Depthless Hunger-Chapters 441-444

Chapter 441: Cultivator Physique vs Monstrous Physique

As soon as Omilaena shattered the vial, the liquid seeped into the tree leaves. Technically it could be washed away for a period of time, but with the dryad village drawing all the liquid in the atmosphere, that wasn't very likely. She watched, just in case something would go wrong, but the disease soon took hold.

With her expertise it would definitely kill even qi-rich trees, and thanks to Nymidria it would spread over the wall into the shielded region. It might take a few days, but a disease like this would spread with unnatural speed. The larger delay might honestly be waiting for the Verdant River sect to notice that the infection was spreading.

So her job was done. Hopefully the others were having just as easy a time.

As soon as the disease spread was verified, Omilaena headed away from the site. In theory at that moment Zae Zin Nim was attacking, and likely robbing, the vault. Best not to get anywhere near her just in case things got uglier than planned and she had to retreat the way the average vengeful cultivator would against such a powerful sect. And meanwhile, Kai should be infiltrating...

Except at that moment, Omilaena felt an explosion of presence techniques around the sect, all clashing with one another. She could have sworn that she heard the screams and could feel the waves of chaos radiating in the distance.

Before she could get any answers, she sensed two figures screaming away from the sect, tearing into one another in midair. One of them was definitely Kai, and he was locked in combat with a Sky Soul. Whatever had happened, things had not gone according to plan.

What the fuck was Kai doing? Omilaena redirected her path, realizing that they'd definitely need the hidden second meeting point after all...

.

..

.

Kai was giving ground for one reason and one reason only: he need to put more distance between himself, the sect, and his wives. All his other instincts screamed at him to throw himself into battle against the old man and really test his Physique.

If he had prepared Direboar's Strength, Kai thought he would have a solid edge, but given that he had used his normal cultivator essence set, he was pushed to the edge. Grandpa Wan had the level of mastery that made his qi into a half-phase, allowing him to push through presence techniques, not to mention both take and deal powerful blows. Kai needed to maintain razor focus during the entire intense battle, keeping his strength concentrated enough to equal it.

They clashed again in a clearing, raining blows down on one another. The old man had the ability to project his fists in the form of qi, pummeling him from a distance, and Kai wished he could pit Tyrant's Claw against it. Unfortunately, he only had Manticore's Quill, which he was resisting using just in case the old man had resistance to poison.

He realized that was insane: this fight was much too close for him to be holding back. But the truth was that the old man seemed like a noble warrior who didn't deserve to play servant to spoiled brats.

When Kai next leapt away, the old man turned into a blurring streak after him, arcing around toward his back. But Kai was getting used to the higher flight ability: his first punch went through the light harmlessly, but as the old man reformed, Kai's second blow hit him directly in the face.

This one actually connected and the old man skidded backward, cracking a tree before he stopped himself. He rubbed his neck and then spat out a mouthful of blood - less an injury than a challenge.

"Hey, wait." Kai held up his hands, though he didn't lower his guard. "What's your name?"

"I have nothing to say to a rapist," the old man said.

"That's a false charge and I think you know it. Do you really trust any of those young masters on a subject like that?"

The old man lowered his fists into combat position, building up qi again, but didn't attack.

"Right now I have to call you Grandpa Wanwan in my head, and that definitely seems like an insult." Kai did his best to shrug without opening any weaknesses. "You're the patriarch of the Deepriver sect, aren't you? I'm honored to fight you, and I'd rather know your name."

"There is no honor in battle, only duty." Even as he advanced, something shifted in the old man's eyes. "But my name is Wan Fei."

That explained the nickname. Grandpa Wan Fei shifted his back foot, then pushed off the ground with that explosive force he had used the entire fight. Kai met him head on, just pushing through his first qi punch and trusting Behemoth's Heart to endure it, then getting in close. They grappled aggressively in the clearing, each binding an arm while hammering blows into the other's side, and Kai found himself grinning despite himself.

