Back home, their petals are the fundamental ingredient for brewing least soul expanding potions. They should have a similar use in this world.
“They are trash. A least soul expanding potion can produce a year’s worth of Anima for someone with a single column in their Truthhall. Even if I knew the recipe to brew it, that would be less than a day’s worth of my Palace of Echos’s Anima natural production. What a waste of time.”
Wolf failed to keep in his despondent sigh. Then the other bank exploded with bellows and screeches. Fifteen giant yellow apes dashed out, kicking up a shower of dry leaves and broken branches swept up by their charge. The simians beat their chests and hollered, brandishing their clubs as they looked at Wolf.
There’s no way they heard me sigh.
“They are shouting at the Brilliant Gate’s people. Regardless, when my other Mental Aspects recover, I should designate one to control my body and nothing else. I’ve been showing all sorts of tells Mandy insisted I must never reveal.”
While Wolf disregarded them, the Gilded Apes did not stand still. After howling and pummeling their chests for a moment, all fifteen of them jumped into the water, splashing and causing huge waves, which made the surrounding lotuses bob up and down in the green water.
Unexpectedly, the massive Monster Beasts did not swim. They trudged through the channel, splashing the golden bristles below their armpits with sticky, emerald conferva.
“The water is about two-twenty deep.” Wolf answered a random question clawing at the back of his mind; meanwhile, others had more pressing concerns.
“We have to retreat,” an unknown Brilliant Gate’s disciple screamed.
“Hold your ground! We can handle this many,” Lena shouted. With the prize right before her, greed and madness seeped into her voice. The next moment, as if to spite her, five more pairs of Gilded Apes ran out of the forest and leaped into the water.
“Retreat,” the unwilling young miss changed her order, and the group of nine hundred fell into disarray.
If the apes catch up to her, I could kill her and reclaim my spear.
“Nonsense. There are at least twenty-five Gilded Apes here, plus the three which were on this bank. At most, I can fight five of them simultaneously. And, while they are slow, I don’t believe Eviltongue can wound them as easily as Miss Daseldoff’s sword. Meanwhile, all they need is to land one hit to drive me into a corner. The protective amulet I bought will block that one strike, but it won’t stop me from flying from the blow’s force.”
Wolf bit his lip as women thirty meters beneath his feet fled before the Gilded Apes.
They have a decent head start. Even though they are infuriated, the apes are avoiding the lotuses. They will take ten minutes to cross at this pace. Besides, in the jungle, being small is an advantage. Gilded Apes will chase them far to avenge their fallen brethren, but I don’t believe they will catch them.
“Exactly. They might be gone for hours. Gilded Ape population can’t be too large; two hundred at most. Meaning a whole eighth of their number just abandoned their posts, leaving a convenient gap…”
Wolf nodded. This is the best chance I’ll get to approach the core of their territory and snatch the crux. But if I take it, we will all get expelled from Corpsewood, and I won’t get the chance to collect other treasures.
“Most treasures here aren’t that good, and that’s me being generous. I mean, Brilliant Gate’s people are acting like Mind Clearing Lotus is the greatest thing ever. And let’s face it, the plant is insignificant. On the other hand, even the weakest secluded world’s crux means advancing four stages. By reaching a higher realm and entering a higher tier secluded world, I will find better treasures. My priority is growing strong enough to return home, not to get rich quickly…”
As Wolf mulled his plan over, weighing pros and cons, the first batch of enraged apes trampled the underbrush below him. Seconds later, the second group followed, flattening whatever plants had survived the furious stampede.
The far bank is still clear. It’s now or never.
Wolf snuck down the tree, avoiding both the Brilliant Gate’s disciples’ tracks and the ones Gilded Apes had left. He skulked through the bushes, and as he approached the moat, he summoned the pouch of Remove Trace.
He was about to sprinkle it to eliminate his trail, when a desperate wail shook the forest. Wolf jolted, spilling more powder than he had intended. Immediately, the heavy footprints left in his wake disappeared, as did his scent, and the few odd bits of skin and fiber he had shed while brushing against the foliage.
“They found the corpses.”
I should hurry.
He once more scanned the far shore. Seeing the coast clear, he stored his clothes and stepped into the water without making a sound. Despite coating himself in Qi, passing through the slimy film made his skin crawl. Blessedly, only the moat’s surface felt so disgusting, and when the cool, oozy layer reached his butt, Wolf squatted and disappeared from the surface, moving towards his goal without surfacing to check his surroundings.
Unlike the Earth Pavilion’s initiation trial, Wolf did not swim, bursting with speed. Instead, he sank to the bottom, hopping forward while squatting and propelling himself against the muck.
There are disadvantages to being heavy.
“Luckily, the Gilded Apes have trampled the moat’s bottom until it became compact enough to hold water. Otherwise, I would have sunk into the mud.”
Wolf advanced through the murky water for five minutes when he ran into a darker patch. He glanced up, spotting a round leaf, half a meter in diameter, floating on the water’s surface.
“They are useless to me.”
