We traveled through the forest, where I found numerous qi-rich plants and massive iron chains creeping up the hill. Flowers the color of flames danced at our knees under a severe updraft of fire qi. Ash black leaves waved on trees dripping tar on the ground as we approached a high hill. Orange, reds, and charcoal blacks covered the foliage around us, mixing wood and fire qi together into a snapshot of a forest fire. All the while, burning ghosts charged us, running downhill full tilt none above the low class. I burned them as they approached with my own black flames filling the air with a rush of thick fire qi.

Emily cultivated at my back with Shadbak while I did the heavy lifting.

The ghosts made climbing their hill a slog. It was one of the largest hills in the valley, but it was full of trenches and murder holes.

We needed to get up it to see where we were going. Finding a good trail to our next destination would be easy from its vantage point. I could have just flown us, but then I’d miss out on so much loot. Instead, the almost never-ending tide of ghosts helped me collect my ghost quota. So far, I’d only killed around 300, so only 9700 ghosts to go.

As a result, my tide of black flames devoured the local flora on the hillside and threatened to start a real forest fire if not for the wild qi from the forest fighting it. The air grew heavy with fire qi from the destruction of many precious herbs and weak ghosts. I took out a few water stone shards from my inventory and tossed them back like pills. My cultivation increased much faster by balancing them out with my fire nature. Of course, Emily gained the most from this little encounter.

“I’m disappointed there aren’t more of them. Was the hill already raided?” I asked a nervous Shadbak. Three hundred low-rank ghosts weren’t a challenge.

It would make sense if the hill had been raided before. I’m sure it took time for ghosts to develop even in this fire qi rich area. We traveled up the hill, flowing numerous black chains. When we approached the top, a mix of water and metal qi filled the air dispersing wood and fire. Upon the hill, a massive spirit chained down in a natural spring atop the hill.

My green-eyed interrogator turned her nose up at the king of the hill. “Aren’t you an ugly one,” Emily said.

The creature had the face of a big-nosed human, the head of a deer with massive antlers that ended in flaming tree branches. Green fur more akin to vines grew as hair of its large, stocky horse body. Its tail fanned out into a bright display of a peacock’s tail feathers exchanging green for shades of orange. Great orange leaves slowly fell from its antlers, and once they touched the ground, they formed into ghosts. Steam glowed out from the creature’s nostrils and at the sight of Emily.

“Little blonde flower, did you climb my hill because you wanted me inside of you. If you free me from this prison, I’m yours, sugar plum.” The beyond lord class spirit said.

It had to be a weak Marquess or powerful Earl from my senses. The difference between the lord subclasses was about 10x, making a Baron the lowest of the lords nearly 1000x times weaker than this creature. To put that in perspective, a higher spirit is around 50X weaker than a Baron. If not for the chains, we wouldn’t be here.

I looked over at our guide, who seemed a snapped branch away from bolting. Well, I didn’t blame Shadbak; this guy had a shit ton of qi more than I had for sure. But, even with our cultivation, this guy was Lord+++ at least. Taking him on even bond would be complicated. Any spirit with more qi than the user would likely possess the user in a bonding attempt. Fortunately, I wasn’t here for him; well, not yet, I had a plan.

The higher we climbed this hill, the more I could sense atop it; standing before this giant duel nature monster let me sense a source of pure wood qi. I knew it was a spirit, and I wanted it. So, it was time for the song and dance.

“Oh, great spirit, she isn’t interested in possession. We came here to get a view of our surroundings. I only ask that you allow us to climb up on your great horns to enhance our view.” I said.

The spirit bared its teeth at us. “If you approach me, I’ll destroy your body and soul. But if the lady wants to look, she can climb on top of me if she is naked.” The massive spirit licked its lips at Emily. My blond friend drew her sidearm and fired.

The round flattened on the spirit’s eye and fell away harmlessly.

The spirit tried to rear up, but the chains wouldn’t let him rise an inch. So while he was distracted, I sensed around for my quarry.

While focusing on a single element sounded like a great idea, it eventually led to this situation. By specializing, I created weaknesses for my enemies to exploit. But, of course, having a dragon nature already gave me plenty of those. This bastard was thousands of times more powerful than me, but I couldn’t see myself losing to it chained down.

I was strong and could measure qi pretty well. But, this thing could squash me like a fly.

My mind couldn’t perceive that. The closest thing I could come to admitting this spirit was indeed stronger than me was by saying I didn’t need it. Bonding with it would wreck my cultivation base, but reality and my changing sense of self didn’t agree. So, I had to focus on what did work. I needed a purely wood type spirit.

“Free me, and I’ll give you treasures beyond imagining, a favor to call upon at any time, and refuge from your enemies. The lord class spirit said. Emily pulled her gun, and I casually lowered it for her.

Shadbak finally spoke instead of cowering like a child. “Don’t listen to him, Orscale, the god of metal bound here for all time. If he’s ever freed, he’ll kill us.” Shadbak said.

Emily raised an eyebrow. “By us, you mean the orcs. Perhaps we should free him after all.” Emily said.

I walked up to the orc beauty and slapped her on the ass. “But if we did that, I couldn’t grab Shadbak’s ass anymore. So we’re going with option two.” I said.

Shadbak let out a sigh of relief and even let me sneak my hand further in to slip between her cheeks. A little slip of my hand over her soft, possibly dark green cunny sent a shiver down my spine. I could feel a knot of desire fall into my gut and damn it, I wanted to fuck.

Emily’s narrowed eyes and growing qi pressure made me pull my hand free, much to Shadbak and my disappointment. Still, I managed to brush between her lips a little with my hand. Another shiver almost made me give up on plan B and take Shadbak behind a tree whether Emily watched or not.