He really should be using more lethal skills, but pushing himself like this... his body was on fire, burning with new strength. It felt like, even though his skin wasn't changing, the muscles underneath were mutating in response to the Savage Heart.

Kai wasn't strong enough to hold back at this level and a blow made it through to his chest. He hurtled backward and smashed into a hill, his sternum aching with an intense pain. It had definitely broken, and even Behemoth's Heart would take a while to heal from the qi-enhanced blow.

Yet his opponent wasn't following him, he was staring.

After a pause, waiting for some sort of trick, Kai dared to look at his own soul. He was afraid that his monstrous essence was leaking through, or his power was otherwise falling apart, but instead he saw something completely different.

<

Name: Kai Clanless

Total Power: 835

Monstrous Hunger - XIV (xi)

Cultivation: Nascent Foundation 8% (252)

Savage Heart: 19 (192)

Manticore Tattoo (71%)

Physique Level: C-0 (300)

Beggar King's Robes: +2 (10)

Soul Level: 9 (81)

>

Somehow his Physique had broken through to C rank in mid-combat. Kai had never heard of something like that, not at this high level, and judging from the old man's astonishment, he hadn't either.

"That's not possible..." Grandpa Wan Fei actually looked intimidated for the first time. "I thought you had reached the limit for barbarians..."

"I've studied many different Physique abilities, but I only broke through thanks to you." Kai clapped hand to fist in a perfect cultivator bow. "Thank you for the instruction, grandfather."

"Are you mocking me?" The old man's eyes flashed, but he didn't attack.

"Not at all. I have nothing but respect for you... which is why I have to ask why you're serving that little rat."

"I serve the Masterful Crown sect, and I owe a great debt to his father." Grandpa Wan Fei shifted his back leg forward, again preparing for an attack, but far more cautiously. "You may be a more respectable man than I thought, but I was ordered to kill you, so my own desires are irrelevant. Prepare yourself."

Kai just grinned through the blood in his teeth.

When they clashed again, he instantly felt the difference in his Physique. The jump in power wasn't enormous, but his body had absorbed a higher concentration of qi and was better reinforced against qi blows. He forced himself not to use the Savage Heart or other abilities, pushing his human strength to the limit and seeing how far he could go.

Best of all, he was still growing. Every blow they traded, Kai's body adjusted just a little bit more.

As much fun as he was having, he saw nothing but grim determination in the old man's eyes. It seemed that Wan Fei would either kill him or die trying, and though Kai was willing to kill him if necessary, it seemed unjust. Kill a noble cultivator just because he had to serve a human shitstain like Yul Wei Ren? That was the kind of mindless behavior the young master himself would do.

And so, as much as he wanted to keep fighting, Kai decided that he needed to run. He'd already thoroughly distracted the enemy and given his wives an opportunity. Fighting Grandpa Wan Fei only benefited them if their plan was to exterminate the entire group at once, and that had never been their goal.

As soon as he saw a chance, Kai leapt backward to put some distance between them. The old man transformed into a stream of light again, though he no longer attacked directly with his flight technique. Kai waited for him to get close, then suddenly breathed out a wide cloud of Baleful Breath.

Just as he expected, the old veteran sharply turned, avoiding the cloud and pulling back. The instant he did so, Kai shot away, using his full speed with Thunderbird's Wings. His initial shockwave sent the cloud of death roiling outward, forcing his opponent to back up again, and in that time Kai streaked out into the woods at top speed.

While he flew, he abandoned the human strength he'd been building and focused on his monstrous side, letting Mutefang's Stealth cover him. He could feel Wan Fei pursing, trying to catch up, but his speed decreased as he lost track of Kai in the endless forests of the Southern Rivers.

For the sake of caution, Kai went to ground and waited. He could either slip around Wan Fei or start taking out pursuers, if they sent more... but it seemed like none of the others dared to follow their battle. Just an old man with more duty than sense.

