The Storm, and a life saved.

Year 0189 of the MunYu empire, day 13 of six Moons.

The events of yesterday still weighed heavily on Lee Yenshu's mind. Both the good parts, and the bad parts. His inner demon was still inside him, feeding on his negative emotions, and growing stronger. The wisp of the pine tree had vanished, after using all of her soul power. But, he now had a father, and Tiaowen was trying his best to lighten his mood.

He had spent a entire night talking about just how much nephews and grandnephews Lee Yenshu had now, in a attempt to change the focus of his mind.

But in the end, all Lee Yenshu could think was, that all of this, was too good, that he did not deserve that much, and at night, he could still hear the laugh of his inner demon, confirming his thoughts.

But, on the morning, some of those disappeared. The sweet scent of heated milk, mixed with the sugary scent of freshly baked sugar rolls filled the cave, waking Lee Yenshu up, and clearing his mind. At that point, all he could think of, was how delicious it all smelled.

All 5 wives were setting up the table, Tiaowen was on his tiger form, drinking milk from a large cup. Large enough that Lee Yenshu first thought it was a small bathtub.

-Good morning son! Hope you slept well, the carpenter was here just a while ago, and told us your house will be done in about 90 days. 

- I still don't know why he can't just live here. It would be so much easier.

-Easier for us, sure, but the kid may want his privacy, humans go through something called puberty, I heard they get quite rebellious during that time.

Tiaowen and his wives continued talking to Lee Yenshu, in a attempt to try and shift his focus from yesterday events. But all the boy could think about, was how weak he was, and how much he needed to grow.

But more than anything, the boy wanted something to defeat his own inner demon. And that, sparked inspiration on the boy, from his past. He remembered his old owner's son had a wooden sword, that he used to beat him up, that was made from the wood of a old Oak Tree, and he used to tell Lee Yenshu that sword was created to defeat demons, and passed along his family for generations.

It was just a thought, but, on Lee Yenshu's mind, if he could make a wooden sword, for his training, it would help his growth. His current short sword was not adequate enough for his martial arts, and neither was the blade. They were heavy, and not flexible enough, but, a wooden sword, made to not have a single edge, but instead, branch like edges would emerge from the central part of the sword, this way, he could use those to defend, and disarm.

As Lee Yenshu was lost in thought, Tiaowen approached the boy, thinking he was still felling down from what happened yesterday.

-Lee Yenshu, what are you thinking about?

The boy realized he was not eating, and just thinking, looked up at Tiaowen.

-I want to make a sword made of Pine Wood, and I want it to have 4 branches on each side, can you help me make that?

-A sword, with branches?

-Yes. That way, I can use the branches to interrupt the opponent's flow of movement, and use it to block and disarm them. It wont be used to cause harm, but to defend, and incapacitate. I think this suits me better, with my martial arts.

-Meowhahaha. Yes, indeed, this does suit you better. Don't worry. I'll ask the carpenter to create you such a sword. I'll use a branch of the old pine tree, that she gave me a while back on one of her visits. Now...eat, otherwise the old ladies will nag at you and me.

Lee Yenshu was happy, this would help him grow stronger, he was sure of it, and, he would be able to defend himself against his inner demon when the time came. So, just as Tiaowen told him to, he started to eat the breakfast, if you could call seven different type of meat a breakfast.

After eating, Lee Yenshu went outside, moving to his old place, as to wait for the kids and start training them.

There were quite a few kids missing from the training today.

He was sad about it, felling like he had broken the kid's trust. But, before he could start to feel bad about it, he focused on training the kids. In his mind, he thought, if he gave even more fuel to the inner demon, it would be no good. so he decided not to focus on that for now.

The training went well, the kids were learning the basic movements really fast, there were still some wasted movements, but that was slowly fading.

As he said his goodbyes to the children, some of the youngest ones came up to him, and simply hugged him. Thanking him for the training, and them leaving.

He felt saved, as if that hug washed away most of dark thoughts he had.

As Lee Yenshu started to move back to the village, he could see some of the tigers whispering. It was probably due to what had happened, it couldn't be helped, his inner demon had striked at their elder, and was defeated not by Lee Yenshu, but by Tiaowen, so, it didn't vanish, it just went back to him. It could emerge back at any time. It was natural for the villager to be afraid.

