What's worse than fighting a Beast Wave?

Seated beside the crackling campfire in the protected dell, Dàilán looked around at the refugee group's other upper level Cultivators that sat around the flames with her. Although none of them strictly required the warmth of the fire with their High Earth Rank to Sky Level Cultivations, there was still something comforting about sitting together like this in the darkness, with the sounds of insects, the chuckling water from the small stream that ran through the peaceful area and the soft chiming or humming from the various useful Essence herbs and plants scattered around the small valley.

Around them the camp of fifty or so Cultivators weant about their evening meal, dim figures moving between other similar campfires situated in front of tents; appetizing smells, cheerful and relieved discussions, laughter and other uplifting sounds coming from all of them.

"This is a true paradise for Cultivation," praised one of the mid Rank Earth Guan Cultivators sitting across from Dàilán, "it is fortunate that such a location was present along our route."

"Actually, we are following the route that the Sage marked out for us to travel to his domain," corrected Monitor Leng, as he leaned back on a nearby small boulder and chewed on a portion of Essence Beast pork that he waved about for emphasis.

"It is a good thing this location is here, else we would have no good place to rest tonight," another Peak Rank Earth level Guan clan woman uttered thankfully, patting her bountiful chest, "the Heavens have truly blessed the Mistress to have been saved by the Sage."

Further around the fire, the BloodWitch let out a cold snort, "Yes, quite a coincidence."

"Senior, less distrustful, please," remonstrated Dàilán's Father gently, "Senior Lin has put in a great deal of effort on our behalf."

"It is a good thing as well," remarked Chénli, "the deeper we travel into the Fusou the more wild and dangerous the Essence is becoming - not to mention the levels of the wandering Essence Beasts."

"So much for your 'Senior Lin's' protection," the Bloodwitch spat sourly as she slouched against the slab of metal that was her sword that she had thrust deep into the ground, "if it continues at this rate we will not survive tomorrow's travel."

"You underestimate my Clanswomen, Senior," responded Dàilán's Father, "while I agree the situation is not ideal, I do not think it is as hopeless as all that."

"There will be worse to deal with in the coming years," Dàilán spoke up quietly, "this journey is a tempering for my family and the Sect - for us to battle and grow into a force to be reckoned with; or do you think the forces out there that sought to destroy us will let us off once they realise we have survived?"

The fire crackled quietly to itself as the Cultivators around it fell silent for a moment.

"It is possible the Sage thinks something similar," Monitor Ming swallowed his latest bit of meat before he spoke, lowering his voice cautiously, "there are subtle and increasingly more abstruse Formations all along our route that are hiding all traces of our existence as we travel the path he laid out - but they are all aimed at hiding us from the rest of the world - not preventing physical attacks."

"Un…" Chénli softly exclaimed, "So Senior was speaking of protection from those searching for us, not from the dangers in the wilderness?"

"It is possible that he may not be able to," remarked the first Earth Rank Guan woman who had spoken earlier, causing Dàilán to blink in surprise as she looked over that this Cultivator who waved her hands hurriedly in response, "do not misunderstand, Mistress - this one does not mean to say that the Sage is incapable of doing so - only that it would be to our detriment if he did so."

"En," agreed Monitor Leng, suddenly sitting up and throwing his clean bones in the fire, causing it to spit and pop, "I had forgotten that possibility - you have a good eye Sister. Do you previously have experience in Formations?"

"I just finished a rotation in the medicine fields to assist with maintaining the formations before all this unpleasantness," replied the Guan Clanswoman timidly, "although not as accomplished in this field as the respected Master, my experiences in this aspect may be applicable."

"En, en," Monitor Leng nodded his head vigorously like a chicken pecking rice, a certain light glittering in his eyes as he looked towards the mature looking woman.

Dàilán coughed and attracted the attention of the slightly older woman who was looking askance at the Monitor vigilantly, "Could you explain further, Sister?"

Monitor Leng turned his eyes away and looked out into the darkness for a moment as the female Guan Cultivator nodded, with a grateful look to her Mistress, "En, when I was responsible for maintaining the Boundary Formations around the medicine fields, we could not emplace very strong Formations to deter Essence Beasts - only ones that could hide the fields from Beasts below Earth Rank were used."

