“You have an interesting body strengthening technique.”

Bai Lin did not seem to have any intentions of beating about the bush, immediately hitting a core point.

“I do,” he said simply. Mentioning that it was Beyond grade did not seem like a wise idea.

“My master, the grand elder of the sect, is not a Divine. Yet she tries her best to get me the best resources she can. When I was starting my cultivation, she managed to get a Perfect grade body strengthening technique. Do you know why I’m telling you this?”

“I do not,” he admitted.

“I want you to understand that I have a rough idea of what a Perfect body strengthening technique can do even though mine is at the weaker end of the spectrum. Injuring a foundation level cultivator with Sky grade body strengthening while at the fourth stage of Qi Condensation is above any Perfect technique. Especially given your complete lack of training.”

“You sound confident. Punching above realms is not unimaginable at our levels.”

“Why would I not be? I am very familiar with body strengthening. And while a Qi Condensation cultivator can technically fight a realm above, it is usually only possible with either powerful techniques, unparalleled martial skill, or body strengthening. It is very obvious that you completely lack the first two. I only made the logical conclusion.”

Once more, he reminded himself to make improving his martial arts and getting a proper technique a priority. Though he was not ready for the conversation about body strengthening that they would need to have.

“So what if I have a Beyond grade body strengthening technique?” he asked. “What is it to you?”

When the snake spoke next, he could hear the annoyance clearly in her voice.

“What is it to me? A perfect grade body strengthening technique is nearly unheard of. The only confirmed cases are the Third Prince of the Empire and the Claw Empress. And they are considered nearly unmatched among Divines. Even the Titans have admitted they were wary of the Claw Empress and the Third Prince is the primary reason why the Imperial family is still in power. Having both a Beyond breathing and body strengthening technique is enough to make you potentially above even Senior Xie Sun!”

Ji supposed he might have underestimated the power of his technique, and maybe there was a small part of him, the one that so fiercely wanted to stop being prey, that wanted it. He had made his choice, though. There was little point to all that power if he was too mad from pain to use it.

“Perhaps you are right. Again, what is it to you?”

He noticed Bai Lin take a deep breath before she answered him.

“I guess you are right. I apologise for getting carried away. It is not everyday I see someone with the potential to surpass me.”

“Maybe the body strengthening art is not as worth it as you might think,” he pointed out, choosing not to reveal any more details.

“It is a Beyond grade technique. One that allowed you, a completely untrained rooster, to injure a much larger and more powerful cultivator. There is little I will not trade for it.”

Ji just remained quiet, unwilling to talk about the issue further. Perhaps Bai Lin was like the Claw Empress and the prince and could endure the pain. Perhaps she was like him and would falter after a single try. It did not matter, regardless.

Even if his Master was miraculously willing to teach her, he somehow doubted it would work, given it specifically had rooster in the name.

They continued walking in silence for some time, each without direction or purpose yet somehow managing to keep pace with each other. It was Bai Lin who finally broke the silence.

“Shi said you grew up on a human farm.”

Over the course of the past months, Ji had come to care for Qian Shi. That was something he would freely admit. He also understood that the mastiff saw Bai Lin as a close friend. None of that made the fact that she had revealed information about him any less annoying. It was not like he was trying to hide where he was from, he would just have preferred his own input.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Of sorts. I grew up in a human village. Everyone had a farm.”

“The fates of chickens are generally not kind from what I know of such places.”

“They are not,” he agreed. “I was next in line for the pot before I escaped and was found by Master Fan Guo.”

“Do you hate them?”

She was staring at him intently now, her unblinking eyes unnerving him a little.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I’m talking about. Do you hate the humans that almost ate you? Or do you hate all humans?”

“I try not to judge entire species by the actions of a few,” he said diplomatically.

“There’s a ‘but’ somewhere. I can sense it.”

“It gets hard sometimes. I try to control it because of Uncle’s teachings, but it gets hard.”

“I see.,” was all she said and they continued walking.

