“Labby can sense a lot of Qi!” Labby exclaimed happily, as we arrived near the location of the Qi vein.

We’d made our way to the forest near Taizhou village, heading straight towards our objective. There really wasn’t any point in waiting, and the faster we moved, the better chances we had of saving those people.

I stepped through the forest, noticing the various natural flows of Qi. Each moment spent in this world brought me more questions about the myriad of things that no one had answered before, sitting right in front of our eyes.

I let the thoughts go. I’d have time to ponder over the mysteries of the chittering in my room peacefully, but for now, I needed to focus.

“Zhi Zhu thinks the vein is just beyond this thicket,” Liuxiang’s spirit spoke, chiterring.

“L-Labby could sense that too! She sensed the Qi first!” Labby exclaimed back at the spider, crackling with lightning. My little fluff ball of a rat shrank back the moment Zhi Zhu turned around to have her eyes be towards Labby, and I almost laughed out loud.

“This one sees the entrance,” Liuxiang spoke as I turned towards the pointed direction.

A large cavernous entrance in a small hillside within the forest sat in front of our eyes. The entrance leaked torrents of Qi out into the air, forming currents of flowing Qi that spread out into the woods. I could sense many spirit plants growing outside the cavern, yet curiously enough, none on the inside of the cave.

“This one will have a look first,” Yi Liuxiang spoke up, and I nodded. The pale-skinned boy walked towards the entrance, standing near it. I sensed his Qi rustling as a green haze started to form around him. A plume of Qi infused cloud swirled around Liuxiang, as Qi thrummed in his core.

Within a few moments, the cloud rushed inside the cavern like a tidal wave of surging Qi. I stood behind, waiting silently as I kept my hand near my exploding pills.

I’d made a simple unlocking mechanism on the holders of the pills that I could detonate at will. It still wasn’t nearly safe enough from other cultivators interference, and them blowing my own explosives in my face. As a preventive measure, I’d carved a simplistic channel on the container that didn’t allow Qi to enter as easily until the lid was open.

I heard screeches and thumps as the sound of the flaps of many wings came out. Yi Liuxiang smoothly stepped back, and I stared in surprise as a black tide of bats swarmed out from the cavern, flying in a mad rush to escape.

I pulsed my Qi, worried about the bats swarming us, but the creatures flew out and away from our direction, scattering across the forest. When the last of the bats had flown away, I turned back towards Li Yiuxiang in surprise.

“What were those?” I asked the boy. I’d sensed a tiny amount of Qi present in each one, that had spread across the group uniformly as if their cores were linked together.

“Shade bats. Regular animals, but they form a collective that can use Qi as a whole. Not a threat, but with the situations unknown within, this one thought best to remove them from the way. Both for their sakes and ours,” Liuxiang replied.

“Zhi Zhu likes their taste,” the spider added as an after note.

The first thought I had was surprise that a spider could eat the bat, the second was the mental image of a giant maw spitting open as that happened and the third was a shudder as I saw said spider looking straight in my direction.

I suddenly understood very well why Labby didn’t like her.

“What was the cloud?” I asked, turning towards Liuxiang.

“Poison arts. Mildly toxic and enough to get the bats out. It wouldn’t kill any of them with the amount this one used,” Liuxiang replied. “Let us head in, Senior.”

I nodded, following behind him as my curiosity grew. Poison arts huh? It fit him for sure, although I wondered how poison would work with Qi. Could some specific chemical compounds be manufactured? If so, when properly utilised, it could change medicine completely. Or perhaps it worked in simpler ways, like with some kind of Poison affinity that had its own laws related to Qi.

I stewed with my thoughts, keeping half my attention on my surroundings. Another thing I’d found myself capable of after coming here, although doing two tasks simultaneously was still fairly tough.

The Qi levels continued to rise as I made my way inside the vein with Liuxiang. Light dimmed as we walked further in, and I began to notice spots of concentrated Qi buried in the ground. Little crystals poked through occasionally, mixed in with the earth and in erratic shapes. Not at all like the near transparent, spirit crystals that the refined product was.

I could tell why the sect wanted this place. Not only was the Qi potent and present in high amounts, it also felt… for a lack of better word, more pure. I couldn’t describe the sensation, yet the Qi felt more potent, like each breath filled my dantian more than it would’ve otherwise. Another point to be observed and added to the properties of Qi.

“What do you think is causing the restless spirit beast?” I asked Liuxiang as we continued to gradually make our way through. Aside from the bats, I hadn’t seen anything.

“This one could only guess. Yet if this one had to say, then perhaps it was the rise of a new section of spirit crystals. Enough Qi gathered together could cause tremors and disturb the spirits that live within. After a certain point, the air itself would be too heavy with Qi for the weaker spirits to breathe in, causing them to move out, and the predators would follow,” Liuxiang spoke, and I raised my eyebrow. That was a more informed opinion than I’d been expecting from someone here.

“Do you know a lot about animals and stuff by any chance?” I asked Liuxiang, as Labby began to crackle with dim lightning as the cavern lights turned extremely dim. I could still see just fine, even with the minimal lightning. Hurray for cultivator bodies!

“This one’s Arts involves the use of poisons, and to do that one must be aware of the functionalities of the body. This one has been taught medicine as a result of that,” Liuxiang spoke softly and I suddenly noticed how his footsteps made no sound.

Someone trained in medicine, huh? Not to mention poison. Perhaps someone who could look at Su Lin’s brother together with me. I wasn’t comfortable enough to be sharing things like that just yet, though, and Su Lin’s brother’s condition wasn’t something I should be sharing either way. It was not something I had the right to share.

