Ye Zan crept through the woods behind Yang Xiu, trying to move as quietly as possible. Whatever he was doing wasn’t good enough for Senior Sister, who kept glaring and him and Huang Yimun, his fellow guard who was even worse about finding every dead leaf than Ye Zan was.
Less than a month and a half ago, he’d never left the city. He’d never walked through woods. He’d certainly never crept through the woods in an attempt to kill a spirit beast. It still amazed him every day that he’d somehow arrived at such a place in his life.
Not that he was complaining. He never thought he’d amount to anything. Prior to accepting Elder Kang Ya-Ting’s offer to guard a caravan belonging to a friend of the Poison Claw Sect, Ye Zan’s best-case scenario for his future was dying on some nameless battlefield contested by two nobles, neither of whom even knew his name. If he were really lucky, he’d actually have someone for them to send his death benefits to.
With Master, Ye Zan was not only likely to die in a battle that actually mattered while protecting people who he cared about, but he was treated with respect. He was valued.
Whatever Master required of him, he’d do.
“You two are hopeless,” she said. “If we were depending on an ambush, we’d be dead.”
“Pardon, Senior Sister,” Ye Zan said, “but we’re supposed to be guards. We’re not supposed to be stealthy.”
She grumbled under her breath. “That’s good because you’re not!”
They sped up their pace, foregoing any attempt to be quiet until finally she stopped in a clearing.
“We should be getting close,” she said. “You remember the plan?”
“Huang Yimun and I separate, trying to each get on one side of the beast. I am the primary attacker. Huang Yimun should only defend himself if the beast darts at him. If I miss my attack, you will kill the beast with an arrow.”
Ye Zan had never even seen a spirit beast. In the stories he’d heard, mainly from older mercenaries, they were fast and ferocious opponents. Even a squirrel became a deadly whirlwind of teeth and claws once it grew a core. It usually took an entire squad to take one down, and such was only usually accomplished by luring it into a trap.
He was expected to kill it with a spear.
Granted, he was a lot faster and stronger and tougher than he had been as a mortal, and he understood how to use his weapon a lot better. To say he was nervous was a major understatement, though.
The only reason he wasn’t scared out of his mind was because he had Senior Sister backing him up. If anyone could shoot an arrow through a beast’s eye at a hundred paces while the thing scampered about like its tail was afire, it was Yang Xiu. He’d never seen shots like the ones she’d made against those bandits.
Ye Zan was very glad they were on the same side.
“Good,” she said. “This is the same way that Master taught Brother and me. If you fail, there is no shame and no danger. You’ll get the next one or the one after that.”
He nodded. So did Huang Yimun.
“Now, take up your position and be silent. Follow me if I move. Watch for my hand signals.”
“Yes, Senior Sister,” they chorused.
“Silence!”
Both of them complied, waiting patiently as she used qi to extend her senses. Minutes that felt like hours later, she spoke quietly.
“It’s found us. Heading this way. Take your positions. I’ll be in a tree.”
She moved silently behind them, but Ye Zan paid her no attention. If there were one person in the clearing that he trusted to do the job correctly, it was her.
Usually, he would be giving his subordinate orders or encouragement, but that wasn’t his job today. He needed to get himself ready.
Huang Yimun would have to figure things out for himself, and if he didn’t, Yang Xiu was sure to give him an earful.
Ye Zan tightened his grip on his spear and loosened his shoulders, widened his stance. His heart still pounded, but it was the best he could do.
Soon, he heard rustling in the distance, and it was clearly moving toward him. He gripped the spear even tighter, pointing the tip at the distant noise.
The beast was moving fast, much faster than he could have sprinted. And from the racket it was making, it was big.
Big and slow was fine. Small and fast was fine. There was nothing worse than a big, fast opponent.
A bush on the opposite side of the clearing moved. The bottom limbs parted, revealing a creature’s gray and white face and black masked eyes. A raccoon.
Those things were accounted to be vicious even as mundane animals. He wouldn’t want to face the spirit beast version. But that was exactly what he was about to do.
He darted forward to grab its attention.
The move worked. It headed straight for him.
Ye Zan tried to circle to the left to get to the beast’s side as per the plan, but it didn’t work. The thing was too fast, too agile. Its course remained true.
It tensed its legs. He started his thrust before it left the ground. It leapt. He moved with all the speed his enhanced body could muster.
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The spear connected. Right through the heart.
One thrust, one kill.
Man, he hoped gaining experience fighting these things made him less tense. Otherwise, he didn’t think his heart could take it.
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For three full days, Zou Tian had watched one guard after another go out into the woods hunting spirit beasts with Senior Brother or Senior Sister. And he wasn’t resentful, per se. He understood that the guards would be depended on to defend the caravan from attacks if Master and the siblings were otherwise occupied.
But Zou Tian was more than ready for his turn, and it had finally come.
Yang Ru grunted.
“I’m ready, Senior Brother. Let’s go.”
It was just the two of them because his mission was slightly different than the guards’.
Master had pointed them toward the southwest where they’d find a rank one after “about a mile.” They sprinted, him silently and Senior Brother quietly, for the first half of that distance until Zou Tian stopped along a game trail.
“This looks like a good spot, Senior Brother.”
Yang Ru grunted.