Poking at the fire with a stick, the woman made sparks fly up into the night sky like fireflies as she explained, "Anything stronger would paradoxically attract attention from higher level beasts than we could afford to build Formations to keep out," she made a wry face, "we could never cultivate higher rank Essence plants in the general fields without attracting high levels either - that is why the main Compound had a restricted Medicine Garden. It was always a fine line between emplacing formations that hid the herbs from lower rank pests without arousing a strong Beast's interest."

Monitor Leng nodded in agreement, "En. The more powerful a Formation is, the more likely something or someone will notice it and come to investigate, convinced some treasure is being protected behind it."

"You are saying that if the path is too well protected, it will attract attacks on the main column?" asked the BloodWitch, skeptically, "what about areas like this then?" she gestured around at the peaceful dell the camp was currently situated in.

"The landscape around here seems to naturally create a natural area of safety and security, without being an overt barrier," the Monitor answered, leaning forward with interest shining in his eyes, "if we could learn to do the same, it would make us…"

"So we really cannot use the mobile fortress Formations you devised?" Dàilán interrupted pointedly before the Formation Master went off into another of his long, technical speeches.

"Ah… no - I would not advise it," winced the Monitor, "I only created those because we were under constant attack and hiding was pointless. It would be counter productive to use them here, it would definitely rip this subtle weave of misdirection and concealment the Sage is deftly creating to sort of let us, gradually," he wiggled his fingers demonstratively, "fade out of anyone's notice without anyone being alerted to the fact that a group of people have just vanished, rather than being killed or travelling elsewhere."

As the others around the fire shared quizzical looks and in one or two cases narrowed eyes, the young Formations Master rolled his eyes, "I have been making observations as we have been travelling - quite ingenious really… a lot of it relies on how disturbed the Essence is in this area already, but I cannot fathom exactly how he has managed the effect. And it is growing stronger the further into the wilderness we travel."

Dàilán sighed heavily, "in this case, we might want to keep the patrols within a lǐ of the main group going forward then. If we are to run into progressively stronger beasts or Essence disturbances, having our main forces too far out may leave us unable to react in time."

"I have been to a few secret lands with dangerous spatial rifts and the like," remarked the BloodWitch,"we will need to have some higher levels spaced throughout the main group to protect the lower levels from sudden and unexpected phenomena. The Mistress will not be able to handle that on her own if things get worse tomorrow."

The young Heiress' eyes widened at the memory of the areas of pressure, wild winds filled with sharp Air Essence and other strange and damaging effects she had encountered on the previous trip and shuddered, "If it is going to be worse than what I went through three days ago? That is definitely a priority."

A gentle cough to one side of the fire drew everyone's eyes to the Master Healer that had accompanied them with the Knife Enclave causing the Guan Clanswomen to assume serious expressions - without this Senior many of them would not have survived to receive the Sage's help so they all felt indebted to her - adding yet a another layer of admiration to their feelings towards their Young Mistress as the Knife Cultivators would not have been present without Dàilán.

"Yes, Healer?" Dàilán asked respectfully, "is there an issue we have overlooked?"

"Despite the Sage's generous assistance." the Healer Master replied gently, "we are desperately short on medicines and healing pills. The recent battles have stretched our limited healing supplies to the limit. If we are to encounter further dangers going forward…" she stopped and sighed, shaking her head slightly.

"This wilderness clearly has many good things," the BloodWitch spoke up after a few breaths of time, shattering the gloomy air that had fallen over the group, "today we already gathered a number of Earth level beast parts and Essence Stones and I even gathered a few low Rank Earth herbs just passing by. Surely greater dangers also bring greater opportunity - if this continues, our harvests will not be few or low leveled. Surely we will be able to refine healing pills and other medical supplies from them?"

Hearing this the faces of the others brightened up, but the healer wore a helpless expression, "Alchemists capable of refining raw ingredients do not grow along with the herbs you harvested, Senior - I am afraid that although this Master has some small capability to refine healing medicine, it is not worth mentioning beside the abilities of the true Alchemists that our Sect once counted among our ranks. With my own abilities, I would never be able to provide more than low level medicine and certainly not enough to replenish our stocks."

