When he awoke the next morning, Chún lay blinking up at the softly brightening light of the Silver Sapling. "I do not want to make pottery today," he said aloud.
"That is fine," replied the Mountain. "The pots and bowls you made yesterday have been moved into the new kilns and will take most of the day to complete anyway. Although I was hoping you would gather some more clay and make some more raw pots and bowls to start drying, just in case…"
"A Shi of working clay, no more," he bargained, "I guess I can add it to the 'daily' chores list".
"That would work well," agreed his locus happily. "The stew pot needs topping up anyway and you should dig out the bigger vegetables from your plot - it is getting a bit crowded in there. Bring some dried meat with you on your hunt as well as Vine fruit."
"Ok. Guess I know what I will be doing for the next couple of shi." the young teen grumbled, getting up to splash cold water on his face from the small stream of water that came through the cave wall.
It was how quickly the amazing became mundane, Chún reflected as he washed his face in Essence imbued water Consumers would kill for, in a cave of wonders Consumers would murder their own brothers to cultivate in, lit by a living treasure tree Consumers would spill rivers of blood to take for themselves.
Then he pulled on his loincloth - which was about the only thing that around here that would not cause a war to start, he thought with dark humour - picked up his Treasure staff of the Night Sky and Treasure Cloak of Unending Essence and trotted out to snack on a freely given fruit which would boost any Consumer's realm, while breathing air so thick with Essence mist it glowed - sending his Essence surging happily.
And he was bored of all of it. The stories of young silkpants being so fed up with being rich they went to any lengths in search of excitement or something new were starting to actually make sense to him now - him, an orphan.
He snorted, amused at his own foolishness. Unlike a silkpants, he had work to do.
Harvesting, filling the pot, gathering wood took a half-shi. After that he went to the creek bank and gathered clay using Essence, the same as the day before, managing to build up six head sized balls of clay in half the time it took previously.
Mixing the clay with some of the failed dried clay from the previous night's drying and leftover broken pottery also took less time than the day before and within a quarter shi he had the lumps set out to stiffen in the drying pit.
"Hey, Mountain? You said 'kilns' not 'kiln' when you were talking about today's firing this morning - why is that?" asked Chún as he washed his hands and legs in the creek.
"I have divided each item into its own smaller kiln. If there are any more explosions, I will not lose everything at once."
Splashing the water up his arms, he nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds like a good idea. Of course, it would be not worth the effort for me to do that on my own. Anything go boom yet?"
"No! Everything is going much better this time," the Mountain responded defensively.
He raised an eyebrow at the tone, but decided not to bother poking back, straightening up with a sigh. "OK - so have you got anything else that needs to be done before I hunt?"
"Are you going to practice your Monkey Movement?" queried his locus.
"I will do it while hunting," Chún replied, tying his hair back with a length of rough woven vine. "Hunting is getting too easy on foot - I am going to try spotting and catching prey at speed while staying off the ground."
"Have fun," replied the Mountain.
"I will!" The teen shouted with excitement and bolted for the entrance of his 'Immortals Cave', where he had left jerky, fruit, his flask, cloak and staff.
A few moments later, he bounded into the tree line, taking the branches at speed and brushing so fast through the leaves just the wind of his passage tore them loose, a roaring of a great wind following his passing.
Using the Monkey Movement in combination with his Essence sense pointing out the best path, had become second nature to him at this point, so he just let his body manoeuvre on autopilot at high speed as it shifted between trees, while he kept an eye out for deer, rabbit, boar… anything he could add to the stew pot.
A couple of times he spotted edible greens and herbs and he either snatched a portion of them at speed, or if they were out of immediate reach, used his recent practice with the clay in the riverbank to pull them out with his Essence - making sure not to completely remove them so they would continue to grow and provide him with additional forage. Things grew fast because of the Essence rich environment, but being a good steward was important - and his job now.
Pretty soon he was feeling warm, despite the fact that his now cultivated body did not sweat or feel uncomfortable due to heat - it was more a mental feeling than anything and an idea popped into his head.
"Hey, Friend?" He sent down the link as he absent-mindedly bashed a couple of poisonous centipedes - twice the length of his legs and two hand spans around - away with the staff as they leapt at him as he bounced off 'their' tree. "Is there a nice waterfall around here that I could take a wash in? You know like I used to in that one near your base?"
"Of course. Most are much better than that one - one of the best ones is two hundred li or so from your current location towards the Golden Crow birthplace."
Chún snorted. "What is with the flowery language? You mean East?"
"East would be a completely arbitrary label at this point - I am my own moon now - remember?"
He rolled his eyes. "Thick Face Moon…"
"I do not technically have a 'face'," retorted his locus, "and my statement is an accurate one - not an exaggeration of any sort."
Chún laughed. "Two hundred li? I will be there in a couple of fēn. Though, with how big you have been getting, it is a good thing I am getting faster than I used to be."
There was a sort of indignant pause at the other end of the link. "If I was human, I believe I would be offended by your observation."
"Oh, not at all," responded Chún innocently, with a mischievous expression on his face as he rebounded off of a large forest giant to change direction in the indicated direction. "Being an Honourable Fatty is considered a very good thing!"
The next few trees in his predicted path shook wildly, but he just roared with laughter and leapt directly over them, spotting the gleam of a large river in the distance.
