Chapter 122 - 2

Chapter 2: Dark Caverns

The servant's library.

No, to call it a library might be an exaggeration. It was a simple brick shack rarely visited by anyone, one of the few recreational facilities of the servant sector. Inside, dozens of old shelves were lined neatly, dust and cobwebs lining their tops.

Half the books here were related to servant activities, including books on efficient harvesting and crop formations. But the rest were books discarded by disciples of the sect, collected by none other than the resident light spirit.

Baiyun sat on one of few available seats in the meagre library with a lantern on the table close by, holding a book in hand.

Close by, the spirit in question floated above him, looking through the pages as well. For whatever reason, it had taken interest in him in the past years and would visit him whenever it felt like it.

"The great immortal reincarnates as a dragon."

That was the title of the book in his hands. It was a shallow read, but it was an opportunity to ask a question he wanted to ask for years.

"Hey hey, miss spirit! Do you think it's possible to reincarnate like this book says?" Baiyun asked innocently.

"Reincarnation? Hmm... I think I've heard the elder spirits talk about it in the past." the spirit mused. "Something about a new heavenly law about reincarnation being passed down? But I'm not sure."

"It's real?" Baiyun looked up with eyes of child-like excitement. "Then, in my next life, can I be reincarnated as a cultivator?"

"Huh? O-oh, maybe?" the spirit stumbled over her words in a fluster. "But as far as I know, people reincarnate without their memories. You probably won't remember this life."

"Aww..." Baiyun pouted.

But he recovered quickly. With excited waves of his arms, he spouted question after question endlessly. The light spirit seemed troubled by the naive questions of the child.

Baiyun was equally pained by how he had to put on the facade of a clueless child; it was both embarrassing and tiring. If anyone from his past life saw him like this, he felt like he would bury himself in a hole for a hundred years. But tonight was a rare night the spirit had time to spend with him, he wouldn't let her go without asking his fill of questions so easily!

The questions continued for a good few minutes, before he could finally ask the question he wanted. After all, a young child wouldn't know what a heavenly law was.

"-and boom! A brillant flash of light!" the spirit said.

"Ohhh! So it shines with a golden light when they announce a new law! That's so cool! How does it happen? I want to see it!" Baiyun was practically jumping in excitement.

"The heavens don't just pass down laws so casually. Those laws were passed in the 27,980th year, and this year is the 28,088th so that's um..."

"A hundred and eight years later! That's so long!" Baiyun exclaimed.

"Yeah... haha."

The light spirit dimmed, seemingly ashamed of itself.

Baiyun sweated a little. He answered that reflexively! Even if he was posing as a bright child, perhaps it was a little too much for him to be faster at arithmetics than a spirit of unknown age.

108 years, huh? He felt a deep melancholy.

His soul had been in suspension for that long? Baiyun thought he had been reincarnated instantly, but it made sense it took time for his soul to be transported this absurd distance.

As he had suspected, reincarnating with intact memories was not normal. Not everyone would think to keep it hidden, and there would be a lot of chaos if many children were born with knowledge of their past lives. Would his memories be erased if the heavens found out about this error? Baiyun could not help but worry.

If he continued to cultivate, the chance the heavens would find out would grow. But the thought of spending the entirety of this life as a servant was worse. Even if his life was put on the line, he knew he couldn't give up.

Baiyun shut the book in his hands, a faint puff of dust floating into the air.

"Miss spirit!" he said suddenly. "I'm bored, so tomorrow I want to go to the mushroom chamber!"

"What?!" The light spirit practically jumped. "Why would you want to go there?"

"When you took us there last time, I thought the glowing mushrooms were cool!" Baiyun put on the look of a smug child. "I have a lot of contribution points anyway, so what's wrong with taking a break for a day?"

If a servant did well, they could spend their contribution points to get a request of theirs fulfilled.

The two of them bickered for a few minutes before the spirit finally relented, letting out a sigh.

"Fine... I know I can't change your mind when you're like this. But be careful! I'm not allowed to go down with you. And the earth spirit supervising the chambers isn't as caring!"

The spirit spent the 10 minutes nagging and drilling him with safety protocols. Baiyun could only sweat.

"I'll sleep early since tomorrow is big!" he said, desperate to flee.

He practically rushed out of the library with a book under his arm, hurrying home. He ran down a stone road and made a few quick turns, before arriving at a small brick house.

Baiyun quickly pulled the door open only for his eyes to twitch at the sight before him. His brother was hunched over the bamboo box full of delicacies the chefs had given him, eating a bowl of shaved iced leisurely by the spoonful.

"Ah! You thieving rat!" Baiyun yelled.

"Hah! You thought I wouldn't find it if it was under your bed? Blehh!" the kid stuck out his tongue.

Baiyun flung the book in his hands, smacking him right in the head. He would have kept the bamboo box in the storage bag the sect had given him, but it was of low quality and items inside had a tendency to tumble around and flip over.

"Ow!"

Well, not that he really was angry, he told himself. He was just acting as a child, after all. He fought his brother off and ate the rest of the delicacies before heading off to bed, hugging the book to sleep.

"The Fundamentals of Earth".

It was a cultivation related book, not one a child could be expected to understand. Baiyun didn't want to explain to the spirit why he was flipping through such books, so years ago, he figured out an convenient excuse.

"If I sleep with the books, maybe I'll absorb their knowledge!"

That was what he declared to her years ago, much to her speechlessness. In the end, the spirit still catered to his childish demands and handed him a few old cultivation books she found lying around.

Hugging a book to sleep an easy way for him to read books with soulsense while his body rested. They were far from as refined as the techniques his old sect had, but Aoyang did not like spending the night idling til his body woke. Even if they weren't particularly refined theories, he still enjoyed pondering them from time to time.

Hours, followed by the night passed as the soul read and contemplated each and every page. Baiyun opened his eyes to the light of dawn and put the book aside. He did not wake his brother today and simply left. It wasn't his problem if that kid overslept.

The light spirit flew over, holding a giant bag.

"Here, wear this!"

Baiyun squirmed as she tied a helmet to his head and stuffed him into a thick coat. At the helmet's front, a small qi stone was embedded, shining with a faint light.

"You don't need to go that far..." Baiyun sweated. "I'll be fine."

He wasn't sure how he felt about the spirit acting like an overprotective mother. When had she gotten that attached to him? But it was precisely that very care that made it difficult for him. Too much attention only made it more difficult for him to act discretely.

"Repeat the safety protocols from yesterday!" the spirit said sternly.

"Okay, okay!"

Only after confirming he remembered the protocols did she nod and let him off. Baiyun took off his helmet briefly to adjust his hair, staring at the qi stone wistfully. How easy would it be if he could just eat it to advance his cultivation?

For a moment, he was tempted to gobble it up on the spot and pretend it was just the impulse of a weird child, but he held back.

"Bye miss spirit!"

Baiyun waved goodbye to her before heading off.

He followed long winding paths and made his way to the nearby mountains, where caves reached far down. Other servants were on their way as well, but they did not look as prepared. They did not have coats and merely put on a few layers of clothing. They did not have the luxury of a miner's helmet, instead holding large oil lanterns.

Most of them were adults, so quite a lot of them were staring at the child joining them in puzzlement. But they minded their own business and did not ask.

Before long, the gaping maw of a cave in the midst of the mountain revealed itself. Baiyun followed the servants as they descended the dark caves, entering the bowels of the earth.

The slow trek downwards began. The servants did not seem in the mood for talk, tho they let out slow laboured breaths as the air grew colder. Baiyun felt a little bad and offered the leasted dressed servant a large rag as a makeshift cold, and she nodded in thanks.

An hour of walking passed before they entered the mushroom plantation. The servant handed the rags back to Baiyun, and he finally nodded back in response.

The other servants did not pay the slightest heed to him, dispersing in every direction. They pulled out pickaxes with an axe head with one end, getting to work immediately.

Baiyun looked around and took in the sight.

Even deep underground, the caverns were far from lifeless. Massive roots from a strange woody plant dug into the stone walls, countless mushrooms infesting them. Save for the light of lanterns and some luminous mushrooms, the caverns were darker than night.

The faint sounds of grinding and clacking could be heard as servants slowly dug into the stone walls, tendering to the roots and harvesting the ripe mushrooms.

Baiyun did not lie to the light spirit about finding the mushroom caverns "cool". He thought there was a certain beauty to the atmosphere here.

He recalled something from a few years back.

Back when he was 6, the light spirit rounded up the young servants and brought them here to visit. To them, it was dark, freezing cold and the still air felt suffocating. Who would enjoy digging into stone walls in such conditions for hours? They were told if they did poorly at their jobs, they would be sent here to work for the rest of their lives.

The scare proved effective and the very next day, the young servants worked with tenfold effort.

But Baiyun did not come here to get any work done.

He walked past the many servants hard at work, as well as those merely idling around listlessly, their eyes dulled by boredom. Baiyun shook his head; it was as the light spirit said.

