The Third Cut - Chapter 5 preview (Patreon)

Cross-legged, Wu Ying cultivated on the slight mountain rise. Winds swirled around him, bringing with him notice of the environment around and those beasts that might be paying too close attention to the pair. Certainly, after the first massive strike by his companion, Wu Ying had to emplace a swirling defense around the entrance to deaden the noise of her attacks.

Even now, he could not help but wonder about why she had such a massive hammer in her spatial storage, or why anyone would create a spirit equipment like that. At first glance, when she had extracted the the hammer with its oversized head from her storage ring, he had been mildly curious. It was, after all, a work of art, with enameled green and yellow copper banding and a dark, water-marked steel head. Then, it had expanded, such that when placed shaft down, the head itself stood over Yang Mu’s head and the head itself was larger than a large man’s torso.

That she proceeded to wield the weapon against her own fans, slammed into the corners of the mountain to provide her spikes to crack apart the building itself had been another astounding action. Even now, Wu Ying found his light meditation disturbed at each ringing impact, wondering about the status and condition of her equipment.

In truth, he too experienced some mild feelings of greed. He could sense the deep seated chi within the metals themselves, the powerful resonance they exhibited. The winds had blown around the stone dust that Yang Mu was creating, pulling it together into a ball of slowly compacting metal. Entirely too small and miniscule for her use, but scattered across his own World Spirit Ring?

Definitely useful.

As for the larger pieces she kept on shattering and pulling apart, well… that was hers. In fact…

“Been quiet for the last while,” Wu Ying said, cocking his head to the side. He extended his senses over to the nearly formed cave to find Yang Mu scooping shattered rocks and dropping them into a small canvas bag. Something was happening around the top of the bag, that his spiritual sense could not correctly perceive.

Curiosity dragged Wu Ying over, to stare at the shadowed cave where Yang Mu continued to toss stones twice the size of a wine pot into the much smaller opening. Each time the rocks came close, the boulders would twist and shrink, their dimensions warping before they plopped into the storage sack.

“How…?” Wu Ying said, shaking his head. “I’ve never seen that effect before.”

“It’s not a common enhancement,” Yang Mu said, her voice mildly strained as she spoke. “It requires an understanding of spatial daos and theory to enact. I have to manipulate the dimensional storage and my own understanding at the same time.”

Her words made Wu Ying stare more carefully and allow his spiritual senses to pick at the chi that she was exuding into the atmosphere. Now that he was paying attention, he could sense the chi that she was directing from her core towards the dimensional bag, the way she wrapped the area above the bag and the bag itself in the chi and her own dao understandings.

Lips compressed, the cultivator watched for long minutes as she finished clearing out the space of the broken rocks. Then, to his surprise, she walked out to pick at additional rocks at the front of the cliff face. The rocks here were more carefully regarded though, as she picked through them and tossed nearly two thirds of those left behind aside.

Not once did she ask him for his help, instead processing the rocks swiftly in silence. Wu Ying moved away after a time, still paying attention to the storage bag and her actions, trying to gain a glimpse of the spatial daos in place. Seeking enlightenment.

And failing.

In the end, she straightened up and brushed her hands clean, peeling the simple gloves she had been utilizing off her hands and storing them away. Both her fans and the massive hammer had disappeared long before Wu Ying had arrived, leaving naught but the massive cave and the crumbled, undesired rocks as indication of her passage.

“Done?” Wu Ying said, curiously.

“Yes.” She rolled her neck, then gestured at her bag. It floated back up to her hands where she strapped it to the side of her robes via a simple cloth belt. Then, she regarded the miniature cave she had created, before shrugging. “Thank you. For forming the wind wall to muffle my actions.”

“You’re welcome.” He cocked his head sideways and listened to the wind that had just gusted over to him, bringing with it a new scent. His lips tightened before he gestured. “Time to go though, unless you want to start a fight.”

Yang Mu hesitated for a second, then to Wu Ying’s pleasure she shook her head. Together, the pair left the surroundings, the gatherer taking a moment once they reached the tree line to scatter a few yellow talismans behind them. Those talismans would activate to obscure their trail, making it more difficult for the beasts tracking them.

Better safe than sorry.

***

The pair hunkered down low, broken tree branches, decomposing leaves and mud covering their body. Two weeks and deep into the untamed wilds and Yang Mu no longer questioned Wu Ying’s occasional impertinent actions. In this case, tackling her to the ground, rolling both of them through the nearest mud pit and then wielding his wind to pull debris over them both. She had even gone so far as to aid him, pulling at the nearby vegetation to provide them additional cover.

