Chapter 536: Alone |
“Azure,” I called out internally, “Azure, what's going on? What happened to me?”
There was no response, just silence.
It was a strange feeling, the emptiness inside of my head, it felt wrong.
Since I had started my cultivation journey, Azure had always been there for me.
He would make jokes.
He would call me out when I made a mistake.
And he would aid me when I needed help.
Now I was alone.
But of course, he wouldn’t be here.
As expected, I found…nothing.
The pathways to my spiritual home didn’t exist here.
I was in a strange body, in an unknown realm, without the tools I had come to rely on.
The panic that should have occurred from that realization was halted by a soft rustling sound behind me. I turned, my body trying to use channels, which didn’t exist, to channel qi, and I found myself staring up at something that challenged my ability to understand what I was seeing.
A massive panda stood at the cave entrance; it was at least nine feet tall even on all fours.
From what I could tell, it seemed to be female.
What made my breath catch, however, wasn’t the size or gender of the animal; it was the sheer amount of spiritual pressure emanating from it. Even without my cultivation senses functioning at full capacity, I could feel the crushing weight of her power bearing down upon my consciousness, like a mountain had settled atop me.
This wasn’t an ordinary spiritual beast. The pressure she emitted felt similar to what I sensed from Elder Chen Yong; that sense of vastness, with a strength that seemed to hold back at any moment, which indicated that someone had achieved a truly advanced level of cultivation.
The massive panda likely sensed my distress, as she lifted one gigantic paw in what could only be described as a non-threatening gesture. Her movements were slow and careful, as if she knew how big and powerful she was compared to me, and didn’t want to scare me.
“Peace,” she said, and I nearly fell over from shock.
Her voice was low and resonant, reverberating through the cave rocks themselves. But what was more surprising than the sound of her voice, was the fact that she spoke at all. Spiritual beasts could sometimes communicate at high levels of cultivation, but hearing actual words from what looked like a giant panda still took me aback.
“Moon,” she continued, pointing at herself. “Friend. Help. Hurt.” She then pointed to my chest, and I could see the faint outlines of wounds I’d sustained recently beneath the robes someone had put me in.
“You…helped me?” I asked, trying to speak smoothly. This body’s vocal cords felt odd; like wearing clothing that didn’t fit properly.
“Found,” she confirmed with a slow nod. “Broken. Fixed.”
From the basic conversation, I was able to piece together what had happened. For whatever reason, after entering the Dream World, I had ended up wounded and unconscious in this realm’s wilderness. The panda, Moon, had found me and had taken care of me for what must have been a considerable amount of time, nursing me back to health.
“Thanks…” I said, still staring at her.
This could only occur in a xianxia world, I realized with a mix of wonder and defeat.
A giant talking panda with cultivation abilities finds an injured human and decides to make them her patient. It was such a perfect representation of the genre’s logic that I almost wanted to laugh, except for the seriousness of the situation.
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Then I remembered Elder Wan’s explanation of the Dream World’s protective mechanisms. Contestants couldn’t be killed due to environmental hazards or native creatures. They could only kill each other. So, Moon’s actions were likely an example of how that protection worked. When I was critically injured and I should have died, the Dream World’s laws of nature allowed someone capable of healing me to find me in time.
As I focused on the nearby movement, I noticed a group of baby pandas that had been napping nearby were now exploring the new presence in their home. They were covered in fluffy fur, and their dark eyes were filled with innocent curiosity that is common among very young animals.
“Cute,” I said without thinking, bending down to get a closer look at them.
It seems the baby pandas took this as an invitation to climb on me. The most adventurous of the three climbed up my leg using my robes as hand holds. The other two quickly followed suit. In a matter of seconds, I was serving as a jungle gym for three playful cubs who seemingly had no fear of the stranger in their den.
“They’re beautiful,” I said to Moon, steadying a cub that had over-balanced while trying to climb on my shoulder. “Are they your babies?”
“Mine,” Moon said proudly. “Cubs. Safe.”
I sat down carefully to avoid disrupting the baby pandas as they explored. One had reached my shoulder and was examining my hair with tiny paws, making soft chattering sounds of curiosity. Another was chewing on the bottom of my robe. And the last one had curled up beside me, and was starting to fall asleep.
