Chapter 17:

We traveled at a slow run. Ming Lin carried Shui Jianfeng, as despite her greater combat ability and her new weapon, she was still injured. Nothing debilitating for her, but they were bad enough that a normal person would have probably bled out. Heck, from a comment she made, other cultivators might have more issues in her shoes as well.

She was only able to manage despite this because of something she didn’t want to discuss, and I didn’t pry.

As for me, I’d taken a few nicks during the fight, but they would have been manageable even before. With my new Vitality stat, they’d already healed completely, not even leaving behind a mark. So it only made sense that I would take the lead and leave my hands free to fight.

Before, I might have been worried about being the one to fight first. And I still wasn’t super confident if it was more bandits or a strong spirit beast. But, with my newfound strength, a proper sword in hand, and a couple more spirit stones, I wasn’t feeling too bad about it either.

I’d, of course, still prefer for us to not run into any problems. But I’d long since learned that this world did not care one bit about what I’d prefer.

So I remained ready and vigilant, hand on the sword at my hip, running just ahead of Ming Ling. She stayed close and redirected me whenever she saw any signs of danger. Or we had to detour because of something marked on the map. Since I wasn’t great at navigating normally, let alone in a forest, I was happy to follow her instructions.

At least for the first half hour or so. After that, our quiet trip—we kept talking down to a minimum to avoid attracting any unwanted attention from spirit beasts—started to wear on me. I could only stay hyper-vigilant for so long before it got boring. I tried to tell myself that this was a good thing since excitement would probably mean danger. But that didn’t make it any easier to deal with.

Thankfully, I did have some things I could do to keep myself entertained. One of the first things I did was try out one of my new Skills, Burst Step.

Burst Step (Active) (D Rank): Kick off the ground while unleashing a burst of Qi, launching yourself forward at incredible speeds. Speed can be increased at the cost of additional Qi.

* Base Cost: 5 Qi

Not a particularly complex Skill, but incredibly useful. It would make attacking and retreating a lot easier. I used it only a couple of times, though. Just enough to get used to it and understand it. I would have liked to test it out more, enjoying the way it launched me around, but stealth and safety were paramount.

I could justify rushing around for a moment for testing purposes. I couldn’t justify continuing to do that just for fun.

Which was also why I only tested Metallic Razor Slash once.

Metallic Razor Slash (Active) (D-Rank): Envelope your weapon in metal Qi, boosting its cutting power and durability up to 3x times depending on Qi spent and execution of Skill.

* Base Cost: 10 Qi

* Base Upkeep: 2.5 Qi per minute

I needed to know if there were any quirks not mentioned in the description. And when I found there was none, I moved on from testing, as I couldn’t cultivate on the move and there was nothing else I needed to try.

That left me with going through all my new Skill Consolidations to kill time. There were a lot more than before, 18 of them for my 15 Skills. I also couldn’t read very quickly, as I was constantly looking away from the System screen for any signs of danger. Eventually, though, I got through all of them.

There were a couple that I decided to take pretty much instantly. They were either beneficial, making a good skill even better, or didn’t lose me anything.

Spirit Stone Devouring(Active&Passive) (Rank D) + Qi Leech(Active) (Rank D):

* Qi Devourer(Active&Passive) (Rank D): Gain the ability to absorb Qi from either eating sources of it or from draining it from touch. Qi is stored for up to 1 hour before it begins to dissipate. Stored Qi can be used to power other Skills or to boost Dexterity, Strength, Vitality, Qi reserves, and Qi regeneration up to 3x based on Qi consumed.

* Boost Duration: 10 Minutes

* Warning: Repeated continuous use of the boost will put your body under great stress.

Earthen Camouflage(Active) (Rank E) + Earth Wader(Active) (Rank D):

* Discrete Earth Wader(Active) (Rank D): Wade through any earth as if it were a liquid. Decrease the chances of being detected in the ground by 50%. Speed can be increased at a greater expense of Qi but will reduce stealth capabilities.

* Cost: 5 Qi

* Base Upkeep: 2.5 Qi per minute.

