But why then, did the Twelve Divine Beasts bring themselves so low?

To guess at the mind of such unfathomable creatures inspires only madness.

The True Demonic Horde posed no more threat to their territories than we base Humans. The Primordial Qi was pristine, and unmolested by our touch, bowing only to the command of Heaven and all that is natural within its scope.

Why then, did they deny those above, and grant an ancient few the right to syphon their power?

I will tell you, disciples, that you might waste your lives no more than this lonely Immortal has.

It was pity.

- Introductory quotation from a lecture by the Daoist Scholar Empty Peak, True Saint Realm instructor of the Clear Sky Empire’s Archive House.

Fu was certain that his form matched the diagrams within Luo’s tome. Yet still his Qi did not reach the stage of agitation that Mei had highlighted. Empty handed, or bare fisted, he swept his hands slowly.

The terms within are more complicated, I must focus. Master Luo would not have left this to me if it was not suited.

He ran through the motions of his arms, releasing a small curse. He then ran through the minute graduations of movement as he had done for the last hour or two since waking.

It felt counter-intuitive to move at the pace of a snail, yet despite the speed his limbs ached at a frequency that he had scarcely come across in his life.

From the first step forward that swept loose granules of stone further towards the cliff’s edge, to the separation of his two arms, snaking tightly in opposing directions as if drawing back a bow. Each extension there, and that followed into subsequent movements, was an agony unto itself.

“You forget your footwork once more,” called Mei, quite content in her nearby seat, motionless and quite relieved of pain.

Again Fu cursed, resetting his position. The second set of movements in the [Stifling Stream Revolutions] included a sharp draw of momentum, in which he would duck low while… “This shift of footwork,” he asked.

“Attracting into emptiness,” confirmed Mei.

Again.

“It is unnatural to expect a man of my age to bend this way.” Fu demonstrated the motion, flawlessly performing the first set of glacially slow blows with his hands and arms.

Only to fail as he twisted, ducked, and promptly landed on his rear end as his leg drew up for a kick that saw the sole of his foot try to match the height of his head.

“My [Dantian], there is only a small jolt of movement in the first set, can we not focus instead on this?”

Mei shook her head. “An [Art] is an attributed technique that forces your [Inner Qi] to behave in such a way that a specific effect is reached. Were you training to learn one of these, either bestowed or learned through a manual, you might stop as you please. This treasure of a tome you most fatefully stumbled upon is something different. A cultivation guide with dual purpose, as though it was placed before you to teach you both how to defend yourself, and how to continuously draw and cycle Qi while doing so. If it were simply an [Art] you could take incremental steps towards understanding. To do so with a cultivation guide is potentially harmful.”

“How then-” Fu began, halfway through the treacherous ducking as he spoke. “-hrngh. How then do the Azure Shoal Sect’s disciples progress at all? The brilliance of youth is not wasted on me, but are all steps not incremental? If that word means what I believe it to.”

“Few disciples would ever lay their eyes on a cultivation guide, let alone one of this quality. Remember that I was less than an outer disciple, privy only to what I could hear and the tomes my mother allowed me to study. My understanding is far less than you believe, although far above your own. Sect cultivators are taught in classes, in lectures or in training, and those who are significant enough may even be personal disciples of an Elder, receiving an education that far surpasses those below them. Yet this is affinity led, and done through techniques appropriate for the stage of cultivation. Loose cultivators are few in Thousand Shore City, yet I believe that they all begin with the same format. Intrinsically.”

Fu walked over to her rock, drenched in sweat. A salty tang present in every gasped breath. He stood to the side of Mei, glancing over her shoulder at the open cultivation manual as she flicked through an assortment of texts back to the diagrams he should be performing. “I do not know that word.”

“Knowledge of how to cultivate comes from your Bond. Hushi’s natural method of Qi accumulation and circulation will be appropriate for you to progress through your first set of [Meridians], though it is unrefined, and untested by those who have come before. Hence, the benefit of Sect education,” she explained.

At her side, Fu mimed the actions he was to take again, only stopping before he slapped Mei with the sole of his foot.

