Demon Wolf

Wolf projected his Qi, forming an impossibly thin screen to shield his skin. He stepped into the moat, slowly dunking his bare foot into the greenish water. Immediately, a cool moist sensation tickled his toes, spreading up his foot.

His ankle entered the channel, disappearing beneath the floating layer of algae, and the hem of his pant leg clung to his skin, wet beyond a doubt.

Wolf retreated and awakened his senses. He watched the moisture creep up the fabric until the cloth drank its fill. However, regardless of how hard he focused on expanding it, the Qi shield hugged his skin, unwilling to separate.

At most I can will it some two millimeters away from myself. But even then, it’s not forcing the water out of the fabric. Why? Wait, what if?

Wolf summoned a bandage and cut a piece just long enough to wrap once around his hand. After fastening it, Wolf circulated Qi and touched the still water with his palm. The algae-infested surface rippled, spreading tiny waves for a moment before Wolf retracted his hand.

The bandage was clean and dry.

“So, I could wrap myself in gauze and walk around like that? So stylish.”

There must be a better way. I could send a surge of Qi into the cloth, the way I do with weapons?

“Fibers would disintegrate from the strain, but higher quality fabrics must exist. Something like spider silk and Monster Beast hair.”

What if I replicate Ghost Shroud, but instead of coursing Qi beneath the skin, I circulate it outside my body?

Wolf tried it. He started the Ghost Shroud with hardly a thought, Qi flowing like a current just beneath his skin, preventing any of it from leaking back into the environment. He tried to push the current outside, past his skin, but Qi pushed back, unwilling to leave his body.

It’s like I struck a barrier?

“Skin insulates us from the environment. The Qi can pass in and out through pores, but circulating it through skin itself seems impossible.”

Wolf frowned. He painted a magnificent picture, imagining how releasing Qi must resemble countless microscopic volcanos erupting simultaneously. However, one question imposed itself.

Why would skin block Qi?

“Skin protects us from outside influences. That’s why you get thirsty while swimming in potable water.”

But Qi is energy.

“So is sunlight, yet skin protects us from it as well.”

Wolf mulled over that thought, but found nothing wrong with it. Does that mean aptitude for cultivation boils down to how well we can seal our pores and resist leaking Qi back into the environment?

While the question tickled his curiosity, Wolf failed to find an answer.

He experimented for a while longer. By limiting the intensity through which he sent a surge of Qi, he forced a single point of the screen further away, like pressing a tent flap with his finger. He immediately lost control over it, and the entire screen burst like a bubble.

I guess I’ll swim naked when I need to. Now, I should get back to work.

With that thought, Wolf turned around and gazed towards the jungle into which the Brilliant Gate’s people had retreated.

***

It’s all my fault. Elaine Daseldoff clenched her teeth, leading her subordinates through the jungle. I bet Mother would’ve handled those apes on her own back when she was my age.

That unwanted thought choked her, squeezing her soul. Since birth, Lena had lived under her mother’s shadow. The constant comparison with the genius which birthed her had placed great strain on the child’s frail psyche. That pressure, which turned coals into diamonds, usually crushed humans.

She struggled to meet her mother’s expectations. She worked harder than anyone, toiling and struggling ever since her first confident steps on the path of cultivation, always ruthless to herself, while aloof around others. Without her knowing, the strain and the hours she had spent in diligent cultivation had warped her personality.

In her rare hours of freedom, she drank and ate. She snatched trinkets and men she liked, leaving her mother and guardians to handle the consequences. Daniella Daseldoff tolerated her daughter’s antics for two reasons.

Lena’s temper matched her own, so she sympathized with her daughter’s desires, and more importantly, when the circumstances pressed her, Lena shined. Just like her.

The Gilded Apes assault was one such instance. Lena blocked one beast single handedly, wielding Daniella Daseldoff’s spare sword. Even though she lacked the Qi to infuse her mother’s weapon to its limit, the blade proved enough to maim and slay the young Gilded Ape she battled.

Even as she pressed forward through the jungle, days later, she saw the scene clearly. Her heart had pumped pure adrenaline. She had wanted to roar after slaying such a powerful foe. In her elated state, others would have charged, fighting more opponents.

Lena, however, remained calm. The beasts had already routed her junior apprentice sisters. In the few dozen seconds she had taken to slay her enemy, the remaining Monster Beasts wielding giant clubs had slaughtered a hundred manlings, decimating them.

Lena performed her duty. She protected their retreat, facing the broken bodies of her transient acquaintances, which littered the ground before her. The Gilded Apes bellowed at her and beat their chests, but did not pursue.

Lena recognized the wary look in their eyes. Like countless humans, those oversized animals feared her.

Recalling that sensation, Lena’s lip twisted into a slight smile. A moment later, she dispelled the thought and scowled.

We circled half the damn lake and even walked into a trap! Where are the Mind Clearing Lotuses? Her circumstances irked her. Heroes always found what they sought immediately. Sagas had no parts saying, ‘the hero blindly fumbled around for three days, looking for the right spot.’

Lena raised a clenched fist, calling a break. Spreading her fingers and waving her hand, she signaled the scouts to check the river, half a kilometer to their left.

No matter how I look at it, they are dragging me down. She watched her followers settle, split into small independent parties.

Unlike Marie’s neat, organized camps, Lena’s henchmen slept and stood watch without established order. Some groups only had two women, others twenty. The only rule Lena imposed was a fifty-fifty split, meaning no more than one half of her cohorts could sleep at any given time.

Lena observed their lethargic movements and downcast gazes, wondering whether she should do something about them. The battle with the Gilded Apes was their first trial; one which they had failed miserably.

They aren’t even injured. We slaughtered or drove away every single Monster Beast we came across until now, yet one defeat was enough to break them. Grow some ovaries!

She wanted to scream, but she could not vent her frustration. Mother would’ve lined them up and flogged them for such a shameful performance.

Lena burned with desire to do the same. However, without absolute supremacy which could suppress their numbers, such a careless act could pave the way for rebellion.

Thinking of mutiny, she glanced at her three remaining bodyguards. The fourth, incompetent, woman got herself killed fighting the Gilded Apes. Lena did not see her fall. She did not care about her fate. Her mother had handpicked those women, and they amounted to little more than protective items from Lena’s perspective.

Two of them had thrown their sleeping bags on the ground and went to sleep before the rear line pulled to a halt. The remaining sentry caught her gaze and nodded, her face stern as ever.

Lena nodded back and settled down.

Like every day since she had touched upon the Blood Saturating realm, she sat to meditate for two hours. Her diligent cultivation in Corpsewood’s rich environment allowed her to reach the second stage well ahead of the pack. She heeded her mother’s advice and did not waste her limited time on gathering energy from her surroundings. Rather, she internalized the World Energy, which naturally saturated her body during the day, binding it to her blood and making a void, which the ambient energy would fill on its own.

Two hours passed in a blink. Lena opened her eyes, more fatigued from her intense concentration than from skulking through the jungle for fourteen hours. 

The grinning leader of Brilliant Gate’s scouts greeted her with a polite half-bow.

“Young Miss, we found them.” The woman kept her pose, but glanced up to see her mistress’s face.

Lena nodded, unable to keep the excitement from her face. Encouraged by her leader’s first smile in days, the scout delivered her report.

“There’s a whole plantation of white lotuses ten kilometers ahead. We observed both banks for an hour, but spotted no Monster Beasts standing guard.” She paused and licked her lips, waiting for Lena to growl at her. However, Lena remained quiet, and the woman continued. “Based on what we saw, the operation should go smoothly.”