"What was the cloud?” I asked, turning towards Liuxiang.“Poison arts. Mildly toxic and enough to get the bats out. It wouldn’t kill any of them with the amount this one used,” Liuxiang replied. “Let us head in, Senior.”I nodded, following behind him as my curiosity grew. Poison arts huh? It fit him for sure, although I wondered how poison would work with Qi. Could some specific chemical compounds be manufactured? If so, when properly utilised, it could change medicine completely. Or perhaps it worked in simpler ways, like with some kind of Poison affinity that had its own laws related to Qi.I stewed with my thoughts, keeping half my attention on my surroundings. Another thing I’d found myself capable of after coming here, although doing two tasks simultaneously was still fairly tough.The Qi levels continued to rise as I made my way inside the vein with Liuxiang. Light dimmed as we walked further in, and I began to notice spots of concentrated Qi buried in the ground. Little crysta

“Flee, don’t act rashly and stay away from any infected creature. Call for help if needed and don’t run away like this again. I’ll be mad,” I sent to Flee, making my voice stern. She was a kid, and I was spoiling her too much. I needed to be more stern before she hurt herself in a reckless stunt like this one.“Flee will take care!” she sent back, and I sighed, feeling like a worrying parent suddenly. Kids are rough.Bringing my attention back to the pile of rubble, I turned to look at Liuxiang. I didn’t like whatever these spirit zombie plants were, and I would prefer to get the people stuck inside and quickly head back out.“The path looks unapproachable from this side. The rubble could be moved with Senior’s help, but the person on the other side would likely get crushed,” Liuxiang said, inspecting the collapsed area.“Zhi Zhu tells me the man is alive, but his feet are injured. The spores have also started to take root, but there’s minimal infection yet. Zhi Zhu will take care of

I ran ahead, rushing through the caverns at high speeds as I traced the flow of the Qi and the air. Yi Liuxiang ran beside me, with a similarly concerned expression. I hadn’t heard much from Flee before her voice had faded. Concern filled my heart, but I could sense that she was alive, and didn’t have any serious injuries.The cavern walls quickly led way to an entrance into a widern section spreading out in a circular area. The Qi saturated the air heavily and I could feel my ears buzzing from the density of the Qi present emanating from this area.“There, near the wall,” Yi Liuxiang spoke, pointing as he ran ahead and I hurriedly followed behind. Within a few moments, I spotted the man stuck near the collapsed section as the two of us hurried over.I paused as Liuxiang walked over, crouching as he began to inspect the man. “Where are you Flee?”I sent to Flee, scanning the area. “Flee is saving the humans!” she sent back to me, before her voice faded once more.I frowned, trying to

Rumbles echoed through the dark cave, as a cacophony of sounds screeching and chittered all over, echoing in a dissonant hum. The ground shook beneath my feet as I rushed towards the direction Flee was in.“What’s happening Flee?” I asked Flee through our bond, receiving a mix of confusion and surprise.“Great Master, the island stood up on its legs.”The words almost made me stumble as I ran, and even though I knew Flee couldn’t see me, I gave her the most shocked look that I could manage. The what did what now?“The island with the pretty flower stood up Master! It even has a mouth and the bad plants are all coming from it.”I felt like rubbing my head, to check if I was hearing things right. A moving island woke up and started screaming. I wished I could laugh at that, but knowing the world I lived in and the fact that I was currently talking to a lightning shooting rat only made me grimace.“The two have found the source of the plants, alongside a moving island,” I said to Liuxian

Black wispy smoke leaked from within, and was neutralised by the Qi around it within a moment, as it only left searing hot vapours that vanished within moments. The miasma to my senses was like a black cloud, almost as if the color of my qi senses were inverted within the area the miasma was present.It was difficult to understand, and even more difficult to describe what I was sensing and seeing. But there was an innate understanding in me that this was bad, and extremely dangerous to play around with.I turned towards Liuxiang, sending a message. “I’ve found some miasma festering in the turtle’s shell.”I saw the boy’s head snap towards me in surprise as his hands froze. The shock passed soon and Liuxiang returned his attention, back to the villager. I could tell one of them was close to waking up from the fluctuations in his Qi.“This one will be there soon as the wounds have been tended to.”I nodded, returning my attention to the miasma. The giant turtle’s shell, mostly covered i