The earth spirit supervising them simply did not care. It would merely note down the contribution of the servants and kept the caves sturdy with new reinforced pillars. If any underground beasts appeared, it would slaughter them. The servants who chose not to work were only making it worse for themselves; it meant they would have to put up with the suffocating cavern for yet more hours.

Baiyun touched the walls silently and mused to himself. They were not artificial caves, but part of a large underground network of natural caverns. The earth spirit had a radius it marked as the "safe zone". If any servant ventured beyond that point, they would no longer be under its protection.

He walked deeper and deeper into the caverns. The servants around him grew fewer and fewer, until it was only him alone.

The edge of the safe zone was now in sight, marked by a faint yellow light. He hesitated for a moment and took a deep breath. Then, he walked past the light.

Free of surveillance, at last! Baiyun laughed in silence, then focused for a moment and opened his mouth.

A thin thread of qi sense entwined with soulsense shot out. Soulsense was to draw upon the senses of one's soul. Qi sense was to use external qi to sense the surroundings. To combine them both was the art of divine sense.

With how he lacked external meridians, he had to use qi directly from his stomach.

Now that he was in the 1st stage of Qi Gathering, he could now extend a tiny fragment of his soul safely. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough for him to sense danger 3 metres around him. Along with that, his lack of external meridians would help him stay hidden from spirit beasts. There was no qi wafting off his body to give him away, nor would his body take in the surrounding qi.

He put his helmet back into his bag wordlessly. The last of the helmet's light peered out of the bag, before being engulfed, plunging the surroundings into pitch darkness. Baiyun had no choice. Light was far too dangerous.

With soundless footsteps, he ventured.

The silence was suffocating. All he could hear was faint winds whispering through the caves. Every now and then, he could hear distant creatures scuttling about. But just as abruptly, the deafening silence would return.

Inside the caves, he was not the only one trying to hide.

This was nothing. He had gone through far worse in his training against inner demons; such a small thing could not frighten him.

But Baiyun clutched his chest, alarmed by the sensation within him. Why was his heart pounding so fast? Why was his breath shaky? He did not realise, or perhaps chose not to realise, but being reborn in this young body had changed him.

He took deep breaths and steadied himself before continuing onwards.

Minute by minute, step by step, an hour passed. How far away was he from the safe zone now?

On his way here, he felt the qi sense of spirit beasts sweeping their territory many times. Each time, he could only leave quickly, changing the route he took in the darkness. His divine thread might have a small effective range, but it was far quicker than qi sense, darting out before they could sense him in return.

Though, if he tried to use divine thread under the surveillance of the sect spirits, he was certain they would out in an instant. They were not simple beasts after all.

Baiyun's thoughts paused as his divine thread chanced upon a faint qi in the darkness. His breath quickened as he walked towards it slowly.

A large grey fleshy lump coated in foul black ooze stuck out of the cavern walls. It was a spirit fungus of sorts. Baiyun reached to it with divine sense and analysed it, reaching the unsurprising conclusion that it was a very poisonous mushroom.

That was only natural. If it was a free treasure for the taking, a spirit beast would have eaten it long ago.

Baiyun took a hand scythe from his bag and spent the next minute sawing it off, a fork in his other hand. As the fungus began to wobble, a sliver from being cut off from the wall, he stabbed the fork into it and plucked it off. If he let it fall to the ground, the sound might attract unwanted attention.

How ironic, to hold what was inedible on a rock. Baiyun wasn't in the mood to appreciate that little thought. He rolled the fungus in a pile of rock dust to stop the dripping of the ooze, then began his journey back to the safe zone. It was far too dangerous to process the mushroom here.

The memory of a Transcendent expert's soul was not to be sneezed at. Even if it was a week later, he would still be confident in finding his way back.

He continued in the darkness for half an hour, but suddenly halted.

Something's qi sense was blocking the path back.

Chapter 3: Pitch Black

Baiyun told himself it was fine.

In fact, it was something he had half expected to happen from the start. Spirit beasts weren't motionless statues, after all.

If the path he took was blocked, all he needed to do was to route around it and hope no walls of rock blocked the way. And if that was truly the only way back, he could wait until the spirit beast moved out of the way.

His hands grew clammy, so he tightened his grip on the fungus fork and scythe he held in each hand. After noting the poisonous goop clinging to the farming implement, he figured it might be an effective weapon.

It was fine, he told himself again.

But he suddenly froze as an indistinct sound entered his ears. If something was close by, he would remain motionless until it passed.

The sound grew clearer and clearer until he realised it was a rustle from the ceiling. Baiyun's eyes constricted. That was the closest anything had been to him! He frantically swung his divine thread upwards.

Instantly, the thread sensed a beast falling from the ceiling towards him.

Time seemed to slow.

No, there wasn't any time to dodge! How had it gotten this close to him?

Baiyun strained himself to his limit, letting go of the fork and reaching out to shove the unknown beast away. With his other hand that held the poison-stained hand scythe, he tried to slash the beast, but was far too slow.

It crashed onto him, sending pain coursing through his body. His hand pushed the creature's head aside and he heard a long clack as its mandibles snapped shut beside his face. A chill went down his spine. If he had been a moment slower, his face would have been mangled!

He finally realised it was a massive spider, one just as big as him.

The spider seemed just as confused as him after missing its attack, so Baiyun hurriedly kicked the spider off him and rolled onto his feet in a hurry. He breathed heavily and clutched his painfully throbbing chest. He could sense a few cracks in his ribs, but thankfully the impact broke no bones.

He cursed himself, thinking he should have known better. He thought his divine sense would keep him safe by being a step ahead of qi sense, but he forgot to fully account for the basic senses!

Of course. Spirit beasts could rely on their hearing and touch as well to navigate the dark caverns. In his old world, the beasts he faced had ludicrous qi fields that could stretch for kilometres, so it was easy to forget that.

To some extent, he did realise it from the beginning, from how he extinguished light and walked in silence. But he forgot hearing could be used for more than sensing distant threats; it could also be used to directly seek prey! He finally realised the mortal world worked by a different logic.

The spider scuttered away at inhuman speeds, fleeing the range of his spirit sense in an instant. Baiyun cursed under his breath. Foul creature...

Ambush predators were cautious creatures by nature, so it did not stay to fight. It was most likely only retreating for now, and would look for another opportunity to get the jump on him.

But Baiyun sweated as he realised the bigger problem at hand.

Since the spider was not using qi sense, it meant the field of qi sense blocking his way was from a different beast. And it had certainly heard the commotion.

The field of qi suddenly expanded, its aura washing over him! The worst had come to fruition. Unable to tell what it was, Baiyun could only hold out his scythe in its direction.

He could hear the creature glide across the ground in pitch darkness, roughly 6 metres away; too far for his divine thread to sense. It did not approach, but circled him cautiously. Baiyun continued to turn and face its direction, holding out his scythe towards it. Cold sweat dripped from his face.

The desperation he worked so hard to be rid off now returned tenfold.

Think! He had to figure out a way to survive before the creature attacked.

A moment passed, and a risky thought came to mind.

He closed his eyes. With a swift motion, he reached into his bag and pulled out the helmet. In the endless darkness, a faint light peeked out of the bag, revealing the endless ocean of rock around him! It was not a bright light, but in endless darkness, it was as radiant as the sun.

"Ssssssss!"

A loud hiss of pain echoed as the creature flinched. It revealed itself as a giant snake as long as several grown men lying flat.

"!"

With his eyes still shut, Baiyun placed the helmet upon his head and charged at the creature, leaping into the air! His divine thread finally entered its effective range and gave him "sight", so he slashed his scythe towards its eyes.

The serpent swerved to the side, but the weapon still landed. With a clang, the scythe glanced off its tough scales, leaving a mere scratch and a small splotch of poison. It slithered away from him, baring its fangs threateningly and hissing.

It was still too bright to open his eyes entirely, but Baiyun squinted with his left eye and managed to look around. No other spirit beasts were in sight, but the spider was now on the ceiling, having jumped up silently.

The snake turned its back towards him, seemingly quite bothered by the light. It struck the ground with its tail and sent a small chunk of rock into the air, raising its head towards it. With a burst of qi, the earth softened and wrapped around its eyes.

The serpent approached him, its head raised as if proud of itself.

Baiyun's eyes twitched. What a stupid animal, making a blindfold just because its eyes hadn't adapted to the light yet!

He walked backwards slowly. Seeing the fungus fork he dropped from the corner of his eye, he squatted down to pick it up with his other hand.

At that moment, the snake lunged at him, shooting through the air with its mouth wide open! Baiyun threw the fork towards its mouth and ducked.

"Kraaahhh!"

The snake let out a guttural cry as it choked, followed by wretched gagging sounds. It began to puke piece after piece of the fungus up, along with a bloodied fork.

Its heavy body crashed onto one of Baiyun's legs, but he managed to squirm away and got onto his feet, running away as fast as he could!

