The next day, after most of the interrogation intel had been made public, Xin finally learned what had happened to the people from the homestead. Apparently, they were captured and moved to the Fist sect's village, near their base, to serve as serfs. Uncle Luli was probably producing medicine for now, and Chicklet Yi was likely on his way to becoming a soldier. Xin shuddered, and tried focusing elsewhere.
Our side seems stronger, but we have less manpower. This war will probably be decided by how the situation on the Southern front goes. Still, every victory here is a drain on the opponents' forces, and shouldn't be underestimated.
Master Fang Zhi departed on some important business shortly after the interrogations concluded. He absorbed the sword path master and all the other captives into his aperture and flew away, disappearing into the sunset like a mighty eagle, leaving you to envy his wings and freedom. Still, Xin couldn't shake off the feeling that his freedom was just an illusion — Master Zhi was likely bound by chains far heavier than any Xin had ever borne.
After sending all the dead bodies back into the sect, master Xiaodan's squad took to repairing the damages and fortifying the homestead. First, it was just repairing the hole in the wall and patching up the buildings, but then master Xiaodan decided to build some extra defenses.
It turned out that master Xiaodan was also an engineer, and understood the theory behind building field fortifications. Xin eagerly volunteered in every effort, surprising everyone with his durability and diligence. He knew what he was working for, as he was now learning how to build palisades, raise and shape the embankments and build makeshift towers. Xin didn't become an engineer overnight, of course, but at least he had a general understanding of how these things worked now.
No matter how hard Xin and the other mortals worked, they couldn't outcompete master Xiaodan and rank one masters. Xin watched in astonishment as master Xiaodan raised the new mounds and embankments by performing fancy hand movements, reinforced by Tu Qiang and some other earth path masters Xin didn't know.
Water path masters have dug a new well, and wood path masters reinforced the walls even more, making sure to provide the archers with more arrow protection. Several utility metal and fire path masters have also arrived, leaving the regular blacksmiths in the mud. Xin had his crossbow repaired in mere seconds, but was warned that it wouldn't last another repair, and he'd need to buy a new one.
This was the main strength of their sect — the depth. The formations, the ability to adapt to any situation, these were all the advantages of xiandao users. Still, it was also clear to Xin that they haven't faced the strongest of what Fist sect has to offer just yet, and it worried him. Over the years, he saw some of their martial prodigies at the tournaments, and knew what they were capable of.
At some point, Xin also managed to distinguish himself as lumberjack. His Woodcutter's Downswing technique was unsurprisingly good at cutting wood, and he fell an oak in just five swings. He also worked many smaller trees, reinforced by his endurance bracers.
This prompted his friends, who weren't required to work on these mortal labour jobs, to also join up.
Lei used his lava spit to weaken the tree he was cutting, but it still took him more time than Xin, despite his tree being skinnier. Rui Ming also manifested a lot of cutting wind from his axe, but this was still far from Xin's speed. Only Murong Zhan managed to marginally beat Xin's tempo, using his spinning disc shard and his glowing chakrams, but as he was a rank one, no one was too impressed. Master Xiaodan even barked at them for felling so many trees without properly recycling what they had already felled.
After this impromptu competition, not much interesting happened. With all the fortifications built, everything repaired, and nothing to do, what followed was two weeks of garrison duty. Xin tried to meditate, spar, train and practice his qi abilities, as well as activate his new jade ambush ring (which he struggled greatly with, even after a friendly Foundation stage wood path master explained all the intricacies), but was slowly getting bored to death. After the highs and lows of the past weeks, and his previous journey to Zadana, his body and mind were used to extremes, while this garrison duty was pure stillness.
"It's terrible. I'm going crazy. I wish they announced contribution points, what do they mean they'll wait a few more weeks? Don't we have to buy combat supplies?" Wu Lei tossed a pebble into the distance. Him and Xin had some free time, and sat outside, chatting.
"It's been two weeks." Xin moaned out, annoyed. "I'm going crazy, I could have broken through by now! I don't deserve this treatment, after all I've done for the sect. You are right, they should at least give me my fucking contribution points! My totem is going crazy, I've asked for a leave of absence to go and hunt three times now, I was denied every time! Too dangerous! You know what else is dangerous? My totem snapping. The only reason it's satisfied is that I killed all these people. Agh."
"That's a fucked up toy. How do you know it's a he?"
