Tianlan's healers managed to restore the masters' legs as if nothing had happened. Poor Master Qinghe though, he was definitely six feet under. Rest in peace.
Liangyu and I sat in Master Juechen's office, waiting for him to say something. Anything.
"So… what do we do now?" I asked.
Master Juechen stared at me as if life had drained out of him. "Nothing. What is left to do? For centuries we've tried to bring him down, and at this point I'm exhausted."
Liangyu leaned forward, trying to be supportive. "Master, we mustn't give up. Your humble student is always ready to fight harder and press on."
"As much as your youthful passion flatters me, Liangyu, I do not see any other way," Master Juechen replied.
To be honest, I understood his feelings. Hunting the same seemingly invincible man for over two hundred years and failing at every turn, who wouldn't grow tired? I'd probably have given up within fifty years.
Still, I could see the pain in Master Juechen's eyes. That slap this morning? There was definitely something personal about it. I'd heard Longwei studied here at Tianlan once, and that he had been Master Juechen's student.
'Was it Master Juechen who pissed him off?' I thought. 'But I don't think so. Assuming that Longwei did what he did solely on the reason of being pissed off, I don't really see Master Juechen as someone with malicious intentions. Sure, you shouldn't be trusting anyone if you're wise, but I've known Master Juechen for years, and he doesn't really strike me as a bad person.'
Regardless, I didn't like the way Longwei treated Master Juechen. I didn't like the way he treated any master for that fact. I don't give a shit what you do, but killing someone is always unacceptable. And on top of all that, I didn't like his smirk. At all. I'll admit he scared me at first, but come on, it was my first time. And now, the hatred for that dude slowly began to stir in me.
"Master Juechen," I asked, "now that Liangyu and I are officially members of the Azure Flame Sect, are we free to make our own decisions so long as we consult you first?"
Liangyu shot me a look. He knew I was about to propose something reckless.
"What kind of decision?" Master Juechen asked.
"Given how you, and many of the masters across the Wanshou Dynasty, seem to have almost given up on taking Longwei down," I said, "and with the Dynasty soon seething with 'young blood', excited and ready to take on new challenges, shall we take it upon ourselves to go after Longwei?"
Master Juechen let out a short, bitter chuckle. "I admire your courage, Ziyang. But you will most assuredly die trying."
"Then so be it." Liangyu joined in, trying to impress. "We've studied long and hard as martial students to try and do some good and make the world a better place haven't we? If we are to dedicate our life to something as worthy as taking Longwei down, then we shall."
Master Juechen sat in a moment of silence for quite a while, then spoke. "Fine. Do what you will. Do you need anything?"
"Of course, Master." I said. "Let me start by saying there's no doubt Longwei is hiding something about his unimaginable power. That suspicion became a certainty just this morning. When we recovered the Spirit Devouring Pearl, not only was it not warded by any traps, we carried it back to Tianlan without interruption. There were no attacks, no disturbances. Only after we reached the academy did Longwei show up. May I ask, Master Juechen, upon taking hold of the pearl, even if it was for mere seconds, were you able to verify its authenticity?"
Master Juechen rubbed his temple, then shrugged. "I couldn't examine it properly. But it felt genuine to me."
"Alright. In that case, there are only two possibilities. Either Longwei switched the real one with a darn good fake, or the pearl really couldn't absorb his power. Either way, the facts point the same way: he was there before us. He came to the academy to make a statement. Plus, he did whisper to me not to try anything stupid, but when has that ever stopped us?"
"So what exactly do you propose?" Asked Master Juechen.
I make fun of Liangyu trying to impress his seniors and masters but to be honest, I had that feeling too, to a certain extent. You don't become the best of Tianlan without at least a little bit of a sense of duty and loyalty. Among all the masters here, I was drawn towards Master Juechen the most. To see him defeated like that, it didn't sit right with me. Besides, like Liangyu said, we're only ever trying to do good right?
And so I answered, "I wish to put together a team. A team to bring down Longwei. I assure you, Master Juechen, you will see the day Longwei is in shackles. And we'll be the one to do it."
Master Juechen didn't talk for a few moments. The way his expressions changed every few seconds, it definitely seemed like he was thinking about how naive I was to suggest it. He was probably thinking, 'What hundreds of martial masters couldn't do in multiple lifetimes, this guy thinks he can do it in just one. What a joke.'
But hey, there's nothing wrong with trying right? And fortunately, that's probably what Master Juechen thought so too, because he finally exhaled and said, "Alright. Go ahead."
I looked at Liangyu and gave him a slight nod. He was prepared to do it. "So, what's our first step?" He asked.
"We start with people we trust," I said. "First recruit those we know well. After that, we widen the search across the dynasty for potential allies among both peers and masters. This isn't a mission with a deadline. Many have rushed in half-prepared and failed, so we won't repeat their mistake. Even if it takes years to be ready, then so be it. Careful planning and steady training will be our advantage."
"Good plan," Liangyu said. "Who do we recruit first, then?"
"Feng Jian."
"Oh, that's a good choi- WHAT!"