But a sudden chill struck him as a familiar rustle entered his ear; he quickly rolled to the side!

At the very next moment, the spider launched itself from the ceiling and slammed onto the snake's neck, biting viciously into it! With a horrific crackling sound, the tough scales were crushed instantly, and its fangs sunk into the snake's flesh.

"SSrragghhh!" the snake hissed in pain.

Baiyun was stunned for a moment as he got up, patting the dust off his robes. Then he laughed to himself silently. To think the spider would unwittingly help him!

With a quick motion, the snake swung its head backwards and slammed the spider into the ground with all its might. A loud cracking sound rang out as the spider went motionless. The snake's wound deepened and blood dripped to the ground, but it ignored its injury and pushed the stunned spider to the side.

The serpent tilted its head and wound up its body into a coil. Then it unleashed the trapped force in a single go, sending its body into a violent whirl and smashing its tail directly onto the spider's head with the full might of its body weight!

A loud crunch echoed through the caverns. The spider slumped to the ground, its legs spazzing out.

Bleeding profusely from its neck and dribbling from its mouth, the snake turned to give Baiyun one last hateful look. Earth rose from the ground, seeping into its wounds and stopping its bleeding as it slithered away. Wild animals were rarely willing to fight to the death after all.

As the threat slid into the darkness, Baiyun finally sighed in relief. He stashed all his clothing into his bag before running over to the spider. It was still twitching... was it still alive or an involuntary reflex? Baiyun didn't care.

Without mercy, he slashed his scythe towards its head. The blade glanced off the dented carapace, leaving only a shallow cut, but he continued to attack relentlessly. Again! Again! His hands hurt and began to blister, but he did not stop.

It was only after minutes of violence when the spider finally stopped twitching, definitely dead. Baiyun breathed heavily as he fell backwards toward the ground. His body was covered in the blue blood of the spider.

At last, it was over...

What once was the head of a spider was now a mangled mess of blue blood, a faint orb glimmering in its midst. He reached for it and ripped it out.

A beast core, covered in scratches.

It was many times more useful than the poisoned fungus, but he did not feel any joy. This excursion had been far too risky. He had baseless confidence in his divine sense and forgot a mortal world worked differently from the divine worlds above. He barely escaped with his life!

He laughed bitterly. In his past life, did he not die to impulse as well?

He had not been a fighter in his past life. Safe within the protection of a sect, his days were peaceful and free of combat. If it had been Taikong, a combat elder from his past sect, he was sure the man would have won against the spider or the snake in a direct confrontation, even with a servant's weak body. But an inexperienced alchemist like him? With a little less luck, the corpse on the ground would have been him.

Baiyun resolved himself. He did not enjoy combat, but he would have to hone his skills in this life. There wasn't an almighty sect that could keep him safe from harm in this life.

The WanLing sect was unlikely to ever accept a servant as a disciple. If anything, he was more likely to become a subject of human experimentation if they realised he could cultivate.

Baiyun took out a gourd of water from his bag and poured the liquid over his body, enduring the cold. The blue blood of the spider washed off him. It was hardly dignified, but he did not want to explain why his clothes were stained by the blood of a spirit beast. Baiyun thought to himself that he must have resembled a savage from the wilds, attacking in a frenzy while unclothed.

After shaking off the water, he put his clothes back on and left, leaving the spider's corpse behind. It was a shame, but if his bag was inspected for whatever reason, he had no way to explain the corpse.

Step after step, he continued to retrace his way in the darkness. The journey was thankfully uneventful, free from beast attacks.

Baiyun stopped about 50 metres away from the earth spirit's safe zone, beside a large pit. While still outside the barrier, he was sure few spirit beasts would venture near a dangerous spirit's "territory". He took out a pot and several pieces of firewood and attempted to light the wood with a flint.

The sound of clacking could be heard as he struck the flint repeatedly, but not a spark was made. It seemed the air was too cold to start a proper fire.

Baiyun clicked his tongue in annoyance. Shaking his head, he took out a knife and began to hack at the core instead, breaking off small fragments into the pot. He picked one of the chunks and swallowed. How undignified, he cursed.

If he had eaten the core whole, his frail body would have been poisoned to death by qi overdose. It would have been easier to absorb the qi if the core had been boiled, but he had no choice in the matter. Baiyun missed his old alchemic tools.

Hours passed as his soul carefully refined qi from the fragments. The will of the spider within the core fought back, but it was quickly subdued by his soul, entering a dormant state.

Slowly, his cultivation level rose.

The first breakthrough happened. 2nd level of qi gathering!

Baiyun suppressed his emotions and continued to absorb the rest of the qi. Finally, with the last of the core fragments, he reached the 3rd level of qi gathering.

At last...

His face practically blue, he retched, vomiting out the remains of the core into the chasm beside him. Then he let out a ghastly burp of blackened qi.

Urgh. He felt nauseous. He felt so queasy, he barely felt the joy of breaking through. The sheer amount of impure qi within rendered most of the core useless, and he had to focus his soul to prevent his stomach from absorbing it.

Baiyun had a moment of doubt. Risking his life for just this, was the journey down here even worth it? Why did he get so far ahead of himself for just entering the 1st level of Qi Gathering?

He cleaned up his tools with water before returning to the barrier.

Suddenly, an external force suddenly peered into his bag. Baiyun sweated a little, but it seemed he was in the clear. Phew...

He didn't know what time it was, but he spent the rest of the day gathering mushrooms with the other servants as a cover.

Only a few hours of work remained. Before long, he followed the servants as they returned to the surface.

Ah. Baiyun stared towards the night sky in silence. Pitch black like the caverns beneath, yet infinitely more beautiful.

"Baiyun!" the voice of the light spirit snapped him out of his trance.

It seemed she had been waiting outside. Baiyun waved to her unenthusiastically.

"Hah... you look so glum! Why did you decide to go there anyway if it was going to make you so miserable?" she patted him on the shoulder. "Come, some proper food should cheer you up!"

Baiyun nodded, following her to the servants' canteen.

...

The sect spirits did not have names, but some had taken the liberty to name themselves. The earth spirit, who dubbed himself Earthquake, was one of the few.

He took great amusement in naming the other spirits ridiculous names that contrasted his mighty name. Truly, the majesty of the name "Earthquake" was hard to rival! Though naturally, he did not tell anyone what he had named them in secret.

Speaking of which, yesterday, a little spirit he dubbed "Shine" approached. Shine was annoyingly shiny as usual, rambling something about keeping a servant named "Bai Yu" or something safe. What a ridiculous request. Who would get attached to a short lived servant when they would die within a measly hundred years?

Earthquake shooed off Shine with a few affirmations, not wanting to be bothered. He spent the rest of the night and day resting.

Hm. It seemed it was time.

Earthquake watched in boredom as the servants of the sect arrived. Immediately, he could tell who "Bai Yu" was. A young boy with a miner's helmet and a coat, not luxuries most servants had. Even if he had fallen asleep, he would be able to figure out this was the human Shine favoured.

The human, contrary to Shine's bragging, did not get to work immediately.

Instead, he walked aimlessly, further and further away from the work. Hah. Earthquake nodded. Running all the way down here to get a chance to fool around and rest! In the end, even a hard worker would get tired. Earthquake did not mind and was merely amused.

Wait...

That boy was walking further and further away!

What in the world? Earthquake watched as "Bai Yu" left his barrier, now out of sight. The spirit shook his head.

To think Shine had gotten attached to a suicidal servant of all things. It made sense now, why he wanted to come to this miserable cave.

Earthquake hesitated for a moment but steeled himself, deciding not to interfere. Shine was far too naive and would need to learn nothing good would come from attachment to those with short lives. If "Bai Yu'' had died decades later, how much more would it hurt for Shine?

Hours passed.

Something re-entered its barrier.

It was "Bai Yu''! Earthquake was stunned.

The servant looked fatigued, but was otherwise unharmed. Most jarring however was how he left the barrier without the helmet, marching into pitch darkness; even upon his return, he did not put it back on! Did he lose it somehow?

Earthquake took a quick peek into the boy's bag, seeing the hat was still there. It was clear the servant deprived himself of sight intentionally.

The spirit could not help but get increasingly curious.

He waited impatiently until the servants finally left, their work done.

Earthquake dispelled his barrier and flew into the darkness. He could see faint footsteps "Bai Yu" had left in the dust, leading somewhere. He thought the boy must have been lounging near the outside of the barrier to have returned safely, but this was clearly not the case.

This boy… he had ventured way further than he expected!

Spirit beasts fled in terror as they felt the presence of the spirit. He came across the corpse of an Assassin Jumping Spider, its flesh nibbled away by cave rats. But Earthquake could tell its body was mangled not by beasts, but by repeated attacks from a curved blade.

This servant ventured out in pitch darkness, survived an encounter with an Assassin Spider, killed it and returned unscathed?

"Bai Yu".

How interesting.

Earthquake would remember this name.