"I just know... He also wants me to sniff females whenever I see them. What else could he be? I now know who's ovulating and who isn't, and it activates against my will to provide me with this intel! Dumb fucking cat." Xin spat on the ground.
"Sure it's not you activating it and blaming the totem? Haha! Eh, you know what, I've seen a female dog fuck a female dog. A show of dominance, the owner told me. Maybe your tiger is a woman who plays for the other team. This also happens in nature."
"What an insightful comment! Given you're dating Yao Nang, don't you also play for the other team?"
"Oh! Listen, she's feminine, you just don't get it. And eh, we don't date. Just a fling, you know? No hard feelings from both sides."
"Disgusting. I could sleep without this information."
"Well, maybe now you won't sleep, given that..."
"Gentlemen!" Rui Ming called them from afar. "Lei, there will be a meeting in half an hour, but I was present during the report and heard the whole story. It will blow your mind."
"Huh? Tell me, tell me!" Lei was agitated. Finally, something happens!
"Well, I am not supposed to tell you…" Rui Ming scratched his temple. "So, there was a massive fight on the Southern border. Twenty thousand of our troops against fifteen thousand of theirs. We had more soldiers, but their elite troops and xiandao masters outnumbered us. Our side lost some ground, and both sides took serious losses. Luckily, it was mostly Xuanwu clan's soldiers, our side didn't suffer as much. But most importantly, there was a battle of rank fours! We won!"
"You should have started with it! Tell us more!" Xin was also agitated.
"So, Xuanwu's patriarch summoned their clan spirit, a giant turtle, and our sect leader flew a giant enchanted cauldron around, transformed into several different creatures and inflicted heavy damage on the Sword Twins. That villain Muni was also there!"
"That fuck! What happened?"
"Well, apparently, Sect Leader lost two of his five bodies, but captured one of the Sword Twins! The female!"
"Hehehe, is she hot?" Lei was always focused on what's most important.
"Whatever. Sect leader transformed into a phoenix, and as he lost this body, it exploded into a surge of healing energy, reviving a thousand dead soldiers!" Even phlegmatic Ming was astonished by this, his eyes shone with awe.
"What was the second form? What was the second form?!" Lei was punching his knees with his fists as he demanded Rui Ming go on.
"Elder Rock Giant. He flew around the battlefield unleashing compound moves of all elements from the cauldron, overwhelming the twins. There will be songs sung about that day, as our sect leader conjured forty four different elemental techniques, of eleven different paths!"
"Absurd." Xin coughed. "When you joined the sect, did you know that our leader is such a powerhouse?"
"You know how I joined, I didn't know shit. And it's not like he had any reputation."
"Well, I suspected that he is strong, given that he's rank four, but he's been inactive for a decade. It's not like his past glory was in any way comparable to Edgerider Wang or Myriad Moves Tengbuo, you know?"
"I'm still confused. So, who fought whom?" Xin asked. Rui Ming's story was a bit messy, he tried to restore a proper picture.
"Seems Xuanwu patriarch Haoran mostly fought the Divine Sword sect's leader. Master Chimera engaged the Sword Twins, and that Muni guy was held by the turtle. Every matchup except the twins fight ended in a relative stalemate. Both sides burnt a lot of resources and retreated, while the fighting on the ground continued. That's all I know, sadly. Lei, please follow me, we need to discuss the logistics. The officer meeting is soon, we need to compile the drill reports."
"That thing… Fine, let's go. Sorry, Xin, have a nice time." Lei patted him on the shoulder and left.
Xin was left alone, bewildered and upbeat at the same time. Things are going great, but what does it mean for us?
The enemy gained some ground, but it doesn't seem like a serious issue. The information is probably authentic, but a more favourable version of it will be presented to the public. A loss of a rank four master IS a serious issue for the enemy side, but what about the Sect Leader's two bodies? It's hard to measure the severity of this loss, given the lack of information.
Sadly, Rui Ming's description of the battle was very limited, and Xin wished he could see the battle of rank fours by himself. Xin felt the stinging feeling of loss in his chest, but now he was weeping the missed opportunities. Wherever he went, he wanted to witness the interesting things the world had to offer, but mostly had to eat scraps. Such a fight is not something described in the manuals, rank fours work on different principles and operate on a massively different scale, I'd learn so much if I had seen it!
Xin wished he could see the cultivators slay a giant boar outside of Tealstone, he wished he could participate more in the business side of their alchemy business in Clay Nest, or be more directly involved in the plot to eliminate the investigator and uncle Ti. Sadly for him, he was pushed into the periphery by his own irrelevance.