“Remember the plan, Senior Brother. Do not kill the beast unless it is past me, or I’m in imminent danger. Master wants me to work on my Hide Presence against it.”
Yang Ru grunted harder.
“I know that you know, Senior Brother, but Master says that repeating the mission over and over again is good standard operating procedure.”
Yang Ru grunted.
“Exactly, Senior Brother. Now, let’s be silent. The beast should be here soon.”
Zou Tian stepped into the shadow of a tree and faded. At least, that was how he thought of it, like his entire being became lesser, like his presence reduced.
Shadows cloaked him. It was the same skill he’d used all his life to be less noticed, but since he’d become a cultivator and learned an actual technique, the ability had been supercharged. Actual shadows moved across his body, shielding him from view, lessening his scent, concealing even his spiritual presence according to Master.
Zou Tian waited silently. Still. Barely breathing. Motion attracted the eye. Motion produced sound.
Patient. Unmoving. Calm.
Rustling sounded in the distance. The beast was coming.
Zou Tian did not react in any way.
Closer and closer the sound moved, and still, he didn’t react.
As it approached, it slowed as it appeared in view, a fox with fiery red fur.
He felt its confusion. Yang Ru must have been like a bright shining light to its senses, but what was the dim glow at the edge of its perception?
If anything, Zou Tian grew even more still.
Nothing, little fox. He was nothing. The glow was nothing to be concerned about.
The beast sniffed the ground, inching closer to Zou Tian’s position.
His heartbeat was perfectly steady, its rhythm timed in minutes instead of seconds. He was still. Calm.
The fox drew closer.
Zou Tian willed the shadows to cover him tighter.
No. Wait. Something felt wrong.
He wasn’t meant to be the subject the shadows concealed. He was the shadow.
Become the shadow.
No. That was wrong, too. Why should he have to become what he already was?
He. Was. Shadow.
The fox slowly meandered past his position and focused on Yang Ru.
Behind the creature, Zou Tian quickly pulled both his daggers and plunged them into the beast’s back.
Yang Ru grunted.
“I know, Senior Brother. I was only supposed to hide. You were supposed to kill. But the attack was there for the taking. It felt right. How could I resist?”
Yang Ru grunted.
“No, Master won’t be mad. He’s going to be quite happy, in fact. I think I just reached Large Success.”
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Benton was ecstatic to receive the notification. The quickness of the advancement proved that he’d been right to give Zou Tian a shadow technique.
When the two boys returned from their successful hunt, Benton mildly chastised the younger one for killing the beast against instructions, but he could hardly blame Zou Tian under the circumstances. Even the best plans usually didn’t survive contact with an enemy. Things happened in the field, and Benton needed to trust his people to make those kinds of decisions.
Of course, in a sect, the reward for hard work was more work, so Benton gave Zou Tian a new technique to learn—Foundational Dagger Essentials. Benton had debated for a moment about making it shadow aspected, but there was little point to do so for general weapon techniques in the Qi Gathering realm.
That was his philosophy, anyway. Some clans and sects preferred to have all their people practice aspected techniques from the beginning, and Benton begrudgingly admitted there was some benefit to that practice. The type of qi influenced certain movements and styles. An earth aspected sword technique might focus more on defense. A wind one on speed. Etc.
Influenced heavily by the teachings of Su’s Flowing Tiger Sect, Benton wanted his disciples to learn the foundational essentials of their weapons first instead of concentrating immediately on just their unique style. Such specialization would come later once the basics were mastered.
The next day, Zou Tian reached Small Success in the dagger technique, a quick advancement due to his already having familiarity with the weapon. Benton also received notifications that five of his newest disciples from the town had reached minor realm two. Two days later, the rest of the eighteen had reached that milestone, and Xun Wu’s wife and son reached minor realm three.
Benton used the windfall to increase his primary attack technique to Large Success and to gain the Seeking Speeding Arrow Technique at Small Success.
The caravan continued on for another seventeen days, the spirit beasts growing in quantity and quality with rank twos and even rank threes appearing. The guards were only allowed to take on the rank twos in large groups with close supervision by Benton or one of the twins. They weren’t allowed to challenge the rank threes at all, those being reserved for the siblings working together or, in one case where multiples showed up at once, Benton joining in.
The disciples continued their steady growth during the travel, though only Shi Long and Zou Tian reached the next minor realm. Xun Wu’s wife and son also achieved Small Success with the bow technique.
With the orange walls of the village finally in sight midmorning of that seventeenth day, Benton called up his status for the last time of the voyage.
Sect Name: Not Chosen Sect Members: 0 Disciples: 55 Sect Points: 114 Shop Points: 59 Host Cultivation: Foundation Establishment - Minor Realm One Qi Available: 1,110 Host Body Cultivation: Bronze - Minor Realm Two Host Techniques (Qi Gathering): Analysis - Large Success Basic Archery - Large Success Basic Spear Combat - Large Success Pill Basics - Large Success Host Techniques (Foundation Establishment):
Layered Variable Shield Breaker with Void Finisher Weapon Augmentation – Large Success
Seeking Speeding Arrow – Small Success Menus: [Cultivation Method] [Technique] [Quest] [Perk] [Advancement] [Shop - LOCKED]