Chapter 4: Martial Temple

Under the bright moonlight piercing through the cloudless skies, Baiyun walked along a stone path surrounded by fields of endless grass, the light spirit following him.

It was not a silent walk; the words exchanged seemed to have aggravated the spirit.

"Combat training?!" she said, her voice shaky.

At the smug words Baiyun had just said, she was stunned.

"What else?" Baiyun smiled.

The light of the spirit flickered for a moment, before she shot around the air, letting out a cry of frustration!

"Ahhhh! It must have been those violent novels you've been reading!"

Baiyun was rendered speechless. Why was this spirit being so overprotective?

"It's good to learn self defence, isn't it?" he put on his best pout. "What if a baddie decided to beat me up one day?"

"You? Baiyun, you're a servant, a mortal! If someone attacks you, what good will martial arts do? You're only wasting your time!"

The two stared at each other in silence for a second.

"...sorry. That was a little harsh." the spirit lowered her voice. "But if anything comes up, I'll still be here to protect you."

Baiyun felt a strange feeling for a moment, one he couldn't quite place his hands on.

"Hmph. Maybe. But that kind of thinking is what Yang Lao would look down upon!" he said proudly.

"Yang Lao? Who in the world is that?" the spirit paused its erratic movement. "Wait, you-"

"Haha! He's the protagonist of `Chronicles of the Phoenix Sect` indeed!" Baiyun laughed.

But beneath his facade, he wanted to bury himself. Of all the things he had to act in this life, a delusional child enamoured by fiction was the most embarrassing! He had to hold back a frown with all his might, but somehow, he managed to remain smiling.

The spirit let out a deep sigh, materialising hands to cover her non-existent face. Baiyun's eyes twitched.

"Baiyun... this is the real world." she said finally.

"I-I know." Baiyun said, his eyebrows creasing involuntarily.

He felt like he was about to lose it. Why didn't he think of a better method of getting her to enroll him?

"No matter how hard a servant trains, what could it amount to? And it won't be easy to convince an Elder to accept you..."

"Whatever!" Baiyun huffed as he ran off.

This was deviating from his original script, but if this went on any longer, his facade would crumble to ashes. No amount of training against inner demons could have prepared him for this!

"And even if you did have talent for combat, the sect would train you to be a Combat Servant, nothing but a disposable pawn!" the spirit cried out. "Baiyun! Isn't life here as a farmer good? You get a safe comfortable home free from dangers, a good meal every day and even time to read and rest! It's a life many mortals outside the sect would be envious of!"

"If you won't help me, I'll ask the Martial Elder myself!" Baiyun shouted, continuing to run.

"You can't even talk to an Elder without a spirit's recommendation! Stop being-"

At that moment, a tremor shook the earth beneath his feet, stunning them both. Baiyun yelped and jumped aside as a pillar of stone burst out of the ground, sending earth flying in every direction.

Atop the pillar was a crude throne, upon which an earth spirit rested upon proudly. Earthquake!

"Hahahahaha!" he laughed heartily. "Quite the interesting conversation you're having here!"

"You?" the light spirit said in disbelief.

"Bai Yu... no, Baiyun! That recommendation you need? I shall grant it to you!" he laughed once more.

Baiyun and the light spirit stared at it in confusion.

"How long have you been listening?" she said, anger in her voice.

"Hah! For a child of light, you sure are unattentive! Aren't shiny little bastards like you better at observation than us souls of earth?"

Earthquake let out a loud cackle.

Baiyun felt a chill down his spine. This... had the spirit witnessed his acts in the cave? No, he was certain he would have sensed it if qi sense or soulsense had been used on him.

Unlike spirit beasts, most spirits were truly limited to just qi sense and soulsense, with some exceptions like light spirits, who truly had sight. So the earth spirit must have followed his footsteps afterwards!

He cursed himself for being so careless. He really had to get his impulses under control.

The light spirit cursed and scolded the earth spirit, but was ignored. Earthquake laughed as he summoned an earthen hand from the pillar, snatching Baiyun into the air before he could react.

"In any case, I'll be taking the human with me!"

"You- What do you think you're doing?" the light spirit screamed.

But Baiyun was wrapped in earth and yanked away, Earthquake shooting off into the distance.

Even surrounded by a protective shroud of soft mud, Baiyun could feel the sheer speed they moved from the violent trembling. He could only clench his fists. This feeling of helplessness... he despised it.

...

Before he knew it, Earthquake came to an abrupt stop, the momentum flinging him face first into mud.

"We are here!" Earthquake announced triumphantly.

Baiyun was released from the earth shroud, heaving as he fell to the ground. He was glad he only had a light dinner today.

Before him were the massive doors of a temple, merely an arm's reach away from his face. Atop it were 10 sockets in a horizontal line, each adorned with a massive jewel. But under the shadow of the roof looming above, moonlight was unable to reach them, hiding the lustre of the gemstones.

"Your name. Was it Bai Yu?" Earthquake asked.

"It's Baiyun."

Baiyun stared at the earth spirit with a blank face.

"Right! How do I keep forgetting?" Earthquake laughed. "Baiyun. You're pretty gutsy aren't you? I half expected you to scream and cry, perhaps even soil yourself, hahaha!"

A vein bulged on Baiyun's head.

"It's not like I can do anything about it. What will being afraid accomplish?" he grumbled.

Unbeknownst to himself, now that he was away from the light spirit, his childish facade weakened slightly.

"Hahaha! I like that attitude!" Earthquake laughed, summoning a hand to slap his back. "Now, go! Knock on the elder's door!"

Baiyun stared at the door in apprehension for a moment before taking a step forward. He gave it a few hard knocks.

...

Not a sound could be heard. The only thing he felt was a slight numbing pain from his knuckles.

"Go on. Kick it if you must!" Earthquake encouraged.

Baiyun wasn't sure if he liked that tone. If the spirit had a face, he was certain it would be grinning or perhaps even sneering at him.

"I already know it won't make a sound. My hands hurt..."

"Tsk. You're no fun. Just kick it!"

Baiyun sighed and gave the door a useless kick. Unsurprisingly, there was not a sound this time either. Seeing the boy staring at the door silently, Earthquake laughed.

"It seems like you have a long way to go, huh? Martial Elder Guan Qiang says if anyone wants to knock on his door, they would first need to be qualified!"

Earthquake floated high into the air, letting its amber light illuminate the gemstones atop the door.

"See these jewels? They light up based on the strength of your attack, the more of them light up, the louder the sound! You can't cheat with spells either, since there's a magic dissipation formation! Not that you have to worry about that, haha!"

Baiyun rubbed his chin with a frown. It seemed he was faced with the eccentric nonsense of a bored elder, something he was more than used to in his past life. He wondered if it was actually an effective way to encourage disciples. This project couldn't have been cheap.

"Then what would a kick from me do? It's not like I'm a cultivator, so it's useless even if I kick it a million times!"

"Hmph." Earthquake let out a displeased grunt. "I'm trying to get you to kick it, precisely to show you the difficulty of the test! At least show a little appreciation. A boy your age should be excited to see something like this!"

Baiyun: ...

"Anyway, I'll train you until you can light up the first gem!"

Baiyun nodded, but he had his doubts. Somehow, he didn't get the impression the spirit would be a capable teacher.

Earthquake hummed something to himself, blissfully unaware of the boy's disrespectful thoughts. He summoned a figure of earth from the ground, a golem about Baiyun's size.

"First, I'll teach you the Whirlwind Kick, so follow its movements closely!"

The figure spaced its feet apart and lowered its arms, pausing as it entered a stance. Then with a swift motion, it spun its body and kicked the air forcefully, sending out a blast of air!

Baiyun's frown deepened with every move he watched. That was not a Martial Art for a mortal like him; it would only be possible with body cultivation. As he had thought, this earth spirit was an incompetent teacher!

But even as he complained to himself, he paid close attention and memorised those moves. Earthquake might not be a good teacher, but those moves might prove useful in the future.

At the same time, he moved his body and imitated the punches and kicks as the spirit instructed.

"You call that a punch? There is no spirit in your movement!"

Baiyun could only endure the useless remarks of Earthquake as the hours passed, more and more sweat soaking his robes.

But a loud grinding sound interrupted them as the temple doors swung open, the very floor trembling slightly.

Five jewels atop the door lit up as a burly man marched out, a scowl etched onto his face. He was 2 metres tall and wore a black robe far too tight for him; they conformed to his muscles tightly, seemingly on the verge of bursting.

His tiger-like eyes stared at the two of them with disdain.

"What are you two clowns doing outside my door all night?" he boomed.

"Master, that servant wishes to enroll in your combat training! I am giving him my recommendation."

Earthquake's voice was suddenly polite and respectful, and it lowered itself in imitation of a kowtow.

"A servant?"

The elder put a hand to his chin and mused to himself, seemingly intrigued. Baiyun was suddenly conscious of the fact he did the same earlier.

"You, the servant. Stand outside while we discuss." the elder said as he turned away.