And now he was stuck on garrison duty as a simple subordinate, unaware of the army movements and battle intel! His mind longed for strategizing, he wanted to contribute with his totemic powers and tracking abilities. He wanted to move the mountains, but was just an insignificant ant! Even after jumping above his ears in the last battle, all he was left with was a feeling of frustration.
Maybe master Chonglin was right. I need to calm down. Accept reality before trying to change it. But it's so hard to do! Is this why I failed my breakthrough? What if I couldn't take the human qi in because what I am, what I think of myself and what I want myself to be are disharmonized, pulling in different directions? Am I denying something about myself?
Whatever.
More importantly, what can I do right now to get as strong as possible, to soar above the current predicaments? Xin meditated on a bench behind the inn, where a small cabbage garden was situated. He remembered sitting here with his father and their dog.
"Father, can we visit the tournament in Clay Nest?"
"It's an expensive one. Two spirit stones per entry."
"Can't you hide me in your bag of holding?"
"Hahaha, I love your creativity, kid. No, I can't. It's got to be at least rank two to contain you, and you'd run out of air even if it could fit you in."
"You could open it a bit... Eh, nevermind..." Xin felt a huge sense of disappointment. He heard that Clay Nest's tournaments were so much more entertaining, compared to Tealstone, which had just two little martial arts schools and one arena.
"Kid..." Xin's father looked at him affectionately, his deep voice carrying a hint of sorrow. "Do you really want to visit that tournament so much?"
"Yes... I mean, I'm not asking you to spend money, pa... I didn't mean it like that!"
"Don't worry. I'll see what I can do." He scratched the dog's back. It dropped to the ground playfully, sticking its tongue out.
And then they visited the tournament.
Xin vividly remembered the final battle as it flashed in front of his eyes. A physical cultivator put up a great fight, deflecting giant swords with his bare fists, and launched a barrage of fiery punches at his opponent. The sword path master deftly dodged, and eventually overwhelmed the opponent with his attacks, forcing him to surrender. Such was the might of the sword path, ranked among the strongest in terms of combat ability.
Still, the underdog physical cultivator became a crowd favourite. He was an independent cultivator, and didn't have the sect's backing. He matched the opponent armed with expensive artefacts and a full system of dao shards, while having very modest equipment himself. Xin remembered how crushed his child's heart was when the master he was rooting for was defeated, and how disappointed he was in physical cultivation afterwards. When he was a kid, he saw this event as a show of physical cultivation's weakness, but at this moment, he changed his mind.
Xin suddenly stood up and went towards a small building, assigned as living quarters for female masters. He knocked on the door.
"Who's asking?" A tired voice asked.
"Disciple Xin. I need Yao Nang."
"Hey, Nang. Some boy's here for you."
"Who? Lei?" She asked quietly, but Xin heard it anyway.
"No, that rude guy with the crossbow, Xin, I think?"
"Weird. Alright." She approached the door and opened it.
"Evening. What do you need?"
"Evening, Nang. Let's step aside for a bit, we need to talk."
She had a confused and slightly disgusted facial expression, but agreed.
"How can I help you?"
"I need you to teach me the basics of physical cultivation. I have a set of materials and I need someone's guidance on how to use them properly. And an overall program of developing my physique wouldn't hurt."
Yao Nang coughed.
"Xin, is this a joke?"
"What?"
"Are you seriously asking me for help?"
"Aren't you competent enough?"
"Are you serious?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Xin knew what she meant, but played dense.
"I guess you're retarded. Let me explain. You humiliated me publicly, you shat all over me in your report, you talk trash about me whenever you can. And now you come and ask for my help after calling me incompetent to my face?"
Xin sighed.
"I know how it seems, but it's actually quite the opposite."
"The fuck does it mean?" Yao Nang was even more confused.
"Could you please not swear? I come to you in good faith."
Yao Nang felt bewildered. Xin, having the audacity to ask someone not to swear?
"You sassy young man… I'll hear you out, but nothing else. What do you need?"
Wait, did she ask for nothing in return?
"Oh, don't worry, I'm leaving now. Are you free tomorrow morning? I'm on a night patrol for three hours, I can meet you after I take a nap. We should train together, it's not like there is much to do here."
He's so brash, this is unreal! Why is he acting like I already agreed?