Cultivation Nerd-Chapter 309 - New Monsters

“This is quite the technique,” Song Song said, sending a sweet smile my way.

I nodded, silently agreeing with her decision not to say the name of the technique out loud. But we both understood what kind of dangerous technique this was; it might even help her against whatever her father had planned.

“This should even your odds against your brother,” I said.

“Even the odds?” Song Song raised a brow. “I could crush that weakling before. I never needed a new technique to do so.”

“I’m talking about Sky Grade Techniques,” I clarified.

That made her frown, though she quickly smiled again. “He has a Sky Grade Technique?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Likely one that enhances cultivation.”

“That so?” Her smile widened, and a cruel glint flashed in her eyes. “We could always torture him and try to get it. That kind of technique would be useful to you.”

Wow. Song Song really never bothered to hide how little she thought of her own blood siblings. I knew she didn’t care about someone like Song San, but she didn’t even mask the joy she felt just thinking about killing him.

“The risk isn’t worth it,” I shook my head. “Even if it’s super effective, it likely only works with the poison element.” 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

I wouldn’t mind getting rid of Song San or studying a technique like that, but we were in a delicate stalemate, and I wasn’t eager to shatter it.

“Are you sure?” Song Song asked.

“Pretty sure.”

She opened her mouth, clearly ready to push her idea, but then stopped, shrugged, and let it go.

“You’re usually right, so I’ll drop the subject. I’ll go master this new, rather complicated technique,” she said, giving me a sideways glance as she turned to leave. “Any tips or tricks for a technique like this?”

I thought of the mangled, roughly stitched-up mess that used to be my soul.

“Maybe… try looking at things from a different perspective,” I said. “And don’t be too reckless. This kind of damage isn’t something that can be healed.”

Well… actually, soul injuries could heal, rarely. But I knew Song Song, and if she learned that souls could recover, it’d only encourage dangerous recklessness.

She walked off with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

I turned toward Fu Yating, who was intentionally looking off to the side, acting like she hadn’t heard us hint at or outright admit to underhanded behavior.

…

A week passed in relative peace. The sect began hiring mortal laborers to repair some of the destroyed buildings. There was a convoluted effort to keep them quiet and make sure they didn’t reveal the sorry state of things. Thankfully, I wasn’t involved in that logistical nightmare.

With the war over, even Song Song didn’t need to attend meetings anymore. She sent proxies, inner elders loyal to her or working under her, who relayed the meeting reports back to her.

So I got my information third-hand, through Song Song. There was a small chance her people were gaslighting her, or the elders were plotting something. But I didn’t care. Not anymore.

With her new Sky Grade Technique, Song Song’s battle power had skyrocketed. Even someone like Zun Gon would have to be cautious.

Soul injuries weren’t easy to recover from… but that was only if Zun Gon was dumb enough to backstab us.

I sat atop the library pagoda, swinging my legs over the edge.

Conspiracies and sect politics didn’t occupy much of my mind lately. There were more interesting things to pay attention to.

“Ha!” Tingfeng yelled, slashing wildly in a calculated flurry of sword strikes. It looked like a chaotic whirlwind of blades.

He was progressing nicely.

Though his advancement had slowed, he’d likely become a Qi Gathering Cultivator within a month or two.

His talent wasn’t bad. But he could’ve been so much better if…

Jiang Yeming was on the other side, cultivating diligently as always.

She was full of surprises and disappointments. She was like someone cultivating experiences borrowed from others.

I stood and jumped off the edge of the pagoda, plummeting down to the ground with a deafening boom.

Snow, dirt, and rocks scattered as I landed. Both Jiang Yeming and Tingfeng were jolted out of their training.

Jiang Yeming’s eyes widened. She looked like a duck lost in the desert.

Tingfeng, on the other hand, calmly sheathed his sword, turned toward me, and asked, “How can we help you, teacher?”

“Lately, I’ve been wondering if you'd be open to getting some hands-on experience fighting live opponents. Your progress in both techniques and cultivation has been dreadfully slow,” I said, staring the bald swordsman straight in the eyes.

“Slow?” Jiang Yeming looked at us, confused. “I think his progress has been the opposite of slow.”

We both ignored her. Jiang Yeming’s opinions were valid only when assessing normal cultivators.

“How exactly am I going to get this hands-on experience?” Tingfeng asked, shifting into a fighting stance, ready to draw his sword.

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He assumed I meant sparring.

“I’ll take you outside a bit. We’re going to a place where humans and beasts… probably mated,” I said. “The creatures there are half-human, half-beast. You get the best of both worlds, fighting humans and beasts. What do you think?”

Tingfeng let go of his sword and relaxed a little. “I’m ready to go whenever you are, teacher.”

Jiang Yeming’s ears perked up, and she stepped closer. “Can I join too?”

“You don’t really need the fighting experience,” I reminded her.

She deflated and looked ready to return to her previous task.

“But sure, why not? You can join us.”

She beamed and rushed in for a hug. “You’re the best teacher in the world!”

Before she could get too close, I extended my arm and planted my palm on her face, stopping her cold with my longer reach.

No way was I letting her touch me randomly. She was acting way too cheerful and clingy, definitely out of character.

After prepping our gear and stashing supplies into storage rings, we left the mountain and headed out on foot toward Greengrass Town at a moderate pace.

I chose a rustic route over flying, figured they should get used to land travel. Unfortunately, no beasts ambushed us along the way, so I didn’t get a chance to teach them about bush encounters.

We didn’t stay long in Greengrass Town. Just resupplied and moved on.

