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Quest Maker: 254
🕑 Added 2022-02-23 19:53:50 +0000 UTCTitle: The Hunter in the Dark
A magnificent spirit beast stood by the edge of a cliff. It had a wolf's body but a deer's limbs. Its beautiful blue-green fur only looked more enchanting under the moonlight as its pure white eyes filled with melancholy gazed deep down into the forested abyss. Under the brilliant moonlight, two pairs of horns, or at least, short stems of them could be seen ending to two neat cuts.
The Wolf's eyes seemed to reflect the past... fifteen minutes.
It lasted for a second. A silver shadow even more brilliant than the moon with a smile so wicked and beastly that the noble creature had no other response but to run yet as the assaulter didn't stay for more than a second, the wolf felt his head lighter.
His... antlers were taken.
His honor was stolen alongside his antlers.
His very life was taken alongside the most prized decorative feature that gained him mates all across the King's Lair...
He was a cripple in all but name.
The forelimbs of the wolf took a step forward. The wolf's mouth parted as beastly and ragged pants escaped his mouth with his tongue stuck out slightly.
There was a deep conflict within his eyes. His body leaned backward but his limbs continued forth.
"Wait!" A sharp gasp rang as Bi Ji landed quickly. The pair of emerald wings on her back disappeared as if they weren't present in the first place. One look at the Star Wolf Deer caused Bi Ji to create a small dome filled with brilliant lifeforce that surprisingly worked on cut horns as the beast's antlers began to grow anew!
The beast had not paid any heed to Bi Ji's call but the moment he began to feel the familiar weight emerge onto his head, he stopped the march forward and postponed his date with death as it quickly turned around and looked at Bi Ji with bright expression while bowing his head in gratification.
"These Light-attributed spirit beasts are just too soft-hearted! Just the loss of his horns drove him to almost commit suicide?" A mocking tone caused Wolf's expression to turn violent as it howled loudly only for Bi Ji to gently touch his head.
"Antlers?" Zi Ji appeared from the shadows, "Well, horns are cooler." She glared at the beast provocatively, "And be as strong as your father before challenging me. Of course, I'd wipe the forest with your sorry fur, but at least, it would feel dignified."
As Zi Ji narrowed her eyes, the wolf only glowered menacingly.
"Zi Ji," Bi Ji sighed, "Don't provoke him. You know that antlers are important to him. Where did he go?" She looked at the wolf who leaned its giant body down lick her hand slightly as he whimpered softly.
"Fifteen minutes?" Zi Ji frowned, "We're getting closer."
"So it would seem but... he is going around in a circle," Bi Ji noted, "I think he really will return to that very point in three days."
"And what about the menace he is causing?" Zi Ji scoffed, "He's making us chase him as if it's a game. The two of us can't sense him at all but we can sense the trouble he is causing in the forest and... I'm sure 'he' has gotten wind of it, too."
Bi Ji pursed her lips.
Trading with humans wasn't a taboo as long as certain boundaries are kept, for instance, any contact with humans should not bring a sense of disaster to the peaceful King's Lair yet after Bi Ji's supposed trade, the entire forest was in upheaval.
Even the 88000-year-old Star Wolf Deer couldn't match against Ja Sun and she was beginning to feel worried as to what consequences she might have to face if things don't settle soon enough. A moment of greed induced by an opportunity too good to be true gave her a valuable lesson—
Don't trade with Ja Sun.
"I think... I should just confess."
"Confess to what? You weren't in the wrong," Zi Ji commented, "It's that human... and you said that he has a martial soul similar to her, right? If you bring that human to the lake, he could be used to quicken the process..."
Her vague words managed to make sense for Bi Ji as she nodded, "Let's just move quickly then. He couldn't have gotten far."
Leaving the Star Wolf Deer alone, the duo began chasing after clues once again.
Bi Ji was beginning to believe Ja Sun's earlier claims of him being strong and the fact that he had a peculiar but familiar martial soul gave her a sense of unease.
