Gabriel woke up from his cultivation session, restoring his spent spiritual energy, but it was taking longer than he thought it would.
*Sign* "Using that power really ran me dry. I'm gonna need almost a week before I'm back in peak condition," said Gabriel to himself.
I wonder how everyone else is doing, thought Gabriel as he left his tent. He asked around the sect camp to find out where his team could be. He was told they would be in the camp's medical tent, where they were treating the injured. He asked for directions, thanked his fellow sect disciple, and walked toward that area.
He found the medical tent, walked inside, looked around, and saw Eleanor and Wren sitting beside Ivan's bed, who was sitting upright with a bandaged torso. As Gabriel walked towards them, Ivan looked in his direction with a smile and waved at him. This made both girls turn around to see who he was waving at; when they recognised who it was, their faces lit up with excitement.
"Hey Gabriel. Thought you were gonna play dead for another week."
"Haha, it would be well deserved after all the shit we went through, so how are you guys feeling?" asked Gabriel.
"I'm doing good, no permanent damage," said Eleanor.
"I got a nasty black eye, but as you can see, it's fully healed," exclaimed Wren with a smile, showing her unblemished face with a rosy hue on her cheeks.
Ivan looked at Gabriel and said, "That kick from Mad Viper broke several ribs and damaged a lung, but thanks to taking a healing pill, I prevented lasting negative effects, which is a miracle."
Gabriel was just happy to know his friends were still alive. He talked with them for a while longer until his sect token started pinging. He took it out, looked at it, and saw a message from his master saying he wanted to see him. So he bid farewell to them, left the medical ward, and made his way toward his master.
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Gabriel left the medical tent and made his way through the bustling sect camp. Disciples hurried past with supplies, elders conferred in low voices, and the distant clang of weapons being repaired mixed with the faint scent of medicinal herbs still clinging to his clothes.
His master's tent stood slightly apart from the others, marked by the banner of their sect: a pagoda in the mountains with a crest moon and stars above. Two disciples stood guard and bowed when they saw him approach. One held the flap aside.
"Junior Brother Gabriel. Elder Alana is expecting you."
With that said Gabriel stepped inside, the space was simple and warm. A single spirit lamp glowed on the low table. Alana sat on a cushion, white robes neat, black hair tied back. When she looked up and saw him, the usual sharp edge in her eyes softened at once.
"Gabriel."
Gabriel bowed respectfully.
"Master."
She rose at once, crossed the space between them in two quiet steps, and rested a hand against his forehead, then his wrist, checking his pulse with the practiced care of someone who had done it a hundred times before.
"You're still running cooler than you should," she murmured, more to herself than to him. Her voice carried the same quiet concern a mother might use when her child. "That technique of yours drained you to the marrow. Sit."
Gabriel obeyed, lowering himself onto the cushion she indicated. Alana poured a cup of warm spiritual tea and pressed it into his hands before settling across from him.
"I felt the residual fluctuations when we found you," she said, studying his face. "You pushed far past what your current realm should allow. That was reckless." A faint smile touched her lips. "Your foundation has settled more firmly than I expected. The impurities that once clung to your meridians are nearly gone. Your dantian is surprisingly dense, stable."
She paused, her gaze turning serious yet warm.
"You're ready, Gabriel. The threshold to Foundation Establishment is open to you now. Not in a month, not after another recovery cycle—now. When your spiritual energy finishes replenishing, you will have the strength and the clarity to step across."
Gabriel met her eyes, the weight of her words settling in his chest.
"I won't waste the chance, Master."
Alana reached out and briefly rested her hand on his shoulder, the gesture gentle and grounding.
"I know you won't. Rest properly these next few days. When the time comes, I will personally oversee your breakthrough myself." Her expression softened once more. "You've earned this. Don't let the price you paid go to waste."