One month had passed since Airan struck his deal with Ava, the young alchemist.
The arrangement had settled into a steady, frictionless cycle that kept all four parties content: Airan secured his margins, Max handled the low-profile distribution, Lana received the steady stream of vital pills she needed as a Violet Sect outer disciple, and Ava finally had a stable, secure supply of herbs without the constant fear of furnace explosions or crippling material shortages.
Thanks to Airan’s careful planning, Ava had even relocated from the rough conditions of Zone D into a modest dwelling right in Airan’s neighborhood in Zone C, completely eliminating the wasted travel time and security risks of cross-zone supply runs.
On an ordinary afternoon, Airan took Lux out into the lower mountain ridges to train and stretch their legs.
Moving without caution deeper into the brush than intended, they crossed paths with a massive Level 6 Middle Qi demonic wild pig.
The midday sun beat down mercilessly on the slate-grey shale of the lower ridge, baking the sparse, stunted brush into brittle tinder.
Airan crouched low behind an outcropping of gray granite, his breath coming in shallow, controlled hitches.
His left forearm throbbed where a glancing tusk-swipe had torn open the linen sleeve, crusting the skin in dark, congealed blood.
Ten paces away, the Level 6 demonic wild pig dug its massive, cloven hoof into the dry dirt, kicking up a choking plume of dust.
Easily the size of a low-slung war wagon, its hide was a patchwork of bristling, iron-hard gray bristles and scarred, calloused cartilage.
Saliva dripped from its foam-flecked snout, hissing as it hit the sun-scorched stone.
While natural beast element awakenings typically depended on their native terrain—such as a jungle-dwelling beast absorbing wood or earth energy—this wild pig lacked any elemental awakening because it lived in a barren environment and sat just one level shy of harnessing natural ambient energy.
Unlike wild beasts that relied purely on geography for their elements, Lux was a 3rd-level fire-attribute beast whose entire affinity was forged through training in The Burning Fire manual that Airan shared with him.
He was scarred with shallow gashes across his flanks, but his amber eyes locked onto the monster with fierce, calculated focus.
“Hold position until it commits,” Airan thought, channeling his Qi through his meridians to suppress the stinging pain in his arm as The Burning Fire manual hummed in his chest.
With an ear-splitting squeal that rattled the loose gravel, the wild pig charged in a straight, devastating line, its bulk shattering a boulder the size of a water barrel as if it were dried mud.
“Now!” Airan shouted.
Both bodies exploded into motion.
Airan threw himself to the left, his boots sliding through the loose shale as he whipped his right hand forward, detonating three low-grade incendiary talismans directly in front of the charging beast’s face.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
A concussive wall of fire and thick black smoke bloomed across the pig’s snout, temporarily blinding it.
That split-second blind spot was all Lux needed.
Channeling his fire-elemental training, Lux’s paws flared with a dense, shimmering red red-hot aura.
Utilizing the Fire Step technique, he vaulted off a jagged ledge like a streak of crimson lightning, slamming into the beast’s vulnerable, unarmored flank just beneath the ribcage and channeling thermal Qi straight into the flesh.
Before the beast could pivot, Airan closed the distance, sliding beneath the turning radius of its head. This story is hosted at g.com.
His right hand gripped an iron-wood stake smeared with corrosive paste, while his left palm channeled a compressed burst of fire-attribute energy directly into the beast’s knee joint.
Crack.
The pig’s right foreleg buckled under its own weight, causing the massive creature to lurch violently downward.
The beast thrashed wildly in a blind arc, but Lux was already back on his feet, gathering the final remnants of his fire-attribute energy into his throat.
“Finish it!” Airan yelled, hurling his final two offensive talismans into the open, roaring maw of the fallen beast while Lux unleashed a concentrated jet of superheated flame right behind it.
The interior of the beast’s throat ignited instantly.
A muffled, internal explosion ripped through its skull, sending a geyser of dark, smoking blood spraying out.
The massive wild pig spasmed once, twice, and then collapsed heavily into the dust.
Silence descended on the ridge.
Airan staggered forward, leaning against the smoking carcass, and pulled out two healing pills, immediately tossing one to Lux before swallowing the other to stabilize their wounds as they dragged the heavy carcass back toward the city gates.
Author’s Note: Thanks for reading Chapter 20!
Airan’s journey from a penniless herb collector to a spirit distiller starts here.