Zhen Yin took a deep steadying breath from her vantage point up top on one of the massive rock formations that sprouted from the ground like so many greyish teeth, far above the thick forests that made up the inner reaches of the hidden world.

Her hand instinctively strayed towards the single braid of fiery locks that sprouted from the side of her head, swaying gently in the early morning’s breeze. A single rectangular talisman was attached to its end, sometimes tickling her lower neck or clavicle in a way she found slightly comforting.

It was a masterpiece, or so her cousin Ai told her when she’d given it to her the day before, though she didn’t really give much weight to the statement as in her cousin’s ever humble opinion everything she managed to make was a masterpiece.

She was stalling for time, she easily acknowledged that, but she was pretty sure most people in her situation would as well. After all, the entire operation hinged on her success.

Well, not exactly. Lin Fen and Su Mei were on fruit hunting duty just like her, but since their presence concealing techniques weren’t as good as hers they would have to move slower and more carefully, so the bulk of the search would be on her.

Bloody hell, someone knock her out until it’s all over.

With a grimace, the wild haired red head shook her head to try and dispel the doubts plaguing her every thought.

If there was one thing that this horrible ordeal had done for her was dispel most of her false bravado, although even she hadn’t known that it was fake.

Things get a lot clearer when you are in danger of dying at any moment, something that she had never truly experienced before.

Because for all that the treasure mountains of the Golden Peak sect could house many more spiritual beasts than even the ones they’d found here, they all tended to be solitary or working together in small groups of the same species, she’d never had to deal with an actual horde.

Not to mention the beast lord that had put Chun Dai out of commission. An involuntary shiver went down her spine. If she never saw it again it would be too soon…

But enough about that! She had a job to do! An important one at that!

She slapped her cheeks with both of her hands, hard enough to feel the sting but not enough to actually alert something with the sound, no matter how unlikely that was so far away from the ground.

As the young woman pumped herself up mentally she also started cycling her spiritual energy through her body, preparing to activate her movement technique alongside the concealment she was already keeping on herself.

[Heart Furnace]

A wave of warmth spread through her flesh starting from the core of her being, her skin flushed as if she’d gotten a sunburn, becoming almost as red as her hair.

Zhen Yin, unlike many of her fellow disciples, had decided to focus her training and fighting style around a single all encompassing body reinforcing skill.

While most cultivators used movement skills, offensive skills, defensive skills, and other such techniques intermittently during battle, her singular focus had led her to perfect her sole chosen spiritual art to an absurd degree.

When she’d first picked up the skill from the outer compound’s sparse libraries, it had been simply called [Arterial Enhancement], and its effect had been easily discernable by its moniker.

To make a long explanation short, properly executing the technique would make her able to use her veins as artificial channels for spiritual energy, which would then spread through all of her body following the natural roads that were already present inside her. But this had not been enough for her.

With the technique as it was, she had to manually direct her spiritual energy through her body to its destination, as otherwise, her energy would just stay in place inside her veins, for outside of the spiritual channels which ran through her soul there was no metaphysical pressure that pushed it along, even without her will.

So then she came to a conclusion. Why not simply bind the spiritual energy to her blood? That way it would be carried to every single corner of her physical being far more efficiently and with no active input needed from her.

Safe to say, that was easier said than done, not that she was discouraged in the slightest by having to work for her goal. Months passed, and then years, which she spent as one of the lower ranked of the outer disciples, simply due to her lacking combat capability.

Until one day it suddenly all clicked together.

Her energy and her blood fused, in a way, occupying the same space while still being two wholly distinct existences. Finally, her work bore fruit, quickly catapulting her through the ranks until she felt bold enough to take the test to become an inner disciple. And the rest was history.

And now that she’d learned about the power of Intent?

A single ember was plucked from the burning coals of her will, so small and feeble at this point in time that it took her several moments to find it each time, she then carried the spark to the center of her chest, nestling it deep into her heart, where she’d already been depositing her spiritual energy to be carried away with every beat of her heart.

Almost casually, she fished a thin vial from a pouch at her hip, quickly shattering it against the hard stone at her feet. A plume of deep crimson smoke shot towards the sky, signaling the start of her mission to her companions, and she moved decisively towards the forests below, her doubts, fear, and hesitation drowned by a crimson tide of singing lifeblood that had taken over her senses.

Normally, the effects of her technique left her feeling restless, giddy, and far too energetic, with her Intent added to such an already volatile mix?

She turned into a blur, her face stretching into a maniacal smile that she could not have put down even if her life depended on it. Her heart beat so fast and hard that she could feel it reverberating through her eardrums, setting her teeth to chattering as if she'd smoked an entire stem of fire-grass.

The sound of her teammates doing their part echoed through the forest, reaching her slowly and slurredly, as if time had slowed, reminding her that her job wasn't just to run around like an otter on ecstasy.

Fortunately, the enhancement provided by her modified technique was truly all encompassing, and her senses had become many times sharper than before, letting her gaze cut through the thick foliage as if it wasn't even there.

Idly, she tightened the shroud of energy concealing her presence slightly, trying to bring back the core disciple's lessons to the forefront of her mind to keep the triumphant roar of her blood at bay.

"Normally, the best way to hide one's presence entails blending in with the world around you, something that seems to come naturally to you." He'd told her, staring at her coldly from the corner of his eye.

The swordsman's tone was the same as always, which made it difficult for her to figure out if he was accusing her or simply stating his mind.

"However, due to the way the beast holding us here is connected to this hidden world, that particular method would actually work against you, as it would immediately sense someone trying to insert themselves into its... domain." He finished hesitantly, although Yin had no idea why.

She was too busy slumping her shoulders at the knowledge that her newfound talent was apparently counterproductive for their upcoming mission to try and figure that particular detail out. However, she instantly froze as Chun Dai's icy blue eyes settled on her fully, his expression looking even more severe than usual, something she had no idea that was possible.

"This does not necessarily mean that your talents cannot be of use." His face softened into a more pensive frown, which made the wild haired young woman sigh in relief. "This may actually prove a good thing." He'd concluded, giving her a strange look which she could not identify.

After that, he'd kept teaching her how to blend with her surrounding with her whole being and aura. Then, after she was 'good enough' he'd told her to do the exact opposite of everything he'd taught her.

At the start, she'd stumbled a bit while trying to heed his directions, but after constant repetition and numerous failures, she finally grasped what the core disciple had been trying to teach her.

Instead of growing close to the fabric of the world, what she had to do was instead push it away, leaving her presence wholly disconnected from that of the natural world.

From what Chun Dai had told her, this particular method was pretty much useless against other cultivators, as they would instantly notice the bizarre fluctuations of energy where her aura pushed against her surroundings, but would be pretty affective when dealing with beasts who primarily relied on their instincts instead of common sense.

That didn't discourage her though, and inwardly she vowed to herself that she would master both forms of presence concealement.

But that came later, she reminded herself as the sound of numerous explosions echoed behind her, much much later.

Hopefully after they'd left this blasted place for good.