The night in the mountains was denser than usual, as under an enormous black curtain. Then a pillar of five-colored haze shot from the deep heart of the range, tearing the darkness apart. The peaks glowed; the snow-laden trees turned bright.
The sight stunned everyone. Here was a ridge of shimmering splendor — in an age without a sun, made the heart ache.
The mountains fell into turmoil. Every expert near the haze wished he had wings of lightning to race there and fight over the range's most mysterious harvest.
"So early — it's already ripened!"
"Ah...!"
Factions charged. Even partway there, cries of agony rang out; in the dark someone was striking from ambush. Famed beasts roared, rare birds soared, and swarms of aberrants fled madly toward the same point.
Everyone understood the omens were mere symptoms: the harvest in a special node had ripened, its curling mist and haze engendering all this mystery.
Wei Mo, ten meters tall, stood on a broken cliff. His dark-red armor clattered like draconic scales, bursting crimson light. He stamped — with a boom the cliff caved, and he leaped for the deep mountains, black spear in hand.
"Brother Wei, why not stay a while?" A figure in white blocked the way: Ling Xu, the high-ranking City Lord of Redcloud City.
"Ling Xu, do you dare stop me?" Wei Mo vanished in a bound, then reappeared as his spear tore a swath through the forest toward Ling Xu like black lightning.
In another stretch, a three-foot mackerel cat bearing a crimson longsword strode swift and silent, dodging hordes of aberrants toward the haze's heart.
"Stop!" A mantis beast arrived on a gale to bar its path — pure white, a head taller than a man, bristling with fur, its forearms like two serrated snow-white blades.
The cat wasted no words. Out came the crimson sword, blazing like sunset, its sword-qi leaping into the night. Blades of light shredded the darkness; trees fell in swaths or burst apart.
...
The old weasel, who usually ambled by donkey, had abandoned its mount. It skimmed the treetops like a bolt of snow-white lightning.
"Hm?" It halted atop a tall larch, beaded hand raised, and looked up.
"That harvest holds no fortune for you!" came a cold voice from the night-fog.
"So besides Redcloud City's people, other outsiders lurk here." The weasel spoke more than usual.
"Stay put!" — plainly meant to delay it for others' gain.
"Hold me back, and your companions will be stopped too. Better to let me pass and stir the waters muddy."
"Not a chance. You joined the Redcloud men to wound my friend — hmph!" Wings folded within the clouds, and a scaled claw thrust out like a cloud-dragon's grab.
The weasel's beaded hand struck up — a thunderclap boomed, a dreadful beam twisting through the dark. The clouds blasted apart, exposing a gigantic winged beast sent reeling. The larch snapped; trees fell and shattered around. The weasel drifted down onto a rock.
Far off, a Moon Bug rose bright as the moon over the sea, squaring off against a feathered-robed figure atop an azure great bird. Then they clashed.
...
"How I hate not being in the prime of youth! I'd go deep and fight for the treasure — but I don't even dare approach. It breaks the heart!"
"Right now you're among the weakest newcomers of our own party. Wake up."
Countless people grew hot-eyed, but the impulse cooled, and they stopped. Their strength wasn't enough to venture deep and vie against the old monsters; that was suicide. Every party calmed: let your head run hot, and the old monsters would cool you down for good.
Cao Long halted and, bow in hand, went hunting that loud-mouthed yǔquè that had dared call him a "clump."
"A special node here! Someone's hogging it!" the yǔquè squawked, hoping to lure other parties to kill.
Whish, whish, whish! Iron arrows flew thick as a swarm toward the voice.
"Murder! They're silencing me!" The mutated yǔquè fled.
"This isn't a good day to push deeper. Let's pull back," Mu Qing said. The mountains were a howling mess; the old monsters would slaughter each other over the greatest fortune, and innocents could be caught in the blast. Cao Long and Wei Zhirou nodded — better to gain nothing than to err and lose their lives. They'd wait out the high-ranking's battle.
Qin Ming enjoyed the idleness; he wouldn't push deeper, for rare harvests are fine but a man needs his life to claim them. He wandered, hunting that yǔquè — he'd once promised little Wen Rui he'd catch one. But this one, after offending Cao Long, had vanished. He paused, then turned toward the crevice that had once made him gravely ill, to see how that node had fared.
"He's left Mu Qing and Cao Long. Now we can size him up," someone informed You Liangyun. "Is that so? Good — follow him!" You Liangyun, in finest armor, a gleaming sword in hand, led his men through the woods.
...
Deep in the mountain the carnage was gruesome — a monster's neck gushed blood like a fountain, its corpse flattening a swath of trees; purple light surged; mystery experts with no known identity slaughtered one another. Yet in some stretches the fighting seemed... off.
Ling Xu sat in white robes, broke a wine jar's seal, poured his cup, then tossed the whole jar to Wei Mo — for such a hand it was but a single goblet. They drank in silence, yet the long blade and the war-spear stayed gripped, blazing "Heaven Light" into the night. In another stretch, the mackerel cat sat with its sword; the mantis beast chopped at the night with its saw-edged forearms.
...
Qin Ming frowned. He wore beast-hide — plainly a local hunter. Why had he drawn attention again? He stopped: two parties lurked in the dark, one ahead, one behind.
"Qin Ming?" You Liangyun studied the tall, clear-featured youth, his expression complicated — here was one who might block his path of advancement. "You Liangyun of Redcloud City. Someone asked me to test your mettle. Defend yourself."
Qin Ming watched the other four — heavier weapons, all secondary New Lifers. He struck first, carving a dazzling arc. Clang! The next instant his palm stung; the crystal-clear blade nearly flew from his hand. Qin Ming said nothing — his foe's strength was respectable for a first New Lifer, enough to lift a six-hundred-jin cauldron. Of course he'd held back.
Three blocks later You Liangyun's hand trembled. He gave a dejected sigh. "I'm not your match in strength or speed. Someone will likely come for you soon. I'm going."
"By losing, I've lost my place beside the noble one. You'll take it." He turned to leave. "Since I can't strive upward, I'll go home and inherit my title."
Qin Ming had meant to speak, but swallowed it all.
"Brother You's character truly passes muster. A pity you can only go back." Qi Huai'en stepped from the forest. "The noble one sent me to weigh him too." He drew a blade and approached with a faint smile. Three slashes, then he shook his head. "Still a hair short. He doesn't meet the requirements."
"Even that isn't enough?" You Liangyun was startled. "No. She needs a candidate a cut above. Let's go." They left.
Qin Ming was baffled — were it not for the lurking spies, he'd have thrown off restraint long ago. As he walked off, Qi Huai'en mused: even holding back, he could feel that single-New-Life youth's extraordinary power — a cauldron of eight hundred jin at least. Astonishing.
"Hm? Fighting." You Liangyun turned. "You head back; I'll check. If he dies at someone else's hands and she suspects you, that's no good." "I'll come with men." "No — my skill far exceeds ordinary secondary New Lifers. You'd only throw away your lives. Go see her; she may change her mind." "Fine."
Qi Huai'en, a head taller than common men, sped through the forest and reached the scene. "You haven't finished him off yet?"
Qin Ming faced this new band, certain now no one else hid in the dark. He fixed on Qi Huai'en. "You Liangyun never meant to kill me. Instead, *you* want me dead?"
Six men surrounded him, faces full of murder — they'd briefly clashed already.
"So what if I do?" Qi Huai'en said calmly.
Qin Ming hurled his hammer. It smashed the man before him's head; in a flash he seized the man's spear, shot forward — thrust! — impaling another. Blood splattered. One-armed, he held the body aloft high in the air.