0038: The Hunt Resumes
Baiyun's wary eyes turned nonchalant as divine thread transmitted more information.
A mere qi-gathering beast... even if it attacked for days, not a scratch would be left on the sturdy stone. Its bones were broken from the landing as well; it seemed the beast did not intend to land on the workshop and instead crashed due to its injuries.
He extended his divine thread to its full 30m range and spun it, trying to figure out the situation. Ying Shi previously mentioned the bloom would attract many beasts, so it was possible there was a swarm high above.
Baiyun's thoughts were interrupted by a boulder seeming appearing out of nowhere, shooting towards the bird, with such ease it was akin to a weightless arrow!
The bird instantly splattered into a mess of red and shattered bone, and the boulder somehow only grazed the workshop.
Yingtao's silhouette materialised 25 metres away. Despite the soundproofing, he could tell she was laughing from the movement of her mouth.
His eyes twitched. What a reckless stunt and impractical stunt. If she messed up, he could have been crushed together with the workshop!
She approached with graceful footsteps, raising boulders from the ground and flinging them high into the sky as if they weighed less than feathers. Every now and then, the corpses of beasts would crash into the ground.
As Baiyun extended his thread, he finally noticed the nearby spatial houses had been moved away as well. Had the disciples been evacuated? He began to regret forming a smaller sphere with his thread for efficiency instead of extending his thread to its full range as he slept.
Yingtao seemed to be here for him. A thought suddenly entered his mind; he took out his lantern, flicking it on and squinting from the sudden light that broke pitch darkness.
As he thought... his skin was still slightly pinkish from the brutal breakthrough. It was a good thing he realised now, or he'd have some explaining to do.
Baiyun channelled his soul to 30% of its capacity and activated his masking art. Before his eyes, his raw skin appeared to revert back into its original state, an extension of the same art that let him hide his cultivation from nosy elders.
A slight pressure from his soul weighed heavily on him and he shook his head, walking a few circles around the room and trying to stabilise his awkward footsteps. His frown grew deeper with every step.
Losing attunement with his body while having to deal with soul pressure was not a good combination. It was certain he would not be able to replicate the lightning reflexes he had previously shown.
The pink skin would subside in a few days and allow him to release the soul pressure, but the former was a massive problem. He needed to regain full integration with his body as soon as possible.
A knock came from the door as it rattled on its hinges enough to bypass the soundproofing.
Baiyun opened the door with squinted eyes, the light of dawn obnoxiously bright for someone who had been in pitch darkness. Were it not for him turning on the lantern previously, he might have been blinded.
He channelled his soul and adjusted his pupils to adapt to the light instantly. It was possible thanks to the increased durability of his body, otherwise his eyes would have ruptured.
"Eh? You were just standing around in the dark?" Yingtao asked. "Do you not have a lantern?"
But Baiyun's eyes widened at he looked towards the sky.
Under the warm orange light, thousands of spirit beasts, birds, insects, bats and other stranger creatures soared high above. Each was plain alone, but as they wove through the skies amidst each other, it was akin to a dance of death.
The beasts gathered into factions, swooping and tearing into other occasionally. Every now and then, an unlucky beast would plummet, much like the bird from before.
Large pink petals soared through the air as well, mingling with the countless beasts into a spectacle of myriad colours.
Baiyun looked at the Twisted Forest in distance and saw its cabbage-like cocoons had blossomed into large flowers that spewed weightless petals into the wind.
It was a beautiful sight, but it was just as horrifying. He knew there would be many beasts from how Ying Shi mentioned thousands would flock over... but there had to be at least 20,000 flying beasts!
"Er... I guess that's not important right now." Yingtao trailed off. "Come with me! The other disciples have already evacuated."
They forgot him? Baiyun couldn't say he was surprised given his low status, but he thought Mohei or Qinghe would probably speak up at the very least.
