Chapter 12: Skyrend's Shadow
The unnatural snow bit into Kai's face as he pushed deeper into the **Middle Woods**, the Whispering Woods' character shifting dramatically. Ancient trees towered like obsidian pillars, their canopies swallowing the grey, snow-laden sky. Silence reigned, thick and oppressive, broken only by the crunch of Kai's boots and the unnerving creak of frozen branches. His Violet Qi burned a small pocket of warmth around him, but the **Heavenly Lock**'s weight was a constant drag, making each step, each spark of power, costlier.
**<< Environmental Hazard: Choir-Induced Glacial Front. Ambient Qi: Suppressed. Host Qi Regeneration: -30%. >>**
**<< Celestial Meridian Stability: 85% >>**
**<< SP Counter: 145 (Acquisition Penalty: -50% Active) >>**
The **Skyrend Vein Map** pulsed faintly in his spatial pouch, guiding him towards a jagged ridge line visible through the skeletal trees. According to Zhang's fragmented memories, it lay within a hidden gorge just beyond. SP. He needed mountains of it – to fuel his System, to repair his meridians, to buy the tools to stop Project Emberfall. But the Middle Woods didn't give gifts freely.
**<< Alert: Tier-2 Spirit Beast Signature Detected. Approaching Rapidly. Designation: Stagwing Roc (Corrupted Variant). >>**
A guttural screech tore through the silence, shaking ice from branches. From the gloom above, a monstrous shape descended. It resembled an enormous, skeletal eagle, its wingspan blotting out the meagre light, but its feathers weren't feathers – they were jagged shards of blackened bone. Its eyes burned with twin points of sickly **golden fire**. Corruption radiated from it – the chilling signature of the Heavenly Choir's touch.
**<< Analysis: Stagwing Roc (Tier-2 Baseline). Choir Corruption Detected: Enhanced Aggression, Qi-Draining Aura, Elemental Shift (Ice/Frost). Weakness: Core exposed during dive attack (0.8-second window). Golden Eye Nodes (Corruption Sources). >>**
The Roc dove, not with the grace of a bird, but like a falling glacier. Frost gathered around its bone-shard wings, forming jagged ice spears aimed at Kai. Its mere passage sucked the warmth from the air, intensifying the unnatural cold.
*Glass cannon. Don't get hit.* Kai activated **Void Shimmer**, vanishing just as the ice spears shattered the frozen ground where he stood. He reappeared thirty feet away, atop a massive, ice-encased boulder. The strain made the violet cracks on his arms pulse angrily.
**<< Stability: 83% >>**
The Roc banked with unnatural speed, its golden eyes locking onto him. A wave of **Qi-Draining Frost** washed out from it. Kai felt his Violet Qi flicker, a portion of its power siphoned away before he could reinforce his defenses. The cold bit deeper.
*Exploit the window. Target the nodes.* Kai poured Qi into **Heavenly Step**, zig-zagging across the frozen forest floor, avoiding another bone-chilling dive. He needed it to commit. He spotted a partially frozen river ahead, its surface a treacherous mix of ice and dark, fast-flowing water. *Perfect.*
He stopped running, turning to face the diving Roc. He raised his hands, not to strike, but to channel. Violet Qi surged, not forming an attack, but creating a blindingly bright **Violet Beacon** above him. He poured power into it, making it shine like a fallen star in the gloom.
The corrupted Roc, driven by Choir-enhanced aggression and drawn to potent Qi sources, shrieked and altered its dive, aiming straight for the beacon. Kai held his ground until the last possible heartbeat, the Roc's bone-shard wings filling his vision, the golden eyes blazing with mindless hunger.
***Void Shimmer.***
Kai vanished just as the Roc hit the spot where he'd stood. But he didn't reappear nearby. He reappeared *directly above* the diving beast, having used the Shimmer's spatial hop to gain height. He dropped like a violet comet, **Flickering Palm Strike** primed not for raw power, but for *precision* and *penetration*.
His palm, wreathed in a needle-point of violet light, slammed into the base of the Roc's skull – the location of the first golden eye node revealed by the System.
***CRACK-SHATTER!***
The golden fire in that eye winked out, replaced by spurting black ichor. The Roc screamed, a sound of pure, corrupted agony. It flailed wildly, losing altitude and control. Kai rode it down, leaping clear just before it slammed into the partially frozen river.
***CRASH-THIN-ICE!***
The Roc's immense weight shattered the ice. Frigid, black water surged up, engulfing the thrashing beast. Its corruption-fueled frost aura met the flowing river, creating a chaotic maelstrom of steam and ice. Kai landed hard on the bank, breathing raggedly. The strain of two Void Shimmers and the focused Palm Strike made the cracks on his arms glow brighter, spreading towards his shoulders.