Eventually, he would need to meet up with the others at the ship, but for now Kai stalked through the forests with his thoughts on the battle. He could see potential paths to killing all the young masters, but not to true victory. Given the present conflict, maybe that was enough. Yet when he felt the new strength in his Physique, he knew that he wanted so much more...

Chapter 442: Inventory in the Wake of Victory

Instead of returning to the dryad community, which had become acceptable to her, Zae Zin Nim had no choice but to venture away from the pleasant forests into the swampy region. No more leaf-shaded courtyard, no more hammock, just swampy mud. Thankfully she could fly over it on a sword, but it was still repulsive.

There wasn't much to reward her at the end of the journey, either, at least until her spouses returned. They had hidden the ship in the undesirable swampy area to make sure it remained safe, and Cragrila and Nirka waited along with it. Neither was particularly welcome... especially the latter.

At least it seemed that no one had found and exterminated the group in her absence. Aside from the trading ship, which hovered above the swamp waters, the Krysali had built a little floating camp. There might have been more of them, presumably gathered from other broken camps. That was a high risk, in her opinion, but so long as it was just Krysali who would be foolishly loyal to one another, it was probably within limits.

When she first arrived she saw Cragrila react tensely, drawing a crystal lance before recognizing her. Good, their defenses weren't completely inept. Zae Zin Nim smoothly tucked her sword back into her spatial bracelet and dropped to the deck silently.

"We require use of the secondary meeting point," she told them. "Is everything well?"

"No major risks." Cragrila gave her a curt nod. "Thanks to Kai, the cultivators are all searching further east for the monster."

"Everything is not well." Nirka emerged from the cabin and Zae Zin Nim felt a stab of irrational jealousy. That was their cabin, not hers. She suppressed the feeling, reminding herself that what really mattered was her spouses.

"What is it?" Zae Zin Nim asked with a modicum of civility.

"There's been a lot of activity further south, separate from whatever is going on where you are. Sect cultivators have been attacking smaller groups, wiping them out, and sending their bodies toward the wall."

"So the Verdant River sect is exterminating rivals." Zae Zin Nim shrugged the matter aside. "Why does that matter?"

"I don't think it's simply inter-sect warfare." Cragrila eyed her cautiously, as they weren't exactly friends, but they had fought together in Krysal, so their bond was worth something. "This feels different from anything I've seen before. They're picking fights and finding excuses, and when they win, they don't take control of the peasants, they kill them."

Zae Zin Nim reluctantly considered the matter. It was already known that the Verdant River sect was using bodies for their experiments, so this might not be true news, but the others would want to hear it. Her wife, in particular, might know something about the composition of their immortality elixirs after all her work with the dryad matriarch.

"How many people are involved?" she eventually asked. Both other women shook their heads.

"Impossible to say," Cragrila told her. "We don't know how far the fighting extends, but it's considerable."

"There's open warfare in places," Nirka said. "At first everyone seemed to keep to themselves, which made it much easier for us to move, but they've risen up. They won't stand for being exterminated like this much longer."

Unless they had a powerful patron, they would be crushed as soon as the Verdant River sect noticed their attempt at rebellion. Still, it made Zae Zin Nim reflect that this chaos might be useful to them. If they could do anything to disrupt the warfare against lesser groups, the Verdant River sect would be spread even thinner, granting her a better opening to steal their immortality elixirs, or even the Loam of the Gods.

Since her spouses had not yet returned, Zae Zin Nim decided that she would need to be the expert on this matter and consulted with the Krysali. The more she learned, the more it did seem as if something was amiss. A few slaughters were inevitable, but major sects didn't usually cause such destruction within their own borders.

The next time the alarm was raised, it proved to be Omilaena. Zae Zin Nim intercepted her almost as soon as she landed on the deck, putting her arm around the other woman's waist. She looked nervous, but not as intense as she would have been if things had gone seriously wrong.

"The disease is spreading," Omilaena reported, "but what's going on with Kai?"

"I do not know. I judged it better to get away from the vault before the chaos spread." Zae Zin Nim couldn't stop herself from showing a small smile. "However, I did take a great many resources from the sect that might be useful to us."

