21-28
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]
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
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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 façade 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.
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
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."
"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
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
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(?)
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.
"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?!