Burrow Creation(Active) (Rank D) + Reinforce Burrow(Active) (Rank D):

* Reinforced Burrow Creation(Active) (Rank D): Mold, shape, and reinforce available earth to create a stone chamber for rest and safety. Strength of chamber walls is determined by the quality and amount of available earth, as well as the amount of Qi expended.

* Cost: 1 Qi per cubic yard

Some Skills I was strongly considering, but wasn’t sure about just yet. They seemed to broaden the scope of the Skills considerably, but at the cost of some extra features and possibly ease-of-use. I wasn’t sure about that last part, but I didn’t think now was the time to test it. Not when it might cost me two of my best abilities. I might still be able to recreate the Skills with the new ones, but not well enough to be used in combat.

Rock Claws(Active) (Rank D) + Rock Spear(Active) (Rank D):

* Earth Constructs(Active) (Rank D): Create constructs out of earth shaped by your will and imagination. Additional Qi can be expended to increase the size or strength of constructs.

* Cost: 10 Qi

* Upkeep: 2 Qi per 5 Minutes

Discrete Earth Wader(Active) (Rank D) + Rock Spear(Active) (Rank D):

* Earth Manipulation(Active) (Rank D): Shape and manipulate any earth, limited only by how much Qi is expended, your will, and your imagination.

* Range: 5 yards

Many more just seemed lackluster or even useless, so I left those alone for the moment. Perhaps, in the future, when I needed to free up some slots I’d go back to those. But I’d ignore them for now.

One Skill in particular did stand out above all others, though not necessarily in a good way. Despite having great potential, I couldn’t help but find it disappointing.

Minor Cultivation Talent(Passive) (Rank D) + Spirit Beast Cultivation(Active) (Rank D):

* Hybrid Cultivation Talent (Passive) (Rank D): Gain the ability to cultivate in a hybrid manner, combining the path of Immortals and Spirit Beasts. Immortal cultivation techniques will need to be adapted for this hybrid path. Speed of cultivation is dependent on the Rank of this Skill and the quality of Qi and resources available.

* Compatibility: Early Rank 2 Materials and below

Well, perhaps disappointment was too harsh for Hybrid Cultivation Talent. I could see it possibly being a powerful Skill. Maybe it would make me cultivate much faster than the average spirit beast or cultivator. But there were just two issues I had. One, I had no idea how to get a technique to work with it, rendering it potentially useless for now. The other issue was that it didn’t solve my spirit beast core problem.

I’d hoped, when first seeing a consolidation involving Spirit Beast Cultivation, that it might be able to preempt any future problems having a core might bring. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. Perhaps another consolidation might fix that in the future, but for now, I’d just have to hope that I didn’t encounter anyone strong enough to notice it.

After that, I was left without anything else to do, and it was back to being bored and running in silence. Something I found really annoying. Right up until the boredom was broken. Then I began to regret not appreciating the boredom more.

It started slowly at first. We found signs of spirit beasts a little too close for comfort and had to slow down. We’d gotten far enough away from the bandit camp, and far enough off the bandits’ traveling routes, that spirit beasts were more common. The map was also a lot less detailed about any potential dangers where we were, making it even harder to travel safely.

And things only got worse as we continued. Eventually, we started almost running right into some beasts. Not wanting to risk Shui Jianfeng, or leave behind signs of battle, we hid from most of these encounters. On one occasion, however, we weren’t given that choice and ran after crippling one of the spirit beast’s legs.

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That had been rather stressful, as the sound of the fighting had attracted even more trouble. Thankfully, the spirit wolves that had appeared thought the crippled spirit boar was a much better meal and went after that instead.

Unfortunately, things didn’t get better after that, though not because of more spirit beasts. Instead, we began finding human tracks out here. Something that worried us both greatly, as it meant that our map of the bandits’ routes was possibly wrong.

Sure, the tracks might have been unrelated, but neither of us was willing to take the risk of that. And as Ming Lin had brought up before, even if they were unrelated, there was no guarantee that an encounter with strangers would be a good one. So we were forced to be even more cautious, slowing down further to avoid the extra danger.

