“Everyone on board, come out!”

A patrol boat approached across the open water of the White River, two mutant fishfolk calling out loudly.

This stretch of water was, in fact, an unofficial restricted zone that White River City didn’t openly advertise. Locals stayed well clear of it. Only travelers who’d wandered in without knowing better ever ended up here.

Yue Yang signaled Liuye to stay calm. After letting the fishfolk patrol call out a few more times, he slowly pulled off his shirt, leaving himself in nothing but a pair of shorts, then splashed water over himself to look thoroughly sweated through. Liuye didn’t immediately understand, but caught on a moment later — he was playing the part of a couple caught up in their own private fun on a rented boat.

“What’s all the shouting about?” Yue Yang strode out onto the deck wearing the irritated expression of a man interrupted at an inconvenient moment.

“You’ve trespassed into a restricted zone. Clear out immediately. And who else is on that boat?” The fishfolk on the patrol boat clocked him as an unfamiliar visitor and dropped into a stern tone, ordering him to leave.

“This is the White River. What restricted zone? You’re just fishing for a toll, aren’t you? I’ve got plenty of money — get out of my way.” Yue Yang played the role of an entitled young heir to perfection, tossing over a bulging coin purse. One of the fishfolk caught it, gave it a shake, registered the weight, and softened considerably. He waved off his still-irritated companion and switched to a more accommodating tone. “Young master, here’s the situation — Hidden Fog appeared near here a few days back, and the water’s not entirely safe yet. Best to steer clear, for your own sake.”

“Hidden Fog?” Yue Yang’s character went visibly pale.

“That’s exactly why we’re saying this is restricted. Best not to linger. If you want good fishing, head thirty nautical miles that way — there’s a slow eddy of warm current with plenty of fish and shrimp, cleaner water too. You’ll notice there’s not a single fish here. That’s the tell — anywhere Hidden Fog’s touched stays like this. Best move along quickly, young master.”

“I fished half the day and didn’t get a single bite — I knew something was off, just didn’t know it was this. We’re leaving, leaving right now!” Yue Yang scrambled back with convincing panic to start up the boat.

The fishfolk holding the purse shot his companion a meaningful look.

His point was obvious: let the man go, take the money, everyone wins. No sense arguing with this category of wealthy idiot.

The previously irritated fishfolk, noticing his companion had already quietly slipped him nearly half the contents, found his mood improving considerably. Still, mindful of his duty and concerned the boat might double back, he called out with newfound warmth: “Young master, follow our patrol boat — we’ll guide you and make sure you get home safely.”

The offer sounded generous. Its actual purpose was to keep an eye on Yue Yang’s boat until it was back in White River City.

Yue Yang thanked them, turned the boat around immediately, and followed along, playing the part of someone terrified of being abandoned in dangerous waters.

Liuye, after a brief internal struggle, took off the Moon Battle Armor, wrapped herself in a bath towel, and peeked nervously out from behind the cabin door just as the boat finished its turn — timed perfectly for both fishfolk to catch sight of her. The detail sealed the impression completely: a young couple who’d simply wandered somewhere they shouldn’t have.

“What else should I do?” Liuye slipped over to Yue Yang’s side, wanting to lean into him the way a couple naturally would, but too self-conscious to commit to it.

“What you just did was perfect.” He smiled at her.

He genuinely hadn’t expected Liuye to play along with the act this naturally. The girl had a surprising eye for detail — that peek from behind the door had been a genuinely excellent touch.

Liuye ducked her head, blushing — outwardly embarrassed, but underneath the embarrassment, something quietly pleased. She couldn’t explain why, exactly, but being near him always left her feeling happier than almost anything else could.

As for unsealing the ancient treasure point right now — no. Given the comedy of the mutant fishfolk’s complete misreading of the inscriptions, Yue Yang decided to hold off for a few days. This particular seal could wait. If they were going to start unsealing points, the others should come first.

White River City’s seal had to be saved for last.

It wasn’t idle mischief on his part — he genuinely needed time to work out the actual unsealing method. An ancient seal of this age wasn’t something you simply walked up to and opened. As for the mutant fishfolk’s revival ritual and their Sky Tower defector heritage, Yue Yang had already decided to turn the whole situation into a combat-and-growth opportunity for Sea Fatty, Ye Kong, Snow-Hungry Wolf, and the others.

They needed external pressure to actually improve. No pressure, no growth.

And with Gray Wolf watching over them, the group was nearly impossible to actually kill — their survival instincts ran deeper than their good sense.

Once White River City was settled and the ancient treasure secured, Yue Yang figured it would be time to head for the Trial Grounds and catch up with Ji Wuri. His cultivation had advanced considerably, and he felt more confident facing Ji Wuri now — but he wanted to use these next several days to break through to his fourth sword: the Innate Body-Piercing Invisible Sword Qi’s fourth form. Black Returning Burial, White Frost Bloom, Scarlet Heaven Tempering — with the fourth sword, Orange Vast Radiance, in hand, his confidence would be considerably higher.

As for the fifth sword, Yellow Dragon Abyss, the sixth, Green Jade Waves, and the seventh, Blue Central Plains — he felt those were beyond his current reach and not worth dwelling on. As for the eighth and ninth swords the Sword Spirit had revealed to him after his breakthrough to Perfect Innate Sovereign tier five — Azure Vast Sea and Violet Starfield — he barely dared to think about those at all. If he ever managed to comprehend the eighth and ninth swords, Ji Wuri would be nothing, and even the self-proclaimed divine Divine Hall Supreme might find himself on the ground in front of him.

Those were blades capable of killing gods, in the truest sense.

