The five moons of the underworld hung proudly in the starless sky, washing the shattered islands below in cold, silvery light. Forests sprawled across them—vibrant, dangerous, alive.
Hare-like creatures darted through glowing reeds.
Swarms of carnivorous dragonflies shimmered over pools of black water.
Toads the size of oxen lurked beside fallen logs, swollen throats vibrating as they waited for prey to wander close.
Predation was everywhere.
Broken shell fragments littered the ground.
Trails of fresh blood cut through the underbrush. Tiny, panicked figures—newborn demons—scrambled through their first moments of life as beasts hunted them without mercy.
A pack of Demonic Wolves tore into a cluster of screaming hatchlings. A serpent returned to its nest only to find a pale-skinned child ripping open its eggs.
High above, a winged demon fled from a flock of night-hungry birds.
And in the center of a dense clearing, an entire roost of vultures slept among the mangled remains of their kills—snoring, dreaming, utterly unrepentant.
"Caaaa…" one croaked mid-dream, shifting slightly.
Scratch… scratch…
Its talons brushed the floor of the nest.
That tiny sound was enough to make Qiren stop climbing.
He hung twenty-seven feet off the ground, one arm hooked around a branch, his satchel swaying at his hip—heavy with freshly harvested, razor-sharp beaks. His feathered loincloth fluttered in the breeze.
He waited… listened… then continued his ascent, claws digging quietly into the bark until he reached a hollow in the trunk.
He peeked inside.
A vulture paced around a mutilated rib cage, its beak slick with fresh blood. The entire hollow reeked of iron and rot.
Qiren's expression tightened.
"…Tch."
He slipped inside without a sound. His fingers brushed his satchel and drew out two beak-blades.
Jingil… jingil…
The Taijitu halves hanging on his necklace rattled softly.
The vulture stirred. One eye cracked open, blurry and confused. It raised its head from the carcass, blinking toward the nest's entrance.
A silhouette perched there—small, humanoid, ringed with feathers and flecks of crystal.
Its eyes—many of them, rotating in slow spirals across his distorted face like koi gliding beneath water—glowed faintly in the dark.
"Caa..!?"
The vulture jolted upright—
Too late.
Qiren lunged.
"Graowl!" he snarled, imitating a low, guttural beast.
SWISH!
His keratin blade ripped clean through its throat.
"Kraaah—!"
Before it could scream, he slammed his shoulder into its neck and drove it against the wall. Both blades flashed upward.
"SKREEE—!!"
"Hush~…"
Black threads coiled around its windpipe, tightening. "We're not done yet."
He yanked the blades free, slashed behind its wings—severing tendons—then stabbed deep into the joints.
SKREE—!
The sound died halfway through, strangled.
Qiren's swirling eyes snapped back into their horizontal positions around his sunken eye sockets—their swirling fear tactic complete. He leaned close, letting the vulture feel the full weight of his twisted, blood-slicked presence.
The creature trembled violently.
His lower throat split open, revealing a second row of fangs. Blood dripped down his jaw.
He didn't kill it immediately.
He wanted it to feel everything.
KHH-rrrk—rrrHHH!!
Its bones popped as he wedged the blades deeper, twisting until the joints gave way. Its wings spasmed uselessly. Its eyes bulged in raw terror.
It couldn't breathe.
Couldn't escape.
Couldn't look away.
Slowly… its movements faded.
Then stopped.
Its soul peeled free—a pale, trembling wisp.
Qiren inhaled sharply, devouring it whole.
Warmth rushed into his meridians.
He wiped his mouths clean and turned toward the dismembered demon hatchling lying in the nest. The torso was split open; limbs tossed into corners.
He stared.
At first, he wanted to feel sick. Wanted to pretend the old him still existed.
He felt nothing.
Only a cold, instinctive disgust.
"How could something like you fail to escape…?" he muttered.
The longer he looked, the angrier he grew. Wings, horns, a scorpion tail—advantages wasted. Any sympathy he harbored for it evaporated.
His tongue clicked before he realized it.
"…Why did that piss me off?"
He frowned. "Was that me? Or… this new demonic lineage?"
He crouched and examined the corpse for unique organs or crystal remnants. Nothing.
He turned back to the vulture.
"Did you eat its Taijitu pieces…?"
He twirled a dagger and got to work.
