“Oh, another one.”
Yin Na sat, patiently cultivating while getting interrupted by the occasional news that his Ethereal Hounds have finished their business.
The intervals between the alerts became more frequent. So far, he had observed four female Sect members’ corpses within the visions of the Ethereal Hounds, until the fifth report.
“Hmm, what’s this? You vastly overestimated your enemy? It’s a male this time! There’s a lot of you hounds left, huh. Good job regardless, tear the corpse apart and bury the limbs. Return with any treasures, but send the rest of you to rejoin with your other pack in hunting the final one.”
Yin Na ended the communication, and stared at the spoils the other Ethereal Hounds have returned to him on their return.
“This Fox Calling Bell is a legendary treasure, on the same tier as my Ethereal Hound,” said Yin Na. “It’s not as reliable as my Ethereal Hounds, however, it wastes a lot of qi and if I happen to come upon an environment where no foxes have perished, it’s practically useless.”
“However, it’s really powerful, especially in the Southern Domain where there are generations of foxes aplenty roaming these forests. I don’t mind owning the command of another species.”
Yin Na smiled, and pocketed the wand into his Void Ring.
“And you also brought me back a few unused attack and summoning scrolls, along with these now dead flower petals.”
Yin Na’s eyes narrowed. He did not like the sign of these petals.
“I am not concerned because they could indicate some powerful weapon or means to harm me,” he thought. The idea of something that could have been used by Yin Na in combat, or sold to earn spirit stones, shamefully wilting away and being lost annoyed him greatly. “Rather, I am only concerned that I have lost a potentially valuable treasure!”
Meanwhile, many li away…
The Yellow Fox Sect member looked at her Butterfly Bouquet, which had pitifully dwindled to a single stem.
“It could no longer be called a bouquet,” she said.
Xiao Ying was a smart girl. She knew Brother Han Song’s intentions behind handing her sect sisters one Butterfly Bouquet each. She knew what the gradual dying of each flower meant.
Because she was smart, she was the only one who was able to procure a mount that was not only tameable and usable by her low Qi-Forming stage, it was also incredibly fast.
The low-leveled River dragon that she rode was intelligent, and understood her desperation and need to flee the area as soon as she injected her qi into its egg and hatched it.
Its only drawback right now was the fact that it was still young, and the endless flight it was taking across the mountains was incredibly straining on its energy. It was forced to rest and drink whenever it came across a river.
“I’m sorry, river dragon,” she cried. “I know you want to help me, I even dropped all the other treasures I took to lighten your load. I know you’re terribly tired, but please drink faster, you haven’t seen the speed of those Ethereal Hounds!”
Xiao Ying shuddered as she recalled how the Ethereal Hounds seemed to multiply and merge at will, while darting all over the grounds of the Sect like vipers, at supernatural speed. How could the Yellow Fox Sect members possibly be expected to fight back, since all their Golden Core and higher cultivators were absent?
“They were prepared,” she said. “I also heard that Deng Ping cultivator shouting for revenge. That means those two lone cultivators won’t rest until everyone in the sect is annihilated. Taking this mount was the right choice.”
She rubbed the scales of the river dragon beneath her tenderly.
“We’ve been flying for hours, but we keep stopping. I’m not sure whether to be thankful that this land has so many rivers, or to be resentful. Please, river dragon, please hurry!”
Meanwhile, back in the Sect…
“Hmm?” Yin Na stirred. “What’s this?”
He entered into the vision of the alpha of the final Ethereal Hound.
“Hmm, you smell a mount?”
Yin Na frowned. If a mount was involved, then he would personally have to get involved.
“Hmm? You find fresh signs of disturbance in the foliage, by the rivers? They’re stopping by every river? The Sect member even dropped the treasures they were carrying along the way?”
Yin Na couldn’t help but break into a smile.
“Hehehe. This is a clever one. You respect this prey just as I do, don’t you, boy? A smart cultivator knows when to let go of benefits when they jeopardize their life.”
At that precise moment, the few dogs who returned from killing Han Song arrived, dropping their treasures. They were mostly various containers of spirit stones.
“Unfortunately, this one was not so smart,” Yin Na said with a snort. “Look at this wealth, instead of packing useful things, they slowed him down and lead to his demise. Birds die for food, men die for wealth! But, as for this final straggler, it’s a shame because their only downfall shall be their luck.”
Once the Ethereal Hounds had merged the rest of the Hounds in one, Yin Na stroked it by its ears.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Unlike the mount your prey is using to escape, my Ethereal Hounds don’t have any need for river water, nor rest. Now go finish the job!”
Yin Na closed the vision.
“Now, time to make some serious pills!”
Yin Na finally activated the fancy pill furnace before him. He began the pill concocting process.
The process required all of Yin Na’s concentration, unlike the first attempt. Each time, Yin Na devoted the same amount of care and effort into measuring ingredients and refining with his qi.
After producing twenty golden core pills, all of them 99% perfect, Yin Na ceased experimenting.
“While I’m far from being a alchemy grandmaster, I have a feeling that no matter what I do to improve upon the perfection of the pill, throwing the brick in will lock it at 99% potency.”
Yin Na studied the surface of the brick with a complicated expression.
“I should go back inside the treasury one last time for any weaponry or hidden treasures I missed,” he said. “I have a feeling that we will be reaching the conclusion of our hunt soon.”
Many, many li away…
“At long last,” said a white-haired, white-robed cultivator. “I have found you, Yin Na.”
Tian Ji Han looked with great emotion at Green Bamboo valley, where a couple of demonic sects, the Yellow Fox Sect included among them, called home.
