In the untamed wilds, every step carries both danger and opportunity. The wise cultivator learns to see beyond the surface, to feel the pulse of qi that marks territorial boundaries, and to recognize that even the most fearsome beasts follow predictable patterns. Yet it is often our own rashness, not the wilderness itself, that poses the greatest threat to sess.


    —Master Song Lin, Schr of the Jade Path


    Xin braced against the bronze collection device strapped to Feng Yu’s back. She pushed qi through her entire body for support as her muscles strained to push upward. The valley path had deteriorated into a treacherous maze of broken stone and jutting rocks.


    At least cultivators didn’t sweat easily unless their qi reserves were hard pressed. They hadn’t reached that point yet. The stupid climb was just more of an annoyance.


    The two-foot rocky steps earlier hadn’t slowed them down. Feng Yu’s enhanced strength made those look trivial and Xin hadn’t needed to help with the bnce of the thing at all. But then they’d faced a choice: a thirty-meter cliff drop or a knife-edge ledge that twisted down into fog-filled ravines.


    They’d picked thetter and ended up going down the former, anyway.


    Now they struggled up chest-high rock faces that demanded constant climbing.


    No one in their right mind would call this a road . Only the verified directions Feng Yu had acquired from Fershere’s Treasure Pavilion gave her any confidence they were headed the right way.


    They were almost there… just one more hump.


    "Come on! Push!" Feng Yu encouraged.


    Xin nted her feet and shoved hard against the collection device. The sudden forceunched Feng Yu forward with an undignified squawk as she tumbled up and over the ledge.


    A secondter, Xin hauled herself over as well. Her palms scraped against the rough stone as she rolled onto solid ground.


    "We made it into the wilds." Feng Yu sat cross-legged with the straps to the bronze bell still tugging at her back. She gestured toward the expanse ahead. "There’s the valley."


    Xin pushed to her feet and stared in awe. A massive trough stretched between the mountains that cupped it like two sheltering hands. A dense evergreen forest rimmed the scarp and surrounded a dominating, pristine blueke in the center.


    Sunlight danced across the crystal-blue water, creating diamond-like sparkles across its surface. Giant birds soared overhead, their wingspans casting fleeting shadows as they dove toward the water.


    At the far end of the valley, creatures straight out of Earth’s prehistoric era lumbered between the trees. One beast, tall as a building and built like a mutated elephant, ripped up an entire tree trunk. The monster chomped through the wood and leaves with the casual ease of someone eating a sandwich.


    It sparked her memories of Phoenix Kingdom Chronicles . The valley mirrored the perfect location she’d chosen for her sect—spacious enough for defensive walls, element-focused cultivation pagodas, and gathering grounds for inner and outer disciples. Theke would support a proper dock with leisure boats and a spiritual fishery.


    Most importantly, the natural istion would protect frommon riffraff while the terrain’s shape would make the invasion-protection arrays much more energy efficient.


    "Wow. Is this The Land Before Time or something?" The words slipped out before she could catch them.


    "What?" Feng Yu frowned.


    "Nothing." Xin shook her head. "Just amazed how different it looks from the wastnds outside."


    "Well, we’re in the wilds now. The qi changed drastically." Feng Yu stretched, the leather straps pulling against her. "Did you notice?"


    Xin frowned and extended her qi sense outward, probing the surrounding air. The spiritual energy flowed with the same thickness and consistency she’d grown ustomed to in Fershere. "The density seems identical?"


    A brightugh escaped Feng Yu. "Yeah, but it’s not the same. Can’t you feel the pulse?"


    Xin closed her eyes, blocking out the prehistoric valley’s distractions. She pushed her awareness deeper into the qi currents, past the surface-level energy. At first, nothing stood out beyond the usual ebb and flow.


    Then—there. A subtle vibration threaded through the qi, so rapid she almost missed it. The sensation reminded her of touching a running engine, a nearly imperceptible hum of contained power.


    "Maybe?" Xin opened her eyes. "I’ve never noticed anything like that before. I’d have to go back to Fershere topare."


    "Every region has a different pulse." Feng Yu adjusted the collection device’s straps and stood up. "That’s how you know you’ve crossed through a barrier. They don’t always announce themselves with dramatic fog or visible boundaries."


    "Right." Xin absorbed the insight. The concept aligned perfectly with how Phoenix Kingdom Chronicles separated its regions. Different enemies, varied encounters, shifting qi densities, and elemental affinity bonuses—all changed at regional boundaries. She wasn’t sure how well that mirrored reality, but the rest stood to follow if the qi signature did.


    Would it kill the universe to give me a status interface? Xin sighed.


    Feng Yu took a step forward and headed toward the treeline below. The broken tforms they’d crossed gave way to a long gravel slope that stretched down to struggling grass skirting the trees.


    "We should gather anything useful along the way," Xin said, scanning the ground for resources.


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    Feng Yu extended her palm with a knowing smirk. Four fragments of translucent green stone sparkled in the sunlight, catching and refracting the rays like living crystal.


    "Spiritual jade fragments?" Xin stared at the precious stones. "When did you—"


    Feng Yu’sugh echoed across the slope. "Keep your eyes sharp, martial sister! We’re here for a mission, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an adventure. Treasure lurks everywhere!"


    Xin caught herself smiling as she scanned the treeline for spirit herbs. Great, now I’m infected with whatever madness drives Ren Chun and Feng Yu .


