Time froze as Yu Chen locked eyes with the snake before him.

The black snake seemed as astonished to see him as Yu Chen was to see it, but the look of surprise quickly disappeared, replaced by a menacing gleam as it eyed the boy before it. The snake slowly lifted its form off of the forest floor, rearing back until its massive length loomed over Yu Chen. Its head tilted towards him, and a thick black tongue slid out of its mouth, flickering as it hissed threateningly.

Yu Chen gulped, his heart beating harder than ever before. He hesitated for half a second, before making the wise choice. He took off running through the undergrowth, his thoughts about the talismans he was supposed to place fleeing from his mind.

He began circulating his qi, flooding his legs with it as he ran all out, dashing around trees and tearing through bushes in a mad attempt to stay one step ahead of the creature that was crashing through the forest behind him. He glanced around as he ran, before picking a direction and angling towards the center of the clearing.

Or at least, where he thought the center was. It was a bit hard to get your bearings when a murderous snake was trying to kill you after all.

Another hiss came, filling his ears and sounding near enough to make him panic. He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see the snake rear back, tensing before it leaped towards him, its massive body leaving the earth as it flew through the air at Yu Chen. Yu Chen desperately dove out of the way, hitting the ground hard. The snake almost had him, but Yu Chen managed to escape by a hairsbreadth, and he watched as its black-scaled form flew past overhead. The snake disappeared from his sight, landing somewhere in the overgrown plant life that covered the floor of the ancient forest.

Yu Chen scrambled to his feet and took off, racing to escape before the snake reappeared.

Fear filled him as he shoved his way through the underbrush. Now that the snake was out of his sight, he felt more stressful if anything. He worried that it would reappear any moment, striking when he least expected.

Yu Chen tried to regain control of himself as he ran, taking deep breaths to slow the beating of his heart, which pounded like a physical force beneath his skin, reverberating throughout his entire body. Yet as hard as it beat every pump brought with it a surge of energy that washed away some of his fatigue, reenergizing him and allowing him to push through, despite his low level.

It even felt as though his emotions were changing with the beat of his heart, his previous fear giving way to a sort of ruthless focus that only grew stronger the more he ran.

The rustle of nearby bushes was the only warning he had. Yu Chen cursed, dropping to the forest floor, as the snake once again struck out of the forest at him. Rolling to his feet, he prepared to run, but the snake was prepared this time. It hadn’t overshot itself, and had already recovered, flicking its tongue menacingly as it slithered into a wide circle, surrounding the young boy.

Yu Chen darted to the side, attempting to escape before the snake could close the circle, but he had to dodge back as the snake’s head struck down at him. Again and again, he attempted to escape, and each time the snake corralled him back into the center of a circle that was becoming increasingly smaller.

This back and forth went on for a spell, the snake toying with him much like a cat with a mouse. Regardless of what he tried, the snake was simply faster, and was able to cut off his avenues of escape before Yu Chen could scramble out of the situation.

Surprisingly, despite the lengthy exchange Yu Chen didn’t feel exhausted. His qi was still lively, despite his continued usage, and every pump of his heart seemed to fill him with more of the endless energy.

The snake reared back, striking while he was distracted, and the world seemed to slow as it sprung towards him. Yu Chen knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid the attack this time. His mind had reached a state of complete focus, and with nothing left to lose, he once again flooded his legs with qi. This time, however, he didn’t simply flood them with qi, or even move according to the Condensing Fist forms, instead moving through the pattern of the technique that Xiao Huang had recreated for him.

As the snake closed in, he pushed, leaping to the left as he attempted to avoid its snapping fangs. To his surprise that one push hadn’t resulted in a simple short movement, but instead had sent him floating through the air, leaping clear over the snake and landing some distance away. He turned around, pleased to see the look of surprise and anger on the snake’s face as its meal escaped once again.

Yu Chen revolved his qi and pushed again. He continued in this way for a short while, channeling his qi according to the pattern of the Snow Goose’s technique. Every step he made sent him bounding through the forest, moving fast enough to rapidly outpace the snake that chased behind him.

He stumbled a bit the next time he landed, and decided to begin running on foot again, now that he’d cleared some distance between himself and the massive snake. His dantian now had a hollow feeling, and he finally began to feel as though he were running low on energy. The technique wasn’t cheap, having guzzled up his qi, a sizable chunk having evaporated despite only using the technique for a few steps.

