"Another one killed himself?"
"Yeah, seems like it."
Li Quang, Outer Disciple of the Pure Blossom Sect, looked at the beggar whose head had been pierced with a knife. He shook his head before storing the beggar's bloodied body in his storage ring.
These weak-willed reincarnators. Weak cultivators, after realizing their situation in this world, sometimes killed themselves in hopes of being reincarnated again. Li Quang scoffed as he exited the disgusting home.
"Let's go," Li Quang said to his partner.
"No need for a soul search?" his partner asked.
"No, just another regular case. I wish they killed themselves more quietly. Why'd they do it in the city?"
"Better than the natives. At least they don't throw a ruckus over it."
Li Quang shook his head once more before thrusting his palm out to the half-destroyed building. The Secret Flower Palm Art produced a loud bang as dust rose, and the building was destroyed.
The two outer disciples left, and the surroundings quickly returned with beggars and workers alike returning to the regular course of life.
***
Aurel wandered the streets. He needed an excuse to stay in the city. Drawing more attention to himself would not help if he continued to stay. He could remain on the streets, as some chose to do—but that wasn't what he wanted.
As he roamed the dirty street, he spotted an entrance to a slave market. Robed cultivators entered, and the smell of sickly sweet perfume flew out of the halls. It disgusted him, but he did not want to enter just yet. He needed more information.
Making sure not to draw any attention, Aurel scanned out the shops that seemed quiet. After a moment of deliberation, he entered a small herb shop.
As he entered, a small bell announced his arrival.
"Hello. Welcome to—"
An old man entered, pausing his words as he saw Aurel and the spear he carried.
"Is there anything you need?"
The old man seemed easy to coerce. How he had managed to survive, Aurel didn't know. He remained cautious, however. The old man was an Otherworlder. He might have secrets or hidden power.
"Senior," Aurel said, bowing. "Are you willing to give me work?"
The old man seemed frightened, but soon held his ground.
"I'm sorry. We're not hiring."
"I'm—new," Aurel said, deliberately gauging the old man's reaction. He seemed to become more nervous. "I simply need money. Whatever you need, I'm willing."
"I'm sorry," the old man said again. He seemed more confident upon seeing Aurel not threatening him further. "The answer is no. Don't—"
Suddenly, the old man turned away, looking behind his counter. He whispered, motioning away. "Yue Yue, stay away."
Aurel looked behind him. He could see the edges of a child, a girl, wiping away her eyes from sleep. A child—how? Wasn't this man an Otherworlder?
Behind him, the door opened once more. The bell rang suddenly, and the door smashed against its wooden frame. A loud voice echoed.
"Shen Jilan! It is time for payment! The date is due!"
A monstrous man, large and overbearing, whose frame dwarfed the small shop, entered. He wore a large, curved sword at his waist.
"Feng Donglai, please, give us another month. We'll pay you then." The old man, Shen Jilan, bowed. Aurel looked between the two.
Feng Donglai, his large body moving forward, shouted in laughter.
"Do you think the Wild Dog Sect is weak? Reparations must be paid. We had an agreement."
"Still, please. Give us another—"
"No," Feng Donglai thundered. "If you can't pay up, give us your shop. Or we could get to another agreement…" He looked over, and Aurel could see that the man was looking past the old man and into the back.
As Shen Jilan cowered and Feng Donglai began to draw his sword, Aurel pondered. He could move, stop the man. He sensed his qi; Feng Donglai had not bothered to hide it. But that would raise the risk for Aurel.
But more than that, Aurel glanced once more at the back of the shop. The child kept returning to his mind. And perhaps if he stepped in, he would get more trust. Feng Jilan might provide him cover.
Thus, he stepped forward, extending his spear to block the way of Feng Donglai. The man looked down, as though dumbfounded, and then at Aurel.
"Who are you?" he said, almost laughing. "A Unique? Are you out of your mind?" He slapped with his hand, as though hitting a bug, toward Aurel with his massive hand.
Aurel stopped the force. With a hand, his spear still blocking the way. The two made eye contact. Had Feng Donglai been more intelligent, perhaps he would have felt the power difference, seen within Aurel's eyes the willingness to kill.
Quick as lightning, a vicious roar erupted as Fend Donglai used a technique. But Aurel saw. With a burst of strength, he extended his spear, slicing the man's hand with a quick thrust. Red lightning burst out, and Feng Donglai collapsed in shock.
Before Aurel began to move his spear once more, he glanced behind at Shen Jilan, who shouted to stop.
Just before the spear pierced the man's throat, he stopped.
"Great cultivator, please, spare his life. If he dies, we'll only get targeted more. Please."
Aurel withdrew his spear after a moment. Soon, the old man led Feng Donglai, in shock, out of the shop with stumbling feet.
As the door shut with a bell, Shen Jilan almost collapsed on the floor before the door.
"Great Benefactor, thank you with all my heart… Is it a job you need? I can pay you, how much you need."
Aurel looked to Shen Jilan.
"Old man. Who was that?"
"That was Feng Donglai, a 3rd-stage qi-condensing cultivator. He's a lackey of the Wild Dog Sect. They control the surrounding shops and the poor. The Pure Blossom Sect knows, but they don't care. They think we deserve it."
But as Aurel listened, he tilted his head, looking at Shen Jilan. He could sense qi to an extent, or its level, and could see that Shen Jilan had at least a stronger power than Feng Donglai. Why had he not resisted?
