《The Luxe Life Reboot: Cultivating in the Wild》 Chapter 1 - Leo, Deer, and the Nameless Forest Chapter 1 Leo, Deer, and the Nameless Forest ¡°Ugh,¡± Leo grumbled as he slowly opened his eyes, surveying his surroundings. The headache was splintering--eight tequila shots will do that to you--but not so much as to distort the appearance of his lavish, envy-inducing, middle-of-Manhattan apartment. For starters, his bedroom didn¡¯t have grass in it, nor did it have trees... nor did it have a deer licking his toe that was sticking out of an old sock. ¡°AAAHH!!¡± he yelped out in terror, scaring the deer away. It swiftly bolted, leaving him aghast with the new reality. Reality that was quickly explained by the screen that appeared in front of him. [Congratulations on dying a premature death and being transmigrated into the Val¡¯hun World!] [You have inhabited a body of a nobody, someone of no parental lineage, no special bloodline, no ties to the Immortals, no access to anything worthy of note! In fact, whatever you choose to call yourself, the world will believe you! Because that¡¯s how worthless you are!] [To kickstart your progress, your Spiritual Roots (which were abysmal) were repaired and increased from Abysmal to Low-Tier Damaged Mortal Roots. You may spend points to increase the tier of your roots! Remember: the lower the tier, to slower the cultivation! And the slower the cultivation, the higher the chance of dying!...again!] [You are currently situated within the Nameless Forest where you have to survive and find a way back to the civilization! You are given three major quests: --1-- Survive the forest¡¯s ordeals --2-- Ascend into Spirit Formation Realm before leaving the forest --3-- Become apprenticed to a Sect or found one of your own] [As a temporary boost, you will be given special statuses for 7 days: --1-- You will become incapable of feeling Fear, Terror, Anxiety, Crippling Doubt, or any and all states of mind that may impede your progress --2-- First strike against every enemy will deal 8x more damage if done from stealth --3-- You will not need to consume any nourishment to sustain yourself --4-- Your System XP gains will be increased by 200%] [System XP: gain System XP by doing tasks such as--killing wild beasts or demonic monsters, harvesting unique herbs and plants, creating medicinal pastes, forging weapons and tools, building shelters, and anything that can be considered an achievement for your pathetic circumstances!] [By leveling up the System, you unlock further functions that will ensure you don¡¯t die young and stupid!...again!] [You will be informed of further things on need-to-know basis! Good luck...ish!] Leo stared rather absentmindedly at the floating blue screen in front of him. He wanted to cry, he really did, but couldn¡¯t. He also wanted to scream out, very much so, but his body wouldn¡¯t let him. All he could do was stare blankly at the deer who had come back and was peeking toward him from behind a bush. It looked like a weird voyeur, prompting Leo to finally laugh out loud at the thought. ¡°Ha ha ha--why the hell am I laughing?!!¡± he cursed at himself, grasping at his head. ¡°No, no, no, just get me back home, man! I know I ain¡¯t exactly pine of the forest and the glitter of the stars, but I got folk that¡¯ll miss me! Plus, who¡¯s gonna feed Mr. Fetching Kitten?! Aya, don¡¯t force him to eat my corpse, man! That¡¯s not cool!¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. His grievances poured out like a rain but they were hollow--they were just words, and his emotional state came dangerously close to feeling ¡®psychotic¡¯. It was the loud, thunderous rumble of his stomach that woke him up ever so slightly to the reality of his current life. He wasn¡¯t hungry--or thirsty, even--but was on the ¡®cusp¡¯ of it. Like that feeling midway between lunch and dinner, where you weren¡¯t exactly ¡®hungry¡¯, but still reached for a bag of chips for some light snacking. It was a rather annoying feeling, but it vanished quickly. Apparently, he wasn¡¯t even allowed to feel irate. Standing up, he dusted off his clothes and took a look at them for the first time--they were shabby, to say the least, tattered and torn and should have been tossed into the shredder some eight years ago, but they were rather warm. He had wooden sandals on his feet with a set of toenails that could be used as claws, and though the body wasn¡¯t exactly brimming with muscles, it was in shape. ¡°Alright. First things first... shelter, right?¡± he looked around at the plentiful of trees and smiled faintly. He didn¡¯t recognize them--they were rather thin and tall, with leafy canopies and no fruits that he could see. But it was moot, anyway, as he had no tools to make anything complex. In fact, his best bet was to make a mud hut, but to do that, he¡¯d have to find water first. Until then, just the classic straw-roof-hut would have to suffice. As such, he went around and started plucking leafs and picking up the ones that fell as well as breaking off quite a few branches. He saw quite a few berries and even a few mushrooms, but stayed well enough away from them. Even if he did recognize them (which he decidedly didn¡¯t as they were all at least 4 times larger than the biggest ones he knew back on Earth), he would have still stayed away as this was a completely different world, and he was in no hurry. Well, seven days grace period wasn¡¯t exactly a cause for a ¡®no hurry mantra¡¯, but he physically couldn¡¯t feel any other way. And he couldn¡¯t even feel frustrated about it. It was all very strange. ¡°Mhkay,¡± he mumbled after fashioning a straw hut. ¡°That won¡¯t keep away piss from the birds.¡± It collapsed soon after, what with the violently gentle breeze of the wind passing through at the remarkable 3 miles per hour. ¡°Right. Why did I think I could even do it? I watched like 3 videos of other people doin¡¯ it and suddenly I¡¯m Mr. Bob, huh? Haah...¡± Scratching his head, he began to wander around aimlessly, exploring his surroundings. He was still careful, though--after all, the ¡®system¡¯ confirmed that there were wild beasts about that weren¡¯t all as curiously harmless as that voyeur deer, and it would do him no good to have his limbs divorced from his body this early on in his journey in another world. The forest, through and through, was eerily similar; in fact, it may as well have been a maze. Leo hardly had any experience navigating anything past the city streets, so it wasn¡¯t long before he was lost. Well, lost--as he didn¡¯t have anywhere to return to, he, technically, wasn¡¯t lost. He was simply journeying. ¡°Khm, the system even won¡¯t allow me to have a bruised ego, khm...¡± Eventually, he finally came across a body of water--it was a small, pool-size pond surrounded by glistening rocks and several smaller critters drinking from it. He recognized two--a rabbit and a hawk, though the second head on the rabbit and the six wings on the hawk played loose with the ¡®recognized¡¯ part--while the several others hardly had counterparts he could assign them to. They were just... animalistic shapes with heads and limbs as far as he could tell. They all warily glanced at him but, luckily, didn¡¯t immediately lounge for his throat. He also didn¡¯t approach them, sitting down near the edge where no animals were present and scooping up a handful of water. He wasn¡¯t thirsty, either, but just like with ¡®hunger¡¯ portion of feeling sated, it was the feeling of being on the cusp of it; had he been watching a movie, for example, he would not have gotten up to fetch a drink, but if it got any worse, he would have. As the water drizzled down his throat, he suddenly felt his entire body alight with freshness--for some reason, he began to hear popping sounds throughout, and felt invisible threads of something ethereal rush from within the depths of his core. [Congratulations on achieving Enlightenment!] [With the help of Fresh Water, you have reached Sixth Stage of Qi Condensation Realm!] [Fresh Water can no longer assist you in breaking stages, but can help you in refining the body!] [Fresh Water: with an unknown source, it flows to the surface and sustains the entirety of the Nameless Forest. Can be used for cooking, medicine, or mud bricks] [Unlocked a new building blueprint: Mud Hut!] [Mud Hut: a primitive shelter used for those in desperate positions. Requires: 15 pounds of mud, 40 stalks of nameless grass, 15 pieces of vine grass, 6 stones, 20 branches of the nameless trees] ¡°H-huh?¡± Leo stumbled and muttered. ¡°Did you just change your damn genre? Aah, whatever. Looks like I can pretend to be a jack-of-all-trades after all.¡± Standing up, he felt extremely light. Not only that, he could see much better, at a much greater distance, and even hear things well beyond the normal scope. His entire body felt beyond refreshed and anew, prompting him to glance at the pond of water and look at it oddly. ¡°I... I didn¡¯t stumble upon some divine source or something, right? Nah, no way. That ain¡¯t how it goes. It must be that this body was just so bad that even a drop of remotely normal water made it better. Plus, I¡¯m guessing there are like 56 realms and even newborns are all at least at Foundation Realm or something. Ho ho, you almost made me arrogant, system! Anyway, let¡¯s collect stuff for the mud hut. I can make it at that small clearing I just passed. It will be close to fresh water. I wonder if it will just appear like magic when I collect the ingredients? Alright, a good grinding sesh needs a good motivating song... ¡°I¡¯m a survivor, I¡¯m not gon¡¯ give up~~¡± Chapter 2 - Survivor Game? Cultivation? Adventure? Chapter 2 Survivor Game? Cultivation? Adventure? ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned,¡± Leo sucked in a cold breath as he stared at the mud hut in front of him. It really did just appear, like magic. As soon as he collected all the ingredients, he got a ¡®prompt¡¯ of sorts that, if he ¡®clicked¡¯, displayed a transparent version of the hut. He still had to physically clear up enough space, but as soon as he did, he could just plop it down and it... appeared. It was simple, somewhat circular, with straw roof and no doors, and it was empty and dark inside, but it was his new home. He shed a single tear, having to call this a ¡®home¡¯ now. A massive downgrade from an AC-powered flat in the middle of Manhattan with a view that countless would kill for, but when compared to sleeping on the floor or on the branches, it was astounding. [Congratulations for building a Mud Hut! You have earned 1 System XP! Just 9 more to Level Up!] [New Blueprints unlocked: Straw Bed, Wooden Torch, Spike Trap] [New Side Missions: --1-- Hunt down a wild boar that has been bullying the forest critters recently --2-- Tame a powerful beast to be your Home Guardian --3-- Discover the secret behind the Nameless Forest] The system was rather random, Leo noted; furthermore, as far as he could tell, he didn¡¯t have the ability to summon a ¡®status window¡¯ or anything of the sorts. Beyond those times where it appeared to tell him something, it was as though it didn¡¯t even exist. In fact, even when he was building the mud hut, he couldn¡¯t track how many ingredients he was missing and could only go from his memory. He overshot on quite a few and had the excess, but it was a good lesson. As such, he quickly looked up the three blueprints and memorized what they required to be built. With having reached the Sixth Stage, his memory, too, seemed to have improved considerably, but it wasn¡¯t as though the three new blueprints required a warehouse worth of materials to be built. He also memorized the three missions and immediately ignored the latter two, choosing to patiently check out the ¡®wild boar¡¯ and see if there was a chance to kill it. ¡°Tsk, just 1 XP for this bad boy,¡± he complained as he stared at the mud hut with pride, as though he built it with his own hands. Besides, nobody else knew about the system; to the world, he did build it with his own hands. ¡°First things first--let¡¯s build the bed.¡± Just like with the mud hut, as soon as he collected enough leafs, grass, and vines, he was able to place it in the hut. Considering it was made from nature¡¯s garbage, effectively, it was surprisingly comfortable. Furthermore, despite there being no doors, the mud hut offered a nice isolation. The temperature had slowly started rising as the day went on and it was, by Leo¡¯s estimates, closing in on the high 80s. Sitting down on the bed, he closed his eyes and tried meditating. After all, in all cultivation stories, characters spent about 80% of their lifespans just sitting and thinking about stuff. If he wanted to survive and progress, he imagined he¡¯d have to do the same--so, even if meditation right now didn¡¯t really do anything for him, as he had nothing else to do either, he may as well get accustomed to it. About 17 seconds later, he went back out and toward the pond. Most of the animals had scattered, likely due to the scorching weather, making Leo rather happy. Quickly taking off the shabby clothes, he jumped into the water and let it wash over him. He began to gingerly float and play around like a child, enjoying the moment of simplicity. ¡°Ah, I have a mentality of an immortal,¡± he mumbled. ¡°Nothing can shake me.¡± [The system--] ¡°Soon, the world will recognize just how mentally strong I am...¡± He left the pond about fifteen minutes later, feeling wholly refreshed. He also gave the old clothes a quick wash, but it hardly changed much; after all, even if using gold as glue, garbage would still remain garbage. Nonetheless, it was better than nothing. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Making a few landmarks to orient himself towards and even a map of sorts on a rather thick and large flower petal that he had stumbled upon, he began to wander about, exploring. It wasn¡¯t long before he realized that the forest seemed endless--even if he climbed on top of a tree to look about, all he saw were other trees. In the distance, their shapes and colors changed, and they grew even larger, but they were trees nonetheless. Here and there he saw protruding rocks, and an occasional mirage of a monster with a mile wide wingspan that was simply his mind playing tricks on him. He managed to map out roughly a mile and a half of radius around the mud hut before the nightfall. By then, the temperature chilled and strange howling could be heard and he dared not wander about aimlessly, swiftly returning to the hut. ¡°Ah. I forgot to craft a torch,¡± it was dark inside, and he couldn¡¯t even review his map properly, so he had to go at it from the memory. North of the hut was a lot of trees, but also a lot of red-capped mushrooms that seemed to grow about the very old trunks. West of the hut was a lot of trees, but also the pond where critters seemed to congregate at least twice a day--once in the morning and once early in the evening. South of the hut was a lot of trees, but also a lot of strange stalks of grass that seemed to be as hard as iron, though, with his infinitely amazing cultivator¡¯s strength, Leo was able to bend them. And east of the hut was a lot of trees, and a lot more trees. And then some more trees. He drifted to sleep feeling numb; it was eerie and strange, the sensation of not caring, yet also warm and ever-embracing. It felt like he was home, even though his home was a hastily-constructed mud hut in the middle of a nameless forest in the middle of god-knows-where. By all accounts, he should have been rolling on the floor, breathing rapidly into a paper bag, and praying this world had invented anxiety medication, and yet... there was none of it. Just calm. Peace. Stillness that seemed everlasting. The dawn came rather swiftly and Leo woke up feeling as well as he did yesterday, if a bit more rested. Yawning, he stretched and left the hut, looking around. Up on one of the branches, he saw a strange owl with a pair of eerily red eyes that was hooting and hollering, its wise eyes fixated on him. Coiling up the trunk of the very same tree was a python that seemed longer than Leo dared count; it was black and white and yellow, and its fleshy-seeming eyes stared at him just like the owl¡¯s did. The two were not alone--in fact, the more he looked around, the more terror he felt he should have been feeling. There was a white panther, a black tiger with two tails, a monkey with six arms and red fur, a stag with milky-white eyes and antlers that went about six feet above its head, an eagle with a wingspan of a small plane, and a myriad of other queer creatures and beasts that seemed far more curious about him than he was terrified of them. Well, than he should be terrified of them ¡°Hello~¡±he awkwardly greeted, not knowing what else to do. ¡°I hope you guys don¡¯t mind me making a home here. Uh, I, I¡¯m cool being a vegan, you know? Just, uh, just not sure what things are edible. Right. I¡¯m talking to a bunch of animals. I always knew I was nuts, but boy does it not feel good to have it confirmed. Khm, don¡¯t mind me, don¡¯t mind me. I¡¯m just gonna go wash my face...¡± Under the scrutiny of many-an-animal, Leo slowly walked to the pond, very much expecting to be jumped and torn limb for limb. Even so, he didn¡¯t feel any fear or terror or anxiety--the curse of numbness was still very much strong. However, to his surprise, he wasn¡¯t jumped; he made it to the pond safely, and washed his face, and by the time he turned around, he saw a marvelous sight--the monkey-like animal put down several dozen mushrooms, berries, and even some fruits in front of him. ¡°Oh, these are edible?¡± the monkey tilted his head and ¡®smiled¡¯ before scurrying away. ¡°Huh. This must be one of those really smart species. Oh, this fruit looks nice,¡± he picked a plum-looking fruit, though thrice the size of the one from his memory, and bit into it. The juices flooded and the taste of heaven crashed against his taste buds, coating him with bliss. He could feel himself becoming awake and apt, and imagined at the moment hearing his blood churn through the veins like water through canals. ¡°Wow. A fruit that makes me even more nuts.¡± He continued to nibble away at the many others that the monkey brought--a fruit that looked like an apple if an apple had edible ¡®needles¡¯ protruding from four sides; grape-like balls that had to be sucked like candy; bananas that tasted like a baked potato, and quite a few more that he couldn¡¯t even quite describe. Nonetheless, they were all quite tasty and actually did finally satiate him. For the first time since coming, he felt full in body and spirit. He also took a mouthful of water and washed it all down, prompting yet another set of screen windows to appear in front of him. [You have consumed a variety of strange fruits!] [Your potential has been increased!] [Your vitality has been increased!] [Your strength has been increased!] [Your agility has been increased!] [You regenerate from wounds much faster!] [You have reached the peak of Qi Condensation Realm!] [Consuming ¡®Feathered Fyra¡¯ has reshaped your foundations!] [Your cultivation was lowered to the First Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!] [You are now tied by fate with ¡®????¡¯] [A blessing dawns upon you--the Spirits are more likely to befriend you!] [New Quest: ¡®????¡¯ Monkey has a favor to ask of you: it wants you to build a tree house for him and his family!] [Time Limit: 3 days] [Reward: ¡®????¡¯ Monkey becomes your friend] [Failure: N/A] [New Blueprint Unlocked: Tree House!] [Tree House: 80 vines, 60 branches, 240 stalks of grass, 60 cadaea flowers] ¡°You need a house, huh, buddy?¡± Leo glanced up at the tree nearby where the monkey was currently lounging about. The latter glanced back at him and seemed to grin as Leo examined the requirements for the tree house. ¡°Better start gathering,¡± he sighed, noting that the tree house the monkey wanted wasn¡¯t akin to those the kids used to make back before all trees in the backyards went extinct. The furry brother wanted a palace, it seemed. ¡°Hmm, alright. Anthem for today will be... When I was, a young boy, my father took me into the city~~¡± Chapter 3 - Befriending the Forest--ish Chapter 3 Befrending the Forest--ish Leo yanked at the vine and ripped it clean, pulling it down into the bulk to the side. He had been collecting the materials for the monkey¡¯s tree house for quite a few hours now and was only halfway done. Furthermore, that did not include the last of the ingredients--ca-something flower, a name, even if it did exist on Earth, he wouldn¡¯t have recognized because his knowledge of flowers began and ended with varying colors of roses. Just then, he heard a rustling of the leaves to his left, prompting him to stop and slowly glide over to take a peek; he¡¯d noticed quite a few strange things happen, a number of which were sex-related which further fueled his idea that this nameless forest was a hedonistic hellhole where the sexually-charged offenders of the animal kingdom were imprisoned, though this one didn¡¯t appear to be that. There was a boulder of a boar--good four feet long--currently ribbing away like a taunting villain, looming over a pair of young deer whose legs were shaking with fear. [You have spotted the wild boar that had been causing trouble for the forest natives.] [Killing it will increase your favorability a decent amount.] [Wild Boar: Peak of Qi Condensation Stage Strengths: Great charge speed; durable Weaknesses: Low agility; susceptible to sneak attacks] [Wild Boar Meat is extremely delicious and its tendons ripe for bows and similar tools] Leo¡¯s entire repertoire about hunting came from a singular source--video games, which meant that it was about as useful as a condom to a eunuch. However, for some reason, there was a surging urge within him--urge to leap forth and strangle the beast. It wasn¡¯t righteous anger to avenge the poor critters, or even yearning for the supposedly delicious meat of the beast, but something akin to fiery competitiveness over meeting a stranger that¡¯s better at something than you. From what Leo recalled, his cultivation had been downgraded all the way down to the first Stage while the boar was at the peak (though, admittedly, Leo had been at the peak for a little while, too). By all accounts, he should just turn heel and go back to collecting all the weird flowers and praying one of the is cecedela or something. But, instead, he stilled his breathing and slowly moved toward the boar, crouching. The boar was still focused on taunting the scared deer and seemed entirely blind to its surroundings. It would ripple its hooves against the dirt here and there, but only to scare the feeble animals further. As such, Leo was easily able to approach its rear without being spotted. He also recalled the brief flash of one of the bonuses that he got alongside not feeling hunger, fear, thirst and such--though he forgot the exact number, he did recall that his first attack out of stealth would deal bonus damage. He could now only pray that it was enough to one-shot the damn thing. Yanking up the faint trace of Qi within him that he learned to move around roughly, he pushed it into his fist and, with as much momentum as he could muster in the foot and a half distance between the two, charged forth and slammed it into the two hanging bells easily visible. He heard the crack--like that of a thunder--that was followed by such a painful roar that even his heart ached. The roar shook the forest and the boar¡¯s hefty body grew weak and collapsed on the ground. He¡¯d broken the two bells and blood sprayed out like mad. Not allowing the boar to recover, he kept shoving the strands of Qi into his fists and pounding away at the boar¡¯s body, drilling it full of dents and even a few holes. It was ten seconds later that a window popped out, confirming that he¡¯d killed the thing. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. [Congratulations on slaying the Wild Boar!] [System XP increased by... 2! You are just 5 away from the System level up!] [You have killed a beast with 8 Stages of difference! A monumental achievement!] [You have reached Third Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm!] [Your vitality has been increased!] [Your strength has been increased!] [Your attacks out of stealth will deal 20% more damage!] [Your favorability with the critters of the Nameless Forest has been increased by 8. They now consider you a friend and will aid you if you ask them nicely!] [--New Side Quest Triggered!] [You have angered Wild Boar¡¯s mate! Its cries resound deep in the forest and it has picked up on your scent!] [It will reach you in 4 days!] [Slay the Wild Boar¡¯s Mate and end the cycle of revenge once and for all] [Wild Boar¡¯s Mate is at the Fourth Stage of Foundation Realm and has special Boar Bloodline!] [Work hard and improve your strength to face your yet greatest challenge... or just die!... again!] Leo rubbed his eyes and sighed; no good deed went unpunished, indeed. Here he was, trying to make the forest a safer place to live, only to be marked by some wild monster that he has no chance of killing. As the boar toppled over, his body wholly ruined and unusable otherwise, the two deer appeared and slowly, quite warily, approached him. He¡¯d sat down and pondered all-so-broodingly upon his cursed fate when he felt the two young critters lick him gently. Suddenly, his spent Qi was refreshed back to full, and the brooding sensation was swept away. Though it was likely because of the system and its insistence he felt nothing, he instead attributed it to the magic deer lick. ¡°You two fellas okay?¡± he smiled gingerly and petted the two animals that nestled their heads against his cheeks. ¡°That¡¯s good, then. Alright, I have to keep gathering crap for the monkey¡¯s tree house. Right, you two wouldn¡¯t know where I can find some, uh, cacela? Cecela? Cecilia? Ce-something-dammit flowers?¡± The two animals seemed to glance at each other like people would before one of them bit his clothes and yanked him forward. They dragged him some half a mile south and stopped by a patch of flowers resting neatly in the shade of a remarkably thick tree. The flowers each had between six and nine petals, all colored either in sky-blue or bruise-purple. They were quite beautiful, indeed, and as he picked one, he got the notification he was looking for. [You¡¯ve collected 1x cadaea flower] ¡°Cadaea! Right! Goddamn whoever named this crap,¡± he mumbled as he plucked away. ¡°Thank you,¡± he turned to the two deer. ¡°Want one? Ah, right, what¡¯d the deer do with the flowers. Maybe nibble away? I had a tortoise as a kid, y¡¯know? That damned animal would nibble at everything. Grass, leaves, socks, toes, asparagus... everything. I still remember the day I thought it¡¯d be great to walk him out like I saw other kids walk their pets. Never seen that Toyota comin¡¯ till it... system, please let me feel something!¡± Luckily, there were precisely 62 cadaea flowers in this particular patch, whole 2 over count, and by the time he was done plucking them, the sun had once again began to burn the sky. It must be summer here, he concluded as he hurriedly returned to his hut and to the sweet shade it provided. There weren¡¯t as many animals around his house as this morning, but there were still quite a few. Namely, there was a falcon-like bird perched on top of his mud hut, sunbathing. It opened its sharp eyes and gazed at him for a moment before ignoring him. Leo did the same, walking inside the hut where a set of surprises waited for him. For starters, the hut was illuminated by a strange lizard with a tail aglow with color, like a certain character from a certain game from his childhood. It lied coolly at the center, not even opening up its eyes as Leo entered. It wasn¡¯t alone, either; there was a wolf-like creature curled up in the corner, its head a seat to a small, palm-sized turtle. It peeked its head out of the shell for a moment before retreating it, ignoring Leo. There were a few other, small strays, but Leo ignored them as they ignored him. Lying down, he closed his eyes and drifted; memories of his life back on Earth surged. It was some life, in many ways--he was born with a diamond spoon, the sole heir of a hotel chain tycoon. Private schools, tutors, vacations, cars, jets, women... he was never in want of anything. However, unlike his dad who simply gave him money and ignored him, his mom was a hawk--she forced him to get at least a Bachelor¡¯s, and even to work for a while, not to mention punishing him whenever he did something stupid... like buying a horse for a girl he fancied. Four times. Twice for the same girl. By the time he was in his late twenties, though, he got bored. Severely bored. And that boredom eventually turned into depression. By the time he was in his mid thirties, he hardly left his apartment; he spent his days in a drunken stupor or high off his mind on these or those prescribed narcotics. He didn¡¯t want to die, not really--he simply wanted to feel once more. Alas, he never got a chance to recover. He was here, now, wherever that was, bereft of all the privileges. And yet, monumentally, he ¡®felt¡¯ less drained than in years. Perhaps he was simply fooling himself and it was just the system, but there was more to it, he was certain. A few hours later, he left the mud hut. The evening slowly came and he went to collect the rest of the materials for the tree house. This life, he swore, would be different. Much, much different. Better. Much better. Chapter 4 - Curious Ways of the Wild Chapter 4 Curious Ways of the Wild Leo, with the monkey hanging from his shoulder, put up the finishing touches on the tree house. Unlike with his hut, he was unable to simply ¡®plop it down¡¯; he had to individually place pieces, though he was shown where to place them, so it still wasn¡¯t terribly difficult, just time consuming. It took him some six hours of labor to finish it, and monkey had been cheering him on for the last two, perched on top of either his shoulder or head. The sweet sound of the screen appearing in front of him finally signaled that he was done. [Congratulations for completing the side quest--building a tree house for the ¡®????¡¯ Monkey and his family!] [Your favorability with the ¡®????¡¯ Monkey has reached 16. You are now considered close friends!] [You have been rewarded ¡®Tychu Fruit¡¯ x1] [Tychu Fruit (Rare) -- a specially cultivated fruit of the Monks of the North Sect. It is said that only 9 fruits ripen every 100 years and are awarded to the once-in-a-generation talents of the Sect. The true effects are a well-kept secret, though rumors are that the fruit enhances the person¡¯s Spiritual Root. Can only consume 1 Tychu Fruit in your lifetime] [You have earned... 3 System XP! You are just 2 away from the System Level Up!] [The ¡®????¡¯ Monkey has given you a special blessing that will last for 15 days: Soul of the Forest] [Soul of the Forest: favorability with all natives of the Nameless Forest will not fall below 1 (Neutral). Your favorability with all the natives of the Nameless Forest increases 200% faster for the duration. The blessing will disappear if you commit a Grave Taboo.] ¡°You happy?¡± Leo asked as the monkey leapt off his shoulder and inspected his new home. Soon, it came out, seemingly grinning and yapping away. It even ¡®kissed¡¯ Leo on the forehead, prompting the latter to laugh as he descended down the tree. There, placed gently on the ground, was the ¡®legendary fruit¡¯ that he was rewarded. It was pear-shaped, though deep-crimson in its luster and as soft as a marshmallow. Leo didn¡¯t think too deeply, gnawing away at it immediately and finishing it off within seconds. He didn¡¯t feel much change at the start, though the kindling fire within his soul that spread like mad throughout the rest of his body until it hurt did tell him that something happen. And as to what happened, the system informed him soon after. [Consuming Tychu Fruit has repaired your damaged Spiritual Roots.] [... Lucky Roll! In addition to repairing, the Tychu Fruit has awakened an elemental property in your Spiritual Roots!] [Low-Tier Damaged Mortal Roots ---> Low-Tier Earth Mortal Roots] [Low-Tier Earth Mortal Roots: absorbing natural Qi increased by 10%. Affinity with Earth Martial Arts increased by 25%. Can absorb remnant Earth Qi from Spiritual Grounds.] Spitting out a fiery breath at first and burping loudly right after, Leo felt a relieving sensation deep within. Saying a quick farewell to the monkey, he returned to the mud hut and sat down; soon, the Foundation Realm beast would come for him, and if the rules of the cultivation he was familiar with were to be believed, he was done for. He was not a main character, after all, with a heaven-defying bead where a soul of an old monster was stored to guide him, nor did he have a special, Divine-Tier Cosmic Root that he could use to break through the realms like stealing candy from a baby. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. As such, he didn¡¯t really have a plan to survive--he¡¯d hoped that the system would give him a new quest and reward him with an appropriate item, but that was hardly a plan and more of a desperate desire. ¡°Maybe I ask the animals for help? No, I can¡¯t entangle them,¡± he mused aloud, glancing around his tiny little hut that was once more a home to quite a few small critters. ¡°I¡¯ll have to figure it out myself.¡± Suddenly, a tiny lizard began crawling up his leg and scurried over to his shoulder. It was deep yellow in color and had a pair of beady, red eyes that looked at him curiously. Leo scratched the top of the lizard¡¯s head gently, smiling, before lying back down and closing his eyes. ¡°Maybe I can fashion some traps? Dig a hole, put down some spikes in it... it could work. Haaah, that boar probably has skin tougher than diamonds, though. It¡¯d just piss him off...¡± Unknowingly, he fell asleep. Perchance it was the tiredness of having worked hard, or just his brain being overwhelmed by the future¡¯s instability, but whichever it was, it caused him to doze off. By the time he woke up, it was late at night and his little bungalow was now a home to some seventeen different critters. In fact, it wasn¡¯t just critters any longer--sprawled lazily near the entrance, he recognized one of the beasts from the outside, the black panther with illusionary, white stripes near its ankles that made it seem like they were on fire. The panther was actually no larger than a house cat, and though Leo was terribly tempted, he dared not pet it. ¡°Excuse me,¡± he mumbled apologetically as he scurried out. The panther glanced at him lazily as it licked its paw, ignoring him right after. The forest at night was rather scary, Leo noted--the few strands of light from the moon that managed to reach the surface through the canopy of the trees were hardly enough to illuminate the darkness, and only made it spookier by casting light on the rough edges of the trees and grass and bushes. Here and there, he''d hear hooting and hollering of the beasts, and he¡¯d catch the glow of the eyes looking at him from the darkness. However, if he was to live in this place, he knew he¡¯d have to get used to it. He didn¡¯t wander far from the hut--in fact, he didn¡¯t wander at all, sitting down at the front and spawning a makeshift campfire by using torch blueprint as the baseline. The fire roared and finally gave way to clear shapes around as he sat down, observing it. It wasn¡¯t long before a swath of animals converged toward it, scaring him at first. Though, after seeing that they mostly just sat around, either for the warmth or for the light, he ignored them. But it wouldn¡¯t be camping without some storytelling or singing; he felt a bit embarrassed to start, as his audience was entirely composed of animals incapable of understanding him, but to live up to the romance of it, he had to persevere. ¡°The legend goes,¡± he spoke softly, staring at the embers of flame in front of him, secretly hoping he looked cool doing so. ¡°That time is infinite--there is neither the beginning nor the end, just a permanence that goes on, has gone on, and will go on.¡± without Leo noticing, more and more animals had gathered, soon surpassing 60, though most stayed hidden in the trees or the nearby bushes. ¡°So, in that infinite time, it is said that anything can happen. A celestial dragon born of the star, spewing quasars as fire breaths. Angelic creatures with feathered wings flying at the speed of light. Gods and Goddesses capable of creating sentience with a wave of their hands. Life and death converging into one, becoming eternity. ¡°When I was young, I had this tutor that would drone on about the mysteries of space. How, because of how little we know, we can dream as big as we want. He was off his rocker for the most part,¡± he chuckled lightly. Unbeknownst to him, hundreds had gathered by now, small and large, listening aptly. ¡°But... I found it inspirational. I don¡¯t know if anything I know is true, and if it is to which degree... but it¡¯s nice to dream, right?¡± he wished for a second he had a bottle of beer, as the moment called for it, but shook his head as he looked up, trying to peer past the canopy and at the moon. Alas, it was not meant to be. ¡°Maybe, somewhere up there, among the stars, there are answers. But I¡¯m too tiny to reach them,¡± sighing, he looked back down and finally realized that his audience had grown quite a bit. Feeling somewhat embarrassed at the number, he scratched his nose and coughed awkwardly. There were quite a few newcomers, and the pair of crimson eyes the size of his hut peering from the deep darkness truly was a mirage that he made up. Definitely. ¡°Anyway, should I sing you guys a famous campfire song from my home? He he, I¡¯ll take your silence as a yes~~¡± when it came to the ¡®camping songs¡¯, he really didn¡¯t know many. In fact, he only knew a few. But if there was one song he had to sing first in this world of them all, it truly would be this one. ¡°She¡¯ll be coming ¡®round the mountain when she comes~~¡± his voice was deep yet gentle and it echoed vastly into the night. The animals all closed their eyes and laid their heads onto either the ground or the branches. Leo thumped the melody by slapping his thighs, and sang as loud as he could. The forest did not sleep for a moment, awake in the middle of the night, carried forth by a singular voice. Deep and sonorous. Chapter 5 - Communal Dining Chapter 5 [You may spend 1 System XP to purchase ¡®Ordinary Cooking Pot¡¯. You currently have 8 System XP. Are you sure you want to purchase the ¡®Ordinary Cooking Pot¡¯?] Chapter 6 - Friendly Neighbor Leo Chapter 6 Friendly Neighbor Leo Leo got handed a new quest--to build yet another tree house. This time around, however, it was requested by the friendly neighbor red-eyed owl, and it wasn¡¯t so much a tree house as it was a tree nest. The materials required to build it were barely the third of the ones needed for the monkey¡¯s tree house, but Leo accepted it rather happily. He didn¡¯t even care that the ¡®only¡¯ reward for completing the quest was the owl becoming friendlier. The clothes from last night were more than enough of a payment. As such, he began to meander about the forest, gathering materials. He was not alone--the owl remained perched on top of his shoulder, occasionally hooting at the seeming nothing, while he was also accompanied by the black panther with white stripes. The ¡®kitten¡¯ would run about randomly and come back toward him, snuggling against his legs until Leo rubbed his hands over its head a few times, before scurrying off elsewhere. Perhaps it had some strange, wild version of zoomies, Leo figured. He suddenly paused, perking his ears up; through the rustling of the leaves in the midday wind, he could hear some low-pitched whimpering in the distance. As though recognizing his intent, the owl flew off his shoulder, flapping its wings, and the panther appeared as well, guiding him eastward through the thick shrubbery. The whimpering grew louder the longer he walked, until the finally broke free of thick bushes and landed on a mild clearing. There, lying prone on the ground, was a tiny, football-sized bear cub. It seemed to be crying, its left rear paw caught up in the roots of the tree, stuck. There was a small gash there, too, which was bleeding. ¡°Oh, no!¡± Leo exclaimed and hurried over; the panther stopped by the cub¡¯s head and licked it once or twice before sitting down, while the owl perched itself on top of Leo¡¯s shoulder once again. ¡°Are you okay, little guy?¡± he spoke in a soft and baby voice, ruffling the top of the cub¡¯s head gently while inspecting the wound. The young thing whimpered and cried out once again. Luckily, the wound wasn¡¯t that big nor was it bleeding profusely; that did not mean that it was harmless, however, as it could easily get infected. The issue was... Leo did not know whether any of the plants nearby were this world¡¯s equivalence of an antibiotic. The best he could do was wash the wound with water and wrap it up, bring the cub back to the mud hut and observe. That would all have to wait, though, as he¡¯d first have to free the cub from the root of the tree. He gently pushed the root a bit more open and the cub immediately yanked its paw free. It struggled for a moment to stand up, but as it likely hurt to put any pressure on the wound, it stumbled and cried even harder. ¡°Just calm down,¡± he said gently. ¡°Let me look at it.¡± He took out the makeshift gourd of water he¡¯d made of leaves and bark, pouring it gently over the wound and washing it clean. It was doubly lucky--not only was the wound short, it was also shallow. It seemed to have only scrapped the top layer of skin. Perhaps it ruptured a blood vessel there which was why it bled as much as it did. Nonetheless, Leo took a leaf off of a plum-like fruit that he¡¯d been snacking on occasionally, washed it with water, and gently wrapped it around the cub¡¯s wound. He used thin vines to steady it and make sure it wouldn¡¯t fall. All the while, both the owl and the panther observed gingerly and curiously, neither making a motion or a sound. At the end, the small cub whimpered and began to lick Leo¡¯s knee, slowly moving its paw until it felt it had enough strength in it to stand up. As it did, it looked up at Leo¡¯s face with a certain level of smugness, as if to say ¡®look at how strong I am!¡¯, before roaring rather cutely. Just as Leo was about to chuckle at the adorable sight, the ground began to shake--at first it was mild tremors, but soon enough he could barely keep himself steady. The owl flew on top of his head and even the panther leapt into his lap, both staring at the same direction, prompting Leo to do the same--within a moment, the wall of trees parted and was felled by a ginormous figure that came bursting forth. It was a bear, Leo believed, the size of a small house. Its fur was apricot brown, with strange, runic shapes dyed silver across its head and stomach. It rushed until it reach the cub and stopped, bending down--indenting the dirt beneath it into a crater at the same time--and sniffing the cub. The latter began to roar rather freely, climbing on top of its rear legs and swatting at the mama-bear¡¯s face. The large bear began to lick the cub for a few moments before it stopped, its attention turning toward Leo. He had to admit--were it not for the system¡¯s help, he would have probably peed himself by now and passed out. However, all he could really do was sit there dumbly and wait for the bear to determine his fate. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Suddenly, the bear roared, and then the owl hooted, and even the panther procured a sound that was a mix of meowing and roaring. And they continued to produce noises for nearly a minute, as though they were having a conversation. Ultimately, the large bear glanced at Leo one last time before biting into the cub¡¯s neck and lifting it up, tossing it onto her back. With one last roar, the two disappeared deeper into the forest. The ground continued to quake beneath what Leo assumed was at least a hundred thousand tonnes of weight, leaving him further aghast. At least... at least he was alive. [... you have helped a ?????? Cub. Favorability with ??????? Increased by 1. You are now considered an acquaintance] Leo dismissed the window right after, taking a deep breath. ¡°You two convinced her I was just trying to help?¡± he spoke to the owl and the panther, gently caressing both of them. ¡°Thanks so much, you guys! Okay, tonight, I¡¯ll prepare something extra-special for you! I call it... Fruit Juice! ¡®cause it¡¯s juice... made of fruit! Aah, it¡¯s gonna be great. Right. Gotta grab the rest of the materials...¡± Leo stood up, dusted himself off, and put away the enormous fears in the back of his head, resuming his collecting spree. About an hour later, he retreated to the mud--the owl had specified which tree it wanted the nest on, and it was one of the trees within fifteen yards of the hut. It seemed as though the entire forest was now aware of this place, as more and more animals converged. Only a few were what Leo would consider ¡®permanent¡¯ residents, those who stayed within the hut itself or the immediate vicinity. Most were ¡®nomads¡¯ who¡¯d sweep by--usually during one of the meals--and then disappear off somewhere into the forest. Once again, just as every other time he¡¯d be gone from the hut for a while, there was a small mountain of fruits and veggies nearby. In fact, he was beginning to form a nice little storage, but he feared that the fruits would go bad. As such, he tried thinking of new ways to utilize them, eventually landing on the idea of a fruit juice. Before he dedicated the rest of the day to that, however, he quickly fashioned the owl¡¯s nest--it was cylindrical, like a spinning top where it was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. As soon as it was done, the owl flew off his shoulder and started hooting as though it were singing a fairy song. It flapped its wings about happily, spun its head 180 degrees in the most horrifying way imaginable, and nuzzled its beak against Leo¡¯s forehead. The window informed him that the owl now considered him a ¡®good friend¡¯ as he descended the tree, stretching and looking at the fading sunlight. Realizing there wasn¡¯t much time, he began picking up the few empty gourds lying around and running over to the pond of water. Filling them all up, he struggled quite a bit to carry them back--there were six gourds, each of which could hold up to fifteen gallons of water through what Leo assumed was pure, unadulterated magic, and it stacked up quickly. Even for his cultivation-endowed body, it caused him to sweat buckets. Setting them down, he ignored the curious gazes of the animals around, and began to beat down the fruits and squeeze them of their juices. He also fashioned a few simple, wooden cups that he poured the juices into, combining both the fruits as well as water and testing them until he came across flavor profiles that he liked. Jotting them in his head, he continued to experiment long after the sunlight had faded and he was forced to light up a torch to keep the light going. A number of animals converged around him and carefully inspected what he was doing, but he seemed wholly absorbed in the process to notice. It wasn¡¯t a new thing for him--he used to enjoy ¡®experimenting¡¯ with drinks back on Earth, not necessarily to create the best cocktails that would sell like hot cakes, but just to create unique flavor profiles for the fun of it. By the time he was done, almost four hours had passed, and he hardly realized it. In the end, he was only really happy with four flavors he created--one of them was just a straight up an explosion of fruity flavors, as though someone set off a packet bomb inside the mouth. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but it settled into a nice aftertaste. The next flavor he managed to recreate was a sweet and sour combo that he wasn¡¯t quite certain animals would love, but he certainly did. Right after he managed to recreate the good, old-fashioned lemonade, just without the sugar or any other sweeteners. And, lastly, through some magic he managed to create an almost exact replica of kiwi juice. Standing up and stretching, he finally realized there was an armada of animals around, prompting him to smile. Though he was alone... he never truly was. Even if they couldn¡¯t talk or understand him, their company was like a fire that kept him warm in the coldest of nights. ¡°Alright, gather ¡®round,¡± he said as he started mixing them into the cups as quickly as he could. ¡°Grab one cup each, okay? Just one cup. The green one is kiwi juice, the yellow one is lemonade, the somewhat blue one is, uh, is unique. I wouldn¡¯t recommend it. And the multi-colored one is... well, go for it. Hope you like it!¡± The first one to approach, unsurprisingly, was the red-eyed monkey. The creature curiously looked at the cups and settled on the kiwi juice--as soon as he drank a few gulps, his eyes widened into saucers and he began to clap madly toward him, as though cheering on somebody he really cared for. Seeing the monkey¡¯s reaction, the other animals began rushing and quickly taking the cups away, and Leo struggled mightily to keep up. In the end, he burned through all the water he had but, shockingly, a falcon and an eagle brought back another set in just a couple of minutes, so he continued making the juices. In fact, he continued doing so for hours, until all his fingers were aching, and his eyes were begging him to close them so that he could go to sleep. However, he managed to make one cup of juice for every animal that was there. Tired, happy, and jubilant that they liked it, he retreated into the hut and lazily sprawled onto the bed, falling asleep immediately, feeling entirely worry-free. Chapter 7 - From the Thunder, Hope Chapter 7 From the Thunder, Hope Leo woke up well rested and even a bit happy--that was until he noticed a reminder that there were only two days left until the Foundation Establishment boar would come and try to send him to accompany its mate to the afterlife. He still had no feasible answer to the conundrum--his best bet, ultimately, were the Spike Traps he unlocked, and possibly the help of the animals. Knowing full well that nothing would be handed to him, he decided to dig out several traps today and pepper them about carefully. Whether they would work or not he didn¡¯t know, but they¡¯d at least impede the beast temporarily if nothing else. Sighing, he stretched and walked out of the hut. By now, he had to be very careful while exiting since there were quite a few felines, squirrels, and lizards lying about the exit. It was only once he was outside that he noticed the weather had changed--though it wasn¡¯t raining or anything just yet, he smelled it. Unlike the days prior, there were no sunbeams piercing through the canopy of trees--it was rather dim and solemn, and even the winds seemed disorganized and wild. Additionally, it was a few degrees chillier than before; nothing critical, of course, but enough to recognize that once the rain hit, it¡¯d likely get to be a lot colder. Leo frowned and looked around--there were still quite a few animals that were residing outside the hut, either on top of it, or on the trees around it. If it rained really hard or, even worse, if the weather became stormy, who knew what would happen to the animals. Clutching his fingers into a fist, he grew with determination--even if he couldn¡¯t house all of them, he¡¯d make at least a few extra mud huts as shelters! Without going for a quick bath, and even skipping breakfast, he quickly began gathering materials for the mud hut. He vaguely recalled both the ingredients as well as the number of each he¡¯d need, prioritizing gathering grass, stones, and such, as creating mud was relatively easy with the pond nearby. The animals quickly grew curious as to what he was doing, with quite a few following him around and observing him in silence. He ignored the strange looks and continued gathering ingredients as the lights of the day grew dimmer. Though he couldn¡¯t make out the clouds quite well past the canopy of the trees, he didn¡¯t need to, knowing full well that it was just about to rain. In the end, he settled for making three new huts--gathering any more ingredients would have him leave the immediate periphery of the hut and the pond, and there was simply no time for it. Returning home, he cleaned up the spots for the extra huts and placed them down. Where there was one, there were now four--they were identical in make, shape, design, and size. Unsurprisingly, as soon as they were finished, the animals began moving into them as though it was theirs even before it was there. Within minutes, all three new huts were full with new occupants, and Leo smiled with pride at the sight. It was right on time, too, as merely half an hour later, the first crack of thunder signaled the storm that was to come. Leo snuggled into the hut as well and silently prayed that the system¡¯s ability to build a hut was so otherworldly it could endure the violent winds and rain. Darkness surged and swallowed the outside, and he started a very small fire to keep the hut warm and alight. It wasn¡¯t long before quite a few animals snuggled up next to him, and within minutes, he was overcome with them--they were on his shoulders, his head, his chest, his lap, his feet, hanging loose from his robes, or entirely within those robes, and there was even a very small, pixie-sized bat hanging off his earlobe. It was all very wonderful and great, if it were not beyond uncomfortable, but he stayed silent and endured. A small armadillo-shaped critter that was nestled in his lap was shivering, and Leo gently caressed it until it calmed down. It didn¡¯t last long, however, for the storm truly began. Even the mere glimpse of the outside horrified him--though he¡¯d experienced the extremes of bad weather on Earth, he¡¯d never experienced anything quite like this. The sheer level of sound that the cracks of thunder produced were so deafening that it felt as though someone repeatedly fired off guns right by his ear. He was certain that, if he hadn¡¯t become a Cultivator, the thunder would have blown both his eardrums, or deafened him permanently altogether. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The ground suddenly shook as though someone was digging directly underneath it, and, even through the system¡¯s powers, Leo felt it--fear. The world tilted ever so slightly to the side and he was certain that the mud hut would collapse on top of them, but it held steady. The animals around him whimpered and cried, snuggling even closer to him, quivering. His breathing quickened, and he watched the darkness outside be vanquished in a blinding flash of light--right thereabout, he saw it, the zip of thunder the size of a tree trunk ripping like a cord just some forty yards from the hut. He could scarcely process it when he felt himself be blown backward into the hut¡¯s wall, and then right through it. He instinctively moved his arms and cradled the few animals that were in his arms close to his chest, curling up and taking a heavy beating--he tore through several trees, collapsing them, and rolled on the muddied ground. Standing up as quickly as he could, he immediately inspected the animals--luckily, they were all safe, if not shaken and terrified. He estimated he had been knocked back at least fifty yards away, so he sprinted back to check on everyone else--all of the mud huts were obliterated, with the animals lying scattered about. His heart bled for a second as he realized that the darkness was lifting--and the rain was stopping. Settling the animals in his arms down, he raced over to the collapsed mud hut that he was blown through and dug around, managing to find several animals that weren¡¯t able to get out in time. Luckily, they were all alive, and after confirming that, he ran about the other three huts and did the same. As the sunbeams began to wash through the canopy of the trees, he fixed up the clearing, started a fire, and gingerly paid attention to the animals who haven¡¯t woken up yet. Among them was the white panther that he¡¯d only occasionally seen; it seemed to have been hurt the most as one of its front paws was bent in an awkward way. Leo didn¡¯t dare move it as he wasn¡¯t a vet--all he could do was experiment with the grasses, flowers, and herbs in the forest further and try to find the best ones for dressing the wound up. He also gathered the scattered bits of fruits and vegetables and started making a new batch of the stew. Rushing between the waking animals, the passed out ones, the stew, and further removing the destroyed debris quickly drained him, but he couldn¡¯t sit down until everything was fixed. The storm truly came out of the blue--and it disappeared just the same. It burned through in just a couple of minutes before moving on. He¡¯d never experienced a bolt of thunder quite like the one that struck just forty yards from him--had it hit him squarely, or even just the mud hut he was in... would he have survived? He was uncertain. Even with the system¡¯s ¡®help¡¯, chances were that he¡¯d have been killed on the spot. Magically, the tree that the owl lived on, as well as its nest, were both completely fine. Within the sea of wooden chunks and shards of the shattered fauna around, it stood like a pillar upholding the sky. With the first batch of the stew finished, he slowly went around feeding animals one by one. The white panther woke up in the meantime and, by the time Leo got to him, his wounded paw seemed to have been fixed completely. It was currently licking it, stopping only when Leo lowered the bowl of stew that he quickly slurped up. As the first batch wound down, Leo went on to make four more before every animal seemed to have been fed and full. Crashing down onto the ground, he felt tired; by now, the mud had hardened and dried, turning back to dirt once more. The temperature, too, had risen quite a lot, though it was still some ways cooler than the past couple of days. Looking at the remains of the huts, Leo felt a knot twist up inside his stomach; he figured it would be enough, but it was far from it. If another storm like that passed above them or, worse yet, if it stuck around for minutes or hours, there would be nothing left of this place--not the trees, the flowers, the fruits, or even the animals. Whether through the system or his own blind experimentation, he realized he¡¯d have to build much sturdier shelters. Perhaps dig a cave underground, perhaps make a stone hut, or something else entirely--but he¡¯d have to do something. Many-colored python appeared suddenly by his side and coiled up his right arm until its head was resting on Leo¡¯s cheek. He couldn¡¯t help but softly laugh; back on Earth, if he saw even a shadow of a snake, he would have likely had a panic attack and passed out. And yet, here he was, coiling up with a rather large, fantastical-looking python, feeling warmed up rather than afraid. That was the case with every other animal, too--the white panther lurched up next to his feet, resting against them, while the black panther--the housecat-sized one--sat on top of his chest, licking himself freely. One by one, they converged near or atop of him, curling up just like during the storm. The selfish motivation of survival within began to wane, like a sugar cube dipped into water. In its stead, a surge of warmth blurred the reality--they¡¯d embraced him, so wholly, ever since he randomly intruded on their land. They didn¡¯t attack, bother, or even scare him; they helped him, curiously followed him around, and shared with him this beautiful world. He smiled and closed his eyes, smelling the sweet scent of the grass and dirt after rain, feeling the pulses of heartbeats around him join into a beautiful symphony. He¡¯d build them and himself a home beneath the sky, a home that would never break, never be shattered, a home that would stay and stand long after they all vanished into the sands of time. A monument to the rebirth in his heart. Chapter 8 - Stench of the Red Chapter 8 Stench of the Red Though Leo¡¯s aspirations and dreams were quite massive, he couldn¡¯t exactly make them a reality just yet. As such, he first repaired the broken-down mud huts. Baby steps, after all, were still better than no steps at all. Re-gathering all the materials for four huts took most of the day, especially as he had to go out further than ever before. By the time he was done, the night had come--and there was only one more day left between him and the boar, and he was not an inch closer to solving that problem. Stirring the flames and making the stew absentmindedly, he thought on all the possible scenarios. He hardly had a frame of reference as to how strong a Foundation Establishment beast was. In fact, his frame of reference for strength, in general, was all sorts of strange. He¡¯d beaten a peak Qi Condensation boar while being only in the first Stage himself, though there were some caveats there. There were no other cultivators around that could tell him, and system was about as helpful as an umbrella during a hurricane. He still, ultimately, believed that his best chance was setting up the spike traps and hoping that the animals help him if it truly came to that. As soon as he returned to the hut and laid down on top of the straw bed, he passed out, tired to the bone. He dreamed of the days before the forest--where he¡¯d spend weekends sailing his yacht, then using a jet to travel to the other side of the world just to eat at a specific restaurant, and he still felt the temptation. It was hard, after all, to give up a life of everything, where he had the world at his fingertips, for a life of nothing, where he had to struggle every day, and where the word luxury meant having an ordinary-looking robe to cover himself up with. He woke up to something rough sanding down his cheeks--the first thing he saw was the pair of panthers licking him, prompting him to smile. When they saw him wake up, the two animals exchanged looks and sauntered out, leaving him in slight pain. Sitting up, he felt rather lethargic and tired still; his muscles were sore, his head was a bit heavy and muddy, but he knew he couldn¡¯t simply stay in bed. Leaving the hut, he stretched and bathed in the rays of sun; due to the storm and all, there wasn¡¯t nearly as much shade around, but Leo preferred it that way. He was the type to suffer the consequences of the sun with reckless abandon, and he put a lot of faith in the Cultivation to shield him from sunburns. Following a quick dip in the pond, he finally managed to wake himself up enough to get down to business. There were no new quests handed out by any of the animals, but he wanted to do a bit of research--namely, map out a five mile radius around the pond in all directions, plucking and picking and foraging and sourcing and pulling and--well, thereabout, mostly. As always, he was not alone. There was the owl perched on his left shoulder, the monkey on the right one, the multi-colored python wrapped around his left arm, a tiny, plum-sized bat hanging upside down from the collar of his robes, as well as the pair of panthers following him around, occasionally nestling against his legs and occasionally sprinting elsewhere, out of sight. He first focused southward. Naturally, he couldn¡¯t exactly measure five miles in any meaningful capacity, but ¡®eyeing¡¯ it would be enough for now. Hanging several gourds of water by his waist and tossing a makeshift pouch full of fruits over his shoulder, he departed. Past the immediate area, the iron-grip stalks of grass overwhelmed all other flora save for the trees. Strangely, however, despite them resisting if he pressed with his hands, they bent as though of their own will as he stepped over them. It was nearly five minutes of walk later that they gave way to some other forms of life--nubs of colorless flowers, for the starters, with strange, caped mushrooms soon appearing at the roots of the trees, climbing up like habitats of some invisible animals further south. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The terrain was largely flat, occasionally rising and dipping, but never at a particularly steep angle, or for long. Within fifteen minutes, the blades of grass dipped in the background and a far more colorful scenery exploded. Fruits began to hang low from the tall trees, and flowers began to bud in wonderful colors, and strange birds started to sing strange songs. He threaded gently over every leaf and every root, doing his best to avoid upsetting the pristine, untouched scenery. There was no doubt in his mind that seemingly this entire forest had remained untouched by man--it was alive. Feeling a bit parched, he stopped at an intersection of three different types of trees, taking a sip of water from the gourd. The owl suddenly hooted, startling him; a moment later, a slightly lower-pitched hoot ¡®replied¡¯ and, with the sounds of the flapping wings, a red-feathered owl descended from between the branches above. In all honesty, it scared the crap out of Leo--to call it an owl was a bit of a disservice as it was genuinely six times the size of the one perched on his shoulder. Its feathers, red like blood, were like a foreboding song, but it did not attack. Rather, it landed on the nearby tree and hooted with the owl white owl on his shoulder. It was a rather spirited conversation from what Leo gathered--well, he had no way of knowing it, but they sure did hoot a lot. For several minutes, in fact. It was a bit too terrifying, the potential that these animals could talk, just in a language he would never understand. They could be talking behind his back, after all, and nobody liked that. Ultimately, the red owl flew away--dropping a single red feather. Leo ignored it, thinking it was just the feather¡¯s time, but the beak budging into his cheek and the flapping wings pointing to it convinced him to catch it. It was slightly warm to touch, as soft as anything he¡¯d touched in his life, and it smelled... beautifully. It was an explosion of scents and they all seemed to race to make him feel good. Leo smiled and tucked it into his robe, continuing onward. Both panthers left and scattered about, perhaps visiting old friends like the owl just did, but Leo wasn¡¯t worried. ¡°Hm?¡± amidst the scents he couldn¡¯t resist, he picked up on something else--something seemingly rotten and dark. His friends did, too, but they didn¡¯t seem particularly worried; in fact, the monkey extended one of his arms and pointed toward the direction, and Leo followed. Some thirty seconds later, he found the source--it was a rather horrid scene that would have likely had him running were it not for the system. Two people lay flat next to each other, bloody from head to toe. People? No, they were kids, Leo recognized, perhaps fifteen or sixteen years old at most. He crouched by their side--if he hadn¡¯t chanced upon them, that would have been it, but now that he had... there was no way he could just ignore it. Even if it was to simply bury them, it was the least he could do. Luckily, he didn¡¯t immediately start digging out a hole, as a closer look caused him to jolt back--both were still breathing! It was barely discernible, but it was there. Braving forth, Leo extended his arm and pressed his fingers against their necks, checking for the pulse. It took a bit of stumbling around, but he eventually hit the right spot and felt it--beneath his fingers, the skin moved and bulged ever so faintly. ¡°They¡¯re alive,¡± he mumbled, panicking. He didn¡¯t have any herbs around--no, more importantly, he wasn¡¯t a doctor! Wrapping up a wound for an animal or two? Okay, he wasn¡¯t a moron--he could do that. But treating kids that were clearly on the brink of dying? He may as well try and figure out nuclear fusion, right here and now. And yet, he couldn¡¯t exactly leave them there and pretend otherwise. ¡°Alright, alright. We¡¯ve seen TV shows, before. We¡¯ve even watched those fancy doctors react to them. Uhm... none of it helps, though!¡± weeping inwardly a bit, he first cleared the surrounding area by digging out the grass and the flowers, and then separated them a bit. One was a boy seemingly and the other a girl, but considering their appearances, they weren¡¯t related. Perhaps they were star-crossed lovers who ran away from home because their rivaling families wouldn¡¯t bless their love?! Aww--aww nothing! A curious glance at their states revealed that they were ridden with holes that were still bleeding. Leo was very much inspired to stop that bleeding, but there were simply too many holes! ¡°Goddammit, maybe one of these fruits has healing properties?!¡± he took out two gourds from the waist and squeezed a bit of every fruit that he¡¯d brought with him into the water, swirling it around after the fact. With an apparition that was the ticking clock hanging, he hurriedly reached out and lifted the girl up into the seated position. The jostle must have caused some further damage because she began to bleed even more profusely. Panicking, he effectively shoved the gourd¡¯s opening into her mouth, angled her head up, and poured it through her throat, lying her down gently after and doing the same for the boy. After that, he simply sat by their side and silently prayed--whether it worked or not, he had to stay. Two panthers also appeared and curled up on his lap, seemingly waiting alongside everyone else with bated breaths for the world to decide the fate of these two young children. Chapter 9 - A Pair of Disciples Chapter 9 A Pair of Disciples Song and Lya were not, in fact, star-crossed lovers that Leo imagined for a moment they were. Rather, they weren¡¯t even friends--merely fellow Sect Disciples who¡¯ve chanced upon each other at random while doing independent missions for their Sect. To understand how they wound up within the confines of the Nameless Forest, passed out next to each other, bleeding to death, it first must be known how they chanced upon each other three days prior. About a week ago, rumors spread throughout much of the Lower Ashlands that the notorious Blood Demon was spotted in and around the small Yuvel Town. Few believed in the rumors as the Blood Demon was supposedly killed over a hundred years ago, but they still felt compelled to check out the rumors, just in case. Neither Song nor Lya were among those, but as Yuvel Town was the town nearest to their Sect, both they and their fellow Disciples frequented it when out on the missions. It was about three days ago--that was some two days into their stay in the town--that a massive fight broke out among far more senior cultivators that had gathered there due to the Blood Demon. They, much like the other weaker folk, ran out from the town and away, not wanting to get caught up in whatever was happening. To their dismay, however, they caught sight of the Disciples of Bloodmoon Sect, a neighboring, rival Sect. The two had been at a quasi-war for decades, now, and skirmishes among the Disciples broke out frequently. The issue was who the pursuers were--both Song and Lya were merely Foundation Establishment Disciples, having just recently started their immortal journeys, while two of their six pursuers were at Core Formation Stage. Fighting them was impossible, but so was escaping; rather, if the Bloodmoon Disciples weren¡¯t hellbent on simply playing with them like cats played with mice, they would have been killed almost immediately. Instead, it became a game--and the two, once they realized there was no escaping, headed northwest, into the most forbidden of areas within ten thousand miles--the Nameless Forest. When their pursuers realized that, they tried killing them, but the few life-preserving treasures allowed the duo to just barely evade death and enter the forest. Nonetheless, they were deathly wounded, tired, and at the brink of dying altogether. Even so, they were at least pleased they defended the honor of the Holy Blade Sect, if ever so slightly. By all accounts, including their own, they died at that slight slope, covered in strange, unknown grass, in the silence of the Nameless Forest. Perhaps the nature would reclaim their bodies and make of them something new, or perhaps the animals of the forest would feast upon their flesh--regardless, their end was engraved... until they both opened their eyes. Lya was the first to do so, but not by a lot--merely a few seconds. The sheer shock of opening her eyes blinded her for a moment and she was fully certain she was dreaming. It wasn¡¯t until she heard some shuffling to the side and glanced at her fellow Disciple that she was convinced: she was alive... as was he. Her entire body hurt, from head to toe, and she could barely move a muscle, but, shockingly, most of the wounds that the Bloodmoon Disciples inflicted were gone. She quickly realized that the reason she couldn¡¯t move was simply because she was too weak and drained of Qi. Taking a quick account of her surroundings, she could hardly tell where she was; there was some sort of a ceiling, low and colorless, like she was in a cave. But there was also light coming from the front, and if it was a cave, it was a very, very small one. She parted her lips but her voice wouldn¡¯t come out--she was simply too weak. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she focused whatever little mental energy she had to run through the Sundering Holy Blade, the foundational mantra of her Sect. Usually, it would take her mere seconds to run a full revolution of Qi throughout her body, but now it felt like she was moving an entire mountain with her bare hands. Due to her injuries as well as overuse of Qi, a lot of plaque had built up inside of her meridians. Aiding that ailment was the fact that her physical body, too, had scarcely just started healing--the two combined meant that she could barely move a sliver of Qi before being completely exhausted. Song wasn¡¯t any better--if anything, he was a bit worse, as one of the Bloodmoon Arts had managed to come horrifyingly close to destroying his dantian. Instead, it was just damaged. If he nourished it for a few years, there would be no long-term issues, but wasting a few years in the precious youth to fix a dantian was the equivalent to a death sentence to a cultivator. Both were startled as they heard the sound of the approaching footsteps--however, even after waiting a while, nobody came in. Their nerves growing taut and relaxing overwhelmed them, consuming whatever little energy they had, and they both passed out right after. ** Leo paced nervously in front of the mud hut, wondering if he¡¯d made the right choice. The two kids, shockingly, survived--whether it was due to the fruit juice that he fed them, or the intervention of some higher power of this world, they were alive and mostly out of the critical period. Once he realized their bleeding stopped and their wounds closed up, he was left with a choice--leave them there to wake up and hopefully leave without ever bothering him, or bring them back with him and nurse them to health. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Even though they ¡®healed up¡¯, they were still extremely weak--and the forest packed a lot of wild life. Even if they, incidentally, seemed content letting Leo be, it didn¡¯t mean that they were harmless. If one of them turned out to be hungry, Leo had no doubts that they¡¯d gobble the kids up in a heartbeat. As such, he elected to bring them back... but was now having second thoughts. Cultivators were proud, greedy, and selfish creatures (attributes he ascribed to them without any knowledge whatsoever) that would kill him at the slightest offense (again, something he ascribed to them without any working, actual knowledge), and he¡¯d invited two of them into his house! Though he wanted to go in and check on them, he was afraid! After all, he¡¯d stripped both of them naked to clean them and then put on some somewhat shoddy robes that the monkey and the owl got. Unlike his, the ones for the cultivators were much older and worn down, but they covered the important bits and that was all that mattered. Once they learned, however, the massive transgression he had done, they would likely rip his head off. Part of him wanted to turn heel and run away even deeper into the forest, abandoning everything he did here, but there was a voice in his head telling him that he¡¯d never find a pond of fresh water anywhere else, at least not of that size and quality. Leo took a deep breath and calmed down--what was done was done, and there was no taking it back now. He started a fire and decided to make his daily stew for the animals as a form of distraction. As soon as the sweet scent began to waft through the forest, the scattered critters converged once more. Though quite a few lived in and around the mud huts, even more lived on the outskirts. It was always quite a spectacle, Leo mused, when he¡¯d look up from cooking the stew and see hundreds of pairs of eyes probing from the trees, bushes, between the trees, and even the ground. Just yesterday, for the first time, he noticed that one of his friends was a two-headed mole that only came out at night. As such, Leo always saved a portion for him. Cooking helped him and he quickly forgot about the predicament he was in. Not for long, though--the night fell and he was reminded that he couldn¡¯t sleep in his mud hut as it was currently being occupied by two very dangerous and deadly cultivators. In fact, he feared falling asleep altogether--perhaps they would do him in his sleep, not even giving him a sensible answer as to why (at this point, his delusions had thoroughly poisoned him). As such, he settled in one of the other mud huts, determined to stay awake all night long. Six minutes later, he was lying on his side, fast asleep, snoring freely and unrestricted. Quite a few animals gathered around, nestling against his body, using it as a heat source. Both panthers, too, curled up against his chest and back, seemingly guarding both his sides in a silent agreement. ** Lye woke up once more, feeling a bit better than the last time. By some miracle, her wounds have all technically healed up, and all that was left was the exhaustion that was still there, as well as plaque in her meridians. The latter would take some time to cleanse, but it wasn¡¯t all too important as of now. Considering that she was still alive and well, it was safe to assume that both her Junior Brother and her were rescued by someone... or something. Considering the tales of the Nameless Forest, she couldn¡¯t be certain whether it was a good or a bad thing. Here and there, she¡¯d hear stories of some older cultivators who were forced into the Nameless Forest and came out with a treasure or two, but there were far, far, far, far more stories of people venturing there... and never coming back. In fact, even those loose Immortals, the very beings who could uproot kingdoms with their fingers, dared not venture any deeper past the outskirts of the forest. What horrors behooved the life within... it was unknown. And yet, whatever it was, it saved her, and healed the extensive network of wounds she had all at once. She struggled to sit up, bones creaking and cracking after finally being moved once again, and though it was hard and exhausting, she managed to do it. She also caught sight of the opening through which the beams of light shone--it was an arched entrance to a structure that seemed to be an ordinary mud hut. A quick look through told her that there were no special arrays, formations, or enchantments anywhere about--it was, really, just an ordinary hut. Glancing to the side, she saw that her Junior Brother was still fast asleep. A pained expression flashed across her face as she recalled him pushing her out of the harm¡¯s way at the last second, and being hit by an array of blood that severely damaged his dantian. Initially, she didn¡¯t think too much on it as she thought they would die and it wouldn¡¯t matter, but now guilt assailed her. If they somehow managed to leave the forest and return to the Sect, Junior Brother¡¯s future accomplishments... would be diminutive, at best. A sudden sound startled her and forced her to focus on the entrance--there, a pair of eyes peered through the opening and stared at her. They weren¡¯t person¡¯s, but rather of an animal--it was a rabbit... of sorts, at least. It had six, green eyes, milky-white fur, and a ball-shaped tail that was currently vibrating. Its ears, two, hung loose to the side rather than straight up, and it tilted its head as though in confusion. She¡¯d never seen a demonic beast quite like that--though she¡¯d seen and even fought some mutated rabbit species after they¡¯d formed a demonic core, none of them looked like that. Furthermore, what terrified her beyond all else, was that she was unable to see the rabbit with her Divine Sense. It was as though it was not there. To add onto the terror, every instinct as a cultivator told her that the rabbit could obliterate not just her, but her entire Sect should he so desire. ¡°Mr. Rabbit, what are you doing?¡± a voice--a human voice, gentle, soft, and low--sounded out, startling her even further. A shadow fell over the entrance and a long, somewhat thin arm stretched out from the crouching body. The hand gently caressed the rabbit¡¯s head a few times before the latter shook like mad and scurried off, seemingly pleased. It was also then that the person realized Lya was awake--it was a man, she recognized. He looked to be in his mid to late thirties, at most, sporting a rather ordinary appearance, if a bit disheveled. He wore a simple-looking robe bereft of any adornments or sigils and was barefoot. Strangest of all... the man seemed to be only at Qi Condensation Realm. However... he was not alone. A pair of black and white panthers were by his feet, staring at her hollowly; then there was the owl perched on top of the man¡¯s shoulder, red-eyed and cold, and even a multi-colored python that was coiled around the man¡¯s left arm, its tongue hissing out toward her. She didn¡¯t recognize any of the animals but, just like with the rabbit, she couldn¡¯t see them. ... what the hell is this?! She wept inwardly, noticing from the corner of her eyes that her Junior Brother had woken up too. ¡°Are you guys hungry?¡± the man asked rather gently all of a sudden and smiled. ¡°I was just about to make breakfast for these guys. You should join us.¡± Chapter 10 - Suddenly a Senior Chapter 10 Suddenly a Senior ¡°Do you know who he is?¡± Lya asked her Junior Brother through voice transmission. ¡°No,¡± he replied in the same way. ¡°Maybe he¡¯s one of those hermits?¡± ¡°Hermits? This is the Nameless Forest, not some random mountain!¡± ¡°...¡± both were confused and hesitated. However, as soon as the sweet scent of something boiling reached their nostrils, they felt agitated--it wasn¡¯t just that it spoke to their hunger, but the just the scent alone caused the stagnant Qi in their bodies to churn. ¡°Let¡¯s, let¡¯s just ask him?¡± her Junior Brother proposed, clearly tempted. She rolled her eyes silently but followed him as he left the mud hut. The immediate surroundings were rather... simple. There were four mud huts scattered in a semi-circle, surrounded by tall, bushy trees, and, far more importantly, there were so many strange-looking animals gathered around that both Lya and Song froze in place. Especially after they started recognizing a few--just a few, though. However, even those few caused terror to cruise through their veins. They were the sort spoke of in the legends, or in the children¡¯s folk tales as warnings not to stray from the righteous path. And yet, there they were, casually sitting in front of him, lazily sprawled on the ground, yawning. The animals, however, merely paid a cursory glance toward them before ignoring them completely, focusing on the man who was currently boiling something in an old-looking pot. He also seemed to have realized they¡¯d left the hut and turned to face them with a smile. ¡°Come, sit. Have this,¡± he handed the two of them a cup each; there was colorful liquid within that smelled quite sweet. ¡°It¡¯s very tasty and good for your body.¡± The two took it, eyeing each other stealthily, wondering whether there was some poison therein. They quickly dismissed the theory, however; if the man wanted to harm them in any way, he wouldn¡¯t have saved them to begin with. As such, with cautious steps, they walked up to the boiling pot and sat on the opposite side where there were no animals, taking a sip of the liquid. Lya felt her body burn for a moment--it was as though the drop of liquid ignited what little Qi she managed to recover in her body, causing it to bore through her meridians like fire. Though it hurt--quite a bit, in fact--her clogged meridians were immediately cleansed and even refreshed. Furthermore, she realized that she¡¯d broken through of all things. She¡¯d been stuck at the Third Stage of the Foundation Realm for almost two months now, and yet, she¡¯d breezed through the bottleneck so easily it felt like cheating. Her Junior Brother, too, seemed to have experienced something wondrous as his lips spread out into a wide smile, his eyes growing teary. Lya inspected him and quickly realized why--his dantian... was fixed. Something that should have taken years of constant nourishment and care was fixed, just like that. The way the two looked at the strange man changed completely--he was a hermit, indeed, and a hermit capable of living inside the Nameless Forest, no less. They immediately straightened up their postures and lowered their heads ever so slightly, a well-mannered pose when deferring to someone. ¡°Hm, it¡¯s almost ready,¡± the man said, looking up from the pot and at them, smiling still. ¡°Are you two okay?¡± ¡°--y-yes, Senior,¡± Lya spoke out. ¡°Thank you for saving us, Senior. It is a grace we are not worthy of.¡± ¡°Nonsense,¡± the man said with a chuckle. ¡°No life is worth less or more than any other. Ah, it¡¯s ready,¡± he added, stirring the pot one last time before taking it off the flames. Lya and Song noticed the animals become a bit irate before calming down, eyes glued to the pot. The man first poured a bit into two bowls and set them aside before making rounds and feeding the animals closest to him. When he was done, he came back to the flames, washed the pot with perfectly clear water, and started chopping up vegetables once again, tossing them into the boiling pot of water one by one. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Here,¡± he handed them the two bowls he¡¯d set aside. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about them,¡± he added. ¡°They may look scary, but they¡¯re rather nice.¡± Lye and Song had dissenting thoughts about that claim, but they stayed their lips. Instead, they blew gently at the boiling stew in the bowls before slowly sipping it. It happened again, just like with the strange juice--the stew seemed to be brimming with medicinal energy, as well as the purest Qi Lye had ever seen or experienced in her life. It was as though someone had taken a rake through a clogged stream and removed all the weeds and muck. Her meridians felt almost reborn, even widening--something that ought to have been impossible. It was well known, in the cultivation world, that the time to widen one¡¯s meridians was at one specific point--when breaking through from Qi Condensation to Foundation Establishment. Using excess energy generated by condensing Qi into a functioning dantian, rather than expelling it from one¡¯s body, it was used to expand and nourish the meridians. As such, there were grades to how the Foundation was constructed, and the people with higher grades would have more excess energy to expand the meridians. And yet, here she was, drinking stew that had that magical effect. In fact, per her quick calculations, she surmised that her meridians expanded just enough to nearly double the speed at which she was able to draw Qi out and conjure an art. Shocked, she set the bowl down and glanced at Song who had similar expression--that of abject awe... and a little bit of horror. It was no wonder that the animals seemed so bewitched with the stew; if they could drink it daily, nourish and expand their meridians at the same time... wouldn¡¯t they double chances of eventually ascending to the Avatar Realm? ¡°Right. What should I call you guys?¡± the man asked and the two replied hurriedly, ensuring to follow the proper etiquette. ¡°This one¡¯s name is Lye, Senior.¡± ¡°This one¡¯s name is Song, Senior.¡± ¡°How did you end up here, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡± the man probed, stirring the stew in the pot without looking up. ¡°We, uh, we were chased down by a rival sect,¡± Lye replied. As a Senior between the two, she took it upon her shoulders to shield her Junior Brother. ¡°Rather than being captured and toyed with by them, we decided it was best to enter the forest and die with dignity instead.¡± it was quite a rough summary of what they went through, but Lye was certain that the man in front of her hardly cared--perhaps he was asking because he was curious, perhaps he was testing them, but he needn¡¯t the details of their petty, child-like squabbles. ¡°I am glad I found you when I did,¡± he said. ¡°How is the stew, by the way?¡± ¡°D-divine, Senior.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°I mean, very good, Senior,¡± Lye chastised herself, remembering the tales of hermits that her Master would occasionally divulge. The hermits severed the bond with the world of cultivation and normalized the awe-inspiring parts of themselves into a human nature. This meant, in simpler terms, that they cast themselves into an illusion of living an ordinary life, where they were weak and meek. Her Master warned that, waking the hermit from this lie was akin to sentencing yourself to death. ** Leo was a bit... confused. The two youngsters in front of him weren¡¯t at all what he expected them to be. First of all, they were quite polite and not rude at all. They weren¡¯t haughty or demanding, but rather humble and deferential. Secondly, they seemed to be under the impression that Leo was... special. Perhaps it was him living in the woods alone, or maybe it was his impeccable appearance, or his skills at making stews and fruit juices. Whichever it was, it seemed to have given the two youths an impression Leo was a strong, secluded cultivator like those in the stories. Though he wanted to correct them, he feared they would turn on him and kill him on the spot for daring to lie to them. As such, he stayed silent and ignorant of the implications. The most he could hope for was to convince them to keep this encounter silent, and to then move on with his life as though nothing had happened. No, wait, don¡¯t I have quite a conundrum to solve? One that starts tomorrow?! He suddenly recalled the fact that the Foundation Establishment boar would be coming tomorrow to attack him. Though he didn¡¯t know the exact realm of the kids in front of him, they must be at least strong enough to deal with an animal like that. However, simply asking them to take care of the boar for him might unveil the fact that he was just a lying scum who couldn¡¯t defeat a pigeon, so he had to go at the heart of the issue in a roundabout way. ¡°Recuperate here for as long as you¡¯d like,¡± he said as he finished the second batch of stew. ¡°Thank you, Senior,¡± the young girl replied. She seemed to be in charge between the two despite looking younger, but who knew what the hierarchy inside the cultivation world was like? She was perhaps the stronger one between the two and naturally became a leader that way. ¡°If you want to clean yourselves,¡± Leo said. ¡°There¡¯s a pond just a bit down that way. Don¡¯t stray too far otherwise, you may get lost.¡± ¡°Thank you, Senior.¡± though Leo suddenly aged a few decades internally after being called ¡®Senior¡¯ so many times, he merely smiled and let it go, walking around and feeding the second batch of stew to the animals. A few of the critters grew curious about two newcomers--mostly the young lizard that Leo had seen scurrying about here and there, and the pair of small, palm-sized monkeys, children of his good friend. The two kids seemed quite nervous being approached, but steeled their nerves and endured in silence, not moving an inch. I hope the two of them and the animals will be enough... aah, why is the world so unfair toward me? Chapter 11 - To Break a Heart Chapter 11 To Break a Heart Senior lived a simple life, Song realized. For the duration of the day that they spent with him, he¡¯d mostly just attended to the animals, disappearing for a few hours before reappearing with even more critters in tow. As the night descended, he began making another batch of the stew, and both Song and Lya bore witness to the true horrors of this place--there were hundreds of pairs of eyes peering from the darkness, each more terrifying than the last, the ilk of creatures that, in the outside world, would be qualified as Demonic Saints. The two didn¡¯t dare move an inch, sitting like statues illuminated by the crackling embers of the fire, holding their breaths. Especially the pair of eyes in the far distance... it was enough to make a grown man cry! As such, they haplessly sat about and drank their own bowls in silence; once again, the miraculous effects took root in them, and both broke through... twice. Was cultivating really that easy? No! In fact, it was arduous work like no other in the world! The only reason both Lye and Song were already at the Foundation Realm was that their Masters spared no expenses over the past few years. At the entrance ceremony, when they were twelve, it was discovered that they both had Sky Roots--with Lya¡¯s being middle tier and Song¡¯s low tier--quite a rarity in their tiny little Sect. As such, ever since they were accepted, they were showered with herbs, medicinal soups, spirit stones, and all manner of pastes and drugs designed to not only propel them forward in stages and realms, but also stabilize them at the same time. Breaking through even a minor stage was a big thing--they¡¯d have to prepare for weeks in advance, set aside enough spirit stones, and re-align their mindsets just to be certain. And yet, there they were, drinking stew and breaking through as though it were nothing. ¡°Tonight¡¯s story,¡± the man suddenly spoke, settling down after having distributed six pots of stew among the animals. Song and Lya both perked their ears up and listened, as did the animals around them. They were all either seated or lying down, carefully listening. ¡°Is about a young, selfish boy who made a horrible mistake.¡± the man paused for a moment before continuing. ¡°The little boy had everything in the world--all the riches he could imagine. All his life, he¡¯d never known the meaning of the struggle. What he asked, he got. The little boy also had a little sister--but, unlike him who was bereft of worries of any sort, his sister... was sickly. Meek. All her life, she struggled. Despite the riches, despite the world at her fingertips, there was nothing that could be done--she would die, soon, the boy learned. ¡°The boy hated it, you see--instead of exploring the world with the riches, he was forced to stay home and take care of his little sister. Day after day, weeks going on. His anger brewed, especially when she would suffer an attack. Deep down in his heart, the boy prayed she would die quickly, so that he would be free at last. ¡°One day, the boy made plans with his friends--plans for something he wanted to do for years. However, when he told his parents, they demanded he stay home and take care of his sister. Unable to hold it in any longer, the boy exploded in anger, telling them that it wasn¡¯t his job to take care of her--that, in fact, he hated her. ¡°He left soon after, having realized that his sister heard him. His father stopped talking to him, and even his mother grew colder. However, the boy didn¡¯t care; at last, he felt free. Free of the prison he was sentenced to against his will. ¡°He hadn¡¯t spoken to his sister at all since that night, until two months later when he returned home to see it swarmed. He saw his parents sitting in the corner, pale in the face, and quickly learned that his sister had died. However, unlike what he expected--to be relieved, to be happy, to be glad... another feeling came about, the sort that he never felt before in his life: guilt. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°It consumed him, devoured him like a plague. He tried to wrangle it, justify it, excuse it, but it was for naught. If he endured just for two months, his younger sister wouldn¡¯t have had to die thinking he hated her. She wouldn¡¯t have had to die thinking she was a burden to him. Just two months... two out of hundreds that he would go on to live. ¡°That night, the boy was broken--and he would never wholly heal from it, no matter how many years passed. He would also never speak with his father, not until the day the man died. The boy would grow cold and numb, and he would hide himself in a shell of his own making, distancing from anything that felt real from fear of being broken again.¡± ¡°...¡± a few animals whimpered lowly as those around the man nestled closely against him. Even Lya and Song felt a knot twist in their throats, wondering whether it was really just a random story. ¡°We never really know,¡± the man said, caressing the top of the white panther¡¯s head. ¡°When those we love will go. It can happen in the blink of an eye, and we can be caught wholly unaware. We only have a tiny bit of infinity to spend with them, and wasting time in doubt and fear is hopeless.¡± Silence fell upon the gathering--one by one, animals began to withdraw into darkness, vanishing into the night. The solemn atmosphere persisted until Lya and Song retreated into the mud hut, and likely beyond. Before drifting to sleep, they caught a soft voice singing from the outside; it was low, unknown, melodic, and borne with struggle ensconced within the heart. ¡°Broken skies, heartaches that flowers won¡¯t mend... say goodbye knowing that this is the end...¡± ** Leo woke up feeling rather sour and downtrodden. His head hurt in a rather strange way, but he could endure it; it was the knot in his throat that was bothering him. He hadn¡¯t planned on sharing the story he did last night--it just sort of slipped through his lips. He¡¯d never spoken about Layla to any of his friends or girlfriends--in fact, aside from those who¡¯ve known him since high school, none of his friends even knew he ever had a sister. Last night, however, the burdens were broken down and words formed... and left him, one by one. Though he felt ever so slightly unburdened, the old feelings resurfaced after so many years, suffocating him a bit. However, he didn¡¯t have the luxury to think about it for too long--the boar that was to assassinate him would show up today. Luckily, both of the cultivators were still here and didn¡¯t seem like they were in a rush to leave. As has become a routine, he first went to the pond and took a quick bath before making rounds in a small circle, setting up a few extra Spike Traps. They only cost some mud, vines, and wood to set up, making him further certain that they¡¯d be mostly useless against the beast. By the time he returned ¡®home¡¯, the cultivators were out of the hut and meditating on the side. Leo grew partly green with envy--he, too, wanted the mindset, the nerves, and the ability to sit still in an uncomfortable position for longer than 17 seconds. Alas, he didn¡¯t have it. The two woke up as soon as he appeared, scurrying over and greeting him with a bow. Leo enjoyed the treatment--even if it was given under false pretenses--and simply smiled as started making fruit juice for the two. He also decided to tentatively ask them for a favor. ¡°In order to protect a pair of deer,¡± he said. ¡°I was forced to kill a boar.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Now, its mate is on the way over here for revenge,¡± he turned to the pair of confused cultivators and smiled. ¡°Fourth Stage of Foundation Establishment boar... what should I do with it?¡± he asked in a rather roundabout matter, yet the misunderstanding seemed to have careened a bit further off the cliff as he saw the eyes of the two kids light up like lamps. ¡°Leave it to us, Senior!¡± they said the exact same words, at the exact same time, in the exact same cadence. It was cute--no, it was really, really, really creepy. In fact, it sent shivers down his spine. ¡°Even if it is nowhere near enough to repay the favors you have granted us, allow us to help you with this pest. There is no reason for you to tire yourself over something so banal.¡± Though their intentions were good, Leo wept inwardly. That banal thing, after all, was a life and death struggle for him. Nonetheless, he maintained a faint smile and handed over the two cups of juice. ¡°We will have a proper feast, then,¡± he said. ¡°Be careful to not get hurt, however.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Senior,¡± the boy said. ¡°Simply rest and wait for us to bring the beast to you!¡± Ah, to be young and full of spunk... suddenly, Leo felt older than he ever did in his life. Even though he¡¯d been 36 on Earth (and was 36 now, here), he never felt particularly old... until today, and until now. Is this why people have kids? He pondered silently. To outsource all the garbage chores on them? Not bad... not bad... He remembered the main quest, where he¡¯d either have to join or found a Sect once he left the forest, and he imagined a world in which he sat on a golden throne while an army of Disciples took care of everything for him. Ah, how wonderful it would be... and how well-imagined... Chapter 12 - System Upgrade Chapter 12 System Upgrade Lye and Song set up a mile-wide perimeter around the ¡®camp¡¯ and patrolled patiently, waiting for the boar to come. Naturally, neither believed that the boar was a threat to the hermit, and were beyond convinced that he had orchestrated the entire thing as a means of testing them. Though both wanted to rush back to the Sect and let their Masters know that they were fine, they put it off precisely because of this--because they wanted to form a connection with the hermit that went beyond simply being saved. As such, they both decided to put on the best display of their abilities that they could in hopes that the hermit would teach them. It was around two hours past the midday that the first signs of the encroaching beast appeared--the ground began to shake ever so faintly before it grew louder and larger. Lye and Song converged north of the camp and caught glimpse of the beast--much to their relief, it wasn¡¯t akin to those fantastical animals that surrounded the hermit. It was a Gaeon Boar, a relatively common beast most often found in the Whispering Woods, north of their Sect. The distinguishing parts were the yellowish stripes across its fur that were marks used to channel Qi through and cultivate. As the Senior said, the beast was only in the Fourth Stage of the Foundation Realm, but even so, neither of the two dared be careless. Beasts were usually difficult to kill at the same realm, and even a few realms above, because they often had incredibly resilient bodies and stamina to outpace the cultivators. Gaeon Boar, especially, was mostly know for its ability to take a beating and still land a deathly blow even in its own death troves. As such, despite having the upper hand stage-wise, both took the fight extremely seriously even beyond simply wanting to show off. The boar stomped and crushed all the trees in its path, finally coming into view. ** Leo observed everything from a safe distance, shaking in his boots. Lucky! He thought. Omygod, I was so lucky these two kids showed up! What the hell is that?! That ain¡¯t a boar! That¡¯s a goddamn dinosaur! The ¡®boar¡¯ in question was well over twenty feet tall, built like a tank, huffing and puffing to the point that smoke blew out its nostrils like it was a comic. Each one of its steps shook the ground within two hundred feet of it, nearly toppling the unstable Leo off his feet. He curled up unto himself, with the nearby animals gently nudging against him as though to comfort him. Feeling a bit safer, he once again thanked whatever higher power--or, well, evil power--drove the kids into the forest. Though he was a bit scared for them, seeing how neither stepped back or even flinched, it meant that they had some confidence. It would be Leo¡¯s first time watching cultivators fight, so he swallowed his fears the best he could and paid close attention. The first one to make the move was the boy, Song. A sword appeared in his hand from the seeming nowhere, long and thin, almost like a rapier, and he bolted forward. Leo was barely able to keep track of the boy as he crossed nearly twenty feet in the blink of an eye. Blinding light coalesced atop the sword as he stung it forth--it ripped through the boar¡¯s thick skin and caused a spray of blood as the animal roared and swung with its head at the boy. The latter¡¯s feet suddenly caught fire as he leapt over twenty feet into the air. ¡°Senior Sister!¡± he cried out, drawing Leo¡¯s attention over to the girl. She¡¯d clasped her hands together and began moving her fingers in strange ways. Right then, above her head, a bolt of thunder appeared, violently spasming like a leashed beast desperate for freedom. It grew until it was some three feet long and as thick as a grown man¡¯s thigh, whereupon it flew off like a cannonball, striking the boar¡¯s head squarely. The beast staggered and nearly collapsed to the side as blood began to spray and dye the ground beneath. All the while, it roared, its voice a quagmire of pain and agony. The boy, in the meantime, landed on the nape of its neck and began thrusting the sword down repeatedly--it was so fast that Leo couldn¡¯t actually see individual stabs, just fading blurs intermingling with the beast¡¯s blood. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. While it tried to shake the boy off its back, Lya ran off to the boar¡¯s flank, all the while doing that thing with her fingers again. One by one, needle-sized bolts of lightning began to spawn around her, following obediently, until there were nearly a hundred of them. ¡°Junior Brother, now!¡± she called out, prompting the boy to suddenly stop attacking and kick himself off toward her. The sword began to glow in a blinding, cyan light for a moment as he stabbed it one last time, fully in flight and away from the beast, stabbing it in the side. Unlike the previous thrusts, however, that were needlepoint, this one was wide and seemingly all-encompassing. It was so powerful, in fact, that it managed to topple the massive beast on its side; as it fell, it shook the ground beneath it, ripping a massive crater below its body. At the same time, Lya seemed to have unleashed the bolts of lightning--Leo noticed that the beast¡¯s belly didn¡¯t seem as tenacious as the rest of its body, and it was proven right quickly with how violently the needles ripped it apart. Roaring and thrashing was useless--it only served to speed up its bleeding and, within less than a minute, it whimpered its last hurrah. At the same time it drew its last breath, Leo got the confirmation window in front of him. -- foundational Movement Martial Art. Must be trained every day. -- guarantees a perfect foundation while breaking through the Foundation Establishment Realm> Leo sighed inwardly, having hoped to get something like those bolts of lightning Lya used. Heavens weren¡¯t so generous, it seemed, however. Nonetheless, he did get a decent amount--a bundle of knowledge flew into his mind, mostly in regards to the very basics of cultivation in this world, as well as some of the auxiliary fields supplementing it. It was all very limited, however--for instance, he was only aware of four Realms as of now--Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Spirit Creation. Disregarding it all, he braved the storm and went ahead to the dead beast. Even lying down on its side, it still towered over him, casting a shadow that would have swallowed him whole had it been alive. He shook, though did his best to keep it inside; though he expected a ¡®challenge¡¯, truthfully, part of him believed that he would have been able to deal with it even head on. Though he kept it hidden deep inside his heart, there was a trace of thought that he was just a little bit special and different than the rest. However, no trick, and especially his own strength, would have been enough to survive this beast had it not been for the kids. Even the animals would have all been stomped over like blades of grass, let alone him. ¡°Senior, it is done!¡± Lya and Song appeared in front of him and bowed. Unlike just a few moments prior, where they looked like championed soldiers who¡¯d seen death a thousand times, they once again looked like kids. ¡°Hm,¡± Leo nodded knowingly, as though it wasn¡¯t a big deal. But, naturally, it was a massive deal. So massive, in fact, that he considered bullshitting the kids into staying here permanently. But that was too dangerous, ultimately; playing a role of a powerhouse for a few days might be fine, but the longer they spent here, the greater the chance that he might slip and become just like the boar in front of him. ¡°Good job.¡± He added. ¡°Should I skin it, Senior?¡± Song asked, seeming quite excited. ¡°Sure,¡± Leo nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll have some boar meet for dinner, I suppose.¡± While Song began cutting up the boar, Lya and Leo went back to the clearing with the mud huts. She followed him precisely three steps behind, not one more or less, as though she could perfectly predict his pace. Though it was a bit creepy, he didn¡¯t say anything. On the way back, quite a few animals joined, though they seemed entirely unfazed by the fact that there was a dino-sized boar lying dead just a few hundred feet behind them. ¡°Senior,¡± Lya said as the two reached the mud huts, prompting him to turn around. ¡°Song and I... we, could we depart tomorrow?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°I--I know, I know that we are being wholly graceless and ungrateful for all your help,¡± she quickly bowed. ¡°But our Masters--they, they might be worried. I understand that it is much to ask, but--¡± ¡°--of course you can go,¡± Leo said, smiling. She shook for a moment, but remained bowing still. ¡°However, I do have a favor to ask of you.¡± ¡°A-anything!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°When your Masters ask, ¡®How did you survive?¡¯,¡± Leo said. ¡°What will you say?¡± ¡°... we ran into the Nameless Forest to escape our pursuers,¡± Lya replied rather candidly. ¡°We stayed on the outskirts and waited until they left. Luckily, we haven¡¯t encountered anything or anyone. The reason we were so late in returning was that we wanted to restore our bodies to the peak.¡± ¡°Hm,¡± Leo smiled faintly. ¡°Sounds like you got quite lucky.¡± ¡°Heavens blessed us, fortunately,¡± Lya straightened up and smiled as well. ¡°Time to start preparing for the feast, then,¡± Leo said, sighing inwardly in relief--there shouldn¡¯t be an army of cultivators rushing the forest to take him away or, worse yet, kill him. Oh Gods, please make her an honest kid! Chapter 13 - The Desires of One Chapter 13 The Desires of One Lya wasn¡¯t surprised that the Senior asked her not to reveal him to the world. In fact, she¡¯d already intended on doing precisely that. It wasn¡¯t as though she didn¡¯t yearn to share this blessing with her Sect--if the Senior decided to join them, Holy Blade Sect might shoot through the sky in terms of importance. Truthfully, Holy Blade Sect wasn¡¯t doing particularly well. Though they were technically a Tier IV Sect and a sovereign of the surrounding area, that was entirely due to their Sect Master. The titular Holy Blade was in the Soul Ascendance Realm just like the other Sect Masters of Tier IV Sects, but, unlike other Sects who had at least a dozen Elders at the Avatar Realm, they had none. In fact, only their Grand Elder was even at the peak of Fusion Realm, while the other Elders were either just barely in it, or at the peak of Spirit Creation. Were it not for their Sect Master, they would have been delegated to some Tier II Sect in the middle of the mountains, cut off from the world. As such, inviting a hermit like a Senior would have been a miracle, but she knew well enough not to ask. After all, she didn¡¯t know the reason why he was staying here--in the Nameless Forest, the most dangerous place within the Lower Ashlands. Just the fact that he saved them instead of simply letting them be, and then even helped them immensely with cultivation... it was more than enough. She observed from the side as the man chopped the fruits and vegetables; there wasn¡¯t a trace of Qi in any of his action, not a trace of divinity, not a trace of mastery--yet, she fell into a strange trance. Crouching there, surrounded by animals who could tear her to shreds with a gaze should they desire so, the man seemed to blend like watercolors on a canvas, becoming one with the world around him. Perhaps... that was what he pursued--the ultimate expression of life, becoming one with everything. By abandoning the pursuit of all desires, abandoning cultivation, and all the divinities assembled, one could suffuse themselves into the cause and effect of nature itself. She felt something within her shatter; inspecting herself, she realized what had happened--her Spiritual Root had shed itself and was reborn. She now had Peak-Grade Sky Roots. It was more than just shocking--though nobody quite knew what roots their Sect Master had, everyone theorized that they were Peak-Grade Sky Roots, or, at the very most, Low-Grade Heaven Roots. And it was all thanks to the kind Senior in front of her, one so shorn of desires that he cared for nothing but the tiny hamlet he made for himself. ¡°Senior,¡± she drew his attention. ¡°Uh, that, that story--from last night, I mean--was... who was it about?¡± she didn¡¯t know where she got the courage to do it, but she did dare ask the question. ¡°...¡± the man stared at her silently for a few moments as she felt regret creep in; perhaps she¡¯d overstepped, and would now be punished. ¡°Me,¡± the man replied. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°You were a child, too--¡± ¡°--stop,¡± the man interrupted her, smiling. However, it was a pained smile, one rife with a number of regrets she could not fathom. ¡°I don¡¯t need absolution. We are all responsible for our sins, one way or another. Whether I was a child at the time or not... it does not matter.¡± ¡°Senior, I¡¯ve cut him up!¡± Song suddenly sounded out, interrupting them. Lya glanced back and saw her Junior Brother bloodied from head to toe, grinning. ¡°Should I bring all the meat over?¡± ¡°Just the most tender parts,¡± the hermit replied. ¡°At once!¡± Lya fell silent and sat down on top of a rock, crossing her legs. She couldn¡¯t fathom the old Senior¡¯s state of mind... so she wouldn¡¯t probe any further. She, too, had regrets that she wouldn¡¯t want the world to absolve her of, so, in some small ways, she understood--the need to bear the burden, even if it was as heavy as a mountain. Song returned a few minutes later, a good chunk of meat in tow; he was using Qi tethers to carry it over his head, and Lya mused how he¡¯d gotten much better at it. While they were fleeing, he used the tethers a few time to try and attack with his sword from far away, but he could barely lift the sword and hold it steady in air, let alone fire it toward their pursuers. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. There was only one reason why this would happen outside of rigorous, years-long training--the purity of his Qi. Thanks to the Senior, and whatever medicinal herbs he¡¯d fed them, the purity of their Qi would put even their Masters¡¯ to shame. Setting down the meat, he immediately postured by the Senior¡¯s side, observing him. From what Lya saw, which was fairly little in her Junior Brother¡¯s defense, he was the quickly-adapting sort; between the two, he was far quicker in adjusting to their pursuit, and was even the one to suggest going to the Nameless Forest. Whatever the situation, it felt, he seemed capable of accepting it as-was and moving on. ¡°What¡¯s that herb called, Senior?¡± he immediately pestered the hermit. ** Leo was taken aback with the question--not because it was a strange question, but because he didn¡¯t know the answer. In fact, he didn¡¯t know the names of any of these fruits and vegetables--he only knew them by taste and comparisons to the ones on Earth. As such, to keep the mystique going, he smiled and asked a question as well. ¡°What do you want it to be called?¡± ¡°Eh? It--it doesn¡¯t have a name?¡± the young boy asked. ¡°I¡¯m sure it does, somewhere,¡± Leo replied. ¡°Then what about this?¡± ¡°Same.¡± ¡°And this?¡± ¡°Same.¡± ¡°Waah, how do you remember what they¡¯re like, then? If you don¡¯t have names for them?¡± compared to what he was like when he first arrived here, Song had... changed. No, rather than ¡®changed¡¯, he¡¯d simply relaxed and began behaving as he normally did, most likely. ¡°Hm, things needn¡¯t names to be remembered,¡± Leo said, standing up and walking over to the cut boar meat. He had boar meat a few times in his life; it wasn¡¯t bad. Rather, it was somewhere between pork and beef, and was perfectly enjoyable. Choosing a few of the more tender and smaller bits, he pondered how to make a grill-like device to fry it. ¡°You don¡¯t know my name. Will you forget me once you leave the forest?¡± ¡°O-of course not!¡± Song exclaimed. ¡°I will never forget you, or your grace toward us, Senior!¡± ¡°Ha ha, is that so?¡± Leo was a bit flummoxed, but decided to change tactics. Rather than frying it, he¡¯d boil it and leave it hanging suspended over the flames for a while after. He walked back and started preparing everything, first chopping the meat into smaller pieces and slowly boiling them one by one. At the same time, he built a larger contraption to hang the boiled pieces after, tying wet vines to wooden rods suspended some foot above the flames. Leo had been waiting to ask about the outside world, but didn¡¯t know how to bring it up. Rather, he wasn¡¯t even certain he wanted to know just yet--as far as he could tell, he was potentially decades away from being able to leave this place, if not centuries. He feared that, hearing about the world beyond the borders of the forest would make him yearn--yearn for other people, for civilization, for all the vices he indulged in with such depravity throughout his life. And so, he remained silent, not asking. Within hours, vegetables were boiled and ready, and the boiled meat was slowly being smoked. Evening began to descend and, within it, countless eyes converged back to their little clearing. Lya and Song sat cross-legged on the side, meditating, while the animals curiously salivated at the new meal he¡¯d made. The friendly monkey stood perched on his shoulder, looming over his head, while the lovely owl occupied the other one. Two panthers lay lazily on either of his sides, though it was just a smokescreen--he¡¯d catch them prying their eyes open and gazing at the hanging meat often. It was strange, really, how quickly he got accustomed to strange animals meandering around his body--after all, back on Earth, if it wasn¡¯t a dog or a cat, he wasn¡¯t even breathing the same air as it, let alone touching it. And yet, here he was, befriending the furry world as though he were a part of it. Oh, perish the thought-- ¡°Just about done,¡± he¡¯d fashioned a few larger ¡®plates¡¯, the sort you¡¯d get in a restaurant when ordering for the entire table, though he¡¯d made them of wood and leaves rather than metals. Every time one part was done, he¡¯d centralize the meat and surround it with the stew, leaving the plate to the side where the animals ate in a rather orderly fashion. It was another strange thing Leo noticed about this place, the fact that the supposed carnivores and herbivores were co-existing in peace--he¡¯d never seen an animal hunt another outside the boar incident, but that didn¡¯t mean it never happened. After all, he only got to see a snippet of their lives, a very brief look into their everyday reality; what happened outside these few hours that they spent around him, he didn¡¯t know. In the end, it took him nearly five hours and some fourteen plates of food to feed all the animals that had gathered around. Luckily, there was still some left over for both him and the pair of young cultivators--the two were remarkably patient, despite the look of desire in their eyes. ¡°Here,¡± he handed them a plate while he himself sliced meat into cubes and put it in a bowl with the vegetable stew--rather, it¡¯d become meat stew, now. ¡°Thank you, Senior,¡± Lya replied as the two bit into the food, slowly eating it. Silence reigned between them, reminding Leo of some distant childhood memories, when his family used to go camping. There was scarcely ever any silence, however, what with his mother¡¯s insistence on singing songs, and his father¡¯s insistence on telling scary stories around the campfire. They reveled in the cliches, for better or for worse. As soon as they¡¯d finished eating, both kids closed their eyes and began meditating--soon enough, even Leo was able to see the fruits of their efforts. Tendrils of something strange began to form around them--like silken threads dyed white, they surrounded the kids and framed them, giving them both a strange, holistic glow. In the dead of the night, surrounded by darkness, two glowed like fireflies, dispensing the shadows in their wake. And Leo observed from the side, in awe. He wondered, silently, when would the day come when he¡¯d be able to manifest something so beautiful and terrifying. As though sensing his distress, the white panther jumped onto his shoulder and nuzzled its head against his, prompting him to smile and caress it. ¡°I¡¯m just happy for them,¡± Leo said. ¡°That¡¯s all.¡± Chapter 14 - Parting Silence Chapter 14 Parting Silence Both Lya and Song were at a loss for words. As they opened their eyes, they realized that the night had passed. Sunbeams burst through the canopy of the trees, illuminating the world they¡¯d grown to adore. Some twenty yards from them, looming over a pot, was a man who¡¯d changed their destinies in more ways than one. Not only did he save them, he¡¯d also gifted them a future in which they wouldn¡¯t just be ordinary disciples any longer. Thanks to the ¡®meal¡¯ from last night, both had broken through to Core Formation Realm--and, not only that, they¡¯d managed to form second-to-best kind of Core, the Heaven Core. There was only one other person in the entirety of their Sect who¡¯d managed to do that--the Sect Master. Words of gratitude felt hollow, yet they didn¡¯t know what else to do. Nothing they had seemed worthy, even remotely, and yet... they couldn¡¯t just ignore it. Even if they knew that the Senior likely didn¡¯t care too much as it was a completely ordinary thing to him, it would be against the Oath of their Hearts to simply leave. ¡°Senior,¡± Lya eventually approached, taking out a few things from her spatial ring. They were ordinary, mundane items that every cultivator brings as they¡¯re necessary for survival in the wild--a few pieces of kindlewood used to quickly start fires, a long, durable piece of rope made from mutton hide, and a copper pot used for boiling basic paste and medicine. ¡°What are these?¡± the hermit asked. ¡°Drops of my ocean of gratitude,¡± she said, falling down to her knees suddenly and kowtowing. ¡°There is nothing I have that is of any interest to you. So, please, take these token items as a promise that, for as long as I live, I shall aspire to return the favor.¡± before the hermit could say anything, Song also approached, similarly dropping a few mundane items--a soft prayer mat made of expensive silk from the south, a pillow, and a glowing jade stone. ¡°As shall I,¡± he, too, fell to his knees, turning the world silent. ** Leo felt exceptionally awkward--though keeping up the misunderstanding was innocent enough, he¡¯d swindled the poor kids so much that they were prostrating... and the guilt burst out inside of him. For a moment he considered coming clean, but as he liked living just a tiny bit too much, he pushed the guilt down into the depths of his conscience and took it all in stride. ¡°Get up,¡± he said. Looking at the items, he was rather happy; he¡¯d gotten another pot for cooking, and though it was quite small, it was better than nothing. There was also a strange, multi-colored mat, a pillow, and even a lengthy piece of rope, all things that he would be able to use. The two kids stood up, reverently looking at him. Beneath those gazes, he hunched, looking away. The weight of expectations was heavy, like a sky pressing against his shoulders, and he had neither the gall nor the strength to withstand them. As such, he did the only thing he could--he looked away. ¡°I hope you will do well outside,¡± he said. ¡°But should you ever need a place to come to and hide, if only from the eyes of the world, my humble abode will always welcome you.¡± ¡°Thank you, Senior!¡± both exclaimed at the same time. ¡°I¡¯ll accompany you, a little while,¡± he said. He¡¯d prepared three cups of fruit juice, handing the two to the kids as they began moving southward. They weren¡¯t alone, naturally--quite a few critters quickly started following them. The owl and the monkey stood perched on his shoulders, the pair of black and white panthers were there and then elsewhere, there was once again the bat hanging loose upside down from his waist, and a newcomer that hadn¡¯t followed him before--a rather slender-looking, azure-furred gopher. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. It moved with a strange, almost eerie elegance, the coat catching the eye like the sky itself. Occasionally, it would quickly wrap itself around Leo¡¯s frame and climb on top of his head where, for a few moments, it would bear out its snout and sniff a few times before descending back to the ground, and burrowing elsewhere for a few moments. If it didn¡¯t go too far or too deep, Leo would catch the glimpse of it wolfing down some blades of grass and stray seeds. It was a serene walk--with the mild, pleasant temperature and an occasional breeze of the wind, the distance was hardly felt. Leo stopped at the same place where he¡¯d found them, not moving any further. ¡°This... is where we collapsed,¡± Lya commented. ¡°And this is where I leave you,¡± Leo said. ¡°...¡± the two kids paused and turned toward him, gazing deeply into his eyes for a moment before bowing in unison. ¡°Thank you, Senior!¡± Leo smiled. For a moment, he forgot that they were cultivators, beings of such power that they could rip him limb for limb in seconds. For a moment, they were just kids, a pair of teens. And beyond all else, he¡¯d saved them--that was the only thing that ultimately mattered. Not their gratitude, not the good deed of it all, not the bond formed for some future potential... no, he was simply happy that he was able to save two kids from dying in the middle of nowhere, far away from everyone and anyone who cared for them. ¡°What for?¡± he said as he turned around and began walking away. ¡°You¡¯ve survived all on your own. What luck.¡± ¡°...¡± he glanced back back and saw the two of them smiling. By the time Leo returned to his little camp, the sun had passed the zenith. Most of the animals were fast asleep, with a few leisurely lying by the side of the pond, occasionally taking a sip. He quickly disrobed and went for a quick swim before fixing himself a salad for a meal. It was all rather... anti-climactic, the way they left. A thousand words were spoken in-between the lines, as well as the ones of farewell. Leo sighed as he sat down, lamenting that he was back to solitude yet again. Though he was never alone--what with the army of animals always being there--it wasn¡¯t the same. After experiencing his first human contact... he began to desire it. He didn¡¯t even question how he knew the language because that was how important the bond was to him. Most of his life, after all, he was a social butterfly; even toward the end, where he¡¯d spend days holed up in his room, he would still have to go to at least one party a week at a minimum. ¡°Ah, whatever,¡± he shrugged, dismissing the thoughts. ¡°I can just throw it down with the furry friends. Right--booze. Can¡¯t I make booze myself?¡± he stroked his chin contemplatively, recalling those mindbogglingly boring lessons from high school chemistry or something else. ¡°Fermentation, right?¡± He knew the word, for certain, for Leo knew many words--for instance, he knew the word ¡®gubbins¡¯, and the reason he knew it was because his first high school crush, Amelia, called him that. He was happy, for ever a second, before being told that it meant ¡®rubbish¡¯. And then... he was wee bit heartbroken. It was the same with fermentation--he knew the word, for sure. However, the process behind the word was a blur. Though it was about the fruit rotting and what not, he didn¡¯t know how to take that and make alcohol out of it. He heard stories of animals nibbling at the rotten fruit that had fallen from a branch and getting drunk off it, but he wasn¡¯t really comfortable kneeling down and licking rotten bits of fruit off the ground. He could only lament the lack of it and move on. Just then, a screech billowed out through the forest, startling him; a moment later, senseless winds blew and whipped up a small storm around him. The cause wasn¡¯t natural--rather, it was the descending beast that cast a long, looming shadow over everything, leaving Leo aghast. Upon a closer inspection, he realized that it was kind of, sort of, in some small ways a hawk--it had massive wings spanning over thirty feet across, and were it not for some ethereal magic allowing them to clip through the trees undisturbed, there was no way it could have landed through them. Its feathers were all dyed in ruby red with golden highlights at the edges, while a pair of dazzlingly scarlet eyes starred at him at the perfect eye level. That was right--the hawk, standing on the ground, was about the same height as Leo, while being twice as wide at least. At its rear were three diverging tails, two of which were perfectly aflame, bursting in colorful composition of colors and light, while the third was dull-dyed in a way, lacking the life the rest of the hawk had. The hawk parted its beak, and yet another screech bellowed out. Leo shook and shuddered, once again realizing that if he weren¡¯t a cultivator, he would have been turned deaf by this world already. At the same time, a familiar ¡®quest¡¯ window appeared in front of him. [New Quest: ¡®?????¡¯ Hawk is in dire need of your assistance! One of its glorious tails has been wounded in its fight with the ¡®??????¡¯ Phoenix, and if it is not fixed soon, its cultivation level will drop considerably, making it difficult for the Hawk to survive in the Nameless Forest! ¡®?????¡¯ Hawk pleads with you to help it gather the materials and concoct the medicine to fix its tail!] [Time Limit: 2 Days] [Reward: ¡®?????¡¯ Hawk becomes your friend; ¡®?????¡¯ Hawk Feather; ¡®?????¡¯ Hawk¡¯s true name] [Failure: ¡®?????¡¯ Hawk¡¯s tail dies as its cultivation drops by 4 major Realms. High chance of the Hawk dying] [New Medicine Recipe Unlocked: Origin Restoration Gel] [Origin Restoration Gel: 1x Moondew Flower, 10x Petals of Dawn Lotus Flower, a piece of Lucen Tree Bark; instructions will be provided once all the ingredients are gathered] [Even a numdumb like you can do something so simple... right?] Chapter 15 - Forest Coming Alive Chapter 15 Forest Coming Alive ¡°Aii,¡± Leo sighed. He¡¯d been trying to find the ingredients for the medicinal thingamabob for the Hawk for nearly six hours, but hadn¡¯t come across a single one. As he had no clue what any of the ingredients looked like, he had a rather simple system: pick every flower he came across with the exception of any lotus-looking thing, where he¡¯d pluck 10 of its petals, as well as pry out a piece of bark of every tree he¡¯d come across. Furthermore, he had to carry them all and leave none behind, as he never knew when he¡¯d finally gather all the ingredients. He sat down to rest for a moment, leaning against a tree trunk and enjoying the shade. As always, he was not alone; there were quite a few critters accompanying him. In addition to the standard ones, there were also a couple of rainbow-colored parrots that followed him around. They never landed on or near him, mostly maintaining a distance of about fifteen or twenty yards, but they were always there, in the background. ¡°I should name some of you,¡± he mumbled, caressing the top of the white panther¡¯s head. He had some reservations, however--if he named one, then what about the second? And the third? Won¡¯t all the animals want names? Was he creative enough to give names to potentially dozens of animals? Of course he was! ¡°I¡¯ll call you... Milky,¡± he said as the white panther glanced at him, tilting its head quizzically for a moment before lowering it back down, enjoying the scrubs. ¡°Your brother... yeah, let¡¯s go with Blackie. The monkey--ah, I¡¯ll just call him Red. The owl... hmm, let¡¯s call him Hoot. The python... hmm, the python... Long Johnson? Pfft--no, wait, what am I? Five?!¡± Long Johnson hissed at him and curled further into his robes, hiding away. Feeling somewhat rested, Leo stood up, stretched, and resumed his hunt. By the nightfall, he¡¯d lost all hope. He couldn¡¯t find a single ingredient for the entire day, which meant that he¡¯d have to find all of them in the remaining day he had. Moonbeams pierced through the fading canopy of the trees, illuminating the forest in a strange, eerie, silvery hue. The trees seemed to grow alive with luminosity, and the dirt itself flickered with inviting colors. The wind blew and rustled the world around ever so lightly, causing a cacophony of sounds. At the same time, in the far distance, howls beckoned. And then... there was nothing. Silence. Leo melded into it, shading himself in the shadows and darkness, observing the becoming around him. From the roots of the trees, he observed strange shape manifest and grow legs--from tiny bugs into man-sized phantoms. They glanced at him and, as though they could not see him hiding in the shadows, disappeared someplace else. At the same time, the moonbeams shivered and shimmered, the blades of light wiggling as though corporeal before liquefying into rain--however, it did not fall as rain ought to. Rather, the individual drops seemed to move in slow motion, thick and large and silver like mercury. Eerily, the trees stretched out their branches and caught the liquids, sucking them up into their innards. The silver light shone and burst through the cracks in the wood, forming a brilliant, though fading, light show. He could not make neither the heads nor the tails of anything--the forest seemed to become a wholly different world at night. However, it had never happened back home--back where the mud huts were. He slightly regretted going so far away, but as he was still wholly unharmed... perhaps it was all just a macabre performance, and not a deadly crisis. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. [A piece of Lucen Tree Bark has been acquired!] A window startled him and made him realize that he¡¯d become so nervous one of his hands had dug into the bark of the tree he was leaning against. His fingernails had cracked and were bleeding, but the rather soft-to-the-touch piece of bark sitting on his palm was a decent consolation price. He threw it inside his robes and washed the blood off; it hurt a decent amount, but he could only ignore it and hope that his magical cultivation healed it quickly. Leo couldn¡¯t sleep all night long--rather, the forest would not let him. Every few minutes, just as it seemed he was about to crash into deep sleep, something would transpire. Either a transparent spirit of a stag chasing after a butterfly bleeding blood like rain, or ghastly faces of morbid chimeras crying out into the sky, or any number of other oddities and terrifying apparitions, all seemed determined to keep him awake in the nightmares. As the dawn came and the first rays of sun managed to break through the darkness, Leo exhaled--it felt as though he was holding his breath all night long, suffocating, and the pressure had finally disappeared. ¡°Alright,¡± he mumbled to himself, standing up. ¡°Never spend the night outside the camp again, I guess. No, wait--¡± he finally remembered that he was supposed to be immune to fear and terror and such, but quickly numbering the days on his fingers made him realize that a week had passed... and his grace period was over. ¡°No, wait again--¡± re-doing the number of the days through the magic of his fingers, he realized that he couldn¡¯t quite remember whether the grace period was supposed to end last night, or the night before, or the night before the night before. ¡°Huh.¡± Math, and, indeed, many other things, were always difficult for Leo. But he did understand something strange--even without the system¡¯s grace, he still didn¡¯t feel as much terror as he thought he would. After all, he could distinctly remember peeing himself a little when he dinged his dad¡¯s Audi, and the worst thing that would have happened back then was his allowance being cut, not dying. Stroking his chin, he coughed awkwardly and forced back the embarrassing memory of that day, reinvigorating himself. Regardless of everything, he had gathered one of the necessary ingredients, and he only had a day to gather the rest of them. Though he scarcely had any ¡®love¡¯ for the hawk that appeared out of nowhere, he still felt strange kinship with all animals of the forest and didn¡¯t want it to die. After all, the animals were the ones to not only show him which food was safe to eat, but they also gave him clothes and kept him company so that he was never alone. The least he could do was help them with whatever ailed them, especially if there was practically no risk to his life. From the corner of his eye, he spotted something strange, something that wasn¡¯t there yesterday--beneath a tree, there was a small, fist-sized flower, silver-white in color with exactly four perfectly symmetrical petals. Leo recalled that there was nothing there last night when he decided to camp, prompting him to crouch down and pluck it. And, just then, a window appeared that made his lips stretch out into a wide smile. [1x Moondew Flower acquired!] He really was extremely lucky! Maybe he was not endowed with a great deal of cultivation talent, and perhaps he would never become one of those overbearing immortals and such, but at least it seemed that he was blessed by lady luck. Otherwise, how could finding two out of three ingredients right next to each other after a night of suffering all be explained? Coincidence? ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s probably just a coincidence,¡± he sighed and stored away the beautiful flower. All that was left were the ten petals of the Dawn Lotus Flower. Considering it had ¡®Dawn¡¯ in his name, Leo feared that it could only be harvested at dawn which was why he began to panic a little bit. He didn¡¯t have another dawn in him--if he waited until tomorrow, it would be too late. Additionally, ¡®dawn¡¯, as a term, was extremely vague! When was it? Between the sunrise and some random, magical point between that and the midday? Or was it sunrise plus an hour? Or two? Who could tell him? As such, he hurried--dashing about without direction, looking for anything even resembling a flower and plucking ten of its petals. He became a bit of a menace, he admitted, doing what could potentially be irreparable damage to the eco system of this place, but he had no choice. No new windows popped up for the three hours that he spent running around like a headless chicken. Feeling a bit tired, he sat down and took out a few pieces of fruit, eating them. It was also then that he realized he was alone--like, alone alone. Frowning, he looked around but saw no animals in sight--he didn¡¯t know when they left him, as he was simply too accustomed to them always being there, somewhere around him. ¡°Maybe they got bored...?¡± he mumbled, shrugging. ¡°No, wait--isn¡¯t this like bad foreshadowing or something?!¡± Chapter 16 - A Gentle Paradise Chapter 16 A Gentle Paradise Leo jumped and aptly looked around--there were shadows dancing in the cover of the bushes and the trees... no, it was his mind playing tricks on him. Now that the system''s mental-health-optimizer was gone, a bit of who he used to be back on Earth began creeping back in. He began walking about with much more care, paying attention to every sound--and as it was a forest, there were supposed to be _a lot_ of sounds... but there were none. It was eerily silent, like someone had plugged the nature''s ambiance sounds off in the settings or something. Until there was a sound. Leo snapped his head around swiftly, his eyes meeting another pair curled up against a tree. It was a fox--an extraordinarily ordinary fox. It had four limbs, two eyes, two ears, it was fox-sized, a single snout, and was seemingly untouched by the bizarre ways in which the forest seemed to mold animals. The only thing of note, perhaps, was that it had ashen-grey fur, but that wasn''t terribly uncommon. It stared at him silently for a moment before whipping around, its fluffy tail moving in an almost bewitching way. As it began to walk away, it stopped and glanced back at him, as though to say Follow me. And though Leo really did not want to follow it, he felt it wasn''t exactly a choice or a request, and was more of an order. Thus, he stepped forward, wondering what hellish unknown the little, ordinary fox would bring him to. The fox wove through the trees like an experienced guide--there was no pausing in its steps, no hesitation, no stopping to look around. It seemed to know where to go and how to get there. And Leo simply followed in silence. He didn''t know where they were going, but he was desperately mapping out the direction, just in case the fox abandoned him randomly. After all, weren''t foxes known as mischievous little devils? What if it simply dragged him into the depths of the forest and left him there to die? Just to laugh at him? He must learn how to get back home, then! Within minutes, they reached an area that he was entirely unfamiliar with. The green and brown trees were swiftly being replaced by the white-barked birch, tall, thin, and overgrowing, while the grass beneath yielded to harsh, twig-filled bushes that all had thorns on them. While the fox skillfully navigated past it all, Leo struggled. In fact, at some point, he began to inwardly cry as his favorite (and, more importantly, only) robes got ruined. But he followed, still. The fox never turned its head again to see if he was following--whether it was because it knew that he was, or whether it was because it simply couldn''t care less if it tried, Leo couldn''t possibly fathom. All he could do was follow, and hope that it was worth it. Some twenty minutes later, light broke between the trees and blinded him for a moment as he tore his way through--on the other end, as forms gained edges, colors, and shadows, he stopped and found himself breathless. Laid bare before him was nature in its most primal, most untouched, most beautiful. A round ''canyon'' extended out at a slight slope, a rushing river cascading over the edge and turning into a waterfall. The coalesced droplets of water fell rapidly and freely, here and there interrupted by the seams of the protruding, smooth-surface stones. The waterfall fed into a small lake at the bottom of the canyon, indented against the surrounding rocks. All along the canyon''s walls, colors could be seen; there were trees hanging from the side like climbers hanging on tightly to the jagged rock, beautifying the panorama of perfection. Between the trees, herbs, flowers, and vines sprouted in droves, yet none were overlapping. It was as though there was a divine hand orchestrating everything, and ensuring that every individual life had a box of its own to exist within. In addition to them, protruding from the sides were platforms upon which Leo could see animals--some winged and some not--lying down lazily, sunbathing. It was also then that he noticed that the thick canopy of the trees above vanished. Instead, there was a wide, circular gap above where he could clearly see the sky. It was without a blemish, blue and cloudless, with the round, burning sun hanging high above. Looking back down, he saw the fox standing on the edge, staring at him. Leo smiled and walked up, sitting down on the edge, legs hung over. "It''s beautiful," he said solemnly, his eyes dancing between the colors and shapes below. There was a flower near the bottom that opened up and closed every seven seconds, spitting out colorful vapors that a band of strange-looking sparrows would sweep through and eat up. "More beautiful than anything else I''ve seen in my life." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Leo was honest--he''d seen almost everything the Earth had to offer. He''d been to all the tropical islands, all the exotic (and safe) mountains, the jungles, forests, beaches, old towns, new towns, villages, marshes, fjords... but nothing inspired in him life quite the way current sight did. The low humming of the birds concocting a symphony, the distant rushing of the wild water liberated from the insidious hands of men, the untouched trees swaddled by the warm winds, the flaps of the wings, the gentle snoring of the slumbering. The world was a song, each piece an instrument of creation, and he a privileged soul deemed worthy of a listen. "I didn''t read much, in my life," he continued, ripping out a blade of grass from nearby and playing with it. "Always felt it a waste--figured, stories in words are for those who can''t afford to live them. But, I liked reading quotes. Like ripping out a tree from the painting of a forest, trying to understand where it came from. ''The earth had donned her mantle of brightest green; and shed her richest perfumes abroad. It was the prime and vigor of the year; all things were glad and flourishing.'' For the first time in my life... I sort of get it," he chuckled, tossing the blade of grass into the pit of life. "Thank you," he turned toward the fox who''d sat down by his side, tucked its rear legs under its fluffy tail, its head lowered until Leo called out to it. It looked up and at him, its curious eyes seemingly having softened ever so slightly. He reached out and gently petted it. The wariness in its eyes seemed to have disappeared as it closed them, seemingly enjoying the head rubs. At the same time, a strange bird suddenly lunged from the hole--its feathers seemed almost translucent, like glass, refracting light in such a beautiful way that he almost wept at the sight. It was no larger than an average eagle, yet its majestic form made it seem as though it was looming over the world. It gently flew over and landed on his lap, collapsing the wings and looking up at him. It opened its beak suddenly and extended its tongue--that thing went out for nearly ten inches, terrifying Leo ever so slightly, but what calmed him was what he saw on top of the blood-red tongue: flower petals. He gingerly picked them up and, when the last one was in his hands, he got the final confirmation that he was yearning for. [10x pieces of Dawn Lotus Flower have been acquired] [Congratulations! You have (somehow) managed to acquire all the ingredients necessary to concoct Origin Restoration Gel!] [--Update: a small hut has been constructed at your home base with all the tools necessary to concoct medicine. You cannot use it for anything else. It will last 10 days. In order to make it permanent, please gather the following items] [Medicinal Hut: 150x pieces of wood, 400x blades of grass, 30x vines, 30x pieces of processed lumber, 2x pieces of iron ore, 20x buckets of water, 15x buckets of mud] Leo sighed, wondering when the days would come where he''d have no missions to think about. He also wondered just how surprised the animals were to see a building appear out of thin air, though, on a second thought, they''d seen him do it before, so they probably thought it had something to do with him. "Thank you," he looked down at the bird. "Everyone here is so nice. It''s like the total opposite of a life I''m used to," he petted the bird as gently as he could. Despite it looking like a strange kind of glass, it was quite soft and silky to the touch. He lost himself in the moment for a little while, letting it all coalesce. There was something about this world that was strangely liberating--not in the misguided sense of ''let us abandon modern convivences and live in the woods like savages'', but more so that in abandoning all the conveniences, he also abandoned all the chains and ropes. However, he was no fool--he knew well enough that if it weren''t for the system, and if it weren''t for extremely friendly and forthcoming (and, most importantly, very cute) animals, he would have long since died. The only reason he has a body capable of enduring the life of a forest is because the ''system'' gave it to him, in addition to the animals feeding him things that strengthened the body. Without them, he would be nothing. With them, though, he was free--in the most primal sense. Or, perhaps, he was simply fooling himself into believing this as, otherwise, his mind would break. It wasn''t as though he wasn''t free on Earth, either--he had less than zero obligations. At some point, both his mother and father stopped expecting anything from him. They simply made peace with the fact that he would squander wealth and never achieve much... and they let him be. It was difficult, finding himself--he never had to do it before in his life. From the cradle, he''d been dubbed a nepo baby, and he lived his life as though desperate to prove it right. His actions almost felt predetermined at times, and it often felt as though the world was goading him into doing specific things for the sheer ecstasy of validation. There was nothing of the sort here, however. There was nobody telling him how to live, how to behave, what to do, and there was no image projected onto him that he was supposed to live up to or tear away from. He was just a man, living in the middle of the woods, surrounded by nature''s beauty beyond compare, and animals kind and loving. As for who he was meant to be... he could be anything. And though it was a bit na?ve and childish, he wanted to be kind and helpful, at least in small ways. As the bird flew away and the fox scurried elsewhere, he stood up. Glancing down at the nature''s cradle, he put it to memory, deciding he''d come back here at least once a month. Though his attempts at meditation have failed as he did not have the nerves for it, being here, in some ways, felt meditative. The sight seemed to have cleansed his mind and lessened his anxieties and worries. Perhaps, one day in the future, when he had long since left the forest, and maybe even had a family of his own, he would take his kids here, to this place, to tell them that this was where their father was born. As for whether they would believe him... He chuckled at the thought, turning around and walking away. After all, there was a hawk desperately waiting for his help. Chapter 17 - Spirit of the Primordial Flame Chapter 17 Spirit of the Primordial Flame "Oh sweet Jesus, finally," Leo gasped, his eyes leaking tears like rain, as he finally broke through and found his way to the mud huts. The concert of animals all looked at him oddly as he fell to his knees, dirty from head to toe, bruised and bleeding. His (unfounded, mind you) confidence in his navigation skills had betrayed him--he''d gotten lost... so severely lost that he feared he would never find his way back. He wandered about madly, falling over the roots of the trees, sitting down and ''drawing a map'' on the ground, going in circles, all until a very helpful sparrow took pity on him and showed him the way. The bird had flown over to the hut and began chirping, and though it was all in his head, Leo could swear he saw animals laugh at whatever story the little sparrow was telling. There was a cacophony of voices, but it was just a coincidence--the animals couldn''t talk, especially so many different species. Even though he was feeling tired--mostly mentally and emotionally--he didn''t meander. His eyes veered to the far end where he saw a slightly different hut than the others standing tall in the shade of the trees. It was about twice the size of a mud hut, its insides shaded in darkness. Its walls were made of wood and the roof of some sort of straw, and it was rather pleasant-looking. From the outside, it looked like one of those quaint, simple, ''sleeper'' huts and cabins his ''friends'' would brag about. There was even a contest at one point, where the goal was to construct a paradoxical duality--how to make a construction function as modernly as possible while making it look as ancient, worn-down, and primitive. Thinking back at what kind of a person he was... he merely sighed, walking past the animals (who he swore were staring mockingly at him) and toward the new building. The interior''s darkness faded as soon as he entered, replaced by a crescent-shaped table just about at a chest height. It had quite a few doodads and such, most of which Leo didn''t recognize. There were cups, wooden bowls, a beaker and tube-shaped objects hanging from a wall, and several pestles of different shapes and sizes. Just like with constructing the tree houses for the animals, he saw a line that turned into an instruction: set the piece of bark into one of the beakers, pour water into it, and set it over the fire to the left. And thus, he obeyed. The entire process took around thirty minutes--most of it certainly did not make sense, and there were some steps (such as burning three petals into ash for some reason) that outright seemed moronic, but Leo obeyed them all. There was nothing else he could do--he was at the whims of the system, and if it chose to play a cosmic prank on him, the only thing he could do was take in stride and laugh. The end product was a gel-like substance floating freely at the bottom of one of the bowls. It was transparent, like the clearest water he''d seen, and was a bit like Jell-O to the touch. There wasn''t a lot of it--perhaps a small spoonful--but Leo wagered it would be enough. Wiping sweat from his forehead as though it were a sign of his labor, he carefully took the bowl and exited the hut. He was fairly certain he wouldn''t be able to gather all of the ingredients to keep it before the ten days were up, but he would do his best. The ''sick'' hawk was lying in wait just outside the hut, occupying quite a lot of space. It seemed nervous and uncertain, yet as soon as its eyes saw the gel, it began gawking jubilantly, spinning around and shoving the three tails practically into Leo''s face. The latter grumbled inwardly as he used one of his hands to keep the tails away. Two of the tails were beautiful--as though afire with color--while the third was dull and dim. All, though, were soft to touch, almost like silk, and Leo couldn''t help but caress them for a moment. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Similarly to concocting the ''medicine'', there were lines showing him where to apply them. He was grateful, partly because the world allowed him to be of use to its innocent wildlife, and partly because it taught him how to be useful immediately. He gently scooped out some gel and began applying it; cool sensation numbed his fingertips, yet touching the tail burned the frost away. Almost immediately, the dull colors began to shake, as though a layer of ash was being dusted off. More and more they burst through, like they were being born anew in front of his eyes. When he applied the last bit of gel, the hawk cried out into the sky, its voice like a blessed wind gently caressing the world. It spread its wings and flapped, yet despite the size of the wings, they did not produce destructive winds beneath them. Leo craned his neck and looked up to the sky where he saw a majestic animal take flight--it flew in a wide circle, crying out repeatedly, while its three tails left behind breathtaking trails of fire. Leo smiled, relaxing; he''d never realized it, not once before in his life, how nice it felt to be useful. Not the kind of useful that he was accustomed to--paying the bills, paying for friends'' jail bonds, giving away money to some charity... no, whether those acts of his were in any way noble was irrelevant. There was a chasm of difference when it was his own two hands, even if guided by forces beyond his understanding, causing a change. The hawk landed a few minutes later, standing in front of Leo. It towered over him, making him feel rather small. Gone was the sheen of weakness and submissiveness that the hawk had when it arrived. Rather, in front of him stood a bird of majesty--a king of the skies. It suddenly lowered its head and soon after its body--Leo could have sworn it was bowing toward him, though how an animal knew of such concept... he didn''t want to think about it. Instead, he emptied his mind and extended his hand, petting the top of the bird''s head. "It''s good that it worked," he said, smiling. "If you''re ever hurt again, swing by. I''ll do my best to help you." The pair of beady eyes looked up from the shadows, meeting his gaze; they were deep, like a bottomless abyss, and seemed as though they were full of wisdom. More and more, Leo became worried--none of these animals seemed... normal. Though he continuously cautioned himself that he was simply humanizing them, something that people loved doing with their pets, there was only so far that explanation could go. [Congratulations on completing a difficult(?) quest!] [''??????'' Hawk is immensely grateful, granting you one of its ''True Feathers''] [''??????'' Hawk considers you his sworn friend and reveals his title and true name to you] [Anuvar, Twin-Tailed Spirit of the Primordial Flame] [True Feather of Anuvar: can unleash three attacks with the strength of an Earthly Immortal. Uses: 3/3] The hawk--no, Anuvar--gently tapped Leo''s forehead with his beak before crying out, fanning open his wings, and flying away. Leo scarcely had the mental acuity to see him off as he was too engrossed in the fading letters telling him who the hawk was. T-t-t-the Spirit of the Primordial Flame?! Shut it! Wring it! Bolt it! No way, o'' dear father in heaven, there''s no way I just petted a goddamn spirit!! Aaah, w-w-what is wrong--no, no, no, wait. Calm down, Leo. If that bird was truly a Spirit, it would have devoured me for being so disrespectful! That''s right! I mean, heck, how can I heal a freakin'' spirit? Ha ha ha! Yeah, it''s either that, or spirits in this world are just super weak. Sheesh. Got worried there for a sec. Anyway, what''s the deal with this feather? He glanced down at his left palm where a singular, colorful feather glistened brightly under the sunlight. It was beautiful, aglow with colors that stunned, and was gently burning in his hand. It wasn''t the kind of burning that hurt, but rather the gentle sort that warmed. Leo stuffed it into his robes, wondering just how strong an attack of an Earthly Immortal was. Though he was tempted to test it, he only had three uses--if it turned out to be rather mighty, he would weep with injustice if he wasted one of the uses on nonsense such as ''trying it out''. However, he also noted that he would not consider it as a get-out-of-jail sort of a card. It would simply stay with him, and should a problem present where might was to be right, he''d use it. Sighing, he once again glanced at the now-empty sky, smiling. He was useful--even if it was entirely due to the system''s guidance and ability, he''d potentially saved another life. He reveled in the sensation for a brief moment before retreating to one of the mud huts and collapsing onto the floor, beyond dead tired. Dreams were sweet, it turned out, when life was so, too. Chapter 18 - The Will to Die Chapter 18 The Will to Die Death, destruction, violence. Tian Yu was tired. Rather, he''d been tired for decades now, watching the budding youths fizzle out in a desperate array of screams, desiring strength above all else. And yet, he couldn''t tell them otherwise--most his life, after all, he was just like them, pursuing strength and disregarding everything else. Now that the death was slowly grasping his throat and squeezing, regrets were blooming. From tiny buds in the depths of his soul, they were now a forest of trees bursting out of him. Sighing, he picked up his cane and slowly continued walking. His destination? The very dream he''d always feared pursuing, the one regret he wanted to overcome before his death: the Nameless Forest. Just the name itself evoked terror in all those who lived within the Lower Ashlands. Very, very, very few who ventured between the cursed trees ever came out alive, and none who ventured past the periphery did so. Haunting legends of the place were endless--it was as though it was a shadowed duality to its southern neighbor, the Cradle of the First men. Every Disciple of every Sect yearned to spend a cycle there, and yet, sitting at its northern border was the Nameless Forest, a tombstone for the countless desperate. Tian Yu paused, having reached the very edge of the forest. He recalled standing here once before, a long, long, long time ago, when he was just sixteen years old. His mother had fallen terribly ill, and was struggling to breathe. No matter which doctor, alchemist, or even shaman his father invited, none of them could understand what happened to her--nor could they concoct a cure. However, they all said the same thing: Flower of the Dawn, just a single petal from it in fact, would be enough to cure her. However, such a rare flower--even if it appeared in the Lower Ashlands--would never fall into the hands of a mid-sized clan like theirs. Thus, there was only one place they could go to search--the Nameless Forest, the place said to house the most exotic flora in not just the Lower Ashlands, but the entire continent. Thus, he came here, full of vigor and determination--so much so that he was certain he was willing to die if it meant helping his mother. And yet, he stopped here--precisely by this boulder... and took no step further. He simply stared at the swaying trees and the darkness therein, and he remembered the stories, all the shorn lives that never saw the sky after stepping past this place. And he couldn''t move--not a step forward. Just two weeks after, his mother drew her last breath. Naturally, his father didn''t blame him--nobody truly did. It was the will of heavens, in many ways, for her to die of an illness that nobody could identify. And the fact that he didn''t dare step into the Nameless Forest was a fading story nobody cared for; after all, martial masters at the Soul Ascendance Realm didn''t dare to venture past the very broad outskirts, so why would a child at a Foundation Realm be ridiculed for failing to do so? Despite that, he felt shame--and, no later than three months after his mother''s passing... he left the clan, abandoned his name, and became Tian Yu, the Wandering Sword of Lingshan. It has been just shy of a hundred years since then, and now... he was tired. Tired, weak, and old. He''d depleted all his natural talents and just barely managed to reach the peak of Fusion Realm, but that was all he amounted to. It was as though, over night, his desperation for power waned and he was enlightened, putting it all behind him. Thus, he''d come here, to the nameless edge of the forgivable, to die. The step he was unable to take when he was a young boy, he took it. And then another. And then another. Soon, the plain fields faded back behind the curtain of the trees, and he found himself surrounded by the silent buzz of the forest. It was strange; it seemed no different than any other ordinary forest that he''d been in. And yet, his instincts and senses, the things he''d honed all his life, were screaming at him. He knew that he was being watched--not by the eyes sticking behind the bushes or the trees, but by a will much larger than life. It was as though his entire self was being wrapped and slowly pulled into the embrace of destiny. While others may have turned their heads and ran, he walked forward faster. He wanted to see--the depths of the most notorious tomb in the world. All this beauty framing a graveyard... was there anything, indeed, more alluring? The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Bit by bit, his back straightened and his steps became more convincing. The slumbering Qi within him awoke, like a river that had finally managed to break through the plaque blocking its way. Though he would die, he didn''t want to die a frail, old man, but rather a Martial Artist. He wanted to die as Tian Yu, the Wandering Sword of Lingshan. But there was nothing around him--there were no spirits, no beasts, no divine hands clasping at his throat. In fact, there was simply silence, only ever broken by his own footsteps. The more he walked, it felt, the more silent it got. "What the hell...?" he mumbled in agony as he finally fell to his knees, spent. There was no Qi left in him, and ashen vapors began to coalesce around his frame--Death Qi, abuzz with a want for the determined. He turned frail once again, his back hunching and skin withering. "Please," he mumbled, gasping for breath. "Please... just grant me the last wish." "Hm? What is it, Blackie?" A voice! Tian Yu''s dispirited heart was rekindled once again as he fervently looked up. There wasn''t supposed to be anyone else in here, so... how? "E-eh? Are you alright, Sir?" The source of the voice finally came out between the trees--it was a young man, perhaps in his thirties, with rather unkempt figure and somewhat tattered robes. Tian Yu''s heart fell for a moment as he sensed that the man was only at Qi Condensation Realm, but a deeper probe revealed something that tore his understanding of reality apart--the sheer purity of Qi within the man... was impossible. It was so pure, in fact, that it rivaled the legendary Divine Pool of the Heavenly Pavilion Sect. He had the privileged to merely cast a brief glance at it, and that alone was enough to tear open the bottleneck he''d been suffering from for years. "Here," the man gingerly bent over and held Tian Yu''s back, handing him a cup of colorful liquid. However, Tian Yu paused--his heart sensed something, something tempting. If he drank the liquid from that cup... he would break through, and perhaps even gain an extra year or two of longevity. It was akin to giving a man lost in the desert a cup of water--ultimately, it wouldn''t be enough to save him... but it would give him a few extra hours, perhaps even a whole day. Tian Yu, however, did not want that. He''d come here determined to die. "No," he rejected, seemingly surprising the old man. "Who... are you?" using the last vestiges of his strength, Tian Yu stood up on his own and faced the figure in front of him. Once again, however, he came very close to passing out from shock--the figure was not alone. There was a strange owl atop his shoulder exuding such intangible pressure that Tian Yu found it hard to breathe. He knew, should he even contemplate attacking the man, that owl would rip his innards out in a second. It wasn''t just the owl, either--there was a bat hanging loose from the man''s robes, and the strange, cat-sized panther at his legs, as well as a python coiling around the man''s left arm, hiding within the robes. All of them were creatures that defied the normal--and all were capable of ripping him apart with a single thought. "You can call me Leo," the man smiled rather faintly. "If you don''t mind me asking... why are you here?" "I''ve come here to die, Venerable Leo," Tian Yu said, clasping his hands in front of him and bowing. Whether the man truly was only at Qi Condensation Realm and was being either groomed or simply protected by these animals, or whether he was a secluded hermit living out his final days here... it did not matter. It was someone who warranted respect of a martial artist. "... to die?" the man replied softly, seeming in disbelief. "Yes," Tian Yu said, still bowed. "I''ve come to the place of my greatest regret to sever the last bond with life. Please, permit me entrance, if only for a day, to bear witness to the beauty of this place in full." "... follow me," the man said after a moment''s silence. Just as Tian Yu was about to say that he couldn''t walk any longer, he stopped--his body was freshened up, rekindled once again. Though it wouldn''t last for long, he was happy, once again walking with his own two feet, unhindered. He followed the man up the slight slope and past the trees. As they moved, Tian Yu noticed something harrowingly terrifying--there were more and more animals gathering around. Some approached them and either walked by the man''s side or climbed on top of him, but most stayed within the trees, only their faint, linger traces of Qi visible. However, even those tiny amounts were more than enough to swallow him. Soon enough, the trees cleared and they emerged onto a clearing--there were six very simple mud huts scattered about, all occupied by various animals. Some were as imposing as the owl, but some were simply ordinary and mortal. Besides the six mud huts, there was an additional one to the side, cloaked in such thick layers of array protection that Tian Yu was certain even the Sect Master of the Celestial Orchid Sect would be unable to peer past them. "Please, sit," the man pointed at a log of the tree and sat opposite of it; between them was an extinguished campfire of sorts, and around them a gathering of animals that were akin to an army. Rather, Tian Yu was convinced--if they were to invade the Lower Ashlands... the lands would fall, and those inhabiting them would die. How did the man, then, make them submit to him? "What''s your name? You never told me." "It''s Tian Yu, Venerable Leo," he replied, sitting down. He decided to ignore the animals, lest his last day be spent wrangling with his sanity. "And you have come here to die?" "Yes." "And I can''t persuade you otherwise?" "Forgive me," Tian Yu said. "But no." "... rest, then," the man said, standing up. "We''ll go on a walk a bit later. If you really are determined to die," he sighed. "I''ll at least accompany you until your last breath." Chapter 19 - Unto Death Chapter 19 Unto Death Leo felt something bubble that he''d been ignoring since coming here--fear of death. Though he''d thought about his life on Earth quite often, he''d never thought about his last moments. In part, it was because he couldn''t fully recall them, but it was also because he feared where the thoughts would take him. He''d died, once. As for how, why, when, or even where... he wasn''t terribly certain. The last memory of pure clarity he had was him driving over to a local party, getting there, and starting to drink. After that... the memories became blurry, incoherent, and fragmented. Flashes of faces here and there, a sense of abject horror, and the sounds of distant sirens. How he died, he didn''t know. But he did ''die''. Thus, having a random man show up in the forest claiming that he''d come here to die woke up certain things he left slumbering. But even Leo could see, from the depths of the man''s gaze, that the determination was like an eternal flame that no amount of convincing would extinguish. Even if Leo offered the world, it felt, the man would still say no. Leo made a few preparations--mostly just feeding the animals and looking for the kind sparrow who''d shown him the way--before setting off. The sparrow spent most of the time on his shoulder, occasionally flying up to show him where to go. The old man followed slowly behind him, yet his steps were focused and determined. Perhaps it was akin to the last embers of the fading flame, but he still shone brightly enough to not be outmatched by the world around him. Neither spoke, letting the silence boil. Half an hour later, Leo glanced back because he could no longer hear the consistent footsteps. The reason was simple: the old man was growing weak. He was short of breath, and his strides were uneven. Just as Leo was about to walk back and help him, the old man raised his hand and said, "Don''t." He slowed down the pace, and continued. Bit by bit, Leo could tell, that more animals were converging along them--most were hidden away from their sight, scurrying through the shadows of the forest. As for why... he couldn''t tell. Perhaps the old man was someone of extreme importance--after all, there was an old saying to ''not fear the arrogant young, but the silent old of the cultivation world''. Anyone strong, skillful, and cunning enough to survive into their winter years would not be anyone ordinary. It was an hour later that Leo finally recognized the tree border; beyond it, the most breathtaking scenery he''d seen in his life existed. Glancing back, he saw that Tian Yu was barely walking--if it could even be called that. He was using his cane to support himself, taking seconds for each and every step. His breathing was ragged, his face slightly blue, and it looked like he would collapse at any moment. Despite that, he didn''t want any help. Leo waited until the old man caught up to him, and they stepped out into the clearing together. Despite seeing it for the second time already, Leo was no less enthralled with the sight--rather, perhaps even more. He began to notice the tiny details that he missed the last time, such as the fact that the stream that converged into a waterfall actually had two sources, or the fact that the temperature grew slightly cooler the closer to the canyon they got. "This..." the old man mumbled, shaking. Leo said nothing, but extended his arm and prevented him from falling down. "Let''s sit," Leo said, and the two slowly walked over to the edge, sitting down. There were dozens, perhaps even hundreds of animals who were curiously looking at them, but none of them approached. In fact, even the usual suspects who never left Leo alone--such as Hoot and Blackie and Milky--were staring at them from the distance. Leo tossed his legs over the edge of the hole while the man sat cross-legged, an expression of awe on his face. "Beautiful, isn''t it?" Leo asked. "The most," Tian Yu replied. "To think such a harrowed place held such beautiful secrets. Why is it that, so often, the rotten on the outside hides the paradise within, and the gilded exterior hides the stench of decay therein?" "... I''ve learned, in life," Leo said. "The more occupied you are with how you look on the outside, the easier it is to let the rot in and to let it corrupt you. Those obsessed with inner selves, on the other hand, think that the outside appearances are irrelevant, so they forgo embellishing themselves entirely." The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "That is true. I''ve spent a lifetime wandering the plains of the Lower Ashlands," the old man chuckled faintly. "I''ve visited the demonic cults, the renowned, righteous sects, and all the things in-between. Yet the stench of rot... it never quite disappeared. Perhaps, it was that I carried it with me, everywhere I went." "..." "I was not a good person--and an even worse martial artist. I''ve ignored the plight of the poor and the weak, I''ve committed murder, thievery, and a slew of other crimes in the pursuit of strength, and all the while, I''ve excused it, saying that it was simply the part of living in this world. If I were to be kind, others would do to me what I was doing to others." "It is easy to be like others," Leo said, thinking back on his own life. "There are few things harder in life than to set your back against your peers and stand up for something against their wills and whims and beliefs. Be the voice that nobody wants to hear." "No, no there isn''t," Tian Yu said. "And the few times that I''ve tried... I have failed. If anything, had I not tried, perhaps it would have unfurled for the better." "Is that why you''re here?" "No. I am here out of selfishness, as always. There is no higher meaning in my actions, Venerable Leo. I am merely an expression of my sins, a story finally reaching its end. As I said, I have come here because of my greatest regret. But now that I am here... hah, there is more loathing in me than before. I feared this place all my life, believing it to be where those who venture never come out alive. Green Hell of the Ashlands, they called it. Perhaps, all those years ago, if I braved that step, I would have been able to save my mother. Alas, if what-ifs were bricks, the world would be a temple." "... all our actions, inevitably, resonate," Leo said. "Maybe the only reason you are here today is because you didn''t brave that first step, all those years ago. Life is a string of choices, and there isn''t a soul alive who wouldn''t want to go back into the past if ever for a moment, if only to change that one thing. But changing that one thing... can anyone, even gods, foresee the rippling effects on the world it would have?" "Then, are men to live free of regrets?" "No. But we shouldn''t fear them, and instead use them as strength within," Leo said. "There''s a saying in--in my hometown: at our deathbed, we regret not the things we did, but those we didn''t. It''s wrong, of course; we regret... everything. Few people, if any, depart from life even partially fulfilled. We all yearn for another day, another chance, even another word. Whether it is the things we''ve done, or the things we wish we did... they all hang above us like the ashen clouds, following us wherever we go. Your regrets have brought you here, but it is only here that you''ve realized the futility of your regrets, and it is only here that you''ve recognized you could have stepped into this place all those years ago. It''s life''s grand paradox, and one we can''t escape." "... you speak as though you have lived a death, once," Tian Yu said. "Ah. I heard stories, that when mortal men shed their coils in the pursuit of Immortality, they experience death. So, it was true." "..." Leo was dumbfounded for a moment, but didn''t say anything. "Will it hurt?" the man asked, prompting Leo to look to the side and meet the aged, weathered gaze. The pair of gray eyes were heavy and gilded with decades of wisdom, but also delusions. "Only if you want it to." "They are all mighty curious," Tian Yu said, looking around in a circle where hundreds of animals had converged, observing them. "And terrifying." "They''re rather nice, actually," Leo felt compelled to correct him. "Nice, huh?" the old man chuckled. "Can I ask you for a selfish favor, Venerable Leo?" "What is it?" "My granddaughter will come here, soon enough," he said. "Once my Soul Tablet cracks, and she learns of my fate... I was foolish enough, one day, when I drank a bit too much, to have shared with her my sorrows. She will want to bury me properly and perform Ancestral Rites, but... I don''t deserve them. I''d rather become a part of this grand beauty, entombed within the roots of the world-bearing trees. When she comes, please... could you see to it that she is not harmed? Simply send her away. Sweet Yue..." "I''ll see to it," Leo said. "Thank you. Ah," the man looked up at the clear sky. "What divine hand compelled the Primordial Qi into such unattainable beauty? The world, shorn of men, is the grandest concoction of all. Mountains, rivers, valleys, oceans, forests, canyons, caves... we wander adrift upon these constructions, tearing them for our means, and forsaking the nature nurturing us. And yet... it embraces us, still, like a mother taking back into her arms a child that had run off, only to come back broken." Leo noticed faint changes around the man, specifically the strange, ashen-colored vapor forming around his frame. Instinctually, he recoiled; for some reason, he dreaded that thing, as though it was his worst enemy. "Thank you," the old man said, glancing at him; corners of his eyes were faintly wet with tears, and his old, cracked lips were curled up ever so slightly. Perhaps it was a mirage, perhaps it was of Leo''s own making, but he could swear that he saw the old, wrinkled face smooth out for a moment, and then undergo life anew, from cradle until the grave. He saw the innocent, hopeful eyes age and grow weathered and broken, the gaze in them darkening like the night. And he saw the scars pile up like dirt mounds, one on top of another, never fully healing. "For bringing me here." "..." Leo remained silent, at a loss for words. What was he to say, now? There were no words. At least none that he could conjure. "Ah," the old man sighed, closing his eyes and facing forward. "Quell thy rage, o'' storms of my heart. We are going home." Chapter 20 - The World Thus Spun Chapter 20 The World Thus Spun The world was eerily silent, but only for a moment--then, it broke out into a strange, rhythmic song. All the animals joined in a concert, slowly leaving the forested area and closing in on the two. The world was alive with their voices, and all Leo could do was close his eyes and let himself be taken in by the strange sadness. It overwhelmed his heart, tearing it open--but not in a way that would scar him, but rather in a way that allowed him to appreciate life even more. He hardly felt sadness for the old man who died--he''d just met him earlier today, after all. Even if they shared a poignant conversation, that was all there was to it. The old man himself admitted to not being a good person: a murderer, a thief, and who knows what else. Leo didn''t have energy or emotional capacity to spare to feel sadness over people like him. But, still, it was the passing of a life--for all the man''s sins, he was now gone. Whether the rage caused by his actions ought to be burning onward even after his demise... it was not up to Leo to decide, but rather those he slighted. He could only stand by the man''s side as he drew his last breath, fading away. Opening his eyes, Leo saw several animals gathered around the man--a strange eagle suddenly grabbed Tian Yu by the shoulders, lifting him up rather gently. The song continued, growing louder and more melancholic, as the eagle carried the man into the pit, toward its depths, eventually settling him into one of the cave openings. As the eagle left the opening, it closed down behind him, and a strange mark appeared on top, as though to indicate it was someone''s grave. There were only three other such places inside the pit with the similar marking--whether they were of the other Cultivators who stumbled upon this place, or some animals... Leo didn''t know, nor did he have the means of asking. He simply continued sitting as the song slowly wound down to its end--most of the animals scattered, leaving behind the fading shadows, though the usual suspects remained, cradling up around him. Leo sighed and stood up, bowing toward the pit and the distant tomb before turning around and leaving. The man came out of nowhere, much like that thunder some days back, sweeping past like a raging torrent before vanishing. And now... he was gone, forever. Life was truly a mystery, Leo silently mused, one that was to never truly be solved. ** Lan Yue was on her knees, staring at the cracked tablet under the flickering flames of the candlelight. There was heaviness in her chest, but her eyes were dry. Of the six tablets present, only one was cracked--her grandfather''s. Though she knew he didn''t have long to live, and that he''d dried up his potential, she still thought they had a few more years. She was angry--angry that he''d chosen to abandon his family and run off to die alone in the wilderness. Even to this day, she remembered it vividly, the day he talked about the Nameless Forest. There was the kind of yearning in his voice that she was desperately familiar with, but what angered her was that he yearned not for more time with her... but for some dream he had as a child, his idealized, perfect death. Gnashing her teeth, she kowtowed thrice toward the tablet before leaving the dusty, old room. She knew where he was, and she knew it was her duty to drag his corpse back home and bury him with the rest of their family. But... if she told this to anyone, they''d chain her in the dungeon sooner than they''d let her go to the Nameless Forest. No matter how talented she was, or even how strong she was, the Nameless Forest was a tomb for countless who were far more talented and far stronger than she was. Even now, she was already feeling the wall, the bounds of her talents. Other children were catching up to her, with a few even having surpassed her already. At best, she might become like her grandfather, a master of the Fusion Realm, but she would go no further. It was frustrating, but it was the reality of things. Every person born into this world was born with predetermined talent, and sans some extremely rare, heavenly opportunities, that talent could not be changed. Stepping out into the light once again, so looked around the well-adorned pavilion of her family''s main house--her grandfather had married into the Lan Clan when he was rather young, but had barely made any attempts to become someone of importance in the family. Though he was considered one of the Elders, he had virtually no say in the matters, and was mostly just left alone to wander the Lower Ashlands as he always had. But to Lan Yue... he was more than just her grandfather--he was the man who made her fall in love with martial arts. And, more than that, he was the one person in the entire family who''d shown her love, even when her lack of talent became apparent. Her own father and mother began treating her worse, especially so when her younger brother''s Spirit Roots turned out to be mid-Tier Sky Root, and he became destined to eventually enter into one of the four Tier IV Sects. