All the inhabitants of the monastery looked at the direction pointed by the shrieking monk .. The saw a tide of Beasts & Wild beasts rampaging in a stampede headed towards their direction, They will reach them in the next 10 minutes. Grandpa Shen was exactly preparing for this kind of situation for the past year. He immediately instructed the monks to abandon the huts & start running towards the entrance of caves they prepared as backup. All of them took off immediately, the beast tide looked at them with hunger & increased their speed as if they wanted to eat them without giving the monks an opportunity to escape.

Just before the tide reached the garden the monks climbed the mountain & entered the caves, they didn’t stop running for a long time till they finally reached the path for the secret dwellings they created as backup. They followed the river for a few days & finally reached the fertile land they cultivated painstakingly. Only then did they feel relieved. Everyone felt relief that they escaped a disaster. Some felt dejected as they lost their homes in which they were living peacefully for a long time.

There was only one instance of a beast tide that happened 125 years back a few years after establishing the monastery. That was a time when major disturbances happened in the world that affected the natural balance, the repercussions are still felt today. Now this tide signifies another major disaster striking the world in the near future. The Wild Beasts in the Silver Wing forest are sensitive to the changes in Qi of the world as they enjoy the densest of spirit particle energy when compared to anywhere else in the Kingdom. This is also the reason for their strength & vitality that is not found in wild beasts outside the forest.

In the previous beast tide the monks were not prepared & incurred heavy casualties - they were originally the citizens who escaped the turmoil in the kingdom to settle peacefully in the deeper parts of the jungle, misfortune followed them there too. Last time it lasted for a month. Hence they thought it would be wise to settle here for the next month & ramp up cultivation as they have increased the number of helpers now (all the monks of the monastery were gathered there, not just the team assigned for cultivating resources).

The monks settled for the night. LS couldn’t sleep in this new environment it was very new & he missed his bed that gave him countless peaceful nights of sleep. Snowy is also awake, unable to shake the terror of the tide as beasts are more susceptible to the negative Qi that gathered in the air due to the beast tide. Then LS decided to cultivate the 9 Dragon War God method he received from Yue Ying. He sat on the ground, closed his eyes & started accumulating Qi & tried to rotate it according to the method he learned that morning. Although he is a little genius, able to do everything after he learns just once, he failed miserably in rotating Qi in the path given, it also involves using his birthmark to stimulate his nodes so that they become strengthened. After failing for innumerable times he fell asleep due to fatigue.

He woke up late the next morning, went to his grandpa for guidance. “Grandpa, I am having difficulty in practicing a method, I fail no matter how many times I try, please tell me what to do..” complained LS.

Grandpa looked at the dejected LS & said: “This is the first time you failed in doing something, it is a good thing, very good thing. You can now understand the frustration of others who are less fortunate in resources / talent. Although this is the first time, it won’t be the last time, remember this well, just because you are good at something that doesn’t make you superior, there is always a bigger mountain to climb after you climb a mountain. Just because someone is bad at the things you are good at you cannot look at them with disdain / contempt. All are equal before the buddha. If you failed in doing something maybe your approach to the problem is not correct, try a different way. By trial & error you will find a better method to deal with the failure, don’t get discouraged” patting on Long Shen’s shoulders before leaving to discuss with Old man JI.

Old man Ji was meditating in his cave house when he heard the footsteps & walked to the entrance to see who it was.“Good Morning brother, What brings you here..” asked Mr Ji with cupped fists. “GoodMOrning Old JI, I wanted to thank you for your prophecy that saved many lives.” said grandpa with gratitude.

“Ha ha, it is the blessings of God Long. I am only interpreting the signs nothing much..” replied Old Ji. Sr Shen entered Old Ji’s cave & they both sat inside drinking tea. “So brother Ji, did the disaster you mentioned pass away? There will not be any future incidents such as this right?” asked Sr Shen. “ Actually I was going to the same topic, after seeing the tide & its intensity i am certain, that it is the disaster that we talked about few seasons back… but the larger clouds of doom are still present, in fact they are getting stronger, I am afraid we will have to prepare ourselves for a bigger disaster in the near future.” informed Old ji knitting his brows.

Sr Shen feared this same outcome hence he asked the question to reassure himself. Now that was a futile effort. “Hmm thanks to us preparing, we were able to save lives this time, if there is a much bigger disaster, we will not be safe even here… We need to come up with a plan to tackle this…. “ said grandpa rubbing his chin. After chatting for some more time on LS’s progress, they decided to send him to the Eastern Dragon Academy after LS reaches the age of 10 (after 1 and ½ years later).

Long Shen was deep in thought regarding how to cultivate the 9 Dragon War God method.

After many trials he thought of stimulating his birthmark first then using it as a medium to strengthen his nodes before trying to circulate his qi again. He did as he planned, strengthened his nodes the entire day before trying to circulate the QI in the path, he felt an improvement in his control compared to the previous times, but he couldn’t even reach the first node. He came to a conclusion that he is on the right path, before circulating the Qi he needs to strengthen his nodes. So he religiously strengthened his nodes everyday, for a month. He could reach the first node by circulating his Qi now.

Apart from strengthening his nodes, LS & Snowy explored the surroundings of the ancient hideout occasionally hunting low level wild beasts, when they came across one. Soon They entered the 8th level of Qi accumulation. LS was excited as he is just one level away from the body strengthening Rank / stage. After a few more months he was able to strengthen his nodes to such an extent that they felt like deep wells that can swallow huge amounts of Qi, the method for strengthening nodes was also a part of the 9 dragon war god technique he received. LS was impatient & started with the main method first without building his foundation. That is the reason he failed miserably every time earlier… LS realized his mistake, he now understood that fundamentals are important for everything.

After trying religiously for the past few months, Long Shen was finally able to complete once full circle of Qi rotation for the 9 Dragon War God Method. Long Shen felt the Qi in the surrounding areas rushing towards his nodes as if it was competing to enter his body to be used by him. He felt a burning sensation in his dantian that gave a power surge to his entire body, he can visibility feel the bones, tendons & individual cells in his body being strengthened by the qi after it passed through the set path of the 9DWG (9 Dragon War God = 9DWG) method. He was in an euphoric trance with the Qi automatically entering his body & getting absorbed by his cells as if they were starving since eons. This trance kind of state lasted for 3 whole days. After the 3rd day LS woke up from his dream like trance and ran outside to the forest to test his strength.

He made a fist & punched a large tree…

“Boom!!” a hole appeared on the opposite side of the tree where LS punched. His punch put a hole in the trunk of a 100 year old tree. This is the power of a Body Strengthening stage of cultivator, but he is still in the Qi accumulation stage!! At this arte he will be invincible in his cultivation rank when compared to physical abilities. LS punched a few more trees in euphoria & went to the lake to spend some time catching fish, so that he can eat his favorite dish, Fried Wild fish (Similar to wild beasts) as his treat.

To be Continued….