"Oh, it's not what you think, by the way!" Yingtao hurriedly waved her hands. "It's just that you have no cultivation, so we thought it would be best for you to be escorted by me alone afterwards. The workshop is sturdy enough to protect you, so you were in no danger."
What was she being all frantic about? He was surprised someone of her status even cared to explain herself to a servant.
It had been at the back of his mind till now, but this hunting party was really quite the odd group. He expected the cultivators of WanLing to be crueller, especially considering they were willing to use servants.
"I see. That makes sense." Baiyun nodded at her explanation.
"Eh?"
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Yingtao seemed confused by his lack of reaction. After pausing for a moment, she grabbed Baiyun and tossed him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
She stomped the ground and willed a giant stone shield to emerge before hoisting it into the air with her other hand, its large shadow covering them both. With another stomp, she shot into the distance with incredible speed!
As Baiyun rattled around on her shoulder, the deafening sound of wind rushing by his ear, he thought to himself that it was a good thing his body was now so durable. He wasn't sure if this truly qualified as escorting, but he was grateful she was being so through.
BANG!
Something struck the shield, the tremendous impact burying Yingtao into the ground as her arm trembled! Baiyun was barely above the soil despite being on her shoulder.
An attack?
Baiyun grew alarmed for a split second, but he squinted his eyes right after. That impact... divine thread informed him it was from one of her own boulders.
Far in the distance, loud bangs echoed as other boulders she threw into the air landed, smashing craters into the ground like meteors.
Yingtao pulled herself out of the ground and continued to run, coughing awkwardly. Baiyun decided it was best for him not to comment.
It wasn't long before a large formation dome could be seen in the distance. Beneath its transparent semi-sphere that swirled with inscriptions, Ying Shi and the other disciples were present, sitting around a large table as they ate breakfast.
The corpses of over a hundred flying beasts were piled beside the foundation, some partially skinned.
Mohei looked over in excitement, hopping off his chair and rushing over. He smacked face-first into the formation dome and winced, before squeezing his way through and running out.
"Baiyun! You're here!" he said excitedly.
"Hey! Don't run outside, it's dangerous!" Yingtao yelled.
A massive dragonfly fell from the skies and crashed several metres beside Mohei, but he didn't bat an eye.
He grabbed Baiyun off Yingtao's shoulder and dragged him into the formation as she watched speechlessly. She tossed the stone shield towards the dragonfly casually and ended its misery.
The walls of the formation rippled like water as they entered, Ying Shi and the other disciples turning their gazes towards them.
"Good, you've arrived. Take a seat." he said, gesturing to the table.
A massive platter of steamed buns had been stacked on it, while the disciples made bets of sorts with tokens. Sanguang was shouting something as the disciples laughed, but Baiyun didn't particularly care to listen and merely took a bun from the pile.
To the side, Ying Shi didn't seem to have much more to say and returning to studying the qi compass he held.
Baiyun had been worried about the lack of an elder, yet the disciples here were treating it like a leisurely picnic and playing games despite the swarming beasts. With such complacency, it was no wonder the lack of a guardian didn't faze them.
Though, he wasn't one to speak. The risks he took back in the mountain caverns and the spirit forest were far more worse.
He stared up at the skies through the transparent formation, watching as the beasts fought above. Yingtao would occasionally grab valuable corpses that fell down, tossing them into the pile beside the formation and skinning them.
But could possess so many beasts to go into such a frenzy and throw their lives away in such a manner? Even the most foolish of beasts valued their lives, and would flee when injured.
It was so unnatural and unnerving that Baiyun could not relax, even under the formation.
As he mused to himself, he sensed Qinghe approaching.
"Your face is stiff and your posture is off." she said. "Did you take more than the recommended dose?"
Her low voice caught Mohei's attention and he turned over. Jingfeng seemed to have noticed as well.
"Ah! Now that you mention it, he was walking a bit weirdly earlier! And I think he's paler than usual too."
Jingfeng nodded silently.
