ARK SPIRIT

Not long after the three bells rang from the northern side of the city, Hao Nhien returned to the courtyard. The tension in Third City had not eased. Squads of cultivators kept hurrying toward the Military Affairs Hall, while the formation lights along the walls burned more densely than before. From time to time, soldiers mounted on spirit beasts raced along the main road, carrying command tokens toward different parts of the city.

The Wind and Cloud Squad had all returned by then. Trieu Phong was checking the supplies they had just replenished when a knock sounded outside.

A lightly armored soldier stood at the entrance. When Hao Nhien stepped out, the man cupped his fists.

“Senior Brother Hao Nhien, Deputy City Lord Leng has summoned you. Please come with me.”

A trace of surprise crossed Hao Nhien’s face.

The three bells earlier were clearly not an ordinary signal, and Tieu Kiem had gone straight from the tea house to the Military Affairs Hall. He turned to Trieu Phong.

“I’ll go see what it is.”

Trieu Phong nodded.

“Send word if anything comes up.”

Hao Nhien said nothing more and followed the soldier out.

Leng Huyen had not summoned him to the main hall of the Military Affairs Hall, but to a training ground deeper in the western part of the inner city. The courtyard was paved with black stone and enclosed by low walls carved with formation patterns. Night had already fallen, yet several rune pillars around the field still gave off a pale glow, illuminating a stone table at the center.

Leng Huyen stood beside it with several maps spread before him. Tieu Kiem was nearby, his sword still strapped across his back. Compared with his relaxed manner in the tea house, he now looked far more serious.

Leng Huyen raised his head as Hao Nhien approached.

“You’re here.”

Hao Nhien cupped his fists.

“Greetings, Deputy City Lord Leng. Senior Brother Tieu.”

Tieu Kiem gave a brief nod. Leng Huyen went straight to the point.

“Tieu Kiem recommended you. I also reviewed the Wind and Cloud Squad’s report again. You have Wind affinity, good speed, quick reactions when circumstances change, and you don’t lose your head easily when a formation breaks down. For this assignment, you are a suitable choice.”

Tieu Kiem added,

“I saw him deal with danger back when he was still in Qi Condensation. He can be trusted.”

Hao Nhien looked between them but did not ask anything yet.

Leng Huyen took a dark gray letter from his storage ring. Three layers of sealing runes covered its surface, thin lines of light overlapping like a net.

“Third City has a confidential letter that must be delivered to the northwestern line. The City Lord is personally holding a frontline camp there. This letter must be placed directly in his hands. It cannot be opened, cannot be passed through a third person, and absolutely cannot fall into enemy hands.”

He set the letter on the stone table.

“If it is lost, an entire defensive line could be placed at a disadvantage.”

Hao Nhien did not ask what was written inside. A message sealed by three layers of runes and meant for the City Lord of Third City said enough on its own.

Leng Huyen continued.

“In recent days, flying-sword transmissions along the northwestern line have been disrupted several times. Twice, contact was lost completely. Sending a large escort would attract too much attention, so I need a very small group: fast enough, able to conceal its trail, and capable of making its own decisions when something goes wrong.”

His gaze settled on Hao Nhien.

“Will you take it?”

Hao Nhien was silent for several breaths.

It sounded like a courier mission, but the more he thought about it, the less simple it became. The objective was not to defeat an opponent. It was to get the letter to its destination. If they were ambushed, he could not think only about winning the fight. If they were pursued, he could not slow down simply for a chance to kill the enemy. There might even be moments when retreating from a favorable clash was the correct choice if it kept the mission hidden.

He looked at the sealed letter once more, then nodded.

“I’ll take it.”

Leng Huyen asked,

“Who do you want to bring from your squad?”

Hao Nhien already had an answer.

“Quan Nha.”

Leng Huyen raised a brow.

“Only her?”

“Yes. More people leave more traces. Quan Nha has just entered Foundation Establishment, and both her movement techniques and adaptability are good. More importantly, we have already fought together through several unexpected situations. We won’t need time to adjust to each other. If we are pursued, two people can also change routes far more easily than an entire squad.”

Leng Huyen considered that for a few moments, then glanced at Tieu Kiem.

“I would make the same choice,” Tieu Kiem said.

Leng Huyen turned toward a soldier waiting outside the training ground.

“Bring Quan Nha here.”

She arrived before long, still dressed in the clothes she had worn during the day, her sword hanging at her side. After listening to Leng Huyen explain the mission, she did not agree immediately. Her eyes first moved to the sealed letter, then to the map.

“Deputy City Lord, how soon must the letter arrive?”

“As soon as possible. If nothing major interferes, two and a half to three days.”

Only then did Quan Nha nod.

“I’ll go.”

Leng Huyen took out two black profound-iron tokens. Each carried a military number and a thin layer of identifying runes.

