The smell of smoke and cinder spread throughout the air as the rays of high noon bathed a field of tall grass that swayed with the ever-present wind. From on high Wei Hua could see flames bathing the foliage below in large swathes as segments of the ground were visible from scything wind blades that had slashed the surroundings. As he watched, even the smoke itself seemed to slow as his mental energy flowed through him, having returned from a down period in his burst cycling technique.

With the world growing slowly to a crawl around him a blinding flash struck his left like a cacophonous explosion. Searing pain and heat surrounded Wei Hua like a shell as it worked to press on the wind barrier and his Spirit Earth Treasure robes as they protected him. Still, the impact pressed through as a lancing pain seemed to fill his side.

Even as he was thrown, however, his sword moved like the wind producing an x-shaped force manipulation slash that extended out towards the attack for 10 meters. At the same time, a gust of wind pushed him backward at his command just in time to dodge half a dozen ice spears that gave off razor-sharp spiral wind currents. In the next moment, his Qi finally came to its apex and Wei Hua could see his opponents.

To his left was a Sundrifter, a species of large bird that bathed in the brightest rays of the sun. It looked like an enormous hawk with a wing span of over twice a normal man’s height. The body had a gradient of feathers that started dark brown near the center of its form and transitioned into a bright fire red near its beak and tail.

Bright iridescent scarlets gleamed on both the wings and beak as whipping blades of fire trailed past it while deadly fireballs sprang forth from the gathered fire Qi at its maw. Ahead and slightly above him was a slender spirit beast with translucent scales that seemed to blend into the sky itself. From time to time one could see the shimmer of its body as it moved with fluid grace as if the heavens were an ocean for it to swim in.

Cold radiated all around the creature as the wind seemed to carry its wingless body. On the occasions it was visible he had been able to see that it resembled a sea serpent that was less flexible. The beast's body seemed rigged and using its seeming affinity for the wind it seemed to zip around like an arrow.

With the limited time he had to think Wei Hua wasn’t quite sure what the creature was however, he did remember reading a few old tales about creatures that lived in the high skies far beyond the reach of mortals. A mystery for another time as it was most likely the weakest of his current opponents. No, that honor would fall to the final spirit beast assaulting him today, the damned thing on the ground.

Below, in a circular clearing clearly caused by one of the fireballs, a creature with thick trunk-like arms and stubby back legs stood. Standing over four meters tall and half as wide it looked like an ape with rough scalelike hide below thin fur. Beside the ape lay a pile of large column-like rocks that had been sharpened into crude spears through earth Qi manipulation and multiple small boulders floated in a defensive dome around the creature.

In the beast's hands, one of the makeshift weapons was drawn back in a throwing posture as the earth seemed to swirl around the shaft visibly warping the air. Previously he had assumed that the Apex Ape would be slow as it was a solely earth-attuned creature. Its offense and defense were said to be amazing; however, most sources agreed that the creature was slow.

Yes, slow… until it attacked! Wei Hua had the feeling of not knowing whether to laugh or cry as he remembered expending nine of his ten defensive talismans blocking a blurring earthen spear that was barely visible even to his Grandmaster senses. Doing so had expended most of the Qi from his previous burst and had put him on a defensive foot, forcing Wei Hua to take a moment to focus almost entirely on pulling in as much surrounding energy as possible.

The only thing that saved him was the sudden shockwave from the Apex Ape’s attack causing the two airborne beasts to be blown away. Assessing all of this in a mere moment set a grimace across the young lord’s face. Protracted cries of anguish and dismay reached his ears as all around him a battlefront raged for well over 10 km.

Thousands lay dead with more piling up every second as several of his remaining master realm martial artists were strewn in unknown locations nearby, having fallen supporting him. The line had been holding until these three spirit beasts arrived with the aura of powerful creatures that had lived over a century.

‘Well, since there are no more witnesses near me…’ Wei Hua thought to himself musingly as his expression changed to a sly smile.