Baiyun's eyes twitched. How was he supposed to maintain a proper gait when Mohei yanked him off Yingtao's shoulder suddenly?
Still, he touched his face silently as he examined himself with divine sense.
Mohei was right. He had overdone it with his soul disguise and made his skin paler than usual. It was so subtle that if no one bought it up, he would never have noticed.
How ironic for them to know his appearance better than he did, despite meeting him for such a short time.
"It must be because of that weird elixir you gave Baiyun yesterday!" Mohei pointed at Qinghe angrily. "I saw it!"
"Stop." Baiyun said.
Mohei seemed to want to yell a lot more at Qinghe, but seeing the look on Baiyun's face, he covered his mouth with his hands.
Baiyun sighed.
"She's right. I was greedy and overstepped despite her warnings." he said solemnly.
It was the understatement of the century, he mocked inwardly.
"Some lessons have to be learnt the hard way." Qinghe shook her head. "I'll give you a quick check-up."
She took out a strange artefact, a modified qi-compass affixed to a disc covered in formations. She pressed it on his forehead, his back and his limbs before frowning.
Modifying a qi-compass into a medical device was quite a strange way to diagnose someone, Baiyun thought.
"Well, you seem to be perfectly fine." Qinghe said finally. "Perhaps the issue is psychological, or I'm still lacking in medical expertise. Either way, don't push yourself."
It wasn't really a promise Baiyun could make, but he nodded anyway.
Ying Shi seemed to have been listening in and spoke up as well.
"Baiyun, I'm glad you're honing your physical strength as I suggested. But do not be reckless and risk your life in pursuit of power. The prospect of obtaining rare herbs is enticing, but digest your gains slowly. Haste makes waste, after all."
"Right..." Baiyun forced a smile.
He felt weirdly annoyed. Wasn't it obvious to hone body cultivation if qi cultivation was closed off? It was common sense!
Not that he planned to stick to physical strength alone; fighting in such a brutish manner was unbefitting of an alchemist.
It didn't seem like the disciples had told Ying Shi the story, judging from his surprise at the sight of the mole cauldron. But there was enough context for him to make guesses, especially with Fei An's blabbering.
Baiyun remembered something and paused however.
"Ying Shi, even servants can learn Martial Expertise, right?" he asked.
He didn't think much of it previously despite its strange effects, but after seeing the alchemy arts here, he felt he could no longer underestimate this world.
"Yes, I wouldn't have recommended it to you otherwise. Are you reconsidering?" Ying Shi said.
When Ying Shi first mentioned Martial Expertise, he invited Baiyun to join the Ying Clan as a servant, claiming they would be able to teach him.
"I was just curious." Baiyun shook his head.
He refused back then as he did now.
"So be it." Ying Shi returned to fiddling with his compass.
Loud bangs echoed as several beasts crashed onto the formation consecutively. It seemed the beasts above realised any victim tossed onto the formation would be slaughtered by Yingtao, and were happy to abuse that.
Baiyun decided it was about time he ate the bun he had been holding. He gently tore it in half, steam and a savoury aroma wafting out. Golden-brown sauce oozed out as he took a bite, his eyes lighting up.
The flavour of each herb and ingredient each with its own personality, yet blending together with harmony like a dance, careful not to step on each other's toes. Oil bursting with meaty flavour brought it all together, yet subtle enough not to be greasy.
Even the incredible food in the servant cafeteria was nothing compared to this. They even used actual spirit herbs instead of useless offcuts!
Baiyun unknowingly began to take large bites with gusto.
It was a shame, however, he thought to himself. Treating spirit herbs like common vegetables was disrespectful to alchemy. Such precious herbs were not culinary ingredients and should be used to make pills and elixirs! He let out a slight huff before taking yet another bite.
He looked down and realised he had emptied his plate.
...
Baiyun picked several more buns from the pile silently. Before he realised it, he had joined the disciples in enjoying the morning amidst carnage above, his worries forgotten.