[Hello Lilly, is Senior Ren here?]

I greeted Senior Sister Lilly after reaching the pill shop. It was our first stop after the clothing store. I wanted to catch up with my large friend to see how things were doing.

“Oh, Gerald? Hello. Yes, he’s in the back sorting herbs. Let me call him for you.”

[Thanks Lilly!]

Soon the giant came rumbling out of the shop. Well, Senior Ren didn’t look all that large anymore, considering I also grew massively in recent months.

“Junior? Oh, damn! Haha! Did you get a sudden growth spurt?” The smiling giant was still over a head taller than me and significantly wider as he pulled me into a bear hug.

[It’s good to see you too. I have been quite busy in recent weeks. It seems much has changed around here.]

“Hah, I’ll say! But what’s with the robe? Are you a Core Disciple now or something, haha?”

I rubbed my head awkwardly. I knew he was saying it as a joke, but…

[Something like that… Elder Li Roy took me as his disciple. Oh, and this is my Senior Brother Shao Lin.]

Ren Kong nearly dropped his jaw to the floor as he stared with wide eyes. “You aren’t kidding?!”

I resolutely shook my head while Shao Lin waved and said a quiet “Hello.”

“Wow! I… I don’t know what to say… I guess I’ll have to call you Senior from now on, huh?” Ren Kong murmured, seemingly deep in thought. “A personal Disciple of an Elder… Incredible!”

[C’mon, don’t be like that. You’ll always be my Senior Brother.] I patted him on the shoulder. [Actually, I have a small request… But, first of all, did you advance recently?]

“Oh!” Ren Kong proudly struck a pose with his fists on his hips. “Your Brother here broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm IX a few weeks ago! Not to mention that good resources are becoming so cheap! This Beast Tide was a great boon for our little pill shop. The requirement for various medicine skyrocketed and we are barely keeping up!”

He was beaming proudly, and despite the apparently increased workload, he looked as if he was just reborn.

[Then it’s fair to guess that you became much stronger recently too?]

“Exactly! I ate so much quality beast meat, it’s nearly coming out of my ears, haha! I’m telling you, life is great!”

[Good, good…] I slowly nodded as an idea was forming in my mind. Something I have done before, back when it was still a stupid idea. But now…

[Say…] I pulled Ren to the side, away from Lilly’s prying ears. [Could you do me a tiny favor and punch me?]

“Err, what?” Ren Kong looked at me in confusion.

[You know, like the last time...]

“Oh, no, no, no!” Ren exclaimed and pushed me away. “Last time was already a mistake, and I swore not to do it ever again!”

[Oh, come on. I’m not as weak as I used to be! Look, I’m training in defense, and if you don’t believe me you can ask Shao Lin here.]

“Ah, what? Me?” Shao Lina totally wasn’t paying attention to our conversation but quickly understood what was happening after a quick recap. “Oh, yeah sure, go ahead. It’s not like you can hurt him… Actually, if you manage to beat this guy, I’ll give you a Spirit Stone!”

[That’s not nice… I thought we were friends.]

“You two are nuts! No way I’m beating my friend for no reason! The last time he already nearly died from my punch!”

[That was because of your Martial Art. Just don’t use it this time and everything will be fine. Actually, even that might not do much, but...]

“What?! That’s crazy! I’m not participating in this-!”

[Shao Lin, grab him!] I shouted and jumped on Ren Kong.

“Ah? We are really doing this?” Shao Lin rolled his eyes and then grabbed one of Ren’s hands while I held the other. The man was protesting loudly but we dragged him away without a problem.

Lilly gave us a weird look, but she had customers to take care of and couldn’t abandon her work. I just gave it a playful wink as we quickly disappeared from her view.

Soon enough we reached a snow-covered arena. It was empty, which wasn’t a surprise as the air was cold and the ground covered in snow, not to mention that people were busy fighting with wild beasts all across Sect’s territory.

“Alright already, let me go!” Ren protested and shook off our grip. Well, we willingly let him go, but he didn’t need to know that.

He frowned as he was released, however, it wasn’t anger is saw in his eyes, but confusion.

“When did you get so strong?”

[Haha, did I mention an Elder took me under his wing? You weren’t the only one that was eating well the last few weeks.] I patted my stomach to emphasize that fact.

“Hmm…” Ren Kong frowned even deeper. “That actually makes a lot of sense… If you get access to the best pills and elixirs as well as quality beast meat, I guess you could Cultivate your body pretty quickly. But that must have been expensive…”

Shao Lin and I looked at each other and didn’t say a thing. What pills? I just ate a hundred Golden Core beasts in their entirety and then fought like mad every day for two months straight. If I didn’t grow stronger at a ludicrous rate you could call me a worthless rat.

