Yu Chen breathed out, his breath misting before him. It was deep winter, and the land around his cave was covered in a thick layer of snow, blanketing the world in a serene whiteness. The nearby stream had frozen over, and the fish in the pond were in a deep hibernation beneath a layer of ice. The fruit trees and wild greens he’d survived on were also long gone, having gone dormant for the year.
A soft crunch of something stepping on snow entered his ears, and Yu Chen exploded into a flurry of motion, circulating his qi as he quickly struck out at the unsuspecting spirit beast. The hare leaped in surprise as he approached, attempting to bound away, but he had timed it perfectly, catching the poor beast in midair.
Yu Chen let out a wolfish grin as he wrung its neck, securing dinner for the day, before making his way back towards his home. He skinned the beast outside his cave, pushing its core into Lue She’s sleeping mouth, before spearing the rabbit and placing it over the fire he’d built.
Once finished he rolled the skin up, taking it into the cave and unceremoniously depositing it into a pile that had grown large over the last few months. He still had yet to return to the sect, having been content to spend his days here meditating.
Despite his seemingly primitive life, it was actually a lavish one by any cultivator’s standard. He feasted on the flesh of spiritual beasts every day and drank his fill from the spiritual waters in the cave. He meditated on top of an energy well. His days were spent practicing his martial forms, perfecting his techniques, and increasing his cultivation.
Due to the advantages here, he’d made great strides in moving through the Qi Stabilization level, despite lacking the medicines the other cultivators in the sect relied on to speed up their cultivation. Already, he felt himself touching the boundaries of this level, and knew he would soon be ready to take the next step.
It was a bittersweet feeling.
It meant he’d have to return to the sect soon, but he found he’d come to appreciate this life. He loved the outdoors. He’d found he was the type to not only survive in the wild but thrive, and he felt more himself here than he had back in civilization. He thought he could live like this forever. A rough life in the wilderness might not be for others, but for Yu Chen it was a tonic for his mind and soul.
His time in the wild had been formative for Lue She as well.
The tiny snake had spent most of it in hibernation, only awakening to feed on her diet of beast cores. She hadn’t grown much longer, perhaps another handspan, but her scales were now sleek and lustrous, and her presence had grown in Yu Chen’s senses, appearing as a bundle of potent energy.
He left the cave, returning to the surface, thinking about his plans for the future as he squatted, eating the roasted hare. Its skin crackled beneath his teeth, the meat rich and oily from its winter fat.
He would take the hides with him, as many of them as he could carry, and hopefully he would be able to earn some decent contribution from the spirit beast skins. He’d use that to purchase another set of qi gathering pills and prepare himself to break through to the Qi Refinement level.
It would be good to see his friends again and see how things had changed for them over the last few months, although the issue of the Feng brothers still hung over him like a storm cloud. He doubted the passage of time had managed to cool their enmity, and Yu Chen wasn’t ready to let it go either.
Twice now they had assaulted him, robbing him of what was his.
The next time they met Yu Chen would be the aggressor. He clenched a fist, feeling the coiled energy within his muscles tighten beneath his skin. He had done all he could for now, and once he stepped into the next level, he’d approach the two and beat them senseless.
He stood, throwing the remains of the rabbit into the fire before kicking snow over the flames, burying them. He turned away, entering the cave once again.
He gave the cave he’d called home one last look. A large pool of water filled the center of the cavern, its spiritual waters illuminating the room. A pile of various dried grasses lay in one corner, the simple bed he’d made to sleep in, and a bunch of animal skins were piled into a dark corner of the cave, far enough away to limit the stench they’d produced, but in truth Yu Chen was long used to the smell.
And of course, a small crack lay in the ground, gushing forth invisible energy from the bowels of the earth.
He’d be back, if he could. This place was still the best area for cultivation he could dream of, and he wouldn’t give it up until he had to. He made his way towards the pile of skins, picking through them as he determined which ones to take.
He first picked out those that were the lightest, many of them smaller spirit beasts he’d caught. Then he chose the most valuable, picking out the panther’s skin, as well as those belonging to a few more predators he’d encountered. He rolled them all together, and hefted the bundle, deciding he had room for a few more.
Once he was finished, he strode out of the cave. He’d long since figured out the direction back, and dashed off in the direction of the mountain peak belonging to the sect.
He ran fast through the familiar forest. The trees were now tall and bare of leaves, and their branches bent low, hanging heavy with snow. The forest floor that was once a vibrant riot of greens was now hidden beneath a layer of snow that softened its contours, rocks, roots and fallen logs disappearing into blanket uniformity.
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He’d left the cave in the early morning, but despite his new physique and increased speed, it still took him most of the day to arrive at the base of the mountain. A sense of nostalgia filled him as he looked around, still able to make out familiar pathways despite the depths of winter.
Without further waiting he ran up the side of the mountain, each step he took light and balanced. The undergrowth didn’t hinder him. This journey was much different from the first time he’d climbed the mountain, tearing through the undergrowth in the dark. Now he lightly leaped over obstacles, clearing chasms he once would have found dangerous as he made his way upwards.
It wasn’t long before he could make out the gates of the sect in the distance, and with a happy grin he circulated his qi, dashing towards the sect. However, before he could get much closer, two massive qi signatures appeared in his senses, approaching fast. Their presence hit him like a wall, and his movements slowed, feeling as though he were running through jelly as the combined force of two Foundation Establishment cultivators fell on him.
“Halt!” A booming voice cried out, and Yu Chen’s steps faltered, coming to a stop.