At the same moment, his wrist flicked in several directions sending out a dozen slashing Qi Phantoms at each of his opponents. Energy left his body emptying almost a quarter in just that attack. As the phantoms traveled they seemed to blur from sight into complex twisting translucent wind swords.

Dozens of slashing waves of force manipulation arced out from each phantom producing a net-like effect that blanketed each of the beasts. Several fireballs wiped out almost all the aerial attacks producing explosions that carved troughs in the ground even from their position of over 25 meters in the air. Tsking in irritation Wei Hua’s form blurred as he willed wind Qi into a pattern of zigzagging straight lines that brought him in a complex pattern between the Sundrifter and aerial ice serpent.

Utilizing the limited cooperation between the pair the movement successfully sent their attacks at each other. An ice spear scraped a bloody wound on the Sundrifter’s midsection spilling brilliant blood the color of magma throughout the sky and onto the planes below. Meanwhile, the ambient heat from the fireballs seemed to melt some of the ice serpent’s translucent scales revealing a teal-green body underneath.

Cracks crisscrossed amid the remaining artificial armoring as the concussive force of the explosions hit the ice and wind-clad beast. For its part, the Apex Ape seemed unaffected by the barrage of attacks other than most of the defensive boulders floating around it having been sliced into unusable bits. Smiling maniacally, Wei Hua used this brief reprieve to pull in more ambient Qi and form a different refining rune within his dantian.

Instantly loud moans of pain and suffering assailed his senses as the winds around him that were part of his movement technique seemed to claw at his soul. Wind and Mental Qi fused as he gave up almost all defenses to generate the largest burst he was capable of. The wind around his body started to spread out as if it had a mind of its own.

Quickly everything within a 500-meter radius seemed to be filled with whispering winds that spoke of cruel suffering and cut with small wind blades as if it was some massive creature trying to devour all living things. Noticing this the three experienced beasts went on high alert as a primal sense of danger came over them. Columns of ice, wind, fire, and earth Qi seemed to converge in an instant around the respective spirit beasts.

The Sundrifter gathered a lance of fire as bright as the sun that instantly vaporized all the grass within 1km of the battle. At the same time, the ice serpent seemed to disappear as several large plates of ice appeared in a spherical pattern around Wie Hua. Within the depths of the ice, a point seemed to condense at the center spiraling with a cold wind.

Down below the Apex Ape’s eyes seemed to turn solemn as it clasped its hands in what seemed like a praying posture and started to float a few meters off the ground. All around it the half dozen earth spears that lay on the ground also floated up and glowing earthen brown runes spiral up their length.

“Too late.” Wei Hua’s light voice seemed to carry inside the whispers of suffering on the wind as he raised his sword eloquently in a salute.

Three earth-shattering attacks converged on him at that moment as the world seemed to go white. Inside of all this Wei Hua never stopped smiling as his form seemed to split into dozens of translucent afterimages that faded from existence. A shockwave instantly spread out from the three attacks colliding, destroying almost everything within a 1km radius of the epicenter.

In the sky, the ice serpent seemed worse for wear as an elegant armor coated its body. At the creature's head was a 10-meter spearhead with spiraling barbs. Hardened ice slowly melted while flecks of hard rock and flames seeped from wounds along its length.

High above the Sundrifter cried in pain as sizzling shards of ice boiled and fell through the air leaving behind wounds glowing with its bright blood. The Apex Ape stood with white scratches on its large arms that had crossed over its head as the beast had thrown itself to the ground. Before any of them could regain their senses a whisper sounded on the wind before amplifying into a roar of anguish.

Translucent wraiths seemed to converge from the air into a blob on the ape’s back as Wei Hua appeared from within it. He stood with his sword withdrawn as a spiraling current of air that seemed to scream in pain wrapped around his blade forming a point at the tip. Trailing wisps of white wind formed a vortex that extended back in a narrow trail 10 meters behind his sword.

With a sneer, the young lordling thrust forward blanketing the world in a scream that deafened all the world itself. The wailing wind lance passed through the back of the Apex Ape leaving a tunnel as wide as a man before twisting upward. Like a dragon dragged from hell it zipped through the Sundrifter in the eerie silence.

