The sun hung like a pendant on the neck of the sky, suspended perfectly at its zenith. Deep between the trees and bushes, a slight breeze whispered through the undergrowth, carrying the scent of earth and growing things. The shadows from tall trees protected the forest floor from the glaring beauty of the sun above, creating a dappled pattern of light and darkness that shifted with every gust of wind.
Chen Yu followed behind Xie Jun as they moved through the forest, his footsteps careful and measured to avoid making unnecessary noise. They'd been hunting for several hours now, and already had two boars to show for it. Both carcasses were stored in Xie Jun's pack, somehow fitting despite their size—some kind of storage artifact, Chen Yu assumed, though he hadn't asked. The young master moved with practiced ease through the dense vegetation, his eyes constantly scanning their surroundings for tracks and signs.
"There," Xie Jun said quietly, stopping and pointing at the ground ahead. Fresh tracks pressed into the soft earth, smaller than the boar prints but with an unusual pattern. "Spirit beast. Small one, probably early stage."
Chen Yu crouched beside him to examine the tracks more closely. They were definitely different from normal animal prints, with a faint shimmer around the edges that suggested residual spiritual energy. The spacing indicated a four-legged creature, maybe the size of a large dog or small wolf.
"Can you tell what kind?" Chen Yu asked.
"Not sure," Xie Jun admitted, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Could be a spirit fox or maybe a young spirit wolf. Either way, it's alone. Good for us." He stood and adjusted his dao sword. "Stay close but not too close. If it tries to run, let it. If it attacks you, back away and I'll handle it."
They followed the tracks deeper into the forest, moving slowly and staying downwind. Chen Yu kept his hand near his sword hilt, his heart rate gradually increasing as they got closer to their quarry. This would be his second time observing a spirit beast fight up close, his chance to really see how someone stronger dealt with these enhanced creatures.
The tracks led them to a small clearing where sunlight broke through the canopy in golden shafts. And there, drinking from a tiny stream that cut across the clearing, was their target.
It was a spirit fox, its fur a deep crimson that seemed to shimmer with inner light. Not large, maybe three feet long not counting its bushy tail, but even from this distance Chen Yu could see the spiritual energy rippling across its body like heat waves. A small nub of what might become a horn protruded from its forehead, marking it clearly as a spirit beast rather than a normal animal.
Xie Jun didn't hesitate. He burst from the tree line with explosive speed, his dao sword already swinging in a heavy overhead chop. The spirit fox reacted instantly, leaping sideways with supernatural grace. The blade crashed into the stream bed where it had been standing, sending up a spray of water and mud.
Chen Yu moved to the side of the clearing, keeping perhaps twenty feet away—close enough to observe but hopefully far enough to stay out of the fight. He watched intently as Xie Jun and the fox circled each other.
The spirit beast was fast, incredibly fast. It darted in with snapping jaws aimed at Xie Jun's leg, then bounced away before his counter-slash could connect. Its movements were fluid and unpredictable, making it hard to track. But Xie Jun didn't seem bothered. He kept his stance solid, his sword moving in controlled arcs that gradually forced the fox into a smaller and smaller area of the clearing.
The fox tried to break out of the encirclement, leaping high toward the tree line. Xie Jun was ready. He pivoted and brought his sword around in a devastating horizontal slash, catching the fox mid-air. The blade bit deep into its side, sending the creature tumbling to the ground with a pained yelp.
It hit hard, rolling twice before regaining its feet. Blood matted its crimson fur, darker red against the bright coloring. It was limping now, one of its front legs clearly injured from the fall and its side torn open from the sword strike.
But it wasn't done yet. The small horn on its forehead began to glow brighter, spiritual energy gathering visibly around the fox's body, making its fur stand on end. Chen Yu felt the pressure in the air increase as power built in the clearing.
Xie Jun charged forward before whatever enhancement the fox was attempting could fully take effect. His dao sword came down in a brutal diagonal slash that caught the fox's shoulder, carving deep through fur and muscle. The gathered spiritual energy dispersed harmlessly as the fox's concentration broke. The creature screamed, a sound that was half animal cry and half something more human, and tried to limp away on its remaining good legs.
It wasn't going to make it. Chen Yu could see that clearly. The shoulder wound was too deep, blood pouring out too fast, leaving a dark trail across the grass. Xie Jun advanced methodically, his sword raised for the killing blow.
The spirit fox's eyes, golden and far too intelligent for an animal, locked onto Chen Yu.
Everything happened in an instant. The fox pivoted on its good legs and launched itself directly at Chen Yu with desperate speed, its jaws open wide and that supernatural strength pushing its dying body to one final attack. If it was going to die, it would take the weaker human with it.
