Chương 11: The Breathing Cave

Paike reached down and checked the unconscious disciple at his feet for any valuables. If they had started the fight and gotten caught taking the spoils of victory, the elders wouldn't have been happy. But since they were the wronged party, Paike figured they were entitled to fair compensation for the trouble. It was just how the world worked. Finding nothing, he resisted the urge to give a light kick to his opponent in the ribs. The lackey had nothing on him besides the robes and clothes.

Despite wanting to take something more on the principle of the thing, he wasn't about to strip his opponent naked or anything. Clearly, these attackers had made sure nothing valuable was on them before deciding to ambush. He had grown up on tales from his siblings and cousins about the spoils won in epic battles between immortal cultivators. This wasn't at that level yet, but they always took something; it taught a lesson. Not bringing anything in fear of loss?

That was just bad form, and he spat on the ground next to the opponent.

"Nothing," he told Liming as she stood watch over the other defeated opponents. She looked back at him with disgust on her face.

"Really? Cowards," she said. A quick check of the others showed they had no jewelry, belt pouches, or anything along those lines. Not even a single weapon among them. After clearly vocalizing what they thought of the Ren clan's honor, the two siblings continued down the path, doing their best to appear unbothered, except to keep a more careful watch on their surroundings. Once they were out of earshot, Paike and Liming both slowed down. Paike doubled over, putting his hands on his knees.

He breathed heavily while Liming wiped the sweat from her brow.

"That was a good fight," Liming panted.

"It went okay," Paike said as he stood up after catching his breath.

"Though we need to work on our teamwork a bit."

"Yeah," she agreed, taking the time to work her hair back up into a braid after combing out a few twigs that got caught from the scuffle. The two shared a grin.

"But it was fun, though, right?" Liming said.

"I can't wait to tell Chuhan about this. Our first actual fight!"

"I'm sure she'll love to hear of your victory," Paike said with full sincerity.

"Of course. It was close, though." Liming lifted a shoulder.

"Yeah, but that's why we're here, right? To get these sorts of experiences. Real fights." She said with a surprisingly savage grin. Paike sighed softly.

"Yeah, I suppose we are." He, of course, had plenty of real fights, but they were not something Liming had really experienced. His own troubles with the local sect were something he kept to himself.

"How are you doing on qi?" He asked his sister. She grimaced before her mask of the refined and proper young lady cultivator slipped back into place.

"Low. Finishing off Ren Shu really burned through a lot. I gotta get more efficient at using it to power my blows. How about you, brother?" Paike checked and was pleasantly surprised that he hadn't made much of a dent in his reserves.

"Pretty good, actually." One of the benefits of slow-moving qi was that it took forever for him to spend it. He could probably burn through at his maximum rate for hours before he completely ran out. When the wanderer reached a rough patch, they only needed to remember that beyond the dark willows lies a village, he supposed.

"Being significantly stronger certainly helps," he said, at Liming's jealous look.

"I need to burn through less qi if my martial techniques do more of the heavy lifting."

"I guess that's right. You do have significantly more training on them," Liming mused.

"I will not neglect my own training." She stated with conviction. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Don't pass over your cultivation for that. Remember that power trumps all. I only need to get good at martial techniques because I have no other choice," Paike said with a smirk.

"It's true that I have a few more years of experience. But to be fair, I didn't really start getting good at martial arts until I was about ten." Liming smiled slightly.

"Don't I know." She did know. Paike knew that everyone in their family started training, wrestling, and grappling around the time they could walk. But that was more about instilling discipline and being healthy, building coordination for when they were older. The serious training didn't start until they were better able to absorb it, when their bodies were actually mature enough to learn the lessons of heavy martial arts.

Those first several years after they started to learn in earnest saw massive returns in ability. Paike was starting to hit diminishing returns from pure training. Still, it took him nearly half a decade from when he started taking it seriously. Someone like Ren Shu, who had only been practicing in earnest for a couple of years, couldn't hope to match him. That would change as soon as people started to leave the Early Ruby stage and hit middle and late, or even got to Topaz.

Pure power would overwhelm any technique with enough of a cultivation difference. Even within a single stage of a realm, power made a huge difference, depending on the focus of one's cultivation. But for now, he would milk his existing advantage for all it was worth. They resumed walking and soon picked their way down to the bottom of a valley. A small stream ran over rocks in a pleasant burble, cutting straight through a dense forest of shrub-like trees.

This high altitude certainly encouraged odd biomes, Paike thought, as he and his sister studied the cave entrance in the hillside.

"Are you sure this is it?" Paike asked his sister. Liming nodded.

"Can't you feel it?" Paike shook his head.

"No. It just feels like a cave to me." He could feel faint currents of air moving in and out of the cave, but it wasn't stale air. Maybe there was another entrance somewhere on the other side of the valley.

"You just need something from in here?" She nodded, stepping forward, but Paike put his hand on her upper arm, holding her back.

"You're still low on qi. Why don't you recover some while I go in and check for you?" Liming looked at him suspiciously.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I just wanted someone to watch my back."

"That's what I'm doing," Paike said reassuringly.

"Watching your back. You can't go into something dangerous without a proper reserve of power. That's just foolish." Liming grimaced, knowing he was right.

"Yeah, but you don't need to go without me. We can both wait," she said. Paike knew she was right, but at the same time, well, he needed to challenge himself. He needed to take risks. Otherwise, he was going to be left behind. He couldn't just cultivate his path to power like she could. And besides... he said the rest of his thoughts aloud, "It would take hours for you to fill back up entirely. Who knows if someone else will find us?

Ren Shu could have recovered with his cronies by now and come after us, following our trail. Why don't I go in? And if you feel any disturbance or hear me call for help, you come help me." Liming wasn't happy about it, clearly, but Paike knew that she would listen to him. Besides, it really was reasonable for him to check it out first. He was supposed to protect her, after all. It was one of the last orders his father had ever given him.

She sat with perfect posture and closed her eyes as he felt her qi start to cycle. With a jaunty wave, Paike strode into the cave, his head held high. Though he was shrouded in darkness, he pulled out a Ruby cultivation stone. The red light shone dimly around him, illuminating his surroundings: a rough-walled tunnel leading deeper into the mountain. Holding the source of illumination high, Paike followed the passageway's twists and turns. The light from the entrance vanished after a couple of minutes of walking.

Paike reached a vast cavern, stalactites and stalagmites jutting from the ceiling and floor. Small puddles of water had formed in the various ripples of the cavern's odd topology. Raising his light source high, he examined the place. Surprisingly, there were no bats, insects, or other creatures making a sound, even though the air was good and there was plenty of water. Odd. A strange, warm breeze ruffled his hair.

Paike swallowed, realizing that the gusts—the peculiar stirring in the air currents by the cave's entrance—hadn't been wind. The gusts were too rhythmic, almost as if it was the breathing of some massive being. As if that thought manifested into reality, the stalagmites shifted. The stalagmites in a section near one of the larger pools moved as they flickered in and out of reality. A phantasmal shimmer allowed him to see through some of them as an incomprehensible figure rose from the ground.

A face formed in the cloud of qi using those very same stalagmites as teeth. The creature turned its gaze on Paike, and he froze. The ancient spirit's mouth opened, and Paike feared he would be eaten. Instead a voice poured out of it like gravel hitting a stone floor.

"A little cultivator has come to disturb my slumber again. What do you want, little morsel?"