"What's going on?" Zi Ji sensed it and inquired as the duo flew.
"The Auspicious Emperor is loved by spirit beasts... it's not because the species is gentle but the myriad benefits an Auspicious Emperor brings to the spirit beasts. It could be said that if human cultivation is made as such to suppress spirit beasts, then the Three-eyed Golden Lion is one of the tiny hopes left for us.
But a human... with a variant Martial Soul of the Auspicious Emperor... I fear the benefits it can bring to humans..."
"Impossible," Zi Ji smirked, "Humans are naturally cautious of each other. They won't do anything to benefit others without getting something in return so even if that Despicable Human has abilities similar to her, he won't use them. Unlike that human, she is much more tame and is willing to help us out and even accept the blessing. And if we manage to get him to the lake, he may be useful for the completion of the blessing."
"Willing... huh," Bi Ji's gaze turned momentarily sad, "I actually miss Violet. Although she wasn't allowed to stay in the King's Lair for long... with Viole around, even if the two used to bicker quite a bit, things were lively for a little while."
"I wonder if she's even alive," Zi Ji mused.
"Ah!" Bi Ji gasped suddenly and dove down.
"Hey!" the other one followed promptly and the two landed under the large thicket.
Even Zi Ji's expression changed momentarily as the darkness around her that supported her existence suddenly seemed to have a will of its own.
"Did the two of you come into contact with the human?"
A cool inquiry made way through the darkness but the tone of the voice itself held a sense of primal savagery that was hard to imagine. The two women found a pair of dark-golden eyes gazing at them as the speaker waited for their answer.
While Bi Ji could keep her cool and kept standing, due to sheer suppression of elements and Bloodline, Zi Ji fell down to her knees with cold sweat collecting over her brows.
"We did," Zi Ji nodded.
"That human's name is Ja Sun. I met him three days ago near the southern edge of the forest and he... is possibly an array master with spatial talents."
Zi Ji frowned for a moment but didn't speak up while the voice hummed, "Oh... an array master. Is that all you know of him?"
Bi Ji nodded and Zi Ji followed along.
"You can't keep on chasing an enemy that you cannot sense. Set up the perimeters in various zones and alert others. Call the remaining spirit beasts under our wing."
"Huh? Is something the matter?" Zi Ji looked up. She couldn't imagine such preparations being made for just a single human.
"Sea is spreading the rumors that a supposed Demi-divine spirit beast is bound to appear in this location and... that Eye is making his way for the King's Lair, too. See to it that this Ja Sun doesn't cause too many losses. Zi, you will be in charge of calling others."
"What about the Titan Giant Ape and that Bull Python?" Zi Ji questioned.
"Leave them be. We have enough support like that. Make sure that the bear doesn't make any excuse."
"Yes!" Zi Ji nodded while Bi Ji felt the figure's attention fall over her as the voice hummed, "Your cultivation picked up its pace again?"
Bi Ji shook her head, "Even I'm not aware what is going on but it is probably related to Ja Sun."
She lied. She had come into contact with Life Gold and even if she didn't absorb it, she was still enjoying the minuscule benefits that would probably last two more days but these tiny changes were enough to attract the figure's attention.
Still, the dark figure didn't reply anymore and disappeared as if he wasn't present in the first place.
Zi Ji looked at the spot where moonlight finally began to give way once again with a sick sense of infatuation. It was more like hunger for the individual who had achieved it all while Bi Ji sighed.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Zi Ji looked at her and inquired with a compressed voice.
"I just have a weird... ominous intuition that just this time, he shouldn't involve himself. Anyway, if that eye from the other side of the world is making its way here then surely it must be those prophets of the Mermaid Clan that divined the existence of a million-year-old spirit beast making its way here. Things are shifting to a strange situation." Bi Ji replied with a sigh. She felt as such the moment she observed Ja Sun's third eye with great clarity.
