“One left, about 45 degrees northwest. Two right, one 62 degrees south, one 20 degrees east, right on the nose.” Xiao Yun muttered his battle plans out loud in order to eventually internalize them by instinct. What he used to determine those coordinates was actually the Qi that trailed off of the demon beast and floated in certain directions around him, though they weren’t always correct, their general appraisals where typically spot on. He followed his estimations perfectly, moving to the right and lowering his head slightly to narrowly avoid the incoming wyvern’s breath. Like a swaying leaf, he danced through the winds as he swiftly avoided the other two using the same maneuver, only this time dodging to the left. Activating the upgraded passive speed of his sky wolf form as well as the strengthened claws of the Da Zhao, he quickly rooted the heads of three Wyvern’s from their bodies before they could even think of using their enraged forms. A faint smile formed on August’s face as he came to a halt, though it wasn’t because of the three Wyvern cores he now had at his disposal.
“It worked! It really worked like you said it would, Yona!” He exclaimed, “I really can sense the suggested paths of Qi, but how? Is it the same way I don’t have my own Qi but can sense other’s cultivation?”
The young woman collecting the beast cores after Xiao Yun turned to him with a smug grin that plastered itself firmly on her face, “Didn’t I tell you, master? That’s just how amazing I am!” She laughed, “In all seriousness though, it’s because what I use is actually called ‘energy manipulation’. False Qi was simply a name I gave you so I wouldn’t have to explain it. To put it simply: It’s the manipulation of all types of energy sources present, Qi, Mana, you name it.”
“I see… in other words, the reason I can sense cultivation I because it’s merely another form of energy, and since Realms are determined by Qi amount, I can easily discover one’s power. As for the Qi premonitions, it’s simply an estimated guess on the energy’s possible travel route based on the attack’s Qi fluctuation.” He added.
“Ah… that’s… entirely correct, as expected of master.” Yoana said. No matter how long she spent with August—or Xiao Yun, she simply couldn’t get over the drastic change in his character after what happened on that night three months ago.
………………..
“Channel your Qi into every part of your body like you’re washing yourself, don’t miss a single edge, and when you’ve finished, do it over again.” The young woman explained, “Don’t lose concentration, until you engrain the very thought of cultivation into your bones, you will struggle to advance any further. Don’t be afraid, until you reach the Earth Realm, you won’t be hindered by bottlenecks or be stopped by tribulations.”
Fei Mei, the one who lent her soothing advice to Xiao Bing, also served her third plate of Grey wolf soup to the endless abyss known as August. He downed the soup like it were nothing but mere water as Zhu Duan tried his damndest to contain his laughter. Asura, on the other hand, let loose without restraint in the depths of August’s mind. Her wordlessly beautiful laugh couldn’t serve to deter the boy in the slightest as he finished the soup in less than 12 breaths.
Two months had passed since the bet with Qin Gong was made, in that time, August left it to Zhu Duan and his wife Fei Mei to help Xiao Bing with his cultivation. Until he managed to fully internalize the process of channeling Qi in his body, the two decided that they would hold back on letting him use the pills provided by August.
He and Asura spent most of their time in the forest, hunting demon beasts and collecting cores in order to increase his strength. The time to themselves helped the pair discover two very… worrying conclusions about August: One was that the more cores Asura consumed, the less power they granted August. It meant that the stronger he got, the stronger—far stronger—his opponents would need to be in order to impact his power in any way. Even Wyvern cores could now only fill the cracks in his teeth despite their still rather equal strength. The second issue was that August was becoming increasingly battle-hungry through their hunts. So much so in fact that they had to forsake fighting other cultivators in mock battles because he almost ended up killing them. In order to take his mind off of fighting, Asura suggested that he and Xiao Bing visit Zhu Duan to relax.
Over the past week, he and Xiao Bing visited the two often to give guidance to the young boy and overall get to know each other better. Zhu Duan was usually out fighting others in order to keep his rank in the outer disciples list, only returning to cultivate or collect his monthly resources. The non-cultivating Fei Mei was very accepting of August and Xiao Bing being around so often, she trusted in her husband’s friends and saw no issue in keeping a few powerful cultivators around as she tended to the house; she even received help from August often with the cleaning and heavy work that he refused to let her do alone. August especially loved to visit as he got to eat Fei Mei’s amazing dishes that worked to fill his stomach and soothe his soul at the same time.
