36-39

Chapter 36 - Dualities of Life

Song wasn't as lucky as Lya, never getting to fully display and showcase his strength.

It wasn't truly his fault, but merely a bad luck of the draw. His opponent turned out to be a Direct Disciple of the Iron Mountain Sect, a 22-year-old prodigy at Mid Core Formation Realm who specialized in defense, nullifying Song's greatest strength--speedy attacks that accumulated damage over time. 

Ultimately, he managed to last for about fifty moves before losing. Sour-faced and dispirited, he bowed toward the young man opposite of him before dismounting the arena. Nobody, however, made fun of him--if anything, it was the opposite. 

Both him and Lya caught eyes of many of the older members of the visiting Sects, their ages, roots, and cultivation realms seeming dangerous. 

In particular, Shen Tao was not having a good time, his frown deep. Though he was confident in beating both of them, especially Song, just the fact that he wasn't confident in beating either within ten moves hurt his pride. After all, there was just about five or six years of difference between them--in the myths of the Immortal Age, that was considered a difference of an entire generation, as in they would not even be permitted to spar against one another since it was assumed that the older ones would win in a move or two at most.

Furthermore, from the way they fought as well as the arts they displayed, it was evident that neither had even an iota of experience within the Core Formation Realm--they were entirely held up by their Qi and not much else. Wouldn't that mean, then, that if they shored up those shortcomings, they would catch up to him, the Chosen One? No, that was impossible.

He worried still, however--he was one of the few who managed to construct an Earthly Core while ascending to Core Formation Realm. Were it not for his Master who spent a quarter of the Sect's wealth gathering all manner of herbs and liquids and fruits to aid him, that would have been impossible. However, because of that, the quantity and quality of his Qi usually outstripped his peers'. And yet... he did not see that discrepancy between him and the kids. If anything, he felt it was the opposite--his Qi would churn against theirs, as though deferring. 

It meant one of two things: either both of the kids had, through some miracle managed to actually construct a Heaven Core, an unprecedented feat only those few freaks from the Heavenly Pavilion ever managed to achieve, or they found a way to make their Earthly Cores better than his. Whichever it was, it did not track; the Holy Blade Sect did *not* have nearly enough resources to produce even one Earthly Core, let alone two. Which meant that their fortuitous encounter in the Nameless Forest was far more mind-bending than he initially thought. 

Dark thoughts spun inside his mind, and he was tempted to follow them. 

All his life, he'd only ever known success--from when he was a boy, he was the strongest, the fastest, the most talented. He was largely incomparable until he experienced that freak from the Pavilion. But he--as well as three others beside him--were exceptions, anomalies that he was never meant to compete with. Then, were those two kids anomalies, too? No, they were just lucky. Whereas they were supposed to die in that forest, forever to be forgotten, they eked out a new life. A life that threatened his throne.

Even if, right now, he could stomp both of them at the same time, what in three years' time? Or four? Would that be the case in ten years? No. Shen Tao knew better than anyone just how important talent was in cultivation--having to work twice as hard as someone else just to keep up wasn't sustainable, let alone thrice or five or ten times as hard. There were only so many hours in a day, after all. 

Gnashing his teeth, he left the stands, ignoring the calls of his Juniors. He feared, if he stayed, he'd explode in anger. 

Should he order their deaths? That was the question hanging above his mind. 

However angry he was, though, he wasn't stupid. Even if he didn't think Holy Blade Sect was remotely comparable to his own, it would be impossible to kill their Disciple within their own walls, especially because the Holy Blade himself was overseeing everything. Even his Master, the man Tao considered undaunted, repeatedly warned him and told him that as long as Holy Blade was alive, the Sect would continue to be Tier IV. 

And if even he understood the implications, then the Holy Blade did too. He would likely never let those two kids fall in any sort of danger, whether within the Sect's grounds or without. 

This tournament was supposed to be his day of triumph--he'd stomp over that cold, emotionless woman who repeatedly rejected his kind advances, prove to everyone that he was undisputed, and put any and all rumors saying otherwise to rest forevermore. 

