Storm was still searching for the missing hunter group when I set out later that day to explore the cave system and the strange occurrences with the animals in that area. Bob and Moa were already working hard to level the ground and build the foundation and footprint for the Dojo and Taming Stables.

I had placed them in charge of the ancillary cultivators, allowing them to direct those capable of creating arrays into setting formations into the very bedrock of the buildings they would grow. I tasked the other cultivators that had I had recruited from the Sect with training the new cultivators that I had acquired during the awakening events, the Keep Guard grounds used for martial training temporarily.

Siam proved to be well suited for this. His knowledge of beast taming, and the cultivation required for that art, was a real boon for the many men and women that had decided to follow that path. His lessons would allow these new Beast Tamers to learn to compartmentalize their spirit ocean so that they could form connections with more than one bonded in time.

Beast Tamers were most effective when fighting with their bonded, but that didn't mean they could ignore martial techniques. Daniel had proven just how dangerous he was, and I wanted my people to have that advantage.

The trip north was fruitful. I was able to find a few interesting areas overflowing with Qi. Nothing tried to attack me. The coastline was littered with pockets of pristine white sand beaches free of the detritus and scars of industrialization. There were none of the pollutions you would find on Earth.

The coast was beautiful and unspoiled. Since it was barely even chartered, it would probably remain that way. This planet was simply too large to worry about over-population and over-development. The Elves to in-tune with the world's energy to despoil nature wantonly.

The areas along the coast I passed, with no beach, were riddled with cliffs. The ocean's constant erosion of land was a testament to the inevitability of time and motion. Most of the caverns I encountered were 'littoral caves', sea caves that had formed in cracks in the harder granite cliff walls. The ocean's tide crashed into these caves, carving deeper passages with each ebb and flow of the tide.

I would have needed to spend more time investigating each cavern if not for my perception. A quick pass was all that was required for me to determine if the caverns I found had any depth to them.

The island had been formed mostly from volcanic activity, so the cliffs and caves were mostly formed of igneous rock. Basalt made up almost the entirety of the cliff's structure. Cinnabar was probably littered in seams of ore throughout those cliffs, the ore often found and associated with volcanic activity, but I doubted any other metal of worth would be found. For that, I would need to explore the mountains that passed through my territory.

World Qi could and did affect the natural order of things one might expect to find. Pooling energy and places where Qi concentrated and had a transformative effect on what one might expect to find, so it was possible my assumption was wrong. The most substantial difference I would need to be on the lookout for was the possibility of spirit stones.

It was the presence of these stones that garnered my attention as I flew further north, a vast cave system that had formed, the stones erupting far enough near the surface that I could detect them. I made a mental note to have the spirit stones mined. Even if the find turned out to be underwhelming, harvesting the stones would be profitable.

I had found another entrance by following a tunnel that opened from a cliff. A cave-in from a sinkhole that had opened near the forest created this other cavern opening. The cave-in created a ramp and hole large enough for the Desmodus draculae and Compsognathus that were found in the area to use.

I hovered above the depression the cave-in had made, watching patiently as I explored as deeply as my perception allowed. When focused in a specific direction, I could map the area I was investigating for up to a mile. Usually, I kept my perception in a 360-degree sphere, which limited my range to several hundred feet.

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I could expand the sphere to a greater size, but when I did, I got information overload, more information than I could process. I would be able to filter that information in greater detail as I increased my cultivation level, but for now, I was limited to what I could do. As my abilities with my Dharmic powers increased, my already formidable intellect would also increase, allowing me to process the information I gathered faster and easier.

I was unable to detect the exact number of beasts that filled the cave. I could detect the flickering life signs of a host of creatures, and because the sun had not yet set, the draculae and the Compsognathus seemed to be in a state of stupor. The bats that had made the cave their home were nocturnal creatures, so that was to be expected, but the lizards were cold-blooded. They should have been out, absorbing the sun's energy.

That they weren't, suggested that they were being controlled by the draculae. And if that were the case, then that meant that a tier-three beast had evolved among the bats. Something powerful enough to affect and control the lizards that were sleeping.

After a few moments of consideration, I decided I should be able to defeat a tier-three beast.

But I wouldn't be able to fight that monstrosity and a host of tier-one and tier-two beasts in tandem. If the cave system could be used to my advantage, I wouldn't have to. My exploration of the cave system using my perception had allowed me to discover a few smaller cave openings. Areas small enough that I could control the number of beasts that could reach me.

The openings were small enough that I could guard the entrance, but that didn't mean I couldn't be overwhelmed. It depended on how many beasts had made this cave system their home, rationing my energy and Qi would be vital. I would need to use ice to seal the cave mouth whenever I needed to rest or restore my Qi reserves. If I could make that blockage solid enough, it should make controlling the fight possible.

The cave I decided to use had a pool of water that I would be able to draw from. That water would make it easier to create an ice plug when I wanted to seal the cave, as well as provide the moisture I needed to channel the new techniques I had created and learned when working to free myself while trapped in the Four Element's tunnels.

The other advantage I had was the torc I was wearing. If things got too intense and even the ice plug couldn't hold against the battering frenzy of the beasts that might attack, I could retreat inside the torc and allow the animals that were trying to kill me to calm down and lose aggro.

Decision made, I activated [Flux] in tandem with [Lightning's Rush]. I had perfected my control over my stealth technique well enough that I could use my movement technique at the same time. Activating dual techniques was a new development, one that I had gained now that I had reached the Qi Gathering Realm.

With my perception focused, and the path I planned on taking completely mapped out, I rushed within the cave system, the lack of light no real hindrance to my movement. I was easily able to pass the Compsognathus. Their ability to react diminished because of the cool temperature, lost as they were to torpor.

I made it to the cave I had targeted without any problems, resting for only a moment before I equipped my Tessen and activated [Falling Cherry Blossoms]. [Falling Cherry Blossoms] was an illusion technique. It used my control over fog, water, and air to transform my environment.

The movement of my Tessen, the flutter of each fan, one discharging wind, the other attracting it gave life and movement to the illusion. Zephyrs and sylphs of air and water under my control giving rise to a legion of dancing creatures that added texture and flavor to my movement. Movement that resonated with my [Dao].

I released reams of the cloth I now carried as a matter of course. The billowing fabric leaped to my command, interspersed among the constructs the technique had created, adding even more depth and reality to the illusion I had crafted.

Once I was happy with the glamour I had created, I released a bolt of lightning, sending it reverberating down the tunnel's path. Now that lightning was one of my affinities in truth and not a bastardized version of water and air elements combining, I was able to maintain control of the bolt as it traveled. Following it with my perception, riding it almost as if I was surfing the lightning itself. This new control allowed me to maintain direction and target a nest of lizards.

The bolt was effective, destroying the entire nest and killing the sleeping Compsognathus in one strike. The noise of the attack reverberating throughout the cave system waking everything inside.

Most animals would flee at this type of attack, but beasts were a different breed. They had their own version of perception, their own motivation, and instead of fleeing in fear, they scanned the cave until I was discovered, my illusion giving substance and form for the beasts to focus on.

Once found, they attacked in a rage. Even as slow as they were, fighting the effects of torpor, their sheer numbers made what I needed to do a slugfest. I would have to kill hundreds of them, more Compsognathus than there should have been. They don't gather in large packs like this, and if there were hundreds of them, there had to be tens of thousands of the bats.