"Before you ask, Senior," added Dàilán's Father, "although the Guan cultivated Essence herbs, we never were blessed to nurture a talent with Alchemy or entice one to join us; we mostly had arrangements with other Clans to supply raw materials for a preferential price on the refined pills and medicines."

"Second Cousin had some small accomplishments in that direction," mused Dàilán, "unfortunately, she had to remain behind to give our Clan another possibility of survival," her tone turned bleak, "under the circumstances, I can only hope her talents are enough that House Ji continues to value her now that the Guan have fallen. Even if Heir Ji still has feelings for her - political concerns…" she stabbed the fire with her own branch moodily.

"Perhaps the Mistress could request the Sage to return?" The second Guan Cultivator who had spoken previously asked cautiously, but a moment later, she shook her head, "an… this one forgot the Communication Jades are still not working in this area of disturbed Essence."

"I did not realise how dire our situation had become," Dàilán's face had turned black at her own lack of foresight, "I would have asked Sage Lin if he could provide more medicines to us - or request he travel with the group."

There was a disgruntled noise from the BloodWitch and Dàilán's face tightened, "Yes - I am aware it is not good for us to become too dependant or indebted to him," she answered the unspoken comment, "but it does us no good if we cannot survive to reach the land he has promised us."

A cold snort from the BloodWitch was followed by the older cultivator shaking her head even as Dàilán's gaze narrowed. The diminutive woman held up a hand, "apologies, I find that I am having some difficulties. Please excuse me." Saying so, she stood up and pulled her sword from the ground, vanishing in a burst of movement.

"Tch," Chénli clicked her tongue in reproof, "you are going to have to reign her in sharply soon, Mistress - or release her to operate as a field agent."

"With her strength," Dàilán's face was set, "I am not sure I can afford to do either." The heiress hesitated, "also, she is not entirely wrong to have doubts - it is pure folly to place our fate in a stranger so quickly after meeting him."

"Then why are you doing so?" asked her Father evenly, "or is she right and you are being led astray by your - youthful spirit?" he grimaced as he chewed out the last words, obviously reluctant to say them.

"I do not see any other way forward," Dàilán answered quietly, staring into the fire.

The group fell into a somber silence for a few moments, letting the sounds of celebration and the crackle of the fire wash over them.

Eventually, the healer stirred and made another polite sound of apology, "En, this one apologises for dampening everyone's spirits - however, I must ask Mistress, while you were speaking with the Sage, did you happen to inquire if he was able to refine the Woman's Blessing?"

Startled, Dàilán looked at the Healer, her face twisting with distaste, "that… no, I…" the Healer's meaning became clear and she straightened in alarm, "surely we have sufficient supplies of that!" she protested, he cheeks heating.

"We evacuated in a hurry," the Healer pointed out delicately, "it was not on the forefront of everyone's mind - except for those currently experiencing the visit of the red moon. And as you know, the potion spoils a week or so after preparation, so there was never any point in storing a great supply," the Healer shrugged helplessly, "the Alchemists made a set amount each day at the Sect - we were lucky that we had an Alchemist that knew the recipe."

Chénli was wide eyed, "the recipe was a tightly held secret by the Alchemists Guild - those old bastards - the Clan did not know it. I bought the potion for the Mistress and her entourage from one of the higher ranked Alchemic stores in the city when it was needed."

"Ah… our group is composed of mostly young female Cultivators of marriageable age," Dàilán's Father pointed out slowly, sounding as if he was facing a rabid Sky Level Beast, "you mean they will all soon be dealing with their red moon - without - the benefit of the Blessing potion - for the first time?"

There was a profound silence as the women around the fire all looked aimlessly into the air or fire while trying to avoid meeting anyone's gaze, flushing as the men paled and looked at each other with wild looks in their eyes.

"While the high levels of physical activity may delay, or slow the onset or speed up the end of the Red Moon," the healer remarked in a clinical tone, "it is also known that heavy Essence exposure and usage can exacerbate the effects. There is also the matter of," the Healer coughed delicately, "the effects of proximity."

"That is… a myth..." interjected one of the Guan Clanswoman with a rising note of concern, "surely….?