However, even if he won in less than ten moves (which would be impossible, no matter what), the chatter would still remain the same: Shen Tao is the strongest... *right now*, but in a few years, those two kids will probably catch up. 

"Dammit!!" he slammed his fist into the all, cutting up his knuckles 'till they bled. He ignored them, however, as well as the pain. If anything, it was a small distraction from the mounting pressure in his chest that was making it hard to breathe. 

He was the best--he was always the best. There was no way he'd let some two kids who just lucked out take over. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever. 

**

The stag--whom Leo decided to name Poky, because the animal's antlers looked like they could poke the life out of him--stood silently by his side, and even Hoot shuffled over from Leo over to the stag's back. 

Even if Leo lived in a perpetual state of denial when it came to the level of intelligence of animals around him, something cracked inside that façade when he gazed at the two. There was a clear distress, pain, and longing in their eyes, the somber atmosphere around them almost corporeal. Whatever happened here, and however many years back, had more effect on the world than just ruining a few trees. 

From the 'epitaph', if it could even be called that, it seemed that whoever was buried here deserved death and more. But Leo trusted his furry friends far more than some random carving in the stone--and if they grieved, and if they suffered, and if they ailed... it was earned. 

"You're... telling me to cut those?" he broke the silence, prompting the pair to glance at him briefly and 'nod'. Though Leo was touched, he was also a bit moody, and desperately wanted to say 'yo, these trees are completely dead! How can I use them for construction?!'... but didn't. Even if it wasn't obvious, there was some intrinsic connection between his system and the animals, and the chances were that the system had a way to take the rotten wood and make it useful. 

Leo took out the sword from the scabbard, checked to see if he'd put on the necklace, and slowly walked forward. The firm ground beneath gave way suddenly and became ever so slightly sunken. His footprints remained etched for a long while behind him, and even the wind blowing turned colder. 

Taking a deep breath, he stopped by one of the trees and grasped the sword with both of his hands, slowly trickling Qi into it through his fingers. The sword shook and vibrated slightly as he swung it, expecting some resistance and bracing his muscles for it--but the sword met none. It cut through the wood cleanly and some seven feet of it standing above began to fall directly on top of Leo.

"Yikes!" he exclaimed and swiftly executed his footwork technique, managing to stride past the fall. He expected the wood to shatter into thousands of pieces when it hit the ground, but it remained firm and complete. At the same time, a window popped up in front of him. 

[12x pieces of Timber acquired]

[Place the raw wood on top of to be processed]

"Huh," he exclaimed softly, stroking his beard. "So, about twenty timber per an entire tree? That's not too bad, I suppose. Alright, time to go chop-chop!" 

Reinvigorated, he began to go from one tree to another, cutting them down.

Two trees later, he was lying flat on his back, panting and covered in sweat. It turned out that he had to use Qi if he wanted to cut through the tree--rather, he had to use quite a decent amount of it. As such, he rather quickly ran out of his reserves, which just further reinforced his belief that he truly was beyond weak. After all, he highly doubted that other cultivators would have run dry of their Qi after chopping three trees--three rotten trees, by the way. 

"Haii," he sighed, waiting until he had enough strength to sit up and meditate and slowly recovering his Qi. "There's nothing easy in this world, is there? This is gonna take a while..."

Chapter 37 - When Heavens Call

Leo gasped for breath, sitting down, soaked in sweat and exhausted.

"Haah," he exhaled rather somberly, taking the last few sips of the fruit juice that he'd brought. 

Facing forward, he felt a bit of pride surge in his heart before it all bottomed out rather rapidly. He'd managed to cut precisely 23 trees in the last eight hours that he was here, gathering staggering 438 pieces of timber (or, well, raw wood yet to be processed). It was all lying neatly to the side, and not only was not even halfway through the requirement, it also seemed like he'd have to carry the logs back to the camp. Even if the logs didn't weigh that much, it would still be impossible to carry more than four or five at a time just because they were cumbersome. 

Luckily, neither Poky nor Hoot left him--even if they didn't help, they still cheered silently from the side, which was more than enough. Seeing that the sun was slowly descending past the horizon and that he'd completely run out of food and drinks, Leo decided to call it a day. 

