Three days later, Wang Ben stood in the Wang Clan's main hall, facing a semicircle of elders.
The hall was impressive in a worn, faded way. Red-lacquered pillars that had once gleamed now showed cracks and chips. Tapestries depicting the clan's founding had grown threadbare with age. The Wang Clan had been declining for years, its resources stretched thin, its influence waning. Wang Tian's fall nine years ago had only accelerated the descent.
But the elders who sat before Wang Ben still carried themselves with authority. Core Formation and Foundation Establishment cultivators, most of them centuries old, their eyes sharp despite their weathered faces.
At the center sat the Patriarch, Wang Tiexin. Core Formation Stage 3, the oldest and most powerful member of the clan. His white beard reached his chest, and his eyes held the weight of seven hundred years.
To his immediate right sat Grand Elder Wang Feng, the clan's Grand Protector. Beyond him, several inner elders occupied the remaining seats on that side, all bearing the Wang surname. Branch family members who'd earned their positions through cultivation and contribution.
And to the left...
Wang Ben's gaze passed over Elder Liu almost without stopping. The man was unremarkable. Middle-aged appearance despite his centuries, cultivation at Foundation Establishment Stage 9, an external elder who'd joined the clan about a decade ago. His expression was appropriately concerned, just another senior member worried about a junior's miraculous survival.
[ALERT: Elevated hostility detected]
[SOURCE: Elder Liu]
[ANALYSIS: Microexpressions indicate concealed negative emotion]
[CONFIDENCE: 67% (limited functionality)]
Wang Ben kept his face neutral, but something cold settled in his stomach.
"Wang Ben," the Patriarch said, his voice carrying the weight of centuries. "You've caused quite a stir."
"This junior apologizes for any trouble," Wang Ben replied, bowing deeply. "I only did what was necessary to survive."
"Necessary." Elder Liu spoke up, his tone carefully respectful. "You killed a Rank 2 spirit beast at Body Refinement Stage 3. That's not necessary, young Wang Ben. That's... unprecedented."
Several elders murmured agreement.
"Tell us what happened," the Patriarch commanded. "From the beginning."
Wang Ben had rehearsed this. Three days of recovery had given him time to construct his story, to anticipate questions, to prepare.
"The patrol was routine," he began. "We reached the herb fields without incident. Zhao Yu was supervising the servants' work while I maintained the perimeter watch."
He described the wolf's appearance. Its speed, its ferocity, how quickly it had taken down Zhao Yu and killed the servants. His voice wavered when he spoke of Li San and Ma Hong's deaths. That part, at least, required no acting.
"The beast was already wounded," Wang Ben continued. "I noticed it during the initial charge. Its hind legs were damaged, black-purple veins spreading from bite marks. Something had poisoned it badly. It was moving at perhaps half its normal speed."
"Half speed from a Jade Snow Wolf is still deadly for a Body Refinement cultivator," one of the inner elders noted.
"Yes, Elder. I know." Wang Ben paused, letting the fear he'd actually felt color his voice. "When it turned toward me, I thought I was going to die. But then... the poison flared. The beast's muscles spasmed at exactly the wrong moment. I took advantage of the opening."
"Just like that?" Elder Liu's eyebrow rose. "You took advantage with techniques that the scene evidence suggests were expert-level?"
"I don't know how to explain it, Elder Liu." Wang Ben met the man's gaze directly. "In that moment, my body just... moved. Perhaps it was the dreams I've had since childhood. Fragments of combat, fighting styles I've never learned. Perhaps the crisis unlocked something. I truly don't understand it myself."
He was aware of his father standing at the back of the hall, watching silently. Wang Tian's face betrayed nothing, but his hands were clasped tightly behind his back.
"The dreams," the Patriarch murmured. "Yes, your father mentioned those years ago. Troubling, but we found no cause for concern at the time." His ancient eyes studied Wang Ben. "Perhaps we should revisit that assessment."
"Regardless of the how," a deep voice cut in, "the fact remains: the boy killed the beast. The clan owes him a debt of gratitude. If that wolf had escaped into the fields, it could have slaughtered dozens before being stopped."