A few minutes later, he dropped two new Taijitu halves into his satchel and climbed toward the next nest. Cold wind rushed across his skin as the branches swayed.
He reached the next hollow.
Inside, another vulture slept, curled tightly.
Just like the one below.
Qiren crept in, daggers drawn.
Minutes later, he slipped out again—adding two separate sets of Taijitu pieces to his satchel. His hunt continued—from hollow to hollow, he tortured and killed in silence until he reached his fifth nest.
He entered with refined steps, having repeated this method half a dozen times.
Raising his dagger to sever its wings, he froze as an image suddenly flickered through his mind.
"??" His head snapped toward the eastern ridge.
And he wasn't the only one.
Far below, a worm-like hatchling retreated into a stump.
In the grass, a humanoid newborn rose to attention.
Predatory wolves halted mid-prowl, howling toward a distant crystal mountain.
Insects froze.
Eggs shuddered.
Every creature with even a sliver of demonic blood sensed it.
The summit had begun to glow… early.
"What was that?" Qiren muttered. It felt like something important had slipped from his grasp. His instincts screamed, but his mind couldn't interpret the warning.
The vulture beside him understood perfectly.
Its eyes snapped open.
"Khrrrk—khrrrk—!"
It thrashed upright—WHUFF—WHUFF—wings beating wildly.
Qiren paled and lunged.
This is bad.
No hesitation—he stabbed straight into its chest.
"Ghrraaaak!?"
Rip.
Crunch.
No time for slow cruelty. If it cried out, the entire flock would wake.
Stab. Stab.
He pierced the heart repeatedly, letting it drown in its own blood.
But the damage was done.
Across the forest, vultures screeched awake.
Qiren's blood went cold.
He seized the escaping soul mist and hurled himself out of the nest—seven stories up.
…krk…krhhh…
His keratin dagger scraped the trunk as he jammed it in, slowing his fall.
Above, dozens of shadows burst into the sky.
Shit.
He slid halfway down before the dagger bent, stopping his descent. He let go—falling the rest of the way.
"Argh—!"
He crashed into wet soil, rolling violently. His satchel snapped apart.
Pain flared across his body. Gritting his teeth, he immediately devoured the soul.
Negative Karma: 115.9 ↑
Refinement Qi: 27.5 ↑
Fear: 7.6 ↑
Pain: 4.7 ↑
He swallowed the pain, fear, and spiritual energies feeding onto the accumulated stats brought by the Taijitu chain and the last four souls he had consumed.
Then he staggered up and grabbed the broken frame of his satchel—
Caw! Caw! Caw!
Qiren's head snapped up.
The vultures circled above the clearing—
And they had spotted him.
"KRRRAAK!" roared the largest, bursting from the redwood's crown.
It dwarfed the others.
Its skin was blood-red—whether stained or natural, Qiren couldn't tell.
Tattered pelts and skulls hung from its body.
Its malevolent eyes cut through him like blades.
Their gazes met.
His chest hammered. He dropped his satchel.
Beaks, feathers, and Taijitu fragments spilled across the ground.
He didn't care. Not now.
He bolted.
Fwum—fwum—fwum—WHRAAASH—
The alpha vulture dove straight for him.
Shit, shit, shit!
Qiren sprinted toward the trees, planning to use the trunks as cover—
But he underestimated their intelligence.
"Caw! Caw!"
Two vultures swooped down, blocking him.
"!!!"
His hands moved instinctively—toward his bangs. He didn't know why, only that he needed to.
He plucked several strands and flung them.
Refinement Qi: 25.2 ↓
The strands hardened mid-flight into bone-white needles.
The vultures flapped in confusion—thinking he had thrown hair—
—until it was too late.
The needles split apart and buried themselves in their eyes.
"Skrrr-aaaaw!"
"Skreee—khhk—!"
Blinded, they spiraled away, giving Qiren his opening.
He darted between them just as the alpha slammed into where he had been.
It shrieked in fury, beating its wings hard, rising above the canopy for a vantage—
—only to find Qiren gone.
The alpha scanned the moonlit forest—footprints, crushed flowers, snapped twigs—but no body.
"KRRRAAK!" it roared, furious.
Then it turned east.
Its eyes glowed as it flew toward the amethyst mountain—its entire flock sweeping behind it.