Baiyun nodded and distanced himself from the door. He was slightly miffed, but it made sense an elder would have little interest in the words of a servant. In his past life, he would not have paid heed either.

The elder and spirit entered the temple. Behind them, the door slammed shut with a bang that echoed far into the distance, gusts of wind swaying Baiyun's hair.

He stared at it in silence. Peace and quiet.

Baiyun stared at the moon above for a moment. Then he steadied himself, punching the air. It was past midnight, but it wasn't as if he could sleep here of all places. The elder might even kill him for such a disrespectful act.

There was nothing to do but practice. He recalled the movements of the Whirlwind Martial Arts, performing the punching and kicking routines. Perhaps the two in the temple were even watching him in secret with sight formations.

But after a few minutes, he changed his movements. No longer were they the fanciful moves Earthquake had taught earlier, merely simple punches and kicks a hoodlum might use.

Baiyun knew almost nothing about Martial Arts, but if there was one thing he knew, in any field, one had to start with the basics.

While he was shown the Whirlwind Arts previously, Baiyun had noticed a certain pattern. The poses it demanded he made, how it imbued the weight of his body into his attacks. That was what he was focused on. It was unrefined, but he felt like practising what little basics he had glimpsed would be a better use of his time.

The night was quiet, save for the sound of flowing wind and the slight whoosh of punches and kicks.

Half an hour had passed. Baiyun wiped the sweat off his face as he heaved slightly, massaging his sore arms and legs. His body might have been sturdy from daily work, but he was still young.

At that moment, the door swung open once more, 3 jewels lighting above it. The Martial Elder walked out, an unsettling grin on his face.

"You. Baiyun, is it?" he said.

"Yes-"

"You pass." the elder interrupted him. "Tomorrow, come to the training grounds at 6 in the morning."

Just like that?

Baiyun nodded in a hurry as the elder shooed him away. That grin... exactly what did Earthquake tell him? He wasn't sure if he should be relieved he made it into a martial program or worried.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Take this before you go." the elder said.

Baiyun turned around and saw a vial flying towards him. He widened his eyes and spun around with bent knees, barely catching it before it struck the ground.

He had done it entirely out of reflex, before he could think it through. Baiyun felt a little unsettled. Perhaps his soul hadn't fully assimilated with his body yet.

"Good reflexes."

And with those scant words, the elder shut the doors with a loud slam.

Baiyun stared at the vial in his hands and infused a small amount of divine sense into it. This application was known as "Divine Touch". With it, not even spirits could sense his meddling, but it required direct contact.

The structure of the elixir immediately entered his mind. This was a body strengthening elixir, but not one he had seen before. It was full of impurities, likely a failed elixir worth next to nothing; but it was good enough for a servant.

But thinking back about the spider core full of poisonous impurities he forced himself to eat, this was nothing. Even if he was forced to absorb them, there was nothing life threatening about the filth within, unlike the core.

"You!" Earthquake suddenly phased through the temple door with a shout. "The training grounds are over there!"

It summoned an earth figure to point somewhere in the distance.

"And remember to come early tomorrow!"

With those words, Earthquake left, rushing away just as quickly as he had brought Baiyun here.

That spirit called the Martial Elder "Master", didn't it? Baiyun shook his head, thinking to himself that both master and subordinate were equally irresponsible.

He put the elixir away into his bag. Right now, he had no plans to use it. He would save it for later, when he reached the Foundational stage. He had a certain art he planned to use when the time came.

But for now, the elixir would serve as a convenient alibi for his strength, letting him use some of the might the 3rd stage of Qi Gathering granted him.

That said, it wasn't as if he could hide the vial at his accommodations nor leave it in his bag brazenly. Baiyun decided he would ask the light spirit to hold onto it for him later, since they were on good terms.

Since Earthquake carelessly forgot to bring him home, Baiyun decided he would simply find a spot to sleep nearby. If he was willing to waste hours on a trip back and forth, he wouldn't even have the time to sleep a wink.

He looked around and managed to spot a random wooden chair. It was old and creaky, weathered by the elements outside and covered in a little mold. Well, how convenient. It seemed he wouldn't need to sleep on the floor tonight.

He picked it up and took it a good distance from the temple, before plopping his body down and allowing it to enter the realms of slumber.

Morning soon came.

Baiyun heard the soft footsteps of someone running over and opened his eyes. His soul did not need sleep and was always attentive.

It was a young boy around his age with a haughty look on his face, dressed neatly in training attire.

"Hey! You stupid servant! What are you doing sleeping on the great martial elder's chair!" he yelled.

Martial elder's chair? Baiyun turned over to look at it in disbelief. But it was an ordinary chair, not even made of spirit wood!

"I'm telling the master! You are going to be punished!"

Baiyun frowned.

The kid stared intently at him, the two facing each other in awkward silence for a moment.

"You're not scared?" the other boy asked.

Ridiculous.

If the Martial Elder cared that much about this ordinary chair, would he leave it lying around here? He could have tucked it away in his storage artefact easily. Children really came up with the most ridiculous nonsense.

Baiyun got off the chair and began to walk away.

"If you don't want me to tell the elder, you need to beat me in a fight!"

"Feel free to tell him then." Baiyun scoffed.

Children were so annoying sometimes...

Chapter 5: Wolven Trials

"Teacher!"

Baiyun watched as the kid ran off towards the temple doors, his little footsteps pattering. He followed speechlessly, placing the chair back into its original spot.

Now at the door, the kid closed his eyes and took a deep breath, gathering his qi. Then with a swift motion, he kicked the door with all his might! A loud bang echoed and the wind whistled. Above the door, two jewels lit up.

Baiyun shook his head. Challenging a mortal to a fight when he was that strong? Was the kid trying to kill him? In his past life, he certainly had seen his share of young masters who would not hesitate to tear servants from limb to limb, if not for the luxurious carpets beneath their feet.

A minute passed.

The martial elder shoved the door open, squatting down to the young boy with a grin. With his hand, he tousled the hair of the young boy who squirmed.

"What's wrong?"

The kid, whose eyes were red with hints of tears, seemed to grow more upset at those words.

"That servant over here, he was sleeping on your chair! When I challenged him to a fight to defend your honour, he refused!" he pointed to Baiyun.

The giant of an elder turned to look. Baiyun felt uneasy for a moment, but the man merely laughed.

"Hahaha! Then how should we punish him, Mo?"

But his voice was playful. Baiyun was relieved that the elder wasn't taking offence, but he felt annoyed right after. Why did he have to get caught up in this farce?

Mo thought for a good few moments but nothing came out of it.

"...hnn! I don't know! And stop calling me that, my name is Mohei!"

"You're giving up so easily?"

The elder flicked the boy in the forehead as he spoke.

"Gahhhh! Why'd you do that?" Mohei yelled.

But suddenly, his eyes lit up.

"Oh, I thought of something! That servant should make a new chair for you, one as good as yours!"

The elder flicked Mohei's forehead again.

"Ah! Stop doing that!"

Mohei rubbed the red spot on his forehead and glared at the elder with wronged eyes, but the Elder had already turned away.

"Baiyun!" the elder called to him.

"Yes, elder!" Baiyun said, as respectfully as he could.

Elder Guan Qiang beckoned for Baiyun to approach, then handed him a book.

"Take this and do the exercises here. I expect you to arrive an hour early each morning and practice until the rest of the disciples arrive!"

"Yes, elder!" Baiyun nodded.

The elder reached into his bag again and passed him a set of training attire.

"And wear these! You can change behind that corner."

Baiyun nodded yet again. He glanced at where the elder pointed and frowned slightly. Such a huge temple, and he couldn't be bothered to build a changing room for the disciples?

He reluctantly listened, walking over and hastily putting on the garments. In the background, he heard the slam of a door, likely Guan Qiang re-entering the temple.

They were form fitting plain grey robes, with long baggy pants beneath. Mohei glared at him as he walked out from the corner in his new attire, but Baiyun ignored him.

He stared at the book in hand, a worn out stack of paper bound by brown string titled "Basic Martial Training". He flipped through the pages and found many diagrams of basic punching and kicking routines with simple text descriptions.

Behind him, Mohei approached.

"You're a disciple here?"

Baiyun didn't answer. He followed the stretches shown on the first page. But he still remained vigilant, ready to dodge at any time, in case Mohei lost his temper and attacked.

"Why'd Master accept a servant like you anyway?"

Mohei walked a few circles around Baiyun and waved at him, then finally realised he was being ignored. He stomped his feet angrily.

Then, he stood brazenly in front of Baiyun and stuck out his tongue, copying the exercises but doing them 10 times faster. Baiyun was rendered speechless by the pettiness. At the very least, Mohei seemed to be a normal enough kid.

An hour passed shortly. One by one, disciples arrived, chattering to each other as they sat on the training grounds.

Mohei and Baiyun stared at each other, one indifferent and one frustrated, before the two of them joined the rest of the group.

