The storm had broken by midday, leaving the Blackcloud Mountains wrapped in thick, silvery mist. Visibility dropped to twenty paces; sounds carried strangely, muffled then suddenly sharp. Perfect conditions for an ambush—or for someone who preferred not to be seen.
Lin Xuan descended into the spawning grounds marked on Wei Zhong's map: a narrow valley cradled between two sheer cliffs. The air here hummed with raw, chaotic essence—unstable, volatile, the kind that birthed gu in wild clusters rather than letting them mature slowly under controlled conditions. Rank-one gu spawned here almost daily, sometimes in twos or threes, drawn from the earth like bubbles from boiling water.
He crouched on a ledge overlooking the valley floor.
Below, the ground was pocked with shallow craters—each one a fresh spawn site. Faint glows flickered in several: a Firefly Gu pulsing orange, a Wind Whisper Gu trailing wisps of pale blue, a Stone Skin Gu half-buried in cracked earth. Scattered among them were the bones of less fortunate cultivators who had tried to claim them too greedily.
And guarding the richest cluster—a glowing fissure that leaked multicolored light—was a pack of Mist Wolves. Six in total, rank two initial to middle stage. Larger than the Ironjaws he had slain earlier, their fur shimmered with condensed fog, making them nearly invisible until they moved. Their eyes glowed a dull silver, tracking heat and qi fluctuations rather than sight alone.
Lin Xuan watched them prowl.
They were not mindless. They waited. They let weaker gu spawn and mature slightly before harvesting them for their cores—building strength through patience rather than reckless consumption.
Intelligent beasts. Dangerous.
He liked that.
"Six against one," he murmured. "Reasonable odds… for now."
He needed more gu. His aperture was nearing capacity for rank-one slots, but quality trumped quantity. The fissure below was spawning a rare multi-path gu—something with traces of both illusion and poison, judging by the sickly green-purple shimmer. If he could claim it before the wolves, it would complement his Venom Thorn and Moonlight perfectly.
He waited.
An hour passed. The fissure pulsed brighter.
A new gu emerged: a small, translucent moth with wings like stained glass—Illusion Venom Moth Gu, rank one peak upon birth. It fluttered upward, dazed, essence still settling.
The Mist Wolves moved as one.
Lin Xuan moved faster.
He leapt from the ledge, Moonlight Gu flaring to split his image into five flickering copies. They scattered across the valley floor like ghosts in the mist.
The wolves snarled, confused for a heartbeat—long enough.
Lin Xuan landed beside the fissure. His hand closed around the newborn moth. It struggled once, then accepted his blood-refining with surprising ease, perhaps sensing the affinity in his existing gu.
[Illusion Venom Moth Gu acquired. Rank 1 peak. Effect: Can release illusory poison clouds that induce hallucinations and gradual organ decay. Synergizes with Venom Thorn.]
Satisfaction flickered through him—cold, controlled.
The wolves recovered.
They encircled him, mist coiling thicker around their bodies. One lunged from the left; another from behind.
Time Cicada pulsed.
Three breaths rewound.
The lunges halted. Lin Xuan was already stepping sideways, positioning himself with his back to the fissure—using the unstable essence as a shield against flanking.
He activated the new moth gu immediately.
Wings shimmered. A cloud of pale green mist billowed outward—not real poison at first, but perfect illusion. To the wolves, it appeared as a wall of choking venom fog, thick enough to burn lungs and blind eyes.
They recoiled instinctively.
Lin Xuan did not waste the opening.
He charged the nearest wolf—Black Skin hardening his arm into a club. His fist smashed into its snout with a wet crack. Bone shattered. The beast yelped, staggering.
Another wolf leapt.
Venom Thorn lashed out—green thread piercing its shoulder. The illusion cloud amplified the effect: the wolf saw not one thread, but dozens, writhing like serpents. Panic set in; it thrashed wildly, tearing at its own flesh.
Lin Xuan pivoted.
Golden Cicada Gu—now at 21% maturation—stirred again, unbidden. A thin golden thread extended toward the dying wolf's core.
It drank.
The beast's struggles slowed, then ceased. Its life essence flowed backward through the thread, feeding the infant gu.
[Golden Cicada progress: 28% toward rank 1 awakening.]
The remaining four wolves howled—a sound that echoed unnaturally long in the mist.
They attacked together.
Lin Xuan smiled—thin, merciless.
He let them come.
As claws and fangs closed in, he activated Time Cicada once more.
Three breaths.
Rewind.
This time he anticipated every angle.
He dropped low, rolled under the first wolf's leap, came up inside their formation. His palms struck in rapid succession—Venom Thorn piercing throats, Illusion Venom Moth cloud thickening until the wolves could no longer distinguish ally from enemy.
They began tearing at each other in confusion.
Lin Xuan stepped back.
He watched clinically as the pack self-destructed under layered illusions and real poison.
One by one, they fell.
When the last wolf lay twitching, golden thread already reaching for its core, Lin Xuan spoke softly to the mist.
"Strength without wisdom is merely food for those who possess both."
He harvested the cores—five rank-two wolf essences, rich in mist and illusion affinity. Valuable for future trades or refinements.
The fissure had gone quiet; no more spawns today.
He turned to leave the valley.
Halfway up the opposite slope, he paused.
A new presence—human this time.
From the mist above emerged three figures in dark gray cloaks embroidered with the Lin Clan crest.
Rank three initial stage, each. Enforcers.
The leader—a woman with a scar running from temple to jaw—spoke first.
"Lin Xuan. Or whatever name you wear now. The clan knows you live. Elder Wei is dead. Young Master Hao is dead. You will come with us… or die here."
Lin Xuan regarded them.
His robes were torn, bloodied, but his posture remained straight, unruffled.
"Three rank three," he said quietly. "Sent to capture a rank one middle stage. How… cautious."
The scarred woman sneered.
"You think you can fight us?"
Lin Xuan tilted his head.
"Fight?" he echoed. "No. I think I will kill you. Then I will use your corpses, your gu, your resources… to climb one step higher."
He took a single step forward.
The enforcers tensed, qi surging.
Behind them, the mist began to swirl unnaturally—his Illusion Venom Moth already at work, threading hallucinations into their senses.
Lin Xuan's voice drifted through the fog, calm as still water.
"Come, then. Let us see whose fate breaks first."
Thunder rumbled overhead once more.
But this time, it sounded like laughter.
To be continued...