It took one whole week for Wu Jian to stabilize his cultivation. An entire week of doing nothing but standing on his hands while balancing a boulder on his feet. During that time, Wu Jian had become intimately familiar with his power and even learned how to control it to some extent.

Huǒ Shuchang had loudly complained that doing a handstand wasn’t how cultivators were supposed to meditate, but Wu Jian didn’t see the problem. He always felt calmer and more in control of himself when he was exercising. Something about moving his body, about exerting effort, helped settle his mind.

And his actions spoke for themselves. He had stabilized his cultivation, after all.

Huǒ Shuchang complained about that too. According to him, it took normal cultivators at least a month to stabilize their cultivation. It should have taken him even longer because he skipped an entire realm.

Wu Jian wasn’t so sure about that; Wu Meiying and Zhou Lihua had only required a few days to stabilize their cultivation.

Once his cultivation was stabilized, Wu Jian began the process of familiarizing himself with his power and learning how to control it.

Of course, the best way to do both of those was through combat.

Wu Jian threw a punch that connected with Huǒ Shuchang’s extended fist. A powerful shockwave erupted and blew the two opponents away from each other. This didn’t bother Wu Jian. As he skidded along the ground, he threw another punch despite being too far away for his attack to realistically hit.

And yet, hit it did.

Wu Jian’s fist vanished for a split second. Huǒ Shuchang stumbled forward as something slammed into the back of his head. His hand reappeared soon after, and he raced toward his opponent to capitalize on this opening.

“Dammit! What kind of attack is that?!”

Huǒ Shuchang wasn’t the type to let himself be caught unaware, and he somehow managed to block Wu Jian’s kick with his forearm. He even cushioned the blow to lessen the impact despite his disadvantageous position.

Wu Jian clicked his tongue, then kicked out behind him. His feet vanished. Huǒ Shuchang yelped as something slammed into the back of his left knee. He fell to the ground, but then leaned back just as Wu Jian spun around and released a kick that would have caught him in the face. Huǒ Shuchang’s back touched the ground, then he kicked out in an attack so fast Wu Jian couldn’t see it.

“Ooof!”

Wu Jian’s shoulder slammed into the hard dirt, but he rolled away as Huǒ Shuchang tried to drop a heel on him. The heel struck dirt, then ignited in a blazing conflagration. Wu Jian could feel the surging heat as he scrambled to his feet.

The two opponents eyed each other warily as the fire blazed between them.

“I really don’t understand what kind of power that is. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Huǒ Shuchang confessed. “You can attack from any direction and any angle you please. How does that even work?”

“I really couldn’t say,” Wu Jian shrugged.

“Tch. Liar. You just don’t want to tell me. Fine. Keep your secrets. It will be more fun prying them out of you by force.”

Wu Jian had the power to manipulate space. He called it folding space.

Most people assumed that the shortest route between one point to another was to travel in a straight line, but that wasn’t true at all. The shortest route from one point to another was when those two points were connected. It would be like if Wu Jian wrote point A and point B on a sheet of parchment, then folded the parchment so the two points connected. That was essentially what he did.

There were many limitations to this power. He couldn’t send more than a single limb through his spatial fold, and he could only send his limb to a place that he could see. That meant if someone hid behind a tree, he wouldn’t be able to attack them from the other side since he couldn’t see it.

Despite its limitations, it was still a very useful power. Huǒ Shuchang was half a step into the Asura Realm, almost an entire realm above him, and yet he couldn’t properly defend himself against Wu Jian’s attacks. This allowed Wu Jian to fight Huǒ Shuchang on even terms despite the older man’s higher cultivation.

Space folding was the only power Wu Jian was able to use so far, though he was certain he would be able to create new powers as he meditated more on the fundamentals of his cultivation method.

The sparring match continued for several hours until Wu Jian exhausted himself. He had now a lot more control over his chi, but he was still wasting quite a bit of it. Huǒ Shuchang also had a lot more chi than him by virtue of his higher cultivation.

“You really are a freak of nature,” Huǒ Shuchang said as they sat around the campfire. A pot of boiling water wafted steam and the appetizing scent rabbit cooked in various herbs. Huǒ Shuchang occasionally stirred the stew to keep the collagen from coagulating into scum.

“I don’t know how you can say that. Don’t you eat fire? I’ve never heard of a cultivator who eats fire to increase his power before now,” Wu Jian snapped back.

“My cultivation method is just a little special is all,” Huǒ Shuchang defended himself.

“Well, so is mine.”

“Your cultivation method has nothing to do with how quickly you stabilized your cultivation, but whatever. This benefits me since it means you’ll be a bigger help when we go after the Flame Griffin. Now, hand me your bowl.”

Wu Jian passed over his bowl and Huǒ Shuchang gave him a large helping of rabbit stew. They had caught and skinned about six rabbits, so this stew had a lot of meat floating inside. Wu Jian brought the bowl to his nose and inhaled the thick scent of meat. Maybe it was because he was in the middle of a forest, or maybe it was because he felt hungrier than usual, but the scent of this food was far more delicious than he believed it should have been.

After eating two bowls himself, Wu Jian had Huǒ Shuchang give him another bowlful, then sent the bowl on the ground. His shadow writhed and the bowl disappeared. He thought he was being subtle, but then he noticed Huǒ Shuchang’s gaze.

“I haven’t said anything yet… but there’s a tail coming out of your shadow. You ever gonna explain that?”

“Urk. Guess there’s no use hiding it now,” Wu Jian sighed. “Come out, Yōuměi.”

