“Alex, what is this place?”

Alex took a deep breath filled with the perfume of countless wildflowers and the rich peaty scent of forest loam, gazing with awe at what appeared to be primeval woodlands, stretching as far as the eye could see. The formerly brilliant afternoon sun had been replaced by gentle green-tinted diffuse light, the air alive with the sound of Silverbell blossoms his ears caught tinkling under the bowers of conifers, interspersed by trees glowing with spiritual energy, radiating most particularly from exotic fruit, both familiar and strange.

Ya Ling trembled with both awe, wonder, and fear.

Because Alex wasn’t the only one who heard distant screeches and roars, sensing that this forest, both exotic and wondrous, was as pitiless as it was beautiful. And the bright yellow eyes Alex caught sight of glaring their way in the distance made it clear that this rift would claim a bounty from any who dared its prizes in turn.

Yet the bounty of spiritual treasures flared upon Alex’s exquisitely attuned Qi Perception, calling out to him like nothing had since arriving here.

He couldn’t help flash a hungry smile, feeling other long-forgotten hungers as well as he connected with a primal part of himself that remained utterly dormant in desert sands.

He had but to open his palm and flash a bemused looking Ya Ling a smile before she lurched back with surprise, before being presented with a glistening peach, absolutely radiating spiritual energy.

“A gift of the forest, a bounty we may take, free and clear.”

Ya Ling gazed at him breathlessly, eyes filled with wonder. “Alex, you look… different.”

Alex took a deep breath and grinned. “What can I say? I feel at home here.”

She swallowed and nodded, peering thoughtfully at the fruit. “Will it heal me?” She asked breathlessly.

Alex gazed at her for long moments.

Soul Sight perception check successful!

He smiled gently. “It will add a decade to your life, and help to seal the crack to your foundation. You will find it effortless to ascend all the ranks of Bronze. And should you truly embrace the deserts gifts, you’ll find a wild path all your own that will allow for endless ascension as a queen of the desert, half warrior, half wujen. But no, Ya Ling. As it stands, you will never reach Silver unless your injury is mended in full.”

Her eyes widened. “How could you know that? Alex, there’s no way you could possibly...” She swallowed pointless words, shaking her head, wiping a furious tear way. “No. I refuse to accept that my brother effortlessly crushed all my dreams with a smug laugh and a single order to his gods-damned lackeys!”

“There’s nothing wrong with endless Bronze and a Vitality that will last you well over a century in the prime of health,” Alex said softly. “And I know just how deadly you are, under the midday sun. And when your scar fully closes… you’ll be able to dance about the dunes endlessly. An opponent no one could possibly touch till the sun wanes, and you’re smart enough to hide with the sun, your evenings safe and snug in the home you’ll one day forge with your chosen.”

Her eyes glittered with a heat he had never seen before. “There’s more in there. Far more. Isn’t there?”

Alex forced himself to nod. “There is.”

Her eye lit with sudden hope. “And you know how to get it, don’t you?”

He sighed. “I do.”

“Then let’s get it!”

“You’ll be fighting spirit beasts of Bronze at the very least, even here, close to the gate. And there are foes of Silver that must be faced, should you dare the forest’s depths. And in it’s heart...”

“Gold.” She whispered, suddenly blanching.

Alex dipped his head. “Correct.”

She trembled, squeezing her grip. “I want my foundation healed, Alex. Whatever the cost.”

Alex flashed her a sympathetic smile even as he caught the forest’s warning, knowing they had already overstayed their moment’s grace.

“Alex!”

Ya Ling’s panicked warning came after he had already turned, desperately shifting his spear as fast and gracefully as he could in a body that was no longer howling with a Silver’s power.

But he hadn’t lost two years of battle-forged instincts, or the inherent grace that had seen him through countless forest battles. Such that when a certain Shadow Puma had launched silently through the air, instead of the hot warm flesh it had expected to fill its belly with, it received razor sharp steel Alex had deliberately honed just that morning.

Spirit Puma has been successfully impaled!

You have partially dodged retributive strike.

Claws have caught mail links. You have been sent flying!

Draconic resilience mitigates blow.

Alex allowed the words to flash across his mind’s eye even as he braced himself to land, skittering on the loamy forest floor as he summoned forth his fangtian ji and charged, desperation and fury in equal measure as he saw a panicked Ya Ling stare in stupefied horror at the writhing Shadow Puma twisting against the spear that had completely plunged through its abdomen, her own spear held in stunned hands that currently did her no good at all.

