‘…It is the very essence of the wind, each step a gust of power, dodging shadows and crossing rivers. To be free is to be fast, to be fast is to outrun the wind itself.
Yet it is impossible to outrun the wind, so one must glide upon its surface, follow its gentle breeze with the ferocity of a storm.
Free, Unyielding and Relentless—To be like the wind, is to be ever moving. Master these movements and you will stride across the heavens, never to be caught.
Fang sat beneath a pine, his body quaking as he held a horse stance with a book in his hands. The area around him had cleared of snow. Melted from the sheer heat generated from his body.
For the past hour he had been reading up on his newly acquired technique, the Wind Striding Steps.
But what the fuck is wrong with these guys? Why do they describe their techniques like they’re anything but mortal grade manuals?
The sheer ego contained in the words made it hard to read. And like the manuals he’d read before it included a ridiculous training regimen.
Ten kilometers of explosive knee-jumps, spinning on the tips of my toes for an hour, and bloody running up a hundred foot tree without faltering?
How in heavens name was a mortal supposed to achieve any of these movements in a reasonable time. People had to work!
Fang sighed, closing the manual. With every technique he acquired he became more and more grateful for the Systems presence. If he was truly normal he’d still be trying to reach initiation in his cultivation.
Thankfully I’m blessed.
With a large snap he closed the manual and stood. Maybe if it was the him of a couple months ago he’d be grinding his teeth at the regimen, but ever since reaching Great Success in his Mortal Forging Sutra, and Small Success in his Earth-Shattering Steps, what the regiment called for didn’t seem so hard.
It’s nice being superhuman… but why do I feel like I’m going to hit a wall?
He knew why, Kang had informed him that while it was smart in theory to acquire multiple techniques and increase one’s breadth of skill, there was a limit to what a person could master.
The mortal body is a vessel, one that can only hold so much. Pouring too much water into a pitcher will eventually cause it to overflow, and trying to incorporate techniques/body refining techniques that differ wildly is like mixing boiling and freezing water in that same pitcher. The disharmony would eventually cause the pitcher to crack and shatter.
That is to say I need to be cautious about the techniques I’m choosing… yet I don’t have the luxury of choice.
Fang sighed, deciding to put his future worries behind him. He had a new technique to learn after all, and ten kilometers of explosive knee jumps to complete.
—
Fang sprinted at a pine tree, the snow beneath his feet long since compacted from his previous attempts. The entire area around him looked like a herd of deer had come through and frolicked amidst the snow. Yet it was only Fang training relentlessly.
As great as the system was, he still needed to train properly for it to work.
With a huff he shot forwards, leaping at the tree’s trunk as if he was trying to kick through it. His toes dug into the bark with a crunch, the skin on his feet raw and tender from so many attempts.
C’MON! He screamed internally as he willed his thighs to push him upwards.
The bark shattered and Fang shot upwards. Maintaining his momentum he ascended the sheer vertical length of the tree, planting another foot into the bark just as his acceleration waned.
A series of loud snaps echoed through the quiet forest as Fang continued upwards. He passed branch after branch, the trunk thinning as he ascended.
With a final grunt he dug his toes deep into the tree. The veins on his legs bulged as his toe bled from under his nail beds.
Voosh!
Fang pierced the forest canopy, the world clearing in a sudden moment of pure exhilarating clarity.
It was if time had stopped. He saw the Dragons Range far to the north, between them the endless sea of trees stretching to infinity. And to the south he saw sharp peaks, like swords rising from the earth and the great plains even further beyond.
But what truly captivated his sight was the system appearing out of thin air.
Yet surprisingly, it wasn’t there to inform him of reaching Initiation in Wind Striding Steps, but to ask him a question.
[Compatible Techniques acquired…
- Fuse Wind Striding Steps (Initation) into Earth-Shattering Steps (Small Success)?
- Fuse Earth-Shattering Steps (Small Success) into Wind Striding Steps (Initiation)?
Fang could only stare with his mouth agape.
Wha—?
Unfortunately any thoughts were cut short as he quickly began to plummet downwards.
