Chapter 49: Aftermath and Harvesting

A/N: Hey everyone, here's the chapter 49. Hope you enjoy! Next chapter is still on schedule so will be out on Friday.

Chapter 49: 

For a long moment, I laid there in the underground tunnel, exhausted and in pain. A part of me just wanted to give up and pass out, regardless of the danger. 

But then I heard someone moving around.

My eyes snapped open at the sound, at the possibility that things might not be over. Had Qian Zhi survived somehow? Or had the Qian clan goons come around from the other direction?

I tensed up, prepared to leap to my feet. To fight for my—

A groan rang out.

It caused me to freeze. It sounded vaguely familiar and… Oh…

My whole body relaxed as I realized who it was. It was just Pan Song. So no danger, just my friend who was hopefully okay. Or as okay as he could be. His groans and what it sounded like when he hit the tunnel wall before made me think okay might be a stretch. Especially since he was hardly as physically tough as me. But he was alive, and that was what mattered most. 

“Are you okay?” I called out, wincing at the effort that took. I still felt exhausted, and many parts of my body hurt.

“I’m alive,” Pan Song called out, his voice weak. “I think. We’re not dead, are we?”

I laughed. It hurt, but it was worth it after everything. “No, we are alive. It wouldn’t hurt so much if we were dead. Can you stand?”

“Ugh,” Pan Song grunted, and I heard the sound of him slowly getting onto his feet. “Yes… Yes, I can. But I think my arm’s broken. Are you okay?“

I took a moment to breathe and take stock of my body. My back was still aching, and so was the back of my head. But nothing was spinning anymore; I didn’t think anything was broken either. I could also feel both my arms and legs. Though I kinda wish I couldn’t feel my arms. They still hurt a lot.

Even after resting a bit, the burns on my arm still felt hot and intense. Though maybe that was a good thing? I think I remembered reading somewhere online that burns were worse when they were numb. Because that meant the nerves underneath were damaged.

So I guess I should be grateful for the pain. Though it was really hard to be.

Not with the large cuts in my forearm, and the spiked crystal still embedded in my right hand. Both of those spots hurt the most. Although at least the crystal was inert now, and the cuts might have been cauterized by the fire—or at least they weren’t bleeding anymore.

Small mercies.

“I’ll live,” I said, hoping I was right as I tried to get up.

Part of me still wanted to just lie here for a while. But the more practical part of me said staying here in the tunnels, where we might run into more of the Qian clan’s goons, was not a good idea. So I forced myself up despite my body’s screaming protest. I bit off a cry of pain as my left arm almost collapsed, and finally got up on my feet.

“Heavens above,” Pan Song said when he made his way over to me. He was staring at my arms and the wound in my hand. “Are you… Able to handle that?”

I looked down at my injuries again for a moment. Then I shrugged and held up my right hand. “Hopefully. Do you think I can just rip this out and take one of our healing pills?”

“That…” Pan Song said, wincing and holding his broken arm. He reached into a pouch at his side and pulled out his own set of pills. “That might not be the best idea. I’m no expert in medicine, nor what you can handle, but… That seems a bit reckless. Especially with those spikes coming out of it. These pills are far from top quality.”

I grimaced at the reminder. We only had so much funds to prep for the trial. And the Starguard Trial hadn’t been meant to have mortal danger. So we didn’t really bring any lifesaving pills, as they were incredibly expensive, and an injury that would require them would mean failing the trial and the Overseers taking care of you anyway.

I regretted being frugal now.

Trying to take my mind off that, I looked around for any signs of danger or things that needed immediate attention. There didn’t seem to be anything. We seemed to be alone in these ancient, glowing tunnels. The fox was still dead, its body glowing. But there were no sounds of footsteps in the distance, no Qian Clan goons appearing on the other side of the ancient defensive formation—or worse, on our side of the formation.

We were safe. For now.

“We should head back to the temple,” Pan Song said after a moment as he struggled with his pill bottle. With some effort, he opened it up and popped one into his mouth. Then he held the bottle out to me. “We don’t want to run into any more danger like this.”

“Yeah…” I said, nodding and holding out my good hand for a pill. I had my own bottle, but given my current state, I didn’t want to bother trying to take mine out.

He poured a pill into my hand, and I took it and gulped it down. Immediately, I could feel the energy of the pill begin to spread from my stomach. It wasn’t fast or too potent, but it should be enough for most of my wounds.

At the very least, it lessened the pain, making it easier to move.

