Li Wang lingered in the shadowed alcove of Elder Mei Ling's pavilion as the others filed out, their footsteps echoing faintly against the stone floors. The air still carried the faint, herbal tang of her alchemical brews, a reminder of the fragile alliances forming around him. He flexed his fingers, feeling the subtle hum of Qi in his meridians—Qi Gathering Stage 1, stable for now, but the suite's alert pulsed like a glitch in his mind. [Anomaly Cascade: Tide Integration. Hidden Function Unlocked? Query Dao Core.]
What the hell did that mean? He couldn't afford to poke at it here, not with eyes everywhere. Pushing the thought aside, he slipped into the corridor, the weight of the impending beast tide pressing on him like an unseen storm.
Outside, the Azure Cloud Sect buzzed with uncharacteristic urgency. Outer disciples hurried between training grounds and storage halls, hauling crates of spirit talismans and low-grade elixirs. The sun hung low over the jagged peaks, casting long shadows that seemed to writhe like the rifts he'd glimpsed in the caves. Li Wang spotted Zhao Feng near the eastern gate, bartering with a vendor for reinforced leather armor. The rogue cultivator waved him over with a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"New guy," Zhao Feng said, tossing him a small pouch. It jingled with spirit stones—enough for basic provisions. "Mei Ling's treat. Said you'd need it more than the rest of us pretty faces."
Li Wang caught it mid-air, his mind already scanning the item's value. [Spirit Stones: 50 units. Purity: Mid-grade.] Useful for quick Qi boosts, but nothing game-changing. "Thanks. You always this generous, or is it just for the apocalypse?"
Zhao Feng chuckled, but there was an edge to it. "Apocalypse? Nah, just another Tuesday in the Xuan Tian Realm. Heard Tao Ren's already out scouting the wilds with that fox of his. Man's got a nose for trouble."
As if on cue, Sung Ji-Yeon approached from the direction of the armory, her steps measured and graceful. She carried a sleek sword wrapped in oiled cloth, its hilt etched with faint runes that glowed under her touch. Her eyes met Li Wang's, holding that same intensity from their cave battle—trust earned in blood, but laced with questions she hadn't voiced yet.
"We're meeting at the outer perimeter at dawn," she said, her voice low to avoid prying ears. "Elder Huo Feng insists on a briefing. He doesn't trust this tide business, thinks it's sect politics stirring the beasts."
Li Wang nodded, falling into step beside her as they headed toward the disciple quarters. Zhao Feng trailed behind, scouting for eavesdroppers out of habit. "Huo Feng's not wrong to be suspicious," Li Wang replied. "Those rifts... they're not natural. And if they're tied to my... methods, we need to know how deep this goes."
Ji-Yeon glanced at him sidelong, her expression unreadable. "Your methods saved us in the caves. But they draw things. Beasts, shadows—worse, maybe. If the tide's building because of you, we handle it together. No secrets."
He appreciated the steel in her words, even if it made his stomach twist. Back on Earth, secrets were his currency as a hacker. Here, they could get you killed—or worse, dissected by some nosy elder. "Fair enough. But if we're querying the Dao Core like that alert suggests, I might need cover. Editing on the fly during a tide? That's begging for backlash."
They reached the sparse outer disciple barracks, a row of thatched huts clustered like forgotten mushrooms at the sect's edge. Li Wang's assigned space was little more than a mat, a low table, and a flickering spirit lamp. He ducked inside, gesturing for them to follow. The door slid shut with a soft thud, and he activated a basic ward—nothing fancy, just a frozen Qi flow to muffle sound.
Zhao Feng leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Alright, spill. What's this suite of yours saying about the tide?"
Li Wang sat cross-legged on the mat, closing his eyes to interface with the suite. It unfolded in his mind like a debug console, lines of ethereal code scrolling past. He queried the alert carefully, avoiding direct edits that might spike the anomaly. [Anomaly Cascade: Integration detected. Beast tide influenced by rift energies. Hidden Function: Dao Core Access—Query to reveal tide origin. Risk: 40% escalation in backlash.]
"Integration," he murmured, opening his eyes. "The tide's not just beasts rampaging. It's like the rifts are pulling them in, syncing with some deeper function in the world's code. If I query the Dao Core, it might show us the source—but it'll amp up the risks. More rifts, stronger entities."
Ji-Yeon's hand rested on her sword hilt, a subconscious tic. "And if you don't? The sect loses outer territories, maybe the city. Your Elder Mei Ling mentioned rebuilding legacies. This could be yours—or ours—to shatter."
Zhao Feng snorted. "Poetic. But practically? We gear up and hit the wilds. Tao Ren's report should give us a starting point. I've got contacts in the undercity who owe me favors—scouts, maybe even a map of the rift hotspots."
Li Wang considered it. The suite tempted him, whispering possibilities: rewrite the tide's momentum, freeze the beasts' aggression. But after the Void Devourer, he knew reckless hacks invited chaos. "Dawn it is. I'll probe the suite tonight, see if I can map the cascade without triggering it."