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Her grandfather, however, never treated her any differently. For that, she had to go and retrieve his body, no matter what. Considering his advanced age and the stories about the Nameless Forest, chances were that he died at the periphery, and never managed to go any deeper into the forest. As such, there was a chance that he was only a couple of miles, at most, past the boundary. If so, she was somewhat confident in being able to take him back. Her footwork, despite her lack of talent, was still one of the best in the entire Clan, so if there was something amiss, she was at least confident in running away. Nobody stopped her or questioned her as she left--just like her grandfather, in many ways, she was left to her own devices. The Clan only ever needed three children per generation to be strong--one beset to become a Clan Head, one beset to become a Sect Disciple and spread the Clan''s name throughout the world, and one beset to become a Guardian, forever entombed within the Clan''s confines so that they may shield it in case something happened. Lan Yue would become none of them--at best, she might become an Elder with some minor influence, but she didn''t want that. Rather, she would probably be married off before that even happened, likely to some merchant family in the Whitespire City. But that was fate of the weak, and she could only surrender herself to the tide, but never stem it. Journey to the Nameless Forest would take around five days, she gathered. Not too long, not too short. She could spend some of the few Spirit Stones she had on the Sky Crane, but it wasn''t worth it. It was better if she saved the Spirit Stones for when she picked up her grandfather''s body and began her return journey. There was no doubt it would be heavier, to the body and to the heart. ** Song and Lya returned to their Sect with a little fanfare; though they''ve been gone for nearly two weeks altogether, it wasn''t too out of the ordinary for the Disciples to sometimes take even months on their missions. As the two were merely Outer Disciples, and not even one of the Top 20 Chosen, there was no welcome at the gates as they passed the grand, arched entrance. Holy Blade Sect occupied seven mountains altogether, though most of it was built within the valley framed by them. Buildings sprouted left, right, and center, most made out of hardwood, and the few more important ones made out of stone and jade. The two bade each other farewell, going to their respective Masters--which was when the fanfare occurred. Though reaching Core Formation at such a young age wasn''t unprecedented, it was exceedingly rare. Even Heavenly Jade Pavilion, the only Tier V Sect of the Lower Ashlands, could only ever procure six or seven Disciples of Lya''s and Song''s age with Core Formation Realm. Perhaps even the greater thunder was the fact that their Spirit Roots were improved, but that was kept a secret between them, their Masters, and the Sect Leader--precisely the person whom Lya and Song were meeting. They''d only ever seen the revered Leader from afar, on the day they joined the Sect, but were now sitting opposite of him, with vapors of tea vanishing into the air. Venerable Holy Blade looked to be in his thirties at most. He had smooth and well-kept skin, a pair of azure-colored eyes, and long, golden hair. Unlike with the public occasions, where he donned the Holy Robe, gilded with gold and silver, he was now wearing a rather simple, white robes. There was a loose scabbard hanging from his waist, where the Divine Artifact of the Sect Resided--the namesake, Holy Sword. Every Sect had at least one, and they were often used as a last resort, as they had limited Divine Qi stored within them that could not be replenished, since those capable of doing so had long since vanished. The man was examining both of them with a faint smile on his lips, while the two kids squirmed in their seats, feeling naked beneath the piercing gaze. Though they promised Senior they wouldn''t say anything... could they endure? "You needn''t be afraid," the Sect Leader''s voice was gentle and warm, like a midnight, summer wind. "In fact, you may share nothing, if you so desire. I have simply asked you here to congratulate you, and beseech you to continue cultivating, spreading the name of our humble Sect, far and wide." "O-of course, Venerable Sect Leader!" Lya exclaimed as both Song and her lowered their heads. They were kids, still, and couldn''t quite discern precisely what the Sect Leader meant. "I would assume you ran into some fortuitous opportunity within the Nameless Forest," the Sect Leader continued, tapping his index finger lightly against the table. "Perhaps something like a Heavenly Pond. But, were it that simple, you would have simply shared." Lya swallowed, feeling the weight of the Sect Leader''s gaze increase. "Or, perhaps you are saving the opportunity for yourself?" "No, Sect Leader--" "Song." Lya quickly interjected. Though they feared their Sect Leader, Lya knew better than to share what happened to them. While the Holy Blade was a renowned title that struck fear in the hearts of many, she felt that, should the Senior desire so, he could have easily stormed through the Holy Blade Sect and taken it for himself. "Interesting," the man said with a faint chuckle. "You two will be selected for the upcoming Heavenspan Tournament. I hope you show good results." "Yes, Venerable Sect Leader!" "You are dismissed." Both Lya and Song felt as though a grave burden had been lifted off of them; they feared that the man would press for truth, perhaps even scry their minds and pry their secrets open. However, they left the Sacred Hall free--there would be a greater scrutiny on them, they knew, especially during the tournament. Two nobodies who came from the seeming nowhere... they might even get accused of using Demonic Arts. Whatever may be the case, they at least did not betray their promise to the Senior. If it truly beacame too overbearing, Lya had already decided to go to the Nameless Forest and seek shelter there. Perhaps, in some ways, there was no better place than it in the world. Chapter 21 - A Cook or a Cultivator? Chapter 21 A Cook or a Cultivator? By the time Leo returned to his humble abode, he was feeling somewhat melancholic. Even if he had no greater attachments to the old man, he''d still accompanied someone in death. Furthermore, it stirred old memories, as well as old regrets and guilt, of when he failed to do precisely that with Layla. He, once again, wished there was some alcohol, but was still unwilling to bend over and suck at the rotten fruit in hopes of getting drunk instead of getting diarrhea. The animals--especially Blackie and Milky--seemed to have noticed something was amiss, curling up against him as soon as he sat down and purring silently. He smiled, petting them gently and soothing his heart. It was too late for regrets--it was too late on Earth, even, let alone in a completely different world. While he should never forget, he knew it would do him no good to dwell on the old memories and drown himself in them. "Alright, time to start a new day," he slapped his cheeks gently. "Let''s go back to re-mapping this place." Because he found Lya and Song, he''d stopped his mission of creating a rough map of the five mile radius around the huts. While most of the south and some of the southeast had been ''mapped out'', as well as some of the southwest thanks to the fox taking him to that hole, the north was entirely blank, as was most of the east. He departed soon after gathering the supplies, accompanied, as always, by the trusty entourage of the furry friends. There was a newcomer, again, in the form of a small, fist-sized hawk. Its colors reminded him of the hawk he''d healed recently, though it was entirely possible he was simply projecting. Nonetheless, the hawk made its nest at the top of his head, while the owl occupied his right shoulder, the monkey his left, the python his left arm, and the bat continued to hang loose from his robes. Blackie and Milky, as they always did, ventured out and returned at their whims, getting a few pets in-between. It wasn''t long before the naked trees gave way to the ones decorated with the familiar red-capped mushrooms. The animals had never brought him these mushrooms, which was why he steered clear of them. They were a bit like the polka dot shirts, and varied greatly in size. The smallest was no larger than a grape, while the largest reminded him of parasols. As he ventured further north, colors began to dim; the barks of the trees grew a shade darker, and the leaves hanging from the branches turned brownish in color. It was as though there was a changing of the seasons between two parts of the forest. Leo paused, frowning; though he had no discernible instincts as a cultivator to speak of, he still had a gut feeling: and that gut feeling was telling him that this was as far as he should go. By now, the red-capped mushrooms had disappeared, and in their places were only dark, old trees that shaded the world beneath from the sun. Only a few rays managed to find their way to the bottom, barely illuminating enough of the forest to make out the edges. Seeing as there was nothing of importance to the north--at least as far as he was comfortable visiting--he turned around and walked back. However, he paused suddenly, as a window appeared in front of him from seemingly nowhere. [You have woken the slumbering ''???????''] [Growing curious with the newcomer, they have given you a quest] [Quest: Bring them a meal that will surprise them] [Reward: A random Sky-Tier Item, x1 Root-Washing Pill] [Failure: You will never be allowed to step foot in the northern parts of the Forest] [Time Left: 3 days] [Hint: ''???????'' has experienced all of the dishes that the world had to offer. There hasn''t been a meal that has surprised them in over a 1,000 years] [Note: for the duration of the quest, you may spend System XP to purchase ingredients. There are limits, still] Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Leo turned back around and bowed toward the dark nothing, walking toward the hut right after. Luckily, whatever that thing was didn''t seem too keen on punishing him even if he failed. Simply not being allowed to go north was less of a punishment and more of a basic rule that he''d have to obey. As far as the meals went... Leo was stumped. Though he might be a decent ''cook'', and though the animals seemed to enjoy his concoctions, his creations were still at very much a basic level. "No, wait, if I can buy the ingredients...?" This likely meant he''d be able to create a relatively simple dish from the Earth--but there was a problem... he didn''t have any System XP. Ever since he leveled it up, he hadn''t gotten a single point of XP, not after helping the hawk, or accompanying the old man. The system was quite stingy with the points, and he was unwilling to test the limits of debt and loans. "I''ll just do my best with what I have," even if that thing experienced all the meals that the world had to offer, it didn''t mean that Leo was unable to prepare something unique. Rather, it didn''t necessarily even have to be tasty--just... surprising. And one thing had already popped into his head, and he quickly began to laugh at the inadvertent pun he''d come across. It was something that he''d only ''eaten'' in his childhood, and though it wasn''t particularly tasty or nourishing or anything of the sort, it was surprising. A relatively ordinary lollipop dipped into flavored, sugary powder... that would then explode in one''s mouth like fireworks. "Alright, alright," feeling smug for a moment that he thought of something unique, he immediately fell into depression right after. "How the hell do I even make something like that?!" He wouldn''t know how to make it even if he had access to all of Earth''s ingredients and factories, but he didn''t want to give up on the idea. He latched onto the ''surprising'' of the quest description, and was unwilling to let go of the dream. Clenching his fist for a moment, he decided to experiment for two days and see if he could make it, or at least a fulcrum of it. If he failed, he''d quickly veer off into something more tangible--perhaps something like French fries. "Wasn''t this supposed to my cultivation story?" he sighed, lamenting toward the sky in quite a striking pose. "Why does it feel like the title would be ''I reincarnated in a forest and became a cook for the animals who live there''?! Haaah..." ** Two figures danced atop a bulky, stone platform. Both wielded swords seemingly dipped in scarlet blood, weaving around like phantoms. One of them thrust the sword forward so quickly it caused a sonic boom, but the other responded in kind, ducking to the side and slashing out. The metallic clash was loud and echoing, yet the sound traveled no further than the bounds of the raised platform, as though there was some cage keeping it inside. One of the two figures--a boy around eighteen, nineteen years old--retreated and spun in place, coalescing one array of blood after another and firing them off. The other figure--a man seemingly in his forties--ducked back and began slashing out like crazy, deflecting the arriving arrays of blood. Yet, hidden between them was the boy, speeding until he was a blur; the two clashed yet again, with the middle-aged man being pushed back over and over again until they were at the edge of the platform. Right then, the man shouted and wove a grand spectacle of blood around him with a singular slash that sent the teenage boy barreling backward. He landed unevenly on the ground, cracking the platform and kneeling right after, vomiting blood. "Not bad," the middle-aged man said as he dusted off his robes. "You''ve forced me to use Qi. There shouldn''t be more than four other kids your age who can do that." "T-thank you, Master!" the boy forced down the blood in his throat and stood up, bowing respectfully toward the man. "The Heavenspan Tournament is in just a week," the man said. "Until then, break into the Mid Core Formation Realm. Ask Old Man Ming for the pellets." "Yes, Master. Uhm, about Yun''er--" "I''ll consider it," the man interrupted. "If you do well at the tournament. Hmm, right. Holy Blade''s sole representative will probably be that Mei child. If you meet her, cripple her. I''ll consider it even more deeply, then." "Yes, Master!" the boy said rather excitedly. "Humph. I was able to beat her easily the last time; I''d be shocked if she will be able to last more than ten rounds this time around." "Yes. After this Heavenspan Tournament," the man said with a strange grin. "We''ll show them, once and for all, that they do not belong in the same realm as us." ** Six shadows sprung up at the same time around a dimly-lit table inside a rather damp basement. All windows were boarded up, and there seemed to be a special array preventing all sounds from leaking out. "Is everything ready?" the voices were distorted, indiscernible one from another. "Everything is ready on our end." "Same." "Here, too." "I''m just about done." "..." "Six, what about you?" "Master has recalled me," one of the shadows said. "I won''t be able to participate." "You still have to leave us the Banner." "You know where to find it, One." "There has been a slight alteration to the plan: instead of striking before the start of the final round, we will do so after. Remember--the goal is to capture Ling''er. Once we have her, we scatter and reconvene at the Blood Border City. If you are followed, you know what to do. That is all. May the Seven bless us." "And may the Eighth reign Supreme." Chapter 22 - Ordinarily Unordinary Days *Chapter 22* *Ordinarily Unordinary Days* There was a litany of fruits, vegetables, roots, grasses, and leaves scattered all around Leo. He was sitting atop a chopped log, his hair in disarray, his eyes bloodshot red, staring at the pot of boiling water in front of him. He''d been hard at work, trying to create the popping powder for 24 hours straight without sleeping. Besides taking a break for a quick bath, and preparing some food for the animals, he''d been mixing, combining, boiling, cutting, chopping, and everything else he could think of, all in an attempt to replicate the popping sensation. No luck thus far, however. He did create some other strange combinations--such as creating a grape that, once bitten into, exploded into a spice bomb that made it difficult even for him to breathe afterwards. The lizard with the fiery tail, the one similar to the creature from a certain, popular show, seemed to have enjoyed it quite a lot, though no other animal wanted it. It was similar with most other of his creations--unlike his stew and the fruit juice, his new concoctions were quite niche, and usually enjoyed by either just one animal, or a few at most. For example, he somehow managed to create a ''cookie'' of sorts that, when bitten into, cracked like glass--and, not only that, but sounded just like it. When he first bit into it and heard it, his instincts from living back on Earth kicked in and he nearly screamed out in horror, briefly believing he''d truly bitten into glass and now its shards were lodged in his mouth. He''d gotten into such a concocting frenzy that he hadn''t even considered that any of his already-made ''foods'' would be enough of a surprise. In the pursuit of specific purity, he was blind to everything else without even realizing it. It didn''t matter, however. His failed byproducts were being gobbled up as soon as they were made, with very strange creatures occasionally emerging from the depths of the forest. Just a moment ago, a dog-sized creature scurried from out of the bushes, its body graceful and lithe, elongated in a strange manner. It had an asymmetrical head, where one side curled up into a series of concentric rings, at the center of which was a floating, detached eye. It had six limbs, all flexible like tentacles, and it used them to snatch a strange, oozy paste that Leo made. The effect it had was rather simple: it would ''pulsate'' like a living, breathing thing while being swallowed. It made him gag and throw up the fingernail-sized portion that he took, but the creature seemed strangely bewitched by the thing. Nobody else tried to stop it or take it; rather, all other gathered animals looked at it strangely, and had Leo took notice of those looks, he would have come to the simple conclusion that, whatever the creature was to use the ooze for, it had something to do with sex. And that would be where his inquiry would end. As does a candle, he, too, burned out soon enough. His mind felt foggy and thoughts came to him slower, forcing him to finally distance away from the experimentation. There were some twenty various things that he''d made, all of which had been gobbled up save for one--his last concoction. It was the closest approximate to what he wanted to make, and though it wasn''t exactly like the popping powder, it was likely the best he was going to make within such a short time frame. It was a piece of hard candy, fingernail-sized, that, when it became wet would ''come alive'', as it were, and begin dancing around like mad. Luckily, getting wet also softened it, meaning that all that bouncing around didn''t hurt. It was quite a queer sensation, and not one Leo was keen on getting accustomed to, but it was what he decided to go with for the quest. Whether it would satisfy the creature or not, it was now up to the fate. Sighing, he forced himself up and over to the pond, taking a quick bath before retreating into the mud hut, falling asleep. At some point, his eyes snapped open because he realized he couldn''t breathe. It wasn''t long before he figured out why--there was a furred bear cub lying on top of his chest, napping. Leo wanted to cry but he first gently nudged it, waking it up. It sprung into action as soon as it opened its eyes, leaving his chest and sitting by his head, licking him repeatedly. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Leo finally began to breathe again, realizing that mud huts weren''t enough any longer--he''d have to build a proper cabin, all for himself, a place that the animals couldn''t just saunter into, sit on top of him, and suffocate him. "Hello to you too!" he didn''t let any of his thoughts seep out, laughing instead and intertwining his fingers against the cub''s thick coat around the neck, scratching it. He finally managed to wrangle himself free nearly a minute later, yawning as he exited the hut and immediately pausing as his heart leapt into his throat. Sitting there, just some fifteen yards from the hut, was a massive behemoth of a bear--the cub''s mom. She was sitting rather strangely, almost like a dog, lowly growling in a strange cadence toward one of the creatures that Leo had noticed in the passing: a black-furred weasel with golden stripes. The weasel squealed back at the bear, and it truly seemed as though they were having a proper conversation. Leo firmly rejected the notion, in part because it still seemed somewhat impossible, but largely because he was desperate for it to be not true. It was one thing to have had people talking behind his back; them, he could at least understand. If the entire forest was engaged in some sort of a chat about him, wasn''t that his absolute worst nightmare? Wouldn''t he be living that weird Fermi Paradox solution?! It even had a forest in its name... and he was living in a forest! Shaking the dismaying thoughts away, he greeted the animals with a smile. "Mornin'' everyone," he said. "You guys hungry?" the world shook for a moment as he got the resounding ''Yes'' in many-a-vocalization, prompting him to smile further. As all the vegetables have already been gathered, all that was left was the water. Just as he was about to leave, he recalled something that he''d, embarrassingly, forgot. When those two kids killed that Foundation Realm boar, one of the rewards he got was something called . He mainly forgot about it was because he never quite managed to establish a workout routine, be it in this world or on Earth, and something called ''Simple Steps'' didn''t sound majestic enough to break that laziness for. However, there wasn''t much to do in this world, ultimately, and now that he''d remembered it, he would feel too guilty if he''d simply forgotten... again. Thus, he closed his eyes and brought to the forefront the ingrained memories of the martial art--it was rather simple, as per the name, and was equally simple to practice. It was just the matter of moving in a zig-zag pattern repeatedly, but at different speeds. He hummed a low tune on his way over the pond and back. However, as soon as he stopped and set down the jugs of water, he felt his knees give out and he found himself lying on the ground, unable to move his legs. A simple "Huh...?" escaped his lips, and he was left to reevaluate a lot of his life and choices while on the ground, waiting until his legs could move again--which happened a few minutes later. Though he could move them, they were very, very, very sore, to the point he began to severely miss a massager. "Alright, lesson learned," he whimpered lowly, but knew that he couldn''t just stop. If he was this out of shape that a completely ordinary art was draining him, it meant that he had no chance of survival. He lucked out once with the kids being here when he needed protection, but would there be somebody else a second time? What about the third? He was in a dangerous world, now, one bereft of all the luxuries and safeties he used to enjoy. He was alone, adrift in a forest, surrounded by things that could kill him rather easily if they so desired. And he was weak--so weak that he collapsed after just jogging for a little while using the most simple martial art. As means of distracting himself from the soreness and the pain, he began to prepare the food. He''d gotten rather good at it--whereas it used to take him between half an hour and a whole hour per serving, he cut it down to merely fifteen minutes, and that was only because he didn''t know how to start a stronger fire. Nonetheless, even with the shortened time, it still took a while to feed everyone since the number of animals had also grown in number. He only finished about an hour later, once again taking a quick bath before packing the ''Bouncer'' as he named the candy and heading back north. This time around, strangely, he was alone. It was rather eerie, he realized, how silent the forest was when he wasn''t being accompanied by any of his friends. Even the wind seemed to have quieted down, and the ground beneath ceased crunching under his weight. It was as though the whole of the world shuttered all sounds in reverence of something else. The red-capped mushrooms soon began to fade behind him, and he once again found himself in the silent dark, at the boundary of where his heart was allowing him to be. A step further, he felt, would mean he would die. He didn''t know how he knew... but he knew, for certain. He merely took out the candy, having wrapped it in a leaf, and laid it down onto the ground before retreating a few steps, waiting with a knot in his throat for what would emerge from the shadows--what kind of monstrosity was controlling most of the northern area of the forest, scaring off all other life around it. Chapter 23 - The Loose and the Lost Chapter 23 The Loose and the Lost Leo waited rather patiently, distancing himself from the candy by some twenty yards but not leaving. If he were prompted to leave, he most definitely would have, but as there were no signs of him needing to go, he elected to stay, being quite curious as to what would walk out from the darkness. Eventually, he got kind of bored and sat down, trying to meditate again. It was difficult--after all, it hadn''t been that long since he came to this world, and though quite a few things about him were beginning to change from how he was on Earth, it wasn''t as though he was a completely different person. Meditating was something that he used to relentlessly mock back on Earth, considering it nothing more than a ''hippie attention-seeking nonsense'', never even giving it a chance. To then suddenly be able to sit calmly and empty his mind of all thoughts for longer than twenty seconds was difficult, if not outright impossible. Still, he managed to improve, if ever so slightly--when he first tried it, he only lasted 17 seconds. And now? Now he was up to whole 33 seconds! Kind of like-- A sudden sound startled him and pried his eyes open. From the shadows, he saw a winged phantom appear; at first, he couldn''t make out any distinct features, but as it approached, it began to more and more resemble something rather familiar... a crow. In fact, it was a crow. Just a normal crow. Unlike most other animals in the forest, it had no mutated features, no extra appendages, no addons, no strange doodads. It was just a normal-looking crow. Black feathers, sharp beak, normal size. It glided over to the ground and pecked open the leaf, staring gingerly at the candy on the floor. Rather than immediately eating it, it looked up at Leo. And though a terrifying wave washed over his soul, prompting him to break out into cold sweat immediately, it also calmed him down--evidently, it wasn''t just a normal crow. He silently pondered what it meant for his psyche that he was happier that the crow was ubiquitously strange and eerie, just like every other animal, rather than entirely ordinary. The crow looked away right after, and the feeling of a mountain on his soul vanished immediately after. Ignoring the soaked back and butt, Leo stared at the crow as it gaped its beak and picked up the candy. He worried quite a lot about one particular part: he''d forgotten he was making food for an animal. Even though he didn''t know it was a crow, he should have taken into account the fact that the ''thing'' that would be eating it was an animal. He didn''t even know whether the ''bouncy'' aspect of the candy would work since the crow''s beak was so small. Wait, do... do crows have saliva? If the candy never got wet... it would never soften. And if that were the case, the crow would just be eating a rock... "O'', revered... mighty Crow--" before he could explain himself, a slew of windows assailed his eyesight, distracting him. [''????????'' is quite impressed with your unique concoction and praises your skills] [''????????'' rewards you with 1x Sky-Tier Item, ''Wind-Thinning Necklace'', and a Root-Washing Pill] [Root-Washing Pill -- increases the tier of your Spiritual Roots. Cannot increase above the Sky Tier] [Wind-Thinning Necklace -- consecutive strikes with a bladed weapon lower air resistance; channeling Qi into the bladed weapon procures slicing, thin vacuums] [''????????'' informs you that they will always be interested in strange and new concoctions, but that you can only visit once every 30 days] Two things magically appeared in front of Leo--a rather sleek, bejeweled necklace with a sapphire stone framed within silver casing, and a pebble-sized, white pill. He first inspected the necklace, fiddling with it for a moment before putting it on. As he didn''t have a sword to test it out, he merely hoped he wouldn''t forget it for the day he did get a sword. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. He then picked up the pill, fiddled with it, too, for a moment, and decided against taking it. It wasn''t that he didn''t trust the crow, but that, per his ''knowledge'' of cultivation, changing one''s innate talents in these kinds of worlds was close to impossible. He, on one had, had a system--system which had already helped him increase his ''talents''. If the past were an indicator, there would be other ways to increase it. On the other hand, he could sell the pill to the outside world and perhaps even retire with the money he''d earn. Then again, there was also a chance that he was completely wrong--that evolving one''s innate talents was as easy as breathing. It wouldn''t be too late to swallow the pill then, though, so, ultimately, it did not matter. He stuffed it into his robes, pegging it to memory. Sighing, Leo straightened up. His back was wet as was the nape of his neck, and the cold wind chilled him further. There was something quite off about the crow, and that ''off'' carried quite a lot of weight considering where he lived. He feared, in more ways than one, that the crow was more dangerous than all the other animals he''d met so far combined. Though, in fairness, short of the pair of boars, he''d never seen any other animal exhibit anything approaching ''hostile'' behavior. He closed his eyes and imagined himself swinging a blade while the necklace helped him fire off arrays of wind--it was strange, imagining himself in a fight. The closest he ever got in his life on Earth was the scuffle he got into with Eddie Wringman in the 4th grade when the boy finally retaliated after weeks of bullying. That was the day Leo learned he was better off not going too far. Deep down, though, he knew that he would have to fight--perhaps not tomorrow, or the next week, or even in years, but there would come a day in the future when he''d have to fight, if for nothing else but than to survive. And he wanted to be prepared for that day. His imagination, however, could only carry him so far. He seldom had confidence--after all, witnessing that boar had shattered what little faith he had in himself as the ''chosen one''. If all Demonic Beasts were like that or, worse yet, much stronger, he may take years before being ready to face one. Though he saw Song and Lya fight, it was far from enough for him to draw any conclusions. Besides, for most of the fight, he was shaking in his boots at the sight of the behemoth of a boar, and thus retained rather little of the entire fight. Lya and Song fought in extremely different ways as well, ways that he couldn''t emulate even a little bit. Song was quick and nimble, darting about and thrusting the thin sword at the speeds that Leo couldn''t replicate no matter how much he tried. Lya, on the other hand, fought like a magician--she stayed back and conjured currents of lightning, something he most definitely could not replicate. Ultimately, if he was forced to fight, the best he could do what was what he did with the first boar--sneak attack into ''sensitive'' areas and pray for the best. "No, no, that''s all wrong! Fight? No, I''ll just have to find some gullible cultivators, feed them some nice stuff, and have them fight for me!" Happy with the future plans, he sped up back home. Surprisingly, he didn''t come across a single animal--it was as though the forest was stripped of all life, and he became worried. It wasn''t impossible that some evil spirit had come to the forest and killed all of his friends, even if it was unlikely. He decided not to panic, however, until he at least returned back home--and his decision turned out to be perfect, as they were all there. Some were loosely sprawled on the ground, some were hanging from the trees, some were sleeping on them, he caught a few doing things in the bushes, and there were, as always, quite a few populating the rooftops of the mud huts. Strangely, they did not touch the medicinal hall at all. Just as he was about to call out to them, he paused--caught between them, and shaking visibly on the ground, was a human. She looked to be in her early twenties at the latest, wearing tattered and bloodied robes. Her black hair was quite disheveled, and the pair of green eyes was teary with dread. She''d curled up against a small boulder, her eyes darting back and forth between the animals. "Eh?" he exclaimed softly, drawing attention to himself--both of the animals as well as the young girl. The terror in her eyes faded for a moment, replaced by hope. It didn''t last long, however; probably just long enough for her to determine how weak Leo was, he guessed. "Guys, did you do that to her?" he asked the animals in a rather stern tone. The first to respond were the monkey and the owl, both of which jumped onto his shoulder and began hooting and hollering while gesturing with their arms and wings. Though they were singing in a language Leo couldn''t understand, he broadly guessed that the general answer was--no, they were not the ones who''d harmed her. "Ah!" he exclaimed, guessing from the owl''s gesturing. "You found her wounded and brought her here? Good job!" while he chatted nonchalantly with his buddies, he glanced to the side and noticed the girl gawking at him as though he were the greatest monstrosity of all. Feeling a bit hurt, he coughed and walked forward, dipping into one of the mud huts and taking out one of the pre-made jugs of fruit juice. "Here," he said. "Drink. It''ll make you feel better." Chapter 24 - Newcomer in the Forest Chapter 24 Newcomer in the Forest Yue was terrified--no, rather, she was mortified. Throughout her life, she''d experienced plenty of awful and painful things--she''d had a hole gouged open in the side of her chest when she was just thirteen, barely surviving. She was forced to fight a Black-Flame Tiger to death when she was only sixteen, nearly losing her left leg in the process. However, no matter how deep in the wells of her memory she reached, she could not find another moment in her life where she was more terrified than now. She couldn''t quite remember what happened, but she did recall being affronted by some cultivators on her way to the Nameless Forest to retrieve her grandfather''s body. A fight broke out shortly after, and though she remembered winning, she did receive injuries, forcing her to run to the forest at a much faster rate. However, it seemed like she was also poisoned without having even realized it--she must have entered the forest at some point and passed out, and by the time she came to... she found herself here of all places. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a strange-looking, six-armed monkey who was looking at her curiously. Startled, she braced back only to hit something soft and bounce off of it; glancing back over her shoulder, she saw that it was a bear cub the size of a large dog who was, also, looking at her curiously. A quick look-around told her that it wasn''t just those two--there were dozens of animals all around her, all looking at her. Furthermore, there were six mud huts around her, and another strange building just off to the side, and a burned-out campfire at the center. It was clear that a person either lived here, or used to live here--most-likely the latter, as the animals consumed him... just as they would consume her. But as her mind began to slowly wake up from its stupor, she began to pick on a few oddities; none of these animals were quite... ordinary, as it were. And they were not Demonic Beasts either, for the express reason that she was very much still alive. Demonic Beasts, even if they had base level of intellect, were still animals at their cores--they could not go against their base instinct to devour something, especially a Cultivator as that would enhance their own strength. The true terror, the bone-boring one, came when she recognized one of the animals--it was the white, house cat sized panther lying in front of one of the mud huts, seemingly asleep. She''d seen it before--no, rather, she''d seen its image depicted in a codex before. Namely, a codex called ''Known Spiritual Beasts and Their Assumed Characteristics''. It was written by the Venerable Soul some two hundred years ago, and it was one of her most prized possessions (or, well, was until her father took it from her to give as a gift to some random Elder from some random Sect), and one which she read over a thousand times at least. There was no doubt in her mind that the white panther was the ferocious, legendary ''Spirit of the Winter Unlived''. The myth went, four thousand years ago or so, the First Men settled a mountain in the summer. However, when the winter came, they were extremely ill-prepared; just on the brink of dying, a friendly beast came to visit them in the night and guided them to a system of caves in the mountain before it disappeared. In reverence, the First Men built a statue in its likeness and worshipped it every night for 77 years, causing the birth of the Spirit. Every once in a while, it would manifest itself for the travelers in dire need of help, guiding them through the blizzards and storms into safety. Naturally, as with most other myths, it was just a story, with the only truth being that the Spirit itself most-likely already existed at the point of the myth itself being conceived. However, that was entirely besides the point-- That panther, just lying there and dozing off without a care in the world, was a Spirit Beast. It was as though a bolt of lightning surged through Yue''s entire body, and she found herself abuzz with newfound horror as her eyes slowly gleaned past the panther and toward the rest of the animals. Though she couldn''t recognize the vast majority of them, some, just like the panther, invoked memories deep-seated, amplifying the fear within her. The strange, red-eyed owl perched atop one of the trees, with a glistening beak and a look within those eyes that seemed to contain the wisdom of the world, was, according to the book at least, the Spirit of the Ancient Wisdom Forgotten by Man. The lizard lazily sunbathing by one of the huts, with its tail ablaze with flames, was the Burning Salamander, the Spirit of the First Fire. According to the legends, the First Men were gifted the First Fire by that very creature, or at least the agnate of one. And the last one that she recognized was also the most terrifying--sitting between a pair of trees, playing with a tiny, black panther, there was a mule-sized tiger. It had two playful, dancing tails, fur as black as obsidian, and a pair of scarlet-red eyes that seemed to be burning. According to Venerable Soul, that was G''athun, the Spirit of Primordial Chaos. As it were, though they were called the First Men, the myths suppose that they truly were merely descendants of the mythical figures of the past. And in that Age Before the Age, there was a war that tore the world asunder, destroying nearly all vestiges of creation. And because the war seemed to have no end, as men and beasts and spirits and apparitions continued to kill one another, one of the four of the oldest Spirits awoke from its slumber and forcibly ended the war by taking back the vast, rich Qi gifted to the world. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Immortals soon began to vanish from the world, unable to sustain themselves off of the pitiful amounts of remnant Qi, and before long, the war ended and, with it, the Immortal Age. The Spirit who stepped in was, supposedly, precisely G''athun, the Spirit of Primordial Chaos. Whether that tiger there truly was who Yue thought it was... most-likely not. However, if it had similar appearance, then it at least meant it had some connection to the original Spirit. And that... that was more than terrifying enough. By now, she regretted ever fancying the trip to the Nameless Forest, thinking that it would be better for her than it was for thousands before her. Here, her cultivation meant even less than it did on the outside. At least, in the Lower Ashlands, someone at the Early Core Formation Stage could become an Elder of some Tier II Sect and live a decent life. In the Nameless Forest? She was a stray twig, ready to be snapped in half by any one random animal just taking a saunter between the trees. Just as she was about to give up on life, she heard approaching footsteps, and her heart leapt into her throat once again. Glancing to the side, she saw a man walking up to the clearing; he seemed to be in his mid to late thirties, and wasn''t of particularly handsome appearance. His hair and beard were both black and unkempt, and his robes were tattered and awkwardly patched up. The faint feeling of hope that she''d be rescued faded quickly as she realized that the man was merely at Qi Condensation Realm. "Eh?" the man exclaimed softly. "Guys, did you do that to her?" To Yue''s shock, what followed his question was something she wouldn''t have concocted even in her wildest dream--the monkey and the owl jumped and flew over to him, hooting and cooing, broadly gesturing with their appendages. "Ah!" the man exclaimed once again. "You found her wounded and brought her here? Good job!" His eyes then shifted over to her and she noticed a strange phenomenon--the look in the eyes of the animals changed as their gazes found him. They softened and grew warmer. The man coughed awkwardly as he caught her gawking at him before walking into one of the huts for a moment, leaving with a jug of some rather sweet-scented liquid. He walked up to her rather carefully, as though she were a stray kitten, and handed the jug over. "Here," he said. "Drink. It''ll make you feel better." Yue took the jug absentmindedly, still trying to process what she was seeing, and took a sip without even shielding herself with Qi in case it was poison. By the time she realized what she''d done, it was too late--the sweet, fruity liquid had passed through her throat and lit her entire body on fire. Just as she thought she was done, she realized it was having the opposite effect of what she feared would happen--rather than destroying her, the liquid was revitalizing her. She found her Qi being purified at an alarming rate, and even inspected her meridians being widened. Even if it was an excruciating experience, she grit her teeth and endured, realizing that this was something that ''never'' happened. One of the most fundamental pieces of knowledge when it came to cultivation was that the meridians could not be expanded after one ascended to Foundation Realm, and that Qi purification was once-in-a-lifetime experience. However, she was experiencing both in vastly exaggerated qualities, and at the same time no less. Whatever that liquid was... it ought to be dubbed the Immortal Elixir, at the very least. Though, even if in comparison it was just a minor effect, it also healed all of her wounds--external and internal alike--leaving her more refreshed than she''d ever been in her life. She didn''t know how much time had passed before she opened her eyes, but by the time she did, it had darkened and there was a burning fire going strong in front of her. The man sat on the side, stirring something in a pair of pots above the flames, while the animals congregated all around. She finally understood it--why they hung around here, and why they looked at the man they did. If he fed them things like that on the daily basis, she''d be ecstatic to be here as well. "You okay?" he must have noticed her opened her eyes and asked. "Yes. Thank you very much, Senior," she quickly bowed, pressing her forehead onto the ground. It was the sort of favor that very few people on the entire Ashlands could grant, let alone within the Lower Ashlands. And yet, she--a decidable nobody--received it. "Don''t worry about it," he said through the crackling of the flame. "You must be Yue." "E-eh?!!" Yue exclaimed in shock as the man stood up, facing her with a smile. "Your grandfather warned me you might come," he said. "And try and take him away." "You--you, you met him?" she asked, her voice quivering with a combination of rage and sorrow. "Briefly," the man said. "He seemed lovely, if overcome with regrets." "... I always knew he''d come here," Yue said, hanging her head low and biting her lip. "I even managed to sneak some tracing powder on him, but he must have discovered it. That night, the way he spoke... it broke my heart. And it broke further when I realized that he would have rather come here to die, in this strange land, than with his family by his side." "Men are compelled by strange things," he said. "Especially as we feel the death draw near." "--where, where is he?" Yue dared ask; by now, her confidence in retrieving her grandfather had bottomed out. But... she still had to try. "Here," startled, she looked up to see a shadow cast upon her--the man stood above her, extending his arm and holding a wooden plate of boiled vegetables. She took it, unconsciously, and watched him walk back. "He... is resting." "You... were with him?" "Until the end." "..." "It was beyond selfish of him to come here," the man said, sitting down by the flame, the dancing tendrils casting an odd shadow on his face, hiding his expression. "To run away from his family, chasing ghosts he should have buried a long time ago. But... I understand him. No matter the battle, some regrets are impossible to forgive. Even if the world blesses us with that forgiveness, we carry them internally like the wounds whose scabs we keep scratching, making sure they never fully heal. You should rest for a bit," he said, turning his back toward her. "I will take you to him tomorrow." Yue fell silent, words caught up in her throat. Ultimately, she bowed toward him once again and found a small patch of forest uninhabited by any of the animals, sitting cross-legged and meditating. She''d only now realized she had broken through to the Mid Core Formation Realm, something she thought she''d have to work a decade for. Who was he? That was the question hanging over her head... but the question she dared not ask. Chapter 25 - Cultivation Should Not Be Easy Chapter 25 Cultivation Should Not Be Easy Yue opened her eyes at the crack of dawn, admiring the bathing sunrays piercing through the thick canopy of the trees. Most of the animals appeared to be fast asleep, though a few were shuffling about, leaving and entering the mud huts. Her Divine Sense had already picked the one where the man was staying; he was currently lying sprawled on his back, his torso, legs, and even the top of his head all cushions for a litany of animals. Now that she''d recovered and that her senses had sharpened thanks to that strange, sweet liquid, she picked up on a few extra details--she couldn''t discern any of the animals'' cultivation realms save for precisely four, and those four appeared to be the youngest. Even so, they were all at Soul Ascendance Realm, and were sporting stronger auras than even the Sect Masters of the Tier IV Sects. Despite that, it seemed as though the man, for reasons beyond her, was the central figure here. It wasn''t as though Yue hadn''t considered that the man was a hermit, but she quickly perished the thought. Hermits were mostly just made up stories, and those that ''existed'' only did so not because of their own desires, but because they were one way or another banished from the world. Furthermore, none of them would have the ability to compel even a few Demonic Beasts, let alone the massive legion of even stronger animals in the Nameless Forest. And lastly, there was precisely that--the location. Shorn of Immortals from the legends, Yue was certain there wasn''t a soul alive on the entire Ashlands who could survive here. And, unless the man was a cultivator who was thousands of years old, the likelier story was different. But Yue couldn''t grasp what kind of story would lead to this particular outcome. She heard the man shuffle and yawn and soon after exit the hut, lazily stretching. He was already besieged by the animals--namely a strange, ashen-colored bat hanging from his robes, and a long, multicolored python wrapped around his arm. "Mornin'' everyone," he cheerily greeted the entire forest before turning toward her. "If you want to take a bath, there''s a pond west of here. Uh, that way," he pointed a finger. "I''ll prepare us a meal in the meantime." "Thank you, Senior." "You can just call me Leo," he smiled faintly as Yue stood up and headed west. She, indeed, was in a desperate need of a bath--no matter how much she cleansed herself with Qi, the stench of blood lingered. "Eh? What''s up, Blackie?" Yue noticed the man converse with a creature yanking at his robes. It was a small, black panther who began to gesture between Yue and westward. "You want to go with her? Uh... you''re, you''re not like a pervert or something, right?" "Pff--" Yue swallowed a laugh as the man bent forward and began chastising the poor creature. "That''s not good, Blackie," the man said. "As a man, you must be respectful--" "Uhm, Senior?" Yue called out. "Yes?" "The panther''s, uh, it''s a girl. She''s a girl, I mean." "..." "Hm." "Right. I knew that. Of course," the man coughed awkwardly as Yue, once again, held back her laughter. The black panther suddenly ran over to Yue and leapt into her arms, licking her face right after. She could have sworn to have seen a look of gratitude in those beautiful eyes. "You two, uh, can go, then. I''ll stay and revel in my embarrassment." Yue bowed once again before passing by and moving westward, the black panther jumping out of her arms and walking by her side. She couldn''t see through the little creature, but was certain should the panther desire so, she would be torn to bits and pieces within the blink of an eye. And yet, simply skipping by her side like an ordinary cat, it seemed so cute and loving. They reached the pond rather quickly, and Yue was once again shocked into silence and stiffness. The pond, after all, was not filled up with any ordinary water--it was water suffused with the purest Qi she''d ever come across. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The so-called ''Qi Basins'' or ''Heavenly Ponds'' weren''t exactly rare. In fact, any major Clan or Sect had at least one, though, naturally, they varied in quality. There wasn''t any one way to measure that quality, but the general rule of the thumb was that the worst of them could help Qi Condensation Disciples with cultivation ever so slightly, while the best of them--those housed in Tier IV and V Sects--were even beneficial for the Soul Ascendance Sect Masters. The pond in front of her, however, was different. Even merely standing by its side and breathing in, Yue could feel her cultivation base churn, almost like a young child finally being given its favorite candy. This place... was not hell, she surmised, but only so because she was a guest and not an intruder. In fact, she faltered slightly on her theory about the man--even spending just a year in a place like this would likely shoot one''s cultivation up to at least Avatar Realm. So, either he''d been here for just a few days quite literally, or there was an entirely different story being woven. She carefully disrobed and jumped into the pond, followed by the panther who began to splatter about. Meanwhile, she couldn''t even truly move--she felt every pore of her body being washed out of its filth, and the purest of Qi seep into her through the skin. The invisible vapors began to course through her veins and meridians, tempering her wholly inside and out. Within a minute, her Spiritual Roots began to crack and expand, and she felt herself become afire as it sucked in a whole whirlpool of Qi almost immediately. In a blink of an eye, her roots shattered, its shell turned to ash as, from the energy caused by the explosion, a new, beautiful ones sprung deep therein. Suddenly, without any forewarning, she became a proud owner of Mid-Grade Heaven Spiritual Roots, which would make her one of the most talented people in the entire Lower Ashlands. If she so desired, she could run to the Heavenly Pavilion immediately and become their Core Disciple, carefully groomed for the future Sect Master. She sunk into the water and leaned against the warm edge, lost in thought. Part of her believed that she had died, and this was her mind making up a story to make the passing easier. Otherwise, none of it made any sense. Was cultivating truly this easy? No. ''Cultivation'' and ''easy'' were never words put together in a sentence, unless that sentence was ''Cultivation is not easy''. Even the most heavenly-gifted struggled and fought, as the cultivation itself was defiance of fate--mortal men and women gathered their wills and hopes, trying to break the chains that they were bound with at birth, and ascend past their fleshly limitations. It was ''meant'' to be a struggle, to be arduous, to be bone-breaking. She herself had experienced the struggle all her life--in fact, even breaking minor realms in Qi Condensation was more difficult. Leagues more difficult. Standing up from the pond, she glanced at her body only to see it shorn of wounds and scars. Only the birthmark beneath her left breast remained, shaped like a crescent moon. Sighing lowly, she stepped out and used Qi to dry herself off before taking out fresh robes from her spatial ring. She hadn''t put that many things inside as she didn''t plan on staying too long, but she always carried at least six or seven changes of clothes just in case. The panther, too, left the pond and shook off the water from its fur. Yue thought it would accompany her back but, instead, it scurried off into the bushes and disappeared, leaving her alone. She''d realized one thing--she would be unable to retrieve her grandfather''s body, most likely. But where did that leave her? If she returned to the Clan, she would be hounded until her dying breath to tell them how she changed so much. She would be lucky if they didn''t hand her over to one of the Sects as a favor where she''d experience torture never meant for a person to experience. Could she flee to some other part of the Ashlands? Certainly--but she was still not strong enough. She had potential, inexhaustible kind, but, ultimately, she was still ''just'' at the Mid Core Formation Realm. Wherever she went, questions would be asked--even the Heavenly Pavilion. Question she could not answer without disclosing Leo''s existence. And even if the world of immortal men and women was one of cruelty, selfishness, and self-interest, she was deeply unwilling to repay such grace with vileness. By the time she returned, all animals seemed to have woken up and gathered once again. The scent of rather tantalizing food wafted past the trees and caused her stomach to rumble. Even if she could forgo eating for weeks as a cultivator, it was still difficult to ignore one of the life''s most basic joys. "You''re back? Just in time. Sit. Here," she sat on the boulder and took the plate while the man quickly returned to the pair of pots. She noticed quite a few wooden plates scattered around, licked clean already. She ate slowly and carefully, cherishing every bite. Unlike before, there weren''t any monumental changes, but she could still feel herself slowly inching closer and closer to the Late Core Formation Realm. Something that ought to have taken a few years at least, at this rate would take just a few weeks, at most. Most of the animals scattered when they finished the meal, disappearing. However, dozens still stayed, occupying the surrounding trees as well as the mud huts. "Are you ready?" the man suddenly asked her and prompted her to stand up. "Yes." "Follow me. Ah, guys, you want to come too? Ha ha, alright, alright. Let''s go." Yue watched with a strange look in her eyes as eight or so animals climbed on top of him while the pair of black and white panthers swung around his feet before disappearing deep into the forest. There was also a strange-looking gopher that would burrow in and out of the ground here and there. It truly was... strange. Yes, strange, and not insane, mind-bending, or reality-altering. Merely... strange. Chapter 26 - Hallowed Paradise Chapter 26 Hallowed Paradise Leo walked in the front, while the young woman followed behind in silence. He was quite shocked when he found her, but had gotten somewhat used to it by now. She looked to be in her early twenties, sporting long, slightly black hair and a pair of forest-green eyes. By all accounts she was quite beautiful, but there were still remnants of what Leo called ''kid''s features'' present--her cheeks hadn''t fully flattened yet, her eyes were bereft of circles, and her forehead was simply too... smooth. In his life, Leo had learned to love the developed canyons in the skin. Rather than flaws, they were carved medals of valor and honor which told tales survived by those bearing them. There was a transcendental beauty to them, one often unappreciated in the culture of trying to hide them in mad desperation. And, thus, despite her being beautiful, Leo had already shuffled her into a different corner in his mind, one where those he''d looked over existed. He walked at an even pace, occasionally reaching for the jug of water, and waiting for the pair of panthers to rejoin them. Luckily, the temperature was quite mild, perhaps high seventies, mid-eighties at the most, with low humidity--almost perfect conditions for a trek through the forest. It wasn''t long before he saw the trees gape and part, and the wide clearing came into view. As Yue stepped out behind him, she gasped in shock and awe, appearing short of breath for a moment. She walked past him and toward the edge of the pit, glancing down at the heavenly paradise. As before with her grandfather, animals paid a cursory glance toward her before ignoring her, leaving her to admire in shellshocked silence. Leo walked up and stopped beside her, glancing down at where the earth swallowed the old man. The world moved on, as it always did, indifferent to the passing of life. "... here?" she asked, her voice quivering. "Here," Leo replied. "..." he caught her teeth bite into her lower lip as she swallowed the words. Who would deny this paradise being the lasting tomb of someone they loved? No matter how desperate she was to give him Ancestral Rites, ultimately, they were all rituals for the living. The dead, shorn of their voices, were unable to make demands for themselves--and living had it upon themselves to either listen to the last gasp of those voices, or ignore them. She, seemingly, decided to listen. "--nobody else," she broke the silence. "Nobody in my family cared for me when they learned that my Spiritual Roots were merely average. My mother''s love went entirely to my older and younger brothers, and my father immediately started shopping me around for a future marriage." "..." "It was only him," her voice fractured, and he caught tears coalescing at the corners of her eyes. He looked away and back into the pit, feeling the weight in his heart. "He''d hold me, tell me stories, myths, and legends. And he''d tell me that I was just as good as every other kid--better, even. He gave me a voice when the world wanted to take it away. Were it not for him, I''m certain my father would have married me off years ago. But he fought until his last breath to keep me independent." "..." "He wasn''t a saint, I know that much," she chuckled, wiping her eyes. "But... I don''t care. To me, he was the pillar holding up the skies from falling down. He was the fire burning brightly in the long night. And I... I didn''t even get a chance to pay him back. Not in life, and not in death." She fell down to her knees and wept openly, her sobs echoing out against the wall of the trees. Animals, one by one, left him and went over to her--Blackie licked the tears from her face, Milky snuggled into her lap, Hoot perched himself on top of her shoulder like a guardian, while Red used all his arms to hug her from the back. They were not alone--critters, lizards, and slightly oversized insects emerged from the sky and the earth and walked and flew up to her slowly, trying to comfort her in their own little ways. It was quite a sight, one straight out the certain type of movies. However, unlike the undulating joy and serene beauty within those scenes, here, there was only sorrow. The cawing silence of the deafened forest became the solemn symphony to someone saying goodbye. Leo... was familiar, both with the cracked voice, with the pain writhing therein, and with the hopelessness felt at the moment. However, unlike him who was left alone to wrangle with guilt and regret, Yue was not alone--there was a world which embraced her, holding her while she cried out to the sky. He, on the other hand, remained silent and at a distance. Never quite comfortable with grief, even his own let alone anyone else''s, Leo found it easier to exist at the periphery--close enough to the people that they might invite him for jovial occasions, but distant enough that they''d hide their pain from him. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. It was some five minutes later that she seemed to exhaust herself, and when the animals began to disperse. Most retreated either into the pit or into the forest, though the few remained either around her or on top of Leo. "I--I''m sorry," she mumbled softly, her eyes glued to the dirt beneath her. "What for?" Leo said. "I''ve neither seen nor heard anything." "I have a favor to ask." she said, standing up slowly and facing him. Her eyes were bloodshot red, face pale, and lips ever so slightly quivering. "Hm? Anything." Leo replied. "Please... let me stay here, and become your Disciple." "..." Leo felt something shoot up through his stomach and into his esophagus. There was a level of earnestness in her eyes that he wasn''t prepared for. As before, glazing the eyes for a couple of days might be possible, but any longer than that and his fa?ade would begin to crack. He was no mythical cultivator, after all--he was marginally better than an ordinary person, at best. However, beyond that earnestness, he also gleaned something else--desperation. It wasn''t merely a desire, it was a desperate want. Though he didn''t know the full story of it, he could guess a few details, namely that, if she returned, she''d become a tool she spent a lifetime trying not to be. "I don''t own the forest," Leo ultimately said, breaking the silence. "Or anything in it. You are free to stay here, of course, for as long as you want." "Then--" "--but as for becoming my Disciple, that is impossible." "... w-why? Is, is it my talent?" she asked, lowering her head. "No, of course not," Leo said. Though he wanted to tell her truth, his heart betrayed him. Even if he decided to live an honest life... "I am not ready to become anyone''s Master," he added with a faint, soulful sigh. "One day, perhaps, if you still desire it." Leo paused suddenly, feeling an incoming headache--in addition to the fact that Yue hung her head even lower, a window appeared by her side, like a distant taunt. [Rejecting her intentions will plant a seed of self-doubt that will become a Demonic Heart, ultimately causing her to enter Qi Deviation when trying to ascend into Spirit Creation Realm] [Accepting her intentions and making her your First Disciple, you will learn ''Hallowed Paradise'' Cultivation Method that you can hand down to her] --the world was unfair, Leo garnered inwardly. He was a liar and a cheat, a shadow hiding deep in the forest and away from the world, desperate to never be found. And yet, he was being asked to become the very thing he feared being. How could he say no, however? Even if he didn''t know the precise consequences of the Demonic Heart or the Qi Deviation, chances were that her cultivation road would come to an end. As for why she so desperately clung onto becoming his Disciple, he could venture a guess or two. It seemed that the meals he prepared and the juices he made had a certain effect on other cultivators that they do not have on him. He couldn''t precisely say what effects, but they didn''t necessarily need to be massive--they could just be ''altering'', something that is effectively rather minor, but because nobody in this part of the world can do it, the effect thus comes off as monumental. "... fine," he said, sighing. "You''ll become my First Disciple." "--y-yes? Really?" "Yes." "Thank you, Master!" she immediately fell to her knees and slammed her forehead into the ground. Leo winced and wanted to tell her to stop, but it was pointless--she rammed it thrice so quickly he barely grasped it. At the same time, he felt his mind expand from the corner, and a strange mantra emerge from the seeming nowhere. It was as though words and images and methods passed through a membrane from another world and directly into his psyche. was, even by Leo''s own interpretation, relatively simple. But that was sort of the point from what he gathered--that the method took the world and all the complexities contained therein, and tried to simplify them to their barest components. While he ''understood'' the method on the fundamental level from the onset, it wasn''t as though he fully grasped it. He felt lucky that there was enough ''room'' in his mind to store all the new information, and once again thank the lucky stars he''d at least become a nominal ''Cultivator''. "Let''s go back," he said. "Yes, Master." her countenance had changed--she seemed rather serious, if not obstinate, completely erasing the image of a broken, young girl... or, well, at least trying her hardest to do so. "I will give you one last chance to pull out," Leo said as the animals began to follow them. "Being my Disciple means being unable to leave this place without my express approval. Most days will be spent in silent contemplation or aimless wandering. Can you endure that?" he gave one last, half-hearted attempt, though he knew by the look in her eyes that she would not be so easily swayed. "... it sounds like heaven compared to the life waiting for me outside this place." Leo glanced back and caught a glimpse of the fading, pained smile. "Master, would you like me to hunt us a dinner?" "No," Leo said quickly. "We don''t hunt unless hunted." "Uh--" "--every animal you come across in this place, I want you to treat with the same respect you treat me with," Leo said. "I owe my life to them." "..." "So, if they ask you to do something, do it. They are mostly busy with eating the food I make and sleeping, so you won''t be seeing them..." While Leo went on to hold quite a lengthy speech about the animals, Yue silently observed the animals once again occupy the tall figure in front of her. Whether the man was truly just a Qi Condensation nobody, or a sleeping hermit of the legendary tales, she didn''t truly care. Anyone with the ability to befriend Spirits broke down the standard understanding of strength--who would dare utter a word toward him, when he had an army of Spirits that would seemingly die for him? She felt something rub against her leg, startling her and causing her to look down only to see the black panther--simply named Blackie (she''d already picked up on a few... oddities about her new Master, chief of which was his rather abysmal naming sense)--walking by her side. She bent over and picked her up, while the beast snuggled into her arms and immediately closed her eyes. Life here, she felt, would be unlike anything she''d ever experienced--but she looked forward to it more than anything she did in her life. It only now dawned on her that she would also be able to visit her grandfather''s grave whenever she wanted, and even perform Ancestral Rites. She smiled, looking up past the trees and at the soul-stirring blue sky. Life was an unexpected journey for all those who dared run, and though for most of it she simply walked the road paved, now that she dared run, she found it alight with colors she''d never seen before. Her chest felt lighter, her lips freer, and her mind clearer--life wasn''t a struggle, she realized... its circumstances, though, were. Chapter 27 - Juice, Jugs, and Missteps Chapter 27 Juice, Jugs, and Missteps In two days that she spent in the forest with her new Master, Lan Yue learned that the man was very much honest when he warned her there wouldn''t be much to do in here. Rather, she could surmise his day (and, in extension, hers) very quickly: First, he''d wake up and make breakfast for all animals. This would usually take two-three hours at the very minimum. The first day she merely observed from the side, but on the second, she was tasked with fetching the ingredients which sped the process up somewhat. Second, he''d take a quick bath at the pond, right after her. Third, he''d make large amounts of the sweet liquid he called ''fruit juice'' and leave it scattered in jugs and gourds; animals would then come and go at odd intervals, some drinking directly, some picking up the jugs and gourds and returning them empty later, and some seemingly ensuring that exact thing happened. Fourth, he''d vanish for the next four to five hours, exploring the forest apparently, while she stayed behind to ''guard'' the camp (as though there was a thing in the world that could threaten this place) and cultivate. He''d return just before dusk and start preparing dinner. That would take up the remainder of the night, and, at the end, he''d share a tale or a song with the animals before retreating into the mud and falling asleep. It was... dull, to say the least. However, Yue, accustomed to the buzz of an active city, elected not to judge; she had all the time in the world to cultivate, and thanks to her new roots, she actually enjoyed it. A change in the routine happened on the third day, however--rather than going out to explore, he actually had her meet him at the pond. He wasn''t alone--as always, there was an entourage of animals following him. In more ways than one, it was somewhat adorable. "Today," he said. "I will pass on a Cultivation Method to you," Yue felt her heart leap into her throat for a moment; her current Cultivation Method was merely at Low Earth Rank. While somewhat better than what most ordinary cultivators had access to, it was extremely limiting. Even if it paired well with her Spirit Roots beforehand, now that her talent had been reborn, it was the method holding her back. "You may choose to use it or not, I will not force you." "..." she stayed silent as he rummaged in his robes for a moment and took out several ''papers''--rather, they were pieces of bark from the trees, thinned out and carved on top of. It looked like his ''exploration'' of the forest was just an excuse. She held back from rolling her eyes, as she had papers and ink and quill in her ring, but perhaps these were simply the ways of her Master. "It is merely the first part," he said. "Once you''ve mastered it--if you so choose--I will pass on the next part. At same time, I will pass on a basic footwork technique to you. It is extremely rudimentary, but it will at least help you with exercise a little bit. Watch." Yue put away the bark paper to the side and looked up at her Master--there was expectation in her eyes that she tried to hide, though it vanished as she saw him move. The footwork displayed was simple yet oddly erratic; he kept moving in diagonal lines, and though it appeared excruciatingly slow, eerily, Yue was unable to glean past the footwork''s secrets. On the surface, it appeared simple--so simple, in fact, that even children wouldn''t bother learning it. But the more she observed, the queerer the entire technique seemed. Eventually, she got up and tried replicating her Master''s movements--however, within simply two sets, she felt her legs give out under her and she collapsed. Looking inwardly, she realized that all of her Qi had been drained within those few movements, and her muscles were wholly spent. "Eh? Why are you lying down?" Master Leo asked as he finally noticed her. "... I, I tried practicing..." Yue replied, embarrassed. She felt shame that she''d underestimated her Master''s technique and judged it purely by appearances. It turned out, however, that she could barely tap into it before being wholly spent. "Oh. Your legs gave out, huh?" "... yes." "Don''t worry about it. It happened to me, too, when I first started practicing. However, despite this, if you want to see results, you will have to practice every day." "O-of course, Master!" "Let me help you up," he helped her sit up and fed her one of the sweet juices. The spent Qi was quickly replenished, and though she could move herself once again, it hurt... quite a bit. "The body gets accustomed to it, bit by bit." "Yes, Master." Stolen novel; please report. "Come back before dinner. Blackie, stay with her and keep her safe." The black panther seemed to nod as it sat down by the pond''s side and started licking itself. On the other hand, Yue watched her Master''s figure fade into the forest, straining herself and ignoring the aching of the muscles as she picked up the bark papers lying on the ground. Just like with the footwork technique, it appeared simple and almost worthless. However, having learned her lesson, there wasn''t a doubt in her heart that there was something deeply profound in the cultivation method. She would study it thoroughly and relentlessly, and swore to herself she would have figured it out before dinner, to finally impress upon her Master that she was more than a helpless cultivator. ** Leo was sweating bullets. He wasn''t actually planning on sharing any of the ''profound'' methods and arts with Yue, and had intended on keeping her as a ''nominal'' Disciple until she got bored and left. However, the system must have seen through his brilliant designs as it immediately warned him that, if he didn''t teach her, it would punish him severely. Though it never disclosed what the punishment would be, Leo was unwilling to find out. As it gave him everything, it could also take it all away. Thus, he elected to teach her both cultivation method and the . The reason he ran away so quickly was that he didn''t want to see Yue''s face when it dawned on her how absolutely useless both of the things were. Alas, it would come soon enough; he just prayed she''d spare his life (if not his pride). At the moment, he didn''t have any active quests, he realized--well, aside from the main one that he was long ways away from completing. Though he was tempted by the idea of meditation, he hesitated; he was close to the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm, and he still had that pill that would allow him to create ''perfect foundation'' and whatnot. Considering that Song and Lya were both at Foundation Establishment Realm and were sixteen-seventeen years old, he was well behind the curve. If he was going to continue playing the role of a secretive hermit and the like, perhaps he was better off staying at his current realm. But even if he had no world-conquering aspirations, Leo was a romantic at heart, still; he wanted to challenge himself and see how far he would be able to climb. Even if not that far, he still wanted to experience the journey just a tiny bit. Sighing in determination, he chugged a jug of fruit juice and went into one of the huts, sitting down for a moment and closing his eyes. He visualized the most rudimentary aspects of the , settling himself in a rather awkward position, reminiscent of one of those yoga poses that he tried to learn when he first experienced back pain (before he discovered pills and such). Whilst in the position, he took a strand of Qi from within him and began circulating--he''d done it a few times before, but as he didn''t really know what he was doing, he never pushed it too far. Following the pathways, he felt elated--though only for a second. He barely managed to finish the full circulation through his meridians before he collapsed onto the ground, tired and spent. His entire body was aching, and he found his mind fogging up. "Dammit," he swore just before his consciousness slipped. "Will everything you give me be this self-destructive...?" What woke him up wasn''t relaxed serenity but rather shooting pain within his mind; it was as though someone took a thousand needles and stuck them directly into his brain. He barely held back a scream as he snapped his eyes open and sat up. Luckily, the pain had faded almost immediately, but he couldn''t relax for too long--something stank... and it stank bad. "... yup, it''s me," he mumbled. "Jesus, what the hell?! Did I... did I poop myself?!!" Luckily, that wasn''t it--the helpful window in front of him let him know that he hadn''t committed a shameful act. [Congratulations on breaking through to 9th Stage of Qi Condensation Realm!] [You are somehow one step closer to crossing into Foundation Establishment, something children at the age of 13 accomplish rather easily!] [You have purified accumulated toxins within you; it is suggested that you immediately take a bath. Immediately] He quickly stepped out of the mud hut, finally realizing that there were no animals anywhere nearby--it seemed that his stench had driven them away. He spotted them, hiding in the bushes and on the trees, and smiled apologetically. Luckily, Yue hadn''t come back yet; he swiftly took the buckets of water that he''d brought over and doused both himself and the robes. The effect was almost instantaneous, as though the water made a protective membrane and suffocated all the stench at once. Sitting down, wet and depressed, he wondered what madness possessed him when he tried cultivating. Then again, he did succeed--even if it came with an embarrassing side effect. As for whether he felt stronger... it was difficult to say. Leo had no frame of reference for his strength, at all. Though he could venture out deep into the woods and pick a fight with some other beast like that boar, he wasn''t confident. "I could ask Yue to spar--no, no, she''d just kick my ass and then kill me when she finds out I lied to her," he quickly dismissed the thought. "It''s alright. I don''t need to test my strength. I''ll just keep cultivating--when I break through to Foundation Realm, I''ll try to find another one of those boars at Qi Condensation Realm and test against them. Ah, right, dinner." The lack of light startled him and prompted him to quickly begin preparing dinner. He wondered for a moment why Yue hadn''t returned--and immediately paused his preparations. Glancing around, he spotted a few ''heavyweights'' that would gather around meal time. "Uhm, could, could I ask you guys a favor?" he said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "My, uh, my Disciple''s probably lying down collapsed and weak by the pond. Probably a bit stinky, too. Could, could you fetch her while I prepare dinner?" To his surprise, quite a few animals cawed and hooted and hollered before disappearing. Even if the effect wouldn''t be as harsh on her as it was on him, there was still a chance that the poor girl had drained her strength completely and was suspecting he''d given her poison. It was the system''s fault, however; how was he to know that just doing the very first pose and the very first circulation would have caused him to collapse in exhaustion? "Forget that, forget that," he said, tossing on the last few bits of the wood that Lya gave him before departing. It was quite a fire starter, and he wished he had a huge bulk. Alas... "Let''s just focus on making dinner, for now." in part, it was a distraction--in part, a desperate heave, as he was feeling tremendously hungry. He even began to snack as the fire roared, signaling to the forest that the dinner was fast approaching. Chapter 28 - How to Accidentally Gift a Nuke(?) Chapter 28 How to Accidentally Gift a Nuke(?) Yue woke up to the crackling of the flame. The first sensation she experienced upon opening her eyes was hunger--hunger so ravaging she felt she could devour raw tree bark just to satiate it. The second sensation, on the other hand, was embarrassment, soon followed by shame. Her eyes veered over to the side of the flame where she saw her Master pouring stew on a wooden plate. He must have just noticed her wake up, and had already prepared a meal for her--as though he knew... no, of course he knew, she laughed inwardly and bitterly. Though she couldn''t fully grasp the cultivation method, she, nonetheless, tried practicing its first movement--within mere seconds, she felt all of her Qi dissipate and her body give out, collapsing onto the ground and fainting. She briefly woke up when the animals came to pick her up, no doubt per her Master''s orders, before fainting once again. She struggled to sit up and, with shaky hands, devoured the meal in a mere few bites. Like a shy kitten, she extended the plate and, just before she asked for more, felt its weight increase. Thankful that her Master wasn''t saying anything, she devoured the second serving as well, just barely feeling satiated at last. To her shock, however, a quick look inside revealed that she''d made major progress in her cultivation--more than if she would have with her previous cultivation method in over six months. Somewhat startled, she once again stealthily glanced at her new Master; there were many points of contention, she felt, but one thing was for certain: he was an enigma, one that glazed the eyes and hid unfathomable depths below. By her estimate--which was rough, at best, and outright childish at worst--her Master''s cultivation method would rank at least as Peak Heaven Method, with a low chance of it even stepping into the vaunted realm of the Immortal Methods, those that only existed toward the norther portions of the continent, the Central Ashlands, where the Tier XIII Sects resided. Every so often, she''d hear the rumors of the bigshots from the ''Holy Lands'' descend onto the Lower Ashlands for one reason or another, accompanied by the rumors that they''d passed on Immortal Techniques to some random Disciple who shot through the sky overnight. How true those were, she didn''t know, however. "Do you want another plate?" her Master''s words pulled her out of her thoughts. "Oh, no, thank you, Master." "You don''t have to feel embarrassed," he said. "I, too, passed out the first time I tried it." "R-really?" she asked, feeling somewhat excited. "Hm, just one full circulation, and I was out." he nodded, smiling faintly. What do you mean just one full circulation?! You''re making fun of me, Master! I barely did one hundredth of a full circulation and collapsed! Yue wanted to cry just a little bit, but held back. "Just take things at your own pace. There''s no need to rush." "... my Father always said the opposite," she said. "Sacrifice long-term goals for short-term gains. According to him, because the path of cultivation is so wrought with death, you never know which day will be your last. As such, gambling on you eventually becoming strong was stupid, and unless you were a vaunted child of the heavens protected from the cradle, you''d be stupid to try and aim for the top." "It''s not necessarily wrong," her Master said, his voice low and hung with depth. "But that sounds more like a mindset of a mortal rather than someone pursuing immortality. When you only have eighty years to live, every day counts. Every moment is precious. On the road of immortality, however, we forget; whether we focus on eventually becoming something, or being something today, we forget where we came from." "..." "But it is true that the heavens are partial," he added with a faint chuckle. "Not every person has the same starting point. The unfortunate, and often painful truth, is that how far you can go in life is determined at the day of your birth. Some, gifted otherwise, break the cycle and push past it... but most, most simply become a part of it. What do you want?" he suddenly asked. She was unprepared, but knew that she couldn''t stay silent. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. "All I ever wanted, in life, was the strength and power to live the way I want," she said, biting her lip gently. "I''ve sacrificed everything along the way, all my future potential, in pursuit of it. But... it wasn''t enough. That''s why simply being here, for now... that''s all I want. I will work hard to be of use to you--" "--why?" he suddenly interrupted. "You just said that all you wanted out of life was strength to live independently. How is it different if you work for me instead of your father?" "I..." she stuttered, unable to answer. He was right, she knew. She was merely substituting them. "I didn''t take you in as a Disciple because I expected you to pay me back in the future," he said. "And I don''t expect you to give me anything in return. To me, that is what being a Master means. It''s sort of like being a parent--you take it upon yourself to bring a child into this world, and it is your responsibility to take care of them, and pave a path for them. If you only have a child for the purpose of using it for your own means... what is even the point?" "..." "This forest will always be your home, Yue," he said. "But it will never, ever, ever become your duty or your burden, remember that." She felt like crying, once again, but held herself back. She''d already cried one too many times in front of him--and, more importantly, in front of herself. It was one of those things she''d sworn she would never do, largely because of how much the entirety of her family abhorred crying... except for her grandfather. In a few ways, she realized that the Master reminded her of him--even if her grandfather lacked the Master''s enigmatic aura, the way they treated her was similar. In their eyes, she wasn''t a tool or a weapon, and was simply a person. "Nonetheless," she said, taking a deep breath and smiling widely. "I can at least make your life a little bit easier. I was planning on making a quick trip outside, with your permission of course, to settle the last few things that I have. Do you need me to buy anything and bring it back?" ** Leo was mighty tempted by the proposition. After all, there were hundreds, possibly thousands of things that he wanted to have. But he quickly settled his raging heart. Even if she had the money to buy it, just how much could a young woman even carry? No, wait, aren''t her clothes different than the ones she came in? Right! Those freakin'' subspace rings or whatever! She must have one of them! Yeah, of course. Aah, stupid Leo. How could you for one second forget that? Didn''t those two kids also seem to take things out of nowhere? Haah... Having finished chastising himself, he mulled over what he needed by far the most for a second. The answer was rather simple--a bed and a blanket. While the makeshift bed and the pillow he was gifted were nice, they were not enough. He was someone who enjoyed the pleasure of a good night''s rest, and one of the key aspects of it was a nice bed. Besides that, he needed cutlery--knives, plates, cups, massive cauldrons even, where he could make large amounts of food fast, and then distribute that food equally speedily. Clothes, of course, were another thing--he only had the robes, and they were beginning to suffer due to his navigation inexperience within the forest. Tables and chairs--or, well, a table and a few chairs, at least--were another thing, but the issue was that he had nowhere to put them. Perhaps a gathering of tiny worker elves who would construct him a nice house and then just... disappear? While fantasizing was nice, he did have to give her a list of things. "Just some cauldrons where I can prepare meals for the animals," he said. He didn''t want to demand too much--for a young woman who''d run off from her family, she likely had very little money to spare. "They don''t have to be fancy--rather, just big." "A-ah, so, you''re giving me the permission?" "You don''t need it. As I said, you''re free to come and go as you''d like." he''d already forgotten his speech when he took her in, and how she wouldn''t be allowed to leave without his permission. And it seemed, based on her reaction, Yue did too. "He he, alright," she chuckled rather... childishly, but it was somewhat sweet. "I''ll depart in the morning." "--right. While you''re outside, don''t practice what I handed to you." "Why? Ah, right. Because I would collapse in hunger. I won''t, I promise. And I''ll be back quickly! A week, at most." "Oh, right!" Leo exclaimed as he recalled something--a feather leisurely lying within his robes. He had no means of using it, and from the looks of it, wouldn''t have the need to do so for some time. Though he didn''t know its effectiveness, he''d hoped it was at least stronger than Yue herself. And if not, well, she might be dull enough to consider it a practical joke (should she survive the encounter in which she was so desperate to use the item). Nonetheless, he pulled out the feather and handed it toward her. "A good friend of mine gave me this after helping him," Leo smiled. "It only has three uses, however, so use it sparingly." "O-of course, Master! What... is it?" Yue seemed to hold a certain level of trepidation over holding the feather, but Leo didn''t ponder on it too much. "One of his feathers," Leo replied. "It can attack thrice with the force of an Earthly Immortal." "Y-yippe?!" "E-eh? Yippe? What?" "No, nothing. T-thank you, Master! I''ll guard it with my life!" "No, wait--it''s supposed to be the other way around." "I''d sooner die than let anyone else get a hold of this." "I''m telling you--" "--I need to rest. Please excuse me, Master." "..." Did I hand her a nuke or something? Why is she being so weird about it?! Chapter 29 - Egg-cellent Nesting Chapter 29 Egg-cellent Nesting Yue barely managed to retreat to ''her'' hut without screaming out further. She held the feather within her hands as though it was her newborn child, fragile and a fall away from breaking. She had to use Qi to steady her hands and prevent them from shaking, lest she dropped it. Though she knew that it was foolish--the feather would be just fine whether she dropped it or threw it into an active volcano, she couldn''t help it. Did she doubt her Master''s words? No. Even if they were insane and something that would invoke mockery in the outside world, she knew that her Master wasn''t simply ''bragging''. If he claimed that the feather had the ability to procure an attack at the level of an Earthly Immortal... she believed it. But just because she believed didn''t mean she believed. Earthly Immortals, after all, were the figures of mythology. One of the first pieces of knowledge that every child learned in the schools was that the Ashlands, at the moment, only had one Earthly Immortal--the Venerable Sword God, Sect Master of the only Tier X Sect on the continent, Immortal Sword Sect. And yet, supposedly, the quaint, faintly-glowing feather lying calmly on her palm had the ability to produce an attack at the level of the strongest known figure on the continent. How could she not shake with terror and trepidation? Deep down, she felt like she should swear to the heavens to never use the feather--should an attack of that magnitude truly appear within the Lower Ashlands, she was far from clever enough to contemplate the consequences. But... if he handed them out as though he was handing out candy, perhaps, in her Master''s eyes, something at this level was... partly worthless? Had she been his Disciple all her life, perhaps she could rationalize it as him wanting her to be safe, but that wasn''t the case. Even if he was nice towards her, they''d only just begun their journey as a Master-Disciple pair. There was no reason for him to hand her what was effectively a weapon that could bring about the end of the entire Sect. Was it a test? Yes, perhaps. Maybe this was his way of testing her honesty and her heart. If she were corrupted, she would go and immediately use the feather to exact vengeance. She was pulled from the thoughts by a gentle touch of a paw--glancing down, she saw Blackie climb on top of her lap and look up at her. It seemed to ''grin'', almost, as she looked at the feather. Extending her paws, Blackie began to gesture--almost like a person would. Whether she wanted to believe it or not, it seemed to Yue that Blackie was telling her that it was ''fine''. That she could do with the feather whatever she wanted. That was even heavier of a burden, however. Thus, just before falling into deep meditation, she swore that she wouldn''t use feather unless she was about to die. It would truly become the last resort, and she would sooner lose a limb or two rather than unveil to the world the existence of her Master. ** By the time Leo woke up, Yue was gone. Once again, he mulled over his choice the last night--if the feather, perhaps, truly was something remarkable... was it right for him to hand it over? What if she sold it and never returned? Or, worse yet, what if she gathered a bunch of cultivators and used the feather to kill them all? Wouldn''t that weigh terribly on his conscience? Even if he knew her and liked her well enough, they''d barely just met, after all. For all he knew, the anger she felt toward her family wasn''t as simple as he believed--perhaps it ran much deeper, with hatred coursing through her veins, igniting her heart into one of vengeance. Alas, he was not afforded the luxury of mulling over his choices this morning--for a new quest appeared. This time around, it came from the friend who liked to curl up within his robes and around his arm. Well, it turned out that ''she'' liked to curl up around his arm--Long Johnson turned out to be Long Jane-son, which just didn''t roll off the tongue quite as naturally. [''???????'' beseeches you to help her] Stolen novel; please report.[After grueling, 800 years long pregnancy, she is ready to lay an egg] [''???????'' asks you to build her a warm and secure nearby] [Time Limit: 2 days] [Reward: ] Looking at the (admittedly cute) face of the snake, Leo was a bit flummoxed. There was the whole pregnancy thing, sure, but he was fairly certain that the system mentioned something akin to ''800 years long pregnancy'', which he did not compute. As the window was no longer there, he convinced himself that he''d simply added a zero or two to that number, settling his mind. Unlike with previous ''nests'', there was no new building with all the ingredients gifted to him. It seemed, for the first time, the system ''wanted'' to see whether he was capable of solving anything on his own. Since he had about as much knowledge of snakes as a toddler did, he had no clue what kind of a nest snakes sought during pregnancy, labor, and before the egg cracked and whatnot. But, nonetheless, he swore to build one to the best of his abilities. Before starting, he prepared meals for everyone, and while they finished off the food, he looked around the nearby trees--there was a roughly sixty feet wide clearing that was slowly expanding, but there were still a few untouched trees there (such as the one housing the owl''s nest). "No, wait, does it have to be near a tree...?" ultimately, he didn''t know. Sighing, he crouched, picked up a twig, and started drawing on the dirt. Long Jane-son (it truly lost the charm) was quite large, and seemed capable of illusions of sort. After all, whenever she wrapped around his arm, she was quite tiny and light, but on the outside and while eating, she seemed well over twenty feet long at least. As such, he had to scale the nest to not only accommodate her vastness, but also the egg. Who knew how big an egg that was gestating for 800 years would become. "No, no, it must have meant something like 800 hours. Yeah." Eventually, he went out and gathered materials for the mud hut, constructing the seventh one. Once it was up, he went inside and started digging into the ground--luckily, being a cultivator meant that he was able to dig out dirt with his bare hands rather easily. He went deep and wide, and even began decorating the hole a bit as the dirt was rather sturdy when not touched by Qi. After the hole was dug, he mulled for a moment before deciding to craft a single torch and light it up within the hole. However, after a few minutes, he began to choke on the smoke and decided against it. Leaving the hut, he was still uncertain. Ultimately, he didn''t know how to make it perfectly comfortable, so he decided to simply decorate it. He brought a bucket of water from the pond and settled it in the corner; the corner opposite of it was a home to several jugs of the fruit juice, while the other two corners had plenty of his famous vegetable stew. He also lined the bottom of the hole with straw, and even took the pillow he was using and put it at the bottom. Feeling at least somewhat satisfied, he wiped his forehead (of the non-existent sweat) and went for a quick bath. By the time he''d returned, the snake had occupied the mud hut and, eerily, there was a door-like contraption at the entrance that seemed to disallow others, including Leo, entry. Similarly, unlike with all other mud huts, there was nobody on top of it or even around it. It was as though the forest knew to stay away from the mama snake. Just then, he felt something churn within his stomach--a mere second later, he was lying on his side, convulsing, as he felt fire burn through his veins. It was so painful that he cried out ''till his throat burned, but, eerily, no animal came to his aid. Just as he thought he was finally about to die, it all stopped--the pain ended, and the burning sensation within his veins became a cooling and embracing one. He was still on the floor, covered in sweat and tears, for a moment believing he''d thought up the entire episode in his head. But the window floating in front of his eyes confirmed otherwise. [''???????'' was extremely pleased with the nest!] [Your reward has been upgraded from to . Additionally, once a month, you can squeeze a single drop of the out of you which can paralyze cultivators up to Nascent Soul Realm] [''???????'' has entered a long process of egg-laying and cultivating. It will take anywhere from 3 to 10 years. You will need to replenish the water and food every 30 days; otherwise, there is a high chance that either ''???????'' or the child might perish] [ -- in the Ancient Serpent Clan, during the Immortal Age, newborn heirs were bathed in 33 different poisons for 33 days. Those who managed to survive for at least 3 days inherited , though were considered failures and most often banished from the Clan] Leo sighed, lamenting that the system was being rather stingy. Then again, the only thing he did was build a rather unremarkable shelter. Thus, perhaps, the reward was appropriate. Even if it was just a minor ''physique'', any protection against poisons was nice. However, he swore he''d avoid quests granting physiques from now on--the pain he experienced for those few seconds was something that was unbearable. Standing by the perishing flames of the campfire, he once again found himself bored--sitting down cross-legged, he began to meditate in accordance with the . This time around, he managed to cycle his Qi thrice through the guidelines before he fell flat on his bum and got hungry. Luckily, there was a gourd of juice nearby that he chugged down, quickly recovering. Strangely, he didn''t pass out this time around, and after the single gourd of juice, he felt fully refreshed. Pondering for a moment, and noting the dozen or so still-filled jugs of juice... he decided to go on a bit of a mission. Chapter 30 - Foundation Establishment Chapter 30 Foundation Establishment With the jugs of fruit juice scattered neatly around him in a circle, Leo sat cross-legged once again and closed his eyes, imagining himself inwardly. Taking the shimmering strands of milky-white Qi from the center of himself, he began to guide them once again. Though the route was simple, it was rather exhausting--mentally and physically. However, each time he got tired, he reached for a jug of the juice and took a few swigs, replenishing lost energy and Qi. Bit by bit, he felt the quantity of Qi grow--from a small, pebble-sized bundle, to a slightly larger pebble-sized bundle. As for whether he was growing stronger or not, he was entirely uncertain. Beyond simply focusing on guiding the strand of Qi through himself, he pondered on his wants of this life; for now, he was entirely content being here, in the forest, cut from the rest of the world, spending his days feeding animals and completing their random quests. At some point, however, he would leave this place and enter the unknown, outside world. Would he still be content being a nobody? Probably. Ultimately, he wanted a life void of stress and boredom--he wanted to explore the world, visit all the breathtaking vistas it had to offer, meet all manner of unique people, and understand it as well as he understood Earth. There was beauty in his ignorance, he realized--starting from the blind corner of the world, he had a lifetime of places to explore, foods to eat, and people to meet. At some point, he entered a strange haze--it wasn''t quite the state of enlightenment, merely its ersatz. He''d stopped thinking about guiding the strand of Qi and was doing it unconsciously. Bit by bit, Qi in his dantian expanded and began to crash against the walls. Unbeknownst to him, he''d reached a bottleneck--the dividing wall between Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment Realms. Most cultivators of the world were more than half his age when they met this barrier, though few, if any, were as relaxed about it. After all, though the strength difference wasn''t terribly incomprehensible between the two realms, the passage determined a good amount about one''s future potential as a cultivator. Animals gathered around Leo who''d, eerily, began to levitate above ground--there was a strange, kaleidoscopic glow embossing his frame, vapors of white smoke dancing around him like flames. He began to emanate a peculiar hum, low and droning, as an image of a banyan tree appeared behind him--it was a barely discernible mirage, though its roots ran beneath him and into the maw of the world, while the sprawling canopy remained perfectly symmetrical. It looked like a looming shield over him, shading him from the sun and basking in the glow he was exuding. The mirage faded as quickly as it appeared, and Leo landed on the ground as the tension between animals seemed to have vanished; they returned to their nests and homes and lives, as though nothing transpired. [Consumed whilst breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm] [ guarantees Perfect Ascension] The windows faded before Leo could open his eyes and see them. Inwardly, he felt the sense of peace and serenity that he''d never felt before in his life--they were fleeting, however, and once they were gone, they left a strange, almost aching yearning in their place. Sighing, he opened his eyes and saw a rather massive window floating there that startled him. There was a lot of information, and he never knew when it would vanish, so he quickly committed it all to memory. [Congratulations on breaking past the boundary of Mortality and beginning your Immortal Journey] [You have reached ''Foundation Establishment Realm'' -- just as spires ascending toward the skies cannot hold the weight of the winds without firm foundations, so those in pursuit of Immortality cannot do so without a Foundation] [Excess Qi had expanded and strengthened your meridians] [Excess Qi had expanded and strengthened your dantian] [Excess Qi had purified, strengthened, and evolved your Spirit Roots] [ ---> ] [Your vitality has been increased!] [Your strength has been increased!] [Your Qi has been increased massively!] [Your lifespan has been increased!] [You may now project Qi in elemental forms!] [...] [Congratulations on passing the first barrier!] [System Level: 2] [System XP: 13/20] [...] [Additional rewards: , , , ] This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. [ -- crafted from the finest Qi-purified steel, it is neither the sharpest nor the most durable, but it is a weapon trusted by many. Infusing Qi into it will allow you to form a tether and control it with your mind. The distance, power, and maneuverability are dependent on the quality and quantity of your Qi] [ -- a vaunted treasure of the weak, the talisman will protect the wearer from a singular, lethal attack. Can block an attack from a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator] [ -- contains trace amounts of Laws of Dao. Can study it for insights into the function behind the form] [ -- contains trace amounts of True Wood Qi. Can study it to reveal the source. Absorbing True Qi of the elements increases the chance of successful Nascent Ascension massively, in addition to allowing the formation of Perfect Nascent Soul] [... your journey, however inconsequential, towards Immortality has just begun. As a bonus, a temporary list of possible System purchases with XP will be available for the next 2 hours. You may only make one purchase of your choice] [1. -- contains trace amounts of True Fire Qi (Cost: 10 XP) 2. -- keeps you from being hungry for 7 days (Cost: 5 XP) 3. -- project the image of your sword threefold and strike in the direction (Cost: 12 XP) 4. -- temporarily suspend Qi exhaustion. Lasts 10 seconds. Become severely hampered after expiration for 1 minute (Cost: 10 XP) 5. -- learn how to build a basic wooden cottage. Comes with the following furniture: a bed, a praying mat, a bench, a chair, a dining table, a storage chest (Cost: 13 XP) 6. -- allows for automatic preparation of the simplest of meals (max of 3 ingredients). Extremely slow, cumbersome, and lacking in taste (Cost: 1 XP) 7. -- increase the speed at which you gather Qi by 25% for 1h. Effect is increased to 40% for 2h for your Disciples (Cost: 8 XP) 8. -- strike out with an open palm and coalesce Qi into a slow-moving fire palm (Cost: 13 XP) [Good luck, and don''t die!] Leo rubbed his eyes rather comically as he tried to put to memory all the information that he got. Four items seemed to fall out of the blue sky and land in front of him immediately after--a very simple-seeming sword, about thirty-five inches in length and two and a half fingers wide. It shimmered beneath the sunlight, its edges appearing cold and deadly. Its guard was rather simple and flat, and its handle was wrapped in leather. Besides it was a piece of paper no larger than a palm of a hand with a strange, runic character written on top of it that Leo didn''t recognize. However, he quickly picked up the talisman with great care and shoved it into his robes--it was a life-saving treasure, after all! Even if he didn''t know exactly how strong someone at a Nascent Realm was, usually, in the cultivation world, it tended to be the starting realm of the big shots! The last two items were rather similar--both were almost like seeds of a fruit, very rough to touch. The was purely white and seemed aglow with strange sheen. If Leo looked at it directly for longer than just a couple of seconds, he began to feel light-headed and dizzy. As such, he set it aside for when he wanted to experience such states. The , on the other hand, seemed no different from any random seed--in fact, Leo was half-tempted to plant it and see what sprouted out in a few years. However, just like the , there was something about it, almost like someone drew blinds on what was ''inside'', preventing him from seeing it. For a moment, however, he set aside all four of the rewards and focused on the window in front of him. If he could, he''d buy them all--but he could only buy one. Though the cauldron was initially tempting, seeing its shortcomings eliminated it quickly. It was likely the sort of tool that was used in a war to produce massive quantities of food regardless of speed and quality. He was also tempted by the cottage, as he was tempted by the true energy pill, and even the --though, he had to admit that the only reason he was tempted by it was for the fantasy of shooting fire out of his hands, as the art itself seemed remarkably useless. Ultimately, and without too much contemplation (as he feared he''d make a selfish choice), he ended up buying ten . To him, at least, it was the best choice, both short-term and long-term. So long as Yue didn''t betray him and ran off with the feather, she was his greatest safety net. Making her strong was making him strong--and she seemed like someone who could easily sit for two hours, wholly unmoving, to make full use of the pill. As soon as he made his choice, he saw his System XP dwindle back down to 5, causing him to sigh. It was a devil''s game, he realized--though he was desperate to level it up and unlock new functions, the temptation of buying things... was too big. Right then, ten pills appeared in his lap--they were small and perfectly round, and a quick sniff revealed that they had a rather sweet and alluring scent. Though he was tempted to pop one in right then and there, he endured and put them away as well. Standing up, he stretched and enjoyed his bones cracking like thunder. There was one thing he was desperate to test out, which prompted him to pick up the sword and close his eyes. The leather handle was perfectly comfortable to the touch, and he guided the strands of Qi from within him towards it--unlike while he was in Qi Condensation Realm, the speed at which he gathered Qi was just about six times faster. Within a second, a strand shot through his meridians and into his palm, entering the sword right after. As he let loose the grip and opened his eyes, he saw the sword floating in front of him, suspended in midair. A child in him awoke as his lips stretched out into a massive grin--guiding the thin, Qi tether between him and the sword with his mind, he began moving it around. He all but burst out into sonorous laughter at the sight, but as he got distracted, the tether broke and the sword fell down. However, even that wasn''t enough to ruin his mood--he was able to control a sword with his mind! If he got good enough with it, didn''t that mean that he''d be able to jump on top of it and fly?! Naturally, he wouldn''t go too high--what if he fell?! However durable his body was, it was certain to break from a high fall. He began to hum a rather pleasant tune while gathering materials for his next creation--the sword scabbard! He was certain he knew how to make it!... probably! Chapter 31 - A Fathers Greed, a Daughters Resolve Chapter 31 A Father''s Greed, a Daughter''s Resolve Leo just barely managed to open his eyes before he fell to the side, entirely exhausted and paralyzed. His entire body ached, though, fortunately, it only lasted for a moment. While he lay on his side, re-examining his decision to seriously cultivate, Milky and Blackie walked up to him and started licking his face. It tickled quite a bit, and yet he couldn''t even properly laugh due to paralysis. They eventually got bored and sauntered away into the bushes, just in time for his paralysis to wear off. Sitting up, he quickly chugged a cup of fruit juice, revitalizing himself. Looking up at the clear, blue sky, he let loose a sigh and stood up, stretching. His bones creaked like floors in an old house, causing a ripple. Seeing that the night was fast approaching, he stretched for a moment further before he executed the footwork and raced toward the pond. However, halfway there, he stopped and turned back, having forgotten the buckets for water. Even here, he was a bit absentminded, it seemed. ** Yue stared rather hollowly at the signboard hanging above the arched entrance--Lan Clan, a rather important name within a hundred miles or so. Past it, however, it was just one of the numerous mid-level clans all struggling for resources and connections. It used to hang over her like a ashen cloud spitting chains instead of rain, binding her. Now, however, she felt a certain level of freedom, knowing this would be the last time she''d take a step past this point. "Good morning, Miss Yue. Has your trip been well?" "Ah, Miss Yue! You look lovely today, too!" "Hm? Ah, it''s just you. Where were you? Father''s holding a banquet tonight. He''s invited Young Master Mue over. You must attend." Most people ignored her, some greeted her, and one informed her of what she feared--her younger brother, Xae, the Clan''s brightest star. Since his birth, she did nothing but love him with all her heart--but it was for naught. The shower of praises that he lived within all his life had morphed him into someone disconnected from the rest of the world. Over the years, Yue even grew resentful of it all--in many ways, demonic whispers within tempted her with the false truth that he''d stolen their parents'' love from her. But he did nothing except be born talented. After all, he was just fifteen still--just a child. She merely nodded toward him and went back to her small abode tucked away in the eastern corner of the compound. She had no maids or butlers or attendants to care for either her or dwelling; as such, dust had piled up over nearly two weeks that she''d been gone. Ignoring it all, she merely reached for the small coffer she''d stashed at the far end of her wardrobe. That was where she hid a few bits of jewelry she hadn''t sold yet as well as a reserve of around 500 Qi Stones. While far from any considerable wealth, it was very doubtful whether her Master had a stone to his name, and she still had things to buy on the way back. Putting it away into the ring, she was just about to leave when she felt a presence appear in front of the door. She recognized it immediately: it was her father. The doors were flung open carelessly, and the man walked in, holding true the gravitas of someone at nearly the Peak of Avatar Realm. He looked as he always did--falsely dashing, having used Qi to suspend the loss of hair for over a decade now. He''d put on his favorite, silver robes and a scarf made out of demonic wolf''s pelt, his grandest possession. "Where were you?" he asked coldly. No greeting, no asking whether she''d gotten hurt on the outside... but she knew better, by now, than to expect affection from him. "Grandfather died." she replied. "Oh. Yes, they informed me. What of it?" "I went to try and retrieve his body." "Did you?" "No." "Might be better off that way," he said. "We may finally be able to shed the vagabond reputation that his presence gave us." "..." "What?" he frowned at her silence. Yue had stayed silent her whole life, never uttering a word to either him or her mother. She was a good daughter, a proper, obedient child. But watching the callous way in which the man talked about his own father, something cracked inside of her. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "He was your father," she said rather calmly. A mere second latter, immense pressure descended upon her, pressing against her shoulders and nearly pushing her down to her knees. "Hm? You endured that? How--wait!" he exclaimed abruptly and appeared right in front of her, grabbing her wrist. She felt a strand of alien Qi shoot through her meridians, and though she tried to resist, it was futile. "How... how is this possible?!! Your, your Spirit Roots--" he looked at her, aghast, with a complex concoction of emotions in his eyes. There was joy, sure--if ever a trace of it--but it was mostly shock... and jealousy. "Heaven Roots!! Where did you go?! Tell me now! Ha ha ha, Lady Luck has finally blessed my Lan Clan! Tell me, dear child, how did you change your roots?" "... no," Yue yanked her arm back, biting her lower lip. There was greed in his eyes--he saw her likely as a mere solvent, means to excise the Clan''s debts and propel his own name further. "No? What do you mean ''no''?" he frowned, his expression chilling. "Humph, it must be Demonic Possession! A True Demon must have possessed you to keep the lucky opportunity for itself!" "Stop! Just stop!!" she exploded, batting his arm away. "What do you mean a Demonic Possession?! Do you see my eyes bleeding ashen?! Did you notice even a trace of Demonic Qi in my meridians when you inspected me? Enough with your sanctimonious tongue, trying to hide your greed!" "Lan Yue!" his voice exploded like a bolt of thunder, a violent burst of Qi shattering her house into thousands of pieces. She felt the energy hit her directly and push her back; it was so powerful that she was forced to vomit blood, still mid-flight, before barely managing to stabilize on her knees some fifty yards away. "How unfilial! You are my blood! How dare you disobey me?! Even if I ordered you to walk into the fire for the Clan, you should do so with a smile on your face!" "Why would I be filial to a man who hasn''t done anything in his life to earn it?" Yue clutched the feather between her fingers inside of her robes, but she wasn''t planning on using it. If it turned out that her Master was telling the truth, and that the feather could unleash an attack of an Earthly Immortal, the entire Lan Clan would disappear in the blink of an eye. And however much she loathed her father at the moment, she was unwilling to destroy everything because of it. "I''ve returned to say the final goodbye. I''m leaving the Clan, and unless you are willing to defy the Heart and kill me, there is nothing you can do to stop me." "Humph, ungrateful wench!!" he cursed, drawing out a sword from the scabbard. ''Thunder Bite'', as her father called it, shimmered and twined in the rays of the sun, drawing Qi within a mile towards it. It was a Sky-Tier Weapon, one of the better ones, with a faint trace of spirituality. "How would slaying a True Demon who possessed my daughter and made her go mad be defying the Heart? Either submit, or be purged!" "..." Yue fell silent, staring at the eyes of a man who had nothing but anger and greed in them. Her own father. She couldn''t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. However, even with that, she knew that her chances of running away were low. Nonetheless, if she could at least leave the Clan''s grounds and bait her father out, she might find a place where using the feather wouldn''t harm anyone else. Even so, with her cultivation at merely Mid Core Formation, eluding someone at nearly the peak of Avatar Realm was simply fantasizing. Still... she had to try. "Purge me, then, bedeviled monster wearing human skin." As soon as words faded from her lips, she shoved Qi into her feet and executed a footwork technique--not the one that her Clan taught her as her father could easily see through it, but the one that her Master taught her. She''d practiced it on the way, despite her Master''s warnings, and could now endure it for full two minutes without passing out. Naturally, even just using it for thirty seconds meant that she''d have to recover for at least an hour afterward, but it was better than dying. She became a blur, and barely managed to glance back and see a streak of thunder land where she was, shattering the afterimage she''d left behind. Her heart froze--though she saw the murderous intent in his eyes, there was still a part of her which held doubt that he''d be willing to kill his own daughter. But that attack... were she to have received it, it would have undoubtedly killed her. There was no room for doubt any longer--that man, if he ever viewed her as his own blood and worthy of life, had long since ceased to do so. She routed to the rear of the Clan''s ground, executing the nameless footwork technique and realizing something was off--despite her not moving that quickly, her father was falling behind. Looking over her shoulder, she saw his raging figure covered in bolts of thunder dementedly swing the sword but to no avail. None of the streaks came even close to hitting her. By the time she bounded the Clan''s walls and exited the compound, only fifteen seconds had passed, and she''d already created at least a thousand yards of a distance. Sensing that something wasn''t adding up, she temporarily ignored it and dashed forward like mad--the nearest city was about sixty miles to the northwest, and if she managed to reach it without being caught, even her father would be unable to do anything. Thus, she ran with all her might--thirty seconds into the sprint, she glanced back yet again and noticed an extra oddity: she could no longer see her father. She''d sprinted some two miles from the Clan''s compound, and now he was merely a blurry dot in the distance. For a moment she considered that he was merely putting on a show and was letting her leave, but that was impossible. Ultimately, there was only one explanation: the simple footwork that her Master gave her, the one she thought was merely good for body and Qi training, was far more complicated than anything she could have even dreamed of. She didn''t dare ponder on it further--not because she did not want to, but because she wasn''t nearly clever enough. As she stepped into the nearby forest, she decided to stop using it--her legs nearly immediately gave out, though she did her best to endure. In case her Father caught up with her, she''d have to use the technique immediately. However... there was only silence. There were no blasting thunders signaling the man''s arrival, and looking at the sky, it was clear and blue. One way or another, it seemed, she''d managed to get away. "... what the hell is that footwork?!" she pondered aloud, once again needing to re-examine everything she knew about the man who''d passed it down to her. Chapter 32 - Heavenspan Gathering Chapter 32 Heavenspan Gathering Heavenspan Tournament was a quadrennial gathering of all young Cultivators within the confines of Holy Blade Sect located in the deep, south-eastern parts of the Lower Ashlands, Bloodmoon Sect just to the north of it, Kingdom of Lingshan just to the north of the Bloodmoon Sect, Iron Mountain Sect east of the Kingdom, and Golden Crane Sect to the west of the Holy Blade Sect, past the Cradle of the First Men. Though it was usually held within the borders of the Kingdom of Lingshan, it occasionally changed--such as this year where it was decided that it''d be held within the Holy Blade Sect. As such, a week before the tournament''s start, thousands of new faces began appearing around and within the Sect. Most were youths below twenty-five years of age, the limit, though some were Elders from the Sects wanting to see the progress. Song and Lya, ever since their return from the forest, became really good friends and were spending more and more time together. It was no different today, the day before the tournament''s beginning. They''d perched themselves atop the Sect''s Treasure Pavilion since five days ago, observing the newcomers. Most were in the Foundation Establishment Realm, especially if they were eighteen and younger. There was only one notable exception besides the two of them--a very young-seeming (too young, even) boy and was accompanied by a hooded figure at all times. Just like Song and Lya, he, too, was at Early Core Formation Realm. Once the age range exceeded twenty, all Cultivators were at least Early Core Formation Realm, as that was sort of a cut-off of talent. If one was unable to reach Core Formation before twenty, it meant that their future potential was uninspiring, and they were often sent out to branch Sects or businesses ran by them. Seeing the sheer number of newcomers was rather startling; though they knew that Heavenspan Tournament was a rather big deal, as neither were a member of the Holy Blade Sect four years ago when it happened the last time, they didn''t know what to expect exactly. "Are you confident?" Lya asked, feeling jitters. Even if she had participated in a few inter-Sect competitions, they were, at most, observed by a couple of Elders and her fellow peers at the Sect. "Of course," Song said. The more she learned about her Junior Brother, the more envious she grew of him; he''d taken everything in life in stride, never letting it drag him down. Some might say that he was dumb, but Lya knew otherwise--Song was far from stupid... he was simply confident in himself. "You should be too, Senior Sister," he added, smiling toward her. "You are just behind Senior Sister Mei in strength." "Hm," Lya nodded. "Still. We''ll see many arts used that we''ve never seen before. I''m a bit nervous, to be honest." "We''ll also see Bloodmoon Disciples," Song said with a trace of hatred in his voice. "Maybe even the ones that chased us. Wouldn''t it be quite amazing if we met them on the stage, and played with them for a little bit? Maybe seal their ability to speak so they can''t surrender, break a limb or two, kick them--" "--Song." "Khm." "I understand," she chuckled at his awkward reaction. "I''m angry, too, at what happened that day. Trust me. But this is bigger than us. We''re representing the Sect, and the Sect Master already has a bad impression of us. If we go ahead and disparage the spirit of the tournament, he might actually lock us up." "Would he?" Song asked, seeming curious. "I know you''re wary of him, but I never once got the feeling that he''d harm us. Rather, he reminded me of my uncle." "How so?" Lya asked. "When I was a young boy," Song continued. "Both my father and mother were quite strict with me. Every once in a while, however, uncle Awn would come, and he... I don''t know how to explain it. He made them different. They were laughing, all of a sudden, and they let me play with my friends and stay out late. Uncle Awn would then hide in my room and scare the daylights out of me when I''d return, and I''d wake up mother and father, and just as they were about to yell at me, he''d somehow manage to calm them down." "..." Lya listened carefully, but couldn''t quite picture their Sect Master that way at all. To her, he seemed a distant, aloof man with deep goals, the ilk she couldn''t possibly comprehend. "I mean, isn''t he kind of amazing?" Song looked at her and smiled. "Our Sect Master, I mean. He, all by himself, is making all of this happen. Do you really think our Sect would be able to host anything, let alone a Heavenspan Tournament, if not for him?" "No," Lya replied honestly. It wasn''t a secret--not within the Sect or outside of it--that the Holy Blade was the sole reason the Sect was considered to have any importance. The reason was rather simple: there was expectation hanging in the air that the man would eventually leave the Sect, and nobody wanted to alienate him in case he wanted to join some other place. "Truth be told, I think he was worried about us," Song added. "He doesn''t know what the Senior is like, or even that there is a Senior. All he knows is that two kids returned with far greater strength and evolved Spirit Roots, something that can only be achieved by either Immortal Treasures, or--" "--large amounts of Demonic Qi," Lya exclaimed softly, having finally realized it. "You''re right. I forgot." "Hm? There they are." "Who?" "Bloodmoon Disciples," Song said, harshness in his voice still there. Lya looked toward the entrance of the Sect where she saw an entourage of blood-colored carriages dragged by Bloodhoofs, massive and extremely rare stallions. Supposedly, it took fifty years to just breed one to the acceptable level, not to mention numerous treasures that had to be used in the process. And yet, there were sixteen currently pulling six carriages. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Five of them were identical--gilded with dark-red gold and made of stainless wood--while the last in the procession stood out. It was twice as large, decorated with blood gems that were used to channel World Qi and change it into Blood Qi that the Bloodmoon Sect used. The pressure exuded from the carriage was massive and suffocating--the kind that both experienced only once... when faced with their Sect Master. Suddenly, they felt a pair of eyes hone in on them like a hawk, and they found themselves short of breath. It was as though a cage was formed around their lungs, pressing into them. It lasted only for a moment, however, as a warm, sweeping force pulsated through, liberating them. At the same time, a voice echoed, soft and familiar. "Next time you so much as glance at my Disciples, I will liberate your head from the neck and vault it on my walls." Though the voice was warm, the words were not. Rather, Song and Lya caught the glimpse of the largest carriage as it seemed to shake violently for a moment. The glimmer of the gems on its frame dimmed rather grandly as they lost almost all their luster. The two glanced at each other in shock before their eyes drifted over to the golden palace seated at the center of the valley. They were at a loss for words and merely bowed, with Lya feeling quite embarrassed over her words, as it was now certain that their Sect Master heard them. She hoped, deep down, Song was right--and that the Sect Master wouldn''t take her doubts to heart. ** Shen Rong spat out a mouthful of blood, nearly falling over inside the carriage. Gnashing his teeth, he endured the hatred in his heart and the worried words of the three Disciples in the carriage with him. Thinking back to what he''d done, however, he couldn''t hold onto his hatred much longer--if anything, the Holy Blade was rather lenient with him. He did try to kill, or at least cripple, a pair of his Disciples within his Sect''s borders, though it was an entirely instinctual reaction. To his knowledge, there were only twenty-two Core Formation Disciples in the Holy Blade Sect younger than twenty-five, and they were all older than twenty. However, he''d immediately taken notice of the four eyes staring at the carriage--a pair of kids, closer to fifteen than they were to twenty--were both at Early Core Formation Realm, something that even the pride of Bloodmoon Sect, young Blood Lord Tao, hadn''t managed to achieve. "Master Uncle, what''s wrong? What happened?" the young Blood Lord queried with a faint trace of worry in his scarlet eyes. "Hm? Ah, nothing, nothing. Just an old wound acting up," he said, taking a deep breath, and finally stabilizing his Qi. "Young Lord, it seems our information was wrong. There are two more Core Formation Disciples in the Sect than we''d thought." "Is that so?" the Young Lord shrugged it off. "That''s fine. It''s possible that some of the older ones managed to break through after being given a Core-Forming Pill." "... no," Shen Rong said. "Both of them... both of them seem to be seventeen, at most, Young Lord." "..." having expected the Young Lord''s reaction, Shen Rong had already insulated the carriage''s interior with his own Qi, preventing the Young Lord''s from leaking. Even so, the atmosphere in the carriage became suffocating--so much so that the other two Disciples found it difficult to breathe. "Steady your heart, Young Lord," the young man woke up from the brief bout of anger, taking a deep breath. "Are you certain, Master Uncle?" "Yes." "Something must have happened, then," the Young Lord said. "Do you recognize them?" "No. If they were Holy Blade members, they were insignificant to not even enter our most detailed reports. It means that they didn''t showcase enough talent." "What do they look like?" the Young Lord asked. "The girl is rather beautiful and not particularly tall. Black hair and green eyes, and she seemed to be cultivating some form of lightning art. The boy, on the other hand, was tall, bald, and had blue eyes. I sensed a faint trace of Sword Qi off of him, so it must mean he''s training with the sword. I--hm, what is wrong with you, Yi?" Shen Rong noticed that something was rather off with his personal Disciple, Ru Yi. She had a mortified expression on her face, her lips parted and eyes widened. "M-Master, I, I think... I think I know them..." she mumbled. "How? Who are they?" Shen Tao asked. "A-ah, Young Lord. A, a while back, some of my friends and I were out on a mission when the whole Yuvel Town business was transpiring. While there, we caught two Foundation Establishment kids with the Holy Blade Sect''s garb and we started chasing them. Uh, we... we played around a bit, and the kids managed to get to the Nameless Forest and disappear within." "WHAT?!!" "I--I was certain they died!" the young woman quickly collapsed to her knees, her voice afoot with terror. "I am certain I wounded the boy to the point of nearly destroying his dantian, and the girl was barely better off! We, we didn''t dare chase them into the forest, and figured that it would devour them. I..." "Master Uncle," the Young Lord turned toward him. "Is it possible that they survived?" "... everything is possible in this world, Young Lord," Shen Rong said with a sigh, stroking his chin. "If it is true, and the two are the same kids Yi chased into the forest... then that might explain why we don''t know anything about them." "I thought nobody left the forest alive." "Steady your heart, Young Lord," Shen Rong thought the world of the Young Lord--he was handsome, clever, and, most importantly, beyond talented. He was the future of the Bloodmoon Sect. But there was one thing that even the Sect Master was unable to curtail in the young boy--his brashness. Shen Rong saw it, in the boy''s eyes, the desire to go to the forest. The boy likely thought that, if those two ''nobodies'' survived and came out of it stronger, then he, the heavenly-blessed one, would live the same story. "The forest is an unsolved enigma older than the oldest records we possess. It was always there, unchanging." "..." "While true that a few had managed to leave it having gotten an opportunity inside, those opportunities were minor compared to the danger. And even so, none of those who came out remembered how they got those opportunities or, more horrifyingly yet, who or what gave it to them. On the other end, there are stories of even those at Soul Ascendance Realm venturing inside only to never return. Their mere luck should not make the Young Lord so desperate that he would venture into that tomb. Even if they managed to break through to Core Formation, they''d only just now done so--they hadn''t had the time to practice or learn any of the new arts. If you face them in the battle, it would be no different than facing Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Rather, it might even be better--humiliating them in front of such a big crowd might cause them to form Demonic Hearts and prevent them from ever becoming stronger." "... Master Uncle is right. I''ll listen to you." Though he said so, Shen Rong knew well enough that something was planted inside of the boy''s heart, something that might just be impossible to erase. Ultimately, he, too, became quite a bit more curious about the pair of children he noticed. One thing about them, at least, became clearer now that he knew their stories--though it was just for a moment, he caught a glimpse of the purity of their Qi. It was... impossible, to say the least. Only Heavenly Pavilion Sect had the ability to ''create'' Disciples with such pure Qi. If they got lucky in the Nameless Forest, however, then it was entirely possible, too. He sighed, inwardly, growing worried; it was his instinct as a martial artist, no less, that was warning him. Strange winds were blowing, and it seemed that this Heavenspan Tournament might change the course of the world as they knew it. Whether their Sect benefited from it or would be wrestling with despair... was yet to be seen. Chapter 33 - Bejeweled in Silver Chapter 33 Bejeweled in Silver "Oh, well imagine, as I''m pacing the pews in a church corridor and I can''t help but to hear~" Leo mumbled a song under his breath as he lay relaxed in a pond. He wasn''t alone, either--the animals seemed to have started copying him. The monkey was lying on his back, floating, while the pair of the black and white panthers were thrashing about and swimming. The owl was perched on top of his head, occasionally hooting, while, on the other side of the pond, he saw the cub and mama bear pair splashing about. It was all very serene, if not a little bit boring. However, unlike what he expected of himself, he didn''t... hate it. That being a strange and new feeling, he tried to examine it but was unable to reach the answers. Back on Earth, he could scarcely even have a meal without a distraction. He always had to be doing something, even if it was entirely pointless, just to engage his mind. However, ever since coming here, he began to realize that he was finding it easier and easier to dwell in nothingness for hours. Soaking in a bath was something he hadn''t done since he was a child--and yet, he now found himself soaking for an entire hour, just sitting in silence, completely at ease. It was somewhat liberating in ways that he hadn''t even considered before. But, in some capacity, it was also a necessity. A mind''s greatest trait had always been its ability to adapt to any change in circumstance, all in the name of self-preservation. Leo enjoyed it, though. Thinking back on his life, every day felt like a short story written out that he was forced to live. But those days, however adventurous they were, also blended together into a continuous bender of hollow glamour. Furthermore, desires were ruined and shattered. What used to bring him joy one day could seldom keep him content the next. It was a constant pursuit, an eternal chase to relive a memory he''d ensconced into a gilded cage. But nothing was ever enough, and even if it could just about scratch the itch, it would not do so for long. In due time, he became empty--he drank because he always did so, he hung out at parties because he always did so, he vacationed in exotic places because he always did so. None of those things brought him any joy, which was when he sought the isolating walls of a room. Opening his eyes, he escaped the dark memories. How was it, he silently wondered, that he was fine being alone here, but dreaded it beyond dreads back on Earth? His own thoughts were still there, ever-present, yet were... lithe. He wasn''t clever enough to figure it out, the root cause of the changes. Perchance, it was simply him being grateful to live another life. Perhaps it was being surrounded by animals who cared for him, but didn''t seem to expect more out of him than what he could give. Whatever it was, in the end, he was glad to be living here, in the moment. Even if his ultimate fantasies of becoming a world-renowned cultivator were never fulfilled, he felt, deep down, that he would not be disappointed with this life either way. He didn''t linger for much longer, leaving the pond and heading back home. The animals accompanied him--including the mama and cub pair, who seemed to have become the everyday visitors at the very least--some racing ahead like the black and white panther, and some, as always, hanging off of him and taking the free ride. By the time he came back, the ''wanderers'' as he called them (the animals that only came about for the meals and the juice) began gathering around the camp. He greeted them gingerly and they all seemed to at least nod, with an occasional roar or a howl, before beginning to cook. Feeling a bit adventurous, in addition to the standard-set meals that the animals enjoyed, he decided to mix it up a bit, if not for them then for himself. He felt a bit inspired ever since having made that strange candy for the crow, but never did find the time to experiment once again. He found serenity in the swirls of the dancing fires and the bubbling of the water. Stirring the stew, he glanced up and saw that quite a few animals were slobbering already. Smiling, he began talking, filling the void of silence. "There''s a concept that used to scare the soul out of me," he said. "It''s called Boltzmann brains. It supposes that, whatever natural machinations are behind the existence of the universe itself, are far more likely to be behind simpler things--like us. That is to say, the machinations did not create the universe, but rather just a single mind filled up with lies. My life, you, this place, all my memories... they are just fabrications. Ultimately, though, it''s sort of a self-jailed notion, one of those notions that if you are aware of them, they cannot be. "But a lot of it stayed with me. The fear that I''m alone, that nothing around me is real. Not in the actual sense, anyway," he took a sip of the fruit juice, chuckling and starting at the flames. "I spent like an entire year in my early twenties just looking for the ''glitches''. Melting my brain in theories, and ''truths''. God, I was so moronic, ha ha ha. This one time, I was convinced I found it--a friend of mine suddenly had a gold tooth, and I knew for a fact he didn''t. Well, it was short-lived. A minute later, someone pointed it out, and it turned out to be corn. Ha ha ha." he took a moment, looking up from the flames at the dark sky. "It all seems so silly, now, but back then, my mind was preoccupied with it all. Like, what if all of time is compacted into a singularity--so, all events, past, present, and future, are both happening at the same time and not at all? What if a choice I made without much thought in the present rippled and made a change in the future that I cannot ever undo? Well, that did happen, often. I wasn''t always the brightest bulb, as it were. Haah, why is it that in my life, I always learned whatever lesson I needed to learn just a bit too late? Like I was always lagging a step behind, and if I could just sprint for a little while, I would have caught up. That''s life, though... no?" His faint chuckle faded into the forest as he turned around and went back into one of the huts. Lying down, he closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep rather quickly. He wasn''t particularly exhausted--he never was--but sleep was a strange comforter, he found, that allowed him to reset his mindset anew. So, whenever he found himself drifting and yearning for things he could never have, he''d lie down and close his eyes, and by the time he opened them, it was the future, and he was no longer the same person he was just a few hours ago. He didn''t know for how long the ''cheat'' would work, but he would exploit it for as long as he could. ** "And, begin!" A dashing, young man garbed in silver robes fluttered backwards, forming sigils with his hands at the same time. Opposite of him, some fifty yards of distance away, was another young man, approximately the same age, garbed in black robes. The latter had drawn out a colossal, obsidian blade with scarlet gems hemmed into the blade''s fuller. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The two stood atop one of the practice arenas of the Holy Blade Sect, with a somewhat sizeable audience of peers gathered around commenting on the fight. Both youths were at Peak Foundation Establishment Realm, though the man in black was about a year older than the one garbed in silver. The duel was precisely the result of that--the latter had pointed it out, and the former took offense to it. Most duels, really, between the young people resulted from these small, perceived slights--any one of the people gathered for the Heavenspan Tournament were geniuses in their own right, and seldom liked coming up short against their peers or, worse yet, those even younger than them. The silver-robed youth conjured up several dozen arrays of light in the shape of a blade, using his fingers to manipulate them into attacking the black-robed man. The latter swung the colossal weapon violently, coating it in thick glum of red, easily deflecting the attack. At the same time, he soaked his feet with blood and erupted forth like a storm, leaving behind a deep imprint in the arena. He flew across and closed the distance between the two in the blink of an eye, smashing the weapon from the side. The silver-robed youth mumbled something under his breath, covering himself with visible sheen of light and taking the hit directly without suffering any damage. On the other hand, the black-robed man found the colossal weapon bounce off the shield, dragging him backward for a moment before he forcibly stopped it and, with a crack in his forearms, he shot Qi directly into the weapon and swung it back down. Under the aghast eyes of the watchers, the silver-robed youth''s shield cracked like glass and, in panic, he put out his arms out to block the weapon from hitting his face. Just then, a smear of color appeared between the two and easily separated them. Indignant, the black-robed man tried to stand up and attack again, but found himself plastered on the ground. "I did not know when my Holy Blade Sect began permitting Death Duels," a figure appeared between the two--it was a young woman, seemingly in her late twenties. She had short, silver hair and a pair of silver eyes, and was wearing golden robes. Few among the audience recognized her as one of the Elders of the Sect, the titular ''Silver Soul Blade''. "He insulted--" "--I don''t care if he chopped your tiny little pecker," she interrupted, seeming beyond annoyed to be here. "While you are within the walls of the Sect, you can fist each other however much you''d like, but any attempt to take life will be considered a slight against the Holy Blade Sect itself. Since you''re just a pair of dumb kids, I''ll forgive you this once. If it happens again, I''ll chop you into so many pieces that even the best cooks in the world won''t be able to use you as an ingredient. Understood?" "..." "Hey, I asked you a question." "U-understood, Senior!!" both youths exclaimed at the same time, seemingly both having caught up to who it was in front of them. They scurried off the arena with tails between their legs, while the woman eyed the audience silently for a moment, smiling right after. "Is your big sister so pretty that you can''t help yourselves but to stare at her?" "--!!" everyone, even the other Elders in the audience, immediately looked away while she scoffed, her eyes slanting into slits. "Pathetic," she left the single word as she vanished into thin air, disappearing the same way she came. Though she insulted them directly to their faces, no one dared complain. After all, there was a reason why she was called ''Silver Soul Blade''--while ''silver'' merely denoted the eerie hair and eye color she had, the ''Soul Blade'' referred to the cultivation technique she used. Unlike most sword cultivators who used an actual weapon as a conduit for their arts, and even those--like the silver-robed youth--who used Qi to manifested bladed weapons made up of pure energy, her attacks were not ''physical''. Her ''blade'' attacked the soul directly, ignoring everything else. The rumor was that, despite just being at the Peak of Fusion Realm, even masters at Soul Ascendance Realm weren''t entirely comfortable fighting her. Though they would undoubtedly win, there was still the uncertainty that she might damage their souls, something that would not only cripple their any future potential in cultivation, but also shorten their lifespans. As such, most left her alone--expressly for a rather simple reason: she wasn''t going to live much longer. ''Soul Blade Art'' was such that it did not use the person''s Qi to attack, but rather the person''s own Soul. So, each time she attacked, even if she won, she shortened her own lifespan. It was also the reason why she was the only person in the entire Holy Blade Sect studying such ''powerful'' art. Thus, she was left alone (even if it was also for the fact that any time someone challenged her, she would not kill them, but merely turn them into imbeciles which most martial artist considered a fate a thousand times worse than death). In the meantime, Shui Xiaoling retreated back into the palace, settling herself on the balcony overseeing the entire sect. Sighing, she reached into her robes and took out a small, brown pill, eating it right after. Closing her eyes, she silently channeled Qi and dispersed the medicinal powder within the pill, causing her to vomit a mouthful of black blood that she immediately evaporated from the palm of her hand. She sighed, smiling faintly. A month--that was how long she had. Though most lamented her choices and fate, she never once regretted cultivating ''Soul Blade Art''. It resonated with her, almost like a perfect love. Even if it was short-lived, it was better, in her eyes, than if she lived much longer, studying something that she loathed. "What are you doing here?" a familiar voice drew her attention to the side where she saw the Sect Master slowly walking up to her. There was worry on his face, causing her to smile further. "What? I''m not allowed to enjoy the festivities?" "You''re supposed to be meditating in the Healing Hall," he said, sighing and grabbing his head. She didn''t fault him--all her life, she was likely one of the prime source of his headaches. "I''m very close to making a deal with the Pavilion. If you can cultivate in their Heavenly Pond for even just an hour, you can live up to fifty extra years!" "... and I already said that I don''t want it," she replied. "Even if, for some reason, they were willing to help us, they would bleed us dry. I don''t want to live longer at the expense of my home. Take whatever wealth you would have given to them, and spend it on the Disciples instead. We can''t be lagging behind others." "If I could have just pressured the two Disciples a little bit--" "--if you''d done so, I would have wrung your tits out and fed them to the dogs," she interrupted rather harshly. "The poor kids were sweating buckets because of you. Aren''t you ashamed? You actually pressured a pair of Core Formation Disciples with your Sense! Ah, if the world heard, you would never outlive the embarrassment." "They''ve certainly enjoyed a Heavenly Pond, one of especially high quality at that," the Sect Master said, frowning. "Don''t you want to live, Xiao''er?" "... of course I want to live. But not at anyone else''s expense. If they aren''t telling us out of their own will," she said. "There must be a reason for that." "... haah, why are you so stubborn?" "I had a stubborn Master." "I won''t give up," he said, patting her head gently. He''d done so ever since she was a little young girl who''d happily chosen an art sitting in the corner and started cultivating it before ever consulting with any of her Seniors. As such, the Sect Master took her under his tutelage, and had spent a good part of the past thirty years trying to ''fix'' her. "So, please, don''t give up either." "Okay," she smiled. "We have to be wary with those kids. They''ve already piqued curiosity and might be targeted." "Oh, they will be. But as long as I''m here, nothing will happen to them." "Master." "Hm?" "Thank you," she said, looking away. "For everything." "... Demonic Possession?" "Bah! I am not so far gone that I can''t express gratitude to my own Master!" "Is that so?" he laughed as she threw a random attack at him; it never had a chance of landing, but she would often do precisely that when frustrated. "I have to go. Other representatives have gathered and are waiting for me. Keep an eye out and inform m e if you notice anything untoward." "Will do, Master." She watched his fading back in silence, sighing yet again as she looked out through the window and at the sea of excited youth beneath it. She, too, once glistened with the same glow, certain she''d stir the world with her talent. Alas, life was a long, dark tunnel, and few knew precisely the path they were taking. And she... she was never one of them. Chapter 34 - Came for Cultivation, Stayed for DIY Chapter 34 Came for Cultivation, Stayed for DIY Leo was a bit flummoxed, as he''d gotten a new quest. However, unlike before, it wasn''t a quest to help any one animal, but to help them all... kind of. [Things have gotten cramped and there isn''t enough room for everyone. It is time to upgrade from the primitive mud huts into a grander construction] [New Building Blueprint unlocked: Simple Wooden Longhouse] [Simple Wooden Longhouse: a roomless construct meant to house a large number of people(?) and provide them shelter. Can be decorated independently] [Simple Wooden Longhouse: though technically a simple construction, a wooden longhouse still requires materials that are beyond the scope of your abilities. As such, you will only be tasked with gathering raw materials, and the system will process them for you.] [Materials Required: Timber (Raw Wood): 1000 pieces of timber Source. Chop down trees to gather unprocessed logs Clay: 200 units Source: Mine clay from riverbanks or clay deposits to be used for sealing and insulating Reeds/Straw: 500 bundles Source: Harvest from the forest floor to use for thatching the roof Stone: 300 medium-sized stones Source: Gather stones from quarries or riverbeds for the foundation Iron (for nails/fittings): 20 raw iron ores Source: Mine iron deposits; system will forge nails and fittings Animal Hides: 50 hides Source: Hunt animals to gather hides for insulation and bedding Water: 100 buckets Source: Draw water from a river or a pond; system will process into mortar for clay and stone Fibers (for rope): 200 unites Source: Harvest plant fibers or obtain from animals (wool) to make ropes for structural binding] [To note: you will temporarily be given an artifact, , which you can use to locate quarries and mines. However, you must be within 300 yards of one in order for compass to activate] [All gathered materials must be piled close-by. The system will provide that will preserve all gathered materials from rot and decay for the duration of the quest. It will only work for the necessary materials, however, and nothing else] [You are allowed to seek help] [Time Limit: None] [Reward: Favorability with animals +30; , 3x , , a set of kitchen appliances, Blueprint for , +10 years of Cultivation] [Good luck! Physical labor suits you perfectly!] He was seated atop the random boulder, cross-legged, comically holding his chin up at a strange angle. It was all a bit too overwhelming, for he was changing genres again. For a brief while, he was actually living the life of a cultivator--even if it was often broken up by the bursts of needing to be a cook--but he was meditating, growing stronger, experiencing magic, and it was all so wonderful. And yet, once again, he was being tasked with switching genres. Oddly enough, however, he didn''t mind it; the mud huts, for however impressive they were, were still tiny constructions. None of the larger animals could use them as shelters, and even the smaller ones quickly filled them up. A longhouse, however simplistic it ended up being, would also be far more spacious. At the same time, though, it also required far more materials. His eyes shifted over to the side where two items appeared--a platform of wood that seemed beyond tiny in comparison to what it was supposed to hold (though, Leo immediately realized it would probably expand according to his needs), as well as a succinct, golden compass. It was no larger than the palm of a hand, its surface cracked and webbed with age and use, while its two hands lay still and unmoving, forming a cross. There weren''t any markings on it, its face flat, though he was certain something would appear when he reached a mine or a quarry. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. It would be a long, long, long quest, he knew. Even if the system itself would process all the raw materials for him, gathering just a thousand pieces of raw wood sounded exhausting. He also worried what would constitute a ''singular piece''--was it quite literally the entire body of a tree, or would one tree yield more than one piece? If it was one piece per one tree, he''d have to deforest nearly everything around him, and that felt like such a waste and almost not worth it. Furthermore, there was the question of animal hides--though he dreaded encounters with animals that wanted to impale him, he now needed to seek them out. All in all, it would likely take him at least a couple of months to gather everything on his own. If the animals (and Yue, when she came back) helped, though, it would probably go a bit faster. He didn''t immediately get down to business--unlike with the mud huts, he wanted to plan out a little bit. Though he didn''t know the precise size of even an average longhouse, let alone the one he was making, he did see one... once. It was part of a brief trip he did with some friends to an Amish community, and it was fairly big. Just in height, he estimated it was at least ten feet, which was nearly as tall as some of the trees around. If the system handed him some artificial behemoth, wouldn''t he be planting a flag signaling to the entire forest where he was? Sighing, he first put the compass into his robes and set the wooden platform to the side. The rewards were too tempting, overall. Though it was depressing on more levels than one, he most looked forward to the blueprint for a wooden house. He yearned just a tiny smidgen of privacy, even if he suspected the animals would crowd the house too, eventually. There was also the set of kitchen appliances--he didn''t know precisely what this entailed, however. It most likely meant basic cutlery, perhaps a few pots, a few pans, maybe a dishwasher? "Heh," he chuckled at the thought, stretching lazily before digging out the sword from one of the huts. If he was to chop the trees, he may as well train a bit with the sword--even if it was hardly a replacement for actual training, he''d at least get the sense of swinging the sword around, something that he''d never done before in his life. However, he wouldn''t indiscriminately begin tearing down the canopy. For starters, as ignorant as he was, even he knew well enough that you only cut the trees of certain age (though he had right about zero clue on how to estimate the age, let alone what the ''right'' age was), but far more importantly, a lot of these trees were often occupied by animals. As such, he''d seek their counsel. "So," he broke the silence, drawing attention to himself. "I need to chop a few trees to test something out. Could you guys point out a few that are a-okay to cut?" because he knew (desperately) that the animals could not understand his words, he began gesturing, using his arms to replace the sword and unfolding chopping motion toward the trees before throwing out a thumbs-up... as though the animals from a different world were aware of a very Earth-human concept. Most immediately looked away, as though disinterested in the entire ordeal, while an animal that he''d seen occasionally (though never interacted with much) approached him--it was a stag with milky-white eyes and no irises, as well as antlers that formed a webbed pattern and went just about six feet above its head. Magically, however, they never seemed to collide with anything. It was an eerie phenomenon that Leo for the most part ignored as it clashed with his understanding of how things worked, but every time the antlers were about to hit something, that something would ''move'' out of the way. Even if it was something that could not move--like a tree. It was as though the space itself bent beneath the will of the stag, allowing him to move unopposed no matter what. The stag was a frequent visitor, but it was also one of those who merely stayed for the meal and then disappeared somewhere into the forest. As such, Leo was a bit apprehensive around it, but still followed the beast as it began to walk away, leading him deeper into the woods. Only one animal, this time around, elected to follow him--the ever-attached owl perched itself on top of his shoulder and remained firmly there like a guardian. It brought a sense of relief to Leo, as it meant that he was unlikely to die. Probably. Possibly. The stag led him westward, and they soon reached the pond--but they did not stop. Leo had never gone further than these waters, in part because he didn''t need to, but in part because he walled the portions beyond it as ''wild animal territory'' even if he had no evidence to support that claim. It wasn''t long before the atmosphere began to change--and it all started with the little things that Leo seldom noticed. The colors of the flowers dulled, growing desaturated. The vibrancy of the moss and the grass faded. The trees grew thin and their branches sparse. The ground beneath grew blacker and heavier. Leo paused abruptly, his heart leaping into his throat for a moment. Laid bare before him was a wasteland--trees lay scattered in the field of gray and black, their barks overcome with rot, their branches naked and trembling. Strange, pulsating cysts were latched onto their roots, their membranes thin and transparent, leaving a webbed pattern beneath. The stag stopped at the seeming edge of the wasteland, drawing Leo''s eyes there until he received yet another shock--it was a tombstone. He approached is slowly and crouched--it was old, cracks diffusing outward, aging colors bleeding downward, letters yellow and carved into stone. Strangely, he could read them just fine, even if they weren''t in any language he recognized. He who cursed the world with his dying breath. Let thy name be forever forgotten, demonic fiend Leo frowned, feeling a twine within his heart. It wasn''t sympathy, grief, or sadness--rather, it was Qi within him reacting, as though awoken from its slumber. It began to churn and fidget restlessly, all the way until he stood up and looked beyond the tombstone and toward the forest. He felt a strange resonance with the world before him, and a paradoxical thought emerged: that the rot was, in some small ways, beautiful and endearing. Chapter 35 - Lyas Shine Chapter 35 Lya''s Shine It was Lya''s moment to step up to the large arena, the echo of his name still resonating. She''d been watching others fight for two days now--mostly just kids her age and younger at the Foundation Realm, something that she would have been part of had she never met the Senior in the forest. Deep down, she felt a sense of trepidation; even if she was a Core Formation cultivator, she''d only been one for a short amount of time. She hadn''t even fully grasped any of the arts that her Master tried passing on, and was struggling to incorporate the new cultivation method into her daily routine. There was fear that she would disappoint, that her showing would be miserable. But there was nothing to be done. Her opponent was a young man from Iron Mountain Sect--he looked to be close to his mid-twenties, garbed in dark-gray robes with a pair of axes strapped to the sides of his belt. Standing rather tall--as did seemingly all Disciples of the Iron Mountain Sect--he was quite intimidating, but there was a somewhat warm smile on his face that she couldn''t see past. She stepped up to the stage and took a deep breath. "Relax," the man suddenly spoke to her. She was so nervous that she didn''t even hear his name when it was called out. "Even if I somehow manage to win, you are far more talented than me. Everyone here knows it. So, just fight with everything you got. Okay?" "..." she looked at him oddly for a moment, wondering why he was trying to calm down his opponent. Perhaps he was trying to get inside of her head that way? It didn''t seem so, however. Nonetheless, she had no time to think--for the Elder overseeing their fight had signaled its beginning. The man immediately broke out into sprint--flutters of Qi danced visibly around his ankles, and he flew across the forty yards of distance or so between the two in a flash. Lya let go of her reservations the best she could and decided to do precisely what the man advised her to do--give it her all. Her feet flashed with lightning as she stepped to the side, a ringing echo of thunder eclipsing the sounds of the man''s arrival. Both his axes were already out and swung, digging into the arena in a cross shape. While dodging, she''d already conjured several bolts of lightning and arced them toward the man. The latter, seeming somewhat stumped that she dodged, elected to not take them head on. His footwork was simple but fast--even if he couldn''t quite make the corners as well as she could, in straight dash, he was far quicker than her. It was also quickly evident that he was much better at controlling Qi than her--while she''d have to violently splurge on all her actions as she was unaccustomed to it, he was far more refined in the usage. It swiftly turned into a chase--Lya had never fancied melee combat, and grew tear-eyed happy when she learned she had affinity with thunder. Since then, nearly all of her training was about learning how to maintain a distance from her opponent and wear them down, which was exactly what she was trying to do. Her feet moved in rapid flashes, leaving behind thundering booms, while her arms never stopped conjuring bolts of lighting; at the same time, the man danced between her strikes, his eyebrows slowly knotting into a furrow. She wasn''t really precise with her attacks--she would send them out like a salvo, but because she''d always conjure up at least ten bolts before firing, he had no choice but to stop his straight-line dash and dodge instead, slowing him down and allowing her to create distance between the two. The issue was rather simple: she was expending far, far, *far* more Qi than he did in doing these actions, and was essentially delaying the inevitable... at least, that was how everyone watching the battle saw it. Lya, however, felt different. While it was true that the reason she was splurging Qi in every action was her lack of ability to control it, there was also a rather simple fact that the purity and quantity of her Qi after the forest expedition had exploded. Both Song and her far outmatched everyone at their realm, and their Masters confirmed that the purity of their Qi rivaled someone an entire realm above theirs--Spirit Creation Realm. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. That wasn''t to say that the two could fight cross-realm, naturally, but that, against their peers, they''d have reserves others couldn''t even fathom. As such, once minutes began to pass and the battle hadn''t changed at all, queries began. The man''s brows furrowed even further, and even beads of sweat began to show up. Though he was almost immaculate at controlling Qi, he still had finite reserves, ones she was forcing him to tap into deeply. Seemingly tired of the boring chase, and worried that he might actually lose the battle of attrition, for the first time since the battle''s start, the man didn''t stop and try and dodge her attacks--instead, he coated his axes with a thick sheen of Qi and slashed outward, ripping through the bolts as though they were made of paper. Lya panicked a bit, coating her feet in Qi once again and throwing herself backward like a bolt, but the man persisted in his pursuit--his entire body began to faintly glow in a metallic sheen, and he quickly closed the distance between the two, swinging the pair of axes from over the top. She executed her footwork once again, dashing sideways and, in a desperate bid to create more distance, did something out of instinct--rather than creating a bolt of lightning, which involved carefully tethering elementally-suffused Qi to her own sea and controlling the bolts with her mind, she formed a spherical bundle of lightning in front of her and let it loose towards the man. The latter, wholly unprepared, took the full brunt of the attack--however, the explosion never went fully off, as just before it did, a flash of lightning intervened and cut her connection to it. The Elder overseeing their battle appeared by the man''s side and easily blocked the after-effects, dismissing Lya''s attack as though it were nothing. "I have lost," the man suddenly bowed toward her as the Elder stepped away soundlessly. Still fraught with adrenaline, she wasn''t quite yet certain what was happening. "That was very smart. Only using one type of attack the entire battle to force my body into a specific pattern of movement." "T-thank... you?" she replied in confusion. "But, you know," the man looked at her strangely. "You... you *are* just at the early stage of the Core Formation Realm, right?" "Uh, yes?" "Hm. You seem to have just as much Qi as some of my Seniors at Peak Core Formation Realm. Probably even more, to be honest." "Ah. He he..." she didn''t know how to react--it was true, after all, but being praised directly to her face (by who now in her eyes became quite a handsome young man) was rather embarrassing. Luckily, she didn''t have to participate it in any longer as the world around he erupted into rowing applause--she glanced up to the nearby balcony where she saw her Master nod toward her with a smile. Feeling fluttery in her chest, she stepped off the stage where she was quickly besieged by her fellow Disciples who flooded her with questions. Though averse to popularity, she had to admit: deep down... it felt nice to be the center of attention, and to spot the looks of envy in the eyes of those who''d dismissed her existence entirely just a few weeks ago. And that was all thanks to the Senior''s kindness, the man who gave her the future without asking anything in return. ** "She must have re-forged her roots to some degree in a Heavenly Pond," a cloaked figure mumbled toward another sitting by their side. Though the two spoke despite being surrounded by quite a few others, nobody seemed to notice them, just as though there was a membrane disallowing any sounds from escaping. "Hm. The purity and quantity could rival someone who created an Earthly Spirit," the other figure said. "I''m not quite sure that even the Heavenly Pavilion''s pond is that pure these days." "Does that mean that the Holy Blade found a way to upgrade the Sect''s pond?" "No, that''s impossible. Besides, it''s only her and another kid, both of whom were beyond unremarkable. If they had that kind of ability, they would have first given it to their most talented Disciples. Additionally, have you noticed?" "Noticed what?" "Try to check her Spirit Roots." "Hm?" there was a brief moment of silent before gasping exclamation. "Peak Sky?" "Yes, but not just that. They''re still... evolving," the cloaked figure said, their tone grave. "By my estimates, in about a year, they''ll evolve into Low Heaven. In about ten years, Mid Heaven. And in about a century, she''ll have Peak Heaven Roots. All this if she does absolutely nothing for the rest of her life." "... how is that possible?" "I only know of one place with the ability. My Master mentioned it once, citing that the first writs specify that the First Demon only became as strong as he did because he took a bath there, in the Immortal Pond, one of the converging points where the purest of Qi is formed." "Isn''t that just a myth? Every historical record says that the First Demon was beyond talented from birth." "That''s just the Ashlands'' version of the story. But, you''re right. It''s probably a myth. Still, if she did, in fact, partake in the waters of the Immortal Pond, there''s a chance she might have a link with the First Demon, however faint. During the confusion, see if you can grab her as well as that bald boy. Relay it to others. If it''s impossible or if it might interfere with the original goal, just ignore it. It''s still just a passing curiosity, after all." "Okay. Ah, it''s the boy''s turn to fight. Should we stay and watch?" "No. We have too many preparations to go through. Let''s go, Four." "Yes, One." Chapter 36 - Dualities of Life Chapter 36 Dualities of Life Song wasn''t as lucky as Lya, never getting to fully display and showcase his strength. It wasn''t truly his fault, but merely a bad luck of the draw. His opponent turned out to be a Direct Disciple of the Iron Mountain Sect, a 22-year-old prodigy at Mid Core Formation Realm who specialized in defense, nullifying Song''s greatest strength--speedy attacks that accumulated damage over time. Ultimately, he managed to last for about fifty moves before losing. Sour-faced and dispirited, he bowed toward the young man opposite of him before dismounting the arena. Nobody, however, made fun of him--if anything, it was the opposite. Both him and Lya caught eyes of many of the older members of the visiting Sects, their ages, roots, and cultivation realms seeming dangerous. In particular, Shen Tao was not having a good time, his frown deep. Though he was confident in beating both of them, especially Song, just the fact that he wasn''t confident in beating either within ten moves hurt his pride. After all, there was just about five or six years of difference between them--in the myths of the Immortal Age, that was considered a difference of an entire generation, as in they would not even be permitted to spar against one another since it was assumed that the older ones would win in a move or two at most. Furthermore, from the way they fought as well as the arts they displayed, it was evident that neither had even an iota of experience within the Core Formation Realm--they were entirely held up by their Qi and not much else. Wouldn''t that mean, then, that if they shored up those shortcomings, they would catch up to him, the Chosen One? No, that was impossible. He worried still, however--he was one of the few who managed to construct an Earthly Core while ascending to Core Formation Realm. Were it not for his Master who spent a quarter of the Sect''s wealth gathering all manner of herbs and liquids and fruits to aid him, that would have been impossible. However, because of that, the quantity and quality of his Qi usually outstripped his peers''. And yet... he did not see that discrepancy between him and the kids. If anything, he felt it was the opposite--his Qi would churn against theirs, as though deferring. It meant one of two things: either both of the kids had, through some miracle managed to actually construct a Heaven Core, an unprecedented feat only those few freaks from the Heavenly Pavilion ever managed to achieve, or they found a way to make their Earthly Cores better than his. Whichever it was, it did not track; the Holy Blade Sect did *not* have nearly enough resources to produce even one Earthly Core, let alone two. Which meant that their fortuitous encounter in the Nameless Forest was far more mind-bending than he initially thought. Dark thoughts spun inside his mind, and he was tempted to follow them. All his life, he''d only ever known success--from when he was a boy, he was the strongest, the fastest, the most talented. He was largely incomparable until he experienced that freak from the Pavilion. But he--as well as three others beside him--were exceptions, anomalies that he was never meant to compete with. Then, were those two kids anomalies, too? No, they were just lucky. Whereas they were supposed to die in that forest, forever to be forgotten, they eked out a new life. A life that threatened his throne. Even if, right now, he could stomp both of them at the same time, what in three years'' time? Or four? Would that be the case in ten years? No. Shen Tao knew better than anyone just how important talent was in cultivation--having to work twice as hard as someone else just to keep up wasn''t sustainable, let alone thrice or five or ten times as hard. There were only so many hours in a day, after all. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Gnashing his teeth, he left the stands, ignoring the calls of his Juniors. He feared, if he stayed, he''d explode in anger. Should he order their deaths? That was the question hanging above his mind. However angry he was, though, he wasn''t stupid. Even if he didn''t think Holy Blade Sect was remotely comparable to his own, it would be impossible to kill their Disciple within their own walls, especially because the Holy Blade himself was overseeing everything. Even his Master, the man Tao considered undaunted, repeatedly warned him and told him that as long as Holy Blade was alive, the Sect would continue to be Tier IV. And if even he understood the implications, then the Holy Blade did too. He would likely never let those two kids fall in any sort of danger, whether within the Sect''s grounds or without. This tournament was supposed to be his day of triumph--he''d stomp over that cold, emotionless woman who repeatedly rejected his kind advances, prove to everyone that he was undisputed, and put any and all rumors saying otherwise to rest forevermore. However, even if he won in less than ten moves (which would be impossible, no matter what), the chatter would still remain the same: Shen Tao is the strongest... *right now*, but in a few years, those two kids will probably catch up. "Dammit!!" he slammed his fist into the all, cutting up his knuckles ''till they bled. He ignored them, however, as well as the pain. If anything, it was a small distraction from the mounting pressure in his chest that was making it hard to breathe. He was the best--he was always the best. There was no way he''d let some two kids who just lucked out take over. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever. ** The stag--whom Leo decided to name Poky, because the animal''s antlers looked like they could poke the life out of him--stood silently by his side, and even Hoot shuffled over from Leo over to the stag''s back. Even if Leo lived in a perpetual state of denial when it came to the level of intelligence of animals around him, something cracked inside that fa?ade when he gazed at the two. There was a clear distress, pain, and longing in their eyes, the somber atmosphere around them almost corporeal. Whatever happened here, and however many years back, had more effect on the world than just ruining a few trees. From the ''epitaph'', if it could even be called that, it seemed that whoever was buried here deserved death and more. But Leo trusted his furry friends far more than some random carving in the stone--and if they grieved, and if they suffered, and if they ailed... it was earned. "You''re... telling me to cut those?" he broke the silence, prompting the pair to glance at him briefly and ''nod''. Though Leo was touched, he was also a bit moody, and desperately wanted to say ''yo, these trees are completely dead! How can I use them for construction?!''... but didn''t. Even if it wasn''t obvious, there was some intrinsic connection between his system and the animals, and the chances were that the system had a way to take the rotten wood and make it useful. Leo took out the sword from the scabbard, checked to see if he''d put on the necklace, and slowly walked forward. The firm ground beneath gave way suddenly and became ever so slightly sunken. His footprints remained etched for a long while behind him, and even the wind blowing turned colder. Taking a deep breath, he stopped by one of the trees and grasped the sword with both of his hands, slowly trickling Qi into it through his fingers. The sword shook and vibrated slightly as he swung it, expecting some resistance and bracing his muscles for it--but the sword met none. It cut through the wood cleanly and some seven feet of it standing above began to fall directly on top of Leo. "Yikes!" he exclaimed and swiftly executed his footwork technique, managing to stride past the fall. He expected the wood to shatter into thousands of pieces when it hit the ground, but it remained firm and complete. At the same time, a window popped up in front of him. [12x pieces of Timber acquired] [Place the raw wood on top of to be processed] "Huh," he exclaimed softly, stroking his beard. "So, about twenty timber per an entire tree? That''s not too bad, I suppose. Alright, time to go chop-chop!" Reinvigorated, he began to go from one tree to another, cutting them down. Two trees later, he was lying flat on his back, panting and covered in sweat. It turned out that he had to use Qi if he wanted to cut through the tree--rather, he had to use quite a decent amount of it. As such, he rather quickly ran out of his reserves, which just further reinforced his belief that he truly was beyond weak. After all, he highly doubted that other cultivators would have run dry of their Qi after chopping three trees--three rotten trees, by the way. "Haii," he sighed, waiting until he had enough strength to sit up and meditate and slowly recovering his Qi. "There''s nothing easy in this world, is there? This is gonna take a while..." Chapter 37 - When Heavens Call Chapter 37 When Heavens Call Leo gasped for breath, sitting down, soaked in sweat and exhausted. "Haah," he exhaled rather somberly, taking the last few sips of the fruit juice that he''d brought. Facing forward, he felt a bit of pride surge in his heart before it all bottomed out rather rapidly. He''d managed to cut precisely 23 trees in the last eight hours that he was here, gathering staggering 438 pieces of timber (or, well, raw wood yet to be processed). It was all lying neatly to the side, and not only was not even halfway through the requirement, it also seemed like he''d have to carry the logs back to the camp. Even if the logs didn''t weigh that much, it would still be impossible to carry more than four or five at a time just because they were cumbersome. Luckily, neither Poky nor Hoot left him--even if they didn''t help, they still cheered silently from the side, which was more than enough. Seeing that the sun was slowly descending past the horizon and that he''d completely run out of food and drinks, Leo decided to call it a day. After recovering a little bit, he stood up, walked over to the stack of logs and picked up as many as he could carry--which turned out to be four, two beneath both arms. They weren''t particularly heavy (but they weren''t featherweight either), though, as he suspected, they made navigating in-between the trees extremely cumbersome. On the way back, he often had to pause, shuffle about, and go step by step just to barely fit through the gaps between the trees. By the time he returned to the camp, he was more mentally exhausted than physically. Quickly dropping the logs onto the wooden platform, he watched them flash in a brilliant light for a moment before they became processed pieces of timber. Sighing at the oddness of it all, he shuffled around and began swiftly making dinner. There were quite a few animals gathered around, and however happy Leo was that they befriended him as a cook, he worried a bit that they might turn on him if he didn''t continue providing them with food (or, well, processed sort of food). He found solace in cooking once again, restoring his mental exhaustion however little. Even if getting timber was tiresome, at least he knew where and how to get it. On the other hand, he had no clue where to even begin to look for quarries or an iron mine. As far as the stone went, he saw quite a few pieces sprawled about the forest floor, but it wouldn''t be nearly enough. The animals scattered soon enough, leaving behind the usual suspects who retreated into their corners and began sleeping. Leo remained by the campfire for a long while, trying to map out the future in his head. Didn''t quite work, as he just grew angrier over time, eventually letting go of the rancid breath and retreating into the mud hut. There was no need to rush--in fact, there was also the option of waiting for Yue to return so she could stuff the logs into the ring and bring them all back quickly. For now, he''d simply allocate some of the free time he had every day to either gathering wooden logs or searching for other materials. Life, once again, would become busy. ** The Heavenspan Tournament usually lasted a week, though it dragged for an extra two days this time around because of the sheer number of participants and the limited number of arenas that the Holy Blade Sect had. Nonetheless, the fanfare by the last day hardly died down--if anything, it was even greater. It was evident by the sheer number of people in attendance on the last day. Three squared arenas stood side by side toward the western end of the valley, surrounded by roughly fifteen thousand people. Not only were those who''d already lost there, as rumors spread outside the Sect, more and more people flooded in after the fact. In fact, Holy Blade Sect had to start turning people away as there were simply too many. Even if there were a few surprises along the way--namely the rise of Song and Lye, as well as a masked cultivator called ''Dawn''--the remaining six participants were precisely the ones everyone expected. Three were from the Bloodmoon Sect, one from the Iron Mountain Sect, one from the Golden Crane Sect, and one from the Holy Blade Sect. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Qui Mei stood silently by the side of one of the arenas, her gaze aloof and distant, as though none of the surrounding fanfare had anything to do with her. The air around her chilled with frost, making her appear entirely unapproachable. And though a few youths tried to do precisely that over the course of the tournament, they were rebuffed with walled silence that never thawed. A lithe sword gently rocked back and forth at her waist, her short, silver hair still and unmoving. "Don''t worry about anything," a familiar voice of the Sect Master drifted into her ears. She knew that nobody else could hear him. "Just do your best, win or lose." "..." she didn''t reply, feeling indignant. Though she knew that her Master was simply trying to calm her, it did the opposite; there was seldom a soul watching that had faith in her winning. It was as though everyone already knew that she''d either come in the sixth or, at best, in the fifth place. And yet, she couldn''t very well deny it. She knew her limitations better than anyone, which was why it was all so frustrating. Nothing has changed in the past four years since the last Heavenspan Tournament. Though she was still just barely keeping up with her peers, she also trained day and night, with a desperation of a dying man, to do so. There was no point to frustration, ultimately, so she let it go. It was what it was-the heavens decreed some chosen and some just shy of that crown. She was among the latter, given hope when young that she, too, might become a part of the gilded myths, only to have it ripped from her grasp so cruelly. As her Master said, she would go on the stage and give it her all, as she had done countless times before. And if her best wasn''t good enough... Hearing her name called out, she stepped forth and jumped onto one of the arenas at the same time as her opponent. It was the Direct Disciple of the Golden Crane Sect, Tong-something-or-else, she couldn''t quite bother remembering, and though she didn''t want to admit it, she sighed inwardly in relief. Not because she was certain of victory, but because the man standing some fifty yards away from her was objectively the only one she had even the thinnest of chances against. He, too, seemed to have been experiencing the same flux of emotions, but the weight was different; after all, he was a Direct Disciple of a Tier III Sect, while she was a Direct Disciple of a Tier IV Sect. Her loss would be a humiliation not just to her, but to the entire Sect. Even if it was ''known'' that her Master was the only reason their Sect stood as high as it did, she didn''t want to live beneath that shield forever. Soon after the two of them jumped onto the stage, the four other Disciples did so as well on the remaining two stages. Qui Mei, however, didn''t have the luxury of paying attention to them. Taking a deep breath, she drew out her sword--thin but sharp, Sky-Tier gift from her Master when she reached Core Formation. Her opponent, on the other hand, didn''t draw a weapon. "Fight!" the word echoed throughout all three arenas, and under the disrupting roars of the audience. Qui Mei dashed forward. Her entire body began to glow golden, shimmering at the edges as though fading in and out rapidly, and she crossed the distance between the two in the blink of an eye. She thrust forward, aiming for the person only to hit a wall made out of earth that appeared from nowhere. Rebuffed, she executed her footwork technique and rapidly circumvented it, throwing out stabs repeatedly and quickly, aiming to end the fight as soon as possible. The main trait of Earth Root was an abundance of Qi, and as they were both at Mid Core Formation, she knew she''d lose handily in the battle of attrition. Earthen walls kept appearing around the man as he began to slide backward, riding a protruding stone, while summoning spear-tipped rocks and flinging them at her. She deflected the best she could, but ultimately decided to forgo proper defense in order to catch up. As such, a few of the rocks managed to glance against her skin, opening it and causing some red to appear. She ignored the pangs of pain, however, pushing even more Qi into her feet until the golden light turned into corporeal, golden flame. Her feet left an indentation in the stone below as she kicked off, accelerating to twice her speed and surprising the man who''d just barely managed to summon an earthen shield in time. However, as it was hastily put together, she managed to shatter it and finally get a hit in. Blood sprayed out as the man grunted in pain, his left thigh quickly dyeing the robes golden. Just as Qui Mei was about to follow up with another attack, his lips parted into a rather indignant "I surrender!". She quickly stopped, and though it hurt a bit to suddenly pull back the gathered Qi, she took the victory and sighed in relief. In a way, it may have even appeared to be the overwhelming sort to the unknowing eye. Bowing toward her opponent, she went to leave the stage when something began to feel amiss. It was an eerie feeling, one that she couldn''t back up by any of her skills. Almost at the same time, the world quaked ever so briefly before the sky above first grew a shade darker and then became wholly red. She felt her Master''s aura explode like a kettle left too long on the fire, and witnessed a pillar of golden light ascend toward the red canopy... only to fail to break through. "ENEMY IS HERE!!" it was her Master''s voice, but gone was the usual calm--there was even a trace of shock, something she seldom saw in him. "PREPARE TO FIGHT!" Chapter 38 - Red Skies, Golden Hymn Chapter 38 Red Skies, Golden Hymn Yu Minge''s voice was like a clap of thunder waking up the slumbering. As it faded, the entire Holy Blade Sect exploded into a massive conflict, hundreds of skirmishes erupting everywhere. Yu Minge took to the front, drawing out the illustrious namesake of his Sect, the Holy Blade. The sword shimmered in the resplendent gold even within the confines of the scarlet sky, dissipating the murkiness that began to converge. Immediately after, he was joined by three other Soul Ascendance cultivators--Shen Rong, Elder of the Bloodmoon Sect, Hae the Immovable, Elder of the Iron Mountain Sect, and titular Dark Night, a roaming swordsman who often bothered Yu Minge for drinks and duels. The four didn''t utter a word because they''ve already noticed that, among the surging masses of the attackers, there were three that stuck out the most, as all were at the Early Soul Ascendance. Yu Minge didn''t have the time to ponder on the massive ramifications of a singular power having at least three Soul Ascendance cultivators, as the trio dispersed into a blood-soaked formation, constructing a towering avatar that immediately attacked. Yu Minge stepped forward, walking on air as though it was ground, his sword crying out as a golden array of sword Qi burst forth, shattering the crimson bolt heading their way. As the only Mid Soul Ascendance cultivator, he knew that he had to be the one to take the front. "One of you go back and start saving the kids," he ordered as he began to prepare another attack. "Others, help me buy time! They can sustain dharma avatar for at most five minutes!" ** A crack of thunder was followed by a serpent-like bolt of lightning that shattered a nearby building. Lya and Song hurriedly darted to the left, dodging the falling debris; however, quite a few weren''t so lucky. They watched in horror as the rock and stone collapsed on kids their age, some older and some even younger, burying them. Everywhere they looked, the world was falling apart--black-cloaked figures appeared from the dark shadows and began attacking indiscriminately. "Watch out!" Song cried out as he pushed her to the side. Steadying herself, she saw her Junior Brother take an attack of a Late Core Formation cultivator head on--though he endured it, his sword had shattered, and he was barreled backward toward her. She quickly tethered him with Qi threads, steadying him by her side; the sight of the bleeding boy caused her heart to stir. His left arm was broken at the elbow, and he was gnashing his teeth as to not scream in pain. Uncertain as to what to do, she was just about to run away when the hooded figure appeared in front of her, dagger in hand, aiming for her neck. Her feet frozen, she just barely managed to toss herself in front of Song, closing her eyes. The pain she was expecting, however, never arrived; opening her eyes, she glanced to the side where she saw the hooded figure sprawled on the ground, his neck snapped. In his stead, the man she fought during the tournament stood. He didn''t say anything, merely nodding toward her before rushing off into another fight. Everything was in chaos--screams of agony, rage, and sorrow blurred the line between the horror and the reality. She hoisted Song over her shoulder and ran toward the cluster of Disciples she saw in the distance fighting alongside several Elders. ** Shen Tao was flustered, but more than that, he was angry. His chance at glory, at his name spreading throughout the Lower Ashlands, was suddenly interrupted by an onslaught of cloaked figures. In the distance, he caught sight of his Master Uncle fighting alongside the Holy Blade to stave off the monstrous-looking dharma avatar dyed in red like blood, so he knew that he was on his own for the most part. Two of the Disciples that had come with him had already perished, their hearts stabbed from the back when they weren''t defending. He slid to the side and deftly dodged an attack from the back, his anger surging further as he reached out and clasped the hooded figure''s neck. Rather than killing him immediately, he began to indiscriminately stab the man''s body with a knife until there were at least thirty bleeding holes, and even the cold face of the demon began to crack, the fa?ade rupturing under the weight of pain. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. In the end, he snapped the man''s neck and tossed him aside, refocusing. He didn''t want to fight--it was in the chaos of things that even the most talented perished. Additionally, he was here alone, and this wasn''t his home ground. Even the Disciples of the Holy Blade Sect were struggling, and there were thousands of them. Thus, he was looking for ways to escape. However, just as he was about to dash to the exit, he caught sight of someone appearing some ten yards from him as though from nowhere--it was a boy, no older than ten, sporting bloody-red eyes, black hair, and a strange symbol etched on his forehead glimmering in scarlet. What was far more shocking, however, was that the boy exuded the aura of someone at the Peak of Core Formation Realm. A 10-year-old-boy... at Peak Core Formation Realm... Shen Tao''s mind broke for a moment and his thoughts ceased. His reality, as fragile as it was already, had just been shattered. "You can''t run," the boy spoke, the countenance at an eerie juxtaposition with the appearance. "Let''s dance for a little bit." ** Shui Xiaoling and Qiu Mei had, by some happenstance, managed to join up right after the battle broke out. Standing side by side, it wouldn''t be strange for those who didn''t know them to consider they were sisters with how alike they were, but few had the chance to admire their beauty at the moment. Both forewent their own safety, rushing about madly and saving as many Disciples as they could. On the way, their dashing robes were ruined, blood smeared over the silver cloth. However, because of their aggression, they managed to pool together quite a cluster and faced the hundred or so cloaked figures directly with their backs against the formation-hardened wall of the medicinal hall. "Here, come, quick!" Xiaoling glanced to the side where she saw a pair of newcomers just barely dodge a shadow-stirring spear, ducking into the cluster. She recognized the two as they were Lya and Song, the pair who were rapidly becoming little stars of the Sect. There was little of that in their visage, however; Lya was visibly tired, her hair disheveled, while a cut on her forehead was bleeding profusely. Song, on the other hand, was in an even worse condition--his skin was as pale as snow, his left arm was bent in an unnatural manner, and his robes were almost entirely dyed red. "Pull them to the back! Give them whatever pills we have left!" she ordered, glancing forward again, her teeth clattering. She was frustrated--with her Soul Blade, she could have easily dispatched the vast majority of the hooded figures, but there was one in particular standing in her way. It was a brutish-looking man with short, brown hair and a pair of glowing, red eyes, a strange symbol glowing in faint black etched into his forehead. By the appearance he was a Body Cultivator at the Peak Avatar Realm, but he wasn''t directly fighting. Rather, he was focused entirely on deflecting her Soul Blades, as though he could see them as clearly as the blue sky. As such, because she was tied up, she couldn''t help the other pair of Elders that were struggling to keep the flanks steady. Qiu Mei, too, had exhausted herself being the only Core Formation Disciple in the cluster as the others were busy fighting elsewhere. Just as it all seemed to become hopeless, a world-shattering roar erupted, drawing her attention; the massive dharma avatar in the sky had collapsed, a golden pillar of light erupting in its place. "Sect Master!" she exclaimed in a rare outburst of joy. "We have found her! Retreat!" at the same time, however, another voice erupted and drew Xiaoling''s attention--some four hundred yards to the south, she caught glimpse of several hooded figures yanking a young, ordinary-seeming girl from a group of corpses. At the same time, the pressure on her as well as her group decreased exponentially as the hooded figures began retreating. "Like hell you will!!" a low, melodic voice broke out right after and Xiaoling watched thick shadows converge toward the group of figures dragging the girl. By the time the shadows vanished, the figures were turned into bubbling pus on the ground, while a differently-hooded figure was holding the girl who''d passed out by now. Xiaoling recognized the figure as the one that often bothered her Master--Dark Night, one of the few vagabonds who''d managed to reach Soul Ascendance Realm. "Haah, how disappointing..." ** Blood chilled in Yu Minge''s veins as the voice washed over the Holy Blade Sect. He watched the three figures who''d formed the dharma avatar suddenly kneel toward the source of the voice, mumbling ''Master'' softly. "EVERYBODY, GET OUT!!!" Yu Minge howled at the top of his lungs, kicking Shen Rong and Hae back and as far away from him as possible. At the same time, he summoned as much Qi as he physically could and transposed it into Light, causing the Holy Blade to leave his hands and stay suspended in front of him, bursting out with the blinding iridescence. It was the calling of the Soul, taking out a trace of Divinity therein to conjure the Art within the Blade. Right after, a cleaver the size of the sky itself burrowed through the array and fell directly toward him. With sweat beads coalescing, he raised the sword and slashed. The silence was brief, and the explosion afterward loud enough to deafen the weakest present. Yu Minge spat out a mouthful of blood as he found himself shot back nearly ten steps; he''d used the secret art on top of exhausting a little bit of Divinity of the Holy Blade and just barely managed to block the strike. However, were the world to know, they would not find it shameful--if anything, they''d likely erupt in cheers. "I''ve helped enough," the voice faded, and with it the pressure. Yu Minge was barely holding steady in the sky, his face covered in blood. "Where the hell did an Immortal come from...?" he could only mumble to the sky. At the very least, the voice and the entity behind the attack were of the Immortal Foundation Realm, the initial stage of becoming a True Immortal. Chapter 39 - Different Lives Chapter 39 Different Lives Yue felt her heart freeze for a moment, her eyes warily veering toward the north. In the far distance, she felt something surge like a tidal wave. The pressure felt exalted, as though a God had descended upon the world for a brief moment. She never experienced anything like it before--perhaps only the Master''s friends ever felt more terrifying, and even the few times she saw Soul Ascendance cultivators fell quite short. She realized that the location seemed to be the Holy Blade Sect. "Ah, the Heavenspan Tournament. Maybe it''s that?" whatever it was, it had nothing to do with her. She was just about done with shopping and ready to go back ''home''. ** "RUN!!" the word was still echoing inside Lya''s mind as she, alongside five other people, continued rushing away from the Holy Blade Sect. Thinking back to what happened, she still had difficulties processing it all. Right after the aged, terrifying voice in the sky faded, the fight resumed. As the Sect Master got wounded, the fight at the very top became rather even, and they found themselves being pushed back against the hooded figures. However, as the figures were focused on capturing one person in particular, the fight was at a stalemate for a moment. It was evident, still, that they were on the losing side. Ultimately, her Master ended up rescuing the girl who was the target--a young, fifteen-year-old girl with brown hair and eyes and an entirely unassuming appearance. There seemed to be nothing special about her, but as she was being chased, there had to be a reason. In the middle of the carnage, while dozens were dying by the second, the small cluster Lya was a part of scattered and her Master managed to just barely create an opening for them to leave. Quite a few stayed in the rear to block the pursuers, leaving in total six figures running away: Lya, who was leading charge mindlessly, not realizing she was moving toward the Nameless Forest, Song who was being carried by their Senior Brother Xu Liang, a tall, muscular, and handsome man with black hair and eyes. When she first came to the Sect, Lya had developed quite a crush on him, but it was quickly snuffed out when the two interacted briefly. For all his positives--and there were many, such as his undying loyalty to the Sect and quite a decent talent--Senior Brother Liang was... a bit dull. Well, a bit was still underselling it. He was best at obeying orders, but if he was forced to think for himself... Besides them three, there was also the girl that was the target of the hooded figures--Ling''er, they called her. She was a member of a small, insignificant Sect and had come to the tournament simply as a part of an excursion as she was just barely at Peak Qi Condensation Realm at 15. She was just as lost as everyone, seeming in some was as dull as Senior Brother Liang. There was also Senior Sister Qiu Mei who was barely limping along them, her left arm completely missing from the shoulder. It was a ghastly sight that left the proud and aloof woman Lya admired seem broken and despondent. And, lastly, there was Elder Shui Xiaoling taking up the rear. She had probably spent the most Qi out of all of them, but was not falling behind all. Pale in face and with reddened clothes, she seemed more like a ghost than a woman, but she didn''t complain even once. Luckily, quite a few Elders who stayed behind seemed to have managed to block their pursuers as they weren''t being chased. It was too early to celebrate, however, and Lya was panicking. She''d just now realized where she was going, and was wondering whether it was the right choice. The reason why the Elder wasn''t saying anything was probably because the Sect Master told her to follow Lya, knowing full well that she would have headed to the Nameless Forest. But even if they went there... would the Senior help them? And it wasn''t even a small amount of help--Lya was certain that, without Senior''s help, Song might die, Sister Mei will never advance in cultivation again, and even Elder Xiaoling might perish. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Even if the pursuers never caught up, if the Senior turned them away, it would be a disaster. They may as well have stayed in the Sect and took their chances. As such, Lya was afraid--afraid that her choice might have doomed everyone. In the end, she could only put her faith into the man she''d know for a few days before leaving. In her heart, she believed the Senior would help them--he was a sage figure to her, someone above life. Ultimately, though, a worm of doubt had begun festering inside her young mind... ** Shen Tao was lying in a pool of blood, coughing up, gasping for breath. There was a hole in his chest, his innards hanging visibly. All his Qi was spent, and his vision was blurring. He lost. He lost so convincingly that the shame in his heart could build a mountain. And against a young child, no less. To be proven so explicitly that he was nothing, a footnote in the history of the world, was beyond debilitating. Parts of him, in fact, were glad that he would die, so that he would never have to face the reality of his existence. "Don''t be embarrassed," the child loomed over him and smiled--the smile was cold, dark, and desolate, as were the pair of eyes staring at him hollowly, void of recognition. "There is no shame in losing to me. Rather, I should be embarrassed for picking at the kids. Alas, Master said all of us had to come. I will--hm?" the child frowned and lifted his left arm suddenly; a moment later, the arm flew off his shoulder as he jumped back. Despite losing the arm, the boy appeared entirely unenthused. The bleeding was brief, and he seemed to have stopped it as though he did it a thousand times before. A moment later, a figure sprung from the void in front of Shen Tao, a familiar figure of his Father and his Master Shen Yu. "Hm? A child?" his Father mumbled, seeming equally shocked as Shen Tao was when he first laid his eyes upon the boy. "How is this possible?" "It will take me a while to fix my arm, you bastard," the boy said, his voice losing the little bit of playfulness that it had before, replaced with stark indifference. "You bastard?" "What are you, if not a bastard? Nearly two hundred years old and still barely at Mid Soul Ascendance. If you hadn''t sacked your potential just to keep up with the Holy Blade, you would have still been a decrepit nobody at the Early stages. Seeing as you arrived here so quickly, you must have been nearby. Our information was wrong, it seems. Good to know." "... who the hell are you?" "What is it to you? We may not be able to kill that Minge bastard and his cohort," the boy grinned strangely all of a sudden. "But you? I wonder... what will become of the world tomorrow when it learns that one of its Sages was felled? I do wonder~" ** Birds were chirping in a rather lovely tone, and Leo was loving every second of it. On his second day of trying to gather enough timber, quite a few animals followed him over. In fact, some of them even helped--on the way back, Blackie and Milky were by some unholy miracle carrying a log each, Red was carrying two, and a strange, oversized tiger that terrified Leo so much he didn''t even dare name the beast carried six of them and was still sauntering through the woods. He felt a bit embarrassed to be only carrying four, but there was nothing he could do about it. Grateful that he was helped, Leo prepared quite a feast as soon as they returned, taking special care of the meal he prepared for the tiger. For one reason or another (mostly because it was a tiger), the animal gave him heebe-jibes. It didn''t do anything to earn his caution--it never growled or howled or yowled or whatever the tigers did, it even played with Blackie and Milky when Leo was too busy for it, and it mostly just swung by twice a day to eat before disappearing into the forest. The fact that the animal helped shocked Leo more than most other things he''d experienced in the world thus far, and he gathered it was the form of a bargain--the tiger would help him in exchange for more food! So, Leo prepared four times as much food as usual for the tiger. As he got too busy with the rest of the animals, he missed the tiger eating and leaving. Glancing at the plate, Leo grew slack-jawed for a moment as there was so much food on top of it. In fact, it was only short just one portion--the tiger ate as much as it ate every night and sauntered off into the forest, apparently unimpressed by Leo''s take-charge attitude. He didn''t have that much energy to ponder on it, however. Between cutting trees all day long and then carrying the logs back and then immediately preparing dinner, he was spent. Retreating into the mud hut, he lied down flatly onto the bed and patiently waited for the nightly ritual to finish--Blackie immediately jumped on his chest, curled up, and went to sleep; Milky curled up next to his head, a black-colored armadillo nestled itself against Leo''s right side, while the golden gopher nested itself against the back of Leo''s head. It wasn''t long before the rest of him was covered with the smaller critters and lizards--there was a rabbit by his left foot, a pair of multicolored iguanas on his right knee, a few skinks wrapping themselves around his fingers... Some ten minutes later, he was completely covered, wondering whether he was like a super heater for these animals or something which was why they loved sleeping on top of him or against him or even just near him. Whatever it was, because he was a cultivator, he could endure it well enough. Closing his eyes, he lovingly listened to the symphony of purrs, low growls, and the breathing of so many animals, getting lost in its grace and drifting off to sleep. Chapter 40 - A Sight Shy of a Goal Chapter 40 A Sight Shy of the Goal The world was hell, that much Yu Minge always knew--it was today, however, that he learned the sheer capacity for it. Almost the entire Holy Blade Sect lay in ruins. The beautiful, gold-topped pavilions were pulverized into rubble, the majestic library was missing its top half, the medicinal hall had so many holes in it, it was more a passage than a building, and the countless homes of the Disciples and Elders were now just one pile of ash. That, however much it hurt, was merely a monetary loss--it was temporary. The loss of life, however, was permanent and far more hurtful. There were so many bodies, and so many of which were disfigured, that it was difficult to even identify everyone. On top of everything, Hae had lost both his eyes, Dark Night had their dantian cracked ever so slightly (even that little crack, however, was enough to set a cultivator back decades without immediate help), while Shen Rong lost both his legs. At least they were lucky to be alive, if nothing else; hundreds were sprawled on the ground, and those were just the ones they could see. The attackers'' bodies, almost immediately after they would die, would melt into a pool of blood and evaporate mysteriously, leaving behind no trace. "Do you know who that kid they were chasin'' is?" Hae asked, seated atop the rubble, recovering his Qi slowly. "No," Yu Minge replied. There were simply too many guests--even if he could keep track of a lot of things, he wasn''t omniscient. "How many got out?" "Five, I hear," Dark Night replied. "Do you think...?" "... the line was broken," Yu Minge sighed, rubbing his temples. All of his Sect''s future was there, and if they died... "There is at least one Soul Ascendance devil among the pursuers. Even if they got a head start of a few dozen miles, they''ll have at most bought thirty minutes. Tong." Yu Minge walked over to the withered, old man. While the loss of legs was crippling, what hurt far more than that was the sight of a body the man was ''kneeling'' besides. It was a familiar face, one Yu Minge had seen countless times before--that of Shen Yu, the Sect Master of the Bloodmoon Sect. There was a hole in his chest and the visible lack of heart therein; somebody had literally reached in with their fingers and ripped it out. No matter how strong and resilient a Soul Ascendance Cultivator was, they were still of a mortal body, one mailable by all ails as any other. Though they''ve had their fair share of differences and skirmishes and even wars over the years, Yu Minge felt a knot tie up his throat as he stared at the pale face of his old ''friend''. "That attack," Shen Rong mumbled, his voice hoarse. "The cleaver. It was... it was an Immortal, wasn''t it?" "... not a fully realized one, but yes," Yu Minge confirmed. "I thought there was a treaty, that everyone above Nascent Soul wasn''t allowed to enter the Lower Ashlands." "There is." "Then... why?! How?!!" the old man exploded with grief and rage. Though Yu Minge wanted to give him answers, he didn''t have any either. Somebody dared breach the treaty--if they were caught, it wouldn''t matter that they were an ''Immortal''--they would be stretched by their limbs and ripped apart publicly, as to dissuade everyone else in the world from doing the same thing. "There shouldn''t be any power that even has three Soul Ascendance bastards. And there was that pair of weirdos that roamed among the Disciples. That brute and a boy. What the hell is this?" "..." Yu Minge had a thought, but he kept it to himself. Whether it was true or not, this was neither the time nor the place to share it. Though he wanted to leave and quickly go after the kids that escaped, he couldn''t. Though he was the least hurt of everyone, he was also nursing quite a few broken bones, and just a barely functioning meridian system. "I apologize, everyone," he said. "This all happened under my watch. When I am done with repairing and reinstituting the Sect, I will offer my cultivation as a payment." The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Save your sophistry for the old and broken who care," Shen Rong growled, turning toward him. "And use that body of yours to avenge all that was lost today. The world was silent, nursing the wound that would never truly heal. Living Disciples, most of which were either those at Qi Condensation or a few at Foundation Establishment were roaming the Sect''s grounds and searching for survivors, quickly carrying them over to the ''medicinal hall'' where the few remaining alchemists were working like mad to try and concoct enough healing pills for everyone. Those present knew that today would be permanently etched into the annals of history as one of the greatest tragedies to ever happen, and when the news broke tomorrow to the rest of the Lower Ashlands, the ire and fury would mount tall enough to eclipse the sun. ** Lya stopped reluctantly. Even though her instincts were screaming at her to run, she couldn''t--they had to stop and take a breather. Even Senior Brother Xiang was breathing somewhat heavily, having had to carry Song all this while. Senior Sister Qiu Mei also seemed barely conscious, and Elder Xiaoling was no longer able to keep up the fa?ade. Strangely, the young, Qi Condensation Ling''er was doing the best besides Lya, but largely because she was simply unhurt, unlike the rest. Luckily, the road between the Holy Blade Sect and the Nameless Forest was largely flat, composed of plains and an occasional hill. There wasn''t exactly a paved path, but the grass never grew taller than their knees, and as it was now past the dusk, the temperature was nicely cooling. The group collapsed as Lya started taking out some water from her storage ring, handing it out to everyone. Despite being uncomfortable with being put in charge, she knew now wasn''t the time to face those grievances. They were still at least half an hour away rushing from the Nameless Forest, and they seldom had a minute to spare. "So, we really are going to the forest, huh?" Elder Xiaoling said and looked at her, prompting Lya to look away in shame. "Ha ha, don''t be like that. The Sect is still in your heart, considering you are taking us there." "... I, I don''t know whether... we''ll be helped," Lya said. She didn''t want others putting complete faith into her, and wanted them to know that there was a chance this entire journey was for naught. "There''s hope, however faint," the Elder said, smiling faintly. "And so long as it remains, it will be the wind in our back. We have rested enough. Here," she tossed two pills to Senior Sister Mei and Senior Brother Xiang. "They''re Qi-rush pellets. Took me an arm and a leg to buy those two, but it''s no time to be a scrooge. I have an odd feeling in my chest, and that usually means there''s death at our heels. So, chop-chop. We gotta speed it up." They barely rested two minutes before they were back up on their feet, beginning their rush again. Having taken the pellet, complexions of the Senior Brother and Sister pair improved, but it was just a temporary measure. Soon enough, they will have spent themselves again, and their speed would decline. Running so fervently reminded Lya of that day, when Song and her were being chased. They ran the same way then as they were running away now. Though she knew that a life of a cultivator was never calm and steady, she wondered whether she was cursed or something considering how quickly her life was endangered again. It was bitter, the taste of death, and she swore if she survived this ordeal, she would become one of those ''indoors cultivators'' as they were called, the ilk that locked themselves up in isolation chambers and spent years, if not decades, just cultivating. Even if the world was rife with opportunities, she had to be alive to take any of them. When Lya saw the thick canopy of the trees appear at the horizon, she all but squealed. They were right there, and, as if per fate''s design, they would be entering from the same point that Song and her did when they first came here. It seemed, luck was on their side. Thus, she seemed to have jinxed them. Everyone came to a screeching halt, including Elder Xiaoling, when immense pressure descended upon them like a tidal wave. The Qi in the surroundings churned and defied their wills, as there was a much greater force than them commanding it. They all collapsed in the end, unable to endure it. Glancing back, Lya saw a figure appear behind them--it was a middle-aged seeming man draped in black robes. He had long, windy, crimson hair and a pair of red eyes. His forehead was aglow in red, a strange symbol etched into his skin. His face was thin and gaunt, nose long and ever so slightly crooked. There was a strange grin on his face as he approached them. Soul Ascendance Realm!!--it wasn''t just Lya who realized that, everyone did. Beneath that pressure, they felt like tiny little ants. Perhaps, if she were at her peak, Elder Xiaoling might have been able to offer a bout or two before falling, but as she was teetering on the edge of absolute exhaustion, she could just barely keep her head up and meet the man''s gaze. "My oh my," the man spoke in an eerie, low tone. "How much trouble you kids have made me go through. And to think you''ve almost made it. I will have to exorcise some of the demons you''ve sown into me, so as to avoid them haunting me at inopportune times. Soon enough, you will wish you stayed behind with the rest of your cohort, choking on your fears and blood." Chapter 41 - Edict of the Eternal Chapter 41 Edict of the Eternal Yue was trembling, clutching at the feather between her fingers with a terror rising in her heart. On her way back to the Nameless Forest, she got caught up in an insane situation. Luckily, she remained unnoticed by either of the parties. On one side, there was a single cultivator who just arrived and immediately locked down the entire area. The fluctuations were clearly of someone at Soul Ascendance Realm, meaning that he was one of the strongest people in the Lower Ashlands. Opposite of him was a band of six people, none of whom she recognized. There were four women--two kids younger than her, a girl her age, and one seemingly in her thirties--and there were two boys, one about her age, and the other a younger kid. Though she didn''t recognize anyone, she did recognize the garbs they were wearing--bloodied and torn though they were. The group of six was made up of people from the Holy Blade Sect, the sovereign of the area and the ultimate dream of every young cultivator, including her own younger brother. She, too, had dreams of joining the Sect a long time ago, but even as one of the weakest Tier IV Sects, they still weren''t in the business of accepting mediocre talent. That ''feeling'', she recalled, must have really been something serious, as the composition of the group wasn''t that of ordinary Disciples--there were a pair of kids younger than her that were at Core Formation. They seemed to be about sixteen-seventeen, and if they truly were, that would make them one of the most talented people Yue had ever seen in her life. Furthermore, even the pair of older ones wasn''t lagging behind--the young woman was at the same stage as Yue herself, while the man seemed to be at Peak Core Formation Realm. It was very likely that all of them were quite important members of the Holy Blade Sect--save for perhaps the girl in Qi Condensation Realm. And as for who the man on the other end was... it was impossible to guess. Though Yue knew of some cultivators at Soul Ascendance Realm, to her--and, indeed, to her Clan as a whole--they were transcendental figures, and none of the ''descriptions'' she ever heard matched the man''s appearance. Regardless, she was torn on what to do; it was very unlikely that the disciples did anything untoward and were being ''punished'', but she also didn''t exactly know why they were being hunted. Furthermore, it was just outside the Nameless Forest of all places. Whether by coincidence or by design, she wasn''t certain. Even if she could save the Holy Blade Sect disciples by using the feather, she still had reservations. Though the fluctuations might be covered by the mere proximity to the forest, there were still the six people that would know, and exposing not only her Master''s existence, but feather''s, too, was extremely dangerous. So, she waited, staying as silent and as still as possible, using a ''mantra'' of sorts from the cultivation method that her Master gave her to make herself essentially invisible to the Divine Sense. Though she was confident in it, she didn''t really expect it to work on even Soul Ascendance Realm cultivators. "Who the hell are you?!" the oldest of the group of six asked. The woman stepped forward and readied herself, as though preparing for death. "To think that all this could have been avoided had you just let us take the girl," the man cackled strangely. "Alas, now you must suffer. To answer your question, however, think of me as... ah, right, think of me as Death. That would be swell, no?" "Do you really think you can get away with this?!" the same woman asked again. "You will be hunted down like dogs until there are none of you left!" "Pfft, ha ha ha," the man broke out into hearty laughter. "Hunted, hunted do--ha ha ha, oh, ha ha... haah, wow. I haven''t laughed like that in a while. Just for that, I will let you suffer a second less than I wanted. You really don''t know anything, do you? Tiny little frogs hopping around their perfect well, shielded from the world. You are all just... so worthless, do you know? Irrelevant. And this is where your stories end, at the edge of the world. Buried far and away from any eyes, forgotten soon and quickly." ** Lya was in despair. They were so close--perhaps just ten seconds longer, and they would have entered the forest. But they''ve come up short, and were caught--and by someone at Soul Ascendance Realm, no less. Was this truly it? The end? Would this be how her life ended? With her not even getting the chance to prove herself? She loathed the thought, yet it seemed to be real. Though they were outside the forest, she was certain that the Senior could see everything that was happening. If he so desired, it would be extremely easy to kill the man in front of them and save her group. But... would he do it? Even if she pleaded with her knees on the ground and her forehead splattered with blood from kowtowing, would he help? If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He had no obligation to do so, after all. Perhaps, to him, this wasn''t even worth glancing at--just a mere struggle between children, something that he had seen a thousand times before. And yet, Lya hoped that wasn''t the case--she hoped, if she reached out to him, that he''d answer. Her fingers curled up into fists, and she spun toward the forest. Injecting Qi into her lungs and throat, she roared as loudly as she could, hoping that her voice was loud enough to carry her intentions. "SENIOR, PLEASE HELP US!!" Her voice startled everyone, including the old man who found them, but it remained contained within the prison he''d made. Lya didn''t care, though--no prison could stop the Senior from seeing if he wanted to see. ** Yue felt her heart leap into her throat. It wasn''t by happenstance that the Disciples of the Holy Blade Sect arrived here--it was by design. Apparently, at least that young girl was familiar with her Master, and came here seeking his help. It made sense--whether Master was strong or not, it didn''t really matter, all he had to do was point a finger and there''d be an army of impossibly strong Spirits to tear open the world for him. But... would her Master come out? It was likely that he knew what was happening here, including that she was crouching in the darkness, hiding. He also knew that she still had the feather with her and that it was unused, which meant that she could save them instead of him. "--ho ho, you scared me a bit, I must admit, ha ha ha!" the man suddenly laughed as the girl''s voice faded, not getting a response. "Senior, huh? Are you perhaps expecting there to be some eccentric in the forest to save you? Not bad, not bad. There are always legends of ungodly things betwixt those trees, and perhaps you were hoping that one of them would take pity on you. Alas, those are merely legends, nincompoop. There is nobody to save you." Yue stayed still, waiting. Would her Master intervene? Would he let her make a choice? No, rather, what was the right choice to begin with? If she entangled herself, she would perhaps be usurping her Master''s peace, not to mention likely drawing attention of whatever faction the Soul Ascendance Realm was part of. Ultimately, the world of cultivation was selfish and self-important, and all those who participated in it loathed extending a helping hand, as it was never certain that after helping someone, they wouldn''t betray you. The inner voice that her Clan had groomed for over twenty years was telling her to stay still, hidden, to wait it out and then go and report to her Master, let him sort it out. But... He helped her. Against all the teachings of the world of cultivation, he helped her. And, from the sounds of it, he''d already helped the kids here once, too. It was oft noted that only the crowned and untouchable had the luxury of helping others, but was that truly right? The only thing one needed to help was a desire and a smidgen of kindness. Perhaps it was foolish, perhaps she was simply talking herself into a rather stupid decision, but her heart won in the end. So, she stepped out, clutching the feather tightly. She was immediately noticed, drawing hope and quiet somberness for ever a moment before everyone realized that she was merely at Core Formation Realm. "There was somebody here? And I haven''t noticed you?" the man arched his brows, seeming more amused rather than scared. "Curious. I''ll leave you for last, so that I can figure out why." "Leave," Yue said, extending her hand and pointing a feather toward him, the Qi less than an inch from the feather. "Otherwise, you won''t ever get a chance to." "... eh? What''s with that feather? It''s quite good-looking, I''ll say, but are you seriously threatening me with some bird''s feather right now? Ha ha ha, oh my Gods, what a day today has been! All of you, you are gloriously amusing! Alas, I cannot delay my orders any longer. Trust me, I would want to, but... it is time for you to die." Yue, emptying her mind, tossed the trace of Qi into the feather. It vibrated slightly in her hand and, for a moment, nothing happened. She, however, didn''t even have the time to doubt its validity before the prison they were all encased in shattered. The man, too, appeared alarmed--however, strangely, he wasn''t moving or trying to attack her. No, it wasn''t that... he simply couldn''t. Just then, the space above Yue trembled with reflections of horrors and the membrane parted, giving way to a pair of transcendental eyes. They were as bright as a pair of suns looking over the mortal plane. Qi began to burn visibly, golden flames appearing everywhere and nowhere, all consuming. Those that touched Yue and the Holy Blade Sect Disciples, however, did not hurt. Rather, they were calming and warm, even furthering their cultivations slightly. "L-Lord, p-p-please--" the man mumbled as he fell onto his knees. Just as the pair of eyes above Yue closed and began to fade, the man''s frame burst out into a pillar of flames that reached all the way to the heavens. The man''s voice escaped from him, drowned in agony, despair, and pain that had Yue shake and shudder. The pillar didn''t last long, merely a second. In its wake there was nothing--just empty space where a man had just been kneeling. The feather in her hand shook momentarily and Yue watched some of its luster fade. Just like that, she gasped--a cultivator at Soul Ascendance Realm was... gone. She''d just killed one while at Core Formation Realm. The world, were it hear the tale, would never believe it. In fact, there was a group of six opposite of her who''d just witnessed the entire thing and yet seemed wholly in disbelief. She turned toward them, specifically the girl who''d called out the Master. "Master is busy," she said. "So I ask you to please leave." Chapter 42 - Severing the Darkness Chapter 42 Severing the Darkness There was silence, heavier than any mountain, as the group of six stared at the newcomer who''d appeared seemingly out of thin air, threatened their pursuer, and then killed him within the blink of an eye. It ought to have been impossible--no, it was impossible. The young woman was merely at Core Formation Realm. She did not kill him--that feather did. Xiaoling had seen quite a few things in her life, including her Master wounding someone at Peak Soul Ascendance Realm while he was only at the Middle Stage. However, she''d never seen or heard of either a cultivator or an artifact with the capacity to cross so many realms. All artifacts that could threaten the Soul Ascendance Realm cultivator had to be wielded by someone at least at the Avatar Realm. And yet, there was no mistaking it--the young woman was just at the Core Formation, and she achieved the impossible. Just as the young woman turned toward the forest and began to leave, Xiaoling called out to her. "Wait, please!" "What is it?" "We have a couple of wounded that won''t make the trip back to the Sect," she pleaded, kneeling abruptly. She was breaking all conventions known to a martial artist, bowing toward not only someone over a decade her junior, but also someone far, far, far weaker than her. More importantly than that, however, she was breaking her pride. "I beseech you, could you please ask your Master to help my Juniors?" "Please, Senior!" Lya joined her suddenly, kneeling as well. "Please, Senior!" though Xu Liang seemed a bit confused, he also knelt down, mimicking Lya. The issue was that he was most-decidedly older than the woman, causing everyone to look at him oddly for a moment. "P-please, Senior...!" even the young LIng''er knelt. Mei had already passed out by now, and Song was struggling to breathe fully. If they were turned away, those two would most-likely die, Xiaoling knew, and she would soon follow. ** Leo yawned, looking at the rather impressive destruction he''d imposed upon the world. It was only the visible lack of trees, but he felt quite inspired through the physical labor. He''d cut down all the rotten trees and even dug out their roots. Though he didn''t know why this specific part of the forest was the way it was, he wanted it to heal and become like the rest. Whoever was buried, he felt, deserved at least that much. Thanks to the help from his furry friends, he''d all but gathered all the required wood. There were still some twenty long logs waiting transport, but for all intents and purposes, one of the requirements for building a longhouse was ticked off. Feeling jubilant, he was just about to head back home and begin cooking dinner when Blackie suddenly came running from the woods. She behaved a bit differently than before, howling lowly toward him and biting into his robes, trying to pull him with her. "Hm? You want me to follow you? Okay, okay, let''s go!" he picked up the sword and put it into the scabbard before following Blackie. On the way, the two were joined by Milky, Hoot, and one of the newcomers that had begun lurking about the camp just a couple of days ago, a silver-furred wolf with a pair of beautiful, gem-like red eyes. Leo had named him Howly, keeping in line with the rest. The wolf followed them from the back, seeming somewhat skittish, but when it came time to chomp down on the stew, all that shyness evaporated. It had only dawned on him while he watched the wolf eat boiled vegetables that none of it quite made sense. Why were carnivores eating herbs? Was his cooking really that delicious and transcendental that it caused animals to change their most innate behavior? He quelled his ego quickly before it had a chance to sprout, attributing it all to the magic of this world. Animals here, even if they resembled the ilk he knew, weren''t one-to-one replicas. They were different, and have evolved under different circumstances. Perhaps, a long while back, Howly''s ancestors had no choice but to eat grass and such. Even Red came along, perching himself atop his other free shoulder. There was likely something of significant importance that caused Blackie to call on him, and he wondered whether it had to do with Yue. She was due to return soon, and seeing Blackie speeding between the trees and howling at him to do so as well caused a slight stir in his heart. Though he reluctantly took her on as a Disciple, now that he''d employed himself in that role, it would be amiss not to give it his all. If she was in danger, and he slacked, failing to rescue her in time, it would be a sour note on his new life. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. As such, he sped up as well, using the ''Simple Steps'' that he''d gotten quite decent at. He could now run for just about two hours before falling over comatose, which was how he was able to quickly transport the massive logs of wood back to the camp. The trees blurred in his peripheral as he focused on Blackie carving out a path to follow. It was a strange sensation, whisking past the scenery at such a speed, and yet not feeling at all exhausted. "STAY BEHIND ME!!" Leo''s ears perked up as he caught the distant yell of an unfamiliar voice. His heart grew heavier still as he sped up even more. Speeding past the trees, he focused on the direction and finally caught sight of faint figures in the distance. Strangely, there were quite a few people--but Yue was decidedly amongst them. She was at the rear, clutching at the feather in her hand, seeming unwilling to use it. In front of her was a woman who seemed to be in her thirties, bloodied and beaten from head to toe. Her silver hair had been stained red with blood, and though her knees were shaking, she stood resolutely in front of everyone else. Amongst those behind her, Leo recognized a pair--Lya and Song. The former was lying flat against a tree, barely breathing, her eyes weeping with red, while Song lay beside her, seemingly unmoving. Besides the two of them, there were a pair of older kids--a young woman and a man in their early to mid-twenties. The woman, too, was lying comatose on the ground, while the man was standing above her, guarding the three, though it appeared to be purely by instinct as his eyes lacked the conscious glean to them. He, too, was bloodied from head to toe, perhaps even more so than the woman at the front. Right then, Leo caught sight of what caused the mayhem--opposite of the group was a ghastly apparition looming at over ten feet tall, smoke and vapors embossing a thin, skeletal humanoid frame. Its skin was pale beyond color, and its face was hidden under the thick, black gasses, a pair of scarlet eyes glowing within. It was hunched ever so slightly forward, its arms curved and extending into sharp, sickle-like forms where hands ought to be. Leo''s blood froze for a moment, but he ignored the fear in his heart and pressed onward. It wasn''t just Yue or Lya or Song or the others beside them that were in danger. Were that thing to rampage freely throughout the forest, wouldn''t all his furry friends fall to it? What worth was it, cultivating in this world, if not to protect those close to him? To do something he was unable to do in his life on Earth? "Dammit..." he heard the woman gasp as she fell to her knees, seemingly unable to hold on any longer. "Ke ke ke," the creature cackled eerily like a person, raising its arm and swiping it outward. Leo saw red liquid appear and shape itself into an extended blade that flew toward the group, seeming ready to swallow them whole. Drawing out his sword in one fell swoop, he tethered it to a thread of Qi and threw it outward; he''d been practicing the control while cutting trees, and had gotten quite decent at it. Even if there were some sixty yards of distance between him and the monster, he was confident in hitting it. The question was... was he strong enough? Perhaps they were in such dire straits because they were fighting with the monster for a long time, weakening it. With such desperate thoughts, Leo watched the sword fly, abuzz with the holy color of gold. ** Xiaoling was angry and bitter--it was always one thing after another. Just as she thought they would be saved after the girl accepted to take them to her Master, this happened. The girl they saved from the attackers, Ling''er, began behaving oddly after some time in the forest. It wasn''t long before the faintly childish girl began to morph and distort, her skin and bones breaking and reshaping into... whatever that was. No, Xiaoling knew what it was--it was a Demon. Or... something like one, at least. Were she at her peak, she would have actually been able to defeat it with relative ease--after all, ''technically'' it was only at the peak of Fusion Realm, like her. But she was hurt, drained, and essentially incapable of attacking even once. All she could do was use what was left of her body to block the attack. However, before the red took over her and her entire world, she was a glimmer sweep past her--it was a sword, ordinary-seeming, coated in a sheen so holy she felt reverence bubble inside of her heart. It was as though a godly presence had descended upon the mortal realm, and she found herself forgetting to breathe. The world, for a moment, turned so kaleidoscopic that the was certain she''d glimpsed the truth behind the machinations of the world. The sword easily cut through the Demon''s attack and struck its head directly. It was as though glass cracked and then shattered--the Demon screeched in pain and horror, its entire body suddenly engulfed in golden fires as they began to consume it until there was nothing left but the fading flickers of ash. "--Master!!" Xiaoling was pulled out of her stupor by the call of the girl with the feather, Yue. She watched the sword buzz midair for a moment before spinning around and flying back whence it came from. She followed it with her eyes, and soon lain them upon a figure emerging from between the trees. It was only for a moment, but just like the sword, the man''s frame was embossed with the golden light, with the purity that should not exist. Soon it faded, however, making her wonder whether she''d imagined it or not. In its stead was a figure--tall, broad, cloaked in tattered robes. It was a figure of a middle-aged man with long, black hair and thick, black beard. He put away the sword into the scabbard and smiled. "Are you alright, Yue?" "Thank you, Master!" the young woman knelt toward the man. "Hm. Can you walk?" "Yes." "Run back home and make some space in the huts. They seem to be quite hurt. Blackie, show her back." "Yes, Master!" the young woman soon sprinted, followed by a strangely familiar phantom the shape of a house cat. Xiaoling was at a loss for words, and could only keep herself just barely from passing out. She was the only one, desperately hanging on the last thread of consciousness and meeting the gaze of her savior. His eyes were warm and strangely kind, as though not of this world. Chapter 43 - Godly Muscles(?) Chapter 43 Godly Muscles(?) Shen Tao slowly opened his eyes, ignoring the screaming headache and trying to quickly gauge his surroundings. It was all unfamiliar--tall trees hung overhead, the ground beneath was strangely wet, and he was leaning against a tall boulder. It wasn''t long before memories of what happened returned--his Father''s sacrifice, death of someone he thought was infallible. Two Soul Ascendance Cultivators, in conjunction with that boy, attacked them, and his Master fought tooth and nail to protect him. Unable to exercise the breadth of his strength, he slowly fell behind and eventually, in order to protect him, got wounded. Even if the wound was minor, at that level of fighting, even the tiniest scratch can make a difference. Likely knowing the outcome, his Father shuttled him out of the Holy Blade Sect... which was when Shen Tao passed out. Grinding his teeth, he closed his eyes in frustration. He could only imagine his Master''s last moments, causing his anger to bubble like a dormant volcano. It was all pointless, he recognized--his talent, his dreams, his aspirations. He was just a random footnote, it seemed, in the grand spectacle of the story, someone who should have already been vanquished, but by the grace of someone who belonged in that story, he was spared. But what of it? Now that his Master was dead, the bloodhounds who envied the Bloodmoon Sect would have smelled the blood in the water, and will begin coming like a storm. There was no way that the Sect could weather it--they would be stripped of their Spirit Stone Mines, their quarries, their fields, and he suspected that most of the talent in the auxiliary fields--pill concoction, talisman making, and smithing, namely--would bleed out and try to find homes elsewhere. That was just the nature of man in the world of selfishness, and though Shen Tao loathed them for it, he couldn''t fault them. He, too, would have done the same in their position. The reason why people joined the Bloodmoon Sect to begin with was that it was a local hegemony with the greatest access to the resources used to nurture them. Now that those resources would be taken away, what was the point in staying? Some, though, would likely remain, if either out of loyalty or because it would still be the best option for them. But Shen Tao... wondered. If he returned, he''d become the lasting light of the place, their last bastion of hope. But he was also only at Core Formation Realm--gone was the protection that his Master''s name provided him, which meant that he would be targeted specifically and probably die within a few months. What else was left, though? He didn''t know. For now, all he could do was remain seated with the slowly fading headache, promising that the day would come where he would become strong enough to avenge his Master, and bury all those responsible for his deaths alive in the most cruel way imaginable. ** Lya slowly opened her eyes, feeling her senses return. She was lost only for a moment, quickly recognizing the dull, brown ceiling that she''d woken up to before. A smile perched itself atop of her lips--they were saved. The Senior had found them and saved them from that vile creature that seemed to spawn from the innocent-looking girl. She was none the wiser about what happened, or why it happened. All she knew that she felt a sudden outburst of energy that knocked her back into the tree, and with her last, fading glance, she managed to scope a demonic creature rising in the obsidian smoke while Elder Xiaoling stepped forward in front of them. Sitting up, she glanced to the side where she saw Song and Senior Sister Mei lying down. Complexions of both had taken a massive turn for the better--their cheeks were rosy, their lips were pink, and, by a miracle, Sister Mei''s arm was reattached. There were no curious animals in the hut, and she fully expected there to be an army as soon as she stepped out. She was sort of right--there were quite a few, most perched atop the trees or scattered in the nearby bushes with only a few mingling around the raving campfire. There were two figures seated by the flames--the Senior and the young woman who saved them just outside the forest. Lya doubted the veracity of her statement, that she was the Senior''s Disciple, but it was just envy. She had the ability to kill a Soul Ascendance Realm cultivator at mere Core Formation Stage--it was not through her own means, far from it, but by the Senior''s grace. "Ah, Lya. Just in time. I''ve prepared dinner," the Senior noticed her first and invited her over with a smile. She felt shame--it darted into her heart and burrowed there like a worm. She felt shame that she ever doubted, even for a second, the Senior''s kindness. In a world rife with people only looking out for themselves, this was now twice that she had been rescued by this kind recluse, favors she wouldn''t be able to repay in ten lifetimes. She walked over gingerly and sat down by the flames as the woman--Yue--handed her a bowl of stew. Ever since leaving the forest for the first time, Yue had strangely dreamed about this stew a few times. It was a certain sort of yearning that was difficult to get rid of and now that she had a chance to eat it again, she could seldom remain quiet. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it "You alright? Have your injuries flared up?" the Senior asked her with concern on his face. "N-no, no. I''m fine. Thank you, again. You''ve saved my life twice now. No... three times, really. I don''t know how I will ever repay this favor, but I will spend my life trying to." "I didn''t save you for a favor," the Senior shrugged it off with indifference. Of course, why wouldn''t he? What could she possibly do that he would need? "Sheesh, why are you kids all like this? Is it really that impossible to just accept someone''s kindness and move on?" "All of us?" Lya queried. "That blockhead," the Senior said. "As soon as he woke up, he asked how he can repay me. Is he deaf or something? No matter how many times I said it was fine, he still insisted." "Ah, Senior Brother Xiang," Lya quickly recognized. Senior Brother Xiang was many things--tall, handsome, strong, handsome, but he was a man of few words... and was better off for it, as far as Lya could tell. "Yeah. So, I sent him to bring back some logs. I''m actually a bit worried--he''s been gone nearly six hours." "He''ll be fine, Master," the woman said. "Blackie went with him." "Yeah, I suppose. Still, I''ll go and check it out. Maybe he was still too hurt to carry logs and was pretending? Haah. Give others a bowl when they wake up too, Yue." "Yes, Master." the Senior stood up and headed out, leaving the confines of the camp rather quickly. Lya lowered her head and stayed silent, unsure as to what to say. The woman sitting opposite of her was quite pretty, and was the Senior''s Disciple. In terms of seniority, she didn''t even want to compute how many gaps between the generations there were, so she simply remained silent, hoping somebody else would wake up soon. But they did not. "If you don''t mind me asking," Yue broke the silence suddenly. "How did you guys end up that way?" "Ah!" Lya exclaimed, finally remembering their current circumstances. "Our, our Sect was attacked, and we were forced to run." "... somebody dared attack Holy Blade Sect?" she exclaimed in shock. Lya understood--even now, she was having trouble reconciling that fact. "Hm," she nodded. "Elder Xiaoling was tasked with escorting us. They were after that girl, the one who... you know." "Yes." "I didn''t know where else to go," she added. "So, I led them to the Nameless Forest. I''d hoped, selfishly, that the Senior would help me again." "He helped you before?" "Yes, a couple of weeks back," Lya''s lips stretched out into an involuntary smile. "Song--the bald one--and I were being chased by some people from the Bloodmoon Sect and ended up wounded in the forest. Senior found us, took us in, healed our wounds, and even graced us with heavenly elixirs. He only asked that we do not reveal him... and yet, I failed to do even that little." "At least," Yue said. "You did it for the good reasons. Master will understand." "Hm." the two fell back into silence, though it wasn''t nearly as awkward as before. There was a strange understanding between the two of them, a silent resonance built between those who lived a similar story and experienced similar endings. ** Leo sighed. About two miles away from the camp, he stumbled over what he thought was a protruding root from the earth, only to look down and see a tall, muscular body of a young boy who headed out to bring back some of the remaining logs that were left uncollected. Blackie was nowhere to be found, either having gone to the camp to fetch him, or playing about the forest while waiting for the boy to wake up. There was a singular log by the boy''s side, and judging by the indentations in the dirt, he wasn''t carrying it, but rather dragging it along. As Leo feared, the boy was still too weak and wounded that even carrying a log was too difficult. Furthermore, they weren''t ordinary logs either--as even he, as a cultivator, struggled to carry them. Sighing in resignation, he bent over and picked up both--log under the arm, and the boy slugged over his shoulder, heading back toward the camp. ** Liang felt the earth shake and tumble, his mind calling him to wake up. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw that he was levitating well above the ground, briefly becoming scared until he recognized that he wasn''t levitating, but rather being carried. Looking to the side, he saw the profile of the man who''d rescued them, and a bit further to the right, he saw the log hanging under the man''s arm, being carried casually as though it were a stalk of grass. He gasped inwardly in shock and awe--it took all he had, every last bit of Qi, to just barely drag that ungodly thing on the ground. For hours, he struggled, eventually going completely dry and passing out. Those weren''t logs, even he could tell, but likely weapons that gods used to fight each other when they were bored. And yet, the random, bearded figure from the woods was carrying one of those with such laxness that Liang suspected he was still asleep. "Hm? Oh, you''re awake. Sheesh, this is why I told you to stay put. What if you got eaten up by some predator, huh? I would never forgive myself, you know! To think you were so hurt that you struggled to drag a single log of wood... haah, I''ll have to feed you some nice stuff when we get back." Liang didn''t really pick up on many things from the little speech as he was too preoccupied by the singular thought--he''d finally found his Master. Nobody in the Sect was fit to teach him, as none were experts in the straightforward art of punching someone to death. He, who loved exercising his body more than anything else in the world, finally found someone who made him believe that cultivating one''s body over one''s Qi was also a reasonable path. After all, the hermit was just at Foundation Establishment Realm, but using his godly, chiseled, amazing body he was logging about logs of wood with such ease! "Put me down, Master," Liang said, suddenly. "... say what? Master what? Who now?" "I want to make my body a weapon," Liang said, putting himself down. He was actually a bit taller than his Master, prompting him to bend his knees so that he seemed shorter. "Your body is a weapon. An amazing weapon. So, make mine a weapon too." "... no, seriously, say what now? Did you conk yourself on your head when you fell down?" "I build my muscle all the time," Liang said, slowly disrobing. "Hey, why the hell are you taking your clothes off?!!" "See?" Liang displayed his chest and abdomen proudly, flexing. "But when I tried to pick up that log, I couldn''t! Your muscles must be godly, then, and I want godly muscles too! Master, make my muscles godly!" Chapter 44 - Ordinary Man, Unordinary Elixirs Chapter 44 Ordinary Man, Unordinary Elixirs Leo felt tired. So, so tired. There was a consistency he noticed about all the cultivators he met--they were a bit weird. Some more so than others, but, all across the board, they were plain old weird. And this tall, stalwart boy in front of him who crouched slightly so that he would seem shorter than Leo took the crown, the jewels, and the cummerbund, and took them all in a regional--nay, national--sweep. He''d already noticed that the boy--no, he wasn''t a boy, he was in his mid-twenties--was a bit... odd, in a sense. But this was no longer the matter of him being ''odd''. He was just nuts. "Get up and let''s go back," Leo said, feeling tired. So, so tired. "Others might have woken up by now." He stepped to the side and then followed Leo from the back, two paces evenly no matter how quickly or slowly Leo walked. At some point, Leo noticed a slithering shadow from the side and saw Blackie join them. She appeared by Leo''s legs and then jumped up his back, perching herself on top of his shoulder. Having never done that before, Leo was a bit surprised but took it in stride. For his mental health, he had decided to take everything in stride. By the time they returned to the camp, there were a few more people by sitting by the fire. Besides Yue and Lya, there was the pair of silver-haired women, one young and one a bit older. Only Song, seemingly, was yet to wake up. "A-ah, hello," both women stood up abruptly as soon as they saw him, bowing, while Leo tossed the log to the side, not wanting to throw it onto the wooden pile and expose parts of his secrets. "You''re awake," he stated. "Have you eaten?" "Yes, thank you," the older woman said. "For everything." "Sorry if it wasn''t enough," Leo said. "I wasn''t expecting too many guests." "No, no, it was more than enough," the woman said speedily. "Oh, right. There''s still the juice," Leo exclaimed softly, remembering that he always stored extra juice around the huts in case any of the animals wanted to dip in and take a few sips, and even to have in reserves if he ever needed it during the ''exploration''. He walked into one of the huts and took out a couple of waterskins that he''d stitched together from leaves, grass, and boar leather. They weren''t pretty, far from it, but they didn''t leak the liquid, and that was all that mattered. "Here," he handed both of them to the older woman. "It should help a bit as well. Sit, please," he tossed a nearby piece of firewood onto the flames and sat down. The atmosphere was quite awkward, though he didn''t know why. Even if he tried to present himself as normally as possible, Leo had picked up on the fact that his living here wasn''t normal. There were likely stories about this place that painted it in a completely different light, so every time somebody came here and saw him living, they probably built up a rather fascinating tale in their minds to explain it all. Alas, he now had a new band of folk to entertain, and ensure that his ''image'' of an ''expert'' did not falter. ** Nothing was adding up, Xiaoling felt. There were a thousand questions hanging within her mind, yet she couldn''t bring herself to ask any one of them. That sword--the holy-bladed sort that speared the demon into ashes--how did he conjure it? The food that they ate was beyond a simple miracle--it had replenished her desert-dry Qi reserves in just a few minutes, and even strengthened her meridians of all things. Furthermore, her lifespan--the ticking clock that was down to ten days at most--was expanded massively. If she were to never use her Soul Art again, she wagered she could live for another forty years at least. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Well, that was before she swallowed a mouthful of the sweet liquid he''d given them--it burned through her throat and effectively exploded within her, coating her inner self with such dense and pure Qi she felt she was dreaming. Within minutes, she found her Spirit Roots were changing and burgeoning, almost like a flower. Originally, she had Mid Heaven Roots, a secret that only her Master was privy to. Had she chosen the ''orthodox'' path of cultivation, she would have been just short of those Heavenly Pavilion freaks in terms of talent. Even so, she always prided herself on those Roots, and yet, now, they were evolving. In just a few breaths, they went from Mid to Peak Heaven. None of it made any sense, she felt. It would be understandable if the man was a loose Immortal, a hermit detached from life. But he wasn''t, Xiaoling was certain. While the kids may be fooled by the notion that he was ''just'' at the Foundation Establishment, she had an eye keen enough to discern that the man was, beyond shadow of a doubt, just at the Foundation Establishment. In fact, the man likely hadn''t even practiced cultivation until just shy of a month ago. This only made the entire ordeal stranger--why was it that he was able to concoct these things? The elixirs that went beyond simply being ''heavenly''? Furthermore, even if the man himself was just at Foundation Establishment, it was irrelevant. Though they were hiding in the bushes and in the trees, she''d scouted just over twenty actual Spirits, the named legends all believed existed in the membrane between the worlds. In fact, just the house-cat-looking panther lying on his lap and stealthily eyeing her was enough to obliterate the entire Lower Ashlands from existence. And there were at least twenty of them among those she could see. As soon as she woke up and left the hut, she felt all those eyes on her, pressure akin to suffocation. She knew, if she so much had a stray thought toward the man, she would die on the spot without ever knowing how. Why was this novice so beloved? So protected? The crowd began to disperse soon after, with Lya and Liang retreating into the huts first for some extra rest. Mei didn''t dwindle around much further, but not because she wanted to rest but likely because she wanted to cultivate. Just like Xiaoling, she, too, experienced a nirvanic rebirth due to the vegetable stew and the strange liquid. She could practically see the cascade of emotions erupting within the young girl''s eyes--she, who always struggled with the reality that she was less talented than her peers, had that knot inside of her removed without any sacrifice. Xiaoling could only imagine the elation she felt. "I''ll go and take a bath, Master," Yue said, standing up. As soon as she did, the panther jumped off from the man''s lap and began following the young woman. "Be careful not to trip." Now that it was only the two of them, she considered asking some of the heavier questions, but decided against it. They weren''t truly alone--there were at least a dozen or so pairs of eyes currently locked onto them like hunting hawks. "What''s your name?" the man broke the silence and asked. "Ah, pardon my manners. This one''s called Shui Xiaoling," she stood up and bowed toward him. "I am an Inner Elder of the Holy Blade Sect, titular Silver Soul Blade." "... I''m Leo." the man replied simply as she sat down. "Yue told me that you stepped up to protect her." "It was only right to do so." "Right or not, I am in your debt. If it is within my power, I will repay you, regardless of what you ask for." "I meant it," Xiaoling said, smiling faintly. She didn''t know why, but the man gave off a similar feeling to her Master--she found herself able to relax, despite not knowing precisely why. "It is a Senior''s duty to protect the Juniors. Besides, your Disciple had saved all our lives just outside the forest. Were it not for her kindly intervening, who knows what would become of us." "Hm," the man nodded, smiling awkwardly. "She told me, apologizing profusely for having had to use the feather. I am merely glad it was enough to save you." "If... if you don''t mind me asking, where... where did you get that feather?" "Oh, not at all," the man said. "I''ve helped out a friend here once with an ailment, and he gifted me one of his feathers." "Oh," Xiaoling exclaimed softly. It was as she suspected--the feather was an actual feather of a Spirit Beast, possibly one of the Fire Spirits. "You seem to have a lot of friends here." she said with a strange smile. "Ha ha, yes, I am really blessed. But this is nothing," he added with a rather proud grin. "Tomorrow morning, at breakfast, you will see just how much a lot can mean. So, you''re from the same Sect as Song and Lya, right?" "Yes, I am," she nodded. "I hope you don''t take to heart their silence upon my matters. I asked them to do so." "Not at all," Xiaoling''s lips relaxed, and she found her heart calming down at last. She knew, by now, well enough that there was no need for pretense before this man. "They''ve become our little stars upon return. It was their blessed fate that allowed them to meet you, and now it was ours, too." "Ah, I don''t know whether meeting me should be counted as a blessed fate," though he said it in a somewhat joking matter, Xiaoling heard a trace of truth in that voice, as she''d often hide it in the things she said, too, about her own matters. "You should rest," he added, standing up. "We will talk more tomorrow." Chapter 45 - Dualities Chapter 45 Dualities Leo woke up rather early, even before the rays of sunlight managed to find their way through the canopy of the trees. His sleep was restless altogether, largely because there were so many people staying with him, and all of them were cultivators. One of them--the woman called Shui Xiaoling, the Sect''s Elder--even saw through him, he was certain. Though she was nice still and respectful, her eyes lacked that certain ''glint'' that the kids had when looking at him. Regardless, he was uncomfortable, which was a whole new thing for him. After all, being uncomfortable in the group of people sounded like a nightmare: he, who was a social butterfly since he could talk, found himself yearning to have fewer people around him or, better yet, to be left completely alone with his furry friends. He stepped out of the hut and saw that even most of the animals were fast asleep, with a few exceptions. Hoot leapt from the tree and landed on his shoulder, the pair of beady eyes quizzically staring at him. Leo smiled, gently pressing his finger against the owl''s head and caressing him for a moment before deciding to go to the pond for a quick bath. The tranquil and serene waters calmed him, even further now that the pond reflected moonlight instead of sunlight. Furthermore, the woods seemed to house entirely different world at night, he realized once again. While he was leisurely sitting on one side of the pond, quite a few creatures appeared on the other end and took a few sips, seeming entirely apathetic toward his existence. Unlike his friends, the ''night-life'' didn''t even seem to recognize his existence. There was also their appearance--while his furry friends were anomalies, too, with mutated looks, they still held root in something recognizable. The night creatures, however, seemed almost emblematic of a different world that existed under the scope of entirely different rules and laws. The most notable aspect was likely their asymmetry--they never had an even number of eyes spread out regularly, or mouths, or limbs, or, in fact, any of those things in the manner in which Leo understood them. One creature in particular was just a bundle of gaseous miasma, it seemed, that soaked up the pond''s water by ''evaporating it'' through levitating slightly above it. It was less so a creature and more so a concept at that point, but it hardly stood out and, rather, fit right in with the rest. Luckily, they all ignored him, even when he intensely stared. Hoot, too, didn''t interact with them--the owl remained perched on top of Leo''s shoulder, his eyes and beak closed, as silent as the night itself. For what reason these two realities existed in a strange balance, Leo didn''t know, and he could seldom fathom it. More to the point, it was unnecessary. He was merely a passenger in this place, a temporary displacement, and he was better off never disturbing that which came before him. He finished bathing just as the sun began to glimmer up the sky. Leaving the pond, he went to the other side and filled the few waterskins he brought with himself as he was beginning to run out of the water back at the camp. On the way back, he executed the footwork, exercising and building up a little sweat. By the time he returned, others have woken up: all of them, in fact. They sat around the extinguished flames in a sparsely-spaced circle, largely chatting between themselves while Yue sat off to the side, meditating. As soon as they saw him, they all stood up and bowed in a greeting, causing his stomach to stir. "Hello. You guys rested well?" "We did," Xiaoling replied. "Thank you." "Hm. I''ll start preparing breakfast now. There is a pond west of here perfect for a bath." he added. "You can recoup there for a little while as I prepare it." "I''ll show you the way," Yue said as she stood up. Leo smiled faintly and went to fetch the fruits and vegetables from one of the huts. By the time he returned, the girls were gone, and only Song and Liang stayed behind. He didn''t think too much of it, instead focusing on cooking while the pair of boys observed him. There was a sense of tranquility in mixing the ingredients and getting the perfect ratio, and watching the raw materials get ground up into something tangibly beautiful and tasty. He didn''t think he''d ever become interested in cooking in any capacity, but circumstances, it seemed, were the mother of new hobbies. "Senior, can I ask you something?" Song broke the silence, prompting Leo to look up from the boiling pot and at the boy. "Hm?" "Do you know what that thing was?" there it was, the question Leo was dreading. "I mean, I know that it''s a demon. We are taught about them in our theoretical classes. However, I''ve never seen one like it. Usually, Demons are made when the path of Qi is reversed, whether by design or accident. The Qi grows corrupted due to the unnatural behavior, and, in the process, corrupts the mind. In that case, though, Demons still retained their actual minds--they can talk, appear normal, and even live among the people without ever being discovered. And they are always aware of the fact that they''re Demons. That girl... she didn''t know. Maybe that was why she was being chased? Maybe those people looking for her knew what was to happen and needed her for something?" This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. "..." Leo remained silent for a moment, converged in a duality. He was trying, simultaneously, to compact the information Song gave him, and also offer a plausible, roundabout, and vague explanation that wouldn''t technically be wrong no matter what. Ultimately, though, he just decided to be honest. "I don''t know," he said. "The world''s abound with mysteries at every corner. Anyone who claims to know of everything is simply a liar." There was also the uncomfortable truth that Leo was desperately trying to avoid--when he first killed that thing, he hardly felt anything. It was a creation of abject horror in his eyes, a malformed entity beset on destruction. However, twice now he was reminded that the entity was a young girl beforehand and, from the sounds of it, a completely normal, innocent one. The thought weighed as heavily as a mountain on his soul, namely the question contained therein: could she have been saved? Though the question was selfish and imposing, he was desperately trying to look for an ounce of rationality. If she could not have been saved and would have spent the rest of her life in that state, he could fool himself into thinking he offered her a swift and painless end. On the other hand, if she could have been saved, he did not just kill a ''demon''--he''d killed a person, an innocent kid who''d done no wrong but be born a bit different. Though entirely different scenarios, it reminded him of how he felt the first few years after Layla''s death. It was impossible to prune the guilt, let alone contain it, so he let it swallow him whole. He wrapped himself in a cocoon of his own making, and walled off the rest of the world entirely from that aspect of himself. He feared diving back into that nightmare, so he hoped the entire thing was irreversible. It was a selfish hope, indeed, but he had to hope for it, lest his mind was rendered useless once again. ** Xiaoling wanted to cry--there were many reasons for it, ultimately, but one stood at the far top of it all: the Heavenly Pond, the waters that were promised to extend her life, the thing that her Master had been chasing for two decades now... she was soaking in it. And it wasn''t just any Heavenly Pond, either--in fact, its quality far surpassed anything described in any of the books she''d read on the topic, and she read a lot of them. She could practically feel her soul being cleansed from within and without, and sense her lifespan extending. From a few decades all the way to just shy of two hundred years, a normal lifespan for someone of her cultivation realm. The water of the pond healed all the wounds she''d accumulated through the usage of the Soul Blade Art. It enriched her meridians, strengthened her dantian, and further reinforced her roots. In fact, she suspected if she kept bathing here daily for just a week, she''d evolve her roots into the legendary Low-Immortal Realm. Mei and Lya, too, seemed entirely flummoxed and at a loss for words. Mei, especially, had been undergoing emotional turbulence that Xiaoling could easily connect with. It was, after all, akin to watching everything you''ve ever dreamed of unfold before you, all your desires being fulfilled, and without any sacrifice to be made on top of that. It was a miracle, through and through, and there was no other word for it. Besides tears of joy, Xiaoling wanted to cry tears of fear, as well. They weren''t alone in the pond--in fact, there were constant visitors. Most took a few sips of the water, glanced at them curiously for a moment, seemed to notice Yue with them, and then just wandered back off into the woods. Not all of the animals were Spirits--in fact, most weren''t. Most seemed to be either completely ordinary, mortal animals, or Demonic Beast of the so-called ''Conscious'' order, where they could cultivate without succumbing to the instinct of devouring. There were enough Spirits, however, to alarm her greatly. Though it was well understood that the Nameless Forest was a home to some truly deplorable creatures that could never be touched, the world was still extremely ignoble in its understanding of the forest as a whole. Were the information to be dispersed outside, there was no doubt in Xiaoling''s mind that the Sects would unite to create a permanent barrier outside the forest, possibly with at least a few miles of a buffer zone, so that nobody could ever venture into the woods from fear of disturbing that which lived here. It was a different sort of life, a different sort of reality, but despite being exposed to it, she was no closer to understanding Leo''s role in all of this than yesterday. Why was it that an extremely ordinary cultivator, one well aged out of the perfect window for cultivation, was being treated as so important by the creatures that could level the world into ash? Ultimately, she let it go. The answer didn''t matter, not really. The reasons were beyond her ability or need to understand. She was merely grateful to be a footnote of that journey, and to soak up a few drops of heavenly miracle, allowing herself to live a fuller life than she otherwise would. Even when she departed, she would keep this place in her heart--not because she''d hope for a return, but because it was this place that allowed her to live freely, and it was this place that would quell her Master''s worries at last, so that he may finally focus on himself for a change. Though, knowing that old, kind fool, Xiaoling was certain that his focus would spearhead elsewhere--likely onto the entire Sect. Were he as dedicated to cultivation as some others, she was certain that her Master would have no equal. Even now, there were very few of his generation capable of fighting him. Alas, those were troubles for another day. Today, she simply wanted to close her eyes, let the waters of the pond suffuse her with purity, and go eat a hearty meal before departing from the forest. She had to rush back to the Sect and let them know they were fine. Though, just like Lya and Song, she fully intended to keep this slice of heaven to herself, and not disclose to anyone what they''d found. It was the least amount of courtesy she ought to afford her savior, after all. Chapter 46 - A Firm Heart Chapter 46 A Firm Heart "Two is dead," voice echoed through the dark, stilling further the heavy silence. Five phantoms surged for ever a moment, a stir in Qi disrupting the atmosphere. They were wondering why it was taking so long... and it turned out that he had died. It was never even a thought to them--Two, even if he had his issues, was second only to One in strength. Not even the Holy Blade himself would be able to kill him, no matter how hard he tried. Of all the True Demons, Two held by far the most life-saving means, as well. And yet, he was killed. "H-how?" One queried the voice in the dark. "... I am unable to tell," if the news that Two died caused them shock, the idea that there was something their Master was specifically unable to do sewed their lips shut. A thousand thoughts swirled, but none dared voice any. "He was heading over to the forest. It was likely something within. For now, ignore it. The girl has Demonized by now, and without our art, she would have become a Berserk Demon. Even if she lives, she is of no use to us. I will have to leave for a while, so you must go back into hiding. Now that we have exposed ourselves, the Pavilion will relay the information northward. It won''t be long before a Nascent investigator appears. "For now, head back out to the Ashen Plains and cultivate. I will let you know what to do next in due time." ** Leo was feeling a bit annoyed. Just as he thought Liang had turned back to his ordinary self, the boy insisted on following him as he went to fetch the rest of the logs. Not wanting to bicker with him in front of others, he relented in the end. It wasn''t long before they reached the now open plain where the rotten trees used to stand. Every time Leo gazed at the sight, he felt his heart soften. In due time, he just knew, this place would be reborn. Trees would grow anew, bushes at their roots, with flowerbeds and shrubberies decorating the open spaces between. That was what nature did--it healed, against all odds, against all common sense, no matter what. There were still some twelve logs remaining, which meant at least three trips back as he didn''t ''bring'' any of the animals with him except Milky and Hoot. "Master," Leo''s eyebrows twitched. "Do you mind if I try dragging one again? I feel much stronger than before!" "Be my guest," Leo shrugged. "I won''t carry you back again, however." As Leo watched the boy pick one of the logs and try lifting it only to immediately fall down, he wondered, once again, what precisely his place in the world was. He didn''t think he was particularly strong--perhaps his body was stronger than those outside the forest as he ate what likely were quite ''high-level'' foods, but that was the extent of it. His only means of attacking was throwing a sword at someone, and he had no other arts beside his footwork that was only for exercising. Nonetheless, watching someone struggle with one log boosted his ego quite a bit, prompting him to smile as he bent forward and picked up four, two beneath each arm. It was also then that Liang turned toward him and, just as he was about to say something, paused. "F-f-four...?" "Let''s go," Leo, spirited with his ego being caressed, headed past the young man and back toward the camp. "Try to keep up." "... f-four?" that was all he could mumble on their way back. ** Yue had largely remained silent and isolated from the newcomers, observing them from the side. She worried that, upon their return to the Sect, the news about her Master would spread. She held little faith in Sect Disciples, as she''d seen firsthand how they behaved on the outside. Even the Disciples of the Holy Blade Sect were arrogant, self-important, and extremely rude to anyone they met. The only reason they seemed so ''tiny'' now was her Master and the Spirit Animals in the forest--they were like tiny little kittens in the forest of the wolves, and were unable to display their usual arrogance. However, would that remain true once they were outside the scope of the trees? Having used the feather, Yue confirmed one thing--her Master was entirely ignorant of the world outside. He did not know the ''normal'' of it, as he would have never given her such a powerful weapon otherwise. It obliterated a Soul Ascendance Realm cultivator within the blink of an eye, and all she had to do was pour a tiny bit of Qi into it. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Thus, she worried--she worried that his kindness and ignorance of the world outside would be exploited. She swore that, should the Disciples ask to bring anything back ''home'', she would resolutely deny even if her Master agreed. Whether that was the stew he made, or the juice, or even the water from the Heavenly Pond. She couldn''t allow any of those things to be disseminated on the outside. "Yue," her Master returned, carrying four logs. She''d asked him about it and, supposedly, he was planning on building a longhouse. In no small ways, she was rather happy--even if she felt that the animals accepted her to a degree, sleeping surrounded (and mounted by) the Spirits was no easy task. "Yes, Master?" "That blockhead tried carrying a log again," he said. "And collapsed. Go bring him back." "What about the log?" "He''s kind of big and cumbersome. If you can''t carry the log, just leave it. I''ll go back for it." Yue understood well enough just why Liang collapsed--she could just barely lift a log on her own and carry it, and that was with taking breaks often. The only reason she could do even that was because she had her entire body reconstructed through her Master''s concoctions. Otherwise, she would likely have been unable to even move it from its place. While part of why she wanted to protect this place was selfishness, in part it was because she knew that she''d have to become a medium between her Master and the rest of the world. This was her home, and he was the one who took her in when she had nowhere else to go. He blessed her not just with the feather, but with a pair of mind-bending arts that had already saved her life once. As he was her savior, she would become his protector against the untoward. ** The kids had scattered once again with Yue going to fetch Liang, leaving only him and Xiaoling at the camp. She was sitting on one of the boulders, meditating in silence. Leo glanced at her with envy in his eyes, wondering whether he''d ever be able to so calmly sit and ponder upon the meaning of things. He slowly began to tear open the fruits and slowly squeeze them, mixing them with the water from the pond. Unlike his promise last night to the woman sitting over there, during the breakfast, there weren''t actually all that many animals, making him feel a bit embarrassed. However, he understood why: there were simply too many people. Even Leo was feeling a bit uncomfortable, and he could only imagine how the animals were feeling. "We''ll be leaving when the kids return," the woman said suddenly, prompting him to look up. "So soon? Are your wounds okay?" "They are fine," she smiled rather lithely and simply. "Our Sect Master and Elders must be worried about us, so we have to go to assuage their fears." "Ah, that''s right. Do you need anything?" "No," she shook her head. "And even if we did, I fear your Disciple wouldn''t allow it." "Yue?" "... you are loved, Senior Leo, in quite a few ways," she said, her voice turning somber for a moment. "And that love protects you. But be careful with your kindness: it is as much a granular weapon as it is means of self-destruction." "..." Leo fell silent for a moment. Though he knew she was saying out of her own kindness, it felt wrong. "If being helpful toward others will result in my untimely death... there are far worse ways to go." "I only meant--" "--no, I know. But tell me. When I stumbled upon those kids lying in the grass, barely breathing, bloodied from head to toe, and when I felt my heart crack... what should I have done? Waited for them to die and silently buried them?" "..." "Life is an ongoing struggle, regardless of who you ask," he added. "All we can do with our time is live true to our hearts. I''ve held regrets so heavy they drowned me time and again, and I''ve learned my lesson. Don''t be so afraid of death," he glanced at her. "That you fear living the way you want." Even if it was preachy, and in many ways na?ve, Leo didn''t want his own beliefs to be so openly questioned. He knew well enough that he was exposing himself to dangers by taking people in and that he was exposing his furry friends to the same dangers. But just like Blackie dragged him over to save Yue and the rest, he didn''t want to turn the blind eye to another''s pain and suffering. It was that apathy that rendered a heart hollow, and made the words echo without meaning. "Forgive me," she slid off the boulder and bowed toward him. "Whether it was with good intentions or not, I questioned something I should not have. Rather, I feel shame; all my adult life, I''ve had people questioning the one decision I made that I feel is quintessential to who I am as a person. While the world judged me for it, I felt it was the only choice I could have made, and if I could go back in time... I would have made it all over again." "At least stay for one more meal," Leo said, sighing faintly and smiling toward her. "And I have a dreadful feeling that one of you probably won''t be leaving." "Liang?" "You know?" "Oh, I felt it from the moment I met you," she chuckled, sitting down. "Liang is a... he''s a good kid. A bit na?ve and loose-minded, but with a good, loyal, and steady heart. Unfortunately, none of the arts that we teach at the Sect suit him very well. He has as much talent as me, but cannot fully utilize it. I feel, as soon as he saw you, he had an inkling that you were the one meant to guide him." "... but I won''t, right?" "..." she merely smiled, and Leo fell silent. For better or for worse, of all the kids, he would likely fit the best here. He had the sense that the young man would spend twenty-five out of twenty-four hours a day cultivating and not bothering him. "Why do I have a feeling that you''re offloading your headaches onto me?" "You''re imagining it," she said, sitting down laxly. "Besides, it is always right to have at least two Disciples, so that it fosters competition between the two and that they never grow complacent." "Aha." "The two are also close in age, and Yue seems extremely smart. She''ll be perfect for him." "Yeah, I can just imagine. A no-nonsense gal trying to compel a boulder into doing something. What rowing laughter it will cause." "Pfft..." "And thus, it begins." "No, I''m sorry--ha ha ha..." the two laughed sonorously, their echoes drifting through the trees, worry-free. Chapter 47 - New Bonds, Old Wounds Chapter 47 New Bonds, Old Wounds "I''m staying!" Liang firmly repeated yet again, prompting quite a few grunts. Leo wasn''t involved in it at all--instead, he sat to the side, snacking on small, grape-sized pieces of fruit that tasted like a strawberry-vanilla ice cream. He acted as though it had nothing to do with him, because he truly was helpless. Yue was adamantly against it, as was the young girl Mei whom Leo hadn''t really interacted with at all since she came here, while Song and Lya were somewhat lukewarm about the entire ordeal. Just like him, Xiaoling tried not to tangle herself with the thing, staying on the side and pretending to be preoccupied. She was looking rather intensely at the sleeping Blackie, so much so that Leo had to inwardly applaud her acting skills. "Why would you stay?! You already belong to a Sect, and you already have a Master! Just go back where you came from!" Yue said. "That''s right, Senior Brother," Qiu Mei said. "Both your Master as well as the Sect Master will be sad if you don''t return with us." "No, I''m staying!" the young man was adamant. "Master has godly muscles, and the only way I can get them too is if I stay with him! Nothing else matters!" "Just... just how stupid are you?! What do you mean nothing else matters?" Yue exploded. "What about loyalty to your Sect? What about the oath you swore to serve your Master?!" "I never took any oaths. I am only Disciple in name, because nobody knows how to teach me. Until Master now, that is!" "Master, please say something...!" in her desperation, Yue turned toward Leo who sighed and glanced toward her. "Just let him stay if he wants to," he said. "It''ll be good for you to have a friend your own age." "Friend? You... you expect me to be his friend...?" Yue had all but broken into tears. "I promise, Senior Sister, I will protect you no matter what!" Liang declared toward Yue as Leo could swear he saw Xiaoling facepalm herself in the corner. "W-what Senior Sister, you bastard?! You''re older than me!" "It doesn''t matter. You are Master''s First Disciple, and I am the Second. You will always be a Senior Sister to me." "Okay, okay, Yue, just relax," Leo quickly stood up and grasped the girl''s shoulders as he noticed she was about to blow her top off and likely say some things she would come to regret. "Won''t he be of great help with construction? And you can always order him around to do stuff for you... within reason, I mean." "That''s right, Senior Sister. I am great at completing tasks!" the young man declared proudly, thumping his chest. It was all around a weird situation that Leo couldn''t quite compartmentalize. Though he already knew that the young man would stay, and that Xiaoling gave a ''permission'' for it, it still felt kind of like he was stealing a Disciple from somebody else--a Disciple, he was told, who was quite well-liked in the Sect and who was one of the most promising youths that they had. Nonetheless, he had now acquired a second Disciple, this time entirely unprompted by the system. Whether it was a good decision or not... he couldn''t tell, not right away, anyway. Xiaoling once again reiterated that they would not share a word of this place to anyone, including their Sect Master, and made all kids swear a Soul Oath--supposedly, it was quite grave and whatnot, but Leo simply felt second-hand embarrassment for them as the choice of words for the oath was quite exaggerated. Until death, I shall keep it abreast, and Shall never my heart part with the truth, all very lovely and poetic, but a bit too much for him. They departed soon after, with Yue and Blackie volunteering to escort them toward the edge and Leo obliging. Now that (most) everyone was gone, he finally felt the awkwardness and tension slowly leave his body. Turning around, he saw Liang crouching, playing with Milky. The latter lay sprawled on its back and let the giant beside it pet its belly as though it was the most natural thing. Whatever self-preservation instincts this kid had, they were more than just rudimentary--they may as well be broken. However, in some ways, it was precisely lack thereof that seemed to disarm the animals. Leo had noticed they were quite cautious around Xiaoling and Mei especially, while it seemed that they immediately saw Liang as one of their own. It was a nice combination--animals without prejudice, and a man lacking it, too. Leaving the duo to their little activity, Leo planted himself on the ground and began wondering what to do next. Having gathered all the required timber, it was time he focused on other materials. With Yue back, and the newly joined Liang, he could outsource some of the easier materials: reeds, fiber, and water mostly, with some clay and stone from the pond, perhaps. While the two focused on those, he''d have to start venturing out deeper into the forest, searching for a quarry and an iron mine. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He''d also have to start figuring out which animals he would actually hunt. Any of the remotely friendly ones were out of the question, including those who simply never interacted with him one way or another. So long as they left him alone and to his own devices and never bothered him, Leo had no intention of doing anything but repaying the courtesy by leaving them well enough alone. This excluded effectively every animal he''d seen short of the two boars--which meant that he''d have to find some other ''aggressive'' creatures like those two boars. If there was one, there were two--and from two, they might just be enough to fulfill the hides requirement. He was in no rush--he''d already allocated at least a few months of work to this project. Considering it hadn''t even been a month since he came to this world, there was little need in hurrying. As such, he wouldn''t change much of his daily routine--he''d still prepare breakfast and dinner as he always did, take a bath, practice cultivation for a little bit, use his footwork technique to zip around the forest, fulfill whatever added quests his furry friends would give him, and spend the rest of his free time looking for the materials deeper in the forest. Yue returned about an hour later, Blackie in tow. There was a wide smile on her face that soured as soon as she saw Liang still playing with Milky. The two had been chasing each other between the trees for the past thirty minutes, playing a strange game of tag. Even Leo was a bit confounded at the sight, but he was the sort that just let it all slide off of him. Yue didn''t seem as ''well-oiled'' as he, however. "What the hell is he doing now? Is he disturbing you, Master?" she asked immediately. "Haah, just sit down," Leo smiled bitterly. "Are you really that against having some extra company?" "No. I am against him being that extra company." "Wow." "I--I''m sorry, Master. It''s just that I am familiar with his type," she said. "All they can think of is getting stronger, and they won''t care how they achieve it. Whenever a problem presents itself in front of them, all they can think of is smashing their heads against it until either cracks. It''s just... so tiring." "I can imagine," he said. "But not something you can''t learn a thing or two from." "M-Master...?" "Take life in strides, Yue," he said. "Oddities belong in it as much as you do. If you let yourself be swayed by life''s ebb and flow, you''ll spend most of the time obsessed over things that have nothing to do with you. How about this: once your... Junior Brother..." "... Master," she pleaded with all but tears in her eyes. "Khm, once he exhausts himself, teach him the cultivation method and the footwork I passed on you. Right--you probably practiced despite my warnings. How is it going? Is there something I can help with?" Leo prayed that there wasn''t, as he didn''t even know what ''help'' he could offer. "I am now able to use footwork continuously for just shy of forty minutes, Master!" Yue exclaimed proudly. "Yes, after that I will lie down for about two hours to recover, but it''s worth it! In fact, I haven''t told you--I used the footwork technique to escape my father, and I actually managed to flee while he pursued me with intent to kill! It was amazing, just thinking back on it. I am just at Core Formation, and he''s at Peak Avatar Realm! I can only imagine how angry and flustered he got when I fled, ha ha ha!" "... your father tried to kill you?" Leo asked, feeling a surge of anger and shock. It was something that he could never fathom--no matter how chilly things got between his father and he back on Earth, not once did Leo ever even contemplate that his father might harm him. "A-ah, yes. I... I was a bit shocked, too, to be honest. I didn''t think he''d go so far." "... I''m sorry, Yue. All children should only ever know their parent''s love and nothing else." "It''s alright, Master," she said, lowering her head. "I''ve long since made peace with the fact that my Father never truly loved me or cared much for me beyond using me as a tool. The fact he was willing to kill me... while it hurts, it isn''t entirely outside what I expected out of him. He is a greedy, selfish man--always has been--and when he saw how quickly I improved, he wanted that for himself. Ah! But I would have never told him anything, even if I couldn''t get away!" "..." Leo stared at the shimmering, green eyes for a moment in silence. "I want to make something abundantly clear to you, Yue," he said, extending his arm and putting it on her head gently. "Should there ever come a point where you can save your life by telling the world about me... I don''t want there to be even a thought of hesitation about it. Tell the world, and tell them everything. I don''t care, truly. Your life is far more important than my secrets. Do you understand?" "Y-yes." "No, don''t just reply," he shook his head. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that you will do it." "..." just like he stayed silent for a moment, so did she. Just before she spoke, however, she pulled her legs back and suddenly bowed toward him. "Forgive me Master, but I cannot obey that." "Yue--" "--I understand. I understand where you are coming from. But please understand me, too, if only a little," she said, her voice firm and aflame with determination. "You have saved me, Master, and given my life a second breath. I have sworn to Heavens, both in my heart and at my lips, that I would hold no other Master until my dying breath, and that I would sooner die than ever betray you. You are asking me to break that oath, and so I cannot be compelled." "... haah," Leo sighed, his heart stirring. Why? That was the question hanging above his head. This kid barely knew him--in fact, she knew him so little that it was a tragedy to even call him a friend, let alone much else. So... why was she so stubborn? Was it merely the customs of this world, the normal Master-Disciple relationship? Leo didn''t think so. "She is right, Master," Liang suddenly joined from the side. "You have shown me that a body can become a mountain. That is--" "--you stay out of this," Yue quickly interrupted. "Why are you butting in, huh? We were having a nice conversation, and now you ruined it!" "I''m sorry, Senior Sister. I am agreeing with you, though!" "That''s worse! I feel it somehow invalidates what I said if you agree with it!" "No, no, Senior Sister, you are confused. When more people agree on something, it makes it more right." "..." "And I''m out," Leo stood up and stretched. "Teach him, Yue. And, uh, try... try not to kill each other while I''m not here, okay?" and thus, Leo darted with the winds behind his back. They''ve known each other less than a day, and they already resemble a veteran pair of siblings who''d been at each other''s throats for years. That was... talent, in and of itself, Leo mused. Chapter 48 - Betwixt the Trees Chapter 48 Betwixt the Trees Two days have passed since the band of folk departed from the forest. Leo wanted to say that they were two peaceful days, but it was hard to make that claim while his pair of Disciples never, ever, never stopped bickering. From dawn ''till dusk, and then even further than that, long into the night, if he was within the earshot of their voices, they were bickering. Whether intentionally or not (mostly not), Liang was perhaps more talented at annoying Yue than he was at cultivating. And Yue''s image, the one Leo built up inside of his head--that of a headstrong, confident, clever young woman--had collapsed. While she, to some degree, may have been all those things, she was also quite a bit of an... airhead. She was easily dragged into her ''Junior Brother''s'' business, and the more Leo watched the two interact, the more certain he was that they were actually a pair of siblings that were separated at birth. Liang would find random critters in the forest early in the morning and ''throw'' them at Yue to scare her. She would then, in return, steal food from him, interrupt him while he was practicing, and shadow him all damn day long searching for ways to bother him. "Both of you, sit down," Leo had had enough--while he appreciated that the two were growing closer(?), there was a limit to how much he could tolerate. They weren''t children, after all--they were both in their twenties, adults even. What at first was funny behavior was now simply sad. "Yes, Master!" both complied and stopped bickering immediately, sitting down like a pair of pups who didn''t know what they did wrong. "Look, I believe I am a very tolerant person," Leo started. "In fact, search highs and lows of this world, and you''d seldom find someone more tolerant than me. But! Even I can only tolerate so much! I think it is very adorable that you two feel compelled to spend every waking hour of your lives with each other, I really do." "Master--" "--nuh-nuh, let me finish. It''s adorable, it truly is. But you''re not just bothering me, you''re bothering everyone else. Poor Milky and Blackie haven''t been around at all the last day. Why? Is it because they suddenly decided to leave? No! It''s because they can''t watch the two of you any longer! It''s embarrassing for everyone else in the forest, and it needs to stop. So, from now on, I forbid you from interacting with each other more than two hours a day! Do you understand?" "Y-yes, Master..." "Good. If I catch you breaking this rule, I will... hmm, what''s a good punishment? It''s not like I can take away luxuries, you know, because there are none. Hmm... right, you will be locked up inside the mud hut for a week! Eh, good enough. I''m not good at coming up with punishment. Anyway, you''ve promised! Until I can see that you two can behave like proper adults when interacting with each other, you will not be allowed to spend so much time with each other. Understood?" "Yes, Master..." Though he felt a bit guilty seeing their expressions, Leo knew it was better to set boundaries immediately. He departed right after holding his little speech, moving westward beyond the pond, in search of an iron mine or a quarry. Compass in hand, Hoot, Red, and Howly by his side--with the wolf having stopped keeping a steady distance from them, usually riding right by Leo''s side--he departed into the wild wilds. The further he moved away from the camp, the more... off the forest seemed. Though he couldn''t quite pinpoint why he felt that way, whether it was the ever so slightly strange shape of the trees, or the unnaturally asymmetrical flowers, or the obsidian-black roots that he at first mistook for rocks. Whatever it was, were it not for his friends by his side, he would not have dared venture this deep. Nonetheless, the compass never reacted. Whether he went in a straight line or did wide curves to cover as much ground as possible, it was evident that this part of the forest held neither a quarry nor an iron mine. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. There came a point, too, like when he headed north toward the crow, where his feet ceased moving and his heart told him going any further was impossible. Before him were patches of moss rising and falling slowly almost like breathing lungs, with the flat, smooth trees surrounding them. The branches grew in strangely perfect geometric angles, causing a level of distortion when witnessed. The roots pulsated well above the ground, forming hilly-like dunes, while the undergrowth consisted of large, bulbous plants with pulsating veins, all giving off a faint bioluminescent glow. Whatever lay beyond this point was not for his eyes to bear witness, Leo knew. Thus, he turned around and walked away. The more he explored the forest, the more he realized he''d truly landed in a place of potential horrors. It was no wonder, then, that there were so many rumors about this place on the outside. Yue mentioned offhand that this place was called ''The Nature''s Tomb'', and though he never truly experienced its horrors to the utmost, he saw the potential of them in all the things surrounding his world. Growing weary, he sat down onto one of the protruding roots, fetching some juice from the waterskin, one for him and one for his friends. They all enjoyed a brief respite before resuming their walk. By now, Leo had grown rather accustomed to his new life. In fact, he found himself enjoying these treks through the forested paradise more than most other things in his former life. Stumbling upon a new flower or a new tree was akin to discovering something never seen before. Sometimes, Red would snatch them and ''give'' them to Leo, indicating that they were ''safe'' to consume. It was on this trek, in particular, that he came across a particular shrub with berries hanging off of it. Red fetched a few and handed them to everyone, Leo included--the berries were as black as the night itself, just barely larger than an ordinary cranberry, and were so hard Leo had to use Qi between his fingers in order to squash it. However, he popped it into his mouth, trusting Red, and instead of chewing, swallowed it directly. The following sensation was exactly akin to doing a shot of tequila--he felt fire consume his throat and sweat began to break out from his forehead. No, it was far more impactful than a tequila shot--perhaps akin to doing five or six consecutive ones... without the wanted side effect of getting drunk, however. He had to sit down, red in face like a beet, and use Qi to quell the raging fire inside of him. A smile stretched out against his lips--he found his vaunted ''spice'' that could burn one''s skin off. Now all he had to find was noodles, or ersatz of one, at least. "Good stuff," he said, standing up. None of the animals reacted as much as he did, though, they too, seemed a bit abuzz with the sensation, especially Howly who flattened himself on his back, showing off his belly and howling at the nothing. "Hm. Okay, let''s go this way." he recognized one of the landmarks soon enough--an old, weathered tree in the sea of young, thriving ones. He moved further westward from it originally, but now changed the direction toward north. To his knowledge, iron mines and quarries appeared either in the mountains or at least mountain valleys. Of course, he could be completely wrong as he hardly ever ''verified'' that ''knowledge'', but as there were neither mountains nor valleys anywhere within his sight, he prayed that he was wrong. Otherwise, he might have to send Yue or Liang out into the world to fetch some iron and stone. Remembering Yue, he glanced down at his fancy, black robes and smiled--the girl fetched quite a few things from the outside world. Besides quite a few pots and pans and some cutlery, she bought him six sets of clothes and a really comfortable praying mat. Furthermore, she brought quite a few seeds of some of the plants and vegetables that were ''popular'' in the outside world, but Leo hadn''t planted them yet. Moving on northward, the scenery began to change--thin trees grew thicker and older, and the canopy above grew all-encompassing, with less and less light trickling through. At some point, the forest became as dark as though it were night, prompting him to quickly make a torch from the blueprint, lighting it up. He yelped as he faced what was in front of him--it was a singular tree surrounded by twining roots from all sides for about ten yards. The tree itself had roots and thick vines wrapping around its trunk, as though they were part of it. It looked as though the trees were webbed together in a strange, hypnotizing pattern, though how they grew to this size without sunlight... Leo didn''t even want to consider. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, he saw a window appear in front of him. [''??????'' seeks your assistance] [It has been a thousand years since the last Great Shedding, but because ''??????'' had slumbered too long, it is not possible for it to undergo the Great Shedding on its own] [''??????'' asks you to carefully thin out its canopy and bodice, like you would while carving a perfect statue] [Time Limit: N/A] [Reward: , +10 favorability with ''??????'', ''??????'' will owe you a favor, ''??????'' will reveal its identity to you] [Failure: ''??????'' will be unable to Shed, slowly dying over the course of the next 100,000 years] [Note: you may use assistance of others, but you cannot burn the cut materials and have to bury them instead. The materials can be used to fertilize the ground] Chapter 49 - It Was Busy In the Woods Chapter 49 It Was Busy in the Woods Another ''??????'' requiring a strange sort of help. Leo didn''t mind it, however--it would be a nice distraction from having to aimlessly search for materials in the middle of nowhere. This way, at least, he''d have a clear goal--shear the abundant roots and vines and whatnot in a careful manner as to give room for sun to shine through. Furthermore, all his worries of how to precisely ''shear'' (as he''d never done gardening in his life) were alleviated when he saw familiar, blue lines appear across the tree. He''d easily be able to mark some of the more accessible ones to Yue and Liang and have them help, as considering the sheer number of shearing (he chuckled at the thought) he''d have to do, it was far from a solo project. Bowing toward the tree, or whatever was within it, Leo pinned the location in his mind and then returned to the camp where he saw Liang and Yue meditating in silence inside two mud huts that were on opposite ends of each other. As it was already noon, he decided not to return to the tree today, but to start from tomorrow. Since it would be dinnertime soon, it was also time for him to ''fix'' the camp a bit. With the influx of pots and pans, one campfire was no longer enough. Thus, he built five more--one for each hut, effectively. He was a bit tense over having to cook six meals at the time, but he saw it more as a challenge rather than an obstacle. By the time the flames were roaring, Yue and Liang left the huts and asked if they could help. He had them fetch some extra water from the pond while distributing the ingredients evenly across the six pots. Well, actually, it was ten pots, as he paired smaller ones together since the campfire could handle them. It wasn''t long after that the animals began to converge--unlike when Xiaoling, Mei, Song, and Lya were here, the numbers skyrocketed. It was especially so today, as it seemed that the ''word'' got out that the strangers were gone. Blackie and Milky returned, too, from wherever they went to avoid Yue and Liang. The two seemed somewhat nervous as they scouted around the camp, seemingly searching for those two. "Don''t worry," Leo said. "I''ve talked with those two and limited their bickering to two hours a day! If they do bother you again, though, just bite them gently or something." The two tiny panthers snuggled up against him for a moment before dispersing, joining the rest of the ''zoo'' that patiently waited for dinner. The two kids returned right around them, delivering a few buckets of fresh water that Leo immediately poured into the ten pots, ordering the kids, then, to pay attention while not touching anything. All was silent in the forest beside the crackling of the flames and the boiling water, and the scentless air was soon drowned in saliva-inducing smell of freshly-boiled vegetables. Though Leo missed meat--especially having tasted boar''s once already--he was surprisingly fine sustaining entirely on vegetables and fruits, a distant dream in his other life. "Tomorrow," Leo broke the silence while stirring one of the pots, glancing at the two kids. "We have a job to do." "What is it, Master?" Yue asked. "A friend of mine has asked me for help," he said. "I''ll explain it more tomorrow. It will also be good for us, as he''ll ''give'' us a nice fertilizer for the seeds you''ve brought. We can clear a patch of land near the pond and plant them there. So, rest well tonight and be ready to get up early in the morning." "Will we be leaving the forest, Master?" Liang asked. "No." "Oh, good." "Why?" The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "I like it here," the man said. "Nobody is challenging me to fight every day, or bothering me, or trying to give me roses for some reason. Why would anyone give roses to a man?" "Were the people trying to give you roses women?" Leo asked, looking oddly at his Disciple. "Wow! Master truly is wise! Indeed, they were!" "Ugh, idiot..." Yue commented from the side while Leo merely chuckled. "That''s alright. It''s good that you like it here. Did your, khm, Senior Sister pass on the methods?" "She did. I... I don''t really get them?" Liang scratched the top of his head in confusion. "But, when I practice those strange poses, I can feel my muscles tensing! And then I fall down, completely weak and hungry. But when I recover... I find that my muscles have hardened a bit, so it''s amazing!" "Y-your, your muscles?! What about your Qi, you idiot?! Don''t you see what wondrous things it''s doing to your Qi?" "Eh, it is? That''s cool, I guess." "... Master, permission--" "--no, it''s dinner time. No bickering. Besides, are you content playing the role of clowns in front of all our friends?" "No..." One by one, meals were cooked and plates were delivered--Leo counted approximately seventy or so animals who''ve come to eat, the highest number by far. Among them, though, he noticed a few... oddities--not in the ''odd'' sense, per se, but in the opposite of that. From the looks of it, they were just normal forest animals. There was a mockingbird that would leap down, yank a boiled veggie from the plate, and then fly away. Unlike with other animals, Leo couldn''t sense any Qi from it. There was also a puppy--that was right, a down-to-earth, normal, two-eyed, two-eared, snout-having, normal-sized puppy. His fur was gray and appeared worn out, but the little guy was a fearless fighter--he''d squeeze himself between the animals thrice his size and bravely take a bite or two. Naturally, it wasn''t as though the animals fought him off--rather, Leo noticed the same look in their eyes as there was in his: just as Leo saw him as adorable, they did, too. The question, though, was how an ordinary puppy found its way into the forest. Was it perhaps abandoned at the edge and simply strolled in? Or was there another story? For now, Leo decided to name it Gray, as per the color of its fur. The dog, however, was quite skittish, and didn''t stick around after eating, scurrying off into the bushes and deeper into the forest. Leo didn''t mind, knowing that he would win him over with his culinary skills as he''d won over every other animal. Yue and Liang returned to their huts after dinner, cultivating. They were quite diligent, Leo noted, far more than him--even when they were bickering, they cultivated more than him. In his defense, they''ve been practicing this for more than half their lives, while he had been at it for less than a month. It would take some time, he knew, until he could sit still for hours on end, pondering on stuff. Leo was the first to wake up--it was like an inner alarm clock at this point, droning out inside his mind just before the sunrise. He stood up and walked out, yawning and stretching. Everybody--including the animals--was fast asleep still. He went for a quick swim in the pond, letting its cool waters wake him up, before returning and making a quick breakfast. It was the tantalizing smell of the food that seemed to wake everybody up, their own alarm clock. He didn''t dither around after eating, pulling the two still-yawning kids with him and heading back out west. Today, both Hoot and Red chose to stay back, with Blackie, Milky, and Howly accompanying the group. Blackie mostly stuck to Yue, Milky to Liang, and Howly sought pets from all three in even intervals. It took them about two and a half hours to reach the webbed roots. Both Yue and Liang received more than a few shocks on the way, especially so once they reached the tree. "This... uh, this is your, your *friend*, Mater?" Yue asked with a strange emphasis on ''friend''. "They are uncomfortable," Leo said. He understood her trepidation, but the system never lied. If it said that there was *somebody* in that tree, or that the tree itself held consciousness, then it did. "Due to the roots and vines rounding it. Usually, they shed naturally before this happens, but, as it happens with the best of us, they, in a way, overslept. So, that''s where we come in. We can''t cut indiscriminately. Rather, be precise and extremely careful. Yue, lend something blade-edged to your Junior Brother. Liang, this isn''t one of those times where the answer is brute strength. Find whatever handiness you have within your soul for this task. Anyway, I''ll quickly mark some of the more reachable roots and vines that you''ll have to cut. When you''ve cut them, slowly set the materials to the side since we can use them as fertilizer. You two understand?" "Yes, Master." "Alright. So, cut this one from here to there, make a cut here and the rest will fall off. Then, take this one, lift it a bit to gain access to the pair below--cut both of them right from here to there," he used sword to create markings, noticing that the roots, especially, were quite... thick. He had a feeling they would all struggle to easily cut through. "Uh, make note that it''s all quite resilient, so if you struggle a bit, it''s fine. Work together if need be. There''s no need to hurry--just cut slowly, deliberately, and precisely." "What about you, Master?" Liang asked. "What? You want Master to work too when I have you?" "E--eh?" "I''m just kidding," Leo laughed. "Let''s go everyone. Chop chop. But very precisely." Chapter 50 - Unearthed Histories Chapter 50 Unearthed Histories The roots were extremely tough--it took Leo a few swings of a fully-charged strike with his sword in order to chop through one of them. As he was tangled up high, he couldn''t see how the kids were doing and, inversely, they couldn''t see how pathetic he was. It was a double win, as he could feel himself slowly getting stronger again, constantly spending and replenishing Qi. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the tree, both Yue and Liang were lying sprawled on the ground, gasping not for breath but for life itself. After grueling, demoralizing, heart-pounding, soul-sucking two hours, they managed precisely... one cut. Yue glanced to the side and saw the cut root lying there, half-tempted to burn it so that she may never look at it again and half tempted to bury it so that she may never look at it again. When Master handed her the task, she didn''t think too much of it; it was just some basic gardening. Alas, it was her mistake--she should have known that ''ordinary'', in her Master''s language, meant ''absolutely soul-crushing'' in hers. Even her ''Junior Brother'', as it were, who was at the peak of Core Formation couldn''t contend with it. In some ways, he was worse off as his control over Qi was... rather pathetic. He would spend ten seconds just aiming, wasting over half the Qi he gathered, because he was afraid of making a mistake. As such, they got tired at equal rates, with equal progress. Nonetheless, the Master said that there was no time limit--if there wasn''t one, they could just take it slow. "Watch out guys," the Master''s voice echoed out as Yue and Liang sat up and backed away from the tree. A moment later, ten roots twice the size of hers rained down and splattered around the ground. "..." both Yue and Liang looked up, unable to see past the thick canopy, wanting to curse just a tiny little bit. Of course, to him, it was as simple as gardening. "Another hour or two, and we''ll take a break," his voice echoed out once again. Neither had the courage to utter that they were already taking a break. Luckily, each carried with them a pair of waterskins housing the fruit juice. After they finally started breathing normally, and took a few sips from the waterskins, they all but returned to the peak. The juice was strangely almost like a Qi Pellet, except vastly better as it had no ''poison'' in it that accumulated over time, and as it also passively enhanced their cultivation. Yue garnered that, if it were to be auctioned off outside, it would likely go for about 100,000 Spirit Stones... per a few mouthfuls, perhaps? 100,000 Spirit Stones was a massive sum, the number that Yue couldn''t even properly fathom. The entire Lan Clan estate, if it were sold off, might just barely reach that amount, and that included their copper and iron mines. And yet, she was casually drinking the amount that would go for millions... on a daily basis. Sometimes, she really couldn''t grasp her new life. It scarcely made sense, after all. ** "E-Elder Xiaoling is back!!" a voice erupted throughout the entire Holy Blade Sect. The sunken halls and the debris scattered everywhere were daily reminders of what transpired less than a week ago. Though the bodies have been cleaned up, traces of blood remained splattered everywhere, and the stench of death ruminated still within the valley''s confines. A dark and desolate cloud hung over the seven mountains, and even a singular ray of sunshine was enough to scatter it ever so slightly, bringing a bit of joy. Thus, when the announcement blared out throughout the Sect, everyone ran out to welcome the returnees. However, they seldom caught sight of them before the Sect Master whisked them off to the top floor of the palace. Nonetheless, rumors were spread--after all, it was well-known that a Soul Ascendance Realm cultivator gave pursuit, breaking through the rear ranks. Though nobody uttered it aloud, in their hearts the whole Sect felt their most-promising Disciples had likely perished. And yet... they''d returned. Yu Minge stared at the band of awkward-seeming youths with a faintly flinching lips. The very first thing that Xiaoling said when he moved them here, before even greeting him, was: "Don''t ask anything, and I won''t have to lie." Mei, Lya, and Song scratched their noses awkwardly, looking away. By now, he''d be a fool not to understand that there was somebody in the forest who''d helped them. Chances were that it was some sort of Spirit, perhaps disguised as a person, though it could have been anything. He himself had ventured into the forest once, back when he was at Foundation Establishment and desperate for more strength, and had encountered one such spirit who was the reason for all his success, in essence. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. He was warned, however, to never return, as all his gifts would be taken back, and he would be killed. As such, he stayed well away from the place. Now, however, he wondered... "Fine, I won''t ask," he said. "I won''t ask how you''ve broken through, or how your vitality seems to be better than mine, or how all those kids have had their Roots upgraded once again, or where the hell Liang is, or even how you dealt with a Soul Ascendance Realm cultivator. I won''t ask any of those things. Can I at least ask what happened to the girl?" "... she, uh, she became a Demon," Xiaoling replied, prompting Yu Minge to frown. "I don''t--" "--kids, can you please wait outside? I will reward each of you later on." "Uh, y-yes, Sect Master!" the trio, recognizing that they were far too weak to participate in the conversation, quickly departed, leaving only the Master-Disciple pair behind. "What do you mean she became a Demon?" he asked. "You should know well enough that one becoming a Demon is a process that takes months, at least." "No, not that kind of Demon," she said. "The mindless sort. I don''t know how to explain it. I said she became a Demon, but I''m not even sure that''s the right word. Her entire body morphed into this human-like phantom, with black smoke covering her entire figure and red eyes. She went from being at Qi Condensation to just about Avatar Realm at a moment''s notice, it felt." "..." Yu Minge fell silent. His heart, however, was pounding--Blood Demon Vessel. It was one of the legendary Bloodlines thought to have gone extinct a long time ago. Supposedly, those with it would be born with average talent, never managing to break out and make something of themselves. That would change, however, if they managed to learn a True Demon Mantra, though which one... Yu Minge did not know. As the Bloodline was supposed to be inherited through maternal side of a family, there had never been a time when a bearer of the Bloodline was born on the ''outside''. If, by some happenstance, they did not get to practice the Mantra at all before turning sixteen, they would become a Berserk Demon--a ghoulish manifestation of rage contained within the bloodline itself. They''d grow exponentially stronger, but with the price that they would lose their minds, and even their lives in the span of a few hours, at most. At the very least, he now understood who attacked them--True Demons, they called themselves. In reality, they were one of the Ancient Clans, Daeva Clan. They weren''t true inheritors of the Blood Demon Vessel as they were far too young of a Clan for it, but they subscribed to the many of the things of the First Demons and have, supposedly, inherited some of the Arts, at least partially. They hadn''t been heard from or seen in just about two hundred years, meaning that they haven''t been active during his life at all. The last time they reared their heads, an ugly war broke out called War For Peace, an equally ugly and ironic statement made by historians. Just about quarter of a million of people died, and the war lasted for about six years before they were finally defeated. Not killed, just pushed back into the shadows. "M-Master...?" Xiaoling brought him back from his thoughts. "Is everything alright?" "No, it''s fine. You can leave too, Xiao''er," he said. "Whatever happened in the forest, I am delighted that you have gotten better. If you need anything, let me know." "Yes, Master!" With Xiaoling departing, Yu Minge turned toward his left where the strangely-shaped shadows suddenly moved. From them, a figure emerged--cloaked and hooded, with only a pair of green eyes peering through the slit in the cloth. "You really think it is them?" Dark Night asked. "I don''t know. My gut feeling says that it is," Yu Minge replied, standing up and walking over to the window, looking over the ruins of the Sect. It would take years, at the minimum, to return to the previous state. At least, however, they survived. Bloodmoon Sect, on the other hand, had a rough time ahead of them... "Regardless, this front cannot go unchallenged. Whether it''s Daeva Clan, or some branch remnants of them, they will have to pay. Now that the Immortal has exposed himself, someone from the Central Regions will be sent, most likely a Nascent Realm cultivator. I will hand over day-to-day running of the sect to Xiao''er and go into enclosed cultivation." "Even if it''s you," Dark Night said, doubt in her voice. "It will take you at least a decade to break through to Nascent Realm." "No, no that," he shook his head. "I will try and complete the Holy Blade Art." "What?! The last time you tried it, you nearly died!" "I can''t rest on my pitiful achievements, Q''aena," he glanced back at her and smiled faintly. "If the Sect is to survive the incoming storm, I must grow strong enough to defend it. Can I ask you a favor?" "... yes, I will keep an eye out on your Disciple," she sighed. "Are you really not going to inquire them about the forest, however? These weren''t accidental gifts, Minge. You felt it, too, even if you''re not saying anything--that sensation from the forest. It was likely what killed the cultivator chasing them." "It was probably a Spirit," Yu Minge said. "They are oft, however, disinterested in mortal affairs and only ever mingle out of boredom. Trying to weaponize that, in any way, would be foolish. As for why the kids got rewarded twice with such graces... perhaps it is Fate helping out my Holy Blade Sect after centuries of struggle. I will not peer into its inner workings, and simply be grateful that we were chosen. You too, do not go inquiring about that any further, lest you doom yourself." "I won''t," she said. "Do you think that attack was felt in the Central Regions?" "No," Yu Minge said, but remembered something. "Well, only by him, perhaps." "Him? You mean your father?" "That man is no father of mine," Yu Minge said coldly. "Just a wretched soul hanging onto honors long gone." Chapter 51 - Onward Chapter 51 Onward "Hm?" an old, withered man opened his eyes with great difficulty, seeming to glance southward for a moment. "What fool dared disturb the Forest?" He sighed, closing his eyes as it was too much energy expenditure to keep them open. He had to conserve every last iota of Qi that he had, otherwise... it would not be enough. Though he stood vaunted in the palace of desire, and though he was known as the gilded Immortal to the outside world... all those things were long-brewed lies. As he sat on the cold, stone throne, he pondered when he would finally be free. It wouldn''t be today, however, for he felt them--extending his left arm weakly, a lithe, simple-seeming sword appeared in it. "We must go again, my old friend," he said, standing up while his bones cracked as loudly as thunder. "To defend our home." ** Leo descended the tree only to find the pair of his Disciples gasping for life, strewn on the floor, some four roots by their side. A strange expression fitted his face for a moment as he fancied the idea that he really was that strong--but he dismissed it rather quickly. After all, he had a system''s weapon--the sword was carrying the brunt of his speed, and, without it, he''d likely be no better than the pair of kids, if not worse. Turning back toward the tree, he nodded faintly with pride--they were just about 5% done. Beneath the outermost layer of roots and vines, there was another layer of the same. And then another. And then another. Rather than going wide, Leo went inward, discovering that the actual body was buried five layers deep. There were no easy things in this world, but he didn''t mind. Physical labor, thing he abhorred all his life, he now found soothing. "M-Master... what is this tree?!" Yue yelled out, causing Leo to flinch. "How can roots be so damn hard?! They''re harder than any sword or shield I''ve ever held in my life!" "Then you simply haven''t held enough shields and swords," Leo replied vaguely. What was this tree? He would only know after he completed the quest. Until then, his guess would probably be worse than kids''. "It''s a good exercise for you two." "Haah, it actually is, which is the most frustrating part," though Leo merely mentioned it offhand as he didn''t even know what a good exercise in this world constituted, it seemed that he was blindly right, again. "Even this blockhead had managed to improve his Qi control slightly in this short period of time. How much further?" "..." Leo grew a bit awkward, scratching the top of his head. "Just tell us, Master..." "Uh, we, we''re almost there. Khm. Just a bit more." "You''re an awful liar." "What a mean thing to say." "It was a compliment, though." "Still," Leo reached into his inner robes and took out some juice, taking a few sips. "Master, I''ve been meaning to ask--do you not have a spatial artifact?" Yue queried. Unbeknownst to her, it was a sore spot for Leo--if he had a ring or a necklace or anything to store things in, he wouldn''t have to become a walking trinket shop with everything that he was housing in his robes. There were pills, there was a feather, there were those Seeds he was supposed to be studying but never got around to, there were fruits, there was the juice... he legitimately felt he could have opened a shop just based on things he had on him. "All I need, I can carry," he replied, hiding his pain. "Ah, forgive me," she said. "I wanted to buy you one when I was outside, but they are rather expensive. Even the cheapest ones go for at least 5,000 Spirit Stones. Liang, do you have a ring?" Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "No," Liang replied. "All I need is my body and nothing else." "How are you possibly still alive?!" "Healthy body, Senior Sister." "Ugh." "He is partially right, Yue," Leo said. "All else aside, healthy body is one prerequisite to a healthy mind. Even if your, khm, Junior Brother is a bit... eh, you know, a vessel that is as close to indestructible as possible can also unleash the greatest potential." "Master, please don''t--" "--Liang, exercise with your Senior Sister every morning for about an hour." "Yes, Master!!" Leo looked away from Yue''s aggrieved expression. He didn''t know anything about cultivation in this world, but it stood to reason that the place where Qi was housed and used from ought to have a remarkably strong container, that is the body. "Alright, we have rested enough," Leo said. "We''ll focus on the outermost layer for now and slowly move deeper." "Outermost layer? Move deeper? What do you mean, Master?!" Yue asked. "Chop chop." Leo ignored her and swiftly climbed the tree. "Master!" ** The news that the Holy Blade Sect was attacked directly had spread out throughout the entire Lower Ashlands like wildfire. At first, few believed it--even if it was considered the weakest Tier IV Sect, it was still a Tier IV Sect. However, as more and more accounts of what transpired began to spread out, acceptance came--somebody had not only attacked the Holy Blade Sect, but they also inflicted massive damage. Secondary news, however, was even more thunderous--Shen Yu, Sect Master of the Bloodmoon Sect... was felled. Nobody knew by who or how, but his death was confirmed. Not only that, the only other Soul Ascendance Realm cultivation of the Bloodmoon Sect, Elder Shen Rong, had lost both his legs, effectively becoming crippled. This sent the entire Sect spiraling--after all, there were quite a few hounds hiding in the shadow, just waiting for an opportunity to take a bite out of the Tier IV Sect. Even if they technically had a Soul Ascendance Realm cultivator, he was a cripple. Just as it seemed that the world would converge to take a bite out of the wounded beast, another bit of news spread: Holy Blade proclaimed publicly that any affront to the Bloodmoon Sect would be an affront to the Holy Blade Sect. In effect, he took the weakened Sect under his protection. Nobody could quite understand why--it wasn''t as though the two Sects had pleasant or friendly relationship. Rather, it was the direct opposite of that--they''d been engaged in wars and skirmishes for as long as they''ve existed. In fact, their last outright war ended just about fifty years ago, where Holy Blade Sect lost two precious Spirit Stone Mines, and where both Sects lost at least five thousand Disciples each. Thus, Holy Blade protecting them didn''t quite make sense--if anything, he should have been leading the charge to ransack the Bloodmoon''s treasuries. Shen Tao sat in a corner of an inn in Yuvel Town. He''d donned a mask--literal and figurative--blending in with the world and pretending to be at Peak Foundation Establishment. It was one of the treasures that he''d discovered in his Father''s spatial ring that he''d given to him. It made sure that nobody, not even those at Nascent Soul Realm, could divine his true identity. Shen Tao was officially proclaimed as one of those who died during the invasion of the Holy Blade Sect--not only did the Bloodmoon Sect lose its Sect Master, they also lost their prodigal son. He spent the last five days recovering in silence and slowly wandering through the few towns in the vicinity, gathering information. Even he was shocked when he heard that the Holy Blade decided to protect his Sect. A pang of shame echoed in his heart, as a complete stranger (one with great interest in seeing the Bloodmoon Sect fall) had stepped forward while he had ''died'' in order to escape the crutches. Holy Blade had always been an enigmatic figure, and now he was even more so in Shen Tao''s eyes. Why was it that the ''child'' said they could not kill ''Minge'', while they were able to kill his Father? They were both at Mid Soul Ascendance Realm, and though they fought within the valley of the Holy Blade Sect, that didn''t seem to have been the reason. Shen Tao grew curious--it displaced, however little, the eternal burning flame of loathing rage within him. There was so much of it that he feared any more would cause him to self-implode. "Did you hear? Holy Blade Sect is holding Trials earlier this year! They just announced it!" his ears perked up to the conversation happening at the next table over among a group of young cultivators that had just sat down. "Makes sense. I hear they lost a lot of Disciples during the invasion." "Would it mean that their requirements are a bit more lax?" "Possibly?" "Should we give it a try?" "May as well. Now that the Bloodmoon Sect fell, Holy Blade Sect is the true hegemon of the area. If we can somehow become Disciples--no, even just servants, our future would be boundless!" Shen Tao held his tongue. All of them seemed to be around twenty and still at the peak of Qi Condensation. Forget servants, they wouldn''t even be allowed to become Medicinal Bodies. But... it wasn''t his place to say anything. A thought festered inside of him, however--if he was to learn what made Holy Blade more special than his Father... wasn''t this a perfect opportunity? He could reveal just the right amount of talent, and become Holy Blade Sect Disciple. He might even learn the secrets of the Forest from those who''d returned from there. Gleeful with his plan, he downed the remainder of his drink, left a copper coin on the table, and disappeared, heading north-east toward the Holy Blade Sect, his future slowly becoming clearer in his mind. Chapter 52 - Tranquility Chapter 52 Tranquility Yue was the first one to wake up. It was a strange experience for her--not being the first to wake up, but rather waking up at all. By the time cultivators reached Core Formation Realm, they no longer needed sleep. Rather, it was seen as waste by everyone, since they could instead spend the night meditating and cultivating. She, too, forewent sleep even as far back as reaching the peak of Foundation Establishment, as did everyone trying to make something of themselves. However, her Master slept, regardless. At first, she didn''t--she meditated through the night, as she always had, but her curiosity eventually won and she started mimicking him. She hadn''t gotten used to it yet, and felt a twine of guilt inside her heart that she wasn''t successfully using every single second of her life to cultivate. But if her Master viewed it as important... she had to, too. In fact, Liang was even simpler than her in this department--he practically mimicked every single thing their Master did, down to the pose in which he slept. He was of firm belief that the only way to have the Master''s ''muscles'' was to do exactly what he was doing. Thus, he started sleeping the day he joined, seemingly entirely unperturbed about the oddity of it. Perhaps that was the clue to living in this place--taking things as they come, one way or another. As she was the first, she went to the pond and took a bath. It was rather magical--the water would purify itself repeatedly, meaning that even if someone covered in soot jumped in directly, the water wouldn''t even get ''black''--the soot would have been absorbed, the water retaining its crystalline-clear hue. Blackie joined her, as she oft did, swimming lazily across the pond. Once in a while, a random animal would come to the other side of the pond and take a few sips. By now, Yue was familiar to them all, it seemed, so they didn''t even give her a second glance. The hold the Master had on the hearts of the animals here was rather inspiring, but it also wasn''t something that could be replicated. Yue had tried it--she watched her Master cook for the animals, watched every single one of his moves, and tried replicating it on her own. However, she just barely managed to eke out about 5% of the medicinal value of all the herbs she tossed into the water. It was so wasteful that she nearly cried. Eating it felt like chewing on raw bark, unlike while eating the one Master made. She was scarcely clever enough to figure out the difference--perhaps her Master weaved Qi in invisible ways, perhaps he had a special Physique or a Bloodline that allowed him to extract all the value out of all the herbs... but what she did know, however, was that nobody else could replicate her Master''s abilities. The reason why animals so readily accepted not just him, but Liang and her as well, was because they, too, understood that the benefits they gained from eating his food far outweighed any potential drawbacks of having some humans in the forest. Having finally had enough, she left the pond and dressed herself, calling Blackie to join her. However, the little panther simply ignored her, rolling over on her back and floating on the surface of the pond rather leisurely. Yue laughed at the sight for a moment before turning back and leaving. She had to mentally prepare for yet another day of cutting roots and vines. She was yet to fully understand her Master''s role in this place entirely, past simply feeding the animals Qi-rich foods. There was more to it, as though he were a direct part of the ecosystem of this place. It was unlikely that she would ever truly understand, so she didn''t spend too much energy on it. Her place was to cultivate and help whenever he asked her to. By the time she returned, she saw that almost everyone else was up--her Master was preparing breakfast, Liang was standing by her hut with arms crossed over his chest, and animals were lazily sprawled on the ground, waiting for the meal. "Senior Sister, don''t think that you can skip our morning exercise!" "Ugh..." Yue grunted but ultimately relented. It was her Master''s order, after all. "Fine. What are we doing?" "Until Master''s meal is ready, we will be doing horse stance!" Liang exclaimed and immediately lowered his back and knees, entering the horse stance. He, then, spread his arms out wide and looked at her. "Just like this, Senior Sister." Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! "..." Yue''s eyebrows twitched for a moment, but she resigned herself to her fate. Stopping by her ''Junior Brother''s'' side, she replicated his pose down to a tee. She could have sworn she''d seen her Master''s shoulders bounce up and down for a moment, as though he were laughing, but as he didn''t say anything, she didn''t either. Strangely, she didn''t really feel tired. It wasn''t as though she never did any physical exercises--every child starting off would have done some to strengthen the body at least a little. However, back then, she struggled... a lot, to just barely keep up with others. Her thighs would start shaking within minutes, and yet, even thirty minutes into squatting, she felt completely fine. "Meal''s ready," her Master called out, prompting the two to stand up and walk over, sitting down. There was a plate waiting for each of them, and around twenty extra plates scattered around the campsite for the animals. "Will we be going to that tree again, Master?" Liang asked. "Yes. Why?" "Nothing. I like it. I feel a bit stronger today than yesterday. It''s a good exercise!" "Liang. Do you have any family?" her Master suddenly asked. "Hm? I do, Master. I have a mother and a younger sister." "Do you miss them?" "Sometimes," Liang replied. "But I made sure they would be fine before leaving! And I visited them to give them some Spirit Stones whenever I went out on a mission. In fact, the last time, my sister got angry because she thought I wasn''t using the Stones to cultivate!" "... if you ever want to go and see them, let me know." "My mother told me to become the strongest in the world!" Liang proclaimed proudly. "Now that I am here, I can only work hard toward that goal. They know that I''m working hard, and I know that they are safe. That''s all that matters." Yue was surprised, for a moment, at the depth of her Junior Brother''s understanding and insight. There was a bit more behind the glazed, dull eyes of a single-minded cultivator in pursuit of perfection, it seemed. She caught the sight of her Master smiling faintly, and she smiled too. Her own family returned to her mind for a moment--what would it have been like if she had one like Liang? Where she would have felt loved and encouraged? No, that was unfair--she did feel that. Her grandfather made sure she did, against everyone else''s perception. And, even with his dying breath, he paved a way for her--had he not came to the Forest to die, she would have never come here to retrieve his body, and would have never gotten to meet her Master. Instead, she would have likely been married off by the year''s end, and spent the rest of her life birthing children for another family. "What''s wrong, Senior Sister?" Liang suddenly asked, yanking her from her thoughts. "Eh? What? Why do you ask?" Yue said. "I don''t know. I just a feeling that you were sad. It''s gone now, though." "Pfft... ha ha ha," Yue laughed freely for a moment, letting loose her doubts. "A-ah? What? Did I say something funny? I don''t think I did! Master... Master, I think I broke Senior Sister, please help!" ** It was a scene straight out of a painting, Leo mused in silence while watching the pair of his Disciples. The two were tangled up in a strange misunderstanding, surrounded by animals who were queerly staring at them, and then there was he--an awkwardly interjected third party only there to fill up the empty space. He was happy, however. Genuinely happy. Every day felt fulfilling, and the sound of the youth laughing reminded him of the days long-forgotten. The harshest day of life, Leo had realized, was the day people forgot how to laugh freely--to laugh as though nobody was watching, to laugh at whatever they wanted without caring for the judgement of others. There came a point when a mask was donned, and smiles and laughter became social cues more than honest interactions with the world. There wasn''t a need for that here, however--there was nobody to placate, nobody at whose bad jokes he had to laugh out of courtesy. It was just him, a pair of curious kids, a forest full of friends, and a life bereft of judgement. What was his role in this world, he pondered? He never forgot the original quest, to join or form a Sect. And he''d come to realize that the world of cultivators was the one of strife. It had been a thought hanging in his mind ever since, how he''d become the part of the larger life. Even if the question was simple, the answers were not. He didn''t want to struggle every waking day of his life, fighting with others for the opportunity to advance his cultivation. He didn''t want to go to war for pointless causes, shed blood, and watch his beloved die in pursuit of some intangible immortality. He wanted... well, he wanted this. To build a place those tired of the struggle could come to at any time and simply take a breather. Rest. Forget the rest of the world. Enjoy the life at its purest. Perhaps it was a na?ve dream, even a childish one... but he wasn''t afraid to pursue it. He only feared not being strong enough to build it. "Okay, let''s go," he stood up, stretching. "Lots of daylight ahead of us." "Master." "Hm?" "Can you tell me a joke?" Liang asked. "A joke, huh?" Leo stroked his beard as the trio departed. "An ugly man starts yelling at someone, suddenly trips over his ugly robe, falls, cracks his nose, and blood sprays out everywhere." as Liang burst out into laughter, Yue seemed confused. Leo merely winked at her as she sighed helplessly. All was well and tranquil in the Nameless Forest, even if the world outside its borders was beginning to burn. END OF ACT I: The Forest Stirs Chapter 53 - The Strangest Hermit Chapter 53 The Strangest Hermit It has been just about ten days since they''ve started shearing the massive tree. Leo sat down and took a swig of the fruit juice, staring at the last layer they had to get through. Yue and Liang were just behind him, but they weren''t sitting or drinking juice: rather, they were full-on sleeping. He glanced at them and smiled--he didn''t think they were weak, but that they were simply not accustomed to mindless, physical labor. It wasn''t as though he was used to it either, to be fair, but at least he was quite some ways older than them. Furthermore, he found the numbness of such a work strangely calming, whereas for them, it was likely closer to wasting their time, time they could have spent cultivating and growing stronger. However, they did mention that shearing was helping them, so Leo let it be. Besides, their help was quite useful--after the first two days of them growing used to it, their speed exploded. Combined, they were just about 60% of his own capacity, but he wasn''t taking any breaks to keep that up, largely to maintain his image as a ''Master''. Since the system didn''t give him any new quests or opportunities for new Arts or Methods, there were fewer and fewer ways for him to maintain that image. Standing up, he stretched and resumed chopping--luckily, the last layer was also the smallest. Gone was the grove of overgrowth and thick roots and vines, and all that was left were the last, thinnest bits. The sounds of chopping must have woken up the kids as Leo could hear them tumble their way forward, thinking they weren''t caught slacking off. Leo didn''t impose any discipline on them--rather, there really wasn''t a need. If anything, the two ought to have imposed some discipline on him. They were both extremely hardworking, and Leo seldom caught them slacking off. Even when they were, it was mostly because it was just a temporary break between two ''extreme'' activities. When they weren''t helping him shear, they were cultivating. And when they weren''t cultivating, they were exercising. Contrary to Yue''s initial cynicism, she''d seemingly fallen in love with exercising with her Junior Brother. For the first few days, she only did it in the morning--but the last few, she''d also joined him in the evenings, working up an appetite before dinner. Altogether, though their days were full of simple routines, they were hardly boring. They found a rhythm that worked for them, and they stuck to it. They stopped working some six hours later, having done just about 40% of the remaining job. Leo descended to find the two soaked in sweat and gasping for breath, a familiar sight by now, and sat next to them. "We should be done by tomorrow," Leo said. "A lot of your day will be freed up. What do you guys want to do?" "Cultivate, Master!" Liang said. "I feel like I am very close to breaking through." ** "Huh? You... you''re about to break through into Spirit Creation?!" Yue exclaimed in faint shock. Most people who break into the Spirit Creation were at least in their thirties, with a few exceptional geniuses doing so just shy of that decade. To have someone break through at the ''tender'' age of 25 felt almost unprecedented. "Yes," the young man nodded with a faint smile of embarrassment. "The method Senior Sister taught me, and this work has helped me gain some insights. It should still take me a couple of weeks at least, however." "Haah," Yue sighed slightly. She felt like she was doing extremely well, being just a bit shy from Peak Core Formation, but compared to her ''Junior Brother''... no, it was fine. She was only twenty-two. If she worked hard, she should be able to break through to Spirit Creation by the time she was his age as well! "Congratulations in advance, Junior Brother." it bothered her, a bit, how smoothly ''Junior Brother'' rolled off her tongue. The gap between their seniority was growing wider and wider, and yet, she was on the opposite end of it. Somehow. Liang was... certainly unique. "Thank you!" he smiled sheepishly, his cheeks reddening for a moment. Yue couldn''t help but smile, too--against her innermost desires, this strange Junior Brother of hers was kind of growing on her. While Liang and her Master carried the cut roots back to the camp, Yue sped off ahead to clear up a bit of extra space. Using the cut vines and roots as fertilizer, they walled off a small area around the pond as a garden. Yue had largely brought the seeds of the medicinal herbs--Sundew Pulp, Silent Lotus, Blood Vine and so on--in part because they would make decent additions to her Master''s stew, but also because she wanted to experiment a bit in a sense of seeing whether the herbs would grow any differently in the forest than they do outside of it. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The patch of flat land was flanked by trees on all ends, and it was no larger than a smaller room, but it was still enough for a 6x10 grid, allowing for 60 seeds to be planted. She''d only brought fifteen, so there would be excess room for whatever they wanted to plant in the future. Though her Master offered to tend to the garden, she wanted to do it herself--at least in the beginning. However, seeing how much joy he derived from the activities that both Liang and her found quite dull and boring, perhaps that was simply who her Master was--a strange man with strange hobbies, in want of a garden. The two came just fifteen or so minutes after her, laying down the greenery by the garden''s side, and retreating to the camp. It was close to dinner time and the two had gotten into habit of exercising a bit beforehand because the dinner would increase their cultivation a bit more that way. However, this time around, their Master called on them to sit down by the flame, a rather serious expression on his face. "Today," her Master said. "I want to bequeath upon you two something. It will not be yours forever, just something to help you along on your journey. Liang," he reached into his sleeves and took out something rather tiny, a pebble of sorts with murky, illusionary insides. Just a singular glance caused Yue to become dizzy and nauseous, prompting her to quickly look away. "This is a Seed of Dao," he added as Yue felt her heart leap into her throat. "Study if while cultivating and trying to break through. However, be careful! Staring at it for too long can have consequences." "Yes, Master!" even the usually easy-going Liang took the small seed with shaky hands. It seemed that he, too, understood the impossible gravity of that little thing. "Yue." "Y-yes, Master?" Yue quickly shuffled her knees and faced him. "This is Wisp of Wood Qi," her Master took out yet another seed, this one closer to an ordinary-seeming one than the Seed of Dao. "It contains traces of True Wood Qi. Capturing those traces and studying them will have monumental benefits to your future cultivation. One day, when you''re ready to break through, I will give you Seed of Dao as well, so don''t feel too dispirited." "No, of course not, Master!" Yue took the tiny, wooden-seeming seed with shaky hands as well. Though it wasn''t quite as impactful as Seed of Dao, it wasn''t all that much behind it either. In fact, both of these were so soul-stirring that, once again, her image of the secluded hermit shattered a bit further. Outside the forest, these would be considered most guarded inheritances of the Sects. Not even the Sects within the Lower Ashlands, but rather those from the upper areas where Tier VI, VII, and onwards Sects existed. Any chance, however miniscule, to study Dao in any capacity was viewed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that would serve as a kicking-off point for the cultivator and allow them grand achievements in the future. Rather, these two tiny seeds didn''t even have a particular price as no one would ever sell them, or even publicly admit to having them as it would cause an immediate war. True Elemental Qi was largely irrelevant for her at the moment, but, in the future, as she inched closer to the Soul Ascendance Realm, and especially Nascent Soul Realm, she would be able to do what most other cultivators couldn''t--form a Soul at both stages without needing an overabundance of resources to be wasted on her. She clutched at the seed tightly, as did Liang; there wasn''t a Sect in the Lower Ashlands capable of giving them the benefits their Master did. In fact, they''d likely have to go to the Central Ashlands and those vaunted Tier VIII and Tier IX Sects to find these opportunities. But even there, those would be reserved for the Holy Sons and Daughters, the divinely chosen set to inherit the Sects themselves in the future. "Alright. So, that should eat up your time a little bit now that it''s freed up," her Master smiled. Just like with the feather, there seemed to be no pain for him in parting with these times. "Ah, right, almost forgot these. Here," he fetched something else from his robe--though he claimed to not have a spatial treasure, Yue mused that those robes may as well be one considering how many things he was holding inside of them. He took out four tiny pellets, ones that Yue immediately recognized--Basic Qi Pill. Comparatively, it was a downgrade and would even be considered a disappointment if not for the Master''s next words. "These should increase your Qi gathering speed by about 40% for two hours. I don''t have too many of them, so don''t get too accustomed to it. Consider it a special reward." Her Master, indeed, never did anything in an ordinary way--rather than Basic Qi Pills, those were closer in efficiency to the legendary pellets of the Skyhaven Alchemist Guild, aptly named Skyhaven Qi Pills, which increased Qi gathering speed by 35% but for four hours instead of two. Whenever a bottle of them appeared at an auction, the entire Lower Ashlands would seemingly awaken from slumber in a desperate attempt to buy them. Alas, few could afford the gargantuan price that they went for. "Okay. You can exercise now. Dinner will be ready soon." the bearded man stood up and silently started preparing dinner. There was a knot in Yue''s throat, a knot both blessed and aching, and as she glanced at her Junior Brother, she recognized it within his eyes, too. Almost simultaneously, they both knelt and pressed their foreheads against the dirt. It was nothing compared to their Master''s gifts, but they didn''t know what else to do--only kiss the dirt and swear within their Souls they''d desperately try and, somehow, pay it back in the future. Even if the debt was taller than the highest mountain and deeper than the bottomless seas, they took it upon themselves willingly--it would be a fuel and the wind carrying them onward. Chapter 54 - Yellow Was the Greed Chapter 54 Yellow Was the Greed The entrance to the valley of the Holy Blade Sect was congested beyond reason. Shen Tao had to excuse himself from the line as there wasn''t even a line--there was a torrent of people lining up behind everyone and everything, making it seem as though there were sixty rows and sixty entrances whereas, in fact, all flooded towards one. Though he knew that people would race over, he never expected there to be this many. His heart raged ever so slightly as he''d never seen a sight like this at the entrance of the Bloodmoon Sect, not even close. There were just about ten thousand people, at the very least, possibly even more. Chances were that just a couple of hundreds would barely meet the requirements. Even with the disaster and the attack, Holy Blade Sect wouldn''t randomly lower their requirements just to placate mediocrity, especially now when they would become a de-facto leader within six thousand miles. He stepped back and took in some fresh air. There was no need to rush--it would be his turn, eventually. The numbers would quickly begin to thin out he saw that the vast majority of the people present were at the Foundation Establishment Realm and well above twenty years of age. And even those that were younger were merely at Qi Condensation Realm. He''d only noticed six, perhaps seven people that were likely to get accepted, and even they would become ordinary disciples at best. Even if it was tiring and dull to simply wait around doing nothing, there was little else he could do. He was no longer Shen Tao, but Xiang Tao, a vagabond seeking refuge at last. ** "Aaaand, done!" Leo ripped away the last of the overgrown roots, tossing it on the side. He was alone, having sent the kids away earlier since he didn''t know what would happen when he finished. Descending the tree, he plastered his hand at his hips and stared at the renewed visage--he didn''t recognize what type of tree it was, but it did leave him breathless nonetheless. The tree''s trunk was wide, roots digging deep into the dirt below, while its branches webbed out into a perfectly symmetrical canopy shaped almost like a mushroom cap. It was a distantly familiar shape, as though he''d seen it before in his life somewhere, but couldn''t quite remember. Even while ''sheared'', it still appeared wild and untamed, the branches like unrestrained arms going in every which direction. It suddenly began to churn, gaps in its bark abruptly glowing in faint emerald. Strange smoke began to evaporate while its leaves began to gently sway, glowing in the same color as the gaps. Leo felt a knock of energy against his chest that pushed him a step back and watched in awe as well over a hundred thousand stalks of grass immediately grew in a wide circle around the tree. Within them, flowers began to bud and bloom in seconds, and all other trees surrounding it grew brighter in hue, seemingly revitalized. He, too, felt something within himself crack, but could seldom feel what as his sight was immediately flooded by a barrage of windows. [''??????'' has breathed in fully, rekindling its life] [''??????'' reveals its true form and identity to you: Alder, Soul of the Forest] [Your favorability has increased by 10] [Alder will owe you a favor] [You have received ] [+8 to System XP] [System Level: 2] [System XP: 13/20] [...] [ -- a piece of bark suffused with Divine Qi. Holding it on person blocks everyone from inspecting you with their Divine Sense. Your Soul cannot be probed, inspected, or damaged. Once a year, you may use the Bark to plant a banyan tree that will bear 6 pieces of Divine Fruit] [...] [Your efforts have been further rewarded: received ] [ -- direct Qi within the sword and attack at any angle. The attack cannot be blocked] [Your cultivation has been increased: Early Foundation Establishment --> Late Foundation Establishment] [Your roots have undergone a minor transformation: --> ] [A temporary System Shop has been opened: your next purchase will cost 0 System XP] [Item List: 1. 1x -- designate a spot. You may teleport to it by using the scroll at will if you are within 500 miles. Can teleport max up to 2 people at once. 2. 5x -- upon consumption, immediately enter a perfect meditative trance for 12 hours. Extremely useful when contemplating Dao, or training martial arts. 3. 1x -- gains True Insight within 5 feet of itself. Warning: the hidden world is thus so for a reason. Perhaps it is best left alone? This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. 4. -- shift into the nether membrane of reality, temporarily becoming invisible. Drains immense quantities of Qi. Overuse can leave the mind reeling. 5. (3 uses) -- ring a bell that temporarily hypnotizes everyone below Immortal Foundation Realm. Interacting with them in any capacity wakes them up from hypnosis. 6. -- mends cracks on one''s Soul. 7. 2x drops of -- achieve [Sunfire Physique] for 1h. Permanently drops one''s cultivation a minor realm. 8. 10x -- immediately heals any injury, so long as the person''s heart hasn''t stopped. Can regrow minor parts (fingers, toes). Cannot regrow limbs. 9. -- attacks through this item are concealed by nature. They make no sound or disturbance in natural Qi. Can only be detected by people with high perception. 10. (2 uses) -- create an illusionary array spanning two miles. Lasts 30 minutes. Can only be seen through by the Array Grandmasters.] [...] [You have 30 minutes to choose] Leo was, once again, angry. The system presented him with so many amazing choices, that having to choose one felt almost diabolically unfair. He would have rather the system simply chose one of the ten at random and given it to him without mentioning others. Now that he knew, though, he was yellow with greed, in want of them all. There was also the conundrum of selfishness--should he pick for himself, or for the pair of his Disciples? After all, he couldn''t leave the forest any time soon, but the two might want to do so in the near future. Seeing that he only had thirty minutes left, he gritted his teeth and sprinted off toward the camp. He''d pick the four-five items that he thought were the best and ask Yue and Liang which one they wanted. And, whatever they chose, he''d give it to them. However, the two were conked out and asleep--not even in their mud huts, but rather leaning against each other and the boulder. A smile stretched out on his lips as he sighed, sitting down and choosing the first option--. While all others were useful beyond measure, this one would ensure their safety when they decided to leave. Any circumstance and they could just come back home immediately. Even if the world past the forest was rife with death, he didn''t want to see either of them die. He prepared dinner as silently as he could, which his newest robe-borne-item made even easier. The piece of bark rested close abreast, and it was his dearest item. It would allow him to hide his meager cultivation and cosplay as a secluded hermit all that much better. However, because he''d have to inject a bit of Qi to activate it, he let it go unused for now. Both kids were accustomed to him being Foundation Establishment lad, and if he suddenly changed, they might start asking questions. Questions he had no means of answering. It was the tantalizing scent of the food that woke the two up. "H-huh? What... what the hell happened?!" Yue exclaimed, her cheeks reddening as she woke up and darted away quickly from her Junior Brother. "Was I so tired that I thought you were a decent pillow? Aah, Master, this is all your fault..." "Haah, dinner''s ready," he said, and her (very played-up) distress vanished immediately as she sat down in front of her plate. "Have you finished, Master?" she asked. "Hm." "How is your friend?" "Satisfied," Leo said. He elected not to mention something that transpired beyond the system''s framework. A voice... no, perhaps closer to a ''thought'' appeared inside his mind, a thought that wasn''t there before and that did not belong to him. It detailed a location deeper west into the forest, beyond the solitary grave, where a well existed. And the ''thought'' insinuated that the well was of the great importance, not just to the forest, but to the entire world. For now, however, he put it on the back burner, deciding to look for it once the longhouse was completed. "They gave me this, so I now pass it onto you." Leo took out the tattered scroll stained with purple lettering and handed it over to confused Yue. "What is it, Master?" "It''s a Void Scroll," he said. "Close your eyes, pour your Qi into it, and place a mark here, nearby." Yue followed instructions and Leo watched a rip in space occur for a moment before disappearing. "Now, the next time you pour your Qi into it, you will be teleported right here, immediately. As long as you are within 500 miles of this place. Ah, two people can teleport at once, so make sure you save your Junior Brother, as well." "..." Yue didn''t say anything, lowering her head suddenly. Leo''s confusion lasted only for a moment. "I... cannot accept this, Master." "Hm? Why?" "Because you have given me so, so, so much, that if I had ten lifetimes I feel like it wouldn''t be enough to repay you," she said. "I haven''t earned any of these things." "... who cares?" Leo asked. "It''s my choice to give them to you. Besides, I haven''t given you anything that I cannot part with. But, if you feel like you haven''t earned it, I can always give you guys something to do." "Yes, please! Tell us what we can do!" in the meantime, Liang was lips-deep in the stew, as though it had nothing to do with him. "I will need some iron ore and stone for the longhouse that I''m building," Leo said, taking out the compass. "This compass here will light up if you are within 200 yards of either one. Tomorrow, take Blackie, and your Junior Brother, and start exploring southward." "Of course, Master!" Yue took the compass as though it was the holiest object she ever touched, shakily putting it away. "I''ll make sure to find it!" "Don''t go too far. And if you come across anything dangerous, come back immediately. Understood?" "Yes!" "Ah. I will also need some hides--if you find some animals that you can defeat, and that are hostile to you two, grab some." "Will do, Master!" "But, again, it is imperative that you stay safe," as Leo broke off into his umpteenth safety speech, Yue dove into the stew, not wanting it to go cold. "Not just here in the forest, but outside as well. The world is dangerous, and that is why I want you to take the scroll and hold it close. Not just the scroll, I will also pass an attacking art to you two tomorrow, so you will have to practice diligently and make sure to always be on the lookout..." Chapter 55 - Of Simple Arts and Shady Animals Chapter 55 Of Simple Arts and Shady Animals It was a bit strange, Leo mused, how silent the forest was after the breakfast. Not only did Yue and Liang go southward in search of an iron mine, the vast majority of the animals dispersed as well, with quite a few following them. Beside Blackie, Milky also went, as did Red, Hoot, Howly, and Leo even spotted that terrifying-looking tiger shadowing them from the rear. The animals seemed to have grown fond of the kids as much as he did, and he felt better about their safety since they had the numbers. That tiger, especially, even if it couldn''t contend with the strongest cultivators looked mean as hell, and that would likely be enough to scare off most of the untoward sort. Rather, there was only one other ''person'' beside him in the camp--the strange, shabby dog. It was sitting down on all fours, staring at him, its snout long and narrow, a pair of beady, yellow eyes sporting nothing but dullness. It was a bit distracting, altogether, as Leo tried pondering upon the new martial art that the system had given him. Although, in dog''s defense, the main reason why he couldn''t concentrate was because the art seemed so braindead and simple that he felt it was a waste to even learn it. Put some Qi in a specific way inside a sword and just... swing. He garnered that even a child could pull it off, which likely meant that the art itself wasn''t all that special. Nonetheless, the footwork he was given turned out to be fairly decent as at least a workout exercise, so there might be some secrets to the attack art as well. As such, he decided to study it... but later. For now, he set it aside, and wanted to see whether the dog would let him come near. Though the disheveled little thing didn''t exhibit any of the usual signs of aggression--perked ears, that weird pose, lowered tail, and so on, Leo didn''t trust any of his past knowledge of animals because he''d been proven wrong so many times by now it wasn''t even funny. He approached a step closer and the dog didn''t seem to react at all. Pondering for a moment, Leo grabbed a waterskin and poured some juice into a bowl, setting it down. The dog''s snout immediately began to move as he sniffed the tantalizing scent, carefully sauntering onward and toward it. He quickly reached it and, with one eye looking up at Leo, he lowered his head and started drinking. It was all quite adorable and Leo had to fight back a laugh, maintaining an indifferent expression. He recalled a tidbit about how, when meeting a new dog, ''getting on their eye level'' might help with trust, so he did precisely that--he got down on all fours and lowered his head until it was level with the dog''s. The dog suddenly stopped drinking and, Leo could have sworn, for a moment sported ''what is wrong with this guy''s head?'' expression. Quickly sorting himself, Leo sat back up and thanked the heavens there weren''t phones or cameras anywhere in this world to record his embarrassment. He still felt fidgety, however, fearing there were animals hidden in the leaves or the bushes gossiping about his downward dog pose. The dog eventually finished the bowl of juice (a strange thought to conjure, he mused) and, surprisingly, walked over toward him, lying down by his side and closing his eyes. Leo smiled faintly as he watched the shoddy thing slowly fall asleep, ensuring to make as little noise as possible as to not disturb the little guy. With the kids doing his daily task of exploring the forest, there wasn''t anything he absolutely had to do. As such, he went to the pond for a quick bath before practicing and cultivating some more. But, as he got bored fast, he abandoned the notion and sat back down in front of one of the mud huts. The seventh building there, some ways off from the rest, was gone--Leo didn''t really know when it disappeared but, one day, it simply did. There wasn''t really a way for him to keep it as, unlike with the longhouse, the system didn''t offer to take the raw material and process them for him. As such, he would have somehow had to get his hands on processed lumber, which wasn''t going to happen in the middle of the forest. The more the world changed, it felt, the more it stayed the same--despite him having two Disciples, a litany of animals as friends, and a world at his feet, today felt strangely similar to the first day he arrived in this world, sans the terror, confusion, and absolute belief that he was dreaming it all up. Eventually, he got back up and started rummaging around the camp, collecting whatever he could find that could be used for the longhouse, putting it on the ever-growing piece of wood. It wasn''t a lot, far from it, but at least he kept himself busy. There weren''t screens everywhere that he could use to kill a few hours every day so that he wouldn''t be alone with his thoughts, and though he didn''t mind being alone with them in this world, he still felt it was a waste to just sit around and do nothing. Thus, he got up and did anything. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it The pair of kids, and the entourage of animals (that had somehow gotten bigger?) returned a few hours before the evening, and they returned with a pair of good and bad news: bad news? There was no iron mine. Good news? They found a quarry. "Liang already dug out what can be considered an entryway," Yue explained. "It''s only about forty feet in the ground, and it is quite rich. We will go back tomorrow and start cutting off the chunks of stone. How many do you need, Master?" "Around... 300 medium-sized ones?" "Okay," she said. "It will take us a few days, but we''ll definitely get it. It''s just a shame that we weren''t able to find an iron mine." "It''s fine, don''t worry about it," Leo said. "We''ll find it eventually." "Even if we don''t," Liang said. "We can always go buy some iron ore on the outside. Ah, sorry, Master! Isn''t there a rule that once we enter the forest, we can never leave? Senior Sister mentioned it when I first arrived, but I forgot. Please forgive me!" while Leo dubiously looked at Yue, the young woman didn''t dare meet his gaze, looking away and coughing awkwardly. "Master is forgiving, Junior Brother," she said. "Let''s not bother him with that. Ah, Master, didn''t you mention that you will teach us another art today?" "... sure," Leo continued to stare at her for a moment longer before simply smiling and shaking his head. "It''s very simple. What you have to do..." he slowly explained the Qi pathway through the meridians and how precisely to gather it into a weapon--be it a sword or a fist. As it was quite simple, and as the both of them were quite talented, the two picked up on it quickly and Leo scattered just as quickly, not wanting to witness their unabridged disappointment with the excuse that he had to go out and gather some water and veggies for dinner. ** Yue followed her Master''s instructions precisely and swung. The thin sword in her hands shook rather violently, so much so that she nearly lost the grip. She frowned for a moment, turning toward her Junior Brother. "Liang, stand over there and put up several layers of defense." "Hm? Sure, Senior Sister," he said quite obediently. "Like this?" "Yes. When I attack, make sure to pay close attention and dodge in time." "Okay!" Yue did the same ritual again, slowly drawing Qi into the sword and swung--Liang''s body was embossed in several layers of gloss, all from Qi. Ordinarily, she wouldn''t be able to break through even a couple of those layers due to the difference in cultivation realms, but for some reason, in her heart, she felt this attack would be different. As per hope and prediction, she watched the sword easily cut through the numerous layers of shields like they were made of tofu. Luckily, Liang recognized it just as quickly and hurriedly dodged backwards, avoiding an injury with a rather shocked expression. "How did you do that, Senior Sister?!" he asked, fiery curious. "I didn''t," Yue sighed. "I used that new art that the Master taught us." "..." Liang frowned and closed his eyes for a moment. Yue watched another few layers of shields appear on his left arm, while his right arm executed the attack--and, just like with hers, she watched the layers of shields evaporate into thin air. It seemed, despite the simplicity of execution and the perceived lack of ''power'', there was one world-defying quality to the art: it ignored defense. On its own, this wouldn''t really be all that wonderful as cultivators very rarely allowed themselves to be stricken directly with a weapon. However, because of just how simple the art itself was, it was entirely possible to layer it on top of another, or even weave the two into a singular attack. "Master really has the strangest things," Yue said. "More than that," Liang said in a rare instance of growing serious and somber. "I suggest you don''t use this attack on the outside, Senior Sister. Unless you plan on killing whoever you are attacking." "Why?" she queried. All else aside, her strange Junior Brother had far more experience in the world of cultivation than she did, and she often asked him questions about it that he was more than happy to answer. "My former Master mentioned once that a key property of a lot of demonic arts was somewhat like this," he said. "That they had the unnatural ability to ignore the order of things." "Are you saying that the Master''s art is demonic?!" "No, of course not. It''s one of the purest arts I''ve ever experienced," he said. "But it doesn''t matter. Unless we teach it to others, they would never know that. All they''d see is us ignoring conventional wisdom, and doing seemingly the impossible." "... sort of like with the footwork?" Yue, with Liang''s help, had discerned the true nature of the Master''s seemingly simple footwork. However, it was far too mind-bending of a truth that she buried it deep and ignored it, for her own sanity''s sake. "Hm," Liang nodded, sighing. It was strange seeing her Junior Brother being so serious, which likely meant that the weight of this was far grander than she thought. "So, remember. Don''t--" "--don''t use it unless I mean to kill, yes," she nodded. "Rather, I should be warning you." "Ha ha, you needn''t, at all!" gone was the somberness, and back was the carefree attitude that, on occasion, would anger her just a twine too much. "I am the greatest secret keeper of the entire Holy Blade Sect! In fact, this one time, I caught one of my Senior Brothers sneaking out of the brothel, and I never said it to anyone!" "You just told me." "..." "Alright, I''m going to practice a bit more while you marinate on that. Good luck, Junior Brother." Chapter 56 - Ails of a Young Heart Chapter 56 Ails of a Young Heart "Age 22, Early Core Formation, Mid Sky Roots," Shen Tao listened to an Elder of the Holy Blade Sect list out his faked credentials. "Not bad. Go on in. Your interview will be held by Elder Xiaoling." Shen Tao nodded toward the man and turned to the side, walking further in under the envious gazes of the mases. Unlike his predictions, Holy Blade Sect hadn''t accepted nearly as many as he thought. In fact, he was only the twenty-fourth to go in. They hadn''t loosened even a little in terms of talent requirements--if anything, they might have grown stingier. It made sense, Shen Tao realized; all those who went to the Bloodmoon Sect instead would have no choice but to go here now. There was no reason to lower the requirements at all. He walked into a rather spacious, yet well-adorned room with a tantalizing scent of lavender hanging in the air. There were only two praying mats at the center of the room, with one of them housing a familiar face--Elder Xiaoling was truly a beautiful woman, but Shen Tao had no untoward designs. He could seldom pay attention to women his own age, let alone someone over a decade Senior. "Xiang Tao greets Elder Xiaoling," he clasped his hands in front of his chest and bowed. "Hm. Sit," she said and he obeyed, sitting down onto the praying mat. She turned silent, and the two stared at each other for a long while before her lips parted. "You are talented." "Thank you." "But your soul reeks." "E-excuse me?" "Most of the world thinks that the only thing my art can do is damage another''s soul," she said. "But it allows me to peer through whatever fa?ade people put on. Usually, beneath the calm lake, there is a raging ocean. You''re just a brat, so why is your soul so full of anger and grief?" "..." Shen Tao didn''t know what to say or how to respond. Lowering his head, he bit his lip, uncertain. He couldn''t say the truth, but what if she could see through his lie? "Why can''t it be? Is there a law in nature that only the old get to feel anger?" "Hoh?" he didn''t dare look up, fearful of what he might see. "You''re right. There''s no such law. What happened to you is none of my business. But... it is the business of my Sect. Once you become our Disciple, your demons become our demons. Your anger becomes our anger. Your grief becomes our grief. All I have to know... will your demons cause harm to my home?" "..." he looked up and met the eyes of a woman he always considered nothing but air. Even if she was talented, she threw it all away pursuing a dead-end art, and would soon suffer the consequences of it. However, her words... they rattled his mind like thunder. It was almost the exact opposite of what it was like in the Bloodmoon Sect, where every Disciple had to scratch and claw for a modicum of recognition, where, if you were being pursued, nobody would help you. If anything, they might make it harder on you. For a second, his heart wavered truly. "No," he replied, his voice cracking slightly. "And I don''t need my demons to become the Sect''s, either. I will deal with them myself." "Then why do you want to come here?" "... to become stronger." "You can do that anywhere in the world," she said. "With your talent--your true talent, not whatever that garbage mask of yours is showing off--you can enter any Sect you want. You can even go back to yours and reign supreme." he would have been a fool if he hadn''t picked up on it by now. She saw through it--through the mask, through him. "..." "I''m not judging," she said. "And I sort of get it, I suppose. You''re just a kid, a kid who would have the world fall on top of his shoulders. Hell, you would most likely be killed within a few months. So, I get it, why you''re hiding. I don''t get why you''re hiding here, though. You hate this place, and you hate us. Wouldn''t I be risking lives of my Disciples by letting you in?" This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. "I can swear an oath," Shen Tao said, grinding his teeth. "That I will not do anything that could harm the Sect or the Disciples." "Oaths can be broken or worked around with," she said. "Just tell me why." "Because... because this is the only way I can think of to become strong enough to avenge my Father!!" Shen Tao looked up angrily, his eyes bloodshot red, staring directly into hers. "I know that those two kids went into the Nameless Forest and got stronger quickly, and that''s what I need to do!" "So, what was your plan, huh?" her expression darkened. "Get close to them, and threaten them to tell you?" "W-what? No... no, of course not," he said, forgetting for a moment that he did consider doing that, indeed. But only for a moment. "I... I just hoped, if I tagged along, I''d... I''d learn how." how was it that he was exposed so quickly? Rather, how bad was his luck that of all the possible people who could interview him, it was the one with the ability to peer past his mask? He was certain that even if the Holy Blade himself was sitting there, he''d have been unable to tell. And yet, she did. "Haah, fine," she said, causing him no small amount of confusion. He was certain he''d be rejected--rather, he silently prayed that would be where it all ended. There was a chance she might imprison him, or reveal his identity, or a thousand other things. None of them, however, included him being accepted. "What? Don''t look at me like a confused pup," she smirked. "I''ve recently been helped by someone who didn''t need to do it, so I''m simply paying forward. I do warn you, however--you only get one chance, kid. One chance. If you so much as sneeze on any of my Disciples, I will personally chop both your heads off." "... both? Oh." he shuddered, instinctively closing up his legs. "I--I won''t. I swear an Oath of Soul that I will--" "--yada, yada, yada," she interrupted. "As I said, oaths mean squat to me. I could swear an Oath to you right now to never reveal your identity, but I could just do it and suffer the consequences because I''ve had decades of experience grappling with hurting my soul. So, one chance. On one condition." "W-what...?" "I''ll tell Mei your identity," she said. "And you will always be grouped with her, no matter what." "... Mei? That wench?! I--I mean... doesn''t, doesn''t she hate me? How can I know she won''t tell everyone?" "Mei? Hate you?" she arched her brows strangely. "Uhm, I''m not sure how to tell you this, kid, but, uh, Mei... I''m pretty sure Mei doesn''t even know your name." "What?!" Shen Tao exclaimed. "I--I confessed my heart to her twice!" "So did every boy her age," the woman shrugged. "Do you know how many confessions she''s had in just the last month? Probably a hundred. You''re a blimp in a long line of handsome and ugly that she''s long since learned to ignore." "--but she was so harsh... I, I thought it was because of who I was, and how she hated me..." "Nah, sorry to break it to you kiddo, but she''s harsh with everyone. So that they don''t pine," the woman faintly chuckled as Shen Tao felt his world slowly collapse around him. "Don''t be too heart-stricken, yet. That girl... as aloof as she is on the surface, she works harder than any other Disciple in the Sect. I said she doesn''t know your name, which is probably true, but she knows you. She fought tooth and nail with her lacking talent to keep up, even if she never said it to anyone else. So, rest assured, she won''t tell anyone. If anything, she might be helpful to you." "Helpful?" Shen Tao lazily looked up, mostly just wanting this to be over so he could go to bed and brood for a little while. "She, too, has been to the Forest," the woman grinned as he felt the world grow alight with colors once again. "Really?!" "Nah." "..." "Pfft, ha ha ha, if you could, you''d at least want to crack a rib or two, huh?" "... n-no, of course not, Elder." "That''s alright. I''ve wanted to do that to quite a few of my Seniors back in the day. Old people can be quite pissy and seem to find joy in the misery of the young. You become what you hate, ''uppose. Anyway, head inside. There''s going to be an Outer Disciple that will take you to your lodging. I will assign you to the Inner Court, but unlike other Disciples, you must seek my personal permission if you want to leave the Sect, and can never do so unaccompanied. Understood?" "Yes." "Good. Also, good luck, kiddo. I hope you find what you''re looking for." Shen Tao merely bowed and left, feeling drained from head to toe. She certainly was an enigma, he concluded. Though the rumors surrounding her were all rather mystical, he never quite bought into them wholly; he always saw her as a cautionary tale, a foolish woman who''d chosen a pursuit of a hollow goal over true strength. And yet, of all the world, she saw through him so easily--not just the mask, that was mostly secondary. She saw his heart, the depths that even he hadn''t explored yet. Leaving the building, he finally stepped foot into the valley itself. Though it has been some time since the attack, there were still a lot of signs of it. Quite a few buildings were still standing ruined, there were clusters of debris that were yet to be cleaned up, and the atmosphere itself still hung rather heavy. This was his new life now, for better or for worse, and he took the first step forward into it, determined to come out of it strong enough to exorcise the anger in his heart forever and more. Chapter 57 - The Quarry Quandary Chapter 57 The Quarry Quandary Leo decided to accompany the kids to the quarry they found under the guise of tutelage, but, in reality, he was just very, very, very bored. Now that he''d gotten used to human contact, it was difficult to live without it. Well, not difficult per se, but since there was a choice, he chose company. The quarry was located about an hour from the camp, and it was simply a rather large hole in the ground. He wasn''t sure what to expect, but it was just... an ordinary-seeming quarry, if a bit on the smaller end of things. Most, if not all, quarries that Leo had seen in his life were those terraced, professionally-made holes that spanned so much area they were like football fields. This... wasn''t quite like that, largely because they''d only touched the surface, discovering the quarry and stopping immediately. The first stone appeared about twenty feet deep, and the kids simply cleared up a bit around it, confirming that it was there, before going back to inform him. Now that they were here, the two immediately jumped into the hole, insisting that he stay behind and simply observe. Leo sat by the edge, took out some fruits, and started snacking as he watched a pair of kids (well, they weren''t kids, not really, even if he called them that--Yue told him she was twenty-two, and Liang was twenty-five) labor away. Strangely, they seemed to enjoy chipping away with primitive-made pickaxes. It was all very odd, however; the stone didn''t seem to be particularly wild or uncouth--if anything, it was a bit too smooth, too perfect. Furthermore, even if Leo knew squat about quarries, he knew that the stones shouldn''t be this close to the surface. If they were, there wouldn''t be need to create quarries as large as they were. The smooth stone, its unnatural proximity to the surface, the relative ease with which it was discovered and was being excavated by some of the most primitive tools imaginable... Leo grew wary as a strange look appeared in his eyes. More and more, he began to suspect, that the ''quarry''s'' discovery had something to do with the system. He never bothered questioning it too deeply as it felt irrelevant--it could be anything, really, a manifestation of this world''s will guiding him to bettering it, some demonic prankster building him up to break him down, a genuine God giving him another chance at life... ultimately, he wasn''t too concerned with ''what'' the system was. However, he was always rather surprised at its seeming effects on the world. Then again, that also might be wrong--it was also entirely possible that this wasn''t a genuine, natural-occurring stone quarry. Rather, it could just as well be some sort of an ''ancient'' or old storage of people who used to live here, perhaps even before this place was a forest. Every civilization needed stone, for this or that, and needed it in larger and larger quantities. Whichever it was, it was a blessing--it was close enough to the camp that it was easy enough to excavate, and there was a chance there was a surplus of stone that he might be able to use for future projects. Blackie and Milky silently snuggled up against him as he lied down on his back, looking up at the clear, blue sky above. Since that one instance of bad weather that scarred him for life, where the thunder ripped through his soul, there wasn''t anything but clear, blue skies. It was strange, as he thought rain was a basic necessity for a forest this large, but, then again, he was seldom an expert on forestry. The kids took a break about two hours in, leaping out of a rather massive hole that they managed to dig out. While they tore stone apart with pickaxes, they excavated the dirt itself around it purely using Qi, causing no small amount of envy in him as he was nowhere close to being able to control his Qi that well. "Thanks," Yue said as she grabbed the waterskin Leo handed her. It was odd--she adamantly refused to carry anything in that spatial ring of hers, and always insisted on receiving food directly from him. And Liang... well, he just copied whatever his Senior Sister did. It was becoming a bit... odd, but Leo wasn''t one to judge. "Two hundred pieces might take a few days, Master. I really thought we''d be able to do it faster, but the stone isn''t as stacked as I was expecting." Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "It''s fine," Leo shrugged. "Days, weeks, it''s all the same. Just don''t overexert yourself." "Master, can you tell us another story?" Yue suddenly asked. "Another story?" "Hm," she nodded. "Like when you tell at night, in front of the fire." "Oh, that. Hmm, what kind of story would you like?" "--what is your favorite myth, Master?" Liang queried as Leo stiffened for a moment, gears of his mind spinning rapidly until he recalled something. "I don''t know if you''ve heard this one," he said. "But, some people believe that this entire world exists on the back of an enormous, Immortal Tortoise. Roots of the trees dig into its shell and connect with the blood vessels. Oceans ebb and flow per its movements--sometimes smooth and calm, sometimes erratic and dangerous. The moon and the sun follow it around, obedient. Every once in a while," that was about as much has he ''knew'' about this particular myth, but seeing kids'' rather engrossed faces, he added a few things of his own. "It peeks from beyond the horizon, curving its elongated head, and gazes upon all of us. It is said that, if you are blessed enough to meet its gaze, you will be blessed by an Immortal Soul, and share-in with the tortoise''s longevity. On the other hand, if you are caught doing something the tortoise doesn''t like, you are cursed with a painful and short life." "..." "It''s just a myth," he added with a faint chuckle. "Like any other." "I''ve never heard of it before," Yue exclaimed softly. "Is... is that Tortoise a... a Spirit?" she asked, shuffling in her seat. Leo didn''t know why--it wasn''t as though the question was strange or something, but he ignored it. Perhaps she had to go to the bathroom and was doing her best to hold on (forgetting for a moment he needn''t have gone himself ever since reaching Foundation Establishment). "No," Leo replied. "What do you think Spirits are, Yue?" Leo asked, in part because he wanted to see how this world viewed them--he fully believed they were real, and even lived in this forest, like Chilly (the crow that sent chills down his spine, thus he named it Chilly). "Spirits... are manifestations of nature''s intentions," Yue replied after a brief''s thought. "But I''m not really sure. A lot of books disagree on what they are. Some say that they''re that, some say that they''re nature''s reaction to the man''s greed, some say that they''re neither and have always been around... why, Master? What do you think Spirits are?" "Who knows?" Leo replied vaguely. "Not everything needs an answer, even if has one." Yue pouted for a moment, thinking he didn''t want to tell her, but the truth was... he didn''t know. To him, Spirits were still just ''concepts'' from back on Earth. Ghosts, apparitions, maybe fae and other woodland spooks, poltergeist... ultimately, things imagined. As for what they were in this world, he could only guess, and he wasn''t confident just yet to do so. "Ha ha, no need to pout. Were you really that interested in what I thought?" "Of course!" she exclaimed. "Aren''t you too, Liang?" "..." "Liang!" "Hm? Yes, what is it, Senior Sister?" "Were you listening to us at all?!" "I... I tried, I really did. But I imagined what it would be like fighting the Immortal Tortoise, and I got too engrossed--" "--engrossed in what?!" she exploded. "In how you would immediately explode?! What do you mean you got engrossed, idiot? Ugh, that battle-crazed mind of yours will be the end of you!" "What''s wrong with imagining?" Liang retorted. "You can''t grow stronger if you don''t believe you can defeat everyone!" "Huh? Then do you think you can defeat our Master?!" Leo nearly spat out the mouthful of juice, wanting to curse Yue out for even giving the crazed boy the idea. If they fought, that muscle head would pound Leo into the dirt, shattering whatever illusion he managed to create. "Master is different," Liang shook his head. "Even if I ever can defeat him, I won''t be able to. It''s as simple as that." "..." Yue appeared just as confounded as Leo, with the difference that he didn''t let it hang freely on his face. He enjoyed the squabbles between his Disciples now that they weren''t a constant in his life but just an occasional thing. He feared, initially, that the two might gravitate towards each other romantically, but if they ever do, it will likely be years if not decades before it happened. For now, he wouldn''t have to bear listening to someone else ''having fun''. "Haah, whatever," Yue said, standing up. "Let''s go back to work." "Yes!" Liang nodded excitedly. "Time to work on my muscles!" "Master--" "--no." "Just once--" "--no." "But--" "--be nice, Yue." the girl grumbled for a moment before relenting and jumping into the hole alongside her Senior Brother. He wondered... how long would he be able to control the two? He''d hoped, that their relationship would improve over time and, well, though it has in some ways, they were still like a perfectly dry kindle--quick to burn. Chapter 58 - Visitor From Afar Chapter 58 Visitor From Afar Lei Feng looked over the winding plains with loathing in his eyes. What was he doing here? Rather, why was he the one sent here? Purity of Qi was abysmal, and even the air itself felt stuffy. He could have been taking a bath with Luna, having the time of his life, and instead... he was here, in the decrepit nothing of the Lower Ashlands, home of the talentless, worthless, and pointless. Were it up to him, he would have built a massive wall around this entire place and let it die out in pathetic silence. And yet, here he was, sent out to investigate the supposed appearance of an Immortal here. It was likely just a pretense, however, to kick him out temporarily and lower his cultivation speed. Recently, he''d been slowly catching up to his Seniors and threatening their position, and they likely colluded together to get him out and ensure that didn''t happen. It was frustrating and hateful, but he couldn''t say no. He didn''t have the power to do so. As he believed there was no Immortal here, he didn''t plan on doing any actual investigating. It was pointless--if this dry-hole could produce an Immortal, they wouldn''t be rotting at the bottom of the barrel in abject irrelevance. Rather, for the next three months that he had to spend here... he decided to just have fun. It didn''t matter what he did here, nobody would pass an ounce of judgement. Even if he levelled the entire thing to the ground, there''d be more people praising him than condemning him back home. His first step was the ''vaunted'' Lingshan Kingdom. He''d never heard of the place, but according to a random passerby he''d grabbed and mind-read, they had three Soul Ascendance Realm cultivators in their ranks, none of whom got along together very well. His lips stretched out into a wide smile as he slowly planned ahead--he''d cast this place in chaos, and then sit at the rear and enjoy the flames. It wouldn''t even be hard, he knew. All he had to offer was a few pitiful ''rewards'', and they would be dancing in the palm of his hands. They were the lesser, even they knew that, and they''d do anything at even the faintest opportunity to escape their fates. Lei Feng could only laugh at the thought--even if he had the power to help a few break through to the Nascent Soul Realm, he''d sooner kill them than do that. Vermin should only ever be allowed to hope and nothing else, to forever gaze at something they would never be able to obtain. ** Holy Blade Art, or its full name--Immolation of the Holy Blade Art--had always been a bit of an enigma, not just for Yu Minge, but even his Master, Holy Ancestor. The art itself was only Low-Heaven Grade, but both his Master and Yu Minge always felt that wasn''t quite right. With each revolution of Qi through the meridians, or each time they''d execute any of the arts contained therein, it always felt as though something was missing, as if it were incomplete almost. Whenever he would have some free time, he''d isolate himself and ponder on it, trying to peer into the depths he wasn''t even certain were there. Sighing, he opened his eyes and stood up, walking over to a small pond of water. He''d walled himself off on one of the mountains surrounding the Sect and overlooking it, a place he often visited when he needed a moment of peace. With Xiaoling taking his place temporarily, he could focus elsewhere... but his mind drifted still to the place below. There was no way he wouldn''t worry, especially now that they''d opened the doors to new Disciples. Once in a while, he''d cast his Divine Sense and examine the newcomers, but it seemed there was nothing truly untoward and that Xiaoling was doing a better job than even he would have. Sighing yet again, he sat down and looked up to the sky. He''d hit a bottleneck, he had to admit... but it was difficult not to do so. As Xiaoling said, if he wanted to break through to Nascent Soul Realm, he''d need at least twenty to thirty years, and that was if he only cultivated non-stop. He''d hoped to be able to glean a few things from the Holy Blade Art, but even that, it seemed, would take a while. The time was running low, though; not only would he have to be on the lookout for the True Demons and whatever their next goal was, but also whoever the Central Ashlands sent to investigate. Arrogance was bound to the blood of everyone born there, and chances were that they did not come down voluntarily. It was all one thing after another, and he wished he could have learned a cloning technique when younger so he could split himself in two, three, or even ten people and be everywhere, all at once. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Alas, he had one body and one mind, and could only dedicate it to one thing at a time. Returning to the small cabin, he sat down cross-legged on a prayer mat and closed his eyes. The scripture of the Holy Blade Art appeared in his mind, long and everlasting, its lettering gilded with golden gleam. Each character seemed to chant itself toward the sky, as though demanding attention for itself over others. Yu Minge frowned suddenly--in the midst of blinding gold, he saw a tiny mote of something else. Between the first and the second character of the first mantra, he saw a shimmering shadow, a clasp of darkness that was never there before. He rapidly pulled himself out of the image training, breathing heavily, his eyes full of worry. "... have I been infected?" ** Mei stared silently at an unassuming face of a young man fidgeting in front of her. Elder Xiaoling informed her that she''d be accompanying a newly recruited Disciple who, in reality, was the shadow she was chasing almost all her life--Shen Tao, the Chosen One of the Bloodmoon Sect. Though the Elder didn''t go into detail as to why a Chosen of another Sect was joining theirs, Mei could venture a guess or two. Almost all her life, she was envious of this man''s talent--she worked twice, thrice, five times as hard, she felt, than him and all others like him just to barely keep up. That was why she never felt they were too otherworldly--they coasted on their talents, never working as hard as they could, allowing themselves to stagnate. In small parts of her heart, she even hated him--the man who had everything she ever wanted, yet was swimming in the still waters just like her. Though she wasn''t particularly enthused that she''d have to shadow him, it did afford her the opportunity to see just how exactly was he wasting his talents. Was he like a lot of the Seniors she''d seen over the years, frequently visiting brothels? Or was his vice drinking? Or, perhaps, was he just... lazy? "... what?" he asked, breaking the silence. "Why are you staring at me so hard?" "No reason," Mei replied casually. "Spar with me." "H-uh? What?" "Spar with me," she pointed at the nearby field. "I had some insights recently, and I want to test them out." "But why me?! Can''t you ask one of your friends?" "We''re friends." "..." "..." "Like hell we are! Who the hell is friends with you?!" "Let''s go," she shrugged her shoulders and headed over to the field. Despite his protests, audible and bodily, he followed along. "Since I know you can''t use your arts in full since it would expose you, let''s just fight with basic swords techniques." "Ugh, fine," he pulled back his long hair and took out his sword. "Here I come!" She did the same, darting forward in the flash of light. Despite her speed, he--rather nonchalantly, at that--deflected her attack, pushing her back a few steps. She felt a ripple of Qi storm through her, making her still for a moment, but he never followed-up. Rather, he stayed rooted in the same place, his eyes dutifully watching her. Gritting her teeth, she poured more Qi into her sword and attacked again, feigning a direct hit and going for his right side. He read her immediately, however, entirely ignoring her feign and easily deflecting her true strike. Over and over and over and over--they must have gone for over fifty rounds in the span of ten minutes, and yet... she was unable to land a single hit. He never retaliated, only ever defending. And, unlike her, who was gasping for breath, he seemed as though they hadn''t even begun just yet. It was back, the frustration. She thought she buried it after experiencing the miracle of the Nameless Forest, having her roots ripped and re-done, and finally beginning to believe she was at the equal level with others. So why... why was it that he still seemed like a mountain looming over her? "Just because you have more Qi or because it''s purer," he seemed to have read her mind, speaking up. "Doesn''t mean you can fight better. You always telegraph your attacks. And after I blocked you a few times, you tried compensating by pouring more Qi into them, tiring yourself out more and more while I never had to spend more than just minimal amount of Qi to defend." "..." she bit her lower lip, swallowing her pride and accepting the tutelage. "Then... how do I fix it?" she asked. "..." he smiled faintly, disappearing suddenly and appearing by her side, his sword just shy of bursting through her throat. "You fight. A lot," he whispered directly into her ear before jumping back to his original position. "Since I was five years old, I fought every day. I fought until my bones were broken and until I was bleeding from practically every inch of my body. I fought when it was cold, when it was hot, when it was snowing, raining, day or night. Unless you tower over someone else in terms of cultivation, you will always lose against people who fight every day. Besides," he added. "Your attacks... are soft. Instead of aiming for my neck, you aim for my shoulder. Instead of going for my head or my heart, you go after my hands or my thighs. You want to wound me, and not kill me." "--of course!" she exclaimed, somewhat flustered. "I don''t know what it was like for you... back there, but here, we are not allowed to severely harm our fellow Disciples." "Oh?" he arched his eyebrows as his lips stretched out into a strange, mocking smile. "You think you can harm me... severely? Cute." "..." I''M GOING TO KILL HIM! Chapter 59 - Scattered Ruins Chapter 59 Scattered Ruins Leo yawned and stretched lazily, leaving the hut and glancing about. Most of the animals were still fast asleep, as were his pair of Disciples. The last few days were rather... boring. It was mostly just watching the kids bring back the stones, and him putting the stone onto the fantasy-suffused wood, watching the raw material be processed into proper shape. On the way, he''d gather reeds and straw whenever he''d see some, having already gathered around 60% of the needed numbers for both. Following a quick bath, he made breakfast... but it wasn''t as fun anymore. He''d tried practically every combination that he could by now, and there was little else to attempt. The only thing he could do was wait for the seeds that Yue planted to grow, and see if he could concoct something with them. As soon as the breakfast was ready, both the animals and the kids woke up and quickly converged. The fire in their eyes was never extinguished--on the contrary, it seemed that the ''word'' was spreading further and further out into the forest, as Leo spotted six newcomers this morning. They were an entire family of four-eyed, white-feathered sparrows... except they were the size of a larger pigeon. "Master," Yue suddenly broke the silence. "Once we complete the longhouse... can Liang and I leave the forest for a little while?" "Hm?" Leo glanced at them. He wasn''t particularly surprised--if he could, he''d leave too. There was little to do in this place, and especially for the young people in the prime of their lives, it was probably quite suffocating. "Don''t--don''t get me wrong!" she quickly said. "We enjoy spending time here, a lot, but there is this one place that I always wanted to go to. Especially now, when we''re growing stronger, I feel like we can accomplish something. We won''t even be that far, just south of the forest--Cradle of the First Men," while Leo maintained an indifferent expression, he wanted to laugh a little bit at her reaction. "Are you confident?" he asked. "Hm," she nodded. "We''ll go together and never separate. If we truly ever feel like we''re in danger, we will use the Void Scroll... if, if you don''t mind it." "Yes, the reason I gave it to you two is that I''d mind if you used it, so it''s just a useless decoration to be left hanging in your pocket," Leo smiled faintly, taking a sip of the juice. Though he felt a bit strange about going back to loneliness, them leaving would afford him the time to explore the depths of the forest and locate the well. "Of course you can go. Just stay safe, that''s all I ask." "Of course, Master," she said. "We won''t stay long. Two months at most. Ah, the Cradle is sort of like a rite of passage," she added. "It''s a settlement of forts scattered around and usually manned by Disciples of the Sects. There are a lot of Demonic Beasts as well as Others, so there are constant hunts and fights happening." Leo listened to it carefully, mapping inside his mind where it was. "There are two Soul Ascendance Realm cultivators overseeing everything and protecting the forts, but it isn''t unusual for the Disciples to die there, especially if they extend far past the forts'' influence." "Others?" Leo queried. He grew a bit bolder with his questions, poking and prodding here and there, his excuse of ''being away from the world for so long'' locked-and-loaded if either of the Disciples asked. Neither, however, seemed to question why he''d ask that. "Hm, it''s mostly what we call bandits and the mutants," she said. "They, too, come to the Cradle to fight for the resources. There are quite a few canyons that flood yearly, and once the floods retreat, for some reason, a lot of treasures appear--weapons, pills, herbs, armor, even martial arts and cultivation methods. Nobody has ever learned why it happens, but when it does, almost every Sect sends their best Disciples to look for good opportunities." "Just last year," Liang said. "Senior Brother Xu went to the Cradle as one of the weakest of his generation, but he lucked into Root-Washing Pill and upgraded his roots overnight!" "..." Leo''s eyebrows twitched for a moment as he recalled that he still had that single Root-Washing Pill somewhere in his robes. He never ended up using it, and he hadn''t given it out just yet. Luckily, one of the rewards for completing the longhouse was a few more pills, so he would be able to give them out and even have two extras for the future. Leo had already decided to make a Sect of his own as part of the main quest rather than joining a new one. In time, he hoped, that one of the two kids in front of him would grow strong enough to herald the Sect so that he could just be a mysterious ''Master'' or an ''Ancestor'' that never really interacted with the world. While they dealt with the matters of the Sect, he''d travel the lands and have a bit of fun. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. That was for the future, however--a very distant future, at that. "That''s nice," he said. "But don''t chase treasures at the risk of your lives, okay?" "Of course, Master," Yue said as the three fell into silence. It has been some time since it was just him and the animals, Leo mused. And though he liked having people around (probably just as much if not even more), there were moments where he yearned for silence, too--especially if the pair of his Disciples broke out into one of their pointless fights. The entire forest would roar with Yue''s anger and Liang''s whining, and even the animals would know to scatter at those times, hiding in the holes and the trunks and the bushes, away from the hubbub. Even if, at times, their fighting sounded like a nice melody, at other times it was akin to locking two cats who hate each other in the same cage. Following the breakfast, Yue and Liang went to the quarry to finish up and make it ready for any future excavations while Leo took the compass from Yue and headed northward. He largely stayed away from the north as that was where Chilly--the crow--was. However, so long as he didn''t cross that ''invisible barrier'' that his gut would warn him about, he figured he would be fine. It wasn''t long before the healthy trees gave way to the macabre ones, but he ignored them. He was alone, for the first time in a while, as none of the animals accompanied him--not even in the shadows (as far as he could tell). Though a bit scary, he fought the urge to turn around and run, investigating with the compass in hand, waiting for the damn thing to light up. The north, much like further west of the western pond, stuck out from the rest of the forest. None of the trees or the plants that seemed to live here appeared anywhere else in the forest--the red-capped mushrooms that were like polka dots, the ''breathing'' flowers whose petals would close up and open in rhythmic fashion, the swaying branches that were almost like sentient twines, coiling around virtually everything... Furthermore, unlike the rest of the forest, there were no animals. Not the animals like Hoot or Red, the ''mutated'', weird sort, or animals like that dog--completely ordinary. As far as he could tell, there was only Chilly, and everyone else stayed hell away from it. Leo couldn''t blame them--just the mere glance of that crow made him feel like he''d touched the glass pane of death. He couldn''t imagine trying to live and raise a family while surrounded by that feeling. The trees suddenly parted, and Leo came upon a rather wide clearing--it was rectangular, stretching out westward for nearly half a mile. He paused at the edge, stunned and confused; unlike every other clearing, which had within it things you''d ordinarily find in a forest--ponds, flowers, grass, and such--this one had... a building. Yes, it was a building in major disrepair--there was no roof, half its walls were eaten by time, and it was reminiscent of those ancient ruins back on Earth that were really just a set of twelve walls vaguely forming a set of rooms. Leo approached with the caution, fearing something might jump from the inside--but it didn''t. Just like its spiderwebbed walls, its insides were overgrown with nature too; grass and flowers had taken over, but there were still remnants of things that were. In one corner, he saw a cracked, obsidian-black cauldron lying on the side. In another, there was a stool missing two out of its tree legs, the rest of its body deep in the phase of rot. Scattered bits could be found between the walls, reminders that someone once lived here. Leo''s mind drifted back to that grave, and he wondered whether the forest... was always a forest. There was a good chance that before the trees sprouted like in Eden, this may as well have been a completely different topology--maybe it was a flat or hilly plain, maybe it was city or a town, or even perhaps a Sect. He sat down onto one of the walls after ensuring it was stable, gazing upon the weathered stone. The winds blew past him, swaying the grass. Somberness and melancholy overwhelmed him, almost like a tidal wave surging from within. At some point in time, there was a person, or people, living here, enjoying everyday life. And yet, all that was left of them... were these stained walls and cracked pottery. Life, in moments like these, seemed woefully meaningless. They, too, must have struggled with something--perhaps cultivation, perhaps familial expectations, perhaps just love. And yet, all their struggles, small and large, faded like ashes in the winds of time. All that was left was a last syllable of their existence, a tiny speck of their cosmic inconsequentially. Would his life, and thus death, be any different? All his efforts to build a life in this forest, to befriend its netizens, and to help people... would they all eventually fade, the only reminder some cold structure that could not make a sound? Would those mud huts survive his end, and eventually become curious findings of people a thousand years into the future who''d wonder why somebody built mud huts in a desert? He chuckled lightly at the thought, standing up. It didn''t matter, not really. He did a thousand things to make himself memorable back on Earth, but what was the point? He had no means of seeing what his death meant to that world, just as he won''t have means of seeing it here. Life was too short, and too full of possibilities to fear what might come after it disappears. If there was time to ponder legacy after death, there was still a breath left to live. Just as he took a step forward to walk past the structure, he felt a buzz in the palm of his hand and watched the compass light up in a golden hue--it had found something. Chapter 60 - Thirst For Knowledge Chapter 60 Thirst For Knowledge Leo followed the compass'' directions, moving further northwest for about fifty yards, just toward the edge of the clearing where he saw strange rock protruding from the ground--it was dark gray, sporting jagged edges and rough texture. The compass was practically blinding at this point, prompting Leo to put it away and crouch down, using his hands to dig out a small hole around the protruding rock. He frowned--it was similar with the stone quarry. There was quite a few of them at the immediate surface, but here it was even more damning as, after digging just a bit further out, Leo found what looked like a wall. It was very much a storage space rather than a natural occurring iron mine. Standing up, he glanced back toward the decrepit walls and bowed lightly. Even if all this iron ore was perhaps useless to them, and they just used it for trade or something, to him, it was quite important, and gratitude, even to the ghosts, was necessary. Since the kids always wanted some employ, he decided to let them dig out the ore and bring it back to the camp while he prepared everything else. They were only short on clay and some reeds now, and Leo suspected that, within five days, they''ll have gathered all the materials necessary for the longhouse. It took a lot shorter than expected, but, at the same time, it wasn''t unexpected, as it were. They''d essentially found warehouses of two of the most difficult materials to gather, and the hardest part, converting raw materials into usable resources, was handled entirely by the system. For now, he''d have to start making a clearing a further out from the camp, which meant some mild deforesting. He''d also have to avoid cutting the trees where the animals built their nests, so he hoped there would be enough clearance for the longhouse as he really didn''t want to ask any of the animals to move. A stray thought fluttered through his head for a moment--to keep the iron mine a secret... for a little while longer. He briefly smiled at the thought and dismissed it, wondering whether his old, Earthbound fear of being alone was resurfacing a bit. By the time Leo returned to the camp, Yue and Liang had settled the stones and were casually sparring. They did it rather often, but it never broke out into an outright fight--they mostly didn''t even use Qi, merely practicing attacking with the art he''d given them and dodging using the footwork. It all seemed so basic, even from the sidelines, that Leo was a bit embarrassed that they were practicing so earnestly. At first, he thought they were doing it to please him, but he quickly picked up on the fact that they were doing it even when he wasn''t there. Considering that they probably had a wealth of spectacle-inducing arts on the outside that could color the sky red, he wondered what was their obsession with his. Was it just fealty of a Disciple? Or were the system''s methods in some way overpowered? Yue did mention that she used the footwork to escape her Father who was, supposedly, much stronger than her. Alas, unless he himself went out into the green world and saw firsthand the capabilities of the other arts, it was all a moot thought. "Master!" the two stopped and greeted him. "You guys done?" "Yeah. We brought over all the necessary stone," Yue said. "Good. I''ve found an iron mine. Well, not so much a mine as it is iron storage. You guys can start bringing the ores over tomorrow." "Yes, Master!" both exclaimed. Leo started making dinner while they started doing their daily pre-dinner exercises--it was mostly stretches and some running, Leo noticed. The stretches were reminiscent of those he''d see on yoga websites, in those odd days when he''d look up any stretch for lower back pain. He memorized a few of the poses, deciding to give them a shot when the kids were gone.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Before dinner, both went for a quick bath--separately, of course--before settling down near the campfires and waiting patiently. Animals, too, began to converge once again, as every other day, leaving the forest''s depths. It was then that it dawned on him--they still lacked animal hides! Sighing inwardly, he felt a bit dispirited at the thought. Considering that he''d explored quite a large area around the camp without finding any hostile animals, maybe he''d have to send the kids outside the forest to look for them, or go even deeper in a desperate bid? He wasn''t certain what the right call was, deciding to leave it for tomorrow. Perhaps, if he asked nicely enough, one of his furry friends might guide him--whether they understood his words or his intentions, it seemed that they could at least be counted on for some primitive communications, if nothing else. "Master, tell us a story!" Liang immediately said after the dinner was served. Leo hadn''t even managed to get a bite in before the young man''s bright eyes bored a hole in him. "Haah, fine. What kind of story do you want?" Leo asked. "Similar to the Immortal Tortoise one!" Liang replied. "Are there any other mythical animals like that?" "..." Leo had to be quite careful here as his knowledge of the outside world was nonexistent. To him, in effect, everything was a mythical animal, and if he jumped ahead and started mentioning dragons or phoenixes, it might turn out that they are rather common in this world. So, instead, he decided to talk about something entirely alien--black holes. "Hmm, instead of that, do you guys know what a black hole is?" It''s a hole that is-- "It''s... a hole that is black?" Liang ventured a guess, and Leo nearly bent over laughing as he''d already imagined the young man saying those exact words. "Technically, I suppose," Leo chuckled. "But no, they''re not just that," he said. "Black holes are incomprehensibly massive things that exist in the vastness beyond our world," he added. "What is the most unique thing about them is that once anything enters a black hole, it can never leave." "So, it''s a prison? Is it a prison for the Demonic Deities?!" even Yue joined in. "No," Leo shook his head. "They are natural things, not man-made. Nobody can control them or utilize them--they are not so much a prison as they are the final frontier of sorts. There is this idea that our world, and all worlds beyond it, and everything we know, will eventually die out. The night sky flickering with stars will grow dim and one day become extinguished, a black canvas without color. One by one, everything will begin dying out, and black holes will continue growing larger by absorbing things around them. Over the course of innumerable years, there would be nothing left--nothing except for them. "Everything would become cold and lightless, and in the vastness of everything, only the black holes would be, sort of like reminders that, a long time ago, there used to be life. However, even they are not immortal. They... bleed energy, bit by bit," he simplified it. "So, the idea states that, once the last of the black holes has died, it would consolidate the end of everything. There would no longer be light, life, or energy--just... nothing." "..." the two fell silent, looks of horror on their faces. Leo chuckled faintly, feeling rather empathetic--the concept of existential dread was the universal sort, it seemed. "Don''t be so scared," he said. "The number of years that it will take is beyond the scope of reality. Both us, and everyone in this world, will have long since perished, with naught but flimsy, cosmic dust in our stead. Do you know how black holes come to be?" the two shook their heads. "It is said that some stars, the massive stars, upon death do not go out in a blaze of glory that alights the cosmos with color--but, rather, they collapse unto themselves so densely that they break the barrier, forming a singularity and forming a point of no return." "Wow...!!" Yue exclaimed. "How do you know so much, Master?!" "So much? I barely know a thing," Leo shrugged. "Just some shallow bits of knowledge I picked up on from others. Now, eat before it gets cold. Look at the animals--they''ve all finished and are eyeing your portions." "Ah, right! Yes, let''s eat..." Leo laughed faintly at their hurried fingers cradling the wooden spoons and scooping up the stew. At the very least, he now had the topic that he could use to glaze their eyes. It seemed this world had no working knowledge of physics beyond the most ordinary. He feared, if ever for a moment, that there were cultivation methods and martial arts out there capable of ''replicating'' the effects of a black hole, the sort of ultimate attack that could potentially end the world. If they did exist, at least the kids weren''t aware of them. But even the thought of attacks like that existing sent shivers down Leo''s spine. Someone capable of wielding such a power... wasn''t that too terrifying? He put the thought away, slinking back into the more comforting notions. Tomorrow, while the kids dug out the iron ore from the warehouse, he''d see if his furry friends could take him someplace to hunt. And he hoped verily that he wouldn''t run out of tidbits of physics knowledge that he had before the kids departed. But seeing their faces undergo innumerable expressions as he delivered a story was heart-stirring; there truly was nothing quite like a curious mind. It was a sponge, forever thirsty for knowledge. Chapter 61 - Small Woes and Large Chapter 61 Small Woes and Large Leo stared at the winding canyon in front of him in a bit of a daze, wondering whether he''d crossed worlds again on accident. However, glancing to the side where he saw the large, muscular, black tiger standing, looking back at him with an ''odd'' expression, he was certain that wasn''t the case. He was still very much in the same world, in the same forest even, but it was just that the topology of the place ceased making sense. The trees parted like a sea, giving way to a canyon that was at least five miles long and just about half that wide. It had a lot of strange terraces that bored into the sides, forming caves, and quite a few ''levels'', all seemingly populated with life. When he asked earlier in the camp whether there were any animals he could hunt for the hides, the black tiger was the first one to emerge from between the trees and, while the rest of the animals completely ignored them, guide him southwest. They hiked casually for about three hours before they emerged here, at an entirely alien place--a canyon in the middle of the forest. "So... which ones can I hunt?" Leo asked gingerly. Instead of ''replying'', the black tiger seemed to ''shrug'' as it were and suddenly lie flatly down onto the ground, closing his eyes, and falling asleep. Leo reeled for a moment, but not a second longer, turning back toward the canyon. It likely meant that he could hunt them all--well, not all, since not all animals in the canyon had hides. There were plenty of oversized spiders that he was desperately trying to envision as anything else, but there were also boars, bears, and wolves. The key difference, even he noticed, was that none of the animals in the canyon had Qi--and even the few that did, only had small wisps that couldn''t qualify them even as ''Qi Condensation'' realm beasts. Though he''d seen quite a few of the ''normal'' animals shutter around inside the forest, he''d never seen them congregate in such a large number at one place. The next important bit of business was: how to hunt them? His eyes spied a few ways down into the canyon, but even if he could do so, he imagined that attacking one would yield the ire of every other animal, and even if he was a cultivator, that didn''t mean that a few hundred of ordinary animals wouldn''t chew him out in seconds. He contemplated baiting them out of the canyon, but that would also be difficult as he had nothing to bait them with--if he used his juice or stew, chances were that every animal would sprint out of the canyon as though it were migration season. Thus, he sat down, cross-legged, closed his eyes and began to meditate... on how to hunt competently, something he hadn''t even done in a game. ** Xiaoling sighed, pushing herself away from the desk and rubbing the bridge between her eyes. Her head felt like it would split, and it wasn''t because of an injury, but because of the sheer amount of paperwork she''d buried herself in the past few days. Thanks to the new admissions, as well as the massive damage that the Sect took, there was a lot of restructuring that took place. And, in moments like these, it was always dangerous--embezzlement, corruption, pure incompetence, if every person and every small copper coin weren''t being tracked properly, it could cause a cascade of issues down the line that would hinder the entire thing. There were parts of her festering with anger toward her Master--she was somewhat dubious on his extraction from everything, and his retreat into the solitary confinement. Though he declared the reason noble, was it possible that he simply shunned all this paperwork onto her, knowing what was coming? Well, knowing him... it wasn''t outside the realm of possibility. She, thankfully, wasn''t alone--there were six Elders working even more than her, day and night it felt, to keep up with everything. Their already old and thin frames were thinning further, and soon it seemed they''d become sheets of wallpaper against the wall. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. "Alright everyone, take a break," she said, standing up. "We''re down to the final stretch. All that''s left is Hall Assignments for the newcomers as well as inventory for trade. How are our gift stocks?" "Not as much as we''d hoped, Sect Master," they''d gotten around to calling her that despite her wishes, and all she could do was translate it into ''Elder'' inside her mind. "Most of the local Sects simply added about 20% extra on their annual tax, and though the mortals also donated, it is mostly food and few scarce medicinal plants." "What about other Tier IV Sects?" "Celestial Orchid Sect sent twenty Celestial Plums," one of the Elder responded. "Monetarily, it is extremely generous. But--" "--it''s kind of useless?" Xiaoling frowned. "They''re those fruits that you eat when you need art enlightenment, right?" "Yes. They''re one of the most profitable exports of the Celestial Orchid Sect. Buying ten, at any given time, is all but impossible." "Hm. What about the Pavilion?" "They sent three branches of the Heavenly Tree." "Those bastards," Xiaoling''s eyebrows twitched with anger. Just like with the Celestial Orchid Sect, the branches themselves held immense monetary value--in fact, it was virtually impossible to buy them, as the Heavenly Pavilion only ever gifted them. However, their use was extremely niche--conjuring up a Heavenly Light Formation. With three branches, they could operate the array for about a year, but the benefits of the array were that it cleansed the mind and kept the demons out. Ordinarily, it would be beneficial--but during the reconstruction, it was virtually useless. "Which Sect sent us the most useful thing?" Xiaoling asked. "It would probably be Misty Rain Sect," one of the Elders replied. Xiaoling frowned, digging deep into her memory bank to bring up the memories of the Sect. "Do we have any major dealings with them?" "Not as far as we are aware, Sect Master. However, your Master, supposedly, rescued some of their Disciples about a hundred years ago in a Secret Realm. Could this be repayment?" "What did they send?" "They sent a batch of a thousand of Qi Gathering Pellets, five hundred Bone-Mending Pastes, twenty barrels of Azure Wine, and ten spatial rings worth of building materials." "Wow," Xiaoling whistled lowly. Even if, speaking strictly in terms of Spirit Stones, they came up short against the two Tier VI Sects, in terms of usability for now... it wasn''t even in the same realm. "From what I know, they themselves are a fairly small, Tier III Sect. What''s their history?" "They are a splinter Sect from the Celestial Orchid Sect," an Elder said. "It is not publicly known why they split, but about two hundred years ago, some of the Elders and the Vice Master at the time left the Celestial Orchid Sect and founded the Misty Rain Sect. From what I recall, they only have one requirement for acceptance: girls and women under the age of 30." "They don''t take in men?" "Hm, not directly. But they do have male Disciples, as the Elders themselves aren''t prohibited in finding Disciples outside the Sect and taking them in directly." "Right. Boytoys." "Khm." "Alright," she shrugged. "Make a note that, once this is all settled, we ought to send an envoy and express our gratitude." "Will do, Sect Master." Xiaoling walked over to the window, leaning against the pane, and looking over the Sect. The reconstruction was going well--there were seldom traces of the level of destruction that took place here just a while back, but some still remained. Medicinal Hall would take at least half a year to be rebuilt completely, and probably closer to ten years to be fully restocked. Martial Hall couldn''t even be rebuilt--they had to tear down the rubble and construct it anew from the ashes. Luckily, that, too, ought to be done in just a couple of months. Considering the wounds, the scars would be few--if only the visible ones. What was left was to pick themselves up and move onward; for now, at least. Revenge would come, in due time, no matter who their attackers were. Stretching, she turned back and saw that the Elders were still hard at it, sifting through mountains of papers, their old skins aging visibly still. She smiled faintly and retreated to her seat--she couldn''t let them soak up the worst of it, when the youngest was at least thrice her age. As she said, it was the last push, and once they were past it, they''d be able to simply sit back and recuperate. "Sect Master!" the doors were suddenly flung open, one of the Outer Elders shuffling through swiftly. "Dragon--Dragon--" "Calm down and spit it out." "Obsidian Dragon Realm has opened!" "--WHAT?!" she exploded to her feet, her eyes widening. Impossible, was her first thought, and for a good reason. Obsidian Dragon Realm was one of the six known Hidden Realms of the Lower Ashlands, and the one with the most consistent opening times--every 13 years, on the dot. Except, it hasn''t even been 8 years since it last opened. And it just had to be when they were in the middle of rebuilding. How the hell did this happen...? Chapter 62 - Five Faces of Death Chapter 62 Five Faces of Death Leo''s eyes were wide open, his breath held in his lungs, and his body prone to the ground. Using only the faint movements of his fingers, he tethered the sword to Qi, manipulating it from above and abruptly shooting forward, aiming for the head of the rather large boar beyond the shrubbery. He''d hidden himself for nearly two hours, barely moving and breathing, waiting to see whether any of the animals would evacuate the canyon--and one just did. The sword shot silently through the air and, without any resistance, pierced through the boar''s head, killing it immediately. Leo stood up, only now realizing he was covered in sweat, and glancing over at the black tiger who was casually napping. The massive beast didn''t have to hide--it seemed invisible to the world, as though only Leo could see it. It was either that, or the animals in the canyon simply ''surrendered'' themselves to whatever would happen in regard to the obsidian beast. Whichever it was, Leo felt a bit peeved--but, once again, dared not feel it for too long. He walked over toward the boar and crouched by the beast--the sword lay embedded in the ground by its side, with Leo quickly retrieving it and washing it with Qi. The boar itself was about one and a half (size-wise) of the one he first hunted, many moons ago. Looking over toward the canyon, rather than going on indiscriminate slaughter, Leo made a choice: he''d only come back once they were out of meat. Even if it was for the quest and ''justified'', Leo felt iffy hunting just for the hides and possibly throwing away hundreds of pounds of perfectly edible food in the process. Even beyond that, he didn''t want to see the life here as mere materials, even if they were animals, unlike his other furry friends. Tossing the boar over his shoulder, he started heading back, with the black tiger catching up to him quickly and walking by his side. Unlike Hoot or Red or Milky or White or most others at the camp, whom he could ''understand'' in a sense, Leo couldn''t grasp an iota of tiger''s thoughts or intentions. Nothing was interpretable within those magnificent eyes, and Leo didn''t dare probe further beyond that. "Do you prefer vegetable stew or would you want me to start making one with meat from now on?" he asked. The tiger merely glanced at him and continued moving, as though he said nothing. His cheeks red, he looked away for a second and calmed himself down. "I''m just trying to be nice. But, I mean, you''re also nice--you took me here, showed me that place. So, uh... ah, dear God, if the world could see me, would they think I''m putting on a skit for them?" Leo chuckled faintly at the silence--the tiger, disinterested as ever, matched his pace perfectly. When Leo slowed down, so did the beast, and when Leo sped back up, the black shadow was right by his side. Though Leo feared the beast, it was more so because it was larger than him, and looked like it could de-organ him in about six seconds. Unlike his other friends, however, Leo never quite grasped the ''intellect'' that he''d seen in them; whether it was because it wasn''t there, or because the tiger deemed him unworthy of showcase... that was impossible to guess. By the time he returned to the camp, the night was already descending. The two kids were both in their huts, meditating, while the animals had converged and were waiting patiently. "Sorry, sorry. Hey, you two," he called the two kids out. "Either one of you know how to properly skin and prepare an animal?" "Hm? Oh, you hunted something, Master!" Liang was the first to emerge, almost like a bolt of thunder. "Yes, I am an expert in 27 different ways of skinning, cutting, and dissecting animals!" "... one is enough," Leo looked at him oddly for a moment as he put down the boar. "Okay, get on it. As fast as possible. Tonight''s dinner will be luxurious, briefly-made-an-appearance-a-while-back meat stew." "Finally!!" Liang wept as he fell to his knees, hugging the dead carcass. Leo felt goosebumps shoot through him at the sight, feeling a slight need to throw some holy water at the young man. "I''ll be done in just ten--no, five minutes, Master! Just give me five minutes!"Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. "No, wait, I was thinking more like an hour--" "--I can''t wait that long to eat meat!" Thus, Leo watched in horror as Liang dismantled the boar at such a speed that it left him speechless. All he could do was silently pour water into the pots and alight the fires, scattering vegetables and spices alongside cut up pieces of meat. The image, though, was seared in his brain--that of a muscular youth all but using his teeth to (rather skillfully) tear away skin from the flesh. Just how much did that bastard wanna eat meat?! He discovered new things about his Disciples almost every day--for instance, though Yue was clever and sharp-witted, she was also a bit of an airhead. Also, she enjoyed taking a day off here and there where she''d frolic in the pond or play with Blackie or just do nothing. She also had a wealth of books in that spatial ring of hers that she''d take out once in a while and read. It wasn''t that she read, but that she was rather secretive about it--Leo, once, caught a glimpse of a few letters and words, lengthy, and throbbing, and wild, and embrace. He dared not peek any further, staying well away from her whenever she had a book in her hands. Liang, besides working out all the time, enjoyed occasionally running around with Milky and sometimes spent hours just petting the tiny panther. He also loved climbing trees, and would occasionally even race Red (so far, their record was 0-44 in favor of the monkey). And, now, Leo learned that the young man loved meat. Though it may have just been the fact that he hadn''t tasted it in quite some time. In fairness, everyone seemed a bit excited with the newness of the stew, with quite a few animals accidentally salivating onto the ground. It was quite a sight to behold, though Leo pretended he didn''t see anything--a courtesy he had hoped they''d repay the next time he embarrassed himself. ** A faceless skin ''stared'' at him amidst the flames of destruction. The entire mountain camp, more fortified than some castles, was burning. Hundreds of bodies lay scattered amidst the rubble, whether they were Qi Condensation recruits or Avatar Realm bosses. Everyone... everyone was dead. And it was all because of him--no, it wasn''t him. It wasn''t a person--just a thing that walked silently in the night, and annihilated them. "P-please... please, show mercy!" he fell to his knees, pleading. "I--I didn''t do anything wrong! I am just a cook, not a bandit! I--yes, I was also captured! I was forced to labor away here!" "--you desire Mercy?" a ghastly phantom suddenly appeared next to the thing, bodiless apparition with a human face embossed in shadows and smoke. The face itself was smiling kindly, eyes void of judgment. "Though you desire Me," a voice was sweet and loving, as though a mother''s warm embrace. He found his heart stirring with guilt, and his eyes bleeding tears. "Do you deserve Me?" "Or Me?" another phantom appeared, with the sole difference being the face--rather than kindness, there was rage. Anger. Resentment boiling like water in a cauldron. "Look into your soul, and recognize you do not deserve mercy--you deserve Wrath!" At the same time, three more apparitions appeared--one with an expressionless, stoic, emotionless face; another with kindly yet judgmental one, and lastly, one with winter''s chill and apathy. All five stared at him, and he felt as though he''d died and was upon the Ten Courts of Hell. He was being judged, but he could not lie--it was as though the eyes staring at him had stripped him naked and bared him for the entire world to see. There was neither skin nor flesh to shield his sins, not an armor strong enough to hide his guilt. What did he deserve? Mercy? No. He''d never shown it to those who begged him just as he was begging them. "P-punishment!" he keeled over further, tearing his heart out. "I, I deserve to be punished..." "You desire Me?" a chilly, apathetic voice trailed into his ears. His entire body frosted over as he forced himself to look up--standing there, before him, was no longer a phantom, but a woman. She was beautiful, yet he felt his eyes sting as though with needles when he looked at her. Beneath the beautiful facade, he witnessed it--a thousand scars webbing out everywhere. "Hm, indeed. Your soul bleeds filth. Let it be so, o'' thy sinful fiend--" "--We thus cast Judgment upon you," all five voices joined into a choir. "You deserve not the Mercy, for you were never Merciful; you deserve not the Redemption, because you never sought to Redeem your heart; you deserve not the Wrath, for it would be a Kindness to you; you deserve not Justice, for you were not wronged. Thus, you shall be Punished, forever and onward-more." There was silence soon, only the crackling of the flames and the distant wailing of the tormented occasionally breaking it. The phantoms disappeared, leaving only the faceless humanoid--and it, too, morphed and distorted, as though made of clay. The bodice gave way to a much smaller frame, with limbs spanning out into feathered wings. The colorless white grew darker and darker until it was black, and from the fumes of the transformation, a singular animal emerged--an ordinary-seeming crow, no larger than any other seen in the wild. It flapped its wings and hung its beak low, looking over the burning mountain keep for a brief moment before turning around and flying out through the smoke. In the distance, the night fog gave way to the thick canopy of the trees that stretched as far as the eye could see. The crow, without stop, headed toward its northern parts, silently becoming one with the trees, as though it had never left them. Chapter 63 - A Glimpse Into Eternity Chapter 63 A Glimpse Into Eternity It was the first time Leo encountered uphill terrain in the forest--well, beyond the slightly slanted part eastward, where the exit lay. This one, however, was a legitimate climb--steep, with roots and jagged rocks decorating every visible inch of earth. Though, the roots were treeless--in their stead were strange steles, white like marble, rectangular and narrowed toward the top. In some way, it reminded Leo of a graveyard; though there were no etchings in the stone of any sort, no markings, and the steles seemed too close to each other to be tombstones, it was just the feeling he got. As the kids were busy with bringing the iron ore, and having seemingly encountered some issues that made excavating process a bit harder, and as he decided not to hunt just for the sake of hides, that left only one item on his agenda--the Well, rooted deep in the forest. It was one of the ''silent'' rewards that he got for shearing Soul of the Forest, and it appeared not at the time with the rest of the rewards, but later at night, in his dreams. He dreamed he was tiny feline, scurrying between the trees and roots with grace and nimbleness of a fox, and speed of a rabbit. The colors were vivid and blinding, but somehow nonobstructive at the same time. He wasn''t in control of himself, but more of a passenger to a will beyond his own; it was as though he was following a predetermined path, and that path led past the trees and flowerbeds and the canopies, and up this very hill, past the macabre steles, and over beyond. At the end of a path was a well--in his dream, Leo never approached it, staying outside the mini cirque. It was a bit larger than an ''average'' well, cast in gray, old stone, though that was all there was to it--it didn''t seem to have been built for the purposes of getting water, but something else entirely. He soon reached the top of the hill, but he was still far from his destination--a dip awaited into yet another hill, though the steles themselves grew scarcer. The reason he assumed they were steles and not just a natural rock formation was due to the smoothness of the stone and the fact that they were all practically identical, sans an occasional slight difference in height. Strangely, his flanks extended into another set of hillsides with identical composition and, had he not dreamed the exact route and committed it to memory, he would have likely gotten lost in this place. There were subtle differences here and there, and certain markings that created distinct appearances of different hills, but they were rather minor and easily missed. More and more, he wondered, just how large this forest was--and just many different terrains it contained within the confines of the trees. Unlike most other times he ventured out, he was now alone--a couple of animals followed him for a while, but it seemed they stopped once they realized where he was going. The wind and the sun were the only things accompanying him, though he didn''t mind it terribly. He''d always ''known'', in a sense, that there were differences between loneliness and being alone, even if he never internalized them. Now, however, he understood--likely as ever he would. There was budding alacrity inside of him toward the entire ordeal, a desire to both bespangle the woods with friends, yet also have a corner to himself, one entirely invisible to others. A word lit up inside the deep reaches of his memory--peregrinator. It was an old, outdated, and virtually never used way to call someone a traveler. He couldn''t quite recall where he heard or even how he remembered it, but it was seared into his memory. Over the years on Earth, a sense of irony developed--despite travelling the globe, as it were, he never considered himself a traveler, per se. Even if he could never explain it, in his heart he felt that the way he saw the world did not earn him the title of a traveler. Perhaps it was the predetermined roads he''d taken, always staying within the bounds and never exploring out further, or perhaps it was just some dismal naivety that budded within him a long time ago: whichever it was, it had been curbed by now. He was a peregrinator, even if he only ever saw the trees and what arose between them. There still lingered parts of him deep within that yearned to return, especially now, bolstered with a new mindset. But he feared he''d regress into his old self swiftly if he was shorn of this world and all within it. Thus, he buried those parts even deeper, so that they were as silent as the world around him was now.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. It was six long hours since leaving the camp that he finally came atop the final hill--the steles were scattered to the point of there only being a few, and the hill sloped down into a narrow bend before opening out into a round cirque. The rock was dry, as though it hadn''t tasted water in centuries, and there were no living plants anywhere around. Sharp, jagged pebbles littered the ground, and the surrounding walls heaved steep toward the sky, though with just enough protrusions to make them climbable. Leo carefully descended and walked up to the edge of the fall, looking down at the round maw--it was just about four hundred yards across, evenly flat with the exception of the far other side and the small indentation around the well itself. He covered his feet with Qi and leapt--unlike more natural cirques, this one wasn''t terribly deep or large, with the wall''s side only being about fifteen feet tall at the highest. There were no waters feeding it, though there were remnant channels that almost seemed like hand-carved blade points. Landing silently, he swallowed a knot in his throat before taking a step forward. He didn''t know why he dreamed of this place, or what he was supposed to do with it--in fact, he was beginning to regret coming here a bit. He was still inordinately weak, and his effulgent personality was not meant for this atramentous place. The well gave him somewhat of a similar feeling to when he first met Chilly--not quite as cold and despondent and indifferent, but more... eldritch, in a sense, unknowable, confusing. He didn''t think C''thulu would spring forth in all its tentacled glory, but he could have sworn there was a backdrop of some horror music playing in the distance, just beyond the reach of his ears. He stopped by the well''s side, not daring to peer over the edge, instead focusing on the aged, weathered stone. Crouching down, he saw a thousand cracks web out, and he saw granular bits of sand occasionally be blown of by the scattered bouts of wind. Nothing, it seemed, had been here for hundreds, if not thousands of years. It once again raised the question he''d been grappling with for a while now--whether this forest was natural... or built to bury and hide whatever stood here before it. He reached out with his hand, gently touching the stone. It was oddly warm and cold at the same time, and as he moved his fingers, he created a dusted-off trail on the surface. Frowning, he stood back up and stepped over, looking into the black abyss. By now, he expected the system to signal something, or at least tell him what this place was. But... there was nothing. Furthermore, he could only see some ten-ish feet into the well, and it was just the stone and nothing else. There were no sounds coming from it, there was no bucket that he could lower to try and fetch some water... there was nothing. Just as he began fearing he''d been pranked by a tree of all things, the ground quaked rather unnaturally. The surrounding cliffs began to bleed ash and dust while the surrounding ground began to crack. The sounds were deafening, and though he wanted to bolt out with all the speed he could muster, he found himself (unwillingly) glued to the ground, watching in abject horror as the world around him began to open up like a maw of a beast. The cracked, dry ground fractured outward from around thirteen individual points--the tiny lines radiated out into circles, and almost as though groundhogs were digging out, he watched white steles arising. They were different from all the ones he''d seen before--they were thinner, taller, ashen-gray in color rather than marble-white, and, most importantly, weren''t naked and bereft of symbols. He quickly counted thirteen and prayed that this would be the end of it--but it wasn''t. Above them, just as they seemed to have been ''born'' fully, motes of blinding light appeared and began fluttering about like mad fae, taking a few moments to converge toward the well. Leo felt a sudden burst of energy push into his chest as he fell down, gasping for breath. It was then that it happened, the briefest of flashes. It was shorter than the blink of an eye, so short that, were he not a cultivator... he would have probably missed it. An image was layered over his current surroundings--rather than decrepit stone and washed-out well, he bore witness... to life. Beautiful, milky-white buildings sprawled outward from the well, cut inwardly like spirals and rising upward over thirty feet. The cracked, dry ground was instead paved with perfectly smooth limestone, and the steles... were nowhere to be found. Instead, there were people--young, old, smiling, laughing, crying, clothed in breathtaking garments that seemed entirely out of this world. Robes were spangled with adorning gems, golden embossing of the clothing shimmering visibly even in daylight. Everyone wore seeming mountains of jewelry, from the mother-cradled babes to the old and hunched-over. Beautiful, gracious animals littered the streets--animals... he recognized. His friends. Milky was playing with a young, copper-skinned, white-haired girl. Blackie was drinking from a shimmering cup that an old man was giving him. Hoot was frozen with his wings spanned out, beak pointed toward the sky and opened, as though he were in the middle of relaying the greatest story of all time. Red was holding hands with two young boys, identical in face and body, hanging between them with a wide grin. It was just a flash... but he saw it. The aforetime born world. Was it just an illusion? Was it a glimpse into the past forgotten and lost? Or was it his mind playing tricks on him? "No..." he mumbled with a shaking jaw. His eyes caught sight of the words on the stele just by his side. There were rows and rows of letters he could not recognize, but he could those at the very top. Here Layeth Avun''van, Our beloved Second King He who sheltered Humans, and shielded them from the cruel World Chapter 64 - Sheltered Bonds Chapter 64 Sheltered Bonds Night had fallen by the time Leo returned to the camp. He was absentminded the entire way back, unable to rip himself away from that image he''d glimpsed. Nothing further changed after that--the thirteen steles remained, and though they all had inscriptions on their surfaces, Leo was only able to read that one and none other. No, there was one change--whereas before he felt nothing from the well, soon after the steles appeared, the well began to exude a certain foreboding pressure. He couldn''t quite understand what it was, or even remotely what it meant, and he feared sticking around and finding out. So, he just left. He had plans to return, eventually, but for now he''d book that part of the forest in the depths of his mind and ignore it. Even if he wanted to ask Blackie, Milky and others about it, there was no way the animals could answer him. For all he knew, he''d fabricated the entire thing. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more certain he got that he did, in fact, fabricate it. Over the past few weeks, especially, he''d gotten in his head the idea that there was something here before there was a forest--a city, a kingdom, a sect. He cherry-picked bits and pieces of knowledge that he acquired and made up fantastical stories surrounding them. Throughout, he fed his mind this nonsense, and he just so happened to bear witness to an ''image'' that proved his ''theories''? He had to ask himself, which was likelier? That he correctly interpreted a few scattered pieces of ''evidence'' that had virtually no context to them, guessing that this place was once a prosperous hub of people, possibly thousands of years ago... or that his wild imagination got the better of him? Then again... there was still the issue of the stele he could read from. Here Layeth Avun''van, Our beloved Second King He who sheltered Humans, and shielded them from the cruel World He most certainly did not make it up, and it pointed toward more uncertainty than anything else. Beyond implying that there may have been something here before the forest, Leo was more focused on the fact that the steles weren''t built by humans--rather, their builders sheltered and protected humans. Whether it was literal, metaphorical, or so contextually bereft that it was pointless to make any assumptions... he wasn''t nearly clever enough to figure out. After all, his definition of a ''human'' might be completely different from theirs--perhaps they were all human, but, as it oft did throughout history, racism threw a wrench in the definitions. Whichever it was, for now it wasn''t important. That place wasn''t likely to go anywhere, so he already had a plan in mind--he committed to memory some of the lines that he didn''t recognize, and would ''stealthily'' see if he could figure out which language they were written in and if there was somebody who could translate them. Until then, he wouldn''t show the place to anyone, least of all the kids who''d likely have a thousand questions he couldn''t even begin to answer. The next few days passed by rather routinely. Since Leo didn''t have anything to do, he''d tag along with the kids and sunbathe with animals draped all over him while the two tore out iron ore from the warehouse and logged it back over to the camp. Supposedly, his non-reliance on spatial treasures inspired them, so they refused to carry the ore in the spatial rings. He found the entire thing bordering the edge of pretentious, but as he''d have to reveal the reason he didn''t use spatial items was because he didn''t have any (as this supposed martial master), he simply let them be. At night, he''d occasionally regale one or another curiosity of physics--white holes, quasars, heat death of the universe, whatever little tidbits he could recall through the fog. Both the kids and the animals seemed to eat it all up, but he had to start rejecting their requests as, otherwise, he would run out of those tidbits in a few days. It was just about a week later that the last bit of the ore was collected. In the meantime, Leo had gone out to hunt two more times and had, altogether, managed to collect 12 hides. It seemed that one animal produced more than one hide, making him rather happy. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. "Master, can we leave in two days?" the silent dinner was interrupted as Yue raised a question with a rather quivering voice. "I, I know we said that we''d do it after longhouse was completed, but the entry to the Cradle will become much harder after Eux Festival. It would mean that most of the newcomers had joined groups, and that most of the groups would no longer be recruiting. If we went there, we''d essentially only be allowed to use forts as shelters--we wouldn''t be given food or water or any information about anything. As the winter approaches, most of the forts begin rationing food and water, and even if cultivators can go a long time without them, it''s still not indefinite. At least not for the weaker ones like us." "..." Leo remained silent for a moment, holding back a laugh. Yue''s current expression reminded him of how he felt when he was fourteen and asked his parents if he could go to his first concert with friends. Anticipation, nervousness, a bit of guilt, but, most of all, a deep yearning that gave fire to his lacking courage. Unlike his parents, however, who told him he couldn''t go because he flunked math just a week prior, Leo wasn''t about to do the same. "Of course. It will be a bit lonely, but I have a lot of friends to keep me company. Besides, being cooped up in one place, especially one so far away from your peers, must be doing a number to your psyche. So, go out, have fun, challenge the world, but, most importantly, stay safe and come back healthy and stronger." The twos'' faces lit up like fireflies as they dug into their stew even more ferociously. Though they still bantered, and got on each other''s nerves, his two Disciples had developed a rather enviable bond. While Liang taught Yue how to take care of her body, she taught him the most common scams of the world and how to avoid them. While he taught her that it was sometimes okay to let loose and not think too much about something, she, in return, taught him that oftentimes, the solution wasn''t in the fists. It was a budding friendship still, yes, but Leo saw glimpses of what it was likely to become in the future--the inseparable bond that would chain them together for life. The kind of friendship that he always yearned for, but never quite captured. It was difficult, after all; from early on, both his parents warned him that people would approach him just for his money and that they wouldn''t care for him--and he''d seen it, hundreds of times. At some point, it simply became easier to assume everyone was after his money, and use said money to garner ''friends''. It was never real, however--just a facsimile of something he dreamed of often. "I''ll prepare a lot of food and juice for you two," Leo said. "And here," he took out the remaining Basic Qi Pills (save for one that he left for himself). "Thank you, Master," the two said. "Ah, here, Master," Yue handed over the tiny seed of Wisp of Wood Qi. "Thank you so much! It has helped me grasp just enough of the true nature of Wood Qi that I am now able to incorporate it slightly into my defense." "Ah, right!" Liang exclaimed. "May... may I keep the Seed for tonight, Master?" he added. "I am planning on breaking through, and I feel it will be helpful to me..." "Of course," Leo caught a glimpse of envy in Yue''s gaze, but it quickly disappeared, replaced instead with happiness. "It will be your duty to protect your Senior Sister outside." "Don''t worry, Master!!" the young man exclaimed, thumping his chest. "I won''t let anything happen to Sister Yue! I''ll use these godly muscles that you helped form and protect her--" "--just shut up," Yue interrupted, physically putting a hand over his lips and lowering her head while sighing. "Master, will you really be fine without us helping with building the longhouse? I know you said that the hardest part was gathering materials, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder how you''ll build it all by yourself." I won''t, that''s how... Leo thought for a moment but merely smiled outwardly. "Don''t worry about it," he said. "By the time you two come back, this place will be completely different. Those seeds you''ve planted might also sprout. Ah, while you''re on the outside, keep an eye out for the standard furniture that we can use to decorate the longhouse. Nothing too fancy or expensive, however. Just things you''ll put in your rooms." "Yes, Master!" Though they said they''d be back in a couple of months at most, life was always uncertain, especially if the Cradle of the First Men was as they described--a volatile battlefield that can change overnight. The fact that they would have the Void Scroll calmed his heart ever so slightly--he made them promise that, if they were ever in true danger to their lives, they''d rip the scroll in a heartbeat. Just to be safe, he, once again, handed the feather over to Yue--she accepted it with even graver gravitas than before. She did tell him that she used the feather to kill someone much stronger than her, but as Leo hadn''t really encountered any real danger himself while staying in the forest, he still felt it was best that she held on to it. He wondered, for a moment, precisely where Anuvar was--he hadn''t seen the hawk since the day he healed it and was granted the feather. Perhaps it was out there, conquering the skies once more, and it would return if it ever got wounded again. Maybe then, he could ask for a couple of more feathers... though, probably not. Chapter 65 - Spirit of Origin Chapter 65 Spirit of Origin For the first time since the day the single bolt of lightning erupted within the camp, the night was not calm. Leo left his hut--as did Yue--just a little past the midnight. The animals, too, had cleared the northernmost building, joining the two of them and watching as the world around began to churn and change. Visible motes of Qi began to evacuate the ground below, shimmering like fireflies, while wind began to howl circularly around the hut. Its rooftop was soon blown off as a figure emerged, coated in shatteringly-golden light. Liang didn''t seem himself--the usually loose, a bit confused and airheaded young man was gone. In his stead was a figure commanding respect--he was floating midair, suspended but without wires to hold him up. His legs were crossed, hands resting on his knees, his short, black hair billowing in the harsh winds. His robe aflutter, he seemed... divine, almost. The world shifted in that instant; roots seemed to tremble, and the trees abound began to sway, and as the golden light spilled forth from him, piercing the sky for a moment, something tangential appeared behind him. It was him, yet not--a manifestation of sacred will, a phantom visage of his innermost self. The featureless face grew eyes at that moment, and they slowly opened. A ripple tore across the forest, the divinely golden eyes bearing down upon the world as though they existed in a realm beyond. The winds picked up the speed and began to surge around him, and bolts of lightning coalesced into limbs that tore toward him--and yet, a barrier of holy light appeared, embossing his figure, and protecting him. Yet, strangely, there was only silence--the golden eyes looked up toward the sky, and the looming firmament replied. Blue skies quickly turned ashen, bolts of lightning like dragons dancing within the world-devouring clouds. Leo felt his heartbeat quicken, and fear surge from within him; he hadn''t feared much in this world, even if he faced it confused and ignoble, but he feared that singular night that tore through his soul like a blade. Just as then, the heavens spat out a singular bolt of lightning--one as thick as the trunk of a tree. It was as purple as an aged bruise, and it coiled so quickly it had reached Liang in the blink of an eye. And yet, the boy remained calm. He raised his right fist and punched out. He did it so simply that Leo assumed he had made a mistake, and yet, it was enough. The bolt of lightning shattered like a shard of glass, and the mirage behind him cackled at the heavens for a moment as it began to fade. The winds quelled, and his figure began to descend toward the ground. Leo felt a bit of a sting in his chest, prompting him to look down--his robes were torn through, and bits of charred and burnt flesh were visible. He held back the panic as he quickly turned to the side to see Yue--luckily, it seemed that he''d taken the brunt of it, and save for a small wound on her shoulder, she seemed fine. Just as Leo thought it was over, the fading visage reappeared abruptly--though it began to morph rather quickly. Liang''s face began to expand and contort, as though by divine hands, and before long, the golden pair of eyes were the only recognizable part--surrounding them, however, was a phantom of a well-armored bear. The beast roared toward the sky, its voice louder than the bolt before. It stretched out its massive arms and cradled Liang''s figure within them before seemingly submerging into the young man. The latter''s robes ripped into ash, his back contorting for a moment as flesh began to bleed, being carved by an invisible knife. Within a moment, it stopped, however--in the stead of youthful, if scarred skin, there was now a lifelike tattoo of the bear Leo had just seen. "I-Impossible...!!!" Yue''s voice quivered as she suddenly fell to her knees. Leo grew worried for a moment that something had gone wrong, but she quickly elaborated. "Spirit... of Origin?! How is that even possible?! I thought... I thought it was just a made up story..." Leo itched with every inch of his body to query, but his gut was telling him that this wasn''t one of those things where he could pass off his ignorance as just being ''isolated from the world''. Though, he could still venture a guess or two.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and now Spirit Creation--if Leo assumed that the name of the realm was quite literal, then Liang had formed a Spirit in the process of the breakthrough. Just as there were grades for when Leo himself broke through to the Foundation Establishment, it was likely that there were different grades for the Spirit itself. Whether Spirit of Origin was the best or not, he wasn''t certain, but what he did know was that it was more than just impressive. Even the animals around them seemed a bit aroused by the phenomenon, but only for a moment. They quickly dispersed, having witnessed the show. "... Master," Yue''s voice was rather strange. "Yes?" "You must lend me the Seed of Dao when I''m close to breakthrough." "Of course." "Promise me!" he looked down and saw that she all but wept. She''d forcibly bitten her lips and was fighting back the tears. It was in moments like these that Leo realized something--even if they both were in their twenties, it was more appropriate to treat them as if they were in their late teens. They both grew up rather sheltered, and lost a good number of formative years on harsh cultivation and little else. "Kind of hurts that you don''t trust me, Yue." "N-no, I, I trust you, Master! I really do! Ah, I''m sorry..." no longer able to hold back the tears, she quickly looked away and hid her face. Leo felt for her and even understood her. "Hey," he crouched down and gently patted her head before pulling her toward his chest. She threw her arms around him and squeezed tightly. "You aren''t any less talented than Liang, Yue. When the day comes, the woods will bear witness to your greatness, too. And I will be right here, as proud as ever. Besides, isn''t this a good thing? The stronger your Junior Brother is, the more you can work him at the Cradle." she chuckled for a moment, though didn''t pull away. "Now, let''s go and congratulate him." "Yeah." The two approached the now-demolished hut just in time to see Liang leave it. For a brief moment, his countenance was otherworldly--it was as though he bent the laws of nature around him, compelling them to his will. That feeling was brief, though, as it disappeared as soon as he opened his mouth and stretched his lips into a wild, boyish smile. "Master, Senior Sister, I broke through!" "Your rooftop?" Yue said as Leo sighed. "What? Ah, he he," he laughed sheepishly, scratching the top of his head. "I''m sorry, Master. I''ll fix it... uh, when I come back." "Ha ha, don''t worry about it. Congratulations, Liang. I''m very proud of you." "Thank you, Master!" Leo took special care for the breakfast in the morning, loading it up with the ''best stuff'' as he called it--the few fruits and vegetables that made rather rare appearances. His Disciples would be gone in two days, so he wanted to fatten them up now, and keep the leftovers as a farewell gift. ** Yu Minge snapped his eyes open and glanced westward, past the walls of his isolation chamber. His lips stretched out into a smile, though his eyes bore a bit of shock and confusion. Even if he was in deep pondering, it was impossible to miss it--the bout of energy exploded into the sky, and he caught the fading visage of a Primordial Bear, one of the rarest Body Spirits in the world. There was only one person that Yu Minge knew who stood the remotest chance of awakening it, and that someone was Xu Liang. "Spirit of Origin," he mumbled softly, sighing. Even he only managed to awaken Spirt of Five Elements. Just about 99% of all cultivators awaken Spirit of Earth. Geniuses like Mei, Lya, Song, and even Shen Tao awaken Spirit of Light at best. Generational geniuses like himself and Xiaoling awaken Spirit of Five Elements. There was no recorded Spirit of Origin awakened in the Lower Ashlands--until now, at least. Yu Minge was more and more certain that either there was a human-leaning Spirit in the forest helping them for some reason, or that there was an Immortal there who took pity on them. Whichever it was, the results were all but impossible. Awakening Spirit of Origin wasn''t the matter of talent--if it were, Yu Minge would have awakened it, too. It was the matter of not understanding Dao. Most people only ever even begin taking brief glimpses at Dao once they reach Soul Ascendance Realm. Only at Nascent Soul Realm did it become something they were conscious of, and only Immortals studied it extensively. Even the tiniest glimpse of Dao before that was like a drop of Heavenly Dew--no, perhaps even rarer than that. The young boy was blessed, and it was a good thing. Whether he was a Disciple of the Holy Blade Sect or not, Liang would always hold this place close to his heart, and would sprint over in their time of need. Yu Minge didn''t go back to meditating--he couldn''t. His mind was stirred, and he even felt a bit of envy. Trying to ponder upon the Holy Blade Art in that state of mind was akin to inviting demons directly into his soul. For a moment he considered asking Xiaoling to explain what exactly happened, but thought better of it. That Disciple of his was more than just stubborn--if she''d made a promise to someone, she''d sooner die than break it. "Haah, Heavens spin the wheels of fate," he walked up to the window, glancing at the lively Sect below. "What for, though? And why now? What is changing?" he--as most of his peers at this level--were extremely vary of strange, sudden anomalies. They never signaled good things to come--rather, they were always omens sent by the Heavens to warn the world of the upcoming storm. The greater the anomaly, the greater the storm--and from the looks of it... it would be a world-devouring one. Chapter 66 - How to Adopt a Forest (And All Its Critters) Chapter 66 How to Adopt a Forest (And All Its Critters) Leo was feeling a bit emotional, a knot tied up in his throat. He saw the kids off where he first found Lya and Song--it was just about there that he started to have a ''feeling'', and he knew it wouldn''t be too far away from the actual point past which he wasn''t allowed to tread. The two bowed down ''till their heads were just about at their knees, swearing up and down that they would return quickly. Perhaps, was this how it felt to watch the kids back on Earth go to college? At the very least, it wasn''t so for Leo''s parents--though he attended university due to his mother''s nagging, he still lived with them throughout. In reality, there was a good chance that his diploma was bought by that wing of the library that his parents sponsored--he wasn''t the worst of students, but he did skip quite a few classes every year. Dispersing the distant memories, he stayed standing for quite some time even after they left his field of view--he wasn''t alone in that, either. Though most of the animals that have come thus far had dispersed (there were just shy of forty that came to escort the kids), the ''core'' remained by his side. Milky and Blackie, especially, were feeling a bit down, and not just today: they''d been feeling so ever since the kids declared they''d leave. Leo understood; after all, Yue and Liang played with them, while Leo mostly just fed them. He''d never run about with either, and he''d, at most, pet them if they curled up against him. "They''ll be back before you know it," he said, picking up both panthers and cradling them closely against his chest. "Kids are curious, you know? Especially the two who''d already experienced the world. Living in the forest, away from everything, probably wasn''t easy. But they never complained. Haah, I just hope they stay safe..." He finally spun around and left back home. With them leaving, collecting the remaining materials for the house was entirely up to Leo. Luckily, they''d gathered all the required iron ore, and all that was left were the few remaining hides, some stray reeds and straws, as well as clay. Per his estimations, he ought to be done with the whole ordeal in just under a week if he worked tirelessly, and just under ten days if he took it easy. There was no rush, in the end, so he was likely to take it easy. "Hm? Gray? What are you doing here?" Leo spotted the shaggy dog suddenly burst out from the bushes. The animal barked quite a few times, though, unlike with the rest of the animals, Leo couldn''t even gauge approximate meaning of those barks. "That''s a great story, I think. Come on, let''s go back to the camp. I''ll fix us all a nice fruit salad. You guys haven''t tried my world-renowned fruit salad yet, right? Haah, if only I knew how to get my hands on some ice. I guess you can use Qi to freeze the water, but if I knew how to do use Qi in such great ways, I wouldn''t be so weak, eh? Ha ha ha." The dog joined them, matching Leo''s pace evenly. Hoot was perched on top of his head, Red was on his back, Howly was taking up the rear, and a few odd critters were hanging loosely from his robes. It was back to the very beginnings, he realized, where it was just him and the inordinately beautiful life of the forest. Though it hadn''t been that long--not even two months yet--since he came to this world, it felt much longer. It was almost nostalgic, in a way, as it reminded him how days felt back when he was a kid. The older he got, the quicker the time seemed to pass. And yet, here, he felt like a kid again. Every day felt long and full, and every week felt like an eternity, with the exception that he had no schoolwork to attend to. He picked one of the bigger bowls that Yue had brought along for his fruit salad--as it wasn''t either breakfast or dinner time, there weren''t any wanderers so he didn''t have to make too much. The first thing he did, however, was go to the pond and dip all the fruits inside for at least ten minutes, cooling them. Even if the water wasn''t exactly freezing, it was cool enough that it ought to help.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Next, he began to chop and slice, dressing the salad in rather ornate ways--circular and swirly patterns, ''top hats'', as it were, trying to make it as much about presentation as it was about taste. In the end, he made something half-decent, at least per his account, and presented it to the rather interested friends of his. All the usual suspects were here except for Long Jane-son whose nest Leo replenished just a few days ago. He caught a glimpse of the pretty little thing, and she was curled up at the bottom, fast asleep. "Wow, this ain''t half bad," he said as he took a bite of a few fruits at the same time. The cooling effect definitely helped, but what helped the most was that the fruits here were naturally sweet and tender. "Yeah? You guys like it?" his furry friends voiced in agreement, and the large bowl of fruit salad was soon empty. As everyone dispersed into varying corners of the woods, only Leo and Gray stayed behind. The shoddy-looking thing was sitting on his rear legs and looking up at him with those round eyes as though desperate to convey something. As for what... "Woof!" the dog barked yet again and stood up, wagging its tail and glancing back at Leo every few steps. He''d have been a fool at this point if he didn''t know that the dog wanted to follow him. "Alright, alright, lead the way," Leo stood up and merrily went after the little thing, wanting to see what the dog found. Of all the anomalies in the forest, dog was near the top--an entirely ordinary animal that seemed entirely incapable of cultivating (as no matter how much it ate Leo''s meals, the only thing that changed about it was that its coat was a smidgen shinier than at the start) living so freely among the rest of the forest. The little dog led him southwest, just about ten minutes from the camp before it suddenly stopped in front of an ordinary-seeming tree. It was birch, just like all others around it, its bark white and trunk thin. Leo was confused only for a moment before he heard something else--a meow. His eyes immediately veered up toward the canopy where he caught sight of a tiny little kitten clutching tightly onto a branch, shaking like a leaf in the wind. Gray barked once again, and Leo (ignoring asking how a seemingly ordinary kitten randomly showed up in the forest) immediately leapt at the tree and swiftly climbed it, reaching the shaking kitten within the blink of an eye. "Here, little guy," rather than yanking the cat from the branch, he extended his arm and connected it to the tree, building a bridge of sorts. He expected the kitten to be rather wary and take a while, but the tiny little thing immediately moved across his arm and onto his shoulder, wrapping the tiny little paws around his neck. Leo, stifling a laugh, descended quickly where Gray was waiting for the two of them, tail a-wagging. "I''m not even gonna remotely ask how this happened. I fear my brain would melt." he chuckled as he tried to put the kitten down, but the tiny little thing wouldn''t budge, still firmly gripping the back of his neck. Even though it tried to do so with the claws, since Leo''s skin was rather thick, it didn''t really hurt or bleed, so he just let it be. Returning to the camp, he carefully poured a small amount of fruit juice into a bowl, which was when the kitten finally descended, seemingly tempted by the sweet scent of fruit. It began to quickly gobble up the colorful liquid while Gray and Leo stared from the side. "Dogs, cats," Leo mumbled. "Has the genre changed again? Am I now a farmer or something?" he was, just a bit--he also had the garden to tend that Yue left behind, and now two domesticated animals to take care of. The only thing he needed were some chickens and cattle, and--dispensing the thought, he stood up and stretched lazily a bit. The day was still rather young, and as he''d run out of meat already, he headed back out toward the canyon for today''s hunt. As soon as he made the first step, the kitten jumped and latched itself onto him once again. It seemed entirely unwilling to part, and Leo wasn''t going to force it. Gray stayed behind, lazily stretching in front of one of the huts just where there was a lot of sun still, and likely taking a nap. In the end, the only other companion turned out to be Blackie. She seemed quite curious about the kitten, but as it saw the tiny thing shivering immediately in fear, she didn''t try to probe any further and merely did what she always does--run around the forest, occasionally show up for a couple of pets, and leave once again. Leo mused that, had this sort of thing happened when he first arrived here, he''d likely mull over it for days, as he did for most things back then. And yet, now, he seldom had either energy or desire to do so. There was a dog in the forest, so why not a cat? Rather, there were already cat lookalikes in Milky and Blackie, so an actual kitten showing up almost seemed like a no-brainer. "~I was following the pack, all swaddled in their coats," he began to hum a song, letting the wind gently caress his cheeks. "With scarves of red tied ''round their throats, to keep their little heads from fallin'' in the snow..." Chapter 67 - Toward the Hidden Realm Chapter 67 Toward the Hidden Realm Shen Tao was feeling fidgety. It wasn''t a normal occurrence for him, but he was fidgety nonetheless. He thought he''d have to wait years, at the very least, in order to prove himself in the Holy Blade Sect and earn the right to venture out, and yet, it was happening already--just about a week after he joined. In fairness, it was entirely due to an anomaly, an unprecedented event--Obsidian Dragon Realm, one of the most vaunted hidden realms of the Lower Ashlands, had opened up five years before it was scheduled, throwing the wrench into effectively everything. It seemed that every Sect had to scrap and claw--Holy Blade Sect especially, given the recent battle that took place within the valley--in order to gather together enough Disciples to send into the realm. Even if they weren''t quite as prepared, missing an opening was out of the question. Despite the fact that Obsidian Dragon Realm was one of the ''weakest'' hidden realms of the Lower Ashlands, that only really spoke of the limit of those who could enter--in this case, only Disciples of Core Formation Stage and below could set foot into it. There were precisely five openings to the realm across the Lower Ashlands that opened up simultaneously--one was in the far east, just south of the Heavenly Jade Pavilion and within the Kingdom of Fenghuang; the second was to the far north, near the Thunderclap Hall and their Lake Lightning; the third was at the central border between the Western Reach and Eastern Reach, within the Blazewind Ridge known largely to house the largest number of corpses within the Lower Ashlands due to over two hundred years of constant skirmishes. The fourth opening was within the Kingdom of Qionghua, specifically the Dragonhold, deemed ''impenetrable'' by everyone. As far as Shen Tao knew, the Kingdom charged an arm and a leg in terms of entry fees, so few ever went there. The last entrance was also the one he was currently traveling to--it was north of the Holy Blade Sect and west of the Bloodmoon Sect, within the Shifting Sands Expanse. They''d crossed the border just an hour ago, and as its name implied, it was quite literally just sand expanding everywhere--dunes arose and fell, the smooth surface of the sand seemingly scorching. It was also rather hot, far more so than Shen Tao was accustomed to, forcing him to use Qi to cool himself down. He wasn''t alone in his journey--there were precisely five Disciples and an Elder escorting them. Besides him, there were his ''guardian'', Qui Mei, then there were a pair of Disciples that he eyed ever since the Heavenspan Tournament, Song and Lya, and lastly the oldest among them, and the only one at the true Peak of Core Formation Realm, Long Hao. He was already closing in on his mid-thirties, showcasing that his talent was, at best, so-so, but he was still the strongest among them at the moment. Shen Tao didn''t recognize the Elder escorting them--it was a rather old-seeming man whose cultivation looked to be at Early Fusion Realm. It was rather shocking that the Sect could spare any Elders given its current situation, but being escorted by a Fusion Realm cultivator felt somewhat dispiriting. Glancing to his left, he saw Qui Mei resting cross-legged. As Elder Xiaoling said, the woman never left his side--they ate together, meditated together, and cultivated together. She was his shadow, and though it was a rather pretty shadow, he was getting a bit annoyed as he almost felt like a child being carefully hovered over. He couldn''t complain, however, especially now that he was allowed one of the five entrances into the Obsidian Dragon Realm. Even if Shen Tao wanted to believe it was the Sect ''paying forth'' his Father''s sacrifice, the likelier reason was that they simply didn''t have any other good candidates. Ordinarily, someone like Long Hao would have never been allowed on this mission: he was too old, with too mediocre of a talent, and he would have simply wasted a spot that could have gone to someone far younger. However, it seemed that the Holy Blade Sect suffered far more in terms of casualties than they let on. He''d assumed that most of their dead were Disciples at Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment, but it seemed that even their Core Formation Disciples were hit. One in particular was missing--that stupid-seeming brute that Shen Tao was never able to defeat. Granted, the man was a few years older than him and at Peak Core Formation, but he seldom knew how to utilize anything of what he was taught. For the most part, he just ran at people and punched out. He didn''t think too much of never seeing him in the Sect itself, but now that he was missing from this expedition... it seemed that he, too, had fallen. As such, Shen Tao got the slot. Thus, he found himself afoot a flying boat, heading over the dunes of the Shifting Sands. The boat itself was on the smaller end of the flying transports, the sort that would ordinarily be used for short-distance travels. But Shen Tao understood, ultimately--whatever little resources Holy Blade Sect had, it had to use them all as means of reconstruction. Chaperoning kids on a smaller boat, even if their prestige would take a bit of a hit, would still do just fine enough of a job as any other boat.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "Ordinarily," the Elder standing at the far front and operating the boat suddenly broke the silence, his voice quietly aged yet permeated with strange conviction. "You each would have been assigned a personal Elder for thirty days before being sent off to the Realm. You would have been taught every bit of knowledge that we have in great detail, ensuring the greatest chance of success. However, we have no time for that. As Long Hao had already visited the realm before, he''s been selected to be your guide," Ah! Shen Tao exclaimed inwardly, glancing toward his Senior Brother. The latter was extremely average looking, and would have been difficult to pick out from the masses. "While we do not believe in absolute Seniority, please do try your best to listen to your Senior Brother." "Yes, Elder!" "A few things to keep in mind: we have decent relationship with most of the Sects, so it is unlikely that someone will go after your lives, but you will still be competing for resources. Do note, however, that every time the realm opens, quite a few unscrupulous actors manage to sneak in. Thus, every time you meet another cultivator, you must state your identity clearly, and they need to do so as well. If they refuse, consider them hostile and as a threat to your life and act accordingly." Though Shen Tao had vague knowledge of the Obsidian Dragon Realm, it mostly came from when he was very young and listened to his Father explaining the realm itself to those who would venture. Most of it, however, had to do with what opportunities to chase and where, rather than warning what to avoid. "You''ve each been given one life-saving treasure," the Elder continued. "Unfortunately, we were unable to provide any more as previous times. Because of this, we strongly encourage you five to stick together. Per our estimates, even if other Sects are just as unprepared as us, they are likely to send only Disciples at the Peak Core Formation. Even if you can contend against them, it is never a smart idea to provoke people unnecessarily. Quietly move as a group, explore the ruins at the outer edges of the realm, and never, never, venture past the Winged Ring." "What''s the Winged Ring, Elder?" Song asked. "According to the myth, Obsidian Dragon Realm was constructed from the flesh, bones, and essence of an actual Dragon. The reason people believe this is that, throughout the realm, you will find scattered parts of what looks like a massive beast--tailbone, skull, wings. Particularly, the wings appear at the edge of the outer portion, and look like mountains. So, if you ever look to cross those mountains... don''t." "Why? What''s in the inner portions of the realm?" "Demonic Beasts of Spirit Creation Realm and above." the Elder''s words quieted all the questions and forced everyone to accept the simple reality. Even Shen Tao wasn''t arrogant enough to believe he stood an iota of a chance against a Spirit Creation Realm beast. He seldom stood a chance against a Peak Core Formation one, to begin with. "Every time it opens, most Disciples end up rushing to the so-called Golden Ruins, searching for artifacts and cultivation methods. If you want, you can do so as well--but the artifacts are few, and Disciples plenty. I recommend you focus on looking for medicinal herbs and fruits. Even if only eight years had passed, most of them should have been refreshed as the soil inside the hidden realm is quite potent. However, this is your opportunity," he added, turning around and flashing them a faint smile of yellow teeth. "Do with it what you will." Shen Tao was conflicted--on one hand, he recognized it was probably best he stayed with the others for the full duration of the hidden realm, integrating himself into their good graces and perhaps even learning the secret about the forest. On the other hand, Obsidian Dragon Realm was once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and if he passed on all the possible treasures awaiting inside just so he could play buddy-buddy with the people he didn''t even like, he felt he''d regret it for the rest of his life. He was confident in being able to survive on his own, especially given that he had more than a dozen life-saving treasures in the spatial ring that his Father gave him. Even going beyond the Winged Ring wasn''t impossible if he was willing to use a few of them, but as he had no clue whether there were any good opportunities, he had no plans for now. "Master said," Mei suddenly spoke to him through telepathy, startling him momentarily. "That you can do whatever you want in the realm, but you cannot use your identity as our Disciple. If you commit any crimes, you will be banished from the Sect permanently. So long as you return to us before the realm closes, we won''t ask you what you found, or to share it with us." just as Shen Tao was about to smile, another set of words trickled into his mind. "However, you will never be treated as anything other than an ordinary Inner Disciple from now on." "... isn''t that just telling me to shut up and follow you?!" "Yes." he sat stunned for a moment, not having expected her to be so blunt. "Fine," he relented in the end, deciding to go back to his original plan--forgo the possible rewards in lieu of becoming ''friendlier'' with the others. He sighed, glancing stealthily at her--her frost never thawed. From dawn ''till dusk, her face remained expressionless, and her eyes stayed cold. Save for the first day when he managed to fluster her for a passing second, she hardly reacted to him. They spent an inordinate amount of time together as a man and a woman, and yet it was as though he was wind, not even a person. For someone who always considered himself rather good-looking, it hurt his pride a little bit to have someone (someone he even considered a possible marriage partner) look through him like he was a ghost. In the end, he looked away and back toward the sandy dunes. His heart, ever burdened, sped up slightly, so slightly, in fact, that even he hadn''t noticed. Chapter 68 - D茅jè„¿ vu Chapter 68 D¨¦j¨¤ vu Leo yawned and stretched lazily, waking up to a silent home. Usually, by the time he got up, Yue and Liang were done bathing, and were exercising somewhere nearby. Today, however, he was alone. Well, not alone alone, since their mud huts had already been repurposed as animal shelters. He had the idea of creating quite a few extra ones but held back because he didn''t know how to destroy them without manually doing so, and he''d have to essentially destroy most, if not all of them, when he decided to plunk down the longhouse. He went for a quick bath before making breakfast for the animals, and then practicing just a tiny bit afterward. Watching his pair of Disciples inspired him ever so slightly, so he always took out at least an hour of a day to practice--whether it was meditating upon his cultivation method, or practicing either of the two arts he had, or whether it was quite literally just absorbing Qi and cultivating, he dedicated an hour a day to it. It was too little, he knew, but it was the most he could do without going absolutely berserk with boredom. The rest of the day was spent gathering materials for the longhouse--clay was easy enough as he got it mostly from the pond as well as the cut-down part of the forest, but so were the remaining materials. With a bit of hard work and some luck, he figured he''d have every single ingredient by tomorrow. Come evening, the animals gathered once again for dinner, seemingly in greater numbers ever since his vegetable stew became meat stew. With Yue and Liang gone, he didn''t have to pull out random bits of physics knowledge to entertain, and he could go back to what he originally used to do: sing. There was a bit of a scare to it, however, as he realized he was forgetting lyrics to quite a few songs. None of his dearest, but the ilk he used to listen to as a kid at the parties. Just yesterday it took him over an hour to remember the lyrics to Bye Bye Bye, song that used to be everywhere in the early 2000s. He must have heard it thousands of times, but it had seemingly bled out of his brain silently over time. It was a grim reminder that just because he was now a cultivator didn''t mean that he was impervious to forgetfulness. Another night passed rather silently and uneventfully, with the deepest belief that tomorrow would be the same--but it wasn''t. Before he woke up naturally, he felt himself being yanked by his clothes. When he opened his eyes, he saw both Milky and Blackie pulling at his sleeves, and even Gray was by their side, suddenly barking. "Ah, what is it now..." he mumbled, still half-awake, as he got up and left the mud hut. The pair of panthers fled off toward the east, while Gray stayed back ''guarding'' his hut. Leo followed, feeling somewhat nostalgic--it hadn''t been that long since he found Song and Lya in the eastern part of the forest, and now he was being led over there once again. A bit of fear crept inside of him that something might have happened to Yue and Liang--perhaps they were ambushed just outside the forest and didn''t even have the time to rip the Void Scroll or, perhaps, didn''t want to, considering how close they were. However, as Milky and Blackie were hurried, but not necessarily panicked, he talked himself into believing it wasn''t the pair of kids, but possibly someone or something else. He paused when they chanced upon a familiar spot, an odd look appearing on his face. Almost down to an inch where Song was, there was another person--just like Song, they were hurt and bleeding and just barely breathing, but now that Leo was just a tiny bit more experienced, he could tell that the person lying there was rather strong, perhaps stronger than even his Disciples. Seeing how the panthers brought him here, though, it was unlikely that the person would pose too much danger, so he took out a waterskin from his robes and carefully sat up the unconscious man, pouring a bit of juice into them. The man looked to be in his forties, perhaps a bit younger as the wounds and blood probably added a few years. He had short, black hair and rather ragged and scarred skin, as though he had a major war with acne back in his youth (one that he unfortunately lost). Though the man''s bloodstained silver robes hid it slightly, when Leo picked him to carry him back to the camp, he realized that the man was on the heavier and bulkier end of things. Using Qi, he inspected the man''s body and realized that he was wounded rather severely--perhaps not so much in the body, as most wounds didn''t seem long-term dangerous, but the man''s dantian, the source of all cultivation, was cracked and leaking Qi like a maw of a river. Leo panicked briefly, hurrying back toward the camp though not quite knowing what to do. Unless his stew of fruit juice had the magical ability to repair a dantian, there was little else he could do. Blackie and Milky followed him, occasionally speeding ahead as though to scout, but always returning. