Chapter 3: The Other Path

That first night he worked long until the moon hung overhead. Every swing of his axe struck a little harder. His blade cut a little deeper. Ian was learning that cutting wild qi wasn't the only thing he could do. Bark shattered from his blows and another tree fell. Immediately, he went to work preparing it for transportation.

After a few cuts with axe, he had to rest and recover his qi. Ian quickly pulled in qi and began mincing it for digestion. He removed his robe and pushed the filth from his body. It was getting easier each time he went through the process. After a quick dip in the river he returned to his tree. It was gone.

He snatched a chicken from its roost, snapped its neck, and plucked its feathers away. The skin split where his finger touched. Ian watched the phenomenon unfold. With a single strong tug, he ripped the skin off the fowl and bit into the meat. It was raw unseasoned and hot blood spilled out on his tongue. Meat from most chickens tasted a little gammy but these wild chickens were different. Even raw the flesh was excellent.

Blood seeped down his chin while he devoured the bird. From the light of the moon he could see his reflection in the water. Bald, scared, and pale described his face perfectly. Ian hadn't thought himself handsome, but he hadn't been ugly. That wasn't true anymore. Burn scars covered his face leaving him looking malformed.

Power was everything. Without it he couldn't keep what was his. He remained in those woods until he fulfilled his quota. So, he chopped down another tree and collected what he could and delivered his quota. After felling three trees and making three more trips, he came to a realization. It was better to steal than it was to cut down the trees.

"Ah, you've finally met your quota that is one sect point. Would you like to take a look at the exchange catalog?" Ian scanned over it and knew how far he was from success. A single point wasn't worth much. He couldn't exchange it for any resources. On the other hand twenty were worth a single spirit stone and a hundred were worth a low grade sutra of any element.

"Are there any other jobs I can do for the sect to earn more points?" Ian asked. The wooden golem tapped its chin a few times.

The wooden golems were the ultimate eyes and ears of the elders of the sect. Each represented an elder's authority and guidance. If he accepted an individual quest from one then no one could interfere.

It didn't take long for the wooden golem to get back to him.

"A demonic fire fur bear has made its home in a cave near west peak. Its power is equal to the fourth stage of refinery and growing. Find the beast and report its location and 50 sect points are yours. Slay the beast and return with its pelt and 450 sect points are yours." The golem tossed him a jade slip. "Once you find bear use this and report its location. If you go missing, we'll assume you've either gone rouge or died. Return no later than in ten days' time or you'll be declared a rogue."

Ian held the jade slip close to his chest and made his way back to the servant's quarters and collapsed on his mattress. He clutched the jade slip tightly to his chest even while he slept. The gong found him even in his nightmares and he leapt awake.

"You shouldn't try it." He turned his head to see the short cultivator who conjured a fire snake holding his jade slip.

"That's mine give it back." Ian shouted and lunged for the jade slip. The boy fluttered in the wind and avoided the lunge. Instead of running off with it he tossed the jade slip back to Ian.

"I don't want it. You'd be a fool to go after a demon bear. Even a normal bear would be too much for you. You don't have a single sutra or magic item. What could you do against a demon bear?" Ian glared at the boy. If he had his axe in hand he'd bury in the boy's face.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm not such a bad guy. The names Gui Peng maybe we shouldn't have stolen your wood but if not you we would have stolen from someone else. Its how the world works. You aren't dumb even with a face like that. Who used up more qi to get what they wanted?" Ian slowly nodded his head. He got the message that didn't mean he liked it.

"No one likes being stolen from." Ian muttered.

"You're kidding, I thought every loved it when we robbed them and made them work all night." Gui Peng said. Ian sighed and got up and pocketed his jade slip. He could track a demon bear or chop trees. If he continued to chop trees, he'd get robbed every day. By robbing those under them, those above gained greater strength. Eventually, he'd grow stronger and when someone new came, he'd rob them. That was the system presented to him.

The lullaby of eternity played in his ears while the fire burned around him. He could take the path of pain and uncertainty. By hunting the bear, he risked it hunting him instead. Every rational part of him screamed and begged him to reconsider.

"What do you know of demons?" Ian asked.

"Of all the stupid things you could ask. I was ready to let you join our gang. You'd be the bottom man for a while, but you'd get strong quick enough. In a year you could be where I am with three sutras to your name and the qi to use them." Ian locked eyes with the older teen. The teen snorted. "I'm wasting my time. I thought you'd play our game but if you want to play hero, I'm gone."

"Are they anything like the white lily plague?" Ian asked. That got his senior's attention.

"How do you know about that? You haven't been in the sect that long." Ian looked up.

"I thought you were smart."