“So, what exactly do you want me to do?”

I beamed as it seemed my friend finally accepted his fate. [Punch me.]

“Really? You are still going with that?”

[What? I just want to see the change. And besides, if anything goes wrong, Shao Lin here is a Golden Core Cultivator. He’ll be our insurance.]

Ren Kong looked at the guy beside me with suspicion, and only after Shao Lin flashed some Golden Qi did he finally agree.

“Fine. I’ll do it. But how do we go about this?”

[How about you punch me with all you got?]

Stolen novel; please report.

“No.” Ren immediately shook his head. “Let’s go slowly at first. I don’t want to hurt you… too much.”

I secretly rolled my eyes. [Fine. Whenever you’re ready.]

I took a combat stance with my knees slightly bent and feet about shoulder-width apart. My hands were formed into fists and rested beside my torso, with my chest completely exposed and ready to take a hit.

“Ready? Here I go, 20%!” Ren pulled back his fist slightly, and like a spring, it blasted forward, hitting me square in the solar plexus.

I expected to feel his power, but...

[You call that a punch? A fart would have been more destructive.]

“Hmm?” Ren looked at me and then at his fist. “I guess I was holding back a bit too much… Let’s try 50%!”

He punched. I felt it. Barely.

[What is this? Do I look like a soft persimmon?! Punch me like you mean it!]

Ren Kong took a few quick breaths, seemingly psyching himself up. “You asked for this! Taste my full power!”

His body coiled back like a snake, his muscles tensed, and then he exploded like a viper with the weight of his entire being behind the punch.

I released the inverted gravity keeping my body light.

The punch landed with a dull thud.

I moved half a step back from the impact.

“What the hell… That’s it?!” Ren Kong rubbed his knuckles while frowning. “Why does it feel like your skin is becoming harder as I increase my power?”

[Hehehe!] I laughed proudly. [That would be the Scales of the Earth. It seems the sweet spot for this defensive technique is at the late Nascent Soul. Not bad!]

“Scales of the Earth? What does it do?” Ren asked curiously, and even Shao Lin looked on with interest.

[As you said, the stronger the hit, the harder my skin. The more you punch, the stronger my defense… up to a certain point.]

“What! That’s an amazing technique! Why haven’t I ever heard of it?” Ren exclaimed, excited.

I shrugged. [Dunno. Probably because it’s new. I got it in the library a few months ago.]

“I have to get my hands on that.”

[By all means, but first…] I once again took a stance and readied myself. [Show me what your Martial Art is capable of! Come on!]

“Are you sure?” Ren Kong said, clearly still uncertain. “My Piercing Iron Fist is made to break through strong defenses. I don’t think your tough skin will-”

“Brother!” Shao Lin slapped him on the shoulder. “Please just shut your mouth and punch him already! Look at him, does he look concerned?! He’s mocking your fists! Beat that smile off his face!”

The words might have sounded weird, but they did the trick.

“I- Alright!” Ren Kong steeled his resolve, and even without paying attention, I felt Qi swirling around his right hand. His expression was heavy, but he was ready. And so was I.

[Do it!]

“Be honored, for you will experience my first 70% Piercing Iron Fist Haaah!”

The Qi-empowered knuckles struck my chest, and like a shockwave, the energy ignored my hard skin, burrowing through my organs and bones like they were nothing. The energy of the punch barely moved me, yet I felt it vibrate through my entire chest.

[Ack!] I took a step forward and blood dripped out of my mouth before I lost all power and collapsed to the ground.

“Junior!”

“You should just call him Brother…”

“Oh my god! What have I done?!”

I felt my broken body be picked up and my head lifted higher. I coughed out some spit mixed with blood as I spoke quietly. [Tell… my wife… that I… loved... her.]

“You had a wife?!” I heard Ren panic. “Oh, no! Who is she?? Quickly, tell me!”

“AHAHAHAHA!” Shao Lin suddenly began laughing, ruining my perfect play. Like, c’mon, dude! Can’t you wait a few minutes?

“Why are you laughing?! He’s dying!”

[Yeah! You heard the man! I’m dying over here, show some respect!]

“…Ah?”

Ren and I locked eyes. He just stared at me.

[What?]

“You are fine?!”

Fine? Was that some kind of a joke? Of course, I was not fine! That bastard ruined my perfect play!

[Meh!]

Whatever. I begrudgingly stood up and patted my clothes. The bit of blood flowing from my mouth I took care of with a simple lick and I was as good as new. But seriously, biting my lip in secret was really difficult. My skin was becoming too tough.

Well, my chest glowed for a few seconds and then I was fine. That punch was no joke. It almost seriously hurt me. Almost.

[That was pretty good.]

“How good?”

