"Lian-er has been very industrious."
I risk a glance up, carefully controlling the last embers of the refinement process as I reduced another set of Steel Armour Fish cores into a pill, brimming with Metal Qi. It takes a few of them to get anything worthwhile, weak as they are, but the end result is fairly useful if one cares for Metal Qi. Unfortunately, Metal Qi is not all that useful to me as I am - I could refine it, but the effort isn't really worth the reward.
"Senior Brother. To what does this humble servant owe the honour?"
He picks one of my pills up from the pile. Given their nature, the points I get from them aren't the best - the Heavenly Misty Peak Sect prioritises certain types of Qi over others after all. There are Cultivators who practice methods aligned with Metal, but when it comes to elements, Wind, Water or Mist are the ones in most demand.
Well, they say that, but it's not as though there is anything that truly lacks in demand. I think it's mostly an excuse to be cheap with the point rewards. 'Nobody needs these', they say, but then charge you an arm and a leg for any Metal Qi pills because few people contribute them. 'We have plenty of these', they say when you offer Wind Qi pills, then turn around and charge even more because they're so hotly in demand.
This is the evil of a monopolistic business, but its not as though it really bothers me all that much.
"The Grand Heaven Tournament is coming up this year," he declares, and I feel my heart skip a beat.
"Surely Senior Brother isn't suggesting I enter…? My cultivation has progressed, but I am far from ready to challenge the Heavens!"
The Grand Heaven Tournament is a tournament the Sect holds every ten years and it is broken up into the three levels of Disciple - Outer, Inner and Core - and then further subdivided by 'Junior' and 'Senior'. A thin age differential - one is a Junior when you are twenty or younger, and then afterwards a 'Senior'. This is to prevent the more experienced Disciples who have been diligently training for years from simply crushing the newcomers.
In practice, this means the competition in the Junior Division is fierce, because most Disciples only get one shot to fight on a relatively even playing field, and it may be many decades before they are at a level where they are willing to step into the ring again, given the 'Senior' division encompasses people who might be a hundred years your senior, with all that entails.
Within the Junior Outer Disciple category, there are a small handful who are close to the peak of Qi Condensation, but more than that, there are those who have trained diligently in arts that lend themselves to combat much better than I, a slow and humble weakling who has done little but cook and only just practiced the arts of Alchemy.
I'd get eaten alive, is what I'm saying. It's not even a question of power but technique. I wouldn't know what to do in a fight if my life depended on it.
"You underestimate yourself Lian-er," Cheng says, with an admonishing tone, "But I came because I intend to enter myself."
I have to stop myself from blurting out something that might be taken as offensive. Cheng is ten. His birthday was a few months ago. He will surely be ten when the Tournament comes, and then twenty when it comes again.
He is in the rare and enviable position of being able to enter the Tournament's Junior Division when he is at his most prepared, and yet he wants to enter it now? He has only just entered Foundation Establishment! It is certainly impressive, and a noteworthy talent for an Inner Disciple, but there are other noteworthy talents who have had several more years to be even more talented!
He will get eaten alive as well!
"Senior Brother, please forgive your foolish brother, because I cannot grasp the reasons for why you would do this." It's as diplomatic and polite a way as I can think to ask what the fuck are you thinking?
He inclines his head. "Although I, Zhou Cheng, am destined to surpass all obstacles and ascend, I know that the difference between me and my seniors is not something I can surmount yet." That's surprisingly humble for him. "Zhao Huangjun is at the Sixth Step of Foundation Establishment at nineteen years - and he has cultivated purely through the Sword."
In other words, he's the favourite to win the Junior Inner Disciple section. Theoretically, a Weapon Cultivator is not necessarily any more powerful or dangerous than say, a Fire Cultivator. Practically speaking, Weapon Cultivators live and breathe fighting. When another Cultivator may have been spending years learning what it means to be Stone, a River or a Dream, Weapon Cultivators have been studying what it means to be something that's primary purpose is fighting.
At our level, that's usually enough to win.
"Then what is it that you wish to achieve by doing this, if not victory?"
He clicks his tongue. "Lian-er, you should always seek to achieve victory, even when it is impossible." You are way too young to be spouting koans, Zhou Cheng. At least grow some facial hair first. "But whilst I strive for victory, failure is not something I should abhor. The tournament will be an excellent learning opportunity - and an opportunity to demonstrate my talent before the Elders."
Ah. That… does make more sense. It's certainly a bold move, given the risks. Oh, I'm sure killing your opponent is frowned upon in the Tournament, but 'frowned upon' and 'never happen' are two separate things. When the blood gets pumping and you're giving it your all, accidents can happen.