“Ya Ling, duck!” Alex roared as he charged, the very forest loam seeming to add spring to his desperate steps as he embraced the fury of the howling winds, Wind Crane Kung Fu adding fearsome power to his fangtian ji as he swung for all he was worth, bringing the razor sharp fangtian ji head in line with the second puma only now revealing itself as it sprung for Ya Ling’s throat… before Alex’s wicked-sharp fangtian ji cleaved its heaved and left claw free with a single blow, drenching a shrieking Ya Ling and himself in the blood of his fallen foe.

You have successfully decapitated Spirit Puma!

Experience earned!

Potency Mastery in effect!

40% of all experience earned has been directly channeled into skills!

Alex froze, stunned beyond words by the latest message flashing across his mind’s eye even as Ya Ling sobbed and clung to him, covered in blood and terror.

Potency Mastery, perhaps his most exotic and unorthodox skill, one that allowed him to so directly claim the potency of his kills… was his once more.

How? And how was this not the most blaring of all alarms that would put countless foes he had prayed were forever lost to time on his trail once more? And why wasn’t he aware of it before?

To be fair, it meant nothing when he had been cutting down mortal raiders. But he had taken several Bronze Tier cultivators since then. Even a Silver. Had he simply been too focused on survival to pay heed to the messages flashing across his mind’s eye? Messages he now ignored more often than not?

He shook his head, both awed and horrified, having no easy answer.

He knew only that the savage killing forest that he felt so at home in was no place for the desert princess now covered in blood.

He was grateful only that she was savvy enough to hold tight onto her now crimson stained peach, even as he glared down at the first puma writhing and howling with the spear that had torn through its innards, assuring it a slow, painful death.

Until Alex put it out of its misery with a clean swipe of a his razor sharp fangtian ji he need never worry about sharpening again. He then carefully removed his transformed spear from what was now a shriveled puma, beast core and potency both surrendered for an enhancement that filled him with fierce joy.

You have claimed: Indestructible Spear. This spear has been forged to indestructibility with the potency of a powerful spirit beast and a highly talented Artificer. Note! Virgin status required to successfully channel said potency into indestructibility. Status maintained. (For now!)

“Alex, those things nearly killed us! We have to get out of her right now!”

Alex gave a sympathetic nod. “Let’s head back. At least the peach will prove that we weren’t playing a trick with the desert sands.”

She flushed at that, and Alex was halfway certain she had been planning something… but between one moment and the next they had darted back through the odd shadowy depths between the roots of a particularly massive tree… before squinting against suddenly blinding light and finding themselves before the others.

“Ya Ling, what happened?” Qing Wu’s voice was filled with urgency, radiating a sudden fearsome killing intent when he saw that she was covered in blood. “Wife!”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

But Reny was already cradling Ya Ling. “Where are you hurt, child. Tell me quickly!”

“I’m fine!” She breathlessly replied. “The blood isn’t my own.”

The pair froze, exchanging a glance. Dui Zhong gave a begrudging nod. “It smells like cat. Desert Tiger?”

Alex solemnly shook his head, taking a moment to clean the haft of his weapon. “Shadow Puma.”

This earned a frown. “Those aren’t native to these sands.”

Alex smirked. “No kidding,” he said, before solemnly placing the enhanced, exquisitely sharpened spear in Ya Ling’s still trembling hands. “Here,” he said with a smile. “A prize to remember your first tangle with spirit beasts by.”

Ya Ling furrowed her brow. “Alex?”

“It’s razor sharp and will never need sharpening, ever.”

Qing Wu frowned. “How?”

Alex grinned. “Let’s call it a wild cultivator’s secret, shall we?”

“Never mind that,” Reny cut in. “What happened to you? Why is my niece covered in blood… and heaven’s mercy, is that truly a peach, out here in the middle of the desert?”

“Not just any peach,” Ya Ling whispered softly, soft brown eyes gazing Alex’s way with wonder.

Qing Wu gazed at the pair of them for long moments. “So the rift is real.”

Alex nodded, having already stored away his fangtian ji before returning. “It is. A forest as vast and wondrous as you could believe. Absolutely filled with spiritual herbs and treasures… and spirit beasts more than willing to hunt and kill any intruder.”

Reny was now carefully examining the peach that Ya Ling, to her credit, didn’t hesitate to surrender even as the desert sands scored her free of death’s crimson caress.

