DC 73

When he’d started working on this technique, Feng Jiao figured he could make up for it’s intense essence consumption by absorbing wood essence from the plants surrounding his battle. It was only in the scenario where he actually needed it that he realized that was a stupid plan. If a strategy only worked in a vacuum, it wasn’t a strategy at all but a dream.

As he passed the 50% mark for his wood essence drain, the creature finally snapped out of its daze. Apparently tired of dancing around Xin Lee’s arrows, the white fangs that designated the misty creature’s face snapped toward Weiwu De and Curly, who were only halfway to the repellent torches. 

Feng Jiao and company, however, were almost at the circle due to not being weighed down by Curly’s sprained or broken ankle. Feng Lou and Jixiang Yun quickly took out their fire lighting materials, those being a very advanced version of a regular flint and steel made out of materials Feng Jiao didn’t see until he’d reincarnated in this world. Usually, it took only a single flick to create a very small ember. Naturally, this only worked that way under good conditions, but considering it wasn’t raining, it only took a few tries for each torch to get lit despite their shaky hands.

Feng Jiao, however, had never stopped running despite his better judgement. With each pump of his arm, he threw out seed as he cycled his essence technique harder and harder. Although he’d always done his best to keep himself in shape, even Feng Jiao’s lungs started screaming at him to stop. 

To his friends, Feng Jiao was being noble and risking his life for two boys he’d just met the day before, causing them to shed a tear in appreciation of his loyalty. To the two boys, they were convinced that the beautiful little girl had developed a crush on them. Although she was only 11, they didn’t mind being kind for a few years and seeing how the relationship developed. Naturally, they still didn’t realize that Feng Jiao was a boy, regardless of the fact that all of his friends, par Feng Lou who called him cousin, referred to him as Brother Jiao. Naturally it didn’t help that they all insisted on calling him Elder Brother Jiao out of respect for his strength, lending credence to the theory it was just a title that “Sister Jiao” preferred to be referred to as.

Feng Jiao, however, knew that he had a plan. Even if Curly and Weiwu didn’t need his help, Feng Jiao was always going to run to intercept the beast after escorting his actual friends to safety. He still hadn’t given up hope of capturing the beast, after all. If it were a core formation beast, it wouldn’t have been forced out of the ground by the repellent that Tan Sai had mixed, which meant Xie Lee could still forcefully bind it to his spirit with his artifact.

Feng Jiao had a few more tricks that he’d been working on and didn’t want to miss the chance to test them in actual combat, so he sprinted toward the creature. His moves wouldn’t as well from a distance, which meant standing behind the repellent circle wasn’t a good idea for him at the moment. Even if the creature was willing to get closer, that would put it farther out of Xin Lee’s range and ruin his plan.

“Go back, Elder Sister Feng! There is no reason for all three of us to die here. I’ll remember you as a true friend even in the next life.” Weiwu De yelled at the incoming disciple with tears streaming down his face, even as he picked up his pace beyond what he’d thought possible. Seeing Feng Jiao sprinting toward him and giving life to the surrounding earth inspired his very soul, chasing away the last vestiges of despair and doubt that had begun to eat away at him, allowing him to overdraft his physical potential and speed up.

For Curly, it was the exact opposite. After being betrayed by Spiky and losing Bowl Cut, the only two friends he’d managed to make in the Sect since he arrived two years back, his heart was blackened and broken. When Weiwu De came back for him, he mourned the death of the boy he’d met only a couple months before and cursed his luck for throwing in his lot with Spiky, pretending like Spiky’s bad attitude was reserved only for those he didn’t consider friends. He’d already found his peace with death, and saw hope in the three younger disciples finally making it to the safety of the back line.

His best friend was probably dead while his other best friend had left him for dead before also getting himself killed. At this point, Curly just wanted the death to stop, the pain to cease, his existence to end. Seeing Feng Jiao sprinting toward him like a madman had sent another shock of pain to the heart that had already stopped feeling. His comfort with his death was ruined and he knew that if he didn’t also give maximum effort, even more people would die because of him. Cursing his selfishness, he started doing his best to match Weiwu De’s pace, as if they were in some sort of messed up three-legged race.

Imagine his surprise when, instead of turning around or helping them back to safety after they met up with Feng Jiao, he was completely ignored as Feng Jiao sprinted right by them. Tears streamed from his eyes, convinced Feng Jiao was sacrificing himself in order to buy two lives with his one. Not letting Feng Jiao’s sacrifice be in vain, he ignored his broken ankle and fractured leg, running with both of his legs and making his injury worse as he strove for safety.