Sometimes they might even be actual accidents.
"Forgive me then, Senior Brother, because I still cannot grasp why you have come to me for this news."
Cheng smirks at me, all arrogant young master (even if he's not really the latter at all) and holds one of my pills up between his fingers. "With Lian-er's support, I intend to become as powerful as I can."
Ah? "You know that my services are at your disposal as ever, Senior Brother, but I do not have anything that can really help your cultivation." Cheng practices the Breath of Heaven - relying primarily on Wind Qi. All I have are these Metal Qi pills, and some Yin Qi ones as well.
"You don't have anything yet." Ah, Cheng, don't say such things. You'll make my blood pressure rise. "Have you heard? The migratory flock of Cloudfisher Herons has returned to the Peak. It's a once in a hundred year opportunity, Lian-er."
Cloudfisher Herons… Cheng, there are limits to audacity! "Senior Brother, they nest in the higher regions of the Peak, where the clouds begin to thin. The climb alone will take a week, if not longer, and if we fall, we are certainly doomed." Not to mention they're not easy creatures to subdue by any means.
The 'average' adult Heron is about the size of an adult human male, and can be considered to be somewhere in Foundation Establishment. However this is a species that lives for hundreds of years, and the larger and older Herons can grow to gargantuan sizes - and reach the heights of Core Formation.
"Then we won't fall," he declares with ironclad certainty.
… I swear to the Heavens, I am going to push you off a ledge and be free of your madness one day. But instead, I restrain a sigh, and begin packing my equipment away. I could never do that to my adorable brother, even when he's being such a little shit. "When do we leave?"
The little bastard has the audacity to beam at me. "I knew you would understand, Lian-er!" What I understand is that I don't have a choice. "The others are already getting ready."
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"Have you ever climbed a mountain, Hei?" Shan asks blithely as we circle around one of the few stable paths on the mountain. He seems to be taking point on this outing, and from the heavy, earthy feel of his Qi, it's not hard to see why. The bulk of the Sect focuses on the Heavenly and Misty parts of the Sect's name - but there is no small amount who refer to the Peak part of it. Mountain, Earth, Stone, even Metal and Crystal - those who cultivate those kinds of Qi are in abundance in the Sect.
It figures that Big Brother Broad Shoulders is one of them.
"I have walked trails," I admit softly, glancing at the sheer fucking wall of rock and stone before focusing back on Shan Guojin, "But I cannot say I have ever climbed anything. Especially anything like the Heavenly Misty Peak."
He laughed, and it was at least a good natured one. He had a booming quality to it, befitting his size. "Few have! But don't worry little brother. The rope we use is made of Devil Ravine Spider silk." He lifted it gently - a glossy, silvery thing that seemed impossibly shimmery. "You need not fear it breaking - nor need you fear that I, Shan Guojin, will fall from the mountain."
"Shan's been climbing the mountain for years," Song adds, "So trust in him. He can easily hold ten people on his rope." He gave me a small elbow to the side with that, clearly ribbing me.
I wouldn't really call myself that heavy, but compared to the rest of my peers, I'm definitely… softer. Most of the men in the Sect lean into the lean, pretty 'bishonen' kind of style, but there's no shortage of the giant, rippling muscle types like Shan Guojin. Compared to them, I'm a 'fatty', but really, that just means that you can actually grab my stomach instead of just grasping at it. I can't say I'm all that bothered by it though. Cultivating has already made me prettier and more handsome than I would've been as a mortal, and I have the life experience to acknowledge that.
Then again, I'm only twelve. Maybe I'll grow into a stunning mountain of a man, or maybe I'll stay cute. We'll see.
"I'll be in Senior Shan's capable hands."
There's no actual harness, but Shan's clearly experienced. The harness he ties on all of is… distressingly kind of similar to shibari, if I'm perfectly honest, but it is effective. It distributes the weight evenly enough that it doesn't feel like any particular point is being heavily weighted. Watching him climb itself feels like watching something incredible as he finds handholds I couldn't dream of, and when he can't find one that suits him, he simply makes one, fingers digging through solid stone like it was clay.
Cheng is next after him, then Kong Meiling, Song Ren, and bringing up the rear is me. I try to mimic Shan's movements as best I can, but the fact is I just don't have his reach sometimes, and I spend more time than I'd like just vaguely clinging to the wall as best I can and allowing myself to be hauled up.
It wasn't a complete loss for me, I suppose - at least, in the sense that I wasn't just being dragged up like a cow being airlifted after stumbling down a ravine. As I climb, I can peruse the selection of things that grow. There was no small shortage of plants that grew on the side of the mountain, even in these inhospitable conditions.