If he wanted that felling to go away, he had to purge the inner demon on his own, and to do that, he had to be stronger.

A couple of weeks have passed, and Lee Yenshu settled into his new home in Tiaowen's cave. It was an adjustment having so many new tiger siblings around all the time. But he was thankful for the warmth and liveliness of the tiger clan.

Over those weeks, Lee Yenshu continued teaching the tiger cubs his Flexible Pine Sprout martial arts. As time passed, more of his old students returned, and the villagers no long whispered behind his back. He was glad for that, but more than anything, he was amazed at his students dedication and how quickly they picked up the techniques.

If training continued as it was, within just half a year, many of the older cubs would nearly mastered the basics.

But for Lee Yenshu, that was not enough, he also wanted to get stronger, and continue into developing his own skills. With more free time now that he lived in the village, he was able to devote more hours to cultivating his Qi and working on integrating the Fierce Tiger Stance that Tiaowen had started teaching him. The two contrasting styles were difficult to blend, but Lee Yenshu persevered. His Eight Branched Sword was finished, using the wood from the Pine Tree, it was filled with wood Qi, and more than that, it complemented his own martial style, to defend, subdue, and not hurt.

By mixing the movements he had developed himself, and rearranging them with a few other sword styles he had learned from his siblings, he managed to perfect his Flexible Pine Sprout stance, and added another martial art to it, he named it, the Guarding Branch Sword Dance.

The ever flowing movements of the Flexible Pine Sprout stance, aligned with the various used of the 8 branchs of his sword, made his new Sword Dance captive everyone who watched it. It was like watching a Dryad dance in a sea of leaves, there was no sense of danger, no urge to strike, it was a style that didn't had a intimidation aura, instead, it captivated, easing the oponent into submission, by letting him now, that he would not be able to harm, or be harmed by this style.

Upon seeing the perfected form of this, Tiaowen smiled at Lee Yenshu.

-How can you do it son? How can you be this pure, and good, having suffered so much?

The contrast of the kid's past, and the beautiful stance he was displaying made Tiaowen once more, fell the need to protect Lee Yenshu, to keep this kid from ever being hurt again.

But the world, and destiny itself, are not always so caring.

Year 0196 of the MunYu empire, day 5 of four Moons

7 years had almost passed since Lee Yenshu began to live in the Tiger's Village. His students have mastered most of what he could teach, and new students began to be under his guidance

He was no longer a small child, he was almost as tall as the tigers now, he still had a slim figure, but was no longer a child in the eyes of others. His hair had grown to his waist. His muscles were defined, and the air around him had changed. He was no longer thinking the worst of himself, those years of being loved, healed most of his traumas.

And, another good thing was about to happen, his brother was almost ready to sprout again, and Lee Yenshu was stronger, under Tiaowen's guidance, he made sure to fully awaken his meridians, and all of his dantians, He was almost 18, this was the time for him to enter his Qi Condensation stage .

On that day, Lee Yenshu was awoken from his sleep by a huge loud sound outside. He rushed out of the cave to see the tiger villagers in a panic. Dark clouds were gathering over the forest and an eerie green glow emanated from the tree tops.

-It's a storm spirit! Everyone, gather the young cubs. We must protect the village!

Tiaowen shouted, as he pointed at the huge clouds that were nearing the village.

-That storm spirit is in Qi Deviation, he will be enraged, and feral. Make sure to set the lightning rods on the ground.

Lee Yenshu watched in awe as a menacing face materialized in the clouds. Bolts of jagged lightning shot from its eyes scanning the forest below. Wherever the lightning touched, trees instantaneously petrified.

Tiaowen and his strongest warriors took on their giant tiger forms and pounced up at the spirit. But their attacks barely phased the creature. It simply cackled loudly shaking the whole forest before sending them hurtling back down with a flick of lighting.

As Lee Yenshu helped usher the young cubs to shelter, he racked his brain desperately thinking of anything he could do to help defeat this powerful spirit. He thought back to all of his training over the past months. An idea started forming. It was risky, but it just might work to distract the creature long enough for Tiaowen and the other warriors to launch a counter offensive.

Lee Yenshu rushed out and called to Tiaowen.

- Father! I have a plan!

