22 Battle in the Forest: A Mysterious Cavern

After traveling for nine weeks straight through the wilds most of the competitors were absolutely exhausted for various reasons. Some were exhausted from the journey itself, some from the lack of food sources they knew how to handle, some from going too quickly, and even some from physical injuries that they had constantly had to heal. Comparatively, Yun was in fairly good shape. She wasn't exhausted, she had plenty to eat, she had paced herself well, and she had made sure to bring enough medicines to tend her wounds while out.

Continuing onward was no issue for the prepared, and the terrain would be easier for the most part from this point, as it began to gently slope down from the mountainous foothills towards the flatland where the river curved around to the south. Seeing the obvious change, Yun considered whether to stick to the more difficult hills or to follow the lowlands and take a nice stroll for the next week and a half to get to the finish. After a few moments consideration she decided it would be best to stay in the foothills until the end was closer in order to avoid more malicious competitors, as well as to avoid any large predators that may avoid the hills but thrive on the wide flat region with much less dense tree cover. Proceeding on the foothills was definitely challenging, and Yun could have arrived in close to half the time if she'd taken the flatland path, but she knew that she had time enough for now. With her continuing along the flatland she wouldn't have had much opportunity for rest due to the high visibility and likelihood for other teams to come across her.

After traveling for what felt like weeks since the decision to follow the foothills Yun was worried something was wrong. She checked her record of what lunar day it was, which was how she was tracking her travel time, and realized that she had recorded down the same lunar date for more than a few days straight. This was extremely peculiar, so she stopped and began to examine her surroundings more carefully. Looking at where she was, she felt some sort of familiarity with it, and before long she found the tree she had slept in nearly a week ago was nearly directly above her. Something strange had happened around her without her noticing at all. She decided to experiment to see if there was a definite pattern, so she put heavy slashes into the trunk of the tree beside her and began walking towards the flatlands, which was perpendicular to the direction she had been traveling.

After half a day of walking she looked around and spotted the slashed tree again before cursing to herself. This direction wasn't viable. Turning directly around she then walked towards the mountain, and before long she felt like something had changed in the air.

The air began to feel heavy. Strength began to fall away from Yun's legs like leaves from a tree in the autumn. Before long she felt like she was being completely suppressed by the atmosphere itself, when suddenly she laid eyes on what looked like a cave entrance. Looking into the dark mouth of the cave felt like it lifted the burden on her body somewhat, and she began to trudge a little faster in that direction. Every step put a leaf back on the tree that was her strength, each one was nothing by themselves, but added together they became the entirety of her physical prowess. Unbeknownst to Yun, each step also drew in enormous amounts of Heavenly Qi. As she traveled forwards Heavenly Qi condensed on her Neidan core, slowly creating another layer on top of it.

How could such a thing happen? Walking in this direction began to strip her power away, but simply looking at and walking towards this cave gave it all back? The absurdity of this thought nearly made her pause, but she worried that if she stopped moving towards the cave she would again begin to lose strength. After an eternity of steps she finally reached the cave mouth and stepped on the smooth stone, one step after another, until suddenly the pressure on her fell away completely. As she looked around in surprise she realized that she was in a place completely different than the cave she had entered just moments ago.

This place, while still a cave, was an enormous cavern with no visible entry or exit point. She was standing in the center of this massive space, looking around in confusion, when she felt like something left her mind. This feeling was beyond peculiar, like her spirit had left her for a moment, then returned lighter than before.

"Child, we meet again." Echoed a voice that felt faintly familiar. Looking around she didn't see anyone at first, but as she kept looking she felt like the image of a man of another race she didn't recognize was becoming more and more clear in front of her. She tried hard to remember why he felt familiar, what was it about him that she felt she'd seen before, but she couldn't place it.

"I see, your memories of our previous interaction were too light. They left you with nothing but an impression of everything. Let me explain to you who I am. I am Empyrean Ashen Dawn, far away across the realms I once battled a great foe of the righteous souls, but was gravely wounded. Instead of suffer utter defeat and let them seal my spirit, preventing my eternal soul from entering Samsara and reincarnating, I chose to use a secret technique to destroy my body and cast my soul into the Wheel of Fate. The destruction of my body harmed my enemies greatly, and casting my soul into the Wheel of Fate brought me down to your realm at the time of your birth. As such, my soul was placed within yours by the Heavenly Dao."

"So you're saying that your spirit lives in my soul? That's strange, but it would explain some things, such as my encounter with the Dragon Lizard when I left the sect for the first time, and my sudden skill with the spear."

"That was the most i could do to prod you forwards. But now there's something else going on. This place you have entered is some sort of spiritual space, separate from your world. You've entered some sort of portal that allows me to exist safely outside your body. As such, let me do something for you while we have the opportunity. Take out your spear."

With a gesture Yun took her spear out of the storage artifact on her wrist and held it out towards the Empyrean spirit. After looking over the spear carefully he nodded, then, somehow, took hold of it and moved down to a nearby stone and sat. Resting the spear on his lap, he began to focus his energy into the shaft of the spear and it began to glow from within. After a few moments it seemed the spirit himself had begun to dim while the spear glowed brighter, before he finally stopped focusing on the spear and let out a heavy sigh.

"Count yourself as extremely lucky, Huli Yun. This spear your friend made you is made with materials that were extremely valuable. I do not believe even she knew the extent of their value. The base material for this spear is an extremely ancient piece of Heavenly Gold, which is so ancient it had nearly developed its own spiritual intelligence. The strengthening fibers came from the Immortal Wyrm you slayed, and possess a small amount of its spirit and resistance to corrosion. With these two things combined your spear is close to being a spiritual item, so with a small push from me it has reached the cusp. The longer this spear remains in your possession, the more spiritual it will become. This spear will develop with you and eventually gain its own Artifact Spirit, increasing its power immensely. I can feel this space we're in beginning to open, connecting to the outside world again, and i must not be separate from you when that happens. Take your spear, I will once again rest within your soul. Hopefully someday we will speak again."

With this, the spirit of Empyrean Ashen Dawn flew into the space between her eyes and disappeared, she felt the strange feeling again of her spirit changing, this time becoming heavier, but it was much weaker than before. After this feeling ended she retrieved her spear, which was standing vertically in front of her, perfectly balanced and waiting. Taking it in her hand she felt that the spear had changed subtly, but not in a way she could define.

As she took her spear in hand a crumbling sound resounded from beneath her feet. The ground began to crack and fall away from the ends of the cavern inward, and after a moment of horror there was no ground, but a black void beneath her and she fell into it.