After recovering a little bit, he stood up, walked over to the stack of logs and picked up as many as he could carry--which turned out to be four, two beneath both arms. They weren't particularly heavy (but they weren't featherweight either), though, as he suspected, they made navigating in-between the trees extremely cumbersome. On the way back, he often had to pause, shuffle about, and go step by step just to barely fit through the gaps between the trees. 

By the time he returned to the camp, he was more mentally exhausted than physically. Quickly dropping the logs onto the wooden platform, he watched them flash in a brilliant light for a moment before they became processed pieces of timber. Sighing at the oddness of it all, he shuffled around and began swiftly making dinner. There were quite a few animals gathered around, and however happy Leo was that they befriended him as a cook, he worried a bit that they might turn on him if he didn't continue providing them with food (or, well, processed sort of food).

He found solace in cooking once again, restoring his mental exhaustion however little. Even if getting timber was tiresome, at least he knew where and how to get it. On the other hand, he had no clue where to even begin to look for quarries or an iron mine. As far as the stone went, he saw quite a few pieces sprawled about the forest floor, but it wouldn't be nearly enough. 

The animals scattered soon enough, leaving behind the usual suspects who retreated into their corners and began sleeping. Leo remained by the campfire for a long while, trying to map out the future in his head. Didn't quite work, as he just grew angrier over time, eventually letting go of the rancid breath and retreating into the mud hut. 

There was no need to rush--in fact, there was also the option of waiting for Yue to return so she could stuff the logs into the ring and bring them all back quickly. For now, he'd simply allocate some of the free time he had every day to either gathering wooden logs or searching for other materials. Life, once again, would become busy.

**

The Heavenspan Tournament usually lasted a week, though it dragged for an extra two days this time around because of the sheer number of participants and the limited number of arenas that the Holy Blade Sect had. 

Nonetheless, the fanfare by the last day hardly died down--if anything, it was even greater. It was evident by the sheer number of people in attendance on the last day. 

Three squared arenas stood side by side toward the western end of the valley, surrounded by roughly fifteen thousand people. Not only were those who'd already lost there, as rumors spread outside the Sect, more and more people flooded in after the fact. In fact, Holy Blade Sect had to start turning people away as there were simply too many.

Even if there were a few surprises along the way--namely the rise of Song and Lye, as well as a masked cultivator called 'Dawn'--the remaining six participants were precisely the ones everyone expected. Three were from the Bloodmoon Sect, one from the Iron Mountain Sect, one from the Golden Crane Sect, and one from the Holy Blade Sect.

Qui Mei stood silently by the side of one of the arenas, her gaze aloof and distant, as though none of the surrounding fanfare had anything to do with her. The air around her chilled with frost, making her appear entirely unapproachable. And though a few youths tried to do precisely that over the course of the tournament, they were rebuffed with walled silence that never thawed. 

A lithe sword gently rocked back and forth at her waist, her short, silver hair still and unmoving. 

"Don't worry about anything," a familiar voice of the Sect Master drifted into her ears. She knew that nobody else could hear him. "Just do your best, win or lose."

"..." she didn't reply, feeling indignant. Though she knew that her Master was simply trying to calm her, it did the opposite; there was seldom a soul watching that had faith in her winning. It was as though everyone already knew that she'd either come in the sixth or, at best, in the fifth place. 

And yet, she couldn't very well deny it. 

She knew her limitations better than anyone, which was why it was all so frustrating. Nothing has changed in the past four years since the last Heavenspan Tournament. Though she was still just barely keeping up with her peers, she also trained day and night, with a desperation of a dying man, to do so. 

There was no point to frustration, ultimately, so she let it go. It was what it was-the heavens decreed some chosen and some just shy of that crown. She was among the latter, given hope when young that she, too, might become a part of the gilded myths, only to have it ripped from her grasp so cruelly. 

As her Master said, she would go on the stage and give it her all, as she had done countless times before. And if her best wasn't good enough... 