Huǒ Shuchang gawked at the giant black panther that emerged from Wu Jian’s shadow. She sat beside her companion and ate from the bowl, looking for all the world like a very dangerous, very deadly housecat. After several seconds of staring, the young man with orange hair pinched the bridge of his nose.

“You have a yāomó panther. That’s one of the rarest magical beasts in the entire world. Just who the heck are you? Are you secretly a young master from the Zhou Clan? Or maybe you belong to the Heavenly Sword Sect? You can’t be a normal cultivator.”

“I hate to burst your bubble, but I’m not all that special. I come from a very small clan in the Shang Kingdom. My best friend and I found Yōuměi when we were playing tag and decided to raise her. She was actually quite small when we first found her.”

Huǒ Shuchang glared at him for a moment, then sighed. “I give up. I’m not even gonna ask anymore. In fact, I’ve decided to no longer be surprised when you do something impossible.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Wu Jian shrugged. Yōuměi nuzzled his knee, so Wu Jian refilled the bowl and set it beside the still hungry black panther.

“What’s her cultivation at?” asked Huǒ Shuchang.

“Eighth subrealm of the Anima Realm,” Wu Jian said.

Huǒ Shuchang rubbed his jaw. “That’s pretty strong. He’ll prove useful in our fight against the Flame Griffin.”

Yōuměi growled at Huǒ Shuchang, causing the young man to back off as he raised his hands in surrender. “The heck is wrong with you? Hey, Wu! Call off your damn cat!”

“Yōuměi is only angry because you got her sex wrong. She is a girl.”

“Well, excuuuuse me! It’s not like I know how to differentiate boy cats from girl cats!”

“That’s your own fault.”

Wu Jian didn’t tell Huǒ Shuchang that he also did the same thing when he and Wu Meiying first found Yōuměi. That thought accompanied him as he fed Yōuměi three more bowls of rabbit stew.

Huǒ Shuchang scratched his head in frustration. “Ugh. Whatever, let’s just get to sleep. Tomorrow, I’ll show you where the Flame Griffin is located and we’ll come up with a plan.”

Wu Jian went to sleep easily, but his sleep was disturbed by nightmares. They were always the same. His dead clansmen accused him of not saving them, of being too weak to help. Fortunately, he no longer woke up in a cold sweat, but it did take him longer to wake up since his sleep was not restful.

Morning came when the sun peeked in through the tent they had set up. He had originally been surprised that no magical beasts attacked them during the night, but Huǒ Shuchang apparently had an item that drove magical beasts below the Asura Realm away. Since there weren’t many magical beasts with a higher cultivation in this part of the forest, they were able to rest easy.

After a breakfast of salted fish, Huǒ Shuchang led Wu Jian and Yōuměi deeper into the forest. They eventually reached an area that was rockier than before and didn’t have as many trees. Heat rose from the ground, which caused Wu Jian to look down with a furrowed brow.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed the strange heat in the ground here,” Huǒ Shuchang said as he studied Wu Jian. “There’s a ley line below the earth’s surface that has a strong fire affinity. That’s why the Flame Griffin chose this place as its home even though they normally live near volcanoes and stuff. Anyway, come on. Its nest is just up ahead.”

They eventually came upon a small cliff that overlooked an unusually desolate spot of land that seemed at odds with the surrounding forest. Wu Jian frowned as he looked for a nest that might belong to the Flame Griffin, but he didn’t see anything.

“I didn’t mean there was an actual nest here. The Flame Griffin’s nest is in that cave over there.” Huǒ Shuchang pointed toward a cave entrance that looked like the gaping maw of a magical beast. “I suspect it created that cave to get closer to the ley line so it could increase its cultivation. There should also be some unique and rare natural treasures inside there. Places where ley lines run through always have powerful treasures that can be used in alchemy and such.”

A roar echoed from within the cave. Huǒ Shuchang crouched down. Wu Jian and Yōuměi followed suit.

Flames burst from the cavern entrance seconds before a brilliant orange figure shot out. Wu Jian held his breath as the majestic creature spread its wings and soared through the sky.

While not as legendary as dragons and phoenixes, griffins were powerful magical beasts that were said to rule the world. This one had bright orange fur on its sleek, lionesque body. A sharp beak disappeared into red feathers reminiscent of fire. While its hindlegs were those of a lion’s, its front reminded him of an eagle’s. A tail protruded from its back, and the very tip possessed an ardent flame that billowed brightly.

“So this is a Griffin,” Wu Jian breathed. “I’ve never seen one before.”

“I’ve seen plenty of normal Griffins,” Huǒ Shuchang confessed. “My family uses them to pull our flying carriages, but this was my first time seeing a Flame Griffin. Griffins are normally born without an affinity for any element. It’s only when they live near a leyline or places that have strong elemental affinities that they gain one. I once heard there was a powerful Water Griffin that lived on a small island off the coast of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It was said to have reached the peak of the Realization Realm.”

“What happened to it?” asked Wu Jian.

“Apparently, some cultivator who was also at the Realization Realm ambushed and killed it for its monster core.”

“That’s kinda sad.”

“Life is all about struggling and fighting to survive. The resources required for cultivators become rarer the higher your realm is. The higher you ascend, the more you have to struggle against others to reach the next realm.”

Huǒ Shuchang’s words made him wonder why people bothered cultivating at all. What purpose was there in gaining strength if all it meant was you had to fight that much harder to reach the next realm in your cultivation?

But he didn’t say anything.

Because he knew.

There were as many reasons for people to cultivate as there were stars in the sky. Some wanted the power to lord their might over others. Some wanted to control people. Some wanted to protect people. And some, like Wu Jian, simply wanted the power to protect the people he loved.