v5c14: Training Montage

Instead of getting right to work in the clearing, Yun Ren was surprised when they were led deeper into the forest, at first riding on the constructs of Master Forest Sweeper, and then, after about an hour, proceeding on foot.

 

The chill here was intense, and, as they approached—so was the Qi. it felt like a physical weight on Yun Ren’s shoulders—like the first time he had exited the Azure Hills and gone to the Howling Fang Mountains but amplified. Where the Qi there had been largely indifferent, the Qi here felt actively hostile.

 

It felt like it was trying to freeze him, trying to disrupt his concentration. Whenever he breathed, cold energy invaded his body, and he had to wrangle the damn stuff.

 

“It’s like eating a pill simply by breathing,” Han said, his voice sounding awed. Yun Ren balked at the statement. If eating a pill felt like this, why the hells would anybody eat one? It was downright uncomfortable.

 

“In the hour of our need, a truly great place to train forms before us. Looks like the Heavens are smiling down on us in our war against the demons!” Fenxian belted out, a big grin on his face as he clapped Shao Heng on the shoulder and smiled at the rest of them.

 

Yun Ren carefully stopped himself from frowning at the guy, grimacing internally at the way his breathing came out slightly more harshly. Cold sweat threatened to break out on his brow.

 

Honestly, he was still a bit scared of this guy. A year ago, Yun Ren had sprinted away as fast as his legs could carry him from the man, and then, when finally cornered and forced to fight, Fenxian had been rendered blind, deaf, and dumb by the fragment of Nezan.

 

Even with all that weakening the guy, it still hadn’t been much of a fight. Yun Ren had gotten one good hit in before Fenxian had snapped out of it. It was only because Jin bailed his ass out that Yun Ren hadn’t gotten crippled or killed.

 

Yun Ren hadn’t really had any nightmares about the whole thing, and seeing the guy so cowed in the aftermath had lessened the impact.

 

Still, he hadn’t forgotten about it, and he just kind of wanted to get out of Fenxian’s line of sight every time he looked at the guy. It was kinda like the couple of times he had encountered bears.

 

He hated the feeling, even though they were technically on the same side now. The other guy didn’t seem to hold Yun Ren any ill will at least, and had actually tried to strike up conversation with him several times, like he was Yun Ren’s buddy rather than the guy who had once gone at him with a sword.

 

But Yun Ren supposed cultivators were just kind of weird like that. He shoved the thought away as the cold intensified again… and they walked into another clearing.

 

They stood before what had to be the smallest tree in this forest. It was only about the size of the tree Tigu called ‘Old Man’. It was a towering oak that had to be at least five hundred years old.

 

This tree, however, was not an oak. It looked a bit more like a truly titanic cherry tree. It was a thing made completely out of ice, resting beside a stream of running water that really should have been frozen—but the glowing blue liquid ran seemingly without a care for the surrounding temperature.

 

‘This is the place where my apprentice trains his own arts, under the boughs of the Eternal Winterbloom and on the banks of the Frozen Font,’ Master Forest Sweeper intoned, his voice solemn.

 

“Thank you, Master Forest Sweeper, for allowing us to train in this place,” Bi De replied, bowing politely. The rest of them followed suit and, to Yun Ren’s surprise, Yingwen spoke next.

 

“Your benevolence is without equal, Master Forest Sweeper,” the man said. “We shall prove equal to the blessing you have bestowed upon us.”

 

The great Thunderhoof nodded.

 

‘Take care not to fall into the Frozen Font. It is not water that flows through it, but liquid Ice Qi. It shall kill you with a touch.’

 

With those words, he left them. And then the training began.

 

================================

 

Two days into training, and Yun Ren was starting to feel the pressure. Yun Ren hated deadlines. They were, in his opinion, the bane of humanity. Having to get something done by a certain date always rubbed him the wrong way, and made him feel just slightly ill. He hated the extra stress and hours he had to work to meet them. Be it preparing pelts for a sudden market day, or having to rush to get the harvest in before the autumn rains.

 

Naturally, figuring out a stealth technique before they went to raid a Heavens-damned demonic cultivator base gave him a stomach ache. He, unfortunately, also had an extremely important role, which doubled the stress.

 

Because his technique was the only one that could hide all of them. It started, two years ago, when talking to Jin about light for his image recording. Captured light had been one of the things they had talked about… and Jin had also mentioned, offhandedly, that light bent around something would make it invisible. Yun Ren’s initial idea for the technique was to use it to record animals. He was a good hunter, and sneaky as hell when he wanted to be, but being able to hide himself as well, with the animal not knowing he was there? That would have been great.

 

The path of the technique changed, to one that he was planning to use to hide from the Inquisitors; it hadn’t been entirely ready, at the time, but the theory had been sound.

 

Now, he just had to complete a technique that was only half finished in a week, and make the bubble of bent light big enough to hide their entire group.

 

It was totally doable and easy.

 

But, in the end, there was nothing for it. It needed to be done, so damn it, Yun Ren would knuckle down and do it.

 

“You ready, Summer’s Sky?” he asked the sword at his hip, and the Spirit Blade rattled in its sheath.

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‘Summer’s Sky is prepared. Will support the Eighth Wielder with technique variables,’ the blade replied.

 

“Then let’s do this then.”

 

He took a deep breath in and out as the flashing lights of his illusion technique danced around him. It sparked and fluctuated as light mixed with shadow. The world around him bent like he was staring through one of Miantiao’s glass cups. Reality wobbled and wavered, and then it bent again before settling.

 

‘Turns out Jin really was right about bending light to make yourself invisible,’ he thought, as the technique solidified.

 

“You did it!” Yushang called out, her eyes on where they were, but not truly seeing them.

 

‘Hey, we can see out of it this time’ Spooks said from beside Yun Ren as he looked around with interest. Which, admittedly, had been a problem the first time. Just bending the light wasn’t enough, because then Yun Ren couldn’t see out either. You had to get all twisty with it. ‘You ready for the conditions outside?’

 

“Yeah, go for it,” Yun Ren grunted in response to the Thunderhoof’s calm voice. Spooks, when he wasn’t being an asshole and scaring people for fun, was actually a pretty good training partner. He took one look at Yun Ren’s technique and realized in how many ways the illusion could be foiled by the ice, snow, and Qi outside the forest.

 

‘Tell us if anything goes wrong, Yushang!’ Spooks asked, and then his eyes glowed.

 

The forest clearing was normally still and silent as the grave. So, Spooks started to summon a small storm.

 

First came the snow, falling gently from the heavens. It hit the bubble, passed through it, and a reflection of its passing, using light, would appear on the outside of the dome.

 

“Looking good!” Yushang called.

 

That’s when the wind picked up. It started blowing the flakes around, and Yun Ren started to feel a bit of pressure in his skull from his Qi constantly undulating to match the changing conditions. At first, he had tried to do this himself and gave himself a nosebleed.

 

He thought he would have to stop there, defeated, but he found out he had a workaround. Namely, Summer’s Sky, the Spirit Blade gladly taking half of the load for the technique in accurately reflecting the snowflakes.

 

‘Technique nominal. Qi flow nominal. Approval,’ the blade reported.

 

“I’m gonna start moving,” Yun Ren said. “Get ready to clear the path behind me.” Which was another thing they would have to look out for—not making tracks behind him.

 

‘Junior Forest Sweeper is on the case,’ Spooks said cheerily. Yun Ren nodded and picked up his foot. His Qi grasped the bubble that he had formed, and, as he took a step forwards, he pulled it along with him.