Wang Ben's gaze shifted to Grand Elder Wang Feng. The man's scarred face was set in hard lines, three jagged claw marks running from his left temple to his jaw. Core Formation Stage 6, leader of the Enforcement Hall. Built like a war monument, broad-shouldered and thick-armed even in his centuries. His presence alone made lesser cultivators want to bow.
He was also the reason Wang Ben's father had fallen.
Nine years ago, Grand Elder Wang Feng had been dying. He'd ventured deep into Blackwood Forest to hunt a Darkwood Ape, a Rank 4 beast at mid-stage, that had been terrorizing the outer settlements. He killed the beast, but not before its claws raked his face and its dying breath filled his lungs with miasma. The corruption spread through his body, resisting every treatment, slowly devouring him from within. The only cure was a Grade 7 pill, and Wang Tian, at his peak as a Grade 8 alchemist, had volunteered to attempt the refinement. The pill had failed. Wang Tian's cultivation had shattered. And Wang Feng had survived anyway, through some other means he never spoke of.
The Grand Elder had never forgiven himself for that. He'd watched over Wang Tian's family ever since, a silent guardian who believed he owed a debt that could never be repaid.
"And he saved Zhao Yu's life," the Patriarch added. "The Zhao family has already expressed their thanks. Their boy would be dead without Wang Ben's intervention."
Elder Liu inclined his head. "No one disputes the young man's bravery. I merely think the clan should claim the beast's materials. The boy was on clan patrol, protected by clan formations, trained by clan resources. Surely the spoils..."
Grand Elder Wang Feng snorted. The sound was soft, almost dismissive, but the aura that followed was anything but. Core Formation Stage 6 pressure rolled through the hall like a physical weight. Elder Liu's face paled, his shoulders hunching involuntarily as the cultivation gap between them made itself brutally known. Foundation Establishment Stage 9 meant nothing before a mid-stage Core Formation expert.
The pressure vanished as quickly as it appeared, but Elder Liu's hands were trembling slightly.
"No."
The Patriarch's voice cut through the tension like a blade.
"The boy killed the beast. He earned the kill. He saved a life doing it." Wang Tiexin's eyes held no warmth as they fixed on Elder Liu. "The materials are his. To do with as he pleases. That is my decision."
Elder Liu bowed his head, face carefully blank. "Of course, Patriarch. I spoke only out of concern for proper procedure."
"Your concern is noted."
Wang Ben felt something shift in the room. A subtle tension he couldn't quite identify. The Patriarch's tone had carried an edge that seemed disproportionate to Elder Liu's suggestion.
[SOCIAL DYNAMICS DETECTED]
[PATRIARCH DISPLAYS DISTRUST TOWARD ELDER LIU]
[HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Unknown]
[RECOMMEND: Observation]
"One more matter," the Patriarch said, and his voice grew harder. "The warning formation. The one that should have alerted us to any beast above Rank 1 entering that sector of the forest."
Silence fell over the hall.
"It didn't activate." Wang Tiexin's gaze swept across his elders. "A Rank 2 spirit beast crossed into our protected territory, attacked our people, and we learned of it only when the survivors returned. I want to know why."
"The formation may have malfunctioned," one of the inner elders offered. "The arrays in that sector are old. Due for maintenance."
"Due for maintenance," the Patriarch repeated flatly. "And who was responsible for the pre-patrol sweep of that area?"
Another silence. Then Elder Liu spoke:
"I was, Patriarch."
Every eye in the room turned to him.
"I swept the sector personally the day before the patrol," Elder Liu continued, his voice steady. "I detected no anomalies, no beast activity above Rank 1. Whatever drove that wolf into our territory did so after my inspection." He bowed his head. "I take full responsibility for failing to anticipate this threat."
The Patriarch stared at him for a long moment.
"Do you."
"Yes, Patriarch. I can only apologize for my failure. I will personally oversee a full diagnostic of all warning formations in the northern sectors. If there is a malfunction, I will find it."
