Just Deserts
1808 Words
The leader stood, the device in his hand pulsing brighter. "Spread out. Check for tracks. If there's a Spirit Beast nearby, we're not leaving empty-handed."
Yun Kai's lips curled, a bitter smile hidden beneath his blindfold. They'd walked into a predator's den, and he wasn't sure who the real prey was anymore. Them, or the beast lurking in the shadows.
For now, he'd stay hidden like a ghost in the trees. The palace might not trust a blind prince's warnings, but Yun Kai didn't need their approval to act.
The ground suddenly trembled. A faint pulse, too subtle for the group below to notice. But Yun Kai felt it. His senses screamed danger.
At that moment, the beast-tracking device flared. Its hum spiked into a shrill whine that pierced the stillness. The leader's head snapped up, eyes widening, but the warning came too late.
A shadow lunged from the underbrush. It was huge and sleek like a feline. A blur of midnight fur and gleaming fangs. It slammed into one of the men with the force of a collapsing mountain. His scream cut short as claws raked through flesh and bone, leaving him injured.
Blood sprayed, painting the leaves crimson.
The clearing exploded into chaos.
Yun Kai clung to his perch, his senses ablaze with the c*****e below. The beast was a mid-level Spirit Beast, a Saber-tooth Panther. Nearly two meters of raw, feral fury. Its presence pressed against his mind like a storm, heavy and suffocating.
Beasts in the Desolate Martial World were divided into six levels of Mortal, Spirit, Earth, Heaven, Saint, and King. And subdivided into early, mid, late, and peak stages.
While the known cultivation realms of the Endless Plains were the six Mortal Foundation Stages; Qi Gathering, Blood Condensation, Tendon Transformation, Bone Forging, Meridian Opening, Dantian Formation, and Innate Awakening. Subdivided into early, mid, late, and peak stages.
The Mortal Foundation Stages represent the path of transforming a regular human body into one worthy of cultivating true power. Each substage reflects progress from absorbing Spiritual Qi to fundamentally restructuring the body and forging an internal core (the Dantian), eventually reaching the Innate stage where one steps beyond mortality.
Spirit Beasts, unlike Mortal-ranked beasts, had kindled their inner Qi. This granted them cunning and power akin to Tendon Transformation cultivators or Meridian Opening cultivators.
This beast, with its rippling muscles and saber-like canines, matched the former. Far outstripping the five intruders.
The group was no rabble, though. Four stood at the peak of Blood Condensation, their Qi surging through tempered veins. Their leader, a lean man with a scar cutting across his jaw, radiated early Tendon Transformation Stage strength.
Woefully outmatched here.
Yun Kai's lips twitched, a grim satisfaction flickering beneath his blindfold. These schemers, so smug about toppling the royal clan, now faced a predator that cared nothing for their plans.
"Formation!" the leader barked, his voice steady despite the mangled corpse at his feet. His beast-tracking device clattered to the ground, forgotten, as he drew a curved saber. Its edge shimmered with infused Qi.
The remaining three men and the woman fanned out, drawing their weapons. Swords, a spear, and a pair of daggers gleamed under the faint light filtering through the canopy. Their auras flared, Blood Condensation Qi weaving into a crude battle array. A net of energy meant to bind and overwhelm their opponent.
The Saber-tooth Panther snarled, its amber eyes glowing with odd intelligence. Its tail lashed, cracking like a whip, and Qi rippled through its fur, amplifying its speed and strength.
It lunged, targeting the woman.
Her daggers spun in a dance of silver light. She twisted, her movement fluid as water, channeling the Windstep Art to dodge the beast's claws by a hair's breadth. Her blades lashed out, carving shallow cuts across the panther's flank.
But its Qi-hardened hide barely bled.
"Hold the line!" the leader roared, leaping forward. His saber slashed in a crescent arc, the Iron Cleaving Strike igniting the air with a metallic screech.
The blade bit into the panther's shoulder, drawing a spray of dark blood. But the beast wheeled with terrifying speed, its jaws snapping inches from his throat. He stumbled back, Qi surging to reinforce his tendons, barely keeping his balance.
The spearman seized the opening, thrusting with the Piercing Fang Technique. His weapon glowed, Qi condensing at the tip into a drill-like force. The spear struck the panther's ribs.
But the beast's Qi flared, deflecting the blow with a clang like steel on stone.
It retaliated instantly.
A swipe of its claws, imbued with Qi, tore through the spearman's chest. Armor shredded like paper, and he crumpled, gurgling blood. His defense shattered in an instant.
"Damn it!" one of the swordsmen cursed, face pale as ash. He and his partner attacked in tandem, their Twin Serpent Swords Art weaving a net of slashing Qi.
Blades danced, slicing at the panther's legs, aiming to cripple its mobility. The beast roared, the sound erupting in a shockwave of noise and Qi. The swordsmen staggered, ears bleeding, their formation crumbling as the panther pounced.
It caught one swordsman mid-step, fangs sinking deep into his shoulder. Bones crunched, and his scream echoed through the trees as the beast shook him like a rag doll before hurling him into a tree.
