While we harvested the lava lizards, splitting them amongst ourselves, I couldn't help but ask Fu Xi a few questions.
"I'm from Seven Stars Academy. What about you?"
"Hmm? Academy? Nah, I'm not from any academy right now."
"Eh? Then how did you apply for the missions?"
"Ah. As an outside disciple." Fu Xi grimaced. "It's so difficult for outsiders to apply for missions if we aren't from a school. My sect had to pull a few strings for me to accept…and only then because almost nobody accepted the mission. Except you, of course, but you are the only one brave enough to take this particular mission."
"Heh." I couldn't help but chuckle. "Just be honest. You didn't mean to say brave but stupid."
"No. I'm being sincere. There's a difference between recklessness and courage, and you definitely belong to the latter." Fu Xi returned a grin. "Besides, a stupid person wouldn't be able to slay an entire horde of salamanders and a scalding serpent by himself."
"That was luck."
"We all make our own luck. That's what Master says, anyway. Also…" he sighed. "He always tells me that I shouldn't believe too much in fate. That we humans are capable of carving our own destiny. That's why he insisted that I take a mission…not just for combat experience, but also to see the world. And to challenge destiny itself."
"Challenge destiny?" I asked uncertainly. Fu Xi laughed.
"Oh, I might not look like it, but when I was much younger, I was weak. A very sickly, bedridden kid who was on the verge of dying a few times. But my master picked me up and nursed me back to health. He even taught me cultivation techniques so that I could fight my destiny and live longer. Thanks to him, I have become a lot stronger than before…more robust and healthier."
"Awesome." I nodded. "I'm glad you were able to improve your condition."
"But I was always…scared of death. Not surprising, since I've been close to it so many times." Fu Xi scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly, chewing on a blade of grass. "Master had enough of my cowardice and kicked me out, so that I can see the world. And improve my courage. He says it's a waste if I attain my current level of strength but don't do anything with it."
Then he looked down.
"He also told me to meet more people. Learn for myself what the outside world is like."
"Your master sounds very wise."
"Yeah." He hesitated and then shrugged. "He told me that there are many people out in the world, that only some can be trusted while I have to watch out for others."
"I see." I nodded thoughtfully while placing the last of the lava lizards into my bag. Pushing my glasses up my nose, I chewed on an idea that popped up in my mind. "Why don't you join Seven Stars Academy? If your master approves, of course. That way, you'll get to see more of the world, meet more people. It's also…slightly safer that way. You'll be able to learn who you should trust, who you should watch out for. Best for you to learn that in a safer environment like schools than in the real world."
"Really?" Fu Xi brightened up. "That sounds great! I don't know if Master will allow it, but I've never been to school before."
"You've always been homeschooled then?"
"Yeah." Fu Xi scratched his head. "Master tried to register me for a school once before, a school called, uh, Ten Thousand Swords University, I think? It didn't work out well because apparently I need a high school education and to pass several exams before they let me in."
"Hmm, I'll speak to Headmaster Qi Xing and try to get you in." I remembered I got in because Qi Xing recruited me right from the doorstep of Thousand Swords University after I was rejected by them. Well, I wasn't exactly rejected by them (Shen Jian seemed to want to recruit me), but after the actions of Cang Zhong and Yun Che, I didn't feel welcome there. Qi Xing had a point – I would much rather learn in an academy where I wasn't surrounded by enemies.
Pang Bai Shan and his Shadow Gang were an exception – those guys, if their words were to be believed, were instigated by Dark Shadow Academy. And they were manipulated by Han Sha, a demonic cultivator from the future who was sent back in time to terminate me. I already had my hands full dealing with those demonic cultivators from the future. I didn't want to deal with childish elders and schoolmates bearing grudges against me to the extent where they would murder me on top of that.
"Well, we'll discuss this when we get back. We'll have to complete the mission first, and then I'll bring you to Seven Stars Academy after that."
"Good idea. One thing at a time." Fu Xi was amenable to my suggestion.
We rested for a few moments before heading up the volcano. We ran into a few stray salamanders and lava lizards here and there, but nothing that would pose too much of a problem. I couldn't help but admire Fu Xi even more when I witnessed more of his skills.
The salamanders that I had trouble eliminating without a killing array, he crushed them by using the Gen style of his Eight Trigrams swordsmanship. By conjuring mountains, he pulverized them under tons of solid rock, squashing their bodies into paste.
As for me, I used a combination of my footwork techniques and ice talismans to freeze fleeing lava lizards, and then finished them off with my sword if they hadn't already been killed by the ice.
"You should save your spirit talismans," Fu Xi advised. I looked sheepish, deciding not to tell him that I bought like hundreds of them, and had only used less than twenty so far. But he might be right. We had no idea what we would be facing in future. For now, we had only fought salamanders and lava lizards – not counting the single scalding serpent that I had already dispatched – but we had yet to confront the fire drakes.
As we climbed, we could see their winged forms circling the peak of the volcano, which was belching sulfurous smoke as usual.