Almost instantly the lance appeared 100 meters past the flaming bird before pausing and then arriving the same distance behind the ice serpent. To onlookers, it seemed as if a white trail instant pierced all three creatures without making a sound. Afterward sound returned to the world as wailing white wraiths converged on Wei Hua.

Three mighty beast souls were carried in front of him and the wraiths continuously pierced them, tormenting the souls while making sure not to destroy them. The lording laughed, causing the blood of all living creatures to run cold. His voice seemed to carry the mania of those lost to insanity as he reveled in slicing the souls bit by bit.

Suddenly his face seemed to grimace as he quickly withdrew a knife from within the folds of his robe and plunged it downward. Warm blood led down Wei Hua’s knee as he slowly calmed his breathing while surveying the battlefield.

“Sir… Sir Wei, is it safe?” A weak voice sounded from the grass to his left.

A pale-faced youth crawled out from under the mostly melted carcass of an enormous beast the size of a house. It was the youth whose mother had needed a doctor many years ago, the one he had encountered while organizing the illusion charm to attack that damnable Fan Long. Looking at him, Wei Hua’s smile froze on his face.

“Of course… the beasts are dealt with. Just come over here and…” The young lord disappeared from his position, seeming to teleport to the side of the crawling young man while sheathing his sword.

A smile crossed the young man’s face as his head fell from his body. Wei Hua growled as he kicked the head of the stupid brat, scattering it into meat paste that coated the ground. He hated having to destroy his own things and had been avoiding using those techniques for just this reason.

Already this beast tide had set him back years of resources and manpower while killing thousands of HIS things. Clenching his fist he pulled the soul of the youth into his dantian using it to help refine more Qi. At least there was one good thing about all this fighting… yes, it was just him collecting on his property investments earlier than expected.

Thinking this lightened his mood considerably and the young lord started briskly walking towards the rest of the battlefields enjoying the serenade of the screams on the battlefield.

Night blanketed the world as the waters silently flowed by all around the tiny rowboat that seated Fan Zhong, Fan Yong, Xing Zheng, and Wang Qiang. At first, he had been rather reluctant to make a journey across the Flow Grass River with such a small craft. Shallower rivers and creeks seemed fine for such vessels however, the valley’s main body of water was 10 km wide and crossed who knows how many lands.

Besides this, almost no one knew how deep it was in the center with some legends saying that it led to an underground world! As such it wasn’t unheard of for waves to reach the height of the average man deep within these waters, easily enough to capsize this small craft! However, Wang Qiang had assured him that the ‘Calm Waters’ talisman that he was familiar with would stop that from happening as well as pacifying the deep water creatures.

The only accident that might occur is with a large storm and Wang clan diviners had forecasted that there was a very small chance for that to happen on this night. Learning about that had been a shock to him as well as Fan Zhong had not known the Wang Clan had a divining tradition its members trained in. Even being assured of all that it was still comforting to see the waters almost entirely still around the craft.

On the horizon, he could just make out the shape of waves but it took a small amount of mental energy to make out those details. Smiling he looked over at the group within the boat while scratching behind the ears of Little White who had decided to nap on his lap. Fan Yong was leaning his back on the backend of the small rowboat and seemed to be trying to rest.

Wang Qiang seemed to be incredibly nervous and was sitting near the front of the craft by Xing Zhong monitoring a few softly glowing talismans. He held his hands over the things as if the faint light from them would attract some of the deep water monsters. For his part, the old swordsman was leaning with his back on the front rim of the craft with his wide-brimmed hat pushed to cover his face.

His sword lay in the crook of his left arm and the immortal seemed to be napping. Of course, Fan Zhong had found that assuming his teacher was sleeping was always an exercise in foolishness as he seemed to know what was going on around him regardless. Smiling, he leaned forward to try to speak a few words of encouragement to Wang Qiang.

