In the end, Baiyun was sent back early due to his injuries.

  He sat in silence as he channelled his soul, feeling the sharp sting of muscle and flesh being knitted together. Had he been impulsive? Even if he wanted to prove his worth and be placed on the front lines, perhaps he should have held back a little.

  Keeping a low profile might place him in safer battles, allowing him to pick his fights more carefully. But then again, his strength as a Qi Gatherer likely meant he would firmly be placed at the bottom rank regardless. If there was no in-between, what he did was likely the right choice.

  While he couldn't openly probe Stone and Crow's auras, his intuition told him they were likely both Core Shapers. Cultivators of higher ranks had a subtle difference in the way they carried themselves, movements that seem natural but implied great strength, a certain carefulness not to damage their surroundings.

  Even when Crow only unsheathed her blade earlier, the mere act of deflecting it sent him flying. If she actually intended to strike... the mere act of trying to deflect it would likely reduce him to a blood smear.

  Hah... his bottom rung strength was truly depressing.

  Baiyun decided not to dwell on it too much and picked up his textbook. Now that he had time to himself, he would make the most of it.

  The rabbit whined and nagged about the lack of food, so he tossed it a few grain balls and ordered it to stay quiet. Annoying... He had little access to fresh vegetables here, so no amount of complaining would do anything.

  The last vestiges of dawn soon faded, as the night sky grey pitch black, stars above swallowed by endless clouds. A knock came from his door, and he raised his head in surprise. So soon? He thought he would have longer to rest due to his injuries.

  It was a different sound than Stone's knock. With Rabbit's ears, he could hear steady breathing from a man of normal proportions.

  "Rabbit, tell me what you see when I open the door." Baiyun whispered with soulsense.

  He opened the door gingerly and faced the person.

  It was a lean man who Rabbit described as "light of foot", his hair cut short in a rough manner. Two grievous scars had been slashed across his throat, perhaps as punishment for a crime.

  Light of foot... Baiyun found that an interesting statement. Perhaps prey animals accessed other animals by how fast they looked like they could move, in case they needed to escape.

  The man stared at him in silence and seemed troubled. Baiyun felt speechless as well. Who thought it was a good idea to send a mute man to fetch him? With his blindness, it was almost impossible to communicate. This smelled like the hand of a higher up with cruel humour.

  "Tsk." the mute clicked his tongue.

  Baiyun watched as he marched out of the room, grabbing someone else and dragging them in. A raspy grunt came from a man, accompanied by the sound of soles being dragged against rough floors.

  "What is it?" the man grumbled as he was pulled over.

  His voice was raspy and coarse like gravel, evident of a throat deeply corroded.

  Loose fluttering cloth draped him from head to toe in grey, stitched together into a vague semblance of a cloak that veiled his face. Strong medicinal scents clung to him, and with Baiyun's past life of alchemy, his nose picked up the subtle tones of countless deadly essences.

  A poison specialist? There were also many essences created during refinement that clung to him, implying he was also an alchemist rather than one who merely purchased poisons.

  Baiyun was more bothered by the man's fashion sense than the profession.

  "Hmph."

  The mute man made hand-gestures with lightning speed, the poisoner grunting again in annoyance as he nodded. Rabbit described the scene to Baiyun, who was somewhat speechless. How was he supposed to react to this?

  "Tsk... annoying." the poisoner rasped.

  His eyes turned to Baiyun, Rabbit leaping away in fright. It ran into the room, but bumped into the invisible distance limit of the contract. After panicking for a moment, it hid behind the door frame.

  The poisoner seemed to realise something, his annoyance quickly shifting to bemusement as he chuckled. It seemed to be at the irony of Baiyun being blind, rather than the rabbit fleeing.

  "This is Songbird." he said. "He will be taking you to the blacksmith. Don't resist."

  With that, the poisoner left as he laughed in a low rumbling voice, not loud but filled with mockery.

  Songbird? That was not a name Baiyun expected to hear, an almost cruel joke for a mute. Perhaps that said something about how the inmates here named their compatriots.

