One of its tails was burnt off and patches of fur were torn apart. An eye gouged out, with clawed out wounds covering its body, yet the Ash Tiger drudged on towards the livestock. Right now, in its state, even a group of mortals could deal with it.
Shuren leapt out of the tree with his Ruyi Staff, and Aerestia left the formation and walked towards the half dead Ash Tiger. Shuren raised an eyebrow. What is she doing?
Even in the unforgiving embrace of nature's decree, a cornered creature at death throes would burst the potential of its life. He wasn't sure if a Beast Tamer could still approach such a creature with nary a worry. The Ruyi Staff at his side hummed with vigour, itching for battle, so he stopped near the formation while keeping a stance a few metres away from the growling Ash Tiger.
"Are you going to explain yourself?" Shuren asked, poised to strike if the Ash Tiger dared to attack.
"It's alright. She's of no danger." Aerestia said as she pulled out a small wooden bottle, pouring out a thick salve in the beast's mouth. "I think she's just trying to feed her cubs. What I'm more worried about is how she got these wounds. It must be why she's been driven out all the way here." She had a focused gaze, paying no attention to her surroundings.
Whatever the attacker was, he looked around the horizon but saw only flat plains of grass. Shuren edged closer near the Ash Tiger, observing the injuries. There was mostly sharp cuts and gashes, as if clawed out.
Claw marks. No signs of another beast amongst the plains. And seeing how it's from Volkahor Mountains…
Shuren focused Qi around his ears, sharpening his sense of hearing. It wasn't a particularly windy day, and the sky was cloudy, but he heard the faint sound of a whistle.
"On guard!" Shuren said, tapping Aerestia with the Ruyi Staff to break her focus before cycling his Qi, both hands now gripping his weapon. She got the hint in an instant, looking at the sky after getting up.
Within a single breath, a red-feathered flying beast blotted the cloudy sky. Wings kept at its side, it was diving straight at them. Shuren grit his teeth. There's no outrunning this thing. I'll have to block it head on.
The flying beast's bulging red eyes and two flaming whiskers crackled with Qi, having realising his prey detected it. It let out a screeching roar to the point Shuren and Aerestia frowned in pain, but they couldn't afford to focus any Qi towards their ears, nor cover them. Tiny sparks of flame even appeared out of its beak. Shuren and Aerestia both recognised it, having seen it within the cloudmulet bestiary and A grade Qidense Cloud Missives.
A Pyros Eagle.
Within a blink, it clawed towards Shuren's chest, pushing him back as the forces of wind bellowed from the clash.
"Western winds, heed my call." Aerestia invoked. An ice crystalline spear formed by Aerestia's side as her horns glistened, staff held in her hands.
Shuren's fingers tensed as his muscles bulged, holding onto his staff. This eagle itself was at least the size of a cow, immense force almost making him buckle. Realisation dawned on him as he stood his ground. This eagle's trying to take my staff away? This intellect, is it a Deviant? No, the Deviant Roc in the sect finale was far more threatening and powerful.
Shadows ran behind Shuren, curving towards the fiery eagle. The shadowy mist dispersed, uncovering fangs covered in blood, sinking into the eagle's back. It shrieked in horror as the weak prey it had forgotten about, the Ash Tiger, had struck him with an ambush.
Now that his plan had failed, the flying beast flapped his wings in madness to leave. It only hunted with such a hit-and-run tactic. Two icicles stabbed deep within each wing and it tumbled down, rolling across the grassy plains. Shuren looked towards Aerestia, and she nodded towards him. He understood the message right away, and it was time for him to put in the work.
With each foot digging deep into the earth, tufts of grass flew by as he darted towards the eagle, covering space in an instant to get into close quarters combat. Shuren focused on its beak, baiting it to use its skills. Since the Ash Tiger had burn marks, this beast must have a skill to breathe fire. It's definitely above stage 9.
Shuren inwardly sighed, glad that he brought Aerestia along to help. He doubted if he could deal with a stage nine Qidense beast on his own, with him not having debilitating attacks yet. His weakness at the moment was him being a pure melee fighter, and until he broke through to Path Foundation, it wouldn't change.
The eagle stood upright, its two whiskers began lighting up as its thorax bulged with orange light beneath its skin. The air felt stifling, sweat forming on Shuren's face. His calves burned with QI as he pushed more force into it, speeding up once more. With a quick leap, he twisted his torso, bringing the staff back over his shoulder to wind up a finishing blow. A loud slam cracked the eagle's beak, fire burning its own mouth in backlash. At the same time, another ice crystal stabbed deep into the Pyron Eagle's stomach.
