Of Foxfire and Cultivation Ch.10 (Patreon)

Onari and Yu Wu spent the rest of the afternoon in vigorous closed-door cultivation. Or in other words, they spent the afternoon on copious amounts of kinky and sweet, sweet vanilla sex. They forced themselves to wrap things up after Kuoh Academy had let out, and went to spend some more time with Koneko.

They were welcomed back warmly by the Occult Research Club. Koneko once again attached herself to Onari. He fed her sweets as they shot the shit with the rest of the peerage.

Eventually though, their time together came to an end. Koneko was called away on a contract, and Yu Wu and Onari excused themselves to take care of their search. They left the ORC and walked a little ways into the woods surrounding the old club building.

“Ready?” Onari asked.

“Un,” Yu Wu nodded.

Simultaneously, they both took out a matching set of card-shaped talismans. They flicked the talismans out in front of them. In mid air, the talismans morphed and warped into a new shape. The gun-metal gray cards transformed into a matching pair of intricately crafted swords that hovered at waist level before Onari and Yu Wu.

Other than the etched symbols on each blade, the swords looked relatively simple. They were both huge, easily longer than Onari was tall. The blades were straight, flat, and wide enough for a person to walk comfortably across.

With a small hop, Onari and Yu Wu both mounted their respective swords. The metal beneath their feet seemed to thrum as they filled the blades with Inborn True Essence. With a single thought from Onari, his sword started to glide forward. Yu Wu quickly followed after him.

The pair gradually began to pick up speed, weaving through the small forest with a cultivator’s grace. Yu Wu couldn’t keep a gleeful grin from spreading on her face. Onari turned around to enjoy the happiness his Dao Companion was openly radiating.

This method of travel was still new to them, but Yu Wu found the activity immensely freeing. When they had broken through into the Fourth Stage a week ago, the Controlling Sword Flight technique had become available for them. The next day, Onari had set about crafting and inscribing these swords for the two of them to use as transportation.

The final products ended up taking more inspiration from surf/skateboards than functional swords. Despite that inspiration, Onari had designed the swords so they could still be used in combat. The blades and tips of the swords had been sharpened to a razor’s edge, and they were also big enough to be used as shields should the need arise.

With the help of their new form of Qi, Onari and Yu Wu could use the swords to fly at truly mind-boggling speeds. In the Fourth Stage, a cultivator’s Battle King Body was always activated, ensuring that they wouldn’t be torn apart from the wind and G-forces that came with riding a flying sword.

As they started to really pick up speed, Onari and Yu Wu both tilted their blades back slightly. They shot up above the treetops just as the small forest was coming to an end. They were basically nothing more than blurs of light to the people on the ground.

They quickly reached the outskirts of Kuoh Town, and abruptly slowed to a stop. They hovered there in mid air, high above the countryside surrounding Kuoh. Onari pushed aside a strand of hair that the wind had blown into his face.

“Do you sense anything?” Onari asked Yu Wu as he spread out his own senses.

Yu Wu pursed her lips and hummed, “Mmm, nothing yet. Maybe we should check the alcohol warehouse and go from there?”

“Good idea.”

The pair flew more slowly this time, making sure to scan the land below them for traces of anything out of place. Onari made sure to coat the bottom of their flying swords in an illusion so they didn’t attract any unwanted attention.

There was a stray devil that was making its nest in a spooky grove of trees near the edge of town, but they left it for the heiresses to deal with. Dealing with strays in their territory was literally their job after all. Nothing else stood out until they got to the warehouse.

The warehouse hadn’t been repaired after the alcohol heist the previous week. When Onari and Yu Wu flew closer, they could see a hole in one of the walls.

The hole was larger than a person, about eight feet tall and five feet wide. At the edge of the opening, planks of wood were half shattered and pushed out slightly. A quick peek inside showed that a crate had been cracked open and now sat empty. Nothing else was damaged other than the empty crate and the hole in the wall.

“It looks like it was made from the inside…” Yu Wu commented.

“This must have been a remarkably polite Oni,” Onari said. “Do you smell that?”

Yu Wu rolled her eyes, “The scent of premeditated malice? No, I must have missed it.”

Her sarcasm got a snort of laughter from Onari, “C’mon, smartass. It leads this way.”

“Keep your guard up. I don’t think an Oni is responsible for this…”

“Neither do I. But now I’m curious why someone would go through all this trouble to make this look like it was done by an Oni.”

The pair flew away from the warehouse, following the trail of Qi that led out of town. On the ground, a sliver of darkness separated itself from a shadow and darted after the flying cultivators…

While flying at a manageable speed, Onari and Yu Wu tracked whatever left that scent of malicious Qi at the warehouse. The sense of premeditated malice grew stronger as they flew farther from Kuoh proper.

“Definitely a trap,” Onari sent Yu Wu through their bond.

“Yuppp,” Yu Wu said in reply, popping her metaphorical lips on the ‘p’. “We’re probably being followed right now too…”

“So… you wanna spring the trap?”

Yu Wu shot Onari a confused glance, “Do you even have to ask?”

