Chún made his way swiftly through the mountain forest towards his cave, using all of his newly acquired Monkey Movement Dao skills. The tempering he had undergone at the snake clearing had not only replaced all the Essence spent during the bear encounter and fight; it had also improved the purity and filtering capacity of what he absorbed from the surroundings. His strength and agility had likewise increased.
He reached the Heaven and Earth Vine in about a quarter of the time it had taken before—this time travelling mostly in a straight line, without meandering in frustration or trying to throw off a pursuer.
Landing in the clearing with a sigh of relief, he realised he was barely winded. Perhaps because of his recent brushes with death, a spark of pride warmed his chest, and he found himself grinning uncontrollably.
He had survived his first real fight, made progress in his Dao, had a fortuitous encounter, learnt his first Dao technique and something that could be considered a martial skill. Suddenly, he felt like a true Cultivator—just like in the stories he used to hear in the village.
"I have not met an arrogant Consumer who deserves a good face-slapping yet, though. I cannot consider myself a real Cultivator until that happens, right?"
Laughing at his own whimsy, he flinched as the little silver snake uncoiled from around his neck and lifted its tiny head before his eyes with an unmistakable flicker of irritation.
"Ah, nèige…" He coughed nervously, earning an annoyed hiss. Casting the snake a sidelong glance, he said, "Well… welcome to my home! I suppose it is also your home now—although, in truth, it is her home." He gestured at the Heaven and Earth Vine as he started towards the cliff face.
A faint, almost imperceptible metallic note lingered in the air—something Chún had barely noticed when he first landed. Now it stood out beneath the heavy Earth, Wood, and Water Essence of the Vine. Perhaps his senses had sharpened after channelling so much Metal Essence during his clash with the Essence Bear.
The snake bent its head away and gazed upward at the massive tangle of shifting, misty vines and leaves fading in and out of visibility up the li-high cliff face. Copious glowing fruits and flowers; constant swells of Essence and perfume-laden mists thick with flickering, dancing Dao characters and motes of blue, green, and yellow—all contracting and expanding like the breath of a giant.
Its body tensed, then it turned back to Chún with trepidation.
"I do not think you want to make Her upset—treat Her as you did Dàwángjiāolóng and it should be fine." The snake glanced once more at the Vine, then continued, "You get used to it… She will soon Cultivate into a Five Elements Tree, I think. And it is excellent for Cultivation, for growing Essence herbs—and growing anything, really. Best of all, nothing else comes into the clearing… I think she eats them…"
He cleared his throat again, embarrassed. His fingers nervously tightened around his staff as the snake's eyes widened in shock. "As long as I introduce you to Her, it should be fine… I believe so."
Reaching the cave entrance tunnel, Chún rested his staff against the cliff beside the tunnel mouth and put his sack down. Thankfully, the sack had survived the day's events, although it was starting to look worn.
He cast a resigned look down at his unclothed body and shifted uneasily, glancing away quickly. Feeling uncomfortable but having no other option, he stepped forward and placed his hand on a taproot vine, dropping into Essence sense.
"Mountain, could you help me communicate with Tiānnǚ?"
An answering pulse from the link to his locus came, and then an Essence image—one his friend had previously shown him only in his mind—suddenly coalesced from the Essence mists slightly above their heads: the figure of a small, green, human girl, her face towards them. She seemed to lie on her side, asleep in the branches and leaves of the Vine—clearly a manifestation of Essence, not a physical body. Around her shimmered a faint, radiant aura, and soft, drifting celestial clouds swirled gently, framing her form and enhancing the quiet but commanding weight she carried—akin to the Mountain's own.
Both Chún and the small snake reared back in surprise. Chún noticed the image of the girl seemed more solid than in the Mountain's previous mental image, although he could still see through her.
"Ah…" Hastily, Chún bowed, then looked upward toward the reclining figure and spoke carefully. "Tiānnǚ, I am sorry for disturbing your rest. I know you only permit my living here because of the request my Teacher made of you.
"I apologise for the inconvenience, but… I have been gifted the fruit of a Silver Tree, and the request of Dàwángjiāolóng is to plant it in the cave. Dàwáng has sent his subject to guard the sapling directly." Chún indicated the silver snake, who dipped its head in a bow.
There was no discernible response from the sleeping girl. Chún hesitated, his gaze flicking briefly to the snake as if reassuring himself it would be safe, then continued. "Dàwángjiāolóng also stated that the Metal Essence of a Silver Tree in close proximity would assist your Cultivation."
One closed eyelid paused, then slid up the tiniest fraction to reveal glowing Essence, shifting gradually through different colours. A heavy pressure descended, making it difficult to breathe.
The Essence mists stopped swirling and thickened into a fog that glittered dangerously with large amounts of Essence motes and Dao runes. It pressed in around Chún, and he felt an intense sense of being observed.
After a long moment, a large leaf shifted outward and came to rest just under the little snake's position on Chún's neck. The tip of the leaf curled and uncurled once in a clear invitation and went still.