Finally, Feng Jiao and the creature met up. The little monster leapt at Feng Jiao, attempting to close the gap sooner than the human was expecting and catching him by surprise. Unfortunately for it, Feng Jiao had a similar idea. Instead of leaping, he swung his arm from behind him toward the creature as he withdrew his spear from his ring. His plan was to exploit the creature’s bestial intelligence and lack of knowledge about storage rings. 

With a solid crack, the creature’s ivory fangs made contact with Feng Jiao’s spear, sending them flying in opposite directions. Feng Jiao found it surprising that such a small creature could send him sliding backwards even after he’d braced himself for the impact. The beast was likewise surprised that his teeth had slammed against something and not broken it. When the creature hit the ground, it did so on its feet and stared back at Feng Jiao. 

For a moment, everyone there held their breath. The impact had told them that the beast wasn’t too far off their own level, a conclusion that Xin Lee and Feng Jiao had already arrived at. At the very least, everyone realized that it hadn’t yet formed a core so hope was not lost. Kicking himself for not remembering Tan Sai’s work about the efficacy of her pest repellant, Feng Lou entertained the thought of running out to help his cousin to battle the creature. The only thing that held him back was the knowledge that none of them had practice battling together, and they’d likely just get in Feng Jiao’s way or become a liability. 

In the next moment, he knew that they would have just been dead weight. Feng Jiao began circulating his fire essence through all of his meridians. Previously he’d only used it to enhance his legs and lungs to close the gap between him and the beast previously. Now, with the essence running through every portion of his body, Feng Jiao felt empowered. Ever since the tournament when his meridians had cracked, causing an explosive reaction between his wood and fire essence, the pathways that his essence traveled through had combined and become much greater than the whole of the two added together.

It cost him a week of recuperation and nearly lost him his meridians, but the results said something about the danger. Now, when he pushed his essence through the pathways, more was able to get to every corner of his body. Combined with the increased density of the essence since he’d started properly refining it, his explosive strength had increased. Once again, it was at the cost of a higher essence consumption. 

Looking down at the spear, he could see a slight crack in the broomstick. Not big enough to be a threat to the weapon’s integrity, but large enough to cause problems if a new one popped up with every collision. Feng Jiao and the creature threw themselves at each other, making loud noises and large lines in the soil where they slid back and forth. At this point, the sun was completely out of sight, even from the top of the surrounding mountains, and the planet’s two moons were showing overhead. The battle between the boy and the beast was supervised by the silver and pink heavenly sentinels, casting eerie shadows across their faces and body in hues of orange and grey. 

Their battle was on such a scale that Xin Lee had a hard time locating an opening to shoot an arrow without hitting his friend. Eventually, he gave up trying and just left an arrow notched, waiting for an opportunity. 

As the battle raged, Feng Jiao never forgot about throwing out his seeds. He was unable to grow them at the moment, afraid to employ his wood technique while his meridians were being enhanced with fire. The last thing he needed was another explosion within his body. Instead, he laid the seeds for an ambush, ready to flip the switch at the first given opportunity.

With the sound of wood breaking across the gathering, Feng Jiao’s new broomstick was nearly broken in half. The creature, once again showcasing its higher than normal intelligence, stopped chasing Feng Jiao for a moment and stared at him, mockingly. The broomstick was never designed to be used as a weapon, but it was expensive for a reason.

Remembering the maid girl’s words, Feng Jiao started pumping his essence to his palms. Before condensing it into liquid Qi, essence had a hard time sustaining its form without evaporating once it left the body. Luckily, the very expensive broomstick had come with a few functions to help day to day function with it. 

Designed for longevity, the broom had wooden arrays carved within the grains of the broomstick. It could accept any attribute of essence or Qi and regenerate itself. This was obviously only possible due to the properties of the material used. To make a regenerating effect on an artifact made with superior materials, it would cost much more and be far more difficult to create. 

Feng Jiao pushed his essence through his palm into the almost shattered broomstick and watched as it bloomed back into its prime.

Literally.

Once again the entire battle field was silent, but this time it wasn’t from tension, but because an awkward silence took over the entire clearing. Where he’d removed the broom-head to attach the spearhead, he could no longer see metal. Every single bristle of the broom had regenerated, covering the spear.

Even the beast’s mocking gaze was replaced by confusion. Even when it had hunted in the past, it did so by paralyzing its victims before having itself hunt in its underground tunnel system. It had seen all manner of weapons, and it had even seen a broom used to clean before. Never before had an opponent stood before it, pointing a cleaning tool at its face.