I was almost fully paralyzed. The Poison God's Book was not accessible to me. My holding bag was gone… And this was the case with everyone I'd met so far. Not to mention I felt like every muscle and fiber of my being was in agonizing pain.
'Strange', is the least possible word one could use to describe our bizarre circumstances.
We were in a seemingly sunny environment, probably teleported to another dimensional plane. Or perhaps we were still in the cave and it has some sort of inexplicable working ecosystem that includes a sky and a sun all of its own.
Since I couldn't fly, I wasn't able to check whether that sun was real. I suspect it was indeed an artificial light source. My Divine Sense didn't reach all the way up, so that option was out, too.
The area around us was full of green vibrant life. And some Saint Class Beasts that don't seem too friendly.
The rest of my group was spread out, all over the place.
"We need a plan! First things first. We need to meet up with the rest of the cultivators," I announced.
"How are we going to do that?", Lin asked.
"I don't know for now, but we can't make a big commotion. It may draw in Saint Class beasts, or worse," I said.
"What could be worse than drawing a Saint Class Beast!?", Liang Yu said, obviously unaware of the old adage 'There's always someone stronger'.
"For example, unwanted attention from the Fire Palace…?" I elaborated.
And – as if it fate was awaiting my words – a loud explosion echoed in the distance.
Looking between the leaves of these tall trees, I saw a long column of smoke and fire rising up all the way to the skies. And then it exploded into a gigantic flare that pulled unwanted attention from all around.
"Well, that's not good. We have to move!", I said.
"Where to? Didn't you say it will drag the attention of the Fire Palace?" asked Liang Yu
"It may, but it may also draw the attention of the other Palaces. Let's head there. If we make it, we'll be around people from the other Palaces. There's safety in numbers, so the Fire Palace can't do anything! We need to get to the location of that Flare," I finished.
"Then why were you so against us shooting something like that flare," said Liang Yu as she readied up to move.
"Because if we did that, we may encounter unwanted visitors and need to defend ourselves. However right now, whoever fired that flare needs to defend themselves – and we simply need to go there to check, rescue or ignore," I explained.
"Most logical. Self-preservation is the key! I like how you think Shen," Lin commented
Her cat ears were perked up as she spoke… It was a bit too cute, but I decided to not speak of it next to Liang Yu.
"Let's go then," I urged. My four arms picked me up, and we continued to move forward.
Dr Octopus would be proud! My arms broke through any obstruction, and helped move my nearly paralyzed body freely.
Impressively Lin and Liang Yu were both easily able to keep up with me. Lin dashed forward on all fours, while Liang Yu moved by taking wide strides, which made it seem as if she were riding the wind.
The three of us raced through the forest, heading toward the flare.
At some point, we heard a beast hollering.
A Red Ape the size of a huge tree was roaring at us. In one of his hands was a boulder the size of a house that he tossed at us.
Before the rock covered half the distance, something flashed forward, sliced the boulder in two and zoomed past the ape.
The oversized monkey screeched in anger at the incoming person. And was about to flatten him under its palm! A massive blow came down at the newcomer, like the decree of an enraged God.
However, this person, wearing a set of full white robes didn't even hesitate to face the giant palm with his own tiny palm.
The sound of the two hands clashing echoed a blast of power, and a shockwave rattled the vicinity. Every tree in the area shook, to its roots. Yet the young man was unmoved. He resembled a mountain, effortlessly stalling a hurricane. Unfazed, undaunted and above all standing strong.
In the young man's hand was a small wooden stick. It looked puny and weak, yet the words the young man uttered left everyone wide-eyed, "Blessed Wind of the North, heed my call, and bring forth the reckoning upon those who defy me!"
An instantaneous whirlwind manifested, condensed around the stick and rapidly shaped itself into a sword of pure wind. The young man focused, and swung upwards.
A raging gale shot from the wind sword in his hand, and blasted the ape back.
"Keep moving! It's a Saint Class beast – I can't kill it, but this should delay it enough!" he announced.
He then turned and shot toward to the source of the flare. The three of us were bewildered but we still followed after him.
"Who is that? And why did he help us?" Liang Yu asked.
"I saw him before among the Wind Palace cultivators," I said.
"He is strong," spoke Lin, her eyes and ears perked up and focused on the back of the person who was moving forward.
"Didn't they say that this place is only accessible to people below the Ascendant Realm, how could a person even fight against a Saint Class beast when they're not even Ascendant, he even used Saint Qi!" Liang Yu said.
"No, that wasn't his power," I said as we moved ahead.
"How come?" spoke Liang Yu.
"That's the power of the Wind Palace, the Northern Wind, the guardian of the Northern Domain.", I answered, "This disciple is apparently able to summon a fraction of the Northern Wind's power. Otherwise, his hand would have been destroyed when he tried to stop the Ape with his palm. He would have turned into blood and bone paste if he simply relied upon his own cultivation… Keep moving!!"
Our group headed forward and as we approached the flare, I thought about the reason behind this person's assistance.
He probably wants us to owe him a favor, so he can bank on it later. I don't like owing people favors especially in a situation where I could have managed by myself. Nevertheless, let's see how this pans out.
Soon we came upon more cultivators, all rushing toward the flare just as we were. Many of them were from the various Palaces. Some were from the Heavenly Academy, too.
They approached us as we ran, and followed our group.
Three people from the Fire Palace ran next to us, and I could feel the Baleful aura of the Infernal Flame seeping out of them. Every step they took seemed to sear the ground… But almost immediately, the grass would grow verdant again as if it has never been harmed.
This world is sure strange.
The three people from the Fire Palace slowly but surely seemed to approach us while moving towards the Flare Location.
But suddenly, another person shot up from behind us. He had several injuries all over his body and I was surprised to see him even moving. The glaring puncture wounds he sported didn't even seem to bother him.
He looked at me, his eyes green as mine, but his jaw full of razor-sharp teeth!
"Found you!" he smirked
"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!" I shouted to my group and they all split apart.
Almost immediately, the man with the green eyes slammed his palm down on the ground next to himself. And a gigantic claw made of poison emerged, like a reckoning of the Gods.
"Shit!" I cursed as I saw the Poison Tiger Claw coming right at me.
"Imperial Ice Formation!"
Out of nowhere, a giant pyramid of Ice materialized around me, encasing me in a protective formation. Albeit strong, the ice pyramid almost caved in under the power of the Poison Tiger Claw.
The two forces dissipated each other, and I emerged safe from underneath the melting ice. The Poison Tiger Claw disappeared completely, leaving nothing but poisonous fumes.
"Oh, how cute, someone protected your filthy corpse! But no matter!" spoke the man with the green eyes, "Your time has come!" he said and then stabbed his shoulder with a finger that seemed to be flaring with poison energy.
The man's whole body seemed to be bolstered by that finger stab as more Qi gathered around him in a torrent.
"Shit! I cursed as I backed away.
"Shen Bao!" I heard the words of Yu-Yu. She was the one who created the Ice pyramid around me.
"Stay hidden, this is a poison cultivator! Same as me! Only, more dangerous!" I said as I continued backing away using the robotic arms.
"You're unfit to hold the Heritage, I'll take yours and I'll have better odds against the Hunter! GIVE ME YOURS!", the madman spoke as he ran forward, poison energy flaring out from him, wilting everything in range.
He wants the Heritage... He's an Acolyte!
'Well, this explains why Master Rain was so against me going out this early… Shit!!'