Chún hesitated for a heartbeat, unsure if the gesture was as benign as it seemed, then felt the coils of the snake shifting. The pressure on his throat—a tightening in his Essence link—eased as it moved with dignity onto the surface of the leaf.
The leaf shifted back towards the Essence image, bringing the snake level with the partially open eye. He could see the snake dipping its head in another bow, trailing a soft glow of shimmering Essence motes.
A couple of shùn passed. Then the eyelid of the sleeper slowly closed again, and the Essence image dissipated, the oppressive pressure lifting along with the fog.
He watched as the snake quickly undulated down the vines and into the tunnel entrance, turning its head to look at Chún before disappearing inside. He noted the snake's purposeful movements with quiet respect.
"Guess that means She agreed, then," he thought to himself, bowing to the Heaven and Earth Vine in thanks. Picking up his sack and staff, he followed quickly after the silver snake, jogging down the tunnel towards the main cave.
Chún reached the inner cave opening and moved across to his makeshift bedding where he had hidden his coin pouch out of habit. Dropping his staff and sack, he retrieved the pouch and tapped out the minuscule ruby fruit into his palm. An excited hiss revealed the small snake wrapped around a nearby rock, and Chún closed his hand hurriedly.
"Remember what Dàwáng warned you about. Just wait a shùn and it should be growing."
"Aii," he thought to his locus, "where?"
Just around seven arm spans above the mineral spring, a small ledge pushed its way out of the cave wall. Helpful Essence lines pulsed softly, pinpointing a route for Chún to leap from foothold to handhold to a point just above the new outcropping.
"Right." Using Monkey Movement, he easily followed the guides, his heart quickening with anticipation but movements steady, and found himself at just about eye-height with the new ledge. From here, he could look almost directly down into the hot spring and feel the heat of the mineral-laden vapour hitting his face. A faint pulse of warmth flowed from the Essence lines into his palms, grounding and steadying him.
The ledge itself seemed to have been almost folded out of the wall, leaving a curved alcove arching behind and above it. Moisture droplets already dripped from the alcove onto the ledge. One droplet caught his lips, and he pulled a face at the sharp tang of iron mixed with bitter minerals, biting his tongue. The stone was cool under his fingertips despite the rising steam.
The distant drip of water echoed softly, mingling with the faint scent of wet earth. The silver snake's eyes followed his movements attentively, tongue flicking once as it coiled nearby and ready to react.
He steadied his breath. His fingers tightened slightly on the staff's worn wood.
A few Fire Essence motes floating up from the spring dimly illuminated thick veins of rock that shone with metallic ores. Chún thought he spotted silver, iron, maybe even a flash of gold embedded among shiny flints and crystals.
"It is probably a good thing there is to be an extra guard inside the cave, my friend. If ordinary humans learnt of your riches, we would not need the Consumers to come here for you to be hurt," Chún sighed quietly. "Ah, I see why this is a good place. Let me just…" He placed the ruby fruit onto the ledge carefully to avoid the possibility of it rolling off, expecting solid stone, but instead it yielded like fine, soft sand.
"Huh?... Oh, this is ridiculous," he muttered, frustrated at not being able to see properly.
Pushing his Essence out, he carefully traced a Fire Dao Rune in the air—a small, intricate spiral—like he had seen his locus create on the stew pot. Almost immediately, some of the scattered Fire Essence motes drifting upward from the hot spring rushed towards it and started filling it, creating a small flame drifting where he had placed the rune. More motes moved toward the rune as he watched, the small flame growing brighter and slightly larger.
"Not what I expected, but useful…" Thoughtfully, he moved the Essence Rune towards the ledge and the flame followed, as did the fire motes. The firelight glittered off what appeared to be colourful sands that shone with metallic lustre, instead of the rock he was expecting.
"Oh, metal sand, instead of soil… you know that most humans would kill to get this sort of thing…?"
A puzzled sensation came from his link and an image of Chún filling his pouch with the sand.
"No, it is no good to me at the moment—I am not strong enough to protect you or myself if someone decides to take it. Maybe someday I will be strong enough and we can use some to trade for things we need."
"Aii, so if the fruit is in this sand…" Chún used his finger to push the fruit into the central, deepest part of the powdered metal grains and covered it as if planting a regular seed in soil. Releasing the Fire Dao Rune, he took a deep breath and synchronised his pulse with the steady heartbeat of his Mountain locus. A gentle warmth radiated from the glowing seed, brushing his skin like a soft caress. The seed pulsed steadily, brightening with each rhythmic beat.
He recalled the teaching from Dàwáng jiāolóng: rather than releasing a large amount of Essence all at once, it was better to feed the cycle of a Dao, allowing it to develop naturally instead of forcing it to ignite prematurely.
Synchronising his Essence release with the beat of his locus was key: the closer a cultivator's personal Dao was in time with all Dao, the stronger and more connected their Essence Manifestations would be.
Because Chún's locus was the Mountain, he could hear its pulse—the reflection of all Dao—giving him an advantage over other True Cultivators. He could create more powerful Essence Ignitions with less expenditure, producing higher quality Manifestations born already in harmony with the Dao.