In the legends of his old world — swords that slew immortals, swords that executed gods, swords that trapped them, swords that ended them entirely — Yue Yang had never been able to imagine what that actually meant. After watching the Sword Spirit demonstrate Azure Vast Sea and Violet Starfield, he understood completely. Such swords were real, and they could bring down gods.

For now, though, his focus wasn’t on swords capable of slaying gods. It was on the nearest, most attainable goal: the fourth sword waiting to be comprehended, Orange Vast Radiance.

They returned to the Iron Cross Hotel near dusk.

Liuye had gathered a great deal today and had performed well throughout, which put her in an especially good mood. She decided to cook something special to celebrate. Yue Yang busied himself converting what they’d learned of the two steel fortresses’ layouts into proper maps. He had no personal need for them — but Sea Fatty, Ye Kong, and Snow-Hungry Wolf were going to be captured and used as blood sacrifice in three days’ time, and without a map, they’d wander around helplessly, unable to find their way out. The corridors and structures inside the fortresses looked deceptively similar throughout — anyone unfamiliar with the layout would get hopelessly lost.

Worse, many of the steel doors guarding the passage junctions carried specialized mechanisms; getting one wrong could seal someone inside permanently, turning them into exactly the kind of trapped prey the fortress was designed to produce.

The genuinely ancient fortress was beyond question something even Yue Yang couldn’t have replicated — a work from an entirely different age of craftsmanship. But whoever had built the smaller, more recent copy was no minor talent either. Yue Yang estimated that someone with skill close to his own — a craftsman in his own league — had once worked in service of the Sky Tower defectors in White River City, recreating roughly sixty percent of the original small fortress’s design. Whether there was only one such replica, he couldn’t yet say, but he doubted there were more than two or three, and whatever existed would likely share significant structural similarities.

The distance from White River City down to the great ancient fortress wasn’t especially far, but the winding maze of passages in between left plenty of room for another small fortress to exist undiscovered.

Yue Yang decided he’d carve out time in the coming days to explore further.

The enemy would move in three days. He couldn’t sit entirely idle until then — though there was no need to rush, either.

After dinner, Yue Yang withdrew into the Grimoire World to focus entirely on comprehending the fourth sword, Orange Vast Radiance. Liuye busied herself like a dedicated young housewife, cleaning and tidying — work that kept her occupied but visibly happy throughout. Every so often she glanced toward the training room where he was cultivating.

The Barrier-Piercing Deer alerted her that the door bell had rung. She went out to find Qingping at the door.

“What brings you by?” Liuye felt a flicker of nerves — she’d overheard things she had no business knowing, and worried, irrationally, that somehow it showed.

“Interrupting your time together, am I? Oh dear, my apologies, little sister. Did you two have a good day? Want to go explore the shipwrecks out in the Wave-Mist Sea tomorrow? Might find some treasure down there.” Qingping spoke while peering past her into the room. Liuye stood firmly in the doorway, blocking the view without quite meaning to look like she was blocking it, which only drew a soft laugh from Qingping. “All right, all right, I won’t interrupt. Enjoy your sweet little world together. See you tomorrow!”

“He’s just my teacher. It isn’t what you’re imagining.” Liuye’s face went pink as she protested — but for the first time, she didn’t ask Qingping to stay. As Qingping turned to leave, Liuye simply said, “See you tomorrow.”

Qingping had been half-hoping Liuye would invite her to linger, hoping for an opening to ask something about Yue Yang.

Instead the door closed, leaving her with an unexpected pang of disappointment.

Is that silver-masked man really all that special? She wasn’t sure why she found herself thinking it. He wasn’t even that good-looking, was he — take off the mask and he probably didn’t measure up to that ice block Snow-Hungry Wolf, let alone the prince. And yet the more she told herself this, the more unsettled she felt. If she actually saw him being his usual leering self, she’d probably be disappointed all over again. But not seeing him at all, being shut out before she’d even gotten the chance — that left her irritated in a way she couldn’t quite place, with a vague, nagging sense that this Liuye girl had taken something that belonged to her.

Yue Yang’s session ended.

Liuye didn’t need to look to know he hadn’t succeeded — if he had, he’d have come bursting out, cheering and spinning her in his arms without a second thought.

Sometimes this ‘teacher’ of hers acted exactly like an overgrown child.

He hadn’t comprehended the fourth sword, but real progress had been made, that much was certain. He understood there was no rushing this, so without pushing himself past reason, he moved into his usual high-intensity foundation training, and before long had worked up a complete sweat. Combat technique was never separate from foundation; without the best possible base, no tower of any real height could stand.

Two hours later, Yue Yang stopped, breathing hard and soaked through, and was about to step into the pool to clean up when he noticed Liuye approaching with a white towel, visibly self-conscious, her voice barely above a whisper:

“Xiao Nu isn’t here, and neither are Wuhen or the others — so let me wash your back. I’ve never done this before, but I’m sure I’ll manage fine.”

What got called ‘washing someone’s back’ between people sharing a life together was rarely just about washing a back, of course. That particular truth wasn’t something he was going to say out loud — Liuye would have died of embarrassment on the spot.

Washing his back was simple enough on its own terms. Yue Yang wasn’t going to overthink it. He reached over, smoothed a hand over her soft hair, and smiled. “It’s easy. Nothing to learn.”

“Mm. I’ll do my best…” Liuye nodded, equal parts shy and pleased. She knew this was a step toward something closer than she usually allowed herself. She’d hesitated for a long time before coming over tonight — and in the moment she nearly talked herself out of it, she’d asked herself why she should go against what she actually wanted. She wanted to wash his back. She wanted to be near him. So she’d gathered her courage and come anyway.

Some things in life are hardest at the very beginning.

Once the first step is taken — bravely, deliberately — the second step comes easier. And the third, easier still.