It made an already tense situation more nerve-wracking.

Which was why I found myself very relieved when Ming Lin finally called for us to take a rest in the early evening. The sun couldn’t be seen anymore thanks to the trees, but the sky wasn’t yet dark. There was just a growing orange hue to everything.

With my Rank 1 cultivation and Primal Vitality, I didn’t feel too tired despite hours of running, hiding, and some fighting. I felt like I could probably last at least a couple of hours more physically. But mentally, I was exhausted, and I was happy to dig us a hideout to rest in. Which was probably why I let down my guard.

Ming Lin, however, didn’t. One moment, I was just about to dig, with her by my side carrying Shui Jianfeng. The next, she grabbed me and forced all three of us down into the underbrush. She clamped a hand over my mouth, and then we just laid there, waiting.

After a moment, she removed her hand but held one finger to her lips. I nodded as I tried to figure out what was happening. But then I heard it. It was quiet and distant at first. But I managed to pick up voices. Voices that were coming towards us.

Eventually, it got clear enough that I could hear what they were saying.

“Are we truly searching this whole forest?” a voice asked. At the same time, I heard the rustling of leaves from the direction of the speaker. “What are we even looking for anyway?”

“Seriously, Shi Xian?” another voice asked. “Do you ever pay attention when the Captain speaks? Or does it just go in through one ear and out the other?”

“Oh, piss off, I listen plenty.”

“Really?

“Yeah.”

“Then what are we doing here?”

“Ugh…”

“Exactly. If you weren’t the captain's nephew, you’d never have been allowed to join or would have been kicked out a long time ago. How your mom raised you, I’ll never understand.

“Hey, don’t you talk bad about my mom!”

“You dumbass! I’m not talking bad about your mother. She’s an amazing lady. I can understand how she’s related to the captain. You, though, the heavens must have been playing a cruel joke when you were born.”

“Oh, piss off.”

“Enough, you two!” Another voice interjected. This one was gruff and older. They were really close now. I could feel one of them with my Earth Sense, and they felt really strong. Much stronger than Ming Lin or anyone else I’d encountered with my Earth Sense so far. “Are you trying to lure every spirit beast in range to us?”

“No, sorry, Boss.”

“No, Sir.”

There was an exasperated sigh followed by a moment of silence. But the people had stopped walking for some reason.

Crap. This wasn’t good. Was this really a coincidence, or were they fucking with us? I turned slowly to Ming Lin to see if she had any ideas of how screwed we were. But she kept looking towards the direction of the voices, her body tensed with one hand on the axe at her waist.

I grimaced and slowly moved to grab a spirit stone for me to eat, just in case.

That’s when I felt it. Something else entered my range from behind us. Two things, in fact, moving slowly. I tried to grab Ming Lin’s attention and eat my spirit stone at the same time. But I wasn’t fast enough.

And before I knew it, the two other people rushed us. They had swords to our throats in a split second.

“Well, well, well, just who do we have here?” One of the guys standing over us asked, a big grin on his face.

We were quickly disarmed after that, unable to fight them off with literal swords to our throats. Then we were forced to kneel, with our arms tied behind our backs. Shui Jianfeng was dropped beside us, earning an angry hiss of breath from Ming Lin.

“Just what were you three doing skulking around out here?”

The man who asked the question was the oldest among the five that captured us. He’d been the one with the gruff voice. He was middle-aged-looking with a beard and mustache. A bit on the tall side and very ripped. He wore only a leather vest and pants, with bandages underneath them, and had a big saber on his hip.

There was nothing to indicate if he was part of the Marauders, though. No mask, and he didn’t wear the dark tunics the bandits did. But there was no guarantee that they all dressed like that. Nor did that mean this guy wasn’t just part of another bandit group.

But, there were some signs that made me think otherwise as I observed our new captors. Mainly it was the two of the men in the group who were quite young. They’d been the two arguing and were dressed a lot differently from the rest.

They wore cultivator robes that looked to be a lot better quality than the clothes of the people I’d seen so far. The robes were the same design, blue with white accents in the shape of clouds decorating it all. Not the kind of clothes I’d think bandits would wear. Though I suppose there was nothing stopping successful enough bandits from wearing nice clothes.