“Your cooking is amazing, Sister Fei Mei. I’ve quite literally never had anything this amazing in my life.” He genuinely said. Those words weren’t an exaggeration either, there was not a single memory he could recall before meeting her where he tasted food that didn’t make him want to vomit.
“You flatter me, Brother August. It’s been ages since I’ve last had someone so adamantly enjoy my cooking.” Fei Mei happily responded, she had no qualms whatsoever concerning August’s abnormally large appetite, as she had an abundance of resources she could pull from thanks to him and Zhu Duan.
“Hey, your loving husband enjoys your cooking too! What about me?” Zhu Duan jokingly asked, in return he received a light punch in the shoulder from the embarrassed woman.
“Geez, my ‘loving husband’ only comes home to rest or cultivate!” She angrily responded, donning a convincing pouting face to pile more guilt onto Zhu Duan.
“I know, I know, that’s why I’m making it up to you by taking you out to the Bluewater Market Town.” He warmly replied, “Don’t worry Mei Mei, with the amount of spirit rocks I managed to obtain thanks to brother August, you can buy anything you want down there. I Promise.”
Fei Mei let out a cute laugh, “That’s more like it.”
August stared at the two as they continued their conversation concerning the Market town, as if he and the cultivating Xiao Bing were never there to begin with. Their faces lit up brightly with laughter and joy despite the conversation topics being so… mundane. August was shocked, surprised that two people could be so genuinely close with one another. On one hand it intrigued him, but the more he saw it, the more he was struck with a stubborn sense of envy that failed to die down deep inside of him.
It didn’t take much for the fact that he had no one he could really call his beloved to affect August. He could only consider Zhu Duan as lucky, most cultivators tended to avoid relationships because they were feared by mortals, and relationships with other cultivators rarely ever ended well. It hurt knowing how much happier Zhu Duan was compared to him thanks to Fei Mei, but what hurt more was the bitterly warm sense of happiness he felt for Zhu Duan mixed in with it. No, what hurt wasn’t the fact that Zhu Duan had a lover and he didn’t, it was more the fact that he had a place he could truly call home. A place where he could return to with a smile on his face. August longed for something like that for years, yet even with his freedom, there was no place he could happily retreat to, no person waiting for him when he returned, nothing. It was part of why he was so reluctant to enter his new residence, because he knew that the only thing waiting for him there was his old friend silence.
“I wish… I too, had something to take my mind off of it all.” He laughed wryly, attempting to brush the thoughts away. He still had Xiao Bing to train, Sister Li Na who he wanted to meet again. Though he didn’t feel too well about it, far be it from him to throw a fit over something so small.
That’s what fighting is for.
The thought raced through August’s mind, quick, but not unnoticed. He tried to push the idea in the back of his mind, as he promised Asura that he would tone down the fighting for a bit. Yet the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was true. There was no real way to curb the crushing sense of isolation that began to eat away at him; ordering a lady was out of the question, not to mention the fact that aside from Fei Mei, the bodiless Asura and senior sister Li Na, he knew no other women. The only method he could think of that would bury that feeling deep in the back of his mind, was fighting. Pure, unadulterated battles that would leave him bruised and bloody. Nothing else could deter those meaningless feelings like fighting could.
“I’ll take my leave.” He said before vanishing from the table he sat at, much to the married couple’s surprise. They hadn’t expected him to leave without so much as a goodbye to Xiao Bing, but Zhu Duan had an inkling of what tugged at the mysterious boy. He had long since noticed the somber glances he would give the two, the random spurs of sadness that enveloped him and the strange stirs of anger on his face. In these moments, Zhu Duan felt that something wasn’t truly right with August; almost as if he were an incomplete puzzle, with a few pieces that struggled to place themselves correctly. He knew that a good portion of the issue came from his unnatural desire for fights, it was almost as if that were his entire being, as if that feeling alone was the only thing that kept him going. In truth, Zhu Duan simply feared that August would travel to a point of no return, where his lust for battle would be the eventually cause of his death. Even Fei Mei felt a bit concerned at August’s sudden departure, though she wasn’t as clear as to why his attitude changed so quickly.
