Fu watched in horror the monstrosity released a deep guttural roar that shook the very air and the gatherer to his very bones.

It was unlike anything Fu had ever seen before, and it had the second-most amount of qi that Fu had ever felt in any one being. While that might make it sound like the monster was a chicken challenging a phoenix, the thing’s qi was absolute malice, and it had the aura of a killer.

Fu, the proto-cultivator that he was, as he had to be to succeed as a gatherer in the mystical woods of Fallen Valley, could observe and record information at frightening speeds to the average lay-mortal.

The monster was frightening, to say the least. It had the head of a lion with the curved horns of an antelope, a body and arm of a great bear, with legs that resembled that of a Yak’s, but bent at odd angles, and an odd assortment of claws attached to the thing’s, large, crushing hooves.

And if that were all, Fu would have been able to be convinced that this creature was some odd spirit beast, since odd things were bound to happened when within the bounds of Qi, even if its horns and fur were still covered in gore.

But the damned thing had a Fluid Form Snake Beast, a common water-attuned spirit beast found here in the rivers and lakes of the Spiritual Wings province as a right arm.

Fu was taking this whole situation badly, his heart was thundering away in his chest, causing him to clutch it in pain as he stared at the showdown before him.

‘Violence, huh?’ Dan intoned, breaking the stand-off between the creatures.

As the abomination used its snake arm to spray an opening salvo of venom at the demon, Dan flowed out of the way, with all the grace of one of the festival dancers at Fu’s hometown.

He didn’t even wait for the venom to pass him before continuing to talk. ‘I don’t think I want to.’ Dan the demon scoffed.

Fu was soaked in sweat as the venom hissed violently against the bark of a tree only some 8 chi away from were he was.

‘It seems so boring’ Dan stated leisurely as he deftly rolled out of the way of the bear thing. ‘and impersonal.’ He finished as the thing’s charge led it colliding into a boulder some 12 chi away from Fu.

Fu jumped as the boulder fell to the ground and cracked into two. Fu could barely breath and couldn’t even pretend like he had a chance of controlling things anymore.

As Fu continued trying to focus through what was, unbeknownst to him, a panic attack, his body instinctively began cycling qi to remedy his distress.

And while Fu’s view of Dan was obscured by at least two chi of muscle, fur, and meat, Dan’s grin transformed from smug into interested.

‘And honestly, what’s the point of doing something if nobody cares?’ Dan called with amusement while skipping backwards, away from Fu.

Dan straightened his back, looking as regal as possible, which was much more possible than he realized, and extended his right hand, positioned his thumb to the side of his index finger, and curled all four of his fingers inward twice.

It was surely a foreign gesture in this world, but Dan’s nature conveyed the meaning wonderfully, as the beast sprinted forward in a blind rage. Its speed was surprising beyond belief, its specially constructed legs carrying it forward with enough velocity to get the jump on just about anyone in Fallen Valley.

Dan was not just about anyone in Fallen Valley.

‘You know’ dodge ‘chimera,’ weave ‘you’ll have to’ duck ‘set an example’

Dan finished evading a set of claw attacks, bites, and stomps that would leave a set of metal armor looking like so much shredded paper with a grace that would have Fu go red with bashful embarrassment, if he wasn’t already red with stress.

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Dan jumped upwards 15 chi straight into the air, and attached himself to the bark of a trunk. Fu was astounded before that, it was barely anything compared to the speed and precision the demon had showcased before, but what left Dan gobsmacked, even with the qi in his system stabilizing him, was that Fu felt qi coating the bottom of the demons sandals.

Which was to say, everything Fu observed was done without qi! The qi was even the ‘pure’ neutral aligned qi, and not the ever-shifting abyss of demonic qi he had felt before! The demon wasn’t limited in what type of qi it used!

After a few quick jumps, the demon in black was hanging upside down on a branch some 40 chi in the air!

Even the man’s ponytail and robes were falling upwards, as if the man was facing upright!

The demon’s love of theatrics was well established in Fu’s mind at this point.