Mountain Elder Sage is not particularly rare, but the higher you go, the better the quality. Regular ordinary Sage has a slightly peppery flavour to it, but Mountain Elder Sage is more mellow and smooth. Violet Moon Bells aren't very tasty at all, but they have wonderful medicinal properties provided they've yet to be exposed to moonlight - and with the clouds as thick as they are, they usually have. Otherwise they're poisonous. I'll have fun figuring out which later.
There's a few other things I manage to snag on the way up - none of it is particularly rare or even difficult to find, but it would all either involve me risking my neck on my own or spending points, so I'm taking the opportunity to stuff my (somewhat upgraded) qiankun pouch with everything I can.
"Nobody move!" Shan hisses, his voice carrying on an undercurrent of Qi.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Everyone flattens themselves against the cliff face as best we can - I wanted to ask why, but I know well enough that when one of my Senior's says to do something, I do it. A few moments later the reason is clear as a dark shadow sweeps through the clouds before us, sending a rush of wind that threatens to rip me off and send me tumbling down.
What the fuck was that?!
"Thousand Winds Eagle," Shan 'explains', "Must be here for the Herons as well."
"It can have them," I retort, heart thumping so hard it's a miracle I don't faint, "Why are we here again?"
Cheng snorts gently as everyone resumes climbing. "Don't be so cowardly, Lian-er. To the Eagle, we're not worth the effort - and it might distract the Herons too."
"It doesn't matter if the Giant ignores us, if it tramples us all the same," I mutter, but I'm still climbing like the others. Partly because even at this relatively safe height, I have no intention of falling - I'll survive in all likelihood, but it won't be fun. I'm in this for the long run, it seems, even if I'd really rather not.
Brief scare aside, the climb returns to bored normalcy pretty quickly. I still pocket every herb and plant I can find, and although I'm still far from an expert, it has been getting much easier to move and find handholds and footholds. Even if I'm only at the Fourth Step of Qi Condensation, I am still leagues stronger and hardier than I was a 'mortal'.
Case in point, I can climb a mountain for hours without getting tired. Bored, but not tired. "How long is this climb going to be, Senior?" I call, trying to distract myself from the way my mind is beginning to numb.
"Five days until we get to the nesting grounds - three if we rush things. It won't do us any good to arrive tired and exhausted either way, so we'll be taking a small break in a cave just before it."
Five days… five days of climbing straight? I'm not entirely sure I can handle that. I definitely can't handle it mentally. "Are we really going to do nothing but climb for five days…? Seniors, have mercy on this humble servant."
"If you cannot manage at least this, how will you hope to face the Heavens?" Meiling sneers, hanging loosely off one perfectly manicured hand. "Climbing a mountain is nothing to climbing to Heaven. If you're a cultivator, this much should be easy."
"Senior Sister, forgive me for miscommunicating - I did not intend to say that I am incapable of physical exertion." To prove my point, I scaled a few feet as rapidly as I could, swapping handholds almost as fast as I grabbed them. I even repeated her dangling, just to drive it home. I might be fat, but I'm still a cultivator damn it! "It's just if I have to look at nothing but this wall for three days, I will surely go mad."
"Then go mad. It is no great loss."
I can't help myself - I laugh a little. So sharp! So cold!
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It is a testament to cultivation's power that when we finally reach the cave, I am only sore and tired, instead of dead on my feet entirely. Five days of climbing have left my fingers stiff and sore, and a part of me fears they will be stuck in this clawed shape for all my life.
At least the cave is nice and spacious though, and the cool air is rich in Qi - it's not the best for my cultivation, but it's good enough. Drawing it in feels like a calming drought, soothing my aches and pains.
"Shit," Shan swears, which is not the kind of thing I want to hear. "Don't relax yet, Junior. We've got a troublesome squatter."
I lift my head, straining my eyes. I can't see what he's seeing - or otherwise sensing. Maybe I can… okay. Something smells like… ozone?
Something roars from deeper within the cave, and a burst of purple lightning streaks out. I squeal like a stuck pig, flattening myself against the ground, only narrowly avoiding becoming roast pig. "What the fuck?!"
"What luck indeed!" Cheng crows, and I can't tell if he's misheard me, or just plain ignoring what I said. "The Heavens have blessed us this day - to think we'd encounter a Violet Storm Wyvern! One that's already been wounded, no less!"
I can see the outline of it now - a vicious looking creature. Like any good wyvern, it walks forward slowly and cautiously on its winged, snarling and hissing as sparks light up not only in its jaw, but along the purple crystalline spines that line its back. True to Cheng's words, it's clearly seen battle quite recently - an eye has been clawed viciously, the wounds still yet to heal, and a broken spear is still lodged in its back.
