The incessant shake of the ground woke me up. I promptly stood up and summoned the [Bow]. The first thought that came to my mind was: Crap!

Due to my stuffed stomach, I had unwittingly fallen asleep. We all had. Byakko, the little butterfly and me.

“Father~” Byakko muttered groggily as he got up. His voice had none of the tension I was feeling.

Thinking that I was probably overthinking stuff, I surveyed the surrounding. No, I hadn’t been overthinking. In fact, it had already exceeded my expectations. Innumerable beasts were rushing towards where we were from all sides. They were not out to get us, per se but we would definitely get caught up in the charge.

“Byakko! Ling! Prepare for battle!” I yelled.

Ling was the name I gave to the little butterfly flame. Everyone needs an identity. That’s what I believed. I was not able to identity the gender of the butterfly. I took it for a female. It felt disconcerting to call a companion who might accompany you for a lifetime as ‘it’ like an inanimate object or an animal.

I started shooting numerous arrows in all direction.

Ding!

You have gained…

Ding!

You have gained…

Ding!

You have gained…

Ding!

You have gained…

Many notifications floated in front of me. But that was just a destraction. I waved them away. No time to waste reading stuff I already knew. I turned off all the notifications regarding gaining of essence and leveling up to Foundational Stage. I didn’t need them at the moment. As for others, I left it on. You never know what you might miss if you closed off all of your avenues.

The beasts couldn’t be considered strong. Even an arrow that was part of the mass of arrow I shot at the same time was enough to take care of it. But the problem was, their numbers. It was just too much.

I kept shooting arrows like a mad person. Due to sheer number of the beasts, I rarely missed. In one shower of arrows, I would be able to take down hundreds and hundreds of beasts. But that did nothing. The beast horde that was more than ten kilometers away before was now a little less than two hundred meters away.

“Byakko! Ling!”

“On it!” He immediately turned massive.

As for Ling, she summoned a circle of flame around her. Although she was one of my traits, she was capable of independent action due to her sentience.

“Byakko, don’t use your Qi recklessly.” When would this guy learn to be cautious? What if he had no Qi when he really needed it?

“Got it, father~” He promptly turned off his skill and became his miniature size. I sighed. This guy was too simple. I worried for his future.

Byakko and Ling joined the fray.

Byakko was swiping with his claws. Naturally, not using his skill. Piles of corpses built around him.

As for Ling, she charred all the beasts around her with her flame.

There were no Core Formation Stage beasts in the group. That was the only saving grace in the whole situation. If there had been a few of them, we would have had to struggle a lot. But I wasn’t optimistic enough to think that they wouldn’t appear at some point.

I kept shooting the beasts that were in the distance. Byakko and Ling fought of the beasts that were in close range. Gradually, we got into our own battle rhythm. It became much easier to take care of the beast horde. The problem was, how long would we be able to keep the rhythm.

I kept shooting, my fingers sore.

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have comprehended .

Oh? I couldn’t help but be surprised. I didn’t check the skill but kept on shooting. I immediately noticed the effect. Shooting arrow became much easier, especially targeting part. It was like an invisible hand was guiding me.

Ding!

Congratulations!

Your Skill has leveled up.

is now Level 6.

Ding!

Congratulations!

Your Skill has leveled up.

is now Level 6.

That took a while. I thought the skills would level up like crazy since I was constantly using them in the battle. But I guess it got more difficult to level up, as it got higher and higher. Still, the extra damage I would get was a nice addition. It was like getting water in the times of drought.

The battle became easier.

“Father, I got a new skill called ! It’s amazing! I can sense everything within the radius of ten meters!” Byakko yelled over the sound of the battle and rushing beasts.

“Good!” I nodded at him.

Then, I looked towards Ling. Did she become stronger? I wondered. The circle of flame around her was clearly much bigger than before. The area of damage she was dealing was also increased. Essence Flames could also grow? That was something new. I decided to study more about the world after I got out of this. It was clearly much more mystical than I had given it credit for.

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have acquired the skill .

Wasn’t it the same skill Byakko got? I pushed back the urge to check out my status and concentrated on the battle. It was true, I could sense everything within ten meters around me vividly. With it, I could put a decent fight in close quarter. Not that there were any need at the moment, Byakko and Ling were doing a fantastic job. But the Qi exhaustion by the skill had me gaping.

Finally, the battle subsided. I looked at the numerous corpses around us in disbelief. The sheer amount of beasts that rushed towards us in the beginning had me frightened out of my wit. But now that it was taken care of, it sort of felt anticlimactic. It wasn’t that difficult. That was my honest feeling at the moment.

