Once the fight was over, Yu Chen was left with nothing but a hollow feeling in his core, the surge of energy that had filled him fleeing as fast as it came. The battle joy that had filled him also faded away, leaving behind a deep sense of exhaustion in its place.

“Good job.”

Yu Chen felt a strong hand squeeze his shoulder, and turned his head to see Xue Lan giving him a soft smile. He gave her a weary smile of his own in return, enjoying the rare praise as he looked around to see what the other two boys were doing.

Jin Hua and Han Li were already hard at work skinning the beast, salvaging what they could of its hide to take back with them. The black scales had been remarkably resistant, and Yu Chen was sure the hide would fetch quite a lot of contribution points.

Yu Chen watched as they hacked at the thing, until with a savage grin, Han Li pulled a small stone the size of a marble from the beast's stomach, holding it up to the light.

The marble glittered as it caught the light of day, casting a green haze, and Yu Chen could faintly make out some sort of wisps slowly spinning inside it.

“The beast’s core!” Jin Hua whooped in victory, and the rest of them joined in, filling the glade with a sense of excitement. It was Yu Chen’s first time seeing one, although he’d heard of them, and he wondered what purpose it served.

Jin Hua and Han Li returned to their butchery with renewed vigor, and with nothing left to do Yu Chen made his way towards the patch of Moonlight Orchids that had brought them here in the first place.

Xue Lan followed him, and stood beside him in silence as Yu Chen admired the flowers. They were gorgeous, just as beautiful as before, and unmarred, despite the recent battle that had shaken the glade. The sight of them eased his mind, calming his heart after the hectic fight that had just taken place.

Xue Lan broke from the spell first, and strode off into the midst of the flowers, in search of her array disk. Yu Chen followed after her, moving slowly as he looked around at the picturesque scene. He took a deep breath, enjoying the light sweet scent that filled the air when, out of the corner of his eye he noticed something strange.

Curious, he changed his path, walking over to the strange spot. It was a small depression that lay in the midst of the flower patch, a trail of crushed flowers leading from it. He frowned, bending down as he examined the area, and to his surprise found what looked to be small pieces of cracked black pottery littering the area.

He picked up a couple of the pieces, looking at them in confusion as he examined them. He rearranged them in his hands, finding they fit together along one edge. Intrigued, he picked up a couple more pieces, rearranging them in his hands as he assembled them.

To his surprise he began to recognize the shape that was gradually unveiled. He’d only arranged one side, but already he could tell it wasn’t pottery at all, but what looked like some sort of strange eggshell.

He cast a fascinated glance around, wondering if the creature that had spawned here was still nearby. However, try as he might, he couldn't spot anything other than Xue Lan in the nearby vicinity.

“To your left!” An annoyed voice rumbled through Yu Chen’s head, and he felt a moment of disorientation at the unexpected sound.

“Since when can you speak whenever you please?” Yu Chen thought in his mind, shocked at the unexpected intrusion.

A snort of annoyance reverberated throughout Yu Chen’s mind.

“You pull so hard at your bloodline and act surprised when it responds? Using your gift drags me closer to the surface, hatchling.” Xiao Huang’s deep voice rumbled within his mind.

Yu Chen paused, considering the dragon’s words. What did he mean by pulling at his bloodline? He supposed there was that feeling he got during battle, once his heart was well and truly pumping, filling him with energy and a sense of reckless abandon. He’d thought it a kind of battle lust, the sort he’d heard older cultivators talk about before.

Was it in truth another gift from Xiao Huang? Yu Chen patted his chest in astonishment. He’d inherited a bloodline, and blood did come from the heart after all.

“Perhaps deal with the matter at hand first?” The dragon rumbled in irritation.

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Yu Chen’s face flushed as he turned, cocking an eye at the flower patch on his left-hand side. He bent down and cast a critical gaze over the area but could see nothing out of the ordinary.

“Not with your eyes!” The dragon reprimanded him, and Yu Chen winced as the sound of its voice battered the inside of his skull. “Sense it, look for what is out of place within the eddying flows of energy.”

Yu Chen nodded, closing his eyes briefly as he reached out with his other senses. He opened his eyes, and the world was once again alive with heavenly energy. It diffused throughout the air, moving in ambient waves as it drifted, pushed along by some impetus Yu Chen was unaware of.

It was also concentrated within the flower patch, every single orchid laden and rich with qi, filled with many times the amount as the surrounding trees and grasses. To the extent that they actually emitted it, causing the glade to contain a density of qi that was several times thicker than the surrounding area.

Now that Yu Chen could see this, he wished to stay here a while, to cultivate in peace. The thick qi would do wonders for his cultivation, pushing him towards the next level much faster than he could manage back in the sect.

He shook the thoughts away and concentrated on the area that Xiao Huang had pointed out to him. As he focused, he could just make out another source of qi hidden in the depths of the flower patch, a small bundle of energy that was wrapped tightly around the base of one of the Orchid’s stems, and he could sense a slight tremble in its form.

“Come out.” He called softly towards the creature. He was unsure why he did, but he felt compelled to do so.

The small bundle of energy stilled its movements, as though it thought there was a chance to still avoid his detection. Yu Chen repeated himself once more, but this time his words were filled with a surprising sense of authority.