Zhang Lie and an unknown cultivator landed nearby, both of them frowning as they observed him.
“Uninvited guests are not welcome, cultivator. State your business or leave.” Zhang Lie said, as he glared towards Yu Chen, and the other man with him slowly moved, circling around the other side of the boy.
A bemused smile crossed Yu Chen’s face at the rough welcome, and he let out a low laugh.
“Is this how you greet your junior brother?” Yu Chen asked helplessly.
“Junior?” Zhang Lie said, his brows creasing in anger. “Every cultivator who has left the sect recently is accounted for, and I do not recognize you. I don’t know what game you are playing, but I assure you, the Golden Mist sect is not the place for them.”
Yu Chen scratched his head in confusion as considered the older man.
“Do you really not recognize me? I am Yu Chen. I admit it’s been some time, but you once showed me around the sect and did me a favor by holding onto some pills for me.”
Zhang Lie looked like lightning had struck him. Recognition dawned in his eyes as he looked the strange boy over. Yu Chen had grown in his time away. He had always been tall for his age, but he’d grown a few more fingers in height. His skin, still bronzed from summer, covered muscles that rippled with strength, and a nasty scar crossed the right side of his body.
Zhang Lie compared the current image with the shy boy who he’d once walked around the sect nearly a year ago and felt a sense of disorientation as the two images collided. The boy before him now gave off a palpable sense of danger, despite his cultivation level being rather low, and something about his body reminded him of Elder Gu.
“Yu Chen? We thought you were dead! Where have you been the last few months?” Zhang Lie asked in bewilderment.
Zhang Lie and the unknown cultivator were shocked to hear about how he’d survived, and before long, he found himself quickly brought in out of the cold, telling his story in the guardhouse close beside a roaring fire.
Zhang Lie left for a time before returning to tell Yu Chen he’d sent an outer sect disciple to fetch him some new robes, only after informing Elder Gu of course.
They provided food for him as they waited there for the elder to arrive, and Yu Chen happily slurped at the bowl of thick stew, exchanging anecdotes with the two older boys. Before long the door to the sect slammed open, and Yu Chen experienced Deja vu as a grizzled old man strode into the room.
He quickly stood, bowing low with the other two cultivators, but the Elder impatiently waved at them to stop.
“So, you’ve come back. Well then, tell me about it.” The elder said, fixing Yu Chen with a stern gaze, his eyebrows furrowing as he stared down at him.
Yu Chen launched into a brief explanation of his time in the wild, beginning with his encounter with the Feng brothers. He was careful with his words, not wanting the elder to think he was trying to denigrate others but gave him a close approximation of the truth. He even told the elder of Lue She, pointing towards where she curled around his bicep asleep.
He spun a tale about finding an earthly treasure that he’d used to refine his body, but he’d omitted any mention of the cave, having long decided to keep it a secret.
The elder remained quiet as Yu Chen spoke, and any thoughts he had were a mystery. Yu Chen finished speaking and the silence stretched as the elder kept his gaze on him without speaking, long enough that the boy started shifting uncomfortably.
Finally, Elder Gu turned his head, looking towards the bundle of skins laying on the floor, and Yu Chen got a good look at the ruined cartilage the man called an ear.
“That’s a large pile. You killed all these beasts?” The elder asked, his tone giving no indication of what he was thinking.
“And more. Those are the ones I could carry back, elder.” Yu Chen respectfully replied.
“Hmm.” The elder said. “And the cores?”
“I fed them to my spirit beast.”
Elder Gu looked at the snake on his arm and nodded slowly, although a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.
“Show me the forms.” The Elder said quietly.
Yu Chen paused for a moment, looking around, but the two foundation cultivators had already begun pushing tables and chairs out of the way, clearing a space for him.
Yu Chen shrugged, walking into the middle of the empty room, and began going through the forms he’d long practiced. He flowed effortlessly into the first movement, and then into the second, each punch snapping forth with the full power of the Condensing Fist. He pivoted, the third movement a kick, and then into the fourth. Each movement was perfect, economical, displaying no wasted effort or qi as he went through them.
He repeated the movements a second time and had started into the third when he noticed the elder beginning to lose interest, sitting up. Yu Chen smiled, thinking of what a little dragon had once told him. The forms were just forms, and so Yu Chen adjusted them, adding in movements he’d begun practicing himself.
His kick turned into a knee, the qi traveling a shorter distance before condensing in a devastating strike. He used his momentum to strike forward, throwing an overhand fist, before spinning, moving his qi into his elbow and unleashing a deadly strike that cracked the air.
Elder Gu was sitting forward now, his eyes shining as he looked at Yu Chen. He didn’t say anything as the boy continued his movements, no longer the standardized forms of the sect.
Yu Chen didn’t notice. In his mind he was no longer within the guardhouse, he was back in the forest, fighting a mental creation in the form of a Shadow Panther. He ducked as the cat leaped at him and twisted, lashing out at it with a foot that sent it flying. He turned with the movement, driving an elbow into the face of another one that had appeared behind his back. There was a frantic flurry of motion that followed, as he fought desperately within his mind. By now he'd thrown away the forms completely, even going so far as to condense qi into his shoulder, ramming an invisible foe.
This was the way Yu Chen trained these days, replaying fights between him and his strongest foes, meticulously piecing together how to improve his fights. He finally came to a halt, his body warm and primed, and opened his eyes, breathing lightly.
His eyes met Elder Gu’s, seeing the man staring at him with a look of excitement.