The trunk splintered on impact. He slumped, lifeless, his Qi fading like a snuffed candle.
Yun Kai's senses tracked every move, his heart pounding in his chest. But his body remained still. The panther's power was overwhelming, its Qi reserves as deep as a river. Meanwhile, the intruders' strength and morale waned with each passing moment.
The woman darted in again, her daggers flashing with Shadow Sting Art, aiming for the beast's eyes. She scored a hit, black blood welling from a shallow gash. But the panther's tail whipped out, catching her mid-leap.
She crashed into the dirt, ribs cracking audibly. Her Qi flickered weakly.
The leader fought on, his saber a blur of Iron Tempest Strikes. Each blow carried the weight of his Tendon Transformation cultivation, carving deeper wounds into the panther's hide.
"Die, you bastard!" he snarled. The thought of taming it had long disappeared from his mind.
Qi surged through his body, fueling a final, powerful s***h. The air screamed as the blade descended, aimed straight at the beast's neck.
But the panther was faster.
It twisted, its speed blurring its form into a streak of shadow. The saber struck empty ground, earth exploding in a shower of dirt and stone. The beast reappeared behind the leader, claws raking across his back.
His Qi armor shattered like glass. Blood sprayed as he staggered forward, gasping for air.
The panther's eyes locked onto him, glowing with predatory hunger. With a single bound, it closed the distance. Its jaws clamped around his skull.
Crushing it.
A spray of reddish-white matter burst from the impact. The body twitched once, then stilled.
Silence fell over the clearing, broken only by the panther's heavy breathing and the distant rustle of leaves.
Yun Kai remained frozen in his perch, every muscle tense. His sensory bubble painted a grim picture. Five bodies lay scattered across the clearing, torn apart and lifeless. Blood pooled on the forest floor, seeping into the earth.
The Saber-tooth Panther stood in the center, its midnight fur matted with blood. Some of it was its own, dark wounds leaking from its shoulder and flank. But most belonged to the dead.
It sniffed the air, head swiveling slowly.
Yun Kai's breath caught. Could it sense him? His presence was minimal, his Qi suppressed to almost nothing. But Spirit Beasts had sharper instincts than mortals.
The panther's amber eyes swept the treeline, pausing near where Yun Kai hid. His fingers dug into the bark, heart hammering against his ribs.
Then the beast turned away, limping toward the deepest shadows of the forest. Its wounds weren't fatal, but they'd slowed it down. It needed rest to heal.
Yun Kai watched it disappear into the underbrush, its presence fading from his senses. Only then did he allow himself to breathe properly.
His hands trembled slightly as he climbed down from the tree. His feet touched the blood-soaked ground, and he paused, taking in the c*****e.
Five corpses. All skilled cultivators. All dead within minutes.
This was the reality of the cultivation world. Power meant survival. Weakness meant death. There was no in-between, no mercy for those who couldn't keep up.
Yun Kai approached the leader's body carefully, his senses sweeping for any lingering danger. The man's storage pouch hung from his belt, miraculously intact despite the violence.
Yun Kai knelt, fingers finding the pouch's string. He untied it, feeling the weight in his palm. Storage pouches were rare and expensive. This one likely contained their equipment, maybe even clues about their operation.
He tucked it into his robes.
Next, he found the beast-tracking device lying in the dirt. Its surface was cracked, but the Qi signature still pulsed faintly. He pocketed it as well.
The woman's body lay nearby, her face frozen in pain. Yun Kai paused beside her, head tilted. Something felt off.
His fingers brushed against her sleeve, finding a hidden pocket. Inside was a small jade slip, smooth and cold. Communication jade. Used for long-distance messages.
He added it to his collection.
"Too organized," he muttered to himself, standing. "Too well-equipped. This wasn't some random group of bandits."
They had resources and backing. Someone powerful enough to supply Spirit-grade tracking devices and communication jades. Someone who wanted the royal clan destroyed.
But who?
Yun Kai's jaw tightened. The palace was full of schemes and power plays. Noble families jockeying for position, ministers playing political games, even his own siblings plotting against each other.
But an organized attack using demonic beasts? That required planning, funding, and most importantly, someone with access to the forest's depths.
His thoughts were interrupted by a faint sound. Footsteps, multiple sets, approaching from the direction the conspirators had come.
Yun Kai's head snapped up, senses expanding. Five more presences. No, six. All cultivators, their Qi signatures varying in strength.
Reinforcements.
"Damn it," he breathed.
He couldn't fight them. Not with his current cultivation. He was only at the mid-stage of Qi Gathering, barely a year into proper cultivation. Against six more enemies, he'd be slaughtered.
Yun Kai turned and ran. His bare feet made no sound against the earth, his robes barely rustling as he slipped between trees. The stolen items weighed heavily in his sleeves, but he didn't slow down.
Behind him, voices rose in shock and anger as the newcomers discovered the c*****e.
"What the hell happened here?"
"The leader's dead! Everyone's dead!"
"Spread out! Find whatever did this!"
Yun Kai didn't look back. He pushed deeper into the forest. His sensory bubble strained, tracking the movements behind him.
- Writer
