Clear Sky

by Patrick G. Laplante

He sighed as he gently passed off the leaf to the two girls who were still admiring it, shaking his head self-deprecatingly. The girls and Feng Ming were now under the impression that Wang Jun was quite the sentimentalist. Only Cha Ming could guess that, rather than intentionally making small talk with the girls, he was actually moaning about a failed business venture.

  “Halt! Access to this area is restricted.” They were stopped abruptly by youngsters who were a few years older than them. They wore the official green school garb, complete with its tiny green hat. “Please produce your mission token for entry into the woods.”

  The students were clearly bored, as this was one of the easier mission postings which they could use to scrape by with little to no risk. Cha Ming clasped his hands together and produced a jade slip, which had been provided by Elder Ling when he was assigned the mission.

  “Very well. You may pass.” The two cultivators stepped out of the way of a bronze gate, revealing ornate bronze-and-copper leaves. The copper leaves had long since intentionally gained a blue-green coating, making the gate seem much like the green, gold, and red leaves that grew on the nearby trees.

  The gate was not connected to any obvious fence, which made the group question why it was there in the first place. But as they walked through it, a subtle feeling washed over him, as if probing for specific criteria. Soon the feeling faded, and he continued walking through the gate. Just as he decided that he must have been imagining things, Wang Jun walked up beside him.

  “You felt that, right?” he said, prompting curious glances from the rest of the group. Cha Ming nodded. Wang Jun continued, “Only those with a high soul force can sense this gate’s probing. It’s a defense measure set up by the school. You are the only other one in the group that could sense the probing. This gate is actually a formation treasure, which is used in combination with various formation flags spread along the border of the forest. The gate has two purposes:

  “First, it is a defensive formation, which prevents any first-level spirit beasts from wandering near the academy and the city. The formation creates an illusion that unwittingly redirects its victims away from the wall. It also works in the reverse direction. Any humans, whether mortals or cultivators, below the peak of qi condensation, will be repelled away from the forest.

  “This is both to protect the public and to protect the school’s interests. The school controls a quarter of the city’s entry border to Green Leaf Forest. It prevents weak humans from entering the border, but it also prevents non-students from entering the woods. Entry is only possible through this bronze gate. That way, there is a zone at the entrance to the woods where only students can gain entry, thereby protecting the weaker students and protecting the school’s industry from the remainder of the city.”

  Cha Ming thought for a moment before asking, “Will this gate prevent students from exiting the woods through the formation boundary?”

  Wang Jun shook his head. “No, the gate identifies students that enter through the bronze gate. They can then freely pass the boundary to travel to the city from the woods. This also prevents students from bringing back live spirit beasts. Any live spirit beasts must be properly secured and approved by the school prior to being allowed through the gates. There is only one exception, and that is if the spirit beast in question has formed a soul contract with a student who has passed through the gates, in which case the student becomes responsible for the behavior of the spirit beast while it is in the city.”

  Their group continued their journey at a steady pace, sometimes meeting small groups of students who were also wandering in the woods. Here and there were small plots of land being guarded by small groups of students. One such plot was being tended by a young lady with glowing green hands. Her crop of purple grass was growing quickly enough to be spotted by the naked eye. After a few minutes of tending the crops, she finally collapsed and wiped sweat from her brow. She then quickly sat down with her legs crossed in meditation to recover her qi.

  This young lady was clearly an arborist, who cultivated crops of herbs in the woods. While these crops could be grown in the city, land in the city was very expensive. Additionally, the life force in the woods was much better for the nurturing of herbs, leading to increased yields outside the city. This was a low-risk and stable occupation, and at least fifteen percent of the students at Green Leaf Academy accepted these sorts of missions.

  Soon enough, the sun began to set, and their group set up camp. There hadn’t been any small fields in several hours, which indicated that they were near the end of the student-friendly zone. This trip would take them along the very edge of the outer region of the forest, right on the border with the middle region. The last part of the forest was the inner region, which housed the dreaded Lords of the Forest. These Lords of the Forest were dreaded demon beasts, who fiercely protected their territory against any human invasions.