I let the healing energies run through me for a moment. But after a moment, I couldn’t help but look back at the ancient defensive formation that was still up. Beyond that was the direction the Qian clan members had gone…

There was a part of me that couldn’t forget that Xing Yaling was in danger. And that part of me hated just how helpless I felt knowing there was nothing I could do to help. Despite how far I’ve come—I just killed a Mid-stage Qi-gatherer for god’s sake, almost two kinda—it still wasn’t enough. I was still too weak for this world.

I sighed at the thought and looked away. There was no use dwelling on that. Maybe if we’d gotten out of this encounter unscathed, it might’ve been possible for us to try and do something. Even then, it would have been a long shot, as these guys were ready to kill a Late-stage Qi-gatherer from an elite sect. But as we are now… there was nothing we could do.

We’d just be going to our deaths if we tried anything. Instead, we needed to focus on ourselves and making sure we survived. Which meant getting back to safety.

But first… there was still one thing we needed to deal with.

“There’s one more thing we need to do before we go,” I said, looking back over to the fox. Then I turned back to Pan Song. He didn’t know what I could do… But then again, I had a pretty ready excuse for this, so it probably wouldn’t be a problem. I just couldn’t be blatant with any new Skill I get. “Let me just get rid of the bodies. The other Qian Clan members know we fought them, but better that they don’t have any direct evidence of their fate.”

Pan Song frowned and looked over at Qian Zhi and the fox. He winced at the sight of our former enemy. “Do you think you can burn them away? I should be able to do that too, and I’m not as injured as you.”

“No, it’s fine,” I said, shaking my head as I walked over. “I have a different method which is better. Just let me take care of it…”

I trailed off as I got closer and noticed something. Qian Zhi… he was still alive. There was a tiny bit of life left in him, his eyes staring off into space, but his husk-like chest moved up and down ever so slightly. Yet even as I watched, the movements seemed to slow.

“What’s wrong?” Pan Song asked.

“He’s still alive,” I said in disbelief. It seemed insane that he’d still be alive after everything.

“He is?” Pan Song asked, his voice aghast.

“Yeah,” I said, staring at our former enemy for a moment. How long had that fox been… doing whatever it was doing to him? Possessing and controlling him? Had it ever been him that we interacted with? Or had he just been a victim?

That last thought drove me to reach for my healing pills. Maybe just so I could question him, if anything of his mind remained. But before I could even pull out my pill bottle, what was left of Qian Zhi took his last breath. Then his body went still.

I stared at it for another long moment, not able to celebrate even as a blue outline appeared around his body as well. I just felt… numb.

“I thought that if it ever came to this, I would be more glad for things to be over,” Pan Song said, bringing me back to reality. “But after all that we learned, I wonder if we should pity Qian Zhi.”

“Yeah… Same,” I said, shaking my head. 

I took a breath to center myself, then forced away those questions for now. We couldn’t stay here and ponder these things. We needed to go. But before that, we needed to get rid of these bodies.

I reached out a hand towards the two bodies, and with a thought, activated the System to see what was available to harvest.

Defeated Enemy: Tian Gu (Ninefold Life Spirit Fox)

Available Skills to Harvest:

Foxtail Clone (Active) (C Rank): Manifest a Foxtail Clone drawn from your own essence. The clone can freely shift between a fox-shaped body and a tail attached to you. The clone’s Qi pool is equal to the cost of the Skill. Destruction of the clone can lead to mental backlash and a cooldown.

• Fox Form: Functions as a semi-autonomous second body under your direct command. All stats are equal to 50% of your own stats. Range is 1 mile. 

• Tail Form: Merges back into your body as a living tail, granting a +50% bonus to Mind while sustained. Upkeep can be paid from your own Qi pool in this form.

Only one Foxtail Clone may exist at a time.

• Cost: 25% of Qi

• Upkeep: 1 Qi per minute.

Vitality Blood Drain (Active) (C Rank): Drain life energy and Qi from a living target by consuming their blood. Life energy will be used to heal or strengthen your body. 

• Cost: 1 Qi

Life Essence Devouring Foxfire (Active) (C Rank):  Create and control Foxfire. Foxfire is part illusion and part reality, unique to every being able to create it. It can burn or not, based on the desires of its creator. When it burns fuel, it can replenish itself and even grow. This particular kind of foxfire can burn Life Essence from any living source, increasing the ferocity and power of the flame.

• Cost: 5 Qi

• Upkeep: 1 Qi per hour

Defeated Enemy: Qian Zhi (Tian Gu)

Available Skills to Harvest:

Spirit Plant Armor (Active) (C Rank):  Grow a spirit plant to surround your body as armor. The plant armor will continue to regrow to repair damage as long as Qi is supplied.

