(Author: Hello! Zhuang will train among wyrms and learn their ways. Most people would look down upon him for eating demonic cores, but doing so will allow him other ways to improve. Hope you enjoy the chapter!)

Chapter 6: Among Wyrms

Zhuang had left Shuang with the Ancient One as he followed the thousand year wyrms to a clearing surrounded by jade crystals. These crystals emanated spirit energy and would help him cultivate. The clearing had a small pool full of spirit energy enriched water from a waterfall. It was there that Zhuang would play his zither on a small wooden table he erected above the pool's surface.

Every day, he would drink a bucket full of the Ancient One's blood. His constitution was part wyrm so he had no trouble drinking it. The blood would nourish his body and his skin had become as strong as steel like Shuang. As he conversed with other wyrms about qi, he gradually got used to speaking the draconic language and no longer felt dizzy upon hearing multiple voices at once.

He also trained using Nightmare, his halberd. It was a two handed weapon, but he could use some moves using one hand due to his augmented body. He had asked the wyrms about the runes, but they only knew how to make them. He received a medallion with a white wyrm that looked like the Ancient One. It signified that he was a friend of the Ancient One and all wyrms he would meet in the future would do as he asked. It also contained runes that would help him refine material for alchemy.

At first, Zhuang was skeptical. He asked the wyrms why he needed to learn alchemy. They were powerful beings that didn't need it but he had to learn it? They told him that it was because he was a human, albeit a demi-human. Humans were weak creatures and needed something to help them overcome stronger foes.

Some of the wyrms barely escaped when they underestimated a human with weak cultivation and used alchemical potions to defeat them. The Ancient One had poison element qi and Zhuang was astonished to find that Shuang had it too. The wyrms told him that the Ancient One would transfer some qi into Shuang so it would be able to breathe poison. A wyrm with only one qi attribute, especially a hatchling, was cannon fodder.

As Zhuang studied under the wyrms, he gained insights on the essence of his element qi. Of course, his highest affinity levels were fire and death so he quickly reached the third level of condensation by cultivating fire and death element qi. The waterfall and the wyrm blood also had an abundance of spirit energy so his foundations improved greatly.

Fire did not only destroy life, it could create life. Without fire, there would be no light. Death was not only an end but a beginning. Cells in the body died while new cells would take its place. Zhuang gained these insights due to constant contact with blood and watching the Ancient One regenerate the small cut where the blood would drop into the bucket. Most wyrms could breathe fire and he learned that some plants could only begin to grow after lava has poured on the ground as some of the wyrms were volcanic wyrms. He had absorbed a demonic core of a volcanic wyrm and that core had mutated his jade eyes, giving them the strange ash colored patterns on his irises.

He had also gained insight on poison and water. As he learned alchemy from some of the books the wyrms had pillaged from unlucky victims, he had to learn about curing poisons. To cure poison, you had to learn about it and know how to create it.

By using his experience, he developed his first unique qi technique. It was a poison element qi technique he called Bone Claw. If an opponent that tried to kill him got too close for him to swing his halberd, he would use Bone Claw to defend himself. The qi technique required a lot of spirit energy to maintain the poison element qi in his hand as it would form a wyrm shaped claw.

As he played the zither near the waterfall, he would observe how the water flowed as the waterfall fell onto the small pool. He imagined his water qi as the ripples in the pond and slowly began to master his healing qi technique given by his father. He had reached the first stage of all the qi techniques his father had given him and had broken through to the fourth level of qi condensation.

At last, he even created his own technique for his destruction type element qi. The first he called Astral Steps as it allowed him to make small ripples in space and teleport within twenty feet in any direction. This could be considered a small feat as other martial exponents with destruction element qi could also do the same. It was his third devised qi technique that made Zhuang happy. His human father, Kong Shao, had told him about the importance of hidden weapons and had given him four daggers which he hid in his robes.

Using death element qi, he was able to levitate the daggers and imbue them with death element qi. He used his knowledge on necromancers he learned from reading books in the imperial library to devise the technique he called Nether Force. It was his trump card against a magus or a more powerful foe. He would send his flying daggers at his foes, as they stab and slice his opponents, the daggers would drain small amounts of spirit energy. After all, his studies told him mana and qi were both spirit energy, but with different applications and conditions. When the daggers returned to him, he would absorb the spirit energy they drained or used it to prolong the technique.

His constant exposure to spirit energy allowed him to break through again all the way to the middle stage of the seventh level of qi condensation. Was this talent? No. It was all because of the wyrms and the spirit energy in the valley. He grew fearful as many people would question how he became so powerful so quickly. After a year and a half, Zhuang knew he was late and he rushed to the Ancient One, asking how to solve his problem. A wanring had also appeared in his mind that his first tribulation would happen at sunset.