"Do you think the Mystic Fire Fruit is here?" I asked. Fu Xi shrugged before consulting his smartphone.
"The mission details say it's usually located near the top of a volcano. We'll only find out if we get here, right?"
"I wish we had better satellite imaging," I complained. But satellites wouldn't be able to spot this isolated pocket of space, which was separated from the dimension of Earth where I came from.
"We can't do anything about what we don't have," Fu Xi said solemnly. "We can only make do with the resources we have at hand."
"Yeah. Doesn't make it any less frustrating, though." I held back another grumble, not wanting to annoy my newfound friend. I hoped I didn't come across as overly whiny. On the other hand, I was impressed at how Fu Xi was taking everything in stride.
The poor guy must have gone through a tough life, as he told me before. I supposed lying on bed, not knowing if you would die the next moment and suffering from diseases put a new perspective on your life. Not that I wanted to experience such suffering.
But man, Fu Xi must have really experienced a lot of agony when he was young. He was as serene as a…monk or something. Or Daoist, for that matter.
Then I paused, looking up at the top of the volcano. Even though I couldn't see clearly from this distance (and my glasses were slightly smudged, anyway), I could sense something…different. A rich field of fiery yang qi, much denser and thicker than any of the regions we had passed through before.
It felt different from the molten lava and geothermal forces below. Something that felt alive and contained…
…the Mystic Fire Fruit? It had to be. That was the only explanation for the…almost living, fiery presence that I felt ahead of us.
"Your senses are really sharp," Fu Xi remarked when I told him about it. He nodded. "You learned some sort of spiritual sensing technique? That's what you specialize in, right?���
"Yeah, I guess you can say that."
"Then I believe you. Our goal lies right ahead." Fu Xi clutched his sword and proceeded forward. Then he froze and threw a hand to stop me.
He didn't have to say a word. I already sensed the approaching enemies. As we climbed higher, the more numerous they got, and I was prepared for this eventuality.
The fire drakes seemed to have finally noticed us and they were swooping down on us. There weren't that many of them, but they weren't enemies we could afford to underestimate. Like the scalding serpent, they were peak warrior-ranked spirit beasts, which meant they were the equivalent of peak Heaven realm practitioners.
And while Fu Xi was probably Yellowed Lands realm, he would still have difficulty holding off a few fire drakes attacking him at the same time.
He must have noticed the problem too, for he stepped in front of me, his sword already drawn. The eight trigrams materialized underneath his feet, a gigantic formation-like circle with a yin-yang symbol in the center and eight different symbols – each representing a specific element – expanding across the ground in brilliant light.
"I'll hold them off," he said. Then he turned back to me and grinned. "In the meantime, I'll be relying on you."
I immediately understood. While Fu Xi distracted the incoming fire drakes, he wanted me to make use of the time he bought me to draw a killing array. Even if the fire drakes were peak warrior-ranked, they wouldn't be able to withstand a killing array.
"Got it." I nodded and dropped to my knees, immediately retrieving my spirit brush and vial of spirit ink. Without any hesitation, I drew the spirit runes with huge, deft strokes of my spirit brush. I didn't know how much time Fu Xi would be able to buy, but I wasn't taking anything for granted.
Fu Xi was already executing his techniques. Using Xun style, he sent blades of wind slicing toward the fire drakes, but they immediately scattered. A couple of them were hit by the swift, rapidly moving blades of sharp air, but they were only sent reeling, with blood dripping from shallow cuts. Shrieking in rage, the fire drakes let loose a few torrents of fire.
"Hmm."
Fu Xi's eyes were narrowed in concentration. Immediately, he spun his sword about and switched to the Kan stance. Blades of water surged out of his eight trigrams and extinguished the flames. Several more battered the fire drakes, but they were still soaring too high for the powerful blades to have any real damaging effect.
Even so, considering the amount of blood that dripped from their wounds, Fu Xi had done some damage.
A few of them screeched, doing their best to dodge the deadly water blades. This time, at least a dozen coordinated and launched a combined volley of flames that boiled away the relatively thin blades of water that Fu Xi had conjured.
"Ugh!"
Gritting his teeth, Fu Xi swapped his stance, this time assuming the Kun style. Several walls of earth rose from the ground, intercepting the massive tide of flames. The fire scorched and melted the rock into glowing magma, but the earth wall had stood long enough for most of the heat and blast to dissipate harmlessly.
"Are you all right, Fu Xi?" I asked worriedly, looking up from my hastily scribbled handiwork. My friend shook his head.
"Focus!" he snapped. "Don't worry about me!"
Then the Zhen symbol glowed and he unleashed several thunderbolts from the skies, sending at least one fire drake plummeting to the ground as a charred corpse and scattering the rest. The survivors flapped their wings frantically, but they continued to surround us as they prepared another bombardment of liquid fire.
"Get that killing array up as quickly as possible," Fu Xi instructed, perspiration dripping down his face. "Otherwise we'll both be roasted alive."