Chapter 11: A slight problem

It didn't take us too long to get to the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range, just a little under 2 hours on the Nimbus. Though I was a little flabbergasted when I saw the forest, shit's huge. I couldn't see the end of it even when I was up in the air.

I landed outside the forest and then began my journey inside. First I had to find a clearing so that I could live there and put some formations to help me both cultivate and keep me safe when I decide to sleep.

Second, I had to make a map. I don't want to get lost. Thirdly, I had to find the stronger beasts that are in here, I don't want to just fight weaker beasts and not really gain anything from them. And lastly, see if there is anything useful that I can take from here.

[Can you sense it Yun?]

Sense what?

[Try to sense the forest, there's something there. I'm not sure what but it's not some ordinary beast, this thing feels almost divine.]

Hmm, let's see here. I cast out my senses as far as they could go and I can feel something, something that I've felt before but much weaker… Ling, doesn't this feel like Aunt Dongxue's aura? Just much weaker.

[You're right, it does feel like it, but there's a fire mixed in with the aura]

I couldn't really tell there was a fire in there but I'm guessing this is an experienced type of feeling?

[You need to sense these types of elements before you can see the difference]

Well, it seems like we'll add another mission while we're staying here, find out what that aura is. And who knows, maybe they can help us in finding more info for what we need.

You know Ling, this world is getting more and more mysterious.

[Well, every world has its own mystery I imagine]

Well, we'll just have to figure out this one, even if it takes us a while.

—

Setting up the camp took a while, the tent didn't want to cooperate. Thankfully, the formations didn't take long to set up, just some barrier formations against attacks and a few energy gathering formations.

With that, I was done and with the sun still up I still had time to explore a little of the forest before calling it a day.

Ling, can you tell where exactly that energy is coming from?

[Sadly no, my senses aren't good enough for that. What I can tell you is the general location of it]

Well, it's better than nothing. I can't really tell where the energy is coming from, just that I can sense it. I'll have to work better on my senses later.

Making a hand formation called the Ram, the barrier around my tent activated. I might have copied that from Naruto but no one can tell here anyway. I began walking into the forest where I could sense a bunch of beasts. Most of them weren't really that strong, True Profound and down.

Though it's a good thing for what I have planned in mind, I'm going to try and recreate the techniques I felt being made by that old man, that swirl of wind that was sharp could make a great technique. The other one, the so-called strongest technique, didn't really feel all that special, you just put all the energy into your feet and sword, letting go of defense.

Anyway, I should begin hunting down some beasts.

Moving away from my camp, I begin to sense things moving around me. Well, that didn't take long but it's good for me anyway so I continue to move like I'm not sensing them.

I continue to make room until I've moved about 200 meters before sprinting into action, Jumping up I take in what was following me, wolves. 20 of them no less, all in the Nascent Realm.

I took out a sword from my storage ring, an ordinary sword since I wanted to test out techniques and didn't care if this one breaks.

Landing down again, the wolves began moving towards me and I readied my sword by putting it on my right side with my left hand. I began moving my energy like that old man did, swirling it around my body and into my sword and just when I felt there was enough energy, I slashed my sword but all that came out was a wave of energy instead of a tornado.

It hit the 3 wolves in front of me, but that was it, I quickly jumped forward to dodge the rest of the wolves.

Okay, I made a mistake but I have no idea what that mistake is.

[Yun, try attacking again the same way because I think I might know what you did wrong]

I take a deep breath and ready the technique again, waiting for the wolves to come closer so that I can use it again on them. I, again, began to swirl my energy inside my body while slowly bringing it out to my sword.

When the wolves were just a few meters away from me, I slash my sword forward with the same wave of energy coming off it. I hit 2 wolves this time before I jumped away again, this time standing on a tree branch high up.

Am I doing the technique wrong?

[You're not doing the technique wrong. You're not using your profound energy right]

What?

[Do you remember when that old man used the same technique? What did you feel when he was using the technique?]

I felt the energy be free? I don't think I have the right words to describe it but it felt like wind-

Wait, you mean that I have to use wind energy? But I haven't cultivated just the wind element, I've just taken in all the elements and used them to cultivate.

[Yes, now you just have to separate wind from the rest of the elements in your veins and use that]

So, I'm gonna have to extract the wind element every time I want to use the technique?