  While Cha Ming did not want to take too many risks, the best locations for gathering herbs happened to be located in the middle and inner regions. Some of these locations overlapped with the edge of the outer region; there, their rewards could be maximized at a lower risk level. This fact was well-known, and they were likely to encounter other parties of adventurers. Unfortunately, by the time Cha Ming had finished shopping, he did not have the funds to buy any premium information. While he could have asked Wang Jun for help in gathering information, he wanted to rely on himself as much as possible. Relationships were reciprocal in nature.

  The journey to the edge of the outer region took them three days. At first they encountered only the lowest of the low spirit beasts: spirit hogs. These hogs were foragers and scavengers and would run as soon as they saw the group. They had brown fur and looked very similar to wild boars. Compared to wild boars they were twice as big and had several rows of tusks. Groups of spirit boars would wander to a foraging area and split up to forage. While large numbers of these first-level spirit beasts could surely overwhelm them, they tended to stay in groups of six or seven at most.

  On the second day of their travels, they began to encounter spirit deer. While they were not very strong, they were adorned with sets of beautiful antlers and were much faster than spirit boars. They would usually run as soon as anyone got too close. At some point they encountered a group of four deer, two parents with two children. Hong Xin, who was quite tired due to not being able to sleep properly, tried to run toward the baby deer, only to be stopped by a smiling Wang Jun. She felt quite grieved, and Wang Jun had to spend the next hour coaxing her and convincing her that she was in fact being mean to the little deer by scaring them off, and their parents might attack her to protect their children.

  Meanwhile, Cha Ming spent a good deal of time convincing Feng Ming and Gong Lan not to hunt the spirit deer. The smell of blood would surely attract spirit wolves, spirit hounds, and other fearsome creatures. That would slow down their progress. He also reassured them that there would be ample numbers of spirit beasts that would attack them of their own volition once they arrived at the edges of the outer forest.

  It was a situation that he was dreading. Would he have the heart to fight them off? Would he be able to scare them and avoid dangerous situations? Cha Ming hated violence and would do what he could to avoid it. Unfortunately, even eating rice would surely result in the death of mice.

  * * *

  1 Huo Shan means “fire mountain” in Mandarin Chinese.

  Chapter 19: Blood and Ashes

  The group’s journey thus far had been very uneventful. The lack of excitement didn’t last long, however. Around noon on the third day, they encountered a group of twenty spirit wolves. These wolves appeared famished, like no amount of meat could let them eat their fill. They swiftly encircled their small group, taking advantage of their large numbers.

  “Keep close together, and watch out for combination attacks!” Cha Ming shouted, moving into a back-to-back circle with the rest of the group. He held his heavy staff near the end, using it to keep the circling pack a
t a distance. Spirit wolves had a habit of biting their opponents and tripping them, creating opportunities for the rest of the pack to attack. These spirit wolves were second-grade spirit beasts, and their leader appeared to be a fifth-grade spirit beast.

  The alpha wolf was easily identified among the group of silver wolves. He was roughly twice as large as the other wolves and over twelve feet long. His ferocious eyes contained a tinge of glowing red. Streaks of red were threaded through its silver coat of fur. The red streaks were formed with “dire qi,” which wolves accumulated by eating enough spirit beasts, cultivators, and medicinal herbs. Once this alpha spirit wolf built up enough dire qi, he would evolve into a dire wolf, a sixth-grade spirit beast. Judging from the gaunt appearance of the other spirit wolves, they had been intentionally starving themselves to nourish their pack leader. Once their pack leader became a dire wolf, the entire pack’s safety would improve dramatically.

  While the other wolves surrounded them, the alpha wolf circled from the back, ready to take any opportunity that presented itself. If an alpha wolf died, its whole pack would likely perish. Without its protection, any spirit wolves that managed to flee would eventually be picked off by other predators.

  The encirclement continued for half the time it takes an incense stick to burn; the wolves would occasionally snap at the group to probe their reactions. Not wanting to be caught making the first mistake, Cha Ming used his spiritual force to break off a dozen red beads from his bracelet.

  First Manifestation, Fire Bolt!

