Aurora Marsh

The mouth of a cave somewhere in the Crimson Sky realm.

Zhang Wuji poured the herb extract he made using the grinder he fashioned out of stone into a small kettle. The kettle hung above a fire with the support of wood sticks. It and the pen were the only thing that remained of all the myriad things he entered the realm with.

His external wounds were almost all healed. Internal would take some more time. The herb extract helped in healing his left kidney which had been pierced through. The fight depleted a portion of his medicine. He will have to collect more.

He had been thinking how he could've better handled the situation. First and foremost, he had been stupid to depend entirely on the tokens to alert him of enemies nearby. The tokens didn't indicate those of the same party. The tokens could be placed twenty meters away from one's person. He hadn't completely studied or utilized the token. He was a formation master, there was a lot he could've done, lot he could do.

Second, being at the eight level he was weaker than most. He couldn't just depend on his martial skills, there were better fighters in the realm. He had to think of something to compensate that.

Third, he didn't learn any movement skills, he was slow, stiff.

Fourth, he was alone. Just thinking of it made him angry at the prince. All he needed was half hour to make trackers, half hour!

The most important, he had no weapons! He could've put on a pair of gauntlets or something. How could he have come with only a formation pen! It hasn't even been that long since he last fought without formations, how could he have forgotten the importance of weapons! The only good thing about this fight was that he got two javelins which he had no idea how to use. Still something is better than nothing. Maybe it's sharp end would be useful cutting tool or something the next time a metal is stuck in his belly.

For the first problem, he was thinking of experimenting with the token and learn the extent to which it could be useful. He already had a pattern in mind that could alert him of nearby life signals. To make it move with him he'll have to alter it similar to what he had done with the gun. At the same time he could construct a formation to alert him of special energy signatures.

The realm contained some rare tier two herbs guarded by difficult beasts that could help him solve the level problem.

There was nothing he could do about being alone. He'll have to use his identity as a formation master to his advantage. That's all he could do.

As for weapon, if he is lucky enough to be attacked by a single cultivator that wields gauntlets, and he's able to win, that would be best. He would also settle for a saber or a sword. Spears needed too much skill and he didn't think he had enough skill to wield blunt weapons either.

As for movement skills, neither could he find one in this realm nor had the time to master one. So he thought of making thrusters. The moment this thought came in his mind, it stuck. He excitedly started working on it. He didn't need to fly, just a little boost here and there. It'd be best if he could increase agility also but only speed was also good enough.

He thought thrusters would be easy, it's simple action reaction. Compress air, release air. So he first worked on the hard part. The placement, angle, pressure, speed and all such calculation. He soon realized, agility wasn't that tough. Burst qi activates when that particular part of the body is engaged. A formation at that part would then be able to do whatever it was designed for.

Then he realized the problem, delay. Burst qi takes time to activate. In that time a lot could happen. Once it is activated, he'll have to keep moving to enjoy the benefits of the formation. If all he does is dodge, he'll exhaust himself to death. The moment he stops moving, he'll have to restart and hello delay.

Still it was better than nothing. It would at least allow him to run faster and save his life. Now he'll have to procure good hide to draw the pattern and make boots. After he calculated the positioning of the thrust, the angle so that he isn't launched into the air or into the ground, and had taken care of every problem he thought he could possibly encounter, and also planned for arm thrusters to increase the force behind his punches and even fantasized about a jetpack, he realized he had no clue how to make thrusters.

He could make patterns that spew out any element, but it's more conversation of energy than conservation of momentum. He could collect and compress an element then repel using generating and overcoming forces, but he didn't have proper containers nor the right ink that could compress to that extent. If he just collects and repels, that is too low a momentum to be of any use to him.

For the first time he wished he knew a thing or two about weapon talismans. These talismans made by tool refiners did enhancing work. Unlike formation talismans, they do not have a substance of their, they just amplify or attenuate. That's exactly what he needed right now. That or better materials.