Guan Qiang swung the temple doors open, and the disciples all stood up in unison.

"Good! Everyone is on time."

He nodded as he scanned each and every disciple. A few of the disciples nervously straightened up or tightened their untidy attire as his gaze landed on them.

"Today is a special day. We'll be doing actual combat training!"

Mumbles of dismay echoed through the crowd. Baiyun frowned. What exactly was that reaction? But noticing the elder's stare turning to him, he awkwardly put on a smile.

"But Elder!" a young girl suddenly called out. "We've only been training for a month. Shouldn't that be after 2 months of training?"

Baiyun was surprised. Were all the disciples here really that new? Then, what was with the strength Mohei showed?

"Oh? I thought you lot were ready, but it seems some of you aren't that confident. Very well, I won't force you. If you think you're behind the others, you can choose to sit aside." Guan Qiang laughed.

"Grr..."

The young girl grumbled but went silent. Baiyun shook his head internally.

Guan Qiang clapped once loudly, the force stirring up the fallen leaves scattered around.

"Wolves! Out!" he yelled.

Behind the temple doors, loud muffled howls could be heard. The doors swung open with 4 lights, two massive wolves revealing themselves.

They were almost as tall as the Martial Elder, and the length of two grown men lying down. Around their necks were loose collars with jades hanging from them.

But behind them, a pack of small wolf pups rushed past them. They were fully covered in leather armour and furs, with mask-like white helmets that lacked eyeholes. Even their ears were covered, appearing as two horn-like cones. Latches in the helmet allowed their mouths to open, revealing their tongue and sharp teeth as they panted.

Baiyun was stunned. The elder was pitting children against spirit beasts? And those helmets... did they suppress the sight and hearing of the wolves, forcing them to hone their qi sense instead? It seemed this was training for the wolves as well.

At the very least, the young beasts were no larger than the disciples.

"Ahh! Wolves!"

Some of the children began to shout and cry as the wolves rushed over, the giant ones following right behind. The young beasts then ran back to the elder's feet and sat, wagging their tails respectfully.

"Stop crying!"

The disciples quickly stifled their tears as Guan Qiang stared sternly at them.

"Each of you will face a wolf in combat shortly. The wolves are well armoured and can resist even the attacks of Foundational cultivators, so go all out!"

As the elder spoke, he pulled out neck guards from his bag, tossing them towards each of the disciples accurately. The children scrambled to catch theirs, but most weren't as quick as Baiyun with the elixir, so many neck guards tumbled to the ground.

Baiyun put his around his neck. How ironic for the elder's pets to be better armoured than his disciples.

"Baiyun!" Guang Qiang interrupted his thoughts. "You are new here, but I won't permit you to skip this practice."

The disciples stared at him in surprise.

Baiyun felt uneasy, but nodded as he held back a frown. Did Guan Qiang "throw the kids to the wolves" early merely as an excuse to test the claims Earthquake told him? Most likely, the spirit had found the corpse of the spider he dispatched.

It was certain the elder thought he had some rare constitution or talent for combat. He took a deep breath. Truthfully, he would have preferred not to draw attention. Drawing the attention of elders would only make it harder for him to do anything secretively. But if it came down to it, playing the role of a talented combat servant could also lead to certain opportunities.

"Yes, elder!"

Guan Qiang nodded.

"Do your warm ups! Combat training begins immediately after!"

"Yes, master!" the disciples echoed.

Baiyun had already done his warm ups, but he followed anyway. He watched the other disciples carefully, noting down the small mistakes he had made and correcting his movements.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the little wolves doing warm ups of their own as well, supervised by the giant wolves. Baiyun's eyes twitched.

Meanwhile, Guan Qiang checked on each of the disciples, ensuring they had worn their neck guards properly. He chided a few of them, straightening and tightening the collars despite their protests.

"You think it's hard to breathe? It'd be harder to breathe with your throat torn out!"

The disciples were frightened and quickly tightened their neck guards.

Soon, the warm ups were complete. Both the wolf pups and the disciples paced about. But the wolves paced out of impatience and excitement, and the disciples out of anxiety.

The elder nodded and crossed his arms.

"Warm ups are complete. Who will volunteer to go first?"

The disciples stared at each other uncertainly.

But Mohei looked up with a smug grin on his face.

"I will go first!" he announced.

Baiyun noticed Mohei was sneaking glances at him, but he ignored them.

"Very well!"

Guan Qiang walked over to Mohei and ruffled his hair, ignoring the boy's squirms.

"Baiyun, you're up first!" the elder yelled.

What? Baiyun was stunned.

"Huh?!" Mohei yelled. "Master, that's unfair!"

"Be quiet." the elder shooed the boy away as he stomped indignantly.

Baiyun sweated a little. He was now certain the elder only pushed the lessons ahead to test him! What an irresponsible man... Truthfully, he would have preferred to watch another disciple face the wolves first, then gleam what he could from that.

Guang Qiang was likely overestimating him, not realising another beast had done most of the damage to the spider.

As Baiyun stepped forward, one of the small wolves leapt over to face him. He could not see its eyes, but even with the mask between them, he could sense its cautious gaze.

Behind him, he heard a loud thud followed by clattering metal. He turned around and saw a weapon rack tipping back and forth, rattling noisily. Guan Qiang pulled it out from his bag moments ago and tossed it onto the ground carelessly.

"Take your weapon of choice or go unarmed!" the elder boomed.

It would be suicidal to go unarmed. Baiyun looked through the arsenal of weapons and had a moment of indecision.

In the thousands of years he had lived, he always scoffed those pursuing the mastery of combat. An old memory of something he said in his younger years came to mind.

"Combat techniques? They are merely a waste of time. In the time they spend honing their techniques, I'll cultivate beyond their reach and crush them with sheer might!"

Baiyun sighed to himself on the inside.

Those arrogant words would still hold true if he was an elite of a powerful sect, with boundless talent and plentiful resources. But he was now a pitiful servant, unable to even cultivate normally.

Wanting to overwhelm his opponents with superior cultivation was just a distant dream now.

On the rack before him, there was not a single weapon he was proficient in. He did know some combat arts, but they were mostly spells, something he could not use now.

The closest thing to a weapon he had used was a smithing hammer, along with farming implements. Back in his younger years in his past life, he originally aspired to be a blacksmith. But after facing a major setback, he gave up, switching to alchemy instead.

...

"Indecision?" the martial elder asked.

Only a few seconds had passed, but he sensed the boy's hesitation.

Baiyun shook his head and grabbed a small mace. Now was not the time to reminisce. Against leather armour supposed to resist even the attacks of a Foundational cultivator, sharp weapons would be useless. Blunt weapons were far more likely to be painful.

Or at least, that was how he assumed it worked.

Mixed in the crowd, Mohei suddenly tiptoed, cupping his hands to shout.

"Hah! What a tiny weapon! Perfect for a weakling like you!"

Baiyun ignored him. He scanned the rack one last time and grabbed a wooden shield as well, then nodded to the elder.

"I'm ready."

"Good. Anything goes in this fight." Guan Qiang said. "Whoever gives up or is incapacitated loses. After I count to 5, the fight starts!"

The elder took several steps back, and the disciples quietened. He began to count down.

"Five!"

...

"Four!"

...

"Three!"

Baiyun got into a defensive stance, holding up his shield towards his opponent. The small wolf turned to one of the larger wolves briefly as if to look for affirmation, then back toward Baiyun. Then it snarled at Baiyun, baring its teeth.

"Two!"

Baiyun took a step forward as the wolf arched its back.

"One!" Guang Qiang yelled. "Begin!"

The wolf took off with a growl, disappearing into a blur as it lunged at Baiyun. There was no time to dodge or react. He felt a powerful force slam into his shield, sending him airborne! Baiyun grunted as he hit the ground with a painful thud, his shield spinning away out of the reach.

He groaned at the pain that shot through his body, but the wolf did not wait. It shot forward towards the fallen boy with its teeth bared once more.

A strange air suddenly surrounded Baiyun, time seemingly slowing.

He swung his mace towards its head with all his might. But as it slammed into the pup's mask, its teeth had already sunken into his leg. The wolf was disorientated by the blow and jumped aside, but the damage was already done.

"Ahhhhh!" the children screamed.

Baiyun winced as white hot pain shot through his leg, crimson blood dyeing his robes. Some of the children even began to cry. At the corner of his eye, he saw Mohei covering his mouth, but he had no time to pay heed to that.

The wolf narrowed its eyes beneath the mask.

Prey.

With its fastest lunge yet, it disappeared into a blur of grey.

But it was not the delight of ripping flesh that greeted its mouth.

Baiyun reacted with inhuman speed, raising the mace towards it before it had even lunged. By its own momentum, the wolf forced the weapon down its throat!

"Hrkkk!"

The wolf toppled onto the ground and clawed at the weapon in panic. But Baiyun's eyes were cold. He ignored his wounded leg and got up. He pressed the beast down with a foot and grasped the mace tightly, holding it in place.

