"Useless," I threw away the kettle because apparently, it was soul bonded with the frozen person that it belonged to and even in its owner's death, the damn thing didn't want to move on and just kept itself locked with the guy. Why the hell would you even try to get a kettle soul bonded with you anyways? It's like saying that you want to tie a piece of leaf into your pants, it's completely useless.

Or maybe looks can be deceiving? Is the kettle actually a deadly weapon? I gave the kettle behind me a single glance. Probably not.

I shook my head and put the kettle and everything it can possibly be behind me. Moving forward seemed like a better option than sitting down and thinking about something that could've been, and besides, the kettle is already bonded with someone anyways- I frowned at my train of thought. Do I have unresolved issues?

Shaking my head, I gripped the handle of my sword before pushing myself off the ground and starting a sprint- Everything around me turned into a blur, the houses, mounds of snow, a few dead people, and even swords and weapons that I decided to ignore. Save for the weapons, nothing really interested me and since I already have a sword, I chose to continue moving instead of stopping by and grabbing another one.

A patch of dry land came into view soon enough and I stopped running to see what it was- Dry dirt not covered in snow in a small circle that's 10 feet in radius, a few plants are swaying inside the circle, looking completely fine even when the cold wind passed them through. I wondered why until I walked into the circle and noticed that it's warm inside of it. Frowning, I walked around to find the reason for why that is but found nothing.

I stared at the center of the circle, there, I see something pop out, a thin, smooth finger-like thing that grew 3 feet out of the ground. It swayed just like the plants around it. It's green with spots of white. It looked like a plant but the fang-like sharp bone on its tip reminded me of the parasite that I saw on that dog. I unsheathed my sword and walked closer to the thing, I stepped cautiously toward it, sword raised to my left and ready to swing down and cut the thing from the tip if decides to attack me.

And attack it did.

Not even 5 feet of me getting close, the tentacle bent backward and sent its boney tip for my head. I moved my head sideways and walked forward before cutting it from the middle with my sword. The tentacle went back underground, then an earthquake started. Feeling that the situation just got dangerous, I jumped away from the circle.

A large, worm-like thing crawled out of the ground mouth first, it looked like a leech, with human colored skin, and a lipped mouth that when opened showed a hole full of sharp teeth and a halved tongue.

And here I was wondering why that particular circle is not covered in snow. And as it turns out, it's because the ground directly has a leech, opening its mouth and breathing out hot air every second. I felt relieved at that because I honestly didn't know if the tentacle that I saw the first time is now immune to my ice but I guess I didn't need to worry.

I jogged away from the worm once it started crawling, dragging more of its body out. The more of the worm got revealed, the more I felt confident that its one of the parasites that its one of those parasites that controlled the dog because compared to the top part that mostly covered the mouth, the rest of the body is black with bony spikes lining its skin. It was slow, but when the worm got out, that is when it suddenly coiled in itself and sprung away from its spot-

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The worm flew across the sky, its mouth is open and ready to swallow me whole when it landed on my spot.

I jumped away with more than a few seconds to spare and I didn't even trip when the ground shook from the worm's landing. A pile of snow landed on me, falling off my clothes and piling up my head.

I stared at the worm, the creature already looked ready to spring from its spot but I didn't let it jump this time and I rushed it with my sword ready- I got close and swung, opening up a small gash that bled black blood on its left side. I dodged when a tongue tried to hit me, then I cut it off and without losing momentum, I raised my sword and slashed at the worm, stabbing my sword deeper and deeper the longer I slashed.

Once the only thing that I can see of my sword is the handle that I'm holding onto, I channeled Qi into myself before running down the entire length of its body.

The worm screamed and jumped away, taking my sword with it. Black blood rained down from the sky from the large wound on its side, it was warm enough to cause the snow to melt.

Not caring about losing my weapon in the slightest, I chased after the worm. I got as fast as I possibly could and predicted where the thing would land. I stopped somewhere in front of the creature and started the stance of my quickest technique. The third form of Palm Strike isn't that strong by itself but the stance for it is quick- just a simple twist of the leg and a palm thrust. Besides, it's not like I can't just use my Qi to empower it anyways.

I felt my Qi gather in my right palm when a shadow loomed over me, then I swept my leg and when the creature got near enough, I looked upwards and struck-

Ice bloomed from the point of contact like a growing flower, it crawled from the surface of my palm to the worm's skin, infecting it and spreading wildly as it went up its skin. Ice grew all around me and the winds howled as if to answer to my attack- A shockwave erupted a second after I struck and the worm got sent flying west.

I chased after it and didn't waste time hitting it again when I saw that it was down. It lashed out its tongue for the last time before I hit the side of its head with a simple Qi infused Palm Strike that didn't need any flashy moves. I grabbed my sword from its body when it died then I checked my Status.

User: Yu Song

Qi: 3763/20,000

Realm: 10th Stage (Body Refinement)

Techniques:

- Punch

- Run

- Throw

- Palm Strike

*First to Sixth form

- Fist of Danger

* First to Second form

Quests:

*Reach Foundation Establishment Realm - (10/15)

*Help the Sect Defend from the Invaders - (Side Chosen- Deep Running Rivers and Oceans Sect 74% / Invaders 27%)

*Find out what's wrong with the Dogs and the source of the Parasites.

*Find out more about the Ninjas.

*Kill the invading Poison Bandits - (3/???)

My Qi went up by over two thousand but that isn't what's important, a progress bar now showed on my Quest to find out more about the parasites which meant that knowing that the little worms can grow as big as they are must be a pretty big deal. And I don't know just how important these parasites are but since they're part of an attack force that's meant to free someone powerful, they must be pretty important.

Or at least I think so. And also, the attack on the sect is still on going if I still have my quests which... is an odd thing to know about. Just how long have I been out?

Probably not that long since the attack is still there but I guess that isn't really important for now. The parasites first. I thought in concern. Focusing on the mind controlling worms that can grow as wide as ten feet tall and as long as... I looked at the worm's length, shorter than I expected but also long enough. That's what? 16 feet in length?

I shuddered at the thought of just how much it needed to eat to grow this big before getting fully motivated to find out more about the creatures. No more getting sidetracked.

If I see someone that needs help, I'll probably ignore them. The Parasites are more important.