Wang Ben watched the exchange with growing unease. Elder Liu's response was perfect. Taking responsibility while explaining away the failure, offering to fix the very problem he might have caused.
If he'd caused it.
[INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR ACCUSATION]
[ELDER LIU'S CULTIVATION: Foundation Establishment Stage 9]
[CAPABLE OF: Temporarily disabling Rank 1 detection formations]
[MOTIVE: Unknown]
[RECOMMEND: Maintain observation]
"See that you do," the Patriarch said finally. "Two of our people are dead because something got past our defenses. I will not accept a repeat." He rose from his seat, signaling the meeting's end. "All of you, tighten security. Check the formations. Increase patrol frequency. And Wang Ben..."
Wang Ben straightened. "Yes, Patriarch?"
"Rest. Recover. And come see me in one week. We have... much to discuss."
The weight of those words settled on Wang Ben's shoulders as he bowed and withdrew from the hall.
Aftermath
Wang Ben was barely out the door before his parents flanked him.
"You did well," Li Mei said quietly as they walked through the clan compound. "Your story was believable."
She knows, Wang Ben realized. She knows I'm hiding something.
But she wasn't going to push. Not yet. His mother had always understood when to ask questions and when to wait.
His father was less patient.
"We need to talk," Wang Tian said, his voice low. "About what really happened out there."
"Father..."
"Not now. Not here." Wang Tian's eyes swept the compound. Servants moving about their duties, other clan members going about their business, all of them stealing glances at the boy who'd done the impossible. "Tonight. After dinner. In my study."
It wasn't a request.
Wang Ben nodded.
They walked in silence for a moment before Li Mei spoke again: "The Zhao family sent a gift this morning. Zhao Yu's father specifically. He wanted to thank you for saving his son's life."
"Is Zhao Yu awake?"
"Recovering. The physicians say he'll be bedridden for another week, but he'll make a full recovery. He's been asking about you."
Wang Ben felt some of the tension in his chest ease. At least something good had come from that nightmare.
"And the wolf's materials?" Wang Tian asked. "What will you do with them?"
Wang Ben had thought about this during his recovery. The Jade Snow Wolf's corpse was valuable, more so because Jade Snow Wolves were pack hunters. Finding one alone was rare, which drove up prices for collectors and alchemists who needed the materials. The crystalline antlers alone could fetch several mid-grade spirit stones, and the ice-affinity pelt would have been worth even more if not for the poison damage. The beast core was ruined, corrupted beyond use. All told, perhaps eight to twelve mid-grade spirit stones, depending on the buyer.
More money than their family had seen in years.
"Sell most of it," Wang Ben said. "Keep the core if it's still usable. And..." He hesitated. "I want to use some of the proceeds for something specific. But I need to think about it more first."
His parents exchanged a glance but didn't press.
They reached the family quarters, a modest courtyard home that had once been larger, before sections were sold off to cover debts. Wang Chen's crying drifted from inside, and Li Mei hurried ahead to tend to the infant.
Wang Tian stopped Wang Ben at the door.
"I know you're hiding something," he said quietly. "I've seen that look before. In the mirror, years ago, when I was keeping secrets of my own."
Wang Ben didn't know what to say.
"I won't force you to tell me." Wang Tian's hand rested briefly on his son's shoulder. "But remember, secrets have costs. Sometimes the people trying to protect you need to know what they're protecting you from."
Then he was gone, following his wife inside, leaving Wang Ben alone with the weight of too many truths he couldn't speak.
Elder Liu's Reflection
In his quarters on the far side of the Wang compound, Elder Liu sat in meditation position and let his mask of calm concern fall away.
How?
The question burned in his mind like poison.
How did that boy survive?
The plan had been perfect. Flawless. He'd waited for months for the right opportunity, and when it came, he'd executed it without a single misstep.
The Poison Marsh Serpent's nest had been easy enough to find. He'd mapped the deep forest years ago, noting the locations of every significant predator. Waiting for the mother to leave, stealing the eggs, carrying them into wolf territory... child's play for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
He'd cracked the eggs right in the middle of the pack's hunting grounds. The wolves had investigated, as he'd known they would. And when the mother serpent detected the death of her offspring and tracked the scent to the wolves' territory...
