A few hours outside of Wongye city we stopped to give the horses some rest. We pulled off the main road and into a side clearing off the main trail so we weren’t in the way. I checked in with Xiang and Kai, and, finding them in good spirits, I made my way back on top of the carriage where I had spent a majority of the trip so far, cultivating.
I looked down to Jia who was sitting on the coach box looking down at the tier five monster core in her hands.
“Whatcha up to, Jia?” I asked her, laying down on the roof of the carriage and leaning over the edge to get a better view of her.
“I’m wondering if I should absorb this monster core or sell it.” She said. I cocked my head at her words.
“Absorb it? What do you mean?” I asked. Jia looked up at me confused, before remembering who she was talking to.
“Ah yeah, you wouldn’t know. I wondered why you decided to sell that qi devouring python core. Cultivators can absorb the qi within monster cores to boost their cultivation. Once you’re in the core formation realm, the effect it has on your foundation is significantly lower, but not non-existent. I was just thinking that if we encounter any more danger that I can’t handle, we might need the extra power boost this core could give me.” she said. I thought about her words, but it didn’t sound right to me.
“I don’t want you to endanger your future on the off chance we would need the extra boost though.” I told her. She smiled back at me.
“Maybe you’re right. I’m worried about what might happen, but without a present danger, damaging my foundation for temporary strength would be foolhardy. Thanks Astra.” She said. I smiled down at her.
We were about to get back on the road when I heard hoofbeats coming from behind us on the main road. Not wanting to get in the way of riders going between cities, I told Jia to hold off on moving until they passed. We waited for a minute until the riders came into view. They were moving fast so I wasn’t sure I was seeing things right. My eyes widened.
The riders passed and my mouth was nearly on the ground. Jia looked up to me with a confused expression on her face.
“Astra? What’s wrong?” She asked. I just pointed in the direction the riders had gone.
“I think I saw a horse riding a horse?” I said.
Jia’s expression turned from one of confusion to one of concern.
“Astra are you feeling alright? You might want to lay down for a little bit.” She said as she prepared the carriage to get back on the main road.
“No, I’m serious! One of those guys riding on the horses looked like a horse!” I told her. She stopped her work and looked at me again with that concerned look on her face. She walked over to me and put the back of her hand against my forehead. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had done that to me, but it warmed my heart a little. Then I remembered that her doing that meant she thought I was sick and I frowned.
“Hey, I’m not sick! I know what I saw!” I pleaded with her. That seemed to give her pause and she nodded after thinking for a moment.
“Alright, perhaps there’s some kind of sentient horse creature that is capable of riding a horse. Though with how fast they seemed to be traveling, I doubt we will be able to catch up with them and ask them.” She said.
We finished preparing the horses and carriage and continued down the path toward Li Bian city.
We weren’t on the road for long before we found a set of trees laid across the road stopping our progress. I remembered this from the books I read as a child and couldn’t hold back my excitement as I jumped down from the roof of the carriage and sat down next to Jia.
“Jia look! This is where the bandits come out and make us give them all our valuables and women!” I told her as I bounced in my seat. She looked at me with a withering glare.
“Astra, you’re being too loud, now they know we’re onto them.” She said.
“That’s right!” a voice from the woods in front of us said as he emerged out of the trees. He wore cultivator robes with the zodiac mercenaries symbol emblazoned over his chest. He had a long face that made him look like a horse.
“Ah! Horse! See Jia I told you he looked like a horse” I said without thinking, pointing directly at him. He grew red in the face at my words.
“My name is Chartreuse Horse, one of the captains of the zod-er rather I’m a bandit leader, leave all your valuables and women behind and we’ll let you live!” He said. I bounced with glee.
“See Jia! He said the line! The line!” I said. She calmed me down by putting a strong grip on my shoulder and pushing me down into my seat.
“Astra, focus. He’s clearly a member of the zodiac mercenaries. I see they’ve resorted to playing bandits now.” She said.
“I am not-” Chartreuse Horse began before one of his men came up to him and whispered into his ear. He looked between Jia and I and his eyes went wide.
“You! You’re the girls we’re supposed to be hunting! Then I suppose there’s no need for my incredible disguise and cover story as bandits. No reason to leave anything behind, you’ll all be dying today!” He said before revealing his core formation realm cultivation
“What disguise?” I managed to ask before he appeared right in front of me. I yelped as he struck out with a fist at my head. Jia intercepted his fist with her sword and I got out of the way of the two core formation realm cultivators.