‘for what the aspiring craftsmen of the future to not do!’ Dan proclaimed across the entire clearing. ‘If your creator applied even the slightest amount of more effort into your brain, you’d have been able to use your power and magical snake arm exponentially better!’

The demon’s words just hit Fu, ‘That’s a chimera!?’ Fu had been hearing of them more often in the province after one had apparently decimated a village last spring. ‘The garrison wouldn’t be able to hold a candle to it!’

Apparently, cultivators were leaving their mountain peaks to hunt the beasts down periodically since then.

‘But enough of the grandstanding!’ Dan mystically shouted. ‘Now,’ The demon crouched up and obviously began preparing for something.

‘Let’s have some fun!’ The demon called out gleefully.

But the demons glee and the gatherers rapture were both interrupted by a sudden outburst from the chimera.

The raging bestial qi ballooned outward, now tainted and boosted by the swirling, unpredictable qi that Fu had felt with the arrival Dan.

In a single movement, the chimeras muscles swelled, it sprouted giant bat-like wings, and several tumors swelled from inside the beast.

Such an impact that the chimera made by sprouting wings and soaring into the skies, that Fu almost missed it, something that trumped even the beast’s outburst.

Dan’s face was devoid of all joviality that was present during the entire short period of time that Fu had known him.

Fu saw the vestiges of shock leaving Dan’s face, then saw the beginnings of anger and indignation take place, before it was instantly replaced with disappointment, and then…

‘sorrow?!’ Fu exclaimed to himself.

‘You’re no fun.’ Dan muttered.

The demon disappeared just before the mutated bear claw made sawdust of the branch Dan was standing under.

For a single moment, one singular moment both the chimera and Fu lost sight of Dan.

Fu saw the demon the very next moment, the chimera never saw anything else ever again.

Fu didn’t see the demon coming, one second, Dan was nowhere to be found, the next he was colliding with the chimera at speeds at leastfour times faster than anything Fu had seen anything move before.

The was no sound as the blade lodged itself deep in the beast’s neck, but there was a deafening collection of cracks and tears as Dan’s entire right side shattered.

At this point, even the qi was failing to contain the stress, shock, and excitement that Fu was feeling.

As the dust settled, one figure picked itself up, and another laid broken upon the ground.

While Dan still somehow managed to leisurely stroll, his bones mended together with sickening cracks, his organs became whole again in a matter so grotesque to witness that Fu hadn’t had the displeasure to see anything like it since a lifetime ago, around 20 minutes earlier, limbs twisted themselves back into place, and skin slowly stretched and molded to replace where there was none before.

In seconds, Dan was standing over the chimera with the same pristine pretty-boy look that he body horrored himself into this world with.

The demon’s face showed no emotion, but its eyes, it’s eyes betrayed the passivity of its face.

Even without Fu’s senses, he could see the air being roiled by the demons qi. The eyes matched the pace of the area around Dan, the inky void of the demon’s eye shifting with intensity Fu could not believe.

Until, suddenly, it stilled. ‘I’m sorry friend.’ Dan intoned, almost tragically.

Dan waved his hand and the blade shot out of the beast’s neck, blood and flesh crumbling off of it until it revealed a pure silver-white Jian with zero blemishes and absolute uniform surface, and a simple black leather handle and black string tassel.

The demon willed the blade into his hand and sheathed it into a simple, yet elegant black sheath appeared as the demon made the motion.

‘Have better luck in the next life.’ Dan made a simple prayer and bowed to the chimera.

‘I’ll ensure you get there.’ Dan waved his hand, and the chimera’s body erupted with pale fire, burning, but producing no smoke or soot.

Fu watched as the demon bowed respectfully and chanted a mantra of some kind.

He waited and waited, using his every trick to ensure that he made no sound, and even managed to observe Dan without allowing for a single angle for the demon.

But there was never an opportunity that allowed Fu to sneak away, until suddenly, Dan dematerialized.

Fu started to wonder if, by in chance under the heavens, that he managed to get away… until…

‘Hello little man,’ Dan intoned without making a single sound, from where he materialized, directly behind Fu, using his extra chi of height to lean above Fu’s shoulder, face to face.

‘let’s talk.’