In many ways, this is quite fortunate for us, because the beast itself is in the early stages of Core Formation. Killing it would be a great boon to all of us, and it may just be possible in its weakened state. The tight confines of a cave will limit its movement and negate its greatest strength which would be just flying away and strafing the shit out of us.
But the tight confines is a double edged sword. Whilst we might lack options to fight back in the open, we could at least dodge freely. There is very little space to dodge here at all, although even then, we are still fortunate that dodging is an option. Violet Storm Wyverns breath lightning, as it's already demonstrated.
If it breathed something like poison or fire, the entire cave would be flooded with it and we would already be dead. As it is, we merely need to avoid getting struck to survive.
'Merely', I say, as though it were going to be so easy. Simple, but not easy.
"Shan, draw its attention. Song, be prepared to strike. Zhou and I will support at range." Kong Meiling is not so dissuaded, eyes serious as she barks off orders, fan snapping out in her hand. So she fights with a fan? I almost want to call it typical, but I know how that'll go down. She glances at me, briefly assessing. "... Hei, just stay out of the way," is her cold assessment.
I scurry away to try and cling to the outer edges of the cave. There isn't a ledge to speak of, but so long as I hold on and don't hang on the rope, I should be fine.
… hopefully nobody's rope gets burnt away. That'll suck.
Shan roars, stomping his foot and sending a wave of Qi at the Wyvern, manifesting in a surge of stone spikes that just kind of smack into it. Its scales are not so weak as to be pierced by something so pedestrian as that, but it seems to give Song an opening to dart forward, a spear slipping out of… somewhere. I could only assume a qiankun pouch or sleeve, maybe a spatial ring.
Song unleashes a torrent of biting strikes as the Wyvern tries to snap back at him, the spears range letting him stay neatly out of its attacks.
"Whispering Snowdrift!" She's really living up to the ideal of the ice cold fairy as she twirls and dances, fan snapping and waving as she sends a wave of deceptively gentle Snow Qi forth in the form of a flurry of snowflakes. They dance through the air with grace and beauty, but each saps the heat from the very area around us that I can almost feel it from where I am.
The sparks lighting up in the Wyvern's mouth splutter out at the sudden intrusion, and Song lives to see another day.
"Sky Shaping Breath!"
"Moon Piercing Fang!"
Shan Guojin raises up a sizable spear of earth, propelling it forward in time with Zhou Cheng's great exhale, a combination attack that sees the spear shatter right against the creature's breast. It's still not enough to pierce the scales, but the rush of the wind forces the rest of the air out, and I'm forced to cling tighter lest I be ripped away.
A ridge of earth surges up, diverting the blast of lightning to the side just enough that Shan's able to dodge to the side.
The lightning comes dangerously close to me, and I squeal in pain as the tips of my fingers are seared away by its heat. That hurts…! That really, really hurts! I need those to cling onto for dear life, so please be more careful!
I have to duck away for my own safety, but I can hear the fight continuing for several minutes more. I hear techniques called out, I hear the Wyvern roar, I hear cries of pain… eventually, I hear Cheng call my name.
"Lian-er! It's safe to come back in."
And so I do, crawling carefully into the opening once more and assessing the damage.
Song is cradling an arm - it looks broken. Definitely clawed. The side of Shan's head is red and raw from a narrow miss, and he's missing an ear. Kong Meiling is the most disheveled I've ever seen her, and some of her flowing sleeves have been burnt away but she and Cheng are otherwise unharmed.
The beast of course, has been slain. It seems like Song managed to stab it right through the roof of its mouth - bypassing its scales entirely. Clever, if highly dangerous.
"Refine it," Cheng declares, nodding at me, "The pill will suit Song the best."
"We'll need the medicine we brought along as well," Shan grunts.
I nod seriously. From the beginning, I was here to do exactly this, so I cannot be annoyed at being told what to do like a servant. It's what I'm here for. It's what I am.
"This humble Hei Lian will not disappoint you."
I'm already eyeing the corpse, assessing it. The crystals are the obvious choice for refinement - as is the core. Together, I should be able to craft something of especially high Lightning Qi. Lightning is a good element for a Spear Cultivator, even if Song is not going for lightning in particular - it is sharp, piercing, direct and rich in Yang.
The knife made from Steel Armour Fish is strong, but against the scales it may as well be a blunt rock. I could try and go from the inside, but that'll get messy really quickly, and I could ruin a lot of the meat doing that - Wyvern meat isn't particularly prized, but I am hungry.