They could extend the Pavilion Master’s life by a year per elixir. And maybe some Alchemist can make higher quality pills with these, helping her further. I owe her one, while the risk and time investment are minimal.
Wolf sprang upwards with twice the previous force, straightening his stooped body. His head broke the surface, and he awakened his senses. The pearls of water slid down his forehead, and the runny goo stuck to his scalp. He ignored the sensation, focusing on the shore ahead.
It was a mix of green and brown, without a hint of gold.
No Gilded Apes.
Then he turned his gaze towards the faint pink flower, its closed petals so pale they passed for white to people with less acute eyes. A pleasant scent hung in the air, struggling against the stagnant water’s stench. Still, the evaporated oils drifting above the water’s surface refreshed Wolf’s mind a whit. Just enough to proclaim the flower’s benefits.
Wolf scanned his surroundings, memorizing the locations of nine lotuses in full bloom, ready for harvest. Then he sank back into the turbid water. In the murky world, he moved quickly and with purpose. He severed the plants’ meaty stems, storing the stem, leaf, and flower into his holdingring.
It was a wasteful approach, but a quick one. In two minutes, Wolf had harvested all nine plants and moved forward towards the shore.
Ten minutes after first entering the murky pool, Wolf stepped onto the sloped bank.
Shit.
“Yeah. I reek of this muddy, fetid water. But I can’t wash myself here.”
Hopefully, the apes living near the water have grown numb to it, and it will disguise my natural odor.
“That might be true. But once I’m further away, it will alert everyone of my presence.”
Wolf considered his options for a moment, then rushed into the jungle. Twenty meters in, he faced a wall of briars and scaled a tree, stepping onto its thickest bough.
I can’t fit a barrel here to have a bath.
Looking down, all he could see were large thorny bushes.
“I could hide within it.”
The barrel still won’t fit. But, I could dig a hole…
With that thought Wolf climbed down.
Five hours later, he had built himself a temporary underground shelter, covered by a Crimsonbriar. Inside, he had washed up, eaten, properly stored the Mind Clearing Lotus’s petals and stem, and considered his next steps.
Alright, so the plan is, I get as close to the center as I can. I meditate there for three months, absorbing World Energy and increasing my cultivation as much as possible. Then, I’m left with more than two months to figure out how to take the crux. Worse case scenario, once I reach the fourth stage of Blood Saturating, I will force my way through the Gilded Apes’ barricade, assuming one exists.
Wolf filled up the pit he had dug, returning the soil he had stored into his holdingring. He nodded, satisfied with the job. Only a skillful tracker would recognize something is off.
Back home, their petals are the fundamental ingredient for brewing least soul expanding potions. They should have a similar use in this world.
“They are trash. A least soul expanding potion can produce a year’s worth of Anima for someone with a single column in their Truthhall. Even if I knew the recipe to brew it, that would be less than a day’s worth of my Palace of Echos’s Anima natural production. What a waste of time.”
Wolf failed to keep in his despondent sigh. Then the other bank exploded with bellows and screeches. Fifteen giant yellow apes dashed out, kicking up a shower of dry leaves and broken branches swept up by their charge. The simians beat their chests and hollered, brandishing their clubs as they looked at Wolf.
There’s no way they heard me sigh.
“They are shouting at the Brilliant Gate’s people. Regardless, when my other Mental Aspects recover, I should designate one to control my body and nothing else. I’ve been showing all sorts of tells Mandy insisted I must never reveal.”
While Wolf disregarded them, the Gilded Apes did not stand still. After howling and pummeling their chests for a moment, all fifteen of them jumped into the water, splashing and causing huge waves, which made the surrounding lotuses bob up and down in the green water.
Unexpectedly, the massive Monster Beasts did not swim. They trudged through the channel, splashing the golden bristles below their armpits with sticky, emerald conferva.
“The water is about two-twenty deep.” Wolf answered a random question clawing at the back of his mind; meanwhile, others had more pressing concerns.
“We have to retreat,” an unknown Brilliant Gate’s disciple screamed.
“Hold your ground! We can handle this many,” Lena shouted. With the prize right before her, greed and madness seeped into her voice. The next moment, as if to spite her, five more pairs of Gilded Apes ran out of the forest and leaped into the water.
“Retreat,” the unwilling young miss changed her order, and the group of nine hundred fell into disarray.
If the apes catch up to her, I could kill her and reclaim my spear.
“Nonsense. There are at least twenty-five Gilded Apes here, plus the three which were on this bank. At most, I can fight five of them simultaneously. And, while they are slow, I don’t believe Eviltongue can wound them as easily as Miss Daseldoff’s sword. Meanwhile, all they need is to land one hit to drive me into a corner. The protective amulet I bought will block that one strike, but it won’t stop me from flying from the blow’s force.”
Wolf bit his lip as women thirty meters beneath his feet fled before the Gilded Apes.
They have a decent head start. Even though they are infuriated, the apes are avoiding the lotuses. They will take ten minutes to cross at this pace. Besides, in the jungle, being small is an advantage. Gilded Apes will chase them far to avenge their fallen brethren, but I don’t believe they will catch them.