Chaos.
The pack had been devastated. The alpha, a Jade Snow Wolf at the peak of Rank 2, had been killed outright in the serpent's frenzy. The rest of the pack scattered. And when one of the survivors, a weaker early-stage Rank 2 wolf, fled toward the forest's edge with the serpent's poison still burning through its veins, toward the Wang Clan's herb fields, toward the patrol where Wang Tian's son just happened to be stationed...
It should have been perfect.
The warning formation had been child's play to disable temporarily. The patrol would have no backup. The wounded wolf, still deadly but weakened, would kill or maim Wang Ben. Wang Tian would rush to save his son, and Elder Liu would be there. Ready to help. Ready to ensure that the fallen alchemist never rose again.
Two deaths. Both blamed on the beast. And the Xue Clan would finally consider his decade of service properly rewarded.
But the boy had won.
A Body Refinement Stage 3 cultivator had killed a Rank 2 spirit beast. Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Unless it isn't.
Elder Liu's eyes narrowed. He'd read the scene reports, studied the tracks and blood spray patterns. Expert technique. Impossible precision. Combat instincts that shouldn't exist in a fifteen-year-old average talent.
Something was very wrong with that boy.
He would need to investigate. Carefully. The Patriarch was already suspicious. The old man had never fully trusted external elders, and Liu's suggestion about the materials had only deepened that wariness.
But Liu was patient. He'd waited ten years. He could wait a little longer.
The Xue Clan will want to know about this, he thought. A new variable. A potential threat.
Or a potential opportunity.
He rose from his meditation position and moved to his writing desk. The report would need to be coded, of course. The Xue Clan's cipher was unbreakable by anyone below Nascent Soul.
As he prepared his brush and ink, Liu absently rubbed at his hands. They'd felt strange lately. A lingering sensation he couldn't quite identify, like the ghost of something clinging to his skin.
He'd washed them thoroughly after handling those eggs, of course. Even used a cleansing talisman. The Poison Marsh Serpent's offspring carried potent pheromones, and the last thing he needed was...
No. He'd been careful. Thorough.
It was probably nothing.
Liu began to write.
New Dawn
That night, after a dinner where his parents carefully avoided asking the questions burning in their eyes, Wang Ben sat alone in his room and stared at the ceiling.
The wolf materials had been secured by the clan, held in storage until Wang Ben was ready to sell or process them. His father had promised to help him find fair buyers, ones who wouldn't cheat a young cultivator out of his rightful earnings.
Zhao Yu had sent a message through one of the servants: I owe you my life. I won't forget.
The Patriarch wanted to see him in a week. To discuss... what? His impossible survival? His sudden breakthrough? The dreams that might explain both or neither?
And underneath it all, the System's warning pulsed in the back of his mind:
[BEAST TIDE PROBABILITY: Elevated]
[TIMEFRAME: Weeks to months]
[CONFIDENCE: Very low]
[RECOMMENDATION: Prepare]
Something was coming. Maybe. The System couldn't say when or even if. But the warning was there, a weight he couldn't set down.
And Wang Ben was the only one who knew.
I can't tell anyone, he thought. Who would believe me? 'A voice in my head says a beast tide is coming.' They'd think I was insane.
[CORRECT ASSESSMENT]
[RECOMMEND: Indirect preparation]
[OPTIONS: Stockpile resources, improve cultivation, gather intelligence]
Wang Ben almost laughed. The System was nothing if not practical.
Fine. Indirect preparation it is.
He closed his eyes and turned his attention inward, feeling his body. Stronger now than before the fight. Muscles denser, tendons tighter. Body Refinement Stage 4. A full stage higher than he'd been a week ago.
Progress.
Not enough. Not nearly enough for what might be coming.
But it was a start.
[HOST STATUS]
Name: Wang Ben
Age: 15
Cultivation: Body Refinement Stage 4
System Functionality: 1%
Active Threats: [Monitoring]
Wang Ben opened his eyes.
Time to stop being average.
END OF CHAPTER 7