I laid myself on the ground to rest. Although there had been no damage and the Qi I spend had already recovered, I couldn’t help feeling tired. The mental strain that I got from facing an innumerable amount of beasts was really something.

Byakko and Ling did the same as me.

I checked my status. I had put off doing it due to the urgency of the situation.

GENERAL

Name

Su Ren

Age

10 years old

Cultivation Method

Heart’s Yearning

Realm

Qi Gathering 9

(999/1000 Essence)

Lifeforce

4760/4760 (Regeneration: 20% per second)

Qi

4550/4550 (Regeneration: 20% per second)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

448

Physique

476

Movement

474

Control

474

Soul

455

Comprehension

442

Charm

56

Fate

35

INNATE TRAITS

Innards of a God

Kaleidoscope Eye

Photosynthesis

Eternal Stratum (Incomplete)

############

Heavenly Butterfly Flame

Bow

Bond:

Byakko (White Tiger)

QI SKILL LIST

Slot

Skill Name

Rating

Level

1.

Qi Arrow

Unranked

6/10

2.

Earth Steps

Epic

6/10

3.

Heart Force

Unranked

1/10

4.

Spiritual Sense

Unranked

1/10

That didn’t make sense. Weren’t we supposed to have only two skill slots when we were in Qi Gathering Stage?

I checked the details of the skills.

HEART FORCE (Unranked)

Level 1

Provides a steady aim.

Cost: 20 Qi per second

SPIRITUAL SENSE (Unranked)

Level 1

Extend your senses to 10 meters.

Cost: 100 Qi per second

When I looked into the details of the skills, one thing struck me. Both of them were passive and support type skills. Maybe, one could learn these passive skills even though all slots were filled. Maybe, the slots were for active skills that would have a direct bearing outside. When it came learning these passive skills, we did not have the option of choosing. If you comprehended one, it would be learnt without fail. I could only pray that there were more slots.

I checked Byakko’s status.

GENERAL

Name

Byakko

Age

7 months old

Race

White Tiger

Realm

Foundational 3

(2876/4000 Essence)

Lifeforce

1540/1540 (Regeneration: 2% per second)

Qi

1520/1520 (Regeneration: 2% per second)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

238

Physique

244

Movement

250

Control

249

Soul

232

Comprehension

227

Charm

29

Fate

21

INNATE TRAIT

Wings of the Heavenly Tiger

Bonded to: Su Ren

QI SKILL LIST

Slot

Skill Name

Rating

Level

1.

Heavenly Tiger Transformation

Epic

5/10

2.

Claw Swipe

Epic

4/10

3.

Spiritual Sense

Unranked

1/10

4.

5.

Yup. Like I thought, the passive skill didn’t take the slots that were available to the active skills.

I checked Ling while I was at it.

Ling (Heavenly Butterfly Essence Flame)

That was it. Either my level was too low or Ling had yet to activate her status, I was unable to tell. Maybe, this was all that there was to it. But I was unable to dismiss it like that. Ling had clearly become strong. There should be something to display it.

There were many things I needed to study. I made a mental note and included the matter about Ling to my list.

“Not bad! Not bad at all!” An old voice suddenly rang out in my head.

“Who?” I looked around but found no one.

“Don’t bother, boy. I am not around you. If you used that eye trait of yours, you might see me at the core region of the forest.”

I shuddered. It wasn’t that difficult to figure out the identity of the voice. It was the presence I had felt from the core region of the forest. I had been unable to see though it with my [Kaleidoscope Eye]. Its cultivation was at least Nascent Soul Stage. That’s the stage where I was unable to use [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode Black] to identify. But something told me that its cultivation was beyond that.

Why was someone this powerful talking to me? I wasn’t naïve enough to believe that the powerful presence talked to me due of kindness. This was cultivation world. Everyone’s hand was strained in blood.

“You have a nice body,” it said. I had a bad premonition. “Just right for me!” My premonition was spot on.

Ding!

WARNING!

A foreign consciousness has invaded your body and consciousness. It is trying to take over you. Please do something.

Before I could think of a plan to counter the invasion, I felt a huge presence in my head. My consciousness grew hazy and everything became black around me.

The demon grinned. It hadn’t expected such a nice present to walk right to him. He had been irritated when he was rudely interrupted from his rest. If it weren’t for the injury that only let him use a meager amount of Qi, he would have killed all those ants. Too bad, he could unleash only a single skill. If he used another skill, his recovery would have been in serious jeopardy.

With the new body, his recovery would speed up by a lot. The potential of the body would enable him to walk further than he had ever done in his life.

