Kang Lin once again experienced the thrill of the Esteemed Master Cultivator’s Quickstep as he grabbed both her and Yang Xui’s hands and whisked them to a different section of the forest. Immediately, Kang Lin reached out with her spiritual sense and found that there was a powerful spirit beast less than a hundred yards away.

Just as she was about to announce the fact, she discovered that the Esteemed Master Cultivator was no longer there.

“Don’t worry about it, Sister,” Yang Xiu said. “He’s in a tree about fifty yards ahead of us, conveniently between us and the rank four spirit beast.”

“You sensed him?”

That was really strange because not even Grandfather could do that.

“Oh, not at all. He’s completely invisible to me, Sister. I’m pretty sure there’s no way for anyone to detect him. And there’s really no way I can do it since I just started using my spiritual sense this morning.”

“You just started using your spiritual sense this morning? Why?”

“Well, I just advanced to Foundation Establishment yesterday, Sister, so it was the first chance I had.”

Yesterday? She advanced yesterday, and they were out hunting beasts together already? Yesterday?

Kang Lin was speechless for a moment. “You’ve already consolidated your gains and learned a technique?”

Yang Xiu was quiet for a moment. “The consolidation was easy, but I will admit that the technique isn’t where I want it to be. It still takes me a few seconds to attach qi to my arrow tips.”

A few seconds? And she’d just learned the technique the previous day? How talented was the girl? Or was that just the benefit of heaven grade techniques?

“Wait,” Kang Lin said. “If you didn’t sense him, how do you know where he is?”

“Oh. I heard him. He’s quiet, but I’ve been playing Hide and Seek with Zou Tian for a while now. That boy is silent. Besides, I’m sure Master deliberately made noise so that I would know exactly where he was. He probably wants us to engage the beast right there, so he has a good view.”

The comment brought home to Kang Lin exactly what the two of them were expected to do—to kill a rank four spirit beast. That expectation contrasted with the fact that they were two very newly advanced Foundation Establishment cultivators who barely even had a handle on their techniques yet.

The Poison Claw Sect wouldn’t let either of them anywhere near such a powerful creature until they’d had months of more training.

She took a deep breath.

“Are you nervous, Sister?”

“A little. I’ve never faced a beast higher ranked than three, and I didn’t even have that experience until not that long ago. Add in the fact that I’m not used to my techniques yet, and yeah, I’m a little nervous.”

“You don’t have to be. Really, Sister. The way that Master teaches is that, no matter how threatening the situation might look, he won’t put you in any real danger unless he knows you can handle it. Trust me. He can kill a rank four beast without even trying. I’ve seen him make a game out of killing a rank five, literally playing around by letting it hit him.”

That explanation did make Kang Lin feel somewhat better.

“Besides,” Yang Xiu said, “I’ve fought many rank fours already. They’re not that difficult, Sister.”

“What? When? Why? How were you able to fight them?”

“It was quite frustrating, Sister. No matter how good my shot, I couldn’t penetrate their qi shields. All I could do was distract them, mainly by repeatedly hitting them in the eye, until Master showed up to finish the job. And to be fair, I always had help, mainly Yang Ru. He’s very strong and brave, you know.”

If Kang Lin had any doubts that the other girl knew about the potential courtship, they were dispelled by that last statement.

Kang Lin sighed. “I have only been asked to get to know him. That’s all.”

“I understand, Sister, but I wanted to let you know that you can ask me anything about him. After all, I have known him literally my entire life.”

“Honestly, I expected you to be more … wary of me.”

Yang Xiu shrugged. “Do you know why I’ve been calling you Sister? It’s because I’ve always wanted one. Besides, Master thinks you two are a good match, and I’ve never known him to be wrong.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Kang Lin sighed again. “Come on. We have a spirit beast to kill.”

Or to be killed by. Whichever.

She didn’t know if Grandfather would be proud of her for what she was about to do or berate her for her stupidity. Going into a life or death fight with complete unknowns on her side while not being prepared was the height of idiocy, but she didn’t feel like she had a choice. She just had to trust that no one here had ill intentions toward her. Otherwise, she was about to find herself in a dire situation.

The two girls hustled toward the spirit beast, and Kang Lin couldn’t help but notice that Yang Xiu moved almost completely silently. She didn’t even appear to be using a technique. She just did it somehow.

In a clearing after about fifty yards, Yang Xiu stopped and held up her fist.

Kang Lin had no idea what the signal meant, but since her companion stopped, she did, too.

Yang Xiu pointed at a nearby tree. Then pointed at another one.

Kang Lin was at a loss as to the relevance of either tree.

Before she could react or seek clarification, Yang Xiu ran to the second tree and began climbing, leaving Kang Lin alone on the forest floor.

That was the problem with the spear. It left one to fight melee against spirit beasts. Still, better it than a sword. Not for the first time, though, she wished she’d gone against the weight of family expectations and chosen the bow.

