13-20

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.

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

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.

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

"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.

[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

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."

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 naïve 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

"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. 

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

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?

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

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." 

"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

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. 

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.