It did not show him mercy when he was down, so neither would he.

"Stop! Baiyun wins!" Guan Qiang declared.

Baiyun finally let go of the wolf and it spat out the mace with a choked whimper.

Mohei and the disciples stared at him in shock as his leg continued to bleed profusely.

He breathed heavily, his heart thumping like a drum. He was just as shocked as them by his own victory; that decisive move of his was mostly by impulse.

One of the giant wolves stared at Baiyun with killing intent as the little one ran to it pitifully. But just as quickly as he sensed it, it faded away.

Chapter 6: Third Place

Baiyun sat in silence as the elder bandaged his leg. He let his eyes water slightly, but he did not cry. Even if he was playing the role of a strong-willed child, being completely unfazed by such a huge wound might seem odd.

Medicinal substances from the bandages bound tightly to his leg seeped in. It stung, but his wounds stopped bleeding and began to heal.

A slight distance away, the little wolf whimpered as one of the large wolves levitated a bottle in the air, feeding it a red elixir of sorts.

Bayun looked at Guan Qiang's slightly frowning face. He could not tell what the man was thinking, but he tried his best to guess.

Was the elder disappointed? He had not won through strength nor combat talent, but a lucky sneak attack at the last second. What he showed was far from enough to defeat the spider. Wild beasts weren't suicidal; if they grew injured, they would flee like the serpent did.

If the elder thought he killed that spider alone, this meagre level of strength must have been disappointing.

Guan Qiang wrapped the last of the bandages around Baiyun's leg. His expression suddenly turned into a smile.

"Good work. It seems Earthy took interest in you for good reason, huh?" he said.

Baiyun was baffled but he nodded. Was that just a front?

Guan Qiang walked off after those words.

"Mohei, you are up next!"

"Y-yes!" Mohei shouted.

He no longer seemed as confident, hesitating slightly. Mohei glanced at Baiyun as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself. He grabbed a spear just as tall as he was from the weapon rack, then marched onto the square and faced another wolf.

"I'm ready!" he shouted.

Guan Qiang nodded, counting down from five quickly.

"Fight!"

Mohei brandished the spear and pointed it towards the wolf. But it was not as eager as the previous, circling the boy cautiously instead of pouncing. Perhaps it feared suffering the same fate as its sibling.

"Hmph. Coward!" Mohei harrumphed as he swung his spear in an arc.

He rushed forward and thrust his spear! But the wolf was just as quick as the previous; it tilted its head and dodged easily. At that moment, Mohei's eyes grew focused.

He took a quick step forward and winded his arm, punching the wolf to the side of its head. A huge burst of flames erupted from his hand with a loud bang, blasting the wolf away from the sheer force! The winds roared as smoke and dust swirled around the arena.

The wolf was sent flying and slammed into the ground with a tumble, bouncing several times if it were a stone being skipped. A few of its fellow wolves stepped to the side to dodge its disgraceful tumble.

"Whoaaaaa!" the children cheered.

Baiyun wasn't surprised by their reaction. Mohei's attack was a spectacle to behold in comparison to his dull moves.

Mohei finally relaxed, turning to smile at his fellow disciples.

"Hehe! These wolves are no match for me!" he said happily, swinging his spear in the air.

But the silhouette of the wolf stood back up amidst the dust. Flashes of light shone through the cloud, the sound of crackling lightning echoing as it approached. Two white eyes of qi materialised on its eyeless helmet, shining through the smoke.

"Awoooooooo!" the wolf howled indignantly.

"What?" Mohei took a step back in dismay.

Baiyun wondered if he forgot Guan Qiang's words; the armour of the wolves could guard against even Foundational attacks.

The wolf emerged from the cloud with arcs of lightning rushing through its armour. Every step it took charred the ground slightly, burnt black pawprints dotting the path it walked.

Guan Qiang laughed.

"I'm here to teach martial arts. But if you choose to use magic, my wolves are happy to indulge you!"

"That's not fair!" Mohei cried. "You didn't warn me!"

The wolf did not give him time to breathe, lunging at him while he was distracted talking to the elder. Mohei Baiyun watched in silence as the two fought and shook his head.

Mohei was beginning to toss out spell after spell and hardly relying on martial arts now. There was nothing to glean from his amateurish magic. Baiyun wasn't a dedicated spellcaster, but Alchemy was a field that required a decent mastery of spells and qi control.

He turned away and tended to his leg instead, no longer interested in the prolonged fight. His hands carefully massaged his leg to get more of the medicinal paste to soak in. At the same time, he controlled his qi and circulated it from his dantian through his blood vessels. His leg no longer hurt. It seemed a numbing herb was part of the bandage's ingredients.

Fire and lightning flashed in the background, nothing but annoying distractions.

Baiyun reached strands of soulsense into the bandages and examined the composition of the bandages slowly. The ingredients of the medicinal paste were all herbs of this world, unfamiliar to him.

But he could recognise the essences within. Essences were part of the universe's building blocks. From the most mundane mud to the grandest trees, every material had essence in them. Even if the herbs were alien to him, essences would never lie.

Numbing wood, Mending Wood, Earthsoul essence. Within this bandage were quite a few interesting essences, perfect for certain pills...

Baiyun quickly shook off that thought. To even contemplate using bloodstained bandages as a pill ingredient; where did his pride as an alchemist go? He sighed.

He heard a thud as Guan Qiang suddenly sat next to him, stirring up the dust slightly.

"What's wrong? Feeling demotivated?"

The Martial Elder's massive hand suddenly patted Baiyun on the back.

"Do not avert your eyes. Grit your teeth and show your spirit!" Guan Qiang said. "He is your competitor, so watch closely as he fights."

Baiyun nodded speechlessly. It seemed the elder had mistaken his sigh for something else.

With the elder beside him, he looked up once more and saw Mohei facing the wolf. He was covered in scratches and breathing heavily, battered down by the fight.

The wolf was uninjured due to its armour, continuing to rush at Mohei and swiping its lightning-imbued claws. Perhaps fearing what happened to the previous pup, it did not open its mouth even once.

"Fire explosion!" Mohei roared.

His eyes began to glow bright red and his pupils vanished. Mohei tossed his spear ahead and raised his arms into the air, summoning a massive ball of flames as tall as he was! But the wolf merely stood there haughtily.

"Hah!"

Mohei shouted as he tossed the huge fireball onto the wolf. The spell exploded with a loud boom, distorting the air and melting the earth, sending smoke and red embers in every direction. A few of the spectating disciples yelled and ducked, but a faint barrier materialised around the combatants, keeping the spectators safe.

Guan Qiang chuckled.

"A spectacle, isn't it? Do you envy his ability to use magic?"

Baiyun was slightly miffed, but after a moment of thinking, he decided to nod.

The elder snapped his finger and dispelled the barrier as the last of the embers died down. With a wave of his hands, the smoke and debris were blown away instantly, revealing the two fighters.

Mohei heaved, his footsteps unsteady. His robes were soaked with sweat, sparks of lightning lingering and arching around his skin. Finally, he toppled backwards onto the ground with his eyes rolled into whites. The boy was unconscious.

The wolf turned around and ran back to the big wolves. It looked up at them proudly and wagged its tail.

"Look at his unsightly state. Magic might be powerful, but there are limits to it. What will you do once your qi is exhausted?" the elder said. "The beauty of magic sways many, but only your body will be ever reliable!"

Ridiculous! Baiyun nodded, but held back a frown.

He had no plans to become purely a body cultivator. Even if he didn't have meridians, he was certain there were still ways to use spells somehow. It made no sense to abandon one of his past life's expertises.

This fight was unfair to begin with, since all attacks from the disciples would be shrugged off by the armour. Mohei throwing his strongest spells was useless, since he was ultimately still just a Qi Gathering cultivator.

If Mohei was smarter, he would fend off the wolves attack with physical strength until it exhausted itself. Since the wolf wasn't willing to reveal its weak spot by opening its mouth, all he achieved was exhausting himself by using flashy attacks that did no damage.

Wait. Baiyun had a realisation. Was that the intentional way to win this trial, the armour there solely to discourage the disciples from using magic? He turned to look at the elder.

"Work hard and show them even a servant without magic can succeed. Those kids could use a little humbling." Guan Qiang said. "Even if you can't cultivate qi, the path of Body Cultivation is still open to you."

He took out another vial of body strengthening elixir and passed it to Baiyun.

"Thank you, elder!"

Baiyun put on a smile and accepted the elixir with a grateful nod. Even if it was a misunderstanding, he was still going to shamelessly take it.

Meanwhile, a few disciples laughed as they grabbed Mohei's unconscious body by the feet, dragging him away.

"Ah." Guan Qiang suddenly realised he had been distracted. "The wolf wins!"

Baiyun shook his head as he watched the elder chase off the mischievous disciples, tending to Mohei's injuries.

