When morning came, QingQing and I left the little garden at ease and satisfied. Once on the lakeshore again, I spent time with Nimue after teaching little Wu how to consume the Eight Colored Water Lily and establish a physique. The Eight Colored Water Lily had never be recorded so I had no idea what to expect. But I knew it would be great.
As for Nimue, she was relieved that I wasn't dead but naturally refused to show it. And above all, she was happier to be with Wu Zexi again. The two of them together were like Thelma and Louise.
"Nim..." I spoke as we sat up in a tree overlooking the lake and much of the dense wood.
"Hmm." she hummed in response as she played with a large leaf.
"I have something for you," I told her, a bouquet of roses appeared in my hand.
"Is it as good as Little Wu's gift?" she asked without taking her attention from the now smaller leaf.
I laughed a bit while holding out my hand. Nimue tore her eyes from her project. The moment she saw the beautifully crafted soul weapons she blushed.
"So, we're following tradition now?" She asked as she turned her face away.
"Stop talking nonsense." I replied, "Besides, you'd probably marry Little Wu before you ever consider me."
Nimue looked at me with a purse lip smile. She then snatched the bouquet away. "You're too serious for me anyway. You fit girls like Situ Qing and Hu Yin."
Nimue sniffed the flowers causing her eyes to widen.
"What are these?" She asked.
"Soul Weapons. They look real don't they?" I smirked.
"Impossible. Most of our soul weapons were destroyed during the war. Did father give these to you?" She was now stunned.
"I found them here," I replied.
"You should keep them." She tried to give them back as I pulled out my silver arrow.
"I have one of my own. Besides, I think those will fit you. Refine one at a time. You don't want to overdraft your soul power." I instructed.
Nimue snorted. "You're not the only soul cultivator, kid. I know what to do and no takebacks."
I tittered. "I wouldn't dream of it."
"Good. So you're really going out by yourself?"
"Mmm. Just remember the rules. You have to kill a beast a realm above you. As long as you're at the peak of martial foundation and kill a Houtian ranked beast, the requirement is met. A realm is a realm." I explained.
"We know that. Your wife and I worry about you. If you manage to break through the realm, you might never be able to ascend the temple. The beasts in this place are of a different breed." Said Nimue.
"I know. That's why you need to refine the soul weapon. And as long as I establish my second physique. I'll consider this trip a success." I took a deep breath then picked the leaf up from her lap.
Hold out the leaf, I said, "You've made the leaf an appropriate size for a reason. What do you want to play?"
Nimue put away the bouquet of roses and took the leaf. I summoned my guqin, then waited. The leaf was her one and only instrument.
Nimue racked her brain and then her eyes sparkled. "Do you remember that time when had bad dreams and I would cry all night? Mom didn't know what to you played that song for me."
"Ahh. Red Lotus by Goddess Lisa." I spoke. One of my favorite compositions from my time on earth. I had rearranged it to fit the guqin to help Nimue sleep.
"That one." she smiled.
Nimue and I spent the rest of the morning playing music in the tree. The girl had no mind to learn instruments but it was something about the leaf that she loved. With a single leaf, she could fill the land with melodic notes for eternity.
An hour past noon, I said my goodbyes. Naturally, Shane was the most emotional.
Off to hunt my prey whom I hoped could be the force I need to propel my cultivation forward, I started by returning to the scene of our last battle to find a clue. It led me down the trail that the Bronze Crowned Gorilla left to chase me after fleeing our first encounter. Following the tracks closely, the beast stopped searching for me about ten miles out from my hiding place before it double backed and went deeper into the wood.
The journey was a long one, at times I would pick up the trail of different beasts and occasionally found myself being led off the trail. Days passed tracking and fighting against the different beasts, but many of them opted to hid and run. I assumed it was because of my new physique.
But at the rate I was progressing due to the lack of battle, it would take another half year to construct the dragon and phoenix physique. That was too long.
I continued on, provoking Peak Rank 1 beasts to fight me. And to properly engage them, I ventured into a new area in the wood with taller and thicker trees. The atmosphere was dense with qi and death. I felt eyes on me at all times. These beasts weren't afraid of my physique. On the contrary, they envied it and wanted to consume it to add to their strength hoping it would aid them in breaking through to Rank 2.
'The best move is to follow the martial way.' I told myself while taking my martial stance. I still didn't have a name for it because I barely understood it myself. But like every skill I acquired before, I only had to use it, and eventually, I would unravel its secrets.