“Exactly. They might be gone for hours. Gilded Ape population can’t be too large; two hundred at most. Meaning a whole eighth of their number just abandoned their posts, leaving a convenient gap…”
Wolf nodded. This is the best chance I’ll get to approach the core of their territory and snatch the crux. But if I take it, we will all get expelled from Corpsewood, and I won’t get the chance to collect other treasures.
“Most treasures here aren’t that good, and that’s me being generous. I mean, Brilliant Gate’s people are acting like Mind Clearing Lotus is the greatest thing ever. And let’s face it, the plant is insignificant. On the other hand, even the weakest secluded world’s crux means advancing four stages. By reaching a higher realm and entering a higher tier secluded world, I will find better treasures. My priority is growing strong enough to return home, not to get rich quickly…”
As Wolf mulled his plan over, weighing pros and cons, the first batch of enraged apes trampled the underbrush below him. Seconds later, the second group followed, flattening whatever plants had survived the furious stampede.
The far bank is still clear. It’s now or never.
Wolf snuck down the tree, avoiding both the Brilliant Gate’s disciples’ tracks and the ones Gilded Apes had left. He skulked through the bushes, and as he approached the moat, he summoned the pouch of Remove Trace.
He was about to sprinkle it to eliminate his trail, when a desperate wail shook the forest. Wolf jolted, spilling more powder than he had intended. Immediately, the heavy footprints left in his wake disappeared, as did his scent, and the few odd bits of skin and fiber he had shed while brushing against the foliage.
“They found the corpses.”
I should hurry.
He once more scanned the far shore. Seeing the coast clear, he stored his clothes and stepped into the water without making a sound. Despite coating himself in Qi, passing through the slimy film made his skin crawl. Blessedly, only the moat’s surface felt so disgusting, and when the cool, oozy layer reached his butt, Wolf squatted and disappeared from the surface, moving towards his goal without surfacing to check his surroundings.
Unlike the Earth Pavilion’s initiation trial, Wolf did not swim, bursting with speed. Instead, he sank to the bottom, hopping forward while squatting and propelling himself against the muck.
There are disadvantages to being heavy.
“Luckily, the Gilded Apes have trampled the moat’s bottom until it became compact enough to hold water. Otherwise, I would have sunk into the mud.”
Wolf advanced through the murky water for five minutes when he ran into a darker patch. He glanced up, spotting a round leaf, half a meter in diameter, floating on the water’s surface.
“They are useless to me.”
They could extend the Pavilion Master’s life by a year per elixir. And maybe some Alchemist can make higher quality pills with these, helping her further. I owe her one, while the risk and time investment are minimal.
Wolf sprang upwards with twice the previous force, straightening his stooped body. His head broke the surface, and he awakened his senses. The pearls of water slid down his forehead, and the runny goo stuck to his scalp. He ignored the sensation, focusing on the shore ahead.
It was a mix of green and brown, without a hint of gold.
No Gilded Apes.
Then he turned his gaze towards the faint pink flower, its closed petals so pale they passed for white to people with less acute eyes. A pleasant scent hung in the air, struggling against the stagnant water’s stench. Still, the evaporated oils drifting above the water’s surface refreshed Wolf’s mind a whit. Just enough to proclaim the flower’s benefits.
Wolf scanned his surroundings, memorizing the locations of nine lotuses in full bloom, ready for harvest. Then he sank back into the turbid water. In the murky world, he moved quickly and with purpose. He severed the plants’ meaty stems, storing the stem, leaf, and flower into his holdingring.
It was a wasteful approach, but a quick one. In two minutes, Wolf had harvested all nine plants and moved forward towards the shore.
Ten minutes after first entering the murky pool, Wolf stepped onto the sloped bank.
Shit.
“Yeah. I reek of this muddy, fetid water. But I can’t wash myself here.”
Hopefully, the apes living near the water have grown numb to it, and it will disguise my natural odor.
“That might be true. But once I’m further away, it will alert everyone of my presence.”
Wolf considered his options for a moment, then rushed into the jungle. Twenty meters in, he faced a wall of briars and scaled a tree, stepping onto its thickest bough.
I can’t fit a barrel here to have a bath.
Looking down, all he could see were large thorny bushes.
“I could hide within it.”
The barrel still won’t fit. But, I could dig a hole…
With that thought Wolf climbed down.
Five hours later, he had built himself a temporary underground shelter, covered by a Crimsonbriar. Inside, he had washed up, eaten, properly stored the Mind Clearing Lotus’s petals and stem, and considered his next steps.
Alright, so the plan is, I get as close to the center as I can. I meditate there for three months, absorbing World Energy and increasing my cultivation as much as possible. Then, I’m left with more than two months to figure out how to take the crux. Worse case scenario, once I reach the fourth stage of Blood Saturating, I will force my way through the Gilded Apes’ barricade, assuming one exists.
Wolf filled up the pit he had dug, returning the soil he had stored into his holdingring. He nodded, satisfied with the job. Only a skillful tracker would recognize something is off.