As I run my fingers over them, I realise there's a trick to this - the scales overlap, so there's no weakness to exploit in combat, but if one slips a thin blade underneath, you can begin to peel them off. It's not something you could do easily in combat even knowing the trick, but once it's dead, it's just a matter of practice before I'm smoothly removing the rest of its scales into a pile, peeling them off in long strips with a single stroke of my knife.
Hm. If we don't want to use that to make armour or treasures, I could probably refine that into a pill as well - something with a grounding element to it, like earth or metal. The Wyvern is a creature of paradoxes, of both soaring heaven and crushing earth - it needs to be, to control its own lightning and protect itself.
The core is found in the base of the brain, and I gently remove it. Without the scales in the way, I can see the crystals form from the flesh up, like strange protrusions. Removing them is easy enough and I set them aside. Should I refine them all? The pill might be unruly and difficult to condense down if I do, but it will certainly be powerful. The most obvious reason not to is that they will be superlatively valuable.
I'll leave it to Cheng to decide then.
The flesh… I pull a large jar from my pouch, setting it under the creature as I hang it up as best I can. I take the broken spear, jamming it into the roof, and using some relatively plain rope, tie it by the ankles. It's… still not really high enough to drain properly, but it'll have to do. If I angle the head and neck right, it should work.
Whilst I'm bleeding it out, I turn to refining.
"Seniors, should this humble alchemist use everything in refining, or would you prefer to save some for later?"
They glance at each other. "Save one crystal for each of us," Cheng declares, nodding, "Use the rest."
I nod, and begin to powder the crystals. It's difficult, but without the creature's Qi reinforcing them, they slowly begin to crack. Powdering will help their power be diffused and then concentrated back into pill form. I add a little water from the Heavenly Misty Falls - an expensive item, to be sure but its purity is well worth it. I'll need the Yin to nurture the Yang. In order to draw out the impurities, I grind up the roots of a flower I plucked on the way up - Drifting Sky Dandelions are well known for their ability to purify the earth and sky alike. They're plentiful enough in a mountain like this, but trying to grow them yourself is a real pain because they only take root if they drift for long enough on the headwinds.
Add in the core, and everything is ready. Begin refinement!
It looks and feels a lot like someone's tossed a cinder block in a dryer - except the dryer is hooked up to a tesla coil for some unfathomably awful reason. Purple static sparks off it incessantly, singing my fingers as I try to control the reaction and slow it down enough that nothing explodes.
The Qi rages wildly within, as lightning is wont to do - it wants to go where it pleases, where it's attracted to. A gentle touch from me keeps it circulating through the water, forming a circuit with itself that begins to charge the core. The cauldron itself begins to spin at first, before I manage to catch it.
Motherfucker that burns! But if it keeps spinning, it'll add centrifugal force, and the last thing I need is everything separating into its component parts. That's how you get an explosion that will wipe us all out.
I'm forced to grit my teeth and bear the pain, but slowly, I feel it condensing down.
Eventually, it comes to a stop, and I gingerly pull my hands away, wincing as not all of my skin joins me for that movement. It is, however, only pain and superficial wounds. As a cultivator, I can manage at least this much. "Song Ren - this one is proud to declare your pill is ready."
I'm surprised to see he hasn't healed himself yet - but he whistles, somewhere between gently awed and appreciative as he takes in my current state. There's a flicker of genuine respect in his gaze now.
That's right, this humble fatty might be a cowardly rat, but he ain't no bitch!
"Song Ren thanks Hei Lian," he declares, giving me a small, polite bow as best he can with an injured arm. It's more face than I'm expecting, if I'm honest, so I'm a little startled.
But then he takes the pill and pops it directly into his mouth. The reaction after he swallows is almost immediate, Lightning Qi surging within him, practically bursting from him as he refines it. Ah, I hope I didn't overdo it… it's possible to take a pill too powerful for you, after all. If I've killed Senior Song because my pills were too powerful, that would be gratifying, but also, quite terrible.
But he contains the reaction, Qi still surging. There is a palpable difference as he begins to break through - and continues breaking through. When the theatrics die down and everything stops whirling around him in sparks of energy, he is sitting comfortably in the Second Step of Foundation Establishment.
To break through to Foundation Establishment at his age is no small thing. To skip the First Step straight to the Second is no small thing.
I cannot help but feel the gazes Shan Guojin and Kong Meiling are giving me are too hungry for me to be appreciative.
"See?" Cheng declares, "It is as I said. With Hei Lian's support, we are sure to excel in the Tournament."
Ah, Cheng, please do not do this to me.