Now, they lay on their fronts, their eyes small slits in the gloom of the deep undergrowth as the Nascent Soul spirit beast that Wu Ying had sensed prowled the forest. The creature was no massive monster like the last Nascent Soul beast that Wu Ying had fought, but a normal sized creature of its kind. That still left it larger and heavier than the pair put together, the beast’s darkened fur flashing as deeper shades of black adjusted to the gloom within, massive paws touching down upon the ground with the barest whisper of noise.

Occasionally, the Black Tiger would let out a low chuff, having drawn in the scent of creatures nearby before releasing the air from its nostrils. Tail swished lazily behind it, as the undoubted king of the jungle prowled its territory, searching for the intrusive presence it had sensed.

A wind arose, brushing the tree tops and swaying branches, sending leaves, flowers and fruit scattering. A bird shifted its weight as the branch it sat upon swayed, and the tiger turned yellow eyes upon it. A flicker of movement, and the creature had leapt upwards, catching the bird in its jaws before bounding off the same branch again to land on the ground not far away.

Jaw working once, and then again, the Core Formation-level core cracking in its sharp teeth releasing a burst of yang-aspected water chi into the air. Head turned upwards, the creature swallowed its victim in a single gulp, the portioned pieces sliding down its gullet.

Beside him, the trembles of Yang Mu’s body increased a little. Fear locked the woman in place under the paltry defense of brush and mud. Shifting ever so slowly when the predator looked aside, Wu Ying clutched her hand and squeezed, offering unspoken comfort.

He understood her fear. Remembered it all too well. The first time he had encountered a Nascent Soul monster, the first time he had faced one alone, without the aid of another more powerful cultivator on-hand. The casual, predatory killing intent that the Black Tiger exuded, its mastery of stealth and its blindingly fast movements showcased how far ahead it was from them.

For even among Nascent Soul beasts, there were gradiations of strength. And this one, this creature that roamed the deep wilds was powerful beyond belief. If Wu Ying did not know better – and he was not certain he did – he would have named the monster an immortal. As fabled as the White Tiger of the West. Perhaps, one day, it would become a true immortal and challenge the White Tiger.

Till then, it prowled these forests.

And they had, inadvertently, drawn its attention in their own passage. Now, it stalked them, searching for their presence. Wu Ying could only be grateful that their combined abilities, layering wood and wind chi to cover their scent, to obscure tracks as they passed had given them some degree of safety.

Slow breaths, taken with great care and wide spaces between each intake. As cultivators, they required little air. Wu Ying had trained to hold his breath for long minutes, not so long ago. His companion had not, but even she required little enough air that she mimicked his breathing, alternating carefully so as not to alert the monster perched all too close to them.

Her trembling had slowed a little, the involuntary fear response fading.

Long moments, as the creature stayed crouched over its forelegs, cleaning them of the minor traces of blood that had escaped whilst snacking. Then, lazily, the monster stood up and stretched, turning its head around slowly.

There was a look in the creatures yellow eyes, one that was both dismissive and malicious. As though, it was informing them that their luck had held out. That they had managed to escape its attention and could live. Today.

But one day, it would find them. And it would eat them.

Then, as Wu Ying blinked, the creature was gone. As swiftly as it had arrived, it had departed, without a hint of noise, having crossed hundreds of feet within moments. Bypassing the trees and bushes around it, a ghostly predator of the gloom.

Even so, neither cultivator chose to move. It was nearly a half day before the pair rose from their impromptu hiding spot, their trembles and fear having subsided. Without a word, Wu Ying led them away, treading in the opposite direction of the creature’s presence. Out from the depths of the wood, no longer stopping to gather even as the wind whispered the secrets of the master of the forest to the wind cultivator.

For there were beasts that prowled this land that it was best not to encounter, nor intrude upon. For whatever gain one might acquire, by traversing the depths of the wilderness, it paled upon understanding that most important of factors.

That one could not spend coin when one was dead.

***

Days later, the pair exited the depths of the forest to land upon a much trampled road. Guided there by the wind and the sense of the forest edge breaking apart, the two had traversed the ground between, seeking freedom and leave of the tiger’s domain.

Now, on packed dirt road and cleared land, with shards of sunlight seeping through the opened vegetation, tension escaped and long tense muscles relaxed. Wu Ying rolled his shoulders, releasing them before twisting from side to side, releasing a series of loud cracks and pops as his spine shifted. Beside him, Yang Mu too gently stretched, a smile blossoming upon her face a little as tension released.

Only for it to tighten moments later as she regarded Wu Ying.

“Are we done then, with your testing?” she said, testily.