“From this mission onward, the two of you will officially begin accumulating military merit. It can be exchanged for supplies, artifacts, and certain privileges within the military system. But remember, these tokens are also proof of identity. If either is lost, report it as soon as you can.”

Hao Nhien and Quan Nha accepted them.

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“Understood.”

Leng Huyen then handed Hao Nhien a map jade slip.

“This covers the northwestern route. It contains the camps, areas of shifting sand, known beast territories, support points, and several alternate paths.”

Hao Nhien sent his spiritual awareness into it and immediately realized that the map was more detailed than anything he had used in the Western Wastes before. It marked not only routes, but also common wind patterns, zones prone to sandstorms, and pieces of terrain that could be used to break pursuit.

Leng Huyen noticed his reaction.

“Don’t trust the map too much. Sand changes paths, demonic beasts shift territory, and camps can move. The map only tells you where you might be able to go. How you get there is your decision.”

Hao Nhien withdrew his awareness from the jade slip.

“I understand.”

Tieu Kiem stepped over and gave his shoulder a light pat.

“Stay alive. Completing the mission matters, but coming back alive matters just as much.”

Hao Nhien smiled.

“You too, Senior Brother.”

Tieu Kiem gave a faint grin.

“I’m still waiting to see whether you can get that letter where it needs to go.”

When the two returned to the courtyard, the rest of the Wind and Cloud Squad was already waiting.

Hao Nhien only told them that he and Quan Nha had accepted a two-person assignment and would leave the city early the next morning.

Luu Hoa frowned as soon as he heard.

“I just stabilized mid Foundation Establishment. I was hoping to test myself.”

Trieu Phong gave him a sideways look.

“Which is exactly why you should stay and stabilize it further.”

Luu Hoa had no answer to that.

Lam Tuyet said she would continue practicing Water-affinity coordination with the formation masters on the city wall. Lam Phong patted his newly repaired round shield and remarked that he also needed time to adjust to its weight after reinforcement. Tieu Van spun one of his short sabers in his hand.

“I’ll stay and train. I won’t promise I’ll reach level nine before you two return, but at least I won’t be standing still.”

Hao Nhien smiled.

“That’s enough.”

His gaze finally settled on Tieu Lan.

She stood near the doorway with several small medicine bottles already in her hands.

Hao Nhien walked over.

“Tieu Lan.”

She looked up. There was worry in her eyes, but her voice remained steady.

“Young Master doesn’t need to say it. I know I can’t go with you this time.”

Hao Nhien was silent for a moment.

Tieu Lan began placing the bottles into his hands one by one.

“This is an antidote. This one is Cooling Liquid, for heat toxin or when you’re losing too much water. These are Qi Recovery Pills.”

She produced a smaller jade vial.

“And this is a meridian-stabilizing medicinal liquid. Use it if your meridians start hurting or if spiritual power stops circulating smoothly.”

Hao Nhien accepted each item, his fingers tightening slightly around the bottles. Tieu Lan had always been like this. She rarely said much, but anything she could think to prepare, she had already prepared.

Then she turned to Quan Nha and held out a small pouch.

“Sister Quan Nha, this is Clear Heart Liquid. I don’t know exactly how backlash from Charm affinity affects you, but this should at least help steady your spiritual awareness.”

Quan Nha accepted it, her expression softening.

“Thank you.”

Tieu Lan shook her head.

“You both have to come back.”

Her voice was very quiet.

Hao Nhien paused, then reached out and gently rubbed her head.

“I promise. We’ll come back.”

Quan Nha also took Tieu Lan’s hand for a moment.

“Stay in the city and look after everyone.”

Tieu Lan nodded.

“All right.”

No one dragged out the farewell.

Early the next morning, the northwestern gate of Third City opened amid the low hum of activating formation patterns. Wind and sand rushed in at once, whipping the hems of their robes behind them.

Hao Nhien and Quan Nha stepped through the gate.

Neither carried much. The sealed letter was hidden deep inside Hao Nhien’s storage ring, while the map jade slip was kept where he could reach it quickly.

He looked back once.

Tieu Lan was still standing just inside the gate. Behind her were Trieu Phong, Luu Hoa, Lam Tuyet, Lam Phong, and Tieu Van.

Hao Nhien gave her a small nod.

She returned it.

Then he turned away. Quan Nha was already waiting ahead, and the two figures soon disappeared into the blowing sand.

By afternoon, Third City had vanished completely behind them.

The Western Wastes stretched endlessly beneath the burning sun. Blackened dead trees rose here and there from the sea of sand like charred skeletons left behind by another age, their trunks cracked and scorched, their surfaces worn rough by years of wind.

Farther away, dark cliffs pierced the desert like giant blades thrust upward from the earth. During the day they baked beneath the sun, while at night the temperature dropped so sharply that the rock sometimes gave off faint cracking sounds.

The two stopped inside a recessed hollow beneath one of those cliffs.