She has read me precious little of the pages within here, and fewer yet I can recall. What was the term? [Spirituality]? Before Hushi and I bonded he was already cultivating his Qi, else he would not be a Spirit Beast. I shall ask him for help.

Fu impressed his need for the octopus to surface through their link, and he did so, dropping to hang around his neck.

“Hushi, I would appreciate your help.” Taking up his position near the cliff’s edge, the movements began again. Fu passed the first set of blows with ease, and further slowed during his rotational duck. A dangle of teal arms spread around his body, with Hushi coiling each around his waist, his legs and his arms.

Light, as though the [Spirit Beast] was made of Air himself.

At the peak of the kick, Hushi constricted, marionetting Fu’s movements in order to steady him. A sequence of ebbing and flowing limbs entangled him, and a pressure between them constantly corrected to deliver the skyward kick perfectly.

“Continue!” urged Mei, and he did.

The second set of motions were almost ingrained into the back of Fu’s eyes, and his foot snapped down into a stomp, granting him the momentum to follow on with another set of movements.

With snaking hands did he carve through the air, an inverse of the preceding actions driven on with an alternative leading foot. The kick came again, and Hushi’s arms held true in their corrections, granting him leave to flow towards the final set.

[Air Qi] suddenly whirled around his [Dantian], excited and swift. The gaseous energy wound itself into a shape inside him, evoking an image of corded rope. It spiralled upwards, aligning the Qi and compressing it with each step of the movements he had taken.

Upon taking the first step forward of his third and final set, his [Ink] thrummed with a fresh influx, adding to the shape’s density and punching it up through his [Channels].

Assaulted with weariness, Fu thanked the Heavens for Hushi. His limbs felt leaden and his joints felt torn, yet with the octopus’ help, he battled forwards. This set differed from the last, leading with a series of snapping kicks, and overlapping punches that the Qi showed to react to, no matter how slow he performed them.

Culminating in the final blow, a final repetition of the kick that troubled him so. Fu wheezed out in pain, overcome by both the inordinate toll it took on his physical body, and the vortex of [Inner Qi] that scraped his [Channels] raw.

At the final plant of his foot, he crashed to his knees. The [Stifling Stream Revolutions] were complete, yet only externally. Within, the Qi rampaged, driving this spiral construct towards the nearest blockage of sand at the edge of his next [Meridian] and drilling deep through all but the final defences before it.

“What…” he gasped. “What is the danger… of… improper use… if this is the feeling of success?”

Beyond his periphery, Mei started walking over. Soon helping him to his feet. “With respect Fu, we should save our breath for now. The Heavens may smile on your success, yet we have stood here exposed for too long. I would not further test our… fortune.”

Knowing her thoughts to be wise, Fu suppressed the urge for further questions. Choosing instead to save both his curiosity, and the fresh heat surrounding his [Ink], for a time when he could not feel the hungry eyes of many a [Spirit Beast] upon them.

🀧

A set of two revelations distracted Fu some time later. A time some few hours after they had returned to, and left, their cave once more. Prideful eyes trailed across the ethereal parchment of his [Ink], though only his own, Mei it seemed, could not glance upon it.

He recalled the first having come during his fight with the [Spirit Canines], blinded as he had been. The burn on his arm surfaced when he had found himself fortunate in striking one down without the use of his eyes. The second, was more obvious, having come when he completed a full cycle of the [Stifling Stream Revolutions].

The increase to the values upon his [Ink] was a pleasant surprise, and caused him to glance once more at the new, named categories that had come along with the increase to his [Control].

Of a semi-translucent nature, Fu found that his [Ink] did not inhibit his vision entirely. Though to stare it at now was foolish. Mortals roamed the meadows where they had stolen down to, and were at work gathering the petals of each lilac flower they came across.

An effort that left most portions barren of any colour save for the stalks.

“We are too close,” he warned Mei.

