Early fall morning and Hunter stumbled out of his cultivation chamber feeling like someone had taken his entire body apart, lost the instruction manual, and just started jamming pieces together hoping for the best.
Success. Probably. Hard to tell when everything hurt.
His spiritual sense swept outward automatically. One mile used to be his limit. Now? Five miles of crystal clear awareness flooding his brain like someone upgrading from dial-up to fiber optic except the internet was his consciousness and the download was every living thing within detection range.
Shadow Rest in perfect detail. Seventy-three citizens doing morning routines. Guards on walls looking professional. Spirit beasts gathering at convergence boundary like sharks smelling blood in water.
Oh. And shadows. So many shadows wrapped around his body like clingy pets that finally got permission to exist.