As we left, I glanced back at the town, thinking of Mao Zhi, my old guard friend. I couldn’t sense him since he was a mortal, after all, so I didn’t linger. A part of me wondered if he’d survived the beast waves.

Should I have asked around for Mao Zhi?

Maybe. But we were already too far out. I had enough despair for one winter.

We traveled four days through snowy terrain until we reached our destination, a rocky valley dusted in white. The wind howled through stone gaps, and a strange crying-like sound echoed from the canyon, chilling our bones.

Tingfeng wasn’t fazed. His hand remained near his sword, eyes focused. Jiang Yeming, however, looked pale, her eyes narrowed.

There was a canyon in the middle of the rocklands. No Qi signatures came from it, but an overwhelming wave of mental energy surged out. A small army of monsters lurked below.

It always amazed me how some beasts could hide their Qi in their home turf, much like natural camouflage. Evolution was a fascinating thing.

“Get ready for a little tumble,” I warned.

Without another word, I stomped the ground. A Qi pulse shaped like a root shot out and twisted through the canyon floor. A moment later, the ground shook violently, like an earthquake.

Countless spine-chilling hisses came from the canyon’s depths. Spider-like creatures began to crawl out. Their lower halves were massive arachnid legs, while the upper halves were disturbingly human.

Some kind of arachnid centaur abomination.

Gross.

Their legs twitched as they poured out like a tide of nightmares.

I placed a hand on Tingfeng’s shoulder and pushed him forward. “Go get some experience.”

He nodded, drew his sword, and stepped forward, eyes sharp.

Jiang Yeming stared at us like we were insane.

“He stands no chance against that horde,” she said, her hands shaking either in anger or fear, I wasn’t sure. “They’re each as strong as Qi Gathering cultivators! He’ll be dead in seconds!”

“You know nothing, Jiang Yeming,” I said, shaking my head like a wise old master. “This is all about the power of friendship.”

“What?” she blinked.

“You know what’s stronger than cultivation?” I asked, gazing dramatically at the sky. “The power of friendship.”

“Are you messing with me?”

“Do you think I’d mess with you at a time like this?”

“Yes,” she said flatly.

“Then yeah, I’m messing with you,” I admitted. This was fun.

The beasts were halfway here, and Jiang Yeming kept glancing at me nervously.

“Still, shouldn’t you erect some kind of barrier to make sure Tingfeng won’t die?”

“That would beat the point.”

“And what point is that?” she asked.

“Most people... well, let’s use you as an example. Most people like you benefit from a structured cultivation path. Studying techniques, progressing steadily, avoiding stupid tournaments that eliminate large parts of the younger generation, you’ll live up to your potential that way,” I said, smiling while watching my bald disciple’s back. “But then there are people like Tingfeng...”

Tingfeng wasn’t quite at Song Song’s level, but he was a lot closer to her than to the average cultivator.

The beasts were almost on us, and instead of retreating like a sane person, Tingfeng crouched. The ground beneath him cracked as he launched forward like a thunderbolt, charging straight into the swarm.

I almost had a panic attack. Despite my earlier speech, I only wanted to simulate the feeling of danger, not actually let him die. I wasn’t great at using the killing intent technique like Song Song, so the illusion of death wasn’t perfect enough to replicate the feeling of death.

One of the spider-like beasts lunged, its tarantula legs looking like dark alloy spikes. It tried to stab Tingfeng.

He jumped, dodging midair, but now without any leverage, he was vulnerable. Another beast, quicker than the rest, tried to skewer him from behind.

Tingfeng twisted midair, spine folding, and locked eyes with the attacker. Despite the imminent threat, my bald disciple smiled, not a crazed grin like Song Song’s, but the kind of smile that said he was genuinely enjoying himself.

He slashed his sword in a crescent arc, cutting through the beast’s appendage at a joint. The force of the blow launched him sideways. He didn’t resist; instead, he used the momentum instead of fighting against it.

He landed beside the spider centaur that had first attacked and swung at its neck. But instead of a clean decapitation, metal rang out, his blade stopped cold.

The neck was tougher than expected, but Tingfeng adjusted, flipped his grip, and thrust forward like a rapier, piercing both of the beast’s eyes.

It happened in a flash. But the rest of the swarm didn’t hesitate. They charged, stabbing at him with no regard for their own kind.

Tingfeng stayed low, slipping between their twitching legs like a cheetah. He sliced their underbellies, targeting the gaps in their exoskeletons where they were weakest.

Good. That’s impressive.

These monsters had evolved with few predators, so their undersides were softer. Not enough for a regular blade, but Tingfeng wasn’t using one blindly. He knew what he was doing.

He’d learned this from me. He knew the anatomy of spider-type monsters and where to strike.

But even that had limits. He only felled a few before the beasts adapted. They tightened their formations, covering their bellies with their metallic legs and rolling like boulders.

It didn’t take long for him to get overwhelmed.

“Are you going to help him or what? He’s clearly on the back foot,” Jiang Yeming said.

I narrowed my eyes. I was thinking the same thing, but maybe it was an illusion. Tingfeng’s evasive style made it hard to tell how close he really was to breaking.

“Why?” I asked. “Do you see Tingfeng as a normal cultivator?”

She looked ready to rush in, but I could tell she was hesitating. Even as a Qi Gathering Cultivator, she’d be overwhelmed by seventy monsters all at her level. She’d die before helping.

Her side glances at me grew more frequent. She was waiting on me to move.

Seeing how wound up she was, I opened my mouth to explain my reasoning–

–but then, a soft pulse of Qi washed over us.

And Tingfeng broke through.