When my first opponent reared its head, my ears twitched and my body moved fluidly. A single step, my stance shifted and my arms moved to help the beast along his way. This was the beauty of the soft style. It was a style that used energy and motion to fight.
Every great structure isn't made as a whole. It comes from pieces. The pieces and their quality make or break the structure. So I had to completely understand the pieces that constructed my mixed martial arts.
Although the Cold Water Palm is a mortal grade technique, that doesn't define its potential. All it means is that the creator failed to comprehend a deeper meaning within the art before their time in this world was up.
In order for me to propel this technique to the next level, my mastery of it must reach perfection. Like concepts and intents, Martial Skill mastery is separated into four levels, Lower, Intermediate, Higher, and Perfection. To increase the level of a Martial Skill, the practitioner must achieve transcendence. Currently, my four skills are at Higher achievement.
Another Beast lunged at me and the former opponent doubled back. Without thought of my opponents, my lower and upper body moved together like a small wave. calm and free-flowing. Each form of the cold water palm was performed over and over again in the heat of battle.
My opponents grew in numbers and frustration. But not once did I use elements conjured through the technique until six beasts barreled at me all at once. My body spun, my left foot jabbed into the earth to anchor me. Once my spin ended I pushed out horizontally with two palms.
My essence became a storm and a hurricane was conjured to surround me. When the beast hit the ferocious water barrier, it blew outward and cast them aside with bone-shattering force. My martial intent surged. I discovered a new meaning to the cold water palm. A new side of the water.
I laughed internally, because like the creator of the skill I failed to construct the second stage and jumped straight to the end.
"Soft and fluid water..."
I reverted back to the first form of the cold water palm.
"Unforgiving, tough, destructive like the sea."
I took a deep breath.
"Cold like the abyss. Freeze the body, shatter the soul. Cold Water Palm!"
I used a flashed step and my body appeared like a calm twisting wave. Appearing in front of a red-furred tiger, my intermediate martial intent guide me as my finished strike was a devesting fist.
My knuckles crashed down its skull and it split open like a crushed melon.
"Pressure, momentum. Move my qi like the sea and my release it like a tsunami."
A wave of blood followed. I fought with everything I had. My Coldwater Palm stimulated my hardstyle technique and they fed off each other, merging and deepening my understanding of the mixed art my martial intent created. This balance and slaughter made blood boil.
The tattooed Dragon and Phoenix on my back moved in excitement as the beast wave never stopped and my body was slowly but gradually being pushed to its limits. Then I saw it.
I slipped a strike and before the beast could speed past me, I caught it by its face and drove the bastard into the earth creating a crater that pooled with blood, bone, and brains.
'I see' I spoke in my mind.
"It is One but they are Two, they are Two but it is One."
My Qi erupted, My soul turned into a raging sea and my Battle Body roared to the heavens.
"One became two, two became three, and three became all. But all are one."
"One Style: First Form: Embracing the yin"
Subtle and chilling force swept the battlefield, directed by my martial movement.
"One Style: Second Form: Grasping the Yang"
The subtlety turned hard, hot, and heavy. Qi crushed the field.
"One Style: Third Form: Return to Source!"
My dragon roared and the phoenix cried as they shined with great brilliance. My right foot stomp and struck a hard pose, obliterating my foes. My nostril flared and my ears twitched.
The wind kicked up and I did a 180 as my palm launched to meet the fist of my long-awaited target.
Boom!
Nothing remained but dirt once the shockwave of the collision cleared the area. Looking at the Daemon Beast in front of me, I realized why I was unable to find the bastard after so many days. My eyes narrowed and my tattooed dragon and Pheonix roared once they sensed the familiar enemy.
My senses stretched and qi was pulled into my body by a great vortex to be hammered into yin and yang qi.
"You've grown," I said, looking over the silver-crowned gorilla. He had broken through from Mid Rank 2 to Peak Rank 2 causing his crown to change from bronze to silver.
He beat his chest a few times and smashed his fist to the ground repeatedly as he roared at me in the most vicious manner he could muster.
"This might be hard..." I hissed.
Just as I was about to fire off, he was already on me. I scoffed and my body evaded like a cat. The gorilla tumbled over me with a boom while I rolled away. I form a sign and my Reflection of Nature physique activated. The antlers tattoo on my collar bones glowed and antlers appeared on my head signifying complete physique integration.