  The mute Songbird extended a hand over silently, and Baiyun accepted, finding the grasp firm yet gentle. Rabbit was left behind in the room once more, inmates staring as he was dragged along. But the many gazes made him uncomfortable, and he pulled his hand away.

  "There's no need for that." Baiyun said. "I might be blind, but I can still make my way around."

  Songbird nodded but Baiyun didn't notice. This seemed to frustrate the man, and for a moment, he seemed tempted to grab another random inmate. But he ultimately refrained, the two of them continuing through the hallways.

  The polluted breeze rushed past them, the sound of thousands of wind chimes accompanying it far in the distance. What in the world would make such a sound? Baiyun could not help but be somewhat unsettled, unable to imagine what the source would be.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Howling beasts and clashing weapons could be heard far in the distance as well. Perhaps there was a separate division of inmates that fought at night, keeping the border defended around the clock.

  Baiyun would ask about the chimes if he could, but he couldn't exactly ask Songbird. It was somewhat frustrating.

  Cold air greeted them as they stepped outside the building, trudging along an uneven path of poorly cobbled stone as he tapped his walking stick. Baiyun thought he heard the sound of a sword slicing air close by, but it was too faint to be sure.

  He could feel his breath mist as he exhaled, though the freezing air grew warmer as Songbird led him down the path.

  Another grey building of simple make soon entered his range of divine touch, covered in vents and glowing with orange light as hot smoke erupted from vents. A smithy of sorts, it seemed.

  Songbird knocked on the door.

  "Who's there?" an old man yelled.

  The mute man retrieved a flute, long and slender enough that it seemed the slightest force would snap it. Its polished white sheen and slight discolouration almost resembled ivory, but the cold touch and hardness suggested mineral origins.

  He placed it to his mouth, closing his eyes as he blew a gentle melody. Baiyun turned in surprise. Perhaps the title of Songbird was more apt than he thought, and not of mockery.

  "Another recruit?"

  A clatter echoed from within the smithy, hot air bursting out as a gruff old man opened the door. His dense muscles seemed to pull his dried and withered skin taut, a strip of black cloth tied around his hair to protect it from flames.

  He glanced at Songbird at Baiyun, then looked around in puzzlement.

  "Where's the new recruit?" he frowned.

  Songbird silently pointed at Baiyun and gestured, the blacksmith letting out a deep sigh.

  "Another kid? Tsk. What is WanLing coming to?" he grumbled. "Fine. Follow me."

  Baiyun nodded and stepped into the smithy with the old man, immediately feeling the immense heat.

  Endless rows upon rows of battered armour and weaponry lined the walls of the forge, overlapping each other, some of the pieces even spilling over onto the ground and piling up. It was the messiest smithy he had ever seen.

  In the midst of the building was a roaring furnace with its mouth shut. But even then, it radiated with such warmth that even his ruined eyes saw an indistinct orange hue, the heat distorting the very air.

  Baiyun was glad he had some natural resistances as an earth cultivator. Any wood aligned inmates would not have a good time here.

  "Stand still." the blacksmith grunted.

  A black silken rope lined with marks and numbers was wrapped around him, then lined from head to toe. Baiyun guessed the intent and was somewhat surprised.

  "You make custom armour for every new inmate?" he asked.

  He would have expected WanLing to toss shoddy worn-down armour to their inmates instead of going through such efforts.

  "Mn. The sect pays me a fixed commission for each piece." the smith said gruffly, sounding uninterested in conversation. "I'll cut you a simple set of coin-mail."

  Baiyun's gaze darkened as the blacksmith walked away with the measurements. He could tell he was being looked down upon again.

  "That won't do." he said. "Make me a proper set of heavy armour."

  "Kid. You need to first be able to handle the armour." the smith grunted. "A soldier that can't dodge on the battlefield is asking to die."

  Quite the excuse for someone looking to skim on work. Baiyun cursed inwardly at the man. Being constantly underestimated because of his injuries and always having to demonstrate his strength... he was beginning to get very tired of it.

  He reached for one of the wall racks, picking up one of the heavier armours with a clang.