Moon smiled at our interaction, and I could tell there was real warmth in her face.
A mother pleased that her children were welcoming another member into the family.
That thought froze me in place. Wait…was she really seeing me as family?
I looked around the cave with fresh eyes. I noticed details that I had been too dazed to focus on earlier. The space was clearly laid out as a comfortable living space. Filled with soft bedding made from plants and furs. A small pool of clean water that was supplied by an underground spring. Spirit stones arranged to provide gentle lighting.
This wasn’t a cave; this was a home. And Moon had brought me into her home.
The cubs were obviously comfortable with me as well. They treated me like I belonged here. I was guessing I had been unconscious for weeks, judging by how much my wounds had healed and how used to my presence the cubs were.
That realization was both heartwarming and unsettling. Moon had invested a lot of time and effort into my recovery. She treated me like a member of her family even though I was a complete stranger. The kindness was overwhelming. Especially since I was currently unable to defend myself.
However, it also complicated my situation.
Once the cubs finished exploring and settled down for naps (some draped over my legs, others curled up against Moon), I refocused on the larger picture. I had no idea how I had ended up in this situation, whose body this belonged to, and if anyone was looking for me with goodwill or bad intentions.
What I did know was that Wu Kangming was hunting for me right now. He was smart, driven, and had combat skills far beyond anything I could accomplish right now. Without access to my cultivation techniques or spiritual energies, I was effectively helpless against someone with Wu Kangming’s level of skill. If he found me in my current state, the tournament would end quickly, and not in my favor.
I needed to figure out who I was in this world how cultivation worked. And I needed to do it quickly.
Even though I was currently helpless, I could still sense the spiritual pressure from Moon. Her aura was vast and controlled, a hallmark of someone who has spent centuries developing their power. Even though she was a spiritual beast instead of a human cultivator, she appeared to understand the principles of manipulating dream qi at a high level.
“Moon,” I said carefully, not wanting to come across as presumptuous after everything she did for me. “Would you…could you teach me how to cultivate in this world? I need to develop enough strength to be able to protect myself.”
The question felt awkward. Who was I, a human, to ask a giant panda for help? However, my pride was unimportant compared to surviving. And Moon was clearly the most powerful being in the immediate vicinity that might be willing to help.
I could sense other presences in the distance, but they felt alien and menacing in a way I couldn’t quite explain. Whatever else inhabited this realm’s wilderness, I got the idea that most of it would be hostile to a human wandering alone and unable to defend himself. Even with the tournament’s protections preventing permanent death, there are certainly worse fates than dying quickly.
Some experiences could break a person’s mind or spirit in a way that would persist after returning to the physical world. I’d prefer to avoid discovering what those were through hands-on experience.
Moon pondered my request for a few long moments. She studied my face with an intelligence that seemed almost human in its complexity. Eventually, she nodded.
“Teach,” she agreed.
I felt a smile creep onto my face, regardless of the fears I had.
Now I was going to learn dream cultivation from a giant panda.
If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be in this predicament, I would have thought they were suffering from qi deviation.
At least it’ll be interesting.
“Thank you,” I said sincerely. “I promise I’ll be a good student.”
Moon made a sound that resembled laughter. Though it sounded more like a rumble of her purrs that shook the cave floor.
“Learn,” she said, relaxing into a more comfortable position. “Grow strong. Safe.”
Safe. That’s what this was ultimately about, wasn’t it?
She saved me when I was broken and helpless, spent weeks nursing me back to health, and now she’s offering to share her knowledge to allow me to survive in this treacherous world. The generosity was incredible – especially from someone who had absolutely no reason to help a random human who stumbled into her territory.
I’ll have to find a way to pay her back for saving my life eventually if I lived long enough to figure out what a giant panda would accept as payment for saving my life. For now, I need to focus on figuring out how to cultivate enough in this world to avoid being completely defenseless when Wu Kangming eventually tracked me down.
The final battle of the tournament to determine who gained access to the Elemental Chamber was still coming, and I'd need every advantage I could get.