“Um, master. Are you sure you’re leading the party in the right direction?”
A Qi Condensation Late stage cultivator asked timidly. He was a boy wearing green robes and a circular cap that resembled a lily pad. He sat on a mount shaped as a giant scroll, with its bamboo strips spread open like a carpet. His master was a white-robed cultivator in the early Golden Core stage, standing on a white cloud mount.
“Yes, apprentice,” Tian Ji Han said. “My divination has determined that Yin Na, demonic cultivator and wanted criminal is here!”
Behind them were six more righteous sect cultivators, all at varying stages of the Foundation stage.
Despite their numbers, his apprentice was clearly nervous, fidgeting on his book mount.
“So far, I’ve trained by combatting beasts and undead,” he said. “But a demonic cultivator, even if he’s a lone one and weaker than master…I’ve never faced a Late Foundation cultivator in a real battle, what can I do against a ruthless, amoral demonic cultivator who takes life as if reaping a blade of grass?”
“Don’t let master Tian Ji Han scare you with his tales of Yin Na,” laughed one burly cultivator of the Heavenly Sword Sect. “Even if Yin Na was stronger than all of us combined, Tian Ji Han is at Golden Core. The power a Golden Core wields is something a Late Establishment stage cultivator could only dream of!”
“En,” Xiao Feng grunted in agreement, but he knew his master better than these men.
“Master Tian Ji Han is cautious, and overprepares every mission in order to mitigate the loss of life,” he thought. “He is also the man who knows Yin Na the best, because they had grown up and trained together in the same sect!”
Forty years ago…
In the Hidden Fist Sect…
Ten-year old Tian Ji Han looked up from his manual of seven mirrored blocks, only to see his fellow inner disciple Yin Na swinging and making monkey noises from the tree branches above him.
“Hoo hoo! Hoo hoo!”
“You don’t spend your time learning and studying cultivation manuals, what do you do all day?” Tian Ji Han scolded, finally frustrated.
“Why should I study?” laughed Yin Na. “What do I gain from education?”
“You…it’s the proper thing to do as an inner disciple of the sect! It’s expected for us to be students continuously learning.”
“In the mortal realm, mortals justify their need for education by falling back on moral platitudes like it is for their ‘future’ or ‘self-betterment.’ But in actuality, without some sort of threat, material advancement or incentive, mortals wouldn’t ever touch a book! They’d leave the poor trees alone with their paper, or be simply dwelling in the treetops, and scrounging around like pigs in the dirt, no?”
Yin Na then dropped from the tree branch, and started honking his nose like a pig.
“Oink oink! Or more realistically, they would be going around simply taking what they wanted.”
Yin Na made a lunge for Tian Ji Han’s book, to which Tian Ji Han quickly retracted the book out of reach.
“Tch,” Yin Na clicked his tongue, then tried several attempts to grab the book unsuccessfully. His grabs were dodged and parried by Tian Ji Han.
“You’re disturbing my reading.”
“Am I? Good.” Yin Na’s eyes were cold, as if he felt no excitement or enjoyment from the interaction at all.
“I don’t need your help, brother Ji Han,” said Yin Na. “I don’t need anyone’s help, especially someone from the Hidden Fist Sect. After all, they killed my father.”
Tian Ji Han did not respond. Yin Na laughed crazily and went away.
Tian Ji Han sighed.
He understood how it felt to be fatherless. After all, despite the Hidden Fist Sect being a Righteous Sect, it sometimes kidnapped orphans to fill its ranks.
But unlike Yin Na, Tian Ji Han never knew his father.
“I must sympathize with him,” said Tian Ji Han. “I don’t know what it’s like to miss a family member.”
In truth, he was actually instructed by the elders of Hidden Fist Sect himself to watch over Yin Na.
“You and Yin Na have many things in common, aside from being the same age,” they told him during a secret meeting in the Sect council.
Tian Ji Han stared at Yin Na, who was now doing handstands for no reason.
“Apart from being the same age,” thought Tian Ji Han. “I don’t see what the elders meant. Our personalities and work ethic are completely different.”
“But,” Tian Ji Han thought with a sigh. “Even if the Sect elders didn’t approach me, I would still look out for him. Although we are young, we have already formulated our core philosophies, and it disturbs me that Yin Na thinks that deep down everyone is the same as him. This ‘dao of benefits’ he preaches is twisted and demonic, and he thinks he can mess with me by projecting his twisted beliefs on others.”
Tian Ji Han made it his personal mission to get Yin Na to change his tune regarding his “Dao of Benefits.” It was a mission that he failed.
Ten years later, when both he and Yin Na had reached Qi Condensation stage…
“Yin Na, why?” Tian Ji Han shouted to make his words heard above the roaring of the flames. “Why?! You told me you forgave the Hidden Fist Sect!”
“Why? Isn’t it obvious that I lied?” Yin Na laughed. His simple confession stabbed like a javelin through Tian Ji Han’s heart.
“But…it’s so inefficient.” Tian Ji Han stammered. He was in shock, he had seen the lifeless corpses of his cultivator brothers, and the realization they were all caused by his closest friend Yin Na was going to destroy him.
“What…what benefits do you gain from killing the sect that was your benefactor? How much time and planning you wasted in petty satisfaction from vengeance …it’s so…inefficient.”
Yin Na sighed as if he was bored.
“Sigh, brother Ji Han, you misunderstood my Dao all along. I exercise the Dao of ‘benefits,’ not ‘efficiency.’”