Chapter 7: Hunting Back in the Forest
Dawn's golden light spilled over the Spirit Willow Inn as Flux stirred from sleep. A breeze slipped through the slightly open window, stirring the talismans he'd placed for protection. He blinked the sleep from his eyes, then sat up in silence.
His body still held tension from the road. Yet his mind was already ahead—back in the wildwood, where danger sharpened the senses and every breath had weight.
"Time to move," he murmured, tying his hair into a neater bun.
His new robe—darker, sturdier, and more refined than before—fit snugly over his frame. Beneath it, his tail was wrapped tight around his waist, hidden from curious eyes. He checked his pouch, adjusted the strap of his flying sword, and altered his voice just enough to sound a few years older—habit, now.
Downstairs, the inn was already alive with clinks of porcelain and the hiss of steaming kettles. He ordered a simple breakfast: two meat buns, dried jerky, and strong tea.
The innkeeper gave him a knowing smile. "Back to the forest again, little sir?"
Flux nodded. "Just passing through."
The man chuckled. "Well, you've got the look of someone who knows what he's doing. Stay sharp."
Flux offered a faint nod in return and stepped outside.
Oaktown was already stirring. Hawkers cried out over their goods, spirit beasts groaned under the weight of wagons, and young cultivators strutted through the morning crowd with blades at their hips. Flux blended easily into the flow, his calm steps and wide-brimmed hat drawing little attention. Even the guard at the main gate barely glanced up.
Once outside, he didn't waste time. He summoned his flying sword with a pulse of qi. It rose smoothly into the air, gleaming with a refined edge. Compared to his old weapon, this sword responded with precision and confidence—as if eager for battle.
He stepped onto it.
The wind swept past his face as he took off.
"This… makes all the difference," he murmured, a quiet grin forming. "Having a real weapon—it changes everything."
The hours passed in flight. Below him, hills unfurled like green waves, and forests stretched into the horizon. Eventually, he reached the wildwood—the place that had once nearly killed him. Now, it felt familiar.
He landed near his old cave. Vines still curled around the entrance, claw marks marred nearby stones, and the faint scent of spirit beast blood lingered. He stepped inside and checked his supplies. Everything was intact.
Outside, he inhaled deeply and tightened the strap around his wrist. "I'm not just here for spirit stones," he whispered. "I'm here to get stronger."
He leapt into the trees on his sword, soaring just above the canopy.
It didn't take long to find his first prey.
A spirit deer grazed below, golden runes glowing faintly along its back. With a flick of his fingers, his sword detached and shot down like a silent shadow.
A flash. A thud. No cry.
The deer fell, its core still pulsing faintly with spiritual energy.
Flux descended and retrieved it. "Clean strike. No wasted motion."
He pressed on.
Soon, he spotted a cluster of iron-hide boars surrounding a spiritual herb grove. They snorted and shuffled, unaware of the silent hunter above them. Flux waited until the wind shifted.
Then he dropped.
His dagger pierced the first boar's neck before it could squeal. The rest charged with ferocious cries—but his flying sword intercepted them mid-lunge, cleaving through thick hide like rice paper.
By sunset, his pouch was full. Back at the cave, he roasted fresh meat, brewed tea with herbs he'd collected, and used fallen twigs for target practice—guiding his sword through precise patterns in midair.
The next day, he pushed deeper into the forest.
The canopy thickened, shadows stretched long, and spirit energy stirred in strange rhythms. He fought silver-clawed panthers, evaded a group of howling apes, and narrowly avoided a swarm of venom wasps nesting in a rotted tree.
But the real test came in the form of a stone-furred tiger.
It emerged from the trees like a walking mountain—muscles rippling, rocky plates jutting from its shoulders. Its aura weighed heavy on the air.
"Ninth-stage Qi Refinement," Flux noted, his fingers twitching toward his sword.
The tiger roared and charged.
Flux moved.
He ducked beneath a sweeping claw, slashed across its flank, and danced back as stone fragments flew. The tiger pounced. Flux leapt over its head, twisting mid-air, and sent his sword spinning into its exposed back.
A cry. Blood. The tiger stumbled.
But it didn't fall.
Flux landed, rolled, and called his sword back just in time to parry a final blow. Steel and stone collided, sparks flew, and then—the beast collapsed.
He stood there, panting, blood dripping from his arm.
"I would be harder here, a few weeks ago," he muttered. "This sword… it saved me more effort."
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On the third day, deeper than ever before, Flux hovered in a shadowed glade. A sudden stillness settled over the forest.
He narrowed his eyes.
Something was watching him.
He extended his spiritual sense—reaching through the earth, the roots, the silence.
There.
Beneath a twisted old tree, coiled in the roots, was something cold. Alive. Ancient.
"A demon black snake," he whispered. "Foundation Establishment… second level, maybe higher."
The moment he locked onto it, the snake struck.
It erupted from the ground like a bolt of black lightning, fangs bared, venom hissing. Flux launched backward, just barely avoiding the spot where he'd floated seconds before. The ground there was cracked and steaming.
"Fast," he muttered, ascending quickly.
The serpent twisted through the air, giving chase with eerie silence.
Flux drew his sword and spread his stance mid-air, spiritual energy coiling around him like mist.
"No avoiding it," he said calmly. "Time to fight."
The serpent lunged.
He met it head-on.
Steel clashed with fang. Mist burned against venom. The forest lit up with brief flashes of silver and black. Flux darted and spun through the trees, sword carving arcs through the air.
This was no mere hunt. It was a battle for survival.
For the first time since reaching Foundation Establishment, he had to give everything.