But in a hypothetical scenario, I could definitely use someone well versed in medicine. I was much more of a physics nerd than anything else. Which was a bit strange considering that I was doing Alchemy, more of a chemistry focus. Herbology more than anything I’d say. But I digress.

In the end, I wasn't as familiar with the human body as I’d like to be. My focus were the workings of fundamental forces of nature and the innate workings of the reality, and if I was to try and help Su Lin’s brother while gaining some important insights into the nature of crippled cultivation and Qi as a whole, then I’d take all the help I could get.

“Please wait Senior. This one senses something,” Liuxiang sent, and I froze. A moment later, I sensed what Liuxiang had been talking about as well. A strong Qi presence was walking towards us nearby at a slow pace.

I saw silver needles appear in the boy’s hand as a green plume began to rise around him. I circulated my own Qi, mist rising, when I shifted the cultivation to my own method. My Qi split in two separate rotation cycles that melded into one, layers upon layers mixing in a cloud as mist rose from my sleeves.

Liuxiang moved in first, gliding ahead as his needles darted out. I heard a pained growl come from ahead as the needles struck as a thump sounded out.

“You’re not allowed to jump in Labby, stay close to me,” I warned Labby, not willing to risk her any injury from being too excitable.

I was ready to jump in when I sensed the creature’s legs give out as it fell to the floor. Huh?

I turned to look at Liuxiang for a moment, and found his thin brows bent in a frown as he walked closer.

“A spirit bear. Second realm but… this is…” Liuxiang muttered and I walked closer wondering just what was so wrong. A second realm spirit shouldn’t be nearly this weak.

Labby crackled with sparks conveniently for me, as I walked closer, finding my gaze on the bear as I sucked in a sharp breath.

Green plants and growths covered the body of the creature. Piercing it’s skin and causing it to turn violet and red. The bear’s fur was falling, and I saw wounds covering its body, festered with plant roots weaving through the skin. I sensed its Qi being sucked into the plant that covered it’s back all the way to it’s skull. It was dying. And in an extremely painful way.

“Forgive me,” I heard Liuxiang whisper as he walked towards the bear’s mouth. The creature growled, it’s eyes turning towards Liuxiang. The spirit animal kicked its legs in a last ditch effort at life.

“Shhh, it’s okay. You can sleep now,” Liuxiang muttered as his hand gently covered the bear’s eyes. I saw the creature relax, as Liuxiang’s Qi pulsed. With a quick motion, and a sharp precise stab, his needle pierced its skull and with a shuddering twitch, the bear took its final breath.

I looked away, feeling oddly grim at watching a creature die like that. Taking a moment to settle myself I walked closer.

“What's growing on it?” I asked, crouching near the bear.

“This one doesn’t know,” Liuxiang replied, and I felt a tone of surprise and worry in his voice. “A parasitic plant of some kind. Clearly a spirit herb, yet, possibly more than just that. The plant is growing along the creature’s spines, and this one can sense the roots digging into the spine itself. Right till the base of the brain. The plant was moving the bear in its final moments, keeping it alive in suffering, while also draining it of it’s Qi.”

I turned back towards the thing in horror, as I stared at the green little growth covering it’s back. Zombie making parasitic plants were just what I needed, fuck me. Then those people…

“Do you think the Village head’s son is?” I asked with a worried tone.

“This one cannot say, but the growth seems to be fairly slow. If they are, then they should still be alive,” Liuxiang spoke, breathing out.

“Zhi Zhu can sense the roots. The damage was done over weeks. Humans should be alive,” the spider spoke, and for once, I found its voice more assuring than creepy.

“It’s best to burn this body,” Liuxiang said.

“Wouldn’t that cause problems with this being a cavern?” I asked in surprise.

“Not with this much Qi, the air would be cleansed by the spirit crystals soon” he said, and I nodded, taking a mental note to add that to my list of things to look into. I flared my Qi as I crushed one of my exploding pills, spreading its contents on the bear’s body as the fire essence escaped the pill, before I lit it all on fire.

The body burned as I stood there for a moment, watching it take to flames.

“Let us move further in,” Liuxiang spoke and I followed behind him.

The pathways ahead continued in a twisting and turning maze of routes. We continued to follow the way deeper in, both me and Liuxiang sensing the minimal air currents flowing through the cavern to find the way that led deeper into the vein. The source had to be close by.

A collapsed section in a side pathway within the cavern made me pause. “Hold up, I think I hear something,” I said. Focusing my attention I walked closer. A faint breathing sound reached my ears, barely audible at all even to my sharper senses.

“Is somebody in there?” I shouted, hearing a light groan come from the other side. Whoever it was, wasn’t in a speaking condition, and possibly unconscious.

“I found one of them, just beyond this collapsed section, possibly more,” I spoke, as Liuxiang nodded.

“This one can look for an entry point to try and break in. If not, then a different path should lead this way as well,” Liuxiang said and I nodded, about to take a step back, when I heard Labby perk up.

“Labby smells… Labby smells a herb. Labby smells a delicious herb! Labby can go help humans as well!” Labby shouted, jumping towards the pile of rocks blocking our way.

“No! Labby wait!” I shouted, but the little lightning ball was already buzzing away at full speeds as she squeezed through the gaps.

“Zhi Zhu, follow her,” Liuxiang spoke, as the spider leapt from his back, squirming her way behind Labby, and I let out a frustrated sigh.

Godamnit Labby, don’t you dare get hurt.