Soon, the rest of the fights began. Most of the disciples had little skill with martial arts and some still insisted on using magic, so there was little to learn from them. But Baiyun watched anyway, not wanting another talk from the elder.

But he was suddenly caught off guard by one of the matches.

A muscular young boy with walked up onto the field. His hair was neatly shaven, only a single step away from being bald. If not for his height, his face would make him mistakable for a grown man.

He grabbed a random sword and used metal qi to mould it into a ball, then tossed it aside. The wolf now had permission to use its lightning. But the boy rushed towards the wolf, punching and kicking at the wolf relentlessly!

The wolf howled and tried to fight back, but the boy did not give up despite the lightning burns and bruises covering him. For the next few minutes, the disciples watched in horror as he pummelled the wolf endlessly, until the wolf was knocked unconscious by the repeated impacts shaking the armour.

"Ying Shi wins!" Guan Qiang announced.

Baiyun's eyes twitched. The disciples here had only enrolled for a month, but this kid had definitely been training long before then! Mohei likely had prior training as well, but it was not that exaggerated.

A few uninteresting fights passed. Tearful disciples began to litter the training grounds, covered in bandages like Baiyun. Some laid on the ground listlessly.

The young girl from before, who complained they hadn't been training enough, walked up with a grin. In her hands she held an absurdly long meteor hammer, two mace heads tied together with a 3-metre long metal rope.

"I'm Fei An! I'll show you all how it's done!"

She rushed towards her wolf with a maniacal grin, shrouded by a cloud of wind. The wolf howled and imbued its body with lightning, but she was too fast for the wolf to claw or bite, dodging its every attack. She was the first disciple actually faster than the wolves!

Fei An grinned as she tossed the meteor heads into the air and tugged on the metal rope. They spun through the air violently, turning into a silver blur that stirred up the very wind! The disciples backed away, frightened by the sheer momentum of her weapon.

The wolf growled cautiously, but it was caught off by a strike to its underside that sent it flying into the air. Fei An struck the wolf repeatedly with precise hits, not letting it even touch the ground. It was as if she was juggling a toy! The wolf could only howl pitifully and whine as it tumbled in the air helplessly.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" she laughed.

Finally, it let out a strange high pitched howl. One of the giant wolves leapt into the air and snatched the little wolf away. It had surrendered!

"The wolf resigns. Fei An wins!"

Baiyun nodded. It seemed there were a few incredibly talented disciples in this group! For children in qi gathering, those two were quite the talents. It made him almost interested in seeing more fights.

Unfortunately, there were no other skilled disciples. But there was one more amusing fight.

A kid imbued his body with lightning, then rushed over to the wolf and grabbed it by the head! The wolf activated its lightning as well, but neither of them hurt each other with their lightning.

"Hnnnn!"

The kid grabbed the wolf by the mouth of its helmet, pulling with all his might until his face turned red. The wolf let out muffled grunts of anger, not wanting to let the kid open its mouth either. It tried to claw at him, but its legs were far too stubby. It tried to distance itself, but the kid was grabbing its face too firmly!

For nearly 10 minutes, they remained locked in a stalemate, both grunting in exertion until Sanguang finally managed to pry its mouth open, shoving a shield into its mouth! He was much more merciful with his choice of weapon than Baiyun.

"Awoooo!"

Guan Qiang watched speechlessly.

"The wolf resigns... Sanguang wins!"

...

The rest of the fights ended uneventfully.

Guan Qiang gathered Baiyun, Fei An and Ying Shi in front of the other disciples.

"Well done to the top 3! The rest of you, train harder and try again next time!" he shouted.

Sanguang grumbled to the side, glaring at Baiyun resentfully.

"Fei An, 1st place! Your reward is a Wind-Striped Pear."

"Yay!"

She snatched it from his hand and scarfed it down immediately, like a starving wild animal. Guan Qiang didn't even have time to announce the next winner.

"Ying Shi, 2nd place! Your reward is a Purpleheart Ore."

"Many thanks, elder." Ying Shi bowed as he received the ore.

"And lastly, Baiyun! Your reward is a Rock Ginseng Pill."

"Thank you, elder!"

Baiyun nodded as he received the pill. His divine touch scanned it, and he was delighted. This was actually quite useful! He noted he was the only one who received a complete product, rather than a rare ingredient.

Perhaps it was because the other two were disciples of prestigious families, who could refine the ingredients into better things... at least if Fei An didn't immediately devour the "treat". Eating such a precious ingredient without processing it into a pill or elixir was such a waste. Baiyun's heart ached slightly.

"Combat practice is over! Return to regular training, we will have a spar with the wolves again next week."

The disciples let out dismayed groans.

"But teacher, we are all injured..."

"I want to go home!" another kid cried.

But Guan Qiang's stern eyes immediately shut them up, and the disciples reluctantly resumed training. Baiyun looked at his wounded leg and realised it had mostly healed by now. So he stood and trained with the disciples as well.

Regular training was not as exciting as the spar against the wolves. The disciples merely performed various routines from the book, punching and kicking the air endlessly. Baiyun wondered if training would be more effective with a straw dummy as an actual target.

Guan Qiang would correct some of the inaccurate movements from a few disciples occasionally, but for the most part, he sat on the dingy wooden chair and read a manual silently. It seemed the elder really used that chair... Baiyun was speechless, not understanding why the elder didn't buy a better one.

Hours passed as the disciples trained gruellingly and the sun soon set.

"Disciples, you are dismissed!" Guan Qiang said.

He returned to the temple immediately after, leaving only his chair behind.

But Baiyun was not done training yet. With the heightened senses of his soul, he could sense the state of his body to its most minute detail. Physical training was to let muscles wear and tear, then rebuilding themselves to be stronger than before. His arms and legs were numb, but he could tell some of his other muscles had yet to be pushed to their limit.

Some of the disciples stayed, watching what Baiyun was up to, but most left. But none of them talked to him. He supposed the children saw him as strange. Even Mohei remained silent, though he did approach with a conflicted expression, before running off.

Soon, he was the only one remaining.

It was night by the time he stopped, the skies above now pitch black. Baiyun panted and wiped off his sweat. At this point, all that kept his arms moving was the qi coursing within his blood vessels. It was as if he was a limp body, puppeted around by strings of qi from within.

Baiyun reached into his bag and pulled out the Rock Ginseng Pill, popping it into his mouth. Unlike the body elixirs, he didn't feel the need to save it for the future. He chewed the pill into a paste, before pulling out a water gourd and spitting the destroyed pill into it.

It was undignified and unsanitary, but it was needed to extract the full potential of the pill. Unlike the body of a cultivator, his mortal body would struggle to absorb the pill directly. Baiyun gave the gourd a good shake and left it to sit for 30 minutes, before drinking several mouthfuls.

He sat down and crossed his legs into the lotus position, closing his eyes and focusing.

The WanLing servants had earth constitutions, not uncommon amidst the servants of most sects. Earth bodies were physically strong and resistant to impurities, ideal for servants.

Baiyun slowly refined the pill water within his stomach, pushing the impurities further down his digestive system to be passed out later. It would be better if he spat out the impurities, but he didn't want to risk it under the watchful eyes of the sect's spirits. He carefully aligned and smoothed his muscle fibres with his soul, channelling the essence of the pill into them.

As the last of the pill essence in his stomach was absorbed, Baiyun repeated the process and drank more mouthfuls from his "makeshift elixir".

Finally, an hour later, the gourd bottomed out. Baiyun poured a little water from a different gourd in and gave it a quick shake to rinse it, before drinking it. The pill was now fully consumed.

It was late at night and he was still far from home.

Baiyun looked at the ground, then at Guan Qiang's creaky chair wordlessly. After contemplating for a minute, he decided it was still better to sleep on the chair than the dirty ground. He reluctantly sat on it and leaned his head back.

"Ah! Baiyun! Don't sleep yet!" the light spirit's voice called out.

Baiyun opened his eyes and turned over in surprise.

"I was looking for you all night!" the spirit cried. "But I saw you were taking an elixir, so I waited for a moment."

"Ah."

Hopefully him consuming the pill in such an optimal way was not suspicious. Baiyun suddenly remembered something and reached into his bag, pulling out the two body elixirs and handing them to the spirit.

"Can you help me hold onto these? I think I want to train more before I drink them." he said.

"Eh?"

The light spirit took them, but she was confused for a moment.

"We haven't met in a day, and you immediately tell me to hold onto something for you?" she said in disbelief.

"Hehe." Baiyun smiled innocently.

"Fine, I'll safeguard them for you." she said. "Now, let's go home! Don't just sleep on a chair here! Have you even eaten yet today?"

Baiyun nodded helplessly as the spirit lectured him. He really had forgotten to eat anything today! A mortal's body truly was troublesome.

She picked him up and flew to the canteen, ushering him in. After a quick meal there and a few grain balls as a snack, he was sent home.

He removed the bandages around his leg and stashed them into his bag, before lying on bed and letting his body sleep. It was quite comfortable after a day of hard work.