[Yes, it's why I advised you to focus on 1 element when you began your cultivation journey but you didn't listen]

Okay, you might be right but I still have to figure out how to do this separation thing with all the elements I've absorbed so far.

[Kill the wolves and let's get back to camp, we will have to figure out things there]

Yeah, this wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.

I jump down and quickly take care of the wolves before going back to my tent. I didn't even take their cores because they wouldn't be useful to me and I have enough money to not need to sell them.

Sitting down in my tent, I begin to concentrate on my energy that's flowing in my veins. I haven't really paid much attention to them before but now I can see how chaotic they are.

Elements are flying around and colliding but somehow I'm completely fine because I'm 98.72% sure this isn't healthy.

[It really isn't. A normal cultivator would have been dead or crippled by now. You'll have to sort this out to make sure that you can use the elements normally otherwise you'll just have to stick with beating your opponents with normal attacks]

Nah, I'm sorting this thing out, I want to use elemental attacks.

Diving deeper, I 'see' that my Profound Energy is just like a tornado but not in a good way since I can't really use any of the elements in there. How should I break apart these elements so that I can use them?

[You should be careful in how you break them too or you might just receive a backlash that will cripple you]

Thanks for the warning.

Okay, so I should begin with trying to get 1 element out first before trying to get everything out at the same time. I'll begin with the wind particles and go from there.

Taking a deep breath, I began concentrating on sensing the wind in my veins. It was hard because the moment I try to draw to 'me', particles from other elements follow with.

The Profound energy was both a tornado and a web that was tangled together. Do I have to collect the particles one at a time? That would take forever though and I wouldn't be able to cultivate in that time since I don't want to add even more elements that would just complicate the situation even more.

Yeah, I have to come up with ideas to help me solve the situation, remember Yun, every situation has multiple solutions. I just need to find the right one that can help me right now.

You got any ideas Ling?

[I'm actually not sure what you should do here, this is the first time I've seen a situation like this]

Okay, let me review what I have so that I can maybe see some connection or something.

The energy in my veins is a mess, I can't use any energy attacks, I need to separate the energy so that I can use it without it getting tangled. Alright, we know that but what we don't know is how to get the energy not to stick to each other.

[You'll probably need an outside force to help you with this mess]

An outside forc-

Wait a minute, can't I just use my formations to make this work?

[You can?]

I'm not sure but I'll give it a try. Though I'll have to tweak the formation for gathering Profound Energy, but that shouldn't be too hard. I think.

I let go of my meditative state before taking out some paper and a pan. I'm going to first lay out the Runes for the Energy gathering formation then I took out my personal book on the Runes and Formations I've written.

Let's see here, I need a way to gather single elements without any other element getting in the way. Flipping through the pages I get to the Runes themselves that I've invented, stopping at the elemental Runes. They haven't been tested yet but should work.

You know Ling, I'm starting to see a connection between me getting stronger and the Heaven's system not bothering me.

[What do you mean? Isn't it the other way around with Heaven's system noticing you the stronger you are?]

That's what you'd think and normally, you'd be right. But the stronger I get, the stronger my formations will be which means that my defense will become even stronger.

[Wouldn't that just mean that the Heaven's would smite you stronger?]

Yeah, it would but I'd just have to have a stronger defense. So, it would be a game of who is the stronger until I can get to the system and rewrite it.

[I still believe your logic is flawed]

It might be but we'll have to see when we get to that stage. Anyway, I should focus on my Rune work.

Okay, I already have the Rune for Air, now I just need to combine it with the energy gathering formation and it should do, though I'll have to make the Formation on my body, but that shouldn't be too hard.

I begin with laying down the formation on a paper and activating it. It gave me hope that it actually worked when I sensed that only Wind Profound Energy gathered. Seeing that it worked, I began putting it on my chest with some ink I have.

The ink didn't really matter, it was the symbols that mattered.

Finishing them up didn't take long and then I activated the formation and I already felt the difference. Though this had the bad benefit of sucking in energy from the air as well.

Normally, this would be okay but not when I don't want to gather any new Profound Energy. I deactivated the Formation and began putting up some formations that would isolate me from Profound Energy before I activated the formation on me again.

This time, I didn't get the Energy from outside sticking to me.

With that, I once again delved into my veins and saw that wind particles were gathering into one place. Great!

I waited until I couldn't sense any more wind particles in the tornado, that is my energy. Now, how do I keep this separate from the rest of the elements?