Hearing her name called out, she stepped forth and jumped onto one of the arenas at the same time as her opponent. It was the Direct Disciple of the Golden Crane Sect, Tong-something-or-else, she couldn't quite bother remembering, and though she didn't want to admit it, she sighed inwardly in relief. Not because she was certain of victory, but because the man standing some fifty yards away from her was objectively the only one she had even the thinnest of chances against.

He, too, seemed to have been experiencing the same flux of emotions, but the weight was different; after all, he was a Direct Disciple of a Tier III Sect, while she was a Direct Disciple of a Tier IV Sect. Her loss would be a humiliation not just to her, but to the entire Sect. Even if it was 'known' that her Master was the only reason their Sect stood as high as it did, she didn't want to live beneath that shield forever. 

Soon after the two of them jumped onto the stage, the four other Disciples did so as well on the remaining two stages. Qui Mei, however, didn't have the luxury of paying attention to them. 

Taking a deep breath, she drew out her sword--thin but sharp, Sky-Tier gift from her Master when she reached Core Formation. Her opponent, on the other hand, didn't draw a weapon. 

"Fight!" the word echoed throughout all three arenas, and under the disrupting roars of the audience. Qui Mei dashed forward. 

Her entire body began to glow golden, shimmering at the edges as though fading in and out rapidly, and she crossed the distance between the two in the blink of an eye. She thrust forward, aiming for the person only to hit a wall made out of earth that appeared from nowhere. Rebuffed, she executed her footwork technique and rapidly circumvented it, throwing out stabs repeatedly and quickly, aiming to end the fight as soon as possible.

The main trait of Earth Root was an abundance of Qi, and as they were both at Mid Core Formation, she knew she'd lose handily in the battle of attrition. 

Earthen walls kept appearing around the man as he began to slide backward, riding a protruding stone, while summoning spear-tipped rocks and flinging them at her. She deflected the best she could, but ultimately decided to forgo proper defense in order to catch up. As such, a few of the rocks managed to glance against her skin, opening it and causing some red to appear.

She ignored the pangs of pain, however, pushing even more Qi into her feet until the golden light turned into corporeal, golden flame. Her feet left an indentation in the stone below as she kicked off, accelerating to twice her speed and surprising the man who'd just barely managed to summon an earthen shield in time. However, as it was hastily put together, she managed to shatter it and finally get a hit in. 

Blood sprayed out as the man grunted in pain, his left thigh quickly dyeing the robes golden. Just as Qui Mei was about to follow up with another attack, his lips parted into a rather indignant "I surrender!". 

She quickly stopped, and though it hurt a bit to suddenly pull back the gathered Qi, she took the victory and sighed in relief. In a way, it may have even appeared to be the overwhelming sort to the unknowing eye.

Bowing toward her opponent, she went to leave the stage when something began to feel amiss. It was an eerie feeling, one that she couldn't back up by any of her skills. Almost at the same time, the world quaked ever so briefly before the sky above first grew a shade darker and then became wholly red. 

She felt her Master's aura explode like a kettle left too long on the fire, and witnessed a pillar of golden light ascend toward the red canopy... only to fail to break through.

"ENEMY IS HERE!!" it was her Master's voice, but gone was the usual calm--there was even a trace of shock, something she seldom saw in him. "PREPARE TO FIGHT!"

Chapter 38 - Red Skies, Golden Hymn

Yu Minge's voice was like a clap of thunder waking up the slumbering.

As it faded, the entire Holy Blade Sect exploded into a massive conflict, hundreds of skirmishes erupting everywhere. Yu Minge took to the front, drawing out the illustrious namesake of his Sect, the Holy Blade. The sword shimmered in the resplendent gold even within the confines of the scarlet sky, dissipating the murkiness that began to converge. 

Immediately after, he was joined by three other Soul Ascendance cultivators--Shen Rong, Elder of the Bloodmoon Sect, Hae the Immovable, Elder of the Iron Mountain Sect, and titular Dark Night, a roaming swordsman who often bothered Yu Minge for drinks and duels. 