Close as he was, all Fu could see of his accomplice amounted to hair. Muddied strands loosely bound by a single reed he had knotted for her, and Mei’s head appeared as a darkened island in this sea of [Spirit Herbs]. Both were crouched low, nestled as not to alert the stray cultivators that might glance towards the cliff’s base at their rear.

“You will need to be closer yet to pass back through the [Paifang], Fu.”

“That journey does not take place today, this you know. My thoughts on this were clear, we should not near the encampment until the [Season] ends.” His worry was clearly felt, and Hushi’s arms snaked reassuringly to his shoulder.

In an expression that would not be uncommon to see upon either of Fu’s daughters, Mei flashed him a petulant scowl.

That look is one I could silence easily in the past, and my children were raised to show respect. Yet she is not my daughter, she does not answer to me. Nor do any in this accursed [Mystic Realm].

The answer he had given was to her visible distaste, prolonged for a length of minutes until it sank into further consternation. “How may we approach at a later date if we do not know their number, or their situation? Would you stake the lives of your children on a rush in the final hours without first scouting the area?”

“Such scouting can be done from afar. This is reasonless. You secured my word to travel here with the promise that we would go no further than the meadow’s outer edge. Mei, think, we will be seen if we move any further.”

This is too eager of her. Unlike what I know of her in our short time together.

Still, she edged further towards the centre. One step at a time. The flowers near her quivered, even as she stilled, and Fu saw glimpses of her [Spirit Beast] curl closer into the crook of her neck each passing moment.

The distance between them grew, leaving Fu to watch.

Her form in the fading light of this mid-[Summer] day was not so hidden that he could not track her progress, and he wagered that this would also strike true for the brigands beyond. Their figures were more imposing, patrolling, illuminated by the glow of their own Bonds.

Higher where the meadow gently crested to fall slowly towards where the paifang stood tall.

Mei had reached a clear line of demarcation, a thinning of petals that would leave her bare to the eyes of any should she cross it.

Which the foolish girl did.

An unsubtle curse left Fu, flying as his feet pushed ahead. It was not a peaceful passage, and he shred many a petal on his route.

“Be my eyes, Hushi,” he whispered, falling almost to all fours in his pursuit of the young woman. The octopus sent his assent, sprawling forth from the douli on Fu’s back to mount his shoulders, feeling at the surrounding [Air Qi].

Nudges born of teal arms guided his feet, allowing him to remain out of sight as he bolted towards Mei.

Coming upon the line where mortals had cleansed the area of colour. He crouched here, pushing his head just beyond to try and glean her location, finding that she was another twenty paces ahead already.

What Demons have possessed her to act such as this?

She had stolen further to the side, her belly to the ground. Poorly masked from the mortal man there whose head whipped around as if searching for a noise he could not place.

Fright could be made out on his ageing face, bunched wrinkles so profound Fu could see them from this distance. There was a scuffle of feet, a backtracking from Mei’s location, though it settled quickly with a return to his previous work.

Only now his lips moved, and the low patter of exchanged words reached Fu’s ears.

About to once more question Mei's foolishness, he stopped. For in the queer moments of discovery regarding his cultivation, Fu had been neglectful.

“A mouse creeps about these meadows!” shouted the closest of the distant cultivators, and Fu’s attention shifted to train upon a woman with her hand cupped to her ear. She was twice again as far from Mei as he was, and Fu thought it no small feat that she had detected the muted conversation.

The cry rallied the sparse group of cultivators throughout the meadow, and they all looked to the source. There were calls for clarification, although some appeared to be dismissive.

“This time there is no false alarm!” the cultivator called again, levelling a finger towards the old man. “My ears hear clearly, and a fresh voice is added to the mortals!” Either because the situation demanded it, or to show her belief, the woman’s Bond swelled.

A marvellous [Spirit Beast] took to the air behind her, a golden, shimmering eel that looked to use the surrounding breeze as its water.

Fu felt a sweat rise on his back, for the creature’s size was easily as long as this woman was tall. Reminiscent of the beasts Bonded to the Cloudy Serpent Sect, if a pale comparison to their Heavenly power.

Already, Fu battered towards Mei. Deftly, he plucked her from the ground and pushed her to move. “Was I to stay still, they would not have found me!” she hissed.

