The news spread like wildfire across Azure Cloud Continent.
From the bustling markets of Jade Phoenix City to the remote mountain villages, everyone whispered the same words: blood moon, disaster, the end times.
Alex heard it everywhere he went. In the medicine hall, disciples muttered over bubbling cauldrons. In the dining pavilion, even the normally cheerful kitchen aunties served rice with trembling hands. The sect's spirit chickens refused to lay eggs, huddling together like frightened children.
"My cousin in Crimson Desert sent a message," Mei said, picking at her breakfast dumplings. "Their sand wolves are howling nonstop. Even the fire salamanders are hiding underground."
Jin Hao nodded gravely, for once not experimenting with his food. "The herb merchants from Verdant Mist say the jungle cats won't hunt. They're all gathering in packs, staring at the sky."
Liang dropped his chopsticks with a clatter. "We're doomed. Even the beasts know something terrible is coming."
Fang tried to lighten the mood by splashing water into funny shapes, but even his laughter sounded forced. "Maybe it's just... a really bad storm season?"
Alex stabbed at his rice, frustrated. Three days since the blood moon appeared, and all anyone did was gossip and worry. The sect felt like a pot about to boil over with nervous energy.
What made it worse was the sudden absence of their senior disciples and elders. Master Chen, who usually lectured them about proper qi circulation twice a week, hadn't been seen since yesterday. Even the Sect Leader's mountain peak had been shrouded in formation barriers.
"Something's happening up there," Alex muttered, glancing toward the highest peaks where only the sect's most powerful cultivators lived.
Mei followed his gaze. "Emergency meetings. I heard from Senior Brother Liu that the top three sects are gathering."
"Top three?" Alex raised an eyebrow.
"Us, the Heavenly Sword Sect, and that arrogant bunch from Supreme Heaven's Chosen," Jin Hao explained. "If they're actually cooperating instead of trying to kill each other, things are bad."
After breakfast, Alex made his way to Senior Sister Shui Bing's training ground. The familiar stone platform overlooked a waterfall, usually peaceful and serene. Today, even the water seemed to cascade with unusual urgency.
Shui Bing stood with her back to him, silver hair flowing in the mountain breeze. Her posture was perfect as always, but Alex could sense tension in her shoulders.
"Senior Sister," he called.
She turned, her ice-blue eyes studying him carefully. "You're troubled."
It wasn't a question. Alex nodded. "Everyone's talking about disaster, but no one explains what's actually happening. I feel like a child being told bedtime stories about monsters."
A faint smile crossed her lips. "Perhaps because you are still a child in the cultivation world."
Alex bristled. "I'm Foundation Establishment Late Stage! I can split boulders with my Exploding Palm!"
"Can you?" Her whip cracked through the air, shattering a stone the size of a house behind him. The pieces fell like rain. "That was Foundation Establishment Middle Stage power. Nothing more."
Alex stared at the rubble, his confidence deflating like a punctured balloon.
Shui Bing's expression softened slightly. "Sit. It's time you understood the true scope of cultivation."
They settled on the stone platform. Shui Bing conjured a small flame in her palm, letting it dance between her fingers.
"You know the Foundation Realms," she began. "Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation. Each with nine stages. You've reached the seventh stage of Foundation Establishment."
Alex nodded. That much he knew.
"But do you understand what Core Formation truly means?" The flame in her palm condensed, becoming a tiny golden orb. "To condense all your qi into a perfect core. To achieve flight. To live five hundred years or more."
Five hundred years. Alex tried to wrap his mind around the concept and failed.
"After Core Formation comes Nascent Soul," Shui Bing continued. The golden orb sprouted a tiny, glowing figure. "Your soul becomes independent of your body. You can exist as pure spirit. Live a thousand years. Travel between dimensions."
The tiny soul-figure flickered and grew more solid. "Then Soul Transformation. Void Refinement. Body Integration." With each name, the figure changed, becoming more radiant, more otherworldly.
Alex felt increasingly small with each explanation. "How... how powerful is our Grand Elder?"
"Grand Elder Mo has reached Nascent Soul Peak Stage," Shui Bing said. "In a hundred miles, perhaps only three or four cultivators could match him."
Relief flooded through Alex. "Then we're safe! If the Grand Elder is so powerful—"
The tiny figure in Shui Bing's palm vanished. Her ice-blue eyes fixed on him with sudden intensity.
"Never," she said, her voice sharp as winter wind, "rely on others for your survival. Never."