Just a bit more.

Suddenly, he felt a certain engulfing force from the body he was attempting to take over. What is happening? Before he could figure out the situation, he felt a searing pain in his soul.

Ding!

The part of your soul you send out was devoured.

WARNING!

If you don’t sever the connection with that part of soul, the chances of your soul getting devoured is very high.

He promptly followed the notification and severed the connection between his main soul and the soul he had sent out. His soul was damaged. The stats of the soul had been reduced by at least one-third. It was a major loss.

Just what kind of monster did I provoke? The time he could return to his prime had been lengthened yet gain. He had been unwittingly made to eat a loss by a Qi Gathering Stage brat!

The City Lord and his team didn’t make a pretty sight as they sneakily made their way through the forest. They had to tread carefully or they would run into a beast horde. It wasn’t that it would be difficult to tackle a horde or two but the exhaustion they would accumulate was something he wanted to avoid.

“All clear, sir!” the scout reported.

Mu Yan nodded in acknowledgement.

They had come as a majestic team with nine Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and hundreds of Core Formation Stage Cultivators. But now, they were returning with only seven Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and less than fifty Core Formation Stage cultivators. This was a tragedy!

“Sir,” another scout came to make his report. “There’s something that is rapidly approaching us.”

“Number?” he asked, tersely. They had already fought against beasts for more than a day. Everyone was tired.

“One,” the scout replied.

Mu Yan relaxed. Taking down a single beast shouldn’t be that big of an issue. But he could see some unease in the eyes of the scout. “What is it?” he asked.

“It’s a chimera.” The scouts voice shook. It wasn’t that difficult to figure out that he was trying to fight off his fear.

Since when did this forest have a chimera? Mu Yan cursed. Chimeras were really troublesome beasts. One was never able to predict the traits and skills they possessed. Moreover, they would have a huge arsenal of it.

Chimeras meant only one thing. Massive destruction.

Even if it was just one chimera, Mu Yan couldn’t underestimate it. He gathered others and quickly prepared a plan to fight off the beast. The chimera had already locked onto them. Turning their back to it was the most foolish thing they could do. Mu Yan, as the City Lord, had some [Mass Teleportation Scroll] in his hand. But he wanted to avoid using it, if possible. He had paid a huge amount to get those in his hands. How could he bear it use it just like that?

They had hardly finished their preparations when the chimera reached them.

Mu Yan shuddered. Even for a chimera, the one in front of them was too bizarre. The chimera had two heads, a serpent and a bird. It had two snakes with glaring red eyes for its tails. But the most weird aspect of this chimera was the huge round belly. A huge mouth with rows of sharp teeth in it was located there!

He had seen chimeras before but never one such as this. Also, he could sense a primordial aura from it.

They would be unable to take on the beast. He could sense it. He took out the [Mass Teleportation Scroll] and inserted his Qi into it. He couldn’t afford to continue being miserly or else, they would be wiped out.

Moments before they were teleported out of that place, the chimera attacked. It was a pretty simple pattern. With a sonic boom, it rushed towards a cluster of people and opened its big mouth. Moments later, all those people were in its mouth.

All Mu Yan and his team could do was watch helplessly. Fight that thing? No way!

The scroll activated and the survivors were teleported out of that area. Before he was teleported away, he didn’t forget to inform his daughter about the situation in a concise manner. He told her to use a [Mass Teleportation Scroll] and get out of the forest as soon as possible.

They were teleported to the City Gate.

He checked the survivors grimly. Four Nascent Soul Cultivators and twenty-one Core Formation Stage cultivators. The others, they had all ended up in that beast’s stomach. Their losses from the Chimera was bigger than the one they suffered from the mighty presence in the core region of the forest. Mu Yan regretted not activating the [Mass Teleportation Scroll] as soon as he knew about the chimera.

Few moments later, lights lit up the gate. It was the activation of another [Mass Teleportation Scroll]. Mu Lanran and other young generations walked out the light.

Mu Yan sighed in relief. At least his beloved daughter was safe.

“Father!” Byakko muttered in a tone filled with worry and loneliness as he looked at the chimera that was trampling down on a beast horde.

After they had finished the fight, his father had fallen into a trance with a painful expression on his face. Soon after, he had transformed into that bizarre creature. He attacked everything in his path indiscriminately, whether it was beasts or humans. The only exception was Byakko and Ling who were connected to him.

Ling was in a berserk state, too. She had transformed into a huge butterfly and razing everything in her path to ashes.

These two were on a destruction spree.

Byakko, with his little head was unable to think of a solution. He could only follow his father worriedly.