Although the prospects of Life Gold may have blinded her before, but now, recalling her observations, Bi Ji realized how unnatural Ja Sun felt and not in a way that all humans are scum and scam beasts. No. It was as if Ja Sun was something different than a human.
'A human who doesn't hate spirit beasts... but treats us as if we are one and the same... scamming humans and beasts alike...' Bi Ji thought inwardly while Zi Ji disappeared from her location, too.
---
"Oh... so that dude has divine intent, too? How scary..." Ja Sun sat on a branch with the three of his golden pupils glowing rather deeply. He was using the Fiery Golden Pupils to increase the level of his divine intent by one to make sure that he wasn't found spying on them.
'An Emerald Swan and an Abyss Demon Dragon answering to a spirit beast that even I'm having trouble identifying. It's a True Dragon, too... but what kind? Anyway, that's the darkness attribute right there... hehe, the intensity matches how Erlong's fire feels so... is there such a thing as Ultimate Darkness attribute?'
Ja Sun mused but that wasn't the only thing he found out.
'Aside from Darkness, the beast could manipulate space... and is already so strong. Let's just check if I'm right about the Three-eyed Golden Lion. If not... every spirit beasts is a fair play.'
Although Ja Sun was getting stronger on a more wholesome basis but he did want to fill out his slots for spirit bones and reach rank 90 to finally dabble in his Evil Title.
Previously, Ja Sun felt that it was kind of boring how his Evil Title's spirit rings skills would only have one skill similar to Yuehua's Clear Sky Phoenix but not only was it similarly broken in its nature, he was beginning to believe that there was more to the Evil attribute than just more the word 'Evil.'
Yet, Ja Sun was simply too young to understand all the mysteries of this world in just a single instant.
"A spirit beast similar to Petals is approaching. The Titan Giant Ape and others are also known to these beasts and Bi Ji believes that some prophet may have divined the appearance of this million-year-old beast.
But how did the same individual not find out about Petals?"
Zi Ji and Bi Ji were communicating with compressed voice technique but it could be easily spied on if the individual has a greater quality of intent. Ja Sun had this ability as early as Hu Lana's and Xie Xan's wedding night so it was simply a neat trick to stay informed at most times. After all, his opponents doesn't know that he was divine in all but his spirit energy so he could use it for his benefit.
But recalling the dark figure, even Ja Sun's expression turned grave for a second. Not because he was scared.
Because he felt something familiar from this beast that was also present within Qian Daoliu.
The darkness element around this unknown figure was strangely calm and in harmony. The same could be said for the spatial element that the man wielded. This was a presence also found with Qian Daoliu as the master dubbed it— Realm of Harmony, a stage one step above Realm of Self.
In essence, this Realm of Harmony was nothing but realizing a law of this world, be it an elemental law or a conceptual law. However, Qian Daoliu firmly believed that this law cannot be used directly but only be understood and be used to find satisfaction within oneself.
'That beast... could use the elements directly...' Ja Sun's eyes turned fervent. To him, strength was relative at this point. He would rather try and understand things yet unknown to him and concepts that even if master may be unaware of instead of just climbing higher and higher without a thought.
Where's the fun in that?
Still, smiling, Ja Sun suddenly broke the branch he was standing on and disappeared.
A few seconds later, an annoyed Bi Ji appeared and inspected the spot before groaning in frustration and continued the chase.
***
A/N: I have not read soul land 2 so I am not aware of how Zi Ji and Bi Ji call Di Tian.
So, for this fanfic, Zi Ji is in love with the idea of the power that Di Tian wields and his sense of majesty which makes her quickly submit to the man yet not make her dumb enough to rat out her other allies if the situation is not too dire.
Meanwhile, Bi Ji has her individual prestige and is also close to Di Tian. However, the difference in morals and the sense of majesty in Di Tian and his actions towards Violet and the Three-eyed Golden Lion serves to form a wall instead.