    Still, the excitement sparked through her qi. Purple-stemmed nts dotted the grass near ancient tree trunks, their leaves shimmering with spiritual essence. She’d collect themter.


    The gravel crunched beneath their boots as they picked their way down the slope. Feng Yu angled toward the crystallineke.


    "Should we really head toward the water?" Xin studied the shoreline for movement.


    "Don’t know." Feng Yu adjusted the bronze collection device. "But serpents probably need to drink, right?"


    "Makes sense." Xin kept her qi sense extended, trying to practice her ability to monitor their surroundings.


    Life teemed around them everywhere—birds swooped through branches while insects buzzed inplex harmonies. The wilderness pulsed with natural energy, so very different from ckmere’s tainted swamps. A six-winged creature soared overhead, casting prismatic shadows through translucent feathers.


    "Last time I ventured into wild territory, the beasts attacked almost immediately," Xin said.


    "In ckmere?" Feng Yu nced back.


    "The swamp, yeah." Xin remembered the ck scaled creatures lurking beneath the murky waters.


    "ces like that fill up with beasts over time." Feng Yu swept her arm toward the valley. "This is more usual. Someone probably came through here in thest decade and cleared out the most hostile creatures. But ckmere isn’t exactly prime real estate for cultivators. Probably no one strong enough passed by to deal with them in a long time."


    Xin studied herpanion’s profile. "Was the bounty really why you came? A thousand spirit stones sort of feels inadequate."


    A flicker crossed the other woman’s face—so brief Xin almost missed it.


    "No." Feng Yu picked up the pace slightly. "The bounty provided a convenient excuse. I needed toy low, avoid some...plications. Nothing that should cause you trouble, though."


    "Huh. Okay." Xin absorbed this revtion while scanning the treeline. Everyone had secrets, and Feng Yu had already proven herself reliable. For the setting, anyway.


    It wasn’t like she didn’t have a bunch of secrets she was holding herself.


    Keeping those close seemed like the safest bet, but… Damn it. The longer they worked together, the more and more she wanted toy everything out and get advice on things.


    But… that also felt like shaking a tree, and without knowing if the fruits would be hard or soft as theynded on her head. Xin let out a sigh as the trees and water came closer.


    The tree trunks grewrger, the distance no longer making a mirage of their size. Ancient branches formed a thick natural canopy while a fence of leafy underbrush ran along the perimeter.


    Xin gestured toward it. "Should we set up the trap in the trees?"


    Feng Yu nced between the trees and theke. There was a natural runway down to the water at the two ends of the valley, but they were still a bit high up on the slope. "Let’s keep going down until it’s level."


    "Sounds like a n," Xin replied. They continued down without issue until they put the water on their left and the forest on their right.


    Feng Yu turned and nodded toward the trees. "This should be good."


    It didn’t turn out to be good.


    Xin hacked at the dense undergrowth with qi-enhanced strikes using her spear. Thick vines and branches moved out of the way grudgingly. Feng Yu followed behind, using her qi in heavy pulses that ran through the air to break through any snags.


    It was worse than climbing the mountain!


    Eventually, the forest floor transformed from a jungle-like thicket into a rtively thin open space between the thick tree trunks. Light fell down in weak dappled patterns as the wind sieved through the branches.


    A thunderous crack split the air and Xin jumped. A giant squirrel—easily the size of apact car—mmed into a nearby tree trunk. The impact shook leaves loose as the creature scrambled away, its bushy tail leaving destruction in its wake.


    "There is one!" Feng Yu pointed toward a clearing ahead.


    Xin followed her gesture and froze. A dawn serpent coiled around a fallen log, its eight-meter length rippling with self-luminescent white scales. The ethereal glow pulsed in gentle waves along its body.


    Xin studied the creature’s disy. "How do they sneak up on anything glowing like that?"


    "They probably just eat qi most of the time," Feng Yu said. "And sleeping things, maybe?"


    Impatience thrummed through Xin. "Let’s set the trap and then grab it and throw it in."


    Feng Yu chuckled. "Doesn’t that defeat the point of a trap?"


    "Hmm." Xin tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Either way, we’ll get scales. One method is faster than waiting for it toe after the bait..."


    She helped Feng Yu lower the bronze collection device to the ground. The bell shape settled onto four heavy feet that prevented the interior from being flush with the ground. The outer surface was etched with intricate patterns that reminded her of circuit boards.


    Dropping to her hands and knees, Xin crawled beneath the bell’s rim. She positioned a small block at the center, creating a small tform for a spirit stone to sit on. The stone’s faint light blue glow cast dancing shadows across the bronze interior.


    She backed out and brushed the dirt from her robes. An borate control panel housed a second stone slot, and a weathered copper dial. She inserted a second spirit stone and turned on the mechanism. Qi channels lit up across the bell’s surface, following geometric grooves that pulsed with stored power.


    "Finally!" Feng Yu stretched dramatically, rolling her shoulders. "That thing weighs more than ten people."


    "Maybe I could carry it back?" Xin suggested.


    Feng Yu hummed thoughtfully. "Not sure little sister is ready for that level of weight training!"


    "Hey, I’m not weak!" Heat rose to Xin’s cheeks.


    "I know." Feng Yu smiled warmly. "Should we find a suitable spot to watch from? The serpent wille investigate soon."


    Xin grinned and spun toward where they’d spotted the dawn serpent. "Ha!"


    She’d go wrestle the creature into the trap personally.