He stared at her but could not discern her thoughts. So he followed her in silence. She was the one who wanted to talk after all. And though he had enjoyed interacting with people for the past few months, he still found a quiet stroll relaxing. Doubly so with the soft grass under his feet.

They passed by a large patch of bush that he largely ignored. At least until Bai Lin struck out and caught something with lightning fast speed. A little struggling later and the small animal he identified as a rat stopped struggling. The sight made him feel slightly hungry. Yet instead of attempting to start eating it, the snake turned to him instead.

“What do you think about what I just did?” she asked.

It only took a few moments for him to realise what he was dealing with.

A trick question.

“You killed a rat to eat for sustenance. I cannot criticise that.”

“Well said. Yet I would not dare to do it if Senior Huo Lan was here.”

He nodded. That was common sense.

“It would be disrespectful.”

“Indeed. Because he has the power to enforce respect. You like to eat worms, I take it?”

“Yes,” he answered, a little suspicious about where the conversation was going.

“Do you think you would know if any worm you ate was intelligent?”

“No, I would not.”

He admitted it easily because it was something he had thought of himself. After long hours of deep thinking, he had come to that simple conclusion. It was beyond his abilities.

“Perhaps there is a worm out there filled with hatred of chickens. One who saw its fellow worms die to you.

“Then I will not begrudge them the right to be angry. If I did that, I would be a hypocrite.”

“You are surprisingly self aware. Good. So you would allow the worm to have its revenge when it finds you? Or will you stop eating them?”

“No,” he said, now a little unsure of the whole conversation’s point. He had spent hours pondering upon these things himself. “I cannot begrudge the worm’s right to anger, but they likewise cannot refuse my right to self defence. As for eating them, maybe it shows that I am just a coward, but I cannot bring myself to stop.”

“So you will not be angry when humans fight back during your own revenge?”

“I don’t believe I will ever care for actual vengeance. But if it comes to that, I will expect the humans to give it their all too.”

“You are a lot more similar to humans than one might expect.”

That got a laugh out of him. It was a short, bitter laugh. That was a comparison he had often seen himself. Not that it changed how he felt about it.

“I suppose you could say that.”

“And yet you hate them.”

“Since when did matters of emotions ever follow something as simple as logic?”

The bitterness in his voice was clear when he spoke. He had spent a long time having these conversations with himself before coming to the conclusion he was currently at.

“I suppose they do not,” she admitted, sounding thoughtful. “You were not what I expected.”

He felt amusement at that. His mind went to the first time he went to Ruo Long’s room.

“People are often defined by more than a single attribute. That was a lesson I had to learn myself”

He was a chicken raised in a village by humans who wished to eat him, true. But that was far from all he was.

They stayed in silence for a little more before Bai Lin excused herself, leaving him alone outside. The sun was still in the sky, though it was quickly going down, yet he felt no urge to get inside. He was on a break so he might as well act like it.

After a while, he found himself hungry, yet he still did not leave. Instead, he did as he was raised to do, foraging for leaves and insects on the grass. It was not the delicacy that Mei prepared, but it was good, nourishing food, and it reminded him of a place he had come to see as a kind of home without realising. A home he found himself forgetting quickly.

The sun went down and the moon shone bright in the sky, yet he did not leave. Instead he sat on the floor, not cultivating or trying to improve his qi manipulation. He simply existed.

The next morning, after waking up to the cool morning breeze, he remembered the painting in Ruo Long’s room.

The lizard who could ground a dragon.

And he did something he had chosen not to for most of his life.

He crowed, welcoming the dawn as his hatch brothers always did, and ushering the start of a new day. It was not his favourite activity, but it helped ground him in a way that was hard to describe. It reminded him of his roots

In the distance, he saw Ruo Long staring at him with keen eyes and smiled internally. He supposed even if he couldn’t describe it, there was at least someone who understood. Maybe they were not so different, both of them.

The lizard who became a dragon and the prey who became a predator.