The Black Stone Cliffs rose from the forest floor like the broken teeth of some ancient beast. Sheer faces of dark, almost metallic rock extended upward, their surfaces slick with cold moisture that glistened under the weak light filtering through the canopy.
Veins of corrupt qi pulsed faintly through the stone itself, giving off a low, almost sub-audible hum that vibrated in the bones. Three massive ironwood trees stood dead at the base of the central cliff, their bark blackened, and branches twisted into skeletal claws that scraped softly against one another whenever the wind stirred.
Gabriel and the others stopped moving. No one spoke. The evil aura in the area was denser than anywhere else in the forest. It made circulating qi sluggish and every breath feel heavier, as though the air itself resisted being drawn into the lungs.
Ivan's voice was barely a whisper. "We must proceed with caution."
Gabriel already took out a small square device from his spatial ring. This was a Rank 2 Life Search Array tool that was no larger than a man's palm; it was a pale spirit jade, cool and smooth against his fingers. Runes etched with such perfect precision that they looked as though they had been carved by pure light rather than a craftsman's hand. Gabriel placed it on a flat stone that was still damp. He performed a double-handed incantation, then pointed towards the array tool, pouring qi into it.
The device hummed a soft, crystalline note that seemed too pure for this place. A pulse of energy swept through the mountain area, then a transparent screen of soft blue light unfolded above it. Words and numbers appeared across its surface in clean, orderly lines.
**Life signatures detected: 110**
**Qi Condensation: 95**
**Foundation Building: 4**
**Unknown / Suppressed: 11**
Gabriel's expression remained calm, but his eyes sharpened. "There are over a hundred people inside the mountain. Most are Qi Condensation, 4 Foundation Building, and 11 signatures are either sealed or deliberately hidden."
Wren's hand tightened on her sword hilt at the mention of those hidden vital signatures, the leather wrapping creaking softly. "Mad Viper and whatever nasty things he's keeping in there, most likely."
Eleanor studied the cliffs, her nose wrinkling against the stench of rot and old blood that drifted from the fissures. "Charging in is suicide. Even with Ivan, numbers like that will bury us."
Gabriel nodded and stored the Life Search tool. The jade was already warm from the residual energy.
"If you guys give me two hours, I can craft what we'll use to even the odds. This will also give us time to rest while we can."
No one argued.
They withdrew to an abandoned cave half a mile back, far enough that the cliffs were only a dark silhouette through the trees. The ground there was softer, carpeted with rotting leaves that released a sweet-sick smell when crushed underfoot. Gabriel sat cross-legged, swallowed another qi replenishment pill—the bitter herbal taste flooding his mouth—and closed his eyes. The residual corruption in the air made recovery slower than usual, thanks to the effects of Liora's pills; he was back in peak condition within the hour.
The remaining time he spent in absolute focus, crafting talismans, which he also studied during the two years of training.
Two hours later, he rose and handed each of them a small, palm-sized dark-green spirit jade. The spirit jade was cool to the touch and carried a faint scent of clean mountain spring water, a stark contrast to the forest's stench.
"Concealing and sound-proofing talisman," he said quietly. "Rank 2. Activate them with a drop of blood and a thread of qi. While active, your presence and footsteps will be heavily suppressed against anyone below mid-Foundation Building. They won't last forever—two hours at most under strain—but they should get us past the outer patrols."
Ivan turned the jade over in his fingers, clearly impressed despite himself. "You made these just now?"
"Yup, I could do it better, but we're pressed for time."
They activated their talismans. A faint ripple of energy settled over each of them like a second skin—cool, close, and strangely intimate. The forest's background noise seemed to dull; even their own breathing became almost inaudible, reduced to the softest whisper of air.
'The team advanced back towards the bandit base.
The outer patrols were Qi Condensation cultivators—bandits in mismatched armor that reeked of unwashed bodies, cheap wine, and old blood. Some lounged near the base of the cliffs, dice clicking against stone; others paced short routes between the dead ironwood trees, boots crunching on gravel and brittle leaves. None of them noticed the five figures that slipped in.
Gabriel's first kill was clean. He moved like water finding the lowest path. *Rootcleaver* whispered from its sheath. A thin veil of water qi coalesced along the edge. He thrust his blade between the bandit's ribs with almost no resistance, the water muffling the wet sound of steel parting flesh. The man stiffened, a brief, strangled gurgle escaping before the sound-proofing array swallowed it.
Wren's blade followed a heartbeat later on the next sentry. The soft *shing* of her sword leaving its scabbard was swallowed by the array. Her cut was precise—across the side of the neck, just deep enough.
Ivan took out three bandits with brutal efficiency. His palm strikes landed against the torsos of each bandit, destroying their hearts and other organs. He then moved onto the next area.
Eleanor's barrier was versatile, with a crystalline chime that was almost inaudible. She picked off bandits by trapping them in shrinking barriers that squeezed them to death. She also made barriers that cover the head and stop so air-tight that it was impossible to breathe. The translucent sphere of qi snapped into place around a bandit's head. Wren finished the trapped bandit with a single thrust through the heart. The body jerked once, then went limp and fell in its own blood.
Jason took out the last bandit. His cut across the femoral artery was quick and deep. The bandit tried to cry out, but the sound-proofing array turned the scream into a muffled, wet cough. He collapsed sideways, one hand clutching uselessly at the wound.
One by one, the outer Qi Condensation grunts fell.
They moved like ghosts along the cliff base, following the captured bandit's directions toward a narrow fissure half-hidden behind a curtain of hanging moss and black stone. The moss was cold and slick against Gabriel's shoulder as he brushed past; it left dark green smears on his robes and released a damp, earthy smell that still could not quite mask the copper reek of fresh blood clinging to them.
Each time a lone sentry or small pair of patrolmen appeared, the talismans held. Gabriel's formations and the team's coordinated strikes left only cooling bodies in their wake. The soft sounds of dying—final breaths, the quiet thud of knees hitting earth, the faint clink of weapons settling—were all swallowed by the talisman Gabriel had crafted.
By the time they reached the hidden entrance, more than a dozen Qi Condensation bandits lay dead behind them. None of them had managed to raise an alarm. The air near the fissure was colder, carrying a strong deeper corruption that made your hair stand on end.
Gabriel paused at the edge of the darkness, the Life Search tool's earlier numbers still clear in his mind. The real strength of Mad Viper's force waited inside the mountain.
He glanced at the others. Ivan's face was set, a thin line of blood already drying on his knuckles. Wren's eyes were cold and ready, her blade still wet. Eleanor's barrier qi gathered at her fingertips with a faint, crystalline-like shimmer. Jason exhaled once and tightened his grip on his sword until the leather creaked.
Gabriel stepped into the fissure first. The stone walls were damp and close, pressing in on both sides. *Rootcleaver* rested ready in his hand, the talisman still glowing against his skin like a second, cooler heartbeat.
The inner area of the stronghold of Mad Viper awaits ahead.