"We can do inventory later, but we need to talk."

Based on what Omilaena had observed, the situation in the sect was even worse than Zae Zin Nim had sensed. She had the impulse to go out and assist Kai, even though she had no idea where he was. Worse, if she got involved, the conflict would inevitably escalate to truly dangerous levels. Kai on his own looked like a simple barbarian and could disappear as a monster, but if they believed real cultivator forces were involved, their enemy would take more extreme measures.

Since there was nothing that could be done, they retired to the cabin and claimed a section for themselves. Zae Zin Nim began revealing everything she had seized from the vault.

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"As you will see," she said, "these are Physique arts for the Verdant River sect. Not particularly strong, but these are what you need for reference, yes?"

"Yeah, these will be helpful." Omilaena began poring over them immediately, gaining that intensity that Zae Zin Nim loved to see. "Hmm, a lot of these involve absorbing more materials than I expected, different from the Physique manuals in the Pureflower sect. That's unusually like chakra, for Cloudspire."

"I understand that enhancing the body is a common use for chakra, in order to leave one's qi pure for cultivation."

"And that makes perfect sense, but what doesn't is that your Blackblood Physique doesn't include a component of that at all. As soon as your body was changed, it's like you were put on a different path. Your blood hasn't gotten any blacker, and in fact you had to overcome the early symptoms."

Zae Zin Nim started to chew her lip and resisted the undignified habit. "There is... also the fact that the Brightwind cultivators said I was supposed to purge the black blood from my body. It is meant to pass through and purify you, not fundamentally change. I am not sure if I have erred."

"Don't take what they say for granted too quickly." Even as distracted as she was, Omilaena reached over to stroke her wrist. "We can experiment with it every step of the way and figure out something that works for you. Though it looks like some of these scrolls discuss a purifying stage as well... what are these resources involved?"

"Oh yes, I have some of those. They are not dissimilar to those I know..." Zae Zin Nim revealed everything she had taken, for once feeling optimistic that her wife would be able to find a solution for her.

Before they could find any solutions, they were interrupted by another alarm. This time it was just one of the Krysali who had been scouting, and Zae Zin Nim glared at the man for not being Kai. After that they continued their conversation on the deck, and just when Zae Zin Nim was beginning to worry, there was a splash from below.

Kai leapt onto the deck in monstrous form, still trailing some algae and slime. He pulled a bucket of water from his spatial ring and dumped it over his head, leaving him surprisingly clean: this monstrous form seemed to easily shed water and murk from the swamp.

Zae Zin Nim ran to embrace him before he could transform back: yes, this black armored form was fearsome and a bit rigid, but this way she didn't have to look at the manticore tattoo. With her head resting against his chest and an armored claw around her shoulders, she felt comfortably held. Once Omilaena joined them, all was right with the world.

"Wait, what happened to you?" Omilaena noticed first, pulling back. "You look beaten through every hell and back, but your Physique advanced?"

"That was a surprise to me too," Kai said, and told them about the events in the sect and the battle that had followed.

They all had to focus on the politics, but Zae Zin Nim was impatient for those to be over so she could find out about his advancement in Physique. He hadn't changed massively, not like in the past, and thankfully had not become even more absurdly tall. But the advance in his power was undeniable, and there was always the possibility that this could open a path for them as well.

Omilaena took a full syringe of his blood to study, then a second for Zae Zin Nim just as a precaution. With so much unknown about her Physique, and so many potential problems in the future, it was best to be prepared. Once they got past their excitement over the advancement, and fully told their own sides of the story, they ended up shifting somewhat awkwardly on the deck.

"What exactly do we do next?" Kai asked. "They'll be looking for me, so I probably shouldn't stay here. You may be able to infiltrate the sect, but if anyone notices me, it will be instant conflict."

"Don't assume that yet," Zae Zin Nim said, gripping his arm as if to keep him there. "We need to reestablish contact with Nymidria. She will have insider information on how the sect is reacting and allow us to form a plan."