His body smashed into the canopy, plowing through the densely woven branches like a freight train, his body thrown about as they broke his fall.
He landed with a heavy slam, the layers of snow below him doing little to cushion the throbbing pain.
“Uuugghh…” He groaned. His body battered and bruised.
He lifted himself with shaky arms, checking his body over for any broken bones. He sighed with relief as he was only covered in numerous gashes and cuts. His Mortal Forging Sutra had made him quite resilient, yet did little to stave away the pain.
Once he was sure he wasn’t on the brink of death he looked back towards the System prompt. A weak smile forming on his face.
Fuse Wind Striding Steps into Earth-Shattering Steps!
The moment his mind confirmed the choice, a quake of energy rushed through his body. The muscles in his leg spasmed, erupting shocks of pain from the wounds across his skin. His veins pulsed and constricted as if a sharp blade was carving his muscles anew, rearranging and reforming his being into a form perfect for the new technique.
Fang flopped around the forest floor like a fish out of water, snow and dirt grinding into his wounds as he struggled to keep conscious.
The tendons in his knees snapped making him cry out in anguish. He felt his knee-cap shift and morph as bands of new muscle formed and twisted, his bones rearranging themselves in even denser coiling bands of steel-cordage.
For what felt like an eternity he suffered, the pain sending his mind into a near drooling state. Until finally, the transformation subsided, a wave of euphoria slowly replacing the pain.
He laid on the floor unmoving for over an hour, the sun drifting across the sky until it began to set.
Eventually he lifted himself up to lean against the nearby tree, resting his back against its cold bark with a soft sigh of utter relief.
…
He could only stare down at himself wordlessly. His legs had turned from lean, toned figures into hunks of muscle — like he’d been a professional powerlifter all his life. His lower abdomen had similarly shaped itself into hardened muscle, though not nearly as drastically as his legs did.
“Jesus, fucking christ.”
What unholy power did this system possess? To metamorphose his body so easily as if playing with clay?
Regardless, it was undeniable that he felt a well of power deep in his muscles.
System.
Fang :
[Cultivation]
- Mortal Forging Sutra I (Great Success)
[Technique]
- *Stormquaking Strides I (Initiation)
[Bloodline]
- Mortal Human
Stormquaking Strides…
The two techniques had fused into a wholly new one, a single star shimmering next to the new entry.
Has it surpassed Mortal Grade? Did the fusion result in an Earth Grade technique?
He’d never seen an Earth Grade technique, so he couldn’t know for sure, but the star indicated that there must be a qualitative difference in the technique.
Gingerly, Fang stood. His muscles stretched, the fascia and joints under skin releasing in small pops of ecstasy.
The fusion had done more than merely transform his legs, a volume of instinctual knowledge filled his head and muscles. Like last time, the system was doing a massive amount of the heavy lifting for him, granting him months worth of training in mere days.
Without warning, Fang whipped around, twisting on his toes as he sent his leg shooting out at the tree behind him.
WHAM!
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
The large pine shuddered, as if hit by a cannon. Fang’s foot throbbed as stepped back, his body unable to handle the sheer output of his technique.
The tree had been nearly crushed in two. The trunk that needed several men to fully encompass was splittered down its center.
Fang was stunned at the sheer power behind his kick.
Is this the power of an Earth Grade Technique… He thought.
Yet even seeing the power he held, his brows furrowed.
If this is the power I hold as a mortal I shudder to think about what a Qi-infused kick could do…
…Would it have taken out the whole fuckin tree?
Good heavens.
—
A few days passed. Fang approached the hunters lodge to see if he could find Kang and inquire about how far the nearby villages and towns were.
“Fang what in the heavens happened to ya? You try to fight a rock with your face boy?” Kang laughed aloud as he saw the state that the boy was in. The man was busy applying oil to his blade, rubbing a piece of cloth up and down the dark iron saber.
Fang was clearly littered in a myriad of bruises and gashes, most having scabbed up over the past few days since his technique fusion.
He did, however, have a few fresher wounds from testing his new movement potential, as he’d underestimated the eye watering speeds he could now achieve, and his ability to maneuver during movement. His body knew how, but without practice his mind hesitated.