• Cost: 5 per plant

• Upkeep: 1 Qi per minute per plant.

Wood Spirit Body (Passive) (C Rank):  Your body has a strong affinity towards the Wood element. Increase the effectiveness of any Wood Qi technique or Skills by 50%

Wooden Spirit Sword Control (Active) (D Rank):  Control up to 5 flying swords made up of wood. 

• Cost: 1 Qi per sword

• Upkeep: 1 Qi per minute per sword

I didn’t spend too much time looking things over. Partially because it would look strange to Pan Song, but mainly because I didn’t want to spend any more time here than necessary. So instead, I just took Foxtail Clone and Wood Spirit Body.

I chose Foxtail Clone partially because a fox scout seemed useful. I wasn’t a big fan of the fox part, but a scout was a scout. The biggest reason, however, was the Mind stat bonus, as that was my lowest stat. I’d been needing something to help with that, and the fact that there was more to the Skill only made it better.

As for Wood Spirit Body, I took it mainly because it was my only viable option. Not only did the two other techniques require external resources, but they were also signature techniques of the Qian Clan. Using them in public would be a no-go, and there would be no way for me to get the optimal plants and seeds to use the techniques to their fullest. So it was Wood affinity for me. Maybe I would get some more Wood Skills in the future, or I would buy a Wood technique.

With my choices made, the two bodies—one a husk of a human and the other a terribly burned fox—disappeared into motes of blue light. My flying knife thunked onto the ground, along with Qian Zhi's robes and whatever was in them.

Information ran through my mind about my new techniques, though that was the only thing I really felt. Part of me expected to feel something after getting Wood Spirit Body, but it seemed that I would have to start working with Wood Qi for me to notice anything.

“That's…” Pan Song said from beside me. His eyes were quite large, and he gave me a questioning gaze. Probably wondered why I knew a technique that looked like it was just good for body disposal.

Not wanting to answer that, I just shrugged and bent down to pick up my flying knife. Sheathing it, I moved to rummage through Qian Zhi's clothes. Might as well get as much as we can from him, even if I’m not sure now if he’d been an asshole or a victim. His stuff would go to waste regardless.

“Huh,” I said once I’d finished rummaging through the robes.

“What’s wrong?” Pan Song said, kneeling next to me to look at what I was looking at. “What is that? Did your technique do that?”

It had been a small mound of ash that had dispersed as I rummaged. And after having checked over everything else, I had a bad feeling that it had been Qian Zhi’s storage pouch. Given that he only had one, it was probably a spatial one too.

I just couldn’t catch a break.

“No, it should leave things like clothes and items alone,” I said, shaking my head as I got up. “Either it was destroyed in the fight, or maybe it had a failsafe to destroy itself if the owner died? Have you heard of things like that?”

Pan Song shook his head as he moved to stand. “No. But I also don’t know much about spatial pouches or expensive things like that. So perhaps that is the case. Seems excessive.“

“Yeah…” I said as I took one more glance around in case I missed anything. Which I had, I realized, as I saw one of the spirit beast cores I’d been burning for my foxfire. They were a lot smaller than before, but there should still be some energy left in them for me to use. “Except that might make sense. Given what the fox was doing to Qian Zhi… And given what I heard Yin Tai say. Whoever is behind this fox and these guys probably want to leave as little evidence as possible about what they are doing.”

I quickly made my way around our former battlefield, collecting the remains of the 8 cores as quickly as I could. Pan Song helped me a moment later, and soon I had all the remains. Together, they probably only equaled two normal cores in terms of mass and Qi now.

Not a lot, but it was better than nothing. 

Perhaps when I had a second, I could burn them up into a single ball of foxfire and store it away, now that my trump card has been used.

“What do you think they're doing?” Pan Song asked softly as we started making our way back through the tunnels. Despite our injuries, we moved pretty quickly thanks to the healing pills. “Whoever is behind the fox and all this.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but paused as we neared an intersection. Exchanging a look with Pan Song, we both slowed down and kept quiet. Now that we knew there were other people down here, we would have to be a lot more cautious. I doubted they knew we’d killed off the fox and Qian Zhi, given how strong they were, but eventually they’d probably want to double back and check when they didn’t show. 

Better that we don’t run into that unprepared.

Only once we checked all ends of the intersection for signs of people did I answer Pan Song. “I’m not sure what these guys want, or even who they are. But at the very least, they are trying to infiltrate the Qian clan. And for some reason want to bring the attention of the Soaring Cloud Sect to Everlake City.“

Pan Song nearly tripped for a second before he righted himself. “Damnation… I’d forgotten about that part. If the target is Xing Yaling, then that sect you heard them talking about would be the Soaring Cloud Sect.”