"Yeah, but we probably shouldn't go back to the dryad village, or at least I shouldn't."

"Maybe you can go south to investigate the problems the Krysali found," Omilaena suggested. "That would lead the sect away from us, then when they notice the disease, we'll be able to pierce in and steal the Loam. We're half-way through the plan, so we should be able to break the barrier, which means that the only problem is if they have too many strong cultivators on guard."

"I don't want to leave again so soon, but you may be right." Kai rubbed his eyes with one hand, which was still a bit claw-like. "Well, we shouldn't make any decisions yet. At minimum, we need to wait for the sect to calm down so we can plan our next step. Until then... I'm not sure what we can do. The plan worked, but we're stuck until then."

"No, there is one thing we can do," Zae Zin Nim said. "It is very important."

.

..

.

Nirka squeezed the pillow tighter around her head and tried to drown out the sounds. It still didn't make any sense to her - why wasn't the little cultivator getting split in half? How was Omilaena involved and why was she laughing? Most importantly, when would they stop?

Chapter 443: Seeding Bonds Before Parting

Even though Kai wanted to remain with the group, he knew that realistically speaking he would have to leave in order to avoid bringing the Verdant River sect down on them. Given limited time together, they needed to choose their activities carefully. Zae Zin Nim had been insistent about intimate time together, and he wasn't complaining, but Kai actually considered something else a higher priority if they were going to be separated.

At the moment, while they waited to receive contact from the dryads, he and Omilaena were sitting on a tree branch and discussing further advancement.

"I'm not hearing a problem," Omilaena said. "It sounds like you were heavily outnumbered and Banchlain's Aura didn't falter. These presence techniques strike me as another gimmick, heavily dependent on opponents not being able to resist."

"But it's still a simple technique from one monster." Kai could only shrug. "I want to do better, but monsters are thin on the ground here..."

"Oh, I'm not faulting you for ambition." Omilaena grinned and slipped her leg over his, teasing without really meaning anything by it. "Fortunately for you, I learned some basics about presence techniques in the sect archive, even if not the techniques themselves. In this case, I think you want to do the opposite of specialize."

"The opposite? You mean merge the aura into another type of essence?"

"While that could work if you were aggressive enough, that wasn't what I had in mind. As far as I can tell, presence techniques work by overwhelming the opponent with multiple aspects of power at once. If you want to improve yours, you need a wide spread of components. Sacred beasts, for one."

"That's attainable, at least." Kai looked out into the woods, seeking sources of life. "Strong beasts aren't common here, but I might be able to find an appropriate one."

"You have the right idea looking for sacred beast essence, but go even further. They don't have to be terror effects, you could also absorb awe or confusion. That's why I was saying it's non-specialized: you should be able to develop an aura that hits the enemy with so many different emotions that their heads just explode."

"That's a good thought. Thanks, Omi."

"Oh, I'm not done. If you're going to find a sacred beast, I think you should try to consume some human essence as well." Omilaena raised a hand to forestall his objection. "I know, I know, you have trouble absorbing it. But you seemed to gain something from Anaelina, so we know it's possible. Just keep an open mind. I think the ideal aura would combine monster, beast, and human essence."

And here Kai had thought he was being ambitious, trying to take a technique that worked against Sky Souls and make it stronger. He didn't love the idea of eating humans and was skeptical about how well he could absorb such essence, but if Omilaena suggested it, he'd keep it in mind.

This might be a project for the long term, anyway. Creating an aura not just for the cultivators of Cloudspire, but the far more powerful cultivators he knew existed beyond.

Their conversation shifted to Omilaena's thoughts on his Physique, though those were more familiar. She agreed with him that C rank seemed weaker than expected, but hadn't seen anyone do any better. Until they knew more, or she got some results from his blood, it was probably best to return to physical training and see how fast he advanced.