"Must you go? The wyrms enjoy watching you cultivate and your experience at playing the zither has improved and you can now play beautiful music using simple notes. As for your tribulation, don't worry. It is the weakest and no one fails the first one or suffers horrible injuries no matter how powerful their tribulations are compared to another," the Ancient One laughed. "As for hiding your cultivation, you already have the ability as you have wyrm blood in your veins. We, wyrms, are intelligent creatures. The more powerful wyrms always display a weaker level than they really are to toy and tire their prey before eating them. Just approximate what level you should have and focus the excess into your eyes and horns. Simple right? Heh. Seeing humans ignorantly look down on mutations from demonic cores make me laugh. As Shuang is your magical beast, he receives all the benefits of a tribulation like you without undergoing it himself. Meditate at the cliff side so I and the other wyrms see it."

Zhuang, relieved that the wyrms were nearby, closed his eyes to meditate. It was different cultivating qi while meditating as it was eerily silent and unnerving first experience. He didn't like it as it reminded him of his solitary confinement in the orb as an evil jade spirit. He heard rumbles and knew that a thundercloud appeared above him. He knew his tribulation would be more powerful than the other recruits as he already reached the seventh level and his daggers levitated above him. As they were metal, he hoped they would absorb some of the impact of the lightning. He also began his Water Dragon's Pulse technique to heal his body and relied on his qi circulation and the abundant spirit energy around him to prolong the technique.

"Here it comes! Endure evil jade spirit!" the Ancient One warned.

White lightning blasted from the heavens, but his daggers absorbed the impact. He really had to thank his father for giving him indestructible daggers as the daggers were fine.

"Wait! There will two more?" the Ancient One gasped. "It must be because of your absurdly fast cultivation! Keep your guard up! The next one will be slightly stronger but the last will be more powerful than both combined!"

Zhuang cursed as a second blast and crackle was heard above him. The second white lightning was double in size and only a little of the lightning reached his body. With his steel hardened skin, he only suffered small cuts from the lightning which were easily healed. However, of the nine total tribulations, it was the third onward that had twists to it as it had the collective power of the ones before it and more.

The final lightning blasted forth and the daggers absorbed very little of the lightning. Zhuang screamed in pain as the lightning pierced his body. He frantically used all the spirit energy he had to strengthen his healing technique. The ground around him burnt and became black and the smell of burnt flesh hung in the air.

As the lightning struck, his realm of qi doubled in size. The dragon egg finally formed a few cracks while the volcano doubled. The toxicity of the poisoned water became stronger as the depths of the ocean became deeper. Zhuang roared inhumanely as the lightning stopped and barely maintained consciousness.

If he was at the sect, it would have been easier to survive the tribulation as the sect had many formations that would weaken the lightning. The wyrms were impressed that Zhuang survive and surprised that the lightning was stronger than they anticipated. Humans suffered weaker tribulations, but Zhuang was only mostly human.

"Congratulations evil jade spirit," the wyrms said.

"You survived on your own efforts," the Ancient One said. "Good. You have earned the right for me to speak with you in the human tongue. Your time here has impressed the wyrms as well as I. I wish you luck in the future. Feel free to return whenever you like if you wish to cultivate outside the human sects. As you already know, this place is much better than any other in the human land you call the Yewan empire."

"Thank you so much for all your help," Zhuang said to the Ancient One and all the wyrms.

Zhuang and Shuang left the wyrm valley after promising they would not reveal the location. Zhuang was glad as he was able to reach the seventh level so quickly and was able to hide his true capabilities. Unless it was a wyrm, no being could determine his true power. Was he powerful? Maybe, but he decided to continue studying alchemy as even the thousand year wyrms were fearful of a master alchemist.

During his stay, he had been given various alchemical materials, spirit grass, and books containing information about different elements of qi. He was also pleased to find some fantasy books about myths and legends as they were made from exaggerated truths, but some could contain hidden treasures. Besides, reading was a fun past time besides playing the zither once he had become Zhuang Shao.

"Why take the spirit grass? It is useless," Shuang asked in the human tongue in his head.

"Oh we can communicate as others do now!" Zhuang laughed. "I accepted the gifts of spirit grass as some could be used in alchemy while I will sell others for various items I might need. Even stuff others see as junk are rich expenses to others. We are not very strong as we have to hide our power. Even if more powerful people bully us and threaten us, we cannot reveal our true capabilities while at the sect. If we find them outside the sect and in an isolated area, we can get our revenge then. Only reveal the fact that you can breathe poison under those circumstances. At most I am willing to expose that I am a level higher than I really am."

"I suppose you are right master, but I can display even more power as I am a magical beast wyrm so people already expect me to be more powerful than you. I am by the way, but I know I can never defeat you. You also have poison element qi and you chilling fire element qi stands above ice and fire qi," Shuang laughed. "I will follow your orders master. However, if someone threatens our life at the sect, I won't hold back. It doesn't matter if I do anyway."

Zhuang nodded as people who had ill intentions toward him would try to isolate him from the steel cloud wyrm hatchling. He would lay low and overcome others using alchemy. Only fools depend only on their own power. A true survivalist uses whatever option he has to survive. He needed to survive. He had achieved dream of freedom and would do anything to protect it.

Chapter 5: Ancient One Main Page Chapter 7: Star Calamity Sect