“By your own words, that is a [Spirit] cultivator, no? You say those on that path can hear a feather fall from many li away. Discovery was certain.”

Mei growled out a sigh, her effort undermined as she immediately started to lag behind.

It was then that a sudden gust ripped into their backs, propelling the pair forwards. Mei stumbled off balance, gasping out in pain as she rolled into a spray of flowers.

Yet Fu was not affected to that extent, feeling only the cold upon his skin that this sudden burst granted. In a single step, he readjusted his position, whirling back to scoop her up.

A safer time might have brought a reflection on his current [Resilience], but it was a foolish subject to dwell on in combat.

The young woman was light in his arms, slowing his gait to a speed that was still vastly higher than anything a mortal might hope to achieve. Akin more to a series of bounds than a sprint, the surrounding meadow whipped by with their passage.

“Towards the-”

A second and third burst of air throttled by, a corridor of channelled energy uprooting ground and flower alike as it vengefully . “The river?” asked Fu, only minorly stung by the attack.

Mei’s next words choked out, empty gasps that spilled out over the series of scratches welling upon her face.

The wind did this? An energy that is not [Air Qi] alone. What a danger these brigands are!

A chorus of further cries heralded fresh pursuers, rising from the meadow behind. Errant streaks of [Qi] formed prickles down Fu’s spine just from their distant emergence. Detectable shifts in the ambient energy, birthed as the cultivators presumably enlarged their Bonds to give chase.

Fu did not dare to look back, only hammering forwards. The same gentle waters that he had seen upon entering the [Mystic Realm] ran ahead, if not a different section. A shore beyond that was clear until the forest began.

Apparent safety once the cultivators were outrun.

At the end of a splutter, Mei pointed her arm to the left, and Fu could not see why.

That will bring us closer to the brigands.

He shook his head, staying the course until Hushi forced a feeling of urgency. It meshed with a niggle in the rear of his mind, and he suddenly ducked.

The passage of air was distorted by a hand grasping above his head, followed by a grunt of dismay. “Stay still, vagrant!”

“Give up your chase,” he replied, stepping into a sprint.

A cultivator had reached him, and came up beside him at alarming speed. Another dirtied villain with the skill to match Fu’s pace.

In a jerk, Fu dodged several clumsy blows, slowing and leaping when required, well aware that each time he did the others reduced their distance.

Mei was clutched tight in his arms, and now she pushed out to speak. “Cross the river, and ensure this one does not follow!”

“They mean to cross the river!” shouted the pursuer, and a glow of yellow light descended from the Heavens with a second cry.

Hushi showed more alarm with this act, and at the next dodge he mounted Fu’s head, enlarging.

The cry was avian, marking a dive by whatever manner of [Spirit Beast] was above, and it was fast. Fu could feel it coming, twisting the Qi around it to pull it towards the ground at a far expedited rate.

Before he knew it, the creature had blurred past to rip a great gouge from his back, sinking deeper than his [Resilience] could bear.

He cried out, sloshing into the river at a stumble while his [Dantian] reacted to this attack. It felt breathless, suppressed by the hostile energy. Painful to a fault. “[Earth Qi],” he grunted, his legs slowed by water.

“Remove them!” commanded Mei. The young woman dislodged herself from his grip, dropping wetly to free his hands.

Acting through the surprise saw Fu round on the cultivator, bringing his hands up in the opening set of the [Stifling Stream Revolutions]. Only to have a skull come crashing into his own, shattering his nose completely.

Water thrashed upwards, claiming him as his head blurred from the blow. Half of him was immersed, and the dry half was yanked out instantly, held by the scruff of his hanfu. A set of rapid blows crashed into his stomach before he regained his bearings, and he doubled over, splashing into the river.

To be brought out again.

“Hu-spbbli!” he blubbered, and his [Dantian] emptied to cause the octopus to swell.

He rose to a set of hovering teal limbs at the back of his own, poised to strike. [Air Qi] circulated around them, though this was a poor dissuasion for the hostile strikes upon him. They did the bare minimum, only slightly parrying each to the side.