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Leo put down the man rather gently inside one of the huts, undressing him carefully. It was also there that he began to notice a certain pattern that left him a bit horrified--the man was, by all accounts, tortured. That was why the wounds, at the first glance, didn''t seem dangerous long-term as they were intended to inflict as much pain as possible. The robes, at points, seemed almost stitched into the skin, so he had to use the water to slowly diffuse the two. He felt a pang of pain in his heart as he watched the shallowly-breathing man lying down--there was seldom an inch of the body that was unwounded and untouched. It wasn''t just the fresh wounds either as there were plenty of aged and withered scars to go around. Those, however, seemed to be battle wounds at the very least and not the result of being purposefully inflicted as much pain as possible. For a moment, Leo worried who the man was--but quickly shook his head. He trusted the intuition of the pair of panthers, only now catching himself in the thought and recognizing that it should not be all that reassuring... and yet it was. ** At least they escaped, Lu Yang belted into his soul. At least they escaped. It was the thought that kept his lips sewn shut as they cut his skin with daggers, broke his bones with hammers, and used bewitching arts to try and confound his mind. At least they escaped. It was like a song resonating throughout his entire being, a godly sermon keeping him afoot with reality when the darkness swelled and swallowed the entire world. Even when they bared his soul naked, and he felt his innermost core being stabbed with blades, he endured. The pain was temporary, after all--soon, his body and spirit would perish, and become one with Y''ttwan, the God of Mercy. He didn''t know when his mind finally gave out--at some point, he ceased seeing colors and shapes, and the voices blended into a noise he couldn''t discern. It was as though his spirit dissevered itself from his body in a desperate attempt to harken death. Thus, he awaited--he awaited the cold arms of the undying mother, the falling ashen skies, the murmurs of the ghastly brethren, and the finality of life. And yet, it never came. Lu Yang opened his eyes slowly. He was lying on his back, his eyes just barely discerning the shape of an unknown roof above him. He was in pain--everywhere. It seemed as if his inner self was on fire, and as though there were a thousand fire ants crawling over his body. But, at the same time, there was something else--there was an invisible force pulsating like a beating heart, keeping the death at bay. Inspecting himself, he was quickly shocked--the broken dantian which signaled the end of his cultivating days was no longer leaking Qi. Rather, the hole was slowly mending, bit by bit. In fact, every inch of himself was. None of it made sense. He wanted to know why, to know how, so he forced himself to ignore pain and sit up. Ordinary-seeming robes slid off of him, and a patch of light entered his vision. He was in a rather small hut, it seemed, so he desperately crawled toward the round blindness, emerging on the other side on his knees. Trees sprung around him like grass, tall and mighty, and between them and among them and on top of them and below them, he saw life thriving. Dozens of animals suddenly shifted their heads and looked at him--it was akin to being watched by the Court of Gods, and he felt himself become insignificant and meaningless, like a blade of grass. "Huh?! Hey, what are you doing?!" a somewhat angered voice startled him. He looked to the side where he saw a rather tall man suddenly stand up and walk toward him. He had long, black hair and wild, unkempt beard. Lu Yang couldn''t see through him--it was as though he were a mortal, and alive and dead both at once. "Are you trying to aggravate your wounds further?!" "I, I''m sorry, I..." "Haah," the man said. "I''m preparing dinner right now. Are you well enough to sit?" "I think... so?" Lu Yang mumbled, still confused. There were just about a million questions swirling in his head, yet he couldn''t pass any one of them past his lips. "Come on, I''ll help you," the man gently helped him out of the hut and even put on the robes, all while Lu Yang was too preoccupied having a panic attack over finally recognizing some of the surrounding animals. They were no ordinary beasts, or even Demonic Beasts---rather, they were Immortal Spirits, the very same ones that his Clan had revered for hundreds of years. "Am... am... I in the... Nameless Forest...?" he queried with a shaky voice. "Hm? Yes. Wait--you don''t know? I thought you ran here." "No, I..." he was in the Nameless Forest, a place of both worship and horror. Even if his Clan revered the Immortal Spirits, they never dared cross the border and enter the forest. That spelled doom, even for the strongest of his Ancestors. "Come here," the man slowly walked him over to the roaring campfire and sat him down. It was there that Lu Yang felt his nostrils expand as his stomach rumbled like thunder. Silence befell the forest as he lowered his head in shame, feeling the odd stares wash over him. "Don''t be embarrassed. Who hasn''t had their stomach growl once or twice? This one time, I was maybe fourteen? My parents took out my sister for her birthday dinner to this rather expensive restaurant, and because I had gym, I mean I trained rather hard earlier that day, I was fully spent. As soon as I smelled food, I ripped one even louder than yours. The entire restaurant turned and started laughing. You know what I did?" "What?" "I laughed too," Lu Yang looked up and saw the wide, beaming grin on the man''s face. "Don''t care too much about these fellas. They aren''t any better when it comes to waiting for my food. It should be done in a few minutes. How are your wounds? I''m hardly a healer of any sort, so I could only wash them and not much else. I don''t even have any healing pills with me." "They''re fine," Lu Yang said, relaxing somewhat. He didn''t know what the hell was happening, but even if he died here, he would have died finally bearing witness to what he always dreamed of seeing--the Immortal Spirits. "It hurts a bit, but I''m getting better." "That''s good. You were in an awful state," the man said, smiling gently toward him. Lu Yang expected the question, and was prepared to be as honest as he could... but the question never came. "Alright, here''s some fruit juice--my own concoction. You guys, stop staring at him. It''s rather impolite. Ah, right, the story. Uh, this is probably going to be hard to follow, so don''t worry too much. I was telling these guys the story about Jack and the Beanstalk. So, Jack had sold his cow..." Chapter 69 - A Hearts Nobility Chapter 69 A Heart''s Nobility Lu Yang was certain that he was actually on his last breath, and this was his mind concocting a story to ease his path to death. He''d heard tales like that of those who returned from the brink of their demise--their minds conjured up entire lives, and once they were brought back to life, all they yearned for was to close their eyes and be back in another world. That was the only way he could explain everything--the innumerable Spirits around him, the strange, sweet liquid that was like a heavenly elixir purifying his innermost wounds and scars, as well as the stew that unclogged and even broadened his meridians. He was well into his sixties--there wasn''t a treasure anywhere in the world that could so much as simply strengthen his meridians slightly, and yet... It was all a dream, after all--that was why it was possible. The man sitting casually in front of him was merely a manifestation of perfection, what Lu Yang hoped the world would one day have. Someone, or rather something to embody the principles that it had deviated from over the course of thousands of years. "Ah, you should thank these two," the man suddenly said as a pair of strange cats suddenly perched themselves on his lap. "They were the ones who found you and dragged me over to help you." "Oh," Lu Yang exclaimed softly, feeling somewhat perturbed. Even if it was just his imagination, he felt as though he was being sinful, imagining that the great Immortal Spirits would ever care enough for a nobody like him to rescue him. "Thank you verily," he bowed toward the pair. The man fell silent, seemingly observing him. Beneath the stately gaze of the brown eyes, Lu Yang felt exposed almost. There was something agonizingly beautiful in the framing of it all--he sat solitary, surrounded by overlooking Spirits on all sides as though they were his guardians. He felt that, should even the Gods try and harm this man, the forest would go to war for him. "You are safe," the man said suddenly. "While you''re here, neither I nor my friends will care about anything... just that you heal up. Eat, rest, drink, and whatever else you want. Whatever awaits beyond the trees, perhaps it can wait a few days longer." "... forgive me," Lu Yang said. "I... I just find it incredulous, is all. I was never a man of much fortune and luck; the opposite, in fact. To have struggled all my life only to be blessed so staunchly at the rakes of death feels like a cruel lie and prank by the Gods." "It isn''t," the man said. "And meeting me is seldom lucky or fortunate. As with most things in life that seemed unbound, it''s simply a coincidence. So, treat it as such--just a cosmic mistake correcting itself, irrespective of the hands of fate." Lu Yang fell silent and contemplative, staring at the swirling bouts of liquid in his cup. Was he truly alive? Was it truly just a mere coincidence that he was rescued? Especially within the Nameless Forest? Besides, he couldn''t even understand what he was doing in the Nameless Forest. His last memory was of him still being locked up in the dungeon within the Heavenly Pavilion, just about twenty thousand miles westward of this place. "My name is Lu Yang, benefactor," he said. "I express my deepest gratitude for rescuing me. May I hear the Venerable One''s name?" "Leo," the man replied simply. "If you''d like to take a bath, there''s a nice, cool pond of water just some ways west of here." "That would be rather lovely." "Hm, I''ll show you," the man stood up as the pair of cats--nay, panthers--jumped off and scattered away. Lu Yang stood up and followed the man, soon recognizing that there was an armada of animals stalking from the rear--they didn''t trust him, it seemed, and he felt should he take a step closer to the man than the distance between them right now, he''d truly die. His eyes veered to the front and to the broad back of the stranger. Why? That was the only question he held. In all the Writs and Scriptures of his Ancestors, the Spirits were indomitable. They were the Overlords of Life and Death, and short of the mythological Immortals from the Before-Age, they had no equal. The Spirits closed themselves off from the rest of the world and seldom interacted with it, not from fear, but because they desired peace shorn of humans and their filth. And yet, there stood a human that had seemingly captured their hearts. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Perhaps, Lu Yang mused for a moment, he was one of those exalted Immortals from the Before-Age. It oughtn''t be possible, of course--it had been fifteen thousand years, by the earliest estimate, from when the last Immortal fell. There shouldn''t have been any survivors as they all gave their lives to protect this realm from the Outsiders. Then again, perhaps one lived, entombed and enshrined in the faraway depths of the world, never revealing himself, masquerading as an ordinary figure. However, Lu Yang didn''t believe that particular musing. He''d met a few of today''s (false) Immortals, and the man lacked the overbearing grace and divinity that they all had. Even if they used Qi to prevent others from seeing their cultivation, it was impossible to disguise one''s Immortal Seed--it was the Law of Nature, and not even the Immortals of the Before-Age would have been able to circumvent it. Perhaps... the man was simply a mortal. An ordinary human cleansed of sins and wants, raised by the trees and the animals, the ultimate expression of what they wanted the humans to become. It made some level of sense, especially considering what the Nameless Forest was--in so much as it was a sanctuary, it was also a prison, the sort whose history was seldom remembered these days, and only so by the most inscrutable figures of the Ashlands. This place, after all, was the original Cradle of Humanity--where the last dregs of the fading race were saved and sheltered in their darkest hour, protected unto death. And this place, too, was the scene of that first betrayal, and the very reason why the Spirits raised the forest and made it their home, one isolated from everything else. "Here we are," the man said, breaking the silence as the two came upon a wide clearing. There, between the trees and protruding rocks, was a breathtaking pond of water--undoubtedly the oft-referenced Immortal Basin, the Well of Infinity, and a dozen other names. It was here, supposedly, that the Immortals of the Before-Age were baptized at birth, reforging their Mortal Spirit Roots into the mythical Immortal Spirit Roots. "Do you know the way back? If not, I can stay, or leave behind one of the animals to guide you." "No, I know a way back," Lu Yang said, glancing to his right. This man... regardless of who he was at the moment, Lu Yang felt more toward what he would become in the future. It would be one thing if he was a mortal who would live out the last few decades he had left in the forest, never venturing past its borders. But... what if he was not? What if he did step out into the vast world? "Thank you verily, again. Here," Lu Yang dispelled the array on his neck and revealed a spatial ring hanging off it. "I don''t have much, but everything inside is yours." "It''s kind of sad," the man spoke instead of taking the ring. "That my helping others causes them to feel in debt. Keep it," he added, smiling faintly in such a way that left Lu Yang momentarily frozen. It was an honest smile, one shorn of masks that bewitch the world. "It goes that even if one soldier cannot stem the tides of war, they can become the kindle of the fire that would burn down the world. I will begin with myself, and hope that, one day should you have a chance to help someone... you will do so in the same spirit. I probably won''t be home when you return as I have to go out to hunt. Though, I should be back before nightfall; there''s some leftover stew and fruit juice in the northernmost hut that you can take if you feel hungry." And thus he walked away, his back broader than before. Lu Yang felt guilt surge within him like a storming wave--his fingers curled up into fists, and he found himself at the loss for words. He must have died, for certain. Kindness was reserved for blood--and even there in clustered reserves. He himself did not know a single soul who''d extend an arm to a stranger lying by the roadside. Rather, the few that wouldn''t rob the dying soul would be considered saints. The world was of wolves and of dogs, and it was of fiends and shades, and those in want of change found themselves at the cold edge of a dagger before ever growing old enough to understand that some things could never be different. Some laws of man were as set in stone as the Laws of Nature--and one of those was the impenetrable self-interest that the world held. If someone helped you, you were bound by duty of the soul to repay them twofold, threefold, even tenfold if you could. It was the law. The unspoken, unwritten, yet broadly understood law. The law that was just broken. Perhaps the man was merely indulging him--wherefore, though? Someone capable of living within the Nameless Forest and amidst the Immortal Spirits would be in want of nothing, for he could already have anything. Even so, it was the gesture. In the end, though Yu Lang felt that none of the things he had on him mattered to the man, it was the courteous gesture... one that was so coldly rejected it was worse than his first heartbreak. He disrobed slowly and stepped into the cool waters of the pond, sitting down at the edge. The still waters roused ever so slightly as he felt himself be purified within and without--from his skin, flesh, and bones, all the way to his marrow. Dozens of years of toxins were expunged, countless scars accrued over the countless battles were healed, and he felt himself reborn. Indeed, he laughed mockingly at himself, what would a man with the Immortal Basin need from him? Perhaps even the gesture itself was insulting. His heart began to burn with the quaint understanding of human nobility--his act, even if selfless and noble, ultimately fed his ego. He comforted himself that they escaped, yes, but he also comforted himself with the knowledge that he died a heroic death--that, in a hundred years'' time, there''d be stories of his sacrifice still hanging on the lips of his clansmen. What of the stranger in the woods? Would he care whether Lu Yang even remembered him tomorrow? No. Perhaps that was why the forest protected him with the bloodthirst of the bedeviled fiend. So simple, yet for the vast majority of the world a goal well beyond even the faintest approach. Chapter 70 - Naivety of a Dream Chapter 70 Naivety of a Dream "My clan was attacked," in the midst of preparing dinner, Leo heard his new guest break the silence. Looking to the side, the man was hanging his head low, the flames of the campfire creating strange, eerie shadows on his face. "In the middle of the night. By the time I woke up and went to help, the attackers had breached the main gate and were setting fire to every building. They all wore unrecognizable, silver-fox masks, and used martial arts that I had never seen before. It was as though they could imprison Qi around me, disallowing me to use it. I fought and fought and fought, alighting my Spirit Roots on fire even in a desperate attempt to win. But it was a lost cause--they had several cultivators stronger than me that had not even engaged at that point. I knew what had to be done." The man looked up, his eyes teary. There was rage and grief in them, like a storm washing over the shore. "I used my clan''s heirloom to send my wife, my kids, and a few others of the clan''s children away. Apparently, they were not after my clan, or me, or my wife or even my kids--but after one of the orphaned children that my wife had taken in years ago." Leo frowned silently, sensing a strange feeling of similarity from the story being told. "After they slaughtered the rest of my clan, and when I thought my time had finally arrived... they instead locked me up in a dungeon, and tried to pry the location of where I sent them out of me. Days, weeks, months... I do not really know the exact number of days that I had spent in that dark, damp, and horrid hole. Time ceased to matter, and I only hung on by a thread. I cannot say how I ended up here of all places--perhaps, as you have said, it truly was merely a coincidence. Perhaps it was my clan''s heirloom, or its remnant effects, transporting me here when it sensed my fading life force. Whichever it was, I am alive when I was meant to be dead." Leo stayed silent throughout, occasionally stirring the stew and listening keenly. The story was one of horror, and though Lu Yang told the story as calmly as he could, as though he was retelling something he''d read in a book, Leo could only imagine having had to live through it all. Watching everyone you loved die, and bearing witness to the end of your clan and everything you spent a lifetime creating being turned to ash and dust... it was enough to crack the hardest of diamonds, let alone a creature of flesh and blood. "I''m sorry," Leo said. "What for?" "For the pain," he added. "I understand that the world is rife with struggle. Everyone has their own dreams, their own aspirations, their own desires, and few are bothered by having to stomp over others on the road they are paving. Perhaps it''s the naive child in me, or perhaps arrogance I cultivated in the blindness, but I loathe the thought that the world beyond the borders of these trees only knows war, battle, and struggle." Leo opened his heart ever so slightly; he feared having to leave the forest, he realized. As more people streamed in here, sharing the horrors of the world beyond, he feared having to reforge himself and become the exact thing he was now condemning. "... I never much minded the struggle myself," Lu Yang said, chuckling ever so slightly. "I never could, in fairness. From when I was a wee young boy, my Father disallowed me peace. From dawn until dusk and beyond, I trained, I cultivated, or was taught the world. Long before I knew little else, I was groomed to become a Patriarch. However, overcoming those walls that I thought were impossible--whether it was my brother who was more talented than me, or the disapproval of the family''s Elders, or struggling to marry for love and not for a cause... I never loathed it. Even if it was frustrating, and even if it was maddening, overcoming it gave me wings that I otherwise would never have experienced. Even now, while I should be grieving the loss of everything I have ever known, my truest, deepest desire... is one of vengeance. And I loathe it not." Leo stayed silent for a moment. It all made sense--too much, in fact. He was likely an anomaly, an isolated case; to the world, what they were undergoing wasn''t a hellish struggle so much as it was a trial. On the path of cultivation, on the path of immortality, they were stubbornly aspiring toward defiance. By the very nature of who they were, they had to struggle, they had to fight, whether that was against themselves or the laws in place. Even if he wanted to be absolved from it, he knew that he couldn''t hypocritically try and instill his own, almost alien beliefs here. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The two kids who left, too, would likely find themselves entangled in a struggle. They would fight for the scarce few resources, or for their pride, or perhaps something else entirely--but they would fight. That was what life here was like, and would likely continue being onward and forever. But that was precisely why he wanted to create a sanctuary for the worn and tired, a tiny little hamlet divorced from the world where the restless could come and close their eyes for a few moments. He would not be the change heralding the world into a new era, but a brief footnote for the travelers yearning a respite. "Do you judge me?" the man suddenly asked, prompting Leo to finally look at him again and smile. "Trust me," he replied. "I can seldom judge a soul. Besides, why would I judge you for wanting revenge? Anger born of loss and grief is the kind of fire that even a storm cannot fully dissipate. However, in my life, I have found, that it''s often... misdirected." "... misdirected?" the man mumbled, his eyes furrowing. "Perhaps not entirely," Leo said. "But your mind might be sheltering you from the worm festered by guilt. Then again, it may just be me, and my own little stunted ways." "Might be..." Lu Yang fell silent, and Leo didn''t press. He finished the dinner and distributed it, and then ate alongside the symphony of the forest. Most of the animals dispersed shortly thereafter, and Lu Yang excused himself and retreated into the hut. In the end, Leo remained with Gray on his lap, everyone else retreating, too, as the day was coming to a close. He closely stared at the dancing flames and the crackling embers. Even if he''d envisioned his dreams, he had no means of living them out. In order to offer a place of respite, he had to have the ability to provide safety. But who was he to claim that? A tiny little nobody. The reason why he could offer peace in this place wasn''t him--it was the countless myths of the forest, true or false. It seemed that nobody, strong or weak, dared approach this place, and he was thus left alone to his own devices, mulling over the reality of everything. Past these borders, however, and shorn of the mythological armor, he was a nobody. Weak, insignificant, and irrelevant. Ironically, he understood--at least in part--the sentiment of selfishness. Perhaps most journeys began as so, these desperate wants for strength simply to fix their situation. Perhaps it was a child trying to better the lives of their parents, or their own position, or right the wrongs... If only I had strength!, they''d think, Everything would be possible! Strength, though, came at a cost--ofttimes the cost of innermost self. He could coast on the system''s laurels by now, having not earned wholly even his current strength. But the system could simply disappear tomorrow, or the day after, or even in ten years'' time. At some point, it was entirely likely that he wouldn''t have that net behind him, the hands to propel him onward. Would he dare to brave the flames of conflict bereft of those annoyingly sarcastic windows? Or would he forever entomb himself within these trees and pray that the world stayed well away from them? There was no right answer, not truly. In life, there rarely was one right answer. It was always a litany of choices, each with their own shortcomings. Perfect life was a life unlived, and he may as well not live it if he desired those kinds of days. Looking up toward the darkened sky and the colorful canvas of illuminating stars, Leo recalled how much he regretted the paths untaken back on Earth. If he could go back, and relive his life from the cradle, he''d have changed a thousand things. No, thousands upon thousands of things. He was given a shelter, a sanctuary in both his lives, where he didn''t need to beg on the street for food, or go to war for a cause he didn''t even believe in, and die in the sea of faceless brethren just as he was; in both of his lives, he was given the kind of privilege that others could only dream of. On Earth, he failed--he failed himself, he failed his friends, his family, and most of all, he failed the three people that always believed in him, no matter what. Here, however, he didn''t want to fail anyone. That was why he helped whomever he came across--a wounded animal, a scarred flower, a bloodied stranger, he''d take them all in, and give them a chance at new life. He''d caught himself overthinking again, pulling back from the skies and down to the cuddled-up animal in his lap. Life, shorn of the glimmer and glamour of everyday, was ever a simple thing--all living pursued happiness, content, and joy. Days were like blooming flowers: even if imperfect and incomplete, they were all lovely in their own little ways. Chapter 71 - The World of Ash Chapter 71 The World of Ash Cradle of the First Men''s entrance was a wide, natural archway--browned, washed-out rocks jutted out of the slightly tilted earth and wove a sixty feet tall arch. Sand and dirt coalesced into one, with most of the people around wearing scarves over their faces to shield themselves from the winds. Yue and Liang were not exceptions; though they both paused at the entryway, admiring briefly the wonder of nature and examining the stone veined with slightly unusual hues, wondering how long it''d remain standing, they didn''t meander. Passing the archway, they finally bore witness to the Cradle itself: it was massive, expanding out into the horizon as far as the eye could see. The landscape itself sprawled into an awe-inspiring array of terraces, their edges jagged and unpredictable. Carved into the ledges, powerful fortresses clung to the rock as though born of it, with turrets and spires rising in defiance of gravity. The terraces varied in height and shape, some sprawling out like wide plateaus, others narrow like stone staircases. Each of them, however, was connected via precarious bridges and heart-palpitatingly narrow stairways, making traversal both perilous and thrilling. Each of the forts arising from the dirt seemed unique, yet also the same; their colors blended, as they were all either made out of ashen stone or some manner of obsidian rock. Their walls stood shaped by the hands of ancient masons, imbued with the barely-perceptible sheen of Qi. A few, however, stood out from the masses--the first fort to their right, just some four hundred yards of descent away, was built out of canyon''s native stone, its walls a blend of dark slate and rich ochre, streaked gently with veins of glittering materials that caught the light in the cracks of the stones. There was also an array of the ''high'' structures, four to be precise which hung ever so slightly above the canyon. They were crowned with slanted, shingled rooftops of dark metal or tiled with cracked, iridescent stones. In a way, at a distance, they resembled the Cradle''s crowns, as though kings looming over their subjects. Regardless of the differences in design and make, most seemed old and weathered, with their walls webbing out with cracks, quite a few spires appearing slightly slanted. While the Arrays were new and replenished, what they were shielding was evidently close to death. Beyond the terraces and the forts, the secondary most important aspect of the Cradle was the inarguably largest cave system of Lower Ashlands. There were over a thousand of entrances carved out into the sides of the canyon, all interconnected in some way. Though they were never fully mapped out, it was estimated that there were over four thousand miles of passages combined, housing over two hundred settlements within the canyon itself, where the Others lived. All the mid-riff forts, for instance, were built directly against the cave entrances, and would see almost daily raids. The lower the forts were, the higher degree of fighting they would see. It was the root of the saying ''rising in ranks in the Cradle means falling deeper into the abyss'', since, if one wanted to fight and improve, they''d have to go further and further down... all the way down to the bedrock. From this far up, neither Yue nor Liang could see the very bottom--it wasn''t strange. The canyon itself was well over three miles deep, and its bottom was entirely shorn of light, and the only way to reach the bottom was to navigate the inane cave system of the canyon. As far as Yue knew, the actual route wasn''t publicly known--rather, they''d likely have to pay someone, or join a group with a guide, if they wanted to go down there post-haste after the flood. It was very much impossible for them to reach the bottom on their own. The first thing they had to do was log themselves, as it were, in a nearby cabin--it was built out of dark slate, and was largely just a cubicle by the entryway. There were multitude of reasons why, but the primary one was simply to keep track of people who died--usually, if you didn''t leave the Cradle for about two years in any capacity, and you didn''t let the chamberlain known, you would be considered dead. The list was updated on a yearly basis on the very stele standing tall by the cabin--there were just about two thousand names carved into stone, but no other information beyond that. Some of them weren''t even actual names but rather titles, so it wasn''t exactly the best way to know whether people were alive or dead. "Your wrists," the man in the cabin looked rather drab and bored, his eyes sunken with black circles beneath. As both Yue and Liang extended their arms, he wove Qi in a strange way with his finger above their wrist; a moment later, they felt a fading, though searing pain, and watched their reddened skin ''grow'' a scarred layer in the shape of a half circle with a blade cutting through it. "Your first time?" he asked. "Yes," Yue replied. "Any Sect affiliation?" "No." "In that case, head over to Fort Blood," the man said. "Second fort on your left. You will want to take the passage down and into one of the caves that leads up. Prepare some Spirit Stones for the guide. Once you reach the Fort, you will individually be examined and assigned depending on your abilities. If you insist on being together, you will be assigned based on the stronger one between the two of you. Once you enter, the mandatory stay is 30 days. All in-fighting is officially prohibited, but every fort has an arena where duels are allowed. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "As you are not affiliated with any of the Sects, you will not be given any of the privileges--no food, fresh water, or assigned guides. There will be quite a few groups recruiting, but do note that in most of those scenarios, you will not be allowed to keep any of the treasures that you either find or confiscate from the Others." "Thank you for your advice, Senior," Yue quickly took out ten Spirit Stones from her spatial ring and stealthily handed it over. There were quite a few things that she didn''t know, and the man in the cabin was likely under no instruction to offer any of the information. Even if he did it for the Stones, it was still worth it. "Keep them," to her shock, however, he rejected the Stones. "If we ever cross paths in the future, merely say hello." "Uhm... yes, will do," confused and confounded, all she could do was egg Liang on to enter the canyon, and dip over right after him, following the man''s instructions. ** Xa''walt watched the young pair cross the boundary and enter the Cradle. His slanted eyes closed down further, the yellow irises inspecting them as they faded from his view. Over the last fifteen years that he''d been in charge of the Entryway Cabin, he''d seen hundreds of thousands of souls of all appearances, ages, strengths, and talents. He''d also gotten quite good at gauging the importance of people arriving here. Though the pair claimed that they were unaffiliated, Xa''walt knew that it was beyond impossible. Even if the young man tried to hide it, Xa''walt saw that he was at Spirit Creation Realm--somebody in their mid-twenties being at Spirit Creation Realm was beyond just mind-bending... it was approaching ''impossible''. Even the younger woman, though still ''only'' at Core Formation, showcased no lesser talent than her counterpart. In case they weren''t lying, and were truly unaffiliated with any Sect, they were still either members of the Clan or had an extremely powerful hermit as a Master. "So, Big Brother, what should I--" "--huh?! Who the hell is your Big Brother?!" Xa''walt''s demeanor changed 180 over the course of a few seconds as the next in line approached. His somewhat warm face turned winter-chill, and his quiet, subdued voice became a growl. "Do I look like I''d have as godawful a little brother as you? Pu! Perish the thought, you ass-kissing vermin! Just for that, you go back to the line!" "But I--" "I will deny you entry altogether!" "Right away, right away..." Would they survive the Cradle? It was uncertain, even for them. Especially so these days, Xa''walt mused. There was something... off in the air, and with the flood fast approaching, he''d spotted quite a few figures sneaking into the Cradle, the ilk that even he didn''t dare stop. It would be a massive race to the bottom, as it were, and even the strong, if unlucky, could find themselves fading. ** "Another failure?" One frowned, reading through the report. He set it aside, sighing, as the piece of paper immediately flamed up, disappearing within the blink of an eye. Of seven potential candidates, they''d only managed to capture two... and only one of those two still had their mind intact. The last candidate that they hadn''t even tried for resided within the Silvermoon Traders, and, in some ways, that place was harder to breach than even the Heavenly Pavilion. "Losing Two really messed things up," a boyish voice sounded out from the corner. One frowned, having been too caught up in everything to even notice that Five had arrived. "Didn''t it?" "Why are you here?" "I''ve done my mission. Why can''t I return home?" "Master was explicit in his orders," One said. "We must not interact directly for the foreseeable future." "Oh, would you relax?" the boy cackled in a rather strange way. "The investigator is a loopy moron." "... you met him?" One''s voice dropped an octave and grew chiller. The atmosphere within the rather small room turned heavy and suffocating, and the prevailing silence did little to alleviate it. "He he, relax. Even I''m not that brave," the boy replied in the end. "I merely... observed. He''s currently staying with General Hu in Lingshan." "General Hu? Isn''t he--" "--yes. The predicted spark of rebellion," Five said. "It seems our little investigator yearns for chaos nearly as much as I do. From what I''ve observed, he has absolutely no intention of doing any actual investigating. Probably because he doesn''t believe the reports to begin with." "So, he''ll drown himself in mortal pleasures for a little while?" "And likely go around all the Sects, trying to eke out whatever benefits he can." "Tsk, pathetic," One said, standing up and pouring himself a cup of wine. "Six had just vacated the dungeon. You''ll stay there for a month, repenting." "Figures," Five chuckled, not an ounce of dissatisfaction in his voice. "Ah, I don''t know if you''ve felt it since you''ve isolated yourself, but somebody managed to forge a Spirit of Origin." "... I felt it," One said. "It was in the direction of the Forest." "Though Master said to stay away..." "If you have a death wish, go over and investigate," One scoffed. "Do you think Master''s words are hollow?" "Hardly," Five said, his playfulness vanishing for a moment. "But aren''t you angry? Even if you and Two weren''t exactly blood-brothers, he was still one of us. It will take us decades to rear another one of his talents, if that." "What of my anger?" One asked back. "Suppose that a Spirit emerged from the Forest and for some reason decided to save the Holy Blade Disciples. Forget us, even Master wouldn''t last a single breath against an Immortal Spirit." "... ah, whatever, whatever," Five shrugged it off. "I delivered the news. Ah, right. There should be a spectacle in the Holy Blade Sect eventually, no? That Minge bastard supposedly locked himself off in isolation, and that Disciple of his became interim Sect Master. She''s quite the beauty, isn''t she?" "I wouldn''t worry about either her or the Holy Blade Sect," One said dismissively. "If the investigator is blind enough to try and instigate something... well, it''s his own failing." "Wouldn''t that lead to a war?" "No," One said. "Perhaps Eastern Ashlands might invade as a pretext, but anyone sent by the Central Regions here is beyond irrelevant and entirely unworthy staring a witch hunt over. Besides, the Festival of Light is in twenty years. Short of a continental threat spawning here, seldom anyone will care what happens." "Then I best find a perfect spot to watch from." "Five." "After I serve my just sentence," the boy smiled; One always hated seeing that smile, whether it was in child''s or adult''s form. It was a perverse, non-committal, brutally misleading smile. Beneath it rested a sadistic soul capable of undoing everything and everyone. "A hapless little lamb caught the eye of our little investigator," the boy added as he headed toward the exit. "Find her some random work." Then there was that--the juxtaposed kindness that went against everything else about him. Of all his fellow Clan Members, Five was the only one he never quite understood (beside Three, but Three was... different). A tiny creature capable of the greatest cruelty, yet also the greatest kindness, all within the same breath. Entirely too peculiar. Chapter 72 - Oathbound Chapter 72 Oathbound Lu Yang crouched by the budding garden, watering it gently. He''d switched out into one of his simpler, gray robes, and sought some work from Leo--the latter offered him the temporary job of a gardener, and he happily accepted. Even now, before any of the planted seeds had truly budded, he could tell that the ''ordinary'' seeds from outside the forest had begun mutating. He didn''t quite know what would happen once they bloomed, but he was sort of looking forward to it. He wasn''t alone by the garden, either--there were a few curious Spirits observing him, namely a blue-eyed rabbit and the black panther. The latter was named Blackie, and as far as he could tell, the rabbit did not have a name. The two sat side by side and silently watched him. "It''s called levium technique," he spoke, explaining his way of watering. "Every seed, even of the same species, is unique in some small ways. Ordinarily, you simply water the dirt evenly, as that is mostly enough. However, levium technique teaches us to treat each and every seed individually; some demand wetter soil, some dryer, some yet demand only shallow wetness, and some demand the water reach their roots. However, we are not clairvoyant--thus, we observe. Bit by bit, we learned how each and every seed behaves. We quaintly close our eyes, and listen to the voices of the voiceless." the eyes of the two Spirits widened ever so slightly, and even Lu Yang found himself on the cusps of extending his arm to pet them... but he didn''t dare. Even if Leo repeatedly said that they were all largely harmless, it was impossible for Lu Yang to divorce himself from the idea that these tiny little creatures were akin to Gods in his family''s lore. He stood up and moved to the other side of the garden, slowly repeating the process over and over again for each individual plant. It was somewhat unnecessary, however, and he hadn''t planned on doing it had he not mentioned the technique to the Spirits. Most of these seeds were exceedingly ordinary, and merely being planted into the Nameless Forest''s soil was more than enough to cause a mutation. Properly rearing them was a bit of an overkill. However, now that he was committed to it, he charged head-on. "Take this seed, for instance," he pointed at the few budding leaves jutting out from the ground. "Silent Lotus usually grows near a source of water--a stream, a pond, a river--or even directly inside of it if it is shallow enough. As such, it is very thirsty, especially when in infancy. Because it is planted near other seeds, if we are not careful, it could cause drought elsewhere by demanding more for itself. As such, we dig out a shallow canal around it, and pour water until it fills that canal up. It means that the lotus seed had taken in as much as it can for now, and it would still have some in reserve for later. "Or take this seed," he pointed at the only plant that had a flower slowly blooming. The petals were still facing inward, closed, though its orange hue was slowly growing transparent. "Sundew Pulp. Unlike Silent Lotus, it doesn''t require a lot of water--minimal amounts, even. However, it does need a lot of sunlight-specifically, early sunlight. The light from the star, as it bends over the horizon early at the dawn, disperses Qi in particular ways, temporarily forming something we call Sundew. It''s not like actual dew, since it is mostly Qi rearranged in a specific way, but due to the Sundew Pulp''s natural inclinations, the effect the Sundew has over water is around a hundred times better." Both Spirits followed him and sat by his side, seeming engrossed in his words. Lu Yang felt a certain tranquility that he hadn''t felt in a long time. The reason he knew so much about gardening wasn''t because everyone did--before he was consumed with work, back when he still had time to do things beyond necessity, he found enjoyment in tending to a small garden that his mother had made when he was born. It was even smaller than this one, having only six or seven different plants, but tending to them daily was a beyond meditative experience. He''d forgotten, in both the flames of conflict and the selfish pursuit of Dao, that there was more to life. Closing his eyes, he inhaled the tangled fumes of the forest''s scents--morning grass, the bark of the trees, the carried scent of flowers, the nearby pond... it was nature at its most primal, and it was almost like a calming intoxicant. "Breakfast''s ready!" he heard a voice calling him, pulling him out of his thoughts. He stood up and stretched as the panther and the rabbit raced off toward the source of the voice. Lu Yang smiled and followed shortly after, reaching the central area quickly--he was yet to get over his initial shock of seeing so many Spirits and animals converge here every meal. It seemed that their numbers increased once again, as though the stories of this place were reaching places further and further out. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "You look relaxed," Leo said with a smile as Lu Yang sat down and took the plate. "I am," he replied. "I forgot how calming the gardening can be." "Indeed. Sometimes simple things are needed to remind us that we need respite." "Hm? It''s different this morning." "You noticed? I changed out a few vegetables," Leo said. "The taste is not as tantalizing, but it has a good kickback after swallowing." "That it does." "How are your wounds?" "Healed," Lu Yang replied. "Rather, I haven''t felt this good in... well, in a long, long time." "Hey, don''t steal! There''s enough for everyone!" he shooed one of the Spirits that tried to sneak a piece of meat, prompting Lu Yang to break out into cold sweat. He danced at the periphery of whether Leo knew who these animals were--and he was uncertain which one was more terrifying... that he didn''t know, or that he did know and still treated them this way. "Haah, did you notice that more showed up this morning?" "So I wasn''t mistaken," he said. "Sixteen more," Leo said. "When I started making meals, there were only ten, fifteen animals at the most. Now, I can barely keep up. If more start appearing, I might legitimately have to clone myself." "Ha ha, there is no need. Even if I can''t help fully with cooking due to lack of talent, I can still help with gathering at least." "Thanks, I appreciate it. I had a pair of Disciples helping me until recently, but they went to test themselves out in the Cradle of the First Men." "Oh?" Lu Yang arched his brows. It wasn''t entirely unexpected--even he spent a year at the Cradle in his early twenties. It was sort of a rite of passage for any young cultivator. "You have Disciples?" "You could say," Leo chuckled strangely. "It was mostly that I didn''t have the heart to turn them away." "If they are confident enough to go to the Cradle, you must have taught them well." "I just hope they''ll stay safe and not risk their lives for treasures." Lu Yang briefly wanted to mention that only a fool would, considering that he seemed to hold all the priceless treasures any cultivator could want, but he stayed his lips. "It is difficult to resist the call of the glitter," Lu Yang said, remembering his own youth. "Few stay their fingers, and even fewer their hearts. It is a test of human heart, I feel, for even the worthless glitter seems inviting." "That''s true," Leo said. "Well, all I can do is believe in them." Silence fell upon the forest, lofty and lithe, like graceful silk wrapping around their hearts. ** The earth hummed violently, as though a bellowing call from the depths echoed out past its innumerable cracks. The trees shook and swayed, and the blades of grass began to shiver as though with terror. Above, the blue sky reddened at first, and then blackened until there was no light to be witnessed. A figure stepped out from the shadows and observed silently--silver eyes shimmered in the dark like a pair of stars, silent and unassuming. The darkness surged like tidal waves crashing into one another, invisible vapors turning corporeal, almost like ashen smoke. From within, phantom figures flashed in and out, like enigmatic ghosts in a storm. Beastly jowls hung like faltering liquid, eyes round, wide and infinite, and voice stilled in a reality beyond this. Within the ever-surging darkness, there was a spec of light, flickering and faltering. It seemed as though the bonds of everything lurched toward it, shadows like arms trying to grasp it... but failing. Above the flickering light was yet another figure, old and destitute, worn-out and insolvent. His robes hung loose from his bone-and-flesh body, tattered, bloodied, and torn. In his left hand he held a sword, simple and short, shimmering with a golden light. The figure floated in the nothingness, deflecting the all-consuming shadows breathlessly. Yet, his eyes were cold and detached, offering a glimpse of a soul that was not there. "Let us..." hisses whispered from the bulging nothingness. "Let us in..." "Free us..." "Save us..." "Pity us..." It was not the first time he''d heard them, nor would it be the last. Thousands, millions... he''d lost count over the incalculable number of years. When he was a boy, and when he was told he was chosen to become a Sword God by his Master, his joy would lapse a mountain. But it was a trick, a lie, a cheat, a despicable ploy by a tired old man in want of death. In his stead now he stood--just as tired, just as old, just as broken, and just as in want of death. But unlike his Master, he was unable to tear his heart asunder and mantle this fate upon another child. He''d fight, day after day after day after day, long after his bones were dust and his flesh ash, and long after he should have become a memory buried in a coffin. "You dreary old thing, give up already!" "Are you not tired?! Are you not desiring rest?!" Their whispers were the yearnings of his heart, the very yearnings he had to deny. Instead of listening to them, he swung his sword once again--it hummed loftily, serenading the empty nothingness in a voice that he could not hear. From within the simple design, a golden rune shone out as brightly as the sun itself. It shuttered the surrounding miles of darkness backward, causing the wails and screams of pain and agony to erupt into a world-bounding symphony. His old body was no longer--in its stead, there was a masculine, dashing figure with a head full of hair and muscles where only flesh was. He stood a holy figure in the cascading darkness, a dam holding back to flooding river. An ordinary boy shorn of life, he was given the mantle of a God, and a duty of an Oathbound. Fight. Every day. Every night. God must protect his realm at all cost. It was a duty unwanted, yet a duty he knew he must fulfill. Thus, he fought. Every day. Every night. And would fight until his weathered heart and soul could fight no more, until he, too, became a fading whisper in the wind, forever to be forgotten. Chapter 73 - Systems Serendipity(?) Chapter 73 System''s Serendipity(?) It was done, Leo sighed. He''d gathered all the materials necessary for the longhouse, and they all stood assembled within the expanse of the fantastic wood, waiting to be ushered into a proper shape. All he had to do was close his eyes, ''imagine'' the longhouse, and a blue outline would appear in front of his eyes, ready to be plopped down. Per his suspicions, the thing was massive--it was larger than the entire camp, and he quickly realized he''d have to expand eastward at least fifteen yards in order to plop down the building. The outline itself, though, was different than he expected. Instead of a very simple, straightforward longhouse from his memory, that mostly consisted of four walls and a thatched rooftop and was mostly made for the size rather than the appearance, this one definitely wasn''t like that. Though it was long, and it had four walls, it was decorated--it had a pair of terraces on either side, arched entrance, several dozen individual rooms alongside a massive dining hall that doubled as potential sleeping quarters for the animals. It had several attics with windows jutting from the rooftops, and though it wasn''t the most beautiful or the most elegant by any means, it was still far from being as simple as he expected it to be. Even if Leo never explicitly mentioned it, Lu Yang read the subtext and disappeared soon after breakfast, likely heading over to the garden with a few animals. It has been three days since he''d come, and Leo enjoyed having someone to talk to that was closer to him in life''s experiences, likely even bounding him by many years. He slowly started chopping trees with precision, clearing up enough space and even moving the mud huts a bit further inward. He wasn''t going to destroy them immediately as he wanted to see whether anyone would use them even with the longhouse there. It didn''t take longer than a couple of hours to clear just enough room and space. Leo took a deep breath and distanced himself slightly before positioning the blue overlay perfectly... and plopping it down. Winds were roused from the ether as the pieces of timber began to appear from thin air, shooting into the ground. Unlike the mud huts that appeared whole, the longhouse was being ''built'' piece by piece. Strips of wood fit together perfectly, nailed and assembled, walls arising and forming rooms, floors being laid down... Though it was built ''piece by piece'', as it were, it all still went by in a flash, perhaps four or five seconds at the most. Within the span of a couple of breaths, the clearing was gone, in its stead a behemoth towering at just shy of thirty feet. It was breathtaking, watching it become, and even more so bearing witness to it. Leo didn''t have too much time to ponder on, however, as his vision was quickly flooded by screens. He let them all flash into existence and slowly began reading through them, one by one, expectant of rewards. [Congratulations (not you) on constructing the longhouse!] [Now the animals will no longer need to suffer the circumstances of the mud huts!] [Due to the exemplary speed of gathering materials, extra rewards have been generated!] [...] [Favorability with most animals in the forest: +30] [You have been taught ] [ -- three layers; mastering the first layer makes you immune to all Illusions; mastering the second layer makes your Soul impervious to most Soul Arts; mastering the third layer allows you to calm and quell anyone and everyone else, irrespective of the source of their turmoil. You may not share this art with anyone; if you do, both you and that person will be forced to forget it] [...] [You have been given: 3x ; note, a person may only consume up to 2 Pills in their lifetime] [You have been given ] [ -- constructed by the obsessed vultures of the forgotten arts, it aims to imitate one of the most primordial flames of the world. Though it fails spectacularly, it is still a marvel of its own right. Can be used in forging items or concocting pills, but requires inordinate Mastery of Controlling Fire. Otherwise, it can spin out of control and burn everything] [You have been given: a set of kitchen appliances. Though rudimentary and basic, all items are self-cleansing, and when used will ensure the highest quality of work, even if you by yourself cannot achieve it. Can be shared with others and will maintain the effects] [You have been given: Blueprint for the ] [ -- a house of simple make and design. Requires: 200 pieces of timber, 20 pieces of stone, 10 pieces of iron ingot, 400 pieces of either reed or straw] [You have been given +10 Years of Cultivation] [Congratulations on reaching Peak Foundation Establishment; breaking into the Core Formation Realm requires you to shatter the foundation within your dantian and reforge it into a Core. The quality of the forged Core determines your future cultivation potential] [...] [You have been given extra rewards: , , and x10] [ -- consume when breaking through to the Core Formation Realm. Ensures forging of a quality Core] [ -- mastering it allows you to vaguely discern intentions of others, if they can be read] [...] [A follow-up quest has been generated: return to the Well and discover the history behind it.] This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.[Time Limit: N/A] [Reward: Unknown] [Congratulations and good luck!] Leo took a deep breath and sat down onto the ground. While the animals, curious and excited, converged toward the longhouse and began exploring, he examined the litany of items that appeared at his feet as well as in his mind. The one that stood out by far the most was the phoenix fire--or, well, a failed ersatz of it. It was wild and roaring, yet it did not burn anything around it. Its golden hue was close to the color of the sun, its flaming edges lined aggressively with scarlet red. Though it seemed ''quaint'', it also looked like it could tear down the entire forest into ash overnight. Leo discreetly hoped that Lu Yang would know what to do with the damn thing, as he could not well enough keep it inside his robes with the rest of the items. He also mildly regretted rejecting the man''s spatial ring as it would come in handy at the moment. Besides the fire, there was a set of the familiar Basic Qi Pills, three Root-Washing Pills, and a new one--Core-Forging Pill. It was too fateful to call it serendipity at this point; just as he reached the Peak of Foundation Establishment Realm, set to cross over to the next one, a perfect pill for it seemed to have been randomly generated by the system. It truly felt as though it was rearing him and raising him to become something specific in the future. As for what... he did not know. He set aside all the pills and looked inward to the arts that he had learned. Both seemed rather mind-bending, and he was uncertain of the potential consequences of mastering them. However, at the same time, he was also suspicious of the wording itself--it was just vague enough that it could really mean that the arts had potential to do all those things... on people weaker than him. Regardless, he would study them as he did other arts he had, and hope that the system was rewarding him with things that were at least useful. It wasn''t long before Lu Yang returned from his little gardening expedition, stopping in front of the longhouse with a strange look in his eyes. "I did a bit of building when you were away," Leo had already constructed a perfect lie... but as it was remarkably dumb, he hoped that Lu Yang wouldn''t probe any further. "Yes, I see," the older man said, looking toward him. His eyes were smiling yet not, and Leo could seldom keep himself from looking away in embarrassment. "Quite... impressive." "Well, we all have a hidden talent or two." "Most certainly." "Speaking of hidden talents," he quickly shifted the conversation away, pulling up his arm and pointing at the smoldering fire resting neatly at his palm. "Any chance you''re either a forger or an alchemist?" ** Just about a million thoughts were summoned inside of Lu Yang''s mind, but were all blown away by the visage of the flame. It was beautiful, intoxicating even, unlike anything he''d ever seen in his life. Even though he''d been tempered with years of experience, he felt his heart greed and yearn, and his fingers tremble briefly with excitement. He quelled it all immediately, however, understanding that he wouldn''t so much as take a step forward before being ripped to pieces by the surrounding animals. "What is that?" he queried, swallowing a knot in his throat. "False Phoenix Fire," Leo replied rather casually, as though he were talking about the most ordinary flames in the world. "I''m not much of a forger or an alchemist, so I merely use it for warmth and light. As an added caveat, it requires a rather high mastery of controlling flames. So, I was hoping you were good at either of the two things." "I''ve dabbled," Lu Yang replied rather humbly. More than that, he was his Clan''s main forger, and even had the ability to forge Sky-Tier Weapons and Items. Even so... "Not nearly enough to be able to control that fire, however." "Ah, shame. I guess we can use it as an oil lamp for the time," Lu Yang felt a bubbling surge of anger for a moment that he quickly suppressed, only his eyebrows twitching in response. There was seldom a Soul in not just the Lower Ashlands, but on the entire continent who could casually proclaim that they''d use Mythical Flames as an oil lamp. Whether it was ignorance or purposeful egging, Lu Yang didn''t know. Even if he wasn''t entirely certain where the flames would rank, they''d be near the top--possibly among the top five most coveted Mythical Flames. And yet, they were being used as a ''light''. "Anyway, pick a room," Leo pointed at the other phenomenon that he clearly wasn''t supposed to question. "There should be plenty. Ah, but the one with the terrace is mine." "Thank you," Lu Yang said, sighing. It was pointless, trying to understand this place--that was the conclusion he came to after three days of living here. Things simply... happened. If he were to be shocked by every little thing, he''d be spending days perennially short of breath. It was the Nameless Forest, and it was Leo. Two unknowable variables that shattered his worldview. "How long am I allowed to stay?" it was a question that he knew he had to ask, but feared asking. It wasn''t as though he could return to his former life--either his enemies thought he was dead, or, worse yet, that he had escaped, and they were searching for him. He''d realized he wasn''t strong enough yet to endure the falling sky. For now, his family was safe--and they''d remain so for a long time. If he could... "For however long you want," Leo spoke the quelling words so calmly, so disinterestedly, almost as though they were already supposed to be understood. Yet, to Lu Yang, they were a calming lullaby. He was a man without a home, without a name, and without a family. And he imposed himself upon this place, took everything it would offer without giving anything in return, only to be further welcomed. "Oh, please. You won''t become teary-eyed, too? What is it with people weeping at the barest sign of kindness? Would you rather me tell you that you ought to pack your bags and leave the forest by nightfall?" "U-uh, no, of course not." "Then stuff whatever bubbling gratitude you are suffering from deep within, just say simple ''Thank you'', and go pick a room." "... thank you," Lu Yang smiled and bowed--not too deeply, however, as, by now, he''d picked up on the fact that Leo was... different. Had he not known any better, he would boldly proclaim that he man was not of this world. He did not care for seniority, for customs, for traditions, for anything, really. It was as though he lived beneath a completely different set of norms, and, by some invisible magic, he compelled those around him to do the same. Normally, this sort of grace--if it ever was even extended to begin with--would result in a generational debt. Not only would Lu Yang himself spend a lifetime trying to pay back the favor, but so would his children and his grandchildren. Who offered a heavenly home so calmly and indifferently? Perhaps there was only him. "You''re doing it again," Leo grumbled, glaring at him. "Allow the old man a few moments of respite, at least," Lu Yang chuckled, standing up. "It is not often that we are graced with warmth, Se--Leo. I have imposed upon your home, and I shall selfishly continue to do so. Please, should there ever come a time you need me, you need only call my name." "Really? Only that?" "Only that." "Okay. Lu Yang." "Yes?" "For the love of all that is holy, just go and pick your damn room." "Ha ha ha, very well. I shall do so." Lu Yang felt his lungs breathe freely, and his feet lose the lead-suffused, invisible weights. It was as though he was sprung back to his youth, where his heart and soul were worry-free, and every day was merely another opportunity to learn, explore, and understand. The unrestrained feeling, much like many other things in this place, was effortlessly intoxicating. Dangerously intoxicating. Chapter 74 - Motes in the Sands of Time Chapter 74 Motes in the Sands of Time A singular vortex rising some eighty yards into the sky spun unto itself within the expanding desert. Dunes arose and fell, even the tallest barely a quarter its size, framing the arcane impossibility. And yet, it stood--its innards were dark, the frame embossed with varying colors of the flame, expanding and contracting almost like a heart. Obsidian Dragon Realm''s entrances were all exactly the same, though they varied in size--this one, located deep within the Shifting Sands, was only the third largest. Nonetheless, for everyone currently present, it was still a looming behemoth that they couldn''t quite comprehend. Shen Tao was no exception. It would be his first time entering a hidden realm, and though he tried to maintain an aloof expression, his mind was reeling. The entrance was not just awe-inspiring, it was just as much terror-inducing, if not more. From certain angles, it almost felt like staring at a maw of an obsidian beast. Eventually, though, he had to look away, and focus instead on other participants this time around. Including the five of them, there seemed to be just shy of four hundred people present, possibly a hundred more of Elders or escorts of the Disciples. It was a sea of people, and yet, even so, they were barely a passing dot in the desert when compared to the world around them. Everyone set up camps with tents, entire buildings, and even floating spherical objects, isolating themselves at first. However, as the time passed, younger folk began to explore and interact with others. This included Song and Lya (especially the former), who went around introducing themselves to anyone who cared. Mei remained back, seeming entirely divorced from everything, refusing to utter a word to anyone who approached. Seeing it, Shen Tao felt a fading feeling of pride--at the very least, she no longer treated him as air. She, instead, treated him as an inconsequential ant. The realization hurt, but it was still an upgrade. Few approached Shen Tao himself--he made his appearance average, and he''d shown himself to be only at the early stages of Core Formation Realm, making him one of the weakest people here. Rather, their entire group, by and large, appeared to be the weakest, with only one Peak Core Formation cultivator. However, shockingly, only a few seemed to make some passing comments, and others, even if they had them, kept them to themselves or at least away from their ears. It was all, however, merely a calm before the storm. Though the vortex had appeared, it was yet to open, as it were. Instead of dark nothing at the center, there should be a reflection of the world beyond. So, until it appears, everyone would have to wait. "Are you nervous?" Mei suddenly asked, startling him. She seldom initiated conversations with him unless she was asking for a spar. "No," he replied, looking back at her. She''d put on a veil and rather loose clothes in a desperate bid to shun herself from the world. "You?" "A bit," she admitted. "Have you made a choice?" "Don''t ask stupid questions," he hissed at her. "Fair." "Why are you nervous?" "It''s just who I am," she admitted. "Ever uncertain, ever doubtful, ever a cynic. How come you aren''t?" "Why would I be?" Shen Tao shrugged. "Worst case scenario, I fail to obtain any important treasure. It isn''t so bad." "Wouldn''t the worst case scenario be you dying?" "Hah," he scoffed. "If I actually do die in this place, do me a favor--resurrect me so I can kill myself out of shame." Stolen novel; please report. "... haah. I''d have thought your arrogance would have... subsided, just a bit." her voice seemed weary as she looked away from him. "It''s not arrogance," he said, lowering his head. "My father... he left me a trove of treasures." he didn''t know why he was admitting this, no less to someone he considered a hateful wench just a couple of weeks back. "Short of the realm''s laws themselves being broken and someone of much higher cultivation sneaking in, I won''t die." "Oh," she mumbled softly. "I''m sorry," she added after brief silence. "I''ve only ever known life without parents, so I forget the pain of losing them. What does it feel like?" "... like hunger that never goes away," Shen Tao replied, his voice quivering ever so slightly. He wouldn''t say he ''loved'' his father--rather, he didn''t love anything. It was a word forbidden, a weakness to be exploited. But the two still had a bond, and that bond was shattered like glass... so quickly and so violently. "Sorry. Forget I said anything." "Neither one of us is necessarily happy with this arrangement," she said. "But I am not entirely void of empathy. You can always talk to me." Shen Tao remained silent momentarily. Even if they were just words spoken out of awkwardness, he appreciated them. Nonetheless, he would never take her up on it. Presenting himself as weak and vulnerable to her would destroy his pride, or whatever was left of it, anyway. It was pointless to talk, in the end. He poured it all into his anger, and goal of avenging his father''s death. Anything besides that felt unnecessary. "Thanks, but it''s fine," he said. "Okay," though he was certain he misheard, a part of him believed that he picked up a trace of disappointment in her faintly subdued voice. "Go call back the other two. The realm''s about to open." Shen Tao looked up toward the vortex and noticed the budding changes--the edges of the dark began to crack inwardly, revealing a world of blue sky beneath. He quickly located the pair of kids who were chatting with a nearby group of wandering cultivators; for one reason or another, nobody turned them away. Whether it was their social skills, or that they''d also seen something in the kids, Shen Tao didn''t know. "Come, you two," he approached them and called out. "The realm''s about to open. We have to stay together." "Right, yes! It was nice meeting you! Good luck in the realm!" "You too." "Who were those?" Shen Tao asked on the way back. "Apparently, they are all Mastered to some hermit who lives at the Salted Lake further up north," Lya replied. "They''re all very nice." "And strong," Song added. "The weakest among them was just barely weaker than us." "Oh?" Shen Tao arched his brows, glancing back at the group for a moment. It consisted of eight people, two men and six women, who all seemed to be in their early twenties at the oldest. Though he never heard of a hermit living at the Salted Lake, it wasn''t unordinary--there were thousands of hermits in the world, most of whom were useless criminals that were banished from the society. Not all, however. Some simple felt betrayed by the world, and went to live away from it. It was just a brief glance, however. He was more than confident in being able to defeat them all, and possibly even take on several at once. By the time they returned to their holding, the hidden realm was half open. The Elder chattered a bit more and sent out a few extra warnings to stick together and avoid conflict if at all possible, and instead focus on scavenging and finding treasures. Rather than listening to him, Shen Tao mapped out the most important faces of those gathered here. In reality, this was just a tiny portion, possibly the smallest one, that would enter the realm. According to the Elder, as well as Long Hao, there were around eight thousand Disciples participating the last time the realm opened, from all across the Lower Ashlands. Despite that, running into others wasn''t actually that common due to the sheer size of the realm. From his quick assessment, there were just six people that posed any sort of danger, and all were in their late twenties and at the Peak Core Formation Realm. If it was six from here, there''d likely be dozens that would pose danger altogether. Not a small number, but not an insurmountable one either. "Stay vigilant, and come back home," were the Elder''s parting words as the world abruptly shook. The vortex spun and hummed as loudly as a boom of thunder, the darkness within it shattering and revealing fading images of plains, mountains, lakes, forests, and so on. Though it switched, everyone here would appear at the exact same place--far Norther Plains of the realm. From thereon, they''d likely scatter in search of treasures. Long Hao took the lead and others followed--surprisingly, Song and Lya didn''t seem at all nervous despite the fact that they were likely the youngest people here. There was nobody else who''d send kids with such potential this early on into the open world, and though he didn''t exactly know what their temporary Sect Master was thinking, for some reason, he did trust her judgment. There was a good chance that the two kids might be targeted, but, in some small ways, that would work in their favor. They, as a group, were entirely unassuming--they''d probably be underestimated the most. That would lead, at least initially, to them reaping quite a few rewards, at least until the word spread. He could already feel it, causing his skin to tingle. There were quite a few eyes shuffling toward them as they made their way to the portal. A lesser man would cower under them, but all Shen Tao felt was excitement. He needed this, an outlet--he needed to see blood flow, or his inner demons would soon consume him. And the hidden realm, shorn of the prying eyes, would be baptized in the blood of those who''d dare attack him, regardless of who they were. Chapter 75 - Scars of the Past Chapter 75 Scars of the Past His own room--Leo could weep. Well, he did weep. Though it was the room he chose, it was the room many others chose as well. Blackie, Milky, and even Howly set up camp even before him, finding their own corners to sleep in. He was closing in on the fourth decade of his life, and didn''t even have his own room. Why wouldn''t he weep? Alas, he couldn''t exactly kick them out. Setting up the bed he was sleeping on in the mud hut, as well as a few knickknacks, he stepped back toward the door and put his hands on his hips, nodding. Ignoring the three furred little creatures holing up in far corners, it was a perfectly serviceable room... if he was in prison. Then again, he didn''t have to stay here, and wouldn''t outside of simply sleeping. Besides, it wasn''t the room that was the most appealing aspect of the new building--it was the balcony connected to it. Stepping out, he couldn''t help but let loose a smile; trees sprung like blades of grass all around him, and if he reached over the balcony''s railing, he could pluck the nearby fluttering leaves. Instead, he sat down on the chair of his own making, leaned back, and enjoyed the quaint beauty for a little while. He feared that having a space like this might make him lazy, so he''d already decided to limit himself to only one hour a day. Two every once in a while. "Leo?" Lu Yang called out his name from the room. "Out here," the older man joined him soon after, admiring the surrounding view as well. "I can see why you wanted this room." "Right? Why''d you call me?" he asked. "Wanted to see if there was a way to have the room to myself," the two men chuckled at the same time. "Then I saw yours." "There''s no escaping them," Leo said. "There really isn''t." "Sorry, I haven''t made a second chair yet." "That''s alright. I''ve sat a long while in my life," Lu Yang said. "My knees had gotten weak." "How''s the garden doing?" Leo asked. "The forest''s soil is unmatched," he replied. "I garner that we''ll have the first batch of plants in just three to four weeks." "Thank you for taking care of it," Leo said. "Are you busy after this?" The two men fell silent and looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. "What did you have in mind?" "I have someplace to go," Leo said, standing up from the chair and stretching. "Perhaps you''ll know more about it than I do." Though Leo felt a bit of trepidation over taking Lu Yang deep inside the forest, he yearned for the answers far more than he feared the fallout. He packed some juice and soon departed from the house. Some animals followed them for a little while, but scattered before long, seemingly realizing where he was going. Lu Yang remained silent, seemingly picking up on the weight of the choice, following betwixt the trees patiently. Leo trailed the path from his memory, wondering once again whether he was making the right choice. His initial plan was to put the quest of the Well on the backburner and wait until Yue and Liang returned, seeing whether the pair of kids would know something. However, it was too late now--they''d crossed toward where the trees began to wither and where the steles began to appear. Lu Yang paused and inspected them occasionally, just as Leo did when he saw them the first time. However, as the latter never truly stopped, the former never meandered for too long. Eventually, they reached the Well--it was just as he left it, surrounded by thirteen steles, alight with mystery. Lu Yang''s expression distorted into one of shock and awe as the duo stood upon the ledge, looking down at the small pit. "This is it," Leo said, jumping down. Lu Yang followed a moment later. "When I first arrived here, there was only the Well. For some reason, though, the steles broke out from below. I can read just one of them." "This one...?" Lu Yang pointed at the correct stele. "Yes." "You know how to read Ancient Wl''wani language?" Leo fell silent, staring into the eyes beholding terror. He didn''t think too much of it, as he seldom had a working knowledge of this world''s linguistics. Perhaps, he shouldn''t have been as forthcoming. "It reads," ignoring the question, he decided to push the conversation forward in hopes that Lu Yang would just ignore it... as he''d ignored a few things beforehand. "Here Layeth Avun''van, Our beloved Second King; He who sheltered Humans, and shielded them from the cruel World." Leo gently touched the stele, running his fingers over the runic carvings. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Silence fell, however, prompting him to look to the side where he saw that Lu Yang was shivering. Something had terrified the man--whether it was the epitaph, or Leo''s working knowledge of apparently demonic language... it was still uncertain. "I have a working idea," Leo continued. "Of this place in a world before the trees. I caught a glimpse of it, once. Whether it was my mind conjuring up an image as to reinforce my beliefs, or whether it was real... it had been eating away at me since. I only seek answers, if ever so little. Nothing more." ** There were not many things that could turn Lu Yang catatonic, and even fewer that could cause his heart to beat like a war drum. Cultivators spend lifetimes quelling their emotions, for they experienced a vast array of unknowable throughout their lives. If they spiraled over every new one, every cultivator would go mad before adulthood. Some things, however, remained terrifying beyond count. Spirits of the Nameless Forest. Voices of the Forbidden Valley. Human faces ebbing across the River of Corpses. Giant skeletons lining the Burning Steeps. Despondent cries during the Night of Terrors at the shores of the Wailing Bay. There were some horrors in the world that remained apathetically cold regardless of one''s strength, the ilk that did not care for the rules and laws of the world. Ancient Wl''wani language was not necessarily the core of the horror, but more so one of its warning signs. There was a school in the Central Ashlands called The Last Voice that only ever had one Master and one Disciple. They were both mortal, oft sons or daughters of important families that came too late to fight for the position in their Clan. They were tasked with one, simple thing: maintaining an understanding of the Ancient Wl''wani language, as it was otherwise forbidden across the known continent. Anyone caught trying to learn it would be executed without trial. Wl''wani language was spoken by the First Demons, ancient race of pre-humans that drew the humanity to near extinction after exploiting them for thousands of years as slave labor. Ever since the last war, where the humanity just barely eked out its victory, the language--and everything related to the First Demons--was labeled heretical and forbidden. More than Leo''s knowledge of the language, what shattered Lu Yang''s thoughts into innumerable pieces, was the epitaph itself. Avun''van was a familiar name, but distantly so; he was a mythological figure that was one of the first to enslave humanity, according to the Ancient Writs. Why, then, would his epitaph claim otherwise? Shaking his head, Lu Yang gnashed his teeth angrily. "What is the meaning of this?!" he asked, ascertaining that he was about to die. "Did you bring me here to mock me? To laugh at me?" Leo didn''t say anything in response, merely staring at him. "No," he said. "I just wanted answers. In the image I saw," I continued. "I saw Blackie, and Milky, and Red. They were not in a forest, however. Rather, they were in a city, one gilded and bejeweled, beautiful beyond anything else I''d ever seen. And there were people there, too--like us, but not exactly." "Cease your slandering!!" Lu Yang interrupted. "How dare you try and use the Immortal Spirits to write out your holistic fantasy?! The demons enslaved humans, mistreated them for eons, and nearly killed us all off! How dare you bring me to their tomb, and make claims that they were benevolent and kind and that they lived with the Spirits?!" Qi began to surge from within him. However, just as it did, the steles around resonated and responded--in a breath, he felt invisible energy grapple him and pull him to the ground. Just as he was about to curse further, he saw it--the image Leo described. A glimpse into the world before time. Even if his heart was reeling, and trying desperately to convince him it was a lie... something inside his mind cracked and snapped. His eyes swelled with tears as he felt his entire identity fall apart. Why did his Clan worship the Immortal Spirits? Because they were the reason Humanity was ultimately able to defeat the First Demons and liberate themselves. But, feeling betrayed by Humanity''s lack of gratitude, they built the Forest and retreated. Was it all a lie? Was everything he believed in a lie? Was the entire history of humanity distorted beyond recognition? No... it... couldn''t be. He didn''t want to believe it. In the meantime, Leo was terrified, confused, and terrified. For a brief moment there he thought that Lu Yang got possessed by some of the ghosts here, but it seemed that he was, instead, possessed by ever-growing self-doubt. None of what the man said made much sense to Leo, though he could faintly fill in the gaps. Looking back at the stele, he realized that he should be very careful in the future with... everything. Just because he lived in isolation didn''t mean that he could get used to being careless. After all, he was entirely blind to the complete history of this world--his minor musings, ideas, and thoughts were ultimately pure hogwash. Even if, in some broad strokes, they turned out to be true, they''d miss the nuance of history. His gaze veered back to the kneeling Lu Yang who was openly crying like a newborn child. Snot bubbled at his nostrils, his lip quivered, and his gums bled from how firmly he pressed his teeth against them. It was a sight beyond ugly, yet also one beyond heartbreaking. A thousand thoughts coalesced into a blade that pierced the man''s soul, and Leo was wholly responsible. All he wanted was some answers... but it seemed, as with any history of any place, nothing ever was binary. Looking back at the stele and the epitaph, he wondered something else--why was only one written in the language he could recognize? What about the others? Did they, too, hold some distorted truths about the history? If so, he truly did not want to continue digging further into this place. Whether righteous, whether evil, whether truthful or deceitful, distant histories that may as well be myths would do little good by being unearthed. There was nothing to be gained, and a lot to lose. Sensing something, he looked back toward where they arrived, and saw the muscular tiger standing at the edge looking down at them. Well, not them, but the steles. For the first time, Leo had to admit that there were thoughts behind those eyes--even if there was no human expression pressed upon the furred facade, there was a story bubbling like a storm within the gaze. Perhaps they were not as clever as people, but just like animals on Earth, they felt. They knew care as they knew cruelty and loss. It seemed that the tiger especially had links with the one stele Leo could read, for it could not look away. Lu Yang wept, the terrifying creature stared, and Leo... he hung his head low, recognizing his undue haste. Damned be the truths of the past, if they teared open the scars of the present. Chapter 76 - Unmade and Reborn Chapter 76 Unmade and Reborn Lu Yang had locked himself up in his room as soon as they returned to the longhouse, and had stayed there for the past two days without leaving. Leo didn''t force him, either, as he could seldom grasp what the old man was going through. Instead, he let him have the space, leaving plates of food and juice in front of the room. He''d find them cleaned later on, so it didn''t seem that the old man loathed him entirely. Even if Leo was a bit on the empty-headed side, he could grasp a few peculiarities from the reaction as well as the question. It seemed that, at some point in the distant past, humanity was close to being extinct. According to the spread-out myth, as it were, the cause for that were the First Demons, whoever they were, while, according to the stele, it was the opposite--the First Demons were shielding and sheltering humanity from whatever other threat existed at the time. An image was forming inside of Leo''s head of a time before time, place before place, but he stopped it; he only knew the shallow surface, if that, and was in no position to make claims about anything. Even trying to delve deeper than the top layer had resulted in a fallout, and either he would never learn, or now simply wasn''t the time. With Lu Yang in isolation, he went back to tending to garden, and now with the longhouse completed, he seldom had a thing to do all day long--thus, he focused on the next point of his cultivation journey: Core Formation. Thanks to the system''s level-up to Level 2, he had working knowledge of the first few realms, including Core Formation Realm, as well as including the process of ascending toward it. The goal was to shatter the ''foundation'' within dantian (metaphorically, as it wasn''t literal foundation) and use the shards to coalesce them into a fast-spinning core. Though it seemed simple enough, Leo worried. The word ''shatter'', after all, bore dangerous connotations, and if he in some way messed up, it might result in such a backlash that he''d lose his ability to cultivate. He pondered in silence for the past two days, wondering whether he should wait for the kids to return and ask them, or even ask Lu Yang, but he didn''t have the courage for it. It wasn''t even about keeping up with the persona that he''d constructed, but more that he feared they''d leave and never return. Finally deciding to go for it no matter what, he packed a few provisions (including the Core-Forging Pill), and headed toward the unsung paradise. He hadn''t been in quite some time as he''d been busy, and was looking forward to seeing it. Unlike the last few times he ventured out, he was now escorted by quite a few animals. There were the usual suspects, but there were also the occasional visitors. It was as though they knew what he was about to do and came out to support him and cheer him on. By the time he reached the ''pit'', there were just about forty animals scattered about--some joined along the way, some were seemingly waiting at the pit, and though their numbers were grand, they all stepped back and gave him space. Leo felt a bit awkward, having not expected an audience. Now, there was no room for failure--if he, somehow, did fail, he''d probably sooner die of embarrassment rather than whatever consequence awaited. Taking a deep breath, he sat down by the edge of the pit--not just at the tip, but some ways back in case he toppled over and fell. There was little to ponder, so he only waited a moment to see whether his heart would calm down... but it did not and, deep down, he knew that it wouldn''t. Forgoing everything else, he took the pill from the robes--faintly-flaming orb the size of a small seed, inspecting it only for a second before popping it into his mouth. Fearing there may be bad taste associated with it (as was with most medicinal things), he immediately swallowed, closed his eyes, and followed ''instructions'' on how to break into the Core Formation Realm. **The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Lu Yang hid himself in the room for one exact reason--shame. It felt as though his blood had been overcome with shame, and his soul with embarrassment. He didn''t have the courage to look Leo in the eye, or any of the Spirits of the forest. After all, everything he ever believed in... was a lie, and he its staunch herald. How was it, he feared, that the history got distorted so? And, more to the point, why? Why would the writs of the past lie about what happened? It wasn''t merely distorting certain events or exaggerating them as was the case with some other myths, it was an outright distorting of the events that transpired. Luckily, it didn''t seem as though Leo did it as means of punishment, since he still offered him food. It was likely to break him, to undo the dozens of years of lies, and set him on the correct path. And it wasn''t through a story, but through an experience. Lu Yang recalled glancing up from his breakdown and witnessing the black tiger standing upon the ledge, staring at the stele. That was when he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, what the truth and what the lie were. Perhaps this was why the Spirits welcomed Leo and embraced him, despite shunning mankind. Though Lu Yang was wrong as to why they shunned the mankind, as it was even worse than he believed, it was becoming a bit clearer, Leo''s role in everything. Perhaps he was here as a herald of that truth, to usher in its age, and to wash away the sins of humanity''s past. But it was worrisome... everything. First Demons have always been considered the opposite of mankind, its ''evil'' half, as it were. That was why any people or groups trying to emulate them were considered heretical and chased down ''till the last woman and child, until there was nothing left of them. It wouldn''t be any different if Lu Yang suddenly went out and started speaking ''the truth''. He''d be chased down and killed in the matter of days. Just as his thoughts began to swirl once more, he felt something--something profoundly divine, holy, and sacred. As though by a will beyond his own, he stepped out of the longhouse for the first time in two days and bore witness to the light that took up the sky some ways from the camp. A visage of a banyan tree appeared, perfectly symmetrical, almost like a canopy to the canopy itself, a looming shield over the forest marked as its guardian. Staring at the holy visage of the tree, Lu Yang felt his Qi churn--Dao was speaking to him like a mother would to a child, and it guided him. It was a voiceless voice, a wordless message, a heedless call... and it took over him like a storm overtaking a tiny boat in the middle of the sea. He was at the mercy of something beyond his comprehension, so much so that he fell to his knees and wondered whether he had any right to bear witness to something like this. There were no texts that he''d read, stories that he''d heard, or even myths that ever quite aligned with this. Such a grand manifestation of Dao... it was impossible. It was impossible for even the Earthly Immortals, the peak of the known cultivation realms. He felt his dantian shatter and be reborn seven times in a row, and felt his soul be torn and reforged just the same; his entire spirit was elevated, and he felt himself be swayed by Qi so primal he feared he''d be devoured. But... he wasn''t. Instead, it washed through him, freezing his meridians before thawing them with primordial flames. His soul tore free from his body and he heaved up toward the sky, beyond the boundary of an eye, and saw it--the banyan tree... was endless. It was Dao at its purest, shorn of blemishes. It was only the briefest of glimpses, just enough for his mind to feel it, but it changed him... forever. His entire body shed, but his appearance remained unchanged--by choice. Opening his eyes, he saw the world around him differently. Colors were less dull, the motes of light coming apart at their seams, the wisps of between glimmering. Looking at his hand, he felt... uncertain, as all of it felt unreal. He''d reached Soul Ascendance Realm in one fell swoop. Something that he didn''t even have any aspirations towards, a dream he''d abandoned decades ago... was fulfilled. He''d reached the heights only legendary figures did and, even more than that, knew that this would not be the end of his journey... only the beginning. His heart reeling, tears swelled in the corners of his eyes. Why? Why him? What did he do to deserve this grace? It wasn''t long before the figure emerged from between the trees. He looked the same, unchanged, but Lu Yang caught it: the golden light within the black eyes, the faint flicker fading. "E-eh? Lu Yang? Is everything alright?" he queried. "... yes," the mystique would remain, onward and forever. But... he knew. Before him was a man who would undo the world, for certain, and right the wrongs. And he''d be by his side all through, unmade and made anew. It was a gift that could never be repaid, and so he would not even try. "Would you like for me to share you my Clan''s history? I''d rather not make excuses for my undue behavior two days ago, but I feel context might help you understand." "If you feel like it," he said. Spirits emerged soon behind him, all basked in the same glow as Lu Yang. "My Clan was founded in the year 606 of New Era," Lu Yang said. "Two hundred and forty-one years ago, birthed shortly after the fall of the Divine Empire of the Moon, while the Lower Ashlands were reeling in countless conflicts and wars..." Chapter 77 - Descendants of the Moon Chapter 77 Descendants of the Moon "The founding ancestor of my clan was Lu Han," Lu Yang began talking, and Leo listened. "However, his original name was Yueliang Han," Leo felt a certain strumming within, and his intuition was telling him that he was fully expected to simply know what that meant. So, he acted out the best he could. "... impossible," his words seemed to resonate with Lu Yang, and he knew that, for now at least, he was out of the hot waters. "It''s the most hidden part of our history," Lu Yang said. "Knowledge that is only ever passed down from one Clan Head to another. My Father told it to me when I turned seventeen and was declared the Heir. I was... shocked, and certain that he was lying. However, he took me to the secret basement, and showed it to me: the Crown of the Moon. According to our records, Yueliang Han was the eighth son of the Emperor, and had never even been crowned a Prince as he was an illegitimate child born of a maid. "As such, his name was never put down in proper records, which meant that when the rebels were culling all the Royalty, they missed him and thought that he was simply one of the servants. However, despite never becoming a Prince, the Emperor was rather fond of him, and even passed down a few martial arts and artifacts to him. I used precisely one of those to save my family." Leo connected the dots ever so slightly, feeling astonished even though he didn''t really grasp the full extent of implications which, based off of Lu Yang''s tone, were immense. "He stayed low for the first few years, before founding the Lu Clan. One of the cornerstones of our belief was the mandated history--three thousand years ago, humanity waged war against the First Demons, barely managing to win with the help of the Immortal Spirits. Even if the records from the Before Age are unreliable, all found confirmed this one truth. Or, well, what I thought to be truth. Later, it is stated that the Spirits grew weary of humanity and withdrew, though the reasons as to why were never detailed. Now... well, now I know why." The look in the old man''s eyes was rather strange; a mixture of regret, hope, and pain came together to forge a peculiar glint. Leo stayed silent, the gears of his mind spinning to slowly dot the lines of the story. Even if he was a fool in denial, he could no longer deny fully--the animals around him... were all likely descendants of these Immortal Spirits. That was why he ''saw'' Milky and Blackie and Red in that brief flash; it wasn''t really them, just the Spirits from which they descended. "Everything, it feels, that I ever learned of our history was a lie. But, at the same time, it is also an opportunity." "An opportunity?" "To write the actual history down," Lu Yang said. "To unearth the secrets buried under the thousands of years of lies. And, ultimately, to find out exactly what happened all the way back." Leo felt a bit of pity toward the man. Ancient histories, however well-preserved, were rarely done so with accuracy in mind, even back on Earth. Scholars oft debated endlessly whether something was a myth or a distorted truth, never quite coming to an agreement. The collapse of the Late Bronze Age, for example, was caused by the so-called Sea People... whose identities were never confirmed. One of the most monumental events of the human civilization shrouded in a mystery unsolved. Or, perhaps, the idea of the Trojan War. Was it real? Was it fiction? If real, how much of it was ''creative liberties taken''? History, always, warped itself around the quilts of the victors--separating the truth from the masked interpretations was never easy, and Leo could only imagine how much more difficult it would have been if the mythical things actually could have happened, as was the case here. Unlike on Earth, when writs here claimed that ''two Kingdoms fought for years with no end, godly figures severing mountains with their fingers'', it was entirely possible that it was truth as much as it was possible that it was a lie. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "That''s a tall task," Leo said. "... I''ve spent a lifetime drifting in the fog," Lu Yang said. "Blind, deaf, and mute. I fear, should I not try to leave the maze of my mind, I will go mad. I know that the chances of me ever finding out the truth are slim. All the records from the Before Age that we have are kept in the Vaults of Glory, deep in the Holy Palace of the Divine City. The only people with access to them are Imperial Scholars, Sect Masters of Tier IX and Tier X Sects, and a few hand-selected individuals with grand contributions to the Ashlands. Someone like me... hah. It wouldn''t even warrant a snort, let alone a laugh. But I cannot concede just yet. Why do you think did humanity betray the First Demons?" Lu Yang suddenly posed a question Leo could not answer, especially with that expectant look in the old man''s eyes. It seemed that even he, for all his wisdom, had contributed more to Leo''s importance than there was one. Of all the people that he met, there was really only one that didn''t treat him as a reverent hermit--that ''Elder'' woman from Liang''s Sect. He wondered, deep down, how did she manage to see through him when nobody else did? Not even those seemingly twice her age. As for Lu Yang''s question... in honesty, it wasn''t impossible to answer. The reason was simple: as it was distant history, chances were that Lu Yang would never unearth the truth, and whatever Leo said now might become that truth in the long run. But if so, it would also corrupt the search; the old man would seek evidence that would conform with whatever Leo told him, ignoring whatever defied it. "Ancient histories," Leo broke the silence. "Are like little mysteries. Every once in a while, it may be fun to look back at what-could-have-beens, what-ifs, and whether certain stories are truths or not. But they seldom ever unfold concise answers. As for why behind the betrayal," he paused for a moment, smiling faintly. "Would it be any more unique than any other betrayal? Why do people betray each other?" "Greed," Lu Yang replied. "Anger. Grief." "There you go." "... is it right?" the old man asked with faint anger in his voice. "Would those meager things be enough to betray their saviors? I would never betray you, no matter what." "What to us is meager, to them might have been life-altering," Leo said. "It is easy for even just one bad person to incite stray thoughts. They could have instilled the fear that the First Demons might abandon them, or use them, or a myriad of other awful things, and used that as a justification for the betrayal. To them, it wouldn''t have even registered as a betrayal, but rather a preemptive strike. Perhaps, that is why the history treats it as such--from their eyes, it was a war for survival, and one they won." Lu Yang fell silent, as did Leo. To him, it scarcely mattered what the truth was--it had little to do with him. Not nothing, since his friends were descendants of that era, but as there was nothing he could change, he felt it a waste to think too long on it. Besides, he was feeling a bit too chirpy to be fully invested in his conversation with Lu Yang. Just before coming back, he''d managed to break through to the Core Formation, forming what the system called ''Primordial Core'', whatever that was. He supposed it was above average, at least, which made him rather happy. What made him even happier that, due to his action, the system evolved--from Level 2 to Level 3. With it, some new forms and functions were unlocked, all of which seemed beyond useful. He was planning on testing some of them out when he came back, not having expected Lu Yang to have left his room, let alone to be willing to share what was likely one of the best-hidden secrets of the entire world. "It doesn''t matter," Lu Yang said in the end. "For all actions, for all deeds, there is an objective truth. The measurable right and wrong. It would be like killing people just because they might commit a crime. Even if we had a device that could measure that with extreme accuracy, even killing one innocent would undo its purpose. Wouldn''t that have been the same for them? Even if almost every First Demon, in some capacity, wanted to do them harm, there were some that didn''t. And what of the Immortal Spirits? They are the purest expression of the world''s intangible laws. I''d sooner trust their judgment to withdraw from the world and shelter themselves from the humans, than I would anyone else in the world... living or dead." "I admire your zest," Leo said. "And I won''t stop you. But, perhaps, sleep on it a little. Angry hearts often can make us do and say things that we will regret when we calm down." "Very well," he said, standing up. "I will start taking care of the garden again, if you don''t mind. Again... I apologize for my behavior. And... thank you. For everything." he emphasized the last word strangely, and though Leo didn''t really know what he meant, he assumed it was for taking him in and not becoming angry with him. Regardless, he merely smiled as the old man went back to the house, finally leaving him alone. However, by now he was a bit exhausted himself, in want of a brief respite, before he tested out all four of the system''s new functions. The one that was looking forward to the most was definitely something the system called Simulacrum--it would project a perfected version of him, where that version would perform all the arts that Leo knew to their utmost. It would be as though he''d finally gain a Master of his own, somebody to show him the path so he wouldn''t need to stumble blind through the alleys of this unknown machinery all on his own. Chapter 78 - Traces of the Forgotten Chapter 78 Traces of the Forgotten "Our objective is simple," a voice rocked the unstable platform, causing it to growl lowly. "Tear through the first line of defense, torch their assembled gear, rescue the prisoners that are still alive, and leave immediately. Any stragglers will be left to their own devices; if you try to steal on your own terms, you will be banished from the Cradle. Should you choose to become a turncoat, I will personally rip your still-beating heart from your chest and watch the light in your eyes fade forever. If you''ve understood, grab your provisions from Tual, and meet me at the cave entrance in fifteen minutes." Yue watched the middle-aged man dismount the platform with a level of charisma she thought impossible. She found herself rather starstruck in more ways than one; the man talking, after all, was the famous former General of the Lingshan Kingdom. There were stories of him battling a thousand men on his own, marching cavalry into chokepoints on purpose and coming out victorious, and stories of how he rejected the invitations of all the Sects in order to serve the people. And now, he was here, at the Cradle, and she was put under his watch. "You''re drooling, Senior Sister," Liang''s voice tore her away from her dreams, prompting her to shyly look away and wipe her lips, only then realizing what she''d done, angrily glancing over at smirking Liang. "Shut it," she warned. "What? I''m just a bit surprised," he said. "You do know he is almost fifty years old?" "So?" she grumbled. "We are cultivators. I merely respect him as one and nothing more." "Of course. Let''s hope he won''t become a distraction." "He won''t! Shut it! Let''s go get our provisions. And, please, try not to embarrass me!" "Tall order after that spellbound look. He noticed, you realize that?" "He... he did?" she mumbled as the two moved with the crowd. Though the fort was rather important, it was on the smaller end of things--everything was sort of clustered together, and they only moved for a few seconds before reaching the line and standing at the rear of it. "You''ve taught me yourself," he said. "Why my Junior Sisters used to gaze at me the way they did when I was practicing." "Hey! Don''t... don''t compare me to them! This is nothing like that, I swear!" by now, Yue was beet red, gnashing her teeth in anger. "General Huang is a legendary figure, even you said so! Even though he had the choice to retire and practically live like a king, he chose to come here and help future generations instead! We should all aspire to be like him, don''t you think so?" "... he sounds like a distraction," Liang said with a faint smile, causing Yue to look away in a huff of anger, ending the conversation. Though it was true that General Huang was almost fifty, he seldom looked the part--he was tall, muscular, with lush, black hair falling down to his shoulder, and a pair of iridescent, blue eyes that seemed like bespeckled stars on a white canvas. And then there was his voice, the sound akin to the booming of thunder, but warm, protective, gentle-- Catching herself in the straying thoughts, she slapped her cheeks and focused. Liang, for all his teasing, was right: this was a place where they couldn''t afford any distractions. Even though they''d be just one part of a massive group, things could always go awry at any moment. ** Mei easily parried an incoming strike and retaliated, severing the attacker''s arm in one fell swoop. Blood sprayed out in concert with a scream of agony as the figure shadowed backward; she didn''t pursue, kneading closer into the protective circle. Unsurprisingly, they''d become targets almost as soon as they entered the Hidden Realm. Not by the strongest, far from it--those immediately departed from the starting point, in want of treasures. No, they were ganged upon by the flocks of the weaker cultivators, mostly wanderers and members of the smaller Sects. It seemed that the name of the Holy Blade Sect was no longer as powerful a deterrent as it once was. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. However, the attack was futile; it did not matter that they only had one cultivator at Peak Core Formation Realm, all their strengths far surpassed the perception. All those misled by them would find themselves staring at the cold edge of a blade, forfeiting their life. The attacks continued, with them dancing in a circle and defending; despite being the youngest, both Lya and Song seemed the least tired in the end, and almost excited even. In fact, their Senior was the most spent one, heaving heavily while sitting on the ground and staring at them with an incredulous look in his eyes. "No wonder," Long Hao chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. "The Sect Master dared send you despite everything." "The rest have scattered," Shen Tao appeared from over the nearby hill, sliding down and stopping in front of them. "Unfortunately, the word is likely to spread." "That''s fine," Qiu Mei said. "It just means that the weak will leave us alone, and the strong will be wary of us. If anyone believes the stories, to begin with." "Here, Senior Brother," Lya crouched down and handed Long Hao a basic Qi Pill used to restore the spent Qi. "Thank you for keeping an eye out on us." "Haah, thanks," he smiled faintly and stood up. "Junior Sister Mei is right. This will serve as a nice deterrent. We can at least take a breather now and try and orient ourselves." "Hm? Isn''t this where you appeared at the last time you were here?" Shen Tao asked. "No," Long Hao shook his head. "The last time, my Seniors and I, as well as all others who''ve come through this portal, appeared at the foot of a dormant volcano. We eventually found out we were at one of the southernmost points of the Hidden Realm. This, though... is unfamiliar. To my knowledge," he took out a rather large canvas from his spatial ring and laid down onto the soft grass. Everyone else, including Mei, crouched down around it, noticing various imprinted landmarks and landscapes. "There are only three places with hilly terrain. Here," he pointed toward the eastern border. "Eastern Wind Valleys. They are broken halfway through by a massive gorge and, beyond the gorge, is the second one: Grassy Dunes. The last one is here," he pointed toward the norther portion, but just beyond the border between the outer and inner portions of the map. "It doesn''t really have a name. Most people just call it ''the Bridge'' as it leads to one of the few entrances to the inner portions of the realm." "How can we figure out which one we landed on?" Song asked. "Most people who left immediately," Shen Tao said. "Went north. Few went east and west, but none went that way. South." "... you''re saying that we''re at the Bridge?" Mei queried. "Eh," he shrugged his shoulders, looking away from her eyes. "Just making assumptions." "We''ll also go north, then," Long Hao said. "Either scenario, we won''t be skirting toward the center or any of the hotspots where others gather. If we see anything in the meantime, we can explore it." "Alright. North it is." ** Yu Minge heaved and spat out a mouthful of blood, bending further over until his nose was merely a few inches away from the scarlet-dyed floor. He felt a lump in his lungs finally give way slightly after so much work, letting him breathe. Sitting back up, he wiped his lips, the look in his eyes glazed and distant. Something was wrong, very wrong. He''d been touched at some point by something that he could not understand. At first, he believed it was due to his clash with the Immortal--perhaps it left some deep wounds that he didn''t notice at first, and that he aggravated now that he was trying to cultivate. But... that wasn''t it. Whatever it was went far deeper than even the deepest wounds of the body--it came directly from his soul. The strangest part, however, was that it wasn''t truly malevolent; rather, it simply felt... different. Discordant. An opposite. All the same, it hurt. He could feel it ripping him inside out, and even though he stemmed it for now... he could not delay it indefinitely, or even push it out. It was as though it had become one with him, twined wholly with his innermost being. Stepping out of the cabin, he looked over the Sect and the fading, blue skies. The moon had partially bled out upon the canvas of the sky, and soon the stars would follow. Was this it? He closed his eyes, letting the wind jostle his robes and rub against his cheeks. As a cultivator, he never quite feared death; it was as natural as breathing, a part of the inescapable circle of life. Despite pursuing the Immortality, Yu Minge knew well enough that the true one... did not exist. Some only got a few decades, some a few centuries, some perhaps a few thousands of years, but, in the end, all turn to dust and ash. But he couldn''t go, not yet. Before it completely devoured him, like two opposites erasing each other from existence, he''d have to set up his home for a future without him. He was their shelter, and without him, the wolves would come growling from the woods, hungry and bloodthirsty. A flash of wind passed by, and he disappeared, as though never there, leaving behind a fleeting shadow of nothing, and a tiny mote of black light that disappeared as soon as it touched the floor. The aged, weathered wood... was reborn anew, abruptly. A single branch broke out from the wooden confines and, within seconds, a set of leaves appeared on top of it and, before long, buds which began to bloom into fruits. Under the fading light of the sun, life appeared from the seeming nowhere... and soon faded to ash and dust, as though never there. Chapter 79 - Corner of Tranquility Chapter 79 Corner of Tranquility Leo stretched lazily, petting the yawning Blackie and Milky who were curled up against his sides, lying close to the roaring fire. It was late at night, well past dinnertime, and he was the only one awake still. Lu Yang had retreated into his room soon after the dinner, and most of the animals had gone back into the longhouse as well. Though Leo kept the mud huts intact, only a few animals used them at this point; most turned to the massive building by the side, found a corner therein, and made it theirs. Per his rough estimates, he was currently housing just shy of sixty animals, a number large enough to bend his mind and yet... he didn''t feel that odd. It helped that the vast majority of the animals here seemed to have the courtesy of a person; whenever they had to do their... business, they left elsewhere, as Leo never found the longhouse to smell. If anything, it smelled like a proper time Spring, a rather relaxing and meditative scent that he couldn''t for the life of him figure out where it was coming from. He continued sitting by the flame long into the night, and, over time, was joined by other animals--some of the stragglers who showed up late, some who seldom came to the camp and were just passing by, and some who even left the longhouse. It wasn''t long before he was decked out with tiny critters from head to toe, a new druid fashion of the forest, and though even he felt their weight, he didn''t mind it. It was, after all, the weight of comfort and security. He thought back to when he broke through to the Core Formation Realm, and the litany of windows that appeared. Besides forming Primordial Core, whatever that was, and system''s own Level Up, he got one more reward: a Dao Chant imprinted directly into his mind that was used to ''purify Souls''. Though he was uncertain as to what it precisely meant, he had an inkling, both toward the chant itself, but also his place in the forest and perhaps even this world. In what little he knew of the Eastern Mythology back on Earth, he was familiar with the notion that ''evil'' spirits, omens, apparitions and such were oft born of overabundance of negative emotion. It was entirely possible that buried between the trees were the haunting remnants of something that he should use the chant itself to purify. For now, though, it was just a theory. He felt something nibble at his finger suddenly and glanced down only to see a stranger''s face--the kitten that Gray helped him save had appeared out of nowhere, was fast asleep, and was sucking away at his thumb. His heart melted for a moment at the sight, though he worried that she, too, was a bit of a stray. The comforting part (if it could be called that) was that Gray and her seemed inseparable, and she was always with him, either riding his back or trying to keep up by his side. His mind, once more, drifted back to the rewards. He''d already tested what the system called ''Simulacrum'', and it was precisely as advertised, if a bit underwhelming. While it was true that the ''mirror copy'' performed the Martial Art to the perfection, it did so only to the point of Leo''s understanding of that Art. It meant that if he couldn''t quite grasp the complexities of whatever art he was learning, the function of the system wouldn''t be able to simply show it to him. While a bit of a letdown, it still helped him already with some of the shortcomings he had especially with the footwork technique. The other two rewards were rather simple: he''d gotten another bulk of knowledge of this world, this time around mainly for flora and fauna rather than the cultivation system. Despite the fact that the names of thousands of animals and herbs and trees were shoved into his head, there was still a deathly number of them that he couldn''t recognize in the forest. Most of his furry friends were still a ''blur'', as it were, since they didn''t seem to belong to any of the species. Similarly, though he could name most common trees and grass and flowers in the forest, none of the fruits or vegetables were part of the curriculum.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. The last reward was a strange tablet that he''d shrouded inside his robes; the name that the system provided was The Origin Mandate, and though Leo was entirely incapable of deciphering the runes carved into its cold surface, he recognized them--they were of the same shape and make as the ones on steles near the Well, the ones he couldn''t read. It seemed, bit by bit, that the system was pushing him towards solving the puzzle of the ancient make, and whether he wanted to or not, he was confident he would find himself entangled with the world''s oldest mysteries, it seemed. For now, the tablet may as well be a cutting board, but in due time, he was likely to learn to read it. Sighing, he gazed back at the fading flames, once again wondering of his place in this world. As though sensing his distress, several of the animals seemed to wake and snuggle even closer against him, until one (Milky) was pressing so hard into his rib cage that it kind of hurt. Alas, he seldom had the heart to shove the adorable furball away, so he suffered in silence. The dawn came both slowly and quickly, and the waking animals dispersed to commence whatever their morning rituals were. Leo, too, finally had the space to stand up and stretch--his entire body boomed as though he hadn''t moved for years, every bone in his body seemingly cracking. Following a quick bath, he began to prepare breakfast when Yu Lang, in accompaniment of several animals, walked out of the longhouse. Leo was still somewhat unaccustomed to the grand structure being there, and he could hardly wait to see Yue and Liang''s reactions upon their return. "Good morning," Yu Lang greeted. "I didn''t hear you come in." "Slept outside," Leo replied. "Got swarmed." "Ah." "What''s wrong?" he asked, sensing some level of awkwardness in the air. "I was thinking about leaving the forest for a few days." "Oh? What for?" "Mostly to pick up on the chatter and see what is happening in the world," Lu Yang replied. "But also to resupply. Though I''ve given most of my possessions to my family, and had most of the rest stolen, I still have some remnants of the wealth in my Soul Ring. My Cultivation Method requires some external accessories, especially now that I''ve broken through." Leo was rather surprised to learn the man broke through, but held back any expression; the subtext was clear that he was supposed to already know. "That''s quite alright," Leo said. "Even if I know that it matters not to you," Lu Yang said. "I swear an Oath of Soul to not divulge any detail, no matter how minor, of this place, even unto death." Leo felt rather strange, as it seemed everyone who came here was rather obsessed with swearing these oaths to keep him a secret... even though he never asked for it. "Do you need anything from the outside?" "No," Leo replied simply. "Do you want me to prepare you meals and juice for the outside?" "Hm? You would?" "I did it for the pair of kids," Leo chuckled. "Though, by now, they must have chewed through it all. I don''t mind." "Just juice, then," Lu Yang said. "One waterskin-worth is enough." Lu Yang departed for the garden following the breakfast while Leo stayed behind. Once again, he found himself with little else to do besides cultivate... or study martial arts. Feeling rather uninspired, he instead beelined toward the pit, accompanied by Gray, the kitten, and Hoot. The latter hung on his shoulder, while the former two trailed back, with the kitten riding the dog like a horse. It was quite an adorable sight, especially when it would meow and Gray would switch directions. He sat by the edge, staring into the depths of the pit where the pond of water still resided. This place was the same as he found it when he first came here, with quite a few familiar faces who come by the camp every few days for a meal or two before disappearing. A sudden screech alerted him as he looked to the side only to see a flash of red run him down and pin him to the ground. Just as he thought he''d die, he realized that the animal was rubbing its beak against his cheeks. The red feathers quickly formed the full body, and he realized it was the ''long-lost'' Anuvar. He was the same as Leo remembered him, his body massive and as heavy as a mountain, three tails fluttering wildly behind him. Even though he was relatively cool to touch, the bird looked as though afire, and would likely illuminate the entire world in the dark. "Ha ha ha," Leo laughed freely, running his fingers over the bird''s neck and head gently. "I missed you too, buddy. Where have you been this entire time, huh?" The bird stood up from him and began cawing and screeching, gesturing with its wings as though they were person''s arms. Leo could only laugh at the side of a behemoth ten times his own size standing over the top of him and wildly gesturing with its wings, as though he were telling the world''s greatest story. All the same, strangely, he looked to be beaming with pride, and Leo didn''t want to stomp on that, so he encouraged. "Really?" and "That''s amazing!" and "You''re one of a kind!". Where and when else, he mused, would he be able to do this? Unlikely that there was another time or place, but this perfect coalescence of everything which allowed him to stare into the beady eyes of a burning star, and watch it buzz with excitement and joy. Chapter 80 - The Trials Chapter 80 The Trials Once again, Leo found himself alone. Well, never alone, but without a human companion. By the time he returned to the camp (after spending almost an entire day playing with the flaming hawk), Lu Yang had left, leaving a message etched in the small stone by his room... except, Leo couldn''t read it. He felt a bit frustrated, having the ability to read the supposed ancient, extinct language, and not the modern one. Nonetheless, it was likely that the man simply told him he left and that he''d back soon. Leaving the longhouse, he stepped out into the night once again. There were no animals present this time around, with most having retreated into the longhouse, and a few into the mud huts. Looking up at the sky, a full moon stared back. Though Leo wondered precisely how this world shared so many similarities to Earth, it wasn''t as though he''d ever find the answers, so he seldom wasted too much time on it. Sitting down, he took out the tablet that he received from the system as a reward, running his fingers gently over the cool surface and wondering what the letters meant. It was an alphabet entirely alien, with curves twining unto themselves and crossing over stitched lines, connecting like coiling serpents to the characters next to them. The entire text looked like one letter, as there seemed to be no ''natural'' breaks between either letters, words, or paragraphs. Rather, it was impossible to discern whether the text had them or not. Then again, it was entirely possible that there were characters representing all those things, and he simply didn''t know them. His blood froze momentarily as he heard a distant, strange weeping swirl through with the wind. Standing up, he drew out the sword, swallowing a knot in his throat and keeping his ears perked. It wasn''t long before he heard another, this one coming from an entirely different direction. Looking around once again, he sought comfort of one of his furry friends... but none were to be found anywhere nearby. He always felt off about the forest at night, and had even bore witness to a few of its... oddities once or twice, but it was always well away from the home, far into its depths. Nothing had ever approached here, and he simply assumed that the system had granted him protection... sort of like when he first appeared in this place. Another wail soon echoed out, and Leo saw... something. A swirl of shadows merging out of the distant darkness, a shapeless thing arising between the trees. He wondered, yet again, whether he''d changed the genres, but couldn''t contemplate much further as yet another wail came out, this one closer to a painful howl. Suppressing the surging fear, Leo braved a few steps out of the camp, still holding onto the sword firmly, as he saw something relatively nearby. As he passed one of the tall shrubberies, it came into view: it was one of those misshapen animals that he''d only ever see at night, with no counterpart to compare them to. This one was a large ball of sorts with hundreds of arms poking out and several eyes dancing around its scuffed, hairy surface. It was the ugliest of things, and Leo would have let it be in its insidious suffering had it stayed as it were--but it did not. Qi within him churned abruptly, and he felt it coming into his eyes against his will; as soon as it did, the world around changed. It grew brighter, more prominent, but the greatest change was that of the thing in front of him--it morphed from the misshapen abomination... into a person. Well, not a person. But a humanoid of sorts. It was a woman, he supposed, breaching seven feet in height, draped in torn-up night gown, her skin pale blue, eyes as silver as the moon above. She had strange protrusions jutting out from her cheeks shaped almost like gems, and her forehead was sunken toward her brow, making her eyes narrow. Besides that, she also seemed to have a tail, and it whipped violently behind her, long and thin like a whip. Just as he was about to wipe his eyes and recognize that he was dreaming this entire thing up, she turned... and her eyes met his. Leo felt his heart tear open and bleed at that instance, as though it was being broken repeatedly with pain impossible to understand. A set of words came to his mind like gilded letters, chanting unto his soul. For once, he knew precisely what to do. ** Yue stepped back into their room, spent and tired. Liang had decided to go for a round of drinks with some of the people they went with, but she was too tired and decided against it. Their first ''expedition'', as it were, into the caves was... uneventful, and yet draining at the same time. There was something about having to keep her mind sharp at all times and be conscious of every shadow, every noise, every everything, really, that she wasn''t used to quite yet. She didn''t have to do much... or anything, really. They only encountered a few scattered Demonic Beasts that were dealt with swiftly. Even though she figured that the first ''mission'' would likely be just to ease the newcomers into this world, she expected a bit more, at least. Tossing herself onto the bed, she took out the feather from her ring and caressed it gently. It was, next to the Void Scroll, her most valuable treasure. She knew, should she will it, she''d be able to level this entire place to the ground within seconds. For a moment she questioned whether any one person should even be allowed to possess that much strength, but not for long. She had no intention of using the feather short of another instance like the one by the forest. It truly was the last resort. Liang came stumbling into the room sometime past midnight; as she was away from the forest and in an unknown place, Yue didn''t actually dare fall asleep. As such, she meditated and cultivated as she used to before meeting Master. Her Junior Brother''s countenance shifted as soon as the doors were closed; the drunken youth with flushed face was gone, and he got that look in his eyes, the one that appeared sporadically, where he knew something... dangerous. "Liang?" she asked as he lifted his index finger and pressed it against his lips, indicating she stayed silent. She nodded, using her Divine Sense to try and figure out what he was seeing, but there was nothing. Past the few scattered cultivators loitering around the fort, she couldn''t see anything. "Something''s off," he broke the silence after a few moments, his voice hushed. It was then that she noticed he''d drawn an isolation array, shocking her doubly--that he knew it even existed, and that he knew how to draw it. Once again, for a moment, she questioned whether her strange Junior Brother was just pretending to be a bit of a simpleton... "What?" "There was ten of us drinking," he said. "But three kept using Divine Sense to inspect the rest of us, almost to make sure we were getting drunk. I''m also pretty sure that my drinks were poisoned, or, at the very least, laced with some sleeping agent. Had it not been for Master''s food reinforcing my body, it might have been enough to knock me out for good." Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "Are you serious?" she arched her brows, alarms ringing inside her mind. "What for?" "I don''t know," he said. "I also noticed that something was off in the expedition. We barely encountered anything, let alone anyone. But I often listened to my Seniors who came back from the Cradle talk about their experiences, and each said that every expedition was a matter of life or death. Did that one seem that way to you?" "Hardly," Yue scoffed. "I figured they were just going easy on the newcomers." "Nobody cares about that here," Liang said, shaking his head. "No, I have a feeling... something else is afoot." "What?" "I... don''t know," he smiled sheepishly. "You''re the smart one between us, Senior Sister. What do you think is happening?" "Ugh, how the hell am I supposed to know?" Yue grunted, feeling a bit embarrassed. Still, she gave it a thought, and came up with a relatively far-fetched but possible idea. "Maybe Others have somehow infiltrated the fort and are trying to take over? That would explain trying to poison you, and even why that expedition felt empty." "... that must be it," Liang said, his lips suddenly stretching out into smile. Yue knew that look--he got excited. But excited Liang was... not needed, at the moment. "Calm down," she said. "If it really is true, then we need to get the hell out of this place before they attack!" "We came here to become stronger and test ourselves, Senior Sister," he said rather seriously. "And you want to run away at the first sign of trouble?" Yue fell silent, feeling the weight of his gaze as well as his expectations. It was true--they came here to become stronger, especially her. While Liang was a Sect Disciple, and one of the most talented ones at that, and had likely experienced the outside world quite a few times, she... hadn''t. All she ever knew were the martial platforms of her Clan, and the occasional inter-clan tournaments. Going to retrieve her Grandfather was only the second time she ever left her Clan for longer than half a day. "Fine," she relented. "But we need to be smart about this. Tell me who you suspect is with the Others." "There is--" Just as Liang was about to list names, the room shook and bells began to howl loudly into the night. Explosions began to erupt one after another, flashes of brilliant lights piercing through the slits in the walls. The two looked at each other and realized something monumentally terrifying: it wasn''t just this fort... it was seemingly every other fort in the vicinity, as well. "Let''s go," she urged as they headed toward the doors. "What the hell is happening...?" ** "Interesting," a voice tore through the membrane of space, prompting Mei to slash sideways with her sword. However, it was as though she hit a rock wall that would not budge... but looking at the tip of her blade, all she saw was a pair of fair fingers holding it as though it were made of paper. She shuttered backward, heaving, short of breath. "Truly fascinating. You''ve undergone a Root Nirvana, haven''t you? But that''s impossible. Even if you, by some miracle, knew how to do it, there is no way your pathetic swill of a Sect has the means to do it. Not for one of you, and especially not for the three of you." They were simply heading north, trying to explore when, out of nowhere, they were attacked. Luckily, Senior Brother Hao managed to just barely deflect the attack, but he was now lying at the rear, bleeding profusely. Song and Lye stood by his side, while Shen Tao stood in front of him. Mei tried to attack back but to no avail--despite the fact that only three people who seemed to be their age, if not younger, intercepted them, she knew by merely glancing at them that she stood no chance. They were all at the Peak of Core Formation, effectively a single breath away from breaking through, and were no less talented than Mei herself. No, she was largely incomparable to even the weakest of them. "Tell me," the holder of the voice was a young, rather handsome man with short, blonde hair and a pair of twilight-colored eyes. However, the way he smiled sent shivers down Mei''s spine--it was less so a smile of a person, and more that of a devious serpent. "If you are honest, I may yet spare your pathetic lives." "Who are you?" she questioned. "Is there really need to fight?" "Fight? Ha ha ha. Ah, dear me, that was funny. This is not a fight, little simpleton. Fight implies at least some level of equality between two parties. No, this is a very simple case of extortion: tell me how your roots underwent a nirvana, or I will skin each one of you until I can hang your skeletons so that the entire world can see them." Mei felt a chill in her bones, and knew well enough that the man wasn''t lying. He truly would do all he said, and all she could do was wonder how bad their luck was to come across these people out of everyone in the realm. "That attitude," the voice was that of Senior Hao who suddenly stood up and walked past Mei, stepping in front of her. "That look in your eye. There''s only one place in the Lower Ashlands that would birth such vile things." "Oh? You can stand up? Interesting. Not nearly as much as those three, but interesting in your own right. So, just one place? What place is that?" the man smiled widely as he quizzed. "Heavenly Pavilion," Long Hao''s words shuttered Mei''s heart, and she quickly felt herself sink as though the earth beneath her feet turned to quicksand. Of all the Sects, of all the groups, they just had to run into... them. "... correct!" the man exclaimed. "Then again, if any one of you had an iota of intellect, you could have just looked at the insignias woven into our robes. Or, don''t tell me... you dolts have never seen it before?" "Do you really intend to start a war over something like this?!" Long Hao spoke up, though Mei was far more focused on his fingers that he hid behind his back--he was telling her, telling them, to run. "A war? Hah," the man scoffed, his expression turning even colder. "Suppose your Sect was willing to go to war for you, and suppose we even entertained your nonsense instead of just sending one of our Elders to wipe you off the face of the world, what would it matter to you? The dead have no cause with the living, last I heard. And though I admire your striking bravado, even if you somehow managed to buy an hour, they will never escape us. Your fates were sealed the moment I laid my eyes on you, and fighting fate is for the Chosen only... which you are decidedly not. So, move." Before Senior Hao could utter another word, Mei watched in horror as blood sprayed toward her, dyeing her battle robes scarlet red, the body and the head felling separately toward the ground. Despite every instinct in her body screaming at her to run, she could only stand frozen in place, her lips quivering. "Now--hm?" a screen appeared in front of Mei, and soon a figure came into her view. "What is this?" "There''s only so many things I''m willing to part with," Shen Tao''s voice was mellow, though interspersed with seeds of anger. "And you''ve already made me use one. So, I will give you a chance to get as far away from here as humanly possible." "Or?" "Or I''ll disintegrate your subhuman souls into ash," he said, taking out a small, aged, and worn-down hourglass. Despite it seeming like a useless trinket, Mei felt a thread of fear erupt from within her at the sight of it. And if she felt, she knew that the disciples of the Heavenly Pavilion did too. "You want to compete with us treasure-wise?" though the man seemed somewhat surprised, he didn''t back down, merely smiling. "Besides, there is no way we can leave now. I need to skin your lips and tear your tongue from your throat for besmirching our souls. That crime cannot go unpunished." "... haah, I''ll have to ask for major compensation when we go back," Shen Tao, similarly, didn''t retreat. Instead, he took out six other treasures that all began to float around him in a halo-like ring. While one didn''t cause much uproar on the other side, the six most decidedly did. The Disciples'' faces turned ashen pale with fright, and they, without a said word, turned heel and disappeared, leaving behind only wind. Shen Tao scoffed and put the treasures away, glancing at her. As though knowing what she was thinking, he broke the silence. "I honestly didn''t think he''d kill him so quickly. I was planning on stepping in if there was no other way, but his was a card we can only play once. Though they ran away, they likely have a way of tracking us, and the next time we run into them... they''ll be prepared." "S-so, what are you saying? That we should just wait to die?" "No, of course not," he shrugged. "I say we go where even they won''t dare come." "... you can''t be serious. We may as well actually die, in that case!" "You kept asking me how to get stronger, and kept pestering me to show you the way," he said. "Well, here it is. Your chance to become stronger. If we try to hide or run away, we will die. Well, you will die. I''ll probably manage to survive somehow. So, instead of waiting for the inevitable, take a chance at only the probable. The road to becoming stronger is paved with sacrifices, with hurt, and with blood thick enough to flood a river. If you aren''t willing to have your soul broken, then you do not deserve to call yourself a cultivator." Chapter 81 - Longing of the Voices Chapter 81 Longing of the Voices Words parted from his lips, yet he could seldom fathom what they meant. All Leo knew to do was chant what was imprinted into his mind, word by word, phrase by phrase. Golden light began to emerge from his skin, tiny motes as though birthed, and converge toward the ghostly apparition. The first mote of golden light caused her to scream, her face distorting until her eyes bulged, and her mouth tensed into a maw, and she turned to rush toward him, but he continued chanting, blindly believing in the system. By the time she reached him, motes of golden light had covered her, and she fell to her knees, her head hung low. Leo crouched and gently pressed his hand against her head, continuing to repeat the same chant over and over as the darkness turned to light, and night to day. He felt something shear open from within the ghost and trickle through his palm and into his mind. Just as he was about to yelp in horror, images flashed inside his head and he found himself afoot a journey beyond space and time. A woman stood, though just barely, against a tide of arrows and flame. She donned torn-up armor made of steel and bound by leather, nicked and cracked across, and wielded a lengthy, gold-gilded spear, though by now it was bloody and broken. Surrounding her were ruins and debris, smoke and ash coalescing into a smog-like fog that descended upon the city. She parted her lips and spoke, though Leo was unable to understand the words; within her voice, though, he heard anger, resentment, pain, and confusion. He felt a yearning within him arise, yearning to stretch out his arms and hug her, though he knew that was impossible. Even if he didn''t know how, he did know this was merely a memory, a gasping remnant that formed the ghost originally. One of hate, pain, and suffering. An arrow flickered swiftly--so swiftly that Leo estimated it was somehow faster than a bullet--and lodged itself into the woman''s left thigh, forcing her to her knees. She speared the ground and held herself up the best she could, panting as blood broke from the wound and flew down her leg like a river. Yet, she pressed onward, screaming until her throat bled and thrusting forward with her spear. World swirled in that instance, space bending by the will of the weapon, the immense pressure carving open a hole in the void and causing a massive explosion over four hundred yards away. Leo watched just about twenty bodies be tossed up into air, dismembered and destroyed, but it was for naught. That last bit of defiance spent her whole, and she fully fell, the spear in her arms shattering. Her golden hair fell by the sides of her face, wet with sweat and blood, and she whimpered and wept, unwilling. Storm surged forward as smoke parted, around a hundred humans--led by a masked figure--appearing. She looked up, gnashing her teeth, and speaking once again. Her voice somehow managed to carry through and be heard, but all it did was elicit laughter. Leo turned toward the approaching ''army'', all decked out in the finest steel, halos of immense cultivation supporting them. His instincts were telling him that they were all stronger than the strongest person Leo had met thus far in the world--Xiaoling. They, though, failed to elicit the level of fear and terror that Chilly did, so at least it meant they weren''t mind-bendingly strong. Though she cursed (at least he assumed she did, with the level of vitriol she spat words out), it was pointless. The masked man leaned over and lifted her head by the chin, thrusting a dagger through her heart. Her body began to crack like a porcelain vase, red glow piercing through, the frame exploding into ash and dust. As their laughter echoed, Leo watched the fading, red motes of light stir and shudder, converging back toward one place, and forming the very ghost that Leo saw. Opening his eyes, he realized he was back in the forest. His hand was no longer touching a cold nothing, but instead felt strange warmth dancing. Looking down, he saw that the pale blue skin had turned rosy for just a moment, as she began to fade. Her distorted face, however, disappeared, and there was an evanescent smile hanging on her lips. A voice escaped them, though, once again, rang hollow in his ears as he could not understand. She disappeared soon after, and the golden glow disappeared with her, causing the darkness of the night to surge back. Leo felt spent and empty, not because the chant used a lot of is Qi, or that he was mentally or physically exhausted, but more so in the primal way of a human. A thousand questions hung above him, and he was uncertain of them all. Should he feel sympathy for a race that had warred with humans not unlike himself? And if he should, what ought he feel toward those very same people? Was the cauldron of war good enough of an excuse? And, perhaps most importantly, would he have to bear witness to more of those scenes?Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Considering just how many wails he''d heard coming from the forest, he feared he would. She was not alone, and he did not know whether his heart could take it. Yet, he could not turn heel and ignore them. Even though he only caught a glimpse of it, he saw in just how much pain she was, and how much suffering. It was a cursed existence, and if he was the only path to salvation... Unbeknownst to him, at some point, he ceased being alone; instead of ghosts, however, it was his friends. Blackie and Milky poked their furry heads through his legs and looked at him with strange worry in their glistening eyes. Red climbed on his back and tossed all six of his arms around him, holding tenderly, while Hoot perched himself atop Leo''s head, hooting lowly. Beside them, Gray nuzzled his head against his thigh, while the tiny kitten skillfully climbed on top of his shoulder and began licking his face. Howly, too, came, though he stayed a few feet from him, seated, as though shielding him from the shadow. Even the tiger was there, as were dozens of birds decorating the hanging branches above, and dozens of other critters peeking their heads from between the trees and the shrubbery. And yet, despite there being so many of them, none made a sound beyond Hoot. He could only smile and use the two arms he had to grab them against his chest and hold. They remained so for a little while longer before he took a deep breath and stood up, looking up past the canopy of the trees and toward the moon. "Thank you," he spoke softly, feeling the weight of some fourteen or so animals hanging onto him. Even Howly came over and stopped his side, looking up at him. "I''ll help them all, I promise. Ha ha, don''t worry, don''t worry. I''ll be fine. Are you doubting me, eh? You don''t doubt a handsome man like me, you know? Ha ha, let''s go back home. I really need some sleep." ** Yue slashed diagonally with her sword, easily cutting through the Qi shield that an older man had conjured, cutting him in one fell swoop. That was the fourth--fourth person she had killed in just five minutes. The most terrifying part, though, was that all of them were supposed to be stronger than she was. In fact, the man she just killed... was at Spirit Creation Realm, like her Junior Brother. Though she sparred with Liang frequently, she never managed to even gain an upper hand, let alone defeat him. Perhaps it was because of those spars that she developed some wild thoughts about the strength of people at the Spirit Creation Realm, but, as with all things in this world it seemed, it was her Master''s hand that curated such results. None of the people she faced could block the strike from the art her Master passed on, the one he said ''had no name because it didn''t deserve one'', but one Liang and her secretly dubbed ''Heartripper'', and if they attacked first, none could keep up with the footwork technique that they dubbed ''Timestopper''. While what she was doing was terrifying enough, Liang... was another beast entirely. He jumped into the herd of some twenty people trying to take over the fort, all of which were at least Peak Core Formation, with eight being in Spirit Creation Realm, and two even reaching Fusion Realm. And yet, none were able to stop even one of his punches. Rather, it was strange--she''d seen Liang go all out before as she''d asked him, and though she was beaten into a pulp within five moves, she still could see him move, and endure those five moves. Others... were not. He moved in a flash, punching out rather freely like a butterfly, tearing through whatever flimsy defense they tried putting up in a heartbeat. As such, what they likely assumed would be easy work turned into horror, with five that survived having only done so because they escaped. "You alright?" Liang''s countenance once again shifted; when he fought, she noticed even before today, there was a certain charisma to him that made a heart stir. However, he was now back to the airheaded buffoon with a wide grin. "I am. You?" "Just fine," he said. "Master''s arts are really... haah." "Have you noticed?" Yue said, putting away the sword and looking around at the horror of their make. There were quite a few bodies strewn across the ground of the silent fort, though they also saw quite a few lining the walls that were not of their make. "The quality of our Qi compared to theirs." "Incomparable." "Hm," she nodded. "We should burn some of these bodies." "Eh? Why? With this, our achievements will be enough to shoot us through the ranks!" "Maybe," she said. "But don''t you think they''ll have quite a few questions? Namely, how did two brats manage to kill not one, but two Fusion Realm cultivators. What will you tell them? It''s just our innate talents?" "... right," he nodded understandingly. "What do you propose?" "Even defeating just ten cultivators of ranks similar to ours will likely be seen as a massive feat," she said. "So, burn most everyone, leaving two Spirit Creation Realm cultivators and eight Core Formation ones. That should be enough." "Strong and clever," a distantly familiar voice startled them both as they lined up to fight, only to see a shadow emerge from the nearby building. The face was rather familiar, as it was that of the General Huang. "G-General...!" Yue stuttered, feeling uncertain and immediately mentally preparing to use the Void Scroll in case he attacked. "Relax," instead, the man laughed rather merrily, inspecting the destruction. "You two did well. Too well. But, well, we don''t ask questions here. If we did, no one would want to come, at least not without some heavy escort. How about this? I''ll take credit for killing the impossible, and pass on the rewards to you two, while asserting that you fought marvelously against the rest and came ahead against all odds. It should be enough to light you two up." "Yeah, that works!" Liang immediately accepted, and even Yue nodded. But she was wary--extremely so. Why was he here? And why didn''t he do anything when they were attacked? And if he saw them handling it, why didn''t he go to the other forts to help? There were too many questions to ask, but she dared not ask them as the man could easily kill both of them. For now, she chose to remain silent, and pray that he was just another eccentric, sort of like her Master. Chapter 82 - Law of Origin Chapter 82 Law of Origin The night came again, and with it the weeping. Leo stepped out of the longhouse and gazed into the darkness between the trees, trying to count how many sources there were. But... it was impossible. They overlapped, stopping and starting at uneven intervals, forming and disbanding choirs intermittently. All he knew was that each and every one of them was like a knife through his heart. This time around, however, he wasn''t alone--Gray braved the wails and, whimpering and shaking, stepped beyond the camp with him. Leo didn''t have to drift for too long before encountering the first ghost. To his dismay, it was that of a young boy, it seemed. He was sitting atop a misshapen boulder, dressed in rather ornate clothing with asymmetrical swirls as the main motif. Twisting his head slightly to the side, the empty eyes met Leo''s; they seemed bereft of everything, unlike the woman''s from last night. It was then that Leo realized that the boy wasn''t weeping like the rest. He was inordinately quiet, dispassionate about everything... but he was still here, all the same. While Gray hid behind a tree, growling lowly at the visible apparition, Leo approached slowly and quietly until he was by the boulder. The boy continued to stare at him, eyes purely white without irises. Bracing himself for what was to come the best he could, Leo''s lips parted, and he began to chant, syllable by syllable. His body, once again, began to glow in iridescent golden, and motes of light converged toward the boy who seemed rather curious about them, lifting his arms and touching them. Leo reached out and gently pressed his hand against the boy''s head, feeling cold burst between the webbing of his fingers. He held a breath, and darkness swallowed. When he opened his eyes, he was in a small, but rather luxurious room. The ceiling seemed enchanted, resembling a glittering night sky, with constellations twinkling and occasionally shifting into shapes of mystical creatures. Floating chandeliers cast a soft glow, while silken curtains embroidered with tiny dragons framed tall, arched windows. Atop a circular, soft-seeming bed draped in blankets that shimmered with silver threads was a boy, sitting in silence and looking at the closed curtains, as though trying to peer at the world beyond them. The room was silent only for a moment before the doors were burst through, and several figures stormed in, all clad in high-grade armor. The boy shifted his eyes over toward them, still bereft of any emotion, and stood up from the bed. He approached them while they seemed to be discussing something between themselves, though as for what... Leo could not understand. The boy stopped in front of them and raised his arm, pointing his tiny little finger at them, finally uttering something. His voice was melodic and soft, but whatever he said seemed to have enraged the group which immediately drew out their blades and stabbed forth. Six, in total, wounds appeared and the boy fell, limp and fading. The world blurred for a moment as Leo found himself back in the forest, staring at the fading figure of the boy. Even as the last of him disappeared, his expression and the look in his eyes never changed. He burst into shimmering motes of light that disappeared before even touching the ground, leaving in his wake only silence and the knowledge long since forgotten. Leo looked at the boulder for a moment and sat on top of it; the wails, just like last night, disappeared. It seemed as though somebody or something allowed him only one purification per night. He was silently grateful, as he didn''t think he''d be able to handle much more than that. Gray walked up and jumped onto his lap, curling up. Nights to come would be long, Leo realized as he petted the furball silently. But they''d be worth it, too, he felt. ** Qiu Mei paused, holding her breath. She wasn''t alone, either; Song, Lya, and Shen Tao came to an abrupt halt as well. As soon as the mist fogging the horizon parted and revealed the sight, they felt a sense of awe arise within them as well as almost this innate need to kneel toward it.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Mountaintops arose like spikes of a spine, tearing through the sky itself. Almost wholly barren, they sported strangely red-like hue, breaking every so often into even stranger, cascading terraces. Jagged ridges spiraled into the clouds, their sheer enormity whispered to the supposed petrified remnants of an ancient dragon, frozen in eternal slumber. The mountains further curved inwards like the folds of a serpent, their slopes shimmering faintly under the setting sun as if their weathered stone still bore the sheen of scales. A narrow cleft stood as an unassuming gateway where the range broke, framed by cliffs that rose like the ridged crest of some long-forgotten beast. Folded arches like bones of a spine curved over the entrance, forming a strange, bewitching tunnel that seemed to whisper their names. Eerily, it looked less like a naturally-formed entrance and more like a wound where a sword pierced the beast''s hide, leaving its body to coil eternally around the valley it seemed to be guarding. Every once in a while, the four would see flames spray out from the jutting pits in the mountains, dripping it in red-hued volcanic ash. "Uh, you know, maybe taking our chances with that pavilion prick isn''t such a bad idea?" Song was the one to break the silence, voicing what Mei herself thought. At the very least, the Disciples of the Heavenly Pavilion fell within the realm of the ''known''. Just merely standing over two hundred yards from the maw of the entrance filled her with such dread that she seldom experienced. "I... I want to enter," Lya suddenly said. Mei spun and faced the young girl; though they hadn''t spent much time together, she felt that the young girl was the most level-headed of them all. Quaint, withdrawn, yet forcible when needed. In small ways, she admired her. "I don''t know to describe it," she quickly added, knowing that her words had lit up suspicion within others. "It''s as though there''s an invisible thread pulling me toward the entrance and beyond. As if turning back and leaving now would leave a lasting wound that would never heal." "It''s probably resonance," Shen Tao said, stepping up in front of the other tree and facing them. "Something you know, be it your cultivation method, your martial arts, or even your Spiritual Roots, resonates with something that exists beyond those mountains." "Are you confident?" Mei turned toward Shen Tao and asked, seemingly surprising him. He held her gaze for a moment before replying. "No. But that doesn''t mean we have to turn back," he said. "Hah, easy for you to say, with all those treasures you have," Song scoffed. "Did you all forget that the Elder said the inner portions of the realm contain Spirit Creation beasts?!" "And the outer ring has Disciples of the Heavenly Pavilion," Shen Tao responded. "There''s no place to go where we will be safe. But only one of the choices leads to a potential treasure trove." "We''ll go," Mei said, taking a deep breath. With Long Hao dead, she was now the most Senior Disciple present. "Here," she took out the two life-saving treasures she had and tossed it over to Song and Lya who caught them haphazardly. "Senior Sister, this--" "--is my prerogative," she interrupted. "Should anything untoward happen, you two need to run back out and survive, no matter what." "Them two?" Shen Tao arched his brow. "What about me?" "Afford me the courtesy of accompanying me in death," she said with a faintly mocking tone. "That should be your prerogative." ** There exist certain inalienable laws of nature that even the most exquisite of cultivators cannot disobey. The Law of Energy--every vessel, ordinary or otherwise, is finite. Limited by the nature''s benevolent designs. The Law of Causality--the world only ever changes when acted upon, and every act elicits an equal reaction. The Law of Duality--everything, real or conceptual, has its opposite. Life and death. Love and hate. Suffering and jubilance. Darkness and light. Thousands more there swirl in the ancient machinations of creation, woven into the tapestry that wasn''t, isn''t, and would never be understood. Few among the chosen had the opportunity to glimpse past the membrane, and what they saw... changed them. Changed in ways that were not compatible with the world around them. Yet, even among the thousands of laws, there is a hierarchy. Those that came first, those that govern the most, those that can never even be grasped. Motes of silent Qi fluttered visibly above the ashen ruins of everafter. Figures frozen in time stood at the precipice, their forms distorted in a deluge of cracked, webbing lines. It was a world of silence, a world petrified in a singular moment ripped from the histories. The motes were white to begin, dancing like shimmering stars in the nightly sky, like tiny little fae overcome with joy of life. In the visage of purity, however, a dimming stain appeared; dark like obsidian, it grew like a rapidly-blooming flower, corrupting all around it. The world and all those within it--whether old or young--forgot. For there was time before time, history before words, where everything was shorn of decay and rot of time. Where Qi was not thin and sought after, but where it permeated every visible inch of existence. It was so thick that it would suffocate the uninitiated, and in a breath could turn an ordinary beast into an immortal one. The tiny motes decayed in reverse, as though time itself was clocking backwards; they grew and expanded, their edges fluttering violently, tearing in and out of reality, all until they turned onyx, mirages of machinations visible therein. Law of Origin, one of the oldest and one of the formative laws of nature, one which helped shape its image and cause, had awakened. All things, however beautiful, however horrid, originate from one source. The frozen figures shook, their petrified eyes flinching in a moment of clarity. The old, forgotten, and forsaken were awakening, spurned by the invisible threads pulled on one too many times. Chapter 83 - Cry and the Echo Chapter 83 Cry and the Echo Yue stood atop the ramparts overlooking the dark abyss below, with the cold winds snapping back and forth like violent beasts. Though it was night, it seldom seemed so within the Cradle; all around she could see fires raging within various forts, and hear the distant echoes of screams and wails. Their fort wasn''t the only one attacked--in fact, every single one visible from theirs seemed to be engaged in a fight. It seemed a miracle, now, how quickly they resolved theirs. "Do you think that the General''s a traitor?" Liang pulled her out. Glancing sideways, he seemed rather carefree, even slightly bored, as though this experience was completely normal to him. Her strange Junior Brother never spoke much of his experiences as a Disciple of a Tier IV Sect, and Yue herself never pressed for any detail. Here and there, though, she''d wonder just how many things he experienced to see the world the way he did. "I don''t know," she said. "If he is, why didn''t he kill us?" "Maybe to recruit us?" "Maybe," she nodded, having thought so herself. "I still don''t understand. Are attacks on forts frequent?" "Somewhat," Liang replied. "I heard my former Master mention it once or twice. I was kind of hoping that it''d happen, to be honest." "... what?" "Nothing''s quite as good at training muscles as fighting!" "Huh, is that so?" she drew out her sword. "So, if I cut you into tiny little pieces, you''d consider that good muscle training?" "Uh, calm down, Senior Sister. I was just joking..." "Haah. Forget that. What will we do now? Should we go and help?" "There''s no need," Liang replied. "Nobody of import will die. Rather, I imagine that most Sect Disciples were like me--excited to test themselves. Chances were that the Others invaded simply to steal resources rather than to kill. They themselves should understand the best what kind of place this is. If they go overboard and actually kill most of the Disciples..." "Sects would send someone powerful to avenge them?" "Hm." Liang nodded. "There are few things in the world that Sects hate more than having their faces trampled on in public. It''s not so much a loss of the Disciples, even, as every generation has its geniuses, as it is losing standing in the public eye." "... that''s depressingly close to my family," Yue sighed. "Hm? Ah, right. Master mentioned your father tried to kill you, and that if I ever ran into him that I should kidnap him and take him to the forest for something Master called ''re-education''. To be honest," Liang''s expression suddenly darkened, prompting even Yue to shake and shiver. "When he said that... I, I don''t think I''ve ever been more scared of anything in the world. Even that time I broke a precious vase of the Sect Master and thought I would legitimately be killed, I wasn''t nearly as scared." In-between recognizing that there was something even Liang feared, Yue heard the song of her heart. She never wanted that, not really; rather, in both her heart and her mind, she severed all the bonds she had with her family. That''s why she no longer she introduced herself as a ''Lan''. And yet, her Master didn''t seem to have moved on as she did. It... tangled her heart into a knot. "You don''t have to," she said. "Hm? Have to what?" "Kidnap my father," she said. "Rather, if you ever see him, just walk away. He''s not worth it." "... I can''t do that," his voice grew serious all of a sudden. "Beyond having made a promise with Master, I''m angry." "Angry?" she exclaimed softly, glancing at him. "Someone dared raise their arm at my dearest Senior Sister," Ah... she sighed. "I don''t care if its Gods or Ghosts or Fathers, they''ll all meet my fist in equal measure!" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. Go crazy." **Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The entryway through the scalded bones of a forgotten beast was dark and cold. Looking at it from the outside was deceptive, as its size was far greater than it seemed. Even charging Qi into a ball of light wasn''t enough to illuminate the entire pathway, only parts of it. It was empty and windy, bereft of life, with the sides seeming made of strange stone that none of the four had ever seen. Even Shen Tao was slowly developing a few doubts over this; though he spoke with confidence, the truth was that this was the only way he could think of to keep them temporarily safe. His idea was simply to leave a trace that they''d entered the inner parts of the realm so that the Heavenly Pavilion Disciples would think they died, and would leave them alone. At that point, they''d emerge into the outer parts once again, free of worry. All the same, they''d still have to at least cross the entryway as it was possible for someone skilled with the Divine Sense to examine nearly a mile in a straight distance. If they simply stayed within the tunnel, they would be caught. Because of that, he planned on mostly just skirting the outermost edges past the entrance for at least half a day before turning around and leaving. He figured that the number of treasures they had (well, mostly he had) would be enough to keep them safe, especially if they kept to themselves and didn''t disturb anything or anyone. From within the darkness, in the far distance, light suddenly flicker. As they walked toward it, it grew broader and larger, and before long it was a towering behemoth temporarily blinding them as they shuttered through the membrane. Though he didn''t know what to expect on the other end, as he opened his eyes and saw a cacophony of trees spreading out everywhere, he felt a bit... disappointed. It was a forest, an ordinary-seeming one at that, rather than something entirely macabre or strange, incomparable to the world outside. "Be careful with your Divine Sense," Mei suddenly warned. "Stronger Demonic Beasts are extremely sensitive to it." They clutched rather closely together and observed every angle; Shen Tao took the front, though he kept his senses sharpened everywhere. He already knew what level Mei was at, and he also witnessed Lya and Song fighting in the competition so was roughly aware of their states as well. While talented and definitely stronger, they were all woefully inexperienced; of the three, in fact, he suspected that Song would fare the best in an uncontrolled environment since he seemed to have fought by instinct the most, unlike the other two who seemed to have been the thinking types. As they continued moving through the forest without encountering anything of the note--there were no divine medicinal herbs, no fruits, no mysterious Demonic Beasts, or any life at all, in fact--Shen Tao picked up on a rather... strange atmosphere between the three. Though they didn''t speak, they''d eye each other, clearly communicating through telepathy. "What are you three chattering about?" he couldn''t take it anymore once they didn''t even bother hiding it, breaking the silence and stopping. "Uh..." "Swear an Oath that you will take it to the grave," Mei said, startling him. He''d never seen her quite this serious, making him even more curious. "Don''t worry, I''m not a chatterbox--" "--Swear an Oath," her voice cooled even further, and he felt the kind of pressure descend on top of him that wasn''t related to strength or cultivation realm. "I, uh, I swear upon my Heart and my Soul that I will not divulge any of what is to be said here to anyone outside this group, lest I be stripped of my reality." "... fine," Mei sighed rather strangely, looking around between the trees once more before breaking the truth. "These trees, the layout, the appearance... we''ve, uh, we''ve seen it before. That was what we were talking about. Rather, we were trying to establish whether we were just projecting, but... no. Especially this place." "What about this place?" Shen Tao asked, looking around. There wasn''t anything particularly special about it, at least not to him; a slight slope, same-seeming trees, relatively short blades of grass... by all accounts, even using his Divine Sense to inspect every blade of grass individually, it was a beyond ordinary forest. "During the attack on the Sect," Mei said. "We fled eastward." "Yes, I remember," he said. "Well, to be more precise," she added somewhat awkwardly. "We fled... into the Nameless Forest." "!!!" Shen Tao''s lips parted in shock as he stared at the three, connecting the dots. "This place... is the Nameless Forest...?" "No, definitely not," Mei quickly shook her head. "Then, what--" "--it''s an ersatz of it," she said. "A simulacrum of sorts, you could say. An exact copy, just without anything that made the Nameless Forest unique. This place, in the Forest itself, housed a wild orchard of Vermillion Heartfruits, and they grew by the dozens." "What?!!" Shen Tao exclaimed, partly in shock, partly in pain, partly in horror, and partly in greed. Vermillion Heartfruits... legendary, divine fruits said to only grow from a corpse of a Vermillion Bird, and only one who died a natural death. The legend went that only four fruits could ever grow from one corpse, and consuming one fruit would reforge one''s meridians and cause an effective rebirth. Naturally, it was just a legend, a leftover story of the Before-Age, as not a single Vermillion Heartfruit had ever been spotted in the entire Ashlands. "Which is why I said this isn''t the actual forest," she said. "But a copy of it. The question is... how is this possible?" "Are you sure that you aren''t just imagining it?" Shen Tao asked. His desire to go into the Forest grew more and more, perhaps overwhelming even his desire for revenge. From the sounds of it, it wasn''t just Vermillion Heartfruits that they saw... there was a chance there were other, mythological herbs to be found in the forest''s depths. "No," Mei shook her head firmly. "If the layout is similar, should we check out... uh, the spots?" "Hm," Lya and Song both nodded as the former added further. "Besides, we have been walking for nearly half an hour and still haven''t encountered a single animal, let alone a Demonic Beast. Could it be that all the stories about this place are just made up lies?" "... unlikely," Mei shook her head. "I have a theory, but I''m not sure yet. We should still stick together and be on the lookout. Since it''s the Forest''s replica... who knows what secrets it might hide?" Chapter 84 - Ghosts, Old and New Chapter 84 Ghosts, Old and New It was raining, Leo noted--but it was raining ash and fire. The sky above was glum and gray, smoke tearing through and rising from every which corner he looked at. The world itself was washed out from colors, desaturated ''till it nearly only had two. Screams and wails of agony and pain were muted, just like the colors themselves, as though coming from beyond some invisible wall separating him from the rest of reality. Here, though, there were no screams, no wails, there was no seeming agony or pain. There was resignation etched on the face of someone who was tired and broken. Another ghost, pale-skinned, silver-eyed, tall and horrifying, the ilk that would haunt the dreams of the weak-hearted... and yet, there he was, the tall behemoth bent on his knees, bloodied from head to toe, his jaw dislocated, eyes gouged out, limbs broken. For miles on around him, Leo saw corpses--there were thousands of them, all humans. Few were whole, even fewer recognizable, while most meshed into a pile of indiscernible blood and gore. And yet, thousands more stood, gripping weapons and shaking still even as their vanquished foe sat on his knees, tearing the last breaths of life from his lungs. Time itself slowed, as though it dared not speed up through the carnage, and Leo had to bear witness to it all. To the wasteland, to the pain, to the horrors, to the enduring scars echoing eons ahead into the future. How tall was this man''s rage, his anger, his loathing, that even after cutting down thousands of people... his spirit still endured for countless years, wandering aimlessly, consumed with hatred? Leo crouched, winds whipping softly all across his back, staring at the black abyss that were once the man''s eyes. Was this what it was like to be consumed by a singular desire? To be rooted and imprisoned in the past? Was this... what his heart looked like for so many years? He blinked... and it was gone. Trees sprung in their hopeful colors and the silver beams of the moonlight pierced through the canopy, dousing the world with rays of hope. The ghost who, just moments ago, was charging toward him with a face distorted beyond human measure... was fading. The anger faded, ever so slowly, and was replaced with a stoic apathy. Not joy, not hope, not desire, but the seeming numbness necessary to bury the sorrows. Leo crashed down, feeling his throat swell. He was already tired, just three nights in. And yet, there were so many ghosts, so many stories, so many tragic endings. By the time he tore through them all, if he was able to do so to begin with, would there be left anything of him? Or would he, too, become a ghostly husk wandering between the fading trees? Looking down, he saw a familiar face of Whiskers peek through. She meowed ever so lowly and began to purr, pressing her head against his breast. "Wow, has it gotten so obvious that even you worry...?" he asked, his voice hoarse and quivering as he stretched his arm, petting her gently. "I must look like a ghost myself." she meowed back, rubbing her head once again. "I''m sorry," he mumbled. "I''m sorry for making you worry." He felt claws break into his back and soon saw Milky and Blackie flank his face, seated on his shoulders and shoving their faces into his, licking his cheeks. It wasn''t long before Hoot landed on his head, or before Red grabbed him from the back and wrapped all six of his arms around him. Howly, too, approached, wrapping the furred body around his, gently placing his head on Leo''s lap. The shrubberies parted and even trees seemed to give way as a deluge of animals appeared, blessed and otherwise. It seemed as though the entire forest converged to his little bleeding paradise, silent and concerned. The way they looked at him... it hurt. "Hey," he greeted softly, forcing a smile. None of them ''spoke'', as it were; once they settled in one position, they didn''t move. Even as minutes began to tick, and even as hours began to pass, and even as the hanging maiden in the sky gave way to the golden colors of dawn. The world sat in silence, healing softly his bleeding heart. A promise he made with it just last night, he''d already broken it. Was it worth it? No. He was not freeing them, not truly. What war seemed to do to a soul... was not something that a person could be freed from. Then, what was he even doing? What was the point of this? Was it him just taking a glimpse at the distant history, destroying himself in the process? No... This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Sighing, he coughed softly and looked up, blinding himself momentarily with the piercing light. He was the last thing they saw. A human. The very thing that condemned them to an eternity of pain. What right did he have to suffer with them? What right did he have to be pained with them? "There are these days, every once in a while," he spoke softly, breaking the silence. "Where it feels like gods stole the breath from your lungs and the thoughts from your mind. So, you spend all day wandering aimlessly, finding no joy in anything. The numbness is, in some ways, worse than pain. At least, with pain, you feel something. Even if it burns. I can''t make you all worry so much, so often," he smiled widely, looking around at everyone who gathered. There were even those who only came about once or twice a week, if that, the eyes that used to scare him, the ones that would peer from beyond the curtain of darkness. They were there, too, in the distance; yet, they were gentle, concerned, and warm. "I don''t know whether doing this is accomplishing anything," he said. "I don''t know whether I''m simply torturing myself for no reason. But... does it matter? With so many friends by my side, there isn''t a mountain impossible to climb." Chuckling faintly, he turned around and began walking back home. Most of the animals dispersed, retreating into their tiny little hamlets between the trees, though quite a few accompanied him, even beyond the usual entourage. The morning was rather cool, he noted, a strange occurrence as the temperature in the forest... never really changed. Every day felt largely the same--mild temperature, tender wind, low humidity, pleasant, clear air. Perhaps, he mused, it was simply his imagination. He paused suddenly as he broke through and landed on the clearing; there, seated by the embers of the campfire was a familiar face. Her short, silver hair was disheveled, and her makeup was faintly smeared across her face. There was a lack of grace she had when she last came over, though she still seemed an immortal flower in the field of vines. She must have heard him, looking up, her eyes widening. "Master Leo...!" she exclaimed. "Please, please... save my Master!" Leo''s eyes veered to the side of her where, splayed, was a middle-aged seeming man. Perhaps, beneath the stately gloom, there was a handsome figure, but the surface spoke of someone on the brink of death. Cracks radiated across his skin, as though he were made of porcelain, ebony smoke drifting out of them and disappearing. His lips blue, cheeks sunken, and eyes twitching in agony were merely one part of the horror. He walked up and crouched down, feeling a strange, nostalgic pull--not toward the man, but rather the seeming ''darkness'' leaking out of him. "I, I know I have no right to ask," Xiaoling''s voice cracked as she started crying. "Especially after you helped me out so selflessly before, but... I, I must. Please, save my Master! I will do anything you ask of me! Just... save him!" "..." Leo glanced at her, a woman who stood firm even in the face of certain death, who put her body in front of the kids and bravely welcomed pain in their stead... was now broken. Leo wanted to help, desperately, but... he didn''t know how. He was not a healer, not a shaman, not a doctor; rather, he was barely even a cultivator. All he could do was what he always did--feed him the food or the fruit juice, and pray that the underlying machinations of the world would do the rest. "I will do my best," he said as she seemed to crack even further. Would anyone... cry for him like this? He pondered selfishly as he took the dying man to the longhouse, deluge of his furry friends coming along, seeming worried too. It was hardly the right time to ponder, but he did, nonetheless. Would Yue and Liang cry for him the same way Xiaoling did for her Master? He almost cracked a smile at the thought. They''d be sad, certainly; perhaps they''d even cry. But this... this was a result of the lifelong bond, something that he had never experienced in his life. She accompanied him in silence, staying outside the room and crashing onto the floor as he entered, setting the man onto the bed and slowly disrobing him. Countless scars appeared--old and new--though he could only ignore them. He knew that the water from the pond had some healing properties, so he drenched a few of what he called ''crusted leaves''--tall and broad leaves reminiscent of lettuce, only red in hue--in the jug of water before slowly dressing up the countless cracks. Blackie and Milky climbed on top of the bed and lay down by the man''s side like a pair of guardian angels, while Red and Hoot settled on the bedframe, observing silently. One day, he swore, he''d learn the medicine of this world. He couldn''t forever depend on the luck to carry him onward, because he hadn''t saved any of the people he did through his own means... just through pure, dumb luck. Even now... what was he doing? Depending on some mythical weal. Even after he promised he''d do everything his power to help... what power did he have? Once again, he felt himself dispirited. After barely managing to shove some fruit juice down the man''s throat and dressing up his body with drenched leaves, he left the room. Stepping out he saw Xiaoling still sitting on the ground, her head between her knees. "How... how is he...?" she asked, her voice hoarse from crying. "... too soon to tell," he replied as honestly as he could. "He was supposed to report to me, but he missed the day," she said. "He never missed an appointment before. Never. So... I knew that something had happened. I went to see him and... and found him lying by his prayer mat. I didn''t know what else to do," she looked up, a pair of twilight-colored eyes strained with blood bearing down unto his heart. "Please, forgive me. You can punish me however you see fit." "Do I really seem like someone who would do that?" he asked, smiling faintly. "... no," she said. "Sorry." "Are you hungry? Sitting here and worrying probably isn''t what your Master would want you to do." "Hm." "I''ll make us some stew." "Hm." she rather obediently stood up and, with lowered head, started following him. "Believe in him," he repeated the words told to him and his parents a long, long time ago. This time, however, he hoped those words wouldn''t become tender lies for the weak-hearted. Her smile was pained, but honest. It was a foolish sentiment, Leo knew; she believed in him as much as one person could believe in another. Was this what a true Master-Disciple bond was like? An unbending joist capable of holding up the sky on its own? He envied it, deeply. Chapter 85 - Bonds Forged in Shadows Chapter 85 Bonds Forged in Shadows Xiaoling sat silently by the dancing flame as Leo stirred the stew, slowly tossing in ingredients one by one. As he''d run out of meat, and hadn''t been on the hunt since completing the longhouse, it was a return to his ''famed'' vegetable stew. He''d stealthily glance at her once in a while, but her countenance never changed; it was as though there was an ashen cloud hanging over her, with her head kneaded between her knees, strands of hair wildly floundering about. Finishing the stew, Leo poured a plateful for both, setting hers down in front of her without saying anything and sitting down on the stone beside her. "What is he like?" he broke the silence, prompting her to look up at last and see the plate of food. "... annoying," she said. "A meddler. Overprotective." "Sounds difficult to deal with." "The most," her voice cracked faintly. "When Elders discovered that I''d cultivated Soul Blade Art, they were all... angry. The Sect poured so many resources into me, they said, and I was to throw it all away studying an Art that would never allow me to make anything of myself. I was just fourteen," she added with a faint chuckle. "Found this art in a hidden corner of the library that resonated with me so much that the thought of not learning it hurt, physically. So, without hesitation, I learned it." "..." "That''s when my Master took me in," she added, taking a bite finally. Leo remained silent, listening intently. "Against everyone''s wishes, he took me in as a Disciple, despite not knowing anything of the Art itself either. I didn''t know it at the time, as he''d guide me carefully almost every day. It turned out that he studied it day and night, forgoing even his own cultivation to keep up. And even beyond that, he started seeking ways to undo the Art''s curse. Master is one of the most talented cultivators in the world," she added. "Had he focused entirely on himself and his own cultivation, he''d have long since eclipsed this backwater place. But... he didn''t. When the Sect was falling apart, bursting at its seams, and coming undone within, he arose from its ashes and took upon himself the weight of the crown. He single-handedly rebuilt it into a respectable place, the kind of Sect that gets flooded yearly by Disciples desperate to join us." she fell silent for a moment, her lips stretching out into a kind smile. "Without him," she continued. "We''d be... well, rather, we wouldn''t be. I wouldn''t be. He can''t die, not now. He simply can''t." Even Leo felt his heart stir at the story of the man he''d just met. From the tone of her voice, he knew that she wasn''t exaggerating; rather, she was likely even summarizing things rather broadly. For him to be so respected... he wondered whether those were simply the ways of the Immortal Masters of this plane. "He sounds like a wonderful man," Leo said. "... I''m sorry," she said, looking away from him. "I, I know I am repeating myself. But I didn''t know where else to go." "There is no need to apologize," he said. "I''m a bit envious, to be honest." "Envious?" she queried, looking up at him. "Hm," he nodded with a faint chuckle. "I hope that, one day, those two kids will hold me dear as much as you do your Master." "... I don''t hold him that dear," she said, swiftly looking away. Leo merely smiled, setting the plate to the side and pouring two cups of the fruit juice, handing one over to her. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "Of course," he said. "Where are they, if you don''t mind me asking?" she took the cup. "Ah, they left for the Cradle of the First Men sometime ago," he replied. "In want of seeing the world." "The Cradle, huh?" "Have you ever been?" "I have," she nodded. "I didn''t stay for long, though. When others saw how I fight... they got terrified. After a while, nobody wanted to accept me into their group, and I couldn''t achieve anything on my own. So I left. Those two should do just fine, though," she quickly added. "I know Liang can be a bit... much, sometimes, but when the moment calls for it, there are few other people I know that I''d trust over him." "High praise." "He''s a good kid," she added with a chuckle. "Whenever he was eligible for a mission outside the Sect, practically everyone wanted him in their group." "How is the Sect doing?" Leo remembered to ask; though he never fully learned the extent of what transpired, he was at least aware that they were attacked and suffered consequences. "Better. We''re healing," she said. "But if anything happens... ah, forgive me. I promise I am usually not this much of an annoyance." "Annoyance?" Leo chuckled. "I wonder." "I see you''ve made more friends," she said, pulling her hair behind her ears. "Hm," Leo nodded. "I don''t have the heart to turn anyone away, and the word keeps spreading, it seems." "They''re very protective of you. I feel like they would tear me apart if I so much lightly shoved you." "Ha ha, they are just afraid their daily meals will stop," Leo laughed freely for a moment, glancing at the shadows dancing in the light between the trees. There were quite a few that were hiding, stalking, and observing them, though quite a few stood out in the open--namely Howly and that black tiger. "Do... do you have any plans of leaving the forest, Master Leo?" she asked after a momentary silence, prompting him to look at her. He kept staring directly into her eyes for quite a while as the silence stewed; in the end, unable to endure, she looked away and capitulated. "I mean, Leo." "Eventually, perhaps," he said. "But this place is my home, and always will be." "It''s a wonderful home." "Thank you. You are welcome to visit," he added. "Whether someone''s dying or not." "..." she slowly stretched her lips into a smile, seeming to barely hold back from rolling her eyes. Just then, he caught her eyes gaze past him and toward the upper floor of the longhouse; her expression dimmed immediately, as though she got covered with ash. "Ah, forgive me. That was rude." she caught herself and quickly lowered her head. "What is?" he asked. "The only rude thing is the world which convinced you of it. I am not very good at distracting, though, I''ve learned." "E-eh? Is... is that what you''ve been doing this whole time?" she asked, seeming somewhat surprised. "In the troves of heartache," he said. "I''ve learned it is best to be consumed elsewhere." "... I was," she said. "It was simply a momentary lapse." "Let''s go," Leo stood up. "Where?" "Where we belong." He walked back into the longhouse, and she followed in silence. Up the slightly creaky stairs and down the wide hallway and toward the corner room. Opening the doors, a pleasant scent assailed them. Xiaoling raced past him and all but slid to her knees by the bed, whereupon she wept--not with ache, but with joy. By some miracle, the man seemed better. The cracks were gone and were not bleeding shadows, his complexion was rosier, and his breathing was steady. Blackie and Milky appeared from the seeming nowhere and climbed up to Leo''s shoulders as he smiled. She reached out and grabbed the man''s hand, holding it gently. He realized at that moment that he wasn''t merely a Master... to her, he was closer to a father. When the world itself seemingly rejected her, he took her in, and gave her the roof to shelter her from the storm, and has continued to do so ever since. It wouldn''t have been just the loss of one, but the loss of two--and that was where the hearts cracked into glassed shards, never to be whole again. She twisted her head and faced him, the bruised purple in her eyes glowing like iridescent stars. Thank you, she mouthed softly, and Leo merely smiled before leaving. He didn''t belong there, in the tender moment of love. Stepping outside the longhouse, he breathed in deeply and stretched, his bones cracking. Once again, by some miracle, he''d helped someone. However, he was also... worried, ever so slightly. Per Xiaoling''s own words, her Master was rather strong and spectacular--and if she seemed capable of ''seeing through'' him, it was very likely that he would too. What if something went wrong with his healing, and he got angry, and decided to take it out on poor old him? But, at the same time, there was no elsewhere to run... well, except one place. Shaking his head, he headed toward the pond in want of a bath, deciding to trust his dumb luck one last time. And, to a lesser extent, trust Xiaoling that she''d convince him Leo was mostly just a harmless hermit simply surviving life with his forest friends. Chapter 86 - A World Slightly Kinder Chapter 86 A World Slightly Kinder Darkness was like an ocean--calm waters extending into distant horizon, yet with the capacity to turn into a storm that would consume everything in a flash. It was everywhere, extending as far as he could see. And it hurt. Yu Minge didn''t know precisely when he collapsed, but he felt it incoming and, despite trying his best to hold himself awake, failed. The force that took over was... irresistible. Rather than a giant wave crashing into his soul, it felt as though the weight of the entire cosmos was compressed into a singular point which was then detonated in his innermost self. He was certain that he would die, torn asunder in his last moment with mounting regrets. There were so many things that he hadn''t managed to do. Appoint and train a successor, pass on the Holy Blade Art''s teachings, stabilize the Sect''s position after the battle, investigate who attacked them and avenge that day... as difficult as the explosion in his soul was to breathe through, in some ways regrets were even worse. But... he was alive. Opening his eyes, he faced a ceiling he''d never seen before in his life, and soft, tender scent of herbs and flowers that caused Qi within him to churn. Looking inwardly, his heart momentarily stopped--his cultivation... was gone. Well, rather than gone, it reverted all the way to the beginning: he was an ordinary practitioner at the First Stage of Qi Condensation Realm. Nausea assailed him and felt like tossing the skin off himself, yet couldn''t even muster enough strength to move. The feeling of weakness was overabundant, as though somebody sapped all his strength and broke his bones all at once, and then told him to walk a hundred miles. He just barely managed to gather enough strength to sit up and take in his surroundings. It was some sort of unfamiliar room. Besides a rather simple straw bed and a pair of chairs beside a table, there was nothing else. Looking over to the other side, he finally saw the slumped figure sprawled at the side of the bed. Xiaoling was fast asleep, her expression rather relaxed. It must have been her, he realized. She must have found him and took him... somewhere. An idea immediately came to his mind, but before he could process it fully, doors to the room opened and a rather tall man walked through. A combination of wild, long, and unkempt hair and beard made him seem rather dangerous, yet the aura around him was... oddly calming. He seemed surprised that Yu Minge was up, pausing for a moment before smiling faintly. "You''re awake," he said rather softly, as though not to wake up the sleeping beauty resting on the bed. He carried a plate of fruits with him and walked over to the other side of the bed, setting it down. "That''s good." "Uhm," Yu Minge paused, his mind slowly piecing together the history of it all. There was a high degree of chance that the man in front of him was the same phantom who saved Song and Lya as well as Xiaoling and other kids later on. "Y-yes," he replied rather awkwardly, uncertain. He couldn''t read the man at all, but that wasn''t strange; for all intents and purposes, he was now a complete beginner at cultivation. Even if he had a wealth of past experiences, it did not matter if he could not utilize any of the tools at his disposal. "I tried tearing her away," he said. "But she seemed most at ease torturing herself in here." "..." Yu Minge smiled faintly, glancing over at her. "That sounds like Xiao''er. The coldest facade with the warmest heart." "She hadn''t eaten anything today so I brought her some fruits, but since she''s finally resting, and since you''re awake, take them," the man said. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. "Uh, thank you." "No problem." "For... for saving me, as well," Yu Minge quickly said. "I, though I don''t know all the circumstances, I imagine that the kid came running to you in tears when she found me collapsed." "..." considering the man''s silence, it seemed he was on point. "I, I know you had no reason to save me," Yu Minge said, clasping his hands in front of his chest and bowing. "And even if I spend a lifetime trying, I will be unable to repay your grace. But I will--" "Who said I had no reason to save you?" "H-huh?" "You were hurt and dying," the man said. "Is that not enough of a reason?" "Uhm, I, I suppose..." "I''ve turned my back to people before and lived to experience the abject horror of the reality thereafter," he said, his voice rather somber. "But, if you need a selfish reason... then let us say it was so that I didn''t want to see a heartful young woman have her soul shattered into uncountable pieces." "... forgive me," Yu Minge said. "You have already saved the kids so many times. Perhaps the best way to thank you is to simply pay it forward," he looked up, facing the pair of inscrutable eyes. "We can''t change the world," the man said, smiling faintly as he turned around and began leaving. "But we can always make it ever so slightly kinder." The doors closed and the silence fell. Yu Minge sighed, leaning back against the wall. It was... impossible. It could not be. There were no selfless heroes in this world. Anyone with strength earned it by paving the dirt roads with blood and corpses and stacking mountains with aggrieved souls. However, no matter how holy the exterior, the ghouls attached to the soul could never be hidden. They were like weed and vines and moss and grass--always finding a way. He had them, Xiaoling had them, even the kids had them. It was an inescapable part of chasing after the elusive Immortality on the path of cultivation. But the man... didn''t. Rather, Yu Minge felt as though he was staring at a newborn child bereft of sins. "Ugh," a low tone tore him from his thoughts as he looked to the side where, just then, Xiaoling looked up and met his gaze. Her eyes were bloodshot and her lips quickly parted; she remained frozen for only a moment before shooting to her feet. "Xiao''er--" She tossed herself against his chest and threw her arms around him, squeezing tightly. He could feel her tears wet his shirt, and could only smile as he hugged her back gently. For a moment, he was reminded of the young girl in the troves of a loss, the girl who built up walls around herself to shield the tender heart from the cruel world. Over the years, she''d earned her reputation well enough, but beneath it all, she cared about the Sect and all kids in it as much as he did, if not more. She pulled back after a little while, wiping her eyes. "... how weak are you to have been done in like that?" she said as he stifled a laugh. "Pretty weak, it turns out." "What happened?" "... I don''t know," he replied with a sigh. "I... got corrupted, somehow. That''s how it felt, at least." "When I found you," she said. "You had this... strange Qi pouring out of you. It didn''t last long, though. It felt as soon as it left your body, it disappeared." "How''d he heal me?" Yu Minge asked, curious. "I don''t know," she said. "He fed you something. It''s entirely possible it wasn''t him, though." Yu Minge understood. Though there were none present in the room at the moment, he felt them when the man entered, gazes pouring from beyond the walls, waiting to tear him limb for limb should he try anything. "He''s a rather strange man, isn''t he?" "The strangest," she said. "I thought I had a decent read on him the last time I was here. But... I don''t know. There is no way anyone is this kind for no reason, right?" "He just might be," Yu Minge sighed, causing her seemingly a decent amount of shock. She was well aware of his ability to ''discern character'', which was merely an extension of his cultivation technique (though he never quite let her in on that, liking the fact she thought he had a good read on people). "If you didn''t believe it yourself deep within your heart, you would have never brought me here. Despite how it would have been if I died, exposing the Sect to potential threat isn''t something you would have ever done." "..." she fell silent for a moment as he smiled. "You--huh? Your... your cultivation!" she exclaimed, seemingly finally caught up. "Ah, yes," he said. "The price for living, it seems." "... it''s fine," she said, her expression one of determination. "I''ll hold down the fort until you become stronger even if I have to die. It''s already been spread that you''ve entered the seclusion, so it won''t be strange if you don''t show up publicly for a few years." "Hm," he took a deep breath, glancing over at the fruits on the plate. He recognized most of them, and deeply understood why all Disciples underwent such monumental changes, and even why Xiaoling managed to extract herself from the abyss that was her fate. "For now, how about we go out and thank him together?" She helped him up for a moment before he stabilized himself. In the meantime, she grabbed the plate of fruits and the two left. Chapter 87 - Hidden Selves Chapter 87 Hidden Selves As Yu Minge stepped out of the wooden hall into the open forest, his breath got stuck in his lungs. The forest was alive with things that he''d never seen before in his life--tiny sprites drowning in most breathtaking colors danced across the teeming trails of light, while visible clusters of the purest Qi swayed along the wind''s will. Perched atop the trees were forms of nature, embodiments of things that humans have long since forsaken. Spirits. He met one, a long time ago. It was an experience unlike any other, one that defined him for over hundred and fifty years since. And yet, he now bore witness to dozens of them. All gazes swiveled toward him but only for a moment; he was immaterial to them, evidently, a passing guest that they would soon forget. He followed their eyes and found the man crouching by the roaring flames, stirring something inside the black pot. The way they looked at him, on the other hand, was... tender. Almost like a parent would look at a growing child. He turned toward the two of them and smiled. "You''re both up, huh? Lunch should be ready soon. Have a seat." "Thank you," the two sat down in silence and watched as a tiny kitten crawled onto the man''s back while an ordinary dog nudged it upward. In some ways, witnessing two ordinary animals existing here was even more shocking than the innumerable spirits. "Hm? Ah, where''d you come from? Ha ha, you''re hungry, huh? It''ll be ready soon. Just a bit of patience." he petted the kitten rather gently, slowly standing up and pouring the contents of the pot onto several plates. He set three smaller ones to the side before pouring the rest of the contents onto a larger one, washing the pot, and starting anew. "Here," he handed them a pair of plates as ten or so Spirits converged larger one. Strangely, they all stayed on one end while the dog and kitten had the other side wholly reserved for themselves. Yu Minge stopped after the first bite--he felt Qi erupt from within him like a torrential storm, and found himself burning through stages in rapid succession until he was almost at the Peak of Qi Condensation. Even Xiaoling had a shocked expression on her face, her jaw agape. Though he wouldn''t have had issues reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, it would still have taken him at least a couple of days. And yet, he was a few breaths away from being there already. No wonder, he mused, that the Spirits were so protective of the man. "Hm? Is there something wrong? Is it not to your taste?" he asked when he saw the two of them simply staring blankly instead of eating. "N-no, the opposite, in fact," Yu Minge quickly said. "I am grateful for your benevolence." the man looked at him oddly for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. "Did I say something strange...?" Yu Minge turned to Xiaoling who seemed to be holding back laughter. "It''s not us," she shook her head. "Just eat." ** Xiaoling helped her Master back to the room soon after the meal. It felt like as soon as he closed his eyes, he fell asleep. It was odd, she figured--not just for him, but for her, too. Neither of them had actually slept in decades, especially him. And yet, here in the forest, it seemed as though they were back to being mortals, where they had to sleep every day. Pulling the blanket over, she left the longhouse and saw that most of the animals had dispersed by now and that Leo was setting aside the tools and cleaning them. Without saying a word, she joined him and helped, though there wasn''t much to do. "Thank you," he said, disappearing for a moment into one of the huts and coming out with two jugs of colorful liquid. "Here," he handed her one. "How''s he feeling?" "He fell asleep," she said as the two sat down. "Thank you. I, I know that at this point it feels like an empty sentiment, words void of meaning, but... it is like a knot in my heart that I somehow have to unravel." The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. "Considering how annoying everyone I help is, I should have maybe never started doing it." she looked up and toward him; he was smiling, and she smiled too, shaking her head. "Somehow, that feels wholly incongruous with my image of you." "And what''s that like?" he queried. "A tree," she said, taking a sip and closing her eyes as the image came to her mind. "Far-reaching, all-encompassing. Like a world-spanning parasol shielding the world and nurturing all those in its shade." "Hm," he mumbled softly. "That is... rather flattering. And, perhaps, one day I may even become that slightly idealized version that you have of me in your head." She fell silent for a moment, gathering courage before speaking. "May... may I be honest, for ever a moment?" "... you mean to say you don''t see me as a beautiful parasol?" his rather childish grin relaxed her heart, prompting her to laugh for a moment. "My cultivation method," she said. "Is called Soul Blade Art. Unlike most everyone else, I do not have a dantian--at least not a conventional one. Ordinarily, people draw in Qi from nature, purify it through their meridians, and store it inside their dantians. One of the first things I experienced when I began cultivating Soul Blade Art was my dantian... shattering. For a moment, I believed I crippled myself. However, from the broken, floating shards within me, a tiny little blade was formed. Every time I attack, or defend, or do anything with Qi, I have to draw it out completely. Meaning, if someone was quick enough to trap it on the outside... I would become a mortal." "..." she felt her heart thumping like a drum. After all, she was revealing herself wholly, detailing something that not even her Master knew. It was her deepest secret, something that she thought she would take to her grave. "Luckily, I haven''t met a cultivator yet with the ability to do so. That isn''t to say that one doesn''t exist--so, I tried discovering ways to prevent that from happening. In my pursuit of that, I learned... other applications of the art. If I pierce my eyes with the blade," she said, pointing toward her face; she knew that her usual, twilight-hue was drained of color and that her eyes became milky white. However, even so, he showed no reaction. "I catch a glimpse of a world otherwise invisible. This allows me to take a peek at other people''s... hidden selves." he winced, and she quickly retreated the blade from her eyes. "It was unintentional. Had I known of your kindness, I never would have taken a look. "I haven''t divulged it to anyone, and I have no intention of doing so. Even my Master is under the impression that you are either an Immortal or a human manifestation of a Spirit. That... is all." she looked away, fearful. Even if he wasn''t able to kill her, any one of the Spirits very much could so. She gambled, something she seldom did in her life, that his kindness overran the fear of him being exposed. "Ah. That''s why you told me your weakness," he chuckled suddenly, prompting her to look up. "Contrary to what I imagined, you are rather honest." "You are... not angry?" "Hm? Did you think I''d try to kill you or something to keep my secret?" "..." "Oh, wow. That hurt. It legitimately felt like someone shoved a spear into my heart." "I didn''t, I mean--" "--I was taken in by this place," he interrupted. "A soul adrift in a limbo. Whether the world learns that I''m just an old, weak man with nothing to his name or not... it hardly matters to me. The thing that matters is what that would do to this place. To them," his gaze softened as his eyes drifted over to the longhouse. "You may laugh at me, but I want to build a paradise of this place." "I would never laugh," she said. "I know," he looked back at her, the stirring abyss of his eyes seeming depthless. "Everyone I meet, you included, keeps telling me that my kindness is... odd. And yet, there you are." "Me?" "At no point was I ever in harm''s way when helping," he said. "You, however, were. It takes little courage to offer water to a beggar, but it takes boundless amounts to jump into the flames and pull people out of them. Even when you were on your last breath," she felt blood rush to her head and swiftly looked away, embarrassment creeping in. "You stepped in front of those kids without hesitation. Over and over and over again. That''s why I know you would have never said anything." "That was... rather embarrassing to hear," she laughed faintly, curling the stray bundle of hair behind her ear. "Hm, tell me about it." "No wonder you get peeved." "I was about to go on a hunt," his words seemed to change the tone, the mood, and even the makeup of Xiaoling''s brain for a moment; after all, who simply (and casually) exclaims that they would hunt in the Nameless Forest? "Want to join me?" "Uh, are you sure?" "Hm," he nodded. "Don''t worry about getting lost. Usually, Howly or Blackie or the Bigger Blackie accompany me. Whenever I forget where I am, they bring me back home." That''s not the part I have issues with, though? "If you''re offering." "I haven''t hunted in a while," he added, seeming to perk up slightly. "But since I''m having guests, making meat stew instead of just a vegetable one is par for the course." Ah, Xiaoling''s expression turned strange for a moment as she marinated on whether to comment on it or not, eventually deciding to not. He''s just using us as an excuse to make a meat stew... Chapter 88 - Unearthed Tragedies Chapter 88 Unearthed Tragedies Trees parted rather sporadically, oft clustered together into units before opening up to a much larger clearing than Mei ever recalled seeing in the actual Nameless Forest. At times, it even felt as though they were going in circles, but because there didn''t seem to be any distinctive landmarks, it was difficult to tell. From the onset, they headed toward the location of the Immortal Pond or thereabout; however, per her estimates, they should have reached it by now. Though she didn''t expect there to actually be another Immortal Pond, she hoped there''d be something of interest in its place. Thus far, however, there was nothing. Rather, there were even fewer ''treasures'' than in the outer ring. It didn''t last forever, however, the nothingness. All four paused abruptly as they cut their way through the shrubbery. Past it, juxtaposed seemingly perfectly against the lush background of the trees and flowerbeds, was a human-like statue posed in a rather unnatural manner. The bodice was bending unto itself like a corkscrew, arms splayed out above the featureless head; it was as though someone had stripped the person of their face, leaving only a smooth surface. The proportions, too, were off--limbs were long and thin and sickly, as were the hips that gave little way to the transition between the waist and the thighs, while the shoulders were massive. None of them dared approach too closely, merely observing from the distance. There was little else to detect, in the end, and they moved on shortly after. But then they found another, not too far off from the first--similarly unnaturally positioned, with the figure bending backward in a full circle, head jutting out from between the knees at the back. This head, however, was not featureless--it had mouth, or a facsimile of one, at least. It gaped until it nearly consumed the entire face, arms wrapped around the outer bends of the legs, clutching at the sides of the head heaving upward. The ''deeper'' they walked, the more statues appeared--they were all cast in white marble, positioned unnaturally, oft with extra limbs jutting out of the sides. "Hey," Lya suddenly spoke up. "Is it just me... or did any of you notice that there are... no sounds?" Everyone fell silent and turned still, immediately noticing it as well--the forest, no, the world itself, was deathly reticent. Even though the wind did blow, and the branches and the leaves and the flowers did sway, they made no sound. Unconsciously, the four drew towards each other, forming a four-way shield, their backs to one another. "Maybe... we should leave?" Song proposed. "It''s an array," Shen Tao spoke up after a moment''s silence. "I noticed that the sounds were somewhat muffled when we were at the entrance, but I guess, at some point, we unknowingly entered an array." "Isn''t that bad?!" Song exclaimed. "Who knows?" Shen Tao shrugged, appearing dismissive. "There''s a good chance that it''s an old array. Perhaps those statues used to be a defensive part of it, where their sounds would be muffled so that they could attack unnoticed." "We should move more carefully," Mei said, though she herself had no clue what they were actually supposed to do. She hadn''t ever been the type to disobey orders from even Senior Disciples, let alone Elders. This was a first for her, straying from the assigned order. Taking a stealthy glance at the ordinary-looking youth besides her, she felt a strange stir in her heart. It seemed to come so naturally to him, disobeying. "What?" he caught her and asked directly. "Nothing," she replied. "Just dawning on me that, even if we make it alive and back to Sect, we will be severely punished." "Really?" he arched his brow. "Ah, what can you do? When I was twelve and went on a hunt my Father specifically barred me from, he locked me up in a dungeon for a month and fed me ashen centipedes only for the duration. As long as it''s not worse than that." Mei''s expression turned strange for a moment, but she said nothing. Ever since the two started spending days together, she''d occasionally hear something that would freeze the blood in her veins, and yet Shen Tao would utter it with such calm and nonchalance one would think he was talking about a pleasant breeze of the Spring. It usually involved statements like ''One time I was half a second too late to a meeting, so I had to be stabbed eighty times as punishment'' or ''One time I ate the last cookie and my Father dipped me in boiling oil for a couple of hours''. Perhaps a bit exaggerated, but not by much. Just as she was about to push out a quip she had been thinking of for a few minutes, they speared out into a clearing--but a rather different one. There were no statues, no trees, and there even was a body of water, though it was immediately evident it wasn''t an Immortal Pond. Rather, it was a pleasant, still lake, its shade deep azure, and sitting on one side of its shore was a figure. All four paused with stopped hearts, eyes veering toward the unknown. The figure was fishing, from the looks of it. Cloaked in tattered clothes from head to toe and sporting a straw hat, the figure held a rather large rod and seemed to be meditating in silence. Just then, the rod flinched, and so did the figure; pulling suddenly, Mei watched as the waters roused from their slumber and soon exploded in a forty-foot wave as a behemoth the size of a smaller mountain heaved out. It was a fish-like creature with hundreds of eyes and twice as many fins, with a massive scar running across its gray scales. The waters swelled and began to flood the shore and even race toward them; panicking, they all pushed Qi out as a form of a shield, though for seemingly no reason. As though by a hand divine, defying all laws of nature, the water receded as rapidly as it flooded. No, rather than receding, it was more akin to time itself abruptly flowing backwards, all to the point before the figure fished out the monstrosity. Gasping for breath, Mei turned toward the figure on the shore; the person was facing them, the straw hat arched ever so slightly backward as to reveal one of the eyes. It was starkly red, almost like an ominous star, while the shaded lips below were stretched out into a smile.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. "Oh my," a voice pushed through, low and haunting. "What mischievous children we have here." ** Yue stepped backwards for a moment before stabbing out. The figure that suddenly attacked her from the shadows keeled over in a spray of blood and died almost instantly as she pierced their heart. Pulling the sword back, her eyes narrowed as she pushed even more Qi into her eyes. It was extremely dark--somebody had used a pre-set array to extinguish all their torches and to make it impossible to create motes of light from Qi. The only reason she was able to see so keenly in such thick darkness was that the purity of her Qi was so massively improved due to her Master. She noted that Liang was the same--rather, only the two of them seemed to be moving in any active capacity, while the others were yapping and stumbling through the dark. This was supposed to be just a simple reconnaissance mission--a small detachment squad was dispatched from the surviving forts to examine the situation in the nearby Fort Waver. Despite being heralded by a Fusion Realm figure, it seemed to have fallen that night, and no news came from it ever since. And yet, despite only twenty-ish people in total being aware of this, they were ambushed halfway through the tunnel. It was a perfect spot, too, with just enough width to assemble the array, yet without being too large to make it too difficult to maintain. Furthermore, there were added effects to it, such as disorientation, that made it difficult to even navigate the place via memory. She, once again, stepped back and dodged the swarming shadow, stabbing out quickly. The pairing of the Arts taught by the Master was... unprecedented, in innumerable ways even. Though both Liang and her were well aware of just how unordinary the Arts were, it wasn''t until they truly began utilizing them beyond sparring with each other that they understood the gargantuan dissonance. Nothing could block their attacks--no armor, no art, no talisman. And when dodging, unless somebody was at least two major realms above her, or intimately familiar with the Art like Liang, it was impossible to catch her. That wasn''t even the scariest part--if she focused solely on escaping rather than dodging, she suspected (though never aloud) that she''d be able to escape the clutches even of someone at Soul Ascendance Realm. A pure impossibility, a wild dream of someone at Core Formation... and yet, not truly impossible. The fight was over just about ten minutes later. Despite the two''s best attempt, they still lost six out of thirteen people that''ve come. With the array''s effects fading, they were finally able to conjure up the motes of Qi, alighting the dreary tunnel. "We should go back," Yue said. "Hm? Why? We deflected the ambush," one of the figures said. Yue glanced to the side and, pushing Qi into her eyes, scoured the stranger--it was easy to discern they were an impostor as she made sure to remember every individual''s Qi signature before departing. Liang suddenly appeared behind the figure and grabbed them by the shoulder, pressing down until they were on their knees. "Hey, what the hell are you--" "Shut up," Liang''s voice was usually gentle and melodic despite his appearance. However, now it was as cold as the northern fjords, permeated with anger. "What should we do with him?" he turned toward Yue, ignoring the others. However, they, too, seemed to have recognized that something was off and accepted they were better off following the two of them. "I don''t know any interrogation arts," Yue shrugged. "And bringing him back to the fort is dangerous." silence fell for a moment before one of the people--the only other woman to have joined the mission--raised her arm rather slowly and fearfully. Yue took a note of her, but as she was just barely at Core Formation and was around Yue''s age, she didn''t think too deeply. "What?" "I--I, I have an idea," the young woman stuttered, looking away. She had rather short, black hair and a pair of starlit golden eyes. Yue didn''t necessarily think that woman was a particular beauty, but she had a certain charm to her that certain men likely craved. "Well? Do you want a reward? Spit it out." "Ah--why, why don''t we use him... as a bait?" she quickly spat out as ordered. Yue arched her brows in interest, considering it. "I, I mean, it''s clear that... that there''s a traitor in the fort. If, if we can use him as bait, maybe we can learn who it is..." "What if you''re a traitor and are trying to steer us in a wrong direction?" Yue said; she mostly joked, having not even mused the possibility. "I--I''m not, I swear an Oath of Soul and Heart!!" the woman, ever-so-fearful, fell to her knees and began crying. "I, I''m just an ordinary Disciple of the Golden Crane Sect! I, I don''t even have a Master yet... that''s, that''s the reason I came here. I, I thought maybe I could become talented enough... to, to become someone in the Sect. I, I would never side with Others! The, the only person who ever cared for me, Senior Brother Hau... he, he was kidnapped by them! Even when the Sect paid ransom to get him back, he... he came back broken, his mind never recovering. So, I would never, ever, ever--" "--yeah, yeah, I know. I was just making a joke," Yue sighed as Liang looked at her strangely. She shot a brief dagger in her eyes back at him, prompting him to look away. "It''s not a bad idea. However, there''s a distinct possibility that the traitor is General Huang. What would you do in that case?" "Is there, now?" Yue immediately executed her footwork and appeared by Liang''s side, just in time to see a bundle of thunderous energy erupt where she was. Had she stayed there, she would have been completely consumed and obliterated. "Oh?" a figure emerged from the shadows and though the appearance was that of General Huang, it was extremely... strange. Namely, General Huang was a spearman, has been his entire recorded life, and had no affinity with any of the elements. And yet, the figure just conjured thunderous energy of a rather high rank. "You managed to dodge that? As I suspected, there''s something rather... wonderful about you two." "G-G-General...?!" the woman and the others stuttered while Liang, ever-so-effortlessly, snapped the neck of the figure he was holding, tossing him to the side as though he were a sack of potatoes. "That was one of my favorite subordinates, you know?" the General stopped and smirked. "I will have to punish you for that." "I wouldn''t worry about him," Liang replied rather coolly. "Oh? I should worry about myself, then? Is that it?" "No," Liang shook his head, slowly taking a step forward. "It wouldn''t help." "You''re a rather brave boy. No, perhaps stupid is more apt, no?" "No," Liang said yet again. Yue felt her heart grow cold suddenly; though she''d occasionally see glimpses of different Junior Brother within the foolish goofball that he was most of the time, this time he was truly disparate. She''d never seen the frost that seemed to be covering his skin, burrowing deep into his heart. "Just angry. I never thought I''d be this lucky again in my life. What was your nickname? Ah, right. Face Thief." "Oh? You know of me? Ha ha, is that it? You are here for revenge? That is... rather adorable, I must say. A Spirit Creation brat longing for vengeance... it would be poetic were it not moronic." "Liang--" Yue tried to call out, but she knew it was in vain. "Don''t worry, Yue," he glanced back at her briefly and smiled; beneath that frosted anger, there was a glimpse of a Junior Brother she knew. "Just keep others safe." that was the first time, she realized, that he''d called her by her name and her name alone. This meant something more to him, and she realized... she didn''t know much about her strange Junior Brother. Not truly. Cultivators, by nature, were makers of tragedies--of their own and others''. There was seldom a soul alive who was not besieged by haunting demons from the past. Yue was no exception... and neither was Liang. He had a life beyond what he ever allowed her to see, and now, for the first time, she caught a glimpse of it. Though she heard the name ''Face Thief'', and recognized it from somewhere deep in her memory, she wasn''t familiar with who that was. So, even if she wanted to, she couldn''t glean a reason for his anger, not the true one, anyway. She could only wait, put her faith in him, and hope that, when the curtains were drawn on the tragedy, he''d open his heart to her and reveal the depths of his pain. Chapter 89 - Worlds Intrinsic Cruelty Chapter 89 World''s Intrinsic Cruelty Leo shuffled awkwardly against the ground, tossing a sword in a soft arc and with a rather lithe grace. It fell as silently as it left his fingers, easily piercing through a rather large hog. He didn''t dare look backwards because there was a good chance he''d see eyes of judgment, as he once again wondered just what possessed him to invite Xiaoling on a hunt. Though she knew he wasn''t some hermit Master, and was mostly just an ordinary cultivator, it bordered too closely with the feeling of public nudity that it bothered him. In some ways, even, he was better with the latter as he had more experience with it. Stepping out of the bushes, he walked over and ripped the sword out as she approached, squatting by his side. "Want me to carry it or skin it?" she asked. "No, it''s--you know how to skin?" "Hm," she nodded. "Disciples of all major sects learn the four most quintessential survival techniques: hunting, skinning, foraging, and carpentry. Well, I say four, but there''s more. We learn to cook, fish, pluck medicinal herbs... you never know, after all, when things might go awry. Being left out alone in the wilderness need not be a death sentence." "Wow," Leo exclaimed softly, tossing a hog onto his shoulder. It was rather heavy, just shy of four hundred pounds per his estimates, though an apt comparison would be carrying a bag weighing some ten pounds back when he was an ordinary mortal. "Sounds like I have a lot to learn." "I have a feeling so long as you continue to cook," she said. "You will do just fine. So, you want me to skin and prepare it?" "I''d appreciate it," Leo chuckled faintly as they began walking back. "I''ll toss in extra meat in your portion, then." "I''ve been meaning to ask... where is Liang? Did you already kick him out? I mean, I wouldn''t blame you, but it would still be cruel." "Hm? You keep stabbing me with painful assumptions, you know? But I already told you, he''s at the Cradle with Yue. Are you alright?" she looked away quickly, but Leo caught sight of the blushing cheeks, prompting him smile faintly. "Uh, right. Yeah. I''ve just been... anyway, the Cradle. I was seventeen when I got there. Only managed to grab one item because nobody wanted to group with me--which I''ve already told you, right." for a moment, Leo wondered what he was doing at seventeen, but the distinctly unlovable image quickly dissolved those thoughts. "Ah, they''ll do far better than I did, don''t worry." "I''m not," he said. "Well, I am worried. Not that they won''t grab any treasures, but that something might happen to them." "... do you consider Sects cruel?" "Cruel?" "We groom our Disciples through strife and conflict," she said. "Even if we offer them a sanctuary early in their journey, at some point... they have to leave. They have to experience death, pain, sweltering agony, all in the namesake of Immortality. We cannot keep them safe eternally. Every year, we lose around a thousand Disciples. Young ones, mostly. They go into a conflict they are too weak to navigate, and they perish at the hands of another--man or beast. And we hold sigils," she added, her voice soft and melancholic. The two had slowed down until they were barely walking, their footsteps as silent as the world around them. "We write down their names in tomes and swear that their deaths mean something more. But, ultimately... we forget. "Even recently, when our Sect was attacked and when we lost hundreds... we have already begun moving on. Scars will remain, but thousands of new kids wanting to pass our gates and join us are a reminder that everything is temporary. So," she turned her head and looked at him. "Do you consider us cruel?" Though Leo wanted to simply say ''Yes'', he stayed his tongue. He''d passed judgment before, all through the lens of another world. This wasn''t Earth; conflict here, it seemed, was as everyday as peace was. On the road to Immortality, it was evidently impossible to be peaceful. And though, in his heart, he wanted to curse out such painful existence... he couldn''t. "... just the world, I imagine," Leo said. "There''s a saying in my... hometown: cruelty is a mother of all teachings. Or others, really, just like it. What doesn''t kill you makes you stronger, adversity is the best teacher, suffering breeds wisdom... we can''t stagnate, and we must always strive to better ourselves. To grow. So, I get it." "Hm," she hummed for a moment as they broke past the trees and back in front of the longhouse. "Mind waking up my Master while I prepare the hog?" "Oh, sure," he set the animal down and walked past her. Though he felt bad for lying, there was no other way; he could seldom say the truth to the one person who knew just how weak he was. And even though she never gave him a reason to doubt her, people were... fickle, at the end of the day.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He could feel her gaze on his back all the way until he entered the longhouse, but he never turned around. They''d be gone soon enough, he felt; after all, both of them were rather important people in the Sect, and being absent for too long was dangerous. Chances were that they''d leave as soon as tomorrow, perhaps even later at night when he was asleep. He wanted to gift them some food and drinks, but Yue had repeatedly warned him to never, ever, under any circumstances allow food that he cooked to leave the confines in the forest. Naturally, the rule got broken when it came to Liang and her. "Oh, hello, guys," he encountered quite a few friends on his way upstairs, all of whom joined him, flagging him down and climbing on top of him in some manner. "Yeah, yeah, I missed you all, too." By the time he reached the room, he weighed at least twice as much due to all the animals hanging off of him. The man was already up, it seemed at least, when Leo entered the room; seated cross-legged on the bed, he was glowing in a rather spectacular and breathtaking manner, visible tendrils of Qi swirling around him like gentle spirits. Leo stared in silence for a little while, caught unaware. "Ah, forgive me," the man opened his eyes and the glow vanished, as though never there. "I did not hear you come in." "I should apologize for not knocking first," Leo quickly said. "Meal--right, meal will be ready soon. We went hunting, so today''s food will be meat stew." "Lovely. I will be right down." Leo was a bit shocked when he found the hog prepped to the point it felt impossible--leather was set aside, facing the sky, while the meat was separated into sections, all wrapped in thin sheen of Qi for preservation. Xiaoling was playing with the tiny kitten to the side, dragging a visible tendril of milky-white Qi along the ground that the little furball chased relentlessly. He didn''t disturb her or interrupt, quickly pouring water into the hanging pots and slowly beginning to cook. He sliced the long pieces of fatty meat into cubes and tossed them in a semi-cohesive fashion alongside a bundle of herbs, vegetables, and spices. Over the course of weeks and weeks that he spent cooking, he realized one very simple (but quite brutal) reality: no matter how weirdly he tossed things in, or in which ratio, the end result... would be at least good. In most cases, it was wonderful. It hurt, ever so slightly, how little his input seemed to matter. However, it was true that he could take a ''good'' meal and turn it into a spectacular one at least, but he''d also have to dedicate quite a bit of time to it, time that he deemed somewhat unnecessary. At some point, the middle-aged man joined him, sitting down near one of the roaring flames, soon joined by Xiaoling who seemed to freeze in a position as the kitten lay sprawled on her lap, napping. It was strange, the silence; it reminded Leo of some of the most distant memories that he still had, a bit before his life on Earth turned into the tumultuous storm that it was. When he would finish his homework, and would play with Sarah in the kitchen while their mom made dinner. She''d always pace it so that she''d finish right around the time dad came back home, and they''d eat it in silence. It was an ironclad rule, one that was only ever broken twice--both times by him. The silence, though, didn''t last long--not because of them, but because of the converging line of animals. Soon, there was no space between trees to see anything but the wanting eyes. Leo hurried up slightly and began finishing portions, pouring platefuls and setting them around the camp. He silently set aside three smaller bowls, handing the two to the Master-Disciple pair and keeping one on the side, tucked away, for himself. "We must leave, now," the man broke the silence as soon as Leo finished up feeding the animals and sat down to eat. "Forgive us." "No, I understand," Leo smiled faintly. "I am glad you have recovered well enough so quickly." "... I will forever be in your debt," the man said. "With my life." Leo stumbled slightly at the heavy tone and words, looking up from his cool stew and into the starkly sapphire-blue eyes. "For a moment, I cannot offer it--my home needs me. However, the day I settle the accounts, it shall be yours to do with as you will." "..." Leo stayed silent for a moment, taking a bite of the stew. "Fine," he knew that it was pointless to argue. For a while now, he realized, there were too many heavy-hearts tearing through the forest. He tried to quell them, but they kept bubbling, almost like boiling water. There were ghosts at night, wailing as though they were begging; there were silent notes of the animals scattered around, some of whom he was certain were older than the forest itself; then there were his own memories, hanging still above him like a looming guillotine, waiting for a moment of carelessness to fall; and there was a passing number of souls in the forest, all seeming to yearn for... something. Every conversation, he felt, slowly steered toward the innermost things--whether it was fear or gratitude. They left soon after dinner; despite his complaints, they did not leave him empty-handed. The old man--Yu Minge, as Leo learned just before they left--shoved a ruby-encased ring into his hands and seemed like he would outright fight Leo if the latter refused. At the same time, Xiaoling spoke directly into his mind, something he learned cultivators could do awhile back, offering instructions on how to bind the ring and use it. As he did, he found a wealth of things inside--sparkling stones and gems, some tomes and books, and a small mountain of various pills, herbs, and pastes. Over and over, he was told that kindness was a disease in this world--and yet, over and over, his kindness was paid back, countless times over. Looking at the faintly shimmering ring, he couldn''t help but feel his heart swell; he seldom got emotional, even as others did. Rather, most time, he was uncomfortable. Always had been, really, as far as he could remember. He steered clear of people who wore their emotions on their sleeves, and stuck to those like him, who locked whatever they felt behind a titanium gate, deep inside their hearts. It was the safest way to live, after all, to sell hollow platitudes on the surface, but encase yourself in distinct apathy. No, shaking his head, he set the ring aside and glanced around the longhouse. There were tiny, beautiful things sprawled everywhere--horned rabbits, strangely large butterflies, multi-headed creatures, birds, snakes, turtles, deer, pigs... from the day this place accepted him, and from the day he accepted himself in it, he had lost. Wholly, completely, and unmistakably... lost. Chapter 90 - Echoes of the Nameless Chapter 90 Echoes of the Nameless Mei found herself frozen and drifting--she barely caught sight of others from the corner of her eyes and saw that they were the same. Against their wills, their feet lifted off the grounded earth, and they drifted over toward the strangely-dressed figure by the shore. Her heart was beating like a war drum, fear digging deep into her bones; the figure wasn''t a Demonic Beast, that was for certain. Or, if it was, it meant that it had reached at the very least Soul Ascendance Realm. However, even as they drifted over and were plucked down like pieces of furniture, the figure didn''t speak. A pair of ruby-like red eyes peered past the shadowed face, staring at them, while a faintly mischievous smile hung on the thin and chapped lips. Silence hung for a long, long while it felt. At some point, Mei realized she was able to move, though she dared not to; whatever or whoever sat in front of them, looming over, wasn''t the sort they could contend against. Even Shen Tao was unusually quiet and quaint, supporting further her fears that they were in an unenviable position. "What to do, what to do?" the voice mumbled as the red eyes shifted. "Ah, but to tell a story, a story of many twists and turns; perchance, shall one of you understand a middling portion of it, a tiny mote of the whole, I shall liberate you. Shall you not, however~ah, perhaps children shall be punished thusly?" "..." none of the four dared utter a sound as the red eyes scoured them each, as though they were reading the letters upon their souls. "Once upon a whisper," the figure spoke, its voice mixture of playful and eerily foreboding. "Beneath a moon that blinked thrice, a shadow wove words into the air. Ah, but who listens to the shadows? Perhaps only children, for children see. Now, what tale shall be told to such young ears? A tale of ends and beginnings, of teeth and tides, Listen close, for the answer flits like moths to a flame." the man, Mei assumed at least, looked up to the staggeringly clear sky, smiling ever so faintly. "There was a figure, nameless as the wind''s whimper, standing at the cusp of forever. A thousand hands reached out to devour his world, clawing with hunger of a forsaken beast. Yet he, shorn of shadows and dark, turned the tide. How? Ah, how indeed. The river knows not why it flows, yet it shapes the land all the same. Does the river fear the sea? Perhaps... ah, perhaps it should. "In a garden of swords, beneath the waning voices of the sweetly singing birds, one blossom fell before its time. The roots wept. The gardener did not. For the blossom''s fall gave life to the soil. And what of the bird? Oh, such lovely feathers... and oh so fragile. Shall the sky mourn the bird when the song comes? "A storm... ah, yes, a storm brews on the horizon, wild and furious. Not of rain, no--this storm carries the breath of beginnings. Primordial and raw, it shall sweep the lands clean, wiping away the ashes of the forgotten. But... the storms are fickle, are they not? They bring new growth, but also tear the roots asunder. And from this tempest, they shall rise--ancient ones, untouched by the time''s tender touch. Fixers, breakers, builders. Which shall they be? Perhaps even they do not know. "And what of the wolf with no pack, whose gray fur turns to dust beneath the sun''s gaze? Ah, yes, the wolf. A loyal beast, yet loyalty does not shield one from the cruel moors of time. The wind shall call its name thrice, and on the third, it shall not answer. A pity, truly. Or, perhaps not? The skies weep not for the wolves. "Oh, children, do you hear not the echo of a dragon''s roar? Not from the skies, but from the earth. There lies a forest, nameless yet known. And within its green embrace lies one who burned himself to cinders, only to rise anew. But who remembers embers and ash? Who cares thus? The Holy One, they whisper. Holy. Ah, such a fragile word, like a butterfly''s wing in a tempest. "Now, let me ask you this: a forest grows within a forest. Which came first? The child or the parent? The echo or the cry? A riddle, for clever ears. Ah, but beware: answers are tricksters, and truths are far crueler than lies. Come, tell me what you think. And if you are wrong? Well... children must learn, must they not?" The voice lingered for a long while after like the fading echoes of a thunder, playful yet dark, the red eyes gleaming still like embers in the night. "So, my dear children, what shall you see?" This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. None understood--not past the shallow surface of things. Mei, especially, felt lost within the words. They meant nothing. There was no promised story, no hidden meanings--just mutterings and words woven together into sentences. What would they mean? Nothing. They were being tricked and fooled by a mischievous spirit who had no intention of letting them be. Just as he was about to decry with bitterness, another voice broke the silence--Shen Tao. "You said we only needed to understand the portion, right?" "Quite, yes. Is it so, child? Do you understand?" "... what will happen if I''m wrong? To them, I mean." "The same as shall happen to you," the man chuckled. "As for what... oh, but surprises are far more beautiful, no? Would you venture a guess, child?" "... a forest within a forest," Shen Tao said while Mei listened. She was never the cleverest, she knew that much. Even if she hid it well thus far, it would be revealed--she stayed silent, a seasoned Disciple, while someone who joined the Sect just before they departed saved them. Or doomed them. "You''re asking which one came first--the Nameless Forest outside the realm, or this." Mei''s eyes lit up like stars--Right! That one''s easy! This is clearly a copy, and the Nameless Forest has been around for as long as records of the place-- "This one''s the original, and the Nameless Forest is a copy." "--what?!!" it wasn''t just Mei--Song and Lya exclaimed as well, shocked. For a moment, she was certain he was dooming them on purpose as part of some wicked game he was playing. "Hoh? Are you certain?" the figure asked. "Yes." Mei wanted to curse him, but the conviction with which the ordinary-looking boy said the words... tore her. He was honest--he truly believed. This wasn''t a game, a ploy, some wicked design of his; it was a desperate struggle, one voiced from courage of someone far braver than her. "Clever child," the figure chortled strangely for a moment, its head bending over unnaturally--almost like those statues--until the shadowed face was inches away from Shen Tao''s. "Clever so. Indeed, this is the cry, and other the echo. Perhaps, in due time, when days outpace the nights, you shall learn of the truths behind the curtain. Until such an hour, however, ponder--aloud and within. Ah, perhaps a reward? Yes, reward for clever children. Here," a snap of the fingers and a flicker of a shadow later, a hovering dagger appeared--lithe, simple, and seemingly worn-out. However, even through its weathered surface it was evident that it was not an ordinary blade--regal carvings round its bejeweled handle, guard jutting outward in the shape of a dragon''s maw, as though hurtling flames. "In your darkest hour, draw it. Let it shine in its final luster, and then let it rest. It is time to go, now, children," the lake, the sky, the forest... it all disappeared within the blink of an eye, and the four found themselves standing in front of the arched entrance to the inner portions of the hidden realm. "It would be wise that thy lips stay clasped about me. Unwise to share me with others." Mei let loose a rancid breath, finally feeling like she could breathe normally again. She was gasping, but she wasn''t alone--rather, Song and Lya were lying flat on the ground, passed out, while even Shen Tao was pale. First to stand, he dusted himself off, looking down and offering her a hand. She took it, feeling the pull. "... thank you," she said. "For saving us, I mean. How... how did you know the correct answer?" "I gambled." he replied simply. "You... you gambled?" "Hm. I quickly realized he was asking which forest was real," he said. "Which was strange. You yourself said that this was an exact replica, just without anything which made the Nameless Forest unique. Why would he ask that, then?" "... to trick us?" "Or to give us an easy way out," Shen Tao chuckled suddenly, surprising her. "I have a feeling that even if I said the Nameless Forest was older... he would have let us go." "Why?" "He probably knew you three had been there. And whatever connection this place has to the forest, he''s at the center of it." "Wait--I''m confused. Is this forest older than the Nameless one?" "Eh," Shen Tao shrugged his shoulders, smirking. "We''ll probably never know. Here," he picked up something off the ground and handed it over to her--the dagger. "H-huh? Why are you giving it to me? You answered the riddle." "I was also the one who insisted we go in there," he said. "Truthfully, I had planned on staying there for a little while to make the Pavilion''s Disciples believe we''d run in and died, and then left once their thoughts were elsewhere. But when we got inside... I don''t know. There was a magical pull, it felt, and I kept just going deeper and deeper with you three." "..." Mei stared at the dagger for a moment before taking it; though she didn''t know what it did, she knew it only had one use, and that it would save them from death in some way. Tucking it into her spatial ring, she looked around, growing worried. "We''re out, now. Do you think they''ve given up?" "I don''t know how much time has passed," Shen Tao said. "I wouldn''t count on it, however. My Father always warned me to never tangle myself with Pavilion''s Disciple unless I can kill them and all witnesses and then erase all traces of it. They are like parasites, he used to say, latching onto you until they''ve sucked every last bit that you own." "Charming," Mei sighed. Song and Lya began to grunt suddenly, waking up. "We should keep moving, then. Are you two alright?" "Y-yes, Senior Sister! What... happened?" "Let''s go." "It''s too late," Shen Tao said, his words strumming like a sword in her heart. "They''re already here." "Hoh? You can sense us?" a familiar voice spoke from the distant fog, figures emerging. "Interesting. Interesting indeed. It seems I will have to leave you for last." Chapter 91 - Blood and Thunder Chapter 91 Blood and Thunder Yue had witnessed quite a few battles throughout her life, having even participated in a number of them herself. She''d even seen and observed battles of Avatar and Fusion Realm cultivators at times, and though it was always too fast and sporadic for her to truly follow, she could at least make out who was winning or losing. Even now, as she watched her slightly aloof Junior Brother burst out of the cave with a blinding flash of light, she was able to ever so slightly catch the glimpse of the clash--but that was it. The collision resulted in a repulsive explosion of energy as the two men dashed out of the confined walls of the cave. The world shook ever for a moment, and she sped out, following after them. By the time she was out of the cave, the two were woven in a discordant battle just outside on the jutting platform. Liang sped about like a possessed demon, leaving dented imprints in the dirt, but the General wasn''t any worse for wear--if anything, it was the opposite. Qi rolled and roused around him as he swung a foot-and-a-half long spear, stabbing and thrusting mercilessly, aiming for Liang''s vitals. The General ducked suddenly and spun in place, tucking the spear underneath his armpit for a moment before using momentum to swing further out, aiming for Liang''s throat; the latter dipped backward, bending himself underneath the swing and catalyzing Qi into a destructive force within his fist, stabbing it into the ground and using the explosive reaction to propel himself upward, revolving like a spin top for a moment before heaving over his right leg, aiming at the General''s head with the heel. Qi burst out as the heel and the bottom of the spear met, the two men shooting away from one another for a moment before stabilizing. Liang roared, his expression distorting under the violent surge of Qi, his robes flourishing before rampaging outward. His body gnarled under the weight of the speed, afterimages ballooning behind him. The General, too, summoned the whirling bundles of roaring thunder around himself, darkness and lightning emerging into one. The two rushed toward each other once again, Liang punching out with gold-coated fist while the General thrust forth with the thunderous spear; the booming collision sent out a massive shockwave that forced Yue to pull up a curtain of Qi, just barely enduring, but still being pushed several paces back, watching in horror as the two men exchanged twenty bouts in just a blink of an eye. Her heart stirred with a complex array of emotions, charged with envy and jealousy--she felt ugly, that she was unable to step past the skin-tearing wind and help him. She was so weak and insignificant that all she could do was silently cheer... and yet, was incapable of even doing that little, instead succumbing to envy. Blood sprayed out suddenly, and she caught a glimpse of the spear tearing through Liang; it left a nasty gash on the right side of his abdomen, blood whirling out as he spun in deflection. At the same time, however, a thunderously cracking sound echoed out as she saw the General''s left arm abruptly go limp and fall. Neither of the men, however, even so much as winced, rushing back towards each other. Qi became visible, corporeal, steaming out beneath them as the two men ripped the world around them asunder. Liang ducked beneath another sweep, but the spear suddenly stopped and violently jerked downward; she visibly saw the General''s shoulder dislocate due to the action, yet also witnessed Liang''s left shoulder be torn into. Blood and viscera fell out as the milky white of the bone came into view. Undeterred even with that, Liang swept out with his right leg and tore through the General''s knee. The latter jerked ever so slightly forward as his left leg bent unnaturally. However, he immediately stabbed the spear into the ground and used the unleashed Qi as means of pushing himself backward. Like a hungry beast, though, Liang latched on and sprung forth, ignoring the nausea-inducing sight of his shoulder. The platform beneath the two men began to give way due to their violent clashes that never seemed to cease--even in the retreat, the General thrust forward repeatedly with the spear, aftershocks blurring past Liang''s lithe and surprisingly nimble figure, ripping through the cliff behind him and gouging open massive craters in its side. In the midst of blinding flashes of light, Yue saw trails of scarlet shimmer like dainty flowers before vanishing in the burst of overwhelming energy. It seemed as though wounds themselves were disallowed, and pain went unregistered between the pair. She found it impossible to quell her heart and soul, and look at this as anything other than the bared reality of just how far behind she was--how was it possible, after all, that someone at the Early Spirit Creation Realm was fighting someone at Avatar Realm? Were the news to even kindle, it would spread like the wildfire, unquenchable until it burned down the entire world. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. He was ever so brilliant, but all his brilliance did was deepen the shadow in her heart until it was black and oily. An arm suddenly flew off like a wheel off a broken spindle, spray of crimson drifting outward in a strange halo. Two figures emerged from the dust and debris, one on his knees and one towering over--Liang had won. He was panting, his chest sinking and rising like a boat on the wavy ocean, his robes torn and tattered, wounds bleeding everywhere. And yet, he stood an imposition, a looming wall of sanctity--and, beneath him, an armless figure was whimpering. He found it just as incredulous as Yue--no, likely even more. In his eyes, it was entirely true that he saw Liang as a rebellious child and nothing more, a temporary toy to play with before breaking and moving on. A little pup, even; but the pup bit back and tore him asunder, until he was kneeling hapless and broken, begging for his life. "We--we can talk about this," the General--or, rather, whoever was pretending to be him--spoke, his voice cracking. "What... what do you want, huh? Money? Treasures? Martial arts? I can give you anything!" "There''s only one thing I need from you," Liang crouched down, grasped the man''s neck and lifted him off the ground into the air as though he were a child. The latter''s legs began kicking back and forth, dangling like restless twigs, as the already bleeding face turned even redder. "P-p-please..." the man stuttered just barely as Yue watched Liang''s fingers tense further. The skin between them bubbled and stretched, almost like dough, but he kept pressing and pressing. "No----!!!" a blood-curling scream tore out into the world for just a moment before fading. Yue bore witness to a scarring horror as fingers fissured first the skin and then the flesh, bearing down through until there was an audible crack and the reddened head limped sideways, eyes protruding ever so slightly out of their sockets. She fell backward and felt fear overcome her; Liang loosened his fingers and the supple body fell down with a faint thud, kicking up the dust. She''d witnessed death before--any cultivator over the age of 13 had, most-likely--but never quite like this. This was... brutal, violent, savage, and, most importantly, it was unnecessary. Most deaths were swift strokes of a blade, not extended suffocations or prolonged cracking of the neck. It was savagery almost condemned, and she witnessed it from a person she thought rather gentle. After all, she''d never seen this in Liang before--this anger, hatred, discontent bordering psychopathy. His head swiveled toward her suddenly as he looked at her over his shoulder; he was almost unrecognizable, the look in his eyes temporarily demented. They were red like blood, wide and round. However, as soon as his eyes met hers, they changed--softened; he quickly looked away as though in shame, before taking out a fresh robe from his spatial ring and throwing it over his old one. Yue came to ever so slightly, realizing she was shaking and covered in sweat. "I''m sorry, Senior Sister," his voice was suddenly gentle, void of the frigid cold with which he spoke to the General. "I didn''t want you to see that." "..." before she knew it, he was by her side, sitting down, his head buried between his knees. "Face-Thief is an old criminal from before I even enrolled in the Sect," he said. "The list of his crimes... ah, it would fill up tomes. About eight years ago, a few of my Senior Brothers and Sisters went out on a mission only to never return. Once the Sect investigated their disappearances, we learned that they were killed by another Sect because they were all suddenly behaving like berserk beasts--pillaging villages, attacking mortals, thieving openly... it didn''t make any sense, because all of them were rather just and noble. That was when the Sect Master stepped in and divined that they were dead long before they did any of those things--Face-Thief killed them and used their appearance to commit all those crimes. Though it was never revealed to the public, I learned from my former Master that the Bloodmoon Sect had hired him to tarnish our Sect''s reputation, and that was how he did it." she still stayed silent, though had stopped shaking. His voice... the more the talked, the gentler, the softer, and more subdued it became. "I don''t know what overcame me," he continued after a brief silence. "I simply wanted to kill him, no matter what. That was the only thought I had in my head. I... I forgot you were here." "... you''re much stronger than I thought," Yue said, her voice low. Though she was terrified, there was another emotion gnawing at her, emotion she didn''t want. "Rather than fear... my heart is consumed with envy." "E-envy?! S-Senior Sister, don''t worry! You are far more talented--" "--that''s fine," she interrupted his hapless attempt, smiling faintly. "Master has given me a new life, that is true. But, ultimately, fate cannot truly be overcome. There will always be people more talented and less talented than me, all walking the same path. Those are my own demons that I will have to conquer if I ever want to follow you and Master in the future." he seemed to stare at her for a long while before speaking. "There have been countless who were envious of me in the Sect." "Oh, wow." "None, however, ever admitted it aloud," he quickly said. "But, every time I broke through, or completed a mission, I could feel their gazes on me. There is no shame in envy, I don''t think; I have felt envious countless times in my life, too. It is how we approach it that defines that part of us; you''ve understood it, embraced it, and learned that you have to overcome it. You are already further than any of them ever were." Yue felt her heart skip a beat, but she ignored it. She had to, she knew. Burying her head between her knees she blocked away the sound of the stirring winds, and the hushed whispers of people hiding in the shadows, likely commenting on the state of the platform and how it came to be that way. She blocked away everything, letting in only the sound of his voice; the ever so gentle, awkward, and blundering voice. Chapter 92 - Primordial Qi Chapter 92 Primordial Qi Darkness receded and light briefly blinded him, prompting him to open his eyes. Leo was back in the forest, slumped between the trees, watching a translucent figure slowly fade like a dying screen. It was yet another painful excursion into the forgotten history, one overwhelmed with death and rot. The first night that he was alone, he journeyed out toward the wails, quickly encountering quite a few. It almost felt like with animals, where the ''word'' spread out, and those in the distance slowly converged toward him. He chose at random, having no heart or mind to make a proper selection, all while butchering the Itsy-bitsy spider classic. As the translucent figure faded, so did the other apparitions--however, they simply faded further back into the forest, likely awaiting the next night, wondering if they would be chosen next. He sighed, standing up and stretching. Even if it still hurt and cut as deeply as any blade could... it was easier. With ever so lighter steps, he returned to the longhouse just before dawn. He quickly put on pots and kindled the fires and tossed in the ingredients, in time for animals to slowly start trickling out from between the trees. For a while now, he realized, his solitude was interrupted rather frequently--in small ways, he missed when he first appeared, when everything was strange, alien, and unknown. Every day felt as long as a lifetime, every new discovery as grand as the sky itself. All of that had diminished, as he knew just enough to be discluded from the wonder, but not enough to truly know anything. Alas, he tried, for once, not being the sort to hang himself on the loose thoughts of a wanderer. What he used to drown with unhealthy amount of booze, he now settled deep and away, dousing himself in the pleasantries of this world. "Hm? There''s not that many of you today," he spoke after a quick look around. Whereas, at this point, there were usually close to seventy or eighty animals, only about a quarter of that number showed up. Even if a few more would appear a bit later on, it still seemed strange. "Is there something wrong?" Only Milky responded to his voice, sauntering over and jumping into his lap, looking up. Though he''d shelved his appearance (as well as appearances of all other animals) in the back of his head as just ''curiosities of this world'', every once in a while, when he''d pause and take a deeper look, he''d find himself... struggling, almost, to move on. The young(?) little panther stood as though sculpted from the dreams of starlight itself, his alabaster fur shimmering with an almost otherworldly glow. A cascade of purity that was his silken coat was only ever broken by the delicate, ink-black rosettes that rippled like whispers of shadow across his body. The pattern was precisely symmetrical, splitting at the mid-point, forming a rather bewitching and beautiful arrangement. His luminous sapphire-blue eyes, deep and unyielding like frozen glacial pools, held a quiet wisdom, their depths teeming with secrets, the ilk which Leo had thus far wholly ignored, mostly for his own sanity. Even when Milky moved, he moved with a certain grace, his padded paws scarcely disturbing the dirt beneath them. There was an unmistakable majesty in his bearing--a quiet nobility, even, but the ilk that shot past the ''rare'' and ''exotic'' attribute of an animal. He wasn''t alone in it, as he shared the commonality with most other of Leo''s furred friends, which was why Leo did not want to stare at them for too long, lest he got lost in their splendor. The little thing purred and whined for a moment, closing his eyes and nestling his head against Leo''s chest. Though no words were spoken or exchanged between the two, somehow... Leo understood. Or, at least, he thought he understood. It wasn''t precise communication, so much so as words or thoughts or even images could be; it was more akin to intent, a concept, a fractured tonality of an idea too abstract to be put into words. Sort of how people tried comprehending existence of higher dimensions beyond the mathematical equations. Leo gently patted the top of the panther''s head and ran his fingers down his back several times, contemplating. It was entirely possible that he simply ''imagined'' what he was ''told'', but it was also a chance to, once and for all, discover whether these animals truly possessed intellect beyond ''clever for a beast''. That, however, was also the crux; Leo lived within that denial rather happily, as he didn''t have to ponder upon the implications of, well, everything, if they were true. If he were to break the blissful ignorance, he had a feeling that nothing truly good would come of it. And yet... he stood up. Milky skillfully and lithely ran across his chest and over onto his shoulder, sprawling lazily and even closing his eyes. A moment later, low-humming snores echoed beside his ear, prompting Leo''s eyebrows to twitch for a moment. Apparently, he''d become a bed, too, to these little things.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The two headed westward, once again past the pond, and over toward where he cut all the rotten trees. Surprisingly, there were already stumps slowly jutting out from the dirt, barely visible beneath the crowding grass, seemingly ready to be reborn. It hadn''t been that long, still, but the nature was correcting the course of time, tenderly swaying it toward itself. They did not stop there either, however, moving further and further west. Leo ''felt'' it would be a long trek even when he ''learned'' what Milky was ''saying'', so he was already mentally prepared. However, after walking for two hours uninterrupted, even he had to sit down; even if he wasn''t that tired physically, mentally, he needed rest. Milky opened his eyes for the first time and yawned, jumping off his shoulder and stretching. Neither the trees nor the flowers changed much despite the distance traveled; if there was one slight change, it was that the canopy above became ever so scarcer, allowing more and more sunlight to pour through. As such, though the flowers were familiar to him, most were slightly larger than the ones further east. He grabbed a waterskin of fruit juice from the spatial ring, a convenience that he was now certain he''d never be able to live without. It was sort of like a phone back on Earth, except perhaps even more convenient. It wasn''t just that he could store things in the ring, it was also that their properties didn''t change--so, if he could ever figure out how to produce ice, he''d be able to make iced drinks and keep them that way effectively indefinitely. Leo didn''t meander for too long, and neither did Milky. The little pup explored around for a couple of minutes before returning and hopping onto Leo''s shoulder. This time, however, he didn''t fall asleep, purring instead as he observed the surrounding trees. Moving onward, the canopy grew scarcer and scarcer once again, though never to the point of opening up like a dome toward the clear sky. Once he came across the rushing river, he knew that he was close--the river itself was further sublime, as though of beyond this world. It was about ankle-deep, rapid yet slow, about forty feet across. It turned sharply southward where he found it, which was why he didn''t need to cross it. The river had a celeste shade of hue, timidly transparent, guzzling white foam rushing over the protruding rocks. Leo bent over and grabbed a handful, washing his face--it was shockingly cool, far more so than the pond of water back home. Taking a sip, he realized that, unlike the pond, it did not seem to possess any of the ''otherworldly'' properties--it was an ordinary body of water, if ever so slightly colder than most others. While making juice with it would likely have diminishing effects, the taste itself would probably improve, especially on hot days like this one. Luckily, due to the sheer size of the spatial ring, he''d packed quite a few ''extras'' just in case he needed them, and that included almost twenty extra barrels that he''d made. However, as he had a place to be, he decided to swing by on his way home and fill them up. Furthering west, he mentally prepared for the truth--whether he truly could understand the animals or not. In just about twenty minutes, if he could, he''d emerge upon a massive opening where he was to witness... something. Milky never said, or if he did, Leo never understood. However, if he could not understand them, he''d at least put down the idea that he could to rest, and move on forever. He understood them, he realized as soon as it came into view. A body of water just shy of the size of a smaller lake stood still within a cirque. At the edges of the steep stone, thousands of animals gathered, sitting in silence. In fact, it was so silent that a pin drop could be heard, and so silent that Leo dared not make a sound despite being quarter of a mile away from it. The body of water itself was wholly black--rather, it was so black that it resembled a hole that no light could escape. The only reason that Leo even knew it was water that, every once in a while, a black mote of light would surge from it, rippling the surface ever so slightly in the process. The animals observed these motes of light as they seemed to escape into the atmosphere, almost as though they were being evaporated. Beyond just the appearance, Leo caught another oddity; just breathing seemed to churn Qi within his dantian and slowly increase his cultivation. In fact, a single breath seemed equivalent to him meditating nearly twenty minutes. Furthermore, staring at the fading, black motes of light invoked an eerily nostalgic feeling of want within him; there was a deep-seated yearning inside his soul, as if it was stretching out for a part of him that had been missing all this while. The closer he got, the more intense the feeling became--as he came upon the edge, mingling with the animals who all seemed to ignore him, he felt his very blood boil under the inflammation. He couldn''t put it into words, the desperate yearning just to reach out and touch. And yet, he knew that he would never live to look back on that feeling. There was a reason nobody was moving from the edge of the cirque or trying to ''take a dip'' in the water. Leo recalled Yu Minge and his state of being when he appeared; the sensation he felt from the cracks in the man''s body that were bleeding black smoke was similar, if greatly diminished, to this one. One way or another, they were linked. Something within the earth was waking, and though the row stood silent at the moment, Leo felt it would not be so for long. Whether good or otherwise, however, remained undecided. He felt a lick of a tongue on his cheek suddenly and glanced to the side where he saw Milky. The little feline was all but glowing in a faint golden, his sapphire eyes alight with stars. Once again, he spoke. Not a word, not a thought, not an idea. A fractured concept of something intangible. And yet, for some reason beyond his comprehension, Leo felt like he could put into words. "Primordial... Qi?" he mumbled the words into the wind, stirring the voices buried for eons of time, awakening the derelicts of the ancient. Chapter 93 - Night to Remember Chapter 93 Night to Remember Most of the animals surrounding the cirque dispersed after ten or so hours and as the day began to inch toward the night. Leo, however, remained seated at the edge, unable to tear his gaze away from the maw that seemed to swallow the light. The longer he stood by its side, the freer he felt his mind become. But more than that, it felt as though someone pried open his meridians even further, but did so without causing them any harm. Even merely thinking of a martial art seemed inspiring--while he struggled quite a bit with Quelling Soul Art, not having made any significant progress ever since getting it, he''d already grasped the basics after just a couple of hours of tinkering within his thoughts. It was as though the fog had lifted and the shine of the sun carried forth the clarity. Sighing, he stood up and stretched, his bones cracking. It was too late to start the trek back home, and he had intended to stay here for a night at least anyway. Looking around, he located a decent spot up a hill, just where there was a nice patch of flat land. Gathering a few materials that he was missing, he quickly constructed a single mud hut and started a roaring fire outside of it. Though he could have prepped the meals already and stuffed them into the ring, he elected not to; after all, he''d come to rather enjoy the solace of cooking. It was one time when he could tame the thundering thoughts and focus on a rather numb task in front of him, even if he was cooking just for himself. However, he felt it wouldn''t be quite that simple. Even if the animals had dispersed, there was a faint wind frolicking about. There was a good chance that it would carry the scent outward, and as was the case back home, it would... inspire quite a few of the critters to come. He had no heart to turn them away, and, far more importantly, he was terrified what they would do to him if he chose not to feed them. While he was rather comfortable with most of the animals that showed up to the longhouse, even those who never truly stayed and came about once every blue moon, that was where it all ended--a faint feeling of comfort. He was far out from where he usually stayed, and though none of the animals attacked him when he approached them, that mattered little. While he recognized some, most were wholly new. It was always better to be cautious than to be broken. With that in mind, he quickly set up a few more fires, hanging pots above them, and slowly beginning to cook. Thanks to the ring, he decided to always carry the ingredients with him, and that included the water from the pond. Barrels and buckets of it resided in the thin membrane of the world, somewhere beyond his sight. Pouring them out slowly, the water began to boil just as he cut the vegetables and sliced the meat into cubes--eight pots were soon stirring with tantalizing scent of an irresistible meal, and smoke billowed out freely into the darkening sky. Beyond the cirque, trees sprung up anew, as did an uphill slope. Because of it, even though it looked as though he was at an elevation, he couldn''t see anything besides the forest still. Trees extended outwardly like a kingdom without end, endless and unconquerable. The sun slowly began to set in the distance, its golden glimmer dimming, becoming a strangely burning haze spilling over the world like ink. The few sparse clouds that danced atop the azure canvas thinned, their edges embossed with the fire of the star, illuminating. Soon enough, ruffling could be heard within the hut, and Milky jumped out like a speedy shadow, landing on Leo''s shoulder, panting. Drops of drool trickled down on top of his robes, prompting him to chuckle and use his free hand to pet the little furball. "Ha ha, did you sleep well? Ah, dinner will be ready soon. Are you hungry?" the white panther seemed to nod before nuzzling his head against Leo''s cheek. "Ha ha ha, you little cheeky thing! Fine, fine, I''ll hurry up. Just for you, okay?" You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. As Leo turned his gaze, he saw shadows spring from the darkness; within moments, they formed figures, familiar and otherwise, slowly creeping toward the flames, almost like moths. He smiled, realizing that he''d need a couple more rounds if he was to satiate everyone. More and more began to pour out from between the trees, and yet scarce few made any notable sound. Before long, there were lines and rows queued up, almost like flowers surrounding a shrine, all patiently waiting their turn. One by one, pots were done, and Leo began pouring the food out onto the plates, setting them at the front. And, one by one, animals came up and stared at him for a moment, then bowing before finally eating. Every. Single. One. Even those he knew, those that would occasionally swing by the longhouse, followed the custom, as though somebody had ordered them to. And yet, in his heart, Leo knew that nobody did. This was their way of thanking him, their way of expressing what they could not in words. And when they were done, they did not leave; rather, they found an empty spot and lied down, as though enshrining themselves as his guardians for the night. Pot after pot, plate after plate, bow after bow... at some point, Leo lost count how many servings passed between his fingers. Rather, he stopped caring. This, more so than all else, was who he was deep down. No, who he''d become after coming here. While his interest in the world beyond the trees remained, and while he was more than happy to disciple a few kids to keep him company, and while he would always entertain those willing to venture into the woods and saved those he could, this, he felt, was his calling. He didn''t know why, not really, or even if this was ''intended'' by whatever higher force gave him the system. It was simply the will of his heart and the roar of his soul. Just as the moon crept toward the sky''s zenith, the last of the animals retreated, having eaten. Leo looked at the last plate by his side and picked it up. Milky was resting by his side, slumbering rather peacefully, while the other animals made a wide circle around him. No, it wasn''t just one circle--there were at least four. Moonlight gently caressed their edges, giving them a rather eerie look, with the glimmering, shining eyes occasionally poking out of the dark. Leo ate slowly, bite by bite, his eyes glued to the full moon. He never pondered much about whether this world was all that different from Earth--magic and such notwithstanding. There was one sun and one moon, and the night sky would always alight with innumerable stars. Perhaps, in some bizarre, if poetic fashion, one of those tinkling stars in the night sky was the Earth''s Sun. He smiled at the bizarre thought and an even more bizarre yearning. He didn''t want to go back to Earth, not really. Perhaps only for a couple of days, so that he may apologize to all those he hurt. There were many, and likely many more that years of drinking had erased from his memory. If only, he mused, he knew then what he knew now... would it have changed anything? He didn''t sleep that night, and neither did any of the animals besides Milky. They''d stare at him intermittently, and he''d stare back and smile. At some point, deep into the night, he poured out juice into custom-made, massive bowls intended for animals and laid them out. Just like with the dinner, the animals did not race, but slowly approached in perfectly slim groups, taking a few sips before retreating. Something strange happened soon after--the edges illuminated by the moonlight began to almost burn, jutting glow from them cascading down the animals'' bodies. It was unlike anything Leo had seen before, as none of the animals underwent this before after drinking the juice. No... perhaps they did, and he simply never noticed. Before long, the night seemed to turn into day with the amount of light that they produced. They all stood up and, once again, stared at him in concert. There were countless eyes of all sizes, shapes, and colors, and yet all seemed beholden to his tiny little stature. Though quite a few silhouettes were normal-sized, there were also those that towered over the rest, especially in the rear. Behemoths denying description. And yet, they all stood still like statues, unmoving, as their bodies glistened. Visible motes of Qi began to pulse out from them, almost like visible breath in a cold, winter air. Before dawn came, they would all be gone. It was just him and Milky, again, and the ashen remnants of the last night''s fires. The world fell silent if ever for a moment before the dawn seemed to wake it up--songs of birds and distant growls of the beasts soon shuttered the silence and signaled the beginning of a fresh new day, ending the night Leo would never forget. Chapter 94 - The Cold Precipice Chapter 94 The Cold Precipice Mei just barely stumbled to the side, dodging a scathing array of light; even so, it nicked the edge of her robe and even drew blood from her skin. It was just yet another tiny gash piling up on top of others, making it harder and harder to move. Her breaths were shallow, her vision was blurring slightly, and it was getting harder and harder to hold a sword between her fingers. They were being toyed with. While Shen Tao used the treasures to somehow keep two of the Heavenly Pavilion''s Disciples engaged, and was even pushing them back ever so slightly, her, Lya, and Song were unable to even touch the remaining third one. It was a woman about Mei''s age, if not younger, wearing standard-set disciple robes of the Sect, a fine-linen woven cloth fitted to her bodice, clamped together with a gemstone-decorated brooch at the collar and an otherwise simple belt at the waist. The robe was partway ceremonial and partway made for combat, a strange mixture that Mei had seen often, especially in younger women who desired as much the power as they did the appearance of it. All the same, with every flutter of the white-cascading robes that seem to catch fire beneath the sunlight, she moved with unmatched nimbleness and grace. Once again, Mei found herself festering the emotions she thought she''d overcome--ugly, putrid envy, and flaming desire to become better. However, just because she had her roots upgraded in the Forest, it didn''t mean that she would suddenly eclipse the Chosen Ones, those seemingly in cohort with the Heavens themselves. The woman didn''t even use a weapon, coating her forearms in a layer of ice and using it to deflect her and Song''s blade, all while she deftly dodged Lya''s barrage of arts. The ground lay wholly singed, yet her clothes, hair, and face were untouched, wholly without blemishes as though she''d taken a walk rather than participated in a life-and-death struggle. No, it was merely a life-and-death struggle for them three, not for her. She, once again, seemingly slid sideways and dodged a piercing bolt of lightning from Lya, easily catching Song''s blade at the same time and kicking out with her left leg, hitting him squarely in the chest and propelling him backward for over forty yards. Blood sprayed out in a tantalizing arch, and Mei saw consciousness fade from the young boy''s eyes. Gnashing her teeth, she snapped briefly and poured inordinate amounts of Qi into her feet before zipping forward so quickly she felt her skin pull back over her bones. She barely managed to move her arm and stab forward with the sword, and in the process felt her shoulder dislocate. Enduring the pain, she bit into her tongue to startle herself awake, reaching the woman so quickly even the latter was shocked. Though it was not a lethal wound by any means, Mei saw her sword draw a rather nasty gash across the woman''s abdomen, cutting through the robes and causing red to spray out swiftly. The woman did, however, manage to dip backwards just in time to dodge any meaningful wound, though her beautiful disposition was no more; her face distorted until obsidian lines appeared around her eyes and lips, dimples pushing outward until they creased the skin manyfold. "HOW DARE YOU?!!" her voice shifted, too, into a bestial growl, low and scathing. "YOU PUTRID LOWLIFE! HOW DARE YOU TOUCH ME WITH YOUR FILTH?!" Mei felt energy pulsate from the woman like a biding storm exploding at last--corporeal threads of Qi tore from the membrane of reality, forming a massive sword above the woman, the handle of which she grasped violently and swung downwards. The blade''s edges flickered with torrential bursts of energy, and the level of descending pressure made it impossible to even breathe. She would die. Mei felt it in her bones, in her heart, and in her soul. She was completely locked in place, ground beneath her trembling and cracking, radiating out from her feet. But even if she were to die, she held steadfast--rather than looking away, rather than weeping, rather than begging, she stared directly at the descending monstrosity that spanned nearly thirty feet, tearing through spacetime, and she stared at it unblinkingly. She would die, but at least she wouldn''t die a coward. Then again, it was a hollow sort of courage; in her finality, she threw a tantrum, defying it rather than accepting it. Once again, she felt the hatred rouse--not toward her killer, but toward herself. Even unto death, she was never able to break the shackles. "MEI!!!" a familiar voice somehow managed to pierce past the rumbling storm and the world being ripped asunder. A mere moment later, a blood-red flicker sped past her eyes and hewed through the descending blade. The entire thing shattered like a porcelain plate, its shards rippling outward like rain. All the descending pressure faded, and her eyes levied to the side where she saw Shen Tao facing her, bloodied from head to toe... and yet still smiling. His back was to the two figures attacking, and there seemed to be no treasures surrounding him. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. He used the last two, she realized, to save her--one to break the woman''s attack, and the other to kill her. The latter lay down on the ground with a massive hole where chest ought to be, still somehow conscious, yet not for long. He will die, her mind reeled. No. No. Unconsciously, she reached into her robes and took out the dagger and, without a second thought, she swung. She didn''t know quite what to expect--for all she knew, it was a lie, a prank, a trick, and the dagger would do nothing. If that were to be the case, Shen Tao would die, as would Song, and Lya, and, ultimately, her, too. Their names would be wiped from the history, forever forgotten without ever even being avenged. The dagger disintegrated between her fingers, not even into sand or ash or grain, but into nothingness. Just as she thought they were cheated, she bore witness to two heads being rendered separate from the bodies. Neither she nor, seemingly, anyone else saw how it happened, but the two men attacking Shen Tao from the back stopped abruptly in their steps, the bodies toppling to the side. Mei felt all the energy she had drain from her immediately as though yanked by a divine hand. She barely managed to catch a sight of Shen Tao''s lips curling up into a strange smile, pushing her own upward as well with the last bit of strength she had before falling into darkness. ** Shen Tao raced madly over toward the falling woman, ignoring his own bleeding wounds and the two corpses behind him. Luckily, he managed to reach her just in time, a mere moment before she fell. She felt so... light and tender. And yet, she swung that dagger to save him--him. Luckily, it seemed that the only thing the dagger did was drain her of Qi. Though, considering the fact that she was truly empty, including both her dantian and her meridians, it was likely that she would develop Qi Fever. He siphoned through his spatial ring madly, but, to his horror, he had no anti-fever pills. Ordinarily, Qi Fever wasn''t exactly dangerous--it was merely body''s reaction to being completely drained of Qi, and with some rest and a couple of anti-fever pills, even those at Qi Condensation would turn out just fine. Without any of those things, however... He put her down on the ground as gently as he could and flickered over toward the woman Mei had been fighting. There was a pair of rings radiating light on her fingers, indicating that she was still alive, somehow, with a hole in her chest. "I won''t grant you the mercy," he growled like a maddened beast, staring directly into the woman''s eyes. "Suffer. Suffer ''till your last breath, you worthless scum." he ripped the two rings from her fingers and immediately walked over to the corpses of two men. Unfortunately, there were no rings--well, not the physical sort, anyway. Both of them must have condensed Soul Rings at this point, and those were... well, nobody knew where the Soul Rings went after one''s death. If anyone ever did discover, though, and found means to get them... wealth wasn''t the word, ultimately. He walked over to Song and Lya, both of whom had passed out due to the immense pressure carried forth by that woman''s attack. Luckily, there didn''t seem to be any lethal wounds on either one of them, and with some rest, they would likely be just fine in a day or two. However, remaining here, completely exposed from all sides, was not something that he could do. At the same time, carrying three comatose bodies-- "--the tunnel?" he glanced over at the entrance of the inner portion of the realm, pondering for a moment. Gritting his teeth, he quickly carried all three of them into the tunnel, just deep enough to be invisible from the outside. By the time he settled all three of them, the woman had finally died, as did the lights radiating from her rings. That didn''t mean that Shen Tao could immediately access them--far from it, in fact. He''d likely have to spend a week at least tearing apart the Seal, and even then he wasn''t exactly confident in it considering they were members of the Heavenly Pavilion. While it was impossible to erase traces of the battle, he did get rid of the bodies, using one of his Sect''s arts to liquify all flesh and bones before sucking them into himself, recovering a portion of Qi. Burning the clothes, he still felt somewhat uncomfortable, prompting him to execute a few ordinary, neutral martial arts to mask the traces of Qi. It wasn''t foolproof, far from it, but it was good enough to mask a quick look-over others might do. Once done, he retreated to the tunnel, pouring Qi into his eyes so he could see without summoning light. He couldn''t do it for long as it required level of control that he wasn''t comfortable with, causing him to burn quickly through his already-diminished Qi reserves. He gently pulled Mei''s head up and stroked her cheek for a moment--she was already beginning to burn. Grabbing the nape of her neck, he sent in a small tussle of Qi. It immediately vanished, almost like a match inside a roaring forest fire. But that was all he could do--it was an old ''remedy'' before anti-fever pills were discovered. Every thirty minutes, send a burst of Qi into the person, and every other thirty minutes, place cooled pads on their armpits. Whether the method worked or not, Shen Tao didn''t know. But he also didn''t know what else to do. Fighting was all he was good at, and he even failed at that; despite his confidence in treasures left behind by his father, he failed. Had Mei not used the dagger, he would have died here. Gritting his teeth, he set her down and grabbed her hand, squeezing it slightly. "Live, please," he mumbled into his jaw. "Please... just live..." Chapter 95 - Into the Cradles Depths Chapter 95 Into the Cradle''s Depths Yue and Liang didn''t linger for too long, sneaking out while everyone was investigating what transpired, using the tunnels to weave their way over to one of the nearby forts that hadn''t been overtaken. Sounds of distant battles echoed out repeatedly, and though quite a few forts had been taken over, it didn''t seem like it would last. No, it was never going to last from the beginning--there were just shy of three thousand cultivators present in the Cradle altogether, spread out across levels and countless forts. Even if the Others managed to take over a few of them for a moment, they would be taken back soon enough. That was why Yue was grappling with the question of Why? Though she didn''t know much about the Cradle, she studied it, too, a long while back before she learned her talents were nowhere good enough to be sent here. Due to the complex web of tunnels, this place was considered a bit of a haven for criminals who eluded law, and they often conspired with the ''locals'' as it were to infiltrate the forts. However, that was mostly for information and to steal supplies, and though she did hear of a few takeovers in the past, none were ever at this grand of a scale. "Open the gates!" the guards shouted after examining the two''s identification, letting them in. The fort they chose was some ways off the ''main path'', but they wanted to put some space between themselves and everything they''ve known. In truth, they could have reported the General and gotten an enormous award, but the problem was the aftermath--the world would have questions, namely how someone at measly Spirit Creation Realm (and a recently ascended one, at that) was able to not just defeat but wholly trounce and execute someone at Avatar Realm--no, he was actually ''only'' at the Peak of Fusion Realm, unlike the actual General Huang. Even so, there was a massive chasm between the two, one that few legendary figures had ever managed to close, and if they were exposed, there was also a chance that their Master might get exposed too. There was also a decent chance they''d be locked up, or interrogated, or even sent to one of the major Sects, and though they''d be able to avoid it all thanks to either the Void Scroll or the Feather, Yue, especially, didn''t want to resort to using her Master''s divine treasures if they could help it. The two quickly rented a two-bed room and went inside, exhausted. Yue uncorked a bottle of fruit juice and poured them both a cup, finally feeling revitalized as the liquid burned through their innards, washing away their malaise like dirt off a table. "Did you notice it, Yue?" Liang, more and more, seemed to be drifting away from the goofball of a Junior Brother than Yue knew him as. "Notice what?" she asked, deciding to ignore it. It came with territory of being Master Leo''s Disciple, after all. If she freaked out at every little thing that ''drifted'' from her perception, she''d be freaking out all the time. "I don''t know," he said. "Something feels... off, though. Try using Master''s cultivation method." Yue frowned but did as instructed, closing her eyes and getting into a pose. Taking a deep breath, she drew nearby Qi towards her slowly, feeling it gently parade through her meridians. However, just a few seconds in, she stopped and opened her eyes, her expression one of shock. She felt it, the difference. "You''re right," she said. "What is that? It''s... it''s like normal Qi, but... different." That was the best way she could describe, though it was playing fast and loose with the description of ''describe''. "It''s kind of a resonance," Liang said. "I read about them, and heard my former Master mention this a few times. When cultivation methods are particularly compatible with Qi, they form this string-like resonance. Usually, however, it just happens when Qi mutates an element." "Like someone practicing a water-related cultivation method cultivating near a lake?" "Hm, not quite. Qi-mutations are an exceeding rarity, and they only occur in extremely significant parts of the world. Like valleys where legendary beasts go to die, or lakes were spirit fae converge. Even so, they are kind of fleeting. Unless you capture that one moment they exist within, you can''t really get a use out of the resonance." "So, why are we feeling it? I mean, Master hasn''t really said much about the method," Yue said. "But it doesn''t seem to be affiliated with any of the elements." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "I don''t know," Liang assented. "But the feeling got stronger than before. How many feet do you figure we''re below the previous fort?" "Around hundred, give or take a few? Oh, you mean, the deeper we go, the clearer the resonance would feel? We should contact the Fort Master and ask to be assigned to an exploratory team, then." "Hm. Usually, those spots are reserved, but there''s also the way of the duel--we''ll both challenge someone actively participating and take their spots. I mean, we''ll become hated in the process, but--" "--what if we hired a guide?" "Hired a guide?" "Yeah. Do you remember that guy at the entrance mentioning it? We can hire a guide to take us through the tunnels." "Will anyone even take us on?" Liang asked. "We''re unknowns." "We can try," Yue said. "And if it doesn''t work out, then we can go meet the Fort Master and see about the duels." As good of a plan as it was, it quickly became evident that they were reaching. Guides were not only few and far between, but they were also all exceedingly expensive, even for just a day. Furthermore, despite being able to afford a couple of them, rather than taking them on, the Guides all laughed in their faces when the two mentioned it''d only be them and nobody else. It made sense, ultimately; a pair of wet-behind-ears kids with no experience in the Cradle seeking to explore depths... it would be more maniacal if someone did accept their request. "Alright, I will do it," which was precisely why the two fell into almost comatose silence when their request was heeded. They all but lost hope before being referred to the last Guide by one of the shopkeepers. Buried deep in the fort''s alleyways, near the eastern wall and drowned in shade completely, rested a tiny hut the size of perhaps two or three of those mud huts from back home stacked together. Its chimney blew out tender trails of smoke, and were there any light, it might have seemed in some tiny ways picturesque. However, it was not. The fence was broken, the courtyard unmaintained, with weeds and roots overtaking everything, the house''s exterior was filled with cracks and wood that just about seemed done with life, and the one window that seemed to exist was just a giant hole in the side of the house. It took about five minutes of them calling out for the doors to open and for a figure to emerge--it was an old man, perhaps in his sixties or seventies, no larger than five feet, if that, draped in shabby attire composed of not one but two shredded overcoats, leather boots patched up with cloth, oversized pants that were patched up with shoddy pieces of leather, and even a skewed straw hat hanging loose on one side of the man''s head. A wrinkled face never showed emotion--not when he saw them, not when he heard their request, and not when he accepted it. "Why are you two looking so shocked?" the old man asked. "Did you come here wanting a rejection? If so, why would you come here?" "Ah, no, no," Yue quickly said. "It''s just, everybody else rejected us. So, uh--no, we''re very grateful that you accepted. I know we can''t pay you much, but we''re willing to share our spoils from the journey." "That is quite alright," the man said, closing the door behind him and slowly stepping out through the courtyard toward the wrecked fence. "You must be rather desperate to have come to me." "Is it that obvious?" Yue asked with a faint chuckle. "Ah, but we don''t want to pressure you." "Perish the thought," the old man chuckled as well, joining them. From up close, he looked even more unimpressive, if possible, yet, there was a strange aura surrounding him that seemed to compel trust in others. Yue didn''t know whether she was falling for some sort of spell so she turned toward Liang who met her gaze with dumbfoundedness she hadn''t seen in a while. "I seldom get a chance to stretch these old legs these days. Where would you kids like to go?" "Uh... deep?" "... the Cradle, broadly speaking, is divided internally into eight layers," the old stopped and faced them from the front, explaining with a level of excitement in his voice. "Only four are named, though, and the remaining four act as ''in-betweeners'' of sorts. You have the Crown, the topmost layer populated largely by bureaucratic forts in charge of treasury, personnel, and all the remarkably unfun stuff that causes the old people to die of old age. You have the Brooch, a layer a bit below us where most of the fighting transpires. There are daily raids, expeditions, skirmishes... on average, cultivators spend the most time moving around inside this layer. Layer below that is called the Sword, wholly unsuited for cravens. ''s far as I know, there are only two permanent forts built there, and both are populated by either the veterans or the temporarily desperate." "Temporarily?" "Someone desperate for something goes there," the old man explain. "And they die within a day or two. Hence, temporarily." "Oh." "Ironically, life there is rather peaceful all things considered," he continued. "It''s merely that when something does happen, it is deathly beyond description. Last I heard, they were attacked by a wave of a thousand Demonic Beasts with the weakest being at the Spirit Creation Realm. They just barely managed to repel the attack, but you never truly know when the next one will come. And, lastly, we have the bottommost layer, named after the entire place itself--the Cradle. Canyon-like crevices, pathways that go nowhere, land without light, air, or life for most of the year. However, on that celestial day, it floods with waters of unknown source, carrying with it treasures unlike any other. Thus, the rest of the Cradle descends into its namesake, flooding it yet again. Thus," the man took a deep breath and faced them both with a faint smile. "I ask again: where would you kids like to go?" Yue fell silent, uncertain. Though she supposed they ought to go to the Sword, the mere thought of a wave of a thousand Demonic Beasts at Spirit Creation Realm and above terrified the voice out of her throat. Just as she was grappling with the decision, she heard Liang utter the words that befuddled not just her, but even the elder in front of them. "Deep," he said. "We''d like to go deep." Chapter 96 - Longing of the Night Chapter 96 Longing of the Night On his way back home, Leo stopped by the rushing river and filled some ten barrels with its cool waters. He also took a quick dip, especially as it was another sizzling day, refreshing himself. As he stared at the clean water, he felt a bit depressed, wishing it was ever so slightly closer to the longhouse. Since he''d always have to make it at least a one-night journey if he wanted to come visit, he decided to only do it once or twice a month, at most. As always, Milky disappeared between the trees, living out his own life, occasionally showing up, jumping on top of Leo''s shoulder and taking a recharging nap. Though Leo wondered what exactly the little feline was doing when not with him, he didn''t probe and Milky never ''mentioned'' it. Everyone, even animals, were privileged to have secrets, whatever those may be. They managed to reach the camp just before nightfall, and that was with some hurrying on Leo''s part. "I''m sorry, I''m sorry," he hurriedly started fires, bearing the weight of some eighty pairs of eyes scrutinizing his every move. "I''ll make you guys something to eat immediately. Ah, if I were any smarter, I would have pre-made enough food for you guys while I was away. I''m so sorry," under his apologetic voice, the flames roared, and the water began to quickly boil as he started preparing the ingredients. Beyond the expectant gazes, however, none of the animals did anything else. He knew that would be the case, though--for all the horror that (some) induced, they were extremely tame by nature. Whether that was because Leo was feeding them the kind of food that they otherwise couldn''t get their hands on, or because that was their nature, it was irrelevant. They all patiently waited as he sifted through every pot, one by one, stirring the boiling vegetables until tantalizing scent of Spring began to overwhelm the stiff air. The moon hung high in the sky by the time every animal got to eat. Leo had noticed a pattern emerge over time, a sort of hierarchy that the animals exhibited--except, it seemed to be in strange reverse. The smaller, seemingly weaker critters were the first to snag their meals, followed up by the taller and larger ones. The last ones were those whose full forms Leo never witnessed, only their shimmering eyes peering from between the trees. Usually, one of the smaller animals would carry off a plate toward those eyes, and they''d vanish soon after, disappearing into the distance (the eyes, not the small animals; those almost always returned). Finally, he was alone, eating in silence of the night--well, not absolute silence. As soon as the animals disappeared, the wails began to sound out from the forest''s depths. It was strange, as he hadn''t heard or witnessed any ''ghosts'' when he went west. Whether that was because they didn''t exist there or because they converged here as the ''word'' spread around, he didn''t know. Regardless, he sighed and stood up, stretching lazily before sauntering over into the depths. Tonight, he was unaccompanied, drifting through the shadowed darkness alone, though not for long. Merely four hundred yards or so away from home, he paused as he saw a creeping silhouette emerge from the dark. Tall, broad-shouldered, as pale as the moonlight itself. The man stood still, not even wailing, his head craned upward, chest bared where hundreds of scars intersected to seemingly write a story of his life. Robes hung loose from his frame, not even moving in the faintly fluttering wind. Leo began to chant, motes of gold appearing soon after; even as he approached the man, the latter didn''t seem to notice him, focused entirely on the sky and the moon above. Leo gently pressed his fingers against the man''s head and was briefly overcome with the depthless abyss before being tossed into yet another memory. A figure flickered speedily like the light itself, deluge of colors echoing outward sporadically in its steps. A shadow of a sword curled around countless heads, decapitating them one by one, yet not drawing a single drop of blood in the process--the blade itself, it seemed, swallowed it all before it had the chance to even leave the body. The valley lay perfectly preserved, fluttering of flowers and trees surrounding hundreds upon hundreds of the corpses. A solitary man stood in their midst, his robes grandly billowing in the gentle wind. He wore a porcelain mask without features, silver hair streaming eastward with the wind''s path. In his left hand he held a curving sword the length of a grown man''s leg, thin and reflective of night''s light. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. There was a morbid juxtaposition of beauty and carnage in one, ravishing yet horrifying, that captivated Leo into numbness. Though hundreds lay dead, Leo saw a salvo of souls gathering at the valley''s entrance, swarming it like ants. Thousands, all led by several dozen gilded figures. They yelled something, though whatever it was seemed to not impact the man in the slightest; rather than attacking, he stayed rooted in the spot, waiting for them to descend. And, as they did, he moved. It was impossible for Leo to follow the man with his eyes--all he saw was a fading array of light streaking between the falling bodies of men and women. Every once in a while, he''d catch a glimpse of a sword stirring with desire, and that porcelain mask that seemed to be the face of death itself at the moment. Mounds piled, and just as it seemed like the death would not stop, those gilded figures moved in concert--rather, twelve of them moved, all armed to teeth, bursting with valiant Qi. They descended in perfect harmony, streaks of elemental arrays blurring toward the masked figure, exploding. The latter, even still, remained a fluttering desire more so than a person; he weaved between the attacks with unmatched grace, shimmering like the very moonlight enriching his presence. The battle raged, but Leo was none-the-wiser of it; all he saw were bouts of colors blending into various shades, almost as though he was witnessing a brush streaking and painting across a blank canvas, over and over again, never quite creating any discernible shapes or figures. It was less so a battle in Leo''s eyes and more a show of colors, beautiful and alluring. At some point, however, it ceased. The colors dissolved and evaporated, and the blurring edges wavered. There, beneath it all, lay the masked figure, sprawled on his back, a massive sword jutting out of his chest. His porcelain mask was cracked, webbed out from his right eye, though still holding whole. Around him were only three figures of the twelve that attacked--the remaining nine lay dead spaced out across over two miles of land. And even the three surviving ones looked more like vanishing corpses rather than valiant winners of a battle. Within the blink of an eye, Leo found himself back in the forest, the tall man in front of him fading. He finally looked away from the sky and at him, his features... strange. Though there was a face, Leo couldn''t quite pin together all its elements--it was as though if he focused on the eyes, the nose and the lips and the cheeks seemed to distort, and if he focused on another element, all others grew tangibly odd. The fading figure, however, did leave something behind himself as he vanished into the sky like vapor--a flickering ''system window''. [You have brought forth salvation to the spirit of an Ancient Sage, ''???????''] [As to express his gratitude, he has tasked you with a quest: locate Ay''leen, the Veil of the Celestial Thorns, and express ''???????''s'' last message: In the grace of opulence, dirt is gold] [Reward: Unknown] [Penalty for failure: None] [Time Limit: None] [... System curates further reward for incentive...] [...] [Bonus Reward: , System Shop] [ -- a handful of forgotten dust that can be ignited one last time. Produces a kindle of the fire that will never go out, will never be extinguished, and can never be tamed by anyone other than you. Can be utilized through any other Martial Art to empower it. Consumes inordinate amount of Qi. Only a Perfect Body can utilize it. Note that the Ancient Clans of Fire will be able to recognize the flame, and may attack you because of it] [You will gain access to ''System Shop'' for 7 days. Items in the shop will be generated randomly based on your current needs. You may spend either System XP or your cultivation as payment] Leo dismissed the window, sighing. There weren''t that many quests being handed out recently, and it felt that none of the things he was doing were being aptly rewarded. However, when it rained, it truly poured, especially because he wouldn''t necessarily have to go out of his way to do this quest. There was no time limit, and as he had no description of whoever Ay''leen was, it wasn''t as though he could just go from one ghost to another and look for her. Or him. He looked forward the most to the System Shop, but was a bit disappointed to see he''d have to pay with System XP--of which he had one, big, fat 0. And he was rather unwilling to part with his cultivation as, even if he hadn''t truly worked hard on it, he worked hard enough. "Whatever," he shrugged. "Maybe I''ll get some XP in the meantime." He turned around and left, the wails in the forest disappearing, the whole world turning silent once again. The flames had already died out, leaving nothing but the light of the moon to illuminate the area around the longhouse. Leo didn''t meander, quickly going into his room and lying down on the bed. Others were already fast asleep, and he made sure to make no sound so as to not wake them up. Even so, they all did, ever for a moment, crawling over and lying either on top of him or by his side. Soon enough, he found it ever so slightly harder to breathe, but remained still, closing his eyes and drifting off into the encroaching darkness. Chapter 97 - Grace is Never Free Chapter 97 Grace is Never Free A week had passed since Yu Minge returned from the forest. He immediately settled back into the isolation point, while Xiaoling scurried to make up an excuse or two to cover up her absence. The promise was made that as she tried her best to maintain the Sect''s status quo, he''d try his best to ascend through the realms as quickly as possible. After all, as someone who already walked the path, even if he had to walk it anew, he supposed it wouldn''t have taken that long to at least reach Soul Ascendance Realm. Though he knew something was off as soon as he started cultivating, it wasn''t until he reached Foundation Establishment--which took him in total 3 hours and 18 minutes--that he recognized something was very off. It didn''t stop there--he blazed through the realm and quickly reached Core Formation, then Spirit Creation, and then Fusion Realm. He was currently an inch away from breaking into the Avatar Realm, a mere week after he''d restarted cultivation. It was impossible, flat out. Not just for him, but for anyone. Even if a perfect child were born into the world, blessed with the mythical (and entirely theoretical) Primordial Spirit Roots, and showered with every mythical and legendary cultivation resource, it would not have made the progress he did. Not even close, in fact. Even if his past experiences were there, they did not account for the discrepancy. Then again, it wasn''t even the speed of cultivation that had shocked him the most when it came to the changes. It was something else entirely. Though he''d predicted his eventual death relatively quickly, he was overtaken by the ''parasite Qi'' as he named it far quicker than he anticipated. It did not matter that he didn''t use Qi, or even cultivate--it was like an all-consuming virus, devouring him from within at an accelerated pace. By the time Xiaoling found him, he was all but catatonic, just barely alive. It was impossible for him to examine the true nature of the ''parasitic Qi'' as even touching it burned his soul beyond the reach of pain. All he could do was watch it crawl through his meridians and into his dantian, taking everything he worked his entire life to build. And yet, there it was--not just within his meridians, but also within his veins as well as his bones. It flowed freely through his body, but unlike before, it obeyed his intent. Furthermore, compared to ''ordinary Qi'', it was... magnificent. Unmatched. A single mote of it could do as much as a sea would before. Initially, after waking up in the forest, he had theorized how Master Leo saved him, and the most likely scenario was that he utilized the vast array of fabled herbs to concoct a pill or a soup of sorts that effectively ''reset'' him. It annihilated all Qi within him, effectively ''killing'' him momentarily until the ''parasitic Qi'' was vanished. It was the only theory, after all, that made sense, even if it too was a bit of a stretch. Now, however, he knew that was wrong. Rather than changing the Qi, it seemed Master Leo changed him. Reshaped his body, altered it in ways that even Yu Minge couldn''t discern, and in the process made it so that he was able to command this strange, new form of Qi. Extending his hand, he summoned a swirling haze of Qi above his palm, examining it. Whereas ''ordinary Qi'' was, by nature, white, increasingly so with greater purity until it was all but blinding, this new Qi was... different. It bore shades of gray and black, was almost like an untamed beast as it never held still, writhing and coiling like a restless child. Even so, it never disobeyed. For all the excitement, however, Yu Minge also feared it; it was an unknown, and unknowns were seldom ever a grace. Rather, they were often the kindle igniting the all-consuming flames of conflict. If the world beyond the walls of this little cabin were to learn of his progress and the cause for it, what else would commence but a continental war? All Sects, small and large, would unite underneath the banner of self-righteousness, accusing him of performing demonic arts while secretly in want of them for themselves. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Such were the ways of the world, small and large, and he--as well as all others--merely tiny little parchments at the whims of the howling winds. No, he couldn''t divulge this to anyone, and he knew that going back to the forest to ask Master Leo was pointless. After all, were the answers to be given, they would have been given already. Yu Minge couldn''t ask for more--not only was his life saved, but he was also graced with rebirthed potential unlike any other he''d ever seen. For now, he would hide it in the depths of his soul, keeping it so for as long as he could, only ever showing it to the world when he knew there would be no other to tame him. ** Tunnels wound in increasingly strange and unpleasant ways. Not only were they growing narrower, for some reason the darkness within them grew thicker, making it so that the same amount of light illuminated less and less space. Nonetheless, thanks to Gon''s guidance--as that was the old man''s name--the three made decent progress. Liang took the front, Yue the rear, and both would react swiftly to any noise, protecting the old man at all cost. They''ve been journeying for over two days, and yet they hadn''t even made it to the ''next'' layer, let alone deeper below it. Most of the tunnels were flat, seldom bending downward. Nonetheless, according to Gon, this was a much safer option, as the alternative was constant skirmishes with the Others as well as the Demonic Beasts. They paused and came to a halt within a small alcove of sorts burned into the side of the cave''s walls. It was unnatural, confirmed by Gon''s quick explanation. "You''ll find these occasionally," the man said as the three sat down onto the carved-out bench. Though uncomfortable, it was still marginally better than the floor. "Stopping points, you can call ''em. These tunnel walls are made of the so-called qudstone. Very hard to work with, so there aren''t too many of them, especially along these less-travelled roads." "How far away are we from the Brooch?" Yue quizzed, grabbing a jug of water and taking a sip. "About an extra day''s travel," Gon replied. "Perhaps three-fourths of that if we hurry, perhaps slightly longer if we encounter an obstacle." "Why don''t other Guides take this road?" "Because the path narrows even further," the old man replied--he did so with every question Yue and Liang had, replying with a level of patience that made him seem saintly in the two''s eyes. "And because, most times, Guides are hired for major expeditions. Not for personal journeys. While this little road can accommodate the three of us, trying to squeeze fifty or sixty people would be impossible." "Oh," Yue exclaimed softly. "I''ve heard Guides charge, at minimum, a hundred times more than what you asked of us," Liang suddenly interjected. "And that is the beginner Guides, with barely any experience." "You''ve heard correctly." "Why, then?" "Hmm, I was mighty surprised when you came to me," Gon said, seemingly untouched by the somewhat implicit accusatory tone. "It told me quite a few things, you see? Told me that you were first-timers, that you haven''t been here for long, and that you weren''t part of any larger power, both within and without. Otherwise, you would have never set foot near my courtyard." Yue and Liang stayed silent, waiting patiently for the continuation. "Four years ago, shortly after the yearly Flood, I guided a group composed of some two hundred cultivators. The plan was to descend to the furthest depths and collect as many washed-up treasures as possible. Alas, in my hurry to be the first, I settled on taking a riskier route that all other Guides were avoiding--to cut straight through the heart of the labyrinthine city of the Others. Over the years, I have picked up on some habits, especially around the time of the Flooding. As their city was close enough to the bottom that, if the Flood was especially bad, it could be affected, they would retreat up a few layers, settling in smaller hamlets, only leaving a few behind as scouts. So, I calculated that they wouldn''t be there." "And they were?" "They were," he nodded. "We were ambushed, and only sixteen of us survived. The news spread fast, and I became a cursed trinket nobody wanted." "Why not leave?" Yue asked. "Because... this life is all I''ve ever known. I was born here, you know? My Father was a Guide, and he taught me as early as seven. I did my first job as a solitary Guide when I was fourteen. This... this is my life. Where could I possibly go? I''m already old and weak. I had saved enough that I knew I''d be able to live out my days in silence and solace, on the outskirts, ignored by everyone. You weren''t the first to come seek me out in desperation, but you are the first I accepted. Do you know why?" "Because we are good-looking?" Liang said, and though Gon laughed thinking it was a joke, Yue didn''t since she was certain her Junior Brother sincerely believed it. "Ha ha ha, no, not quite. Every other time I was approached, I was approached with insincerity. Yours was the first plea that I knew was genuine and honest. Though I do not know why precisely you are seeking to go to the depths of this thankless place, I need not know. I will guide you the best I can, using every last bit of knowledge I''ve acquired in nearly seventy years of living here." "... that''s rather admirable." "Ho ho, I suppose it is. Have you rested enough?" "Have you?" "Let us go," he said, jumping off the seat and stretching for a moment. "Long journey to the hell''s maw awaits." Chapter 98 - Strange Matters of Heart Chapter 98 Strange Matters of Heart Shen Tao was exhausted--mentally and physically. He couldn''t meditate, couldn''t cultivate, and couldn''t even move properly. For nearly a day straight, he remained vigilant, sending out his Divine Sense just outside the tunnel and toward the periphery, wondering if anyone had realized where they were. Luckily, that wasn''t the case. Quite a few people swung by, in fact--they''d scour the remnant battlefield for a few minutes before departing. Whether they picked up on anything or not, Shen Tao couldn''t tell. He didn''t dare risk using his Divine Sense to listen in on their conversations. When he wasn''t inspecting the outside, he was busy trying to save Mei. From the looks of it, though, his little bursts of Qi did little to nothing in that department. She was burning, so much so that the water would all but steam up immediately upon touching her. Her breathing, too, had grown shallower, and she would often moan in pain. Every time she did, he''d feel a pang of pain burst through his heart, as though he was infected with something as well. But it was just anger, he figured, anger that she was stupid enough to do something like that, all consequences be damned. All her talk, after all, about becoming the strongest, catching up to him and surpassing him, all of it was pointless. In the end, she became a listless, hapless little thing, drifting at the edge of two realms, back and forth. Shortly after the first day, Song woke up. Aside from some bruising and a couple of cracked ribs that were on their way to healing, Shen Tao figured he was fine and didn''t pay him much attention. "Where are we?" the boy asked soon after waking up. "I put us back into that tunnel," Shen Tao said. "While waiting for you three to heal up." "What happened? Did we manage to escape?" "What? No. We--Senior Sister Mei killed them." "What?!! How?!" "Hush. They are still asleep." "Ah. Sorry," the boy hushed his voice; a moment after, Shen Tao saw light radiating out of his rather strange pupils. "Senior Sister... doesn''t look good." "She''s... not," Shen Tao said. "Remember that dagger?" "Hm." "She used it, and it drained all of her Qi in go. She has a Qi Fever. You don''t happen to have a pill on you?" "... no," Song replied softly, with some guilt in his voice. "I wanted to buy some at the Sect, but they were too expensive. Will she be fine?" "I don''t know," Shen Tao replied as honestly as he could. "In most cases, without the pill, people who develop Qi Fever die." "In most?" "Occasionally, someone with good constitution survives. But even they develop some long-term issues." "So, you''re saying--" "--I don''t know," Shen Tao snapped, gnashing his teeth. "She... she might be fine." Why was he so angry? From the onset, since he decided to join the Holy Blade Sect, he did it with two purposes in mind--to find out what they''d discovered in the Nameless Forest, and to take it from them. He never intended to actually inundate himself with an ordinary Disciple''s aspirations, or to engross himself in the environment of it. All these things, all these people, they were just supposed to be blurry shadows on his periphery that he would use as he pleased before moving on. So what if she sacrificed herself for him? Wasn''t that perfectly acceptable? It was better that she suffered, after all, rather than him. And especially her, someone so weak yet so arrogant. And yet... he hated it. He heated the fact that he was so weak as to even require her help and sacrifice, and he hated it every time she would wince or moan, slanted on either side of life. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. It was all playing out the same again, just like with his Father. While he stood frozen, unable to change anything, somebody else took the reins of mortality and saved him--both seemingly unafraid of death he was so mortified of. The weakness permeated his skin and his bones, but he buried it even deeper; cultivators needn''t feel shame or guilt, for so long as they lived, there was always a chance. Yes, so long as they lived. He glanced over to his right and saw her shake yet again. Her face was red yet pale, an impossible juxtaposition, and her eyes would twitch every so often. Weak, dying, pathetic. No... he was the pathetic one. Moments later, he heard groans from the other side and saw Lya wake up; unlike Song, she only suffered some minor lacerations, though from what he glimpsed, she suffered hugely under Qi pressure. He remained silent while Song explained what happened, and soon uttered the words that shocked him. "I... I might be able to help," she said. "What? You have anti-fever pills?!" Shen Tao spun and faced her quickly. "N-no, sorry, not that," she said, squirming in place, as though uncertain. "Spill it, then! How can you help?! By annoying me?!" by now, he''d completely thrown off the mask of a new Disciple and behaved as he usually did. "Y-y-you must... you must swear an Oath," though she appeared afraid, she still spoke rather directly. "To never tell anyone else." "What? Ah," his eyes brightened up for a moment. "You mean, you have something from the Forest?" "..." "That''s fine," he said with a sigh. For some reason, his entire body relaxed. All the fear, trepidation, and guilt seemed to have been washed away with that one realization. "I swear an Oath of Heart and Soul to never divulge anything that happened in this Realm to anyone outside the four of us, lest I be struck by the Heavenly Curse. There, good enough?" "I thought Elder told us not to take anything, Lya." Song said. "... M-Master insisted," she said, seeming guilty. "It''s not, not much. Just a small pouch of fruit juice." "... huh? Fruit... juice? Are you insane?! You think that will somehow help a person with Qi Fever?! Goddammit, are all Disciples of your Sect abject morons or is it just you?!" though Shen Tao''s tongue told one story, his heart was drenched in another. He hoped--with all his might--that the ''magic'' of the Nameless Forest would somehow make it work. Almost in tears, Lya took out a small, waterskin pouch--no larger than the size of a palm--and handed it over with shaky hands. "... I''m sorry," he mumbled through his teeth as he took it, looking away quickly. He wasn''t used to apologizing, or caring much how others felt, so much so that every interaction he had with anyone outside of Mei was just... awkward, he felt. Rather than talking with them, it often felt like he was simply humoring kids with a few spare words, like he used to do back in the Bloodmoon Sect with his Junior Disciples. He carefully sat Mei up as gently as he could, asking Song to hold her steady while he angled her head ever so slightly backwards, using his free hand to hold her chin and open her mouth. He accidentally brushed his fingers across her lips, nearly skidding the dry skin off of them. They were extremely parched, dry, and cracked, but even so there was a certain allure to them that he swiftly ignored. Before pouring the liquid in, he tapped her throat gently to confirm that she still had a swallowing reflex. Luckily, that seemed to be the case. He ripped a small piece of cloth from his robes and used Qi to clean it completely before tilting her head ever so slightly to the side with Song''s help. He drenched the cloth with the liquid from the pouch, brought it over her parted lips, and gently let a few drops drip in one by one. Since there was a good chance that some of the fruit juice might end up going astray if he poured too much at once, he only fed her through the cloth, drop by drop, for what felt like hours. Even with just the first few drops, and even before she swallowed them, he noticed changes. Her body stopped shaking as much, her skin felt cooler, and her skin color turned rosier. The more drops she swallowed, the better she seemed. Two hours later, the pouch was empty, and she was lying on her side calmly. Unlike before, it simply looked as though she were taking a nap rather than fighting for her life. Her breathing was normal, her fever was gone, and inspecting her body with Qi revealed that her parched meridians were now housing sturdy rapids of Qi. Just like that, she was perfectly fine--if only exhausted. He set the waterskin down and looked at Lya and Song who winced, pulling themselves back. Gnashing his teeth, he did something he didn''t for a second think he''d ever do in his life, something he didn''t even do toward his Mother or Father--kneeling, he pressed his forehead against the ground facing them, and spoke. "Thank you," he said. "And I am truly sorry for what I said." What devil overcame him, he did not know. He felt compelled, drawn, and almost sequestered by the voices within that he couldn''t resist them. Sitting up, he saw the two facing him with strange expressions, and burst out in laughter. It wasn''t long before they joined him, though it didn''t last as he quickly shushed them so that their voices didn''t escape the tunnel accidentally. He couldn''t quite figure it out, the bubbling feelings in his heart. Though he knew it was dangerous, and that it would open him up to a myriad kinds of hurt... it wasn''t bad. Not in the abstracts, at least. Looking away from the young duo, his eyes landed on her yet again. At that moment, she spun over and ''faced'' him, though still very much comatose. She seemed to shine, even in the dark, with colors that he''d never seen before. The darkness, for a second, faded from his view, and he found himself in a world of endless iridescence--and for the first time perhaps in his entire life... he felt happy about something that had nothing to do with cultivation. Chapter 99 - Changes, Seen and Unseen Chapter 99 Changes, Seen and Unseen Lei Feng watched with a faint sneer on his lips as two men tumbled over the dirt-laden ground, grappling with bare fists while blood flew from both like rapids. There was a cheering audience abound in the surrounding seats, and there were seven women fanning him while three fed him, and extra two massaged him. One of the men finally got the upper hand and managed to down the other, kneeing him in the jaw several times in a row before dealing the finishing blow to the temple. He stood up from his knees, breathing heavily, and raised his arms toward the sky as the world cheered. The corpse beneath him twitched a few times, the last vestiges of life leaving the skeletal form. Surrounding him, though scurried in the corners, were the nominal leaders of the Lingshan Kingdom, the King and the Queen, the Crown Prince, the Chancellor, the Treasurer, even the Marshal as well as the Steward. All men and women who held the threads puppeteering the entire Kingdom were silently shaking in their boots. Such was the fate of the weak, after all. All they could do was lord over those even weaker than them, but as soon as somebody stronger showed up, they bent their knees and pressed their lips against the dirt, servicing him with words and actions. And all he had to do was wave his finger around a few times, and he was no living like a true Immortal. Instead of mindlessly draining himself in service of others, working tirelessly like a mutt just for the smallest of chances that he might be rewarded, there was something strikingly beautiful about being able to not care for anything. However, he knew that this luxury wouldn''t be eternal, nor did he want it to be. While it was nice, ultimately, this was merely a Kingdom--the strongest person in it, Marshal Hou, was merely at the peak of Avatar Realm. Back home, he would barely qualify as a servant, let alone as someone in a leading position. Because of that, the sort of things that the Kingdom could offer him were quite limited--though they had Spiritual Alcohol, it was the weakest sort, made of the dregs that the Sects didn''t want to use, diluted with mostly ordinary water. There were no treasured fruits or herbs to speak of, and most all meals were simply of mortal animals rather than Demonic Beasts. Even women, despite supposedly being ''the most beautiful in all the land'', were hardly so; for Lei Feng, who''d truly seen what ''the most beautiful'' meant when he caught glimpses of women like Fairy Zauxan, or Fairy Quixe, he barely held himself back from sewing their lips shut when they proclaimed these women the most beautiful. It was all a fleeting, temporary pleasure in the end. He''d spent quite a lot of time in the Kingdom already, and though he wanted to fan the flames of civil conflict, he instead used the underlying currents to simply entrench himself as the crown jewel of the royal family. By now, though, he wished he hadn''t; in some ways, he imagined he would have had far more fun simply watching the entire Kingdom devolve into chaos and decay. He''d heard interesting rumors from the south recently, how one of the Tier IV Sects that had been a ''force to be reckoned with'' (a saying he was certain needed to be a joke) underwent a catastrophic failure, with most of their strongest cultivators perishing. The strange part was that the neighboring Sect that they had practically been at war with for all of their existence publicly proclaimed protection, rather than being the head of the force meant to ransack the fallen Sect''s treasury. Of all the stories he heard, that one piqued his interest the most. Then again, it wasn''t as though the Kingdom had a spectacular funnel for interesting things happening. Thus, he could only make plans to move southward--but not before kindling a tiny little fire on his way out. ** Sun shone rather brilliantly, golden light streaking across the blanket of the azure sky. Beneath it, Leo stretched lazily and yawned, rubbing his eyes as he stepped onto the balcony. There was a yearning inside of him, that for coffee--despite having learned that he could just use Qi to easily dispel any drowsiness and such, he seldom did. There were parts of him, perhaps the naive ones, that feared letting go of certain aspects of humanity. Somehow, he feared that if he started relying on Qi for everything, he''d begin forgetting ''his ways''. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. He''d never mention this aloud, of course, as he would immediately die of embarrassment, but such were the thoughts of a nearly-forty-year-old. He wondered, too, at times, whether his mental age had reset somewhat upon coming to this world, as he oft caught himself thinking things that seemed too childish, even for him. Nonetheless, he still yearned for a nice, steaming cup of coffee in the morning. Instead, he settled for fruit juice that he''d recently concocted--it was a bit more bitter than the rest, but it was still juice, though. He sat down on the chair of his own making, set the cup on the table he made, too, and looked over the streaming canopy of the trees (one thing he did not make). There was a gap above the longhouse that allowed him to stare directly into the sky, and, thankfully, he''d angled the place as such that the balcony was inside the shade early in the morning. It was a perfect little ritual, where he''d empty his head of everything and simply let his body naturally wake up. Despite his stubbornness over keeping these unnecessary rituals, he started noticing the vast changes that his body had undergone far more. He''d never gotten sick, not once since coming here. No matter what he ate, he felt, his body would digest it just fine. Though there was that business of him having Poison Physique or such, that wasn''t the end of it, either. Never getting truly exhausted, or bitten by insects, or even needing to do something so simple like peeing... bit by bit, he felt his humanity slipping in such little ways. Even the things he considered annoying back on Earth, he was beginning to miss them. Not all changes, though, came naturally... but they were morphing that way, it felt. In the beginning, his kindness stemmed largely from fear--it was the only weapon he had in an otherwise seemingly ruthless world. All he could do was help others and hope they would leave him be. Bit by bit, it became a selfish desire after a while--the only reason he helped was because it was diametrically opposed to who he was back on Earth. He forced himself to be that way, simply because it was different from how he used to be. Now... he wasn''t certain. Many, many, many times he seldom felt like an almost middle-aged man; rather, it felt like he was given a new license on life, so he had to restart from an earlier point in it. Chuckling at the strange thoughts, he stood up after finishing the juice and stretched once again. By now, beams of sunlight had nearly begun reaching the chair, signaling that it was time for him to prepare breakfast. Though he didn''t know precisely what hour it was, he''d slowly moved the breakfast time incrementally toward what he felt was around at least 9 in the morning rather than at the crack of dawn. There were already quite a few animals gathered around, though he knew many more would come soon enough. "Mornin'' everyone!" he greeted cheerfully, going around and petting those who let themselves be pet. "Hm? Is your fur shinier than usual? Ah, it''s so soft, too! Woah, your scales are really pretty today! Eh?! This is your kid?! Oh my God, sooooo cute! That''s it! We''re holding a celebratory feast tonight! I''ll give you guys some of my newest concoctions that I''ve been working at in secret, so make sure to spread the word, okay?!" Hoots, wails, growls, purrs... whatever little ways these beautiful creatures had to communicate, they used them. It quickly turned into a song, a beautiful melody stirring the strings of his heart. This was the echo of his kindness, the mountains shouting back at him. He didn''t know what the world was like beyond the border of these trees (or, at least, whether it was as rife with conflict as every bit of news that he got of it suggested), but the world within... was beautiful. "Ha ha ha, stop, you guys! It tickles!" he was hounded all the way through making the breakfast, climbed, playfully bitten, jumped on, and all so by animals that would have rendered him catatonic just a few months ago. He''s changed, both in ways he recognized and those he didn''t. More so than anything else in the world, however, for the first time in what felt like forever... he liked himself. Liked who he was. Liked that there were so many souls relying on him for at least little something. "Okay, okay, here it is," the entire forest, it felt, descended upon his little abode. He selfishly wondered how the world beyond the trees would react if they were to bear witness to this scene. Would they find it funny? Weird? Horrifying? Or would they simply shrug their shoulders and look elsewhere, where the glitter and the shine of the treasures could be beheld? Chapter 100 - Scary and Dark Chapter 100 Scary and Dark "Go on, child," the aged voice of the Elder urged her to move forward. "Don''t be scared." The world was scary, cold, and unfeeling today. It wasn''t always this way, Shui''er recalled. Just a week ago, she was loved and cared for, and the world was full of song and color. What has changed in the seven days? She didn''t know. Just last night, after washing her, Maids had her don a silken night gown with embossing purple, lithe and light, before telling her to kneel in front of the altar all night and pray. Shui''er was a good kid, and she obeyed diligently, praying from the bottom of her heart--for all ten minutes before dozing off and falling asleep. Luckily, she''d woken up before anyone entered the room, settling herself back into the praying pose. It wasn''t but ten minutes later that the Elder entered and quickly ushered her out. There seemed to be a strange procession of people outside, two groups lining on either side of the road leading outside the village and up a hill into the Forbidden Woods. Among those were even her parents and her older brother, but when she called out toward them, they looked away. Even her friends, as well as her Maids, and her teachers... none of them spoke to her. Not when she was walking through the village, not when she had exited it, and not now, when she was at the top of the hill, staring at the fluttering shrubberies between the trees. The Elder was telling her to go into the woods, into the spooky, horrid, terrifying edge of the world where bad children were sent to be punished. Was Shui''er a bad child? No! She wasn''t! She was studious, she was pretty, she was proper, and she always addressed her elders with respect! So... why was she being sent into the woods? Why was the Elder who taught her with love and care as far back as she could remember looking at her so strangely? There was darkness in his eyes that she never saw before, and though he was smiling, Shui''er could tell it was a bad smile. A bad, bad smile that wicked people had. But the Elder wasn''t a wicked person. Nobody in the village was. They were all nice, and they all loved her. No, not anymore--if they loved her, they wouldn''t be sending her into the Forbidden Woods. "Elder--" "--hush, child," her tender plea was rejected coldly. "This is for the good of us all. You''re a good girl, Shui''er, right? Good girl who loves her friends and parents?" "Y-yes..." "Then be a good girl and go on. Save us. It will only be scary for a little while, child, but not much after. We will all be saved thanks to you, Shui''er. Good girls, yes, good girls would want to save us, right Shui''er?" "Yes..." She was crying, clutching tightly her dress with her shaky fingers. What else could she do but say yes? What else could she do but begrudgingly step forward under the Elder''s heavy gaze? What else could she do but endure her heart breaking into thousands of pieces? Her feet hurt rather quickly, as she was barefoot. The fallen branches were rough, as were the countless tiny pebbles. Even the leaves seemed to have an edge to them, like sharpened knives. She cried and walked, her vision blurring because of the trees. But she endured, onward and beyond the shrubberies and between the trees. Flowers arose from the sides, beautiful and horrifying, and colors swelled... yet the world was dull and gray. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. She didn''t know how long she walked before she lost all her strength, falling down. Unable to endure it any longer, she cried aloud, her voice a sorrowful wail echoing out into the forest''s depth. Why? She asked a thousand times. Why her? She was a good girl. Prim. Obedient. Diligent. She cried and cried and cried, losing what little strength she had and falling to her side. Darkness swelled even amidst the spruced colors of the forest, and she found herself drifting. It was cold. Shui''er''s eyes snapped open, and she gasped for breath, shivering violently for a moment as she clutched her chest and stood up. Looking around frantically, she could seldom see a thing; everywhere, it was only darkness. Deep and morbid. And in the distance, she could hear... sounds. They were unpleasant sounds, strange and beastly, for the night had woken the monsters of the woods from their slumber. She found a nearby tree and crawled over toward it, making herself seem as small as possible. Kneading her head into her knees, she didn''t cry. Not for lack of want, but for lack of strength. She was hungry and thirsty and tired, and her feet and legs hurt, and her hair was disheveled. Why? There it was again, the question. The question that rang across her mind a thousand times, but never echoed an answer. She flinched, hearing strange, rustling sounds from nearby. They''ve come, she knew--monsters liked little girls, she heard. The tender, sweet, young flesh. She would be their feast tonight. The leaves parted and from the nearby shrubbery she saw a pair of demonic eyes shimmer and shine; they were as round as the full moon, red like pomegranate, and thirsty. Thirsty for her, she knew. And yet, even knowing so... what was she to do? Her entire body froze, cold and bereft of life, as the silhouette began to form while emerging. Perhaps it would devour her head first, and that would be it. Then again, it might want to play with her, gnawing away piece by piece until there was nothing left of her. She prepared a scream in her throat that never left it--rather than a demonic monster with the form that would induce nightmares, what she saw was a rather shaggy dog instead. The dog''s fur was gray and wavy, and its tongue was flapping back and forth as it panted, looking at her curiously. The red hue in its eyes softened and turned silverish, and even its size was no larger than that of an ordinary pup. Poor dog! Was he, too, abandoned? Or did he get lost? "T-t-t-hat way!" Shui''er cried out softly, pointing toward where she came from. "Th-that''s, that''s the exit! Go! It''s scary here!" however, despite her frantic cries, the dog never moved. Rather, its panting ceased, and its tongue retired into its maw as it seemed to examine her. "Woof!" it then barked, walking over and biting her dress before pulling it. It did so a few times before letting go and pointing with his head in the opposite direction, wagging its tail. "Y-you... want me to follow you?" she wondered aloud. "Woof!" the dog barked back. It was stupid, Shui''er knew. There was no way a dog could talk, and there was no way she could understand it. It was all her stupid imagination, her tiredness, and her sorrows. But... She stood up, dusting off her dress aimlessly. The dog barked yet again and started walking, and Shui''er followed. Its pace was rather slow, yet in perfect concert with her fastest. She followed the wagging tail as though it were a beam of light in a dark cave, all so against her childlike judgment. She would perish between these trees, anyway, she knew. Perhaps in her deluded want, she might yet reach a pretty fairy or two that will let her go in peace. They walked and walked for a good while, and the trees grew taller and taller. And yet, at the same time, the darkness... dimmed. More and more, beams of moonlight managed to find their way through the canopy, illuminating the thick, tall roots and shrubberies. She''d often have to stop and climb over, and the dog would wait for her patiently, never urging her. Here and there, she''d stumble and fall, and the dog would walk up to her and lick her bruises and scrapes. And she would pet his shaggy fur, and he would bark, and then they''d walk again. Soon enough, Shui''er saw something that stunned her perhaps even more than the dog--she saw flickering lights in the distance, buried between the trees. Her heart jumped into her throat and she sped up as much as she could. Her tiny feet were already bruised and bloodied, and she could seldom feel them, but she urged whatever little strength she had in her teeny body to carry her onward. The dog led her toward the light, and soon the trees began to part, and she stumbled upon a clearing. There were hallowed flames roaring, tall and mighty and bright, and there was a house as tall as the sky. "Eh?" and there was a voice, causing Shui''er to look to the side where she saw a dark silhouette stand up from behind the flames. It was a giant! A massive, bulky giant! And he had wild hair and wild beard, and he had a wild look in his eyes! Stupid dog led her to a giant that would eat her! "Noooooo!!" she cried out in shock before weakness completely took over her, and she found herself drifting into the dark. Don''t eat me, giant! She yelped inwardly. Shui''er is a good girl... Chapter 101 - Bright and Gentle Chapter 102 Bright and Gentle Uh, what the hell is this tiny little thing?! Leo cautiously walked over to a young girl that had appeared out of nowhere, well after midnight, and fell over to her side, comatose. Gray dutifully sat by her side, looking proud as ever, and Leo couldn''t help but look at him strangely. First it was him appearing out of nowhere, then it was him leading Leo to Whiskers, and now... now he''d led what looked like a child back to his camp. There was something strange about this dog, and it had nothing to do with cultivation. He crouched by the girl''s side and took a closer look; she looked to be no older than ten, perhaps eleven, and was in a rather sorry state. Her feet were bruised and bloodied, gashes and lacerations aplenty decorating them. The dress she wore was torn and shredded, revealing even more wounds across her legs. Disheveled hair, cracked fingernails, dirt everywhere... if she were an ordinary child, it would be quite a harrowing sight. But Leo had doubts. After all, this was a fantasy world--and in fantasy worlds, young girls were often old hags unable to let go of their youth. There was a good chance that this entire thing was a trap to let his guard down. Even if Gray led her here, it wasn''t as though the dog had any keen sense of right or wrong. He was just a dog, and a stupid one at that, it seemed. He touched her cheek gently, frowning. She was rather cold, and it wasn''t long before she began to whimper. Leo sighed, relenting. If she was an old hag, then so be it, he figured. He scooped her gently into his arms and walked into the longhouse, finding one of the empty rooms and settling her down on the bed. Plucking a blanket from his spatial ring, he threw it at her and retreated. Though she had wounds everywhere, most seemed shallow and relatively nonthreatening. He wasn''t about to disrobe a comatose kid in the middle of the night, even if a gaping black hole opened up above them. He didn''t close the doors, and Gray entered after him, likely due to curiosity, though perhaps to keep an eye out on her. Glancing one last time at the trembling little thing under the covers, Leo sighed and left the longhouse instead of going upstairs to sleep. Tonight, he would meditate and cultivate, even if he wasn''t feeling like it. "It''s just one thing after another," he mumbled as he exited the structure, looking around. Most everyone besides the usual suspects had left, and the night''s silence was permeating every corner. He went back to the last roaring flame and stoked it again, sitting by its side cross-legged and closing his eyes. Even if he was tempted to check in on her, he stayed outside, figuring that one of the animals would come and fetch him if things took a turn for worse. They never did, though, as night grew ever so brighter, and as the dawn ascended. ** It was scary. Dark. Unsettling. Silent. Shui''er snapped her eyes open in horror and gasped for breath. It was strangely warm and comfortable, and after rubbing her eyes to make sure, she realized she was lying in bed inside some unknown room. It wasn''t a particularly spruced room, with some haggard items thrown in the corners, lacking any decorations or even furniture beyond the bed itself. There was a window to her right, slightly ajar, letting in the beams of sunlight as they streaked across the floor. Glancing to her left, she met a familiar set of eyes--beady, large, and curious-looking. The shaggy dog was there, sitting by the bedside and observing her silently. That''s right! This stupid dog led to her to that giant! But no, wait--if giant wanted to eat her, how come she was still alive? Or, perhaps, was he one of those perverted giants that ate little girls while they were awake? Shui''er shook and shivered, pulling the warm blanket over her chest and eyeing the dog warily. A set of footsteps alarmed her as she looked over to the opened doors, fearing that giant peeking through. Instead, however, it was a cute little kitten, no larger than a bowl of food. It meowed gently and nimbly climbed up onto the shaggy dog, eyeing her too right after. Before she had the chance to process everything, more and more animals started walking through those doors--there was a strange rabbit, a six-armed monkey, a weird owl, a pair of black and white cats(?), there was a tiny bear cub, a parrot-- Shui''er felt the stars spinning as her room turned into a walk-in zoo of sorts, crowded to the ceiling. However, none of the animals came even near the bed, let alone near her, keeping their distance and observing her. Even so, she was terrified; there was so little of her, and so many of them. Perhaps... perhaps that giant would fatten her up and then eat her? Or share her with all these animals?! "Where is everyone--ah," a voice startled her, causing her to turn her head towards the doors. There he was! The giant! However... he wasn''t as scary as she made him up to be. Now that she could see him clearly, he seemed a bit softer; yes, he still had wild, devilish hair and beard, and he was still massive--tall and broad--and he wore strange clothes, but his voice was rather soft and melodic and the look in his eyes... yes, it was gentle. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. "Everyone, out. Why did you come here to bother her? Out, or no dinner for you!" his words were like reckoning thunder, like a whip even--every animal, including the dog and the kitten, ran out as though for their lives. Within just three and a half seconds, the room was empty--save for him and her. She looked up and met his gaze, and he smiled. "Hey. Are you hungry?" she didn''t have a voice in her to reply, but she did her best to nod. "Hm. Do you want to eat outside or in here?" Shui''er clutched her fingers into a fist and shot herself full of determination. If she would die, it wouldn''t be in some dull, stinky room! Before she could leave the bed, he called out suddenly. "Ah, wait--here," he put down a pair of sandals near the bed. "I, uh, I can also carry you if your feet hurt." She shook her head and donned the pair of sandals. They were quite soft and comfortable, and though her feet did hurt, she was a brave girl and ignored it, only whimpering once or twice. She followed him out of the room and around the corner and through a rather massive hall where quite a few animals were currently sleeping, and out the tall doors. The world outside was alive with colors and sounds that caused her heartbeat to quicken. The Forbidden Woods was a scary, scary, scary place. It was where monsters lived, monsters who ate people, and where even flowers were deathly and lethal. However, this place... was simply beautiful. The trees were tall, yes, but they were bright and dashing. The animals were all cute and rolling around lazily. The flowers decorated the nearby shrubberies with the wildest colors. The air was clear, and she never found it easier to breathe. "Here, sit," the man pointed at a small boulder with a cushion on top. She nodded and followed instructions as he poured something from a massive, black pot into a bowl. "It''s a vegetable stew. I don''t have any meat, unfortunately. I hope you''ll like it." Shui''er remained silent, though she did take the bowl. She was hungry, after all; hungry, tired, afraid, and nervous. What was happening--that was her question. Was the giant really just fattening her up? She couldn''t quite reconcile what she knew of this place and what it was actually like. It was bright, sunny, and relaxing; there were no animals howling or growling, nobody was fighting, and though there was a scary giant in their midst... he, too, seemed strangely gentle. Or, perhaps, did she fall asleep in the dark, and never quite woke up? "Ah!" she exclaimed upon the first bite, her eyes widening. It was delicious! Super, super delicious! More so than any other food she''d ever eaten before in her life! Even the sweet bread wasn''t anywhere near delicious as this! Impatient, she began to gobble it up, choking for a moment, coughing so much that her eyes grew teary, but eating further immediately after. She didn''t stop until the entire bowl was empty, finally realizing what she''d done. Her cheeks flared up, and she felt every ounce of heat upon them; growing fidgety, she shyly looked to her side where she saw the giant looking at her with a smile. "More?" instead of making fun of her, or correcting her behavior, he simply offered more... and she accepted. She ate three whole bowls in total before she finally felt full--perhaps even too full. Silence fell, and it weighed heavily upon her, though only for a moment. "T-thank you," she squeezed a voice between her teeth; it was low and barely audible, and permeated with fear and uncertainty, but it was hers. "I''m glad you liked it," the giant stood up and walked over to one of the strange huts besides the massive building, shuffling inside for a moment before leaving. In his hands, he carried two cups, handing her one. Inside was a rather colorful and sweet-smelling liquid that seemed to kindle her full stomach yet again with yearning. She took a sip and felt... divine. Shui''er felt her entire body grow strangely wobbly, but not in a bad way. The pulsating pain from her feet and legs slowly disappeared, and the fog in her mind dispersed. Every sip, it felt, returned years of life back to her. "... thank you," she squeezed the words yet again, though grew even more worried. Why? Why was he treating her so nicely? What would he ask of her in return? Would he, too, ask of her to brave the dark in the name of saving the village? She didn''t want to. Not again. She didn''t want to feel the cold. The fear. The pain. "What''s your name?" "Shui''er." "How old are you, Shui''er?" "Eleven." "My name is Leo." "Hm." "Can you guess how old I am?" she looked up from the floor and at his face yet again. He seemed old, yet young, both so at the same time. "Uhm, eighty-seven?" "Kah!" "A-ah, sorry! A hundred and eighty-seven?" "S-stop, I''m... I''m dying here." "S-sorry! Shui''er''s a bad girl, I''m sorry--" "--no, no," the man suddenly laughed rather gently, shaking his head. "Do I really look that old? Aah, maybe I should shave and get a haircut. I''m only thirty-seven, you know? Ah, I suppose... I should be turning thirty-eight around this time, huh?" Shui''er bit her lips and clutched her hands between her thighs. She''d done something wrong, and she would now be punished. She only hoped that the punishment wouldn''t hurt. "I''m sorry if I scared you," the giant said. "I don''t mind it, you know? I just didn''t think I''d still be conscious of my age. Goes to show that I haven''t grown-up as much as I thought, I guess. Since Gray led you here, and since you followed him... I''m guessing you don''t have anywhere else to go." "N-no," she mumbled. Where else? Back to the village? No. Never. "What the hell''s wrong with this world," the man mumbled softly, mostly so into his jaw, but Shui''er heard. She braved looking up yet again, meeting his gaze. The color of his eyes reminded her of the woolen parka that she quite liked wearing. "You can stay here, if you don''t mind. There''s not much to do, but you''ll be safe, at least." "T-thank you," she said, growing firm with determination. "I, I will work! I can, yes, I can clean, and I can carry things! I may be small, but I am strong! Very strong!" "Ha ha, I''m sure you are," his large hand suddenly hovered over her as fear took over. She closed her eyes, steeling herself; however, he merely patted her head rather gently as he spoke further. "But I''d sooner walk bare-ass naked into a lake of shattered glass than let a kid work. Don''t worry about it. There''s a rather nice pond nearby where I take baths. Do you want me to take you there, or would you prefer one of the animals?" "... y-you," she mumbled softly. "Is that so? Let''s go, then," he stood up, extending his arm with yet another smile. She followed, reaching out and grabbing it. In comparison, she truly was tiny--her whole fist was barely large enough to tangle around one of the giant''s fingers. It was coarse and rough, but also warm and gentle. Why? Perhaps, for the first time, she didn''t ask why. She merely followed the large footsteps the best she could, never looking away from his face even after stumbling a few times. Maybe, just maybe... there was happiness in reserves for her waiting still. Chapter 102 - Tales From the Cradle Chapter 102 Tales From the Cradle They''d reached it, the Brooch. The canyon between the various cliffs was far narrower than it was at the top; there were far fewer plateaus, too, and jutting sides that could house any manner of structures. Those structures, too, were far smaller; they were less forts than they were constable offices with some walls and secondary facilities. There were far more tunnel openings, too, with Yue noting just shy of two hundred within her field of vision that was quite limited. The winds this deep were also fast and cutting and yet, despite that, there was permeating fog that colored the entire place with certain haze that never seemed to lift. It was never silent, too; either it was the winds howling through drafts, or it was some distant beasts sounding out into the dark. The atmosphere was truly incomparable to anything above, and yet, Yue didn''t necessarily feel fear. While there was some heaviness to it, the truth was that there were forts almost everywhere, spreading out warding arrays that were frequently overlapping. In fact, in more than just one or two ways, this place seemed even safer than the ones above. "Most of the Sect Disciples only ever come this deep," as though having read her mind, Gon quickly fired off an explanation. "To train and expand their horizons, as it were. As such, most forts here are sustained by the Sects themselves, headed by one or another external Elder. It is not so obvious on the surface as the mutually-agreed-upon laws don''t necessarily permit it, but such is the reality. There are arrays abound, even inside the tunnels, and most of the experienced guides can be found on this layer. The pay is lucrative, and it is seldom dangerous." "What about the flooding, then? Don''t the Disciples go down after it?" Liang queried. "They do, but do so in groups of hundreds, often thousands. If you were a Demonic Beast, or even an Other, would you dare intercept them?" "Ah, suppose not." "Hm," Gon nodded. "For the most part of the year, however, this is where the vast majority of the Disciples reside. Well, that''s not quite true--where the valued Disciples reside. Those weaker ones tend to stick to the layers between the Crown and the Brooch, and the desperate ones forsake themselves and try to reach the Sword. Unfortunately, even with an experienced guide, reaching the Sword still requires a level of luck and strength that most of them do not have. Some, on occasion, though, do succeed, but what awaits them is being the rungs and rats of the Seniors down below. Years of slaving away, if they''re lucky, to have a chance to reshape their destiny." "This place is more complicated than I thought," Yue said, frowning faintly. "And it is still only but a surface of it all," Gon chuckled, rubbing his beard. "Let us depart for Eon Sanctuary. We can rest there for a day or two and resupply." "Resupply?" "Going further down than this," Gon spoke as they walked. "There are no more shortcuts, no safe passages, no secret ways to descend without danger. Every tunnel is infested, every path is a battle, every corner a potential trap. However, if cultivators had to fight every hour of every day on their way down, nobody, not even those at Soul Ascendance Realm, would have managed to reach the Sword, let alone the Cradle. As such, Alchemists concocted powders and pills that can alleviate some of the struggle of the descent." "Ah, sort of like Beast-Scattering Powder that is popular on the outside?" Liang asked. "Uh, sort of like that, I suppose? But not quite." "Not quite?" "Hm," the old man nodded as they took a sharp turn into a nearby tunnel. A perfectly-shaped sphere of light illuminated the rough and coarse walls that slowly began to narrow as they reached toward the tunnel''s exit. "Most repelling powders on the outside are made from herbs and such--for instance, Cave Wolves, naturally, cannot stand the scent of lythmia. However, lythima doesn''t really bloom anywhere near their natural habitat, and even on the rare occasion that the two overlap, it is in such small doses that it only acts as an irritant more so than anything else. Lythmia Powder, though, is a massive concentration that would cause physical harm to the wolves if they were to come in close contact. It''s not only made for the Cave Wolves, but Lythmia Powder doesn''t really have some sort of universal role." "Right." "Here, it''s a bit different--powders are made from the carcasses of Demonic Beasts." Gon''s words shocked the duo, but they kept it to their expressions. "The stronger the Demonic Beast was, the stronger the powder. Instead of acting as a natural repellant, it''s more so a cautionary one--if the Demonic Beast smells a scent of another, more powerful one on you, it will probably think twice about attacking. It''s not a guarantee, though; hunger, fear, new mothers... there are a myriad of reasons why the powder may fail. However, it''s as good of a shield as we have." "You also mentioned pills?" Yue asked as they showed their identifications at the entrance. The pair of guards seemed to mumble something among themselves as they passed, but as Yue was too invested in Gon''s story, she didn''t pay much attention to it. If it was something alarming, she felt Liang would have picked up on it instead. "The pills work in the reverse of the powder," Gon said. "You toss ''em, make them explode, and they scatter out an attractive scent, often a mix of herbs and weak but delicious animals and Demonic Beasts. It causes the entire set of tunnels nearby to go berserk and for almost every Demonic Beast to converge toward the location. The pill has multitude of uses--distraction, baiting, training, and so on. In combination with the powder, and some other pills--mostly poison pills meant to inflict ailments on the Demonic Beasts--it is the safest way to go about descending." "They can''t be cheap, I imagine," Liang said. "Ordinary ones are, and they are, for the most part, good enough that you''ll get around eight to ten hours of peace a day. But yes, the powerful ones are expensive. The best of the best can go as high as a Sky-Tier Weapon does."You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "Wow!" the two exclaimed as Gon led them to a nearby inn--it was one of the six facilities that existed beyond the main keep, and the largest one to boot. There was a decent stream of cultivators going in and out, and most wore Disciple robes of various Sects of the Lower Ashlands. Yue even spotted a couple of younger kids, no older than twelve, who were accompanied by an Elder, all three of whom belonged to the Heavenly Jade Pavilion Sect, the strongest Sect of the Lower Ashlands. "What about the Others?" Liang asked. "... there are no shortcuts, I''m afraid," Gon said with a faint sigh. "The best we have is a weekly-updated map that is free to observe for everyone that details where they attacked the last seven days. It can be indicative of their movements, but as they burrow their homesteads deep into the cliff, it is extremely difficult to avoid them, and twice as difficult to find them. The good news is that purely homicidal attacks are rather rare--most times, they''ll simply ask for a ''passing fee'', a gentleman''s way of robbing you, and let you go." "That''s why everyone leaving the fort is carrying bags of food," Liang said, prompting Yue to look around and finally realize it herself. She felt her cheeks flush red in shame as she completely failed to notice it, too engrossed in the conversation. Liang, on the other hand, paid attention to both. More and more, her goofy Junior Brother seemed far cleverer and better-prepared than her. No, she realized--he was. He was a Sect Disciple for over ten years, having gone out on dozens of missions. There was no way she''d be more prepared for something like this over him, someone who barely ever left her Clan before running away. "Yes. Very, very, very few things grow in the tunnels and the caves, and even fewer of those are edible. Most of the Demonic Beasts, too, have developed various poisons and venoms that make them, at best, dangerous to eat and at worst deadly. As such, the Others are left with very few ways to feed themselves--catching mortal animals, of which there are fewer and fewer with every passing year, feast on the weed and moss that has about as much nutritional value as bricks and stones, grow Wood Ear Mushrooms and endanger the entire settlement as the Demonic Beasts are quite sensitive to its light, rob the increasingly rich cultivators that pass by, or just... die." Yue felt a trace of sympathy in the aged voice, though didn''t comment on it. It wasn''t her place, after all; whatever transpired in the Cradle over the countless years, only a fraction of it ever made it out. And even that only through second or third account stories, all embellished beyond count. To her, the Others were no different from Demonic Beasts, both in the context of the Cradle and outside of it. They were one of the few enemies that both the martial artists as well as mortals had in common. Actual humans, even if they were criminals, colluding with the mutated beasts that wish to call themselves humans, too, put them all on the lowest rungs of the living, just about where the Demonic Beasts resided. However, Yue had never actually met an Other--she''d seen bandits aplenty, and fought them a few times as well, but never the Other. She only ever saw the sketches of their appearances, but as for how accurate those were, she had no means of knowing. Unless, of course, they encountered some in the tunnel. Ah, perish the thought... "You two rest in the inn," Gon said as they settled inside the rather small room. "I will go visit some shops and buy the supplies. This time of year... I''m afraid there won''t be any Angelic Powder, which is what we call the highest-quality one." "It''s fine, just grab whichever," Liang said. "Hm," Yue saw a glint of condescension in Gon''s eyes as the old man merely nodded before leaving. She turned toward her Junior Brother and saw him sighing, glancing back at her with a faint, fading smile. "What?" he asked. "You seem... on edge." she said. "He''s a sympathizer," Liang said. "A what?" "A sympathizer," he explained. "Someone who likely believes that, at least in part, the Others are no different from us." "Is that wrong?" "Uhm, not so much wrong as it''s dangerous," he said. "Have you ever met an Other?" "No. You?" "Once. Shortly after I joined the Sect, we had a class where one was trotted out in chains and binds in front of us. He, she, it, whatever it was... it was tiny, no larger than a child. And it seemed calm, unassuming, almost indifferent to its own plight. After relaxing a bit, we, being the kids that we were, started playing with it--poking, prodding, pinching... but it showed no reaction." Yue listened carefully as Liang''s voice dropped. "At some point, rather than fun... it just seemed kind of sad. However, the Elder in charge didn''t reprimand us, merely staying on the side. Then, Jao tripped, skidding his knee and drawing some blood. As soon as it caught sight of the blood... it went berserk." Liang took a moment''s break as Yue felt her heart quicken, image forming inside her mind. "Its tiny frame bulged to nearly twice its size within a second, ripping through the chains and the binds as though they weren''t even there. The calm, indifferent expression was distorted beyond anything I''d seen, and at that moment, I was certain I was going to die. That was when the Elder stepped in and restrained it. Do you know how Others came about to be, Yue?" "..." once again, he used her name. She flinched slightly but shook her head still. "The most common way is through corruption--someone desperate, or otherwise emotionally charged, dabbling with Demonic Essence. The Essence, then, dislodges a part of who they are and replaces it with something else entirely. The truth is that the Other I saw as a kid is a rather rare mutation--most do not look that different from ordinary people. Perhaps an unnatural limb, an extra eye, or even just something inside that you cannot see with the naked eye. However, all of them, without exception, suffer the same affliction: Blood Rage. As soon as blood is drawn, the Demonic Essence within them awakens and completely transforms them into demented beasts. And once they''re in that state, they can never go back. For all intents and purposes, they become humanoid Demonic Beasts, except even more aggressive. "That''s why I was often warned by the Elders and Seniors back in the Sect, that if I ever come here... I should stay away from the sympathizers. Chances are, someone close to them was Changed at some point in time, but never awakened fully. They will see the world loudly dub them monsters, while the Other hasn''t done anything wrong." "--is there a way to reverse it?" Yue asked. "A few," Liang nodded. "But they are so inordinately expensive and seen as a complete waste of resources that only a few attempts have ever been made. For the most part, they are either killed, imprisoned, or banished." "Then, we should be careful," Yue said, not knowing whether she''d be any different from Gon if someone close to her underwent that ''change''. "Hm, we should," Liang mumbled before choosing a corner and sitting down to meditate. There was so much, Yue realized, that she didn''t know--though she was always aware on some level that her knowledge of the world of cultivation was fairly limited due to her upbringing, ever since joining Master and befriending Liang, she''d become rather cognizant of the fact that she knew practically nothing. Beyond just the shallow knowledge of famous Sects, Factions, and some minor things about cultivation itself, she was wholly blind. The Cradle, its layers, Disciples, the flooding, and now the Others and the Demonic Beasts... was every corner of the world infested with stories, interesting and otherwise, that she was never privy to? Was the same true of her home, the Forest? Likely yes, she knew. She relaxed in her Master''s shade, forgetting that the Nameless Forest wasn''t a home to anyone, least of all a stupid, young girl like her. And yet, she lived there, embraced by the Spirits. If she told it to anyone in the world, nobody would believe her. It was such a moronic statement that they''d think she went into Qi Reflux and was dying. Sighing, she retreated into the corner as well, sitting down and closing her eyes. Whatever shall come, may. She still had the feather and the scroll with her, always one finger away from activating either. In time, she would learn, she promised herself--learn not just of this place and its many secrets, but everywhere. The Forest, her own clan, Liang''s Sect, and all other Sects of the Lower Ashlands. She would learn it all, and then lord her knowledge over her stupid Junior Brother. Chapter 103 - Songs of the Heart Chapter 103 Songs of the Heart Kids were truly something else, Leo mused while watching Shui''er running around relentlessly, chasing after Gray while Whiskers chased after them both. Even when she slipped and stumbled and fell, she just got back up and continued, nothing but a big, beaming smile on her face. One would think it had been months, perhaps even years since she crawled into his camp--but no, it has only been two days. The transformation was rather magical and surreal (largely the latter), since she was so abjectly timid that she barely uttered a sound her first day and night here. And yet, there she was, running around without a care in the world. In fairness, that was how children ought to be--free, unrestrained, though still watched over. He didn''t have the heart to ask how she came here, and she never volunteered the information. After all, young kids don''t simply stumble upon this place while going out to explore a little bit, especially considering the forest''s lore in the outside world. Either she was dumped here by her family or people she knew for one reason or another, or she was forced to come here by the circumstances--sort of like Lya and Song did the first time around. "Uncle Leo, Uncle Leo! Look at this flower!" she suddenly ran toward him, clutching an alyssum flower whose petals all had different colors. "It''s so pretty! Isn''t it?" "Yes, yes, very pretty..." in the span of just 30 hours or so, Leo had gone through quite a few nicknames--it started with Old Man, then Master, then Senior, there was also a brief period when she called him Savior, but after desperate begging, he finally got her to call him Uncle Leo at the very least. Uncle, after all, he could be. If Sarah grew up as he did, chances were that he would have become one. "Ah, no fair, Whiskers! I wasn''t looking!" the young kitten snapped the flower from her hands and ran off, with Shui''er running after it immediately. All Leo could do was sit down and sip on the fruit juice, watching the scene play out. Perhaps... yes, it was very much possible that he was dreaming this thing up. Or, at the very least, partially so. But it did him little good to dwell on his own idiosyncrasies, so he moved on quickly. What bothered him more, however, was that he knew nothing about young kids--especially young girls. Women in their twenties and thirties? Sure, he knew a thing or two. Even teenage girls, he knew the broad strokes of it all, though those broad strokes probably changed in fifteen years since he''d been a teenager himself. Young girls? Zilch. He also had no change of clothes that fit her--he had quite a few robes and other items of clothing in his spatial ring, but none that fit her. And even if he by some miracle knew how to sew (which he most decidedly did not), it wasn''t as though he had a whole heap of sewing tools just lying around. The one dress that she had was already torn up by the time she came here, and with two (well, one, really) extra day of running around and falling repeatedly, it was just about done. "Whether I know it or not, it''s time to magically learn it..." he mumbled the words into his jaw, preparing to take out one of the spare robes and try and figure out the logistics of turning them from ''meant-for-old-men'' to ''kind-of-sort-of appropriate for young girls'', when a window appeared in front of him, causing him to sigh. [Beginner Sewing + Beginner Sewing Tools -- Free] [Challenge Generated: ''???????'' yearns for your cuisine. ''???????'' feels abandoned as you haven''t visited even once after shocking it the first time] [Quest: Fashion a treat (sweet, sour, or bitter) and present it to ''???????''. Your young companion must be the one to present it, though you may accompany her] [Time Limit: 7 days] [Bonus Reward: Silenced Black Feather] [Silenced Black Feather: while on person, muffles all the sounds you make until nothing remains. Can be consumed by burning it, allowing you to hear everything within a 10 mile radius. Warning: System suggests you reach at least Nascent Soul Realm before attempting to burn the feather, otherwise you will most likely experience sensory overload and potentially die] [Punishment for failure: you will not be allowed to communicate in any way for 3 days] He smiled faintly as the window disappeared, while a splitting headache tore through him. It lasted for less than a second, however, and as it passed, a rather massive bundle of knowledge remained in its place. Though it said that it was ''beginner sewing'', Leo pondered silently where it would be considered ''beginner''. As it stood, he now knew how to fashion clothes out of grass and cow milk, something that sounded intrinsically insane, yet was kind of, sort of possible. There was also a set of tools residing inside his spatial ring, now. Glancing at Shui''er and seeing that she was rolling freely with Gray, he took out what he considered to be the prettiest robe that he had, and went at it. Though it was called ''sewing'', it was more akin to material manipulation--Leo didn''t have to painstakingly thread a needle a thousand times in an attempt to create a satisfying result; instead, he used to Qi to shear, cut, combine, and reshape the fabric to his liking. The ''tools'' were merely conduits that allowed for more minute manipulation, such as threading in new patterns that he would have never been able to do by hand. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Bit by bit, the massive robe that was one size too large even for Leo began to grow smaller and smaller. The long, loose sleeves were rounded and tightened, the shoulders were scaled down, and in just about fifteen minutes, the robe for grown men turned into... well, a dress. Leo scratched the top of his head in confusion, but no matter how many times he looked at it, it was a dress. A pretty dress, he thought, but not a robe. Then again, it made sense; though he became aware of the ''technicalities'' of ''sewing'', he wasn''t also given a whole heap of designs to copy from. Rather, he had to conjure up the look all by himself, and it seemed that his mind wasn''t exactly capable of creating a perfect distinction between a dress and a robe. Figuring it was fine for the time being as it certainly beat the rag she was wearing at the moment, he set it aside and looked over toward her yet again. She was taking a breather, drinking the fruit juice from a waterskin while Gray and Whiskers licked off the drops that trickled down from the corners of her lips. She must have felt his eyes on her because she turned and faced him as soon as she finished, smiling widely and walking over. "He he, here!" she handed him the waterskin, causing his eyebrows to twitch temporarily. "Don''t be shy, Uncle Leo. I saw you looking at it." Leo took it from her, though immediately felt his lips, now, twitch; there was barely a gulp left in it, and she acted as though she was doing him a massive favor. "I was actually looking at you," setting the waterskin aside, he said. "You were?" "It took me a while, but I made you a dress. Want to see it?" "A-ah?! Really?!" she jumped, her round eyes widening--they were rather beautifully colored, sapphire-blue at their core with etched golden lines flaking out of her pupils. She crossed the distance between the two and grabbed his arm with hers--she was so short Leo suspected that his arm was actually longer than her altogether. "Show it, show it! Hurry up!" "Here," smiling gently, he used the free arm to take out the dress and unfurl it. While Shui''er''s eyes drew toward the dress, his went toward hers. If at all possible, her eyes widened further and her lips parted... and then tears coalesced and began to slowly streak across her cheeks. "W-wait, it''s so bad that it made you cry? Geez, I didn''t think I was that bad--" "--no, no, it''s... it''s really pretty," she said, lowering her head and suddenly nestling it into his sides. Her voice turned into a hum as he felt her tears wet his robes. "So pretty it''s wasted on me. It''s fine. You can just make me something simple instead." "And what will I do with this, then?" Leo''s voice was rather gentle as he spoke, prompting her to look up. "Hang it on the trees? Try to put it on myself? Or give it to the wide assortment of other girls living here whose numbers total in--oh, wait, there''s nobody else. Besides, do you know why I made it so pretty? Because I was thinking of you the entire time. And, well, there''s this rule--if you''re thinking of something pretty, you will make something pretty." "... there''s no such rule," she mumbled, her cheeks flushed with red. "Are you saying that I''m lying?" "N-no, of course--" "--pfft." "Meanie!" "Come on, put it on," he said, lifting her as though she were a piece of paper and setting her down while putting the tress into her arms. "Don''t worry about anything, okay? I can make as many dresses as you''d like. So, run it in, fall in it, sleep in it." "No," she shook her head, holding tightly onto the piece of cloth. "This... will be my special day dress." "As I said--" "No!" "I can make--" "No!" "... but every day is special--" "No!" "Right. Okay. Go, try it on at least," Leo forgot one of the cornerstones of children: their stubbornness. Especially around the stupid things that old people like him could never understand. She went in and out of the longhouse rather quickly, her footsteps almost soundless. It truly did fit her, though was still a bit too big. Leo himself knew little about fashion--all he focused on was giving it bright colors and some flowers, but it was less so that the dress maketh the girl, and more that the girl maketh the dress. A distant, distant memory swelled inside his mind for a moment as Shui''er stopped between the two trees, the golden light washing her from behind. It was for his eleventh birthday, and before Sarah was diagnosed. Though she was half of Shui''er''s age, and a full head shorter, she was the cutest thing he''d ever seen. It was one of the few memories he had of her where she was carefree, laughing, and, most importantly, eating most of the cake while nobody was looking. Mom and dad scolded her like crazy, while he defended her. It was one of the few moments where he felt and acted like a big brother. Though he was a bit too old to be Shui''er''s brother, and a bit too incompetent to be any sort of father figure, he''d become what she called him--an uncle. He''d let her grow and make for her the wings, and part the thorny roads of life. Over and over, he realized, the world was giving him second chances, but it silently turned into a whispering curse of the heart. It was as though he could hear her voice from beyond the membrane of life and death itself, whispering softly and coldly. "Uncle Leo? What''s wrong?" Shui''er''s voice pulled him back to reality rather suddenly. He realized she was standing right in front of him, grabbing his cheeks as his head was hung low. There was concern on her flushed face, and worry in her radiant eyes, and he could only smile at the sight. "Ah, your cuteness temporarily stopped my heart." "..." the worry and the concern disappeared almost immediately, replaced by a frown. "Humph. You''re a bad, bad liar." she sauntered off into the longhouse, coming out wearing the old, tattered dress. She glanced at him and harrumphed before quickly looking and running away, this time going to bother poor Blackie who was peacefully sleeping nearby. Leo smiled and looked up toward the sky. Life was ethereal and sublime, and he merely a tiny fish in its mighty stream. Try as he may to fight it, some things were indispensable. Memories, aching and jubilant alike, were the reason who he was today--and if his was the cursed existence bound to never be freed of the cold whispers, then that was his destiny. He had a chance to make a difference, however small of a one it may be, and for however few people, and instead of wallowing within himself and stewing in silence, he chose to embrace the chance. Again and again. Until either he died, or his innermost heart was finally the way he made it seem. Chapter 104 - Participant or a Passerby? Chapter 104 Participant or a Passerby? "Don''t say a word," Leo warned rather sternly. "She''s a bit young, Master Leo--" "--what did I just say?" he quickly interrupted Lu Yang who''d returned just a few minutes prior, coming up on Shui''er who was passed out in front of the longhouse, snoring on top of black tiger of all animals who didn''t dare make a move. "If Master needs it, I know quite a few places where women--" "--oi, do you think I''m some sort of degenerate?!" "What else? Did she just randomly walk into the forest and happen upon you?!" "... didn''t you too, damn bastard?!" "Oh, right! So, she really did..." "I know you''re just taking jabs," he said. "But don''t. Those are dangerous jabs." "How long has it been?" Lu Yang asked as he sat down beside Leo and took an opaque bottle from his spatial ring. As he uncorked it, the tantalizing scent awoke something inside Leo that had been slumbering ever since he came to this world--after all, the scent was that of alcohol. Not wanting to be also considered an alcoholic and further ruin his image, he played it cool--or, well, as cool as he could. "Four days," he replied as Lu Yang poured both of them a cup. Leo took it, needing to use Qi to stop his arm from shaking. "Gray found her somewhere deep in the forest and led her here." "Did she tell you how she ended up here?" "No," Leo sighed. "And I didn''t have the heart to ask." he took a sip, and though it was beautiful and soul-fulfilling after months of no alcohol whatsoever, it was also... bad. Straight-up toilet wine bad. There was barely any burn to it, and the taste was downright putrid. But, all the same, it was alcohol. "Do you plan on letting her stay?" Lu Yang questioned. "What else?" Leo shrugged. "Kick her out?" "Fair point," the old man sighed, topping himself off yet again. "What about you? How did your outing go?" "Well enough," he said. "Sold most of the stuff I had no use for anymore, bought some stuff we needed, and confirmed that my family''s safe." "You went to see them?" "Hah, hardly," he scoffed. "They''ve been taken in by the Frozen Palace. Do you know where that is?" "Somewhere cold, I imagine." "Funny." "I try." "Anyway, even if I was at Nascent Soul Realm, it would take me months to get there. So no, I didn''t visit them. But it''s better off that way, anyway. They get to live a life divorced from the expectations of our familial name, and unburdened by their unloving father." "... I scarcely think a father who sacrificed his life for his children would ever be considered unloving." Leo commented, taking yet another sip. He expected it to grow a bit on him by now, but it truly hadn''t. It was still rancid. "Perhaps," Lu Yang mumbled. "How''s the garden?" "Tended to. No less, no more." "I bought quite a few seeds, so if you are fine with it, I want to experiment for a little while." "It''s fine," Leo said. "Just note that the walled off portion is specially fertilized and will have different soil than the rest of the forest. Which you probably already knew, but hey, you never know. What kind of seeds did you buy?" "Went for variety, mostly," the old man replied. "A few common fruits, some rarer ones, a few vegetables, some uncategorized herbs, and one or two medicinal ones. Ah, she''s waking up. Wait, won''t me being here scare her?"Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "Honestly?" Leo smiled faintly as Shui''er sat up from tiger and stretched. "You might just be that ugly." "Was that revenge for my initial comments?" "Very much so." "Hm? E-eh? Uncle Leo... who is that fatty?" "... pfft." "Not another word," the roles were reversed, and while Leo barely stitched his lips together so that he wouldn''t burst into laughter, Shui''er walked over and stopped next to him, looking up at Lu Yang rather curiously. Though she called him a ''fatty'', he was hardly so; perhaps a bit rounded and stout, but that was simply his frame. "This is Grandpa Yang," Leo said with a faint smile. "He was about on some business for a little while." "Hmm," she mumbled, staring rather intensely. "Okay!" the roots of who she seemed to be (the sort of kid to go from borderline depressive to chippy and jubilant in the span of less than 48 hours) burst through, and she shuffled away from Leo and toward the old man who seemed rather uncertain on how to interact with her. "Want to see the dress Uncle Leo made for me?" "Uh... sure?" "Okay!" she ran off into the longhouse while the two men exchanged strange looks, prompting Leo to shrug. "Don''t ask me," he said. "When I found her, she barely talked and seemed terrified of everything and everyone. Lo and behold, within a day, she was running around like she grew up in this place." "Ah. I suppose that''s kid resilience." "Yeah," Leo mumbled. "I was a kid, too. Don''t recall being that resilient, however." "I''d sneak out at night and into the nearby forest where I would scream until my throat hurt." "I''d throw tantrums in public to embarrass my mother." "I''d sneakily put in chopped-up worms into my Father''s meals. They weren''t harmful or anything, but I knew." "... good times." "The best." "Here, Grandpa! Look!" Shui''er came out of the longhouse in the dress; from what Leo observed, she folded it neatly and stuffed it under the pillow, taking it out before bed and hugging it as she slept. Perhaps, beyond the exterior of the bubbly joy, there was still some fear in the young girl''s heart. "Isn''t it pretty?!" "Ah, yes, yes. Very pretty." "Is Shui''er pretty, too?" "Ah, yes, yes. Very pretty." "The prettiest?" "Yes, yes. The prettiest." "He he." "I''ll start preparing lunch soon, Shui''er," Leo said. "Go and change." "Hm!" "What were your kids like at her age?" Leo asked as Lu Yang sighed. "Hm? Those little snortbubbles? Honestly... I don''t quite remember. At that time, I relinquished most of the fatherly duties as I focused on developing the Clan. I feared that if I showed too much favoritism to my children, the Elders and others would find fault with me. From what my wife told me, though, they were... desperate. Working day and night in hopes of drawing my attention. But my head was too full of trying to guide the Clan. Father for all, or father for none." "Well, you now get a chance to be a proper Grandpa." "Ha ha, I suppose. What do proper Grandpas do, anyway?" "I''m still too young to know." "Tsk." Leo chuckled as he stood up and started lighting the fires. "Catch any worthwhile news while on the outside?" "A few," Lu Yang said, standing up and helping him. "Bloodmoon Sect is supposedly in a lockdown mode, refusing all visitors and taking in no new Disciples. There''s a good chance they are engaged in some infighting while the new structure of power is assembled. Holy Blade, supposedly, went into isolated cultivation after defending the Sect, so a lot of people are speculating whether he''ll emerge from it having reached Late Soul Ascendance Realm." Leo stayed his tongue, though recognized just how large of a figure that seemingly frail middle-aged man that visited him was. "There were also some rumors about the Lingshan Kingdom. I don''t know the details, but apparently some powerful cultivator caused a mess before leaving. "Other than that, it was all fairly standard--Silvermoon Traders increased prices yet again, Skyhaven Alchemist Guild came out with a new Qi Pill... ah, there was another thing. An old man I had a drink with said that his grandson owed debt to some bandit clan, but when he went to their keep to pay it, he found it scorched and destroyed, with everyone there dead. I wanted to confirm it, but the keep was some ways away, and I didn''t want to waste more time." "The world keeps spinning, huh?" none of these news particularly mattered to Leo, in the end. It was sort of like reading news online back on Earth about something that happened in some small town on the other side of the world. No, there was even a greater level of being divorced here as, at the very least, back on Earth he had some familiarity with the entire world, even if it was shallow. Here, he knew nothing but these trees and the blue skies above. He''d never been to any of the towns or cities, or saw any lakes or other rivers, so it was closer to him reading a fantasy story rather than being a participant in the world. "Can I help with anything?" Shui''er appeared and asked. She seemed rather excited about the prospect, so even though there was nothing for her to do, Leo still assigned her a task. "You can tear these vegetables into smaller chunks," Leo handed her what was kind of like lettuce, but much softer and without as much texture. Normally, he just tossed in the whole chunks as the boiling water did the ''tearing'' aspects later on, but understood well enough the child''s need to ''help'', even if it was superficial. "Okay!" she quickly got down to the task, her tongue lashing out against the corners of her lips as the world around her seemed to disintegrate into irrelevance. Leo smiled and continued the rest of the prep. The animals began to gather soon enough, though, once again, in reduced numbers. This was second day in a row that Leo noticed the distinct lack of them--especially the more ''nomad'' ones that only ever swung by for a meal. Just as the questions began to arise inside his mind, there came a fluttering window suggesting there may yet be an answer. [Darkness lurks in the deep shadows of the Forest] [There is somebody or something on the prowl, hunting your dear friends] [Discover the truth, and save the animals from a painful fate] [Time Limit: 3 days] [Reward: Unknown] [Punishment For Failure: -10 likeability with forest animals, increased chance that more will die/go missing] [Hint: Perhaps a gastronome may have some information for you] Chapter 105 - The Crows Curiosities Chapter 105 The Crow''s Curiosities Leo found himself in a peculiar conundrum--he had two active quests which now seemed to have overlapped. In order to find out what was happening with the animals, he''d first have to visit the crow in the north, gain its favor by presenting a candy or such, and ask it for a ''hint'' toward resolving the first issue. He''d sort of put the first quest on a mild backburner, but he couldn''t delay it any longer; in effect, he had three days to solve both, and though three days in this world felt much longer than back on Earth, that didn''t mean much. It was still just 72 hours to ''fix everything'', as it were. Sighing, he knew he had to get down to work. Unlike last time, however, he wasn''t alone; while Shui''er and Lu Yang wouldn''t necessarily help with the ''cooking'' portion, they could still be testers and fetchers, while the animals were likely to come by and clean up the ''undesirable'' concoctions. Last time around, he was unable to truly fulfill his idea as he lacked both the knowledge and the tools, but this time around... well, not much has changed, really. He was still just as ignorant and just as ill-prepared as before, with perhaps a dash of experience on top of it. He didn''t brainstorm for long, deciding on creating something that was just as controversial back on Earth: spicy candy. Not just with that small tinge or trace of spice, no, he wanted to go full-volcanic-eruption mode with it. As such, he gathered all the herbs, vegetables, and fruits that even had the slightest trace of spice in them--this meant that something within their biology reacted with the taste buds, or whatever it was (the highest grade he ever got in biology was C-, so he hardly knew the details), and he could potentially isolate those traces-- --suffice to say, that went nowhere. Even if he had improved vision through Qi, it wasn''t as though it was microscopic. It was also entirely possible that whatever molecules caused the irritation couldn''t even be isolated, at least not without a modern medical lab which was just around 600 years away from being made in this world... maybe. After briefly explaining to the old-and-young pair that he was about to experiment with fancy food concoctions and watching their faces light up without knowing what they were in for, Leo got down to business. Fires were started, ingredients were molded, water was boiled, young girl cried soon after and soon did the old man with her, the discarded, inedible(according to them) pieces of soft candy were scooped up by animals and dragged off into the woods while the two watched in horror, often calling out to the animals and warning them. Leo, though, mostly tuned it all out--his goal wasn''t so much taste as he figured out that wasn''t the need, his goal was to create a monstrosity that will set the crow''s stomach on fire. Because of how dementedly devoted he was to his idea, he forgot a little something from the quest window. Just about half a day later, he stared at a round, hard-as-a-rock piece of candy with a pride in his eyes. The candy was rather smooth, almost the texture of glass, and its surface acted sort of like a prism for the light, scattering it into shapes and colors beyond beauty. Though he wanted to claim that he made such a duality by design, it was purely a happy accident; while he was concocting one of the previous batches, he accidentally added four times as many of the ''soft garlic'' (as he called the plant) cloves as before, which ended up forming the current appearance (through biology and magic that was well beyond Leo''s basic comprehension). He turned to the side where he saw Shui''er and Lu Yang shaking side by side, with the former hugging the latter''s leg rather tightly and hiding behind it. The sight was rather comical, as though he weren''t making candy but rather chemical weaponry. "What? You guys want a piece, too?" "Keep that thing away from me!" Lu Yang quickly exclaimed. "M-Master Leo, I, I didn''t know you were an Alchemist, too..." "Hm? I''m not, though?" was he? Well, there was that one time he concocted a healing paste or salvo or whatever it was for the Hawky (a nickname he gave to Anuvar), but he was entirely guided by the system. "Just your average cook." "A cook? I wonder," Lu Yang sighed bitterly. "Is there even a person in the world brave enough to eat that?" "A person? I wouldn''t know," Leo said, chuckling. "But I wasn''t making this for a person." "For whom, then?"Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. "A... friend? I guess? Sure, yeah. We are friends," The kind of friends where the permanent distance grew the heart the fondest, Leo added silently to himself, looking over at Shui''er. He didn''t know why the system told him that she had to be the one to present the candy, but he did become a bit fearful. Praying that the crow wasn''t some sort of demented pervert, he packed the piece of ''candy'' into his spatial ring. "Alright. Shui''er, I need you to come with me. Old man, uh, I guess you can come too, if you want." "... where are we going?" Shui''er asked, but tenderly ripped herself free and slowly walked over. "To visit a tiny little birdy," Leo smiled, though it seemed that his smile didn''t fool either one of them. Nonetheless, as he began walking north, so did they--a few paces behind him, for sure, but they were there. They were even there as the appearance of the trees began to change, and the colors began to mute and fade. Soon, the writhing roots sprung about like tentacles, and the forest grew thicker than it was anywhere else. A few rays of light barely managed to flutter between the thick canopy, lighting up the ''path'' just enough to see it. However, Shui''er often stumbled, held up and kept safe by Lu Yang, while the disconcerting atmosphere grew ever more sullen. "Uh, w-what is this place?" Lu Yang posited a question that Leo couldn''t answer. He knew, well enough, the sickening feeling that this area caused; in fact, they''d just barely stepped into what Leo considered ''north'', and he knew it would only get worse from here. "I don''t know," he replied honestly. "I don''t visit much here, either. You can kind of see why. However, every once in a while, I get asked to do something. Something that requires me to come visit here. Don''t worry--even though it''s scary, and even though it will get scarier, nothing will happen. Probably." Leo saw it, past the tangle of the roots--the spot past which he could not and would not go. And thus, he stopped. Glancing back, he saw the old-and-young pair arrive, too; they were shaking, especially Shui''er, their eyes shuttering wildly about, seeking foes in the dancing shadows... foes that weren''t there, however. The feeling inside was cold and apathetic, and Leo felt that staying here for too long might legitimately change one''s brain chemistry, but just visiting once in a while--no, it was still horrid, and he wished he didn''t have to do it. "Here," he gave Shui''er the candy and had her stand a step in front of him. He decided, should anything untoward transpire, that he would throw all caution to the wind and attack, consequences be damned. "Don''t be scared. I''ll be right here." "Hm," the young girl nodded, uncertain as to what was happening. Leo was no better off, however, simply waiting. Lu Yang was a couple of paces behind them, though seemed just as ready as Leo to jump in. They didn''t have to wait long--just a minute or so later, deep caws echoed against the trees and the widening haze in front of them parted ever so slightly as the silhouette perched through. Chilly hadn''t changed--of all the animals, he still looked the most ordinary. There was nothing ''magical'' (excluding the abstract notion of ''the feeling'' this place created), but Leo trusted his instincts, now more so than ever. This black-feathered bird was the most dangerous thing he met so far, even more dangerous than that lightning that shattered his soul very early on in his stay. The crow didn''t approach them, perching itself upon a nearby branch and staring down at the trio. Leo endured the piercing gaze the best he could, though the other two were far worse off; Lu Yang straight-up collapsed and fainted, while Shui''er was about to do the same, prompting Leo to catch her. "Here," rather than taking the candy out of her hand, he first lifted her into his arms and extended her arm by his, using Qi to gently toss the flickering candy toward the crow. The latter caught it nimbly within its beak while Shui''er passed out, her expression distorted in fear and pain. He regretted it, taking them; though he, too, felt tired and felt the distant headache pounding, he didn''t know that the effect on the two of them would be much worse. "Could you ease up a bit, at least?" he pleaded, looking up at the feathered thing that was inspecting the candy rather curiously. "For the kid. Please." the bird stared at him for a moment before cawing softly; Leo felt the descending pressure lessen rather considerably until he felt almost nothing. While for him it was nothing, the other two still felt it--but nowhere near as badly. Shui''er''s face relaxed, and though her eyes would twitch occasionally still, it now looked like she was merely having a bad dream rather than living out a nightmare. "Caw!" Chilly smashed the candy between his beaks, causing rather skin-grating sounds to explode out. Grinding, halfway between chalk on a blackboard and nails on metal, blared out until Leo''s ears turned itchy. [... ''???????'' stares at you oddly, wondering whether you''ve read the task ordered] [...] [After pondering momentarily, ''???????'' forgives your faux pas, but restructures the reward, denying you the Silenced Black Feather] [...] [The old quest will remain, though the time period will be extended to 60 days] [Because of the unusual burst of flavors and your dedication to singular pursuit, ''???????'' will answer one question you may have. ''???????'' reserves the right to simply ignore it, if the answer is well beyond your means] Leo flinched at first, relaxing soon after; as soon as it was pointed out, he remembered that the quest specified that the candy should be ''sour, bitter, or sweet''. Luckily, it didn''t alter his primary reason for coming here. While losing out on the Silenced Black Feather was not ideal, he could live without it. Furthermore, there was still a chance to obtain it, anyway. No, the reason why he came here was simply to get a hint as to what was happening to the animals. But instead of a hint... couldn''t he ask for the entire reason? "What is happening to the animals in the forest? Namely, those who used to come visit me frequently. Please tell me. I just want to help them." Chapter 106 - Echoes of the Unseen Chapter 106 Echoes of the Unseen Leo''s head hurt--no, it went beyond the hurt and into the realm of wanting death. Even if he experienced this level of pain before, he only did so in passing flickers--fleeting moments that lasted less than a second, yet were enough to nearly turn him comatose. Soon after he asked the question, he felt an overwhelming sensation wash over him; he couldn''t find the right words to describe it, as it was unlike anything he ever felt before. Alongside it came the headache--it forced him to his knees immediately, and despite wanting to scream out until his lungs burned, he simply couldn''t. He couldn''t even muster up enough strength to blink, let alone to roar. All along, there was a frenzy of ''information'' being churned into his brain. No, not information--it was even more abstract than when he ''communicated'' with Blackie or Milky or others. If theirs form was closer to intent and concept, then this was... Leo didn''t even know. It was closer to metaphysical joining, an existential marriage of the ethereal--less than an idea, less than a feeling, Leo found himself eerily harmonizing with the structure of everything. It was as though his spirit was dragged to beyond the visible membrane, tossed and warped around the machinations of all things, but it wasn''t quite like that either. He loathed the pain, but he also loathed being unable to understand it; how was he functioning, much less all things around him? The push and pull of forces beyond his ken, the separation of himself into folds as though he were a distorted object in a mathematical equation, the coming together of all senses into one--Leo experienced the reality not as individual aspects, but as one thing, whole and untouched. Everything and anything converged and there was no means for him to tell which was what--colors, sounds, shapes, ideas, energy, mass, all things, known and otherwise, undulated with the pain, and he with them. He didn''t know how long he was in that state, but by the time he woke up, he saw Shui''er ripping her eyes with tears atop his chest while Lu Yang loomed over him with a dark expression. "Uncle!!" the young girl exclaimed joyfully when she saw him open his eyes, prompting Leo to gently hug her. Blinking, he couldn''t recall--not what happened, not why it happened. The last thing he remembered was asking a question... and now this, waking up on the ground, headache fleeting. No, there was one more difference--he knew where to go. Northwest, along the ridges of the Chilly''s ''territory'', and well past it. Something awoke, he felt at least, deep inside the forest, something that had been slumbering for eons. Sitting up, he finally felt like himself again. His eyes darted toward the fogged spaces between the trees, searching the feathered crow... but he was not there. "Hey, you alright?" Lu Yang asked. "Sorry. Was just out of sorts," Leo replied, standing up. "What, uh, happened?" "What happened?" Lu Yang looked at him oddly. "You dragged us here to deliver the candy, and then suddenly collapsed. Your... your heart, it stopped." "... for how long?" "A few minutes, perhaps. Seriously, what happened?" "I don''t know," Leo spoke with a faint trace of frustration, but he quickly buried it. Whatever it was, it had something to do with the crow--and he felt nothing good would come out of cursing that little thing, even inwardly. His instincts were right--Chilly was far more dangerous than all other things he''d seen and experienced so far in this world... combined. "Let''s go back." he said. "What about the candy?" "What candy?" Leo responded, already moving back toward the longhouse. "What candy? The one the girl--hey, wait..." On their way back, Shui''er wouldn''t leave his arms, seemingly afraid that if she let go, he''d die ''again''. Lu Yang, on the other hand, kept throwing stealthy glances at him, but never asked a question. He was old enough, and had experienced enough of the world, it seemed, to know that whatever transpired... was not for him to know or understand. Thus, he stayed his lips.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. It wasn''t before night fell that Shui''er finally let him go, and that was only so because she was unable to stay awake any longer. Setting her into bed gently, he went outside where Lu Yang was waiting for him, two bottles of booze opened. Leo chuckled and sat down by the roaring flames, staring at them. "... I have to go somewhere tomorrow," Leo said, taking a sip. "Need me to come with?" "No. Stay here with Shui''er." "Sure." the two fell silent for a little while before Leo looked toward him and spoke. "I might not come back." Lu Yang winced, but quickly froze his expression, not speaking. "If that happens... could I ask you for a favor?" "What?" though the light in the old man''s eyes told Leo that he already knew, some things, in the end, ought to be said. "You can stay here if you can, or you can leave. Just... don''t tell anyone, please, about this place. And the animals living here. And take Shui''er with you." "Favor or no favor, I would have done all those things regardless." "I know." "... when I was younger and before the Clan''s politics took up most of my life," Lu Yang spoke. "I used to go hunting. Well, we called it hunting but, really, it was closer to dancing with death. A small group, four of us, were equally strong, or thereabout. Anyway, we''d try to find a Demonic Beast, or a Demonic Cultivator that was at least one full realm above us in strength, and try to kill them. Over the course of ten years, from four... only I was left. We killed our fill, just shy of a hundred, but every ''hunt'' was... somber. At a point, I had to stop because my death would mean the death of my Clan. Do you know how I was the only one to stay alive?" "Because you ran away each time you were about to die?" "Well, yes, a few times, perhaps," the two men shared a laugh for a moment before Lu Yang continued. "The actual reason was that all three ended up dying to save me." "... wow. They must have loved you dearly." "I can go," he said, suddenly. "And try to resolve whatever it is that ails your mind, and you can stay here. Live on your life as you did before me. And if I fail and die, you can simply dig out an empty grave and offer final farewells. For once, perhaps I can be the tall wall staving off death." "... as noble as your want of sacrifice is," Leo chuckled. "I''d have to live knowing I am the reason you''ve died. In some ways, if not most, that is worse than death." Leo, though fearful of death as much as every other person, had already died once--and, by all accounts, it wasn''t that scary. Even if he was never reborn, he would have simply faded--become part of the abyssal continuation of life. There was only darkness, and eternity he would not be aware of. Leo departed before breakfast, though he did prepare a few meals for Lu Yang, Shui''er, and some of the animals. He armed himself with the one sword he had, tossing on some skin-layer armor that Yu Minge gave him in the spatial ring, and started walking toward his destination. It wasn''t long before he got bored and started using Simple Step Art, darting between the trees like a blurry phantom. He had a ''feeling'' more so than a clear direction in mind; it was even vaguer than when he had Milky tell him where to go. If he started straying, for instance, a ''feeling'' would jolt him from within and course-correct. In some ways, it felt like rethreading a path trodden--like a person who''d lost their memories sitting in front of a piano and perfectly playing Moonlight Sonata. There were no other animals--none that started the journey with him, none that joined him partway through, and none that even inhabited these corners of the woods. It was deathly silent save for his footsteps and occasional crunching of the leaves, and before long, the canopy above grew so thick that there was no more light, either. He had to infuse Qi into his eyes just to see. Onward and onward for what felt like hours (though it was difficult to tell, what with the darkness and the rather repetitive forest that, for the first time, didn''t seem to change no matter how far he ran in one direction), he finally came to a halt. A ''feeling'', once again, spoke to him from within. Muffling his footsteps, he proceeded onward and past the hanging branches that had tangled themselves with overgrown shrubbery. On the other end, he saw a carved-out valley spanning nearly a mile, and within it, he saw pitched rooftops and trails of smoke from the flames, and he saw hooded figures stalking between the buildings made out of strange, black stone. Toward the center of the valley, the buildings parted into a circular area, at whose heart was a strange altar staying suspended some twenty feet from the ground. Leo''s eyes widened and his heart beat with anger as he looked further up from the altar--there, rolling around in a transparent bubble of energy just above the altar was a familiar figure--Howly. Despite having not seen him for a few days, Leo wasn''t that worried as the wolf had the tendency to just wander off from time to time. Seeing him now, however, caused Leo to curse himself; there were gashes still bleeding all across his body, his white fur torn in patches, all four of his legs broken. He clutched the sword between his fingers, standing still. What could he do? He was weak--so, so, so weak. If these were ordinary people in the hoods, he might stand a chance. But they probably weren''t. Just like him, they were living in a forest, and Leo had already pulled together enough information to know that this place housed some true monsters. Howly, likely, was precisely one of those monsters. If they were able to capture him and beat him an inch away from death, what could Leo do? And yet, try as he may, his feet and body would not twist and turn so that he could walk away. They remained rooted, like frozen statues, unbending no matter the circumstances. Was he strong enough? He didn''t know. Would he even be able to take a life if need be? He knew even less. And yet, catching a glimpse of the wolf''s pained expression, and the countless wounds scattered across his body, was enough for his conviction to form: he''d save the pup, no matter the cost. Chapter 107 - The Impossible Choice Chapter 107 The Impossible Choice The best approach to assaulting a hostile camp-- Leo stopped himself right there, shaking his head as though the physical act would toss out the stupid thoughts out of his head. What approach? The only knowledge of assaulting anything that he had either came from video games or from drunken stupors. With the former, the crux was the infinite respawns--he didn''t have to know how to attack, he could just do it over and over again until he lucked into the ''right way''''. And even though he already ''respawned'' once, it wasn''t as though he was willing to test the theory he was stuck in a time loop. For the latter, his drunken stupor ''assaults'' usually ended with him on his ass, or being carted into the hospital for one thing or another. There were some bits of common sense that he summoned, something that was rather obvious and needn''t be studied: assaulting the camp directly would be moronic, that much he knew. He was one man, and there were at least a dozen of hooded figures, likely even more inside some twenty to thirty buildings laying stacked within the valley. Even if he was by some miracle individually stronger than all of them, they could just gang up on him and beat him to death. If the buildings were made out of wood, he could have waited for the night to set them on fire, but as they were not, that was also out of the question. He could try and luring them out one by one, but he didn''t know how--if they left on their own, that would be the only way for him to actually ''chip away'' at their numbers. But what if they got everything they wanted from the forest and weren''t planning on leaving their base? A thousand ideas swirled inside his mind but, by some miracle, none of them were even approachably good. They ranged from him gathering all the animals in the forest and charging straight into their camp like a madman, to setting fire to the surrounding area and trying to use the cover of smoke to attack from the shadows. Though the latter sounded ''reasonable'' in theory, at the end of the day, this forest was his home--not only his, either, but the home of thousands of other animals. What if the fire spread beyond his control? Burning down the entire forest in a desperate attempt to save his friend wasn''t something he was willing to do. That left, well, waiting. He''d wait for at least a day and see whether any of them left the camp. And even if they didn''t, he''d observe their habits--perhaps, for some ungodly reason, they all collectively ''recharged'' at night and would become easy pickings. Or maybe some other miraculous savior would appear to salvage the entire situation. Sufficient to say, none of the most-wanted situations appeared--though, well, one of them did leave their base. Not for long, and not too far out, but it was an indicator that they did move beyond the enshrined borders of their home. Ultimately, that was his best bet. Unfortunately, though their numbers were large enough to startle one man, they weren''t so large that they wouldn''t notice as soon as a couple of their people never returned. Once that happened, even if they still ventured out into the forest, they''d probably do so in groups--probably of at least three or four, numbers Leo didn''t want to test himself against. A sudden chatter drew his attention back over to the central plaza--there, he saw Howly being lowered down amidst the jubilant cheers. Leo gnashed his teeth and stilled himself the best he could, which got exponentially harder when he saw why they lowered the wolf--they drew a massive gash across the wolf''s back and heaved him over, letting the blood drops drip across the tainted fur and into a silver goblet beneath. Shortly after, everyone lined up and, one by one, took a sip from the goblet while they tossed Howly aside, barely a breath in the beast. It was becoming more and more difficult to control himself; there was a large part of him that wanted to give into the anger and storm out like a thunderous judgment, but he held back. He reasoned it, that they hadn''t captured him just to torture him. Perhaps there was something about his blood, or perhaps it was their ritual of ''bonding'' with the nature. It was a shoddy defense against the rage, but it did well enough to quell it slightly. Regardless of how ''justifiable'' their reasons were, this was one of those scenarios in which it was irrelevant. It was the sort of thing that began the cycle of revenge, one that would go on for eons, ending only when there was nobody to hold a grudge buried deep in the bones. It could have even been that Howly attacked them first, and they simply defended themselves but, ultimately, the principle stood. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Night fell rather rapidly, the sun fading as the moon began gently drifting across the clear sky. A few fires soon roared, illuminating the base. Leo frowned slightly, observing; while he, too, would light fires at night, it was mostly so that he could cook. If he wasn''t cooking, he''d simply use his eyes to see in the dark as there was practically no difference as soon as he injected Qi into them. However, they weren''t cooking--and based on the positions of the fire, the point was to give light to the world. Shaking away the thoughts, he lay silently in wait; for a long while, he thought that he''d wait out in silence until dawn, but midway through the night he caught two shadows distorting out of the buildings and past the natural barriers of the valley, fleeting directly toward him. They made as little noise as possible, so little in fact that Leo had to pour Qi into his ears to hear them, and then use that to track them. They didn''t go far--perhaps half a mile away from their base, settling behind one of the shrubberies. Though Leo had his suspicions from the onset, the quaint and muffled moans that began to erupt from the shrubbery confirmed that the two came out to have some fun, as it were. As for why they couldn''t do it in the camp... well, Leo wasn''t one to judge. Chances were that one of them was already in a relationship, and that was why they were here, in the wild. Or, perhaps, that was the point--the bedroom''s fun no longer, and they need the freedom of the public-- --Leo stalked close and went behind the shrub, glancing over and down at them. They were bunched up against the thick trunk of a tree, roots jutting out around them like grasping arms. Even as he loomed in the open, they couldn''t see him or hear him or even feel him, too caught up in it. He clasped the sword as tightly as his fingers would, yet found himself unmoving. Though it was dark, and barely any light caught their frames, he saw them well enough. They were people--a young man and a young woman, somewhere in their mid-twenties at most. They had angular and jutting features, with the bridge of the nose drawing out the arch above and distancing the two eyes ever so slightly, just enough to give Leo that ''ick'', a feeling that something felt off. Perhaps they were a slightly different species of human, or perhaps they were cousins, but the point was that they were human. Just like him. He got adjusted to killing monsters relatively quickly, but that was due in part to survival. He had to kill them. And, perhaps, in some abstract way he also had to kill these two, but his mind wasn''t so kind tonight. He''d long suspected that there would come a point in his life in this world where he would have to take a life--not an animal''s, not a ghost''s, not some inordinate ghoulish threat... but a human life. And he grappled with the idea the best he could, never coming up with an answer. After all, thoughts were hypothetical--one seldom knew what they would do in any one situation until they precisely found themselves in it. And that was exactly where he was--unless their skin was made of diamond, one single swing of his blade would end both of them. Blood would spray out, they would perhaps even scream if he was slow enough. And if he was just another notch slower, he''d catch sight of their eyes veering over toward him, assessing who took their life with their last breath. It was an impossible choice, one that for over thirty years of his life he never even contemplated in the slightest. "Goddammit," he mumbled into his jaw and shoved Qi into the sword, executing ''Simple Slash Art''. The silver of the simple blade flickered under the fading ray of moonlight, and he felt it dig into flesh ever for a moment before cutting through as though it was cutting paper. He aimed at the necks, and due to the angle and the speed at which he attacked, the sword lithely cut through both within less than a second. They didn''t scream. They didn''t squirm. They didn''t so much as wince or whimper. They simply... stopped moving. He loomed over them still, blood silently dripping from the edge of his blade. As his eyes veered to the side, he saw them, the detached heads. As though the world was made for mockery, they were both somehow facing up--and not just up, but angled just right for it to seem like they were staring at him. He felt an overcoming rush of emotions, and did something that he never did before since coming here--he used Qi to calm himself down. It was... terrifying. Like a frigid wind shuttering through him, quieting the alarms. He became inordinately cold and numb, all sensations from within his heart disappearing. And yet, this somehow was worse. He didn''t like it, the cold, the numbness. He would have rather taken the ache, keeled over, and broke his guts vomiting. But what was done was done; he''d taken a step forward in this world that there was likely no coming back from. However, in the solemn silence, staring right back at the lifeless, golden eyes, he swore an oath--one to himself, unspoken to the world. An oath that he would never again use Qi to calm himself. It was a slippery slope to becoming precisely what he condemned this world for. He quickly dug out a pair of shallow graves for the two and covered them up. It was likely that some animals would find them soon enough and all but swallow them up, but for the day or two, at least, it would suffice. Finished, he took a deep breath and, giving one last glance to the slightly protruding earth, he spun his body and headed back toward the camp. Two were down, but there were many, many more to go. Chapter 108 - Dread of the Night Chapter 108 Dread of the Night Breathing in... was fascinating. Azariel breathed in yet again, his lips unknowingly curling up into a smile. How long has it been? Thousands of years, perhaps? Locked up in destitute coffins, feeding on nothing but ethereal Qi, bodies encased in suspended animation, awaiting the day of their return. And that day came. It has been just about a week since he opened his eyes, feeling the world around him churn like a boiling pot of water. Though it took him an entire day to adjust and slowly restructure his muscles so he could move, it didn''t matter; just the fact that his feet touched wet, firm soil again, and that his fingers could trace across harsh bark of the trees, and that his lungs could expand fully with air--all those were more than enough of a motivation. He wasn''t alone in the belief, either; all his kin woke up with him, though they had lost two of the forty-four who were buried. It was a day long-awaited, and one they thought they''d have to wait for even longer. Whatever the cause was, Azariel swore he''d kneel in gratitude towards it, whether it was a man or a God. There were a lot of changes to the world from what he remembered, though those changes were expected; gone was the Silver City, buried under the sands of time. In its stead there was a forest, trees yielding to the azure sky above, expanding as far as the eye could see. It seemed all-encompassing, and for a brief few days he (as well as others) were under the belief that the nature had reclaimed the constructs of man, but chancing upon that which they loathed confirmed otherwise. If there were Spirits, there were men. The two were toxically bound to one another through an ancient covenant sealed with blood. As before, the animals were unable to harm them--even if they were all far, far, far stronger than Azariel and his kin, it did not matter. They could only yield and accept their ultimate fate--become the feed. As he had to use his cultivation base as an essential feed for all these years, he''d dropped all the way down to Qi Condensation Realm. With less than a week under his belt, he managed to climb to mid Foundation Establishment, ranking himself third of the group. Though he desired to stand on the top, he knew well enough that would never be the case; Noor Bai was the light bursting from the stitched skin of men, as in the past so in the present. They never had an equal among men, and they likely never would. By some miracle, they''d already reached the Peak of Core Formation Realm, just a breath away from breaking though. Even if it was infuriating, it was also strangely calming. In this unknown world, there was a wall to shield and protect them. "EVERYONE, CONVERGE AT THE BLOOD POOL IMMEDIATELY!!" the familiar voice tore through the camp, ripping apart Azariel''s eardrums and forcing him to gnash his teeth. That arrogance, unyielding indifference to everything but themselves, and the resonant voice... There was no man who would willingly neglect Noor Bai''s order--most would sooner die than do so--and within just a few minutes, everyone converged at the Blood Pool. Except... it wasn''t everyone. With two having not survived the Eons, there ought to have been forty of them--and yet, there seemed to only be twenty-seven. Even in the unlikely scenario that there was one or two outside the voice''s reach, and one or two more who decided to undergo their rebellious phase, it still wouldn''t make up for the missing numbers. Noor Bai stood at the front, their arms crossed, face and body covered as always--they used Qi to shore up their skin, turning it metallic-gray, and further layers of robes and clothes to hide who they were. Man, woman, young, old... nobody knew. Only one thing was certain: they were human, at the very least. "This," they stepped to the side, revealing a sight behind them that had Azariel retch--most others, though, yelped and keeled over, tossing their insides out. "Is worrying." "Is... is that Sister Nura?" somebody asked. "Yes, it is. I have found her during my patrol, buried in an extremely shallow grave, her head cleanly sliced off." "What?!" "Who did it?!" "How dare they?!" "Silence!" everyone obeyed the order. "It has got me thinking--sans the unspeaking Spirits, there is not a soul in this world aware of our awakening. And, if there truly is an Ancient Immortal who would know, if they cared, they would not be doing this, but rather killing us all with a thought." "..." Azariel''s frown deepened as he suddenly felt his guts turn in on themselves. There was a sense of foreboding in Noor Bai''s voice, and though their eyes were hidden as well, he could swear he sensed them looking his direction more than once. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. "Who, then? Who among the trees, beneath the sky, amidst the fanfare of life--who would want us gone? None! There are none! We are invisible, silent leaves aflutter in the woods!!" Azariel frowned further, feeling his heart quickening. That was the effect--the (raw or otherwise) charisma that they exuded. "But there is one--for our Feed is low, and for we are meek still, there are weak and strong." though Azariel wanted to turn heel and rip out of the crowd immediately, he felt himself unable, feet frozen to the ground. "Is that not right, Azariel?" all heads turned toward him, and he felt like suffocating beneath the weight of so many eyes. "I, I didn''t--" "--did you not? All but one who are missing were meant to Feed before you," the group parted suddenly as the stalwart figure began walking. "Who else, Azariel? We all know your petty heart, your wretched desires, your questionable loyalty. Were it not for the grace of your Mother, would you really have been given this gift? On your own merit?" -- Azariel wanted to curse, yet couldn''t even lift his head, sniveling almost beneath the invisible eyes. "Yet, you dare stand there and claim you did not. Who else? No one. Kneel." he did. "You are our kin, still--but the crime is one of blood, and flames of it everlasting. Tomorrow, at dawn, we shall offer your head to those you''ve felled. Let the grudges be thus settled." It was unfair. Entirely, completely, unmistakably unfair. And yet, it was all within expectations. Noor Bai loathed him, did so ever since Azariel''s Mother gave him the Spirit Feed that was meant for Noor Bai. If it wasn''t this, he knew, it would have been something else; he was unlikely to have a future here, but even less so a future out there. Though, he didn''t think it would come so soon--not the cold wrapping of the chains as those he called friends drove spikes through his bones and tangled his arms behind his back, dragging him to the platform. He felt magical energy erupt from within him and the gentle breeze lift him up, and he soon found himself eye-to-eye with the wolf they''ve hunted. The beast was silent, its gaze almost apathetic. It was impossible to break a Spirit--they were all aloof, proud, and as cold as the coldest ice. Even if they were driven full of spikes, drained of all their blood, and tortured from full moon to another, they would never yield. Sometimes, Azariel envied that--envied such conviction, one that he was never able to construct for himself. The wolf merely glanced at him for a moment before it closed its eyes, indifferent; could he blame the beast? While Azariel himself neither participated in the hunt nor fed just yet, were he given the opportunity he most certainly would have. That was how humans were meant to overcome their wretched flesh, their meek existence. If he''d drank, with his talents, he perhaps would have become too valuable to discard so coldly, all on the word of one person. Deep inside of him, darkness festered, a certain, unspoken yearning--whoever was taking the lives of his kin... he wanted to meet them, and ask that they part Noor Bai''s head from the neck. "Hah," he snickered coldly to himself. Noor Bai was entirely right in the assessment--he felt petty, he felt wretched. But his Mother always warned him--humanity was selfish, uninterested in the conduct of man. He ought to become the same, only ever in want of good for himself. In the end, words rang hollow. The night soon descended, and he noted some fifteen people walking around the edges of the camp, likely patrolling. They couldn''t even be bothered to pretend--none, seemingly, believed he was the killer, and yet they discarded him so quickly he wondered why they even let him wake up and live for a full week. Azariel was to close his eyes and bite his tongue; if there was one last defiance he could commit himself to, it was denying those bastards the joy of taking his life. He would do it for himself. However, before he could, a fading scream jolted his eyes open as he followed to the source--but there was only darkness. Others, torches up, raced over but seemed to find nothing. Noor Bai, too, emerged from the hut and joined them, barking orders soon after as the shadows scattered. There was another--and another right after, two in just a second or two. This time around, Azariel caught it--well, he caught the sight of something. A flash of light, a fading flicker, a silhouette that immediately bled into darkness as though it was never there. "WHO IS IT?!!" Noor Bai growled at the darkness, as though a voice would respond--to Azariel''s shock, it did. It was a person''s voice, oddly soft and melodic. "Let the wolf go," the voice said. "And leave this place. Forever." "Huh? Who the hell are you to give orders to me?! Hah, I see. That furred beast. Good. Good." Oh no, Azariel knew Noor Bai as well as he knew himself--if there was one thing they hated was having their pride challenged. It wasn''t that they were unbending, but that they were arrogant beyond measure. He saw the figure immediately bolt toward the platform and felt the energy dissipate, both around him and the beast. The two fell hard on the cold surface, with both yelping. Noor Bai ignored him, not even glancing at him, taking the beast by the collar and dragging out against the dirt. "Is this it, huh? Is this your goal? Ha ha, you bastard! I''ll cut you both up and stir you into a stew and feed it to the first stray dog that I find!" "..." "What is it, huh? Why aren''t you talking, you bastard? Come! You sniveling coward! Step out of the dark, if you dare!" As though beckoned by the words, Azariel saw the figure emerge from the shadows and step into the light--it was a man, perhaps in his thirties or forties, wearing simple robes. His appearance was rather unkempt and wild, and he held a sword in his right hand. Nothing screamed ''deadly killer'' about the figure, and yet Azariel felt his blood run cold when he looked into those eyes. They were aglow, buzzing with the fading vapors of milky-white, transcendent. Others, too, seemed revolted by the mere sight of those eyes, taking a step back, and Azariel saw something that he never saw in his life--he saw Noor Bai hesitate. "Put the wolf down," the man spoke yet again. "Take your crap, and get the hell out of this place." Oh no... "To hell with you!!" Azariel watched the mad cow squeeze his fingers into the wolf''s neck but, oddly, no beast''s yelping erupted. Rather, not even the cracking of the bones could be heard. It all happened in a flash, a flash that could not be seen, understood, or comprehended. Noor Bai''s right arm was missing--from shoulder down--and was bleeding profusely. The wolf was no longer with him, but rather by the man''s side who still stood at the same spot as before, except both his arms now held something. His right still clutched onto the blade which was now dripping blood, while his left... held a severed arm. "Huh," the man mumbled to himself. "You guys... are really weak, eh?" Chapter 109 - A Reckoning in Red Chapter 109 A Reckoning in Red Leo caught the words leaving his lips and, frankly, cringed at them ever so slightly. It wasn''t a feeling he often entertained as he found it ostensibly obnoxious, but every man or a woman who''d lived three decades and onward had those few moments, the ilk that crept into one''s psyche when the darkness fell, and caused the entire body to shudder. This one, he mused, might yet enter that library. While it was a genuine exclamation of surprise, it made him come off far more psychotic than he actually was. Rather, while he was ''ordering'' them to leave the forest, he was silently praying that they actually would, and more so for his sake than theirs. While he''d already killed quite a few, he found himself standing at the precipice of sanity at this point; any more, he felt, would have him careening into the bottomless abyss. And the fact that they were ''weak'' played a role in it, too--were they stronger, and had they put up a fight and turned it into one hellish struggle to survive, Leo might have been able to live with taking their lives much better. However, they were... weak. So weak, in fact, Leo suspected they weren''t even cultivators. Even when they saw him coming, they didn''t--they simply stood dumbly in place, as though he became a ghost suddenly, invisible to the naked eye, all while he approached and killed them. Even now, the man who stepped out--presumably their leader--was the same. No, that wasn''t it. It was the martial art--that much he had to admit. While he had no means of understanding where they fit world-wise, Leo wasn''t so naive to believe that the martial arts system gave him were as ordinary as their names implied. He''d picked up on Yue''s and Liang''s hushed whispers, especially when the young girl warned her older Junior Brother that the only time he was allowed to use the arts was if he fully intended to kill the other person. There was a secret betwixt the pages they were written on, one that made them what they were: something seemingly impossible to defend against. "AAAGGHHHH!!" the cloaked and hooded figure fell to their knees, grabbing the bleeding stump that was their remaining arm. Howly weakly reached out with his head and licked Leo''s ankle; looking down, the big eyes rounded out with a sense of joy and relief that cracked Leo''s heart even further. All of this was not just for Howly--but for all other animals, too. If he could chase them out of the forest without taking any more lives, it would be perfect. If not, however, he knew that he''d have to bear their ghosts upon his soul. "H-how... how?!!" they howled, eyes kindling with the colors of hatred. Leo winced at the gaze, almost taking a step back--it was mad, as though sanity had been drained and replaced fully by a burning barrel of oil. Howly growled and tried to stand up, but quickly hobbled back to the ground; the wounds were plenty, but at the very least the little thing(?) wasn''t in any immediate danger. He also recognized another thing--while he could let the rest of them go, their leader... he couldn''t. There was something deeply unnerving about those eyes, something that signaled all the alarms off inside Leo''s mind. Perhaps it was his gut feeling, or his instincts, or even some mythical properties of Qi warning him, but he knew that if he let the person go, he''d come to regret it someday in the future. As such, he took a deep breath and walked over, all the way in front of them. None of the other people dared move; some, even, stilled their breaths, watching with an odd level of anticipation. The kneeling figure kept their head high, teeth grinding into gums, one arm holding tightly onto the bleeding stump of the other. "... any last words?" Leo asked, partly out of courtesy, and partly because he wanted to see what it would feel like. He had to admit... he was not made for ''cool'' moments. For the most part, it felt as though he was playacting more so than actually commanding the presence with his words. However, perhaps because he so easily wounded their leader, nobody even snorted, let alone made a passing, snide comment. "Hah, where the hell did you come from?! Why is a human protecting these animals?! You''re a traitor! Traitor to your own Race!! You are betraying everything we built! Aren''t you ashamed?!" Leo was slightly confused but didn''t let it show on his face. He didn''t have time to reply either as the person quickly rambled on. "Go ahead, kill me! Do you think this is over?! Ha ha ha! Fat chance, you bastard! We are just one lone band! No matter how strong you are, you will die! As will all the bastards you''re trying to protect!" "So," Leo said. "I should kill all of you instead of letting any go, so that you don''t warn these other ''bands'' of my presence." "--ha ha, that''s right! Sully your soul further, you beast wearing human skin!" "You are rather swift at dulling out death sentences to your kin," Leo said. "Pray tell, which one of us is a beast wearing human skin?" "None of us are afraid to die! For our cause--" "--bullshit," Leo interrupted, feeling a bit angry. "Cause this, cause that. Only insipid maniacs like you can hide behind such bullshit claims. No one is afraid to die? Everyone is afraid of death, on one level or another. In a perfect world, one bereft of pain and suffering, would not everyone want to live forever? Indulge in all the pleasures? Who are you to so wantonly claim to know whether people want to live or die? Just because you went insane and had gone so far up your ass you''ve turned deaf to the world doesn''t mean that others have. I offered you the courtesy of the last words, but had I known they''d be dregs of the most childish stupidity, I wouldn''t have. So, I will make this rather simple," Leo looked away from the bulging eyes and toward the rest of them. "As I said, I will let you leave this forest. However, because of this moron, it now comes with a stipulation: you will have to swear a Soul Oath to forget not just me and this place, but to also hide yourselves away from the world for at least 100 years." Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. "..." just as everyone seemed ready to begin leaving, Leo raised his hand and added another bit. "And," he exclaimed. "You will, uniformly, kill your leader. All of you will stab at the same time, and if that isn''t enough, I will deal the last blow." "Ha ha ha, you''ve gone mad! You think your pathetic promises--" "--hush," Leo used threads of Qi to patch the lips together and force on the silence. "Nobody was talking to your demented self. If you truly do not want to do it," he added. "Kneel by their side, and I will make it quick. Speaking of quick, you have ten seconds to make a choice." Leo hoped that the combination of little time and hope for life would dissuade any remaining maniacs from offering their heads to him. And, from the looks of it, it worked--one by one, men and women began to raise their arms against their chest, mumbling softly an identical prayer, promising even more than Leo asked. In the end, they all drew their weapons and surrounded the figure whose eyes were spitting fire, lips in want of curses. It was evident this was beyond expectations--but there was no more time to distill it into reality. Leo, ultimately, was unneeded. Cultivators, for all their strengths, it seemed, were still made of flesh and bone--the rage and madness vanished from the eyes like a falling snowflake hitting wet pavement. The body toppled over, the others scattered, bowed toward Leo, and quickly disappeared between the trees. They''d split up into several groups, and there were some that even went out on their own, but Leo didn''t have the energy to care. He''d hope that the Soul Oath was as important as every person who visited him made it out to be. Perhaps, in the absolutes, it was a moronic decision to let them go. After all, they were ways to ''hint'' at his existence without outright mentioning him, and that would likely be more than enough to warn other groups of him. Perhaps he should have donned the crown of an executioner, killed them all, and learned to live with their ghosts. But there was always a but. In so many ways, for this world, he was a child. It was one way to frame his actions and make them make sense--unlike others, who grew up in conflict and strife, and were molded by it like blades pressed into anvils, he never had that. To him, death wasn''t a solution, a jubilant outcome that was to be celebrated. For this world, he was merely a few months and some change old--a baby, an infant ignorant of everything. In fact, even reframing his actions tonight chilled him ever so slightly--though he struggled, deeply, he still ended up taking nearly twenty lives. He killed nearly twenty people. An absolutely insane thought that turned him nauseous as soon as it manifested. But he held it back. Even if he wanted to preserve this naivety, at least to a degree, he understood that the world wouldn''t always be so kind to follow along. It would defy, fight back, and perhaps even try to burn everything that he was trying to build. And for that, he had to at least have the capacity to do what must be done. Ultimately, it was just excuses. Means of exorcizing the worming devils inside his mind, and grant him whatever little peace he could muster. He was woken from his drifting thoughts by Howly who bit into his robes and pulled him. "Ah, sorry, sorry," Leo quickly fetched some stew and fruit juice from the spatial ring and gave them to the wolf who happily gobbled it all up. Within moments, his flesh wounds healed up, and he seemed to have gained a new lease on life, standing up on all four and harking his head toward the sky, belting out a howl that shook the forest itself. "Damn, you''ve been holding that in, huh?" Leo was always aware that the wolf was rather... large. In fact, he was in competition, size-wise, with the mysterious black tiger. But it was never as evident as right now--the beast looked at him from the side, and they were almost level. In fact, Leo was barely a few inches taller, and he suspected that wouldn''t be the case for long. "... always," it was silent and unspoken, but Leo knew that Howly was thanking him. The former smiled, stretching out his arm and gently petting the top of the wolf''s head. "I''m sorry that it took me so long. I couldn''t hear you. Yeah, ha ha. We ought to be louder and freer. Hm? There''s another one?" Howly led him to the central platform where Leo just now noticed another silhouette trying to bury itself into the ground, away from his eyes. It was a rather short man--perhaps just barely five-two--with flaming red hair and a pair of silver-stained eyes. He was shaking, glancing up at Leo and immediately looking away every once in a while. Though the latter found it ever so slightly amusing, he wondered why nobody bothered to swing by and pick him up on their way out. "They left you, huh?" Hm? Can''t I just ask this guy where the other groups are? Hoh, aren''t I kind of clever, ha ha? Dispelling the arrogant thoughts, Leo crouched and undid the Qi binds on the man''s dantian and his arms, freeing him. "So," he added. "Will you join your leader, or will you come with me?" "... I--I''ll come with you!" the man exclaimed with a rather strange sense of joy, quickly jolting to his feet as though he was waiting for it. Leo looked at him oddly, wondering whether it was the best decision to bring someone like him back home, especially considering Shui''er was there. "Don''t make me regret it." "Never." "I''ve never trusted any one word less in my life." "..." "Anyway, let''s go," Leo said, but suddenly paused, awkwardly scratching his nose and glancing over at the wolf. "Howly, uhm, could... could you lead the way back? I... I''m kind of lost." both the wolf and the red-haired man looked at him in the exact same way, causing the kind of hurt that transcended physical. "Hey, don''t look at me like that! I was moving through the dark, and Chilly--you know, that damned crow? He gave me the directions! I had no idea where I was actually going the entire time! Aww, come on! Don''t go silent suddenly! That''s even worse than outright judgment! Howly? Hey, Howly? Uhm, please don''t tell the others. They already think I''m a directionally-challenged idiot. Yes, yes, I may have, on scant few occasions, gotten lost and needed someone to guide me, but, you know, it''s a big forest! And it''s big trees! And--ah, whatever. Let''s just go..." Chapter 110 - Bloodbound Oath Chapter 110 Bloodbound Oath Azariel thought plenty of things in a short span of time about a man for whose murders he was temporarily framed. When the man stepped out of the woods, only a sword in hand, and faced them all on his own, Azariel found him charmingly inspiring. Shortly after, though, when he made an offer that they left the forest and would be spared, he found him oddly naive. Right after, however, as he sliced Noor Bin''s entire arm off without Azariel ever seeing how, he felt deep terror cruise into his bones. It went back to ''oddly naive'' as he made his offer once again, though it morphed and changed as the offer itself did. It peaked when he ordered all other Maeu to kill Noor Bin together, and swear a rather strict oath. And there was the ordeal of the man offering him a chance at life--courtesy that his own people didn''t give him. "What''s your name?" the man asked as the two followed the wolf through the forest. Azariel thought that the man was joking, but it seemed more and more that he indeed needed the animal to guide them to wherever they were going. "Azariel, my Lord." "Stop." "Stop what?" "Your entire face screams ''desperate kiss-ass''," the man said. "Don''t try it. I hate it. Been dealing with it my whole life." "Khm." "My name is Leo, Azariel," the man said, his voice rather deep. "I hope you don''t have any designs for vengeance." "Oh, hardly my--I mean, hardly, Leo." "Why were you on that platform, anyway?" Leo asked. "I, uhm," Azariel felt a bit awkward, though decided to tell the truth. He always prided himself on the ability to read other people, and it was more than evident that the man in front of him appreciated truth more so than anything else. "I was accused of killing those, uh, the, you know, the ones--" "--you were framed for my murders?" "Yes." "Ouch." "Hm." "They must not have liked you much." "Not at all. Well, I thought they did. Some of them, at least; but Noor Bai--our leader--hasn''t liked me much for a long while. It was only a matter of time before my neck was on the line. If it weren''t for, you know--" "--my murders?" "Yes. If it weren''t for those, it would have been something else." "Even as they were leaving, none of them checked up on you." "No," Azariel felt the sting in his heart, lowering his head. It was shameful, even for him--none of his own people, his own kin, the very same souls that he was entombed with for thousands of years... none of them so much as raised their voice for him. "Or asked me to spare you." "... no." "Or even acknowledged your existence." Azariel looked up and saw the faintly fading smile on the man''s face; he seemed to be have been having fun, though, in truth, it looked like he was very much trying to hold back. At least, Azariel mused, he had that level of courtesy. "I was not supposed to be there with them, truthfully," Azariel said. "But my Mother insisted, in a way." "Speaking of being there," there it was, the beginning of the questions. Azariel knew that he would have to either tell the complete truth, or weave enough of it in his lies to make it sound believable. However, he didn''t know how the world changed in the days past, and more importantly, who this man was... and why and how he was so close to the Spirits. Azariel felt that, if he made even the slightest of moves, the wolf would immediately jump between them--not because the beast had the ability to main or harm (let alone kill), but simply because it would rather die than let something happen to Leo. That was the level of bond that even Daemoniums never managed to achieve. "How many of others like you are there?" "Hm?" "That leader of yours mentioned it, that others were out there as well," Leo said. "If that is the case, I need you to tell me how many, and if you know where they are. I can''t have what happened to Howly happen to anyone else." "Ah, that," Azariel mumbled softly. "Uhm, while there are quite a few of us, I wouldn''t necessarily worry." "What do you mean?" Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "What triggered our revival, you could call it, was presence of Origin Qi. Or, uhm, I suppose it''s more appropriate to call it Primordial Qi? Right, you seem to call it that. But, in truth, it was a mistake--we realized it as soon as we woke up. The amount of Primordial Qi is, well, there''s barely any. Just faintly fading traces. We woke up too early. If others did, too, they will have likely returned to their slumber. However, as our Clan was the poorest of all at the time, we had no means of integrating such a possibility into our Time Tomb. So, once we woke up... we were woken up. There was no going back." "You''re not lying?" "O-of course not! I swear an Oath upon my Soul--" "--alright, alright. Good to see some things haven''t changed in however many years you''ve been gone," he sighed in a strange expression of exasperation, one that Azariel did not understand, but didn''t push to understand either. "How much time do you reckon has passed?" "Unsure," Azariel replied honestly. "Our Paragon predicted that it would be at least ten thousand years before Primordial Qi returned. But it hasn''t been that long, I don''t think. While we weren''t conscious in the Tomb, we still had a somewhat relative sense of the passage of time. A few thousand years, at most, I would wager." ** Leo mulled over many things, but chiefly that he''d gotten himself tangled up into yet another thing. The forest was far from ''uninhabited'', it seemed, and it was only the matter of either time or perspective. He glanced back at the shifty-eyed Azariel, a name that certainly did not fit the naming culture he''d come across so far. It wasn''t entirely out of place either, however; after all, Leo had largely met people from the same culture, and though their appearances naturally varied, the nuances of race did not--they were all the same. He didn''t have a proper classification in mind, either; they were a mix, of sorts, and didn''t entirely fit in any of the racial structures Leo was aware of. Azariel, however, was different. Besides the flamboyant hair and the shorter, narrower structure of the body, the man also had a much wider neck, shoulders, and somewhat shorter legs. While the difference wasn''t anything like in the fantasy races, it was definitely in line with the differences among the early human species, for instance. As such, coming across names that did not fit the pattern was unsurprising, and would likely happen far more in the future. Especially if he continued to meet people from thousands of years ago. He was still desperately trying to wrap his head around it, though not well enough. If that were true (and he honestly had his doubts), then there was a good chance that Azariel was at least a descendant of the people Leo saw in the ghostly visions--and possibly those Lu Yang mentioned brokered a deal with the Spirits to ''break free'' from the First Demons. The history of it all was murky, and Leo was hardly willing to assign roles of blame to anyone. As with all histories, they were often distorted, misaligned, or simply made up entirely. While the strange man might offer an insight into what actually transpired, it was also entirely possible he was just... lying. Lying to curate mysticism around him, making it seem as though he was worth alive more than dead. Then again, there was the matter of Immortals--Yu Minge, for example, who at most looked to be in his fifties, was actually almost 200 years old. It was entirely possible that there was a cult of Immortals for whom a few thousand years truly was nothing. After all, passage of time was entirely relative--the more one lived, it seemed, the shorter the days, the months, and the years became. It was simply that the experiences that would ordinarily matter become numbly routine. If Leo experienced it before living even four decades, he imagined those living for ten times that and onward felt it far more. "How did you trap Howly?" that was the one question Leo absolutely needed an answer to, however. He''d come to realize that all his animal friends were... odd, to say the least, and, even if reluctantly, had accepted that they were likely far stronger than him. Chilly, especially, but the feathered thing seemed to be an even great exception. Based on what Leo saw and experienced, there was no way in hell they should have been able to trap him--after all, it wasn''t as though Leo was some sort of paragon of cultivation. He was a complete beginner who''d never truly fought, and yet he trounced them with ease. "Ah, uhm, it''s... it''s complicated," the man''s shifty eyes shifted further--ordinarily, Leo would see this as a sign of lying, but it felt... different. It was more that this was who Azariel was--doubtful, neurotic, and, yes, still shifty-eyed. "Uncomplicate it for me, then," Leo said. "How... how much do you know about the Arbiter--I mean, about Howly?" "--well, didn''t know much. I now suspect he''s some sort of God." "God? Ah, no, no, nothing quite like that. I said Arbiter, but, well, it''s an arbitrary name. Ha ha. Khm, yes, I agree, it is not that funny. In all honesty, I do not know the full story either--there was the Clansmen history that all children were taught. Long ago, humanity was on the verge of extinction because of the First Demons. The Spirits saw our suffering and offered a concord, and we accepted. Because of the guilt felt by the Spirits, in that they stood by and watched us suffer, they swore a collective Oath to never harm us--thus, if they are of the bloodline, even if they were not the ones who swore the Oath, they physically cannot attack us or do any act that could lead to our harm." "..." "I mean, I know--it''s... it''s just a story," Azariel chuckled rather strangely. "Though I never learned the full truth, I learned enough to know that we simply tricked the Spirits and used them to kill the First Demons and claim their lands as our own. All I know is that they cannot attack us, not unless we liberate them of that Oath." Leo fell silent, examining the man''s shifting eyes. As far as he could tell, it was all the truth--well, the man himself believed it all to be the truth. Leo sighed, looking away and to the front where Howly was sauntering gracefully between the trees. Just an hour ago, it felt, he was lying in his own blood, distraught and disheveled, shorn of all grace he held, and now... He''d already made a choice to take Azariel to the stele palace, as he called it, in hopes that the man knew to read the other languages. But that was a thing for another day. They returned just at the nick of dawn, the trees parting to reveal a singular home and some forty animals spaced around it. All turned their heads and faced them, their expressions distorting ever so slightly as their eyes landed on Azariel. Even Leo could see it, certain dejection with those eyes, a passing loathing even. However, none moved from their spots, looking away entirely. "They don''t like you," Leo said. "... can I blame them?" "Considering that if you do, I will beat you up until you don''t... yes, probably don''t blame them." "I know that you don''t trust me," Azariel said. "Good observation." "And they trust me even less. So," the man took a deep breath, abruptly fell to his knees, poured Qi into his throat and projected his voice into the world until it was booming. "I, Azariel Tian, of clear mind, heart, and soul, descendant of the First Men... release you all from your Oaths, for now and forevermore." Chapter 111 - Defiance of Natural Order Chapter 111 Defiance of Natural Order The nights within the Brooch were vastly different from above it, Yue noted. There was never silence--either it was the howling of the distant Demonic Beasts, clashing of the swords just outside the fort''s walls, or the chortling of the winds as they carved their way through the canyon and the surrounding tunnels, but it was never silent. She spent the entire night meditating instead of sleeping, something she hadn''t done for a long while. Even Liang appeared restless, waking up a few times before finally deciding to give up trying, joining her in meditation. Gon, on the other hand, seemed wholly impervious to the sounds--the old man flattened on his back as soon as the night arrived, and started snoring no more than three minutes later. He must have experienced these sounds thousands of times before, all until they''ve become mere background noise that hardly mattered. They''d delayed their departure a bit as Gon was promised there''d be better concoctions tomorrow, and had managed to reserve a batch for them. Yue and Liang emptied what few of the Spirit Stones they still had on them, a bit reluctantly at that, but it wasn''t as though they had any other places to spend it. Neither was particularly interested in any of the martial arts or weapons being offered, as they needed neither, and as far as defense items went... well, they had two that would likely rank number one and number two in the entire known world. As such, ensuring an ever so slightly safer passage down to the Sword was likely the best use of their Spirit Stones reserves. Master Leo''s apathetic indifference to wealth rubbed off on them slightly, as the man lived entirely off the land. However, this wasn''t the sort of place they could do that--if they hadn''t had a healthy reserve of the stew and fruit juice inside their spatial rings, they would have had to use the stones to buy food first and foremost. Gon woke up just before the crying of the roosters signaled the start of the new day. The old man stretched lazily and quickly washed his face before leading them to a nearby structure jutting out of the side of the cliff. At the counter was an elderly woman, perhaps older than even Gon, with whom the latter chatted for a brief few minutes, eventually leaving with something packed in white cloth. The old man kept it close abreast, stuffing it inside his coat, before leading them to the building standing opposite of it--wooden beams framed an arched entrance, and a somewhat fading scent of food just barely managed to evacuate the interior, inviting the hungry. As both Yue and Liang were cultivators (ones with access to the best food in the world, at that), they elected to simply accompany Gon rather than join him. The old man swallowed up two courses of rather expensive meat, guzzled an entire cup of ale, and even had a small desert to top it all off. Even Yue picked up on one simple fact--the man believed, with all his heart, that he would not return from this trip alive. He likely thought that Liang and her were just a pair of naive, desperate kids, and that it would be a miracle for them to even get halfway to the Sword, let alone all the way down to it. Ordinarily, that would have been the case--after all, a pair of kids in their twenties, both of whom seemed to be in Core Formation Realm (Master''s cultivation method was superb at masking one''s true realm, the two had come to learn), hardly seemed like the sort equipped well enough to handle the Cradle. Yue, however, was not afraid. After watching Liang''s battle (and calming down after), she''d come to a simple realization: she actually fought Liang a bit better than the Face Thief did. Admittedly, that was because she knew Liang inside and out whereas the Thief simply saw a kid without an insignia of a Sect, but that alone was enough to give her a burst of confidence. Though she would definitely lose to someone at Avatar Realm, dealing with Spirit Creation cultivators and beasts, and even some in the Fusion Realm, was entirely possible. Gon, of course, knew none of that. The man simply got tired of living, it seemed, and decided to make one last trek down the tunnels that he spent his entire life exploring. "Alright, let us depart," he proclaimed as soon as he was done, and the three left. Even Yue wasn''t blind or deaf to the looks and the whispers that accompanied their departure. She found it odd that none of the people in the fort even attempted to interact with them; at first, she chalked it up to it being the nature of this world. The two were newcomers, unknown, but it seemed that there was more to it than that, and Gon''s presence, at least partially, played a role in it. The trio left the fort quickly and began their descent. Well, ''descent'' wasn''t quite the right word--as before, the tunnels were largely flat, with the faintest of declines. They were also far darker, but also wider than the ones they trekked through on their way down. Though Gon ''led the charge'', Liang was at the front. Her Junior Brother''s countenance was rather relaxed as he sauntered through the darkness as though he was taking a trek back through woods at home, though Yue herself wasn''t as calm. She perked her ears and her eyes, and she watched for the flickering of every shadow she saw. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. It wasn''t even ten minutes into their journey that she felt a drifting wind from her back, prompting her to execute two arts within the span of a second--the movement one, which shuttled her sideways as if she teleported, dodging a dagger to her throat, and the attack one which swiftly decapitated the assailant. She caught a fleeting flicker of a confused expression on the middle-aged man''s face as the head rolled outward into the dark, stopped by Liang''s foot who glanced back for a moment before stomping it. "His face was familiar," Yue said, frowning. "Hm," Liang mumbled. "He''d been eyeing us all the way back in the fort. Not alone, either. There''s probably a few more that have intentions of attacking. Well, had, most-likely. Why''d you have to be so perfect, Senior Sister? Struggling a bit to lure them in... that''s the creed, no?" "Ah, so you like struggling, Junior Brother? Maybe I skewer your kidneys one night while you''re asleep. It''s a mighty struggle, I hear." "Forget the struggle. Perfect, clean execution, Senior Sister." "Yeah, yeah. Keep moving. Blood and stench might attract stuff we don''t need to waste energy fighting." ** Gon stayed silent, though was rather shocked inwardly. He, too, had noticed many people eyeing them. He knew well enough the three would be lucky to make it out of the fort''s outskirts, let alone any further. Truthfully, he came here to die--he found dying alone loathsome, so he figured he may as well do it with a pair of desperate kids. Two cultivators in their twenties, not associated with any of the major Sects, both at Core Formation Realm... though they were certainly talented, more so than most others, in fact, that was it. Talent was an idea, a concept, that had to be utilized and realized before it amounted to anything. Core Formation cultivators simply had no place hanging around in smaller clusters. They were porters for the massive groups of the hundreds, occasionally fighting if the reality permitted it, and silently cultivating. Though the man young girl just killed wasn''t famous, Gon knew him--he was at the peak of Spirit Creation Realm, and had been staying in the Cradle for the past eight years. And yet... he was killed like he was an insignificant bug. Alarms began to softly ring inside his mind, alarms that were silent for decades now. He used a flutter of Qi to clear his head and stop the effects of alcohol. Though he''d come here to die, if the kids could carve open a path to the bottomless abyss... would he not want to go there? Was that not his dream ever since that dreadful day? Even if he answered their queries with heartfelt honesty, it was more so a guide''s courtesy than anything else. However, if they were somehow one of those heaven-defying exceptions... why would he not use the scourge of their miracles to perform one of his own? "A new one, huh?" this time around, Gon didn''t even know what happened. One moment, it was silent and dark--the next, there was a body beside him, neck wrung opposite of where it ought to be, eyes round and wide, filled with horror. Gon knew this one too, and to his horror, the woman was at Avatar Realm. Avatar Realm. Though, yes, she''d only broken through a few months ago, it sent shockwaves throughout the entire Cradle, so much so that they even reached Gon. And yet, despite that, she died without Gon even seeing how. In the span of one sentence, before the voice even faded, she went from one of the most decorated and promising cultivators of the Cradle, to a nameless corpse meant to be devoured by the Demonic Beasts. Who the hell are these kids?! A question hung at the top of Gon''s mind, devouring him. The way he looked at the two changed, as did the stirrings of his heart. Neither appeared particularly bothered nor even excited to have done what they did, as though they''ve been doing it all their lives. "You okay, old man?" the man asked, startling Gon out of his thoughts. "Hm? A-ah, yes. Thank you for asking. Perhaps we should have been a bit stealthier." "It''s a good practice," the man seemed to shrug, tossing something overhead toward the girl. "How long will it take you?" "--about three days? There are some twenty arrays on top of it. She wasn''t just a nobody." "She wasn''t," the man said. "Though she erased most traces of it, there''s a good chance that she''s a Heavenly Pavilion Disciple. Or, at least, was at some point." "What? Really?" Gon felt his entire body shudder and shake as the girl asked with a faint surprise in her voice. "I thought they are unmatched." "Some of them are," Liang said. "But as with every place, there are the chosen, and there are the others. Pavilion''s unmatched would never come here, it''s pointless." "Right. Why would they? They''d have the entire world at their disposal. If that''s the case, there''s a good chance that unlocking the ring might alert someone, even if she''s a former member." "So?" "So, wouldn''t it be annoying to deal with them?" "I have nothing but bad experiences with the bastards," the man said with a trace of scorn in his voice. "Rather, it''ll be annoying for them to deal with us." "You seem to have a lot of folk you have... annoyances with," the girl said with a faint chuckle. The three never stopped moving, with Gon using Qi to disperse the breakout of cold sweat. "Says the one who has ''annoyances'' with her entire family." "Fair point. Ah," the woman sighed softly and, not a moment later, Gon saw another. This time around, she went for the heart, easily tearing through a piece of armor that the man likely counted on to stop precisely that from happening, and exploding the entire heart with overflow of Qi. The man seemed to manage one last gasp for life before dying, both in shock and confusion. "Oh?" the woman crouched by the body, tearing open the robes. "This one''s got an insignia." "A Sect Disciple?" the man raised his tone slightly. "Can''t be anyone of importance. Most Disciples see it beneath themselves to thieve and rob, especially here." "It''s the Moon," the girl said as the man paused for a moment. "Probably a defector, then. Last I heard, they''ve isolated themselves from the world." "Hm. Leave him," the man said. "Old man, do you have phobia about being carried?" "C-carried? No, why?" "If we walk at this pace, we''ll never get rid of these pests," the man said as Gon felt a rather broad and muscled arm wrap around his body and lift him. It was evident that the man was a giant from the onset--he was at least twice as tall as Gon himself--but being ''cradled'' in his arms... in a strange way, it was akin to a father cradling his baby. At least size-wise, in fairness. "So, keep the instructions brief and direct. Senior Sister, you think you can keep up?" "If I don''t, I''ll just go back home without you." "... that''s just mean." "You started it." "Alright, fair. I will keep it at 60%. I can''t spoil you any more than that." "Aah, I''ll have to ask Master to beat you until you''re bruised from your toes to your head once we go back. You do deserve it, you know?" "Ha ha ha, I suppose I do. Okay, I''m off. Hang on tight, old man." Chapter 112 - Young Hearts Chapter 112 Young Hearts Darkness was terrifyingly heavy, Mei felt. She kept sinking lower and lower, as though she were drowning in an ocean--but it was not made of water, no. After all, no matter how hard she flapped with her arms, she met no resistance, certainly not the kind the water would make. She continued to fall, deeper and deeper, sinking to the depths unfathomable. At some point she became certain that this was what death felt like--no, rather, what death was. She had died, having drained herself entirely of Qi after using that dagger, all as a selfish act of defiance. No, you won''t save me! I will save you! Did she save him? It was uncertain. Possibly, at least. She didn''t know when, but she stopped sinking--instead, she remained suspended in place. In time, even the cold began to wither back, receding from the tips of her toes and fingers, warmth slowly surging through her like a current. And just as she sank, she began to float back up--again, not through water, not through air, through something entirely intangible. Up and up, she was floating, a liberated cloud against the azure sky. A fleeting bird migrating between the sword-tipped mountains. A cascade of smoke arising into infinity. Free, unrestrained, liberated from all chains of mortality-- --Mei snapped her eyes open and, by instinct, sat up. Her eyes danced all around her, though she couldn''t see anything. For a moment, she believed she had been tricked, and that it was all a mirage. However, a resoundingly sweet voice came soon after. "... Mei? I mean, Senior Sister Mei?" she turned her head toward the source and gently poured some Qi into her eyes. He came into focus soon after, darkness around him retreating, the figure embossed with light. He had a worried yet relieved expression, his hair oily and permeated with dirt. In tiny little ways, he looked kind of funny--as far as possible from the imposing image she had of him as he dominated all of their peers on the stage. "Senior Sister Mei!" their brief stare-off was ended swiftly as the other two sounded out from the darkness. Mei nearly fell sideways as the full weight of Lya''s young (though still almost-adult) body came crashing into hers. "Ah! You startled me!" "Sorry! I''m, I''m just glad you''re okay..." "... I''m glad you guys are okay, too," though she knew everyone could see irrespective of darkness if they just poured some Qi into their eyes, she chose to believe otherwise, expressing her heart in a rare instance of vulnerability, hoping others would not see it. "Where are we?" "In the tunnel," Lya replied. "Xiang Tao hid us after the fight, and we''ve been staying here since." "You two okay?" she asked, looking over at Song who sat by Shen Tao. "We''re fine," the two replied almost in unison. After a bit more reassuring and a few words of acknowledgement, Lya and Song seemed to relax--and, as soon as they did, slumped on top of each other and passed out. Though cultivators didn''t need to sleep, that didn''t mean they were immune to psychological tiredness--stress, worry, anxiety, they all worked almost the same way on their bodies as they did on mortals''. In time, the body needed a complete reset--especially for those as young as Song and Lya. Mei smiled faintly as she watched the two, inspecting her body simultaneously. Her expectations were that, at the very least, her meridians were shattered. But... they were fine, even slightly better than they were before. Looking at the remaining aftershocks, she quickly recognized it--things from the Forest. Master Leo must have given at least some to either Lya or Song--likely Lya--and she used it on her. It was a debt that Mei would never be able to pay, and yet it was the sort of debt that Lya would never seek payment for. In time, her head turned back toward him yet again. He was nibbling at some dried jerky, leaning against the wall. It was true, she felt, that the strongest bonds of them all were forged in the fires of strife and agony. Though she was still unable to trust him unconditionally like she did with Lya and Song, she trusted him now more than any other Disciple save for perhaps Liang. He could have likely left and escaped on his own if he wanted to. Rather than wasting all the treasures his Father left him in a desperate bid to save her--them--he could have used them to simply disappear. "Thank you," she mumbled it, speaking from the bottom of her heart. "The kids saved you," he replied nonchalantly. "Fruit juice, they called it I believe." "Hm. We had some when we went to the Nameless Forest." "Oh." "From what I saw, it''s a concoction made of some twelve or thirteen herbs and fruits, the most common of which was Lythernium Fruit." "The world may as well end, with you calling Lythernium Fruit ''common''." "Which should tell you everything about the rest." "Hm." "You could have escaped on your own, you know?" she queried, looking away. "... I know. But I got us into this mess. I don''t know. It didn''t feel right, leaving." This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. "Is that really all there is to it?" she probed further. "... what else could it be?" he paused, his voice uncertain. She looked back up from the floor and at him, and he quickly looked away, his red-stained eyes shimmering faintly. "I wonder," she mumbled. "The Heavenly Pavilion Disciples...?" "Dead," he replied rather curtly. "... hm," though she should have been joyful, she found it hard to muster any happiness within. Of all the places to tangle with, Heavenly Jade Pavilion was the worst. Not only were they by far the strongest Sect of the Lower Ashlands, they were rather particular about their Disciples dying, even those that were relatively unimportant. Though they never intervened when their Disciples caused trouble (rather, rumors were that the Seniors in the Sect encouraged it), when the script was flipped, they would go scorched earth. "Don''t worry. They will have no way to pinpoint it was us," Shen Tao said as though having read her mind. "What if they do, however? My actions will have brought an enemy to the Sect''s doorstep." "If the Sect is so weak as to fall apart over something like this, then perhaps it should not exist." "You--" "--all I''m saying," he interrupted her outburst. "Is that Holy Blade Sect--for all the loathing in my heart toward it--had endured plenty, and far worse than whatever this is. While it''s true that the Pavilion is the strongest around, and that they like throwing their weight about it, they don''t desire needless wars either. The primary reason why they became the strongest was that they hadn''t actually participated in any meaningful, large-scale conflict since their inception. While the rest of us squabble for the resources and kill each other over past grudges, they simply stare on from behind the walls, sneering. Even if they do learn that it was us, they''ll simply ask for our lives as a recompense--in the event that your Sect Master protects us, they''ll then request some Spirit Stones and a written apology or something." "That''s rather optimistic," Mei scoffed. "I am not a complete moron, you know?" "I never said that." "Nor a child you need to baby with opportune outcomes." "Certainly didn''t say that." though he said so, his voice wavered. Mei bit her lips, looking back down at the dirt. Even if his words were ever so slightly comforting, they were ultimately just tiny little white lies, and she knew as much. "What now?" she asked. "I don''t know," he replied. "This is my first time in the realm as well, you know?" "Right." she sighed. "And, technically, you''re my Senior Disciple. Now that our guide is dead, you have the most seniority." "You''d fit perfectly at the Pavilion, I must say." "A compliment?" he arched his brow, asking. "Take it as one, if you have no conscience," she scoffed. "Are you alright?" "Took you long enough to ask." he said. "I''m fine." "... you could have likely taken the fruit juice for yourself. If you''d done so, your roots would have mutated and evolved." "I know." The two fell silent yet again, with Mei stealing a few glances toward him. She''d been interested in men before, naturally--well, not men, mostly boys when she was younger. Though she''d never openly chortle and gaggle in their presence, she''d silently think certain things to herself. Like most of her Sisters, she fancied Senior Brother Liang--strong, stout, tall, and handsome. She''d never outwardly admitted it, however, and only ever accepted it in the deepest, darkest silence of her own heart. Love, and even the fluttering feelings that simply denoted its beginnings, was a distraction. She''d seen it plenty in the Sect; Senior Sisters with grand potential getting caught up in the troves and thorns of a heartache, never realizing themselves. But, try as she may, she could never entirely close herself off--and she tried. Her icon in that department was Elder Xiaoling--the woman was curt, abrasive, and cold to everyone: men, women, boys, and girls. She seemed entirely unbending when it came to her pursuits, alien to the matters of love. There was always a voice, however, a teeming whisper within. That unfulfillment, after all, was meant to be fulfilled--such was the nature of a human, mortal and otherwise. Once again, she found herself wondering, and slightly yearning. "I recall a marriage proposal," she spoke rather brazenly as he seemed to wince. "From the Bloodmoon Sect. Sealed with the highest order insignia." "..." "Truth be told, I tossed it into the drawer with the rest of them," she said. "There were too many, and I just... didn''t care." "Hm." "I''m sorry." "For what?" "For at least not replying properly," she said, pulling her knees against her chest and resting her head on top of them. "In fairness, though, it was probably for the best." "Why so?" "Because I hated you at the time," she said. "Well, not so much you as I hardly knew you as a person. I simply hated who you were--talented, bright, aspiring, talk of the entire world that I knew. I lived all my years as a Disciple in your shadow, never even coming close to catching you. I''d have thought you were simply mocking me which, I suppose, you were doing at least in part." "... it wasn''t my idea," he said after brief silence. "Father suggested it, saying it would have been a way to mediate differences at least for a generation." he was rather awkward, Mei noted. There was a distinct lack of confidence in his voice, confidence that was otherwise at the forefront of everything. She found it rather surprising as she entirely expected him to be completely used to women--most young men their age, even back in the Holy Blade Sect, have ventured to brothels at least a few times, and considering that Shen Tao was the Sect''s Holy Son, there was seldom a lack of women willing to be with him, even for the faintest of chances that something might come of it. Or, perhaps, even just for the bragging rights that they had been with him. "Ever since the Sect took me in," she spoke. "All I wanted to do was cultivate. Day, night, endlessly. It was the one thing I could control in my life--getting stronger. If I had to leave the Sect, I left it to find something I needed for cultivation. If I needed to speak with someone, I either asked for an advice or directions. You probably noticed it even in just the few days you spent there, but... I have no friends. I have plenty of acquaintances, admirers you could call some, and such, but no true friends. But when the attack happened, and when we were madly dashing toward the Forest, I realized... I didn''t truly have a reason to live. Not past not wanting to die, at least. Yes, there was the gratitude toward my Master and the Sect, but that wasn''t so much a reason to live as it was an obligation of being alive." "Friends are overrated," Shen Tao scoffed. "... I thought so, too," she chuckled, smiling lightly as he finally turned his head and faced her yet again. "Cultivation will always come first to me, I feel, until either I''ve died or become the strongest in the entire world." "Big dreams you have there." "The biggest," she laughed. "But... you know, it doesn''t have to be the only thing that I have. And it doesn''t even have to come first all the time. I can afford a moment or two of levity." "Good luck with that dream," he said. "Because, as long as I''m alive, I don''t plan on handing the future title of the world''s strongest to anyone." "Ha ha, is that so?" "Though, I suppose, in some strange scenario," he muffled his voice. "I wouldn''t mind sharing it..." While the two became rather awkward abruptly, uncertain what to say or even where to look, they were entirely oblivious to the fact that neither Lya nor Song had fallen asleep. The two kids were buzzing inwardly, their cheeks flushed with blood to the point they seemed closer to salamanders than people. It was simply too awkward, and even the rather bombastic revelation that Xiang Tao was, in fact, Shen Tao--Bloodmoon Sect''s Chosen--was not enough to combat the sheer level of awkwardness one felt when watching others profess... love? No, it wasn''t love--not really. Love ought to have been more gentle and subdued, Lya felt. It certainly was something bordering it, she figured, though she swore she would take the fact she was awake to her grave, and force Song to do the same. Chapter 113 - Funny-Looking One Chapter 113 Funny-Looking One Azariel endured a stare of a young girl the best he could, which was not that well, in all fairness. He''d never been good with children (he''d never been good with adults, either, but children especially), as he found them strange, unpredictable, and relentlessly honest. And yet, a child stared at him with obvious curiosity in her eyes. Beside her was an older man who seemed equally curious, though wasn''t as apparent about it. The three sat around a roaring fire while Leo moved between several black pots of boiling water, tossing in mouth-watering herbs and vegetables. The silence was palpably heavy, but Azariel didn''t know how to break it. "You look funny," the girl said. There it was, the staggering honesty. Azariel didn''t think he looked funny, not really--everyone looked more or less like him, with varying degrees of attractiveness, of course. However, compared to Leo or her or even the older man beside her, Azariel did look a bit funny, at least. "Hm, I do, yes." "Were you bullied?" his heart bled as he caught from the corner of his eyes Leo''s shoulders jumping up and down. "I knew this boy, Tan. He was funny-looking, too. Other boys bullied him, a lot. One time I had to step in and yell at them because he was bleeding! Made him even funnier-looking, though." in some ways, Azariel would have preferred if she outright just called him ''ugly''. It would have hurt, sure, but being called ''funny looking'' hurt even more, somehow. "No, I wasn''t bullied," he said. "Others... were funny looking, too, in my town." "Lucky." whether she intended it or not, the girl had great talents for tearing down one''s confidence. Azariel saw a future in which she became one of those renowned bards, though he prayed she would ease up on him, at the very least. "Don''t be mean, Shui''er," Leo said as he joined them, sitting down for a moment and lightly caressing the girl''s head. "I''m not?" she was a natural, it seemed. It was even worse. "You are," Leo said. "Unless they are mean to you, you can never comment on anyone''s appearance, okay? No matter how funny looking they are." "Really?" "Hm. You never know what they went through. What if, for instance, the person had a scar right on their face. They''d look funny too, no? But then you learned they got that scar because they were protecting somebody they loved. What if I got a scar protecting you? Would you call me funny-looking, too?" "No! Never!" she quickly exclaimed, tossing her arms around Leo. "You''re the handsomest! Always will be!" "What about Grandpa Yang, Shui''er?" "Uhm, you''re, you''re handsome too, Grandpa..." "Wow." "See? It''s not just you, Aza," Leo turned toward him and said, prompting Azariel to chuckle faintly. He knew already--children were so, always were. Honest, especially if the world allowed them to be. That alone told more about this place than anything else--the girl seemed fearless, unbothered, and unperturbed. She was not skeevy over a stranger, she wasn''t reserved, she didn''t flinch at the sound his voice... How enviable, Azariel thought, recalling his own early years and how different they were. "Ah, there are you guys. Hm? Did you get scared because of this scrawny guy? Ha ha, don''t worry, don''t worry. He means no harm. And if he does, I''ll beat him black and blue until he doesn''t. Right, right. Yes, very much." Looking around, Azariel saw a convergence the likes of which he''d never seen before in his life--there had to have been nearly a hundred Spirits, old and young, surrounding the small camp. Large, small, misshapen and proportioned, they seemed apprehensive at first, but Leo''s words calmed them. He truly seemed to be talking with them rather than at them, though it could just be the way he was. No matter how much they tried (and they tried plenty, especially before the rebellion if the writs were to be believed), no human had ever managed to communicate with a Spirit on any larger level than they would have with any one mortal animal. And yet, there stood a man before him, thousands of years later, seemingly capable of not just understanding them, but also having them ''obey'' him without the Covenant. "Here," inevitably, the dinner was served--first to the litany of animals and Spirits that lined up rather neatly without causing any fuss, then to the young girl, the old man, and eventually Azariel himself. He thought he''d get some dregs at the most, but he got the exact same meal everyone else was eating--a vegetable stew that caused Qi within him to stir even at the mere sniff of it. His stomach growled at the same time, and the young girl exploded into laughter while the older two barely held it in. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Azariel took the first spoonful and, on the most primal level, began to understand why the Spirits were so subservient to the man. If he could eat this every day... wouldn''t he, too, kiss the boots of the man with a wide-strained grin on his face? Of course he would! Shame, in the face of such potential, had no place! If he ate this stew every day, not only would his meridians and dantian grow twice, thrice, perhaps ten times stronger, there was even a chance of his Spiritual Roots--no, it was happening. He put down the plate and sat cross-legged, closing his eyes and chanting the mantra inwardly. Unbeknownst to him, his body began to float, golden threads of light extending like tendrils from his frame. ** Leo reached out and gently pulled Shui''er back. The girl was becoming more and more mischievous, he mused, and was on her way to likely poke Azariel''s sides. She pouted for a moment, but was soon distracted by the rather brilliant golden hues emitting from the newcomer. By now, Leo had understood the root of this--his Spirit Roots were likely evolving, or at least mutating. Though Leo himself never experienced such a phenomenon, it was probably because the system simply ''upgraded'' his roots without any of the fanfare. "Aren''t you afraid he might betray us?" Lu Yang asked as the trio continued eating. "Always," Leo said. "But... I don''t know. He seems the lot who is more loyal to himself than any one cause." "Those are the most dangerous," the old man warned and Leo faintly smiled. "In a way. But they''re also the least dangerous in another," he added. "So long as you satisfy whatever their innermost greed is, they''ll remain loyal." "And you know what his is?" "There is a saying in my hometown," Leo said. "A child unloved by the village and in want of its embrace will burn it down to feel its warmth." Lu Yang listened keenly as Leo continued. "From what little he spoke of his life, it seemed he always held a yearning for the most quintessential thing a human would want." "Power?" "Family." "Oh." "Odd where you mind wanders," Leo said, glancing at the old man. "Considering you sacrificed your life to save your family." "Khm. Merely a momentary lapse." "Of course. The point is," Leo said. "He''s become one of those people pleasers in a desperate attempt to get others to like him and let him be one of them." "And he wasn''t?" "I''m sure he was, on some level," Leo said. "But not enough. I don''t believe in unwavering loyalty, anyway. It''s imperative to be selfish, lest you let the world take advantage of you." "Odd where you--" "--yes, yes, somewhat of a hypocritical contradiction," Leo interrupted with a sigh. "But, tell me, who to profess whatever platitudes but those in positions privileged enough to never have to defend them? Only the rich can say ''money cannot buy happiness'', only the satiated can say ''abstaining from food is sometimes good'', only those with a house can proclaim ''I sometimes want to sleep under the stars''. I''m the same. I am privileged enough to not need to be selfish. Thus, I always hope to never have to defend it." "Indeed," Lu Yang said. "I was largely the same, I recall. Regardless, I''d still be careful. We know so little about him, and even less of his circumstances. I still have grave doubts in my heart that what he is saying is even true--though there always existed rumors of ancient clans, there were rumors of ancient ''everything''. Tombs, graveyards, lakes, fruits, realms, dragons... in all instances, I feel, they were either stories woven by bards for a coin or two, or rumors spread out by bandits and such to lure the hopeful to their demise." "... I was thinking of taking him to the steles," Leo said. "Do you want to come?" "I''ll pass," Lu Yang said with a grunt, not looking too well for a moment. "But it will be a good test. If he truly is as ancient as he claims, he will have to know the language." "Hm." "I''ll stay back and watch Shui''er. Unless you want me to come." "Show her how to tend to a garden and such," Leo said, patting the young girl yet again and drawing her back out from her golden-light-inspired haze. "She ought to start working a little bit, huh?" "Me? Working? Yes!" the young girl exclaimed, standing up rather flamboyantly. "I don''t want charity! I will work and pay for my meals!" "Wow," Leo exclaimed softly. "Were you excited about work at her age, old man?" "Are you kidding me?" Lu Yang scoffed. "I used to bribe my maid to lie to my Father about where I was." "Well, our Shui''er is special, huh?" the young girl beamed and planted herself on Leo''s lap, rocking back and forth and humming. "Alright, you have entertained her enough. How was it?" Azariel landed and awkwardly scratched the top of his head, looking away. Leo noticed that the circulation of Qi had simplified sometime ago, which meant that the man was likely faking it to listen in on Leo''s and Lu Yang''s conversation. "Forgive me; I didn''t mean eavesdrop." "You did." "Yes, indeed. I very much did." "Why even bother lying if you''re going to confess at the slightest pressure?" Leo quizzed. "It''s in my bones, I''m afraid," he chuckled. "I will try to work on it." "No, it''s fine. Considering how awful you are at lying, you may as well be telling the truth all the time, anyway." "Oh." "So, you''ve heard it, where I''m taking you." "The steles, yes," Azariel nodded. "Thirteen arranged inside a big hole and around a well?" "You know the place?" "Everyone knows the place," Azariel smiled faintly. "We used to call it ''Cradle of Death''. I''ve never been there--by the time I was born, the area was considered sanctified, and only False Immortals were allowed to go there. From what my mother told me, though, the last Demon erected those steles as we were closing in on them, and supposedly wrote Thirteen Truths that, once spoken aloud into the world, would unleash horrors that resided within the Well." "... right." "It''s a tale, ''s far as we could tell," he added quickly. "Supposedly, quite a few people went into the Well in search of this horror, but it was just an ordinary well. And as far as steles go, I''ll probably be only able to read one--the ''main one'' was written in the Common Tongue that every human and demon at the time knew, but the remaining ones were all written in the demon''s Ancient Tongue. There were some rumors that a pair or two survived and went into hiding, but... it''s unlikely. For all intents and purposes, the language, even in my time, was considered extinct." Chapter 114 - Historys Buried Secrets Chapter 114 History''s Buried Secrets Leo and Azariel walked in silence, weaving between the trees, escorted by wind alone. Though the man had already said he''d only be able to read one of thirteen, Leo still decided to take him there, for no other reason than to perhaps trigger another phenomenon. If not, then stretching their legs was as good a reason as any. He walked at the front, with the man lagging three paces behind no matter how Leo himself moved; it wasn''t something that a person was born with, or a natural talent, but a habit picked up over years and years of being in someone''s shadow, scurrying about, following them, trying to match their pace. Leo was hardly a psychologist--though the years of privilege taught him a lot when it came to how people behaved in those circumstances. As such, he could only make vague guesses, most of which were likely wrong, but beyond all that, his gut feeling, as it were, told him that Azariel, even if a bit skeevy and shifty-looking, wasn''t a bad person. Someone being ''bad'' or ''evil'' was sort of quantitive in Leo''s eyes--one action made person a neither... up to a point, of course. However, in his experience, saints and sinners alike danced the fence the best they could, trying to navigate life''s river just like everyone else. Azariel may as well have done some dubiously evil things in the past--he may as well have participated in that war that haunted Leo''s dreams, one that he had to revisit every night, though, from the sounds of it, it was a bit before his time. Even still, no one''s soul was clean; Leo would not judge him based on that, as he knew well enough how it felt to be judged. Back on Earth, it felt that no matter what he did, in the eyes of the world he would always be the person he became in his teenagehood--reckless, angry, bitter, drunkard, spoiled. There was a time in his life where he tried to rehabilitate his image: he stopped going to the parties, stopped showing up drunk in public, stopped spending, but it didn''t matter. It never does. "What was your guys'' goal?" Leo broke the silence as they made it halfway through. "If I hadn''t shown up, I mean." "I''m not sure," Azariel replied. "As I said, we woke up too early. We had to restart our cultivations anew, but because of the Qi''s scarcity, none of us would have gone beyond Fusion Realm, I imagine. Noor Bai was the leader, so I genuinely don''t know what their plan was--a wild card, that one was. Possibly to stay hidden, try to locate the source of Primordial Qi and feed from it directly, or try and ''tame'' as many Spirits as possible to act as a buffer." "How did you guys survive for thousands of years, anyway?" Leo quizzed. It was one of those questions that he just had to ask. "By dying." "Huh?" "You know how some animals hibernate through winter and such?" "Yes." "It''s something like that," Azariel said. "We discarded everything non-essential, tapering ourselves off until there was but a smidgen of a soul left. That smidgen couldn''t think, feel, or process anything, of course, but it contained all that we were. Things were put in place to reconstruct our bodies around it and, well, that''s how. It''s a rather ugly experience, somehow worse whilst being reconstructed than deconstructed. Then there was the Seal... I, uh, I don''t know anything about it, honestly, just that it was functionally the core of what kept us alive." "Sounds like hell." Leo rolled his eyes gently. Just how many people back on Earth would have paid literal hundreds of millions to ''suspend'' themselves until tech could give them immortality? Anyone who could afford it, Leo garnered. "Can... can I ask you some questions?" Leo glanced back at the fidgety man, smiling faintly. "Fire away," Leo said. "Though, I must warn you, I''m not the right person to ask." "Why?" "I haven''t left these woods since I was born," though a lie, it was technically the truth. "So, my knowledge of the outside world is as fleeting as it''s barren." "Oh, that''s alright. I, I don''t really care about the outside world," Azariel said. "Rather, I can probably imagine it." "How so?" Leo quizzed. "There are perhaps one or two Earthly Immortals among humans," Azariel said. "Heralded by everyone as the strongest. In reality, they''re probably stuck in the In-Between, living out their hell, day in and out. Everyone else, False Immortals included, basks in whatever tiny bit of cultivation they managed to achieve. Technology has barely progressed, we still cling to the Hidden Realms for most of the ''exotic'' things, we are still wholly ignorant to the world outside the Ashlands." Leo didn''t know how right or wrong the man was, though he was curious as to why he felt that way. As though reading his mind, Azariel continued. "This, uh, this is something my mother told me, in absolute confidence," he spoke rather awkwardly and slowly, as though he were revealing the world''s greatest secret. "According to her, there were about five people alive at the time who knew, and none who were heading into the ''future''. According to her, it was a secret everyone wanted buried, but... not her." "Suspense properly achieved, tension is there, get to the point already." "Ah, sorry, it''s a--" "--habit, yes, I figured. But here, and now, you''re not a bard or a storyteller in want of attention, and I''m not a hulking mass of flesh that won''t give it to you unless you entertain me." "... harsh." Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. "But true?" "Mostly harsh," Azariel shrugged, letting part of his true self slip for a moment, prompting Leo to grin. "Continue." "I imagine that the standard tale everyone believes is that the Demons subjugated us, enslaved us, and exploited us until we were barren of flesh and weak in our bones. That they used the Spirits to torture us, and that they laughed at our peril." "Something like that, I hear," Leo said. Lu Yang, certainly, seemed to have deeply believed one version of that reality. "You don''t believe it?" "... I don''t know," Leo shrugged as he slowed down, forcing Azariel to finally join him, the two walking side-by-side. "I caught a glimpse of a world long-gone, and it didn''t seem to me like you were being exploited. Nobody else seems capable of seeing or hearing them, but, at night, apparitions and ghosts come out into the woods, wailing--wailing for me. And I meet them, in all their grief and pain, and I offer them a respite. In return, they let me catch a glimpse of the past forgotten--armies of men, thousands strong, marching and burning. Could be that I was just shown selective bits, but it never seemed like it was a march of desperation, but rather a march of conquest." "It was," Azariel said; whether the man believed Leo or not (when it came to ghosts), he didn''t let it show on his face either way. "March out of conquest, I mean. While it''s true that we weren''t abused, and that we were generally looked after, we were decidedly not the Demons. Even if it was silent, it was still a form of discrimination--they believed so, at least. Any time they asked for more, they were given half of what they wanted. But, you know people..." "It was never enough?" "They wanted everything," Azariel said. "The gold, the gilded palaces, the fertile lands, the massive castles and forts, the pretty dresses, the bejeweled blades and shields, everything. The way my mother told it to me, they started off small--pretending to be hurt in front of the Spirits, having injured themselves beforehand, but ''offhandedly'' mentioning that the Demons probably didn''t mean it. Bit by bit, the Spirits grew restless. Though they are smart, incredibly so, they are still, at their hearts, animals. They have no concept of deceit, false intent, or trickery. So, they believed the humans. The entire thing was decades in the making, but, according to mother, it would not have truly mattered." "How so?" "How strong would you say you are?" Azariel suddenly asked, prompting Leo to fall silent. How strong was he? Far weaker than the man was imagining, most likely. Leo himself knew that he was probably stronger than his cultivation realm implied, but not by much. "Not that strong," Leo said vaguely. "Why?" "Oh." "Expected something else?" "Most cultivators of your strength cannot wait to revel in sharing the soul-exhausting depths of their strength..." Azariel muttered, seeming even a bit disappointed. "I''m the strongest man around," Leo sighed. "I can flick a finger and kill everyone in fifty miles around me." "That''s more like it," more and more of him was coming through, Leo mused silently. "The reason I asked is simple: even if you truly were the strongest human in the Ashlands, even stronger than the scant few Earthly Immortals, it would not have mattered. Per mother''s words, humans had nearly a hundred Earthly Immortals, but one Demon alone was enough to kill them all, and do so without much struggle." "Then how?" Leo frowned; though the ghosts in his visions were impressive, and clearly far stronger individually than any of the people, they never seemed ''godly'', as it were, which was what Azariel was implying. "Because humanity lucked out," Azariel said. "Unbeknownst to them, the reason why they were never incorporated fully into the Demons'' lives, is because, elsewhere, there was a war raging on. While the humanity was concocting ways to crown themselves, the Demons were fighting a war of survival--not just for themselves, but for the entire Ashland." Leo''s ears perked up as he listened to something that likely only one or two other people in the entire world besides the two of them knew, if that. "Mother called them the ''Outsiders'', beings beyond this realm. The truth is," Azariel added with grave weight in his voice and tone. "There is no world beyond Ashland. The dark oceans surrounding the landform go on forever. Rather than part of a greater world, Ashland is all there is to it. It''s a Hidden Realm, a pocket dimension, an inconsistency existing between the worlds." "..." though Leo was shocked plenty of times since coming to this world, this was perhaps the first time he was ever shocked into silence. He didn''t know what to say, professing deep within that, perhaps, Azariel''s mother was just making it up. For what reason? He couldn''t even pretend to care. "Hah, I know," Azariel scoffed. "Don''t think for a second I believed her. It made no sense. But... it did. That''s how the humanity, ultimately, emerged victorious--all of the strongest members of the Demons, those who have transcended the Immortality itself, had perished in the war, defending this place. Those left behind were ''children'', effectively, and with enough bodies and enough time, and with a lot of help from the Spirits... the humans, just barely, emerged victorious. That was when they learned everything. Fortunately, the war was over--the Demons ''won'', if you could call it that. They repelled whatever invaded us, and for the time being, we were ''safe''. But they knew it wouldn''t last forever. There would be another invasion, and the next time, there would be no Demons to shelter us. "All of this was ancient history even by the time I was born," Azariel said. "So, how much of it is true, I honestly don''t know. My mother seemed convinced of everything, and when I asked her how she knew, she wouldn''t tell me. The Well," Azariel said. "You know the horror I mentioned others said existed there?" "Yes?" "The rumor was that the Well held an Outsider," Azariel said. "Even though we have never witnessed one." "That''s... complicated," Leo exhaled, having unconsciously held his breath for a long while now. It truly was, far more complicated than he expected. The more he learned of history of this place, the more... layered it appeared. Lies on top of lies, all confounding the truth that wasn''t even truth, just bits and parts and pieces Frankenstein-ed together in a desperate attempt to create a cohesive narrative. "Anyway, as for why we decided to put our hopes on future," he said. "It was mostly a theory, a hope, if you''d believe it. No matter how hard we tried, there has never been a human who broke through Earthly Immortal Realm. In fact, if we didn''t have first-hand accounts of Demons doing things that even Earthly Immortals cannot, we''d probably profess the Earthly Immortal Realm as peak and move on. But it''s not. There''s a mountain taller, a sea deeper, and a greater journey. But, for one reason or another, it was unachievable for humans. "By the time I was born, Primordial Qi was practically gone. There were faint traces of it in specific hot-spots, but most kids trained using ordinary Qi. The theory set in motion was simple: one had to marry themselves to Primordial Qi from the cradle, use it to reshape the body over and over and over again, until they forged a vessel capable of transcending the Immortality. And hope, desperately, that one of the top cultivation methods of the time had the capacity to lead us there, even if by accident. It was already common knowledge that Primordial Qi was not static--but in constant flux. It would come and go, almost like a tide, though never in a predictable pattern. So, we buried ourselves until it came back again. "There," Azariel said, taking a deep breath. "Now you know practically as much as I do. Do you feel better?" "Of course. A headache is good for you, right?" "Ha ha," he laughed, rather unrestrained, at Leo''s little joke. "If it''s just a headache, you are doing great. I had a panic attack, and wouldn''t leave my room until we were set to ''depart''." "We''re here," Leo noted, wondering whether he was even ready for any more ''bombs'' to come. Parts of him hoped that there would be no resonance, and that his learning for today was over. Then again, there was that gut feeling--and it was telling him that it wouldn''t be so simple... Chapter 115 - Secrets From Beyond the Grave Chapter 115 Secrets From Beyond the Grave Leo was the first to emerge onto the opening overlooking the cirque. It was just as he remembered it--thirteen steles populated the sprucely-decorated landmass, with the Well sitting quietly betwixt them all. Just as it was the first time he saw it, it remained unassuming, a remarkably ordinary thing among what looked like a graveyard of sorts. Azariel came out of the woods a moment or two later, pausing by Leo''s side, his eyes dancing between the rocks and stones. He clasped his fingers into a fist, whether knowingly Leo was uncertain, and pursed his lips at the sight. While, to Leo, these were merely stones with some potential history etched into them, to Azariel, in a way, they were objects of worship, or at least objects of some other emotion at that level. "In my head," the man said softly. "They were... grander. Larger than life. Seeing them like this, though, they just seem... sad." "Perhaps, at some point, they were as you imagine them." "Hardly," the man scoffed, taking charge and jumping into the cirque. Leo followed, staying silent as he watched the man peruse a history that was close to his heart. Leo found it difficult to locate a comparable event--perhaps, back on Earth, if the entire history of Ancient Egypt was lost sans the pyramids, and one of those Pharaohs of old woke up in modern world... yes, and if they visited the pyramids. To him or to her, it would mean far more. "They are made of clasytne stone," Azariel said. "As with many things, we have tried desperately to locate the quarry, but we only ever had the finite amounts that were the Demons'' leftovers. Many of our scholars supposed that it''s not stone at all," he said, touching one of them and running his fingers across its surface. "But an alloyed metal made in some secret way, designed to look like stone." "You don''t sound convinced." "I''m not," he said. "It''s just another one of the tales we wove and made up to try and make it seem it was the nature itself that was against us, and that we were in no way lacking when compared to the Demons." "Can you read them?" Leo asked, knowing the answer already. "No, just this one," he pointed at the exact stele that Leo himself could read. "Avun''van," Azariel mumbled, turning to long silence afterward. "They never told us this was an actual grave." "It''s probably not," Leo said. "Chances are that it''s entirely metaphorical. Perhaps this was where he died, but not where he was buried." "You can''t be sure of that," Azariel shook his head. "Though the Demons, in many ways, looked human, they were as different as could be from us. Their bodies were composed of Primordial Qi itself, condensed into a shape--they could choose it, and most chose to look that way in front of us. Upon their deaths, their bodies would vanish. It''s entirely possible that, whoever carved these words into stone, did so using the last remnants of the King''s vanishing body made of Qi." Azariel let go and walked over to the Well, Leo following. There seemed to be no changes from the last time; it was still dark and gray and dull, and seemed as ordinary as ordinary got. The two men peeked over the edge and into the dark, though there was nothing there. It all happened in the blink of an eye, before either of the two could even respond. Darkness surged in the form of ashen smoke, ripping out of the well like misshapen claws and latching onto both men with ferocity of a maddened beast. And yet, instead of ripping them asunder, the claws heaved them and dragged them over the edge of the well and into its intricate depths. Leo tried to use Qi to shield and free himself from the darkness but to no avail; it was as though someone had plugged his meridians with gutters'' debris, making Qi depressingly slow. Thus, they fell--they kept on falling in silence as neither of the two could talk. They fell... until they didn''t. Inexplicably, Leo landed on his feet, reoriented by forces beyond his ken. It took a moment for him to recognize he hadn''t died, and a moment more to realize that Azariel was by his side. The man appeared rather shaken, looking around warily with round and bulging eyes. Leo hardly blamed the man; a dead, ordinary Well just ''kidnapped'' them to who knew where, and, far more importantly, why and how. Leo poured Qi into his eyes, his meridians unclogged, and looked around. He couldn''t help but gasp as the awe-inspiringly large structures came into view. Columns arose like piercing spears into the sky, holding up a ceiling that was well over three hundred feet above. The two of them were tiny, dusty motes in a grand hall that likely housed giants at some point. A passage paved with cracked bricks extended straightward, positioned between towering columns that were each spaced by about twenty feet. Even with the help of Qi in his eyes, Leo found it practically impossible to see past some hundred feet or so, and not because that was the limit of his sight, but because something was blocking it. A strange kind of haze, as though someone pulled down the curtain. "You alright?" Leo quizzed. "Y-yes," Azariel stuttered. "You?" Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "Physically, at least. Where the hell are we?" "I don''t know..." "Can you see?" "Not well." "Alright, let''s go," Leo said, walking forward only to be grabbed by panicking Azariel. "Wait, why? Where are we going? Didn''t you just say you don''t know where we are?" "I mean, yes. But what else is there to do? It''s not like there''s anything of note here. I assume whatever dragged us here didn''t do so just so we can admire how big of a hall this is or how large these columns are. Come on. What''s the worst that can happen?" "We could die!" "That''s kind of cute," Leo chuckled, dragging the man. "That you think death is the worst outcome, I mean." The two men walked forward in concert, with Azariel making sure to keep up with Leo''s pace. While the former hunched, trying to make himself as small as possible--almost like a child in front of screaming adults, trying to become invisible--Leo was freer. He looked about as though lacking fear, taking in the first sight that wasn''t a dream or a vision or just a bunch of trees arranged differently. It was all same-y for a long while, wide pathway flanked by tall, impossibly tall, columns. And then it changed. The pathway opened up into a round opening while that fog began to vanish, lifting as though there was a current of wind underneath it. Bit by bit, frames emerged, and from them silhouettes, and from those objects and shapes that made a whole. And it stilled both their breaths. Azariel stumbled backward and fell, almost whimpering. And Leo felt his blood freeze. This was a prison. Eight rusted chains, all beyond large--per Leo''s estimate, even at their narrowest they were at least a hundred feet--extended from outside the circle, wrangling around a cocoon-like structure at the center of the opening. Webbed silk lay strewn around, likely having shed over countless years, revealing what was within it. The structure itself was as tall as a skyscraper and as wide as a mall, and within it resided a... thing, Leo supposed. Further chains dangled from invisible holds, tangling with the bodice of maligned flesh. It rolled like excess fat over the chains and unto itself, over and over, like thick liquid descending over obstacles. The flesh was gray and spotty, rattled holes decorating its vastness, they themselves sporting dried-up black liquid which Leo assumed was blood... of sorts. All folds had eyes to them, eyes numbering beyond count, though most were now merely hollowed-out sockets. Here and there, though, there was a massive sphere dangling from them, hanging on by the thinnest of threads, robustly rotting. A misshapen amalgamation of flesh--rotted and rotting--seemed composed of smaller parts forced together into a larger whole. There were no discernable limbs, there was no ''head'', no logic or reason or design to its make. It was chaos at its purest, entropy personified, randomness that even the nature could not concoct. This thing, whatever it was, was born in a primordial soup of chaos and destruction, and as for how it ended up here, chained and leashed... Was it dead? Leo believed so. There were no signs of life--no Qi presence, no blood flow, no sounds, nothing. Just stillness and silence suspended in the thrones of time. Leo took a step forward and was immediately grabbed onto by Azariel-- "--where are you going?! We need to get the hell out of here!!" the young man whimpered. Leo paused and glanced down, smiling faintly. "It''s dead," he said. "And if it''s not, do you really think us being here or elsewhere would matter?" "I--I..." "Relax," Leo shrugged. "I''m not going to touch it. I just want to get a closer look. There," he pointed below the monstrosity--the ''cocoon'' that it was wrapped around didn''t jut out directly from the floor, but, rather, it rested atop another structure made of obsidian blocks. On its surface, Leo saw letters--letters he faintly recognized. Azariel let go, quickly standing up and following in Leo''s shadow--well, metaphorical shadow. There was no light here of any sort, and thus, there were no shadows. Leo approached rather cautiously, as even with his rather callous outward behavior, he was scared. His heart was pounding like a war drum, his palms were sweaty, and his throat was parched. Of course he was terrified--this was straight-up from some Lovecraftian nightmare, and even if it was dead, the mind did not care. Ultimately, he was right--the letters were written in the language he recognized. Well, some of them were. Just like with steles, the central portion of the text could be understood, while all the letters framing it were in an alien script for the both of them. Unknowable, the first part of the text read. A child. Captured through the sacrifice of 8,398 Generals. Cannot be studied. Not of things made known to Us. "That thing... is a child?" Azariel mumbled in horror as Leo looked up. From this angle, the monster resembled a tall, flesh-colored mountain, its folds the protruding cliffs. "Your ancestors were right," Leo said. "The Well was a prison. For this thing." "Why would they even keep it?! What if it got free?!" "Do you imagine this is what they were at war with?" Leo asked the silent part out loud. How heavy of a sin, then, was upon the casts of humanity? That they betrayed and decimated the very same group that shielded them from... this? If this thing invaded the Ashlands today, Leo had no qualms about accepting it would simply devour it whole. Thousands upon thousands of years had passed, and it was impossible to know precisely when it died, but its body, even if in a heavy state of decomposition, was still whole. Something that endured death for a passage of time that was incomprehensible to humans... how would the latter even begin to contend? "And if this is just a child," Leo posed another question. "Then what the hell does an adult version look like?" "No wonder they never told us," Azariel said. "What the hell would that accomplish?" "Well, at least it''s over--" Leo''s words got caught in his throat as a screen appeared in front of him, with words that made the world go cold. [You have discovered the Secret behind the Well!] [...] [Your Spiritual Roots have evolved: Peak-Tier Tri-Elemental Mortal Roots --> Peak-Tier Tri-Elemental Earth Roots] [Your Cultivation Realm evolves: Early Core Formation Realm --> Peak Core Formation Realm] [Bonus Reward: Cycle of Life and Death] [Cycle of Life and Death -- by touching the Dead, you can catch a glimpse of their living form. Be warned: touching entities beyond your ken can corrupt your mind and make you go insane. It is recommended that you reach Nascent Soul Realm before you examine the entity before you] [...] [The ''Eternal Prison'' is not known to another soul, and its secrets remain buried to this day. The world is unaware of the past, or the present, or the future] [New Quest has been generated: The End of Time] [The End of Time: those from which the Entity comes are not gone or dead, and one day they shall return. They are extremely sensitive to Primordial Qi even across time and space. When the Primordial Qi has been fully reinstated into the world, the countdown will begin] [...] [Main Quest has evolved and merged together with the new one] [Main Quest: Establish a Sect, guide your Disciples, and prepare them for the War. You can only disclose the truth behind the curtain to up to two of your Disciples and no more] [Good luck, traveler] "--yap, should have seen that shit coming." Chapter 116 - Dwelling of the Cursed Chapter 116 Dwelling of the Cursed Yue sighed as she swept out with her sword, cutting down yet another shadowed figure that tried to attack her from the back. They''d been descending down the tunnels for four days now, and it was... well, mostly boring. Every night, ''at midnight'' (or whatever counted as midnight here), Gon would scatter some powder around them, and that would buy them about six to seven hours of calm and peace. Gon would use it to sleep, and Liang and Yue would use it to meditate. They, temporarily, suspended the habit they picked up from Master Leo, electing not to give in to the sleeping habits in consideration of where they were. However, after the four days (or, well, nights), they felt they could have just slept. And could have foregone spending what few Spirit Stones they had on those powders and pills. It was almost anti-climactic, in a way, how easy they found the descent. They were only attacked by the Demonic Beasts and an occasional bandit, however, which was why neither of the two truly dropped their guard. Though they were never challenged, they also never saw a challenging number of foes approach them. It was mostly one-offs, or a small, desperate band who likely saw two kids descending through the dark and found them easy pickings. The word had to have spread, Yue felt, as the last fifteen hours or so were entirely conflict-free. Nobody attacked them; nobody seemed to even be stalking them, as though the dark mist had parted and merely... let them through. "Ah, here it is," Gon said as he pointed toward yet another alcove. "We''ll camp here," he said and casually walked over, tossing the bag and sitting up on the bench carved out from the wall. Yue didn''t like how often they took breaks, and she felt it would have been better to simply continue, but unless Liang brought it up, she would keep it to herself. Whether it was in consideration of the old man''s stamina or perhaps for another reason, her strange Junior Brother didn''t complain, merely shrugging as their eyes met and walking into the alcove as well. Yue followed, spreading out her Divine Sense momentarily, finding nothing. She thought back further to the journey through serpentine passageways, dark and humid. Gon wasn''t lying when he said that the life here was practically non-existent. Petrified roots bulged around the corners, gray moss covering them. They often indicated the existence of calcified veins, though considering they were veins of oort, the roughest yet most breakable ore, they were practically worthless, so mining them wouldn''t yield any wealth. It was a subterranean abyss, with the tunnels yawning into echoing chasms, the winds howling through the winding ways. She couldn''t imagine herself living here as it was even a greater prison than her clan was. There were no tall walls or stationed guards following whoever went in and out, yes, but that was just about the only thing it didn''t have. "We''re making a lot of progress," Gon said. "Way quicker than I thought. At this pace, I am comfortable saying we shall reach the Sword within 30 days, if lucky." "No." Liang suddenly voiced out. "N-no?" "It''s too long." It seemed that her Junior Brother didn''t like the prospect of spending a month here either. "I--I understand, but that is already a miraculous speed. Most other groups take at least half a year to descend, if not more!" "Starting after this break," Liang said. "We''re instituting a new schedule: two days of progress, two hours of break." "W-what? No, I can''t--" "--I''ll carry you," Liang said. "And we''ll be going fast. You just have to guide us." "That is suicidal!!" "Isn''t that why you''re here, anyway?" Liang''s tone cooled slightly, and Yue caught sight of Gon wincing and recoiling back. "You came here believing you would die, so why do you care?" The old man fell silent, looking away. "You''re fine with it, Senior Sister?" he asked with a grin, prompting her to sigh and roll her eyes. "Yes, I''m fine. So, you feel it too, huh?" "Hm," Liang nodded, and the two exchanged a look without saying anything. That resonance they felt all the way on the surface grew¡ªrather than a distant drum, it now felt as though it was just there, merely out of their reach, taunting them. The deeper they dwelled, the easier it became to breathe, ironically. Even within these winding, claustrophobic tunnels bereft of light, Yue felt it was almost as easy to breathe as it was in the Forest. She didn''t even have to cultivate to notice her realm slowly expanding, as she inched ever so closer to the next part of her evolution. If it was this tantalizing so far above the bottomless abyss of the Cradle, she selfishly wondered just how magical it was all the way down there. She knew that they wouldn''t go to the true bottom, not just a couple of months before the flood. But even getting just to the Sword, she felt, would aid her in exponentially increasing her realm, perhaps even somehow managing to break through and reach Spirit Creation, just like Liang. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. It was a bit of a fool''s dream, she knew; if breaking through a realm was merely connected to one''s Qi, those Holy Sons and Daughters would be at Soul Ascendance Realm before they learned how to crawl. The greatest stopgap, always, was knowledge¡ªwell, not knowledge, as in knowing things, but closer to ''enlightenment,'' as in ''understanding things''. While, on the surface level at least, the difference between the two seemed negligible, they ran deep and wide. Knowing, for instance, meant that she knew Spirit Creation Realm was about reforging the Core into a Spiritual Beast of her make. Understanding, though, meant that she understood precisely which Beast belonged to her, more so than anything else. They rested for approximately six hours before Liang stood up, picked Gon up, and started their accelerated descent. The old man appeared indignant but didn''t speak¡ªnot after the accusation. It was clear that, even if he did come here initially expecting to die, his plans were changed and reforged under the weight of reality. Liang didn''t merely speed up; he started using the ''Simple Steps Art'' to rapidly navigate both the straight descent and the curving corners. Yue followed in his footsteps, and he seemed to know precisely what the comfortable speed was for her, which she both found endearing as well as ever so slightly infuriating. She hated that he had to limit himself for her, yet knew there was no other way. He would pause every once in a while and ask Gon for directions before resuming the descent. In just four hours, they made more progress depth-wise than in the past four days. They came to an abrupt halt, and Yue knew precisely why as Liang put Gon down and ushered the old man back toward her. The shadows first hid them, but not well; there were shapes breaking out, and soon they were in the faintest of lights that came beaming from the nearby tunnel opening. There were six of them, four men and two women. And all six were... odd. Not in any particularly destructive way, but in small, subtle ways that she''d only consider minor ''deformities'' in the outside world. Here, though, she felt it meant something more. "You''re rather quick, darling," one of the women spoke to Liang, ignoring Gon and her. She had long, golden hair and was rather tall¡ªa good head or two taller than Yue¡ªwith the ''one thing'' being that she had an opening across her chest, directly between her breasts, that looked like a second mouth. "Not quick enough to escape us, though. Just a friendly warning." Liang stayed silent, and Yue didn''t know exactly what his plan was¡ªthough they had bought some supplies for precisely these moments, for some reason Yue didn''t think her Junior Brother appreciated being stopped. "You are rather brave, to come this far down so... ill-equipped. But I''m feeling generous. For a fair price of all your food, your clothes, and your guide, I''ll let you go back up where you belong. Think carefully before you reply, okay? I''m rarely this generous~" "Funny," Ah, Yue sighed, slowly moving her hand to her sword. "What is?" "Unlike you, I''m not feeling generous at all." It all happened relatively quickly¡ªYue stepped forward and swiftly intercepted the two who were hiding in the shadows, easily beheading them both in one attack, protecting Gon. At the same time, Liang used his bare fists to kill everyone except the woman, who... changed. "This," Liang said, turning toward Yue while holding the woman by her neck, lifted in the air. Gone was the seductively conscious woman, in her stead a mindless beast. Her face was degloved, flesh pulled back, revealing bones and tendons and rotting teeth. Her entire body was like a candle''s wax, almost, off-putting and terrifying. "Is the Rage." "I didn''t see her change," Yue said, cautiously walking up. "It happened fast." "Hm," Liang nodded. "Why--why are you being so cruel?!" Gon voiced from the back, prompting the two to look at him. "Just, just kill her already!" "Cruel?" Liang arched his brows, but before he could say anything else, Yue drew her sword and killed the woman, yanking her from Liang''s arms and signaling to him with her eyes to shut up. "Clean it up," Yue told Liang before turning and facing Gon. The old man had an aggrieved expression, and she smiled as empathetically as she could, crouching to meet his eyes directly. "Sorry. My Junior Brother can be a bit... well, you saw it." "A monster," Gon mumbled. "Hm, not quite," Yue said. "A protector," she added. "We all become consumed by something primal every once in a while. It doesn''t define who we actually are, however, merely what we''re capable of." Gon finally looked away from Liang who was tossing corpses out of the tunnel and over the edge of the cliff, and met her eyes. "I''ve never seen one," she added. "Or experienced what they are like. No... what they can be like. He simply wanted me to see more of this world and went a bit too far in doing so." "... I need a moment," the old man said, retreating into the nearby corner without waiting for either her permission or denial. Yue sighed, standing up and walking over to Liang who had just finished cleaning up. "Purposefully riling him up? Really?" she asked. "You think I''m a monster, too?" "Oh, give me a break," she rolled her eyes, sighing yet again. "What were you even hoping to accomplish?" "I wanted to see whether his knife would be in our backs when it counted the most," Liang said. "And?" "And it will." "Really? That''s what you saw?" "You didn''t?" "No," she shook her head. "I just saw an old man weathered by time and age be angered because you made him angry. Look, I know you have your lessons, and they''re probably the right ones," Yue added, gently putting her hand on his chest. "But, ask yourself this: who is our Master?" "..." "If he were here, would he tell you that you made the right choice?" "... no." "What would he say?" "Something like ''pay forward the kindness so you can receive it back twofold''." "Yes, something like that," the two shared a smile. "I always have my fingers on the scroll and the feather. No matter what comes, we can always go back home. But for him, this is a one-way journey. Whether he thought it would end somewhere back over or deeper still. And even if he is a sympathizer, just as you say, and even if it goes against every bit of common sense... is that the worst thing in the world? Everything about our Master goes against all common sense, no?" "Fine," he relented, lifting his arms up in the air and smiling. "You win. I guess this is why you''re the Senior Sister." "And you better never forget it." "Maybe I will," he chuckled. "It''s been a while since someone lectured me. It was... kind of nice." "... yeah, maybe I just take that scroll and leave you and the old man to sort this place out." "You''d never do that," he ruffled her hair gently, turning away. "You love me too much." She harumphed and pushed his arm away, quickly fixing her hair and glancing over at his broad back framed by the tunnel''s exit. Love? Hardly. And never. Chapter 117 - Happy Tangents Chapter 117 Happy Tangents Leo was feeling rather absentminded as the two men found themselves quickly expelled from the underground and back into the cirque, standing by the Well as though they''d never gone in. Were it not for that faintly fading window in front of his eyes, Leo might have even been compelled to believe they''d all made it up... but he knew it was true. And, apparently, Azariel did as well, and without the assistance of the window. The man was rather shaken, slumping to the ground fast and leaning against the Well''s cool stone, head between his knees. "Our sins could write a codex, couldn''t they?" he asked as Leo shook his head, sighing inwardly and sitting down as well. "Were they really your sins, though?" "Who knew my mother was telling the truth, huh?" He chuckled bitterly. "Maybe... it would have been for the best had you done to me what you did to the rest. Either killed me or kicked me out of this place. I''d have a lifetime of loathing you to distract me from everything." "While I''d never shy away from being someone''s source of hatred," Leo said. "I''d like to believe that only a few things in life are capable of truly breaking us. Most others, even if they bend and stymie us, are temporary. This... as grand and as weighty as it may be, doesn''t feel like something that can break a person. So, humanity has risen against their light, convinced it was darkness. We lived and learned, and that''s that. It''s not up to you or to me or any of the kids today to repent for what was done long before we were even a thought." "... that''s one way to look at it," Azariel chuckled and scoffed, both at once. "You don''t get it, and that''s fine. You probably think that just because I chose to follow you, I don''t care for my life before today. But I do. Don''t think for a second that, if I believed myself remotely capable, I wouldn''t avenge those you killed. They were my family¡ªcold and distant, yes, but family nonetheless. Just as were those who came before me, those who set in motion all of this. Just because you have no tree that hid you from the rain and can conceive a world in which you are free of all sins doesn''t mean everyone else is the same way." "Huh." "What?" "I didn''t know you had it in you to disagree with anything," Leo shrugged, smiling faintly as he stood up and walked over to one of the steles. "There are ghosts in these woods, Az," he added, feeling the relatively cool stone against his fingers. "Ghosts so old there are no records of them. And they suffer, their pain a song that reaches me. And I have the ability to help them, to exorcise the agony burning from the depths of their souls. And, in turn for that, they offer me a glimpse of the world long gone. But understand something¡ªfor as many as I''ve helped, all I''ve ever felt was pain. Do you know what I didn''t feel?" "..." "Anger," Leo glanced back. "It''s presumptuous of me to make any claims, but I don''t think humanity''s betrayal is as soul-rotting as you make it out to be. Creatures betray each other all the time¡ªa child betrays their parents, a husband his spouse, and the circle of pain weaves onwards. There has never been a time in the history of conscious thought that there weren''t traitors roaming the lands. In many ways, good and bad, it''s a natural cycle of existence. We betrayed them, and, one day, something or someone may betray us. "I''ve had family once, too, you know?" Leo added, feeling his heart stir for a moment. "And, in a strange way, my life was an opposite mirror of yours. I''ve had their love¡ªif not unconditional, then thereabout¡ªbut at first I felt it a burden, and later... I felt entirely undeserving of it. But even in my darkest days, when I was a rung at the bottom of a well, surrounded by rot and decay, I always had a place to call home. And people who were there, waiting for me. In my heart, that is a family. Not a forcible bond that chains you to all acts of your forefathers, not a prison that enlists you in the blood feuds that go on for generations, not some depraved fantasy that demands the world of you. "In my heart, family is... a place, a place where flames stoke the warmth, where the walls form the quiet you need from the world, and a sanctuary that does its best to keep the demons at bay. Say, should I anger the whole world in the future and have it loathe me so much they kill me, do you think, even for a moment, I''d want Shui''er to grapple herself in any way with that? If, one day, you have a child of your own, do you want them to inherit your battles? You are no more responsible for a drought on the other side of the world than you are for things that happened even a generation ago, let alone thousands of years back. Recognize the act of it, for certain, and accept that it is a part of you, but disallow it from consuming you from within, like a parasite." Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Azariel didn''t speak¡ªnot in response to him, and not on their way back to the camp, and Leo didn''t pester him. Ultimately, it didn''t matter; he had his own beliefs, and the man had his own. There was never a right or wrong in these cases, merely person-appropriate beliefs. Perhaps, for some reason beyond Leo''s understanding, Azariel needed that guilt and that burden. Perhaps they were the fuel that pushed him onward and gave him strength to live, whereas, otherwise, he may have succumbed to the voices. People were all their own stories, and Leo knew that others only ever caught tiny glimpses of the whole. He''d known the man for a few days at most, and days compared to decades... well, they were nothing. Leo could profess his own beliefs as much as he wanted, but they were his own, forged through his own experiences that the rest of the world may not share. Upon their return, Azariel excused himself and went into the longhouse; whether to calm or to plan a way to escape, Leo didn''t know. Shui''er and Lu Yang returned a few hours later, likely having tended the garden, which was quickly confirmed as the young girl became a machine gun of stray information about plants. "Wow, you memorized all of that?" Leo exclaimed as she finally finished, firmly planted on his lap, looking up at him. "Yep!" she exclaimed, beaming. "You''re really clever! Isn''t she clever, Yu Lang?" "Oh, the most." "I thought so." Evidently, their little praises were working wonders as the girl looked just about ready to burst from joy. "I could barely remember the names of four plants when I was her age. You?" "Ah, I was scarcely better, only remembering five." "You two are really mean!!" She caught on and jumped off his lap, her cheeks bulging. Leo had to combat a whole lot of self to not laugh. "So, did you like gardening?" Leo quickly moved on, asking gently. "... hm," she nodded, though... she was still a kid, ultimately. She lied as well as she could, which wasn''t that well, not wanting to disappoint them. "But I don''t think we can make you a gardener, unfortunately," Leo said. "Really?! I¡ªI mean, why not?" Lu Yang spun in place and looked away, his shoulders dancing as Leo fought to not do the same. "You see, that garden means a lot to the old Grandpa Yang. He takes care of it like it''s his own kid. Every morning, every day, every night. I fear, if we took it from him, he might become sad." "Oh no! Grandpa Yang, I promise I won''t take the garden from you! Please don''t be sad!" It was fun, playing with kids, Leo mused. He felt, however, that Shui''er was, perhaps, a bit too naive. She instinctively seemed to trust whatever they fed her, and while it was adorable, it was also incongruous with living outside this little camp. And yet, Leo didn''t have the heart to break that part of her. He wished the world was kind and beautiful enough that the kids could not only be this way but also stay this way. "Ah, thank you, Shui''er. You are so kind..." Lu Yang played along the best he could as the kid hugged his leg and held it tightly. The two men exchanged looks for a moment as Shui''er freed herself, appearing rather happy that she wouldn''t have to become a gardener. "Is there anything you want to do, Shui''er?" Leo asked. While it was fine to simply let her run amok for now and do whatever she wanted, long-term, it wasn''t exactly a feasible solution to child-rearing. As inept as Leo was, he knew that he''d at least have to provide her a basic level of education, but he didn''t exactly know what kids learned at schools here. Did they still learn arithmetic? Poetry? Geometry? Geography? Or were they all wholly smitten with the idea of becoming cultivators, and their entire education revolved around that? "I... I don''t know," the girl admitted, grabbing her dress with her fists and looking down at the ground. "I''m sorry..." "... How about this?" Leo said. "Every morning, after breakfast, I will teach you for a couple of hours. Nothing specific, just bits and pieces of things until we find something that you want to do." "Really? Every... every morning?" She looked up (just barely enough to meet his gaze, however), seeming silently excited. Not at the prospect of learning things, it seemed, but at the prospect of spending time with him. "Every morning," Leo nodded. "... okay." "Okay?" "Okay." "Grandpa Yang, you''re always welcome to join us," Leo tossed it out to tease the old man. "Hm, it sounds interesting." Leo''s eyebrows twitched as he looked over at him, but it didn''t seem like he was joking. For whatever reason, his interest seemed genuine. "What?" "Nothing. It might not be that interesting for you, you know?" "Oh, I feel the exact opposite," Lu Yang laughed rather sweetly. "I''ve never received formal education, you see. Well, outside of the bare necessities¡ªI was mostly just told to grow stronger, as strength trumped all else. I had to learn most of the governing later on in my life, though my father did teach me a few things in his spare time, at least. So, whilst I may not be illiterate, I always wished I had the education of my peers. It was a point of insecurity for me for a little while." "And you think that you''ll get that desired education from me?" "Why not?" "Huh. Alright." "Great." "So, Grandpa Yang will be with us, as well?" Shui''er asked, deciphering their conversation. "Yeah, you don''t mind, right?" "Of course not! It''s great!" she beamed. "He he, I''ll finally go to school, too..." As she finished the sentence, her light demeanor changed, and her expression soured into one of sadness. She quickly covered it up with the best smile she could, excusing herself and running off. She still had never shared what happened to her, but the few times Leo passed by her room late at night, he''d hear the whimpering and the endless variations of ''please don''t send me there.''. What her life was like before... Leo wanted to be enlightened and make claims that it had helped her become who she was today, but, in reality, he wished he could rewrite those memories with the ones of joy. It was that hypocrisy, he mused. Ever-present, silent and loud, the eternal pestilence of mankind. Chapter 118 - A Gentle Song Chapter 118 A Gentle Song Mei, Lya, Song, and Shen Tao waited a full three days before finally deciding to leave the mouth of the tunnel. By now, Yue figured, others must have moved on in search of treasures since there were only about seven more days left before the closing of the realm. Though they hadn''t come across any treasures themselves, at this point they seldom cared; if they wouldn''t have gotten mad in the meantime, they would have likely been content spending the rest of the allotted time in the realm inside that tunnel, sprinting out into the world as soon as it was possible. They wanted to distance themselves as much as possible from this place¡ªphysically and otherwise. It wasn''t long before they came across signs of other battlefields¡ªeven if they were quite unlucky to have run into the Heavenly Jade Pavilion Disciples, that didn''t mean others weren''t just as unlucky, if not unluckier. The small alcove against the rather shallow hillside housed seven corpses, and scorch marks abound. Most had died from a single stab wound to their heart, with a few others having died from wounds that weren''t immediately visible. Judging by their robes, it was a mix of two Sects--whether they fought between themselves or against some third party, it was impossible to say. Mei hated the sight but hated more whoever left them here. One of the deeply rooted rules of being a Holy Blade Sect Disciple was the dead body retrieval¡ªunless your life would be at risk, it was imperative that all Disciple bodies were taken back to the Sect where they would receive proper burial and rites. Even in cases where an entire band of Disciples died on a mission, Elders would be sent out to retrieve the bodies, and, according to some texts Mei read, even the Sect Master had ventured out a few times for that exact purpose. And yet, seven bodies were left strewn in some nameless alcove, likely to be taken over by the local wildlife soon after the Disciples departed. "This is horrible," Lya said what was in Mei''s heart. "I don''t recognize the crest." "It''s two Tier II Sects," Shen Tao said. "Not worthy of note." "Yet, you noted them," Mei commented, arching her brows. "I note everything," he said with a scoff. "Just because I do, doesn''t mean that it''s of note." "Huh. Your brain must be fairly big to store all that noting." "Khm," Song coughed awkwardly, prompting Mei to quickly look away. "Should, uh, should we take the bodies? Or bury them?" "Why?" Shen Tao asked. "They are dead. Does it matter at this point?" "We''ll take them with us," Mei said, storing a few in her spatial ring as Lya and Song stored the rest. The trio all looked at Shen Tao who merely shrugged, not seeming interested enough to argue with them. Mei smiled invisibly as they departed, moving southwest. At the same time, she was... uncertain. She vividly recalled their conversation in the dark, but... nothing had changed since then. Not that she expected anything to change¡ªwell, perhaps a thing or two-- She caught herself and stopped. This, precisely, was the reason she avoided boys and men altogether. This almost compulsory obsessing over nothing. There were no promises made, neither by him nor her, just some fleeting words spoken within heightened emotions. And yet, she couldn''t help but steal glances at him, wondering. A distraction, destructive and pointless. So, she forced herself to ignore it, him and everything, and focus on the task at hand: figuring out what to do next. They crossed the open plains and happened upon the nearby mountainous region. Jagged peaks streaked out through the clouds; protruding cliffs made it seem like teeth decorated the mountain sides. Brown-red dirt was the most dominant color, with occasional flashes of green barely visible, with even the solitary river streaming through appearing faintly scarlet in hue. "Blood Mountains," Mei said. "Alright. We''ll camp here for half a day and see the situation. If there aren''t too many groups, we can go inside to check it out. I''ve heard that rare herbs can occasionally be found on the peaks." "We''ll set up the camp," Lya quickly said, dragging Song away. "Can you two secure the area?" "...sure," both replied with a tingling sense of awkwardness. As the two youngsters disappeared into the small cluster of trees, silence befell the remaining two. Mei glanced to the side, and he seemed to have glanced back at the same time, and the two immediately looked away. Gritting her teeth, she buried it all, once again, taking a deep breath. "Let''s go," she said. "Yeah." The two moved counterclockwise, subduing Qi until they were all but invisible to Divine Sense, and peeking into any nooks and crannies that could be hiding someone or something. "Alright, we''re done with this side," Mei proclaimed and started moving southward, quickly noticing that he wasn''t following her. "What''s wrong?" Stolen story; please report. "Somebody''s watching us," he said, his gaze dark and insidious. Mei frowned, growing alert; only someone vastly more powerful than them could have seen them through Divine Sense¡ªand there should be no one vastly more powerful than them. That meant that somebody was already here and hiding so well that neither of the two noticed them until now. "Are you sure?" she asked, not feeling anything. "Not from nearby," Shen Tao shook his head. "It''s... it''s probably the Pavilion." "..." Mei''s heart sank. "A-are you... sure?" she asked, trying her best to hide the fear in her voice... but failing spectacularly. "No, not really," he said. "It''s just... a feeling. I''ve felt something familiar before." "When?" "When I was young. Anyway, I can''t be completely sure, but... it''s possible." "How are they even doing it? Isn''t it impossible to peek inside the hidden realm from the outside?" Mei asked, astounded. "There''s always a way," Shen Tao shrugged. "If they are doing it, then whoever we killed..." "... was extremely important. Crap." "Oh well," he stretched lazily and spun around, beginning to walk rather nonchalantly. "Let''s secure the rest." "--Hey, wait, what are you doing?!" "Huh? What? I''m securing the area." "Oh, wow, you don''t say! How beautiful of you¡ªdidn''t you just say that we''ve been found out?! Why aren''t you, I don''t know, reacting to it?!" This was a strange dynamic that developed a bit between them, where they would occasionally flip-flop on who was the one being rather indifferent versus who was being... well, the way she was being at the moment. "Even if they can see us, they can''t do anything to us. Not unless they fess out everything they owned, their ancestors owned, and probably even more than that, to hire an actual Immortal to tear open a rift in spacetime," Shen Tao explained. "So, for now, we''re safe. And even if they departed at this very moment, using every which way to reach the Holy Blade Sect as fast as possible, it would still take them at least three months. By then, we will have been out for a long time, and we can just leave it to the Elders to figure out what to do. They''ll most likely hand me in and bargain for yours, Lya''s, and Song''s life in some way. You know, push that it was me who did the actual killings, and you were just too scared of me to say anything." "... Do you really think our Elders would do that?" Mei asked, feeling rather dispirited suddenly. "Ah, don''t get me wrong, I don''t blame them," he said. "Or even feel any anger toward them. It makes sense. They don''t know who I am¡ªto them, I''m just a random kid they picked up from the street not a month ago. And though I may be a bit of a talent in their eyes, I''m still worth nothing compared to the three of you. So, they will sacrifice me to try and appease the Pavilion. If the roles were reversed and you ended up in Bloodmoon Sect under the same circumstances, the same thing would happen. It''s just the nature of everything." "..." It was subtle, but Mei heard it. She bit her lips and looked at him with a flare of anger in her gaze. "As soon as we''re out, you''re leaving." "..." He flinched but didn''t seem to dare look at her. "Really? Just like that?" "I..." "You? You what? Fine, just go!" she exclaimed. "You already learned everything that you wanted to by coming to us, so there is no point in staying any longer." "That''s not what I meant!" "No? Then what did you mean?" "Do you want me to stay and die?!" He, too, became angry, the red in his eyes flaring. "Who said anything about you dying?!" "There is no other option, Mei! Just this one! If you weren''t stupid, you would see it!" "Oh, so I''m stupid?" "That''s not--" "--I understand that you and I had extremely different lives, Tao," she interrupted. "And I understand that the way you lived in your Sect is so alien to me it doesn''t even feel real. But I promise you, from the bottom of my heart, that the Sect will not hand you over. Forget that you''re a Disciple; even if you were any one random cleaner in the Sect, they would not hand you over." "You don''t know that." "I do. Everyone in the Sect knows that," she, for some strange reason, laughed¡ªlaughed at the absurdity of everything. "Because that is what we do¡ªwe take care of each other. We''re not strangers just competing, always pitted against one another in an endless race that only ends when one is crowned and the rest are dead. They will never hand you over, I swear upon my Soul." "Mei!" "And if they even entertain it," she added. "I will ask my Master to step in. So, please, cease with your hollow stupidity, shut up, and come back home with us." "... you''re asking me to trust my life on your word that the people I don''t know will try and protect me from the Heavenly Jade Pavilion. I cannot trust them with my life, Mei." "Then trust me," she boldly proclaimed, walking over toward him. "I promise you," she stopped in front of him and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. "I will never let them even mention your name, let alone hand you over." ** Her eyes were watery, Shen Tao noted. Looking up at him, he couldn''t help but feel his heart thaw, and all his convictions begin to vanish. He''d planned on leaving as soon as he saw the Pavilion Disciples¡ªonce a Sect tangled with them, it would never end well, not even for other Tier IV Sects. In that scenario, it was better to become a vagrant and roam the world in search of opportunities rather than stake his life on hollow Sect unity. Yet, he wavered. Just her words alone were enough to make him waver. Well, it wasn''t just the words¡ªit was the squeeze of her hands, the faintly trembling lips, the devilishly bewitching eyes that seemed to hold the magic of the world itself within them, and an abundance of other things coalescing into the spear that shattered his determination. Was it worth it? Risking his life to stay? He didn''t care about the Sect in the slightest¡ªif it burned down to the ground tomorrow, he wouldn''t flinch. There was less than love there. But, for reasons well beyond his understanding, he cared for her. Though he always thought she was beautiful (and told a slight white lie that it was his Father''s idea to send the marriage proposal), this had nothing to do with her beauty. She was always radiant¡ªbut now her radiance was effulgent. The silver streaks of hair framed her face perfectly, golden eyes locking his into a gaze that he could not escape. "...fine," he squeezed through his teeth. "I... I''ll trust you." "... good," her serious face suddenly shifted into the brightest smile that Shen Tao had ever seen in his life. For a moment, he was blinded¡ªblinded by beauty, by joy, by sheer desire to fossilize that smile so that he could look at it every single day. "Let''s finish our work. I''m getting hungry." She tried to pull away, but he held her, dragging her back. She looked at him quizzically, and without knowing himself why he was doing it, he pulled her further in, his hand reaching out and gently caressing her cheek. She flinched but didn''t pull away, the look of confusion vanishing as a streak of red appeared on her cheeks. He leaned in, and rather than waiting, she leaned in, too, meeting him halfway. It was Shen Tao''s first kiss¡ªawkward, tender, sincere, beautiful. A raw stream of emotion burned through both of them at that moment, tearing open a hole in the world and isolating them from the rest. It was both the surge and the lullaby for his heart, and he found himself at opposite extremes simultaneously, feeling more terrified than when he stared death directly in its eyes. Chapter 119 - Demons Silent Relics Chapter 119 Demons'' Silent Relics "Does any of it make any sense?" One didn''t know how to answer that question. Staring over the ramparts and at the field of mayhem, he wondered, too, how any of it made sense. The flimsy vapors of black disappeared as quickly as they appeared, and the chances were that most of the world was wholly ignorant of them... but One wasn''t. He, as well as all his brothers and sisters, very much knew what those motes of black represented. Then there were the auditors of the mayhem¡ªan Ancient Clan had woken up, and Three simply chanced upon them just as they were ritualizing their slumber once again. Though they tried to capture them, the clansmen fought to the last man, all ending up dying in the end. It forced a frown upon One''s face; as far as he knew, none of this should be happening. While the motes of Primordial Qi could somewhat be explained by something accelerating its return¡ªlikely that something within the Nameless Forest¡ªthe Ancient Clan''s return did not fit the timeline. Per the old texts, they would only return when the whole of Qi was converted into Primordial Qi, and not a day sooner. They, too, were surprised¡ªotherwise, they would not have been trying to resume the long slumber before being found out. "No," he replied, glancing to the side where Three was standing. The most enigmatic of them all, in more ways than one. Silk-like golden hair ran down over her shoulders, clusters of it tied symmetrically over the back of her ears. She was beautiful¡ªhorrifyingly so¡ªbut one oughtn''t be bewitched by it. The red eyes were not merely the result of their cultivation method¡ªthey were the mirrors into one of the most wretched souls One ever had a chance of meeting. She was the architect of this, after all¡ªthere wasn''t a whole body within sight, and not a whole limb that hadn''t been played with in some way. Though it was all done under the disguise of ''wringing out information from them,'' the facade was lost on One who''d seen her unmask herself enough times to know she was a devil like no other. "Should we report to the Master?" She turned toward him and smiled sweetly, her red lips colored not with makeup but rather with blood. "Report what? Do you think he is not aware?" "Hm, good point. So, what should we do?" For some reason, she still deferred to him¡ªperhaps more so than everyone else save for Four. "How goes the search?" "It''s a mastery of disaster," she snickered. "We have only managed to capture two more. Five, supposedly, is too busy tracking that man from the Central regions. Four tries, but he''s got a brick for a head. Two is dead. Six is... well, Six. I don''t have much to work with," every one of her movements was tantalizing, and even someone who had been around her for decades now wasn''t wholly immune. One frowned, scoffing and dispelling her Qi that had tried wrangling him. "You never quit, do you?" "How can I?" she queried. "One man who never once bent to me. Aah, the mere thought of it makes me--" "--Enough," he interrupted harshly. "These can''t have been the only ones who woke up. There''s a chance there are others, so suspend the current mission for a moment and look for them." "And when I find them?" "... try to capture them." "I will try really hard, just for you." "I''m sure you will," One sighed and shrugged simultaneously. When he was first handed over the position of the leader in their Master''s absence, he was absolutely ecstatic. It felt as though everything he had worked for his entire life was coming true. Now, though, he was mostly just tired. What the title of the ''Leader'' entailed wasn''t so much honorable as it was... busy. It felt like all he ever did was put out fires, sift through hundreds of tomes a day and old, tattered documents, ordering others to look for this or that across the world. On the rare occasion that he got to go out into the field as well, he was mostly tasked with dragging everyone where they needed to go, as they were rather easily distracted. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! "Ever since Two''s death," she said. "Everything seems to have gone terribly wrong." "It doesn''t matter," One said. "Things were never going to go smoothly, regardless. We have always succeeded in the face of failure, and we won''t stop now." "Aah." "What?" "That commanding tone, that practically carved frown in your face, it makes me--" "--Do you believe in this, Three?" he suddenly asked, seeming to surprise her. "Hm? In what?" "In us," he said. "Our cause." "... Are you doubting my Faith?" Her playful voice chilled as she straightened up, seeming a breath away from trying to kill him. "Not your Faith," One said. "Your commitment." "Why? Because I''m not an obedient little bee like the rest of them?" Her anger... seemed genuine. "Hah. Sitting behind that desk and on your ass all day has driven you mad, clearly. My commitment? Who the hell do you think is doing anything you''re assigning these days? Do you think Four has the capacity to do it by himself? Or, perhaps, do you think Five has even the iota of intention to not be distracted by every goddamn little thing in the world? No, no, it must be Six, yes. That child who is yet to wet his blade with blood, yes, he is the one running around the world and fulfilling commitments. Perhaps I, too, ought to become as committed as them. After all, it seems to be precisely what you are asking of me." "... I''m sorry," One withdrew and bowed gracefully. It wasn''t the first time he was wrong, nor would it be the last¡ªhe''d been wrong thousands of times in his life. It was around the four hundredth that he understood the breadth of acceptance; rather than becoming defensive, it was always best to simply... apologize. "Hah. That''s the fourteenth time you''ve apologized to me this year alone. Keep it up, and you might yet reach your new high." "I mistook your playfulness for indifference." "... no," she mumbled, glancing over at him as her gaze suddenly softened. "You just want that little girl back. The girl who would follow you around all damn day long and who would have done anything for an iota of your attention." "..." "I''ve always hated her, though," she said, her smile souring. "She was weak, dependent, and pathetic." "Three--" "--Those were your words, weren''t they?" She asked, turning her back toward him. "I''ll head north first. Per old records, there was an Ancient Clan that resided somewhere in the Cloud Mountains. Maybe I luck out and find them." One didn''t say anything as she disappeared, leaving behind only the fading, fragrant scent of her perfume. He could only sigh, looking up at the ashen sky preparing to bear down rain upon the world and wonder whether life would ever get any easier. No... he did not live to make it easier. He, as well as all others, knew well enough what awaited them at the end of their journey¡ªdeath. There was nothing else. Long, cold slumber that they would all have to welcome. Master''s first words to all of them were the same: I will give you life, but at the very end, you will have to give it back. Perhaps, in due time, he''d gotten greedy, thinking that if he just worked hard enough, and if he properly set up all of his plans, that might not become a reality. But it was futile. The world wasn''t so meekly simple that it would care for his plans or his ideas or his musings. Beyond the membrane of it was the darkness that would swallow everything if they did nothing. And nobody else... well, nobody else was doing anything. No... that was unfair, unfair to one person in the entire world who was suffering while the rest of his gilded kingdom tore itself at its seams through backstabbings and corruption. One wondered just what it took to embrace that mantle, to willingly walk out into the void, and face the horrors beyond one''s comprehension. Embrace the role that nobody would ever celebrate, for none would ever know. However, it was not for forever¡ªhe was merely buying them time. And, at their Master''s behest, he offered them the tiniest glimpse of hope. When humanity destroyed the last remnants of the First Demons, the latter didn''t simply vanish from the world¡ªtheir fragments were scattered, buried deep like seeds into humanity itself. Every once in a while, they would fester and grow and manifest into a creature¡ªa berserk, mad creature fueled by rampant rage leftover from the act of betrayal. However, in that rage... there was hope. If those with the special physiques were taught the proper cultivation method before they turned 15, there was the faintest chance they could eventually break through the shackles of immortality and ascend past the Earthly Immortal Realm. That was the Demons'' parting blessing and a curse¡ªeven in the troves of betrayal, broken and destroyed by those they shielded from oblivion, they left behind a seed of hope, for they knew that the Outsiders would return one day. One glanced back down at the battlefield and gently flicked his fingers before disappearing. As he faded in the gust of wind, over a mile of land went up in blood-colored flames, but only for the briefest of flashes that lasted less than a blink of an eye. Thereafter, there was nothing¡ªjust lasting dirt, bereft of a voice and words to describe what had taken place here. Chapter 120 - Prodigal Children Return Chapter 120 Prodigal Children Return Azariel never left his room, not since they returned almost a week ago. Leo would glance up and at the window every morning and would swing by after breakfast and leave a bowl of food outside that would be returned empty when he''d return some hours later, but there were no interactions between the two. It reminded him of that brief period with Lu Yang, and Leo couldn''t help but purse his lips; that well and that cirque, twice now, rendered someone room-bound after he took them there. Perhaps it was best that he left the slumbering dragons do precisely that¡ªslumber. Sighing, he stretched as he stepped out into the clearing; Lu Yang had gone to tend the garden, Shui''er was still asleep as she stayed up late last night, and animals... well, they were places, Leo was certain of it. He also had a late night, having gone into the woods for the first time in days, catching yet another glimpse of the world before this one. It was a memory of a young girl, perhaps not even twenty yet, and her own defiant stand. She was scarcely a fighter¡ªshe grasped a short dagger with a flimsy grip and shaky hands, wailing about madly while a line of spearmen walked up to her and killed her rather quickly. The memories were beginning to weigh on him even more, especially now that he had quite a bit of context to them. Though he was a human, he didn''t really think of himself as a part of those who''d appear in the fragmented memories, full of rage and bloodlust. But it wasn''t easy to ignore it all, either, and he feared he''d sink into quicksand if he wasn''t careful enough. As he sat down onto one of the boulders and took out a gourd of fruit juice from the spatial ring, Gray and Whiskers showed up from between the trees, soon followed by Milky and Blackie. The four have grown quite close from what Leo noted, often disappearing or playing together, though as to how or why, he didn''t bother wondering. Whiskers leapt off the Gray''s back and nimbly climbed up Leo''s side, ending up on top of his head and lounging there as it purred. Gray settled by his leg, tail occasionally a-wagging, while Blackie and Milky sat down on the opposite end, seemingly twined. Leo''s heart relaxed, though he wondered for how long he''d be able to enjoy days like these. He felt something arise deep within, not quite a voice but less than a thought, warning him. Perhaps it was the marriage of so many new things that he learned, stoking his paranoia, but he felt, almost, the world beginning to sway. He felt silly believing it but wasn''t confident enough to ignore it, either. For better or for worse, it seemed that this world, at least, was rather cyclical in nature¡ªthings never seemed to happen in isolation but followed a pattern. In fairness, Earth wasn''t that starkly different (sans magic and such), but it was even more pronounced here. Primordial Qi''s return, for example, was a signal, insomuch as something natural can be one. Signal of the changing times, and he was likely, in some way, at the center of them. He knew that he wasn''t brought here randomly¡ªif he had been, there would have been no system, no help, no hands that ''groomed'' him. No, from the onset, he felt he would have a role to play in this world beyond just that of a hermit in the woods. For a while he believed it was to take care of the animals and the vagrants that happened upon these woods, but, lately, he wasn''t certain. Was he a savior? No. If the world needed a savior, they would have likely dragged somebody else here. There were people far more heroic than Leo dying every day back on Earth. So, what was it? Ultimately, he didn''t know. As though serendipitous, Lu Yang returned from the garden at the same moment Shui''er walked out of the longhouse, rubbing her eyes. She wore a purple dress, fresh and well-stitched, and Leo original. He''d made quite a few in the past week for her, and she finally stopped treating every one of them like a treasure. The first one, though, she still slept with, clutching tightly like it was a shield protecting her from pain. "I''m hungry!" she exclaimed quickly, prompting Leo to laugh. "It''s over there." "Ugh, vegetable stew... again?" She grumbled but still sat down and started eating, eyeing him the whole while as Lu Yang sat between them to the left, smiling faintly. "Oh? So, you don''t like my vegetable stew any longer, huh?" Leo put on a pained expression, and the girl panicked immediately, beginning to eat with gusto that only a child trying to appease an adult could eat with. "No, no! It''s delicious! It''s the best!" "Ha ha, I''m sorry, I didn''t mean it," Leo said as her panicked expression disappeared, a pouty one taking its place. "Sorry. How about this? I''ll go hunting today, and I''m going to make something with meat tonight. How''s that sound?" "... you promise?" "I promise." "Okay." "Okay?" "Okay." It was a game they began, Leo recognized¡ªthe ''Three Okays,'' he called it. She did it to him on occasion, too, and it felt...oddly appeasing to have to reassure. "I''m done," she said, standing up. "I''ll go and take a bath. Blackie, Whiskers, let''s go together!" The kitten purred atop Leo''s head, seeming to wake up immediately upon having her name called and skillfully climbing down and running over to Shui''er, jumping on the girl''s shoulder. Blackie wrestled free of Milky, who rolled to the side lazily, while the former sauntered over and followed the girl toward the pond. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "She''s going to be one mean young woman," Lu Yang commented as Leo chuckled. "Yeah. It''s better that way," Leo said. "I want her to become the meanest little thorn in the world." "I''ve found a rapture." "... a what?" "A rapture," Lu Yang said. "Caused by Primordial Qi. I mended it, but it''s likely not the only one." "Right. And this means...?" "It means that something is accelerating¡ªor, at least, trying to accelerate¡ªthe Qi''s return." "You pinpointed what?" "It''s beyond me," Lu Yang said as Leo sighed, his shoulders slinking. "You feel it too, right? The slow change." "Hm," the old man nodded. "Grandfather used to say that men prayed for stagnant waters as much as women prayed for stagnant men." "Wow." "Hm. Grandmother hated his guts. I''m fairly certain the only reason she outlived him was so that she could spit on his grave." "They sound... happy." "Both were as miserable as miserable gets," Lu Yang chuckled. "For the same and different reasons. Screaming, fighting, cursing... ofttimes I wondered how my parents didn''t turn into them. They seldom loved, mind you, but they were civil, at least. At least in public, Mother was a loving, supportive wife, and Father was a loving and supporting husband, even if they could strangle a dragon with the silence in private." "... well, your grandfather was right¡ªin part, at least," Leo said, taking a sip. "There''s seldom a worse time to be born than the times of change." Yu Lang glanced over and smiled faintly. "Not when you are old." "No, not when you''re old," Leo replied with a chuckle. "I''m old too, you know? In my ways, at least. But that doesn''t mean I''m not afraid of dying. Not death, no¡ªdeath is...kind, I feel¡ªbut dying scares. And, more so than that, it scares me what the kids will have to endure." "... you just have to believe in them." "Hm. I''ll prepare a gift," he said. "And go north. Ask my friend. Maybe he''s feeling charitable again." "..." Lu Yang remained silent. Evidently, neither Shui''er nor he remembered much (if anything) of their visit north and of Chilly. While Shui''er didn''t seem to question it, moving on as though it was the most perfectly normal thing in the world, Lu Yang''s eyes were different. However, he never asked, likely having felt that the question would ring hollow. Leo himself didn''t remember the north¡ªnot fully, at least. Ever since, however, he''d occasionally get glimpses and flashes of... things, aberrations melded together into chthonian amalgamations. Inexplicable things, indescribable, hauntingly hallowed. And every time he''d see them, it would reinforce his desire to never return even further... but he had to go. Whatever Chilly was, and he was likely many things, what mattered the most was that the feathered crow was intrinsically linked to things beyond Leo''s ken¡ªthere was a bond, a connection to the world''s undercurrents, the ones that Leo couldn''t see. Perhaps that was the difference between a mortal perception and that of a creature closer to a God Leo felt a faint stirring suddenly as Lu Yang jumped to his feet, readying to fight as a massive rift opened up above them. Purple edges bled out like a beast''s maw, framing a dark, obsidian hole¡ªa breath later, silhouettes broke through, and Leo quickly recognized the both of them. "Master, he''s not breathing!!" Yue screamed at the top of her voice¡ªit was brutal, and it cracked like a boom of thunder, prompting Leo to immediately jump to his feet and rush over, sliding next to the limp body of a young man with about a hundred different wounds, each one worse than the previous. "P-p-please save him!! Please, please, please..." Yue mumbled, her face smeared with tears and blood, a mixture that made his heart splinter. The rift above closed, and Leo bent over, pressing his ear near Liang''s nose¡ªhe wasn''t breathing. Or, if he was, it was so faint that Leo couldn''t hear it. He pressed his fingers against the young man''s wrist, and after a bit of patience, felt the faint pulse. It was there, and however faint, it meant that he wasn''t dead, at the very least. Leo did what he did with Yu Minge¡ªhe took out all the same plants and began dressing up the wounds after washing them out with the water from the pond; luckily, the wounds began to close at visible speeds, though it still looked beyond gnarly. Yue was openly weeping, and Lu Yang had to drag her back and away from the body as she thrashed about wildly. She didn''t hear him, Leo knew¡ªshe didn''t hear anything, likely. He very much empathized with the feeling. He checked his pulse again, but it was still faint; dressing surface wounds was far from enough, after all, so he did the only other thing he knew how to do¡ªhe took out the ''juice'' from the spatial ring that he prepared specifically for situations like this. He''d tossed in all the herbs he knew had even the mildest medicinal effects and mixed them with the water from the pond. Lifting Liang''s head gently, he slowly dripped the liquid, and the boy swallowed it instinctively, drop by drop. He''d hoped that his blind stumbling in the dark would be enough, examining everything once again. What happened? He wanted to ask but didn''t. All he could do was stare at the smeared blood, both across his arms and the ground beneath, and wonder when his nerves became made of steel. No... they didn''t; they were still the same, old, jittery sort, but the weight of Yue''s terror, her pleas, and her expectations and desires was the wings to his flimsy courage. Liang coughed suddenly, and Leo sat him up just in time for the young man to spray out a mouthful of black blood. The liquid dripped violently through his lips, pouring out like gasoline from a hose; only for a few seconds, yes, but those seconds felt like eternity. "Liang!!!" Yue broke free and thrashed over, sliding next to him and grabbing his face as gently as she could. "He''s fine," Leo said with fleeting confidence; well, as far as Leo''s medical skills went, and as far as he could tell, the boy was fine. The pulse had returned to what Leo, at least, considered normal, and he could feel Liang breathing out after putting a finger underneath the boy''s nose. Though it looked absolutely terrifying, having someone vomit so much black blood, Leo prayed and hoped with all his might that the boy was ''expelling the horrors,'' as it were, and not anything else. "I''ll take him inside to rest." "I--I''ll come with!" Leo knew that there was no chance in the breadth of the world that she wouldn''t come with him and that she wouldn''t stay in that room, as bedridden as he in a way, until he woke up. Though Leo didn''t know what happened, he wasn''t pressed for the truth at the moment, so he merely nodded his head as he gently lifted Liang''s body, glancing over at Lu Yang, who seemed just as shocked. The latter nodded faintly as Leo entered the longhouse, Yue in front of him, opening the doors. So much pain, suffering, misery, and death. Everywhere, at all times, all at once. Would his being here change anything? No. He was a singular drop of water in a world-spanning ocean, a speck of dust on a beach, the tiniest star in the cosmos. The suffering would continue, long after his own death, and unto the death of everything. All he could do was gnash his teeth and feel his heart bleed, bubbling into something that he only experienced briefly before¡ªanger. He feared it consuming him, as he knew well enough just how blinding the anger can be. Anger was a poison, the silent, deadly one, that consumed a person inside out until only a shell, a lookalike carcass, remained. And he feared, beyond most all other things, becoming that... again. Chapter 121 - Fire of Guilt Chapter 121 Fire of Guilt Leo knocked gently on the doors and slowly opened them, walking in while holding two bowls of vegetable stew. Though he promised Shui''er that he would go hunting and prepare meat one for a change, considering the wrinkle of his two Disciples abruptly returning (and one being a breath away from death), the little girl understood, and even bravely accompanied him, latching onto his robes and peeking from behind him at the two strangers. Liang was still comatose, almost an entire day into their return, and Yue was still a haggard mess, glued to his bedside. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes were red, and her cheeks and lips ballooned from all the crying. Even so, she hadn''t left the room, or likely even the bedside itself, since they returned. Leo walked over as she was yet to notice him--her eyes were glued to the young man lying on bed, her mind likely adrift elsewhere. "Yue," he called out softly and startled her ''awake'', prompting her to glance at him and force out a weak smile. "G-greetings, Master," he voice was hoarse and patchy, as though she''d been at a concert last night and spent it whole screaming at the top of her lungs. "Hey," Leo smiled gently, setting the bowls down. "How are you doing?" "Uh, good, yeah. Great. A bit tired." "Then you should rest." "No. I''m okay here." "... don''t make me make it an order." "..." Yue pursed her lips and glanced at him with a flash of anger, but relented. "Fine." "He''s going to be fine," Leo added. "I promise." "Hm." Yue shuffled and stood up, glancing over at Shui''er who quickly hid. She tried her best to smile, but her cheeks barely creased and she simply left, dragging her feet. Leo sighed and glanced over at the young man; he was looking much better, though that wasn''t exactly a feat considering just how bad he looked initially. His cheeks were rosy, and his pulse was strong, and even his cultivation had recovered. Per all signs, he should have woken up... but hadn''t. Though Leo worried, he didn''t let it show on his face. Instead, he gently sat the boy up and force-fed a spoonful or two of the stew, helping him digesting it through Qi the best he could. "Will... will he be okay?" Shui''er asked as she climbed on top of the bed. "Yeah," Leo said. "He will. He''s my Disciple, after all." "... am I your Disciple, too?" Shui''er asked with a trembling voice. Leo glanced over at her, conflicted; was she a Disciple? No. She was a kid, after all, and Leo had less than zero desire to set her onto this road, the kind of road where even someone as strong as Liang ended up in such a sorry state. And yet, he knew well enough that the girl''s curiosity would drive her into resentment toward him should he reject her pleas. "You''re too young," he said. "Perhaps a bit later, if you still want to. But... do you? Want to?" he asked. "Cultivation is a dangerous, dangerous thing, Shui''er. Look at your Brother Liang," Leo said, gently picking up the girl into his arms as she hung her legs over his arm, twining her arms around his neck. "He is not weak. Rather, he is extraordinarily strong and talented. And yet, even with all that, he still got really, really hurt. And just recently, a man even stronger than Liang--one of the strongest men around, in fact--came about this place, a breath away from death. "I will teach you the basics regardless, and I will help you however much you want, but you need to decide for yourself whether you want to tangle up with the world." "What about you?" she queried. "What about me?" "Do you... tagngle?" she struggled to pronounce the word. "No, no I don''t." "Then I''m going to be like you!" she broke out into a grin, squeezing his neck with her arms and pressing her head into his. "I''m going to be super strong, but I won''t tagle!" "Tangle." "I won''t tangle!" "Alright, then." Leo chuckled faintly as he carried the girl out and left the longhouse. Out of sight and out of mind, as it went, since Shui''er immediately seemed to have forgotten about everything and began chasing after Gray, disappearing somewhere between the trees. At first, Leo was a bit anxious any time she''d leave the immediate surroundings, but considering that animals seemed to love her and were escorting her every which way just like they used to escort him at first, there was little else to worry about besides perhaps a few scrapped knees and elbows (which she endured like a tiny little champion... for the most part). "How''s the kid?" Lu Yang asked as the two men settled down, the bottle of putrid alcohol awaiting. Leo still hadn''t gotten used to it, and it didn''t grow on him at all, but as there was no alternative, he still drank it regardless. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "He''ll live, hopefully," Leo said. "Hm," the old man grunted. "He''s at Spirit Creation Realm. That should have been more than enough to handle most things in the Cradle, especially if they stayed around Brooch." "So, either something awful happened," Leo said. "Or they didn''t stay around Brooch." as for what Brooch was, or why it was called that, Leo did not know. "Likely the latter," Lu Yang said. "Hotheaded, young, and talented¡ªyou cannot find a single worse combination of traits for bad decision-making." "Speaking from experience?" Leo grinned. "So much of it, yes. You?" "Oh, the stories are endless," Leo recalled the teenage as well as young adult years, and though there was no magic or cultivation or death and such back on Earth, he had another really bad trait that should never be combined with the other three¡ªdisposable income... lots of it. Well, it wasn''t income so much as it was allowance. There were nights where he''d drop five or six grand like it was nothing and not even remember how he spent them. Likely on buying eighty bottles of tequila, he mused. And stories, indeed, were endless¡ªin his case, literally. Every once in a while, he''d make his way to one or another gossip magazine or blog, dubbed the brainless scion wasting away his family''s hard-earned wealth. There was nothing quite like being a young person with no impulse control and access to infinite money. Ultimately, though, that lifestyle destroyed him. By his thirties, he was struggling with weight, he was having memory lapses even when he wasn''t drinking, and he''d practically learned to live with headaches as nothing seemed to make them go away. The two worlds, for however different they were, still shared those core similarities. The young overreach, in want of stars, while the old recede into safety and security, averse to risks. Though he didn''t know what happened to Liang, it was likely what Lu Yang theorized¡ªthey reached well beyond their means, perhaps relying on the fact that they had the feather and the scroll with them, utilizing either both or just one of them a bit too late. He didn''t want to pester Yue, and he wasn''t in a hurry for answers. The only thing that mattered was that Liang recovered. "And yet, you can''t tell them not to do it," Lu Yang said. "It''s part of becoming." "Hm," Leo chuckled. "Just how many times have I ignored my mother''s advice, thinking I knew better than her, only to learn the very lesson she was giving me through a whole lot of pain later? But, as you said, it''s part of becoming." The two men laughed for a moment, finishing their drinks. Lu Yang departed right after, tending the garden further and (likely) strolling the woods since Milky ''mentioned'' a few times that he''d seen the old man just wander about gracefully, taking in the sights. Leo, on the other hand, stayed, too distracted to meditate or cultivate, glancing often at the longhouse and the two windows perched directly above him where Liang and Yue were. Two hours would pass before Yue emerged from the building; if she slept, it was in spurts and not for long, but chances were that she simply tossed about on the bed for a couple of hours before growing bored and tired, leaving. She plopped down opposite him and took out a gourd from her spatial ring, taking a swig. "I forgot to greet you," she said. "Forgive me." "Yes, the greatest priority," Leo said with a smile, and she smiled too, ever so slightly. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Yes," she nodded. "Liang... took it all by himself. And... and it''s my fault. Gods, I''m pathetic. So, so, so pathetic it''s... Master, please... is, is there any way to make me stronger immediately? I''ll do anything¡ªit doesn''t matter what. Please, I beg!" She was just about to get down on her knees before Leo stepped in and prevented her, sighing. She bit her lip until it bled, her eyes resolutely staring at him. "I''m his Senior Sister!" she exclaimed. "And¡ªand all I did was stand there like a blind goat, unmoving!" Leo crouched, still holding her arm, and patted her gently. "Guilt... is like a fire, Yue," he said as she looked up from the ground and faced him again. "An eternal one, to boot. It hurts, and it takes no prisoners. It purges through you like a bolt, searing every which surface it touches. And, in the moment, it feels impossible to expunge¡ªit feels like it will become you. Not just a part, not just one side of the whole, no¡ªyou, the whole you. I know, trust me. And no matter how grand a speech I make, no matter what I say, no matter how much comfort I offer... it will continue to burn through you. It will sear into you, and you will feel it rip through you. And you will replay those moments over and over again, looking for any one tiny thing you could have done differently. And you will curse yourself, and hate yourself, and loathe yourself for not doing them. You will cry, you will scream, you will hate... and then, it will get a bit better. "You will sleep a bit longer. You will eat a bit better. You''ll find that you don''t think about it as much. And it will suddenly come back¡ªguilt on top of guilt. Yue, there is no escaping being human. I don''t know what happened, and I don''t know how it happened, but I know beyond the shadow of a doubt in my heart of hearts that Liang would step in front of you every single time. Replay that moment a thousand, a million, a billion times, and he would always choose to step forward. Not because he thinks you are incapable, not because he thinks you are weak, not because he''s a Junior Brother... but because he cares for you that much. And you know what? So do I. Just as he, I would have stepped forward, just as I know... you would for us, too." "But I didn''t! I¡ªI could have, I--" "--People unwilling to sacrifice themselves," Leo said. "Do not bury themselves in guilt, Yue. But, even if you do not want to, there is no fault in that." "How is there no fault?!" she screamed, her expression distorted and distraught. The look in her eyes was wild, tears streaking down her face. "Because nobody here would fault you," Leo smiled as gently as he could. "Not Liang, and certainly not me. He will be okay. And when he''s up and about, if he even bothers to think about it, he will tell you the same thing. It''s okay," she wept as he pulled her in, hugging her as she let out a voice that tore through his heart. "It''s all okay." She screamed, and she cried, and Leo remained silent, holding her. It was true¡ªno matter what he said to her, and no matter how well he rationalized it, it would not have mattered. Guilt sought no reason, nor did it respond to any; it was as real as it was imagined, impervious to all weapons sans the time itself. At least, that was how it was for him¡ªhe never recovered, not truly, but... he got better. Or, at least, he got better at dealing with it. At some point she''d stopped, and Leo could hear muffled snores¡ªshe''d cried so hard she exhausted herself to sleep. Holding back a belly laugh, Leo gently picked her up and carried her to her room and set her down, pulling a blanket over her and leaving. For better or for worse, these kids looked up to him¡ªand even if he didn''t think himself ''mature'' enough to step into that role, he had to. On his way out, he ran into Azariel¡ªin the midst of chaos, he forgot about him for a moment. "Is everything alright?" the man asked. "Yeah," Leo smiled, tossing his arm around the man''s shoulder and dragging him out. "My Disciples returned. A bit roughed up, but they''ll be fine." "That''s good, but why are you dragging me?" "Because you would have hidden back into your room," Leo said. "And I need someone to drink with. Drinking alone makes you an alcoholic, but drinking in company... well, you''re still an alcoholic, but you can cheat yourself into thinking you''re just a social drinker. After all, if you''re always in company and you''re always drinking... anyway, we''re not going to talk. We''ll just drink." "... just drink?" "Just drink." "I can do that." "Good." Chapter 122 - Junior Brother Wakes Chapter 122 Junior Brother Wakes Shui''er tapped out first, just a little bit after dinner. Azariel was next, tired of having spent the entire day drinking. Lu Yang left sometime around midnight, Leo presumed, though it was still rather difficult for him to track the hours. All animals were gone by another hour, and he was left alone. In the distance, he could hear the ghosts wailing, but he didn''t have the heart or the energy to stand up and go help. Not for nothing, at least; he needed an eve of respite, a few hours to recalibrate everything¡ªnot just about Yue and Liang, but himself, too. He''d never allowed himself to think too much about the day he and Azariel met; any time a thought of it would swim up to the surface, he''d distract himself with one thing or the other, uncertain. But he knew that, eventually, he''d have to face the demons, the whispers, and the fact that he was now a murderer. Whereas before, with the bedeviled thing that he killed as he saved Xiaoling and the kids, he could at least pretend that it wasn''t human; that was no longer possible. And even if he did hold the notion that he''d eventually have to do it from very early on in his stay here, it was different¡ªone was a fantasy, and the other one a reality, after all. There were a thousand thoughts, all discordant and disruptive, fighting to become the leading anchor, but none prevailed. It was as though his mind was shielding him from itself, speaking a thousand thoughts at once to drown out the needling whispers from within. He took a sip of the awful booze Lu Yang brought, cringing at both the taste and aftertaste, and loathing it as it became yet another distraction. He didn''t quite know what to make of everything, especially himself. In truth, he didn''t feel... awful for having done it. There was some guilt, but it was fleeting¡ªand mostly the kind that he warned Yue about, the guilt about the lack of guilt. Though thinking back at the moments did churn his intestines ever so slightly, it, too, would pass within a moment or two. In some deranged way, he was content. Not in want of more, but not full of regrets for having done those he did. Whether that was a dangerous place to be or not... he didn''t know. It wasn''t as though he hung out with murderers back on Earth who offered their own wisdom on the matter, and if he so much as brought up that question in this world, he would likely get laughed at. Murder here seemed as common as throwing out a slur was back on Earth¡ªjust an hourly thing that few batted their eyes on. He suddenly heard footsteps and turned toward the longhouse, where he saw the tall and stalwart figure emerge. Since it had been some time since the young man was gone, Leo forgot just how tall he was¡ªsix-five at the very least, with a build that would likely make him a prolific model back on Earth. And yet, even someone like him was an inch away from dying not a day earlier. "Liang?" Leo shot up to his feet and toward the young man, grabbing him gently. "Are you well enough to walk?" "Yes, thank you, Master," Liang replied as Leo guided him to the most comfortable ''chair'' around the flame (which wasn''t saying much as it was still just a slightly flattened boulder with some straw and grass on top of it) and helped him sit down. "Sorry, there''s no leftovers. Want me to whip up some dinner? Shouldn''t take too long." "No, no, I''m not hungry," he said. "I just needed some fresh air." "Ah. How are you feeling?" "Mostly nauseous," the young man smiled faintly as he spoke. "But considering how I likely was when you first saw me... I''m a tree now." "Well, you are very tall." "Ha ha," the two laughed for a moment as Leo wondered whether it was right to ask the one question he was dying to ask. "How is Yue?" "Guilt-ridden," Leo said. "And bedridden as well. Just exhaustion, nothing else." "Ah, good. So, I managed to block it whole." "What happened?" Leo asked. "Hm, we... we got blindsided a bit and trusted someone we shouldn''t have." Liang started, taking a moment to seemingly gather his thoughts before continuing. "Did Yue say anything?" "No. Just how she couldn''t move while you stepped in front of, well, whatever you stepped out in front of." "We were ambushed," Liang said. "Just before we reached the Sword. It was... strange. It wasn''t an ordinary ambush¡ªthere were other cultivators, there were Others involved, and even Demonic Beasts. It was as though they banded together against us and would then make it into a free-for-all for spoils after Yue and I were killed. Hey, Master, can... can I ask you something?" Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. "Anything." "The reason why we were trying to go as deep as we could," Liang said. "Was because both Yue and I felt a kind of... resonance. As though there was something in the Cradle''s depths calling for us. Just before the fight broke out, actually, I caught a fading glimpse of it¡ªbut it was strange. I''ve never seen anything like it before. It was like Qi... but the opposite of it. As though someone took ordinary Qi and twisted it in ways that weren''t... natural." For a change, Leo knew the answer¡ªor, at least, part of the answer, and he wasn''t going to withhold it. "It''s Primordial Qi," he said, having felt something somewhat similar himself when he went to that lake, the strange kind of resonance, as though a part of him was ripped and discarded, and he was now looking for it. "It''s started returning to the world, in small doses. I didn''t think it spread even outside the Forest, however." "Oh," Liang exclaimed softly. "I... I thought it was some kind of ancient spirit..." he added sheepishly, seeming embarrassed. Leo laughed for a moment, taking out a bottle of the rancid alcohol and tossing it over the flames toward him. Liang caught it easily, uncapping it and smelling it, immediately frowning. "Ugh, what is this?" "Alcohol." "You... you sure? None of the alcohol I drank before made me want to throw it into the fire..." "Well, it''s cheap alcohol," Leo added. "Absolutely putrid, in and through. But it''s all I have." "... oh well," the tall figure shrugged and took a swig, his expression distorting right after, prompting Leo to laugh yet again. "That''s... that''s the worst thing that has ever happened to me." "... do you blame Yue?" Leo suddenly asked, seeming to surprise Liang. Though Leo firmly tried to absolve Yue of the guilt, he didn''t know that what he was saying was the actual truth. If it wasn''t, and if Liang blamed her, he wanted to get in front of it. "Blame her?" "If you do," Leo said. "Please... don''t say anything to her. Pass it all onto me and curse me out instead." "... and here I was," Liang lowered his head and smiled, staring at the flames. "Thinking of imploring you not to fault her, as it was my oversight." He took yet another swing, nearly belching, before continuing. "Yue--I mean, Senior Sister... she''s many things, but experienced isn''t one. Though I knew it, I only realized the extent of it when we reached the Cradle. That was when I knew that I''d have to be twice as on alert, twice as cautious, twice as paranoid. But... I relaxed, at the worst time at that. She did nothing wrong. Rather, considering that was her first excursion out into the world... she did fantastically." "You really care for her, huh?" Leo said, taking a swig. "Hm," he nodded. "Ah, but she is also a bit scary." "She is?" "Before she tore the scroll," Liang said. "She, uh... I, I don''t think I should say this, but you''ll probably find out if you already haven''t. She, uh, she used the feather... twice." "Oh." "She concentrated it!" he quickly added. "Just at those who attacked us! I... I think... please forgive her, Master! She did it for my sake, so punish me instead!" Leo fought the urge to roll his eyes, taking a swig himself while staring at the man''s bowed head. He lucked out, mightily, he realized¡ªhis first two Disciples were genuinely nice kids (being potential killers notwithstanding), and, more than that, they seemed to care greatly for each other, as well as this place. It could have been just as likely that they were conniving, treacherous sorts who''d look to backstab each other as well as him at the first opportunity. "I''ll punish both of you," he said. Liang winced, but Leo merely smiled. "No leaving the forest for the next two months for either of you." "..." The young man looked up, eyes briefly ensconced with wisdom that he usually hid. Leo had already figured that the goofball that he was for the most part was a bit of a facade¡ªno matter the natural talents, it was evident that those successful in this world were also very much among the smarter ones. He hid that part of him for one reason or another, though Leo did like the foolish act he put on¡ªit was quite funny, in bursts. "Of course. It''s a well-deserved punishment." "Now you''re just playing with fire." "Ah, apologies!" He quickly put on that foolish grin and fixed his hair, prompting Leo to grin. Well, having dull, obedient Disciples might have been too boring, he figured. "You must have picked up on it by now," Leo said. "But we have three new guests." "Yeah." "Two old men? I don''t care what you do with them; just don''t kill each other," Leo said. "The girl, though, I''d appreciate if you were nice to her." "Who... is she? Your, khm, your, I mean--" "--From now on," Leo said. "Consider that she is. For both you and everyone else." "Oh. Of course, Master." "... you know," Leo said, leaning back and looking up toward the sky full of shimmering stars. "Not too long ago, it was just me and a whole host of animals. And, for a while, I thought that would be my life for many years to come. Then, one by one, you kids started showing up." "Do you... hate it?" Liang probed. "Hate it? Ha ha, of course not," Leo replied. "Rather, it''s the opposite. I don''t care much for what happens in the outside world. For now, at least. But... in some small ways, I''ve found my calling. To help whoever came here and to offer a second chance. Want to hear my dream, Liang?" "Of course, Master." "You can''t laugh." "I would never." "... there is a Sect," Leo said, closing his eyes. "All its Disciples transient. If you feel like the world has become too much, and you simply need a place to escape to from everything... it will take you in. And it will provide a sanctuary. A Sect where there are no competitions, no pressure to become stronger... a place where people can live any which way they want." Leo opened his eyes and glanced over at the young man listening intently. "I know that it''s incongruous with everything, but... I loathe the thought of you kids out there, fighting for your lives. And I want to create a place for all those who feel the same way I do. It''s naive, in more ways than I can count at that, but dreams ought to be. Chances are that I''ll spend a lifetime pursuing a dream that can never be fulfilled, but... I can''t seem to care, truth be told." "... it''s a lovely dream, Master," Liang said. "And, perhaps, if anyone can make it into reality, it''s you." "You are rather good at flattery." "I''ve had some experience." "I see," they shared a laugh before Leo took another swig, standing up. "Do you hear them?" he suddenly asked, causing Liang to look at him confused for a moment. "Hear what?" "... come with me," Leo said, putting away the bottle and heading toward the distant wails. "Perhaps if you can''t hear them," he added. "You might see them." Chapter 123 - Hearts Silent Burdens Chapter 123 Heart''s Silent Burdens Liang followed Leo between the trees in silence as the darkness began to thicken. Leaves rustled gently under the harrowing wind, their footsteps ever so faintly joining the symphony of the night. The back of his Master seemed especially... heavy tonight, he felt, as though it were carrying invisible burdens stacked like mountains. The steps, though confident, lacked the usual ''lightness'' that Liang liked the most about the ethereal figure that took him in. No more than ten minutes into the walk, his Master parted tall and wild shrubbery and stepped into the clearing, but Liang... couldn''t. His feet froze, his heart stopped, and he felt his eyes bulge at the sight; terror raced up his throat into a scream that he barely stopped himself from unleashing, while blood seemed to chill into frost within his veins. In over twenty-five years of his life, Liang had seen many things¡ª a good number of which did scare him, to one extent or another. But never before, not even in the face of death, had he felt his entire self seemingly disassociate from reality in a desperate attempt to escape it. There, at the very center of the clearing, was a... figure. No, an apparition. Transparent, faintly shimmering, ethereal, unbecoming. It was then that he heard, as though he''d been cured of deafness. The wail was soft, seldom a screech, but it was so piercing that Liang felt his knees give out and found himself plummeting towards the ground. He felt a gentle force hold him and help him down. Looking up, his Master''s face stared back, full of sympathy and guilt, and he seemed to mumble something, but Liang couldn''t make any other sound besides the wail. Master walked off, and Liang watched with horror in both his heart and eyes as he approached the apparition, beginning to hum in a golden glow, reaching out with his hand and pressing it against the figure''s forehead. The wail stopped, and Liang felt the heaviness upon his soul lessen. Bit by bit, he watched the ghastly thing regain its color and shape and become whole... but only for such a brief moment that, were his entire attention not on it, he would have missed it. It opened its eyes and looked at the Master with such gratitude that even Liang felt it swell within his heart, and within a breath... it disappeared, like smoke in the wind. It was only then that he realized he was doused in cold sweat and that he was shivering. He quickly used Qi to dispel it and normalize himself as much as possible, just in time for his Master to turn and face him with a faint smile. "I''m sorry," he said. "I... I didn''t think it''d have that much of an impact on you. Though, it seems I will have to learn my lesson rather loudly: stop taking people that I care for to places they don''t belong." "N-no, I''m sorry for being so weak, Master!" Liang quickly said, and he was seldom lying. He did feel weak¡ªif one little ghost was enough to bring him down to his knees, what of the rest? After all, Master asked him if he could hear them, not just hear it. "W-what... what was that, if you don''t mind?" "An old remnant," his Master replied cryptically, walking over toward him and helping him up to his feet. "She died in a fire, cradling her child, trying to save it." "... d-did... did she?" No answer came, only silence¡ªbut, well, the silence itself was an answer. "Oh." "I''m sorry for being selfish, Liang," he said. "I wanted to unburden myself, it seems, more than I realized." "No, I''m glad you have shown me, Master! I just... I just wish I could help in any way..." "Ha ha, that''s quite alright," though there was still some heaviness to it, Master''s voice regained its usual fleetingness and color. "I don''t need you to help me. I just need you to get well quickly." "... Are... are there more?" he asked the question he already knew an answer to. "Yes." Liang felt his heart stir and his palms turn damp. "But you needn''t fear. They are harmless. Every night, they sing a song, calling for me. And every night I go out and meet one of them, granting them whatever it is that they need. They don''t come near the camp, so, as long as you don''t wander far off into the woods at night, you shouldn''t encounter them. Then again, perhaps the only reason you could see her was that I was there¡ªor am I simply thinking too highly of myself yet again?" The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. It was the strum of guilt, and Liang finally understood how perhaps Yue felt¡ªthe helplessness in the face of something greater than yourself was unlike anything he ever felt before in his life. After all, even if he did feel helpless before, it was different: he could always merely struggle to become stronger, to outdo whatever wall he ran into. But, despite not knowing much (if anything) of the ghosts in the woods, he knew in his heart that even if he worked for a thousand years and trained for a thousand more, he would never be able to help his Master in any meaningful capacity. Over and over, through tiny and large things, Liang had come to realize that there wasn''t much in the world as enigmatic as his Master. All the Arts that he taught them were divine; at least, all the things he fed them were equally so, transforming their bodies in ways that only the mythical Immortals were capable of, and he was a conduit through which they established lasting bonds with Spirits, of all things. Liang didn''t think even for a second that all of this came because of him¡ªno, it was a twist of luck, he knew, that he was one of the few that escaped the Sect that night, and that Lya knew to come here of all places, and that they were taken in, and that he was allowed to stay. A string of lucky decisions well outside his ability to make them, and now he stood at the precipice of greatness that he felt nobody in his generation could match. And yet, there was nothing he could do to help the man who granted him all that, directly or otherwise. "I finally understand Yue, a bit." "Hm?" "The guilt born of helplessness," he confessed, not knowing why. Perhaps he sought the selfish assurance from his Master that it was okay to be helpless? Maybe it was that he felt honesty was necessary? Regardless, he spoke it into the world just as the two returned home. "You''re lucky, then," he said. "That you know both sides of that coin. How do you feel about Yue''s guilt?" "I... I think it''s silly," he confessed again, feeling his cheeks burn up slightly. How else would he feel? His strange Senior Sister took him in, accepted him, and never chastized him for the way he was. Whenever they would train together, she would chatter on relentlessly, and he would only ever nod and hum along, but those mornings when she wasn''t there with him were strangely lonely. At some point, he preferred her voice, and whatever new thing she was shouting into the void, over the silence. "Well, there you go." His Master chuckled, prompting Liang to glance to the side where he saw the figure stretching. His Master was some ways shorter than him, and yet, Liang could never truly see it¡ªall he ever saw was a figure looming over the entire world, tall enough to hold up the sky from crashing down upon them. "Nobody else knows about them, so don''t mention it." "Of course." "I don''t think I said, did I?" The ever-radiant brown eyes shifted over and faced Liang with a gentle and warm smile. "Thank you, Liang, for protecting your Senior Sister. If you need anything, just ask¡ªand though your Master is unreliable, I will do my best to fulfill it." Liang hung his head low and stopped himself from smiling. There was a point in his life where compliments from his Seniors were more of a burden than much else¡ªit was always almost followed by a request, and never one that took his needs into consideration. Though Holy Blade Sect was his home, and he had enduring, fond memories of it, being its Disciple, especially one as highly touted as Liang, was a burden. He hadn''t felt much besides exasperation at the Seniors'' praises in years, and yet, in the face of his Master''s words, he felt tingling embarrassment, like a child did when their parent told them they did a good job plucking those carrots from the dirt. "No, Master," he said. "You''ve already given me everything I could ever need. Asking for anything more would likely cause the Heavens to smite me for my impunity." "Ah, don''t worry. I''ll think of something myself." "No, Master, I--" "--it''s not a choice, Liang," he was interrupted as his Master slapped him gently on the back. "I''ve found that in life, as we grow older, we forget the duality of it all¡ªwe punish the crimes, but at some point, we stop cheering on the good deeds. Well, no, that''s wrong¡ªwe do cheer, but that''s about it. No rewards. Like only children are privileged enough to be rewarded for good things. So, I''m trying to change that, one step at a time. It seems like I''m trying to change many things these days. Oh well. Someone has to start, no? Anyway, thank you for accompanying me. You should go and rest. Tomorrow, we have to go hunting." "Hunting?" "I promised Shui''er a meat stew," his Master said with a grin. "But on the day I was to hunt for some, well, meat, you two came back. So, you want to pay me back? Let''s all go hunting tomorrow." "Of course, Master!" Naturally, his Master didn''t need actual help hunting. After all, Liang suspected there were perhaps one or two people in the entire known world that were as strong or stronger than the bushy-bearded man in front of him, if that, even. But it wasn''t as though Liang could help with anything meaningful, either, so all he could do was fulfill whatever was asked of him, no matter how minor and inconsequential. It was the least he could do for a man who altered his fate and afforded him a chance to potentially glimpse into infinity in the future, something that he would have otherwise never even dreamed of before. Chapter 124 - Heavenly Eruption Chapter 124 Heavenly Eruption Mei''s eyes shot wide open as she burned almost half of her Qi in less than a breath carrying out Lya and Song from their temporary lodging and out into the open. No less than a second later, a black bolt of thunder ripped across the ashen sky and obliterated the wooden dwelling in a manner that seemed beyond abnormal. Her eyes darted around in panic, settling only when she saw the figure stop by their side, frowning as deeply as her. It wasn''t an attack, per se¡ªthere were no other cultivators anywhere around, and even if there were, none should have been capable of conjuring up an attack of that scale. Besides, the ashen skies seemed full of them¡ªblack bolts of lightning, varying in sizes and thickness, streaking across and slamming into random points of the world, destroying whatever they touched. Eerily, however... they made no sound. It was as though they swallowed it instead, turning melody into silence. The bolts were relatively infrequent and seemingly vastly spread¡ªMei looked in all four directions yet could not see the end of the ashen firmament. It went on endlessly, dulling the world''s colors in a rather stark and somber way. The green of the trees had turned nearly brown, as though a painter had taken a beautiful piece and doused it in coloring oils, desaturating it until it became death out of life. "What is--" just as Mei wanted to ask what likely all four were thinking, she felt something. A stir deep inside her dantian prompted her to close her eyes and look deep inward. There, abounded in streaks of white was a churning Core that held the essence of self¡ªand though the core itself was always in equal measures white as it was slightly gray (all depending on what kind of Core one forged during the breakthrough), there were a few stains, spots of black. Were she not focused on looking for anomalies, she would have missed them for certain¡ªthat was how tiny they were. Fear struck her, and she tentatively used tendrils of Qi to probe the anomalies. Nothing happened, however; well, the anomalies seemed to ''absorb'' the Qi from tendrils but would spit it back out a moment later, except in the form of black vapor. For one reason or another, though, Mei didn''t feel any danger¡ªnot instinctively¡ªtowards the anomaly. It was unbecoming, and it was beyond her understanding, but... she felt it was non-threatening. Rather, she decided to do an experiment-- She drew out her sword and managed to extract a tiny little mote from within the anomaly, mixing it with ordinary Qi and executing one of the Arts she was most familiar with¡ªthe Art shuttled her forward rapidly, allowing her to outpace her opponents and get a surprise hit in. Ordinarily, though strong, it was easily countered by anyone who was prepared for it, knew of it, or simply had good battle instincts, like Shen Tao. However, something was... different. She knew it the moment she even began executing the art. Without her even realizing it, she found herself at her intended destination. Did a second pass? No. She felt that it was so fragmented it could not even be measured in time¡ªit was as though she blinked from one place to another, rather than moved in between them. Furthermore, she watched her sword slowly turn to dust and disappear, seemingly unable to hold steady in the wake of the expelled energy¡ªthe expelled energy that had leveled about a thousand yards of space between her and the mountain''s beginning. There was only wasteland there, occupied solely by the fading flickers of dust and nothing else. She found herself gasping, drained mentally and physically, still unable to process what she''d done. The attack she executed... it was on the level of those people who have mastered their Avatar forms. No, even before that¡ªthe Art she used wasn''t supposed to do this. It had no means of doing this. It was a halfway movement and halfway attacking Art, an uneven combination meant to be used as a surprise. Not... this. Her knees gave out, and just as she was about to collapse, a pair of arms grabbed her under her armpits and held her up. Glancing over, she saw Shen Tao staring at her incredulously, a mixture of awe and fear in his eyes. "... you alright?" he asked. "Yeah," she could only muster a one-word reply, her eyes veering back over to the destruction she''d caused. It was prompted by a mere feeling, an itch deep within, and she simply wanted to see whether her intuition was in any way correct. There wasn''t even an inch of her that thought the outcome would be this devastating. If she attacked someone... no, how far up the chain of strength would she have to go to find someone who could take the attack head-on? Perhaps her Master? Or maybe someone slightly weaker? Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. She knew well enough that none among her peers would come even close to being able to defend it. Even Shen Tao, for all his marvel and talent, wouldn''t be able to react in time. After all, she''d fought him and sparred with him often enough to have a general grasp on his strength. And though it was likely that he was hiding some trump cards, unless that trump card was a shield that activated automatically when he was in danger, he, too, would find himself helpless beneath the weight of that anomaly. Once again, she looked inward. There were still a few black spots around on the surface of her Core, but they were fewer and dimmer. She suddenly felt pain over having wasted so much of it on nothing, yet couldn''t stay in pain for long as she didn''t know what that nothing was. Suddenly, the world shook, and Mei witnessed her two Juniors unleash attacks of their own¡ªthey were broadly weaker than hers, sure, but still vastly beyond what any Foundation Establishment cultivator ought to be able to conjure. Lya''s attack was a roaring bolt of thunder¡ªand though it was a normal-looking one, a mixture of white, purple, and cyan, Mei noted, however faintly, black traces deep within reminiscent of the thunder ripping out from the ashen sky. Song''s attack was similar to hers, an ordinary thrust that dug out about three hundred feet of dirt into a small crater. All three seemed to have felt something close to a resonance with the streaking thunder from the gray skies, and if it was just the three of them and not Shen Tao as well, that could mean only one thing... it had something to do with the Forest. Both Lya and Song collapsed swiftly after, passing out completely unlike her. Looking into them, Mei saw that both had drained every ounce of their Qi; on the other hand, she managed to do it with more control, though she was quite drained herself as well. "What is happening?" Shen Tao asked the question she wanted to ask as they both held onto one of the kids, looking up at the ever-darkening skies. The frequency of bolts increased, and though there seemed to be no pattern on the surface, Mei started noticing that the bolts didn''t seem to land anywhere within a mile of them. "And why did it stop happening here?" She could practically hear the strange, defeated smile in Shen Tao''s voice without even looking to the side to confirm it. "The question is... is it safe to stay here?" "It''s a pointless question," he said. "Even if it''s not, we can''t leave." "We can hide." "We were hiding." "Okay. So, what''s your plan?" She asked with a bit of frustration in her voice. "Stick to you three, apparently," he replied with an equal measure of bitterness in his. She looked over and met his gaze and felt a pang of discomfort in her heart as she faced him¡ªthough he hid it the best he could, she saw it, burning pyres of envy, greed, and even anger. "... powers don''t just come out of nowhere, Shen Tao," she tried to reason. "And if they do, they come with a burden or a curse." "I''m not asking you to comfort me, least of all with stupid lies like that." "They''re neither lies nor stupid, and I wasn''t comforting you," she said with a frown. "I''m merely stating facts. In all the stories you''ve ever heard or read or even witnessed of people obtaining amazing powers practically overnight, when have they ever ended well for the person in question? Unearned strength is tethered to a thousand devils, and just because ours haven''t shown up yet doesn''t mean they aren''t eyeing us from the shadows." Before Shen Tao could reply¡ªa bitter remark or a well-thought-out argument¡ªyet another thing happened. Well, it was the same thing, just in a different way. A black bolt spanning at least half a mile in diameter tore through the fabric of space and time, sundering all in its wake... and this time around, it was not silent. Pain was bordering the worst sort Mei had ever felt in her life¡ªshe instinctively let go of Lya and clamped her palms against her ears, but it was futile. Her eardrums had burst and were bleeding profusely, and the sheer resonance of the sound had started a major chain reaction of earthquakes. She watched in abject horror as the tall, jagged peaks of Bloodmoon Mountain cracked and split, crushed under their own weight. It was an avalanche of dust, debris, and boulders, and it was unlike anything she''d ever seen before in her life. "RUN!" She didn''t hear herself scream, and she doubted Shen Tao could hear her. However, she still felt she needed to say it. Grabbing Lya once again and using Qi to close her ears (just barely helping a bit with pain that had begun to jolt through her system like fire), she shuttered backwards and away from the coming storm of death. She caught a glimpse of Shen Tao to her left, running alongside her, Song in tow. Darkness swelled all around, and soon similar bolts began to erupt every which way around them, turning the calm, still world into one of unmitigated cataclysm. Mei witnessed an entire field of green be torn up into a mile-deep crater of smoking ash and death, while similar scenarios played out all around them. She didn''t know where to run, and her instincts guided her. Within minutes, she became deeply aware that she was running in the direction of the ''fake'' Forest¡ªjust as she did twice before when in deathly danger, she resorted to the one place she thought infallible. Whether that was true or not, and whether the forest could survive the onslaught that was destroying the world around them... she didn''t know. However, bearing witness to the rivers being heaved up from their roots, all their waters evaporated before they could fall back down to the ground, and watching all light be consumed by the ever-expanding cabal of ashen clouds left her little hope in anything else. This wasn''t the sort of thing that one survived through strength¡ªit was so overpowering and overwhelming that Mei felt even her Master could only run and hide, and perhaps even Sect Master himself would choose to do so. So, she ran, ran in the direction of the only place she felt could be a safe haven in the times of apocalyptic reckoning. Chapter 125 - Primordial Storm Chapter 125 Primordial Storm Leo''s eyes turned into slits as his heart churned. The world seemed to be coming undone. Just ten minutes ago, the skies above were perfectly clear, and the world was evergreen as it was day-to-day. And yet, in what felt like just a few seconds, it all changed. From seemingly nowhere, ashen clouds began to form, soon covering the sun and turning the entire world dark and gray. All sounds within the forest ceased; its entire ecosystem paused its living for a moment to either admire or fear the change. At the same time, Leo felt something deep within him tingle, like a spark of lightning trying to burst out from some cocoon. There was a connection being formed¡ªnot with the ashen skies, no, but with what the ashen produced: black lightning. Leo felt the kind of resonance that Yue and Liang mentioned they, too, felt back in the Cradle¡ªexcept it was perhaps a bit more subtle. "...it''s here?" Azariel exclaimed in shock as he left the longhouse, prompting everyone to look over at him. They were all gathered, bearing witness to the change, silently ignorant. "You know what it is?" Leo asked. "It''s the Primordial Storm," Azariel replied, joining them, his head craned towards the sky. "Though, it shouldn''t be happening yet. Certainly not at this scale." Leo''s frown deepened as he looked away from the man and toward the sky. There was something about the clouds that was reminiscent of that lake he briefly visited, though the clouds were far grayer than the lake. "And this means... what?" Yue posed the question after momentary silence. "It means that something that should have happened centuries from now," he replied. "Will happen within a year. Supposedly, there have only ever been two Primordial Storms--the first one when the world was created and the second one when the First Demons ascended. It''s meant to herald a change that will have lasting ramifications on everything, as it distributes Primordial Qi all across the world rather than keeping it in safe clusters. I just... didn''t think there was any Primordial Qi to distribute." "...could it be us?" Yu Lang asked suddenly. "This resonance I feel... it can''t be a coincidence." "It''s not," Azariel glanced over the rest of them. "Somehow¡ªand I assume through Master Leo''s handiwork¡ªyou all posses Primordial Qi in quantities that should not be possible. It wasn''t as though there was no Primordial Qi back then¡ªbut trying to interact with it in any capacity meant certain death. Yet, all of you somehow not only interact with it, but you store it in lieu of ordinary Qi, something we pursued our entire lifetime. However, it''s not enough¡ªyou still only possess trace amounts. It''s enough to enhance your combat capabilities, but most of your Qi is still ordinary. Even if you pooled it all together, you wouldn''t be able to produce a spark, let alone a bolt like those ones. No, this is... something else." "And even you don''t know what?" Leo asked. "No," Azariel shrugged. "Don''t take me for some expert on ancient lore. Most of what I know is what I heard in early-age schools when my interest couldn''t be less." "Well, let''s hope nothing too awful comes out of it," Leo commented and shuffled around, starting fires to prepare a meal. The words lingered, though, and he felt he might have possibly jinxed them, if ever so slightly. Eh, I don''t believe in jinxes; it should be fine... ** Yu Minge frowned as he exited the meditation room and stepped out into the courtyard of his humble abode. The blue skies had darkened in what felt like a moment, ashen clouds dominating everything and dulling the world''s colors. Just then, a figure appeared beside him, streaking out of bubbling shadows. Xiaoling looked worse for wear, but Yu Minge understood¡ªas a temporary Sect Leader, she worked tirelessly at every hour of every day. Had her cultivation method not been unique, Yu Minge suspected she would have even dropped a few realms with how little time she had to practice. A frown hung on her face as well as she stared at the sky above, the same bewilderment in her eyes that existed in his. "Do you feel it?" he asked. "Hm," she nodded. "The bolts, they''re of the same makeup as the kind of Qi that nearly killed you." "Yes," he nodded back. "The world''s changing, evidently." "...you''re already back at Soul Ascendance Realm?!" She exclaimed in shock as she finally paid him some attention instead of the sky. Yu Minge beamed with a strange sense of pride, something he hadn''t done in nearly a century, grinning. "Your Master is amazing, indeed." "... unfair," she frowned. "Maybe I should visit Leo and ask him to do whatever he did to you." "Do you suppose he''s the cause of change?" Yu Minge asked, wondering what she felt. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "Rather than the cause," she said. "I feel he''s more of a... product. Like a herald, of sorts. This would have happened either way; it''s just that he happened slightly beforehand. Perhaps as a means to prepare us, or prepare something else, or perhaps purely by accident. We still don''t really know where he came from, do we?" "Not in the slightest," Yu Minge shrugged. "But I hardly feel that is a relevant point. You''re right in your assessment¡ªotherwise, he would not have had the means of curing me or affording me this opportunity. What role he has, or, indeed, we even have, in this entire play unfolding... I wonder." "Word of warning," Xiaoling said. "The news has reached us that the Nascent Realm Cultivator is coming here. Alongside the news was a warning¡ªhe''s a hedonist in want of wine and women more than anything. I''ll do a lot of things for the Sect, but that''s not one of them." "Nor would I ask you or any of our Disciples," Yu Minge said. "Entertain him with politeness, at first. If he responds in kind, aid him in his investigation the best you can. However, if he tries anything out of the ordinary... well, the solution is simple, isn''t it?" "It is?" "I will just kill him." "..." Xiaoling flinched for a moment at his bold statement, and even Yu Minge felt it was a bit sacrilegious¡ªwhile cross-realm fighting was a thing, and most talented cultivators had at least some capacity for it, the higher one''s realm was, the more impossible of a feat it became. Already defeating someone of the Soul Ascendance Realm at the Avatar Realm was almost unprecedented, while killing someone at the Nascent Soul Realm was. And yet, deep within, he almost knew that he could do it. There simply was no apt comparison to his strength before and his strength now¡ªif the attack on the Sect happened today, he felt he could single-handedly repel it and do so without even breaking a sweat. "You sound confident," she said. "I am." "Then am I to act and behave under the assumption that, from hereon, we will treat ourselves as a Tier V Sect?" "It won''t end there," he added. "More bold proclamations, Master," she sneered. "I don''t remember you being quite like this. Perhaps nearly dying has done irreparable damage to your brain." "What an awful thing to say to your own Master," he chuckled. "But, is it enough of the jest, young Disciple? You, too, have felt the changes, undoubtedly." "... hm," she nodded, looking away and toward the west, where the forest lay. It was well beyond their ability to see, separated by tens of miles of distance, but they both knew it stood as tall and as valiantly as ever. "If I had the time, I could break through to the Soul Ascendence Realm, I feel." "Really?" Yu Minge exclaimed in surprise. "Let me see," she stretched out her arm, and he gently grabbed it, pressing his fingers against her wrist and sending in a tiny mote of Qi, shooting it through her body. He closed and opened his eyes as though in a blink, staring at her with a faint look of shock therein. "Your ailments... are completely gone." he said. It was even more of a shocker to him than the fact that she was on the precipice of breaking through. "Yes," she nodded, her lips curling up into a rare, genuine smile. "It just... happened. Look at this." she added, conjuring a transparent dagger above her palm. The weapon danced softly in place, and upon closer inspection, Yu Minge recognized certain... oddities. Though Xiaoling always forged her weapons from Qi, she had to infuse them with her Soul--that was both the biggest strength and the greatest drawback of her method. However, he couldn''t find any trace amounts of her Soul in that weapon, yet it still felt as potent as ever before¡ªeven more, perhaps. "I can use Qi to forge Soul Force," she said. "The ratio, at the moment at least, is rather abysmal. If, before, I could fight for an hour, I can now do so for about ten minutes. But when I first started trying, it was 30 seconds." "... we owe a lot more than just our lives to that hermit, don''t we?" Yu Minge sighed, smiling as well. "Do you think you can break through within three days?" "Yes." she fired off within a second, as though she were waiting for him. He shook his head helplessly, patting her for a moment. Though she often eluded him, this time she stayed rooted in place, as though giving him ''payment'' for the service. "It will be an auspicious moment for our Sect," he said. "To have gotten a second Soul Ascendance Realm cultivator. Even the Pavilion only has three." "Is the Pavilion really a threat if you can boldly proclaim you can kill a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "... don''t underestimate that den of hypocrisy," he said, his tone faintly grave. "There is a reason they were the first Sect to form on these lands after the collapse of the Empire of the Moon and why they were the first sect to reach Tier IV. Have you ever wondered, thus, why they remained a Tier IV Sect? For almost 150 years now, even if they were made out of rock and dirt, they should have managed to become Tier V. And yet, they never did." "A choice?" "A choice," he nodded. "Their reach is webbed, extending far out from their tiny little hamlet. If you stir their nest, soon you will find hornets from all corners of the world converging on top of you." "So, you''re saying we stand no chance?" "I didn''t say that," Yu Minge glanced over and smiled faintly. "I am merely saying to know when to tangle with them. Acquiesce to the smaller things; stay clear of them the best you can, but if the call for war is issued... be merciless." "Well, if you do end up killing that Central Ashlander," Xiaoling said. "I have a feeling there will be very few Sects and people willing to tangle with us in the future." "Strength is absolute, Xiao''er, until it isn''t," he said. "Well, you would know. Ah, I''m sorry," she apologized even before the sound of ''know'' disappeared from the world. Her expression darkened, wracked with guilt, but Yu Minge merely smiled. "Then take it as a lesson from one of the few who would know." "... will do." "Very well. My humble abode is temporarily yours. I look forward to you shocking the entire world." "As do I, Master." Yu Minge walked off with a smile; she always turned rather docile whenever she brought up his father, either by accident or to try and anger him. There were only four people in the entire Ashlands who knew the truth of his heritage¡ªhis Father, Xiaoling, Holy Ancestor, his Master who has been dead for over 100 years now, and the Gilded Emperor, the man who inherited his Father''s former position as the Sect Leader of the only Tier X Sect of the Ashlands, Sword God Emporium. Yu Minge would wince and feel the twinge of pain in his heart whenever he would try to recall his early childhood¡ªit was as though there was a tangled web of roots wrapped around those memories, and any time he tried to access them, the roots would squeeze until his heart hurt too much to continue. Where his Father was now, why he abdicated his role, why he sent Yu Minge far out and away while still allowing him to keep the knowledge of his heritage... a thousand questions swirled inside his mind, and though he had made his peace in the past with never finding answers to them, now that he saw the future in which he rose to the position of an Immortal... he began to yearn once more, yearn for that which was taken from him, and yearn for the reasons behind the theft. Chapter 126 - Permutation of the Eons Chapter 126 Permutation of the Eons Per the Ancient Covenant, there were 33 Seals¡ªfrom the Avowed to the Exalted to the Unhindered. Ancient Clans all existed within the Covenant, and when it came time to chance their survival on the distant future they weren''t sure would even occur, Lord T''wan cast from Divine Stone 33 Seals, radiant, circular pendants that had in them the most complex array that humanity had ever been able to decipher of those that belonged to the Demons¡ªTime Stasis, the Demons dubbed it. All things, living and otherwise, within the stasis would never wither, would never age, would never rot, and would never die¡ªthey would, however, never grow either, never improve, and never evolve. Time ceased to matter, as did all things derived from it. The Time Stasis array, however, was so complex that True Essence of over a thousand quasi-Immortals had to be used, killing them all in the process¡ªsomething that only the most Senior of those who would be entombed in time were familiar with. The Seals would not respond to any external influence¡ªeven if the world itself were to burn down to ashes, consuming all in its path, the Seals would never flinch. Those within would never know, damned to an eternal prison of neither life nor death. Now, however, the Seals were breaking¡ªone by one, the snapping sounds echoed into infinity as those who had slumbered for millennia were beginning to wake. ** Ashen clouds stormed through the entire sky above the Ashlands. Whether it was a child huddled around the roaring flames in the Northern Ashlands, or the noble scholar sipping tea leisurely in the Central Ashlands, they all bore witness to the exact same thing¡ªthe change of the world, the silent shift that seemed to have no given forewarning. With the clouds came the storms, and with the storms the bolts¡ªall those unlucky to be hit were turned to ash in the blink of an eye, mortal and cultivator alike. There were no defenses that could seemingly withstand the judgment from beyond, and masses quickly began to stream into whatever underground settlements they could find. ** He opened his eyes, eyelids feeling heavy. A sigh escaped his parched, bloodied lips as he peered past the hallowed walls cast in obsidian and to the world outside that he had abandoned. It had come too soon¡ªthe change of Age, the foretold and forewarned pathos that he was desperately praying would only come once he''d found a successor. But fate was cruel and twisted, and it made a mockery of the plans of men. It likely had to do with the waking of the Forest, and whatever apparition existed therein¡ªsomething became the kindling to the fire that awakened the slumbering Primordial Qi, wittingly or otherwise, and now... now was the question. He could not leave, for if he stepped out even for a moment, the walls guarding the world would come crashing down. The monsters beyond the ken of his fellow people would swarm the Ashlands, consuming everything in their wake. Even the Forest, mighty though it was, would fall. It was not enough to be an Immortal, for it was all a lie. "Oh, dear friend," he mumbled empty words, looking down at the rusted sword resting by his side. "It appears our time together won''t be for long." The sword shuddered and seemed to cry out, prompting a rare smile to emerge on his lips. "Yes, indeed. Death... ah, death would be a liberation for the both of us. But, before we depart, we must paint the cosmic realms with their blood... and pray that there would be those willing to step forward when we fall." ** The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Lei Feng frowned, looking up at the suddenly shifting skies. Had he been a moment slower just a second earlier and not quickly activated his movement art, a bolt of black lightning would have likely evaporated him from existence. It was unlike anything he''d ever seen, and merely standing beside the vapors of smoke that it left after itself felt... suffocating. His Qi felt sluggish, and moving it around was almost twice as laborious. It was unlike anything he''d ever experienced before¡ªeven when fighting others who could alter his ability to use Qi, it was never this bad. At most, he''d only feel it was slightly sluggish but never outright difficult. His heart paused for a moment, and he pondered whether staying here was worth it¡ªperhaps it was best to return to the Central Ashlands and inform the Elders of what he''d seen. But... He couldn''t. Not yet, anyway. He saw her¡ªthe portrait of a silver-haired woman with cold, detached eyes. Perfect, luscious lips; striking, piercing gaze; the sort of immortal beauty that was difficult to encounter even in the Central Ashlands¡ªand he certainly was not nearly enough important to be so lucky to encounter one. Here, though, his word was divine¡ªthere was nobody who could stand up to him. He could have anything he wanted, and he wanted her. Perhaps so much that he was willing to even take her with him¡ªveiled, of course, as otherwise others would likely kill him¡ªand wed her. A weather anomaly, weird though it was, wasn''t enough to deter him and make him turn around and leave. If he were to waste such a lucky opportunity, he would never forgive himself. ** Beyond the skies and beyond the stars and beyond the membrane of reality itself, there was a shadow-cast court. Black tendrils shaped like vapors and smoke framed the edges of all things, dancing and writhing to the soundless existence. Silhouettes would occasionally emerge, though coated in thick vapors still, walking about for a moment before disappearing. Tall and wide halls webbed out in a zig-zag pattern from the central chamber; the latter was perfectly hexagonal, a writhing concert of statues cast out of obsidian stone arising from the center and outward, like a flower blooming. Their faces were of agony, arms stretching out as though toward a reprieve that was just beyond the tip of their fingers, their pain forever immortalized. Opposite them, elevated on a suspended platform, was a throne¡ªa throne of shadows and enduring silence, its jagged tips shuttling outward from the splat. Its cresting rail was a bendy bone of white, enormously large as though ripped from a beast that could trample over a building in one step, and it caused the only other color to appear¡ªthat of bright red. In a seemingly uneven, yet perfectly predictable, pattern, the bone would shudder and drip blood from its opposite ends, and the blood would trail down through the air as though there was a pipe guiding it, landing directly on the seat for it to be soaked up by the figure seated on top of it. As all things around, the figure was cast in thick shadow, their features imperceptible. For how long the figure remained seated, its eyes closed, it was unknown. However, when they snapped open, it caused the entire court to shake violently, dust and debris bleeding into the shadows. The eyes were bejeweled rubies, terrifyingly imposing and emotionless, as though bereft of all but a singular desire to consume. They looked beyond the veil of shadows and through the false skies and saw it¡ªthe storm sweeping the ashes that were stolen. The court quaked once more, the statues suddenly wailing in agony, their voices tearing through the walls. "It has come," the voice was vile and coarse, depraved beyond all else; were a mortal to hear it, they would either die on the spot or go mad, devoured by a visage of things that the voice bore within itself. "Death... has come..." ** Beyond the veil of the Ashlands, on the opposite end of the court, there was a palace¡ªa gilded structure of gold and silver, its walls bejeweled with precious stones, its gardens home to the rarest and wildest flora the realm had to offer. The walls of its interior held no free room, with either paintings or statues or cups or anything else that shined taking up every inch of it. It was ostentatious beyond reason, gaudy even for the most wealth-obsessed. And at its center was a hall, tall and wide, and the only place bereft of all decorations¡ªthere was nothing but simple, barren columns holding up the domed ceiling, a singular praying mat, and aging stone. On top of the praying mat was an elderly man, his hair and beard wild and long and as white as snow, his figure skeletal¡ªsimple, tattered, brown robes hung loose from his frame, his bones jutting out from beneath his stretched-out skin. He seemed more a mummy than a person, as still as a statue frozen in time¡ªuntil he suddenly opened his eyes. Unlike the rest of him, his eyes radiated life and energy beyond all else, terribly bright and golden. He looked past the garish halls that his descendants decorated and past the membrane of the tiny realm and saw the storm raging¡ªa storm that signaled the changing of tides. For a moment, he peered up from the Ashlands and toward where he knew she hid¡ªas he awoke, so did she. "Old grudges and new," he mumbled softly. "Time has come to undo them all, it seems." Chapter 127 - Sheltered Hearts Chapter 127 Sheltered Hearts Two days had passed in a flash, and the weather never improved. The ashen clouds remained hanging overhead, occasional streaks of black lightning flashing, ever a reminder of an ongoing change. Though Leo was worried, it wasn''t as though there was much he¡ªor anyone else here, at that¡ªcould do. As such, they did their best to ignore it all. By now, they were getting rather good at it, too (some of them, at least). Shui''er had latched herself onto Yue almost immediately, and the latter seemed more than happy to play along. On the other hand, the more unexpected pairing ended up being Azariel and Liang. Though, in hindsight, it did make some sense; they were roughly the same age (mentally, at least), both interested in each other''s realities, which made for a relatively quick friendship. Lu Yang, in the meantime, devoted himself fully to the garden and rearing the newest seeds he''d brought over, which left Leo strangely alone. Even if animals visited and swung by frequently enough, they either simply came by for a meal or were far more interested in playing with Shui''er since, well, she played with them. Thus, even though the forest was noisy and though there were more people than ever, not much has changed for Leo. Right now, he was seated atop his ''special'' terrace, a book in hand¡ªwell, more a string of parchments than a book¡ªthat he was trying to read. Strangely, he understood most letters to a degree, but he couldn''t quite string them together into coherent sentences without a struggle. Nonetheless, he could at the very least read, which was more than enough for now. His only companions of all people and animals were Gray and Whiskers, who were sunbathing by the railing, with the growing kitten twisting around the dog''s neck. The string of parchments that he was reading wasn''t that interesting¡ªit was a very simple fable about a cunning viper who tricked a poor hen into giving him eggs with the promise that he''d turn them into phoenixes. It was likely the kind of story that kids of this world read as a means of understanding that the world would try to exploit them at every opportunity. Putting it down, he stood up and stretched, peeking over the railing and catching a glimpse of Yue molding dirt into a tiny doll (likely with Qi) while Shui''er''s eyes beamed like spotlights. He couldn''t help but smile at the sight, his heart squeezed, resting his elbows against the wood. Even with the dreaded omen above, people lived. It was one of those consistent things between two worlds, similarities that Leo was packing into a bundle inside his mind, trying to home himself here. As there, so here, people were amazing at finding joy in little things and struggling through everything all at the same time. Despite the stories of horror and how the world beyond the trees was vile, neurotic, and deadly beyond compare, none of the people Leo met thus far seemed that way. Well, maybe not none. But of those here and of those he helped... no, perhaps it was just the effect of him. Being treated nicely, especially if it was against expectations, birthed two things within people: distrust... and de-armoring. Either of those can grow large and all-consuming given the right circumstances, but as he never gave anyone a reason to doubt him, they simply mirrored him in the treatment. "Look, look, Uncle Leo!!" Shui''er exclaimed as she caught sight of him, showing off the doll with a beaming smile. "Sister Yue made it! Isn''t she amazing?!!" "She is," Leo replied simply, smiling. "He he," the girl grew giddy and ran off to her room, likely to store the doll in her ''treasure chest''. There were plenty of strange things in there, Leo glimpsed, such as the first dress he''d ever made her, the awful (really, truly awful) hairpin that he tried to make, and a litany of rocks, leaves, and flowers. She seemed to save anything that mattered to her in the slightest, as though she was building a shrine to what she feared would become a distant memory. Yue looked up and, without pause, leapt, gracefully vaulting over him and landing behind. Leo took out two cups from his ring and poured juice in both, setting them down on the table as she sat on his seat¡ªwhether on purpose or by accident, he didn''t know. He remained standing, curious. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "... Liang went out of his way to tell me I shouldn''t feel guilty." "Right." "Did you just happen to mention something?" "No, of course not. As your two''s Master, I would never intervene in your lives with the intent of making them better." "Did Shui''er tell you how she ended up here?" She changed the subject, her voice softening as her lips curled up into a faint smile. This was yet another change that silently happened¡ªand it was for the better. Liang and Yue both took a book out of Shui''er''s page and relaxed around him. They were still tense, in reality, but at least they put up a better front. "No," Leo said. "And I don''t have the heart to ask. I was actually hoping you''d do it. She seems to love you already." "... when we bathed yesterday," she said. "I saw a crossed, inverted star etched on her lower back. Maybe by Qi, but more likely with a needle or something like it." Leo frowned. "I''m not quite sure since I only read it in passing, but in some smaller, isolated cultures, it is considered a mark of sacrifice." "You think that''s how she wound up here?" "It''s a good guess," she said. "The stories of this place on the outside, especially in clustered villages, are all of horrors, for better or worse. And superstitions are like unwieldy fires. It wouldn''t be the first time a village sacrificed a child with the belief that whatever superstitious entity demanded it, demanded it for its innocence." "... horrible," Leo sighed, taking a sip. "I didn''t have the heart to ask her, either," Yue said, lowering her head. "Then we won''t," he said. "When she''s ready, or when she needs us, we simply need to be there." "Hm," she nodded, silence falling between the two of them. "M-Master..." "Yes?" The confident Yue disappeared, and the ''usual'' one came back up. "I, uh, I used... the feather... I, I''m sure Liang told you. Please forgive me! I did it in a bout of anger and for no other reason." "...Did you think the reason I didn''t bring it up was because I was waiting for you to do it?" "It''s... not?" She looked up, her eyes fluttering with worry. Leo felt his heart squeeze yet again, this time around with pain. Here and there, he would catch glimpses of this¡ªwords refracting through the prism of his mind, affording him an insight into the kind of life that these kids lived. To them, they were nonchalant realities, something they''d always done and had become second nature, but to him, they were knives. "I will never tell you to revel in anger," he said. "Because it''s a poison like no other. But, at the same time, to be angry is to be human, Yue. I suspect there has never lived a person who''d never made a snap decision out of anger at some point in their lives. I gave you that feather for the same reason I gave you everything else¡ªto use them as tools to live a life that you want to live. Maybe words aren''t enough, but I hope that, in time, you will learn to see that I am not some benevolent force showering you with gifts¡ªI am a man with a mountain of regrets that wreathe around my neck, and I''m doing all this just as much for selfish as for altruistic reasons. The feather, to start, never belonged to me¡ªit was just a transitive thing, a gift from one to another. Just as none of the herbs and flowers and knick-knacks of the woods belong to me either. I merely borrow them and pass them on. "So, from now on, if you just absolutely have to confess and apologize to me, please, make one of those dolls in my image and do it to that doll." Her lips twitched and angled into a smile as she suddenly jumped from the seat and threw herself at him, hugging him tightly. She was shaking, and all he could do was smile helplessly and pat her back. These were kids who would be considered superheroes back on Earth, capable of feats that Leo was still struggling to understand. But all of that was for naught¡ªsomeone starved of love would look for any oasis in search of it, whether they could conquer the world or not. "Whether by fate or by pure coincidence," she spoke softly. "I will always be grateful that I met you, Master. You have given me more in a few months than everyone beside my grandfather had in all of the rest of my life. It''s not a debt, I know. It''s not something that I am obliged to pay back. Which is why I will work as hard as I can to make the best of myself so that neither you nor anyone else will ever be able to say that I''ve wasted all the gifts you''ve given me. When the time comes and I am standing at the mountaintop of strength, I will proudly shout your name and let the whole world know your grace." "Oh, I so wish you wouldn''t." "It''s non-negotiable," she pulled back, smiling, though with teary eyes. "Just as I don''t get to decide how you feel about me doing anything, you don''t get to decide what I do after I''ve gotten twice as strong as you." "Just twice?" "Just twice is enough," she grinned. "Thank you." "I''m always here, Yue," he said with a faint smile. "Whether it''s that you need a laugh, a hug, a shoulder to cry on, or just someone to drink with in silence." "I know." "Good." "Okay. Well, that was... embarrassing, but I''m glad I got it out. I will need a few days to forget it all, so don''t be offended if I don''t visit." "Ha ha ha, okay. I won''t." She flashed him a grin and vaulted over the railing, joining back up with Shui''er who was looking for her. Leo walked back over, taking a sip of juice as he leaned against the railing. Life would have been perfect, if not for one tiny thing¡ªthe giant omen above, darkening the world. He wondered for how long it would stay silent, because it would not go on forever. And he wondered (and dreaded) what it would mean once it awoke fully. Chapter 128 - The Forest Stirs Chapter 128 The Forest Stirs With the advent of the ashen clouds, Leo knew that it wouldn''t be long before others like Azariel began waking up. As such, he''d asked the man for any locations that he might know of within the forest itself, and he came up with precisely four others. They were all scattered rather far off from each other, and though Leo wanted to share the burden with others, he didn''t feel comfortable with it, especially sending the kids out. As such, he departed with just one person in tow: Azariel himself, deep at night, and headed southward for the first ''post'' that was supposedly located around twelve miles deep. The two made as little noise as possible, blending in with the shadows. Leo hadn''t shared either the cultivation method or the arts, not with Lu Yang, and especially not with Azariel. But everyone had their own means in this world, ways in which they struggled and survived. The reason he brought Azariel along wasn''t so much as a helper, but... well, he wasn''t precisely certain either. Company? Or perhaps because the young man was the most knowledgeable when it came to their ''mission''? Either way, he had no plans on fighting just yet¡ªhe only wanted to scout and map out wherever they came upon the newly awakened Ancient Clans. Their journey was rather short as, surprisingly, Azariel managed to keep up just fine. Though Leo didn''t go all-out, speed-wise, he did go at about 60% of his capacity, which meant that they were able to cross vast distances rather quickly. He slowed down as Azariel indicated they were approaching where they assumed one of the Clans would be, and the two blended further into darkness, muting themselves wholly, even snuffing out their Qi presence the best they could. Stalking forward, Leo poured even more Qi into his eyes until the dulled colors of the night brightened up as though it were a day. It wasn''t long before he saw that the trees began to thin out and could even hear the flickering of fires'' embers in the distance. The two stopped as they came upon a natural ''fence'' that was a rather thick shrubbery, separating the forest from the clearing. Except... it was strange. It was bright, and Leo saw smoke arising everywhere. Peeking over, his throat clenched¡ªthe entire clearing was burning, and there was a distinct... scent in the air. Though Leo had never smelled burning flesh before, he just... knew. He stepped out, as did Azariel, and walked forward a bit. It had to have been recent, he garnered, as some of the bodies still had their skins melting off like candle wax, expressions of horror and terror sprawled on all their faces. He felt sick, though he endured; Azariel endured it well, too, standing right by his side, his eyebrows creased into a deep frown. "You know them?" Leo asked. "Y-yes, it''s... U''tan Clan," he said. "They weren''t all that powerful, but still bigger than us, at least. From what I know, they had no enemies. Could someone from the outside have done this?" "... I doubt it," Leo said. "People don''t come here." "So, it''s another of the Awakened Clans?" "Probably. Why would they do it?" "... for power?" Azariel frowned even further if at all possible. "There is a reason why we didn''t get entombed all in one place. Chances are that whoever did this did it with the intent of sapping them of that tiny iota of intrinsic Primordial Qi." "Bravo, Azariel," a voice startled the young man as Leo glanced back. He ''felt'' the presence already but remained steady, wondering what their plan was. He watched as Azariel''s expression distorted and even as the young man stumbled a few steps back, as though he''d seen a ghost. "You always were smarter than you let on, were you not?" A figure stepped out from the shadows¡ªit was a woman, Leo noted. She shared Azariel''s broad-stroke features, though she had wavy, blonde hair curled up into a bun. Her lips were full and stained red, as was her face, while her body was encased in leather armor, a blade hanging loosely from her belt. She was rather tall¡ªsix-one, at least¡ªand broad-shouldered, her frame wide and stalwart. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Leo didn''t speak, as he was not spoken to. Just behind the woman, seven other shadows stepped out, all masked though donning similar armor to the woman''s. "Xa--Xaia..." Azariel mumbled. "I did wonder whether you''d survive," she said. "I was certain Noor Bai would have killed you by now. How did you slither your way out? Did that drooling moron beside you help you somehow?" "N-N-No..." Leo glanced over at the already pale-faced young man. The latter''s knees were shaking as though he were stripped naked in the middle of a frozen mountain; this kind of fear... was almost instinctual. "The years have given you courage," the woman growled, her expression darkening. "To speak to me so casually." "No, M-Master Xaia, I--" "--You must kneel!" It all happened in the blink of an eye, but Leo saw it, step by step. The woman fluttered forward, crossing some twenty yards of distance between them in a flash. Her leg was extended, her heel aimed at Azariel''s shoulder, intending to make him kneel. Leo casually extended his left arm and grabbed the leg before it made contact; the mere blowback from the wind pushed Azariel back a few paces and prompted the woman to look away from him and toward Leo. Her lips stretched out into a grin suddenly as she tried to yank her leg back, but Leo held firm. "Does she deserve to live, Aza?" he asked rather coldly, so much so that he shocked even herself. "Let me go," the woman hissed. "Unless you want the might--" "--She¡ªshe doesn''t!!" Azariel screamed from the back, causing Leo to look away from the woman and toward him. He''d, at some point, fallen on his rear, his face glistening under the light of the flames with sweat. "She... she''s a monster!" "Haah, a monster? Time has really changed you, little Aza. You think this hulking nothing can save you? Ha ha, funny. Hey, you. If you kill him, I''ll let you serve me." It was strange, Leo felt, how calm the woman was. And stranger still was how much Azariel panicked suddenly but didn''t seem capable of saying why. Likely an oath or a vow of some sort, the ilk this world was very much in love with. The answer came soon as he felt stray tendrils of alien Qi try and swarm his meridians. It almost felt similar to injections that cooled the veins for a moment, if a bit more subtle. "Really?" he queried, arching a brow. "Of course. You seem... deserving of servitude." "I see," he said. "But I have a question, though." "You don''t get to ask questions. Just kill him." "Did you do all this?" "What this?" "Kill everyone here." "Ah. Yes. They denied my offer to serve, you see," she said. "So, let it be a warning. Stop dancing and obey me." "There are kids in these flames," Leo said as he suddenly tightened his grip. The woman flinched but bit her lip just in time, stopping herself from screaming. "And there are old." "Y-y-yes, so... so what?" "Only the weak and the cowards would do something so vile and pointless," he said. "So, tell me. Why in the world would I ever serve a coward of all things?" "Y-you... you r-resisted... it? No, that''s... no, that''s impossible!" "Is this all of you?" he asked. "--all--no, of course not! Ha ha, you idiot! There are thousands of us, and many more who are stronger than me! If you do anything to me, they will skin you alive and flay your flesh until you are begging for death!" "I don''t want that." "Of course not! This, this is your last chance, then!" "... not only are you a coward," Leo squeezed even tighter, stopping all blood flow to her foot. "You are also just... stupid. She''s not the terrifying part, I''m guessing," he glanced back at Azariel, who flinched but didn''t say anything. "Haah, damned vows and oaths. If I kill you, will whoever lets you flail wildly like a moron know?" "You will die! Die!" "So, they will. Hm," Leo extended his free arm and summoned the sword from the ring. "Which means I have to go there immediately. You hear that, Azariel?" "I... yes," Azariel gnashed his teeth and lowered his head, hiding away from her gaze, it seemed. "Forgive me," Leo said, stabbing forward and aiming directly at her heart. "This isn''t easy for me, either." Her eyes widened in the moment of shock, and as she tried to say something, blood blew through her lips, coating her chin in thick red. She endured for a few moments longer before the whites in her eyes rolled over the light, consuming it. Her body went limp, and, as Leo withdrew his sword and let go of her leg, it fell down to the ground with a hollow thump, rolling once. At the same time, all the figures that stood behind the woman did the same--fell to the ground, not a breath to be heard from their lungs. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Leo arched his brows and glanced further south. The scream was so powerful and so inflicted with pain that his guilt grew even thicker. But it was fading and fleeting, and he recovered quickly, putting the sword away. "Looks like I don''t need your help, after all." "Please, be careful!!" Azariel suddenly called out before Leo had a chance to begin his sprint. "Even if you resisted Xaia, nobody has ever managed to resist Xu. Nobody." "Hm." "Don''t look him in the eyes," he said. "And, whatever you do, never say ''yes'' in his presence. To anything." "... alright," Leo heeded the warning and took it to heart. Though he knew that the people who woke up were generally weaker than him, he also knew well enough that all it took was one slip-up on his part for his role in all of this to end. Even if, on the off chance, he had the ability to resist the ''allure'' as it were, he was not going to risk it if there was a chance to avoid it. Chapter 129 - Carnage of Death Chapter 129 Carnage of Death Leo ran speedily between the trees, his eyes glimmering with gold. He had the location where the voice came from pinpointed, though he still spread out his awareness as far as he could, fearing an ambush. He battled the voices within that tried compelling him to relax, alluding to how ''easy'' every ''fight'' was for him. Hubris, ultimately, was not something he wanted in his life, especially as his common sense was still extremely shot. A frown appeared on his face as he came to an abrupt halt, narrowly dodging an ethereal, spear-shaped array of light that streaked just a few inches from his nose. It burst through the nearby tree and momentarily lodged itself into a crater it dug out within the ground, disappearing into ash a moment later. He swiveled his gaze west, where he spotted a silhouette turn to shadow and flee back in the same direction that he was heading. Leo didn''t pursue, knowing well enough that it was a trap. He was being lured to a place where they had likely set up arrays and formations, and as someone who had effectively zero knowledge of them, he wasn''t about to walk into one (or a few) willingly. Instead, he darted in the opposite direction, still heading toward his original destination but taking a rather roundabout route. On his way over, a few more spears were aimed at his head, all of which he dodged with relative ease, though giving way to every subsequent one¡ªthe one that he just dodged speared past his nose at an inch of a distance. He made it seem as though they were getting harder and harder to dodge, wondering whether he could lure them into a trap. At some point, however, they stopped coming, and he grew a bit worried¡ªbut never stopped himself. Ten minutes or so passed by in a flash, and he came upon it¡ªa vast, rectangular clearing housing some hundred or so structures with slanted, gray rooftops and walls made out of wood and brick. At the front, there were rows of figures, bound in a half-circle as they quickly drew around him, with a man standing at the very center, a few bits away from the rest. He had rather similar features to the woman, though he was less... oafish-seeming, if it could be quantified. The look in his eyes was fierce and sharp and full of hatred, veins on his arms bulging, his fingers curled up into two fists. Leo''s frown deepened, not because of the welcome party, but because of the stench--blood, seared flesh, and rot permeated the air, and he could see the strewn hordes of bodies some ways back behind the welcome party. "You''re the mongrel who killed my dearest sister?!" The man at the front roared, hardly bothering to hide his bloodlust. "..." Leo remained silent, pouring more Qi into his eyes and blocking the light from the blaring torches, peeking toward the center of the settlement. "Are those kids?" he asked rather softly, having noticed an array of children tied up against a strange-looking building. "Not anymore," the man grinned, and before Leo could so much as utter a protest, a pillar of flames jutted out from the position, far into the sky, consuming everything in its wake. Leo felt a pang of rage bubble within him, though he quelled it quickly, still never looking at the man. "That bitch-boy that used to kiss the soles of my Sister''s feet must have warned you about me, huh? Cowards, the both of you." "You just killed twenty helpless kids," Leo said. "But, yes, I''m the coward. Sometimes, the stupidity is just so astounding... there are simply no words." "You want to speak of stupidity to me?" The man cackled rather strangely. "And yet you dared walk here, all by yourself? Ha ha ha, very well, you brilliantly minded one. We shall see if your bravado and intellect remain when I skin you alive and boil your skinned flesh until you are begging for the sweet release of death." Leo sighed, wondering, ever for a moment, would his life now become... this? Running around the forest, culling whatever mad thing woke up from its slumber, staining his hands and mind a bit further with each passing day. And yet, he felt if he didn''t do precisely that, there would be even more bloodshed in due time. He caught himself and almost grinned--was this how it began? A just cause born of necessity, slowly growing corrupted over time as more and more excuses are born, all beginning with the simple: It would be even worse if it weren''t for me. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. "What? Did you go mute with fear?" "Did you kill all the other Clans?" Leo asked. "What, you curious?" The man grinned. "This was merely all as it was written¡ªthe weak should bend their knees and allow themselves to be consumed for the betterment of everyone else." "So, you haven''t," Leo sighed ever so faintly, looking up toward the sky. It was ashen, still, bolts of black lightning occasionally flashing across its tapestry. He felt it fading¡ªthe feeling within his veins and his meridians, just as with the woman. It was like there were worms trying to dig in and crawl through him, but they were meek and staggering. A single flush of Qi through his system obliterated them all as he looked away from the sky and toward the man, facing his eyes for the first time. A tremor pulsed through him but did little else¡ªit was suffocated in his depths, turning vanishingly small until it simply... vanished. The man''s eyes were eerie and strange¡ªthey had no static color or even shape, dancing between several to no irises, shining yet dimming all at once. His pupils dilated and compressed in a rather rhythmic fashion, almost like a consistent pulse, colors emerging and fading from them like vapors. With each pulse, Leo felt a tug from invisible threads trying to pull him, but all he had to do was stir his Qi ever so slightly to shatter those connections¡ªwhether it was one lonely tug or thousands swarming him from every which way. It wasn''t because he was immune to the charms or because he knew the perfect technique to dispel it¡ªhe was brute-forcing it, after all, and it was possible because of just one thing: the staggering difference in their Qi. Not the quantity, no, but the quality. Or, rather, type. The man used ''ordinary Qi'', while Leo''s was entirely Primordial. It was a fact he held close to his heart and hadn''t told anyone, allowing them to assume he was similar to Yue and Liang¡ªthat he had these tiny clusters in him that were made up of Primordial Qi, but that the majority was still comprised of the ordinary sort, like the rest. This was a test of sorts for Leo, whether his ability stemmed entirely from the system''s gifts or something more innate to him. Well, in fairness, his having the Primordial Qi was still a system''s gift, but it was a central part of him. A thing culpable for all the world''s changes churned within him like a dormant volcano, burning away whatever alien thing dared enter. As the seconds ticked in silence, the man''s expression began to distort bit by bit, darkening, while the look in his eyes grew more confused, as though none of it made any sense. Well, to him, it rather didn''t--Leo didn''t have a special physique, and he wasn''t executing any one martial art, or combating with his own innate bloodline, or doing anything on the ''visible'' spectrum of things. It was as though the man''s Qi simply disappeared in Leo, like a drop of water being tossed into an ocean. "W-what... what are you?" the man asked. "Are you even human?" Leo couldn''t help but smile; there was something serenely beautiful about the sincerity, about the godawful acting, and about the most childish attempt to get him to say a magic word. "Do you think me saying that word will change anything?" Leo quizzed as the man flinched. "I--ah..." He sighed, swiftly took out the sword from the ring, and stabbed backward without even looking. A yelp echoed out into the dark night as the thud of a body followed. He felt the pang, but he buried it. Justifications would have to do, even if they were the chains that would come to bind him. "It doesn''t matter. Let me ask you this: have you captured any of the Spirits?" "K-Kill him!!" he didn''t get a reply and instead saw shadows descend upon him. Not those that had welcomed him and formed a circle around him, but those that hid in their shadows. They appeared like phantoms and swarmed him, numbering in the hundreds, but they were... slow. Leo executed the movement art and, in a flash, appeared in front of the unsuspecting man, inches away from his face. He was so close, in fact, that he could see his reflection in the man''s strange, ever-changing eyes. The man that stared back from that reflection was... a bit unfamiliar. There was apathy to him that numbed Leo for a moment, forewarning what he always feared he''d become if he headed down this path aggressively. He didn''t say he was sorry or offer some words coated in self-pity¡ªhe merely stabbed forward and through the man''s heart, piercing it with no problem. Those starry-like eyes danced violently for a moment, becoming so bright that they were nearly blinding, almost like stars themselves during their last hurrah. And then they dimmed, all color and luster in them vanishing, turning dull and gray as the trace of life and awareness faded from them. The body limped backward as Leo took out the blade, falling unceremoniously to the ground. As though in response to it, just as the body hit the ground, a bolt of thunder ripped out from the sky above, tearing through the space between and slamming at the very center of the settlement, tearing open a massive crater and causing a rippling torrent in the shape of an ethereal wave to wash out outwardly. The black mass could not be seen through, and before Leo could even react to it properly, it had already washed over him and onward¡ªbut all it did... was replenish the bit of Qi he''d spent thus far. As it settled, and as he looked around, he couldn''t help but gasp¡ªeveryone save for him... was gone. Well, their clothes were still there, but their bodies were not. There weren''t even traces of them, not in the shape of flesh or bits or ashes, just... nothing. And yet, the strangest part of it was something that transpired just as the bolt cracked the earth¡ªLeo heard it. It was faint, it was dull, and it was distant, but he heard the sound of thunder, something that had never happened before. What the hell is happening? was the only thought he could muster whilst staring at the unbridled destruction around him, as though death itself had swept through, leaving carnage in its wake.