  "What are you doing?" the blacksmith frowned.

  Even full plate was meant to be light enough for the soldier to be mobile, but heavier and stronger spirit metals were used for cultivators could handle the weight.

  Baiyun hoisted the armour above his head and did his best to put it on. The giant torso of metal enveloped him and fell to knee-height with a clang, and he awkwardly stuck his hands outwards of the shoulder holes.

  Wrapped in such an oversized piece of armour and waddling around, he felt like he had become a turtle. He awkwardly ran and jumped around, trying to demonstrate he was still mobile.

  Baiyun suddenly felt mortified. What was he doing exactly? This didn't go how he thought it would because of his tiny body...

  Worse, there was a certain unpleasant stench lingering inside the metal shell. How filthy were the inmates, handing in unwashed armour to be serviced at the blacksmith?

  The smith only sighed at the sight.

  "Kid, just being able to pick up heavy armour won't do. You also need to be able to handle it for long periods on patrol. Otherwise, it would only be a burden to you."

  Baiyun held back his urge to lecture the man for irresponsibly weaselling out of work, especially work that would save another's life. Angering the smith wouldn't do any good. He needed to be a little more "diplomatic".

  "I know you don't think my odds of survival are high." he said, bowing with a trembling voice. "It would just be wasting your time to make armour for some kid who's just going to die immediately. But the sect is paying you isn't it? I don't demand much, but please... all I need is the bare minimum."

  Of course, it was acted. He knew how to be shameless when needed.

  "Tsk..." the blacksmith's eyes twitched. "Hmph. If you're so insistent, I'll show you the truth of the matter. Come with me."

  "Thank you!" Baiyun said with faked joy.

  "Spare me the bad acting." the man grunted.

  Baiyun could only cough awkwardly. Was his acting really that bad? Yue the light spirit always fell for it.

  The smith marched to the back of the workshop and pushed a heavy door open, snapping his fingers and beckoning for him. Baiyun nodded and hurriedly followed him in, still awkwardly wearing the oversized armour.

  "Just ditch it already!" the old man yelled.

  Baiyun obliged and tossed it aside. He wasn't complaining, since it was hard to use his walking stick while turtled.

  The back room of the workshop was dusty and smelled of old metal. All around, strange artefacts were sorted into large metal shelves, the less desired ones tossed into piles on the ground instead. Realising how much of a "garbage heap" the workshop was made him extremely uncomfortable, and he silently cursed the smith again.

  But after casually spreading divine touch around the room, he raised an eyebrow. Complicated interlocking joints and gears filled most of the artefacts, making the most out of power generated by formations within. Though with the complicated parts came points of mechanical failure, and many had broken down due to rusted and worn-down joints.

  Most did not seem to be weapons but weird tools, a strange sight in a smithy situated near a warzone.

  For artefacts in a mortal world, these were surprisingly well-crafted. Baiyun was first and foremost an alchemist, but he had dabbled in artefact forging in his younger years; it was in fact how he met his only true friend, Yuan Dao the Blacksmith Elder.

  He couldn't help but touch the artefacts with his hands directly, direct contact allowing him to sense their intricacies better. He suppose it made sense in a world where alchemy was centered on cauldron craftsmanship, such a field would be advanced too.

  Meanwhile, the smith grunted as he rummaged through the piles of artefacts, tossing them aside and shoving shelves aside as they groaned. Finally, he grabbed a gigantic disk formed from countless folded mechanisms and rings, even taller than he was.

  "Found it!" he said. "Move aside or you'll be crushed!"

  The smith grunted as he hoisted it up and began to roll it along the ground. Baiyun decided to heed his advice and quickly left the back room, awaiting the man outside.

  With loud footsteps, the smith placed the disc on the ground with a clang, stepping back and activating it with qi sense. Metal groaned and creaked as the disc began to unravel, rearranging itself into a strange circular staircase.

  There was no proper start or end to the staircase, the steps looping continuously into themselves. With every step one took, mechanical parts would rearrange the staircase and shift forward endlessly.