One notable benefit of his new technique over his last, was simple, yet, for him, game changing.
He no longer needed to grind himself to dust to improve his technique.
Practice now made perfect. Just utilizing his Stormquaking Steps was akin to the same training he did before. Though the same couldn’t be said for his body refining… yet.
Fang smiled, scratching the back of his head, feeling his grimy hair along his neck. “I was training, and well, I might’ve left my face in a tree or two…”
Kang laughed. “I did the same thing when I first started; for months, I would come home with my nose smashed in. Ah, good times, good times…” He said, staring off into the distance, reminiscing on his bloody noses.
“Kang, I was wondering if you knew how far the nearby villages and towns are? I don’t think I’ve ever seen a map around here.”
“A map? You’d have better luck finding a half-dead Qi-beast than a map around these parts boy, why? You planning on leaving us?” The man said, his gaze sharp as he leaned over.
Fang shook his head quickly. “No, no, senior I just wanted to—“
Kang laughed again, interrupting him with a slap of his thigh. “I’m messing with ya boy! Just messing with you. What ya trying to get your hands on?”
Fang smiled. “I want manuals, a library or maybe a larger market if possible, the more the better.”
Kang rubbed his beard. “Mmm… that’s definitely a town thing. You’d be shit out of luck finding more than a handful of manuals around here. But I thought you already had a refining technique. I mean, do you even have the money to buy anything, even if you did make it to a town?”
Fang grimaced. “Well, no. But can you blame a man for planning ahead?”
Kang grinned. “A man?! Well, I suppose after what you’ve shown us, you’re qualified to be called such… Mmm, well, the closest town is Blue River Town along the Blue River. If you go south, following the trail out of town you’ll eventually meet a bigger road that apparently goes all the way to the plains…”
Kang began to draw a rough map in the snow, using the tip of his saber as a pencil. He drew the Dragons Range to the far north, the Savage Land between, and a river that flowed all the way through to the central plains.
“…If you didn’t want to go south then East is your best bet, but you’d need to cross the river. There’s no bridge, only a ferry, and once over you’d have to walk for a couple days before you reached Three Banyan Town. Past those two towns, more and more towns will appear the closer you get to the central plains and sects.”
He drew an ‘X’ far to the south, a few days’ travel from Blue River Town.
“This is where the Azure Lotus Sect is located, apparently, never been there myself, never will. I’ll warn ya to stay clear out of their territory but I’m sure you know that they don’t take too kindly to us Mortals.” He said with a grin.
Fang nodded as he listened to Kang’s breakdown of the surrounding area.
He made note of the vast unknowns that lay between each settlement. Qi-beasts were rarer outside of the Savage Lands, but not as rare as a traveler might hope to be. And normal half-step beasts were still plentiful, making travel a dangerous affair.
So the closest town is either Blue River Town or Three Banyan, both over two weeks of hard travel south or east…
The journey would not be an easy one, nor did he have the money to even bother making it anytime soon. Fang sighed, realizing that he’d need to make do with the slim selection of techniques that the traveling peddlers came with.
Kang, seeing the boy’s sigh, placed a rough hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t worry Little Bull, you’ll have your entire life to travel when you’re older. For now you have us hunters to keep you entertained!” He said with a laugh. He turned around and sat back on his stump, returning to maintaining his saber.
“Oh, and get ready to leave for another hunt in about two weeks time. It’ll be our final hunt of the winter, and then you’ll really get a taste of how fun it can get out there!”
—
The weeks passed in a blink of an eye. Fang spent his time training, dashing through the forest relishing in the freedom his Stormquaking Steps brought him. Leaping off trees with explosive cracks, and chaining steps together to speed through the forest like a pinball.
On the day before his last hunt, he finally broke into Peak Mastery with his Mortal Forging Sutra. The wave of strength had him feeling giddy, and not needing to do horse stances anymore was equally rewarding.
He’d finished the first section of the manual, and now he needed to change up his training to progress further. Though he could only grimace when he remembered what the manual called for.