"It has been studied and accepted by most Healers, that mature women living in proximity will tend to synchronize their moon cycles," replied the healer calmly, "there are other variables and not everyone responds in the same way, but…"

"So, other than those few too young… that leaves… thirty or so female Cultivators having their red moon simultaneously, without relief available, while under great physical and emotional stress," observed Monitor Leng in a hollow voice, "I think fighting off the Essence Beast attacks are the safer option…"

All the women seated around the fire turned their necks in an eerie synchronized movement and glared at Monitor Leng.

After a frozen breath of time where the unfortunate man realised he had spoken audibly, swallowed, paled, closed his eyes and straightened up as if preparing to accept an executioner's blow, Chénli turned away from him and rubbed her forehead, "he is not wrong. I can barely tolerate the thought myself."

The other women seated around the fire slumped and nodded with various degrees of emphasis as they looked back into the fire, the expressions on their faces wry, ignoring the Monitor as he collapsed to the ground in relief.

"I have about ten days," remarked Dàilán calmly, "I will make sure the Sage has a solution."

"Or?" asked the Guan Cultivator that had explained earlier about the difficulties of setting Formations to protect Essence herbs.

"Or he will come to regret it," replied the Heiress flatly.

The several men around the fire, including Dàilán's Father, looked uneasily at each other and nodded, rising to their feet and cupping their hands, "if you will excuse us," they mumbled and fled into the darkness away from the fire.

Dàilán was not sure who started laughing first, but within moments all the women around the campfire were giggling hysterically, leaning on each other for support.

---

Chún stirred from his rest in the clearing he had purified and provided Essence to to assist in its Advancement as the first feathers of the Golden Crow brushed the treetops. The usual dignified chimes, gongs and trumpets that he heard each time the Golden Crow took flight since his Essence Senses had been awakened woke him from his slumber.

"Morning Tai," he greeted his locus sleepily as he stretched his limbs, "how was the night?"

"Good morning friend, it passed quietly here," the Hidden Mountain Planet answered, "Unfortunately, the situation outside my area of control is deteriorating rapidly."

Chún displayed a disgruntled expression, "out here, you mean?" as he spoke he pushed his Essence outside the clearing and soon assumed a solemn expression.

"Why has it not settled down yet, Tai?" he asked after a few breaths as he confirmed the Essence outside the clearing was still chaotic, "it has been a couple of days since the explosions and there was only the single páifāng within the Fusou. Moreover, we established a beneficial pattern around the mountain site so your own Essence outflow should no longer be clashing with the force of the Essence expelled from the collapse of the Secret Land."

"Humans are truly impatient," Tai's thoughts rumbled down the link as if the very world was laughing, "such a world shattering set of changes have all happened together in less than two months and you expect the situation to return to peace in only a few days?"

"Um…" Chún automatically slipped into his normal morning routine of Tiger, Snake and Monkey Movement Dao as he thought about what his locus had pointed out.

"Before the secret land collapse, there did not seem to be many changes on Golden Crow Planet related to your own advancement," he offered with a little confusion.

"We spent a lot of effort to conceal my Advancement and curtail the outward flow of Essence onto Golden Crow Planet, to begin with," answered his locus sensibly, "your left ankle should be a fēn to the right of its current position, by the way."

"En," Chún adjusted his stance, his brow furrowing in thought as he went through several more movements. Eventually he sighed, "we only slowed the process of causing the wilderness to become more lively, is that it?"

"A lot of the Essence was consumed internally by my sudden rapid advancements and subsequent fortuitous opportunities also," agreed Tai, "but even the villagers noticed the condition and level of Essence in the area was improving. What can you expect when a planet sized source of Essence becomes attached to the area? Then the Secret land collapse released a massive influx all over Golden Crow all at once - It was an opportunity for me to stop holding back in the chaos - as you have said previously, our purpose is to help the Golden Crow Planet to become revitalised."

"If you had held back, perhaps the situation would not be so bad," Chún complained mildly, as he moved into his next set of movements, raising an eyebrow as a feeling of defensive embarrassment filled the link.

"The excess Essence was becoming… problematic," Tai admitted slowly, "this was the best opportunity to release it without attracting undue notice."

Surprised, Chún turned an inadvertent chuckle into a cough and continued his current set of movements.