Jia wasted no time and launched her Palm of Abjuration at the man. He dodged out of the way but the palm continued traveling and struck the trees stacked on the road shredding them in an explosion of icy qi, launching the shrapnel all around the road. The remains of the road after the explosion was an icy expanse with a crater at its center.
Chartreuse Horse was incredibly fast. I almost couldn’t keep up with his movements even when supplying qi to my eyes. I didn’t have time to gawk at his fight with Jia. I had a bunch of foundation establishment realm goons to fight. I used soft steps on the halcyonic sea to step behind one of the men, coalescing my elemental swords as I moved.
I cut the first man down before he could react and dodged out of the way of the techniques launched at me from the closest three cultivators. I stepped behind the next cultivator but he spun around to engage me in combat and parried my sword blows. My sword blows bounced off of his qi infused arms and I realized he must have been well into the body training realm to be able to block my swords.
I couldn’t just keep stepping behind each cultivator or I’d run out of qi fairly quickly. I needed to fight more head on and conserve my qi. I broke off from the fight with the body cultivator and targeted those in the group who were spirit cultivators as I could more easily counter them. I ran at one cultivator, sliding on the ground to avoid a sand technique he launched at me.
I struck out with my swords, hamstringing the man and sending him to the ground, screaming. His screams remained a backdrop to our fighting as I flooded my body with qi, increasing my speed and fighting power. I ran across the ice, sliding across it in places as I ran around from cultivator to cultivator engaging them in fights. Whenever cultivators would launch their techniques at me, Shimmer would create a shield of the opposite type to protect me, but those shields cost a fair amount of my qi to create.
As I took the weaker cultivators out of the fight, the remaining people engaged in battle with me were stronger on average. I couldn’t just run up to them and finish them off within a few strikes anymore and I would be forced to disengage from them when the others launched techniques at me or caught up.
Two body cultivators engaged me at once and I dodged backward out of their reach, but I didn’t see the third cultivator behind me launch a stream of water at me. I was launched forward and slid along the ice, my wet clothes beginning to stick to the ice and chilling me. I used my fire qi to heat up my body and barely got my clothes unstuck from the ice in time to dodge another blast of concentrated water launched at me. Luckily a shield from shimmer popped up to block the blast anyway.
The two body cultivators were on me again and I rolled out of the way of one of their punches, it created a mini crater in the ground where his punch landed and I was glad I had dodged. A third body cultivator caught up then, launching himself at me from the side. I twisted my body and used one of my swords to block his punch causing me to be pushed back a distance.
I spared a look over to Jia and Horse’s fight to see blasts of wind and ice qi being flung in every direction as they traded blows. My lapse in attention on my own fight cost me though as I was hit by one of the errant blasts of wind qi launched by Chartreuse Horse. I was flung yards away, rolling as I landed and dropping my swords. I dissipated the swords and coalesced qi daggers in my hands. I felt my speed increase as I stood up and re-engaged the remaining cultivators. A few of them turned their backs to me and turned their attention on Jia when I had been launched away. Big mistake. I used soft steps on the halcyonic sea to step next to them one at a time and hamstring them, taking them out of the fight.
The body cultivators caught up to me then, pinning me in from all sides.
“Give it up, girl. You’re outnumbered and you can’t take on three body training realm cultivators all at once, no matter how strong you are you’re only in the foundation establishment realm.” One of the men said. I grinned back at them.
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“Why don’t you try me then?” I said.
I struck out with my daggers, making space and activating halcyonic maelstrom. it sucked greedily on my qi, but I should be able to use it for a little while, hopefully long enough to defeat these three cultivators. The whirlpool of iridescent qi flowed around me, hampering the movements and qi flow of the enemy cultivators.
I struck out at the body cultivators around me with my daggers, going from man to man and slicing at their extremities. I sliced one man’s arms and another’s legs before they got used to the hampering effects of the maelstrom. They were now moving slower, but it wasn’t trivial to deal with them all. They would do their best to cover for each other whenever I changed targets.
I used soft steps on the halcyonic sea to step behind one of the men and sliced one of his hamstrings with my dagger before needing to dodge the punch of one of his compatriots. This caused the man I injured to be slower to react as I attacked the man to his left, allowing me to cut deep furrows in the man’s back, causing him to falter where he stood. I took my chance and bashed the man on the side of the temple with my dagger’s pommel. He crumpled to the ground and only two men were left. One of the remaining men was hit full on with a concentrated blast of qi from Shimmer taking him out of the fight.
Before I could move to attack the last man, A voice yelled out over the cacophony of the fight.
“Little Horse, why the long face? Looks like you’re having trouble dealing with two little brats. Need some help?” The man said.