With both fire burning its throat and ice piercing through its body, it stumbled down, vomiting out some of its feed. A hand of some young humanoid creature burnt into an unrecognisable state.
Shuren now had a massive opening.
"Now!" Shuren's Ruyi Staff was almost shaking, the Qi that it had built up about to unleash like a dam about to crack. He was going to pierce its brain, making sure to kill it in one blow. Stepping back a metre, he held a stance with the staff pointing at the eagle's eye.
Control it. I need to control the flow of Qi in the Ruyi Staff.
Shuren thought back to when he asked about Spiritude Grade artifacts from his father in his office.
***
"Shuren, the technology of Spiritude Grade is still new, being able to mimic Zeal Artifacts of Earth Grade and beyond. You haven't tapped into cultivating your soul yet, so you'll constantly need to bond this staff with your body."
"But I'm only at stage 6 Qidense. Only at stage 7 can I control the flow of my Qi to extend beyond my body with complete stability."
Shuren's father chuckled with great gusto. "You're my son. And don't you remember the Liu Clan motto you learnt for mastering the sword?"
"To treat it as my own arm, becoming an extension of my body?"
His father smiled. "You already have the answer."
***
Shuren stopped cycling his Qi. He repositioned himself back and held the staff with a single hand.
Blitz Stride is a basic movement technique used for offense. So, if I can perfect that burst of intense speed while using Qi Tether…
Shuren's right arm bulged, holding the staff back over his shoulder. He threw it like a javelin.
I have to cut through even the air itself!
Then, with his mind, he pushed.
He felt a strange sensation, like a string being ripped from his palm into his staff. All the chaotic bundles of Qi stored in his weapon condensed itself into a straight line, like a spear hidden within the staff. He felt bloated and heavy for a moment, then utterly drained in the next.
The Ruyi Staff smashed through the eagle's head, and the aura of wind exploded, causing Shuren's hair to flutter. His staff didn't stop, soaring through the air for a moment before plopping back down, impaling itself in the dirt a hundred meters away. At least a few meters around its radius, the aura of wind unearthed the grass and splattered it everywhere.
His right arm had cuts all over, shredded from the aspects of wind formed in his palm.
His fingers trembled as he stared at his injured arm. Because even with the pain caused by those injuries, they were a mark of something greater.
I actually managed to tap into the Paths and use Wind Qi already?! Even if I can't control it, and it cut through my arm as well, I can focus on honing this!
The fiery beast plopped down on the ground like a puppet that lost its strings. Shuren felt like his entire right arm had been ripped apart, alongside having dislocated his shoulder. He nonchalantly popped it back in, but the soreness remained. Shuren then looked towards his staff and thought. He felt the thin line of his Qi ever more stable..
The Ruyi Staff ripped itself out of the earth and flew in a perfectly straight line to its master. Shuren chuckled at the realisation. It was just at the speed of Wu Ming's Qi Tether, back in their duel! Faster, efficient, with far more control than before.
He had broken through to Stage 7 Qidense Realm!
Aerestia had a gloomy face looking at the eagle, puckering her forehead. She swiftly hopped on her flying nimbus, in the shape of a round bird, and jumped on with the Ash Tiger. Though it was still in a miserable shape, it could still move around for a while.
Ignoring the pain, Shuren walked towards the fallen eagle in the distance.
An augur purple light shone, in the splattered cranium of the eagle.
Before Shuren could react, Aerestia interrupted his thoughts as she approached.
"Grab my hand!" Aerestia yelled, stretching out her hand on her cloud.
"It's fine, I'll get on." He leaped on her fluffy cloudy bird, using his staff as a rebounding force. "So what's going on? You're the beast master here."
Sweat trickled down her forehead as she realised the full picture. "That's not a wild beast, it's a Beast Tamer's familiar."
Like a stringed up puppet, the eagle gradually rose up in the sky. It faced towards Volkahor Mountains and flew off.
Aerestia noticed Shuren's questioning gaze, so she continued, "It's… It has to be a demonic cultivator! This is clearly one of the demonic paths to use the dead, the Nekron Path!" She looked to face Shuren with tension. "Um, we should go back and report this to the sect right now!"
Shuren glared at the Pyros Eagle corpse, with his Ruyi Staff resting on his shoulder. He grinned.
"No."