The group traveled north in silence.
No one spoke of the battle, nor of the Sixth Cauldron pulsing within Li Fan. The sand still clung to their robes, blood still crusted on their gear, but their minds had moved far beyond the Southern Wastes.
Something had shifted.
The world no longer looked at Li Fan as just a rising talent.
Now, it feared him.
---
They passed through the Whispering Pass, a gorge known for natural illusions. There, Wen Rourou broke the silence.
"You do know what this means now, don't you?"
Li Fan didn't look back. "That I've grown stronger."
She exhaled sharply. "That you've made enemies. The bounty wasn't a rogue job. That seal—Imperial. You're being watched."
Yun Jian added quietly, "And your cultivation speed will only make that worse. The Sixth Cauldron is a threshold most take a decade to reach."
Li Fan kept walking. "I don't plan to slow down."
Mu Qiu coughed from the rear. "Then you'd better be ready when the knives come from all directions."
---
In the capital, behind the veils of power, the Central Authority Council convened in a sealed chamber of iron and spirit glyphs.
At the head of the council table sat the Magistrate of Balance, robes threaded with silver Qi. His voice echoed like a blade drawn in court.
"Li Fan has returned from the Southern Wastes," he said. "Not only alive—but enhanced. The Sixth Cauldron confirmed."
Around the table, silence.
Then a scholar from the Ink Sect said, "We should extend alliance. Absorb him before others do."
An elder from the Flame Lotus Sect shook his head. "We should cull him before he reaches seven."
The Magistrate's voice cut through the room.
"We watch. For now. But if he takes another step…"
> "We will move."
---
Back in Crimson River, Li Fan stood once more before Elder Hanzhou.
The old man placed a map on the table—an ancient one, detailing forgotten war sites of the Old Era.
"You'll need a new path," he said. "And allies."
Li Fan raised an eyebrow. "You expect me to hide?"
"No," Hanzhou said grimly. "I expect you to prepare. If the Empire calls you a threat, then whether you're righteous or not… you'll be hunted."
He looked up.
"And there's one more thing."
From a drawer, he drew a scroll sealed in red wax.
Li Fan broke it open and read.
His eyes narrowed.
> "The Seventh Cauldron may awaken in the ruins of Tianxu."
---
In the shadows of the city, a courier handed a bloodstained letter to a veiled noblewoman.
She read it slowly. Then whispered, "It's too fast. He's too close."
She turned to a masked figure at her side.
"Send word to the people. Let them know the truth."
The figure nodded. "What truth, my lady?"
The noblewoman smiled coldly.
> "That Li Fan is no longer human. That he is a wilden."
---