**<< Stability: 79% >>**
**<< Target Crippled. Secondary Golden Eye Node (Chest Cavity) Still Active. >>**
The Roc wasn't finished. It hauled its massive, dripping form onto the opposite bank, shivering violently, one eye dark, the other blazing gold with renewed fury. Its Qi-draining aura intensified, pulling at Kai's core even across the river. It prepared to launch again, weakened but desperate.
Kai's gaze fell on the black ichor staining the ice near his feet – the corrupted blood from the destroyed eye node. The Alchemy Primer knowledge flared. *Choir corruption... potent but unstable... concentrated negative Qi... could be disrupted by...*
He scooped up a handful of snow, packed it around a chunk of ice, and infused it with a thread of his Violet Qi, focusing on *polarity inversion* – a crude attempt to counter the corruption's resonance. He hurled the makeshift snowball not at the Roc, but *into* the spreading pool of its black blood near the river's edge.
***FWOMP!***
The snowball hit the ichor. There was no explosion, but a violent *reaction*. The black blood hissed and boiled, releasing a plume of acrid, golden-tinged smoke. The Roc, connected to its own spilled essence, shuddered violently. Its remaining golden eye flickered. Its renewed dive faltered, turning into a clumsy stumble.
**<< Corruption Resonance Disrupted! Target Disoriented! >>**
Kai didn't wait. He **Void Shimmered** across the river, appearing beside the staggering Roc. Ignoring the searing pain in his meridians, he drove the Boar Tusk Dagger, amplified by a final burst of Violet Qi, straight into the pulsating golden node visible amidst the bone shards on its chest.
***SQUELCH-POP!***
The second golden eye imploded in a shower of dark sparks and foul vapor. The Stagwing Roc let out a final, gurgling shriek and collapsed, truly dead. The oppressive Qi-draining aura vanished.
**<< Tier-2 Corrupted Spirit Beast Defeated! SP Awarded: 200 (Base: 400, Penalty Applied: -50%) >>**
**<< Total SP: 345 >>**
**<< Celestial Meridian Stability: 77% >>**
Kai slumped against the dead beast, gasping. The SP gain was significant, even halved. But the cost was high. His arms felt like they were filled with broken glass. He quickly harvested what he could – a few untainted bone shards (Low-Mid Tier Material), and crucially, vials of the Roc's **Core Blood**. The Primer suggested corrupted beast core blood, if purified, could have potent, if risky, restorative properties. Maybe it could stabilize his meridians?
**<< Analysis: Stagwing Roc Core Blood (Corrupted). Purification Feasibility: Moderate (Requires Alchemy Kit & Host's Violet Qi). Potential: Temporary Meridian Stabilization. >>**
He stored the blood. Temporary was better than collapsing. He pushed himself up, following the map towards the ridge. He crested it and looked down.
**Skyrend Gorge.** It wasn't a vein; it was a *wound*. A deep, jagged scar in the earth, miles long. Embedded within the sheer walls, veins of **Skyrend Ore** pulsed with a soft, internal light – deep indigo streaked with silver, humming with dense spatial and metallic Qi. The sheer amount was staggering. Enough SP to buy an army.
But his relief died instantly. At the gorge's far end, near a massive, newly excavated opening, activity buzzed. Tents bearing the Verdant Cloud Sect's insignia. Cultivators in green robes – stronger than outer disciples, likely inner – directing labor. A massive, complex drill-like artifact was being assembled near the opening – **Project Emberfall's** tool. And overseeing it all, radiating an aura colder than the unnatural snow, stood an Elder in jade-green robes trimmed with silver. **Foundation Establishment, Late Stage.**
**<< Target Identified: Elder Mo Gan. Cultivation: Foundation Establishment (Late Stage). Affiliation: Verdant Cloud Sect (Project Emberfall Overseer). Threat Level: Extreme. >>**
**<< Project Emberfall Status: Assembly Phase (Estimated Completion: 68 Hours). >>**
Kai ducked back below the ridge line, heart pounding. He had the SP now. He had the location. But the Vein wasn't unguarded treasure. It was the heart of the Sect's operation, guarded by an Elder who could likely crush him even without his meridian instability. And the clock was ticking faster than ever.
He couldn't fight them head-on. Not yet. He needed a different kind of bullshit. He looked down at his cracked arms, then at the vials of corrupted Roc blood. A dangerous plan began to form, involving purification, distraction, and stealing from under an Elder's nose while his meridians threatened to shatter.
**<< Objective Updated: Infiltrate Skyrend Mining Operation. Sabotage Project Emberfall Drill. Acquire Skyrend Ore (Minimum: 50 lbs for SP Conversion). >>**
**<< Secondary Objective: Purify Roc Blood for Temporary Meridian Stabilization. >>**
**<< Countdown: 67 hours until Full Moon. >>**
The Absolute Bullshit Cultivator smiled grimly. Time for some divine-grade theft.