“Testing?” he replied, shifting his own stance to meet her accusing gaze face on. He idly noted that there were none on this road, not for a few li on either side. This one not a heavily traversed passage, for it only passed by a couple of smaller villages and a midling sized town.

“We’re both Core formation cultivators. We could have easily flown to the south by now, bypassing much of these problems. And as for your excuse of needing to gather…” She glanced down at his ring, raising a single, suggestive eyebrow. “Do I need to say it?”

“I do carry some items that are useful for trade, and grow a lot of other rarer items, but your supposition is wrong to some extent,” Wu Ying said, rubbing the edge of the simple metal ring with his thumb. That it was a plain ring, with neither inset gem or otherwise marked in any other way except for the lettering on the inside helped keep its disguise. But at their levels of cultivation, it was easy enough to notice the twisting of chi around the ring. Worst, for Wu Ying’s desire for anonymity, as the World Spirit Ring had grown stronger and repaired itself, the amount of chi it drew from the surroundings had increased.

There were ways to reduce the consumption of external, environmental chi, to alter the exchange between the surroundings and the tiny twisted dimension within. Most of that was on him, to create a world that balanced the needs of the plants and the ring within itself, such that the ring was not required to balance itself by pulling energy from outside.

It also did not help that as Wu Ying grew further into his own cultivation, the aura and energy it could draw from him was tainted with wind chi. To a certain extent, the World Spirit Ring could alter such chi to balance out its own needs as the energy passed through its internal formations, and Wu Ying had taken the time to create internal formations and plant vegetation that would do the same; but in the end, only so much could be done.

All of which meant that, unlike in its earlier years, the World Spirit Ring had grown ever more prominent to those who had both the knowledge and the senses to watch for such things. That he had to fight duels or escape from those seeking to acquire the ring was not, in itself, new to Wu Ying.

“The items within my storage are limited in number,” Wu Ying said. “And much space is set aside for my necessary cultivation baths.”

“But we could have bypassed much of these problems already, could we not?” Yang Mu said, grumpily. “If not for the fact that did you wished to test me.”

“It was necessary.” He admitted. “I know little of you, even less of what your intentions might be. Better to understand such matters in an environment I can control, rather than when disaster strikes in a land that I know little of.”

“And that Nascent Soul Black Tiger? That was considered controlled?” Yang Mu said, angrily. “Did you expect to control managing that creature?”

“Why, is your control of yourself that bad?” Wu Ying said, bitingly. “Do you have so little faith in yourself that you feared hiding from that creature?”

“Don’t tell me you were not afraid as well. I was there.”

He nodded then. “Yes, you were. And being afraid and wary is part of my job. Or did you think that traversing the deep wilds was easy?”

“Of course I know it wasn’t. But that creature…”

“Was more dangerous than most.” Wu Ying shrugged. “Such things happen. It is why I am careful and quiet. But so are most Gatherers. Sometimes, luck and fate is against you.” He smiled a little wryly. “And as my martial sister would say, it is good to know if the scales must be balanced in your companion’s fate.”

“What does that even mean?”

“That some people are unluckier than others in this life.”

Yang Mu growled, before stalking off, leaving Wu Ying to stare at her back. He chuckled a little as she left, catching up after a short while. “You know, you’re going the wrong way.”

She froze, turning around and stalked back the way she had come. Wu Ying turned with her, letting her get a few feet more before he added.

“I thought you wanted to fly?”

Again, she stopped. Now, Wu Ying conjured his winds, lightening himself with the Heavenly Soul, Earthly Body qinggong method and floated over to her under the guidance of the winds. He smiled as he floated beside her, before adding.

“There’s a small midling sized town down that way, about sixty li or so. We can rest there, I can cleanse my body further and then, we can finish the journey.” He cocked his head to the side, eyeing the very still woman whose fist was clenched. “If that is acceptable, of course.”

“Why should you care what I think?” she growled.

“Well, you did pass the test.”

Silence from the woman, while Wu Ying bobbed in place next to her. The wind spun dust in a small circle around him, pulling him upwards and downwards, spinning him from side to side. Not like the impressive stillness that some cultivators managed with their flying weapons, but still, floating serenely in place.

“You… you…” She drew a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “You are an infuriating man.”

“And one used to traveling alone.” Wu Ying grinned. “Now, shall we?”

In answer, Yang Mu conjured one of her fans. It expanded in space before her, forming the same green jade energy shield she had used before whilst it floated in the air. Stepping onto the larger platform, she followed Wu Ying who had already started drifting away on the wind, ascending quickly above the roadway and gaining speed.

Still, he did keep an eye on her, knowing that the speed he could attain was not easily achieved by others.

After all, they had not the wind to call upon.