"Actually, even without the extra Essence added to the pot, the outflow from the collapse of the Secret land all around Golden Crow would have been enough to start a chain reaction of Essence ignitions and Advancements all over the Land, like an avalanche gathering momentum, force and scope as it moves down a mountainside," the Mountain explained somewhat ironically, "especially in areas like this Wilderness where many areas have languished and stagnated for many decades or centuries - it was inevitable. If anything, the calm effect of my ordered pattern of Essence is providing a stable core to the changes."

"So how long will it take for the situation to go back to normal?" Chún asked as he shifted into a snake movement set.

"What is normal?" Tai snorted with laughter in the link, sounding like thousands of boulders being rubbed together, "the previous situation was abnormal, with such a large wilderness being starved of Essence - indeed all of Golden Crow Planet is starved. The increase in Essence through the Land is a chance for the planet to recover, but it will take years for it to stabilize."

Chún fell silent as he contemplated this answer for about an incense sticks worth of time as he completed his morning marital techniques practice. Eventually completing the required sets, he made a martial artist's salute towards the Golden Crow that had now flown above the mountains to the East and sighed, "it is up to the Heavens whether they survive the trip then."

"They have a reasonable chance of reaching the mountain with minimal casualties," his locus assured him, "they have at least three Sky Level Consumers and a number of Higher ranked Earth Consumers in the group."

"En," responded Chún as he leapt into the trees, his Cloak spreading out in a Essence Heavy mist to warn off Essence Beasts, "I need to complete two nexi today," he decided even as he started throwing out webs of Essence in Dao Patterns of confusion and concealment that drifted out through the forest as he used the Monkey Movement Dao to leap swiftly from tree to tree.

Chún watched carefully through his Essence Sense as the threads of concealment patterns floated through the forest until they were snagged by appropriate hooks, curls or lines in the local Dao Patterns, swiftly becoming part of whatever pattern that caught them, causing a indecipherable haziness to slowly wrap around this part of the wilderness. The slight mist was only noticeable if one specifically searched for it.

The young True Cultivator nodded to himself with satisfaction and sped up to his top speed without flying. The confusing and concealment Dao Patterns were being accepted by the Wilderness, which was already naturally inclined towards hiding its secrets, strengthening the difficulty of searching for anyone here, without changing the existing patterns - which would make it even harder for anyone to spot anything had changed - even if they sent people into the wilderness directly.

After bounding through the trees at a blurring speed in this manner for nearly a shí and covering nearly thirteen hundred lǐ, Chún sent his thoughts into the link again, "Right, I have thought of something I wanted to ask - that worm you spoke about last night, where was the lair you spoke of? Is it part of Hidden Mountain now?"

Tai rumbled discontentedly, "No. Because of the foulness of the corrupted Essence Spring, I instinctively worked to exclude it when I laid out the defensive patterns first before I regained my consciousness and the sealed space after the incursion of the World Eaters. I even avoided having you lay patterns in that area while you were assisting me after I fully awoke as I was too concerned that you would be damaged."

"Then when the worm came with that Beast Wave that time?" asked Chún as he continued flinging himself from tree to tree like an agile monkey - although no ordinary monkey would be able to keep up.

"It broke through the restrictions with its own power, in an effort to grab that wicked, ancient, Yin Lingzhi," replied his locus, "it might have been able to advance and defeat the Heaven and Earth Vine and destroy my other Essence Root if it had consumed that evil fungus. Of course, it did not know the Heaven and Earth Vine had been greatly strengthened by the excess Essence from your constant presence using the Essence Root as your Immortal's Cave and the addition of the Silver Tree, so it was consumed instead."

"And then when you Advanced to a Hidden Mountain, you left the damaged root behind? I suppose it remained on the original site rather than becoming part of the greater whole," understood Chún, "so we just have to clean it up…"

"I have already started the process, since last night's discussions," agreed Tai, "it is a useful way to use the excess Essence, something I did not have the resources to deal with in the past."

The mountain paused, before rumbling with distaste, "and yes, I no longer considered the damaged area part of me - like the area below the old geese pasture, it remained on Golden Crow. I would not have brought something so foul into my World - it would have inevitably become a much larger area of twisted and damaged Essence and invited evil to take up residence. Leaving it as part of the original site means it is much easier to deal with."

"Well, I can move to that task once this one is complete. I believe I am almost at the next point now… that hill up ahead."