“Brother August, did something bad happened to him…?” She worriedly asked.
“No, he simply needs some space.” Zhu Duan explained sternly, “Listen, Fei Mei: Some men… aren’t as well-off as others. Just by hearing him talk, you can tell Brother August leans more on the unlucky side.”
August dashed towards the illusionary forest at the break of dusk, as if it were the only place he could really go. The outer sect? He had no use for the pills or artifacts being sold there.
Even then, I can’t fight anyone at night, can I?
The Bluewater Market Town? Aside from food and seeing the sights, he had no need for things like blood clotting ointment or natural medicines.
There are only mortals there anyway, not worth my time.
As a hybrid demon beast, he had no use for just about anything normal people and cultivators used amongst one another.
He didn’t care what strategy he should use or what form he should take like he usually considered, he simply found a demon beast and swung his fist wildly, like a butcher that simply tore through his meat without rhythm or order. With little thought, he ran through beast after beast without warning or restraint. Blood covered his arms and face, but he acted as through it were all non-existent. Each time he felt his fists tear through another demon beast, he felt those bittersweet emotions that plagued him disappear, replaced by a sliver of excitement that egged him onward. His eyes became increasingly dulled, with only the sparks of victory lighting them up as he traveled further through the woodlands. The deeper he went into the forest, the more vicious and dangerous the demon beasts became, but nothing stopped August’s advance. He mowed down anything he could find with a pulse and the ability to resist until that head-first dash slowed to a sluggish walk, to a pitiful crawl. Even fighting beasts that could match, even surpass his own power, August didn’t regain his rationale and escape, instead, he stood his ground and fought the group of peak Spirit Realm demon beasts as if his life depended on it.
The Asura fights even the heavens!
Every punch he threw was returned with ten bite marks from the brown wolves, every kick he lashed out was countered by ten Qi blasts from the Wyverns; by all accounts, he should have died the moment he stepped into the bout with the menacing group of beasts. Yet some arcane force kept him moving, despite the fatal wounds he suffered, despite the fact that he desperately wanted to live, he roared with vigor as he attacked the group of beasts. Maybe it was because of that clear desperation, maybe it was because he feared that the feelings that continued to pester him like a bug would return despite the countless amount of lives he had taken. Yet, who was he to complain about his suffering when countless others suffered the same? What right did he have to complain when he couldn’t even keep his own desires in check?
August struggled to find the answers to the questions in his head, but what he did know was that no matter what he did to fit in with the Void Sect, or in the Cloud Continent as a whole:
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It would amount to nothing.
August’s special powers and constitution didn’t make him feel different, it made him feel alone, like nobody could ever find common ground with him. His lust for battle made him excited during the fight, but after made him question his sanity. On top of being a fateless that was bound to suffer, would he truly be bound to live knowing that he was different from literally every person on the face of the planet? Who was to say they he would live a full life, the way he’s going, he might die to some menial demon beast in god knows where!
There’s no one who can truly understand me.
The pile of bitter ideas that turned into an unstoppable train of depressing thoughts brought a small surge of anger that very quickly blossomed a blind rage within his fists.
Why bother wasting time with others?
He tore through three brown wolves with one fist. Caved in the skull of four Wyverns with the sole of his foot, finished each and every one of them off by ripping their throats out with his bare teeth. The rough scales of the Wyvern tore through his mouth, but the mess of a man simply broke the scales and spat them out to show his indifference. In those moments, he wasn’t just some random man to the demon beasts, he was a peerless battle god, who baptized himself in crimson victory.
Just fight!