"A survivor, I'm talking to a walking phoenix feather. You want to throw away your luck for a few dozen points." Ian shook his head. "No, its suicide. You're going into its territory with an axe. That isn't just stupid, it'll use the axe to pick your bones out of its teeth when it's done with you."

"I plan to cultivate for the next couple of days then go after the bear." Ian said.

"The second stage of refinery is a bottle neck, so is the third, fifth, seventh, and ninth for that matter. You need spirit stones or a really good cultivation technique. That last thing is something our sect doesn't have anymore." Ian stood up. He was wasting daylight.

"I wonder why haven't any of our seniors slain the bear. I haven't seen any but we servants and the elders." A sad smile spread across Gui Peng's face.

"Then you've seen the entirety of the sect. Only the elders and those below Aura foundry survived the calamity seventeen years ago. Heavenly cultivators below the Core Optimizing realm didn't survive. Since the heavens were closed off no one can figure out how to cross from refinery to foundry either." Gui Peng said.

"Then why bother staying." Ian asked.

"What's not to like? Free lodging, cultivation resources, and sutras, when I hit the nine, I'll leave and find a sect that can help me cross over. That's what most, do the Atlas sect is dying." Ian nodded.

"Demons have access to hell." Gui Pend nodded.

"It'll make a gateway and soon we'll be up to our eyeballs in demons. I'd advise you to either join up with us or descend the mountain and start a new life." Ian picked up his axe. Despite a day's worth of work, it was still sharp as when he first picked it up.

"You're right, if the offer is still on the table, could I join your gang." Ian stood up with axe in hand. He didn't know if what Gui Peng said was true or not. He learned nothing new about demons and Gui Peng only wanted to defend stealing his wood.

"Yea, I'll introduce you to the boys. Try to put a smile on that face." Ian's face broke out I a smile as he drove the blade of his axe into Gui Peng's chest.

Something shot into place before his axe hit. It slowed his axe just a little before it crunched through skin, muscle, and bone. Peng opened his mouth and blood dribbled down his chin. He used the blade of his axe as a hook and dragged his victim away from the door. Gui Peng raise his hand and a snake made of flame wrapped around his wrist and struck.

Ian leaned out of the way raised his axe and struck again.

"Why?" Gui Peng gasped.

"Just in case I die against the bear. This way I'm taking out one more future devil cultivator." Ian raised the axe and struck between Gui Peng's eyes. The steel pierced through his skull and brains squeezed out over his axe blade.

"I won't let you go alone. Your friends will join you." Ian pulled the storage ring from the older teen's finger and sensed items held within. It wasn't a grand treasure, but it would do. He cleaned the brains off his axe and stepped out of the living quarters. Three sutras, twenty spirit stones, and a few shield talismans. He sensed their connection to the heavens and knew why they failed. Everything that was connected to the heavens was useless. The demons still had their full power and humanity couldn't only rely upon itself.

What qi experts needed was a way to move forward without the heavens. He saw that so; the elders must see it too. Gui Peng would have made a fine silver-tongued devil. It was better to cut such talent short early.

He read over the fire snake sutra and defecated most of the information. All he needed was fire. He needed to know the process of transforming from refinery to foundry. By taking that information and making it work from him he might be able to make it work. Then again no one else managed it. Why, what was missing from the process? To know that, he needed to know the process in and out. To do that he needed sutras. The more information he collected the easier it'll be to see the big picture. To get sutras he needed sect points.

Ian didn't feel long lived or immortal. He felt like today could be his last day on earth. There were many questions he had but no one to answer them. Gui Pend didn't feel too reliable. Ian might have let him live if, he felt trustworthy. Or he could be losing it. He stared down at his axe. That was his first kill in cold blood. It felt no different than the chicken. It didn't bother him, and he felt that was sad.

In half a day he made it to west peak. He found a cabin near a small pound and made himself at home. Ian meditated through the night until morning. When he diced the qi, he set it aflame to burn away the impurities. His qi could cut, and it could burn now. Ian's pores opened and black smoke billowed out from them.

Ian wasn't a profound practitioner or a mast in any way. In his later research of the histories of the sects he found many profound experts. Some rose from nothing to the foundry stage in only a day. A few were even greater than that. In the long history of the cultivation world demigods walked the earth and great emperors gave humanity their cultivation techniques. Atlas had produced many who ascended from mortal cultivation to immortal but seventeen years ago the heavens were sealed off. Many cultivators either died or fell to demon hood. Powerful immortals withered their long years quickly catching up with them. At the same times the demons have never been more powerful. What resistance they faced vanished and their territory was almost fully consolidated.

By morning Ian had broken through to the second stage of qi refinery. His muscles filled with power, horrible smoke billowed out from his body and covered the cabin. Ian consumed the wild qi of the universe digested what was suitable and defecated the rest. There were two more sutras to pick through and Nero had a few more days before he'd have to track down the bear.