A few moments later, a silver thunderbolt fell from the sky into the middle of the river, throwing up a massive wave of water over both banks and stranding a large number of enormous fish.
"Carp! Golden, Silver and Jade," Chún burst from the water as the wave crashed back into the river from his impact with the surface and scrambled to scoop up or stun with raps from his staff as many of the Treasure Fish as he could grab, while dodging swinging tails that tried to swat him as they leapt back into the river, "come to Dinner!"
A few judicious swings of the Bear Arm form he had learnt during the battle, landed him three of the fattest he could reach while the rest escaped. He whistled in amazement as he held up the fish and tossed them into his soaking wet sack, pouring Essence into the worn material to reinforce it and prevent them from breaking free, "Eating like the Emperor tonight!" Chún whooped as he tied the sack to a rock; holding the top half to the bank and leaving the remainder of the sack hanging in the water.
Straightening up, he looked around, orienting himself in the direction of a loud roaring. "Time for a shower!"
A couple of long leaps brought him to a li deep chasm that the river thundered over the edge with the roar of a million souls shouting at once. Without pausing, he stabbed his staff into the bank and hung his cloak on it, then hurled himself off the edge.
---
Under the pounding water, Chún stood laughing in exaltation as a force that in the past would have crushed him into a meat patty merely felt like a comfortable massage. It appeared that once sensation passed a certain threshold the pain sensation just stopped.
"Best shower ever," yelled the young teem as he thrust his arms against the force, then started to execute the movements of the ground aspects of the Monkey Dao, his footsteps cracking the rock as he slammed them into place despite the slippery surfaces.
After a half-shi he stopped, panting, the heat from his body actually causing the water pounding into him to flash off as steam.
"I feel like I have improved at least a rank," he said in satisfaction as he clenched his fists. "I think I will train here from now on.
"I have turned off the Fire in the drying pit - you do not need to hurry back - without the Essence flame, the clay will need another shi to finish stiffening from the residual heat," the Mountain said through the link.
"Thank you, Mountain… there is something…"
The heightened sensitivity caused by the training let him notice a faint tickle across his Essence Senses that had not registered before. He closed his eyes, slowly locking away the feeling of the pounding water, the rocks under his feet, his own exertion…
...there. Turning with purpose he faced towards the wall of the chasm the water crashed over and started walking.
After a moment, the pressure of the waterfall vanished. Chún opened his eyes to find himself in a small alcove with the feeling that guided him drawing forward towards an almost invisible gap in the rock that hid behind a dog-leg of rock outcropping that hid it from all but the most thorough inspection.
Sliding his body sideways through the small gap between the two walls, his breath caught as he found himself in a cave of glowing crystals that radiated Essence of every type along with the corresponding light.
"What is… What is this?" The Essence here was strong, but unlike the Heaven and Earth Vine clearing, it did not permeate the air, instead it was tightly contained within each glowing crystal. Some were tiny, the size of a finger or toe, others ran the entire gamut of sizes up to monolithic pillars that shone every colour.
"Essence Crystals. Even the smallest has about the same amount of Essence as a thousand Essence Stones from an Essence Beast," explained his locus straightforwardly, "places like this are major nodes that underpin my main Manifestation Daos. Please be careful."
Chún's breath sucked in explosively as he realised the wealth around him. A moment later rationality reasserted itself. "These are useless to me, brother. If I tried to trade even the smallest of those - I would be drowned in Consumers trying to kill, torture or otherwise extract every morsel of knowledge I had to find the source. And I have nothing to use them for."
He frowned. "But… Mountain? I know we are hidden and everything, but surely you do not leave a treasure like this unguarded? I cannot be everywhere… if any Consumers ever find this, they would die by the thousands to rip it from you."
"They would try." A sharp grinding voice caught his attention as one of the largest pillars of crystals suddenly shifted into a towering crystalline humanoid figure. "They would die."
Chún froze and bowed hastily - as low as he could. "Honoured guardian. I did not intend any disrespect - I was merely concerned for my friend."
There was a sound of grinding crystal. A moment later he realised it was 'laughing'. "You are known to us Cultivator. You may challenge if you wish."
The teen straightened up and tilted his head in confusion. "Challenge?"
There was a glittering splintering of light that Chún realised was the being's version of a smile. "If you make us take one step back; you will be granted a crystal."
Chún shook his head rapidly. "I do not need… wait…" Chún paused as a sudden thought came to him, "Do you mean a spar - Honoured Guardian?"
There was a grumbling of agreement from the giant mass of crystals. "Friend, is this your doing?" asked Chún tentatively up the link.
"Crystal Lords are not under my direct control. They form independently when a large quantity of Essence crystals coalesce and guard them as their nest; they will not leave the crystals. However, they are fond of setting tasks and challenges for those who encounter them. It allows the crystals a chance to be pruned as needed while protecting them. You could consider this a 'lucky chance' for a follower of Jianghu." The Mountain's explanation was delivered in an ordinary tone, clearly showing that nothing unusual was happening.
Chún took a deep breath. "Honoured Guardian. I do not need a crystal. I do need a teacher. If you are willing to spar… I would ask for your guidance - and be honoured by it."
He bowed - and had to throw himself back as the Crystal Lord's arm telescoped into a spear of crystal and crashed into the ground where he had been standing, like a small mountain peak crashing to the earth.
"Challenge... Accepted."
The teen's eyes widened as he leapt for his life. "Oh… son of a…!"