“We’re just out here trying to make a livin,” Ming Lin said, annoyance in her voice. “Just hunting for some cores, but one of us got hurt, and now we are trying to get him to town. And we weren’t skulking. We were just hiding from any dangers.”

I did my best not to react to that. Apparently, we were pretending to be hunters. I could do that… Hopefully.

“Really?” the big man asked, sounding amused. He crossed his arms and leaned over us, blocking out the sun that was behind him. “Just the three of you decided to come so deep out here in the Amberwood? I know that people consider this place safer than the South, but it still seems pretty damn foolhardy.”

“We got lost,” Ming Lin said, sounding frustrated. “Running from some spirit beast that chased us deeper in. It's hard to escape when you have to carry your comrades around. We’re just trying to leave now and get some help. Our friend was poisoned by some plant. Now, can you let us go? What right do you have to hold us here?”

I was impressed by Ming Lin’s acting. If I didn’t know any better, I would believe she was just a disgruntled hunter and not an escaped slave.

“What right he asks,” the older man said with a laugh. He turned to his fellow. “You hear that, men? He wants to know what right we have. Who wants to explain it to him?”

One of the younger men in robes scoffed and stepped up. It was the one wearing white and blue. His hair was tied up in a topknot, which seemed to be the most common hairstyle for guys from what I’d seen. But he had a decorative-looking hair ornament holding it in place. “I will.”

My heart started thumping hard in my chest when he unsheathed his sword. I considered if any of my Skills would be able to get us out of here. Unfortunately, I didn't think there was. I might be able to escape, depending on how fast the middle-aged man was, but I would only be able to do it alone.

“This is our right,” the young man said, holding his sword to Ming Lin’s throat. “Now, answer the question honestly. What were you three doing out here? And are you part of the Black Wind Marauders?”

To her credit, Ming Lin didn’t flinch at that at all. She just looked up stoically as if her life wasn’t being threatened.

I did my best to copy her, but I could practically feel the cold sweat falling down my back. I didn’t like seeing them hold her at sword point. The only reason I didn’t panic more was that question. Clearly, they weren’t part of the Marauders, unless this was just some strange trick. The only question left was why they were looking for them.

And what would they do with three unaffiliated people out here?

“We aren’t a part of the Marauders,” Ming Lin said calmly. “Can I ask why you would even ask that of us? We’re just trying to hunt out here, not get caught up in whatever problems you people have.”

“Really?” the older man asked, raising an eyebrow. “Because we tracked a big group of them to these parts. Think their base might be around here somewhere.”

“Well, good for you,” Ming Lin said, shrugging despite the sword still at her throat. “But that has nothing to do with us. Now, can we go?”

“No, I don’t think so,” the middle-aged man said, crouching down slowly to look into Ming Lin’s eyes while the other man still held a sword to her throat. “The Black Wind Marauders have pissed off the wrong people. An up-and-coming member of the Alchemy Association. One with enough pull to get the help of a foundation establishment master who will be here soon. So, if you are part of the Marauders, then you better start spilling your guts. Or I can bring you to our employer, and she can show you just how angry she is.”

“The Alchemy Association?” Ming Lin asked, her indifferent visage breaking all of a sudden. She looked at the other man with wide eyes, then she frowned with furrowed brows. “You’re saying Young Miss Sun Xia came here personally?”

Young Miss Sun Xia? Was that the same Young Miss she had mentioned before? If so, did that mean that these guys were actually here to save us?

“You speak as if you know her,” the middle-aged man said with a scoff.

“I do,” Ming Lin said with a serious look on her face as she held her head high. All her pretenses of being a disgruntled hunter disappeared. “And you should take us to her now. We just escaped the Marauders, and she’ll want to speak to me. Especially since she’s here personally.”

“Really?” the older man asked as he straightened up. He eyed us for a long moment as if weighing Ming Lin’s words.

I felt my heart thumping in my chest as I waited to see how he would respond. Things might be finally going our way. All of it depended on if this man believed us or not.