As though understanding his confusion, Shen Jilan shook his head. After taking a deep breath, he called out.
"Yue Yue. Come here."
After his words, Aurel saw a small head pop up from behind the counter. It was a cute, almost chubby girl with pigtails. She scampered over to Shen Jilan, jumping into his arms.
"Grandpa!" she said. "Are you okay?"
Shen Jilan gave a weary smile at Aurel.
"This is Yue Yue. She is—a native. I was young when I regressed. With nothing but my measly cultivation technique from my home world, I was barely admitted into the city. I struggled for years. But—there was an injured slave I found. A young woman. She had a child. She had escaped. I couldn't just leave them. She was murdered, but I was able to hide her child. That's her, Shen Yue, right here."
Aurel looked at Shen Jilan, and the girl snuggled into the old man. Why had this Otherworlder taken in this young child? Were they not ruthless? He knew, as they did, that this was not their world. And still—Aurel looked to Shen Yue—this girl was a native. From this world, not others. This old man. Weren't all Otherworlders uncaring?
But it didn't matter. This man could provide what he needed. And if in the process, he could help the girl, his kin, it would be better.
"Will you give me a job? Work?"
"Of course," Shen Jilan replied. "We have a spare room. You can use that. May I ask your name?"
"It's Aurel."
Shen Jilan looked surprised, afraid, almost. But he glanced down at the girl and out the door.
"Well then, Aurel, my deepest thanks. This is a herb shop. We gather herbs from around the city and sell them to the locals in this city."
"Thank you, Shen Jilan."
Aurel then smiled at Shen Yue, who had turned around. She gave a timid smile in response.
The day passed, with Aurel receiving a room and food. He would work as a herb gatherer, as Shen Jilan suggested. It would allow him to leave the city. Shen Jilan didn't ask many questions about his origins or his lightning. Shen Yue, Yue Yue was her nickname, was still shy around him, but had gradually grown more used ot his prescence. Time passed slowly as Aurel got more familiar with this tiny family and the city.
Aurel patted Yue Yue on her head.
"I'll be going," Aurel said. Shen Jilan gave him a nod before going back to the counter and dealing with a customer.
"Bwye Big Brother!" Yue Yue said, waving her small hand in the air. Aurel smiled and waved in response before soon leaving the store.
It was midday, and Aurel exited the city through the bustling crowd. After leaving the city multiple times, the guards of Blood Feather City had recognized him. They checked the identification tablet that Aurel had gotten with the help of Shen Jilan.
The surrounding city was covered with a dense forest, the one that Aurel had walked through across his journey from Whiteriver town. He headed east, toward a small mountain range.
As he walked, he searched beneath trees and grass meadows for spirit grass. Plants that had gathered qi from the air, they were the most common spiritual herb that poor cultivators could substitute for pills.
But his main goal wasn't the spirit grass. As he approached the mountaintop, he soon slipped through a crevice within a gathering of boulders.
There was a small enclave, surrounded by larger boulders, with a large, protected clearing accessible only by a small path between the rocks. Aurel had found it during one his first excursions out of the city.
Aurel set down the basket of herbs and pulled the spear out from his back.
Soon, he began his routine.
First, he began to practice thrusts, cuts, his spear dancing across the boulders, cutting apart their hide like wood. It was all very basic movements, movements like a basic upper thrust, a sideways cut, but the point of the exercise was to get familiar with the spear and practice its movements. It had begun to feel more like an extension of his body now. Without proper instruction, this was the best he could do.
After taking a drink from a bottle he brought, Aurel then trained his endurance and strength. The power of the Will had strengthened his body, but exercise would still strengthen and concentrate his power. He did body exercises, pushups, squats, using stones to weight his movements.
As the day passed, he practiced controlling the power of storms. Sitting in the middle of the clearing, he sat, legs crossed, attempting to feel the power. It was a form of meditation, one that the Will had recommended.
What was the power of storms? As Aurel meditated, he continued to ponder the question. Perhaps answering it would bring him more control.
Was it similar to qi, magic? Just another system of power? When he had asked Will, he had gotten a vague answer about the nature of laws. But it was an energy.
Aurel began an exercise he had thought. Using the power of storms, the lightning, he attempted to coalesce the lightning within his palm. In his first attempts, the red lightning had simply fizzled out. But now, upon his palm, there was a small rotating bundle of bursting red light that spasmed with sparks.
As he stood up, Aurel smiled, dissipating the energy. After even this short time, the amount of energy he could pull, use, had increased.
Perhaps then, it was time.
Finally, as the day grew to its end, Aurel began to practice the move he had thought.
He stood, feeling the energy within him. He attempted to control the energy, feeding it into his lower limbs. Lightning crackled, but he ignored it as he focused.
Then, in a single burst, as Aurel stepped forward, he poured the lighting out.
Lightning thrummed, thunder breaking, as his body flashed forward. In an instant, his body had traveled half the meadow, lightning streaking red across his body.
Finally.
Aurel collapsed onto the floor, lying down as he looked up at the sky. He looked back, seeing the broken ground before his feet, grass that had been torn away.
He had finally done it. He would call this thunder step. By controlling and releasing the energy through his legs, he could move at impressive speeds. If he could chain them together—it would provide invaluable movement in fighting.
Aurel took a deep breath.
He had accomplished a lot over these days. He felt like he was more powerful than the old man. But he didn't have any way to measure. But he needed to train more. He pictured the slave market he passed on his first day in this city. He needed a way to measure his power and make a plan.