"Now, do as I instructed."Sun glanced up at his Teacher, the jovial grin and the twinkling eyes of a prankster no longer could be seen. After they had entered the heart of the Hidden Vale Mountain, a cool seriousness had replaced it. It made Sun glad once more of his luck at being chosen as disciple by this man.
Sun closed his eyes and sought his innersea. "Sea" was a deceptive word for the place where his spiritual energies lie, for it was more like an open s.p.a.ce within a swirling tornado, with his energies casually drifting around it"s heart. It took just a brief nudge to have the spiritual energy form their own small whirling wind which grew and expanded to beyond his sea, to beyond his body and outward. Though still spiralling, the winds with Sun at their centre, barely moved leaf or blade of gra.s.s, quietly drifting with purpose and relaying the information back to the boy.
This obstacle that prevented them from sweeping past was this shape and this obstacle which would bend to their whims was of this shape. And all that Sun was required to do was translate the information into images and then into an aerial map. That was what required most of his concentration and when he felt that the information that cantered on to him was too great, he had to reign in the circling winds and draw them back into himself.
A moment later, he opened his eyes gasping, beads of sweat upon his brow, the images with his mind"s eye still flickering.
The Hidden Vale Mountain was an untamed land, with large trees dominating fertile s.p.a.ces and stunted trees and shrubs upon rocky outcrops. And at the centre of the mountain was a large inset vale, filled with even more trees, shrubs and herbs. And of course within the leafy trees were countless birds, small beast and insects, somewhat safely living out of reach of the ground dwelling large predators. Although Sun was only able to capture a snapshot of this and only as outlines that he would need to rely on his imagination to fill, it did not fail to fill him with wonder.
"Well, can you tell me how far your range is?" His Teacher enquired. Sun guessed it was about a fifty metre radius, no more for certain. His Teacher nodded and smiled, ruffling his student"s long brown hair and messing it up a fair bit, indicating in his own way that he was pleased. But of course, such a range would not be able to compete with his own, which had already detected skulking poachers some two hundred metres away towards the east.
Jin Li watched from the sidelines as Sun was instructed on this use of his wind arts, quite intrigued. His own root was lightning, a root that caused contention for it flew in the face of what was considered true; the five roots of Earth, Wood, Metal, Fire and Water were the primary roots and only these roots could produce the linked element from their internal energies. Meaning that if a person had Water as their root, they could produce water, but if their root was the secondary Ice, they can only manipulate water or worse if they were the waste root Frost, then they could only use it to strengthen their body (perhaps to survive in extreme climates or to slow a wound).
Lightning was placed as a secondary root as it was not considered as versatile as Fire, but at the same time, Lightning users could produce the element as if it were a primary root.
Wind was also considered a secondary root, linked to both Fire and Wood. It was still a good root to have for it didn"t matter whether one could produce wind or air, it was all around a person so might as well just focus on manipulation. And it seemed it had other uses as well, ones that were not combative, but just as useful.
The Teacher and two students moved through the grounds at a steady pace, running in the direction of the poachers that Corvus had detected. Suddenly, Corvus ran on ahead with a burst of speed, leaving the two students to simply gaze wide eyed in his wake. Without hesitation, both hurried, adding a little extra to their pace in an attempt to catch up with him.
The smell of blood alerted them first, before the trees cleared enough to allow them to witness what had occurred. A large coeurl lay shallowly breathing upon the ground, its scaled body leaking blood from many places. The Teacher was fighting against three men, whose aura"s screamed strength, warning Sun that he would not be able to go against even one of them. It did not stop Jin Li from throwing himself into the fray. Although his opponent was a half-step above him, lingering on the peak of Tertiary, he was at least able to ease the burden on Corvus, who dealt with the other two Cultivators.
Teacher Corvus immediately grinned. Now that his cute student could observe the mighty him, he stopped playing with the two Quaternary stage men and fought with all of his ability. The men were easily suppressed and lost their lives to his able hand.
Jin Li"s own techniques were strange, alien, yet beautiful, they confused his opponent, reducing the gap of strength between them until it was little more than an a.s.sumption. The poacher a.s.sumed he was the stronger of them due to his cultivation, but Jin Li was never one for a.s.sumptions. In the end, the poacher could not gain the upper hand and sought to escape, but Jin Li"s sword proved quicker and ran through his stomach before he could make headway.
The coeurl softly huffed, a slight yowl escaping its throat. It was a beautiful creature even in the throws of death. Its long feline body shaped for speed was coated in shimmering midnight blue scales and its thick paws tipped with sharp silver claws. It had long tentacle like whiskers, one on either side of its nose, but they were not gently waving about, testing the air; they hung limply at its side. Its emerald eyes sported a thin elongated pupil, which remained cautious of its defenders, even though it could no longer fight to save itself. No longer fight to save... the beast took its last breath, under the men"s helpless gazes.