“If you don’t fuck the mutant, I’ll see to your needs tonight. Emily promised.

Well, if it's such a chore, Shadback will take care of them after all.

“Yes, and maybe the orc can help me out while I watch you. I haven’t seen a good show in a millennium.” The lord class spirit said.

Before Emily or Shadbak could reply, I slid my knife out of its scabbard and floated off the ground. “Those are some mighty fine horns you have there. Do the lady spirits like them?” I floated up off the ground and landed beside one of the tree-sized horns. Then I patted it, letting the tree-sized horn shake at my touch. “It would be a shame if something happened to them,” I said.

The spirit tried to struggle, but the chains prevented it from moving. My grin stretched so wide my face hurt. “Do your worst; my horns are indestructible cheap steel won’t damage them.” The lord class spirit said.

“Why would we free you in exchange for treasure when you’re the most valuable thing on this hill other than the chains,” I said.

My knife connected with the horn, and sparks rose from my efforts to cut through the horns. The damn things kept blunting my blade even as I repaired the saw teeth. Finally, after a few seconds, I made a tiny hairline fracture in them.

Vast streams of wood qi blasted from the tiny cut before a gush of blood shot out. I took out an old shirt, soaked up the blood until the shirt was drenched, and replaced it with a blanket.

The spirit grunted in pain. “So what you scratched my horn, I’ll heal before you can do any real damage.”

The beast rattled its head as I soaked up every drop of blood I could. Even a little of its blood was filled with qi. Then I had an idea and froze the blood into icy droplets before storing it one fist-size chunk of bloody ice at a time. When the wound finally closed, I let my qi engine come to life again.

“Get off of me, you parasite. One day I’ll be free, and you’ll pay.” The lord class spirit growled.

It was just a collection of qi so powerful that it formed a physical body. Over time its body became more physical as it grew in power. That was my theory anyway.

Its blood was filled with its nature. By imbibing it later, I could use it like any other cultivation material. It was so damn powerful that even a few drops of its blood were valuable to me. All I needed was a pure fire and wood spirit, then I could make full use of its body. No matter if I gained a spirit from him or not, I’d be back. This bound spirit was easily the greatest treasure I’ve ever found.

A tiny hand shot up and hit me across the jaw. I looked down to see a wood fairy with small deer antlers on her head. She was the pure wood spirit I felt while climbing the hill. “Stop hurting my friend.” The wood spirit yelled.

I raised an eyebrow. “Why should I? What will you give me in exchange?” I asked.

The spirit’s hair was red like spider lilies, and her skin was as green as Shadbak’s own. She stood an easy 5ft tall and held herself aloft with root-like tentacles sprouted from her back.

“Alright, bond with me, and I’ll spare your friend. After we coalesce, I’ll even free him.” I said.

“How dare you ask a lady like that? I would never bond with a human, much less one as selfish as you.” The spirit said.

I tapped a foot against the lord class spirit’s horn and returned to sawing. I adjusted the serrated edge to cut a little deeper each time. Blood began to spill again, and I pulled my blade free to freeze the blood and collect it.

“Runaway, Cala, this human is dangerous even to me.” The lord spirit said.

The wood spirit punched and kicked me with all her might. I moved as Emily had taught me and quickly subdued her. “You should have taken the first deal,” I said.

I grabbed her throat with a hand encased in spiritual energy. “Bond,” I said and pushed my qi into her.

This was my first time trying to bond with a spirit without consent. I blasted her with fire and ice qi without mercy as I pushed against her. She fought against me the whole time as I rapidly took control of her spiritual form and connected it to myself. Once a tendril of my qi made it into her core, nucleus, or whatever the source of her existence was, the connection began. This wasn’t the same as my first or second bonding this time; I took what I wanted.

Once the bond was made, I felt a trickle of her wood qi enter me. The qi of a higher wood spirit was really something else. She rushed me with her qi, and I knew at once she wanted to possess me. Instead, I summoned the might of my qi vessel and rapidly absorbed her qi.

Visions of a little girl lost in the woods with only her goat growing hungrier and colder as she ate strange plants filled my mind. Then a memory of the kind spirit I stood on made me somewhat regret cutting open his horn. But, before I threw my guilt aside, it had no place in me.

Fortunately, adding more spirits to a vessel wasn’t difficult once a vessel was established. Unfortunately, I’d need to begin balancing the spirits out immediately afterward. I’d have to get fire, earth, metal, and water spirits at the higher class to maintain my cultivation. Once they were collected and stored, my way to the Nascent realm was assured. So, my next spirit must be fire.

I gripped Cala and pushed her into my spirit vessel. Then I sat on the lord class spirit’s head as I processed her. All the while, I slit open crimson fruit and removed the parasitic seeds within. By eating the fruit and cultivating using a higher wood spirit, I gained the full benefit of the fruit.

Soon enough, Cala merged with my spirit vessel kicking and screaming the whole way. Her emotions and desires to grow the forest and search for things to eat melded well with me despite her protests. She quieted down after my spirit vessel assimilated her. Cala formed the cornerstone for my wood qi cultivation methods.

I stood atop the exhausted lord after his protests, bargains, and grief had died away. He would never be the same. His horns were impossible to outright remove, but he had other resources. I shaved a lot of his vine-like hair away and stored it in my inventory for later. Someday I pledged to come back and strip him completely.

Atop his head, I also found our next destination. An ashy section of the forest matched Shadbak’s description of our next destination. I leaped down from the lord class spirit and went to hold our orc guide’s hands.

“Thank you, Shadbak, you’ve helped us so much already, but please continue to lead the way,” I said, and with a final grope of her ass, I turned to the lord spirit.

Emily smirked at Shadbak in triumph then stripped.