He fed the young tree with careful, measured pulses of mixed Essence—Earth, Water, and Air—matching the Mountain's heartbeat. The gentle rhythm moved through him, steady and natural, as if he were drifting gently downstream, carried by a timeless current rather than struggling against it.
This made much sense to Chún. He suspected he might have figured it out eventually, but Dàwáng jiāolóng evidently wished the new seedling to have the best possible result, for the little silver snake's benefit.
The seed pulsed brightly now—growing brighter with each beat, even without his active Essence aid—setting the sand glowing.
"It is time," he warned the little silver snake urgently. Instantly, it moved quickly up the cave wall to the ledge, curling itself into a ring on the sand at the ledge's edge.
Seeing everything done as Dàwáng required, Chún leapt down to the ground near his bedding and sat to cultivate. A sudden thought made him reach over and grasp his staff, holding it at either end across his legs.
In his Essence sight, the seed on the ledge flickered continuously—brighter each time—with the little snake coiled around it, its Essence flickering in time. He breathed relief; the little snake was following Dàwáng's orders.
Indeed, all the Essence veins in the cave pulsed—the ones on the small ledge almost as brightly as the seed—to the same beat. Even the Mountain's pulse had quickened to match.
Did that mean all the Dao was accelerating? There was so much he did not yet understand…
New Essence movements caught his eye from the cave ceiling. Roots from the Heaven and Earth Vine—recognisable by shape and colour—grew through the rock almost directly above the ledge. They pulsed in the same beat.
Chún retracted his Essence sense and accelerated his pulse to match his locus's drumming. It felt effortless—as if he had jumped into a swiftly flowing river, his Essence pulled along by a stronger current. His breathing, heartbeat, and blood flow surged to match.
With a thought, he pushed Essence out his left arm—into his staff, down its length and back up his right. After a single cycle, the flow moved through the staff without effort.
His staff transformed—deadwood to living branch—pulsing with his heartbeat.
His thoughts fell away into the beat. Everything resonated in an endless glow.
The ignition came as expected. Everything raced outward in a gentle wave, like the biggest clash of cymbals ever, gently depositing him back in the cave.
Chún opened his eyes. Unlike before, there was no pain or disorientation. The black muck remained but flaked off as he shifted, revealing new skin with an almost metallic lustre beneath the light.
He looked around slowly, blinking at how well he could see inside his cave without Essence sense. Light reflected off everything, leaving the cave comfortably lit. All surfaces seemed almost gilded.
A sense of agreement came from his link to the Mountain which, he was relieved to note, sounded again like its usual steady heartbeat—and the strange words... gilded, lustre... reminded him of something he had been meaning to ask his locus.
"I have wondered— all these long words and ideas I never knew before, is it because of you?"
Agreement. Also disagreement—and an image of his head growing brightly with Essence—with strands running back and forth and out through the link and back.
"The Cultivation makes me smarter? I think of the ideas; you are just providing the words?"
Some agreement. "Both? I think of some things, some ideas you pass to me—but the big words must come from you?"
Agreement.
"Not sure I like that—having ideas which are not mine in my head."
A feeling of helpfulness and unconcern came in response, causing him to roll his eyes, "Tch. I may wish to discuss this again at some point. For now, where is that light coming from?"
Chún checked his staff, which now looked like a small tree trunk forged in elaborate detail out of various types of metals—bronze for bark, with silver cracks and fissures, and gold for burls and grain—looking almost like a living tree without branches or leaves. It wasn't glowing, however.
He raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Ah... I won't be able to take this outside again…" He paused as the staff seemed to shrink in width to a normal staff and turned black, looking like cast iron or some dark wood, though it still bore the texture of wood grain. "...or not... okay, that worked even better than I'd hoped—hah, let that Bear have a taste of this!"
"So where is that… oh," Chún looked up at the ledge glowing brightly and quickly scaled the wall.
A very small sapling was growing from the sand, much reduced in size. Like its parent, it was silver, but clearly a young tree with only a couple of branches bearing one or two tiny, wide, bronze-ish leaves and no fruit. Given its size, it was hard to tell its species—other than that it was not a willow—unlike its parent.
The trunk and branches were incandescent—almost too brilliant to look at. Chún suspected that without recent tempering he would have been momentarily dazzled.
"Aii." He drew a small breath, shielding his eyes with one hand as he glanced cautiously around at the otherwise empty ledge, "It'll be interesting to see what you grow into," he murmured absently as his chest tightened with a sudden concern for his new... responsibility? "Silver snake…?"
A hiss, much louder than before, caught his attention. Chún turned his gaze to see a gleaming silver snake with golden traceries, as wide as his arm and at least an arm's length long, coiled in a crevice near his head. It regarded him steadily with glowing silver eyes.
The snake blinked slowly, tongue flicking delicately, a faint sound like a soft whisper.
Chún swallowed, the moment settling in, and said softly, "Well… that seems to have worked."