He also wanted to discuss cultivation with Zae Zin Nim, but he didn't get a chance before the camp was disrupted. At first all the Krysali were alarmed, until he identified the intruder as Lifrinyne. The dryad was one of very few who knew their location, and though the others asked her questions, her only answer was to lay down a flower flowing with chakra.

"You really blew the sect over," Nymidria said as soon as her illusion appeared. "This is absolute chaos now. The good news is that no one suspects that we were involved with spreading the disease across the barrier. The bad news is that they haven't even noticed yet."

"How much do they know about me?" Kai asked.

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"Word in the sect is that there's a barbarian assassin with an unquenchable thirst for jade maidens. Everyone in the Verdant River sect is locking up their daughters."

"It's worse in town," Lifrinyne added quietly. "I'm... afraid you shouldn't come back. Any men who are a little tall, even much shorter than you, are being questioned. The women can return if we need to arrange anything, but otherwise the rumors are turning to paranoia."

"Disgusting," Zae Zin Nim muttered. "How dare they say such things?"

Omilaena leaned over her shoulder with a grin. "Well, he has an unquenchable thirst for one jade maiden."

"Omi, not now!"

Normally Kai would have smiled at them, but at the moment he was too worried about the implications of what Nymidria had said. "So at minimum they're increasing defenses," he theorized, "and they might be sending out cultivators to hunt me down. We guessed that might be the case, so I'm ready to go south and draw them off if necessary."

"I'm afraid you're going to have to do just that," Nymidria said. "Right now the forces at the sect are too dangerous for us to attack the Loam, even if the barrier is down. The patriarch of the Deepriver sect is a shrewd man who could cause trouble, and Xir Xan Khan of the Coiling Island sect is-"

"What did you say?" Zae Zin Nim's squirming vanished in an instant as she focused on the words, suddenly murderous. "What was his name, and what is his role?"

Nymidria blinked in surprise. "Xir Xan Khan? I didn't know of him before, but apparently he's the heir to a powerful sect up north. Why, do you know him?"

"Hopefully not, but... likely."

The change that had come over Zae Zin Nim was so striking that Kai instinctively moved to put an arm around her shoulders. Omilaena had also shifted from teasing at her to offering support. Very few things caused an extreme reaction like this, usually just her father or other elements of her past.

"My father wanted to marry me off to a powerful sect," Zae Zin Nim explained, "one that had techniques or resources he required. When last I spoke with my father's cultivators, they said that a young master of the Coiling Island sect was insisting on my hand in marriage."

"I haven't kept track of that one," Omilaena said. "Do we know them?"

"They are a small but powerful sect in the Heavenly Mountains and Lakes, with a base on a sacred island with very pure qi. I believe they have only one heir, so... though I don't know this man in particular, it is very likely the same person."

"And you think he's still interested?"

"Hopefully not, but he very likely knows my appearance." Zae Zin Nim wrapped her arms around her stomach and looked down. "My father would have shown him paintings or illusions of me... before my illness, most likely. I'm sorry, I don't know any valuable information about him, but the two of us can't meet."

That was a real concern and Kai found himself overflowing with a mix of emotions. He felt a strange surge of anger at Xir Xan Khan as a representative of all the young masters who had plagued his wife's early life, and wished that he had been able to kill him. He also wished he could comfort Zae Zin Nim, but Nymidria didn't look like she would wait for niceties.

"Your personal issues don't matter unless they complicate things," the dryad matriarch told them. "We want to keep him away from you anyway. If we can draw him and all of Yul Wei Ren's forces further south, then they won't be relevant when we strike at the heart of their barriers."

"Then I'll take on the sacrificial role," Kai said. "We've been hearing about sects and clans being exterminated down there, so I'll investigate. Maybe make an appearance and cause some trouble. The only problem is that I can't fight them all forever, and I don't want to waste the distraction when you can't take advantage of it."

"That part I can help with." Nymidria snapped her fingers, though the illusory form made no sound, and gestured at Lifrinyne. The younger dryad quickly showed them a bag that seemed to be filled with glowing blue seeds.