Onari chuckled out loud, swinging his sword over to touch tips with hers in an affectionate manner. They didn’t have to travel much farther to find the source of the malicious Qi. Swooping down out of the sky, the pair hovered in front of the source.

“Oh my… How creative… A dark and creepy cave…” Onari deadpanned.

Yu Wu giggled, “Now who’s the smartass? C’mon, let’s check it out.”

They both dismounted their swords, but didn’t store them away. The giant blades floated along obediently behind them as they approached the mouth of the cave. Onari lit a small ball of foxfire in his palm and chucked it into the depths of the cave’s darkness.

Nothing immediately stood out to Onari and Yu Wu, so they entered the cave. The inside was spacious, with more than enough room for their swords to float upright without touching the ceiling. They explored farther, following the light of Onari’s foxfire.

The cave wasn’t very deep, only a couple dozen meters from the mouth to where it suddenly ended. Waiting for them at the end of the cave was a beautiful young woman clad in green. Onari and Yu Wu exchanged glances and raised their guard slightly as they felt the woman’s concentrated Qi, the most obvious sign of a cultivator.

Still curious, the pair approached the woman. She was a classic example of a ‘jade-like beauty’. Her body was slender and lithe, with hints of her womanly curves shown off by her figure-hugging green dress. Her hair was long and black, falling behind her in a curtain of darkness.

She wore a veil over the lower half of her face. Her eyes were a bright emerald green that complimented her dress. Equal parts intelligence, curiosity and caution showed in the twinkling green orbs. The green parasol she carried only added to the sense of classical beauty the woman exuded.

She sat on the cave floor, kneeling in a spot she had obviously cleaned beforehand. A table was positioned in front of her. Three cups of freshly made tea were sitting on top of the table.

Onari and Yu Wu took the obvious unsaid invitation to sit down. They didn’t lower their guard at all as they sat in front of the table. Focusing their senses on the woman, they could tell her cultivation was less than both of theirs, but they knew better than to underestimate cultivators.

They didn’t drink the tea offered by the strange woman. The silence stretched as they waited for the woman to begin. The tension in the air continued to rise until she finally began to speak.

“This one is Xiao Li. This one greets the honored guests: Young Master Onari and Young Mistress Yu Wu… I apologize for going to such lengths to meet with you. My benefactors and I have a proposal/invitation for you that we could not approach you openly about,” the woman said, introducing herself with a traditional greeting before switching to a more comfortable form of speech.

“Hello, Xiao Li. I would say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but I’m not sure it is yet. How do you know about us? Our status as cultivators is not exactly public knowledge…” Onari said.

Xiao Li nodded in acknowledgement of his inquiry, “My benefactor was an… acquaintance of someone you are both familiar with: the late Da Shuizhi. She began to distance herself from him when Da Shuizhi started going down a demonic path. Even still, she had certain… duties towards his child, Yu Wu.

“When Da Shuizhi was slain by the two of you, the unknown young cultivator named Onari was put on my benefactor’s radar. From there it was simple for a woman of her standing to find out more about him.”

Yu Wu bristled at the mention of her father, but she kept her anger under control. Onari gave her hand a squeeze under the table as he noticed her inner turmoil through the bond.

“Alright, that explanation sounds reasonable enough… Now, what about this ‘oh-so-secret’ proposal?” Onari asked.

“Very well. To explain the proposal, I must first give you some background on my benefactor. She was born an orphan. With no one in this world to look after her, she struggled to survive her harsh childhood.

“By a stroke of heavenly luck, she stumbled upon the art of cultivation. She was immediately taken with the beauty of the art. She began teaching herself how to cultivate. Through years of trial and error, struggle, and tribulation, she rose through the ranks of cultivation.

“She gained the power to control her fate, but she was still alone. She yearned to grant this power to other girls in her situation. She yearned to form unbreakable personal connections through cultivation. Eventually, she became determined to do something about all of this.

“She founded an organization. This sect was named ‘No Teachers Required’, and given life…”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Onari interrupted. “The sect was called NTR?”

Xiao Li tilted her head in confusion, “Yes?”

“And you don’t see any issue with that particular combination of letters?”

“No? Should I?”

“Nevermind…” Onari said, shaking his head. “Please continue.”

“Very well… Where was I? Ah, yes. This sect is the crux of me and my benefactor’s proposal. My benefactor wishes to fulfill her obligations to Yu Wu and scoop up a hidden gem in Onari with one foul swoop. And so, I would like to formally offer the two of you a place within the sect.”

There was a short silence as Xiao Li’s brazen offer set in. Onari and Yu Wu glanced at each other briefly before Onari spoke.

“I thought the sect was supposed to be only for females? And while Yu Wu is technically an orphan, she’s basically been adopted by me and my family.”

“Yu Wu’s relationship with you and your family is irrelevant. My benefactor is dead set on observing her duties to Yu Wu. As it is, she is being more than benevolent by offering you a position in the sect. Though you will be given a position suitable for your… gender, she is still willing to make an exception and allow you to join.”

Yu Wu’s deceptively calm voice did nothing to betray her anger, “You dare imply that he is not this young mistress’ equal?”