“This is a true fire peach. A glorious prize that will extend the life of any cultivator to claim one, possibly strengthen their foundation as well, especially if they are attuned to flame!” She shook her head in wonder. “The tincture I could make with this...”

“Then please do,” Ya Ling said, giving her aunt a heartfelt hug. “With my blessing.”

Qing Wu gazed at where he thought the rift was, before giving an angry shake of his head. “So perilous… yet filled with such prizes. If only it wasn’t closed to the majority of us!”

Alex gazed at the group radiating such a potent mixture of desperate hope and despair, before coming to a decision, hoping he wouldn’t have cause to regret it, in the very near future.

He turned to Dui Zhong. “Just how good are you at fighting spirit beasts?”

This earned a hard smile. “I’ve survived for over thirty years leading my caravan,” said the cultivator who didn’t look a day over thirty himself. “That should tell you all you need to know.”

Alex smirked but dipped his head, conceding the point.

He then turned to Qing Wu. “Forgive my impertinence, Master Wu, but how many ice spears or similar incantations could you safely release in your present state?”

The man smirked. “Dozens, Alex. As you should well know.”

Alex took a deep breath, forcing himself to say it. “Then there might be a way to enter the rift. For all of us to enter the rift.” He did his best to ignore the sudden tension, so many pairs of eyes now focused on him. “But I’m going to need your Cultivator’s Oaths that what I share with you will go no further than this group, lest I say otherwise.”

“A Cultivator’s Oath?” Ya Ling asked. Most of the group looked puzzled by those words.

But Qing Wu was scowling. “Alex, you don’t know what you’re asking.”

Alex met the man’s gaze. “Actually I do. If it’s a problem, I do understand. Believe me. I know just how ruthless and cutthroat too many cultivators can be.”

Qing Wu frowned. “But then you walk, sharing your secret with no one.”

“Damn right. I’ve set myself on fire for the sake of others freezing in winter snows more than once before. If they don’t even care enough to put me out when it’s time… well, there’s a very thin line between noble hero and belittled fool. And sometimes I wonder how many twisted souls were would-be heroes mocked one too many times for sacrifices they should never have had to make in the first place.”

Qing Wu furrowed his brow. “You sound the farthest thing from the clueless young cultivator stumbling in the desert sands of a week ago when you say things like that, lad.”

Alex’s bitter smile didn’t quite reach his ice-cold gaze. “Really? Is that a fact? How fascinating.”

The older cultivator held Alex’s gave for long moments before sighing. “Do it.”

Dui Zhong frowned, then jerked a nod. “Alright, lads. Promise our Ruidian friend that you won’t tell a soul what he’s about to reveal to you.”

“Sure,” said Luo. “But if he has a way of helping us enter that rift... is it really that big a deal?”

Dui Zhong flashed a mirthless smile. “You should know the answer to that, just by looking at Master Qing Wu’s expression.”

“What happens if we break our oath?” Whispered the youngest among them.

Ya Ling gave Li a pitying smile. “If you even have to ask… you don’t want to know. Trust me.”

“But you don’t know either! A minute ago you were also asking what a cultivator’s oath even was!” The young guard who clearly was no fool, noted in exasperation, before paling and bowing before them, as if only in that moment remembering his place.

Ya Ling, for her part, gave a bemused chuckle. “That’s right, and I still know better than to ask. I’m sure we’ll suffer some horrific consequence, like maybe we’ll instantly perish or our cultivation bases will shatter. Right Alex?”

“Pretty much,” he agreed, smirking at the sudden look of dismay she gave him. “Are you ready?”

Alex blinked, surprised when all seven nodded their acquiescence, even if some looked a bit grumpier about it than others.

Then their cynical gazes widened with wonder when they each got the message Alex sent their way.

“I just got a message in my head,” Ya Ling whispered with wonder. “Asking if I want to ‘party up’ with you?”

Alex grinned. “You can hear it? That’s actually a good sign! Hit ‘yes’ and we can get started.”

You have successfully formed: Delve Exploration Party.

Party consists of Qing Wu (Silver tier DPS) / Reny Wu (Bronze Tier healer) / Dui Zhong (Tank) / Luo + Xia + Li (glass DPSers) / Ya Ling – (Designation: poorly disguised desert princess you’re totally not falling for.)

Note! Multiple Ruidian Bloodlines Detected! Multiple Slave Nodes detected!

You have elected NOT to claim any nodes at this time.

Autonomy Directive is now in effect.