  The twelve pearls twirled together in a circle that quickly compressed over the next two breaths. He then flung out the pearls toward a group of three nearby spirit wolves. As soon as the ball of fire made contact, the concentrated fire qi contained in the pearls caused them to burst outward in a ball of raging flame, striking the wolves like pieces of burning shrapnel. The wolves whimpered as a third of their silver fur burst into flames.

  The three injured wolves let out howls of rage, gathering their nearby pack members to fiercely attack Cha Ming. Cha Ming used his staff to beat back two wolves, but the remaining four darted past his staff’s reach, viciously biting at Cha Ming’s legs. To their surprise, Cha Ming had already anticipated their maneuver, and twelve earthy pearls slammed down from above.

  First Manifestation, Tremor!

  The group of twelve pearls slammed down onto the four wolves, hitting their thick hides and causing them to cough out blood.

  Things were progressing very differently on Wang Jun’s side. As soon as Cha Ming’s attack broke out, Wang Jun waved out a pitch-black three-foot sword. Black mist shot out of the sword, spreading out toward half the wolves. The black mist was quickly absorbed into the eyes, ears, noses, and mouths of the snarling wolves. They immediately began stumbling, tripping on roots, and misplacing their paws. Their biting attacks were no longer as accurate, sometimes missing by an entire foot. Occasionally, Wang Jun would stab forward with his black sword. While at first it didn’t seem like his sword would hit anything, the wolves seemed to almost throw themselves onto his sword, impaling themselves.

  Not wanting to be outdone, Feng Ming darted out and surrounded himself with a blistering sandstorm. As soon as the wolves saw Feng Ming move out, four surrounding wolves and the pack leader darted out to attack him. As soon as they entered his attack range, he pulled out his sword with a sword-drawing attack.

  “Xing!” An unlucky wolf was quickly cut in half by Feng Ming’s burning red spirit sword, which he had been gifted before leaving the city. The remaining wolves attacking him found themselves closing their eyes. The burning sand made it impossible for them to use their superior sense of smell, and the weaker wolves let out dry coughs as they struggled to breathe in the sandy hot air.

  Meanwhile, Hong Xin had been so badly frightened by the attack that she could hardly move. She finally managed to start moving her shaking legs just as two wolves lunged at her. Frightened, she let out a fiery punch and struck toward one of the wolves. The second wolf darted underneath her first and viciously bit her leg. She let out a shrill scream as pain shot up her leg, and she was pulled down by the large wolf. The first wolf that she had knocked back had already recovered and was darting toward her throat.

  Cha Ming and Wang Jun both reacted to her bad situation. Wang Jun moved in to physically block off some the remaining wolves, and black mist drifted out, affecting all remaining wolves on the battlefield. Cha Ming was forced to split his attention and exhausted over half his metal qi to launch the most powerful attack he knew: First Manifestation: Silver Dagger. Twelve metallic pearls fiercely shot out in the shape of a sword, forming a precise blade of metallic energy that impaled the wolf biting at her throat.

  Seeing that Hong Xin was protected, he shot twelve white pearls from his hand, and they immediately glowed green.

  First Manifestation, Healing Hand!

  The hand reached out and softly grasped her leg. Her bleeding leg immediately started to heal. He didn’t have time to retract them, as he quickly darted out to join Feng Ming and Gong Lan. Gong Lan was at Feng Ming’s side, and she was surrounded by a freezing cloud. Inside the freezing cloud, her twin Taichi swords struck out in a soft and gentle manner, like a drizzle of rain.

  Upon realizing that half his pack was dead, the alpha wolf let out a howl of pure rage. The red streaks on his silver fur suddenly started glowing with an ominous light as he activated his only spirit skill: Battle Form. Instantly the alpha wolf’s size increased by fifty percent. The alpha wolf then darted out twice as fast as any of them were capable of, knocking Feng Ming to the ground and dispersing the blistering sandstorm.

  Cha Ming had been waiting for the alpha wolf’s attack. He fended off a couple of the remaining wolves with his staff and shot out another Silver Dagger. This time, he reinforced the Silver Dagger with earth qi, making it twice as powerful as his previous attack. The yellow-tinged Silver Dagger hit the alpha wolf on its rib cage, knocking it off Feng Ming.