Depressed that all his work went down the drain, he just decided to retire for the day and make the rest of the preparations the next day. Once he had proper formations for detecting and concealing, he would set out to the nearest resource ground where he could possibly find tier 2 herbs. Such a resource ground will also help make sure that he can deploy formation flags after being spotted by the enemy. All the imprison, attack, sense inhibiting formations he had, had to be set up carefully. He couldn't have an enemy interrupting.

It was different with the smoke flag array. He just had to throw the flags far away such that their center is somewhere near his location. The smoke starts from the center and the flags are too far away to take care of for the enemy. As long as he could delay for a few breaths, he could disappear. After which with the control flag in his hand, the others come flying towards him.

If he were to do the same with the attack flag array for instance, the distance between the flags would severely cut down the prowess of the attack. What use will it be of then? If he had better materials, he could definitely compensate for that. And where he was going next would definitely have some.

For most illusion arrays at his level, distance is fixed. Trapping formations similar to attacking, will lose strength with increase in the area covered. This next journey should turn him into a very tough guy.

The only problem is, with more resources, there will be more beasts. It would be a risky trip. But if all goes well, most of his problems will be solved. Maybe, if he is lucky, on the way he'll pick up a nice weapon. That would only leave movement skills. He decided to think of speed after this venture.

....

A few days later, Zhang Wuji exited his cave fully equipped. He had the two javelins strapped to his back, his token and clothes full of formations and talismans. He held the gun in his hands. Thinking of how he may have to fire it again, he clenched his fists. The gun fired. Startled he fell on his butt.

'Fucking idiot!' He dusted the dirt off his butt and stomped his way to the next destination, Aurora Marsh. The marsh was a playground for poisonous beasts. Land, water, sky everything was pervaded by them. Even the plants, air and earth found here were pure poison. Any human or any beast not poisonous would die the very instant they set foot in the marsh.

That is the condition of the marsh once the sunsets. At dawn, it is open to all. The poison found in the elements lay dormant and all of the higher realm beasts rest deep within the marsh and those awake do not exceed the low stage grade 1, that is low stage qi condensation realm. Most were equivalent to body refinement realm, only some above guard the really precious resources, the kind Zhang Wuji was after. They were usually the target of a few teams or elites. But today, they are his.

The marsh was separated by his current location by a dense forest. It would definitely be an eventful journey. The journey would take him a day. He'll reach the marsh right at daybreak. He decided to rest a day and make some preparations around the marsh before entering the day after.

After a long and tiring walk he decided to rest under a tree for some time before continuing. A place where giant worms come out the ground and little ants are out to hunt you was not an easy place for traveling. He didn't mind journeying through the night. It would be similarly tiring as the day but not more. He was confident his formations would help detect any danger and a body refinement realm cultivator isn't helpless in the little moonlight.

He set up a simple concealing formation that only functioned to make most unintelligent beasts ignore him and lay on his back staring at the moon.

'Is this one the same as the one outside?'

'How do I not know already? Secret realms are so exciting, why have I not researched them yet?'

'Maybe I've been working hard.' His lips curved upward when this thought came. He didn't know whether he was working hard or not but he hadn't been wasting time. That in itself was worth rejoicing.

'Life's good.'

'Busying myself a few days seemed to have helped little heart get over the killing incident.' He thought patting his chest.

'No it's back. I should get moving.' He took his formation back and set off, annoyed. Who knew the little heart would guilt over how soon it got over ending someone's life.

After a few more hours of vigilant journeying he reached his destination. The trip as a whole was uneventful.

'Shit the most dangerous kind of trip. It tires one's mind over apparently nothing and makes one go complacent. Wait no, the third most. The second most dangerous is where you are left gravely injured and the most dangerous is where the danger follows. Right. The third most dangerous kind of trip! Gotta be careful from here.'

'Wait the first should be where I die no? No that's an incomplete trip. Actuall-' *slap* 'rest or start working.'

He took a little rest and then started preparing for the following resource hunt. He would most probably not get what he wanted in the first trip. He will have to properly map the marsh and make a plan to bring down the protectors of the tier 2 herbs.

To complete all the preparations took him two days. He was behind schedule but who cares.

"Today is the day I, Zhang Wuji will conquer the Aurora Marsh." He announced whisperingly, who knows who is listening.