Yu Chen decided to conserve what energy he had until he met up with the rest of his team.

The snake was gaining on him again, but Yu Chen could see the glade at the center of the forest and was making a beeline straight for it. It was now a race to see who would reach who first.

The sound of the snake crashing through the underbrush grew louder as the snake closed in. Yu Chen revolved his qi again, activating the technique once more to give himself one last burst of speed. He pushed off the ground and flew up, higher than the lowest tree branches.

He landed on one such branch and with a last grunt of effort pushed off it, bursting out of the forest and into the open clearing, and soaring over two boys who looked up in astonishment from beneath him.

“Snake!” Yu Chen yelled at the top of his lungs as he flew past, his heart pounding as he landed clean on the other end of the clearing.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

The two boys barely had time to react to his words before the snake burst out of the forest, sunlight gleaming off of its black-scaled form as it relentlessly chased after its prey.

It paused for a second, confused at the unexpected sight of more people. Its head flickered uncertainly between the two boys and Yu Chen in the distance, as it considered its options.

Jin Hua didn’t give it time to think, quickly throwing a rock at the snake to catch its attention.

“Over here dummy!” Jin Hua shouted, dodging as the snake struck out at him.

“Tell me you finished placing the damned flags!” Han Li yelled towards him, joining Jin Hua in distracting the snake.

“I ran into the snake before I could finish!” Yu Chen yelled back at the older boy.

Han Li let out a string of curses strong enough to make Yu Chen’s ears bleed.

“Well, what in the hell are you still standing around here for? Go finish the job! If I die because I get bit by this damned snake, I swear I’ll haunt seven generations of your family!” Han Li said as he avoided a strike from the snake’s tail as it whipped around towards him.

The snake paused its attack for a second, considering the two boys that had intercepted it. It turned a baleful eye towards Han Li, before rearing its head back and spitting, sending two streams of venomous liquid spewing towards the boy.

Han Li let out a vivid litany of curses as he danced out of the way, narrowly avoiding the attack that ate away at the ground and left two smoking holes where he’d been standing.

Yu Chen paled and turned, ready to run back out into the forest, when a hand fell on his shoulder. He hadn’t sensed anyone nearby and the sudden touch caused him to flinch.

“No need, the formation is complete.” A soft voice came from behind him, and he turned his head to see Xue Lan standing there smiling at him.

Yu Chen turned to look at the marred ground of the glade and the two holes where residual trails of smoke still appeared and raised a skeptical brow towards the girl.

She gave a very unladylike snort before lifting up a small compact disk that was inscribed with symbols that seemed to mysteriously change before his eyes.

“What is that?” Yu Chen asked, momentarily distracted from the fight happening in the background.

“An array disk. Place it in the center of the formation and put this in to power it, it will activate the array and neutralize the snake’s venom.” Xue Lan said, as she tossed the disk towards him along with a tiny spirit stone.

After saying as much she turned and made her way towards the fight. She slowly blended into the environment as she walked, until she melded completely, disappearing despite Yu Chen having watched her the entire time.

He looked towards the two boys who were still engaged in a frantic fight against the snake, made all the more difficult by their inability to risk taking on the asp in hand-to-hand combat.

Yu Chen made his way towards the center of the glade, denoted by a small patch of flowers that fluttered as he approached. They were doubtless the Moonlight Orchids Jin Hua had found.

The flowers became clearer as he neared, and their sight momentarily ensnared his mind.

The orchids had long slender stems, with thick, waxy leaves at the base. Each flower had three petals surrounded by three sepals, that danced entrancingly in a nonexistent wind. They were striped with the colors of midnight and pure white, separated by a dark purple that bled into both. The flowers shimmered in the light, appearing otherworldly to his young mind.

Yu Chen pulled himself together, doing his best to avoid stepping on the flowers as he made his way to the center of the patch, where he held up the array disk and quickly examined it. It was well made, created with some metallic material Yu Chen wasn’t familiar with, and intricately carved with esoteric symbols. There was a divot at the center of the disk, the exact size of which fit the spirit stone Xue Lan had given him.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, channeling his qi and letting it siphon off and into the stone as he filled it up. A shout of alarm reached him, and Yu Chen’s eyes shot open, seeing Jin Hua waving his arms at him in fear. He turned his head slightly and saw the giant snake had shifted its attention towards him, barreling its way towards him from across the clearing.