[He definitely punches above his weight. For sure stronger than some early Golden Core Cultivators I met before. It would definitely do some serious damage if it hit.]

“Not bad, not bad!”

“Um, guys?” While I and Shao Lin were calmly discussing the strength of my friend, Ren Kong stood there, utterly confused. “So this was all just a joke?”

“Maybe?”

[No! I just wanted to see how much things changed. It was a good experience, thank you.]

“Err, you are welcome?” Ren scratched his head. “Anyway, I need to get back. Lilly is probably already struggling with the shop. I need to get back and give her a hand. And maybe we should get an apprentice or something…”

[Ah, sure, we won’t keep you any longer. Take care!]

“It was nice to meet you, Brother Ren. Bye!” Shao Lin said as he waved his hand. Then he turned back to me. “Now what?”

[We go visit the rest, obviously. Come.]

We left the empty arena and went towards the Outer Sect. The place looked so different with snow everywhere. Good thing the path was clear or I might have gotten lost. Luckily we quickly saw the sign telling us we’d arrived.

“Talonfall Village?”

[Two large birds fought in the sky, and one of them lost a talon. Apparently, it was quite large.]

“Oh, I think I saw those.”

After that short explanation, we entered the village, or, what was left of it.

About half of the houses were gone since I last saw it, replaced by a wooden palisade made of sharpened logs and sticks, and large stone blocks behind it served as a small wall. Its protection against monsters was questionable considering many could just jump or climb over, but at least it was a good windbreak.

“Interesting place. It has changed quite considerably since summer.”

[Yeah, well…] I looked at where my house used to be. Some bastard tore it down and took the stones. Bloody savages. Can’t even abandon a broken hut for a few months without people stealing everything but the foundation.

Well, whatever. Not like I needed a house anymore anyway.

We walked around for a while before finding out that the people I was looking for weren’t there. I at least wanted to speak with Chity and Alyx to get to know what happened since I left. But as they weren’t there, we settled by chatting to some other people.

Apparently, the village was attacked twice since the Beast Tide began and many Disciples lost their lives before the older generations came to help. An early warning system was already set around Talonfall, but the area the Elders had to defend was just too large.

According to Shao Lin, there were maybe 10.000 or so Elders defending the Sect, however, the mountain range was large, stretching beyond the horizon, and only one or two guarded each chunk. No matter how strong they were, it was simply impossible for them to be everywhere at once. Not to mention that they also needed to take a break every once in a while despite being in the Spirit Realm.

I understood why the Myriad Beast Sect was so desperate to get more people. Even the relatively small area they had was difficult to defend from monsters. The Formation that stretched over the land, siphoning the Qi through the Spirit Veins towards the mountain range, had to be replenished by Spirit Qi. And for that, the Sect needed people.

The Formation basically provided the raw materials that the Elders then converted into fuel to keep it going, while taking a chunk for themselves. Only they could make Spirit Stones. Every other Cultivator, meaning all those below the Spirit Realm, was simply draining this precious resource without helping to replenish its flow.

That’s why the weak, untalented, or lazy people were kicked out on a regular basis. If they didn’t, the Sect would eventually collapse.

They would run out of enough Base Qi to turn it into Spirit Qi and feed the Formation, and the flow would stop. When that happened, the land would almost immediately be sucked dry by the countless Cultivators, and it would take weeks or months to naturally recover.

Something like that was unacceptable, so they had to be strict.

However, during the Beast Tide, such concerns didn’t exist. All that death meant the air itself was stuffed with Qi and decaying Souls of all kinds. The land was replenishing its depleted reserves, and both plants and animals were growing at an accelerated speed.

Well, mostly animals at the moment as it was winter and everything was covered in snow.

We saw how difficult life was in the village, but the people there seemed happy. All the beast hides drying outside probably had something to do with it. Racks of meat were being smoked as well. There was plenty of food it seemed. Good quality too.

In any case, the population shrunk by another 20 or so people in the last two months. The majority lost their lives in the first attack as they weren’t prepared. Most were just Mortals after all. 15-year-old kids basically. They couldn’t defend against bloodthirsty beasts that outclassed them in every way.

The second attack went a bit better, but that’s just because they knew they were weak, and instead of trying to resist, the young Outer Disciples simply ran away.

I approved of that strategy. If you couldn’t win, running away was a viable option. So what if it seemed cowardly? Nobody cares for a brave guy that dies like a retard by getting his head chomped off.

Run away and fight another day, that’s what I say. It’s never too late for revenge. Unless your enemy dies in the meantime. Then it’s too late. But then again, that’s just one less headache you have to deal with.

I said all that and the people around, Shao Lin included, were nodding and called me wise. For some reason, I felt as if their words were laced with sarcasm.

Odd.