The four didn't utter a word because they've already noticed that, among the surging masses of the attackers, there were three that stuck out the most, as all were at the Early Soul Ascendance. Yu Minge didn't have the time to ponder on the massive ramifications of a singular power having at least three Soul Ascendance cultivators, as the trio dispersed into a blood-soaked formation, constructing a towering avatar that immediately attacked.

Yu Minge stepped forward, walking on air as though it was ground, his sword crying out as a golden array of sword Qi burst forth, shattering the crimson bolt heading their way. As the only Mid Soul Ascendance cultivator, he knew that he had to be the one to take the front.

"One of you go back and start saving the kids," he ordered as he began to prepare another attack. "Others, help me buy time! They can sustain dharma avatar for at most five minutes!" 

**

A crack of thunder was followed by a serpent-like bolt of lightning that shattered a nearby building. Lya and Song hurriedly darted to the left, dodging the falling debris; however, quite a few weren't so lucky. They watched in horror as the rock and stone collapsed on kids their age, some older and some even younger, burying them. 

Everywhere they looked, the world was falling apart--black-cloaked figures appeared from the dark shadows and began attacking indiscriminately. 

"Watch out!" Song cried out as he pushed her to the side. Steadying herself, she saw her Junior Brother take an attack of a Late Core Formation cultivator head on--though he endured it, his sword had shattered, and he was barreled backward toward her. She quickly tethered him with Qi threads, steadying him by her side; the sight of the bleeding boy caused her heart to stir. His left arm was broken at the elbow, and he was gnashing his teeth as to not scream in pain. 

Uncertain as to what to do, she was just about to run away when the hooded figure appeared in front of her, dagger in hand, aiming for her neck. Her feet frozen, she just barely managed to toss herself in front of Song, closing her eyes. The pain she was expecting, however, never arrived; opening her eyes, she glanced to the side where she saw the hooded figure sprawled on the ground, his neck snapped. In his stead, the man she fought during the tournament stood. 

He didn't say anything, merely nodding toward her before rushing off into another fight.

Everything was in chaos--screams of agony, rage, and sorrow blurred the line between the horror and the reality. She hoisted Song over her shoulder and ran toward the cluster of Disciples she saw in the distance fighting alongside several Elders. 

**

Shen Tao was flustered, but more than that, he was angry. His chance at glory, at his name spreading throughout the Lower Ashlands, was suddenly interrupted by an onslaught of cloaked figures. 

In the distance, he caught sight of his Master Uncle fighting alongside the Holy Blade to stave off the monstrous-looking dharma avatar dyed in red like blood, so he knew that he was on his own for the most part. Two of the Disciples that had come with him had already perished, their hearts stabbed from the back when they weren't defending.

He slid to the side and deftly dodged an attack from the back, his anger surging further as he reached out and clasped the hooded figure's neck. Rather than killing him immediately, he began to indiscriminately stab the man's body with a knife until there were at least thirty bleeding holes, and even the cold face of the demon began to crack, the façade rupturing under the weight of pain.

In the end, he snapped the man's neck and tossed him aside, refocusing. He didn't want to fight--it was in the chaos of things that even the most talented perished. Additionally, he was here alone, and this wasn't his home ground. Even the Disciples of the Holy Blade Sect were struggling, and there were thousands of them. 

Thus, he was looking for ways to escape. However, just as he was about to dash to the exit, he caught sight of someone appearing some ten yards from him as though from nowhere--it was a boy, no older than ten, sporting bloody-red eyes, black hair, and a strange symbol etched on his forehead glimmering in scarlet.

What was far more shocking, however, was that the boy exuded the aura of someone at the Peak of Core Formation Realm. A 10-year-old-boy... at Peak Core Formation Realm... Shen Tao's mind broke for a moment and his thoughts ceased. His reality, as fragile as it was already, had just been shattered.

"You can't run," the boy spoke, the countenance at an eerie juxtaposition with the appearance. "Let's dance for a little bit." 

**

Shui Xiaoling and Qiu Mei had, by some happenstance, managed to join up right after the battle broke out. Standing side by side, it wouldn't be strange for those who didn't know them to consider they were sisters with how alike they were, but few had the chance to admire their beauty at the moment.