As they parted, the night deepened. Li Wang lay on his mat, the sect's distant chants of cultivation mantras lulling him into a light trance. Sleep came fitfully, haunted by visions of code unraveling into shadowy maws. When dawn broke, gray light filtered through the cracks in the hut. He rose, Qi circulating smoothly through his meridians, and joined the group at the perimeter.
Elder Huo Feng waited there, his stern face etched deeper by worry lines. At Core Formation Stage 3, he towered over the disciples, his robes embroidered with swirling cloud motifs that seemed to shift with his mood. Flanking him were a dozen outer disciples, including the ever-sneering Kang Wei, whose Qi Condensation Mid Stage paled next to the real threats but still made him a thorn.
"Listen well," Huo Feng barked, his voice cutting through the morning mist. "The Whispering Wilds stir. Reports of spirit beasts massing near the eastern ridges—wolves, boars, even a rogue thunder hawk sighting. Your task: scout the perimeter, report rifts, eliminate stragglers. No heroics. Return by dusk."
His gaze lingered on Li Wang, suspicion flickering like a poorly concealed flame. "And you, newcomer. Prove your place or find another sect."
Kang Wei smirked from the line, muttering just loud enough. "Yeah, prove you didn't cheat your way in."
Li Wang ignored him, focusing on the group. Tao Ren had arrived, his lithe form draped in tribal leathers, a sleek spirit fox perched on his shoulder. The beast's fur shimmered with latent Qi, its eyes intelligent and wary. At Foundation Establishment Peak, Tao Ren exuded a calm that grounded the tension.
"Li Wang," Tao Ren greeted with a nod, his voice warm like sun-warmed earth. "My fox, Lira, senses the unrest. The wilds whisper of imbalance—Qi flows twisted, like roots choked by shadow."
Ji-Yeon and Zhao Feng exchanged glances, ready. Elder Mei Ling watched from a nearby pavilion, her Foundation Establishment Early Stage presence a subtle anchor. She gave Li Wang a meaningful look—remember the Dao's test—before turning away.
The group set out, moving in a loose formation through the sect's warded gates. The path wound down from the cloud-shrouded peaks into the Whispering Wilds, where ancient trees loomed with bark etched in glowing runes. The air thickened with Qi density, wild and untamed, making Li Wang's skin prickle. He scanned subtly: [Qi Density: High. Anomaly Traces: 15% elevation.]
Zhao Feng took point, his rogue senses attuned to ambushes. "Bandits might be out here too, scavenging the chaos. Keep sharp."
They hadn't gone far when Lira's ears perked, a low growl rumbling from her throat. Tao Ren raised a hand. "Ahead. A pack—shadow wolves, corrupted."
The underbrush rustled, and five sleek forms emerged, their fur rippling like liquid night, eyes glowing with rift-tainted Qi. Ordinary wolves at Qi Condensation Stage, but these moved with unnatural coordination, their howls echoing with a dissonant hum.
Ji-Yeon drew her sword in a fluid arc, blade singing through the air. "Flank them."
The battle erupted. Zhao Feng darted left, his daggers flashing with infused Qi to slice at tendons. Tao Ren channeled through Lira, the fox unleashing a burst of illusory flames that disoriented two wolves. Li Wang hung back at first, assessing. The suite highlighted their values: [Corruption Level: 20%. Weakness: Core Stability.]
He whispered a quick edit, targeting one wolf's movement function. Freeze its leap mid-air—just enough to unbalance without a full anomaly spike. The beast hung suspended for a heartbeat, crashing down into Ji-Yeon's strike. Her blade cleaved true, severing its head in a spray of dark ichor.
"Nice distraction," she called, pivoting to the next.
Kang Wei, assigned to their squad by Huo Feng's orders, hung back further, hurling a weak fire talisman that singed fur but did little else. "This is beneath me," he grumbled, eyeing Li Wang with resentment.
The pack fell quickly, their bodies dissolving into wisps of corrupted Qi that the group absorbed to replenish. But as the last wolf dissipated, the ground trembled. A faint rift cracked open nearby—a jagged tear in reality, leaking inky tendrils.
Tao Ren knelt, Lira sniffing the edge. "This is no natural tide. The rifts feed them, make them stronger."
Li Wang approached cautiously, the suite alert flaring. [Rift Function: Active. Query Dao Core to integrate? Y/N.] His heart raced. This was it—the cascade's heart. If he queried now, in the wilds, it might reveal the tide's origin, perhaps even a way to hack the source. But the risk...
Before he could decide, a deeper roar echoed from the ridges. Not wolves—something larger, crashing through the trees. The group tensed, weapons ready.
"Thunder hawk," Zhao Feng whispered. "And it's not alone."
From the mist, a massive bird descended, wings crackling with stolen lightning, flanked by a herd of armored boars. The tide had found them.
Li Wang's fingers itched for the suite. Query or fight blind? The choice hung as heavy as the gathering storm.
But deeper in the rift's shadow, a new alert bloomed unbidden: [Hidden Function Unlocked: Tide Sovereign. Entity Approaching—Power Level: Foundation Establishment Equivalent. Intent: Assimilate Anomaly Host.]
The real threat wasn't the beasts. It was coming for him.