“Yeah…” I said, frowning as we continued to retrace our steps. “The only question left is why.”

“Perhaps we should leave that to more qualified people to discover,” Pang Song said, now suddenly more hesitant.

“Why?”

Pan Song turned to me with a frown. “These people… Whoever they are, they feel like they can dare to provoke the Soaring Cloud Sect. The sect is the hegemon of our whole province. They are practically as powerful as the imperial provincial governor. If that’s the case, then this is something far beyond the two of us. At best, we should inform Sun Xia so she can inform Master Fang Hong. Even then, something like this… It might be too much even for a single Foundation Establishment Cultivator.”

“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” I said, nodding slowly. “Do you think—”

A low rumble rang out in the distance. It was followed by several more. Pan Song and I froze, exchanging concerned looks.

We waited there, in the tunnel, and in silence for a long moment, trying to figure out what it might be. But the sound didn’t seem to be coming from either end of the tunnel. Instead, it came from the walls and above.

“What was that?” I asked when the rumbles finally stopped.

Pan Song shook his head. “I don’t know. But perhaps it’s a sign we should get out of the tunnel quickly.”

I nodded at that, and we continued to backtrack our way to the temple. We moved faster now, even more cautious for whatever might have been causing the rumbling. Occasionally, we heard or felt more of it, but it didn’t seem to be coming from the same direction each time. Still, it made me want to get out of the underground. 

Eventually, we finally turned a corner to see the entrance area to the temple off in the distance. I sighed in relief at the sight, and both Pan Song and I shared a look before we bolted towards the stairs. We were so close now, and I didn’t want to risk us getting intercepted or found at the very end. 

The earth rumbled as if in response to my thought. But it still felt like it was off in the distance, so I ignored it and continued to run. Still, I was tense and ready for something to pop out at the last moment and stop us.

But nothing appeared. We remained alone, with the occasional rumble in the distance. 

“Come on,” I said over my shoulder as we reached the stairs. We quickly ascended, and then we were at the hatch. It was closed, so I waited with bated breath for Pan Song to unlock it.

The hatch opened without a sound this time, and I kept my eyes glued down the stairs in case anything came up for us. But again, nothing came. It was just the two of us.

Pan Song went up the hatch first, and I was quick to follow, rushing through when there was room. Then we closed the hatch behind us, and I let out a sigh of relief. We were finally safe again. Pan Song could probably set up some defense at the hatch just in case, but after that, we could just wait things out and—

A loud chirping sound filled the temple's backroom.

My heart leaped in my chest, and I spun to face the noise. But all I saw was an equally wide-eyed Pan Song… A Pan Song whose trial token was blinking with a red light.

Another loud chirp rang out in the room, making me wince. This time, it came from both our tokens. I stared down at my blinking token in confusion.

“What does that mean—” I started to say, only to get cut off by another chirp. Before I could say anything else, a male voice broadcasted out of our token.

“To all Trial Aspirants. This is my last time repeating this. The Rank 2 spirit beasts have invaded the island. Flee to the Western Gate of the city, and take the road there where our ship is waiting. If you can’t safely reach the ship, hide as best as you can and wait for us to defeat the beasts. This will be my last broadcast until the beasts are taken care of.”

I froze, looking down at my trial token in shock. Seriously? After all that, now this? 

“Do you think we could just hide in here instead?” I asked Pan Song.

He frowned and shook his head. “I’m not sure. It would depend on the strength of the Overseers and the beasts. And how close they are to—”

A loud roar echoed from outside. Far too close for comfort. The world seemed to rumble for a moment, then—

Crash!

The whole world seemed to shake. I lost my balance and fell to the ground. Pain ripped up my hand as I tried to catch myself with my right hand. Fuck!

Another crash rang out. The world shook again. I pulled my injured hand close to my chest and tried to get up through the shaking. A hand grabbed my shoulder and helped me up.

“We need to go back inside,” Pan Song said urgently as he rushed me over to the hatch we’d just escaped from. 

There was another crash, this one thankfully not as loud, but the world still shook a bit. Enough to almost knock us over as we reached the hatch, and Pan Song quickly opened it for us. 

“Are you su—” I started to say, but Pan Song grabbed me and pulled me through. He slammed the hatch behind us and rushed me down the stairs. 

It seemed he was sure. And now we were back in the tunnels with Rank 2 spirit beasts running around up top, and assassins running around below.

Just fucking great.