"You must have eaten some good stuff recently," I told the beast.
"Puny human only talks." It was like watching Planet of the Apes and seeing Caesar talk for the first time. I almost collapsed in laughter.
The gorilla had enough of my taunting and attacked.
My heart shook as the bastard's speed was three steps faster the mine. My arm went up to block, causing the meat of my body to ripple under the raw force of the beast's strike. I was catapulted out of the crater.
Yes, I had fucked up. Now a level jumping, peak rank 2 daemon beast had me death lock. The large beast fazed behind me.
"I'll be sure to suck the marrow from your bones." He growled.
My eyes caught a blur, and my body was knocked every which way as the beast beat me black and blue. My nature physique pushed the boundaries, working effortlessly to keep me from dying. My battle body, however, devoured this punishment and used it as a catalyst.
Pain. The other side of a blessing is suffering. One must have his fair share if he wished to sit on a throne at the apex of the universe. That day, I was beaten worse than I ever had in two lives, it would fuel me for centuries to come. But at that moment, I was desperate and did as the desperate do.
My martial intent flared, my six shards linked up and formed intense energy. Throughout my life, I've learned how to use a few weapons, two movement techniques, and two martial skills. I was blessed to achieve martial intent, and it merged those skills.
So when all things failed, I used everything that I had. Soul, body, and essence. All of it spews from as my spear launched from my Interspatial ring rippling with power.
The mad gorilla's combination was broken and he retreated to safety. The spear was lost to me as it traveled miles and buried itself in the dense woods.
I then kneeled and noticed that my body was no longer healing with Nature Qi but with Yin Yang Qi.
'How peculiar.' I thought, but I had no time to study my condition.
Back on my feet, It was my turn to fight back. I had once thought my nature physique could bridge the gap between me and this beast. But when two geniuses fight, life and death boil down to will and skill.
I took my stance with a fist and palm raised. My martial intent exploded once again.
"One Style: First Form: Embracing the Yin!"
I pushed off and the gorilla once again met me blow for blow.
Two days passed the gorilla and I now stood on a mountain. Both of us were drenched in blood and covered in open wounds.
"Human..." The gorilla spoke in a hoarse voice, " What is your name?"
"Haa, Now the stupid monkey wants to talk," I spoke, but I stopped occasionally to cough, spitting blood in the process because my throat was so dry that simple speech caused tearing.
"I haven't been pushed to this state since my father was killed. Your foundation is terrifying. Your comprehension, horrifying" said the gorilla, "Warriors of equal strength should exchange names."
"Haiz, Orym Vamoria."
"Hmm." the gorilla nodded. "I am Varja, son of Diamond Crown King, Sabine"
"So you monkeys have structure." The damn ape beat me black and blue, why be friendly?
"Orym, the man who killed my father still lives. If you leave here, end this fight as a draw, I'll be eternally grateful."
naturally, I was opposed to cutting tail. I couldn't beat this guy and he couldn't beat me. We were only making ourselves a target for the enemies in the trees. Besides, the bottleneck of multiple physiques was finally showing itself.
"Compensation! I couldn't construct my physique and you know these woods. So I need compensation if you want me to end this fight." I explained.
"What kind of compensation?"
"Yin Yang Qi. Where can I find a natural source?" I asked.
"Hahaha, another fool. Where the desert meets the tundra is a cave. All that enter die. They say within the cave are the vines of ice and fire. They give birth two a single fruit each. If you can get to it, you never hold another yin yang treasure as pure as that."
"Hmm, Well if I ever see you again, I'll kill you for sure." I hissed.
"You'll never make it back from that cursed cave." Varja's voice rumbled as he lept in the air, traveling 30 miles in an instant.
The moment I was alone, I poped a lichen heart pill into my mouth and my wounds healed in a few breaths.
Looking over my body, my Dragon and Pheonix physique had reached the last step. But in order to be constructed, it had to my current physique to the next level. Meaning it had to be of a higher quality than my Reflection of Nature Physique. The point of Physiques was to break the physical limit and stabilize cultivation for the strenuous road to come.
Naturally, the Yin Yang Qi required was more than my Ecliptic Battle Body could produce in one go. Looking in the direction of Varja, I was intent on killing him, the strongest opponent I ever faced.
Climbing to the top of the mountain. I looked east and saw the vast Tundra