"More communication seeds?" Omilaena asked.

"These aren't permanent, and the supply is limited, but yes." Nymidria looked over them and finished with her piercing gaze on Kai. "We have more opposition than we expected, and you've gotten more attention than I'd like, but the plan is unchanged. The greatest treasures of their entire sect, and even the whole Masterful Crown clan, could be ours if we can just weaken their defenses enough."

Since none of them could argue with that fundamental fact, there wasn't much else to say. Aside from arranging some minor details, they began to separate to prepare. It sounded like they needed to figure out new methods of gaining information on the sect, but Kai realized that didn't involve him anymore.

No, his path lay even further south. At best, he was going to cause trouble and lure some of the strongest cultivators in all the Southern Rivers to attack him. At worst, he'd get entangled in some far nastier problem of the sects.

But there was no more time, not when his presence risked everyone else. After farewells that were all too short, Kai leapt over the side of the ship and plunged into the river.

Chapter 444: Becoming a Menace

Over several days, Kai established what would be his new "hunting grounds" for the next period. If he went too far south, the forests gave way to a delta that appeared to be prime farmland, and to the west there were increasing numbers of Verdant Sect outposts defending their innermost barriers, then to the north the forests devolved into a swamp. The wedge in between those regions was still a massive forest region occupied by various villages.

The delta seemed to be a major source of food for the Southern Rivers, so it was well-defended. Kai could easily have pierced those defenses and caused havoc, but as far as he could tell the peasants there were just farmers, not really involved with cultivators or sects. If he started killing them he gained nothing, and they might cooperate even more with his enemies. Even if he was willing to do that, cultivators didn't seem very inclined to protect the citizens under them.

Instead, as soon as he'd come to grips with the territory, he waited for a suitable search party of cultivators. Finally he found them: a group led by an Earth Soul, patrolling the border between the forests and farmland.

Taking them all out as they passed would have been easy, but instead Kai launched a single Manticore's Quill to take out one of the weaker cultivators in the lead. The others began to shout, turning around on their flying swords to face him. He walked out from the tree canopy slower than necessary, letting them get a good look at him.

"It's the barbarian!"

"The one who killed the young master!"

"Junior sister, flee before he gets you!"

"Take him down! Take vengeance!"

"If we bring his head, we'll be rewarded!"

Kai snorted at their excessive ambition. When the first qi attacks flew his way he dodged around them easily, flickering between all the projectiles to close with the group. Instead of killing, he grabbed one of the cultivators by the front of his robes and tossed him into another, sending them both to the ground in an undignified sprawl.

Another flew down at him, striking him in the chest with a palm strike. It felt like nothing, compared to the palms he took from Zae Zin Nim in training, so Kai merely headbutted the man into the ground. He then leapt up to pull a flying sword out from underneath another cultivator. How long were they going to try to fight him?

"He's too powerful!"

"How can a mere Nascent Foundation...?"

"Use the Rivertree formation!"

"No, call the inner disciples!"

Finally one of them raised her combat medallion, channeling enough qi to report his attack. Kai waited until she had fully made contact and reported his appearance, then he stopped playing around.

The combination of Void Gaze and Banchlain's Aura paralyzed the group in an instant, some of them dying on their feet with great spurts of blood. Only the Earth Soul and a few of the tougher Nascent Foundation cultivators survived, merely coughing up blood, and they all took a Manticore's Quill to the chest a moment later.

So in a second, the attack squad was wiped out. After so long trying to fight opponents invisibly without being reported, it felt strange to do the opposite.

Since he was playing a barbarian instead of a monster, Kai went around and looted the bodies. He left the flying swords where they lay, since he already had a jumble of them in his spatial ring, but collected everything else. Mostly pills, qi or medicinal, but there were a few scrolls giving strange orders to convene with others, or attack groups in the forest.

Since Kai's primary purpose was just to attract attention, he decided that he might as well investigate further. Cragrila had said that there were strange battles taking place further south, so they could use more information about just what was happening. In his travel so far, he'd seen a few conflicts, but nothing that stuck out to him as unusual for cultivators.