The second stage called for self-starvation, enduring harsh environments and breathing till his lungs hurt.
He cursed his past self for being broke and choosing such a brutal manual. To be poor was to suffer, it seemed, and Fang was feeling the direct consequences of his sins.
As he approached the hunter’s lodge, he checked over his gear mentally one last time.
Animal fat and oil treated shoes check, a thicker bedroll check, makeshift bandages check, two water skins and a backup check, dried rations check…
He made sure he was better prepared this time around not wanting to suffer the same cold, wet conditions he did last time.
And finally, system.
Fang :
[Cultivation]
- Mortal Forging Sutra I (Peak Mastery)
[Technique]
- *Stormquaking Strides I (Small Success)
[Bloodline]
- Mortal Human
He smiled at the golden and jade scroll with a stupid grin. It wasn’t much in the grand scheme of this world, but he’d seriously put in the work and finally achieved significant gains.
His body refining had given him a resiliency greater than most of the hunters—Kang excluded, and his movement technique was easily his most prized possession.
His legs felt like cannons without a fuse, ready to shatter the very earth at a moment’s notice. He made sure to practice plenty of chained moves, air maneuvering, and offensive attacks these past weeks, and for the first time, he felt somewhat confident about entering the Savage Land.
Kang and the rest of the gang were outside the lodge, gearing up like before. Liu was up and about, his arm having fully healed. The resiliency of a body refiner was not something to scoff at, as he made a full recovery rapidly.
With little fanfare the group set off, plowing through the snow depths in silence once more.
Over the course of three days the hunters searched for tracks, tufts of fur caught on trees, or the scent of piss in the wind.
However to their surprise, they found nothing. Not a track, hair, or the hint of prey.
Towards the end of the third day, as the sun threatened to set and the party was searching for a place to camp Liu spoke up.
“Something… doesn’t feel right, Kang.” Liu said, gripping his new spear tightly.
Fang almost slapped the guy on the back of the head for saying such cursed lines.
Dan grunted in agreement, “I agree it feels like…”
No, don’t fucking say it.
“…we’re being watched.” He said, cursing them all.
He fucking said it.
Kang stood stock still, unsheathing his saber despite there being nothing around them. The air was still, the world frozen as the sky had relented in its snowfall.
Kang’s ear twitched, before he suddenly shouted, breaking the silence with a desperate order.
“READY YOURSELVES!”
On queue, as if waiting for this very moment, a cacophony of howls pierced the air.
Awoooooo!
An unholy chorus of barking laughter followed in its wake, as the hunters eyes went wide.
From behind the pines, wolves bathed in fur as white as snow rose and encircled the group. There were at least a hundred of them, all as big as Fang was tall, growling through rows of razor teeth. They frothed at the mouth, their snouts held low as they quickly surrounded the party.
“Shit! No wonder we couldn’t find anything! Heavens-damned Lunar Wolves!” Tian cursed aloud, his spear white-knuckled in his hands.
“We need to climb!” Lu yelled.
“And starve to death as they wait us out?!” Liu snapped back.
“We fight!” Kang shouted. “We can win this brothers as long as we stay together and watch our backs we’ll be…” His voice drifted off, his words caught in his throat.
Grrrrr…
A deep, body shaking growl filled the air.
A wolf, a hulking beast of fur and flesh stepped into the open. It was as bigger than the boar, its back standing easily three to four heads taller than Kang.
A single glowing horn rested on its massive head, curved over its eyes, emitting an eerie white glow.
“Heavens save us…” Liu murmured.
Kang grimaced, and for the first time, Fang saw fear in the man’s eyes.
“A Qi-Beast…” He whispered with quaking breaths.
The Matriarch stood tall, gazing past its snout with a royal demeanor as wolves instinctually moved out of its path.
It walked towards the group with slow, silent steps. Taking its time as if it already knew it held their fates in its maw.
Fang shuddered, an intangible pressure pressed down on his body. Just the presence of the Matriarch alone was enough to make him quiver.
With determination he bit down on his tongue, the pain scantly pulling him back in control.
This is going to be a long, fucking day.