No matter how much the pain urged him to stop, no matter how much his body now pleaded for him to end it, they all fell on deaf ears. In the pool of beast blood and corpses, August let out a deafening roar that shook the forest. Not a single beast dared near it, not a single cultivator let their curiosity get the better of them, they only listened to the forest-wide roar that rang in their ears well after it died out. That roar was filled with an unwavering excitement that enveloped August after burying his fist into the last Wyvern that dared approach him and ripping the core from its chest. The others had escaped in fear of not his strength, but his near insane levels of willpower. Even broken, bruised and bloody, he managed to triumph over his enemies and cement his superiority over them. Appearing victorious from the jaws of defeat, that was the pinnacle of joy that his lust for battle brought him, and it was an absolute high that August never wanted to come down from. The bloodied mess couldn’t help but heartily laugh with joy after his win.
He laughed, and laughed, and laughed some more, laughed until the forest boomed with his cries of joy! He laughed, and laughed, and laughed again, even as uncontrollable tears began to stream down his cheeks.
“Huh? Tears? Why?” He questioned, his scarred, bruised fingers touched his face and brought themselves up to his eyes to ensure he wasn’t imagining things.
August was puzzled at the feeling. He won! He survived a sure-death situation with his life intact, yet, why did the joy of victory fade so quickly? Did he do something wrong? Did he not truly win against the beast, because the remaining ones ran away? He knew he shouldn’t have let them escape! He tried to continue moving to catch the cowards that dared run away from him, but his body cruelly warned that if he so much as attempted to exert himself any further, it would give up right then and there. He screamed for his body to move, reasoned that he would shame the great name of Asura if it didn’t follow his commands, but this time, it was his words that fell on deaf ears.
“August… please stop…” Asura’s plea had finally reached his ears. Since the moment he left Zhu Duan’s residence, she attempted to snap him out of the explosion of emotions that clouded his vision, but he had shut her out with no way of her breaking through. “It’s not worth it… sometimes, fighting your way through the pain isn’t worth it. Trust me, I know better than anyone…” She sounded like she had been screaming for hours, and the simple act of talking made her wince in pain.
“Asura! Why!? What did I do wrong? I followed my desire for battle, I satisfied it! Why… why do I feel like at the end… it all meant nothing?” August questioned, with his mind finally calmed down, his heart felt like it would cave in at any moment. How pitiful was it, that a man bent on revenge was questioning his existence before even completing his goal?
“Because the heavens are cruel, doubly so if you’re a fateless.” Asura softly answered, “I’m sure Jin Shou warned you before, your life would be filled with struggle and pain, he wasn’t just referring to the physical kind. This… this isn’t you, you’re being influenced by my powers. It wants to break you down, turn you into an entity hell-bent on battles and nothing else. It wants to make you forsake your emotions and take the path of a true demon beast.”
“Y-your powers? Will… will this continue to happen to me, Asura? Will I never be satisfied, no matter how much I fight?” August asked.
“…Yes, for as long as you live.” She sternly responded, it was easy to tell that each word only became increasingly harder to say, but for the sake of the man that saved her life, she ignored the pain and continued, “That is the price of fusing with me that Jin Shou mentioned. You will be forced to live while constantly being wary of my power, wary of its burning desire to change you. If you want to be free of it all… I can do that for you. You will die a few years after I separate myself from you, but at the least… you can live those few years a truly free--”
“Stop… I… I refuse.” August quickly responded, much to Asura’s, and his own shock. The bittersweet smile that appeared on his bloody, exhausted face was more than enough to silence her completely.
It was a chance to be free, he wouldn’t have to worry about the possibility of losing his humanity! So why, why did he deny it so quickly?
“I won’t run—can’t run, not now at this point. Forget my revenge, I just don’t want to leave you knowing you’ll have to go through this again.” His gaze turned towards the star-filled sky, “It hurts, it really does, but what hurts more is the fact that I would be going back on my promises.”
“August…” Asura said, her voice trembled uncontrollably at his words, “Do… do you mean it? It won’t get any easier from here out, I can’t even guarantee that we’ll survive even with my power! There are almost no certainties in my reckless plan, do you really want to follow such a person? Don’t just try to lie to me for no reason—”
“I swear it!” He interrupted, “I, August—no, Xiao Yun, swear on my name: from here on out, I will travel to the ends of the world with you, Asura! Should I go back on my word, I will die and never reincarnate!” His words were sharp and genuine, Asura couldn’t trace a single lie in the words he swore to her.