Within a few days, Kai agreed with her that something was deeply wrong. He found villages emptied of all life, yet not stripped bare or demolished. If not for the blood and occasional charred bones, he might have thought that the inhabitants had moved away, or that some sort of plague had consumed them entirely. After further investigation, he spotted a group of cultivators throwing all the bodies into a flying ship to be carried west toward the barrier.

Each village seemed to have a few local cultivators, but they were no match for groups supported by the Verdant River sect, so there was no real battle. As far as he could tell, these were peasants associated with smaller sects or clans, no one who could possibly be a threat to any sect associated with the Masterful Crown clan. So why slaughter them like this?

One of his first thoughts was that they might want the land or the villages: completely wipe out the current inhabitants and replace them with their own peasants. Most people on Cloudspire looked similar to Kai, but he knew they had their own ethnic groups and internecine conflicts. Yet even though the cultivators left the infrastructure intact, they didn't seem particularly interested in occupying it either, just took some food or wine and abandoned the rest.

There was another straightforward possibility: they needed the bodies themselves. In theory human bodies could be used to fertilize soil, but it didn't seem like a very efficient method. Unless this was what the Loam of the Gods required to grow? No, at this pace they'd have depopulated the whole region after just a generation or two. It was possible that all these corpses were required for their new immortality elixirs, since the method was allegedly a new one and Zae Zin Nim thought they must require extreme measures.

Eventually he discovered that there was one group that seemed better able to resist the Verdant River sect. He hadn't figured out their name yet, but they had groups of cultivators who wore bright red command medallions. For the most part they used hit and run tactics, not daring to attack the larger sect directly.

Scouting further, Kai discovered another piece of the puzzle: a completely devastated sect headquarters in the forest. The gates had the same symbol as the medallions, a red tree within a flame. There were still a few surviving peasants, and from them Kai gathered that the sect had been attacked by Verdant River cultivators based on some flimsy pretext. Most of the villages had been wiped out, but other sect cultivators survived, doing their best to fight back.

They seemed to be named the Redtree sect and Kai wasn't sure whether they were enemies, allies, or neither. As far as he could tell, they didn't have any particular goals except vengeance. Of course, from what he could tell, they didn't have a chance against the more powerful sect, but they could still be useful to him.

Because the plan was still in the earliest stages, Kai decided not to get directly involved. Instead he explored the areas where the Redtree sect lurked, figuring out the shape of the conflict. When an extermination squad flew from the Verdant River sect, strong enough to wipe them out, Kai eliminated them first, just to give the Redtree group a chance.

More squads came from the Verdant River sect with every passing day, now specifically trying to hunt him down. Kai resisted the impulse to attack too many of them, especially since the stronger cultivators could reach his location surprisingly quickly with their higher flight skills. It would take forever to kill the whole sect one attack squadron at a time, so his goal was simply to pull their attention from the others.

If any of the young masters came out, though, he would definitely kill them. Perhaps they knew it, because none of them dared try to hunt him.

A week after his first attack, he finally saw a group that prompted him to leave hiding. It wasn't because the group was particularly strong, but because he recognized one of the cultivators.

What was his name... Hul Ping? The ragged young man with the magic dagger who had been about to throw his life away attacking the young masters. Had the brat actually decided to turn on him? The young cultivator seemed to be leading the group, so it was possible.

This time Kai didn't hold back: he unleashed a hail of Manticore Quills, killing off the majority of the attack squad in the first instant before they could send a warning. He intentionally didn't strike Hul Ping, since he wanted to interrogate him. Maybe it would be useless, and he was just turning on him for his own benefit, but Kai had saved his life once before and didn't want to end it that quickly.

Hul Ping immediately dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead into the ground. That was normal behavior for cultivators, but what he said next actually surprised Kai.

"I knew I'd find you if I went south. Please, spare me and listen to what I have to say."