The weight of the silver communication token in his hand felt heavier than any mountain. Li Yu stood in his courtyard for a long time after his master departed, the simple black staff a solid, reassuring presence. The year of peace had been a precious gift, a time to forge his strength in the shadows. Now, the shadows were coming to him.
He gathered his three friends in the main hall of the pagoda. Their faces, which had been relaxed and confident from their recent progress, turned grim as he relayed the news of the mission.
"The Blackwood Syndicate?" Hu Jian's hand instinctively went to the hilt of his saber, a low, dangerous growl rumbling in his chest. "They are not just bandits; they are butchers. They are known to slaughter entire merchant caravans, down to the last child, just for a few crates of spirit stones. It is an honor to be part of the force sent to eradicate them."
"It is also a death sentence," Lin Tao countered, his voice a quiet, sharp note of caution. "The Syndicate has survived for fifty years, evading the patrols of three major sects. They are not simple fools. Their stronghold will be a fortress of traps and ambushes. And we know they have at least one Foundation Establishment expert in their ranks, perhaps more."
"And that is not the only danger," Brother Kai added, his gaze fixed on Li Yu. "The mission will be led by sect elders, but the disciples participating will be from all factions. Elder Jin's followers will be there. They will not dare to attack us openly, but on a chaotic battlefield, a 'stray' attack is an easy thing to arrange."
Li Yu listened to their concerns, his expression calm. "You are all right," he said, his voice a steady anchor in the room's tense atmosphere. "The dangers are many, both from the enemy and from our 'allies.' That is why we must be more prepared than any of them."
He laid out a series of storage rings on the table. They were the rings he had collected from the Blackwood Syndicate assassins who had ambushed Feng Xuan. "I have studied the contents of these rings. The assassins were well-equipped, but their techniques were all focused on stealth and single, decisive blows. They are assassins, not soldiers. They will likely not face us in a direct confrontation."
He looked at his friends, his cautious nature, honed by a lifetime of avoiding danger, taking over. "They will use the forest itself as a weapon," he said, his voice low and serious. "They will most likely use poison, traps, and ambushes. Their goal will be to separate us, to pick us off one by one. Our only chance of survival is to not let that happen. We must stick together, no matter what."
He wasn't a commander, but he understood his friends' strengths and weaknesses from their months of sparring. "Brother Kai, you are the steadiest; you will be our anchor. Hu Jian, your attacks are fierce, but you can be reckless. You will stay close to Brother Kai. Lin Tao, your senses are sharp and your techniques are good for control. You will watch our flanks for any surprises. I will stay in the middle and use my staff to support whoever needs it. We will move as one, a single, unbreakable unit. Our survival depends on it."
In the week leading up to the mission, the Azure Serpent Lake became a blur of focused preparation. Li Yu did not spend his time in seclusion. He spent every waking moment in the courtyard, sparring with his friends, drilling their new formation until their movements were seamless, driven by instinct rather than thought. He was forging them into a single, cohesive weapon, not for glory, but for survival.
On the day of the departure, they met the rest of the expedition force at the sect's main plaza. The force consisted of thirty inner sect disciples, all of them at the Qi Condensation Realm, led by two powerful elders from the Foundation Establishment Realm. One was Elder Feng, a stern, no-nonsense woman from the Law Enforcement Hall. The other was Elder Ma, a gruff, battle-scarred man from Elder Jin's faction, his gaze lingering on Li Yu with a cold, undisguised hostility.
The disciples were a mixed bag. Li Yu saw the familiar, arrogant faces of several of Jin Ao's followers. He also saw Su Ling, her expression as cool and remote as ever. She gave him a single, almost imperceptible nod of acknowledgment.
Their journey was swift. They traveled on a massive, hawk-shaped flying vessel, the flagship of the Green Mountain Sect. After a day of silent, tense flight, they arrived at the edge of a vast, dark, and deeply unwelcoming forest. The trees were ancient and gnarled, their black bark seeming to absorb the very light of the sun. A thick, damp, and strangely silent canopy blocked out the sky, plunging the forest floor into a perpetual twilight. This was the Blackwood Forest.
"We disembark here," Elder Feng commanded, her voice sharp and clear. "From this point on, we move on foot. The Syndicate has laid aerial detection formations throughout the forest. Stay alert. Their scouts will already know we are here."
The disciples landed, the soft, damp earth of the forest floor muffling their footsteps. The air was cold, heavy, and smelled of damp earth and decay. An unnatural silence pervaded the forest, the usual sounds of birds and insects conspicuously absent.
"We will move in a standard vanguard formation," Elder Ma announced, taking charge. He began to assign positions, his choices clearly biased. The strongest disciples from his own faction were given the honor of the vanguard, while disciples from other factions were placed in supporting roles. While the vanguard would usually be more dangerous, they would also be credited more with contribution points when it was over.