“You...” She teared up, “You god damn moron… you even swore on your real name! If… if that’s the case, then I won’t hide anything from you anymore.”
With her words, a swirl of false Qi began to form in front of August, taking the form of a humanoid figure he couldn’t quite make out. Yet like a heavenly blossoming flower, a short yet beautiful young woman was created from the depths of the formless Qi. Her jet black hair shot down to her back while her deep golden eyes held an air of experience behind them despite her youthful looks. Her traditional black and golden dress only added to the air of maturity about her, but her rosy pink lips and jaw-dropping face were enough to make even the most content of men lost their cool on a single glace. Forget her curves, her looks alone were enough to make August freeze in place out of sheer amazement. The only thought that flashed within his mind at that moment was “calling her beautiful would be an understatement.” To think, this was the same woman that irritated him every chance she got and dragged on endlessly about artifacts.
Her gaze fell onto the injured boy, whose left arm began to emit an abyssal glow, “Xiao Yun, new host of the Asura. My name—my true name, given to me by my old master, is Yoana. I am, unlike my brothers and sisters, an experiment. Where they were simply enhanced by my old master’s power, I was created from scratch. Using every bit of his remaining power, my old master removed every heavenly restriction he could from me: the ties of fate, the need for cultivation, the restriction of realms. According to my eldest brother, Regele, I was the culmination of everything my old master worked his entire life for. Because of him, I was freed from the shackles that place the gods above all other life.” Her expression remained the same, but an indescribable sorrow could be felt from her words, “But so too did I become hated by them. At the end, it was… because of me… that you all needed to desert the surface of Evon in the first place. I loathe being the cause of it all, but I regret letting my old master die without completing his goal more. What was it? I haven’t the slightest clue, but I’m sure the answers lie atop the final forbidden land, and even higher beyond that.”
Yoana walked up to the battered and bloody August, with her welcoming gaze that send a warmth through his body that remedied some of the immense pain he felt as a result of his recklessness, “New host of the Asura, now that you know the truth of my past, as well as my real name, you are hereby my new master. If you fight, I fight, if you fall, I fall, if you die, I die. No longer are you alone in your endeavors…” Her small arms that looked like they couldn’t lift a sword wrapped around August with ease. There was no pain, it wasn’t a trick he was playing on his mind, Asura—no, Yoana wasn’t doing this to mock him; she was seriously, truly embracing the foolish boy with everything she had, despite the dirt and blood that covered his body. “We will suffer together, you and I.”
At her words, August’s tears seemed to rush out with no mercy despite the wincing pain. The weeping boy slumped down and dropped his head onto Yoana’s chest, letting his tears fall without restraint as she held him tightly. That night would serve to be the happiest and most shameful night August would ever have, and he swore to himself that no matter what he felt, he would never let the powers of Asura influence him so heavily again.
………………..
“Let’s meet up with Xiao Bing soon, Little Yona.” He said, gently rubbing her forehead with his scarred palm.
To clarify, the August from before was primarily a result of the powers of Asura gradually influencing his mind, slowly turning him into a battle-crazed brawler with terrifyingly little restraint. After Yoana snapped him out of it, however, his personality took a considerable tone shift. His constant joking and high-energy attitude had become more stoic and calm compared to before. He was also intuitive and concerningly calculative, something Yoana saw first-hand when Xiao Yun bargained with an artifacts seller and managed to obtain a tier 7 artifact that was originally 1,500 spirit rocks for 500 with words alone. Xiao Yun also smiled a lot less than he did before. So much as mentioning a fight or food to the old August would bring out a smile that stretched from ear to ear, but now it was like a godsend so much as catch his lips twitch, with the only one able to get a reaction out of him currently being Yoana.
The others also expressed surprise at his change, but the one who everyone expected to be affected the most, Zhu Duan, was actually the most accepting of it. In his exact words, “This feels much more natural, but it’s good to see that both sides are just as kind and confident.” In truth, they were all more shocked at the beautiful young girl that followed him around. Xiao Yun was honestly clueless at what to refer to her as around them; letting her call him “Master” was an absolute must not, but he felt somewhat bad keeping secrets from the three when they so genuinely accepted him.
