Anything Is Better Than Nothing

Li dragged his body into the depths of the cave. He crushed any debris from the fight blocking his way.

As he continued walking, he stepped into a puddle of lava.

"Mmmmmmmmh. That feeeels gooooood," he moaned. He could feel the heat from the lava penetrating his left hoof. Then he stopped. His hoof, although minuscule, began healing itself. Cracks began to disappear as soft tissue grew and new bone emerged. The heat could actually heal him!

As a qilin, the world was constantly supplying him with energy allowing him to heal faster. Now he realized concentrated sources of heat could also do the same. Well, it was only logical, the qilin could, after all, breathe fire.

'Well realizing it now is better than realizing it later' Li thought to himself.

He continued to walk and soon enough entered a small clearing about 12 meters wide and tall.

Small streams of molten golden-red lava silently poured from the walls and ground into a two meters wide pool. On a small patch of black rock sat a bright red flower.

'It resembles a Heliconia carbaea.'

The flower, in Greek, means lobster claws, but it is also known as the false bird of paradise. It looked like a rose if the stem was longer and the petals went up instead of around the center. It was indigenous to the tropical parts of America.

Perhaps in the old world, it did not have much use except for decoration, but it seems that here, it was a natural treasure that top-tiered creatures would fight for.

It was sad to see that such a small flower would be the center of the conflict. Li looked at it for a few more seconds and ate it.

He opened his jaws real wide and chomped down, bringing the flower, lava, and pieces of charcoal into his mouth. He began crunching down on it, occasionally swallowing down a few gulps.

'It tastes pretty good. When crushed the flower released a strong floral scent into my mouth and nostrils. The lava makes it seem exceptionally juicy and mouth-watering. The rock provides a nice crunchiness in contrast with the delicately crispy flower and hot flowing lava. The juice from the flower is mildly spicy and numbs my tongue, similar to Szechuan peppercorns.'

With a final gulp, he swallowed the chewed up paste of flower, lava, and rock, closely feeling the warm pleasant feeling go down his throat. As it entered his stomach, the paste began dissolving rapidly, disappearing in a matter of seconds. Warm streams of energy leaked into his stomach and intestines then into his blood vessels which quickly carried the energy throughout his entire body. It was an incredibly comfortable experience.

As the warm currents flowed throughout his body, his wounds began to heal rapidly. The nutrients were digested and sent out to repair muscle fiber and organs, making them stronger and tougher.

Red light showed all throughout his body. A tiny layer of fire covered his scales. His body grew hotter, causing the rock underneath him to quickly melt into the lava. The air rippled and stagnated from the intense heat.

'Despite eating the herb, my body doesn't seem to be changing much. A top quality herb is gone just like that and with little effect. It really is troublesome being born as a powerful divine being. Any step I take will be immensely hard. It has been said in various light novels that natural-born gods such as myself have a very hard time making any improvements due to being born too strong. I guess this must be the demerit. Li thought as he sighed. 'At least I improved a little.'

He turned around and sped towards the cave entrance. It was time to leave. He wasn't going to stay. Some other powerful creature might have been attracted by the disturbance caused by the fight and is currently on its way to the cave. In addition, the centipede dragon had survived and might plot against him if he stayed. It's better to leave while he can.

This time he didn't use his legs to jump into the air.

'That snake had a pretty awesome way of traveling. I wanna try something like that.'

Li began channeling energy into the pores throughout his body. The energy turned into streams of fire that spurt out which sent a shockwave that caused him to fly into the cave wall. His face smashed into the rocks.

'Hmmm. Let's do it a different way. Instead of using a cloak of fire and utilizing all the pores in my body, I should create streams of fire to propel me forward like how fire king Ozai did in Avat*r: The L*st Airb*nder' he thought as he got up.

He turned to the entrance once again and thus time only sent streaks of energy to his hooves and legs. Flames spurt out once again but in a more controlled manner. Li slowly and unsteadily floated upwards.

'I feel like Ir*n Man when he first began experimenting with his thrusters.'

He then began practicing a unique motion, almost as though he were trotting in the air. He kicked his back legs and the jet of fire streamed behind him. This propelled him forward. He raised his front legs while retracting his back legs back into a standing position to balance himself and even out the force sending him forward. By doing this in a cycle he could steadily run in the air.

'But I feel unbalanced still.'

He thought for a moment and sent smaller streams of energy into his chest, and neck. The flames on his neck and chest looked like a long flowing beard of fire. This helped his posture such that he doesn't lean too much forward while propelling himself forward.

A qilin ran through the night sky, flames spurting from his hooves, with flowing fire trailing behind him like dragon whiskers dancing in the wind.

As he reached the stratosphere of this world he began to "run" at Mach speeds, easily putting several miles between him and the cave in seconds. To ordinary creatures, he looked like a small comet streaking past the planet.

'I don't feel sleepy at all. Can I even get sleepy? Hmmm. It's better to use this time to relax' he thought to himself as he activated his golden eyes.

Destiny led him on a path up north and he followed it.