Both forewent their own safety, rushing about madly and saving as many Disciples as they could. On the way, their dashing robes were ruined, blood smeared over the silver cloth. However, because of their aggression, they managed to pool together quite a cluster and faced the hundred or so cloaked figures directly with their backs against the formation-hardened wall of the medicinal hall. 

"Here, come, quick!" Xiaoling glanced to the side where she saw a pair of newcomers just barely dodge a shadow-stirring spear, ducking into the cluster. She recognized the two as they were Lya and Song, the pair who were rapidly becoming little stars of the Sect. There was little of that in their visage, however; Lya was visibly tired, her hair disheveled, while a cut on her forehead was bleeding profusely. Song, on the other hand, was in an even worse condition--his skin was as pale as snow, his left arm was bent in an unnatural manner, and his robes were almost entirely dyed red. 

"Pull them to the back! Give them whatever pills we have left!" she ordered, glancing forward again, her teeth clattering. She was frustrated--with her Soul Blade, she could have easily dispatched the vast majority of the hooded figures, but there was one in particular standing in her way.

It was a brutish-looking man with short, brown hair and a pair of glowing, red eyes, a strange symbol glowing in faint black etched into his forehead. By the appearance he was a Body Cultivator at the Peak Avatar Realm, but he wasn't directly fighting. Rather, he was focused entirely on deflecting her Soul Blades, as though he could see them as clearly as the blue sky. 

As such, because she was tied up, she couldn't help the other pair of Elders that were struggling to keep the flanks steady. Qiu Mei, too, had exhausted herself being the only Core Formation Disciple in the cluster as the others were busy fighting elsewhere. 

Just as it all seemed to become hopeless, a world-shattering roar erupted, drawing her attention; the massive dharma avatar in the sky had collapsed, a golden pillar of light erupting in its place.

"Sect Master!" she exclaimed in a rare outburst of joy. 

"We have found her! Retreat!" at the same time, however, another voice erupted and drew Xiaoling's attention--some four hundred yards to the south, she caught glimpse of several hooded figures yanking a young, ordinary-seeming girl from a group of corpses. At the same time, the pressure on her as well as her group decreased exponentially as the hooded figures began retreating. 

"Like hell you will!!" a low, melodic voice broke out right after and Xiaoling watched thick shadows converge toward the group of figures dragging the girl. By the time the shadows vanished, the figures were turned into bubbling pus on the ground, while a differently-hooded figure was holding the girl who'd passed out by now. Xiaoling recognized the figure as the one that often bothered her Master--Dark Night, one of the few vagabonds who'd managed to reach Soul Ascendance Realm. 

"Haah, how disappointing..." 

**

Blood chilled in Yu Minge's veins as the voice washed over the Holy Blade Sect. He watched the three figures who'd formed the dharma avatar suddenly kneel toward the source of the voice, mumbling 'Master' softly. 

"EVERYBODY, GET OUT!!!" Yu Minge howled at the top of his lungs, kicking Shen Rong and Hae back and as far away from him as possible. At the same time, he summoned as much Qi as he physically could and transposed it into Light, causing the Holy Blade to leave his hands and stay suspended in front of him, bursting out with the blinding iridescence. It was the calling of the Soul, taking out a trace of Divinity therein to conjure the Art within the Blade.

Right after, a cleaver the size of the sky itself burrowed through the array and fell directly toward him. With sweat beads coalescing, he raised the sword and slashed. The silence was brief, and the explosion afterward loud enough to deafen the weakest present. 

Yu Minge spat out a mouthful of blood as he found himself shot back nearly ten steps; he'd used the secret art on top of exhausting a little bit of Divinity of the Holy Blade and just barely managed to block the strike. However, were the world to know, they would not find it shameful--if anything, they'd likely erupt in cheers.

"I've helped enough," the voice faded, and with it the pressure. Yu Minge was barely holding steady in the sky, his face covered in blood. 

"Where the hell did an Immortal come from...?" he could only mumble to the sky. At the very least, the voice and the entity behind the attack were of the Immortal Foundation Realm, the initial stage of becoming a True Immortal.