[Hmm, I have a suggestion. How about letting the tornado inside you continue but you make it, so there are barriers in between each level where your elements are stored?]

Can I even do that? I was just thinking of letting the elements stick to a surface and be done with it but I don't know how to do that either. But for me to even follow your suggestion, I need to take out everything inside the tornado and puzzle it back together.

This might take a while but I'm not gonna stop until this thing is resolved.

—

POV: Cang Wanhe

Cang Wanhe sighed while sitting in his office, he was taking a little break right now while waiting for the New Moon Palace Chief to come and get an audience with him.

Things have changed, a new talent that might never been seen again in Blue Wind has shown up. A pubescent Earth Profound Cultivator arrived at New Moon City and after a squabble with the Chief of the Xiao Sect's Branch Leader, killed him before fleeing the scene.

Of course, the Xiao Sect were enraged as someone killed one of their own, even if that person is from a non-important city. And now, he had to deal with the fallout as the Xiao Sect were searching for that offender.

He had summoned Qin Wuyou immediately after having received the report. He wanted to hear the details personally so that he could figure out how this would affect the political landscape.

The clock ticked by while he waited, though his mind didn't stop working. Soon enough, his door was knocked and he readied himself for the headache that would come soon.

"Come in," He said while making sure he was sitting upright, he had to keep an image as the emperor after all.

The door opened slowly and in came his butler, he bowed before beginning to speak. "Your Highness, Qin Wuyou, New Moon's Profound Palace Chief is here and is waiting for the audience."

"Let him in," His answer made his servant, Bai Geming, go back outside to being in Qin Wuyou. The duo entered again and Qin Wuyou kneeled before him. "Stand, Palace Chief."

Once Qin Wuyou stood up again and Bai Geming left them alone, he mentioned for the Palace Chief to begin talking. "Your Highness, this lowly one doesn't know what else to tell you. The young man, Song Yun, who killed Xiao Tiannan was quite mysterious, he only told me that he was a wandering cultivator and didn't elaborate further than that."

"Palace Chief," He interrupted, "What do you think of this Song Yun? Is he someone that would bring destruction to this kingdom?" He had to know if this young genius was a threat and if he was, they needed to make sure to cut the problem from the root.

Qin Wuyou stopped for a moment, clearly thinking about his answer. "Your Highness, if I may be frank?" Wanhe nodded his way, "That boy does not seem to be trouble at all, if anything it was Xiao Tiannan who was arrogant and tried to strike down that young boy. I even tried to get him to join Blue Wind Profound Palace but he refused on the account that he wanted to create his own sect."

That was good and not at the same time. The young genius not wanting to join a sect was good on the basis that no big sects would get him and suddenly spike in power, but at the same time, if he didn't join a sect, that would mean that he was an unknown variable in a mostly stable environment.

He has also shown no fear of killing someone just because they belong to a big sect if they offend him. This would and will probably change the political landscape of the Blue Wind Empire.

Sigh

He wanted that young man to join them, but that would put too much pressure on the Royal Family, especially as his sons have begun to move quite suspiciously. He needed to sort that out first before things began to spiral out of control.

Sigh, he wondered why so many people wanted to become an emperor when this many problems are always on hand.

—

POV: Song Yun

Fucking finally, it took me 2 entire weeks but I'm finally done separating the element particles into their own groups. I even found that there were elements I wasn't even aware of.

I had the basic five elements, Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning and Earth. Then there were the two elements that I had wondered how to get, Light and Darkness. Ling was as surprised as me to find out that I had absorbed those two elements.

I checked on my formations one last time to make sure that nothing was wrong with them, even if I was certain about them. But like they say, caution is always good.

Now, I could finally move to the final part, setting my elemental particles back together while still being able to use every element. For that purpose, I spent the last 13 days making my own Profound Art with Ling's help.

Yeah, 13 days to make a Profound Art. Might seem fast but when you get help from a few thousand years old cultivator, shits get done way faster. After all, Ling had a lot of experience with making her own arts because no one wanted to teach her.

I took a walk around the perimeter of my camp to make sure that the formations are in a perfect state in case something happens. I won't be able to stop when I begin cultivating this art.

Nodding my head in satisfaction, I get back into my tent and close it up before sitting down and making myself comfortable. Okay, I'm ready.

Taking in a deep breath, I began circulating energy inside my veins. The art we made together is a very basic one but it would make do for now.

