Threads Chapter 439-Green 8

Ling Qi watched the flames dance with a critical eye. Zhengui’s roots had woven a barrier, cutting off the path of the fires toward the camp site and the road, but in all other directions, the way was blocked only by scattered groups of their soldiers, sweating heavily with exertion while wearing armor and clothing meant for these cold climes. They formed small knots of resistance, each group with a single cultivator whose qi could bend toward a snuffing element, whether it was scattered water summoned from the still moist air or earth to smother, or even fire to control.

It was not a ruinous fire. The air was cold and wet, and the wood and grass was saturated in that same moisture. The flames guttered, heat licking at trunks and mostly burning in the brush.

She could see why Xia Lin would use this as an exercise. The wildfire spirits born from the sparking flames hurled themselves with reckless abandon at their soldiers, cackling as they sought to spread with the single-minded madness only such a spirit could have.

She had asked for a chance to practice her new art, if Xia Lin found one.

Descending from above, she exhaled. Along with her breath, she cycled the rich, verdant wood qi which ran through a meridian along her spine.

Distant Paradise Resilience.

Her qi spread like a shower of soft leaves over the battlefield, and where it went, men and women straightened up. The scent of clear, fresh pine overwhelmed ash and smoke.

A man on the northern side of the firebreaks was caught out of position as a half-dozen, giggling flame fearies leapt over the earthen rampart. He cut two from the air, little gusts of wind kicking the sparks of the severed faeries away from him, but the third detonated in an eruption of flame before he could raise his guard.

She heard and felt his scream as the searing heat washed over his skin and down his throat. Viridian light flared, and the flames clinging to his clothes subsided. The shape of woven roots glittered in the shell of light around him as he was dragged back from the rampart by his comrades.

Ling Qi felt a prickle on her skin, a small drop of qi burning away.

Then, the weave of green over the soldier’s body broke apart into drifting motes. There was not a mark on his flesh.

“I am here. The flames cannot harm you, but I cannot protect you from the pain,” she said, her voice clear in every set of ears.

“If Baroness Ling has arrived, then begin the second stage of the operation! Shrink containment, achieve reduction, and prioritize prevention of crown burning.” Unlike hers, Xia Lin’s voice crackled and buzzed artificially, carried on the power of a simple amplification talisman. “Follow the procedures from your drills.”

Ling Qi observed the soldiers snapping into action. To her eyes, they were not well polished, but she could tell they had been drilled. The tiny draw on her qi grew as they began to advance among the fires.

Her technique drew harm which they would have taken unto herself. While she could be a foundation to lean on, however, she was not the final arbiter of their lives. The pain of their choices was their own to suffer. Such was the technique she had put together from her own self and fragments of Kohatu’s memories of absolute persistence.

“Where did this fire come from?” she asked. This time, she spoke just to Zhengui and Xia Lin.

“One of the groups testing and laying the groundwork to begin mining caused a deviation in the earth veins,” Xia Lin’s voice replied in her ear despite the distance.

“Gui warned Miss Chaser, and she brought the people, but we did not arrive before the flame-air went boom!”

“It is not so bad if it stays like this. I, Zhen, see that this place is much overgrown. A little burning is not bad.”

She watched as the soldiers moved in, coordinating with each other. She spotted Xia Lin’s shining armor among them where the conflagration was at its worst, calmly issuing orders. Heat and prickling needles washed over her here and there, but overall, the men were not growing sloppy under the aegis of her technique.

The small hurts of red realms fighting through peer spirits could hardly dent the qi cycling through her channels. The technique was flawed still in this initial state, but it was a foundation to build on how best to protect.

Like the roots she meditated over, she could not save every sprout and trunk. With her will, though, she could support and keep alive many who might otherwise perish in the pursuit of the distant dream which they now pursued.

A dream even she could not yet see in full.

“Is Big Sister’s technique doing what she wants?”

She considered her little brother’s question as she bobbed on the currents of air. “I think so. It’s hard to test at such low intensity, but… Any injuries reported, Xia Lin?”

“Not since your arrival. It appears fully effective, though there have been two psychologically-induced retreats.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Ah, she had felt one of those. A man had stepped into a smoldering underbrush and been engulfed entirely in flame. Even if she had not let him be hurt, an experience like that could definitely exhaust the mind. His comrades had handled the fire fearies that caused the blast well enough.

There was a strong urge to just do everything herself. She could take care of the problem in an instant of high, clear song and howling icy wind, but Ling Qi and her comrades would not always be on site. The soldiers of Snowblossom needed to be able to handle minor situations like this on their own.

Her presence and shrouding qi was a training aid for that, allowing them to experience the danger while ensuring no one suffered lasting harm. It wasn’t what she had in mind for the technique, but she had to admit it was a useful benefit.

“And your own thoughts, Zhengui?” Ling Qi asked.