He turned to Li Yu's group, a sneering smile on his face. "Disciple Li, since you are our famed 'Beast Physician,' your group will take the rear. You will be responsible for tending to the wounded and ensuring no one is left behind. A fitting role for a support-type cultivator, would you not agree?"
It was a deliberate, public insult, a way to sideline them, to place them in a position of weakness and shame. Also, since they were more likely to encounter ambushes, the rear would generally be targeted in ambushes so being in the rear was less contribution points and more dangerous in this case.
"We will do our duty, Elder Ma," Li Yu replied, his face a mask of calm obedience, ignoring the furious look in Hu Jian's eyes.
They began their slow, cautious advance into the dark forest. Li Yu's spiritual sense was a silent, probing net, but it was not his only tool. As they walked, he discreetly released a single, almost invisible Scout Shrimp from his Koi's Sanctuary. The tiny, translucent beast, one of the members that was added to his Swarm, dug into the soft earth and disappeared, its consciousness a tiny, mobile eye that he could see through.
For two hours, they encountered nothing. The forest was an eerie, silent maze of black trees and grasping roots. Then, it happened.
The Scout Shrimp, which had been moving several hundred feet ahead of the main group, sent a frantic, urgent pulse of warning through their spiritual link. Danger. Below. Beasts of its level couldn't communicate directly but with his Koi he was able to tell well enough what it meant.
Li Yu's eyes narrowed. He looked ahead. The path before them seemed normal, a simple clearing covered in a thick layer of dead leaves.
"Halt," he said, his voice quiet but firm.
The disciples in the rear of the formation stopped, looking at him with confusion.
"What is it, Disciple Li?" one of them asked.
"Elder Ma," Li Yu called out, his voice carrying to the front of the formation. "I believe there is something wrong with the ground ahead."
Elder Ma turned, an annoyed look on his face. "What nonsense are you spouting now, boy? It is a clearing. Are you afraid of dead leaves?"
"My beast taming instincts tell me that this area is unnaturally silent," Li Yu said, using his well-established excuse. "The spiritual energy of the earth itself feels… constricted. Tense. Like a drawn bowstring. It is not natural. I believe it is a trap."
Elder Ma sneered. "Your 'instincts'? We will rely on the senses of our experts, not the feelings of a boy." He turned to a disciple at the front, a formation expert from his own faction. "Is there a formation?"
The disciple closed his eyes, his spiritual sense probing the ground. After a moment, he shook his head. "I sense no active formation, Elder. The spiritual energy is calm. Perhaps it is a dormant array, but it is not a threat."
"You see?" Elder Ma said with a triumphant smirk, a great opportunity to make him look like a fool. He wouldn't risk lives here on purpose but he himself didn't sense anything off with it either so with confirmation from another person he wanted to make Li Yu lose face. "It is nothing. Now, stop wasting our time and move forward."
Li Yu sighed. He knew what was happening. The formation expert was correct; the formation was dormant. It was a pressure-triggered array, designed to activate only when enough weight and spiritual energy passed over it, a trap designed specifically for a large group and to hide itself from experts. He had no choice but to prove it.
He looked at Hu Jian and gave a subtle nod. Hu Jian, understanding instantly, picked up a massive, boulder-sized rock from the side of the path. With a great roar, he hurled it into the center of the clearing.
The moment the boulder struck the leaves, the ground lit up. A complex, blood-red array of runes flared to life across the entire clearing. With a sound like a thousand crossbows firing at once, the ground erupted. Hundreds of hardened, poison-laced ironwood spikes, each as thick as a man's arm, shot up from the earth with incredible force and speed, turning the entire clearing into a deadly, impenetrable forest of sharpened stakes.
A collective, horrified gasp went through the entire expedition force. The spikes were not stationary; they had been fired with enough power to pierce through a standard Qi Condensation disciple's protective aura. If the vanguard had walked into that, at least a third of them would have been seriously injured or killed before they could even react.
Elder Ma's face went from arrogant to pale, and then to a deep, furious red of pure humiliation hiding his shame. The formation expert who had declared the area safe looked as if he was about to faint.
All eyes turned to Li Yu. He stood at the back of the group, his expression one of calm, humble relief. He had not just saved them. He had done so after being publicly mocked and dismissed. He had proven his worth in a way that was more powerful than any display of strength.
Elder Feng, the stern leader from the Law Enforcement Hall, walked to the back of the formation and stopped in front of Li Yu. She looked at him, her usual, hard expression softened by a look of grudging respect.
"Your instincts are sharp, Disciple Li," she said, her voice clear for all to hear. "From this point on, you will walk with the vanguard. We will heed your warnings." She hadn't sensed anything either, the trap was incredibly well hidden. It was only thanks to his shrimp in the ground that he was able to tell.
Li Yu had been given a role of shame. Now, with a single, quiet act, he had become the most important member of the expedition. He had turned his enemy's insult into his own, unshakeable authority. The hunt had begun, and the hidden serpent was already one step ahead of the pack.