The Wang clan leader had insisted that a clan member would be crucial to understanding the layout of the island and acting on their behalf. Considering the circumstances the person had to be relatively unimportant so that spies wouldn’t notice them missing while being a core enough clansman to be briefed on the ancestral island’s secrets. Apparently, his friend’s father had been onboard immediately and pressed Wang Qiang about how much merit this could earn him.

Fan Zhong had tried to ask for someone else as he knew that although Wang Qiang was smart he was only a Second-grade martial artist and the mission would most likely be the most dangerous for him out of all of them. However, due to their past relations, the Wang Clan Leader had been adamant that this would be the best solution and thus the party ended up as such. Just as he leaned forward and reached out to touch the other man’s shoulder a loud rushing of water sounded to the left of the boat.

Looking over he could see a long and thick neck stretching out of the calm water. The neck was twice as thick as the rowboat was long and a head with eight glowing hungry eyes stared down at them around a circular maw big enough to swallow several houses. Formless pressure came from the front of the boat that seemed to suppress all things around them like invisible rain.

Fan Zhong could just move his head enough to turn to his right. There he saw Xing Zheng’s eyes glowing like azure suns from beneath the brim of his wide-brimmed bamboo hat. A whimper sounded from the monster that loomed above the craft as it slowly slunk back into the water.

Cold shivers ran down Fan Zhong’s spine as he recalled that gaze, a cool primal expression he had never seen from his seemingly ever-tranquil teacher. Suddenly the side of the rowboat seemed to shake slightly and he looked down to see Wang Qiang shaking almost uncontrollably on the floor of the craft. From him also drifted a slightly sour smell that Fan Zhong remembered quite frequently from his trips behind trees while on the road…

Sighing he reached down and picked Little White up which elicited a surprised yelp. Slowly Fan Zhong lowered his fluffy companion to Wang Qiangs face and soon a happy water wolf pup was licking the merchant's son's face in excitement. Suddenly the other man started to laugh as tears seemed to roll down his face.

That moment stretched on for what seemed like an eternity but was only a few seconds before Wang Qiang composed himself.

Quietly he patted Little White on the head while whispering “Many thanks, Brother Zhong… Many thanks.”

Fan Zhong simply nodded as he sat back and looked over his shoulder to see a smiling Fan Yong give him a thumbs up. Thinking of the whole situation he simply started to laugh boisterously, not caring for the circumstances any longer. His laugh carried the joy of being with his friends and sharing a journey, something that could only be experienced with those he was close with!

Suddenly a force seemed to hit him in the forehead, almost sending Fan Zhong sprawling into Fan Yong’s lap. Looking up he saw Xing Zheng smiling while pointing a finger at him.

“If you wish to be fish food, then do it alone. Respectfully, disciple.” The old swordsman said in a sagely tone as a sly smile crossed his face.

At this, both Fan Zhong and Fan Yong looked at each other before beginning to laugh aloud together. Even the old swordsman chuckled as all the while Wang Qiang looked back and forth between each of them with bewilderment and fear on his face. At some point, it seemed too much for him and the young Wang Clansman passed out, from exhaustion, fear, or sheer bewilderment no one knew.

As the sun crested over the horizon to herald the new day the small rowboat carrying Fan Zhong and company made landfall with a soft noise that seemed to echo across the empty beach. Clean sand stretched across the shore into the horizon and continued inland for at least a few hundred meters. Past that a thick forest covered what lay further ahead.

While surveying the scene a scuttling sound entered the party's ears. Suddenly a figure rose from under the sand around the beach, dozens of them shaking off the sands that covered them. Sickly heads with pale skin that seemed to have rotted in stale waters appeared attached to long spiky shells that covered their backs.

Many arms and legs seemed stitched to the crustaceans as some stood straight up while others crawled on the ground. The monsters seemed like a mix between a giant narrow crab and sewn-on human and beast body parts. Quickly the entire group's eyes went to Xing Zheng as if expecting orders on what to do.

A wolfish smile crossed the immortal's face as he simply tipped the brim of his hat down over his face and leaned back while whispering “Time for some training”.

Following this, he promptly started snoring.