Chapter 39 - Different Lives

Yue felt her heart freeze for a moment, her eyes warily veering toward the north. In the far distance, she felt something surge like a tidal wave. The pressure felt exalted, as though a God had descended upon the world for a brief moment. She never experienced anything like it before--perhaps only the Master's friends ever felt more terrifying, and even the few times she saw Soul Ascendance cultivators fell quite short. 

She realized that the location seemed to be the Holy Blade Sect. 

"Ah, the Heavenspan Tournament. Maybe it's that?" whatever it was, it had nothing to do with her. She was just about done with shopping and ready to go back 'home'. 

**

"RUN!!" the word was still echoing inside Lya's mind as she, alongside five other people, continued rushing away from the Holy Blade Sect.

Thinking back to what happened, she still had difficulties processing it all. Right after the aged, terrifying voice in the sky faded, the fight resumed. As the Sect Master got wounded, the fight at the very top became rather even, and they found themselves being pushed back against the hooded figures. 

However, as the figures were focused on capturing one person in particular, the fight was at a stalemate for a moment. It was evident, still, that they were on the losing side. Ultimately, her Master ended up rescuing the girl who was the target--a young, fifteen-year-old girl with brown hair and eyes and an entirely unassuming appearance. There seemed to be nothing special about her, but as she was being chased, there had to be a reason.

In the middle of the carnage, while dozens were dying by the second, the small cluster Lya was a part of scattered and her Master managed to just barely create an opening for them to leave. Quite a few stayed in the rear to block the pursuers, leaving in total six figures running away: Lya, who was leading charge mindlessly, not realizing she was moving toward the Nameless Forest, Song who was being carried by their Senior Brother Xu Liang, a tall, muscular, and handsome man with black hair and eyes. When she first came to the Sect, Lya had developed quite a crush on him, but it was quickly snuffed out when the two interacted briefly.

For all his positives--and there were many, such as his undying loyalty to the Sect and quite a decent talent--Senior Brother Liang was... a bit dull. Well, a bit was still underselling it. He was best at obeying orders, but if he was forced to think for himself... 

Besides them three, there was also the girl that was the target of the hooded figures--Ling'er, they called her. She was a member of a small, insignificant Sect and had come to the tournament simply as a part of an excursion as she was just barely at Peak Qi Condensation Realm at 15. She was just as lost as everyone, seeming in some was as dull as Senior Brother Liang. 

There was also Senior Sister Qiu Mei who was barely limping along them, her left arm completely missing from the shoulder. It was a ghastly sight that left the proud and aloof woman Lya admired seem broken and despondent. 

And, lastly, there was Elder Shui Xiaoling taking up the rear. She had probably spent the most Qi out of all of them, but was not falling behind all. Pale in face and with reddened clothes, she seemed more like a ghost than a woman, but she didn't complain even once. 

Luckily, quite a few Elders who stayed behind seemed to have managed to block their pursuers as they weren't being chased. It was too early to celebrate, however, and Lya was panicking. She'd just now realized where she was going, and was wondering whether it was the right choice.

The reason why the Elder wasn't saying anything was probably because the Sect Master told her to follow Lya, knowing full well that she would have headed to the Nameless Forest. But even if they went there... would the Senior help them? And it wasn't even a small amount of help--Lya was certain that, without Senior's help, Song might die, Sister Mei will never advance in cultivation again, and even Elder Xiaoling might perish. 

Even if the pursuers never caught up, if the Senior turned them away, it would be a disaster. They may as well have stayed in the Sect and took their chances. 

As such, Lya was afraid--afraid that her choice might have doomed everyone. In the end, she could only put her faith into the man she'd know for a few days before leaving. In her heart, she believed the Senior would help them--he was a sage figure to her, someone above life. Ultimately, though, a worm of doubt had begun festering inside her young mind...

**

Shen Tao was lying in a pool of blood, coughing up, gasping for breath. There was a hole in his chest, his innards hanging visibly. All his Qi was spent, and his vision was blurring. 

He lost.