Alex flinched at her tone. "But Senior Sister—"
"The Grand Elder is powerful, yes. But power has limits." She stood, pacing to the waterfall's edge. "What if he falls? What if he's elsewhere when disaster strikes? What if his power simply isn't enough?"
The questions hit like physical blows. Alex had never considered that someone as mighty as the Grand Elder could fail.
"Strength that belongs to others is not your strength," Shui Bing continued. "It's borrowed time. A crutch that will break when you need it most."
She turned back to him, and for a moment, her mask of cold composure slipped. Alex glimpsed something deeper—fear, determination, and something that might have been affection.
"You must forge your own power. Rely on your own abilities. Trust your own judgment." Her voice softened. "Only then can you truly protect what matters."
Alex felt something shift inside him, like a key turning in a lock he hadn't known existed. The comfortable assumption that powerful seniors would always be there to save him crumbled away, replaced by a burning need to become strong enough to stand on his own.
"I understand, Senior Sister."
Shui Bing studied his face for a long moment, then nodded. "Good. Now, about this blood moon disaster..."
She moved to a stone table and pulled out a detailed map of the continent. Red marks dotted various locations.
"Every major sect is reporting the same things. Beasts fleeing to higher ground. Spirit herbs withering overnight. Qi fluctuations in the deep forests." Her finger traced the marks. "Something is stirring. Something that hasn't moved for centuries."
Alex leaned forward, studying the patterns. "What kind of something?"
"Unknown. But historically, blood moons herald the emergence of ancient threats. Demon cults rising from hidden valleys. Sealed monsters breaking free. Sometimes..." she hesitated, "invasions from other realms."
The weight of continental disaster pressed down on Alex's shoulders. Suddenly his recent victories in the sect felt like child's games.
"Senior Sister," he said quietly, "if the continent really falls... what happens to us?"
Shui Bing was quiet for so long that Alex wondered if she'd heard him. When she finally spoke, her words were carefully measured.
"I have... connections. Beyond this continent. If the absolute worst comes to pass, I can ensure you survive."
"Connections?"
Her mask slipped again, revealing a flash of something ancient and sorrowful. "My family. They dwell in realms where mortal disasters cannot reach."
Family? Alex had never heard Shui Bing mention any relatives. The way she spoke suggested something far more significant than ordinary sect connections.
"But," she continued firmly, "that is a last resort. A failure. Your goal must be to become strong enough that such measures are unnecessary."
She moved to her weapon rack and selected a heavier training sword. "Which means your cultivation cannot proceed at a leisurely pace. The blood moon allows us perhaps weeks, perhaps months. Not years."
The sword flew through the air. Alex caught it reflexively, nearly dropping it from the unexpected weight.
"From today forward, your training triples in intensity," Shui Bing announced. "Morning weapon forms. Afternoon qi cultivation. Evening combat practice. Rest only when unconscious."
Alex's arms already ached just thinking about it. "Senior Sister, I—"
"No excuses. No complaints. No mercy." Her whip cracked, leaving a groove in the stone at his feet. "The blood moon doesn't care about your comfort."
For the next three hours, she drove him through sword forms until his muscles screamed. Each mistake earned a crack of her whip, each moment of hesitation brought sharp corrections.
But something was different. Beneath her usual stern teaching, Alex sensed an urgency that hadn't been there before. She was preparing him for something specific, shaping not just his techniques but his mindset.
When she finally called a halt, Alex collapsed on the stone platform, gasping.
"Better," Shui Bing said, though her tone remained neutral. "Tomorrow we begin qi compression techniques. If you're to have any hope of reaching Core Formation before disaster strikes, every moment counts."
As Alex stumbled back toward the outer disciples' quarters, his mind raced with everything he'd learned. The true scope of cultivation. The precariousness of their position. Shui Bing's mysterious family connections.
Most importantly, the realization that his survival depended entirely on his own strength.
He passed Jin Hao's laboratory, where muffled explosions and colorful smoke suggested another failed experiment. Passed the dining hall, where disciples clustered in worried groups.
The blood moon might be invisible during the day, but its shadow hung over everything.
That evening, as Alex practiced his qi circulation alone in his room, he made a silent vow. Whatever emerged from the forests, whatever ancient threat the blood moon heralded, he would meet it with his own power.
He would not be the weak disciple cowering behind his seniors' robes.
The Red Umbra Flower at his waist pulsed with warmth, as if responding to his determination. Outside his window, the first stars appeared in the darkening sky.
Soon, the blood moon would rise again. But tomorrow, he would be a little stronger than today.
And the day after that, stronger still.
It would have to be enough.