  Gong Lan, having dispatched a nearby spirit wolf, jumped over Feng Ming and started striking the alpha wolf with her twin swords. While these swords did not deal much damage, the alpha wolf was clearly affected by the strikes. Each cut left a white mark on the wolf, causing cold qi to sink into the wounds and restrain its movements. Inspired, Cha Ming unleashed another twelve white pearls, which glowed blue and swirled around him, forming a Frost Mist cloud. The nearby wolves’ reactions were slowed down just long enough for him to strike out with his staff, breaking three of their backs consecutively with a sickening crunch.

  Finally, all the other wolves were dispatched, and only the alpha wolf remained. It howled in grief, swinging out with its powerful paws to kill at least one of them before it collapsed. At Wang Jun’s signal, black mist wandered over from the nearby wolf corpses and darted into the alpha wolf. The black mist, combined with the cold, completely restricted its movements. Cha Ming, who had hurried over after fighting the remaining wolves, jumped up and brought his staff down, delivering a crushing blow on the alpha wolf’s skull. They heard a sickening crunch and blood poured out of its ears and mouth and it fell over, dead.

  Realizing that the fight was over, the adrenaline quickly faded, and Cha Ming’s body sagged, overcome with nausea, and he threw up what remained of his breakfast. Hong Xin, Gong Lan, and Feng Ming followed suit, leaving only the ever-calm Wang Jun with a full stomach. Cha Ming’s body was shivering and his mind shuddering. That had been his first time ending a life, and the smell of smoldering fur and beast blood overwhelmed him with revulsion.

  As his nausea faded, he was overwhelmed with thoughts of regret and pity. Why was the world made this way? Cha Ming had always tried to cause as little harm as possible, but this time he had ventured into the woods to gather herbs with his friends. He had entirely avoided the issue of hunting spirit beasts, and the two dozen bloodied and burnt corpses awoke him to a harsh reality: not only had he killed these wolves, if he hadn’t ventured out into the woods, the fight could
have been completely avoided.

  The first to recover in the trio was Feng Ming. Killing spirit beasts did not cause him any psychological trauma, and he had just been affected by the harsh smells of fire and blood. While Cha Ming, Gong Lan, and Hong Xin sat down and recovered, Wang Jun and Feng Ming tended to the corpses of the wolves. The furs of most of the wolves were mangled and burnt and had no resale value. At Wang Jun’s direction, they quickly cut out the wolves’ fangs. The alpha wolf’s corpse was stored whole in Wang Jun’s storage bag.

  Finally, they swiftly cut an incision on every wolf’s head, withdrawing a valuable beast core. The cores contained thick demonic qi. The alpha wolf’s beast core also contained a line of concentrated dire qi.

  Once their grisly task was completed, their group swiftly ran away from the wolf corpses to avoid any spirit beasts that would inevitably be attracted by the smell of blood and burnt flesh. After a few hours, they silently set up camp and started a fire. Cha Ming was still shivering and had no appetite. Eventually, his brooding mood was interrupted by Gong Lan, who created a cloud of thick mist and used it to clean herself and Hong Xin. Cha Ming followed suit and created his own misty cloud, washing away the fur and blood from his skin and clothes. Wang Jun and Feng Ming were self-sufficient in this regard; their clothes were magical tools that repelled blood and dirt, keeping them clean at all times. Now the only smell that remained was that of wood smoke from their fire.

  A few hours later, Wang Jun interrupted their silence. “Do you all feel like you’ve done a wretched thing?”

  Cha Ming averted his gaze while Hong Xin started bawling. She had a naturally kind disposition, and the fight had taken a lot out of her.

  Seeing their expressions, Wang Jun continued. “The path of cultivation is very brutal, and this is nothing. Even before I started cultivating, simply being close to powerful cultivators ensured that I was surrounded by death and carnage from a young age. Aside from a few specific trades, cultivation is centered around violence. Even supporting occupations can’t remain untainted!”