The frozen spirit had changed since the last time we saw it. It materialized in front of Master Liu with the same long hair and ragged clothing, but now its skin was a deep blood red color.

"Can they see it too," I wondered, "Or is it just my eyes?" Master Liu answered my question.

"Now is not the time to show off, you filth." He spat while drawing out a soul binding amulet. He murmured the incantation and launched the amulet at the red ghost. The amulet coiled into a flaming snake that gleamed in the ghost's dull eyes. It moved in both slow and super motion, first noticing the flaming snake, and then dashing away from us.

Master Liu let out a surprised grunt, waving his hands to redirect the snake. The red ghost dashed backwards again. Master Sima, standing next to me, waved his hands in a new tactic. He raised his foot with a flourish and stamped on the ground with all of his might. A golden light burst around him and a ring of energy displaced the air. I watched as he invited something powerful into him.

It was different than when Master Liu invited his dark companion. Whatever inhabited Master Sima was radiating a powerful Yang air. The red ghost cast a loathsome look at Master Sima, giving the flaming snake just enough time to coil around it.

Sima Jie's face curled up into a smile. He waved his hands in a dismissing tactic and whispered, "Be gone." The Yang air emanating from the very air around him faded and disappeared. Master Liu cast him a glance.

"Senior Fellow Apprentice, I don't think this spirit was worth inviting your god." He told him.

Master Sima's smile hardened. "I know what I'm doing, Liu Chunan. We need to catch this miscreant and get out of this place as soon as possible."

"Why?" I interrupted. "What's going to happen?"

Master Liu quick stepped my way and rapped his knuckles on my head. "Don't question your superiors. If Sima Jie feels that something will happen, then it will. Let's take care of this foul spirit and be gone from here."

Master Liu took out a yellow bag embroidered with the Eight Trigrams. He murmured an incantation, making tactics with his hands. The red ghost let out a gurgling screech as it was pulled from the flaming circle and into the bag like debris into a vacuum cleaner.

"Let's go." Master Liu said simply. He turned in step with Sima Jie and the three of us retraced our way out of the col.

"Godfather," I asked while we speed walked up the trail. "Why did the frozen ghost look different?" Master Liu gave me a puzzled look. "It was blood red all over! It looked much more powerful too."

Master Liu looked away from me. His eyes focused ahead of us. He was silent for a long time before saying, "You saw what it wanted you to see. You were enchanted."

"What?" I asked, actually surprised. "But, my jadeIt should've protected me."

"You weakened it, remember? You gave the stone to Zhao Yuan and marred its effect!" He snapped back.

I looked down at my chest where the stone swung back and forth. "What the hell jade?" I asked it.

Master Sima laughed out loud, but Master Liu knocked me on the head again. "You reap what you sow." He said.

I snapped my mouth shut and stayed silent.

The Falling Dragon stone appeared ahead, marking our exit. I sped up into a happy run, but behind me the two old men came to a sudden stop. When I no longer heard the crunch of their feet, I turned to look. Master Liu was staring up at the sky.

"What are you guys-" I started. Sima Jie loosed a hissing "Shh!"

Master Liu, still staring into the sky, whispered, "My god"

Following his gaze, I looked up to the sky. A cloud the color of midnight was creeping its way across the sky. The noon sun lost the battle and the world started to darken. In the middle of the day, it became night. I opened my mouth to shout when Master Liu closed the distance between us. He grabbed me across the chest, knocking the air out of my lungs and silencing the scream before I could make it.

"Behind the stone!" Master Liu whispered.

Master Sima's hands were darting in a new tactic. "In the name of the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord, I command you! Hide!" He called.

I looked at Master Liu worriedly. "He's using a cloaking incantation." He said quietly.

I realized how loud my breathing was and made efforts to calm it. I cupped a hand over my mouth and darted my eyes around, looking for whatever it was that could cause this.

A golden light shot down from the blackening sky. It lit upon the stone we hid behind, illuminating the footprints mere meters from us. Inside the light appeared a boy holding something in his hands, something magnificent.

"The dragon scales!" Sima Jie said in shock.

"That's why the National Master lived here. That's why Chu Yang was here!" I thought to myself, "Amazing!" The scales glittered and glistened in the golden boy's hands.

The boy changed before our eyes. His limbs began to bulge and swell. As his hands enlarged, he placed the scales down on the stone by his feet. He bent and swelled, hands changing into clawed flippers, back curving upwards into a giant bowl. Within a minute, the boy had turned into a hulking turtle the size of a small van. It perched atop the Falling Dragon stone right next to us.

I stared at it in dumbfounded shock. Master Liu's mouth moved to my ear. "Watch carefully. It will face the challenge. If successful, it will become a powerful immortal."

I turned to him to ask how spirits could become human immortals, but snapped my mouth shut when I saw his expression. He gave a shake of his head and gestured for me to watch.

The boy who'd become a turtle continued to gleam golden light. It shook its mighty head and picked up the scales in a beaklike mouth. Eyes the size of headlights rolled upwards to look into the sky. There was almost a human apprehension on its reptilian face.

The black clouds glared down on him, now reaching across the horizon. I heard a distant thunder roll through them.

Master Sima moved next to us. Both of the older men next to me sat in a cross-legged position and began moving their hands in unison. I listened closely as their voices matched in an incantation.

An ancient voice surfaced in my mind. It felt like mountains crawling across the earth as it spoke. "My gratitude" It rumbled. I darted my eyes around, looking for the speaker before realizing it was the turtle. It was thanking them. "If I succeedI will be in your debt"

Master Sima's face burst into a brilliant smile. The two men continued to move and speak as one.

All four of us stared into the clouds. Thunder cracked again and I wondered if the storm could hurt us.

As that thought surfaced, another voice filtered into my mind. It was Master Liu. I turned to look at him in surprise, but he was still murmuring incantations with Sima Jie. Inside my head, he spoke, "Don't fret, Xiao Yong. Meditate and clear your mind. Through this, we will reap supernatural air. All will be fine."

I nodded, not sure if he could see me or not. I crossed my legs and focused on clearing my mind. After a moment, an idea surfaced. "Perhaps I should summon my spirit friend. He's a green ghost after all. He should be able to help" I thought.

A light rain began pattering the ground around us. Thunder rumbled again and soon lightning followed.

The large turtle's golden light began to fade, appearing to soak into the beast. As the light faded, it was replaced by an impossible blackness. As one, Master Liu and Sima Jie gestured to the sky, pointing over the now black turtle's beak. Together they shouted, "Rise up!"

Both men's pointing fingers began to glow the same gold the turtle had been. The light shot from their hands and lit upon the turtle, spreading like a cloak over its back and replacing the darkness.

The turtle's shell began to shake and rumble beneath the golden light. It seemed to thicken and grow into a luminous shield atop its back. I gasped at the impossible light and a name came to mind from the books I'd read. "The Impenetrable Defense" My mind told me, "It's real!"