation - to the siren call of immortality, the intoxicating promise of power, the glittering temptation of fame and glory - nothing would keep them in this remote corner of the world. Not even loyalty.

  The image formed unbidden in his mind: Lu Bu clad in gleaming armor, his spear pointed toward some distant horizon Chen Gong couldn't see yet; Chen Gong's clever eyes calculating paths to power that stretched far beyond Zan's barren borders. They would leave. Just as all talented youths eventually did when they outgrew their teachers.

  Kai's jaw tightened.

  But when that day came - when, not if - he would make damn sure they were ready. Ready for the viper pits of cultivation politics. Ready for the backstabbing "righteous" sects. Ready for the wolves who would smell their talent and come circling.

  Snow whined softly, nuzzling against his thigh. Kai realized he'd been gripping the wolf's fur too tightly. He forced his hands to relax.

  "Better to prepare them properly," he murmured to the night, "than to watch them walk unprepared into slaughter."

  The fire crackled its agreement. Tomorrow's training would begin before dawn. He'd drill them harder, push them further, leave no technique untaught. Not out of cruelty, but because the world beyond Zan's borders was infinitely crueler.

  And when they finally left - as he knew they would - they'd do so carrying every scrap of survival knowledge he could give them. That was all a teacher could do. All he would do.

  The rest would be up to them.

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