Yoana eventually came up with a response to his dilemma that would likely stick with them for as long as he knew them.
“Mn.” She responded, her head leaned in to the center of the palm as she felt the gentle warmth that emanated from it.
Yoana loved whenever Xiao Yun took the time to lightly dote on her, something he always found a chance to do at least once a day. She could tell it was a result of his clearer understanding of what she endured before fusing with him, and to be perfectly honest, not a shred of regret was had considering the outcome. Yoana had bared everything to Xiao Yun, and he too shared everything he kept an absolute secret to her. Just as he understood why she was so adamant on helping the four beasts despite their desire for her power, she understood where his extreme distaste for the June Alliance stemmed from. As it stood, they were no longer simply partners out to complete their own goals, they were one and the same, and so too were their actions.
Xiao Yun princess-carried Yoana to the edge of the Gaokong Mountain Range, though she could easily return to his mind as she was only a product of their Qi, she enjoyed the feeling of being carried and the winds that brushed across her face. With Xiao Yun’s current power, the trek didn’t even take the span of thirty breaths. Xiao Bing and Zhu Duan saw the two nearing at an insane pace, which made them both sigh in response. Be it the old August or the new one, his power still managed to grow scarily fast. As his dash came to a slow stop, his eyes lit up with a hint of surprise as he stared at the autumn-haired boy.
“Xiao Bing, you managed to advance to the 2nd stage Spirit Realm?” Xiao Yun felt the surge of Qi from the boy the moment he neared them.
“I did, brother August! It means that I qualify to go with you guys!” He eagerly replied.
Yun’s faced twisted in confusion, “Go with us? Where might we be going?” He placed Yoana down who too shared his confused expression.
“Ah, I hadn’t told you yet.” Zhu Duan absent-mindedly recalled, “Every year, there’s a competition between our Sect and the other three Sects called the Heavenly Thunder Competition. It starts off with a series of matches that all the Sect elders and leaders watch. Depending on what placement you get, you get a talisman that unlocks certain areas in the Heavenly Thunder Valley in the second round. We weren’t planning on going this year because of the enmity I share with some of the June Alliance competitors, but I heard that they changed the rules a bit, and they may be beneficial for Xiao Bing’s growth.”
“June Alliance, huh? So they’re here too…” Xiao Yun was planning on declining the offer, as he had no use for whatever he might find in the Heavenly Thunder Valley, not to mention putting himself in danger by appearing in front of the Moonlight Sect and Tie Xuan, but all concerns washed away with Zhu Duan’s last sentence. It was his goal, the very target of his profound desire for revenge. He couldn’t near beat the June Alliance, the time was not yet ripe, but Xiao Yun would make damn sure that their representatives placed dead last because of him. He was sure that the moment he declared himself an enemy of the June disciples, he would be targeted by them all, but not a shred or fear entered his body. With the powers of Asura that he’s refined over the past nine months, even if it’s 100 to 1, Xiao Yun was positive he could come out alive!
I am the host of Asura! It does not control me, I control it! If the heavens wish to contain us, then let the heavens crash and burn!
A calm yet passionate battle intent surged from Xiao Yun’s person. It wasn’t as wild or unrestrained as his former self, but was still just as, if not more oppressive than before. Yoana smiled with relief at the determined expression on his face. She had fully expected that she would have to convince him to take part in the competition, but with the mention of the June Alliance thrown in the mix, she was sure that even he wouldn’t miss such a good chance to defame them.
Why did she want him to participate in the Heavenly Thunder Competition? Much of it had to do with the fact that there was an old friend deep within the valley. Better yet however, she could feel it, one of the four powers that would be present in the competition was in possession something closely related to the dragon king: Regele. With Xiao Yun’s current power, they likely weren’t enough to forcefully take it, but the simple act of holding the item meant they may have played some part in what made her eldest brother go insane.
Be it Xiao Yun’s burning hatred for the June Alliance or Yoana’s desire for the item possibly related to Regele’s current condition, the moment they stepped into the arena, they would become the sworn enemies of at least one of the four powers present.