Alex lurched back with a hiss, quickly hiding his alarm as everyone’s eyes filled with awe, all of them feeling the connection they now had, even if not everyone had heard an actual voice in their head.

“I can sense where all my men are,” Dui Zhong said with wide-eyed wonder.

“Indeed, it’s quite remarkable,” Qing Wu acknowledged, giving Alex a thoughtful glance and a bemused smile. “Clearly our newest companion is more than a simple lost Ruidian and does indeed have good reason to tie us to his oath.”

Dui Zhong whistled in admiration. “If Ruidians are capable of linking up in this fashion and knowing where every member of their squads or platoons is, relative to one another, their battlefield coordination would give them a shocking advantage in coordinated strikes against any foe!”

Alex smirked. “It should also let us cross the rift, hopefully,” he said with a commending nod Dui Zhong’s way. He was eager to focus on the positives, not on the fact that he was an idiot not to take Ya Ling’s words to heart. Because for her to hear that interface in her head meant that either she had access to Spirit Qi or she had Ruidian ancestry as she herself admitted that so many desert communities did. Which meant that at least a fair number of citizens were extremely vulnerable to his interface’s quirks, and would see Alex as the greatest threat imaginable to them if they understood exactly what he was capable of… or if they held to the same stories and legends as the pure-blooded Ruidians did in CuiJing Province. Fortunately, no one had given the shape of his forehead, which he personally thought perfectly normal, a second glance.

He chuckled softly. At least his interface hadn’t given him any notifications of having partied up with any of his descendants, which was more of a relief than he cared to admit.

“Still, it couldn’t hurt to hold hands, but be ready for anything!” Ya Ling declared, tightly claiming Alex’s own hand as he once more lead them through.

Alex ignored the momentary disorientation as the spear-wielding cultivators around him gazed about in awed stupefaction and wonder before Dui Zhong barked a command, and they immediately formed a half circle formation with the giant trunk of the tree containing the rift between its roots at their back.

“Keep a sharp eye out, men. It’s right now that we’re most vulnerable to attack!” Dui Zhong said, glaring at the thick canopy overhead. But he had no hope of catching sight of the trio of rapidly approaching pumas even now scurrying up the branches of the massive sequoia-like tree behind them, predatory savvy dictating leaps for the deadliest among them.

Qing Wu, Dui Zhong, and Alex himself.

And even 18 Perception wouldn’t have been enough time to do more than set his spear, let alone give him the couple of seconds needed to scream.

“Ambushers in the trees! Everyone, spears aimed high and set!”

If he hadn’t been struck by an epiphany so profound it would have stunned him, had he had time to be stunned. Had his transcendence not merely awoken old paths of understanding and knowledge that had been his across who knew how many lifetimes, as his internal interface map and a sense of the woodlands around him and all the reds on the board, as well as the greens of his party, synergized near instantaneously into a perfect whole.

Forest Sense, a skill he thought locked away until he somehow miraculously hit Gold, had saved them all.

And if a handful of spears suddenly stiffened at just the right angle to meet the pouncing shadow puma just a heartbeat away from crashing on top of a still unwarded Qing Wu and tearing free the poor Silver’s head, Alex had absolutely no interest in looking at the interface messages now flashing across his inner mind’s eye, autonomy returned in the shocked moments a trio of soldiers perfectly positioned still stumbled under the weight of a massive Bronze tier spirit beast plunging down upon their spears. No doubt the flashing claws might still have ended in multiple tragic deaths with their would-be killer’s final seconds… had not all three managed to pierce its chest cavity, one lancing its very heart.

The shock of the moment, the exultation of surviving certain death had no doubt done much to mitigate the horror of having lost control of their bodies for a crucial split second. With luck, they would think it their own survival instincts kicking into play, and think it a miracle, as opposed to the horrific vulnerability that it was.

But Alex had no time to worry about ethical dilemma as the three basics shook out of a horrified stupor they could pretend was quick thinking, not their bodies being ruled like puppets, for all his attention was on the largest of the three spirit pumas who recognized Alex for what he was.

A hunter, just like the alpha before him, his furious roar making it clear this clearing had room for only one alpha, and Alex wholeheartedly agreed.

Wind Strike!

You have critically struck Spirit Puma with Wind-Crane enhanced cleaving blow! Natural resistance has been ruptured!

Spirit Puma has been decapitated!

Wind Crane Kung Fu is now Rank 4.

Wind Strike is now Rank 2!