I began letting the Earth element as a test, letting it begin to form a little tornado inside my 'center', seeing it stay put without going all chaotic on me, I let go of Water next, forming another tornado next to it with just enough of a distance so they wouldn't merge.

I waited with bated breath for a few minutes to see if the 2 elements would merge. Thankfully, they didn't. With more confidence now, I let go of Fire next and then Wind before moving on to Lightning.

It took me a few more minutes before I was sure they wouldn't mix, I moved to the Light and Darkness elements which I wasn't sure the art would work on. I took another deep breath before starting the process of letting the Darkness element go first.

Slowly, the small tornado of Darkness particles began to form. Half-way through it started to destabilize though, the tornado began to slowly deform, and the particles slowly floated away to the other tornados.

With all my will, I took hold of every particle of Darkness and began moving them backwards. I'm not going to fail now!

[Come on Yun, take hold of it, it's your own energy]

Yes, I know but it doesn't like to listen!

I calmed myself before returning my focus back on the Darkness particles, they weren't much of them but they were the hardest to control so far.

Fuck, I started to lose control again. Listen to what I say! You're my energy!

I bit my lip as I started to get the Darkness particles back together, slowly forming the tornado again. I felt my heart pumping in my ear as I put all my will and concentration on making sure no particle escapes and gets put into that tornado.

As soon as the last Darkness particle entered into the small tornado, I gave it a 'squeeze' with the surrounding energy before I let go to see if the tornado would stay in place.

Seeing it staying put and not going on a rampage, I let go of a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"Haah, why was that the only element to fight me this much?" I asked out loud even if I knew that I wouldn't get an answer.

[Good job, take a little break before going back to trying the Light element, hopefully that would give you less of a challenge. I'll go review the technique we made and see if there is anything that can be done about those elements of the higher level]

I just nodded my head while wondering if the Light particles would give me trouble too. We knew that Darkness and Light would give us trouble as the technique we made was just a basic way to control different elements in your body but I didn't think I'd have this much trouble.

Sigh, seriously.

I took a good long break before going back into my action, the last element and I'd be finally done!

I let the last formation holding the Light element go and quickly began sorting them into another tornado without giving them a chance to go out of control. This time though, the Light particles weren't hard to control and were much easier to put together, they didn't even try to fight me too much.

When the Light element finally joined the group, I felt 'whole' again. For two weeks, I had to put formations on me to keep them separate which meant that my energy was cut away with every group of elements I separated from the main energy source.

Now, with all the elements back, I got my full Profound Energy back.

I stood up and stretched a little before going out of my tent. Now's the time for the real test, can I use energy type attacks without destroying the balance I have just created?

I'll just have to test it out now.

Taking out a sword from my storage ring, I sprinted into the forest fast, already sensing some beasts not far away. It took me a few seconds to reach them and what I saw kind of surprised me.

I didn't think I'd see Spider Monkeys in this world.

[Spider Monkeys?]

Yeah, monkeys that have long limbs and tail, they're fast and look like spiders. Two combinations that will make you piss your pants at night. On earth, they lived in the Rainforest.

Also, these fuckers are in the True Profound Realm which should make them even faster.

"Ook, ook" And they noticed me. Well, it doesn't matter in the end, I'll just have to destroy them faster.

The Spider Monkeys began jumping from one tree to another, it seems that they're used to hunting this way. I took a deep breath before putting my sword to my right side while spinning my energy in a circular motion, mixing some of the wind particles in too.

It took a bit longer to make sure that everything was done but while I was reading my attack, the monkeys seemed to take that as an opening as they pounced on me. Once they were close enough, I swiped my sword.

This time, I could see the tornado forming and my god did that feel satisfying. The tornado wasn't too big but it was more than enough to deal with the monkeys that were on to me.

They were shredded to pieces while the 3-meter tornado continued to make way forward until it reached the trees and began shredding them to pieces too.

This was a rather strong technique all things considered and I didn't put that much energy into it.

[The technique we made together also held good enough, which is good news. Now we just have to update it to make sure that it hold together when you use the Light and Darkness techniques]

Yeah, but we can take our time with that now that my energy has stabilized. Now, I can get back to cultivating without having to hold back.

—

Chapter End

AN: This chapter was supposed to be longer but I decided to cut it in half since this is already at 4,1k words.

Don't worry, the next chapter will come soon as I'll probaly begin writing it tomorrow and it will come in 4-5 days. IF nothing happens irl.