Hao Nhien leaned against the stone, his breathing still heavy. Quan Nha sat nearby with her eyes closed, regulating her breath, though her rhythm took slightly longer than usual to settle.

For more than a day, they had kept moving almost without pause, relying mostly on movement techniques and spiritual power to maintain high speed across the ground. At Foundation Establishment level one, neither of them could yet sustain sword flight for any meaningful length of time.

Hao Nhien had Spirit Wings, which made him more mobile than most cultivators at the same realm, but even he could not keep them active continuously. He only used them in brief bursts when they needed to cross an exposed stretch quickly, change direction over difficult terrain, or escape a dangerous area.

A full day beneath the Western Wastes sun had drained them faster than he had expected.

Dust coated Hao Nhien’s robes. Sweat had soaked through his back more than once before drying again, leaving faint white traces of salt across the fabric.

Quan Nha was paying an even steeper price.

She had only recently entered Foundation Establishment. Her realm was stable enough, but still far from that of someone who had spent months at the same level. After every long stretch of sustained spiritual power, it took her a few extra breaths to recover. Several strands of hair had come loose in the wind, fine sand clung to her lashes, and her lips were drier than before. The hand resting on her sword hilt would sometimes tighten, then slowly relax again.

She was still keeping pace.

It simply cost her more to do so.

According to the map, they had covered close to one third of the distance to the target camp. It lay deep within the northwestern defensive arc. Following the normal route, with rest stations and support points, the journey would have been much easier.

But their task required them to avoid attention, so most of the time they traveled away from the main path.

Every stop had to be chosen carefully. Wind could erase footprints, but it could also carry a human scent far across the desert. Demonic beasts in the Western Wastes did not need to see their prey directly. A trace of blood, a fluctuation of spiritual power, or a breath that did not belong to the desert could be enough to draw something out from beneath the sand or from inside the rock fissures.

Hao Nhien took out a bottle of Cooling Liquid and passed it over.

“Quan Nha, drink some.”

She took a small sip and handed it back. Her voice was slightly hoarser than usual.

“How much farther?”

Hao Nhien opened the map jade slip. Faint light spilled across his dust-covered face as he checked the route.

“If we don’t have to detour too far, about two more days. But Black Wind Valley is ahead.”

Quan Nha looked over.

“Dangerous?”

“Not mainly because of demonic beasts.”

He pointed to the wind patterns marked around the valley.

“Black wind forms there frequently. Once it rises, dark sand covers almost the entire field of vision. If we drift off course, we could spend a whole day inside the valley and still not find the way out.”

Quan Nha studied the darkened area on the map for a while, then rested a hand on her sword hilt.

“I have a feeling something is following us.”

Her eyes shifted toward the dunes behind them.

Hao Nhien did not look surprised.

“I noticed it too.”

The most recent sign had appeared less than half a shichen earlier. A gust from behind had carried the faintest fluctuation of spiritual power, just enough for his awareness to catch it for an instant before it dispersed. His Wind affinity made him more sensitive to disturbances in the surrounding currents, but the trace had been too weak for him to locate its source.

He put away the jade slip.

“I still can’t tell whether it’s a person or a demonic beast. We’ll rest for half a ke, then move on. We can’t stay here long.”

Quan Nha nodded and leaned back against the cliff, closing her eyes to regulate her breathing.

Hao Nhien watched her for a while.

She had never complained, nor had she once asked him to slow down. Even so, he could tell she was beginning to approach the limit of what her current condition could comfortably sustain. Her aura remained steady, but after each long stretch of travel, she needed more time to recover.

He did not mention it.

With Quan Nha’s temperament, asking whether she needed a longer rest would probably earn the same answer every time.

A sudden gust swept through the rocky gap, driving hot sand into the hollow.

Quan Nha had just started to turn away when Hao Nhien reached out and pulled her farther inside, where the cliff blocked more of the wind. The movement brought them much closer together.

She opened her eyes.

For a brief moment, her body went still.

Only then did Hao Nhien notice that his hand was still wrapped around her arm.

He did not release her immediately.

The evening light spilling into the hollow cast a faint red glow across Quan Nha’s face. Hao Nhien could not tell whether the color in her cheeks came from the heat, from exhaustion, or from something else.

Neither of them spoke.

There were no squadmates nearby, no clash of weapons, no shouted commands. Inside the narrow shelter, only the sound of sand-laden wind brushing steadily across the cliff remained.

After a while, Hao Nhien finally let go.

“Rest a little longer.”

Quan Nha looked at him.

“I can still keep up.”

“I know.”

He leaned back against the opposite wall.

“That’s why I’m telling you to rest.”

A faint curve touched her lips.

She said nothing more and closed her eyes again.

Outside the rocky hollow, the winds of the Western Wastes continued without pause.

Far beyond the dunes behind them, whatever had been following their trail still had not revealed itself.