Chen Yu's hand moved toward his sword but he knew he wouldn't be fast enough. The fox was already airborne, already closing the distance. Three feet away. Two feet.
Without conscious thought, Chen Yu slipped into that half-state, his mind splitting into dual awareness. Time didn't slow exactly, but his perception sharpened to crystal clarity. He could see every detail of the fox's attack, every drop of blood trailing from its wounds, every hair on its crimson fur.
And in that moment, as death rushed toward him with open jaws, Chen Yu's mind screamed a single desperate thought: Die. Just die from your injuries. Die now.
Something inside him shifted. Changed. A tremendous amount of spiritual energy, roughly seventy percent of his total reserves, suddenly drained from his body in a rushing torrent. It didn't flow out through his meridians or gather around him visibly. It simply vanished, consumed by that strange dual state he existed in.
The spirit fox dropped from the air mid-lunge.
It hit the ground in a limp heap barely a foot from where Chen Yu stood, its eyes already glazed over in death. No final breath. No last twitch. Just instant, absolute cessation of life.
Chen Yu staggered backward, his own spiritual energy depleted to dangerous levels. His head spun with sudden exhaustion. But his mind was racing, replaying what had just happened. He'd been in that state. He'd wished for something. And reality had changed to match his will.
He'd killed the spirit beast with nothing but thought and spiritual energy.
"What—" Xie Jun skidded to a stop beside the fox's corpse, his dao sword still raised defensively. He looked from the dead fox to Chen Yu and back again, confusion written plainly across his features. "What happened? Did you—?"
"Its injuries," Chen Yu said quickly, forcing his voice to stay steady despite his racing heart and depleted energy. "Must have been worse than they looked. It died before the attack landed. Lucky timing."
Xie Jun frowned, clearly skeptical. He crouched beside the fox and examined it carefully, checking the shoulder wound and the gash along its side, running his hand over its body. "That's... strange. These wounds are bad, yes, but it should have had at least another minute or two before blood loss killed it. Maybe even longer with its enhanced vitality."
Chen Yu shrugged, trying to look as confused as Xie Jun while keeping his expression neutral. "Maybe it had some internal injury we couldn't see? Or its heart just gave out from the stress?"
The young master considered this for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Spirit beasts can be unpredictable sometimes. Their bodies are stronger than normal animals but also under constant strain from the spiritual energy they contain. I suppose it's possible something just... failed." He stood and wiped his blade clean on some grass. "Still, you got lucky. That was about to be very bad for you."
"Believe me, I know," Chen Yu said with feeling. That part was entirely sincere.
Xie Jun began the work of harvesting the spirit beast, his knife making careful cuts to extract the beast core and other valuable materials. As he worked, he spoke without looking up. "You know, most of this should go to you. You were the one it went after, and technically you're the one it died near."
"You did all the fighting," Chen Yu protested, though his heart wasn't really in it. He needed money desperately.
"And you provided support by being here," Xie Jun countered. He pulled out the beast core, a small red crystal about the size of a marble that pulsed with residual energy. "Tell you what—I'll take the core since my family needs it. But you can have most of the body materials. Fair?"
Chen Yu nodded gratefully. Spirit fox fur was valuable for cold-weather clothing and formations. The claws and teeth could be used in weapon crafting. Even the bones had alchemical applications. All together, it would probably sell for at least twenty spirit stones, maybe more if he found the right buyer.
Xie Jun finished his harvesting and divvied up the materials, placing most of them in a smaller pouch that he handed to Chen Yu. "Here. That should help fund your talisman work."
"Thank you," Chen Yu said, accepting the pouch and securing it to his belt. The weight was reassuring.
The sun was already beginning its descent toward the horizon, afternoon bleeding into early evening. Xie Jun looked around the clearing and nodded to himself. "We should set up camp here for the night. There's water from the stream, and the clearing gives us good visibility if anything approaches."
Chen Yu agreed readily. His spiritual energy was still dangerously depleted from whatever he'd done to the fox, and he needed time to recover. Camping would give him a chance to meditate and restore his reserves without Xie Jun noticing how badly drained he was.
They began gathering firewood from the edges of the clearing, working in companionable silence as the forest slowly darkened around them. Chen Yu's mind kept returning to what had happened, to that moment when his will had translated directly into reality. He'd killed a spirit beast without touching it, without using any technique or weapon. Just pure intention backed by spiritual energy.
What else could he do in that state? What were the limits?
But for now, he needed to act normal. Recover his energy. And figure out how to use this new power without anyone discovering his secret.