I turned around to see a man with the same symbol emblazoned on his chest that Chartreuse Horse had. He was wearing normal cultivator robes but had a mane of fluffy white fur around his head. He wore sunglasses and was smoking a cigar in his mouth that he had to take out whenever he spoke. He was flanked by a veritable platoon of men, all donning the symbol of the zodiac mercenaries.
“Stay out of this Sheep. I don’t need your help, I’m about to kill this brat and then I’ll deal with the blue haired girl.”
The man, Sheep, pulled out his cigar again.
“No can do, horsey, the boss wants this group of cultivators dead. They’ve killed too many of our men and disrupted our plans too many times. I’ve been dispatched to ensure we deal with them this time. They’ll need the heavens itself to intervene on their behalf now that I, Amber Sheep, have joined the fray.” Amber Sheep said. As he spoke, he unveiled his aura. It felt like he was near the peak of the core formation realm and I paled.
He must have noticed the look on my face because he laughed out loud.
“That’s right, girl. Quiver in fear and curse your bad luck to have encountered me.” He said.
“Now he sounds like one of those two bit villains from the stories I read as a kid.” Jia said, a smirk on her face. Amber Sheep snarled at that, and faster than I could track he appeared in front of me reaching out with almost inhuman calmness, but I couldn’t escape in time. He grabbed me by the neck and squeezed. I made a squeaking noise and could faintly hear Jia yell out my name. I looked over to her and saw her pull out the tier five monster core from her pocket.
Before she could absorb it, Amber Sheep’s arm suddenly fell off at the elbow and his eyes went wide. He looked down at his arm, dumbly, then, as if finally realizing what happened, he cried out with an agonizing wail. I fell to the ground, wheezing and holding my neck with my left hand.
I felt a presence land next to me and looked up to see the grouchy old man who stopped that Xu Meng guy’s fight with Jia in Beltigo HQ.
“Hi…grouchy old guy.” I said through wheezes. He looked down at me and rolled his eyes.
“I suggest you zodiac mercenaries get out of here before I decide it’s worth my time to kill you all.” He said, revealing his full power. Under the pressure of a peak nascent soul realm cultivator’s aura, the group of cultivators all took a step back, some of the foundation establishment realm ones flat out running away.
“We have no quarrel with you, stranger. Let us have the girls and those two in the carriage. They’ve insulted our mercenary group and we’re doling out justice.” Amber Sheep said.
Without being able to make a single move, Amber Sheep fell to the ground, unmoving. The only evidence that a strike had been made was the grouchy old guy putting his hand down by his side, a faint trace of wind qi fluttering around the tips of his fingers.
“I won’t be repeating myself.” The grouchy old man said.
Chartreuse Horse looked down at Amber Sheep’s body then and called out a retreat to his men. They carried all of their injured allies away, leaving the dead in the middle of the road.
The grouchy old man looked between Jia and me then as if assessing us. He then stared at me. It was a little creepy to be honest, but I didn’t mind too much, he saved us after all so he must be a good person.
“Thank you for saving us, elder.” Jia said as she bowed at the waist towards the man. He grimaced.
“Yeah, thanks for saving us, grouchy old guy!” I told him. He grimaced again, but I thought it seemed like a different grimace than he gave to Jia.
“My name isn’t elder, nor is it grouchy old guy.” He said.
“Well you never told us your name. Very rude since I told you my name.” I said.
He rolled his eyes again but relented.
“My name is Zi Fu. And I’m only helping you because I need something from you, Astra.” He said. I cocked my head. What could someone as powerful as Zi Fu need with me?
“I’m not sure how I can help you, but you saved us so if I can help you then I’ll gladly do so!” I told him, a smile on my face.
As if on cue, Xiang peeked his head out of the carriage.
“Excuse me, is it safe to come out now?” He asked. I told him it was and he and Kai exited the carriage and came over to us, bowing to Zi Fu when they came close enough.
“Thank you for the assistance, master Zi Fu.” They both said, bowing in a much more formal way than Jia had.
Zi Fu for his part grimaced again and tried to stop them.
“Please do not act so obsequiously. I’m no elder, nor a master, just a cultivator. Just call me Zi Fu.” he said. Xiang and Kai both nodded their understanding and Zi Fu relaxed.
“As I was saying. I need your help Astra. It’s getting late, so let’s set up camp and I will tell you everything.” He said. We all agreed and took the carriage off the road. We buried the bodies of the mercenaries, on my request, and cleaned up the road so we wouldn’t hamper the movements of anyone going between cities.