He lost so convincingly that the shame in his heart could build a mountain. And against a young child, no less. To be proven so explicitly that he was nothing, a footnote in the history of the world, was beyond debilitating. Parts of him, in fact, were glad that he would die, so that he would never have to face the reality of his existence. 

"Don't be embarrassed," the child loomed over him and smiled--the smile was cold, dark, and desolate, as were the pair of eyes staring at him hollowly, void of recognition. "There is no shame in losing to me. Rather, I should be embarrassed for picking at the kids. Alas, Master said all of us had to come. I will--hm?" the child frowned and lifted his left arm suddenly; a moment later, the arm flew off his shoulder as he jumped back.

Despite losing the arm, the boy appeared entirely unenthused. The bleeding was brief, and he seemed to have stopped it as though he did it a thousand times before. A moment later, a figure sprung from the void in front of Shen Tao, a familiar figure of his Father and his Master Shen Yu. 

"Hm? A child?" his Father mumbled, seeming equally shocked as Shen Tao was when he first laid his eyes upon the boy. "How is this possible?"

"It will take me a while to fix my arm, you bastard," the boy said, his voice losing the little bit of playfulness that it had before, replaced with stark indifference. 

"You bastard?"

"What are you, if not a bastard? Nearly two hundred years old and still barely at Mid Soul Ascendance. If you hadn't sacked your potential just to keep up with the Holy Blade, you would have still been a decrepit nobody at the Early stages. Seeing as you arrived here so quickly, you must have been nearby. Our information was wrong, it seems. Good to know."

"... who the hell are you?" 

"What is it to you? We may not be able to kill that Minge bastard and his cohort," the boy grinned strangely all of a sudden. "But you? I wonder... what will become of the world tomorrow when it learns that one of its Sages was felled? I do wonder~"

**

Birds were chirping in a rather lovely tone, and Leo was loving every second of it.

On his second day of trying to gather enough timber, quite a few animals followed him over. In fact, some of them even helped--on the way back, Blackie and Milky were by some unholy miracle carrying a log each, Red was carrying two, and a strange, oversized tiger that terrified Leo so much he didn't even dare name the beast carried six of them and was still sauntering through the woods. 

He felt a bit embarrassed to be only carrying four, but there was nothing he could do about it. Grateful that he was helped, Leo prepared quite a feast as soon as they returned, taking special care of the meal he prepared for the tiger. For one reason or another (mostly because it was a tiger), the animal gave him Hebe-jibes. 

It didn't do anything to earn his caution--it never growled or howled or yowled or whatever the tigers did, it even played with Blackie and Milky when Leo was too busy for it, and it mostly just swung by twice a day to eat before disappearing into the forest. The fact that the animal helped shocked Leo more than most other things he'd experienced in the world thus far, and he gathered it was the form of a bargain--the tiger would help him in exchange for more food! So, Leo prepared four times as much food as usual for the tiger.

As he got too busy with the rest of the animals, he missed the tiger eating and leaving. Glancing at the plate, Leo grew slack-jawed for a moment as there was so much food on top of it. In fact, it was only short just one portion--the tiger ate as much as it ate every night and sauntered off into the forest, apparently unimpressed by Leo's take-charge attitude. 

He didn't have that much energy to ponder on it, however. Between cutting trees all day long and then carrying the logs back and then immediately preparing dinner, he was spent. Retreating into the mud hut, he lied down flatly onto the bed and patiently waited for the nightly ritual to finish--Blackie immediately jumped on his chest, curled up, and went to sleep; Milky curled up next to his head, a black-colored armadillo nestled itself against Leo's right side, while the golden gopher nested itself against the back of Leo's head. 

It wasn't long before the rest of him was covered with the smaller critters and lizards--there was a rabbit by his left foot, a pair of multicolored iguanas on his right knee, a few skinks wrapping themselves around his fingers... 

Some ten minutes later, he was completely covered, wondering whether he was like a super heater for these animals or something which was why they loved sleeping on top of him or against him or even just near him. Whatever it was, because he was a cultivator, he could endure it well enough. Closing his eyes, he lovingly listened to the symphony of purrs, low growls, and the breathing of so many animals, getting lost in its grace and drifting off to sleep.