Yu Chen hurriedly shoved the stone into the disk, pushing at it until it slotted into place with the faintest of clicks. The symbols on the disk blazed to life, and Yu Chen dropped the disk, channeling his qi again as he used his new movement technique to leap far away from the flower patch.

The snake changed course as Yu Chen flew through the air, following him with a hungry gleam in its eyes as he soared towards one of the sides of the clearing. As Yu Chen landed, the air filled with a brief sensation of static, and then an invisible wave of power pulsed through the clearing, causing the snake to momentarily stop in its tracks.

“The formation is active!” Xue Lan called out, and Yu Chen looked over at her in shock, as she appeared nearby, seemingly from out of nowhere.

She thrust out her arm and a hook flew out of her sleeve, attached to a long length of rope. Yu Chen watched, dumbfounded as she whirled it over her head a few times before tossing it towards the snake, wrapping around its body and hooking it in place.

The snake tossed its head back, using every inch of corded muscle as it attempted to pull itself free. It proved strong enough to yank her from her feet, but Xue Lan turned out to be much stronger than she appeared. She landed with a grunt, and her qi churned, filling her entire form before condensing, solidifying in place as she dug her heels into the ground, straining to hold onto the rope.

Jin Hua and Han Li arrived to assist as Xue Lan struggled to hold the beast in place, and the cultivators sprung into action, forces of devastation now that they were free from the threat of its venom.

They launched countless blows at the snake, every strike filled with the force of condensed qi as they pummeled it into submission.

The snake hissed out in pain, rearing back as it attempted to spit venom again. Xue Lan gave a sharp tug at the rope right as it spat, sending the stream of venom flying off course. Despite the formation It still retained some potency, as two small holes once again appeared, smoking as they ate through the grass, but it was nothing compared to the wreckage of its earlier attacks.

Yu Chen roused himself and dove in to join the other boys, summoning his resentment as he lashed a foot up and into the side of the damned snake that had threatened his life. His qi flowed into the attack, almost, but not quite condensing as theirs did.

Regardless, he didn’t stop, throwing away the forms as he attacked the snake in rage, pivoting to drive his momentum into another punch that struck the black-scaled beast that had terrorized him. He unleashed blow after blow into the beast’s side, filling his blows with as much qi as he could as he sought to damage the snake.

Jin Hua and Han Li did the same, and it was clear to Yu Chen that Jin Hua was much more experienced in the Condensing Fist than the other boy. He was using the technique in ways Yu Chen had never imagined possible, condensing qi not only in his hands and feet, but also his elbows and knees, his head and any other part of his body he could utilize as a potential weapon to harm his foe.

Yu Chen had an epiphany, as he remembered the words Xiao Huang had spoken to him. This was what it meant to fight as a cultivator. There were no easy patterns or forms to fall back on when one's life was on the line. No, instead one’s whole body must become a weapon, capable of dealing damage in the most straightforward and ruthless ways possible if one wanted to press unerringly towards victory.

Emotion filled him, thoughts falling away only to be replaced by a single-minded desire to finish his foe before it could recover. He threw out another punch, and this time it felt different, his qi surging and condensing in a way it never had before. His next attack struck the snake with a deep thump, and he felt his blow reverberate through the snake, and saw the way it flinched in pain.

A grim smile spread across Yu Chen’s face, as the new emotions took hold, and he found himself overcome with the joy of battle. His smile slowly grew, as his heart pumped adrenaline through his veins and he relished in unleashing blows on his foes.

Every punch, every hit, was filled with a density of qi that smashed into his opponent, chipping black scales from its precious hide. His energy levels had begun to recover, his heart pumping energy into his body as qi surged in the environment, Yu Chen unwittingly drawing it towards him with every beat of his heart.

Even using the condensing fist as he wasn’t enough to outpace his rate of regeneration, and Yu Chen only felt himself growing stronger as the fight wore on, until with a last cry laced with pain, rage, and regret, the snake finally toppled over, unable to withstand the combined blows of the three boys.