David remained standing only because Anna was holding him.
If she released him now, even for a breath, he knew his body would collapse like a puppet with its strings cut.
The battle was over, the danger passed, but the price of surviving it was finally coming due—paid all at once, with interest.
His legs trembled faintly beneath him, muscles locked in that fragile balance between standing and failing.
His chest rose and fell unevenly, each breath dragging in air that felt far heavier than it should have.
It carried the thick scent of blood, torn earth, and crushed vegetation—the unmistakable smell of a battlefield freshly abandoned by death.
The valley was quiet.
Too quiet.
Birdsong had not yet fully returned.
The wind moved through the trees cautiously, as if the forest itself were still wary of disturbing what had just occurred.
The Stonehide Boar's massive corpse lay not far away, its sheer presence dominating the clearing even in death.
Its ruined head was turned slightly toward David, empty eye sockets dark and hollow, blood already beginning to cool and thicken beneath it.
David swallowed hard.
Now that the adrenaline was gone, the reality of what he had done, what he had nearly lost pressed down on him with suffocating weight.
Anna shifted her grip, sensing the moment his balance faltered.
Her arm tightened around his back, steady and immovable. She guided him a few steps away from the corpse, her movements calm, deliberate.
To anyone watching, she looked composed, unshaken. Only David, who had grown up under her care, could feel the tension beneath that calm, the careful control she was exerting over herself.
She had almost lost him.
That truth burned silently in her chest.
David felt it without needing words.
"Mom…" His voice came out hoarse, dry. He paused, swallowing again before continuing. "Help me sit. Lotus position."
Anna looked at him.
Really looked.
His face was pale, a thin sheen of cold sweat clinging to his skin. His lips were tinged faintly blue, breath still unsteady. She could see the strain in his eyes the exhaustion layered beneath lingering shock.
For a moment, instinct screamed at her to lay him flat, to keep him still, to prioritize safety over cultivation habits.
But she also knew her son.
She nodded.
Together, they lowered him to the ground. His knees nearly buckled halfway down, but Anna adjusted instantly, shifting her stance, supporting his weight until he settled into the lotus position.
She adjusted his posture with practiced hands, straightening his spine, aligning his shoulders, ensuring his breathing could stabilize properly.
Only then did she move behind him.
David closed his eyes as her presence settled at his back.
She placed her palms gently against him.
Warmth spread through the thin fabric of his tunic a warmth he had known since childhood.
That simple contact, more than anything else, steadied his racing thoughts.
Anna inhaled slowly.
Then she began circulating her qi.
David felt it the instant it left her body.
Her qi flowed differently from his controlled, mature, tempered by decades of survival and experience.
It entered him carefully, cautiously, as though she were afraid of overwhelming his fragile state.
The moment it reached his dantian, David sucked in a sharp breath.
The emptiness there reacted violently.
It was like pouring water into a cracked vessel his body absorbed it greedily, desperately.
He forced himself to calm, guiding the qi deliberately through his meridians, refusing to let it surge out of control.
Pain flared as it passed through pathways strained to their limit during the battle.
But it was a clean pain.
A healing pain.
The shallow wounds along his arms stopped bleeding first.
Torn skin tightened, closing slowly but surely. Beneath the surface, muscles relaxed as qi repaired microfractures and tears left by exhaustion and overuse.
His physique accelerated the process, drawing more benefit from each thread of qi than a normal cultivator ever could.
If I could use death consumption right now…
The thought surfaced naturally.
Unavoidably.
He could feel it.
The death energy from the Stonehide Boar lingered thick in the clearing, unseen but undeniable.
It pressed against his senses like a dense fog, heavy with potential. Every instinct screamed that absorbing it now would complete his recovery in moments.
Like adding wings to a tiger.
His breathing grew slightly uneven.
Just a moment… If I distract her…
The thought barely formed before he denied it. No.
He shut it down forcefully.
This was Anna.
The woman who had raised him alone in a cruel world. The one who had taught him to hunt, to fight, to survive. The one who had told him to face the boar and trusted him to do so.
He would not be able to hide it.
Not like this.
He focused fully on the qi she was giving him, guiding it carefully, evenly, refusing to waste even a strand.
Time passed quietly.
Eventually, the flow stopped.
Anna withdrew her hands slowly, as though afraid sudden movement might undo the progress he had made. She leaned forward immediately, her sharp gaze scanning his body with practiced precision.
Her eyes paused on his arms. His side. His shoulder.
She frowned slightly at the lingering superficial wounds, but noted that none were bleeding actively. His breathing, while still heavy, had steadied.
Only then did she straighten.
David opened his eyes.
Sunlight filtered through the canopy overhead, dust motes drifting lazily in its glow. For a moment, everything felt unreal like he was seeing the world from a step removed, wrapped in soft distance.
Anna was watching him.
Their gazes met.
No words were needed.
He pushed himself upright slowly. His arms screamed in protest, a deep ache radiating through muscle and bone. He ignored it. Pain like this was familiar. Temporary.
After steadying himself, he spoke.
"Mom," he said quietly, his tone measured, respectful, "why don't you scout the surroundings? I'll dismantle the boar—core, tusks, hide, meat. We shouldn't stay here longer than necessary."
Anna hesitated.
She didn't like leaving him alone—not now, not when she could still see the fatigue etched into his posture.
But she also knew the situation.
A Stonehide Boar's corpse would draw attention of Predators, Other hunters or Worse.
She nodded once.
"Be careful," she said simply.
Then she moved.
With a light push of her feet, she leapt into the trees, her figure flowing from branch to branch with effortless grace until the forest swallowed her presence entirely.
The moment she was gone
David didn't waste a second.
He activated Death Consumption.
The death energy reacted instantly.
It surged toward him like a dam breaking, flooding into his dantian in overwhelming waves. Cold, heavy, dense—it filled the emptiness left behind by qi depletion with frightening speed.
David clenched his jaw, focusing every shred of will on controlling it.
The sensation was intoxicating.
And terrifying.
His dantian expanded under the pressure, meridians trembling as they adjusted to the influx. He guided the energy carefully, refusing to let it spiral out of control.
A minute passed.
Then stillness.
When it ended, the clearing felt… emptier.
David exhaled slowly, assessing the energy now stored within him.
He knew immediately.
This was enough.
Enough to push him straight to the peak of the fourth stage of Qi Refining.
He was already at the peak of the third.
Breaking through now would be effortless.
Which was exactly why he couldn't allow it.
Too fast…
Anna would notice. The base upper echelons would notice. Cultivators with sharper senses would notice.
And when they did.
He suppressed the breakthrough firmly.
Instead, he guided a portion of the death energy into restoring his bones fully, reinforcing them to optimal condition. He left the superficial wounds untouched believable, explainable.
Only then did he relax slightly.
He picked up his blade and turned toward the boar.
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