We were all sitting down by the fire, eating, when Zi Fu spoke up again.
“Alright, it’s time to tell you why I need your help. My master was born with the Elemental Unity Physique.” He said. My eyes opened wide but he held up a hand to forestall any questions I may have had.
“My master grew in his body cultivation much quicker than anyone had seen before and he quickly became a powerful member of our sect. But as he has gotten older, he has become weaker and more frail. It’s because of the Elemental Unity Physique. Yes it does provide many benefits to the cultivator, but at one major drawback. Their spirit root becomes crippled and they become unable to cultivate their spirit. The spirit root is the foundation of life for a cultivator. With it crippled, the road to immortality is forever cut off from them. As they grow old, they will become weak, albeit much slower than mortals, and eventually they succumb to their old age, just like a mortal.” he said. Then he fully turned to look at me.
“But you, Astra. You have the Elemental Unity Physique, but your spirit root is still healthy and you have cultivated your spirit. I would like to ask that you tell me how your spirit root was repaired. I must save my master’s life.” He said, a dour expression on his face, but below the dourness I could see some hope. A pit formed in my stomach at the sight.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ll be able to help you.” I told him. He was about to protest, but it was my turn to hold up my hand to forestall any questions.
I looked over to Jia and silently asked her if what I was about to do was stupid. She shrugged her shoulders as if to say ‘I don’t know.’ And I decided that I could trust everyone gathered here.
I explained to the group about my inheritance and how it altered my body when I got it using the stored treasures within the inheritance and that I had no idea how I could possibly help Zi Fu’s master.
Kai was awestruck at my story, while both Zi Fu and Xiang were pensive.
“This is quite the secret you have told us, Astra.” Xiang said.
“Were you not afraid we would covet the inheritance and try to extract it from you? At the very least Zi Fu would be strong enough to restrain you until a method could be found.
Zi Fu looked horrified.
“Would you simply take what you want from someone just because they’re weaker than you? My master taught me better than that.” He protesed. I smiled at him.
“Well I figured I couldn’t lie to you, you seemed so hopeful that I would have a method. I only wish I could help somehow.
“Astra, why don’t you try asking Text if it knows a way to cure a crippled spirit root.” Jia suggested. I facepalmed. Again I forgot about Text as an option!
“Text, is there any way to cure a crippled spirit root?”
“ANSWER: Multiple methods for curing a crippled spirit root have been recorded by the immortal who left behind the inheritance. One can ingest a sage level spirit root reincarnation pill. One can bathe their body in the spring of rejuvenation on planet Gleisilar for a full month. One can ingest a spirit nourishing ginseng of at least ten thousand years of age. One can plead with a cultivator in the God realm on the wood path to heal their spirit root. One can make a deal with a greater demon for healing in exchange for their soul. Lastly One could practice the threefold samsara rejection technique to transfer their soul into a new body and begin cultivation anew.” My eyes bugged at some of the suggestions, but I relayed them all to Zi Fu.
His eyes widened at the list but he became contemplative.
“Finding a sage level alchemist on this small cultivation planet will be difficult. As will finding the ginseng. I’ve never heard of Gleisilar, but I could maybe pay the Beltigo corporation for information on how to get there. I know of no God realm cultivators, the highest realm of cultivation on Dou Can is the peak of the domain solidification realm, there simply isn’t enough natural qi to support a higher realm. Making a contract with a demon should never be considered, though master will die without a solution... And I’ve never heard of the threefold samsara rejection technique.” He said, his expression becoming more dour as he listed off rejection after rejection for the suggestions. He took out his booze from within his robes and took a draught of it before anyone could protest.
I patted him on the back.
“I’m sorry, I wish I could be more help. The easiest one sounds like it would be finding that ginseng though, maybe we can help you look for it?” I suggested. He sighed.
“Finding a spirit nourishing ginseng, one of the rarest of all medicinal herbs would be hard enough, let alone one as old as ten thousand years.” Zi Fu said. I drooped.
“If I may make a suggestion?” Xiang said.
“A new hidden realm was recently located near Lu Bian city. Hidden realms occasionally close for an unknown number of years so it’s possible that something like a spirit nourishing ginseng may have grown in the hidden realm and aged over time since the hidden realm was last open.” He continued. Zi Fu perked up at this.
“Truly? That would be quite the stroke of luck! I could go in there and search for the ginseng!” He said. Xiang got an uncomfortable look on his face at this.
“There is a problem with that plan.” he said.
“What’s that?” Zi Fu asked.
“The hidden realm only lets in cultivators below the core formation realm.” Xiang said.