Seconds later, a sleek, golden panther emerged from thick bushes into the opposite side of the clearing. It hissed at her.

That was it. She was dead. The creature would surely kill her.

Kang Lin wasn’t going down without a fight, though.

She readied her spear and tried to get her qi to surge through it. Unlike Yang Xiu’s few seconds, lightning generally was taking up to half a minute to appear.

Kang Lin didn’t have that kind of time. The big cat would be eating her head in a fraction of that, but it was the only option she had.

Before the panther could charge, an arrow struck it in the eye. There was no penetration, no blood. The creature yowled, though, and its head snapped back. Ice formed around the impact site.

Kang Lin steadied herself. She wasn’t in the fight alone.

Another arrow hit the other eye. Ice again formed, blinding the beast.

She didn’t know how she felt about Yang Ru, but Yang Xiu had just become Kang Lin’s favorite person on the planet. She never wanted to go into battle again without the Rising Tide Sect member behind her.

That superb display of archery skills was after one day of practice with a new technique, and since Yang Xiu just reached Foundation Establishment, she’d clearly never externally manipulated qi before.

One day.

Kang Lin could only imagine the results after weeks or months of practice. She needed to step up her game.

Concentrating as hard as she ever had in her life, she felt the lighting surge through the spear. Aiming its tip at the panther’s heart, she sprinted at the blinded beast who was desperately trying to claw at the ice blocking its eyes.

Just before she reached the big cat, an arrow came in from the side. The tip bounced off the creature’s qi shield, and no ice formed. The hit had done its work, though. For an instant, the cat’s shield was weakened.

Kang Lin thrust at that exact spot. Lightning surged, overwhelming the shield. The tip penetrated flesh and muscle, finding the heart underneath.

Just like that, the fight was over. The panther was dead. She killed it.

Correction, they killed it.

Yang Xiu climbed down out of the tree. “Great job, Sister.”

“You, too, Sister.”

They both grinned at each other.

“I have to ask,” Kang Lin said. “Where did that last arrow come from?”

“Oh. I learned that trick when competing against a guy from your sect. I ricocheted it off a tree to get the angle right.”

“That was amazing. The timing, the accuracy. It was perfect. You are amazing.”

“Speak for yourself. I loved the lightning. That was so cool. So much better than ice.”

The two girls praised each other for a while until the Esteemed Master Cultivator appeared between them.

“Great job, both of you.” He gave something from his ring to Yang Xiu before turning and offering something in his hand to Kang Lin.

She stared at it. Was that…

A quick delve with her spiritual sense revealed that the stack of objects was spirit coins. Ten of them. And all were lightning aspected.

“This lowly one cannot accept such a generous gift, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”

“This isn’t a gift, Kang Lin. You’re clearly not ready for this level of fight yet. You’re just too slow triggering your qi. I need you to get more experience before the beast tide. The only way for you to get that experience is to practice, practice, practice, but you don’t have enough qi for that, do you?”

“No, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”

“What is the maxim for any sect?” he said, grinning.

“Hard work earns more work, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”

“Got it in one.”

With a sigh, she took the coins. She didn’t know what else to do. The Esteemed Master Cultivator was right, after all. Practice was necessary, and the coins would help with that.

The problem was whether her grandfather would see it that way.

“I think that, as a team, I’m comfortable with you hunting. If nothing else, Yang Xiu has fought off beasts more powerful than her plenty of times, so I trust her to keep the two of you alive until I can get there. Unfortunately, I don’t think either of you are quite ready to go it alone yet, though, so no walk unless it’s in the Wood.”

“Agreed, Master,” Yang Xiu said. “I need to increase my release speed, and I haven’t even tried to get the shield working yet. Maybe I could spend a few days practicing before the next hunt?”

The Esteemed Master Cultivator turned to Kang Lin. “Thoughts?”

“This one could go for some practice as well, Esteemed Master Cultivator. Sister was much faster with her qi than I was. Perhaps some sparring might be in order?”

And getting used to the spirit coins. They were quite expensive, and even her relatively well off family had never deemed her important enough to use one.

“Works. Let’s get you two back to the Wood for now, though. I don’t like leaving the sect members unprotected for too long.” He paused. “Go ahead and gather your kill.”

“My kill?” Kang Lin said. “It’s Yang Xiu’s kill, Esteemed Master Cultivator. This lowly one couldn’t take it.”

“You had the killing blow, Sister,” Yang Xiu said. “It’s yours.”

Kang Lin looked between the two of them and gathered that there was no way for her to win that argument. “Very well. Gratitude.”

She’d never been in a situation where any sect member—be it a rival sect, an allied sect, or even her own sect—had literally insisted she take more than what she would consider to be her justly earned spoils. Maybe the Rising Tide Sect had even more to offer her than she thought.

Yang Ru definitely wasn’t a bad looking guy…