Fu’s heart thundered in his chest, vibrating the pain of previous blows even as he started the first set of his martial style. Yet the cultivator’s blows continued to connect. “I will have those robes, charlatan. You are undeserving of such finery.”

He has the capacity to speak while fighting?

Fu puffed out, trudging back through the water while weaving away from the strikes. On dry land, he would have an advant-

The [Spirit Bird] ripped down from the night sky, carving a great gouge all the way across his face. From his lip to his brow, three horizontal slashes birthed of cruel, cruel [Earth Qi] mangled him beyond recognition, and he screamed.

Hushi slapped into the river, thrashing until the hostile cultivator stomped down on him, laughing triumphantly. The agony inflicted upon Hushi’s suffering was unimaginable, and made Fu’s own injuries barely tingle in comparison.

Each hammering was amplified, as though a block of stone was repeatedly dropped upon his [Dantian]. To say nothing for how the octopus felt.

Pain, however, granted Fu the clarity he needed to recover. Unpracticed and fresh, he leapt to plant his feet within the river. He splayed his arms, snaking them through the air, and surged forwards in the first set of the [Stifling Stream Revolutions].

Each preliminary strike was blocked by the backtracking cultivator, his apparent [Might] showing his arms as a rapid blur. Yet Fu did not relent, pushing him further back despite the lack of connection, stepping over Hushi to grant him solace.

The first turn came, and Fu exploded through the river, coming up behind his foe unaware and slamming the sole of his foot into the still turning side of his face.

Mid-fall, Fu pressed closer, opening up with several more blows that landed perfectly. [Air Qi] spiralled in his [Channels], gathering as it had before to place great strain on him. But Fu cared little for anything but his Bond, and progressed with the second set, reaching a turn that once again brought him past the man, who was struggling to find purchase.

This second kick snapped his head back, unveiling a crunch, only widening the target so he might deliver a litany of strikes.

The cultivator slumped into the river, where a flow of crimson stained the waters for a few, long heartbeats. He thrashed to the surface, roaring in outrage, matching the cry of his swooping [Spirit Beast].

“Hushi,” growled Fu, his eyes locked with malice on the human that dared inflict such pain on his precious companion.

Wet tentacles coiled around his stomach, flexing to launch the bloodied octopus high from the waters. A clink in his wake. This met the diving [Spirit Bird] with a clatter of limbs, and the pain in both companions soared to suffocating heights.

Alongside a dimming squawk.

With a length of unfurled chain in his grasp, Hushi had entangled the beast, and now Fu pulled it taught. A coupling of momentum and [Might], one that allowed the fisherman to draw in his catch with a rapid tug of the line. The sickly [Earth Qi] around the beast singed his fingers as they worked around its neck, snapping it cleanly before discarding the carcass in the riverbed.

The hostile cultivator was caught in an allied embrace, both hands at his gut while he coughed up blood. Anything that followed Fu could not say, for he and Hushi stumbled across the riverbank, drenched, leaden steps carrying him towards Mei.

At the river’s edge herself, she grabbed his hanfu, mumbling something to her own Bond as it grew to the proportions of a small dog. Some extremity of tangerine light then washed over the area, a heat to it that scorched Fu’s back.

Through pain-muddied thoughts, he could only conjure single notions of what it might be.

Campfire? Light? Flames?

Led by severe blood loss, he foolishly turned back on the scene, where his eyes narrowed to see such light.

A barrier of radiant flame engulfed the shoreline, thin, yet so bright that even whole, he would not choose to look upon it. Beyond, blackened figures pushed to cross it, held at bay by a line of dancing tangerine.

“[Sun Qi] is above mere fire,” Mei informed him, wrenching him away from the forest. “We will have a small window to reach our destination.”

Blood pumped in a sludge when Fu opened his mouth, and it was all he could do just to continue moving.

Destination…

“Wha…”

“Save your strength for the [Reliquary], you-” Came Mei’s next words, trailing off into the blackness of pain.