Chapter One: Out of the Cave

After Three Thousand Years in Seclusion, My Sect Was Broke

I came out of seclusion expecting incense, bells, and a courtyard full of kneeling disciples.

Instead, dust fell into my hair, weeds covered the mountain road, and the great hall of the Azure Cloud Sect had collapsed so badly that a crooked tree had taken root on its roof.

Then a young woman in a patched blue robe pointed a sword at me and shouted, "Who are you? This is Azure Cloud territory. Are you here to steal herbs?"

I looked at the broken gate behind her.

Then I looked at the blade trembling in her hand.

After three thousand years, my sect had one disciple left.

And somehow, she was the sect master.

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When I pushed open the stone door, dust poured down in a gray sheet and coated my face.

Three thousand years.

A full three thousand years.

When I entered seclusion, I was the seventh master of the Azure Cloud Sect, a Soul Transformation cultivator standing one step from ascension. I handed the sect to Elder Orrin, told him to take good care of it, and walked into the hidden cave behind the mountain without looking back.

Now I had finally crossed that step.

The sunlight outside stung my eyes. I stood there blinking until the world stopped shining white.

Then I saw the mountain.

The rear peak was still there, but the road toward the main summit had vanished beneath waist-high weeds. Farther ahead, where the halls should have risen layer after layer into the clouds, there was open sky.

Wait.

Where were the halls?

I stepped onto my sword and rose above the main peak. One glance nearly made me fall off.

Gone.

All of it was gone.

The Azure Cloud Sect I remembered had thirty-six main peaks and seventy-two subsidiary peaks. Pavilions had stood in neat rows. Spiritual mist drifted between white cranes. Disciples crossed bridges in lines of blue and silver.

Now the mountains were bare. A few cracked tile houses leaned against the wind. The largest structure, the main hall, had lost half its roof. A crooked tree grew out of what remained.

I opened my mouth. My throat was too dry for sound.

Three thousand years.

Only three thousand years.

Azure Cloud had once ranked among the ten great sects of the eastern continent. Its inheritance had lasted for more than ten thousand years. How had it become this?

I landed in the main square. Grass grew through the paving stones. Several slabs had split apart. In front of me, the plaque over the hall hung at an angle. Of the three golden characters that once named the sect, only two and a half remained.

Cloud Sect.

The word Azure was missing.

I stood there for a long time.

Then a voice snapped, "Who are you?"

I turned.

A young woman stood three yards away with a sword in both hands. She wore a blue robe washed so often it had gone pale. The cuffs were frayed and patched with cloth that did not match. Her hair was twisted into a rough knot and held with a wooden pin. Her face was wary, but her eyes were bright, like a small animal guarding its den.

I glanced at her cultivation.

Middle Foundation Establishment.

Had the average level of the cultivation world fallen this far?

"I asked you a question." She took one step closer. "This is Azure Cloud territory. Outsiders are not allowed in. Which wandering cultivator are you? Did you come to steal spirit herbs?"

For a moment I could not answer.

Azure Cloud.

She had said this was Azure Cloud.

I looked at the ruins, at the patched robe, at the young Foundation Establishment cultivator holding a sword as if it were the last pillar of the sect.

"Are you an Azure Cloud disciple?" I asked.

"Obviously." She lifted her chin. "Mira Stone, forty-seventh sect master of the Azure Cloud Sect. That's me."

Forty-seventh.

When I went into seclusion, the line had only reached the ninth generation.

"Then the previous masters..." I paused. "Where are they?"

Her expression tightened. "Why are you asking that? Who are you?"

I did not answer with words.

I raised two fingers like a sword. Light burst from my fingertips and shot into the sky.

It was the final form of the Azure Cloud Thirteen Swords, a technique only the sect master could learn. The sword light opened above us like a blue cloud and hung there, slow and bright.

The sword in Mira's hand hit the stones with a clang.

After a long moment, she whispered, "You... you're..."

"Seventh sect master of Azure Cloud," I said. "Rowan Vale."