“It is just the nature of our sect,” Xiao Li said, making a flimsy excuse instead of apologizing.

“Can we have some time to think about it?” Onari asked quickly in an attempt to keep Yu Wu from blowing up in this woman’s face.

“Very well… I suggest you decide quickly. It would be a shame if something were to happen to your family that left you with nowhere else to go…”

“And now you dare threaten this young mistress’ true family directly to her face?!” Yu Wu’s voice began to grow heated as she spoke. “You court death!”

“I was tasked with completing the mission given to me by my benefactor. I will go to any length to see her will done. And surely a family of… Spirit Beasts cannot compare to a sect-family of true cultivators.”

Onari was just as wound up as Yu Wu at this point, but he stayed quiet. He would let his actions speak for him, and leave the cutting words to Yu Wu.

“Is that so? Your words spit in this young mistress’ face, junior. You will be the reason this one spits on your benefactor’s offer. In fact, this young mistress says you can take the offer and shove it so far up your own ass that you begin to choke on it!” Yu Wu’s young mistress persona slipped a bit as she spoke, revealing the true rage behind her words.

“Very well… I was ordered to bring you back alive, Yu Wu,” Xiao Li said as all three cultivators rose to their feet. “But I was given no such stipulation about Onari.”

Several shadows leaped toward Onari and Yu Wu from the darkness. The shadowy cultivators all appeared to be women, and wore black masks to cover their faces. They seemed to just keep coming out of the darkness that painted the cave walls like a flood of pests.

The initial attacks of Xiao Li’s sudden reinforcement were blocked by the pair of flying swords that floated behind Onari and Yu Wu. Before turning his attention to the sneaky cultivators now attacking him, Onari glared coldly at Xiao Li.

Xiao Li gasped and spat blood as a blazing pain manifested in her midsection. Looking down she saw a spear of foxfire that had manifested already embedded in her gut. She clutched at the spear, eventually managing to remove it at the cost of severely burnt hands.

Yu Wu turned to the attacking cultivators, intent on venting some of her rage. Her sword whirled around her in a fluid dance of death. The attacking cultivators were all at least two realms below her and Onari. Most didn’t even last a second before being cut into bloody ribbons.

Even though the cultivators were weak, there were so many that neither Yu Wu or Onari could divert their attention from fighting them to watch Xiao Li die. Taking advantage of the distraction, Xiao Li hurriedly pulled out a pill gifted to her by her benefactor. She gulped the heavenly medicine down desperately, and sighed in relief as her wounds began to close.

Onari turned the area around him into a tornado of fire, burning the careless cultivators who weren’t ready for an AOE attack. At least three cultivators survived the sudden whirlwind of flames. They were quickly joined by another half dozen that appeared from the shadows.

Xiao Li watched the Dao Companions fight in awe. Every one of their moves complimented their partner. They moved through the swaths of lower ranked cultivators with fatal grace. Still taking advantage of the pair’s distraction, Xiao Li cloaked herself in shadows and slipped away.

Back in the cave, the waves of cannon fodder cultivators were finally beginning to thin. Onari had realized almost instantly that most of the fodder weren’t actually alive. They seemed to be golems or clones of some kind, and they melted into shadows upon death.

A few of the bodies stayed though. There seemed to be only a few actual cultivators, each with a small army of clones they could call upon. Onari nonchalantly ducked under a swing of Yu Wu’s sword, watching as it tore through three cultivators. Two of the cultivators dissolved into shadow, and the third lay on the ground in two pieces.

A fiery fist pierced through another real cultivator’s chest. About a dozen more clones poofed from existence as that cultivator died. Yu Wu finished off the rest of the cultivators with a small storm of lightning fast sword intent.

As the last of the clones disappeared and the last of the cultivators lay dying on the floor, Onari and Yu Wu stopped their dance to catch their breath. Neither one of them was actually tired, but Yu Wu was panting.

The anger Xiao Li had caused still made her blood race through her veins. Xiao Li had seen Yu Wu’s loyalty to Onari and his family and spat on it. She had really thought Yu Wu would just abandon everything she had built with them for the vague promise of a sect and more power.

Yu Wu’s eyes roamed the cave, searching for Xiao Li among the bodies. She almost screamed when she didn’t find Xiao Li. Onari came and wrapped his arms around Yu Wu as she held back angry tears.

“She fucking escaped… I’ll make her kowtow a hundred thousand times in apology! I’ll… I’ll make her suffer a thousand deaths! I’ll rip her cultivation from her very soul and make her watch as I beat her benefactor to death with it!” Yu Wu ranted, holding onto Onari’s arms around her.

“We’ll find her,” Onari promised.

Yu Wu took a shuddering breath before blinking back her tears, “Now what?”

“Now, I think we should warn my mother about this. Let her make preparations to protect herself and Kunou until we get back.”

“We’re still doing the rest of the tour?”

“Yeah. I think the best thing for us right now is to spend some time with our friends. We can even go back to bully Sona some more…”

Despite her anger, Yu Wu couldn’t contain the surprised giggle that came out of her mouth, “I think I’d like that…”