He quickly explained his idea, he would use the flexibility in his style to lure and evade the creature's attacks. And ground the lightning by using his sword, imbued with wood Qi, to deflect the lightning. The quick footwork and agile motions of his style were perfect for avoiding the enraged beast, as well as making sure no harm came to it, until they could help her realign her Qi Flow and maybe save the spirit.

Tiaowen frowned, the plan was dangerous, and the spirit was already Feral, saving it, was nearly impossible, killing it would be faster. The spirit could destroy the entire village if they didn't act quickly.

But, looking at Lee Yenshu determination, and the fierce light it had in it's eyes, he reluctantly agreed and told Lee Yenshu to be careful.

Lee Yenshu calmed his mind and began circulating his Qi just like in his morning meditations. He felt the energy start to swell rapidly, beyond what he had ever cultivated before. The spirit noticed the sudden burst of Qi and turned its gaze toward the young boy.

In it's feral state, the spirit saw that as a provocation, it cackled again before sending a massive bolt of lightning at Lee Yenshu. Everything seemed to slow down as Lee Yenshu watched the deadly lightning bolt shoot toward him. His body took over, flowing gracefully into the motions of his Pine Sprout style. He stepped effortlessly out of the path of the blast. The spirit scowled and sent barrage after barrage of lightning bolts at Lee Yenshu, but he nimbly evaded each one. Lee Yenshu concentrated further, channeling more Qi energy through his meridians. Suddenly, his movements became even faster and sharper. Bolstered by his quick success, he decided it was time to switch to the offensive. As another lightning bolt passed by him, he extended his sword, filled with the Wood Qi he had been channeling into it, slicing through the residual energy.

The energy dissipated, but left behind a wisp of residual spirit energy. He molded the errant spirit energy into a small sphere and flung it back at the creature hitting it squarely in one of its ghostly eyes. The spirit howled in rage that this little human had managed to damage it.

Lee Yenshu had managed to divert its attention fully away from the tiger warriors. Seeing the opening, Tiaowen launched himself back up at the spirit. The other warriors followed suit, concentrating all of their power into a array, designed to synchronize the spirit Qi Flow, and maybe, bring it back to it's senses.

Lee Yenshu continued to distract the spirit. After several more minutes, he sensed the creature's energy weakening. With a deafening crack, Tiaowen pierced into the spirit's body, reaching it's central Dantian, and flowed the energy of the array into the spirit. This seemed to be the deciding blow. The spirit let out one final screech before becoming smaller, and smaller, taking the size of a small woman, made of storm clouds. The dark clouds dissipated soon after leaving just a light rain shower. The tigers let out victorious roars. Tiaowen went over to Lee Yenshu beaming with pride at his son's bravery and quick wits in distracting the fearsome spirit beast.

The boy however, didn't notice his father approaching him, he was completely taken aback by the beauty of that storm spirit.

The spirit had just regained her composure, and before fainting, gave a smile directed at Lee Yenshu, and, dissipated, leaving only a bead on it's place.

Lee Yenshu eye's were filled with remorse, that beautiful being, dissipated in front of him, there should be more he could have done, he should be able to save her.

-That's a spirit core son. This is the center of all spiritual beings. I can tell from your look, that you think she died... She did not. You saved her, the spirit core being here is proof enough of that.

Tiaowen placed his hands on Lee Yenshu's shoulder

-She is just too tired to take on a physical form, spirits are, fleeting things, they dont need a physical body, they are free to live as the energy that molds them, that is even more true for a storm spirit. They are born from the love of a wind spirit, and a water spirit. There's nothing more free than the air, and more fierce than the waves. Being free, and fierce, is on their nature. We will protect that core, until she's able to take form again, you saved her, and for that son, I think we should celebrate.

There was much celebration that night. Songs and dances went late into evening as the tigers reveled at having defended their cherished village. Lee Yenshu was exhausted both mentally and physically from the day's ordeal, but he also felt a swelling sense of accomplishment at having helped save that storm spirit.

He realized that by living in this strange world of cultivation, his strength could grow in ways he would never have imagined possible back in Yi County. For the first time, a small seed of confidence was planted within him.

With his new family's love and his own dedication to bettering himself each day, he knew that he could defeat his inner demon when the fated day arrived. He would be ready. And, that day was getting closer and closer.