The Matriarch growled, its paw scratching the snow below in taunt. The group could’ve sworn it smiled.
With a simple bark, all the wolves shot towards them.
“FIGHT BROTHERS!” Kang screamed, shooting forwards. His saber carved upwards, taking a wolf mid-lunge by the stomach. Blood and guts exploded onto him and the snow below. His screams of the battle pushing the rest of the party to act.
The other hunters shot forwards, spears and javelins flying freely. Wolves whined as they quickly met their deaths.
Fang grunted, before exploding outwards in a blur.
Before a wolf could even react his foot was already crushing down on its face. He felt the squelch of brain-matter beneath shoe as he stomped down.
The hairs on his neck prickled as he swiveled on his toes, his leg coming round to catch a wolf in the stomach.
The force behind his kick left little room for mercy, as the wolf ruptured into a bloody blossom of gore.
Another wolf lept at his face, forcing him to dash backwards, only for him to collide with another that had been sneaking up behind him.
He nearly stumbled to the floor, the snow making it hard to keep his footing. He yelled and slammed his foot into the earth, centering himself with a horse-stance before sending a powerful front kick at the wolf. He felt his foot crush its shoulder into dust, its body tumbling into a tree with a sickening smack.
The ground rumbled, the wolves nearby swaying as their bones rattled.
Fang spared a glance at his fellow hunters, seeing them still alive, but fiercely locked in their own life and death battles.
The Matriarch still hadn’t made a move, its eyes holding a disturbing intelligence that analyzed the group like a cat watched a mouse struggle in its grasp.
Kang had already built a small pile of corpses near himself, his saber giving no quarter to any that dared to test his cutting edge.
Fang could only grimace, taking a deep breath before shooting forwards once more.
Adrenaline shot through his body as he chained his movements together.
He swept a wolf’s legs out from beneath itself, shattering bone like twigs, only to spin and catch another by the jaw. The wolf bit down into his hand, its fangs sharp enough to scrape bone, a shock of pain ran along his arm before he ripped its mouth in two in retaliation.
A blood-thirst slowly built as he continued fighting, his vision tunneling with every step and blow.
Even with his speed he still found himself quickly lacerated with claw marks and bites.
“GAAAH!” Dan screamed out. Fang turned to see him struggling against two wolves that had gotten on top of him.
Fang pivoted, exploding forwards to help him. But just as he was about to send the wolves flying, a shadow appeared at the edges of his vision.
A claw, the size of his head slapped him aside, sending him barreling into the snow.
The Matriarch watched him ragdoll away with disinterest, a snarl on its lips.
Dan screamed.
Screamed until he didn’t.
“DAAAAN!” Lu screamed, his eyes filled with fury as he snapped a wolf’s neck. The man charged the Matriarch, bringing his spear to bare as he sent it flying towards the hulking Qi-beast with all of his strength.
The Matriarch, however, only tilted its head, the spear flying passed by a hair’s-breadth. Its fur ruffled as the weapon shot by, before plunging into a tree with a slam.
Lu, caught in his rage didn’t notice the horn on the beast’s head begin to glow.
Kang shouted at the man in warning. “WATCH THE HORN-”
But it was too late.
A beam of white light blasted out from the horn. Like a hyper-focused laser it sliced Lu in two, melting the snow behind him into a bubbling cloud of steam.
The world froze for a moment. Lu stood there, a look of complete disbelief in his eyes, before his body fell apart in two halves, his viscera seeping into the bubbling snow below.
The Matriarch snarled, its horn hissing as ethereal white vapor rose from its surface. The glow dimmed, but slowly began to grow again.
Fang couldn’t believe his eyes. How the hell are we supposed to beat this thing? Is it even possible?! I’m gonna FUCKING DIE—!
His spiraling mental state was cut short as Kang screamed into the high heavens.
“GAAAAHHHH!!”
The air around Kang exploded outwards! A wave of force sweeping across the battlefield in a circle, throwing the nearby wolves into the ground in whimpers as they cowered under his emanating pressure.
Kang gripped his saber with both hands before stomping the ground, shattering the earth beneath and sending himself flying at the Matriarch.
