Su Yan and Yuan Qi shrank to the size of beans inside a silk handkerchief. The fabric lifted, and they tumbled into a basket.
Zhou Yupo's cackling face appeared above. "My bean soldiers helped me find you. Pity they're broken."
She shook the handkerchief. Su Yan and Yuan Qi fell among actual beans—hundreds of them.
The beans stood up. Golden armor, helmets, swords. Each was a handsome soldier, proud and alert.
"Who are you?" one demanded. "We're the Bean Troopers of the Roving Heaven Estate!"
Su Yan stared. *They're alive. They think they're people.*
The leader looked at Su Yan. "Which of you is the young master? The estate master ordered us to protect you."
Su Yan ignored him and climbed toward the basket's edge.
"Don't go out!" a bean soldier grabbed his leg. "Giant two-legged gods with iron beaks and flaming heads! They've eaten countless brothers!"
Yuan Qi tilted his head. "You mean chickens?"
Su Yan reached the rim and looked out. They flew through the sky on a golden roc—Zhou Yupo's Inner Realm manifestation. Below, the broken peak of Mount Wuwang bled dust into the air.
Then the horizon convulsed.
"Bell!" Su Yan shouted.
The bell burst from his head, shattering the basket. Su Yan, Yuan Qi, and hundreds of bean soldiers tumbled into its interior.
Zhou Yupo grabbed for the bell. A shockwave from the distant battle struck her. Her roc dissolved. She spat blood and fell.
The bell tumbled through the sky, ringing, ancient patterns flaring. But the crack Yun Qian had left in it became the weak point. The barrier tore. The bell spun wildly and crashed into a forest, rolling for miles before stopping.
Su Yan crawled out, legs shaking. Yuan Qi's bones had dislocated from the turbulence. Su Yan snapped them back into place.
Behind them, Mount Wuwang had split in half.
"My home..." Yuan Qi whispered.
Surviving bean soldiers knelt before their dead, wailing. One kicked his companions. "Men die in battle! Stop crying like children!"
They rose, fierce again.
Su Yan studied them. These beans had survived that shockwave. Zhou Yupo had refined them well.
Blue birds descended from the sky—massive, iron-boned, from the underworld mountains. Their wings tore trees from the earth. Their beaks shattered stone.
The bean soldiers charged, screaming battle cries. Birds pecked them apart, swallowed them whole. Blood sprayed. Limbs flew.
"Cover the young master!" a soldier shouted.
Dozens rushed the birds, buying seconds with their lives. Su Yan watched them die and felt something twist in his chest.
"Yuan Qi, put me down."
"A-Yan, we need to run!"
"I opened the Mud Pill Secret Repository. I'm a nuo master now." Su Yan's eyes blazed. "I won't let them die for nothing."
He activated his Mud Pill grotto-heaven. Chaos energy transformed into pure vitality. He'd never studied nuo arts—but he understood the principle. He was a cultivator who followed instinct.
A bird stomped a bean soldier, beak descending for the kill. Su Yan pointed. The bean exploded upward, becoming a two-foot-tall golden warrior. His sword pierced the bird's skull.
Su Yan walked into the battle, pointing left and right. Beans transformed into warriors, turning the tide. Archers formed ranks and shot down the fleeing birds.
Yuan Qi gaped. "A-Yan... is that a nuo art?"
"I don't know. It just felt right."
"Which deity reincarnated as you?"
Su Yan laughed. "I'm just me. I remember my parents, my village—"
Yuan Qi interrupted quickly. "Can you break that old woman's art on us too?"
"Her technique is stronger than mine. Breaking it will take time."
"As long as it's possible."
Zhou Yupo's voice cut through the air. "What is the young master trying to break?"
Silk fell over them. They were back in the basket.
Zhou Yupo peered inside. "My beans led me to you. Such a shame they're ruined."
She dumped the soldiers out and walked on.
Su Yan looked at the abandoned beans. He sent a pulse of Mud Pill vitality into them. They sprouted, rooting into the soil.
*You're too small to survive here,* he thought. *But as plants, you'll grow, flower, and seed again.*
Zhou Yupo sensed the vitality flow and froze. "You opened the Mud Pill Secret Repository?"
Su Yan lounged in the basket. "Your ancestor consults me. Why is this surprising?"
She covered the basket and walked faster. "The ancestor battles that underground thing. I'm injured. Need to find the others."
"Why did you come?" Su Yan asked. "Someone like your ancestor should stay in the capital."
"The Nai River changed course. The underworld invaded. Everyone's watching Yongzhou. New lands mean untold treasures. My Zhou family started here—we have the strongest claim."
A familiar voice called out: "Excuse me, grandmother. Which way to Mount Wuwang?"
Su Yan's heart leaped. *Veyon! And Elder Xiao—that old servant is a powerhouse!*
He almost shouted—but Zhou Yupo's hand closed around Yuan Qi's throat.
Su Yan went silent. Instead, he sent a faint sword will outward.
"Thank you, grandmother," Veyon said. "Elder Xiao, let's go."
Elder Xiao's voice drifted back: "Remember, young master—no fishing in the river."
"I'm just going to discuss consciousness techniques. Why would I fish?"
They walked on. Zhou Yupo released Yuan Qi.
She approached a ruined temple. "Shuikou Temple... strange name."
Su Yan tensed. *The white-robed master will definitely try to kill me.*
Veyon's voice returned: "Grandmother, that's a dead Nuo Immortal's Inner Realm. Dangerous."
Zhou Yupo stopped. "Why aren't you going to Mount Wuwang?"
Veyon's tone cooled. "My friend is in your basket. Why go to the mountain?"
The basket shook. Su Yan grabbed Yuan Qi and leaped.
They fell through open air. "Ants don't die from falling!" Su Yan shouted.
They hit the ground, bounced up, and ran.