He sensed the energy slowly unwind itself from the stem of the orchid, before slithering out of the flower patch and into the empty depression before Yu Chen. Yu Chen was surprised to see it was a small serpent, a bit shorter than his forearm. Unlike the larger snake, this one was only partially covered in black scales, the rest shot through with purple and white like the orchids it had been born amongst.

As Yu Chen watched, the small snake suddenly reared its head, causing the boy to fall back in alarm, but the small snake didn’t strike but instead slammed its head into the ground. It repeated the strange movement twice before falling still and laying there, unmoving.

“Did… did that snake just kowtow to me?” Yu Chen thought in bewilderment.

“Very good.” Xiao Huang rumbled in satisfaction, while Yu Chen sat there in stupefaction, trying to figure out what’s going on.

“What’s good about it?” Yu Chen replied in confusion, dumbfounded by the strange activity of the tiny spirit beast.

“It’s recognized your authority of course, submitting itself to your will. Its life is now yours to determine what to do with.”

Yu Chen was unsure what to make of the situation. It had recognized his authority? What authority? And, if this little one could recognize it, why didn’t its mother?

Another snort filled his mind.

“Obviously, it recognizes your bloodline. Among spirit beasts, those that are naturally inferior submit to the strong, in accordance with the natural order.” Xiao Huang said, lecturing the boy. “And the mother did recognize you, which is why she chased you for so long. She was faced with the decision to submit or rebel. She determined that she was more powerful than you and decided that you would better serve as food, rather than master.”

“After all, there are other ways to acquire a bloodline than through birth. Although most of them involve consumption in one form or another.”

Yu Chen slowly nodded his head as he considered what to do with the little snake that had submitted itself before him. He glanced around, filling a tinge of guilt as his eyes landed on the corpse of the large snake laying in the distance, and a sense of urgency filled him as he saw Jin Hua and Han Li beginning to make their way over towards them.

“Is it a threat to me?” He quickly thought in his head.

“No.” Xiao Huang rumbled back in reply. Yu Chen made up his mind, and held his hand out near the little snake, quietly urging it to climb up his arm. The serpent hesitated for half a second, but it had already succumbed to its fate, slithering across the boy's skin as it sought refuge within the sleeves of his robe.

Yu Chen nibbled at his lip, a bit worried about having a venomous snake resting so close to his skin, but if Xiao Huang had said it was safe then he’d believe the dragon. Perhaps he could find him a new home, or maybe the little guy would make a nice pet, although he’d have to ensure he could feed it properly. He couldn’t help but feel responsible for the small thing, worried as he was about its chances to survive in the forest after the untimely death of its mother.

Yu Chen stood up, dusting himself off as the snake made itself comfortable somewhere deep within his robes. Finished, he turned, stepping out of the flower patch and making his way over to greet the other two boys as they approached.

“Well fought!” Jin Hua said, beaming at Yu Chen as he slapped him on the shoulder. “It looks like you had another breakthrough as well, how auspicious!”

Yu Chen thanked him, exchanging a few quick words with his friend before Han Li walked up.

“You weren’t half bad. A damned sight better than I expected.” Han Li said, as he gazed at Yu Chen, and a wild look still lurked in his eye. Blood was streaked across the boy’s doll-like face, and a happy smile hung on his lips. “What was that movement technique you used? I don’t think I’ve seen it before.”

“Just something I picked up in the Manual Pavilion.” Yu Chen replied easily, a good deal more comfortable with the boy now that they had fought side by side.

“Should we take the chance to rest and recover?” Xue Lan said as she rejoined the group, her array disk back in hand.

Jin Hua looked around, considering the area before nodding in affirmation. “The energy is thick here. We might as well absorb what we can before we gather the flowers and head back. The snake’s territory should still be safe for some time.”

The others happily agreed, spreading out and taking a seat at the various corners of the flower garden before entering a meditative state one by one. Yu Chen breathed deeply, enjoying the scent of the flowers and relaxing into the thick energy that whirled around him, flooding his dantian.

He sat there as time passed, running through the events of the day in his mind. He’d finally managed to properly use the Condensing Fist, and he’d even managed to utilize the new movement technique he’d learned. Although he could still feel that there was plenty of room to improve there. He didn’t believe he’d even scratched the surface of what the technique could offer.

In truth, he hadn’t even properly utilized the technique. He hadn’t practiced it before as some of the pathways he needed to send qi down were clogged, his meridians blocked and unusable. He’d used only a shallow imitation, his qi having to travel through the inefficient pathways available, sharply diminishing the efficacy of the technique.

Soon enough his meditations came to an end. The energy in the air had begun to thin out, causing the cultivators to stir and awaken. Yu Chen stood up, and his dantian felt surprisingly full, and he could tell that he’d managed to accumulate a good deal more energy than before.

After all, the dantian was like a muscle that had to be continually worked and stretched to grow, and the battle had turned out to be very beneficial to his development. He could already feel himself pressing at the boundaries of the second level, this one trip having saved him several weeks of gradual cultivation.

Yu Chen raised a hand to his waist, feeling the small warm lump that rested against his belly, laying atop his belt, and smiled as he felt the snake respond to his touch. He turned, joining the others as they began to gather the flowers and prepare for their return to the sect.