The massive wolf snarled, before launching itself at him.
The two met in a clash of furious blows, saber meeting claw in rapid succession.
“FANG!” Liu screamed through the commotion.
Fang tore his eyes off the battle to see Liu and Tian swamped by wolves. Over half of the beasts had been culled, but they still overwhelmed the two tired hunters with sheer number.
Fang grit his teeth, his will to fight returning as he watched Kang go toe to toe with the Qi-beast.
He sucked in a breath digging his feet into the ground and shot forwards. He landed with a heavy step, crushing a wolf under foot.
A spear shot by his face barely missing his ear as a wolf was skewered just behind him.
Liu smiled with a pained expression before pulling his spear back to kill another wolf.
Fang blurred around them, sending wolf after wolf to their demise as the three worked together to cull the remaining pack. The ground quickly became slick with blood, as pools of dark crimson tainted the area wet.
With a flying knee he crushed the neck of another wolf before turning to glance at Kang and the Matriarch.
The giant wolf was bleeding, though not nearly as badly as Kang was. The man’s left arm was hanging limp as he roared through blood soaked teeth.
The Matriarch barked, a flash of light emanating from its horn once more.
NO!
Fang’s legs, tired and heavy from the battle tensed. His muscles bulging as he pushed his body to the limit. His toes curled in his shoes bursting through the soles as they gripped the earth below.
In the blink of an eye he blasted forwards, his form blurring as he flew at the Matriarch.
The wolf, focused on Kang, on the cusp of unleashing its Qi-laser was caught unaware as Fang’s knee slammed into its skull.
Kang’s eyes went wide as saucers as he watched the boy, barely a young man, plunging a flying knee into a Qi-beast five times his size.
The horn fired, a beam of blinding white, slicing across the battlefield with wild abandon.
It tore through a nearby pine tree, cleaving through the wood like butter, setting the wood and water within ablaze as steam exploded into the air.
The tree squealed, a creaking groan filling the air as the colossal plant began to fall towards them.
Fang backflipped, kicking off the Matriarch and leapt away. The wolf shook its head, trying shrug off the impact to its brain. In a haze, the wolf could still register the tree coming down on it, its instincts screaming at it to move.
Yet before it could, a sudden impact slammed into its legs, a blossom of pain shooting up forelegs.
Kang had charged into the wolf, tearing his saber across its legs, drawing a fountain of blood along with it.
“HAHA, YA FUCKIN MUTT! FETCH!” He screamed with a distorted laugh, before throwing himself at the wolf once more with his saber overhead.
“KAAAANG!” Fang screamed.
Time seemed to slow.
The tree fell through the air almost sluggishly. He could only stare as Kang hacked away at the beast as it tried to bite him while.
For a second, it seemed like the moment could go on for eternity.
For a moment.
BOOM!
A wave of debris washed over the battlefield. Snow, dirt and wood lifted into the air in choking clouds that caused all the fighting to stop.
The world went quiet, only filled with the soft pattering rain of splinters and dirt.
When it all settled, Liu and Tian joined up with Fang to stare lifelessly at the scene before them. The wolves had cleared out, the battlefield eerily still.
The Matriarch lay dead. Its back crushed beneath the tree, Kang’s saber stuck between its teeth.
Liu dropped his spear, falling to his knees. Tian could only grit his teeth as he held back a wave of tears.
Fang could’nt believe it.
I killed him… I fucking got Kang killed… I—
“WOOOOOH! FUCK YEAH BROTHERS! HOW IN THE HIGH HEAVES ARE WE GONNA CARRY THIS BABY BACK?!”
A voice bellowed from behind the massive tree. Before a figure leapt upon its surface, grasping a limp arm with only an eye to spare.
Kang grinned a wolfish smile down at the trio. Liu and Tian breathed sighs of relief, the two of them falling on their asses in exhaustion.
“ha… haha… hahAHHAHA!” Fang started laughing uncontrollably, as they all looked at him confused, this was the first time they’d seen the boy laugh.
Kang tilted his head, confused.
“Did I say something funny brothers?”